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

[adamu]

Paloma Drive, Meredith, Renton
Tuesday 8/19/70 08:12:00

Behind her, Sledge heard the van pull easily away from the clinic. In front of her, a human face appeared in the limousine window. The woman was very white and had long, straight black hair, bangs cut straight across Nefertiti-style. Her eyes were a deep emerald green, her shades held casually in one hand. She had a strong, aquiline nose. Her lips were not thin, but neither were they the grotesque estrus-evoking balloons so fashionable among monied women. The ork could see that she wore a suit jacket over a white blouse.

"Hi," the woman called out, just loud enough to be heard over the purr of the hog. "Are you the one I talk to?" Her voice was so friendly, so casual, she could have ended the sentence with about borrowing a cup of sugar or concerning car pooling to soccer practice. But instead it just hung there in space, and both women knew what she meant.

[BlackHat]

Paloma Drive, Meredith, Renton
Tuesday 8/19/70 08:12:03
Mr. Smith - Driver
PAN - Hidden

As the van started to pull away, Johnson shifted his attention to the various sensors and options available to him. He was already seeing a panaramic scene as the rigger modification to the van translated the vehicle's 360-degree camera suite into something akin to metahuman vision. Unfortunatly he felt suddenly deaf. He knew he could hear, but the van's audio sensors were not up to snuff. He definatly couldn't hear the other occupants of the van - so he hoped they continued to communicate using their comms.

The experience wasn't new. Johnson had driven using VR before - but not recently. His motorcycle couldn't keep itself upright if he wasn't activly guiding it with his body.

One thing he really appreciated was the speed with which he was able to handle the information coming at him. For the first time all morning, he didn't feel rushed. His mind flew through the available options, menus, and commands - noting the existance of the collision-avoidance system and promptly turning it off.

There is a good chance we're going to hit someone, soon.

Warning icons began to fight for his attention. Also, hardly anyone in the back was wearing their safety belts.

Outside, his theromographic vision easily picked out the two closest vehicles - the slowly approaching limo, and Sledge's bike. He had honestly espected shots to be fired by now, but wasn't about to let his guard down yet. He had spent all morning gathering together shadowrunners to track down Angel, Cerberus, and Rocky, and now that his job is basically complete - he didn't want to risk letting the limo get close enough to endanger his cargo.

Luckily, he didn't have to worry about it. Sledge had already run interception - and she didn't get run over. She was brave. Johnson knew that before he even called her about this mission - and he was pleased that she realized that the mob had no interest in seeing her dead, so she'd make the perfect emmisary.

Of course, that didn't mean Johnson wanted to stick around, so he guided the van rather slowly away from the clinic, and onto the street. If he tried to drive away, the patrolling SUVs would certainly notice, and might become agressive. He might be able to handle that, but its quite possible he couldn't. If the mobsters in the limo gave Sledge the time of day, maybe Francesca DelGato had an alternative arangement.

Shifting his visual spectrum he could see the window was down, but couldn't really make out any details. It didn't help that he was driving away from them. He suspected it was either the Angelo guy that Angel pointed out earlier, or the Bigio negotiator - and that they were probably questioning Sledge on the occupants of the van.

He hoped it was Francesca. At least they didnt' know she was their enemy. He had seen her once at Franco's, but, in the mob universe, that didn't mean those two were on friendly terms at all - quite possibly the opposite.

I wonder if she saw me, back then...

Certainly, Johnson wasn't important enough in the mob structure to be memorable to someone like her, but he was a pretty good looking guy. It wouldn't matter why she remembered him. If she did, things could go rather badly for him. In any case, of the contributions that he knew Sledge to be capable of... delicate negotiations were not one of them. She was very direct and to the point, and a situation like this required a certain amount of finesse.

In any case, he figured he might as well give Sledge a head's up so she didn't think he was ditching her. His voice came across the team network as his thoughts were translated into speech.
<<@Team:: "Good work, Sledge. Keep us updated on the situation. I don't want to leave you hanging if we need to gun it.">>

[DireRadiant]

Paloma Drive, Meredith, Renton
Tuesday 8/19/70 08:12:03
Sledge - Ears
PAN - Hidden

Sledge couldn't help herself.

With a tusky grin, a wink, and a twist of her head to present her three quarter profile she responded, "Ears."

"Sugar Lips pouting, not ready sweet talk to pretty ladies right now."

"But I listen, he hear."

<<@team pale softee woman, black hair, green eyes, talker.>>

The whole time her grips hadn't shifted at all.

[pragma]

Paloma Drive, Meredith, Renton
Tuesday 8/19/70 8:11:55
Fortunato - Support Mage
PAN - Hidden

... Closed fist, circular block, wheel into ...

Fortunato's mind was, for a split instant, flooded with groggy memories of 5 AM Tai Chi sessions. Mana swirled around the perimeter of the van in response to his thoughts. The current was likely to deflect or disperse incoming spells, he hoped it was enough.

Noticing that no one else in the cab would fit in the front seat, Fortunato bumbled his way there, astral vision making his movements more clumsy than usual.

... open palm, knee sweep, ...

Landing heavily in the passenger seat he cupped his palms together and blew gently into them. He poured mana into the tiny vortex until a tiny pair of slit red eyes opened and stared back at him.

I breathe my life for your service ... Extend leg, crane hand ...

The air was sucked out of his lungs as the little vortex spun faster and grew larger. He was winded, but no worse for wear and it was out of his control now. He opened his hands and let the air spirit spin out into the van's astral space.

Stay close, you'll be needed soon ... High knee, golden rooster ...

He relaxed for a moment. Able to focus solely on running through his mental martial arts was a relief. He never multi-tasked terribly well. He pulled his eyes from the astral just in time for a slowly approaching limousine to break his solace. He hoped these were the talking mobsters and not the leg breaking ones.

... Needle to the sea bottom, Turning hand push, Hidden ...

[adamu]

Paloma Drive, Meredith, Renton
Tuesday 8/19/70 08:12:05

The woman leaned out to watch the van pull away, and bit her lip in apparent disappointment.

"Sorry," she said with a slight shrug and a half-smile, "I only do face to face." She paused, and then added, "Good luck."

[DireRadiant]

Paloma Drive, Meredith, Renton
Tuesday 8/19/70 08:12:07
Sledge - Mouth
PAN - Hidden

<<@team Gah.. she only like sweet talking young men. Johnson?

Johnson's ARO icon are a large pair of oversized bright red lips and tongue moving in and out slowly around a large sugar cube.>>

With a slow roll of her shoulders, a kind of half shrug, carefully keeping her hand on her handlebar grips, Sledge calmly nods slightly, answering, "You wait, Sugar Lips come do face thing, enough time?"

... enough time to talk ourselves to death...

[BlackHat]

Paloma Drive, Meredith, Renton
Tuesday 8/19/70 08:12:18
Mr. Smith - Eyes, Ears, and Mouth, thank-you-very-much
PAN - Hidden

<<@Team:: Gah.. she only like sweet talking young men. Johnson?>>

Yeah, I prefer chatting up hotties to Shadowrunners, too. As Johnson's paused to weigh the consequences of either decision, so did his van. It skidded to a halt, sending the less restrained members of the back seat forward a foot or two. Then, a moment later, it was backing up, with the same casual speed it had previously been going away from the clinic. Somehow, in reverse, that speed seemed quite a bit more urgent.

On one hand, the fact that she was unwilling to talk to Sledge meant he'd have to take more risk talking with her. On the other, it meant he got to handle the discussion personally, which was how he liked it. It also meant that whatever she had to say was too important to get translated through an ork lacky. She wanted to talk to whoever was in charge.

<<Team:: "I'm always interested in talking to a pretty lady - especially one with an army of cars circling us. Keep an eye out, though - she might just be buying time. Angel, keep the drone circling the area watching the perimeter, but be ready to target the limo if we need to. Everyone else, keep your heads down, and mouths shut. No need to tip them off to who's back there, or what shape you're in.">>

Johnson kept his electronic eyes peeled as he reversed, quickly, towards Sledge's location. He had decided it was worth at least hearing her out. Escaping even Angelo's persuit was going to be a gamble, and if the Bigio family had a stake in the matter, it would help to know what that was - and the team seemed to have a pretty good eye on the situation.

He just wished he could do this while keeping his cargo out of harm's reach. That, and he wished he was a little more presentable. Francesca might actually see eye-to-eye with Smith or even a well-dressed Johnson, but if she saw a punk college kid driving a stolen van, he probably wouldn't make it very far with her.

And, in a thrill-seeking, not-very-well-thought-out sort of way, Johnson was definitely interested in seeing how far he could make it with her. It certainly wouldn't hurt his 'career' to have mob contacts besides Franco.

[adamu]

Paloma Drive, Meredith, Renton
Tuesday 8/19/70 08:12:19


Sledge heard Johnson's reply over her network, but no acknowledgement from Angel. But no time to worry about that - Her Highness was rolling the window back down.

"Actually, now that he's on his way out of Dodge" - and her eyes flicked ever so subtly, but unmistakably, toward the clinic - "he is no longer any of my concern. Looks like I got out of bed for nothing." She shrugged and smiled, but her face was an open book - Sledge could hear her as though she'd said it out loud -
But I wish I hadn't - be smart and make this work for us...

[DireRadiant]

Paloma Drive, Meredith, Renton
Tuesday 8/19/70 08:12:21
Sledge - Mouth
PAN - Hidden

"Engine trouble."

Sledge wasn't stupid. It was an obvious enough hint.

<<@team I'm parking it Johnson. Pretty Lady might want to give you a tow....>>

Without turning to check what was happening, Sledge focused on her ARO for the van and started sequencing through the series of commands and controls to stop the van.

... breathe... Angel eyes, where are you....

[adamu]

Paloma Drive, Meredith, Renton
Tuesday 8/19/70 08:12:31


Sledge got no reply from Angel or Her Highness, as the limo pulled forward the remaining twenty meters and came to a stop directly in front of the clinic...and about five meters behind the stalled-out van.

The woman let herself out of the car, revealing a very expensive-looking black skirt-suit. Walking around the front of the limo, Sledge could hear her speaking vociferously into the air in a voice that brooked no argument - although apparently she was getting plenty anyway - but at that distance and with three vehicles' engines effectively creating a giant white-sound generator, it was impossible to make out what she was saying.

She walked up to the door of the clinic and tried it, but it didn't open. She stood there expectantly facing the door, while a dark-suited man got out of the front passenger seat and watched her back.

[BlackHat]

Paloma Drive, Meredith, Renton
Tuesday 8/19/70 08:12:31
Mr. Smith - "Stalling" for time
PAN - Hidden

If it wasn't for Sledge's warning, Johnson might have seen the incoming commands to shut off the engine as some sort of electronic warfare attack - but he was willing to see what it was Sledge was thinking. The abrupt bottoming out of the vehicle left a horrible empty feeling in his stomach, and although he couldn't see or hear them, he didn't think his passengers cared much for the maneuver, either. He didn't like that he didn't understand the situation. He definitely felt as though he wasn't hearing the whole situation, and that Sledge, despite being very successful historically, might not know what she was doing, just now.

But, considering his only other option was to gun it, and none of the other cars had moved an inch - stalling out here didn't doom anyone, and it bought them time to think up another plan. Mentally, his trigger finger was on the ignition, and he was ready to start the car and drive away the moment anything went wrong.

Does she wanna talk to me, or what?

<<@Team:: "Doesn't look like she wants to talk. We're wasting time here. Louie's men are surelly calling for reinforcements. The inevitable get-away scene is only going to get more difficult. I'm ready to leave when you are, Sledge.">>

[DireRadiant]

Paloma Drive, Meredith, Renton
Tuesday 8/19/70 08:12:33
Sledge - Big Sister
PAN - Hidden

Wheels spun, a small chirp, and the bike turned ninety degrees in place as the limo rolled away. Turning her head to look around the ork woman cycled through all the ARO feeds to re affirm her view of the environment. She highlighted the overhead drone view and brought it up as primary feed. It looked like she may need to drive everything.

Interuppted in her review of the drone commands by Johnson she snarled audibly.

... breathe... calm ...

<<@team:: Pretty Lady has chaperone from Family. Cannot make first move on date, look really bad for Uncle L. You need to make the move. Date can only be at the place we just left. Otherwise no reason to meet. Had girl talk, she really wants to meet you.

Open door for Pretty Lady! I fix The Love Machine.

@Johnson:: If Angel is out, I need time to re route the drone and work it's command set for the getaway.

@Angel:: ?>>

[BlackHat]

Paloma Drive, Meredith, Renton
Tuesday 8/19/70 08:12:33
Mr. Smith - Gentleman Caller
PAN - Hidden

What the hell?

Johnson was definatly confused. Francesca was all but ignoring his existance, but for some reason Sledge thought it was important that he go talk with her. Johnson considered protesting, or pulling rank, but she had shut-down codes for the van and apparantly wasn't afraid to use them. Besides, at this point, discarding turning around and running away would seem as bizarre as the situation actually was.

Okay, Deep breath. You can do this.

<<@Team:: Okay, going to talk. Sledge you're in charge of the van until I get back - anything goes wrong, get them out of here. We absolutely can't afford to let them get their hands on their targets. Angel, I'd feel a lot safer if you had her in your crosshairs.>>

Don't worry about me, I'll be fine.

Removing the trodes from his head, he slowley opened the door and stepped out into the street. Francesca's guard faced him, and seemed ready to draw a gun, but Johnson slowly raised an obviously empty hand and waved a silent greeting. The guard didn't seem impressed, but also didn't seem like the kind of guy that took action without being given direct orders and Francesca either didn't notice or didn't care that he was now out of the van.

"Francesca DelGato?" He hoped that his recognition of her would be enough to regain her interest for at least as long as it took to say his bit. "Dr. Cline is fine. It was fortunate that my team was on the scene. He is probably indisposed while dealing with a certain treacherous employee of his who took part in the events which I assume demand your attention."

"Perhaps, while he cleans up in there, you and I could talk about this situation? Otherwise... I am running a little bit behind this morning, and have kind of a full schedule. I would happily get out of your hair, if your dragnet will let us pass."

Johnson stood there, dressed like nothing special, but brimming with confidence and good will. If Francesca's interest was peaked, he was certain the two of them had some useful information or services to exchange - if not, if she was really as disinterested as she appeared, she might just let them go.

Somehow, given that she was seen talking to one of Louie's men about the situation, he doubted that she was oblivious to what was going on. The question was more a matter of where her loyalties lied, and how much responsibility she was willing to take for allowing Louie's enemies to escape.

[adamu]

Paloma Drive, Meredith, Renton
Tuesday 8/19/70 08:12:55


Smith was pretty sure he'd never seen such a perfect combination of looks, style, and obvious intelligence. She turned, looked at him and smiled, and he could tell she thought something was funny. And he could tell she thought she was hiding that from him.

She looked down at the ground for a moment, then back up at him, biting her lip slightly. Hands thrust straight down into the outside pockets of her suit jacket, she tilted her head toward the clinic door and simply said, "Looks like we're locked out."

Smith was sure she was going to say something else so he waited. And just when she'd been silent for so long he decided he'd been wrong and was about to say something, she asked, "What makes you think it's MY dragnet?" She looked genuinely interested in his response, but maybe not in his answer.

[DireRadiant]

Paloma Drive, Meredith, Renton
Tuesday 8/19/70 08:12:55
Sledge - Hacker
PAN - Hidden

The countdown clock in her upper left field fo view kept counting. It was well past the trigger point set only ten minutes ago. It didn't matter much anymore, things had blown up long ago. Just like the rest of her life.

The drone's ARO visual feed from Angel was just enough to go on, along with the signature established an age ago when she and Fortunato had followed the van in, less then half an hour ago. Sledge prepped her agent software, cycled through her ARO views, and ran a final update and pumped it out to the team.

<<@team What's up with Angel? Drone's up there spinning around doing nothing unless Angel talks to it. I can take it over, but it'll scream loud when I do it.>>

[BlackHat]

Paloma Drive, Meredith, Renton
Tuesday 8/19/70 08:14:02
Mr. Smith - Face
PAN - Hidden

Johnson really didn't know who was in command of the SUVs, at large, but it was either Angelo, or Francesca. If it was Francesca (which he hoped it was), he figured he was fine, as she didn't have a lot of reason to kill him, or prevent him from leaving. If it was Angelo, which he suspected it was, he was going to need some help preventing him from using them to kill him or stop him from leaving. That was where Francesca came in.

Johnson shrugged, "Honestly? Angelo hasn't impressed me." His voice and body language gave the impression that the topic wasn't anything important, and neither was the fact that he knew Angelo's name. "The hit was hastily put together, not-well-executed, and about an hour late."

As he spoke, he walked slowly forward, distancing himself from Sledge and the van, but not getting so close as to draw a reaction from her bodyguard. He just didn't want to have to yell to talk to her about this. Let her think about that last part. Now, stir up some drama.

"He put more effort into being able to deny his involvement when it failed and you, and your bosses, found out, than he did in making sure it was successful. He even went so far as to hire Shadowrunners to get close enough to the doctor to put a bullet in him. If he had a small army of armed men in SUVs, on hand, and was going to own up to the attack, anyways, he could have won through sheer numbers." Johnson was starting to convince himself - a sign that he was either right, or was making some interesting points which, if Francesca bothered to clear them up, could offer some more information as to what was said in that limo.

He shook his head, as though the whole hypothesis that those were Angelo's SUVs on the horizon made no sense at all. "This whole 'cars-stationed-at-every-exit' thing seems way too organised." He raised an eyebrow, "...too likely to succeed. It requires a good understanding of the area, and its possible exits. Way too punctual to be Angelo's handywork. They arrived when you did - less than ten minutes after the first shot was fired. Of course, I could be wrong."

From her amused expression, Johnson couldn't tell if she was toying with him, or found his dire predicament entertaining - but either way, he didn't want to appear despirate for her help. He was stalling, a little, but the conversation wasn't as stressful as his usual mob-negotiations because there wern't any clear objectives. As far as he knew, Francesca wasn't interested in the three Shadowrunners he had just picked up, and he had no interest in disturbing Bigio-family buisness. In fact, he would really like to get out of here, and leave them to handle their buisness. Still, she was way more likely to do Angelo a favor than some random guy in a stolen van. So, he figured it might help his position to fan the flames if there was any conflict between the two factions over the attack on a Bigio clinic. If Francesca had to "deal" with Louie's mouthpiece, it might buy them a little time.

"But, even if those are Finnigan SUVs out there, I understand that this is a Bigio neighborhood. I figure, that makes it your call. Angelo has already crossed one line by organising an attack on one of your clinics - presumably without permission... I trust he wouldn't make the same mistake twice in one morning."

Smith hoped to put the right amount of charm and spin on things, so that Francesca would feel some social pressure to assert her dominance (if she hadn't already) over Angelo, but not so much that she become offended at the idea that she wasn't in control of his actions. Likewise, he was walking a thin line in his casual tossing about of names of powerful mobsters - but, aside from his recognition of Francesca, this was all information that he picked up as 'Johnson' and not as 'Smith'. Though his clothes didn't match the role, he was playing the part of the Johnson who had done his homework. Dispite the fact that she clearly valued appearances (and that, on a more prepared day, so did he), he hoped that Francesca was professional enough to listen to what he was saying, and not dismiss him on appearance alone.

"So, if you're willing to give me permission to leave, that's good enough for me. I trust you have the authority, and that Angelo isn't stupid enough to violate your wishes, on your own turf. Otherwise, if there is anything I can help you with, besides the stuck door, just say so. The ork on the bike seemed to think that you and I had something to talk about - but, unless you authorised the attack on your own clinic, I don't believe it is any of my buisness... and that you'd probably appreciate it if I took my team and got out of your way, so that you can handle it."

Watch the attitude - she probably knows....

[pragma]

Clinic Interior
Tuesday 8/19/70 8:14:30
Fortunato - Support Mage
PAN - Hidden

The van had stalled and Fortunato had held his breath. Was it enemy hackers screwing with their newly acquired gear? Some kind of dangerous planned obsolescence? Eight Ball or Cue Ball or whatever his name was striking back from beyond the grave?

But Johnson stepped out of the car and commenced negotiations with someone and Sledge seemed to be patiently waiting. Even so, it was no time to let their guard down. He focused on the exercises he'd been using to keep the van safe. He was so focused that he almost missed Sledge's message:

<<@Team: What's up with Angel? Drone's up there spinning around doing nothing unless Angel talks to it. I can take it over, but it'll scream loud when I do it.>>

Fortunato obediently climbed over the back seat, weaved past the heavily breathing Cerberus and stepped over the semi-conscious Rosso. He had to suppress the urge to kick their captive -- the man disgusted him. The temporary burst of rage he experienced seeing Birnhauser's friend started to destabilize the spell defense. He decided that he had better things to think about and stopped to ensure that mana was flowing the way it needed to.

He found Angel snoozing at the other end of the obstacle course of bodies in the van's cargo hold. He tapped her arm gently and said "Wake up kiddo, we need to use the drone."

She opened her eyes and started groaning as he typed.

<<@Team: Angel was sleeping. She should be up and handing out drone access shortly.>>

[adamu]

Paloma Drive, Meredith, Renton
Tuesday 8/19/70 08:14:20


"You're a fun guy. And if I were to let myself, I might be impressed. I'd really like to sit down with you sometime. Somewhere much more private. I am sure we'd have a lot to talk about. Very sure." She paused for effect. "And when I want something, I don't like to wait for it...my number should be easy for a clever fella like you to find."

She started back for her car, where her gorilla was holding her door. Just before getting in, she turned - "As for my permission, you've got it...reluctantly," she tacked on with a smile. "But my ability to influence events out here today ended the minute you walked out that clinic door. Good luck." And she disappeared into the dark fastness of her limousine, her man taking his place up in front. The car pulled out.

[Konsaki]

Paloma Drive, Meredith, Renton
Tuesday 8/19/70 08:14:39
Angel – Technomancer - Hidden
PAN – Hidden

Caittie had been laying her head against a sidewall of the van, breathing slowly. The empty haze of her mind was nice to her. It was comfortable, warm and soothing like nothing had truly happened recently. The pink banged girl was content for the hours that it seemed she floated in nothingness, the digital communication a humming white noise that drowned out anything else and the rumbling of the van’s engine a soothing massage to her weary body.
Still, even through all that, something was trying to pull her out of this nice feeling. She could feel it… somewhere, somehow that some… someone was trying to… All around her the feelings slowly faded to darkness and the sound of some people talking low from somewhere far away. Then the young elf felt someone pat her on the shoulder and heard them say, “Uade ob heppu, di mieg ju boo de baune.”

Hearing that confusing garble, Caittie stirred from her resting position and rubbed her eyes with her right hand as she set her left on the bench to steady herself. She let out a soft groan of confusion and annoyance, which was soon followed by her asking in a groggy voice, “Huh…? Wha… What’s going on?”
As she finished mumbling her broken questions she dropped her right hand from her eyes and slowly opened them. She first saw the steel floor of… some sort of vehicle? She also saw some boots… big boots, and as she looked up she saw the owner, a huge troll who was talking to a human…
Still, neither was bothering her, as she looked to her left towards whoever had their hand on her shoulder and saw another man, though this one was an elf… He was typing something out with one hand as he pulled back the one that had woken her up. “Fortunato?”, she asked as she brought her right hand back to her eyes and covered them up, trying to help her brain sort everything out.

<<@Team: Angel was sleeping. She should be up and handing out drone access shortly.>>

‘Drone…? Wait… Oh, no…’, she thought as it finally dawned on her like a rushing torrent a breached dam. The drone... The clinic, the bodies, the blood… The look on the rigger’s face as she and her sprite tore through his avatar all appeared in her mind at once.
Her eyes shot wide and with what seemed like super speed to her own mind, she looked around franticly. Quickly spotting the back door to the van she reached over, opened it and stuck her head out to once again retch though her stomach was already near empty from her prior episode.

[BlackHat]

Paloma Drive, Meredith, Renton
Tuesday 8/19/70 08:14:42
Mr. Smith - Face
PAN - Hidden

Johnson smiled as Francesca got back in her car, and muttered, mostly to himself, "It's a date, then."

Assuming I survive this morning.

Turning to Sledge and the van, he gave her a thumbs up, and then spoke to the whole team over the matrix-connection, as he made his way back. <<@Team:: Have permission to leave from the local mob's mouthpiece. I can't garuntee that Angelo will give a shit, though - so stay on guard. Sledge, did you do whatever you needed to to the van? I think we've more than worn out our welcome here.>>

As he reached the van, he was started by the back door opening up, and Angel, once again,vomiting up what was left of her very expensive breakfast. He stopped to make sure she was okay, and express some compassion. "Angel, everything alright?" He looked in through the back, at the hardened professional criminals that were crammed in there, and felt a little worse for the poor elven girl. "It won't be long, and this will all be over...."

Course, we might not be alive to care.

[DireRadiant]

Paloma Drive, Meredith, Renton
Tuesday 8/19/70 08:14:42
Sledge - Trail Boss
PAN - Hidden

The smoothly thumping motor kept turning over under her, reassuring beat pulsing against the jagged series of events unfolding. Looking at the brief encounter between the two humans, nothing much now, but maybe promises for the future. If the kid would grow up. If the crew made it out of here.

If.

In the meantime she'd run through checking her gear, checking the assembly of her hammer and placing it where she could reach use it. Handle sticking out from her saddle, taser grip ready in her pockets. Cycle through the ARO maps and signal scans. updating the overlay on her local grid map and sending it out to the team. Looking at the possible routes, she deliberately highlighted and emphasized it in the grid view. The feral snarl, tusks flashing, unnoticed as she transmitted the data to the team.

<<@Angel:: Better if you let your sistah here take care of this part with the drone.

@team:: < Local Grid Map - highlighted on the map are several routes, one stands out in pulsing color, labeled as "primary" >

@team:: They've made their pitch, brought the heat straight down the middle, now we are going to hit it right back at them. Love Machine's ready, get it moving, it's armored, keep it moving, hit them, just not head on, it'll get through. Love Machine leads, I follow on cleanup. >>


... cleanup, guess the clinic has enough biological samples to not worry about some more puke...

[pragma]

Clinic Interior
Tuesday 8/19/70 8:14:45
Fortunato - Support Mage
PAN - Hidden

Angel was polite enough to keep the vomit off both his shoes and the van. It was a pleasant surprise after a messy morning.

Fortunao stepped over to the young codeslinger while she was dry heaving onto the street and grabbed her shoulder. She looked like she was going to puke herself onto the street if someone didn't hold on to her.

He spoke softly and patted her on the back, "That's alright, you'll feel better when you're done ..." When the stream of breakfast had stopped he asked, "Rough morning?"

Receiving a weak nod in response he continued "I was shaky as hell the first time I was in a fight, what counts is that you can pull it together if you need to. You've gotten this far today, it shows that you're tough enough to keep going." He paused for a second, " When you're ready, the team could really use some kind of access to the drone though."

He hoped what he'd said was comforting, becasue he really couldn't relate. Being nervous while lead was flying was one thing, but vomiting after the fact was alien to him. He'd never been squeamish around blood and seeing people, strangers at least, hurt had never bothered him. He'd once seen his psych profile and it classified this odditiy as a mild sociopathy. He'd learned to deal with it though -- it simply required that he realize that some people would be disturbed at seeing a man having his skin taken off and others wouldn't.

"So, what do you think kiddo? You got more breakfast to decorate the street with?

[BlackHat]

Paloma Drive, Meredith, Renton
Tuesday 8/19/70 08:14:55
Mr. Smith - Face
PAN - Hidden

Seeing that Fortunato was stepping up to handle the Angel situation, Johnson nodded at him and smiled at Angel before continuing on to the driver's seat. He wasn't sure Fortunato was the best guy to make a little girl feel better, but the team needed to get out of here quickly, and it would take him a few seconds to get plugged into the machine again.

Once in the seat, with trodes on his head, he looked back in the rear-view mirror and waited. As soon as everyone was back inside the bus, he slipped into VR and began to start moving again. As he did, he took a moment while the vehicle was gaining speed to verify that Sledge was following him (though his rear cameras) and that he was following the route - which he projected into the 3D space of his "vision". Confidant that Sledge's bike could gain speed faster than the van, he wasted no time in gaining speed for the collision he was scheduled to have shortly.

His voice came on over the team's matrix channel, in a fake-pilot-voice:
<<@Team:: "Ladies and Gentlemen, please keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times, and be sure to strap your seatbelts, we'll be experiencing a little turbulence, shortly - but it is nothing to worry about. Please take this time to start planning where exactly you'd like me to take you, once we lose the mob. The mission has officially begun.">>

[Konsaki]

Paloma Drive, Meredith, Renton
Tuesday 8/19/70 08:15:00
Angel – Technomancer - Hidden
PAN – Hidden

After sticking her head out the back door to the van, Caittie felt her stomach give out to a huge lurch that seemed to completely empty itself of any contents it had once held. With that, all the feelings of nausea gave way as if they weren’t there in the first place, only the mess on the ground and the need to cough out anything left in her throat. ‘Uhg… I don’t think I have anything left to hurl…’, the teenager thought to herself grimly.
As she coughed her throat clear, the green eyed elf could hear some someone speaking behind her. For a second the voice reminded her of her father, but that feeling passed quickly as she recognized it for what it was. Fortunato had his hand on her shoulder, trying to steady her smaller frame while saying what should have been words of encouragement and praise, but to her mind it seemed odd. She just couldn’t place why, though.
"So, what do you think kiddo? You got more breakfast to decorate the street with?”, she heard the bearded man behind her ask. In response, the red haired girl let out a last small cough and took a deep breath. She saw Johnson walking past and gave a little nod to him while moving back inside the van and closing the back door. “I’m… I’m fine… I don’t think I have anything left to hurl.”, she finally said with a small sigh.

As she moved back to her seat on the bench, she felt the ex-CIA agent pull his hand from her. Sitting down, she weakly smiled at him as she ran a hand along her head, brushing one of her long pink bangs. “I’ll be ok now. I… I’m just not used to this…”, the teenager said. ‘I hope I never do…’, she continued, if only to herself.
Turning to the giant muscled man beside her, the elven technomancer looked up and smiled weakly again. “Um… It looks like they need me in the Matrix again. Could you keep my body steady so I don’t fall over if things go crazy?”, Caittie asked up at Rocky. She knew it would be an easy task for the huge man, and though she didn’t fully trust all of these people, it was better than having her limp body flying around the van.
Seeing Rocky give a slight nod, the elf leaned against his side and immediately felt the world shift around her. Like jumping forward at light speed then screeching to a halt, she found herself inside the six winged angel body that she drew her call sign from. ‘My other self that’s also me…’, she cryptically thought to herself with a wry grin.

As she looked around the node she landed in, she noticed the black suited faceless man that Johnson had as an avatar. He seemed to be setting himself up in a fake driver cockpit thing that looked similar to the van’s driver setup only with more displays. Not wanting to bother him, but taking a queue from his actions, Angel reached out with her hands and windows and menus opened all around her.
‘Van checklist: Status, check; Menu, check; Camera’s, check.’, she mentally went through the windows and menus. ‘Drone checklist: Status, check; Menu, check; Camera, check; Weapon…’, the pink winged Angel continued to go through them before stalling on the last one.
Her mental block was broken by Johnson’s fake pilot speech, which caused Angel to giggle on the virtual plane at the start before she regained her composure. The last bit of his message carried a serious tone even through the fake pilot facade and she used that to continue through her check. ‘Weapon, check.’, she completed.
With that last bit, she sent a command to the drone, which halted it mid rotation. It then moved from it’s position directly overhead the clinic where she acquired it, to flying over the van. The cameras mounted on the drone gave everyone on the team an aerial view of what lay ahead of them and the knowledge that they had some support.

<<@Team :: “Angel online and ready. Drone ready for aerial support…”>>, her voice went over the team’s comm net, though her voice wasn’t as confident as either Johnson or Sledge’s were. ‘Please… Let us get through this…’, she prayed to anything that might be out there.

[DireRadiant]

Paloma Drive, Meredith, Renton
Tuesday 8/19/70 08:15:05
Sledge - Riding Drag
PAN - Hidden

The Love Machine was slow, but her hog wasn't that fast either, though it did have some other advantages. Trailing in the van's wake didn't take that much attention. Which was good, since Sledge had other things to do to keep the crews mind on the job.

<<@team:; Good to have you back Angel. It's opening day, and the you're the ace. Fastballs down the middle is the call. Clear the way for us. Pull the trigger.>>

She pulled the hog a bit to the left so she could see ahead with her own eyes past the Love Machine.