Hill Road Harvest Food Liquor Cigarettes & Gas
Tuesday 8/19/70 11:47:41
Sledge - Rider
PAN - Hidden

Odors of burning flesh, plastic, scorched metal, the metallic taste of blood, blurring of vision, searing heat on her skin, flashed through her. Her knees flexed, her feet shifted slightly, dropping her into a ready stance. Her fist clenched hard, empty, in the other she cracked the ear bud case.

The brief moment passed, wiping the snarl off her face, she turned her head to check after the scampering refugees, then snapped it back to glare at the dwarf.

"Walk, talk or burn. Time's ticking."

Hill Road Harvest Food Liquor Cigarettes & Gas
Tuesday 8/19/70 11:47:50


The dwarf smiled when Sledge dropped the "dumb tusker" show. He looked at his partner, back to lounging on the hood of the car, working laboriously at getting a new smoke lit. The human just shrugged. The dwarf thought for a moment, and reached a decision. He opened his left hand, palm up, and in it was a small, rectangular plastic device, with a circular whole in one end. It looked like a portable DNA or fingerprint reader. Maybe both.

"All I need from you, is to put your finger in here for me."

Hill Road Harvest Food Liquor Cigarettes & Gas
Tuesday 8/19/70 11:47:52
Sledge - Rider
PAN - Hidden

She glared at the dwarf persistently. He wasn't going away.

With her off hand she signalled to Rocky to start moving the slumbering mass at her feet.

At the request she snorted and stalked forward and jammed her finger in.
Her middle finger.

Hill Road Harvest Food Liquor Cigarettes & Gas
Tuesday 8/19/70 11:48:12


It wasn't like other readers she'd seen. It didn't look mass-produced, all black plastic and no external controls apparent. Just two LEDs - one red, one green. The green one flashed. She withdrew her finger.

Idly tossing the reader up and down with his left hand, the dwarf spoke: "I'm thinking you and your people have a lot of reasons to be jumpy. Maybe more than I can even guess at, and I can guess at a lot. And I know you didn't know who we were. So water under the bridge. But pull a stunt like this on us again, and you won't get another free pass."

He tossed her the reader. "You can keep that if you like. A souvenir. I meant what I said about wanting to be your friend. And because of that, I'm going to give you some very important advice." He looked straight up at her and it actually seemed like he cared if she listened. "Don't mention our little meeting to anyone. NOT...ANYONE."

He turned and headed over to his friend. But before Sledge could turn her attention to helping Rocky with Cerberus, the mage caught her eye. He'd gotten an unbroken cigarette lit, but he managed to talk around it. Glancing pointedly at the two trolls, and then the van, he asked, "You got the little girl in there, too?"

Hill Road Harvest Food Liquor Cigarettes & Gas
Tuesday 8/19/70 11:48:15
Sledge - Rider
PAN - Hidden

"Little girl one with the Angels."

Sledge displayed her teeth and tusks, "No one touch her now."

Hill Road Harvest Food Liquor Cigarettes & Gas
Tuesday 8/19/70 11:48:11
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden

Rocky was still trying to come to grips with everything going on when he got the signal from Sledge to move Cerb toward the van. He took his time and moved slowly making sure to not do anything that the Fed's or their friend might freak about.

When he got to Cerberus he slowly moved the assult rifle so it was laying on top of the unconcious troll's body where it would not appear that he was trying to get to it. He then moved around him and grabbed him under the arms and started to slowly slide him toward the waiting van.

Hill Road Harvest Food Liquor Cigarettes & Gas
Tuesday 8/19/70 11:48:20


The dwarf was back around the rear of the crumpled car now, trying to pry the trunk open.

Hearing Sledge's words, the mage tapped ash off the end of his cigarette and exhaled through his nose. "That'd be a damn shame."

Then he gave a sharp half-nod, half-shrug at the fire elemental and it disappeared.

He sat and smoked.

Hill Road Harvest Food Liquor Cigarettes & Gas
Tuesday 8/19/70 11:48:24
Sledge - Rider
PAN - Hidden

Without looking behind her Sledge stalked over to her still idling bike and slung a leg over and kicked in the stand in one motion.

<<@team:: Ready to roll?>>

With a turn of her head she scanned for traffic, ready to pull away.

Hill Road Harvest Food Liquor Cigarettes & Gas
Tuesday 8/19/70 11:48:30
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden

With some work Rocky got Cerberus's unconcious form dragged over to the van and opened the doors. Once again he kept his moves slow and non-threatening as he picked the assult rifle up and set it on the bench in the back of the van.

Then came the hard part, getting the who the hell knows how many kilograms of troll that was all dead weight up and into the van with out hurting him to much more. After some struggles and what Rocky was sure would be some more muscle pain latter in the day he got him loaded up.

Looking around one last time, to make sure the Fed's hadn't changed their minds Rocky climbed into the van and pulled the doors shut. Making sure they were closed good he then returned the rifle to the rack and looked toward the front of the van. "Ready to roll back here."

Hill Road Harvest Food Liquor Cigarettes & Gas
Tuesday 8/19/70 11:48:42
Mr. Smith - Johnson
PAN - Hidden

Once Rocky slammed the doors shut and signaled that he was ready to roll, Johnson communicated this to Sledge. <<@Team:: "Right behind ya, Sledge. Thanks for handling that, too. I'm not going to say that that encounter went anywhere near where I would have liked it to, but there's no denying you saved our asses there when you could have left us out to dry.">> The events of the last hour or so had made Adam drastically reexamine the way he had been approaching the situation he had been thrust into. A moment later, as he moved the Van into position behind Sledge he spoke up again. <<@Team:: "And, as far as Cerberus goes, that was entirely my fault. I'll make it up to him when he comes to, but I hope the rest of you don't hold it against him, professionally. You're a team, and I'm going to need you to be able to count on one another.">> Visable only to Fortunato, who sat up front in the van, Mr. Johnson's mouth upturned in the corner in a slightly amused expression.

<<@Team:: "Everyone handled that situation better than I would have expected, given all of the surprises.">> Not more than a minute ago he was mentally cursing every move that was being made, even his own, but he didn't show any disapproval on his face now that they were out of storm. <<@Team:: "I feel more confident in bowing out for a few hours, and letting you do your jobs, now that all of the arrangements have been made - but we still have to get into the city.">>

Mr. Johnson figured he was on a roll, and might as well go the full nine, <<@Team:: "Angel, you wanna take the wheel for a while, so I can try to dig the bullet out of him?">>

Southbound away from Hill Road Harvest Food Liquor Cigarettes & Gas
Tuesday 8/19/70 11:50:43
Angel – Technomancer – Hidden
PAN - Hidden

Caittie looked on through both feeds; one supplied by the van’s cameras, the other by the FBI agent whether he knew it or not. Enraptured by the only other female’s actions, the young woman could only hold her virtual breath as she saw the giant troll fall in seemingly slow motion to the dirt and grease covered concrete. Cerberus’ body jerked in what would be a violent spasm if her mind wasn’t running at the speed of thought in her viewing of it.
Watching with baited breath, the angelic looking technomancer could hardly believe the scene she was watching. Though more intriguing, or appalling if it had even registered fully in her thoughts, while she felt sorry for the green tinged skinned man, Caittie also felt a measure of joy in the back of her consciousness at the sight of her prior tormenter of the morning in agony. The feeling quickly passed just as fast as the man’s convulsion did, with him lying sprawled out on the ground, head rolling limply in the aftermath and rifle thrown from his hands.

Even that spectacle was overshadowed by the commanding voice the violent ork woman blasted out over the carnage. Everything seemed to screech to a grinding halt at her whim, abiding by the woman’s demand, whether by intimidation or true respect. Still, Angel just continued her manipulation of the hidden signals, performing her silent job while watching the truly live-action movie unfold in front of her.
The following interactions between the dwarf and Sledge seemed to play out with the standard face that Sledge put up when faced with new people. The idiot ork routine was in full effect, but it seemed like the FBI agent saw right through it with just a few lines indicating that he ‘knew’ Sledge was in charge out there. Hearing him, Caittie fully agreed with his thoughts. ‘She’s scary, but she knows what to do…’

Johnson had his own quick thought, but the angelic avatar just waved her hand and erased the message like a waft of smoke in the air. There were more important things afoot, most important of all was what the dwarf said next which threw Sledge off her act entirely. “Suit yourself, Ms. Hojnacki. But would you mind if I called you Harriet?�
‘Hojnacki? Harriet?’, Angel’s mind questioned, but didn’t have the time to act on as the situation continued unabated. A strange black box, Sledge’s sign of disgust to the request and the breaking advice, which Caittie heard and saw straight from both participants point of view. Then the kicker which almost made her choke on the virtual plain.

“You got the little girl in there, too?�
‘What?!’, she thought as she was blindsided by the question. Sledge’s answer brought solidity to Angel’s thoughts as she cryptically responded to the mage’s question. His response, in passing interest, was the final parting action to leave more questions in the pink haired girl’s head and no real answers to speak of. She did have enough information to think up some quick ideas on how to find those answers though.
“Ready to roll?�, came Sledge’s voice directed directly to the team. ‘Damn right.’, Caittie thought. ‘I just want to leave this mess behind me.’
Before she could reply, Johnson started to speak… and speak… and speak. Not his longest speech, but it basically boiled down to him trying to salvage his reputation with the team. All she really paid any attention too was when he said her ‘name’ and asked her to drive the van. ‘Come on, you don’t have to have someone driving this thing. It can drive itself!’, her mind yelled in exasperation, but she only responded with a quick, “Yeah�.
With a sigh and a shake of her head, she set down the parameters that the van’s advanced dog brain would follow. It was only seconds later that she saw the van’s instruments show movement as the team continued to make their way down south towards whence they came not an hour ago.

It wasn’t very long at all before Angel and her sprite could no longer read the agents’ commlinks, nor modify the signals being sent out by the short dwarf. With a quick bow and parting talk, Vivi’s form evaporated into motes of light. Seeing this, the heavenly avatar closed her eyes and felt the familiar tug of the real world as she returned to her physical body.
As Caittie’s green eyes opened for the first time in what seemed like forever, she had to squint out the light coming in from the windows. When her vision fully came to her, she saw the three men in the back of the van with her, one on the floor with the other two looking at him. As Johnson moved around the hulking form of Cerberus to examine his wounds, the young elf took it as her chance to move around him and just plain get away from the back of the van. Settling into the empty driver’s seat and buckling up, Caittie brushed some of her errant strands of hair out of her face and behind her long ears as she turned her head towards the other eldritch member of the team. “How are you doing?�, she asked with true concern to Fort, his lack of perfect health clear on his bearded face.

Random Route to Bus Station
Tuesday 8/19/70 12:08:44
Sledge - Rider
PAN - Hidden

The trash can was convenient. She pulled right up to it, kicked into neutral and leaned over it and promptly heaved up the almost totally digested remains of her long ago taken breakfast. She pulled out a bottle of water, broke open the top and poured in a mouthful and spat that out as well. She then sprinkled water over an old rag, and wiped her neck and face, clearing away the salty streaks from her tears. Finished with blowing her nose, she tossed the rag away as well, and reset herself on her bike.

Personal business taken care of, it was time to go back to work for Sledge.

The ork mechanically followed the ARO guides generated by her random pattern, her mind was focused on the shopping list she was about to dump on Sugar Lips.

Random Route to Bus Station
Tuesday 8/19/70 11:51:12
Fortunato - Support Mage
PAN - Hidden (Contacts, Earbuds, Smartlink)
Astrally Inactive

Time was sliding by in blurred chunks, Fortunato was picking up only the most general impressions of the surrounding events.

Fortunato was reminded once again that this was not his job. Tim was always the fighter and the hunter. He dealt with standoffs and had hardened combat mages to deal with elementals. His role was gathering information, guiding decisions. Unfortunately, he knew nothing and Johnson wouldn't make the call and the team wouldn't follow orders. Really, with the headache he had he was kind of looking forward to the apocolypse. He could be with her then.

Then everything happened at once, as things usually did. Cerberus went one way disastrously and Sledge went the other and his death sentence had been lifted. He suspected from the start they just wanted to talk, probably should have verified it and spoken up, whatever, being beaten into submission by a fire monster was reason enough to slip up.

Johson launched into his characteristic speech to save face and sent Caittie to the front. In response to her question:

"I've been worse," followed by some hacking. This would have been a lie a day ago, but he'd been on his deathbed earlier this morning. His current state was downright healthy by comparison. He mustered a weak smile through blood encrusted beard.

Wincing as he twisted to the back, Fortunato said "I'm going to do one more astral sweep and then crash. I'll be more useful if I pull myself together."

After a brief round of astral projection Fort went back to his seat and finally let himself pass out.

Random Route to Bus Station
Tuesday 8/19/70 11:51:15
Mr. Smith - Johnson
PAN - Hidden

From the back, Mr. Johnson managed to find the medkit that he remembered seeing before, and inspect the wound. He wasn't sure exactly what it was he was looking for, but Cerberus seemed a lot worse off than Sledge did the other night.

<<@Team:: "So. I think I can get the bullet out, and not cross any wires in the process, but I'm not exactly a street-doc, and this isn't exactly a hospital. Would any of you rather take first-crack at him, before I get my sleeves all bloody?">>

Random Route to Bus Station
Tuesday 8/19/70 11:51:23
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden

Rocky sat in the back of the van leaning back against the wall of the van with his eyes closed thinking about the last few weeks, not really paying attention to what else was going on in the van.

<<@Team:: "So. I think I can get the bullet out, and not cross any wires in the process, but I'm not exactly a street-doc, and this isn't exactly a hospital. Would any of you rather take first-crack at him, before I get my sleeves all bloody?">>

With out moving or opening his eyes Rocky answered Mr. Johnson's question, "I know a little about first aide, but most of my experience is taping up sprains and closing up cuts from fist fights."

Rocky took a deep breath and sat up looking down at Johnson and Cerberus. "Just tell me what I can do to help."

Southbound away from Hill Road Harvest Food Liquor Cigarettes & Gas
Tuesday 8/19/70 11:52:51
Angel – Technomancer – Hidden
PAN - Hidden

"So. I think I can get the bullet out, and not cross any wires in the process, but I'm not exactly a street-doc, and this isn't exactly a hospital. Would any of you rather take first-crack at him, before I get my sleeves all bloody?", Johnson’s voice burst through the quiet network.
“I’ve seen enough blood today…�, the elven girl replied without even bothering to say it over the network, “Hell, I've seen enough blood for a lifetime…�
Just the thought of what the two in the back might start doing to ‘save’ the violent freaky eyed troll made her wince. Taking a deep breath, she looked over at Fortunato’s resting form, once more. ‘Hope you feel better in a while… You sure look like you could use the rest.’, she thought as she reclined her seat as much as it could. It wasn’t much longer until she too looked like she was resting, though her mind was going a mile a minute.


Random Roads in southern Everett
Tuesday 8/19/70 12:32:42

The past half hour was pretty uneventful, a few people cutting the van off or a few traffic slowdowns but thankfully nothing involving black SUV’s or sedans. Still, other than compiling a sprite to do a search for some answers and then another to help cover her tracks, all Caittie had to do was visit her standard matrix comic sites.
It was like a bit of fresh air to be able to sit back and read all her favorite sites, to see what others had commented about the posted images or just idle in one of her saved random nodes to watch the other icons do their own things. It was almost like people watching, but you saw more than just the usual blah of Seattle and more of the exotic and creative side of the world, her world. But even this too got boring, for the red haired technomancer knew that out in the real world, there were dangers still to be faced, whether she wanted to or not. They would seek her out if they had to…
‘Better get this over with… but first, let’s drop off this asshat of a leader. Freaking only cares about his rep… bet he gets off on playing the Hero.’, she thought as she tried to think about what exactly she would do next. Then it hit her, ‘I know! I wonder if I can get away with it without anyone noticing…’


Johnson’s Bus Stop
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:26:21

It had taken almost a full hour to get to the bus stop that Johnson had talked about earlier. Mainly because of that randomizer program Sledge was following that ran off her own commlink. Though, the fact that she had it going was good thinking on her part, but it seemed that she relied on it a lot when it was actually running.
At first, Caittie tweaked it every once in a while to see if the tusked woman would notice, but nothing seemed to indicate that she did. It was a little fun, the tense waiting to see if Sledge would come over the net or not each time she edited the direction the arrow pointed, but after a while it was too easy it seemed.
Slowly, after time went by, Caittie continued to change and control the indicating arrow to direct the bike and van duo in a certain direction. Once the pair had gotten within a few kilometers of the bus stop though, the elf’s covertness mostly went out the window, with her starting to make logical directions in the general direction she wanted the team to go. Caittie was sure that Sledge, and anyone else who might have been paying attention, had figured out something was up a while ago, but they were either too busy or didn’t care to make a ruckus.

As the van pulled into a small parking lot connected to a Stuffer near the bus stop, the teenager opened her eyes and wiped the crust out of them. “This is your stop, right?�, she asked back at the lone human in the van.

Bus Station #09276
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:26:30
Sledge - Vanguard
PAN - Hidden

Hog parked, as soon as the van rolled into the drop off, Sledge stepped around in back, and opened it up and stepped up and in. She grimaced as she scrunched herself into the tiny remaining space and closed the door.

"Talk time. Before Sugar Lips runs off with our shopping list, we need to straighten out how the crew runs. I figure Sugar Lips sets objective, we go do it, but we need to settle on who makes the call when it comes down breaking bones."

Bus Station #09276
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:26:35
Fortunato - Support Mage
PAN - Hidden (Contacts, Earbuds, Smartlink)
Astrally Inactive

Rousing from his reverie, Fortunato twisted towards the back of the vehicle. "Damn straight, we need someone making the calls on the ground. It's not what I'm trained to do, but I can. Sledge, you seem to be doing a good job."

Bus Station #09276
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:26:36


Despite their best efforts, Rocky and Johnson had been unable to rouse Cerberus. But apparently all the muscle-bound troll had needed was to sleep it off, because he was aroused by the discussion that had opened up around him in the back of the van. He opened his eyes to see the whole team there, though he wasn't 100% sure what had happened.

Bus Station #09276
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:26:39
Cerberus - Street Samurai/Bullet magnet
PAN: Hidden (earbud,non-plural)

When some people dream they become aware of the fact that they are dreaming, usually because you can see yourself doing things from other angles besides first person. Some become so aware that they can actually control their actions, others simply view the dreams like they are watching a tridshow. Cerberus could only watch and he was having a dream right now.

Cerberus walked along a crowded street he didnt recognize with no destination in sight. There were tons of people all moving about like the current of some mysterius ocean. He was getting jostled about like a boat on water even though he stood head and shoulders above most of the people he could see. He seemed to be moving against the flow of traffic and it was slow going. They were mostly hairstyles and suits, briefcases and umbrella's. He couldnt really see anyone's face specifically. Then some bastard stepped on his foot!

Why the frag did that hurt so much!!! He hobbled to a door of a building and went in to escape from the crowd and protect his feet. Suddenly he was no longer in the same building he had entered. Its funny how dreams just shift there points of view in an instant. He was in an alley. He was just a kid now from back in the day. A cop had chased him down because he had mugged somebody, this was before he met Kyle. The cop had him cornered and had pulled his stun baton out. He tried to fight back but he couldnt move. He was helpless to stop the cop from jabbing him with the baton. Pain spread across his body and he fell to the ground. As the cop pilfered through Warrens pockets for the stolen items he found what he was looking for. As he stuffed the items into his pockets he told Cerberus "You trogs are worthless!!" and then jabbd he stun baton into his side again and this time held it there. AHHHHHhhhhhhh!!! He spasmed and twitched for awhile and then everything faded.

Now he was back at Doc Wagon with Nick, Danielle, and Ray his old crew. Danielle was giving him a hug. It felt good, better than any he had ever gotten from her, it was warm. It was also kind of wierd, like she was hugging him from behind but thats not what he saw. But then his friends vanished and he knew it was because they were dead now, and it made him want to cry.

Then he woke up. Waking up for Cerberus and most likely every who had cybernetic eyeballs meant the first thing you saw everyday was the text message "Systems Online". Cerberus had also managed to mess around with the seting to also display the time. 13:26:39?? That was more than an hour ago!! Hearing the other people's voices he opened his eyes and looked around. He was back in the van and then he remembered what had happened. They were at the gas station and he had just swung into action and had managed to shoot himself in the foot before making the Fed's dive for cover and then..he got hit by something from behind!! Sitting upright he looked at his right foot to see it wrapped in bandages and bleeding. Sledge was talking about something to do with "Leaders".

He felt like shit, he hurt all over. As he moved any part of his body it felt like...well like there was static. His head was throbbing like goblin death metal was being piped directly into his brain.

"Uhhhh what the frag happened? Did i get mage screwed or something? Whats the situation?". Looking around he could see an IV sticking out of his arm and there were electrodes stuck to his chest leading to a first aid kit set near him.

Bus Station #09276
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:27:23
Angel – Technomancer – Hidden
PAN - Hidden

The sound of Sledge’s voice, not through the comm lines but there in the rear of the van, had Caittie unbuckling her seatbelt and twisting her body so she could look back into the back. As she was panning her vision around to find out where exactly where the older woman was though, her eyes snapped to an object laying in one of the low bins. There on the top of the heap was a commlink, which she easily identified as a high quality one if the innards were the same as the brand casing.
She didn’t linger too long as she continued her pan to focus in on the tall built woman who had her arms crossed as much as she could in the tight space. It would have looked comical under different circumstances, two trolls, a human and ork in the back of the crammed van, but with the knowledge of what three of the four could do, it was a little scary. The only saving grace for the girl’s nerves was the fact that most of them seemed to be on her side and Cerberus, the major one she had doubts about, was mostly out of it, if not fully unconscious.

‘That’s definitely not me…’, Caittie thought to herself as she let Sledge’s statement sink in a bit. She didn’t have time to ponder the thought more, though, as Fortunato, who had apparently woken back up, chimed in with his own thoughts. The teenager knew enough about the situation to agree with the last bit, but still didn’t care too much who led the group as long as they knew what they were doing and didn’t call stupid orders.
Getting out of the chair, the red head started to say something, but cut short as a deep groaning could be heard from the back of the van. A second later, the wounded giant slowly propped himself on his large arms into a sitting position, blinking a few times as to clear his head from so many cobwebs.
As he looked around, first at his wounds and then to his arms, Caittie finished getting out of the driver’s seat and said a quiet, “Excuse me…�, to Fort as she stepped through the small gap between the seats. Moving just enough into the back of the van to reach the desired bin, the elven female extended her arm out to pluck ‘Burnhouses’ commlink from it. As she brought it before her piercing green eyes to look it over, she heard the beast of glowing green eyes start to ask questions to get his bearings.

“We’re at a bus stop. Johnson’s to be more specific.�, the highschooler replied to the cybered man. “We just got here not a couple of minutes ago when Sledge started asking about who would be in charge if we got in another fight or whatever.�, the girl continued with an informative tone. Letting out a quick sigh to gather her thoughts and nerve, she looked down at the commlink she held in her hand before looking back up to the faces of those in the back of the van.
“As for the thing at hand, I just deal with electronics.�, Caittie said with a quick wave of the commlink she was holding to further make the point. “Personally, I don’t care who leads this group … in a fight, or whatever you guys call it. I just don't want any dumb calls made, like fighting the freaking FBI! If you guys are trying to save me and them from the mob, why start something with the law?!�, she finished, voice rising unintentionally as her emotions swelled within her.

Taking a deep breath as she reallised what she had just said, she wordlessly turned around and sat in the drivers seat once again. Wiping her eyes quickly, she tried to focus her mind though her rolling emotions. ‘Something to do, something to concentrate on.’, she thankfully thought as she tried to set herself in a logical mindset.
'I'm an idiot...'

Bus Station #09276
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:27:26
Fortunato - Support Mage
PAN - Hidden (Contacts, Earbuds, Smartlink)
Astrally Inactive

Fortunato waited expectantly for the next volley in the conversational posturing for command as Caittie wound her way to the front of the van with something from Cerberus' pile of loot. If he knew anything about the exchanges, there would be a lot of shouting and a lot of folks fighting for glory without responsibility. He fully expected that one of the ...

His attention was entirely arrested when he saw what Caittie had in her hands.

"Is that Birnhauser's?"

She nodded and he immediately followed up with

"I will pay and pay well for the information that's on that commlink. If you can get it for me, I'll cut you in on ten percent of what I'm being paid."

Bus Station #09276
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:27:26
Sledge - Vanguard
PAN - Hidden

There was a wash of chatter. But there was something important to get straight. The troll was a little fuzzy. Twisting in the enclosed space, she reached her hand down and touched Cerberus shoulder to ensure his attention.

"I knocked you out. The feebs had the place wired with a flaming spirit, roasted you alive if you blew them away."

"Would roast me too, but that doesn't matter."

Straightening a bit, lifting her hand off, and addressing the rest of the crew.

"What matters is they weren't Louie's men, and that means they weren't part of Sugar Lip's assignment."

Revealing her tusks in a grinning snarl, "Mob Boss cheap, trogs handled free, anything else gotta pay extra, and some things no case of cash big enough for this tusker."

Turning her head to look at everyone in turn, Sledge forcefully says, "Why we got to settle who calls shots when things are tight, and the nitro sweats."

Bus Station #09276
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:27:27
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden

Rocky tensed up as Cerberus woke up and started asking questions about how he had ended up unconscious back at the gas station.

Hoping he would take Sledge's explanation with out anything more than some bitching and complaining he addressed the other question posed to group as they sat cramped in the back of the van. "For what it's worth, so far Sledge seems to have had the best understanding of whats going on in situations and gets my vote. I know I don't know enough about the Shadows to do much other than get us killed, at least so far. As everyone has seen, my talents lie in breaking things and people with my hands."

Having said what he had to offer to the discussion, Rocky sat back and closed his eyes, silently listening to what the others had to say, waiting to see if he would need to say anything else. Not that I'll have much to say, other than what I just said. Oh well.

Bus Station #09276
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:28:11
Cerberus - Street Samurai/Bullet magnet
PAN: Hidden (earbud,non-plural)

Cerberus clinched his jaw tight as Sledge told him that she had been the one to knock him out. His body felt like it was generating heat waves as every muscle in his body tensed for battle. The heart monitor on the first aid kit started beeping faster.

Rocky, "...so far Sledge seems to have had the best understanding of whats going on..". Yeah like evacuating all the freaking civies from the gas station leaving the feds no reason NOT to blow us all up, brilliant!! Maybe she was working with/for them?

As he narrowed his eyes and readied his retort he had already come to the conclusion he had been outvoted.

"Fuck it, im to hurt to argue. I was the support in my last job I might as well be the support in this one." Cerberus layed back down and closed his eyes to rest but continued to listen to Sledge and the others. "That was your one free shot though "Boss".

The beeping heart monitor returned to normal levels.

Bus Station #09276
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:29:00
Mr. Smith - Johnson
PAN - Hidden

Checking the local bus-node, while the other began to talk about what to do next, and who would be in charge, Johnson noticed he had roughly 3 minutes until the bus was due to arrive - that would be fine. He gathered up his two briefcases and returned to the rear of the vehicle. He had overheard their comments, but held his tongue - deciding to address the most important issue first.

Having rejoined the team, he turned to Sledge, "Okay, gimme that list, and I'll see what I can do before I meet up with you tonight. As for who is in charge, unless you have any objections, I was hoping you would take that responsibility." He saw that Fortunato was talking with Angel about a commlink, so continued on directing his attention at Sledge. "I'm sure Fortunato can lend advice in his areas of expertise - that's what I hired him on for - but the reason I hired you was that I knew you would see that the job got done... whatever that took." Johnson glanced over at the still disoriented frame of Cerberus who was now sitting upright and smiled.

Now addressing the team as a whole, he added, "I'll try keep my end of this matrix channel open, in case you guys need to contact me or anything goes wrong - otherwise I will assume we're going to meet up this evening. By then, I would like to hear a plan for completing the mission, and an estimate on how long the plan will take. No offence, but as much fun as tracking down and extracting three of the underworld's most wanted was... it has been a long day, and I want to see it end, soon."

Having gotten their attention, he turned to Angel to address her earlier comment. Suddenly looking more stern than he had all day. Although his body wasn't physically imposing, the look Angel saw in his eyes said that he meant buisness. "As for the FBI thing... I don't want to hear another word about it, from you, Angel."

"It was a bad situation, but if anyone, on a team like this, would be responsible for detecting undercover feds, its the hacker. Personally, I don't believe any of us could have gotten that information ahead of time, and the team's roles are not yet clearly defined. I take responsibility for the repercusions of my orders, but if you want to play the blame game - we can."

"If you wern't always having a break-down, crying-fit, autistic coma, or digging up paydata on your own team, maybe you could have spared a cycle or two to look into the guys that were spying on us hours before we attacked them. A descision, I might add, that you would have had a say in if you wern't passed out like a chip-head at the time, doing god knows what, expecting us to keep you alive."

Flinging open the van door with appropriate dramatic flair, he added, "For a little girl, you've got a lot of balls criticising the way your life got saved. You don't like the calls I make, you can fucking walk. At this point, you're worth a lot more to me as bait, than you are as a hacker."

He stepped out to the street.

"I didn't have time to deal with this shit when we were on the run, but now seems like the best chance I am going to get. I was hoping you'd see this situation a little differently, and be a little thankful of the second chance you're being given. Cerb and Rocky seem to have no problem seeing me as an ally, and falling into line. But, if you think I make dumb calls - be my guest to take your chances out there, making the calls yourself. The way I see it, that's what got you into this mess."

"You're as safe now as you're gonna get. This mission is gonna get worse before it gets better, and I don't owe you a damned thing. If you want out, be my fucking guest. The bus will be here in a couple of minutes. But if you want to stick with my team, spend my money, and hide under my protection, so that my plan can take care of your problem and allow you to live long enough to see tomarrow, you will start pulling your weight and showing a little respect. Understood?"

He stood in the doorway for a moment to see if there were any last questions. His stance and attitude seemed to dare Angel to argue with him.

Bus Station #09276
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:31:42
Angel – Technomancer – Hidden
PAN – Hidden

Fortunato’s statement of a full 10% of his cut for the information hidden within the commlink she held in her lap caught Caittie completely off guard. Lifting her gaze up, she looked into his face, serious and demanding. Seeing this, she could only let out a stammered, “O… OK…�.
As it was, she was already trying to get into the device just for curiosity’s sake. The man in the passenger seat’s request and offer actually hampered her in the task he wanted done, though it wasn’t much of a hindrance in the grand stream of things. Failing to compile a sprite due to lack of concentration was a lot better than most of the other things that had gone wrong today. She didn’t sweat it much, since a couple of seconds later she had successfully called Locke to her in the matrix and quickly set him to the task of cracking open the firewall of the commlink.

All the while, she could hear Johnson talking in the background, but it wasn’t until she heard a change in tone that she actually listened in. Hearing her name, she turned in the seat enough to look at the human in the college sweatshirt. The overall look of him was the same, but the vibe and stance he exerted were entirely different, more confrontational and superior looking. His face stern but it looked to Caittie like it was bordering on arrogant.
His next sentence was a blatant pointing of fingers at her and it rubbed her against the grain immediately. Even as her eyes narrowed at his statement, he continued by verbally back stepping and trying to save face at her expense. She had a gut feeling that it wasn’t going to get better in the next few minutes and mentally dug in… unfortunately, the red haired elf was right.

He went down the list, of everything he had seen her do ‘wrong’, from freaking out to finding out who exactly he was. Then a blatant blaming of fault, again, about the failed hacking attempt with the FBI agents, when she didn’t even know they were out there until Sledge found them. This, followed by the insults and insinuations wore her mental barriers thin, to the point where she almost snapped at him equating her to nothing more than bait before hopping out of the back of the van.
The brown haired face seemed to have the most problem with her not falling in line like the two trolls did. Throughout the entire thing though, it was a constant trend of him trying to save face with the rest of the crew than with actually talking with her. He just didn’t want to look bad, the stereotypical ‘Cool guy’. Then he blamed the problems she were in, she caused herself… After that, she pretty much ignored his entire speech, the seething ire blinding it out, but she was at least successful in controlling her emotions enough to wait it out.

The arrogant conceited prick stood in the doorway for a moment, his stance and attitude seemed to dare Angel to argue with him. The bad thing about daring someone to do something, the downright stupid thing about daring someone, is the chance that they will actually call your bluff…

As she stood up out of the seat, Caittie crossed her arms in front of her and looked Johnson dead in the eyes. “So it’s my fault that I’m in this mess, huh? It’s my fault that the Mob’s after me? I guess I just shouldn’t have survived that day then and let them kill me, cause that’s what pissed them off so much.�, she replied to the comments her ‘savior’ directed at her, all in an even calm voice and posture which were in contrast to her eyes. Her eyes showed her true emotions, the raging sea of venom directly into the eyes of her target.
“As for freaking out, I apologize about that, I can’t quite ‘do it over’.�, she continued with a slight pause with a wave of one of her hands, before resuming her crossed armed stance. She took a few breaths which looked like she was steadying herself. In reality, she was in the van’s node removing all access Johnson had for it. “You see, they don’t teach ‘Surviving a gunfight 101’ in high school. I’m guessing they teach that in college though…�, she continued in the same tone of voice.
“Passing out ‘like a chip-head’ is called ‘going VR’. I figured you would know that, since you have gone VR before, but I guess not, my mistake. I spent that time trying to lower our matrix presence, but I’m having a rough time of it with all the commotion that’s going on surrounding this group.�, the elven girl said before placing a finger to her chin as in thought. “I wonder if our exploits with the FBI are all over the matrix already… it wouldn’t surprise me really if it was.�, she mused as she lowered her hand back down.

“You want me to apologize about finding out about you, Mr L… Johnson? Fine. I apologize that I can’t use magic, that I’m not trained and strong as Sledge, that I’m not a hulking troll. I apologize that I need their help to keep me alive. I apologize that the only weapon I have is information.�, Caittie admitted by motioning to each person she described. “That’s all I have.�, she reiterated. “I’ll use what I can to ensure my own safety, just like you would do the same if something threatened you. Though my weapon might not harm you immediately like a bullet would, it can eventually.�, she warned while looking him directly in the eyes.
“You also want me to pull my weight and fall in line like Cerberus and Rocky have, huh? Well, I’ve already pulled my weight when I could, saving one or more of our lives alreay. Falling in line is not a given. You made a good decision by stepping down and making Sledge the leader, since I’ll follow her. Dad always told me respect is earned, and I believe him. She earned my respect and I think she knows what she’s doing.�, the technomancer said with a nod to the larger female.

“One last thing … Can you really blame me for at least finding out who you are? If you were in my shoes, would you just blindly follow the first thing that came along without figuring out what they are about? Consider the thing’s I’ve been through in just the past twelve hours and really ask yourself that…�, she finished out by pointing directly at the human outside the van. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a commlink to crack for Fort.�, she said as she sat back down and looked pointedly at the commlink she had back in her lap.

Bus Station #09276
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:31:51
Cerberus - Street Samurai/Bullet magnet
PAN: Hidden (earbud,non-plural)

"Ughh, You people's hospital manners suck! Half dead troll over here trying to rest!"

Bus Station #09276
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:32:02
Sledge - Tusker
PAN - Hidden

Sledge laughed uproariously and slapped Cerberus with a friendly tap as she yanked the door open.

"Let's move." She slammed the door shut and thumped on it in a go go gesture, all in a smooth motion as she strode over to Sugar Lips.

"Bus? And don't worry, this bunch hasn't met Cal. We'll keep in touch."

Bus Station #09276
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:32:08
Angel – Technomancer – Hidden
PAN – Hidden

Not wanting to stick around where Johnson was any longer, Caittie commanded the van to start driving. It obediantly pulled up near the exit to the parkinglot to wait for their newly appointed leader just as the scheduled bus pulled to a stop at the stand.

Bus Station #09276
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:32:12
Fortunato - Support Mage
PAN - Hidden (Contacts, Earbuds, Smartlink)
Astrally Inactive

Fortunato turned to the teenager and said, "Keep it together. He's just as stressed as you are right now." He smiled and added "Also, the contract work isn't urgent. I'm lucky if I can turn my comm on in the morning so I have no idea what you should be doing, just know that Burns comm can probably wait."

As Sledge walked away with Johnson, Fortunato composed a message:

<<@Sledge: We need some place for a skull session, park the cars, crash etc. I don't have a place in mind, do you? Nice job calming down the management, by the way.>>

Bus Station #09276
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:32:15
Mr. Smith - Johnson
PAN - Hidden

The bad thing about calling someone's bluff, is the off chance that they wern't bluffing.

After his own long speech, Johnson felt it was only fair to let Angel speak her mind - so he did, but his expression only seemed to grow darker. When she finished, nothing she had said sounded even remotely like she understood. "Very well, then. Apparantly it is not understood. Best of luck to you, Ca.. I mean Angel." The way he stumbled over her name was exhadurated and clearly intentional. He didn't put half of the effort into the effect that Angel did moments ago when "accidentally" beginning to use his real name after everyone had been calling him "Johnson" all morning.

"If Sledge is willing to bear you as a burden, that is her call, for now - but as far as I'm concearned, you're done here. You're not a part of this team, and you certainly won't be getting a full-time offer, when this is over." And with that, he left.

Johnson smiled at Sledge as she passed by towards her bike. All sign of the man that just tore into the teenage girl seemed to have faded away. As she mounted her motorcycle, she heard his voice on her comm. It sounded more amused than upset, and glancing in his direction she could see a parting smile as he boarded the bus.

<<@Sledge:: "Good luck, Sledge, and thanks again for doing this. I know you didn't sign on for this sort of responsibility. Seeing as some of the team seems to think I have "stepped down," I was thinking I might keep this arrangement for a while, if it works out. I never had any interest in getting my hands dirty, or micromanaging every move you guys made - and I didn't expect Shadowrunning to involve nearly so much babysitting.">>>

<<@Sledge:: "If Angel gives you any shit, you have my permission to dump her ass on the side of the road - or to sell her to Louie, if it'll help get the job done. You and Fortunato are no longer responsible for what becomes of her, as I can't imagine I will have any use for her, after today. I can find another hacker in a few hours.">>

Adam actually felt a little bad even suggesting it. Cattie wasn't a bad person - just way too nosy, and a little ungrateful. She certainly wasn't the kind of girl to take orders from authority, but what teenager is? The problem was, Adam didn't have the time or patience to fuck around with somebody who wasn't a team player. Nobody deserved to be sold to the mob to cover mission-expenses, but Adam wasn't sure how else the team was going to afford everything on their wish-list. He hoped, for Cattie's sake, that Sledge would manage to talk some sense into her in the next couple of hours.

Leaving Bus Station #09276
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:33:05
Sledge - Tusker
PAN - Hidden

Taking her time with her hog, Sledge concentrated on what she was about to say. Reflexively she started the motor and eased the hog out into the street.

<<@Cerberus|Rocky|Angel|Fortunato:: Don't talk much, but here's the speech. None of us done this before, we all make mistakes. Never run a crew by myself. But I've been tight spots, can handle that part. Got ideas, speak up, we talk, we decide, we do. Everyone not agree, I decide.

Sugar Lips is ok. Got mouth get in anywhere. Will do his job when we need. He just not care about anyone other then himself. Not hate you special.

Plans. We need rest, not in shape. Find places we can stop at least 4 hours would be good for resting. Anyone got ideas? Rest, gear up, find Louie.

My idea, Angel found out Sugar Lips real easy, figure Louie do same from clinic, we keep an eye on him, use him as bait, maybe tell Louie, use to make Louie show, then we finish this.

Her hands kept rhythmically tightening and loosening on the grips nervously as she fired out her thoughts.

Bus Station #09276
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:32:30
Angel – Technomancer – Hidden
PAN – Hidden

The whole situation had Caittie all wound up like a spring as she sat looking at the commlink in front of her. ‘I never wanted to be on a stupid team, ass-hat. I just wanted to live a normal life and be happy.‘, she thought to herself. Really, all she wanted to do right at the moment was scream at the top of her lungs, releasing her frustrations caused by the day half over. The young woman kept it in though, just out of respect for the three others left in the van.

Taking a deep breath to try and calm herself, the technomancer felt another presence with her on the digital realm, though it was welcomed. With a thought, she set her request for it to crack the commlink, though she was surprised by its response she got back. “Ah… I don’t see anything… I can’t get into something that’s not there…�, she felt Locke reply half-confused.
Confused herself, Caittie looked down at the commlink in more detail, going over it looking for damage or anything that might keep it from working. Then, as she found the obvious reason for its malfunction, she let out a groan of exasperation before turning the commlink on. “Ok, I’m on it.�, she felt as the sprite got to work.
Caittie took it as a clear sign of what her condition really was. Putting a hand to her forehead, the teenager just closed her eyes and let out a long sigh. ‘Calm down… You know you can’t think straight when worked up.’, she told herself. It didn’t help much though.

Before she knew it, though, the commlink in front of her was buzzing in her lap. Looking down, she saw the small screen on the device flashing a warning signal that someone was trying to break in. ‘That would be me…’, she mused as she let herself grin in wry humor. A few seconds later, the sprite had completed its task and she was in side. Looking through the data stored within, she found loads of files, enough that it would take her too much time to look through them all without narrowing it down to a specific subject.
Shaking her head slightly, she looked over at the mage next to her. “I got in. Instead of you telling me everything you want looked up, I’m just going to send all the files to your commlink. This way you can look through them whenever you want.�, she told him as she initiated the transfer. “It should only take a few seconds or so, Fortunato."

Leaving Bus Station #09276
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:33:10
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden

After hearing Johnson and Angel go at if for a minute or two Rocky Wast starting to wonder if this was really going to work out as a long time gig or just a nother hic-up in a fucked up month.

<<@Cerberus|Rocky|Angel|Fortunato:: Don't talk much, but here's the speech. None of us done this before, we all make mistakes. Never run a crew by myself. But I've been tight spots, can handle that part. Got ideas, speak up, we talk, we decide, we do. Everyone not agree, I decide.

Sugar Lips is ok. Got mouth get in anywhere. Will do his job when we need. He just not care about anyone other then himself. Not hate you special.

Plans. We need rest, not in shape. Find places we can stop at least 4 hours would be good for resting. Anyone got ideas? Rest, gear up, find Louie.

My idea, Angel found out Sugar Lips real easy, figure Louie do same from clinic, we keep an eye on him, use him as bait, maybe tell Louie, use to make Louie show, then we finish this.

The message from Sledge actually made him fell a little better, and after thinking on it responded to the group.

<<@Cerberus|Sledge|Angel|Fortunato:: I'm good with everything except using someone as bait, espically someone thats been insturmental in keeping me alive for the last 12 or so hours.

As for ideas, heres what I got. First the people watching us at the farm as we have discovered were not Louie's guys, just another fire to burn us. This means that maybe we are still off of Fishbreath's radar, which means laying low may not be as hard as we think.

For crashing, why not just head for the barren's and find an empty building to hang in for how ever long we all need to get moving better and then find Louie?

I don't really know anyone that could help us at this point, the only person in the biz, is the fixer that set Cerberus and I up with Fishbreath in the first place. i'm guessing talking to him not get us far other than back in Louie's sights.>>

Leavig Bus Station #09276
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:33:24
Cerberus - Street Samurai/Bullet magnet
PAN: Hidden (earbud,non-plural)

<<@everyone /cept Johnson, "You all met Kyle, we trust each other alot. He runs the shadows to obviously and he may have a safe place for us to go. If Angel can keep the line secure I'll try to call him right now..If not im down with finding someplace in the barrens like Rocky suggested.">>

"This Johnson guy doesnt seem like he has very much respect for us, talking all matter of factly to us like he owns us and we are his own personal little toys to make money for him. None of us need to be talked to like that. We should stay on our toes stay cautious around him....and if you feel what im saying maybe we should keep an eye on Sledge to, she seems to be tight with Mr Johnson... Thats all im saying now that we are alone. I trust you guys to keep my concerns private. "

Leaving
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:34:38
Sledge - Tusker
PAN - Hidden

<<@Cerberus|Rocky|Angel|Fortunato:: Scratch Sugar Lips as bait. Head to barrens, Cerberus check with his friend about safe place. Asking Sugar Lips shop for shotgun, shells for me, secure commo gear, and disguise kits for all, what else you all need?>>

The next step clearer, she settled in and eased along the street, motoring away to the east.

On the Road
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:34:51
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden

<<@Cerberus|Sledge|Angel|Fortunato:: Nothing here, just a quite place to sleep and think up a good way to get out of Louie's shadow.>>

Rocky was encouraged that his simple soultion had been taken as an option even if short term till something better came along.

Leavig Bus Station #09276
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:35:10
Cerberus - Street Samurai/Bullet magnet
PAN: Hidden (earbud,non-plural)

Cerberus laid there with his eyes shut and thought about some of the things he might need to assault a mob Louitenant, and some of the things he just plain needed and had lost over the course of a day. Using his subvocal mic and commlink he made a recording of his wishlist and beamed it to Sledge to pass on to Johnson while he waited for Angel to help him with his phone call to Kyle.

On the road again
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:31:30
Fortunato - Support Mage
PAN - Hidden (Contacts, Earbuds, Smartlink)
Astrally Inactive

Fort had to try hard to suppress a grin as Caittie streamed the data from Birnhauser's commlink to him. She was the key, she could decrypt the bit at the start of the video, sort this crap out, help him with the matrix. He had information on his side, and Montressor would find that out soon enough.

"Thanks. This will be very helpful. I'll pay up when I get paid."

He listened to the network and physical chatter for a while as he drifted in and out of consciousness. The rising concern about Johnson bothered Fort. He wasn't happy with the kill orders the guy had made -- for a negotiator he certainly recommended force a lot of the time -- but that wasn't anything out of the ordinary for someone with a new gun. The concerns about Sledge were a bit more troubling. However, neither of those were his battles to fight. He might pass the word along discreetly, but not right now.

After the network chatter had settled he started fiddling with his commlink.

<<Alias Cerberus|Sledge|Angel|Fortunato|Rocky="Crew","Ground Crew","Operations","Operatives","Ops">>
<<Alias Johnson="Management">>
<<Alias Crew|Management="Team">>
<<Warning: Previous alias "Team" being overwritten>>
<<Warning: Case sensitivity active; remember "Team" is not "team".>>

These kind of warnings always terrified Fortunato. He had, however, seen these two before and been assured several times by the CIA IT staff that it was no trouble.

<<@Ops: I can take care of physical disguises with a bit of mojo. That said, disguise kits never hurt anyone and I've got a bit of experience using them.>>
<<@Ops: I'm going back to crashing. Wake me if you need me or in about half an hour, whichever comes first. I want to make sure we don't have any astral tails.>>

After one more quick astral foray, checking to see if the van was being followed. Fort settled back to sleep.

Closing in on the Barrens
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:35:19
Angel – Technomancer – Hidden
PAN – Hidden

The teenager in the front seat had easily set the van on auto-pilot, following Sledge's more maneuverable bike down the highway. During the easy ride, Caittie had spent her time configuring the commlink she had just cracked to her own needs. She had almost finished when the messages started spamming in, via the team's network, though she noticed the fact that Johnson was omitted from all of the recent ones.

"Sure, just give me a bit.", she replied to the troll's request for her help in securing the call. ‘It’s simple enough to do. I’ll just call on a sprite to help me out again.’, she thought to herself. She had been using them all day, it seemed, and she was getting good at compiling them without much trouble at all. This left her in a bit of shock and awe at what happened next.
Everything was going normally as she tried to call on a sprite up until she felt a wave of anger wash over her. The problem was, it wasn’t her own feelings and the message accompanying it surprised the hell out of her. An enraged otherworldly voice resounded in her head, “Ye do it yerself! Quit buggin’ me, damnit!�, and was quickly followed by a wash of fatigue that affected her to the core.

After she had recovered from the momentary shock of the incident and pulled herself together mentally, Caittie sat there and thought for a second. Thinking back over everything she had asked her sprites to do over the day, she came to the conclusion that she probably was asking too much of them… relying on them too much and not doing enough with what she had on hand.
Still, with her mind exhausted from her draining lessen just a while ago via the very ticked off sprite she failed to compile, she did her best to figure out what she could do with everything she had on hand. It took her a bit, through the fog in her mind, to go down the mental checklist before she finally found something that would work well.
A few seconds later, she had completed the task asked of her by logging into Cerberus’ commlink and changing the way it connected to the outside world, at least for this call. Changing the settings enough to route it through the van’s node, this would encode the transmission. ‘Really, I don’t know why I didn’t think of this in the first place…’, the highschooler chided herself.

“Ok. It’s ready whenever you are.�, she said back to the cybernetic giant in the back of the van, albeit with a bit less energy than before. Following that, she leaned back in the seat with a slight sigh. ‘I’ve still got a lot to learn.’

Cruising along I-520 East towards Touristville.
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:35:10
Cerberus - Street Samurai/Bullet magnet
PAN: Hidden (earbud,non-plural)

"Thanks Angel." and with that Cerberus pressed the few buttons it took to connect to Kyle on his commlink still clipped to his belt. Kyle had already helped him out more than he had any right to ask for and it was making Cerberus feel like a little kid again asking for help once more. When was he going to be able to take care of his own problems without somebody elses help. Not today, he thought as he laid there waiting to see if Kyle would pick up.

Cruising along I-520 East towards Touristville
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:35:20


"Hey Buddy." In the background, Cerberus could hear what sounded like crunching footsteps. And was that a cow mooing?

Cruising along I-520 East towards Touristville.
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:36:30
Cerberus - Street Samurai/Bullet magnet
PAN: Hidden (earbud,non-plural)

"Uhh don't tell me you are walking home dude?"

"Hey, its amazing out here. Hate to think whose dick these people are sucking to keep the factory farms from expanding onto this land, but i'm sure glad it's here. So i'm just walking and chilling 'till I get tired, then i'll call a cab."

"That could be pretty smart, atleast you wont be running into any Feds!"

"Feds!? What the hell, brau? Were they good feds or bad feds? You're not on ice are you?"

"I'm unsure. They threatened to kill us. I tried to kill them. Sledge tasered me. And when I woke up I was back in the van and we were driving away.

Hey listen, we think we are free of any tails and we need a place to crash. Do you have a place we could use or hook us up with one? You have already helped me out a ton and I understand if you dont want to or cant help out any further, I actually feel pretty shitty about all you have done already. I just hope I live long enough to pay you back"

"Cerb, you and me went way past keeping a favor card years ago. I would be so happy to help out. But i'm afraid that might be a pretty bad idea. I mean, I haven't been able to get in touch with Smithers at all -think about it- Loui knows Smithers must have some sort of line on you. So that sorry ork would have been the first person Fishbreathe squeezed for info on you. That kind of pressure, he probably gave me up as your best friend. Hell, thats probably how he found you this morning -Smithers knows i'm tight with Cline. So the deal is, brau, yeah , I do have a safe hidey hole I keep for emergencies, and you are welcome to it. Problem is, I got it set up through Smithers. Your call brau."

"Alright thanks for trying but i wouldnt trust that Smithers guy for shit right now. I'd also recommend not heading back to your place for awhile, like until i call and say its safe. You know Loui has no problems with taking the fight to your house. Catch you later bro and stay safe!!"

"Yea, you to brau!, Sorry I couldn't be of more help."

Cerberus reached over and tapped the end message button on his comm's. "Fuck!. Kyle has a place but the person who helped set him up with it is that rat bastard fixer who set Rocky and me up with Loui, Ezekiel Smithers. Unless you guys have more luck with your contacts it looks like we are gonna hole up in an abandoned building."

Cruising along I-520 East towards Touristville
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:39:27
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden

Rocky listened quietly as Cerberus had talked to his budy Kyle at the end of the conversation Rocky was not surprised to hear that he couldn't help as Cerberus announced it to the group.

"Fuck!. Kyle has a place but the person who helped set him up with it is that rat bastard fixer who set Rocky and me up with Loui, Ezekiel Smithers. Unless you guys have more luck with your contacts it looks like we are gonna hole up in an abandoned building."

Rocky just nodded and then laid back trying to get some sleep, while things were quite.

Cruising I-520 East
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:40:08
Sledge - Tusker
PAN - Hidden

<<@Sugar Lips:: <<shopping List>> Keep an eye out, Fish may be able to get a line onto you.>>

<<@crew:: Right, picking spot at random. Need place to conceal vehicles and ourselves.>>

Things were clearing up, it looked like they had no one but themselves to take care of, which was both easier and harder.

Cruising along I-520 East
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:41:41
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden

Rocky was almost asleep as the van started to slow down to exit the freeway into the barrens. For some reason, maybe nostalgia Rocky wanted to see where they were going, maybe he would reconize something from his youth.

he slowly opened his eyes and leaned foward so he could look out through the front windshield of the van. In the distance he could see Sledge slowing down as well and starting to exit, then something can to Rocky like a shot out of the dark and he called out to Angel as he fumbled to pull his comm. "Don't follow her, thats not where we want to be in the barrens. Unless we all want to glow in the dark!"

Rocky didn't do pleasantries as he opened a channel on the comm, using the same feed he had a few minutes earlier so everyone but Johnson got his message. <<@Cerberus|Sledge|Angel|Fortunato:: SLEDGE! WRONG EXIT! STAY ON THE FREEWAY! We gotta go further out or we'll end up glowing in the dark.>>

As he closed the comm Rocky watched, hoping she had got the message.

an Apartment in Sophocles District, The Posse turf
Tuesday 8/19/70 14:30:11
Cerberus - Street Samurai/Bullet magnet
PAN: Hidden (earbud,non-plural)

It was no use. Whatever Johnson and Rocky had hooked him up with didnt seem to be doing anything, he still hurt all over and he needed quite and comfort to get to sleep. Apparently Sledge had just almost given them all a free dose of radiation before Rocky had orrected her path. Guess she doesnt know everything. Cerberus mused.

Cerberus had been to the barrens more times then he could count and each time it was the same thing. Some dumb ass rich guy tried to score some drugs or sex himself and skip the crap that was peddled on the fringes which was usually of a substandard qaulity and ended up getting shot or worse, beat up and mugged. Yes getting shot was preferrable.

Depending on which day it was he would either land in a choppr or show up in a van, leap out the doors and start laying down covering fire for his team to scoop the would be corpse and then haul ass out of there in less than a minute. All the neighborhoods were essentially the same. Rows upon rows of large multistory apartment complex's broken up here and there for grocery stores, bars, and a few commercial buildings. The apartment complex's were usually overcrowded two to three times over with people spilling out into the yards, parking lots, and alleys. groups of buildings would all have the same color of brick facades denoting they were owned by the same people or atleast used to be.

You could usually spot no less than five or more satelittes along the edges of the roofs so that people could have some kind of matrix connection. As Cerberus opened his eyes and slowly moved up towards the front of the vans thats exactly what he could see looking down over the side of the freeway.

Rocky was also looking out the front of the van probably reading the signs. <<@team /cept Johnson, "Take that Union Hill road exit Sledge and then keep going straight. Whatever you do DONT go north into Kingsgate. That place is a warzone.>>

Caittie followed Sledge as they took the next exit and proceeded straight ahead. On more than a few corners and to the north you could see people sitting or standing drinking or fighting and whenever the bike and van would roll by the people would stop and watch, presumably to make sure it was not a new threat.

After a few more minutes Sledge's voice came over the comms, <<@team cept/ Johnson, "This Sophocles place look good. Me try here, be ready." >> Cerberus watched out the front as Sledge lead the van down a street and came to a stop at the entrance to a street. To either side were burned out husks of cars that had been positioned to narrow down the passge. Between the two cars was an unlit oil drum and two scrawny kids sitting on the hood of one of the cars and talking, atleast until they had pulled up.

Jumping off the hood they both readied their pistols and then one approached Sledge while the other kept watch over his friend and the van both. Their hair was ratty and dirty and cut in designs Cerberus thought no kid would want. Their outfits were more dirt than cloth, ripped and shredded shirts and pants exposing bits of arms and legs and torso. They both had something in common though, they both had sheriff badge tattoo's on the side of their face.

Sledge revved the engine of her bike as the one in back was looking at the van and startled him and then she let the bike idle and sat up crossing her arms after turning her commlink mic on for the others to hear her conversation. <<@team. The kid began the conversation. "What the hell do you's want?". "We stay here". "You stay here? Not freaking likely orcy this be The Posse's turf!, now beat it". "We stay here, we pay".>>

With that the kid walked back to his friend and they whispered back and forth and then the one who had held back shrugged his shoulder. The negotiator came back to Sledge. << "You's give 400 nuyen and you stay, under The Posse's protection.". The youth pointed towards an apartment building towards the end of the street. "Thats where you stay, anyplace you want on the third floor". "Collect payment from van".>> With that Sledge revved her hog up and cruised down the road slowly and waited for the van.

Cerberus move to the back and pulled some of the cash he had found out of the van's storage and counted out four one hundred nuyen bills. Stuffing the rest in his pocket he went back to the front and then stuffed the bills into Caittie's hand. "Give him a smile and maybe we will get a discount Angel", Cerberus could not restrain a big toothy grin.

Caittie looked horrorfied for a second or two and then quickly pulled herself together as the kid began walking back towards the van. Cerberus couldnt see her face but he imagined it was probably twisted up in disgust. She had powered down the window and just about threw the money out the window. As the kid got closer and saw Caittie his eyes grew big like he saw something he wanted very badly. He grabbed the cash as he was licking his lips and before he could get a word out Caittie already had the van rolling along to catch up with Sledge. The kid was left behind with his friend pointing and laughing at him until the other one yelled something at him and he promptly shut up.

Catching up with Sledge they pulled into some empty parking stalls in front of the apartment that had been pointed out. Sledge had powered down her bike and was dismounting and Caitie had turned the van off as well. Rocky popped the vans back doors open and waited for Sledge who walked around....

Redmond Barrens – Posse Turf
Tuesday 8/19/70 14:30:11
Angel – Technomancer - Hidden
PAN – Hidden

She couldn’t really place when it really hit her, the fact that she and the rest of this motley crew were really headed into the barrens. All the elf knew was that when she listened to Cerberus talking his one-sided conversation with Kyle, she could see the bike ahead of her closing distance with the border. The van followed suit as per it’s last given command, much to Caittie’s growing despair.
‘This is really happening, isn’t it?’, she could only ask herself as she looked upon the quickly changing landscape. ‘Are we really going to be safer out here?’, the ex-lower-middle classed teenager continued to ask herself as she started to hug herself in the driver’s seat for comfort.
She couldn’t help but think of all the rumors she heard from while in high school. Gangs running around shooting guns at random and looking for girls to kidnap for… She tried to shake her mind from those thoughts but it ran on as her imagination ran wild with ghouls and zombies walking the streets at night hunting people to eat while mutants lurked in the sewers below the streets. It only got worse from there…

She was shaken from her nightmarish daydreaming by the bald troll in the back of the van exclaiming his disgust with the situation. Listening to him, it seemed Kyle had a place for the group to stay, but someone else would sell them out if they used it. It was like the final nail in the coffin as it sealed the plan; they were headed into Redmond because they had no other option left.
She could feel her shoulders drop in defeat to the situation. Caittie could only guess what her face looked like at that moment. The only saving grace she could find in the situation was if everything went right, which she wasn’t going to kid herself; it wouldn’t, they might have a day or two to relax without Louie or his underlings gunning after them. That is, if someone else didn’t come after them like the FBI…
That got her thinking about Johnson… Adam Lear, she corrected herself. Even though she loathed thinking of him right now, due to her still being pissed off at his pompous and flippant attitude towards her, she was thankful only for the fact that it prevented her wild thoughts on the barrens. Caittie still didn’t know how to take Sledge’s comment about using him for bait… The thoughts of him being the target-

<<@Team:: SLEDGE! WRONG EXIT! STAY ON THE FREEWAY! We gotta go further out or we'll end up glowing in the dark.>>

Her mental world cracked asunder under the volume of Rocky’s roaring voice and following message, leaving her to scramble around to pick up the pieces of her nerves. Looking from behind her, where she jerked her vision towards the fist fighter, back out the front at Sledge’s bike; the young technomancer saw the motorcycle quickly correct itself back onto the highway instead of going down the off ramp.
“Glow in the dark…�, the red haired elf whispered in fear. Swallowing out of reaction to the fear, she could only think, ‘Can this get any worse?’ Of course after thinking that, she mentally kicked herself for tempting fate or the gods above.

As time passed, they rode the highway farther into Redmond; the landscape became bleaker and bleaker. The buildings around quickly going from low class stores and warehouses to buildings in bad need of repair, with the worst looking like they would be easily condemned by the city if they even bothered looking at them. Hell, it almost got to the point that some buildings were lacking windows and walls; some caused by time’s toll on the broken area, the others obviously caused by meta-human hands and tools.
After a quick warning about a recent gang war in the Kingsgate area, it was quickly decided by Sledge that the group should avoid it. Caittie could only imagine the sights she would see in the ganger’s version of war. After a few seconds of that though, she shook her head and vehemently swore not to go into that hell zone… if she could help it.

Eventually, Rocky finally saw a neighborhood that he said he remembered from when he was growing up. He told the ork woman in front of them to head down the next exit and ride down some Union Hill Rd. Driving down the pothole filled road was tough on the van and it’s occupants as it moved back and forth, following the evading Harley, but it couldn’t help but hit a few every now and then, jostling everyone inside as the vehicle jerked with the sudden drops.
There were other obstacles in the way, such as burned hulks of what were once vehicles and ruble from buildings in the Rio de Janiero like urban nightmare. The scene could only make Caittie ask in awe, “Are we really going to be safe here?� Rocky’s reply consisted of a quick assurance of safety due to his growing up fine in the barrens.
Letting out a sigh, the technomancer could only think, ‘Yeah, well, there’s a huge difference between a troll and an elf girl…’

She could feel it clearly as the vehicle started slowing down due to more rubble and vehicles blocking the road; the trepidation of being here. ‘How did my life turn from being annoyed for having to go to school to being scared out of my mind trying to stay safe?’, Caittie though as she saw Sledge looking around herself. Looking around the tough woman in front of her, the green eyed girl could see the cause of her increased scanning of the area.
Like before on the roads, there were vehicles and barrels which were damaged or burned to husks, sometimes both. Only this time they were arranged on the street to cause a choke point for vehicles like theirs. The people manning said checkpoint filled Caittie with renewed fear and anxiety as she gazed upon their cloths, features and more importantly, their weapons.

At first glance, they all seemed to be around her own age, maybe a couple of years younger at the youngest but no more than a year older at the most. The similarities stopped there, even in the one or two girls she saw. They all looked cut and lean, faces with hard lines fitting more to a person almost twice their age, probably caused by the hardships they faced, she guessed.
Then it registered to her, looking into all their faces, that they were all humans. Not a meta amongst them. It didn’t concern her too much, considering how she was just trying not to freak out about being so close to them, even with them on the other side of the tinted windows. She could only focus in on the bloody, tattered and worn ‘Ganger’ clothes that showed that these people, these kids, were the real deal.

Pistols in hand, two of the eldest jumped off the hood of the burned out husk of a car they were sitting on and strutted up to Sledge like they owned the place. Caittie wasn’t going to argue with them one bit, they could have this place.
Still, she could hear the conversation over the connection Sledge kept open on her side. Hearing the rough voices going back and forth, she waited as patiently as she could. It finally boiled down to a demanding of cash, 400 nuyen to be exact, for the ‘privilege’ of being under ‘The Posse’s’ protection.
The deal made final, with just the cash to be exchanged, the negotiating youth pointed towards a relatively intact building just down the road. Anywhere they wanted on the third floor, that’s what they bought with the, yet to be paid, money. Then the teenager heard words which filled her with clear dread, “Collect payment from van.�

As the motorcycle pulled away from in front of them to stop just down the road, Caittie heard someone moving around behind her. Focusing in on the guy walking up towards the van, she nearly jumped out of her skin when Cerberus grabbed one of her hands and put a wad of bills into it. “Give him a smile and maybe we’ll get a discount.�, she heard his rough voice say through a giant toothy grin.
She couldn’t help but feel a shiver run over her in pure disgust at the thought, but pushed the feeling down, trying to gain control of it. After a second, she was able to control it enough to steel her nerves against the revulsion of just rolling down the window.
Almost as if the air outside would melt her, Caittie rolled the window down only just enough to stick the scrip through enough for the encroaching ganger to grab it. As the boy reached for it, he paused looking like he was directly looking at her through the heavily tinted windows. Maybe his shadow was in the exact right spot based off the angle of the sun, but whatever the reason, it seemed like he got a good look inside. Caittie could only guess that what he saw left him lusting as much as it left her filled with disgust and nausea, as she saw the human male’s eyes widen and his tongue dart out to lick his lips like he was seeing a freshly cooked steak before ravishing it.
At that, Caittie pushed the rest of the scrip out the window, where it flew out and to the ground before revving the van’s engine to break away from the chokepoint. Roaring down the street, away from the vermin behind her, she could only comment, “I think I’m going to be sick…�

The rest of the ride was fairly uneventful as they rode a just a little more before pulling into some empty parking stalls to a giant bricked apartment building. After pulling to a stop and shutting off the engine, Caittie practically jumped out the driver’s door into the outside. To anyone who looked at her, she truly looked green at the gills, the look of the ganger viewing her in lust filling her with such sickness.

Rear of Public Bus #227
Tuesday 8/19/70 13:41:23
Mr. Smith - Johnson
PAN - Hidden

Sledge's message caught Adam off-guard. It had been less than ten minutes since he left 'his team' at the bus-station, but he had already made that mental switch between thinking of himself as "Mr. Smith - Mob Agent" and "Adam Lear - College Student". He was glad, though. He had hoped she would keep him updated, since he doubted anyone else was going to.

Her message came along with a few more item-requests, reminding Adam that he would eventually have to attend to them. Most of the ride back towards the Dancing Bare was spent sifting through Smith's digital 'little black book' of names he had come across in the last few months. He kept cluttered notes here and there - and even had some phone numbers he thought might lead somewhere, but, for the most part, these were people he had never met, and all of them were mob guys. They could just as easily be tied to Louie as to Franco - and Franco definatly made it clear he didn't want his name anywhere near Smith's team. At least, not yet.

As he hopped off the bus, he remembered his earlier encounter with Franseca DelGato (still a mobster, but definatly not connected to Franco, and already connected to this mess), and smiled as he jogged across the busy street to the parking lot where he left his bike. He got that feeling that things were falling into place for him, as he had become accustomed to, and before he drove away, he made a quick call to Bruno. Franseca's 'work number' apparantly wasn't too hard to get, which somewhat cheapened the challange - but at least he had what he needed. Adam was also glad that Bruno didn't ask for a status update, or why he was asking about Franseca. If Franco wanted to know how things were going, Adam figured Franco would let him know when it was safe to talk about it.

Checking the time in AR, Adam cursed. Even with favorable traffic he wasn't going to make it to class on time, but if he drove his ass off and risked parking his bike in staff parking, he might not be too horribly late. As he got on, and headed towards campus, he dailed up Franseca with Smith's comm, deciding that a prompt response was better in this case. He also wondered what he was going to say if she picked up.