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

[Always Overkill]

Horseshoe Park, Aurora Warrens, 8:03 PM, July 31st, 2075

Watching as the Lone Star officers approach the stage, Drave considers making his way forward towards the stage; but both his discipline and experience remind him to stay in position. At this point, anything could happen; and the crowd was becoming no less agitated as they watched the law enforcement personnel, traditionally absent in their lives, descend on the very people they came hear to see. Dies ist nicht sehr gut, he thought to himself, becoming more concerned with these downtrodden people's reaction to this spectacle than he was with Lone Star's.

Hearing Amy's message regarding Chomsky's surprise, he quickly sent a response.

<<@Team[Overkill]: Copy that. I am hanging back, keeping watch over the crowd. Amy, whatever happens, just stay with Chomsky. If they arrest him, you walk him all the way to the cruisers. From there, Grease can tail them from here to the station with one of his Fliegegeheimagents. We can't make the first move here, we just have to wait and be ready for the worst.>>

Lets hope it doesn't come to that...

[Lobo0705]

Horseshoe Park, Aurora Warrens, 8:05 PM, July 31st, 2075

As the officers approach the stage, Greeley talks into the mic once again. "Remain calm, everyone. I'm not sure what this is about, but I'm sure we can take care of this quickly and quietly, and then get back to our rally."

The officers mount the stage, and Greeley and Chomsky move toward them. Amy remains nearby, able to over hear the conversation. "Ms. Greeley, Mr. Chomsky, we have a warrant for your arrest."

Greeley looks taken aback, Chomsky equal bits disappointed and surprised. "What? On what charge?" asks Greeley.

One of the officers takes the microphone out of her hand, while the other takes out two pairs of restraints. "Possession and intent to distribute illegal narcotics." Chomsky and Greeley both say, "What?!" While the other officer, turns on the AR equipment and has himself appear where Greeley was a moment ago. Unlike the friendly elf's face, his armored, visored form looks like the specter of death above the crowd.

"Ladies and Gentlemen. We are here to arrest Ms. Greeley and Mr. Chomsky on drug charges. This rally is over. Please disperse and go back to your homes."

[Always Overkill]

Horseshoe Park, Aurora Warrens, 8:05 PM, July 31st, 2075


"Oh Wunderbar..." Drave breathed to himself, knowing the crowd wasn't going to respond well to this development.

<<@Amy[Overkill]: Tell Chomsky to ask to see that warrant; we need to know if it was signed by Bradshere.>>

[Chrome Head]

Horseshoe Park, Aurora Warrens, 8:05 PM, July 31st, 2075

Frag, frag, frag, frag, frag. Blast them to hell! This is part of the whole conspiracy, isn't it? I can't let this happen.

Amy was hesitant about intervening, uncertain what to do. Overkill's message gave her both courage and purpose. She walked immediately onto the stage and near the two officers and the two activists being wrongfully arrested. "They want to see that warrant!" She said loudly enough to be easily heard.

[DrZaius]

Horseshoe Park, Aurora Warrens, 8:05 PM, July 31st, 2075

Drek drek drek drek

Scanning the crowd, Grease gets the sense that this is only going to end one way; badly. he sends a quick message to Overkill, and prepares to start some trouble by the parking lot to distract the police.

<<@Overkill, Amy [Grease]: Presume communications monitored. Contact Johnson, determine if arrest is legit or off the books.>>

I'm going to have to light up a fraking cop car to get us out of this mess...

[Lobo0705]

Horseshoe Park, Aurora Warrens, 8:05 PM, July 31st, 2075

The officer speaking to the crowd pulls turns to Amy, shutting off the AR projector. His expression is hidden behind his visor, and after a few seconds he turns back to Greeley and Chomsky

He puts up an ARO for them to see the warrant. He motions to the other officer, who pulls Greeley's hands behind her back and secures them.

The first officer motions at the warrant. "Satisfied?" motioning for Chomsky to put his hands behind his back. "Let's get this over with Chomsky. We can discuss this down at the station. If we stay here too much longer your friends out there in the crowd might get restless, and I'd hate to see them start eating lead."

[Chrome Head]

Horseshoe Park, Aurora Warrens, 8:05 PM, July 31st, 2075

Amy had sworn to herself that she would protect Chomsky and that other woman, but at the same time she was afraid. Searching for a spiritual answer to her dilemma, she remembered the dream-advice of her mentor; she was not going to let anything happen to those who needed her protection. Not on my watch.

With determination, she managed to reply to the Lone Star officer. "No I'm not satisfied, wage-slave." She was getting pumped up. "If anyone gets shot, you two will be the first two to go down." And she meant that. "You can't just arrest people on trumped up charges like this." By now she was yelling. "And we won't let you!"

[Lobo0705]

Horseshoe Park, Aurora Warrens, 8:05 PM, July 31st, 2075

The officer with the warrant shut down the ARO with a thought, then steps in between Amy and Chomsky. His left hand comes up toward her, palm outward, while his right hand goes to his hip, and then relaxes.

"Back off girl. We're here to take these two, but I can easily add you to the tally."

Greeley and Chomsky are arguing with the other officer, who is putting cuffs on Chomsky. "There must be some mistake, officer. We are here to get rid of drugs in this community, not spread them", says Greeley.

"Not my problem. I serve the warrants, I don't write 'em. Hands behind your back."

The crowd is getting restless, but the Rotodrones begin to swoop in and around. A speaker on one of the drones starts to repeat the message, "Disperse. We are in the middle of an arrest. Disperse." The crowd does not seem pleased, but in the face of the automatic weapons seems unwilling to be the first to start something. A few cowardly (or perhaps wiser) souls near the edge of the field are moving off across the bridges.

[Chrome Head]

Horseshoe Park, Aurora Warrens, 8:05 PM, July 31st, 2075

"You're gonna regret this."

Amy calls back her bound spirit from his slumber, "Get ready." As soon as the officer either turns his back or walks away from Amy, she sends a subvocal message to the rest of the team.

<<@Grease, Overkill [Amy's subvocal] I'm gonna take down the drones. Might not be perfect. Make sure Chomsky stays safe.>>

[Always Overkill]

Horseshoe Park, Aurora Warrens, 8:05 PM, July 31st, 2075


Watching in disbelief as Amy made her stand, Drave was already on the burner comm, trying to contact Ramirez.

<<@Ramirez[ChurchFriends]: Need info on Warrants being served at Horseshoe Park; ASAP. Need to know if Bradshere issued them for two activists named Chomsky and Greeley.>>

As he sent the message, Drave prepared to block Lone Star's communications if and when they called for backup.

<<@Team[Overkill]: Sending a comm to the Johnson. Grease, be ready to provide cover if Amy makes her move. >>

[Chrome Head]

Horseshoe Park, Aurora Warrens, 8:05 PM, July 31st, 2075

Amy subvocalized while following closely Chomsky, Greeley and the two policemen.

<<@Grease, Overkill [Amy's subvocal] Be ready to jump into action. Overkill, you got maybe 10 seconds to do what you can.>>

Then in the astral, she instructed the two spirits who were under her command. "There are 4 Lone Star drones hovering over the crowd. When I tell you, I want you to disable them as quickly as possible, while preventing casualties in the crowd we're trying to protect. The two Lone Star policemen in full armor are to be knocked unconscious afterwards unless I tell you to stop, and once again don't harm anyone else. Ready?"

[Always Overkill]

Horseshoe Park, Aurora Warrens, 8:05 PM, July 31st, 2075


Drave knew he needed more time.

<<@Team[Overkill]: 10 Seconds? I need a little more time if we don't want them calling in the cavalry. Can you stall them for just a few more moments?>>

[Always Overkill]

Horseshoe Park, Aurora Warrens, 8:05 PM, July 31st, 2075


Drave raced in his AR trying to find the links of the Lone Star crew, but failed to find one Icon of the one who spoke. Why would the arresting officer's commlink be running silent?

<<@Team[Overkill]: Amy, if you decide you must act, you need to take down the one you spoke to first, his Comm is running silent.>>

Drave resolved to continue his task, he couldn't let that call get out.

[Chrome Head]

Horseshoe Park, Aurora Warrens, 8:05 PM, July 31st, 2075

<<@Grease, Overkill [Amy's subvocal]: I dunno if I'll be fast enough. Any moment now.>>

[Always Overkill]

Horseshoe Park, Aurora Warrens, 8:05 PM, July 31st, 2075


Something puzzled Drave at that moment, even for the Nuyen scrimping Lone Star, this was one light crew to arrest 2 speakers at a large public rally.

<<@Team[Overkill]: There is something wrong here; 2 cars and a drone squadron seem pretty light for a Lone Star crew to arrest 2 speakers at a rally with hundreds of people. If I were serving a warrant at an event like this, I would have sent at least a dozen cars, and a SWAT team to back them up. It doesn't add up. What if these guys aren't even Lone Star?>>

[Chrome Head]

Horseshoe Park, Aurora Warrens, 8:05 PM, July 31st, 2075

<<@Grease, Overkill [Amy's subvocal]: Yeah I thought about that too. But we'll have to get out fast regardless. You know, the security will call the cops whatever we do. Grease, get ready to get us out of here.>>

[Lobo0705]

Horseshoe Park, Aurora Warrens, 8:05 PM, July 31st, 2075

As the officers moved off the stage toward their cars, the team began to put their plan into action. Amy followed along behind them, trying to keep them within sight. Overkill began to press his way through the throng, using his forearms and elbows to help propel him through the crowd. Grease, in the meantime, his drones recording everything from above, closed his eyes and moved his senses over to Rhex, feeling the gravel under his tires, feeling the click of the safety off his assault rifle like cracking his knuckles.

The officers were getting closer and closer to the cars, their heads swiveling in all directions as they made sure that none of Cruz Security or the other attendees were making any sudden moves. I have to act now. Amy sent out her command to her spirits, "Now, Great Ones, attack!" Instantly her bound Spirit of Man appeared, its giant form materializing in the night sky. It took the form of a giant armored warrior, with a blazing sword in each hand.

Her command to the spirits complete, she turned her gaze skyward and, locating the form of a Rotodrone above the crowd, held her hands above her head, a ball of incandescent fire glowing between them, and launched it at the nearest drone. The ball shot skyward and slammed into the drone, sparks flying in all directions. The drone wobbled a bit in the sky, but did not fall. At the top of her lungs, Amy yelled, "Help me save Chomsky! Stop the cops, there's only two of them!"

The first to react were the drones. As one, they turned and began spraying the spirit with bullets. A storm broke over Horseshoe Park, with muzzle flashes for lightning, and the crack of bullets breaking the sound barrier for thunder. The spirit was inhumanely fast, and supernaturally tough, but even so was unable to avoid the incoming fire. The spirit roared in agony as it was pierced by a dozen bullets, each one making the spirit a little less tangible, as its link to the physical world was disrupted.

Grease, seeing the danger of the amassed firepower, switched his sensors to active targeting, the drone nearest him now causing a throbbing feeling behind his eyeballs. He could feel where the drone was, even if he wasn't looking at it. Even as Grease prepared to fire, a wind swept across the park, and a swirling cloud, dancing with electricity came into being. It was Amy's other spirit leaving the Astral and preparing to engage the drones.

Not all of the action was in the sky, however. The crowd began to scream and scatter in all directions, smaller and weaker metahumans knocked to the ground by the rest of the throng and trampled underfoot. Chomsky, acting on impulse, threw himself into Greeley, knocking her to the ground. One of the two officers looked completely taken off-guard, and barely managed to draw his pistol in his confusion.

The other officer, however, turned with one fluid motion, acquired his target, pulled and fired. No hesitation, no mercy. The bullet struck Amy center mass, punching through the armored vest she wore, the round fragmenting inside her chest, dropping her to the ground. Overkill yelled "Amy!" but his voice was completely swallowed up by the din around him. Unable to reach his friend, he lashed out at the only ones he could, the drones overhead.

<<Overkill's winged form, normally black, was now streaked through with red as his rage at his friend's injury permeated through him. With a flourish, twin throwing axes appeared, one in each hand, and he hurled them simultaneously through the air. Each axe struck deep into the drones, their virtual metal shrieking as they ripped apart.>>

Overkill's physical vision saw the two drones start to drop to the ground, slowly at first, but then gathering speed...

[Lobo0705]

Horseshoe Park, Aurora Warrens, 8:05 PM, July 31st, 2075

With its two brethren dropping from the sky, one of the drones opened up again, slowing its rate of fire as its aim was already starting to be unsteady due to the recoil of the dozens of rounds it was pumping out toward the spirit. Now that it wasn't under attack from four different directions, the spirit dodged the bullets contemptuously, moving through them as if they were in slow motion. In retaliation, it mimicked Amy's previous attempt at casting a spell, and its own ball of energy struck the drone causing half of the lights along the left side to blow out in a shower of coruscating sparks.

Back on the ground, Grease surged into action, determined to put himself between Amy and harm's way. Well, put Rhex in between her and harm's way, at any rate. Sighting down on the man who had put her down, he chewed through a small portion of his ammo feed, watching in dismay as the bullets pinged off of the armor like rain until one seemed to catch a weak point, making the man grunt in pain. Grease didn't have much time to enjoy it, as he had to quickly accelerate to avoid the returning gunfire. The man had jumped over the trunk of the car, and put a bullet so close to Rhex that Grease winced as he could feel the paint peel away from where the bullet passed.

Overkill, closer to the stage now, tried to repeat his trick from before, with less successful results.

<<Overkill watched as the 1s and 0s flowed down his arm, forming again into twin throwing axes. He released them towards his targets, and while the one axe struck down its target, the jackbooted thug of a police officer's persona, the other one missed. The axe flew through the air, before returning to Overkill, but the 1s and 0s were corrupted by the enemy's firewall, so instead of landing in his hand, the blade buried itself in his thigh.>>

Verdamnt! I couldn't knock down.. The rest of that thought was lost as a lightning bolt worthy of Zeus streaked across the sky as Amy's spirit finally got into the action. The drone sizzled for a moment, and then dropped like a stone, smashing to the ground and exploding among the crowd, injuring dozens of people. The other two drones, in the meanwhile, their descent at least slowed by their rotors, landed with less catastrophic results, one in the stream to the east, the other crashing into the parking lot, wrecking an empty car.

Amy, meanwhile, was in no position to admire her spirit's handiwork. Coughing up blood, she reached out to the spirit of Air. "Thraha, please hide us." She staggered to her feet, and half ran, half fell to the nearest car, throwing herself behind it.

The last remaining drone, seeing its chance, lines up a shot against the Spirit of Man. The single shot catches the spirit from behind, passing through its skull. The warrior shrieks its rage once, and then fades from view, leaving a momentary afterimage in the onlookers' vision, as if they had looked at the sun.

[Lobo0705]

Horseshoe Park, Aurora Warrens, 8:05 PM, July 31st, 2075

Gritting her teeth against the pain, Amy struggled into a sitting position, her back against the wheel-well of the Ford Americar she had ducked behind. Slowly she struggled to raise her head above the trunk, still trying to help out her friends despite her injuries. She managed to peek out and catch a glimpse of the two Lone Star officers, but they seemed too preoccupied to notice her. In the sky above her, Thraha ceased its attack on the drones, and reached out to Amy and her companions, making them more difficult to pick out from the background of chaos at the park.

Grease, in the meantime, drove his Doberman across the parking lot, zigging and zagging each pothole and bump hitting him like a punch in the gut. Careening to avoid a volunteer running away from the violence, he pulled up behind an old GMC Bulldog. The truck had a banner progclaiming "Rebuilding Together and you - We can do Miracles" - but the happy tone of the banner was ruined as it reflected back light from the sirens, the heat from the burning drones, and the screams from the crowd. Inching forward to get a clean shot at the cops, he backed up a second before a round whizzed through the space he occupied a moment before. Frak! He edged forward again, his sensors picking up the other cop, the one who wasn't trying to put a hole in him, grabbing Greeley by both arms, yanking her to her feet, and dragging her to the car.

Overkill, meanwhile, was fighting his own battle inside the Matrix.

<<Leaving the one remaining drone to the mercy of Amy's spirit, the angelic form swept upward on powerful wings, looking around toward the Lone Star troopers to find their weapon icons. The one dragging Greeley to the car had his gun in his right hand, struggling to hold it and Greeley at the same time, and its icon showed up brilliantly in the night sky to Overkill's sight. Looking around, Overkill could not see the other officer at all, either his gun or his persona. Frustrated, he settled on his next course of action.>>

[Lobo0705]

Horseshoe Park, Aurora Warrens, 8:05 PM, July 31st, 2075

"Thraha, save our friends, we can't let them be taken!" Amy reached out urgently to her spirit, and the glowing spirit of air responded. Diving downward, it stopped several meters above the Lone Star officer holding Greeley and let loose a bolt of lightning that blew the two of them off of their feet. The body armor that the officer was wearing did almost nothing to stop the energy, and he screamed as his body was cooked from the inside out. Greeley yelled as well, the brief contact with the bolt enough to fling her a half dozen feet and give her burns along any exposed skin.

The other officer, didn't even look at his fallen comrade, but continued to focus on the threat he could handle, the infuriating drone. Adjusting his aim to account for Grease's dexterous handling of the controls, he sent a single bullet into Rhex, the slug tearing through the armor before exploding in among the circuitry that housed the faithful drone's brain.

In his car half a football field away, Grease felt the bullet enter his body, and screamed in agony as the biofeedback sent jolts of energy through his nervous system. Capillaries in his nose and and ears opened, and blood trickled down his face and neck. Grease felt himself yanked from Rhex, losing contact with the robot for the last time and he slammed back into his body. His meat eyes opened, blurry and his head rang like a bell, and he was only vaguely aware of where he was.

The cop, however, lost no time gloating. In almost the same motion as he fired, he opened the passenger door and jumped inside. The car immediately began to pull away, the roar of the engine loud in Amy's ears. Chomsky rolled out of the way just in time as the car almost ran him over on its way out of the parking lot.

<<Recovering from his earlier failure, Overkill caused the axe buried in his thigh to dissipate, the 1s and 0s forming a patch over his leg, even as his hands came together, and a long spear came into being in his hand. Holding it aloft as if to catch some of the lightning generated by the air spirit, twin beams of energy shot out from its tip to strike both the fleeing car and the last drone. Both device icons began to melt under the withering energy pouring out of him, and he knew it was only a matter of time before both devices shut down.>>

With the immediate danger to Chomsky and Greeley ended, the spirit turned to the last surviving tormentor, the drone, flew directly toward it, engulfing it in its deadly embrace, the streams of electricity coursing through the cloud completely overwhelming the circuitry of the flier, and it too, dropped to explode on the ground.

As the drone crashed to the ground, the patrol car began to accelerate out of the parking lot...

[Lobo0705]

Horseshoe Park, Aurora Warrens, 8:05 PM, July 31st, 2075

As the police car accelerated out of the parking lot and down the street, Amy gathered her strength and launched one last ball of electricity at the car. Her wounds caused her to misjudge the timing, however, and the ball veered several meters to the right. It still caught the police car, but the edge of the blast strayed too close to a group of civilians running away from the gunfight, and the explosion of energy knocked all of them from their feet like ninepins.
The car itself swerved to the left, and almost hit a parked car, but the driver yanked it back at the last second and kept it moving, turning the corner onto South Kittredge.

Grease, shaking his head to clear it, jumped into the BMW, feeling it start to move as Overkill gave its dog brain some basic instructions. The now-blonde elf was running towards him, attempting to jump into the vehicle, and Grease had to slow down a little bit, the oil pumping through the engine like his blood racing, eager to catch up with their attackers.

Grease popped open the passenger door as Overkill approached, <<@Overkill [Grease] GET IN GET IN GET IN! >>

Amy half stumbled, half ran over to the supine form of the Lone Star Officer. Drawing her knife from its sheathe at her ankle, she held it up to his neck as she raised the visor. The face that greeted her was one very similar to her own. An elf, young - no more than his early twenties, blonde hair and blue eyes - although it was hard to tell eye color, since the eyeballs were cooked from the spirit's lightning bolt. Just in case, she kept the knife in place as she searched his body with the other hand, finding the keys to the handcuffs.

[Chrome Head]

Horseshoe Park, Aurora Warrens, 8:05 PM, July 31st, 2075

Looking down on the officer who's probable death would be her fault, Amy decided she had to check if he was really dead. Her fingers were trembling from her own injuries, and she was very sweaty. Drek this isn't sweat, it's my own blood!! High on adrenaline, there was no way to calm down enough to feel a pulse in the officer's neck.

Well is he really an officer from Lone Star anyway? she wondered. Going through what's on his person, she found his badge, a pepper spray, and his commlink. She turned that thing off and put both the link and the badge inside her bag, to have them checked later. At the same time, she sent a message to the rest of the team. <<@Grease, Overkill [Amy's voice] I need a car to get the hell out of here. Gonna untie Greeley and Chomsky, maybe they have their own car.>>

With keys in hand, she rushed to Greeley and Chomsky and freed them of the restraints. "Fight's over, but we can't stay here for long." That much was obvious. "Friends are gonna come pick us up soon, do you have your own cars?"

[Always Overkill]

Horseshoe Park, Aurora Warrens, 8:05 PM, July 31st, 2075


Examining the situation, Drave realized a chase right now would be futile. Amy was badly hurt, and Grease didn't look like he was doing much better. The crowd was fleeing the scene in a panic, and most of the Cruz personnel were following suit.

<<@Grease[Overkill]: Calm down, Meine Freund , Amy is hurt, and our job here is to keep Chomsky and Greeley safe. We can't leave them here. We need to collect our gear and get them to a location we can secure.>>

[DrZaius]

Horseshoe Park, Aurora Warrens, 8:05 PM, July 31st, 2075

Sending one of his Fly-Spy's in pursuit of the fleeing cruiser, Grease was not confident it could keep up with the speeding vehicle. The crowd is still screaming and running through the parking lot, like a balloon that burst and had it's gas spread out equally. He jacked out of VR and shook his head, bleeding freely from the nose, ears, and tear ducts. After a moment he comes to his senses, and nods quickly at Overkill, talking to him through the window of the car.

"Fine; let's get them all in the car and bail. RHex got shot out from under me; let's see if there's anything salvageable. We should grab one of the rotodrones too if they're in decent shape; we may be able to learn something from one after examining it."

[Lobo0705]

Horseshoe Park, Aurora Warrens, 8:06 PM, July 31st, 2075


As Amy took the restraints off of Chomsky, he seemed unable to decide who to try and comfort first, Amy with the gaping chest wound, still leaking blood, or Greeley who had 2nd degree burns all along her hands and face. He hesitate, looking around at the chaos around him, and replied, "I...I don't, but Shannon does. It is over there." He pointed to a dark green Americar about 30 meters away. "Amy, thank you... I.. are you going to be okay?" He looked shell shocked at the burning wreckage of the drones, and the screaming populace fast disappearing into the night.