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

[Chrome Head]

Lynx's Apartment Complex, Denver, CO, 3:25 AM August 3rd, 2075

"Why not go in as two teams of two? Jack, you and I take the stairs we'll use to escape. The two techies take the elevator. Or is it important that we cover two stairways?" asked Amy.

[Jack VII]

Lynx's Apartment Complex, Denver, CO, 3:25 AM August 3rd, 2075

"¡Es verdad! Accessing the stairwells is mainly just selling the story. Since we're supposedly checking the stairwells to see if we can find signs of where the rats are getting in, it would make sense to check the one closest to the problem." Jack adjusted his kit, "I'll have to leave my M23 in the cart, but I can probably get away with bringing my hold-out until we meet back up on the 5th Floor."

[Chrome Head]

Lynx's Apartment Complex, Denver, CO, 3:25 AM August 3rd, 2075

"Soka. Let's do this thing!" Amy grinned.

[DrZaius]

Lynx's Apartment Complex, Denver, CO, 3:25 AM August 3rd, 2075

Cracking his knuckles, Grease smooths his fake mustache and adjusts his ratty ponytail. He hasn't shaved since yesterday morning, so he's beginning to look even rougher around the edges which lends itself to the disguise. "Anything else boys and girls? Otherwise let's get this started."

GEAR:

[ Spoiler ]

Essy Motor's Dronemaster
Microskimmer (in cart)
MCT-Fly Spy (on person)
MCT-Fly Spy (on person)
Ares Light Fire 75, loaded with Gel (on person)
Glasses w/Smartlink
Micro-transciever
Tag Eraser
Metalink Commlink (Slaved to RCC)
Cram (1 dose, on person)
Armor vest
Coveralls
Gas Mask

[Lobo0705]

Lynx's Apartment Complex, Denver, CO, 3:40 AM August 3rd, 2075

The team pulls up in the van and parks near the front of the building. Lowering the ramp they slowly wheel the cart down from the back of the truck and begin to wheel it toward the front entrance. Grease moves ahead, smoothing his mustache and clearing his throat. The automatic doors open, and he strides into the lobby, empty except for a pair of bored security guards.

Turning and waving the rest of the team in, he then makes a beeline for the front desk. "Yeah, Johnson Exterminators, we got a call about a devil rat infestation up on 5. You should have the work order."

He stands at the desk, tapping his hand impatiently as the guard pulls up the information on his commlink. There are some tense seconds as the guard searches, but then he simply says, "Sign here." He holds out a data reader, and Grease uses his burner 'link to make the electronic signature. Have to remember to dump this after we get out of here.

Grease moves over to the elevator where Overkill has pushed the cart. Jack and Amy walk down the hallway to the east, briefly turning to Grease, "We've got the stairwell, we'll make sure there aren't any there."
They disappear down the hallway as the two elves stand near the elevator. The guards go back to watching their monitors, and chatting about the "hot chick up on 4".

The elevator soon opens and Overkill and Grease enter, riding it up to the 5th floor. Overkill watches both the real world and the Matrix, finding the guard's equipment and their telltale signatures.
<<@Team [Overkill] The guards are on floor 6 now.>>

Jack and Amy walk quickly through the hallway and enter the stairwell. Hurrying so that they arrive at nearly the same time as the two elves in the elevator, they begin taking the stairs two at a time.

[Lobo0705]

Lynx's Apartment Complex, Denver, CO, 3:41 AM August 3rd, 2075

Grease and Overkill exit the elevator, looking both ways up and down the empty corridor. Although empty, it is well lit and clean, the rug giving off apleasant odor that shows it is regularly cleaned. pushing the cart into the hallway, they begin to push it toward Lynx's apartment.

<<@Jack & Amy [Grease] We're here, the corridor is clear.>>

Amy and Jack reach the fifth floor, Amy panting a little from the exertion. <<@Grease and Overkill [JustJack] Roger that, we are coming out of the stairwell now.>>

As Jack and Amy enter the northern part of the hallway, Jack sees Grease and Overkill pushing the cart towards them, still about 50-60 feet away. Lynx's door is about 30 feet away on his left. As he begins to walk toward them, Amy grabs his arm. As she exited the doorway here astral sight reveals to her what none of the others can see, a humanoid warrior wreathed in flame, his greatsword point down on the floor, his hands resting on the pommel. The figure stands in front of Lynx's door, and his eyes sweep back from Grease and Overkill towards Amy, the flames flashing brighter as his eyes see Amy's Awakened nature.

[Chrome Head]

Lynx's Apartment Complex, Denver, CO, 3:41 AM August 3rd, 2075

<<@Team [Amy's subvocal] "Move quickly, there's a fire spirit standing guard in front of the door. Assume they might know we're here.">>

[Jack VII]

Lynx's Apartment Complex, Denver, CO, 3:41 AM August 3rd, 2075

<<@Team [JustJack] But does it know why we're here?>>

Jack hoped that spirits could be fooled like everyone else, at least until they got a little closer to it. In retrospect, being unarmored and mostly weaponless was a really bad call. He prepared himself to snap out his handblade at the first sign of the spirit materializing.

[Chrome Head]

Lynx's Apartment Complex, Denver, CO, 3:41 AM August 3rd, 2075

Hmm he's got a point. <<@Team [Amy's subvocal] Not yet. But he knows I can see him, I'll keep you updated.>>

[DrZaius]

Lynx's Apartment Complex, Denver, CO, 3:41 AM August 3rd, 2075

Keeping the same pace on his cart, Grease nods at Overkill, as if he just sent him a funny message. He starts to tap a response into his own commlink.

<<@Amy [Grease]: Anything you can do about it? Getting set on fire isn't part of the plan, unless y'all updated it when you were getting the van.>>

Pretending to review a work order on his commlink, Grease sends a message directly to Overkill.

<<@Overkill [Grease]: Can you get control of the sprinklers? If there's a fire spirit that comes out to play, it'd be nice to be able to get him wet. I don't know a lot about spirits, but my guess is fire spirits don't like water.>>

[Lobo0705]

Lynx's Apartment Complex, Denver, CO, 3:41 AM August 3rd, 2075

<<@Team [Overkill] Yes, I can take control of the sprinklers, it will just take me a couple of seconds. I just need to find the correct control. Amy, we are flying blind here. I'm not sure what to do about something I can't see.>>

[Lobo0705]

Lynx's Apartment Complex, Denver, CO, 3:41 AM August 3rd, 2075

Amy doesn't like the way the Fire Spirit is looking at her. She reaches out to her Spirit of Air, "Now! Behind the Fire Spirit!"

She begins walking quickly toward the door, her trodes converting her mental impulses to digital signals, <<@Team [Amy] We move now: hack the door, throw the grenade.>>

At she says this, Jack passes her in the corridor, Need to get my stuff, don't want to face this puto with my holdout and overalls for protection. Overkill keeps pace with Grease, his Avatar flying through the host to find the maglock icon.

[Jack VII]

Lynx's Apartment Complex, Denver, CO, 3:42 AM August 3rd, 2075

The team began to converge on the doorway to the apartment they believed Lynx's crew was using as a temporary safehouse. Jack quickly outpaced Amy; it was clear to the elf he would be dangerously close to the spirit if it detected the threat and materialized, a more likely situation with her own spirit even now slipping into the apartment the fire spirit was guarding. I've got to do something... she thought.

From the opposite direction, Grease pushed the cart at a sedate pace, doing his best to not attract unwarranted attention from the spirit he couldn't see. The decker next to him was busy plying his trade in the Matrix, made somewhat difficult due to his split attention. If I don't get this door open, this whole thing is going to be geschraubt, spirit or otherwise...

With her astral senses focused on the spirit, Amy drew upon her mental reserves and strength. You will not harm my friends! I free you from your bonds! the elf thought, pressing her will into the magical core of the summoned spirit's being. Overcome by the force of the elf's incredible will, the spirit collapsed in upon itself, its astral flames dying out as it fled back to the metaplane of its existence. Realizing the summoner would be alerted to the banishing, Amy sub-vocalized to the rest of the team.

<<@Team [Amy's Subvocal] I took care of the spirit, but they know we're here!>>

Lynx's Apartment Host, Denver, CO, 3:42 AM August 3rd, 2075

Overkill's angel icon had, so far, made the host for the apartment complex his plaything. The matrix iconography for the host was particularly boring, essentially just a matrix facsimile of the real world complex. He had to appreciate that it made his job relatively easier given that what he was seeing in AR wasn't all that different than what he was seeing in the real world. With several icons already marked throughout the host, he turned his sights to one of the final icons he needed to address: the icon for the lock to the door. Appearing as nothing more than a large padlock, the decker kept his eyes peeled for the floating drone camera icon representing the Host's Patrol IC before turning his full attention to the icon. The angel spread its wings; a cavalcade of green 1s and 0s creeping from the feathers and marching across the face of the padlock icon. As the green digits fully covered the padlock, the icon flashed and remained colored a digital green. Gesturing, the angel watched as the padlock popped open. With a small flourish, Overkill programmed the angel icon to smile.

Lynx's Apartment Complex, Denver, CO, 3:42 AM August 3rd, 2075

As Overkill gave a nearly imperceptible thumb's up, the team darted into motion. Jack had already reached the door and waited as the rest of the team arrived. Grease sprinted down the hallway, pushing the cart in front of him with Overkill on his heels. As the cart arrived, Jack reached in and pulled out the CS grenade and his armor jacket. Amy was next, her eyes focused in concentration as she cast a spell of invisibility on the ork. Subvocalizing, the elf said,

<<@Team [Amy's Subvocal] I'm turning Jack invisible again, but they might see him anyway.>>

As the team took up positions on opposite sides of the door, Amy shrugged into her armor jacket and reached for her gas mask. Grease had one of his Fly Spy drones in hand, prepared to toss it through as soon as the door opened. Unarmored, but knowing time was of the essence, Jack reached forward to open the door and toss the grenade in, trusting in the elf's spell to keep him whole and healthy.

[Lobo0705]

Lynx's Apartment Complex, Denver, CO, 3:42 AM August 3rd, 2075

Jack flips the handle of the door up, opening the door wide. The door opens inward and to the right, into a short hallway. There is a door about 5 feet down the hallway on the left-hand side, and the hallway then opens up into a living area. Jack can see a sofa, and the window on the far wall, but the rest of the apartment to his left is hidden from view by the hallway. There is an open arch halfway down the wall on his right, opening up into what appears to be a kitchen.

Flinging the grenade down the hallway, he ducks back for a second as Overkill waits a split second and then detonates the grenade. Reaching around his partner, Grease tosses his Fly Spy into the room and pulls on his gas mask, getting ready to stream the video to the rest of the team.

[Lobo0705]

Lynx's Apartment Complex, Denver, CO, 3:42 AM August 3rd, 2075

Grease pulls out his Light Fire, chambering a round. He connects to his RCC and sends a message to his Fly Spy to advance into the living room, looking for potential opponents. The little drone buzzes through the apartment, scanning the area in thermo, but not picking up any heat signatures in the open areas of the apartment.

Jack, his Colt at the ready, moves into the apartment with Amy on his heels, getting to the corner of the archway and turning in, checking the corners of the kitchen. The dim kitchen seemed like broad daylight to his vision, and it was apparent that no on was in the room, although clearly there was someone living here, given the amount of dishes left on the counter near the sink. "Clear!" He announced loudly, no need for stealth anymore now that the grenade had detonated. He had already turned on his internal air tank, and concentrated on not breathing in the tear gas that was already flooding the room.

Amy, right behind Jack on his trip down the hallway, summoned her magical powers to search the area for life. Her mind was flooded with bright lights as she picked up signs from the apartments below, above, and next to her, but she could localize the nearest ones. Of the two rooms with closed doors, there were two life signs in the room to the right.

[Lobo0705]

Lynx's Apartment Complex, Denver, CO, 3:42 AM August 3rd, 2075

Amy speaks into her subvocal mike, her voice barely a whisper, but the pickups transmit the sound clear as day to the rest of the team. "Two of them on the right."

Grease hurries into the room, dropping to his knees behind the sofa, making sure his gas mask is on, and takes aim at the doorway. Overkill remains in the hallway, wathcing up and down the corridor for anyone coming.

Jack, convinced the kitchen is clear, moves with purpose to the side of the door, pressing himself up against the jam, and turns the knob, throwing the door open.

The room inside is sparsely furnished, two twin beds and a couple of dressers. Jack's vision picks up both Lynx and the man from Amy's video from days ago in Los Mags territory. The mage is pressed into a corner behind a dresser, trying to make himself as small a target as possible, his silk pajamas disheveled from sleep. Lynx, his cyberarm gleaming underneath a t-shirt is crouched behind his bed, he seems to have shrugged on an armored vest.

Although he sees the door open, he does not see Jack, hidden as he is under the Invisibility spell Amy has drawn around him. Grease, however, crouching behind the couch, makes an inviting target, and the muzzle flash of Lynx's Pred V is like a magnesium flare in the dark...

[Lobo0705]

Lynx's Apartment Complex, Denver, CO, 3:42 AM August 3rd, 2075
Grease ducks frantically, the rounds from Lynx's gun passing over his head by an inch, slamming into the opposite wall with three staccato explosions. Holy Crap! checking his gun, Grease thinks better of sticking his head back over the couch for the moment.

Hearing the gunfire, Overkill abandons his position at the door, and hurries into the room. Dropping into a firing stance next to Grease, Overkill winks at the crouching elf and rips off a three-round burst from his Model 100. Lynx dodges the bullets almost contemptuously, the lithe elf moving to another firing position.

Amy, looks around, her friend's danger driving her to action. She releases her grip on her detection spell and dashes across the living room behind a chair, trying to get a fix on her enemies. She is able to see through the door, but only just, Grease and Overkill have the best position and it doesn't seem wise to bunch all three of them behind one piece of cover.

[Lobo0705]

Lynx's Apartment Complex, Denver, CO, 3:42 AM August 3rd, 2075

Jack can feel his skin crawl as an astral form moves through him, and then the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, as he feels something behind him. Overkill and Amy stare in horror as a creature of nightmares manifests in front of them, a demonic form of rock and dirt, its eyes hollow and empty, its mouth full of razor sharp jagged bits of stone. Seeing Amy, it begins to move toward her. Her eyes widen, but she prepares to stand her ground, knowing she is best prepared to deal with this monster.

Before the creature can take two steps, however, the door to the other bedroom bursts open, the wooden door shattering to kindling as Amy's spirit flies out of the room in a whirlwind, mashing into the spirit of earth, driving it back momentarily. It hurls a bolt of lightning at the stone beast, but it seems to have no effect, the lightning playing around the stone for a moment before discharging into the floor.

Grease, still behind the couch closes his eyes and clicks his heels together three times. Opening them he realizes he is still in the apartment, and checks the video feed from his drone. Lying in the bed in the first room is the form of Gutter, his hands curled at his throat, his eyes still bulging from their sockets. He is not moving, but his chest seems to rise and fall, albeit irregularly.

Distracted for a critical moment by the giant earth spirit, Overkill takes his eyes from Lynx for a split second - but it is enough for the assassin to seize the opening. another burst from his Predator, and Overkill is too slow to avoid the incoming fire. The bullets catch him in the shoulder, spinning him around painfully, the bullets piercing the plates in his armor jacket before burying themselves into his flesh. Crying out in pain, his arm going numb, he reels backward from the attack.

[Lobo0705]

Lynx's Apartment Complex, Denver, CO, 3:42 AM August 3rd, 2075

Amy cries out "Overkill!" as she sees the elf thrown back by the force of Lynx's bullets. Starting to see red, she manages to remain calm enough to draw in her mystical energies and launch a magical strike at the assassin. Her rage was beginning to blind her, and the magical energies had no effect on the elf, his visage set in a mask of concentration as he watched Overkill rise up, steady his weapon on the couch and fire off another burst.

With almost preternatural speed, Lynx dives flat out, dodging Overkill's bullets again. Deciding that discretion is the better part of valor, Overkill drops his head behind the couch with Grease to avoid the return fire sure to be coming his way.

Jack swears silently to himself, This is not going as planned... and sees Falcon stretch his hands out, summoning a glowing force field around him. Sticking his head out enough to get a bead on the mage, he lets rip with a burst from his Colt, the Stick and Shock rounds delivering their shocks straight through the magical shielding, the rounds catching Falcon in the sternum, dropping him to the ground like a stone.

[Lobo0705]

Lynx's Apartment Complex, Denver, CO, 3:42 AM August 3rd, 2075

Back in the living area, Grease and Overkill remain ducking behind the couch as the forces of nature clash a few feet away from them. The Earth spirit lumbers toward Amy, but the whirlwind that is Amy's Air spirit continually gets in its way. Lightning blasts and giant boulders are hurled back and forth, with neither creature able to gain the upper hand, while the mundanes in the room just hope neither of them make eye contact.

With the gunfire erupting near him coming from the middle of nowhere, and his mage potentially out of the fight, Lynx switches his firing mode on his Predator with a thought, steadies his aim on the bed, and puts a round into Amy's chest, hoping to drop her and end her team's magical support. The bullet strikes almost exactly where the last one did, hitting her right below the collarbone, barely missing her heart. The force of the shot drops her to the ground, the chair blocking any further shots between her and Lynx, leaving her safe but bloodied for the moment.

That moment would not last. As soon as Amy hits the ground, the wellspring of anger at everything Lynx and his crew have done rips aside her mental barriers as if they were paper. Leaping to her feed, her eyes see red, and her caring instincts turn into rage. She must protect the group at any cost, her own survival meaning nothing to her anymore. Throwing her arms forward in a striking movement, she hurls a ball of energy at Lynx, who rolls to one side, the magical forces smashing the dresser behind him into matchsticks. Seething with rage, Amy does not even notice the small rivulets of blood that start to drip out of her ears and nose as capillaries burst due to the strain. Her vision blurs a little, and she staggers, the insidious effects of the gas starting to affect her as the chemical permeates her clothing and skin.

[Lobo0705]

Lynx's Apartment Complex, Denver, CO, 3:42 AM August 3rd, 2075

Jack, seeing things rapidly spinning out of control, and seeing both his enemies in front of him, makes a hard choice - crossing the open ground and putting a three round burst into the center of Falcon's chest. The rounds punch through the mystical shield with ease, breaking several ribs in the process, the golden aura fading as he lapses into unconsciousness.

Hearing his teammate call out, Lynx trusts to his reflexes to save him from mundane opposition, and takes out the one thing he can't. Flipping his selector to burst fire, he lines up a shot that would put three rounds through her throat.

He pulls the trigger, the rounds traveling downrange at Amy, who is staggering due to blood loss, the gas attack, and the drain of her casting her spell.

Grease and Overkill look on in horror as they wait for their young friend to get cut down. Overkill yells out "Liebschen!!!" and Amy closes her eyes a split second before the bullets slam home.

[Lobo0705]

Lynx's Apartment Complex, Denver, CO, 3:42 AM August 3rd, 2075

Seeing Lynx line up the shot, Jack doesn't think, he just reacts. Launching himself in between Lynx and Amy, he throws his body in the line of fire, feeling all three bullets blast into him, blowing him off his feet. He lands heavily on the ground, blood pouring from his wounds.

Expecting to feel a blinding pain in her chest, Amy is surprised when instead she hears a cry of pain somewhere in front of her. Jack? Blood is beginning to pool on the ground between her and Lynx, flowing around a body that no one else can see.

[Lobo0705]

Lynx's Apartment Complex, Denver, CO, 3:42 AM August 3rd, 2075

Overkill, seeing an opening at Lynx's confusion with Amy still standing, cranks his gun to full auto and lets loose with a hail of bullets. Even the elf's vaunted dodging abilities could not help him escape the volume of incoming fire. Taking a series of painful hits along his meat arm, Lynx staggers, but doesn't go down, his movements now slightly jerky due to the electricity coursing through his body. Grease, emboldened by Overkill's success, leans over the couch and takes aim with his Light Fire, but the rigger's aim is spoiled again by Lynx's speed, despite his injuries, and the gel rounds impact harmlessly against the back wall of the bedroom.

The vision of Jack laying on the floor barely breathing snaps Amy out of her blinding rage. She knows that she needs to stay alive, Jack's life may depend on her ability to heal him. She takes cover behind the couch, more collapsing on the ground than performing any tactical maneuver. Grease puts a hand on her shoulder and it comes away slick with blood.

[Lobo0705]

Lynx's Apartment Complex, Denver, CO, 3:42 AM August 3rd, 2075

With the hulking Earth spirit gone, the Spirit of Air flies through the doorway to the bedroom, its passage providing a breath of air across Jack's face as he struggled to maintain consciousness despite the pain and blood loss. He looks on in horror as nothing seems able to stop the deadly assassin. The spirit drops down from its position up near the ceiling, looking to engulf the elf - cutting off his air supply the way it did with Gutter, but Lynx dodges out of the way, a forward roll landing him behind his bed.

The distraction was enough, however. Overkill snapped off another burst, catching Lynx in the back, knocking him sprawling, and then, with a tiny ka-pow, a round found its way through the mattress, clipping Lynx along the ear, and the assassin dropped to the ground. Jack looked around, groaning, to find the source of that last shot, seeing a puff of smoke rising from the small pistol in Grease's hand.

Grease, most of his body and head ducked behind the couch waited a second, and then when no more movement was heard, raised his head cautiously over the couch. Seeing Lynx on the ground, he nodded his head. "Alright, now I've taken care of that, its time to get to work. Let's move people!"

[Jack VII]

Lynx's Apartment Complex, Denver, CO, 3:42 AM August 3rd, 2075

Dios mío! Jack thought as his blood pooled on the ground. "That hurt..." he mumbled. "Everyone else okay?" he asked, looking back into the other room. Seeing everyone slowly getting up, the ork couldn't help grinning. Looks like we all made it... for now.

Standing up, the ork turned around, coughed a bit of blood, and said, "Good shot, Grease, and you're right, we need to get the frag out of here. That was way too much noise." Everyone but Amy stared oddly in his direction. Belatedly, he realized he was still invisible. With the CS still hanging in the air, the ork slung his rifle and briefly considered grabbing Lynx and Falcon by the ankles before settling on just the mage. As he started dragging the little man to the cart, he said, "Someone search the room, but be quick, this gas can still take us out, the rest get the dwarf."