(IC 2) San Francisco by Night: A Requiem in Fog

[Bennosuke]

Bernardo shrugs at Anna's question, the motion punctuated by the explosive sound of gunfire. Anxiously, the Ghoul says, "Aisling joined up with that guy Nick D'Agostino when the shooting started. He's got maybe five tough guys with him, and he somehow got a crate of hand guns into this place. And then there were a group of vampires I didn't recognize as well, though I think one of them is your friends." Another string of gunfire causes Bernardo stiffen and pause for a second. He looks nervously over his shoulder and then continues, "There was... I don't know, maybe ten or twelve bad guys, all in gas masks and fireman's gear, but they had assault rifles or something. I think Nick's guys will eventually take them out..." He lets the thought trail off as someone screams out in pain, then glumly adds, "Do you think we should, check if Aisling is okay first, before going up?" He looks back at the door he was waiting outside, then up the stairwell towards the roof.

************************************************** ********************

Gabrielle listens to Karl's advice, eyes filled with panic and absent of much understanding. Karl steps around the Ghoul, who still stands with hands crossed over her body, and opens the door onto the balcony level.

Rather than leading directly into the audience, the door opens into a small white hallway. Well, the door does not open all the way, instead stopping with a thud as it collides with a prone and un-moving fireman, who is about an inch deep in his own blood. Karl registers the bloody exit wound in the man's back as he steps around the corpse and into the lobby. The Mekhet pads down the hallway, Gabrielle calling out, "Wait, what are you doing? Don't leave me here," before following. She gingerly steps around the dead body, her face turning almost green as she does.

The two wind through the hallway before coming to what appears to be a small lobby/lounge for the balcony level. The space is maybe a thousand square feet, cramped for a firefight, the only cover being a small back lit bar. A few potted ferns decorate the room. Gabrielle points to a door marked "Rows 300-399" and says, "I came from over there".

But before either one can move, a series of stomping feet is heard and two men dressed in the same fireman's uniform and gas masks appear, each holding assault rifles. One points to the same doorway that Gabrielle had indicated, and says in a muffled voice, "That way."

(OOC: Please give me a stealth roll, and roll initiative while you are at it. I suppose if you want, you can roll to attack, but maybe you want to know if your stealth roll gives you the drop. The two ghouls are within reach for your first attack if you want to go melee)

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Anna looked to her sire and Lady Miho.

“The Prince would have expected people to flee to the roof,” she said, “they could be dousing it with gasoline right now. Or maybe they have a helicopter and we should take some assault rifles with us when we go. I think someone with obfuscate should check the roof and see what’s happening there while the rest assist d’agnostino so we can storm the roof in force, but I defer to your judgement.”

[Daishain]

Karl pauses, drawing Gabrielle back into the shadows with him. Schultz' ghouls can go first, it will be easier to take them from behind.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Stealth (4d10)[1][3][8][2](14)
ten again (4d10)[4][7][3][6](20)
initiative (1d10+9)[14]
That was close, better than nothing at least

[Bennosuke]

Lady Miho scoffs at Anna's statement, a derisive hard short laugh. "We can all use the power of shadows dear... or at least everyone but the Ghoul... and maybe your Nosferatu friend," she says indicating Screech.

The unaligned vampire scowls and says, "I can use Obfuscate just fine, thank you," in his shrill crackling voice. Lady Miho seems to pay Screech no mind, ignoring his response. Instead, she says something sharp and harsh to Kenji in Japanese, the words coming out almost like a series of low grunts.

Anna's sire nods his head in agreement, and says to Anna, "You may be correct about an ambush. There were enemies coming from the lobby, but given the timing it is hard to imagine they made it to the balcony so quickly from the ground floor. But the lobby appears to already be in flames and they were lighting up the theater, so the roof may be our only choice." He says these words calmly, like explaining a math equation to a child, rather than discussing the reality of being attacked in a burning building.

Bernardo speaks up, his voice anxious and his eyes lingering on the doorway out to the balcony level. He says, "Aisling and the others are still fighting for their lives on the balcony. I know she said we should go to the roof, but if you don't want to go, let's go back and help her fight!" He looks around anxiously, hoping to gather support, though the other Kindred just stare at him blankly for a moment.

Screech shrugs and says, "I'm up for going to the roof. I wanna get the hell out of here."

************************************************** ************************

Karl and Gabrielle slide back into the hallway, pressing themselves up against the wall. The two armed men seem not to notice the Mekhet and his Ghoul, exposing their backs as they make their way through the lounge area.

(OOC: Karl acts first, and has a surprise round. The Ghouls don't get the benefit of a defense modifier, and Karl can act as if he has a +2 modifier to his firearm roll this round for extra time to aim.)

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

“The assault rifles are where Aisling is too,” Anna said, “I’m in favor of gathering as many allies as we can before going up. We will need them after tonight. Julian may be there as well.”

Anna wants to go to the balcony, but she won’t directly contradict her seniors in the Ordo.

[Bennosuke]

Before responding, Kenji says something quickly to Lady Miho in Japanese, the words again tersely spoken. She responds with an affirmative grunt, then Anna's Sire says to her in English, "Very well. Go with your Ghoul to help your Coterie. Lady Miho and I will go to the roof and make sure it is safe." He gives Anna small grin at the end of this, telling her that he is playfully teasing her.

Bernardo exclaims, "Good," loudly as he anxiously turns back towards the door, not opening it till Anna has joined him. The Ghoul's words are practically drowned out by the sound of nearby gunfire.

"What about me?" Screech says, eyes darting between Anna and the Elder vampires like some doe eyed helpless princess. He adds, "Let me come with you to the roof."

The request draws a look of ire from Lady Miho, but Kenji says, "Very well," to the Nosferatu, making it clear with his tone that he was not enthused in his acceptance of the plan. The three depart up the stairs, their feet creating echoing claps in the enclosed stairwell.

Bernardo moves to the door, placing a hand on the painted metal and says, "You ready?" It is clear that the Ghoul is psyching himself up for combat, and Anna can hear his heartbeat loud and fast, can smell his fear and anxiety.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

"We'll be up shortly," Anna said, "hopefully with reinforcements."

At the balcony door, Anna paused.
"Let's take a look first," she said.
Anna called on her gifts to stay as hidden as possible, and cracked open the door to get a look at what was going on.

[Bennosuke]

Bernardo nods his head in agreement, letting Anna take the lead.

Anna peaks the door open, the metal thankfully swinging noiselessly. The doorway looks into a row of balcony seating, the space maybe containing about a thousand seats and slanted downward towards the stage so that the rows of seats were placed on a rake. The floor near the door was littered with about five corpses, all dressed in fire-deterrent garb and gas masks, and all shredded to ribbons and gathering dark pools of blood. Several of the bodies still clutch rifles in rigid but lifeless gloved hands. From Anna's vantage point, she can see Aisling crouched about three rows down, holding a pistol awkwardly in hands tipped with long claws. She is adjacent to Nicholas D'Agostino and several of his men, who all appear to be firing at a group of enemy combatants who are about 50 yards away and hunkered down behind chairs in the back balcony of the audience (Anna is in the right wing balcony and there is no immediate connection. The two groups are exchanging gunfire, the reports of shots ringing out in the giant theater as flames are spreading through the ground level seats.

Aisling and the others don't yet notice Anna.

[Daishain]

Finding the best cover available with a good firing position, and motioning for Gabrielle to do the same, Karl draws a bead on one of the ghouls while exposing as little of himself as possible, waiting until they are far from suitable cover before opening fire. He's hoping to take down at least one of them before they can react. Spending all his vitae repairing bullet holes in this one skirmish seems less than ideal.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Surprise round (7d10)[1][9][9][6][4][7][4](40)
Round 1 (5d10)[1][8][2][6][10](27)
Ten again (5d10)[3][2][7][2][10](24)
I think it was +2 lethal damage on a hit? Not in a position to check the book right now.
Gabrielle has a weapon right? If not, he'll instead motion for her to stay completely out of sight.
If one of the pair appears to be better trained (often discernible by their stance and ease of weapon handling), Karl will target that one first. If not, he'll target whichever is closer to being able to reach cover.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Anna crouched down, then crawled to the bodies with the rifles, motioning Bernardo to come with. She checked to see if the dead ghouls had any extra clips, and if there was ammo remaining in the rifles while hopefully Bernardo would do the same.

If there was enough ammo for more than one rifle, Anna would first make sure Bernardo had one, then sling any extras over her shoulder. She tried to keep an eye on the door too, in case anyone tried to come up behind them.

Then she popped her head up from behind the seats to try and get a look at the enemy.

“Prince D’agnostino, Aisling, everyone is headed for the roof,” she said, hopefully loud enough for her allies to hear but not loud enough for the enemies on the other balcony.

[Bennosuke]

Karl slowly draws a bead on the first target. He pulls the pistol's trigger and the report is near deafening in the cramped lobby. The first shot hits its target in the back, somewhere near the left shoulder blade, and nearly knocks him off his feet. Karl's second shot finishes the man off, striking him again in the chest and leaving him lifeless on the floor as his partner turns towards Karl. Mortals were so fragile!

The second Ghoul begins to raise his weapon, but suddenly Gabrielle is pulling the trigger of a black assault rifle. Karl recognizes the gun as a weapon of the gasmask clad Ghouls, though he can't remember when she picked the thing up or where it came from. The first volley of shots tear into the man bursting several bloody holes into his chest and knocking him backwards into the wall, where he slides down onto his rump. The man is still alive, but has lost his weapon and appears preoccupied with desperately trying to staunch the stream of blood pouring from his wounds. His voice comes in raspy shrieks, muffled by the gasmask.

For a moment Gabrielle turns her head towards Karl and grins with pride, her dark purple lips pulling back into a devilish smile that almost reminded the Mekhet of Estella.

************************************************** ************

Anna and Bernardo moved quickly, recovering a single assault rifle and a pair of black heavy pistols, Colt M1911s to be precise. Bernardo took the pistols, and Anna the automatic rifle.

She called to Nicholas D'Agostino, who didn't even bother turning. The Primogen simply called sternly over his shoulder, "Good! We all have to get out of here. I will have Gorman's severed head by the end of the night, and the Sheriff staked and left out in the sun!" He raises a captured automatic rifle and holds the trigger down to send a hail of bullets into the adjacent balcony. Before he crouches back behind the stairs, Anna can see that his fine black suit has been punctured with a pair of bullet wounds at about abdomen level, though he does not appear worse for the ware.

Aisling turns around, still on her knees, but placing her clawed hands onto a velvet couch to grin at the two like the cat that caught the canary. "How nice of you to join us," she purrs, her youthful face seeming suddenly dark and of infinite years. She wags a finger at Bernardo and says, "You naughty boy, you promised me you would go straight to the roof."

Bashfully, the Ghoul calls over the gunfire, "I'm sorry, but I couldn't leave you here alone." His face turns a dark crimson, a gesture that Aisling would not be able to copy without significant effort. The Gangrel ignores the statement, giving a long sigh and turning around again to send another wide and awkward shot off towards the enemies in the other balcony.

[Daishain]

Karl nods to the ghoul, "Well done, don't relax yet, stay focused." He moves up and quickly frisks the two men for their weapons and ammo, handing some magazines to Gabriel for her weapon. He particularly hopes there are a few grenades or flashbangs. They weren't really his preferred tool, but this was not a situation for subtlety.

Shouldering the purloined assault rifle, Karl moves to the door Gabrielle indicated, checking it out before moving through.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Anna peeked over the seat and aimed carefully, taking a shot when she could against a target at the other balcony.

Spoiler

Show

dex + firearms: (4d10)[5][1][8][2](16)
10 again: (4d10)[6][6][9][10](31)

“Let’s go then, unless there’s a good reason we should be trading shots with... whoever that is over there,” she said.

[Bennosuke]

Karl gathered the rifle from the first dead corpse, moving to the man seated against the blood stained wall. The moment Karl came close, the man moaned, and put a hand up as if to defend himself though only muffled guttural noises came through his gas mask. He was clearly afraid of Karl, and the way he moved, it looked like his legs were paralyzed. Blood oozed from the bullet holes that tracked across his chest.

Gabrielle walked straight towards the man. Moving stiffly, she put the barrel of her automatic rifle to his head, and nodding to Karl says in quivering voice, "Should I do it?"

*****************************************

Anna let loose a number of shots at the adjacent balcony. There were no obvious hits, but at that distance, it was near impossible to tell where the bullets were landing. Black smoke was starting to billow up to the balcony level, thick and caustic smelling. From Anna's perspective it was difficult to see how big the fire was below, but the smoke was starting to obscure visibility across the balconies. She cued Bernardo to follow her exit, the Ghoul hesitant to comply but following none the less. Aisling and the others seemed not to notice their exit, though it was clear the gunfight was starting to wane.

Bernardo followed Anna up to the roof, the door at the top of the stairwell marked in red lettering, "Roof Entrance. No Return!". But Anna noted that the a mechanical box hung from the top right corner of the roof. It appeared that this was some sort of magnetic lock for the door that had been shattered from it's place in the door frame, and now hung by a thick metal cable.

Stepping outside Anna is struck by the general peacefulness, though a number of ambulances could be heard from the streets below. Unlike the firefighting inside, the battle had already been won on the roof. There were maybe fifteen or so Kindred on the roof, including Lady Miho, Kenji, and Julian, the latter had several stained holes in the jacket of his suit though it was clear that his wounds had already healed. The vampires stood together in clumps, glaring at each other from across the roof. It had begun raining at some point, and the animated corpses stood around the periphery of the roof in soaked clothing. The bodies of six gas mask men were strewn about the roof, all lifeless. Sure enough, as Anna had predicted there was a single massive propellered vehicle in the middle of the roof. The thing looked like a military grade transport helicopter, the thing shaped like a bus with a tail fin and propellers, and painted jet black.

The Kindred on the roof seemed to be gathered around the edges of the roof, though as Anna stepped through the door, her companions in The Ordo Dracul began walking towards her. Julian, boosted by Celerity, arrived first in a near blur that Anna was still not used to. "It looks like a contingent of Gorman's people came by that thing," he says matter of factly, pointing at the helicopter, "I think the ones on the second floor came from the roof. The others must have come through the lobby. It looks like they did a good job of setting fire to this place." Sure enough, Anna could now see the smoke rising up along the side of the building, not as thick as inside. Julian adds, "D'Agostino's men did a good job of taking out The Prince's sentries. There were a number of firefights on the street around the Opera House, but they're all finished now. The argument now is whether or not to take the helicopter with those here on the roof, and thus strand everyone else inside the building. Also the cops and firetrucks have already started to gather, so there's the whole Masquerade issue."

[Thundercracker]

Anna looked around the roof, and then the nearby buildings. Was someone waiting with a bazooka to shoot down the helicopter? She tried to think about where she would set up if she wanted to do just that.

Where was Gorman? Was it possible all of this was a distraction?

“We should at least wait for d’agnostino,” she replied, “without him the city will devolve into a bloodbath... well, even more of one than this.”
She motioned to the smoke.
“Is there any other way off the roof?” she asked, “this helicopter seems awfully convenient and if it was me, I’d have someone ready to shoot it down and kill a bunch of my enemies all at once.”

[Daishain]

Karl says slowly, "If that is what you wish. I can handle it if not. Just a word of warning, taking a life that is not a threat is considerably different from defending yourself. That can wear on a person."

Karl will finish off the man if she has trouble. Either way he'll finish frisking, hand a mask to Gabrielle, and proceed through the door.

[Bennosuke]

Julian shrugs his shoulders and says, "Climbing down... though I don't think everyone will fair so well with that task, even with the ropes we found in the helicopter" He looks back over his shoulder as the other Dragons join him, but he seems to be looking back out at the street. "Ultimately, I don't think we can wait forever. It looks like too many Kine officials are already gathering. If you wan't, I"ll go down there and haul The Primogen up here myself," he grins at this, though there is exhaustion in the Sworn of the Axe's voice, as if the night had already drained rather than exhilarated him.

************************************************** *

Gabrielle glares at Karl, determination finally settling over her. "This bastard would just as soon kill me or you," she says coldly, "Fck him." Her words finally draw the attention of the wounded man, whose head turns to face her just as she pulls the trigger. The shot echoes in the enclosed space, and splatters her black dress with gore, though the young Ghoul seems not to notice. "Let's go," Gabrielle says to Karl. The two move cautiously through a curtain draped entrance out to the balcony.

The two are now standing on a large balcony, maybe with 300 or so seats, a story above the ground level and stage right. A number of Ghouls are crouched in the isles, clad in formal black uniforms that likely identify them as D'Agostino's men. One limp Ghoul appears to have been thrown backwards, and is strewn awkwardly over the back of a chair like someone's winter jacket.

In the balcony across Karl sees Aisling, the Primogen and a several more of his men, exchanging fire with about twenty Ghouls who are taking cover in the isles of the back balcony. The gunfire echoes in the giant theater as shots go wide. The enclosed space has begun to fill with smoke, decreasing visibility, and the theater is now a good 10 degrees hotter. Though it does not affect Karl, he can see that Gabrielle is having a hard time catching her breath.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Anna nodded.

“I’ll go with you,” she said, “I know where they are.”

She turned and sprinted back into the building, to Aisling and d’agnostino, who she had wrongly assumed had followed her.

“Any sign of Yamamoto-san?” she asked Julian once they were inside.

[Bennosuke]

Anna goes back down the stairwell, following Julian and followed by her ghoul Bernardo. But the door to the balcony actually opens as they are finishing their descent and into the stairwell steps one of D'Agostino's Ghouls, identified by his tight fitting formal uniform. The ghoul is followed by another, then The Primogen himself, and eventually by Aisling.

As the door closes, Anna can still hear the infrequent shot of a gun, and smoke begins rushing into the hallway, black and acrid. Nicholas looks past Julian to Anna, to grin at her. "I take it the roof is secure?" he says confidently. Receiving Anna's affirmative, he continues up the stairs, "The first floor is ablaze. We are going to have to escape from the roof. From there we hunt down The Betrayer, and turn him and his allies to ash." The Primogen will move past any impediment up the stairs to the roof.

[Thundercracker]

“Yes, and there is a helicopter as well,” Anna replied.

She looked at Julian questioningly, giving him a chance to suggest doing anything else in the opera house, and if she doesn’t, she follows d’agnostino back up to the roof.

[Bennosuke]

As D'Agostino passes him, Julian asks, "Did you see our Primogen, Yamamoto-San? He was on the main level."

The would be Prince stops only once he is past Julian and shakes his head in the negative. But after a moment Nicholas turns and says, "If I'm not mistaken though, you ARE the Sworn of the Axe right?" Julian nods 'yes' to this, taken aback by the direct nature of the question. "Good, then stick with me," D'Agostino says over his shoulder as he turns and strides up the stairs, leading his train.

Aisling gives Bernardo a quick hut as she joins him and Anna, and the entire party climbs back to the roof. As the mass of Kindred enter, those already in attendance turn and begin to gather. Anna can see the number of vampires on the roof has grown in her absence, but it still seems like no plan has been settled on.

[Daishain]

Karl says to Gabrielle, "Put that mask on, that's what its for." Upon seeing the Primogen make his retreat, he calls out to the ghouls nearby, "Fall back and regroup, cover the Primogen's path!"

Whether or not they listen, he'll back out of there, and hurry around towards where he can link up with the others.

[Bennosuke]

Gabrielle does as she is told, though the large rubberized mask is clearly oversized on her head, and she cries out as it grabs her hair during donning. The duo are headed up the stairs before the Ghouls yet have a chance to follow. Karl and Gabrielle join their Kindred on the roof just moments after Nicholas has arrived and the vampires have begun to gather around him.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

“Karl, Bernardo, Aisling... Gabrielle ?,” Anna said, “I’ve got a bad feeling. Let’s check that thing for bombs while the primogen figure out what to do.”

She looked around and tried to figure out if there was enough space on the helicopter for everyone currently on the roof before heading over to the vehicle.

[Bennosuke]

OOC: Gabrielle and Bernardo offer to assist Anna in searching the helicopter. Please give me a Wits+Investigation roll+2 for the assistance of the Ghouls. Daishain can roll as well.

[Daishain]

Karl nods, "Good thinking, check the small spaces, anywhere there's a few inches of gap to slide something the size of a brick into. If you do see something, don't touch it." He moves to open the engine compartment.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

wits+investigation+2 (8d10)[2][6][7][1][1][10][8][5](40)

[Bennosuke]

The group begins scouring the unmanned helicopter, looking for bombs or anything that may be of use. Fortunately, no bombs are found on board. However, Anna is able to find a few pairs of the flame retardant uniforms that were worn by the ghouls. Karl also finds a weapons rack with a few more machine guns and a few barrels of what looks like some sort of oil or gasoline; probably what was used to set the opera house on fire.

Anna also finds the helicopter's black box, a large orange painted metal cylinder marked "Flight Recording Device". The fools were stupid enough not to remove the damn thing, and perhaps studying this later would help with the hunt for Prince Gorman!

The helicopter looks like it can comfortably fit around fifteen bodies, maybe twenty if everyone crams in, which would be a large portion of the group on the roof, but not everyone.

[Thundercracker]

Anna

“We can drop off a bunch at the nearest rooftop, come back and pick up everyone else,” Anna suggested, “maybe boons for the ones who stay from the ones to depart first.”

[Bennosuke]

Aisling was standing outside the helicopter, and had been watching the other search. From outside, she calls, "What is this thing? How is it supposed to get us to another roof? Is it a... teleporter???"

Gabrielle actually chortles at this, slapping her hand over her mouth suddenly. Between giggles the ghoul says, "Sure, but who is gonna fly this thing?"

[Thundercracker]

Anna

"That's a good question, I'm not sure," Anna replied to Gabrielle.

"Anyone know how to fly this thing?" she asked loudly.


A second voice in the back of her mind wondered what the supposed leaders of the city were actually doing while she was down recovering d'agnostino.