[Last time, on Rising Sun Pioneers!] [You got away from Will, instead of the other way around. What is up with that? But that's what happened, and Mikoto returned. The ex-slaves must be in good hands, then, right? Anyway, y'all decided to lay low for the night. Specifically, low outside of the city.] [The sun's rising just now. It's a cloudy new day. Session start!] ... we suck. (Tairan gets this off to a great start. ;P) * Jinx nods. "We've been over that. So, Mirabel ready?" * Millie is still sleeping! Murmurring in her sleep. Thus she doesn't hear Tairan's self-defeatingly stupid comments. * Mikoto rubs his eyes and nods a little. "As ready as we'll ever be, though I'm still not clear on what you're asking for." I think only Millie "sucks". The rest is just bad luck. Seriously. We suck at this. Not a one of us can plan worth a damn, and we can't follow through on what plans we do come up with. She checks out Will's house, sees if she can find Running Cloud, and ideally get a rough count on the guards. * Mikoto blinks a few times. "I think we'll have to narrow that down to 'Running Cloud? Yes/No' and 'Guards: Few/Some/Lots?'." Alright, good enough. Then we rush the place, kill any opposition, free Running Cloud, and check Will's house and safes for evidence. * Jinx seems fairly intent on the possibility for gathering evindence. * John nods. * Mikoto extends his arm, giving the mental call to Mira. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you sound almost vengeful about this." I mean... it was a simple grab'n run. Done it a dozen times, with people less competant than you folks. And yet... hell, John practically had to save us, when we were supposed to be savin' him. [There's a small rush of wind, and a cry as Mirabel materializes on Mikoto's arm. She preens a wing.] What's this about "people less competant"...? * Jinx looks slightly insulted. "I've had enough revenge in my day, I'm in this for the evidence, given how successful Will seems to be, there should be a lot." * Millie sits up slowly, rubbing her eyes, hat fallen off her head. * Mikoto shrugs and strokes Mira's beak. "We just want to know if Running Cloud is there, and how many guards are around. Don't do anything rash. Just make a quick headcount and come back. Okay?" Just sayin', given that everyone in this group is good at what they do, it's amazing how badly we've been doing lately. [Mirabel blinks once, then lets out another cry. Guess that means yes?] * Mikoto smiles. "We'll work out a system when you get back. I trust your memory." [She spreads her wings and takes to the sky.] (Perception check, -2!) 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Millie (2d6-2) and gets 4. 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for John (2d6-2) and gets 2. 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Jinx (2d6-2) and gets 4. 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Sakura (2d6-2) and gets 0, a CRITICAL SUCCESS!!! "o/~I love you... you love me... o/~" 2d6-4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Mikoto (2d6-4) and gets 2. * Millie keeps rubbing her eyes and then sets her hands in her lap, looking over at Tairan. "It's because we never coordinate anything, that's why." 2d6-4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Tairan (2d6-4) and gets 1. [Everyone notices Fanfan... missing! Her roll is neatly put together, just as her possessions are equally neatly stacked.] * John raises an eyebrow. "Well, where'd Fanfan get off to?" (...now, what if we'd *failed*? ^_^) (o/~) She went ahead to gather information. ... what is it with the women in this group and randomly disappearing during the night? Present company excepted. * Jinx shrugs. "Did she? That's helpful." ...a Shomuran in Garson? Well...at least it's still fairly close to the border. * Mikoto watches Mira go, then turns around and mmms. "She's not very comfortable in Teck. But, I think she's smart enough to look after herself." * Millie sighs and tangles her fingers in her hair. "No tellin' what would happen further away from the Sallies though." Nope. ... speaking of never coordinating anything. * Jinx goes to grab a pack of cards. "Anyone up for a game til Mirabel gets back?" * Millie takes her hand back down. "I'm still baffled in what madeja think it was a good idea ta tell Will all about Johnny." * Millie eyes John. "Not that it much mattered with him showin' up outta the blue an' all." * Jinx starts on solitaire. * Mikoto shakes his head. He's sweating a little. "She won't be gone too long. I couldn't handle the strain." * Millie then pulls herself up towards Jinx with a serious look on her face. "I'll play." * Jinx regathers the cards up again and shuffles. In my experience interrogating people, you hafta show them you know what's going on before they'll tell you anything worth hearing. Sometimes it works, sometimes it don't. This time it didn't. Ya ain't interrogated anyone 'round here then. Well, yes. The way ya interrogate here is ya show 'em you'll shoot 'em if ya don't get whatcha want. * Mikoto looks thoughtful. "In my experience, you n..." He pauses. "Forget I said anything." * Millie looks over at Mikoto and tilts her head while Jinx is dealing. "No. Go on." * Jinx deals out. "Seven card stud, 'two's wild." Well, I thought we already had that point established with Will. Idea was to show him that we knew enough about what he was doing that he couldn't just feed us bullshit. * Millie blows some hair out of her face and grumbles, running her fingers through her pigtails and untying one of them. "Stupid thing's always comin' undone." * Tairan rubs his neck. "Unfortunately, he just fed us bullshit." Raight. * Millie looks over at Jinx. "Jinxy. What's the main rule of cards? Particularly of bluffin' in the end?" * Mikoto mmms and looks at Millie, then back at the sky. "I was going to say that proper interrogation takes time and imagination, and a well-stocked apothecary's kit." Ain't it ta never show your hand unless ya absolutely hafta? * Jinx glances at Millie. "I was going to say don't bet more than you can lose. But that's true too." * Millie chuckles and then looks at Tairan meaningfully. "I thought so." (Perception roll, everyone but Mikoto.) 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Millie (2d6) and gets 5. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Jinx (2d6) and gets 4. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Sakura (2d6) and gets 3. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for John (2d6) and gets 7. 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Tairan (2d6-2) and gets 1. * Tairan shrugs. "Maybe. Life ain't necessarily poker, though." [Everyone notices Mirabel circling overhead except John, who's too busy looking at cards and trying not to look like a sucker.] A lot could be said 'bout applyin' poker ta real life. * Jinx looks over his card. "You know St. Joseph hold 'em Millie? Oh, Mirabel's back." * Millie turns her gaze up into the sky. * Mikoto nods once and extends his arm for her to land on. "That didn't take too long." He adds, under his breath, "thank goodness." [Mirabel circles once more, descending to alight Mikoto's arm.] * Jinx nods. "Valuable life lessons, like when the stakes are high, and your opponent smarter than you, kill his bodyguard knock out his scrawny ass, and then interrogate him at your leisure." * Mikoto smiles and strokes her wing carefully. "Well, I hope you learned something useful. I guess we'll cover Running Cloud first. Did you see her? If you did, just make some sort of noise or gesture. If not, stay still." * Millie hmms and looks over at Jinx. "I think so." She then eyes Jinx. "Ya know, I don't think that's parta cards. Although knowin' when ta fold IS." True enough. Besides, I ain't gettin' in trouble with the law for this lunkhead. Ta take someone out without causin'a riot, ya need evidence. An' we couldn't get him ta say anything ta convict himself * Jinx grins. "Wouldn't have mattered if he did, it'd be our word against his, we needed to take him down before the law knew what was up." It'd have mattered to any officials who asked. Even if we had his word against ours, our word would mean somethin' if we knew it were actually right. Shh. Let the bird concentrate. * Millie stares hard at Jinx silently for a moment then turns over to Tairan. "Sorry." * Jinx folds his hand down and neither flinches nor apologizes. [Mirabel lets out a cry, spreading her wings.] * John looks over to Mikoto. "I think that's a yes." * Mikoto blinks. "Well, then. I guess we move on to the second question. How to phrase it..." He hmms, then looks around. "Fly to Tairan if there were only a few guards... to John if there were an average number. To Millie if there were a lot." * Millie looks more solidly at Mirabel now. * Millie blinks. "Why me if there were a lot?" [Mirabel blinks, too.] Think that's a big zero? Or one? * Mikoto lets out a sigh. "I picked at random, Millie..." He looks at Mira, then smiles sheepishly and pets her beak, then indicates people in turn. "Tairan, John, Millie. Or you can stay here if there were't any at all." (I assumed she was capable of differentiating between "not many", "some", and "holy cow!".) (The technical term is "Zounds!") ( HEH! HoMaM! ) * Millie looks pouty for a moment but seems to concede it. "Well...okay then..." (/me grins.) ( Use Millie as fodder if there are many guards? An interesting use of resources. ) [Mirabel hesitates, then flaps her wings, flying over to perch on Millie's head. And yes, Millie, she feels pretty solid.] * Mikoto winces a bit. "...that's not good. Thank you, Mira. I am most grateful for your help." He gives her the nod they've set up between them as 'feel free to leave at your own disposal'. [She vanishes.] Hm. Damn. So killing spree, maybe some dynamite, or fold? * Millie sighs. "But Running Cloud's there. We know that." Maybe she can survive an explosion. Dynamite at the edge. Dynamite so she won't be hit. Yeah, that's reliable. Worked once. Best not to try it twice. * Jinx stands up. "Fine, killing spree or fold." Dynamite would make a good distraction. Any other way we could distract the... * Millie blinks. "Damn. We lost him." (Why don't you ask that in character? ^^;) * Mikoto rubs his chin. "Well, I'd suggest the stealth angle, but we have a rather impressive history of failure there." Who? * Millie turns to John. "That big loud guy. He'd make the perfect distraction." And he came with me ta help rescue Running Cloud too. * Jinx looks to Mikoto. "Direct assault, a better plan than I've heard in at least a week, or we walk away. We aren't equppied for stealth." Friend of yours? * Millie winces. "Not...particularly." * Mikoto nods, then looks at Millie in something that could be approximated as shock. "Hanomaru? What are you, insane?" Well... and take this with a grain of salt, 'cause I can't plan for shit... Will never met Mikoto. He could always just walk over to Will's house, knock on the door when he's not home, and grab Running Cloud. We wouldn't be with him, Mikky. He'd be distracting the guards while we make our way inside. And he's plenty distracting. * Millie shrugs. "If ya think it's a stupid plan, then tell me it's a stupid plan. But at least it's somethin' ta go on." It's a stupid plan. * Jinx shakes his head. "Will's smart, I don't think Mikoto could get through just knocking." I mean, there's gonna be guards around Will's house for a few days... but once it dies down, Mikoto should be able to just walk to the house, sneak in, and walk out. Yeah. I thought ya'd say that. * Millie turns towards Sakura. "Mind tellin' me why ya think that?" * Mikoto winces a little, then sighs. "It's not that it's a stupid plan, it's just not an expeditious plan, since Hanomaru's nowhere to be seen." No Hanomaru needed here. Yeah. I know that. That's what I said from the get-go. But if we could find him... Because the loudmouth is not here. Even if he was, they would have to be fools to fall for it. * Mikoto shakes his head at Tairan. "I don't think it would work. If Will is truly as well-connected as you say, he knows I've met up with the rest of you already." ...these are guards we're talkin' about. Ones who follow Will at that. I have no idea how well connected he is. But that is a point. I doubt he'd hire people with brains. Otherwise they wouldn't follow a murderin' slavin' bastard because they'd risk gettin' caught themselves. * Millie looks down. "...except that body guard..." Greed can make even smart men do evil things. * Jinx laughs. "You have an optimistic view of humankind Millie." * Mikoto shakes his head. "We obviously can't take them all. We have to think of *something*..." Who dodged a point-blank shotgun blast, and pushed Will outta the way at the same time. * Millie grins at Jinx. 'Practical, Jinxy. Practical." She sighs and nods to Tairan. "There's gotta be a way ta take him out..." ( Drop the moon on him! ) ... god. I've dealt with worse situations than this before... why can't I think of anything? * Mikoto tilts his head. "Maybe we're just thinking too hard?" We probably are. We don't even know the layout of this place.. * Tairan smacks himself upside the head a few times. It's sounding to me like unless we want to wait until the number of guards dropped, we're SOL, and no guarantee the number will drop in the near future. I say we walk away, maybe come back after dealing with the tablet. * Mikoto nods a few times. "It sounds cruel, but I'm inclined to agree. I don't think Running Cloud's in any *danger*." ...So yer jus' gonna leave her, eh? Put her in danger? Will's too smart to do that, really... Very little is scarrier than an irrate woman. * Millie looks at John. "How did you escape?" Good kid, damn shame, but we had our chance, we blew it. * Jinx packs up his gear. Magic. Is that for real or are ya jus' bein' stupid? * Jinx looks at John. "You're a mage, huh, wouldn't have bet on that." * Jinx then gets back to packing. Because...if you could break outta a hangin'... * Millie keeps looking at John thoughtfully. It's real... Usin' it's not my thing, though. Magic doesn't make all things possible. * Jinx puts his gear on Lightning. No..but it's an edge we're not thinkin' of.. * Millie rubs her head. "Gawd, I never thought I'd hear myself say that." * Mikoto walks over and strokes Nami's nose a little. "If we get killed trying to save her, it won't do us any good." * Jinx grabs his naginata. "This is true. I'll wait ten minutes, see if we have a plan by then, if we don't I say we get the hell out of Garson and come back when we have an idea. It'll be easier then anyways." * Jinx then walks off some distance to start practicing, he doesn't use the magical powers of the naginata. * Millie sighs and shakes her head. "I could pick off a few from a distance. If they couldn't detect where I was shootin' from, they might be distracted enough ta get ya guys in." But I think y'all've resigned yourselves. Only if there were ten of you. * Mikoto sighs and looks at Millie. "I like Running Cloud; I'm not prepared to die for her. We know that Mira believes there's 'a lot' of guards, but it's not a number. What if that's 50? 100? We'd be dead in minutes." * Millie looks over Sakura. "I thought you said before that the more people there were, the stupider and more cowardly they were as a group. Especially with bandits." * Jinx practices in the distance, nothing fancy, just swinging and stabbing. (We could put tear gas in a pizza box...) Cowardly people can still put a bullet through your head. Yes, but more people could not possibly make you worse. [Jinx swings and stabs like, uh, someone who swings and stabs!] So why are you changin' your tune now? What happened? I was attempting a joke. Obviously, it is not my forte. * Millie looks curiously at Sakura. "Really now. Do you have any ideas or are you resigned not ta try an' help someone captured too?" It is impossible. * Mikoto frowns. "I'm not going to be villified for not wanting to walk to my doom for someone *you* have said doesn't like me all that much." So we're jus' gonna give up huh? I wanna see this place. * Mikoto mmms. "I suppose riding by can't hurt. It's not like they can attack us for simply using the street." * Millie takes out a few multi-colored bullets and rolls them in her fingers. "I wish I knew what some of these did. Somethin'...some kinda bullet that made like a smoke screen...gas..somethin'..." Raight. * Millie mounts up and trots back towards town, putting the bullets back in her pockets as she does so. * Jinx heads over to a nearby cactus, and uses it to get a better feel for the reach of the weapon. * Mikoto blinks, watching as Millie rides away. "...alright, then." * John shrugs and mounts Hazel. "Well, what is it then? Are you going to prance around my brother's abode?" ( ... did John just say 'abode'? @_@ ) ( JOHN IS HOOKED ON PHONICS! ) * Jinx edges a bit closer to the cactus, as he's overreaching a bit from his current position. * Mikoto swings himself into the saddle. "I don't know about prancing, but I plan on at least being there to drag the pieces of Millie out of there should she decide to do something drastic." ( Sakura is speechless ) * Jinx stops moving once he's about a foot closer to the cactus, he tries a few different hand holds til he finds one he's sastified with. ... I've got some thinking to do. * Tairan finds a place to sit, and sits. * Jinx tires of slicing the poor cactus, and goes about figuring the best range to stab it instead. * Jinx figures out the stabbing range pretty quickly and then positions his hands a lot closer to the blade. He takes a few swings at the air first. * Jinx makes a slice close up to the vegetation he's been tourmenting, apparently he'd quite distabled it because it shatters throwing spiked chunks in all directions, though he's the only one close enough to be hit. The rest of you can hearing the distant sound of some moderately creative profanity. * Tairan looks up from his thinking. "... being attacked by non-moving cacti is a bad sign." If I let omens deter me, I'd never get anything done. 2d6-1 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Millie (2d6-1) and gets 8. 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Mikoto (2d6-3) and gets 4. 2d6-1 * Dicesuke throws the bones for John (2d6-1) and gets 3. * Jinx picks thorned pieces of cacti out of his skin and then proceeds to slice up the remains of his current nemesis from a safe distance. I think we are doomed. Why? Nothing stopping us from walking away. Generally speaking. If we keep up our recent levels of success... we're pretty boned. ( Yes, you need to gain more levels. ) ( You didn't kill enough sandgators! You missed so much low level exp! ;_; ) That's a bit overly pessemistic, can't lose one hand and think your done forever. Remember we did fine against the slavers. But we can't plan worth shit and don't know much about what we're up against, so if a direct attack isn't going to work, some either needs a good plan or I'm walking away. 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Millie (2d6-2) and gets 3. 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for John (2d6-2) and gets 7. Eh... just used to a better success rate, frankly. From a strictly personal perspective, I've been on a rather lousy streak lately. * Jinx snickers at that, he doesn't comment thuogh. [And so, they talked. Until Mikoto rode up to them! Did Timmy fall down the well?] [Session End.]