Spriggan: UNESCO's Black Ops.

[Fri]

OOC Thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=185535)

"Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed."


The RMS Queen Mary 2 was once the biggest ocean liner in the world, although currently the title is held by another ship. Although with fifteen restaurants and bars, five swimming pools, a casino, a ballroom, a theatre, and the first seaborne planetarium, it is indeed still one of the most opulent ways to cross the Atlantic.

The quotation from UNESCO's constitution, which was first written in 1945 at its founding and often considered to be UNESCO's official motto, hung silently in a banner on the ship's main dining hall. It's the second day from the planned seven day journey to cross the Atlantic from New York to Southampton, and the second day from the planned seven day fundraising cruise. Millionaires, diplomats, and royalties from all over the world are filling the first class suites of the ship.

You can't expect a whole bunch of rich person milling about somewhere without any attraction. Indeed, there is a reason for your attendance here.

The main attraction of this cruise is, the European Artifacts that are currently displayed in the aforementioned dining hall that are currently serving as a makeshift art gallery/museum. The main 'theme' of this fundraiser is to raise awareness for wartime art theft. Indeed, most of the artifacts are wartime loots from World War Two which were accidentally or not so accidentally found their way to the United States. After long and ponderous works, UNESCO finally managed to gain possession on these artifacts, and the ship is currently on a journey to give them back to museums of their respective countries.

And your help is not small in this. Indeed, each of you personally repossessed at least one of those artifacts. Some might only involve legal paperworks, but some of them might involve adventures worthy of their own book if you are writing the autobiography of your thrill filled lives. UNESCO recognized your deeds, and that is why they gave you the honor to be part of their many representatives in this ship.

The first from the many balls and parties that will fill the journey had just started. In a few minutes or more, you're sure that your cell phone will ring, notifying you for the need of your presence in the main dining hall.
But until that, you’re sure that you can still have your freedom.

(Alright, feel free to lounge around the ship, doing anything, interact with each others, or make some npcs. I hope we can have salbazier before my next main post though. Don't forget that Queen Mary 2 is big, it can hold up to 2500 occupants, though the passenger list is considerably smaller at this journey.)

[tensai_oni]

Cardinal Rose was lounging around, glass of wine in hand. Her usual outfit was bound to draw attention, but she didn't mind. On the contrary - where can a phantom thief truly exist if not in the spotlight of attention? Too bad she was not here to steal anything. UNESCO is in the wrong if they think they have her on the leash. She's playing along but that doesn't mean her thieving days are over.

Rose smiled and took a sip. Oh yes, a heist will occur at some point in the future. Not now though. For now, there is time for rest.

[Tengu_temp]

Colette surely is dressed the part for an elegant ball, opting for a long, dark red gown with a wide skirt and gloves instead of her usual suit - but, since in a way this is still a mission, she has two knives strapped securely to her legs and another one hidden in her purse just in case. She knows that there are other Spriggan agents around, but she doesn't know who exactly - they're not people she had contact with beforehand. Waiting for her phone to call, she looks around for anything or anyone who might catch her interest. And what do you know, she finds something like that.
Hey, what's that style? Gothic aristocrat? I never expected to see someone dressing like that in real life! Hmm, actually, there is something very familiar about that woman... Where have I seen her before?
Colette approaches Rose and smiles in a friendly way.
"Good evening. That's a very nice hat.", she comments with a noticable French accent.

[tensai_oni]

"Why, thank you very much." French accent, is it? Rose counters with a posh British one.
"This hat is my most prized possesson. To notice it, you must be a person of excellent taste." She smiles lightly, observing the newcomer with an interested gaze.

Does Colette look familiar to her? Probably not. Rose prefers to work alone, so it's not that she had lots of contact with other Spriggan agents.

[Tengu_temp]

"Thank you, too. Well, I am an artist, I would not fare very well if I had a bad taste."
This British accent, in addition to fitting the woman very well, rings even more bells for Colette. In fact, she has her suspicions already...
"Would you mind if I stay here for a while? I should probably introduce myself: my name is Colette Lambert. It's nice to meet you."

[tensai_oni]

"Cardinal Rose. Pleased to make your acquaintance." With a snap of her hand, Rose produces a black calling card. Other than her emblem, this one is blank, as Colette may find out when the card is given to her hands.

"You are an artist, miss Lambert? Fascinating. I have great personal interest in art myself." The look on Rose's face is very mysterious.
"It comes with my line of work."

[Tengu_temp]

"The real Cardinal Rose? I didn't expect to meet the famous phantom thief in person! I'm honored."
Colette is much more excited than she shows. The reason the woman looked familiar to her before is because she's one of her fans, checking for updates on her website every day. It's a guilty pleasure when your job involves preventing such people from getting their hands on important artifacts, but hobbies are hobbies.
But what if she's just an impostor? No, she's got to be the real thing! No impostor would be able to replicate Cardinal Rose's trademark hat so perfectly, or carry herself with such elegance!
Colette hides the calling card into her purse - it's going to become a valuable keepsake. There is one matter that makes this meeting a bit uncomfortable, though, and she needs to talk about it.
"If you don't mind me asking... Are you here because of personal interest in the exhibition? By which I mean, is it going to become your next target?"

[tensai_oni]

"The pleasure is all mine. And that is all I am here for - just pleasure." The thief nods politely. So there are people who recognize her on the ship? And classy-looking people to that, not detectives hellbent on arresting her. This makes her content.
"My dear, if I planned to acquire any of the priceless artifacts held on this ship at the moment, everyone would know about it in advance. Trust me." No lies in these words. Rose doesn't steal without sending her card first. That's how she rolls.

[bladesmith]

Dan fiddled with bow-tie, trying in vain to get it exactly even. After a few minutes, he had it about as even as he had had it at any given time, and so let it be. Taking a moment to look over the rest of his tuxedo, he was reminded why he didn't usually attend these parties. He felt so constrained. Without the familiar weight of his normal attire, yet stiffer and harder to move in. Dan reached up onto the dresser and closed his hand on the worn brown hat that resided there, smoothing out the crow feather that was stuck in the brim as he wondered whether he could get away with wearing it or not.

A chuffing breath from the bed put an end to that thought. Dan looked over at the source of the sound, a huge dog that lay sprawled over the bed, his body making surprisingly little impression on the sheets. Moddie's eyes glowed bright yellow as he quirked an eyebrow at Dan.

"Oh, you shut up." Dan shot back at the canine. "I'll wear it if I want to. Give me to much of an argument, and you won't get to come to the dinner."
There was a brief pause before the pseudo-shaman replied sulkily.
"Oh, fine. I won't wear it. But you have to wear your apron."

Dropping the hat back into its place, the archeologist picked up the aforementioned item and tossed it roughly up onto the bed. Turning back to the mirror in front of him, Dan prodded his neck-piece once more, getting it at least to the point where he thought it looked even, checked his pockets to make sure that he had his wallet, cellphone, and tiny swiss-army knife. Satisfied that he was ready, he swept his hair up and away from his eyes, then started towards the door. Moddie was waiting for him, wearing an apron that declared him a "service dog", and panting, his tongue lolling out. Dan reached up to scratch behind the dog's ears, seeing as his head was easily level with Dan's elbow, and smiled down at his furry companion.

"Oh yeah, we're suave. 007, eat your heart out."
..............

He had time, that was for sure. Wandering about the ship for a while, Dan eventually found himself near the dining room, with all its wonders. There were a few pieces in there that Dan recognized personally, but even more of them tried to make themselves known to him. He could hear the whispers, as they tried to tell him their stories, as the spirits and memories of the people that had held these artifacts cried out to whoever could listen. The mystic walked through the room, trying to make sense of the quiet voices. Taking a glass of champagne from a passing waiter, Dan stopped once more to salute the many happy voices that were glad to be going home at long last. Resting his hand on Moddie's shoulder, Dan felt the familiar cold sensation passing through the dog's fur that all sensitives got when they touched the spectral construct the dog resided in.

Having paid his respects, Dan made his way out, spotting a couple of women speaking that at least didn't seem to be the usual millionaires. Well, the one didn't anyways. She had a style that was eccentric enough to feel out of place here, among the uptight and polished modern-day nobility. The other was simply elegant, at least that was as much as he could tell. Moddie thought she smelled funny. Either way, he might as well pretend to be comfortable here, and try talking to people. Once again, he swept his hair out from in front of his face, and put on a smile that he hoped was daring and roguish as he walked over. Half Han Solo, half James Bond. At least, that was the way he hoped it looked.

"Good evening, ladies. Mind if I join you?"

[Tengu_temp]

"Mhm, that's true. How could I forget about that?" Before Colette can say anything else, another stranger approaches - this means it's time to quickly change the topic, she does not want to betray Rose's identity. She takes a quick look at the man.
Hmm... He does not look like someone who feels comfortable wearing such formal clothing. And I wonder what's up with that feather?
"Hello. No, I don't mind at all! I just arrived here myself, actually.", she responds, in a conversational and friendly tone. "That's a nice pup you got there. I didn't even know pets are allowed on board."

[tensai_oni]

"I do not mind in the slightest. By all means, join in sir." Rose is interested but not surprised. A rogue-ish gentleman approaches - these types can be interesting, even if the interest is often of the "wants to arrest you" variety. Still, there was something unusual about this person. She can't put her finger on it though.

"We were discussing artistic merit of various items that surround us." She explains.
"This ship has, after all, many items of artistic merit today."

[bladesmith]

"Thank you." Dan acknowledges both women with a nod. "And Moddie is trained to respond in the case of a seizure, among other things. So I was able to get permission for him. We don't often get separated."

Dan began idly scratching Moddie's head, and the big dog leaned contentedly into his side, eyes glowing almost imperceptibly in the light.

"There is a lot of really neat looking pieces in there. A lot of them have some very interesting histories, too. Some of the Polish pieces especially have a lot of potential for interesting discoveries."

[Tengu_temp]

"Oh yes, and to think that most of those pieces were lost not so long ago! In fact, some of them were thought to be just myths that never existed at all, like the collection of lost Fabergé eggs, and here they are on this ship now. Whoever recovered them did a big favour for all of us."
The Frenchwoman smiles, knowing well that the one who recovered a few of those pieces is nobody else but herself.
"Anyway. Moddie is a boy, yes? Good dog! He looks very smart."
Actually, are dogs supposed to have eyes like that? I don't know... Wish I knew more about animals. Ah well, it's probably nothing.

[tensai_oni]

"Being attacked by neighbours was almost a national pasttime for Poland." Rose observes the big dog with an expression of polite curiosity. It's unusual to let animals to such a place, but then - his owner said himself, this is a very special pet.
"It's no surprise many of their treasures were lost. What is really surprising is that they were found." Likewise, Cardinal Rose knows a thing or two about how exactly were these artifacts found. The excitement of retrieving them for UNESCO was no smaller than if she did it for herself. Well, maybe a little smaller.

[Fri]

"I noticed that you are enjoying yourself. Are you people enjoying the party or more the arts displayed here?" A voice sweetly greets Rose from her side. The voice has a distinctly foreign accent on it, but you can't be sure which accent at first glance. It's clear that Rose attracts quite some attention in the hall.

The person is holding a drink of glass himself. He's a young man in striped white suit and hair so blond that it might as well be platinum.

[tensai_oni]

"I must say, my attention is with the arts." An unexpected guest enters the conversation, but something small like that is not enough for Rose to act surprised in any way. In a fluid move, she faces the newcomer and even curtseys very lightly in a greeting.
"Of course, I enjoy the company as well."

[bladesmith]

"Heh, yeah. Moddie is rather smart for a dog, though even he can be a little slow sometimes." Dan gave a small smile as Moddie shoved him over an inch. "But you are right, in that the people who would contribute such treasures must be pretty amazing. Still, I guess no secret can be kept forever, and all things will come to light eventually. I imagine its just a matter of knowing the right people."

Even if those people were dead, sometimes. At least, that was one method that worked for him. Of course, it was right when he was getting to the interesting meat of the conversation(with two beautiful women, mind you) that someone else decided to butt in. Ah well, that seemed to be the nature of parties like this. Walk around and talk just long enough to introduce yourself and make a good impression, then move on before you can actually talk about anything. Better entertain the guests, then. Even if he wasn't officially part of the group of "hosts", he was still a UNESCO employee.

"I'd have to agree with the lady. I came to see the artifacts, though the party is pretty nice, too."

[Tengu_temp]

Before Colette manages to ask about the man's name and introduce herself another stranger shows up! Well, count on Cardinal Rose to gather attention of everyone wherever she appears, but at this rate a crowd is going to surround them soon. Still, she should answer the newcomer's question, and so she does.
"Mhm, the arts, definitely. It's not that there is anything wrong with the party, oh no - it's just that the pieces gathered here are fascinating, and in many cases very... unique."

[Fri]

As if he can read Dan's mind he chuckles. "Sorry, I didn't meant to interrupt what you people were doing. It's just that, I saw these... fetching ladies" He specifically eyes Rose, "And can't help but wondering whether I could know them better, you see?" He continues as he pets Maddie.

"Ah I forgot. Where was my manner. I should've introduced myself before barging in like this. My name is Anton Lebedev. I work at the Russian Consulate. May I know who am I currently have the pleasure to speak with?"

[tensai_oni]

"Oh? I must warn you, I am a solitary woman by nature." Rose looks rather amused by the situation.

"Ah, but where are my manners? Cardinal Rose." She produces more calling cards from her wide sleeve, having a seemingly infinite amount of them. Dan and Anton receive a card each, in this order specifically.

[Tengu_temp]

"My name is Colette Lambert. It's nice to meet you." With a smile Colette extends her hand towards Anton. Backside up - for kissing, not shaking - since she feels like playing the part of a refined lady further.
"I'm an artist, and have an interest in the history of art as well, so I'm sure you can imagine why this exhibition is so fascinating for me."

[bladesmith]

This is the point where Dan needed a single syllable last name. The "Bond, James Bond" intro just didn't work with his last name. Still, Moddie seemed to like him, and was content to let him pet him. Well, that and Moddie was using his usual crowd pleasing tactics to make sure that no one was afraid of him. People who would otherwise be nervous around a big dog were often the first targets for the spirit's shows of affection. He was about to hold out a hand to shake with Mr. Lebedev when it was filled by a small business card, and the name Cardinal Rose. He'd heard that name before, somewhere. On the news. Oh, right! The thief that spent so much effort being well known enough that when she did manage to pull off a heist it was amazingly well documented. Which made her an odd choice to have aboard a ship filled with artifacts. Yet she wasn't here to steal anything, or news cameras would be all over the place. Which meant that she was invited for some other reason. Like if she was here for the same reasons he was...

Dan realized he'd been zoning out again as Moddie's tail hit his leg and brought him back to the real world. Quickly pulling his smile back on, he stuffed the card in his pocket, and as something of a nervous habit swept his hair out from in front of his eyes.

"Dan Abramov. I try and be an archeologist most days." He offered his hand to Anton. "Its an honor to meet you, sir. And a great pleasure to make your acquaintance, Ms. Rose."

[Tengu_temp]

"Most days. And what do you do the rest of the time, monsieur Abramov?", asks Colette curiously.
Hmm, a Russian last name. But nothing else about him is Russian, unlike the other man...

[Fri]

He kisses Collette's and Rose's hands, and shakes Dan's

"Archaeologist? That sounds interesting, Mr. Abramov. History is one of my favourite subject. And I'm not much of an art person, Miss Lambert but I appreciate artists very much nonetheless

But... Cardinal Rose?" He eyes the card with curious look. "Not the Cardinal Rose? How... facinating. Pardon me if I'm surprised." He says, although there are no look of surprise at all in his face. "Because if you are the one I'm thinking about, I know some people who would like to get their hands on you in this ship very much." He laughs. "Don't worry, I won't let them ruin this cruise for you, my lady."

"This is very interesting. This ship is filled to the brim with famous peoples, it seems." He glances toward some particular people in the crowds.

"What do you think about this cruise overall? A rather expensive way to transport a bunch of museum artifacts, don't you think?"

[tensai_oni]

"I am under your care then." Rose's smile is slightly mischevious. She does not mention how she is more than able to defend herself against those... annoyed by her past and current actions.

"This is a very flashy way of doing what could be done quicker and more efficiently. I believe UNESCO wants to show off how their efforts paid off. But on the other hand, this may draw attention of... unwelcome people." She knows what she's talking about. If it wasn't for Spriggan, she would be one of those people.

[Tengu_temp]

"I think UNESCO decided that if they have to transport the artifacts, they might as well do it in a way that will raise some money for a good cause and people's awareness of their cultural heritage. Besides... If they didn't organize the cruise, none of us would probably be here right now. And that'd be a pity, non?"

[Fri]

"True enough..." He nods.

"As I said, history is one of my interest, but I never have any of these.. sense of patriotic art history or what-you-call-it. Oh, I admire good art or ancient artifacts as the next guy, but on the whole, I guess I can call my interest to be more... pragmatic. Besides, who can tell who actually 'own' some of these artifacts? or which country's art gallery should house them? In my opinion, they all are rather arbitrary...

Ah, don't take it too seriously. It's just because I spent too much time with an aquintance of mine who works in the British Royal Museum." he let loose a small chuckles, then lean closer to you. "Don't tell her this, but I always think that he's kind of a hypocrite. They said they tried to return the artifacts they looted from their moustache swinging imperial days, but I know that they kept the best ones with them...

Oh well, don't let me withold you from having fun!"

[tensai_oni]

"It would be in poor taste for me to judge how others perceive what is their property, and what is not." Rose being a shameless thief, hence the stressed out part. She intends it to be said jokingly rather than as serious criticism.

"Do not worry at all. Words are not enough to spoil this voyage."

[Tengu_temp]

"As long as those pieces actually are in a gallery, where they can be preserved, the public can see them and experts analyze them, I'm fine with that.", Colette voices her opinion, wondering on the inside just what kind of personal benefit the Russian gains from art. He works at a consulate! But when people say that their interests are pragmatic, they almost always are talking about money.
"Well, as for your acquitance, we don't even know her name so there is no need to worry that we'll warn her.", she says with an amused smile. "And I'm having fun. Though all this talking makes me thirsty, a bit."

(Just to make sure, I'm not ignoring Dan or acting as if he was quiet all the time, unless he really is. I just assume the timeline during this conversation is a bit non-linear at the moment.)

[Fri]

"Is this guy bothering you?" It's a female voice now that greets you. A woman in simple black dress smiles and approaches you. She's holding a small purse in one hand, and her hair is held in a professional looking bun.

"Oh, didn't know that you're here already, Lara." The russian diplomat return his smiles and gestures to kiss her hand. But the woman pulls her lightly tanned hand and doesn't let Anton kiss it for some reason.

"Oh, cut it out, Anton. I know what you really want to do with me." she says,still smiling, and holding her right hand tighter for some reason. You think she meant to hide it, but by doing it you instead notices the strangely dull gold ring on her index finger.

"Oh, I'm hurt, really hurt. Just ask these ladies and gentlemen. Have I done anything other than being a very nice guy today?" He comically feigns sadness. "If you allow me," he asks the female newcomer, but doesn't wait for her answer and introduce her anyway. "The beautiful and talented Dame Lara Fields. Curator of the British Royal Museum. Many items from in this ship would end up in her care."

"I see that you're being enchanting as always. Just tell me if he bothers you, I'll get him out of here in no time. Politely, of course. Or are you his aquintance?" She politely smiles.

Anton is going to introduce you, but he sees Rose and winces, and look at her with an over-the-top 'what do I do now' look behind Lara's back.

[tensai_oni]

"We only just met, Dame Fields. But do not worry, there was no bothering involved so far." Rose ignores Anton's awkwardness. Could this person give them trouble if she discovers Rose's identity as a phantom thief? Well, trouble it is then. Play the music!

"Cardinal Rose. It is a pleasure to personally meet the curator of such a splendid museum."

[Tengu_temp]

So this is that acquitance, huh? Colette can't help but be amused as the two bicker. Hmm, is she married? Maybe to him, even? They have different last names, but they do argue like a married couple... One way to find out.

"What she said. Your friend has been nothing but good company to us." With a smile, Colette extends her arm to shake hands with the curator politely. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Colette Lambert, and art and history are among my interests. The items exhibited here are wonderful! The party is nice, too."

[Fri]

Lara twitches as she hears what Rose's introduction. "What a kidder. I know you'll be good friend with Anton, that rascal." she says without skipping a beat, smiling even wider.

She leans toward her and whispers. "You're lucky that I'm not in work today, don't think I've forgotten about the Cat's Eye, you thief. You're just lucky that I wasn't there at that night. Try to do your shenanigans here, I dare you. And you'll regret it."

She then moves on as nothing had happened and replies to Collette with a sigh. "I guess so. But I prefer my dusty old museum much more than a party like this."

"Oh, she would. I think Lara's into older stuffs. The older, the better, right Lara?" Anton grins. "Mr. Abramov here is an archeologist, Lara. Do you prefer things older as well, Mr. Abramov?"

"He'd be much more charming if only he know when to shut that embouchement of his. But yes. I'm not actually a social person... I prefer to work and in my line I usually work... alone."She says with a strange glint in her eyes. "Where do you work, Mr. Abramov? Are you from a college? Maybe we've met somewhere, but I just don't recognize you."

"But you know what's better older?" Anton grins again and snatches a drink from a passing waiter. "These stuffs. Come, don't make Unesco's money got wasted in vain. Ah... this is the true cultural heritage from our ancestors... This is what UNESCO should preserve."

As the party goes, the cellphone of the three of you beeps at the same time. Anton and Lara eyes you with a curious look.

If you checks your cellphone, it's a message from Chun-hei Kim, the head of UNESCO's Buerau of Strategic Planning. But not many people know that he's also Spriggan's main Liaison Officer.

What thrilling, top secret message that he sent to you?

"Hey, you guys are in the party yet? You should if you're not yet. The booze are great. Oh, and the director's going to start his speech anytime soon. That's occupational hazard, so bear with it."

(it's still 'feel free to do what you'd like in the party' time now! chat, get wasted, invent some npc... I hope Salbazier would be back soon.)

[tensai_oni]

"Oh my. It seems my reputation is getting ahead of me. But worry not, today I am here for drinks only." Rose takes this in stride. No fake smiles, no counter-threats. Just keeping it cool.

"Let's not let them go to waste, then." She responds to Anton, although her original drink is still in her hand as Rose drinks in moderation.

She receives the message and acknowledges it. That doesn't mean she will instantly go to the speech. Haste only makes you do more mistakes.

[Tengu_temp]

"I will take one of those as well." Colette grabs a glass of wine from the same plate as Anton. "Santé! Ah, this is just what I needed - a really good year, if I do say so. Of course, good drinks don't have the staying power of actual historical items, even if their ages are similar in some cases."
Before Colette can participate more in the conversation, her phone calls - and the fact that the same thing happens to Dan and Rose is surprising enough that she does not even think what'd happen if the others noticed her ringtone is the "incoming Codec message" sound from MGS.
"Oh, pardon me! It'll take just a second." She goes to the side to check the message - a really unimportant one, it turns out. But it left her with a vital clue.
Was that just a coincidence...? Or are these two working for Spriggan as well? But... It's Cardinal Rose! It cannot be! Or can it?
She has to find out. Colette approaches the group again, Rose most notably.
"Pardon me again. Would you mind if we talked a bit? In private?"

[tensai_oni]

"I do not mind in the slightest. How can I help you?" Rose looks mildly curious. Colette wants to talk with her and Dan in private? About what, she wonders - there is speculation already, but she'd rather be sure.

[Tengu_temp]

It's mostly Rose Colette was asking, but if Dan decides to tag along, she will raise no objections. More convenient that way. And if he doesn't come now, for whatever reason, then she will just have to ask him later.

Colette leads her guest(s) to a more private table on the side and sits down. She gives them a moment (which she also uses to discreetely make sure nobody is listening in) before speaking up.
"Well then. I'm sorry if I sound too nosy, but may I ask what was the message you just received? I'm sure you know why I'm curious... And, of course, you can ask me about the same thing, if you want."

(I think it's up to Bladesmith to decide if Dan joins in or not.)

[tensai_oni]

"Oh. It's just a friendly reminder." Rose smiles. Colette seems like a polite and smart person, the kind she likes most. And she's her fan, always a plus.
"A friend reminds me that I should be attending the speech soon."

[Tengu_temp]

"Ah, same here. Does that mean we share a friend and didn't know about it? Interesting, don't you think?" So Rose at the very least knows Chun-hei Kim, and he surely is aware of her identity. Did she help Spriggan with something at any point? The idea that she and the thief might be on one side after all brings pleasant thoughts to Colette. The good alcohol helps.
"But I don't think if he will mind if we take our time. After all, the speech is not starting yet. Hmm, another thing I wonder about... Have you ever lent your talents to someone else? Or does Cardinal Rose always work for herself and herself alone?"

[tensai_oni]

"By all means. Hurrying never ended well for anyone." Rose is enjoying herself, or at least that's the aura she is emanating. On the other hand, she always looks like she's enjoying herself.
"I do not... acquire things on commission, if that is what you ask." It's no big deal, revealing information like that. "I do help my friends, but that is out of the goodness in my heart."

[Tengu_temp]

"Friends. Like the one who just called us?", Colette asks, seemingly with absent-minded curiosity. But there's a lot of premeditation in this question in actuality.
"And well, what can I say. I know you stand by your principles, but it still disappoints me a bit to know that if there's some item I really want, I can't ask you to get it for me." She doesn't sound very serious here. Colette is for stealing only when Spriggan demands it, for a good cause.

[tensai_oni]

"Oh yes, I did say he was a friend after all. Didn't I?" Rose pauses to take a sip of her drink. Although that's a lie of sorts. Even if her relations with Spriggan are amiable, Rose didn't really join out of her own free will. That does not count as real friendship.
"Well, you know what to do to change that. Become a friend of mine - but I warn you, it is not easy."

[Tengu_temp]

So she did work for Spriggan, at least a few times! I wonder is she an active agent? Maybe we'll even work together... That'd be great...
More happy thoughts for Colette. But how close are they to reality? Time will tell.
"It might be a hard goal, but I still hope that I will be able to achieve it. I didn't know what kind of a lady are you personally, but as it turns out, Cardinal Rose is as fascinating without her mask as she is with it.", Colette compliments with a smile. "Even more, actually. The mask hides a beautiful face."

[bladesmith]

"Oh, she would. I think Lara's into older stuffs. The older, the better, right Lara?" Anton grins. "Mr. Abramov here is an archeologist, Lara. Do you prefer things older as well, Mr. Abramov?"

"He'd be much more charming if only he know when to shut that embouchement of his. But yes. I'm not actually a social person... I prefer to work and in my line I usually work... alone."She says with a strange glint in her eyes. "Where do you work, Mr. Abramov? Are you from a college? Maybe we've met somewhere, but I just don't recognize you."

"But you know what's better older?" Anton grins again and snatches a drink from a passing waiter. "These stuffs. Come, don't make Unesco's money got wasted in vain. Ah... this is the true cultural heritage from our ancestors... This is what UNESCO should preserve."
"Whatever I want to be." Dan shrugged as he replied quietly to Colette's question.

For a long while Dan was content to just listen to the conversation and pet Moddie, the big dog content to receive attention from whoever would give it. He didn't have a whole lot to add to the discussion, and he liked to hear other people talk before he overwhelmed them with his charming personality. It let him get a better idea of who they were before he distracted them. Still, when someone else began asking direct questions of him, and the two women he had begun the conversation with were slipping off after receiving messages of their own(which made an interesting connection in his mind), he thought it best to keep the history buffs happy. Besides, he thought as he closed his phone and slipped it into his pocket, it isn't often you get to talk shop with the curator of a friggin' huge museum.

"It prefer that if anything isn't living, it is older. Otherwise it tends to be a little... Gooey." Dan points out with a chuckle, doing his best to be suave. "Unfortunately though, I'm not working with any college in particular. A little freelance exploring in the American southwest. Still, I believe your museum may have gotten a few pieces from my first real dig. The Stanford dig, in the site near Edinburgh a few years back. Those were some neat burial pieces."

[tensai_oni]

"My, you're quite a charmer." Rose is not embarassed. Flatteries, she heard them as often as curses. Alright - almost as often. Colette made it pretty obvious that she too is a Spriggan agent. And so is Dan, more likely than not.

Three agents on one ship? That's more than necessary for only a relaxing trip like this. Rose starts to suspect Spriggan is expecting uninvited company. While still smiling and seemingly busy with the pleasant smalltalk, her eyes start to move around and catch details of the place that may be useful for later. Just in case.

[Fri]

"Ah. I personally worked for that one. Ah, but I guess we never met in person. Well, if one day you..."

"Oh, there you are."

Lara's sentence is cut by the arrival of an middle aged asian man. Despite his fully greyed hair, you somehow get the feeling that this man is still as energetic as twenty years ago. Maybe that's the feeling you get because he's currently holding one drink on each of his hand and freely sipping on them.

"Good evening, Mr. Kim." Anton and Lara greet him at the same time.

It's the person who have just messaged you, Chun-hei Kim!

"Good evening... good evening." He replies with a grin. "Enjoying the party? You should be, we're paying a lot for this. But excuse me, Dame Fields, Mr. Lebedev, could I borrow these young fellows for a moment?"

He then beckon the three of you to move closer to him.

"Ah... so you've met each others..." He says in a lower volume. "Your types rarely meet each other in person right? Anyway, congratulation for your latest work. We appreciate it."

He waits for a bit before continuing. (you can reply or ask more question or chat more if you feel like it at this point. But after a while...)

"I wonder where the director is though... he should've been here already. He hasn't replied to my message. Hey, would one of you be kind enough to pick him up? I think he should be in the captain's quarters, having some private wine tasting party or something, blast that old coot. I don't feel like making a ruckus just because he forgot his watch or something. This is voluntary of course." He eyes Rose with a coy look. "Don't get yourself away from this party if you don't feel like it."

[Tengu_temp]

Chun-hei Kim appears before Colette can respond to Rose. And good, she's not entirely sure what should she say.
"Ah, hello again! Yes, the party is first class. I have no complaints."
So it's just like I suspected. They really are Spriggan agents like me... That's great. Dan Abramov looks like an interesting guy, and Cardinal Rose is Cardinal Rose!
The lack of the director's presence, though, is a bit of an eyebrow-raises to Colette.
"Are you sure that is the case? I don't think if the director would be this irresponsible... Well, anyway, I can go and look for him. Does anyone want to tag along?"

[bladesmith]

"I guess not. If you'll excuse me, Ms. Fields."

Dan tries what he hopes is an respectful and high-class exit from the conversation as the boss calls him over. Gathered with Colette and Cardinal, he smiled slightly as his suspicions were confirmed. So, there were other Spriggan agents. He'd heard stories, but most of them were older, and he'd never had the opportunity to work with other people the were part of Spriggan. Nice to know he wasn't quite alone on a huge ship full of the rich and the boring. Looking at the other two, he nodded once to each of them, as if he was being introduced again. Stuffing his hands into his pockets, Dan looked up at a few stray hairs, then blew them from in front of his eyes unceremoniously.

"As great as this party is, I could use a break. And if that means crashing a private party in the cap'n's cabin, all the better."

Gone were the attempts at secret agent suaveness and well-mannered etiquette. Gone was the snobbery and stiffness. Now there was just a young man hanging out with friends. Even Moddie seemed to relax, his jaws widening into a giant doggy grin, his tail wagging happily.

[tensai_oni]

"I could use a change of air myself." The best way to make sure Rose does something is to tell her she doesn't have to do it. So she will check out the captain's cabin. The fact that the two others are pretty much confirmed for Spriggan agents only makes it more exciting - she knows this organisation employs... unique people.
"What an interesting company. Well then, shall we go?"

[Fri]

"Well, if you feel like it. Man, three agents just to pick up the director? What is he, a thirteenth century haunted relic? Anyway the captain's quarter should be around that part of the ship." He says before he explains the way to the captain's quarter.

"No need to hurry!" He wiggles his fully occupied hands.

[Tengu_temp]

"Well, if you feel like it. Man, three agents just to pick up the director? What is he, a thirteenth century haunted relic?"

"Of course not: haunted relics can take better care of themselves."
Colette heads to the captain's quarters. What else is there to do? Well, enjoying the company of the other two. And Moddie, can't forget about him - he's a nice dog.

[Fri]

The night is still young, and as you walk through the deck, you can feel the sea breeze over you. More people enter the hall, rich people, important people, and more security guards follow them.

(feel free to do things on the way)

But before long, you arrive at the door of the captains quarter. The hall is empty, but you think you can hear voices inside.

[Tengu_temp]

Voices? Let's see...
Colette stands by the door for a moment, not opening it yet and trying to catch who's talking inside and about what.

Alertness: [roll0] + 4
2 minuses, 2 pluses, 4 total.

[Fri]

You hear someone chatting in... german you think. Just talking. Do you understand deustch?

[Tengu_temp]

(I do now! Third known language, specified.)

[Fri]

You just caught the end of a conversation, it seems. And steps, toward the door!

"I know he should be here! The point is, he's not."

[Tengu_temp]

I don't know this voice... Here they come!
Colette gets suspicious. She quickly steps away from the door and tries to look normal and innocent, as if she just arrived.

[Fri]

There's an awkward silence for a while. For some reason, nothing happened.

Then the door opens.

An old man covered in a suit and overcoat appears. His gray hair is messy, and a thick glasses covers his face.

"Yes, can I help you?" he ask, with a heavy german accent. You don't think you've met this guy before.

[bladesmith]

Dan followed along, idly whistling snatches of tunes from "The Wizard of Oz" as he strolled along. As they came to the door, he hung back and let Colette deal with the people inside. She seemed quite good at dealing with the living, and didn't quite inspire the shock value that Rose did. Of course, when a guy like that opens the door, the situation begged for a smart remark. Of course, that really didn't help much. Instead, Dan compromised by keeping his answer straightforward, but letting his appearance and attitude provide the insolence when contrasted with the person they were asking about. After all, he had been given a mission by the boss-man. Actually blending in with all the snobs on this boat was kinda low on the priority list.

"We were hoping to speak with the director. Its important, and stuff."

Moddie settled for sitting down in front of the man and fixing him with his most convincing set of puppy-dog eyes. The fact that they were glowing dimly hopefully wouldn't dull the affect at all.

[Fri]

"The Director? Ah, you mean the Director of UNESCO? I'm sorry, you must've missed him on the way here." He smiles."There's no one here besides me right now." He says as he continues to hold the doorknob with his silk-gloves covered hand.

[tensai_oni]

Now that is mighty suspicious. With a "don't mind me" look on her face, Rose starts looking around for alternate ways to enter the cabin. Perhaps a window or maybe a ventilation shaft...

Casing: [roll0] + 5

[Fri]

The old man blocks most of the view to the room, but you think you see the ubiquitous grates of a ventilation shaft on the ceiling.

[tensai_oni]

Time for action. Rose discretely disappears from sight. If anyone tries to look in her direction: friend, foe or older stranger alike, they'll find her to be not there. At least if her plan succeeds.

Rose squeezes into a nearby ventillation shaft, somehow managing to fit inside despite her huge dress and hat. She will casually move through the shafts towards the cabin. No rush - it's like a walk in the park. A very tight park. Hopefully she won't get lost along the way.

Stealth to disappear (Quick Exit): [roll0] + 3
Burglary for declaration (casing): [roll1] + 5

EDIT: What a terrible roll. I'll tag the ventilation shaft from the previous casing attempt, if you don't mind. That brings the stealth roll to 4.

Also, Rose won't immediately enter the room once she reaches it via the shafts. She'll take a peak inside first.

[Tengu_temp]

"Is that so? If you were alone, then who were you talking with inside the room, my good sir?", Colette asks the old man. In German.

[bladesmith]

Huh, that was somewhat odd. The guy was being silly and evasive, Rose had slipped back the way they had come, and Colette seemed suspicious. Which meant that something was up, and the head honcho of UNESCO was probably involved. Which could end badly. Either that, or this Spriggan super-spy crap was getting to his head.

"I'm sorry. I think we got off on the wrong foot, here." Dan stepped forward extending his hand so that the German would have to take his hand off the door handle to shake his. "I'm Dan Abramov, an archeologist working with UNESCO for a moment. And this is Moddie."

On cue, Moddie stepped up to the man as if the big dog was just being overly friendly, then sat back down with a grunt and a stern look from Dan. Like a well-trained dog should. The fact that he now had a decent angle to see inside the room was purely coincidence.

So, I guess I should be rolling something.
Empathy to see if he is lying: [roll0]+1
Rapport for a good impression: [roll1]
And Alertness for Moddie: [roll2]+3

Also, if I can, Burglary to case the place, in case I need to break in later: [roll3] +5(+2 from Mental Blueprint)

[Fri]

"Oh?" The old man looks rather surprised by Colette's accusation. "Ah, you must've heard me talking to myself. You know, old men..."

For Dan, the old man sounds like a typical old man. Nothing too suspicious. Moddie doesn't notice anything out of the line either. There are smell of other peoples there, but it could be from the previous hour, or even the previous day.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Abramov. And you too, moddie." He says as he pats the dog with his left hand. "I understand, isn't he supposed to do a speech or something soon?" He thinks for a while, before gesturing..

"Come, see for yourself." He beckons you to come inside. "Why do I need to hide another old man, hahah. Pardon the mess, I'm looking for my keys.

Meanwhile, in the ventilation shaft...

Rose thought that she's going to be lost in the crisscrossing labyrinthe of the ventilation shaft. Fortunately, she's no stranger to tight fits in uncomfortable places. With just vague memory about the position of the room's ventilation shaft, she manages to work her way there.

Finally, she finds the literal light at the end of the tunnel.

(roll alertness!)

[tensai_oni]

Rose looks down, curiously but calmly. So far, everything goes according to plan.

[roll0] + 2

[Tengu_temp]

There is something suspicious going on here...
"I see. Would you mind if I take a look around? It's important that we find the director soon, wherever he's hiding." Colette enters the room, unless the old man has a change of mind. She tries to keep track of all the details around her. "By the way... Who are you, sir? I'm afraid I don't recognize you."

[bladesmith]

"Actually it was the speech we were hoping to talk to him about. Making sure that he was on time, and to clear up a few historical discrepancies about some of the pieces."

Uh, distraction, right! He was the distraction. He needed to keep the man's eyes on him while the other two did... Something. Whatever the other two were doing. Or something like that. He wasn't quite sure about the whole teamwork thing, and he was most certainly not used to being the face-man, but Rose had disappeared, and Colette was quite focused on her mission. So, he would keep the guy talking, at least for a moment.

"So, uh, was the director here before, then? Can you tell us how long ago he left?"

[Fri]

The room is simpler than you thought. It's a medium sized room, with a bed and some wardrobes, plus a door that you think should lead to the bathroom or something. And Collette notices that the room is in a mess. (You can roll alertness with your closet slob aspect here if you want!)

"You don't know who I am? Of course... how could you know..." He smiles. "I'm Herman Schultz, the captain of this ship. Yes, the director is an old friend of mine. He says to Dan.

"He left... I'm not sure. About half an hour ago maybe. Maybe you missed him on your way. See? he's not here. Now why don't you go back and tell the party that."

On the ventilation shaft... Something caught Rose's eyes! A piece of clothings is caught in the ventilation shaft. From the look of it, it looks like a piece from an expensive suit. With the relatively lack of dust there, you think it's rather recent.

What you don't notice though, is that the grate is apparently not firmly positioned, and not even locked in place. You noticed it late that the grate was just opened recently, and apparently put back in a hurry. As you nudge it, it wobbles dangerously! (Oh no! roll athletic!)

[tensai_oni]

So that's what happened! Rose wasn't the first person to use the shafts recently. But for now, she has more pressing matters. Such as evading a faux pas involving a grate.

[roll0]

[Tengu_temp]

"I see! Nice to meet you, captain. I'm Colette Lambert, an artist. I work for UNESCO sometimes." Colette looks around the room - the mess looks quite familiar to her, but maybe there are some hints about the missing man's whereabouts?
"I wonder where did the director disappear to..."

Alertness: [roll0]
Rerolling with a Fate Point, total result: 5.

[Fri]

"You tell me..." Mr. Schutlz replies.

Collette is familiar to messy rooms. That's why she notices that this room is too messy for someone who's simply looking for keys. You don't pour the content of your cupboards just for looking for some keys, do you?

And, with her familiarity with messy room, her eyes automatically wander onto a certain corner. That's where people usually put their laundry bag, and just like that, she finds a black plastic bag full of laundry, partially hidden by a wardrobe. Normally people won't notice it except if they're specifically looking for it, but reflex works in strange ways...

Except if this Mr Schultz is a closet crosdresser that regularly wears female panties, that pile of laundry definitely belong to a woman.

Rose manages to catch the grates perfectly without even making a sound. Now she's in the perfect place to observe the room from a different vantage point than her comrades. She then watches them walking into the room, and chats with the old man.

[bladesmith]

"Huh. And he didn't say where he was going? We really do need to speak with him."
Dan mused, losing track for a moment on exactly what was going on as he felt the air around for the ebb and flow of the unmeasured types of energy. Moddie's cold fur under his hand brought him back int time to respond to the captain, though. He was the distraction, after all.
"I am honored to meet you, captain, though I'm sorry it had to be under these circumstances."

While he was speaking, Dan glanced over the man's shoulder as he thought he caught a glimpse of movement from the grate over an air circulation duct. That Would probably be Rose, if he guessed right. Cat burglary was what she did, after all, and vents were just another way in. On the other hand, Colette seemed to be quite interested in the room, and was off in a corner looking at something. On the last hand, Dan thought the man seemed captain-ly enough for a cruise ship, but something seemed off about the whole situation. What he was somewhat sure about, was whether he could keep the man talking for long enough to get any more information.

"Hey, Colette? I don't think we are going to find the director here. Maybe we can look down by the bar."

Um, I don't know if it works like this, but I am going to use the Psychic stunt to roll Mysteries and see if there is any supernatural shenaniganery going on.
[roll0]+5

[Fri]

Whatever is going on here, Dan can be sure that it doesn't involve any supernatural... yet at least. The only thing that he can be certain is that there are no psychic residue, angry ghost, or supernatural miasma lying in the room.

[Tengu_temp]

Hmm, either our captain is into crossdressing or he has a lover. Maybe she's even hiding somewhere here? Colette is tempted to knock on the closet, but she decides not to. That'd just be embarassing for the old man who didn't do anything wrong. For now, at least.
"Yes, it seems that he is somewhere else. If we want to find him fast, we should get going."
Colette keeps what she found in this room in mind. If it turns out the director really is missing, those might be important clues in the investigation.
Actually... No, I have to know.
"Please don't take it personally, captain, but the whole room looks... ransacked, I could even say. Were it really only the keys that you were looking for?"

(Can I roll Empathy or something to check is there anything weird about the captain?)

[Fri]

(sure if you want to)



"Huh. And he didn't say where he was going? We really do need to speak with him."

"Sadly, no."


"Yes, it seems that he is somewhere else. If we want to find him fast, we should get going."

The captain seems glad to show you the exit.


"Yes, it seems that he is somewhere else. If we want to find him fast, we should get going."

"Sure sure. Good luck with your search!"



"Please don't take it personally, captain, but the whole room looks... ransacked, I could even say. Were it really only the keys that you were looking for?"

"Yes... my keys. I'm such a forgetful person, you know. I have to ransack my own room everytime I look for my keys."

Before you exits the room, you heard something though. A loud bump from one of the wardrobe.

[Tengu_temp]

"Oh?" Colette stops. "What's that sound coming from the closet? Maybe we should check, it might be the director."
She doesn't do anything yet. She just watches the captain's reaction.

Empathy: [roll0] + 2 = 5 total

[Fri]

You notices that Mr. Schultz for some reason is very conscious for his right hand for some reason. You wonder why.


"Oh?" Colette stops. "What's that sound coming from the closet? Maybe we should check, it might be the director."
She doesn't do anything yet. She just watches the captain's reaction.

"How can it be the director? As I said, the director isn't here, and I have no reason to lie to you, right? Now, enjoy yourself in this ship.
Most probably it's my coathanger. You know, coathangers fall by themselves all the time." He says as he gestures, maybe a bit too excited, for you to exit the room.

Before you do though, you hear another bump from the same place.

"Or maybe..." He says. "It's a rat. You know, no matter how high class a ship is, there's always rats there. Rat that I will make sure to kill if it makes any more noise. Now, thank you for your concern, I'll make sure to notify the director if I see him." He says as he gestures toward the exit.

[bladesmith]

Dan turned halfway to leave when the thump resounded through the narrow corridors of the ship. Okay, maybe it didn't resound that much, but he still heard it. Dan did his best to play the un-suspicious one, leaving his act at simply turning back to face the captain with one raised eyebrow. Still, it was hard not to instinctively tense his fists as if preparing for a fight.

On the other hand, Moddie was a much better bluffer then him. Either that, or people just didn't care to think that a dog could have a single purpose in mind, or plot nefariously. He and Dan knew better, though. Perking his ears up like fuzzy radar discs, Moddie made an curious sounding noise in his throat as he got up to investigate the closet, snuffling in front of the door.

[tensai_oni]

That's a tall tale the captain is trying to sell. Very tall. He is so obviously grasping at explanations, it is not even funny.

Rose is interested in that closet (if she noticed its peculiarity, that is). More likely than not, someone is inside. For now, she will wait and plan her course of action. The situation is starting to get worse by the second. Worse, and more interesting.

[Tengu_temp]

Could the captain be even worse at lying? I don't think that's physically possible.
"A rat? I want to see! Look, Moddie is curious as well." Colette opens the closet. This whole thing starts to look very suspicious, so if the director is inside bound and gagged, she won't be too surprised.

[Fri]

"No, Don't! Schiesse!" the old man swears. He tries to restrain Colette, but before he could do that collette had opened the wardrobe

And a bound and gagged woman falls down, wearing what you think to be a sailor's suit. (No, not this one.
(http://seanver.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Yui-and-Azusa-serafuku.jpg) This one (http://www.mymiraclebaby.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/BT1700_lge.jpg).)
"Gottverdammt" He says as he closes the door. "I've had it with this nonsense anyway." He says as he claps his hands.

And out of nowhere. Well, actually from the various wardrobes and closet, six person in suits, complete with sunglasses, pop into the room! Two from a wardrobe, two from the bathroom, and two from under the bed.

He raises his right hand toward Collete, and you see a flash of light! And you notices that the silk gloves that covers it disintegrates. Underneath it, you see a crude mechanical hand, with a strange contraption at the center of the palm. Before you know it, the wardrobe explodes! Does collete explode with it!?

[roll0]+4 (collete can use the aspect she tagged from her previous empathy roll to dodge this)

"Show these meddling kids the exit... FROM THIS WORLD!"

(everyone have higher initiative than the minions, so you all can move now. The enemies are divided into three group of 2 sunglassed minions, and Mr. Schultz himself. There's a group of minion between Mr. Schultz and any of you.

[Tengu_temp]

Crap!
Colette manages to push the bound woman out of the way, but there's no time for her to dodge - immediately afterwards the closet blows up, enveloping her in the explosion and the following cloud of thick smoke! She didn't even manage to shout anything...
A quick slicing noise can be heard and two knives fly from within the cloud, hitting the closest men in black in their shoulders! The cloud starts to slowly disperse, revealing a humanoid shape still standing there.
"Ouch... That was my best dress, captain."
Colette doesn't look like someone who just survived an explosion - her outfit is torn quite badly (though she at least didn't suffer any wardrobe malfunctions), but she herself looks at most disheveled. And much more serious and annoyed than before. And holding yet another knife in her hand.

Weaponry against minions: [roll0] + 5
Rerolling this: If it's okay to tag that aspect to reroll (as mentioned in OOC), total result is 3. Still not that awesome.

Suffering third block of damage from the explosion.

[tensai_oni]

A crate falls down to the floor, kicked out of the ventilation shaft, and Rose follows after. She's a bit dusty and crumpled after the narrow spelunking - but much less than expected from such a venture.
"What a crowded room." She looks around sceptically. Her hand disappears inside her wide sleeve, and when it returns it carries several throwing knives. Knives which she immediately throws at one of the MIB duo.
"Don't move for a second. Much appreciated." She aims to pin them down to the floor or nearby furniture rather than hit the vitals. Shame that it came to violence so quicky... but these people seem eager to hurt the other Spriggan agents, and Rose cannot have that.

Weaponry: [roll0] + 2

[bladesmith]

Seriously, were these guys supposed to be ninjas, or secret agents? Either way, they were making him wish he'd brought a gun. Maybe he should get one of those little Walther pistols like Bond. Or maybe he could fight cliche with cliche.

"Hey, you forgot to say anything about getting our little dog, too."

As if on cue, Moddie came rushing out of the smoke from the closet explosion, bodily tackling the suit between himself and Mr. Funny Accent, growling loudly, his eyes glowing an angry burnt orange. Using Moddie as his own distraction, Dan jumped into the fray, aiming a right hook at his own closest MIB. There were a lot of knives flying around, but for now Dan was just really, really hoping that those girls were as good with them as they looked.

Fists for Dan: [roll0]+1 (+4 if Moddie is assisting)
Or, if you would rather Moddie make his own rolls: [roll1]+3

[Fri]

The Men in Black instantly draw their sleek and silenced pistols, but before they could do anything Colette's knife flies among the cloud of dusts, wooden splinters, and assorted underwears that follows the explosion, and catches one of the MIB off guard.

The wound is superficial though and her target still stands, without even breaking his poker face. The one caught in surprise by Rose's dynamic entry is less lucky, he drops his gun and instantly pinned to the wall, down to struggling uselessly for the time being. And the last one easily parries Maddie's jaw with his gun and dodge Dan's socks-to-the-face.

"I don't have time for this. Deal with them and the useless woman! I'm going to advance the plan, with or without the blasted amerikaner!" Herman Schultz says as he exits the room, his long overcoat trails behind him.

"Jawohl, Herr Doktor!" The MIB replies in unison. "Hmmph!" The gagged and bound woman tries to roll to safety as they raise their guns and bullets start to fly EVERYWHERE in the relatively tiny room.

(+1 attack against Colette, +1 attack against Rose, and +2 attack against Dan, all ranged so you can't dodge them with fist or weapons. But man, their rolls are bad.

Current situation: MiB team A with one wounded, MiB team B one down, and MiB team C still fresh)

[tensai_oni]

"Are you alright, miss?" Rose bows down to the bound and gagged woman. And it so just happens that the bullets just pass above her.

"Oh my, talk about a sudden breeze." She holds her hat, as if afraid it might fall off.

[roll0]+5

[Tengu_temp]

"Too slow." Colette jumps between the burst of fire with great speed, not getting glanced even by a single bullet. And each jump takes her closer to the two MIBs she attacked previously - the last one is immediately followed by several quick slashes of her knife. She does not aim at major arteries or organs - she only wants to take out the enemies, not kill them - but the strikes still draw blood.

Athletics: [roll0] + 4
Weapons: In the OOC thread, total roll 5.

[bladesmith]

Swearing loudly, Dan managed to duck out of the way of the gleaming cylindrical silencers pointed at him, coming back up to grab his attacker's arm, attempting to wrench the pistol away from him. Less bullets flying in his direction would be nice. That, and he felt better about his chances with a gun in hand then in a fist fight.

At the same moment, Moddie struck with a low growl, his eyes now blazing blood red. Leaping on the flunky, the supernatural hound tore at the man with his teeth, aiming mostly for his arms and legs.

Alright, lets try a maneuver then. I'm hoping to try and disarm the MIB with Fists, opposed by whatever skill Fri thinks is appropriate. The hope is that I can actually take the gun from him, but perhaps that is only if I generate enough shifts? Or something. I dunno.
Fists: [roll0]
Moddie's Fists attack: [roll1]

[Fri]

"Hmmph!" The gagged woman can only widen her eyes and scream incoherently at Rose, but for some reason, none of the MIB's bullet touches rose.

Colette's opponents tries to aim, but it seems that using guns in this tight quarter is a tactical mistake. Colette easily finishes the wounded MIB, and before his partner could pull the trigger, he's down as well.

Dan's could learn on how to disarm guns more since his attempt is actually less than stellar, but luckily his target is quite distracted by the row of sharp teeth that moddie has, and Dan's flailing manages to drop his gun.

(Rose doesn't seem to attack this round, what do you want to do this round?)

[tensai_oni]

Ignoring the bullets and general chaos around her, Rose steps lightly towards the bound woman and starts to untie her.

"Could you answer a question of mine? Or two, as it may be."

(This will be my action for this round)

[Fri]

"Yes, yes, of course. But I think you currently have other problems." She says as the remaining opponents continue to attack.

The Men in Black are clearly taken aback by the surprisingly competent opponents they're facing. Now they're left with half of their original number.

"Who are they!" one of them yells in german, betraying their stoic first impression. One of them let loose a barrage of shots toward Colette, but it's clear that he's panicking. (defend against -1 attack). And the other two, noticing that guns are tactical disadvantages in this limited space, launches some desperate punches toward Dan instead (defend against +2 attack)

[Tengu_temp]

Colette avoids the unaimed fire effortlessly. She jumps into the lone MIB's direction, stabs his hand (with the purpose of making him drop his gun) and then slams her shoulder into him, to make him hit the wall behind.

"I'm sorry, I have to leave the rest to you." She runs outside the room, in pursuit of the fake captain. He couldn't get too far away! Or did he?

Weaponry: [roll0]
Also moving one segment.

[bladesmith]

Dan rolled with the punches, catching glancing blows on his arms and shoulders, but managing not to actually take a hit. which was good. It might have hurt. Still, at least they weren't shooting anymore. Dan was pretty sure he didn't really want to experience getting shot just yet. Plus, in a fist fight, he had Moddie. So instead of throwing any big blows to try and take out the MIB's, he kept his guard up and set about tossing distracting little jabs and shin kicks.

"No problem, Colette. We got this."

Moddie waited until one of them was well and distracted enough, then simply jumped up bodily on the man's shoulders, looking to bear him to the ground.

Athletics: [roll0]
Fists(Moddie +3, assisting for total +4): [roll1]

[Fri]

Dan hits one of the mysterious attacker straight on his chin and he falls down. When Dan turns around, he can see Moddie's also done with his partner.

The last remaining attacker yells as he let loose a last ditch attack attempt. "Never surrender!" he says as a barrage of bullets flies toward... the bound woman! It seems that knowing he can't win, he's going to try to at least kill their hostage! The hostage's eyes widen. It doesn't seem that she's in the shape to dodge!

[roll0]

Meanwhile an empty hallway greets Collete. The fake captain can't be far, can he? you hear some footsteps from the direction of the deck, where you just enjoyed the moonlit walk a few minutes ago.

[tensai_oni]

"You didn't forget about me, did you?" Shooting a hostage? Rose will not have it that way. Another sharp piece of metal appears in her hand, and she tries to use it to deflect the bullets.

[roll0] (Oops. Wrong dice. If I translate this into 4d3-6, it should be around 4. And I hope you don't mind me rolling block, since I didn't really do anything the previous round)

"Now, look what have you done." She discards the long knife, now bent and useless. At least it didn't splinter because of the bullets' force. Rose still cannot believe that worked - but she is not going to show that.

[Tengu_temp]

Is it the ake captain? Or someone else? If it's the latter I can just ask them if he ran that way.
Having no other clues, Colette runs towards the sound of footsteps, the tattered remains of her skirt trailing in the air behind her.

Athletics: [roll0]
Well, that covers the distance of 4 segments. However far that is.

[Fri]

The shooter can only blinks and open his mouth agape as he looks back and forth between his gun and Rose.

Meanwhile Colette manages to get closer to the source of the sound. It's just behind this corner! And she stumbles into...

"Ow!" The target says as Colette stumbles into it. Turned out that it's just a pair of security guard. And since they moved relatively slower than Colette, she hits them in full force.

"Well, you're not supposed to run in hallway, you know? What's this about, miss?" One of them says as he helps his partner to stand.

[bladesmith]

Dan stood, his mouth agape at Rose. That really shouldn't work at all. Then again, neither were a lot of the things he did as part of the daily grind. Shaking off his astonishment quickly, he rounded on the last remaining bad guy, throwing a hard right cross at the man's face.

"Bad German ninja! Even if you can't stick to a consistent theme, at least you could leave the innocent bystanders out of this."

Of course, while the German was defending his head, Moddie went for the low blow, tackling the thematically confused secret agent person at the knees with a fierce growl.

Fists for me and Moddie! [roll0]

[Tengu_temp]

"Oof! I'm sorry!" Colette takes a step back. "Have you seen an elderly German man pass through here in a hurry? It's important, he's a terrorist who tried to kill the captain, me and a few others! His flunkies are taken care of, but he's still on the loose."
Colette's current appearance adds weight to her words, seeing that she really looks like she just survived a terrorist attack. At least she didn't run with her knife out, that'd look more than a bit suspicious.

[tensai_oni]

"That was quite rude of them, wasn't it?" Rose looked ready to retrieve another mysterious and dangerous object from her sleeve, but she stops seeing how Dan and his dog manage just fine.

"I prefer when others do not try to shoot to kill, thank you very much. Either at me, or at various assorted individuals. Oh, speaking of which. Could you tell me who you are and what were you doing here, miss?" She asks the captive.

[Fri]

"...g..y." whatever he's supposed to be saying is cut short by Dan's attack, and the last remaining enemy falls down unceremoniously. The room is now quite littered with uncouncious men in suits.

"...thank you..." The woman hardly believes her survival. "I thought I was going to die... I've done what they asked me to, but they're still going to kill me..." She says as she rubs her recently tied hands.

"What am I doing here? Well... this is my room. I'm Julia Enfield, Captain of the cruise ship Queen Mary 2. Who are you guys?"

Meanwhile, at the deck.

"Are you serious, miss?" One of them says, looking in disbelief.

"She looks serious enough." his partner replies. "Sorry, I don't think we ran into this old guy you mentioned. I'll ask around." He continues, before unlatching his walkie-talkie and walks away a few steps as he mumbles things to it.

"And what are you saying about this 'flunkies' miss?" the other one draws his baton. "Lead us to them, someone might be hurt."

[Tengu_temp]

Damn, if he went the other direction he might be anywhere now... Wait a moment. Maybe Moddie can track him down!
"Thanks for your help. They're in the captain's quarters, let me show you." Colette heads back to the room she came from. She's in a hurry, not waiting to see if the guards manage to catch up. They should be able to know where that place is anyway.

[tensai_oni]

"Oh, I'm just a friendly adventure seeker who was passing through." Rose smiles, not even trying to mask her lie. She smooths out her dress a little, trying to remove excess ventilation shaft dust.

"I think Colette may be in trouble. Shall we pursue her?" She asks Dan. The victory here was only a temporary one - the main perpetrator is still getting away!

"If you'd be so kind, please make sure these ruffians are in no position to cause further trouble when they wake up." Rose turns to the captain again. In the meantime, she produced a suspiciously large amount of handcuffs, and dropped them on the floor. That should be enough to restrain the unconscious German ninja-MIBs.

[Fri]

"Don't mind if I do." The captain moves to handcuffs the uncouncious strangers, apparently completely ignoring the amount of items that Rose just pulls down for her apparently taut-up dress.

Meanwhile, outside...

Before she could even walk a few steps, Colette feels an intense fighting spirit. Or at least the prickling feeling on her neck that someone's going to hurt someone else. Not really scientifical, but hey.

Anyway, she's not sure where this feeling came from... yet, though.

[bladesmith]

"Dan Abramov. Archeologist, by trade. This hero stuff is only a side job." Dan smiles at her as he carefully separates the men from their guns, taking care to avoid smudging any fingerprints on the weapons, except one that he tucks away. "And this is Moddie. My multi-purpose canine. Pleased to meet you, Captain Enfield, though the circumstances are a little unfortunate. Though, if you don't mind me asking, what did they ask you to do?"

Of course, nothing could have prepared Dan for the clatter of so many pairs of handcuffs. Seriously, where did she get all those? And the knives? The mystic raised an eyebrow at the infamous thief. Perhaps that was why she was so famous. Moddie was content to sit and mentally laugh at Dan until he was reminded that perhaps he should be tracking the villain of tonight's play.

"You know what? I'm just going to leave the handcuff thing alone. And we'll go find Colette in a moment."

The big spectral hound snuffled noisily around the room, trying to pick up the scent of the German cyborg.

[Tengu_temp]

"Something is not right..." Colette looks around quickly. She's not sure who is going to attack them and from where (maybe the guards are actually terrorists in disguise?), but she knows to trust her feeling. She still goes on, but is more careful now.

[Fri]

Moddie silently informs Dan that he easily picks the scent of the escaped villain.

As the dog sniffs around, the young captain stops in her track for a moment, visibly distraught. "I... I didn't meant to do it! I don't know who they are! They caught me and forced me under gunpoint! The UNESCO director... he's my old friend... They ordered me to call him to my room and held him there for a while. So I did, then I locked the door as they waited for that strange old german to come. But when we entered the room, it's empty. The men in black thought that I betrayed them! That's when you intervened. I'm really sorry, I didn't meant any harm to the old man." She's in the verge of tears.

Outside...

"Verdammt!" One of the guard swears as you dodges his taser. And how lucky, no matter how strong is your fortitude, a sneak taser attack won't be that easy to shrug off. Who knows what then they'll do to an uncouncious young pretty girl like you.

"Okay, miss. It seems that we have to do this the hard way." Says the other 'security guard' as he draw another taser

But before he could do anything, a voice interrupts.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you..."

Someone walks slowly toward you. It's the British Royal Museum curator, Lara Fields! Smirking, with a handgun in each of her hands, and wearing a pair of shades despite the clear lack of sun, she slowly walks toward you.

"Good instinct, Miss Lambert. I'm sure it came in handy in the 'art' scene. Sorry for interrupting late, I wasn't sure whether you're one of them or not.

If they managed to down you and take you hostage, this would be a lot more complicated."

[Tengu_temp]

An incoming ally! Of course, it's not surprising that there's more to miss fields than meets the eye.
"You're right. Luckily, I don't see getting myself kidnapped by henchmen of this caliber anytime soon."
Colette glances at the fake guards. She doesn't draw any weapons yet - she doesn't need to. If they're smart, they know they're outmatched. The chances for that aren't very high, of course.
"Will you tell us what your boss is up to right away, or do we need to beat you up first?"

[bladesmith]

Dan laid his hand on the captain's in an attempt to comfort her.

"Hey, don't worry about it. You were held at gunpoint, and had no choice. Besides, it looks like ye olde director has managed to escape on his own. We've got the bad guy on the run, and we should be able to clear these guys off the ship pretty quickly. Going by the example of Indiana Jones, we archeologists can do anything."

Dan added a goofy grin at the end of that. After all, Indiana Jones had nothing on him. If the Director escaped, though, he had to get out some way. Surveying the room quickly, his eyes traveled first back up to the ventilation shaft that Rose had dropped through. That was the easiest way to get out. On the other hand; wow, if the director can get through there, the old man has been holding out on them.

"Alright, Moddie has a lead for us." He said as the big dog looked up at him, whining. "Lets go see what other surprises are in store for us. If you would stay here, Captain, we will return momentarily."

Pulling his confiscated gun out as they left the room, Dan waited for Rose, then trailed after Moddie. As she got close, he questioned Rose in a confidential whisper.
"Hey, did you see any clues that the director could've gone through the air vent?"

[tensai_oni]

"Please, worry not about a thing!" With a swoosh of her giant, feathered hat, Rose departs.

When Dan asks her:
"Oh yes, in fact I did. Someone made use of the ventilation shafts quite recently. Are you in a spelunking mood?" Rose is eager to share information. But she still hurries down the corridor, talking on the move. Something's going to happen really soon, she feels. Something not good for most people involved.

[bladesmith]

"I kinda am, but we should probably get to Colette first. We know that the Director is somewhat safe, though. We just don't know exactly where he is."

Dan ran alongside her, smiling a bit as he followed behind Moddie. He felt pretty great, after all. Here he'd come along on this silly cruise expecting to entertain some rich snobs with the boring bits of history, maybe tell a few ghost stories to keep himself entertained. Instead, he was going all Indiana Jones in a James Bond tux, working a pair of beautiful women. Life didn't get much better.

"That's a really nice hat, by the way."

[Fri]

"Ugh..." The two fake security guards drops their weapons. "It's too late. Our plan is already in motion." One of them smirks

"What a surprise. I thought these types won't simply surrender like that..." Someone appears from behind Lara.

"Where were you, Anton?"

"You know, I'm not the run-and-gun type." He smiles as he calmly walks toward the two guards and picks their dropped weapons. "Come, we got to move. There might be more of them."

Rose and Dan easily notices the scene from afar.

[tensai_oni]

"There are only so many places you can hide in on a ship. I do not say we should take our time, but the odds are pretty good as of now." Rose maintains a steady tempo. Despite her choice of dress, she can run quite fast.
"Thank you. I value it very much - it's a very singular hat. Oh? Are we too late?"

Rose was going to disappear into the shadows again when she noticed that Colette does not seem too distressed, and the people she is with seem friendly. She recognizes them from before, too.

"Hello. The captain's cabin is peaceful and quiet now. How are things here?" She sounds like if trying to sound a polite, smalltalk-filled conversation rather than inquiring about a gang of German ninja kidnappers.

[Tengu_temp]

"Oh, hello. We captured more of the fake captain's men, as you can see."
Colette ponders how to make the henchmen talk. If they at least know where their boss went to, that'd be a huge help. She pulls out a knife and throws it in her hand absentmindedly, holding it by the blade.
"If the plan is already in motion then you surely wouldn't mind telling us about it, right? I mean, that's better than the alternative..."
Without warning, she throws the knife at the opposite wall, which it sticks into. The blade passes close to one of the mook's head... But probably not close enough to make him feel endangered.
Gah... That'd work better if I didn't have to worry about hitting him by accident...

I doubt if anything other than Intimidate will work here, so let's go with that: [roll0]
Reroll gives a result of -1. Not much better.

[Fri]

Everyone's eyes silently follow the knife's path as it flies in an arc, sticks to the man's body, and drops down to the floor following the dropping of the man. You think he's still alive... but really surprised.

"Aaalright..." Anton says after some awkward silence as he looks at the knife that's poking from the uncouncious henchman's body . "Let's all move to that afromentioned captain's room before we got more knives flying around, shall we?"

The remaining henchman nods his head vigorously with hands still in the air.

(Colette got one fate point because it's just so damn funny)

[Tengu_temp]

"Aah, I'm sorry! It's an accident! I didn't mean to do that!" For a moment Colette acts in a way that wasn't observed before, which is to say embarassed and lost in the situation she caused herself. She checks if the guy is still alive and quickly takes the knife, as if wanting to hide the whole event.
"Umm, let's just get going! Shouldn't we be looking for the fake captain?"

[tensai_oni]

"Oh my." Rose raises a gloved hand to her mouth. Mischevious sparkles glint in her eyes, but only for a second.

"Let us try to minimize accidents. What is the next course of action you propose, sirs and madams? My specialty is retrieving goods, not people."

[Tengu_temp]

That reaction didn't escape Colette's attention.
Oh no! So much for trying to impress Rose! I singlehandedly sank all my efforts! Ugh, I'm in despair...

[bladesmith]

"Well, uh... That's one down."

Eek. Throwing knives. Seriously. Just a bad idea, all around. Anyways, Dan had other things to do. Still, he was kinda beginning to wish he'd played more video games while at college. This was starting to look like one of those adventure games that his roommate was always playing. If he seriously ran across on of those black puzzles now... Oh, crap. He'd had to solve that one in Madagascar, while getting that magical spearhead with the lemur spirit, and... Oh, everyone was still talking, and nothing was getting done. Back on target. Focus. Yup.

The captain is in her quarters, safe right now. We think that the director is somewhere in the ventilation system, though we aren't sure where. And Moddie has a pretty good nose for crazy German villain types." He indicated the large dog, who had stopped and was looking expectantly back up at him. "So, my vote is that we keep going after the fake captain. He seems to be some sort of mastermind, so he's probably wherever the important place to go is."

[Fri]

"Well... I don't think this will be simple, because..."

Before Lara manages to finish her sentence, you find yourselves rocking with a muffled explosion.

As you try to regain your balance, you hear the distinct sound of the ship's PA system being activated.

"Good Evening, ladies and gentlemen." A mockingly polite voice is in the air. There's no mistake, it's Schult'z voice. "This is Temporary Captain Schultz speaking. We're sorry for the inconvenience you've just felt. There is nothing to worry about. That was just ONE OF OUR ENGINES EXPLODING. No need to panic. It's just to show the seriousness of the situation.

As you know, we're currently having a posh fundraising party in the ship. Sorry for you who are not invited, I guess you're just not rich enough. A number of ancient artifacts are currently shown in our beautiful gallery, all priceless. The purpose of this party is to raise funds for the lovely UNESCO. But we thought, there are other organizations that need the money as bad as them. Mainly, OUR organization. We thought UNESCO already had a lot of fundraising parties anyway.

So, for you unrelated passengers, sorry for the inconvenience, and continue to enjoy the voyage as we discuss our funding with the rich people and their governments, since we really don't want to have these priceless artifacts damaged, do we? No need to worry about contacting the authorities, all communication from this ship had been jammed, and we have all of the crewmembers in our payroll. Well... the concious ones anyway.

Please don't run around wily nilly too! Because our men in front of the security monitors might think that you're going to do something silly and ask the patrols to shoot you on the spot.

Have a nice voyage! Well, except if our negotiation doesn't go well, most likely you all will explode with this ship then."

"...that..." Lara winces. "You're not wondering what we're doing here? We've just escaped from the ball. I noticed something wrong with all of the security guards, so we escaped before anyone could notice."

"So you're really not pulling me to the bathroom for what I thought you wanted?" Anton says in a disappointed tone.

"Why can't you just shut up, Anton? Does FSB really teaches their Agents to be as annoying as possible?"

"Alright, alright. Sheesh. No need to throw around everyone's secrets now. Hmm I guess we're in quite of a predicament. Now with the new information that we just got, do you archeologists and artists have opinion on what should we do? You mentioned a missing director? I assume that it's UNESCO's director?"

"If it's true, I agree, we don't need to worry about that old man too much, at least at the moment." Lara says as she rubs the dull gold ring on her finger. "He's one of the wielders of the Rings of the Magi after all. We should focus at the safety of the passengers, and catching this german villain that you're talking about, that's my opinion. You said your dog is good at catching german villains?"

Moddie growls, and silently indicating to Dan that the track isn't going toward the main hall.

[tensai_oni]

"The whole ship is a hostile territory now. How nostalgic..." Rose's thoughts are with her previous heists. But she quickly snaps out of it - no time for idle memories!
"Can I trust you two to rescue the passengers? That'd be just fine." She asks Lara and Anton. "We have a grand entrance to make, and it would be easier on the conscience if I knew our pleasant hosts do not have hostages as trading chips. Now, where could this message be transmitted from?"

(Is it appropriate to roll Burglary here to discern that? In fact, let's do it anyway to see what potential security weaknesses pop up:)

[roll0]+5

[Fri]

"I guess we could try to save the hostages, since it's your dog who currently can discern the location of this german guy. I think we're pretty good at sneaking around... especially Anton." Lara nods. "We should move fast, We don't know when is their deadline for their 'funding discussion.'

The hole in the security is as clear as day for Rose. The announcement itself gave her clues. It's clear that no matter how good the ship's security is, it's controlled from a small number, or even one, security control room.

The main villain's location is somewhat harder to discern though. He could be anywhere with access to the intercom.

[bladesmith]

With an only somewhat exaggerated motion(for the crowd's benefit, of course), Moddie pointed the direction that the German's scent went, while Dan bit back a few smart remarks. However, it was clear to the others that their villain went distinctly not towards the main hall.

"My dog can catch anything." Dan declared solidly, with a smirk on his face, ignoring Moddie's mental chiding. "And if he says that our mastermind went that way, he went that way. We might try following him. If our bad guy isn't in the Main Hall 'negotiating', he'll probably be in a security room or something."

Actually, what was over that direction? Had Schultz simply made a detour, or was he controlling things from somewhere over there? Perhaps if there was some sort of security room, or something, he could work from there? And why were they working with the Russian secret service? All in all, knowing that the director of UNESCO bore something as important sounding as a 'Ring of the Magi" was one of the least surprising bits of information he had discovered tonight.

His life was so messed up. It was great.

So, first we got Burglary to try and figure out where they might be holing up in the general direction that Moddie is indicating: [roll0](+2 if this counts as 'Casing' the location)
And a Mysteries check to try and figure out what the Ring of the Magi are: [roll1]

[tensai_oni]

"Let's follow Moddie then. You're a good dog, aren't you?" Rose smiles as she bows down to Dan's companion.
"You will find all the culprits so we may have our time with them."

[Tengu_temp]

"Alright then, we leave the hostages in your care. Lead the way, Moddie!"
Colette wonders for a moment shouldn't they divide the groups differently, but no - if the other two are as good as them, which they probably are, rescuing the hostages shouldn't be a problem for them. The fake captain, on the other hand, not only will most likely face them with a horde of henchmen, but he is also a cyborg. If he's an experienced fighter on top of that, he'll be a very big challenge.

[Fri]

For Dan.
You've heard about Ring of the Magi. All archaeologists or historians worth their salt know about Ring of the Magi. Lesser historians usually thought that it's some sort of magical artifact, but the truth is somewhat more mundane. Basically, it's a historian's in-joke.

The story went back from the 19th century, when modern Archaeology first got its form. It was an era of discovery, of imperialism. Back then archaeology was closer to treasure hunting, with deadly rivalries and sabotage and all sort of dangers. There were counterfeiting, pseudosciences, and full blown dickeries.

So the story went that Queen Victoria ordered the forging of three seal rings, based on the legend of the three wise men from the bible. They're then bestowed to the three top, best, leading men in the field of history. Basically, the wielder of the rings are considered to have the queen's royal authority, and if, for example, they need a rare book from a library or arrived at a dig site anywhere in imperium Britannia’s land, the library must lend the book no matter what and the dig site must give the highest authority to the wielder of the ring. The rings then passed from masters to apprentices, or willed to who the previous owner thought as someone whom he can trust.

As time goes by, the United Kingdom doesn't hold that much authority in the world anymore, but the wielder of the rings are still considered as the topmost authority in the field, and everyone still respect whoever wield the rings.

That is, what you know at least.


You stash the fake security guards in the captain's room after securing them.

"Right. Good luck then." Lara says as you part your ways.

Moddie follows the track easily. On the way, you notice some security cameras though.

(you can use burglary to evade them or shut them down. If you shut them down, only one of you need to roll, but it's more risky. But if you just evade them, all of you should roll, but it's safer)

[Tengu_temp]

A security camera? Maybe I should throw a knife at it and destroy it... No, that's only how it works in video games, if I tried something like that in real life the guards would know it's gone and get suspicious!
Colette looks for other possibilities. Are there any windows around? She could just take the outside route - not too difficult for someone who can jump that far. Or...
"Hmm. Is there anything you can do about this, Cardinal Rose?"

[tensai_oni]

"How inconvenient. Allow me to deal with this nuisance." Rose is ready to disable the camera. Something like this, for a master thief like her? A piece of cake.

"Would you prefer it if the guards remained unalerted?" She wanted to replace the footage with one of her own calling card, but that may be the safer bet.

(If I can disable the cameras in such a way that the guards won't know they are disabled, by looping the footage or something, then here we go:
[roll0]+5
Otherwise I'll try something else)

[Fri]

(yes you can disable the cameras in such a way that the guards won't know they are disabled, but the difficulty would be higher. Buut....

I noticed your 'style over efficiency' aspect. I'll give you a fate point if you just put your calling card! And you have to pay a fate point if you want to ignore it of course.)

[tensai_oni]

If it was only about Rose, she wouldn't think twice.
But peoples' lives are at stake here. The guards cannot be noticed just yet.
(I'll pay the fate point, action description coming right up. EDIT: here it is)

"Do not worry about a thing." Rose gives but a single glance to the walls under the security camera. She produces a small foothold with a suction cup - perfect to affix to the wall. It won't last long, but enough to climb up and use as a stand while she works on the camera.

"We cannot have them seeing us now, can we?" Modify some cables from behind, check something on an electronic display device which was hidden among Rose's hat decorations, and done. The camera is hopefully disabled now.

Invoking hidden tools aspect for +2. Total roll: 6.

[bladesmith]

Dan stopped Moddie out of sight of the camera, being his eyes while he had a nose to the ground. That was how they worked. Moddie let him know that Schultz was wearing very chewable shoes(maybe a little to much polish to be really tasty) and Dan let Moddie know not to step into the camera's field of vision. Well-oiled teamwork, facilitated by long hours spent in each other's minds. On the other hand, it seemed like the other two SPRIGGAN agents that he was with had just done this sort of thing enough that they knew what to do, whether or not he was there. Well oiled teamwork by accident. Like convergent evolution. Put any species in the same type of environment enough, and they will develop similar traits. Or, in this case, skills. On the other hand, Rose dealt with that stupid camera a lot more efficiently then he could have. He probably would've just broken the thing. She managed to make the whole process seem elegant. No wonder she was an internet celebrity, and he was a backwater archeologist.

"Is it bad that the camera which will summon a million henchmen bristling with weaponry seems pretty tame? Well, at least compared to swinging blades, giant boulders, poison gas, yawning chasms, and the occasional trapped pedestal."

Dan smiled impishly as he spoke quietly. There. Ego restored.

[Tengu_temp]

"It does, for us. But if the fake captain learns we're going his way, he might do something to the hostages, and we can't let something like that happen."
Colette watches Rose disable the camera. Finally she gets to observe the thief work with her own very eyes! If only it was in less serious circumstances, that'd make her feel much happier about it...

[tensai_oni]

Rose holds her skirt down as she jumps away from the camera.

"Oh my. I really hope there will not be any boulders rolling around this ship." She feigns concern, but instead of dwelling on sarcastic banter she looks up to observe her handiwork.

"We should be free from prying eyes for now. Tame may it be, I would be glad if that's the greatest threat they have in store for us."

[Fri]

There are no ear-piercing sounds of alarm or the galloping sound from a squad of killer men-in-black so you guess it's safe to assume that Rose is successful.

You don't meet any more security guard on the way. It's clear that it's ineffective to have the whole ship swarmed by patrols all the time; Queen Mary 2 was the biggest inter-Atlantic cruise ship after all. It seems that they depend themselves on the ship's innate security system. You spotted some patrol, but they're just patrolling out of formality and miss you without you even trying to dodge them.

After some while you arrive at... well, most likely somewhere you don't expect.


It seems that you've arrived at some sort of balcony that oversees a big, posh casino underneath. The whole place is covered in red carpet, and littered with all kind of gambling equipments. Slot machines, crap and card tables, you name it. Above you, sophisticated crystal chandeliers are hanging in complicated patterns. And at the middle of the ceiling lies a huge, circular glass sunroof. It seems that in normal days, this room is intended for people who want to gamble in style and enjoy the beautiful starlit night of the Atlantic Ocean. But now, the big room is empty except for armed men that are milling around for one reason or another and a couple of hostages huddled in a one room at the corner. Some men in blacks are making rounds on the balcony, but currently they're far away from you and don't notice you.

And in the middle of the room... you see at least half dozen laptops on top of some tables that are arranged in a semi circular formation. Behind it, you see two people who for some reason don’t look like the rest of the men in black.

One of them is a huge, muscular blond guy. He must be at least two-and-a-half meter tall. As you watch, he roughly pulls a nearby slot machine's hand, before punching it with his bare hand.

As a deluge of coin sprays from the slot machine, he yells in frustration. "Schiesse! I won't agree for this if I know that this is going to be this boring!"

"Relax Hans." his partner, a mousy youngster that can't be far from his teen years. He's wearing a pair of coke-bottle glasses. "We're in a really expensive casino now. Enjoy! By the way, can I get more of those caviars?" He says as he waves his hand toward a particular henchman. He then scoops a big dollop of overpriced fish-roe from the plate given by the henchman, his eyes never leaving the monitors. "Ooh, boy. I can get used to this." As he chews he mindlessly pulls a slot machine's arm and sips a glass of champagne. “Patrol group three, check camera 7, it’s kinda blurry.” He then says to a walkie talkie.

"And this!" The big burly man yells again. "Why did Herr Doctor agree to this... your ridiculous request? Casino? What the hell?"

The younger man smiles cockily. "It's simple. Because, I'm the best, baby. I told him, we do it my way or not at all. And he knows that I'm worth it. Herr Doctor just said that he can't get his hand on that old UNESCO coot, so I'm even more invaluable now. So just do whatever you muscly guy do to waste your time, and leave me with my work. Before morning... no, make it in a couple of hours, this thing will be cracked, and then we can gallivant away, much, much richer."

"Money! Is that the only thing you have in your mind? Screw this! I'm going out. Is it wrong that I'm hoping for some sort of... action?" He says as he cracks his knuckles.

"But sir! Herr Doctor said that we..." says one of the men in black.

You barely see him punching. Before he knows it, the poor henchman is lying down bleeding from his face.

"If Maus here can have what he wants, I also can have what I want. And what I want now is to go out. Scram!"

Before long, he's already gone from one of the many doors underneath.

Moddie informs that the fake captain was here, but he's gone now, going somewhere downstairs.

[Tengu_temp]

As the group passes through the corridors...
"What a coincidence, my room is close from here. Don't wait for me, I will be back in a minute." Colette disappears in a side path. When she catches up to the other two a moment later, she's in her trademark suit (see picture), much more fitting for this type of operation and still stylish at the same time. But not just that - she also has a bandolier of knives hidden under her jacket, and, not so hidden, an eighty centimeter straight jian sword at her side, sheathed in a black scabbard. For now.

(Should I pay a Fate point to declare this happening? I assume yes, but maybe you decide to be lenient.)

"Do you think we have any chance of sneaking past?", Colette whispers to the other two when they reach the casino and watch the scene with the big, brutish henchman and the smart, sly one. "Or shall we fight from the start? We have a chance to catch them by surprise."

[tensai_oni]

"My, how elegant! It is not suitable for a nice lady like you to run in rags, is it?" Rose comments on Colette's change of clothes.
"Of course, your dress was extremely classy, before it was ragged by the explosion." She feels a bit bitter about this. Destroying things of beauty - their enemies are most definitely not gentlemen.

"Hostages, again? Sneaking around is out of question." She looks around, memorizing where everything is located around the casino hall.
"If we have decided on being heroes, might as well go all the way and rescue these poor souls. Allow me to draw the thugs' attention."

[Tengu_temp]

"Thank you. I thought that, since I went to my room to grab extra equipment anyway, I could as well change into something more fitting the situation." Colette likes when Rose compliments her, even if she doesn't show that much on the outside.
"My dress became a casualty, I'm afraid... It's a pity, I really liked it."
And your calling card burnt to ashes too! Wah, so much for a treasured souvenir...
"Let's just hope further casualties here will be reduced to items as well, not people."

"Er, I didn't mean that we should ignore the hostages - that'd be heartless! The idea was to sneak past the henchmen and free the hostages without them suspecting anything. The first idea, anyway, personally I like the second one more. If Dan and Moddie agree as well," Colette glances at them. "then feel free to distract the bad guys, Rose. Just be careful."

[bladesmith]

Dan surveyed the scene carefully, conferring silently with Moddie to try and generate a plan. He liked to have some sort of plan when doing any of these capers. Still it took him a bit to realize that the others already had a plan, of sorts. Dan was slowly beginning to realize that he worked alone far to often.

"Sounds like a plan. We just gotta get down on the floor, so that we can get the hostages somewhere safe."

Dan checked how many bullets he had left in the magazine as he surveyed the scene. They would have to make sure that the hostages could find a safe place nearby until the casino was safe. Maybe a small room that they could lock from the inside. Or the three of them could just hope to take out everyone before they could threaten the hostages. That last one wasn't all that good of an option though, stray bullets were always a problem with innocent bystanders. Maybe if he had some rope or something to swing down on, just to get downstairs quickly.

So, lets try a burglary check to find a good spot to get down, and hopefully a good place to evacuate our hostages to: [roll0](+2 for casing)
And an Alertness check to see what is around, and hopefully something to make an entrance fitting my... idiom: [roll1]

[Fri]

There is indeed a place where the hostages would be safe. Ironically, the corner room where they're held right now IS safe. There's only one direct entrance, and you think the wall should be thick enough, it's a casino after all, they must be prepared for times where gamblers snapped. Moreover, there are no one inside the room beside the hostages, the guards are guarding the room at the outside.

And for interesting things on the room, well, that depends. But for some reason the crystal chandeliers and the sunroof holds your interest, if you're into those.

[tensai_oni]

"Off I go. The spectacle is about to begin!" Rose disappears quickly. But soon, her presence becomes known as a smoke bomb goes off in the center of the room.

"My, my!" A figure exclaims loudly. Even though obscured by fog, the voice and her outline (hint: huge dress, huge hat) make it obvious who it is. She stands in the middle of the smoke - atop a row of slot machines.

"I would expect you to know better than to try to win against the house! Or are you trying to 'fix' the machines to make them work in your favor? Is that what the computers are for? Please, share your expertise with me, it would be very useful in my line of work! O ho ho!" As the smoke spreads, the figure lifts a hand up to her mouth and laughs.

(I want to add the Smokey aspect to the scene. No idea whether I should roll something or just spend a fate point, but I'm okay with whatever you judge. I should probably roll Stealth either way: [roll0])

[Fri]

"What's going on! Who is that!" Maus says as he pushes his eyeglasses upward. The whole room had their attention (and their gun) directed to the smoke now.

(hm... if you just want to have the smokey aspect to last one round I'll give it for free. If not, you can have it by spending a fate point)

[tensai_oni]

"It is I! Cardinal Rose!" Rose taps her foot on the slot machine she's standing on. It's not her style to pretend to be anyone else other than her.
"I came here, hoping to observe professionals in action! But to my disappointment, I see none. Oh well - could you direct me towards some, if you know any?" Her voice is polite and pleasant, but the words are still barbed and supposed to infuriate or at least annoy the hostage takers.

[Fri]

"Cardinal Rose eh... I guess I should be honored to meet you?" Maus raises his hand and makes a circling gesture. Wordlessly, everyone are circling her.

"So, professional. What are you actually doing right now? Because from my point of view, you're actually just GIVING YOURSELF UP!"

With an overly dramatic gesture he pushes a button.

"HAHA! You're trapped!" as he says it, metal bars close every single doors. "I guess I should be sorry for Hans, he's the one who actually craves for action! Alright everyone, don't shoot her... yet. We can't have the fun end just like this right?" He gestures. Two groups of five minions are slowly closing toward the center of the smoke...

Situation:

The room is three zones wide. The center zone where the mass of computers and Rose are at right now, the surrounding area, and the balcony. There are two groups of five minions and Maus at the center zone, one group of five minions guarding the corner room where the hostages are, and two more group of five minions at the balcony. Everyone's attention are completely directed at Rose's silhouette now.

[Tengu_temp]

Rose's distraction works! Now it's time for Colette to spring into action... She takes a running start to gain momentum, and just when she's at the edge she takes an incredibly long leap towards the hostage-guarding terrorists, drawing the blade with one quick gesture in mid-air. The mooks don't have the time to take a good look at her, because her landing among them is accompanied by several fast slashes, long but shallowly-wounding blows aimed at their arms and legs.

Weaponry: [roll0]

[Fri]

"Everyone stay down!" Dan yells toward the hostages as he slides following Colette, passing the bewildered guards, toward the room with the hostages. Maddie follows him not far behind.

Now the guards must move past him and a guard dog with fangs baring if they want to do anything toward the hostages.

"Alright, come closer if you dare you confusedly anachronistic whatever-you-are!" he says with come-if-you-dare stance (guards the door).

[roll0]fist.

(aw man. this is why I shouldn't roll for any of you. use 'thrill of the hunt' aspect for a reroll, since Dan is in an adrenaline rush right now 4d3-4=5 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2982188/))

Two of the mooks falls down from Colette's well placed slashes, but there are three left. Without saying anything, they move toward Dan and Moddie, each baring a knife and hoping that they could move past him and do what nasty thing they could do toward hostages. Dan parries one of them, while Moddie snaps his fangs at the rest, preventing them from moving any closer

"Finish them, Colette!"

[Fri]

"What the hell is happening here! Deal with it, now! Now!" Maus jumps to hide behind the computers. It seems that he's not much of a fighter.

The two group of guards at the balcony showers Dan and Colette with machine gun bullets!

(use 'autofire' attack to try to hit both Dan and Colette, attack roll 2 and 3)

Meanwhile, the rest of them peppers Rose's silhouette with shots from sleek, german-made pistols without leaving their place beside Maus. (5 and 2! they roll really well this round!)

"Hey! That's dangerous!" Dan ducks as lines of bullet holes appears behind him. (rolled 3 and 5 for defense)

[Tengu_temp]

"You don't need to tell me that." Colette cuts at the thugs' arms with quick slashes, aiming to make them drop their weapons, then swipes low at their knees' height with her scabbard held in the other hand, to knock them down with one wide strike.
And then the bullets start to rain! Colette doesn't jump away - she just stands straight, keeping the thinnest profile possible, and reflects those bullets that would hit her with blindingly fast swings of her sword. When she's done and completely unharmed, she doesn't say anything, just give the gun-wielding mooks the "you're next" look.

Weaponry: [roll0]

[tensai_oni]

"No, no. That will not do." Rose jumps down from her position, simple as that. It looked so carefree, but it was enough to dodge the bullets. In return, several knives were thrown back at the pistol-wielding mooks.

Weaponry:
[roll0]

[Fri]

The three remaining hostage guards fall down to Colette's slash. Rose's knives went wide though. The guards at the balcony move further away to the opposite side of the room before showering Colette and Dan with bullets again. Black jack tables turn into splinters and slot machines spew coins to the air as machine gun rounds fly and richocet.

(attack rolls 2 and 3)

(now they're three zones apart from Colette and Dan and two zone apart from Rose. They're actually only two and one zone apart from you respectively, but they're on the second story, and I'd like to count it as a block for movement.)

"Damnit!" You hear Maus swearing. "This is Maus! I'm under attack by some unknown party! What do you mean by that? Yes! Yes!" He yells to the comm loud enough for you to hear. You can't hear the reply though.

"Protect me! This whole shenanigan depends on my work here!" He continues to yell from behind of his cover. You can hear him continuing to work with his laptop at his hiding place. "That girl is the most dangerous one! Get her, Schnell!"

"Jawohl!"

Some swift kicks overturn a few gambling tables, and the guards use them as covers before peppering Colette with bullets. (5 and 4!)

"Hoo boy, this is really something." Dan says as he hides behind a row of slot machines and holding his hat tightly as bullets fly everywhere. There's a picked-up gun at his hand. "Go! I'll cover you." He says as he let loose some potshots toward the balcony. It fails to hit any of the bad guys and only plinks the railing though.

(current status: there are 4 groups of 5 guards each, two group at the balcony and two group near Maus. And there's Maus, but he's only hiding behind the tables.)

[Tengu_temp]

Colette keeps blocking the incoming hail of bullets with her sword. Their sheer number means that a few still graze her, one leaving a visible bloody cut on her cheek, but she doesn't seem to notice.
"I'll handle the ones above. I'm leaving the rest for you." Colette jumps up towards the balcony in an inhumanly high leap! Before even landing she quickly draws several knives from under her jacket and throws them with one swift stroke towards the MIBs on the upper level.

Taking the first physical stress box of damage. Moving towards the enemies, using Mighty Leap to cover the height difference, and attacking from the bordering zone.

Weaponry: [roll0]

[tensai_oni]

"Why, hello there." Rose saunters towards Maus's tables, but her supposedly leisurely pace is surprisingly fast.
"We cannot have you be so loud now, can we?"

She will try to disable the communications system. It can't be too complicated - find what makes it work and make it... stop working. With force if necessary.

[roll0] + Appropriate skill (hopefully Burglary, perhaps Weapons)

[Fri]

Rose doesn't need to think much. She recognize that whatever the computers are doing, a knife in the cpu would seriously impair it.

"Stop it! Do you know what you're doing! I was this close!" Maus seems to forget that he's supposed to be a cowardly mouse. Frothing with rage, he tries to tackle Rose away from his precious computers. "What are you imbeciles doing? Stop her, stop her!"

His guards then leaves their cover and launches themselves into rose, trying to catch her and preventing her from doing more damage toward the computers..
(Maus pathetic attempt at tackle: attack roll 1
the guards' attack rolls: 4 and 5. They're not trying to physically hurt Rose though, they're trying to pin her and block her from moving, so you need to roll defense higher than those if you want to do anything at the next round.)

Meanwhile, the guards at the balconly are extremely surprised at Colette's incredible leap. Not that surprised that they're caught off guard though. None of Colette's knives hit any target. The two groups then split to surround her, so she can't attack all of them at once, before opening fire.

(attack roll 3 and 2)

"You're forgetting about me! Get them Maddie!" Dan springs into action, launching himself and his trusty partner toward the nearest guard. Once again, his attack went wide though.

[Tengu_temp]

Colette sidesteps behind a nearby column, to protect herself from attacks of one of the group. The other one's bullets she "just" reflects with her sword, like before.
"Mon Dieu, don't you see this is pointless? She takes a few steps towards the goons in front of her, still blocking whatever they shoot at her. "Give up already."
Colette increases her pace in an instant and charges at that group, attacking with fast, disarming and incapacitating slashes. The other ones come later.

Weaponry: [roll0]

[tensai_oni]

Rose has only to take a step back to admire her handiwork. And that was enough to dodge Maus's tackle, even if only by accident.

"My! I get so much attention." She doesn't really have a place to retreat to when the guards swarm on her, so it looks like Rose gives up on attempts of evading capture.

And then the clever little device she left on the now-broken computer starts to work. This item, the size of a large coin, was created specifically to let everyone know that the magnificent Cardinal Rose is here. It starts simultaneously letting out a lot of colorful (but mostly red) smoke and playing classical, but really loud music. This is sure to be distracting for everyone - except Rose herself, who as the gadget's owner is completely aware of its functions.

(I am using my Universal Gadget. Qualities: Miniaturization, Upgrade (+2 to Resolve for defending against attacks). That okay?)

Thrown off balance, the goons are easy to sidestep.
"Adeu!" Rose waves and winks at the befuddled MiBs, before jumping down to meet with Colette and Dan.

Athletics roll for sprint movement:[roll0]

[Fri]

"Grah! get me that gun!" Maus forcefully pick one of the MiB's gun before spewing bullets at Rose. "What are you waiting! shoot her!"

(Maus attach himself to one of the group, and shooting Rose, attack roll 3 and 3).

The guards at the balcony are still busy with Colette though. One of them falls down, but the others keep shooting.

(attack roll 6 and 2)

"We're wasting too much time here." Dan says, as he launches himself toward Maus' group. "Come, Rose! Let's get that whiny annoying kid!"

With Moddie flanking, he manages to knock one of the MiB down.

"I'M NOT A KID! I'M THE GENIUS HACKER MAUS!"

[tensai_oni]

Defense:
[roll0] EDIT: Can't believe I flubbed that. I'm tagging the room's "Smokey" aspect for +2
[roll1]

"So, it comes to violence that quickly?" Rose shakes her head. She twirls in place - a magnificent sight, and seemingly impractical for the battlefield. But, thanks to that the bullets not even graze her. Being in a smokey room and thus making a more elusive target helps. And as she twirls, Rose sends a pair of throwing knives flying at Maus and his henchmen.

"I cannot say I like that." Her smile is pleasant as usual. No threat there - none at all.

Weapons
[roll2]

[Tengu_temp]

A few more bullets hit Colette - but, despite blood flowing over one of her eyes, she looks more annoyed than anything.
This takes too long... We still have several other bad guys to pursue!
She keeps giving the MIBs in front of her shallow slashes with the sword and heavy, sweeping hits with the scabbard. The last of the strikes is accompanied by an acrobatic leap above their heads, the aim of which is to make columns and Rose's smoke block her view from the other group - to make them position themselves under a chandelier if they want to attack.

Weaponry: [roll0]
(Rerolling for 5 total by tagging the Improbable Agility aspect.)

[Fri]

Rose's attack drops one of Maus' party. There's only three people surrounding him now. Meanwhile, above, Colette's feint works. She drops two more people, There are only two more people in the group in front of her now. And now the other group is in the position she want them to be.

The MiBs continue their barrages. The group at the other side of the balcony increases their attack's intensity toward Colette (attack roll 5) but the closer group starts to look a bit shaken. They stopped shooting now that they're in melee range and tries to stab her with knives. (attack roll 1)

"Sir Maus! It's crazy. This woman... she blocks bullets!" they start to panic.

"Keep attacking! Whatever she's going to do will be a vacation compared to what Herr Doctor would do if you fail your job to protect me!"

Maus' groups continues to shoot at Rose. (attack roll 1 and 4)

"Hey, leave the lady alone, won't you? There's an angry guy with a scary dog too here!" Dan look a bit miffed that they only care about Rose. Moddie savagely rips through one of Maus' personal guard as the archaeologist knocked another one down.

"Come here you imbeciles!" Maus says to the surviving MiB. (they join his group. now there's only one group of enemy left at the first floor, consisting of 6 MiB and Maus)

[Tengu_temp]

Colette jumps away to dodge most of the incoming bullets and reflects the rest. Just in time for the melee mooks to attack her, but she parries their blows easily.
"Are you really more scared of Maus? You should reconsider." She turns around and quickly throws a knife seemingly out of nowhere, aiming it at the rope holding the chendalier above the other group.

Spending a Fate Point to tag the Chendalier aspect of the room, drop it and trap the mooks under it. Weaponry roll included if necessary.

Melee defense: [roll0]
Ranged defense: [roll1]
Weaponry: [roll2]

[tensai_oni]

"Hmph! My apologies for being so direct, however... you are not much of a leader, are you?" Rose walks forward. A step aside to move past rubble on the floor or a short, dramatic pause in her walk is enough to just be somewhere else when the bullets fly past. So she is unharmed.
"Before making others listen to you, you should listen to yourself." She quickly draws an item and throws it at Maus. It is not a knife, but yet another of her black, elegant calling cards!

And if everything goes well, it will stick to his clothes. Some of these cards are glue-covered, you see.

[roll0], trying to Mark him.

[Fri]

"To be honest, the one we're afraid of is not him." One of them mutters. But because of that he doesn't notice the chandelier that's falling upon them.

"Nein!" is the only thing they say as the chandelier falls upon them (they're all pinned and can't move/lose their defense.). You really feel you should be saying something cool or punny now.

"Oh... oh boy." The two surviving MiB at the balcony raises their hand. "Yeah, I agree." His partner nods. Rather than waiting for the inevitable meatgrinding from Colette, the trapped MiBs slump and surrender.

Maus doesn't notice that, because he's busy shooting at Rose and wondering what the heck that rose had just thrown at him. "What... are you doing?" (your card hit the target, but what's the purpose of the marking? he shoots for... 5. he rolls well)

Despite the distraction the MiB manages to defend theirself and their whiny boss from Dan and Moddie's attack (bad attack roll, what a shame)

[Tengu_temp]

"You made a bright decision.", Colette tells to the trapped and surrendering MIBs, a bit surprised on the inside that they aren't showing blind loyalty and fighting to the end. She will have to tie them down later, but currently there is still a fight going on on the lower level!
Damn! Don't you dare shoot at her! Colette throws a knife at the gun Maus is holding, intending to disarm him.

Disarm attempt: [roll0]
(Tell me if I'm too far away and need to move to do that, in which case substract 1 from the result.)

[Fri]

Colette's knife hit its target and Maus' pistol falls down with a large ouch.

[tensai_oni]

"I am but showing you how real professionals act." Rose curtsey politely in all her generosity. Because of that, the bullet meant for her head just nicked her hat. But that nick was enough and she looks visibly annoyed. Only slightly though - anything more than that would be just rude.

"I would prefer if you left my persona undamaged."
She stretches out her hand, sending a grappling hook pistol into it like if she was the main character of Taxi Driver. Armed with the hook, she aims and shoots, trying to entangle Maus and his entourage with ropes.

Not sure what should I roll here. Weaponry?
[roll0]+2 if you allow the bonus from marking to work here.

[Fri]

Realizing that Colette is distracted, the pinned henchmen tries to free themselves from the candelier, but their strugglings didn't manage to free them yet.

Despite the low morale, Maus and his remaining henchmen easily dodge Rose's shot. Dan tries to hit them, but he fails as well and only manages to graze one of them.

And they still haven't stopped shooting Rose after all. (attack roll 4)

[Tengu_temp]

"Don't think I can't see you. Behave." Seeing that her allies below will probably handle this well on their own now, Colette moves away from the fight to quickly collect the guns dropped by the MIBs on her level. It's better if none of them get any reckless ideas.

[tensai_oni]

Defense [roll0]

"Don't make the mistake of underestimating me." Rose pulls on the hookshot's rope. This activates the mechanism that makes the hook return to its gun. And as it happens, the opposing mooks are on the path of the returning hook.

Attack: [roll1]
EDIT: Although they probably won't get hit anyway. Rose meant to do that - her primary concern was retrieving her tool.

[Fri]

Colette disarms the mooks on the balcony, and they all sighs as they lost their final chance to free themselves. Meanwhile, Rose's hook fails to hit anyone.

"So this is what we're going into huh? Bloodied last stand?" Dan says as he punches, which also regrettably misses.

The remaining men in black doesn't looks like they're going to surrender soon. Maybe it's because they have Maus in the middle of their formation? In fact, their shooting seems to get better (attack roll 6 against rose)

[tensai_oni]

"I really hope not. That would be too troublesome and not in my style." Rose ducks behind the table. This is not to dodge the bullets, although she evaded the others' aim anyway. This is so she can pick up her gadget.

"Excuse me. This direction, please!" She exclaims to the MiBs and Maus. And as they turn, her gadget unleashes its one last trick - a bright flash, that hopefully will blind them and make them easy prey for someone with better fighting skills, such as Colette.

[roll0] Deceit roll to create a Blinded aspect

[Tengu_temp]

Colette throws the gathered guns down at the goons and Maus below, a barrage of weapons used against their intended purpose, but not ineffectively - they are still heavy projectiles, after all. And to add extra power to the attack she adds a few knives to the barrage, aiming at the enemies' legs.

Weaponry: [roll0] (+2 from a free tag if Rose was successful.)

[Fri]

"Gah!" Rose caught them by surprise. And Colette uses the chance well. 3 of Maus' personal bodyguards are down in a moment's notice.

"Should've done this sooner." Dan grins as he kicks one of the blinded guard. Moddie makes short work of the last one.

Whether this is fate or not, now the only bad guys left standing is Maus.

"Now now..." Dan grins as he cracks his knuckles. in slow and exaggerated manner.

"Don't... don't come closer! Or I'll blow this ship up!" He says as he show a strange looking remote control on his hand.

[Tengu_temp]

"Are you sure about that?", Colette calls out to Maus, loud enough that he can hear clearly but also in a calm manner. "You're in it for the money, aren't you? Are you sure that you want to throw your life away like that? And the lives of everyone else on the ship? Do you really want to be a crazy suicide bomber?"
Colette puts a lot of effort and emphasis into these words. She doesn't want anyone to die here, even Maus.

Rapport: [roll0] +2
(Invoking an aspect: Does Not Like Killing.)

[Fri]

"Yeah, like he'll really blow this ship up. He's bluffing." Dan says, which ironically, is a bluff.

"Uugh..." Maus slumps down to his comfy chair. "This is such a stupid idea from the start." He sighs as he drops the detonator.

"Please don't hit me..." It seems that his adrenaline rush had ended.

[Tengu_temp]

"Nobody will hit you... But we will tie you up. All of you." Colette looks for something to bind the captured MIBs. This is a high-class casino, there should be plenty of things made from cloth around, right? When/if she finds something, she starts to tie'em all up quickly, the knocked out ones too in case they wake up soon.
"Could you check if everything's fine with the hostages?", she asks her allies from the above. "We must be fast, we still have more terrorists to catch."

[Fri]

"Righto!" Dan says as he moves to the corner room.

As you're doing what you're doing, suddenly you hear a crackle.

"...one... there... se? Colette? Dan?"

The voice came from the Men in Black's walkie talkie! It's Anton the russian consulate-***-secret-agent's voice!

[Tengu_temp]

Colette picks up the walkie-talkie.
"It's me, everything is alright here. What's your status? And just why have you called a phone belonging to one of the bad guys?"

[tensai_oni]

"Beating up people who surrender is just not my style." But so is tying them up, because Rose doesn't move a finger. She just looks around to make sure no enemies have second guesses on giving the fight up.

"Let's plan our next step. Ohh? Who might this be?" She walks up curiously, trying to overhear the conversation between Colette and Anton.

[Fri]

"I know it! I believe that you'd be finished with your end of the mission now... Sorry to endanger our safety by using this... enemy channel... but this is an emergency." His breathing sounds heavy. You hear gunfights in the background.

"Please... meet me at the cargo hold, ASAP. We don't have much time left!"

[Tengu_temp]

Colette's eyes widen. This is not good. "We'll be there momentarily. Please hold on!"
She looks towards Rose and Dan with a serious expression.
"Our friends are in danger, in the cargo hold. We have to help them as soon as we can!"

[Fri]

"What a shame, I'd love to interrogate this whiny kid" Dan says as he looks at the tied up Maus.

[Tengu_temp]

"He's not going away anywhere. Are all the hostages safe?" Colette is ready to leave. She's just waiting for a signal from the others.

[Fri]

From what you see, the hostage are pretty much safe and sound, without any bullet holes on them. They're just mostly shocked and/or awed.

[tensai_oni]

"Please don't be troublesome as far as guests go and stay where you are. I assure you, the accomodations here are quite pleasant." Rose warns the terrorists.

"Well then, let's go! I assume we can expect many traps and possibly ambushes along the way." Rose does not know the ship's exact layout, but she'll follow her nose. The cargo hold should be somewhere belowdecks.

[Fri]

You follows the hallways and stairs to the decks below. For some reason you don't meet any resistance. After moving down a few decks, you realized that the hallway isn't as posh as usual. You think you've arrived at places that aren't meant to be seen by the passengers.

As you move deeper and deeper toward the belowdeck, Moddie growls. At first it's subtle, but the growl becomes louder the deeper you got.

"We're sensing something supra natural here." Dan says as he calms Moddie. "I'm not sure what it is though."

You can see signs of intense fight there. Bulletholes and empty shells are scattered everywhere. You see scorchmarks and signs of explosions on walls, floors, and even ceiling. And you see some of the walls have craters on them, like if someone swung a giant sledgehammer at it.

Littered everywhere are incapacitated men in black suits, similar in style with the thugs that you fought before. And, leaning on the wall, you can see Anton, breathing heavily, his left hand is pressing his bleeding right shoulder, and a small, sophisticated looking gun is lying besides him. Not far from him, you see Lara, lying on a pool of blood, not moving.

"Hey." He winces.

[tensai_oni]

This doesn't look good. At all.

"What happened here? Oh dear. We should get miss Lara away from here."
Rose quickly walks towards Lara. It's not that she has medical experience or anything. But she can at least see if the woman is still alive.

[Tengu_temp]

"Merde! We're too late, aren't we?" Colette looks around with a serious expression and her sword drawn. She's worried about Lara, but Rose is already checking up on her, and if Dan and Moddie are right, something unnatural might appear at any moment... So she doesn't let any incoming danger catch her distracted.

[Fri]

Rose finds that at least Lara is still breathing.

"We're kinda underestimating that old man." Anton grins toward Colette. "Sorry...." He coughs. "I wasn't totally honest with you guys. I actually know what's going on here. That the terrorist act is only a distraction... And the real reason why you all are here.

The charity ball... all of those shiny artifacts above... they're just facade. Heh, though I guess the facade isn't that good. I'm here for one. And the german villain is also here.

The actual reason for this journey is... UNESCO is secretly transporting something from US to Europe. Not even my contacts know what exactly it is. The only thing we know is that it's something powerful, something that won't just affect one country, but something that can affect a whole continent, or even the whole world, whatever it is. That's why my Mother Russia sent me here... to investigate what is exactly this thing UNESCO transporting.

I secretly tried to find it this morning. It's stored in a safe, one of the strongest safe I've ever seen, with one of the most complex digital lock I've ever encountered. Not even my gadgets can beat it.

The old german knows about it somehow. Their terrorist-for-money act is also only a facade. It's a distraction so they can steal whatever... this thing is. That's why we came down here right after rescuing those hostages in the main hall.

Go! Don't mind us! Go now! You might still make it!"

[Tengu_temp]

It would be so much easier if I knew this before... At least this explains why are there so many Spriggan agents on the ship. UNESCO expected something like this to happen.
"Are you sure you will be alright? If any dying happens here while we're away, I'm going to be annoyed." Colette sheathes her blade and goes further down the cargo hold, towards the safe. Slowly at first, she picks up the pace when the others will start to follow.

[Fri]

Anton grins again. "Oh, man you're worried about me, Miss Colette! How sweet... I wish we are in a better situation. Don't worry, I think I'll survive... I think. I'll take care of Lara. Good luck!"

[Tengu_temp]

"I'm more worried about her. If you don't help her, she might bleed to death." Colette takes one last glance at the defeated agents.
"We're going now. Don't worry, we won't underestimate that old man."

[tensai_oni]

"Whatever that item may be, I will not let dirty hands of the villains grasp it." Apparently, Rose does not consider herself a villain, despite being a professional thief.

"I will be going now. Do not worry about a thing - just... do not die. Please." She sounds more serious and worried than usual. But worrying solves nothing. Rose advances forward, towards whatever danger is lurking ahead.

[Fri]

You follow Anton's direction and Moddie's nose deeper into the cargo hold, until you arrive at a huge room full of boxes and containers. Still no resistance.

You finally arrive at one specific corner of the room.

"It should be here..." Dan says.

But there's nothing there. There's only a square area that's free of dust.

"Are we too late?"

[Tengu_temp]

"The safe must slow them down at least a bit. We might still be able to catch up to them!" Colette looks around for signs of what direction could the bad guys take. She's not too good at tracking, but if the whole area is covered in dust, how hard can it be?

Investigation: [roll0] (+4 if I can use Alertness instead)

[Fri]

You look around, until you notices some blinking light. It's the cargo elevator, just recently activated! You're so close. From the look at it, the elevator is going straight onto the topmost deck.

[Tengu_temp]

"Find a rope, quickly!" A plan instantly appears in Colette's head. She dashes towards the elevator door and tries to force it open - her frame might not be too impressive, but she has muscles of steel. Literally.

Might: [roll0]

[Fri]

"Holy ****!" is the only thing that came out from Dan's mouth, as Colette easily force the elevator's door to open.

[tensai_oni]

"You really are a singular person, aren't you Colette?" Rose runs towards the recently open door, her grappling hook gun in hand. As soon as she's near the shaft, she just jumps straight in. While airborne, she looks up, aims at the lift above, and shoots!

And then, the jump's momentum sends her at the opposite wall, from which she graciously kicks off and flies back towards the door.

[roll0] Athletics

[Tengu_temp]

"That... works too." Colette is somewhat stunned by Rose's trademark showoffy fabulosity in which she just performed this action. Positively, of course. "Well, I am a cyborg - have I forgotten to mention that? So is the fake captain, and he's probably stronger than me, so we have to watch out."
She jumps at the rope inside the shaft and starts to climb it quickly, seemingly not caring at all that the elevator is on the move. When she reaches the bottom of the elevator, she draws her sword with one hand and slashes at it several times, to cut out a hole large enough to squeeze through.

Athletics: [roll0] (if needed, rerolled to 3)
Weaponry: [roll1]

[Fri]

"Hey, wait for me!" Dan follows you both.

As Colette's super-sharp sword slices the Elevator's floor...

"Hey!"

"What the hell!"

"Stop the elevator." You hear the fake captain's voice, still quite composed. The elevator instantly jerks into a halt as someone punches the emergency brake. You see one of the MiB falls down through the hole. "Aargh!" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dc5F2C0CYlA&t=17s)

(roll alertness 3 against slipping. if you fail, you just need to reclimb for a moment. If success, you can climb aboard straightly... if you want)

A second later, you hear a loud bang above you.

[Tengu_temp]

Colette grabs the arm of the falling goon - it's not just an act of compassion (though that too), but also a tactical move. She jumps up into the hole she just cut out, holding the mook in front of her, and then pushes him towards whatever group of enemies is hiding in the elevator. Hopefully this will cause confusion and chaos.

I'm actually not sure what to roll here and should I spend a fate point or not. Take it either as a maneuver or an attempt to create a temporary aspect on the enemies.

[Fri]

"What the..." The fallen mook only managed to say that before Colette whisks him midfall and throws him back. "Gyaah! It's me guys!" But it's too late, you hear various kind of thuds and bangs above you. It seems that whoever above had prepared themselves to attack whatever thing that came through the hole. They really didn't expect their fallen comrades. As you follow inside, you see a group of confused 5 mooks and a blown up elevator door. This might be your chance!

[Tengu_temp]

"Out of my way." Keeping down low, Colette charges at the goons, slashing low with the sword and swinging its scabbard with the other hand at the same height - she aims to knock them down, get past between or under them, and follow the escaping ones.

Weaponry: [roll0] (-1 if I can move in the same turn)

[Fri]

"Right behind you!" Dan says, and somehow, Moddie is with him. Can that dog climb ropes?

Between both of you, you easily turn the lift empty of combatants. You realizes that you managed to stop the lift far from their target, that is the topmost deck.

The fake captain had blown another hole on the wall, and as you go through it you arrive outside. You see him not very far ahead, walking calmly, with a horde of henchmen pushing a cart. And on the top of that cart, is a medium-sized safe box.

At first it's subtle, but before long, drops of water washes upon you as you run after him. Before long, lightning lit up the sky, and you realizes that you're walking through a downpour.

You see him talking through a cellphone. "Change of plan."He says, a bit louder to beat the sound of the rain. "Catch me at... third floor." He says, completely ignoring you.

[tensai_oni]

"Oh, my." Content that she didn't have to do anything, Rose follows the two - and the dog.

"I suggest an alternate change of plans." A bolt of thunder cracks through the sky dramatically, lightning a figure standing at highest point nearby the fake captain. It is Rose, composed and flamboyant even when soaked in rain.

"You hand this safe over to us. And hand yourself over to the authorities." She smiles wryly. Rose can't believe she actually said that.

[Tengu_temp]

"You should listen to her." Colette appears in sight, standing straight with the sword drawn at her side. She knows the fake captain won't listen to words, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't offer him to surrender anyway. That's what the good guys do.

[Fri]

The villain looks upon you in silence for a while, his cloak fluttering and his left metal hand glistens in the rain.

"You people exceeded my expectation. I must give it to that old bastard Samson. But it's too late now." He says, before turning and continues walking.

[Tengu_temp]

"Don't think we will let you just walk away." In a flash Colette throws a knife, to pin the old man's sleeve to a nearby wall or column. She doesn't like being trivialized.

Weaponry: [roll0]

[Fri]

Colette's knife flies straight uneeringly into the old man!

And a moment before it hits him...

A hand came out of nowhere and catches it midflight.

The owner of the hand moves forward from the crowd of MiB, smiling as he throws the crumpled knife to the ground.

"I leave them to you Hans." The old man nods, before continuing his walk.

"With pleasure, Herr Doctor..."

And a huge, muscly man walks confidently toward you, smirking, as he cracks his knuckles and his neck. He must be at least two meters tall! And you can see his muscles even from beneath his suit.

"Alright, you people..." He says as he drops into a stance. "Come on. I heard one of you can block bullet? Let's see if you can block the perfect Aryan fist!"

And just after saying that his suit unexplicable explodes, showing a perfectly muscly and glistening body.

"I hope you're better than than those other agents! I need challenge!"

(He uses his intimidating stance to block the way! He rolled 7, you need to roll better than that to get pass him)

[tensai_oni]

"Oh? It always has to end in a fight, doesn't it?" Rose shakes her head sadly. She jumps down - there's no way around, she'll have to bypass the Hans.

"Keep your routine up, mr Muscleman. I'll be passing through." She gracefully ducks out of the contest... that is, ducks under the German's massive body, and tries to saunter on her own way.

[roll0] Bypass attempt

[Tengu_temp]

"Let me handle this guy." Colette knows better than to try getting past this wall of flesh - instead, she charges at Hans, slashes at him with her sword and then jumps back a few feet, cutting several more times in mid-air. She's not afraid to go all-out on this guy: he really looks tough.

Weaponry: [roll0]

[Fri]

He stops Rose simply by the wind from his punch. But before he could follow, Colette comes.

"Ha! This is what I'm waiting for!" He says as he welcomes Colette's slash. You notices that he's actually wearing a pair of strange black gloves With it, he easily parries each of Colette's slash. And when he notices an opening, he strikes!

(Attack roll 4)

"Come! While he's distracted!" Dan grabs Rose's hand and pulls her as he run toward the chief villain. "I'm not sure what should we do now though."

[Tengu_temp]

Colette parries the first blow with the flat of her blade, then jumps away from the rest.
"Oh? For a second I thought this is going to be a challenge." She purposely provokes Hans, to keep his attention away from her allies. Colette counterattacks with several wide slashes - aiming not at Hans, but the material of his gloves, hoping to rip them up or remove them.
Let's see what advantage do these give you...

Disarm attempt: [roll0]

[Fri]

"Good call.." Hans says as bits of clothings fly from his hands. But the gloves are still there! Or at least part of them. Now it looks more like a patchwork gloves held by some silvery thread.

"But your sword won't be able to cut Doctor Schultz's Orichalcum Threaded Gloves!" he says as he strikes upon you with the palm of his hand.

(rolled 4 for attack, and he got a -1 penalty for his fist skill from now.)

Orichalcum? The rarest of the rare metal? You have a feeling that this should be something to report later.

[tensai_oni]

"Our priority is to stop the safe from moving. We cannot let it leave... well, wherever they are carrying it now." Rose explains as she runs.
"I would like to share a few words with our friendly captain, but that is only a pleasant side effect. Now, I don't suppose you know how to handle a legion of bodyguards?" With Colette behind, the trio's (and the dog!) major muscle is unavailable. Rose has to craft a plan, and do it quick.

[Fri]

"Ah right. Don't worry about them." Dan grins.

And after a while, you realizes what is the so called doctor waiting. You hear the sound of a helicopter coming!

[Tengu_temp]

"Perhaps. But it doesn't need to." Colette parries the blow, then spin-jumps above Hans' head, dropping two knives at him on the way. None of them seem hit him, which is just her intention - she hope he won't notice that their goal is to pin the legs of his pants to the floor.

Performing a maneuver to put a temporary Limited Mobility tag on Hans, which I'm going to tag in the next turn for extra attack.

Weaponry: [roll0] (rerolled to 6)

[tensai_oni]

"Oh, so that's how it is. If they want to steal the safe's contents using a helicopter, then I have no choice but to steal the whole helicopter myself."
Rose hands Dan her grappling hook gun.

"Use this when the time is right. You will know." With a mysterious smile, she disappears into the shadows.

Trying to make my way to the helipad, unobserved.
[roll0]

[Fri]

So far, with the rain that's getting heavier, no one notices Rose. Dan waits anxiously for her signal, whatever it is. And despite Hans' lack of shirt, somehow Rose still manages to pin his clothings to the floor.

"Stop jumping around you" He says as he swings his hands around, trying to hit Colette.

(rolled 4 for attack)

[Tengu_temp]

Colette grabs Hans' incoming fist with her left hand - it's accompanied by an unpleasant cracking sound, and it's not the German giant's bones we're talking about here. She keeps her focused expression, though.
"Sure. I have you exactly where I need you." And, her sword held in the right hand, Colette lands a powerful, vicious stab at his foot! Immediately after the blow she jumps backwards, to distance herself from her possibly slowed down enemy.

Defending with Fists: 4d3-8=1 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3011323/)
Taking 3 damage. Tagging the temporary effect I put on him for +2 to a roll and spending a Fate point to activate Now You've Made Me Mad for +3 to the roll.

Weaponry: [roll0]

[tensai_oni]

Rose will make her way to the landing pad, but this is just a side effect. Her first objective is to keep her eyes on the safe.

She assumes it will be loaded on the helicopter. If that's what happens, she will try to sneak aboard - undetected. But if something else happens...

Well, then it's time to improvise.

[Fri]

"Hugh!"

Hans tries to follow Colette but he falls down. By then he realizes that his foot is bleeding heavily.

"You're good..." He says, kneeling, and wincing from pain. "But soft!"

He tries to stand up, obviously in agony. It's clearly hard for him to do that, but at the end, he's in his fighting stance again.

(got mild consequence, that is slowed down I guess)

And at the landing pad, Rose hears the distinct sound of the helicopter getting louder and louder. And sure, she can see the outline of the helicopter slowly getting bigger in the middle of the rain.

The Doctor arrives there a moment later, watching his helicopter that's getting closer.

"Load it quick." He commands. "And then get away straight, don't wait for anyone. These spriggans agents are can't be underestimated. After the box is safe in our hand, fly back here. Then we can evacuate. Before anyone inland realize what's happening, we'd be far away from here."

He then talks to the walkie talkie in his hand. "For all personel. Evac Code One, ETA One hour. Get everyone ready."

[Tengu_temp]

"Maybe. I also have two healthy legs. Good luck catching up!" Colette turns around and runs in the direction her allies took. She will deal with Hans later, helping them stop the fake captain is more important.

[tensai_oni]

As the safe is loaded on the helicopter, a shadowy figure presses herself against the vehicle's side. It's Rose - she is ready to take a ride as soon as this thing takes off. And when that happens, she will open the door and get inside. But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. For now, the important thing is not getting noticed by anyone.

[roll0] Stealth

[Fri]

Colette easily leaves the cursing Hans behind, he doesn't look like in the condition to follow. But before long, someone pulls her into a corner. It's Dan.

"Hey, you managed to beat that muscleman?" He asks. "Rose asks me to wait here, she thinks she got some kind of a plan... or at least she sounds like she thinks she got some kind of a plan. I don't know what the heck is it though, but she told me to wait for her sign."

The helicopter lands, and the henchmen puts the safe into it. Rose manages to close onto the helicopter without anyone noticing, but barely, just barely, since she ducks a split second before one of the henchmen looks toward her.

But she can't enter the helicopter just yet, because there's only one door open now, and it's on the side where all the bad guys are currently pushing the safe in.

"Good." Doctor Schultz says as he watches the progress. "You." He points to the five henchmen that were acompanying him, "get inside and makes sure that the safe got into safety. And I..."

He turns. "Will take care of those Spriggan Agents..."

[Tengu_temp]

"Kind of. He's in no condition to go far, but we'll probably have to take care of him after all this is done. I was in a hurry to join up with you all." Colette looks behind the corner, trying to assess how the situation at the helipad looks like. Not that she can see much detail from this distance.
"When did Rose leave? I don't know what she meant by a sign, but knowing her, it will be hard to miss."

[tensai_oni]

So the helicopter has only one door? That is okay too, because Rose can comfortably stay on the other side. And once it takes off, she will hold on to the side and the skid under her.

[Fri]

The helicopter takes off, unknowingly bringing rose on it. Meanwhile, from the corner where Dan and Colette hides, you can see Doctor Schultz walking toward you.

[Tengu_temp]

Colette hides deeper into the shadows, quietly draws three knives and holds them between the fingers of one hand, waiting with a focused expression until the fake captain (she refuses to call him a doctor in her head) gets close enough, hopefully without noticing them...

[Fri]

The Doctor stops just a few feet before he reaches your place.

"Alright spriggan agents. I know you are here. Whatever you're planning, it's too late now. I already got the item."

He pulls out a remote from his jacket. "Now I wonder what am I going to do... Maybe I'll sink this ship?" He says as he looks at the remote like it's an exceptionally cute dog. "I have no use anymore for this ship, and you know I'm right."

[Tengu_temp]

"I don't think if that's the smart thing to do." Colette doesn't lower her weapons. She curses the fact that they were noticed on the inside, but on the outside she stays calm. "You will be brought to justice, and if you decide to sink this ship, your sentence will be even heavier. Besides, what advantage would it give you? Nothing."

[tensai_oni]

The time of stealth has passed.

Now is the time for action.

Rose swings from one side of the helicopter to another, using the skids like an acrobat's trapeze... well, a static one. When she climbs up to the door, a lockpick is already in her hand. Carefully balancing on the skid, she operates the tool to open the door from the outside.

Oh, and that signal she mentioned to Dan earlier? With a flick of her hand, a flare is produced from her sleeve. A flare that immediately lights up. All of this requires utmost concentration and is almost impossible without having three or more arms. The price of failure: falling down to the cold waters below.

But it was exciting and challenging. That's what Rose lives for.

"I am afraid to say this, gentlemen - but perhaps the situation was not in your grasp as strongly as you suspected!"

Complex action: Acrobatics+Burglary, I think. [roll0]

[Fri]

"Oh, but why are you really sure I'm going to be brought to your 'justice' He says, complete with air quote. "And the advantage it will give me? Hm... I wonder. I'm curently making a bet with myself, whether if you will continue pursuing me and my men or saving this ship's passenger from watery death, after I push this button. I could do that, you could cut the chase and tell me what your choice would be..." His hands hover on the button in a high-stake mexican standoff with Colette.

Meanwhile, as he talks, you see men in blacks are starting to come from various places. Most of them are uncouncious and heavily wounded, they're just preparing themselves for evacuation.

And on the air. Rose gently swing into the helicopter after catching the crew off guard.

"Aaah, what the heck is happening!?"

[Tengu_temp]

"Why are you willing to risk so much for that artifact, anyway?" Colette doesn't let the fake captain provoke her, but she knows the situation isn't good. She needs to buy time for Rose... "What goal do you think you'll accomplish with its help?"

[tensai_oni]

"Hello and good evening, everyone! Today, your guest of honor will be no one else but the one and only, Cardinal Rose!" Rose spreads her arms wide in a showoffy gesture. She wants the henchmen to know exactly how bad the tides have turned on them. Also, this is a good opportunity to count them and see if the safe is still in the helicopter. How big is this thing anyway?

"I hope you do not mind if I bring friends?" With that, she swiftly turns and leans down, as if ready to wave on the people below. But she's not waving. She's throwing her smoking flare down, straight at the Doctor's head, or arm, or whatever else where he can see it.

[roll0] Deceit to distract the Doctor.

[Fri]

"You really don't need to know that..." The doctor says. "I think I'm going to count to... ten. Nine... Eight. And what kind of ****ery is this?" He says as he looks upward as Rose calls to him.

"Get her down! Get her down!" some of the blinded henchmen are trying to flail their arm toward Rose, while one latches on the safe as if their life depends on it (and you think his life does depends on it) (they roll.. -2. what bunch of useless mooks.)

"Boss... we have some problem..." The helicopter pilot tries his best to keep the helicopter stable and in the air.

[Tengu_temp]

Now!
Colette throws a knife at the remote controller, with a thin line attached to the hilt. She needs to be very precise and aim at some kind of gap in the device - because she doesn't want to knock it away from the doctor's hand, which might press the button by accident, but embed just a part of the blade in it instead. And then pull the rope, snatching it away from the bad guy's hands and into hers!
"Your grade school math class is over, doctor Fake Captain. I said you will be brought to justice!"

Weaponry: [roll0] +2 for tagging Enhanced Senses (1 FP left)

[Fri]

"Die!" The fake captain instantly jumps forward with his metallic arm upfront the instant Colette got the remote control. The floor between Colette and Dan instantly explodes! (attack roll 4). The surviving henchmen, not sure what to do, starts to shoot at them as well. (There's 10 of the henchmen healthy enough to fight, huddled in one group and for some reason not to keen to close in, and they rolled 4).

Dan manages to roll aside in the exact moment before the explosion though, and only singed his tuxedo. "That was close!" But the old doctor is now in front of him like a closing speeding train!

"Hoboy!" He says as he launches a punch toward the doctor, but his opponent parries in a movement so fast that it looks like a blur. There's a sickening clanging sounds from the place dan hits.

Meanwhile, above, the helicopter pilot tries a crazy maneuver in an attempt to make Rose falls down. "Take this you crazy broad! Don't worry, doc, we got this!" One of the henchmen slips on the rain and falls down instead. "Nooo!" You hear his scream before he splashes in the raging sea. (4 athletic or awareness against slipping)

(tengu got one fp from that infuriating one liner)

[tensai_oni]

I don't even bother with defending against -2. Athletics: +1 for spending a Fate Point. Remaining total: 1/10.

"I changed my mind - if anything else, this tiny helicopter is just too crowded for us all." Rose produces a glove. It's not immediately obvious why, since she already wears a pair. But the glove is weightened so it hurts like a ton of bricks when someone gets slapped with it, as the mooks on the helicopter soon find out when she starts swinging it around.

[roll]4d3-6 Weapons

[Tengu_temp]

"Hyah!" Colette jumps away from the explosion with a spinning leap, without a single spot of soot on her clothes. She lands right beside the doctor, slashing at him with her sword with a powerful overhead strike in mid-air.
"You made a big mistake."

Athletics: 4d3-4=7 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3027476/)
Using the spin to get +1 to my attack roll.
Weaponry: 4d3-2=9 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3027489/)

[Fri]

The doctor ignores Dan and goes strike to colette, but he got a fistful of sword instead.

"Ugh!" he says as blood trickles from his temple. He mumbles something in anger, but you can't hear it clearly.

His movement is way more raw than hans, but a lot faster and sharper, almost non human-like. Like wild animal, his silvery hand strikes toward the remote. Now it's clear what he's aiming at! His henchmen tries to suppoert him by shooting Colette's leg (attack roll 7, and henchmen's attack roll is 4, aiming to lower colette's defense against the doctor's attack..)

"No you don't!" Dan tackles him from behind and tries to drag him away from colette

"Stay in the air a bit longer. We can still make it!" The doctor yells, clearly losing his calmness at least.

"Alirght, herr doctor!" The pilot tries to down Rose again (alertness 4 again). Rose manages to pester another henchmen to fall down.

[Tengu_temp]

Colette has to divide her attention between reflecting the incoming bullets and swatting the doctor's hand away with her sword! But she manages to do so, her blade spinning around with incredible speed.
"Do you want this so badly? I've got bad news for you, then." She throws the remote up in the air and immediately cuts it in two with her sword with an upward slash!

Defense rolls: 4d3-3=6, 4d3-3=5 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3027534/) (spending a FP to add +2 against the doctor)

Weaponry to destroy the remote without activating it: 4d3-3=6 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3027542/)

[Fri]

"SCHEISSE!" he says as he helplessly see the remote broken down harmlessly.

Panting, with his coat torn and bloody, he looks toward Colette, Dan, and his henchmen.

"Good night, Herman..."

You hear a new voice from somewhere. When you turn your head at it, a man walks over a corner slowly. The man got a fully grey hair, but his chest is still broad and his shaven jaw strong and confident. His tuxedo looks dirty and got some blood splatter over it.

"Samson...."

It's UNESCO director, walking forward with a gun in his right hand, pointed at the villain.

"Thankfully you're busy playing with my girls here, that you gave me enough time for this... Great job everyone." He says showing his left hand who's grabbing a bunch of wires and plastic explosives. "Now you really don't have any card left, Herman. Give up."

Dr Schultz' then laughs as he lets the rainwater wet his face. "This is like the old days again, won't you say so? Foiled again, shouldn't I say so? You forgot one thing. That the safe is still in my helicopter."

"Damnit!" The surprised UNESCO director let loose some shots toward him, but it's too late. Like a giant mantis, the doctor leaps toward the nearby hovering helicopter!

And...

"Hello." Rose sees a polite smile of the doctor on the other side of the helicopter. "You really gave me a lot of trouble, don't you know?"

Ignoring Rose, he nods toward the pilot. "Leave this place now."

[tensai_oni]

[roll0] Athletics
Rose manages to step around the helicopter. Falling down is for amateurs.

"I'd say, ladies of my standing are not easy guests. How unfortunate - just one of my few flaws, I'm afraid." On saying the word "flaws", Rose swiftly kicks the back of the pilot's chair. She doesn't want to injure or neutralize him. Just distract enough to send the machine out of control again. But this time, on her own terms.
[roll1] Deceit

(I really hope Dan and Colette remember that they still have Rose's grapple hook gun)

[Tengu_temp]

(Can I move again now? Or do I have to wait?)

[Fri]

Professor Rutherford tries to run after the helicopter, but it's too late. They got the start, and it's above the ocean now. Even Colette would have hard time reaching it now. The helicopter pilot manages to control the helicopter well despite Rose's distraction. The villainous doctor hit the wall besides him and it dents. "Don't do that again or I'll dump you right here right now. Someone tie her up!" He says to one of the surviving henchmen (there's now three left.)

The UNESCO director shoots the helicopter with his gun uselessly. "Damn that Herman!"

"Wait, we still can get him." Dan pops out beside him, showing the grappling gun that Rose left him previously as if she had really planned all of this.

"Hang tight, Colette!" He says as he grabs Colette's waist. His eyes sharpens and eyes the helicopter like a hunting eagle before shooting it. The anchor flies unneeringly and latches to the helicopter's underside.

"Here goes! Consider a pay raise, Mr. Rutherford!" He says before the helicopter's momentum yanks him and Colette.

A bit farther from there, hanging between a helicopter manned by an angry cyborg and the raging atlantic sea he says to Colette. "Okay... now what?"

[Tengu_temp]

"This line is too thin to climb in this weather without turning your hands into a bloody mess, isn't it?" Colette looks up at the helicopter from which the two of them are dangling. "I know! See if you can reel it in!"

[tensai_oni]

"How rude." Rose crosses her arms and looks disappointed.
"Dear sir, perhaps you should focus less on threatening your guests and more on making sure your precious stolen artifact is alright. The box you use to carry it in... it is heavy, I am willing to give you that. But that's no obstacle for those who know how to open and tamper with its insides."

Engaging in social battle! Or at least making the Doctor uneasy enough to check the safe. One way or the other, Deceit: [roll0]

[Fri]

The doctor manages to ignore Rose so far. Meanwhile underneath them.

"Right, I think I can do that." Dan pushes a button and the gun slowly reels the wire. Soon you're directly underneath the helicopter's underside.