House Hunting

[DaevaDude]

Narration:

Even before the purge struck Sacramento's kindred population, Jack had been searching for someplace to use as a haven and as a possible base of operations from which he might try to bring Sacramento's Carthian Movement back from the ashes. His near-desctruction, and the Final Death he's starting to realize has befallen so many of Sacramento's vampires, brings home this need even stronger.

For a couple weeks prior to the purge, Jack had been spending some time watching a location that offered a fair number of security advantages, not to mention ready access to kine food supply, but also a fair bit of risk. The building in question was a small, older-style brick house, a single-family dwelling, located in a somewhat run-down neighborhood a few blocks from some housing projects. The house had a fenced-in yard and thick, reinforced doors, as well as some other visible security measures.

The problem was, the house was being used as an actve crack den for a local gang.

Jack had been considering options, but up to now had asssumed he'd have some allies to help him out with whatever plan he decided on. Now he was on his own. Worse yet, while he'd fed to get his hunger under control, he was still suffering from the physical effects of whatever had happened to him. He didn't even have his good looks to fall back on in his current state.

[Jack Bennett]

jack carefully watched the building from across the street, his Duffle and canvas bags proped up against another house. He had several options for taking this place. But whatever the hell happened narrowed down those choices.

From the looks of things, I'll need to start getting creative.

Jack continued to watch the place, waiting for some signs of life in and outside.

[DaevaDude]

Narration:

Jack sees a lot of the same people coming and going. The people most associated with the place are the members of a black street gang. There appear to be around a dozen gang members - tough-looking men ranging in age from around 30 down to about 15 - plus some younger kids that seem to serve mostly as mules and messengers. Aside from that, there are a variety of crack whores and customers who come in and out of the place night after night.

As far as Jack has been able to tell, the leader of the gang seems to be a tall, strong-looking, dark-skinned black man from somewhere in the Caribbean. He appears to be around 30 years old. He's the best-dressed of the bunch - he always wears nice suits and lots of stylish jewelry (as opposed to garish bling). He usually travels with one or two women, also nicely dressed.

Jack has noticed that the police don't seem to bother with the place. This would suggest someone is probably being paid off, though he's observed no such interactions.

Jack can also tell the place is pretty secure. It has several cameras, for one thing.

Which brings to mind the question: Jack has been paying attention to them, but have they noticed Jack?

((ST Note: Jack: Go ahead and roll Intelligence + Subterfuge and Wits + Stealth))

[Jack Bennett]

As Jack observed the place , he kept himself crouched in the shadows of the building. While he wasn't well versed in technology, he was faily certain that at this distance, he would only appear to be some sort of smug on the lens or a minor malfunction.
And thats why human sentries are superior to cameras. He though with a slight smirk creeping across his withered lips.

Spoiler

2009-06-09 00:28:38 jack rolls 3 to Wits + Stealth + 2 (10 Again) 5, 8, 4 1 success
2009-06-09 00:32:09 jack rolls 3 to Intelligence + Subterfuge + 2 (10 Again) 8, 8, 8 3 successes

[DaevaDude]

Narration:

As far as Jack can tell, those he's observing are none the wiser of his presence. If they are aware of him, they certainly haven't done anything to show it, nor has there been any notable change of traffic or activity in/out of the house.

On this particular night, Jack observes an event that does stand out. There are three men - some of the gang regulars he recognizes - and two women outside. He recognizes one of the women as a regular customer, a prostitute that plies her trade a few blocks away. The other one he's seen around a few times, and he thinks she might be the girlfriend of one of the gang guys.

None of that is unusual... but then Jack sees a long, dark sedan approach the house slowly. One of the men in front of the house notices this and seems concerned... he points and shouts a warning as he reaches behind his back to draw a weapon. Before he can finish the motion, gunfire erupts from the windows on the passenger side of the car, opposite from Jack's vantage point across the street. He hears the loud boom of some high-caliber firearm, as well as burst fire. As far as he can tell, there are at least three shooters. Jack can tell they bear colors different from the gang running the crack house; they prominently wear black bandanas, while the gang running the house of interest to Jack mostly wear red ones.

The shooting continues for just a couple seconds before the car speeds off. Some people carrying automatic weapons and shotguns rush out of the house, but the car is already well down the street by then. Jack sees that two of the men and both of the women who were in front of the house at the time are down. There is a lot of screaming and cursing in front of the house.

A couple minutes later, the large Caribbean man comes out of the house, flanked by two men with shotguns and the two women who usually travel with him. Jack sees him look at the bodies, then point to some men and to the bodies. He and his entourage go back inside as two men bring the bodies inside one by one.

Jack notices that nobody comes outside from any of the nearby homes to look at what happened, though a few windows do light up, and a couple times he sees cautious viewers silhoutted by the lights as they look outside.

[Jack Bennett]

Jack just watched the events unfold from his vantage point. The sound of bullets and gunfire brought back memories, one of them he wanted to visit at this moment. So, its war between two gangs.... Jack let that thought swin in his mind for a few minutes, long enough for the gang to pick up their fallen and go back inside.
I think I have an Idea.
Pulling his hat down and proping the collar of his jacket up, Jack stood up and made his way over to the house. He forced his will to make him visable to the cameras, he didn't want to put more fear and paranoia into them. As soon as he was there, he gave the door a knock.

Spoiler

Spends one point of willpower.

[DaevaDude]

Several seconds go by, then a small panel in the door slides open. " What's your name and what you want?" asks a rough voice from inside.

[Jack Bennett]

"Names Jack. Interested in buying...Maybe helping you guys out with those shit-heads that just blew past." As he said that, he tried to turn on whatever charm he had left after the disease on. He was sure the guard could see him through the panel.

Spoiler

2009-06-10 22:43:31 Jack rolls 7 to use Awe on doorman. (Presence+Expression+Majesty) (10 Again) 9, 5, 8, 2, 6, 8, 3 3 successes

"Mine letting me in so I can have a chat with him?"

[DaevaDude]

The door panel closes, and nothing happens for perhaps 20 seconds, then he hears the sounds of multiple locks or latches being unlocked or unlatched. Finally the door opens. Two black men stand there. One holds a pistol, the other a shotgun, though neither aims the weapon at Jack.

"Whatcha lookin' at buyin'?" the guy with the pistol asks. "An' what can you do to help wi' those muthafuckers?"

[Jack Bennett]

Jack crossed his arms, but kept himself looking as relaxed as he could."Depend on what ya got. As for them... A small smlie creeped onto his lips. "Well, lets just say I'm good at making problems disapear, if you know what I mean."