Trieste: In Search of Lorin Highwater

[atpollard]

Vinnie:
"Benjik sent me and September here to look for Lorin, and the young man here to keep an eye on us.
At the risk of angering someone with a shotgun pointed at me, I don't mind saying that I am getting just a little tired of being threatened with firearms.
So please listen carefully, because I am almost out of both time and patience ...
My name is Vincent and you have two options and very little time to decide, but the decision is completely yours to make.

Option 1. Point that thing somewhere else, trust me and we all get the hell out of here while we still can. Presumably to locate Lorin and get him to safety.

Option 2. You tell me that you don't want my assistance, and I walk away.
Then you can deal with the police that are about to raid this building, until they leave.
Then you can deal with the mercenaries that we have temporarily scared away with the imminent police raid.
In a few hours, the government will be announcing the quarter million credit bounty for the corpse of Lorin Highwater.
At that point, you can deal with the bounty hunters that come out of the woodwork yourself, because if I haven't located Lorin by then, I walk away no matter what.
I am a lawyer and a merchant and an advisor.
I am not a soldier for hire."

Vincent steps back from the door.
"So lower the gun and invite me in, or close the door and you will never see me again."
Turning to the boy, "How long before it hits the fan?"

[Keehnelf]

"Two and a half minutes, it looks like."

The man with the shotgun lowers the barrel toward the floor at a 45-degree angle. "OK--if I kin get you to Lorin, you kin get him to a safe spot?"

[atpollard]

"Two and a half minutes, it looks like."

The man with the shotgun lowers the barrel toward the floor at a 45-degree angle. "OK--if I kin get you to Lorin, you kin get him to a safe spot?"

Vincent responds "Yes.
Call me Vinnie, everyone does.
Is Lorin here or somewhere else?"

[Pulpatoon]

September hangs back at the door to the stairs, positioned so that he can scan both directions in the hallway and monitor the stairs.

[Keehnelf]

"Lorin's not here. I kin take you to him. I know there's folks has got guns nearby--wait in' for me, or Lorin, to pop our heads out. How you gonna git me outta here?"

[atpollard]

"Lorin's not here. I kin take you to him. I know there's folks has got guns nearby--wait in' for me, or Lorin, to pop our heads out. How you gonna git me outta here?"

Vinnie hacks into the elevator systems again. Bribery/Computer: [2d6+3] = 7+3 = 10
This time he summons the elevators to the current floor and returns them to normal operation (calling Samantha to ride one of the elevators down to rejoin us.)
We hold several elevators at this floor by just standing in the elevator door.

Vinnie then hacks the building computer to set off all of the fire alarms. Bribery/Computer: [2d6+3] = 6+3 = 9
As people exit their apartments, we allow them to fill the elevators and we pile into one of them.
[The fire alarm system should force all elevators to the ground floor as soon as the doors can safely close.]

The plan is to exit into the lobby, join the crowd from the lower floors already exiting the building and simply escape in the sea of people and confusion as police, fire, peacekeepers (and reporters?) arrive to deal with the 'situation'.
"As I said, it's not much of a plan, but let's see if it is good enough."

[Keehnelf]

The man seems satisfied enough with this plan. As the group makes its careful way back into the hall, Vinnie's compad picks up an incoming signal once again. The news agency calling.

[atpollard]

The man seems satisfied enough with this plan. As the group makes its careful way back into the hall, Vinnie's compad picks up an incoming signal once again. The news agency calling.

"Hello, How can I be of service?"

[Keehnelf]

"Hello, we only got a little bit of feed from the stairwell and it was, well...less than entirely newsworthy given the length of it, and how quickly the gunman retreated. I'm not upset, though--you never know how these things will turn out. At any rate, I wanted to contact you to see if you are still in the area. The gunman you filmed is engaged in a shootout with some Temple Militia personnel outside the building and I wondered if you'd be willing and able to get some footage of it from closer-up than our crew can get. We'd be willing to pay handsomely--5,000 for anything significant you can capture."

[atpollard]

"Hello, we only got a little bit of feed from the stairwell and it was, well...less than entirely newsworthy given the length of it, and how quickly the gunman retreated. I'm not upset, though--you never know how these things will turn out. At any rate, I wanted to contact you to see if you are still in the area. The gunman you filmed is engaged in a shootout with some Temple Militia personnel outside the building and I wondered if you'd be willing and able to get some footage of it from closer-up than our crew can get. We'd be willing to pay handsomely--5,000 for anything significant you can capture."

"As a matter of fact, I am still in the area and would love to see what I can record for you."
... and we head to the lobby.
[video on hold]

"I need all of you to focus on keeping our guest safe and slipping out of here.
Don't stop for anything if you can avoid it.
I will delay, distract and otherwise impede anyone or anything that attempts to stop us.
Your job is to stay low and head towards the launch.

Hopefully, I will be right behind you.
If not, then attempt to locate Lorin and get both of them to safety.
The launch will provide some safety.
The ship even more ... if we need it.
Watch out for the armed biker as you exit ... she may still be actively hunting."

As the elevator reaches the lobby ...
"Good Luck"

Vinnie starts broadcasting and heads towards the action at the entrance ...
[Video on]

[Keehnelf]

The alarm, predictably, brings huge numbers of people out of the apartments. This complex is densely-populated, and as a result the few functioning elevators are crammed to capacity immediately and the group is in danger of being crushed to death in the press. On limited-environment worlds like this one, hazards like fire are even more dangerous and the need for evacuation very real. Finally, the emergency closure activates and the screams of those left behind on 51 dies down among the tense murmurs of the civilians gathered in the elevator.

The doors pop open and a half-dozen armed soldiers wait, automatic rifles at the ready, in the entryway. They wear Republic Security insignia and are what passes for beat cops on this high-tension planet, wearing flak vests and light-suppression visors on their helmets. The group's companion drops his shotgun among the press and looks anxiously toward Vinnie's transmitting compad as the group presses out into the lobby, almost as wary of the guns as they are of the threat above them.

What do the group members do as they move out toward the security agents? They seem to be scanning as many of the exiting civilians as they can, looking for something.

[atpollard]

What do the group members do as they move out toward the security agents? They seem to be scanning as many of the exiting civilians as they can, looking for something.

Are they actually impeding the flow at all or simply scanning faces in the crowd?

[Keehnelf]

They're scanning faces and bodies/items carried.

[atpollard]

They're scanning faces and bodies/items carried.

[Vinnie whispers quickly to the spouse ... "Keep your head down. Stare at the feet of the man in front of you."
... and to the rest of the group "Surround him and shield him as much as possible without looking suspicious. Get to the launch. Don't wait for me, I will find you as soon as I can."]

"Power to the press."
Vinnie pushes ahead to engage, distract and blind one of the officers ... hopefully creating a gap through which a crowd and the others can exit.

"A moment for the press.
Do you have any comment on the reported gunfight between armed terrorists and security forces outside this building?
Why focus so much attention inside if the gunmen are on the outside?
Can the Security Force maintain order or should the situation be turned over to the local Militia?"

If possible, Vinnie will pause for only a brief moment to be yelled at before allowing himself to be carried away by the crowd and out of the building.
Can any gunfire be heard?
Am I arrested and beaten with a rubber hose?

[Nuke66]

Samantha thinks quickly. She steps in front of Lorin and does her best to steal the attention of those looking. Dazzling them with brilliance, as it were.

[Pulpatoon]

September works to keep the crowd bunched together and moving in one direction so that Lorin's spouse has enough cover.

[Keehnelf]

Samantha and Vinnie make an excellent distraction: the security forces make a beeline for the pair, and as Vinnie begins to ask his questions several of the security officers rush him abruptly. They grab his compad and one of them slaps a device that Vinnie recognizes as a magnetic jammer on the back of it (TL 10, well above this planet's standard tech) before handing it back to him. One of the officers does a double-take at Vinnie and steps back from the press, holding one hand up to the side of his helmet as though focusing on communications. Samantha, for her troubles, receives a rifle butt to the side but otherwise makes it through the cordon unmolested, while September and their companions slip through with the crowd.

[atpollard]

Samantha and Vinnie make an excellent distraction: the security forces make a beeline for the pair, and as Vinnie begins to ask his questions several of the security officers rush him abruptly.
They grab his compad and one of them slaps a device that Vinnie recognizes as a magnetic jammer on the back of it (TL 10, well above this planet's standard tech) before handing it back to him.
One of the officers does a double-take at Vinnie and steps back from the press, holding one hand up to the side of his helmet as though focusing on communications.
Samantha, for her troubles, receives a rifle butt to the side but otherwise makes it through the cordon unmolested, while September and their companions slip through with the crowd.

Vinnie exits with the crowd and heads away from the others ... he is clearly more of a liability to the mission at this point.
... But that doesn't mean he has nothing to do.

Vinnie starts by heading away from the building and towards any gunfire ... he still wants to see the situation first hand.
If impractical (or nothing is happening), Vinnie heads to the place where Samantha reported seeing Miriam Istrik ... looking for a place to buy another compad along the way.

[Nuke66]

"Back to the ship, pronto" Samantha say to the group. "Let's get out of here."

[Pulpatoon]

September panics for a moment when he sees Vinnie heading off, but continues to move the Spouse as far away from the apartment building as he can. "Alright,"he says when they have covered enough distance, "Somehow that actually worked. Now, where's Lorin?"