C. Warrington (legally_minded) wrote in whatprice, @ 2009-05-02 22:20:00 |
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Current location: | Little Greensport, Scotland & a ship at sea |
Current mood: | determined |
Current music: | "Remember The Name" - Fort Minor |
Entry tags: | adrian pucey, astoria greengrass, chris warrington, draco malfoy, juliet travers orfanos, lucius malfoy, marcus belby, marcus flint, oswald bole, romilda vane, zacharias smith |
...this is 10% luck, 20% skill, 15% concentrated power of will, 5% pleasure, 50% pain...
Who: Romilda Vane, Astoria (Greengrass) Warrington, Draco Malfoy, Juliet (Travers) Orfanos, Lucius Malfoy, Adrian Pucey, Zacharias Smith, Marcus Belby, Christopher Warrington, and NPCs Oswald Bole, Marcus Flint, Charles Pucey, along with various and sundry muggle soldiers/military types.
What: A rescue
When: Saturday, May 2, 2009 - very early morning
Where: Land action at Little Greensport, Scotland; sea action en route to Azkaban.
Rating: R (violence)
The miniscule North Sea fishing village of Little Greensport had been all but abandoned for over fifty years. Most Muggle maps didn't list it, and it didn't rate a listing in any kind of heritage site directory. There was nothing to recommend it historically or architecturally, but it did have a harbour, and the harbour had a warehouse that was still structurally sound.
The warehouse was as big as a barn: a wide, metal-walled space built on an older stone foundation. Old machinery, its original purpose long forgotten, was shoved into corners. In the dimness above, chains and hooks and other mechanisms for moving heavy objects were visible. A Muggle observer, peeking in the cracks in the walls, might see old empty crates stacked here and there; some ancient tables and chairs gathering dust. But a proper wizarding observer, given the appropriate permissions, would see that the crates were far from empty and definitely not old, and the dust was merely an illusion.
Juliet's people had been thorough. The warehouse was well-warded against everyone except the rescuers, Portkeys were ready, and so were some first-aid potions and pastes: healing, calming, burns, bruises, and painkilling. Juliet herself sat at the largest table where the supplies were laid out, which was surrounded by crates and machinery in such a way as to define a sort of meeting space within the larger warehouse. As the rescuers arrived, they were admitted by her right-hand man Kapranos, who guided them in to the gathering-place.
If Juliet felt any kind of trepidation, anxiety, or even excitement, it didn't show on her face. She greeted everyone with a smile and a few mundane politenesses, as if they were simply gathering for dinner.
Lucius waited until everyone had arrived, greeting those who came in, but putting off business until they had a full contingent. "The muggles are taking advantage of the lull in the storm to send out the ship, as was predicted. I've arranged for the storm to get worse when they're closest to this place. That's when we'll hit them. Flying will be difficult and so will walking on the ship, but that will also be true for them. It's a bigger ship than I hoped for, but we can deal with that. It's purely military, so don't expect anyone not to try to shoot you. I'm not very good with muggle things, but I can give you the advice I read about in books about the Grindelwald campaign. If it's made of glass, or it sticks up, or it has switches or knobs, smash it. If it's a junction of cables, smash it. Ammunition for weapons and fuel explode well, but make sure you're not caught in the blast.
Draco hesitated, then began to speak. "Anything that looks computerised should be destroyed. If we see a satellite dish or any other sort of communication anttenae, then that should also go as well, anything that would assist the ship in communicating with the shore." He looked around the room, wondering if anyone here was familiar with computers and the like. "It's likely that they have satellite mobiles on board, but the magic being used might work to our advantage there, and take all their computer systems off-line."
"And it's important," Oswald piped up from where his bulk leaned casually against the wall, seemingly unperturbed by anything, "that when you get up close and personal with the Pansies that you take the same sort of approach. If it's got a light, kill it. If it makes a sound, kill it. If it lights up, kill it. We won't be far enough out of service range for mobile phones and that won't be on a system you can take out from the ship."
He shrugged. "Or you can just go for the windpipe- that'll save a lot of trouble."
"We go in together, but once the teams split, each team needs to look out for itself. Don't apparate unless you find a calm spot and you're sure the muggle machine isn't affecting you. I'd love to capture one of those so we could study it, but don't be a hero for a machine. Our goal is to rescue Astoria; anything else is secondary. I have extra brooms here in case anyone didn't bring one of their own or is concerned about losing it. Portkeys are the expected way home. This building is the planned meetup point for many reasons, including the provision of armed guards." Lucius nodded at Juliet's men.
"Marcus Belby, whom I think you all know, has arranged to provide us with additional weapons to help the off-shore party. What do you have for us, Belby?" It's a question, but mostly it's an invitation for the younger man to describe the contents of his satchel.
Marcus leaned casually against one wall, a leather satchel slung across his chest, one hand resting lightly on its closed flap. He scanned the small gathering of people, some known to him and others not, but all of the names were familiar. It could almost be a school reunion in some ways, although the grim looks on the faces turned toward him made it clear that this was no party.
"What I have here," Marcus began, opening the flap of the satchel, "are a number of devices that should help cause confusion and distract anyone working against us." His hand reached into the satchel and pulled out a small round item, about the size of a prophecy orb, wrapped in silk. "I have twenty of these prepared, which gives us about two apiece for the people who will be on the ship. There are four different types: choking smoke, illusory flames, obscuring mist, and darkness. All of them include illusory voices, footsteps, and random noises, which will add to the confusion, and hopefully give a false impression regarding the number of attackers we have on the ship." His eyes roved over the faces, resting momentarily on the familiar countenance of Chris, and he gave his friend a sober nod.
"The spheres will break when thrown against a hard surface, releasing the charm. They are fragile, so be careful with them." He handed off the wrapped sphere to Draco, who was sitting closest to him, and patted the satchel. "This bag is charmed on the inside to keep them safe, but I don't expect you to need to take the same precautions if you're only carrying two. Just be aware and you should be alright."
"There are runes scribed into the glass that indicate the contents of each, but they should be fairly obvious. Any questions?" His eyes flicked from face to face, wondering whether any of his preparations would really help them to get past the muggle authorities, and trying not to think of what might be happening to Astoria at that moment.
Draco heard Marcus finish talking, having spent the last minute fingering the small globe in his hands. He could feel the magic, and appreciated the quality of the work. "I think these will work brilliantly," he said, nodding at Marcus. "How long can we expect the spells to last? Are we talking minutes or longer?"
It was a reasonable question,and Marcus was mildly embarrassed that he hadn't mentioned spell durations in his initial explanation. "They should have about fifteen to twenty minutes at full strength," he said, nodding at Draco. "After that, the visuals will fade faster than the aurals. I would expect a complete fade after about twenty-five minutes."
Draco's lifted eyebrow showed that he was impressed by Belby's answer. "Twenty minutes," he repeated. Looking over at his father, and the others who seemed to be in positions of responsibility, he asked, "And if we needed more time?" Clearing his throat, he continued, pulling out his wand and playing with it absently. "What I mean is, are there limits to what we're able to do out there? How far can we go, hurting them, before you want us to stop?"
Marcus shot Draco a look of shock, but quickly schooled his features to stillness.
"Try not to sink it before we all get clear, my boy." Lucius said, smiling briefly. "I looked for a solution that would let us talk to each other, but I couldn't find anything that I trusted to work near muggle machines. Here's my solution." Lucius pulled nine coins from his pocket and placed them on a crate. They glowed softly. "Team leaders will carry three each and break them when they're clear--breaking one breaks the others like it. Juliet is the Galleon, the fliers are the Sickle, and I'll use the Knut.
"They'll fade if they leave the general area of each other, which may also be useful. The expected order of operations is that you'll break the Galleon when Astoria is clear, then Zach and I will break ours and depart, and the fliers can leave at that point as well."
Adrian's expression hadn't changed in the slightest. "What happens if we end up separated from our groups?" He did not look at Juliet or Oswald.
"Those people in a group that have a possibility of being separated ought to agree on a meeting place," Juliet suggested.
Lucius nodded. "That has possibilities. But that might fail. I suggest that if you get separated and cannot find your leader, get outside and make contact with the fliers, and then head here. If you know that your team leader is dead, you'll need to make a judgement call about completing the mission yourself."
"Let us hope it won't come to that," Juliet murmured. As Adrian hadn't been looking at her earlier, she definitely wasn't looking at him.