Thriller Max Payne 3: A Bad Day in L.A.

IC: Officers Dani Sofer and Julien Lowe, inside the apartment complex lobby. Chapter Two


In response to his call for the clearly-reckless van driver to show his hands, the nearside door was kicked open, and a dark figure slid from the elevated seat into view. Julien immediately covered him with his Glock, then spotted Dani beyond the vehicle's sloped front, sidling into view, covering the driver from behind. She looked unhurt. For her to side-step the major firefight, and then get crushed in an RTA, it did not bear thinking about!

"Boy, if I were one of the bad guys, I would have already killed you, while you displayed your impressive knowledge of rulebook arrests." The driver boasted.

Boy? Julien bristled at the racist jibe, but God would have wanted him to forgive the transgressor; and in the next moment, after the man spit, he saw the raised shield, detailed enough in the flashlight's beam for him to recognise it as genuine.

Still holding the gun and torch together, he put them down so that only a circle of the shattered glass on the floor between them sparkled brilliantly.

Dani, who Julien was just happy to see alive, must have heard what was said. "Hey, watch your mouth!"

"Dani, he's got a badge. New York, it looks like." That this man was a cop made the difference. There was supposedly no black, white, or green people, in the Department. Only blue. He guessed that carried across different cities and jurisdictions. And the term was no worse than Detective Vendrell would have used anyway.

Sofer, meanwhile, seethed, silently angry at the New York cop for forcing her to take a position. Her junior partner was an emotional minefield at the best of times, and had even faced down a gun-wielding youth without his bulletproof vest, urging the boy to shoot him.

"Mister," She ground out, "I don't care if you are down here with Chief Bankston's personal assurance; you use that kind of inflammatory language on my partner again, and I'll run you in, myself. You got that?"

"Officer, tell your apprentice here to stop shouting. These guys will only have it easier to locate you and for gods sake, turn your lights of. They are like huge, big `shoot-me´demands for these guys up there."

"Julien." She heard the weariness in her voice. The torchlight snapped off, plunging the lobby into crunchy darkness. "You mean you left some alive? The light was my idea." She explained, automatically accepting the fellow police officer as being an addition to her party. "We got no lights inside, yet the shooters don't suffer any disorientation, which leads me to believe they have night-vision, Detective." She didn't know the visitor's rank, but figured a street cop wouldn't be down here on an inter-agency pass. And doubted he was tourist with a scanner in his rental. That would be too sad for words. "I figured the 'light of a million candles' would temporarily blind them and give us a chance to get that sniper on the roof."

"It worked on the sniper." Julien reported his exchange with the shooter up there just now, and how effective the Ronco had been in distressing the bad guy.

"Reinforcments should be here any minutes, right?"

Dani sighed and waved for both males to follow her back out of the lobby, and to the corner at the base of the staircase. "Each time I ask, Despatch says twenty minutes, twenty minutes." She shrugged. "Right now, your guess is as good as mine."

"But now," Julien added, crowding behind Payne, "there are three of us."

"You stay here and make sure nobody, absolutely nobody leaves this building, okay?"

"I'll take the patrol unit round the back," Officer Lowe volunteered, thinking that there might be a back way out of

 

OOC: I have Kahn's permission to move his character into the hallway.

IC: Anita Blake
Chapter II
Morgue

Anita tried not to think in situations like these. If you think, you're dead. This is all about instinct. So she let instinct take over as she barreled out of the door and aimed her gun down the hallway. Her gun centered on the cleaning man who immediately put his hands in the air.

"Cool, Lady. I am just cleaning up." He said with a dry smile. "Don´t shoot the guy with the brush, I always say."

Fortunately Anita didn't believe the guy. His eyes left hers and looked at his cart. Anita made out something roughly the shape of a gun.

"Federal Marshall! Keep your hands up and step away from the cart." Anita continued. Gun never wavering from the target.

At that moment, quite possibly one of the worst things happened. Grissom stepped into the hallway to ask what the problem was. Who was this guy? Anita thought to herself. What idiot would step out into the hallway when a Federal Marshall was pulling her gun out? "Grissom, get back into the room. Now!" Anita said forcefully. She'd deal with his stupidity later.

Too late.

Another two cleaning men stepped into the hallway behind the man she held at gunpoint.

**** Anita thought. Outnumbered. However, luckily for her she wasn't alone. Dante stepped out into the hallway and aimed his weapons at the two new cleaners who had entered the scene. Well it was do or die with the trust now. Anita had to focus on the man standing in front of her and allow Dante to focus on the other two.

"Alright fellas. Its going to go like this. I am Federal Marshall Anita Blake," she stated. "I want everyone's hands in the air and no sudden movements. My partner here is trigger happy so if you move suddenly, he is going to shoot you."

She breathed in and out once before continuing.

"I want the two guys in the back to stay where they are. Do not move. I repeat. Do not move."

"I am going to put up my gun and frisk the closest guy. Cover me." She said to Dante before slowly putting up her weapon. She assumed he was good enough to cover three guys all in the same direction. Anita stepped further down the hallway towards the man. "I am going to check you for weapons, up against the wall please."

Anita waited for him to comply and then proceeded to check the man for weapons including his cleaning cart.

Tag: Kahn and Draco (to see if I found anything)

 

IC: Miranda Frost, on the floor, gun in her face, a bit dazed. Chapter Two.


?What the hell is going on here!? The bald cop bellowed in her face.

Had she been rugby-tackled? Her shoulders and fingers hurt.

?What are you and your friends doing here??

?Vic?, these people are going to a freakin? war!?

Miranda was severely rattled, and seeing double, aware that she was disarmed and trussed up like a Christmas Turkey. She almost looked down from the image of the two...Santas?...to see if her legs had those white paper knickerbockers.

There was a gun in her face, and the two cops started to merge into one angry image.
?Yeah, whatever war is.?

The agent coughed, her thoughts in turmoil. ?I am, I am Miranda Frost. Officer Payne and I are trying to find and save a woman named Elena, no, not Elena, that?s the mother. Nadja Clementi. That?s right. We are trying to rescue her, while everyone else around here is probably trying to kill her. I have no proof that that is the case, but they have been altogether too trigger-happy to be on the side of the Angels.? The talking must have helped her collect her thoughts. She looked unblinkingly up at her reflection in the cop?s anonymous lenses. "And which side are you on, Officer, the Demons or the Angels??

Tag: Sirak Romar

 

The Strike Team
Inside the Warzone

"Angels or Demons?" Shane Vendrell gave Vic a smile on the border to laughing, while shaking his head and turning back to the firefight. "We got the girl of a preacherman here." He said and saw the Cleaner vanish behind a car. At that distance firefights were more a matter of luck than skill. It was not surprising none of them had anybody. Vic raised his brow, not looking any less aggressive through that, while keeping his gun pointed at Miranda. "I am the guy the Demons got bad dreams about, Lady." He turned to Shane and pulled her over to him. "Take good care of her. Our holy hooker here seems to know more than she admits." He waved over to Ronny and Lem and Lem gave his partner a nod. Ronny speeded from his cover to the corner Vic, shane and Miranda had taken cover behind.

"Explosions from the lobby over there and I think our trigger happy cleaner is not alone." Ronny said, brathing heavy. Vic nodded. "Bad news. Looks like they´re after the girl, too." vic only said. Ronny looked over to the building. "Crap." Was his only comment, while his features gave away little else than tension. "Yeah, we need to get into that building and find that girl. Before anybody else shows up." Ronny looked at Shane, then back to Vic. His face became even less emotional, as he spoke. "About that, we got a patrol car in fornt of the lobby. Think it´s from Farmington." He said. Vic hammered his pistol into the wall. "Dammit. Okay, listen, you and Lem take the backdoor, I try to get the front. Seems an officer called Pain is here. I wanna have a look at that guy." Ronny nodded. Then gave a nod to Miranda. "What about her?" Vic gave her only a disgusted look. "We´ll milk her for info later. Might be leverage against someone involved." Ronny nodded. Obviously knowing it wasn´t the time to discuss Vic´s decissions. He returned to Lem. Vic turned to Miranda and Shane. "Try to stay behind me, but at a distance. If she tries anything funny, show her why you´re such a charming guy. Okay?" Vic asked. Shane made once more sure the cuffs were in place and put his gun behind her head. "Alright, I am behind you." Vic vanished, just as Lem and Ronny passed them to make their way to the backdoor. "What is so special about that teenage girl?" Shane asked Mirnada. "We might all get shot because of her. You could at least tell us." He said and pushed her down and after him, as Vic was a few meters away.

Shots came from the Lobby again. Sounded like shotguns fired in high frequency.

Tag: Sith, LordT (?), Draco

 

IC: John McClain - Entering . . . Chapter Two: Whatever War is . . .
Downtown, L.A.

He was still sorting everything out for himself, something he knew he couldn't do completely until after this new week from hell was over. Al's wife should be well on her way by now, as should his ex-and kids. So far with no word from Al's surgery it was the only silver lining this mess had.

Of course whatever sewer hole he had fallen seemed to just keep getting deeper as the young punk that they called a DA came in, no way someone that green had made it on merit to a position that high...not that older ones were exactly clean either, they just knew to leave the lowly cops alone when it came to catching perps. They already had his gun and if the CSI's in LA were half as good as NY it wouldn't take an entimologist to figure out what had happened.

The kid had a steady gaze though and he knew what that would bring, an exaughsting session of 'lets go through it one more time' about what had happened. Surprisingly he had everyone leave, and everyone left, for coffee. Everyone except Officer Colm, and that just didn't stick in his craw right especially with everything that has happened.

"I got two dead Cops, Mr. McClane. And you shot ´em. A third is in there and fighting for his life. And your report says that two of my best Vice Sergants have come into a shady bar Downtown L.A. to rob it? I think I need a little more than that." Hesaid and folded his arms. "And I think so do the Cops of this city."

At this John just leaned back as he looked at the DA, "Well first of all you already have my statement unless Officer Stubbly here misplaced a page. Another thing, in case he stuttered in his writting is that they were the help, and you can guess as well as I what that means." giving a trademark grin he looked at the DA. "Now my 'friend' is in there fighting for his life so forgive me if I don't give a flying monkeys behind about some crooked cops that put him here!"

TAG: GM

 

ooc: Contrary to my usual habits, I get you an immediate answer, right away. Just had time and wanted to do some posting.

Hospital
Downtown L.A.
Chapter Two

Mordell leaned back. He did not answer, but instead looked at McClane. He gave him a longer look than it seemed necessary. When he spoke his voice was so calm and polite, he appeared to chat about the weather.

"Mr. McClane. What you care about is totally irrelevant. You killed two Cops. They can be as dirty as a five dollar crack-whore in Inglewood, I get a judge to throw you away until your trial without bail anytime. I do not even have to call in favours. Not for a NYPD guy killing LAPD cops. So, if you don´t wanna learn your `friends´ fate from inside a very tiny jail cell, you better start cooperating." He said and gave him a smile. "And as I can see the question why I am DA at the age of 37, I´ll ease your mind. I got rid of any competition. I am good at that, actually. A natual talent. So, why do I not get rid of you? Because I am 100% positive about the fact your report is truthful. These Cops have tried to kill Al Powell. And if they tried it like that the first time, he is probably not even safe here. So, Mr. McClane. This is not Nakatomi Plaza. But this isn´t Disneyland either. What did Powell tell you?" And Mordell looked at McClane like a man who was ready to have anybody bleed out to get what he wanted.

In the background Molly appeared with Al´s wife. No sign of John Jr. though. She looked worried at John and the Doctor came to them talking. Probably declaring Al´s death or recovery, while John was kept by Mordell and his bodyguard/favourite cop Colme in place. Mordell saw it to and with a smile playing aroud his lips he turned back to John, awaitng an answer.

Tag: Mitth

 

IC: Miranda Frost, on stomach behind Shane Vendrell, side of apartment complex.

Frost was taking a moment, in spite of her situation, appreciating the sight and smell of the wiry detective who held her captive. She had seen the gold-coloured detective shield clipped to his belt.

She was naturally attracted to strong males, but picky with it. Payne had BSL ? Bat Shat Loco ? written all over him, which disqualified him from the attraction stakes; the bald cop with the shades was just too aggressive for her liking; but this one, this one had enough control over his aggression, and was at first glance, enough of an Action Man to make it onto her radar.
She imagined him having a dusty pickup truck with a shotgun on an external rack.

?Angels or Demons?? Action Man said, shaking his head and turning back to the firefight. She could hear the smile in his voice. We got the girl of a preacherman here.?

She could feel the cheerfulness between him and the bald cop, who didn?t seem to tire of holding his gun in her face. If she ever had the chance to write her memoirs, and assuming she got permission to publish, tonight was going to be labelled, ?The Night of Guns Being Aimed in My Face?.

?I am the guy the Demons got bad dreams about, Lady.? Bald Cop maintained. She felt him grab her under one bicep, and physically haul her over to Shane, which she did not mind. ?Take good care of her. Our holy hooker here seems to know more than she admits.?

The lead detective gestured and a third member of the four-man team ran over. He seemed more clean cut than ?her? two, and from her position on the tiled floor, she leaned back painfully to watch him with interest.

?Explosions from the lobby over there and I think our trigger happy cleaner is not alone.? He reported earnestly.

?You don?t say.? She muttered under an interested smile, low enough that it wasn?t heard.

?Bad news. Looks like they´re after the girl, too.?

?Crap.?

?Yeah, we need to get into that building and find that girl. Before anybody else shows up.?

In her professional opinion, the new guy was uncomfortable about something, looking between the other cops, but conversely, he managed to drain his face of emotion. ?About that, we got a patrol car in front of the lobby. Think it´s from Farmington.?

She jumped, jerking once like a landed fish, as Bald Cop batted the butt of his automatic into the wall! ?Dammit.?

Alright, now she was starting to doubt that these guys were here to help Nadja. Their leader, at least, did not seem pleased to have fellow cops on the scene.

?Okay, listen, you and Lem take the backdoor, I try to get the front. Seems an officer called Pain is here. I wanna have a look at that guy.?

Lem. She filed the name away, her first identifier for one of these men.

Third Guy nodded his understanding of the strategy, then indicated her. ?What about her??

Bald Cop regarded her with a look that was as far removed from ?To Protect and Serve? as it was possible to get. She did not let it bother her. ?We´ll milk her for info later. Might be leverage against someone involved.?

Third Guy nodded and headed back to his friend, that she now identified as the mentioned ?Lem?, then Bald Cop turned back to her and her captor.

?Try to stay behind me, but at a distance. If she tries anything funny, show her why you´re such a charming guy. Okay??

Her detective nodded and leaned over the back of her to test the cuffs. Thorough. She liked that. She felt the hard metal of his pistol tap the back of her skull. ?Alright, I am behind you.?

Bald Cop vanished from her sight-line, presumably heading for the front where she hoped Offic

 

ooc: Short to keep things going, except the awesome set up deserves a longer post

Max Payne
Apartment Complex, Lobby
Chapter 2

I see the world slow down. Shells from bullets send on their way. Hundreds of tiny bullets from the spreading load of their 12 Gauge assault rifles. Smoke. Shattered glass. Screams. Noise. Chaos. And soon death would join the symphony. Mine. theirs. It doesn´t really matter. Death is a like an cheap girl from 22nd street. It takes everyone it can get.

My heel kicks the grenade back into the corridor with the stairs, as my MP5 seems to get a live of it own. Firing bursts into the direction of my attackers. My free hand would have made my shots a lot more precise. But I need it to save another woman. The Officer I pull down and my scream into the room. My own messenger of wrath send through the air. Heated shells making their way in slow motion towards the ground. The first of them is hit by two of the three shots of my second burst. The cruel law of cause and effect. Numbers. Binary choices of life and death. The second takes cover. The third sends his own raging shots from the assault gun my way. Dust. Concrete turned to tiny little pieces as the walls are ripped apart. My body is in the air. Floating through the room until it hits the ground hard and pain spreads everywhere. My MP5 does not stop firing. I don´t hold back. The explosion behind me will leave me deaf and the shrapnels have a chance of hitting me. I want the two guys to be dead by then. I want the Cops to get out of here. And then I want the rest of these bastards to die.

It is one of these nights. Before it is over, I´ll float L.A.´s streets with blood.


Theirs. Mine.

It is one of these nights.

Tag: Draco, Sirak (you´re coming our way, right?)

 

IC: John McClain - Chapter Two
Hospital in Downtown L.A.

As the man replied John could the sinking feeling in his gut get worse, he had thought the long night was over but with the women acting irrational as usual and having come...he was left in a place next to a DA that he hoped to never be in. He was going to have to work with the slime-ball that probably had less reason for his post than Doc Holiday.

"D.A. Mordell." he replied seriously as he leaned back forward seeing a doc come out to talk to the two women, "He was going to tell me once we got to someplace safer and more our speed. So all I know is that he wanted my help, I was preppared to hear him out about what was happening, and we got something instead of a check when we went to leave. Also that Al didn't want them knowing who I fully was, probably so they wouldn't pull exactly what they tried in a crowded resturaunt."

He was ready to spill what he could to the man, whom he wasn't too surprised knew the going rate of a hooker on Inglewood, without sullying Al's good name as much as possible.

"Now that you know." he began abit destractidly, "What are you going to do about it?"

TAG: Fin

 

OOC: first off, my utmost apologies... i had no desire for the break i was forced into taking. school, holidays and finals swallowed me whole. if i'm allowed, i'll jump back in. read through a bit, but at least get my character going again. if it is a problem you can just ignore this post, and i'll stay bowed out.

IC: Taliana "Shadow" Mardock/ Dance Floor/ The Tribal Zone/ The Great Expecations/ Downtown
Chapter 1 "Shadow's Rise"/ Health 1

A slight smile touched her lips as she noted the red dot that wasn't there anymore. Maybe she would get out of this alive. Maybe whoever had been targeting her wouldn't. Continuing to move to the beat, letting the motion of the pulsating crowd move her across the room somewhat randomly she felt something warm and viscous suddenly splatter across her cheek. It was a feeling she was all too familiar with... it was the life of some poor schmuck who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time as the guy in front of her spasmed and started to drop.

Hearing the tell tale hissing of another bullet she let herself go limp, and fell with the man as the crowd began to realize what was going on. While falling she was able to note the position of the muzzle flashes, and a smile crossed her lips again. Gotcha!

Before she even hit the ground she was already reaching for one of her desert eagles and everything seemed to slow down. The trail of red light that led straight back towards her assailant seemed to expand, becoming a highway for destruction to go both ways. More flashes from the muzzle, each a bright star guiding her eyes, guiding her aim as she prepared herself to fire.

The cries of those around her filled her senses, the acrid smell that accompanied the firing of a gun multiple times started to fill her nose, and she was about to add to it. As her gun lined up she gently squeezed the trigger, once, twice before she hit the ground and was rolling away from where she had been over at least one body. The fog machine would to her advantage as it obscured vision of all those present, especially her assailant above.

Then everything was happening almost at once, the chaos that was the dance floor swallowing her whole as she got lost in the morass of bodies again.

TAG: FINS/DRACO

 

We´ll write you in, again Trimaj.

To all others, my stay was forced to be a little longer. People reading the news can guess, why. But I am back and Bad Day will soon resume the ordinary game mode.

DarkLordoftheFins is no longer a GM of this, except for Mitth-Fisto and (if still in) Republic_Anvil´s characters who he will bring to an end. He did not leave, but I forced him out, because I wanted to see his own game happening. If you havenßt had a look, get over there and do. DarkLordoftheFin´s Sins of the Saints So consider him a friend of this game, anyway. As many players have dropped out, I will most likely overhaul the twelve hours concept and trim it down to twelve hours, therefore six chapters, with getting rid of a few major events.

Otherwise, expect an update soon. And thanks for the patience.

Draco

 

OOC: I'm still in, I just can't see Dante doing anything much more then holding his guns and looking threatening. Just thought i'd give a heads up that i'm still in.

 

ooc: To leave you not waiting any longer than necessary, a quick update.

Apartment Building Lobby
Downtown

The explosion ripped apart the world, as Max landed on the cold marble floor. No voices reached his ear. No pain he felt, as the small particles of the explosive search for any victim.

Max MP-5 send out it´s bullets, as the Cleaners send out theirs from their assault weapons. Pain spread in Max shoulder and blood spread on Dani Sofer´s face as the New York Cop above her was hit. But much more blood the two attackers spread, as they fell to the ground, dead. Their leader allowed his gun to rule his actions. The Assault Rifle pumped heated lead into the lobby and then Jonathan Brie felt the pain of bullets hitting him.

Miranda saw the man dancing like a puppet on electrified strings. The glass behind him shattered, as Officer Gadochi and Lemansky unloaded a dozen shots into the man. Mackey leaped into the lobby and secured the area, as Gadochi reloaded and Lem changed to his sidearm. "Gun down! Gun down!" Macky shouted as he saw the man on the floor with the Submachine gun. the fact under him was a well known face was probably what saved him. Vic would not have shot with such a risk to hurt Dani.

"What are you doing here? This is not Farmington!" He pressed through his tears, his gun not leaving Max Payne´s chest. He knew he had explanations to do now himself. Why was he here?

Shane Vendrell smiled and pulled Miranda to her feet. "Bureau, bad men, hm? I´d say we are pretty much done with her bad men." He smiled and pushed he to the lobby. The other two secured the area meanwhile. "Do you know each other?" He asked, as Miranda saw the bleeding Payne.

Tag: Sith-I-5, LordTroepfchen, SirakRomar (who wrote large parts of this, thanks)

---

[b]Morgue
Corridor[/b]

The cleaner in front of them raised his arms. His stare was far too cool for someone not used to this. But it was his colleague not far behind who did not keep his cool. Instead he grabbed into his equipment bag and drew his silenced gun. "Watch out!" Grissom yelled and dived back into the safety of his room. The third Cleaner ducked for cover, as the first silenced shots hissed through the air, hitting the wall near Anita.

[b]Tag: Kahn, Sey[/b]

[hr]

[b]Great Expectations
Lower Dance Floor[/b]

Tatiana saw the shape of the attacker roll over the balustrade and fall down from above. He hit the floor, the moment her roll ended. Another shot. This time not silenced and the screams changed directions. All hell broke loose. And no matter how much of a professional you were, in such a chaos you could die any second.

The emergency exits became the target of hundreds fleeing persons and an Asian looking man tumbled down into her area to take cover from someone shooting from the outside. A man collapsed next to Tatiana. Sirens. Not police. Sound effects. the DJ had collapsed on his board.

And then she saw a second man staring at her in the crowd and bringing up the very same weapon she was wearing, a Desert Eagle. Pointing towards her.His first shot missed her head.

[b]
Tag: Trimaj[/b]

 

IC: Anita Blake
Chapter II
Morgue Corridor

Anita was heading towards the closest cleaner. She had taken three steps down the corridor when she saw one of the cleaners in the back going for his cleaning back. **** Anita thought to herself and instinct took over. She threw herself to the ground, landing hard on her belly while hearing the zip of air above her where the first bullet went. The gun dug into her side as she hit the ground and she grimaced in pain. Her right hand was also trapped underneath her as two instincts were fighting each other for control of the situation. Half her brain wanted to get the gun back out of its holster and the other half figured it wouldn't happen in time and had thrown her body out of the way.

Self preservation gone wrong. She thought wryly. She rolled off to her right so that her right hand could slide out from underneath her. She gripped the gun as it passed the handle and aimed the gun at the first, closest cleaner. Here is where trust was important. This man didn't have a weapon pulled yet, but he was probably blocking her from the cleaner at the end of the hall who was shooting. She had to trust that Dante would be able to take out the threat. But just in case, she started backwards crawling towards the door that Grissom had thankfully, finally gone through.

Her gun swung back and forth with each shift of her weight. Have you ever tried crawling backwards before? How about with a gun? Yeah, its totally not easy by itself, let alone with a gun. But Anita had trained herself for all sorts of eventualities and while she never anticipated having to crawl with a gun, she did train so that if she had an injured arm she could still crawl.

She felt like she had crawled, ok scooted would be more accurate, for miles even though logically the corridor wasn't that long. Time stood still and Anita prepared for the worst.

Tag: Kahn and Draco

 

Dante - Morgue
Chapter II

As was always the case the **** hit the fan because somebody was gun happy and would rather try and go down in a blaze of glory then get arrested. When the kid went for the bag Dante's first thought was Don't do it. but it was to late, the poor sap pulled out a gun aimed at Anita and fired. And so did Dante. He didn't particularly aim, mostly cause he was ducking down to make a smaller target. But he also unloaded half a clip in his direction. There was little chance he'd avoid getting hit, though he had a slightly higher probability of not becoming swiss cheese.

As he watched the shooter go down Dante rose up to his full height and drew Ebony pointing it in the direction of the guy who dover for cover and Ivory on the smug *******. As his tunnel vision for shooting faded he saw Anita down on her stomach. Was she hit? He couldn't tell all he could do was cover her. "Ok, both of you get up, put your hands against the wall. And I swear if either of you do something suspicious by the time I'm done going Rambo on your asses not even your mothers will be able to recognize you."

"Anita." He said not taking his eyes or aim off the two 'cleaners' "I got a bead on these two you ok? You ain't hurt are ya?" It occurred to him that Grissom had dove back into the room. "Hey, Grissom? You ok in there?"

Tag: Sey, Draco

 

SirakRomar did a lot of input to this. Combined post, so to say . . . Thanks!

Max Payne & The Strike Team
Apartment Building, Lobby

I had been hit. I could feel that immediately, as the overdose of adrenaline lowered itself to the level that painkillers and the thrill of bloodshed allowed.

The cops had entered the scene. And I knew these kinda cops. Four guys and no badges. Only guns, the air of authority and the smoke of battle. Dust settled down and blood filled the floor, where the dead Cleaners had become something to clean up itself. I drop my gun and see the officer beneath me unharmed.

"Payne. NYPD. Badge is in my jacket." I say and cough. The bald head is their leader. One can feel that. He is also the one who will put the bullet into my head, if these guys are dirty. And they got that flair about them. otherwise, their would be sirens all about that place now. "Guess you made the back up go away?" I ask and smirk.

"No, Sir. These guys got another guardian angel, I guess. Busy day in town." The bald head nods and the guy with the eighties cut grabs my badge from the pocket. The observe it and the bearded one remarks it looks alright. They seem to care. A cowboy enters the scene, dragging my British companion with him. "Looks like the law is looking for our friend, too." I say to her and gave her a look. "Stephanie Clemente is an eyewitness in a murder case we investigate." The bald-headed presses through his teeth. Stephanie. a girl with many names. I add that ot my line of explanations I will get out of her, once I got that little brat. Obviously pissed by my presence, the guy exchanges meaningful looks. Alpahamales.
"bull****." I simply reply, a little too honest and I get my badge back from Mr. Eighties. My arms drop. They´re much closer to the gun now. I prefer them there. Bald-head gives me a look and then the disgust crawls into his face. We won´t become friends. But cops don´t kill each other either. both of us made things more complicated for the other and
I wonder where in that city I could find an honest cop.

"Ronny, Lem, go looking for her. I´ll cover this." The guy looks at the officer I just saved. "You´re fine Danny?" He asked and I kneel down and pick up the MP5 again. The guy immediately rises his gun. "What do you think you´re doing, hm?" He asks and I go over to the brit. "I am going to search for the girl. And I take her with me." I reply.- This is one of these moments. Some tough decisions on that mans way. I´ll make it easy for him. Dirty or not. He got framed as much as I did. "Did he tell you about his army? Or did he tell you nothing?" I ask bald-head. "Nobody told me anything." he replies, not revealing he got send here by someone. I smirk and reach out to the cowboy, my hand demanding the keys. "Figured that. You should call your guys back, between them and her is an army of these guys." I only reply. And give him a look. "And when you retreat, there is an sniper on top." I add. Looking at the cowboy.

Looking up he turns and curses. Nodding to the Cowboy who hands me the keys. "Julien, call back up, tell ém w3e got arabs among the suspects and explosives. That´ll make them come." he hisses and looks back to me.

Indeed, no friends.

"You wanna go up there alone?" He asks. "Be my guest." He adds with acid in his voice.

I don´t care, I just nod and take Miranda to the side. "These guys will take her from us, if we find her. And then she will be delivered for whoever pays or blackmails them, you know that, do you?" I ask her, whispering.

Tag: Draco, Sith-I-5

 

OOC: Although very little of this post is mine, it took a long time to type! I?m missing the season six premiere of NCIS to get this done!
Anyway, Code 10-3 is a radio ten code that I used to mean, ?Hold all radio traffic. Emergency on channel.? Thank you to Wikipedia?s page on ?Ten-codes?.

---

[b]IC: Officer Dani Sofer, Miranda Frost, Officer Julien Lowe[/b], lobby of the apartment blocks.
[color=red]Location: 22 Mackeylane, Harbor City[/color]


Dani closed her eyes and held still under the body mass of the NYPD officer as the lobby exploded into a blaze of light and noise from both directions, and waited for it to cease so that she could check if she were still alive!

All at once, she looked up past Payne?s mop of sweaty hair to see the bullet-headed [b]Vic Mackey[/b] glaring desperately down at her.

[i]Vic?[/i] she mouthed silently.

?[color=red][i]What are you doing here? This is not Farmington![/i][/color]? He yelled down at her.

?Not been listening to your radio again, Vic?? She enquired, trying to push or at least roll Payne off her; she could barely breathe, his weight compressing her ribs. ?The City has been going crazy. We got officers down in several districts, and Chief Gilroy has opened up everyone?s districts for the night. Julien and I are covering while the locals deal with Officer Involved Shootings up at the Cobra Lounge.?

Miranda did not resist as Action Guy dragged her into the lobby where she saw Bald Guy kneeling with his big automatic pressed into [b]Payne[/b]?s chest. She also noticed the uniforms for the first time, one, a blonde woman, sandwiched under the NYPD officer. A darker officer, also bald but looking shaken like any regular person, was sitting under the back doors of the battered Pest Control Econovan.
Was Bald Guy?s crew a team of six?

?[color=darkred][i]Bureau, bad men, hm? I´d say we are pretty much done with her bad men. Do you know each other? [/i][/color]? Her guard asked her, whilst Lem and the Third Guy secured the scene, making kicking weapons along the glass-strewn floor out of the reach of the clearly dead Cleaners.
She sarcastically thought it reasonably unlikely that they would become zombies and reach for those guns again.

?[color=royalblue]Yeah, we?ve become acquainted.[/color]? She answered, eventually, looking down at the still New Yorker. He?d taken a bullet, it seemed. [i][color=royalblue]Ah, I see where I went wrong,[/color][/i] she thought to herself on seeing he had obeyed Bald Guy?s instructions and dropped his weapon instead of trying to blag it like she had. She rattled her handcuffs as a reminder to herself that her situation was her own damn fault.

?[color=blue][i]Payne. NYPD. Badge is in my jacket. [/i][/color]? Wisely, he did not reach for it himself. Only coughing, then smirking, ?[color=blue][i]Guess you made the back up go away?[/i][/color]?

?[color=red][i]No, Sir. These guys got another guardian angel, I guess. Busy day in town.[/i][/color]?

Miranda looked on as the LAPD detectives flipped open Payne?s badge wallet. There were general noises of approval. She guessed they saw a lot of false ones.

?[color=blue][i]Looks like the law is looking for our friend, too.[/i][/color]?

?[color=red][i] Stephanie Clemente is an eyewitness in a murder case we investigate.[/i][/color]?

?[color=blue][i]bull****.[/i][/color]? Payne judged.

?[color=royalblue]Ditto.[/color]? Miranda looked at Bald Guy. ?[color=royalblue]Uh, sorry. That means, ?As above?.[/color]?

Payne and and Bald Guy eyeballed each other in one of those macho stand-offs that so annoyed her at school, college, university, heck, anywhere where had males congregated in her life.

?[color=red][i]Ronny, Lem, go looking for her. I´ll cover this. You´re fine Danny?[/i][/color]?

Dani stayed flat on the floor, rubbing her chest through the Kevlar while the Payne joined Miranda. ?I?ll live. Julien??

?[color=chocolate]Here.[/color]?

Miranda glanced towards the stressed looking officer. He looked close to tears, but seemed to be holding them in. Given the company, Miranda understood.

 

ooc: That was an impressive scene capture, Sithy

Max Payne
Lobby

?Well, we don?t know that for sure, but it?s a good bet.? Miranda whispered back. ?How do you want to play it?? I looked at her, then at the obviously tense bald guy commanding his guys around.

"We do it the old fashioned way. I don´t know any other, anyway." I took a secondary handgun from one of the dead. "You make sure nobody gets in or gets out, supercop. We´ll be back with the girl in a second."

Old fashioned. More of the same. My biography.

And again a binary choice. Live or Die. Let live or let die. Survival always came down to this. Along the chain of events leading to this, you surpass the point of no return somewhere along the road. No warning signs. No indicator of the coming storm. And from there, everything comes down to a few binary choices you take.

Allowing the safety button to click, I looked at the spot where the shrapnel has pierced my skin. Must have been lucky. It is bleeding but not to bad. I got time. More than the girl. As soon as Miranda is inside I pull the button to level five and press myself against the wall.

If this girl of so many names is who I think she is . . . I don´t give in to that line of thought. For now all that matters is that our enemy is raising hell between us and her. And now that I was coming, hell would obviously follow me.

Good.

Tag: Sith-I-5, SirakRomar, Draco

 

Morgue
Corridors

Anita had saved her live with her fast reaction. The attacker had lost his. Hammered into the wall by half of dante´s shots.

Grissom was taking the internal com and called for help. And the Cleaner right in front of them looked cooly at Dante. A smile played around his lips. The second had lost his nerves. Despitre being told to stand still, he cowered behind his little car and cried. 2I got nothing to with it, Senior. Don´t hurt Raoul!"

The Cleaner who had his arms up nodded. "Sean was always a fool. I surrender. My gun is under me newpaper." He said, not impressed by the chance to get involved into any of this. "Problem is, do you hang around, so they can arrest you, too?" He asked Dante directly.

"Did I mention one of the guys you shot was a Cop?" He asked then and his smile turned into a grin.

Tag: Kahn, Sey

---

Appartment is doing fine without me, until you get to that floor. [face_grin]

 

OOC: Uh, I don't want to be difficult, but I don't think Miranda would get in that elevator, given what is waiting upstairs. My reasoning, indirect as it is, I have a James Bond novel that has him knowing that phone booths can be death traps; she works for same organisation and would share that knowledge, and I think with gunplay, that logic can be reasonably extended to lifts/elevators!

 

ooc: Oh, you underestimate the Payne . . . Or you have no DIE HARD novels, actually. Anyway, then just forget about me waiting for you and post you did not come and I went up without you. I see the sentence as "voided" then . . .

And try the stairs or find any other way up . . .

 

OOC: Actually, I do have the second one, or at least the novel that would become Die Hard 2: Die Harder

IC: Miranda Frost, Dani Sofer, lobby of 22 Mackeylane Apartments
Chapter *shrugs* I have no idea. #2?

Following Payne?s lead once the cops looks like letting them go get the girl, Miranda baulked at actually entering the lift with him.

Given what they knew about other armed and unfriendly people inside the building, she wasn?t getting in there!

?It?s alright,? she smiled at Payne through the open doors, as he rested his finger on the button for the floor he was going to. ?I?ll take the stairs.?

?Hold on, I got something you will need.? The female officer said from waist height.

Miranda looked down to see that she was bending over, as if having a severe cough. She straightened and looked towards the back of the van. ?Julien, you got that Ronco??

?Catch.?

The torch arced through the air, and Dani caught it with both hands, pulling it back towards herself. there was a ping from behind as Payne departed in the lift.

?Wait a sec?, I?m coming with you.?

Miranda look on as the black policeman started to haul himself off the floor.

?No, stay here, Julien. With Vic and the others. Wait for the backup.?

Without waiting for an answer, Dani joined the British agent, and showed her the wide-lensed flashlight. ?Light of a million candles.? She squeezed sideways past the van?s dented front where it had bounced off the interior wall. Her progress faltered as the gun on her hip snagged on the grille, but she cut the Englishwoman dead when she reached down help free the sidearm. ?Back off, lady; you should know not to touch a cop's gun.?

Hands up to show compliance, Miranda smile was brittle as she regarded the slim officer, and followed her between the vehicle and wall, crunching over glass while the Vic's team scowled behind them.
?QVC?? She commented knowingly, deliberately steering the conversation back to the flashlight, and referring to the infamous shopping channel. ?Not available in stores??

?I see you've worked a late shift.?

"My fair share." There was less light from outside once both were fully in front of the vehicle, and Miranda had to use the two rank chevrons on Dani?s short-sleeved top to see where she was. Her sight adjusted quickly.

Dani stopped and indicated where the wall stopped, and somehow mimed that round the corner to the left, was the stairs.

Frost said nothing, wondering if the policewoman made balloon animals as well. She?d definitely have a moonlighting career with children?s parties.

?Sit there.? She pointed to the carpet just short of the corner. ?Alright, give me a four count. On four, lean back and blast away.?

?What happened to ?on three??? Miranda whispered as she dropped to the carpet as best she could, shuffling back into position, feeling the skirt riding down her hips. Lucky this woman was, well, a woman. ?Or is that only in the Lethal Weapon films? By the way, I?m Miranda.?

?Dani. With an ?I?.? She chuckled in the twilight. ?Our shooters are wearing night-vision. And on three, I am switching this ***** ON!?

Miranda nodded with understanding, and snickered herself. ?Oh, you?re evil.?

?The evilest.? Officer Sofer got into position, standing over the British operative. ?Start counting.?

?One.? Both girls took of safeties and chambered rounds. Dani got ready to aim the unlit torch and her Glock.

?Two.? Inhale and hold breaths.

?Three.? LIGHT OF A MILLION CANDLES

"AAAH!? Artificial daylight filled the faux-marble stairwell, and gave a clear view of a jumpsuited and flak-jacketed cousin to the dead in the lobby, automatic weapon

 

ooc: I wonder if you hade the same dialogue with Sir_Draco about character shields, that I had, Sithy.

The Strike Team
MackeyLane Apartment Building

Shane and Vic only watched Dani get into the stairs. "Dani, what the hell you think you´re doing?" He hissed after her, then looked at Julien and cursed. "Dammit, get outside and don´t even think about or, I´ll shot you myself." Vic barked at him. Then took a look into the stairhouse. Five levels high. Not way to cover all exits and entrances with anything less than a full tacitcal unit. Shots were heard, and Lem and Ronny came around the corner. Weapons drawn and ready to fight. "Forget it, the girls are playing hero." Vic hissed. Shane looked at him. "You wanna let her go alone up there? With nobody but that carzy brit that doesn´t even have a long range gun?" Shane asked. Raising his left cheek, as he always did, when he considered a plan crazy. "That, or we all jump into the same trap. If they are not intimidated about grenades coming down from atop, good. I want the girl. And nothing else." Vic said and turned to the sharttered glass front. "Ronny, Lem. You cover the firestairs. Payne won´t try to hand her to the cops. He is a cowboy. Shane and I will make sure he odes not find any alternative means of leaving." Vic nodded. Ronny was obviously uncomfortable. Vic looked at him, ripping his sunglasses from his eyes. "What?" He asked. Ronny stepped next to him and asked in a low voice, so Lem could not hear him. The blonde man was already reloading his pumpgun. Ronny saw it and then looked at Vic with an intense look. "Tell me you are not leaving Dani alone up there, because she saw us here. This is not about witnesses, is it?" Vic looked at him. First surprised, then annoyed. "Man, if the girl needs to proof something, let her. We get that girl or a certain someone hands in our asses. You got it? We get her or we´re done! So I don´t care who sees us, I want her." He raised his grows, staring right at Ronny. "Got it?" Ronny avoided his eyes, looking to the side and obviously regretted having said anything. "Yeah. Sure." Then he turned to Lem and gave him a shoulderpad. "Let´s go."

Vic stayed behind. "You don´t think he´ll take the firestairs, do you?" Shane asked. "Not likely, but one never knows. He might do it, because it is such a stupid idea, he hopes we don´t cover them." Vic said and removed his magazine with a full one. "And if he gets the girl first?" shane asked. Vic looked at him. "You know what is at stakes here. Better than any of the others. We must get her. No matter what." Shane nodded. "And the brit?" Vic smirked. "She is only a brit." Shane nodded and then his features grew more concerned. "And Dani?" He asked. Vic looked at him. "We won´t do anything to Dani." Shane sighed. "Maybe we have to." Vic shock his head. "We don´t do AYNTHING to Dani. Understood?" Shane nodded. And both men turned to the elevators. "Block them, I lock the other stairs." Vic said and made his way to the aftpart of the housing.

Tag: LordT, Sithy, Draco(for that rumored army)

 

Max Payne
Elevator to War

I nod and allow the doors to shut. Immediately looking up, I know I got only a few seconds. The Brit will probably try to make her way through the controlled area of the stairs. A good distraction. It isn´t my problem. I have enough to do in the few seconds until I arrive up there. I grab one of the brackets above and drag myself up, kicking against the ceiling liners. They bump up. Giving in to my kick. Fire-safety does not allow them to be irremovable, as you couldn´t get people out of elevators once they were stuck. Things you learn by crawling through besieged elevators in New York City.
I climb up, forcing my aching body up there and sit down on top the elevator. A cough escapes my mouth. It actually hurts and I would love to have the time to throw in some painkillers. Second floor passes and I move the plate of artificial isolation material again to it´s place. They surely have a name for this. I just don´t know it. The lever on the MP5 goes to full auto and I breath half in. Pulling the MP against my face and aiming down into the area of the door I prepare for taking another few lives.

With a ping the elevator ends up where I wanted him and the doors slide open. Level three. Somewhere here the girl´s apartment must be.

And between me and it, a lot of Cleaners need to be cleaned up.

Binary choices. I remind myself. Binary choices.

Tag: Draco

 

OOC: Sirak', I spent an enjoyable thirty minutes researching what 'character shields' were. Mm. Great posting both of you, I am really in anticipation of the Payne/Frost versus Strike Team firefight to come, if it comes to that!