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

[DrZaius]

Aurora Warrens, 9:46 PM, July 31st, 2075

So much for subtlety..

Grease guns the engine, making a bee-line for Jacoby's.

"Yes; it's probably best to watch the video. I was hired before we met to keep an eye on the rally by a contact. That's who we were meeting with when you were walking back from.. Well, wherever you were."

Seeing Jack's response, Grease continued quickly. "I've known this guy 5 years. If he's dirty, he's our kind of dirty; I let Overkill and Amy know about it before I even thought of giving him the tape. He would have been able to piece it together anyways, from what's already on the trid. BUT..." Grease adds, making sure that Jack can't get a question in edgewise, "I ALSO wanted to know if he knew anything about what was going down. He had no idea.The original reason he had me watching the event was because he said it was too risky to send Lone Star in there. He also said that someone switched the plates on one of the cruisers we have on video. If that's not a smoking gun that something isn't on the level here, I don't know what is."

[Jack VII]

Aurora Warrens, 9:46 PM, July 31st, 2075

Being besieged by information from all sides, Jack focused on one salient point in the discussion. So Grease had a side gig from another Lone Star officer that involved filming the rally, but didn't bother telling us about it even though we were treating the rally as part of our job and probably wouldn't have told us about it except that everything went to drek. The nerve of this motherfragger... Jack mentally slid Grease back down a notch on his "Can I Trust This Son-Of-A-Slitch?" meter. Whatever, it's not like I'm ever going to really trust this guy, but he certainly pulled Amy's hoop out of the fire.

"Alright, can someone shoot me the video?" Jack asked. Less than a second later, a message icon popped up in his AR feed from Overkill with an attached video. "Give me a second to check this out..." Reviewing the footage, it jived with everything the team was saying. Going into the Warrens with three officers was insane. The drones made sense but, judging by the damage they did, were carrying lethal ordinance. On top of that, there was no point in arresting Greeley or Chomsky on stage like that. The cops could have arrested them before hand or after, specifically at a point where they weren't on stage in front of hundreds of people. Combining all of that with what Grease's contact had provided led Jack to the same conclusion as the team, namely that there was something rotten about the whole thing.

"Un momento, por favor, did Amy kill a cop or did she kill someone who looked like a cop?"

[Jack VII]

Aurora Warrens, 9:46 PM, July 31st, 2075

"... and what the frag is the package?" Jack added before anyone could respond.

Opening up an AR message, Jack typed a quick note to Nic.

<<@NicKnack [JustJack] Didn't realize this was going to get so fragged, so quickly. We'll talk when I get back. Probably need to find another place for everyone...>>

[DrZaius]

Aurora Warrens, 9:46 PM, July 31st, 2075

"The package is the dead cop that Amy so eloquently pointed out in front of two new witnesses." Grease mentioned, glaring at the back seat. "He's on ice at my street doc. We took him there to try and save him, but he was too far gone by the time we got there. I'm fairly certain he's actually a cop; he's a young guy, looks fresh out of the academy. I can't speak for the ones who got away."

<<@Jacoby [Grease]: On the way. Should be there in 20.>>

[Jack VII]

Aurora Warrens, 9:46 PM, July 31st, 2075

!Dios Mio! Jack thought to himself, what have hey done?

Wearily shaking his head, the ork said, "I'm not sure how this is going to go over with Ramirez. Especially if the body we've got is a real cop. At least Amy was disguised when this all went down, so hopefully he won't connect the dots. Hell, he might ask us to look into this one too. But amigos, we've got to do a better job of keeping out of the spotlight. I'm not going to play armchair quarterback here, because it isn't fair. I wasn't there, so I don't have the right. Let's hope this blows over..."

Pausing to gather his thoughts, he continued, "I don't really like to disrespect the dead, but whatever the most reliable way to get rid of the body would probably be best. Lone Star is 100% going to be looking for this guy if they've seen any of the videos. Since there wasn't a flat-lined Lone Star officer at the scene of the rally, they have to know someone took it somewhere."

[Chrome Head]

Aurora Warrens, 9:46 PM, July 31st, 2075

Amy might be a young woman, but she was one tough mother-fragger. "You know, I don't regret a thing. If something similar happens again, I'll act on my instinct and kill 10 more cops if I must, to protect those who rely on me. There was no other way to save Chomsky and Greeley. I told them I'd protect them and to me that's all there is to it... For the record, I'd do the same for any of you."

"And as for Nic and Kevin, well I trust them. Call me naive, but you have to pick your allies and pick your enemies in this world. And with the enemies I'm lining up to have, I better keep my friends on the level. Kevin needed to first hear about this from me. I'll have a talk with him this evening. Please keep that from Sam though, she's still very young and she has a good heart.."

[Jack VII]

Aurora Warrens, 9:46 PM, July 31st, 2075

Jack hesitated to take the bait, but figured he'd go ahead and throw out his thoughts. Amy tended to act before thinking and it was going to get the entire team in trouble, if it hadn't already. Trying to catch her eyes in the rear-view mirror, he said, "Chica, there's never just one way to accomplish something. There may not have been any options that you could see at the time, but that doesn't mean they weren't there."

"...and while you might not regret anything, I think the families of at least five people tonight probably regret what happened." He figured it was harsh, but casually dismissing any kind of culpability in the deaths of innocent people wasn't something that should be nurtured in the young woman. Jack wondered how Amy would feel if the team hadn't been hired and she and Sam had been present at the rally as spectators.

Sighing a bit, Jack finished, "Anyway, unless someone figured out a way to bring los muertos to life, there isn't anything we can do about it, other than crack this case and put these motherfraggers down. Let's take care of the body and figure out if we know anything new."

[Chrome Head]

Aurora Warrens, 9:46 PM, July 31st, 2075

Amy was emotional and strongly felt the need to defend herself in response to the criticism by Jack. "You weren't there Jack. No one else was doing anything. Ask Overkill and Grease if there was anything else that anybody was willing to do to save them. The answer is no, only me was doing something, and there was no time to plan something fancy. Did I put the lives of people at risk? Yes, and I have to live with it and accept it within myself. But I don't have any regret. I don't feel bad about it."

[DrZaius]

Aurora Warrens, 9:50 PM, July 31st, 2075

Glancing back at Amy, Grease nodded. "It's true. I backed you because it's what teammates do. I knew you were the only one who was going to make a move because you cared about them. I would have been fine letting them get arrested, but since you decided to intervene you had my support."

He grinned at the rear view mirror. "That doesn't mean I like you bragging about it in front of Nic though. I was mostly being critical so you're more careful in the future with that type of information."

Glancing over at Jack, Grease finished his thought. "However, I agree with you about the consequences. We need to deal with the body, and I'd prefer if Ramirez never found out about it. Or anyone, for that matter."

[Jack VII]

Aurora Warrens, 9:50 PM, July 31st, 2075

Jack sighed, hoping Amy might do an introspective assessment at a later time. Maybe when the news picked up the faces and stories of the dead and started parading them around in the 24-hour news cycle, it might be more of an impact.

Looking at Grease, he nodded, "Well, someone's going to be looking for that guy. If he really is Lone Star, that's guaranteed. In fact, given Ramirez's position, he's probably going to know the guy's missing. I'm sure the Bereavement Fund gets involved somehow in these kinds of cases. Whoever ordered him along is going to know he's missing, not to mention the cop car that's still at the scene of the rally. But I agree, the less we're connected to it, the better."

Grabbing his commlink, Jack composed a quick text message.

[DrZaius]

Outside Dr. Jacoby's, Aurora Warrens, 10:13 PM, July 31st, 2075

Arriving at Jacoby's, Grease nods to the team. "Wait, here, I'll deal with this." The team waits while Grease knocks quietly but insistently on the door of Jacoby's home. Lights turn on in front, and Grease and the Doctor can be seen having a conversation in the front window. The team can't hear what's going on, but it would appear some sort of negotiation is taking place. After about ten minutes, the two forms shake hands, and Grease quickly walks down the steps and gets back into the car.

"He's taking care of it." Grease pauses momentarily, then continues. "So now what?"

[Jack VII]

Outside Dr. Jacoby's, Aurora Warrens, 10:13 PM, July 31st, 2075

"Before I pulled Pat's hoop out of the fire, he mentioned that one of his contacts, Renata, was a hooker who counted a highly placed member of Lone Star as one of her Johns. I think she was going to try the pillow talk angle on the guy to find out if he knew anything about two elves digging into the murders of a few Lone Star officers. Pat hasn't heard from her since and the girl is supposedly tied to her commlink."

Jack continued, calling up a file. After a few quick edits, he sent it to the team. "Here's the information Pat gave me on Renata. If we could locate Maurice, her chulo, we might be able to ask him a few hard questions about her last trick."

Jack's face lit up briefly. "You know... if Pat tried to contact Renata after she had been silenced, that may be how Lynx's crew tracked him down. If they're not cautious, and it really doesn't seem like they are, we might be able to lure them into a trap using Pat's commlink."

[Chrome Head]

Outside Dr. Jacoby's, Aurora Warrens, 10:13 PM, July 31st, 2075

"Uh.. before we get into how we might be able to get to Lynx that way, I just want to know what you just arranged for the body, Grease?"

[DrZaius]

Outside Dr. Jacoby's, Aurora Warrens, 10:13 PM, July 31st, 2075

Grease looks in the rear view mirror, but then turns around and looks at Amy in the eyes. His look starts harsh, but then softens. "He's taking care of it; the details of which are unimportant. Suffice to say, it is no longer a problem. If you press me I can get extremely specific, but I'd suggest we drop it and move on. It will be like it never happened."

[Chrome Head]

Outside Dr. Jacoby's, Aurora Warrens, 10:13 PM, July 31st, 2075

Amy was actually relieved to leave it at that, even though she felt she needed to ask in the first place. "Soka, soka. We can forget about it. That's good. Real good. So what's our next move. There's a lot going on. So Jack, you're saying that Maurice could be an indirect way to get at Lynx's crew the way Pat was caught? What about just using the code for 'Renata' with a message that will get their attention, from a burner 'link, and see if they come check it out?"

[Jack VII]

Outside Dr. Jacoby's, Aurora Warrens, 10:14 PM, July 31st, 2075

"Grease, you want to just drive around a bit? I doubt the doc wants us hanging out in his driveway, given everything he knows about tonight." The ork fiddled with his commlink, checking the news feeds and his text messages.

Jack craned his neck to look at Amy. "I was mainly thinking of two separate options. Bending Maurice's ear, and possibly arms, might help us uncover the dirty cops in Lone Star. Using Pat's commlink to contact Renata's number might snare us some of Lynx's crew if they try to track it down. At least, that seems like the most likely way they tracked Pat down in the first place."

[Chrome Head]

Outside Dr. Jacoby's, Aurora Warrens, 10:14 PM, July 31st, 2075

"Don't we already know that Harvey Brown's one of the guys we want to unmask? That's at least something we found out tonight and it's pretty good evidence, no? Ramirez confirmed it's a real warrant, really signed by Brown, and we pretty much know that it was all false or made up?"

[DrZaius]

Aurora Warrens, 10:14 PM, July 31st, 2075

Grease nods at Jack, and pulls out of the driveway. It's a bit distracting having him 'drive around', as your definition seems to vary in terms of speed and the necessity to run red lights. Still, you're on the move at least.

"I like the idea of setting up an ambush, provided we can make sure we're the ones doing the ambushing. I don't know about you, but I'm not exactly lousy with firepower; with RHex down for the count, the best I can bring to the table is an Ingram X and a bad attitude."

[Jack VII]

Aurora Warrens, 10:14 PM, July 31st, 2075

"I don't think signing a warrant is an admission of guilt. The drug charges are obviously trumped up, but by all accounts Lone Star was doing their job before being attacked by Warrens terrorists. That's what the news is saying, right? I think the legal shows on the trid call what we have on Browne right now "circumstantial;" an association with that LT Bradshere guy, the gut instinct of Ramirez, and a trumped up warrant. I don't think you can arrest someone for that, as far as I know."

Jack frowned about the loss of Rhex. As annoying as Grease's drones were, that one had grown on him in particular. Responding to Grease, he said, "Well, the only one I saw was Truck, but I would definitely not want to meet him one-on-one. I looked around for their van when I left, but didn't see it. If they think it's going to be an easy kill, they may not come in full force."

[Always Overkill]

Outside Dr. Jacoby's, Aurora Warrens, 10:14 PM, July 31st, 2075

After typing a response to Jack in his AR display, Drave answered Amy; "It had to be false, Meine Liebling. We know Chomsky too well to think that he would have anything to do with smuggling drugs. Greeley we don't know that well, but I doubt that she or Rebuilding Together would be involved either. What we saw tonight certainly gives us more reason to investigate Major Browne, but I don't think its enough to make herr Browne worry that his involvement will get him into any trouble."

He then turned to Jack, "I like the idea of drawing Lynx and his crew into an ambush, and exert a little pressure on them for a change; Wird der Jäger zum Gejagten so to speak. I think we should wait until we are in a better position to go to ground, though, as the counterattack from the remaining members of Lynx's team that we don't bring in with the ambush will be fast and indiscriminately lethal. They won't be looking to take any prisoners, or leave any witnesses."

Drave thought of Sam and Kevin over at Nic's place and glanced back over to Amy before closing with, "We can't be at Nic's when that happens."

[Chrome Head]

Outside Dr. Jacoby's, Aurora Warrens, 10:14 PM, July 31st, 2075

Amy nods. "Yeah I need to stay away from the kids, and Nic too for that matter, until things calm down a bit. I'm thinking of just moving back to my apartment."

"About our next step. We try the ambush on Lynx first, or finding Maurice and looking for the corrupt cops? I'd go for the ambush, as that might guarantee us a part of the pay already, for finding the murderers and 'bringing them to justice'. They might shed some light on the conspiracy too, if they talk to us. What do you guys think?

[Jack VII]

Outside Dr. Jacoby's, Aurora Warrens, 10:14 PM, July 31st, 2075

"I got the sense from Johnson that 'bringing them to justice' meant turning them over to the ZDF in some shape or form. Now, if one of them ends up dead before that, I would think he would look the other way. These guys are violent cop-killers, but who knows?"

Jack shrugged, "The other problem with the ambush is that it's just a theory. I don't know for sure that Pat got turned out because they traced his commlink, just seemed like the most obvious answer. It's possible Renata knew about the location and told them about it."

Frowning, Jack finished, "I think the Maurice lead is a bit more solid, although it's tackling a different part of the conspiracy."

[Always Overkill]

Outside Dr. Jacoby's, Aurora Warrens, 10:14 PM, July 31st, 2075


"I agree with Jack on this, as much as I would like to go after Lynx and the ein bißchen Death-squad he has put together; we have neither the position or firepower to be confident that we could withstand the counterattack. When it comes to taking these guys on, all stone-faced killers, we need to be better prepared."

"Maurice, on the other hand, is a lot more accessible. In his business, you have to be open and available to expand his clientele. Which leaves us a lot of room to operate. True as Jack said, its another part of the conspiracy. But I don't think we are going to be getting any quick resolutions with this case."

Drave looked back towards Amy before finishing, "In the meantime, we can still prepare for when the time comes that we have to face off against Lynx and his crew. I am going to put a call in to a friend who does a far amount of arms smuggling, and see about getting us some upgraded firepower. We should also start looking for a new safehouse, perhaps somewhere outside the Warrens to throw them off our scent a bit"

[Chrome Head]

Outside Dr. Jacoby's, Aurora Warrens, 10:14 PM, July 31st, 2075

"We need to change location, especially you and I, but I won't go far from Sam. It's hard enough that I have to stay away from her for her own safety, I won't leave the Warrens. Actually, we could go check if anyone has ever found their way to my apartment. If not, than it's probably a safe enough place for now, considering that it's just a squat and pretty hard to find."

[Always Overkill]

Outside Dr. Jacoby's, Aurora Warrens, 10:14 PM, July 31st, 2075

Amy's remark gave Drave an idea, and he chimed in; "You know Amy, going back our apartments may not be such a bad idea." He paused for effect, "For luring them into a trap. If we can discover whether they are monitoring our domiciles, we could ambush those staking the place out. Or try and lure them in for an easy hit. My apartment is in the basement of a warehouse not far from here, if we could lead them down there it would be the perfect spot for a trap."

Realizing he was sounding awful gung-ho about the idea, Drave calmed down and added in more even tone, "I am not suggesting we move to engage them now; we don't have the firepower. But as we are getting ourselves prepared and continuing our investigation, checking out our places could be worthwhile. We need to find out how close they are getting, and if Lynx and his team have any wits, they would likely have tracked down me and Amy's apartments by now. Who knows, they could be watching the places as we speak, waiting for us to return home."

Drave paused again before continuing, a look of concern coming over him, "Also, I have been thinking that we may have a loose end that needs to be addressed: Cruz Security. We need to know what they told Lone Star after we left, particularly about Amy and her involvement. Are they selling the company line that this was some premeditated terrorist attack made by a group of militants who just happened to know Lone Star was going to show up short handed to arrest the speakers at a rally with hundreds of people in attendance? Verdammt, I probably should have bricked their truck before we got out of there."