Sinthia is holding her arms our towards the man, firing up her lighting spell.
“Need is a strong word. Let’s hope this doesn’t kill him. It should certainly stop him.”
She proceeds with the lighting spell, aiming at his legs, but not quitting if it looks like that is too difficult. Her goal is to cause non-fatal damage, but that is obviously not easy to gauge.
Nightshade continues to creep around behind the cars. This vest is good for light pistol fire–it would be foolish to jump in front of that monstrosity. Once he totally loses track of where I am, I can pop up and end this fight with one good shot.
Nightshade circles around behind the elf man, keeping out of sight behind the vehicles. She moves remarkably quickly and silently, and the elf man is far too distracted by the others to take notice of her. She’s behind him now, and close enough to reach him in melee or take a shot at him next initiative pass.
“You picked the wrong guy to mess with!” The elf man shouts as he fires another full autofire burst at Nail. The wisecracking adept knows when to shut his goddamn mouth and RUN, as he leaps for dear life to avoid the incoming fire. Hiding behind the a parked car while a mysterious elf shoots a machinegun at him isn’t exactly where he figured he’d end up when he agreed to go back to Nightshade’s place with her. Wallowing in bitterness as bullets fly all around him, he glances toward Sinthia and sees her charging a spell.
“We need him alive, Sinthia!” Nail shouts at the black haired woman.
“Need is a strong word,” she replies. She may have said something else, too, but it’s drowned out by the sound of gunfire.
Then, BOOM! The hair on Nail’s neck stands on edge, even this far away from the source of Sinthia’s spell. A bolt of blue/white energy arcs like electricity between Sinthia and her target. The bolt doesn’t quite strike true, but “close” is close enough with that much power involved. The magical energy crashes into the elf man’s car, sending it rocking on its wheels. The shockwave slams the elf backward into another car, and only sheer luck keeps him on his feet.
Sinthia knows the man must have been hurt by the spell, but she can’t tell just how badly yet.
“Still standing? Impressive, though also…unlucky.”
Sinthia speaks louder now, the loudest the others have heard her speak.
“Do you give up or would like me to try something else? Perhaps fire will convince you to talk to us in a way electricity could not? I leave it up to you whether you live or die.”
As Goethe is about to turn off into the neighborhood where the safehouse is, he’s struck with a thought:
Nightshade scanned all the vehicles when you got to the safehouse to make sure they were clean, but you spent a good amount of time with your vehicle unattended while you were in the museum. Sure you didn’t see anyone messing with it while you were running surveillance on the nuthouse, but since the surveillance was your main concern, you could have missed something. Better paranoid then dead.
Instead of turning off the thoroughfare he’s on into the neighborhood, Goethe drives on right on by and calls the team on his commlink.
“Goethe here. Mission accomplished and more successful than I expected even. However, bike was left unattended, so I probably should get it scanned before returning to base. How are things on your guys’ end, and what do you say we meet up somewhere else first so that Nightshade can check out my bike before we all return for full report?”
Damn mages, you scary, Nail thinks to himself as the hair on his neck begins to settle down.
Sinthia taunts the elf man, and no reply comes immediately. Nail likes it just fine in the relative safety of his cover, but he is soon overwhelmed by his curiosity, and will peak out to see in what shape or shapes the elf man is currently in.
Perfect, thinks Nightshade. With the mage drawing his attention, I’m the last thing on his mind. Now, let’s see how that big gun does in close combat. With all the speed her wired reflexes can muster, she dashes out from her hiding place while extending her paired cyberspurs.
Assuming she can get close enough without getting shot, she’ll try to lay a spur against the target’s neck, preparing the other hand for a disarming strike if necessary. Aware of the possibility that this is another mind-controlled minion who will die before surrendering, she’d still rather take a hand rather than a head and have someone to question if possible.
“Really, I’m getting a bit tired of sweeping up all those piles of ash she leaves behind. Blood’s actually a bit easier to deal with. Or maybe you’d prefer to call this a day?”
When the sound of gunfire finally stops, Nail risks a peek over the body of the car he’s hiding behind. Sinthia is shouting challenging taunts at the elf man, drawing his attention as Nightshade sneaks behind him. In a blur of motion, Nightshade springs her trap, pressing her wicked looking blade into the sinewy flesh of the back of his neck. Nail can’t help but admire the two women working with him, and is a little ashamed at his own performance.
Nightshade says her piece, offering the man a chance to surrender. She can already tell by his body language that he is not a mind controlled zombie like the previous minions were. Before her stands a man who doesn’t want to die.
“You want to know something funny?” the elf man says as he drops the machine gun. It makes a loud, hollow thud as it lands.
“Nice and slow,” Nightshade responds in warning, ignoring the man’s question. He holds his hands up. Nightshade has him at her mercy.
“You lot think you’re the good guys,” the elf man says, continuing his previous comment. He says nothing further, but he will cooperate with Nightshade’s instructions, except to answer questions.
Nightshade may retrieve any items from her apartment that can reasonably fit in Rescigno’s vehicle, but the crew shouldn’t dally here too long, in case someone reported the shots fired in the parking lot.
Sinthia sees that the current situation has calmed and approaches the elf man. She walks slowly up to him, keeping eye contact with him the entire time.
Sinthia casts Control Thoughts on the elf man and makes him poke his own eyes with his fingers. Hard.
“Tell us every thing you know, including any information about what dangers await us and who you work for. Everything.”
She pauses.
“Or, I’ll make you cut your own throat slowly, only stopping to drink your own blood periodically.”
Sinthia attempts to cast control thoughts on the elf man. He simply smirks at her. It is as if his mind is a mirage, shifting too quickly for her magic to latch upon it.
“Careful, witch,” the man snarks. “You should know enough about us already, that it would not be so simple to manipulate me. You want to mind probe me next? Go on, give it a shot.”
Nail knows enough about what makes people tick to realize that the man actually wants her to do just that. Why would he want her to probe his mind with magic?
Nail walks over to the elf man. He picks up the machine gun and examines it a bit. “Real men don’t need toys,” Nail says coldly, before saying to Nightshade, “Hey Nightshade, catch. Happy birthday.”
Then, in response to the elf man’s defiant dare to Sinthia, Nail gets close to the elf-man, stares at him, makes a funny face, and then turns to address Sinthia. He says to turn her: “I’m no magician, but I’ve lost enough games of poker to know that this chump wants you to call his bluff. Be careful.”
“I’d rather set you on fire, honestly.”
Sinthia raises her arms, pointing them towards the man. She begins to focus deeply.
She does not yet cast anything, though, but she is ready to.
Keep in mind that a machine gun was just fired in a public place. You might want to consider saving the interrogations for a later time, in case you guys attracted the attention of the cops!
Assuming no further mischief from the elf man, Nail will contact Goethe: “We’re almost done here. And we got a new friend, too. Want to meet him?”
“No time for that now,” snaps Nightshade. "Nail, do you have any zip ties? If you do, bind him and throw him in the trunk. Leave his gun–it’ll leave Lone Star something to investigate, that always makes them happy. If you don’t have zip ties, stand by–I have a pile in one of my go-bags, and I’ll be back with them in thirty seconds. Sinthia, you don’t need to ride with us on the return–you can shapechange and meet us back at Goethe’s.
She adds over her shoulder as she races for the apartment door, “Oh–and don’t forget to grab the tracer he was trying to place. Might come in handy.”
To Nail:
"Very much so. Though, I’m sorry I didn’t bring you back anything.
“Anyway, I’m going to send you guys a street address we can meet up at before we return to the hideout. I want my bike checked out before we return. I’m pretty sure noone’s messed with it, but I want to be sure. I only have a few hideouts to spare before we are forced to start squatting, and I don’t plan to blow this one on something as easily avoidable as not having my bike checked.”
After forwarding the location to the other group, Goethe will head there. On the way, he stops and picks up a lighter and a pack of cigs. While he was surveying the loony bin, it occurred to him that actually having a lit cigarette as a cover in a smoking area would have been handy. Plus, you never know when you’ll need a convenient excuse to be somewhere you shouldn’t be, and saying you needed to find a place to smoke will work in a pinch. Not that he’d ever inhale the stuff at this point. He gave up that vice long ago in college. He never really took to it in the first place, and he discovered that alcohol gave a far better buzz without making one smell like an ashtray.
Goethe also adds as an afterthought:
“One more thing, you might want to take a rather circuitous route to get to the various places. I assume you’re going to take the usual precautions when taking an enemy to a hideout, but even if you throw him in the trunk he might be able to get a rough estimate of where you turn and how long between each turn you go. So blindfold him, plug his ears, throw him in the trunk, and hope to whatever higher power you believe in that the guy can’t perceive the astral, or it doesn’t matter which mundane senses you dull.”
Nail responds to Nightshade while listening to Goethe: "No, I don’t have any on me. I’ll keep an eye on this chucklehead while you get your stuff. "
After Goethe finishes his transmission, Nail responds: “Good point. See you in a few.”
He then asks Sinthia the following question: “Sinthia, can you tell if this guy can see the astral?”
Nightshade returns from her apartment with bindings for the elf man. She zipties his hands behind his back, over his protests.
“You think you can bargain with me? My life is worthless compared to our cause. I am a tool for The Dark. Interrogating me will be as worthless as interrogating a hammer.”
“Quiet time!” Nail says as he places duct tape over the man’s mouth. Nightshade opens the trunk, and Nail gestures toward it with his gun. When the man doesn’t budge, Nail grabs him by the collar and gruffly shoves his head into the trunk. With his hands bound, the elf man can’t resist. “Enjoy your nap!” Nail says as he closes the trunk.
Nail hears a noise behind him, and glances backward to see Sinthia’s Raven form flying away. Damn! A second too late. He sees the dark cloak on the ground, and briefly considers not bringing it with him. Nightshade picks it up and tosses it into the back seat.
“Let’s go,” she says.
Goethe meets up with Nightshade and Nail at a public parking lot. Nightshade glances over the motorcycle, and doesn’t find any evidence of a tracer. As she inspects the motorcycle, a thump comes from the trunk of the sedan.
“Extra cargo?” Goethe says.
“The new friend I told you about,” Nail replies. “He misbehaves. Had to put him in time out.”
Goethe chuckles. “From zero leads to two, in a few hours. Things are looking up!”
After Nightshade finishes inspecting Goethe’s motorcycle, she takes a look at the tracer. It could be dangerous to bring it along, but if someone could track the broadcasting signal it might lead to more clues about The Dark worshipers. Nightshade is pretty sure she can prevent the tracer from broadcasting a correct location signal, but she can’t be certain. Will she leave it here, or bring it back to the hideout?
If Sinthia had assensed the elf man, she would have noticed no magical astral signature originating from him. There is a spell being sustained upon him, however. Sinthia can’t tell exactly what the spell is doing, but it is certainly not something the caster can use to trace the elf man’s location. In the interest of moving the story along, everyone may proceed as if this is common knowledge.
To Nightshade:
"What’s required to fool the tracer signal? Do you need to be actively updating it, or can you ‘fire and forget’ so to speak? We might be able to store it somewhere if it doesn’t require regular attention to keep the signal scrambled. If it’s a choice between risking discovery or leaving it completely, I’d rather risk discovery for the nice tracing this can give us. But if we can pull it off without needing to take it back to the HQ with us, I’d much rather take that option.
“Of course, there’s always the option of activating the thing and putting it on some other vehicle to send our would-be pursuers on a wild goose chase.”