Deep Vengeance..., ...is the Daughter of Deep Silence Options

[JxJxA]

Zerone nods in agreement with the "play it by ear" proposal.

"A simple plan works for me. Mr. ...uh... Fat Man, I would be happy to help summoning a spirit to scout the area."

[Fenris]

"Good. I'm sure someone can find a coffee shop nearby. If we going through the fence, someone bring a pair of wirecutters..."

He glances at Widget, rising and straightening the suit. "I would give you the cliched speech about betrayal and being staked out in several pieces, but I'm sure you've heard it all before. Let's meet just before midnight."

[Buddha72]

All
Widget smiles put it never quite reaches her eyes at Ayo's comment and nods.

"You are officially on the job so feel free to ring me if you have any questions. Let me know where to show up with transportation and if I need to pick people up before hand." She looks to Eklipse with an apologetic look on her face. "I won't be able to do the IDs till after the run sorry - I'll be working up the 1s and 0s we'll need for tonight's activities but I can get you a bunk somewhere right now. Head for the Looking Glass - there are apartments up above the club and you can have one of those. The crowd there won't be your cup of tea but it's secure and private. Tell Mr. Bo Bo that I sent you and to give you a deluxe room. There's underground parking if you have your own wheels."

She stands and gives everyone a nod as she makes her way to the exit. The small swarm of machines follows in her wake and some dart forward to slide the door open. She sits down and puts her boots back on talking as she does so.

"Don't forget to collect your gear and observe the no violence sign on your way out. I will see you all tonight."

With that she turns and lays her hands on the floor as her host of micro-drones swarms up her arms and finds places to settle. She quickly disappears from sight exiting the small house and making her way you assume to the exit.

[JxJxA]

Zerone smiles timidly at the group and gives a humble, albeit stilted, bow.

"Go in Peace," he says, and leaves the room.

When he reaches the waiting room he collects his effects, pocketing his power focus and replacing the Gideon in its holster. He slips on his loafers and walks slowly out of the temple. He nods and smiles at any of the temple's inhabitants who cross his path, attempting to reply in Japanese.

When he finally exits the temple, he allows his concern to manifest on his face. He collects his watcher spirit---the malakh---and thanks it for its service and allows it to return back to the astral plane. He gathers the lapels of his coat and raises them, seeking refuge from the crowd in the meager shadows they shed.

My friend, what concerns you? asks Follower.

I am afraid, Follower. Defending others from the attacks of the forces of evil is one thing, launching an attack upon them is another thing altogether. I have been fortunate so far that my creators' programing is too abstract to provoke me, but I have always been the defender. What if I am the attacker?

Follower answers him almost immediately.

"The writings of His followers provide an answer for you. "Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." I suspect you are familiar with the rest of the analogy?

Ephesians 6, verses 10 through 12. But the rest of the verses speak of bearing truth, righteousness, readiness, faith, salvation and the Spirit to proclaim the gospel of peace. How can I reconcile peace with violence?

Remember, my friend, that our fight is against Evil. You cannot be afraid to rebuke Evil, or else Evil wins. So long as you remember His words and keep peace and love in your heart, you will not succumb to the rage and aggression that your creators sought to plant within you.

Zerone reaches the metro and purchases a ticket to return home. He sits down on a bench and begins mentally and spiritually preparing himself for tonight.

[Saytr]

Crippler stands up and sends hit LTG number to the others Via his PAN. "Well this was a nice get together, I look forward to busting some Yak Heads with chummers, If you need me anytime between giggs you can call me up." Crippler casually walks out all 300Kgs pounding the temple tiles and ducking his 2.5 meter head under most door jams.

[Notsoevildm]

Eklipse gives a freindly nod to Widget. "A place to stay is a good start. I did not expect you to be able to come up with ze new IDs immediately. After ze run is fine, and I vill then maybe have more creds to pay you, yes."

Following Crippler's example, he also transmits the LTG number to the rest of the team. "I can be reached on zis number. If it is switched off, please leave a message."

He then pushes himself smoothly back onto his feet and recovers his boots. On his way out he stops one of the monks and asks for permission to practice some katas in the garden. He waits until the rest of the runners have left, then strips off his shoes, coat and chest armor and steps onto the grass. He is at once both aware of the cold and the damp grass yet chooses to ignore them. He opens his awareness to his surroundings but focuses on his steps and gestures. After an hour of practice, he recovers his clothes and equipment and punches the Looking Glass' address into his bike's GPS.

Arriving at the club, he parks his bike and enters the foyer. While he negotiates with the doorman for a place to store his gear, he already dials back the AR settings on his comm to filter out most of the exotic image stream coming from the club's node.

"I need to speak to Mr. Bo Bo. It is a private matter. I vill wait for him at the bar."

Entering the club, he is initially surprised at the outlandish appearance of the clientele, but then gives a short smile. 'Scheisser, I fit right in here. Widget picked the perfect location for me to go to ground.'

He finds a quiet spot at the bar and orders an import beer, paying with his new credstick. He watches the crowd, noting some of the more extravagant changelings, while he waits for Mr Bo Bo. When the simian changeling finally shows up, he explains what he needs.

"I vas given your name by Widget. We are working for ze same employer at ze moment. She said you could arrange an appartment for me and parking for my bike. She recommended your establishment for both discretion and security. And I think also maybe because I vill not stand out from ze crowd here."

After finalising arrangements with Mr Bo Bo, Eklipse moves his bike into the underground parking then crashes out on the bed of his new digs. He awakes later in the evening, and after preparing his equipment for the run heads out for something to eat before meeting up with the rest of the team.

[Fenris]

One of the first out of the door after Widget, he collects the twin pistols and settles them back in the back and shoulder holsters with a sense of relief. No predator liked being without it's claws. He exited the sanctuary the way he entered, with a minimum of contact. So much passivity in such a small place unsettled him. The bike starts up with a roar, and he whips it out into traffic, quickly leaving the quiet monks and their peaceful local behind.

As soon as he gets back to his place, he falls back into the bed. The blackout curtains on the windows eliminated most of the rest of the afternoon's sun, and he slept fitfully.

The boy looked back over his shoulder, eyes wide, fear obvious on his face. He could hear the other kids coming, lead by him...Already out of breath, the boy kept running, skidding to a stop only when he hit the sharp edge of a dried up stream bed bisecting his path. The stream was only a trickle this time of year, although years of flooding had left sharp edges and eroded the bed until it was almost eight feet down into the clay. The entire gap couldn't be more than 6 feet, but to a small child, it could have stretched off into eternity. The boy looked left and right, and saw no easy ways down, no quick way to circumvent the sharp cliffs dug into the unforgiving soil. He heard and scuffle and a shout behind him, and turned, heart hammering in his chest. He took several steps back from the edge, screwing his eyes closed in concentration. With a last look over his shoulder and the crowd of boys less than a dozen feet behind, he balled up his fists and sprinted for the edge. As he hit the edge of the clay, he lept, body outstretched as he flew across the stream bed. He willed himself to cover the distance, could already imagine the solid impact of the clay under his feet. As the edge lept towards him, sudden shock and the realization that he wasn't going to make it flooded through him. With a wordless cry the small boy slammed into the jagged cliff face, quickly tumbling down to the base to lie still, covered in a plethora of scrapes and cuts, battered and bleeding and so dazed that he hadn't yet made a noise. The other boys arrived at the edge of the cliff and looked down, having witnessed the spectacular failure. The lead boy laughed, and the rest of them took it on cue, guffawing and slapping backs as they looked down at the crumpled figure below. As one, they turned disdainfully, leaving the boy to his pain and his shame.

He awoke with a start as the last of the sun's rays touched the horizons, and quickly got up, anxious to start his evening routine and distract himself from the lingering images of the dream.

He spent the first hour moving through the complicated rituals that regulated his magic, carefully dissembling and reassembling both of the pistols with painstaking precision, cleaning pieces, polishing barrels, and checking over each round of ammunition in every clip with a reverent air. That done, he ate quickly, grimmacing at the taste of the soy meat. Maybe his reward for a successful job would be meat, once in a while. Every hunter needed meat.

He dressed quickly in his working gear, strapping down the form-fiting armor and the armored vest over the black bodysuit. He threw an old long coat over everything. It was tattered and dusty, and wouldn't stop even a shot from the smallest pistol, but it served to hide the real equipment beneath.

He left a few hours before midnight, parking a half mile or so from the docks and fumbling with the commlink for a moment before discovering how to take the distributed numbers and actually dial them. He waited for a response from anyone, curious where the others were gathering, and if Widget had done her job.

[Fyndhal]

Twist waits until the others have left, watching their exit much as she had watched their arrival. Before leaving she messages those who had left contact information her info, then collects her items from the locker. Walking out, she notes Eklipse talking with one of the monks.

I wonder that that's about. With a small shrug, she looks away and heads towards the exit.

Arriving at her bike, she fires it up and heads to her storage shed to pick up her running gear. Her thoughts during the trip are focused on the upcoming run, trying to anticipate the various things that could go wrong and how to deal with the situations she imagines. She knows there is no way to anticipate everything, but the mental excercise keeps her mind busy, keeps the fear away. It was an old trick she'd learned and it worked -- she wasn't afraid. That would come later, after the run. The fear, the paranoia -- they seemed to be part and parcel of this odd freelance life she'd found herself in. Something else to hate the Yak for, I suppose. Bastards.

Arriving at her shed, she steps in and closes the door behind her. She changes her clothes, then sits at a small table and strips and cleans her weapons -- another excercise. Once complete, she busies herself taking inventory, and making sure everything is prepared and organzied. She sends a message to her sister saying she'd not be home tonight, so don't wait up.

[UmaroVI]

Fat Man politely thanked Widget for the tea and hospitality before leaving. He quickly collected his staff and hastened back home in order to sleep well before the mission. Once he was safely away, Fat Man dismissed the warrior shen he had summoned, thanking it for its diligence.

Fat Man stopped at the Stuffer Shack on the way home to pick up "dinner," in the form of a trendylicious saladupa, then went to sleep, setting his commlink alarm to wake him at nightfall. From there, he made preparations for a fight, resummoned the warrior shen, and finally masked himself as an ordinary worker from the docks. Then he headed out to meet up with the rest of the team.

[WearzManySkins]

Kat D listens to the last of Widget's words and gives her a brief nod.

Bones send out our contact information and store any contact information sent to us. Contact Pilot of Honda Spirit to come online and meet us at the front of this Shrine place. Inform pilot of Preset destination Ork Underground Parkin Lot.

Kat D gets up checking on the cred stick's location, leaves after the first two, places his weapon in holster, puts on jacket, then shoes.

Making his way to the entrance, and enters the Honda Spirit whose door opens at his approach.

Bones open the following files under team medical area:
Eklipse
Fat Man
Crippler
Twist
Zerone
Widget
Ayohuhisdi
Subtopics to include race, sex, cyberware, bioware, geneware and health.

Now to review the images of each team member and see what we can figure from visuals.

[Buddha72]

All
As you make your preparations for the night's work you receive an incoming message on your commlink from Widget.

Everything's ready for our get together tonight. I found a place for the night see the attached map for directions. See you then.

You make your way to the location to find it about a block from the docks. The address is a large and worn down looking warehouse or perhaps storage. An equally run down delivery van is parked alongside the building in a sheltered alley that runs its length. As you approach you see Widget at the rear of the van with the back doors open checking over something in the interior of the vehicle. She'll nod and gesture absentmindedly towards a small door that leads into the interior.

As you enter you see the interior has been heavily modified. Most of the space has been opened up - this space looks to have been a chop shop for both machines and people at various times. You can see illegal taps into utilities and make shift power interfaces. The remnants of either medical or vehicle repair gear - its hard to say. Nothing about the locale says legitimate or professional. There is a strange mixture of chemical and decomposition smells in the air. The light source seems to be some odd lamps and bare bulbs that give off a cold illumination. The sound echoes flatly from all the odd surfaces as you make your way towards the lit up area.

"This place is less than sterile so I wouldn't touch anything unless you absolutely have to and even then I would use someone else's hand. Good news is that the rent is cheap as in free and it works for our needs"

Widget speaks as she walks in behind the last member of the team closing the door behind her. She walks briskly to the center of the lighted area. She seems to be carrying a small projector in her hands that she sets down on the ground. She moves her hands around her manipulating the AR objects. The AR space around quickly fills with several control interfaces and feeds. She gathers several of them with one hand and they shrink and slide to the side making a neat column. She grabs one interface and pinches the corners and stretches it to a larger size. Tapping a few icons the lights dim and the projector fires to life creating a holographic image of the shipping yard in the air above it.

"The security here is tight but not impossible. I think I can manage the visual and audio feeds for about 30 minutes though that's pushing it. 15 to 20 is a safer bet. There's a security hacker assigned to the site who sweeps the system looking for tampering like me. I have located his meat sleeve.."

She grabs one of the shrunken windows and opens it up over the current window she is using. A smaller image is projected out from the floor showing a live feed of a small office door with a simple sign that says Security Personnel Only.

"...in this free standing shack. I have several friends scattered around the yard for live feeds and to track the patrols working the yard. There are 3 groups of 4 men that do a regular circuit."

The yard shows a series of lines - three different colors that path around the yard. Three small windows appear showing the security patrols in real time. Each one appears to be in light body armor, carrying heavy pistols and submachine guns strapped to their chests.

"Their routes through the yard oddly don't go near the container we're after though loud noises I'm sure will gather their attention." Her lopsided smirk at the comment speaks for itself.

A single container near the docks illuminates and a smaller window pops up from it showing a real time feed of it. The location is on the far east side of the yard and is fairly isolated.

"The container itself is shielded from scanners or at least anything I can pack into a micro-drone so the interior is a mystery though I think the two containers are connected internally since no one comes out and crawls up to the top one. If they have machines they are closed off from the larger matrix. I have combat drones in the van and I can deploy them but there's little chance of me sneaking them into the yard on short notice and my budget so they can be your cover if you end up leaving hot and with friends."

She turns and faces the group with a large smile and semi-vacant expression on her face like a hostess at trendy restaurant.

"Any questions?"

[JxJxA]

Zerone shrugs his shoulders---a gesture somewhat muddled by his long pat coat.

"I...um...suppose the only question I have is: Where do we start? I have called forth a ravmalakh---I mean, an archangel from the Fiery Sphere of Seraph Michael. I am certain that it could...uh...keep the guards occupied or rescue the workers." Zerone smiles softly and waits to hear what the rest of the group has to say.

[Fenris]

Ayo reaches out, ostensibly to enlarge a portion of the picture showing the stacked containers. The picture doesn't seem to respond to his motions at first, and then abruptly fluctuates as his motions become a bit more sporadic in an attempt to force the program to respond. A few frustrated, flailing moments later and several of the pictures are over 4 feet wide, turned at odd angles and blocking the views, as the monotonal voice of a news announcer expounding on the latest batch of newly cloned African swallows to be released in the grasslands of Ethiopia drones over everything. With an angry swipe that resets the windows back to their original size and placement, Ayo steps back, crossing his arms over his chest, obviously embarrassed and nodding towards the images with his chin.

"Can you zoom in on the locks and hinges? Might be simplest to just cross the yard at the shortest distance from the fence when the guards are at the farthest, pop the doors and deal with the guys and workers. Your spirit can fly away with any "victims", and we can salvage what we want and be gone before there's time to really respond."

[UmaroVI]

Fat Man spoke up after Ayo.

"I am inclined to agree. 15 to 30 minutes should be plenty - we can head in, assault the container, grab what we need, and run away. I also have a shen with me who has agreed to help, although mine is slightly less powerful than Zerone's."

[Fyndhal]

Twist looks around the place with an obvious air of disgust, then joins the group.

"If we have 10-15 minutes in there, that would be an eternity. If we're noisy, we have at most 5 minutes before we're nicked. I know that you magic types don't generally make too much noise. I assume that Eklipse can use that sword well enough, and that isn't terribly loud. I'll stick with my pistol unless things get loud -- it's as silent as such a thing can be. How about the rest of you? Are you equipped for a stealth hit, or do we hit hard and out in under 5 minutes?"

[JxJxA]

Zerone frowns slightly, "I am afraid I am not well trained in stealth. Most of my spells are related to...um...combat. Follower did teach me to turn manabolt and manaball into sleep spells. Would that help?"

[UmaroVI]

"Neither am I," Fat Man added, "although I can similarly use reasonably quiet stunning spells. Soundwave, I will save for if we're spotted already."

[Notsoevildm]

Eklipse nods to Twist, his face mostly concealed by the mask of his form fitting armor. He opens the long coat to reveal a HK227-S, clipped to a combat harness.

"I can handle the sword well enough, but will save it for taking of the hands."

He pats the gun. "This is an HK227-S. It is silenced for stealth operations and is quieter than your pistol as long as I do not fire it on full automatic."

"As for close combat," he holds up his gloved hands, "these are as deadly as the blade."

"I suggest we go in and out as quiet as possible. If it gets noisy, we complete ze task and get out quick leaving ze prisoners if necessary. Ze are a secondary objective, yes."

"Twist and I vill take the point. Those who are not 'sneaky' follow behind." He looks at Zerone, Fat Man and Crippler as he says this, then addresses Ayo directly, "Point or backup?"

"Widget can you plot us a route to avoid ze dock security and feed it to our comms?"

[Buddha72]

Ayo
"I'm going to assume you mean the cargo containers about the locks & hinges. I can tell you right now the doors are going to need something industrial strength to cut through if you're looking to take the doors off at the hinges."

She reaches over to the neat column and drags another interface window to herself. It expands slightly and she quickly selects several different icons and taps them in quick succession. A new window pops up from the projector unit and quickly zooms in to the locking mechanism on the lower cargo container. It appears to have a keypad interface and a small scanner attached to the side. A look of concern passes over Widget's face at seeing it.

"That looks older than I think a secret cash factory lock should have so it might be a fake shell on that and can anyone of you deal with electronic locks?"

Eklipse
As she waits for the response she nods her head at your request.

"Done and done. Just make sure to tell me when you're starting the run in so I can deal with the security sensors and cameras."

A small incoming message with an attached image is received by everyone's comm.

[JxJxA]

As the others begin hashing out the actual details of the run, a thought suddenly strikes Zerone.

"Um...did anyone think to assense the area? If the Yakuza are operating without mages, then we could send malakhim---I mean, watchers...to follow their patrols," he asks the awakened members of the group. Zerone's eyes unfocus as he shifts his perspective to the astral plane, jolts back somewhat startled when looking in Fat Man's direction, and then looks around.

"Should I try scanning the area or do you think you would have better luck, Mr. Fat Man? I could always ask Amara---I mean, the ravmalakh---I mean, the archangel to look around."

[UmaroVI]

"I recall our intelligence says they have at least one awakened guard. Unless they are extremely foolish, they'll have a spirit summoned and keeping watch on the Astral, which means if we scout them then they know we're coming. I think we are best off going in "blind" so as to have the element of surprise."

[Fenris]

Ayo nods to Eklipse.

"I can run point. I can be silent up to the point at which we actually start killing people. At that point, I'm sure the timers going to be running anyway." The mask stretches and shifts a bit, probably either a smile or a grimace moving the face beneath it.

"Panther will guide my steps. The hunt is his domain."

[Fyndhal]

"Electronic locks, no I have no skill with those. I'm pretty good at sneaking around and decent with guns, but electronics aren't my thing."

[Buddha72]

All
Her face takes on the vacant look again as she accesses something deeper within the matrix - as she speaks she sounds distant and hollow.

"Solution inbound - I have a friend who I will move to near the container who I should be able to use to bypass the lock for you. You feel free to take him inside as well since they may be more electronics you need to deal with."

[Notsoevildm]

"Vun of your little drones, yes?" asks Eklipse. "You are a very resourceful woman."

He looks around the room. "Good. Then I think we are ready. Twist, Ayo and myself shall lead. Crippler and ze mages follow. Crippler, protect the mages from any physical threats and support us when we go hot. Fat Man, Zerone, can you provide some magical defence for all of us?"

With that he readies his SMG, a soft click indicating that the safety is now off, and moves towards the door. He calls up Widget's file and puts the image in the corner of his vision.