>>5521956
So the gas is going to disperse and the people in the building should be fine?

If that is the case
>Collect the gang leader we took out and deliver then to the guards.
We took out one gang leader. Let's put em away and then we can move on as a strike team

>>5522055
Support

>>5521956
>head back to the guard station. They might have more info that you can use

>>5522055
>>5522351
>>5522102
Sorry about the radio silence. Had a bad storm here and an accident nearby had my power cut for the last few days. The gas will disperse now that there is no one left to continue to spread it in the area and the people have been given an exit route or can run for it now that they've been told it's not lethal in small doses.

We'll be going back to the guards post with our captive. Writing.

Returning to the guard station would be the best idea for now. You had someone that needed to be incarcerated and they would have had scouts running around the city making it the best place for new information. You leap back to the roof of the ruined hideout to reclaim your prisoner. The roof groans under the weight of the both of you as you lug him over your shoulder and jump away. The sounds of shouts and fighting had only grown more intense since your fight against the Flying Dragons and only serve to hurry you on.

You hear the sound of windows shattering nearby and see a group of teens attempting to loot a store. They're too young and stupid to be part of any gang. Especially since they had done nothing to disguise themselves or even appear anything but a group of children using the chaos to their advantage. You sigh and divert your route a bit to land near them. The sight of a large snow leopard carrying a bleeding bear on his shoulder causes them to swear and fall over in fear. "The city is up in flames and the only thing you can think of is causing more trouble. You're lucky that I'm the one that caught you." You growl as you "lightly" kick one of the teens to knock the air out of them before shoving him into his friends. "Had it been anyone else, they would have killed you. Go home before I change my mind. Tonight is not the night to test me." The youths stare at you wide eyed and you smash a nearby barrel to prove your point. The sudden act of aggression snaps them out of it and they scurry away in fear, leaving their winded member on the ground and helpless. "You've been abandoned but you've probably heard this all before. So now that everyone's warnings and lectures have come true be thankful that you're given a second chance at life. Don't make the same mistake again."

---

If the guard station was busy when you first arrive, it had somehow become even more chaotic when you arrive once more. Guard and civilian alike were running all over the place as the guards were attempting to offer shelter to those displaced in the fights. Unfortunately, the headquarters were nowhere near equipped for such a task and the cracks were beginning to show. You shove your way past as many people as possible and into the station proper but the situation is even worse here than it was outside. Being inside the walls of the station had become a luxury and with so many people squeezed into the place, it was making it hard for the guards to get in and out.

You toss the bear behind one of the front desks. "This is the leader of the flying dragons. The rest of his closest men are at the Gilded Silks. There's also been a major fight there. A lot of poisonous gas has been spread around by some other gang. We've taken care of them and the gas should disperse soon enough. It's dangerous in high doses but there's also civilians trapped there. Some of them have managed to escape and others will too once the fog thins. You might be getting another wave of survivors asking for shelter." You tell a very overwhelmed guard. "Do you understand? He's dangerous, not a civilian. We can't let him out."

The guard looks around desperately for someone else to help. "I'm sorry but we don't have time to handle bounties. If it's not an emergency I have to ask you to leave and wait in the court yard."

"I'm not a bounty hunter. I'm here trying to help. Is there anyone else who I can talk to?" You ask. "I'm here with one of the Five."

"You'll have to ask someone outside. I've been trying to keep things stable here. Surely you've seen one of the scouts or something." The guard says. "I think one of the lieutenants was there." You quickly head out rather than stay and argue. Searching around, you head towards one of the guards who seems to be directing other guards around rather than civilians.

"I need to know what's going on in the rest of the city so I know where to go. We don't have time to waste." You say. "Have you had any major reports come in?"

"Other than constant fighting? A few here and there but we're so busy trying to bring people here that we have our hands tied at the moment." The guard says. "If you need something to do, best you tell me what you're looking for."

>What do you say?
>Ask where Tigress is. Perhaps she needs help.
>Ask if the guards know where one of the other gangs have settled in the city. You can try and take out another hideout.
>Ask if there has been any major incidents. Large fires or massive robberies. Something only a coordinated group could do. It could be better to head towards the scene of a crime and interrogate a gang member directly.
>Write in.

>>5525513
>Ask if there has been any major incidents. Large fires or massive robberies. Something only a coordinated group could do. It could be better to head towards the scene of a crime and interrogate a gang member directly.

Though I voted hours ago. Oh well.

>>5525513
>something only a coordinated group could do.

It serves multiple purposes

>>5525513
>>Ask if there has been any major incidents. Large fires or massive robberies. Something only a coordinated group could do. It could be better to head towards the scene of a crime and interrogate a gang member directly.
Best thing to get more chaos out of the way. Will get us the other gang info we need

>Ask where Tigress is. Perhaps she needs help.
Chance of linking up and trading info

"Where is Tigress? She was organizing the guard here." You ask though you can safely assume something bad had happened. Even with your brief stint with her, you knew her well enough that the only thing that would pull her away from helping civilians would be something bigger and more threatening. "I need to know if there has been any major incidents that only a well organized group can pull off. Something like a massive robbery or a large arson. I suspect where we find those, we'll find another gang and if we find them we can get more information."

"Seems like luck or some warped semblance of it follows you hero types." The guard says. "Turns out Master Tigress went where such an incident occurred if that's what you want to call it. Really it was more like a siege. One of the smaller guard stations on the west side of the city has fallen. The few guards that survived say it was taken over by the Snakehead Company. They're trying to grab whatever armor and weapons they have there. Master Tigress went to investigate as soon as she heard."

"Never heard of them and the gangs we interrogated didn't mention the name either." You say. "What do you know of them?"

"No surprises there. They're not so much a gang as a small group of mercenaries with no loyalty other than to whoever paid them...at least that was what we thought. They're the kind of thugs bigger gangs hire to do their dirtier work and for good reason. What they lack in numbers they make up in combat experience and strength. Most people simply confuse them for the muscle of other gangs. Although now we suspect that the chance to own a city of their own was too tempting for them. They might have broken off from whatever bigger gang hired them in hopes of starting their own major family from whatever is left of this place. If they get the time to fortify themselves in that station, I don't think any of the guard will be able to get them out at least not without heavy casualties." The guard explains.

"Is there anything else?" You ask. "If there's anything else happening in the city it might be best for us to split up, otherwise I might head over there myself to help Tigress put them down before they get too comfortable."

"Yeah there's plenty but nothing of what you're probably looking for. Tons of looting and rioting but nothing that would require too much organization. Although in the southern quarter, right before all hell broke loose, some of the boys mentioned that a lot of the herbalist shops were picked clean. None of the other shops were touched. Just the herb shops. I figure one of the gangs decided to play it smart and grab as many supplies as they could. My old man always used to say that most wars tend to come down to whoever has the most medical supplies. Maybe they'll try and outlast this all or they're just trying to keep it out of our hands. You might find clues there and if the God's are willing, you might be able to find the stolen goods. Doesn't take a genius to know that we're gonna need them as well." The guard seems to think for a while. "Other than that...I can't think of anything. There's plenty of us still out there and our lines of communication are shot. I know you're looking for trouble and all that but it'd go a long way if you can check on the other stations. The biggest stations are in each of the four quarters as you might have guessed. The smaller stations might need to be necessary sacrifices with the man power we have but if we lose the bigger ones then we may as well say goodbye to those sections of the city."

"What about the one in the west?" You ask.

"As far as I know it's still holding up but if Snakehead has it in their mind to take a smaller outpost then I wouldn't put it past them to try and take over the larger one. Once that happens, I doubt even Master Tigress can pry them free."

>What do you do?
>Go and assist Tigress. It seems like these mercenaries are proving themselves to be a big threat. You know first hand how deadly experience and a fortified location can be.
>Leave the mercenaries to Tigress. She can handle herself. The missing herbs concern you more. Given the size of the fog back near the gang hideout, it might be safe to say that some of those stolen goods are already being produced into deadly toxins if those masked men were behind the theft. Leaving it their hands runs the risk of more being spread. Better that it goes back into the hands that really need it.
>Go check out the guard stations. If they're anything like the one here then it means they're full of vulnerable civilians. Saving the city means nothing if it's citizens are all dead and gone. Not to mention that these other stations might have more information. Finding a way to have all the stations communicate with each other could be what it takes to turn the tide.
>Write in.

>>5528149
>>Leave the mercenaries to Tigress. She can handle herself. The missing herbs concern you more. Given the size of the fog back near the gang hideout, it might be safe to say that some of those stolen goods are already being produced into deadly toxins if those masked men were behind the theft. Leaving it their hands runs the risk of more being spread. Better that it goes back into the hands that really need it.
We can trust Tigress on the mercs, and info swapping there is unnecessary. What we need is to leave information in a way Xin/Tigress can easily access it.

The longer we leave the herbs unattended to, the more 1: the trail goes cold 2: the herbs can be used in something.

Best leave a note about the toxin smog and any other factors that may be important.

>>5528149
>Leave the mercenaries to Tigress. She can handle herself. The missing herbs concern you more. Given the size of the fog back near the gang hideout, it might be safe to say that some of those stolen goods are already being produced into deadly toxins if those masked men were behind the theft. Leaving it their hands runs the risk of more being spread. Better that it goes back into the hands that really need it.

>>5528449
I support.

We need to find the cause.
But we can't figure it out with the thingie.

"Thanks. I'll go see about those raided shops. I think there might be more to it than just gangs trying to control the flow of supplies. I'm certain Tigress can handle those mercenaries by herself. She wasn't one of the Five for nothing and it'd best if we cover more of the city than focus us at one target. No need to give the enemy more room to maneuver. Let the other guards coordinating things know where I'm going in case anyone needs to find me. We all need to be on the same page if we want to take back the city." You say as you turn to push your way back through the crowd and into the open streets.

As you make your way to the shops, you do your best to stifle whatever fighting you can. Though you couldn't spare the time nor wanted to over exert yourself with every little encounter, you do the best you can by simply hurling roof tiles or random debris at combatants to knock them out. It was swift and crude but hopefully it helped put enough of a pause in the fighting to allow civilians to make a run for it if they were trapped and hiding from the chaos.

You land in the middle of the shopping district to find it completely in ruins. Every shop had been ransacked and looted, no doubt by the various gangs that were vying for the city, which would make your search for clues even more difficult if not down right impossible. Even so, you weren't one to shy away from the impossible and the thought of toxins being brewed to be unleashed upon the city steeled your resolve. You step through the doorway of one of the shops and over the shattered remains of the door to see that the interior fared no better. Broken vases, jars, and every other kind of container imaginable littered the floor of the store along with the trampled remains of herbs among them. Kneeling you shift the trash and study the plant matter only to find yourself out of your depth once more.

Growing up, learning the various properties of plants was essential to your training. Knowing what to grind into a paste or what to dry into powders either to promote healing or assist in resting was mandatory for someone who was meant to be the Dragon Warrior. However, your knowledge of medicine was rudimentary at best compared to someone like Ming who could blend almost anything she could find on the road into almost any concoction imaginable. It was clear here that things were taken but what and by whom you weren't talented enough to say. The fact that other people had combed over and trashed the place on top of the first theft only helped to muddy what little clues could be left behind.

Your thoughts turned to Ming. You could almost imagine her kneeled over the garbage, calmly picking at the ruined plant matter, her eyes seeing things that only she could understand. Rather quickly she'd probably stand up, pull her gloves off and announce her findings as if it was plain to see as the sun lit sky. But you weren't her, and all the heartache in the world wouldn't bring her here. You would simply have to do things with your own methods. You were trained in tracking criminals from birth and that would have to be enough.

For now you'd focus on this shop. If you could somehow find a clue or perhaps find something that the other herb shops could have in common then it would help your investigation of those ones as well. You think for a moment as you study the scene once more. With what you knew, it didn't make logical sense that whoever stole the herbs, if it was indeed the poison makers, would smash everything to bits. They would know exactly what they would want and would want it to be intact. To smash the container would make transporting the goods too much of a hassle than to simply take the whole box or barrel.

You were getting somewhere and so shift through the trash once more. The mess has made it seem like there were more herbs on the floor than there really was. It was as the guard said, the shop had been picked clean. Whatever was left here must have been what had fallen out of it's original container and wasn't worth picking up. Everything else here must have been emptied out...and would have probably been placed on a cart of some kind. There was no way even a group of people could clean out an entire market street with their own to hands. Carts had to be used. It was the only way and carts needed fairly wide streets.


You step back outside.

>What do you do?
>Search for tracks. If a cart was laden with so many goods then it would have been weighed down and it would probably leave track marks even if it hadn't been raining. Maybe there might have been more herbs that fell off.
>Head back up to the rooftops. Cities are built with people in mind more than a vehicle. Many of the alleys, backstreets, and short cuts would be inaccessible to a bunch of carts. You can use this to try and narrow the possible routes the thieves could have taken. Perhaps you might even find one of the carts left behind if the hideout was more secluded.
>Look through the other shops. You were onto something but perhaps the other places could hold more clues for you to find. Surely in all the hurry to make off with their loot someone might have misplaced a map or item.
>Search around the nearby area. There is bound to be a group of gang members that you could interrogate. Anyone hanging around this area is surely looking for scraps or is making sure everything had really be taken.
>Write in.

>>5531208
>Search for tracks. If a cart was laden with so many goods then it would have been weighed down and it would probably leave track marks even if it hadn't been raining. Maybe there might have been more herbs that fell off.


Speed was of the essence. We just need to find a general direction before taking to the rooftops.

>>5531208
>Search for tracks. If a cart was laden with so many goods then it would have been weighed down and it would probably leave track marks even if it hadn't been raining. Maybe there might have been more herbs that fell off.
>Head back up to the rooftops. Cities are built with people in mind more than a vehicle. Many of the alleys, backstreets, and short cuts would be inaccessible to a bunch of carts. You can use this to try and narrow the possible routes the thieves could have taken. Perhaps you might even find one of the carts left behind if the hideout was more secluded.
Follow the tracks, but remember to look for the high ground every once in a while.

>>5531542
I can support this. We get a trail, then head to the roof until we get to an intersection, and find the trail again.

After watching season 2 kung fu panda dragon knight feeling pumped for this quest even if it has been awhile

>>5531364
>>5531542
>>5533290
Searching for tracks. Writing.

>>5533555
Glad to see someone return! Didn't realize that the series still had a TV show going on.

You kneel and gently run your fingers across the ground. Hundreds of footprints and tons of debris littered the ground from the raiding and looting. The cobblestone had been pounded smooth from millions of footsteps over the course of years. It was impossible to find tracks here...if one didn't know how to look for them. To many, this near perfect flattening of the road and stone would make it impossible for any tracks to be placed but what many wouldn't think to look would be in between the stone.

Like many stone roads throughout the empire they were held together by dirt and compacted together. Eventually being constantly stepped on would force them deeper into the ground and causing each and every stone to press against one another even more. While the stones would have trouble holding any kind of print, the dirt in between them would not and it just so happened that it would take more force than that of simple footprints to mark it, the kind of force that the wheels of a heavily laden cart would exert. If the cart was as weighed down as you thought then the wheels would push down upon the rocks even more and if you were lucky then there would be just enough wiggle room for the rocks to be depressed and allow the wheels to cut into the dirt.

You feel around a bit longer before your fingers catch on a rut in the dirt. You clear the area around it and grab a nearby burning plank for light. About an arms length away was another identical rut on the ground and you can see faint abrasion marks on the stones as well. Picking up the pace, you follow their direction for a few feet and look down once more. Following the same procedure, you're happy to find that the tracks still remain indicating that you were going in the right direction. With a bit more confidence in your findings you leap on to the nearby rooftops and begin plotting a course based on the only routes available that a cart could fit. It probably would not be heading towards the west nor east or else the guards would have seen more stores emptied and the culprits behind it and going too far east would head to the docks where the Seven Seas gang had some dominance over. With those routes eliminated, you head north on the hunch that perhaps being hidden deeper in the city would be a better idea that attempting to hide near the outskirts. After all it would be better to encroach from within rather than fight one's way inside. Working from within gave more opportunities for flanking or backstabbing maneuvers against other factions should they attempt to make plays around the central location or if they crossed through it. Simply existing in a center point of the south side of the city would make it more difficult for everyone else which would be an advantage.

You continue your mix of rooftop running and leaping back down to investigate for more tracks as you follow your lead deep into the heart of the city. Eventually, the tracks cease but not to far away you see an abandoned cart simply left on the road. You frown and examine the vehicle. It was old and worn but completely serviceable. You can only assume that because it was empty that you must be close to whatever the thieves are using as a base of operations. They must have abandoned it and carried the goods by hand. For now, you would have to revise your strategy for tracking them down.

>How do you continue your search?
>Search for discarded herbs and plants. If some fell in the shops then more would have fallen while the goods were being removed from the cart. There could be trail now.
>Try to find a secure location and attempt to focus your senses. Maybe you can hear the sounds of people working in an alchemy lab or perhaps catch the faint smell of poison in the winds. Such things always had distinct odors.
>Prowl the streets. If the thieves were attempting to remain hidden, then they would probably employ lookouts and those would be easier to find and question.
>Write in.

>>5534001
>Prowl the streets in an expanding circle

They cant be further than 20 meters from the cart, if they moved as much shit as we expect

>>5534001
>Search for discarded herbs and plants. If some fell in the shops then more would have fallen while the goods were being removed from the cart. There could be trail now.
>>5534297
While doing this

>>5534301
>>5534297
Looking around it is. Writing.

You search around the area for some kind of trail. There were discarded herbs in the shops so it was possible that there could be more while things were being unloaded and it doesn't take you very long to see a few scattered on the ground. From a brief examination, you can identify a few of the more common herbs used for medicine here and there as well as some you remember Ming teaching you about but these were all intermingled with other herbs of unknown purpose to you. Even so, you can find a small trail leading away from the cart and into an alley just a few feet away. It wasn't a definitive trail the likes you would hear about in tales but you can piece together the general direction. Your search leads you through the winding alleys between the several buildings but none of them strike you as being used for illegal activities. You feel a slight sense of unease as the sounds from all over the city become muffled and silent as the myriad buildings around you block the incoming noise. Perhaps it was all your time studying the mysteries of the subject and your many dealings with it but you can't help to instinctively assume some kind of Chi trickery was afoot.

Nevertheless your misgivings did not distract you enough from hearing someone approach. You quickly leap to higher ground and lay in wait to find one of the many masked merchants wandering aimlessly through the streets. Allowing them to pass, you quietly pursue the figure through the streets but simply find them walking around the same building. Climbing to the top of the building, you find it to be unremarkable and from the look of it, to be empty. You highly doubt there would be some kind of secret passage or room given that these people were invaders and would not have any time to build such a thing. As you return to the top of the building you see another member of the gang wandering the streets as well and upon closing in upon them, you see a third. Taking the time to step back and study all three, you see them following the same patrol patterns while attempting to seem like wandering aimlessly. Each on never crossed the other's route and yet all of them were well within striking range should the other come into contact with an enemy. It was a rather clever way of disguising a patrol route and the location of their hideout while maintaining an element of surprise for anyone who didn't have a vantage point such as you.

However, studying them wouldn't reveal the location of their base and any trail of herbs had vanished. Could the trail have been another layer to their trap? To lead one into a false sense of security before being descended upon by a surprise group? Unable to find anything else, you depart and continue your search of the area. Not to far away in another set alleyways you find a similar set up. A group of masked gang members patrolling a set area in seemingly random directions. Only this time the patrol routes were all circling around a small court yard made by several surrounding buildings. A small campfire was built there but there where no other members nearby to give it any purpose. It seems like this group was doing their best to obfuscate their true location.

>What do you do?
>Follow one of the patrols. Eventually they'd have to return to their base to swap shifts.
>Do what you do best. Cause problems. If you make enough of a scene then surely reinforcements would have to arrive from somewhere.
>Search the buildings. You know they can't have been taken the goods far. The trail ends here so they must be hidden nearby. Even if you don't find any more leads. Getting them out of their hands is good enough.
Search the courtyard. There must be a reason for it being a place they would want to guard. Perhaps nearby it is the location where their poison making is.
>Write in.

>>5536425
Either
>Search the courtyard. There must be a reason for it being a place they would want to guard. Perhaps nearby it is the location where their poison making is.
or
>Follow one of the patrols. Eventually they'd have to return to their base to swap shifts.

>>5536425
>Search the courtyard.

I mean, when they are all circling a place, we may as well go the route of the obvious.

I've a sneaky plan, but it should only be done if we don't find anything. Because we can do an arkham batman and take out a patrol. Then the second. And the noise should force the third to flee for his allies.

>>5537054
>>5536764
Searching the courtyard. Writing.

You return to the courtyard area while avoiding the patrols. An easy feat when you had the various buildings to climb around and hide behind. You land silently at the edge of the courtyard and hug the wall. The yard itself was barren for the most part save for the lone campfire and a few boxes though they seem too old and battered to have been put there recently. You wait for a while to allow the patrols to create some distance and give you a wider berth before you slink forward and hurry to the boxes. A quick search shows you that they are full of trash and garbage but upon closer inspection you see that the refuse within is fairly recent. Scraps of herb mixed with food. Your inexperience in the kitchen unfortunately prevents you from discerning if these are common cooking ingredients or if they are the remnants of some kind of potion making.

You cast a quick look over your shoulder for any incoming enemies and also note that every building surrounding the court yard has some light blinking with in it. Could it be that in lieu of using a single building for all their poison making this gang opted to split between several? It might be that they didn't have enough space or equipment or it could be yet another attempt to hide their location. You weren't entirely sure but it was another clue. You were certain at the very least that the campfire was being used to hide the light from within the buildings otherwise it would be too obvious that something was going on from within.

You hear someone returning and duck back into the shadows. Three masked gang members walk into the court yard and huddle around the campfire. They move their arms as if conversing but they make no sound and merely mimic the motions of whispering to one another while keeping warm near the flames. You would have found it eerie and uncanny were it not for the fact that there were slight movements in their necks every so often as they peeked over their shoulders. Had you been detected? You doubted it but something had pushed them into action.

Moments later you hear another group approach even louder than the masked members. "I just saw one of those masked freaks run in here!" A voice says loudly, breaking the silence. "We catch him and maybe we can get some information on where the boss is at." You crane your neck to peek around the corner some more.

Walking through one of the alleys is a small group of 4 Flying Dragon members each armed and looking for trouble. The masked gang tenses up slightly but they maintain their routine as each one slowly begins to ready their ornate daggers. "Look! There they are!" Another shouts and the Flying dragons begin to jog towards the campfire. "Looks like the little punk found some friends..."

"Good. I've been meaning to show some of these freaks what I really thought about them. Now that shit's going down. All bets are off." The third one says as he draws his mace. "So here's the deal. You give us what we want and maybe we'll think about leaving you guys alive. Maybe we might even consider leaving some bones unbroken too. So you can crawl back to whatever dump you came from."

It was obvious these men had fallen into the trap and you suspect that soon other masked gang members would descend upon them.

>What do you do?
>Let the two groups fight. The distraction would be enough to let you slip into one of the buildings.
>Take all of them down. These idiots already alerted the gang but you want to at least keep the numbers down as much as you can before the others show up.
>Use the distraction to see if you can find some kind of basement or cellar. Such places would be easier to house stolen goods or work in secret.
>Write in.

>>5538695
>Use the distraction, Get up high and look for which buildings the masked merchants come out from. We can then check those buildings. . . or the remaining buildings with lights on that gang members don't come out from, after.

>>5539016
Support

You take this moment of distraction to slip from your hiding spot to a higher vantage point. The Flying Dragon members let out a shout and begin their attack by rushing towards the masked members. Keeping a close eye on the surrounding buildings, you wait patiently as the fight goes down while keeping an eye on the buildings all around the courtyard for a source of reinforcements. One of the Dragons attempts to bring their weapon down upon his target but the masked men are surprisingly agile. The man dips out of the way and seems to flow around and behind his attacker. They raise their dagger, poised to strike a fatal blow but are sent sprawling when they are shoulder checked by another Flying Dragon. Even so, the masked assailant makes no sound as they are sent sprawling to the ground.

The interceptor attempts to press their advantage against their fallen enemy but suddenly they hunch over in pain and hold their side, a thin rod protruding between their fingers. You quickly look through all the masked men in the fight. None of them held anything that resembled the arrow like object. The man pulls the object free from his side and throws it to the ground in defiance. Despite his look of anger and rage, his legs tremble as he takes a step forward. Fear? Could his resolve have been shattered so easily? The man takes a few more steps forward now drunkenly swaying from side to side. His weapon clatters to the ground uselessly from numb fingers and you understood. Poison.

The other Flying Dragons watch with confusion as one of their own collapses to the ground. One grips their weapon tighter and charges once more. The others follow suit each their their weapons raised. They only take a few steps before each one of them spasms with pain as similar rods protrude from their bodies, none of them which come from the direction of the group huddled around the fire. You study the angles from which these things point. If it wasn't clear that the masked men around the fire were bait it was all too obvious now. The only way for these weapons to stick out at these angles were if they originated from the nearby buildings. You survey the angles once more and can deduce that this was only possible if there were multiple attackers, one in each building. To you this was only confirmation that you had found the gang's hideout. It wasn't just a single building like the Flying Dragons. They had opted to use a block to spread out and have more coverage both in combat, stealth, and lookout.

The rest of the gang members each follow a similar pattern as the first. Their legs shake, they take a few steps and they fall to the ground. Immediately the other masked men descend upon the fallen gang member. The elegant blades glint in the night before they bury themselves into the necks of their victims. Blood flows black and stains the dirt as each one of the masked gang members stands back up and turn to descend upon the first man who fell to the poison.

His eyes widen as he watches his gangmates die and the horror spreads to the rest of his face as he is unable to escape. The three masked men halt as a fourth appears from the shadows with a raised hand. They quickly stow their weapons and wait patiently as the fourth approaches and kneels by the last remaining Dragon. They draw a small vial and force feed it's contents to the paralyzed man. The victim spasms before momentarily going rigid and going limp but you're unsure if they are unconscious or dead. The fourth man motions to the bodies and the remaining three men begin to drag the bodies towards the building across from you leaving the ground stained with their blood.

>What do you do?
>Follow the men into the buildings. If they're dragging bodies there then it must be more important than the others.
>Go to one of the other buildings. There might be hidden attackers there but it'll certainly be less then one with 4 extra men.
>Head back and alert the guards. You found their hideout, you can have them clean up while you continue to tackle other matters.
>Write in.

>>5543490
>Follow them into the building.

Maybe try a higher elevation entry, but what makes this masked man so much better.
Worse off, these guys are clearly a cut above the dragons, some low school of martial arts.

>>5543490
>Head back and alert the guards. You found their hideout, you can have them clean up while you continue to tackle other matters.
More to get some back up.
Dealing with poisons that can paralyse is dangerous if we are alone, without any antidote. Even one lucky hit can spiral our of control.

>>5543660
Issue is bringing the others in to the fray makes them open to the poison.Which will greatly increase guard casualties, which the city cannot really afford.

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>5543681
TO keep things going, I'll flip.

1 I stay the same, 2 I change.

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>5544596
I'll do the same then

>>5544619
Bloody dice wants to keep a tie
I'll just say that 1 is for
>Follow them
and 2 was for
>Head back

>>5544596
>>5544619
Masters of deception and chaos.

Bad new lads. Internet is on the fritz and in the worst way possible. The kind where its the isp fault and they refuse to acknowledge it. Got a tech coming in in 2 days so all I can do is sit here and wait.

As for why the masked person is more important? It's Ming. She's evil now. Cute but evil. Tigress has to be your new alchemy girl

>>5544794
Rabbit please. Everyone knows that Ming ain't no lean mean murdering machine.

Now her deathly counterpart, Bing on the other hand. . . well they have been known to give out some off colour advice. . .

I'm back. We're following the group in.

With the gang members dead, your choice has been made clear. There must be something important about that building if they were dragging bodies to it. You hop from roof to roof towards the building and hang from the lip of the rooftop as you force open a window to slip into the second floor.

The first thing you feel as you hop in is the heat. Heavy and humid, the atmosphere is much like that of a sauna though you suspect the source of the heat is something much less inviting than a small fireplace. You sneak your way through to the door, keeping your senses sharp for any signs of ambushes. You weren't sure what these people were capable of but you couldn't keep your guard down when poisons were involved.

You open the door and a wave of sweltering heat washes over you. Even from the second floor you can see the bright light of flames coming up from the stairwell. You look around you. Whoever had shot the arrow like objects filled with poison had to be here. It was the only way the trajectory made sense. The only person you could even fathom of having a chance of making a ricochet shot in the dark and without any sound would be Xin Lan but you doubt that the payload would survive being bounced around like that to even reach it's target.

Step by step, you slowly make your way towards the open stairs and the light. With each foot, the heat grows and part of you wonders if this place was a furnace of sorts. A place where the dead are burned. That train of thoughts makes you wonder if the building itself was actually on fire. Could it be that they were attempting to get rid of the evidence and move to a new location?

Your thoughts are interrupted by the faintest creak and the sound of cloth moving. You look up to the source and see one of the masked men dropping down on top of you! Instinctively you sidestep and grab them out of the air but as you do so they have already readied their knife and have begun to bring it down upon your exposed forearm leaving you only a moment's notice to react.

>What do you do?
>Write in.

>>5547810
He expects us to block him down here.

Nothing stops us from going up with him.

>>5548020
Something does. We have an exposed arm, which if we don't stop, is going to posion us.

Our options are to let go, or counter attack.
First option is if we are pulling them down with the arm being attacked, then we can catch his arm with our other one. Roll with the guy's fall so that the knife doesn't come down on us due to inertia.

If it's going for the arm that isn't holding onto him, we should let go. Now. Quickly. Throw that man away from us and hop the hell out of the way.

>>5548093
I'll support this.
But maybe try to break his arm during or after the roll as well?
I hope that the guy that was making our new clothes survived and finished them. We could use some extra armoring.

>>5548121
If he did, he'd be with Ming and the others.

>>5548093
>>5548121
Speaking of Ming, you have to take care of this guy or you'll never see the other best girls again. Writing.

Your free hand snaps up to stop the incoming blade and before any other moves can be made, you bring your weight down upon your attacker and fall forwards. The two of you roll across the floor struggling for control of the weapon, knocking over a small table and a few hanging ornaments as the two of you crash into the wall. The masked attacker puts up a surprising amount of resistance but their movements feel desperate, each twist and pull threatens to break free from your grip and their strikes with their legs hurt but none of it feels planned or coordinated. Perhaps these members are accustomed to winning by surprise and guile. If so, being grabbed someone is something they're not trained for.

Eventually, you managed to twist their wrist to get enough leverage and pry the knife free from their grip. Though you have disarmed your opponent, the sounds of footsteps running towards your position leave no doubt that your struggle has alerted the other members you saw entering the building. The sounds of their approach seems to renew something in your trapped opponent as they start kicking at you once more. Somehow they managed to curl up enough to bring their legs in and slam their heels into your chest. The surprising amount of strength behind the attack, despite there being not much room to maneuver, drives some of the wind out of you and loosens your grip enough that they manage to slink away, their movements unnaturally fluid like those of the decoys you saw but you have no time to ponder such things as the heads of the other members peek through the stairs and soon after they reach the top, each one still bloody with their weapons drawn.

You hop back to your feet and all 6 of you stand there in silence, the heat bearing down upon you and the dim crackle of flames echoing upwards into the floor. None of you move as you all stand ready to react to whatever their opponent has attempted to do. It was a game of resolve and the first to break would lose. But what did that entail? Was it the first to move who broke or the one of hesitated long enough to allow their opponent to go first? Whatever it was, you had to plan your next action carefully. Both of you were unknowns to one another and just the slightest amount of information could be enough to tip the scales in the other's favor.

>What do you do?
>Go for the knife on the ground. A weapon would help even the odds at least in defense. Blocking with a dagger was leagues better than attempting to block with your bare hands.
>Try and take the first opponent hostage. They're not used to being grappled, having a shield would at least prevent them from attempting to throw things at you...at least that's the hope.
>Dive into one of the rooms. Perhaps there might be something you can cobble together to help. Or you could lock the door behind you to buy more time.
>Leap right at them. Try to go for a surprise maneuver and head downstairs. From there you can see if there's more room to fight in and at the very least you can see what is going on down there.
>Write in.

>>5551664
>Dive into one of the rooms. Perhaps there might be something you can cobble together to help. Or you could lock the door behind you to buy more time.
Maybe we could rip a door or use a table as a makeshift shield

>>5551664
>Use a table as a makeshift shield

They're agile and swift. First is get a shield, the second is use the legs and post for range over their knives.

With range and the confined space, they can't dodge as well or surround us. Use this and crush them, Bring em down.

>>5551804
>>5552412
I'll take the table suggestion. Writing.

Tension rises between the six of you as you all wait for the other to strike. You study them all and attempt to figure out any weak points but they had not displayed enough movement and technique to be able to discern one. Perhaps Xin Lan would know but it was far past the time to go and find them. Grappling was out of the question as in such close quarters the others would descend upon you and you would surely be struck down.

Time seems to stretch thin and you begin to lose yourself in the moment. Everything around you fades away until there is nothing left in your vision but the 5 other masked gang members until a loud snapping noise echoes from the floor below. The flow of time comes rushing back to normal as everyone leaps into action, hoping to use the sudden noise as a distraction. You push past the disarmed man and shove him as hard as you can into one of the nearby rooms as you dive for the fallen table. The man is sent flying from your raw strength and crashing into then through one of the doors near you.

Raising the table above you, you deflect several attempted stabs at you as the blades bounce off the top. You grab the legs and push them away using the table as a kind of battering ram while grabbing it by the legs for length. Despite this, you keep the table close to you and make sure that your swings leave no gaps for your opponents to slip by. This is easier said than done however as even though the cramped quarters give you the advantage in denying your foes maneuverability they still somehow manage to slip around your attacks. When striking one, the others slip away and attempt to close the gap which you respond by turning the table sideways and pushing them back. It was as if you were fending off a torrent of water. Though you strike the stream, the rest of the water will flow along with your strike. Each time, you feel their weapons strike against your shield but all that is left are nicks and chips that do nothing to wear down the integrity of the table.

Even so, you note that your opponents' tactics are...rudimentary. Their speed and precision is far above the average trained fighter and yet they can seem to do nothing but attempt to swarm you. Could they have really only relied on trickery to win? Something felt off about the whole situation but for now you could do nothing. After yet another time of ramming the table into them, you decide that enough is enough. It was time to take a proactive approach to this battle.

>What do you do?
>Use the table and your strength to send them flying out of the building. They maybe fast but you can still catch them and it seems their strength is nothing compared to yours.
>Break through the lines and force your way down stairs. It's clear there is something of importance down there.
>Try and keep on conscious while you knock the others out. It's time to start asking questions.
>Write in.

>>5553915
They're probably taking enhancers. It means that we can possibly use their inexperience against them... but how...

>>5553915
>Break through the lines and force your way down stairs. It's clear there is something of importance down there.
>Try and keep on conscious while you knock the others out. It's time to start asking questions.

>>5553915
Probably enhancers with no further training, they've been incredibly silent so far but still evidently able to communicate emotion, so not brainwashed into mindlessness with drugs.

I'll vote for
>Try and keep one consious.

And I've a method to do it too. If we pushed against the knife strikess that come next, we can try to dislodge their grip on the knives or stick the knifes into the wood which will keep them stuck. A swing with the table will then disarm them, and leave us with three people without probably poisioned knives.

>>5555661
>>5554129
Knocking people out. Writing.

You raise the table once more to deflect another blade and hear the familiar 'thunk' of something being embedded in wood. Acting fast, you wrench the table upwards to rip the weapon out of the gang member's hands. Banking on your brief experience wrestling the knife out of one of their hands, you raise table even higher and your suspicions hold true. Your attacker's grip is strong enough that they are lifted slightly off of the along with their weapon. Moving fast, you step forward and kick straight up, your leg snapping forward into a perfect split. Despite their unnatural speed and grace, it seems like they were not trained enough to be able to move in mid air. You strike across the chin, the head snaps to the side, and they are flung back into a wall before falling to the ground in a heap.

You fall to the ground in the same split and wave the table side to side and deflect the incoming attacks before rolling out of the way. Given the traps and ambushes planned by the group, you're certain that the same trick won't work twice but you had far far more than just tricks up your sleeve. You had decades and decades of talent and experience to leverage against their raw power. Another volley of attacks come at you which you easily deflect. The 4 others' attacks are now slower, hampered by the slightest hesitation which allows you to press forward. You still don't attack but rather force them to attack you. To the inexperienced the only choices were obvious, either they killed you or you got close enough to kill them. There was no alternative and thus they attack as you approach. The first goes down just as quick as you parry the swing by smashing the edge of the table against the arm and forcing them into a spin. You quickly take the opening and chop them across the neck just as another attempts to stab you in the back.

You roll the table behind you to stop the blade and back up as hard and quick as you can into a nearby wall. You can hear the audible gasp for breath as the wind is knocked out of them before you quickly spin around and smash their head against the wall to finish the deed. The remaining three hesitate but you give them no chance to regroup. You hurl the table at another and it shatters from the sheer force of the blow but you know the fear will keep the others off balance and in place. The target crumples and you pounce on one of the remaining two and knock their weapon away. Your almost instantaneous approach snaps the other out of their stupor and they begin to flee towards the window before throwing themselves out of it.

>What do you do?
>Let them go. You already have someone captive and one is all you need.
>Go after the one that is trying to escape. They might try to alert the others of your presence.
>Try and knock them out from a distance. You're no Xin Lan but you're certain you can do it with a bit of debris. It's possible that someone might come across the body and be alerted but it's less likely than if you allow them to escape.
>Write in.

>>5557839
>Go after the one that is trying to escape. They might try to alert the others of your presence.

>>5557839
>Knock em out with debris.

>>5558061
>>5558098
Got a tie. Anyone want to roll for it?

>>5558683
I'll change to flying brick to end the tie

You briskly walk to the window and reach out to casually tear out of plank of wood from the nearby wall. Taking a moment to judge the trajectory, you hurl the wood right at the back of the fleeing man's head. The plank flies fast and true as it strikes right at the bottom of the man's head. A quiet and somewhat hollow 'thunk' rings out as the man falls sprawled on the floor. You wait a moment to gauge the surroundings anticipating more people to come running but it seem likes for now everything is isolated though you don't know when people will start noticing a group not reporting in. The sound of movement pulls your attention back to the remaining gang member.

They begin to scramble, crawling backwards and digging around their clothing in a panic as you begin to approach. They hurl a vial at you but you simply catch it and dig a claw into the wall. Whittling out a crude stopper you plug the vial back up and drop it uselessly on the ground. Another flask comes flying at you but at the speed your hand comes up to catch it, one would think you had read their mind and anticipated the attack. You repeat the motions, catch, cork, drop over and over until there is a trail of vials and flasks and the gang member seems to have run out of ammunition. "We have a few things to discuss." You say quietly. Unsurprisingly the gang member continues to try and crawl away but their back soon meets the wall and they begin to frantically feel behind themselves in the vain hope that they might find an exit.

You lean down and grab them by the neck of their clothes as you lift them up so the two of you are face to face. "Where is your leader?" You ask calmly. The gang member only struggles to escape and doesn't respond. "What are you doing here? Where are the herbs you stole?" Again no response. You adopt a somewhat bored expression. "There is no escape. No matter what you do, I will get the answers I seek. It'd be a lot better for you if you start talking now before I lose my patience. Unless you think your mask can hide you." You say and reach for their mask. You extend your claws and dig them into the mask. It's made of surprisingly robust material as it takes a bit more effort to dig your claws in and slowly drag them down to leave deep furrows in the mask. You come down half way before pulling it off and revealing the tear streaked face of a young cat no older than Ming. Her pupils are so dilated that they look like two large holes in her face but the look of terror is no less apparent. Finally, the young woman makes a noise as she hyperventilates and flails even harder in panic. So much so that you worry she might end up hurting herself in doing so. Judging by her size and weight, you don't think a physique like hers can handle such strain.

In her struggling she also knocks off her hood revealing her ears which are stuffed and blocked by some material. It's no wonder she wasn't responding she probably couldn't hear you. You opt to grab the girl by the shoulders to prevent her from hurting herself. It was a bit obvious that she was either new to all this or unaccustomed facing an insurmountable enemy. You're unsure if she would be willing to speak with you even if she could hear you.

>What do you do?
>Pull the stuff from her ears. If she can hear you then you might just be able to scare her enough into talking or at least convincing that she really has no other choice.
>Knock her out and explore the rest of the building. She's of no use to you like this.
>Restrain her and the other gang members. You can take them back to the guard house for interrogation. Perhaps Xin or Tigress can convince them to talk.
>Write in.

>>5559997
>Pull the stuff from her ears

>>5560020
as a note, do it gently rather than yank it out.

I doubt it's connected to the eardrum, but it could be and I don't want to inflict that terrible injury on anyone.

>>5559997
>>Knock her out and explore the rest of the building. She's of no use to you like this.
>>Restrain her and the other gang members. You can take them back to the guard house for interrogation. Perhaps Xin or Tigress can convince them to talk.
Knock them out, restrain them and then look at the building.
When we are done, we can bring them to the guard house

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>5560111
>>5560020
I'll see if I can remember how to work the dice commands.

You study the ear pieces curiously. You had never really seen anything like that before. You were accustomed to seeing people cover their ears during the colder months but those were mostly people with little to no fur to protect them from the cold and certainly not any cat. Given that they were plugged into the girl's ear it was likely that they were meant to block out sound. You readjust your grip on the girl to free up one hand and reach out to pull the plugs free. They come out rather easily, only inserted enough to stay put. "There," You begin, "Are you willing to talk?"

The girl visibly stiffens and though you didn't think it was possible her eyes widen even more before she covers her ears and screams. She twists and writhes even harder causing her clothes' collar to tear in your grip. Even as she hits the ground she screams and twists violently digging her claws into her head which seems to cause her even more pain and thus scream even more which repeats the cycle. You pin her down and hold her in place but she continues to scream and soon her voice goes out as her throat cannot handle screaming that loudly. You do your best to try and put the plugs back but even as you do so she continues to try to scream in low raspy breathes. Somehow you manage to put the plugs back in and the girl stops writhing around. She curls up into a ball and lays motionless trembling and lost in her own misery.

You stand there dumbfounded. What had just happened? Some kind of poison? Mental breakdown? Were the ear pieces some kind of comfort item? You're not entirely sure but you do know that this isn't normal. People don't simply begin to do things that would hurt themselves like this. The body naturally limits itself to prevent self harm when doing anything. Exercise, work, even dangerous situations require extreme circumstances before the body allows itself to go beyond its limits to dangerous levels especially when it comes to those without obvious training. You hesitate for a moment before gently placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. You were merciless to those who were willing to take a life but you weren't heartless to those who were clearly defenseless. "I'm sorry." You say. "Whatever I did. I'm sorry."

Unsurprisingly, the girl does not respond to your touch or even to what you say and you find yourself averting your eyes in response. You could see too much of Xin Lan in the girl in that state and you sigh. In war there's always victims and sometimes it's hard to realize that not every combatant is a rugged veteran warrior. You don't know why this girl was with the masked gang but you can only hope, if only a selfish hope, that she had joined willingly and knowing the consequences. You tear strips of cloth from one of the other fallen gang members and use them to bind the girl's arms and legs. She gasps and cries as she struggles weakly but you needed to make sure she didn't hurt herself with this strange strength she possessed.

>What do you do now?
>Continue exploring.
>Examine the other bodies. Perhaps they have similar ear pieces.
>Leave and send the guard to examine this place. You've had enough of this and there are other parts of the city to defend.
>Write in.

>>5560975
>Examine the other bodies. Perhaps they have similar ear pieces.

>>5560975
Right, so theory time. The ear pieces are to dampen sound but she can hear us fine. they have hypertuned their bodies by means of alchemical concoction. Their sight is better, hearing enhanced, balance perfect. . . but they don't train it, since their default state is just good enough to compensate.

>Examine the other bodies, their eyes and dilation.
>Then continue to explore, look for their leader.

I know the plan was to drag them back to the guard, buuut

Pushing down the gnawing guilt, you walk over to the other unconscious gang members. You were curious as to whether or not the others had similar ear pieces. You remove the mask and pull back the hood of each and every one of the remaining gang member and find that they all had similar ear pieces each one made to fit snugly in the wearer's ear. You rummage through each of their clothes for any other objects that might be of use but come up with nothing other than a myriad of vials and other assorted containers with mysterious liquids. Perhaps Xin Lan could discern what it was but you couldn't very well carry it all to them and there was nothing that you could use to pick which of them was the most important ones.

Standing back up, you decide that if you couldn't find any information on the bodies then perhaps it was time to continue your search throughout the house. You make your way down stairs and your suddenly reminded of the intense heat as a wave of hot air blows over you. If the floor above felt hot and oppressive then the ground floor was like a furnace and for a moment you nearly believed it was as all your eyes could see before focusing was nothing but fire and intense light. As your vision adjusts to the sudden brightness you see pots, cauldrons, kettles, anything that could be used to contain a liquid to boil all arranged before you over several fires of varying sizes. The sounds of bubbling, sizzling, and popping fill your ears as try to make sense of this chaotic assortment of cookingware. Whatever furniture was in on this floor had been smash or otherwise removed to make room for the bonfires and whatever else this gang deemed necessary. You could even see various remnants of furniture within the flames themselves. Pulling yourself away from the flames, you can see dozens if not hundreds of herbs being hung near the fires in an attempt to get them to dry faster while others lay half used in makeshift mortars and pestles. It wasn't too hard to piece that what was in the containers would be some kind of brew or potion. More than likely it was poison of some sort but even at a glance all you can see within them was some kind of clear liquid. If the poisons were to be of a different color then it would be that such a transformation would take place once the concoction was finished and not while it brewed.

Your foot catches on something as you explore and you can see the bodies of dead Flying Dragon members all piled up like refuse. You check their pulses just in case one of them could be the living one that was dragged in here but you find none. Still, the number of bodies you see does not match the number of fighters so it must mean that the remaining one must still be alive. You hope that your scuffle had interrupted whatever execution they had planned for him. If so then he must still be in this building but still paralyzed.

>What do you do?
>Tip over everything here. Whatever is being made cannot be allowed to be completed. The herbs are most likely useless now that they have been prepared to be used as poison.
>Grab a few vials worth of whatever is brewing to take with you. You can't risk simply pouring everything out. Doing so could damage the land or cause some kind of reaction. Last thing you need is creating a poison cloud or something worse because you decided to be reckless.
> Search the other buildings. More than likely you'll find the same thing but it's best you take out as many gang members as you can to limit the amount of poison makers available.
>Write in.

>>5562038
>> Search the other buildings. More than likely you'll find the same thing but it's best you take out as many gang members as you can to limit the amount of poison makers available.

Might as well leave the evidence intact.

>>5562038
>Grab a few vials worth of whatever is brewing to take with you. You can't risk simply pouring everything out. Doing so could damage the land or cause some kind of reaction. Last thing you need is creating a poison cloud or something worse because you decided to be reckless.
> Search the other buildings. More than likely you'll find the same thing but it's best you take out as many gang members as you can to limit the amount of poison makers available.
I miss Ming and her gigabrain

>>5562038
>Put out the flames with our air push
Then support this >>5562119

Resources likely worthless now, so all that's left is to remove masks.

>>5562176
I'll support putting the fires out.
The vials are so we can see if any alchemists could take a look.

>>5562119
>>5562195
>>5562176
I too miss Ming's gigabrain. But is her super genius worth putting her through a possible war? Either way, I find it amusing how much use we're getting out of a single scene from the first time. It wasn't even Tai Lung who put out fires with air and yet it's kind of become a signature move of his. Takes after his old man after all.

With a sudden thrust of your arm you extinguish the flame and plunge the whole house into sudden darkness. You take a moment for your eyes to adjust before you set about looking for a vial or flask to carry some of the liquid with you though such a task does not take long. Choosing from the biggest batch, you gingerly dip the container in and cork it. You didn't know if whatever this was would be absorbed through your skin and you couldn't risk being poisoned for the rest of the night. Once you got your sample, you make your way through the building and slip out the front door while keeping an eye out for any ambushes. Surely by now someone would have noticed the unconscious man outside. The body remained undisturbed but you keep the shadows and dash towards the nearest door before throwing it open and leaping in.

Just like in the previous building, you quickly find a similar room filled with flames and boiling liquids as well as a very startled gang member. Not wanting to engage in another group fight, you leap across the room over the roaring fires and drop kick the stunned man. Another thrust of your arms and the fires are all put out. Even so, you hurry up to the second floor to search for the person who assisted in the ambush only to find the floor empty. It would seem that those who shot the Flying Dragons were also responsible for creating the poisons the gang used. You wonder if only certain members were trained in poison making. If so then it would make containing the creation of the substances much easier. As you head out, you quickly grab another vial of the liquid in case each building was focusing on different things. The rest of the buildings follow suit, each one having a single gang member guarding it. As you exit the final building, you can't help but feel that you were missing something. You couldn't find any trace of their leader or even the rest of the gang. At most you saw around 12 or so gang members. Not remotely enough to take over a city but you weren't certain how many were lost in the fog of poison back at the Flying Dragon's hideout. More than likely they were out around the city attacking other gangs just as the remnants of the Flying Dragons were.

Still, you had managed to halt their production of poison or whatever they were making. If you could get someone over here to make sure that whatever was being made was properly disposed of then it would be a great blow to the gang. Any other shops would likely be empty or within another gang's territory giving you enough breathing room without having to worry about more poisons being made. With you, Tigress, and Xin Lan working the streets the city might just survive the night. You leap onto a nearby roof and return to the main street where the shops were. This area of the city was eerily silent and you partially hope that it's because the fighting was dying down around there areas. You anxiously look over towards the docks and hope that the pirates had realized that this city was not worth returning too after the loss of one of their ships. Hopefully it was the only one armed with those weapons but you couldn't be sure. You weren't even sure how they managed to get a hold of such things.

Getting back to the task at hand, you need to decide on what to tackle next. You could return to the guard station and inform them of the situation. Surely there would be an alchemist or two that could help you find out what you were carrying. On the other hand, you hadn't heard or seen Xin Lan in a while. Maybe you should look for him and the woman he took. Tigress had also been absent for a while. The mercenaries she would be facing sounded like dangerous enemies and you had learned that even someone like you could always use some help. Perhaps it would be best to go looking for her.

>Where do you go?
>Head to the station. You want to deal with the masked gang as soon as possible.
>Go back to the poisoned area and look for Xin. They might be able to help as well.
>Find Tigress. The investigation on the masked gang is at a standstill. Best you put another faction out of commission for certain before doing anything else.
>Go to another guard station. You're not sure if they made any headway in establishing communications between one another.
>Write in.

>>5564135
>Head to the station. You want to deal with the masked gang as soon as possible.
Got to make sure the poison is properly disposed of, and the guards may have professional detectives or alchemists that can connect the dots.
Then we
>Go to another guard station. You're not sure if they made any headway in establishing communications between one another.
Make sure the defenders are being picked one by one while we are on the attack

>>5564135
>>Head to the station. You want to deal with the masked gang as soon as possible.

Best we lock them up ASAP

>>5564135
>Head to the station

Poisions down, now all that's left is ruining the run of the gang leaders.
Flying dragons down, mask's poision halted, boys maybe mother maybe saved. Gotta smash some of the others.

>>5564323
>>5564343
>>5564395
heading back to the guard station. Writing.

The guard station seems to be even more crowded than it was before and even you think you might struggle to push through the mass of bodies. The fear in the air is palpable as you push your way through the crowd and even though you have made progress towards ending the threat in the city, people were still in danger and being run out of their homes. To them it must seem as if things are just as bad as before if not worse and your worry turns from the threat outside to the threat within. You know that at any moment the crowd might simply breakout into a riot of panic and fear.

You push your way to where the crowd seems thinnest as if such a thing was possible and as you do the voices directly around you seem to go quieter until you only hear hushed murmurs. Curiosity rising, you finally manage to break through and come to a small open area where people were surrounding. At it's center were two guards tending to a bloody Tigress.

"Stop. I'll be fine." Tigress insists as she attempts to pull away from one of the guards who was attempting to treat cuts all over her torso. "These are just superficial. You have much more important things to tend to."

"But Master Tigress, your arm." One of the guards begins.

"It's merely broken. I can tend to it myself." She says grabbing the splints from the guard's hands. "Like I said, I'll be fine. We have work to do." She repeats and motions the guards away though they initially hesitate.

"What happened?" You ask, breaking the silence. The people around you jump and the guards need to do a double take as if to make sure it's really you. It seemed that seeing the country's great hero wounded was more important than fearing the country's greatest criminal.

"Nothing-" Tigress begins.

"She was stupid." A voice says in monotone and you feel something heavy latch onto your back before diving under your shirt. You feel a pair of large ears poke out from the back of your collar to bat at the back of your head before you can catch a glimpse of Xin Lan's face peek out from under your shirt. "She went alone and got herself stuck. They had hostages. If I hadn't been around, she'd have died."

"The situation was under control." Tigress counters flatly and begins to roughly apply the splint to her swollen arm. Even in the dim light of distant torches, you can see that the fingers on the same arm are broken as well. You guess she must have blocked something blunt with her arm and given that there were hostages involved it was likely she was not in a position to do it properly. Even so, it spoke of the skill of the enemy as well to put that much force behind the blow. You kneel and grab the splints to apply them quietly slapping Tigress's hand away as Ming always did when she treated your group's wounds.

"It doesn't matter." You say quietly. "How did it turn out. Where are the hostages? The mercenaries?" Turning to the two guards you add, "If you have time to gawk then you have time to do your jobs. Xin, left pocket. Give them the vials." Xin Lan does as they're told and extracts the vials of liquid to give to the guards as you treat Tigress. "There is a faction who is brewing mass amounts of this. We need to know what this is and have it cleaned up properly. I can point out the location of their production are. I've cleared it out but we need to move quickly before anyone else decides to retake it and restart production." The guards take the vials and look at you dumbstruck. "Well?! What are you doing?! Get started on figuring out what that is!" You snap and the two guards come to attention. They instinctively salute before realizing their mistake and hurrying off through the crowd.

"The mercenaries have been taken care of." Xin Lan says as they cling to you from behind. "We brought them here to be held in custody. All the guards at the other station are dead."

"We moved the hostages to the bigger station on that side of the city. A contingent of guards have been moved to hold the smaller one. However now they're stretched even thinner." Tigress says while looking away as you tend to her wounds. She was disciplined enough to not wince or flinch from the pain as you reset her fingers and arm before bandaging them up but even her years of self control couldn't hide her increased heart rate as you worked.

"What about the woman Xin? Don't tell me you abandoned her."

"No. She'll probably live the rest of her life being unable to do strenuous activities without immediately becoming short of breath but she'll live. She's currently hiding in the cellar of a restaurant along with the other survivors of the poison. It has plenty of food and drink for them and there is a second set of doors to act as a barrier on the ground floor should any poison gas try and get through." They explain. "As long as we can take care of this soon then they'll be fine."

"What about the ones spreading the poison?" You ask.

"In various buildings, broken and harmless. They won't be waking up any time soon. The situation has been taken care of."

"Good." You say and finish tying the final knot on Tigress's sling. "We'll need to figure out what we're going to do next. With Tigress out-"

"I'm not out." Tigress growls and stands up. "I have 3 other limbs I can use."

"You're injured. That makes you a liability." Xin Lan says.

"As I recall, you all have fought with worse." Tigress replies. "I won't sit here and abide by your hypocrisy."

"You are not Tai Lung. Nor my brother." They say coldly. "Don't compare yourself to them." Tigress opens her mouth before closing it and simply glaring at Xin Lan.

"Enough. Set this aside for the road later. We need information before we act. Soon enough word is going to spread that we're putting the gangs out of commission. We need a plan before the remaining groups become desperate." You say as you stand up. "I don't care what we three have going on right now. The city takes priority and if I cannot trust either of you to rise above your grievances right now then I can't trust you to do it while we're up north. Like it or not, our lives will be in each other's hands and we as a group may be the only ones we can rely on in a strange country. I need you to function when it matters. If you have objections then I'll be leaving both of you here once this situation is over and going by myself. No? Good. Let's get to work."

>What do you do?
>Send Xin to help the guard work on the vials. They're an expert on poisons. As much as you want them by your side in battle, they might make a bigger difference here.
>Have Xin go out to scout and sabotage. Their stealth will be paramount if you want information and to slow down any plans going on outside.
>Tell Tigress to stay put. She's injured and like it or not that does make her liability. However she has her title and experience leading the Five she can use. An organized front is a powerful force to be reckoned with and her leadership can organize what little militia you have into something formidable.
>Send Tigress out to the other stations. Her arm is broken but she still has her speed. She can run Intel between stations and increase the flow of information around the city. Having the stations talking to each other means that the guard themselves can respond to situations better even if they're not being directly lead by her.
>Head out as a group. With the three of you, you can take down factions even faster than alone. Being proactive is better than sitting around reacting to attacks. If you can work fast enough then you can have the guards focus on protecting civilians rather than attempting to have them spread out and do everything at once. You'll need to return every so often to get more intel but it's a small price to pay.
>Write in.

>>5566478
>Xin, Scout and sabotage
>Tigress with us

Priority targetting, find us the next gang hideout. We'll smash em and Xin can move on to the next.

We need to hit the places where the guard is straining, to relieve the pressure.

>>5566478
>>Head out as a group. With the three of you, you can take down factions even faster than alone. Being proactive is better than sitting around reacting to attacks. If you can work fast enough then you can have the guards focus on protecting civilians rather than attempting to have them spread out and do everything at once. You'll need to return every so often to get more intel but it's a small price to pay.

>>5566568
Support
But maybe tell Xin to take a quick look at the poison before going off? They might have seem something similar before.

Also having Xin do the scouting and sabotage first, and them we move in, more or less make us be together.

>>5566568
>>5566597
>>5566598
So the plan is to have Xin scout ahead while you take care of other things? Or do you want to move as a group. Having Xin sabotage means they won't be with you as they're off trying to gather intel for you while hampering the gangs as you deal with other matters.

Going as a group, they can't really do that. They can certainly scout ahead but it will only be sort of once over rather than a fully detailed investigation. Something you and Tigress can certainly do but of course the bun is the master of stealth.

>>5567172
I was thinking of Xin scouting and sabotaging first, then we move in while they start on the next one

>>5566597
>>5566598
This is me.
But I'm ok with doing it us all together too

>>5567172
Uhhh then in this case, They do the scout ahead thing.

Hit before us, give us the scope and move on. Maybe weaken them up a bit

Sounds like we're moving as a group. I'll get to writing.

"Where's next big target?" You ask Xin Lan.

"It'd be the Jade Dragons." They reply without hesitation.

"More dragons?" You repeat and wait for an explanation.

"Dragons are popular." Xin Lan says with a shrug, a surprising amount of emotion given how they've been all night. "However, the story is much simpler than it seems. That being that the Jade Dragons and the Flying Dragons were once one and the same. Simply known as The Dragons, they were like any other gang until the leadership fell. After that in fighting and disputes lead to the group splitting off into two smaller gangs both which rose in prominence over the years until we are where we're at now. The two gangs never stopped holding a grudge but besides minor skirmishes outside their respective cities and on the roads during transports they never really pushed things too far. Now that they're both in one place, it seems that plans to take the other out are coming to fruition. There hasn't been much seen of the Jade Dragons yet but given that the news of their rivals being out of commission, they might just take the opportunity to take the city for themselves. Or they might use the vacuum to try and absorb the remnants of the Flying Dragons if not outright execute them on the spot. Either way, it's bad news."

"I'm guessing you know where they are?"

"I saw a few of them skulking to the north of the city. No doubt trying to stay close to the Flying Dragon's hunting grounds. Given how that went up in poison, I don't think they've decided to move their way in but they already probably know how that fight went down."

"We know where they are and what they want. I see no reason to continue this discussion." Tigress says. "Let us be on our way."

"We move when he says we move." Xin Lan says. Tigress glares, obviously unaccustomed to Xin Lan's unabashed defiance.

"Well then...shall we go?" She asks through gritted teeth as she bites back whatever comments she had on the matter.

"Xin go on ahead. We need you to scout the area. If they're plotting something then I trust you to know what to do." Xin Lan breaks their sotic gaze away from Tigress to look away from yours in shame. Without saying a word, they simply slip between two bystanders and seemingly vanishes from existence. "We'll catch up to them but it'll take them a bit to gather intel. In the meantime I have something I want to check out first." Tigress maintains her quiet but seems to be listening.

>What do you say?
>Say you want to check up on the people who got caught in the poison. You want to give them a safe passage to the guard station.
>Say that you want to personally escort whatever guards the station is willing to spare to clean up the masked gang's lab. You don't want to risk them getting attacked.
>Head to the northern guard station. Perhaps they might have some intel on the Jade Dragons. At the very least you can see how the people there are faring.
>Take Tigress and scout the northern part yourself. Take some time to clean up the streets there instead of searching for a hideout.
>Write in.

>>5568578
>>Say you want to check up on the people who got caught in the poison. You want to give them a safe passage to the guard station.

>>5568578
>Check on the people in the poison
Our duty to people.

>>5568578
>Say you want to check up on the people who got caught in the poison. You want to give them a safe passage to the guard station.
See if the kid is alright

>>5568648
>>5568641
>>5568616
We're gonna see the kid and the people who were caught in the poison. Writing.

>>5571061
Damn the thread reached page 11. Means it'll be archived soon. I'll have to make this into the next thread. On brighter news. Things have eased up on my life so I might be able to start posting more than once per day if things remain stable.