2012.07.15.Toreador.Treason

Toreador Treason
The team must enter the Toreador haven and steal blackmail documents.
IC Date	June 15, 2012
IC Time	Night
Players	CashOld, Andrea Napatelea, Van, Mary
Location	Shady Grove
Prp/Tp	Crusade
Spheres	Vampire: Sabbat

Shady Grove - Smoke Jumpers - The Bar

Smoke Jumpers is filled with noise and smoke as the mid-shift at the docks gets off and comes in to drown the pain in their backs. Newcomers are always eyefucked in this city, but more so in this bar where the insular community of union longshoremen come to congregate. Despite that, Markus seems to always be left alone in his booth with his iPad and his books. The Hand member is waiting for operatives from Prospect to arrive and keeps himself busy reading a centuries old treatise on the Book of Nod.

Van the Man seems to be the first on there. Eager Van. So ready to prove himself. So hungry to further the will of the sect and spread the wonderful swirl of chaos into a brand new city... He is dressed as he normally is for such meetings. Wife beater. Camo pants. Backpack, guitar case and boots. He doesn't dare speak to Markus, or sit with him. He just stands nearish his table and waits.

Mary has actually decided to be professional this time around. She's dressed in black BDU's and a tank top, her hair back in a knit cap. Her eyes are focused. "Going to do it right this time." she mutters.

Being the huge motherfucker that he is, Cash often gets a wide birth. Those that get close to him tend to not want to be near him for very long, especially the mortals. The old man comes walking in, boots clumping softly, muffled by the dirt underfoot. As he walks farther in, the clopping of his boots becomes louder as he leaves a trail of dirt behind him, shaken off his boots, and even his spurs start to jangle again. He walks towars Marcus' booth, the usual scowl on his face present.

Andrea follows behind Cash, looking ever like the princess as she disdains the filthy place they have to go.

Markus looks up at the arrivals and waves them into his booth. The book is set on the seat next to him and replaced with the ubiquitous iPad. For an elderly organization, the Hand certainly does keep up with technology. "Excellent, we have a good crew this evening," he says casually to the group. "I have a mission that must be done tonight, or may not be accomplished at all. Are you prepared for a hard fight?"

Van the Man steps up to the table and nods slightly to Markus, the fool, adressing the Black Hand operative so directly like that. He stands still and straight. Waiting to hear more.

With that old hoarse drawl, Cash speaks up finally. "And what exactly is that mission? I don't like to sit around and pussyfoot. I want the details so we can get on with this."

"The Toreadors are throwing a lavish party at Elysium this night," Markus begins, his eyes moving off the group and onto his tablet. "They will be away almost to a kindred and the haven will be secured primarily by ghouls. As I'm sure you are all aware, the Toreadors are great horders of secrets. Secrets that it will be most advantageous to have our hands for the coming crusade. Rivalries, petty disputes, locations of havens, perhaps even the secret of the chantry. You will conduct and disguise yourselves as the local Brujah," he glances up with a smirk, "which should not be difficult. Penetrate the heart of their haven and access their vault with the passcodes I will provide you with. Then take as much as you can carry, and leave behind evidence of a Brujah incursion."

Mary looks around. "If you have pictures.." she holds out her hands. "I have faces, for everyone."

Andrea snickers "what. you want us to shit about the place? what markings do you want of Brujah?" she leans on Cash, wanting an answer.

"You're not touching me, woman." Cash drawls at Mary without even looking in her direction. "I'm sure we can do a convincing job. Throw a few anarchy signs, act like we're some punk fuck youths. The usual stupid shit the ones brainwashed by the Camarilla do."

"I leave it up to your imagination," Markus says as he slides the iPad over to Cash. "We have a partial, outdated schematic of the haven. It is located in a mid-sized tower downtown. The vault is in the penthouse. There are several means of entry. The front door, the roof, or the sewers. The roof would be the most obvious, but more heavily guarded then the rest. The lobby is guarded by several ghouls that act as rent-a-cops policing traffic throughout the building. The sewer has only mundane, electronic surveillence to protect it."

Van the Man takes out a cell phone with as much power as a shitty laptop and taps it. "Sir, can you send me the schematics?" he asks, and gives any information needed to do so. He doesn't comment on means of entry. He leaves such to Cash to decide...Like anyone would listen to him, anyway.

"A few nigger caps and we can bust our way in through the guards." Cash drawls, eying the ipad, and then shoving it in Van's direction, so he won't have to personally deal with the device.

Mary consders "They should be easy enough. It sounds like hte swers are the best bet. Nothing we can't take out."

The information is quickly uploaded to Van's mobile after Markus retrieves the tablet. "Beware, the ghouls are quite powerful, but I'm sure you will be fine," he says, "Ghoul, you also have the access codes for the vault. To the best of my knowledge they are current. Is there anything you need before you depart?"

Van the Man shakes his head slightly and slips his phone back into his pocket. "So, no stealth? We go in guns blazing like we're declaring war here?"

Mary offers "Oh! If we're not being subtle. I know what I'm doing." Bad marion.

Andrea is quiet, listening, buffing her nails.

"If we're going to pretend to be Brujah, to put the heat on them.. The more damage we cause, the more upfront we have to be. Run in like some raving moron punk kids, smash the place up, take what we're after, and get out." Cash drawls at Van, holding up a hand to give that 'shut up' gesture. "We want to sell the image that we're those dumb fucks, so we're going to act like them. Pretend we're all about their stupid anarchy and chaos bullshit. And at th esame time, we do more fucking damage to the camarilla assets. Weaken them."

Andrea perks up "pink. I want pink spray paint. I will put those pretty pink v things up" she makes the anarchy symbol with fingers

"I applaud your attitude Cash," Markus says and pulls a duffel bag out from underneath the booth. The cainite sets it down on the table with a heavy thump and opens it. Inside is a collection of grenades, plastique, blasting caps, and a few firearms with ammunition to match. "Take what you need, and use it in good health. Now get going, the night is short and time is wasting."

Andrea takes the WHOLE DAMN BAG

Van the Man just shakes his head and sneers slightly. "Andrea...You fucked up so bad last time you tried to use explosives. Give me some of them, at least." he says softly. "In all due respect, of course..."

Andrea grumps "I did not FUCK UP. You were calling out weird things. I like the blow up balls!" she states, as she and Van go to a side table to root in the goodie bag.

Van the Man cuts his eyes to Cash. "She called them blow up balls...Come on, man."

Mary smiles. "Let me have some of them Andrea. Don't hog all the fire."

"Say what you want, but no one's going to stop her from kicking the shit out of you if you do." Cash drawls, sounding slightly irritated. "Now shut the fuck up. We've got to get ready to kill shit." He holds out a hand towards Andrea, as if expecting her to hand over the bag. "Let's get out of here, we've got to get ready to kill some stupid motherfuckers."

Andrea slips a few blow up balls in her pockets and hands the bag to Cash, "we gotta stop for spray paint. I need to get some pink shit" she tells Cash as she sticks her tongue out to Van, loping out in her haughty pretty pretty princess walk.

Mary nods "Just a sec. Gotta put on my Anarchy face." she heads to the bathroom. She comes back in a whole new outfit. A red plaid skirt, a PVC tank top, and her hair in red industrial goth dreads. And the gas mask. And anarchy symbols. Yeah. She's overdoing it. She then heads back with the group , following Andrea and her happy explosives, newly acquired spray paint in hand.

Shady Grove - Blue Heaven Towers - Lobby

The lobby of this building is a beautiful 1940's piece of art-deco architecture. High sculpted columns of granite frame the entrance and hold up the three story ceiling. The floor is black marble buffed to a precise shine. At the far end is a set of six elevators. Between the doors and then are two security stations, each sporting two guards and a metal detector. The guards are mostly bullshitting and goofing around, as the building is technically closed and hardly anyone ever bothers them on the night shift.

Take a note. After the prep, Cash is dressed in clothes that.. are nothing like what he normally wears. Crappy black combat boots, black cargo pants, and a black t-shirt with a stolen jacket he spraypained an anarchy sign on, and a winter mask to complete that bank robber or convenience store robber look. Instead of his usual blade, he's opted for a more modern 'rambo' style knife, and a submachine gun. Probably because he couldn't find a crossbow.

Van the Man decks himself out in punk gear. He even /carves/ a fucking anarchy symbol into his forehead and expends a bit of blood to heal it up enough to look like an old scar. Wife beater and camo pants are brujah enough. The shotgun and dual pistols ain't to shabby either. He pauses outside the building and glances to Cash. "Lead the rush, fearless leader?"

Andrea gets all the leftovers, making Van bedeck her up good to look like a Cammie chick. Then its pink paint and bombs to play with as the enter the building!

Perhaps Cash had some military experience in his past, perhaps as a mortal. Because the way he leads them to form up against the front doors on the outside is a lot like a military breach entrance. Instead of a flash bang being thrown in, though, it's a grenade. But there is time to prepare.. Blood coursing through his veins before that grenade blows up. And then, he's leading the group in. He rushes with superhuman speed, and obscene levels of superhuman speed at that. He never stops moving. From his perspective, it's as if time has slowed down, everyone else is moving so slow. The muzzle of his gun bursts with heat as the bullets are let loose in three round bursts. The first burst connects two bullets to one of the guards, the first hitting in the hip, the second in the shoulder, while the third slaming into the wall right behind him. Shots are fired back, but with the speed Cash moves at, he simply ducks to the side, avoiding it while charging forward. the next round of bullets connect, hitting mostly in the gut and hip this time. And inward he continues.

The guards barely have time to do anything before the grenade blows in the middle of the floor. Shrapnel flies everywhere, but for the most part misses them. Being the enhanced humans that they are, the four react almost instantly. Guns are drawn, blood is pumped, and bullets start to fly everywhere. The slower moving trio behind Cash are peppered with .45 rounds as the ghouls take aim. Slugs hit them in return from Cash's gun, but their stamina and fortitude leave them barely scratched.

Van follows tight behind Cash, cutting to the side, and taking a knee behind a desk. Just low enough to cover himself as he lifts his shotgun and takes him. He isn't as fast,but he is precise. He is accurate and fatal. The semi-automatic boomstick deals out death at an alarming rate, one to the gut, recoil carrying it up to the head to send bone sharpnel spraying back into the room... Then a pivot to the side and another one dispatched before he is vaulting over the desk and moving in quickly. Gun up and looking through the sights as he breaches into the main room.

Andrea is throwing grenades like water balloons, screaming in delight as she runs forward to smash at a man with her head, driving them into a wall.

It's not long before the first machine gun cash is carrying is out of ammo, and it stossed to the side. Another slung around his shoulders is whipped out and a hail of bullets pepper against the ghouls again, the bursts finding home more easily this time, to much the same effect as before. But soon enough another clip is emptied, and that gun tossed asside. Blood pumping through him, the old cainite continues forward. That knife is drawn next.. his real weapon. Her ushes up to the first ghoul, behind him, actually, and bringing the knife up to his throat, ripping it across. They all seem to be moving so slow compared to him, as he turns towards the next one.

Mary wanders up with her own grenades this time. Shes not going for the shield this time. She chuckles. "Time to burn some shit!" she says with a cackle, throwing grenades around like a loon. She's not going to be on the sidelines this time. No no. She's got something to prove.

Van is reloading, he isn't even trying to keep up with Cash and he is keeping a wide fucking gap between himself and Andrea. The girl had no control, and that was just dandy...He just didn't want to get his legs blown off by her. Before he can lift his gun from the reload, he sees the last ghoul aiming for him... without getting his gun all the way up he pulls the trigger, blasting a slug through his knee and throwing off the aim. A line of bullets go up the fall as the Ghoul falls, squeezing the trigger and Van rushes him, lifting his gun and bringing down the stock into his face, over and over and over...Until his skull is cracked open and his brains leak out onto the floor.

The fighting stops as abruptly as it began. Instead of a beautiful lobby crafted by the finest architect of his time, the lobby is now a smoking ruin of a war zone. The gorgeous marble is shattered into thousands of pieces from grenade blasts. Instead of delicate works of art adorning the walls, now blood, bone, and brain matter are splattered across them like a Jackson Pollack. As the smoke clears, one ghoul can be seen still moving. Trailing intestines and vital organs, he is using one arm to slowly pull himself to the elevators. The man is muttering something incomprehensible and leaving behind a slick of blood like the worlds biggest slug.

Andrea leaps, screaming in delight as she tears into the moving about ghoul.

Mary goes quite suddenly...quiet as something in her snaps. She heads over to the brains on the ground and starts to run her finger through them, getting some blood. Delicately, distantly she starts to make anarchy symbols on the walls with it. She moves as if shes trying to control her every motion.

That suprnatural speed doesn't stop, Cash rushes after the slowly moving ghoul, bringing his boot down on the man's back, the crunching sound of his spine breaking audible even as Andrea tears into him. And then, he's moving towards the elevators. Going up?

That suprnatural speed doesn't stop, Cash rushes after the slowly moving ghoul, bringing his boot down on the man's back, the crunching sound of his spine breaking audible even as Andrea tears into him. And then, he's moving towards the elevators. Going up?

Once the team is piled into an elevator, it is plain to see that these particular elevators will only take you to level 30, even though the penthouse is on level 35.

Stairs never hurt anyone. Except old people being pushed down them. And so.. It's time for an elevator ride. with crappy music.

Andrea is in the elevator bitching about the music as she spray paints it with pink death.

Around level 20 an ominous red light starts to blink on the floor display. It continues for the next few levels until the lights shut off and the elevator stops. The lights, however, come back on almost immediately although the elevator remains stationary. The lighting is a bit different now, as it is UV lighting that mimics the radiation spectrum of the sun. As soon as it hits Cash and Andrea, their skin immediately begins to conflagrate.

Andrea screams in pain, the pain being heard through out the elevator tunnel. the girl has lungs on her! She curls up behind Cash, hiding.

Growling in anger, Cash does what he does best when he's under assault. He starts smashing things. Powerful, superhumanly powerful, kicks slam the doors open, wrecking them horribly, and he pries them open teh rest of the way, having to pull himself up as the elevator is stuck between floors, but he is able to get it open, and quickly moves out onto the floor.

Andrea is not far behind Cash, beating on the door as her skin sizzled, and leaping free with a scowl at him "your a dumb dad"

"Shut your fucking trap." Cash growls out, his form still smouldering. "Dumb fuckers. All we'd have to do to take them out is rig this thing to go off any fucking time someone uses it." But he's on a mission, and so he's making his way for the nearest set of stairs.

Andrea is behind him, chasing up the stairs, her youth and agility making her look a bit faster than him. "you need electronics smarts for that. You don't have smarts"

Mary continues up the stairs, chasing Van. "Almost there. Careful. I'll get your ass." she chuckles.

Van the Man growls out softly. "I will eat your heart, woman!" Van growls and reaches the top...Wait, did he beat the elevator? This isn't right... "Marion...Blood form, seep down that shaft....Something isn't right." he says softly, having no idea they have already escaped the trap.

Stairs located, the vitae is pumping through Cash again as he rushes forward. A good hard kick hits the door, and he lets out a growl as his supernatural speed kicks in. He's going up the stairs faster than that bitch on the stairmaster if you fast forward the tape.

Andrea is right behind her Sire, ready to pound the first thing she sees. Its Van. A growl of disappointment hisses out.

Mary pauses. "They're not here." she starts to melt, like candlewax, already shifting to that blood form. She seaps down into the shaft, dripping her way towards the elevator of doom.

Being faster than anyone else, Cash is able to make his way up the stairs... Quickly.

Van the Man is crouched down and waiting...For anyone.. To get to him. Gun ready, and as Andrea breaches, he swings it up and levels it at her face for a moment before he sees who it is and lowers it. "The fuck happened?"

"cant you smell? daddy dearest put us into the tanning bed" she growls out, grabbing at Van to move on. "find the way up boy"

The group is somewhat scattered on the 30th floor which turns out to be some sort of art gallery. Except, for anyone in the know, every single piece is a stolen work of art. The entire floor is a maze of random walls, twists, turns, and dead ends with tens of millions on the walls.

Mary has no idea anyone is safe and sound. She's still seaping towards the death elevator.

Fortunately for Mary, the maintenance hatch of the elevator is sealed shut and the rest of the thing is airtight to boot. No seeping in for her.

Van the Man has an eye for art...For beauty. Its so gorgeous! Only one thing could make it better! He flexes his naisl, those supernaturally sharp nails...And starts to shred every painting he passes by. Ripping them apart. Rending anarchy symbols into some. "Lets breach this shit...They might not know, they /are/ torries after all. Its hard to hear gunshots with yer head up your ass." and with that he starts to look for a way up.

...Then he remembers he has the floor plans on his phone, checks it. "We have a freight elevator...This way."

Cash lets the others smash things, while he looks around, eying Van. "Then lead the way already fuckface. We need to smash and grab and get the fuck out."

Mary pauses and shifts forms. She climbs back up to report, and sees the others are already ahead of her. "Motherfuckers!" she calls down the hall. "You got started without me!"

Van just licks his lips as Cash calls him fuckface and has the god damn balls to give a little wink as he darts off for the freight elevator. He glances over his shoulder at Mary and calls out "The fuck did you go?!" like he hadn't been the one to give the order.

Andrea stares at the elevator "FUCK BALLS NO NO NO" she refuses. "NO MORE ELEVATORS unless I have shield." she goes back and grabs a giant mirror to be her shield, wiggling it into the elevator with her.

The freight elevator looks like any old freight elevator. It is extra large and has a few janitorial odds and ends inside it. Only problem is... keypad required for 35th floor access. Rut roh.

"If it's the only fucking way up, then we take it. If not.. Any other options?" Cash questions of Van.

Van the Man eyes his phone, frowning deeply. "fucking shit, not even Vents. No other way up...Come on, lets do this." he gets on and eyes the keypad. "Well fuck...lets see what I can do.." he mumbles to himself softly as he takes a few long moments to look everything over.

"Alright. Let's get in. Smash any fucking lights in it." Cash says as he stomps towards the elevator. "I want to get this shit and get the fuck out of here."

Mary nods "RIght. Do your magic, Van." she says. "Note to self. Shovel more hackers."

Andrea looks up "lets just break through the roof, and shimmy up the wiring"

Van takes his phone back out, and then a USB port with an open ended wire... He then cracks open the paneling and wires his phone directly into the simple computer that works the keypad. A few moments of frantic clicking and the thin whirrs to life, the security protocols over ridden. "Ha." an eye cut to andrea. "..Great idea, you are /so/ smart."

Mary nods "Sounds lke a plan." she smiles at andrea. "Lets get to it."

"You got that fucking thing working yet?" Cash questions, seeming to ignore the banter between Andrea and Van.

The elevator opens, and upon seeing this, Cash walks in to it. "Alright. let's get to it already. We've got shit to do."

AFter the elevator makes its ascent, the doors open... The penthouse is what would imagine, full of naked bitches... Okay, not really. It's not like the magazine. But instead, it is a beautiful and lavish penthouse. At the back of it, however, is a large safe.. And in front of it is a man in a custom tailored grey suit, and a black leather designer trenchcoat. The man is clearly missing an eye, and eyepatch over his left eye. When the elevator opens, he turns his attention on those entering. "Well.." He says quietly, to himself at first. "I suppose you killed my men, then? They were good men, Hard to replace. But they would be happy to know I am going to avenge them."

While Mr. Suit is giving a his speech Van slips the pin out of his grenade....Letting it cook long enough to make sure it couldn't be thrown back and then hurling it at the talky blah blah blah vampire...

Andrea was doing the same thing, one in each hand as she hides behind her huge ass mirror. "on the count of3?" she whispers, "one" and they are chucked into the room.

While the man gives his speech Vitae is already pumping through Cash's form. His knife is drawn, and he looks ready to fight...

The man in the suit, however, isn't just standing there stupidly when the grenades are thrown, he moves quickly, ducking behind a couch, which absorbs most of the blast. And oddly enough, only his clothing seems scratched. Dark eyes focus on the two grenade throwers, on Van specifically, and he lets out a snarl. "You shouldn't toy with immortals, boy!"

Andrea is fists of fury alright. A powder puff girl wailing little fists as she runs to the man. Too bad the couch blocked her hitting of the man.

Van? Just...Bolts. He doesn't even know where he is going...He fings open a door and them WHAM!! He hits the wall, oh fuck. Its so ironic, hes back in the closet...And from that impact? He might have knocked himself out.

Even as Andrea swings and misses him, the dark man in the suit levels a fearsome gaze on Van, putting the fear of undeath into him. But then, Cash attempts the same on the kindred, with less stunning effects. It is clear CAsh's own dread gaze is fearsome, but nowhere near as powerful as the kindred's.

Andrea is really and truly pissed at the couch. Cause she is doing a good job of getting that and not the man behind it.

As Andrea punches couches, Cash is stabbing the target. He slashes his knife across the kindred's chest, ripping through his suit, and drawing blood with his first slash, but a strong punch to the ribs has him letting out a grunt as his ribs crack, but he doesn't slow any...

This time, Andrea and Cash both find their mark when they strike. But against the dead, knives do more damage fists. Cash's knife digs in deeper this time, ripping up the man's chest, with a bloody spurt. He pauses toe stare down at the kindred as he falls, but doesn't dwell, instead starting towards the safe.

Andrea is following with the duty of killing the man, and then she pulls out her spray can. and destroying the fucking place

Van the Man is stirring slowly, and gets up. Rubbing his face. "fucking shit fucking corpse..." he growls, shouldering his shot gun and stomping out of the closet. He puts 6 rounds into the body, peppering it all over, before pulling up the access codes and throwing the phone to Cash to open it up.

"What the fuck is this bullshit?" Cash questions as he looks over the phone. Then, he shrugs, and instead starts to smash the safe open. Because that's just the brujah way.

Van the Man sighs and is reloading as he paces over and picks up the phone...entering the code even as CASH SMASH!! Would brute force or a keycode win out first?

That depends on if the keycode has potence 3 or not.

Hitting the safe really fucking hard pays off, as Cash is able to smash it hard enough that it pops open. Then, he gives it a quick kick for good measure. "Alright. Grab what we need and let's get the fuck out of here."

Mary shifts back because theres no point in continuing. "Yeah, well thats one way to do it." she comments.

The safe is chock full of documents, photographs, flash drives and other assorted goodies. What to choose, what to choose!

What is 'All of it', Alex.

Van the Man empties some shit out of his backpack, odds and ends, and then starts to load the fuck up. He can fit an impossible amount in that backpack...If there is more than can be carried, that is.

All of it is then, as Van's incredibly huge on the inside tardis-esque backpack swallows the entire contents of the safe in a single bite!

Andrea is staggering about now, high on diabness or something like that. she sprays vans ass with pink as she finally looks around at her destruction. "back for our reward daddy-o"

"Let's get the fuck out of here." Cash confirms, already starting for the elevator.

Shady Grove - Smoke Jumpers - The Bar

The bar has cleared out by the time the trio make their way back from the Toreador haven. Markus is in his usual spot, doing his thing with the Book of Nod. As soon as they enter he notices, sets the book away, and motions them over. "Success? I see you are missing one," he says, his accent thicker with weariness. "Did she meet the final death?"

Van the Man silently unloads his back. Neatly stacking and presenting eveything to Markus without a word.

"No, none of ours died." Cash drawls as he nears, walking towards Markus' table. "She just needed to get herself a snack."

"Excellent," Markus replies. Although whether he is talking about Andrea or the bounty Van is providing for him is left open to debate. He quickly rifles through the first stack of paperwork and even allows the corners of his mouth to flirt with a smile. "Yes, this will be most beneficial to our cause. Good work Cainites, this is a major step forward in our campaign to liberate the city."

Transcript #2134

Markus, as you requested we enhanced the audio from our bug and created this transcript. Some of it was too garbled to recover, but most of it should be accurate.

Transcript #2134

Voice1: Tentatively identified as Serif Valenti, Toreador primogen Voice2: Believed to be Alexsi Rankoff, chief advisor to the primogen. Transcript is as follows:

Voice1: Did you see what they did to us? Those brujah slime will be destroyed <smashing sound, most likely glass> Voice2: Yes, yes I saw, but we should investigate... <voice is cut off> Voice1: What do you need to investigate?! There are pink anarchy symbols all over my fucking haven! Voice2: I would advise caution, it could have been imposters. Voice1: Oh bullshit, the Tremere don't have the Kindred here to do this, and the Brujah have always been the thorn in the side of our clan. Voice2: Yes your excellency, but they seem to be rather busy with the Giovanni...<knock on the door> Voice1: Enter! Voice3 <garbled> Voice1: Very well, I will attend to it. We're done here.

<End Transcription>