Leyla spins around, aiming here gun at the people after her--after them.
All her frustration, sense of loss, fear... is ready to be vented in wasting one of those guys out to kill her.
5 ; so Setback
09:43, Today: Leyla Khan rolled 1 using 1d6.  Shoot 2nd die.
09:43, Today: Leyla Khan rolled 4 using 1d6.  Shoot 1st die.
But anger is not the best emotion to help hitting someone--a cool head would be better!

So, now her Shooting skill has dropped to 1/2, is that it?
And she could use her last Push to roll one more d6?
(I would have gone with the bonus problem--but felt she would want to blast someone just to vent! But I should've gone with the problem (((

Leyla nearly flung her gun at the people after her--she was not making this easy on herself... noew problems were bound to pop up!

You return fire on the run, bullets now whistling backwards and forwards down the corridor as you beat a retreat to the door. Stokovitch hits the door at a sprint and it bursts open before her with you and Hulier hot on her heels. As you pass through you feel a hammer blow from behind, almost taking you off your feet, followed by a searing pain in your side - you know that feeling, you've been shot!

Outside you find yourself on a Budapest backstreet, largely unremarkable save for an idling panel van a short distance away. A driver dimly visible in the drivers seat. Stokovitch makes a bee line for the vehicle and throws the side door open, "Get in!

Hulier, a few steps ahead of you, leaps into the vehicle still in a state of panic and Stokovitch waves a hand at you to follow...


OOC:
Problem - Bleeding Out - SERIOUS INJURY - You’ve been shot. If you’ve still got this Problem at the end of the operation, you’ll die.

Problem - Blue Lights on the Danube - HEAT - A shootout at a historical church in the heart of Budapest? Within minutes, the streets are going to be full of TEK counter-terror cops. Better run!

Limping--hand sticky with blood trying to stop the flow... Leyla is still in shock and the pain has not yet hit her.

Got to make it...

She tries to run to the van.

You reach the van and Stokovitch hauls you inside, leaping in after you and pulling the door shut. It hasn't closed before the van moves away with a screech of tyres, turning hard even as you hear shouts and a single gunshot presumably from the people who followed you out of the tunnels. Sirens are blaring in the distance before you've been going for more than two minutes.

With time you check your injury. It's a nasty through and through bullet wound. With a bit of effort you reckon you could stop the bleeding and be alright but it is going to need some time and attention; time not being something you have had a lot of since you woke up in that hospital bed.

Hulier slumps glumly in one side of the van but seems otherwise alright just staring out of the window.

Stokovitch, panting ever so slightly at her recent exertions, has a wild grin on her face, "You made the right call tonight Khan. With the two of us working together my master will dominate Europe in no time at all, and with us as his strong right hand."

The van moving like crazy, the sirens going off in the distance--and the bleeding...
Leyla tries to not pass out.
Not much she can do...
Leyla sighs upon hearing that there is another "master"--involved.
Well, maybe this one will not try to kill her outright like "her's"...?
Bide your time, girl, she thinks.
"I sure am not strong at all right now--not even a strong small finger."

Leyla takes in a deep breath, thinking that escaping a mysterious Master, just to become the helper of another Master's helper is not her goal, no, not at all.

Her gun still in her hand, dangling down--

Leyla looks around, and, when they are on a part of the street without people around:

--she raises her gun, and--tries to nail Stokovitch in the forehead.


22:48, Today: Leyla Khan rolled 2 using 1d6.  Problem.
22:48, Today: Leyla Khan rolled 1 using 1d6.  Push die.
22:46, Today: Leyla Khan rolled 2 using 1d6.  Shooting die.
5 total, nice, another total failure.


But with the blood loss, she is too weak, and she cannot raise her hand fast enough...

Stokovitch sees you raising the gun and moves faster than you would have thought possible. She dodges the first shot which tears through into the cab and is then upon you with hands that crush down with a vice like grip.

In your better moments you're not sure you could have overpowered her and in your weakened state you don't stand a chance. You wrestle for the gun for a moment, two more shots tearing holes in the side panels of the vehicle, before Stokovitch tears the gun from your hands and kicks you contemptuously to the floor.

Her look of triumph is short-lived however as Hulier gives a shriek of terror and you both feel a lurch as the van gains speed and starts to swerve. It seems as if at least one of the errant bullets has hit the driver and now you're all in trouble...

OOC: I told you it was an excellent bonus problem - out of control van!

Problem - Unsafe at Any Speed - HEAT - The driver of the van has been hit! Now it's out of control, drawing a lot of attention and is about to crash.

Problem - Disarmed - Your gun has been taken. You can't use Shooting until you have sourced an alternative.

Oh, shit--Leyla thinks when she realizes there is no way she will nail Stokovitch, nor escape her!

Dropping hard to the van's floor--her wounds send out acute pain through all of Leyla's body.

Leyla is ready to be knocked out when--they realize the driver is shot and the van is about to crash.
Seeing Stokovitch standing, Leyla hopes she will go flying--and Leyla tries to grab hold of something - the back of the seat, a sideboard - and brace herself with her legs.

The van hurtles along at breakneck speed and you can see that you are crossing the river when your vehicle clips a car and goes into a spin...

OOC: Another challenge! This time Athletics. Advance 10+, Set Back under 3. There is a bonus problem on offer (it's less exciting than some others).

As the van goes into a spin, Leyla, who had braced herself, musters all her remaining strength--

06:58, Today: Leyla Khan rolled 6 using 1d6.  Athletics 1st die.
06:59, Today: Leyla Khan rolled 4 using 1d6.  Athletics 2nd die.
6+4=10 (Advance)
So, not going for the Extra Problem

OOC: Luck finally on your side!

The van smashes into the railing at the side of the bridge and goes through with the screeching of tearing metal. Your stomach runs into your mouth as the van is airborne for a moment and then it crashes into the waters of the Danube, the river rushing in swiftly.

In the chaos you make your escape, pushing out through a broken window into the cold flowing waters as the van sinks swiftly into the darkness. Even injured you're a strong swimmer and you make it across the fast flowing river and drag yourself to the bank near an industrial estate someway downstream from the bridge.

You're injured, you're wet and you're cold but at least you're no longer at Stokovitch's mercy.

OOC: You get an Edge - Lucky - Discard to get a free bonus die to one roll of your choice.

Leyla tries to compute what happened to the driver--probably did not make it out, maybe already dead?
But also to Stokovitch and Hulier?
Did she see them getting away... going down?

Then, she makes a rapid assessment of what she has left.
No gun, for sure.

OOC: You get an Edge - Lucky - Discard to get a free bonus die to one roll of your choice.
Yay!
This message was last edited by the player at 07:18, Sun 19 Feb 2023.

OOC: changing the ending of the above post.

But, the loss of the gun is not that bad given that Leyla realizes she instinctively grabbed the bag found in the barn!
She opens it--the money is still in there.

So, with clothes dripping water--and the cold gripping her, she will soon be freezing... gotta think quick of what to do.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:20, Sun 19 Feb 2023.

You seriously doubt the driver made it; if he wasn't dead before the crash he was certainly wounded and the following events wouldn't have gone well for him at all. Both Hulier and Stokovitch were in the van when you got out. Your gut tells you that Stokovitch, like a cockroach, is a survivor and that probably wasn't the end of her. Hulier is another matter; unless he got lucky surviving a swim through the cold rushing waters seems beyond your estimation of him.

Your gun may be gone but you did have the presence of mind to grab your bag of gear. Some of it seems a little worse for wear from the dip in the Danube but most seems serviceable and the money, once dried out a little, will spend just as well as it ever did!

Well--Leyla did not even know, all in all, whose side or what this Hulier was on?
Hoping the guy made it if he was worth it--
--Leyla grabs the bag, and moves away speedily, but without running, to not attract attention.

Back up to the street, is her plan.
To try and hop on a bus that will get her out of the area--before finding a taxi once she is no longer close by.

It's easy enough to find your way up to the streets and it doesn't take long to find a bus and jump on. Dripping wet you attract a few puzzled glances from the handful of other passengers but nobody says anything.

The ride at least gets you away from where you were last seen and gives you a chance to consider your options. The obvious options are:

* When coming into Budapest you recalled an old contact, Sam Eczes. You could look him up and see what he knows and what help he might be able to offer.

* Your former colleague, and now apparent enemy, John Sinclair has an apartment in the city and you remember where it is.

* Hulier and Stokovitch were talking about the airfield at Tokol as a route out of the city. Doesn't look like whoever is there may be overly friendly but it could still offer you an escape route.

OOC: Just thought I would set out some of the more obvious leads you have had for deciding how to proceed. Obviously if you want to do something else don't feel that this is exhaustive. You also have the option to 'take time' to refresh your pools and it helps with some of your injuries though certain things can progress while you are otherwise engaged.

Happy she made it onto the bus, and keeping her head down - wihtout letting the water pool... too much -, Leyla thinks that a first stop at John Sinclair's would be the best bet.
She will get off the bus, and give a - dry? - bill to the driver of whatever cab she can find.
Hopefully this Sinclair will still be out looking for her.
Her first order of business will be checking the place out first--to see if it seems safe.

OOC: thanks a lot for the recap!

After riding the bus a short way you dismount and take a cab back into the centre of town.

It doesn't take you very long to locate Sinclair's apartment, you recall going there many times in the past. It's in a fairly rough part of the city, the kind of area where gangs of armed men don't draw so much attention. The exterior of the apartment block is run-down but you know from experience the inside is luxuriously appointed.

From nearby you can immediately spot a couple of sentries lounging apparently nonchalantly near the entrance and a couple more near a garage about a block away, where you know a number of Sinclair's vehicles are kept.

It's not exactly Fort Knox but getting into Sinclair's place certainly won't be easy.

Leyla will first look around to see if there is any other entrance--back entrance, service entrance, side entrance, an easy way to enter a neighboring building and cross over from window to widow or over the rooftops, etc.

OOC: is this totally foolish to undertake when wounded, and Leyla figures it is best to find a place to rest for a bit first?

You can see several options to get in, over the rooftops probably being the best bet, though there are still eyes everywhere so it will take some sneaking about.

OOC: Obviously up to you but resting might be a good idea before confronting Sinclair. Depending how it goes a lot of the pools that you would want to rely on in a pinch have been depleted.

Leyla decides to try to slip past the lookouts and keep clear of being spotted by people living in the neighborhood--to make her way to a rooftop from which she could climb or jump over to the target building's roof.


OOC: I've been thinking about this. Dice pools are kind of Meta, vs. how she would feel physically (too wounded?).

OOC: Entirely your call. By this point she must be feeling pretty beat up and knackered. Though equally she might not be feeling like now is the time to take a break!

Breaking in is a Infiltration check - Advance 9+, Setback 5 or less. Extra Problem up for grabs if you want it too.

After letting minutes tick by, Leyla decided she had to make her mind up.
Yes, she was weary, battered, beaten, aching--and needed to rest!
But, if she did so, and got better--time would go by. The opposition would organize better, maybe close in on her.
So--well, maybe this way she would have the benefit of suprise!--or else she would be just jumping into the awaiting lion's den?

Up she got, and started moving to the roof of the adjacent building, aiming to then slink out into the open, keeping to the shadows, and find a way across the opening onto the adjacent rooftop and down towards the apartment of her enemy!

2 dice in Infiltration, so she can roll both, and that "loses" 1 die (reducing it to 1 die in Infiltration), right?
23:18, Today: Leyla Khan rolled 4 using 1d6.  Infiltration 1st die.
23:18, Today: Leyla Khan rolled 5 using 1d6.  Infiltration 2nd die.
Yay!
Advance 9+
No extra problem--for now!

OOC: Spot on with the dice rolling.

You make it easily up the fire escape of the adjacent building without being spotted and it doesn't take you long to find an unobserved spot where you leap the gap and are onto Sinclair's building.

Within moments you've slipped past the guard on the roof and down the stairwell into the building itself. Sinclair occupies the entire upper floor of the building but you know instinctively that he has a set of private rooms distinct from the more general spaces which serve as a bit of an operations centre for his forces.

The upper floor is a hive of activity with perhaps a half dozen men busily on phones and computers. It doesn't take you long to figure out that they are coordinating the search for you! Fortunately, however, the men are focused on their tasks and are - unwisely - confident in their colleagues ability to keep people out. You equally easily slip past them and into Sinclair's private rooms.

They are, as you remember them, luxuriously appointed but largely impersonal. Expensive furniture in a modern style is paired with original artworks worth likely hundreds of thousands on the walls.

You find Sinclair sat at a desk in one of his rooms, running a hand through his hair and poring over a tablet computer. His suit jacket hangs on a stand in one corner revealing a shoulder holster, and accompanying handgun, strapped over his shirt. Such is the extent of your infiltration of his building that he seems to be entirely oblivious to your presence...