Mercurial: Setting the Stage

Ashe held the smile on her face. - Huh... They're here for me... This could certainly turn out to be interesting. And I don't think there is anything in particular that they should be interested in... She thought to herself, holding the smile easily on her face. Sometimes, discretion is the better part of valor. Strangely, that certainly is not the case in this situation. Despite the unfortunate effect of her chosen action, it will end up looking very much like that was precisely what she had in mind. [b]- Ahh well, you can't win them all. I can do my own fighting, and forfeit the opportunity for a great test; or I can let the test get on with itself, but forfeit a potentially good fight. It's no choice; the test is most definitely more important... but it still sucks.[/i] The thought flashed through her head with a light regret taste. Again, she knew what she had to do to get what she wanted... It's just that she didn't want to do what she had to do to get what she wanted... OOC: Got that? Good, 'cause I think I need to read it again...
Ashe continued to sit there, calmly, holding the easy smile on her face. If there was one thing she had learned through the years of "Client Relationship Management", it was how to smile naturally, even when you don't feel it. She was so good at it, it would take a magician to know that she wasn't really as calmly interested, and content, as she looked.
Ashe let her eyes lazily roam over the two cops, not pausing on any one detail for long, but not moving fast enough to look like she was hiding her gaze. She was, in fact, unconcerned at the moment with the way things were progressing. Even if it wouldn't be particularly convenient for her to attempt to alter the course of events.
Once she had completed a light but somewhat thorough perusal of their outer-wear, Ashe made momentary eye contact with the two cops, and then allowed her eyes to travel lazily back to Taur. She was, actually, quite interested in how he would let this scenario play out. And unlike her, even with his Magician's eyes, he couldn't know for certain that she hadn't planned this all along. It would take a "mind read" spell, or something of the sort, to pull that information out of her head. So, whether it's a contrived situation or not, his actions likely should be precisely the same.
- This should be interesting... She said to herself, mentally relaxing into the moment. Not unlike preparing to cast a spell, in fact.

Taur let the ice dissipate into the air as the spell of manipulation was released, for now he required the use of another tactic. Síos arís ar an éadóchas dubh, síos seans muid go dtí an phríosúin ar mo intinn. Dún go cosán an dorchadais doimhin mar a ifreann. He turned slightly in his chair, looking into the mirror over Ashe's shoulder, not so much looking at anyone else but into the human's eyes.

--
Control thoughts (force 4)
spellcasting 5 + magic 4 = 9 = 4 hits
drain = (f/2) + 2 = (4/2) + 2 = 4
willpower 5 + charisma 5 + focused concentration 1 = 11 = 7 hits

Effects: Drain is uber resisted, the human is at least temporarily controlled.
--

The police standing behind him couldn't see, but Ashe could see that within moments, his eyes had grown cold and merciless again, darker than the deepest and oldest canyons under the ocean. "My friend isn't the one you are concerned with, the woman you are concerned with is 6'2", a brunette that is very thin wearing a pencil skirt, she left through the back door in the kitchen as soon as you entered." The statement was a blatant lie, and this was a good restaurant, but he didn't want to have to kill for right now. He pushed the mental image of another woman, one he had seen before here in Seattle, she was some sort of priestess for a church that she ran as a front for a large city of shadow runners, His contact had told him to try contacting them for jobs, but he decided that they had a much better use at the moment.

The human's eyes glazed over. "Right. The girl I'm looking for is a tall brunette, and she left through the kitchen." He turns around, saying, "C'mon, Tuck, we need to catch her." He motioned over his shoulder for his partner to follow him, then started away towards the bar.

Tuck, evidently the name of the dwarf, snapped his head around to start at the back of his partners head. His heavy brows, devoid of hair, lowered over his covers. His lips curl back, revealing chipped, yellowed teeth. With a snarl, he rips his gun free from its holster and launches himself at Taur.

Taur barely had time to move before one of the dwarf's powerful steel hand contacted the side of his head hard and grabbed a mass of the elf's long, white hair. Tuck wrenched his hand, jerking Taur painfully towards the cop, and rammed the double barrels of his shotgun into the magician's mouth. Luckily for Taur, said orifice had snapped shut when the pain of the dwarf twisting his hair had hit. As such, the barrels impacted against the soft flesh of the elf's mouth, bruising and splitting them, but didn't penetrate into his mouth. Further, the impact shoved Taur back in his seat, until his hair caught in the hand of his attacker.

"Ya motha'-fraggin' daisy muncha'! Ya slottin' piece o' drek! Ya let my buddy go, NOW!" The dwarf was nearly foaming at the mouth, and as he bit out each word, flecks of spittle flew from his lips to land on the elf's pale features.

(OOC: We're in combat. Taur, you've got next move. The test to get free of Tuck is Strength + Unarmed, which is a complex action. You can also command the human cop with a simple action.)

Ashe kept her reaction contained as Taur began manipulating the situation. This was a tricky way to go about things, and probably not the way that she would have done it, as dealing with only one of the two is usually less effective than dealing with both at the same time. - Just wait, he's no fool. He may just surprise you; let the situation play out and see what happens. Ashe said to herself, admonishing herself for premature judgment. And she was right to scold herself, it certainly isn't fair to judge the action on the basis of only a partial result.
Ashe's eyes watched the human turn to walk away, and the head of the dwarf turned to follow. - Looks like it may just work out... She mused, keeping her expressions entirely neutral. She hadn't reacted in any way, since this situation was supposed to be Taur's game.
- Just to be safe though, perhaps I should prepare myself. She said to herself, mentally preparing herself for a little spellcasting. Hopefully she would be rendered irrelevant by Taur's success; but it doesn't do to be unprepared.

A moment later, Ashe's thoughts seemed to have been preceded by the Dwarf's actions: she was proven right, and still unprepared. Ashe let out a tiny squeal of surprise when the Dwarf whipped himself back around, shoving his gun into Taur's closed mouth, and causing obvious damage. He was justified, for the most part, but it was no less acceptable on her part.
Seeing that her actions may actually come into play, Ashe unleashed the spell she had been preparing herself for casting. Only this time, she realized that it would be somewhat important to put that little bit of "extra" that every runner tries to keep in reserve.


Complex Action:
Cast Increased Reflexes (force 4) + Edge
Spellcasting 5 + Magic 5 + Edge 5 = 15 dice, 4+ Hits (I don't think it's necessary to re-roll the 6's, since I only needed the 4 hits)
Drain: Charisma 7 + Willpower 5 = 12 dice, 3 Hits (needed 4; 1 box stun)

Ashe succeeds in her spell, but is rewarded, so to speak, with a slight headache. She shakes it off, mostly, and continues with her watching. Enjoying the benefits of the significantly increased capacity to follow and react to the movements of her apparent opponents, and Taur.

--
Control thoughts (force 4)
spellcasting 5 + magic 4 - 2 sustained spell + edge 3 (using 1 point of edge) = 10 = 4 hits
rule of six = 2 = 0
drain = (f/2) + 2 = (4/2) + 2 = 4
willpower 5 + charisma 5 + focused concentration 1 = 11 = 2 hits

effects - Taur takes 2s of damage from drain, the dwarves mind is at least temporarily controlled by Taur
--

Coldness flowed through Taur's body, usually a person would be filled with the fire burning rage of passion, but not this man. He was denied any warmth in his life, as a matter of fact he had no life. His Aleanah, his blesa, has given him the warmth, given him his life, and this dwarf looked just like those that had taken her away.

--
combat monster
(composure (2))
willpower 5 + charisma 5 = 10 = 4 hits
effects- Taur has resisted the urge to completely annhilate his enemy
--

With a steadying breath and his mechanical hand, Taur seized the barrel of the gun, turning it away from his face, he ordered both officers to stand before him. "What did ye want with this woman? Tell me truthfully, then leave this place, forget you ever saw me or this woman." His voice no longer light and airy, it seemed old and fathomless, with the growling of the tectonic plates that shift the earth itself, that was the power that seemed to be in his voice.

The dwarf's hand shook, causing the gun beneath Taur's nose to jump, hitting it painfully and smearing blood from the runner's wound about his face. Beads of sweat broke out on Tuck's forehead and his lips curled back in a grimace. Slowly, haltingly, the gun pulled up and away.

"We... want... her gone.. Took our... biz..!" Each word slipped from his mouth as though dragged, and his face has gone a virulent red. He took a step back. Then another. He started to turn... and screamed, an inchoate howl of rage. Taur kept his grip on the man's gun, unwilling to relinquish the weapon. The dwarf's attitude wasn't what he should have seen in one whose mind had been controlled.

The dwarf's arm was extended, a bridge between he and Taur. He started to turn around, obeying the order given him by the elf, but his arm kept him from completing the motion. He'd been ordered to leave, but was being kept from doing do... the contradiction added to the stress of the magical domination. It turned out to be enough to allow the dwarf's warring psyche to tip the scales against the mana altering his thought.

In the background, the human turned around, his attention caught by the noise behind him.

(OOC: Taur feels the spell's hold snap.)

(OOC: Ashe, you're up.)

- This is really starting to heat up... Ashe thought to herself, watching the dwarf really get in to his "case" or whatever he was working on. Ashe was somewhat surprised that he and his partner had been in here for her, and she wasn't particularly pleased that there seemed to be something that she had left unfinished enough to let some cops become this upset; but she was entirely without any particular clue as to what that might be. She wasn't the kind of person to leave something unfinished, and whenever possible, that meant leaving everyone involved as happy with their lot as was reasonably expected.
Looking at the scene somewhat objectively, Ashe was somewhat concerned that the situation was slightly out of hand. She didn't want to interfere directly just yet, but there was no reason not to be prepared to. Ashe took a quick peak at Taur in the Astral, just to determine his relative health, and to find out if some healing might be in order.
Game Stuff:
Simple Action 1: Assensing, 4 hits
Simple Action 2: Held for now

After a very quick peak, Ashe snapped her vision back to the physical plane, returning to watching and evaluating. She was somewhat curious as to whether or not the Dwarf believed that she had Taur bewitched, or some such nonsense, and that he was dealing with Taur first to "free him" from her spells. - An interesting possibility... She mused, carefully cataloging Taur's every move.

Tuck's face was a mask of rage, purple complexioned, veins throbbing, and spittle flecking his lips. He stepped in close to the elf, closing the distance between them and keeping a firm grip on his gun. His lips pulled back into a snarl.

One hand busy keeping the shotgun under control and pointed away from himself, the dwarf swung one chromed fist at the elf's head, screaming as he did so.

(OOC: Taur roll Reaction + Dodge, Threshold: 4. If unsuccessful, roll damage resistance (impact).)

--
melee dodge
melee dodge 4 reaction + 2 dodge + 3 edge = 9 = 4 hits

rule of six = 3= 1 hit
effect: (punch dodged)
--

Taur had dodged the blow deftly, the swing coming up short of its target as he watched the steely fist sail over his head, the dwarf wrapped in his own arms, Taur stares into the eyes of the maddened dwarf, contemplating his next move.

((withholding both actions))

Taur had pulled himself in to Tuck to avoid the dwarf's attack. Were it not for the two dwarf's growling and the frantic wrestle between the two men to turn Tuck's gun towards the other, the scene would almost have resembled nothing insomuch as two old friends embracing. As it was, the situation was perilous for both. If the shotgun wedged between the two went off, it would likely mean death for both.

Half a dozen meters away, Rico was staring back at the scene, perplexed. What was Tuck doing? They had to go! The elf slitch was getting away! Didn't Tuck know that? After all, the man had told them the girl had left out the back. So why had Tuck not come? He'd screamed at the elf and pulled his gun! Why...

Rico's eyes came to rest on the girl sitting at the table behind the fight. He felt like he should know her... tall, brown hair, thin, angular elven face, emerald green eyes... "Huh. She looks just like the one we're looking for. Why didn't I notice..."

It hit him then. He had noticed. He'd seen her leave her apartment this morning, seen her come down here to this cafe on the Sky Mall, and he'd seen her sitting in that seat when he and Tuck had walked through the door. She hadn't left out back... why had he believed she had? There was really only one reason: someone was messing with his mind.

The corners of his mouth pulled down into a sever frown and a scowl hardened on his face. Reaching down to his side, he unsnapped the flap of his holster and pulled his gun free.

(OOC: Taur, you feel your control over Rico end.)

Tuck growled in Taur's face... or rather, up at Taur's chin. The stocky dwarf tightened his arm around the elf's back, and pushed up on the handle of his gun, trying to bring it above the level of his head... right up underneath Taur's own.


(OOC: Taur, make a strength test with your cyberarm. Threshold 3.)

Tuck grimace became a grin as he pushed the weapon up, up, up until the cold barrels of the gun were pressed into the pale skin under Taur's chin. The dwarf started to pull the trigger...

"Tuck! Don't geek him!" Rico's voice cut over the noise of the moment, sounding clear and strong over the chaos occurring throughout the rest of the cafe. The customers and staff had all started running for the nearest exit when Tuck had roared and pulled his gun. Tables and chairs had upended, spilling plastic cutlery and dishes to the floor. There were only a few other people still left in the room, and those were trying to get through the press of humanity by the main doors.

Rico strode over to Phantom, gun leveled at the man's head. "Let go of my chummer, slotface, or we'll just forget about due process and your Miranda rights, so ka?"

Taur said nothing, his mind working rapidly to try and find a way out from under the barrel of the gun. Or, rather, off the top of it. Nothing was coming immediately to mind. He could try to fling the dwarf back with a levitation spell, but the odds of the cop pulling the trigger before the gun was out from under Taur's chin were too high. Mind control hadn't yielded the sort of results that the pale elf had expected; trying again would be foolhardy at best. Just about any spell he could think to try required just a fraction of a second longer than he thought he had to give.

While Taur caught up in his frantic planning, Rico, the tall human, reached around to the back of his belt and pulled out a small plastic patch. Stepping in quickly, he reached up for Taur's neck. Seeing the movement, Tuck tightened his grip on the elf, holding him fast in place.

Taur was literally between a rock and a hard place, he sensed that the one man was close behind him, the dwarf tightened his grip with the gun below his chin. Die trying.

--
spellcasting
levitation on the dwarf (force 5)
magic 4 + spellcasting 5 = 9 = 3 hits
drain (F÷2: rounded down)+1 = 3
resist: willpower 5 + charisma 5 + F.C. 1 = 11 = 3

effect: 600 kilo's of force on the dwarf, 1320 lbs in non-metric. Drain resisted
--

In the time it took the second officer to lower his gun, and for the dwarf the jam the double barrel hard into his chin, Taur had made a plan and was already executing it. The over-zealous dwarf was using a large amount of muscle power to jam that hard into Taur, so much so, that when Taur leaned his head back quickly, the gun went right into the air, away from his face.

The spell created a massive amount of force beneath the dwarf, enough to throw him over Taur as he bent back hard with the dwarf's arm. The dwarf, with a look of pure rage as his eyes temporarily met Taur's, was flung into his partner with the same force as that of getting hit with a motorcycle at 25mph. Taur had to keep moving, so he stood up as quick as he could, hoping that holding the spell would at least keep them pinned for a moment long enough for Taur and Ashe to get out, "Ashe Run."

Ashe didn't think twice about compliance with this request. So far he was meeting her "challenge" restrictions. He wasn't, by any means, making it look easy, but that wasn't one of her requirements. This would qualify for success. Ashe jumped up out of her seat, moving with the lithe grace of a dancer... The morning after drinking her body-weight in hard liquor... More appropriately stated, Ashe moved without the lithe grace of a dancer. She was quick and capable, but clumsy and clearly unused to the kinds of movements required to dodge around upended tables and still-tumbling chairs. She cursed somewhat under her breath as her shin caught the edge of something, she didn't bother to stop and check. But it hurt.
Bolting toward the front door at full speed, Ashe paused just long enough to peak over her shoulder and see whether they would actually make it out or not. Chances were in their favor, as the dwarf would be unlikely to leave the human in chase-capacity. But the Dwarf may get off a lucky shot before they could make their escape. And that would be uncomfortable.

Tuck smashed hard into Rico, who went sprawling across the balcony, tumbling end over end towards the plexiglass enclosure. When he hit the glass wall, the entire five-by-five meter pane shook, quavering like jello on a plate. Tuck, held by the spell, continued on his path, running perpendicular to his partner was stopped in a similar manner. Both cops were dazed, if not unconscious, and Tuck's shotgun had fallen from his grasp when he hit Rico. Similarly, Rico's pistol now lay between where the man had been struck and glass wall where he now lay in a crumpled heap.

Ashe, having wasted no time in starting her dash for the door, was nearly halfway to the doors now. There were four people still in her way though, two waitresses, one of whom had been the elven couple's server a few minutes before, and two middle-aged suits. The young waitress saw the graceful elf woman bearing down, and started to pull her co-worker out of the way...

(OOC: Revision: Assume combat has ended for the nonce.)

Coming out the front door of the building, already huffing and puffing with the exertion, Ashe looks over her shoulder at Taur and grins. It may be somewhat difficult to believe, but she actually enjoyed herself in there. The application of her "rules of engagement" had made that situation absolutely riveting to her, and part of being excited is that it's usually fun.
- Hoi... Now to end the interview. Chances are we will be better off splitting up here, and I do know now most of what I need to know. She thought to herself as she picked a direction and took off down the street. Hearing the sirens in the distance, Ashe knew that she didn't want to stick around here to say "good bye" to Taur.
"This way!" She said over her shoulder as she turned another corner.
As soon as she was 3 blocks away, and breathing much too hard, Ashe slowed to a walk. They were probably safe enough now, if they laid low. And at this point, running was more likely to attract attention than walking. Attention that she didn't need at the moment. - They were after me... She started to think before realizing that now is definitely not the time to wonder about that. - Stop it! Focus. She chided herself, bringing her mind back to the task at hand.
"Well," *Huff, puff...* That was," *Puff, puff...* "Quite an adventure..." She finally managed to squeeze out between her hard breathing. - I really need to get back in to running regularly... this is ridiculous! She thought to herself.
"I think we probably..." *Puff, huff* "Should split up... *Huff, huff* "For now. It was," *looong wheeze* "My pleasure to finally," *cough*"Meet you, Taur. I" *Wheeze, cough*"Have some other interviews to conduct, but will be in touch." She finally managed to get her lungs to cooperate, more or less. But she was rewarded with a fit of very un-lady-like coughing for the extended use of her voice. - Eh, well, some things you have to pay for immediately in life... She thought to herself with a grin, fighting off the coughing fit that was doubling her over uncomfortably. When she finally recovered, and stood, she resumed an even pace with Taur and looked him in the eyes awaiting his response.

Taur had taken off at the first instance he could, the police officers would be up soon enough, and the rules disallowed him from keeping them down. As he left eh room, closely on Ashe's heels, he reached into his coat pocket and left his trademark at the scene, a simple playing card that left a very small trail of breadcrumbs back to this man. The King of Diamonds, a truly lethal man, if the police bothered to do a background search, they would see a hint of the bloody war path he had left behind him. He dropped the levitation spell as soon as he exited the bar, not being able to see his target made it so.

His body was used to running, it wasn't that hard, although he would have preferred to fly using his spells. After they had ran for a few blocks, weaved and bobbed a few times and had finally taken to walking, Taur was pushing for breath, he wasn't an athlete. He took a moment to catch his breath, his icy blue glaciers locking to her eyes momentarily. "Mo pléisiúir Ms. Ashe, while i do admit my social skills could use a bit more finesse, those are things to work on later. But I must ask ye one thing, Am I the man for this job ye are throwing together?"

Ashe pauses in her stride for a moment, surprised by the question. She chided herself inside her head, since she really shouldn't have been surprised. - This is a perfectly reasonable, and appropriate, question for Taur to have asked. She said to herself, allowing her stride to continue. While the face to face interviewing that they had been doing was something of considerable personal experience, she was not quite as experienced interviewing Shadowrunners for jobs. More often than not, the "Johnson" picks his own team and simply assembles it.
"Taur, to be perfectly honest, I cannot answer that question right this moment. You have the both enviable and unfortunate position of being the first interview I have chosen to conduct. I did so for what I still believe to be the "right reasons" and I am particularly interested in seeing how my impression and notes of you will set the bar for the rest of the team. That said, Taur, I won't be able to give you a definitive answer until I have had an opportunity to meet with my other picks.
"Please understand, and forgive me for this, that I am not interviewing for a hole in my already chosen team. I am interviewing to build a team. I hope you can sympathize with me considering the difficulty of the task before me. And further, the nature of the job I am working toward requires a team that meshes together better than a raincoat. As such, I cannot make any final position decisions unti after I have completed my intended interviews." Ashe said, proud of herself for having caught her breath so quickly. She was still quite out of shape, and needed to get back to the treadmill, but perhaps it wouldn't be too terribly painful.
"That said, Taur, you particular skills do make you a very valuable person for a few small jobs that I have coming up. I understand if you're not interested, but allow me to phrase the request this way: by doing these small jobs for me, you will be keeping your candidacy for my bigger job more prominently in my thoughts." Ashe smiled at Taur. She continued to walk, keeping their pace quick, but unhurried. By this time they were somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 blocks away, and each step they took decreased the likelihood of them being stopped by the police. Ashe was starting to relax a bit.
"I trust you'll be amenable to a "deferred" payment plan?" She asked. If pressed, Ashe would likely be able to come up with the cred to pay Taur for each of the "small jobs" she had in mind. However, the "favor" that she would owe him for the deferred payment, she suspected, would be something Taur would be interested in having in his bag.

"I understand ye'r decision. These smaller jobs would likely have the next candidates as participants, and if i'm ever to work with them, this would be an opportunity to get to know them as well as them to know me. As for a deferred payment, that would be more than agreeable, this keeps my feet moving, and further in the shadows is where i shall one day find my wife." His tone was directly even, without pause, his behavior was as the events in the restaurant had never happened, that he was simply enjoying a stroll with Ashe through the streets talking business. "So where are we off to next, who is ye'r next candidate?"

"Well, I don't know yet. I have my eye on 4 particular prospects, and several others who are, shall we say "secondary" prospects. I guess that doesn't quite cover the meaning I intend. I am looking to put together an 8 person team, myself included. So the "secondary" prospects really are the ones who are less central to my strategic success, but still necessary for operational success. One of the 4 seems to be, umm, unavailable at the moment. He would have been my first choice to address next. At the moment it looks like he will be slotted in the line when he becomes available next.
"That leaves me with three others. I need a driver, a hacker, and some muscle. Smart muscle, if possible. Your talents will be extremely useful in testing the driver and the muscle. And I have something particularly important in mind for the matrix specialist..." She said, smiling as she strolled along next to Taur. His accent was a little hard to follow at first, but she was growing quite comfortable with it by now. And it wasn't far removed from the accent that she had grown up with, which made it quite pleasant to her ears.