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

[BlackHat]

Bus Station #09276
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:29:00
Mr. Smith - Johnson
PAN - Hidden

Checking the local bus-node, while the other began to talk about what to do next, and who would be in charge, Johnson noticed he had roughly 3 minutes until the bus was due to arrive - that would be fine. He gathered up his two briefcases and returned to the rear of the vehicle. He had overheard their comments, but held his tongue - deciding to address the most important issue first.

Having rejoined the team, he turned to Sledge, "Okay, gimme that list, and I'll see what I can do before I meet up with you tonight. As for who is in charge, unless you have any objections, I was hoping you would take that responsibility." He saw that Fortunato was talking with Angel about a commlink, so continued on directing his attention at Sledge. "I'm sure Fortunato can lend advice in his areas of expertise - that's what I hired him on for - but the reason I hired you was that I knew you would see that the job got done... whatever that took." Johnson glanced over at the still disoriented frame of Cerberus who was now sitting upright and smiled.

Now addressing the team as a whole, he added, "I'll try keep my end of this matrix channel open, in case you guys need to contact me or anything goes wrong - otherwise I will assume we're going to meet up this evening. By then, I would like to hear a plan for completing the mission, and an estimate on how long the plan will take. No offence, but as much fun as tracking down and extracting three of the underworld's most wanted was... it has been a long day, and I want to see it end, soon."

Having gotten their attention, he turned to Angel to address her earlier comment. Suddenly looking more stern than he had all day. Although his body wasn't physically imposing, the look Angel saw in his eyes said that he meant buisness. "As for the FBI thing... I don't want to hear another word about it, from you, Angel."

"It was a bad situation, but if anyone, on a team like this, would be responsible for detecting undercover feds, its the hacker. Personally, I don't believe any of us could have gotten that information ahead of time, and the team's roles are not yet clearly defined. I take responsibility for the repercusions of my orders, but if you want to play the blame game - we can."

"If you wern't always having a break-down, crying-fit, autistic coma, or digging up paydata on your own team, maybe you could have spared a cycle or two to look into the guys that were spying on us hours before we attacked them. A descision, I might add, that you would have had a say in if you wern't passed out like a chip-head at the time, doing god knows what, expecting us to keep you alive."

Flinging open the van door with appropriate dramatic flair, he added, "For a little girl, you've got a lot of balls criticising the way your life got saved. You don't like the calls I make, you can fucking walk. At this point, you're worth a lot more to me as bait, than you are as a hacker."

He stepped out to the street.

"I didn't have time to deal with this shit when we were on the run, but now seems like the best chance I am going to get. I was hoping you'd see this situation a little differently, and be a little thankful of the second chance you're being given. Cerb and Rocky seem to have no problem seeing me as an ally, and falling into line. But, if you think I make dumb calls - be my guest to take your chances out there, making the calls yourself. The way I see it, that's what got you into this mess."

"You're as safe now as you're gonna get. This mission is gonna get worse before it gets better, and I don't owe you a damned thing. If you want out, be my fucking guest. The bus will be here in a couple of minutes. But if you want to stick with my team, spend my money, and hide under my protection, so that my plan can take care of your problem and allow you to live long enough to see tomarrow, you will start pulling your weight and showing a little respect. Understood?"

He stood in the doorway for a moment to see if there were any last questions. His stance and attitude seemed to dare Angel to argue with him.

[Konsaki]

Bus Station #09276
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:31:42
Angel – Technomancer – Hidden
PAN – Hidden

Fortunato’s statement of a full 10% of his cut for the information hidden within the commlink she held in her lap caught Caittie completely off guard. Lifting her gaze up, she looked into his face, serious and demanding. Seeing this, she could only let out a stammered, “O… OK…�.
As it was, she was already trying to get into the device just for curiosity’s sake. The man in the passenger seat’s request and offer actually hampered her in the task he wanted done, though it wasn’t much of a hindrance in the grand stream of things. Failing to compile a sprite due to lack of concentration was a lot better than most of the other things that had gone wrong today. She didn’t sweat it much, since a couple of seconds later she had successfully called Locke to her in the matrix and quickly set him to the task of cracking open the firewall of the commlink.

All the while, she could hear Johnson talking in the background, but it wasn’t until she heard a change in tone that she actually listened in. Hearing her name, she turned in the seat enough to look at the human in the college sweatshirt. The overall look of him was the same, but the vibe and stance he exerted were entirely different, more confrontational and superior looking. His face stern but it looked to Caittie like it was bordering on arrogant.
His next sentence was a blatant pointing of fingers at her and it rubbed her against the grain immediately. Even as her eyes narrowed at his statement, he continued by verbally back stepping and trying to save face at her expense. She had a gut feeling that it wasn’t going to get better in the next few minutes and mentally dug in… unfortunately, the red haired elf was right.

He went down the list, of everything he had seen her do ‘wrong’, from freaking out to finding out who exactly he was. Then a blatant blaming of fault, again, about the failed hacking attempt with the FBI agents, when she didn’t even know they were out there until Sledge found them. This, followed by the insults and insinuations wore her mental barriers thin, to the point where she almost snapped at him equating her to nothing more than bait before hopping out of the back of the van.
The brown haired face seemed to have the most problem with her not falling in line like the two trolls did. Throughout the entire thing though, it was a constant trend of him trying to save face with the rest of the crew than with actually talking with her. He just didn’t want to look bad, the stereotypical ‘Cool guy’. Then he blamed the problems she were in, she caused herself… After that, she pretty much ignored his entire speech, the seething ire blinding it out, but she was at least successful in controlling her emotions enough to wait it out.

The arrogant conceited prick stood in the doorway for a moment, his stance and attitude seemed to dare Angel to argue with him. The bad thing about daring someone to do something, the downright stupid thing about daring someone, is the chance that they will actually call your bluff…

As she stood up out of the seat, Caittie crossed her arms in front of her and looked Johnson dead in the eyes. “So it’s my fault that I’m in this mess, huh? It’s my fault that the Mob’s after me? I guess I just shouldn’t have survived that day then and let them kill me, cause that’s what pissed them off so much.�, she replied to the comments her ‘savior’ directed at her, all in an even calm voice and posture which were in contrast to her eyes. Her eyes showed her true emotions, the raging sea of venom directly into the eyes of her target.
“As for freaking out, I apologize about that, I can’t quite ‘do it over’.�, she continued with a slight pause with a wave of one of her hands, before resuming her crossed armed stance. She took a few breaths which looked like she was steadying herself. In reality, she was in the van’s node removing all access Johnson had for it. “You see, they don’t teach ‘Surviving a gunfight 101’ in high school. I’m guessing they teach that in college though…�, she continued in the same tone of voice.
“Passing out ‘like a chip-head’ is called ‘going VR’. I figured you would know that, since you have gone VR before, but I guess not, my mistake. I spent that time trying to lower our matrix presence, but I’m having a rough time of it with all the commotion that’s going on surrounding this group.�, the elven girl said before placing a finger to her chin as in thought. “I wonder if our exploits with the FBI are all over the matrix already… it wouldn’t surprise me really if it was.�, she mused as she lowered her hand back down.

“You want me to apologize about finding out about you, Mr L… Johnson? Fine. I apologize that I can’t use magic, that I’m not trained and strong as Sledge, that I’m not a hulking troll. I apologize that I need their help to keep me alive. I apologize that the only weapon I have is information.�, Caittie admitted by motioning to each person she described. “That’s all I have.�, she reiterated. “I’ll use what I can to ensure my own safety, just like you would do the same if something threatened you. Though my weapon might not harm you immediately like a bullet would, it can eventually.�, she warned while looking him directly in the eyes.
“You also want me to pull my weight and fall in line like Cerberus and Rocky have, huh? Well, I’ve already pulled my weight when I could, saving one or more of our lives alreay. Falling in line is not a given. You made a good decision by stepping down and making Sledge the leader, since I’ll follow her. Dad always told me respect is earned, and I believe him. She earned my respect and I think she knows what she’s doing.�, the technomancer said with a nod to the larger female.

“One last thing … Can you really blame me for at least finding out who you are? If you were in my shoes, would you just blindly follow the first thing that came along without figuring out what they are about? Consider the thing’s I’ve been through in just the past twelve hours and really ask yourself that…�, she finished out by pointing directly at the human outside the van. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a commlink to crack for Fort.�, she said as she sat back down and looked pointedly at the commlink she had back in her lap.

[Abbandon]

Bus Station #09276
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:31:51
Cerberus - Street Samurai/Bullet magnet
PAN: Hidden (earbud,non-plural)

"Ughh, You people's hospital manners suck! Half dead troll over here trying to rest!"

[DireRadiant]

Bus Station #09276
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:32:02
Sledge - Tusker
PAN - Hidden

Sledge laughed uproariously and slapped Cerberus with a friendly tap as she yanked the door open.

"Let's move." She slammed the door shut and thumped on it in a go go gesture, all in a smooth motion as she strode over to Sugar Lips.

"Bus? And don't worry, this bunch hasn't met Cal. We'll keep in touch."

[Konsaki]

Bus Station #09276
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:32:08
Angel – Technomancer – Hidden
PAN – Hidden

Not wanting to stick around where Johnson was any longer, Caittie commanded the van to start driving. It obediantly pulled up near the exit to the parkinglot to wait for their newly appointed leader just as the scheduled bus pulled to a stop at the stand.

[pragma]

Bus Station #09276
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:32:12
Fortunato - Support Mage
PAN - Hidden (Contacts, Earbuds, Smartlink)
Astrally Inactive

Fortunato turned to the teenager and said, "Keep it together. He's just as stressed as you are right now." He smiled and added "Also, the contract work isn't urgent. I'm lucky if I can turn my comm on in the morning so I have no idea what you should be doing, just know that Burns comm can probably wait."

As Sledge walked away with Johnson, Fortunato composed a message:

<<@Sledge: We need some place for a skull session, park the cars, crash etc. I don't have a place in mind, do you? Nice job calming down the management, by the way.>>

[BlackHat]

Bus Station #09276
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:32:15
Mr. Smith - Johnson
PAN - Hidden

The bad thing about calling someone's bluff, is the off chance that they wern't bluffing.

After his own long speech, Johnson felt it was only fair to let Angel speak her mind - so he did, but his expression only seemed to grow darker. When she finished, nothing she had said sounded even remotely like she understood. "Very well, then. Apparantly it is not understood. Best of luck to you, Ca.. I mean Angel." The way he stumbled over her name was exhadurated and clearly intentional. He didn't put half of the effort into the effect that Angel did moments ago when "accidentally" beginning to use his real name after everyone had been calling him "Johnson" all morning.

"If Sledge is willing to bear you as a burden, that is her call, for now - but as far as I'm concearned, you're done here. You're not a part of this team, and you certainly won't be getting a full-time offer, when this is over." And with that, he left.

Johnson smiled at Sledge as she passed by towards her bike. All sign of the man that just tore into the teenage girl seemed to have faded away. As she mounted her motorcycle, she heard his voice on her comm. It sounded more amused than upset, and glancing in his direction she could see a parting smile as he boarded the bus.

<<@Sledge:: "Good luck, Sledge, and thanks again for doing this. I know you didn't sign on for this sort of responsibility. Seeing as some of the team seems to think I have "stepped down," I was thinking I might keep this arrangement for a while, if it works out. I never had any interest in getting my hands dirty, or micromanaging every move you guys made - and I didn't expect Shadowrunning to involve nearly so much babysitting.">>>

<<@Sledge:: "If Angel gives you any shit, you have my permission to dump her ass on the side of the road - or to sell her to Louie, if it'll help get the job done. You and Fortunato are no longer responsible for what becomes of her, as I can't imagine I will have any use for her, after today. I can find another hacker in a few hours.">>

Adam actually felt a little bad even suggesting it. Cattie wasn't a bad person - just way too nosy, and a little ungrateful. She certainly wasn't the kind of girl to take orders from authority, but what teenager is? The problem was, Adam didn't have the time or patience to fuck around with somebody who wasn't a team player. Nobody deserved to be sold to the mob to cover mission-expenses, but Adam wasn't sure how else the team was going to afford everything on their wish-list. He hoped, for Cattie's sake, that Sledge would manage to talk some sense into her in the next couple of hours.

[DireRadiant]

Leaving Bus Station #09276
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:33:05
Sledge - Tusker
PAN - Hidden

Taking her time with her hog, Sledge concentrated on what she was about to say. Reflexively she started the motor and eased the hog out into the street.

<<@Cerberus|Rocky|Angel|Fortunato:: Don't talk much, but here's the speech. None of us done this before, we all make mistakes. Never run a crew by myself. But I've been tight spots, can handle that part. Got ideas, speak up, we talk, we decide, we do. Everyone not agree, I decide.

Sugar Lips is ok. Got mouth get in anywhere. Will do his job when we need. He just not care about anyone other then himself. Not hate you special.

Plans. We need rest, not in shape. Find places we can stop at least 4 hours would be good for resting. Anyone got ideas? Rest, gear up, find Louie.

My idea, Angel found out Sugar Lips real easy, figure Louie do same from clinic, we keep an eye on him, use him as bait, maybe tell Louie, use to make Louie show, then we finish this.

Her hands kept rhythmically tightening and loosening on the grips nervously as she fired out her thoughts.

[Konsaki]

Bus Station #09276
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:32:30
Angel – Technomancer – Hidden
PAN – Hidden

The whole situation had Caittie all wound up like a spring as she sat looking at the commlink in front of her. ‘I never wanted to be on a stupid team, ass-hat. I just wanted to live a normal life and be happy.‘, she thought to herself. Really, all she wanted to do right at the moment was scream at the top of her lungs, releasing her frustrations caused by the day half over. The young woman kept it in though, just out of respect for the three others left in the van.

Taking a deep breath to try and calm herself, the technomancer felt another presence with her on the digital realm, though it was welcomed. With a thought, she set her request for it to crack the commlink, though she was surprised by its response she got back. “Ah… I don’t see anything… I can’t get into something that’s not there…�, she felt Locke reply half-confused.
Confused herself, Caittie looked down at the commlink in more detail, going over it looking for damage or anything that might keep it from working. Then, as she found the obvious reason for its malfunction, she let out a groan of exasperation before turning the commlink on. “Ok, I’m on it.�, she felt as the sprite got to work.
Caittie took it as a clear sign of what her condition really was. Putting a hand to her forehead, the teenager just closed her eyes and let out a long sigh. ‘Calm down… You know you can’t think straight when worked up.’, she told herself. It didn’t help much though.

Before she knew it, though, the commlink in front of her was buzzing in her lap. Looking down, she saw the small screen on the device flashing a warning signal that someone was trying to break in. ‘That would be me…’, she mused as she let herself grin in wry humor. A few seconds later, the sprite had completed its task and she was in side. Looking through the data stored within, she found loads of files, enough that it would take her too much time to look through them all without narrowing it down to a specific subject.
Shaking her head slightly, she looked over at the mage next to her. “I got in. Instead of you telling me everything you want looked up, I’m just going to send all the files to your commlink. This way you can look through them whenever you want.�, she told him as she initiated the transfer. “It should only take a few seconds or so, Fortunato."

[JDragon]

Leaving Bus Station #09276
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:33:10
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden

After hearing Johnson and Angel go at if for a minute or two Rocky Wast starting to wonder if this was really going to work out as a long time gig or just a nother hic-up in a fucked up month.

<<@Cerberus|Rocky|Angel|Fortunato:: Don't talk much, but here's the speech. None of us done this before, we all make mistakes. Never run a crew by myself. But I've been tight spots, can handle that part. Got ideas, speak up, we talk, we decide, we do. Everyone not agree, I decide.

Sugar Lips is ok. Got mouth get in anywhere. Will do his job when we need. He just not care about anyone other then himself. Not hate you special.

Plans. We need rest, not in shape. Find places we can stop at least 4 hours would be good for resting. Anyone got ideas? Rest, gear up, find Louie.

My idea, Angel found out Sugar Lips real easy, figure Louie do same from clinic, we keep an eye on him, use him as bait, maybe tell Louie, use to make Louie show, then we finish this.

The message from Sledge actually made him fell a little better, and after thinking on it responded to the group.

<<@Cerberus|Sledge|Angel|Fortunato:: I'm good with everything except using someone as bait, espically someone thats been insturmental in keeping me alive for the last 12 or so hours.

As for ideas, heres what I got. First the people watching us at the farm as we have discovered were not Louie's guys, just another fire to burn us. This means that maybe we are still off of Fishbreath's radar, which means laying low may not be as hard as we think.

For crashing, why not just head for the barren's and find an empty building to hang in for how ever long we all need to get moving better and then find Louie?

I don't really know anyone that could help us at this point, the only person in the biz, is the fixer that set Cerberus and I up with Fishbreath in the first place. i'm guessing talking to him not get us far other than back in Louie's sights.>>

[Abbandon]

Leavig Bus Station #09276
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:33:24
Cerberus - Street Samurai/Bullet magnet
PAN: Hidden (earbud,non-plural)

<<@everyone /cept Johnson, "You all met Kyle, we trust each other alot. He runs the shadows to obviously and he may have a safe place for us to go. If Angel can keep the line secure I'll try to call him right now..If not im down with finding someplace in the barrens like Rocky suggested.">>

"This Johnson guy doesnt seem like he has very much respect for us, talking all matter of factly to us like he owns us and we are his own personal little toys to make money for him. None of us need to be talked to like that. We should stay on our toes stay cautious around him....and if you feel what im saying maybe we should keep an eye on Sledge to, she seems to be tight with Mr Johnson... Thats all im saying now that we are alone. I trust you guys to keep my concerns private. "

[DireRadiant]

Leaving
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:34:38
Sledge - Tusker
PAN - Hidden

<<@Cerberus|Rocky|Angel|Fortunato:: Scratch Sugar Lips as bait. Head to barrens, Cerberus check with his friend about safe place. Asking Sugar Lips shop for shotgun, shells for me, secure commo gear, and disguise kits for all, what else you all need?>>

The next step clearer, she settled in and eased along the street, motoring away to the east.

[JDragon]

On the Road
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:34:51
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden

<<@Cerberus|Sledge|Angel|Fortunato:: Nothing here, just a quite place to sleep and think up a good way to get out of Louie's shadow.>>

Rocky was encouraged that his simple soultion had been taken as an option even if short term till something better came along.

[Abbandon]

Leavig Bus Station #09276
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:35:10
Cerberus - Street Samurai/Bullet magnet
PAN: Hidden (earbud,non-plural)

Cerberus laid there with his eyes shut and thought about some of the things he might need to assault a mob Louitenant, and some of the things he just plain needed and had lost over the course of a day. Using his subvocal mic and commlink he made a recording of his wishlist and beamed it to Sledge to pass on to Johnson while he waited for Angel to help him with his phone call to Kyle.

[pragma]

On the road again
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:31:30
Fortunato - Support Mage
PAN - Hidden (Contacts, Earbuds, Smartlink)
Astrally Inactive

Fort had to try hard to suppress a grin as Caittie streamed the data from Birnhauser's commlink to him. She was the key, she could decrypt the bit at the start of the video, sort this crap out, help him with the matrix. He had information on his side, and Montressor would find that out soon enough.

"Thanks. This will be very helpful. I'll pay up when I get paid."

He listened to the network and physical chatter for a while as he drifted in and out of consciousness. The rising concern about Johnson bothered Fort. He wasn't happy with the kill orders the guy had made -- for a negotiator he certainly recommended force a lot of the time -- but that wasn't anything out of the ordinary for someone with a new gun. The concerns about Sledge were a bit more troubling. However, neither of those were his battles to fight. He might pass the word along discreetly, but not right now.

After the network chatter had settled he started fiddling with his commlink.

<<Alias Cerberus|Sledge|Angel|Fortunato|Rocky="Crew","Ground Crew","Operations","Operatives","Ops">>
<<Alias Johnson="Management">>
<<Alias Crew|Management="Team">>
<<Warning: Previous alias "Team" being overwritten>>
<<Warning: Case sensitivity active; remember "Team" is not "team".>>

These kind of warnings always terrified Fortunato. He had, however, seen these two before and been assured several times by the CIA IT staff that it was no trouble.

<<@Ops: I can take care of physical disguises with a bit of mojo. That said, disguise kits never hurt anyone and I've got a bit of experience using them.>>
<<@Ops: I'm going back to crashing. Wake me if you need me or in about half an hour, whichever comes first. I want to make sure we don't have any astral tails.>>

After one more quick astral foray, checking to see if the van was being followed. Fort settled back to sleep.

[Konsaki]

Closing in on the Barrens
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:35:19
Angel – Technomancer – Hidden
PAN – Hidden

The teenager in the front seat had easily set the van on auto-pilot, following Sledge's more maneuverable bike down the highway. During the easy ride, Caittie had spent her time configuring the commlink she had just cracked to her own needs. She had almost finished when the messages started spamming in, via the team's network, though she noticed the fact that Johnson was omitted from all of the recent ones.

"Sure, just give me a bit.", she replied to the troll's request for her help in securing the call. ‘It’s simple enough to do. I’ll just call on a sprite to help me out again.’, she thought to herself. She had been using them all day, it seemed, and she was getting good at compiling them without much trouble at all. This left her in a bit of shock and awe at what happened next.
Everything was going normally as she tried to call on a sprite up until she felt a wave of anger wash over her. The problem was, it wasn’t her own feelings and the message accompanying it surprised the hell out of her. An enraged otherworldly voice resounded in her head, “Ye do it yerself! Quit buggin’ me, damnit!�, and was quickly followed by a wash of fatigue that affected her to the core.

After she had recovered from the momentary shock of the incident and pulled herself together mentally, Caittie sat there and thought for a second. Thinking back over everything she had asked her sprites to do over the day, she came to the conclusion that she probably was asking too much of them… relying on them too much and not doing enough with what she had on hand.
Still, with her mind exhausted from her draining lessen just a while ago via the very ticked off sprite she failed to compile, she did her best to figure out what she could do with everything she had on hand. It took her a bit, through the fog in her mind, to go down the mental checklist before she finally found something that would work well.
A few seconds later, she had completed the task asked of her by logging into Cerberus’ commlink and changing the way it connected to the outside world, at least for this call. Changing the settings enough to route it through the van’s node, this would encode the transmission. ‘Really, I don’t know why I didn’t think of this in the first place…’, the highschooler chided herself.

“Ok. It’s ready whenever you are.�, she said back to the cybernetic giant in the back of the van, albeit with a bit less energy than before. Following that, she leaned back in the seat with a slight sigh. ‘I’ve still got a lot to learn.’

[Abbandon]

Cruising along I-520 East towards Touristville.
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:35:10
Cerberus - Street Samurai/Bullet magnet
PAN: Hidden (earbud,non-plural)

"Thanks Angel." and with that Cerberus pressed the few buttons it took to connect to Kyle on his commlink still clipped to his belt. Kyle had already helped him out more than he had any right to ask for and it was making Cerberus feel like a little kid again asking for help once more. When was he going to be able to take care of his own problems without somebody elses help. Not today, he thought as he laid there waiting to see if Kyle would pick up.

[adamu]

Cruising along I-520 East towards Touristville
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:35:20


"Hey Buddy." In the background, Cerberus could hear what sounded like crunching footsteps. And was that a cow mooing?

[Abbandon]

Cruising along I-520 East towards Touristville.
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:36:30
Cerberus - Street Samurai/Bullet magnet
PAN: Hidden (earbud,non-plural)

"Uhh don't tell me you are walking home dude?"

"Hey, its amazing out here. Hate to think whose dick these people are sucking to keep the factory farms from expanding onto this land, but i'm sure glad it's here. So i'm just walking and chilling 'till I get tired, then i'll call a cab."

"That could be pretty smart, atleast you wont be running into any Feds!"

"Feds!? What the hell, brau? Were they good feds or bad feds? You're not on ice are you?"

"I'm unsure. They threatened to kill us. I tried to kill them. Sledge tasered me. And when I woke up I was back in the van and we were driving away.

Hey listen, we think we are free of any tails and we need a place to crash. Do you have a place we could use or hook us up with one? You have already helped me out a ton and I understand if you dont want to or cant help out any further, I actually feel pretty shitty about all you have done already. I just hope I live long enough to pay you back"

"Cerb, you and me went way past keeping a favor card years ago. I would be so happy to help out. But i'm afraid that might be a pretty bad idea. I mean, I haven't been able to get in touch with Smithers at all -think about it- Loui knows Smithers must have some sort of line on you. So that sorry ork would have been the first person Fishbreathe squeezed for info on you. That kind of pressure, he probably gave me up as your best friend. Hell, thats probably how he found you this morning -Smithers knows i'm tight with Cline. So the deal is, brau, yeah , I do have a safe hidey hole I keep for emergencies, and you are welcome to it. Problem is, I got it set up through Smithers. Your call brau."

"Alright thanks for trying but i wouldnt trust that Smithers guy for shit right now. I'd also recommend not heading back to your place for awhile, like until i call and say its safe. You know Loui has no problems with taking the fight to your house. Catch you later bro and stay safe!!"

"Yea, you to brau!, Sorry I couldn't be of more help."

Cerberus reached over and tapped the end message button on his comm's. "Fuck!. Kyle has a place but the person who helped set him up with it is that rat bastard fixer who set Rocky and me up with Loui, Ezekiel Smithers. Unless you guys have more luck with your contacts it looks like we are gonna hole up in an abandoned building."

[JDragon]

Cruising along I-520 East towards Touristville
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:39:27
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden

Rocky listened quietly as Cerberus had talked to his budy Kyle at the end of the conversation Rocky was not surprised to hear that he couldn't help as Cerberus announced it to the group.

"Fuck!. Kyle has a place but the person who helped set him up with it is that rat bastard fixer who set Rocky and me up with Loui, Ezekiel Smithers. Unless you guys have more luck with your contacts it looks like we are gonna hole up in an abandoned building."

Rocky just nodded and then laid back trying to get some sleep, while things were quite.

[DireRadiant]

Cruising I-520 East
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:40:08
Sledge - Tusker
PAN - Hidden

<<@Sugar Lips:: <<shopping List>> Keep an eye out, Fish may be able to get a line onto you.>>

<<@crew:: Right, picking spot at random. Need place to conceal vehicles and ourselves.>>

Things were clearing up, it looked like they had no one but themselves to take care of, which was both easier and harder.

[JDragon]

Cruising along I-520 East
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:41:41
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden

Rocky was almost asleep as the van started to slow down to exit the freeway into the barrens. For some reason, maybe nostalgia Rocky wanted to see where they were going, maybe he would reconize something from his youth.

he slowly opened his eyes and leaned foward so he could look out through the front windshield of the van. In the distance he could see Sledge slowing down as well and starting to exit, then something can to Rocky like a shot out of the dark and he called out to Angel as he fumbled to pull his comm. "Don't follow her, thats not where we want to be in the barrens. Unless we all want to glow in the dark!"

Rocky didn't do pleasantries as he opened a channel on the comm, using the same feed he had a few minutes earlier so everyone but Johnson got his message. <<@Cerberus|Sledge|Angel|Fortunato:: SLEDGE! WRONG EXIT! STAY ON THE FREEWAY! We gotta go further out or we'll end up glowing in the dark.>>

As he closed the comm Rocky watched, hoping she had got the message.

[Abbandon]

an Apartment in Sophocles District, The Posse turf
Tuesday 8/19/70 14:30:11
Cerberus - Street Samurai/Bullet magnet
PAN: Hidden (earbud,non-plural)

It was no use. Whatever Johnson and Rocky had hooked him up with didnt seem to be doing anything, he still hurt all over and he needed quite and comfort to get to sleep. Apparently Sledge had just almost given them all a free dose of radiation before Rocky had orrected her path. Guess she doesnt know everything. Cerberus mused.

Cerberus had been to the barrens more times then he could count and each time it was the same thing. Some dumb ass rich guy tried to score some drugs or sex himself and skip the crap that was peddled on the fringes which was usually of a substandard qaulity and ended up getting shot or worse, beat up and mugged. Yes getting shot was preferrable.

Depending on which day it was he would either land in a choppr or show up in a van, leap out the doors and start laying down covering fire for his team to scoop the would be corpse and then haul ass out of there in less than a minute. All the neighborhoods were essentially the same. Rows upon rows of large multistory apartment complex's broken up here and there for grocery stores, bars, and a few commercial buildings. The apartment complex's were usually overcrowded two to three times over with people spilling out into the yards, parking lots, and alleys. groups of buildings would all have the same color of brick facades denoting they were owned by the same people or atleast used to be.

You could usually spot no less than five or more satelittes along the edges of the roofs so that people could have some kind of matrix connection. As Cerberus opened his eyes and slowly moved up towards the front of the vans thats exactly what he could see looking down over the side of the freeway.

Rocky was also looking out the front of the van probably reading the signs. <<@team /cept Johnson, "Take that Union Hill road exit Sledge and then keep going straight. Whatever you do DONT go north into Kingsgate. That place is a warzone.>>

Caittie followed Sledge as they took the next exit and proceeded straight ahead. On more than a few corners and to the north you could see people sitting or standing drinking or fighting and whenever the bike and van would roll by the people would stop and watch, presumably to make sure it was not a new threat.

After a few more minutes Sledge's voice came over the comms, <<@team cept/ Johnson, "This Sophocles place look good. Me try here, be ready." >> Cerberus watched out the front as Sledge lead the van down a street and came to a stop at the entrance to a street. To either side were burned out husks of cars that had been positioned to narrow down the passge. Between the two cars was an unlit oil drum and two scrawny kids sitting on the hood of one of the cars and talking, atleast until they had pulled up.

Jumping off the hood they both readied their pistols and then one approached Sledge while the other kept watch over his friend and the van both. Their hair was ratty and dirty and cut in designs Cerberus thought no kid would want. Their outfits were more dirt than cloth, ripped and shredded shirts and pants exposing bits of arms and legs and torso. They both had something in common though, they both had sheriff badge tattoo's on the side of their face.

Sledge revved the engine of her bike as the one in back was looking at the van and startled him and then she let the bike idle and sat up crossing her arms after turning her commlink mic on for the others to hear her conversation. <<@team. The kid began the conversation. "What the hell do you's want?". "We stay here". "You stay here? Not freaking likely orcy this be The Posse's turf!, now beat it". "We stay here, we pay".>>

With that the kid walked back to his friend and they whispered back and forth and then the one who had held back shrugged his shoulder. The negotiator came back to Sledge. << "You's give 400 nuyen and you stay, under The Posse's protection.". The youth pointed towards an apartment building towards the end of the street. "Thats where you stay, anyplace you want on the third floor". "Collect payment from van".>> With that Sledge revved her hog up and cruised down the road slowly and waited for the van.

Cerberus move to the back and pulled some of the cash he had found out of the van's storage and counted out four one hundred nuyen bills. Stuffing the rest in his pocket he went back to the front and then stuffed the bills into Caittie's hand. "Give him a smile and maybe we will get a discount Angel", Cerberus could not restrain a big toothy grin.

Caittie looked horrorfied for a second or two and then quickly pulled herself together as the kid began walking back towards the van. Cerberus couldnt see her face but he imagined it was probably twisted up in disgust. She had powered down the window and just about threw the money out the window. As the kid got closer and saw Caittie his eyes grew big like he saw something he wanted very badly. He grabbed the cash as he was licking his lips and before he could get a word out Caittie already had the van rolling along to catch up with Sledge. The kid was left behind with his friend pointing and laughing at him until the other one yelled something at him and he promptly shut up.

Catching up with Sledge they pulled into some empty parking stalls in front of the apartment that had been pointed out. Sledge had powered down her bike and was dismounting and Caitie had turned the van off as well. Rocky popped the vans back doors open and waited for Sledge who walked around....

[Konsaki]

Redmond Barrens – Posse Turf
Tuesday 8/19/70 14:30:11
Angel – Technomancer - Hidden
PAN – Hidden

She couldn’t really place when it really hit her, the fact that she and the rest of this motley crew were really headed into the barrens. All the elf knew was that when she listened to Cerberus talking his one-sided conversation with Kyle, she could see the bike ahead of her closing distance with the border. The van followed suit as per it’s last given command, much to Caittie’s growing despair.
‘This is really happening, isn’t it?’, she could only ask herself as she looked upon the quickly changing landscape. ‘Are we really going to be safer out here?’, the ex-lower-middle classed teenager continued to ask herself as she started to hug herself in the driver’s seat for comfort.
She couldn’t help but think of all the rumors she heard from while in high school. Gangs running around shooting guns at random and looking for girls to kidnap for… She tried to shake her mind from those thoughts but it ran on as her imagination ran wild with ghouls and zombies walking the streets at night hunting people to eat while mutants lurked in the sewers below the streets. It only got worse from there…

She was shaken from her nightmarish daydreaming by the bald troll in the back of the van exclaiming his disgust with the situation. Listening to him, it seemed Kyle had a place for the group to stay, but someone else would sell them out if they used it. It was like the final nail in the coffin as it sealed the plan; they were headed into Redmond because they had no other option left.
She could feel her shoulders drop in defeat to the situation. Caittie could only guess what her face looked like at that moment. The only saving grace she could find in the situation was if everything went right, which she wasn’t going to kid herself; it wouldn’t, they might have a day or two to relax without Louie or his underlings gunning after them. That is, if someone else didn’t come after them like the FBI…
That got her thinking about Johnson… Adam Lear, she corrected herself. Even though she loathed thinking of him right now, due to her still being pissed off at his pompous and flippant attitude towards her, she was thankful only for the fact that it prevented her wild thoughts on the barrens. Caittie still didn’t know how to take Sledge’s comment about using him for bait… The thoughts of him being the target-

<<@Team:: SLEDGE! WRONG EXIT! STAY ON THE FREEWAY! We gotta go further out or we'll end up glowing in the dark.>>

Her mental world cracked asunder under the volume of Rocky’s roaring voice and following message, leaving her to scramble around to pick up the pieces of her nerves. Looking from behind her, where she jerked her vision towards the fist fighter, back out the front at Sledge’s bike; the young technomancer saw the motorcycle quickly correct itself back onto the highway instead of going down the off ramp.
“Glow in the dark…�, the red haired elf whispered in fear. Swallowing out of reaction to the fear, she could only think, ‘Can this get any worse?’ Of course after thinking that, she mentally kicked herself for tempting fate or the gods above.

As time passed, they rode the highway farther into Redmond; the landscape became bleaker and bleaker. The buildings around quickly going from low class stores and warehouses to buildings in bad need of repair, with the worst looking like they would be easily condemned by the city if they even bothered looking at them. Hell, it almost got to the point that some buildings were lacking windows and walls; some caused by time’s toll on the broken area, the others obviously caused by meta-human hands and tools.
After a quick warning about a recent gang war in the Kingsgate area, it was quickly decided by Sledge that the group should avoid it. Caittie could only imagine the sights she would see in the ganger’s version of war. After a few seconds of that though, she shook her head and vehemently swore not to go into that hell zone… if she could help it.

Eventually, Rocky finally saw a neighborhood that he said he remembered from when he was growing up. He told the ork woman in front of them to head down the next exit and ride down some Union Hill Rd. Driving down the pothole filled road was tough on the van and it’s occupants as it moved back and forth, following the evading Harley, but it couldn’t help but hit a few every now and then, jostling everyone inside as the vehicle jerked with the sudden drops.
There were other obstacles in the way, such as burned hulks of what were once vehicles and ruble from buildings in the Rio de Janiero like urban nightmare. The scene could only make Caittie ask in awe, “Are we really going to be safe here?� Rocky’s reply consisted of a quick assurance of safety due to his growing up fine in the barrens.
Letting out a sigh, the technomancer could only think, ‘Yeah, well, there’s a huge difference between a troll and an elf girl…’

She could feel it clearly as the vehicle started slowing down due to more rubble and vehicles blocking the road; the trepidation of being here. ‘How did my life turn from being annoyed for having to go to school to being scared out of my mind trying to stay safe?’, Caittie though as she saw Sledge looking around herself. Looking around the tough woman in front of her, the green eyed girl could see the cause of her increased scanning of the area.
Like before on the roads, there were vehicles and barrels which were damaged or burned to husks, sometimes both. Only this time they were arranged on the street to cause a choke point for vehicles like theirs. The people manning said checkpoint filled Caittie with renewed fear and anxiety as she gazed upon their cloths, features and more importantly, their weapons.

At first glance, they all seemed to be around her own age, maybe a couple of years younger at the youngest but no more than a year older at the most. The similarities stopped there, even in the one or two girls she saw. They all looked cut and lean, faces with hard lines fitting more to a person almost twice their age, probably caused by the hardships they faced, she guessed.
Then it registered to her, looking into all their faces, that they were all humans. Not a meta amongst them. It didn’t concern her too much, considering how she was just trying not to freak out about being so close to them, even with them on the other side of the tinted windows. She could only focus in on the bloody, tattered and worn ‘Ganger’ clothes that showed that these people, these kids, were the real deal.

Pistols in hand, two of the eldest jumped off the hood of the burned out husk of a car they were sitting on and strutted up to Sledge like they owned the place. Caittie wasn’t going to argue with them one bit, they could have this place.
Still, she could hear the conversation over the connection Sledge kept open on her side. Hearing the rough voices going back and forth, she waited as patiently as she could. It finally boiled down to a demanding of cash, 400 nuyen to be exact, for the ‘privilege’ of being under ‘The Posse’s’ protection.
The deal made final, with just the cash to be exchanged, the negotiating youth pointed towards a relatively intact building just down the road. Anywhere they wanted on the third floor, that’s what they bought with the, yet to be paid, money. Then the teenager heard words which filled her with clear dread, “Collect payment from van.�

As the motorcycle pulled away from in front of them to stop just down the road, Caittie heard someone moving around behind her. Focusing in on the guy walking up towards the van, she nearly jumped out of her skin when Cerberus grabbed one of her hands and put a wad of bills into it. “Give him a smile and maybe we’ll get a discount.�, she heard his rough voice say through a giant toothy grin.
She couldn’t help but feel a shiver run over her in pure disgust at the thought, but pushed the feeling down, trying to gain control of it. After a second, she was able to control it enough to steel her nerves against the revulsion of just rolling down the window.
Almost as if the air outside would melt her, Caittie rolled the window down only just enough to stick the scrip through enough for the encroaching ganger to grab it. As the boy reached for it, he paused looking like he was directly looking at her through the heavily tinted windows. Maybe his shadow was in the exact right spot based off the angle of the sun, but whatever the reason, it seemed like he got a good look inside. Caittie could only guess that what he saw left him lusting as much as it left her filled with disgust and nausea, as she saw the human male’s eyes widen and his tongue dart out to lick his lips like he was seeing a freshly cooked steak before ravishing it.
At that, Caittie pushed the rest of the scrip out the window, where it flew out and to the ground before revving the van’s engine to break away from the chokepoint. Roaring down the street, away from the vermin behind her, she could only comment, “I think I’m going to be sick…�

The rest of the ride was fairly uneventful as they rode a just a little more before pulling into some empty parking stalls to a giant bricked apartment building. After pulling to a stop and shutting off the engine, Caittie practically jumped out the driver’s door into the outside. To anyone who looked at her, she truly looked green at the gills, the look of the ganger viewing her in lust filling her with such sickness.

[BlackHat]

Rear of Public Bus #227
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:41:23
Mr. Smith - Johnson
PAN - Hidden

Sledge's message caught Adam off-guard. It had been less than ten minutes since he left 'his team' at the bus-station, but he had already made that mental switch between thinking of himself as "Mr. Smith - Mob Agent" and "Adam Lear - College Student". He was glad, though. He had hoped she would keep him updated, since he doubted anyone else was going to.

Her message came along with a few more item-requests, reminding Adam that he would eventually have to attend to them. Most of the ride back towards the Dancing Bare was spent sifting through Smith's digital 'little black book' of names he had come across in the last few months. He kept cluttered notes here and there - and even had some phone numbers he thought might lead somewhere, but, for the most part, these were people he had never met, and all of them were mob guys. They could just as easily be tied to Louie as to Franco - and Franco definatly made it clear he didn't want his name anywhere near Smith's team. At least, not yet.

As he hopped off the bus, he remembered his earlier encounter with Franseca DelGato (still a mobster, but definatly not connected to Franco, and already connected to this mess), and smiled as he jogged across the busy street to the parking lot where he left his bike. He got that feeling that things were falling into place for him, as he had become accustomed to, and before he drove away, he made a quick call to Bruno. Franseca's 'work number' apparantly wasn't too hard to get, which somewhat cheapened the challange - but at least he had what he needed. Adam was also glad that Bruno didn't ask for a status update, or why he was asking about Franseca. If Franco wanted to know how things were going, Adam figured Franco would let him know when it was safe to talk about it.

Checking the time in AR, Adam cursed. Even with favorable traffic he wasn't going to make it to class on time, but if he drove his ass off and risked parking his bike in staff parking, he might not be too horribly late. As he got on, and headed towards campus, he dailed up Franseca with Smith's comm, deciding that a prompt response was better in this case. He also wondered what he was going to say if she picked up.