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

[Lobo0705]

The Rising Sun Casino, 11:55 AM, July 30th, 2075

Argent chuckles slightly, a slim uptick of his mouth the only indication of his smile.

"Personal vendettas get you killed in this business. He wasn't gunning for me. Now, if you want to pay me to take an interest, that would be a different story."

[Lobo0705]

Amy and Overkill, Schaefer's Diner, 10:25 AM, July 30th, 2075

Amy and Overkill get off of their bike and approach the diner. An older woman, perhaps in her 50's, stood outside, cleaning the windows. She turned at their approach, and smiled politely, her nametag identifying her as Jill.

"Hello, welcome to Schaefer's. You can go on inside and grab a seat, I'll be inside in a moment to take your order."

[Chrome Head]

Amy and Overkill, Schaefer's Diner, 10:25 AM, July 30th, 2075

Amy smiles at the waitress walking towards the inside, "Thanks Jill, we'll just have some soycaf, but we'd also like to speak with the manager. Can you call for him please?"

[DrZaius]

The Rising Sun Casino, 11:55 AM, July 30th, 2075

Grease shrugs. "Well, personal vendettas aren't good business, but that doesn't mean they aren't satisfying."

He smirks. "Say, hypothetically, we ran this person or people to ground. It's possible we could share their location with you, if you were willing to nudge a little on your price. Personally, I'm of the opinion that people shooting at me need to understand that's a poor decision, to discourage others from doing the same. I'm not suggesting you couldn't do this on your own if you wanted to; rather that given the opportunity, you might not be opposed to it."

He pauses, nodding at Jack's message.

"Hypothetically."

[Lobo0705]

Amy and Overkill, Schaefer's Diner, 10:25 AM, July 30th, 2075

"Sure hon, grab a seat, anywhere you want. Give me a sec, I'll be right back." She bustles past the counter, through a swinging door into the back. Amy and Overkill have their pick of seats, and choose to grab a booth near a window.

Across the street they can see Newton's Apartment building. After a minute, Jill is back, and drops off two soykafs at the table. About 30 seconds later a middle aged man comes out of the back, and walks over to the table. Short, balding, dark hair turning grey, he smiles at the two and says, "Hello, I'm the manager, how can I help you?"

[Lobo0705]

The Rising Sun Casino, 11:55 AM, July 30th, 2075

"Thank you for your hypothetical offer, but as I said, biz is biz. You want to pay me to take in an interest in that person or persons, I'm happy to oblige."

He was nearing completion of his crossword. "You want to push down the price of the info, that's understandable. I'm not unreasonable, and I'm curious to see how this little drama plays out. I'll knock it down to 900."

[Always Overkill]

Amy and Overkill, Schaefer's Diner, 10:25 AM, July 30th, 2075


"Guten Tag, good sir. My name is Heinrich and we are Private Investigators, looking into the murder of Lone Star Officer Terrance Newton on behalf of his family. We were told that a number of your staff witnessed the event, and we would like the opportunity to talk with any of them who witnessed the events on the 20th of July, 2075." Drave said to the man, very business like.

"Were you working that day, Mr.?" He said inquisitively, and waited for him to respond.

[Lobo0705]

Amy and Overkill, Schaefer's Diner, 10:25 AM, July 30th, 2075

"Oh, what a terrible thing! He was such a nice man. Came in here every morning for a coffee and doughnut. Such a shame." He extends a hand, and Overkill shakes it. "Mr. Manjourides, I was working that day, yes, but I was in the back. Jill here was outside though, weren't you Jill?"

Jill puts down a broom she had been using to sweep up, and heads over to the table. "Yes, sir. I was outside, and I got a good look." She nods her head for emphasis. "This gray panel van came screaming around the corner there - and cut off someone. Poor lady crashed her car into the wall over there, you can still see the damage." She points out the window to a low wall around the apartment complex where the damage had not yet been fixed.

"I got a good look at the driver, short, broad face, big cheek bones and bushy eyebrows. Short brown hair, shaved around the sides."

"I didn't get a look at the shooter though, he must'a been in the back and opened up the side panel, cause the driver didn't do the shooting. Anyways, it was over in a second - the van barely slowed down, there was a loud bang, and then it was gone, and poor Officer Newton was lying on the ground covered in blood." She shakes her head, her eyes a little misty at the memory.

[Chrome Head]

Amy and Overkill, Schaefer's Diner, 10:30 AM, July 30th, 2075

Amy empathizes with the waitress. "That must have been very tough to watch. Thank you so much for sharing this with us. We're doing our very best to get to the bottom of this terrible crime." She takes a breath to mark a break. "Before we go, I'm sorry but I really have to ask you one or two more questions. You mentioned a loud bang, are you positive that only one shot was fired? Also, was officer Newton alone or with someone else when this happened? Was there anyone nearby that could have seen the face of the shooter?"

[Lobo0705]

Amy and Overkill, Schaefer's Diner, 10:30 AM, July 30th, 2075

Jill nods her understanding. "Of course, I want to help as much as I can. It might have been two shots I guess, it all happened so fast. Officer Newton was alone that day, and it was early, around 8:00 in the morning. Not a lot of people on the streets at that time around here, unfortunately."

Amy looks over at where Jill pointed to show where Officer Newton had fallen, and noticed that not only did the camera have a few of the spot, but also that it would have been in view of one of the apartments on the ground floor of Newton's building.

[Chrome Head]

Amy and Overkill, Schaefer's Diner, 10:30 AM, July 30th, 2075

"Thank you so much and we're sorry to have bothered you this morning. One last thing, I don't know how much you knew the officer, but since he was a regular you might have overheard something. Do you know of anyone who might have wanted him dead? Did he appear to be distressed or worried in the few days before his murder?" Amy was doing her best to play the part of an investigator. She was very observant, perhaps in another life she could have been a real PI.

[DrZaius]

The Rising Sun Casino, 11:58 AM, July 30th, 2075

"900 we can do." Grease nods to Jack, who fiddles with his commlink and hands him something. With an exaggerated motion, Grease produces a large sneeze- while at the same time tossing the credstick underhand to Argent. Argent catches it with snake-quick reaction, palming it and placing it into the credstick reader on his commlink, all in a moment. "Bless you." he deadpans.

"Thank you."

[Lobo0705]

Amy and Overkill, Schaefer's Diner, 10:30 AM, July 30th, 2075

"No, dear. He came in the day before, not a care in the world. As to who could want him dead, well, I know being a Lone Star officer isn't a safe job, but I don't think he had any enemies." Jill topped off Amy's soykaf, and put the pot back where it belonged.

[Lobo0705]

The Rising Sun Casino, 1201 PM, July 30th, 2075

Argent slots the credstick into his commlink and checks the balance. He then reaches into his pocket and pulls out a data chip, placing it on the bench next to him.

"The name of the shooter is Lynx. He's got a bad rep on the streets - he and I are in the same business, but opposite sides of the spectrum. No honor. Women, kids, doesn't matter, you have the money, you name the target, he'll take it down. The video is on that chip. You'll get a clear visual of him."

Argent is completing the last of the puzzle as he continues. "Usually works with a crew of four others. There's a rigger goes by Gutter, another merc named Stinger, a troll named Truck, and a skinny little mage goes by the name Falcon. I've never met the others myself, so I can't tell you what they look like. They move around alot, not sure where they'd be now."

Argent stands up. "Gentlemen, a pleasure doing business with you. Give 'em hell."

[Chrome Head]

Amy and Overkill, Schaefer's Diner, 10:30 AM, July 30th, 2075

Amy puts her hand above her cup to indicate she won't have another fill. "Thanks for your help Jill. We'll get going now, but I might come back later for another coffee."

When the two runners are outside, Amy turns to Overkill and points to the opposite side of the street. "Hey, did you notice the camera on that building? Right there? I bet it got a pretty good view of the van and the shooting." She gets closer, puts her hand over her mouth and lowers her voice, "Do you think you could do like yesterday and get us the tape?" She added that with a conspiratorial smile on her face. Shadowrunners are cool.

[DrZaius]

The Rising Sun Casino, 12:01 PM, July 30th, 2075

Grease's eyes widen, but his expression doesn't change otherwise. He looks at Argent and says quietly in a low voice, "Half a moment, please. You're positive this was a hit? You were right behind him in line, was he anxious at all, aware of what was about to happen? Any idea who could have been involved? Does this Lynx work for a particular syndicate or outfit, or is he completely freelance?"

[Jack VII]

The Rising Sun Casino, 12:02 PM, July 30th, 2075

With the biz done, Jack felt comfortable responding, "Pleasure was ours, hombre. Thanks for the freebie."

[Lobo0705]

The Rising Sun Casino, 12:01 PM, July 30th, 2075

Argent squats down and makes a show of looking at the fish. "I cannot attribute motive to the shooting. I will say that it probably was a hit, given that it was over so quickly. I don't think Lynx would be so humane should he wish to kill someone out of spite. You have the video there, but the target did not seem to be acting strangely - he was with an attractive young woman going to a club, if anything he seemed in a good mood." He ties his shoe, and says, "Lynx and his crew work for whoever pays them. Completely freelance."

[Jack VII]

UCAS Hub, The Rising Sun Casino, 12:01 PM, July 30th, 2075

Watching Argent walk away, Jack chalked up the 5 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) certified credstick as a cost of doing business. Sitting with Grease for a few moments until Argent had cleared the area, the ork waited for an opportune time to walk over and grab the chip, kneeling down by the bench as he pretended to pull up his socks.

Handing the chip to Grease, Jack said, "Well, that seems to have been well worth the nuyen. What's our next move?"

[DrZaius]

The Rising Sun Casino, 12:01 PM, July 30th, 2075

Waiting until he's sure Argent is gone, Grease nods. "Yes. I think we have a fairly good argument for conspiracy so far; considering a hit squad was involved." Grease looks down at the Koi, frowning. "I think our immediate move is to watch that video. I can slot it directly into my RCC; hopefully Argent is on the level and I'm not getting some Renraku-Grade ICE instead of the video we wanted."

The fish swim slowly, entrancingly around their pond, oblivious to the outside world. Must be nice..

"After that, I think the straightforward solution is to find one of these hitters and beat it out of them." Hopefully that Amy character isn't too green that she's going to balk at advanced measures..
"What do you think? You've been quiet so far, which works well for the plays I've been running, but Ramirez brought you in on this job as well; it's not just my show. I want to make sure I'm not leaving talents on the table we could be using."

[Jack VII]

UCAS Hub, The Rising Sun Casino, 12:01 PM, July 30th, 2075

"Sounds like a plan, hombre," Jack said while nodding his head. "If you can share the feed to my commlink, I can watch it through my image link."

As Grease suggested next steps, Jack thought for a second before responding, "I'm pretty sure I'm on the team because of a few jobs I've done for Chapel; I hadn't met Ramirez before this and I doubt I've got any kind of rep. To be honest, since we're working together, I'm pretty new to the biz. I don't remember anything from my life prior to a helicopter crash a little over a year ago. Before that? Blanco Lienzo, a blank canvas. But I'm an ork and I've got some solid 'ware that was installed at some point prior to that, so my skills tend toward what I've been doing up to this point, being there to convince people that violence is a bad option for them."

Jack further contemplated Grease's specific suggestion. "That could work, I've got certain pieces of 'ware that could probably get someone talking. With that said, Argent was pretty insistent that they're freelancers. If we're going to go for the full payout and bring them to justice, we might need to preserve the team so they don't go to ground. If they're as freelance as Argent claims, we could probably even 'hire' them for a job and just happen to arrange for a ZDF SWAT team to intercept them at the meeting. Let's do a little legwork on these guys first before making a final decision on that. If the others turn up any additional footage or information that ties this crew to their murders, it definitely starts to paint a clearer picture."

Jack looked around at the casino, feeling a little overstimulated by the sights and sounds, both in AR and the real world. Just like you would never find a clock on the gambling floor, Jack knew, intuitively or not, that casinos were designed to distract from the real world and present an illusion of easy money and a top-shelf lifestyle. Feeling a little out of place, he asked, "Do you want to stay here to watch the video or should we find somewhere else in the Hub to check it out? If we have anymore biz here to take care of, I'd rather do that now than have to make another trip. I hate to say it, but my credstick is getting a bit light from all of the viajes." Finishing with a tusky grin, Jack said, "Oh yeah, you owe me 75 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) and we're square on this Argent deal."

[Always Overkill]

Amy and Overkill, Schaefer's Diner, 10:30 AM, July 30th, 2075


Drave looked over at the camera Amy was pointing out, it looked like it had a very good view of the crime scene.

"Good eye," Drave complemented his young friend, "I can indeed get that vid for us. Now I just need to find a place out of the way where I can do this discreetly."

He began searching for a place to go into VR.

<<@Jack, Grease: "Ms. Kelly was not at home, we have moved on to the Newton crime scene. Will keep you informed.">>

[DrZaius]

UCAS Hub, The Rising Sun Casino, 12:01 PM, July 30th, 2075

Grease nods at Jack, transferring over the 75 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) . "Let's think about what else we could do here in the Hub before we jet; I agree we should knock stuff out while we're still here, and it's getting expensive shuttling back and forth. The video itself is pretty short (I just slotted it), but we could go someplace and try to analyze it a bit more where it's less noisy."

Looking around the Casino, Grease doesn't appear to spot anything that pleases him. "You may be right about the crew; if we snatch one, the rest may go to ground before we can rope them all together. Getting them all at once will be very, very tricky. I can think of a number of cons we could run that would work, but no matter what we do they're going to be dangerous. We're going to earn our cred on this one, that's for sure."

[Jack VII]

UCAS Hub, The Rising Sun Casino, 12:03 PM, July 30th, 2075

"Agreed, they sound like a pretty tough crew." Jack replied. "Hopefully we won't have to go head-to-head with them."

Jack contemplated their current situation, "So where are we now? We know who took out Mitchell, but we don't know why. The 'why' may be irrelevant, but it would certainly help build a case. Other than Lynx, the only other person who might have a clue that we know of is Emily Sanders. She's in the CAS sector though and I'm not sure we want to try a border crossing right now. Without anything else to go on, I'm not sure what else we can do here. The only other thing I could think of doing would be to swing by QXT to see if anyone knows Sanders and could get a message to her. But drek, it's noon. I doubt the club is even open for maintenance at this hour."

"Hmm... Overkill did get a lock on her workplace and she's probably there at this time of day. Maybe we can just try and give her a call and set something up."

[DrZaius]

UCAS Hub, The Rising Sun Casino, 12:03 PM, July 30th, 2075

"Well, I'll let you look at the video, but I am not convinced she wasn't in on it, at some level. We should analyze the tape to see if she flinches appropriately, or if she acts like she knows it's coming. If that's the case, I think it'd be better to just drop in on her work rather than setup an appointment. If she wants to duck us it's easier to not show up to a meet than to have us arrive unexpected. There are a number of plays we can run if she doesn't know we're coming. Where does she work?"