Tangled Currents - DES, Stormy Waters subthread Options

[Raiderj]

"Your on." Vexboy took out his gecko tape and got it set up on himself. He began to climb the facades.

[adamu]

Thursday, 21 November, 2045; warehouse district between I-5 and Green River, Tukwila, Seattle, Seattle Metroplex

After scoping the two logistics centers as best they could from the periphery of the old automotive center, the two runners went back to their ride on Andover and took it south to S. 180th and a block east to an access point for the Green River Trail. There was a parking area for trail users, but it had apparently been taken over by some sort of go-gang, which was staging an impromptu party in a ring of barrel fires. So they parked at the Speed-Taco across the street and then headed north on the Green River Trail on foot - it was public, with a fair amount of joggers and other foot traffic, so they could approach the river-side of the south building without attracting any sort of attention.

The side facing the river, which would be less exposed to passing traffic, turned out to be screened by a low wall enclosing a freight yard, so that was out. But near the southeast corner was a now disused retail entrance that rose to a one-storey height. The area was relatively unlit and easier to climb.

The two made short work of the actual climb, their skills and gear allowing them to ascend the side with apparent ease. Soon they were atop the structure, facing a huge expanse of rooftop roughly a hundred by a hundred-twenty meters. It was dotted by myriad HVAC units, along with the regular placement of six roof access structures. All that made it fairly easy to cover the distance to the north end overlooking their target site. here and there they passed gull nests, and there was an assortment of light debris skitterng in the breeze across the tar rooftop like dystopic urban tumbleweeds. In the northeast corner above the loading dock and near the best vantage point was a pile of larger junk. A glance at the rooftop access structures showed no locking mechanism on the doors' exteriors.

[Jack_Spade]

Thursday, 21 November, 2045; warehouse district between I-5 and Green River, Tukwila, Seattle, Seattle Metroplex #67

John had to hand it to the young runner: He was a pretty damn good climber - daring even - augmented by supernatural ability. So now he was the rotten meat bag. Typically.

While they sneaked down to their vantage point, John noticed the various roof entrances and nodded to the junk: "101 for this kind of gig: Always have an exit strategy and don't get surprised.
Help me drag some of this junk in front of those doors to block them. No need to let an enemy sniper join us up here - or a rent-a-cop for that matter.

Also, since none of us has brought a rope for a quick descent, I'll secure us an exit. Come with me, I'll need you to shield the flame."

With quick strides he moved towards the roof access close to their overwatch position and released the miniwelder from his forearm guard.

"Just a few quick cuts to the hinges, so we can kick off the door without bothering with the lock, but without having it hang open."

Once all this was done, he nodded to Vexboy and said: "Alright, now comes the un-fun part of surveillance - the watching while nothing happens."

With that John began to record a sensor feed of the environment, denoting dimensions and angles as well as movement patterns of passersby and guards, streaming the info directly to the rest of the runner team.

[adamu]

Thursday, 21 November, 2050; warehouse district between I-5 and Green River, Tukwila, Seattle, Seattle Metroplex

Vexboy was about to start moving junk to block doorways but they ended up creating their emergency exit at the nearest doorway first.

That done, John set up his sensor feed, and they got to the junk pile. It was very quickly apparent, however, that this was no junk pile at all. Most of the bigger pieces were actually secured together by baling wire, and once Vexboy got down for a closer look, he found an cleverly concealed entrance a man could crawl into and inside was a cozy two-man sniper-hide. It had water bottles, piss receptacles, padding to lie on. No weapons.

[Raiderj]

"Hey John. May wanna take a look at this. Looks like I found a sniper hole. Must belong to an enemy sniper. They weren't kidding about these guys." He took out his rifle and pointed it with the sight off. "This is great overwatch. Down to the padding." Vexboy took a look outside to see what he could cover from this spot. "They'll probably come back here once they arrange the trade. If we set a trap and are careful I could make a hell of a sneak attack. Of course once I fire on their guys I will have to get moving... Compremised position and all that."

[Jack_Spade]

Thursday, 21 November, 2045; warehouse district between I-5 and Green River, Tukwila, Seattle, Seattle Metroplex #67

"Well, what do you know? Seems like we aren't the only ones who know how to find a good sniper spot.
Change of plan - I'll try to repair the damage to the door and I'll hide a nice little gas grenade in this blind.
As soon as the snipers appear we can expect the deal to go down within half an hour or so. It's also pretty likely, that there is an identical nest on the other building, which means we'll be getting down there and prepare it too.
And since we don't know when all this will be going down, we have to do this sooner than later."

<<I hope you lot are getting all this. A little bit of support would be appreciated.>>

[Raiderj]

"Good idea. We could each take a nest and kill the guards. You got a sniper rifle?" Vincent asked.

[Jack_Spade]

Thursday, 21 November, 2045; warehouse district between I-5 and Green River, Tukwila, Seattle, Seattle Metroplex #68

"Nope, just a trusty Ares Alpha. But that will do at distances under 150m. And If we actually need one... I'm sure the snipers will bring one for us."

John tried to reverse the damage as good as possible, before he prepared his descent.

[Raiderj]

"Good point. We looking okay?" Vincent asked.

[adamu]

Thursday, 21 November, 2059; warehouse district between I-5 and Green River, Tukwila, Seattle, Seattle Metroplex

Once John left, Vexboy found a good hiding spot. Ten minutes later, John was back on the ground and making his way north toward the second building. He received a text. It was from his erstwhile Korean masters: <<Good work. Agreed, no more freebies. But we continue to require your services. We will pay your normal rate to assist us with security at an upcoming exchange. Report to me here at the restaurant immediately.>>

Even as John considered the message, he and Vexboy, from their separate positions, saw a nondescript van approach down the access road and stop briefly at the loading dock area of the southern building. Two Asian men in the same uniforms as the workers there got out. One was carrying a large sports bag. They walked through and past the men on the loading dock brusquely, without a word, into the building. The van then swung north until it reached the other big loading dock near the northeast corner of the northern building. It stopped there and a single Asian man in a suit got out of the back and went inside. The van stayed there, idling.

[adamu]

Thursday, 21 November, 2045; 38th Avenue NE, Northeast Tacoma, Tacoma, Seattle Metroplex

As those at the safehouse proceeded with their various preparations, Bronwyn found Jan in a position watching the street. She had a large sandwich on a plate. "I don't recognize the accent. Are you Dutch or German?"

Meanwhile, D-Pop found Rocky in another room. "I just heard from our mutual friend. I wanted you to know that she was picked up by allies and is safe now. Thanks to you."

And then they all received incoming image traffic from the scout team, with the message: <<I hope you lot are getting all this. A little bit of support would be appreciated.>>

[Jack_Spade]

Thursday, 21 November, 2059; warehouse district between I-5 and Green River, Tukwila, Seattle, Seattle Metroplex #69
'You've got to be kidding me'
<<Guys, the Koreans just commended me for my good work and want to hire me for tonight's gig. This could be a trap for me or our opportunity to get some serious intel. It looks like they just deployed their snipers.
Vexboy, they'll be up with you in about five minutes. Get your ass into hiding.
So, what do you guys want: Should I prepare to take out the other sniper, or do you want me to meet up with the Koreans. My street cred could take a massive hit if word gets out I took paid work and turned traitor.

Choose wisely.>>

[Raiderj]

Vexboy messaged quickly... Very quickly he noted. His hands became quite nimble suddenly. "New initiate grade. New powers. Now get hiding!" "Im gonna get ready for a sneak attack. If I don't message in 20 assume Im dead or captured." Vexboy used hang time on and off and slowly made his way to the AC.

[mister__joshua]

Jan
Thursday, 21 November, 20:45; 38th Avenue NE, Northeast Tacoma, Tacoma, Seattle Metroplex

"Azanian, South African. Could be I'm Dutch you go back a couple hundred years. " Jan took a bite of the sandwich without really considering it might not be for him. His comm buzzed in his pocket, and he flipped it open to read John's message before considering the implications.

<<@John: Gotta take. Far too good to pass. Exact timing then possible, even a transit hit.>>

[Jack_Spade]

Thursday, 21 November, 2059; warehouse district between I-5 and Green River, Tukwila, Seattle, Seattle Metroplex #70

<<@Jan, yeah, that's what I thought. But honestly, be careful: There is now an unchecked sniper on the northern roof.
I'll try to keep in touch. If you tell the story, please add that I was hired by the witches to infiltrate the Koreans from the get go.>>

John composed himself and walked back to his car, sending a message to the Koreans:
<<I'm on my way. Should I bring heavy hardware or is it more scouting you want?>>

[adamu]

Thursday, 21 November, 2059; warehouse district between I-5 and Green River, Tukwila, Seattle, Seattle Metroplex

A message to the whole group also came from D-Pop: <<Understood about your decision, John. Be careful. Vex - you're the only one on-site now. Should the others all move there soon? Give us your assessment, and we'll start moving just in case you give an affirmative. Also, be sure any action you take in next 20 minutes has no possibility of scaring them off this site. QUERY: John, you mentioned "tonight's gig." Do you have some confirmation the exchange happens tonight?>>

[Jack_Spade]

Thursday, 21 November, 2059; warehouse district between I-5 and Green River, Tukwila, Seattle, Seattle Metroplex #71

<<Only circumstantial evidence:
They want to talk to me now asap
They have deployed a sniper team to the site where they don't expect to be ambushed by tree spirits
They have been warned that someone wants to move against them.

I'm waiting for confirmation if I need to bring hardware. IF yes it's almost guaranteed to go down tonight.>>
John replied

[adamu]

Thursday, 21 November, 2059; warehouse district between I-5 and Green River, Tukwila, Seattle, Seattle Metroplex

John got his reply: <<Cancel immediate plans, come prepared for close-in security.>>

[Raiderj]

"Roger that." Vexboy said hiding in behind the AC. He turned off AR and shook his head to get over the lightheadedness.

[Jack_Spade]

Thursday, 21 November, 2059; warehouse district between I-5 and Green River, Tukwila, Seattle, Seattle Metroplex #72

<<... and there it is. Close-In Security. Looks like I'll see you on the other side.>>

John had removed the face mask so he wouldn't scare the civilians around the parking place. He hopped into his car and sent another message for the team
<<I've stashed a gas grenade in the southern sniper nest. Activation code 008-Alpha, just in case you need to smoke them out before I'm in position. And now get your move on, or I'll have to hire on with the Koreans for real.>>

When he arrived at the restaurant, he left the rifle inside the backpack in the car.
With purposeful strides he moved through towards the two door guards and nodded at them: "'s up?"

[adamu]

Thursday, 21 November, 2137; Korean BBQ Restaurant, Capital Hill, Seattle, Seattle Metroplex

The restaurant, despite what the ARO for business hours showed, was closed.

But the door had not been locked, and John had strode in.

The place was filled with young Korean men lounging everywhere, all heavily armed. Every grill in the place was fired up. He didn't recognize any of the men he could see, but they clearly knew him, as they had almost no reaction to his arrival.

"'s'up?"

A man lying on the floor amid a modest collection of empty beer bottles spread his arms expansively, indicating the whole of the seating area. "This what's up. Grab a drink, grab some BBQ. Make yourself comfortable. And we wait."

[Jack_Spade]

Thursday, 21 November, 2137; Korean BBQ Restaurant, Capital Hill, Seattle, Seattle Metroplex #73

"Thanks, but I don't drink and I got all the caloric intake I can stomach for today.
And since you made me drop a red hot lead to a lucrative business opportunity, I hope I can get some more mission details than "we wait".

Especially since this is no freebie. My time is valuable. So please, would you kindly tell me S' UP?"

[adamu]

Thursday, 21 November, 2138; Korean BBQ Restaurant, Capital Hill, Seattle, Seattle Metroplex

Thirty or so armed Seoulpa thugs went from relaxed to just bit less so. One shouted, "Hey, 'caloric intake'! You know what we know, man. Just chill and have a drink."

All eyes were on John, then, but another man emerged from the back. It was the leader of the men that had scooped John up from the porn office. He motioned the living drone to follow. They went into the kitchen, where greasy-looking men in white were busily chopping meats and vegetables. The smell of kim-chee was almost overpowering to those without olfactory cut-outs.

There were three other guys back there - the way they stood said they were this guy's bodyguards. There was a back door - it was chained shut in a way that would give a fire inspector nightmares. Two guys stood by it.

"Listen, the boss thinks you're...interesting. So he might cut you some slack. I don't. And I won't. It's like you said. Your time is valuable. It's not a freebie. So you're getting paid, man, and the crazy rate you asked for. So that leaves us owing you nothing. When there's something you need to know, you'll know it. Oh, and no outgoing comms from now on. It's the same for all the guys...and don't think we ain't got 'trix jockeys monitorig the traffic."

He waved John away, adding, "I don't know who exactly you think you are, but I hope you're the smart guy who'll grab a bite and a drink and be ready to do his job."

[Jack_Spade]

Thursday, 21 November, 2138; Korean BBQ Restaurant, Capital Hill, Seattle, Seattle Metroplex #74

"I could be much readier to do my job if you told me what the job was. Radio silence is a given, but you certainly didn't hire me to be dumb muscle - you already have enough of those.
I'm am a fully trained operative - not giving me info on the job is like carrying a gun without ammo:
You can ready it once you are in combat - but you'll lose the initiative.

And this cuts both ways: I am a free agent - I don't go blind or I don't go at all. For all I know you guys plan to attack the headquarter of Knight Errant by bashing your heads against their nightsticks.

I'll even grab a drink if that is what it takes to get you to talk."

[adamu]

Thursday, 21 November, 2138; Korean BBQ Restaurant, Capital Hill, Seattle, Seattle Metroplex

The Korean underboss looked at the floor, sighed, shook his head. Looked back up at John. "All you damned freak runners, always think you're the smartest asshole in the room. Fine. I don't have time to deal with this shit. You were already told close-in security, right? We got a guy flying in. I am not saying who it is, or where he's coming in from. But he's one big ass fish, and anything happens to him, then we're all dead. But now we've got this thing with these witches. He won't call off his visit, though. Says it's our problem. So, abra cadabra, we hire some extra talent. What the fuck - better you eat a spell than me, so you're welcome to it. So when we get the call, we roll. Until then, we sit."