The Strike of the Union - vol. 1

Things are real quiet for the first few hours. The guard on duty at the cut fence paces back and forth while chain smoking to keep himself awake. At regular intervals they switch out with one of the guards stationed at the security HQ to get a break. Time slowly ticks by and it starts to seem like nothing is going to happen.

A little past 1 in the morning, a car pulls up and stops right beside the fence. The security guard on duty flicks away his cigarette and prepares for a possible confrontation but then visibly relaxes when the security guard you saw at the end of your shift exits the car.

He ducks through the fence and slaps the guard on duty on the back. He keeps his arm on his shoulder and pulls him so he is facing away from the hole in the fence while they talk. He slips him a hand rolled cigarette which the uniformed guard gladly accepts. This provides enough distraction to allow two men in dark clothing to slip through the hole in the fence and slide into the shadows unnoticed by everyone but you.

The shady guard looks over his shoulder and sees that all is clear. He gives the guard on a duty a handshake and heads back to his car. He suddenly stops and snaps his fingers. He makes a very overexaggerated charade of someone forgetting they needed to take care of something. You seem him explaining this to the guard on duty who nods along and waves him off. The man walks back toward security HQ. As soon as he is out of sight of the guard on duty, the shady guard takes a detour behind some storage crates. No doubt he is working his way back around to meet up with the two that snuck inside.

The two men that snuck in are about 100 feet away. You see their shadows occasionally as they quickly move between containers. You have a general idea of where they are, but it is not yet clear where they are heading.

Careful of how hos shadow might be projected, The Union quietly stands and walks along the top of the row of containers to follow the intruders and keep them, or at least their shadows, in sight. He carries one rock in each hand.

If at any point his row of containers runs out he drops to the ground and follows quietly in the shadows.

You carefully follow along and do eventually have to drop down to the floor. It doesn’t hinder your ability to follow these men at all. They are lucky that the dock is all but deserted right now because they are lousy at keeping quiet.

After a few minutes the two men in dark clothing meetup with the crooked security guard. They try to speak but the guard shushes them. They continue to creep along for another few minutes before arriving at a storage container where their footsteps finally stop.

You can hear someone fiddling with a padlock for a minute and then the familiar sound of it unlocking and being pulled loose. They take their time sliding the door of the container open so as to avoid any more noise. You creep a little closer as the men enter the container but are currently on the opposite side of the entrance so you cannot see inside.

Their whispers carry enough that you can catch pieces of what they are saying.

"--hid it behind--"

"--couple of suitcases--"

"--don’t touch anything else--"

"--I can’t see--"

There is a smack, something clattering to the bottom of the shipping container, and then silence that seems filled with panic. Finally a very annoyed whisper scolds one of the others, "No flashlights, you idiot!"

"--might be it--"

"--no, a briefcase stupid--"

"--hurry up --- need to meet--"

They seem fairly unprofessional and oblivious to your presence. You could get a jump on them quite easily, if you wanted to.

The Union stands next to the open container and jumps enough to grab the top of the container and hang, then he uses his impressive strength to quietly pull himself atop the container. He then walks slowly to stand directly over the opening.

When the mooks finally find what they seek and exit the container, the Union plans to jump down onto the group (like a bowling ball into pins) and then quickly toss the mooks into the container while they are disoriented. Then he will close the handles to lock the container and turn his attention to whatever object they came to retrieve.

That's the plan anyway.

"Hey, I got it!" is said far too loud for a sneaky operation. It is quickly followed by shushes and the smack of someone being punched in the shoulder. They repeat, much more quietly, "I got it."

You crouch by the top of the container and wait for the moment. It doesn’t take long before all three men exit in a tight group. You cannot help but smile at a plan coming together so nicely. You leap down and turn your shoulder into the back of the first thief. He barrels into the other two and all three men are thrown to the ground with ease. The briefcase slides another 10 feet away. Before anyone can get a handle on what has happened, you toss them back into the container like they are as light as aluminum cans. The doors are shut and the handle is down before anyone can even open their mouth to protest.

The briefcase is locked but you obviously have no trouble whatsoever prying it open in a split second. Inside are at least a dozen manila folders and several floppy disks. You leaf through the folders but are not quite sure what you’re looking at. It is information on many individuals. Some are related by blood, but many others have no discernible connection you can pick up from the information in the folders. There is information on where they work, where they live, their day to day routines. Detailed information about their entire lives. You don’t recognize any of the individuals, which seem to come from all walks of life. Some are locals living in Crowfalls (even some in the Deep) but there are many from throughout the rest of the United States as well.

There is a soft knocking from the inside of the container. "Yo, buddy. Can you let us out, maybe? This is really uncool."

"Wow. You are absolutely, one hundred percent correct that this whole situation in which you three trespass and get your criminal stank all over this place where honest hardworking people sweat to feed their families, that whole situation is totally uncool. It would be so much cooler if you stayed away from the docks, and really the Deep, altogether. Yep, uncool is definitely the word to describe what you have done tonight, and I want to thank you for being the bigger man and saying it first.

Now, should I call the police to let you out of this box quickly, or would you prefer to wait and savor the surprise of who and when you get let out?"

Inside the container you hear hushed whispers as the men discuss their options. You hear a smack, followed by "That is the stupidest thing you have ever said."

"Hey man, it’s worth a shot!" There is more shuffling around and finally you hear a man step up to the door.

"We would like to propose a third option: you let us out and we buy you a drink? Sounds fun, eh?"

Smack! It sounds like the man that just spoke shuffles away and another takes his place.

"Listen here, buddy. If you’re out here in the middle of the night, then you are clearly up to no more good then we are. Now some very important, and dangerous, people are expecting that briefcase to be delivered soon. If that doesn’t happen it ain't just us who will pay the price. They will start snapping finger bones all over town until they figure out who has it. You don’t know who you’re messing with. So let us out of here and we’ll forget this ever happened."

"A delivery? Why didn't you say so! Are you boys with the Postal Service or UPS? Oh, never mind, I'll do you a solid whether you're teamsters or APWU. Just tell me the name, address, and delivery time. I'll deliver the package and explain my concerns in person."

They respond with silence. There is a small amount of shuffling and shushing, but otherwise only silence. Finally, the negotiator returns and speaks in a very serious tone. Almost desperate. "Buddy, this ain’t fair. We don’t even know who you are and, no offense, but you don’t sound too trustworthy. I realize you got us at a disadvantage here, but this is serious business. You sound like one of them crazy vigilantes. You think you can take this guy down, I am all for it. I’m tired of being pushed around and told what to do. I’ll even drive you to the meet up location. But we gotta have this discussion like men. Face to face. The only disembodied voice I make deals with is God Almighty, and I don’t think you are him."

"Give me a minute."

The Union walks quickly and quietly through the stacks of containers until he is behind the docks office. There is a 20' storage container serving as additional storage that has been sitting in the same spot for five years and there is no reason to think it won't be there another five years at least. He lifts the end of the container up almost a foot and slides the manila folders and disks into the empty cavity between the side rails under the flooring.

He closes the now empty briefcase and walks back to the criminals-in-a-can.

These guys seem like blue collar criminals who don't make the decisions but get stuck with the dirty work. I sympathize but I gotta remember not to trust them farther than I can throw them... okay, farther than they can throw me. I think it's worth the risk to see if they take me to see management. If I can talk to a decision maker maybe I can negotiate hands off the Deep.


When he returns to the container-o-criminals he lifts the door handle and quickly steps back to stand next to the shipping container corner with the briefcase visible in one hand. If they come out shooting he can duck behind the corner out of sight and be gone in a heartbeat. If they are willing to talk he will see where this goes.

The men are very relieved when you return and open the door. They walk out and it doesn’t look like any of them are armed. At least they aren't obviously packing heat. If they do have something on them, it would have to be a small caliber pistol in order to stay hidden. The heat of summer doesn’t leave a lot of places to hide large weapons.

The two men in dark clothing look to the crooked security guard. He takes in the sight of you with a raised eyebrow. "Gotta admit, you are not quite what I was expecting. Seriously, man, who are you?" He takes another look at your size and remembers how easily you dealt with them. "I mean, you look plenty capable but I’ve never seen your picture in the paper. You new or just in dire need of a publicist? ‘Cause my sister-in-law is real good."

His eyes land on the briefcase and thankfully this gets him back on track. "Right. The deal. I don’t know what’s in there. I don’t want to know. All I was told is that it is important and valuable. I got a good honest gig here. I wouldn’t be risking that if this wasn’t big. The money ain’t worth going to the slammer, or ending up six feet under though. Here’s what I propose: You hand us the briefcase and we’ll act like everything is normal. We’ll go real slow so you can tail us to the meet up. Then you swoop in, do your thing and beat some information you want out of someone that actually knows what is going on."

"I'd rather car pool.

I'll "hide" [air quotes] in your trunk and hold the lid closed while you drive to the meet. When we arrive, if the meet up is happening right there by the car then you [pointing at the crooked security guard] tap the side of the trunk once so I know to pop out dramatically and draw fire away from you - and you should all act surprised of course.

Tap the trunk three times, once each, if you're just parking and I need to creep out to follow you to the meet - someone might be watching you and it has to look like I'm being sneaky and you're unaware.

Okay?"

The Union hands the briefcase to the crooked security guard and waits to follow them to their car.

A publicist? I'm not trying to be famous, I just want to protect the Deep. I don't see how fame would help with that, and it might attract trouble. I'm just gonna focus on the task at hand 'cause "a job well done is it's own reward".

The security guard nods his head. "Looks like we have a deal." The other two thieves give each other a questioning look. They do not appear as on board with the plan as the security guard, but for now they continue to follow his lead.

The trio sneaks out through the same hole in the fence that they came in through. They use the very high tech method of tossing pebbles at a storage container to create a diversion. You have no trouble keeping up and are ushered into the trunk of the car long before the legit security guard returns to his post.

Almost immediately after the car gets rolling, the radio is switched on and turned up loud. You have no doubt that this is being used to cover conversation between the three men.

After about 10 minutes of driving you feel the car dip forward. It feels like it is going steeply downhill for about 10-15 seconds. The driver does a three point turn to back the car into a parking spot, the radio shuts off, and all three men exit the vehicle. The rear springs get a workout as one of the men leans against the car and casually trips the lever to open the trunk. It doesn’t swing open 100%, but it does mean you can now easily exit the vehicle without forcing the trunk open yourself. It also affords you a small view of your surroundings.

You are in an underground parking garage which appears to be oddly full for this time of night. None of the cars appear to have license plates attached. You remember reading in the paper about a local car dealer leasing an underperforming parking garage to use as an overflow lot for older models that failed to sell. This must be the place.

Another car pulls up, but it is outside your view. The three thieves walk off to the right where the vehicle must have come to a stop. Several car doors open and you hear quite a few footsteps before the crooked security guard offers a greeting.

"You’re late. Let's get this over with," an unknown male voice tells him.

With the car backed into the space, you should be able to sneak out of the trunk unseen as cars to either side to give you a good bit of cover.

The Union gently opens the trunk and quietly crawls out onto the ground behind the trunk. Then he peeks over the car to get a look at the action.

The three individuals you rode here with are standing opposite a well dressed man in his mid-twenties who is flanked by two very large bodyguards. It looks like there are more in the car behind them. At the far end of the lane is a large van with the engine running. It is blocking the nearest exit from the parking garage.

The well dressed man looks like he is putting far too much effort into looking the part of a mobster. Most likely he is either related to someone important, or a recently promoted hoodlum trying to look more impressive than he really is. Either way, he still ranks higher than the crooked security guard.

They hand over the briefcase and try to apologize, but the mobster holds up a hand weighed down by several large rings. The security guard takes the cue to shut his mouth. The mobster hands the briefcase to the bodyguard on the far side of him. He has a key and unlocks it.

The mobster looks at him and the bodyguard shakes his head. The mobster looks back to the three thieves and gives them a ‘tsk tsk.’

"You boys have a good explanation for this?"

"Hey, Reynolds just told us where it was, man. We went and got it and brought it to you. That was all we was asked--"

"Awfully quick to sell out your friends. I don’t like that."

"No! That’s not what I meant!"

The mobster shakes his head. With a snap of his fingers, bodyguards are moving in on the three. "I say we separate these boys and see what we can get them to tell us. That work for everyone?"

The Union loudly smacks the trunk lid closed and stands up. He strolls out from behind the car while speaking

"They won't be able to tell you anything. The case was empty before they picked it up from the docks."

He stops in front of the car and looks at the crooked security guard and associates, saying

"You boys shouldn't quit your day jobs; it didn't even occur to you to check your trunk, did it?"

He turns to face the clothes horse

"But I would be surprised if you provide any job training or apprenticeships; and it is a poor craftsman who blames his tools."

"But please excuse me for straying from the agenda. I called this meeting to explain that your criminal activities in the Deep are parasitic and to negotiate your complete withdrawal from the neighborhood.

Now, before we begin our discussion I need to confirm that you represent management - are you empowered to negotiate deals on behalf of your organization?"

Everyone jumps when you slam the trunk lid closed. Both bodyguards reach into their jackets for their weapons but stop when they see you are unarmed. They wait for instructions from their boss.

The thieves look wide eyed in fear. Their attention goes back and forth from you and the mobster. They all keep their mouths shut.

The mobster gives you an incredulous look while taking in your appearance. He exchanges glances with his guards. They are blank faced. "Nice get up," he tells you while shaking his head. "You look like the K-mart version of a superhero. I may not have trained these useless schmucks, but I’ll be able to provide you with superhero lesson number 1: Mind your own business and you'll last longer. Shoot this fool."

The guards pull out their weapons and unload gunfire into you. The heavy caliber rounds take you off your feet, but are hardly going to take you out of the fight.

The three thieves from the docks take off running in the opposite direction while the bodyguards walk over to check and make sure they took you out. Several more large bodyguards get out of the vehicle.

---

Dice Pool Limit: 5

The Union: 3 HP

Threat Ratings:
Mooks: Bodyguards: 12

Optional Side Objective:
(One round time limit) Stop the thieves from escaping: 3

Gazing up at the parking garage ceiling

Well that was an interesting sensation... and the thieves are getting away... I can track down the security guard later so I'll let them go for now and deal with these goons. Even though they just shot me, I'll be a sport and give them a chance to reconsider their employment options.

Laying on his back in front of the thieves' car, the Union stretches out one hand, grabs the underside of the car, and quickly pulls the vehicle up and over him as he rolls onto his chest, just like a blanket in bed. Then does a push up and brings his foot up under his should like one of the yoga poses Susan does in the living room. He stands, tipping the car up on the passenger side so that it forms a shield between him and the goons. (2 Defense Dice)

He brushes himself off and tries to talk some sense into the goons in a loud, clear voice

"Is this job worth it right now? I mean, you all just shot me! and not only did it not hurt me, I just lifted a damn car by myself!

What's gonna happen when I throw this car at you? Or punch you? Will my fist only break your ribs or will it go all the way through your chest and out the back?

Are you getting paid enough to deal with me? Do you even get medical benefits? How you gonna take care of your family when you're laid up in the hospital?

You should consider a career change right now, 'cause I'm comin' for the twelve year old playing dress up in Daddy's suit and if you get in my way it might be the last bad choice you ever make!"
(3 Attack/intimidation Dice)

-----
Target - Mooks
Trait - "kicking ass for the working class" - 5
3 Attack
2 Defense

After your intimidation attempt, no one moves or speaks for a very long moment. The thieves are long gone; leaving you alone with the guy playing mobster and his armed thugs. Even from this distance, and with a car between you, it is easy to feel the rage induced heat coming off the mobster’s brow. "Would you idiots just get over there and end this fool!" He screams in full blown tantrum mode.

"Do it yourself," one of the thugs says and begins to walk away. The mobster screams at him but he is so mad the words are barely intelligible.

You hear the hammer of a revolver pulled back and the footsteps freeze. "Get back here," the mobster spits out. No one moves. You peak your head around your cover and see the mobster has his pistol trained on the bodyguard that dared to defy him. All eyes are on him. You have seemingly been forgotten for the time being.

---

Dice Pool Limit: 5

The Union: 3 HP

Threat Ratings:
Mooks: Bodyguards: 10

Optional Side Objective:
(One round time limit) Safe the bodyguard's life: 1

Is the car shield for their protection or mine? The bullets knocked me down but didn't hurt me... and I wasn't ready... would it be different if I wasn't standing still? Focus! I gotta save the guy who is standing up to management!

The Union quickly scans the exposed undercarriage of the car that currently stands between him and the goons. He rips off the fuel filter and throws his best fastball at Guido Junior's gun hand, yelling

"Wildcat Strike!"

Then he kicks the car so that it tips over and lands upside down with a crash that echoes in the parking garage. He rips the sway bar off the front suspension and waves it menacingly.

"You wanna walk with your buddy or bleed with your boss!?!"

-----
Target: Mooks
Trait: Hard Hitting Brawler - 4
Defense - 1
Attack/Intimidation - 4