Sticklefront

November 12th, 2013 8:02 PM Brutus Haigh was enjoying a particularly graphic dream when he was rudely dragged back to reality. It had been a long night, followed by a long day; he'd needed some down-time, but that didn't seem likely now. Someone was hammering on the door to his apartment, in a nondescript block in the Fens. Though still bleary from sleep, he could pick out the odd word; they were speaking... Chinese? He shook his head to clear the fog from his thoughts. Brutus was fluent in Vietnamese, and although the languages were totally different, they shared a large portion of their vocabulary. "Waitaminnit... I'm comin', just hold up, dammit..." he paused. Whoever was hammering on his door was still yelling; they were scared, and in a panic. He tried to make sense of what was being said. "What?" He stood and wrapped a towel around himself, as an attempt at decency. He stomped to the front door, and yanked it open, revealing a short Asian lady of advanced years. She had her hand raised to strike the door again, and seemed confused by the appearance of a half-naked man. Another figure peered over her shoulder. A wizened old man, again of Asian descent. Her husband? They were scared, he could see that much. With a heavy sigh, Haigh pinched the bridge of his nose between finger and thumb. He held up his other hand to stop the woman from yelling. It was making his head hurt. "OK. In English, if you can. Who is Xiao, and why're you so worked up? He's gone walkin'? That's good excercise..." His voice trailed off. They weren't laughing.

Tagged!

Havoc couldn't help but smirk at Jackie's words. Dangerous. Had a knife. Ha! He leaned down, and awkwardly ruffled the young man's hair. "Thanks, kid. Rest up. Me an' you are gonna have a long talk when you're out of here." he said, a little sternly. "But tonight you've done good." He nodded his thanks to the... secretary? Nurse?... that had let him in, and headed into the night. He was itching to bring this to a close; he would be god-damned if this was going to go on any longer than it had to. In the long years since the Terminus war, keeping his neighborhood free of drugs, prostitution, theft and all the other crimes spawned by human desire had been the only thing he'd achieved that was worth a raw dime. All his ability, all the uniqueness of his modified body, nothing had really meant anything after Havoc had shuttered himself away from the world. He'd seen the Omegadrones burning through the sky over Johnson Apartments; the surreal and the mundane, mixed together. After that, nothing seemed to matter. He had reduced his world to a a few hundred metres of tarmac and concrete, and just... waited the years away. If that was all he'd done, one neighborhood in the worst part of town, then... well, no way was he going to let it slide. Whoever Mr. Dangerous Knife Man was... he was going to have a rough night. Six blocks was no distance at all, and in hardly any time, he was nearing the alleyway's location.

Yo! Back from an unplanned holiday, and ready to resume the action

Havoc watched his erstwhile companion as he spoke, and while he shared the urge to protect the veterans below, he couldn't bring himself to be okay with the kind of justice that Boomstick had in mind. He'd seen the fire in Boomstick's eyes too many times before; on the faces of his taskmasters, his targets, even his comrades in the field. It had only ever led to evil acts. "No." he whispered, placing a warning hand on Boomstick's calf, ahead of him in the duct. "Nothing lethal. Especially not on that flimsy premise. We take 'em in, you hear? If it comes to that..." he nodded at the firearm strapped to Boomstick's waist. "... then you shoot to wound. You get me?" He didn't wait for an answer. He turned away, looking out through the grille to where Kabir stood talking in a small group with a handful of very different figures. He took a second to listen, to watch, to try and see anything that would give Boomstick's accusation any weight... but only a second, before turning back to his companion. "Come on. Move."

Knowledge (tactics) (1d20+8=17)

Havoc will go along with Boomstick's plan; although essentially watching him just as much as he's watching for Afghani terrorists...

Havoc narrowed his eyes as Boomstick laid his story out on the line. He'd heard of a "Boomstick" character; most serving soldiers had heard one or two stories when jawing in the barracks. Some of the stories were pure heroism. Others... grim. If this was him... and if he was telling the truth... then there was a real danger here. But was he for real? Could he be trusted? Under the circumstances, Havoc knew he had to make a call. "I'll give you a chance." he said, warily. "I'm comin' with you to this "terrorist attack", an' if it's goin' the way you say it's goin' then you'll need any help you can get." Havoc left it at that; he wasn't about to TELL this guy that he was suspicious, after all. In all honesty, though, Havoc felt the familiar itch between his shoulderblades that told him that there was something to this story; despite his misgivings, he was tempted to believe Boomstick's words. He deactivated his energy blades with a flourish. "Lead the way. Let's do this."

Well, I tried it from my phone but I can't cut and paste the URL. Just the link to the roll result: http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4279825/ Scored 25 on intimidate check

Ha! It can be when I get home :D

Havoc gathered himself, pain flaring in his chest from the impact of his opponent's rounds. He braced himself as the man bore down on him... wait... what did he say? Boomstick? That's name was familiar. No matter. Deal with the threat. Come on! Concentrate! With a grunt of effort, he caught Boomstick's wrists as they darted for his neck. Twisting them down and away, he got an arm free... and plunged the phased blade attached to his forearm into Boomstick's solar plexus. The blade would have killed him outright, had it been set to a solid-state, but as it was the weapon had been dialled down far enough to let it pierce through his body without causing any physical harm. Instead, the energies of the weapon scrambled his nervous system, causing him to seize and collapse in a heap at Havoc's feet. Silence fell once again, broken only by the moans of the injured Shanks and Havoc's heavy breathing. He kicked the prone body at his feet, leaving the blade still within Boomstick's chest to maintain his immobilization. "Now, we're gonna have a talk, son." he growled. "You're gonna tell me all about this 'mission' you're so keen on, an' exactly what in the hell you think yer doin' in my town tonight. I'mma take this blade out now; don't you move none, or it's goin' straight back in. I might make it a bit more tangible too, if I don't like what ya got to say. You understand?" He slipped the blade out from Boomstick, standing over him poised for trouble. "Now, boy. Talk."

Awesome! Thanks, I'll remembr that about the DC, too

Grapple check (opposed) (1d20+16=31) Unmodified Int Check (1d20=15) Woohoo! Some success at last! I'll wait for you to tell me if that Int check matters before I make my IC post! Assuming it doesn't change anything too much, Havoc will use his only action to make another Stun attack now that Boomstick is in range following his grapple attempt: Stun attack roll (1d20+10=22) If that hit, then its a DC22 Fort save

I lose my turn; I'm stunned for this round, and staggered too if I understand the rules properly. Ouch!

The sound of the muffled gunshots spat into the silence of the evening. Phut phut phut. Caught completely unprepared, Havoc was caught in the hail of bullets thrown from the mans weapon, blasted onto his back in the middle of the street. His lungs emptied themselves of air in one convulsive gasp, and he realised he owed a lot thanks to the armoured padding of his bodysuit. Havoc flopped on the tarmac like a grounded fish, trying to catch his breath. His veins burned with the chemicals surging through his bloodstream, and his heartbeat was thundering in his ears. The rubber rounds had hurt like hell, but he was no stranger to pain. He growled to himself, trying to draw breath, desperate to gather himself and stop the man in black from making his escape. Something was happening tonight, something he didn't understand. It didn't sound good, and this guy was willing to kill for his plan to succeed. He had to be stopped!