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

[Jack VII]

Somewhere over the CAS sector, Templeton Air Commutter Jet, 11:40 PM, July 29th, 2075

Flying high over the CAS sector of the Front Range Free Zone, Jacksat next to Grease as they made their way back to the UCAS sector to continue their work. The hour was getting late and Jack wasn't quite sure how much more the team could accomplish that evening. Many of their contacts were likely to be asleep, but that didn't preclude planning efforts.

Leaning his head toward Grease, the ork said, "So where do we stand? We got a bit of evidence that we could have Mr. Johnson check out. I'm not sure about having Mr. Johnson take a look at it though, it feels strange to me, but I don't really have anyone that has ready access to a biometric database. Well, I do, but I don't think he's used to working with this kind of evidence."

"We've also got both this Argent and Emily Sanders who might be useful sources of information. It's probably too late to call Sanders out of the blue, but we may be able to contact her tomorrow. Her address is a CAS address, so we may need to see if we can arrange a meet with her elsewhere. We know she has access to the HUB, so that's a possibility."

"Anything else I am missing? I think that would pretty much run down our current leads on that particular case."

Jack settled in as the VTOL starts to reduce thrust as it approaches the UCAS sector terminal.

[DrZaius]

Somewhere over the CAS sector, Templeton Air Commutter Jet, 11:40 PM, July 29th, 2075

Scratching his chin thoughtfully, Grease appears just as awake now as he did at the first meet- for obvious reasons. You imagine he's going to run out of steam eventually, but he hasn't shown any signs yet.

"I feel like we have momentum on this case; I don't want to give that up just yet. One concern is that I want to contact this Argent before Lisa gets off work; it's likely she'll give him a warning, and I'd prefer to talk to him before he has a chance to go to ground."

Grease closes his eyes and starts fiddling nervously with his command console; he appears to be thinking.

"I don't know about you, but I got a serious "runner" vibe from this Argent character. High end eyes, arm with a built in slide-rig; your average janitor isn't packing that kind of equipment. I wonder if Chapel knows him? We might be able to "hire" him, either just for an interview or maybe some small compensation. If someone wanted to talk to me for 10 minutes, I'd listen at the right price. Besides; they shot at him, he probably wants to track them down and get even just as bad as we do."

The elf pauses again, the speed of his speech picking up again as the wheels turn. "What's our angle? Why are *we* looking? Are we working for Sanders? His parents? Lonestar? I have to imagine we can't go in there with our current story; criminals (present company excluded) don't generally like to deal with the cops, even indirectly. I've been lucky so far tonight shooting from the hip, but it wouldn't hurt to plan a little bit ahead of time."

[Jack VII]

Somewhere over the CAS sector, Templeton Air Commutter Jet, 11:40 PM, July 29th, 2075

Jack took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. The night was getting late, but Grease was right in not wanting to lose any leads.

"Hopefully Overkill will track down a bit of information on him before we land, even if it is simply confirmation that he's someone in our line of business. I agree with your assessment. Judging by the video, his reflexes are muy chipped; I don't know anyone that can turn around and catch a falling body the way he did. Honestly, that might be a plus. If he is in our line of biz, we probably won't need a story. Just tell him we're runnnig down some leads for a Johnson and he should understand, particularly if we're going to provide financial remuneration or an opportunity for revenge." Jack caught himself and paused in silence. Remuneration? Where the frag did that come from? An image of a work contract flashed through his mind, but was only fleeting and he let it go.

"When we land, hopefully Chapel will give us a buzz. That might be the shortest route to our destination." Despite Grease's earlier antics, Jack was slowly warming up to the elf. He had a sharp mind and seemed to be in control of himself at the moment.

[Lobo0705]

Amy, Sable Road, Aurora Warrens, 11:10 PM, July 29th, 2075

Looking around at the dealers and junkies on the street, she scans them all briefly. None of the metahumans give off any astral signature, except for a group of five men, all with dreadlocks halfway down their backs, smoking cigars. Each of them shows they are perceiving the Astral but their auras show them to be completely out of their mind on Deepweed.

The Astral sky above is full of its normal traffic, watchers and spirits moving about on errands zipping by at superhuman speeds. There is one spirit, however, a magnificent looking leopard, which is perched on top of a building a few hundred meters away, looking down on the humans below it.

[Chrome Head]

Amy, Sable Road, Aurora Warrens, 11:10 PM, July 29th, 2075

Amy stares at the leopard. It was out of place, out of its element. Maybe some ganger had summoned it and given it instructions to guard the area. Better stay on my guard, I dunno what its reaction will be to my presence, as well as the presence of another spirit. If there's trouble, this ally of theirs could actually tip things in their favor.

Mimicking the other poor souls looking for drugs on this warm evening, Amy approaches one of the pushers, speaking through the scarf that covers her mouth and nose. "Hey chummer, which one of you's got the newest shit on the street? I heard there was this new pill I can buy. Ya got any?"

[Lobo0705]

Amy, Sable Road, Aurora Warrens, 11:10 PM, July 29th, 2075

The dealer brightens at the approach of another customer. "Nah baby, you don't want no pills. We got the best beetles on the block right here. What you want? Relaxing on beach? Surfing? Sex? We got all kinds - even the hard stuff baby. What can I get ya?"

He glances nervously over at the Los Mags, but they don't seem to be paying attention.

[Chrome Head]

Amy, Sable Road, Aurora Warrens, 11:10 PM, July 29th, 2075

Amy notices his quick glance but decides to keep trying to get info out of this one guy.

"One of my friends got them pills from around these parts. She said they were fraggin' niiiice. Think she said it's called Crimson Fire? If you ain't got them, tell me who does. Come on man, I'll give you 5 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) for the help."

[Lobo0705]

Amy, Sable Road, Aurora Warrens, 11:10 PM, July 29th, 2075

He looks disappointed, and says "You make it 20 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) and I'll tell you. You going there means a permanent loss of business, and so I need more than 5."


Amy starts to put her credstick away "There's lots of people here - bet I can get the info from any of them..."

"Fine, fine, don't go nowhere, 10 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) and I'll tell you."

[Chrome Head]

Amy, Sable Road, Aurora Warrens, 11:10 PM, July 29th, 2075

Amy thinks that just agreeing would look weak, so she haggles a little. "I wasn't gonna buy any of that drek you're offering anyway, sweetie. So here's 10 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) for you right here and you point me in the right direction, otherwise I can just ask the next guy." She gets a 10 out of her pocket and presents her hand as for a handshake.

[Lobo0705]

Amy, Sable Road, Aurora Warrens, 11:10 PM, July 29th, 2075

"You can't get it out here - they only sell it deeper in Los Mags turf. Head over to those guys, tell them you're looking for the Fire." He pockets the bill and inclines his head at the Los Mags on the stoop.


As Amy walks away, he says "You sure I can't sell you something a little less hard? I got some Novacoke around here, and I know people who can get you some 'kaze? You don't look you can handle the fire baby doll."

[Chrome Head]

Amy, Sable Road, Aurora Warrens, 11:10 PM, July 29th, 2075

"You don't know me well." Amy grins. She walks straight towards the 4 gang members and approaches them quietly and unthreateningly, still trying to look like a junkie as much as she can. "Hey boys, I heard about this new thing, the Fire? I really want to try it out, you got any?"

[Always Overkill]

UCAS Zone, Denver International Airport, 11:10 PM, July 29th, 2075

Drave departed the Airport pondering the crew's next move. It was late, but there was still plenty of work that they could do.

<<@Amy: "I am back in the right Zone, headed to the Warrens. Gonna pick up a soycaf from Stuffer Shack, want anything? Let me know where you are at in all your snooping about and it will be delivered to you personally.">>

<<@Grease, Jack: "I have landed and I am now headed back towards the Warrens. I should have some info on Argent by the time you guys land.">>


After sending the messages, Drave hops onto the local Grid and pulls up the Agent program on his Blitzdrive and sets it to begin searching for Argent. He then jumps on his Falke and rides off towards the Stuffer Shack nearest to his place.

[Lobo0705]

Amy, Sable Road, Aurora Warrens, 11:10 PM, July 29th, 2075

The gangers look down at Amy and laugh, "Sure gringa, if you can handle it. Head down this road and talk to Diegar - he's three blocks down and one block over."

[Chrome Head]

Amy, Sable Road, Aurora Warrens, 11:15 PM, July 29th, 2075

"I can handle it... that way?" Amy points in the direction indicated and starts following the instructions. She's not sure if it's a trap of some kind, and so she has no intention of going all the way over there. As soon as she's far enough from the gangers and it gets quieter around her, she finds a hiding spot and takes the time to think about what to do next. Let's see what they've been texting me.

Amy slowly reads the messages from her teammates, and replies subvocally, as she's slow at typing. <<@Team[Amy's voice] "Good job guys. Back in the Warrens, I've followed a trail to the distributors of the new drug that's hit the streets. It's called Crimson Fire and the Los Mags are selling it. I'm on their turf right now, passing off as an addict, finding my way to a guy who can sell me some. I want to go ahead with this but it wouldn't hurt to have some backup. How long would it take you to get to N Sable street?">>

[Jack VII]

UCAS HUB, Union Station, 11:15 PM, July 29th, 2075

Waiting to board the VTOL, Jack's image link popped up with a voicemail notification. Seeing that it was from Amy, Jack streamed the message to his earbuds. Listening to Amy's voice, he cursed under his breath. "Drek! Grease, do you see this?"

Opening a text message, the ork used his AR keyboard to type out a quick response.

<<@Team [JustJack] Drek, girl! You're in dangerous waters over there. Grease and I are waiting for the 11:30 VTOL. Won't be back in the UCAS sector for at least another 30-35 min>>

[DrZaius]

UCAS HUB, Union Station, 11:15 PM, July 29th, 2075

Grease shrugs. "She's a big girl, I'm sure she can handle herself. No use coddling her, this is a rough business. Besides- mage. Who knows what she can do. Probably curse them or turn them into toads or something."

Grease goes back to composing his message to Chapel.

<<@Chapel [Grease] Thanks again for the job; this one looks be pretty lucrative if we end up successful. One quick question for you- have you ever heard of a runner named Argent? He's crossed paths with us on this one, and we're looking to meet him and ask him a few questions. Nothing nasty; a completely friendly interview. Let me know when you get a chance, otherwise have a good night.>>

After hitting send, Grease re-reads the message from Amy.

Well, I guess we're going to find out pretty quick if she can handle herself..

[Always Overkill]

UCAS Zone, Pena Blvd., 11:15 PM, July 29th, 2075

While Drave was driving back to the Warrens, he saw Amy's message pop up in his AR display and felt his heart skip a beat when he read what she was up to. Los Mags territory? Could this job start off anymore pear-shaped?
He immediately pulled up Amy's commcode and prepared his Blitzdrive to run a Trace program. He did his best to keep his response as cool and calm as he could.

<<@Amy: "I am about 10-15 minutes away, Meine Liebling, headed south on Pena. Would you be so kind as to send my commlink an invitation to MARK your link? It will give me your exact location.">>

As Drave waited for Amy to accept the MARKs, he laid on the gas and headed for N Sable street.

[Chrome Head]

UCAS Zone, Pena Blvd., 11:15 PM, July 29th, 2075

Amy clicks 'accept' before she straight up calls Overkill. "Hoi, that way you can hear what's going on around me. I can't hear you though, cause that would attract attention, but if I'm not busy I can still read your texts. I'll wait for you to get in position. Don't spook them."

[Always Overkill]

UCAS Zone, Pena Blvd., 11:20 PM, July 29th, 2075


Drave was actually surprised when Amy's voice came over the commlink live, but he remembered how bad a typist she was, and the shock wore off quickly. With his MARKs invited to her Commlink, he started the Trace program and pulled up a map of the area and overlaid Amy's signal onto it. He noticed he was coming up on Chambers, and N Sable was not far from there. He kept his responses in text format as per her request.

<<@Amy: "I am less than 10 minutes away, sit tight and wait for me. I will be there ASAP.">>

Just stay wherever you were hiding, Drave thought to himself, if there is one thing that girl knows how to do it is keeping her head down when she is stuck in a tight spot. (Like living in the Warrens since you were a child.)

<<@Grease, Jack: "I have Amy's location, that's Los Mags territory no doubt, and will be rendezvousing with her in 10 minutes. I will contact you when I am with her.">>

Drave then turned on N Chambers Road and sped down towards Colfax, and from there, N Sable.

[Jack VII]

UCAS Zone, Templeton Air Taxi Terminal, 11:45 PM, July 29th, 2075

Jack picked up his holdout pistol from the security check as he finished clearing Customs and tucked it into his suit's concealed holster. As Grease pciked up his own belongings, the ork said, "I know you said Amy could take care of herself, but she's never really been on a job like this, as far as I know. You've got the wheels, so the decision's yours, but I would feel a lot better about this deal if we were at least hanging out near their turf in case she needs rescue."

Scratching his chin, he continued, "We probably need to have a talk with her about not doing stupid drek like heading into dangerous gang turf without some kind of back-up. She could blow the whole job if they capture her and start asking questions in a pointed manner."

GEAR

[ Spoiler ]

Streetline Special [Regular] w/1x Spare Clip [Regular] (W)
Flash-Pak (W)
Actioneer Business Clothes (W)
Horn Rim Glasses w/Flare Comp, Image Link, Vision Enhancement (2) (W)
Earbuds w/Audio Enhancement (3) (W)
Hermes Ikon (5) w/Subvocal Mic
Bio-monitor (W)
Standard Credstick
Internal Air Tank (3) [Alpha] (W)
Muscle Replacement (2) [Alpha] (1.6)
Skilljack (4) [Used] (W)
Skillwires (4) [Used]
Smartlink [Alpha] (W)
Spurs [Alpha] (0.24)
Wired Reflexes (1) [Alpha] (1.6) (W)

Active Skillsoft: Navigation (2), Pistols (4), Tracking (2), Unarmed Combat (4)

[Always Overkill]

Aurora Warrens, N. Sable Street, 11:28 PM, July 29th, 2075

Drave pulled up outside of the 7-11 on Colfax near N. Sable street. It was a quiet night, only a few bums milling around the area. He pulled his Falke up to one of the light posts, turning on its security system and chaining it to the post with a lock and cable. Seeing one of the bums pushing a shopping cart filled with what was probably every worldly possession he owned; Drave waved him over to talk.

"How would you like to earn some Nuyen?" Drave said to him with as friendly a smile as he could muster. Seeing the man's face peak with interest, he continued

"I will lend you this coat," he said removing his duster, placing it on the cart and pointing to an old shirt he spotted, "for that flannel shirt and 20 Nuyen. All you have to do is keep an eye on the coat, and the motorcycle, for me until I get back. If they are both safe and sound upon my return, which should not be longer than an hour or two, and it will be another 80 nuyen for you."

The man looked eager to prove he could do a good job, and responded, "Don't worry sir, I will take care of it, keep it plenty safe for you, you'll see." The man had alcohol on his breath, and Drave spotted the bottle of Jose' in the cart. It was obviously running low.

"I am sure you will, if you do a good enough job I may just have to throw in a fresh bottle for you." The bum seemed embarrassed at first, but when he saw the smile on Drave's face he quickly realized that he wasn't being judged or looked down on for what he was doing.

"It will be plenty safe for you when you get back, you'll see!" he then started looking through his cart to find something in the chaos within, and came back up with a few rags and a nearly empty bottle of what looked like Windex. "I will even polish it up for you, you'll see!"

Cringing at the thought of him rubbing whatever was in that bottle all over his beloved BMW Falke, Drave politely declined. "No need, no need. Cheap paint you know?"

Then man made a well-duh expression, as if he should have known that. "Oh yeah oh yeah, cheap megacorp paint, ain't worth a drek. But I will keep it plenty safe you'll see."

Fearing being drawn into the loop again, Drave gave him a reassuring nod and said, "Well I need to go and take care of this business. Danke for your assistance."

"It'll be plenty safe for you, you'll see."

With that, he gave him yet another nod and began walking away. He took the shirt he borrowed from the man and put it on, unbuttoned, making sure it was draped over the Crusader in its holster under his arm. He inspected his AR display for the map he had laid Amy's traced signal on, seeing she was only 20-30 yards away.

<<@Amy: "I have arrived, right down the alleyway to your left. Now what was your strategy on how to proceed, Meine Liebling?" >>

After sending the message, Drave waited to hear her response.

[Chrome Head]

Amy, Aurora Warrens, Los Mags turf, 11:28 PM, July 29th, 2075

Amy answers subvocally. "Great, I'll get a move on. I've been given directions to go find Diegar who's supposedly got pills for sale. I'll try to buy some, and I'll be able to see if they're the same ones that were confiscated from Twoman. Depending on the situation at that point, I might try to get more info out of him, but if it's risky, we can just come back later as a team."

She's talking as she's walking, sounding a bit nervous.

"I don't think anything would go wrong, but you never know."

She walks at a good pace, eager to be done with it all. Hopeful that she can contribute something to the team even though she couldn't take the flight to the hub.

[Always Overkill]

Overkill, Aurora Warrens, just outside Los Mags turf, 11:28 PM, July 29th, 2075

Surprised by her daring, Drave responded quickly.

<<@Amy: "Are you sure you don't want me to go in with you, two junkies are a much less appealing target than one.>>

As he waited for her response, he looked back towards the 7-11 where his Falke and armored duster were currently waiting under the watchful eyes of one of the neighborhood drunks, and considered going back for that armor. If this doesn't go well I may need that to get her out of there...

[Chrome Head]

Amy, Aurora Warrens, Los Mags turf, 11:28 PM, July 29th, 2075

Taking a quick glance at her comm', Amy replies "Well at least they won't be afraid of just me, for sure. And I assure you I can handle myself. I'm not alone here either, the spirits are with me." And somehow that sounded like she didn't mean that metaphorically. "But you can converge on the same spot if you want, without necessarily showing that we're together. You can come to buy the same thing."

[Always Overkill]

Overkill, Aurora Warrens, just outside Los Mags turf, 11:29 PM, July 29th, 2075

As Drave listened to Amy's response, he considered the options before him. He made a poor imitation of a street-dwelling junkie, the shirt matched the profile but not a single other detail about him did; leather pants and boots, hair that had obviously been washed in the past few days. He wouldn't pass as one for a second to anyone who had lived these streets. He just may be too tempting a target to pass up. No passing for a junkie wouldn't work.

He realized that if he couldn't appear harmless, he had better make it so that he looks like he would do far more harm than it would be worth. In simpler words, look as dangerous as possible. He went back and retrieved his armored duster, reassuring the bum that he would still get his reward, and put it back on. He checked the ammo on his Crusader, loaded up with Stick & Shock rounds, and then sent his response to Amy.

<<@Amy: "Very well, Meine Liebling, I am coming in. Use your comm and highlight the building they told you this Diegar was dealing out of; I will meet you there.">>

He breathed a heavy sigh as he was about to proceed in; this wasn't the best plan ever. But in any case he couldn't afford to get mugged, not with his Cyberdeck worth over 200,000 Nuyen. He would sooner take a bullet than hand that over. He just hoped and prayed that the drek wouldn't hit the fan.