5458/A Grand Celebration For Two Covers Co-Conspiracy By Many

A Grand Celebration For Two Covers Co-Conspiracy By Many
Date of Scene:	24 August 2017
Location:	The Quilt
Synopsis:	The Watch and Concord both gun for Forrester Houl, traitor to Chapter and self-interested politician.
Cast of Characters:	Starlight Bandits, Sombra, 368, August Kohler, Sanary Rondel, Lyria Mason, 1094, 1132

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Starlight Bandits has posed:
    The capital of Chapter is silent as the grave when night falls. Everyone locks themselves in their homes as guards roam the streets. Since the Concord let the loyalists live, they've been quiet also, laying low. But the silence from the faction has the new government on-edge, and so the guard has stepped up patrols for the peace of mind of all.

    However, 18-hour patrol routes are not easy on even the veterans who switched sides, let alone the farm boys who treat a lance like a pitchfork. Every guard the Watch slips past is dead on their feet, barely supporting their weapons and shield. It's almost embarrassing how easily they get to the palace walls. It is here that the Bandits recommended they wait for their 'distraction,' whatever it may be.

    Moments later, the sky lights up with fireworks, the silence utterly broken by the shrill explosives. In between each one, there are gunshots. As far as distractions go, it's not exactly subtle. But it does the job, as the guards outside the palace gates rush from their positions to investigate. The doors are now clear to break through, or the walls may be scaled.

    =Meanwhile, outside the gates=

    The Concord have no need for distractions or stealth. The Concord was promised something, and saw first-hand that it was not going to be given to them for services rendered. As such, it's time for the Concord to simply roll up to the gates, full regalia and demand to be let in.

    Unfortunately, the gate seems to be unmanned right now. Perhaps something to do with the fireworks display that is clearly audible within the walls. Well, with no one around to let them in, they can't exactly be held responsible for what happens next, can they?

Sombra has posed:
    Broken promises are no good, and there have to be consequences. And while most of the Concord don't go for stealth, one of their number finds it hard to shake her usual habits. Sure, Sombra's with the other Concord members right now, though she seems restless as she looks to and fro, taking in their surroundings. Upon arriving at the gate she can't help but arch a quizzical eyebrow however, and she lets out a whistle. Still no response...? Well, this changes matters. Not to mention, that firework display wasn't exactly planned. For somebody who's been in fights before, it's not hard to recognise the sound of gunshots.

    "Seems we have to get in on our own," Sombra muses, glancing to the other Concord members. Flamel she knows is able to get over the walls himself, as for Tesla... she certainly seems capable. "Whatever is going on in there is not in our favour, meaning we have less time than anticipated." Which means they have to make their way to the palace and get to Houl as quick as they can.

    "Vamanos!"

    With that Sombra throws her translocator up to the edge of the wall, waiting until it's well over the wall before she disappears from where she's standing, appearing midair as she snatches said translocator, then she lands in a crouch. If the others need that gate opened she can quicly slip down there, but if her allies show they are capable of getting over or through on their own, she will continue on towards the palace.

Tesla Armadia (368) has posed:
The Concord played nice. But someone had the audicity to take advantage of their efforts and then try to short them out of their deserved reward.

That is when they stop playing nice.

"Well, this is rather disappointing," Tesla Armadia muses to herself as she gazes up at the closed gates, adjusting her visor with one hand. "I was rather anticipating being shot at or something by this point. Someone care to knock, or do we need to find the doormat the key is under?"

He 'joke' is answered by Sombra making her way up the wall and inside with some manner of transportal device. That gets a faint raising of a brow, moreso at the tech than anything else. "I suppose that answers that."

She's perfectly content letting someone else handle the door opening and conserving her own energies for later.

August Kohler has posed:
It's time to go. The plan had been set up in advance, and relayed by August Kohler, Cloak of the Watch, to each participant - they are searching for a specific old dude who is a member of Chapter's leading rebels, whose name they don't know, who the Bandits would recognize, so that they can force a future-reading book into his hands to learn who his conspirators are for stuff like 'backstabbing people' and 'blowing up libraries' and 'being an overall jerk'. The Watch had put this government into place, and it's already started to go bad - so August felt responsibility to set it right.

The teenager has a gun at his waist, a mirrored bracelet on his wrist, and a hood over his head. He's leaning against the wall, waiting for the signal. "Alright, so when they set it off...we get in there and track down our target. He's middle-aged, balding, and overweight." There's a wave towards a certain axe-wielding cleric. "She has the book we're going to use to learn who he's working with to fuck things up. We're going to make him use it, and then decide what to do with him afterwards. Any questions?"

There's maybe a minute for questions before the fireworks go off. August moves over towards the palace gates, not being much of a climber, and looks into the mirrored bracelet. "Persona." A burn-scarred robot with a gun for a leg appears...and rams into the doors, time after time, trying to force them open with abnormal strength. "We're on."

Sanary Rondel has posed:
Sanary feels overdressed. Or... Underdressed? What does looking like a haggard, hunched over old crone even count as? Whatever the case is, Sanary looks the part! She's got an old tunic from back home, a ratty old bandana, and even a walking stick that definitely isn't a Physic staff with a towel over it. The cherry on top of her shitty smelly villager disguise, of course, is not showering yet after a long day of pig wrangling!

     It's kind of a shame that the guards were so easy to slip by. The healer slows to a stop outside the gates as she waits for the distraction, reaching into her back hump to scratch at what is definitely not the book back there. Once those fireworks light up the sky and the guards scurry off, she takes a few slow looks around, then coughs and wheezes in August's general direction before shuffling right for that door and not so subtly grabbing his shoulder to provide him with some magic STRENGTH JUICE.

     Clearly, it's just a well-built old lady trying to stop this ruffian and not someone in a bad-smelling disguise.

Lyria Mason has posed:
So here we go again. Lyria was not fond of this place but she wanted to see it through to the end. She'll move past the guards and she'll be doing her best ot not turn this into a blood bath for the most part soon the blast goes off, the guards rush out to check it out and now they will have to get inside. She think for a moment gets her spiders drones tialing her and she's going to use a grappling hook to help get her up the wall she can't be wasting time.

Flamel Parsons (1094) has posed:
    Parsons regards the gate next to Sombra. "Looks like we do!" He says, brightly, flicking that cloak hood back up over his face telekinetically. "Whatever's going on in there sounds like schemes colliding, if you ask me! Which means we can meddle a lot! Any time conspiracies slam into each other, everything gets all chaotic and far easier to deal with." He restores his usual partial invisibility, granting him that dementor-like mysterious kingdom assassin aesthetic.

    With an elegant flow, his levitation initiates, and he slides up the gate from bar to bar like a particularly slippery acrobat, before flowing over the gate, fading to a sort of phantom, and then slipping on past, alongside Sombra, darting forward. "Alright! Conspiratorial groups that have usurped and taken power usually have safe rooms and panic rooms! Or at least very reinforced council rooms! I don't think we'll find them on the front lines. Let's check around for that sort of thing!"

    That's the plan. Check around for things like that, using his extensive espionage training!

Kyoko Takada (1132) has posed:
    For some, stealth isn't an option. It's as much a requirement as clean water. The rather small figure recently identified on Watch-run systems as "Alpha-39" looks like she could use some more of the latter, but the muddy colors of her equipment do blend in well for places lacking green. "She" can at least be roughly assumed, though her mask hides any hard identification, and she's hardly said a word since arriving with the others. Disguised as someone who should be here, on the other hand, she isn't. More than one blade and more than one gun are easily visible once she's spotted.
    She gives a short shake of the head. No, no questions. Find the target, bring Sanary to the target. The dull, solid-red eyes of her mask turn toward that member of the party for a moment.
    After that, she's off. Speaking in more than sign language will be necessary once outside of visual range, but it's not like she can't. As for her path, she's just going in the nearest door. Someone is likely to be watching it, but it doesn't seem as if the guards here have an assassin's patience. A moment of inattention is enough, and then she'll be in and split off from the rest.

Starlight Bandits has posed:
    Thank's to Sombra's translocation, the gates of the capital groan open for the Concord. How nice of them to take the simple route. Their path through the city is more or less unobstructed at first, and Flamel's peeking about reveals little. Everyone really is in their homes, and there's no signs of anyone trying to slip away from the palace.

    But as they come to the open area that holds the pit that leads to the mines, they find the source for the fireworks. A wagon, once covered with a tarp that now bares many burnt holes, is spitting them constantly. Standing by it is the Starlight Bandits, in costume once more. Irvine is dressed as a mariachi, all black and white with a sombrero and clutching a classical guitar. Molly is wearing a traditional flamenco dress in red and dancing to a fast tune Irvine plays. Guards surround them warily, with several lying at their feet, unconscious. They're certainly doing /something/... but is it related at all? It's hard to tell with them.

    Meanwhile, at the palace gates, August and the Tin Soldier manage to shove the gates open, thanks in part to Sanary's buffing. This makes a terrible noise, likely audible even to the Concord over the fireworks. Lights within the palace are coming on, glimpsed through the windows. Seems the occupants have been awakened by the display. Once again, the Bandits make things harder than they need to be.

    Lyria takes up a position on the wall, which gives her a prime viewing position on curtains that twitch, occupants peeking out. One is balding, with some evident jowls and looks middle-aged... is that the target. Three windows up, second from the left!

    Meanwhile, A-39 simply barrels forward, slamming through the front doors. She emerges in the entrance hall, which has its own guards hanging around. "Stop right there!" one bellows, rushing towards her, as the other goes for a horn hanging on his belt. Sounding an alert?

Kyoko Takada (1132) has posed:
    A mistake was made. A turner was corned, in effect, past which there were one or two more figures looking her way than accounted for. Alpha-39 does not stop, nor even pause. Her hand drops to her thigh as her leg lifts in the motion of running, and when her hand rises again it does so with a flick of the wrist that sends a knife spinning through the air, its edge glowing with the heat conducted from the power source in the hilt, turning end over end exactly three and one half times in the distance between her and the chest of the guard with the horn. Her attention has already turned toward the other.
    There was a sword on her back. It's gone from there, now, arcing through the air in a drawing-slash, blade-edge immediately glowing the same neon blue-white as the thrown weapon. Her immediate target is any weapon coming against her, followed by the wielder, and she's willing to pause for only half a breath for either before moving on.
    Be quick. Be thorough. Never stop moving. These aren't the target, and are therefore nothing but a delay to the mission.

Tesla Armadia (368) has posed:
The sight they come upon does cause a brief moment of pause from Tesla. "... Well, that explains why there were no guards at the gate." She shrugs her shoulders a little. The display of music and fireworks doesn't mean anything else to her, and she simply turns to continue moving on. There's more objectives to concern themselves with than a couple of bandits and their distraction.

The technopath uses her powers to assemble some aerial scouting drones from the various components she keeps at hand for such tasks, and sends them buzzing down a few streets scanning buildings and looking for anything of interest. People were huddling away in buildings. Clearly the new goverment wasn't doing a very good job if the locals were hiding from it. Tch. Sloppy, sloppy, just because one man decided to take the whole pie instead of sharing the intended pieces.

Flamel Parsons (1094) has posed:
    Parsons zips forward speedily. He stops, for a moment, when he gets a look at... At what the Starlight Bandits are doing. He recalls them from the mines, and from a few other incidents as well, not the least of which was mentally interrogating Irvine. He's tempted to attempt the same, familiar as he may be with the man's mind. But there's a time and a place, and the potential escape time and site of Forester Houl is neither.

    Whatever's going on here is so clearly not remotely Parsons' business, so when Tesla tells him to just get a move on, he goes ahead. He has to surge towards, onto, and into the palace! Dynamic, quick patterns of floating, gliding, platforming movement should close the distance fast, with access to rooftops keeping Parsons far away from the rush of guards heading to back up their allies.

    Gotta get in, and as close to the council chamber as he can remember getting! If there's a safe area that the rebel council are most likely going to concentrate in, it'll be in the palace. And if there isn't, he'll find someone who knows where Forester is. But there's also the point of keeping the alleged allies of the Concord safe. The Concord still have Index in their back pocket, so this is going to be something Parsons stays quite flexible about.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
"Oh, ha ha. Dick." As Sanary follows along behind August and gives him a light whack on the back for his trouble, she soon comes to the realization that it's not really clear which way they're going, she comes to... A different realization! The healer slows to a stop, then reaches back to scratch at her hump. It's in that awkward spot where it can be difficult to reach whether reaching from the side or below, but with enough time...

     She eventually retries the book from back there! "Which way... Are we going to find the important fat balding guy?" Sanary murmurs at the book before flipping it open, keeping her eye peeled to see if the book actually directs them and tells her something useful for once!

     "Didn't tell me anything good the last time I asked it stuff, but it's gotta be able to do /this/ much, right?" She does not look nor sound hopeful, but it's the best shot she's got so far! Well, that or following someone who knows what they're doing.

August Kohler has posed:
As Sanary buffs August, the redhead nods at her, before shoving her off after it's given, to give the image of being a brute. The Tin Soldier slams the door open, and the two are in. August's first action is simple: waltz forward, listen for where the lights are. He was going to focus on the concentration of them...but instead, the target's been spotted. Third floor, it appears? August moves to beeline for the stairs, his Persona trailing after him, ignoring the guards dealing with A-39. She's new blood - it's her job to show what she's good at.

As he joins Sanary, August glances at her asking the book questions. "Huh. Think it'll work?" He himself has something else on his mind - this is the palace, who else is going to be here? He's expecting Perplex. And that's going to lead to trouble.

Lyria Mason has posed:
August plan was solid she'd managed to spot the target and she call it in, this should be god. she's now trying o figure out how to get to him. If they can get Sanary's book into his hand and they hould be able to out all the assholes around here. Or a good number of them at the very least. She's going to now look to see how she might be able to get to the target and she checks to make sure she's got some zip ties and a few other things if they are needed. She'll keep moving the moment the gets a fair idea of how to proceed from where she is.

Sombra has posed:
    The Talon agent peers at Tesla as the gate opens just slightly for her to get in, an amused smirk playing at the corner of her lips. "I do enjoy jokes, but they are even more fun when we get to tell them to our target." Her head turns as she looks at Flamel, nodding in agreement. "Sí, he's bound to hide considering the amount of people he's upset." They will get their payment. And they will take what they're owed.

    With that Sombra begins running, bringing up a screen with her left hand, a holovid containing a map of the city, plotting in the quickest way to get from point A to point B. There we go, that ought to make it. And on the way she will leave her translocator behind somewhere partially hidden, just in case.

    As they make it to the pit Sombra eyes the scene unfolding before them, glancing to the others. "Well, they made it easier for us, hopefully," she sighs then activates her thermoptic camouflage, just in case as she heads on, with a glance towards the pit. Would it be possible to excavate that place?

    Upon arriving at the palace she doesn't follow Flamel, as it's better to cover ground. With stealth they are in less danger. So she heads to nearby corridors, close but making sure to check out other rooms.

Starlight Bandits has posed:
    The Bandits are... ignored! How utterly tragic. They would be upset if they weren't fending off guards. Tesla's drones zip throughout the city, scanning, passing on information. One overs over the palace, just in time to see the Watch make their initial entrance. They're not alone in having business there, it seems!

    Flamel guns straight for it, seeing the broken open gate, and hearing sounds of combat inside. If he recalls correctly, that room was upstairs, around the back... Sombra meanwhile, creeps right in with stealth, getting right by the Watch and checking the palace out. There are plenty of floors, with many doors. The lower ones seem pointless, but she slips by Perplex walking the opposite direction, giving directions to guards. There's someone to stick close to...

    Within the entrance hall, in the space of a blink, A-39 has planted a knife in the chest of the guard with the horn and cut down the other charging at her. Blood stains the floor as the Watch moves in, Sanary consulting her future book to learn what to do. It tells her of their entrance, of heading to the Council room to confront Perplex and the man-Forrester Houl is his name apparently-and of the Concord also being there. That complicates things..

    Lyria tries to figure out how to get straight to the target. He's above her right now, by a singe storey or so. The windows here don't have glass, just thick curtains to block out the cold. If she could scale the height, getting in is no trouble.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
"Dunno. Last time I used it, it took longer to do all the work than to just pull it out myself." What kind of work is Sanary even talking about? August will never know. She gives him another light tap before peering at the book, squinting at the words coming out and only barely noticing that she's walking through blood.

     She does notice, though, but she's not going to say anything about it. Instead... "We come in, we head to the Council Room, Perplex is there, someone called F... Ffforeseter Howl?" And the..." She trails off, looking up to make sure she's not about to barrel into August or a wall before looking back down at the book. "The Concord? Huh. I didn't know you called 'em in for backup."

Tesla Armadia (368) has posed:
Tesla for her part continues to walk her path like she was in no hurry. She didn't need to be, with her drones doing most of the legwork alongside two perfectly capable agents. That and there was the potentional that, if they focused solely on the Palace, they could miss something else important in the city. Or other things.

Like the drone catching a glimps of the Watch making their way in as well as it passes over. Which she quickly relays to her companions over the radio, and instructs that drone to keep an eye on the Watch. The other drones she instructs to continue sweeping the city, then puts them on auto-pilot.

And starts heading for the Palace proper herself. If the other faction(s) have gotten involved, things may need a more personal involvement in the matter.

August Kohler has posed:
August squints at Sanary as she replies, but doesn't press. He DOES notice the blood beneath them, lifting his foot briefly and turning his head up and away. "Sounds like a plan. Forester Howl? Sounds like a pretentious asshole. ...Perplex, though. I'll handle him, you'll need to focus on getting the book to Howl." And then, August pauses.

"The Concord? I didn't call them." There's a brief moment, and then August is sprinting ahead. He needs to reach the council room, stat.

Kyoko Takada (1132) has posed:
    Alpha-39 notices and avoids the blood, weaving around the falling body in a straight line to retrieve her knife. Bright red does not make good camoflauge, and she does not expect they have the time to wait for it to dry. She also hears 'Concord' and 'coming for the same destination,' and concludes that cleaning her blades will have to come later. The mission's nature has shifted partway from recon-in-force to objective-control.
    She's fast. Faster than some others here? Possibly not, but she's now making her way up and forward as quickly as possible, leaping and vaulting rather than ascending stairs at a normal pace. 'Council Chambers' sounds like the kind of thing that should be accessible down an easy, wide passageway, a place you want people to find after entering the building. That may make the most direct route forward also the correct one.

Sombra has posed:
    The hacker keeps quiet as she sneaks around, making sure to not engage the Watch members when she spots them. Better not risk anything now... Instead she listens, a silent observer as she follows in Perplex' footsteps. He's a useful character to stick close to for many reasons. Let's hear what he has to say to the guards.

    Though she does keep some distance so she can talk on the radio without being heard, her voice as low as possible.

    At the same time she tries to get a good idea of just what the Watch are up to. The most important is to get to Houl as quickly as possible. Just where is that man hiding...?

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason sees a clear path there's a bit of a grin on the Levitani's face as she makes to scrambl up she'll use the grapple again to hopefully catch somewhere soldia dn rapidly move in. She knows she can not sit still nore delay, someone might pull the hook lose, and then that woudl be a very bad day for Lyria. She is vunrable when she does this maybe she shouldn't be taking sucha risk, but the pay off if she makes it will put her in arms lenth of the target.

Flamel Parsons (1094) has posed:
    Parsons keeps heading through. Up, up, up further and further. He needs to find Houl. Above all else, THAT'S his priority. What are the Watch here for? So close, and dangerously engaged in combat just near him as he slips through? For the Councilmembers as well? Weren't they allies before? ...Is there a chance Houl got too big for his britches and pissed off all sides here? Hmmm.

    Fuck it, he decides mentally. There's plenty of guards here. And they have to know some of what they're doing. On his way to the council chambers -- heading up -- he's going to make an effort to scan the weaker-minded guards for data about where Houl is supposed to be, and direct himself that way. He sure as heck can't go picking the minds of those Watchfolk slamming through the palace nearby. Hopefully if he can get that data linked with whatever Sombra can get figured out, he can close in on Houl's position fast.

Starlight Bandits has posed:
    Lyria grapples up to the window, just in time to see the feet of Forrester Houl vanishing down the hallway outside his room. Too late! But there is something on his desk... an envelope, packed with documents. Blackmail material he had was mentioned... perhaps this is it?

    Feet sprint through the castle, some fast and loud, others quiet and sneaky. Everyone is converging on the Council room. Flamel's mind scanning of the guards reveal that, in times like this, the Council usually convenes to give orders. So yes, it is likely that he will be there. Perplex is joined by Houl at the doors as Sombra sees. "What the hell is going on, Perplex?!" the fat man snarls. "Some kind of unauthorized event," Perplex replies as he takes his seat at the head of the table. "Wait for the others to arrive." Which they do. And just as the doors begin to close... the Watch arrives.

    "What is the meaning of this?!" Perplex barks, drawing a sword from his side and glowering menacingly. The Concord is either not too far behind, or already in the room, invisibly.

August Kohler has posed:
As the doors to the council chamber begin to close, a foot stops them, and then a metal arm forces them back open. August waltz in, hand on his gun, as he glances first to Perplex, and then to Houl, and back. "This, Perplex, is us solving a mess we made. Atleast one of you, and possibly all of you, are fucking dirty." Another glance to Houl. "When I helped you rebel, Perplex, you were supposed to be goddamn better than what you had put in. And now..."

And then, August finally motions to Houl. "You're making deals and then backstabbing people, playing games of intrigue with your new allies, blackmailing others to do your dirty work? What's next, forcing the nobles you put into farming into actual legitimate slavery? Making them mine for you? We know about the library, you handing it off to the Concord, and then how your buddy here plans on blowing it up so they can't have it." The gun is drawn, as the Persona goes motionless to August's side. "Well, newsflash, the Watch is taking responsibility for its actions. We're taking Forrester Houl and getting him to spill who his conspirators are. Either step aside or get treated as one." The gun is drawn and pointed straight at Forrester, though August's finger isn't near the trigger. He has proper safety.

"Move to secure him and get him to read the book. Perplex, I want to hope this doesn't end in a fight, because you seemed reasonable. But I've got a responsibility here, and if you ended up fucking over Chapter? I'm going to make sure you regret ever getting us involved." August waits. Will Perplex strike at him? And when will the Concord arrive?

Flamel Parsons (1094) has posed:
    "Speaking of the Concord," Parsons' voice sounds, over telepathic broadcast. It's nearly impossible to pin down his position, with both invisibility and telepathy active. "You probably remember me! I'm Flamel Parsons, agent of a vague yet menacing government agency! I'm here because an unauthorized conspiracy was found, with an agenda that goes against the agenda I'm working on! I'm not fully sure what the Watch is here for, but if I had to guess, Forester Houl got a little too deep into the politics!"

    "Hey there, August! Glad to have your help in securing that Library." If one looks very, very closely, drifting smoke might be able to barely indicate the rough regions of Parsons' presence as he moves about, but only if one is trying their hardest to see through his invisibility. "But, if it's all the same to you, everyone involved in this entire fiasco is more likely than not to pose a risk to the Opera Bibliotheca. I'm going to need to see that sort of thing too, and if you don't mind, I'm going to go ahead and do it a little more directly."

    Whatever happens to Houl -- whatever that man does -- Parsons needs to hit this quick. He goes immediately for a high-depth ASTRAL PROJECTION, invisibly attempting to force his way back into Houl's mind, just as he did many, many weeks ago. If it's still as soft a target as it was before...

    Parsons is still enraged. Subtly. Quietly. A hidden rage against Houl. It's not been mentioned yet, of course, but he fully intends to require Houl's execution, and to perform it himself if he's not prevented. But right now, his goal is more simple. Brutally strip-mine Houl's brain for all data that could possibly be relevant. He's not planning on being remotely gentle. If he can breach and act, it's going to be far, far more brutal than his other more stealthy efforts.

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason get to the window adn she lands just int time to see the manfleeing but she's hot on the heels. However the information left behind here? Oh she's totally scopping all of that up and she might take a brief glance at them as she packs them up to make certain but she knows she doesn't have much time. She needs to go after the target and catch up with her allies with him. August seem to be on a roll from what she can hear and she'll make all due hastw iwth the docments she has packed away in her geart as she moves to get on the move once more.

Tesla Armadia (368) has posed:
Unlike her compatriates Tesla has no fancy manner of stealth and subtefuge, so she's blantantly obvious. Doesn't stop her from walking into the chamber with an almost casual demeanor, as was typical for her composure. "Oh, I'm sorry, did we interrupt your playtime?" Totally not sorry, but she's being conversational about it. "But we have some... unfinished business with the man, if you'd be so kind."

Pause. "We'll try to leave some remains for you to play with afterwords." A faint shrug. "No promises. He already bit off more than he can chew, it's going to bust his teeth eventually."

Sanary Rondel has posed:
"Understood. I'll... Hmm. Yeah, I'll jam this in his face. I got your back." Sanary straightens back up while following the redheaded teenager to the door. Even though he's already opening it, however, she waits by the door until he actually mentions the book. Once he does, she rears back and kicks the door open!

     Or slightly more open than it already was. It just felt like the right thing to do, although her timing could have been a lot better. Sanary does have the scowling punk face going on, though, perhaps contrasting rather heavily with her old village hag getup and questionable smell. She makes a beeline towards Forrester, shooting narrow-eyed glares at Perplex and his crew to try and intimidate them into compliance. When Flamel shows up, though, Sanary blinks slowly before raising her non-book-holding hand in a stiff wave towards him.

     As much as she'd hate to admit, he /did/ have much better dramatic timing than her. "Er... Hey, there. So you're just gonna kill him, or are there others? Because..." The healer perks up a bit at the sound of a familiar voice, turning over to toss Tesla a more casual wave. "Yo, Tesla. You mind if we get some info out of his head before..."

     She looks over at Flamel, then back at Tesla. "...Parsons does whatever it is he's doing?" Sanary's still shooting threatening glares towards Perplex and his men, of course, but some of that angry old lady-ness is probably gone by this point!

     The assy pig smell is not.

Kyoko Takada (1132) has posed:
    Alpha-39 takes a particular line from August as tactical instruction. So far as she knows, the Concord aren't yet here, but they should be soon, and there's hardly time for speeches, as much as they might be necessary to get this other guy to let this all go without making things more complicated. She moves in, expression still hidden behind the mask, even if the bright lights they've been passing through have required her to long since turn off most of its more subtle sensors. It at least protects her face, to a moderate extent.
    Her sword was sheathed on the way, and what looks to be a slightly futuristic submachine gun is in her right hand, instead, stock against her arm. Her left is empty, but she's already shown how quickly that can change.
    Is the target going to resist? It's going to be a lot harder if he does, As she reaches for his arm to drag harshly behind him into a lock that'll still let him walk, though if Sanary can get what they're trying to do done right here, that might not be necessary. Honestly, she has no idea how reading the book is going to work in any respect.
    The gun doesn't point at Houl, though. Rounding quickly, whether he's physically secured or not, it points at Tesla.

Sombra has posed:
    Aaand there he is. As Sombra stays behind, she narrows her eyes, then moves quickly to get up behind Houl. As Flamel speaks, keeping the others occupied, Sombra manages to get behind the man.

    First there's the sound of a submachine gun getting kocked, and the next moment Sombra appears in a shimmering display of purple lines reveal her form as she stands there, pointing her submachine gun towards the back of Houl's head.

    "I suggest you guys do as mi amigo says, otherwise you won't get the book read to you," she states with a selfsatisfactory smirk on her lips at the guards and the Watch members. She's ready to strike, her free hand twitching slightly. "Let us take what we want, and you can have him after."

Starlight Bandits has posed:
    The Council room goes silent as August and the Watch storms in, throwing around accusations. To Perplex's credit, he doesn't immediately start raging, but his face is going red. "Those are some serious accusations Kohler. So serious, in fact, that I've half a mind to listen to you." The rest of the Council looks furious, but the leader slams his palm on the tabletop. "I suppose you have some means of proving it?" The book is placed, Houl grabbed by A-39, and Perplex frowns. "You think he will commit crimes in the future?" Brighter than he looks!

    But then the Concord comes barging in. Sombra puts a gun to his head, and he snarls. "What is this betrayal?!" Houl screams as Flamel plunders his mind, dredging up information. He confirms what he learned in the minds, identifies three co-conspirators in the Council, and others who work as merchants... he almost finds what he had on the Bandits before the large man tips his chair back with his spasms, falling on the agent!

Tesla Armadia (368) has posed:
Tesla Armadia is utterly unphased at having a gun pointed at her. This is hardly a new situation to the experienced woman. "Oh do put that away before you get yourself needlessly injured." Though her armor is powered up, just in case, she's not giving the gunwoman the satisfaction of actually reacting to the non-verbal threat with more than her unimpressed response.

Besides, much more interesting things are happening. "You are a fine one to speak of betrayals, no?" But she is keeping her stance where she is, seeingas Flamel and Sombra are already in midst of dealing with the various details.

"It got him this far, why would he not continue", she replies in almost off-handed casualness to Perplex's observation. "At least, had he not been so sloppy in his double-crosses. Tch. Politics. Such a fickle game. Eventually someone is going to flip the table out of anger instead of continuing."

August Kohler has posed:
As August finishes speeching, the Concord show up, and it's a clusterfuck. Houl is taken hostage, and Flamel is threatening to basically rip his mind apart, while Sombra has a gun to his head. August has a threat lined up...but Perplex distracts from that. "We're not going to prove he's going to commit a crime. We're going to prove he already has, who his perpetrators are, and the next one he's committing." August spends the next moment instead...trying to track Flamel's smoke. Trying to pierce through his invisibility just a little bit...

As Houl freaks out and starts to throw himself about. In a sudden motion, August's gun raises - and is pointed straight at Flamel. "And you're going to hand him over alive and cognizant enough for that to happen, or I'll shoot Parsons, and you'll lose both the intel, and a valuable psychic." August has no actual intention to shoot Flamel - he relies on the psychic too much. But he's going to gamble. "Because, see, I'm not going to do this lightly, let you risk all of this, when this guy fucked us over. When someone comes to us, appeals to our ideals, and then goes around and spits in everything we worked for, that's not going to be tolerated. No one fucks with us." August's finger begins moving towards the trigger, slowly. As if he'll actually shoot.

"So, let's see if you're willing to gamble yourself. Do we all come out of this satisfied, or do we all come out of this dead?"

Sombra has posed:
    "You betrayed us first, cabron," Sombra half snarls at Houl from behind him, pressing her submachine gun harder against the back of his head. Next she looks at August calmly, arching one split eyebrow at him. "If you shoot him, then what will stop me from taking you out in return?" She can always go invisible too, which might give her an opening.

    "This man screwed us over, used us and doesn't want to pay us--" That's the moment when the spasms causes the large man in the chair to tip backwards, and Sombra snaps her head back forward, seeing him falling towards her, and while Sombra does her best to get out of the way, she isn't able to do avoid it completely as the heavy chair knocks into her, causing her to fall back, partially trapped under the chair with her legs. A cry leaves the hacker, and she keeps on gripping her submachine tightly as she winces in pain.

Flamel Parsons (1094) has posed:
    Parson' invisibility isn't foolproof. Since August is looking very, very precisely at him, he can get a very solid bead on him, right in a context where his shielding is far, far lower than normal. The invisibility fades as his psychic "someone else's problem" effect wears off under scrutiny.

    His fingers go from his temples, and shift towards open hands. He's still got his eyes locked on Houl, between glances at August. "Fine. Fine, fine! It's okay. I'm pretty sure he's still literate." He looks... Pained. This man knows some special secret. It's so tantalizingly close... Some dark fact about the Starlight Bandits...

    Dammit. He can only maintain so many obsessions about information at once. "Well, I got what we needed, even if I didn't get everything I wanted!" He turns to Perplex, explaining. "Mr. Houl there tried to blow up the library with a few co-conspirators! I absolutely can't stand a conspiracy that destroys information rather than covering it up. We were worried more of you councilmen were in on it, but it turns out it was just those four, plus a few merchants."

    "So here's the deal. I want all four of the council's conspirators executed! Plus the merchants. Then we'll go right back to helping you as part of that deal you made with us, just like you wanted. How's that sound?" Parsons' grin is far wider than someone looking down the barrel of a gun and talking to a local ruler should be grinning, but that upbeat, positive tone is unrelenting.

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason catches up with the rest of the watch however it's a stand off and August is making his move. Maybe it was better had she lagged behind a bit longer. Too late now she is silnt as she looks back and forth and moves to back up August as best she can. If thigns are going to go to the abyss in a lobster trap pretty fast. Well August is ballys, insane, brave or all of the above and she doesn't know which. Flamel makes his deal an she now pays attention to August...it's his call.

Kyoko Takada (1132) has posed:
    A-39, predictably, ignores Tesla's instructions, though she'd be distracted in any case with Sombra suddenly appearing just where she was trying to place herself. That Houl falls into the Concord agent may be a silver lining, but some other agent being in the process of destroying Houl's mind is far more mission-critical. The aim of the SMG shifts immediately to Sombra, then moves off-target when Houl gets into the line of fire. The increased chaos is, all things considered, a negative, but that doesn't stop her from taking advantage of the situation to answer Sombra's question in place of August.
    She's not particularly heavy, and has a focus on mobility, but she's still wearing ballistic armor and has the advantage of momentum and height as she tackles Sombra from the side, SMG slung away and one of her several knives in one hand, blade-edge glowing and reaching to press the tip threateningly against the inside elbow of Sombra's gun arm. Someone with as much combat training as she expects Sombra to have should at least be able to react before being pinned fully, but A-39's confident in her CQC, and the starting position is advantageous.
    "The answer is 'me.' I will stop you."
    And then Flamel is talking, but she's not going to stand up again just for that.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
Things go to hell rather quickly, and Sanary's caught in the middle of it! Thankfully, no bullets are flying (yet), but there are way more guns around than she's comfortable with having pointed every which way.

     Partially because she doesn't have he big axe with her. She does have that book, though, and with little else to do that wouldn't just end up starting some sort of crazy brawl, she clears her throat and approaches Houl slowly. Is this even going to work?

     She won't know if she doesn't try. Besides, there's a good chance everyone's attention is elsewhere, anyway! "... Hey, Howly. Read this. Where's the dirt you had on those two? Uh.. The Bandits?" And with that, Sanary's going to try and give him a quick slap on the face with the book before holding it open in front of the man and funneling some healing magic into him. Sure, he might not be all there, and her magic might not do much to soothe his mind after whatever it was Flamel did, but...

     Nobody can say she didn't try. Spotting Sombra, too, Sanary blinks slowly before looking over at August, then at Houl, then at Sombra again with a relatively easygoing snicker. "... Heh. Small worlds, huh? You know he's-er." And then A-39 makes a move on Sombra! Sanary coughs lightly as she quickly abandons that attempt at onversation before turning her attention back to Houl, trying to remain calm while nudging him with the book again. "Focus. Just focus. What happened with the Bandits?"

Starlight Bandits has posed:
    Houl groans on the ground as events transpire around him. Sombra is tackled by A-39, deals are made, and a book is placed before him. "I'll not cave to you savages!" he barks, but Perplex shouts right back. "Read the goddamn book Houl, or I'll take it as a guilty plea!" The man groans, and begins to flip through it.

    There it is, as plain as the black ink on white paper. Future meetings with his co-conspirators, going to check on where he's hidden the copies of his blackmail material (buried in a field just outside the city). It does not elaborate on what it is though. Only mentioning 'photos.' It also adds that he has copies on his desk, which Lyria took.

    Perplex comes over and reads it himself, his face falling as he regards the fat men and the other three in the Council. "It was for the good of Chapter!" "You have to understand Perplex, a nation can not run on ideals alone!" Protests and justifications are hurled at the young man, who seems to age years in seconds.

    "Execution. You have my word," he croaks to Flamel, drawing a fresh wave of shouting.

August Kohler has posed:
"Try me." Is August's response to Sombra, before A-39 takes care of that situation. But, Flamel agrees, and backs off. August slowly removes his finger from the trigger, watching as the book is read, before starting to move towards the door as the answer and solution is obvious. "Good luck, Perplex." And then, August is /running/ for the door - he's not going to take a chance that they decide to arrest the Watch for their breaking and entry, if Perplex wants to reply, he knows how to contact him. Instead, August is moving to escape, and see if the Bandits are still alive somewhere. His guess is firmly 'yes', as he slides down the stairs, muttering over the radio.

"Worst book club ever."

Tesla Armadia (368) has posed:
Tesla Armadia gives Flamel a somewhat sympathetic look as he laments. "Yeah, I know it's not everything you wanted. But it was as much as we needed. Sometimes in this line of work, you have to just accept where the line falls and move on."

Then she turns, folding her arms and looking sternly in the direction of the tobbled chair and ladies. "And you got what you wanted. So if you would be so kind as to take your hands off my ally...."

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason takes note and grins. Seems she got a good nail to put into the coffin. she seems pleased with the outcome and looks over to August for a moment and then looks to Flamel as thing seem to settl down.

"Best of luck to you, and just remeber we do have the doctuments."

With that she's going to be bauiling with August as quickly as she can get her own keel to haul out of here.

Kyoko Takada (1132) has posed:
    Mission accomplished. A-39 releases Sombra, rolls to hands and knees, and then takes off running after August. Lyria is already out. Sanary seems of a mind to check people's injuries, and has neither killed anyone here nor is she a member of the Watch. The rest are either supposed to be here or can otherwise fend for themselves.
    "Out of the way," is the only verbal response Tesla gets from the other side of the mask as the soldier runs past.

Flamel Parsons (1094) has posed:
    Parsons clasps both hands behind his head. He can't do a consecutive projection so many times on a mind that's been attacked like that, so he likely won't get to get a peek at that blackmail... Much as he REALLY, REALLY wants to know. "Good man, Perplex!" He says, approvingly. "Speaking of which. We managed to take our that group of secretive hidden conspirators! They're not going to be any more trouble for you. Well, now that we don't really have any plan-Bs that we need them for, at least. You know how that goes." Both sides of the bargain, fulfilled, it seems.

    The others are leaving. Bolting, even. Parsons frowns, but at the very least, all of this has been resolved, including the brief conflict with the Watch. "I'd go after them as part of our deal -- you know, rooting out subversives -- but I don't think they're going to be doing more subverting. Considering your history, and the solution to their problem!"

    Boy that was tense. Parsons really wishes he could just do stuff in this world without nearly getting shot every single time because of his information obsession! You'd think an information-themed kingdom wouldn't end every situation like that with a gun to his head.