EveryoneYou split into pairs, entering the club in seperate groups. Minato and Noriko. Faith and Yuki. Shef and his general aura of sketchiness that made everyone else not want to pair up with him.
It is agreed that Minato and Noriko with take the booth. Minato's Gaia Driver should be able to passively detect any magical failsafes if he gets close enough, and unlike Faith he should be able to access the male bathrooms without raising suspicion. Noriko meanwhile should be able to destroy such failsafes with Agneyastra and launch away any mundane explosives. Finding such explosives could be trickier, out of everyone gathered Shef probably would be the best choice but since Noriko was
strangely and inexplicably hesitant for him to disguise himself as her not-a-girlfriend disguised as someone else the general verdict was that a man drinking water alone at a booth would be a touch too suspicious.
((In the interest of keeping things moving, I'm including Errant Thoughts in these posts. Think of them as possible courses of action if you're not sure what to do.))
Minato and NorikoYou two are first through the entrance and near-immediately get showered with confetti. Apparently you're the 100th couple this evening. Meaning you two get some chocolates, some roses, and the "privilege" of answering questions from a far too enthusiastic staff member.
"OMG! You too look so cute together! How long have you been together?" Oh not long, you only got together recently. Very recently.
"Oh wow! You look like you've been together waaay longer!" The fuck's that suppose to mean?
"If you don't mind me asking, just how did you two lovebirds meet?" You certainly
do mind. But since the conversation is already heading down this path, you'll say... Tinder. It's always fucking Tinder. Nice and vague. Not that the questions stop. Hoo boy do the questions not stop, you two get interrogated all the way up to the VIP booths. If the walk was a few steps longer you're pretty sure she'd have moved onto your sex lives.
You two are now on the balconies overlooking the dance floor. The VIP booths as they were. You note a security guard at the bottom of the stairs, a maintenance closet at the top of the stairs, and dedicated toilets at the end of the rows of booths.
Noriko, as you pass by the maintenance closet you notice something. It's faint, barely perceivable under the bass reverberations and air conditioning, but perceivable nonetheless - breath. The cadence of something or something
s breathing. Not human patterns either. Either they've stationed a squad inside that closet or these's a group of completely unrelated monsters hiding in there. Knowing your luck it could be either.
Hanzo's booth is a ways deeper into the area than your own. You'd pass his on the way to the bathrooms. He'd pass yours on the way to the stairs. He's surrounded by two women and some goons. Regular goons you think. Or at least,
formerly human goons. Might be Awakened, might not be. They're a little talkative and animated to be Hunters in disguise though. The booth next to theirs? Definitely Hunters. They're a bit too mechanical and stare a little too intensely at you as you make your way to your own booth.
They're not suspicious of you, at least you don't think they are, just observing the newcomers.
- The guy's got to use the bathroom sometime. Minato could follow him in and try and scan him then. Alternatively if you sabotage the bathroom he'll be forced to use the ones downstairs, giving Shef a chance to check him for explosives.
- They'd rather kill Hanzo than let him fall into enemy hands, but that doesn't mean they'll blow him sky-high at the drop of a hat either. If Minato picks a fight with him and plays it off as mundane altercation it might give him a chance to get a scan off.
- Poison might be an option. Not a lethal dose of course, but enough to make Hanzo fall ill and get him rushed to hospital. The commotion should give enough cover to check him for magical and mundane failsafes, not to mention softening up his security measures. Not much of a chance of doing it from up here but you should be able to figure out his drink orders and relay it to your teammates downstairs.
Faith, Shef, and YukiSo after Minato and Noriko get bukkake'd by confetti on the way in, you three enter the club. You only had one VIP booth booked so that means you three are stuck downstairs at the bar and dance floor til you figure a way to go upstairs, or to make Hanzo come down to you.
The place is well, it's a night club. An undulating mass of bodies reverberating in tune with the music. Ten bad decisions happen every second here, aided by alcohol and often a few harder, less legal substances. Psychedelic visuals flash on the screen behind the DJ casting harsh shadows across the dancefloor.
Yuki, you think you might be able to get away with using your Black Arrows here. You're, still not 100% what they are, something about Taoism or something? But they're not magic and they'll blend in with the shadows well enough. Course the moment you discharge them, yeah someone will probably notice something amiss.
Faith you notice a few gazes swinging over to you and your sister.
Those kind of gazes. You're under illusion and all, but it still sets your stomach turning that little bit, adding a little bit more unease to the whole "man rigged with explosives in crowded nightclub" situation.
Hanzo and your teammates should be in the VIP booths upstairs. A security guard is stationed at the foot of the stairs so it'll be a little trickier than just waltzing your way up there. Beyond that, you spot at three bars, two smaller ones, one main bar. Drinks for the VIP booths get prepared at the main bar and delivered by members of staff up the stairs. Which member of staff it is varies and between the strobing lights and generally frantic work pace you doubt they'd be checking each other's faces, instead they seem to have an ID card scanner. Good to know.
Beyond that, there's the secondary goal here - finding the other threats. There's probably a few Hunters stationed here under some illusion cover. If you can find them you could be in a good place to kill them the moment you go loud.
- That police cover might come in handy. You could use it to gain free access to the building, including the VIP area. This would set those Hunters on edge of course, but if you can make it look like you're gunning for someone else it might just work.
- Maybe you could act suspicious? It will make it hard for you to move freely afterwards, but it might clue your teammates into where some of the Hunters are stationed so you can take them out in a pre-emptive strike the moment everyone goes loud.
- You could try sabotaging something and starting a fire, forcing an evac. Might be possible to take advantage of the commotion.
- It's not too late to kidnap a member of staff.
- Yuki-exclusive: Super-evil-but-not-really-vampire-guy (what was his name again?) taught you a little con artistry, said it might help with some of your powers. You think you might be able to use them here. You think you can fast talk your way up into the VIP area. Maybe yourself and one other person.
- Shef-exclusive (Highlight to View): You packed a clip of clothing damage rounds. If you can get into position to blast him with that and a low-power expulser and you should be able to bypass any mundane failsafe short of a suicide vest.
Primary Objective: Identify and neutralize Hanzo's failsafes. They must have rigged him with failsafes. Magical ones can be detected by staying close enough to him, more mundane measures may be harder to spot.
Secondary Objective: Identify targets of interest. Hanzo probably has a security detail stationed in the club. They're probably hidden through illusions and similar means, if they can be identified they can be taken out in a first strike the moment the party moves to secure Hanzo.
Special Conditions: Magic use restricted. They likely have some way to detect magic. Use of magic will immediately draw suspicion and will potentially result in Hanzo's death if they think you're after him. Faith's energy manipulation (so long as it's performed on pre-existing magic specifically, Minato's Gaia Driver analysis suite, the sensory aspects of Noriko's Requiem, and Shef's Surgeon's Eyes can be used without risk of detection.
- Hanzo & Henchmen: Upstairs in a VIP booth. Henchmen capabilities unknown.
- 1x Hunter Squad: Positioned inside a maintenance closet at the top of the 2nd floor, right where the VIP section starts.
- 1x Hunter Squad: Positioned in the booth next to Hanzo's.
- 1x Hunter Squad: Disguised as civilians loitering in an alleyway on the opposite side of the street. Their positioning gives them decent cover and firing position that covers the club's main entrance.
Faith: Civilian illusion, forged ID, forged police badge
Minato: Civilian illusion, forged ID, forged police badge
Noriko: Civilian illusion, forged ID, forged police badge
Shef: Civilian illusion, forged ID, forged police badge
Yuki: Civilian illusion, forged ID, forged police badge