[IP] Panzerknacker Options

[SquirrelDude]

>@Team >Oh, and FFS, will someone disarm and Kynos before he gets in the truck. Put him in containment manacles too, just in case he has a shotgun arm and none of us noticed. I'm thankful to him and all, but he's a heavily armed sociopath who doesn't work out of the kindness of his own heart and we have valuable items and a VIP who is incapacitated.

>I'm too tired to deal with that drek.>>

[Jack_Spade]

The loot had taken a bit of a beating from the ice grenade, but some of the more sturdy bits - especially those made of diamonds, gold and platinum were still in good shape.
To get back to the first floor was more of a problem, since the stairs had been destroyed.

Zola had on him a few rings and chains that to Anna's eyes looked like five, very potent spell foci as well as one that must be a high quality centering focus.

[Gilga]

To Slobber's text she replied ">> I doubt he'll want to be disarmed. He needs us to get off this island and to get paid. You do not have to be friends. The only sociopath was Zola, Kynos is my hero. We might not have made it without him.

Her eyes widened as she digested the magical loot "6 foci... It would take time but... It is a big step for me. Nice!" Anna pocketed the rings and chains, and then went back to the loot. The lack of stairs was no problem, as she could simply levitate the loot down to the car. Or levitate herself before the loot, if she needed to establish a line of sight.

Damaged or not damaged they'll sort it off later, once they got off this rock. She entered after the loot, nervous and feeling alive. "Did you see Flatline and Kite? Are they okay? How do we get out of here? Is the submarine still an option? Where do I put the loot?" She asked bnc and the rest. Clearly too excited to lay down.

[ Spoiler ]

Levitation F5: 9d6t5 5Drain: 14d6t5 7

[Jack_Spade]

The question for Flatline and Kite was answered by Kynos: "The mage killed your rigger. I knocked out the mage with a taser. Took me a moment to get the rigger gear working so I could use the car."

While Slobber retreaved his grenades and other valuables, he realized that the Jaguar warrior also carried a few pieces of jewelry, that looked very much like foci:

The straight, saphire knife, still covered in Schmitt's blood, a chain with a shield amulett as well as a small locket made from gold.

[SquirrelDude]

>@Team>Oh god, you're going to slot the psychopath elf because this time he murdered someone evil, aren't you.

>Anna you can suck his dick on the ride back for all I care, I just don't need another highly-skilled killer putting a gun in my face today.>>

"Anna, bnc. So I've got some trinkets down here as well. I need your trained eyes to make sure we're not missing something.

"Would it be possible to leave something on these two corpses to implicate them as paranoid Azzie blood-magic users?"

[Gilga]

>> Solb that comment makes me uncomfortable, don't be that guy.

About Kynos, disarm him yourself if you want. It would be fun to watch... No... seriously we need to GTFO not argue.

Anna replied "The entire place is tainted with astral signatures, most of them Zola's some are mine. Zola did some very high forced spells and I think the signatures would clearly be Blood magic-induced and would last for hours. I'll astrally project and clean up my own signatures very soon... or else they'll call me Harry Potter in the university." She looked to see if she finds Flatline and if not would ask where he might be.

[SquirrelDude]

Slobber pocketed the trinkets that he could recognize, he'd have bnc look at them later.

>@Team> Frag dammit I'll be the one to disarm him then.>>

Slobber grumbled rather loudly, pawing at his mask where his temple would be. "Why do I always have to do the pragmatic drek. You'd think on my last real day of this fragging job I could just get simple request like disarm the psycho mercenary without getting questioned. I gut a Jaguar warrior, geek my second Azzie blood mage in two years, came up with this absurd gas plan for this stupid heist and these people still don't listen to me when I suggest we not needlessly expose ourselves to additional risk of dying. There are already 10 people dead because of us today, can we maybe not risk more."(Orzet) Slob would continue grumbling as he came to the main foyer, loading the grenades into his launcher.

Slob composed himself and walked up to Kynos to speak with him. "Alright, you can come with us. There's a condition though.

"Our boss had his neck cut open, and was exposed to a heart-affecting toxin. He's already going to be waking up in a truck or sub with a dead rigger, the rigger's blood, a mage and decker that will look dead because they're unconscious or in the matrix, and Anna's bloody face as decoration. I don't also need him waking up to one of Zola's henchmen, who he didn't see shoot a blood mage, in perfect health carrying an Ares Alpha. A cardiac arrest from the stress and terror would be pretty awful for all of us right now. I also spoke to your previous coworkers here a while back, and none of them gave you a good score on your performance review when it came to social networking.

"So if you would be so kind as to hand over your weapon to the troll and put on these plasteel restraints. I'll give Anna the tools to cut you free. She trusts you, so I ask you to trust her."

[Gilga]

Anna had a lot to say, but she was wounded from the dispell attempt and from levitating within the background count of that damn abomination. She did not have it in her to watch the two alpha males clash... So, she decided to avoid the conflict, at least for a few moments. She opened her face part of the helmet, knowing that she looked like something exploded inside her head, with blood popping out of her ears and eyes. "I don't like it Kynos, you saved my life and I feel indebted to you. I trust you alright. As you can see, I am not the one calling the shots. Please, there are 10 people dead, the bank manager murdered along with his bodyguard. The vault emptied... We look like the bad guys in this story and their HTR team is not going to give us a chance to explain. We need to be out of here."

Pausing she said... "but there is something I need to do to protect my loved ones from my terrible life choices. I'll be back soon...", she brought down the face cover and projected from the car. Anna would wipe out her astral signatures, not daring to summon again after what she did to the last three spirits. The tingling sensation of leaving her body and its pains was a release, now she was in a different world. A world she really liked...

[Jack_Spade]

Anna had no trouble finding Flatline: He lay unconscious on the front passenger seat, the needles of a taser dart still embedded in his neck. The slumped over form of Kite lay over his blood covered legs. Her throat had been slashed with the sure hand of a surgeon, the skalpell still in the unconscious man's hand.


Kynos shrugged: "I'll want that back." before handing over his rifle, followed by a Savallete Guardian and a Taser "but I object to plasteel shackles. It's stupid to restrain me when we are on the run.
Contrary to what you have seen here, I'm not in the habit of betraying people. If you lot hadn't handed me the proof that Zola planned to sacrifice me I wouldn't have bothered to break you out. And don't worry: I'll be gone before your boss wakes up. I'm not even particularly interested in a share - even though your rigger's has opened up.
I always pay back what I owe. And right now - from my perspective - we are square. And you doing me a favor by taking me with you certainly counts as a favor I owe you. So take it or leave it. I've got about 3/4 of an hour air left in this armor. If necessary I'll walk through the lake, no hard feelings."
Kynos looked expectantly at the pile of weapons

[SquirrelDude]

"Fine. Special K, keep an eye on his guns."

"I'll drive. I'm in good sha-" Slob grunted as he felt some of his nimbleness leave him, "I'm good to drive."

Slobber checked the clock. "About 3 minutes left."

"In test runs we got this stuff out in 2 minutes. bnc, Anna, it's your call. Get the stuff or get in the Van pronto.

[ Spoiler ]

Soaking Att Boost Drain (2): 11d6t5 5

[Gilga]

She replied "What about the submarine?"

[Jack_Spade]

bnc returned from her dive in VR to find the team in frantic movement to secure the remaining loot, the two blood mages dead on the floor and the erstwhile bodyguard helping to load up the pretty banged up Rover. Schmitt's life signs were stable but even a bad sneeze would likely put him in mortal danger in this state.
Inside the Rover it was cramped - especially since they were sharing the place with a bled out corpse. But at least the boat house wasn't far away.
Not a second too soon the Rover left the crime scene. Whatever SIN Schmitt had used to buy or lease the car would be burned so hard that it could be seen from space. Only when the doors of the boat house closed behind them and the minisub was were they had left it, the team found themselves able to breath freely again.

[SquirrelDude]

[ Spoiler ]

Aww, I was giving Volker time to catch and for bnc/Anna to make the call on what to do. It was dragging a bit, though.

On the ride back, Slob found that his mood wasn't improved by the pile of loot in the truck. He was still didn't trust Kynos, and his mind wouldn't give him the satisfaction of just focusing on that. Kite's dead body was bad enough, but Slob's thoughts kept going to the faces of the slaughtered security team that he had spoken to just a few week earlier. It wasn't just the first time in years he'd had a team member die, it was the first time in years that bystanders were physically harmed during his work. In the past year, Schmitt had twice asked Slob to kill a blood mage, and Josiah was well past being tired of it.

Slob kept those thoughts to himself and kept his helmet on. The only communication he initiated was a message sent to Krestov about Kynos and his weapons.

>@Krestov> Reload Kynos's guns with gel ammo before you give them back to him. If we run into more trouble, let's make sure he follows doc's no-killing rules. Also check him for transmitters to make sure he isn't broadcasting our location to anyone. He doesn't betray his boss, but he never said he is working for us.>>

When the rover arrived, Slob stepped out to greet Mike and explain what exactly he was about to see coming out of the cramped vehicle.

"Good news first. We have doc's fragging toy and some rich pricks' diamond necklaces. Zola and Ramirez are definitely dead. We also blew up a Horror Idol or something.

"That's about it for good news. Here's the rest of it. The boss is unconscious, and is going to need to wear turtlenecks from now on. Zola and Ramirez killed all of the guards on that shift." He paused. "Kite is dead. Zola used mojo to force Flatline to kill her. We'll need to burn every last bit of this Rover to clean up the trail it's going to leave. Oh, and Kynos is here. He helped kill Zola. Say hi. Maybe that's good news, whatever."

[Gilga]

Anna spent the ride with poor Flatline, looking at the mage but not knowing what to say. He murdered kite with his surgeon's hands - it was a big blow to someone following the protector. They shared that belief, but to her, it was all less developed and she did not feel very comfortable to mention her magical patron. "It was not your fault..." she whispered to the man that was sobbing sadly. Anna wanted to shout, to cry... to do something to wake up from that nightmare. She took her helmet off as soon as they entered the safehouse, she needed to breathe.

Anna quickly levitated the loot to the minisub, arranging it as much as she could. She needed the action, and was silent, uncharacteristically for her. Once the subs were loaded, she glanced at Mike and said "We'll need to modify the plan, too much heat too many dead bodies and Schmidt is not in any shape to fence that loot before he recovers somewhat. Mike, do we have some new vehicle that we can use to leave the island? Perhaps after a shower and in clean clothes?

Also, do we know anything about Kite? Friends? Family? Or are we just going to get rid of the body? I mean... oh frag it, Mike what would you do in this case?"

Anna's eyes were wet and she could barely look at Kite, or at Mike. She was ashamed of herself. Clearly, she was responsible for Kite's death... but Eve... Eve might have been killed as well and see Kite lying like that made her feel the epic moral failure. Zola probably killed her, but Anna helped to pick Eve. She liked her body and thought that her pictures were vouge enough to impersonate her successfully... It was no reason to die. The thrill passed, and Anna felt empty and hollow. So what if they robbed a bank? dozens of people were dead...

Feeling vulnerable and awkward Anna begun stripping the armor unceremoniously. "If nobody objects, and we are still trying to cross the border... I need to be first in the shower. I can not be seen like this in public.". She said, struggling not to mentally fall apart.

She mentally texted bnc >> join me if you are not too busy.

[SquirrelDude]

"Oh, Anna, before I forget." Slobbertooth handed Anna the magical trinkets he'd taken off of Ramirez. "Do what you want with them, just as long as you keep their blood magic knives and medalions away from me"

[Gilga]

She was a bit surprised - but could not refuse the much larger orc. "From the Jaguar I presume... I'll have a look once I clean up a bit. I... I will keep them away from you if this is what you wish. "

Slob's behavior seemed to her as narrow-minded, to give up on a useful and powerful tool just because the previous owner was a murderous blood adept. A gun was a gun regardless of the owner, why would foci be any different? Though at her current emotional state, and his - she dared not educate him on the matter. Besides, bnc seemed to be far more knowledgeable about magic than Anna ever thought she would be. Though, could someone really study the topic theoretically without ever experiencing it? It seemed like a deaf man composing music.

[Volker]

[ Spoiler ]

Magic theory: 14d6t5 7
I'm not sure whether this is the right skill, though. It would appear a bit PG to roll on the same knowledge skill for pretty anything that hast to do with magic.
How much does bnc know about tradition-spefic focus bonding? Can she tell which of those could be used by anyone and which can't?

Medicine: 11d6t5 4

Mind racing, virtual fingers flying, bnc maneuvered through the Ubermensch, activating drones, preventing alarms as good as possible. Finally, she found the armed vehicles, brought them in position ... and found their enemy dead.
Not able to hear Anna's shouts, bnc is taken by surprise as Kynos enters. For a moment, she aims for him, but soon realizes he's on our side - for the moment. She spins around, checks cameras, maneuvers, controls ... and finally the realization sinks in.
It's over.
bnc turns off VR.

Upon getting up, she feels dizzy. The drugs still working in her systems attempt to counterfeit the numb calmness growing in her, and she leans to the wall for a second. With the air of someone who just stepped out of his chamber, bnc walks out on the corridor. When she meets the rest of the team, she realizes how she must look and comes up with a fast quip. Did you just call me slitch? But the words wouldn't leave her throat. Instead, she just stutters: "Did ... did we make it?"
And all of a sudden, as if waking from a dream, Slobbertooth's commanding voice jerk her out of her somnolent mood. She blinks, hears the sirens, people shouting, and adrenaline rushes through her veins. It's not over yet! Move!"
"Roger!"
She quickly sends command to the ventilation shafts to clear whatever gas is left, then instructs her agent to go through all sensors, especially cameras, that recorded our entry, and delete all of their recordings. Once it's on the move, bnc listens for moans, then checks guard after guard for signs of life.

When Slob calls for her, it feels almost like a command to bnc. Someone in charge she can trust. She runs over to him showing only faint signs of exhaustion, and checks over the foci, passing over her judgment, then returns to the guards while the others are still occupied.

I guess, if you want to mark him as what he is, you'd need to leave one of the blood rituals requisites with him. I'd pick the dagger. One, 'cause it's pretty telling even for untrained eyes, second, because it's the most probable item that is bound specifically in his tradition. Leave the dagger, take the rest. It's a shitload of money, but everything exclusively shaped for blood magic is worthless for us. Guess, nobody in the team would sell those back to these drekheads."

Then she runs over to the rover. "Let me drive. I'm the next we have to a rigger and you should be free to kill pursuers!", she offers, but doesn't argue if he refuses. She then gets in, either maneuvering the car or looking after Gerhardt. "Anna ... now that he's stabilized, I think some healing magic would be no mistake. I somehow managed to keep him alive, but the smallest thing might make the difference between life and death. Please.

Finally, they are back. bnc feels sick, after all the horrors they envisioned, and despite having grown up on the street, she was far away from being a hardened professional. Also, she knew that the drugs would wear off soon and that the rebounce would be devestating. She was looking forward to some of the worst hours she would have ever lived.
Because of that, she doesn't even reply to Anna. She only makes sure that either Flatline or Anna see to Gerhardt's wounds, and prepares a makeshift hospital bed for him. Before the effects of the drugs wear off entirely, she pulls our her medical stuff and takes care of Gerhardt's wounds.

"Team, I ... how much time do we have before we leave here?"

[Jack_Spade]

Mike's tele presence answered on the team line:
<<Well, shit. Good of you to keep the boss alive - I hate looking for a new employer at my age.
But first things first: Don't worry about fencing the stuff. That's my part anyway. The boss gave me all necessary codes anyway. Get in the sub and come back to the safe house. I'm pretty sure it's not compromised. Most of the stuff is already gone, but the showers have still plenty of hot water. There is also one of the Jonas Pods with the Valkryie Module to take care of the Boss.

Your new SINs are ready and you can go where ever you want from there, although the boss has taken the liberty of reserving you first class tickets for the noon suborbital to Munich. Personally I plan to visit a few of my relatives in the Black Forrest Troll Kingdom.

As for the Merc: There is still a bit money left in the expenses retainer, I'll take care to pay him out.

See you in a few minutes.>>

Meanwhile, bnc had had time to take a look at the magical trinkets: The daggers were quite clearly weapon foci and blood magic athames - and also the weapons used to kill the guards. It was unavoidable that Schmitt had left quite a bit of DNA evidence behind, but that was his problem.
The other gear consisted of qi- and spell-foci. bnc knew that those usually could be reused without much difficulty.

[Gilga]

To bnc's request Anna placed her hand on Schmidt, the Jhonson was very dear to her friend, she got that much. Though personally, Anna did not like him very much. He lost her when changing the objective mid-run... She somewhat blamed the distraction about debating - with the fact they lost Kite. Though she knew it was not rational... personal feelings aside, Anna took off her gauntlets and placed her well-groomed hands on the man's neck. Soft yellow light flowed from her hand into the wound, and within in less than 30 seconds the spell miraculously revived their Jhonson. Anna smiled satisfied with her work "This is why I do mojo...Thank you, Protector." she said to herself and the success somewhat made her feel considerably better.

She gently slapped the man's cheek when she was done and said "bnc did a miraculous work saving your ass... The Protector and I Thank you for giving me a chance. Few people believed in me in my short life." She looked at bnc, hoping that the girl would kiss her or join her in the shower or whatever. Anna was not even sure where the two stood. Disappointed she left to shower, suddenly aware of how messed up she looked with the blood and the tears.

It was not a long shower, a quick scrub followed by dressing in her Zoe Heritage suit... Native American high fashion...
It felt ironic, but regardless of the source the dress packed her ass quite nicely and showed some generous cleavage. It took several minutes to get the cosmetics done - but after a short while Anna looked as if she was heading for a work at the office - or perhaps even on a date. What she did not look like was an internally wounded and emotionally shaken bank-robber.


"Anyone else in need of my services? Shall we leave? Do they even speak English in Munich?"

[ Spoiler ]

Healing F7: 13d6t5 8
Drain: 14d6t5 6

He'll heal - 7 physical after 21 seconds. (So random...).

[SquirrelDude]

Slob made sure that the team got into the submarine and then to the safehouse. He spent most of the trip back in the sub next to Zelda. He kept his helmet on, but took off his gloves to feel her fur. As they approached the dock, he made his first address to the team.

"When we get back inside, make sure you've got your stuff packed up and change out of this damned armor. Let's go get a drink and talk about what we do from here. Schmitt's not around to promise more incredible jobs in the future, but we can figure out how to split the loot, who's staying around, play a game of truth or dare, whatever. Some fragging thing to move on from tonight."

"Whatever it is, I want a glass of Hurlg right now, and I'll buy one for whoever comes with, too.

[Volker]

bnc smiles faintly when Anna mentions her part of basically bringing back an already dead man. For once, she doesn't bite back a clever quip - quite the opposite, she looks for one, but all she can bring out is: "It was nothing, really" and realizes the very same second what a dumb and pseudo-humble answer it is. She averts her gaze into nothingness - or, rather: the ARO displaying his now stable and vitel health parameters. She nods, mostly to herself, then explains to Slobbertooth what is what. "The athames are of no use to us at all - unless you want to sell them to the bloody azzies. The rest - if you don't care about their origin - are powerful weapons free to use for everyone who can and is willing to pay for. If you excuse me, I'll leave that to you orcs."

Then bnc retreats into the sub, eager to get to the safe house. From there, she voicemails Slobbertooth "I guess, I can't sedate myself yet, can I?"
Her voice sounds a bit pleading, but the question is rhetorical.
The orc can see why roughly ten minutes later when the effects of the Golden Mirror finally wear off, dumping her mood - that, combined with the still mind-sharpening effects of the Psyche and the horrors they have survived this night. First, she retreats into herself, not reacting to others, unless directly spoken to. Then she won't even react when addressed directly. Tears start rolling down her hollow cheek. Then she gets up and walks unsteadily to the sub's toilet, where she remains.

[ Spoiler ]

How long is the ride?

[Gilga]

Anna spent the submarine ride watching the camera feeds and enjoying herself. She has never been in a submarine and felt very curious about the process. The internal pain was a nuisance, but she was a woman and could endure pain. She did not want to think about anything from the bank, in a way despite anything she kind of wished that she never did it. It was exciting - until people started dying and the feeling that she was intimate, and was sort of fond of that psychopath murderer shook her self-esteem to the ground.

Smiling grimly she answered slob"I already ended up sleeping with Lavandora while sober... So perhaps the influence of alcohol is an improvement in my case. I'll need a human-drink... White wine or sparkling champagne... Your orc booze would make it a very short night for me."

[SquirrelDude]

"I'll still buy you the drink. You can down it when your night is over.

"Or maybe just give it to some guy who's pissing you off.

Slobber put on some music for the ride back.

[Jack_Spade]

The ride back didn't take long - just about 10 minutes from leaving the boathouse to resurfacing in the save house. Mike was ready to help them unload. Schmitt's vitals had improved immensely and he now lay in a deep sleep instead of a coma.
Mike carried him personally into the Valkyrie Module and let the autodoc that the good doctor had build and modified take care of him.
Otherwise the save house had been cleaned pretty well - it still smelled of bleach and most of the clutter that had accumulated over the last month was gone. Instead a picknick table stood there, laden with an assortment of very hearty and expensive i.e. real breakfast food - including a few bottles of beer, soft pretzels and white sausages with sweet mustard on the side.
"The boss is missing out. Pitty. Tug in, I'll make some calls to get your loot fenced."

[Gilga]

Anna seemed disappointed... this was not her idea of a night out... The food was good but the atmosphere was the depressing safehouse... She mumbled "Thanks Mike..." and then placed her attention on the food and drinks. She found a pretzel and a bottle of beer. Approaching slob she asked "Are we still going out after that?"