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Post by Toz76 on Sept 17, 2017 0:15:15 GMT -5
"I'm old enough to make my own decisions, dad." Marlena snapped.
Meanwhile, Elvira had just finished telling MacGrath about her experiences with Drugg.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Sept 17, 2017 0:26:55 GMT -5
"I see; so because of these instances, where he treated you like a puppet, and tried to kill you, now the mere presence of a syringe causes you to freeze up whenever you see one? I've seen similar cases when it comes to Battle Fatigue... but a disorder of stress closely associated with a traumatic event that isn't warfare... there are drugs that can help, but I would imagine that you don't want to go down that route" MacGrath observed.
......
It was a few hours before the five of them were finally In Northern Scotland. Settling at a local inn, they reserved three rooms as they settled into what would be their base of operations.
"So, what's our first move? Reach out to the local authorities?" Gunnarson asked.
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Post by Toz76 on Sept 17, 2017 0:37:37 GMT -5
"No. Knowing Blade, he's probably got agents in the local police. Our best bet is to hang around local bars and see if we can't find any clues." Byrne said.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Sept 17, 2017 0:46:00 GMT -5
"I know Walton said he's got some informants up here; probably the closest thing to allies we got" Stein observed.
"Time is of the essence everyone. If we're going to get information, we're going to need to think like Blade's men. Now, put yourself in their heads... what would they be doing now?" Byrne pointed out
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Post by Toz76 on Sept 17, 2017 0:50:46 GMT -5
"Staying in their base, not allowing their position to be revealed." Gunnarson pointed out.
"Exactly." Byrne said. So we should investigate each mine on foot.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Sept 17, 2017 0:56:31 GMT -5
"All right, so what do we do then?" Gunnarson asked.
"Gunnarson, I presume because of your old service revolver you've got military experience- so you take Marlena and go to "north street" Stein said; careful to use the agreed upon code names from the car ride so as to not reveal any information to potential eavesdroppers.
"Stein can handle himself, so Byrne and I will go to "Rotterdam Road" for the night" Greene declared.
"Guess that means "Alerby Lane" is where I am heading" Stein said. And the five headed out towards their respective destinations
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Post by Toz76 on Sept 17, 2017 1:13:58 GMT -5
Gunnarson and Marlena were going to the Kellsthorpe Mine, Stein to Smagdock, and Byrne and Greene to Montgomery.
"Alright, here we are." Greene observed once they reached the mine entrance. "I don't see any sign of occupancy."
"They could be deeper in. And there could be multiple entrances."
"But if that were the case, this one would- oh."
Greene turned. "How long have you been working for Blade?"
"How did you know?" Byrne asked.
"You've been constantly misleading us, second-guessing us, trying to lead us away from this area. I just didn't realize it until now. I just want to know... why?"
"I've never cared much for our system of justice. I believe Blade's way is the best way for England." Byrne replied. He pulled out his gun and shot Greene point-blank in the chest.
"Blade was never in any of the mines, was he?" Greene asked with his dying breath.
"It doesn't matter. I phoned him last night. He knows exactly where Gunnarson, Stein, and Madam Gent are going. He's already sent men to bring them in. Now all that remains is to dispose of you."
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Sept 17, 2017 1:27:48 GMT -5
Byrne had to turn his back on Greene for a bit. He took out his flask and took a drink.
"Ugh... Blade was right, killing isn't any way to achieve justice. When I see him again I must atone for my..."
But then, a sharp pain in his neck. Turning around, he saw Greene with a smoking gun... Byrne had been shot, and the bullet ripped open his carotid artery.
"You should be dead by now..." Byrne said sharply.
"I love my country too much to let a traitor such as you get away with something like this... join me, why don't you" Greene said in between coughs.
"Not even patriotism will save you from that wound" Byrne said as he fell to his knees.
"Hehe... dulce et decorum est... pro patria mori" Greene said before finally passing out. Byrne tried to hold out, but ended up fainting himself soon after.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Sept 17, 2017 1:45:13 GMT -5
Byrne had to turn his back on Greene for a bit. He took out his flask and took a drink.
"Ugh... Blade was right, killing isn't any way to achieve justice. When I see him again I must atone for my..." and just then, he heard a noise. Sirens, an all too familiar noise.
"What the?! But Blade has inside men!" Byrne said, shocked.
"Did you honestly believe I would have let us come alone here, Byrne? I knew something was up the moment you brought that up. Blade may have gotten a man or two on the force... but my brother and cousins are a different story. We love our country too much to betray it like you have." Greene said, coughing between breaths.
"but how?" Byrne asked.
"I told them to lie in wait... approach the moment they heard a gunshot" Greene said.
"It doesn't matter Greene... you're a dead man!" Byrne said, slowly backing away.
"Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori Byrne! Dulce et decorum est... pro patria mori..." Greene said, before Byrne was forced to flee.
The lone car pulled up nearby, as Detective Greene's brother and cousin ran up to Greene.
"Gerald... hang in there Gerald! We'll get you out of here!" Officer Greene said, desperate to help his brother.
"But what about Byrne?" Officer Daniels asked (maternal side cousin)
"If there's any hope of saving him, we get him out of here!" Officer Greene said as they made the effort to get him to the car and get him out of there. If Greene was to survive the night, it would be nothing short of a miracle.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Sept 24, 2017 1:08:58 GMT -5
As Gunnarson and crew investigated the mines, back in London Commissioner Gent found himself facing a serious problem.
Although there had been a general decrease in crime in some areas following the disappearance of several major criminal leaders, Walton had come forth with some troubling intelligence from his informants.
"From what they've been hearing, seems that some of the major players are trying to get inside men in Scotland Yard. Could be Blade, could be Bury, no one is entirely sure. If these rumors are true... one of our own could be manipulating us as we speak" he said grimly.
"Does anyone come to mind?" Gent asked.
"Not at present, but we will need to keep this under our hats for now. We're going to need to find a more subtle way of figuring out if anyone has been turned" Walton explained. Then he left to keep up the pursuit of justice.
Gent buried his face in his hands; this only added to his growing list of problems. Not only was his daughter blatantly putting herself in danger, he was starting to face pressure from his own department to disavow Gunnarson. Though good friends with the Swede, Gent had no right to order detectives to allow Gunnarson onto crime scenes; technically speaking the detectives were in the right. Most officers now treated Gunnarson as an ordinary civillian, as did the majority of detectives.
Quite literally, Gent could count on his hands the number of detectives that still supported Gunnarson; besides himself, there was Stein, Byrne and Greene in Homicide. Then on top of them, there was Connors in Arson, Beck and Davis in Burglary, and Jameson in Gangs/Organized crime. But for everyone else, they would not let the Swede on their cases. Adding insult to injury, the detectives that had disavowed Gunnarson were now pressuring Gent to do the same, lest he be accused of corruption. He knew that Gunnarson knew more than anyone else about the Blade Syndicate... but the pressure was really getting to him.
......
With Gunnarson up North, Nicko stayed behind, instructed by Gunnarson to "keep his ear to the ground and listen up for anything" as the Swede put it. He hadn't been hearing much, but from hanging around a couple pubs, he was starting to hear the occasional crook and thug talk about the kind of things Gunnarson was looking for. However, a wrench was about to be thrown into his plans.
As he proceeded to make his way to the third pub on his list, he was stopped by a couple men. One wielding a large wrench, the other a lead pipe. Nicko knew all to well what this meant.
"I told you boys once and I'll say it again- Al is dead, and so is the debt. No stop barking up the tree where there ain't any sap" Nicko stated as the two raised their weapons.
"Al's replacement says otherwise; you'll pay up, or we'll make you pay up" the one with the wrench said as the one with the pipe began practicing some swinging.
"Buzz off" Nicko said as he prepared to leave.
"Wrong answer" the one with the lead pipe said as the two now approached Nicko, ready to make him pay up.
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Post by Eyes on Sept 24, 2017 1:45:14 GMT -5
Nicko sighed. "'kin 'ell," he mumbled. "Di'n't think Ah'd 'af tah do this, but..."
And suddenly Nicko had his arm around the man, knocked him to the ground, and taken the pipe from him. The other man took out a gun and aimed, but Nicko was too quick for him. Knocking the gun out of his hand, and doing some damage to said hand as well, he forced them to beat a hasty retreat.
"An' don't ye come back!"
Meanwhile...
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Sept 24, 2017 14:21:00 GMT -5
Gunnarson and Marlena were now at Kellsthorpe Mine, taking a good look around for anything that looked suspicious or out of the ordinary.
"I don't like what I'm seeing... it's too quiet. I have the strangest feeling we aren't looking in the right place" Gunnarson observed.
"Is that your hunch?" Marlena asked.
"No; look around. The metal is rusted, the wood is moldy, and looking down this entrance tunnel... there's some sort of... cave dust that's undisturbed. If Blade were here, and he were keeping dozens of criminals prisoner, there would be more signs of human life" Gunnarson observed.
"Like what?" Marlena asked.
"Well, like lights, or the sound of machinery...or footsteps even." Gunnarson noted. Marlena saw that Gunnarson seemed to kind of zone out, then she began making her way to the mine. Gunnarson stopped her.
"We're not in the right place" Gunnarson said.
"Not only that... but I feel like we're being watched" Marlena replied.
"Me too. Tell me, if Blade isn't here, then... who's been ratting on us..." Gunnarson said as he turned around and pointed his gun at the figure that appeared "... Fowler!" Gunnarson stated.
"Is it that obvious?" Fowler said as he slowly walked forward.
"Indeed; why else would you be here, if this isn't the mine you are based at. So, shoot any farm animals recently?" Gunnarson quipped.
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Post by Toz76 on Sept 25, 2017 0:09:05 GMT -5
Fowler shot Gunnarson in the shoulder.
"I have now."
Marlena fled into the forest. Four men with guns ran out and pursued her.
Fowler and two other men surrounded Gunnarson.
"Disarm the swede and take him to Blade."
Suddenly, Gunnarson lashed out, kicking the legs out of the first guard and headbutting the second guard. With his good arm, he shot Fowler in the face, and he went down screaming.
Gunnarson made sure the first guard was unconscious, then went to the second guard. He had a plan now.
Meanwhile, Marlena had managed to outwit her pursuers, but she was now hopelessly lost.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Sept 25, 2017 23:35:54 GMT -5
Marlena calmed down and proceeded to think about the situation. "Ok, just think this through rationally. The first thing I need to do is get oriented. So, I'll look around for any landmarks that could show a location. If that doesn't work- I'll listen for car noises- surely there must be a road near by. And if all else fails- I will wait for the sun to rise. The always comes up in the East, so I can use that to orient my direction and get going" she concluded.
...
Gunnarson made sure that the two guards were restrained and incapacitated before turning his attention to Fowler. Blade's right hand man had taken a bullet to the face, and Gunnarson could tell, based on the trajectory, it may have very well hit his brain.
(I don't want to jump the gun on if he's supposed to die or not, so I'll leave it ambiguous for now)
Fowler was in too much pain to fight back, and could not resist as Gunnarson restrained him. Then Gunnarson looked at the scenario- he was about to enact his plan, but something occurred to him.
"Wait, Blade's only got ten men plus him, so where did these others come from? Unless...." Gunnarson thought. Then he realized a shocking thought "maybe, just maybe... Blade has more men than we thought" he concluded.
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Post by Toz76 on Sept 29, 2017 0:17:16 GMT -5
Meanwhile, Stein had reached his destination. One look at the entrance was all he needed to confirm that he was in the right place.
"Damn, I need to tell the others... if only we had a way to communicate wirelessly." He mused. For the time being, he decided to remain hidden in the brush and recon the area.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Sept 29, 2017 0:46:30 GMT -5
He looked over the grounds... the security on the outside was surprisingly light; only a dozen men or so- six pairs of two grunts from what he could tell. They we're wearing suits of various kinds- not the sort of thing you'd expect for people working out of a mine.
"Blade's clever... his security is within, no doubt. Too much manpower outside would draw too much attention. So, if I wanted to discreetly pick up on intelligence, where would I go..." Stein mused.
......
In the nearby town, an alley was stirring with activity. The Irish mob had managed to capture a dozen of Blade's men from various places around town, and were brutally beating them, demanding they give up their boss' location. Wrenches, pipes, even some ice picks, all being used to get the grunts to talk. Most of them had already passed out from the trauma, and the others were barely holding on. Until at last one grunt couldn't take it anymore and broke.
"He's... he's at Smagdock Mine... him and his whole crew.are there! They've been planning a big takeover for months! Soon they'll be able to compete with the Ripper Underground" he said, sputtering and coughing.
"Is that all there is? You still got eight fingers you know..." boss O'Connor said and he prepared to break another
"Yes! Yes that's all I swear!" He said, now terrified for his life.
Satisfied, O'Connor ordered his grunts to knock out the remaining grunts and to return to their base of operations here. "Let's go hunting, boys..," O'Connor grinned as he and the mob left twelve brutally beaten, unconscious informants and grunts in the alley.
......
(A few hours later)
"Friend, I want you to head into town. Some of my informants didn't report in this morning and I'm concerned something's happened" Blade said as he looked over a list of names from the table he was sitting at
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Post by Toz76 on Sept 29, 2017 1:02:13 GMT -5
Shortly after, Friend made it into town, where he spotted several members of the Irish Mob that he recognized.
"Damn, they're onto us!"
As he watched, he noticed them loading the tank of phosgene gas into a truck. Even from this distance, it was obvious what it was. Friend snuck off to make two calls- the first to Blade to warn him, and the second to the police, with the truck's license and cargo.
*****
O'Connor and McWalt were not expecting to be pulled over by the police and searched.
"Are you aware that phosgene gas is an illegal substance? You're coming with us." An officer said as the truck was towed away.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Sept 29, 2017 1:18:03 GMT -5
"How are we going to get out of this one?" McWalt whispered.
"Don't worry; I've got some good attorneys; we'll get out in no time" OConnor assured. Indeed, once word spread, the mob members began paying off officials and police, to make the process "go smoothly" but even then it would take a while.
......
Friend kept up his search until at last, he came to an alley and looked in utter shock.
"What the h... these are our boys!" He said as he ran in and looked around. "Well, it sounds like they are still breathing, but..." then he saw one man begin to stir. Friend ran over. "Jackson, is that you?" Friend asked. There were so many contusions and cuts on the man's face he was unrecognizeable.
"F-Friend? Thank goodness you're here..." he was able to weakly say.
"What the hell happened here?" Friend asked, taking out his flask of water and trying to get Jackson to drink
"I... I don't know. Everything from last night is so blurry..." Jackson said, unable to remember what happened.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Oct 5, 2017 1:10:34 GMT -5
"Think, Jackson, think! There's got to be something. What is the last thing you remember?" Friend asked, becoming increasingly distressed over the situation at hand.
"Ugh.. I remember... I was going into a pub for a drink. A couple guys walked up to me and... and after that, everything's all fuzzy" Jackson was able to say.
"It's got to be the Irish; no one but the mob is this cruel. But wait, why would they leave all you alive? It's almost as if..."
"We were waiting for you? On the nose" a voice said. Suddenly, three men with tommy guns came from the other side of the alley. Friend looked up and tried to reach inside his jacket.
"Don't even think about it" the lead said as he fired some warning shots, forcing Friend to keep his hands out.
"You bastards are going to pay for making fools out of us. When your bullet ridden body shows up on Blade's doorstep, that will be his only warning before we destroy his little Syndicate" he grinned as he kept aiming at Friend
"I knew I shouldn't have come alone" Friend grumbled as the three got closer.
"It's over; time to die!" The three said as they prepared to fire.
"On the contrary; he'll be coming with us" a voice said as the four looked up. Eight men, heavily armed. The two groups aimed at each other.
"Bloody hell; does Lord Bury need to stick his hands in everything? Why doesn't he just keep his nose out of our business?" The lead Irishman fumed.
"Our business isn't with you- it's with Blade's man here. You may have gave us the slip initially, but we've got eyes and ears everywhere, my Friend... you couldn't hide forever" the Ripper enforcer said as he pointed his gun at Friend. "This man has a rather large bounty on his head, and we'll be claiming it" he continued.
"Hell no; his body will be sending a message to Blade this evening" the Irishman said as the groups he's their guns up, waiting for someone to break the stalemate.
"Seems I don't get a say in this" Friend sighed as he reached into his jacket again. The Irish pointed their guns at him again, but Friend only looked annoyed. "Oh relax; they're just cigarettes" he said. Holding up a pack and a lighter. He proceeded to just stand there and smoke, while surrounded by a group of Ripper underground enforcers to one side, and three angry Irishmen to the other.
(NOTE: probably going to delete this post since it's really Toz's turn to go, but you gotta admit- that was pretty cool, right?)
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Post by Toz76 on Oct 8, 2017 22:22:07 GMT -5
"This man is ours!" The Irishman yelled.
"I think not, Paddy." The Ripper member replied, raising his gun.
The three Irishmen opened fire, and the Underground followed suit.
After the smoke cleared, Friend stepped over 11 bodies and left the area.
"Bloody fools." He muttered.
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