Crusher 495
Thursday 8/14/70 18:55:43

It was still light out and the winds off the sound never seemed to make it all the way inland to Redmond, so it was hot. Too damned hot to be wearing a Kevlar-reinforced business suit.
Crusher 495 was the only open business for blocks. Whether anything human or even remotely sentient lurked in the dilapidated buildings surrounding it was anybody's guess. Nothing moved.
But in front of the bar itself, plenty was going on. An ork woman that looked as though she might have leprosy stood by impassively as her pimp, a huge troll with gold-tipped horns and a leopard-skinned suit, negotiated her price with a gaggle of five pasty, underfed humans in rags. Who knew what they were planning to exchange for her.
About five meters on the other side of this scene, another troll bellowed in agony as three orks beat it mercilessly, one stomping repeatedly on its face while another kicked it over and over and over in the testicles.

The damned Evo suit was drawing more attention than anything else, though.

The front doors were flung wide, as they had been during the earlier visit. The pool tables looked busy, and inside the place was a cloud of smoke and the smell of beer and beer vomit.

Outside the booth-fort, the same two trolls in flak jackets with shotguns stood chatting. And it looked like more than one troll would be getting a job as hired muscle for the Mafia tonight....

Rocky

Thursday 8/14/70 18:56:27

The walk had only been four blocks long but the heat and humidity from the rain was really getting old. Rocky winced as he saw the orks kicking the shit out of a troll twice their size. Hope that’s not how I go out. He kept moving not wanting to be late for the first night of work.

As he stepped inside the bar he did prefight pych up and walked across the room, not stopping at the bar, but nodding to the bartender as he passed. He scanned the place quickly, just checking to see how many faces he could recognize from last night. The trolls were in their normal spot, but Rocky barely slowed down as he passed them and slipped through the opening between booths. Same as every trip before Smithers was in his normal spot, Rocky stopped at the table looking over at Smithers, "Evening, ready to go."

With a nod from Smithers, Rocky takes a seat across from him and waits to see who else is going to show up.

Crusher 495
Thursday 8/14/70 18:57:19
Cerberus - street samurai
PAN: Hidden

A taxi cab pulls up to the entrance of Crusher 495, the person in the back of the cab slots a cred stick and then steps out of the cab. The taxi cab door swings open and an average looking black shoe steps onto the ground, above the shoe is an average charcoal black colored pant leg. As the rest of the massive troll steps out of the cab nothing really stands out about the troll as the coat is also charcoal black coat with a black shirt underneath with an average looking black tie with designs etched into it, until you get to the eyes. The green glowing eyes put you on edge as there is nothing for you to gauge in the glowing green iris's.

Shutting the door the taxi cab takes off. Cerberus stands there for a second adjusting his brand new custom tailered auctioneer business suit taking in the environment. Seeing the troll being beaten his first reaction was ouch that has to hurt followed by maybe I should help my troll friend out which was quickly followed by nah the poor fragger probably deserves it and i am here to work. Never the less Cerberus zoomed in on each of the orc's faces who were beating the troll and used his cybereyes to record them for future reference when he wasnt working. He also saw another troll slapping something out of the hands of some raggedy bum's hand and yelling at them but he didnt care enough to use his hearing to listen in on them it obviously had something to do with the skanktastic piece of orc standing behind the troll because the lead human was pointing at her and yelling back at the troll.

Cracking the knuckles in his hand by making a fist he took a deep breathe and then walked into the bar, if I had wanted to save the world I picked a lousy choice of a career. He marveled at the billiard tables. With the progression of technology it was possable for the local pool shark to use technology to plan his shots and lay out the correct angles and rotation to put on the cue ball its a wonder anyone would want to compete like that but he guessed they still had to hit the ball. Cerberus was good at remembering where he had been before but he didnt really need to since Ezekiel's booth always had the two big trolls out front. As Cerberus made his way over to the booth he could feel the stares coming at him from all direction from the bar regular occupants, some had sneers on their faces probably because of his suit, others were afraid and overted their gaze and some had looks of awe as he passed by probably due to his eyes.

As he saw the gaurds spot him he gave them a nod and then walked by and stood at the end of the booth. Cerberus's glowing green eyes scanned over the occupants. Ezeikiel he knew and there was yet another troll sitting across from him. So far tonight he had seen 5 other trolls besides himself? It felt like a family reunion. This troll sitting across from Smithers didnt seem to have any noticable cyberwear and he wasnt dressed up in animal pelts and wierd trinkets so he wasnt a shaman, he must be a mage or maybe a hacker, maybe he is the driver.

"Good Evening gentlmen". Cerberus then slid into the booth next to the other troll and held out his hand to him. "You can call me Cerberus and you would be?".

Rocky

Thursday 8/14/70 18:58:39

As Rocky sits quietly waiting for the meeting to start he catches sight of another troll heading through the club toward the booths. He stands out, just as much as Rocky did two minutes ago when he walked in wearing his suit.

When he introduces him self as hes sitting down Rocky nods and offers his hand up, "Rocky, nice to meet ya."

Crusher 495
Thursday 8/14/70 18:58:55

"Alright, alright. You're Cerberus and you're Rocky. There, you're introduced. Hate to rush that part, but your new boss is gonna be here any second, and on account of it's my neck if things don't go smooth, there's some things I wanna tell youse guys, just between us."
He paused to make sure he had their attention.
"So I already briefed the both of yas on the job requirements, and I see ya both cleaned up real good. Do as yer told. Remember that youse guys is the noobs, hired help on toppa that - lot of the guys you'll be working with are all each other second cousins or brothers-in-law and that sorta thing. So just remember, until you prove yourself for awhile, everyone's your boss.
"Now what I wanna warn ya about is that your employer is a very connected individual. But you are without a doubt gonna think he's some kinda retard. Thing is, besides blood ties, he provides some extremely lucrative services for his organization. You two will probably never even catch a glimpse of those services. But this guy, he ain't satisfied with the contribution he's makin'. Don't make him feel enough like a wiseguy. So he's taken it upon himself to help expand the family's territory all on his own, mostly targeting small-fry players. This particular thing he is not good at - but his people have to tolerate it because of how much his other thing earns them.
"I am telling you this so that you don't go trying to second guess this guy all the time, and so that you don't underestimate how very very very stupid it would be to piss him or his people off."
The ork looked up, and nodded to the guards. "All right, here he is now - remember, that was just between us trogs."
He stood and extended his hand to an older man in a pin-striped suit. The guy was fairly big, about mid-fifties, maybe. He was totally bald, and his head was a mass of wrinkles.
"Gentlemen," said Ezekiel, by way of introduction, "May I introduce your new employer, Louie "Fish-breath" Finnigan."

Rocky

Thursday 8/14/70 19:02:00

Rocky listens closely as Smithers outlines the details of how their new boss works so he and Cerberus don't get fired or worse. So it sounds like we just do what ever this guy lays out and don't ask any questions, shouldn't be to hard. As Rocky finishes the thought, a man steps up to the table which Smithers introduces as their new boss, Louie "Fish-breath" Finnigan.

Rocky nods and introduces himself, "Nice to meet ya, I'm Rocky."

Crusher 495
Thursday 8/14/70 19:03:15
Cerberus - street samurai
PAN: Hidden

Cerberus is to wedged into the booth to stand so he waits for Rocky to finish his greeting before starting his. Extending his hand and nodding his head "Mr Finnigan, its an honor to meet you. My name's Cerberus and I guess I will be doing whatever you tell me to do"

Cerberus uses his cybereyes to magnify Finnigan's face and captures its image.

Crusher 495
Thursday 8/14/70 19:03:30

Louie glanced briefly at the two trolls as they attempted polite greetings, and then sat down next to Ezekiel and put a hand on his shoulder, drawing him briefly close in a half-hug, and then speaking to him directly. "I see you got 'em some nice threads. They don't look half-bad. Hell, they're dressed better'n Sal ever was. I was a little worried when you said they was both your kinda people. But they look all right. Wouldn't set 'em up with my nieces or anything, but they look all right."

"I'm glad you're pleased, Louie," answered Smithers.

"Ya hear me boys," Louie said, addressing Cerberus and Rocky now, "I was just tellin' Zeke here that ya passed muster. Now I'm Louie Fishbreath," he continued, leaning in close enough for then to understand why. "Picked up the handle way back when I was first comin' up, an' now I guess it's kinda tradition. Whaddaya say, Angie?"

A younger man with longish greased-back hair and a very nice suit was standing just at the entrance to the booth-fort, gun-hand casually resting under his jacket. "I say...if the shoe fits, boss. But if I ever hear either of these yobs callin' you anything but Mr. Louie or Mr. Finnegan, I's gonna tear their pointy ears off and feed 'em to 'em."

Louie nods approvingly. "My nephew Angelo knows exactly how I like things done, and he is going to show you how that is. Now," he said, turning again to Smithers, "which one of these guys is the major bang-bang shooter?"

"That's Cerberus here. He's real good with his hands, too."

"Right, right, right. But where's the weapon? Din't he bring it? Din't you tell him to come ready to work?" He held up his hand to silence all response before anyone could answer. "Never mind," he continued, looking straight at Cerberus, "I'm sure you did your best. We got a lotta stops to make tonight, but we'll just swing by your place and pick it up. Now, youse mugs got any questions, take 'em up with Angelo once we's on the road. Busy night. Very busy night."

And with that he was out of the booth and striding a path through the gaggle of trolls and orks filling the bar. Angelo was close on his heels. Ezekiel gave the trolls a look of "What are you waiting for?" and in moments they were all trundling out into the street, where they found a shiny new black SUV with the obligatory tinted windows.

"Picked this up special - partly cuz we heard the two of youse was of the trollish persuasion, and partly to celebrate finally getting that asshole Rothstein off our backs for a few days. Hop inna back and give your address to Angelo."

Rocky

Thursday 8/14/70 19:05:41

Rocky follows the mob guys lead out of the club, smilling to him self at seeing the SUV, which meant he was done walking, at least for a little while. He climbs in the back of the vehicle and sits waiting to see whats going happen next, not speaking unless spoken to first. Well maybe this guy that is showing us the ropes will be a little easier to deal with that it sounds like Mr. Finnegan will be.

Crusher 495 out front
Thursday 8/14/70 19:06:33
Cerberus - street samurai
PAN: Hidden

Cerberus walked around to the other side of the SUV and got in taking up his position in the backseat and shutting the door. He rattled off his address to Angelo. "Im real sorry about not being prepared Mr Finnigan I didnt know how this was going to work. I dont know if Mr Smithers told you or not but I use a light machine gun which isnt exactly something i would normally bring along to a meet so are you sure you want to swing by my place? Forgive me if im being forward but I also have another related question. I was told and I assume Rocky was told this also but while we are working for you we will be staying at our normal homes and when you need us you will pick us up? Do you want us to always arm ourselves or will we be told when we will need our weapons? Sorry if im asking to many questions, I just dont want there to be any more confusion. I dont want to let you down. "

En Route to Cerberus' place
Thursday 8/14/70 19:08:00

As Angelo pulled the SUV into the road and started deftly dodging mounds of debris, craters, and dead bodies, Louie turned and looked back at the trolls. "That IS a whole lotta questions. That's a lotta questions, ain't it, Ang?"

"WHOLE lotta questions, boss."

"But I can see you wanna do the right thing. You guys could work out. And don't worry, Angie here is gonna answer all your questions."

"That's right. Yeah, you stay at your own place, or do whatever ya want with your time. But when we call, you gotta be ready quick. And yeah, when it's time for work someone'll pick ya up. Unless we say otherwise, always come ready to work. That toy we're headed to get right now, it'll spend most of its time here in the car, but we do want it handy, ya know. I mean, what the fuck good is it to us back at your apartment, ya know. Now if that damned kike DA gets back on our case, we might call ya and have ya skip the guns, but days like that we don't make many calls anyway. Oh, and if either of youse got any 'ware that ain't strictly legal, we don't even wanna KNOW about it. You got all that?"


Rudolpho's
19:57:00

After picking up Cerberus' hockey bag, they had gone to a small Italian restaurant just outside the Wall in Bellevue. It was a quiet commercial street with a media stand, some tailors, cleaners, a grocer's, and other restaurants. The contrast with Redmond on the other side of the Wall, even with the relatively calm Touristville district, was surreal.

An assortment of bulldog-looking men lounged around inside, most eating. Many of them greeted Louie casually as he entered; no one really acknowledged the trolls. Louie headed straight to the back and to a door.

Angelo spoke. "Boss is gonna do some work now. When he's in the office, you guys can pretty much relax. Don't worry about the car - pity the sap that tries messin' with it, the system we got on that thing. Don't worry, I already keyed it to youse's PANs. Anyway, like I was sayin', boss is inna back, this place is open for business. Boss comes out to eat or whatever, you guys take the front door. Nobody gets in. NOBODY. You understand NOBODY, right? If they say they got biz here with someone, you get ahold of that someone. If it's Louie, you call me.

"Now, when we go on calls, your most important job is keepin' the boss safe. Things can happen pretty fast, so you gotta be on your toes. Anything happens to the boss, something about eight times worse is gonna happen to you. And no one disrespects the boss. Now that's a little bit tougher judgment call - but if the boss or I says the magic words - 'Nobody talks to Louie Fishbreath that way' - if we says that, that means we been disrespected. If we says that, YOUSE gotta say it, too. And then youse gotta punish whoever was mouthin' off.

"Okay, that's a lot of instructions all at once. If you guys are sure you got it, get yourselves some pasta - we got a busy night ahead."

Rudolpho's
Thursday 8/14/70 19:58:42
Cerberus - street samurai
PAN: Hidden

"Yes Sir!" Cerberus gives Rocky a friendly slap on the arm to get his attention and then nods to the front of the restaurant, "Last one to finish the first bowl of pasta had a humie for a mother." Cerberus smiles and then heads up front but picks a booth where he can also see his new boss's office door and then slides in waiting for a waiter or waitress.

Cerberus begins taking in the restaurant visually but when he sees he is freaking people out with his eyes he looks down at his table. When the waiter/waitress comes he orders spaghetti minus the sauce and meatballs and a pitcher of lemonade flavored water.

Rudolpho's
Thursday 8/14/70 20:00:01
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden

Rocky does his best to keep up with everything Angelo goes over on how things will work. Glad I don't have a big gun to try and keep up with all the time.

When they got the restaurant the smell of real food just about knocked him out, even though it had only been a little over a week, he was getting tired of all the soy he had been eating.

Following Cerberus's lead he joins him up front and orders a full plate of spaghetti and meatballs, a pitcher of water and some garlic bread if they have it. As they wait for the food Rocky scans the restaurant taking it all in, trying to learn what he can about this new world he had entered.

Rudolpho's
Thursday 8/14/70 10:06:46

Cerberus and Rocky ate a LOT of pasta - Cerberus skipping all the sauces, Rocky not.

Then, stomachs full, they chilled, half their attention on the front door, through which a few guys in suits walk, half their attention on this new environment. Seems like everyone is packing heat - and it's ALL human men. As the hours went by, they were all eating and drinking and talking openly about everything from their kids' birthday parties to killing yaks. No one spoke to the trolls.

Then Louie came out of the office. He was the man around here, obviously. People shouted rudely friendly things at him from around the room. He shook a lot of hands, gave a lot of hugs, and sat down to a big meal.

Rocky and Cerberus took up positions by the door. Several more guys showed up, but just as they were about to stop them, Angelo was always right there welcoming the new people in, so they never had to do anything.

11:23:00

Louie said his goodbyes, and he and Angelo headed out the door. Angelo snapped his fingers at the trolls, although they were already half up to follow him.

They took the SUV down to a dilapidated, working-class area of Auburn, in the northeast corner of the district. Old newsfaxes blew across the mostly empty streets. A few bars were obviously open, and beat up cars were here and there. a rough neighborhood with not a lot of money floating around, but a far cry from the Barrens.

They pulled up across the street from a lit up barber shop, and Angelo shook his head at Cerberus's questioning look, so the green-eyed troll left the LMG behind. Louie strode right in. "Stay close to the boss, you two. I got the door."

Inside, there were four big barber chairs, but no barber. Around the edges of the room were the usual arrangement of chairs for people to wait in. In the various chairs were six youngish men, all orks, all wearing red tracksuits with black trim. Entering the room, the mob guys were effectively surrounded. There was a door leading into the back, and out of it came two more orks and an elf girl that couldn't have been more than twelve. She looked like she wanted to throw up and then die.

Angelo closed the door behind him and put his back to it.

There was a table in the center of the room, and one of the orks sat down at it, flanked by the other ork that had come out of the back, who had a big, black-nailed hand on the girl's shoulder.

Louie sat down across from the ork ganger, who spoke first. "Little peace offering, Fishbreath. Her mom's strung out on novacoke, hurtin' bad. Little Rina here couldn't watch her ma suffer no more, wanted to do something to help....she probably thought it was a nice idea at the time."

Laughter from around the room, and one of the orks yelled, "Old enough to bleed, old enough to butcher!"

The leader continued - "That's fresh meat, Mob-man. Why'n't ya have a taste, then we can all talk biz in good spirits."

"Don't treat me like some love-hungry freak just knocked off at the plant and looking to cop a nut so's he can keep his hands off his own daughters, you degenerate tusker. Get that out on the street where it can earn you some of the money you owe me. You wanna talk, talk about how you're gonna pay."

Eight to four - and the orks obviously hadn't cared for the racial slur. If Louie and Angelo were worried, they didn't show it.

Barber Shop
Thursday 8/14/70 23:23:05
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden

Rocky keeps an eye on the orks around the shop, doing his best to determine who has the best angle on the boss and where he needs to be to block it, when the shit hits the fan. As he's doing that he focuses inwardly to speed up his reaction time as fast as possible.

Barbershop in Auburn
Thursday 8/14/70 23:24:25
Cerberus - street samurai
PAN: Hidden

Inwardly Cerberus cringed when he figured out what the orcs had done to the little girl and inside of him a rage began to build, then he was shocked out of that when his new boss suggested that they put her out on the street. He had flashbacks of his life with doc wagon where he helped people out who were in trouble, not take advantage of them. He snapped.

Cerberus walked forward and stood a little in front of Loui and looked directly into the gang leaders face while he talked. "Boss if these pussies cant even find a real women to get it on with there is no way in hell they have the balls or common sense to make the money to pay back their loan!". He is sure Loui has a look of shock on his face but if degenerates like this can do what they just did they sure as hell arent going to pay back a loan by chatting to them.

Cerberus amped up his wired reflexes and made a show of moving his head around as if to stretch his neck.

Auburn barbershop
Thursday 8/14/70 23:24:28

Louie chuckled softly, and gave a smiling shrug at the ork leader. "As you can see, you're not winnin' no people or influencin' no friends by callin' us kiddie freaks. But fortunately for you, I have a higher opinion of your earning potential..."

The ork leader cut the bald man off with a froth-spraying explosion of words - "We offered this eunabo sweetmeat up to you as a courtesy! A show of respect, zakhan."

"Well, I can see you have strong feelings about this issue. Just let me have a moment to confer with my associates." Louie raisesdboth hands, simultaneously crooking a finger at each troll, beckoning them to come closer. Once they leaned in with their heads down by his, he quietly informed them in the sad manner of a father who is disappointed by the behavior of children that "Nobody talks to Louie Fishbreath that way."

Barber Shop
Thursday 8/14/70 23:24:27
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden

Rocky leaned in so he could hear what ever it was Louie was going to tell them. Then he heard the words that he was expecting to hear come from Louie's mouth, "Nobody talks to Louie Fishbreath that way." Well, I guess that’s it, time to go to work.

Before Rocky can fully complete the thought Cerberus is standing up and kicking something. Seeing that he's not heading for the obvious gun Rocky chooses his path. He spins as he comes out of the crouch/lean he had been in to hear Louie, taking several steps to close with ork that appeared to have the most dangerous weapon in plain view. Using his momentum from the short approach he slams his closed ungloved fist in to the mobsters face. It immediately explodes into blood and teeth and Rocky can actually feel the guy’s skull separate from his spine before he slams back into the barber chair.

Not stopping to inspect the damage he side steps to his right throwing a left hook into the second ork who had just barley stood up and gripped his bat like he may swing it. But the impact of the blow knocks the ork over the chair and to the ground under the counter. the baseball bat flies across the room hitting the back wall and clatter into the corner.

Keeping with his plan Rocky turns toward the final ork that was sitting in the barber chairs, that’s now stood and appears to have a knife in hand. Before he can close with him he catches hostile movement heading in his direction out of the corner of his eye. His practice and enhanced reflexes take over as he spins throwing his right arm out across the attackers path, which stops his forward motion and knocks his bladed hands down and out of position to attack or defend. Continuing the spin he had started as defense he switches to attack, aiming low he goes for a body blow to the orks side. The blow connects with the bottom of his ribcage, shattering three of the ribs that were attached to his sternum and sending the couple floating ribs from that side of his body in to his chest, puncturing the ork's lung in several places and severely dislocating most of his internal organs. The ork or what remains of him slams in to the ground, never to move on its own again.

Taking a breath Rocky turns back to the last ork that had been in the barber chairs, that is still holding his knife. With two short steps Rocky closes what’s left of the distance between him and the ork. Not interested in playing around he uses his reach to land a solid simple jab to the ork’s face. Rocky can feel the ork's nose break as he flies back and flops to the ground.

Taking a quick glace around and not seeing any threats Rocky moves toward the door at the back of the shop wanting to make sure no one else is waiting there.

Barbershop in Auburn
Thursday 8/14/70 23:24:32
Cerberus - street samurai
PAN: Hidden

Cerberus turned his head to look at Loui after he spat out his insult only to see Loui beckoning him closer along with Rocky. He inwardly grimaced and thought maybe he had overstepped his boundaries. He leaned in expecting Loui to chastise him but instead Loui gave his code phrase which was his cue to open a can of whoop ass "Nobody talks to......" Cerberus never heard the rest of it...

He spun around like a mad dog swinging his arm around and smashing the flimsy table the gang leader was sitting at across the room towards the babrerchairs. In two steps he was in front of the gang leader and with huge troll foot kicked him in the chest knocking him and the chair he was sitting in over backwards to the ground.

Turning to the orc ganger with black nails that was holding the girl he began walking towards him. The black nailed orc shoved the girl out of his way which knocked her to the ground. She scrambled under a counter and began crying. He then made an obviously fake expression like he was scared and as Cerberus was about to turn that expression into a true feeling he saw the orc's at the card table go into action. One of them stood and pulled a gun from underneathe the table but there were 4 loud gunshots and holes began blossoming on his chest and he went down. The other stood and charged Cerberus. Caught off gaurd when he turned back to the black nailed orc he got punched in the face and never saw it coming. Cerberus stumbled back a step and then threw a wild hook towards black nail but he easily dodged it. After easily parrying the card playing ganger's wild punchs Cerberus backed off and mentally formulated a plan to deal with both gangers. The two gangers looked at each other and then spread out a little.

Ears still ringing from the gunshots in this small enclosed room and from the little girl who was now screaming and crying, Cerberus lunged forward sending out a lazy jab towards the black nailed ganger and as soon as it was fully extended he began rotating his body to go into a spinning backfist. It worked spectacularly as the other ganger lunged forward trying to interrupt Cerberus but the other ganger was the target. Completing his spin the lunging ganger was caught totally off balance with his arm already extending to try and land a punch when the back of Ceberus's forearm caught him sqaure in the side of the face. There was a loud thunk sound as metal encased forearm met face and then the ganger was flying across the room and collasping as he hit a wall.

Turning back to the orc with black nails, blood still dripping down his forearms and off his fist and his glowing green eyes staring right into the gangers face he must have panicked because he started to make a run for it but Cerberus wasnt done by a long shot. He gut punched the fragger as he tried to run by sending him crashing to the ground on hands and knees retching.

Quickly scanning the room for other targets he marveled at the destruction, all of the gangers were down and only few showed signs of life such as moaning in pain or breathing. Hearing the little elf girl screaming he turned to make sure she was alright and then his hands curled into fists and he stood in front of the orc with black nails who was now sitting back on his knees just about to finish him off for what he had done........

Barbershop in Auburn
Thursday 8/14/70 23:24:35

"Hah!" came a bark of laughter from deep underwater behind them. It was Louie, but the ringing in their ears was so loud he sounded far away. He was still sitting calmly in his chair, a Colt Manhunter in his hand, the laser dot trained on the forehead of the Red Dog leader sprawled on the floor - the only ganger not seriously hurt. Seeing that the situation was well under control, Louie got to his feet smugly, holstering his weapon under his jacket. ""Trogs kicking the living shit outta other trogs. My kinda world. You guys all did great. Great job." He looks around again - the only thing that seems to rain on his parade is the screaming of the girl. He scrunches his nose in her direction in annoyance. "All right, these guys were hopeless, but they put up a fairly spirited fight, showed us a little chutzpah. Let 'em skulk off and lick their wounds - maybe turn into good earners one day. But this one," he said, pointing down at the leader, "he didn't even put of a fuss as we wasted his crew. Pussy. End him."
And Louie turned around and headed for the door Angelo was holding for him.

Barbershop in Auburn
Thursday 8/14/70 23:24:38
Cerberus - street samurai
PAN: Hidden

Cerberus glances back at his boss Loui when he hears him say that the rest should be let go except for the leader. His spirit was overflowing with rage but atleast the girl was still alive. Cerberus grabs a handful of the black nailed gangers shirt with one fist and raises back his other fist, "Nobody talks to Louie Fishbreath that way", then he punches him sqaure on the nose breaking it and knocking the poor sap out cold pulling his punch just enough not to kill the guy.

Cerberus walked over to the leader and held him on the ground with his foot. Loui was at the doorway by now, "Hey boss what about this little girl? Shouldnt we drop her off at a Hospital or something?".

The gang leader started squirming under Cerberus's foot so he gave him a swift stomp to the solar plexis knocking the wind out of him.

Barber Shop
Thursday 8/14/70 23:25:01
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden

Rocky nods at Louie's instructions, straining to hear them over the ringing in his ears. I better see what I can do to cust that down or I'm going to have problems.

He looks around the room for a few seconds, amazed at the damage he and Cerberus had done in a few short seconds. Hearing bits and pieces of Cerberus' inquiry about the gril Rocky looks in her direction, as she cowers under the counter screaming her head off. Having never dealt with kids Rocky is not really sure what to do, so he does what he knows needs to be done.

Walking over to Cerberus and the wheezing mob boss Rocky reachs into his jacket and pulls his Warhawk from its concealed holster. Using it to gesture he looks at Cerberus, "I got this guy. Why don't you do what ever it is you want with her?"

Barbershop in Auburn
Thursday 8/14/70 23:25:36
Cerberus - street samurai
PAN: Hidden

"Hold off on capping this piece of shit until I get the girl outside." Turning towards the girl he walks over near her which only makes her scream louder and he kneels down a little bit away from her out of arms reach. She is terrorfied but Cerberus has dealt with tons of these situations. "My name is Cerberus" he says pointing to his own chest with his thumb which causes the girl to decrease her screaming a little, "thats my friend Rocky" he says pointing at rocky with a finger "and we know we look scary but we are here to help you. See what we did to those bad men?". She stops screaming and is only cyring.

"Those bad men said your name is Rina, is that your name? Listen Rina if you come with me I will keep you safe and take you someplace where you will be taken care of and kept warm and safe and they will even feed you, would you like that?" Cerberus holds out his non bloody hand to Rina who is still cowering under the counter....

Barbershop in Auburn
Thursday 8/14/70 23:25:36

"Hey," Louie yells from outside, "Let's get a move on." Stepping back towards the door and seeing Cerberus, he shouts, "You trying to go into business for yourself? That's cute, but we ain't got time for that. Waste that puke and let's go."

Barber Shop
Thursday 8/14/70 23:25:38
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden

"Looks like the new "boss" isn't in to charity work, and I'm thinking she ain't com'n with us." Explains Rocky as he continues to eye the mob boss. "Dig her some cash up from the bodies and lets finish this, I really don't want to piss off the mob on my first night out. We need to go, NOW!"

Moving so that his body is between the girl and the mob boss, Rocky lowers his gun looking in to the orks eyes as he speaks just above a whisper to him, "See ya in Hell!" Then pulls the trigger on his Ruger Super Warhawk, watching it turn the mobsters face in to an unreconizable mass of blood and flesh. Shaking his head as the girl resumes her screaming Rocky slips the revolver back in to it holster and slowly walks to the front door, trying to give Cerberus a few seconds to do something for the girl.

Barbershop in Auburn
Thursday 8/14/70 23:25:36
Cerberus - street samurai
PAN: Hidden

Cerberus was hurt which didnt put him in a good mood and then on top of that nobody he was rolling with seemed to care about this little girl who had just been victomized and worse they were pressuring him to wrap things up. He was definately earning his money.

Dropping his hand he was holding out to the girl he began talking through clinched teeth to her "As soon as we leave get the hell out of here, some of these guys are not gonna stay down. Search these guys for any cash you can find and then get to a hospital as fast as you can. They will help you and keep you safe."

Standing up he walked out of the barbershop and climbed into his driver side back seat of the SUV without so much as a glance at Rock Angelo or Loui. Fortunately it was the same face he always wore thanx to his cybereyes not really giving away which direction he was looking.

Barber Shop
Thursday 8/14/70 23:25:50
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden

Taking his time Rocky makes his way back the SUV, doing his best to hold things together and not spew the first real meal he had eaten in over a week all over the sidewalk. Well that was just craptastic. Been working the shadows for less than fours hours and I've already killed three people and left a little girl to fend for her self.

Rocky climbs in the back seat and talks to who ever is listening, "The boss guy's done and they won't be identifing him with a picture or dental records." Leaning back Rocky goes quite till he's spoken to as Cerberus climbs in and the SUV pulls away from the curb.

I-5 Northbound
Tuesday 8/19/70 03:34:45

The rain thundered onto the roof of the SUV and splashed in waves across the windshield, rendering the wipers redundant. The vehicles Pilot had long since been overwhelmed by the sensory overload, but Angelo doggedly pushed the black behemoth up the freeway.

At least the storm kept the go-gangs off the road. That would be a hassle.

They didn't say anything, but neither Cerberus nor Rocky was pleased to be up and out. It had been a hard few days. It had never gotten as bloody as the encounter with the Red Dogs, but working for Louie Fishbreath, the fun never stopped. Although neither troll had anything like a business degree, they each had begun to wonder privately whether Louie made any money at all - every time he went to talk to someone, it ended in violence - as in, it ended in them doing violence. Even when whoever they were demanding money from was totally obsequious and kiss-ass, Louie always found a way to rile or twist them into somehow dissing him, and that was always followed by the magic words. They had each had to childishly repeat it a dozen times over the past four days. And they'd never seen Louie collect even a single nuyen from any of the gangers, pimps, bookies, or other assorted small-time (always small-time) underworld low-lifes he preyed upon.
But that didn't stop him from paying them - the guy was rolling in cash. It was only halfway to payday, and he'd already given each of them Y500 cash bonuses on two different occasions.
But the schedule was killer. Thank Ghost for self-cleaning suits. It meant more sack time. They'd be out fighting all night, get dropped off at their respective homes, and just crash - cuz that call was going to come around noon so they could guard the door at Rudolpho's while Louie 'worked' in the back. At least the pasta was free.
They turned off of I-5 eastbound on North Gate Way, skirting the north end of the North Gate Mall, with it's big sign proclaiming it the oldest mall in the world.
What an honor.
It was quiet, except for the downpour. Not the usual racist banter between Angelo and Louie in their mix of English and Italian. Not the ever-present Chairman of the Board crooning them on their way from legbreaking to headbashing.
Something was up and no one had told them anything - they hadn't worked today - who wanted to go out? But they'd gotten the call at a little after two, got their suits on and been picked up.
Leaving the commerical area near the mall behind, they swung into a side street and things got seedy fast. The birghtest lit thing in their view was a big four-storey building with a neon sign - Carl's Coffins.
There was a black Lincoln parked on a corner, and Angelo pulled up alongside. With their thermo, they could see that down the block was another luxury sedan with a still-warm engine block and four meaty figures inside.
Windows rolled down, and though their voices were low and serious, Cerberus's enhanced and filtered hearing easily made out Angelo's query - "Still inside?" - and the response - "No one's left since we been here, and manager says door hasn't been opened."
Angelo looked over at Louie, who said "Get these lazy pussies out of their cars and on those damned exits." Angelo used his comm and they all watched as men in suits reluctantly emerged from their vehicles - there were more than they had at first noticed. Before long they had counted at least a dozen soldiers with umbrellas in one hand and shotguns or rifles in the other converging on vantage points on the building - and that was just on this side of the structure.
Louie turned to the trolls, and handed Rocky a big butcher's knife. He spoke in a quiet voice. "Bring me the heads of anyone in that room." Then he resumed staring out the windshield.
Angelo opened his door - "C'mon," was all he said. He opened the back - "Not much room in there, but take your baby along just in case," he ordered Cerberus.
Out in the rain, as they crossed the street to the coffin hotel, Angelo shouted to be heard over the torrent. "Listen, we had some trouble with one of them wizzer gangs about a week ago. Bad trouble. Thought we got 'em all, but turned out one of 'em wasn't actually in the building we blew up, and we been on the lookout since. Got a tip from the manager of this place. Room 423. Here's his number," he said, flashing it to the trolls' comms. "When you get to the room, just call this number, and he'll open the door from the office. You do the rest."
When they got to the door, it was clear that Angelo was not coming in with them. Faced off against eight drugged up gangers, he'd never broken a sweat. Now he was working hard to control the fear, and he wasn't even going in. None of the 'family' were.
"Listen," he said, as they headed in, "The last time we locked horns with this gang, the guy before you, Sal, he got burned alive. Burned to a fucking crisp, screaming the whole time. I couldn't even put him out of his misery, the damned wizzers fucked up my piece. The heads. Bring us the heads."
Thoroughly drenched, they dripped their way into the building. The reception window was polarized over - but they could see one human heat signature in there. Cerberus took a minute to adjust his weapon, and they headed up to the fourth floor.
The place was sized for norms, so they had to walk down the narrow hall single-file in a half crouch. They felt vulnerable.
The coffin doors were stacked three high. It'd probably be hard for even one of them to actually enter one of them, but then, there'd be nowhere for any of their quarry to run.
Arriving at 423, Cerberus listened. But the door was a thick steel job, and he couldn't make anything out. He half hoped the mobsters had been wrong, and there was nothing inside to hear.
Rocky keyed the comm, and moments after the connection was made, the door slid open, automatically activating the coffin's lights.
And there, alone, was the tiny figure of an elf girl - how old? - 12? 15? - curled under a thin blanket. Out of the coverlet protruded dainty bare feet at one end, and from the other bare shoulders and an elfin face lightly spotted with freckles. She had long, fiery red hair, with two long pink bangs framing her face. At the sound of the door opening, her eyelids snapped open, revealing piercing green irises that instantly cast off their bleariness in favor of panic and terror.

Carl's Coffins
Tuesday 8/19/70 03:50:00

Rocky felt like crap. Not only was he tired. Not only was he disgusted with the way his life was going. But he just felt like CRAP. He was seven days off his pills now - his third day of muscle-clenching cramps, violent diarrhea, and the constant feeling he was about to projectile vomit all over everything in sight.

And now here they were where mobsters feared to tread, sent in as cannon fodder to flush out some group of magical gangers. He was tired, he was distracted, and then the coffin (how appropriate) door slid open faster than he'd expected to and he'd realized he was exposed --- Cerberus had positioned himself well to the side of the door, where he couldn't get zapped --- but like the amateur he obviously was, Rocky found himself suddenly face-on to the room. He quickly ducked to the side, but not before seeing what was in there - Holy shit - it's just a helpless little girl! But before he could think anything else, Cerberus and his giant gun were already surging around the doorsill, and Rocky just got himself out of the way. Realizing it was too late to talk to his new chummer, he pulled his weapon and tried to stay focused on looking for other threats.

***

Dreamer opened her eyes at the sound and light only to have her vision filled with a huge business-suited troll standing in her doorway.

They found me!!!

The twin imperatives of mortal and sexual vulnerability spiked her adrenaline to peak levels - Gotta shut that door!

And for Dreamer, that thought was enough.

***

Cerberus knew from his Doc Wagon HTR training that if the mage couldn't see you he couldn't hurt you. And if he could see the target, the target could see him. So he was safe to the side of door.

His wires made everything seem like slow-motion.

His partner scrambled out of the doorway.

Cerberus swung around and leveled the big LMG.

And in the instant before activating the fire switch, he saw the same terrified green-eyed elf child that Rocky had. Her face was a mask of panic as she clutched a blanket to her chest.

He flashed back on the elven baby he'd caught out of thin air but hadn't saved.

To little Rina, probably right back out on the streets he'd failed to rescue her from.

Would he lose this one, too?

And then she stared straight in his direction, her face the picture of determined concentration.

Spell!!! He imagined burning alive, and fired.

The first couple of rounds passed through the door and thunked against the far wall as the girl scrambled to the side, and then the swinging steel door almost caught his gun barrel. He jerked it back, and stopped the burst almost in time --- a few rounds ricocheted around the hallway making a horrible racket.

And then everything was silent.

Carl's Coffins
Tuesday 8/19/70 03:50:03
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden

Rocky jumps back as the bullets ricochet off the steel door and around the hall, then takes a quick look both directions down the hall to make sure no one is responding to the gun fire. Keeping his eye on the hall he swears, "FRAK!, FRAK! FRAK! I'm sick of this shit."

Looking over at Cerberus, Rocky regains his composure and starts again, "I know we really don't know much about each other than how the other fights, but this stuff is getting old. I didn't really want to leave that girl, but their was no way Louie was going to help her, and pissing him off in the first fours hours of work would have been bad. At least now if we choose to piss him off we have a better idea what we are getting into. So what you think'n chummer?"

Carl's Coffins
Tuesday 8/19/70 03:50:03
Caittie - Technomancer - Hidden
Commlink - Passive

'OMGOMGOMG! What the hell?!? The door, trolls... Then...' Caittie thinks as her brain tries to process what just happened while coming down from her adrenaline high. Holding the sheets over her, she tries desperately for a feeling of security but it is in vein.
Taking a quick breath, she calms down just a bit, but her muscles are still twitching from her nerves firing more than they're used too. 'OK, two trolls are outside this door, one with a big gun and glowing green eyes... They didn't even say anything as he fired! They have to be the same guys that... Oh, no...' She stresses as she continues to sort through the information.

'Think, Cait, think... What are you going to do to get out of here? Wait, glowing eyes... I got it!' she asks herself before she sits up some and bumps her head on the low ceiling. "Ow!"

Carl's Coffins
Tuesday 8/19/70 03:50:06
Cerberus - street samurai
PAN: Hidden

Cerberus fell back to the side of the door with his gun raised in the air again pointing towards the ceiling. He had paniced a bit when part of the burst he had let loose started ricochetting off the metal door but Rocky was still standing. It must have been a little to close though because it seemed like Rocky was breaking down mentally. What the frag is he going on about? Sorry about not helping out with the girl at the barbershop? What the hell does that have to do with our current situation. Piss off Loui? What the hell!? We havent even been on the job a week and this guy is pussing out already? Didnt Smithers tell him what the hell he would be doing?

"What the hell bro? This doesnt have anything to do with the barbershop. You think that little girl you just saw in there was real? Let me tell you mages can do alot of wierd shit and I have seen it first hand. Now get your shit together and get the manager back on the comm have him open and lock the door in the open position, if he cant do that open one of the coffins to either side of the one we are trying to get access to. We cant let this fragger summon a damn spirit on us."

Carl's Coffins
Tuesday 8/19/70 03:50:11
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden

"Fine, fine! Give me a sec." Rocky reaches down and pulls his comm off his belt and pulls up the number to call back but keeps talking as he does, "To answer your question, yeah I think she is real, and that’s the fraking point. This is not what I signed up for. I got no problem being a bodyguard for someone or knocking scum around, even if it is for another piece of scum. However I don't kill kids."

Rocky stops for a second and the starts again, "Hey this is Louie's guy! Open the door to 423 again and lock it open, and while you're at it open 421 and 425!!" Rocky doesn't wait for a response and closes the call, knowing the chump at the desk will do it or be dead, and hell with Louie he'll probably end up dead when this is all over anyways.

As soon as he ends the call he starts putting the comm away and continues, "Plus this fragger has us beating everyone to pulp even if they do everything he tells them. Where's the honor in that? Maybe I've watched too many trids or I'm not cut out for the shadows, but I'm drawing the line at fragging kids. How 'bout you? Would you have fragged a kid a week ago on some gangster's word? Cause unless I was outta my mind that first night, I gotta say you wouldn't."

Rocky moves next to the door of 421 so he can cover it when it opens, looking at Cerberus with a questioning look on his face, hoping Cerberus doesn't turn his knight on him.

Carl's Coffins
Tuesday 8/19/70 03:50:14
Cerberus - street samurai
PAN: Hidden

"What fragging part did you not understand. Loui sent us here to kill a mage, not a little girl. Im thinking that was the mage doing his hocus pocus on us to look like a little girl. If that sick #$^* knew how i felt about little elf girls right about now he never would have used that image though cuz im gonna use my baby here" he pats his light machinegun "to reduce that fragger to goop."

"But hey if you got such strong opinions on this I will tell you what. If the manager gets the door open YOU can go in first and check things out, after you get turned into a human torch though im gonna enjoy killing you both. I'd hate to see you burn alive bro."

And i will start by shooting you in the feet and working my way up bahaha, stupid trog

Carl's Coffins
Tuesday 8/19/70 03:50:17
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden

Rocky looks over at Cerberus, "Ok, I guess I gotta put my ass where my mouth is." With that Rocky moves back down the hall taking a kneeling position directly across from the door with his pistol up.

Rocky slowly glances left and right trying to see if he sees any sign that any of the three doors are opening. As he's waiting he try's to keep the presure on Cerberus to try and get him to see whats going on. "So here I am in front of this door, any chance you wan'a answer my question, will you frag an innocent kid?"

Before Cerberus can answer Rocky nods his head, "FRAK, overrid it or something, just get the FRAKKING doors open!" Then he looks over at Cerberus, "That was the manager, he's saying the computers not taking any open comands."

Carl's Coffins
Tuesday 8/19/70 03:50:06
Caittie - Technomancer - Hidden
Commlink - Passive

'...Get that done now, Shadow!', Caittie thought as she gave a command to her disgruntled sprite. 'Yeah, yeah. On my way...', was the only reply she got from the ninja.
Knowing she didnt have much time on her hands, Caittie quickly grabbed her commlink from the shelf and stuffed it into her backpack. Then, taking a quick breath, she strained her mental muscles, froming another sprite that didnt really have any form to it.

Just then Caittie felt something from Shadow, 'I'm in and it's done. Anything else you want to order me to do while I'm at it, slavedriver?' Frowning a bit, Caittie sent quick mental reply and almost immediatly Shadow responded back, 'It's done. I owe you nothing now.' With the feeling of someone giving her a rude gesture, Caittie felt the mental link dissapear.
Breathing a quick sigh, Caittie sent out the newly formed sprite. It wasnt formed enough to give a worded reply, but she felt it understood. Nodding, she quickly threw the sheets to the side and picked up her underwear. She put it on quickly, but it still took longer than she had liked.

As she finished putting her shirt in place, she felt something from her proto-sprite. It was a mixture of joy followed by confusion, but before she could question it the connection dissipated. She instinctively knew that it had completed its task and thats why she lost connection with it, but what was that feeling of confusion?
'I dont have time', Caittie told herself as she reached towards her next article of clothing...

Carl's Coffins
Tuesday 8/19/70 03:50:17
Cerberus - street samurai
PAN: Hidden

"If you survive she survives. Im not putting my life on the line for your feelings though, do not let her come out of that room unless she is blindfolded or has something over her head. As long as she cant see us us we are safe..unless she has already summoned a spirit."

What the hell is this guy thinking! Does he even have a plan for after we get the girl? If Loui lied to us what the hell does that mean? We have been doing a good job why would he turn on us.

Looking over at Rocky, Cerberus just shakes his head.

Carl's Coffins
Tuesday 8/19/70 03:50:18
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden

Rocky nods his head, "Agreed. So now how in the hell do we get in?" As he's talking Rocky starts looking closer at the door and walls around it.

Carl's Coffins
Tuesday 8/19/70 03:50:15
Caittie - Technomancer - Hidden
Commlink - Passive

...and grabbed her pants quickly slipping her legs through and clasping the front. Caittie then snached her gloves off the matress, threading her hands and arms throught them. Quickly running one of her hands through her hair to make sure it was all out from inside her shirt, she then reached over and grabbed both her boots.
With both hand now free, she stuffed her feet into the boots, pulled the laces and quickly tied them with deft hands.
Taking a quick breath, she laid back and closed her eyes, waiting for the mental jerk that signaled her transfering her consiousness to the digital realm.
<... Logged onto 1375.3984.3271.28203>
<... Logged onto @#VJ.))Db83.S6$*9.oUJ3>
Caittie did a mental doubletake on the last message. 'That isnt supposed to look like that...', as she called out for one of her sprites.

Almost immedeatly Cid appeared beside her, wrench in hand. Without her even asking, he laughed maniacally saying,"Ah, what wonderful encryption processes we have here. I'm guessing you want that stuff legible, huh? Here we go!" A split second later he was at the code with hammer, wrench and other tools from his belt, all the while mumbling how this or that was interesting.

Carl's Coffins
Tuesday 8/19/70 03:50:21
Cerberus - street samurai
PAN: Hidden

"Well I cant jump into one of those side tubes and shoot through the wall they look to small and if the walls are like the doors i will probably kill myself. Im not any good at electronic wiring and stuff so I guess we should harass the manager again and ask if there is a way to manuelly open these doors."

Cerberus carefully examines the door and the wall for any hidden panels.

Carl's Coffins
Tuesday 8/19/70 03:50:24

As Cerberus scanned the hallway, his intuition raced with breaching possibilities. He was considering a number of options within seconds, and then all hell broke loose -

First the lights all died, plunging the hallway into complete darkness. His cybereyes sensed the change and automatically switched to thermo, just as the fire alarm started blaring hellaciously. And then every door in the hallway - except 423, natch - popped open. The lights were on in all the rooms, so he and Rocky could see better now, and it was a good thing, because then the sprinklers started, bathing the area in cold water and eroding the effectiveness of thermographic vision.
And then the panic started as the occupants, probably already awake after the shooting, all started trying to get out at once.

Carl's Coffins
Tuesday 8/19/70 03:50:27
Cerberus - street samurai
PAN: Hidden

As the water from the sprinklers starts washing over Cerberus he got a look on his face like his day could not be going any more wrong. "Now we're having fun! This stupid mage must have a hacker backing her up." As Cerberus is looking around the hallway and up at the sprinklers he spots a fairly large duct.. "I say we fall back to Loui, tell them what the girl looks like and wait for her to run, let his boys spot her and then we can pursue her. She may already be on her way out of the building.." He points Rocky to the ducts.

Cerberus flip flops from watching the door and watching Rocky.

Carl's Coffins
Tuesday 8/19/70 03:50:29
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden

"FRAK!!"" Rocky's mood has gone from bad to worse. Giving anyone coming out of the tubes a run like hell look, Rocky puts his two cents in, "How in the hell would she have gotten out? Her damn door is still closed. We walk away and she's gone."

Rocky steps across the hallway and looks in to the "room" to the left of the girl's room. He starts knocking on the wall trying to get an idea what the dividing wall is made out of.

Carl's Coffins
Tuesday 8/19/70 03:50:29

He'd had to choose the one to the left of the elf girl's room because a couple of skinny naked junkies were biting and clawing at each other to be the first out of the coffin on the right. Meanwhile, his feet were blocking the door to the coffin below and to the left of the target room, and just as he was getting an idea of what the walls were like, the door pushed open, banging him hard on the shins. From above and all around the two trolls hastily or partially dressed denizens of the lower classes were scambling for safety - an old bag woman flew out of a third-tier coffin and landed square on Cerberus' back before tumbling off and running for the stairs.
It was lucky there were stairwells at both ends of the hall, or they would have been stampeded.

Carl's Coffins
Tuesday 8/19/70 03:50:32

Cerberus walked to the far side of the hallway and backed up a little ways so he could minimize any ricochets from what he was about to do. Some of the coffin residents who were running his direction from either side of the hallway saw his massive frame and the gun he was toting around and quickly changed direction and ran the other direction, usually after screaming something incoherent. He lowered his Ingram White Knight until the glowing red crosshairs in his eyes were over the hatch that his target was hiding behind.

Blowing water from his nose and mouth, Cerberus screamed over the fire alarm, "Rocky, come over here and kneel behind me bro and cover your ears. I've had enough of this damn hatch mocking me."

Rocky looked like he was about to protest on behalf of the elf girl inside the tube but then he saw that Cerberus was probably going to shoot anyway he crossed the hallway and did his best to protect his ears. When Rocky was close enough Cereberus gave him the plan, "After I stop shooting, move in and check the target or try yanking on the hatch to open it. Remember don't let her come out without being blindfolded".

The hallway was still cluttered with people of all ages and in various states of undress and sobriety scrambling out of the building. Some, when they saw what was about to happen, got out of the line of fire as best they could. Other were too panicked to notice. Still others simply had nowhere to escape to. But Cerberus had had enough mucking about. Standing there in the semi dark hallway with his glowing green eyes, he gave the command to his baby to fire off a full burst into the hatch. The gun kicked to life and started spitting out bullets at sub sonic speeds. Fire poured out of the end of the barrel in flashes lighting up the hallway and the front of Cerberus as the gunpowder and gasses forcefully escaped the weapon, some of which was diverted out the specially built vents in the sides of the barrel.

With surprisingly little effort Cerberus was able to keep the gun trained on the target thanks to those gas vents in the barrel and the gyromount the gun was attached to helping him hold it, not to mention his massive muscles. 10 shell casing got spit out the side of the gun one by one in the course of about a second, and fell to the ground and rattled around - not that anyone in the hallway could hear it thanks to the deafening sound of gunfire and bullets hitting metal.

A lot happened during that second. Cerberus saw at least two coffin denizens fall to the ground amid fountains of blood, but he had no time to inspect the damage, as he was distracted by someone hitting across his armored chest in several places with a hammer - blowback!

If Cerberus was hurt, Rocky didn't notice - a fraction of an instant after the firing stopped, the door to the stubborn room 423 gave a shuddering creak and just fell out of its frame to the floor. In an instant, the former athlete was at the edge of the aperture, peering in - there she was, the same little elf as before, only now fully dressed and apparently asleep - her only movement was a sort of twitching of her face. Was she hit?

Carl's Coffins
Tuesday 8/19/70 03:50:33

No, he didn't see any blood. But she was definitely out of it. His long arms easily reached deep into the coffin, and he grabbed her blanket and quickly double-wrapped her head in it before scooping her up and out of the ruined doorway. She was barely over a meter-and-a-half, maybe fifty kilos - she wouldn't even slow him down.
He looked over at Cerberus' machine-gun trained on them. But his green-eyed partner seemed satisfied with the blanket-blindfold and started surveying the carnage he'd wreaked.
Rocky breathed a sigh of relief, just as a window on his glasses opened up, confirming his outgoing text message to Lone Star Security Services! Apparently, he'd just called the cops....

Cerberus was glad to see that the tiny mage was suitably blindfolded, and turned to see if there were any casualties to his rear. There were not. Stoically enduring the ice-cold water cascading down on his head, he looked back down in the direction he'd fired. There was more than enough light from the coffins whose doors were ajar for his enhanced eyes to get a clear view of the scene. There were still a couple of people emerging from their coffins, but fewer than before. He could see that he'd hit three people. As he looked, one of them staggered up and made his way to the stairwell, clutching a shattered shoulder. Another victim, an old dwarf who looked like he hadn't had a decent meal in decades, was obviously dead, a widening pool of blood surrounding his head. Finally, there was an Asian human woman. She'd been gut-shot, and it was easy to see what an Ingram slug-fragment tumbling through the air could do to an unarmored abdomen - she was on her back, feet toward Cerberus, using one arm to drag herself backwards towards the stairs, while another shakily held a small pistol pointed at the cybered troll. She left a thick trail of red on the floor as she inched her way along, and some of her intestines dragged alongside her. At her shoulder, a child of about four tried futilely to help push her along, sobbing words of encouragement in a language Cerberus could not understand.

Carl's Coffins
Tuesday 8/19/70 03:50:35
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden

"FRAK!" Rocky swears as he turns to Cerberus with the elf girl over his shoulder, adjusting his grip as she starts to move a little.

"We got a problem, unless I just blacked out and wanted to FUBAR this night even further someone just hacked my freak'n comm and text message the Star." Rocky reaches down to his belt with his free hand and hits the power button on his comm to shut it down and stop any other messages from going out. So glad I wasted the cash on upgrading this thing, FRAK.

"I'm thinking Fish Breath's information was wrong and we got a hacker not not a slitch mage. Even with the door getting blown off her tube she was laying their with her eye's closed. Don't you think if she was a mage she would have be ready to blast the first thing arounf the corner?" Rocky moves the girl so they can talk to her, making sure to keep a good grip on her.

Carl's Coffins
Tuesday 8/19/70 03:50:38
Cerberus - street samurai
PAN: Hidden

Cerberus's adrenaline is flowing full force by now. He hears Rocky trying to talk to him to his left which is a good sign in of itself but he cant afford to turn and look in his direction to see if the girl is a threat or not because one of the people he shot, an asian lady who is half crawling half being pulled by a little kid has a gun pointed right at him. Knowing Rocky is probably looking at him awaiting a response he nods his head towards the asian lady.

Cerberus makes every effort to not move a single muscle as he stands there. His ripped body that is as thick as it is tall hidden underneathe his charcoal black business suit keeps his IWK light machine gun frozen in place. Water mixed with sweat dripping off his dark green skin. Feeling the water run over his smooth bald head he wished he had some hair right about now but fighters usually keep it short and a bald head was far easier upkeep than some mop. His horns trying to poke out of the temples in his forehead had also been ground down, another habit from his fighting days and having to wear helmets when at work. Besides his body the only noticable thing about him was the glowing neon green eyes and the matt black pointy ears which were metal.

Hearing Rocky mention something about Lonestar kicks thing up a notch. He already knew they were on a clock but now the clock had a very real deadline. He couldnt afford to get caught now after his actions had gotten somebody killed, there would be no hope of ever getting out of jail, and from the looks of it he was about to be responsable for a second death if he didnt help this asian lady out.

Without moving Cerberus attempts to try and aleviate matters, "Mam I can help, but you need to stop moving. You're making things worse."

Carl's Coffins
Tuesday 8/19/70 03:50:39

In response, the woman's animal-panicked eyes darted from the other big troll clutching the blanket wrapped girl, then to her own child, and then to Cerberus's green eyes penetrating the misty half-light of the hallway. Everything came together in her mind, and she stopped crawling to grip her child tightly to her breast, and steadied the pistol with renewed determination. She barked something at Cerberus, blood spraying from her lips with every word. He couldn't understand a word of it - hell, he couldn't even tell what language it was - but the tone was unmistakeable...it was a warning.

Carl's Coffins
Tuesday 8/19/70 03:50:39
Caittie - Technomancer - Hidden
PAN - Passive

As Caittie regains all her senses and wakes up from her stint in the virtual realm, she feels that something is immediately off. Instead of being horizontal on a mattress in a coffin tank, she is vertical and she cant feel the floor. Opening her eyes, she starts to panic as she cant see past a crude blindfold that has been tied around her head, and the fact that two big hands are holding her off the ground.

Not a split second after sensing all these things, she starts squirming around while screaming at the top of her lungs, "Let me go! Let me go!" Her cries barely heard over the spraying water and alarms going off in the building.
She just happens to catch one of her feet on Rocky's chest, and takes footing with her other one. Pushing out with all her might, she struggles vainly to escape, but lacks the power to do so against the massive troll's strength.