[Silence]

"Maybe so," Spooky admitted, "But how many people in hat radius are likely to talk to anyone about it?  and how many know what's going on inside?  Hell, the fact that they took over the building's probably public knowledge.  But what goes on inside isn't, and we are definitely not insiders.  Frankly, sometimes the best place to hide something's out in the open, with a part of the truth, so nobody looks any deeper."

[HydroRaven]

Rat shrugs. "You're right, I don't know what's going on in this building apart from screenings" answers the ork, turning his attention back to Syra. "Do you know what goes on here?"

[BestTeaMaker]

Syra nodded her head as the others entered the room as she looked up and down at the young man who flattered her. For a rat, he certainly knows his manners. "Syra, techie and information savant extraordinaire. And I barely know what's going on. I've been rushed from screening to testing without room for breath. I would like the opportunity to snoop around and learn more myself, but they nicked all my stuff before pushing me in here. Nothing like uncovering the secrets of what once was considered the bastion of justice."

She held her hand to her chin, her brow furrowed. "You know, we know Ancients and the Laesa are involved, but I think there's some sort of third party pulling the strings. That coy fellow, Quinten was it? He said he was speaking for his 'client'. Now who has the clout to boss around both elven thugs and mafia?"

[HydroRaven]

"The opportunity to snoop around" got Rat smiling. "Give me 30 minutes, I'll "snoop around" with you" he thought to himself. He instead said "We'll find out soon who has that kind of pull."

[Silence]

"It's possible." Spooky replied, "Thing is, at the moment, the Ancients aren't acting like most gangs.  Sure, there's some bluster and flash.  But not much.  Sure, these could be folks who just got out of the military, but if that were the case, they'd be mixed in with their old buddies, not kept together as a unit."

He looked around at the others.  "And as far as this being a bastion of justice, this used to be a Lone Star facility.  When we were driven over here, the locals didn't run and hide, they ignored us and went about their business.  I know for a fact that if this had been a Star or Errant convoy, those folks would have scattered and hid.  They went about their business, and just made sure to stay out of the way.  Tells me that the locals may consider these people dangerous, but they also don't think they're going to starts shooting and harassing folks for no reason.  Means if something goes wrong, we want this batch of Ancients on our side, and we are being kept isolated from them, and they from us.  They might have much better fire discipline than your average gang member, but it seems they might not have all that great intel discipline."

He shrugs, "Or, Quinten could be right, and the only people keeping them in check are the Major, who is not happy to have us here, and the Major's sergeants."

[HydroRaven]

"That's probably it, omae" answers Rat to Spooky. "No point in over thinking" says the ork, giving a wink to Syra.

[Yogi]

Boomer listened as spooky spoke.   He might have been right on a few things.  But not all.  "Or they didn't run because they knew they were safe.  Safer than when the Star or KE rolls in. "  He shrugged.   

[Silence]

Spooky nodded to Boomer.  "Which says a lot about this place having been considered a bastion of justice when the Star had it.  Let's face it, most of the management in the Star was fairly corrupt, and that trickled down to the streets.  Hell, when Knight Errant got the security contract with Tarislar, it was specifically stated that the Ancients weren't the problem, and would be kicking in for the payment.  Which they did.  About half of the transition team was Internal Affairs, and you can guarantee they didn't get everyone out the was bent.  Started costing too much, and would have freaked out the taxpayers."

JiC (30d6.hits(5)=9)

[Chrona]

They certainly all talked a lot when under the right stimuli. Three Star will continue to sit in silence until addressed directly or we head to the client.

jic (30d6.hits(5)=7)

[Xzylvador]

Spooky hasn't been in the room with the rest of the team for two minutes before, after a polite knock on the door, Quinten asks you to join him.
He invites you to enter the room opposite the hallway, where you find the female sergeant waiting for you with the duffel bags on the ground next to her. They look a bit ridiculous, 5 large bags with so few content in them that even if the items had all been placed inside the same bag, it would still seem almost empty. Quinten notices the looks directed at them and on your faces and shrugs slightly embarrassed. "You must be the least equipped runners I've ever met. I swear I know runners who wouldn't have had enough room for their gear if I'd provided them with two of those bags... Please carry on, sergeant."

The sergeant nods, picks up one of the bags, shoves it into the locker behind her and proceeds to do the same with the rest of the bags. The locker appears to be an old weapons and equipment locker, partly cemented into the wall and built very strong, albeit with less advanced materials they'd have used today. When she slams the heavy door shut, you notice it's been upgraded with a biometric lock. Pressing her hand onto the palm scanner while keeping her eye in front of the camera recording her retina. A green light blinks thrice, each time accompanied by a beep, before turning red.
With a satisfied nod, the sergeant takes a step back and turns to you. "As of now, I'm the only one who can open this locker. After we return here, you get your crap back and you can be on your way. Until then, you just keep your mouths shut and do whatever the heck I tell you to do while you're with my squad."

She doesn't bother waiting for any kind of reply, turns her back towards you and opens a reinforced door leading outside behind the police station. "With me."
Quinten chuckles and falls in line. "Our carriage awaits.", he comments sarcastically.

The military truck is waiting for you on the driveway just around the corner, its flatbed occupied by the same gangers that rode with you before now joined by the spiky-haired elf who sat in the front the previous time and two heavy looking metal objects lie in the space between the two benches. While you take your place in back, Quinten hops into the driver's cabin, you can hear him say "Ah, major. How kind of you to be joining us." before the door closes.
The sergeant reaches for a bag, pulls out four black hoods and tosses them on the laps of Three Star, Syra, Boomer and Rat. "Might wanna fasten your belts before you put 'em on." The hoods are fairly simply bags made out of a fabric thick enough to completely block your vision but still light enough to breathe through easily.
She takes another hood out of the bag, different looking than the previous ones and hands it over to Spooky. "Same goes for you. But from what I'm told, this blocks that magical sight thing too."

Roll Weapons knowledge for the large metal objects.
Your characters probably won't have much to do until my next post but feel free to post any reactions your chars have until they put on the blindfold.
If any of your refuse to cooperate with any of the former actions or won't put on your hoods, let me know.
Already working on the next post but wanted to get something posted.

[Yogi]

Climbing up into the back of the truck like before Boomer takes a seat.   There isn't much to do other than look around.  He spots two large metal objects on the truck bed between the benches.  He was looking them over as he heard Quinten enter the cab up front.   He heard the Elf's slick voice as he greeted the Major.  Boomer did all he could to not roll his eyes. 

When the sarge gave her instructions he simply nodded.  He quickly fastened his seat belt and put the hood over his head.   Leady why didn't I listen to you.  I wish you were here Omae watching my six.  he thought remembering his old friends words of caution.   

He was brought out of his thoughts as the truck started up and the familiar rumble of days past entered his mind.


JiC (30d6.hits(5)=8)

[Silence]

Spooky belted up, then carefully sniffed at the hood, remembering some of the field expedients people had done to cut off his astral sight.  Thank heavens,  This might actually be one of the better kidnappings I've been through.  He chuckled as he slid the hood on.  Of course, it isn't really kidnapping if I agree to it, now is it?

JiC (30d6.hits(5)=12)

[HydroRaven]

Rat follows the lead out of the building, staying quiet for the most part. He gets on the truck, making sure to sit next to Syra. Once strapped in, he puts his blindfold on, but not without giving a final smile to the elven woman and saying "See you on the other side."

[Xzylvador]

When you’ve all put on your hoods, the banging of a fist (probably the sergeant’s) against the cabin signals the driver to put the truck into gear. It drives slowly the first couple of minutes, taking many turns and corners but a little while later the engine roars as its speed picks up.
With your sight gone and most of your scent blocked by the hood too, only the loud monotonous sound from the engine reaching your cerebral cortex (or, in Boomer’s case, the DNI that’s replacing that function) must make the ride seem very boring to people who never went through the same experience. But that’s only because they fail to understand what it feels like being shaken left, right, up and down on a hard wooden bench by the movements of a truck with a crappy suspension that is driving well over its recommended speed on roads which instead of having been maintained the past several decades, have been assaulted by volcanic eruptions and its accompanying earthquakes instead. So, no… boredom doesn't quite describe the experience.
Along the way, the truck slows down a number of times to take some maneuvers and even without being awakened, you can sense that some of the places it’s passing through are… Bad. Spooky, being awakened, can feel the background count in these areas suddenly drop and can sense the echoes of fear and pain lingering on the astral space like a toxic smog bank on a windless day.

When the truck finally stops, its doors open and the major -quickly after joined by the sergeant- start barking orders to establish a perimeter, they don’t seem to care about your presence or the uncomfortable position you’re in. A minute later, Quinten’s the one who tells you to take off your hoods and get out of the truck.

The area around you is in a bad condition. The truck stands parked in the center of what must have once been a busy T-junction, stores and apartment buildings on all sides. It doesn't look like anyone’s shopped or lived here in a long time, though. Many of the buildings seem to have burned out, others partially collapsed. There are no gang marks or any other signs that anyone’s recently been here. Old cars, all of them stripped of parts and many of them with rusty bullet holes in them are scattered by the side of the road.
While you remove your hoods, flex your tortured muscles and prepare to leave, Quinten takes a moments to quietly exchange a few words with the major. He then turns to you and points to one of the streets, it goes straight for another 30 or 40 meters then takes a sharp bend.  ”We go that way.”
The Ancients seem to be setting up their machine gun turrets to cover the other two directions.

Feel free to roll Sense Motive, Visual and/or Audio Perception. Don't forget you've got no bonus from equipment unless they were implanted or natural.

[Yogi]

Boomer took the bumpy ride in stride.  He began to wonder where they were going after seeing the two portable turrets that sat between the two benches.  If the elves were this prepared for trouble it area must be pretty bad. 

When the truck stopped he could hear the Major bark out several orders and he could hear the other elves set up a perimeter.  He was trying to hear better when he heard Quintens voice to remove the hoods.  Reaching up and removing the fabric that restricted his vision he took a look around.  His assumption about the place they were going was wrong.  They were in the armpit of the sprawl.  This was not a place one wanted to be when they were unarmed.   Which they were.  He stood and stretched his muscles as he prepared to disembark off the back of the truck.  "Guys,"  He said to his new teammates.  "I've seen some bad places.  This makes some of them look decent.  Keep your eyes open."

When Quinten pointed out which way they were going Boomer nodded.  "Copy that."  He was all business now and his demeanor showed it.  Hopping down from the truck he looked around while they waited for the order to move out. 



11d6.hits(5)=3  Perception check visual  INT 4 + skill 4 + vision enhance 3 =11
11d6.hits(5)=3   Perception check hearing check visual  INT 4 + skill 4 + audio enhance 3 =11
8d6.hits(5)=1  Judge intentions