IC: Evolution, In Character - Epoch, Survival, Revolution Campaigns Options

[Bastard]

03:23:16 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – 47th Street - Tehran

Bubba unleashed another hail of APDS rounds down 47th Street where they landed on target, cutting through the rusted remains of a car and into the blinded gunman.

[Bastard]

03:23:18 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – 47th Street - Tehran

The familiar hollow thump of an under-barrel grenade launcher firing could be heard over the rattle of Bubba's gun. From the far end of the street panicked curses could be heard, but were silenced by the explosion of the abandoned car Wasteland had been using for cover. The frame, or the main portion of the car did not move while everything above the floor board exploded into a cloud of fiery shrapnel from Kliko's mini-grenade.

Felix felt a surge of power flow through him, as his spell was no longer resisted.

The echos of gunfire and explosives hid the electronic whirr of a small drone, which had been hovering nearby, as it flew off, away from the battle.

[Bastard]

03:23:28 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – 47th Street - Tehran

The team scanned the war zone as the flames die down on the wreckage at the south end of 47th Street. Duster saw no more dots on the Battle-Tac system he had taken from the sniper.

"The Battle-Tac looks clear," Duster updated the team.

[Mister Juan]

03:23:28 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – 47th Street - Tehran

With a sigh, Ludmila heaved the heavy rifle and left her perch. Through the grey green nightvision hue of her eyes, she could already see a plume of smoke reaching upwards. Something was burning. It made her want to light up a smoke.

So far, things had gone from fragged to completely fragged up. They had come in 7 and were now down to 5. Sure, two less head to pay for meant more shares for the team, but also meant less live bodies to attract bullets. Odds were, if they got shot at again, someone “important” might actually get hurt.

Walking back to the stairwell, Ludmila realized how tired she felt. Her muscles were aching under the weight of the rifle, which in and of itself was a pretty decent find. But she felt spent. She felt cranky and bruised.

“He awake?” she said to Duster as she came up one floor to where he was waiting.

The man shrugged. She put the rifle down and crouched in front of their captive. Reaching over, she slapped him a few times across the face.

“Wake up.”

[Bastard]

03:23:38 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – Abandoned building on Daneshkadeh - Tehran

The sniper's eyes flutter open underneath Ludi's rejuvenation technique, but his eyes still rolled back in his head. His only other response is to drool a little more.

[ntwi]

03:23:42 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – 47th Street - Tehran


Ending his focus on the spell, Felix glanced down at the bodies in the street below. Won't be able to get anything out of these two, but that sniper's mind should be mostly intact. Triggering his radio, Felix replied "Lima, I'm enroute to empty the snipers brain of what he knows... It'll be easier for me as I can pull his memories and thoughts directly"

Felix looked around the street before floating quickly across to the building where the sniper had been perched, landing on the roof and entering the stairwell to find Lima crouched in front of the bound sniper. "Let's see what his subconscious has to say..."

[Mister Juan]

03:23:42 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – 47th Street - Tehran

Somewhere, grafted inside the inner portion of her hearing canal, a small piece of cybernetics began to vibrate subtly. Ludmila heard Felix's voice over the radio link. She gritted her teeth. Fortunately enough for her, her transducer's filter had been set at a pretty high tripping point, which meant she could curse inwardly without fear of the thought filtering out into actual words.

Seeing the man react briefly to her treatment, she began digging around one of the pockets of her cargo pants.

“Don't bother yourself.” she said in her disembodied transduced voice.

As far as she was concerned, Felix had done more than his share of damage already. Hell, his job was to protect them for paranormal threats... and so far, he hadn't done a splendid job. She was damned if she was going to trust an interrogation to his mumbo jumbo stuff.

“I've done this a hundred times.”

Which was probably an understatement.

Out from one of her pockets, she took out a stim patch, just as Felix was starting down the stairs. From her position, crouched in front of the man, she peered up at him. When she spoke, this time, it was aloud.

“I fragging told you I got this! Go back to flying around well out of harms way while we grunts do the actual work, da?”

[Bastard]

03:24:29 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – 47th Street - Tehran

Felix ignored Ludi's insults and reached into the mind of the sniper who was slipping in and out of consciousness.

What were you hired to do? ~ Thoughts and memories came into Felix's mind like they were his own. His mission seemed very similar to theirs: Locate and recover the Shroud of Shadows, which looked to be the same as thing that Felix's team was looking for in the Veil, and like them, the sniper knew nothing about the artifact.

Who hired you? ~ Images of a rough looking character came to his mind and at once he knew this was the sniper's fixer, Guy. The relationship was professional, and not much other than a few business meetings surfaced as memories. What Felix was able to figure out, was that the team had been working almost exclusively for Guy for almost a year.

[Bastard]

03:24:35 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – 47th Street - Tehran

The spirit of the Jaguar kept Felix's mind centered and focused. He continued to frisk the snipers yielding mind, as Ludi's insults were swept away in the wind.

Who is your team comprised of? Name/What they do? ~ The information came as if Felix was looking at online profiles, each team member with information as the sniper knew it. Felix dug through, finding the pertinent information.

Dragon Slayer - Face/Leader
An experienced runner, with a shady past, even for a shadowrunner. A jack of all trades, only he excels at most.

Wasteland - Heavy Weapons
Intelligent, especially for an orc, but almost impossible to work with. Specializes in explosives.

Copperhead - Rigger
Loner who prefers to spend more time with his drones than people, even his team. Specializes in surveillance.

Invisible Jazmyne - Shaman
A cat shaman who specializes in illusions and combat. She also is very capable with a firearm.

Mikey - Street Sam
A bit crazy and unpredictable, but sometimes that is what is needed. Has a pension for torture, and is probably some sort of serial killer.

[Bastard]

03:24:51 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – 47th Street - Tehran

Without interruption, Felix's mind probe continued.

Bank account access/Safe deposit boxes/Other valuables? ~ Unable to see the exact bank account number, he was able to get the bank information and location of what the sniper considered valuable, and that was at his apartment in Seattle.

[Bastard]

03:24:52 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – 47th Street - Tehran

The first body Bubba reached had been blown to pieces and burnt to a crisp, taking his gear with him. The second body was burnt and torn apart, but not nearly to the extent of the first. His SMG was damaged to the point that it was useless, along with most of his other gear. Bubba tossed the SMG to the ground in disgust. His emotions turned when he spotted a side armed holstered on his leg, which appeared to be intact. Fumbling with the straps, he was able to free a battle worn pistol. While old, it looked pretty well kept, custom grip and etched in the side of the slide, "DRAGON SLAYER." Bubba held the Ruger Thunderbolt up and said, "This is bad ass."

[Mister Juan]

03:24:52 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – 47th Street - Tehran

For a moment that wasn't anything but short, Ludmila wondered who's side Duster might take if she decided to just shoot Felix. They'd known each other longer, and even if it was slim, in the shadows, it counted for “something”. Plus, beside Bubba, Duster was probably the other member of the team who she had been nicest to.

Well.... not that Ludi really did “nice” anyways...

Standing in the stairwell, her knuckles got white under her gloves. As far as she was concerned, the was no way in hell that info was going to be truly reliable. Hell, magic wasn't reliable, at least, not like a pair of bolt cutters to a knuckle. She had done 4 months of intensive interrogation training with the GRU over 10 years ago: it had been... satisfying.

She spat on the floor and motion to Duster to follow her.

“Come on. He is his problem now.” she told him as she began going down the stairs.

She keyed her radio.

“Kilo, Lima. We are now upgraded to long range 50 cal. Duster and will be street level in a few minutes.”

She walked down a few more stairs, the frustration of the night so bottled up inside she had to release it somehow. Her shoulder was sore as hell. The fact her arm was still attached to her body felt almost surprising. She keyed her radio again.

“You plan on leaving V for the fragging rats as well?”

For some twisted reason, venting out on Kliko made her shoulder feel better.

[Kliko]

03:25:00 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – 47th Street - Tehran

Kliko watched the scene unfold in front of him as Bubba stood there in the middle of the street, waving some sort of object above his head in excitement.

"Bravo, get of the fraggin street!"

Meantime Ludi was bitching about V across the comms. Leaving V behind as rat fodder was exactly what he was planning to do and there was nothing in the world Ludi or anyone else could do about it. They were running out of time and yet had to make their pickup. The Battletac^tm and Felix' comm-chatter indicated they were facing some serious competition and the run could swing either way.

"Copy that Lima. Finish the sniper and move on. We got to go people, we rally at Lima Foxtrot and move out through 38 street"

'We're on the clock'

[Mister Juan]

03:25:00 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – 47th Street - Tehran

Crouched in the shadows of the doorway, the sniper rifle slung across her back, Ludi couldn't help herself but grin. She quickly scanned the street and keyed her radio.

“We're already street level. Foxtrot, you dispose of him.”

It was clear, even through the transducer link, that Ludi was taking a certain kind of pleasure in having Felix dirty his hands a bit.

"Everything looks clear around here. You want to form up like before or do we just hustle it?"

[SneakyJoeKDB]

03:25:21 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – 47th Street - Tehran


'What dos you cares?' "Just getting what's mine boss"

Bubba pocketed the custom pistol and tactically moved to the rendezvous point. Bubba's thoughts of concern for Starling and now V had left him. He was sorry their dead bodies were left behind, but hell, this was a war zone now and another team got the jump on them. It was likely they hadn't seen the end of the battles. Bubba had to be his best and when it comes to war, death is eminent. He wished he had been more alert earlier before V took that bullet, he wondered if he was partly to blame or if it was coming anyway. Maybe his stop saved the team from a worse ambush, he wouldn't know. For the time being he had to be his best, focus, and do his job; their numbers were shrinking and Bubba realized he wasn't invincible after that bullet nearly took his arm off.

He stretched his bicep muscle; it still hurt. In addition to the physical pain he couldn't help but feel some resentment towards Kliko for his brutal honesty. Bubba decided he would deal with that later. At this moment Bubba was ready, his self loathing was over, and he was committed to not letting his guard down again.

[Bastard]

03:25:25 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – Daneshkadeh Street - Tehran

No one answered Ludi's question directly, but they all knew the answer in their hearts. Vrixa's remains were to be left for the rats, just as Starling's were. However, in this case, the team was actively leaving the body behind, where in Starling's case, there was nothing they could do, the rodents had already done their damage and were still in a frenzy.


03:25:30 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – Abandoned building on Daneshkadeh Street - Tehran

Felix seemed to be handling it the best, his heart hardened by the lone hunter, the Jaguar Totem. Whether he was losing his humanity or simply compartmentalizing his emotions due to stress was yet to be determined.

He breathed in the cold night air, still deciding what to do with the sniper. He would rather leave the executions to the muscle, or preferring to just leave the man unconscious. Wasn't he just doing a job, just like Felix and his companions were? Yes, they knew the risks, but it was part of the business. Killing an unconscious man seemed darker and ... more personal.

He looked inward, asking Jaguara for help. Would killing a defenseless soldier throw Felix's humanity into the void? He feared becoming as cold as Ludi, but his totem was that of a powerful predator. Would it guide him now in mercy, vengeance or perhaps something even darker? The Jaguar always guided the shaman through the chaos, but now it seemed there was still confusion and the whispers from his spiritual guide were vague whispers at best.


03:25:45 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – 46th Street - Tehran

Kliko was already moving down 46th Street toward 38th, where they would make their final approach. The muzzle of his rifle quickly darted from window to window to rooftop to doorway. Felix had relayed the intel that there were possibly as many as three other operatives in the area. The shaman and rigger would probably remain hidden, but if there was a sammy out there, Kliko was ready to give him a taste of lead.

He hustled up the road at a brisk pace, ready to dart for cover, return fire or otherwise leap into action. There was no time for sorrow and regret for the teammates he had lost. They were in the business of war. Maybe the others didn't realize what a mercenary operation was. This had already proven to not be a simple shadowrun steal. This was a full fledged military covert op, and while you prefer to leave no man behind, sometimes the fact that war is hell rings true.


03:25:45 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – Daneshkadeh Street and 46th - Tehran

Ludi and Duster were following Kliko by 30 meters and losing ground, both moving more cautiously. Ludi figured Kliko could run ahead and draw fire, while she lined up a kill shot with the .50 cal sniper rifle. That would be a lot easier if she weren't out of breath. If Kliko ended up in a cross fire, maybe he would learn the art of patience that he so eloquently outlines in his big strategic plans, yet consistently fails to follow in the field.

Duster on the other hand was just not confident darting through the concrete valleys. He preferred close quarters where he could use his physical strength, martial arts and adept powers to neutralize enemies with lightning speed and deadly precision. Out in the open, the firearms he possessed did nothing to make the ranged urban combat equal in his favor, as both the Taser and shotgun would be of little use. He, like the orc ahead of them, was actively scanning the streets for potential danger, and for the closest cover should, or rather when, he need it.


03:25:45 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – 47th and Daneshkadeh - Tehran

Bubba was finally rounding the corner on 47th onto Daneshkadeh. He kept his eyes averted from the blood spatter across the rusted out car on the corner, and the blood trail leading to the building across the street where rats were surely feasting on V's corpse. He shuttered with the thought and again tried to flush those feelings down. Reaching into his cargo pocket he pulled a handful of Donettes and shoved them in his mouth. Donuts are a proven problem solver, or at least they have always helped to bury them.

[Bastard]

03:31:00 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – 82nd Street - Tehran

Kliko was moving quickly. He reached the corner of 82nd and Heydarkhani, the target only 150 meters up the road. He took post against the corner building looking north up the street at the IUST Mosque. He took a quick look behind him and the streets were empty. Oh drek!? Where the frag is my team?


03:31:00 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – 82nd Street - Tehran

Ludi and Duster were no longer trying to keep up with Kliko, falling well over 150 meters behind, almost out of sight. Ludi worried that Kliko was going to run them straight into another battle, and another team member was going to be left in the Tehran sprawl. While this increased her paycheck, she didn't feel good about leaving another teammate behind, and she didn't see anyone else as expendable, not even that bloody mojo slinger. I wonder what he did with the sniper...


03:31:00 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – 82nd Street - Tehran

Felix was following Ludi and Duster by 20 meters, invisible and levitating, scanning for paranormal threats. At the far end of the road, he watched as the point man took cover against a building, but Felix didn't spot any threats. What the frag is he doing now, and why are these two moving so slow?


03:31:00 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – 41st Street and 82nd Street - Tehran

Bubba rounded the corner, scanned the street for threats, then for his teammates. He was relieved when he spotted Duster again, about 100 meters ahead. Everyone moved out while he was collecting loot, and they didn't even look back. He tried to keep an eye on the rear, but they just kept moving. He hadn't seen anyone from the team since the last firefight concluded except Duster. He assumed Felix was floating around invisible somewhere, and Ludi was in her invisible suit, but he was starting to have doubt. Where is everybodies!? Why's dey ditchin' me?

[Bastard]

03:31:10 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – 82nd Street and Heydarkhan - Tehran

Ludi watched as Kliko looked back for his team, then back at the road ahead. He had been moving dangerously fast, now coming to a sudden halt.

"Why are you stopping now, Kilo? You got eyes on something, or have you decided against going alone?"

[SneakyJoeKDB]

03:31:40 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – 82nd Street and Heydarkhan - Tehran


The feelings of abandonment began to sway on Bubba to the extent that he was no longer moving tactically nor providing rear security. He shuddered at the thoughts of both V and Starling being left alone and devoured by rats. No way in hell did he want that end. Motivated by their aweful demise and his feelings of aloness he went into a full sprint to catch up to his teamates.

Upon hearing the clatter of fast paced running and heavy panting Duster turned around to see a disgruntled Bubba rapidly closing on him in a full sprint.

"What the hell are you running from?"

"DONT LEAVES ME!!!!!!!," the giant shouted in desperation. "I donts want to bes rat foods."

[Kliko]

03:31:22 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – 82nd Street and Heydarkhan - Tehran

"Negative Lima, all clear here..."

Kliko contemplated their options. He had eyes on the target, but their current location was just way to exposed to stage an assault. Hunkering down behind the cover of the corner building of 82nd and Heydarkhan road Kliko reviewed the Tehran mapsoft on his imagelink and radiod in. He always found a silent reassurance of team spirit as his teammies moved about the Battletac cyberlink interface map like little avatars in a semi-3d tactical environment.

"Kilo Bravo, there's an alley way running north some 50 mtrs back from my position. Check it out with Delta and see if we can get a little closer to stage our final approach..."

[Mister Juan]

03:31:40 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – 82nd Street and Heydarkhan - Tehran

Ludmila heard Bubba well before she saw him. Only a few meters ahead of Duster, she cringed under her ruthenium suit as she hugged what must have been a car, many many years ago. The fact they were only down by two runners was almost starting to blossom into a fragging miracle.

As she peered over the shoulder, looking at the world through a grey and green filter of her augmented vision, Ludmila found she couldn't actually feel any anger towards Bubba. It wasn't really his fault... he simply didn't know any better. The others did, or should have... but Bubba. She couldn't blame. About a year ago, she would've, but now? She cracked a smile to herself. Boy was she starting to go soft.

Her suit flickered briefly as she disengaged the scanners. She waved to Bubba, doing her best to get his attention, before bringing one finger to her lips, hoping he'd understand the international “will you quiet the fuck down” signal.

[SneakyJoeKDB]

03:32:05 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – 82nd Street and Heydarkhan - Tehran

Bubba was relieved when he saw Ludi materialize in front of him. He whispered back to her

"Oks, just dont leaves me. Everyting seems wrong. I'll go back to mad sneakies just dont leaves me." Bubba felt a little better as Ludi nodded. He felt it was some kind of assurance to his abandonment concern.

Bubba keyed his mic, "Oks Kilos, wes moving out, mad sneaky style!" Bubba motioned to Duster to follow as Bubba proceeded north up the alley Ace Ventura style.

[Bastard]

03:32:015 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – 82nd Street and Heydarkhan - Tehran

Duster shook his head, and followed Bubba. "Yeah, send the guy without the shotgun out on the recon mission," he mumbled under his breath. He could swear Kliko was marching him toward the reaper.


The two headed down the dark alley, which looked like it lead to a dead end.

[Bastard]

03:33:45 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – 82nd Street Alley - Tehran

Bubba and Duster moved slowly down the pitch black alleyway. The surrounding buildings appeared to be the remains of a residential area: duplexes and apartments. The alley ended with a brick wall directly ahead, a parking lot to the west, and in the northeast corner were the remains of a wooden fence spanning the two feet between the two buildings.

Peering over the dilapidated fence easily, Bubba could see a small dirt yard leading to another cul-de-sac running east-west.

[SneakyJoeKDB]

03:33:50 Thursday, 12 October 2062 – 82nd Street Alley - Tehran


"Kilos wes can hop a broken fence and keep movins North East through da neighborhoods or swing backs? I tinks wes can get to da main roads and provides overwatches whiles da rest of da teams comes from da Souths."


"Roger Bravo, move to overwatch and key us in when you are in position."

Duster ran towards the fence and summersaulted over the fence. He smiled at Bubba as he landed on the other side. Bubba looked at Duster, thought about doing the same, and then just pushed the fence down. Duster took a step back as the fence crashed down in front of him. Bubba smirked and strutted proudly passed Duster.

"Way to go with the mad sneakies" Duster said sarcasticly. Bubba just ignored him and pressed on to the overwatch point.