The sun has fully set by the time your purloined van pulls up outside the Marrakesh Kozybar. It's easy to find as the exterior is well lit with traditional lanterns and a number of candelit tables dot the street outside. It appears to be a home converted into a bar on an otherwise residential street of traditional houses just outside the medina.

A swift google on the way over notes that the Kozybar is a well reviewed bar/restaurant which is noted for it's cocktails. This is especially notable as it makes it one of few places in the city where alcohol is easily (well, legally) obtainable. From what else you can glean on the ten minutes you have to search it is otherwise unremarkable.

From the outside it looks exactly as you expected; a tastefully decorated nightspot catering to a clientele of well-to-do tourists and the more wealthy strata of Moroccan society. It's still quite early in the evening so it's largely empty save for a couple of the exterior tables which are occupied by small groups of tourists drinking outlandishly large and over-garnished fruity drinks and consuming food which gives off mouth watering aromas. Inside there appears to be only one occupied table, a booth at the back holds two shadowy figures.

A number of wait staff float around both inside and outside and two staff stand chatting behind an interior bar, no doubt ready to make drinks at a moment's notice but currently just killing time until the rush hour. While some staff cast glances your way it is far too classy a place to try the hard sell which most other eating establishments you have seen in this city go for.

Miles spotted his allies as Wayne approached. Waving them inside he gives them a brief but detailed accounting of what had occurred since they went their separate ways.  A lot and not much for people in their line of work.

As Wayne approached Kozybar, all Miles could really say is "It does look pretty cozy."

Felix gave the very briefest of information rundowns on the trip to the Kozybar.  Which wasn't hard.  It doesn't take very long to say Someone in a floral shirt hired some young punks to trash the target's room.  We interrupted.  Found indications of the target and a note detailing Kozybar.  See?  No time at all.

Felix existed the van as well when they arrived.  To Miles' comment, Felix shrugged lightly and deadpanned, "I had not expected the name to be so on the nose."  He tapped his nose lightly for emphasis.  Keeping his voice low he added, "Who takes the back?"

Wayne shrugged, ”I’ll go around back.”

The back of the Kozybar is reached down a small side alley. It is gated but, upon Wayne's approach, the sizeable padlock appears to be just for show and does not actually seal anything shut.

The rear of the lot is little bigger than the alley which leads to it and seems to be only used for storing rubbish bins. There are several doorways leading into properties but it's immediately obvious which one leads into the bar as the door stands propped open by a brick, flooding the area with a dim light, and a young man in chef's whites leans against it smoking.

Felix heads for the host to negotiate for a table inside for the appropriate number of the team as might be heading into the bar proper with him.  As chance permitted, without seeming obvious about it, he is checking over the occupants of the place for the difficult to find Olivia Liu...

Miles stays close to Felix.  He keeps an eye out for any shady characters also for their target.  He's surprise after surprise for the day and doesn't need anymore.  Especially since they don't know all of the characters at play or even what the game actually is.
I'll spend a point of notice to see anything interesting for us.
He still feels naked with no gun, but it is what it is.

Wayne moved slowly toward the cook so that he could be seen. When close enough he spoke in Arabic, "Friend, could I have a smoke? My wife she won't let me have any and I am feeling pinched." He smiled at his own admission of being hen pecked by a non-existent wife.

As it's still early the staff are more than happy to show you to an empty table and sit you down. Nobody inside is anything close to Olivia Liu from the photos you've seen, there's a couple of women amongst the wait staff but they are clearly Moroccan.

Once you're seated it doesn't take much to clock that the two men occupying a shadowy booth are paying a little more attention to you than would be normal. Nothing too outrageous but glancing over a little too often and staring for a little too long. They look like locals, dressed in unremarkable leather jackets and jeans, but not like the street toughs which accosted Felix and Kate outside the Riad.

OOC: No need to spend a point, you can get all that just from having the skill.

I've left it fairly vague as to if Kate has accompanied them into the bar or is staying outside.

***

At the back of the bar the cook seems fairly surprised to see Wayne emerge and starts to tense but upon hearing Arabic seems to loosen up and, wordlessly, offers him the packet of cigarettes in one hand and a cheap plastic lighter in the other.

Wayne nodded and light the smoke then handed the ligter back. He he leaned against wall to make small talk. "Nice night? Things slow in there?" He jerked his thumb to indicate inside the bar.

Felix had returned to his absolutely boring and interesting persona of a German business tourist.  It honestly wasn't very far off from the real Felix, so it was pretty easy for him to do.  His drink order was something boring and unadventurous.  The menu would require too much consideration.  Small talk offered as cover to Wayne (and possibly Kate) was equally boring things about the importance of filling out TPS reports.

Really, he was just giving everyone time to really get a good glancing look about for a possible lead.

The man at the rear of the bar seems happy to make small talk and explains that it's early yet, the venue doesn't really pick up until much later in the evening. They've had the normal flow of tourists since they opened a couple of hours ago but the rush won't start for another couple more hours.

Wayne nodded, ”Big tourist spot?” He smiled, ”I’m actually looking for someone in particular...”

Miles scans the Kozybar.  After his initial optical sweep of the building, he felt like it was secure.  Now they just need to wait and see if any trouble comes to them.

The area certainly looks secure to your practiced eyes. There is nothing which suggests that the establishment you're in is anything more than the trendy bar/restaurant it appears to be. The shifty men in the corner keep throwing the occasional glance your way but don't seem inclined to approach you or take any action.

***

Outside the member of staff seems happy enough to engage Wayne in conversation. He confirms that it is a bit of a tourist hot spot, that's the vast majority of their trade. He raises an eyebrow slightly at the suggestion of asking for a particular person but he doesn't shut Wayne down...

Wayne grinned and nodded, ”Yea, Asian girl, British accent. I’m sure she stands out here. I’m suppose to be sneaky you know, so her limp-dick husband doesn’t catch on.” He winked in a conspiratorial fashion, hoping to appeal to the universal “bro code.”

The man nods back, Yeah she's been in, about twenty minutes ago. Spoke to Hasan behind the bar but then left pretty quickly so you might be out of luck tonight my friend. Not least because I think her husband has beaten you to it - couple of guys were literally just in here asking after the same girl. Left in a hurry too." He takes another drag on his cigarette, clearly the events are not so unusual as to disturb him.

OOC: I've figured that as a use of one of the social skills but it's not a point spend and Wayne has loads of 'em covered so it's more for illustration than anything else.

Wayne said, ”Thank you, my friend. I suppose there is no point in hanging out back here now.” He touches his chest, lips, and forehead and turned to walk through the kitchen and into the bar area. He made sure to lock eyes with Felix, Miles, and Kate as he continued out the front door. He waited until they joined him, ”She was here less than an hour ago, and two men came in asking about her just ahead of us. We gotta try and catch up.” He used his ear piece to talk to Sidney, ”Sidney, please tell me you can put eyes on two men who just left this bar.”

Sidney can identify the men from the bar's own security system. Two, thickset men clad mostly in black with short shorn hair and eyes that cover every possible angle as they advance across the room. If they aren't associated with the men you met outside the mosque then they've certainly stolen their style...

They left almost immediately before you arrived, within a couple of minutes. After leaving the bar they can be tracked for a short way by camera before the generally low tech nature of Moroccan surveillance loses them in back streets.

Kate had walked in with Felix and ordered a coffee, looking every bit the European tourist. Her eyes never stopped scanning the crowd but she was so well-trained it was all but impossible to tell.

When Wayne walked back in and made eye contact with them she got up and walked out with the others. "An hour. That's a big lead in a city this dense. We know they have local thugs looking for her so there's no telling how many eyes she has on her right now."

Felix waited just a bit to not seem like he was triggered by Wayne's pass-through.  Then glanced at his phone, made a concerned face, and texted some nonsense into a notepad file.  All this to make the pretense that "Devon at the office" just messed up in a big way.  He then placed a "call", putting the phone to his ear and telling Miles, "Eine minute..."

He walked out of the restaurant speaking quietly, with polite frustration, in German.  Probably to "Devon".  That guy is useless...  Of course, he was also sticking Miles with the check and the other watchers.  So not all bad.

Once outside, he continued to chatter on the phone as he headed paced away from the restaurant....luckily towards Kate and Wayne.  Putting the phone away, he tsked at the notion of the hour lead, "Ja.  That is...  A lot of lead. There are probably two more interested parties inside watching the place and will likely be getting suspicious..."

Wayne nodded, ”Okay so chasing them won’t work. Maybe we wait and ambush the two guys inside?”

There were some sudden realizations and renegotiated plans...

They had two other leads than simply tracking down the elusive quarry on the streets.  Their target had come here for a reason and that reason remained inside.  Behind the bar.  And he very likely knew where she might be heading next.  Why follow when you can possibly get ahead?

And of course the suspicious watchers in the bar would need handling as well so that the team wasn't followed...or perhaps they had useful information about what was going on...

Felix and Wayne were now on the barman.

Kate (and Miles?) would have to deal with the Others.

---

Felix lead the way back in, hoping Wayne might follow.  So long as Wayne /did/ follow, Felix offered meaningless boring business chit-chat to his obvious business associate who had been unable to identify the correct establishment.  Which had ecessitated Felix having to go out to the street...find him This guy?  AmIright?...and escort him back into the correct bar, "It's easy to get lost in a new place, eh? Especially this place...  So many little streets..."  Chit chat. TPS reports.  Memorandums.  Stocks.  Blah blah.

Soon they would need drinks.  New guy should buy the new round.  Rules are rules.

Wayne nodded along with what Felix was saying, "Sorry boss, this place is real confusing." Once they made it to the bar he took out some case and said, "One for me and my boss here."

Kate finished her drink, settled her tab and walked outside, wrapping her hijab to hide her features. As she was doing so she looked to see if anyone was watching the bar.

Outside there is no obvious sign of ongoing surveillance to Kate but any real professional wouldn't leave any sign...

OOC: Can you do a 'surveillance' skill roll to see what you can make out? Difficulty will be kept mysterious for this one!

Inside the barman is more than happy to provide two drinks. Without further direction he produces two generic European lagers and hands them over for a some of money which is high by Moroccan standards but extremely cheap given you're used to German prices! Given how empty the place is the barman continues to pay you some attention, starting to make small talk about what brings you to Marrakesh, but not to the point it seems unusual.

The two men in the corner  look up again at Wayne's entry but then go back to their hushed conversation watched, subtly, by Miles the entire time...

Wayne motioned the man to come closer. "We're looking for someone. A small Asian woman who was in here shortly before we arrived." He palmed ten times the price of the lagers and placed it on the bar under his hand, and he lifted it so that the Barman could see what he offered.

Felix let Wayne take the lead with sounding out the barman.  Meanwhile, he utilized his not being the center of attention to get a better read on this "barman."  Was he a boss?  A minor operator?  How loyal to Liu?  Or just loyal to money?

Something...  They needed a lever...

Criminology and/or Streetwise

The barman flicks a very casual eye at the sum of money under Wayne's hand and nods appreciatively, just once, before sliding the money (assuming Wayne releases it) into his own hand. The whole thing is done within seconds, it's clearly not the first time someone has paid him off.
"Popular girl, you're not the only ones to be looking for her this evening. Tell you what I told them. She's already gone, wanted to disappear so had us arrange a driver to get her out of the country nice and quietly. She's meeting him over by the station but you'll need to hurry."

Felix's read on the barman is that he's solidly underling material. A middle-man sharing information on behalf of someone higher up the food chain.

Wayne looked at Felix for a decision on what to do next.

Felix gave a smile and a faint nod, as though the bartender had made a nice drink recommendation, "We were supposed to go with her on her trip.  We would hate to miss her."  Implication being that they would pay for any delays for their target or means of catching up.  His omnipresent phone was in his hand as he spoke, tapping out a message quickly as he attempted this quick negotiation.

GROUP TEXT:  Sidney.  Eyes at bar.  Here to central station.  Eyes.  Routes.  Tails.

Using Negotiation on the middleman bartender real quick to try and get some sort of assist on being able to catch up.

Text code for Sidney, and everyone else...  Basically asking to try and get any footage from the bar so we can get a visual on Liu...time....etc...  And those following her.  Letting her know our next route and where to try and get information next.  Maybe other cams or something between here and there.  And that Liu was already being followed.

I figure they would have some kind of teamwork shorthands.

The bartender doesn't take much convincing, in the form of another bunch of folded banknotes, to advise on the quickest way to reach the station. That should give you the edge on Olivia's pursuers.

With information about the intended destination Sid manages to pick up both Olivia and her pursuers, albeit somewhat intermittently on the sparse camera footage available. Olivia is making slow progress, unaware she's being followed she seems to be taking a fairly sedate pace to the station. Not so her tail who are travelling at a swift pace just short of being worthy of drawing attention from passersby.

You could catch the pursuers just before they caught up with Ms Liu if you went fast or if you took a breakneck pace you might be able to intercept Ms Liu just before she reaches the station.

Wayne nodded to Felix, "No offense buddy, but I'm gonna take the really fast route and try to catch Liu. You would slow me down." He smirked, "Like I slow you down on research and getting us great rooms."

He gave a head nod to the others and dashed out, moving as fast as he could. He put his par cour skills to the test, bouncing off walls  so as not to slow his pace.

I can't remember does this require a roll?

Felix took no offense and quietly agreed that he would slow Wayne down.  Instead, he would keep moving along the direct route to follow up behind.  There is no shame in being the back up.  Its a very important part of these sorts of things...

Wayne bolts off through the night following the directions given to you by the man in the bar. Thanks mainly to the fact he is in exceptional physical shape he maintains an incredible level of speed and easily dodges past through the small groups of locals gathering in the backstreets smoking or eating their evening meals drawing a lot of looks and the occasional mocking shout but little more than that.

Bursting out into a main road and catching sight of the station he ducks back into another side street, breathing heavily, and spots, maybe fifty feet away, the shape of a single woman in a headscarf moving up the empty back road towards you - you can't make out any features at the moment but unless you're very much mistaken that's Olivia Liu; the woman you're here to save!

However, as she continues up the road a shadow detaches itself from the wall on one side of the street - midway between you and Ms Liu - and makes it's way to intercept her. It's a man, clad in a black hoodie and he moves with the bearing of a military man. Now you've seen that man move you think you can make out someone else lurking in the shadows where he came from but it's hard to tell...

OOC: I've considered that a one point spend of Athletics - no need to roll anything though.

***

Felix and Kate take a pushed, but sedate by the standards of Wayne's journey, pace on the tail of the men who set out in pursuit of Ms Liu. It isn't long before they can make out the two figures who Sidney can confirm were the men who were asking after Sidney in the bar. They seem to have slowed somewhat to a more relaxed walking speed and one has a mobile phone pressed to the side of his face. It doesn't take much for Felix and Kate to fall into step several yards behind them - there being enough foot traffic on this main route up to the station to make you entirely remarkable to the few glances they throw behind them.

Wayne had the sash wrapped around his forearms, the heavy metal balls in his hands, ready to throw at each of these sneaky fellows. "Hey, guys, I know there should be some kind of  professional curtesy but I just can't let you hurt the lady." He smirked as he felt more like Spiderman right now than Robin without Batman. If their attention was on him they wouldn't be attacking Liu.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:06, Mon 08 Feb 2021.

Felix picked up the pace a little bit, glancing over to Kate with her much more "hands-on" skillset.  He flicked his eyes towards the gentlemen they were shadowing.  In their shared German language, he said quietly, "Close enough to stop them at need.  Or would you like to stop them now?"  He glanced down at his ever-to-hand phone and quickly tapped out a message to Sidney: KnI Have Eyes.  W Ahead.  Update? (Translation:  Kate and I have eyes on targets.  Wayne went ahead. Update?)

Up near the station the man advancing on Oliva Liu turns slowly at the sound of Wayne's approach and changes direction, advancing on Wayne with purposeful strides and one outstretched hand. He speaks in English with a slight British accent, "This doesn't concern you mate, walk away."

Behind him the other shadow detaches from the wall and advances on Olivia who is hurriedly looking around, realizing all the attention is on her. The second figure Wayne can now tell is a woman. Just over 5ft tall and slimly built she seems to be dressed like a tourist with hair down and a long flowing skirt.

Neither person seems to be armed.

***

Further back Sidney is easily able to keep Felix updated and informs him that, last she heard, Wayne has identified Ms Liu some way up ahead and is moving on her. The two men you are now tailing are definitely heading in that direction but at a fairly sedate pace.

Well, if their targets were moving at a fairly sedate pace, that would make it easy to catch up to them.  Felix set about moving up through the crowds and closing in on the two men.  He would really like to be close enough to intercept should they decide to make a break for anything...
This message was last edited by the player at 16:19, Wed 24 Feb 2021.

09:23, Today: Wayne Breuer rolled 10 using 1d6+4.  Roll 2 (+4 pnts weapons).

09:23, Today: Wayne Breuer rolled 7 using 1d6+2.  Roll one (+2 pnts weapons).

Wayne's weapons flash out, lightning fast. The man approaching Wayne's reactions are good but even he can't move quite fast enough and one of the metal balls catches him a mighty blow in the chest taking him off his feet and dropping him to the ground with a crash and a groan.

The second weapon is also on target but, at the greater distance, catches a more glancing blow on the woman eliciting a shriek of pain but leaving her standing.

Olivia, at the sight of violence, screams and makes a break for it. Pushing past the distracted woman and fleeing the back the way she had come - and away from all the strangers now fighting - at full speed.

***

Further down the road, in the direction that - unbeknownst to them - Olivia Liu is now fleeing Felix and Kate close on their targets. With little effort they can get within about twelve feet of them; they are very much focused on their goal and aren't watching their backs with the diligence they ought to.

Wayne looked back and forth at Liu and her assailant. He decided to pursue Liu and let the woman be. He dashed after her, "Olivia Liu! I am here to rescue you."

Olivia does not seem overly convinced by Wayne's shout and hurtles at full pace away. Wayne leaps the fallen man, who begins staggering to his feet almost immediately, and dashes past the woman in hot pursuit. The injured woman doesn't try to intercept and Wayne can hear hurried but indistinct talking as he pursues the lady he's here to save.

***

Further down the road the two men who Felix and Kate are tailing suddenly stand a little straighter and one of them raises a hand to their ear. With barely more than a nod between them they break into a jog, seemingly no longer worried about drawing attention as they make their way towards the station.

As soon as the quarry starts to break into a jog, Felix gives a nod to Kate and sprints after them.  They would notice they were being ambushed soon enough, but hopefully Kate would have very good ideas on how to handle their sudden realization.  Felix would assist however he could at delaying, distracting, etc.

Wayne decided to tail her, keeping her within ten or so feet. He knows she is scared and is trying not to make that worse.

Olivia makes good pace to start with but is clearly no athlete and begins to slow before visibly flagging as she reaches the slightly more populated main road. Wayne keeps pace pretty effortlessly though behind him hears the pounding of feet as the two assailants from up the road give chase.

Felix and Kate spy the breathless Olivia emerge onto their road about 100 yards ahead. However, the two men they are tailing identify her at roughly the same time. One starts to forge ahead but the other clocks the presence of Felix and Kate at about the same time, slowing and turning to face them with a puzzled expression on his face...

OOC: I've probably truncated the distance slightly to make you all come together at the same point but I figure it's for dramatic effect as it's more interesting that way!

Wayne caught up with Olivia, "Listen, if I wanted to hurt you, I could easily. The guys behind us want to hurt you. The fellow with the glasses and the blonde are with me. I can keep you safe but you have to help me do that."

Felix smiles brightly at the puzzled fellow, "Guten tag!"  He did it not out of politeness, but to add to the man's puzzlement.  To attract his attention.  To leave him more confused and open to Kate's ambush.

Felix himself would move on quickly to try and catch the other one by whatever means he could come up with.  He had received basic hand to hand instruction...  He was no Kate or Wayne, but maybe it would be enough to trip this guy up...

Wayne catches up with Olivia and she lets out a small shriek as he closes but, at this point, she is clearly too tired to keep running. Panting heavily she looks with wide eyes as Wayne gives his speech and then, in an almost resigned manner, nods slowly to him. Behind Wayne the man and woman are in hot pursuit - the man covering the distance at a blistering pace leaving the woman some distance behind.

Further down the road the puzzled man stops long enough at Felix's comment for Kate to hit him hard with a strike to the throat. He drops to his knees gasping as Kate plants a knee to his head.

Felix, not breaking stride, manages to catch up with the other man and trips him with a crude tackle. However, clearly a professional, he's turning even as he goes down and is reaching for a shoulder holster even as he hits the ground!

Wayne squared himself and began a double handed flourish, a defensive move with the sash meant to confuse and keep opponents at bay. If that doesn't work he will try a knee throw, designed to take the man's legs out from under him.

Felix, without many options or fancy skills with ground fighting, decided to do everything in his power to keep the man from getting his gun free or, possibly better, get control of said gun for himself...

Wayne's flourish is sufficient to keep his pursuer at a distance. The man in black halts perhaps ten feet away and begins to circle Wayne with a dark look in his eyes. He sinks into a half crouch and you can see his muscles tight, ready to pounce. Behind him his female companion begins to make up the distance.

Felix grapples with the man and manages to keep the gun in the holster by, essentially, pinning it there with his body weight. Behind him a muffled crack sounds, indicating that Kate  has now drawn her own weapon and finished off the man she had hit. She steps in behind Felix and tells him to move aside, her intention obvious.

While previously the scuffles had attracted little attention there is now widespread panic in the street as the pedestrians enjoying their evening stroll realize how serious what is happening is. There are screams and a general exodus from the area as more and more people notice the drawn weapons and wounds!

Wayne heard the report of Kate's weapon. His team was with him now, and he felt more confident.

"Save yourselves a world of hurt and back off."

Felix would never countermand Kate's orders in a tactical situation.  He rolled off his target and clear of her line of fire.  Though he tried, in his less than nimble way, to put himself in a position to get back to his feet.... possibly dodge, should the guy manage to get his gun out before Kate took care of it.

Kate finishes off the second man with a similar economy of effort and then helps Felix to his feet as they go to provide back up to Wayne.

Wayne remains in something of a standoff with the remaining man whose female companion has now arrived to back him up. She's a short, curvy woman with long red hair tied back with a black sash - very different from the professional looking sorts you have encountered so far.

The standoff continues even as Felix and Kate arrive to back Wayne up but the moment is finally broken by the sound of a distant siren. With barely a glance to his companion the man locks eyes with Wayne and then begins to slowly back away up the side street, the woman mirroring his steps.

Meanwhile even over the still screaming pedestrians you can make out the district sounds of Olivia Liu vomiting heavily in a nearby drain.

Wayne wrapped the sash round his forearms and turned to the others. "We have to get her out of here. I can carry her if need." He went over to Liu. "I'm sorry you had to see that. I understand your reaction, but right now we have got to go." He took her by the arm and gently tugged her to follow.

Felix shook his head slightly to Wayne, "Let me.  Your hands are more useful."  He joined Wayne in attempting to assist Olivia Liu in a friendly, but firm fashion, "Olivia?  I am Felix.  I know this is frightening and I will explain as soon as I can.  But my friend is right, we need to move.  We are here to help you and get you to safety.  Can you help us get to safety?"  He needed to quickly establish a connection.  First names might help.  Sincerity.  Get her to focus on the job at hand.  Get her to buy in: to help.  Whether she really did consent, they were all still going to move out of here; wherever Wayne and Kate thought best.

Leaning on Reassurance to help get Olivia "on board" with us.  Can spend it if needed.

Olivia seems to be hyperventilating but begins to calm down as Wayne and, especially, Felix speak to her. She gulps in air and allows herself to be led by the arm while struggling to get out the words, "Nowhere...to...go. Was trying...to...get a train."

By now the sirens are extremely close and over the screams of passers by you can hear the more coordinated shouts of people with a more professional involvement in the chaos heading in your direction.

OOC: I think that's a fair spend of 1 reassurance point.

Where do you want to head with your newfound charge?