Trav looks like she's fiddling with her Ipad, but she had her sonic hidden up her sleeve. <<ready,>> she texts.

She fights the urge to scan the place, and the woman, because that might trip other devices. She simply keeps her sonic ready, so as to disable any weapons that are brought out.

Sereth taps in a quick response.

"Seen her. Ready."

Gunplay was not his forte; but then, his idea was to scare them into surrender rather than engaging in a gunfight.

Stanley waits, until he is absolutely sure that the man hasn't noticed him, before replying to Smoke:

Spotted a suspicious man here. He is watching the back door. Hasn't seen me.

Dev texts back to the group: Saw one come in with Kellnar's flyer, she led him in by a little bit.  Nobody else I see.

OOC: All messages get to their recipients without alarming anyone else nearby.  The ball remains in the PCs' court.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:29, Sat 16 Aug 2014.

So, two outlooks who could comeout to Kellnar's alarm. Smoke had a bigger team, so they should win the game easy-peasy. But Stan was unbold and unbrave and possibly a scaredy-cat; he would need backup to be sound and safe. Sereth would do. Kellnar and the green hairy lady could be caught in the mouse-trap by her and Traveller and Vesha and mayhaps Jenfer if she didn't become a cowardly cutlet. Smoke Alarm texted her plans to the teams.
Dev: was outlook green hairy?

Stan eyespy reports Kellnar outlook out n lurking in alley.

On my start:
* Sereth plz outgo 2 Stan, catch outlook
* Trav n Vesha catch Kellnar
* I stop green hairy outlook from bringing gun to knife fight


The others were probably expecting Smoke Alarm to have a big, fully detailed plan with every contingency. In fact, she was making this up on the fly, staying fast and flexible. Only now she decided what to do to start the to-do.

Smoke Alarm returned back to the window into the kitchen, asking the cook 'Please more hot mealworms.'


OOC: Just leaving it there to confirm we're all ready?
This message was last edited by the player at 05:58, Mon 18 Aug 2014.

Trav taps out another text on her I Pad while she nurses a root beer. << K.K. Vesha, how do you want to deal with him?>> Trav thinks to herself that maybe she will get to stun the fuck out of Kellnar after all.

Out of the headlines?  You talk, I'll cover.  Leave the Family for a trump card.

It wasn't many ticktocks at all before Smoke Alarm got another bowl of warm and wiggling mealworms; after all, they didn't really need much cooking, just to be mixed up with the spice and veggies. She looked upon her dish with delight, and pinched another worm for herself, crunching it up and swallowing it down. It would be a shame to waste decent food.

The Kang waitress speeded over to the booth where Jenfer and Kellnar were sat. 'Here are your mealworms!' she said cheerily, setting the bowl down before Kellnar.

THe Draconian snorted; and rolled his eyes, before proceeding out to where Stanley was, looking for the lookout. He cast one last glance back towards Kellnar, and scowled.

Yeppers.

Startled, Kellnar looks up at Smoke Alarm.  "What is this, some kind of joke?" he snaps.

From the corner of her eye, Smoke Alarm sees the green woman come alert, her attention caught by Kellnar's motion.

Trav sees, over at the bar, Vesha nonchalantly toss down a pile of bills and start drifting toward the door, via a diagonal path that will lead her close to where Kellnar and Jenfer are seated.

As Sereth opens the back door to the alley, he finds a human male standing there flat-footed, maybe ten paces away.  His arms are crossed, but when he sees Sereth, one hand slips inside his duster....

OOC:

Vesha is about to veer off and put a gun against Kellnar's back, screening the action from most of the room with her body.

Trav will need a Presence + Convince to get him to stand down as per the earlier discussion.  She gets a +2 from Smoke's distraction and another +2 from Vesha moving in.  She probably has other traits that would apply.

Meanwhile, if Smoke is going to move to cover the green woman as described, she'll need to succeed at a Presence roll to get her not to shoot, given the two women rushing Kellnar.  I'll let Presence + AoE: Crossbows work for that.  Of course you could just try to staple her clothing to her seat, though that's a different sort of escalation.

The guy that Sereth surprised in the alley is startled enough that he'll try to pull a gun, though he means to threaten Sereth with it instead of immediately shooting.  That would be a Presence + Convince against Sereth's Resolve + Convince + Brave.

(If Sereth also performs the equivalent, it would be the same set of rolls in reverse.  It would be the second roll for both characters, so we can just cancel any penalty.  Sereth would get Voice of Authority on this, and also +2 from Smoke's set-up of the scene.)

THe Draconian is not so surprised; and he just glowers.

"Do you -really- want to go down that route, right now?"

He brought himself up to his full height, and stared.

"Your best bet, right now, is to surrender, because I have had enough of you low-life scum trying to dictate to a Draconian Noble and expecting that to be something I will look over due to my sense of honor. If you surrender, now, you will be given all honor due to you. If you fight, you will find out what it is like to fight a Draconian Soldier in battle. I know which I'd choose."






11:15, Today: Sereth rolled 16 using 2d6+9 with rolls of 1,6. Resolve + Convince + Brave.
11:22, Today: Sereth rolled 15 using 2d6+12 with rolls of 1,2. Presence + Convince + VoA + 2.

OOC: Oh for crying out loud. Post can be edited depending on die rolling.

The gunman fumbles slightly as he pulls his gun.  "Wha... hey, hold it...."

His nerve breaks as Sereth glares him down, and by reflex he raises his hands, with the gun held by the barrel (not the grip and trigger), even though Sereth hasn't even drawn a weapon.

"What -- who are you with?  What did I get myself into?"

Oh, ye of little faith.  Criminals are a cowardly, superstitious lot.

Today: The Guardian, for the NPC NPC Hood in Alley, rolled 7 using 2d6+5 with rolls of 1,1. Standing up to Sereth: Resolve(3) + Convince(2).
Today: The Guardian, for the NPC NPC Hood in Alley, rolled 9 using 2d6+5 with rolls of 3,1. Intimidating Sereth: Presence(3) + Convince(2).

Even with a 3 on the dice, you get full "Presence" damage of 5, which breaks him.

A grim smile towards the gunman, as he takes the gun off him.

"Well you got yourself involved with Kellnar. Mistake number 1. Luckily; you've kept it to one mistake. Who Kellnar is involved in is more what I'd like to know. Stanley, do me a favor and let Smoke know the look-out is neutralised."

He then grabbed him.

"Wonder how brave Kellnar is without his back-ups?"

Smoke Alarm snatched back up the bowl. 'What's wrong with them? They're good!' she retorted, as if personally affronted, then ate one to demonstrate. She eyespied the green hairy lady move, heard others footing about behind her. She couldn't loiter any more on this. Time for a to-do!

'Enjoy!' she giggled, tipping the bowl of worms all over Kellnar!

Amidst the worms, her arrowgun tumbled out of the bowl and into Smoke's waiting hand. With all speed, she was pointing it at the green hairy lady. 'Ah-ah-ah! No ball-games, no fly-posts, no guns!' she ordered, worms still inching over the crossbow. The Kang started footing it away from wormy Kellnar, to give Traveller and Vesha room to catch him.


OOC:
First action: Doer phase, I suppose. I used Marksman for the quick draw. Since it'll be a stand-off as to who'll fire first, a matter of resolve, I also added my Brave trait, if that's okay. I rolled pretty well anyway, 19.
09:36, Today: Smoke Alarm rolled 19 using 2d6+9 with rolls of 5,5. presence(2) + marksman(3) + AoE:crossbow(2) + Brave(2).

Second action: Just move away from Kellnar, to make some space.

The green woman stands in her seat and her gun flashes out of her holster to point toward the table with Trav and Vesha, Jenfer and Kellnar -- but Smoke's interruption freezes her in place, gun still raised with her finger on the trigger.

"Who--?"

OOC:

Green Woman, rolled 17 using 2d6+6 with rolls of 6,5. Standing up to Smoke Alarm: Resolve(3) + Convince(3).

She rolled pretty well too.  Since you beat her, she does not shoot this turn.  With a +2 success, you do half Resolve "damage", taking her to 2.

We'll see how Trav does and then go to further actions if necessary.  Next round, if things are still unsettled, you will have the option to try and break down her resolve again, and / or shoot.  You'll be able to keep her from shooting as long as you don't actually lose a Presence roll.

OOC: Sorry to have not been monitoring, yesterday was a bad client day.
07:41, Today: The Traveller rolled 22 using 2d6+16 with rolls of 3,3. Trav momentarily deactivates enemy weaponry - Ingenuity 8+Technology 6+Sonic 2.

"As much as I want to play this like the OK Corral, good people died that day, and none of this is worth dying over." The sonic drops down into her hand, and emits it's characteristic whirr. Trav is attempting to make triggers seize and firing mechanisms lock, cartidges eject and for powered weapons to refuse to function. She subjects Kellnar and his partner to a state of temporal grace! This includes Vesha's weapon - although the bad guys don't know that.

"Both of you, BACK IN YOUR SEATS. You, Mister Kellnar, aren't worth that much of my time. I just need to ask you a few questions. No one is going to get hurt, if I have anything to say about it." Her cowboy boots clomp on the hardwood floor.

She pulls up a chair. SNAP, and her hat is now a 10 gallon. "Mister Kellnar. I'm called the Traveller. I'm the very last Time Lord, in the flesh, sitting in front of you. Do you understand what and who I am, what it is that you tried to steal from me, who she was, and what this is all about? You should have done your due diligence before hiring people to bust into banks." She pauses, letting everything sink in, as she gives him that terrifying Louise grin - the one she gave Coalition hardcases in the Pecos Badlands on Rifts Earth. "All I want to know is who hired you. I will find out, one way or another. I'd rather not that you'd be hurt in the process. In fact, I'd rather you not be involved at all. Whatever you're being paid, disrupting my kind and considerate nature is not worth any amount of mere money, anywhere in time and space, as many across the aeons have learned. I'm not a Naruni, Mister Kellnar, and I do not dicker. So, please. Tell me who hired you."

07:44, Today: The Traveller rolled 30 using 4d6+7 with rolls of 6,5,6,6. Trav convinces Kellnar - Presence 3+Convince 2+Voice of Authority 2+Story Point. Drop down to 28 for a multi-action penalty.

She slaps some coins on the table. "Barkeep, a round for the house!"
This message was last edited by the player at 15:25, Tue 19 Aug 2014.

"Will do." Stanley replies from under the cardboard, still hidden. He immediately starts to type a message to Smoke.

Suspicious man dealt with. No problems.

Travtext:<<Stan, if it wouldn't ruin our amazing partnership, I'd date you,you're so awesome.>>

Kellnar's play for his own gun is rapidly aborted, with Vesha literally breathing down his neck, and Trav's bravura entrance.

He stares across the table and Jenfer.  "You little...  This was a set-up.  You better hope your new friends can watch out for you, girl, 'cause your name's not going to be worth a torn dollar after this."

"Oh," Vesha purrs, "I think that quite likely."

"All right, all right," Kellnar grumbles.  "Seressasto, stand down."  He slowly takes his own pistol out and sets it out on the table, while the green woman reverses hers and holds it grip-first toward Smoke Alarm.

Kellnar looks at Trav.  "I don't know from 'last of the Time Lords'," he says.  "I got this job from the Mailman."

Vesha's eyes widen with interest.  When Trav reacts with incomprehension, Vesha makes an encouraging motion with her gun and says, "Explain the Mailman for the nice lady, Kellnar.  She isn't what you'd call local."

"Right, well, the Mailman is this fringe player, sets out the odd job here and there, all through Syndicate space and beyond.  He, or she, or it, puts down postings of objectives at hidden places on the Black Net: sets out a bounty for materials to acquire, jobs to pull, transfers to arrange."  He eyes Vesha.  "Keeps himself two steps ahead of the Syndicate's best hackers... or so I'm told.  Anyway, at one of the Mailman's temporary drops there was a posting.  It told about this will and the fact that the transfer codes would get transmitted out to the heirs following the reading.  The Mailman was specific -- he wanted what was in the vault at SSS & T; if you could figure out a way to make good on the money transfers or the outpost codes, good for you: that'd be gravy; but the Mailman was putting up a hundred grand for a stasis-locked case out of the vault."

Jenfer snorts.  "And you were haggling over forty-five hundred."

"I had to contract out the work on the lawyers' system, and that wasn't cheap... besides, man's got to make a living, doesn't he?"

OOC: The Guardian, for the NPC Kellnar, rolled 17 using 2d6+10 with rolls of 5,2. Reaction against Trav: Resolve(4) + Convince(4) + Brave(2).

All told, Mister Kellnar seemed to take having a bowl of worms tipped over him rather well. As Traveller took charge of the situation, Smoke covered the green hair lady with her arrowgun. She 'wared her as she took away her nasty gun, and Kellnar's, and put them both far away in one of the boxes she'd lost-and-found earlier. Sorted. Smoke Alarm sat on one of the empty tables, then texted to Sereth and Stan to say Mousetrap success. All caught.

Trav spins her sonic in her sonic in her hand, as she sends a quick text to Sereth, asking him to come in.

From her I pad, that little cartoon Chibi hops up, and whispers to Trav. She nods. She looks like she's undergoing some kind of struggle.

"You know, Kellnar, I wanted to *smash* you. Turn you into a pauper, ruin your life. You did essentially rob the grave of one of the three people in the world I loved most of all. They're all gone now."

Chibi Trav hops down back into the Ipad. "But, lucky for you, all three of those dead people would express extreme displeasure at me ruining your life - my dead husband, The Corsair, and most especially The Doctor. You almost pulled it off. If it weren't for my beloved crew, if I had been alone, you and your people would have pulled it off. For that, I salute you. Corsi always loved a good robbery."

She shows Kellnar the Ipad.



"Look at her, Kellnar. She was so beautiful. She had this code. I have to follow it, at least in regards to her. I don't expect you to understand what any of this means."

"So, then. I will pay you double whatever this Mailman is offering you, on the condition that you promise to leave Jenfer and Dev alone, and to stay out of this for good. This will get very dangerous, you probably want to, anyway. Also, you turn over any data you have concerning the Mailman. I'll protect you from him. How does that sound? You make out, and are able to walk away. At the end of the day, your ledgers are black."

00:41, Today: The Traveller rolled 22 using 4d6+7 with rolls of 4,6,2,3. Presence 3+Convince 2+Charming 2+SP. Down to 0 SP
This message was last edited by the player at 04:42, Wed 20 Aug 2014.

Sereth grimaced for a moment; then nodded.

"No clever business; we're going to see your boss."

He then moved into the establishment - gripping the gunman if he doesn't fight hard; if he does, leaves him to Stanley.

His eyes regarded Traveller for a moment, then nodded.

"Answer the good ladies questions. She's being more generous than you deserve."

HIs own eyes just as uncompromising; if for differing reasons.

OOC: If the gunman puts up too much of a fight; get Stanley to watch him. Otherwise, push him in to ram through the point Kellnar has no support left.

"Uhm...Trav says good job." Stanley says to Sereth, after reading Trav's message. Upon receiving Smoke's confirmation that the "mousetrap" is successful, he pushes aside the cardboard and stands up. "Seems like everything is going to plan."

Stanley follows Sereth inside, keeping a close eye on the gunman.

By now the crowd around the table is causing a minor stir through the rest of the bar, and Sally is watching closely from across the room.

Kellnar regards Trav with a steady eye, as if he's trying to figure out if there's a deeper game that she's playing.  For a small-time crook, he seems to be a fairly cool customer, and Trav wonders whether she might have played it too soft with him.

"All right," he says at last, "I've got to admit, that's quite a handsome offer."  He spares a glance for Vesha as well.  "I can see where this would mean a lot to you."  Still moving slowly, he pulls out his datacomm and sets it on the table in front of him.  He calls up a set of files.

"This is a record of the contacts that I've had from the Mailman on this job.  You can see they've got the full routing codes, as far back as a repeater node out past the edge of Syndicate space that butts up against the Coal Sack.  Insurance, you know."  He smiles slightly.  "And here..."  He brings up another encrypted file.  "This is the address and access code that the Mailman set up for me to contact and arrange delivery.  I've had a couple of dealings before.  Every time before, when something was to be transferred, I got directions to pick up a sealed hypercapsule.  The capsule would scan the contents added to it and then forward a payment before it ported away."

Vesha says, "Don't think we won't be watching you, Kellnar.  If any of this isn't on the up-and-up, you really shouldn't expect to live long enough to spend what you've been paid."

The Guardian, for the NPC Kellnar, rolled 21 using 2d6+10 with rolls of 5,6. Reaction against Trav: Resolve(4) + Convince(4) + Brave(2).

Technically Sereth should give you a bonus too, but it doesn't really matter.  It's a better roll than I expected him to get, so I largely reflected that in how cool he plays it.