Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 06:11:50; Time Track Apartments, North Puyallup City, Seattle
Aeryn; PAN = passive [LTG, Skinlink, Datajack]; SIN = Selina Seymore (not broadcast)

Aeryn sends Collateral coordinates in the Hell's Kitchen sector, close to the point where they decided to store Zion's bike here.

< [Aeryn] See you there... >

She waits a minute or so after the orc and the elf have disappeared, before starting the engine and heading there herself.

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 06:21:00; Quiky Mart just off Hwy-410, Puyallup District

Collateral's bike roars to life as Zion climbs on the back. The pair make their way out of the collection of apartment buildings, to the side roads and off towards the highways. Aeyrn and Cynic follow several minutes behind with the cargo that represents both a paycheck and the team's reputations.

After a short, uneventful trip, the team finds themselves once again leaving the highway at the Quiky Mart...

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 06:21:00; Quiky Mart just off Hwy-410, Puyallup District, Seattle
Aeryn; PAN = passive [LTG, Skinlink, Datajack]; SIN = Selina Seymore (not broadcast)

< [Aeryn] Looks like we are clear... >

Aeryn stops the suburban next to the two bikers and opens the doors, so Zion can hop inside.

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 06:21:30; Quiky Mart just off Hwy-410, Puyallup District, Seattle

As the team re-stacks between the bike and the suburban, a light rain begins to fall. The three of the team who are locals know exactly what that means: Acid rain. While the bike is frequently treated for the effects there in and the suburban surely has been as well, Collateral's shotgun and other exposed gear will not fair well from a soaking. What's that saying? Oh yea: When it rains, it pours.

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 06:21:30; Quiky Mart just off Hwy-410, Puyallup District, Seattle
Aeryn; PAN = passive [LTG, Skinlink, Datajack]; SIN = Selina Seymore (not broadcast)

< [Aeryn] Great! ... No, really, that's great! Most of the locals will surely hide somewhere while it's raining like that. Should make it easier for us to get through without much trouble. Stash any gear you need to in the car, then we can be on our way. >

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 06:21:30; Quiky Mart just off Hwy-410, Puyallup District, Seattle
Zion;PAN=passive[LTG] SIN=gabe Moore(broadcasting)

Zions hops in the back of the SUV along with the box and corpse crouching next in between the driver and passangers." Im fine right where i am, im going to try to get some shut eye, wake me if there are any problems" zion makes his way to the back of the SUV and sets his alarm to wake him in about two hours and begins to prop his feet up and try to get as comfortable as possible to get some sleep.

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 06:21:47; Quiky Mart just off Hwy-410, Puyallup District, Seattle
Collateral; PAN = passive [LTG, Datajack]; SIN = Theodore Faron (Broadcast)

Hurrying, Collateral quickly grabs the shotgun out of his bike's holster as the rain starts to fall. He grabs a few other things from his saddlebags, including a grenade launcher and some explosives gear, and hustles over to the van, knocking once on the back door, opening it, and carefully unloading his things. He checks inside his jacket to make sure his backup pistol is still there, and frowns at the sky.

"I'm just going to keep my things in here so they don't get damaged. Expensive shit, you know?"

Just my luck...

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 06:21:47; Quiky Mart just off Hwy-410, Puyallup District, Seattle
Zion;PAN=passive[LTG] SIN=gabe Moore(broadcasting)

Zions helps place Collaterals things into the SUV and secures them so they don't get knocked around during the drive. Zion noticing the heavy weapons Collateral carrying and eyes the grenade launcher with a what the hell do you need this for look on his face"lots of shit alright." Zion repeats with a obvious sense of humor and look on his face."you going to be alright driving in that stuff bud?"

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 06:22:07; Quiky Mart just off Hwy-410, Puyallup District, Seattle
Collateral; PAN = passive [LTG, Datajack]; SIN = Theodore Faron (Broadcast)

"Hell yeah, man. This is far from the first time I've driven around in acid rain. I just usually have less stuff with me."

Collateral walks back to his bike, and starts it up, wiping the rain from his eyes and looking down at the fading patches on his jacket. He waits, expectantly, for the Suburban to pull out of the parking lot and continue their journey.

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 06:22:30; Quiky Mart just off Hwy-410, Puyallup District, Seattle
Zion;PAN=passive[LTG] SIN=gabe Moore(broadcasting)

Zion just smirked"i usually try to stay out of acidic rain"letting out a little laugh"glad you guys warned me about my bike especially with the rain starting, ill take good care of your gear chummer" zion handled the weapons placed in the SUV with care whipping them down with what ever cloth or rag was lying around. clearing every weapon before he placed them down after they were clean. "lets roll Aeryn"

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 06:22:40; on the way towards Hell's Kitchen, Puyallup District, Seattle
Aeryn; PAN = hidden [LTG, Skinlink, Datajack]; SIN = Selina Seymore (not broadcast)

"Alright. Off we go."

With that Aeryn puts the heavy car into motion, carefully maneuvering through the treacherous region.

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 07:01:00; Edge of Hell's Kitchen, Puyallup District, Seattle

Most of Collateral's gear safely transferred to the suburban, the two vehicles head southward into the rain. The road has seen better days... decades ago. The poor state of the road slows progress and nearly forty minutes later the team is about half as far as they expected. Volcanic ash covers the highway and has become the consistency of wet clay with the rain. The smell of the sulfur permeates the air and makes a person want to gag. The only positive thing is that with the rain, the volcanic ash is not blowing.

As they make their way through the desolate wasteland, the day begins to lighten just a bit indicating that somewhere above the clouds of ash and rain the sun has risen. It is doubtful it will be seen here for a while. Up ahead in the distance it appears a pair of cars are parked or abandoned blocking the the pitiful excuse for a highway.

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 07:01:00; Edge of Hell's Kitchen, Puyallup District, Seattle
Aeryn; PAN = hidden [LTG, Skinlink, Datajack]; SIN = Selina Seymore (not broadcast)

When there is enough room to get past, Aeryn will do so, carefully watching out for any potential trouble. If not, she will wake up the wizkid and ask him to take a look astrally.

As they get within a hundred meters of the cars, it is apparent that they are end to end, long ways across the road. They appear to have been placed their rather than simply abandoned. Driving around them will force the team off the road.

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 07:01:20; Edge of Hell's Kitchen, Puyallup District, Seattle
Aeryn; PAN = hidden [LTG, Skinlink, Datajack]; SIN = Selina Seymore (not broadcast)

Seeing now, that the cars have been placed there deliberately, Aeryn will alarm the rest, and make sure, that Zion gets up. She will also ask Cynic again, whether he can take a look astrally, what's awaiting them.

< [Aeryn] Careful. Trouble ahead. Two cars have been placed across the street as a barricade. I can probably just get around them with this car, but you never know in this part of town. Maybe Cynic can check out what's up there? >

Aeryn also recalls if any of her small drones are capable of going through the rain without trouble.

In the meantime, she stops the car and slowly drives it backwards, lights off, while she calls up a map of the area, looking for potential routes around this obstacle, in case it turns out to be too much hassle to get past here.

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 07:01:20; Hwy-410, Puyallup District, Seattle
Zion;PAN=passive[LTG] SIN=gabe Moore(broadcasting)


Zion wakes up whipping the small amount of sleep from his eyes." What are we looking at" as he crouches next to the driver seat looking out the window."once Wizkid looks around and calls it clear ill check it out" <Zion@collateral"hey chummer once wizkid checks out the parameter well check out the area make sure no surprises">Zion then pulls out his belt of daggers since he doesn't want to use his ingram and have it jam in the rain.

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 07:01:50; Edge of Hell's Kitchen, Puyallup District, Seattle

Cynic sits back in his seat and appears to immediately fall asleep. Not even a minute later he sits up. <<@All [Cynic] I checked the entire area and made a quick sweep out. Didn't see anything living... >> He looks to Aeryn and Zion for direction.

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 07:02:00; Edge of Hell's Kitchen, Puyallup District, Seattle
Aeryn; PAN = hidden [LTG, Skinlink, Datajack]; SIN = Selina Seymore (not broadcast)

< [Aeryn] Nothing living there... so should we try to get around or should we try to remove the obstacle? We could also take a closer look in person. >

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 07:02:10; Edge of Hell's Kitchen, Puyallup District, Seattle
Collateral; PAN = passive [LTG, Datajack]; SIN = Theodore Faron (Broadcast)

Collateral pulls his motorcycle ahead of the suburban and gets smoothly off. He looks back at the SUV as he talks into his subvocal microphone, bandana still tied around his mouth.

<@Team[Collateral] I'll go on foot and check it out. Zion, you're welcome to come if you'd like. They may have booby-trapped the road, we used to pull that scam back in the day.>

Moving slowly towards the path around the barricade, Collateral unzips his armored jacket, making it easier to get at his pistol if need be, and slips a knife out of a sheath at his leg. As he nears the cars, he carefully studies the ground that the suburban would have to take, looking specifically for mines, explosives, or other jury-rigged booby traps.

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 07:02:10; Edge of Hell's Kitchen, Puyallup District, Seattle
Zion;PAN=passive[LTG] SIN=gabe Moore(broadcasting)

Zion leaves his ingram in his jacket and pulls out his knife just in case there is trouble. as he closes the door to the SUV Zion covers Collateral's back searching for any movement in the distance. "i'll cover your six chummer."

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 07:03:00; Edge of Hell's Kitchen, Puyallup District, Seattle

The rain has slowed to a drizzle as the duo move forward from the vehicles, each with a knife in their hands. The sulfur smells of rotten eggs and the acid content of the rain has its own unique smell and a metallic taste.

Collateral walks slowly towards the vehicles looking intently while Zion keeps watch on the perimeter and distance. The old ork then walks towards the side of the road scanning the ground. What he finds is not quite what he suspected...
@Collateral

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 07:03:00; Edge of Hell's Kitchen, Puyallup District, Seattle
Collateral; PAN = passive [LTG, Datajack]; SIN = Theodore Faron (Broadcast)

Moving slowly, Collateral bends down to examine the plastic spikes at the side of the road, making sure to keep his distance. He frowns at what he sees.

<@Team[Collateral] There's plastic spikes in the ground here. Looks like they would do quite a bit of damage to the suburban's tires, so it's basically impassable. The gangs in this area used to be pretty low-tech, but they've been running more complicated schemes lately. Actually, a couple of the Princesses got hit by some Carabando Diggers when they were attempting to set up monitoring systems out here on the edge of HK. Hopefully we haven't yet been spotted.>

Suddenly wary of wireless signals, Collateral shuffles the programs on his commlink and begins scanning the area. Signal reception out here should be poor, and he doesn't think he would even be able to log on to the matrix, but there might be some local nodes....

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 07:03:03; Edge of Hell's Kitchen, Puyallup District, Seattle

@Collateral
The complete lack of wireless signals, including a connection to the grid, does have one benefit: Once you start looking for wireless nodes, they're not too hard to find. After locating and isolating the signals of the team, there are two left. One must be the suburban but there is one more and it is hard to miss; This signal strength is stronger than anything the team has.

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 07:03:06; Edge of Hell's Kitchen, Puyallup District, Seattle

@Collateral
Switching to VR and connecting to the PAN interface of the new signal, you are presented with a simplistic interface. A door with a globe. The globe has a hand shaped impression in it.
This iconary is recognizable as the logon interface to the node.

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 07:03:12; Edge of Hell's Kitchen, Puyallup District, Seattle
Collateral; PAN = passive [LTG, Datajack]; SIN = Theodore Faron (Broadcast)


Concerned by recent events, Collateral logs off the node to inform the team.

<@Team[Collateral] Well, things aren't looking so good. There's another node out here besides the suburban, pretty good signal strength. There's also a login interface that's pretty utilitarian, but that doesn't mean it isn't tough to crack. It could be for a camera interface or something, maybe a drone. I could try and hack it, but from the signal strength I'm not certain I'd be able to get in.>

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 07:03:15; Edge of Hell's Kitchen, Puyallup District, Seattle
Aeryn; PAN = passive [LTG, Skinlink, Datajack]; SIN = Selina Seymore (not broadcast)

< [Aeryn] Are the spikes only at the sides or also on the road? >

Aeryn gets into the back of the car, while waiting for an answer to see if there is some strong rope or cable suitable for towing.

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 07:03:15; Edge of Hell's Kitchen, Puyallup District, Seattle
Collateral; PAN = passive [LTG, Datajack]; SIN = Theodore Faron (Broadcast)

<@Team[Collateral] Looks like they're just off to the side of the road, and they figured that the cars would be enough to force people to the side. Generic smuggler trap. I'm worried that the presence of that node means we've been spotted, though.>

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 07:03:30; Edge of Hell's Kitchen, Puyallup District, Seattle

Aeryn
A quick check of the suburban turns up a lot of nothing. In fact, the interior has been recently completely redone. The carpets are clean except for dirt and dust tracked in by the team.

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 07:03:30; Edge of Hell's Kitchen, Puyallup District, Seattle
Zion;PAN=passive[LTG] SIN=gabe Moore(broadcasting)

Zion checks for recent tracks in the ash, keeping an eye on Collaterals back and the SUV to make sure no one sneaks up behind them. <Zion@Team"if they noticed us then lets not let them get a jump on us and head out of here. Aeryn is there any tug rope or chains in the SUV we could use to drag these wrecks out of the way so we can get going smoother? if not Collateral, do you want to see if we can move them out of the way? they seem to be empty so they can't weight more then max 1000 LBS we can maybe lift them out of the way.">Zion makes sure to wipe his glasses every few minutes so not to obstruct his vision enhancements on them.

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 07:03:45; Edge of Hell's Kitchen, Puyallup District, Seattle
Aeryn; PAN = passive [LTG, Skinlink, Datajack]; SIN = Selina Seymore (not broadcast)

< [Aeryn] Already checked... nothing. Anyone got a rope in their pack? >

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 07:03:45; Edge of Hell's Kitchen, Puyallup District, Seattle
Zion;PAN=passive[LTG] SIN=gabe Moore(broadcasting)


Zion walks over to check the front of the SUV to see if its fitted with a wench<Zion @ Team "no rope sorry i didnt know we would be doing removal.">

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 07:04:00; Edge of Hell's Kitchen, Puyallup District, Seattle
Aeryn; PAN = passive [LTG, Skinlink, Datajack]; SIN = Selina Seymore (not broadcast)

< [Aeryn] Three options... ONE - remove the cars, if we manage; TWO - remove the spikes and drive around; THREE - look for another route. Any preferences? >

Saturday March 2, 2070, 07:04:01; Hell's Kitchen

"I can summon an Earth Elemental to help move the cars if you'd like, or a Fire elemental to melt the stakes. Either would work and would probably keep the local wildlife from messing with us, since odds are we're being watched right now."

Cynic spoke while looking around at the surrounding Barrens, looking for the watcher he knew would be there.

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 07:04:04; Edge of Hell's Kitchen, Puyallup District, Seattle
Collateral; PAN = passive [LTG, Datajack]; SIN = Theodore Faron (Broadcast)

Careful not to touch the cars, Collateral peers in the window.

<@Team[Collateral] Well, whatever we do, we should probably do it quickly. I'm worried that these cars might be booby trapped, and so trying to get rid of the spikes somehow might be the best option. I don't know how long that would take, though.>

Collateral looks up at the sky, frowning at the continued rain. He wishes he could hold his shotgun openly without it being damaged.

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 07:04:04; Edge of Hell's Kitchen, Puyallup District, Seattle
Zion;PAN=passive[LTG] SIN=gabe Moore(broadcasting)

Zion walks next to where the spikes are laid out.<Zion@Team "lets break the spikes. Cynic either fire or earth would work lets just get this done and get moving again, i dont like being exposed like this.">

@Collateral

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 07:04:27; Edge of Hell's Kitchen, Puyallup District, Seattle
Collateral; PAN = passive [LTG, Datajack]; SIN = Theodore Faron (Broadcast)

Ears straining, Collateral hears the low hum and rattle of engines through the pitter-patter of the rain on the car roof in front of him.

Vut.

<@Team[Collateral] I hear engines. They're far off, but they're there. Whatever we do, we'd better hurry.>

Collateral heads back to the Suburban, grabbing his shotgun, thumbing EX-Explosive rounds into the magazine of his shotgun. No star around to hear 'em go boom... He restarts the engine of his bike, not hopping on yet, but remaining vigilant. He moves to crouch down near the derelict cars...

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 07:04:30; Edge of Hell's Kitchen, Puyallup District, Seattle

Cynics gets out of the van and steps off the road and out of the domain of a spirit of man. He calls an earth elemental, which rises up from the ground beneath the layer of acid rain soaked ash. Cynic also realizes that the decades of natural and unnatural devastation from Mount Rainer and Seattle's pollution has aspected the domain... and not to something nice. He feels his magic weakened an is glad he did not attempt something closer to the limits of his magic.... as they are reduced in this area.

The earth elemental shakes off the ash and makes quick work of spikes, pounding them into the ground. Once completed, it turns to the young mage, bows and the dirt collapses back to the ground. By the time it is completed, the rest of the vigilant team can hear the far off hum of the approaching engines.

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 07:04:35; Edge of Hell's Kitchen, Puyallup District, Seattle
Collateral; PAN = passive [LTG, Datajack]; SIN = Theodore Faron (Broadcast)

As soon as the earth elemental is finished it's work, Collateral hops on his bike and drives over the newly hazard-free ground, giving the cars a decent berth. He drives on ahead slightly, careful to watch for more booby traps or errant gangers.

<@Team[Collateral] The engines are coming from the north, which is pretty much where we're headed. Aeryn, if you can alter our route a little bit to take us out of their way, without losing time, let us know.>

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 07:04:40; Edge of Hell's Kitchen, Puyallup District, Seattle
Aeryn; PAN = passive [LTG, Skinlink, Datajack]; SIN = Selina Seymore (not broadcast)

< [Aeryn] Certainly. What direction are they coming from? >

Aeryn sets the car in motion, when everyone has settled in, and carefully drives around the obstacle and back to the street. She turns the lights off, not wanting to make a too visible target.

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 07:05:00; Edge of Hell's Kitchen, Puyallup District, Seattle

Both vehicles are able to get around the vehicles with the path created by elemental without much issue. Coming from the north, the team sees a number of vehicles headed towards them at a high rate of speed.

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 07:05:00; Edge of Hell's Kitchen, Puyallup District, Seattle
Zion;PAN=passive[LTG] SIN=gabe Moore(broadcasting)

Zion jumps into the SUV before the team takes off looking to the north with his googles on looking for anything that would be a good target if they have to have shoot out, While doing so he checks his ingram mag to make sure that its still loaded with Ex ammo and not wet from any rain tracked in from outside.

Zion looks to Aeryn"Think this SUV is equipped with Thermal dampening"while looking to the north hoping to get a look at what is coming before what ever is coming see's them.

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 07:05:01; Hell's Kitchen, Puyallup District, Seattle
Aeryn; PAN = passive [LTG, Skinlink, Datajack]; SIN = Selina Seymore (not broadcast)

< [Aeryn] Sorry, no idea. Let's hit it! >

Aeryn now begins to increase the speed, not to dangerous levels, though, considering the somewhat precarious underground with the little repair it got during the last decades.

"Cynic, can you call another of your friends, maybe, to slow them down or even better stop them? Make the ground slippery where they are, or something?"

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 07:05:01; Edge of Hell's Kitchen, Puyallup District, Seattle
Zion;PAN=passive[LTG] SIN=gabe Moore(broadcasting)

Zion sat in the back of the SUV looking out the window mentally preparing to have to repel a aerial attack which wouldn't be easy without some type of camoflauge, "i wish this thing had thermal dampening"

Saturday March 2, 2070; 07:05:03 Hell Kitchen- Puyallup UCAS

If these guys had the first clue how hard it is to work the Art in this astral junkyard.

Cynic repressed the sigh and plastered a cocky grin across his face, knowing that sometimes appearance was everything in dealing with shadowrunners

"Ya, I'll call up an Air Elemental to delay them."

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 07:05:10; Edge of Hell's Kitchen, Puyallup District, Seattle
Zion;PAN=passive[LTG] SIN=gabe Moore(broadcasting)

Zion looks at Cynic "dont have to excatly go ahead and try to take it down quite yet look at it and see what it is first if you can, it might be a patrol doing random sweeps."

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 07:04:40; Edge of Hell's Kitchen, Puyallup District, Seattle
Collateral; PAN = passive [LTG, Datajack]; SIN = Theodore Faron (Broadcast)

Collateral pulls ahead of the SUV, Attempting to increase his speed without causing too much more noise. Not much point, they've seen us. Might as well just run, now. We took too damn long back there. Collateral holds his shotgun in one hand while piloting his bike with the other, attempting vainly to shield it from the rain, and then just sticks it back in his holster. Vut. Not much point in protecting it. 'sides, I'll need it if those fraggers catch up. Collateral couldn't hear the conversation being had in the SUV, and spoke into his subvocal mic.

<@Team[Collateral] What's the plan here? Outrun them?>

Saturday March 2nd, 2070; 07:05:02; Hell's Kitchen, Puyallup District, Seattle
Aeryn; PAN = passive [LTG, Skinlink, Datajack]; SIN = Selina Seymore (not broadcast)

< [Aeryn] Unless you have a better idea... I don't intend to stop and fight them, if I get the choice... >

Saturday March 2, 2070; 07:05:12; Hell's Kitchen - Puyallup

Cynic:@All: I'm on it. I'll summon up an elemental to hide the SUV and then we'll drop back behind Collateral. That should take care of it, and if they cause us trouble we'll at least have surprise.

With that the young mage pulled off his electronic glasses and rolled the window down a few inches. He focused his energies on the astral, feeling the wind in his face, putting his consciousness in tune with the energies of the air as it stubbornly pressed against the motion of the car, sullenly slapped across his face then playfully ruffled his short hair. He sought to entice that energy into a coherent construct in tune with his own energy patterns, programed to preform to his will.

Summoning in a moving car in an astrally polluted area sucked, and his first attempt resulted in nothing more than a cold nose and wet face. He grimaced and brought his will to bear again, this time more successfully.

In the astral the swirling spirit resembled a haze of glowing green smog.

What is thy will Master?

The spirit spoke directly into Cynic's mind, sounding a lot like a hissing tea kettle just before it reached full voice. In the same mental voice he gave it his command.

Conceal the vehicle in which my body rests from the eyes of others.