IC: Distant memories Options

[Silverspur_2020]

Fading in and out of conciousness... Bluebird just manages to mutter something about "Fraggers with big guns and small...."

[Rakshasa]

Between them, Flip and the Irishwoman managed to get the wounded Bluebird up the companionway and onto the main deck.

"Fraggers with big guns and small...." Bluebird lapsed once more into unconsciousness.

"Ain't that the truth!" Seeoh looked at the big Orc, lifting the woman's other arm as they laid her against the bulwark, and grinned.

"You bein personal, you Irish witch?" Flip glanced down at his crotch. "I'll have you know, nuthin 'bout me's small" he chuckled, deep in his throat.

"Yeah, yeah. Typical man." Seeoh held up her hand, finger and thumb an inch apart. "All men think this is 6 inches. But we girls know different. Right Bluebird?" But there was no answer. "Look, we'd better get this job done and over. This girl needs a better medic than me."

Flip activated his comms. "Ace, Bluebird took a hit. I'm gonna blow this baby and we'll high tail it."

"The Ship's slowing down!" Seeoh stood up and peered over the side. Sure enough, the Lady Jane's wake was tailing off.

"Damn! Codec must have taken over the steerage or something. Well, that's just fine. We can get winched back aboard from a stationary platform. I'll get a line down here for Bluebird. Get her back up and I'll set the charges.

"What about the cargo?" Seeoh looked at the Orc, climbing, thinking of all the nuyen they were about to deep six.

"She's more important." Flip, standing on the shattered roof of the bridge, nodded at the still bleeding woman. "Besides, it's probably all drugs or guns. Better in Davy Jones's locker than on the streets." He caught one of the still trailing ropes and hefted it down to Seeoh. "Tie her good and tight and go up with her. I'll go find the little man and send him along. Tell Ace I'll put a ten minute delay on the charges."

[Drain Brain]

Heading into the bridge, Flip tapped Codec on the shoulder, thumbing upward. "Get back upstairs little man." He said, not knowing whether the decker heard him or not. When he came back up he'd check.

The steep companionway down to the cargo deck tempted Flip to simply jump, but there was no knowing just how sturdy the planking was. Instead he placed his feet on the hand rails and slid to the bottom.

The small door into the main hold, obviously designed so that the cargo could be inspected during a voyage, opened easily. Flip fumbled around for a light switch he felt sure should be there. Large neon tubes glared into luminosity, bathing the cargo in harsh white light.

"Oh DREK!"

[GunnerJ]

No sooner had Ace gotten his VCR disengaged did he hear Flip announcing that they were bailing. "Probably a good idea anyway. There's a ship pulling out of harbor, and, well, I'll tell you the rest later."

Ace jacked back in and hovered over the slowing ship. So that's what the decker did... He saw Codec and Bluebird coming up the line and disenganged the rig to see what he could find out or help with.

"F..Flip said that... the charges would blow in ten mintutes. That's how he's setting them."

"Right then. Good job with the ship's speed, it makes it easier to hover here. Now, I'm going to jack in and... well, first I'll look at the birdie there," he herd the lady samurai mutter something darkly, "...and see how she is, maybe I can help her wounds, but the important thing is, when I jack in, tell Flip that he and Seeoh should get up here as fast as possible. I have a bad feeling about this whole mission, and I need to tell everyone why..."

Great, now what will I tell them? Maybe I'll think of something later. He looked around for a medkit on the Osprey and tried to do what he could for Bluebird, then jacked back in.

[Mysterio]

Jacking out to see what was going on onboard, Codec was surprised to see See-oh starpping bluebird to the lines getting ready to hoist her up. He just sort of stared at this mighty woman who still scared the little decker with her guns and well...being. Here she was so fragile, hurt, dozing in and out of consciousness. Without being told, codec grabbed his deck and began the very slow climb upward, not once looking down.

[Silverspur_2020]

A room full of crates, all with clear markings on them as to the contents.... but none of that mattered to Flip, because for him his whole world had shrunk to focus in on the Uzi and shotgun pointed his way....

Moments passed like hours and secounds passed like days, but there was nothing he could do. Not even his natural speed and agility could stop the inevitable... hearing a boom from the Shotgun, and the mechanical stutter from the Uzi he feels an invisible force shove him backwards against the wall, secounds before his own warm blood trickles down his body... Steaming as it hits the cold night air.

[Mysterio]

"...when I jack in, tell Flip that he and Seeoh should get up here as fast as possible. I have a bad feeling about this whole mission, and I need to tell everyone why..."

Codec nodded, as if he knew what the frag Ace was talking about. Truth be told, the decker had no clue and didn't even want to understand it all. As Ace jacked in, Codec took the radio and sent out his message
"H..H...hello? Uh...um yeah...Ace says that you g..guys...I mean Girls...no I mean people...that you people, should g...get..up here as soon as you can."

[Rakshasa]

Bleeding profusely, Flip allowed his body to sway right in a rapid collapse, his torso and head disappearing behind a bullet riddled packing case. If the fraggers shot again, he was as good as dead, if he wasn't already. At least, if he kept his legs still they might look first before they started pumping lead again. Slowly, with what little energy he could muster, he brought his gun around, pointing just above his own kneecaps and waited.

High above, the wounded Bluebird and the little decker safely aboard the Osprey, Seeoh had begun her climb up to the hovering aircraft. Muffled by wind and wave, she heard the staccato burst of an Uzi and the louder reports of a shotgun. It immediately worried her. Neither weapon, she knew, could be Flip's and a shiver went down her spine as she thumbed her comms link to Ace.

"I think Flip's in trouble. I'm going down again."

Thought and deed were concurrent and the Irishwoman made a rapid descent to the deck of the Lady Jane. Gun in hand, Seeoh mustered what little powers she had, prowling with the stealth of her totem, the Red Fox, hoping he would aid her in what she had to do.

[Silverspur_2020]

"Do you think we got em?"


"Dunno, just wish they would frag off and leave us alone... I cant beleave it, first that scrawney women and then the dum trog."



"Well it wasnt just those two, it couldnt have been to make that kinda mess of this thing. lets just load up the dingy with what we can and then disappear... they will just assume we fell overboard and died..."

[Rakshasa]

Flip, Seeoh knew, had intended to go down to the cargo hold and place the charges against the outer hull. He might have made it there and surprised some of the crew, maybe some that had gone into hiding when they heard the fight that was going on topside. Maybe even a couple of fraggers that Bluebird had missed. After all, she'd been shot and there were only a couple of bodies to mark her lethal presence below decks.

Preying for her Totem's protection, the Irishwoman cautiously went down the steep gangway to the lower deck. Voices drifted toward her, common and nautical, or so she surmised. Certainly not Flip's voice and hence, bad guys. Seeoh hugged the wall, looking around the dimly lit corridor. A fire extinguisher, hanging on the left hand wall, caught her eye. A CO2 cylinder, clouds of white cold - far better for a surprise than hard ammo fired by an inexpert Druidic Witch.

Seeoh lifted the cylinder off the wall, sidling along to the open doorway. She glanced through the opening and breathed a sigh. Feet, size fourteen, just visible between the inner wall and a cargo crate. If Flip was still alive, he was probably pinned down, or incapacitated. Either way, whoever was inside the cargo hold needed to be dealt with.

Moving across the corridor, keeping her eyes on the size 14s, Seeoh could just see the muzzle of a gun, wavering above thick knees. The Orc must be alive and conscious, ready for a last stand. She elevated the spigot of the extinguisher, pointing it at what she hoped was head height for anyone coming out of the doorway.

Feeling like John Wayne in one of those old cowboy movies, her trigger fingers on a colt in one hand and a CO2 cylinder in the other, Seeoh coughed loudly and shouted, with as deep a voice as she could muster.

"Armed Police! Throw your weapons through the door and come out with your hands up!"

OK, so it was a bit melodramatic, but it might work. And if it didn't, and they came out shooting, they'd get a face full of cold carbon dioxide and some lead between their teeth.
Leastwise, that was the plan.

Course, Seeoh might be dead, but then, if it gave Flip a chance, so would the fraggers.

[Silverspur_2020]

Suddenly all goes quiet from the cargo hold... and then secounds later a couple of hushed whispers trying to work out what to do, and then eventually two guns can be seen thudding onto the floor next to Flips feet. Knowing that they have lost the two sailers simpley hold their hands up and wait for the inevitable kicking that Lonestar will administer before arrest.

[Rakshasa]

Flip almost jumped out of his thick, Orcish skin when he heard Seeoh's voice and had to stop himself laughing out loud when the sailors weapons thudded to the deck at his feet.

Without a thought, he sat up and brought his Browning around the edge of the crate, followed by his malevolently grinning face. "Hi, Boys! Stupid decision. In the normal course of events, I'd let you live. Unfortunately, you both just SHOT ME!!! And the path of the righteous man is beset on all …. Ah sod it!! Bye, Boys!"

Two very well aimed single shots took the surprised sailors out of this mortal plain.

The thud of falling weapons, followed by Flip's guttural comments and his gun discharging, prompted Seeoh to let the extinguisher fall to the floor as she peeked around the door frame, in time to see the two sailors pitch forward onto their dead faces. "Serves the silly fraggers right!!" She grinned at the Orc.

"Thank you, Officer!" The cargo hold reverberated to Flip's bellowing laughter as he stood up. "My carelessness might just have provided a new plan. These fraggers," He kicked the dead meat at his feet. "Were planning to escape with some of the cargo in a dinghy. We could do the same."

"We'd have to be quick, I think we've got company coming out from the harbour. Besides, we don't know what the cargo is!" Seeoh looked around for a jemmy, finding a docker's hook instead. "Let's take a look inside a crate or two."

"Yeah, you do that." Flip said absently as he hefted the Enfield and reached for the Uzi.

[Mysterio]

Not getting any response fromt he members of the team below, Codec begins to feel worried
Holy drek, what if something happened?? No they're tough, they can take care of themselves..but they're not invincible..though it seems like it sometimes...maybe I can go help out...but what would I do?
Before he could allow any more anxiety to set in, Codec decided to try the comm again
"Hello? Anyone out there? P..P..Please answer!"

[Rakshasa]

"Hello? Anyone out there? P..P..Please answer!" The stuttering, tinny voice of the diminutive decker intruded on Flip's figurative drooling over his newly acquired weapons.

"Yeah, little man, we're here. My maths was wrong, but it's all right now." An audible sigh of relief came over the comm link. "How's it looking topside? We getting any visitors soon? Only I've taken a look around and I think we could lift some of the cargo after all."

Seeoh glared at the Orc. "What's with the `we' bit. I'm doing all the damned work here." The Irishwoman heaved on the hook, squealing nails from their sockets and detaching several planks from the first of the smaller crates. She'd chosen more or less at random from the ones where the two sailors had been standing when Flip dropped them. Seemed logical enough that they'd be standing close to commodities they intended to purloin. And what was good for one thief…..

[Silverspur_2020]

Feeling his regular beat of the sonar pulsing out of him, Ace can virtually see the ship now... Clear of harbour and making directly for the Lady Jane. Not making fast progress, Ace gives it an ETA of 20 minutes before its within sight. Seeing that the Lady Jane had come to a slow halt, he circles slowly...that way the downforce from the jets wont cause too much problem in the water....

Having been quiet this entire time... Greasy let the drones fly around the ship, recording what was going on for them to enjoy at a later time! Thinking it a good idea, he sends one of the spotter drones out to go and see if they can get a better look at this new ship.

Seeoh looks down in amazment at whats in the crate... Bags of powder, BTL chips, things to make you high, things to make you low... you name it, it was all here...and the street value on this stuff must be mega!! Thanking fox for this truely massive haul she makes a quick plan as to what to do next!

[Rakshasa]

"There must be millions of Nuyen in here Flip." Silence. "FLIP! Put those bloody guns down and come take a looksee."

Still ginning like a kid for whom Xmas came early, the Orc moved to join the Sorceress, heaving a huge sigh when he saw what the Witch had found. "Shiiite! And a lot of it too. Now all we have to do is take it with us when we go." He walked to the far wall and a control panel. "This must be the control for the hatch cover." He tried an experimental press on a green button. Nothing happened and he took a closer look, noticing a keyhole. "Check their pockets Seeoh. One of em should have a key for this thing."

A few moments of rifling jacket and trouser pockets brought forth crumpled folding money, a half sucked gobstopper, a chunk of chewing tobacco and a bunch of keys. "Here." She lobbed the keys to the Orc. "Try these."

Deftly catching the three keys on a ring, Flip took a look at them. Only one matched the profile and he applied it, preying. It turned easily, so the Orc thumbed the green button again.

High above there was a clanking of machinery and the roof of the cargo hold slid back letting in the starlight and the downwash from the Osprey, still hovering above.

"Ace! We need a cargo net or something!"

[GunnerJ]

"Ace! We need a cargo net or something!"

Ace blinked, brought up his radar to see the new ship moving in a B-Line for the Lady Jane, then answered: "What you need is to get up here pronto. We don't have time to loot; there's a ship moving in fast on our position, and I don't want it to be able to ID or track us. Don't take anything more than you can carry or tie to the support line. In five minutes, hopefully sooner, we're pulling out."

The thought echoed back and forth in his head: If I can see them, they can see me...

[Drain Brain]

In response to the urgency in Ace's voice, Flip and Seeoh shared a panicked glance. "Bollocks," he said.

Whilst casting frantically around, looking for something like a sailor's gaff with which to snag a crate onto a line, Flip busied himself grabbing what looked to be the most expensive of the loot - the BTL's - and stuffing his pockets.

With Seeoh doing the same, he emptied out the bag with the charges and handed it to her. "Get what you can in there - whatever looks like it will fetch a good price."

With her performing the "quartermaster" role, Flip scooted off to the lower portions of teh vessel to rapidly plant the sabotage devices, setting the timers for the requisite 6 minutes (giving them time to make a retreat, of course)!

[Mysterio]

Monitoring the comm link Codec began to feel sick. Maybe it was the swaying of the craft, or maybe the mere thought that he had climbed the rope....No it's the fact that we're going to have company real soon thought the decker.

[Rakshasa]

What was it my grandmother used to promise me? Oh, that's right `A bag of holding' so I could store all of my dolls, long pins and scribbled spells all in one place. Where is it Granny? I need one right about now. Seeoh stuffed BTL, packs of powder, uppers and downers, into Flip's rucksack, trying to be tidy to get as much in, without breaking any, as she could.

"Send down a couple of ropes Ace."

Black nylon descended, flurried by the onshore breeze and the downdraft from the Osprey. They took a bit of catching, as seconds ticked by, but caught they were and the Orc and Sorceress were winched back aboard with only three of the timers allotted period gone. Still floundering over the tailgate, Flip shouted toward the cockpit, heaving Seeoh over the lip of the ramp, "Get us the hell out of here. She's gonna blow in under two minutes!" He hit the big red button and the back end of the Osprey closed up as he heard the jets scream and felt the plane begin to bank.

[Mysterio]

"...She's gonna blow in under two minutes!"

Codec nearly fell out of his seat as the craft started moving. He quickly buckled up and while they started to fly away he looked out the window at the drifting Lady Jane.

[Silverspur_2020]

Full throttle Ace screams out to sea... knowing that if he takes a long circular route back then he wont be traced so easily!

As Seeoh looked at what she had managed to haul up with her she was quite impressed with what they had got, certainly enough to keep a junkie going for a few months!

[Silverspur_2020]

As Ace streches himself as he turns into the wind at full speed, he happily sees the last of that ship on his radar.... the would have seen him via the radar but as the plane is through a fake company, they cant trace it anywhere anyway! the only thing that lingers in his mind is the question about his army contacts.... why so interested all of a sudden? years he has gone without hearing from them, and now they want his head on a platter!

[Rakshasa]

It wasn't so much the quantity, which was plenty. More the type. Seeoh had seen, she thought, almost every kind of pill, tablet and sachet there was in the `street corner' drug market. But some of the capsules, neatly packed in blisters of four, bemused her.

"What do you make of these?" She asked Flip, squatting down and catching his breath. "I've not seen the like afore."

The Orc took one of the blister packs, with its four small ovoid pink pills. He turned it over, looking for a label and found none. "Dunno. Not a regular upper or downer." A thought, more a dim memory, crossed his mind and he laughed. "Nah, couldn't be."

The Sorceress allowed a frown to crease her forehead. "What? What couldn't it be?"

"Years ago, before I .. before I became me. My old man used something like these. Kept the old woman happy he said." He tossed the pack in the air and caught it again. "Yep, reckon these are `uppers' for sure." The Orc's laugh filled the back of the Osprey, echoing forward and startling the rest of the Team. The laughter got more raucous as Flip watched the bemused look on Seeoh's face slowly turn to an embarrassed blush on her pale cheeks as the light of understanding dawned.

"Men! You're all the same!" Seeoh grabbed the blister from the Orcs hand and plunged it back into the rucksack . "When we get back to the farm I'll take a ride into town and go see Pret. He'll be able to shift all of this stuff, I'm sure." But at the back of her mind she knew that Pret Barbarosa would rook her, just as he always did. "Unless anyone's got a better idea?"

[Silverspur_2020]

Just as Seeoh posed the question.... A deep bass boom could be heard as Lady Jane went up in flames, a strange beacon of light in the calm dark sea.