Ringo nods. "I apologize. I misunderstood you and thought you were not addressing me. And you're right, I should have just asked you for a call number. Those were the major things that made me feel left in the dark. And that just led to an illogical jump that made me conclude I must be in the dark in regards to other stuff as well."

He takes a deep breath. "I have to admit too, I'm used to working with a tight knit crew...I guess I placed the same expectations on you and your team, and that wasn't fair of me." He gives her a wan smile. "I guess that constitutes a bit of an admission of guilt on my part, huh?" He shakes his head. "Well anyway, that was my mistake, and it's in the past now. Since you haven't fired me yet, I'm assuming we'll put this behind us?"

He smiles at her, and gets a nod in return. Well, still not friendly, but I guess this means at least things are cool between us.

Looking over at Parvati, he adds, "And I'm sorry for being rude. You were just trying to be helpful and polite. You didn't deserve to get snapped at. I'm sorry."

He smiles and her, and she gives him a friendly smile back. Much friendlier, but I'm glad things are good now with everyone. Whew. Not exactly a great first day on the job. Time to make up for it..

Clearing his throat, he says, "OK, well that's behind us now. On to biz. First, you want to actually give me a number so I can ID myself to you all? Second, I do have the comm frequencies now." He looks at Parvati. "Thanks again."

Turning back to Blitz, he continues, "Now here's the deal. I checked, and this building does have power and Matrix access. I can try to finesse us back online here, but without setting up some other creative little illusions, sooner or later someone's going to figure out that people are here who aren't supposed to be. That leaves us with two options."

Holding up his right hand, he ticks them off. "One. I try to finesse us some juice, and set up illusions along the way. Hopefully they'll hold, but that's not a sure thing. Plus, it risks exposing us, and from what I've picked up so far, we're running a low profile, so that ain't good. Or two, and this is my preferred option, I look around for another place that I can access the Matrix from, and set up a second safehouse slash bolthole there. I figure it gives us the option of deniability, that is, I can cut and run somewhere else if necessary and doesn't expose our primary safehouse, and two, having more than one place can always prove to be useful for backup. You're the boss, you make the call. How do you want to play it?"

He waits for a response, when another thought hits him. "Oh, and in regards to hitting Pioneer or Central, do you have a preference for what we take? Are we just looking for quick cash, something we'll need to fence, maybe a person to extract, any particular parameters? If you got any specifics on what you're looking for or how you want to play it, now's the time to tell me. And what kind of numbers are we talking about here as far as nuyen? What's the range for the kinda score we're looking to pull?"

The questions are flying out now as Ringo puts his personal issues behind him and focuses on the biz, playing through the angles, trying to make up for some lost time.

:: Blitz listens to his options and internally breaths a sigh of relief as it looks like things would work out after all. ::

"I agree, the second option seems to suit is best. As for here, we have two generators in the van so we can keep power internal. I would recommend a sat uplink for you to locate a hole in the wall. Probably something like a run of the mill motel room will work for temp purposes. The team call signs are as follows. I'm One, Parvati is Two, Ivan Three, Clay Four, Ayuda Six and you'll be Seven."

:: Blitz begins to strip out of the tight hardened armor jumpsuit revealing nothing but form fit underneath as she speaks to Ringo. She then begins to pull on a pair of jeans and a tshirt followed by a secure tech jacket. ::

"As far as our targets, our primary goal is to come away with as much capitol as possible. Whatever will bring in the money is what we want to concentrate on. That said, I would consider it a significant bonus if we can cause as much disruption of their activities as possible in the process."

Ringo nods. "OK then, low profile motel room. What do we have in the way of transport? I'll use the satlink to find the hole in the wall, but for serious decking I'd prefer not to have to deck my way through a satellite first. Makes it that much unnecessarily harder. Also, do we care how much noise we make in the process of rustling up the cash, or do we want to be outta here before they notice it's gone kind of thing?"

Ringo closes his eyes for a moment, thinking. "How about this. I'll get cracking on seeing what some possibilities are for us to hit. At least a couple people can start looking around, seeing if we'll have anywhere to offload what we pick up. If we don't have anywhere or anyone to dump the goods, it will definitely have an impact on what we're looking for."

"Just do some preliminary research on what's going on behind closed doors. Find out what projects are being worked on, what's hush hush and what they have in those buildings that may be valuable. Once we have an idea of our options, we'll make a decision as a group."

Ringo nods. "Got it. I'll get working on that satellite uplink. I should be able to deck through a sat RTG into the Detroit area RTG. For the time being, that should suffice until I can get set up somewhere else. I'll also try to pull the basic specs on the companies when I get the chance."

He gestures towards his deck. "If there's nothing else, I'll assume we're on the same page now and ready to roll, and I'll get cracking."

Parvati Had tilted her head and raise one eyebrow on that great rant of his.... shocked with his reaction... but after the I'm sorrys and smiles.... she put it past her... as he smiled she smiled back thinking to herself...

The psyche of a man can be so trying at times.... but to get the job done you have amuse them..."

Walking up to him she put her hand on his shoulder....

"Love, again as I had said before... If you need anything just ask... I am just as new to this crew as you are."

She tells him in a soft calming voice... and showing the tenderness in her eyes...

:: Blitz nods. ::

"Just so we're clear, you're just hacking to get the motel room...I don't want you hacking into the target buildings from here."

Ringo nods at Blitz. "I hear you boss. No problems, and no worries about getting traced back here. I'm just going to use the satlink to get onto the area RTG. Once there, legal stuff only. It's all good."

Looking up into Parvati's eyes, he couldn't help but think Wow, she has nice eyes...and she has been really nice to me. I feel bad for being snappy with her, especially since she's been so friendly. Even now, she's speaking really nicely. And that is definitely not proper grammar. Oh well, I know what I mean. And besides, I appreciate that.

Patting her hand, he says, "Thanks a lot Parvati. You're right, you did tell me that. Thanks for being understanding, and I'm sorry again that I snapped." He smiles up at her. "Don't worry, if I need anything, next time I'll remember to ask. Now I better get cracking on this."

With that, he heads over to his deck and begins to set up the equipment for a satellite uplink. When that is complete, he gets comfortable and jacks in, zooming off into the technoworld that is the Matrix.

:: The waiting game is always the hardest. She feels her vulnerability so much more with the lack of action. They had to be looking for her, but did Nikaido suspect her of her plan going forward? Did she fear at all for her safety or did her ego prevent her from viewing Blitz as a threat? If nothing else, she had to be viewed as a security threat after what happened in CalFree and Los Angeles. ::

:: Blitz had to be one of Nikaido's biggest embarassments, the one that not only got away, but robbed them blind in the process, then removed her designer dog collar while trashing one of her little pet projects. The brief smile that crosses her lips as she thinks those thoughts quickly errodes as visions of her implanted dreams flash through her mind. ::

:: The faces of each of her team mates turning from her in that dream imposed colusiem, turning their thumbs down in a sign of betrayal. Rationality told her it was Nikaido's vision, not her's, but she would also never forget that tiny video loop of Xayide's refusal of Nikaido's offer to return Blitz to the team in exchange for a favor. That single betrayal, however doctored and coerced by Nikaido, is the single worst memory of those events. It's what lent creedence to the horrible nightmares they programmed her brain with and nearly turned her into a ticking time bomb. ::

:: As these thoughts usually do, her mind turned to thoughts about her one true rescuer. How many times had he arrived to save her now? The one person who enabled her to direct her anguish and self destruction into a weapon bent on revenge. The only person alive she actually trusted. He never lied to her. Never softened the ugly truth, in fact, sometimes shoved it forcefully down her throat. She almost walked away from his harsh lessens once, but she had learned the error of that mistake all too quickly. ::

:: Fingering the keypad of the phone, she feels the need to call and just hear the hard grave voice, that superior tone that flared her anger just enough to keep her mind sharp and focused. Regret, fear, guilt, desire, none of that mattered when her blood began to run hot. It's like it just boiled out of her blood. It almost made her miss the close quarters where she would ride on the edge of his patience. She crossed the line once, but it was necessary to figure out where it laid in the sand. Now she was fairly sure she knew how far she could push before crossing it a final time. ::

:: The sound of the burly troll and his companion returning snapped her out of her contemplation. ::

"You guys take care of the locals? I don't want anyone sniffing around for extra handouts. Oh..."

:: She tosses a disposable phone to each of the guys before moving to Parvati, Ayuda and Ringo and handing them each two as well. ::

"...everyone use these phones while in the area. We'll change them out if we're here longer than a week."

"Da, comrade. They will not be returning."

Ivan examined the phone, holding it between one massive finger and his thumb. Very carefully he dropped it into the pocket of his coat.

"Will use."

Ayuda climbed out of the van, glancing around the warehouse.

So much the same...like coming home.

He stepped over to the two newest members, introducing himself simply as "Ayuda". Not overly tall, especially compared to Gabe and Ivan, Ayuda stands at 6'0" even, ice blue eyes and black hair highlighting the dusky skin, broken by white creases of two old scars, one horizontally across his forehead, the other vertically down his cheek. They spoil any sense of classic beauty his face may have had, but he exudes a sense of calm and precision. He's obviously South American, and the hint of a few bright colored beads peak out from under his collar.

"If you need me, let me know. Blitz is a bit...rough at the best of times, but none of it's intentional. What roles will you two be playing in our team?"

1, this is 6. Good to be back in the cradle again. What section of this place you want warded?

:: Blitz climbs into her van and settles down into the seat nearest the panel of electronic controls and directly jacks into the port available there. She had seen a number of delivery vehicles in the city while driving around, and having saved images of them, she begins to program 4 different variations that matched the make and model of her own van. She spends plenty of time getting as many of details as accurately as possible, then programs the transpoder library and morphing license plate to match each vehicle. A really hardcore decker with a focus on her van might be able to see through her deception, but it was quite unlikely. ::

"One to Six. Try to get as much as the security zone that Ringo set up. Can you make it opaque?"

The virtual vistas of the matrix open up before Ringo, different somehow over the delay of the satellite uplink. The Detroit RTG is dominated by Ares symbology, over a dozen of their corporate subsidaries having major access nodes.

Hearing the Ayuda, over the audio speakers, Ringo responds, "Nice to meet you Six. I'm Seven, but you can call me Ringo."

Typing on the display screen so Blitz wouldn't see, he adds, "<smiley face> Yes, Blitz can be a little rough, but honestly, I like her. Anyway, in case you haven't guessed, I'm your resident decker. Numero unero seems to have a handle on most of the techincal stuff, so my admittedly average tech skills won't be on display much, I'm afraid. <big smiley face> If, however, you need a decker, I'm your man. Speaking of which, better get back to work. I am on the clock, after all. <winking smiley face>

Returning to the Detroit RTG, he turns his attention to the task at hand.

OK let's see, nothing fancy...just want to find a place to use as a secondary base and/or bolt hole. Let's see what we can find...

With that parameter in mind, Ringo dives deeper into the Detroit RTG, looking for the data he is after.

There are over twenty three hotels and motels in the greater Detroit metropolitan area which fulfill Ringo's search criteria. All of them have matrix access, rent by the hour, and accept certified cred.

Putting the list of options he's found so far onto his display screen, Ringo's voice sounds over the speakers. "Hey Blitz, got a list based on the initial search criteria. Anything else you can think of I can add to our prerequisites so I can start narrowing the list down?"

"Just pick one. You leave in 10."

Ringo locates one that seems to be pretty cheap and close by, about a 10-15 minute drive. After selecting one, his voice sounds over the speakers. "I'm planning on moving around a lot, since I've got so many to choose from. Since I'll just be doing initial research there, I want somewhere close enough to get back to without a massive inconvenience. I doubt I'll trip any security or raise any eyebrows when I'm making my initial runthrough, so this should be fine. When we have a target and get cracking for real, I'll pick somewhere farther out."

He jacks out, having locating the data he needed and saving the relevant info. He looks at Blitz. "I recommend the driver just stays with me. I won't be long, and it'll save us from making more trips between here and there that is necessary."

Packing up his deck and the necessary accessories, he says, "I'm ready to roll when my ride is."

"Clay, come with me. I'm gonna nab you a car so you can drive Ringo around."

:: With that, Blitz dons on her suit and fires up the bike and the van, it's doors sliding open as an invitation to the two team memers. ::

Ringo boards the van.

Stepping into the van Clay offers his hand to Ringo. "Afternoon, name's Clay, looks like I'll be your chauffer for the next few days."

Clay turns to close the door behind him only to watch as it shuts automatically. Shrugging he turns to Blitz "When you're ready B".

Shaking his hand, Ringo replies, "It's nice to be meet you Clay. I'm looking forward to working with you." Echoing Clay, he adds, "Ready to go Blitz."

Off in the distance you hear the bells of the Cathedral of St. Jude. It's now 1100.

:: Blitz plugs into her bike and leads the way out of the warehouse and into the night, the large van trailing behind her. ::

:: She spents about 30 min scouting out a good target. An undamaged, but used beige Ford Americar. It's parked in an unguarded parking lot and she checks the area for any indication of camera's. Satisfied that the spot is as ideal as she's going to find, she activates her rhytheniums and disappears in the night. Using her body to shield her busy hands she quickly goes to work on disabling the alarm, then popping the door. ::

:: Once inside, it's a simple matter to disable the transponder and get the engine running. Driving it away, she uses her network to command the van to follow her a couple blocks away and down a quiet alley where she climbs into the van as the other two disembark and take over control of the americar. ::

"Try to find another beige americar and switch plates with this one. That should keep you ok for a day or two."

:: The van returns her to the bike, and once again, she caravans her vehicles back to their hideaway. ::

Unconciously rubbing his hand across his wrist, Ayuda motions over towards the van as Blitz opens it, wrapping the large case in a twist of mana and drawing it out of the van before Blitz drives away with his supplies.

"One, I'll grab the largest of the office spaces and start. Be done in 6 hours."

Ringo looks over at Clay. "All right then. How about you drop me off so I can get cracking while you go take care of swapping some plates? Hopefully I'll be able to accomplish something while you're gone. Be more efficient that way."

Now alone at the hotel with his troll friend going out and about, Ringo eagerly jacks in, ready to go to work. As his sensations fade out and the surreal landscape of the Matrix fades in, he dives off into the Seattle grid.

First things first. I'll check all the legal sources and public or semi-public information. Nothing hot just yet. First we'll build up a profile of what we're looking for, what's good, what's available...then we'll worry about what to hit.

Ayuda cloisters himself in the office space again, stripping off the office jacket and shirt, candles lit and scattered around the small space. A series of components are drawn from the large case, basic materials, and he begins to chant in Spanish, the rhythm slow and drawn out.

After two days of almost non-stop research, Ringo dials up Blitz. "Boss, I have a business profile on the two companies. I'm heading back with Clay now, and we can start narrowing things down."

The two of them drive back to the warehouse, where Ringo pulls up all his data on his deck's display screen. After sharing all that he has learned about the two companies with the team, he says, "Personally, I think that Pioneer may have the more marketable and easier to fence goods. They also seem to have a larger consumer base that would be interested in what we could grab, making it easier to offload the stuff. Additionally, they're more R&D it seems, while Central is more heavy industry, and thus grabbing stuff could be more difficult. Thoughts?"

:: Blitz sits on the edge of one of the folding tables that they have set up to hold the many boxes of gear. Her hands grip the edge of the corner between her legs as she listens to the report. ::

"Good work. Sounds like Pioneer will be the first target. Next we need to find out what to grab."

Later on, after the meeting at another hotel with Clay, Ringo dials up Blitz on a secured line, right after successful completion of a recon hack. "Hey boss, I just did some setup work on the target. I got an inventory list for their two locations here, and I found the host with the R&D stuff. You want to try to go for some tangible equipment, or hit the R&D stuff? I need to know fast though, the fake security account I set up will only be up for 6 hours."

"Go for R&D"

Ringo nods his assent and disconnects from the comm call. Giving Clay a wry grin, he slips back into the electronic ether.

"No rest for the wicked."

Minutes later he sits up violently, fighting off nausea with deep gulps of air. With one hand he begins to coil up the fiber optic cable lying on the floor.

"We've got to roll. I'm pretty sure I got out before the got the trace off, but why wait around to be sure?"

Once downstairs in the car, he pops two Advil and closes his eyes as Clay guides them through traffic. By the time the two return to the warehouse, the painkillers have banished some of the headache stabbing behind his eyes. Opening up his flatscreen display, he pages through the information downloaded from the isolated R&D host.

"All right, here's what we've got. Apart from the earlier information I grabbed, all their R&D is conducted at a secure facility north of the city. I've got the address, but no schematics. Everything from manufacture to testing of the new gear takes place there. Once a particular piece of gear has passed testing, its schematics are transferred to their main production facilities for general distrbution. As for recent projects, Vanguard Radiant was mentioned heavily, and they're pouring a lot of nuyen into that system. Something else, though, called Archon. But when I tried to poke about and find some info, I had some really nasty visitors."

:: Blitz's smile is wicked, cold and venomously deadly. ::

"That's what we want. We can hit the Vanguard bit as well, or even primarily, but the Archon, ladies and gentlemen, is the cherry."

Ivan nods to Ayuda, glad to see the trustworthy mage.

"There are also alternatives no. Some things may be to big to carry, and you do want to hurt them. A few delayed incendiary grenades could put them behind months after we leave."

:: Blitz gives a wicked smile to Ivan. ::

"I knew there was a reason I liked you."

Ayuda stretches slightly.

"Where do we start, Boss Lady?"

Parvati streaches working our the kinks in her body. While popping her back she smiles to herself thinking God I love this job.

Standing by one of the boarded up windows Clay keeps an eye on the street as the others plot Novatech's doom.

Gently massaging his aching temples, Ringo asks, "OK Blitz, what's the plan now?"

:: Blitz spents several long almost uncomfortable minutes seeming to think to herself as she switches back and forth from chewing on her lowerlip, to picking at it with her fingernails. Finally, she seems to look up and at her crew and take a breath before answering. ::

"Ok. We still lack info. Ringo, this is your time to shine really. We will need to find a secondary secure location to allow him to hack hard into their mainframe and pull out necessary information on both the primary and secondary targets. Im thinking you head mostly for the obvious stuff and use your best stealth to grab what you can regarding Archon. We'll need a location we can both defend effectively, or vacate immediately and scatter. Ivan and Clay will be bodyguards and decker-sitters so that if he starts to smoke you can unplug him, and if drek hits the wall, you can defend him. I'll stay mobile and local, Ayuda is on ward duty, then astral through the duration in case they send an astral scout if they trace us unknowingly."

"Parvati, since you are still unassociated with the team, you are our best street face. I need you to get out and track down some contacts for arms, electronic equipment (high end) and some buyers for what we are looking to snatch. Keep everything vague and be slick about it. Not sure what we are going to need, but when we need it, we'll need it fast."

"Questions?"

"Sounds good. I'll go pack." Ayuda turns, ready to work again.

Eyes closed and still massaging his aching temples, Ringo replies, "You need me to find that secondary location, or you got one in mind?"

Ivan nods.

"They wheel not touch heem."

Parvati nods and understanding nod. Then walks to the corner of the room and places a call to the fixer in which she was given for this forgien place.

"Hello, name is Parvati, I was told that while I was here you could "Fix" me you with a few things, so I could make myself at home. Do you have a place in which we can meet safely, so that I can go over a few things?"

She waits for a response, and thinks to herself I hate first contacts.

Boscoe double checks the clock on the wall. None of my regulars would be calling this early.

"Why don't you just stop by the shop in a couple of hours? Riverfront Drive."

Parvati tilts her head and confirms the meeting. As soon as she hangs up she looks at Blitz and Ringo and says in a claim maner.

"I need directions and info on a Riverfront Drive. I have a meeting there in a couple of hours with our possible fixer. I will need transpertation."

After saying that she walks over to here she has her bagage and begins to get ready. Fixing her clothing, brushing her hair, putting her pistol close to her body, and the throwing her coat on, and looking in a small mirror to make sure everything looks in order.

:: Blitz nods as she starts of the van and once again dons her working gear. ::

"Ok, but you're going to have to do it the hard way. I don't want him to know who's here or who sent you to him. No mention of Fury. If he asks, just act coy and say you have your little secrets. His type is mostly interested in money. As long as you can convince him you aren't out to bust him or set him up, he'll take your business."

Ringo looks over at Blitz. "So like I asked boss, do we have a secondary location yet or do you need me to find one while I look for directions and info on Riverfront Drive?"

:: Blitz seems to think a moment before looking at Ringo. ::

"Sure, Im thinking the other area that you designated as a good safehouse location spot. Don't go too in depth. Just find a place we can convert to a deckhole, get you wired and get out of there in a hurry if necessary."