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James Bond      Early evening in Bratislava is pretty, in an anxious kind of way. The sky is a vibrant orange, with long, wispy clouds slowly drifting by. Each one seems to drink in the color of the sky, reflecting it just a shade differently. Buildings, old as the Middle Ages and new as the 80s, are bathed in this light.

     One of these buildings is the relatively new Bratislava Reduta--the concert hall. It is here where 'anxious' becomes most appropriate. People have come from across the world to see this concert, some from loftier and more powerful positions than others. One of those patrons is very likely General Georgi Koskov, suspected at the very least of embezzlement, and potentially involved with the Octopus Group. The KGB believes he will be there, and Amelris saw a vision of Bond leaving with him, but the general was strangely absent from the hotel guest list.

     Thanks to Damocles, you're able to get to the concert hall before the traffic from the south part of the city arrives. The street is lousy with blocky police cars, and no pair of officers is without a radio. They are arranged around the block, two cars to a street corner, surrounding the concert hall. Despite this, the rooftops are conspicuously absent the usual police snipers you might expect in such a situation.
James Bond      You have two tickets, and one signet ring bearing the 'octopus' for which the mysterious group is named. Amelris has volunteered to wear the ring and pose as an agent of theirs, leaving one ticket unaccounted for. People are piling into the concert hall. It will begin shortly. Take up your positions now.
Amelris Belthrone      This is Amelris' first time to come to a concert like this, at least one that is this ritzy. Let's just say the amphiteather in Gridannia don't really match up to something like this. Still, while he's here to be something of a bait and provocation to the Octopus Group, he can still enjoy the atmosphere around them and prepare correctly. And prepare correctly he did, at least he hopes it is correct.

     The Red Mage, currently both literal and figurative, is entering the concert hall wearing a burgundy red long coat, almost passing to the black that is more appropriate to this world at the higher ranks of society, with a white undershirt with rose gold buttons. It is accompaigned by a simple, similarly red round hat on his head, covering some of his ears currently and finished off with some custom-fit black tailored pants with some brand new waxed designer shoes.

     Obviously, except for the shoes, Amelris made everything himself.

     Amelris walks inside after showing his tickets, holding on tight to a cane that he uses to walk with, not heavily, just enough to emphasis something of an old wound that might exist. Of course, on his white gloves, lies a the octopus signet, squeezed down on his fourth finger. With a deep releived sigh, the catman takes a seat, leaning back against the back rest, keeping a look around him, smiling to complete strangers that might be locking accidently sights with him and straightens to look at the stand.

     Let's see who's glaring daggers at him, now.
Damocles Damocles, dread sorcerer of Chaos, happens to be a fan of music.  In particular, he's quite the skilled singer himself, and enjoys learning different cultures' music as a way to 'get to know' that culture.  Because of this, he was hoping to get to enjoy the concert as a patron of the arts, and not a Watch spy.

However, that plan was thwarted before it began, because the venue wouldn't sell him a ticket.  This is because it's over 3 meters tall and weighs as much as a midsized car.  And that's before the advanced powered armor he wears is factored in.  Being SPESS MARINE HUEG has once again foiled his attempt to enjoy a simple evening out.

This has left Damocles a little pouty.  He decided to take up a position on the roof of the concert hall itself.  Partially to stay close to the action in case he was needed, but mostly so he could still listen to the music, all be it from the worst seat in (or on) the house. Plus, it's a way to stick it to the mans who wouldn't let him in their party just because he is a hulking monster who wouldn't fit in their isles.  Take that, society!

The Chaos Sorcerer isn't bothering to keep lookout at the moment.  With so many eyes on the concert hall, he'd likely be noticed on the roof if he stayed near the edges, and there are others who are much better at keeping watch anyway.   Instead, he hangs out around the middle of the building, lazily sitting on the floor.  In one hand, he holds a book, which despite the darkness of the unlit rooftop, he doesn't seem to have any trouble reading. 

For those curious enough to look, the title of the book is 'Mastering the Art of Mahjong."
Nova Terra     Only two tickets. And they're already spoken for. That suits Nova just fine. She's better off out of view anyway.

    A barely visible blur makes its way across the rooftops in the neighbourhood, heading towards the Bratislava Reduta. The invisible Nova runs across the peaks of the sloped roofs, her armoured boots making very little noise on the tiles thanks to the sound suppression systems they are designed with. Occasionally Nova has to leap over the gaps between buildings, using her telekinesis on herself in places where she needs that extra push to clear the distance.

    Finally Nova comes to a stop, perching atop a roof across from the concert hall. She's not likely to get inside right now without being noticed. Too many people, not enough easy ways to slip in. So for now, Nova takes her canister rifle from her back and uses its scope to appropriately scope out the building, its entrances, windows and people arriving.
Big Boss A German man follows Amelris. He's dressed in a fine coat, fitting the attire, also 'high society'. He's a little dull-looking - dark hair and eyes - but he's got a striking presence. He approaches his seat, next to Amelris, but doesn't talk to him. He seems to 'know him', though. Perhaps a bodyguard? He certainly looks the type.

Yeah, bodyguard, Stalker Bloodhound decides. That's the cover, since Amelris has the ring.
Deelel The plan had gone forward, and a boon had come with additional support from some of Big Boss' organization for which Deelel was thankful for. Given their skills, it should greatly help with this operation. She's taken up another point. She's taken a spot at the cafe across the way to watch for any outside trouble. There could be something of note here after all cafes have had major crazy world-changing events happen at them on Earth.

She watches the crowds building up for the main event and will see if there's anything of note, she doesn't plan to stay here for too long, once the concert gets going she intends to attempt to sneak in the back.
Tohru Adachi      The last time Adachi tried being a smart ass and getting to where he needed to be himself he somehow winded up in Montenegro. Because TV travel is pretty unreliable. So begrudgingly, he's sticking with the group this time. Loosely. He takes a few pointless detour that causes him to break off temporarily, but he always finds his way back.

     Eventually, they're in the Concert Hall. Unfortunately, they weren't quick enough to claim a ticket for themselves, but that's fine. Concerts are just a bunch of loud noises and fake hype anyway. For now, they're just lying low, making mental note of the layout and more importantly, TVs. Never gonna know when you need to bail when things get hairy, after all.
James Bond      Amelris and Bloodhound take their seats. All around them is the susurrus of polite conversation as others do the same. The tension is palpable as they await the arrival of the Octopus Group's agent. He arrives, smiling widely, wearing the olive drab dress uniform of a USSR officer.

     The Octopus group agent is none other than Georgi Koskov--and if there were any doubt, he slowly, subtly slides the signet ring on, glancing towards Amelris with a sly smile. "An Eorzean agent," remarks Koskov quietly. "I didn't know we had any." It isn't disbelief, but pleasant surprise.

     The first piece begins. It's the first part of Dvorak's Symphony no. 9. The din of the music gives you the opportunity to speak more freely, though the symphony--and the cello concerto after the fourth part--won't last more than an hour. Koskov speaks, convinced that Amelris and Bloodhound are who he's meant to be meeting.

     "A shame about Le Chiffre, isn't it? He was a good man. I warned him he was acting too boldly!" Bloodhound can tell that Koskov means 'good man' in the sense of 'skilled,' not as an appraisal of the agent's morality. Georgi Koskov must be the 'G' mentioned in the ledger found aboard the Ellipsis, in Royale.

     "Anyway..." The animated general leans a little closer to Amelris. "We'll start after the concerto. She'll fire blanks at me, from her dressing room, to make it look real. I asked for Bond--he won't miss, and that shall be one less loose end for us, no?" He chuckles. "I imagine I'll be in London within a day. That ought to keep Pushkin off of our trail. From there, we'll meet in Tangiers."
James Bond      Nova has the rooftop to herself. For a time. She ends up on the hotel, with a perfect view of the plaza below. She can confirm from up here that there are no cops whatsoever, no SWAT units, not even KGB snipers. Shouldn't there be, if there's a general here? When the sun goes down, and the sky is no longer orange, but a deep, dark purple, she no longer has the roof to herself. She can sense the presence of a mind, slowly ascending the fire escape under the cover of darkness.

     "I don't suppose we could share," says a familiar English accent. It's Bond, with a Walther WA2000 slung over his shoulder and a cigarette smoldering between his lips. They're curled into an amused smirk. This would be why he had a reservation at the hotel, then. He doesn't seem to have any hostile intent--at least, not in his body language. Whatever dark place he was in at Royale he may have even clawed his way out of, or at least buried it. It's hard to tell, with that resistance to mental probing.
James Bond      /On/ the concert hall, Damocles can hear the music piping up from a vent. It's tinny, and not a substitute for being there, but the view is actually very nice, with all of the streetlights, lit windows, and people milling about below. The stars are visible about halfway through the first piece--night is falling quickly. There is a creak that doesn't sound like it's part of the symphony. He can definitely hear it. The people in the concert hall probably can't--not over the sound of the music.
James Bond Deelel does see something of note, as she attempts to sneak in the back. Namely, she sees a man and a woman, both well-dressed as she is, attempting to do exactly the same thing. The woman wears a signet ring. As she gets closer, they notice her, and the woman removes the ring. She doesn't do it quickly enough--Deelel can see, in the moonlight, the glimmer of an octopus motif. These must be the people Le Chiffre meant to invite--whose tickets, to the best of their knowledge, are currently at the bottom of the Seines.
Amelris Belthrone      Well, well, that makes that part of his obligations to be incredibly easy, at least.

     The Miqo'te flashes the soviet man a wide smile, giving him a firm bow of his head. "The world is getting larger, frrrriend." Amelris answers, his voice taking in on a thicker sound of an older man, rolling his 'r's almost like a rowl or a growl. He's seen some take that verbal tick to sound more 'authentic', or it's just a thing that happen with some people. Like that poor girl that says 'meow' all the time. Sends you shivers down your spine just thinking about it. Either way, sounding like some Nhun or elder Keeper of the Moon will probably play to perceptions of a 'cat man' to most non-Eorzeans.

     He keeps his attention on the concer that begins, merly looking aside to say a few words. "Mmmm. Capable, I hear. Boldness is a symptom of the arrogant, I am afraid."

     His ears turns as he leans closer, nodding. "Mmmm. Hopefully she wont be too good at aiming. You wouldn't want a blank in your eyes, wouldn't you." Amelris leans back against his chair, nodding and peering at the musician in question. MMmm, so that's what they're doing, huh. And Bond, huh? "Pushkin will be left with a cold trail, at the very least. Then..." He trails off, in suspence. To proc more conversation.
James Bond      Adachi gets a strange look from a ticket taker, who could have sworn that he wasn't there before. She shrugs and goes back to her book, since the concert has already started. He's free to take a look around, more or less. The doors to the concert proper are cordoned off, as are those to the dressing rooms of the musicians. As near as he can tell, there are three floors. The ticket office is the only entrance from the ground floor, but the upper two floors have fire escapes. If he steps outside, he'll find that the dressing rooms have windows (with shutters, of course) which overlook the plaza.
Damocles Being an Astartes has some advantages beyond just having the build of an industrial refrigerator.  Among other things, it confers on Damocles superhuman hearing.  The creak gets his attention right away.  It isn't the good kind of sound, he feels.

As much as Tzeentch might appreciate the havoc that him falling though the ceiling and smashing into the middle of the concert hall would make, Damocles isn't really feeling like derailing BB's entire plan on account of being too chonky to spy.  The sorcerer moves slowly, standing and stepping off away from where the ceiling seems to be faltering a little.  He doesn't know the layout inside, so he isn't sure where any of the supporting pillars are.  Instead, he decides to play the structurally safer but less stealthy gamble of moving to the side of the building, where the exterior walls will be.

Since he's there anyway, he might as well actually do some lookout work.  He glances over to the building that Nova is in, confirming her report that she's no longer alone.  He doesn't know what a 'Bond' is, but Nova only identified him by name, which means he's probably a big deal.  Fortunately, he's Nova's problem, and Damocles is happy to leave her too it.  Instead, he turns his eyes back to street level, and starts looking for anything that might spike magically.  It's not likely, but it's what he does that others here don't, so he might as well do it.
Nova Terra     Nova doesn't move her head from the scope of her rifle as she continues to surveil the concert hall's exterior and that of the interior she can see through the windows. She senses Bond's approach and the familiarity of his presence, from the times they crossed paths in Royale. She also doesn't sense any hostility from him. Yet. Even if she can't probe his thoughts without concentrated effort - something better spent keeping an eye out on the rest of their surroundings - Nova should still be able to feel it if he decides to take action against her.

    As he mentions sharing the rooftop, Nova calmly replies, "Depends on who you intend to shoot with that thing." Nova does spare a glance for the rifle over Bond's shoulder. She's not familiar with weapons from this age. But it looks effective enough. Though Nova does wonder how well the spy can handle it.
Big Boss Stalker Bloodhound remains silent. He surveys Koskov, and watches the stage. Mentally, he remembers the maps he memorized. Where is the dressing room from here? He needs to know in case the others get any ideas.

The concerto is pretty good, too.
Tohru Adachi      Of course the normal person doesn't take much stock in Adachi just showing up. So long as you have a bit of confidence in your step, people like this never question stuff like that. It's a blessing, but it makes daily life a bit dull. The detective makes note of the fire escape. He can't count on his hands how many times a person has made a successful escape using one. Because zero isn't a number and it's never happened. It's fake, as far as he's concerned. He'll be sure to make a mention of it on the radio in a bit, but for now, it's just sort of pointless knowledge as far as he's concerned.

     Adachi does what any definitely sane person would do, and after deciding that pushing through any further would be pushing it, just decides to finally make his way to the dressing room. He does a bit of curious snooping through some of the belongings there, before ultimately taking a peek through the curtains.

     "Hoo boy, that's a lot of cops!"

     He talks out loud to himself as he reaches into his pocket for a lighter. He doesn't smoke, but he carries one out of habit. He just sort of mindlessly flicks it a bit as he keeps tabs from above. It's the best he can do at the moment, outside of inducing mass pandemonium. But after a bit of weighing, the amount of fun he gets from the latter option doesn't outweigh the nagging he'd get from everyone here.
Deelel Deelel does take note of the people trying to slip in and she also spots the ring before it can be hidden away, she'll look at her ID later if she needs to for more details. She looks the pair over for a moment and she smiles for a moment.

"Something I can help you people with this evening? Getting tickets to a big show like this has been a real pain, let me guess a big fan of someone whose performing tonight? Won't lie I was trying to sneak a listen myself."
James Bond      Koskov laughs as the second part of the symphony concludes. As applause erupts around them, he joins in, smiling widely at Kara--she's visible from here, and she is smiling right back at him.

     As the third piece of the four-part symphony begins, he speaks up. "Then, we'll use what Le Chiffre--may he rest in peace--managed to secure for us. It's a shame about Bond taking the winnings, but, he-is-formidable!" Each word is enunciated with a wag of his finger.

     "The Mujahideen won't take our money, but diamonds are a different story. Everyone has a price, no?" He chuckles, elbowing Amelris jovially.

     Bloodhound's memory tells him that only a few of the dressing rooms--four, to be exact--have windows. All of them overlook the plaza, and by extension, the only exit from the ground floor.

     On the rooftop across the street, Bond takes a drag of his cigarette and exhales politely away from Nova. "A KGB sniper, I imagine," says Bond. This must be the 'business' he spoke of in Royale. "They'll post up in one of those." He nods towards the windows of the concert hall's dressing rooms.

     On his own rooftop, Damocles manages to find a spot that can support his weight a little. This spot bears him with less complaint--a settling kind of noise, rather than a troublesome creak. This will hold. On the street level, he can spot Deelel. Things look tense down there.

     She's facing off, silently, with a man and a woman, both of whom appear to have been caught in the act of sneaking into the concert hall. What doesn't make sense is that both of them are talking--the woman appears to be speaking /to/ Deelel, but the man is muttering something under his breath. There's a stirring of magical energy. The man is preparing a spell of some sort. Something subtle.

     On the ground level, the muttering of the man is concealed. He's almost hiding behind the taller woman, who is running interference. "My husband and I have lost our tickets," she says, reaching into her purse. It's clearly a lie--she's making direct eye contact with Deelel, as if waiting for her to challenge it. Neither of them was expecting this, it seems.

     Adachi peeking through the curtains can see the plaza spread out before him. Towering above him, to his left, there is the hotel, where Bond and Nova are currently posted. On his right, there is the cafe from which Deelel departed. The view of the plaza is almost a complete 180--very little would go on there that someone posted in one of these rooms could see.

     If he wanted to get the jump on someone down there, this is where he'd do it. Any police detail should have been briefed on that--and while he can definitely see cruisers, they're parked practically at either end of the street. If someone up here tried to stir shit up, they'd have at least a minute's headstart on the cops.

     Back on the hotel, Bond nods towards the motion in the dressing room. "That one of yours?" he makes no motion to shoulder the rifle. It isn't time, yet.
Amelris Belthrone      Amelris laughs in returns, clapping at the second part of the symphony. This is a very good song. Last time he heard something that high quality was with F'lhaminn singing for them at the Scions.

     "Amazing what weight and faith men put into the quartz's ritzier cousin, the diamond. But this works quite well in our favour, for certain." Amelris replies, his ears fluttering back up straight. At least it's this part of his obligations to Pushkin done with. "Coin comes in many shape and form, as they say in Ul'dah, most often than not even in actual coin."

     The Red mage drums his fingers on the guard of his canne. This thing's been useful when he's been in more... 'earth' like areas, where brandishing a full steel blade in public at your hip is a bit more dubious. He spies Koskov's look at Kara, smiling himself. "I see not only a diamond's shine catches men's interests here. What a dazzling smile."
Nova Terra     Nova shifts her rifle to look at the windows indicated by Bond. They match up with the information provided by Nova's allies inside. When Bond questions the motion in one of them, Nova checks it out. She then admits, "Close enough."

    "Fine. You can have the KGB sniper. I've got another matter to take care of." If they can pull of this plan correctly, Amelris may just be able to learn a bit more from Koskov. A man tends to be a little more gracious and trusting with someone who just saved their life.

    And if they don't do this correctly, Koskov will probably be dead. A shame to lose a lead to this Octopus group. But at least they'll have taken out a traitor for their local contact. Besides, the situation that Deelel has gotten into hasn't escaped Nova's notice. Maybe they can learn something there too. Though Nova leaves it to Deelel and Damocles for now.
Deelel Deelel knows things are tense but she's also confident she can handle herself up close like this if this breaks down into a fight. She's pretty sure the woman has been one caught off guard and she's also lying her ass off to her too. This is to be expected, and she can stall them from whatever they are trying to do, she's also taken some note of the man moving to do something.

"I know how that goes, about losing your tickets to a big concert. I'm a student of music myself and I'd hoped to hear things at the event tonight if I was lucky but it looks like I missed out. Though you seem well off enough you could have traded in favours or something to get in. Maybe it's not too late who knows there could be a few tickets..."

She looks to the man for a moment says. "Well, I guess I should leave you to it."

Damocralse waning comes in loud and clear and Deelel moves to leave right past the man. However, she'll end up 'slipping' on the slick asphalt and will crash into him possibly taking them both down in a tangle of limbs.

"Ahh!"

She'll flail a bit and might just catch the woman up in it too.
Damocles Up on the roof, Damocles has switched from super-cas sorcerer to 'on the job' sorcerer now.  The Eye of Tzeentch is in hand, though he isn't drawing any extra energy into it just yet.  He wants to keep his own profile low to avoid notice as long as he can.  Right now, he's an unknown, and that's an advantage.  One worth maintaining as long as they can.  He briefly considers tossing up an illusion to hide himself, but if that guy is a mage, he'll likely sniff out the magic, and even if he can't see through it, it'll do more harm than good.

Damocles holds off on casting anything right now, though, and waits to see what the conspiracy wizard does when his spell is disrupted.  If required, Damocles is in a good position to provide magical support, but right now, anything he does will just make the situation worse.

So he holds position, watching both the man and woman carefully, and preparing to cast spells to strengthen Deelel or weaken the pair she's facing as needed.
James Bond      "She's quite taken with me," brags Koskov. "I suppose a Stradivarius didn't hurt my chances," further crows the general. It's probably greek to Amelris, but it might stand out for Bloodhound--even if the man isn't a music lover, he'd know enough as a resident of an Earth to know that name. It's /the/ string instrument, basically, and there are only a few of them remaining in their respective Earths. It's something expensive enough that there's likely a paper trail there. Something to bring up, when he exfiltrates with his recording. "It's a shame, what's going to happen, but we can't afford any loose ends. Bond will make it quick, at least."

     The fourth act comes and goes--and the star of the orchestra begins a solo concerto, also written by Dvorak. Kara's cello is the only musical voice in the room, forcing Koskov to lower his voice to a whisper.

     "We'll have to make a detour, first--to Tangiers, as I said. I've a contact there who can... legitimize Le Chiffre's... indiscretion. Give Pushkin something for the money. He won't be happy, but it should make me look better. 'Overzealous,' as opposed to..." Treasonous. "Well, you understand," he coyly remarks. "All he asks in exchange is a share of the profits after our business in Afghanistan is concluded."

     On the rooftop, Bond nods, and gets into position, setting up the tripod. He loads the weapon with armor piercing ammunition and focuses his sights on one of the dressing rooms, laying prone to reduce his profile.

     On the ground, the agents aren't buying Deelel's story--because her tripping act is what saves her when the woman steps aside. As she does so, her companion looses a spell of some sort. The air is briefly distorted, but a column of it, hot and sickly, races past her. The woman in turn pulls out a garrote from her purse, attempting to close the distance and get it around Deelel's neck. From above, Damocles can sense the man preparing another spell. He was right to suspect him--it's some sort of ray of radiation, as dangerous to the caster as it is to the victim. If he's going to intervene, he should do it now, before things in that alley get any louder.

     Inside, the concerto is just now ending--which means it's showtime. Kara hurries to her dressing room after a quick bow, packing her cello away. Koskov nods courteously to Bloodhound and Amelris, and makes his leisurely way towards the ticket booth.

     Ostensibly, what's supposed to happen is that Bond kills Kara, under the mistaken belief that she's KGB, then spirits Koskov away as Amelris' vision had predicted. Koskov will then sneak out of the West to Tangiers to cover Le Chiffre's tracks, and afterwards, to Afghanistan, where he will trade diamonds for some other commodity--but the Watch may have other plans. There was talk on the radio about making the defection seem more dangerous to Koskov, and having him saved.

     Time is short. What will you do?
Damocles Well THAT wasn't very subtle, random mage.  "Deelel, watch your back," Damocles telepathically sends to his ally down on the ground, as he raises his staff and prepares a spell of his own.  Damocles has one advantage here, and that's what Warp magic is fast.  No spells or gestures or flicking and swishing required for Warp Magic.  You channel your power, shape it, and release it.

In this case, speed is key, so Damocles goes for the fastest spell he can muster.  He levels his staff down at the enemy spellcaster, and from it shoot four burning violet orbs.  The orbs aren't fire, though they do appear like it.  Instead, they are spheres of pure chaotic Warp energy that destroy and distort matter by briefly unwriting physical laws when they impact, causing it to unravel in an entropic nightmare.

Four of these are hurled at the man in rapid succession.
Deelel There's a spell of some sort she's not sure what it is, but it's enough to save her from being hit square on.

"Humans? Do you have Game?"

Any attempt to hide the disruption in her voice is gone at this point, she moves rapidly now as knowing he's about to go for another attack. She pulls out her ID Disc and it powers up with an energy edge on it. She's ready for a close-quarters fight with these two. As the woman comes in she will shift to use her ID disc cutting edge to attempt to cut through the weapon.

She's shocked Damocles has acted in good faith for so long, given he's running on something that is antimatter to the very nature of her homeworld. She will not complain however, with a spell being cast by Damocles she's going to turn her attention to the woman who she'll attempt to punch in the gut.
Nova Terra     What plays out next will probably require some key timing on the part of several players.

    From her position, Nova can spot Milovy moving into position to take her shot from her room. Nova doesn't stop her. Nor does she try to stop Bond from taking Milovy out. Whether or not Damocles and Tohru succeed at protecting Milovy doesn't matter much to Nova. She's got her own part of the plan to be concerned about.

    Nova moves her aim down to the concert hall's main entrance. People are starting to pile out, with Amelris and Koskov likely among them. Once she spots them, Nova turns her aim on Koskov and then waits. Milovy will fire. Or Bond will get her first. Either way, Nova prepares to fire herself. "For the record..." Nova asides to Bond as she chambers a round into her canister rifle, "I don't miss."

    The first shot will go off from either of the two other snipers. At which point Nova pulls the trigger.

    And misses.

    The round will whiz just past Koskov's head, letting him feel the wind trail from the fast moving shot against his cheek. It hits the pavement behind him, digging up a chunk of it. That was no blank.

    Nova gives Koskov only a few moments to realise the seriousness of the situation he's in before she adjusts her aim to be true this time and fires again. This shot is definitely headed for Koskov this time. And would likely kill him if something doesn't get in its way first.
Tohru Adachi      With a less vague plan now in motion, Adachi stops watching from the balcony for a moment to go back down towards the ticket booth to take one of the TVs. He doesn't even say anything to him, he just takes one foot inside the TV followed by another as he goes through with the plan.

     What's the ticket guy gonna do? Tell people he saw a guy go into the television? He's just gonna get fired because it's clear he's insane of on the biggest LSD trip of his life.
Amelris Belthrone      That's not something Amelris wanted to hear. That seems to be very... callous from the General's part. While he don't know what a Stradavarius actually is, he can take from the context it is very valuable. The Red Mage's grip on his cane tightens a little, a tell he can't really work out on hiding but fortunately, it remains something rather subtle. Then the fourth act begins.

     "Of course, of course. If you'll excuse me, I'll head to the bathroom myself." Amelris replies, nodding at Koskov's continuing explanation of the plan, his ears rotating around like radar dishes. The advantage of moving ears is that you can reduce, somewhat, the volume by yourself, at the cost that you're generaly more sensitive to noise, period. Koskov leaves to do what he have to do just as he does as well.

     At least, it's something of a better excuse when the bullets starts flying.

     "LOOK OUT!" Amelris shouts, diving off to push into a dash, his gripped cane used as a launching platform to get in, slamming into Koskov to get him out of whatever direction by taking him /DOWN/ and, in result, taking the bullet.

     Straight in the sides. Amelris is strong. A cry of pain rush out of him as he crumbles to a knee, cane left to it's devices and blood pouring out, staining his white shirt and burgoyne jacket.
Big Boss Stalker Bloodhound waits for the signal. Amelris moves for a bullet - in keeping with his bodyguard, he 'tries to intercept', but fails, reaching Amelris's body. "Shit! Find the sniper, now!" He shouts out, moving as if to 'track them down'.

He heads towards Kara's location, so that he can drag her into the television with Adachi when she's counter-sniped. Quiet, like a snake. He's skilled at this. He projects authority - people are likely to listen to a man that's confident that he's 'solving the problem' when he needs to push through them.
Damocles Damocles is a busy little wizard at the moment.  He has to provide fire support for Deelel so she can fight on even ground without getting blindsighted by the enemy wizard, but he also has to provide cover from the snipers.  It's pushing a bit far, and he does hear a shot ring out before he has time to swing his staff around and cast an illusion spell.  Hopefully he isn't too late.

All at once, a veil of fog lifts off the ground, and creates a huge cloud of dense smoke.  The smoke appears to be coming from a burning barrel near the street.  The fire is low and isn't a threat to anything, but is producing a decent sized smoke cloud, that completely blocks the view of the dressing room windows from the hotel. 

In order to cast the illusion, Damocles does have to turn his attention away from the other mage, leaving him vulnerable to a counterattack from that angle, but he'll just have to trust that if one comes, his armor and shield magic will be enough to sustain him.
James Bond      The mage on the street is caught completely by surprise. As she struggles with the woman attempting to strangle her, Deelel will note that he already bore a thin sheen of sweat, likely from exposure to whatever spell he'd previously cast. Four bolts of Warpfire slam into his center of mass, bowling him over in a tangle of limbs and swearing. He loses his composure after the third strikes him, and begins wheezing death curses, hurling them in every direction but the right one. He manages to get about two off, his words reduced to a sickly, furious wheeze before that, too, is cut short by the fourth.

     Deelel's disc saws through the piano wire, and punches through the assassin's guard, striking her in the solar plexus and forcing her against the wall. She sputters a cough before Deelel's fist smashes into her stomach, winding her and knocking her over. She tucks and rolls to keep from slamming into the pavement. Her purse--really just a bag of weapons--falls beside her. In a desperate attempt to get the upper hand, she procures a compact handgun, attempting to bring it to bear against Deelel.

     Adachi disappears into the TV, to the absolute bewilderment of the ticket-taker. She utters a startled Czech exclamation, her hand darting for a telephone. Wait... what would she even say?

     Kara is posted up in her room. She looks scared, uncertain, and she is likely completely unaware of just how far things are about to go off-rails. She takes her shot, causing a panic. Sirens wind up as the police cruisers further away drive across the plaza, weaving around fleeing civilians to come to the front entrance. Police push and shove past the panicked throng, just as three more shots go off.

     Koskov ducks, fleeing for the hotel. Bond lines up a shot. His finger hesitates, over the trigger. Nova can sense from him some sort of inner turmoil. Perhaps he isn't over the business in Royale after all.

     At the last moment, he adjusts his aim. Instead of shooting Kara, he instead shoots her rifle--a Russian bolt-action model of some sort, drawing a frightened scream from her. Part of the weapon's wooden frame is shorn off by the bullet. "And I only kill professionals," replies Bond to Nova. Is that the reason? Or is there something else? He takes a moment to observe what's going on below. Bloodhound rushing towards the concert hall in advance of the police, Koskov carrying a wounded Amelris towards the hotel. Apparently, he still thinks this is part of the staged defection. "A squib?" he asks under his breath.

     With a certain hasteful detachment, Bond begins folding the compact weapon up. She doesn't miss. He's no reason to disbelieve that. Which means she, too, missed deliberately. Which means... "You're after Koskov," he says.

     Bloodhound manages to find Kara no worse for wear, though her rifle bears the sign of a deliberate miss on Bond's part. Having no means to defend herself and being clearly out of her element, she is easily subdued and taken through the TV. Moments later, a baffled gaggle of police burst through the door to find an empty room.

     With the smoke obscuring the windows, Bond and Nova have a few seconds to get off of the roof. Bond does exactly that, scaling down the back end of the building until he can enter in through a fire escape, whereupon he unlatches a velcro lapel to reveal a more appropriate evening tux.

     Over a closed frequency, through a mic hidden in his bow tie, he coordinates the escape with the Watch agents. He'll allow them to take Koskov, if they want--but they'll need some kind of excuse to pose to the general so as not to draw suspicion. Otherwise, Bond can take him back to London and report on his activities from there.
Deelel Whatever happens to the mage isn't her concern, right now. The woman is and she's trying to bring her in alive. After all, they need information and she likely has it. As the fight picks up she's locked in a grapple with the woman.

Deelel has scored a good hit in and intends to keep it up. While she has no idea who the woman is really, she's certain anyone who can get a mage to help them out, is dangerous in their own right after all. It's proven to be true pretty quickly, she sees her going for the gun.

Deelel pounces intends to strike the weapon with her ID Disc, as she makes that strike she will attempt another punch going for the woman's face.
Amelris Belthrone      "Amh'a?"

     It was in the plains of Limsa. Long stretch of grass. He was ten. He spaced out. For a moment, he didn't pay attention to what his carbunckle was doing and it was having issues with a particularly ferocious feral lagomorph. He looked up. The instructor was looking down, with an annoyed look. He was on the ground, looking up. He ate dirt, again. He rather look at the sky rather than worry about failing again.

     "A squib?"

     Amelris blinked back to conciousness, shaking his head and holding a hand to his wounded spot, wincing loudly as he's being dragged by Koskov. "No, not a pig." The Red Mage gingerly answers, not fully making sense as, at least, he's being dragged to some degree of safety. "I'll... I had worse."

     A brief flash in his mind of a magitech reaper slamming it's massive fist down on his skull, eating dirt. A gobbu, flopping down on top of him. A swarm of goblins, tossing bombs.

     He had worse, sure. This still hurt like a /damn bastard/.
Nova Terra     Things have worked out well. Nova does take notice of the fact that Bond doesn't kill Milovy, just takes out her weapon. Nova replies, "Fair enough." Nova might have made the same decision. Then again, maybe not. Hard to say until you're in the moment.

    It's time to go though, the police beginning to close in on their location. Nova returns her rifle to her back before heading in the opposite direction to Bond. As she heads for the edge of the rooftop, blue light washes over her form, beginning to turn her invisible as she gives the other agent a parting wave, "A pleasure, Mister Bond." Nova is then gone, nothing but a barely distinguishable blur in the air as she leaps off the hotel roof to the next one, avoiding the police below.

    Nova's job is complete, now that it's been decided to leave Koskov to Bond. Time to extract.
Damocles With the sniping threat cleared, Damocles dismisses the illusory smoke with a wave of his hand, smoke, fire and barrel all dissolving into mist and fading into the night air.  He's also aware of the police on their way, and so decides to make himself scarce as well, before he has to answer some uncomfortable questions. 

Or just teleport away, leaving loose ends that may become problems later.

Still, Deelel is in a melee, and he can't just leave that unresolved, either.  He's not comfortable throwing spells in such a close quarters fight at this range, so opts for a more direct, though slightly less elegant solution:

He jumps off the roof of the concert hall.

A few seconds later, he lands with the kind of crash that only a powered armored supersoldier jumping off the roof of a multistory building can create.  He stands there for a moment, shattered road under his feet, his eyes glowing coldly underneath his hood as he stares at the woman attacking Deelel.

"Ouch," he finally says, his voice flat and even.  "I may have severely overestimated my gravity resistance."
Tohru Adachi       Stalker Bloodhound and Kara are pulled through the TV. The surroundings don't really change much, but it's clearly someplace different. The whole area just kind of gives the feeling of being off. It kind of feels oppressive in the sense that people aren't supposed to be here. But it's just a feeling. There's no supernatural sickness or anything else.

     "Thanks for stopping by, was getting kinda lonely in here. Anyway, follow me, wouldn't want you getting lost and I'm one of your few tickets out of here!"

     The word few implies more, but it's clear he's probably not going to elaborate on that, especially since he's already making his way down.

     "We should probably hurry, at least one of them is gonna try jumping through the TV and learn that it's still active for a bit. Wouldn't wanna die now after getting this far. I mean, maybe you guys do, but I don't. I'm kinda attached to living."
James Bond      Escape BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sjz3XIsIODM

     Bond strides confidently out the front door just in time for Koskov to light up. "James! James Bond! My prayers have been answered! Quickly, quickly!"

     The British agent smiles wanly. "Who's this?" He nods towards Amelris. Bond knows perfectly well who Amelris is, but he needs to keep up the act. He's... disturbingly good at feigning unfamiliarity, in fact.

     "He'll be fine, James--I had someone call him an ambulance. We need to leave!" Just as Koskov gently helps Amelris to a seat on the sidewalk, a black '87 Aston Marton V8 Vantage pulls up. The doors open as panicked civilians clear out, revealing no driver and no passenger. Koskov hurriedly climbs into the passenger seat, and Bond into the driver's side. The car takes off. "Keep your head down," says Bond. "There might be another sniper." There certainly is--but she's got other things on her mind. They're heading east, just as in Amelris' vision. From there, to Ukraine with Koskov in the boot. From /there/, to the Uzhhorod pumping station on the Ukrainian border with Czechoslovakia. More on that later.

     For now, the hornet's nest has been kicked, and the Watch will need to vacate before they get stung. Deelel narrowly avoids it herself, managing to knock the handgun from her opponent's grasp. She scrambles for it, only for Damocles' armored boot to crush it like cheap plastic as he lands. The assassin opens her mouth--perhaps to scream, or perhaps for some other reason. She looks as if she's about to bite down on something when Deelel's fist collides with her temple. Her head lolls to one side, mouth still open. A small grey capsule rolls out of her mouth.

     Deelel and Damocles have successfully managed to keep an unknown Octopus agent alive. There's a gap in the dragnet to the north, now that the cops are swarming the hotel in search of another sniper. If she wants to escape with the assassin, that might be the way to go. As for Damocles, he's probably not going to get a better opportunity to teleport either. All eyes are on the plaza, not the alley behind the concert hall.

     "I knew Georgi would send someone for me," says Kara, full of hope and completely oblivious to how closely she brushed with death. Once she's got her bearings, once she's assured herself this isn't some kind of trap, she gladly follows Adachi and Bloodhound.

     As before, Nova is able to make her escape quite easily. No one would think to look for an invisible sniper, and even if they had, doing it in this mass pandemonium would be extremely difficult, at best. As long as she keeps her cool--and that's what she's known for--she can easily make it back to the woods where she landed her aircraft.

     As for Amelris, he's golden--having taken a bullet trying to save someone, and with a rock-solid alibi courtesy of Pushkin, he is free to patch himself up and go after some cursory, softball questions by the police. Their minds are clearly not on some random attache from off-world. Understandably so--this is a major embarrassment to the force, the city, and very likely the country.
Deelel Deelel takes note the capsule as it falls out of the woman's mouth as she hits the ground.

"Tch self-termination protocol."

She will make sure to gather the woman up if Damocles does not and gets ready to make their way out, she'll pause for a moment and generate two floating things which might have a slight resemblance to Tau Drones as if made by old school humans from the dark age of technology.

They power up and will protect an illusion of the ally being empty enough to help them get out of here, Deelel will get her light jet summons secure the woman and take off with it.

She will have to shake the woman down for weapons and everything else once she gets some distance away from this place.
Damocles When the illusion goes up to shield them from casual eyes, Damocles takes the moment he has to look around.  He notes something is missing from the woman.  Something that could come in handy.  He glances around, but doesn't see it.  So either it didn't fall off in the scuffle, or got kicked somewhere. 

He does however, see the bag she dropped.  He picks it up quickly, and glances inside. 

Seeing what he expects, he nods once, and then, in a flash of violet fire, the Chaos Sorcerer vanishes into the Warp.