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

[DrZaius]

Somewhere in the Aurora Warrens, 10:14 PM, July 31st, 2075

Nodding with Drave and Amy, Grease chimed in. He seemed more animated than normal, if that was possible. "No reason to give them a fair fight, either. We get some supplies, and we can take 'em out without firing a shot."

He grins as he elaborates on his plan. "Get Amy to make one of her phantoms, like she did at the park- only this time, it looks like her. She walks it into her apartment, or wherever, and have them come to her. They fill the phantom full of holes, but uh-oh!"

He smiles, pausing for effect. "Amy isn't there; just a bunch of grenades wireless activated grenades full of Neuro-stun, or the nastiest stuff we can get our hands on."

Grease makes a turn, and you feel one of the wheels lift slightly as he takes it at a speed above the posted suggestion. "We might not get 'em all, but we may get a few, and we can beat out of 'em where the rest are hiding. Plus, we don't have to be anywhere nearby. Or at least, we can arrange it so the team is minimally exposed."

[Jack VII]

Somewhere in the Aurora Warrens, 10:14 PM, July 31st, 2075

Jack mostly listened in silence to the group. Considering he was the only one to have pretty much definitively encountered any of Lynx's crew, he wasn't so hot on trying to take any of them face to face. Granted, it had probably been that monster named Truck. If they were able to catch the mage or rigger unaware the task would probably be a lot easier. But there was no way to tell who would be sent to do the deed if they did bait them into something.

"Look, one of the advantages of being SINless is that it's tough to find out things about you. These guys don't seem to be very discrete in any event. If they had tracked either one of you down, you probably would have heard of someone close to you disappearing or dying by now. Not to say we can't check out that angle, I'm just not sure if it's going to bear fruit."

Yawning, Jack said, "So much for a day off, huh?"

[Chrome Head]

Somewhere in the Aurora Warrens, 10:14 PM, July 31st, 2075

Amy was exhausted too. At peace with what she had done, regardless of what anyone else says, but drained, physically and mentally. "In any case I need to rest for the night before risking my life again. You all think they might know where my apartment is, I doubt that but there are other places where we can kick back for a few hours. I know of a house on Flanders who should be empty. I wouldn't stay there long cause it's in between gang turfs, but if we show up there tonight and no one's claimed the spot, it'll be ours till morning."

[Jack VII]

Somewhere in the Aurora Warrens, 10:14 PM, July 31st, 2075

"That sounds ideal. Let's roll. The quicker we get settled in and rested, the quicker we can go nail these fraggers." Jack replied. Grabbing his comm, he sent a quick message to Nic.

<<@NicKnack [JustJack] We're dossing down somewhere else tonight. Trying to keep the heat off all of you. Be safe.>>

[DrZaius]

Somewhere in the Aurora Warrens, 10:14 PM, July 31st, 2075

Nodding at Amy, Grease adds, "Well, with RHex going down this evening I'm down a major piece of artillery. If it's alright with all of you I'll drop you wherever you need to go, and go back to my place to see if I can get that rotodrone up and running."

Seeing Jack's sideways glance, Grease quickly adds, "Unless of course you want to keep an eye on me. I'm just thinking I'll be more help if I can add firepower to any engagement we see ourselves in. Losing that AK takes away a bunch of our strength."

[Jack VII]

Somewhere in the Aurora Warrens, 10:15 PM, July 31st, 2075

Jack shook his head and held his hands up. "No hombre, that makes sense to me. One way or the other, we're going to need the firepower; better sooner than later. If either of us have ropa sucia, Overkill knows about it." Catching Amy's eyes in the rear-view, Jack said, "I just texted Nic to let him know that we won't be home tonight. He should be good to take care of Sam and Kevin."

[Lobo0705]

Somewhere in the Aurora Warrens, 10:15 PM, July 31st, 2075

Grease nods at Jack, and then shakes his head ruefully. "Problem is, we've got a lot of equipment needs, and not a lot of equipment to meet them. If I want to get this Rotodrone up and running, I'm going to need a hardware kit - and even if I get it running, I'm not sure if its a good idea unless we can make sure the guy who owned it can't track us."

Grease takes a corner at a sedate 30 mph, and continues. "Plus, if I want to strip that AK out of Rhex, I'm going to need to modify it so that it can accept normal clips again - which is going to take more tools that I don't have, and I'm not sure I want to drop a grand on two kits when I'm not sure when the next payday is coming in."

[Jack VII]

Somewhere in the Aurora Warrens, 10:15 PM, July 31st, 2075

Jack contemplated for a second and said, "Nic's got tools scattered all over the shop. They might not be exactly the right tool for the job, but you could probably cobble together something that works in a pinch. We should probably swing by there anyway so we can recover our gear. Speaking of gear, if we're going to try to ambush these guys, it sounds like we might need some more hardware. Chapel's always been pretty good about getting this sort of stuff. Anyone want anything? We probably should send him a consolidated list."

[Chrome Head]

Somewhere in the Aurora Warrens, 10:15 PM, July 31st, 2075

"If we go by Nic's house, could one of you two gentlemen leave one of your surveillance drones there to observe who comes by and let us know if anything suspicious is going on? It would really make me feel less worried."

[Lobo0705]

Somewhere in the Aurora Warrens, 10:15 PM, July 31st, 2075

Grease looks at Amy in the rear view mirror. "No problem. I'll keep an eye on the place, don't worry."

Overkill, quiet up until this point, speaks up. "Herr Grease, I believe I have the necessary gear to assist you in your endeavors. A quick stop at my place would be all that is required for me to pick it up."

Grease grins, "Excellent, okay - hold on!"

The group first swings by Overkill's place, and after disappearing inside for a minute or two, Overkill returns carrying a briefcase sized box in his right hand. Grease quickly takes them back to Nic's house.


Nic's Knacks, 10:45 PM, July 31st, 2075
Pulling into the driveway, Grease turns one of his Fly Spys silent mode, and launches it into the air. Meanwhile, Nic comes outside to greet them, while Amy quickly heads inside to check on the kids.

"Back again? What's the deal, kid?" Nic leans against the wall, awaiting Jack's answer.

[Jack VII]

Nic's Knacks, 10:45 PM, July 31st, 2075

Jack replied sheepishly, "Hey Nic, sorry for dropping by without letting you know. We're picking up our gear. We're not sure if the folks gunning for us are tracking us, so we figured if we're going to stay anywhere for any length of time, it better not be here. Also... one of Grease's drones was knocked out of commission. We really need the firepower on the thing, you think you might have some tools that could help us return the rifle to its normal condition?"

[Chrome Head]

Nic's Knacks, 10:45 PM, July 31st, 2075

Amy goes straight for "her" room in Nic's house, finding Sam sound asleep. It warms her heart to see her so calm and innocent. Amy had killed a man tonight for the protection of her friends. She never would feel innocent again in her life. Making sure Sam would become a good and happy person would always compensate for whatever crimes she'd be committing.

Finding her way to Nic's garage, she found Kevin working on a toaster. "Hey Kev, sorry for all the mess I've made. We need to have a talk soon, but it won't be tonight. Please stay with Nic for a while, it'll be safer. I'm really sorry,"

Kevin turns his head towards towards the woman who had taken the role of mother for him, and interrupts her. "Amy, it's fine. I'm not a kid anymore, I understand you're trying to finally make some decent money with what you're good at. One day, that'll be me, too. I like it here anyway, so don't worry about me. I'm still keeping an eye out on Sam too. Just.. just come back in one piece, all right?"

What a good kid. "I will. Thanks for understanding..."

And she goes back to her team, determined to make things safe for everyone again. Lynx and his crew, the Los Mags, the Lone Stars, whoever is after us needs to be stopped.

[Lobo0705]

Nic's Knacks, 10:45 PM, July 31st, 2075

Jack's last question made Nic smile, and Jack cringe a little inside. If there was one way to make Nic happy, it was to ask him about his stuff. Unfortunately, Nic tended to spend a little more time than was necessary explaining what something was, where he got it, when he got it, what he had used it for, what other people had used it for, and generally any other factoid that he could think of. Jack hoped they weren't in for too long a night.

Nic's Knacks, 11:00 PM, July 31st, 2075

"And that's how I managed to get that screwdriver out of the clutches of those damn BB's - and a damn good piece of salvage it was. Look at that handle - like new, I tell you." Grease and Overkill were slowly backing out of the garage, each with a few odds and ends they had found in the shop, pliers, calipers, a few screwdrivers (not as nice as the one Nic had, according to the old troll), and were politely trying to disengage. Jack finally stepped in, shook Nic's hand, and said. "Thanks, amigo, we owe you one, truly." As they walked to the car, Amy came to join them from inside, feeling better about seeing the kids again, and now focused on the task at hand.

Abandoned house, S. Flanders Ct, 11:15 PM, July 31st, 2075
Grease pulled the car up in front of the house, and the group piled out. Launching his second Fly Spy, Grease then helped Jack take the Rotodrone and Rhex out of the trunk, and the group walked up to older home. Built at the turn of the last century, like the rest of the neighborhood it had seen better times. Most of the windows were broken, and the front door was hanging on only one of its hinges.

[Jack VII]

Abandoned house, S. Flanders Ct, 11:15 PM, July 31st, 2075

"Grease, you want to send one of your eyes in to check out this drek-hole first? I'll be happy to clear it once you've done a sweep." Jack asked, shrugging into his armor jacket and donning his helmet. This was clearly not the nicest neighborhood in the world and that usually went hand-in-hand with not being the safest either. He checked the action on his HK before slamming a magazine of regular ammo home.

[DrZaius]

Abandoned house, S. Flanders Ct, 11:15 PM, July 31st, 2075

Grease nods, then starts typing on his RCC. A fly-spy buzzes out the window and towards one of the many openings in the abandoned house.

"I'm sending a command for the taxi to come here as well, and I'll send this car home. There's no chance in hell I'm parking the beemer here overnight."

[Jack VII]

Abandoned house, S. Flanders Ct, 11:15 PM, July 31st, 2075

"Sounds good to me..." Chuckling, Jack finished, "Maybe when we're done, we should send Brandy a message and tell her about this little gem?"

[DrZaius]

Abandoned house, S. Flanders Ct, 11:15 PM, July 31st, 2075

Not looking up from his work, Grease adds distractedly, "Nothing is good enough for my Jo-Jo.."

[Lobo0705]

Abandoned house, S. Flanders Ct, 11:15 PM, July 31st, 2075

After sharing a quiet laugh, an incongruous sound after the last couple of day's events, Grease focused on the feed the drone was sending back to him.

"Standard layout, living room, kitchen in the back, one.... no two bedrooms.... Uh oh." As the drone buzzed into the second bedroom, there were several extremely large rodents huddled around the carcass of a small animal.

Jack looked back, concerned. "What does 'Uh oh' mean?"

Grease moved his drone out of harms way, and said, "There are three of the biggest rats I've ever seen in the second bedroom - here, take a look." With a thought, Grease sends the video feed over to Jack, whose trode net feeds the image direct to his optic nerve. Each "rat" is completely hairless, and about a meter in length.

[Jack VII]

Abandoned house, S. Flanders Ct, 11:15 PM, July 31st, 2075

"Drek..." Jack said, immediately recognizing the creatures. "Ratas Diablo, fraggin' devil rats. Three of them shouldn't be too tough, just a waste of bullets for something like that though." Jack re-checked the action on his HK and said, "Unless someone has a better idea, I'll head in there and take care of them."

[DrZaius]

Abandoned house, S. Flanders Ct, 11:16 PM, July 31st, 2075

Shrugging, Grease comments, "You want backup? They look pretty big to me. Wouldn't do us much good to get a safehouse, only to have you with a big bite out of your leg and less able to help defend us."

[Jack VII]

Abandoned house, S. Flanders Ct, 11:16 PM, July 31st, 2075

Scratching his chin, Jack replied, "I won't turn it down, my only requirement is that anyone coming along has a silenced weapon. Last thing we need to do is eliminate this problem and draw in a bigger one. It's going to be pretty tight quarters though and we haven't trained together for that, so everyone needs to be careful where they're aiming."

[Chrome Head]

Abandoned house, S. Flanders Ct, 11:16 PM, July 31st, 2075

Amy dares to suggest, "Perhaps there's a more subtle way to handle this. I'm not sure what is the best course, but I can probably save you some bullets."

[Always Overkill]

Abandoned house, S. Flanders Ct, 11:16 PM, July 31st, 2075


Drave pulled out his Crusader and attached the silencer, giving Jack a silent nod that he would go in with him; just before Amy chimed in. "What did you have in mind, Meine Liebling?" Drave asked Amy in response to her offer.

[Chrome Head]

Abandoned house, S. Flanders Ct, 11:16 PM, July 31st, 2075

"Well, the fact is that there are spirits attuned to different parts of nature. In the fight you witnessed one very powerful one that bonds with the sky and the clouds. Some others like the one that fetched the broken drones are actually animalistic in behavior as well as in appearance. Those can be commanded to lead a small pack of beasts. If I wanted, I could actually use the rats as guards for our house until the sun goes up, or just lead them far away from this house, or even into a trap."

[Jack VII]

Abandoned house, S. Flanders Ct, 11:16 PM, July 31st, 2075

Jack listened to Amy intently and was impressed. "If your spirit can get them out of here, I think that would be the best plan. Sin alharacas, sin despeinarse"