[Day: Sunday, Feb. 23rd. Time: 10:30 a.m.] (No, I think there was more melting than exploding) (There was FIRE, okay?) (Was it still moving?) (Not by the time we got there.) (Yeah. It sucks when there's a moving truck that just bursts into flames.) [Having sent Togo on ahead with Haruko, the rest of you stayed in Hamburg for a bit longer, looking for leads. But you didn't find any because the dice hate you. So you headed back to HQ. You've been told to wait in the briefing room while Lydia confers with Haruko in private. Good times.] [Start] (It suck being stuck for an hour behind one that's not moving too.) * Roseli is waiting in the briefing room. More specifically, she's pacing and drinking a giant mug of coffee. Which is like waiting! * Jamie has finaly succumed to sleep and is curled up in one of the chairs. * Luana is sleeping with her head on the table. Take it when you can get it! * Heinrick isn't pacing. But he is sitting and brooding. And sadly, in this pose, *does* look an awful lot like Gendo. (It's Gendo! *pimp music*) (Heinrick is saving on mouth animation costs!) (srsly.) ( Am I here? ) ( Yes! ) (Congrats.) (...Every time Akihiko (in Persona 3) hits an enemy and doesn't kill it, he says, "Still alive." And then Still Alive from Portal plays in my head. This is a very distracting cycle.) (Look at us still, oocing when there's science to do.) * Togo is sitting, looking a bit annoyed. Probably from spending so much time with Keiko's 'mom'. (Wait, does Togo speak Japanese?) ( Yeah, she doesn't speak the JPs. ) ( Or he doesn't. ) ( Or someone doesn't. ) (I does, but I le tired.) (due to having been up for more than 24 hours.) ( No, he doesn't. He was in England, remember ) ( He speaks English/Spanish/German, and reads those plus Braille ) (Then, uh, how does spending time dealing with Keiko's mom annoy him other than the general "not being able to talk to someone" thing?) ( Women annoy him. XD ) (...boy, did he pick the wrong job for that.) (Snicker.) [After a short while, Lydia enters the room, along with Haruko. "Ms. Minsha has agreed to supply us with the location where Keiko is being held."] ( Because he couldn't communicate with her, and kneecapping her would be pointless, so he got frustrated. ) * Heinrick turns to Lydia. "And the demands?" * Roseli looks at Lydia and Haruko, then nods. * Roseli also has more coffee. (Mothers are boring. Coffee is awesome.) (Rose belives in the heart of the coffee.) ( She wants Togo's LAW. ... do we *really* need Keiko? ) [Lydia closes her eyes. "It seems we have no choice but to hand Keiko over to her."] ( Do we really need Togo?) * Roseli raises an eyebrow. "Serious?" (It's probably a good thing that Lu's still asleep.) (And here I thought I was going to be the first person kicked off the team!) * Heinrick folds his hands together. "I would like to see what Keiko has to say about that." [Lydia nods. "The fact is, Keiko is aware of quite a bit of classified information. The longer she remains in enemy hands, the more likely they are to coerce the information from her."] (So SHE'S the one writing the porn!) * Heinrick nods. "It is, after all, your decision." (Discovered!) * Roseli nods. (Owned.) [Lydia hits a few buttons on her computer, and a map pops up. "According to Ms. Minsha, Keiko is being held at an unmarked facility near St. Petersburg, Russia. She says she'll give the exact location once over Russian airspace." Lydia looks towards you. "She insists on coming."] * Heinrick stands slowly. "That does not surprise me. Very well." (I insist that Rose caps her once we confirm Keiko.) (Your Ten is showing.) (Sorry, I'm hungry.) (Ten wasn't her anger, it was her hunger for everything but chocolate!) (It's so obvious now!) Anyone speak Russian? 2d8-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Keiko (2d8-2) and gets a natural 8 for a result of 6. * Roseli shakes her head. * Heinrick sighs and throws his hands up. "I'm afraid it is one of the languages I *haven't* studied up on..." Since Haruko knows them, though, perhaps she may serve as an asset. No guarentees though. [Lydia nods.] Ah well. Hopefully we won't have much interaction. Can we get any sort of clearance to operate there, or are we going in completely under the radar? ["We'll be keeping it quiet. The Russians are notorious for their uncooperation, and we have no way of knowing whether they would even agree to cooperate if we informed them of the facility. That is, assuming the facility isn't sanctioned by the Russian government in the first place."] In which case, wouldn't Russia be interfering with *German* operations? ["They wouldn't see it that way."] * Heinrick chuckles. "I see your point." Feed us any intel you have while we're in the air. Let's get moving. *stands up* * Roseli nods. "Will we have contact from there?" ["No. Maintain radio silence until the operation is complete."] * Luana mumbles something about sheep in her sleep. ( Sheep... ARE DELICIOUS *begins gnawing on Jamie's head*) ( Oh, good, I've traumatized her. Step 3 is complete. ) 2d8-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Keiko (2d8-2) and gets a natural 10 for a result of 8. * Roseli nods. Very well. * Togo pokes Luana in the shoulder. "Time to get moving. You can sleep on the plane." * Roseli lightly shakes Jamie. * Luana is on her feet immediately, causing her chair to fall over. She blinks and looks around, then rights her chair. * Jamie bolts awake and out of the chair, she staggers a few steps before catching her balance and blinking blearlily at Rose. ( Not asleep! Not asleep! DIE SHEEP DIE.) (You must remain ever vigilant for the Sheepocalypse.) * Luana yawns. "We're good to go, sir?" We're going to Russia to save Keiko.e (-e) [Haruko moves to follow you.] Great! * Jamie stares at Rose without comprension for a moment and then nods. * Roseli nods. "And we're giving her to Haruko." Let's go. * Roseli goes. * Jamie follows. * Heinrick casts a glance at Haruko to judge her mood for a moment, then promptly makes his way towards the plane-o-copter they have ready. * Luana stares. "We-" She follows, obviously annoyed but not saying anything about it. [And you leave! And yet, as you do, you bump into Iris. Y'know, from Section 3? "Um, hello."] * Roseli nods to her. "Morning." (Is it sad that I *don't* remember her?) (Cyra's sister?) (Ah. Yes.) ( She pops up all the time >.> Cyra's sister, Karin's friend... super psychic ultra soldier.... ) (What KEiko could be if you didn't suck as a guardian.) (>_> <_<) * Heinrick stops and waits. Usually people don't stop and say hello unless they have something else to say. (That's why we're giving you away.) (Because you failed.) [She fidgets. "I just wanted to let you know, Karin's doing much better."] * Togo nods. "Good." ["She keeps saying she wishes she could help you."] * Roseli smiles a little. "Glad she's doing better." Talk to her when I get back, okay? Have a mission now. * Heinrick quirks his head at a glance at Iris for a moment, curiously. Um, please give her my best regards. [Iris grins. "Thanks, I'll tell her you said that. Good luck!"] [She waves and heads down the stairs.] Thanks. * Roseli waves back and goes! I have to check in with something quickly. If you'll excuse me... * Heinrick heads off without explanation! * Jamie follows Rose. * Togo heads for wherever they're going! (But he did explain. Just poorly.) [Haruko turns to watch Iris go, frowning. Then she turns to watch Heinrick go, frowning more. But ultimately, she follows the rest of you. Frowning.] * Luana whispers to Togo as they go, "Sir, are we really going to just hand Keiko over? She's a valuable asset, isn't she?" (Semantics.) * Togo shrugs and whispers back. "Dunno. Depends on if this is really her mother. Also on whether Lydia had her fingers crossed." Right. Thank you, sir. 2d8-1 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Keiko (2d8-1) and gets a natural 12 for a result of 11. [You get outside, where the heliplane is. It's like a helicopter, and a plane!] (Fascinating.) ( Oh no! It's an Osprey! RUN! ) (I'm sure they'll have fixed that in THE FUTURE.) (Also, this is the part where we find out that I'm the only one with more than one level in piloting Helicopter, right?) [There's actually a pilot there for you. How about that?] (Well, if it counts as a plane, I could pilot it too!) (Convinient! I'm going to put on a helmet and hope for noise canceling while I sleep!) * Togo boards the planeicopter. * Roseli gets in the plane. Chopper. Thing. * Luana follows, and goes back to sleep once she gets the chance. * Heinrick heads back in towards the planecopter thing. Just in time! * Jamie follows Rose onto the aircraft and tries to cover her ears and sleep at the same time, without much success. [And soon you're on your way!] [Time: 4:00 p.m.] [For two hours, and crossing about two time zones (I'm totally making all this up), you have a nice flight over what mostly becomes a winter wonderland. Lots of white, and mountains. And mountainy whiteness. Some time after you crossed the border into Russia, Haruko did give the coordinates of the facility, putting it in the mountains somewhere east of St. Petersburg.] [You can see it now! It's roundish and mostly one floor. The pilot flies low so as not to attract attention.] [I should mention that it's snowing. Yay!] [The pilot gets as close as he can without being spotted and lands the chopperplanething. It's actually pretty close, thanks to the blizzard.] Well, at least it's isolated. Gives us a bit more leeway. * Jamie cares not for your snow, she's been up for two and a half days not and locked in a noisy room for the past many hours. * Roseli nods. She pulls a heavy overcoat from an overhead compartment and hands it to Jamie. * Roseli , herself, has a jacket that she got for Christmas. Even if it needed to be patched up. * Jamie stares at it and then struggles into it. * Luana wakes up and stretches. * Togo nods at Roseli. "Good idea." *to Luana* "What kind of coat you want?" A warm one? ( One with sheepskulls on it!) * Heinrick pulls on a heavy coat himself and then glances to Togo. "Do you have an extra for our guest? I am not sure if she came prepared." * Roseli helps Jamie, bundling her up. Aw, she gets gloves, too! ( No mittens? ) (Mittens are bad for holding weaponry and manipulating objects.) (C'mon, Togo, keep up.) ( For Haruko? I think I have something with a bullseye on it. ) * Jamie accepts the help in a semi daized silence. [Haruko does seem prepared. Someone must have provided her for clothes for this sort of weather.] * Heinrick gives a slight smirk in Haruko's direction. "Well. I suppose that answers my question..." * Togo shrugs, and hands Luana a white full-length wool overcoat from his coat. * Luana puts it on. "Thank you, sir." [The pilot wasn't prepared to be shot though. He gurgles as a bullet rips through the windshield. Haruko screams in surprise.] [Surprise Cliffhanger end!]