The Breaking of the Fellowship, Thread 3 (Jack, overnight Tues. 3/27/07)

[Detritus]

This thread will be dedicated to Jack and Ramiel's reconnaisance mission. We'll say that the preliminary search turned up one primary and one secondary meeting location. I'll have to work out more specifics shortly; I don't have much of anything yet right now.

EDIT -- I think I gave 5-530 am as the end of the window for activities that wouldn't be threatened by sunrise, so we'll say the meeting time for heading back to Mr. Johnson's boat is 430 am.

[SD Anderson]

Once any formalities are out of the way, Jack says:

"Given my Druthers, I'd use an abandoned elementary to high school Auditorium as the meeting site. Should be fairly out of the way and if trouble happens, less risk to the Masquerade. In a perfect world, it'd have a preeixting access to the city serwer system as an alternate escape route. But that's not likely. Again, ideally there are abandoned 2 storey houses with clear view of the meeting site."

"If our opposition sends another pack of anarchs this way, I want sniper teams in position to keep them from getting to the metting site."

"Again, ideally, the ceiling has a good set of rafters. If anyone makes a roof entrance I have a little surprise in mind for them."

"I'm thinking two forms of transport, if the sewer option is out. Helicoper and armored limo with motorcycle escort. Leo should be able to use either to get the Justicar out by whichever mode looks best to him."

"The airport is the obvious route out of New Orleans. I don't know the city well enough to propose safehouses and alternate routes. We'll cover that later on. In addition to his own transport into here, I'd like a chartered plane ready at another part of the airport. If the Enemy succeeds in preventing that plane from getting off the ground, we have an alternate they don't know about, if we're lucky."

<Reply>

[Detritus]

One of the locations you'll be looking at is the MLK Elementary School in the Lower Ninth Ward (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lower_Ninth_Ward). In this version of reality, we'll say that school has not been re-opened. In fact, let's say this is location #1 that you'll be visiting tonight.

[SD Anderson]

OOC: I've been trying to look up the Martin Luther King School on Mapquest. I'm getting a MLK Center, in Kenner, about 11 miles from the city proper and MLK Playground/Training in the town of Harvey some seven miles from the city.

Are either of these the place you're talking about? If not, could you cite an intersection as a reference point?

[Detritus]

I've found that the full name of the school is "The Martin Luther King Elementary School for Science and Technology":

http://www.pww.org/article/articleview/9687/1/336

None of the URLs that have come up on Google searches seem to have the exact address in them.

I don't have any street address info at hand. It is unlikely that I will be able to put much more time into researching it until I return to San Diego after GC5 on the 24th.

In a pinch, we can just make up a location somewhere in the Lower 9th.

EDIT -- Here's a URL that has other nearby landmarks

http://www.gnocdc.org/orleans/8/22/snapshot.html

[Detritus]

When you arrive at the school's grounds (wherever exactly they may be), it's apparent that the building is not particularly close to being back to its normal condition of repair. Some hit-or-miss cleanup efforts are evident, but nothing like the systematic job that would need to be done to get things into a usable state.

Is there anything in particular that you want to check out? The auditorium/gymnasium is messy but cleanable. Power looks like it has not yet been restored to the building.

[SD Anderson]

For simplicity's sake, I'm going to suggest that the real world location of "The Lower 9th Ward Mullti-Service Agency is the game world location of MLK Elementary.

Prior to going to the school, we'll look at some maps. ;)

http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?latlongtype=internal&addtohistory=&latitude=OAzZsYP1NQUQY5Q%2fgGjmKg%3d%3d&longitude=2zbv6ijwqhUHVt38U7Ekcg%3d%3d&name=Lower%209th%20Ward%20Multi%2dService&country=US&address=1616%20Caffin%20Ave&city=New%20Orleans&state=LA&zipcode=70117&phone=504%2d944%2d0172&spurl=0&&q=9th%20Ward&qc=Nonclassified%20Establishments

Here's the main route to Armstrong International Airport from that address

http://www.mapquest.com/directions/main.adp?mo=ma&2si=navt&un=m&go=1&1ffi=1&2gi=0&1a=900+Airline+Dr&qc=Airports&1c=Kenner&1pl=504-464-0831&1pn=Louis+Armstrong+New+Orleans+International+Airp ort+%28MSY%29&1g=UkgoVWTPEGZgVf5yZC5bfQ%253d%253d&2a=1616+Caffin+Ave&1l=zfwR8KSvyNaheZ8oN5vVsw%253d%253d&2c=New+Orleans&cl=EN&1qn=Louis+Armstrong+New+Orleans+International+Airp ort+%28MSY%29&2g=2zbv6ijwqhX3Mcpt0%252fgOEQ%253d%253d&qq=1ADqpk24ofBjOvyL2FGh5UzCzXYoCSWdf0tIEXe5sudFN2W uG1BllEx73WnBvAbZV6pcFR8bncazhas2NV9%252fZR0XUQTPB gaATSp8d2E2bU8h2mvbnLYXf8q78MVpYPVaw9EoJWAaFThO535 Cjp5E89VHdOSij%252bbVDiLtTcASvHHjfrJDoQtOHoBjWKzVQ JbnjLutpe9orEpHQlT3f1vzEv76%252f55GXOb2Do0U%252ft9 V%252bjHxj7v8PbBcpNLSnKvL%252fW1OFR2XeuAdASRckqyAV 5hN2v82ZwnBUM%252ba2zwUqsHQN5%252bAh4xNNMKesd8YBSV fvpPN5q87lZLtydo4JK5eFJG9oeaCv3NLsgI%252fjbDy7AIH% 252fJxKXXgIXenAfVqy8yA6WHaSRUJE%252b4CdVinq4NvbrVt HoMjqO3mfXzbKpK5hInS3DdkVUab%252bZnLQgDXcIWif%252b 7OZYrNV4lX2QKOzGfO%252f5R2ibebMYGmm9JPkGCp1dOBx8Y9 CeQ4Z2ZFuhWRjWjQDHS6vcgVJLApnxbEKCvb2HOYwWZ2dpOTGC v%252bpZYoVNEO%252fkPNzgemp1uYI1akd12bPUwEu&1s=LA&2l=4w6tRXu1Clz%252bbjMtbphHjQ%253d%253d&ct=NA&1v=ADDRESS&2n=ORLEANS+PARISH&q=Airports&1y=US&1z=70062&2s=LA&2da=-1.000000&2rc=L1AAA&2v=ADDRESS&did=1181602518&2y=US&2z=70117-2950&rsres=1&do=nw&r=f&dorev=1

And here's the route to the close Lakefront Airport.

http://www.mapquest.com/directions/main.adp?do=nw&go=1&r=f&aoh=&aot=&aof=&1a=1616%20CAFFIN%20AVE&1c=NEW%20ORLEANS&1s=LA&1z=70117%2d2950&1y=US&1l=4w6tRXu1Clz%2bbjMtbphHjQ%3d%3d&1g=2zbv6ijwqhX3Mcpt0%2fgOEQ%3d%3d&1pn=&1pl=&1v=ADDRESS&1ffi=&1n=ORLEANS%20PARISH&1qn=&2a=&2c=New%20Orleans&2s=LA&2z=&2y=US&2l=stbDbOqBA%2fv%2byO8W5QWILQ%3d%3d&2g=FGxu6EGMIg%2fuTkSS2sfZsQ%3d%3d&2pl=&2v=CITY&2ffi=&2n=Orleans%20Parish&2qn=Lakefront%20Airport&panelbtn=2&1qc=&q=Lakefront%20Airport&2pn=Lakefront%20Airport&2sb=New%20Orleans%20Lakefront%20Airport%7c6001%20S tars%20and%20Stripes%20Blvd%7cNew%20Orleans%7cLA%7 c70126%7c30034511%7c%2d90024459%7c504%2d319%2d3623 %7cUS&2qc=Air%20Travel%20Related%20Services

"The Justicar should arrive at Armstrong International and we'll leave arrangements for a return flight after the hearing. It's too far away if we need to make a quick exit. We'll want a charter flight out of Lakefront Airport - we'll need a name... Howard Davis."

"They have seaplane access there if i remember. Might be an option - And it's a lot closer." Jack says.

At the school.
"Looks good. Swamp not that far from it. Not that close either. Doable. I think we can clean out the place easily enough. Bring in a generator for lights."

(Looks around. Looking for Trees and nearby bildings a sniper team could occupy.)

[Detritus]

We'll say the school was for K-8, so elementary + middle school.

The building also normally houses a branch of the NO public library, although it hasn't re-opened in this timeline/reality, either.

It's a three-story building in the shape of a T. The main entrance is at the base of the T, and that straight section houses all the classrooms. As you are looking at the main entrance, the gymnasium/auditorium would be to the left in the crossbar of the T, and the public library to the right.

The playground is on the gymnasium side of the building, and the parking lot on the library side. The playground has a few pieces of equipment but is largely just a big dirt-and-grass field. The parking lot is paved, but has suffered a fair amount of water damage.

There are some trees and other buildings nearby, but in an outdoor meeting, your best bet for stationing snipers would be in the classroom section of the school, on the 3rd floor or roof. Inside the gymnasium, your best bet is to station people in the rafters of that section of the building. It's hard for someone outside the gym to see inside.

[SD Anderson]

Looking at the floor, are their bat droppings in an abandoned New Orleans school auditorium? (This question is on the order of 'Is the Pope Catholic?'. A 'no' would be somewhat suspicious.) And as a followup question are the rafters home to bats?

[Detritus]

Looking at the floor, are their bat droppings in an abandoned New Orleans school auditorium? (This question is on the order of 'Is the Pope Catholic?'. A 'no' would be somewhat suspicious.) And as a followup question are the rafters home to bats?
There are, but maybe not as much as you'd expect. It's pretty easy to push junk around, but a little more difficult to get rid of it. There have been some efforts at tidying up even in the gym, they just haven't been finished, or even advanced particularly far. There might be some rat droppings in the mix, too.

No bats in the rafters that you can see. The gym would not be dark as a cave during the day, that might explain it.

[SD Anderson]

Jack will burn fatigue in the manner of Leo. ;)

Using his own Animism he'll call out to some bats and ask them to settle in the raftrers, then summon some crickets and let the bats feast. "I would ask a favor of you for tomorow's darkness. If you would come here then I give you a second feast, then stay. If others of my kind arrive here and make trouble, I would like you to fly down into their faces and keep them occupied. If you keep them at bay or if they do not show up, I will provide a third feast."

[Detritus]

OK, you can do that with some bats. It'll take a while for them to arrive and for you to impart instructions such that they will understand. Can you give me a roll for your Animalism 1 power so that I have an idea of how long your instructions should keep hold on the bats? It shouldn't be a problem, but let's make it official.

[Detritus]

OK, your first roll was not very good. I rolled again for you, and that wasn't very good, either, so it took you three tries to get through to the bats in the end, but they now grok what you want them to do. Each failed attempt will cost 1 Fatigue, so Jack is down 8 Fatigue right now, including the 4 from calling the bats in in the first place.

[SD Anderson]

OK, your first roll was not very good. I rolled again for you, and that wasn't very good, either, so it took you three tries to get through to the bats in the end, but they now grok what you want them to do. Each failed attempt will cost 1 Fatigue, so Jack is down 8 Fatigue right now, including the 4 from calling the bats in in the first place.

Gasp pant puff puff.

(Very glad you can use Fatigue...)

Jack will go off the school grounds and look at possible ways for an invading force to take the auditorium.

[Detritus]

The auditorium has four main entrances. There is a hallway to either side of the auditorium with two doorways. A retractable stage runs along one of the sides of the room that is perpendicular to the entrance hallways. Retractable stands run along the wall opposite the stage. When the stage is retracted, the floor is large enough to hold a regulation basketball court (for HS/college, not the NBA).

With a little looking around you can find a service stairway that leads up to a catwalk above the stage. There are also some high windows above both stage and stands that an enterprising climber might be able to reach.

[Detritus]

While you are engaged in recon, there are a few occasions where you get the distinct impression that you are being watched, although as far as you can tell, it's just you and Ramiel in the vicinity. Each time it happens, it passes quickly, and you aren't really sure if it's just the tenseness of a looming deadline or if someone is really dogging your footsteps.

After you investigate for a while, Ramiel asks, "Have you found everything you needed?"

[SD Anderson]

While you are engaged in recon, there are a few occasions where you get the distinct impression that you are being watched, although as far as you can tell, it's just you and Ramiel in the vicinity. Each time it happens, it passes quickly, and you aren't really sure if it's just the tenseness of a looming deadline or if someone is really dogging your footsteps.

After you investigate for a while, Ramiel asks, "Have you found everything you needed?"

"Mostly. One of the plaers in this drama can view things and communicate over great distances. I got the strangest feeling I was being watched a few times while I was out and about and I'll have to presume I was being spied on magically."

"Beatable. We'll just have to make flexible plans and hold off on making final decisions to frustrate our spy's own plans."

(OOC: just got back from the desert. First internet caccess I've had since the 24th.)

[Detritus]

Have you dismissed the bats that you summoned earlier tonight?

(OOC -- Welcome back...)

[SD Anderson]

Have you dismissed the bats that you summoned earlier tonight?

(OOC -- Welcome back...)

I asked them there to feast them and make the deal for them to come back tommorow night for more food and to fly in the face of unasked for visitors should it be required. They presumably left to kick back in their lairs well fed afterwards.

[SD Anderson]

One detail. Jack will go up into the rafters with a length of electrical cord if nothing better can be found which he'll tie to a point on the rafters and test to see if he can swing down to the floor. This is being covered by the alternate Protean discipline you gave Jack. He'll rest up first and burn fatigue to power it. Then reset it for use tomorrow.

Edit: He'll also test it with a heavy load to represent his animal form's weight.

[Detritus]

One detail. Jack will go up into the rafters with a length of electrical cord if nothing better can be found which he'll tie to a point on the rafters and test to see if he can swing down to the floor. This is being covered by the alternate Protean discipline you gave Jack. He'll rest up first and burn fatigue to power it. Then reset it for use tomorrow.

Edit: He'll also test it with a heavy load to represent his animal form's weight.
OK, we'll say that you did this before answering Ramiel.

More in a bit...

[Detritus]

Just after you finish your brief interchange with Ramiel, you hear a couple of decidedly non-astral bursts of submachine fire. Most of the rounds whiz past you, but two plug Ramiel squarely in the chest, and he slowly sinks to the floor under the combination of impact and shock. As you turn in the direction for which the shots came, you see a shadowy form fleeing one of the entrances of the gym...

[SD Anderson]

Jack draws his gun and fires back at the shadowy form, and probably watch the form continue to flee. He then moves to Ramiel and sees how he's doing. If he's in anyway able to function, Jack takes the sports bottle of (rather well aged) blood he has with him to help Ramiel heal.

If the man isn't truly dead, (unlikely the way vampiric abilities work here) but is out of it enough not to be able to drink blood, Jack will cut his wrist and Ramiel's and try the Indian blood brothers bit, hopefully transfering enough vitae to Ramiel to at least jump start him.

Edit: Dang, I may have winged the varmint. If I'd actually stated I took a turn to aim at the sucker he'd absolutely have a few grains of lead in him. (assuming the Sunuvabitch isn't insubstantial or makes a defense roll)

[Detritus]

Jack draws his gun and fires back at the shadowy form, and probably watch the form continue to flee. He then moves to Ramiel and sees how he's doing. If he's in anyway able to function, Jack takes the sports bottle of (rather well aged) blood he has with him to help Ramiel heal.

If the man isn't truly dead, (unlikely the way vampiric abilities work here) but is out of it enough not to be able to drink blood, Jack will cut his wrist and Ramiel's and try the Indian blood brothers bit, hopefully transfering enough vitae to Ramiel to at least jump start him.

Edit: Dang, I may have winged the varmint. If I'd actually stated I took a turn to aim at the sucker he'd absolutely have a few grains of lead in him. (assuming the Sunuvabitch isn't insubstantial or makes a defense roll)
You hear a strangled cry of pain as your shot in the dark strikes true. Ramiel's shooter makes no effort to flee in silence, and you can hear retreating footfalls while attending to Ramiel. It takes him several seconds to heal his wounds, although he declines your offer of vitae.

"Thank you, but I am not that much the worse for wear. Some hunting would not be amiss, however, if we have the time.

"I did not get a good luck at the gunman's face or body, but I think he was Kindred. Should we pursue him? There may still be time to catch him, if he's alone."

[SD Anderson]

"Sounds like a plan. Let me do a bit of bullet proofing first. And let me go first. If he's reloaded I'll have a better chance of surviving."

OOC: Fortitude up, Enhancing it to DR 8, will burn a mix of blood and fatigue to do so.

Edit: My take on the augmenting rules 'maximum of double the original value' is that my DR bonus of 4 for Fortitude 3 can top at 8. If you take it to mean I can reach Fortitude 6 (15 DR according to a peek i did of a copy of Vampire companion at my FLGS) I'll go higher if I have the fatigue and blood to burn.

[SD Anderson]

Also getting very red eyes. I want to see what's out there.

[Detritus]

OOC: Fortitude up, Enhancing it to DR 8, will burn a mix of blood and fatigue to do so.

Edit: My take on the augmenting rules 'maximum of double the original value' is that my DR bonus of 4 for Fortitude 3 can top at 8. If you take it to mean I can reach Fortitude 6 (15 DR according to a peek i did of a copy of Vampire companion at my FLGS) I'll go higher if I have the fatigue and blood to burn.
According to Jack's posted character sheet, he only has Fortitude 2 right now. He could get the level 3 DR bonus (+4 DR) for the level 1 duration (10 minutes) at the cost of 6 Fatigue units as he is written.

If you can come up with 8 points from elsewhere in the build to bump Jack's Fortitude to 3 dots, he could get the level 5 DR bonus (+10 DR) for the level 1 duration at the cost of 10 Fatigue units, or the level 4 DR bonus (+6 DR) for the level 2 duration (30 minutes).

Level 6+ implementation of disciplines is off-limits to characters of 8th and higher generations.

[Detritus]

OK, DR 10 + Red Eyes will cost 12 Fatigue units, or DR 6 + Red Eyes costs 10 Fatigue units. Jack's down to 7 Fatigue right now, so he could only spend 2 more on Disciplines before hitting penalties. So 4-5 Blood Points + 2 Fatigue is probably your best bet, depending on whether you want DR 6 or to go all the way up to DR 10. (Jack has 14 BP right now, FYI.)

EDIT -- Red Eyes needs a roll before activation, too.

[SD Anderson]

Jack has a serious need of some Visine now. ;)

[Detritus]

OK, it takes you 3 seconds to power up your +10 DR and Red Eyes, during which time the gunman continues to flee. As you head towards the exit (with Ramiel trailing you a few steps) and turn the corner, you can see a thin trail of blood leading away, but no shooter.

At this point, your cell phone rings.

[SD Anderson]

OK, it takes you 3 seconds to power up your +10 DR and Red Eyes, during which time the gunman continues to flee. As you head towards the exit (with Ramiel trailing you a few steps) and turn the corner, you can see a thin trail of blood leading away, but no shooter.

At this point, your cell phone rings.


Jack follows the blood trail thinking _Ghoul? Takes a beating heart to get blood to squirt out of a wound, unless I hit him right at the bottom of his torso._

And takes out the phone, looks at the ID coming in and clicks the button to have it answer the call.

"I'm chasing a guy with a submachine gun, who just shot up Ramiel. How's your day been going?"

Edit: Probable Correction. Leo and I have our Cell Phones on and calling each other. Unless Leo hung up or the cell service dropped us, the only call going to my phone's number is to voicemail. If the link between our phones is down, as posted. Otherwise, the hunt for the gunner is on.

[Detritus]

Edit: Probable Correction. Leo and I have our Cell Phones on and calling each other. Unless Leo hung up or the cell service dropped us, the only call going to my phone's number is to voicemail. If the link between our phones is down, as posted. Otherwise, the hunt for the gunner is on.
Let's assume that Leo hung up after your prior cell phone conversation tonight.

[Detritus]

OK, you got Leo's wordless reaction.

You can follow the gunman's blood to a building exit leading to the parking lot pretty easily, but it stops there.

There's a second vehicle there now, a van with its back doors open. We'll say it's about 25 yards from the building entrance. You notice a crouching figure emerge from hiding behind the far side of your (well, Ramiel's) car to scramble inside the back of the van.

Can you please give me a Hearing roll for Jack?

[SD Anderson]

I rather suspect Jack heard something ominous. ;)

[Detritus]

I rather suspect Jack heard something ominous. ;)
Eh, it's not so bad. Just a tiny little hissing sound. It is coming from underneath Ramiel's car, however.

What next?

[SD Anderson]

Jack will take a 3 shot 'burst' at the relatively large and stationary van engine, if possible, the radiator, so that gunner and the driver can't get very far as they drive off, which any sensible to downright crazy people will be doing under these circumstances. He'll then drop for cover and roll assuming mr. machine gun will fire back.

While he's on the ground he'll take a glance at what's under Ramiel's car (burning fuse?).

[SD Anderson]

Somewhere a squirrel clutches at 3 bullet wounds before falling off it's tree limb... those rolls were pathetic!

[Detritus]

I'll have to wait until I get home to make sure about the rolls, but they probably aren't going to stop the van from fleeing the scene.

You do hear a burst of SMG fire come from the back of the van, just before its doors close. But, I'll have to wait to adjudicate those shots, too. They are aimed at the left rear tire of the car.

When you look under Ramiel's car, you indeed verify the presence of a burning fuse attached to a makeshift explosive device. To your Red-Eyed vision, it looks like there's probably about 10-15 seconds before it goes off.

[SD Anderson]

(Announcer: "And Now it's time again to play STUPID PC ACTIONS, with your host Wink Maaaartindale!")

"Your car has a bomb on it!"

Since Mr. Machinegun just emptied his magazine again, Jack gets up runs while crouching to the car, grabs the bomb, makes a full run for a turn towards the van just to get some extra momentum and throws the bomb as hard as he can in the general direction of the van.

And then dives for anything remotely usable as cover.

(I'll just send you a string of die rolls. You can figure out what they're for as needed.)

Edit: If roll 1 or roll 2 is the throwing roll, they are in deep yogurt. If roll #3 is I am in there instead. ;)

[Detritus]

(Announcer: "And Now it's time again to play STUPID PC ACTIONS, with your host Wink Maaaartindale!")

"Your car has a bomb on it!"

Since Mr. Machinegun just emptied his magazine again, Jack gets up runs while crouching to the car, grabs the bomb, makes a full run for a turn towards the van just to get some extra momentum and throws the bomb as hard as he can in the general direction of the van.

And then dives for anything remotely usable as cover.

(I'll just send you a string of die rolls. You can figure out what they're for as needed.)

Edit: If roll 1 or roll 2 is the throwing roll, they are in deep yogurt. If roll #3 is I am in there instead. ;)
Hee hee. Good enough. I have a backlog of rolls to adjudicate, but I am probably heading home within the hour. Will let you know what happens.

I will say, as long as the bomb doesn't go off under the car, you're probably OK, with your DR 10 active. Or, at least you won't suffer the Final Death, let's put it that way.

[Detritus]

Not quite to adjudication yet, but this is how the scene will play out.

We'll use the rear bumper of Ramiel's car as the origin of the coordinate system for this scene.

The rear doors of the van start out three yards from Ramiel's rear bumper. That will be the range for the SMG shots from the van directed at the left rear tire.

The van starts to accelerate from rest just as Jack gets up to retrieve the bomb from under the car. It will accelerate at 4 mph/s (i.e. it can go from 0-60 in 15 seconds). We'll approximate this as 2 yards/s/s. Its range in yards from the car's rear bumper is then 3 + t^2, where t is in seconds, counting up from the time when Jack starts heading towards the car, and the bomb.

It will take 4 seconds for Jack to close and grab the bomb. The first roll will be a Rötschreck roll, and the second roll a DX roll to see if he grabs the bomb successfully.

Jack will have to spend all of Round 5 extricating himself from the bottom of the car and standing. Round 6 he can start moving towards the van. At the end of Round 6 and every round thereafter, Jack must make a successful Rötschreck roll to continue holding on to the bomb. A failed roll means the fuse finally gets the better of Jack, and he has to let fly.

Jack is currently at reduced Fatigue. He may spend 1 Blood Point to ignore the effects of his Fatigue on the throw towards the van.

We'll say the bomb is about cantaloupe-sized, and weighs 2 pounds for the purposes of distance calculation.

The fuse will be lit for 1d6+9 seconds, counting down from when Jack starts to approach the car.

[SD Anderson]

There's a reason I opened up with that Announcer's line. There are times in game when story calls for stupidity. ;) That said stupidity has serious drawbacks, know whut ah mean Vern?

I'm not really expecting to hit the car directly. By the math, it'll be 39 yards away on turn six. As of turn 4 or so, it should be moving faster than Jack can run already and accelerating. Unless the Van has to make a turn or something, he can't catch it. I'm making a 1 turn run simply to put my move's momentum into the throw. Every additional turn of movement Jack runs after the van is extra distance between Jack and the Van. It's going to be run/throw/major direction change/dive for cover. And hope the Shrapnel gods are nicer to Jack than to his new found friends.

[Detritus]

OK, this is what we get:

The first shot from the SMG takes out the rear left tire on Ramiel's car.

Jack is able to screw up his courage enough to reach for the bomb (roll 1 = 8).

He grabs it quickly & successfully (roll 2 = 6).

His throw is not so good (roll 3 = 16). Holding on to a bomb with a lit fuse causes him to release a little early, so there's way too much air under the throw. Jack realizes this pretty quickly (roll 4 = 6) and he is able to scramble so as to position Ramiel's car between him and the blast. Ramiel gets a couple of shots off at the van, then realizes that a live bomb is going to land about 10-12 yards away from him, and then makes a similar dive for cover.

The bomb goes off about 15 yards from the car. There's a bit of spray of debris, but not much else. Ramiel's paint job is a bit worse for the wear, but that's about it.

So now there is a car with a flat tire, and Jack is down 1 more Blood Pool (I'm assuming...) and 1 more Fatigue (he's at 9 pool and 4 Fatigue right now if he spent the pool to ignore Fatigue on the throw).

[SD Anderson]

(Yep. Below 4 fatigue isn't good in 3rd edition.)

Jack snarls in frustration as he sees the car collapse on one of it's tires.

"We'll have to drive on the flat, unless you'd rather have the car here when the cops show up. Abandoned or not. machineguns and dynamite blasts just tickle the curiousity of the boys in blue."

"What's the next possible site on your list? This one's a bit too compromised."

BTW does Jack still have that feeling about being watched?

[Detritus]

Jack snarls in frustration as he sees the car collapse on one of it's tires.

"We'll have to drive on the flat, unless you'd rather have the car here when the cops show up. Abandoned or not. machineguns and dynamite blasts just tickle the curiousity of the boys in blue."

"What's the next possible site on your list? This one's a bit too compromised."
"There's the high school for this district. It isn't too far away from here. Let's see, this one is named after Andrew Jackson, I believe.

"We can drive on the flat, but I'm worried about meeting up with that van. Suppose they plan on tailing us when we leave? The police might be easier to handle than a van full of Kindred with automatic weapons and explosives"

BTW does Jack still have that feeling about being watched?
Jack's nerves are a bit frayed after the exchange, and this has the effect of heightening his sense of awareness. It's a similar sensation, but it doesn't come and go the way it did before.

[SD Anderson]

Jack shakes his head. "If they had the resources to do that we'd have been hit with them a couple of minutes ago. One guy with a submachine gun came out of that van. They had a fuse lit bomb, not something with a timer or remote controlled detonator."

"This was improvised, half assed. Whoever's behind this is using lower grade thugs this time. If they're able to improvise dynamite traps, we're dealing with guys who carry dynamite in their van for general purposes. Half assed AND half witted."

"In any event, we can't use this school. We're the only ones here to make... Jefferson? workable if it is workable."

"But, we're also going to have to feed pretty damned soon thanks to those morons."

"Let's see if your car will start. We can change the tire once we're clear of the patrol the cops will take around this place."

Jack dials Leo's number.

[Detritus]

The car starts fine. You can make your way over to Jackson High in a matter of minutes. Ramiel will change the flat while you start your investigation of the high school. The building is in almost as poor repair as the elementary school was.

The auditorium and gym are separate in this building. The auditorium is essentially a large lecture hall with a stage at the front. There are entrances to backstage and just in front of the stage at floor level, and second-floor entrances at the back of the room.

The gym has retractable stands on both sides of the main basketball court, but you notice there are six baskets altogether. When the stands are retracted the floor is big enough to have two basketball courts that are side by side, and they run perpendicular to the main court.

There's also a football field on school grounds with a seating capacity of somewhere around 3,000, maybe 3,500 spectators, and a press box centered at the top of the home team's side of the grandstands.

[SD Anderson]

Finding the school reasonabl suitable, Jack recovres some FATIGUE and tries the negotiate with the Bats trick again. Any good spots to set up snipers here?

[Detritus]

Finding the school reasonabl suitable, Jack recovres some FATIGUE and tries the negotiate with the Bats trick again. Any good spots to set up snipers here?
There is a catwalk above the stage in the auditorium, and the press box atop the stands of the football field is another likely place. The gym here is not so great for snipers.

[Detritus]

You'll also have to rest for an hour (beyond whatever time it takes to scope out the school grounds, we'll say half an hour) to use Fatigue to fuel your Animalism call/speech with the bats you summon and remain above 4 Fatigue at all times. There probably isn't going to be time tonight to do this with another school; however, you don't have any untoward encounters this go around.

[Detritus]

Forgot to ask, where did you want to set up the bat-cam?

[SD Anderson]

let's set the center of the stage as 12 o'clock. I think the bats should be grouped at about 8:30 and 3:30.

Actually Jack's looking for sites OUTSIDE the school for the sniper positions. If Lucien or New Orleans equivalent forces such as Mr. Machinegun come to this school in force tomorrow, the plan is to throw anihilating force at them to both give us extra time to get the Justicar the hell out of there.

I don't know what sort of ordinance will be available, but I wouldn't ogject to two LMGs throwing .30 caliber death by the bucketful every few seconds nor seeing that van take a hit with an anti-tank rocket.

Jack has to go by what he saw at Lucien's part of Texas and assume something on THAT order of force is coming univited to the hearing.

At some point, probably during that rest period, he'll try to contact Leo by phone again.

As of getting through with what I've said Jack is going to do, what time is it?

[Detritus]

let's set the center of the stage as 12 o'clock. I think the bats should be grouped at about 8:30 and 3:30.
It is done.

Actually Jack's looking for sites OUTSIDE the school for the sniper positions. If Lucien or New Orleans equivalent forces such as Mr. Machinegun come to this school in force tomorrow, the plan is to throw anihilating force at them to both give us extra time to get the Justicar the hell out of there.
The roof of the school itself is one likely place if you're looking to cover the parking lot. You can find a couple of nearby buildings that don't seem like they get much in the way of nighttime traffic that will cover likely entrances near the school's auditorium.

I don't know what sort of ordinance will be available, but I wouldn't ogject to two LMGs throwing .30 caliber death by the bucketful every few seconds nor seeing that van take a hit with an anti-tank rocket.

Jack has to go by what he saw at Lucien's part of Texas and assume something on THAT order of force is coming univited to the hearing.
This is something you can take up in more detail with Mr. Johnson before you go to sleep for the day.

At some point, probably during that rest period, he'll try to contact Leo by phone again.
For the first call, the parking lot firebomb and Leo's exit from the Drake manor were basically in sync. It's unclear what exactly Leo et al. will be doing when you call next -- it's probably around 0130 in his thread as of the discovery of Dieter's body and Adrianne getting shot.

As of getting through with what I've said Jack is going to do, what time is it?
It's approaching 0330 -- landfall at midnight, about an hour to look around MLK elementary/middle school, close to two hours to reconnoiter Jackson High, including resting time for Fatigue recharge, and then the driving time between the docks and schools.

[SD Anderson]

"Like it or not, we don't have time for anothe school. Athletic field is good for a helicopter. This looks to be the place we'll use."

"We still need to blood up too." Jack adds. "And we don't really have time to hunt. Any place around here with streetgirls that wouldn't constitute poaching?"

[Detritus]

"Like it or not, we don't have time for anothe school. Athletic field is good for a helicopter. This looks to be the place we'll use."

"We still need to blood up too." Jack adds. "And we don't really have time to hunt. Any place around here with streetgirls that wouldn't constitute poaching?"
Ramiel whips out his cell phone.

"I have cultivated a small Herd of my own. Nothing like the Prince's, of course, but it'll do in a pinch. We won't be able to restore ourselves completely, but we can tide ourselves over for the night. This operation will be a bit more ...civilized... than cruising the Red Light district. You are welcome to feed off of one of my herd members tonight, just don't take too much."

You'll have time to meet up with a couple of members of Ramiel's herd. You should be able to drink two BP without seriously damaging the herd member you feed from. If you think Jack will want more, that'll be something that needs to be worked out in-character.

[SD Anderson]

Ramiel whips out his cell phone.

"I have cultivated a small Herd of my own. Nothing like the Prince's, of course, but it'll do in a pinch. We won't be able to restore ourselves completely, but we can tide ourselves over for the night. This operation will be a bit more ...civilized... than cruising the Red Light district. You are welcome to feed off of one of my herd members tonight, just don't take too much."

You'll have time to meet up with a couple of members of Ramiel's herd. You should be able to drink two BP without seriously damaging the herd member you feed from. If you think Jack will want more, that'll be something that needs to be worked out in-character.

"Thanks."

Jack will also kill off the bottled supply before it goes bad (gets worse, more likely) and be up 4 pts.

[Detritus]

OK, Jack can get up to 13 Blood Pool by these various means.

We'll also say that right after Ramiel made arrangements with his herd members, he called up the Prince, who informed him in vague terms about all the doings that transpired this evening. Enough so that there are going to be two boats to the Prince's haven, and if you hustle, you can catch the early one. The Prince also instructs Ramiel to bring his herd members offshore.

You roll into the dock just before 0400, and find Thomas, Merill, and Werner waiting for you. There is also a fourth man there, lying in repose, whom you instantly surmise must be Lazarus. Once you arrive, Thomas looks intently at the body, which then begins to float. He and Merill guide it aboard ship, after which everyone else boards, and you push off just after 0400, to arrive at Mr. Johnson's haven at 0430.

Jack may, at his discretion, engage the Tremere in conversation at this time...

[SD Anderson]

OK, Jack can get up to 13 Blood Pool by these various means.

We'll also say that right after Ramiel made arrangements with his herd members, he called up the Prince, who informed him in vague terms about all the doings that transpired this evening. Enough so that there are going to be two boats to the Prince's haven, and if you hustle, you can catch the early one. The Prince also instructs Ramiel to bring his herd members offshore.

You roll into the dock just before 0400, and find Thomas, Merill, and Werner waiting for you. There is also a fourth man there, lying in repose, whom you instantly surmise must be Lazarus. Once you arrive, Thomas looks intently at the body, which then begins to float. He and Merill guide it aboard ship, after which everyone else boards, and you push off just after 0400, to arrive at Mr. Johnson's haven at 0430.

Jack may, at his discretion, engage the Tremere in conversation at this time...

"Enjoy the lead spitting around here this time of year?" Jack asks idly.

[Detritus]

"Enjoy the lead spitting around here this time of year?" Jack asks idly.
"Lead spitting?" replies Thomas. "Were you attacked? Our evening was rather quiet, but still eventful," he says, waving towards Lazarus.

[SD Anderson]

"Lead spitting?" replies Thomas. "Were you attacked? Our evening was rather quiet, but still eventful," he says, waving towards Lazarus.

"Just two clowns in a van. One guy stayed at the wheel, the other guy sprayed submachine gun fire, got Ramiel twice and put a cheap pipe bomb under Ramiel's car."

"Remind me to be exceptionally unpleasant to whatever idiot is behind this nonsense."

[Detritus]

((OOC -- Leo's group is now at a point where they will not be doing much beside licking their wounds and tidying up:

http://forum.criticalfumble.net/showpost.php?p=89237&postcount=67

This would be a good time for Jack and Leo to talk, as the clean-up and the uneventful scouting of Jackson High are basically happening at the same time. Put any conversation in the Leo thread, to keep the continuity of Jack's thread intact.))

[Detritus]

Jack & the male Tremere are going to arrive at the Prince's haven at about the time the other two groups leave shore. If there are any specific questions that Jack has about what the prince was able to wrangle up in preparation for Samantha's audience with Justicar Walsh, this is a good time to ask them.

[SD Anderson]

(ooc: I'll assume Leo and I catch up on the two assaults we underwent.)

"Our kiler overplayed her hand. We don't want the Justicar to come here right now. She has handed us several perfect reasons to cancel. The first is that Demetrius cannot answer questions or defend himself. Pointless to hold the hearing under the circumstances. Second the attacks on us show the place is not safe at present. If the hearing is to be held, it'll have to be held in another domain, unless the situation here changes."

"I'd rather we went with the first reason as much as we can. The second reason both makes us look bad and reflects poorly on the Prince here. As much as our Tremere associates might enjoy that prospect, I don't want to entangle our investigation with local politics."

"What I'd like you to do is tell the Justicar the meeting is off, but to send a decoy in his place. We might just flush out the killer if we can pull this off."

[SD Anderson]

OOC: Yes I was speaking to Leo. This is what I would not say over the phone. My specific hope at the moment is to keep this between the two of us since our opposition seems to know too much about our activities so far.

[Detritus]

OK, I have deleted the intervening posts. Carry on.

EDIT -- Actually, we should probably wait a bit before carrying on with this particular conversation. Leo is going to be coming back ashore with Jocelin & Menachem et al. There may be an intervening conversation on the second boat before we get here.

[SD Anderson]

Talking to the Prince, Jack says, "In view of the gunplay this night, I'll want every bit of security and firepower you can bring to bear available for the hearing. I have to expect a really heavy firefight tomorrow."

[Detritus]

Talking to the Prince, Jack says, "In view of the gunplay this night, I'll want every bit of security and firepower you can bring to bear available for the hearing. I have to expect a really heavy firefight tomorrow."
The prince gives a wordless nod at this information and request.

((OOC -- The others are going to be arriving back at the boat pretty soon. I think the conversation you initiated with Leo will be moved to the new thread.))

[Detritus]

((More OOC - We'll say that your request of Mr. Johnson occurs just as the others are boarding the second boat out to the prince's haven, at about 430 am. I'm going to re-stick this thread and leave it sticky until all the PCs are back together again.))

[SD Anderson]

ooc: Fair enough