Up from the Bottom, Wipe Those Tears and Pass the Ammo Options

[BlackHat]

FBI Safehouse
Friday 8/22/70 17:18:10
Smith - Face
PAN - Hidden

<<@Cerberus:: "Wavy. Thanks.">>

As the transmission began, Johnson quickly encrypted the connection before accepting the transfer. He then took another second to begin recording a new message to Fortunato as he eased his bike out of the garage. Before sending it through, he made sure to establish another encrypted connection with their already paranoid mage.

<<@Fortunato:: "All done here. If you want to catch up with us, we'll catch you up on the job.">>

[JDragon]

FBI Safe House
Friday 8/22/70 17:18:12
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden

Rocky had been surprised at the fact that Higgen's was going to be able to do anything for him. Even if he couldn't go back to his old life at least he would not be looking over his shoulder as often, and the plastic surgery would take it even further, assuming he ever got time to get it. The best part of the deal is it should get the heat off his parents so they could try to get back to a normal life and maybe he could get word to them that he was ok once the heat was off.

He loaded in to the van with Cerberus wondering exactly where they would end up to plan for the mission. The biggest thing for Rocky, was to make sure he didn't accidently kill someone on this run.

[Konsaki]

FBI Safe House
Friday 8/22/70 17:20:04
Caittie – Technomancer – Hidden
PAN – Kitoria McCree – Passive

Smiling, the girl quickly made her way to the beast of a cruiser. With a silent nod of thanks, she just as quickly strapped on the set out helmet and scarf, knowing that it would be rude to not use them after Sledge had just set them out for her. Finishing, Caittie scrambled onto the back of the bike as the brown haired ex-construction worker ignited the engine, sending a quick roar out.
Once the technomancer was safely mounted on the passenger pad, she balanced herself by putting her hands on Sledge’s waist. “I’m ready�, she sent over a private channel. She didn’t receive any real response from the woman in front of her, but the teenager could feel the ork take a deep breath before easily backing the bike out into the street.

The back tire slipped a split second as the engine was gunned again, combined with the popping of the larger females left hand off the clutch. Startled a bit, Caittie leaned forward a bit more and wrapped her arms a little farther around the ork. After a bit though, as Sledge expertly balanced the bike on the way down the street, weaving only slightly to avoid an opened car door, Caittie relaxed her grip. ‘Way different than riding with him’, she mused as she felt the larger engine rumble beneath her.

After a few blocks, the red head decided to finally ask what was on her mind. Taking a breath to organize it in the best way possible, she nodded to herself. Then, on the same private channel from before, she spoke her mind, “Are you ok? You seemed… upset… back there…�

[pragma]

Fortunato's Doss, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 17:20:10
Fortunato - Support Mage
PAN - Passive (Contacts, Earbuds, Smartlink)
Astrally Inactive

Fortunato had whiled away an hour of the afternoon making certain that he was not tailed and then had settled down on a park bench unsure of what to do. He looked at the fake hands staring back at him and felt moved by the spirit to try his disguise on a few unsuspecting passers by. He passed the time lying, skulking and tricking for the fun of it. It was a throwback to younger days. His CIA training had always been hasty and had rarely stuck, he had practiced like this before. The old exercises and tricks took him mind of the multinational conspiracy that had been closing its nets around him. He stopped seeing FBI spies lurking in the shadows conferring with CIA satellites lorded over by Jeffries.

He had worked his way back to his own apartment when Johnson's call brought his focus back to his teammates along with a sharp rise in his level of concern about being observed. Shutting the blinds and sealing the door he started to review the video. The meeting was brief, the agents professional and Cerberus was his usual tactful self. The thought of favors sent Greg's mind spinning. These two were privy to governmental information he could only dream of. He figured that he could have an excellent working relationship with the pair if they weren't out to get him (he imagined that there were a lot of investigations that would be easier with someone of his talents that was largely unaffiliated with them) ... a shame really. He contemplated talking to Lonestar with no middle man as he composed a reply:

<<@Johnson: I'm in, especially if you've got those spells realdy. We should meet someplace private. More private than last time -- We'll want to ditch the network and talk, very frankly, about doing some very incriminating things.

He though about his previous career.

I don't suppose you know anyone who's unaffiliated with our business and owns some kind of back room where we can be unobserved.>>

[BlackHat]

On the Road Again
Friday 8/22/70 17:21:30
Smith - Face
PAN - Hidden

<<@Fortunato:: "Meeting someone about those items in a few hours. If you want to meet up with us, you can give me the money up front (or come with me) and with luck you'll have what you need in time to put it to use. Sledge is calling the shots, for the time being, since she knows the place, and the people involved, I guess. I think we're en route to a meeting place, but she isn't exactly 'calling' any shots, yet. I'll let you know when we get where we're going - but you should probably head this way, anyway. Text her if you need to know the destination.">>

<<@Fortunato:: "Oh, and if you find out, let me know.">>

[DireRadiant]

Leaving FBI Safehouse
Friday 8/22/70 17:20:33
Sledge - Forewoman
PAN - Hidden

She'd been drifting, nowhere to go, except to just go. The question brought her back.

reken glok

Only the truth would do...

<<@Angel:: No...

Those feebs, they know me, know who I am. They know what happened. They know me.

The "good guys", who can give me back my life, give back your life, they're sending us dig up the dirt, unbury the mess. The mess they probably started, the mess everyone thinks I made. The mess that got my brother broken. The mess that got my cerri dead in my arms. The mess that snuffed some Stars. Damned if they knew why they were there. They're still roasted meat.

"Fidelity, Bravery, and Integrity." "Protect and Defend", those guys are sending a crew in, us, to go through the mess made by someone willing to drop an entire building to hide it.

It's all vut.

And you should not be in it.>>

Sledge flicked the ARO accelerator and sped through the intersection, then slowed through a glide into the slow lane to compose herself.

time to work...

<<@team:: Discussion time. Angel on comms. Everyone ok doing this talk without face to face?>>

[BlackHat]

On the Road Again
Friday 8/22/70 17:21:50
Smith - Face
PAN - Hidden

Johnson no sooner finished his message to Fortunato as he saw a waiting message from Sledge. He switched to that channel, so that updates would come in real-time audio, if available, and replied. <<@Team:: "That's fine by me. It sounds like we need to work fast, and keep moving.">>

[Abbandon]

On the Road Again
Friday 8/22/70 17:22:20
Cerberus - Street Samurai
PAN- Passive(Robert Nevall)

<<@team: "Ugh, are you guys fragging nuts?? I dont know about you guys but my commlink is like swiss cheese right now. Who cares if our comm's are protected by an angel, she couldnt detect someone listening in and recording us any more than I could! Now I have to ask myself why somebody would willingly want to do that over the comm and the only answer I can think of is to set one or all of us up. Maybe with these guys with offers to good to be true? No fragging way, pick a place to meet. >>

"Our leader is insane bro, god only knows what kind of wild shit we are in for. And is it me or does she not talk very much?" Cerberus looked at Rocky and considered if he might be in on this plot to set him up but this all seem to have started with Rocky and him so he quickly dismissed it. Still he rested a hand on the predator4 in his belt and made sure ammo count in his image link read full.

[BlackHat]

On the Road Again
Friday 8/22/70 17:22:30
Smith - Face
PAN - Hidden

Johnson stayed quiet. He was interested to see how Sledge handled the suggestion and, quite frankly, enjoyed being relieved of the responsibility of keeping everyone happy - even if it was only a temporary reassignment. Cerberus had a point. Johnson was no Angel, but if he wanted to listen in on a conversation like this, he was pretty sure he could. The question was, would anyone care about what they had to say? Johnson sort of enjoyed double-speaking about business, recently - but at the same time, if Sledge knew of a quiet place to talk, he wouldn't mind having all the facts laid out on the table, for a change.

[pragma]

Fortunato's Doss - Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 17:22:35
Fortunato - Utility Mage
PAN - Passive
Astrally Inactive

<<@Team: I've gotta agree with about half of what the big guy said on this one. I just don't know whether or not I'm compromised.>>

He hated admitting his lack of computer savvy to the others. He snorted and decided he'd have to fix that sometime ... later.

<<@Team: That said, if an Angel says I'm all clear I can do virtual.>>

He stirred the hissing soy mess on his camping stove. He really could have used cash for this run, he reflected.

[DireRadiant]

Leaving
Friday 8/22/70 17:20:40
Sledge - Forewoman
PAN - Hidden

The response chatter didn't affect her driving much, straight down the road in cruise, the bike was made for it. Normally she'd be simply enjoying the scenery, but right now she didn't know where she was. It didn't matter, there were things to do.

Sledge pulled the hog over to the side and slowed to a stop. She leaned to the left and twisted her head right and looked Angel in the eyes.

"Last chance to get out. You can walk, I'll cover for you. Find a life without this vut. I'll use my favor for you, get you started somewhere. Your choice today."

[JDragon]

On the Road
Friday 8/22/70 17:22:36
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden

Rocky looked over at Cerberus as he went off about them being set up, and just kinda nodded his head. At this point he figured if someone was going to set them up they would make sure the two of them never saw it coming and that it was done right. Anyone paying attention would know anything short of a one hundred and twenty percent effort or large amount of plastic explosive would not take the two of them out.

"Who the fuck knows man, but at this point we have a job that I want to get done. That favor the FBI's is offering could make my life a lot more wiz."

<<@Team: I have no idea if my line is secure, last I heard it was good. Live or comm is wiz for me.>>

[Konsaki]

On the Road
Friday 8/22/70 17:21:36
Caittie - Technomancer - Hidden
PAN - Kitoria McCree - Passive

"Just keep driving, Sledge.", the girl replied after a pause. "I've got my reasons to do this, more than just a favor from them. You guys salvaged my wreck of a life and I want to help you with yours, if you'll let me. If it keeps you from worrying, I'm not going to put myself in danger. I'm just going to hang around the area to keep an eye out for you guys until you need my help specificly."

[DireRadiant]

Moving Along
Friday 8/22/70 17:22:50
Sledge - Forewoman
PAN - Hidden

"Djoto Glok!"

The ork woman bared her teeth and tusks wide and snorted a loud "Ha!' as she faced forward and with a twist of her wrist started the hog rolling again. A twist and turn in a quick S curve and they were moving with the flow again.

"Ha!" she snorted again. Shaking her head disbelievingly and baring her tusks in a mad grin, she concentrated on her work.

<<@team:: Angel will be checking out the comms and encryption scheme, once she gives the ok we can discuss details on channel.

@Angel:: And check the the security on our cyberware too. Especially on that damned trog. Granted you access to my comm.

@team:: You want out big dog, you get out now.

Before we get into details, some basic tips to fill the air time. Not an expert, but here still, seen both sides. Nothing secure, ever. What is done is make it harder for anyone to mess you up. They like having everyone in one place for pickup, cheaper, easier to send one group to pick up, then one for each. Systems and procedures are designed to flag and catch the stupids. They know who you know or place you like, they watch and send the wagon when you show up. They wait a long time, waste of money, so they stop after while. First time you do anything, freebie, second time, you get countered. Always change what you do, where you go, what you look like, keep you a step ahead. You can go old stuff again, but different way if you need. They never forget you, so even after along time, need to be different.>>

Sledge paused and flicked a quick look behind at her passenger.

Angels are the Lord's Host. The heavenly host of war.

"Ha!" she snorted.

[BlackHat]

On the Road Again
Friday 8/22/70 17:23:00
Smith - Face
PAN - Hidden

Overall, Johnson was impressed by Sledge's sudden take-charge attitude, but her seeming nonchalance to letting Cerberus walk away over a misunderstanding worried him. He quickly put together a carefully worded message that he hoped would help put him at ease.

<<@Cerberus:: "Take a deep breath, big guy. Sledge isn't setting us up - she was more afraid of the feds than we were. You're probably right, though, your commlink is insecure. Try turning your signal strength to minimum, and forward your messages through the Love Machine. Whoever put that thing together knew what they were doing, and it is going to be a heck of a lot more secure than your commlink. Rocky too, probably. Ask Angel to set it up for you, if you need it. Oh, and just make sure you don't say anything that you wouldn't say if you thought someone might be listening in - we haven't really talked about doing anything wrong, yet, and the only people who have been keeping tabs on us are the ones who want us to do this.">>

[Abbandon]

On the Road
Friday 8/22/70 17:23:30
Cerberus - Wannabe Hacker
PAN- Passive(Robert Nevall)

Realization spread across Cerberus's face after Johnson's last message. Pulling up the van's node into the center of his vision with his glove he began to look around and see exactly what was in there. "Jackpot." Rocky looked at him with a confused expression and then he continued, "Johnson just reminded me that we should probably route our commlinks through the van. Its a good idea because its has an encryption program!" Cerberus subscribes his commlink to the van's node and activates the encryption and analyze.

<<@team "Ha! And let those..guys..give you my favor?? Dream on sister. Besides I think I figured out how to make my end a little more secure. So where can we get a shovel?">>

<<@Johnson "Thanx for the tip boss.">>

[BlackHat]

On the Road Again
Friday 8/22/70 17:23:40
Smith - Face
PAN - Hidden

Johnson saw that Cerberus's last two messages were coming from another node, and this time they were wrapped in a much more sophisticated encryption scheme.

<<@Cerberus:: "Don't mention it....Lucky guess.">>

Following his own advice, he turned down the signal strength of his own commlink so that it could reach a few blocks, as far ahead and behind as he thought he would need to reach to talk to the team.

<<@Team:: "I think we're going to need more than a shovel.">> He didn't want to say too much until he had gotten some word from Angel, but he believed that his own messages were about as secure as they were going to get, today. He would just have to hope that his bike could take him out of range of anyone curious enough to listen in. he also didn't want to step on Sledge's toes if she already had a plan in mind. He had some ideas bouncing around, but he didn't realyl know anything about breaking into sealed buildings.

[JDragon]

On the Road
Friday 8/22/70 17:23:56
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden

Rocky followed the instructions provided, pulling out his comm link and getting into the control panel to adjust the settings. IT took a couple minutes cause it just was not what he was used to doing. Normally when he got a new comm, if he was the one to go out and buy it, he just paid the sales guy to set it up or handed it off to someone in his entourage that was more adept.

Once it was finally done he got in on the conversation.

<<@Team:: "Ok I'm in and should be transmitting through the love machine. Let me know if I'm not.>>

Till they got the final all clear Rocky kept his questions off the comm, not wanting to upset anyone, or get the team in to trouble before the run had really even started.

[Konsaki]

On the Road
Friday 8/22/70 17:24:30
Caittie - Technomancer - Hidden
PAN - Kitoria McCree - Passive

"You've seen some of what I can do to the matrix. Just figure that same stuff can be done back to us, sometimes completely undetectable. Someone could be listening in right now and there would be nothing I could detect or do about it...", the technomancer said to the team as a whole. "The only two ways to keep your network completely safe is to not use it or be in a room like the one we were just in. From what I can figure, we've get as secure a net as we can get, without buying more stuff, right now."

[BlackHat]

On the Road
Friday 8/22/70 17:24:40
Smith - Face
PAN - Hidden

Johnson was pleased to see that his assumption about his own security was accurate in the eyes of the team hacker. <<@Team:: "Sounds like it is time to get into the details, then.">>

[JDragon]

On the Road
Friday 8/22/70 17:26:31
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden

Rocky sat and waited to see what the plan was and what others wanted to do, but the channel stayed quite for several minutes so he figured he would get the party started. For some reason he was antsy to get this job started so he could get it finished. he guessed it was so that it would end the ordeal his parents were going through that much faster, and maybe give him some breathing room.

<<@Team:: So we got any info on this place beyond what our friends just gave us? Can anyone a little more tech savvy than me find some for us? Pic's, maps, video? Anyone got thoughts on what kinda gear we are going to need? I'm thinking some big bags at a minimum. >> Rocky laughed a little as his own joke and waited to see what the others had to say, turning to look out the back windows of the van to see if any of the cars had been back there to long.

[pragma]

Fortunato's Doss, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 17:26:30
Fortunato - Support Mage
PAN - Passive (Contacts, Earbuds, Smartlink)
Astrally Inactive


Fortunato had a schedule, He thought briefly about sharing it with everyone, but decided that it would be wiser to clear it with the leader.

<<@Sledge: I figure that we do some research tonight, each in our own areas, and then have two tries to get this done over the weekend. If I were putting people places, I'd have Angel check out the matrix, me the astral, you the physical and Johnson finding a bolthole for after and any gear you're going to need. Thoughts? Also, what do we do with the trogs?>>

He pulled the soy mess out of the camp cooker and set it in a disposable bowl, munching contemplatively.

[DireRadiant]

Moving Along
Friday 8/22/70 17:26:50
Sledge - Forewoman
PAN - Hidden

Turning her head again, and raising her voice over the street noise, "I'm heading downtown, you need to be dropped off or go anywhere?"

A few more random turns later, the ork shook her head at the silence on the comms, then sorted through the sudden multiple responses.

<<@Fortunato Good idea, ask others what they think. That will help them come up with ideas if you show them how. Need to get everyone giving ideas. Maybe the trogs will answer that last question for you. My answer to that one easy.>>

[pragma]

Fortunato's Doss, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 17:27:05
Fortunato - Support Mage
PAN - Passive (Contacts, Earbuds, Smartlink)
Astrally Inactive

Fortunato bounced the message off of the team, grinning invisibly at Sledge's joke.

<<@Team: I figure that we do some research tonight, each in our own areas, and then have two tries to get this done over the weekend. I'll get some astral surveillance done, Angel can check out matrix activity, Johnson can buy us a place to crash afterwards, a method of losing any tails we pick up, any specialized gear that becomes an issue and the word on the street about the place. Someone probably ought to take a physical look too.>>

[BlackHat]

On the Road
Friday 8/22/70 17:29:40
Smith - Face
PAN - Hidden

<<@Team:: "Surveillance sounds good, but err on the side of caution, where possible. When this gig goes down, we're going to want astral, matrix, and physical eyes covering us. If we tip our hands early, during a dry-run, the job will be that much harder, when it is showtime. Right now, we're not prepared to go in, but they're not prepared to stop us - if we give them a heads up, both sides of that coin can change. Also, even though we have two days to pull it off, we should assume we have one try - not two. if we fuck up the first try so bad that we need a second one, we've probably lost something or someone that will invalidate whatever plan we put together, ahead of time. Does that make sense?">>

Johnson was a little bit distracted, while driving and talking on the phone at the same time.

<<@Team:: "Since you both mentioned gear, I'll work on that, and anything else Sledge says we need, but what is our budget? Just whatever is on those credsticks? Or do we all want to agree to gamble a little of our savings accounts to up our odds at getting these favors?">>

Another turn demanded his attention.

<<@Team:: "I also think getting in and out becomes harder, the more of us we bring along. I think 'getting in' falls under Sledge's department, so I'll leave it up to her to decide who she wants underfoot, but knowing how many people I should plan for the escape will be important. From my point of view, if you're not handling demolitions or carrying bodies, you probably shouldn't be on-site.">>

His point, during his last comment was a little bit veiled, but he hoped he got the idea across. If Sledge got his meaning, and agreed, she would say as much - but if nobody else had thought of it, he didn't want it going unsaid. The finale of their previous mission had been a prime example of the sort of situation that he would expect some people to be more 'baggage' than 'help', but since his intention was to see them all in action, and see the job done (at whatever expense) he didn't mind so much, then. This new mission was different, in his eyes, at least. There was a certainly a point where it was not worth the risk, although that bar seemed to be set fairly high by whatever promises Higgens had made.