T-Town, A game in Alabama Options

[Thanee]

Sunday, May 3rd, 2071; 14:23:00; Somewhere, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Raven; PAN = Passive [Skinlink]; SIN = Sabrina McCoy (not broadcast)
Sustained Spells - none

"Alright, so this is the address where you were going to deliver us then? Well, what do you say..." Raven says to her team-mates. "Should we show up there or rather not?"

[phlapjack77]

Sunday, May 3rd, 2071; 14:22; Mitnicks van, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

"In my tribe, a valuable tactic was to pretend to be captured, and to spring a trap on the would-be captors..."

Ludo looked meaningfully at the troll for a few moments, then swung his attention to his partners.

"But I am not wise in these ways of warfare. I will defer to your better judgements in this matter."

[ludomastro]

Sunday, May 3rd, 2071; 14:22; Mitnicks van, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

"Oh, hell, no! I'm not helping out with this kind of crazy. I've got a rep to uphold. You've got your information, I want out at the next corner. You want to dress Squanto up over here like a hunter, be my guest. I want no part of it."

[Thanee]

Sunday, May 3rd, 2071; 14:23:20; Somewhere, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Raven; PAN = Passive [Skinlink]; SIN = Sabrina McCoy (not broadcast)
Sustained Spells - none

"Ok, even though you lied several times, I will keep my word. You can go now. But remember this... stay out of this whole affair from now on!"

Raven's voice becomes very insistent as she speaks those last words, and her face takes on some raven-like features for a moment, before everything goes back to normal as she just smiles.


Once the troll is out of the car, and they are driving off, Raven will turn to her team-mates.

"To be honest, I am quite willing to listen to what SK might have to offer... our J probably lied about pretty much everything... I don't buy this 'stolen' part for one second. They want us to get something from one of their rivals. Ok, not that this would be a problem in and of itself, but what I do consider a problem is, that our meeting there was known to other forces, and the J knew about that apparantly, why else would they have offered those stupid vests? It wouldn't surprise me, if our target belongs to SK, or whoever is behind that SK facade, anyways. Don't get me wrong, I do not normally turn on my employers, but this whole thing really doesn't seem right to me."

[phlapjack77]

Sunday, May 3rd, 2071; 14:23; Mitnicks van, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

"Squanto? ....

Raven, do you think it is wise to begin negotiations with our intended target? I believe that since they already know of our existence, it could do no real harm..."

[Redjack]

Sunday, May 3rd, 2071; 14:23; Mitnicks van, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Flash sits by quietly listening, playing the part of the mostly silent enforcer. Retrieve a prototype from a small warehouse on Jugs Road on the outskirts of town converted to a manufacturing facility. Only a few guards and dogs. Retrieve it in next 24 hours and get 6k bonus if it stays out of the news. The old man appeared to be under the influence of an external resource, someone else knew about the meet before it occurred with enough time to get bounty hunters in place... and direct the blame at SK.

He looks at the troll. "Forget you saw us and we'll forget we saw you." He then calls out to Nick. "I think our guest would like to be dropped at the nearest stuffer shack."

Once the troll has been dropped off, Flash asks Nick to sweep and make sure the neither troll dropped, nor the vests contain, neither RFID tags nor any other sort of bug. When that is also completed and Raven says her piece he replies, "There is, of course, a third option: A third party." He pauses for a moment. "I've several working theories, but the first thing to get straight is that we took a job. We accepted payment." He looks at the team before continuing, "Lots of unknown and little that we do know. The vests make sense, but the rest makes little sense. Lets find whoever issued the contract and start unraveling this."

[ludomastro]

Somewhere in Tuscaloosa

A van pulls up in front of a Stuffer Shack ™ and a troll gets out. He limps over the counter and orders a quick meal. He looks confused. A passer-by asks, Hey, chum. You OK?

The troll looks over at him, obviously annoyed, What's the problem?! I'm just sitting here eating my lunch. I was ... I was ... Damn! What WAS I going to do this afternoon? Something about money. He continues mumbling to himself.

[fistandantilus4....]

Nick chimes in from the front.
Job we were set up with was 24 hours. Sounds like a rush. Pretty damn fast rush. I'd say to keep us looking to close at it. I'm guessin' it's bogus, just enough to get us all in the room together. Could be wrong, but there's an easy enough way to find out. We got us two net cats that can look into this place, maybe hack their system and see how likely it is they actually have something like what the Johnson was talking about.

I don't like the idea of usin' ourselves as bait to walk into the lion's den though. If someone wants us and is payin' big bucks for us , makes no sense to hand deliver ourselves.

My question is, why the frag would anyone want to be paying such big bucks for someone to come after us? 40k dead, 60 alive?! Makes no sense. I can't think of a thing any of us have in common, 'sides being workin' types. So who'd put out that kinda pay day and pay us up front? It's obvious the J was in on it, since he got us the flak, and got the frag outta there ASAP. He was tryin' to work our comms too ,... although there was somethin' fishy even in that. Maybe runnin' a persona soft or somethin'?


MITNick keeps looking out the front, half talking to himself, half to Flash. The others, well, they might be in this together, but he doesn't know why yet, and forming bonds might be dangerous.

[phlapjack77]

Sunday, May 3rd, 2071; 14:24; Mitnicks van, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Ludo chuckled at Nick's response, a low rumble filling the inside of the van.

"Very well put, Nick. I also do not want to use myself as bait.

I still have a question, though. If the man we just met knew about the set-up, then either he wanted to have us captured, or he did not. If he wanted us captured, he could have easily done it in the restaurant, in the elevator, or in the meeting room with him. But if he did not want us captured, why did he not warn us beforehand?

I can only imagine that the vests were a very fortunate coincidence, or the attempted capture was perhaps some sort of trial-by-combat."

[fistandantilus4....]

The thought gives MITNick pause.

Frag, I dunno. Maybe it's like one o' them reality shows they got down in L.A. or some drek. Maybe they got camera's followin' us. Or hey, maybe it's like that old movie they remade like five times, Rat Race. There's a bunch o' rich bastards bettin' on us. I mean, they all sound like ridiculous ideas, but so is the idea of payin' upwards o' sixty grand for any o' us. ... No offense.

[phlapjack77]

Sunday, May 3rd, 2071; 14:24; Mitnicks van, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Ludo looks around worriedly.

"Would they really do such a thing? Are there such people in this world?"

[ludomastro]

Sunday, May 3rd, 2071; 14:34; Mitnicks van, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

After some road time and a "donation" to the T-MAP retirement fund, the team arrive rather unscathed at the designated location.

[phlapjack77]

Sunday, May 3rd, 2071; 14:34; Mitnicks van, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

As the van came to a halt, Ludo could feel the change in the terrain through the floor that he sat on. He wasn't sure where this "Trips's Roadhouse" was, but he hoped it would be quiet enough for a moment's rest. Building the power in him, his humming once more summoned forth the spirit of the Earth. Even more fatigue settled on his shoulders from the summoning. Having asked the spirit to protect him and his companions, Ludo opened his eyes and addressed those around him.

"I am not sure where we are. Would it be possible to rest at this place? The recent excitement has left me in need of this."

[fistandantilus4....]

MITNick looks to the big "Man" in the back and shrugs.
I guess, for just a bit. Shouldn't sit still for too long though. Never works out well in the vids. I'm thinkin' we should be goin' paranoia full effect 'til we get this straightened out.

How is everyone? Bullet wounds and all that? Flash you good? Full mags?

[Thanee]

Sunday, May 3rd, 2071; 14:34:00; Trip's Roadhouse, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Raven; PAN = Passive [Skinlink]; SIN = Sabrina McCoy (not broadcast)
Sustained Spells - none

"I'm fine, thanks. Could also need a bit of rest, but nothing major. So, let's see whether the other two have arrived in the meantime?"

[Redjack]

Sunday, May 3rd, 2071; 14:34; Mitnicks van, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Flash watches the troll as they drop him off at the stuffer shack. As the team pulls away, he wonders..... Something is off.

He listens to the team's chatter while Nick drives, replaying each step through his head.

"Mags? Yea. Full"

"Listen. Something is bothering me. The old man was out of it. After the meet, he didn't even act like he knew where he was... And I swear as we were driving away that Troll was acting confused." He looks to the two mages. "Either of you do any mumbo-jumbo to make sure neither of them were bewitched?"

[phlapjack77]

Sunday, May 3rd, 2071; 14:34; Mitnicks van, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

"I had nothing to do with the bounty hunter's confusion. It is too bad we did not also question one of the others that attacked us, to see if his story would match."

[Thanee]

Sunday, May 3rd, 2071; 14:34:00; Trip's Roadhouse, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Raven; PAN = Passive [Skinlink]; SIN = Sabrina McCoy (not broadcast)
Sustained Spells - none

"I'm pretty sure he was confused when we left him, and bewitched, as you put it... but this time it was my doing, so I don't think we have to worry about that."

[ludomastro]

As the team sits in the van, a bike pulls up along side.

[phlapjack77]

Sunday, May 3rd, 2071; 14:34; Mitnicks van, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Sitting cross-legged in the van, meditating quietly, Ludo felt the rumble of the approaching vehicle, felt the vibrations in the ground as the vehicle came to a halt. A two-wheeled machine, a "bike" of some kind, he thought. He slowly let his senses slip into the astral, floating through the van's side as he took a glance at the newcomers.

[ludomastro]

Sunday, May 3rd, 2071; 14:34; Mitnicks van, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Ludo can feel familiar patterns in the rhythm of life. The essence of the biker is the team mates who left separately.

[fistandantilus4....]

MITNick can't help but feel nervous, feeling exposed. He quickly scans for the team's comms, doing a virtual "head count" to make sure everyone is present and accounted for. It would be best to make sure they're all on the same page ... and still breathing.

Mmmm... paranoia. Crunchy, yet necessary.

[phlapjack77]

Sunday, May 3rd, 2071; 14:34; Mitnicks van, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Ludo's eyes rolled back into place, the whites once again showing the distinctive gold irises.

"It seems our other two companions are just now arriving"

[Redjack]

Sunday, May 3rd, 2071; 14:35; Mitnicks van, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Flash watches their arrival from the passenger seat, glad to that the team is back in full force. "So are we scoping the club or pulling recon for the run? Clock is ticking."

[fistandantilus4....]

Sunday, May 3rd, 2071; 14:35; MY van, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Nick glances back at Flash.
Whole thing stinks. Who knows if there really is anything ta' run on. I say have a couple jander over to the club, make sure it's good, then we scope out this place, see if they're actually likely to have what the 'J' said he wanted. Coulda all just been an excuse to get us together. ...Fragger.