IC: Post or Die, Lifelines, and deadlines Options

[Red-ROM]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 8:13 PM, Elliot's Restaurant, Pier 60, Seattle

"Well, Miss Kitty, to continue your theme, I did not expect a 'working girl' to be dining here. I definitely didn't expect one that spoke German. Tell me, have you spent time there? Or is this just some knowsoft running around in there?" The waiter came by, and the woman ordered a salad and gestured for the dwarf to order as well. She was going to keep up appearances even if her previous guest was incapable.As they got through the small talk, she got down to business,"As it happens, I might have an opening in the organization, but I don't like coincidences, so forgive me if I have my suspicions. Do you have any references? "

[Saint Sithney]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 8:13 Oswald's Rover, East Redmond

Wow. This is way more serious up close. Didn't think there would be so many gawking idiots around a crashed helicopter full of asshole mercs. Apparently street sense ain't any kind of sense at all. Should take a moment to shuffle up the IDs.

<<Oswald@Agent: Monty, let's get fresh. Load yourself in the blimp, rover and primary Kull. Spoof the blimp's ID over and then contact me with the new #. Do the same with the Kull, but wait until its spent a minute or two over the Sound. As to the car, do you have the ID from the Viper's Rover? Let's wear that for a laugh.>>

"We're all obfuscated from the law should we need to run for it. Have you got hands on our fare?"

[Sephiroth]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 8:13 Oswald's Rover, East Redmond

Jovan nodded his snow white head as he continued to communicate with his air Servant. "'Cudgel thy brains no more about it;' his unconscious body is waiting for us in the parking lot. Open the door a bit when you see him, so that my elemental can bring him inside. You will know him by the currents of air keeping his body aloft."

Well done. I believe we should be coming up to the crash site and the parking lot now. The driver will open a door for you. Once you bring the target inside, you may depart.

[Notsoevildm]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 8:13 PM, Ferret's van, East Redmond

<<@Throgg: Thanks chummer. We're on our way there now.>>

"I've got someone lined up to escort Rusty and Strawberry out of the Barrens and look after Thirty until we can get him to a hospital."

Ferret rolls out at his customary sedate pace. His paranoia is still running in high gear so he keeps an eye on his mirrors and only transmits their destination to the rest of the team as busrt of encrypted data over the Yacht Club connection.

[Acme]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 8:14 PM, Ferret's van, East Redmond

Acme settled in, his head pounding as the van rolled on. "Mmmph, this day can't end soon enough," he muttered darky as he just considered how things were going. If he was lucky, they'd get away with this alive, but now they were down a runner, going in on this problem with five; as it was he as their major magical backup was curled up on the floor. He figured this is why he usually did things singularly, not because he didn't trust other teammates, but he usually knew his own limits and didn't bite off more than he could handle himself.

[pbangarth]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 8:15 PM, Ferret's van, East Redmond

Acme is fagged in the back of the van. Thirty is at death's door. Ferret and Professor are ferrying Rusty and Strawberry to 'safety',along with comatose Thirty, in the hands of a street gang whose name conjures up images of gratuitous violence and gore. Then the three team members are to join their fellows in a war at a mall parking lot. To which cops are on the way. At least two other groups of unknown strength have a stake in this cargo, one of them probably backed by a corporation with unlimited resources and with a reputation to restore as a lesson to the rest of the shadow community.

The plan is working just fine. Professor figures with grim humour.

[J. Packer]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 8:13 PM, Elliot's Restaurant, Pier 60, Seattle

The gadfly attitude drops away from Amber as she gets into business.

"While I'm a new face in the biz, I've had a few successful operations. Mostly corporate interaction roles, social engineering, and I'm solid with a pistol in my hands. Corporate trained." She sips her wine, and resumes her eye contact with the icy lady. "So, perhaps your team could use a bit of help in that regard? Runners tend to be rough about the edges, after all."

[Saint Sithney]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 8:14 Oswald's Rover, East Redmond

Oz pulled up to the burning parking lot, and commanded the door to open. A slight crack was all it took for the Air Spirit to pull it the rest of the way open as it deposited the unconscious mercenary inside.

"Are we going to try and meet up with the others? I need to get us out of here, but I also need to scrub tracers off this guy. You can check him for weapons, yeah? I'll put the bots on his digitals."

<<Oswald@Skypod: Have you got this joker's ID yet? If not, get to it.>>

I need to cut this fucker's lights as quick as I can. No clue what kind of Matrix talent they still have at their disposal. Last thing we need is to have a big blip over our heads like the others.

[Red-ROM]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 8:14 Oswald's Rover, East Redmond

The air Elemental deposits the mercenary in the van, and with a gracious bow to Jovan, disappears back into the aether. While Oswald tried to get a handle on the Viper's commlink, Rusty was trying to get a handle on his situation,"If these Crush boys can be trusted enough, I think we should drop Strawberry off and take me with you." The girl began to protest, but Rusty put up a hand so he could continue,"I still gotta show you Long Legs' place, and I also want to make sure ol' Swagger J is in one piece"Strawberry looked to overrule her own objection at the mention of J's name.

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 8:14 PM, Elliot's Restaurant, Pier 60, Seattle

The woman across from Amber is unflinching. Maybe she is a machine. Maybe the eyes aren't strange. Maybe it's the skin and hair that is out of place. She smiles thinly,"What I mean to say is, do you have someone who can vouch for you? Name dropping can get you places in this world. Trust me."

[Acme]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 8:14 Oswald's Rover, East Redmond

Acme looked a bit worried as he heard the two gangers hint that they were thinking that they'd come along. While information was going to be useful. But he was frustrated; trained runners were dying here, how long could these two that they were effectively already trying to save from any further harm over this damned job survive?

[Notsoevildm]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 8:15 Ferret's van, East Redmond

Ferret gives Rusty a hurt look. "Look, I know we kinda crashed into your lives, but by now you must have realised we're trying to do the right thing here. The Crush helped me get back on my feet a couple of years back. I know they have a bit of a rep and have some shady dealings, but they look after their own. Strawberry will be safe with them. You got my word on that."

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 8:30 Ferret's van, East Redmond

Ferret pulls the van to a halt outside the address Throgg gave him. From the outside it doesn't look too friendly. However, one of the Crushers hanging outside smiles when he sees the van and approaches it.

"Hey Acme, hand me that Trid player sitting on the workbench."

Ferret rolls down the window and engages in a complex greeting of knuckle bumping and handshake, before handing over the trid player to the smiling ork ganger.

"There ya go, Bloodsucker. Good as new. Well at least as good as when ya stole it."

The ork laughs and ambles off with the trid player tucked under his arm.

Turning to the others he says, "Wait here till I sort things out inside. I come out and get you when I've made arrangements."

With that, he scoops up the bag of dope and tucking his machine pistol into his belt, climbs out of the van and strolls into the bar.

[Sephiroth]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 8:14 PM, Oswald's Rover, East Redmond

<<@Yacht Club: We have acquired the prey. Unless Thirty is beginning to recover or we have some other matter to attend to out here, I suggest we vacate the area immediately and rendezvous elsewhere. I would remind you all that we have limited time before the authorities arrive.>>

"Make haste then, old man. I can look him over for weapons, but I've no wish to physically search him until you verify that he has no video-transmitting bugs on his person. Broadcasting my face to our opponents will do more damage to our situation than it's worth," Jovan said, as his eyes swept like searchlights over the inert body of the mercenary and his hand brought the collar of his coat up to conceal the lower half of his face - a crude method, but it was sadly all he had at his disposal when his face mask was sitting at home.

[pbangarth]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 8:15 Ferret's van, East Redmond

Professor checks the medkit readouts. "I don't like what I'm seeing here, troops. Thirty is sinking, slowly. I don't know if I can stop his slide into a coma. Dropping him off may help simply by keeping him quiet and undisturbed, but a hospital will be necessary."

He looks at Rusty. "Yeah, we need your guidance still. Hang with us and we'll get this shitstorm straightened out. Our pursuit has been cut off pretty handily, so now we need to dodge the cops zeroing in on us."

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 8:30 Ferret's van at the Crushers' hangout

"We'll wait out here for you, Ferret. Strawberry, be ready to go, we may not have much time." Professor looks right in her eyes. "Make a new life. I believe in you." Huh. Sounded better when the Guru said it to me.

[Red-ROM]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 8:17 PM, Oswald's Rover, East Redmond

Jovan looked over their new passenger. The big gun the spirit mentioned must be laying in the floor of the Shop and Save, but the man was far from unarmed. he wore an armored suit with a hood, under clothes he could have bought inside the store. His hands were covered in thick gloves. The vest had many pockets and under the shirt was holstered a handgun and a large knife. He was a plain looking fellow; Brown hair and a slightly tan complexion. The Skypod was reporting to Oswald only one commlink was detected, but when Jovan finally started patting him down, he turned up another. The second link was off. In fact, it was sealed in plastic with a red tear strip. In other pockets he found an unmarked aerosol can, a thin spool of wire on a mini grappling hook, and a few more RFID tags with adhesive backs.

[J. Packer]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 8:14 PM, Elliot's Restaurant, Pier 60, Seattle


"Well," Amber says, "I was involved in a run with the group that Trench Jackson used to lead. After he was picked up by KE, Toadstool claimed seniority meant she was in charge, and brought me in to do a little recon work. Extricated the necessary access codes they needed for a warehouse up in Puyallup for their latest Johnson. Before that, I was the cut-out on an extraction from an Ares subsidiary - Kong Li Fabrications. Marcus Yamato was heading up that operation."

She pauses for another sip of her wine. "I'm looking for a group I might be able to work with long term. I'm okay with these little one-off gigs, but it would be nice to know everyone and get to the point of very nearly trusting them. I'm sure you understand."

[Saint Sithney]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 8:15 PM, Oswald's Rover, East Redmond

<<Motherfucker, I am a hospital. Let's meet up in Crusher turf. Rusty reunites with Jay. I can ditch Jay and put Thirty in my med bay. It could simplify some things for us. Really, we need to trim this fat. Get the info and move on. All these artifacts hanging around are making me feel self-conscious, even if they make you feel at home.>>

[Acme]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 8:16 Ferret's van, East Redmond

Acme just frowned at the argument happening over the commlinks; it was aggravating his headache something fierce, and it was just text mode. <<Look, that's what we're doing, is trying to get them dropped off so they won't hamper the deal, we've got enough issues with awake members being banged up. THey're just being a bit stubborn. Let's just smooth things along, there's no need to get testy.>>

[Saint Sithney]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 8:16 PM, Oswald's Rover, East Redmond

<<Hahaha. Not angry, just... Oh, sorry. Guess I forgot to tell you guys. I'm a bit manic right now. Shot some Cram a few minutes ago. Anyway, I need an invitation if I'm going to drive into Crusher turf. Unless you want me to just ram through their checkpoint. That could be fun..>>

[Red-ROM]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 8:30 pm East Redmond

Strawberry had ignored the Professor before, just another hot shot promising her a better life. Now he was looking her dead in the eye, and she could see a whole different world in his. She held her breath as the thin slip of paper in her pocket felt so fragile and so important. She looked away without words and slipped a hand back into her pocket again.
The bar had no name. It was a pretty common occurrence in the barrens, just another hole in the wall to get booze or drugs. The only name that mattered was the gang whose turf it was on, and this was definitely Crimson Crush territory. Everyone going in and out of the place was showing colors. Ferret follows the ork inside. everyone who spots the dope gets a little closer. I he didn't have an escort, he would probably be hanging by his feet right now. Once inside he saw a few faces he recognized, and a slight breath of relief slipped into his lungs. Another ork named "Picker" waved him to the bar. Ferret had met him once or twice with Throgg. He never figured out where the nickname came from. Was it something to do with the flying V tattooed on his fore arm, or the fact that he tended to be knuckle deep in his nostrils. Picker grinned a tusky grin and motioned for the drugs,"What's up little man, that's a nice little party favor you got there. Throgg'll be here any minute, and we got a nice quiet room in the back for company, so long as they don't mind a few chip heads."

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 8:18 PM, Elliot's Restaurant, Pier 60, Seattle

Another interruption from the waiter and The blond woman took a short and silent trip into the Matrix. It was subtle, barely a change in breathing. She returned and took a sip of wine,"I appreciate the resume, and I will look into that further. I have a basic Idea for now, and that shall suffice." She reaches into a small clutch and pulls out a white plastic card. A data chip. She handed it to Amber and began to take her leave,"I've paid the tab, the offer is non negotiable, It was ever so nice meeting you, but I'm on a tight schedule"

[pbangarth]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 8:30 pm East Redmond

Professor watches Strawberry go into the Crush-owned bar. With Luck, shes on her way out. He on the other hand, has a lot deeper to go before he can return to his old life. Question is, would 'The Professor' even exist then?

Well, speaking of existence... while waiting for Ferret to negotiate safe passage, Professor scans the surrounding neighbourhood astrally, hoping nothing else was preparing to pop into the van.

[Notsoevildm]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 8:31 pm East Redmond

Ferret's nervous grin becomes a sincere one when he spots Picker at the bar. He wasn't a member of the Crimson Crush, but had worked with them enough times on dope deals or fixing their tech to be recognised by several of the gangers. Ferret strolls over and tosses the bag of drugs to Picker.

"I got these from Beetle, so you know they're the good stuff."

He holds up a finger and cocks his head to the side listening to the manic rigger.

"I got some friends coming this way in a Rover. Licence is {licence}. They are coming to pick up my injured chummer, so I'd appreciate it if you tell the boys on the barricades not to shoot at them."

"Me and the lady will wait in back for Throgg. Gimme a couple of beers to take the edge off while we wait."

[J. Packer]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 8:18 PM, Elliot's Restaurant, Pier 60, Seattle

Twirling the chip in her hand, Amber debates the relative merits of slotting it. Deciding on safety first, she inserts it into the receptacle on her Avalon and runs a thorough scan first for malware, trojans or any IC that might make her night less pleasant before she scans the data it includes.

[Sephiroth]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 8:17 PM, Oswald's Rover, East Redmond

Jovan worked quickly as he spoke, turning off the mercenary's primary commlink and relieving him of his weapons and gloves. <<Enough. This bickering is getting us nowhere. We still have the Vipers and Lone Star out looking for us, so efficiency and timeliness is necessary here. Whatever you gentleman are doing with those gangers, do it quickly. We are running out of time.>>

He held up the aerosol can and small grappling hook and wire for the viewing pleasure of the cameras he knew were watching him. "The man is equipped with more bugs, a backup comm, a blade and pistol, and these. I presume we will need a chemical analyzer for whatever is contained inside the can; any idea what this wire and hook is used for?"

Watchers still in the building, return to my position immediately and standby for further instructions.

[Saint Sithney]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 8:17 PM, Oswald's Rover, East Redmond

Splitting his attention between driving the SUV and checking the interior, Oz made a quick inventory of the situation. "Toss the tags and keep the links. So long as they're physically switched off they're useful. The tags are nothing if not a liability since they can be activated remotely."

He paused for a moment as he swooped the vehicle around an old dead car in the road and continued back towards the 202. He took a moment to order the Blimp to hide in the shadow of the nearby hills and returned his attention to the interior of the vehicle.

"If the can is unmarked, don't worry about it for now. Possibly something to scrub DNA or freezefoam to quick-seal a doorway. Really, there's lots of chemicals that'd be useful to a guy like that. Once we get somewhere more secure, we'll just ask him about it, eh? Meantime, do we have any restraints, or, for that matter, did he?"


<<@Yacht Club: About 10 minutes behind you right now, assuming we beat the LoneStar dragnet without problems. If you think you can take care of your business in Crusher turf in that time, I'll wait for you outside. If you think it's a good bet for finding a touch of safe haven, I'll come in at your word. Regardless, I don't want this fucker waking up in my back seat before we've got him prepped, and that's going to take some work.>>

[Acme]

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 8:31 pm East Redmond

Acme just rolled his eyes at the crazy rigger. This whole group had a clear death wish it seemed from time to time. That's what made it interesting, to be sure, but with him in this groggy mood himself, he wondered how long it would be before the old man crashed into something. That would certainly fix a few things...