1398/Sault Ste. Marie Raid

Sault Ste. Marie Raid
Date of Scene:	23 January 2015
Location:	Prohibition Chicago <PC>
Synopsis:	Acquire guns, deal with gangsters, profit.
Cast of Characters:	2, Arthur Lowell, 39, 131, 264, 347, 357, 571, 596, 687

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Eliot Ness (264) has posed:
    Welcome to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. A small city on the sound end, just across from Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Because of the connection of the two cities, separated only by a river, it is not hard for Smugglers and bootleggers to brew in one city and send it across the river in barrels or rowboats to the other side. It was a frequent and persistent problem, because it was then easily hopped across the peninsula and across Lake Michigan to Chicago.

    Elites coming from the CONFEDERACY have two avenues, to help or to hinder, though so far the Confederate taking point has been Kagenashi, who has been largely helpful. She's the one informing the Confederates of Ness's world. Hindering the operation will probably require waiting until the operation actually starts.

    Elites coming from the Union are, well, Homura and Kiyoko. They don't need hooks to be here, they've been helping Ness since the start.

    Syndicate Elites will find Arthur as their hook, though Hana has a self-standing hook via being under contract.

    Ness himself is... absent. As a US Treasury Agent, he needs to be far away from this event when it goes down. Thus he has left instructions and outlines for his plans with his most trusted, organized, cunning and stealth-oriented agent: Kiyoko Saito.

    The general plan which is known to everyone is this: Smash things, steal things, distract people. Fine details pending.

    The appointed meeting location is a small wooded clearing about a quarter of a mile away from the fenceline of a private dock on the river. It has high fences topped with razor wire along with men in suits patrolling and smoking along the outer edges. The wooded clearing itself is easily concealed and gives a good vantage view. However, it's late in the evening and the sun is setting fast, so visibility may decrease soon.

Kiyoko Saito (131) has posed:
    Getting quiet transportation up close to the area is important, so a roaring bike or rumbling truck is not what Kiyoko can bring. She's the one that's settled by the tree, waiting for anyone who didn't ride with her.

    That's right. Ride with her. Kiyoko DROVE here. Her transportation is covered by a large tarp now, but it is square and bulky and pretty large... and also quiet, since it runs off of a fuel cell. The MINIBUS is roomy enough though, and she has a reason to bring it.

    "Hmm. So we need a loud diversion, a group to grab stuff, and a group to blow it up..."

Ark Line (687) has posed:
Two figures arrive at the meeting point simultaneously, one following the other. A young man all in grey steps into the clearing, with an older man wearing a tweed jacket and a porkpie hat following alongside. The latter appears a little disgruntled by something or other, but the former is examining his surroundings with great care. He takes a slow breath.

"This is /crazy/," he exclaims. Ark looks to the older man, raising his balled fists in an expression of excitement. "Are you seeing all this? Is this how it /always/ is?!"

Caster looks back at him, not bothering to suppress a sigh. "They're /trees/, Ark. They are, as always, standing silent vigil over-"

Ark cuts him off. "Right, yeah, trees! Awesome! Hah!" He turns to one of the nearest treetrunks and kicks it with his foot. "Solid, huh? I'll have to remember that for the firefight."

"There isn't always going to /be/ a firefight," Caster says, irritably.

Ark snorts. "Yeah, right. You're just upset your man-crush isn't here."

"My -- /excuse/ me?! I'll have you know...!!"

They're going to be at it for a while. At least they're keeping mostly quiet about it.

Hana Umikazeno (357) has posed:
    Hana is here, although one could be forgiven for not noticing immediately. Wearing a slightly baggy newsboy outfit, complete with a cap just large enough and pulled just low enough to cover her horns, the oni has even foregone her usual red facepaint to lend further to her appearance as just some possibly-foreign kid looking to sell newspapers off on passersby. She's also carrying what appears to be a guitar case, which she sets down as soon as she enters the clearing; in a turn of events that surprises exactly no one, she opens it to reveal... well, more than a little ordnance. A Thompson with a drum, a couple extra drums of ammo, a few grenades, and even some small satchel charges. Or rather, 'hip pouch charges'.

    "If anyone is going to want a grenade or a satchel charge, speak up now. I technically don't need them, but I'm going to take at least one each. I don't want to use the Girls where they'll be seen." She holds out a grenade to Kiyoko. "You like explosives, right?"

    Ark and Caster get an arched eyebrow, but no more than that.

Jinx (39) has posed:
    Someone is in the back of Kiyoko's minibus. They are strugging with their outfit under that tarp. Slightly muffled. "I can totally do ALL OF THOSE oh my god I cannot believe you people would try something like this for Mr. Ness without bringing a HEISTER what is wrong with you people? SERIOUSLY."
    And then Jinx is coming out from the door of the minibuss, carting out a heavy violin case.

    Gone is the usual skimpy outfit, and in its place is... well, it's practical but still loud. She's got some sort of heavy turtle neck and soft boots and what's probably one of those armored bodysuit things underneath.
    It's hot pink and green. Oh well.

    "Okay, what the *** am I blowing up, point me at the action, boss."

Alexis Maaka (571) has posed:
    1929, definitely an odd time period of a cyborg to be showing up. A woman dressed up like a man no less would be rather unusual, so Alexis Maaka, going by Alexander Morrisson, driving towards the meeting site with a rented truck, untracable and period-appropriate.

    She's applied a little bit of makeup here and there, as well as strapping down to hide her gender underneath a bulletproof vest. Besides that, she's also sporting a fedora and a coat. She's gone light tonight, armed for infiltration rather than combat. Stealth is the order of the day, and she's better off staying that way.

    She picks a spot in the clearing to hide and keep watch, her optics zooming to observe the dock from afar. Carried with her is a briefcase, something she opens up to reveal a disassmbled SIG 550 sniper rifle with an NVG scope smart-linked to her neural and optical cybernetics. Putting the gun together, she locks and loads with two pairs of magazines taped together for the occassion.

    Approaching Saito with her rifle in hands, the cyborg gives a little salute to the junior agent as well as Hana when she arrives. "I'll take a satchel." She says, a Texas Twang practiced enough to hide her australian one pretty well, to the point she seems like some boy from the South that's good with guns.

    Hana will also get a look that says, 'I know you.' before Maaka discretely hands her a card, leaving business stuff for later. Said card includes a number and email for contacting her, but it's timed to only show such info AFTER the mission's done. Handy little gadget.

    "If cover's needed, I can hang back with the SIG and provide overwatch for those of us goin' in." SHe offers to Kiyoko calmly.

Zwei (596) has posed:
    Having some idea of the nature of Eliot's work through osmosis of knowledge via radio channels, Zwei has made the call to employ some subtelty; a demand surprisingly rare in the multiverse. Asche is remaining at cruising altitude, circling the city at a distance where he can't be seen, and relaying overhead imaging of the distillery to Weiss on the ground, who has arrived in an 'authentic' disguise. Currently, her appearance shell is that of a thirty year old man, using the facial features of a few hard looking characters she'd seen on the street and recombined into something original. Her persona has a strong chin, hooked nose, dark, squinty eyes, and a period specific coat that is currently concealing a colt m1911 and a thompson submachine gun. Even her voice has been done up as a low, smoky growl; the kind one would expect to hear from an especially displeased mob enforcer. If she looks like a stereotypical gangster, someone will probably misattribute the nature of the attack. Maybe.

    Weiss had already arrived ages ago after being dropped off by Asche, so she's already waiting under a tree at the edge of the clearing with a smoke lit just so she can put it out under her shoe the instant anyone shows up. "Pretty simple job. Surprised at the turnout though. Thought we'd have a few more thugs." He makes a pointed look at Jinx. "Though I guess some of us fit the description, even if we don't hit the look." (S)he makes a vague gesture towards Hana. "Already got mine." Of course, Weiss doesn't actually have any charges under her coat. She'll just fabricate them the moment they're needed. The iconic guns are only with her for image.

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    As usual there is no particular cue for Homura's sudden appearance, by which we mean that if you blinked at the wrong moment she would be standing where she absolutely was not before your eyes closed.

    She is Ness' secretary for all it matters, so she's in a nice formal suit, looking completely nonchalant. Most likely she is sitting up on the vantage point amidst the trees, overlooking the area. As she has nothing to really say to anyone she does exactly that and watches for the time being. She's probably already mentally mapping out the best places to put explosives. Or she's pondering her homework. 50/50.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Arthur's the one responsible for this scheme, and as such, he's present! Dude's looking a little exhausted, though, SOMETHING happened yesterday that took a lot of the wind out of him. He's likely to be a bit less... Showy, today. At least, in terms of the magic. He'll show off plenty of his direct combat, though! But for now, he's arrived at the wooded clearing, possibly with Kiyoko! Already, he's agerly peering at the facility from the clearing, having climbed up onto a tree and perched there. "LOUD DIVERSIONS!" That's more emphasis than actual yelling, of course, as he responds to Kiyoko Saito. "Shit YES, you know I am ALL ABOUT DAT LOUD."

    Jinx gets a dramatic point off into the distance. "THAT." He says, simply. And Weiss, of Zwei, gets a quick laugh. "What, you think we're bein' THUG DEFICIENT up ins? Bro, I got the THUG of TEN MEN." He strikes a dramatic posture as he leaps out of the tree and sort of pumps his fist a little. "SO." His gaze snaps back to Kiyoko Saito. "Got any more SPECIFIC PLAN, or do I get on some DISTRACTION WORK really QUICK?" He's ready to engage his SWAGGERING STRIDE down to the front gates of the place if nobody has objections or further plans he needs to deal with.

Eliot Ness (264) has posed:
    Owing to it being 1929 and there being no planes that can reach anywhere near as high as Asche is flying right now, he's going to be totally undisturbed save for the whipping winds and icy weather. This means that he can get an aerial view of the entire compound to relay to Weiss, who can then relay it to the group:

    There's a few dozen men all milling around the compound in various areas. There's a ship, a small cigarette-boat, that is loading up with crates on a pier. Far in one corner of the compound is a garage, which seems to have the occasional vehicle going into or out of it. Sedans mostly, but a jeep or two for patrolling the premesis.

    The three, when kicked by Ark Line, gently rustles. A crack in the side of the trunk allows the thick maple syrup contained inside of it to gently drizzle down the side of the tree as every Canadian in the nation feels an inexplicable sense of loss for no apparent reason. O Canada.

    When Alexander Morrison drives a truck through the woods, the noise does garner some attention from the alert men in the compound. Those watching the fenceline can see several men with binoculars all standing and peering into the woods, trying to spot what could have made that noise. The group has not been spotted yet, though.

Hana Umikazeno (357) has posed:
    "The satchels are small bricks of a boosted plastic explosive. They're about the same as a nice big block of C4, and the triggers are simple push-button operation. This one," Hana says, indicating one button, "Will give you ten seconds. This will give you sixty. And this will give you three minutes. No way to disarm once you hit a button, so be sure." She hefts the Tommy, shoves the drums into her own carrying satchel along with a couple grenades and a satchel charge, and then turns to look towards the compound with a curious eye. "It looks like we're going to need to get started soon. The locals are starting to notice."

Kiyoko Saito (131) has posed:
    "Okay, yeah, we'd better get moving," Kiyoko agrees. "We're going to go in three teams. Alexander, you're with me. Miss Umikazeno, you can come with me if you want, or go with one of the other teams, your choice. We're going to go down to the dock, grab that boat and all the stuff on it, and take off with it. That'll cover most of that, I think."

    She points to Arthur. "Arthur, you go with Jinx and Mister W there. Make some noise, maybe blow some stuff up, get them to chase you a bit. Lead them around and then Arthur can zap you all back to here to take the bus out as your escape."

    She looks at Homura and Ark and Caster. "The rest of you - and maybe the Oni if she goes with - will go in, blow stuff up while most of the guards are gone, and grab anything that looks interesting. Plant your charges and all that when you find a good spot. Then just dash out and meet back here for evac. We'll meet you across the river on the boat."

    Kiyoko smiles, "Like I said... don't just go around killing everyone, but if they're shooting at you and an obvious mob guy, you don't need to hold back." She turns around and gathers her coat around her, blending in. "Let's get moving, then." Unless there's an immediate need for her to stick around, she's already heading off toward the boat.

Jinx (39) has posed:
    While introductions and shit are going on, Jinx has quietly fiddled with the heavy bangle on her wrist, and... suddenly her clothes are matte black, her hair is short and blonde, and she is grumpy about both of those things. "Ugh. UGH. Hi Mr. Lowell."
    The skinny lady smiles over at Kiyoko and the rest though, and happily hikes up her big girl heister pants. "OKAY. Get your best boom makers, and let's go rock the crap out of these jerks. Teach them the meaning of CRIMING."
    And with that, she's tearassing down the sound, heading for the compoud, a black streak in the night, glints of blonde giving her away.

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    Higanbana is as it always is. Stoic, a cool operator, reliable. "Locals noticing?" It speaks up like a whisper from Hana's feet. "Powering Strife Drives. Dash Driver." The gentle red glow should be tough to spot, but already, Hana will feel the performance-enhancing Resonance energy that will increase her speed and agility.

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    "Wonderful. The explosions are all over there this time. I already like this plan." The dry, sardonic tones of Passion can be heard. It's probably somewhere in a pocket or similar, but ready for Kiyoko to put it on. As soon as she does: "A bit of scouting? Shadow Surrogate's ready." And indeed, true to its word, as soon as Kiyoko chooses to, the Abstractum will summon her Shadow Surrogate, generating the more fragile maskless clone and completely silencing the true Kiyoko herself.

Zwei (596) has posed:
    Listening over the radio, Zwei hears that the goal here is apparently to kill as few people as possible. That generally complicates things. Fortunately, its job is also apparently to make noise, which it is very good at doing. Weiss growls a masculine "Got it." to Kiyoko, and then sprints after Jinx, looking perhaps a little spritely for a grown-ass man. In the breif period it takes to arrive at the edge of the dock compound, Asche deploys a handful of tiny aerial recon drones at his altitude to start running narrow scans of specific buildings, hoping to map their interiors and pick up on anything obviously noteworthy for 'mister W' to tell the other teams of.

    Asche also makes a second move, which is to focus on the emptiest warehouse he can find, zero in on it with a targeting laser, and then pulse said laser up to a gigawatt on an invisible wavelength; creating a point explosion large and loud enough to draw attention, but not so large that it'd obviously be impossible to accomplish with a small stack of TNT. Weiss keeps pace with Jinx deliberately, before moving a little ahead and producing wire cutters out of nowhere; dealing with the razor wire the old fashioned way to keep cover, though she finishes extremely quickly.

Hana Umikazeno (357) has posed:
    "I'll stay with your team, Saito," Hana replies. A thought comes to her, and she slings the Thompson over one shoulder, so she can reach into her carrying back and pull out the small satchel charge to have in hand. "I think I just had a good idea."

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    "Alright... Miss Akemi! I think I can help... M-maybe make some of the explosives a bit bigger... Anything you need? More size, o-or, maybe any other effects, I can..." As always, Clairvoyant Rush is a little nervous and retreating, but it's a dependable thing. If Homura does take some explosives, or otherwise prepare, Clairvoyant Rush will offer a quick activation of their Strife Drives and their Strike Drivers to imprint searing red witch runes on their surface, increasing their parameters as per Homura's requests.

Alexis Maaka (571) has posed:
    "Got it." Alexis nods, slinging her 550 Sniper over her back as she follows Kiyoko towards the boat. For a backup, she's brought a Colt .45 with a suppressor for this mission, much more likely to be blending in when the shooting begins. That and a vibroblade that when folded up is no bigger than a tube for quarters.

    There's no cloaking device for the cyborg, but she's not entirely incapable of stealth as she scans out into the distance for hostiles as she grips onto the sling to her rifle tightly in apprehension. She glances back at Hana with a perked eyebrow, "What's up?"

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    "Sure," Homura says. It's... well, there's nothing to object to. It's a pretty standard and effective plan. And, besides, looting is something the Puella Magi will always support.

    Her Abstractum's voice causes her to smile a bit.

    "I have a better idea. Remember the dealers in the alley, in Psyber's Node? I need that to happen to anything alive we blow up." Ness wants minimal casualties; she'll respect that. And this way, they CAN cut loose on explosions without risks. Or, well, without physical risks. Mental trauma is something else, but she isn't concerned about the mental health of a bunch of criminals.

    Some people might call that sociopathy or something.
    Ah well.

    Homura blinks out of existence without a noise or visual effect.

    She reappears in the GARAGE, juggling a few bricks of C4. Time to be sneaky, avoid the guards, do time bullshit to help, and set these up on every last vehicle in there. No detonation yet, she wants to loot the place once this is done.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    "SHIT YEAH. I like THAT PLAN. Let's DO THIS THING!" Arthur says, fistpumping and taking his stomping swagger off towards the facility. "HEYA JINX! Ready to MAKE SOME NOISE, 'cause I am!" He doesn't look too ready, he actually looks kind of exhausted. He's gonna show up a bit later than Jinx and Weiss at that hole in the fence. Good thing, they just got done with the fence!

    "ALRIGHT." He says, under his breath as he swings down and slides under the fence, and then right back up. Then he's going to try striding out into the facility, heading right towards that explosion. He's going to find whatever group gathers to observe its results and search for who is responsible. He'll take his position behind them, slinging a rather plain wooden broomstick over his shoulder. And then! He'll be distracting.

    "WHAT'S UP, FUCKERS?" He declares in an emphatic voice. "I'm the guy who's ARROGANT and FULL OF MSELF and THREATENING in a way that makes you CRIMINALLY FRUSTRATED!" And then a dramatic broomstick gesture, pointing right at the explosion. "And I'm also the man who's gonna BURN THIS PLACE TO THE GROUND!" He plants his broom, handle-down, into the dirt, and crosses his arms confidently.

    "EVERYONE POINT A GUN AT ME."

Ark Line (687) has posed:
Liners 1, Nature 0.

Ark and Caster stop bickering when it seems that things are getting productive. Ark's expression shifts to neutrally attentive, but Caster glowers, his expression dark. They keep quiet while everything is laid out, and Ark murmurs something to Caster, who responds with a sullen nod. Ark pipes up with a quick, "Got it. We'll..."

Homura disappears. Ark blinks and turns to Caster. Caster looks surprised, and thoughtful. "Some kind of matter transmission," he murmurs questioningly, not entirely convinced. Ark shakes his head and starts off into the woods, waving the other man up behind him. They disappear into the growing dark.

Ark has to slow down to keep Caster from getting completely lost. Leading an amateur through the stealth stages of an operation is irritating, but he manages it pretty well. Ark is used to keeping unseen in places with far less cover than this. Plants really are convenient! They follow in the distraction team's wake, moving around off to their right and cutting another entrance in the fence with a small, dark-bladed knife. The two of them will wait until the noise starts to move in.

Speaking of noise...

Eliot Ness (264) has posed:
    TEAM DIVERSION:

    When Jinx starts approaching out of the forest, it doesn't take too long for her to get spotted. It isn't immediate, but it happens. Largely because the men were already scanning the tree line from that truch that pulled in their earlier. One of the men with binoculars starts shouting, but it's not close enough to hear yet. They do all get out rifles and start trying to ping the approaching woman with rifle fire.

    Except for the ones on the far side of the base. When an empty warehouse explodes, guards are pulled off the opposite fence line and sent to investigate it. It's quite an explosion, too, sending debris and fiery rubble everywhere. The rubble is still settling. However, the drones that Weiss sent out are also easily able to slip into buildings, finding several interesting ones: An Armory in a shed on the far side of the compoud, a barracks made out of an empty warehouse, and a huge distillery in a building near the water.

    Arthur just walks up to the gate. A half-dozen men all level their guns at him, as per his request. One of them barks, "Get out of here kid or we'll mow you down!"

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    "R-right! That... Well, I... I guess it's better than not..." Clairvoyant Rush mumbles, softly. The witch runes begin to sear onto the surface of the C4 bricks, draining a measure of power out of Homura herself. "Let's see... Um... Triggered pre-set temporal reversal, programmed for living things in the blast, and..." Done! Now, any time explosions go off that kill or critically maim a mobster, they'll find themselves TEMPORALLY REVERSED through the dying process. It will be INCREDIBLY painful.

Jinx (39) has posed:
    Well Jinx can hear the rifle shots going past and the yelling about 'mow you down'. And from outside the compund, she smiles. and smiles and smiles and ALL SMILES as she sets her feet, flips the switch on that violin case, and out pops... Well it might be in the inside of Pow Pow without all the candy pink plastic coating that is usually on the minigun.
    Those red eyes glow in the dark, and she simply depresses the trigger on the minigun, raking the bullets across the area where she can see those flashes of rifle fire.

Eliot Ness (264) has posed:
    TEAM INFILTRATE:

    With the huge fiasco going on in several separate parts of the compound, it's not that hard for people to get in quietly. The other three are drawing a LOT of attention via either existing, blowing shit up mysteriously, or screaming at men at the gate. If the three of them are all moving at once, they can find a hole in the fenceline where Zwei's explosion blew a piece of debris through it.

    From there, they have an easy jaunt across the compound. They pass several trucks, loaded with some weapons or canadian whiskey. The boat, as they approach it, still has two guards. Both of them look really alert and are starting to unhook the boat and prepare to hightail it out.

Eliot Ness (264) has posed:
    TEAM SABOTAGE:

    For Ark Line and Caster, there is literally never a better moment than right now to get into the base and break some shit. No one is even thinking of looking for them. The fence is also completely non-electrified, so the knife probably passes through it like butter and gives them both entrance into the compound. They'll get to choose where to go and what to break from here. 'Mister W' can probably give them some easy targets for smashing and stealing if they want to forward the information for the barracks, armory, or distillery.

    The cars, though. Boy Homura is setting up a trap on those. She is open and clear to trap cars for now. The gangsters may be making a retreat to there later, but she's going to have basically nothing stopping her from hooking bombs onto every car in the lot. INSIDE the Garage is something much more interesting, which she will have told to her privately, and she can decide what to do with it.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    "MOW ME DOWN? MOTHERFUCKER," Arthur slams one foot harshly into the ground, bouncing his broomstick out of the dirt. It flips in the air until he catches it. "Think I'M the one gonna get MOWED? FUCK NO. YOUR ASS IS GRASS, BITCH." No, he's not actually going to kill them, of course. He begins walking forward confidently! And as soon as the first finger begins to squeeze the trigger, he's going to DASH! Bullets will crush against him if they're able to track his swift movements, causing sudden bruises on his resilient body, but Arthur intends to ignore them!

    The rather mundane wooden broom is gonna get swung at a skull, trying to dramatically slam the guard into and hopefully through the gate, and then mad-cap dash his way inside and probably towards the boat, continuing to ignore and tank and dodge any additional gunshots from the other dozen men, just trying to pull as much aggro as he can all at once! Because, obviously, he needs to pull it if he's going to train it out of the distillery complex and get them out of the way of the other teams.

Hana Umikazeno (357) has posed:
    As soon as the group reaches the edge of the compound, Hana hits the 60-second button on her satchel charge, and tosses it to one side, a little further down the fence. "We have one minute until a distraction happens," she says to the others. And then, with a quick glance down to confirm her Abstractum's preparedness, she hops up and begins quietly going from roof to roof, covering Alexander and Kiyoko from above where need be. Once they get close enough to the docks that she's got a clear shot, she drops down, using the peak of the roof as cover to watch, and waits... waits...

    That's about the moment her satchel charge goes off on the other side of the compound, just a few feet from where they came in. True to her word, it's a big boom.

    And she uses that exact moment to open up on the closest guard at the boat. A three-round burst from the Thompson, with the kind of accuracy only a superhumanly-strong and precise markswoman could pull.

Alexis Maaka (571) has posed:
    Alexis keeps alert as she approaches the first truck, producing the charge Hana lent her before setting it in place under the vehicle. Grabbing her rifle, she then advances forwards, making sure to avoid enemy patrols while the distant fighting keeps the henchmen occupied for the most part. The cyborg drops to a knee when she spots the boat, noting the men based on-board as she sights the soldier down and takes a breath. She waits until Hana is in position before she takes the shot.

    When Hana does signal, Alexis' shot is less fancy but no less impressive, as a single 5.56 NATO round is aimed directly towards the other guard's head. It's suppressed, which gives it a muted crack as opposed to the ratatatat of Hana's Thompson. The round will tear through bone, flesh, and cloth as it sails through the air towards its target, and given Alex's marksmanship it ought to be enough to put the guard down.

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    Higanbana isn't a stealth-type Abstractum, so it can't give much contribution on Hana's end! But lineshot burst does still work. The line of resonance -- thankfully invisible this time -- means the three shots in the same trajectory have increasing stopping power as more bullets are fired! Hana, of course, can see the line; it'll make it incredibly easy for her to refine her aim.

Kiyoko Saito (131) has posed:
    "Thanks, Passion," Kiyoko says. She's in her business mode, now... which means she's using the short name without any hesitation. She's dashing forward, but lets herself lag behind as her surrogate starts to pull ahead. Then she does what she does best... distractions. That being, making a lot of noise while her surrogate is visible.

    "WE COME ON THE SLOOP JOHN B! MY GRANDFATHER AND ME!" Shouting at the top of her lungs, the surrogate is left to run around wildly, hopefully to stir up anyone staying in hiding.

    Meanwhile, the real Kiyoko is beelining for the boat, to see if she can't get it ready for their expeditious retreat.

Zwei (596) has posed:
    Targets acquired. Weiss hits the radio with her fake man-voice. "They're keeping their guns in a shed on the far side. The distillery is right by the water. It's a big one." She follows Jinx at a distance so as not to be seen at the same time, climbling through the gap in the fence after she's already gone, and hurrying off to the side. Taking cover whatever crates she can find that haven't been loaded yet, she crouches low, gets out the thompson, and simply jams down the trigger, caring nothing for burst fire as she simply empties the 100 round drum in six seconds flat into the flank of the men shooting at Jinx. Despite the fully automatic rate of fire, it's well within her ability to control, meaning that she can carefully aim the bullets so that they go whizzing past people's heads without blowing their brains out; hopefully putting enough pressure on them to retreat from the water line and free up a route to the distillery. She then reloads the magazine by simply fabricating more bullets right inside of it, refilling all 100 rounds fast enough that when she resumes firing, people will likely assume that a second person has taken over for her while the first is changing mags. Entirely her intention.

    Meanwhile, Asche withdraws the drones before they're spotted. They're tiny things and the light is fading fast, but it's best to be careful, and he has all the really important locations marked down anyways.

Eliot Ness (264) has posed:
    TEAM INFILTRATION:

    The men in the boat jump and start, lifting their guns in the direction of the explosion. They're getting ready to fire at that satchel charge, but they both get caught by the bullets fired by Alexis and Hana, keeling over and into the water, where they float and don't get up.

    A few men inside are drawn out by Kiyoko's illusion, leaning out of a couple windows and trying to fire on it. It's being distracting.

    Kiyoko is able to get to the boat easily. But it's loaded pretty heavy right now and she might need to clear it out of some stuff. Namely, in the storage under the deck, there's crates and crates of Canadian Whiskey, likely meant for smuggling into the United States.

Ark Line (687) has posed:
It's amazing how fast a fence opens when you've got some kind of zany future-knife. Ark slips in, pulling the fence back for Caster to follow behind him and then letting it settle. He doesn't have to be terribly careful about it; the fight is going to cover any small amount of noise /they/ make.

"What do you think," Ark murmurs to Caster, crouched behind conveniently-stacked crates at the edge of the compound.

Caster looks alarmed. "Me? What do /I/ know about this sort of ruckus?"

Ark casts a glance at Caster, and then shrugs. "I dunno. Thought I'd try being inclusive, you know? I don't work with other people much." He slides around the boxes, nods in a direction and starts moving. The two of them skirt around the edge of the compound, heading towards the armory first and foremost. They can get some things to use on the distillery there.

Eliot Ness (264) has posed:
    TEAM DISTRACTION:

    A man-portable mini-gun is not at all what the Canadian Mafia (The Eh? Team) expected to be coming across today. Most of them react fast enough to get behind barrels and cars for cover, but more than a couple also get caught by the raking fire right at chest level, cutting them down to the ground and sending them sprawling in pools of their own blood. It sows a certain level of panic in the mobsters to see their friends go down, and they intensify their fire into the dusk darkness, trying to track Jinx and slow her down with .30-06 rifle fire.

    But that doesn't last TOO long, because they're being flanked by at least a two-man firing team, "FUCK! PULL BACK!" One shouts, the men all following suit. A couple take a bullet to the gun arm or shoulder, which are incredibly damaging shots but they'll have time to get medical treatment. Zwei's combined fire with Jinx definitely has them in retreat, though as they pull back she will find herself under fire too.

    Arthur catches a man under the chin and sends him flying back into and threw a chain-link fence. He rolls on the ground several times and stops. He's breathing, but he is not getting back up. The men can't follow Arthur's movements, but they are trying to spray and pray to hit him. When the Mage of Space gets moving, a good chunk of the troops are going to try to pursue him in jeeps or cars, firing at him out the windows. These are, in fact, the same cars that Homura rigged not too long ago.

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    Homura rigs cars. Bombs, bombs, delicious bombs. This'll be even better if her Abstractum can do the thing, but C4 is C4 either way. When she reaches the prize, she glances first under the sheet, and then considers. It would be a terrible crime to destroy that. She's not too much of a car person, but she can spot historical value when she sees it. And value in general. Maybe Ness will want it? Hrn.

    The Puella Magi touches the car and stuffs it into her hammerspace. In there it goes, she'll sort it out later. With that done she's going to do a quiet sweep of what's left in the garage, and avoid people looking to board the vehicles. If she can't find anything else, she'll hop up to a vantage point to get an overall feel for where things are at right now, and await a good time to push the red button.

    Which is roughly when they start pursuing Arthur.

Eliot Ness (264) has posed:
    TEAM 'OH MY GOD, IT'S A MIRAGE. I'M TELLIN' Y'ALL IT'S A SABOTAGE':

    When Ark Line and his Servant reach the Armory, which is incredibly easy to do, most of the actual guns are taken because the compound is currently under siege by some strange army. All the big guns have been cleared out, leaving just a few revolvers with some boxes of .38 ammo. There is also a wooden crate with some TNT, because that wound be functionally useless here in a firefight for mobsters. Might be useful for Ark's purposes, though.

    Homura steals a car by shoving it in her pocket. That's just the beginning and the end of that. More publically impressive is when she hits that button to initiate strange timewarping explosions. All the cars explode and everyone in them witnesses the pain, surprise, and shock of dying in a fiery explosion as the car vaporizes around them. Only to come back moments later by a time reversal. One or two of that fleet of cars skids and rolls, the drivers too shocked to control their vehicles. Almost all of them come to a screeching halt and stop chasing ARTHUR as they try to figure out what to do and what just happened.

Jinx (39) has posed:
    One, then two rifle rounds strike the Loose Cannon, jarring her from her firing stance and into another run. Those red eyes glow brighter in the dark of the night, as Pow Pow is swapped out of position and set to slinging at her hip again. From her bangle, comes another device. It clonks to the ground and appears to be... a number of ammo crates cobbled together with a massive pipe coming off of one end. A suitable disguise of the Murasame Heavy Industries coil gun she's got hidden in there. She kicks the device, points it roughly at the side of a warehouse, and...

    The weapon discharges, and it's only the hextech she's got bolted onto the thing as well as the masterful original construction that keeps her upright. A pellet of material is suddenly accelerated to a tiny fraction of C along with a rippling CHUNK of recoil noise as the projectile ignites the air behind it.

Kiyoko Saito (131) has posed:
    "Hmm, that's a good point," Kiyoko whispers. She has to hurry, though... eventually someone will tag that surrogate and she'll be exposed. So she ducks between two crates, poking around and noting the whiskey. "We don't need this. So I guess we'll just... right. Passion, drop the surrogate, if it's still around, on my signal."

    While the men are distracted, Kiyoko quickly strings some wire through the slats of a few crates, stretching it between several of them. Then she just... kicks the closest one off the boat and into the water, letting its inertia and weight drag the others she laced together along... and hopefully tangling up a few of the guys on the boat.

    "ARRR! I be being the Great Pirate Sal! We'll be taking yer boat and yer booty, lads! We'll give ye one chance ta join me crew nice and easy and get a share of the loot, or ye can WALK THE PLANK!"

    If the Surrogate is still around, she'll use that for the speech. Otherwise she will at LEAST say it some place she can dive for cover if they start shooting. Bulletproof she is not.

Zwei (596) has posed:
    Weiss stops firing briefly as bullets slam into the packed crates right by her, not particularly worried about return fire while her shields are up, but dedicated to keeping the illusion nonetheless. She crawls behind the current row she's hiding behind, and then rolls to the next, popping up on the other side and resuming her automatic fire in such a space of time as it could be sufficiently believed that the mobsters had managed to pin one man down but hadn't found the other. She deliberately sweeps her aim across the floor and walls, providing very visible lines of bullet holes to try and herd her quarry behind the buildings where they'll be sufficiently out of everyone's way. Asche tracks their movements from above, alerting her whenever someone tries to sneak out of the trap, pop around an opposite side, or otherwise flank her; allowing her to quickly put pressure on them as soon as they stick their heads out. For effect, she allows a few of her shots to hit non-vital areas or else the rifles in their hands. She only momentarily stops as Jinx rips into the warehouse with overpowered offworld guns.

    "A little subtelty would help." She mutters over the radio.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    "WHOOOOHHHHH YEAAAAAH!" Arthur calls out as bullets spray around him! A few might catch him! "COME ON! Keep up! Hahahahahaha! LET'S DO THIS SHIT! EVERYONE PAY ATTENTION TO ME, I'm the goddamn BUSINESS here! I'm WHAT'S UP! You hear a BLAST, you hear a SHOT, that's ME you're hearin'! I'm ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY POUNDS OF PURE GRADE-A SCREAMING, ANGRY BROOMSTICK BRAWLER and I'm a LIVING, BREATHING DIRECT CHALLENGE to the MANHOOD of EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU, you PANSIES!" He continues his obnoxious, loud tirade as he makes his crazed dash through the sprayed bullets. The tirade itself can't be committed to text, because it's full of too many horribly offensive insinuations about people's mothers, sexualities, or similar things.

    He takes a moment to leap into the air, spinning wildly, pointing at each car taken out by Homura's explosions just before they explode. "BAM!" He says, making a gun gesture with his fingers. "BAM! BAM! WHO ELSE WANTS SOME?!" He attempts, now, to actually check and analyze the structures here, using process of elimination with what little information Zwei released, to try to find locker rooms for more mundane workers, where presumably one might also find the suits and assorted clothing used to mark this particular group's mafia soldiers, or at least one or two. Then he'll GRAVITY-HEADBUTT his way into whatever structure looks closest to that guess, intending to loot out the contents and then BOOK IT for back out of the building, back the way he came.

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    If the Surrogate ever got successfully shot, it wound up falling dead, and then very quietly dispersing as soon as someone blinked! If not, it does rather the same, as it continues moving! Elsewhere, Passion says, "Right away. But maybe fewer pop culture references this time." It has a sort of exasperated tone, and then another Surrogate is summoned, draining a little more from Passion's reserves but otherwise fine. Looks like more can be summoned! It's just a relatively finite amount.

Eliot Ness (264) has posed:
    TEAM DISTRACTION:

    Where do we even start?

    The entire warehouse shudders and shakes as a shot from the coil gun tears through the evening air like a bat out of hell. Trailing fire and noise behind it, the cannon doesn't so much damage the warehouse as it peels an entire wall off of it with a clean hit, exposing the contents to the night air. The one she hit has mostly spare boats and fuel in it. The metal of the warehouse groans and the entire structure wobbles as it tries to stay standing.

    Not too far away, Zwei's job of simulating a two man commando team is incredibly effective. Asche giving her aerial movements and her own skill allow her to counter movements and fully simulate two people covering one another from variant positions. This is evidenced in cries of 'Shit, where are they!?' and 'We gotta pull back, they have us surrounded'. A couple men have their guns explode in their hands from bullets fired by Weiss, but it's non lethal. Their hands look wickedly cut up, though. And they're moving into a retreat towards a far fence line.

    Arthur manages to use Homura's explosions for his own theatrics. Cars explode, unexplode, skid to a stop. Men are tumbling out of cars and vomiting on the ground from the sheer shock of dying, undying, but remembering dying. His confidence is shaking their own and, while they're continuing to fire on him, they're following their friends towards that fence line and trying to get out.

Ark Line (687) has posed:
Ark walks into the armory and decides their guns are crappy. He's a bit disappointed, actually. He takes a pair of revolvers and some ammunition, shoving one and a handful of rounds into Caster's hands. Caster fumbles with it a little, but arms himself, stashing the rest of the ammo away. He was functionally unarmed before, insofar as a Servant can be, and Ark... well, they didn't want magic or anything to happen, and he thinks that Caster's brand of destruction might be a bit too... /notable/.

"This'll work." Ark picks up the TNT, checking fuses and the supply of explosives in general. He finds himself short on the former compared to the latter. Ark holds a bundle of dynamite with one hand and draws a flat, daggerlike object made of polished bone from beneath his poncho with the other. He waves the dynamite in Caster's direction. "Light it."

Caster gives him a look. "Are you --"

"Liiiight." He waves it right under his nose. "Come on, I only have two hands." Caster clicks his tongue, producing a lighter and igniting the fuse.

Ark points the flat end of the folded war fan at the dynamite. "We'll just extend /this/..." There's a dim amber luminescence along the edge of the bone fan for just a moment. Something... happens. The fuse starts to burn slower. Much, much slower. "...perfect." He tosses it back into the armory. "Let's go."

He and Caster head for the barracks, letting the enormous explosions and hails of gunfire cover their movements. It's not like these guys are going to want to be around much longer anyway.

Eliot Ness (264) has posed:
    KIYOKO:

    By the point at which Kiyoko is pretending to be a pirate, the crew left on the boat is ready to believe anything, "A Pirate?! This is LAKE SUPERIOR? HOW? WHY?" One asks before running off the boat and clearly wanting to leave. The others are more than willing to jump ship.

    There are a couple that get caught in the wire and tugged over the side into the icy river waters, those guys won't be back. But Kiyoko's plan to clear out the hold certainly works, as crate after crate is going to the bottom of the river and the boat now has a good chunk of cargo space.

Jinx (39) has posed:
    Jinx just whistles at the damage to the warehouse, before picking up the gun and hugging it fircely. And then it's gone again, back into the storage space of that bangle. It's not like she's got the time to actually work the recrager right now. She's got shit to do.
    She charges in once more, happily cackling out in the night. "HELLO INFERIOR MEN OF DUBIOUS CRIMINAL APTITUDE! YOU SUCK AND YOUR MOMS SUCK AND YOUR BOSS ESPECIALLY SUCKS. THIS ONE'S FOR CLEAVELAND!"

    She happily pulls out Fishbones, points him over at the water, and starts firing rockets towards the boats, deliberately trailing a line towards one in particular. "THIS IS FOR COORS AND OLD MILWAUKEE TOO. I HATE SHITTY BEER!" Boom boom boom

Hana Umikazeno (357) has posed:
    As soon as the men are down, Hana is leaping across the rooftops and coming down not far at all from the boat that Kiyoko has so helpfully just cleared off. Immediately, she turns and goes prone on the deck, taking up a position where she can open fire on anyone coming to try and reclaim the watercraft and its booze. "Maaka. Help Saito, keep your eyes open."

Alexis Maaka (571) has posed:
    Alexis nods as Hana gives orders, calmly leaping and parkouring her way off the roof and across the docks towards the boat. Taking a position on the boat with rifle in hand, she rests the rifle's handguard on a railing on the port side, scouting for any mobsters that haven't run off yet to reclaim the vessel as well.

Zwei (596) has posed:
    With most of the men running for the hills, Weiss has just about completed her objective. Each time someone bolts from cover, she rakes her line of fire over the ground after them, but makes sure to stop short of actually pegging them in the legs and preventing them from running. As soon as she runs out of targets, she makes a break for the warehouse Jinx had opened up, cutting a straight line through the shenanigans happening to either side to the boat storage. Once inside, she quickly fabricates some relatively simple 'charges'; electromagnets to stick to the fuel tanks, attached to a tiny laser set on a remote connection that will burn through the casing and violently ignite the liquid inside once she pulls the trigger. The idea is to cause a raging fire that will cut everyone off from retrieving the boats, thus preventing anyone from chasing the getaway vehicle chosen by Kiyoko.

    "The goons are running off with a bloody nose. I'm taking care of their fuel stash. Grab what you can, load it up, and get out of here. I'll light the match once you get going." Again, over the radio.

Eliot Ness (264) has posed:
ARK LINE:
    Ark Line and Caster are playing around with dynamite and causality. And are very successful at it. They're able to leave a time delay bomb right in the armory. The GM will let Ark Line decide when that goes off, because it's more dramatic and theatric that way. The gun that Caster gets ahold of is a Webley Mk VI. Big gun, lots of power for its time.

    In the Barracks, Ark Liner finds that because this compound was where a good number of Mafia Men laid low after crimes, as well as lived here for guard work, there are closets and lockers full of suits and clothing that all match this particular Mafia's style. A subdued, low beige with gentle forest green accents. There's also a lot of era-specific stuff, like cartons of Lucky Strike Cigarettes, Planter's Peanuts, Baby Ruth Bars, 7-Up (The kind that still had drugs in it), Tastycakes.

Eliot Ness (264) has posed:
    MAAKA AND HANA:

    The few men brave enough to try to push back at the boat and take it are held deftly at bay when Maaka and Hana both settle in and start opening fire on any mobsters brave enough to even think of approaching. They're no match for a much better gun, nor an Oni wielding their own guns better than they ever could. So Maaka and hana basically have the boat on lock.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    "YOUR FRIENDS ARE FUCKING OFF, FIGHT ME."
    "WHAT'S UP CHUMP? EVERYONE ELSE ALREADY RAN!"
    "I'M RUNNING OUT OF BLOOD, AND IT AIN'T MINE. YOU BLEED WHAT I MEAN?"

    Arthur Lowell continues his endeavors to draw aggro but he's /running out of aggro to draw/. Eventually he's going to lead what remains out of the area as best he can! And then return immediately, via Gate, though his Gates today are flickering a bit. Dude seems... Somehow exhausted from something! Well, anyway it's right back into the complex, and then over to the warehouse! Catching up with Zwei and Jinx, Arthur rushes to their side and calls out, "RIDE'S HERE. LET'S BOUNCE." And another flickering Gate appears ahead of him, connecting directly with the boat they've chosen as their getaway! Arthur will be taking the same gate.

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    Watching things explode and then rewind is never going to get old. It is probably morally wrong in a lot of ways, but being effective tends to trump those implications. Homura hops down her perch, looks around a bit. Flickers in and out of existence, and then takes another second to look around. THEN, finally, she disappears and reappears on the chosen boat, kicking back into a seat.

    She tosses Jinx a detonator nonchalantly.

    It goes without saying she's pretty much stuffed explosives and wired them together all around the place, mostly aimed at bringing the buildings down, not at hurting people. It's a little bit of extra kick for whatever main event the others have prepared.

Ark Line (687) has posed:
Ark opens a locker and announces, "Jackpot. Caster, find something to put this stuff in."

Caster is a step ahead of him. He moves a crate over and starts going through the lockers and closets, cleaning it out with some haste. He stacks up a pile of suits and other clothes in the right style, and then, with nary a second thought, fills a bag with some of the era-specific goodies and tosses it in with it.

Caster turns around to Ark giving him a look and brandishing more explosives. "There's no sense letting all of this go to waste if we're already taking these men's things," Caster says defensively. Ark shrugs ambivalently, waiting for the dynamite to get lit.

They bail out a moment later, the grey-clad Liner running ahead of the gangly nerd bearing an enormous box without much apparent effort. The pair head for their lift out, The Goods in-hand.

Jinx (39) has posed:
    Houmra gives Jinx the button. THE BUTTON. THE SHINY CANDY LIKE BUTTON. THE AMAZING BUTTON OF DOOM.

    And as she hops through the Gate that's been provided... She depresses the button on the detonator.

Zwei (596) has posed:
    'Mr. W' seems to barely notice as Arthur pops out in front of him. Clearly this man must be a hardened veteran of multiversal shenanigans if flagrant abuse of spacetime doesn't ruffle him, right?

    Weiss hops through the portal the minute it's offered, landing on her feet in the back of the boat and dropping down onto the nearest bench, crate, or other sitting surface she can find. She double checks just to make sure nobody important is by the boathouse, before wirelessly sending the activation signal; immediately blasting a massive wave of fire out the open side of the warehouse, and pouring smoke through the gaps in the roof. "Alright, let's get moving." Asche lingers for a short while overhead, before sending out the recall signal to the aerial drones, fitting them into his back pylons and then peeling off to go out over the lake.

Eliot Ness (264) has posed:
    Jinx fires rockets across the bay, hitting stray ships and ones that were in waiting to be loaded like the one that Kiyoko has captured. The explosions also take out a speed boat or two, meaning that pursuit is going to be nearly impossible for anyone who even wants to try it.

    Weiss has literally no resistance setting down charges on the fuel tanks. Any mobsters still lingering around are almost certain she has a gunner and possibly a sniper covering her, and so they're retreating back, trying to stay low and out of fire lines. She finds her work is unimpeded and, because of this, goes incredibly quickly.

    Which makes it much easier when Arthur wants to take her, Jinx, and him to the escape vehicle via teleportation. And no one wants to mess with Arthur right now. This means that it's a smooth move onto the boat.

    Jinx is even so lucky as to find the magic button that will blow up huge sections of the base put right into her hands, thanks to Homura. It truly is the greatest Christmas present anyone could have gotten someone a month late.

    And speaking of presents, Ark Line has one for you all in the form of exactly the thing you came here for. He makes it to the boat with no resistance and boy does he manage to get pretty much anything he can carry.

    But you all want the explosion, right? Well.

    Assuming that Ark Line, Homura/Jinx, and Zwei all detonate their explosives at once? There is a massive blastwave that comes off the compound. The force and power of it are enough to make the water under the boat choppy and wave-filled. Nearly every building on the compound is collapsing all at once as a massive storm of fuel-incited fire rolls over the wreckage.

    It looks terrifying for anyone in the city right now. Up close, it looks pretty awe-inspiring.