<div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Mooks</div><div class="spoiler_body">Comment: Full defense<br/>Result: 4, 2, 1 +2 = 9<br/>Attack of 2 vs 12 is not even close.<br/>Defense of 9 vs Attack of 16 is one down Mook Squad.</div></div><br/>Diego doesn't even need to draw his pistol as the sudden gust of wind from his recovered use of his Thunderbird talent is enough to send the club-armed mooks tumbling down to street level (or, as the case may be, to any balconies and awnings between rooftop and cobblestones).  Getting a moment to catch his breath, as does Dominique, gives the pair a chance to reflect upon their briefing earlier in the evening.<br/><br/><em>Flashback!<br/><br/>The Admiral paces the deck behind his desk, arms clasped behind his back and his aged face in a grim mask of stoic courage.  This would be more impressive if it weren't his default expression for all occasions.<br/><br/>"Word has reached me that the Barathians are trying to get a prisoner out of the Tower of Smoke...someone their beloved Markiz wants alive and in one piece.  Apparently whoever this poor victim is, their pain and suffering is a personal matter for Markiz dy Lupini, and on general principles anything he desires, we ought to deny him."  He pauses, tries on a smile for size.  It doesn't suit him.  "To that end, there's a party I want you both to attend.  Our contact should be there, and from there you can go on your good-hearted rescue mission."<br/><br/>Cut to...<br/><br/>The party, of course, is one of those masquerades at which the costumes are but a flimsy excuse to pretend ignorance of other people's identities.  The drinks are watered, the refreshments cut-rate...the merchant house supporting this has fallen on hard times, but appearances must be kept up.  And the musicians should have practiced.<br/><br/>Things the Admiral left out of the briefing include, first, the general nature of your local contact.  It's hard to find someone when you don't know who you're looking for!  And second, the person of Princess Guntrode, who seems to have crashed the affair with her security detail.  Granted, it's amusing to see Viridese mercenaries pretending to be rakes in masks, but why she of all people is at this bush league affair is anyone's guess.<br/><br/></em>