A Narrow Escape

Log Title: A Narrow Escape

Characters: General Hawk, Lifeline, Major Bludd, Snake-Eyes, Wisp

Location: Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Date: 17 July 2007

TP: Vanderpool TP

Summary: Major Bludd goes to Rotterdam, The Netherlands in pursuit of his quarry. Little does he know he has a welcoming party...

Dateline: Rotterdam. The place? St. Franciscus Hospital. It's late in the evening approaching the wee early morning hours, but the city is bustling due to the popular Rotterdam Jazz Festival going on. The trains and streets are bustling with people.

Within the hospital, a number of things are going on:

The Joes have a security detail set up for Eli Vanderpool, including two greenshirts guarding his private room at all times. His room is on the ninth floor of the hospital.

One Grace Riggall, unknown operative, has made her way into the hospital by ambushing a nurse on the back dock and stealing her uniform and keypass.

Two other unknown operatives, male, have posed as paramedics and have gained access to the hospital. These fellows were caught on the security cameras, however, and now the Joes are in pursuit of them as they head to the ninth floor.

A dark-haired man in khakis and a black leather jacket makes his way calmly toward St Franciscus Hospital. The crowds don't bother him in the least, in fact, they make it easier for him to blend in.

Snake-Eyes looks up as another floor marker goes by, the quick running barely fazing the Ninja. As they near the 9th floor, he draws his knife and holds it in an underhand grip. Appearantly, his mother never told him not to run with sharp objects.

Wisp keeps quietly watching the security monitor, frowning at it idly and watching for anytthing worse.

Up in the ninth floor room, Eli Vanderpool has cranked open his window -- much against the advice of the orderlies -- and *much* against the advice of Dr. Sonneman, he's enjoying an unfiltered cigarette. He keeps away from the open window, choosing instead to smoke in bed and read the Rotterdam Daily.

Lifeline, in the meanwhile, is running up flights of stairs at a feverish pace. Once they arrive on the ninth floor, he bursts out into the hallway, and begins sprinting down toward the elevator.

From Wisp's vantage point, Lifeline and Snake-Eyes have managed to beat the elevator up to the ninth floor.

Meanwhile, on the ground floor, Grace Riggall confiscates a copy of the patient roster from the head nurses' desk, and begins looking over it quickly.

The man in the leather jacket comes through the front doors of the hospital and walks up to the front desk to inquire about a particular patient.

Snake-Eyes sprints down the hallway toward the elevator, grabbing Life with his free hand and spinning him around, ~Get to the Subject, i will hold them off.~ With that, he draws his sword and finishes the run toward the elevator, finding cover behind a soda machine.

Off Lifeline goes, and there's no doubt he'll reach Vanderpool's room in moments.

The elevator comes creeping up...7...8...a soft *ding* announces its appearence on the ninth floor, and the doors open, revealing two men in orderlies' scrubs. They step out, and begin a very slow, casual walk to the head nurse's desk. As they pass, Snake-Eyes can tell they're both packing heat.

Wisp keeps watching the monitors, frowning slightly and peering as the orderlies head onto the floor. She checks the monitor for anyone else as well, watching all the monitors, trying not to miss anything.

On the first floor, all is going well for the nurse-who's-not-a-nurse, Grace Riggall. She's managed to bypass security, and through studying the patient roster at the nurses' station, she's discovered where Vanderpool is being held. All's well so far...

"Nurse, could you please tidy the lobby area?" a hospital administrator suddenly speaks up toward Grace, who stiffens in surprise then nods her head. "Oh! -- Yessir," she says as she steps into the main lobby area to straighten things out. *That* was a close one!

General Hawk stands off to one side in Vanderpool's hospital room, one eye on the door and the other on Vanderpool himself, as he monitors his radio to keep tabs on the operation in progress.

Vanderpool, like the scoundrel he is, is smoking an unfiltered cigarette and reading a newspaper, not paying Hawk any mind. The window is cranked open, but it doesn't provide much ventilation. Vanderpool's found a way to disable the smoke alarm in the room by tampering with it.

Snake-Eyes flicks his index finger and the word, "Contact" flows out of Joe radios. With that, the Ninja steps out from behind the Coke machine, takes a few steps into the hallway and taps the flat of the sword against a metal doorframe making a *PING*ing sound as the sword resounds though the hallway. He holds his Sword in his right hand, blade up, and his knife in his off hand, blade down, within striking range of the two men.

The man in the leather jacket notices the startled reaction of the head nurse. He sidles away from the desk toward her.

General Hawk frowns slightly at the swirling smoke in the room, but he's not about to let it drive him off. In fact he's have tempted to fill a cup from the sink and douse the sucker right there... so tempting. As Snake-Eyes transmission comes across, he grabs his mike. "Acknowledged."

Wisp keeps watching the monitor. She peers at the lobby scene, at the startled nurse and man, waiting to report until she sees more.

The two 'orderlies-who-are-not-orderlies' slowly turn at the sound of the ping, and their eyes widen. Both men instinctively reach for their guns.

Back in Vanderpool's room, Lifeline quickly enters. "We have company," he murmurs to Hawk quietly. He glances over at Vanderpool with a sickened expression -- cigarettes REALLY offend him.

Back down in the lobby, the 'head nurse', Grace, is putting on her best 'nurse' demeanor as she finishes the task given to her by the hospital administrator. As Bludd approaches her, she speaks up. "Can I help you, sir?" A British accent, not Dutch. Not unheard of in Western Europe, but not entirely common in Holland.

"Yes," Bludd replies with a friendly smile, "I'm told a Mr Eli Vanderpool is here for a procedure. Can you tell me where I might find him?"

"Oh, please forgive me, sir, but I'm not allowed to give out that information," Grace tells Bludd with her most polite demeanor. "Not unless you're immediate family, and then I would need to see proof." She seems genuinely apologetic. Or would that be nerves?

Snake-Eyes doesn't waste a moment. As soon as their hands move for their weapons, the Ninja strikes. The tip of the longer sword moves up quickly and he lunges foward, the attack will, if successful, pin the mans arm to his chest, with the blade of the sword sticking out the back of the man, similar to the way a sandwich is held together with a toothpick. The other man might not be as lucky. If the first attack is successful, the ninja twists in to get into Knife range and would slash the blade across the throat of the second man, so quick it would just be a black blur. If successful, the second man would be lucky if he still has a head attached to his body.

Wisp reaches for her radio switch, still watching and listening at the lobby, just waiting to hear more of the lobby incident. She clicks the switch anyway, to let Lifeline nad Hawk know. "Got someone downstairs asking about him. Being told to offer proof of family member status by nurse."

General Hawk clicks on his radio. "Acknowledged... our man suddenly appears to have acquired more fame than we realized. Try to identify if possible."

The two 'orderlies' who were reaching for their guns find themselves in for a shocking surprise. One finds himself literally skewered. The other one finds his point of view rapidly changing as his head separates from his body and goes tumbling to the ground. Thankfully for the second, the horror of realizing he's just died never gets to sink in.

"Bloody hell," whispers the second one. "I need backup..." He's babbling now, in abject terror over bleeding to death. "Send bloody backup for god's sake..." He may have a functioning radio.

As Hawk speaks into his radio, Vanderpool glances over at him with mild interest, before returning to the business section of the paper.

Snake-Eyes does one of his patented, silent sighs and spins, punching the speaking, living, orderly square in the mouth. His head snaps back and his eyes roll back into his head. With that, Snake slips the knife back into it's sheath and radios, "Subjects neutralized. Need Medic. ASAP. Need cleaners."

Various visions of the possible ways to mutilate a human body go through Hawk's mind at Snake-Eyes' report. "Get identification if possible, Snake-Eyes. We'll arrange for cleanup ASAP."

Lifeline takes a few breaths, trying to feel a little bit calmer about the situation, but for some reason, he can't. He's got a bad feeling he just can't shake. "Mr. Vanderpool, it's against the law to smoke in a hospital room," he says sternly.

"I don't give a rat's ass, shove it up your bum," Vanderpool tells Lifeline in a quiet, polite tone, as if putting in an order for room service.

The two orderlies are down for the count, sprawled across the floor like meat on a platter. One candy striper-type teenager sees the decaptiated body, and she begins to scream hysterically. Her screams echo down the hall as the nurses pull her away.

Snake-Eyes glances up at the screaming girl as the props the unconscious orderly up on his sword. The bleeding would be worse if he pulled the blade out, and radios again, "Medic. ASAP." While waiting, Snake does a quick search of the bodies for identification.

Bludd leans in, speaking in a very low tone. "I'm here on behalf of the Australian government," he says, fishing in his jacket pocket for an ID wallet. "I need to speak to Mr Vanderpool straight away." He discreetly flips the wallet open in his palm, tilting it so the nurse can see it. It holds a very official-looking badge bearing the emblem of the Australian Federal Police, along with a photo which matches Bludd's current appearance. "I'd like to keep this discreet, if you please."

General Hawk looks to Lifeline as he goes to the sink, filling a disposable cup with water and with a flick of the wrist, tosses it towards Vanderpool's lit cigarette, dousing it completely. "No smoking means no smoking." he says, then looks to Lifeline. "Go check on Snake-Eyes, I'll keep an eye on him."

Wisp hmms a little and peers at the monitor, clicking her radio again. "Claiming to be Australian Police, from the looks..." She gets an image, and sends it towards Snake-Eyes as well, along with anyone else she can. "Anyone know why Australia might want him?" Snake-Eyes takes a moment break in his search to message to Wisp, "Cross referance picture against INTERPOL." Then goes back to the wallet search.

The medics come to clean up what's left of the one orderly, and place the other on a gurney to shuttle him down to the OR, STAT.

Snake-Eyes is able to get two ID badges from the men. The living one is Simon Etheridge of Leeds, UK, Interpol Agent. The dead one is Samuel Oppenheimer, Munich, Germany, also an Interpol Agent.

Eli Vanderpool hmphs as Hawk douses his cigarette, but he scowls and continues to read the paper. Lifeline nods to Hawk's order. "Yes sir," he says, exiting Vanderpool's room.

Back on the ground floor, Grace's eyes widen. Australian Government? What's this?? Who the hell is this guy? "I...see...well, if it's official, we'll have to go, then. If you'll follow me, please." She begins leading Bludd toward the elevators.

Wisp switches her radio back on. "Referencing now..."

Major Bludd follows the nurse's lead, quickly pocketing the ID wallet.

Snake-Eyes blinks when he finds the wallets. Well... shit. He whipes his blade on the shirt of one of the agents the heads down the hallway to the room. He knocks then enters, slipping the weapon back into the sheath. He closes and locks the door behind him and gestures for Hawk to come to him.

General Hawk spots Snake-Eyes as he enters, heading over to him. "What is it, Snake-Eyes?"

Snake-Eyes turns his back on the others in the room and hands the ID's to Hawk signing, ~That's who was in the hallway. They didn't identify themselves and came in under false pretenses, however...~ he lets his hand fall, what else is there to say, er, sign?

On the elevator, Grace glances at Bludd uncertainly. "That's a long way to travel," she says conversationally. Bludd's trained eye might notice that Riggall is carrying a revolver, partially concealed by her nurse's uniform.

Lifeline, in the meantime, sees that Snake-Eyes wants a private word with Hawk, so he assists the men in the hallway with the decapitation cleanup.

Wisp switches her radio back on. "The nurse and the australian cop are on their way up now. Still waiting on the Interpol cross-check..."

General Hawk takes the IDs and looks them over, frowning slightly. "Not sure how we're going to handle that one, but I agree, you didn't have much choice and they didn't identify themselves."

Bludd frowns at the nurse's comment, his eye indeed catching the fact she's packing heat. Curious, that. "Not at liberty to discuss it, ma'am," he mutters. He keeps his hands in his jacket pockets, his left brushing up against the M9 he's wearing in a shoulder holster through the fabric.

Snake-Eyes taps a finger against his ear at Wisp's comment. ~Worry about it later. Want to meet our new guests?~ He gestures into the room, ~I can babysit.~

In the meantime, Vanderpool moves to stand over by the window, apparently enjoying the jazz music floating up from the portside festival. He gazes down toward the street, nine stories below...

Back in the elevator, Grace leads the way out as the doors slide open. "Mr. Vanderpool should be right down this hall," she says -- and suddenly, the pair is stopped by a hospital administrator. "No one goes down there," he says with a frown.

"Sir, he's a police official," Grace points out. "From the Australian Government."

Wisp follows the camera and nods just a little bit, switching her radio on. "The new guests got stopped by hospital administration. Channeling it through to Snakes... Don't see anything more suspicious... outside of that. Orders?"

Bludd sighs and retrieves the AFP badge and ID again. He holds it up for the administrator. "Tryin' to keep this under our hats, y'understand," he says with an impatient frown.

Snake-Eyes closes the door behind the General and moves further into the room. The deaths have put him into a bit of a foul mood and he radios back to Wisp, "Keep us updated," is all that can be said as he takes a spot that allows him to watch the subject and the door while resting against the wall.

"Hmph, very well," says the administrator, after a cursory look over the badge. "We've just had an 'incident' here, so be careful," he says as the pair goes on their way.

Wisp clicks her radio and mutters. "if I could get out of this room, I could probably see better, the security camera image isn't great..." She plays with the zoom a little, trying to clear image and see who it is.

Vanderpool glances over at the ninja, then sighs and clasps his hands behind his back as he stands at the window. Soft jazz music and cheers can be heard from outside.

Grace heads toward the room, looking a bit impatient herself. Her hand slowly approaches her revolver. "This is it, 939," she tells Bludd mildly.

Wisp swears softly, clicking her radio to Hawk. "Identity confirmed. Our supposed Aussie is Bludd." She grabs her bag, and her radio, then. "The nurse isn't Interpol either, unknown identity. Bag in hand, awaiting order."

Major Bludd's head jerks toward the nurse as she reaches for her gun. He grabs her wrist and pulls her toward him. "Naughty girl," he murmurs. "What's a nurse need with a sidearm?"

Snake-Eyes blinks, silently curses, and signs to Lifeline, ~Get him the Hell out of here.~ The Ninja draws his Uzi and moves toward the door, resting beside it at a crouch, ~Cover, behind the beds. If a firefight starts, out the window to the fire escape.~

Grace gasps, her eyes wide with surprise. "You're no cop, are you??" she says. "Unhand me immediately. You're correct in that I'm no nurse...I'm with MI-5. I'm here to apprehend the criminal and bring him back to Britain for justice. He's embezzled millions of pounds."

"Acknowledged. Come on, Mr. Vanderpool..." Since there's no safe way out into the hallway, Lifeline lowers a rope out the open window and takes Vanderpool with him, presumably winching down to a lower floor to keep him safe in another room.

General Hawk keys his radio, "Introduce yourself to Bludd... detain him if at all possible."

Snake-Eyes radios to Wisp, "Package out the window. Meet on ground floor. Extraction plan delta." He pulls the loader back on his Uzi, chambering a round and radio's Hawk, "Package out window. Waiting for orders."

He releases her hand. "MI-5, eh? Well, we're after the same thing, ma'am." Bludd jerks his head toward the door. "Australia wants him for ... criminal activity." He puts on a slightly sheepish look. "Sorry 'bout manhandlin' ya," he mutters, stepping back from the door. "After you."

Wisp gets a nice, wide grin then, reaching into her bag and moving to get her rifle out from the bag. She swings into the hallway, moving up towards Bludd, pulling the weapon fully as she gets there. That's why the bag was so big. An XM-8 Assault Rifle.

"Hold it, Bludd..."

"Very well, I..."

Grace is about to open the door to Vanderpool's room, when along comes a very tiny woman carrying a HUGE gun. "...Wait, you're after Vanderpool, too??" she says in amazement, obviously misinterpreting the situation. She puts her hands in the air, just in case.

Lifeline gets to the bottom floor, and retrieves the winch. As he does, Vanderpool garrottes him from behind with a length of IV-tube. The struggle is a silent one -- Lifeline trying to dislodge Vanderpool, and Vanderpool choking him, trying to evade the medic's hands.

Snake-Eyes watches both of these events on his wireless connection to the CCTV system. The question... Help Wisp, or Help Lifeline. One or the other. And where the hell was General Hawk? The ninja feels a headache comming on. He radios to Lifeline, "Eyes. Go for eyes," hoping the choking man can still hear him.

Major Bludd looks in the direction Grace does. He chuckles at the sight of Wisp. "What's this?"

"Lieutenant Grace Riggall, madam, I'm with MI-5," Grace introduces herself to Wisp. "The man in that room has embezzled money from the British government. I've been sent here to apprehend him."

Wisp offers a very soft smirk at Bludd, peering at him very quickly. "Someone you should know, considering that you assaulted my friend for information to get here." Her finger is set on the trigger, essentially. She peers to Grace. "Too? There are more people after Vanderpool than this one? Who are you with?"

"Lieutenant Grace Riggall, madam, I'm with MI-5," Grace introduces herself to Wisp. "The man in that room has embezzled money from the British government. I've been sent here to apprehend him."

General Hawk steps out of the room right behind Bludd, his own weapon drawn. "We figured you would be along, Bludd. It was just a matter of time."

Snake-Eyes nods to himself, hearing the generals voice. With that, Snake holsters the Uzi and takes a run toward the window, radioing, "Heading to Subject," as he leaps out of the window, letting himself fall 4 floors, catching himself on a lip, falling another 3, catch, then falling the last 2 to the ground, landing in a crouch, looking around for the turncoat.

Down on the ground floor, Lifeline tries to subdue Vanderpool in a non-violent manner, and he manages to get out of the garrotte and pin him against the ground. "Sir, we're here to *protect* you," he insists. "Please don't make this --"

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't need any bloody protection -- especially not from *you*," Vanderpool sneers as he palms a shiv he made from one of the bed slats, and stabs Lifeline several times.

Snake-Eyes reaches the ground just in time to see Lifeline stabbed on the ground, and Vanderpool making his way into the street crowd.

Up on the ninth floor, Grace stares at Wisp, and then at Hawk's sudden appearence. "Bludd? Who is this, then?" she inquires. "And where is Vanderpool? And who are you??"

"US Army ma'am. Vanderpool is in our custody." Hawk says, unaware of what's happening below. He then looks to Bludd. "We had reliable information this individual would be coming for him, and we headed him off at the pass, as it were."

Major Bludd starts at the sound of Hawk's voice behind him. He turns and backs into the hallway to keep both Joe operatives in front of him. He grabs Grace's arms, pinning them behind her and pulling the agent in front of him, placing her between himself and the Joes. "Sorry, 'ma'am', nothin' personal," he says, backing down the hallway, where he hopes there's a stairway.

Grace squeals in surprise as the Major apprehends her, and her MI-5 badge falls out onto the floor, landing near Hawk's feet. The young British agent gazes toward Hawk in wide-eyed terror as Bludd uses her as a human shield to make his getaway.

It's not been a good day for the ninja. He's killed 2 interpol agents, and now the subject just stabbed his friend and is making a run for it. It's a shame that Snake never liked the guy, a shame for him, that is. Two shurikens appear in the ninja's hand. The next moment, they are flying toward the running criminal. The stars fly out and slam into the backs of the fleeing mans knees, locking the joints into place, tearing through tendon, ligament and muscle and embedding themselves in the mans kneecaps, from behind. Snake stalks over to his quarry, making a quick stop at Lifeline to see if he's alright, knowing that Vanderpool isn't going anyware for a long, long time.

General Hawk keys his radio, "Bludd has taken a hostage and is making to escape. Any available units, cover all exits, repeat, cover all exits." He motions for Wisp to try and find a way to get behind him. His weapon does not falter. "Just like you Bludd.. take the coward's way out. Let her go, and it'll go a lot easier on you."

Wisp moves towards anywhere she can find that might give her a spot to get behind, trying to to duck slightly and move around behind the nurse's desk, below desk height, hoping to circle around and come up from a direction she can get a clear shot from, without hitting a hostage.

Eli Vanderpool cries out in pain and anger as his knees are utterly destroyed, and he goes down in an unconscious heap, fainted from the pain. Some festival-goers strolling along stop and stare in horror; some begin screaming.

Lifeline coughs a few times, his neck bruised up from the fierce garrotting he received from Vanderpool. "Thanks," he says in a hoarse voice to Snake-Eyes. "I had him subdued but I didn't see the shiv in his hand." He manages to get up, but he's bleeding. "Let's get him inside..."

"Damn you, Hawk," Bludd grinds out. "You and yer li'l medic boy. I shoulda put 'im outta 'is misery when I had the chance." He picks up his pace somewhat, pulling the MI-5 agent along with him. "You surprise me," he says, shaking his head at the General, "protecting an international criminal with a special forces team."

Snake-Eyes moves over to the fallen man, Vanderpool, and flips him up on his shoulder, not caring for the damage already done and probably compounding it on the process. It will be a wonder if this man ever walks again without many surgeries and years of physical therapy. He moves back over to Lifeline and slips his arm under the mans shoulders and moves to get them both in the building quickly, not forgetting about Bludd.

Wisp keeps trying to slip around behind, swearing softly as she notices Bludd speeding up. She keeps moving though, trying to figure the hospital layout for another possible cutoff point.

General Hawk smirks slightly. "Protection from what amounts to a group of thugs, until he can be delivered to justice." Hawk says. "Not a surprise at all, you should have expected it. Now... let. her. go."

Grace Riggall continues to get pulled along by Bludd, and her calm reserve has been replaced by the terror of becoming a hostage. US Army? What did the US Army want with Vanderpool? And this Australian? The scope of Vanderpool's villany astounded her.

Lifeline leans against Snake-Eyes slightly, taking a few calming breaths. Once Vanderpool is on an examination table, Lifeline helps to tie him down with restraints. No way is Vanderpool going to try another escape, he's in no shape to anyhow!

"Not a chance," Bludd says, finally spying the door to a stairwell. "If you want to save this poor girl's life, you'll let me walk out of here with no further trouble." He bestows a sympathetic look on Grace. "Sorry, love. This night hasn't gone as planned for anybody, I think."

"*That's* putting it mildly," Grace replies, looking scared out of her mind.

General Hawk narrows his eyes, taking several steps forward to keep pace. "If you harm so much as a hair on that woman's head, there won't be enough of you to put on trial." Hawk says. "You're just digging yourself a deep hole, and it's going to collapse around you.."

Snake-Eyes flips through the CCTV cameras until he finds Bludd. He immediately runs for the stairwell, slamming the door open and bolting up the stairs. If only going up were as easy as comming down. He takes the stairs 3 at a time, making extreme time, though, it's unsure if he'll get to the 9th floor before Bludd gets to the door.

Lifeline remains on the ground floor. After restraining Vanderpool, he has to get his stab wounds tended to.

Major Bludd finally reaches the stairway door and backs into it, shoving it open and backing through it. He keeps Grace on Hawk's side of him, peering down the stairwell as he begins to descend it, tugging the woman along with him.

Grace complies readily with Bludd, backing down the stairs fearfully and trying very hard to keep a brave face about this situation. She spots Wisp, giving her a beseeching look as she disappears into the stairwell.

Snake-Eyes stops at the floor below as the heard the door above open. Being directly beneath Bludd, he's probably unseen, so he draws his knife, quietly, and moves out toward the descending Cobra. He holds the knife in his main hand, blade toward his elbow as he steps toward Bludd from behind, making himself visible to the Cobra after a few steps.

General Hawk curses under his breath following Bludd to the stairwell. He can't get a clear shot at him with Grace in front of him. "Give it up Bludd, you don't have anywhere to go."

Bludd swears quietly as he spies Snake-Eyes behind and below him on the stairs. He turns and puts his back against the stairwell wall, the woman held tightly in front of him. His angry stare flicks from the commando to the General and back.

General Hawk smirks slightly. "You're trapped, Bludd... no where to go. Let her go, and I promise you'll get a fair trial."

Snake-Eyes moves to the landing, pinning Bludd on the stairs between the 9th floor landing and sublanding connecting the stairs to the 8th floor. He has his body turned slightly, knife out front, what can't be seen is his other hand palming the Shuriken, waiting for an opening.

Wisp slips for the starway herself, frowning and returning the woman's look, sighing, trying to maneuver slightly, trying to think of how to get her own opening. She glances down towards Snakes, looking to the woman as well, to see if she can get them to respond just right, to give her a shot, watching.

With a grunt, Bludd shoves Grace at Snake-Eyes and runs that way, hoping to give the commando too much to do while he darts around him and escapes down the stairs.