1078/Planning the Next Move

Planning the Next Move
Date of Scene:	04 December 2014
Location:	Prohibition Chicago <PC>
Synopsis:	Eliot Ness summons his various allies to plan his next moves against Capone.
Cast of Characters:	2, Arthur Lowell, 85, 264, 357, 470, 513, 572, 635

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Eliot Ness (264) has posed:
So let's talk about the publically available information for Earth-8276-C, shorthand designated 'Prohibition Chicago':

The year is 1929. Eliot Ness, a member of the Syndicate and US Federal Agent, has spent the better part of this past 6 months waging a war against Al Capone and the gangs that violate Prohibition. Ness, with the help of numerous Elites from the Multiverse, had managed to make some large gains before his funding was cut by the onset of the Great Depression and the Stock Market crash a little over a month ago. After this, with his funding and resources sharply diminished, many gangs from around the United States recently engaged in an all-out assault on his headquarters. While the mafias suffered heavy casualities, and Ness and his crew were able to make it out alive, Ness's headquarters were burned to the ground and he lost almost all of his work to-date.

All of the above is easily available from news reports, factional posts, and other avenues of information. What happened to Ness afterwards is a bit more complex. The Hooks into this scene are threefold:

People who were here last scene get a personal message from Ness. Written in handcode and delivered by a postman, it talks about a bouquet of flowers needing to be delivered to a house in the suburbs. It gives a scrawled address and a note that says the owner may not be home, so knock three times, then twice, then three times.

People who were not here last scene have easy hooks in with anyone who was. Unionites have Kiyoko and Mizuki, though Homura also would have received a personal invitation. Any of the above people are easy to tag along with, with their permission, to get hooks in. The same can be said of the Syndicate and Arthur Lowell, who posted a mission specifically about this very meeting.

Now that hooks are handled, let's talk about the meeting location itself:

Located in the poorer districts of Chicago, the location that everyone would find themselves congregating at is an old, two-story house that looks very beat up. Sitting in the lawn is a decaying 'For Sale, Needs Work' sign. The lawn is heavily overgrown and choked with weeds and several feet of grass. Snakes and other critters can be heard moving through it as one passes by.

Walking up the path lets one come to the house proper. Most windows are broken and have boards over the holes where the glass was punched out by kids throwing rocks at the old house. It has a rotting and decaying porch that is sturdy enough to stand on, but if you stomp too hard you might put your foot through the wood.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Arthur's an easy guy to tag along with. His vetting process is simple: A brief examination of history to determine if you're not a jerk. And then, you're in! Tagging along with the kid will mean having to deal with his bouncy, enthusiastic, perhaps slightly obnoxious conversationalism while he walks down the street, but hey, you'll live!

    Swaggering up the porch, he practically relishes the creaking boards underfoot as he gets right up to the door, one hand propped up at his hip casually, knocking vigorously. Three, then two, then three. But he makes sure it's timed like the beat of some bad rap song, because he's Arthur Lowell.

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    Today Homura does not appear spontaneously.
    She does not casually abuse the fabric of spacetime to be on time, presentable, or even just to be 'suddenly' there. Today the Puella Magi, a white formal shirt and black formal pants on, has pockets under her eyes and the look of a college student who is swimming in finals. The reason for this is that she is an university student who is swimming in finals. And it turns out making extended use of time magic to have MORE TIME means you also need MORE SLEEP when you actually spend that time studying and doing homework.

    Who would have guessed.

    This is why when she arrives it is by WALKING, like a damn pleb, and-- thankfully not needing to lower herself to knocking on the door, because Arthur already has.

    "What a sorry place. I feel bad we couldn't save the old one."

Hana Umikazeno (357) has posed:
    One-two-three.

    One-two.

    One-two-three.

    The knocks come only in a gap between other arrivals. The porch creaks under the weight of the person doing the knocking, despite that person's relatively short stature. The shabby, vaguely eastern clothes and straw hat give the look of a Chinese migrant worker at a glance, the package under one arm completing the 'cheap foreign deliveryman' look sufficiently to hold up until Hana is let in the door.

    Of course, as soon as she's in the door, the hat comes off and she shakes her hair out, reaching up to rub absently at the base of one horn. "I suppose as hideouts go, there are worse. It has natural stealth going for it, if nothing else."

Kagenashi (85) has posed:
    Not the fanciest meeting point, is it? Kagenashi (or, rather, Ayako, as she's been known here) can't really fault such a place being chosen, though. After the last incident, it's clear that Ness and his compatriots are at quite some risk. She of all people can understand being inconspicuous.

    The woman in black and green walks up to the door along with the others, her ornate hand fan held over her mouth and lower face. Ever quiet and regal, she lingers near the back of the group in silence, only greeting a few people she recognizes with brief nods and hidden smiles. Seems she's content to let others do the work for now.

Finna (513) has posed:
    Finna is not actually aware of any meeting going on.

    But after seeing the news reports she has on and off tried to track down just where the assaulted man went. She has some interest in keeping him alive given the Equestria dealings, and it would be something of a shame if he perished on her.

    That and, well, she's kind of bored of beating her head into the wall over the one-armed Armsmaster's attitude.

    Without many clues to go hunting on though, there's been lots of false leads. Nobody's paid much mind to the the bob cut white-haired girl in a short (at least, by the local standards) skirt. Okay some people've thought her accent was a bit weird, there was that time she was found shuffling through some alleys, but right now there's no such girl about.

    There is however, a finch with strange fuzzy tufts on it shead tailing Kagenashi and the others... having spotted some unusual faces congregating in one area from above, Finna now has some inkling of where to go!

Quentyn Westwind (635) has posed:
    Fresh member of the syndicate, Quentyn is immediately putting this newly accessible information network to use! ...even if his own crippling ingorance internetworks means he has to pull in a friend to help.

    Something about fighting crime? Seems safe enough to start with. Quentyn's pretty easy to question--He's a student adventurer and white mage studying at Galianda's academy and he should sound at least decent/willing to help.

    And when Quentyn and Arthur actually get there-- he stops and looks around at the desolation, wide-eyed and mouth hanging open for a moment. "People... people /live/ here?" Quentyn asks Arthur. A few seconds more of looking around and the boy reaches back into his bag, pulling out a notebook, flipping it open, and starting to take notes, but still following Arthur.

Red (572) has posed:
    Naturally, Red is here. Even after helping out with moving injured members of Officer Ness' crew, using a timely requisition of a period Army-issue deuce-and-a-half truck, she stayed behind a little while to help get them moved off said truck, somewhere safe, and see they got patched up. She's no qualified nurse, but a pretty face can do wonders for a bunch of guys who got pretty roughed up, and were in a sorry state. Not just physically, either. She was more than glad to offer a friendly smile or two, in the meantime.

So, here she is. Honestly wondering if she got the right address. Sure, Officer Ness is probably playing it safe, but.. This seems a bit out of place, doesn't it?

Eliot Ness (264) has posed:
    When knocked upon, the door is slowly opened by a man in a suit. He looks around, checking outside as if cautious on if they were followed, "He's been expecting you. Come in." He says after a moment, stepping aside and opening the door. Behind where he had been standing, two men who were also in suits lower guns and start to turn away from the door. The man who answered says, "We can't be too careful."

    The door opens inside to a house that is in an acceptable living condition, but a sorry state. Especially when you consider that it's 10-11 guys working out of a three bedroom house in the suburbs. Once inside, everyone seems to relax a bit. The man at the door sits down in a chair and thumbs through a magazine, a sawed-off shotgun laying across his lap as he looks at the latest Christmas Deals to figure out what he can afford on a government salary.

    The Living Room has been converted into a planning center, which is where Ness is set up, having a map of the city laid out across a dusty kitchen table, "Hello, everyone. New and old faces, I see. I'll skip the hot and tot fancy titles. I'm Eliot Ness, Lawman. These are my other officers. Normally I'd have a big office with some coffee and sandwiches, but we're a bit on the lam right now and the times are tight."

Pinkie (470) has posed:
    "Did someone say coffee?"
    It's funny how she wasn't there. And then from out of nowhere she was. A rasping croak of a voice like rustling paper, or wind through grass, yet lilting with playful mirth. Someone else has arrived at the Untouchables' planning center, as if stepping from a shadow.
    Pinkamena Diane Pie, otherwise known as Laughing Stalk, or more simply 'the assassin', makes herself known and just... Kind of lets herself in.
    She is, in fact, holding a huge urn of coffee and a big old box of donuts. With a shitton of sprinkles to the point it's not even believable.
    Cops like donuts right?
    "Peace offering~?"

Hana Umikazeno (357) has posed:
    "It's quite alright," Hana replies to Ness' introduction, bowing her head politely. "I had hoped that perhaps your world would escape the Great Depression, but it looks as if it wasn't to be." Having so said, she turns to regard some of the newer faces showing themselves; she's not very familiar with Red, in particular, or Quentyn, or Finna. They receive the most scrutiny by a long shot.

    Of course, even Pinkie gets her fair share, but more from the way she enters. "That's some peace offering," she remarks in a faintly dry tone.

Eliot Ness (264) has posed:
    Almost immediately, a half-dozen men point guns at Pinkamena for a few moments, before Ness waves a hand and they lower their weapons, "Offering accepted. I can't turn down ANY help right now," Ness says seriously, looking over to Hana.

    "Might be that it's not our place to control how humanity acts. It needs to make its mistakes. I trust my world will pull through it," He says, looking down at his map again as one of the men goes to direct Pinkamena to a table where she can put down the coffee and donuts so the men can get to it.

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    "That's fine," Homura replies to the apology for having to be careful, glancing about as they head in and pass through the rooms. "How is Tesla doing? There mustn't be much room or power for him to experiment here. You know, if you needed, I'm sure the Union could provide something... a little bit better than this. If not the Syndicate, by proxy of Arthur having too much grist and not enough things to build with it."

    Make Eliot a skull fortress, Arthur.
    What are you waiting for?

    Once they settle around the main table and planning room, Homura finds a seat, lays back and closes her eyes. "Any new leads to pursue? They can't possibly have assaulted a government building and not left an opening for retribution somewhere."

Kagenashi (85) has posed:
    Once the door is finally answered, Ayako gives a pleasant nod to the man in the suit and steps along inside after him and the others. "Of course," she replies in notably accented English to his remark on carefulness. A glance is given to the guards as they pass, followed by more hidden smiles. "If you didn't have proper caution in these times, I would question your skill as guardians~."

    Once they reach the living room, Ayako gives Ness a low bow of greeting before straightening up once more and stepping off to the side. Fan still hovering in front of her face, elbow perched in her other hand, she lingers near the back of the room for the moment, silently listening in as things progress.

Quentyn Westwind (635) has posed:
    Quentyn eyes the firearms... but once they're put down, he relaxes a little bit. And offers Eliot a tentative smile in greeting. "Quentyn, white mage." The student starts when all those guns come out and point at Pinkie, and he lets out a slow, soft breath of relief when they go away again.

    All this jumpiness isn't doing anything to keep the boy unapprehensively... but all he does after the introduction is listen to the tidbits of info the others offer and occasionally jot something down in his notebook.

Red (572) has posed:
    Red looks a little.. maybe sad? Perhaps because of the fact that Eliot and his men are more or less forced into this sort of hovel, just because of what they do and who they are. She doesn't really know the others too well. Or, well enough to have the Transistor strike up conversation. So, he does his own thing. "Glad we were able to help, last time. Not much, but we got you and most of your boys out of that mess, and in one piece."

The talking weapon might be.. new to any of his new recruits.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    "Heh. Bro, ain't NOBODY expects me, most of the time." Arthur says, grinning widely and giving Ness' men a thumbs up despite the guns pointed at him. Then he speaks, casually, to Quentyn! "Pal, lemme tell ya, people LIVE, they WORK, sometimes they even FIGHT!" As he says this, the guns go up to Pinkie. He gives a casual smirk and a bump of his elbow to the newbie. "See what I mean? People can do this kinda stuff EVERYWHERE! You'll find ADVENTURIN' in some WEIRD DAMN PLACES." He casually goes to grab a donut, if Pinkie doesn't slap his hand away, spinning it around deftly on one finger as he nibbles on it, heading to a spot in the living room to lean against the table.

    "HELL YEAH, things are TIGHT. So gimmie the DOWN LOW, boss, I wanna see what we're WORKIN' WITH here."

Finna (513) has posed:
    Hard to be too suspicious of a finch, is it?

    It's just a bird, right?

    Well, it's a bit of a squeeze, but when the door's about to close the Finch-Finna zips through and bolts under a couch when nobody's looking. Okay, maybe someone's spot the motion out of a corner of their eyes...

    She's not able to relax a bit here. Ness' men are good, and if she wasn't able to shapeshift and use magic she'd probably never be able to get into this place undetected...

    Even so, hiding simply isn't any fun!

    "Neeeeeess!" The little Finch crows out happily from... underneath the table!

    "Kind of a hole in the wall place you found here. The snakes in the yard are a great touch!" Is that... REALLY praise?

    Hard to say.

    The Finch explodes out into a much bigger shape, shifting over a few seconds into Finna. She's got her usual white hair - and fox ears for those paying VEEEEEERY close attention despite the Illusionary protection - and it's done up in a short bob cut. She's wearing a in a bob cut, and is wearing a bright cerulean outfit matching her eyes, with a short skirt and some local shoes. A pretty good effort to match the local fashion!

    But she's laying on her belly, head lifted off the ground and resting in one hand with her elbow on the ground, and displays an IMPISH GRIN for Eliot, his men, and everyone else who's come! "Room for one more in this cozy place?"

    Yes she's probably aware someone might panic and shoot her.

Hana Umikazeno (357) has posed:
    "Oh, I wasn't suggesting otherwise," Hana replies to Eliot with a little shake of her head. "Different worlds can take different paths. I had hoped your world might be spared, is all. Likewise, I'm going to keep hoping that you're spared the full length of it, and your nations find a faster-"

    The instant Fincha adopts human form, the oni's hand whips up into place, Migi-ko dropping out of her sleeve into her grip just in time to level the oversized revolver at the transforming finch.

    "-way to recover," she finishes, almost without skipping a beat. Almost. "A finch flying in under a door is awfully suspicious, by the way," she adds.

Pinkie (470) has posed:
    Suddenly it's like all guns in the room are on Pinkie! This might be because a majority of the guns in the room are on her for a moment, but the killer pink clown doesn't move a muscle through the whole process. A little twitch of loppy ears, and she tilts her head, porcelain masked smile making the garishly pink woman impossible to read for a moment.
    But once the guns lower and Ness deems the donuts and acceptable olive branch, she twirls the box on her finger with a ghostly-rasping giggle.
    "Well I'm glad we got that out of the way!" Oh no she won't smack Arthur's hand aside, in fact she flips the box-top open for him and everything, as well as offering Helpful Secretary-- that is Homura a donut as well. Before she ssssssssliiiiiides to Quentyn.
    The level of 'how far Pinkie manages to get in anyone's personal space' is usually as far as she can test it, and if the youth doesn't assert his dominance, the clown might just get -uncomfortably- close.
    "... Donut...?"
    But on to serious matters now. Mind you, serious matters are difficult for a clown. "SO! Federal Agent, who's faces am I going to put smiles on and who's backs get knives?"

Eliot Ness (264) has posed:
"Tesla's upstairs. The move was very hard on him. For all his energy and livelihood, he's still getting on in years, and holding off that attack really took a lot out of him," Ness says to Homura, giving her a slight smile, "I'm sure that he'll be back to his normal self soon. He wants to set up a lab down in the basement and cut into power lines." He laughs slightly, "And I would hate to trouble Mister Lowell and his nice group just on our account."

Nods of greeting are given to both Kagenashi and to Quentyn when he introduces himself, "Dandy to meet you, Quentyn. Never heard of a White Mage, but I meet a lot of interesting people." He smiles to Red, "Like the lovely dame here and her talkin' beat stick. We're mighty grateful for that truck you got us. You and everyone else really saved our bacon." Red is actually being treated pretty well by the men, especially after she stayed to make sure they were okay last time. A couple have managed to find a glass and some clean water for her, which is offered to her.

To answer both Arthur AND Homura, Ness points at the map, "We have a lot of cakes in the oven still, since I managed to get out with the Ledger. We know that Capone launders his money here..." Ness takes out a pocket knife and jabs it into the table, marking a bank, "A few times a month."

"He also owns dockworkers at this harbor on the lake. Lets him smuggle in whiskey from the damn Canuck bootleggers." The knife goes into the table again to mark a harbor with a gash. Ness scowls a bit, "That lake is gonna be hard to lock down, but if we can get his dock workers, we can shut that down."

"The other big one right now is here." Ness taps a spot of... woodland, "He cleared out a damn air strip in these dense woods for bi-planes. Flies in whiskey from surrounding states on short hops. That's why he kidnapped Tesla originally, he wanted to shut this place down before we found it and use Tesla's vertical craft designs."

Ness would have more to say, but Finna appears under his table, causing him to scuffle back a bit and take a defensive stance. Hana seems to have him covered there too, but a moment later he recognizes her, "Miss Finna. You coulda knocked. We're on high security right now. Hence the low-key establishment."

He adjusts his suit to regain composure, "But still, welcome." And then to respond to Hana, "Ah, I can appreciate that sympathy and well-wishes. I hope we only have a year or two of this at most, but I can't let it slow us down or let them win. I hope we can manage to keep affording your contract, as you've been a monumental help."

Red (572) has posed:
    Red appreciates the gesture, especially considering the circumstances. "Beatin's what we do best. Musical, or otherwise. Front row seats for you and the boys, once we get her whole 'stolen voice' issue worked out." The talking sword replies, "Still.. Seems like you've got plans in the works. Given the situation and all, I think we'd be more than willing to help out, however."

Red simply nods in agreement, drinking some of the water, and offering another smile.

Quentyn Westwind (635) has posed:
    "Nice to meet you," Quentyn answers Ness with another quick smile. The student flinches every time Arthur yells a word, but after a few the flinching downgrades to wincing. "Yah..." He eventually agrees, flinching again at the elbow bump. "Um, only, it's a little sad some people have a live in a place like this..."

    And when Finna pops out of nowhere, Quentyn fumbles his pencil and reaches for his own firearm--hesistating a moment, then deciding not to actually draw and to leave Hana and Finna to it. He crouches to retrieve the pencil, and then he stands up to--HELLO. The student shifts uncomfortably, but no, he doesn't clearly define his personal space. "Um... thanks." He takes the Donut, a little awkwardly with his hands full. But with Pinkie's attention back on Ness, Quentyn sets the donut aside and resumes his note taking on the information dump. Looking up briefly to Ness, "Um... what are the options to keep our own covered? What kind of threats are there in this, um, world?"

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    Homura nods. She is way too sleepy and braindead to care about Finna, which isn't in the slightest a statement that entrance isn't incredible surprising and impressive. It's more a statement if Homura had actual energy left it's being spent thinking of ways to-- well.

    "That's quite a few leads. How intent are you on returning to Capone the damage he did to you? Eye for an eye and all that." The Puella Magi extends a hand, and a shimmer of purple magic produces a rack of weaponry next to her, out of thin air. Rocket launchers. Piles of C4. Detonators, rolls of wiring. If anyone was going to assault an out-of-the-way air field or dock, this is the sort of stuff they'd want.

    "Sending him a message appeals to me, and there's no telling you can safely confiscate or hold any of his belongings or installations."

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    "Shoulda gone with somethin' a little more RODENT-ISH if you ask me." Arthur says, cooly hiding his surprise with coy grins and sly words. "More SUITED to this city." Then he leans down, one elbow down, on the planning table. "How many MAPS you gone through, stickin' KNIVES in 'em?" He says, casually, as if joking. Then his movements stop, freezing as he tilts his head for a moment.

    "Ness. LEVEL with me here a sec, yo. How BY THE BOOKS are you up to PLANNING this? These ASSHOLES sure as hell ain't workin' by the rules. What's the LEEWAY we got up ins, regulation-wise?"

Finna (513) has posed:
    Finna just WOLF WHISTLES Hana's way. That and tenses ever so slightly without letting her expression change. "Good pair of eyes, there! Well, if I -really- wanted to STAY hidden, then you're in for a challenge. Hehehehe!"

    She scoots out from under the table, dusting herself off a little without missing a beat. All the while her tail's wagging happily - if anyone can see it. She peers Pinkie's way with hints of concern, smiles with gleaming interest in her eyes at Quen... waves once to Arthur, then waggles a finger at Ness.

    "What, and get a big discussion going in a snake-filled yard about who I was, with so many strange faces heading to this discrete little hole in the wall? ... so this is why you're all here." She nods to herself once, then gives Eliot a worried look. "We're partners on that one investigation with the creepy zombies. Would've come to help if I knew the mad dogs were after you... but you sure know how to lay low. Would've been another week to find you if this parade didn't show up!"

    She grins over at the others.

Pinkie (470) has posed:
    It looks like Pinkie has found tonight's special fun party time victim. Once Quentyn has acquired a donut, the killer clown, casual as can be, drapes her arm right over his shoulders when he fails to deliniate just how close she can get.
    "Hi. What's YOUR name?" Right in one ear, whispered through the mirthless smile of her mask.
    Now though onto planning, so up comes one gloved hand. "Oh, I'm good at sending messages. Can I help?" She asks when Homura brings it up.

Eliot Ness (264) has posed:
    "Defensively... we're never going to have a safehold in this world. We lost that funding and we're just not gonna be able to set up another fort like we did last time. Less guns, less materials. We need to stay out of sight and that's our security," He says to Quentyn seriously, "To cover our own, we just have eachother. There's gonna be mobsters with guns, lots of dangerous people. Most of them want me dead. I'm the face of Prohibition, not to polish my own dandy. The sooner they put me in the ground, the sooner people stop fighting Mafia Bootlegging."

    To Arthur and Homura he says seriously, looking down at the map, "The targets in the city. The ones that involve public officials like bankers or dockworkers? We need to hit those clean and above board. Legal. There'll still be violence, but it needs to be right kind. Legal violence." He says, looking down at the map, "I need to maintain the Untouchable image. A man incorruptable, who is purely representative of the law."

    But his fingers slowly tap the gash for the airfield, "Out here, though. Where no one can see it happen?" He takes a slightly serious look, "They destroyed my office. They hurt my men. They put a brick through my window at the old house the other day, thank god my wife was at her sister's after the attack on my base." He taps it, "We hit them here, I don't care if they bleed. I wanna send a message. You put ours in the hospital, we yours in the morgue. You burn the back of my operation, I break the neck of yours." He looks up, "I want this air strip to be a crater. I want Chicago Justice."

Hana Umikazeno (357) has posed:
    Ah, well then. Ness seems to know this girl. After a moment, the oni gunslinger releases her grip on her revolver and allows it to disappear back up her sleeve. "If you really wanted to stay hidden, I'd probably suspect your motives."

    As Ness talks, Hana finds herself a wall to lean on, not far from the table holding the map. "That's a large part of why I'm here, truth be told. I'm willing to work under a hefty discount; you've been one of my best customers in nearly two decades, and with my longevity I can afford to play the long game in customer retention. But even for an excellent customer, I can't work for no pay very often. If need be, we could meet with your superiors and convince them my contracts are worth paying for, perhaps?"

Eliot Ness (264) has posed:
    Several of the men around Red seem happy to hear her and the Transistor voice that they'll be supporting the operation. Especially at the idea that Red can sing and that they'll get front row seats. Her presence in general is good for morale, and it shows in the attitudes of the men.

    To Finna, Ness looks up from the map and smiles slightly, "Staying hidden when you need to is important in my line of work. I'm very good at being a ghost when I need to be. Almost as good as you seem to be at finding trouble." He teases to her, looking towards Hana soon after.

    "Mister Lowell is here. I'm sure that he will have some input on if he will pay your contract for me or not. That would be some Syndicate support I couldn't turn down."

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    Right. Public places, clean. Makes sense.

    As clean as a pack of angry Elites can be, anyway.

    The air stripe, though... well, Homura's happy with the answer.
    Considering the fact her face rapidly shapes up into :D.

    "Fair compromise. I can provide the materials, and I know I'm not the only one. Arthur, have you ever tried making a black hole?" she asks the teen idly.

    She turns back to Ness. "Do you have a schedule already? Ideal times to hit, how long we have until they figure out we know where to hit, how eager you are to see planes exploding?"

Hana Umikazeno (357) has posed:
    "Don't steal all the fun," Hana adds in response to Homura. "I haven't had a chance for heavy assault and demolitions in a good while."

Quentyn Westwind (635) has posed:
    Quentyn just stares at Homura's arsena. Well, he'll get used to the multiverse eventually. The white mage actually takes special interest in what Arthur says. Knowing how an enemy operates, even vaguely... the student looks to think it's important, anyway. Unfortunately for the would-be tactician, Pinkie is /just a little/ distracting. "G-Guns and..?" He fiddles with this glasses.

    "Um... Quentyn..." The student-adventurer answers Pinkie. He stiffens at the touch and all but shivers... yet he's apparently still too... shy? polite?--to protest.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Arthur plants both hands down now, on the table. "Here's what you do." He says. "The Canuck bootleggers. Whatever gang he's workin' with up north. You figure their colors, you figure their guys. We go north, we steal their cars, we come back south, we raze the airstrip. No motive, random chaos." Arthur snaps and, all of a sudden and synthesized out of pure cosmic elements, he plants a tiny Canadian flag on the hilt of the knife.

    "Capone probably won't hit back, the mobsters probably have hella solid lines of communication. But that son of a bitch is gonna suspend imports for a while, that's for goddamn sure. No more imports means no more smuggling, no more smuggling means no more cutting the dockworkers in on the deal. Deal dries up, just for a while, while Capone either links up with a new outfit, realizes he's been had, or, hell, shuts down the link with the Canucks all the way. We come in, we get the dockworkers. We can wing it, how we manage that."

    Then he's on another elbow, looking at that bank. "'Civil forfeiture'. You guys can do that, right? We hit the bank legit while Capone's eyes are on the airstrip and the north. There's gotta be some buzz about the accounts cash comes out of to pay for the strip. Pull forfeiture on 'em, after the kickbacks shut down and just before we take the money and swing it into the docks to grease the wheels of taking the workers there."

    "FUCKER won't know what HIT 'im." Arthur says, leaning back, crossing his arms, and plastering another wide, casual smile over his face.

    Then other matters! "As for HANA? Well, you know how WE work, on the SYNDICATE. INFORMATION! Long as you're willing to do us a couple FAVORS, get us INFO out in the MULTIVERSE every so often when this is all DONE, hey, sure! Won't mind COVERING SOME COSTS." A grin to Hana now! "I know your RATES, shit be MAD REASONABLE."

Finna (513) has posed:
    Finna starts shuffling Quentyn's way, not really hiding the continuation of her impish grin either towards him or the sideways lok given Hana's way. "Can't call them into question if you don't know I'm here!" she counters in jest. Though as she plops down on a chair near Quentyn, she asks Eliot, "Hrmmngh. You'll have to explain this one if you want my help. These kinds of civilized places are way more complicated than what I was raised in. You're dealing with corruption? Criminals?"

Eliot Ness (264) has posed:
    "Just men with guns," Ness says to Quentyn, looking confused, "My world doesn't have magical powers and the whatnot like most other worlds. Most I have is Tesla making crazy electric doo-whatzits."

    To Arthur, Ness gives a slow and careful nod, "Solid plan. I like it. Couldn't have planned it better myself, really. Hit him several places at once, dizzy up the gal, bring the next set of plans back on the map and we figure out where to hit next while they're picking up the pieces. Good thinkin'." Ness taps his temple, leaning over the table right after.

    "As for information, well. I've been bustin' my back on that Equestria assignment you guys put me on. The one where she's..." He jerks a thumb to Pinkie, "Tryin' to off a high-class official. I'll help out other places in exchange if I can too, of course. I'm right grateful for the help where I can get it and wanna pay back where I can." He confirms to Arthur. Seems like a deal for Hana is working out.

    But then Finna, "Corruption. Criminals." He says seriously, "You're looking at some of the last honest law enforcement in Chicago. It's a mess and we're the cleaning crew." Ever the hardboiled lines.

Pinkie (470) has posed:
    "Nice to meet you, Quentyn." The clown chuckles, pat-patting the boy good and hard on the back.
    She has still not left his personal space. "You can call me Ponyacci. I like making people smile."
    Something in her tone says she might not do it with banana cream pies and rubber chickens.
    "If you're gonna help out here I have a feeling we'll be seeing each other very often."
    Hu hu hu hu~.
    Nevertheless, finally Pinkie leaves the student be, sllllliiiiiiiding to Ness to proceed to just peek over his shoulder for the rest of the meeting in everything he does. Oh he jerked his thumb at her!
    Pinkie proceeds to wiggle her fingers on cue. Jazz hands.

Eliot Ness (264) has posed:
    To Homura, Ness points to a leather-bound book sitting on the couch, "The ledger tracked, up till we got it, all his regular incomes and outcomes. That's where we get most of this information from. Payoffs, where his money goes, what he's spending it on. We don't get specific locations, but we're using the hints it gives to figure out the clockwork of his organization. We have reasonable ideas on timeframes."

    "I'm very eager to start this ragtime band, though. We'll try to hit him on the next shipment at the air strip. Set up all the dominos and let em fall."

Hana Umikazeno (357) has posed:
    "If the Syndicate is willing to pick up the tab, I'm more than happy with that arrangement," Hana says, finally wandering over to join the table. "I can even offer the premium services, I suppose. Extra manpower, ordnance. Red Mountain has plenty of either to go around for an operation like this. Most of them will be nonhuman, but I can guarantee passable disguise for all soldiers involved, and I'll bring specialists as necessary to push forward any plan you may come up with." She pauses, then smiles. "Of course, I'm not going to rescind the discount just because someone else's pocketbook is involved. A good customer is a good customer."

Quentyn Westwind (635) has posed:
    Quentyn blinkblinks. Only guns? That's some good news at least, and the boy /tries/ to follow Arthur's plan, but, well... Quentyn glances, subtly, between Finna and Pinkie, although the latter might be only vaguely in his view. 'OK,' his increasingly concerned expression says, '/Something/ is up.'

    "Nice to meet--," sounds like white mage almost bites his tongue with that pat. He gives a pretty forced looking and small but polite smile to the clown and nods, but really, when Pinkie steps away, Quentyn looks more relieved than he did after all the guns were put away.

    And he doesn't waste time. The newly-inducted syndie quietly pads to place Arthur (and the table too, if possible) between himself and Finna.

    To Ness, Quentyn adds, "Umm... if you can keep the most vulnerable or in danger near me, um, I think I can prevent any deaths." He nods, relatively confident. Also time to catch up on his note-taking, now that the student has some breathing room. To Hana the boy requests, "Can you get them armor? Head and chest?"

Red (572) has posed:
    Red seems content with the company. The Transistor though, seems more interested in that ledger. "If that has all his money.. Think that might be something you could use against him, in the uh.. public, legal, not-messy arena?"

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    "HELL YEAH, I love some PREMIUM." Arthur says. He provides aggressive daps to Hana. Then he's back into Ness. "Hey, man, I wanna encourage some ADVENTURES wherever I can, y'know? Go on a TRIP, take a BREAK when the MAD SCHEME is all done here. I'll put it ON YOUR TAB 'till then." A thumbs-up!

    Then an arm out of nowhere over Quentyn's shoulder, if he doesn't manage to jump away or anything. "MAN." He says, grinning wide. "Ness be MAD CONNETED up in the SYNDIE NET. Call it a STANDING JOB, huh? I hear a WHISPER of Ness' dudes gettin' their shit WRECKED, you're the first one I tell, deal?" He gives a thumbs-up and a wink to the white mage and then stops invading his personal space. "So that's an ON-CALL DOC for the DEFENSE, which is rad." And then he's responding to Homura, belatedly. "HELL, can I MAKE 'em? I've BEEN 'em sometimes! Whatcha need for that? I can dispense some MAD SINGULARITIES UP INS."

Finna (513) has posed:
    With Pinkie easing off of Quentyn, Finna seems less inclined to follow. She hides the hint of irritation that rises up in her well, attention still mostly on Eliot. "Aha... don't know why drinks are seen so badly around here, but your world, not mine. Better than chasing down more traitors and demon cultists, I guess. I can handle the trouble, you see!" Once again she grins devilishly at Eliot!

Hana Umikazeno (357) has posed:
    Hana laces her fingers together, listening intently. Quentyn is the first to hit her with a good question, and to him she nods. "Naturally, protective vests and helmets are standard issue for all my personnel. I may employ regenerators and spirits, but even an oni will have a bad day if you put a roasted soybean round in them. If you need extra equipment for others involved in the operation, that can be arranged easily." She matches Arthur's dap fistbump for fistbump, and then laces her fingers together again.

    It's actually Finna that draws her attention next, though. "I come from a race for whom alcohol is as much a staple as bread or rice. But while I may not agree with the cultural stance behind it, it's easy to see the reasons why people would outlaw something like booze. And past that, it's simply a matter of Mr. Ness doing his job as a duly appointed representative of the law, much as it's a matter of me fulfilling contracts regardless of personal stance."

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    "Most of us don't give a FLYING FUCK about drink or whatev', y'know." Arthur says, casually waving over to Finna and grinning. "That's some POLITICAL SHIT or whatever. The IMPORTANT PART is shit bein' HELLA CORRUPT and HELLA CRIMINAL, buncha PROFITEERIN' SHITS gettin' the MAD EXPLOITATION on up ins. They put that cash into some CRAZY IMMORAL shit, yo."

Eliot Ness (264) has posed:
    Ness looks down over the table at Hana's remarks, "Good, good. It's all starting to come back around. We're on the back foot still, but not nearly as bad as I thought from the start." This gives him a bit of optimism about the whole deal. He also seems largely tolerant of Pinkie watching over his shoulder. For whatever reason, she doesn't overtly scare him in this scenario.

    A nod to Quentyn, "Yeah. We'll have you on medic duty if that's what you can do. But armor is difficult. We've gotta not tip the hand we're getting off-world help too much. We start showing up in futuristic gear on raids in the city lookin' like we're from a drug store comic, we're gonna get suspicious. We'll work something out, though." He assures the boy.

    To Red and the Transistor, Ness nods, "In theory, we could get him on Tax Evasion. Embezzling. But we need to prove the book is real. We need something to legitimatize the entire stack of papers. Otherwise the book is just some of that he said she said."

    And finally to Finna, "I don't make the laws. Agree with em or not, I enforce em. Prohibition is the stone these men are using to run roughshod around this damn city, blowing up store fronts in their damn turf wars. I don't fight to outlaw liquor, I fight to keep them from catching up innocent people in their crossfire."

Quentyn Westwind (635) has posed:
    Unfortunately, Quentyn is very jumpy about sudden hands on his shoulder right now. Fortunately, Quentyn's not the violent-jumpy type so Arthur only scares the hell out of the kid. After straightening his glasses he nods and smiles weakly to Arthur. "Deal." He gives a thumbs up back. Hana gets a smile of gratitude.

    Quentyn nods to Ness, "Um... it be can light armor, only... I can't fix anyone if they get shot..." He taps the side of his head with a finger.

Finna (513) has posed:
    "Ahh... I don't know. That wasn't a statement from me about YOU either. Just glad it's not demons. Hopefully." Like a frustrated child she folds her arms up.

    "All I really wanna do is make sure you don't get in over your head again!"

    This might be her way of saying she's worried about him.