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

[JDragon]

Westbound on I-90, Renton-Redmond line
Wednesday 8/20/70 22:16:25
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden

Rocky heard the call come over the comm from Johnson as he helped Cerberus work on everyone's wounds.

@Team:: "Okay, team, what's everyone's status? We need to find a place to debrief, settle-up, and figure out what you guys need to get back on your feet."

<<@Team:: "I'm a bit shot up but I'm good for a while. I can drive the bike if needed as well, that way Cerb can work on Sledge while we are still on the road. By the way, where are we headed now?">>

[Konsaki]

Westbound I-90, Issaquah Area
Wednesday 8/20/70 22:16:34
Caittie – Technomancer – Hidden
PAN: Hidden

Caittie had a lot of things on her mind, each pushing for the forefront trying to be the most important in the list of inner demons and issues to be dealt with. One by one, the girl had pushed them aside to keep focused on the truly most important thing at hand, finishing the group’s escape.
Listening to the chatter on the team’s commlines, the elven girl knew that pretty much everyone was injured. Even she was feeling the strain of pushing her will on the intangible fabric between the Matrix everyone knew about and the hidden world that truly made the Matrix what it was. Even while her mind was fully immersed in the virtual reality state inherent to the fast speeds she needed, Caittie still felt the dull throbbing of a severe headache setting in along with a general fatigued feeling throughout her being.

"I think I took care of whatever was following us. We should be safe for a while, unless something else comes up or we start a commotion again�, the technomancer mentally spoke out to the team. “As for where we’re going, I think Cerberus is right. We need to stop somewhere. Give me a minute to try and find a place.�
She figured that they though she was going to look something up over the Matrix. To be truthful, she didn’t have the first clue on what exactly to search for. No keywords, no search strings… any idea. The girl was just looking out into the surrounding area for something that looked good to her mind’s eye.

Indeed, looking out through the van’s camera, it only took a little bit of the highway passing by to see a building off to the south which screamed ‘I’m safe’ to her mind. Seeing that, she plotted a course in the van’s dog-brain and threw an icon on the team’s map. “I think I’ve found a place. We should be able to stop here for a little while to check ourselves out.�


Parking Garage, Newport Way, Issaquah Area
Wednesday 8/20/70 22:19:57

It only took a few minutes for the caravan to get off the highway and make it to its temporary destination; a rather tall parking garage. Passing through the toll gate, they went through the slow spiral of parking spaces up to the fifth floor, where the amount of empty spaces greatly outnumbered the full.
Parking in a large group of empty spaces, Caittie felt the weight of reality envelope her as she shifted from VR to normal speeds. She could still feel the matrix around her still, but she knew that this was the true world. ‘The real world hurts…’, the elf told herself as she rubbed her temples.

Popping the door open, she jumped down to the cement ground and raised her arms above her head in a deep stretch. A slight groan of discomfort escaped her before she relaxed enough to look around at the rest of the group.

Adam was off his bike already, trying to straighten his windswept hair into place along with his cloths. Other than looking annoyed and dirty, he seemed fine to Caittie. What really caught her attention was when she looked over to Sledge.
The technomancer knew that the woman would be hurt from the comm traffic, but Sledge had blood soaking through her jacket and was leaning forward against her handlebars breathing heavily. It seemed like she could barely keep the giant motorcycle upright, and less likely to get off the beast without falling.

“Oh my god! Are you ok?�, the redhead cried out the stupid question as she moved over to the older woman. Caittie didn’t know what she should do, but at least try and help her steady the bike to keep the ork upright seemed reasonable.

[BlackHat]

Parking Garage, Newport Way, Issaquah Area
Wednesday 8/20/70 22:20:20
Smith - Johnson
PAN - Hidden

Smith parked his bike and released the death-grip he had forgotten about on the handle-bars. His fingers were a little sore and numb from the getaway, and his heart was pounding in his chest. That was awesome. He hoped that whatever magic was concealing them from the other drivers also concealed them from the street's security cameras - but he half-wished he could get a copy of that ride for himself.

His fingers began to tingle as life returned to them. He ran them through his hair and looked upwards, searching for security cameras in the parking structure. He couldn't imagine a parking lot that didn't have some sort of security-system. They might have made it away, but Adam was still worried. Everyone else was in the clear - their problems were solved - but if any of this lead back to him, his problems were just beginning.

His attention was taken from his quick survey when he heard Angel's voice screaming. That was when he noticed Sledge. She had said something about being shot, but she was in bad shape. Adam was reminded of their first run together - but stitching up claw wounds and fishing out a bullet were totally different things. If anyone else on this team had any experience - Smith would let them handle things.

Walking quickly over to Sledge's bike, he was ready to offer help where he could. <<@Team:: "Angel, anything you can do about this place's security?">> He wasn't even sure, himself, that there was anything. Maybe Angel picked this spot because it was clear. Maybe she had already taken the necessary precautions. <<@Team:: "We may have lost them, but if this place picks up our vehicles, they'll be right on us again.">>

[pragma]

Parking Garage, Newport Way, Issaquah Area
Wednesday 8/20/70 22:20:40
Fortunato - Support Mage
PAN - Hidden

After casting about for astral pursuers one last time, Fortunato settled into his body, wincing with the anticipation of the burns on his skin, but he was pleasantly surprised to find them bandaged and not painful.

He was unpleasantly surprised to see people outside of their vehicles.

Spirit, I trust that your concealment extends to my companions and their posessions regardless of whether they are on their vehicles.

Fortunato expected to argue this point stringently, but the eager to please spirit simply said Yes, master.

Gathering his thoughts, he typed:

<<@Team: Don't go too far away from the vehicles or my magic will break down.

This isn't a full blown stop, we've got to move fast. Everyone, disguises off and into the back of the van, we'll get rid of them later.>>

Noticing that the team's young hacker was gawking at the bleeding orc, Fort added.

<<@Angel: Caittie, I need you in the van working on the garage's security right now.>>

He had climbed out of the car by the time the message was finished and had made his way to Sledge at about the same time as the hulking troll with the comically small medkit.

He held up a hand to stop Cerberus and then he suffered from a moment of panic. There was too much to do. These people didn't seem to know how to do it. His minimal exposure to cloak and dagger games was the best they had, and it wasn't very good at all. He took two heavy, ragged breaths, then started speaking in a tone that brooked no argument.

"Johnson, I need you back on your bike. We're rolling soon. Send us a message about getting paid and pick a good, secure rendezvous point."

"Cerberus, stay here for a second, keep everyone else where they are."

More gently, he said:

"Sledge, we don't have the time to patch you up right now. Can you still drive?"

His mind raced through the necessary astral precautions as he waited for Sledge to respond.

[JDragon]

Parking Garage, Newport Way, Issaquah Area
Wednesday 8/20/70 22:21:07
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden

As the van pulled to a stop Rocky picked up his revolver from the bench and moved over to the door. Opening the door he took a quick look around and then stepped out, stretching out to his full height. His body complained a little but he worked past it, like he always had in the past.

He slipped the pistol, which was starting to feel a little more comfortable after using it to killing two people at less than a meter away, in to it holster at his back.

<<@Team: Don't go too far away from the vehicles or my magic will break down. This isn't a full blown stop, we've got to move fast. Everyone, disguises off and into the back of the van, we'll get rid of them later.>>

Rocky nodded to him self and started pulling of the remains of his disguise, parts of it having been torn away during the fight.

Catching movement out of the corner of his eye he turned to see Cattie moving toward Sledge where she was barely holding here huge hog up. As he approached Fort and Cerberus approached as well. He got close enough to catch some of what Fort was saying.

"Sledge, we don't have the time to patch you up right now. Can you still drive?"

Not waiting for Sledge to reply Rocky added his thoughts to the conversation. "Hey, I'm pretty sure Cerberus or I can drive the bike and the other can work on Sledge in the van so we can keep this show on the road."

[DireRadiant]

Highway to Hell, south of I-90
Wednesday 8/20/70 22:21:17
Sledge - Breaking Away
PAN - Hidden

"Sledge, we don't have the time to patch you up right now. Can you still drive?"

!@#$%^&*())(*&%$

"Hey, I'm pretty sure Cerberus or I can drive the bike and the other can work on Sledge in the van so we can keep this show on the road."

!@#$%^&*())(*&%$

Ribs shifted, something oozed out of her chest and tickled as it streamed down her side. The horizon on the ARO stayed rock steady despite all the disctractions.

It was too late now, she was committed. Monica was just going to have to deal with it. The secondary ARO countdown timer she had been transmitting to the team flickered and reset to zero, then faded out, with only 20 minutes remaining. Freedom, trust, safety and independence, and maybe her life, not easy things to give up, but otherwise she couldn't live, not and be herself. Her littermate would ask who she was doing this for, thinking it was about the Crew. That was Monica always thinking it was about someone else and what someone else wanted or needed. The Crew was raw, management was a college kid, the vet was a burn out, the Talent was untested , and a typical pair of mindless trogs to round it out, the job sucked, the plan didn't even exist, things were rolling faster then they could handle, and she was going to have to wash all the blood out of her leather seat. Sledge couldn't live any other way.

"Still bleeding, can drive."

!@#$%^&*())(*&%$

"no names ..."

!@#$%^&*())(*&%$

With a vicious tug and grimace accompanied by a silent snarl she ripped out the padding from her disguise and placed it on the scorpions tank for someone to get rid of.

!@#$%^&*())(*&%$

"shirt ..."

[Abbandon]

Parking Garage, Newport Way, Issaquah Area
Wednesday 8/20/70 22:21:25
Cerberus - Street Samurai
PAN - Hidden

Cerberus was still amped up even after having taken time to patch up the others carefully. While people started planning what to do next he listened and watched out the front window as they turned off the freeway and went a few blocks and then went into a tall parking garage. He didnt think this was such a good idea as there would doubtlessly be tons of security camera's all over the place but he wasnt in charge and they didnt really have time to be picky.

Angel had hopped out of the van and Rocky was climbing out the back so Cerberus followed with his medkit in tow and stretched out to his full height and more as he stretched his arms up into the air as much as he could. He then started walking towards Sledge concerned for how badly she was injured and to help get her back to the van if need be.

<<@Team: Don't go too far away from the vehicles or my magic will break down. This isn't a full blown stop, we've got to move fast. Everyone, disguises off and into the back of the van, we'll get rid of them later.>>

Fortunately Cerberus had already stripped off most of his disguise while he was fixing himself up. His mask was still on though so after looking around nervously for camera's or people he pulled it free and tossed it into the back of the van pretty accurately. Fortunato was walking toward everyone at this point having also vacated the van. He held a hand up to Cerberus as he got closer, and spoke again.

"Johnson, I need you back on your bike. We're rolling soon. Send us a message about getting paid and pick a good, secure rendezvous point."

"Cerberus, stay here for a second, keep everyone else where they are."

More gently, he said:

"Sledge, we don't have the time to patch you up right now. Can you still drive?"

Then Rocky added his thoughts:

"Hey, I'm pretty sure Cerberus or I can drive the bike and the other can work on Sledge in the van so we can keep this show on the road."

Cerberus just stood there and let the others figure out what to do. It didnt matter to him whether he drove Sledge's bike or helped try to fix her up in the van. It would probably feel heavenly to ride a bike about now though. It was very calming to get on a bike and just go, everything else in the world just seemed to disappear and he could definately go for some of that. Was he always going to have this sense of dred worrying about whether or not something he had done in the past was going to catch up with him? So far everything he had experienced said not only should he worry about it, it will probably happen to.

Sledge looked like shit and she still wanted to go on?? Cerberus was amazed. Shrugging he grabbed the pieces of her disguise from her bike. He would have offered her his shirt but he didnt have one on either. He walked back to the van and tossed the garbage into the van and put the medkit back and then walked back to Fortunato and waited for him to say what he wanted Cerberus to do.

[BlackHat]

Parking Garage, Newport Way, Issaquah Area
Wednesday 8/20/70 22:21:30
Smith - Johnson
PAN - Hidden

Despite being caught off-guard by Fortunato's sudden take-charge attitude, Smith was glad he wasn't the only one still worried about the mission being far from over. With one last appologetic glance at Sledge, he headed back to his bike.

<<@Team:: "Alright, good luck. Head towards....">> Something Sledge had said gave him another idea.Smith paused for a minute, reconsidering what he was about to say, then he resumed in a much more obfuscated manner, <<@Team:: "Rendezvous where I last offered to settle our tab.">>

The extra caution was probably unnecessary. Still, on the off-chance that the security team or Lone Star had infiltrated their network, it was best to change the route, and to not say out loud where it was they were headed. Smith was fairly certain they could figure out where he wanted them to go. If not, once he had established that the coast was clear, he could always remind them.

He also rather liked the idea of finishing buisness where he had begun it - and it seemed like the cloak-and-dagger sort of thing that Runner movies were full of.

With that, he pulled his bike around and headed out of the structure - no longer following the Love Machine - and not even heading in remotely the right direction.

[JDragon]

Parking Garage, Newport Way, Issaquah Area
Wednesday 8/20/70 22:21:07
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden

Since things seemed to be under control and his help was not needed Rocky made his way to the van, adding the remains of his disguise to the pile on the of the van. Then he pulled out his duffel bag that he had be living out of for what seemed like a year but was only a couple weeks and pulled out a shirt. Throwing it over his shoulder he closed the bag up and slipped it back in to it spot out of the way.

He trotted over to the ork and handed her the shirt, "Here you go. Need anything else?"

[DireRadiant]

Parking Garage, Newport Way, Issaquah Area
Wednesday 8/20/70 22:21:13
Sledge - Breaking Up
PAN - Hidden

"andy..."

She shook her head ground her teeth as she slipped on the shirt over the coagulating blood.

"never mind ... we need a hole ... my ticket ... no good .... missed bus ..."

Sledge shut her eyes and concentrated holding her breathe.

<<@team:: Can tour the coffins if close the loophole Louie used to track Angel, otherwise need another safehouse for a day till Sugar Lips checks the streets. If we are clean we can split up and never see each other again. Normally we split up right now, but planned hidey hole just went over the border and most of us are fresh meat and don't have holes to hide in so we need to cover each others backs for a bit.

Keep rolling till we find out the word on the street or we find a hidey hole.>>

"@(*&#&!@!!%$#%"

Her legs were on fire as hammer blows punched her in the chest, she bit her teeth together over her shredded tongue and sucked in another agonizing lungful of air.

[pragma]

Parking Garage, Newport Way, Issaquah Area
Wednesday 8/20/70 22:21:16
Fortunato - Support Mage
PAN - Hidden (Contacts, Earbuds, Smartlink)
Astrally Inactive

Fortunato immediately worried about Johnson skipping out on his bill. These people were criminals after all. He dismissed his watchers and summoned a fresh batch of them, one for Sledge, one for Johnson and one for the van.

The conversation evolved around him as he started tugging on the mana in the area, peeling sheets of it and molding them into disguises.

Sledge was first. They couldn't have a bleeding ork woman on a hog. A few moments later she was a korean motorcyclist. Looking more like she was a programmer out for a joyride than a professional criminal.

The love machine was next. It turned into a black panel van without any graffiti, bullet holes or armor plating making it stand out.

Johnson was still somehow uninjured and non-descript. Fortunato was surprised.

His signatures were blurry and faded, they blended into the background in a way that they normally would not have. He found he got a headache trying to focus on them. Odd behavior aside, they still needed to be cleaned and he pulled them apart, with more ease than expected.

Breathing heavily he looked at his handiwork. He was fooled; it was time to see if everyone else was.

<<@Team: Alright, magical disguises up on Love Machine and Sledge. Check them out, let me know if you see through them. We need to start moving. Once we're on the street I'll ditch the spirit concealment.>>

He looked at Sledge. "Your call letting one of the big guys ride your bike. But you're right, we need to start moving now."

He climbed back into the passenger's seat and then started thinking again.

<<@Team: Did anyone leave blood at the firefight? If you did, then you need to get behind a ward in the next few hours. They can track us otherwise.>>

[JDragon]

Parking Garage, Newport Way, Issaquah Area
Wednesday 8/20/70 22:21:19
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden

Rocky was walking back to the van as the message came across from Fort, and had to struggle to not laugh out loud.

<<@Team: Did anyone leave blood at the firefight? If you did, then you need to get behind a ward in the next few hours. They can track us otherwise.>>

Once he had fought down the impulse to laugh he responded. <<@Team: I'm sure my blood is all over the ground in a few places and the top of that SUV I landed on. So I guess I'm sticking with you for a while.>>

As he finished the message Rocky climbed back in the van and waited for the show to once again get on the road.

[Abbandon]

Parking Garage, Newport Way, Issaquah Area
Wednesday 8/20/70 22:22:10
Cerberus - Street Samurai
PAN- Hidden

Cerberus watched Fortunato wave his arms around and then once he was done and directed by Fortunato to look at the van he was supprised to see that it looked totally different than what it had a few seconds ago.

Keeping up with Rocky and Fort he walked back to the van and climbed back into his spot in the rear and closed the doors. As he cleaned up the crap from the disguises and piled it all up in a corner Fort came back over the comm's, <<@Team: Did anyone leave blood at the firefight? If you did, then you need to get behind a ward in the next few hours. They can track us otherwise.>>.

Then Rocky answered, <<@Team: I'm sure my blood is all over the ground in a few places and the top of that SUV I landed on. So I guess I'm sticking with you for a while.>>

Cerberus followed suit, <<@Team: Uhh I get hit several times but im not really sure if i left any blood, better safe than sorry in my opinion.>> Then cerberus switched channels and sent a message to Angel, <<@Angel: Hey are you done with your hacking stuff? I could use your help. I want to know what is the status of my apartment, did the cops take everything? Most importantly what about my bike? And do you know how to trasfer money off of criminal SINS or something or is the money in my bank account gone/locked up forever?>>

[DireRadiant]

Parking Garage, Newport Way, Issaquah Area
Wednesday 8/20/70 22:21:13
Sledge - Bloody and Broken
PAN - Hidden

<<@team:: about 2 units ... space for ward?>>

She registered the engine starting through the vibration in her skull, and breathing in shallow gasps started the scorpion rolling downhill.

damned trogs treat bullets like hail ...

[Konsaki]

Parking Garage, Newport Way, Issaquah Area
Wednesday 8/20/70 22:23:21
Caittie - Technomancer - Hidden
PAN - Hidden

The van drove out of the parking garage's gates just as easily as it had gotten in. Caittie almost shook her head at the unmaintained programing the node was using. Course she guessed the operators of the garage never expected someone like her to ever want or need to hack the gates to get in. Still, it was just another thing on the long list of illegal activities she performed this neverending day.

Looking into the sideview mirror, the elven girl, now demasked and with hair in a relaxed ponytail, could see an asian woman following the van out the gates on Sledge's bike. It seemed a bit odd to see a prim and upperclass buisness woman riding where the bloody and dirty down to earth ork was just a few minutes ago. Truthfully, it amazed the younger female that Sledge was even able to ride the bike, let alone be upright.
It was only the slight confusion of having Johnson and Fort giving orders at the same time that kept Caittie from jumping in to try and help the older woman. All things considered, though, it was probably better that she did just go back to the van with just a concerned look.

Then there was the barrage of spam sent across the team's network that she had to sort through. 'Security in the garage, done... at least done enough', she guessed. Then the message from Johnson about where to meet. That had a big questionmark above the girl's head for a second before she remembered the truck stop they met up at before the chaos mission started... if she didnt consider this entire couple of days an elaberate mission of chaotic disaster.

<<Hey are you done with your hacking stuff? I could use your help. I want to know what is the status of my apartment, did the cops take everything? Most importantly what about my bike? And do you know how to trasfer money off of criminal SINS or something or is the money in my bank account gone/locked up forever?>>

The message blobed itself into a transparent window hanging in the technomancer's AR field of view, half blocking the view of Asian Sledge breaking off from the van. Letting out a mental sigh, Caittie brushed an errant pink hair from out infront of her face. "I'll look into it later, but for now I'd guess you should just count everything as a loss.", she sent back mentally. "Right now we need to get to where we are going and figure out what to do next..."
The only thing keeping the four of them from the meeting point was a long stretch of road and maybe all of LoneStar... With another sigh, Caittie started on the one of the two she could work on, transversing the roads to get to the once visited truck stop without drawing too much attention...

[adamu]

Truck stop on Snohomish Monroe Highway
Wednesday 8/20/70 23:54:54

The caravan of exhausted would-be shadowrunners pulled into the truck stop a hair before the witching hour. Sledge had stayed in view of the Love Machine the whole way, and Johnson had pulled alongside her from another branch of Interstate 9 just a few klicks shy of their destination.

There was a huge United Oil filling station for the big rigs that hauled produce south into the city from the collection centers that served the surrounding agri-concerns. A smaller bank of rechargers for electric cars.

The diner was well-lit - inside the place looked over half-full with truckers and wait staff. A McHughs franchise was attached to one end of the more traditional sit-down facilities, and a Stuffer Shack was on the other side. Plastiboard signs and AROs directed truckers to facilities out back for showers or a few hours in a real bed. A wash of light and sounds from a boom box spilled out from behind a dumpster, the shrill giggles and agitated shrieks of worn-out women sounding like jungle birds but reminding everyone that the beds need not be slept in alone.

[BlackHat]

Truck stop on Snohomish Monroe Highway
Wednesday 8/20/70 23:56:14
Smith - Johnson
PAN - Hidden

Smith got off of his bike and rolled his head around, stretching out his neck and shoulders, before removing his helmet. Hooking it onto the back of his bike, he began working the restraints on his briefcases.

<<@Team:: "Glad to see that everyone made it. Money's getting cold, but let's do the medic-thing first.">> He glanced in the direction of the restaurants, and added, <<@Team:: "You guys have anywhere to go tonight?">>

[Abbandon]

Truck stop on Snohomish Monroe Highway
Wednesday 8/20/70 23:56:23
Cerberus - Street Samurai
PAN - Hidden

Cerberus didnt wait for anyone else to answer, <<@team: As of now I am homeless and my SIN is either wanted or criminal. Fortunato also said it would be a good idea if we all went someplace that could be warded...I sure as hell dont want to become no shedim or something like that...

Hey Boss what would you like done with all the hardware? Should we leave it in the van or pack it up? >>

Looking out of the front window of the van at all the resteraunts Cerberus's stomach began to grumble. He was going to have to start bringing energy bars and shit to work so he could keep his body fed. It takes alot of fuel to run his giant muscles. He started having flash backs of hanging out with his friends from doc wagon and how they would make fun of how much he could eat but he did his best to stop thinking of them. Now was not the time to grieve. Loui may be dead but they didnt know whether or not they were in the clear.

[BlackHat]

Truck stop on Snohomish Monroe Highway
Wednesday 8/20/70 23:57:48
Smith - Johnson
PAN - Hidden

<<@Team:: "That van is a vault compared to anywhere else you'd be going. So, take whatever you want for personal protection - but anything you wouldn't want to be seen with should probably stay there.">> Smith made his way over towards Sledge to assist with anything. He assumed the plan was to load her into the van and operate there - but maybe the team would need more room. He didn't like the idea of smearing their DNA anywhere where it wasn't already thick, but it wouldn't hurt to offer. <<@Team:: "I could probably score some rooms here for a couple of days if you guys want to stay while things blow over. Otherwise, after we patch everyone up and get squared away, you can look for someplace more secure.">>

[JDragon]

Truck stop on Snohomish Monroe Highway
Wednesday 8/20/70 23:58:02
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden

The ride out to the truck stop had given Rocky some time to relax and reflect on the evenings events. He had even started to doze off some as the van came to a stop.

He popped the back door as Cerberus was asking about storage and stuff, just to get some fresh air in to the back of the van. When it looked like they were getting out he pushed the door the rest of the way open and climbed out, once again stretching out after being in the van for another 90 minutes. Looking around things seemed quite, at least for the moment. Then he reached back in a grabbed what appeared to be left of his worldly possessions that were in the duffel bag he had been carrying around the last few days.

Johnson started talking about options for what to do next and the possibility of staying here. At this point Rocky didn't really care where they stayed as long as it was safe, if anything was really going to be safe anymore and allow the mage to do his ward thing.

<<@Team: I'm good with staying here or where ever, just as long as the magic man can do his thing to keep us under wraps. But a shower and some food would be great so I'm not walking around covered in blood with my stomach growling and scaring people.>>

Rocky smiled to himself at his little joke and was glad he had remembered to not use names on the comm.

[pragma]

Truck stop on Snohomish Monroe Highway
Wednesday 8/20/70 23:58:02
Fortunato - Support Mage
PAN: Hidden

Exhausted, Fortunato climbed out of the passenger side door of the van. Much of the team had been napping on the trip back from the parking garage. Focusing on the masks had prevented Fortunato from joining them. He was past the zone where he desired to sleep and was running on a ragged razor's edge of adrenaline and deprivation. He was perfectly aware that if he stopped focusing for a second he was liable to crash, but staying awake for just an hour more would make him that much safer.

He was overjoyed that Johnson had actually come to the rendezvous. Chasing him wouldn't have been fun. He was not pleased that Johnson's rendezvous was in public. He was pleased that they were parked in the darkest backwater of an already poorly lit parking lot.

He walked to Sledge's bike and offered an arm to support the inexplicably sagging Korean. Her concealed weight nearly crushed Greg as she eased off the bike which reverted to a bloody hog as she got off. Grunting, he did his best to carry her to the van, but wound up being more of a crutch than actual help.

He let her illusion slip out of his consciousness as she sat down in the back of the Love Machine. Glancing around he spoke aloud, "Anyone good at doing the medic thing?"

He stretched his hands. The manaburnt skin on his right one shifted around painfully, but he had at least one more spell to cast before the day was out. He focused on the flow of healing energy in the area and started to massage it, his hands glowing a faint green in the process.

[Konsaki]

Truck stop on Snohomish Monroe Highway
Thursday 8/21/70 00:02:47
Caittie – Technomancer – Hidden
PAN – Hidden

The red and pink haired matrix specialist stretched out her rested body. The long drive allowed her to relax for a bit and just empty her mind. The ride smooth taken care of by the van’s dog brain. The last bit of the ride, though, was taken up with thoughts about what Caittie needed to do after the team arrived at its destination.
Even as the van pulled up into the far reaches of the dark parking lot and rolled to a stop, the young technomancer was working. Out of the fabric of the matrix, she called a machine sprite to help make sure she would be able to complete her self-assigned task. “I need to you help me out by making sure this works properly. Can you do that?�, she asked it while mentally indicating the device, to which it replied in the affirmative.

As she felt the van finally stop, the girl retied her hair into a makeshift bun on her head to keep it out of the way before moving to the back of the van. Looking at the two trolls, she asked, “Can you two help Sledge get in here? The way she looked before, I think she’d need the help.�
The two fighters just looked from the girl to each other to have a moment of question. With a shrug, they went outside as she heard the passenger side door close as Fortunato did the same, though of his own accord. As everyone left the van, leaving Caittie to herself temporarily, she took advantage of the silence to gather her thoughts and put on some latex gloves from the medkit.
She barely had time to finish putting her gloves on before she saw Fortunato struggling to help Sledge into the back of the van. Looking past the mage, Caittie could see Rocky and Cerberus locked in conversation with Johnson. Her attention was immediately brought back to the more important issue at hand as the older male elf asked, “Anyone good at doing the medic thing?�
“I’m already on it. I just need you to keep yourself and the rest of the guys outside for a bit.�, the youngest member of the team replied as she closed the door of the van. Before fully closing it, she added, “Let Sledge have some privacy. She’s still a woman.�

Within the privacy of the closed and tinted van, Caittie helped the elder woman take off her cloths until the girl could see the source of the bleeding. It looked to be a pair of holes, one in front and one in back of Sledge’s muscled stomach. The girl cringed a bit at the sight due to the implications of the extent of damage there could be, but made sure to do it behind the ork’s back.
“Give me a minute to let the diagnostics run. It will help out with any treatment.�, she explained as the elf put the electrodes over the indicated spots for a stomach injury. While the medkit did it’s initial check, Caittie continued working by rubbing iodine around the punctures to reduce the chance of infection. By the time she was finished, she could see the readout from the medkit.
Looking at it for a few seconds, she understood she couldn’t make out half of what the jargon meant, but the most important information was clear. “Wow… looks like you’re pretty lucky, Sledge. This says it passed through without hitting anything. Other than the holes it left, and some blood loss, your fine.�, Caittie said to the wounded woman. The look she got back was one of pain and something else which made the girl continue with, “Um… right. Here’s some painkillers to help with that while I sew you up.“ With that, she injected the ork with a syringe of painblockers from the medkit and went to work with a needle and medical thread.

[BlackHat]

Truck stop on Snohomish Monroe Highway
Thursday 8/21/70 00:05:15
Smith - Johnson
PAN - Hidden

After being locked outside of the van with the other males, Smith smirked and began nonchalantly walking towards the back where the signs indicated rooms could be found. <<@Team:: "Alright, if I am not needed here, I'm gonna go talk to someone about a couple of rooms for the night. Any objections? Speak up sooner rather than later.">>

[pragma]

Truck Stop in Snohomish, Monroe Highway
Thursday 8/21/70 00:6:02
Fortunato - Support Mage
PAN - Hidden (Contacts, Earbuds, Smartlink)
Astrally Inactive

It was getting impossible to focus, between the mana coursing through his hands, the AR overlay of the conversation, the buzzing in his sleep deprived skull and the attention paid the van's mask. After performing a cursory check to ensure that no bystanders were nearby, he dropped the van's mask.

Glancing over at Smith he said "I think we can find a better safehouse than this, but I'm ready to settle for it if we can get rooms. I've only got the juice to ward one room before I fall asleep standing up, so we ought to put the bleeders in there."

"We've also got to decide what to do with the Love Machine, I can't keep it concealed forever and we've ..."

He was interrupted by the van's door cracking open and Caittie poking her head out. She said, "I've done everything I can."

He felt energy whirling around his hands as he walked to the door. He was surprised she had the stomach for first aid and even more surprised that Sledge had a row of neat stitches which would make trauma surgeons envious. Casting a sidelong glance at Caittie he asked "Where the hell did you learn to do first aid like that?"

Not waiting for the younger elf's answer, he slowly ran his hands across Sledge's wounds, redirecting her flesh so that the flow of mana across her skin was unperturbed. The van's interior glowed green while he worked and his face was cast in an eerie half shadow. Her skin was well sealed before he started, it was an easy healing job. Again, he was silently awestruck by Caittie's skill.

Beating a hasty retreat from Sledge's glare and Caittie's self proclaimed women's quarters he grasped at the rapidly dissipating astral echo of the van's mask and reapplied it. It was a shoddy hack, but it would serve for now.

He ignored the conversation and stared into space to clean his signatures.

[Konsaki]

Truck stop on Snohomish Monroe Highway
Thursday 8/21/70 00:06:26
Caittie – Technomancer – Hidden
PAN – Hidden

As Fortunato performed his magical feat of further healing on Sledge, the girl on the other side of the van let a sleep derived yawn escape before rubbing her eyes. ‘I’ve got to keep my mind busy or I’m going to fall asleep on my feet…’, she confided to herself as she let her hair back down. In an act to keep herself busy, she proceeded to braid it into a long three strand braid; finishing long before the mage was done with his activity.

Breathing out a slight sigh, Caittie set her mind on a more mental task, though menial. Her persona jumped from commlink to commlink inside the team’s network, at least the ones she had access to, and scrambled the commcode of each one to keep the matrix tracking of any one of them down. It took a bit of time just using her AR to do, but it allowed Fort time to finish his task as well.
As the green glow faded, the elder elf seemed to run his hand over the spot where there were stitches before, but now nothing but lighter colored skin than the surrounding area. He seemed to nod to himself, but stiffened some as he looked up from Sledge’s naked stomach to her face. The glare she seemed to have since Caittie first saw her at the parking garage was still strong as ever, only this time it was directed at the male elf in front of her.

The red haired girl was just glad she was able to suppress the giggles she knew were coming, from the look Fort had, long enough for him to vacate the van. Though, Caittie had to cough them down quickly as Sledge now had only one target to focus on now. After a quick cough, the girl stood and started to pull off the armored jacket she was wearing, “Um… here. This thing is huge on me and I think it should fit you fine. At least it’s clean and you can wear it inside where you can get some new cloths.� At this point she afforded herself a small smile towards the ork, “I doubt you want to walk in just wearing your bra…�