Nothing's Free in the Free Zone (IC), Adventure 1: Broken Star Options

[Jack VII]

Sacrifice Site, Upper Derby Lake, 11:05 PM, August 1st, 2075

Jack frowned at the decidedly non-covert approach the team seemed to be suggesting concerning the scene of the assault.

<<@Team [JustJack] I'll lodge my complaint about leaving all this drek as is. There are a ton of bad things that can happen to a person out here. Leaving the bodies so there is no question that at least a few were ambushed with guns would get rid of about 75% of those things. I'd prefer to keep our opponents in the dark as much as possible. Either way, I ain't leaving that girl on the cross...>

Shedding his firearms, Jack walked over to the mutilated and decomposing form on the cross. Even though he tried to keep himself from gagging, he did it anyway. He gently untied the bindings keeping the body in place and gathered the remains up in his arms as best he could. Approaching the shore of the lake, the ork walked out until he was about waist deep. Discreetly popping his handblade, he cut off a hunk of the woman's hair as well as cutting off one of her index fingers and stowed the identifying biological material in his jacket. Next, he slit open the cadaver's stomach to release any gasses that might have built up. Nearly choking at the release, he pushed the body down into the water, letting the lake fill up the newly opened void and take the body below.

"Reposar En Paz," Jack said as he headed back to shore. Given the depth of the water, he was able to swim a bit and did his best to wash the decaying matter from his clothes.

[Always Overkill]

Garrett "Overkill" Dramen
Sacrifice Site, Upper Derby Lake, 11:05 PM, August 1st, 2075


<<@Team[Overkill]: Jack is right, Mein Kameraden, we need to clean this place up and leave as little for our enemies to pick up on as possible. Grease, check the feed from the chiphouse, Amy, hold off on dismissing Thraha until he see if our other target has made an appearance tonight. We can sink the bodies into the lake. I will take care of Truck and the other cultist.">>

Drave approached the forms of Truck and the summoner, seeing that they were both obviously near death, he knew what had to be done. Even if they could be helped, men willing to murder innocent girls bound to crosses were never going to change. He pulled his Crusader, checked the suppressor, took aim, and with an unflinching expression of determination, finished both off in rapid succession.

[Jack VII]

Sacrifice Site, Upper Derby Lake, 11:10 PM, August 1st, 2075

"I got the bodies. Give me five minutes," Jack said.

The ork gathered the bodies and carried them out of sight of his companions to the edge of the lake. Even with his augmented muscles, Truck was a bit too heavy, so he grabbed the troll's legs and drug him, doing his best to drag the body along hard packed dirt rather than through the soft lake shore silt. Once he had gathered all of the bodies, Jack took a look around to make sure his companions were otherwise engaged. Satisfied, he popped his handblade.

Simply based on the imagined wounds it could produce, the wicked length of steel was enough to turn a person's stomach, Emerging parallel to his left pinky finger, the blade extended about a foot. Double sided, the outside edge was a sharp curved blade while the inside was largely dull but featured a hook halfway down the length. Fashioned, after a sort, similar to a gutting knife, Jack had to wonder what purpose the blade served and why he would have had it implanted inside his body. The wounds it caused tended to be horrible, albeit he couldn't complain about it in this case, disemboweling was exactly what he needed. In a methodical fashion, the ork walked each body out into a slightly different area of the lake and proceeded to gut each in turn, pulling out their vitals enough to create a cavity that could fill with lake water. Before pushing them under, he severed the right index finger from each body and shoved them into one of the cargo pockets on his pants. For good measure, the ork dug up a few handfuls of soil and shoved it inside to help anchor the body to the bottom.

Once finished, the ork did his best to use clean lake water to sluice off the blood and excrement that came from performing such a task. I'm gonna need a shower something fierce... he thought to himself.

[DrZaius]

Sacrifice Site, Upper Derby Lake, 11:10 PM, August 1st, 2075

Watching the feed from his Fly-Spy, Jack's dispatch of their recent adversaries does nothing to quell Grease's uneasy stomach.

That is one guy I am going to have to keep an eye out for.. Not sure where you learn something like that.

Investigating the van a little closer, Grease pokes his head around the windows, peeking in.

<<@Team [Grease's subvocal]: This van bare a striking resemblance to anyone else to the one they were driving in that shoot out? We should take try to take it with us, and see if there's any trace evidence inside.>>

Not to mention I wouldn't mind someplace to stash my drones; the beemer is a little tight for the 4 of us and some heavy firepower. I could paint the side, maybe a Denver Power & Water symbol; those things are parked on the street for days and no one notices...

Grease's mind wanders a bit more, darting from one topic to the next. He glances back over at the unconscious prisoner, and nods at Overkill.

<<@Overkill [Grease's subvocal]: Help me pop the doors on this van; it's going to be easier to transport that guy at gunpoint in the back of a van than it is a passenger car. I'd prefer we kept a gun on him rather than give him the chance to slip out of the restraints in the trunk of a car.>>

Plus he may still be a vampire..

[Chrome Head]

Sacrifice Site, Upper Derby Lake, 11:10 PM, August 1st, 2075

Amy offers to help Jack with the bodies, but trying to lift Truck's feet she could immediately see that a weak female elf wasn't going to be much help to a strong ork like Jack, and let him do this by himself.

Turning back she went towards the Grease and Overkill, who were considering ways to get into the van's system. Having nothing better to do she inspected the other vehicle, which was still running. The Americar didn't seem in too bad a shape, but she wondered if anything inside might be valuable to the team, either monetarily or information-wise. After her inspection of the truck, glove box and other compartments, she came back to sit down and wait for the tech guys to do their thing. Meanwhile she took a look at the one person that they had left alive through it all, the victim. Looking into the astral, she takes a closer look at her aura and recognizes the special glow of the Awakened. Not sure if she is adept or magician, aware or not of her condition, the shaman still takes a mental note of it.

[DrZaius]

Sacrifice Site, Upper Derby Lake, 11:10 PM, August 1st, 2075

His greedy eyes looking over the van, recognition begins to dawn.

Drone racks.. Van large enough for Truck to fit in.. This has to be the van from the drive by.

Frowning, Grease messages the team.

<<@Team [Grease's subvocal]: This has to be their rigger's truck. Overkill; ignore that last request; I don't want to drive a crime scene on wheels out of here. I say we take the Americar and get the heck out of here. Throw the v.. bad guy in the trunk, the victim can ride in the back with two of you.>>

Taking one last admiring look at the van, Grease pops the hood and starts pulling small but important components out of the engine. Once he had an assortment, some of which he wouldn't think to check half the time he tossed the majority into the water; the others he scattered around the site in hard to see nooks and crannies.

Lord only knows what other crimes this van has been involved in; it doesn't do me any good to take a van if it's got 5-6 bodies on it already. Shame to lose a fine vehicle.

Having sabotaged it to the best of his ability in the short time he allotted himself, Grease opened up the back of the van to see if there was anything worth taking that wasn't nailed down.

[Lobo0705]

Sacrifice Site, Upper Derby Lake, 11:10 PM, August 1st, 2075


After hearing Grease's warning about the van, Overkill quickly pulled up a window to the Matrix, and inspected the van.

Sure enough, there was a steady stream of information shooting through the Matrix, a pulsing energy line flashing out from the dark heart of the Arsenal back toward the city proper. Lifting off from the ground, his winged avatar launched itself through the air, following the stream of data. As the data stream leads him further and further away, he can feel the virtual surroundings shaking with buildup of extraneous signals.


Back in his meat body, Overkill moves to put himself next to the Americar, and sits down, propping himself up against the front passenger tire. "Give me a minute, Freunde."

Closing his eyes, his body slumped a little as he entered the Matrix fully, the noise now causing him a sharp ache in his temples. However, the closer connection allowed him to cut through the noise a little easier, and he flew off again, redoubling his speed. Within moments he reached his destination, as the stream of concentrated data simply disappeared. He stops, hovering about the area, and then opens his hands. Small insects composed of light form, and as each completes its assembly, it flies away, zipping here and there in the virtual landscape. After the fifth one, Overkill strikes paydirt, as an icon appears where none had been a moment before, the insects stinger lodged it its side.

Swooping down, he lays his hand on the gray cube, and it glows brilliantly green for a moment, and then the light fades, leaving a faint phosphorescence as his Mark is left on the icon. He thinks for a moment about trying to trace the physical location of the icon, but then decides the Noise is too strong, comes back to his body.

Overkill opens his eyes and stands up, not bothering to wide the dirt from his trousers, as they are simply a new patch of stains on his already mud covered clothing. Fighting back a sneeze, he says "I was able to find the icon that is receiving the data, but it is far away. I could try and hack it now, but I think it would be better if we got somewhere closer and with more of a connection that these woods, nicht war? If that is the case, we need to hurry, as the longer I am connected, the more likely the authorities will track me down."

[Jack VII]

Sacrifice Site, Upper Derby Lake, 11:10 PM, August 1st, 2075

Jack took one last good look around the scene and figured it probably was a confusing enough mess to make life difficult for anyone else to figure out exactly what the frag had happened.

"Alright amigos, let's get out of here." Jack grabbed the bag with the SMG and clips of ammunition. He didn't really care much about the firearm, but thought the bag was nice. "Any bets this weapon was used in one of the murders? I've got 100 nuyen on Newton and Taylor..."

[Chrome Head]

Sacrifice Site, Upper Derby Lake, 11:10 PM, August 1st, 2075

Amy nods to Jack. "Yeah, it could be evidence. About time to finally leave this awful place, the astral space here stinks."

[Lobo0705]

Northern side of Upper Derby Lake, 11:13 PM, August 1st, 2075

After dumping the cultist in the trunk unceremoniously, Jack lifted the unconscious girl into the back seat, while Amy got in on the other side. Overkill rode up front with Grease, who swore softly at having to control the vehicle manually.

Making a U-turn, Grease got the vehicle back onto the road, and started to backtrack along the path the cultists arrived. Skirting the northern edge of the lake, the runner's kept a sharp lookout while the spirit and drones flew overwatch.

As the car trundled along the road Thraha spoke loudly in Amy's mind. "Mistress, a large pack of dual natured dog-like creatures is approaching from the north through the woods. If you maintain this current speed, you will run right into them."

[Chrome Head]

Northern side of Upper Derby Lake, 11:13 PM, August 1st, 2075

"Good job, Thraha."

"Hey Grease, turn around! There are dangerous beasts in front of us that way, Thraha told me. We might as well try the road block instead, right? He still owes me one more service tonight, I'll keep that in reserve in case we need the firepower later. We have to rely on the drones for surveillance from now on."

[DrZaius]

Northern side of Upper Derby Lake, 11:13 PM, August 1st, 2075

Spinning the wheel on reflex and pulling the handbrake, Grease executes a textbook J-turn before stopping to think about what Amy said.

Who the frak is Thraha?

Not wanting to rock the boat and presuming the magic user saw something his drones didn't, Grease nodded to Amy in the back seat and proceeded along the new route at speed.

<<@Drones [Grease]: Keep alert up there, and scout the new route I'm laying in.>>

[Jack VII]

Northern side of Upper Derby Lake, 11:13 PM, August 1st, 2075

Jack leaned into the seat when Grease threw the car into a bootleg. Holding the girl as steady as possible, he frowned in the rearview mirror. At least the fragger in the trunk is likely getting bounced around... he thought. The ork checked his image link to make sure their captives vitals hadn't changed.

"We can't outrun them in the car?" Jack didn't really like changing the route. He felt there was a good reason why they were going this way, namely they were pretty sure the exit could actually be accessed.

[Chrome Head]

Northern side of Upper Derby Lake, 11:13 PM, August 1st, 2075

Drek, I should watch it when I tell Grease to turn around!

"There's a pack of awakened hellish wolves north of us, and they may be coming towards us. I sure hope we can outrun them, but we can't do that going towards them.

[Jack VII]

Northern side of Upper Derby Lake, 11:13 PM, August 1st, 2075

Shrugging, Jack muttered, "We were driving west..." Checking on his patient, he unlimbered his SMG just in case.

[Lobo0705]

Peoria Street, the Arsenal 11:23 PM, August 1st, 2075

Grease made the quick turn onto Peoria, heading south toward the old military complex. His Fly Spy leading the way, the Americar moved down the windy, pitch black road through the woods, bouncing the occupants around as it maneuvered over pavement that had not been maintained for decades.

The team looked around nervously, Amy's warning about paranormal animals putting them on edge. About 10 minutes into their trip, the Fly Spy, flying above the treetops was able to see the old military complex clearly. The buildings stood dark and quiet, windows either missing completely or with holes in them. Debris littered the ground around the buildings, and Grease could see through the drone's AR feed the roadblock. The complex had been updated after the old World Trade Center bombings, when bases around the country had put in barriers designed to avoid truck bombers from being able to drive straight through to the base. Although the entrance to the base from the northern side was clear, a low wall of concrete pylons surrounded the entrance to the south, with a solid metal barricade over the road itself. The barricade would be lowered after the vehicle had proved that it belonged on the base.

The guard tower next to the barricade was empty now, but the barricade was in the raised position. Grease looked back toward the others as the car approached the complex, "Now what gang?"

[Jack VII]

Peoria Street, the Arsenal 11:23 PM, August 1st, 2075

Jack frowned at the current situation and said "I doubt the maquinaria has been maintained or that there is any power to run it. I guess our best option is for Grease to call the taxi over and we ditch this car here."

[Chrome Head]

Peoria Street, the Arsenal 11:13 PM, August 1st, 2075

Amy was glad to soon get out of the arsenal in one piece. After all, they could have all blown up on a land mine by now, if you believe half of what people say about this place. The confirmed presence of dangerous critters had already been worrisome. "I agree, let's do what's easiest. Should we crash this one or even try to burn it down though? It could maybe help to blur our trail and what we did tonight."

[Lobo0705]

Peoria Street, the Arsenal 11:23 PM, August 1st, 2075

As Grease maneuvered his car into the parking area of the base, Overkill said to Jack, "There may be a manual override for the barrier, although I'm not sure if it is still working after this amount of time."

The decker moved his AR feed around, looking for anything that might resemble a device they could use to raise the barrier, but the Matrix was almost silent here, only the team's own icons glowing in his vision.

[Jack VII]

Peoria Street, the Arsenal 11:23 PM, August 1st, 2075

Jack nodded at Overkill's advice. "Well, no reason to sit here on our culos. I'm going to see if I can find the override while we wait for the taxi. I'd rather be waiting on that side of the fence than this one. Someone cover me..." Jack exited the vehicle, but kept his SMG handy. Hoping the darkness provided him reasonable concealment, he slipped over to the barricade and searched for an access panel either on the barricade itself or its housing in the ground. He wasn't entirely sure about heading into the guard tower and hoped his initial search was successful.

[Chrome Head]

Peoria Street, the Arsenal 11:23 PM, August 1st, 2075

Amy takes a step and puts one foot out of the van, looking around in astral and physical space for any kind of possible threats to Jack, and staying ready to provide support if necessary.

[Lobo0705]

Abandoned military complex, the Arsenal 11:24 PM, August 1st, 2075

As Jack searches along the housing, Grease sends a message to his taxi to meet the group at the barricade. Despite the lack of signal strength, the RCC is able to make a smooth connection with his vehicle, and the engine roars to life as it pulls out onto E. 56th street.

Jack's searched around the barricade, but was unable to find any type of housing. Looking up, he debated on climbing to the guard tower to see if something was up there. As he debated climbing up to the top however, he heard a low clang, like metal on metal, and a rhythmic pounding. He glanced over at the car, and he could see that Amy had heard it too. Glancing around, trying to pinpoint the source of the sound, they couldn't seem to figure out where it was coming from.

It was Grease who recognized it first, as his drones helped him triangulate the source of the sound. "Guys, its from below us." The team looked down in worry as they could tell that the pounding was coming closer...

[Jack VII]

Rocky Mountain Arsenal Main Entrance, Rocky Mountain Arsenal 11:24 PM, August 1st, 2075

Jumping up to his feet, the ork shouted, "Frag it, ditch the car and let's get on the other side of the barricade. Grease, can you tell the car to drive away once we empty it? Maybe whatever is coming will chase it..."

Ignoring any sense of safety, the ork darted back to the car and pulled the still unconscious girl out of the backseat.

"Someone grab the rest of the gear and Blondie out of the trunk!"

[Chrome Head]

Rocky Mountain Arsenal Main Entrance, Rocky Mountain Arsenal 11:24 PM, August 1st, 2075

What the frag is it??

"On it." At Jack's command, Amy grabs all the gear that's lying in the van, including the ork's firearm, and moves away. "Overkill, can you drag the human out of there?"

[Lobo0705]

Rocky Mountain Arsenal Main Entrance, Rocky Mountain Arsenal 11:24 PM, August 1st, 2075

Grease pops the trunk manually, and gets out of the car, taking a moment to wipe down the steering wheel and handle, and heads to the back of the car.

Overkill has already gotten out of the passenger side, and with a quick, "Liebschen, heads up!" tosses his AK to the young girl from the Warrens, who catches it adroitly with her left hand. Carrying both Overkill's and Jack's rifles, she hurries over to the barricade.

Overkill and Grease get to the back of the car, and with some grunting and short oaths, manage to get the human out of the trunk, his legs hitting the ground with a thud as they lose control of his body for a second.

I was worried about getting shot, never thought I'd get a hernia on this job, Grease was grunting with the effort as he and Overkill hoisted the body over the barricade. As the team made their way down the trail toward the main road, the taxi still a a minute away, the door to one of the buildings about 100 meters to the north burst open, and a stream of figures began pouring through the door.

The figures seemed a mix of metahumanity, although it was difficult to tell gender and race as their faces were covered by large, frightening, almost tribal looking masks or face paint. There were several dozen at least, brandishing a mixture of weapons, mostly melee, although there were a few with firearms.

To Amy's astral vision, she could see two spirits, each a giant bear-shape, come straight through the walls of the building and roar a challenge as they started running 2 meters off the ground after the group.