Gather up a full complement of guns, and then head out to meet up with the others, and inform them personally of the mission. Not gonna rely on Vince and his shelltalk.
Also, consider the practicality of stealing an APC or tank or some other military armored vehicle. Would there even be any of those nearby?
You arm yourself to the teeth, and meet up with Nanami first, telling her about the mission. Against your advice, she informs everyone else by phone. Now the government knows your location, unless Vince can handle that too. You split, for safety's sake.
Given Vince's surprising feat of haggling you into army positions, along with Nanami's penchant for disguises, it would be very easy to get in a strategic position near one of the tanks or armoured vehicles scattered aroud the area. You'd still have to fight some professional soldiers, but a stealthy approach could succeed. Given the high concentration of troops, tanks and helicopters nearby, open confrontation is suicide, even by your standards. Due to some sort of explosion your allies apparently caused, though the details probably aren't important. There's even a challenger 2, although that's in the centre of a camp of sorts, so would be a bit harder to steal. That's a vehicle you grudgingly admire, never having been destroyed by enemy fire yourself.
"Ah, I suppose we could do it. Feel free to just take my half of the rental now then. You can give me the change later. And I will keep track."
Take my half, give Namani £1000 for the rental. Then make our way to rent the car.
Split the money with Don, giving him 3500 pounds. Then go rent the armoured car, asking if they provide a driver.
And buy some new clothing.
If those pegasi show up again, do some filming, but not for release. It'd be better to steal or absorb their glamours like that cult was doing with the gryphon, so the footage might be for comparsion purposes.
"Don, you put up the seed money, so you should get that back, but we still need to rent the armoured car. Is an even split okay, if I pay for the vehicle rental? That should be somewhere around 700-1000 pounds."
The two of you go to the rental place. Ben turns up right outside with two machine guns slung over his back, a pistol at his belt, a hip taser and pretty much every other part of his body covered in knives, but you quickly deal with him. He hasn't been arrested yet, presumably due to Vince's backing.
You have enough to hire the car for at least a fortnight (a couple of missions). It would be three times as much to buy it outright. There's
a reasonable selection of vehicles.The car hiring business has a magical advisor, a mediocre shaman who gives off only a slight buzz of magical energy. The young polish man fingers his effigies nervously, and politely asks you to take good care of it. He somehow knows you're part of a larger magical organisation, and seems at pains to ingratiate himself with power. Sensible. You get the feeling he wants goodwill more than cash.
The organisation can give you a driver, but it's going to cost money. If you're willing to rely on a mortal who may not have combat experience to drive you, of course.
Use a series of Megafauna runes to lure the train into an area with a hard ground that it cannot burrow through.
A cunning approach. Unfortunately, London has nothing but relatively soft clay, the natural habitat of this burrowing train-worm. You scratch a gigantic megabeast rune on what seems like hard ground, but is actually just a thin layer of concrete.
Runic: 1+1
You finish the rune and wait. Nothing seems to have happened. You look around you, but the train worm isn't even in sight.
Then the ground explodes a scant few metres away from you, and you're thrown into the air by a wave of earth and rubble, the massive train passing straight through the rune, obliterating it with a scream of contempt and victory. The entire body of the locomotive rushes past as you're tossed into the sky, carriages flashing past, the rich musk of electrical magic crashing against your nostrils. Several small bones crunch from the impact, and you black out as you fall.
* * *
"
Interesting. Perhaps the little one is trying to
talk? Perhaps not."
Then the sunflowers stop looking at you, and your skull becomes opaque again as the lights recede.
Damn it, I barely get the time to do anything. Well then, go find Jane before she kills herself or does anything silly like trying to use pyromancy explosions on a pool of magical chemicals.
Vince gives you Jane's location, and you fly off towards her. It takes you a while to safely cross the Thames river, but you manage to use a bridge without disturbing any giant sea serpents or prowling nightmare creatures.
You see the train-worm writhing across an open area of abandoned parkland and building sites in the distance and head towards it. As you get closer, you make out the figure of Jane, scratching something potent and magical into the rock. The creature immediately changes its behaviour, rearing around in the air, before diving into the ground, going straight for the young witch. You accelerate, swooping towards Jane as she looks round unconcernedly. Instants before you reach her, the ground erupts in a fountain of earth, and your target is thrown into the sky.
You change course, dodging flying rocks and squinting against a bombardment of earth and pebbles, and press into the rush of hot air and electromagical excreta, snatching the child from harm midway through her tumble towards the concrete below. Then you arc up and away from the worm, holding the unconscious witch carefully.
You fly off to a safe distance and Jane opens her eyes, looking annoyed and not-at-all grateful.
Damn kids.
Name: Nanami Adachi. (Nanami)
Unnatural beauty granted by demonic contract and the adoration of mortals. Slight charisma/popularity boost.
Power from mortal media.
Can create illusions.
Well-dressed, if it matters.
Conscripted into twenty-nineth legion of Amdukias.
Puissance: 2 +1 not from Amdukias
Ritual: 0
Runic Sight: 1
Banal Combat: 0
Aim: 1
Melee: 0
Agility: 1
Praticality: 3
Inventory: £4250
Backpack, expensive camera + memory cards
Quality sketching paper, art pens+pencils, charcoal, etc.
Sketches of self as main character, Amdukias, the non-mortal world, etc.
[Tier Two Glass Rod Crystal Wand] - Enhanced slightly through media
Large, fist-sized mind-controlling spacerock fragments.
Painting supplies, a glass cutter, battery powdered soldering iron, eighty feet of red cloth, white rag and thread
Diving gear: masks, suits and some scuba tanks. (dumped)
Knife
Runes
Pestilence: all living things will someday die. This rune accelerates the processes of death with the energies of life - a draining and a consumption at once.
Puissance: 13/13
Puissant Clots: 2
Ben Breeze
Stats:
Puissant fettle - 0
Ritual potency - 0
Runic sight - 0
Banal combat - 6
Aim - 1
Melee - 1
Agility - 3
Practicality - 0
Inventory: 2xtaser, handcuffs, police baton, stab vest, torch, incapacitant spray, and a first aid kit. All in sports bag.
4 Athames, 2.5 legs War Bacon (Vince's Fridge), a worn face-concealing hooded coat, bin bags.
Concealed: knife in one boot, knife on a leg, and one on his torso.
Two generous Roast Beef and Horseradish Sandwiches
Two bin bags of assorted pills from pharmacy (Vince's fridge).
£20
Set of keys and passcard
Gunfarmer P90 (50/50) (in bag)
FN Minimi light machine gun, 200-round belt, (59/200) round belt
Gunfarmer's Silenced MK-23 Pistol 12/12
Puissant clots: 7
Puissance:5/5
Name: Zamenis Paean
Puissant fettle: 3
Agility: 3
Aim: 3
LICH: feeds on the bleeding hearts of his enemies.
Undead. Necromancy bonus.
Heavily Charred, not that it matters to you. But you look like you've spent the night on a live barbecue grill.
Respined and very slightly shorter.
Capable of creating: Basic shambling undead, higher undead with power source
Inventory: £1, Certificate from Belial (valid for one sample of occult substance)
Large Knife, knife.
Surgical tools: scalpel, a saw, and tweezers.
A length of shimmering, crystalline rope,
{Extremely Strong Sleep Potion}
Dragon Tooth Phylactery on [Tier Three Steel Mop Broom]
[Human Leg Wand]
[Ulna and Hand Wand]
Lightning Longsword
Human spine caduceus
Puissant Clots: 1
Puissance: 14/14
Name: Don Joe
Back covered in bone casing, small spikes
Ritual Strength - 2
Runic Sight - 1
Puissance - 1
Aim - 2
Agility - 1
Practicality - 1
Inventory: £2600
Card of Mortal-mind cleanup guy
[Chain Coin Pendant]
[Giraffe Wine Chalice]
[Venom Blood Syringe Chalice]
Simple Knife
Five bone spikes
Gunfarmer's Browning 9-mm 13/13
6x Polycarbon Body Armour
6x Divinely Enhanced Riot Shield
Runes
Market Savvy: You know what things are worth, and who will pay for or try to get them. From your time spent as a banker, a passive rune.
Acid: a rune that eats into whatever it touches.
Nebula: a rune that glows brilliantly, written in brilliant points of light. Can be written on the sky itself to send messages through the stars.
Carnage: paint this on something, and increase the likelihood of large numbers of people being killed or maimed near it. How on earth could you have picked up such a rune?
Puissance: 6/6
Puissant Clots: 1
[spoiler=it's the cycle of life]
Name: Jane Zisigin
[Heeded by Deep Ones]
Puissant fettle: 2
Runic Sight: 1
Aim: 3
Inventory: [Tier Two Deodorant Stick Wand]
£50
Bag of living scrap metal
Samples of: Human blood, Roses, Rotten Food
Transworld Entertainment Card
Runes
Megafauna: the first magical creature Jane really saw was a demonic rhinoceros trampling the broken bodies of her parents. This rune gives a passive awareness of nearby massive beasts, and will attract them when written.
Waif: boost to stealth when alone.
Muster: a rune that aids you in hiring or recruiting people to your cause, especially combatants.
Clots:1
Puissance: 9/9
Author
Topic: COVEN: Gulled Goldsmiths and Lost Locomotives (Read 153523 times)