Miss leads was at her desk when a mysterious note fell out from among the stack of papers she was shuffling. The senator had long since returned to his hotel room, and was scheduled to be meeting an escort within the hour . . . though he didn't know that yet.

The note was immediately identifiable.

Dr. Valkuria's daughter is under MSec scrutiny. She's looking for answers, but that has allowed them to follow her too easily. If she's compromised, we may be, too. Make sure that doesn't happen. - Mr. K

Attached at the bottom was a card withe the name and address of a storage company.

* * * * *

" . . . and remember Elise, I love you."

That was how her father ended his last letter to her. He'd done his best to explain all he could. He believed in his work, but he no longer trusted that the people using that work had the best interests at heart. His letter had come with two things: The crystal metal that had changed Elise's life, and a key with a simple tag reading "T33" attached. The days following had been a blur. Her home was destroyed when riot officers led by a dragonblooded officer attacked. She'd barely made it out alive . . .

Now, she was standing in front of a storage locker in the depths of a lot bank. T-33 was written in white, block letters across the metal gate, and the key fit perfectly. Lifting it revealed a mundane storage locker. Boxes of old notes . . . an album of faded photos . . . and a tarp cloth draped over something big with a briefcase sitting beside. The case was surprisingly heavy, and when Elise opened it, she found the largest handgun she'd ever seen, cast in a semi-translucent alloy that had become all too familiar . . . adamant. Beside it was a key, similarly made from the same crystalline metal. Pulling back the cover revealed a motorcycle unlike any she'd ever seen before . . .

Then came the roar of the helicopter over head. "COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP, GIRL!" The command came from a familiar voice, and looking up, she could see him clearly. His face looked like it had been chiseled from granite, and his white-jade plated riot gear was unmistakable. He carried no weapons save his reinforced gauntlets and boots, and hunt out the side of the chopper, megaphone in hand. Elise could hear boots on the ground as officers surrounded the storage lot.

This looked like trouble . . .

As well as the paper shuffling, Miss Leads was updating the day's office diary and transcribing a few notes into her own pocket diary.  It was mostly meetings, due dates for documents, and other time management stuff... all in inscrutable Sidereal shorthand.  She had a few options of what to complete over night and was siding with the military enlistment bill.  She also needed to call the hotel and make sure everything was well with the senator... before he had 'company'.  As Miss Leads went to pick up the phone, something slid out of the papers.

Hmmm, whats this?

She picked up the mysterious note and upon seeing its contents, Miss Leads made damn sure her door was closed.  It was.  Then the young Sidereal read the note thoroughly, twice.  Spending two motes of invisible essence, Miss leads sent her Efficient Secretary scuttling off with an important query.

"Are there any Msec personnel within 500 yards of this Storage Company address?"

Collecting her coat on the way out, Miss Leads took the elevator down to the underground parking lot and found her car.  She could have been quicker, but if there was trouble she wanted to nurse her essence reserves.  She'd never clashed with Msec before... but those guys didn't fuck around.  She'd seen reports of what they had done and it was scary!

Putting the car into gear, Miss Leads pulled out of her designated spot and drove down a ramp... only to stop at a very specific spot.  She knew where all the cameras were and also their blind spots.  Shielded from security cameras, Miss Leads reached back and popped the backseat open... bringing forth her personal 'protective' device.  Hopefully she wouldn't need it tonight, but she was going in ready.  Placing it in the passenger seat (with a blanket to cover it), Miss Leads set off to the storage company...

She carefully ran a finger over the adamant plated hand cannon, feeling as if tendrils were connecting between it and her. She only had moments before they broke in to take her, but she wasn't worried about that. She could handle the rank and file cops. But that voice told her that it wasn't the regular police. It was probably M-Sec.

That meant calling…it.

With a deep breath, Elise grabbed the massive handgun, then the crystalline key next to it in the case and made sure the weapon was loaded. Her father had thought of everything, it seemed, before he'd disappeared. She swung a leg over the seat of the motorcycle, finding the ignition and inserting the adamant key. No helmet, but she just needed to get out of there.

A rev of the motorcycle engine as it came to life, her eyes narrowing at the man in white jade plated armor. "Suck an egg, dragon-dick."

The engine roared, tires screeching as they spun out against the pavement. It was like the sound of an angry beast, nothing like any motorcycle she had seen or heard before. The brakes released, giving way to that angry roar, and sending her shooting off on the 'cycle's back.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:41, Sun 18 Oct 2020.

The spider construct scuttled back up Miss Lead's leg, climbing until it reached her shoulder to whisper in her ear. "Affirmative. Twelve mortal enforcement agents and one project dragonblood graduate are en-route."

As her car approached the scene, the agent of F.A.T.E. found the roads becoming decidedly more empty. The housing yard was on the outskirts of the city, and though the street lights glimmered, the roads were barren. Out of nowhere, the black-raiton helicopter screamed past over head, a lone soldier hanging out the side-port, and several cruisers careened around a corner ahead, taking no notice of Miss Lead's unobtrusive car. She arrive only a few minutes after them, just in time to hear the commander's ultimatum and watch as the soldiers kicked in the gates to swarm inside, each carrying an assault rifle in tow. Just then . . .

* * * *

Elise's bike roared as it leapt from the garage, carrying her forward as streamers of essence trailed the exhaust. As she turned the corner, she saw three M-Sec operatives line up down the corridor, training their rifles as she blazed forward.

Alright, so as the action begins here, I think we need to set some ground rules for scenes like this. Obviously, this could very quickly become combat, but it might not. If you focus on evading them, it might become a chase scene, or go in another direction entirely. If you want to take an action that you think will prompt a roll, then go ahead and roll. If it's unnecessary, I'll let you know and you can reclaim any resources spent on it. Rolling pre-emptively will speed up our pace of play, though, and clue me in to what direction you want to take things in.

Additionally, because we're in play by post, I'm giving you guys greater freedom to describe your immediate environment. If you want a side-street to turn off on, go ahead and describe it. When there are other agents acting against you, just try not to "go too far" before they have a chance to act. That'll keep the need to retcon things to a minimum. Good rule of thumb is that, if it's combat/high-action, write about what you could accomplish in no more than ten seconds. If it's less dire, we'll look at 30 seconds to a couple minutes.

Her mind rapidly ran through calculations. She'd never be able to draw her hand cannon and fire fast enough, not without sacrificing momentum. With a curled brow, Elise gunned the engine, tapping at a touch plate at the center of the steering bar. A second later, the  motorcycle roared and let loose a blast of essence from the exhaust as it made a brief "jump" even as it shot down the corridor in an insane surge of speed. If luck had it, those M-Sec agents wouldn't have time to fire, and she could haul her ass out before their commander, who was no doubt a Dragonblood project super soldier, could catch up to her.

If not...she still had a few surprises...



OOC:Spending 4 motes on Second Dexterity Excellency for 2 extra successes.
09:19, Today: Elise Valkuria rolled 2 successes using 4d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:30, Sun 18 Oct 2020.

The helicopter (and its eager passenger) was going to be a problem.  Fortunately for Miss Leads, Dr. Valkuria's daughter had already made a break for it.  With some distractions, the young biker could escape... Miss Leads just needed to find some.

But how?  I'm a little light on helpful gear.

And then the idea came to her.  She had 'light'.  Miss Leads sped away to find elevated ground... an uphill street, a multilevel car pack, or something similar.  Then when the helicopter came her way, Miss Leads turned her car's headlights onto its fullest setting (with some manual flickering)... in an attempt to dazzle the pilot and force him to break away (temporarily or permanently)

OOC:  Using an Int+Drive roll 2nd Excellency usage for a total of 6 Successes
00:30, Today: Miss Leads rolled 3 successes using 6d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7 with rolls of 7,1,9,9,6,3.  Int+Drive to blind ppl with car headlights (+3 2nd excellency Sucs added).

The road lion roared, and Elise soared over the heads of the M-Sec guards who looked on, stunned at her maneuvering. A moment later, her motorcycle crashed through the closed gates of the compound and out onto the open road. Two guards on bikes of their, however, were ready and waiting and waiting to give chase as she blazed past. The lights shining into their eyes from atop the hill, however, blinded them momentarily, giving their target precious extra time to escape.

The Black Raiton screamed overhead as it turned and began to fly in pursuit, though at its distance, it would be difficult to keep track of Elise through the winding urban sprawl should the motorcycle cops lose her . . .

We're now going to conduct a simplified chase scene (rules found starting on 137 of shards). You've broken out onto the open road, road, and the streets are relatively empty. This means that you're only looking at a base difficulty of 1 on your drive rolls. Both of your received level 2 stunts for your actions, so you can bank 2 stunt dice and recover either 4 motes or 1wp. Because of Miss Lead's actions, Elise benefits from limited teamwork on her next roll (meaning an extra die). You can take maneuvers to inflict hazard or make extra actions during your drive interval, but these will increase the difficulty of your roll and/or accumulate hazard for you. To make this go a bit faster, we're going to lower the hazard total to spin out to 5 on second thought, we're keeping it at 10. You can make people build up hazard really fast (at which point the chase ends for that party). You escape pursuit if you can build up 10 more successes than your pursuers or force them to reach 10 hazard. If they do the same, they'll have you cornered. Miss Leads, you can either continue to help from the sidelines (lending her a bonus die), or get into the chase yourself in order to take actions to trip up the motorcycle cops. Take a look at the chase rules for extra specifics.

Also, don't forget to include the maneuverability of your road lion on your rolls. That's two extra dice. For this roll, we'll simply count that as an extra success, so you've got 5 total successes right now.

11:44, Today: The Grand Design, for the NPC Motorcycle cops, rolled 3 successes using 5d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7 ((5,1,5,8,10)).

The motorcycle cops are now at 3 successes to your 5. You've gained ground on them, but haven't lost them.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:55, Tue 20 Oct 2020.

Her hair billowed in the wind as she tore off onto the main streets. She saw the waiting cycle cops just instants before someone flashed lights on them, buying her the nanoseconds needed to blow by and gun the engine. They followed seconds later, leaving the helmetless young woman to consider her options. Elise wasn't superbly familiar with the immediate area, but she had a few advantages on her side, the least of which was whomever had distracted the cops by flash blinding them.

A hard right as she caught the intersection, letting the throttle relaxed just enough to turn before running it again. This 'cycle was like a beast with the way it almost literally was roaring with the engine revs. She wasn't sure what had guided her to that turbocharge switch, but it had helped her for sure.

"Pull over now, and this will go easier on you!"

Like her father who had been missing for a month now?

"Suck your boss' shriveled cocktail," the young woman muttered under her breath as she swerved hard, foot swinging out to help her pivot her turn, then continuing around into a two-seventy degree spin before she gunned the throttle and race into a nearby parking complex even as her tires screeched in protest at the abuse. If they were dumb enough to follow, which they likely were, Elise had the intuition that the bike cops wouldnt be keeping up for much longer.

Today: Elise Valkuria rolled 3 successes using 6d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7 with rolls of 6,2,5,10,5,7.  For evasion and a few turns to prep for what is likely to be a crazy ass stunt.

Omfg, ignore that reroll in the log. Lol, extra die sabotaged me!

Her gambit had helped a little, but Miss Leads and her car were not going to keep pace with motorcycles.  There was also the matter of protecting her own cover, something that would crumble if she took overt actions against the M-Sec personnel.  Any more help Miss Leads was going to provide to Elise... had to be indirect.

Maybe I can continue to mess with the lighting?

Retrieving her Assault Rifle from the car, Miss Leads darted over to some concealment and switched to semi automatic mode.  Drawing a bead to where Elise was heading, the Sidereal began to line up the street lights ahead of the chase... and shoot them out.  Nothing fancy was required, just straight, accurate shooting at long range.  When Elise turned into a parking complex, Miss Leads began to shoot out the overhead fluro lighting that she could see, plunging future parts of the complex into dimly lit areas.  Hopefully the ensuring darkness would prove of use to Elise.

I just hope she doesn't corner herself.

With every second shot, Miss Leads relocated her 'sniper position' to avoid detection.


OOC:  Miss Leads will continue to aid Elise with +1D, but won't enter the chase herself.  She'll take the 4m refund for stunting but hold onto the +2d for now.  No excellencies used this time, since extra successes would go to waste.

04:42, Today: Miss Leads rolled 6 successes using 9d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7 with rolls of 1,1,6,7,6,10,10,6,9.  Aiding Elise with +1d (using firearms to kill lighting).

The road lion blazes ahead, banking hard and causing the two cops to take a messy swerve in order to stay on her tail. They've lost speed, and are struggling to keep up. Just as they try, the streetlights ahead start blinking out, exploding one by one as single rounds knock each out in turn.

"What the hell!?"

Dodging sprays of shattered glass, the two cops accelerate blindly, hoping to block her into a corner inside the parking complex as the helicopter can be heard in the distance, closing in.

The cops execute a close-in maneuver, working in tandem for a teamwork die.

11:55, Today: The Grand Design, for the NPC Motorcycle cops, rolled 3 successes using 6d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7 ((9,10,6,3,1,1)).

The increased difficulty means they only netted two successes there. If you beat that, they take 3 hazard. If you don't, you take the hazard.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:49, Fri 23 Oct 2020.

Instead of offering further gunfire, Miss Leads elected to reload and gather her shell casings.  There wasn't much else she could do now, so the scientist's daughter was on her own for the next few minutes.  Miss Leads would need a bit more time to organise another gambit, but it was coming...

She began to look around for a truck (or pickup)... something with enough room to transport a Road Lion.  As fate would have it, there was a rather beat up looking pickup with a rolled up canvas backing.  And it wasn't sitting in front of any security cameras.  Miss Leads went to work on opening it up without triggering its cheap alarm and trying to get it started.

And then there was matter of where to go...

OOC: 21:30, Today: Miss Leads rolled 5 successes using 8d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7 with rolls of 5,9,5,2,10,8,9,6.  Dex+Larc+2 stunt die to 'borrow' a pickup.