[ismilealot]

@ Marco  You get a comm from Blake. >>Marco, I need a bit of a private chat with you as soon as you can arrange it. Something that is just between you and I. Off the record.<<

[ismilealot]

Dana looks at Subaru angrily, "My record is rubbish! My record is about as public as it can be and still give me privacy to pee. My mum is famous, my da equally so in the world of finance. And if your trying to intimidate me with hints that you know more than I do about my parentage little girl your chasing your tail. My mum told me when I came of age that my da wasn't my biological father. That he couldn't have children and they went to a sperm donor. And to not let anybody judge me by my DNA." She gives an arrogant toss of her head, "And I decided she was right. Who am I? I'm Makenzie Dana Wallace, proud daughter of proud parents." She gives a hard look at Subaru, clearly not impressed. "And I'm Sapiens Sapiens, as is Leonard. He's got the typical Chinese prejudices, that much I do know. And as for who he'd target, if he's part of organized crime, then it could be anybody." She shakes her head her lips pressed down bitterly. "Hell, if he's any number of CEO's it could be anybody." She sits down, her shoulders slumped. "Ugggh, I can't believe that the drug I made to help people Awaken and experience the beauty of the astral and the flow of mana is being used as a narcotic and is going to be a weapon. I wanted to be famous, instead I'm going to be infamous." she closes her eyes.

[Shaman_Yuri]

"What you call intimidation I call gathering and validating data. You've backed yourself and perhaps millions of innocents into a corner. If you want out, you have to be honest with yourself and us."

[ismilealot]

Dana opens her eyes and looks at her, "What you call intimidation I call a smart mouth on a little girl." She looks around the room. "And so far I haven't seen anything that even vaguely looks like help or a way out." She make a disparaging toss of her head, "In fact all I'm seeing so far is a few people in a garage and a promise to help me. I've been honest. But, I'm not giving you the only secrets that could be saving my life. More than that I'm not giving up anything that could be the key to actually making that bomb. Right now all I've done is make an addictive drug that gives people an experience that isn't seeing into the astral. But, remember those other scientists working on the same problem? They may very well have found that breakthrough. So, you can either give me some solid proof that you can actually help me. Or you can go frag yourself."

[Duck N. Cover]

The troll turns to the gnome. "I'm sure your daughter has heard strong language, but you have ten seconds to get her clear anyway.   Then stick around...unless someone else represents you guys better."

[gilga]

Marco forward the team the message from Blake (>> where to make the drop? here - somewhere else, what about Stardust how do we do it?) and ask for their comments in text. To Dana he said - "Don't worry Dana, you are safe and things will happen soon we are in no place to take the moral high ground, our focus is to understand what is going on, it is important for both of us. For us so you understand how to play your cards and to us the more we understand what is going on the more likely we are to understand the risks. My contact is interested, we'll discuss now how to do the delivery. Please, everyone try and keep positive."


To Blake Marco texts >> No problem on meeting, will have a meeting location in a few moments.

[Shaman_Yuri]

Positive, huh?

I mentally review the list of people involved in this mess. I look around the room but stay silent. If Arc-sensei and especially Yelena-sensei agree with the butterflies and unicorns approach then I'll hold my tongue until I'm alone with them later. Whatever they may say, this is their team and I'll folloew their lead.

[Mercy Merchant]

Yelena steps forward into the silence.  She is not smiling as she looks at the mage.  "Shame on mage.  Shame on us.  All talking and getting angry.  Dana, Decker mage try help.  Have questions.  You in trouble.  We not mage enemies.  Mage have choices.  Stardust club hire us grab you.  Want you.  Willing to kill you.  UCAS also want you.  We take tonight to someone.  Your choice.  Club really bad men.  Government unknown if bad.  Club pay more.  Tell why should go government instead club.  Is not game tonight.  Is real.  Is deadly  Maybe say wrong words, but we try help you.  Easy?"

[Duck N. Cover]

"She leaves this room over my dead body."

Tuskaloosa turned  to the researcher. "I don't give a rats red rump about your pet mojo project, Einstein.  What will leave your name in what history this miserable world has left is that you gave killers the tool to turn bio-weapons of mutual destruction into weapons of mass destruction.  And spare me your Right to Privacy drek--you know damn well that a bio-bomb with gene-based targeting could be used to kill a single target if you have their DNA."

She paused to let that sink in, then continued, "The only reason you still live is because only your lab's backer has the tech--the competition will want a piece of the action...or a way to counter.  The second your employers get you back or you give your little toy to their competition your life isn't worth the gum on the bottom of my shoe."

She took a long swig of soykaf.  "You want solid proof that we can help you?  You're standing here.  Right now.  Alive.  You need us far more than we need you."

"But I don't speak for everyone--just myself.  And if you're on your way to the next lab to further perfect your gene-targeting--whether you want to or not--you're going over my cold corpse, because  I'd rather take a bullet than watch the inevitable."

[Mercy Merchant]

Yelena looks over at the Troll.  "Tuskaloosa, mage in trouble.  Mage need our help.  She can stop weapon if get to feds.  She can tell them about weapon and drugs.  Maybe contact use us stop weapon.  Kill her not solve problem.  Others already have data.  Need feds to examine data and tell us how stop.  Is better choice?"

[gilga]

Marco did not raise his voice but he spoke in  his most authoritative and forceful voice:
“Calm down everybody!. Dana here is our guest and our only task is to get her safely to the Feds. Everything else is now not relevant - everybody has secrets and we already agreed that Dana keeps her bargaining chips so do not coerce her to tell you more than she is comfortable sharing.

Attempting to salvage the situation and prevent things from escalating, Marco gave a brief synopsis and attempted to keep everyone focused on the challenge of this particular night.

The Feds and the Stardust are expecting delivery - we need to focus on the technical details, bio weapons? Missing genetic materials ? These indicate impressive analytical skills - but are not helping our goal here. Bring Dana safely to the Feds and try to avoid the Stardust!  Keep her alive tonight is our contribution - the rest of the nights it is up to Dana to figure out how to stay alive - and the Feds are a good gamble."
Marco then turns to Dana and hands her his comlink and show her the last few messages to Blake - "I have nothing to hide - I did not want to break the conversation, but I respect your own interests he said.

[ismilealot]

Dana's action when she hears Yelena's threat is fast. She's clearly thought this through before, her Right hand sweeps up and out and a huge fireball explodes out of the air ten feet away from her and goes flying out expanding and burning everything in it's sphere. Suddenly small fires ignite around the room as different objects burst into flame responding to the fires wrath. Dana's hands then act in concert, crossing as if to make a birds wings in a shadow dance and then just as quickly fan out and mana flares in her hands like a living thing and thought becomes difficult as the world around just suddenly doesn't seem right. Everything is jumbled and it's hard to think of what you're supposed to do in the sudden inferno. Dana dives for cover behind a toolbox as she tries desperately to get away.

Rolls include a -2 modifier for the injuries sustained during the van's crash. You will all suffer a -2 to resist the Mass Confusion, resist is with Willpower. Fireball is resisted with Body, dmg is net hits. Radius in meters for the Fireball is 5.




Mass Confusion :These spells produce a storm of conflicting sensations and images to confuse the senses. For each net hit on the Spellcasting Test, the target suffers a –1 dice pool modifier to all tests due to the distraction. Confusion affects a single target. Mass Confusion is an area spell.

 

[SgtBoomCloud]

Arc found herself grateful that her team was able to handle the interrogation well, as she finally was admitting to herself that she was in no state to be involved in the info.  In fact, she barely registered that Tuskaloosa had texted her some info...the fact she spoke up herself was a boon, and Arc did give an appreciating nod, even as she picked up the mug of soycaf and the cookies.  when was the last time I'd eaten?  huh...  Biting into the cookie, the mechanic took a sip of soycaf as she nodded her thanks to the little halfer, turning her head to see how things were going...

And that's when she saw the mage lift her arms up and raise her voice.

Arc's reaction was a twitch..she didn't think before it happened.  The caf left her hands, doomed to shatter on the ground below her as she saw the red emitting from the mage's hand.  She's seen that type of magic before...One step, her ribs protesting the motion, and she hip-checked the youngest dwarf away, shoving her behind the mechanic as the blast manifest, Arc closing her eyes and lifting her arms up to block what she could.

When the blast ended, Arc was on the ground, her front burnt up, hair and clothes charred as she lay there, twitching.  She tried to move, but couldn't...her breathing was ragged, and she felt herself slipping away...a lone tear wet her face as she tried to fight what was coming for her...

Not like this...I have too much to lose.


AP negates all soak dice.

not bothering with rolling against mass confusion.  Arc is out of the game anyways, at 4/5 overflow.  ten minutes to midnight on this cinderella story!

[Duck N. Cover]

As the blast clears, the troll is on the move.

She charges the toolbox and keeps moving--to press her quarry to the wall.


Only one success.  Not enough 1s for a glitch, but an easy attack to avoid apparently.

[gilga]

"Thanks god for my new FIRE RESISTANT armor!" Thinks Marco as the ball of fire explodes, actually Marco does not think that so soon, first he instinctively moves to allow Tuska to dash toward the mage in a  survival instinct. After all it is unwise to  stand in her way.  Then Marco acts like a professional and well trained soldier - for several years Marco was trained with multiple automatic weapons and the small machine pistol was his favorite one. Within less than a second his beloved Crusader is in his hands and a single bullet is fired - with Tuska about to crush Dana's bones and Yelena with her lethal bullets, the stick and shot Marco is about to deliver is a display of mercy. If Dana is subdued quickly she may not be shot to death. That poor lady is scared, alone and desperate and still carries injuries from before.