White frowns. "In my experience, that is *alwayse* a bad idea. I'd have to not accompany you, and probably part ways with you fine people."

"Nothing personal, really."

Opening the boot of his Honda... he takes the Codor out and packs it into the back of Sedryks van ready to give an overall eye of the area. "So are we waiting on anyone? or are we ready to take a look at this area?"

"Yeah, I'm about ready."

Iso walked around to the back of Sedryk's van and leaned against it, awaiting their decsions.

As she waited, she pushed the all-too-familiar button on the item inside of her pocket, just in case.

"Are we all riding in the van together? I could take my bike and meet up with you."

Deciding that standing here is accomplishing very little, White decides it's about time to pop into the building itself.

Being very careful, and incredibly cautious, and ready to beat feat at the first sign of discovery, he carefully rises high above the facility and dives down into it, being careful to stay almost completely within walls and furniture, just sticking his face out to see what's going on. He mentally tries to put together a map, and look for anyone or anything magical.

At this time of day, the building hardly seems occupied. You count a total of twelve people inside, over half of which appear to be security personnel. The other four are either janitorial staff, or the depot workers are supremely bored. The layout is relatively simple. Apart from the administrative offices on the southern side of the building, most of the area is dominated by three-high industrial shelving units holding all manner of medical gear. There is a small, four meter by ten meter room in the rear which appears to be climate controlled and probably contains vaccines and/or medicines which require refridgeration or other special handling.

When they get a few blocks from the target Jim asks Sydrik to pull over... and in a quiet back street he opens up the back doors of the van and sends his condor floating quickly and gracefully above the rooftops up to a suitable hight where he can see the target, making use of the night sky for the extra ability to remain hidden. When in place, Jim shuts his eyes... and lets the electronic feeds tell him all there is to know about the exterior of the building.

Sedryk sits into the drivers seat, looking out over the compound. Over the next two hours his patience is stretched to the max. The van's ashtray was empty when he parked, steadily it has filled. Sedryk knows that it takes him five minutes to burn through a cigarette, so he keeps times on patrols. He also studies they layout of the complex, looking for places of deep shadow and dead zones where security doesn't go.

When the first pack is empty, he crumples it up and dumps the ashtray into a small ziplock baggie before getting out of the van. Staying in the shadows, walking as silently as he can, he looks to see if any of the employees park outside the lot. He also dumps the ziplock baggie in a corner trash can the sneaks back to the van.

After being gone from almost half an hour Sedryk with a smile on his face.

Grey takes his spot next to Sedryk and keeps an eye on the place. After about half an hour, he decides to take a walk around the complex and get a feel for it and the surrounding neighborhood.

During your surveillance, the compound continues to operate oblivious of your presence. An Ares Roadmaster passes through the gates, receives it's load of supplies, and trundles out the opposite end of the compound towards its destination. The parking lot is filled with the cars of half a dozen employees, but apparently you've arrived after shift change. None of them depart during the time you've spent watching.

During the surveillance, you can detect no obvious areas of the compound to exploit. The sodium arc lamps on their pylons leave the entire area in a low-light condition, monitored by the unblinking eyes of the security cameras mounted on the exterior of the building. The fenceline provides little cover, and the surrounding streets are wide three lane industrial ways.

Grey gets back to the van and asks Jim, "Your the security guy, how about testing out their stuff and see if you can hack into their signals?"

White materializes in the van and gives everyone the low down. "There seem to be only 8 security guards. There are 4 other people, who are either janitorial staff, or really bored. There doesn't seem to be alot of security. There's a refridgerated room in the back that probably holds what we're looking for.

I think our best option is to send someone in disguised as someone from headquarters come to pick the vaccine up. There's no need for us all to go in. We'll simply have the rest of us waiting outside in case there's a problem. I vote having myself go in. I have a physical mask spell, and I'm still useful even without the weapons they would probably search me for."

"Sounds like a plan... But what if they don't believe you? I might be able to help out in that area. All it takes is a little wink here... A smile there... And a quick wit, and I'm sure the guards will let me in. Although, if you want to try first, go for it. I can sit here and play with Sedryk's toys a little while longer..."

"I had figured I'd call BlueChip and see if I could get some credible looking ID and maybe find out what the proper paperwork would look like and maybe got something similar. Your idea requires less props, though, so let's try yours first. But don't do anything until my meat body gets there."

With that, White goes back into his body and hops into his car.

Jim nods slowly in agreement with Grey.... sitting watching through his drone wasnt gaining them anything, they seemed to have competant security who actually gave a frag about their jobs, so the natural next course of action was to hit the security cameras, see what they could provide....

So with that, he took a deep breath and activated his cyberware...

"It would be a good idea to have some backup go in with ya. I could act as a body guard for ya. Besides, I'm pretty darn good at bluffin' my way past a guard post if I need ta."

Secounds later Jim opens his eyes muttering "damn lame ass security....to tight to put in a proper system for me to take over!" and then in a louder voice "Well the good news is that it looks like they dont have any drones to speak of, because there is no remote network set up for them.... and even if they do have any security rigger set up, which I doubt, then it will be hard wired in."

Finally arriving on the scene in person, White whips out his cell and calls BlueChip.

"Hey, buddy, here's what we'll probably need. We'll need something that looks like ID from Cross Applied technologies. Something with some clout in the biomedical devision, but nothing fancy. It doesn't even have to work, it just has to look impressive. We'll also need something that pases casual inspection for papers to remove an experimental vaccine. Is that going to be too tricky for you?"

Blue Chip fans the virtual deck of cards in his hands, a Cheshire grin upon the face of his avatar.

"I'm working on your data search, but multi-tasking is one of my specialities. I will, of course, require additional compensation for my time. You'll have the required documentation in an hour."

"Thanks. Remember, it doen't need to be legit, it just needs to *look* legit."

White's phone rings in exactly sixty minutes. Blue Chip's avatar shuffles the deck in his hands once before dealing five cards face down.

"There are your requested files. Print on something that'll give you decent resolution and it'll fool everything up to a regional supervisor. Use at your own risk."

Reign keyed her telecom, the soft pastels of the screen the only illumination in the darkened room. Thirty seconds passed as the system completed the necessary electronic handshake.

"Go ahead." Todd passed only the audio component of his transmission.

"It's Reign. If you're free, I've got an employment opportunity for you. The team is working on one of my jobs and could use some assistance. Here's the contact number of their rigger, Jim."

"How much?"

"The usual."

"I'll be in touch." Todd closes the transmission. Reign glances over at Trance and smiles.

Todd bounces a call though several telcoms and finally, having made sure the call is secure, sends the call through to Jim.

Picking up the phone Jim answers it using his street name, not knowing who would be ringing at this time..."Ghost here, who's this?" keeping it simple, making whoever was on the other end work for his attention.

The voice on the other end of the line if a cheerful one and by the tone of his voice, you'd guess young as well.

"Hey, we have a friend in common and she asked me to give you a buzz, saying you may have use of my skills on the 'trix. Is there a place we can meet?"

"Ok, meet me on the third story of the carpark at West and Eighth in Two hours... Come alone, and if I suspect anything at all you can forget it" and with that Jim hangs up and addresses the rest of the group...

"Turns out our employer may have just found us a decker... I gave him the same meeting spot that we went to, Does any of the muscle in the group want to come with me? just in case he isnt what he says? im going to go now if anybody is comming..."

Todd catches a ride in a cab to get over to that side of town. He makes his way up to the third story of the carpark and, seeing that he has about half an hour before the meet, spends his time practicing kickflips on his skateboard.

Climbing out of the back of the van... Ghost walks over and climbs into the drivers seat of his car, as the engine purrs into life he jacks in and waits for a moment while his world readjusts to the sensors... and in a New York minute is flying through the city feeling his powerplant rumbling happily, waiting to give yet more power.....


Several minutes later he pulls into the carpark slowly....feeling the most protected in his metal shell, he switches his lights to main beam, not because he needs to....but even these days it has a psychological effect on those caught in it!! and he catches his first glimpse of this....child!....

leaving the engine running he jacks out and steps out of the car with his pistol drawn, staying close enough to jump back in if he needs to... "So, are you the one who I have a mutual friend with? what did OUR mutual friend say to you?"

Todd puts his hands up before his eyes, shielding them from the harsh light of the vans beams.

"Yeah man, Reign sent me. And she didn't tell me drek yet, I guess she figured you could fill me in. Now you wanna turn the fraggin' lights off, yer killin' my eyes with that drek."

Dropping his gun and putting the beam back to normal, Jim simply says "get in..." and as soon as this skater kid is in he pulls out and heads back to meet the others

Climbing in, Todd looks a little smug, having got tired of being treated like a kid all the time.

"Where we headed?"

"Just going to meet some friends of mine..thats all you need to know for now..." and with that he heads back to the van to meet the others

Todd shrugs, figuring the guy to just not be all that friendly or talkative. He leans back in the seat and pulls his headphones out and puts them on while Jim drives.

Trance shakes her head. "Call them. You've already taken personnel losses and the team hasn't even completed the first task."

"If the team feels they need additional personnel, they'll ask." Reign glared at her partner, fingers drumming on the desktop.

"Team? What team? All you have is a bunch of people that are supposed to be working together and half of them have left. Call Tusken, tell him you're sending more personnel." The two women stared at each other in the dim office, battling silently. Finally, Reign sighed, throwing up her hands in disgust.

"Fine, we'll do it your way."

Zeigler's face looked distracted, which usually did not bode well.

"I've got good news and bad news. The good news is that I've found you work. The bad news is that I've found you work. I've got the LTG number of a rigger who's running a team on a mission and they need replacements. I'm assured the losses have not been due to hostile fire. The fixer you're working for is someone I know, slitch called Reign. She's got her own agenda, so watch your back."

The message Fingers leaves for Mirage is short and to the point.

"Got a line on a job, your contact is the team's rigger. Here's his LTG number. Let me know if you need anything."

Teeth has never bothered to get a metahuman adjusted telecom, so only a quarter of his face appears at any one time. The optical pickup continuesly adjusts as the troll moves about, creating a vertigo inducing visual. Blount compensates by not looking at the screen.

"Good news, omae, work is on the way. Attached is the LTG number of a rigger running a team on a job. Their fixer has put out a call for additional personnel, someone called Reign. Haven't heard of her, so watch your back. Give me a call if you need anything."

The voice on Kim's answering service was familiar, but the message was anything but.

"You've asked about it long enough. Your contact's name is Tusken, he's a rigger for this team. His LTG number is attached. Call as soon as you get this message."

Todd turns to Jim as he drives...

"You guys got a safehouse setup yet or somethin'?"

Even before the brief message from Fingers has completed playing on her image-link display, Mirage has started to ready her gear. The gold-plated custom Manhunter slips into the holter under her left arm, loaded with a clip of powerful EX-EX ammunition. She replaces the clip of gas-grenades in her tiny ArmTech Grenade Launcher with White-Phospherous grenades (because you just can't trust anyone these days), before slipping it into the second holster concealed in the small of her back.

She then pulls on her loose fitting ankle length grey coat, over the top of her smart Parisian outfit. Finally she checks that her travel pack contains plenty of extra ammo, a set of spare clothes, and a couple of other choice items before turning towards the smaller of the two bedrooms in her small apartment.

"Kikumi, come on I've got some work on, you'll have to stay with Countdown for a couple of days."

The twelve year old has learned to keep her bag packed and soon joins Mirage on the way to the elevator. Mirage places a called to countdown on the way down and then exits the building, with the young Japanese girl walking briskly behind her.

Around the corner they reach the battered looking garage where her Westwind is stored. Only after she has connected her second datajack to the Westwind, it's virtual dashboard blazing into life before her eyes, does she send to mental command to her pocket secretary to dial the LTG code Fingers gave to her. The call connects just as the powerful sports cars roars out into the street.

"Bonjour, my name is Mirage, I believe you need an extra pair of hands, is there somewhere private you would like to meet?"

Finding out that now half the team had fragged off without saying anything, Jim grunts as he realises that now he has to sort something new out.... so he turns to the kid..."Look, err.....Todd's yer name? theres been a change of plan and I need to meet some other people so just bare with me a minute...I dont know if your deck is portable...but if it is then start looking up anything you can find on this company" and with that he hands over the details of the medic facility and what little he knows about it.

As the phone rings he picks it up and listens to this Mirage...."Ok, if you wanna meet, meet me at the amature combat biker grounds on the edge of town and we will discuss the job" and with that he immediatly speeds up to make sure that he is first to the meet, even though he is fairly close by anyway....

Blount hung up the phone and made another quick call. No one answered the phone, so he left a message:

Hey IO, give me a call when you get in, use the work number. I got a line on something I could use some help on. Later..

He spent the next 15 minutes packing two bags, one for electronics and weapons, the second for clothes. He dressed quickly, a pair of jeans, a gray t-shirt under a battered synthleather secure jacket. He slipped a pistol in a holster under his left shoulder, grabbd the bags and walked downstairs to his car and got in, throwing the bags in the trunk of the Americar.

A few minutes later he was sitting in the parking lot of a Stuffer Shack 3 miles away, where he made the call.

"I hear you are looking for talent" he said.

After she has dropped Kikumi off at Countdown's apartment, Mirage, heads to the Combat Biker grounds as quickly as she can.

The grounds are virtually deserted at this time of night, and as she drives in Mirage spots the Honda sports car parked away from everybody else. She parks her Westwind 30 metres in front of the Honda and activates her reflex trigger. Her wired reflexes seem to slow down time as she steps gracefully out of the car into the cold January air.

Mirage raises her coat's hood to protect against the chilly wind and walks slowly towards the Honda, careful to keep both of her gloved hands visable, and scanning the surrounding area in case of an ambush.

Oh man, I can't believe I missed this call. It's been a long night for Kim and she really needed to rest. When she woke up and noticed she slept half the day, it was already late in the evening. For once I forget to set my alarm and now it's too late.
Kim sighs as she calls back. I hope he picks up.

"I know you wanted me to call Tusken, but I just woke up. What's the deal anyway?"

"I don't have a Sat Uplink, but as soon as we get someplace, I can jack a line and go from there."

Todd takes a big gulp of his SoySoda and lets a huge burp rumble through the van.

IO sighs and stops ignoring the 'message waiting' icon. Patching through one of his backdoors he reroutes a couple of times before reaching Blount.

"You rang. What's up?"

Firmpoint answers his phone and listens to Ziegler's pitch.
"thank you for the warning, I'll keep an eye out."
He clicks off the personal secretary, and goes to his dresser, opening a hidden drawer and taking out some jewelry. He dons a silver pendant, and then puts in the gold stud earing, as he does, he casts his improve reflexes spell into that focus, failing once, he shirks off the drain, and tries again, this time getting it to stick (2 successes), willing his way through the drain again. He seems to consider the tourmaline ring on his finger for a minute before deciding to leave it as is.

He opens his closet and takes out the neatly pressed business suit in the back, a sleek, stylish black suit from the Auctioneer line, putting in on over his form fitting armor and forearm guards. He procures a number of other small objects and stowing them about his person, he places his Ruger Superwarhawk in a concealed holster under his left arm, and the MGL 6 in a concealed holster under his right arm.
He casts a quick Healthy Glow spell to refresh his looks, combs his short, dark brown hair, then heads out, carying a briefcase.

Heading to the nearest monorail stop, he places the call to the LTG he was given.
"Hello, a friend of mine told me that you were hiring. Where should I meet you and what should I know?"

As he walks, and on the train, he begins summoning some watcher spirits for backup. Summoning 4, all force 3, they have lifespans of 4, 4, 6, and 5 hours. drain is negated.

Kim mutters a bit after she hangs up. That sure wasn't helpful, she thinks and I don't like his implication either. Still, it wasn't a total waste; at least I know now it isn't too late to call yet or he would have said so. Of course if he meant that I didn't want to get shot at he was right about the low risk part too. Drek, that guy's annoying. Kim sighs again and shakes her head. It must just be that he said this wouldn't solve any of my problems. Well, I'd better make that call before it really is too late.

She presses the LTG number on her wristphone and waits for Tusken to pick up.