Difference between revisions of "Ordoing One Ordo"
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While these discoveries in no way meant things were going to resolve peacefully, they at least allowed them the chance to discuss things, civilly. After all, Rabbit wasn't going anywhere. Not with the type of security doors she walked through. | While these discoveries in no way meant things were going to resolve peacefully, they at least allowed them the chance to discuss things, civilly. After all, Rabbit wasn't going anywhere. Not with the type of security doors she walked through. | ||
Sharing her mission with Cynthia, Rabbit told the woman that she was here to track down Kale, the implication of his fate unspoken but understood on all sides. This put Cynthia in a difficult position. Kale, in actuality, was not a popular figure in her organization. To put bluntly, he was an asshole, not only to those under him, but to his peers and associates. He was also veering out of stability, becoming increasingly erratic. These things alone wouldn't be enough for Cynthia to betray him though. However distasteful or harmful he was, that didn't justify betraying him in this way. If something needed to be done, it should be done internally. | |||
However, Kale was gone. He was supposed to have arrived several days past, a scheduled and dreaded visit. However, despite having walked into the market, he never made it into Jerry's store. Something must have happened to him. | |||
==Aftermath== | ==Aftermath== | ||
Revision as of 14:08, 24 January 2023
| Ordoing One Ordo | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||
| Factions Involved | |||||||||||
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ShadowHaven Draco Foundation Ordo Maximus | Aztechnology | Tamanous | Ordo Maximus | ||||||||
| Rabbit |
Blood Panthers Combat Riggers | Assorted Tamanous Goons | Cynthia Rochette | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||||
| Blood Panthers | Assorted Tamanous Goons | None | |||||||||
Summary
Rabbit is called by Sybaris to capture a dangerous member of Ordo Maximus. She travels across the continent to chase down a lead. In the process of hunting her Nosferatu, she makes a strange alliance of convenience with an old enemy. Setting aside possible feuds for the moment, Rabbit fights off agents of Tamanous and Aztechnology to steal away her target, returning him for a quality payday.
Background
A nosferatu in the service of Ordo Maximus by the name of Kale had a long history of popping up in unpleasant situations and discoveries. A potent blood mage focused on researching the planes, and learning new ways to breach and connect them, he drew the attention of the Draco Foundation. Mages sending powerful beacons of mana into the aether is something they generally want to regulate. Still, the nosferatu was revealed to be cunning, avoiding capture, their skill and cowardness letting them slink out of dangerous situations. When a sighting of him appeared in Austin, Sybaris decided to send her new agent on the case. Hoping a banshee could blend in the circles Kale traveled through, potentially this would be the time they captured him.
The Meet
Calling Rabbit into a meeting, Sybaris explained the situation to the banshee. Rabbit was a new resource and agent available to them, allowing them to approach this problem from a different tact. Blending with the infected communities in the Austin area, Rabbit would hunt down clues for the hiding Ordo member. Ideally, she would capture and return the target for interrogation, though killing him was preferable to allowing him to slip the noose once again.
Investigations
Flying down to Austin, Rabbit had to land in the suburbs outside of the city. Austin, located at the division between the CAS and Aztlan has a heavy military presence, meaning flying a repurposed Aztlan military helicopter over the CAS side of Austin would be problematic. Taking a circuitous route, she managed to find a landing authorization for a gang landing pad. Unfortunately, the gang in question, in classic CAS tradition, was metaracist. Not exactly scared of random gangers, Rabbit landed anyway.
Exiting her helicopter, Rabbit was surrounded by a greeting party of the gang. Rabbit didn't exactly tell the gang she was an elf, and while she wore full armor, her build betrayed her elfiness. As tensions very quickly, the gunship and its array of weapons behind her negotiated for her. Threatening the petty gangers with a painful experience beyond their means, Rabbit secured her landing site. For the moment at least.
As she made her way towards Austin, she researched signs of Ordo Maximus in the area. Far from its traditional power bastion of Europe, there were not any public Ordo organizations in the area. Though that didn't mean they weren't lurking under the surface. Rabbit did identify one publicly affiliated member of the organization in the area though, a noble touring cities around the country. After stalking him for a bit, both physically and via the matrix, she realized he was likely just a random rich guy, the core of Ordo Maximus's public face.
Taking a different tact, Rabbit decided to push in the direction that Kale was sighted. Following the trail, Rabbit headed to an underground market outside of Austin. Primarily catering to the infected and any lacking the scruples to associate with them, the Bazaar was a hot point in underground smuggling to and from across the border. With Aztlan's rather unique acceptance of the infected, a thriving market had grown, selling wares to those stranded in CAS territory. Run by an infected gang, the Night Owls, the market provided all an infected could want, and apparently, Kale felt drawn.
Heading into the market in the early evening, it already had started to pulse with life. The market filled the shell of an old mall, with established vendors lining the old store fronts and countless stalls filling the central aisle, wares of all types hawked. Heading over to a butcher, Rabbit bought some blood, taking in the sights and asking idle questions to the worker at the register. Eventually, she managed to find out that Kale had been seen nearby a talismonger, one with an actual store. "Jerry's". Whether or not he actually entered, the man at the counter didn't know, but it was a lead to start with.
Heading over, Rabbit went to meet Jerry. Whatever her expectations of Jerry were, they were wrong. A shirtless centaur, closer inspection marked him as a Chiron, their Strain I manifestation. Jerry, friendly and easygoing, wasn't very helpful regarding Rabbit's questions. Allegedly, he had never seen the man she described, and that he certainly hadn't entered recently. While he didn't seem to be saying any obvious lies, Rabbit still wanted to investigate a bit more. Something seemed off. Declining an invitation to one of Jerry's parties later that night, Rabbit exited the shop and began to plot a way into the Talismonger's back room.
Getting past Jerry directly would likely be difficult. With gang guards lurking around and a surprisingly robust security system, it seemed better to find a more indirect method. With a bit of aggressive stealth, emphasize on the aggression, Rabbit made her way into the service corridors of the old mall, finding the back entrance to Jerry's store. In the process of breaking in though, Rabbit noticed a strangely sophisticated system of hidden cameras, barely visible to even her enhanced senses. Working to disable them and investigate, Rabbit poked around the back room. While at first glance unordinary, she found a hidden seam in the wall. Unfortunately, it sounded like security was closing in on her. Working fast, she hacked the icon of the seam, and a hidden elevator popped open. Never one to avoid the call of adventure, Rabbit hopped in and dodged her pursuers.
Complications
As Rabbit went down a secret, high tech elevator in the middle of an abandoned mall turned infected black market, you might assume she was afraid. Rabbit is built different. Confidently, she went down the hidden elevator, aware that whoever was on the other end certainly new she was coming. As she stepped out, she went through a mantrap and entered a room. A kill room! Potentially.
As facing her were security emplacements, security devices, and an array of people staring her down behind them. Not only were there multiple powerful awakened infected, chromed up guards armed and ready, there was even a top of the line cyberzombie!
Rabbit, for whatever reason, decided to start with diplomacy.
That was immediately complicated though by the identity of the organization in question. Rabbit had stumbled her way into a secret Ordo Maximus base. While on its own bad enough, Rabbit in the past had made an enemy of their organization. At least in Seattle. For whatever reason though, the leader of the site didn't immediately order an attack. Perhaps it was out of curiosity, about what lead a banshee to so violently fight against the Ordo, or perhaps just to understand what lead her here. Regardless, when Rabbit said hello, Cynthia Rochette answered.
To begin, things were tense to put mildly. Having intruded down here and with her history, it seemed like it wouldn't take much for violence to break out. However, unexpectedly, things soon started to calm, to a degree at least. When Cynthia learned that Rabbit only really struck against the Seattle Ordo when her sister was kidnapped by them, it was hard for her to take the transgression personally at least. While things might still go poorly here, there wasn't much reason to hold a grudge against the adept. Rabbit in turn was told rather quickly that Kale wasn't there, that he never actually showed up. Assuming this was true, she wouldn't hypothetically have to fight her way past everyone here.
While these discoveries in no way meant things were going to resolve peacefully, they at least allowed them the chance to discuss things, civilly. After all, Rabbit wasn't going anywhere. Not with the type of security doors she walked through.
Sharing her mission with Cynthia, Rabbit told the woman that she was here to track down Kale, the implication of his fate unspoken but understood on all sides. This put Cynthia in a difficult position. Kale, in actuality, was not a popular figure in her organization. To put bluntly, he was an asshole, not only to those under him, but to his peers and associates. He was also veering out of stability, becoming increasingly erratic. These things alone wouldn't be enough for Cynthia to betray him though. However distasteful or harmful he was, that didn't justify betraying him in this way. If something needed to be done, it should be done internally.
However, Kale was gone. He was supposed to have arrived several days past, a scheduled and dreaded visit. However, despite having walked into the market, he never made it into Jerry's store. Something must have happened to him.