[color=lightgreen][center][h3][i][b]Day 2: 06:31:01 Polavian Standard Vodka Distillery, Novy Jork, Capital Province, Republic of Polavia [/b][/i][/h3][/center][/color] With the combatants down, from Rowan sucking out the mana from Yelenka, to Silas crowd-controlling a batch of dogs, to then Borys heroically trying, yet not quite completing a finishing move on the warlock, the noise had calmed down quite a bit, the scene still a cluster. Yelenka had blinked out, before anything more could be done, and where she was, was unknown. The smoke was sill drifting, as the dust settled from bullets and rounds all over the place, the smell overwhelmingly of cherry vodka. It stank, to high heaven, the massive tank in the corner of the room offering samples leaking everywhere creating a ethanol-y, sweet smell that trickled past boots. But they had created a window. A way out. Apart from the rest of Yelenka's friends. "Okay, exit through gift shop it is then!" Felix put down rounds down range, dropping a couple of PSA militants with accurate fire, Oksana flanking around and hurling a bottle of vodka in what was now a signature move since the bar from yesterday evening, to draw another away, before he was shot in the head by another member of the team. She skipped the barrier and moved to the entry, grabbing a "Tourist Map of Novy Jork", not that she needed it, but the team might later, checking the lobby as Felix moved through and the team would follow, the militants finally having run out. "Brief tour. I think we should leave. Cars?" Oksana asked, nodding outside at where the Mercedes, BMWs and Audis were parked, Felix shaking his head. "PSA's are too hot. That way. Towards the blocks!" Running out of the factory, Felix's bag clinked a little, as Oksana looked up at him, with a scowl, having not realised he'd of course taken bottles as loot while passing by. The sound of police sirens could be heard, closing in faster, and faster. Hopping a fence at the front of the facility and crossing another train line, the sound of sirens could roll out as Felix looked across at the team, Roxy very much aware that they all, bar Rowan, and at most perhaps Borys and Upswing, all looked like a bunch of mercenaries suited for field work rather than urban casual. "Fuck! We're not shooting police, Felix!" Oksana yelled, as they made their way out of the factory grounds. "Well, we're avoiding them!" Leaving the beautiful brickwork behind and immediately heading across into the concrete that Upswing had come from, into Novi Grad, it felt like they were putting distance between them and sirens, at least, for the moment being. The New City. [hr] [color=lightgreen][center][h3][i][b]Day 2: 06:51:02 Novi Grad, Novy Jork, Capital Province, Republic of Polavia [/b][/i][/h3][/center][/color] Novi Grad was a misnomer, as this was the Communist-era part of the Novy Jork and no longer the newest part, and a lot of it was in quite a dilapidated state. Unlike Stary Grad, the where Novy Jork Castle sat and the beautiful medieval ruins, or Zloty Targ, the shiny, modern, tech hub, Novi Grad was where things had happened, thirty years ago. Industry, productivity, and most of all, current day depression. This wasn't the airy vibes of the DSR, it felt oppressive here. Novi Grad was mostly industry, but the blocks of resident flats were about five storeys high, mostly had elevators that were broken, if they had them at all, and was peak, peak communist behaviour. Residents were awake, but didn't seem to care that a PMC-originating team were running between the blocks, past children's play equipment and allotment gardens, most of them attuned specifically, to not make a fuss. Such was life in Polavia. Open carrying like this was a stupid idea though for long, Felix reasoned, and Oksana couldn't help but agree, pointing out an entry. "In there!" She yelled, as Felix turned, the door open and revealing a stairway. Moving up and inside, the block was not perfect, but enough to make some decisions out of, as the team headed up a couple of storeys, up the stairs, passing by an extremely shitfaced man who was leaning against a wall, Oksana firing a look at Borys, begging him to say nothing. Felix sighed, taking a turn towards what looked like a door that seemed partly caved in. "Here?" Felix asked, as Oksana shrugged, and with it, the team lead took his fibre wire. With a dangle of the cable, he pushed it out and checked his phone, revealing what looked like a fairly dilapidated place. It wasn't lived in. At least, it hadn't been for a long, long time. Cable back out, Felix realised Roxie had already kicked the door, and was moving on in, despite Felix not giving the order. She'd already seen that coming, the all clear, as Felix realised the same. Breaking inside the apartment, Roxie kept the lights on her PP-19 at flank, as Felix covered front, the team checking the area and securing it. The place was a ruin, abandoned, perhaps, the drunk guy had found a ground floor room and left this second floor alone. Because outside of bottles scattered, a disgusting old sofa, and a table in the main kitchen, it seemed bare. "Clear." Oksana called, moving towards a window and hearing more gunfire. Shit. PSA and Police weren't tied up. At least not these cops. This was a fucking hellhole. They'd never been this brave before. She'd never heard anything outside of gangsters. This was something else. She moved back inside, peering out, as Felix looked to her, glancing at someone else who he hoped would at least push the door back into place. "What a mess. Who was that, Roxy? And she knew Borys? Gods!" The shapeshifter felt like he was only now exhaling, leaning against wall, shaking head. "Yelena Strulovich. Warlock." That rung no name to Felix, as he sat down, exhaling hard, taking off his hat and wiping his forehead. "Well, Borys didn't kill her, for sure. She blinked out. We'll see her again. Scary bitch, her and half the PSA want our heads." Felix stated the obvious, as Oksana nodded, very much so seeing that. "Yeah, warlocks are. We did well. Borys thrived on that. Silas kept us all alive. And Rowan is still public enemy number one. We know that. But what else is new. Upswing, was it? This is normally how it goes. Welcome to the team." She retorted as if she was on edge, Butterfly, as Borys rightly called her, rolling up her sleeves and looking out the window to see if any more heat was going on, before looking back. [b]"Back to the blocks. Gods. May as well get changed and stop fucking around. Anyone, if you want a change of clothes and gear, let me know. Time to find out if long distance extraction glpyhs are still it and can carry clothing, when you put that much rattlesnake dye into them. Probably best we don't go full open carry in Novy Jork, so best to leave long guns and plate carriers hidden under the floorboards. Not unless we want to get shot by police in the street."[/b] She looked to the group, Felix sighing, nodding as he headed to the kitchen, checking the bare place over, the cupboards and shelves empty, but some tools left behind. A prybar would do enough, as he avoided a broken floorboard and picked it up, coming back in and ready to open up the floor to make a reliable hide-hole. Roxy had broke out the spray can and sprayed a simple pentagram from the prepared glyph paint they'd put together earlier, with a bit of glyph, with another one next to it. Passing her SVU, PP-19 and vest to Felix, she finished up the paint. "Be right back." And suddenly, the witch disppeared with like that with a tuft of smoke and spark. [hr] Within a few minutes, Roxie stepped back through the void, having taken the team's small arms away, back to the barn where they'd been this morning. "Urgh. That was weird. Really messes with my vision." She was now dressed more informally, her olive tactical pack significantly more loaded up as she wore a black, full body woolen coat and a black witch's hat, PM pistol/wand hidden underneath the wool coat. A pair of trainers rather than boots, black gloves to avoid leaving prints, some mascara that seemed like she'd applied it far too quick, with a bit of lip that had turned her into someone totally different. Rowan might have had her simple transform spells, Roxy prefered.....the old ways. With her hair tucked differently and a simple cast turning it coal black, she looked half different, gone was the Watcher-Witch, now seemed to appear someone who looked more.....traditional, Witch. She threw Felix his bundle of clothes, and Silas and Borys, if they wanted theirs, their spares. "You look like you've come back from the spa with that coat, Roxy." Felix chuckled, as she tsk'd, ignoring his comment, looking out of the window, then back. It wasn't warm at all in Novy Jork, barely 10C, so a woolen coat like that still would have made sense. Even if it looked like something from a spa. He had put his plate carrier into his bulkier tactical pack, and switched to a tracksuit bottom and top set, It was at this point, that the table was opened up a little. "So, Pavel, if I know him, is almost permanently at the Grand Polavian, off Palinka Street. Opposite the massive Town Hall. You can't miss it. But he won't be back until the evening. He does business across the city. He's a fixer." Oksana leaned against the table with the tourist map of Novy Jork on it. Felix leant across, broken record as he was, knowing spirits had to be kept high. Morale had to. Somehow. And they needed this to end. "We're this close to the end. We need to get to Pavel, and call it a day, Roxy, we are way, way over our heads. Hunting down whatever..." "Oh, so let me see. It doesn't matter. They're going to hunt Rowan to the end of the earth. And you." She poked a finger against his chest, sighing, as she looked to Borys, Silas, Upswing and Rowan, sighing. "Paperwork to get us out is helpful, but we are getting into constant gunfights, being chased by police, PSA, a Tier One caster unit from the DSR. Now Upswing wants to find Rowan. I imagine it's to do with the psychoactive shit they were planning on putting in vodka bottles. Well. If that was a trial run, what the fuck are those bastards up to?" Oksana felt like she was beating the same drum, over, and over, and over. Looking to Rowan, who had brought it all up. What had happened in Kalan. And to Borys. Who was still recovering from being hungover. To Silas. Who was along for the ride with his old comrades, and deserved better than this. "I want a day without getting shot so we can figure out what is going on. Pavel knows if your Babushka farted, so he might have some answers. Or at the least, where I might be able to go to get some answers. Even if you lot run." Oksana was clearly heated, realising this was more personal to a lot of the stuff in Polavia. Shit. No matter how much she ran, she ended up back here, always back in a battle. Always up against a wall. Her life in the DSR was dead, and here, it seemed like the nemesis of her past seemed to rear her head. No point trying to run again. Felix flicked his fingers through the tourist map, shrugging. "Okay. Well, we're civies now. We could blend in. CCTV isn't hot around here. So it gives us room to breathe, let's go on that, Roxy. Figure out a plan...we can do that at least until we see Pavel and we can talk then about what next." He looked down at the map, putting hand to chin, thinking. This was quite different to where they'd been before. No more corridors, no more being hunted and chased. Now, they were incognito. And while splitting up seemed like the greatest risk, they could at least now, do whatever they wanted. Guns were hidden away under the floorboards, as was any tactical clothing that might give them up walking amongst people. They were finally given a sandbox, as Novy Jork's map was before them. [hr] "A few things would be handy. Ideas?" Oksana put it to the team, knowing that scouting, getting bearings, or at least, some semblance of control would be a pleasure in the next few hours. "More potions would be good." Felix queried, knowing Rowan had a serious stash back at Roxy's Babushka's house, but, it wouldn't help to make more healing stuff. Felix had already downed a bunch of it after being shot, for the wound that Silas hadn't gotten to. "Here. Alejka Czarownika. Sorcerer's Alley. Best newts this side of the mountains. They take cash." "Good. That's a visit. Also, food. I'm fucking starving. Those PSA militants have nothing on their bones. Something for lunch at least." Felix added, the fact he was so hungry he could eat a horse right there, but Roxy deciding not to take it. They'd been through enough shit in the last 12 hours. Food seemed odd to prioritise, but, it made sense for morale. Kept everyone going. Oksana chuckled. "I know a place. Milk bar. Here. Cheap." Felix looked. "Milk bar?" Oksana realised he didn't quite understand Polavian customs. "It does good food. Vegetarian too so you don't have to worry. And now, they do takeaway with thermos flasks. New customs but good old communist gruel at Uncle Josef's." Felix chuckled. "Wow. Okay. That would be handy." Roxy nodded, looking across the map, Felix pointing to the floorboards where they'd hidden their long guns. "We also need more ammo, or guns. Hate to say it, but we are nearly out of bullets." Oksana noted, as the ginger team lead nodded. "My 417's got one last mag and my supply of home-made shells for the Masterkey is running out." "There's still a market here on Kotlin Street. It has a black market, where you can buy almost anything. Including Western bootlegs. There's a guy here, Janek, who also sells Vessels. For the right price, he can find you anything." Oksana pointed to the map again, noting that well, in a capital city, came some seriously, seriously spicy shit to add to arsenal. "For the right price. We haven't got much cash. So anything to make it go further, or, an ability to get some more, would be handy. I'm not into robbing banks." "Fair enough. Unless you're willing to do some very unethical shit with your craft. And last thing we need is more attention, so whatever it is, be careful." Felix noted, looking across the map, before thinking more generally. "So be it.....what else. Oh, transport would be good. While the trams are good, finding some way of driving on the roads, once things calm down, would be handy." "Right. Nobody is stealing Ladas. I object to that one, not being a folk hero but stealing from the poor doesn't seem like a bright idea. And Rowan might prefer a nicer car. Someone could....hmmm, The Bourse is here, and has lots of fancy cars." "Since when did we become criminals?" "I don't think we're the good guys anymore, Felix. Last I checked, Upswing has been living this life. Urban SERE. Do whatever you have to in order to survive." "You suggested going to a Milk Bar to buy potato and carrot soup with pierogi, on BoberEats." Roxy shrugged. "They aren't on delivery services. Again, cash only. And we steal from the rich to give to poor old us." She smiled, as Felix leaned in, looking across the rest. [b]"Anyone else have any ideas? We need to make a list."[/b] Felix leaned out, having taken any ideas on, and took out a waterproof notepad from his pocket that he'd liberated from his plate carrier, useful for making on the go notes. So with a pencil in hand, he could fill it in, with the various bits that they were brainstorming. "Well. We have things to do. Everyone pick at least one thing from the list so it completes the bunch. We'll agree what we want, and what we can get from each. If we want ammo and guns, ask, and the others fix. Remember. Nobody raise too much attention. We meet back here for 3pm, pick up guns, load into duffels and carry them to the hotel. We need some money for the hotel, so hang onto something." Felix added, looking across, sighing out. "We're not done yet. But once we're at the hotel, this fucking thing might be over." Felix said, knowing deep down, this whole job was anything but. [hr] The team had a unique opportunity to go out and for at least the next nine hours, sample. They'd find themselves back at the apartment when they were complete, able to tag with each other. A modern, vibrant, Eastern European-adjacent city was open to them, full of trams, corruption, post-communist relics and modern settings, markets, both of the traditional and black market variety, to tourist sights. [b] Tasklist (as written by Felix): -[s]Find a Safehouse [/s] -Buy more channels / guns (Kotlin Street Black Market) -Buy more ammunition (Kotlin Street Black Market) -Buy vessels, glyphs, potions (Czarownika Alley) -Buy questionable Polavian takeout food (Uncle Josef's Milk Bar) -Pick up duffel bags (stolen, bought, whatever) -See the sights (optional) ---Novy Jork Castle ---Silk Alley Market ---Lanin's Statue -Steal a Car (heated seats, please!) -Defraud the Polavian Taxpayer (Optional) -Get Money [s]or Die Trying[/s] -(Rowan's, Borys's, Upswing's and Silas's ideas) -Meet Pale Pavel (Grand Polavian)[/b] [hr]