Re: Graveyard Shift [Dated]

[Tisis Antony]

The pony's eyes riveted back to Kroll, who was still standing over him. "I'm working for the Saltpeter's you nitwit. Who else would I be working for- jeez, you feathery types got heads full of air don't-ya."

"But back to business. In the hypothetical case that say, an Earth Pony assassin tried, and failed to kill a mark that had wings, he might, say- hypothetically, of course, this is all conjecture- the assassin might try to lead his mark or marks to a secluded, confined quarters. And lo and behold, we can see how that worked out for him, couldn't we."

[Kroll]

Kroll narrowed his eyes at the stallion. "On what grounds would the Saltpeter's want to kill..." the griffon trailed off as his brain registered what the rest of the stallion had been saying. The narrow stairway was pretty confined as far as quarters went, and even though the pony had been caught in the process, he did technically succeed in what he wanted to do.

Roughly pushing himself off of the stallion, Kroll looked over at Aella as he pulled out his khopesh and tossed it to her. "Here, we may be having company here soon..." he said gruffly as he unslinged his crossbow from around his chest. He stared down at the stallion again, seeming to be debating as to whether or not it would be a good idea to shoot him.

[Aella]

Aella grabbed the oddly shaped sword and moved back up the stairs. She peeked out the window and scanned the sky and street for the assassins backup.

[Tisis Antony]

The pony heard a muffled thump, and then sighed. The sound was followed by the sound of metal sheering. The entire building lurched downwards a meter, before stopping again.

From the window, at Aella's position, it would be readily visible from anyone with ears or eyes that an explosion had detonated on the lowermost floor of the building. "Aww shucks, seems like my 'ssociates were getting inpatient with me," the pony said, coughing up dust.

The entire building slowly lilted to it's side, an angle forming slowly in a fashion reminiscent to what had happened at the hospital not even a few hours ago.

[Kroll]

Kroll froze at the sound of the muffled explosion and the sound of the metal supports bending, his eyes slowly looking down at the stallion in silence for a few moments before glancing up at Aella. The captain opened his beak to inquire about what the noise was, but when the opposing wall of the stairway began to lean towards him and he began to lean backwards against his own volition, it dawned on Kroll what was going on: the building was collapsing.

[Aella]

Aella heard the explosion and felt the building begin to tilt. She was in the middle of a collapse for the second time tonight. She swore colourfully and shouted down the stairwell.

"Sir! We gotta get out now!"

[Kroll]

Kroll blinked a few times as he heard Aella call out to him, snapping back into reality. Without a second of hesitation, he began to scramble madly towards the hen as the building continued to collapse, trying to balance himself on part of the wall as it slowly turned towards the ground.

[Tisis Antony]

The pony rose up from his spot and tried to tackle Kroll, throwing his entire weight at the Captain. "WHERE THE FUCK D'YA THINK YOU'RE GOING!" He lost footing on the second step and flopped onto the wall. He slowly rose, and made footway to Kroll's location. The building had stopped right here, a precarious situation where some metal support hadn't given out all the way yet. The pony got his footing and began racing at Kroll.

[Kroll]

[color:c8d3=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961)]Kroll staggered as the lurched to a stop, wheeling around to see the stallion charging at him. The captain raised his crossbow at oncoming pony, ready to shoot if he had to. On one hand , his captive was trying to kill him, on the other hand, he was the only steady flow of information Kroll had gotten all night.  The fact that there was no telling when the building would finish collapsing just made things even more difficult in he long run.

[color:c8d3=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961)]Hoping he wouldn't regret this decision, the captain waited for the stallion to get close enough before letting go of his crossbow to deliver a powerful right hook to the head of his oncoming opponent.

[Tisis Antony]

The Earth pony's head rolled with the blow, sending him staggering backwards. His back foot lost it's give on the wall, and his entire weight went careening onto that side. The pony got back to his shaky footing, eyeing down the crossbow that Kroll had levied at him. His face was a grimace; his mind set on this finality of this encounter.

The pony tried to step forward, then stopped. His face tightened up, and he lifted his rearmost leg off of the ground. He looked at Kroll, and back to his foot. His expression eased up a bit, and he chuckled. "I broke my ankle," he said, a hint of pain in his voice. From the pony's position, there'd be no escape on three legs.

[Kroll]

Kroll winced slightly from the punch and trained his crossbow on the stallion as he slowly approached it, skeptical that his ankle was truly broken. "Down on the ground, forehooves over your head."

Without taking his eyes off the pony, the captain called out to Aella. "You good back there?"

[Aella]

Aella shifted nervously, instinct telling her to get into the air as soon as possible.

"Allright up here sir, but probably no for long!"

[Tisis Antony]

The pony wobbled as he lowered hisself to the floor. His knees hit the ground, and when he had better support he raised his forelegs to his head. "See? See I'm compliant."

[Kroll]

"Like I haven't heard that before." Kroll said as he rolled his eyes, grabbing the stallion and slinging him over a shoulder before looking up the stairs at Aella, starting to make his way towards her. "Alright, I'm on my way up. Let's head back to our point so we can get everything sorted out."

[Aella]

"Aye sir!" Aella called out, moving away from the edge to give her handler room to land.

She peeked out a window, partially hoping to catch a glimpse of their attackers, but mostly to distract herself from the present danger.

[Tisis Antony]

The Earth Pony squealed like a little piglet as he was hoisted quite unceremoniously onto the griffons shoulder. "Goddamnit, treat me with some dignity would you?" he screamed, a bit upset either at the treatment or the discomfort.

"Now, not to seem impatient, but the window is in that direction," he said, hoofing a gesture towards where Aella was at.

[Kroll]

"I know where it is," grumbled the captain as he marched up the stairs after Aella, awkwardly flying back to the rooftop where he and his associate set up camp. As soon as he landed, he unceremoniously dropped the stallion on the roof, looming over the prisoner with an irritated look on his face. "Alright, now let's try this again: why did the Saltpeters send you after me?"

[Aella]

Aella landed gently upon the rooftop, shaking brick dust out of her feathers. White feathers were almost impossible to keep clean as is without things exploding around her.

[Tisis Antony]

"Ah, your a little narcissistic aren'tcha. No, Saltpeters weren't after you, or your lovely hen over here. They were after that poor soul of a Guerrilla who'd had the nerve to not die in the hospital bombing. And, of course, if they could kill anyone he'd talked to in the recent hours, that'd be a kindness as well."

"To be fair, I can see why you'd think I'd want you dead, what with that collapsing building yonder, but professionalism aside, that building just had to go. It was an eyesore to the community!"

[Kroll]

Kroll groaned as he rolled his eyes. "Alright, let's try this again. Why are the Saltpeters sending anyone after anyone? They said that the Guerrillas had been harassing them for sometime and that..." the captain trailed off as he rubbed his face. As much as he hated to acknowledge it, he wasn't on top of his game tonight, and a lack of sleep was starting to take a toll on him cognitively. "Okay, to put that another way," Kroll started again "Why are the Saltpeters sending you to kill the surviving Guerrilla that of the group that had been harassing them, and what can you tell me about this family that hired you anyway?"

[Aella]

Aella moved over and stood near the pony, watching him carefully for any kind of escape attempt.

[Tisis Antony]

The pony sighed. "You'd think with a name like Saltpeter, people wouldn't be surprised to learn that the family is involved in smuggling gunpowder, but I guess the Manehattan water must be tainted with lead or somethin'. That being said, the Guerrilla types, they've been smuggling for the Saltpeter's, which, naturally, causes a conflict of interest."

"I'm guessing, from second hand talk, that the Guerrillas were sizing up the prospect of pulling the plug on the Saltpeters operation and the Saltpeters got word of it before that could happen. Now I think its just been a matter of cleaning up the filth and moving on with their lives. Though, I dont reckon Gallant and Goofus yonder are gonna let them do that now, are ya?"

[Kroll]

Kroll rolled his eyes as the stallion finished his spiel. "Wonderful." he mutters as he looks over at Aella. "So. As easy and somewhat fun it would be to just take this matter into our own hands, we'll have to get a warrant so we can search their buildings for proof that they're running this smuggling op of theirs..." the captain turned back to the pony he had been holding down. "Which means you'll have to come back with us to HQ and provide a few statements for us to use in our investigation."

Looking back to his associate, the tercel motioned for her to get ready to leave. "Come on, Aella. We're bringing our friend here to HQ. We can take the time to check that guard we picked up too while we're at it."

[Tisis Antony]

The pony looked downcast as he heard the news. "I don't suppose you can just drop me off at a local hoof doctor and be on your way? I mean, at this point you can just raid their building on probable cause alone!"

[Kroll]

The captain shook his head. "We have medical staff at Headquarters, they'll patch you up there. Now quit your bitching and be grateful it wasn't your neck I broke." With that Kroll picked the stallion and hefted him over his shoulders before turning to Aella. "Pull the camo tarp over the site for now. Once we take care of our friend here, we'll head back here and start working on wrapping this clustermess up. Understood?"

[Aella]

Aella nodded and moved around the area, grabbing up the few outlying items and piling them up. She unfolded the camouflaged tarpaulin and laid it on top of the area where they had hidden, and weighted it down with some roofing shingles.

[Tisis Antony]

The Earth pony found hisself for the second time in the last twelve minutes being hoisted onto a Griffon's shoulders. "You know, I am really dubious about your ability to fly under these circumstances, these circumstances being, of course, having a fully grown horse on your shoulders. Are you sure you've done this before?"

[Kroll]

The captain peered over the ledge of the building, shifting the stallion's weight more to the center of his back. "Wounded friends." the tercel said simply as he stretched out his wings. "They didn't complain as much as you did, though." With that, Kroll leapt off the edge of the building and took off in the direction of Griffon Headquarters, not wanting to look back to see if Aella was behind him in order to avoid running the risk of dropping his passenger.

[Aella]

Aella took a moment more to ensure that the tarpaulin was secure and check that they were not being watched. She then moved to the peak of the roof and took to the sky after her handler.

[Tisis Antony]

The pony screamed as he was once again taken aloft and in a gross perversion of the natural order, held aloft for a sustained amount of time. "Nononono you can go back why don't we walk there?- I mean its not like we're in a hurry and I think you'd agree oh jeez is that a pony? Oh god we're way too high up-"

[Kroll]

Kroll smiled slightly, quietly enjoying the stallion's panicking as he flew along. As he touched down at the entrance of Griffon Headquarters, the guards at the door stepped aside to let the captain and Aella through, raising their eyebrows slightly at the sight of the struggling pony slung over their boss' back.

Kroll carried the stallion to the medical wing of Headquarders, walking into an available room and unceremoniously dumping the would-be assassin on a medical cot before flagging down a passing doctor. "You! This little shit-sucker broke his ankle. Be a peach and splint it for him, wouldya? And if you could give him some meds so he stops bitching, that'd be super." The doctor hastily made his way into the room and began to tend to the stallion, not wanting to keep the captain waiting.

Looking over at Aella, Kroll sighed, rubbing his face before reaching into a pocket and pulling out a key, handing it out to the hen in front of him. "Here. This is the key to the living quarters I'm provided in the Officer's Quarters. It's got a shower and everything, so go on and get cleaned up and don't be afraid the bed in there to take a rest, you've earned it and I've heard it's quite nice." the tercel leaned against the doorway, looking at the doctor and the pony he was tending to.

 "I'm going stay behind and keep an eye on our friend here to make sure he gets the attention he needs before we get a statement out of him. After that, we'll fill out the forms to get us a raid warrant so we can get this shitshow on the road."

Kroll was about to head back into the room when he paused, calling out to his associate again. "Oh, and Aella...when this little job is all said and done, we can start discussing your future. And from where I'm standing, it looks very bright." With a smile and a nod, the captain sat down in a chair that was in the shadier part of the room, letting out a pleased sigh as he began to relax.

[Aella]

Aella looked down at the key in her talon and smiled. This was the first step in her new life, where collars, cells and chains were things for prisoners, not her. Things were beginning to look up. She bowed to Kroll.

"Thank you sir. A hot shower and a soft bed sound like paradise on earth right now"

She smiled at her handler as she turned to leave.

"See you in the morning sir"

[Tisis Antony]

The pony tossed in the cot as the medications began taking hold, his limbs flailing sluggishly in their binds. "Whaaa-" he cried, sorta slurring off into a tangent as his leg flopped back into the bed. "... did yall puuu...." His jaw fell slack, before it popped back into place suddenly with a click. The IV needles were bouncing about as his limbs jostled in what meager struggle he could manage. He looked like a reverse marionette, the doll dancing lazily as its strings hung limp off to the sides.

An orderly tried placing a piss pan, but after noting the drugs on his chart, opted to diaper the pony instead. The pony laconically tossed himself against the orderlies movements, but the orderly had diapered children before- and this drugged up earth pony didn't pose half as much a challenge.

Soon a proper doctor appeared, proper being the term the griffons used for Doctor's of the Surgical Sciences, as opposed to the pony proper doctors, who were Doctor's of the Magical Sciences. The doctor plugged in all manner of drills, vices, saws, and bloodmop was prepared in the corner of to the side as per procedure. You could hear the disappointment in his sigh when he read the chart and noted the prior doctor had only called for an ankle split.

The crowd of surgical spectators groaned in disappointment and started to disperse as the surgeon applied a splint and began securing it with his gauze. The earth pony kicked rather reflexively, denting the doctor's beak and sending the janitor into a sprawl to restrain the doctor. The drill whined menacingly until the choker hold the janitor applied to the doctor kicked in- then it just petered out to a stop.

Seeing that the splint was administered properly, the janitor braced the doctor's unconscious form and dragged him out to the lounge. "Nuuuh nuu moooooar...." the pony moaned, his eyelids flickering around.

[Kroll]

Kroll chuckled in a tired manner as he watched the antics of the medical staff and the stallion, hoping that the drugs wouldn't take too long to wear off; the pony needed to be lucid before the captain could get a written statement out of him, which would hopefully be enough to get a search warrant for the Saltpeters' residence.

The captain shifted in his seat as he fiddled with his crossbow, wondering if Aella would enjoy her rest in the room he provided. He had never actually been inside his room in the Officer's Quarters, and only repeated what his superiors had told him about it when they were showing him around during his first day on the job.

[Aella]

Aella made her way to the officers quarters, the path all-too-often trod during her time as an "entertainer" for those who Feliks ordered. She ignored the sidelong glances of the tercels lounging around the foyer and climbed the stairs to Kroll's room. She unlocked the door and slipped inside, closing it again after her and glanced around the large pleasant space.

She moved into the en-suite bathroom and stepped under the shower. Turning it on, she sat and relaxed beneath the stream of hot water.

This she could get used to.

[Tisis Antony]

A court stenographer had been called to the headquarters from his station on Port De'Luge. The pony dragged the interrogation kit from its normal home in the interrogation room's broom closet to and placed it on a tray adjacent to the pony, just off to the side enough that the pony couldn't lazily knock it over.

He was a unicorn pony of the drollest colors, grey with big blotches of mottled off-white, and heavy, drooping eyelids. He snapped to attention near Kroll, and began reciting his orders- "1400, Manehattan Center of Operations, Bring self and needed supplies for acquisition of legal statements. Report to Captain of Gaurd. Are you Captain Kroll?"

A wayward nurse almost tripped over the pony- his position in the hall had obstructed the walkway, and he was just short enough that an ignorant type could accidentally trip over him if they weren't at eye level.

[Kroll]

Kroll looked over at the unicorn, looking the stallion up and down before replying slowly. "Yes...that's me." the captain moved his chair to face the pony, glancing at the interrogation kit it brought along. "What can I do for you, Mr...?"

[Tisis Antony]

"Warrant Officer Glue, sir. I've been sent in from Port De'Luge on word that you have a key witness who can corroborate about the hospital bombing that occurred earlier today. The Council is scrambling resources from both the Guerrillas and the nearby Port to assist you in this investigation."

"Sir, I've been placed under your command temporarily. Orders sir?"

[Kroll]

Kroll sighed, nodding at the Warrant Officer. "Well, once this guy wakes up, I was planning to get a written statement from him that we could use to get a raid warrant on the Saltpeters residence in the Western District...but I think he could know something about the bombing you're asking about. Let's work together on this, here..." The captain paused as he thought of something.

"Oh, crap. That reminds me..." the tercel murmured as he slowly rose to his feet. "There's a Guerrilla we brought in earlier who my asset Aella managed to apprehend shortly before the hospital was bombed. I need to go check and see if he's here and if he's stable. If he is, I'll see if I can't glean any info from him. While I do that, though, keep an eye on this stallion. He's a slippery little fucker."

With a nod, Kroll slipped around Glue and began to move down the halls of the infirmary, inquiring to passing doctors about any recently admitted Guerrilla members.

[Tisis Antony]

Glue saluted and went to his post near the Pony, where his interrogation kit had been set up prior. The pony stands at rest near the pony, awaiting Kroll's return.

A doctor paused on his circuits, to point Kroll in the right direction. "We had two or three, but I think the one you're talking about is located in the surgical Theater. You'll need to take that elevator down to the bottom-most floor," he said, pointing to an elevator at the end of the hall.

The elevator there was very utilitarian, a modern installation. It looked like a freight elevator, but the doctors here mostly used it to transport injured figures up and down the stories.

[Kroll]

The captain crammed himself into the elevator and began to make his way to the bottom-most level of Headquarter's medical wing. After moving out of the cramped utility elevator, Kroll headed towards the surgical theater, hoping the Guerrilla in question was capable of giving a statement.

[Tisis Antony]

The surgical theater was a wide mouthed, open spaced area at the end of the hall, ringed on all sides by seats and attendants who were watching the spectacle below. Bawdy laughter filled the room as the surgeon at attention made some joke at the patients expense. "-And then his mother forgot to bring the utensils! Ah but enough jokes, as you can see here, the lacerations went quite deep. We're going to try and see the patients response to an experimental equine treatment we've been testing. Who here is familiar with a Magic Lancographical Subdermic Suturography? I've never done one myself, but we'll see if this textbook we have here is translated correctly."

The crowd leaned in a bit to watch the doctor attempt medicine.

[Kroll]

Kroll briskly made his way into the arena-like room, making a beeline towards the surgeon. "Excuse me, doctor," said the captain as he rapidly tapped the surgeon on the shoulder. "May I ask what you're about to do here, exactly?"

[Tisis Antony]

The doctor startled. "Sir I'm going to have to ask you to back up, we're performing medicine. This griffons life depends on it." The crowd laughed at that last statement.

[Kroll]

The captain raised an eyebrow, not amused by the crowd's laughter. "That tercel is a crucial asset to a case I'm working on. I need him alive and conscious to provide testimony. And I have a sinking feeling that whatever you're about to do is going to render him neither of what I need him to be."

[Tisis Antony]

The griffon doctor frowned a little bit, not making eye contact. "I've got permission to do this procedure from the Captain of the Guard hisself. I've got the permission forms lying around here somewhere- he gave me direct verbal orders to attend this patient and if you have any objections, you can take it up with him, AFTER, we finish this crucial procedure. Now sir, again, back away, or I will have to call security."

[Kroll]

Kroll frowned. He didn't recall ever giving this surgeon any orders to perform any medical procedures, but by the sound of it, someone claiming to be the Captain of the Guard. As such, the captain tightly grabbed the surgeon by the shoulders and turned him face to face. "I don't know who you took orders from, doc," said the tercel in an irritated tone. "But you sure as hell didn't get them from me; I'm the Captain of the Guard."

[Tisis Antony]

"Uhhh... hmmmm." The crowd, who'd not been listening in the least, was growing restless.

"GET ON WITH IT!" was the general consensus from below. The doctor had pressure from the crowd and the Captain.

"Quiet now!" he tried yelling but was droned out by the cacophony. "Oh just take him, I wasn't even sure I could pull it off." The doctor started walking off, taking off his hat and his smock. The small crowd of spectators was getting rowdy, and threatened to spill over the edges of their observation ring to get some entertainment.

[Kroll]

After briskly checking for a pulse on the Guerrilla, Kroll hurriedly wheeled the tercel out of the surgical theater, not wanting to contend with the restless crowd. As the captain pushed the gurney into the elevator, the captain wondered just how boring a griffon would have to be to find medical procedures as a source of entertainment.

[Tisis Antony]

The griffon's rode up the elevator. The Guerrilla's pulse was steady but weak. He'd need real medical attention, preferably soon. The elevator door dinged, but the elevator didn't open. The whole thing went dark suddenly, and lurched downwards a foot.

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