May 07 04:25:14 106 PA

From Chronicles

May 07 04:25:14 106 PA

Golden Carafe - Leonard's Room

With a this meeting somewhat less hastily arranged, Leonard appears notably more prepared. All are invited to make themselves comfortable, although he does not take a seat himself. Once the door is closed, he moves to power on his vidscreen, and as the picture sparks to life, a topographical map with a trio of locations indicated becomes visible. He will then await all to get themselves settled.

Tirzah blinks, taking in the vidscreen as she claims a seat on the couch. She shoots Leonard an impressed smirk in regards to the much more professional beginning in comparison to the last meeting's end.

Rebekkah perches herself on the arm of the couch next to Tirzah, trying to suppress a little smile which nonetheless escapes at one corner of her lips. She gets comfortable though, leaning back, crossing her long legs and resting her arm across the top of the couch's back.

Flare leans against one of the walls. Her hair is plastered to her face and back a bit. There appears to be glitter on her face and in her hair as well. There is a bruise on her upper left shoulder.

Without any previous experience with meetings with the group, hastily arranged or otherwise, Celaeno does her best to maintain what distance she can. Though any overtures at greetings or saying hello are returned, she nonetheless stands back from the presentation, apparently here more to watch than to observe. If one were listening, they might hear the unscrewing and re-capping of a flask from time to time.

Vargus enters last, closing the door behind him. He looks around, sees the projection and takes a position in a chair near the end of the couch. He looks over, spots Celaeno, seems to measure something across the room, and moves his chair a little further away. Then, he reaches into a small canvas-looking sack at his waist and pulls out a five-foot metalic post, which he slaps a t-bar on top, and then transfers his eagle familiar over to it.

Leonard returns Tirzah's smirk as he addresses everyone. "As some might noticed, I have much more information with which to answer questions. I'll now share that with everyone, and we can go from there. First, we have our target, or targets, in this case." One hand moves towards the screen, a finger drawing attention to what is, or was, a roadway. "A supply convoy, typically three or four trucks. For some reason, this convoy is attempting to be discreet. Common vehicles are used, and much of the Coalition personnel either are mercenaries, or disguised as such. Six to eight soldiers, and no known heavy support. Their route varies slightly, but this area is the most frequently passed. Between the forest and this rock formation (two of the three areas highlighted), they have few choices. Those same two features also offer potential cover for an ambush."

Tirzah blink again taking that all in. "That's it?" She asked, sounding surprised and disappointed. "Surely there is more. I could probably take them out myself in an ambush." She notes, not sounding at all impressed with the enemy forces.

Rebekkah can't fight her smile any longer, because this is exactly what she was talking about! "Okay, so, like, I hate to even ask this, but are we sure they're really Coalition army?" Her brows lift and she looks about the room with uncertainty. "Is everyone okay with this is we're just attacking some people Norwick decided he doesn't like?"

Celaeno eyes the presentation for several moments, looking at the proposed ambush spot while considering the special importance of an unmarked convoy. Taking the moment of everyone's talking to drink, ignoring Tirzah's comment, but eyeing Rebekkah for a few moments, not yet saying anything herself.

Vargus nods, pointing over toward Rebekkah, "I'm curious about that as well. Are we sure they're Coalition? What is it they're hauling? From where to where? What about the client? Who's hiring us to hit this thing...? Are you just going to take out the guards? Or are we supposed to retreive whatever they're conveying as well?"

Leonard nods at the pointed questions. "There are several 'if's in all of this. The convoy has made regular trips from Coalition territory to Tolkeen, through the lines, unmolested. Prosek's stooges are not the most intelligenet, but I can't believe they're that inept. It's only conjecture, but they could be running any manner of covert schemes." He then nods to Vargus. "The cargo is likely the reason for the secrecy. We are expected to neutralize the guards and confiscate the materiel, all with as little time and attention as possible, without giving them the opportunity to call for support or warning. I don't believe Norwick is doing this entirely out of idealism nor generosity. The contents of the trucks remain unknown, and he is very, very conveniently providing us with spatial gates for transport in and out, with the vehicles."

Tirzah considers the point made by Bek with a slight nod. "I can pluck one of the guards discretely and Leonard or Vargus can compel him to supplement our intel. The call for support could be an issue, anyone know how to jam signals?" She asks glancing about the room once more to consider all present.

Rebekkah slowly lifts her hand from her thigh in answer to Tirzah's inquiry. "I do." She casts her dazzlingly emerald eyes down at Tirzah with a slight but playful smile, then looks across the room to Leonard to remind, "I said I could do all of that stuff, right?"

The comment concerning the gates generate somewhat more shuffling from Celaeno, though her arms remain folded. Commenting on the Rebekkah's skillset with a simple, "Good," before moving on to a question, "Any particular instructions about how to deal with it? Will we be cracking a box open, is Norwick going to be tagging along for the ride, or are there strict orders involved?" Her mind is obviously elsewhere.

Vargus's eyes go wide. "Spacial gates? Can you be a little more detailed about that? And, are we supposed to be eliminating all of the guards, or just disabling.. what about witnesses? And do we have time for some recon before we're expected to neutralize the convoy?" He shifts a little in his chair, leaning back and folding his arms across his chest. "Do you know who is backing this Norwick guy? Kingdom? Private? Splugorith?" He looks to the others. "If this convoy is shipping in weapons or something to bolster Tolkeen, then they'll be in pretty constant contact.. once communications is lost, they'll dispatch a recon patrol to the last known position." Celaeno's movement catches the corner of his eye and Vargus turns to look at her, and then back to Leonard. "Are the gates tech? Or magical?"

"I believe you did, Bek, and I was counting on it." Leonard smiles in her direction. "Preventing them from calling out, and getting the bird's eye view, as it were, will be crucial." His smile slides down the line to Tirzah. "We might be able to compel more information from a guard, but there were no instructions concerning leaving the cargo unopened, so we can always satisfy our curiosity. There are to be no witnesses, for the same reasons we need to prevent communications. This is likely the first of many possible excursions, so we don't wish to tip our hands the first time out. Norwick is a mage of some talent, so I expect they will be magical..." He then looses a sigh as his eyes shift to Cel. "If you are going to aid us, we do need to know more about your particular talents. I had hoped to meet with your before now to discuss them, but..."

Tirzah smirks at Vargus shaking her head slightly. "The one who points out the problems gets acknowledged. Pointing out solutions though, that gets you revered." She says as she stands to take a closer look at the vid. "We'll need to do this at night. We set up the gate to open in the path of the convoy, I'll cloak it in darkness and if we time it right they'll drive right in without even realizing. Bek will have the eye above to help with that timing and the jamming in case things go wrong. if they do, the objective is to get them through the gate, even if it means walking up grabbing one by the scruff and throwing him through. On the other side we can deal with them much more leisurely." She suggests calmly.

"I don't think we're going to get the luxury of telling them when they get to drive down that part of the road," Bek points out, making herself noticed. "It's a real flash plan, but I don't like stuff that relies on stuff that's that big of a variable, you know?" She compresses her lips and ruefully shakes her head. "If it's nighttime, and if they don't notice the big magic rift doorway, that's mega humongo 'if's."

Celaeno grins at the question, giving a somewhat exaggerated shrug. "Well, since you asked so nicely, I can give you a few snippets, here and there." Unfolding her arms she takes a moment to stretch, yawning, and doing nothing at all spectacular before continuing, "I'm more of a sneak, than anything. Slip in, hatchet, slip out. I usually specialize in magicky or otherwise Talented individuals, on a personal basis," she says glancing around the room with a ten-karat smile. "I'm also rather handy with a rifle. Though, if you can make a giant ball o' darkness, wouldn't it be better to do it during the day, when they don't all have their infrared and nightvision on, already? 'Course, I don't know how all that works, per se."

Tirzah shakes her head at both points from Bek and Celaeno. "Thats where you come in Bek, you'

Vargus gives Tirzah an odd look. "I'd rather get all the information that I can, first. Then you don't have to completly rework things for something that was forgotten. But, I don't think grabbing one is going to work. It'll set all the others up in a defensive position. A quick attack from ambush, would take them by surprise." His eyebrows quirk up, "Oh.. I missed the earlier meetings where Leo said you all worked over your capabilities. I'm an artifact hunter.. which is a Shifter with more martial training." he points at the big metal bird. "Familar is... well. he can take hits from military-class weapons and be alright, so he makes a great scout. I've got access to a bit more then your normal allotment of spells, since I'm bonded to an ancient god of magic.. and he slipped me some temporal magic." He looks over to Celaeno, "Magical darkness sometimes blocks that stuff" and he looks over to Tirzah, and then back to Celaeno. "But, darkness appearing on a bright sunny day is really obvious.. and would just trigger their defenses." He looks back to Leonard. "Any intel on if they run with any Hounds? Or anything that can detect magic?"

Leonard shakes his head, to a number of suggestions and questions. "We'll need to take control of the vehicles and cargo before we can be transported out. Nor will we know the exact timing, so I'm aiming several hours ahead for our arrival, so that we can prepare. I have no information on whether any Hounds or Stalkers might be among them, unfortunately." A smirk forms, directed towards Cel. "Considering the number of magicky or otherwise talented individuals you will be travelling with, there was just some concern of unexpected interference. Will that be an issue?" He is neither accusing nor overly prying, and continues on with his preliminary plan. The outcropping is gestured to. "I favor the rocks over the trees as our choice of hiding spot. Bek can go airborne, recon, and land, if needed, to avoid too much attention. Once they're close, Tirzah can blind as many as possible, but preferably the lead vehicle and driver, at least. This should force them to stop, and they can be rushed. We don't want to destroy the vehicles, obviously, so we'll need to be precise or move in close. Either way, we will nearly have them outnumbered, and certainly outclassed."

Tirzah shakes her head at both points from Bek and Celaeno. "Thats where you come in Bek, you'll spot the convoy and its rate of approach on the road to allow us to set up further down the road. I cast darkness over the road and we open the gate right in it. With any luck they wont notice in time to react and will drive right through." She nods to Vargus. "Which is why it has to be done at night, driving into a void of darkness in broad daylight, kind of unlikely. Its the no witnesses bit that could be tricky, if the guards are marching instead of riding we may have to round them up the hard way. But if we open with an attack the whole convoy will stop and fight which makes our window of success before reinforcements arrive potentially quite small." But at Blake's other question she looks to Leonard as he shatters her perfect plan. "Then we have to eliminate or incapacitate 8 coalition grunts in eba in less than fifteen minutes." She amends, but doesn't look pleased. Even less so at the mention of interference with the arcane fro Celeano. Stepping back from Celeano she draws on her link to imbue her hand with blue flame. Then she steps bakc towards her and the flame goes out. "That could be an issue."

The burning colors in Bek's eyes are subdued as easily as Tirzah's flame, shifting to a rich and distressingly normal looking brown. "Yeeeahh," she hums, moving her thoughts right along over Tirzah's ideas and nodding at Leonard instead. "I like the rocks better too. I like that you have a map even more, though. I told you we needed a map." She lifts her hand again and points at the image, roughly at the same spot Leonard did. "So we get the trucks to stop, keep them from calling for help and attack them from two sides? It's nice a simple, which means it might actually work!"

Celaeno's smile doesn't waiver in the face of the pseudo-accusation, though her arms return to their folded position, giving a bemused look at Tirzah's display. "Well, I do tend to work a little better by myself. I'd suggest - in general point of fashion - that you keep your magic away from me, and I'll do what I can to stay sufficiently far away from you to make sure there aren't any issues. Once your fields and the like are activated, there shouldn't be any issues. Assuming, of course, that you want me around with these... caveats." The flask is produced again, and as she unscrews the cap she tacks on, "In the off chance that they do have any hounds or stalkers, it'd probably be more efficient for me to be coming in from my own direction, anyways, because I'm sure they'd smell you all from a mile away. Plus, I'm used to runners, so I might come in handy, there."

Vargus listens to Tirzah's idea, a frown on his face slowly moving to a neutral expression, then a smirk, then he's laughing. "...oh, that's brilliant. We pull that off, and then we just deal with the convoy guards wherever the portal leads." He shrugs his shoulders. "Fifteen minutes is a long-ass time in the middle of a firefight." He looks over toward the projected images, "Any nexii around there, Leo? Oh... and we could always rip open a gate and Cel could approach, and see if it destabilizes. That's my big worry. Not sure what happens if a rift closes while others are slipping through." He shudders a little.

"Tirzah..." Leonard sighs. "Presumably, the gates will bring everyone back here. The last thing we need is a lightfight at Kingsdale's doorstep. We also don't control the opening of the gate, unless Vargus or I do it ourselves." He nods to Bek. "Actually, that is a wonderful idea. Presuming that Cel has no issues transporting with the rest of us, she and Ema can lie in wait here." His finger shifts slightly to the opposite side of the roadway from the rocks. "They can then strike in close quarters from the rear. Drivers first, if possible. Vargus, Tirzah, Flare and myself can draw their fire and deal with those in the open. Bek will handle communication control, act as overwatch, and is there in case of any unexpected armor. Any other suggestions?"

Tirzah shrugs, unsure of her plan as she considers the destination. "Well if the gates lead back into the middle of the city yeah we have o do it the hard way. But if not, we could gain a lot of intel by capturing all the personnel. Either way I can do my part." She promises taking a moment to focus on her extinguished hand and her link to the elemental plane. It reignites within Celeano's field and she smirks. "Just takes more power."

Rebekkah sits up straight and uncrosses her legs, favoring Leonard with a double thumbs-up gesture. "It's all aces, Lamb-ard. Squeaky clean and easy to remember. One of my instructors always said that the best plan is everyone just doing their job right." She pauses, head cocked and eyes going distant in thought for a moment, then she laughs at something remembered. "She hated plans, though. Anyway, I gotta cram-jet. If we can have a few hours at the place before they get there?" A question, carried more in her look at Leonard than in the cadence of her voice, "We can put some polish on things."

Tirzah's display eliciting nothing but a fixed stare, and a smile, Celaeno turns back to the others as they continue talking. "I'd rather do a bit of a more subtle layout, with all the magicky people split in two in a pincer, and anybody else," she glances to Rebekkah, "coming in from a third direction. It's probably not necessary, but I like having a little twist to things."

Vargus grins at Rebekkah's comment. "Back where I trained, we called that "run in and react accordingly".. suprising how often that works. You an armor pilot.." He asks the woman. "People keep saying you can fly..."

Leonard chuckles. "At this point, I'm keeping things simple. We know where we're camping out, and we can split as needed once we see exactly what's there. That is part of the reason to arrive early, so that we can adjust as needed. The only details that won't change," he reiterates, "are that we secure the cargo, no calls go out, and that no witnesses are left."

Tirzah nods, all the fact in place. "Well then all we need to know now is when do we leave. I'll be awaiting your word with baited breath." She promises with a smirk before making her way out.

Rebekkah just nods too and follows Tirzah out. "Ask him," she instructs Vargus, waving her hand Leonard's way. "I'm late for work, so, bye!"

Celaeno waves vaguely as the other two take their leave, not yet moving to make hers. Her attention settles on Leonard for the moment, glancing at Vargus as he makes his question. And with the looks, simple silence.

Vargus gives Rebekkah a wave as she bolts and looks back to Leonard. "Can you fill us in on the stuff we missed in the first few meets?"

Leonard nods to Vargus and moves to take a seat, himself. "Most of it was simply a sharing of talents. Flare is a pyrokinetic, Emayn has some telekinetic talents, but is also of the sneak and hatchet sort." A smile and nod is given to Cel. "Tirzah can manipulate the elements, and Bek is a pilot of powered armor, as you surmised."

Celaeno nods idly. "So, we're allowed to bring our own big stuff through, yeah? It might, in such a case, be a boon to bring along my 'cycle," her eyes gleam - mind running to a place filled with high-speed chases and the like. "Not that it's going to wind up being useful at all, but you know. Never hurts."

Vargus shrugs his shoulders at Celaeno. "Well, it's never bad to have transport along.. but, when rift-hopping, and I think this qualifies, it's always better to bring along things you can afford to loose. S'why I picked up a jetpack somewhere along the way. Straps on, you can fly, and don't have to worry about leaving it anywhere."

"Or have something decide to eat it." Leonard nods with Vargus' comment. "I have one, myself. You're welcome to bring small transportation, as far as I am aware. Better to have it and not need it than the other way around."

Celaeno nods. "It's not too big. Can carry two people, and might be useful," she says, shrugging. "I just like having it nearby. If things go south, just means I can skirt my way back on my own," she says, shrugging. "But we can work it out, later. I'm going to head off."

Vargus grins at Leonard. "One thing about Shifters... we're practical." He stands up and transfers his familiar back to his shoulder, pulls the top of the stand, folds the end and feeds the five-foot length back into the back that has no business holding that much material. "Yeah, I need to head home as well... got such a long walk." He smirks.

Celaeno makes her way to the door, grinning at Leonard's statement and nodding at Vargus. "We'll see. There's not always a choice. In any case, have a good one. See you around." And she takes her leave, flask freeing itself before she's stepped out the door.