A Compromising Situation [closed]

by Manehatten Guard Tue Nov 05, 2013 3:34 am

22nd July of year 4

Kroll had been sitting in the dark, damp and dreary cell for what he guessed was several hours. The guards that had intervened in his fight had locked him in irons and flown him there, along with the protesting seargent who was taken to another wing of the building.

Footsteps approached, the clank of armour and talons on stone. A guard.

The Jailer rapped on the bars of the cell.

"Up on your feet, front and centre you lout! The bosses want a word with you!"

by Kroll Tue Nov 05, 2013 4:19 am

For the past few hours, Kroll had made himself quite comfortable in his holding cell, as it was the most comfortable place he had been since he went out to do foraging last week. The vagrant was in the mist of a delightful power nap when the jailer began his solo on the metal bars of the cell door. Lazily rolling to his feet, Kroll let out a yawn while scratching his backside casually. "Eh? Bosses?" The transient murmerd groggily as he peered at the jailer through the bars. "What do you mean bosses?"

by Manehatten Guard Tue Nov 05, 2013 5:39 am

The jailer produced a set of keys and unlocked the cell. Opening the door, he pointed in the direction of the exit with his truncheon.

"Some bigwigs from upstairs want to see you, 's all I know. Now, I'm sure you know the drill. Any funny business and you will crawl to this meeting with your joints the wrong way round"

by Kroll Tue Nov 05, 2013 6:31 pm

Kroll leaned forward slightly as the door to his cell was opened up, wondering if anyone would stop him if he tried to walk out the door despite the jailer's warning. "So where would I find these bosses of yours, sir?" the transient asked, is eyes still wandering around the jail's interior.

by Manehatten Guard Tue Nov 05, 2013 7:31 pm

"Walk straight ahead, turn corners when I tell ya'" the jailer said, motioning towards the door

by Kroll Tue Nov 05, 2013 7:43 pm

Kroll nodded as he stepped out of his cell and began to make his way out of the jail, following the jailer's instructions to turn when told to. As the transient walked along the hallways of Griffon Headquarters, he began to reminisce of the time he spent there as the war had come to a close, both the good and the bad. Though he wasn't pleased with the way he looked, (or smelled for that matter) Kroll couldn't help but smirk at some of the strange and somewhat disgusted look some of the other workers in the building gave him as he passed them by.

by Manehatten Guard Tue Nov 05, 2013 9:44 pm

The Jailer opened the door and ushered Kroll inside.

The meeting room was sparsely decorated and dimly lit. The windows were barred and shuttered, letting only the tiniest hint of a breeze through. A single chair stood in the middle of the room before a long wooden table, behind which five figures sat.

The one in the middle spoke first.

"Kroll. Please be seated"

by Kroll Tue Nov 05, 2013 9:54 pm

Kroll looked around the room apprehensively as he slowly walked inside, stiffly taking a seat in the provided chair. After nearly two years of just been referred to as a smelly bum, hobo, or any other variation of the term, the vagrant felt slightly unnerved that whoever was addressing him actually knew his name. Well, the closest thing he'd ever had to one, anyway.

by Manehatten Guard Tue Nov 05, 2013 10:22 pm

The central griffon shuffled some papers before speaking again.

"At sunset this evening you encountered one seargent Mikael and his stash of stolen items. You came to blows with the former seargent and attracted the attention of a passing patrol."

The Griffon steepled his fingers.

"These documents and passes were being sold to rebellious elements within the city and could have caused great damage to the guard as a whole. You have our thanks for this... opportune circumstance. Because of this, we wish to offer you a... task of sorts. The reward being a ranking position within the guard"

by Kroll Tue Nov 05, 2013 10:43 pm

Kroll raised an eyebrow at the griffon addressing him. A job? It had certainly been a while since he had one of those, and a chance to be reinstated into the guard as payment for completing said job was more than enough incentive to accept. "Alright," said the vagrant as he relaxed in the chair slightly, steepling his talons inquisitively. "What kind of task would you be having me do for you?"

by Manehatten Guard Tue Nov 05, 2013 11:13 pm

The central griffon looked to his left, motioning for the other to speak. The griffon leaned forwards, placing his elbow upon the table and pointing at Kroll.

"We believe that a senior ranking member of the guard is up to his neck in the selling of secrets and illegal passes. We want you to find a piece of incriminating evidence, or gut him on the floor of his office"

The griffon on the far right spoke up, a hen by the sound of it.

"We would prefer the evidence route. If you are caught, we cannot help you. This will likely mean that you will be hanged for espionage and sedition"

by Kroll Tue Nov 05, 2013 11:33 pm

Kroll nodded grimly. "Mh. I see...do you...er, any of you have any leads that I could use to investigate this officer, or will I have to start from the ground up?"

by Manehatten Guard Tue Nov 05, 2013 11:43 pm

The central griffon spoke again.

"You should probably start in his office. Third floor, end of the east wing. The combination to his safe is 3-5-9-0. There are few guards on duty in the building tonight, so making your way there should be easy enough"

The hen at the end of the table spoke up.

"I would also recommend that you pour a bucket of water over yourself. The stink could give you away as easily as a creaking floorboard"

by Kroll Tue Nov 05, 2013 11:47 pm

Kroll forced a smile across his beak as he slowly rose from the chair, anxious to start his assignment. "I'll see what I can do about that, ma'am...does he leave his office unlocked, or is he still here?"

by Manehatten Guard Wed Nov 06, 2013 12:25 am

The central griffon shrugged.

"The target keeps odd hours and behaves inconsistently. We dont have a clue whether he is in or not"

The griffon to the right of centre held up a talon.

"Also, his name is Feliks. That might help you find useful information"

by Kroll Wed Nov 06, 2013 12:38 am

Kroll nodded again. "Feliks....I see. I will be sure to handle the issue with tact and professionalism. I shall commence my task as soon as I am dismissed."

by Manehatten Guard Wed Nov 06, 2013 12:50 am

The central griffon nodded and motioned to the door.

"You are dismissed Kroll. Good luck"

by Kroll Wed Nov 06, 2013 12:54 am

Kroll bowed slightly to the figures behind the desk before striding his way out of the room he was guided into, making a straight line for the bathroom in the hallway. After spending a hasty 10 minutes to clean off most of the filth on his body, the vagrant began to make his way towards the office of the guard known as Feliks.

by Manehatten Guard Wed Nov 06, 2013 9:12 am

The Guard Headquarters was almost entirely empty at this hour, a few flickering oil lamps and candles lighting key points in the halls and corridors. Few guards wandered the halls or sat idly behind desks, no doubt pleased to be given a night shift where they could safely doze off in a corner. After ascending two flights of stairs and following a long corridor around the building, Kroll found himself in the third floor of the East wing.

by Kroll Wed Nov 06, 2013 7:23 pm

With a deep breath, Kroll began to briskly make his way down the East Wing of the third floor, keeping his head on a swivel for any guards that were patrolling the halls. Once he reached the door of Feliks' room, the tercel gently put the side of his head against the door, trying to listen for any noises that would tell him if the room was occupied or not.

by Manehatten Guard Wed Nov 06, 2013 8:04 pm

For a moment the room was near silent, then Kroll heard the sound of a cup comping to rest on a saucer. Someone was in the room.

by Kroll Wed Nov 06, 2013 8:40 pm

Kroll was about to open the door when he heard a muffled clinking sound. Shit. Looking around the hallway for some kind of solution, the vagrant spotted a janitorial closet a few doors back the way he came. Coming up with a plan, the tercel crept over to the closet and made his way inside, pulling an extra worker's uniform off a hangar and slipping it on, checking his disguise in a small cracked mirror that hung on the opposite side of the door.

After before lowering the bill of his cap to hide his eyes, Kroll began to push a maintanence cart out of the janitor's closet, wheeling it back towards Feliks' office. After coming to a stop besides the door, the vagrant rapped on the door to the office. " 'Ello? Late night cleaning service."

by Manehatten Guard Wed Nov 06, 2013 8:51 pm

There was the sound of a chair being moved back and a moment later the door swung open to reveal a garish orange and grey tercel. He looked Kroll up and down then grunted.

"I am honestly surprised to find that you do any work around here. It will have to wait, I am working"

by Kroll Wed Nov 06, 2013 9:20 pm

Kroll forced a weird smile across his beak as he looked at the tercel before him. "My apologies, sir, but I got orders from my boss to scrub out the offices on this floor with a new cleaning agent. It smells preeetty bad so, maybe you could maybe work in a break room or something? This should only take thirty minutes or so, so once your office airs out, you can resume working in your quarters..."

The janitor coughed , ruffling his wings a little. "I'm really sorry for the inconvenience, sir, but I got my orders just like you got yours. I'll be sure to work extra fast."

by Manehatten Guard Wed Nov 06, 2013 9:31 pm

Feliks wrinkled his nose as he got a whiff of the residual smell that still clung to the vagrant griffon.

"Good gods, that does stink. Alright, give me one moment"

He turned away and closed the door. There was the sound of papers being moved and sorted, then the sound of metal on metal. He opened the door a few seconds later, now bearing a banded metal suitcase.

"Alright, go ahead. Keep in mind that there may or may not be classified documents in the room, and reading them may or may not result in a painful and messy execution" The garish tercel shrugged "But, I am sure they told you that when they hired you"

by Kroll Wed Nov 06, 2013 9:34 pm

Kroll nodded, tapping his beak keenly. "I have to deal with enough painful and messy things when I have to clean out the bathrooms and cells in the dungeon! You can come back to your room in thirty or forty five minutes, sir. Thanks for being accommodating!"

by Manehatten Guard Wed Nov 06, 2013 9:43 pm

Feliks nodded and moved past Kroll, bearing his over-engineered suitcase in the direction of the officers quarters.

Feliks' office was tastefully decorated, with a large ornate desk sitting across from a window that with a view of the more prosperous part of Manehattan. A portrait of the Tsar sat upon the wall behind the desk and a few souvenirs were framed upon the walls as well. The bin beside the desk was overflowing with crumpled sheets of paper, but the desk itself was clear save for an inkwell and a set of pens.

by Kroll Wed Nov 06, 2013 10:03 pm

Kroll hastily pushed the maintainence cart into Feliks' room and shut the door behind him, leaving the cart directly in front of it so it may serve as a barricade. Rubbing his claws together, the tercel began to search the officer's room for the safe he was instructed to find. He was anxious for a chance to get his job back, but maintained a methodical and meticulous approach to his search.

by Manehatten Guard Wed Nov 06, 2013 11:45 pm

Kroll pulled the room apart as quietly as he could, shifting picture frames and opening drawers. Pulling aside the portrait of the Tsar, Kroll found what he was looking for. He had left it to last, and had honestly hoped for a more clever concealment.

by Kroll Thu Nov 07, 2013 2:01 am

After setting the painting of the tsar on the ground, Kroll clicked his talons before entering the combination that his handlers provided him, hoping that the safe contained enough evidence that Feliks may have well as had 'traitor' tattooed on his forehead. After putting in the last number in the safe's code, the tercel took a deep breath before turning the handle, expecting that the door would open for him.

by Manehatten Guard Thu Nov 07, 2013 2:16 am

The safe swung open easily on well-oiled hinges, revealing stacks of well ordered documents. Leafing through these, Kroll did not see anything particularly out of the ordinary for a captain of the guard.

There was a small stack of curfew passes, several folders filled with incident reports and a ledger filled with operational details. One end of the safe was completely empty and the metal scratched by the repeated placement and removal of something hard and bulky.

by Kroll Thu Nov 07, 2013 2:41 am

Kroll frowned as he leafed through the documents, not finding anything incriminating among the well organized sheets of paper. Setting them briefly on the desk, the tercel peered at rear wall of the vault, raising a brow at the odd scratches in the metal. Frowning slightly, the janitor rubbed his chin as to what have caused the odd markings, and more importantly, where this object could be at this moment. Shaking his head in disappointment, Kroll put all the papers back in their proper order inside the safe before closing the lid and hanging the painting back up in its proper position.

Whatever was missing from the safe must've been the evidence he was sent after, and the vagrant was beginning to have a hunch that whatever was in that briefcase that Feliks took with him was what he was tasked to search for. With that in mind, Kroll made his way out of the officer's room, pushing the maintenance cart ahead of him as he trudged back towards the janitor's closet.

by Manehatten Guard Thu Nov 07, 2013 8:21 pm

As Kroll pushed the trolley to the closet, a tired and bored looking guard ambled past him. Thankfully, putting on a cleaning uniform seemed to be an invisibility cloak in this place. It spoke poorly of their ability to find rebels in this city.

by Kroll Thu Nov 07, 2013 8:38 pm

After rolling the cart back into the closet and closing the door, Kroll let his head into the wall with a light thump as he let out a groaning sound. He had been in that office for some time, but the tercel was fairly certain that he wasn't in there for thirty minutes or so. With that in mind, the phony janitor concluded that he would have to go find Feliks himself. How he would get the briefcase away from the officer was a bridge he would have to cross when he got there.

Pushing off the wall, Kroll scratched his under his outfit's hat as he tried to think of where Feliks would be at this time. After attempting to put himself in the orange bastard's mindset, the vagrant figured that his quarry was in the officer's quarters and began to make his way there.

by Manehatten Guard Thu Nov 07, 2013 9:06 pm

The brief trip passed mostly without incident, save for one guard ordering Kroll to clean up a "spill" on the floor of the mess. Before too long the disguised tercel found himself in the foyer of the Officers quarters.

It was styled like a fine hotel, with many rooms opening onto balconies that left a wide airy space from the first to the third floors. There was no activity in the foyer save for the flickering of the lights.

by Kroll Thu Nov 07, 2013 10:14 pm

Kroll stretched a little as he began to walk through the foyer of the Officer's Quarters, moving from door to door in search for the room that Feliks stayed in.

by Manehatten Guard Fri Nov 08, 2013 4:55 am

After a short search and a flight of stairs, Kroll found himself standing before the door labelled "Captain Feliks" upon the second floor.

by Kroll Fri Nov 08, 2013 5:00 am

Kroll adjusted his uniform's cap slightly before knocking on the Captain's door. "Hello? Captain? Cleaning service. Your office is all ready and good-to-go."

by Manehatten Guard Fri Nov 08, 2013 10:32 pm

There was a sound of movement on the other side of the door, which then swung open to reveal Feliks. He looked at Kroll and then back over his shoulder.

"That was fast" he said with a raised eyebrow

by Kroll Fri Nov 08, 2013 10:32 pm

Kroll shrugged. "Your room's awfully immaculate as is, so I didn't have all too much to clean. I didn't know if you wanted your wastebasket dumped or not, just in case you needed something from that later." The phony janitor pointed a talon at the Captain's room. "So what are the living spaces on here like? I've heard they're pretty nice."

by Manehatten Guard Fri Nov 08, 2013 10:55 pm

"You can find out if you become an officer"He said as he ducked back into the room.

A moment later he returned with his over-engineered steel briefcase and closed the door behind him

by Kroll Sat Nov 09, 2013 5:58 am

Kroll watched the Feliks' begin to walk away, his mind scrambling to think of a way to get ahold of the captain's briefcase without killing him; even though this garish tercel was a suspect, he wasn't proven to be guilty of anything just yet. The phony janitor sighed. If he'd brought the trolley along with him, he could've used it to crash into Feliks and swipe his briefcase while he was down. But there was no point in wishing what could've been; it wouldn't be long before the captain would be back and his office and this whole mess would have to start all over again.

With a sigh, Kroll silently padded after Feliks, waiting to get as close as he could before lunging at the captain from behind, wrapping one of his forearms around the tercel's neck as he attempted to perform a sleeper hold. The vagrant had done things of this nature in the past, but never enjoyed it when the intended target was able to hold their breath to feign passing out, or worse, fight their way out of it.

by Manehatten Guard Sun Nov 10, 2013 9:43 am

Feliks emitted a surprised yelp and began to struggle as Kroll pinched his jugular vein. He pulled forwards as far as he dared, mindful of his attackers talons thanks to training and swung his heavy briefcase over his shoulder at Kroll.

by Kroll Mon Nov 11, 2013 1:09 am

Kroll went limp as the briefcase connected with his skull, his vision suddenly becoming full of stars as he staggered back and fell over, bitterly wishing that he had come up with a different plan instead of trying to attack the captain. The phony janitor began to groan a little as he tried to stay conscious, hoping he didn't have a concussion from the blow.

by Manehatten Guard Mon Nov 11, 2013 2:29 am

Feliks dropped the briefcase which clattered to the ground beside Kroll and leaned upon the railing before him. He grabbed his head and rubbed his sore neck, evidently affected by the few seconds of Kroll's sleeper hold.

by Kroll Mon Nov 11, 2013 3:01 am

Kroll blinked a few times as he slowly sat up, gingerly touching the gash the briefcase left on the side of his head, wincing as he felt a little bit of blood on his talons. Groggily looking up at the captain, the vagrant was relieved to see he was busy recovering instead of preparing to decapitate him...but where was that damn case? The phony janitor looked around slowly, feeling as if his brain was smacking against the inside of his skull as he turned his head. The tercel's heart skipped a beat as he saw the briefcase sitting next to him, looking up at Feliks before looking back down at the briefcase.

It'd be too risky to try and run back down to the first floor, but maybe jumping over the balcony and gliding down to the ground floor would be a better way to go about it. Grabbing the briefcase, Kroll staggered over to the balcony and gracelessly flopped over the edge, spreading his wings out to carefully, albeit shakily, make his way down to the first floor.

by Manehatten Guard Mon Nov 11, 2013 4:10 am

Feliks staggered to the edge as Kroll leaped over it and gave a strangled cry. He took a moment more to recover himself and called out weakly.

"Help! Help! Rebel attack!"

A few moments passed and no response was apparent, the captains cry almost certainly unheard. The tercel rallied and pulled himself over the edge, gliding down towards Kroll with his talons outstretched.

by Kroll Mon Nov 11, 2013 4:19 am

Kroll tried to angle his wings so that he would land on the ground that was below the courtyard, but ended up smashing headlong into a window on the first floor, sending a cascade of shattered glass inward as he messily tumbled across the floor of the hallway before shakily getting up, slurring a continuous stream of apologies as he shambled down the hall, looking for the room the jailer lead him into earlier.

by Manehatten Guard Mon Nov 11, 2013 4:35 am

Feliks touched down where Kroll had landed and pursued him in an unsteady gallop. He called out for help again and a groggy looking guard emerged from a side room. The captain pointed them after Kroll and sat where he was as the griffon followed the vagrant.

by Kroll Mon Nov 11, 2013 4:50 am

Kroll groaned as he saw the guard coming after him and began to pick up the pace, swaying slightly as he rounded a corner in the hallway. The vagrant began to mutter a stream of curses as he looked around for the door that lead to the room his employers had spoken to him in. Spotting it at the end of the hall, the vagrant launched into a steady sprint as he did the best he could to the sharp pain in his head, wrenching the door open and slamming it shut behind him. Still wearing the janitor outfit, the vagrant slowly slid down the floor, breathing heavily as he raised his arm to show the briefcase he firmly had in his claw. "I...found...it." he wheezed.

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