IC : STARDUST, In-Character thread for Stardust Options

[FrostyNSO]

"The whole setup was just to give the reporters more to write about." Lars began. "One model commits suicide, who cares? These girls have so many problems it's practically expected. But one model gets murdered under mysterious circumstances and people in the loop will be talking about it for years. Stone's finished."

Hank enters the room as Lars finishes his sentence, and motions to Ludi's colt, which she is drumming on her thigh. "Gun safety toots. Don't point that at anything you don't wanna destroy." Hank smiles and motions at Lars briefly. "Tub's about ready by the way...nice and hot."

Lars pauses and a worried look shoots accross his face, which tries to cover up. "I don't know why Kote would meet with all those people you're talking about. You have to understand her, I don't think she knew she had a choice. I tried to tell her she did, but...I don't know."

[Mister Juan]

After shooting a smile back at Hank, she whistled in Gunther's direction, to catch his attention.

"Gunther, I'm going to need a hand with this."

Her pistol still in hand, she came back into Lars view.

"On your feet. Now."

It didn't sound like a suggestion. Throughout the whole run, Ludmila had felt compelled to find Kote's killer; to find a reason behind the death of the woman. Now that she apparently had it... she simply didn't want to believe it. Indeed, the woman seemed to be in a desperate situation. But her egocentric behavior had put many lives in jeopardy. Because of what Kote had apparently triggered, people had died, other would soon, and it was probable that the killing wasn't over. The anger... it was already starting to build inside Ludi... Who did Kote think she was to toy with the lives of others like this! How dare she! If Lars was telling the truth, then the real mastermind behind all this was Kote herself. There was simply no way to punish her.

Poor Lars... he was only another pawn in the game. Ludmila's first intention was to torture and kill Lars. Now, she was going to make sure he was telling the truth, and she'd then let him live.

Once Lars was up, she motioned him toward the bathroom.

"Let's go. Don't make me shoot you."

[FrostyNSO]

Lars slowly came to his feet, keeping an eye on the front door for the man with the knife. Thouroghly intimidated, and not wanting to invoke the Russian's wrath, or provoke Gunther to violence, Lars complied, stepping slowly to the bathroom.

As he passed Hank, into the hallway, Hank gave the man a disgusted scowl. "I've seen a lot of guys like you in my time...they all thought they could get away with it." He started. "...and always for a girl too. But this takes the cake."

Lars returned Hank's scowl and made his way into the restroom, looking over his shoulder briefly at the Fury who had him at gunpoint.

Hank leaned into Ludi and spoke uncharacteristically soft as she passed. "Do you think this is a good idea? I've seen this drek before and it can make a guy go from compliant to "not" if you're not careful." Hank's voice became even lighter. "We get paid to eliminate this guy. He's a wretch, and I almost felt bad for him for a minute, but in the end, this guy killed a girl. You saw his work, the way it was done...Think for a minute what she looked like on that couch and you'll know what we gotta do. It may have been her idea, or it might not have. For us to get paid, it don't matter. If he wanted to help this girl, he could have taken her to counseling, not indulge in her little game. He could have arranged to kill Stone or Whittington...he certainly had access to them. He made a choice as much as she did...and I think he liked it."

[Mister Juan]

As she made her way to the bathroom, Hank's words kept resonating in her ears. They were indeed getting payed to whack the guy. But somehow, Ludmila couldn't get herself to pull the trigger. What if it was the wrong man? What if, out of so delusion, he had fantasized about killing Kote, but hadn't? People were fragged up...

Hank was right, torturing him probably wouldn't yield much more information. She was sure, all along, that Cain existed... and that the killer had something for water. She wanted him to suffer, and die drowning. Afterwards, they could have simply stripped him and got him back into the bathub. The cops would probably see thru the scheme... but there was always a chance they wouldn't.

But now, she did feel pity toward him. Even if he had made the wrong choice, the man appeared to simply be another pawn in a scheme organised by a dead model.

The woman's gun was now down, pointing toward the floor, her finger tapping on the side.

Kote's face appeared in front of her eyes; he beautiful face emotionless, the pools of blood forming around her body, the two black holes she had for eyes...

"Frag this..."

Ludmila's sad look changed in a second; her jaw was clenched, and she muttered something in russian. Her left hand went around the small silver crucifix around her neck, as her right one raised.

The caseless Colt made little sound as the silenced shot went in Lars head. Out of good measure, Ludmila went over his body and made sure he wouldn't come back from the dead. When she stopped shooting, the slide of her gun was locked back.

As she holstered her gun back, she stepped out of the bathroom and closed the door behind her with her foot. Getting back in the living room, she took two items out of her pockets... but not before wiping them free of prints. Under the couch she hid a Lonestar issued Ares Predator. And on the tv she deposited something that slightly looked like a leather wallet: Sgt. Earl Herrera's badge.

The cops were out for Ludmila's blood... and even if there wasn't any casing left, odds are they would be able to link this execution with the morning's shooting at the train station. If Ludmila could evade them for a few weeks, if not months, they would eventually give up, close the case, and feed some bulldrek to the media. Hey... maybe they'd pin it all on Lars....

[Shadow]

Gunthers sharp ears caught the *cough* of the Colt.

Sloppy.

He watched Ludmilla plant the evidence hoping that it would throw the star of her track. The world was full of bad people, Lars was one of them, looks like his Johnson was another.

At lease the mob had rules when it did its buisiness. Death in the shadows was far more random and cold.

"We done here?"

[Mister Juan]

Wrapping her hand in her jacket as not to burn herself, Ludmilla started unscrewing the silencer so she could holster her weapon back.

Her face showed no emotion as she started moving toward the front door.

"Da. Let's get out of here."

[Shadow]

Gun gave the house one last look and moved out behind Ludmilla. The woman was a class act no doubt. But something about this job really fragged with her head.

"What next?"

[Mister Juan]

As she stepped outside, Gunther on her heels, Ludmila lit herself yet another cigarette. All three men hadn't spend that much time with her...but their clothes would probably smell of tobacco for the next few days.

"Now?" she took a long drag "Now we collect our money and get this fragging job over with."

By finding out the truth, Ludmila thought she would have felt better... relieved... That her actions of the past week would somehow have been justified. The truth only made her feel sick. And to think that Lana was going to grow up in a such a world.

For a second, she had felt some relief while squeezing the trigger; the wrath finally flowing out of her. But once Lars' blood at painted the walls... she had felt nothing. Only the rotten feeling inside her that something was still very wrong. All those thoughts went aside. She was getting pay good cred for the job, and it was now over. The Lonestar knew her face, and probably her first name, but that was it. All she had to do was to stick to her neighborhood for a few weeks and lay low. Eventually, they would give up. They have better things to do... or so she hoped.

"Lets give Stone a ring, set up a meet and collect our money. We can then part ways."

Her voice was seemingly lacking emotions. She started walking back to Hank's van. Once there, she would transfer all the audio data she had recorded in her head to her pocket computer and send it to Stone as proof.

Everything was over.

Yea right...

As she reached the van, she turned around to face her teammates.

"Somehow... I don't feel safe going back to Stone's place. Lets set up a meet, for tonite. Any places that come in mind?"

[Mister Juan]

"... I don't know about you guys, but I could use a drink." she said, taking another drag.

[Shadow]

"Someplace we can hide the body if it goes badly, like the docks," Gun says it with a stone cold face it could be a joke....

"Give me your phone and I will take care of it."

[Mister Juan]

Leaving the cigarette stuck to the corner of her mouth, Ludmila undid the strap of her wrist phone and threw it to Gunther.

"Don't use all my minutes..."

She gave him a little wink.

[Shadow]

The big man punched in the code for Stones house. He was leaning against his car looking back down the street.

"Stone, Gun, the job is done. Meet us at pier 11 Tacoma dockside in an hour. Bring the money."

[FrostyNSO]

Stone answers up to Gunther's demand in his usual fashion: "So the job has been completed as we discussed? The docks aren't really my scene so I trust you will not be too disappointed if I have one of my associates bring you the payment? Otherwise, we can meet at my place?"

[Shadow]

"As long as the money is good, one hour."

Gun flipped the phone to Ludmilla, "we should get going, check the place out before the meet."

[Mister Juan]

Her cigarette pinched between her index and thumb, the russian woman flipped it across the sidewalk and onto someone's lawn.

Pulling the collar of jacket up to protect her neck from the cold, she started walking towards Hank's van.

"Da vai."

As she approached the side door, she started fishing around the pockets of her baggy pants.

"Yebat'-Kopat'..." Ludmila cursed in her mother tongue.

Her green eyes went up to meet Hank's.

"Cigarettes... I'm out."

[FrostyNSO]

"You ever consider quitting?" Hank asked. He obviously didn't have any with him. "If the bullets don't kill ya, those things will." The man smiled once again, still a rarity. Firing up the van, Hank followed Gun's Eurocar to the Tacoma docks. He preferred meets in more populated areas, for his protection more than anything else.

They could hear only the sound of the asphalt against the wheels of the van as it plodded through the damp streets towards the port. Sticking close to Gun's vehicle as they approached the pier complex. Pier 11 was vacant and deserted with no ships at the dock for the moment. They still had another half-hour before the appointmet. Along the left side of the pier, which extended some distance out above the water, a series of seatrains were lined up probably awaiting pickup. At the shore was a large crane, Hank guessed to actually move the cargo. The crane's boom extended far into the air, but even the cab was a good 2 story ladder climb. As the two vehicles parked in front of the pier, Hank tugged on Ludi's sleeve to get her attention. "Any chance we can get your Ingram up in that crane?"

[Mister Juan]

As she settled down in the passenger seat, Ludmila at a look of total confusion on her face. It seemed like Hank's last remark shocked the woman.

"Quitting? So I can pick up drinking, like you?" turning her head slighty away from him, it was still easy enough to catch her smirk.

"Plus, I can just get new lungs if it comes to that... Tell you what; I'll quit smoking the day you quit shadowrunning."

Ludmila had only known Hank for about two weeks now... not even. But she liked him. She felt strangely comfortable with him, as if she had known him for all her life. The fact that he was still there, driving the van, spoke a lot about his character. Yes, he was into it for the money... but it wasn't the money that had forced him to get Ludmila out of the sewers, and patch her up.

The drive to the docks went smoothly and in silence.

All Ludi could think about was Lana. She haddn't seen... or spoke to her, since the whole job had started. She had gotten her on the phone, a few times during the week, but only for a few minutes at a time. She missed her daughter... deeply. Maybe, tonite she'd sleep at home. After all, this was the end of the job, in theory.

Once they were arrived, she exited Hank's van, waiting for the others to gather around.

"Well.... getting up there isn't such a bad idea. A bit obvious, but not too bad. Only thing I didn't like is if I have to bail quick, it's a fragging long drop to the ground."

As she spoke, she playing with her lower lips, bitting it. It was obvious she was craving a smoke.

"Just... find a spot near the crane were you could hide your van. At least, I won't have to swim to safety... Anyways, you gentlemen have any suggestions on how you want to deal with this? I'm going to transfer the confesion we got onto my pocket comp, and when Stone's courrier shows up, we'll beam him the information. This way, we'll have some insurance he won't try to plug us on the spot."

[Shadow]

Gun looked around the spot. "Yeah this will do. Heres what I think, Ludi up on the crane, they move wrong, you shoot them. Hank, you back the van up so that its a strait shot into it for me, then out of here for all of us. Ludi if it goes bad get out and stay low. We'll try to keep it civil, but if it goes bad don't hesitate. I'll do myu best to buy you guys anytime you need if it looks like they are going to just geek us."

[Slacker]

Jacques chimes in "I'm going to scout around for a bit, but I'll return to back you up in meeting them. I'm hoping that it will go smoothly. But if not the two of us are in the best shape to try to break out of a trap."

[FrostyNSO]

After making a studious reconnoiter of the area, Jacques was fairly sure there was nothing out of the ordinary waiting for them. The port was quiet and many of the surrounding piers were unoccupied today. Still, there were numerous stacks of seatrains and other cargo containers to provide cover to anybody wanting to approach unseen. Some of the freighters at the more distant piers could even be used by a good sniper...an unsettling thought.

Hank backed the van into a position so that the rear was facing the area Gun intended to meet with the "money". Doing a quick chamber check on each of his pistols, Hank moved to the back of the van and unlocked the back doors so Gun and Jacques could get in quickly if they needed to.

Ludi, scaling the crane, and taking a covered position beside it's cab took position. The steel was cold and wet from the rains, soaking into her clothing immediately. From her vantage point, she was the first to see the headlights moving through the port headed to their pier. Shortly, a silver Ford Amercar pulled into view. On the front license plate frame was an advertisement for a rental dealership. Stopping about 100 meters from the pier, the driver an passenger side doors swung open smoothly. From the driver side, a man in a dark suit stepped out, whose features Ludi couldn't make out from the distance. On the passenger side, a bulkier looking figure with a flowing longcoat stepped out. In his hands, Ludi could make out what appeared to be a sawed-off.

[Mister Juan]

During the few minutes she spent, lying down on the freezing and wet metal crane, Ludmila could only think of one thing: how much she'd like to have a rifle instead of a punny submachine gun. Not that the Ingram was a bad weapon... far from it. In close quarter encouter, the thing was simply deadly. But, at long range, it probably wasn't the most effective weapon.

When she spotted the headlights approaching, her left hand pressed the transceiver near her mouth.

"Here they are."

Setting it close by, the woman then extended the collapsible stock of her weapon, and trainned the sights on the two men. Her finger resting on the trigger guard, the smartlinked weapon clicked off it's safety.

[Slacker]

Gesturing that Gun should lead the way, Jacques says, "Ok, let's get this over with. I do not like this situation. Too easy for them to ambush us."

[Shadow]

"I hear you bro. Ok, stay behind me."

Gun casually ajusted his suit jacket and walked halfway to the car. He stopped just out of good pistol range.

"You have the money," he lifted his voice to carry the distance to the car.

[FrostyNSO]

The man from the driver's side answered Gun: "You are the photographers that were hired? Then yes we have the money." Reaching slowly into the car, the man produced a slim briefcase.

[Shadow]

Gun held the chip up that Ludmilla had made. He motioned for the men to come forward.