Rain stipples the diner windows while Thadeus and Elizabeth hunch over Knight's End notes. The ledger pages, receipts, and Marla's printouts spread across the booth like a small war map.
Elizabeth Bathory
If Victor was one hand, this is the other. The club was just the door.
Thadeus spots a repeated mark on the margin, the broken-star ring again, but now it sits beside a new timestamp and a delivery code. Someone is moving through the network tonight.
Thadeus Jovanović
The code is fresh. This is not old bookkeeping.
Elizabeth Bathory
Marla can trace the route if we give her this page. Elias can tell us which supplier would still be open this late.
Her finger taps a phone number scrawled under the code. The name beside it is half erased, but the last visible letters match the kind of clean alias Victor used.
Elizabeth Bathory
Call Marla. If this lead is live, we cut into their supply line before they know we are awake.
Outside, headlights sweep across the wet glass. Inside, the diner feels smaller, as if the network has finally been pinned to a single moving point.
✓ Quest Accepted
Identify the organization with the broken star label
✓ Quest Accepted
Neutralize the immediate threat outside
“Thadeus calls Marla, "Elizabeth and I found an alias Victor Hale was using." Marla chimes in, "I think I found the same one. I also discovered the name behind that broken star ring symbol. They call themselves the "Stars of Divinity". It seems like it's another cult vying for power." Thadeus looks over to Elizabeth, "You don't think..." Elizabeth's shoulders sink. "Yeah, we need to meet up with..." Elizabeth is interrupted by a loud noise. Thadeus and Elizabeth can faintly hear gunfire in the distance.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled -1)
Thadeus lifts the phone, his voice low as rain hisses against the glass. Marla answers on the first ring.
Thadeus Jovanović
Elizabeth and I found an alias Victor Hale was using.
Marla Brewer
I found the same one. The name behind the broken-star ring is Stars of Divinity. Sounds like another cult, not a business.
Elizabeth’s hand tightens on the paper, then falls still. Her shoulders sink as the words settle in.
Thadeus Jovanović
You do not think...
Elizabeth Bathory
Yeah. We need to meet up with...
Quest Complete
Identify the organization with the broken star label
“Thadeus and Elizabeth continued the dull roar of gunfire outside. A stray bullet pierces the glass next to them, missing them by mere inches. Elizabeth and Thadeus drop underneath the table to contemplate their next move.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled +0)
A shot snaps through the diner window, and Thadeus and Elizabeth drop hard beneath the booth before the glass finishes raining down.
Thadeus slides under the table with the phone still in hand. Elizabeth folds in beside him, one shoulder brushing his, both of them low and still.
Outside, the gunfire keeps rattling past the diner frontage, but the booth blocks their bodies from the street.
Elizabeth Bathory
Stay down. We move when the road goes quiet.
Thadeus Jovanović
The window is compromised.
Bits of safety glass glitter under the table edge, and the papers above them shiver with each distant crack of gunfire.
Elizabeth reaches for the scattered notes, then pauses, listening toward the street while Thadeus stays tucked into cover beside her.
“Using his phone's camera, Thadeus lifts it above the tabletop to scan the outside. He sees a scene of pandemonium. Two armed gunmen in street clothes are in a shootout with Detroit police. Thadeus looks to Elizabeth, pointing to the dinner's kitchen, "There's probably a fire exit we get out through if we're quick" Elizabeth smirks, her cheeks flushing slightly, "I'll race you to the door." Thadeus chuckles, "Yeah, and you'll probably win." They get up from under the table and dash through the kitchen, then dinner's staff huddled on the ground. Elizabeth indeed finds and gets to the fire exit first.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled +0)
Thadeus raises the phone just enough to catch the street beyond the shattered glass, and the screen fills with headlights, muzzle flashes, and police car strobes cutting across wet pavement.
Two armed men in street clothes trade fire with Detroit police by the curb, their shapes jerking through steam and drifting glass while the diner front stays pinned in the crossfire.
Thadeus Jovanović
The kitchen gives us a way out.
Thadeus Jovanović
There is probably a fire exit through the kitchen if we are quick.
Elizabeth Bathory
I will race you to the door.
Thadeus gives a short laugh, then he and Elizabeth rise together from under the booth and move fast through the narrow gap beside the counter.
The kitchen is cramped and bright with fear, staff huddled low along the wall, but Elizabeth reaches the rear fire exit first and yanks it open.
Cold alley air spills in as Thadeus follows her through the door, leaving the diner and the gunfire behind for the moment.
“Outside of the diner, Thadeus and Elizabeth have a clear line of sight to exchange of gunfire between the gunmen and the police. Elizabeth grabs Thadeus's hand, "Let me handle this." Thadeus attempts to protest, but realizes he didn't bring Peacebringer with him. Thadeus sighs, with a slight smile sneaking in, "Okay, you've got this." Elizabeth releases Thadeus's hand, and runs toward the gunfight in a blur of speed. With blinding speed, she incapicates both men and rushes back to Thadeus. The police, not seeing Elizabeth knock out the two gunmen, approached the downed gunmen with the guns drawn, and place both in handcuffs. Thadeus watches, mouth agape, returning his look to Elizabeth, "I knew you were fast, but that fast?"”
The alley goes quiet except for sirens and a few sharp commands from the police. Elizabeth is already back at Thadeus's side, and the diner door is still open behind them, making the booth by the shattered window feel like a temporary post, not a home.
Thadeus Jovanović
Okay, you've got this.
Elizabeth flashes out and back in a blur, and by the time Thadeus blinks, both gunmen are down, the officers closing in with cuffs ready. The alley holds the handoff, the arrests, and one stunned look from Thadeus, all in the same breath.
Quest Complete
Neutralize the immediate threat outside
New Gift: Crisis De-escalator