Rise of Khan

[golden_master]

There is almost a week of time that passes, where hardly a clue to Khan's whereabouts is to be found, but crime is on the rise, and that in itself is reminiscent of events that have played out in the past for the Old Tiger. It seems the shifty mastermind is keeping almost uncharacteristically low after his challenge and the failed attempt on The

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[golden_master]

The ride is relatively smooth, likely due to the combination of precious, and living cargo hidden inside the truck. There doesn't seem to be any hurry to the pace of the drive, and it moves about various streets before finally reaching a garage. The street is dark, but the interior is well-lit. The truck comes to a gentle stop, while an attendant opens the gate. The garage butts up between two buildings, and the driver backs into a parking spot that quite literally puts the back of the truck to the wall. To all appearances, it would be impossible to move anything in or out.

The attendant who'd allowed the truck in walks over to the driver who is exiting the cab that now appears to only have one occupant. The driver is no one of note, he hardly looks like one of Khan's followers, and his thick Jersey accent places him as most likely one of Khan's incidental followers.

There are a few cars in the garage, but they are spaced widely apart at this hour. The houses on either side of the garage appear partially occupied, and all sides back into other buildings. There is only one front entrance, an the buildings are four stories high. Half-windows at sidewalk height add a basement level to the adjacent structures.

[evillurks]

The subtle changes in speed help him to anticipate their impending destination, but The Shadow hesitates to drop off too soon. His position at the rear of the truck prevents him from seeing where they're going, and peering around the side would run the risk of being visible to driver and passenger in the side mirrors. He tenses when they pause at the gate, listening to the attendant's movements, and crouches low to flatten himself against the baseboard of the truck, hoping to pass for a mere dark blot. The moment the attendant is busy closing the gate behind them he drops off, racing to the edge of the garage and a spot where the lighting from the interior casts darker shadows where the door frame cuts off the light. From here he can observe the layout, and strains his hearing to pick up any useful details.

[golden_master]

Once the attendant and driver walk off, the naljorpa appears from the opposite side of the truck. With the attendant sufficiently distracted, there was little need to use his highly prized skills when simply ducking out of sight would work. He slinks along the side of the truck, and upon reaching the wall, taps at the concrete gently with the hilt of his knife. The sound hardly carries at all, even in the vacant location. Turning, he crawls beneath the trailer, hiding in the deeper shadows and going perfectly still.

Meanwhile, there is the barely perceptible sound of movement from within the truck. It doesn't rock, but the shocks spring up gently, as a great load is been removed.

The loud sound of a car door shutting echoes, as a small vehicle starts up, and ferries away both attendant and driver. Their duties finished, they are leaving the garage.

[evillurks]

The Shadow observes from his spot at the doorway, and ducks back when attendant and driver move to leave. What he can't make out from his position is whether the naljorpa slipped away when the coffin was taken through the secret panel, or if he has remained under the truck as a guard.

Entering through the garage looks like folly, but he can make a good guess at which building the panel in the garage connects to. He'll wait for things to quiet down, and then it may be time to put his wall-climbing skills to work.

[golden_master]

The building to the right of the garage, as observed from the street, is the candidate for the extraction of the heavy payload.

Perhaps it is best The Shadow chooses not to enter by the garage. The naljorpa has slipped into his mindless state of near invisibility, and remains beneath the truck.

The face of the buildings here are mostly brick. The surface should provide ample toeholds for such a skilled climber. Without spaces between buildings, the choices include climbing the front of the building, or locating an alternate way up elsewhere down the street. The row-house style construction only breaks up four houses to either side of the garage, and the rooftops are fairly even. The opposite side of the street is much the same, with the garage replaced by yet another building.

[evillurks]

Even the Old Tiger has some trouble detecting a naljorpa in such a trance state, and he doesn't want to risk alerting anyone to his own presence. Instead he studies the walls, and the surrounding area for any hidden watchers. The course he chooses is the one that will keep him best hidden from any observers he may not have detected, but it is more or less straight up the wall. He uses no suction cups that might betray him by sound, and as he scales the brick wall he is again grateful for Metody Green's arthritis cure. His grip is powerful, and before long he's reached the windows at the fourth-floor level, and begins looking for access into the building.

[golden_master]

No watchers are noted, nor are there any that escape detection. He is unobserved as he scales the building. It will take a couple widows, but eventually there is one that has been left unlocked in a dark room. The sash is opened just enough to permit any potential breezes within, but there are no lights on in the apartment. The tenant is out.

Inside, spartan furnishings are barely lit by the sodium-colored lighting of the street. Should he look into the hallway, the building appears to be sliding into an early state of disrepair. It's not a particularly high end of town, but it's not the slums either. A few pathetic lights flicker along the walls of the hallway, casting weird shadows, and there are stairs at either end that lead to the rooftop, and to the first floor. Access to the basement is blocked by a locked door that looks like it has not been opened in quite some time. There is no elevator.

[evillurks]

As soon as he sees it is a building of ordinary tenants, he makes his way out of that first apartment (locking the door behind him), and downwards. Poor lighting only aids him in slipping along the halls and downstairs, and his lockpicks are handy to deal with the basement door. He listens there, first, prepared for the possibility that he may be walking into trouble. His work picking the lock is slightly slower than it might be, since he takes great care not to make any noise that might be heard from the other side.

[golden_master]

Nothing of note reaches his ears. Continuing down the basement stairs will bring him into a very average basement filled with dusty boxes and bric-a-brac that do little more than take up room. At first glance there is nothing notable about the basement, but the keen eyes of The Shadow note the wall against the garage is not right. The basement is significantly smaller than it should be, by almost five feet because of the displacement of the wall.

[evillurks]

After a few moments of inspection his mental calculator begins setting off a quiet alarm, and he paces the length of the wall that must conceal an extra room. Removing his gloves, he runs sensitive fingers across the surface and along the corners where it joins the other walls and the floor, and listens intently. It seems likely that there is some other entrance besides the one from the garage, and he means to find it.

[golden_master]

Interestingly, it is the floor that the sensitive probing notes first. It appears to be a dirt floor, but the wall continues beneath the dirt in a fashion that is not in keeping with the rest of the basement construction. In the next corner he inspects, there is a small break in the wall and a lifetime of spotting trick doors tells The Shadow that here is an entrance that swivels, the bottom skimming the dirt. Following the break in the wall with provide a door about three feet wide and five feet tall. More convenient for a naljorpa, but a door nevertheless.

Pressing at the top corners of the hidden entrance will cause the door to swing silently on well-maintained hinges, revealing a room that ends at the proper back wall of the building. Instead of a concrete wall, there is a solid door.

[evillurks]

The small size of the first hidden doorway makes him hesitate, scanning the room beyond very carefully for any threat before he squeezes himself through. The stooped posture he's forced into leaves him vulnerable for a moment. He examines the narrow room beyond, listening at the next door and probing for traps.

[golden_master]

Inspecting the wall against the garage shows the lesser-concealed side of another hidden door that is rigged like a draw bridge. The truck was certainly long enough to permit the swing of the door, and the coffin. The Shadow is essentially in the shipping dock of wherever the door at the end of the room leads, and the coffin is not in sight.

He will find that the door is locked. Upon opening it, a sight more familiar to Chinatown will greet him. A set of wooden stairs lead down into the grounds beneath the row houses. Heavy footsteps and creaking floors sound from below, as does the familiar sounds of Chinese being spoken. The source of the sounds are out of sight, but the stairs are walled, and carry voices up to The Shadow well from a wide bend at the bottom.

"Bring the coffin to the throne room." The statement is met with grunts of approval.

[evillurks]

Thus far he's kept his hands free, but now he takes the precaution of pulling one glove back on and readying an automatic. His other hand, bare and free beneath the cloak, is ready for picking locks or seeking out traps. Thus armed, he proceeds with extreme stealth down the stairs, listening intently for the men working below, and watching for any traps waiting to spring on the unwary follower. He waits at the bend in the hall to mark their movements by sound, and whatever light they may carry.

[golden_master]

There are no traps on the stairs, and the light dims as a dozen steps are tapped along the floor away from The Shadow. There are a number of struggling grunts from the bearers of the heavy coffin, before the sound of a door sliding shut, and the sound of a switch being thrown echo back to him. The sounds of a mechanical hum from either side of the walls in the next hallway tell of unseen mechanisms at work.

[evillurks]

He slips around the bend and pulls out a small flashlight, mindful of traps. That hum could just be the mechanism for the door, or it could be something far more ominous. This pursuit is a tricky one, as he has no wish to actually confront the men he's pursuing. To start one fight is to invite a spreading alarm, and Khan's followers are too numerous for him to take on alone. He inspects the door when he reaches it, checking to see if the switch is on this side of it.