Seneth will attempt to disentangle from the man. If the man attempts, for any reason, to hold onto him, Seneth will cast Death Touch on the man and allow him to drop to the floor.
Nail searches the man. He strips him of his gun(s), removes the cartridge, and tosses it aside. He will remove the man’s communicator(s) as well. If he cannot find them, he will instruct the man to do so, slowly.
While doing the above, Nail replies almost playfully. “What do I want? I want a lot of things. But, what you can do you is help me find a new friend of mine. He’s a pretty smart guy who got himself into a bit of trouble. Orange hair, likes archery… Know him?” He says the last part with a mild yank on the lookout’s hair.
Donovan hears the commotion in the next car, but will stay put. If he sees Chaggo enter his car, Donovan will do his best “scared bystander” routine until Chaggo comes near enough to touch.
Then, Donovan is going to beat the living shit out of him.
Goethe into the commlink:
“Seneth. We can’t allow LoneStar to get Chaggo. How are you at feigning a head-shrinker? Pretend Chaggo’s your patient.”
Goethe will then feign being a panicked passenger and stand up. He will try to “stumble” into Chaggo to slow him down, but he’ll put more importance on not being laid out by a panicked Chaggo then to truly interfere with his escape. Discretion being the better part of valor here.
**I am waiting for the next round(I am entangled) to play out before responding to Goethe’s comment. **
I don’t know about Shadowrun, but in D&D, talking is a free action and in ordinary circumstances can be done in short bursts at any time. I’m probably preaching to the choir though, so my apologies if this is a wasted comment.
OK, I’ll go for it.
Seneth’s face wretches when Goethe asks about imitating a head-shrinker, but he attempt to give his response quietly.
To Goethe:
“Ugh…but yes, I think I can act like a Psy-care agent.”
Seneth bursts out in his loudest voice:
"Stop that man! I am an agent from Psy-care and that man is one of ours! He is dangerous, psychotic, neurotic, delusional, and he’ll kill anyone who gets in his way! In fact, I may have to cut his head open, take his brain out, and play with it a bunch to figure out why he is the way he is. Don’t let him get loose, though!
That man shows no respect to the elderly OR owls! I guarantee he will not show respect to you! Get him!"
Seneth is attempting to use the most authoritative voice he has, almost intimidating the crowd with his tone.
The Lone Star cops are much more concerned about the man who just fired a pistol in a crowded train than they are about the fleeing Chaggo. Seneth’s voice is hardly audible over the chaotic hubbub of the passenger car, and nobody pays any attention to him. Two Lone Star cops pull Chaggo’s agent off Seneth and toss him to the ground, while violently pinning the man’s pistol hand to the floor. “Drop the weapon!” one of them shouts, and the man releases his grip on the gun. He doesn’t try to resist as the two cops handcuff him.
Goethe is mildly impressed by the cops. Lone Star might have a reputation for bungling important security details, but these two cops are particularly adequate enforcers. Goethe is able to get into the aisle and behind Chaggo, approximately 2 seconds behind him. Seneth is right behind Goethe, and Donovan is ten paces ahead. Chaggo seems to be trapped between the group members, but he suddenly grabs a passenger and tosses him behind.
The passenger had been seated in an emergency exit row. With a single motion, Chaggo turns the emergency release handle and slams his shoulder into the hatch. It flies open with a sudden CRASH, and Chaggo’s momentum carries him through the door and out of the moving train.
Goethe arrives at the open door a moment later and looks through the open emergency door hatch. Chaggo is holding on to a service ladder attached to the body of the train, and using it to climb to the roof. Chaggo is particularly nimble, and has shown considerable physical prowess so far. Goethe estimates that he would have no particular trouble climbing the ladder behind Chaggo, but if he tried to take a shot with his pistol it would be very unlikely to hit, due to the extreme angle he’d have to lean out of the open emergency hatch in order to get good line of sight.
Two initiative passes have occurred here, ending the current combat round. Donny, Goethe, and Seneth have used their turns to close in on Chaggo. There are similar emergency exits to this one in all of the passenger compartments. Next combat round will begin with Chaggo using his first initiative pass to complete his transition to the roof of the train. If any characters pursue him on the roof, they will reach it via the ladder in two initiative passes.
Meanwhile, Nail is interrogating Chaggo’s agent in the alley. Intimidation tactics were never Nail’s strong suit, but he figures beating the holy hell out of a man goes a long way toward loosening the tongue.
“All this trouble for that Native?” the man replies. “You want him, you can have him. Just let me go! He’s in the basement of a house at the end of 134th street. You better hurry though. Chaggo’s on his way, and he’s gonna’ move him.”
Nail hears sirens in the distance. Officers will likely arrive soon to respond to the emergency call from the onlookers, and Nail will want to be far away as possible before they arrive.
Nail has succeeded in an intimidation roll, although not due to any particular success on his part but rather extreme negative modifiers for injury and submission by Chaggo’s agent.
Without even a moment’s hesitation, Goethe follows up the ladder behind Chaggo. As long as Chaggo doesn’t try to engage Goethe in combat, Goethe is fine just keeping up with him. Geothe’s not quite crazy enough to try to initiate combat on the outside of a fast moving train, but he’s prepared to defend himself if Chaggo initiates it. He also readies for Chaggo to try to kick him off the ladder.
Glad I’ve got that synthacardium mod, Goethe thinks to himself. Otherwise, my running days might be ending rather abruptly. It’s not the fall that will kill me, it’s the sudden stop at the end.
Seneth will follow up the nearest ladder, but if he it is super unstable, he will play it safe and return to inside the train.
“Thanks for the tip.” Nail replies. He hears sirens in the distance. Wrapping his arms around the man’s neck, he continues. “You know, you look like you’ve had a rough day. You should take a little nap.” Nail applies a classic blood choke.
The man should fall unconscious within seconds. Nail palms the transponder and books it the hell outta there. If he knows where Arry’s location is, he will head in that direction.
Donovan will do his best to follow along inside the train while remaining as inconspicuous as possible. He’ll try to cut Chaggo off should he attempt to get off the train.
Since I haven’t heard from Kirk yet, I’ll assume she’s laying low for now in the TA network.
Kirk is monitoring the train’s electronic systems, which include emergency door activations. The top of the train is equipped with pressure sensors designed to interact with the train’s climate control systems in case of rain or ice. Now, these sensors tell Kirk that Chaggo has made it to the top of the roof, and is running toward the rear passenger compartment roof. Donovan, still inside the train, runs the same direction. He is making better progress than Chaggo, as he does not have to spend as much energy maintaining balance in the wind. If Kirk’s updates on Chaggo’s location are correct, Donovan will be able to gain enough distance to climb up and trap Chaggo on the roof between him and Goethe in two more combat rounds.
Goethe swings out into the whipping wind and feels a rush of vertigo as the sudden perception of motion dominates his senses. He recovers quickly, grabs hold of the ladder, and pulls himself up. Seneth is a moment behind him. Goethe will emerge on the roof next initiative pass, and Seneth next combat round.
Meanwhile, Donny has knocked Chaggo’s agent unconscious, and taken his only form of communication. He slips away back toward the train station as the sirens converge on the alley. If Kirk agrees, Darwin can pilot him to Arry’s location on her motorcycle.
This is probably just the alcohol talking, but who is Donny and how did he knock any agent unconscious? I thought I knocked an agent unconscious and took his communicator. Where am I? And why would Darwin pilot me? Darwin is the droid. I’m just so confused. Maybe you should PM me because I’m kinda fragged up.
Seneth is wiser than the player controlling him(heh). He will continue outside the train, but if it looks way, way, way too dangerous, he will return inside and follow through the cars after them, even if it costs time to do so.
Sorry for the confusion! Donny didn’t knock anyone unconscious, Nail did. Sorry for the typo!
Also, Nail doesn’t have a vehicle. Kirk’s motorcycle is not recommended for use by people who are not Kirk, but Darwin can pilot it with you riding passively. Sorry for the mixup!
Ah, I see. No harm done!
Nail vocalizes to Kirk, his smooth voice subtly belied by an undertone of urgency. “I need to ask you for a favor. And I know where Arry is being held.”
“Meat that talks is still meat, but its freshness is paramount to furthering my personal goals, so I endeavor to keep it from rotting-speak.”
Kirk will also relay Nail’s intelligence about Arry to the rest of the group.
Upon finding out that Nail has gotten Arry’s location, Geothe relaxes a bit, realizing that should Chaggo slip and get his own fool-ass killed, at least we should be able to find Arry without needing him alive. Plus, Chaggo will accomplish the second part of our mission for us. But, still, it’d be better to have confirmation from the horse’s mouth, so Geothe isn’t going to try to kill Chaggo just yet if he can help it.
When he reaches the top, Geothe will follow Chaggo and slip on his shock gloves.
Kirk’s parked motorcycle’s engine suddenly revs to life in the parking area near the train station, startling nearby pedestrians. Darwin’s sensors and indicator lights blink on, and his robotic arm emerges from a hidden compartment on his frame. Before Darwin powered up, the drone looked like a smooth cosmetic attachment to the motorcycle’s frame. A moment later, and the drone is speeding toward the alleyway where Nail is fleeing.
A mechanical voice comes over Nail’s comlink. It’s Darwin, using a text-to-speech program within the comlink device to transfer a message to him, “Prepare for rapid extrication, ETA fifteen seconds. Dragonfly drone is tracking three Lone Star sedan cruisers searching the area.”
Nail is aware of the police vehicles. One of the cops has certainly found the unconscious and badly beaten agent in the alleyway by now, and word is out to look for suspicious people in the area. “Worst case scenario,” Nail reasons with himself. “One of the civvies got a good look at me in the alley, and has passed my description on to the fuzz.”
Nail is trying to keep a low profile as he makes his way back to the crowded train station. He has no way to make a disguise, and there’s no safe place to hide in the area until the heat dies down.
And then he hears it. A voice comes over a bullhorn from approximately 30 yards behind him, as multi-colored flashing siren lights bounce off the walls of the buildings around him. “Hands up, and turn around!” the voice says.
The text-to-speech program relays another message from Darwin to Nail through his comlink. “Facial recognition software detected on cameras in the Lone Star vehicle,” Darwin reports.
In the distance, Nail can hear the roaring of a fine-tuned motorcycle engine as it speeds toward him…
Darwin will arrive on Kirk’s motorcycle soon, unless Nail directs him otherwise. Nail can obey the police instructions, allowing the cops to get a look at his face by turning around, or ignore the police instructions, which will make them likely to begin pursuit or detaining procedures (whichever is appropriate). There are a few options here; Nail can attempt to con the police into believing he is not the alley beating suspect, flee with Darwin when he arrives on the motorcycle, fight the police, flee on foot, or something I may not have thought of.
Meanwhile, on the train, Donovan has opened another emergency exit door and climbed up the ladder to the roof, on the opposite side of Chaggo from Seneth and Goethe. Chaggo is now trapped between the Shadowrunners and Donovan.
I have fast forwarded a bit and taken the characters out of combat, since Goethe indicated he would not take any risky shots. The characters are no longer in combat, but that’s likely to change soon.
Chaggo glances between Donovan, Goethe, and Seneth. He also glances off the side of the train as it whips along, clearly contemplating leaping off. It would be almost certain suicide at these speeds, and Chaggo apparently prefers his chances against the three men surrounding him.
“I underestimated you,” Chaggo says to Donovan. Although the two never met at Synthcorp, Donovan gets the impression the ork knows him. “I knew it would be you. Still have friends on the inside, you know. That’s how I know you’re a limp-dick button pusher, not a fighter. Guess even pencil neck dorks can sometimes get things right. I’ll remember that.”
Chaggo flicks his wrist, and an expandable baton appears in his left hand. Seneth immediately recognizes the mystic energies of a weapon focus of superior power. Chaggo’s right hand reaches into his jacket breast pocket, and emerges holding a pistol. “Who wants it first?” Chaggo shouts.