15:26:02 Sunday, 02 November 2070 - Traveling through Black Plague Turf: Intersection of 129th Pl NE & NE 136th Pl, inside the nave of the Catholic Church of St. Charles
Legion

"Quid pro quo. Nothing less is expected. In exchange for the information I ask, you have my assurance that the October Ravens will do all we can to minimize civilian casualties. You'll have a direct line into our combat center so that you can act to warn any individuals who might be in the area. Additionally, I offer protection from harassment. If another gang tries to move in, or even if they're the victim of casual crime, the Ravens will act in their defense."

Legion's sweeping gesture encompassed everything back towards Kirkland City Park.

15:24:19 Sunday, 02 November 2070 - Intersection of 129th Pl NE & NE 136th Pl, in front of the Catholic Church of St. Charles
Shade, Ink, Felix, Baby

As if on cue, Alexis snarls at Ink as he starts ripping the beat of Gonzo’s favorite song. Her hands start flexing as if she wants to rip the cubano’s throat out with her bare hands. She takes a step forward when Crowbar sticks his hand out, stopping her.

He squints and leans forward slightly, getting a better look at Ink. Suddenly he bursts out laughing, but there is nothing friendly about it. “You’re LoCoS, aren’t you? No one else would know that idiotic rhythm.�

He smiles viciously. “Or maybe I should say ex-LoCoS now. What are you doing running with Legion? Shouldn’t you be gathering up the rest of your boys and regrouping, ready to get your hoops kicked by us again?�

His eyes widen in mock realization at his own rhetorical question. He knew damn well where the rest of the LoCoS were. “Unless…you’re the last of the LoCoS!� The elf laughs maliciously. “The last little LoCoS that could. Isn’t that a heroic idea, the Lone LoCoS out to bring us all to justice.� He laughs again, and the rest of the Black Plague joins in this time.

Motioning Alexis back, he waves his hand dismissively. “He’s not worth it Alexis. Let him live his miserable existence hating us, wanting the revenge he’ll never get. That’s a much more fitting punishment for scum like him.�

Before Ink can respond, Felix steps between them and put was he saw as a tiny reassuring hand on Ink's forearm.

“Forget them. They aren't worth it. Not today.� he said in a whisper.

He looked him straight in the eyes.

“Go cool off inside.�

At the young ganger’s words, Ink suddenly felt like the Black Plague just wasn’t worth his time right now. There would be another time and place to settle the score with them. Now wasn’t the opportune moment, certainly. Yes, the young mage was right. They weren’t worth it. Not today. Going inside to cool off was probably the best move, before he did something everyone would regret.

15:26:23 Sunday, 02 November 2070 - Traveling through Black Plague Turf: Intersection of 129th Pl NE & NE 136th Pl, inside the nave of the Catholic Church of St. Charles
Legion

Father Ron raises an eyebrow, his face an expression of mild astonishment. "You would risk the element of surprise so I can warn the innocent for their safety? Perhaps there is more to you than your reputation suggests."

He pauses thoughtfully. "I make no promises, but I will tell you this. If your deeds match your words, you will find me open to discussing issues of common interest in the future. Call it...an understanding contingent on future events. Fair enough?"

15:25:25 Sunday, November 2nd - Ravens HQ - Just south of Kirkland City Park, between 128th Ave NE and NE 142nd Ln
Child

<<Thumper: I'm here. Get ready to back me up if shit goes south.>>

Child took a breath. Thump wants ME to back HIM up? There was something very wrong with that thought, but if he was here that meant that things would at least be noisy if they went south. Child did his best to be quiet as he retrieved his gun and crept to where his Comlink said Thumper was.

<<@All:I'm right there.. Whats going on? Is it just the one?>>

"I'm sorry, I forgot my manners. What are your names?"

Child peeked threw the still open front door at the little blond elf girl, Nevada crouching next to her, and Thumper towering over the two of them. "...the frag?" He slipped in and around the corner, putting a wall between his back and the outside world.

The sight of a well dressed, well cared for, and generally healthy little girl in this part of the city, never mind this part of Kingsgate was confusing. She had to be local. Where would a little girl come from in Kingsga..... Child's heart skipped several beats. He shot a terrified look at Thumper, then Nevada before firing off a message.

<<@Thumper, Nevada: Tell me shes not from Toyland.>>

15:26:25 Sunday, November 2nd - Ravens HQ - Just south of Kirkland City Park, between 128th Ave NE and NE 142nd Ln
Nevada

The girl’s words ticked off another checkmark on Nevada's list of weird things going on. While Child broadcasted across the comms he was coming a moment after she had heard his footsteps approaching from outside, saved him from receiving the unplesant business end of her shotgun.

What kind of young kid has manners in the fucking 'Gate?

Oddly enough she felt compelled to answer the little girl’s question.

"That's Thump," she pointed over to the not-quite-as-scary Ork, "And I’m Mac. Over in the doorway over there, that's Child"

No sooner did the words leave her lips than Child's words in her ear caused the chill of paranoia that was making the hairs on her arms stand up go deeper into the base of her spine. The more she tried to put things together nothing continued to make sense. She couldn't be from Toyland, could she? But then again it was just about the only thing that made sense of the paradox standing before her. Inside her stomach turned a bit.

"What bad people were you and Dunkie running and flying from, Caitlin?"

15:26:49 Sunday, 02 November 2070 - Traveling through Black Plague Turf: Intersection of 129th Pl NE & NE 136th Pl, inside the nave of the Catholic Church of St. Charles
Legion

In lieu of an answer, Legion salutes with his scabbarded katana, bringing the sword vertical to the midline of his torso, with the tsuba at eye level. Turning smartly, he strode to the front entrance to collect his fellow soldiers. To his surprise, he almost runs into Ink on the way in.

"Sorry," he allows, "I didn't intend for it to go that long. Let's roll, though."

He motions to Shade, Felix, and Baby as well, sparing a nod for Crowbar before turning the group back towards the Park.

17:56:50 Sunday, 02 November 2070 - North on 124th Ave, Heading towards the Lossky-Destry Clinic
Aziz

Aziz nods at what Nyna says, frowning slightly.

"Yeah, guess I flipped out in there. I ain't done this before, you're right..." he says.

He snorts and turns his head, spitting onto the ground.

"This gewad shit isn't my game. Legion's reason for sending me out is as much a mystery to me as you... Maybe he didn't want to take too many soldiers into Plague turf and make 'em think something was up, maybe he wanted a soldier out to protect you girls better, maybe he just doesn't fuckin' like me. I got no idea. At least he had the sense to take Shade with him to watch Felix. All I know is I don't really want to do this again. No offense, of course. It's just not my job." he says, lips pursing in thought.

"I can take out a room of fuckers before they know what's up, beat the teeth out of a guy's head, and survive a ghoul attack." he adds, smiling grimly.

15:26:25 Sunday, November 2nd - Ravens HQ - Just south of Kirkland City Park, between 128th Ave NE and NE 142nd Ln
Thumper

After Child's conjecture reached him, Thumper cast a nervous glance at the door.

<<@Child, Nevada: Don't know who backs toyland, but I bet they can roll out in a way that we can't handle. Nevada, keep talking, Child keep your piece with you and let's put some eyes outside.>>

Thumper grabbed the bat on his way to the door and did an anxious half-jog out towards NE 144th Street, eyes panning back and forth.

15:26:53 Sunday, 02 November 2070 - Traveling through Black Plague Turf: Intersection of 129th Pl NE & NE 136th Pl, inside the nave of the Catholic Church of St. Charles
Ink

Ink felt that yes in fact he should go inside and cool down. Yah, the Plague wasn't worth his time today. Maybe tommorow but not today.

He almost ran into Legion going out as he was going in. "Ci, no problema hefe." He still felt the need to go inside, but the Ravens were clearly leaving, he ducked his head inside the church and quickly crossed himself in the general direction of the altar. With that he turned and jogged down the church steps.

He turns in the direction of the Plague before leaving. "Ci, cabron last 'mano standin' " With that statement hanging in the air, the Cubano shot Crowbar a nasty look and drew his right thumb across his own throat with a grin. "Just one more theeng for jou to worry 'bout."

15:26:53 Sunday, 02 November 2070 - Traveling through Black Plague Turf: Intersection of 129th Pl NE & NE 136th Pl, inside the nave of the Catholic Church of St. Charles

Legion, Shade, Ink, Felix, Baby

As the situation defused, the tension and adrenaline began to fade from Baby's body and the pain return. With Legion's appearance she pushes herself away from the rail and pulls her hands out of her pockets. She falls in beside the group and says.

"I got our way outta here."

15:26:28 Sunday, November 2nd - Ravens HQ - Just south of Kirkland City Park, between 128th Ave NE and NE 142nd Ln
Child


<<@Child, Nevada: Don't know who backs toyland, but I bet they can roll out in a way that we can't handle. Nevada, keep talking, Child keep your piece with you and let's put some eyes outside.>>

Child shot Thumper a slightly confused look, but followed closely behind him.

<<@Nevada, Thumper: Someone with a lot of cred, who ever it is. If Im right, we have got to get her out of here fast. My only qualm is that Toyland is suppose to be like, 5 blocks north of here or something, and I don't have a fragging clue know how she could have gotten 10 blocks alone in this place.

Child split off but keept within eye sight of Thumper, wondering what he was going to do if he did see something.

15:28:34 Sunday, 02 November 2070 - Traveling through Black Plague Turf: Intersection of 129th Pl NE & NE 136th Pl, outside the Catholic Church of St. Charles
Legion, Shade, Ink, Felix, Baby

Legion nodded, motioning Baby to go ahead. He fished a cigarette out of his pocket, lighting up and inhaling with relief. The only thing that made the daylight bearable was the constant influx of nicotine. Loosening his grip on his sword, he rested the scabbard on his shoulder, using one of the rivets holding the two wood halves together to scratch an itch on the side of his neck.

The situation had improved dramatically from this morning. Now the Ravens had non-aggression treaties with the Black Plague, Heartbreakers, the Ultraviolet Nights, and the Demons. Not that those agreements were worth much when it came to the quicksilver alliances in time of war, but nominally during peacetime they were the normal posture of the gangs. Not everything could be a killing offense, and this kind of checks and balances system ensured that most turf battles resulted in posturing or a limited rumble. At this point, the treaties would ensure the Ravens survival.

Legion grinned, an unpleasant expression twisting across his lips. Soon. His collections of misfits and survivors were drawing together, with another couple of weeks they would form the core of his new army. All they needed now was a source of funds coming in, something to provide food and water, weapons and armor. Once those were in place, the Ravens would be in a position again to negotiate from strength. Then they would begin to expand in territory, to infiltrate, usurp, coerce, and absorb the remaining survivors of the October War. And then, when all that was left was Raider Nation, they would go to war one last time.

Legion flicked the butt of his cigarette into the gutter, smoke curling from the harsh snarl of his mouth. Blood demanded blood and revenge was a dish best served cold. Al Davis would beg for death, would beg for mercy before Legion was finished with him. He would pay for all the Ghurkas and all the Hammerpack that had fallen. Legion felt his hand tighten against the worn grip of his sword again.

I swear it.

15:32:14 Sunday, November 2nd - Ravens HQ - Just south of Kirkland City Park, between 128th Ave NE and NE 142nd Ln
Thumper, Nevada, Child

A quick sweep of the area around the October Raven’s HQ revealed nothing unusual. Other than Thumper and Child, Kirkland City Park was deserted. At least for the moment.

Nevada kept a careful watch at the door while the other two searched, wary that at any moment someone could come barging through the front door looking for Caitlin. The little girl politely remained silent, holding Dunkie and standing behind Nevada obediently.

When the other two got back, she turned back to the little girl and repeated her question. “What bad people were you and Dunkie running and flying away from?�

Caitlin looked down at the floor and whispered, “People who liked to play with me…down there. Mommy and Daddy said that I should never ever ever let people play with me down there. But Auntie M said that if didn’t play the way the adults wanted to, I was a bad girl and they’d take Dunkie from me.�

A few tears begin to gather at the corners of Caitlin’s eyes. She squeezes them shut, trying to stop herself from crying, but despite her best efforts, slowly they begin to slide down her cheeks. “I didn’t want to lose Dunkie, so I tried to be a good girl and do what they said.�

She sniffles. Dunkie, being a solicitous dragon, turns towards his owner and carefully wipes away his friend’s tears with his soft fuzzy nose. Caitlin pats the dragon on the head and says, “Thank you Dunkie. You’re a good dragon.� Dunkie nods solemnly. He takes being a good dragon quite seriously. He doesn’t say anything back though. Apparently Dunkie is also a very quiet dragon.

After her tears stop, Caitlin looks up at Nevada. “Miss Mac, may I ask you a question?�

When the older girl nods in the affirmative, she continues, “Why does everyone have such funny names? Mr. Thump sounds like he wants to hit people a lot, but he seems like a nice man. Mr. Child isn’t a child. He’s too big. And Miss Mac,� she blushes and looks at the ground, “your name sounds like a boy’s name, but you’re so pretty! Why did your mommy and daddy give you a boy’s name?�

15:32:56 Sunday, November 2nd - Ravens HQ - Just south of Kirkland City Park, between 128th Ave NE and NE 142nd Ln
Nevada

As the girl explained who she was running from, a dark and cold anger grew inside Nevada. Somewhat ironic that what Toyland was doing would cause such a reaction considering she had managed to stay alive and make a "living" on her back for the past three years, but that was out of necessity, out of choice even. What they were doing to this little girl was obviously by force and that above all and anything else they did made her angry. The thought that a family member would even be complicit in the dealings over at Toyland disgusted her. Seeing the girl's tears however stopped her from asking any further questions about her parents.

Trying to keep her anger below the surface and not upset Caitlin further, Nevada sat on the floor cross-legged and kept the shotgun within arms reach beside her. She grinned as the girl called everyone Mister and even called her Miss because Nevada found it beyond humorous.

"Thumper and Child are their nicknames. As for me, Mac is short for Mackenzie but all my friends around here call me Nevada, because of where I was born. Do you want to be friends Caitlin? Maybe we can all be friends, you and me and Dunkie too?"

She extended her hand out as if to shake the stuffed dragon’s wing in a friendly gesture as she waited for the little girl’s answer and waited for the boys to return with a recon report.

15:33:49 Sunday, November 2nd - Ravens HQ - Just south of Kirkland City Park, between 128th Ave NE and NE 142nd Ln
Nevada

As Nevada explains 'why everyone has such funny names' to Caitlin, the little girl nods understandingly, as if she has just learned something new and very important.

"Do you want to be friends Caitlin? Maybe we can all be friends, you and me and Dunkie too?"

When Nevada sticks her hand out to Dunkie to shake his wing, the dragon looks almost offended, as if to say, 'I understand how to shake hands. You should shake my claw instead.' He looks over at Caitlin, who smiles and says, "Dunkie, we should be friends with Miss Mackenzie, she's very nice to us."

Seemingly convinced, the dragon turns towards Nevada and shakes her hand with his claw, then proceeds to nuzzle her face with his snout, which is very soft and comfy. Giving a little shriek of excitement at Dunkie's approval, Caitlin throws herself at Nevada. Wrapping her arms around the ganger's neck and burying her face in Nevada's shoulder, she proclaims happily, "He likes you Miss Mackenzie!"

The little girl's innocent and spontaneous display of affection catches Nevada off guard. She can't remember the last time anyone's hugged her like this, given her a hug for no reason other than simple love and a desire to share it with her; a hug devoid of ulterior motives or subtle messages behind it. Momentarily stunned, she collects herself and hugs Caitlin and Dunkie back a bit awkwardly.

Resting her face against her new friend's shoulder, Caitlin yawns deeply. "I'm tired Miss Mackenzie. May I take a nap here?" she asks sleepily.

Gently stroking the young girl's hair, Nevada whispers, "Of course you can sweetie. You're safe here."

At least for now, she thinks to herself, somewhat guiltily. She knew the little girl's safety was far from being a certain or permanent matter. But for now, she could tell Caitlin she was safe, and she could even convince herself she was telling the truth, at least for the moment.

It was as if Nevada’s words were a magic spell, for moments after she told Caitlin she could sleep, the little girl was dozing in her arms. Even Dunkie rested his head on Nevada’s other shoulder, although his eyes remained open and ever watchful. Apparently he was all too familiar with what life in the ‘Gate was really like, fleeting moments of peace like this one notwithstanding.

00:00:00 Monday, November 3rd – October Ravens HQ - Just south of Kirkland City Park, between 128th Ave NE and NE 142nd Ln
The October Ravens
PCs – Legion, Aziz, Baby, Bockscar, Child, Cuervo, Felix, Grack, Ink, Nevada, Rico, Thumper
NPCs – Shade, Fool, Twiggs, Dahlia, Nyna, Francesca, Rags, Caitlin, Dunkie

From Shade’s Journal – Monday, November 3rd, 2070:

A lot can happen in 48 hours. For example, take the two days immediately following the end of Red October and the Second Kingsgate War. By my recollection, the following events either already have or could potentially have serious historical implications.

- The rise of the October Ravens from the ashes of the Hammerpack. As long as Legion and Al Davis are still around and holding the reins of power somewhere, it’s only a matter of time before the Third Kingsgate War moves from possibility to reality.

- The formation of alliances/ceasefires/truces between the October Ravens and the Ultraviolet Nights, Black Plague, Steel Demons, and Heartbreakers, respectively.

Author’s Note 1: The nature, sincerity, and stability of these alliances are highly questionable, to say the least. Nonetheless, I believe their presence (regardless of how temporary) makes them worthy of recognition, if only to track the evolution of the political dynamics of Kingsgate over time.

Author’s Note 2: The political relationships listed above are only the ones I am aware of. It is highly probable, to the point of certainty, that in the aftermath of Red October numerous other political relationships between the various powers-that-be remain in flux.

- The mysterious presence of the Night Hunters on Saturday night (November 2). No information has yet surfaced as to why they came to Kingsgate, or where they went and what they did while they were here. I suspect we will learn the answer to that sooner rather than later, and the answer will not be very pleasant.

- The sudden arrival of a mysterious little girl named Caitlin and her (stuffed) dragon companion, Dunkie. Although nothing has yet been confirmed, several Ravens have speculated she may have come from Toyland. No one knows who runs it, but its presence in the heart of Raider Nation turf leads me to believe her presence could lead to potential hostilities with the Nation. On the other hand, they want us dead for the crime of existing, never mind existing right in the heart of the old Hammerpack turf across the park from them. So in regards to the Raiders at least, it’s doubtful Caitlin’s presence will have any meaningful impact. Now with respects to whoever is backing Toyland, that is a different story entirely.

On a smaller, more insignificant level, we’ve also added several new members to our ranks. We picked up a smart ass street kid named Twiggs shortly before we founded our new HQ in Kirkland City Park. He’s still a fairly unknown quantity, but he did lead the way with Rico in boosting a truck and some furniture from some movers, so he’s not useless.

Additionally, we may have added one of Ink’s old buddies from the LoCoS, a greaser named Cuervo. While we were unloading furniture from the truck Rico and Twiggs boosted, he showed up and asked if he could join up. He and Ink went to go catch up and Legion hasn’t commented either way yet, but so far his presence is being tolerated. Given how short of bodies we are, Ink vouching for him, and the fact that Cuervo looks competent, I’d guess his signing on is inevitable.

Speaking of bodies, one guy that bears watching is Fool. Something happened to Fool over the last day or so. He dropped out of contact with everyone for a while, and when he showed up back at the HQ he was in entirely new clothes (sans armor) and he had some kind of wild, smoldering hatred in the back of his eyes. I think he got the worse end of a dustup somewhere, and I don’t think he’s taking it well. My guess is that will be an issue later, but given the amount of grudges we’ve got floating around this place, how is that a surprise?

And while we’re on the topic of grudges, something bad happened to Francesca. No one’s said anything about it yet, but when Aziz got back with the girls, she headed straight upstairs and went to sleep. She didn't look interested in anyone's opinion of her decision, and there was something about her that makes me think she had a very bad day, to put it mildly. I asked him about it, and all he’d say was some bad drek went down and he had to take her to Lossky-Destry. Given the lack of obvious bruises or marks on her, I’m guessing it probably involved a kind of violence that makes me sick to my stomach. It bears watching how she responds to this. The Splintered Crash never really dealt with that drek, so I’m unfamiliar with whether this is just something that goes with the territory that she’ll shrug off, or if it could lead to something more problematic.

We also picked up another pair of chicas, Baby and her sister, Rags. Rags is a hooker, Baby’s not. I don’t know what that girl’s deal is, it’s obvious she went through some bad stuff very recently too, and violent, given how messed up she looked when she hooked up with us. Child and Felix took a look at her and gave her some medical attention, but I’m gonna go out on a limb and say the scars run deeper than the physical. Just a hunch, but that is the way things tend to work down here. Baby seems to be some kind of courier/runner/messenger. Knows her way around well, comfortable with traveling and leading with respects to picking routes. It will be interesting to see what Legion chooses to do with that skill set.

It’s funny how fast things change. 48 hours ago I thought there was no way I’d ever have a home again; now I’m sitting on a beat up couch in our new HQ scribing the history of my new family. The furniture Rico and Twiggs stole for us really makes this place feel like home. It was kind of funny moving stuff into this place, like we were some kind of dysfunctional fraternity or something, which in a weird way, I guess we are.

The girls, including Nevada and Baby were directing traffic, like some kind of urbanized interior designers. We had plenty of muscle to move crap around, and it was particularly entertaining watching the girls order Grack to keep changing the position of stuff. I’m surprised he didn’t try to just eat them right there. On the other hand, maybe he didn’t hear them at all, what with those earbuds blasting constantly. Maybe he was just following Thumper’s lead. Legion had this funny smile on his face, like he was entertained by the proceedings in some twisted way. I don’t blame him, the whole scene was certainly funny, from a strange point of view. Whatever, I'm not going to waste time and space writing about our adventures in moving. If you have been following the various personalities of our story, I'm sure you can get a good mental picture of how entertaining it was. The point is, we actually have some stuff in our place now. Not much, but just having it is enough to make it feel a little more like home.

Anyway, we finally got all the stuff unloaded and set up. Everybody was pretty tired after that, so we crashed, grabbing some grub from our various personal stashes and spreading out to relax. Some slept, some chatted, some fed their various substance addictions. I hope they all get some sleep eventually. I have a feeling tomorrow will be another busy day, and they’ll need the rest.

00:00:00 Monday, November 3rd – October Ravens HQ - Just south of Kirkland City Park, between 128th Ave NE and NE 142nd Ln
Felix

Felix woke up suddenly, as if someone had thrown a bucket of cold water on him. His hearth was pounding in his chest, and it took him a few seconds to register he was almost out of breath. Uncurling himself from the ball he was sleeping in, the young wiz kid rubbed his forehead painfully. Something in the back of his brain was trying to pound its way out. His eyes wanted to pop out of his head, and his hands felt dry and cramped. Somewhere in the barely conscious corner of his mind, he still felt the cold and fear of his dream... whatever it had been.

Pulling his backpack, which he had been using as a pillow, between his legs, he started to rummage through, finding an unopened bright yellow can of pop. It would be hard to go back to sleep with all that sugar in his system, but Felix knew that he'd need to ration his supply of clean water for something a little more “serious� than mere thirst. The ex Crasher gave a quick look around as he drank the can. After helping Child with Baby, he'd dragged all of his stuff inside what used to be the park clinic, picking a clean corner to lie down. While he knew perfectly well that most of the gang was rather nocturnal, Felix still felt beaten from his trek into Splintered Crash turf. It was dark outside, and inside as well... which didn't bother the little mage too much. The glasses JJ had lifted for him still worked perfectly. Setting down his drink, Felix sighed. He missed JJ. He missed all his friends... He missed Halo...

Getting his scrawny little frame up unto his two feet, Felix went to look for Legion. Talking with the October Raven's leader made him feel uneasy... but he had too many things to discuss with him to put it off. Not 2 days ago, he'd simply have been too terrified to even look at Legion. Hell, when he had met him after coming from the hospital, with Shade and Aziz, he hadn't even been able to look at him. Now, he had to go beyond himself. Beyond his own feelings. Halo needed him; needed his help... and to help her, he had to step up.

00:06:00 Monday, November 3rd – October Ravens HQ - Just south of Kirkland City Park, between 128th Ave NE and NE 142nd Ln
Rico

The last thing off of the truck was a repo-ed mattress, which Rico drug into the back room of the garage and on which he now sat, disgusted with himself. “Fuck, two fights in a day and I lost them both.�
Popping the now useless chip from his modified deck, Rico smashes it in his hand and pounds it into his forehead a few times, letting the physical pain clear his head and focus his vision. “This is starting to be a real jones. OK, I fucked up. Won’t be the last time. Now, let’s see about making some money.� He tosses the now bloody pieces aside, wipes the blood from his forehead with his t-shirt, puts on a clean t-shirt, gears up and walks over to the HQ building, looking for Legion.

00:06:08 Monday, November 3rd – October Ravens HQ - Just south of Kirkland City Park, between 128th Ave NE and NE 142nd Ln
Legion

The night air was cool, a refreshing change from the blaze of the day. Legion watched the city in the distance, stepping absently through the angles, the folders in his hands cutting the shadows on the rooftop silently. His mind ticked over the steps he'd formulated during the walk back to the headquarters, a endless refinement like the whisk of a blade over a whetstone. Sirens rose and fell, punctuated by the staccato of gunfire. It felt good to be home again. A sound from the top of the stairs drew his attention, and he flowed to a halt as Felix stepped out onto the roof. The young mage looked nervous, like he always did, but there was something different about his eyes, and in the set of his shoulders. Legion nodded to the young ganger, turning his greeting into a question.

"Omae?"

00:06:08 Monday, November 3rd – October Ravens HQ - Just south of Kirkland City Park, between 128th Ave NE and NE 142nd Ln
Shade

As Legion addressed Felix, Shade did an inward double take at the young ganger's presence. He'd been just about to leave after an interesting discussion with Legion, but now his friend's unexpected appearance made him reconsider his course of action. He was quite curious as to what had prompted such a bold move on Felix's part. Silently, he stood off to the side, watching the conversation unfold.

00:00:00 Monday, November 3rd – October Ravens HQ - Just south of Kirkland City Park, between 128th Ave NE and NE 142nd Ln
Ink

Ink had spent a bit of time after moving furniture chatting with Cuervo, just little things. How the old block was faring, how Cuervo was, the shape and structure of the new gang. Ink had proudly recounted his unflinching machismo in front of the hated Plague when suddenly the realization of what he had truly done hit him like a ten pound hammer.

*Merda! Now the Plague knows the old turf is up for grabs! They know that Nona and Papi are all alone!*

Now what? At least, had he implied the continuation of the LoCoS, the Plague might have gone slower, gotten tied up with trying to puzzle out the true nature of any attacks from LoCoS turf. Now..... now they knew.

"Fuck" he whispered.

His grandparents were alone now, and only Madonna knew if they were alright. He eased up from his spot on one of the couches and went to find Legion, el hefe might, just might be willing to listen after Ink dropped all his cash on the big man and tried reason, but Ink doubted that Legion truly cared anyways.

As he passed the stairs leading to the puta's room he nodded at Nevada keeping watch on la nina. The nina clearly didn't belong here and what was worse she was Toyland's property. Whether or not Ink agreed with that notion or not. Which meant a Raider team or worse rolling up to the door and soonest. He smiled at Nevada and passed the chica by.

As he arrived in front of Legion's room he spotted Shade and Felix waiting on el hefe. *There's a line to see el hefe now? Screw that noise.* Despite the urgency of his request Ink didn't want anyone but el hefe knowing the problema with his familia. He had a rep to maintain after all. Especially in front of the wiz kid.

His now gnawing belly reminded him that he hadn't eaten more than a few scraps and slept more than a few hours in the past week. He needed more rest and food, soon. And he was unfamiliar with Hammerpack turf, so there were two options to consult on food, Thumper and Grack. And he really didn't want to think about what Grack considered edible.

*Thumper then*

He rolled over to where Thumper was lying down and squatted down beside the resting ork. "Hey compadre, where's a good spot to get some eats?"

00:06:08 Monday, November 3rd – October Ravens HQ - Just south of Kirkland City Park, between 128th Ave NE and NE 142nd Ln
Felix

Felix liked rooftops. He liked them a great deal... and finding Legion there had slightly startled him. Hiding most of his face under his hood, the little mage walked out into the open air, shivering slightly, until he was almost next to Legion. From behind his breathing mask, he smiled at Shade.

“I like rooftops to...� was all he said after a few seconds of silence, as he looked out toward the horizon.

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he turned to face the October Raven's leader, pushing his hood down at the same time. He wasn't quite sure where to start. He had way too many requests, and he had very little tangible to offer. Never the less, he couldn't just sit by and wait for something to fall into his lap.

“I need you to lend me three Ravens tomorrow morning; Child, Baby and Fool.�

He gave a quick, and nervous glance, toward Shade.

“We left a lot of things back in Crasher turf... things that would be of great use to us. We can use the run to scout out if the Ghouls are fortifying their positions...�

Felix coughed once behind his breathing mask.

“I want the downstairs room that used to be the clinic. I'll set it up nicely, and we should actually be able to treat people. Even people from the neighborhood if I can get enough supply. But if I do it, I want to be in charge of running it.�

He looked straight at Legion.

“You still call the shots, but I won't do it if I'm not free to run it myself.�

“And there's the issue of the kid Mac has downstairs. If you're planning on keeping her, we need to box her in, here. No one can know we have her... not now at least. I can drop by Father Ron's tomorrow and get her some clothes, and stuff to keep her busy.�

Coughing some more, Felix eventually slipped his breathing mask off, letting it hang loosely around his neck.

"Which makes me think... I'd like to know what you discussed with Father Ron today. I'm not as gullible as people thing, Legion, and I believe I know what you plan on doing to Bob once his back is turned. But we can't. We need to..."

He took in a deep breath, trying his best to appear steady.

"We need to kill Alexis. She's the stabilizing element between Father Ron and Bob. But we can't openly go after her... unless you want to use Ink as bait to draw her out... because she definitly wants to have him dead."

16:00:00 Monday, November 3rd – October Ravens HQ
Bockscar

Grack shows me the way out of the sewer. Once my happy ass gets out of that shit, I whip the wet rag off my chin and nose and throw it down into the manhole after me. The "fresh" Kingsgate air seems like healing balm wafting through my soul after that stank-ass shit. bismallah al karim, al hamd allah 'alayi.

Nothing to a shower at the headquarters, so I trudge my happy ass back into the nook I staked out for myself, strip, and give myself another baby-wipe bath. My packet is getting kinda low. Shove it on the shopping list that's forming itself into my brain. Check out the guns as I put them back on - turns out I was able to keep most of the shit from getting on them, but the slivergun has some crap on it from when I shook turdburger's hand.

Grab a couple garbage bags from my stash and take them to the roof, jerry rig a few raincatchers into the jerry cans I brought from home earlier. Put them on the far side of the roof from Raider's territory, such that somebody looking from that side of the street wouldn't (hopefully) be able to figger shit out. I'm running out of my normal cleaning shit - one thing about a cram habit is that all the nights of lost sleep make an ampartment methamphetaclean.

20:00:00 - October Ravens HQ

Spent a couple hours trudging around the basement, looking for something that reasonably approximates tools. Found a thick-ass peice of rebar that I could use as a breaker bar for the valve. With my dirty pants wrapped around it, should do the trick. Ain't all that much more stuff around here. Kinda shit I really need is at a home depot or something.

So, I spend another little while figgering out the sattelite dish I've hooked up. Make the old college try at pointing out, based on the direction the rest of the sattelite dishes in the neighborhood are peeking out. Play with the signals off of it, try to get the thing working straight. Once I pick up a hair's breadth of matrix access through my brain, I walk into the common room, stow myself on my rucksack, and start browsing through some catalogs looking for shit.

Any rate, the matrix tinkering and the cataloging and shit lets me skimp out from the furniture moving crap. I've already got mine. Once I get something approaching an access, I ping a message out to the various whose commcodes I know, low power, through the local area. <@all [Box] - Yo, think I got this matrix shit working up in here. Send me a confirmation to this code and I'll hook you in. Don't have to go public or nothing, I'm runnin' hidden.>

As I said, even if it don't work, I ain't doin bitch work.

24:00:00 - October Ravens HQ

Nodded off a bit after I got my tool list assembled. Wake up next to my piles of assorted tools, looking for whatever I had that mighta worked. Gang's all here, and there's some kid the chicks dragged in and are going all goo goo eyed off of. Can't say I give a rat's ass, till I see the dragon. I hear the word Toyland, but don't have much of a suspicion yet. So I roll back into my head and let the matrix fill me.

Sitting in my brain is easy - I have it tricked out like a nice pad I saw from "Lifestyles of Mobsters" a couple years back. Bring up the sniffer and the scanner, and start feeling out for any crap from that dragon.

Shit don't compute yet.

00:08:14 Monday, November 3rd – October Ravens HQ - Just south of Kirkland City Park, between 128th Ave NE and NE 142nd Ln
Legion

Legion felt his eyes flicker towards Shade as Felix spoke. Something had indeed happened to the slim mage in the past day, something which had changed him inside. It made Legion wonder what it could have been, given all that the young ganger had seen during the October War. At least the part of him that wasn't contemplating putting a knife through the mage's hand. It was good that there were only three of them here to witness this. Legion pivoted towards Felix, shifting his weight forward onto his left foot. Despite the openness of his face and laxness in his arms, it was an aggressive stance.

"I like to hear you speak with conviction, omae," he replied, his voice even. "It tells me that you're already thinking of us as family, and of this place as home. That's good."

Legion's face and voice went cold and hard.

"But don't ever tell me what I need to do again. There is only one thing I need to do: obey the Laws of the Pack. All else is secondary. If you have something that you need, something that you desire, or important information upon which you think we need to act, then by all means, impart that to me. But always remember who it is that will make the decision. List for me the possible courses of actions, and the pros and cons for each. Chances are, I'll pick the one you want if you've done your research correctly. But next time you try and tell me what I need to do, I'll explain myself far more bluntly and painfully. Am I clear?"

Legion waited for the slim ganger's nod of acknowledgement before continuing. He let his face relax into something resembling a smile, tucking his knives back into the pockets of his pants.

"In any case, the clinic is yours. Run it as you see fit, but I expect to be consulted on major decisions such as large purchases of supplies, or if you plan on opening a day care or treating a high ranking member of another gang. As for taking Fool, Baby, and Child with you tomorrow, that's fine as long as they're kosher with it. Don't be gone for more than eight hours, though. I need more info before I decide what to do with the kid, and for that, I have to go find Baby. I'll have an idea by the morning, though. Do you have any information on the girl that might help? And speaking of that, tell me why you want Alexis dead."

00:08:14 Monday, - November 3rd October Ravens HQ - Just south of Kirkland City Park, between 128th Ave NE and NE 142nd Ln
Cuervo

Cuervo liked Ink's company, but sometimes the Cubano gave him headaches. The dank part of Cuervo's soul --that dingy little corner of his heart that was home to an ever-present troop of skittering, cynical advisors-- was always forced into working overtime just to render the bluster and (relative) optimism down to something that fit into his unsparing world view, something he could work with. What it came up with this time wasn't good; there would be trouble with the Plaguers. This was nothing new, but there had been something uncharacteristically grim in the Cubano's gait when he had abruptly left, something that told Cuervo that things would be turning ugly sooner than he had thought.

"But for now," Cuervo thought, running a finger along the rat skull hanging from his throat and slipped towards the front door, "I have my own business to attend to."

00:00:00 Monday, - November 3rd October Ravens HQ -
Admin Building - Second Floor - Junior Office

Baby

Baby bolted upright gasping for air. Her heart was bounding in her chest and she had broken out in a cold sweat. The nightmares just kept coming, as they had the night before. Her hand instinctively reached towards the night stand for her gun, but she slammed it into a busted up cabinet that had no business being where it was. Panic griped her until she woke up enough to remember that she no longer had a home. The cabinet (more like what was left of what used to be a cabinet) that she had been laying in front of held her backpack with her more valuable supplies and momentos. Next to those lay the two guns she had taken off of the BF'ers.

Pain shot through her torso from sitting up so fast and the gasping torn at her ribs. But the worst was the dull ache she still felt in her abdomen. She didn't want to think about what could be causing that pain. She was still discharging blood and that scared her.

Baby pushed her back up against the "cabinet" and reached behind her for her guns, setting them on her lap once she retrieved them. While she knew everyone here at least on the surface had pledged themselves to Legion, she still didn't trust them and feeling the cold metal against her made her feel better. Rags was thankfully still asleep, it was late (or early, Baby wasn't sure) and her day hadn't gone so well either, one of the girl's had gotten pretty roughed up from Baby's understanding.

Not wanting to go back to sleep and risk more nightmares, Baby changed out of the clothes she had been wearing for the last day and into a pair of comfortable jeans, an old Maria Mercurial tour tee and a well worn black hoodie that she zipped up tight. She had never taken her gloves off even when she was sleeping, so she left them on. Baby slung the Roomsweeper over her shoulder. She had worked up a makeshift sling so she could carry it around until she got an actual holster for at least one of her guns. Carrying a gun wasn't something she was used to yet

She packed her Colt in her backpack and shoved it way back into what was left of the cabinet. It was a good hiding place. There weren't many perks to being a whore or in Baby's case the sister of one, but one of them was a bit of privacy, which ment that as long as she and Rags were here she could stay with her sister and have a little bit of space away from the testosterone that made up the majority of the gang. That little bit of false security was at least something. The last thing she grabbed before she left were the keys to her new bike. She wanted to make nobody had tried to walk off with it in the night.

Closing the door softly behind her so she wouldn't disturb her sister, Baby left the small room behind figuring it was time to see what the rest of her new family was all about.

00:00:00 Monday, November 3rd – October Ravens HQ - Just south of Kirkland City Park, between 128th Ave NE and NE 142nd Ln
Thumper

Thumper's stomach rumbled and his forehead contracted on his brain like a pair of forceps. His mouth was reminiscent of Arizona, replete with cacti. His eyes scraped open as the Cuban started making noise at him.

"Fuck man ... What?"

He shook his head slowly, feeling his perception lagging his head position. He needed a drink. Water would be a good start, but that wasn't what he really wanted. He really wanted a party. The boss probably wasn't going to have it though. Fuck.

But he totally deserved a party. He'd been kind of floored when Rico and Twiggs rolled up with a truckful of furniture. He was willing to conced that he might have underestimated them. Thumper had to reclaim the title of biggest baddest fucker around so he immediatley grabbed the heaviest couch and tryed to muscle it into place on his own. In spite of making tolerable headway, he had to accept help eventually. Fortunately, it wasn't from Rico. He worked his ass off moving furniture.

His stomach brought his attention back to the present.

"Plastic Sushi. Pizza Bank, Waffle Ho's if you feel like a walk."

He leaned forward and the remaining two of his chair's feet slammed into the floor. Napping in the folding chair left his neck sore. He supposed that he could shove someone out of one o fthe dilapidated couches, but he was used to the chair. It was sort of a habit by now, and it kept his sleep light which was a healthy habit in the gate. He really wanted to eat.

"Hey dude, I'll roll out with you. I need some shit to eat, you got cash?"

He stood up, stretched and smacked his lips as Ink took a step back as Thumper nearly bowled the smaller ganger over; he took up a surprising amount of space.

"Let's see if Grack wants to roll too. He's always good for some food or some fun."

<<@Grack: Rolling out for dinner. You crewing up?>>

"So dude, where we going?"

00:03:15 Monday, November 3rd - Ravens HQ - Just south of Kirkland City Park, between 128th Ave NE and NE 142nd Ln
Nevada

As soon as Thumper and Child had given her the all-clear, she had brought the mysterious little girl they now knew as Caitlin and her stuffed friend Dunkie upstairs into one of the larger offices the girls had claimed as their collective space, certain to have left the largest of the spaces for Legion himself out of courtesy. She had her hands full with a sleeping little girl, an over-stuffed dragon plushie, the cleanest pillow she could find in the mish-mash of things Rico and Twiggs had managed to bring back, along with her shotgun. With some semblance of care she had made a little “nest� in the inner corner of the room and laid the girl down with Dunkie and the pillow doing her best not to wake her. As an afterthought, she slipped off her coat and draped it over the little girl like a blanket and had returned downstairs to help with the unloading of the furniture. More than once she reminded everyone of the little girl sleeping upstairs and that it was better if she remained asleep instead of having her underfoot for the time being.

Grack had more than once offered to make sure Caitlin remained asleep as well as offered to eat her at least once in the course of the conversation.

Once the unloading of gear and claiming of squat space had been established within the building, Nevada checked in on Caitlin and watched the little girl sleep remarkably soundly on the makeshift bed. Nevada was blown away that the little girl didn’t wake up as a couple of only semi-dirty mattresses were brought into the room and the rest of the whores came up to get settled. She took up a spot leaning up against the outer wall of the room with a clear view of the doorway and drew her knees to her chest and laid the shotgun across them. She spent the rest of the night somewhere between sleeplessness and drifting in and out of her Longhaul crash.

She finally woke up acutely aware of the rest of the new HQ stirring to some semblance of life. Some people, like the girls, still slept while others were traipsing up and down the stairs or working out and she was convinced she could hear the shit music Grack listened to from down the hall. Trying to keep quiet she moved about the room in the still darkness and stepped out into the upper atrium and looked about for what was happening and where she could pitch in besides babysitting.

00:05:15 Monday, November 3rd - Ravens HQ - Just south of Kirkland City Park, between 128th Ave NE and NE 142nd Ln
Bockscar

While I wait for the data feeds from the dragon to sort out, I see some of the folks looking around, waiting for shit. This seems like a wonderful opportunity to recruit some help for the shopping trip that I got forming in my brain.

I remember that new kid, of some eponymous name or another, talking some shit about motorcycles, and realize he might have a brain or two in his head about this sort of shit. Lord knows deciphering Grack's gibberish requires perpetrating a bit more patience than I'm feeling down with. Crawl around the barrac... erm, building... for a while, looking for the kid. Catch him curled up in a corner, momentarily debate whether or not to let him sleep, and end up nudging him with my foot till he opens his eyes.

"Yo, want to go shopping with me? Got some water line shit to fix, and I need some peeps who know tools."

See Nevada strut by. She'd be pretty useful too - get us a deal, maybe get some dumbass to let us in close enough to their car for us to boost it. Turn to her, and give her a hearty - "Yo, Mac, yall wanna go shopping with me in the big city?"

00:00:00 Monday, November 3rd �€“ October Ravens HQ - Just south of Kirkland City Park, between 128th Ave NE and NE 142nd Ln
Grack

Music cuts out.

Voice.

The Duke.

Hungry too.

Meet cerri.

Ink too.

He made my star shine.

00:02:05 Monday, November 3rd “ October Ravens HQ - Just south of Kirkland City Park, between 128th Ave NE and NE 142nd Ln
Ink

Ink look at Thumper stupidly for a few moments. "Jou mean no groceria, no bodega, in jour turf, vato?"

This was going too be worse than Ink thought, in hs old turf the LoCoS had gotten the occaisional payment in food. Or the girlfriend/slut/whore of the moment could usually be induced to cook. In utter emergencies they had simply rolled over to his grandparents and gotten food at a minor discount and Nona was always good for a few leftovers.

*Santa Maria, we had it easy!*

Ink pondered the question some more, "I was kinda theenkin' we should go and grab some eats for everyone. Carlos had this thing about keeping one day ahead in food. Suppose el hefe would be pissed if we swung south past Plague turf to The Gato?"

*Not that I want Grack meetin' the familia.*

00:02:15 Monday, November 3rd “ October Ravens HQ - Just south of Kirkland City Park, between 128th Ave NE and NE 142nd Ln
Thumper

Thumper mulled the idea over. He wasn't very accustomed to mulling, but this might be stepping on Legion's toes. He'd heard mutterings about a meeting with the Plague earlier, and Thumper knew that his presence usually sent a very specific, and somewhat undiplomatic, message.

"Two things."

He held up two fingers and ticked one off

"One, that's a long fucking way for a meal, and they probably don't sell sushi. And also how are we going to pay for it? I'm not sure we're cool to hit them up for protection under the Plague's nose."

His second finger had been ticked off discussing the availability of sushi and Thumper found himself without props as he arrived at his second point. After sparing his balled fist a puzzled look, he continued:

"And also, if my news is right, anything that risks fucking with the Plague right now isn't going to make any of the bosses happy."

He kicked himself mentally. He was a boss. The thought created a moment's introspection and his eyes narrowed for a moment. His voice grew a shade darker.

"Hey, who'd you say you rolled with before?"

00:10:11 Monday, November 3rd – October Ravens HQ - Just south of Kirkland City Park, between 128th Ave NE and NE 142nd Ln
Felix
Felix swallowed, hard. Actually, when he tried it, he found he had very little left to swallow. His mouth had gone dead dry, and somewhere along the line, he had stopped breathing. For a few more seconds, all the little mage could do was try really hard not to shake, or pee his pants.

When he finally felt like he wasn't going to faint, when the world stopped spinning around, he started breathing again.

“I.....Iiiii.....� he started stuttering, realizing that he had completely forgot what he actually wanted to say.

“I... humm... The... Well...� he painfully kept on going “Thing is...�

He ran a nervous as hell hand through his short hair.

“I.... I don't know anything about the girl.... Bbbbuuu.... But if she stays, we have to change her out of those clothes.... She stands out too much.... If I had to guess, I'd say she from Toyland.... She could've walked.... I can talk to her if you want....�

Shoulders slumped forward, head low, Felix decided that inspecting the tip of his shoes was a very good idea right about now. He spoke without lifting his eyes.

“And “want� Alexis dead.... I'm just trying to think practically. We can't ally with the Black Plague because we're mostly humans. At least, we can't ally for a long time... And we can't merge with them either. We can't hit them straight on because Father Ron will side with them, and bring the entire turf's population with him. Its no secret that Father Ron and Bob don't really see eye to eye. The only thing keeping a hold between the two faction is Alexis.....�

Felix started playing nervously with the well used sleeve of his sweater.

“If we want to strike at Bob, we'll need Father Ron's blessing... Alexis is also their strongest awakened asset... With her out of the game, we can sow much more discord, and fracture the gang.�

The young mage coughed a bit, finding his throat drying up by the second.

“All that, and judging by her reaction today, she clearly hates the very sight of you... and Ink.�

He coughed again and grabbed his breathing mask, pulling on it's elastic band, setting back into place.

00:05:15 Monday, November 3rd - Ravens HQ - Just south of Kirkland City Park, between 128th Ave NE and NE 142nd Ln
Child

Someone woke him from the first good sleep he had gotten in nearly a week. In fact the second thing Child noticed after the boot poking him, was that is was either still dark, or dark again. The third thing was that there was still left over noodles from a splurged dinner last night.

"Yo, want to go shopping with me? Got some water line shit to fix, and I need some peeps who know tools." The voice belonged to Bockscar. One of the toughs.

Child rolled over and hoursly blurted out "Yeah, uhh, sure" Someone had found him something useful to do, something he was good at, and while he was sleeping. This was good.

He unfolded himself from his corner, scarfed down the leftovers, and was ready for what ever.

00:10:43 Monday, November 3rd – October Ravens HQ - Just south of Kirkland City Park, between 128th Ave NE and NE 142nd Ln
Legion

Legion listened as the slim mage stumbled through his explanation, patient for the time being. He waited until Felix resettled his breathing mask.

"I like where you're head's at, Felix, and I appreciate your frank appraisal of the situation. I don't have that much experience with the Plague, so your insights are welcome. Especially since I understand that you can see more than the unaided eye can. But I don't want to go antagonizing our new friends just yet. Alexis will have to die at some point, I can agree with that, but we're not strong enough to assassinate her just yet. We need to consolidate what we have here and to make sure we are secure in our foundation before we begin combat operations. Keep your eyes out, though, and look for an opportunity to take her out of the picture. By the time that comes, we'll be ready."

The thought of blood made the corners of Legion's mouth curl up. The thought of what the gang would do to Alexis before they killed her made his smile a mirror of madness.

00:10:46 Monday, November 3rd – October Ravens HQ - Just south of Kirkland City Park, between 128th Ave NE and NE 142nd Ln
Rico

Some guys lived in this hell-hole ‘cause it’s where they’re born and without a SIN, there’s no way out. Some guys ‘cause they lost everything and they fell to the ‘Gate. Some cause they were so fucked up they would have ended up here no matter where they started. But Rico had met a few who were in the barrens because demons belonged in Hell. Seeing Legion’s look as Felix walked past, Rico was pretty sure which one he was dealing with.

Taking a deep breath, Rico walked out onto the roof, “Legion?�. A little of the craziness left Legion’s eyes as he focused on Rico and waved him over. Rico met his eyes just long enough to show respect to a Japanese, but not long enough to challenge a Mexican and then looked away. No telling what would set a guy like this off.

“Good evening Legion. I’ll make it short. I need to earn. I’ve got obligations to meet, and I need cash to meet them. I’m a good wrench, and know how to run a chop shop, but I don’t have the contacts to move the parts. I’ve sold cram and nova-coke, I’ve collected for a shylock, and trashed a couple of stores that didn’t have the right kind of “insurance�. I ran the whole beetle operation for the Brickhouse Boys before we decided to focus on the chop-shop. In short, I know just about every fucked up way to make nuyen in the barrens. I just need orders.

If you’ve got plans, I’m your guy. Just point me and let me go. If not, I’ve got a couple ideas and a couple of fairly reliable BTL connections. Or maybe I could play pimp for the girls. I had this idea about throwing some mattresses and curtains in the new truck and making a mobile whore house. Whatever it takes. Anyway, what do you think?�

00:11:27 Monday, November 3rd – October Ravens HQ - Just south of Kirkland City Park, between 128th Ave NE and NE 142nd Ln
Legion

Legion gripped Felix's shoulder with his offhand, a gesture of comradeship that shifted the slim mage over towards Shade and away from the conversation that might need a modicum of privacy. It doesn't, as it turns out. Legion tilts his head to the side as he listens to Rico rattle of the menu of possible services.

"Beetles, I think, to start with," replied the gang leader. "The war has disrupted most of the supply lines, so people should be pretty desperate to get their fix. I think that's our best bet. The girls seem to be doing fine at Slippy's, we can keep shopping them over there. We start going mobile and the Heartbreakers might take offense. The chop shop is something I'd like to look into in the future, but you're right, we're going to need tools. We have space, though, so start developing a list of things you need. In a couple of days the raiding parties are going to start, and it would be nice to have a shopping list."

00:012:00 Monday, November 3rd - Ravens HQ - Just south of Kirkland City Park, between 128th Ave NE and NE 142nd Ln
Bockscar

Say to the kid - "word. I got my shit laid out down on the first floor. Bring your shit down and we can compare notes. Gonna go tell some peeps what's up."

Let him do want he wants - follow me, meet up at my crap, whatever. Roll back to my room and grab my rifle, sling it over the shoulder, shove the trauma patch in my pocket. Browsing through the net as I go, looking for 24 hour hardware shops and their stock lists, when the net gets all splotty and then drops. Swear in indignation, and run the stupid commlink utilites that diagnose this shit. Start thinking through whatever else I'll need to buy to get some reliability out of this shit.

Hike up the stairs where people been going to yak with Legion. Get up to the top, see him conversing with one of them new kids. Wait for a long enough pause in conversation, and say -

"Yo, I'm going to get some shit to fix the water and the matrix with. Takin' Child with me, and Nevada if she wants to come. Need anything?

Give him a polite second or two to respond...

Left face, and track downstairs to look over the shit. When I get down there, I'm a little distracted, and plop down to gab about crap with Child. Send him the notes I got, and ask, "what you think we're looking at?"

00:02:20 Monday, November 3rd �€œ October Ravens HQ - Just south of Kirkland City Park, between 128th Ave NE and NE 142nd Ln
Grack

Close.

Far.

Close better.

Fuck it.

Music back on.

Sit down.

Wait.

00:12:22 Monday, November 3rd - Ravens HQ
Nevada

As soon as Bockscar had asked if she wanted to roll out on some shopping trip she used up all her restraint not to toss some barbed quip in his general direction. What was it about her and being the one to make the shopping trips anyway? At that moment all she really wanted to do was find an open corner on one of the mattresses or even one of the couches and crash until at least daylight, but knowing that there were others in the HQ that were a lot worse off and needed to heal up, she tossed Bockscar a nod.

"Yeah, sure. Let me go gear up first though." She said quietly.

Stepping slowly back into the room she took an extra second to flip her contacts over to low-light mode as to not trip over the various bodies of the rest of the girls. Not wanting to wake Caitlin she moved as cat-like as possible and chose to leave her synthleather coat draped over the girl. From her backpack she pulled out a faded-black hoodie and slipped it on over her thin t-shirt for a little extra warmth. Nevada walked over to Nyna and woke her up long enough to tell her to keep an eye on Caitlin and that if the girl woke up there was a bottle of water and some granola bars that she was leaving if Caitlin was hungry. It went without saying that if the girl wasn’t hungry, they weren't to eat her shit. With that business attended to, she dug deep within another pocket of her bag and pulled out a pair of shock gloves and slipped them on. Flexing her knuckles she whispered as she walked to the door, slinging the bag over her shoulder.

"Remington's over here by the wall. Try to keep it out of the girl's hands while I'm gone ok? Pulls a little to the right if you have to use it."

She stepped out back into the hall and headed downstairs to meet up with the guys. As she approached Bocscar and Child she shook her head and brought her voice up to a normal volume now that no one around was sleeping.

"Tell me you aren’t serious about making a provisions run down to the ‘Ville at this hour."

00:12:22 Monday, November 3rd - Ravens HQ
Bockscar

While I'm sitting there talking with Child, Nevada walks up. Asks why the hell we're making a provisions run at this hour. Good 'nuff question.

"Nah, I wasn't thinking of going to the 'Ville, I was thinking about rolling into Seattle itself. I want to go see if the Asphalt Kings got any crap that we could use, and if we wait till morning they'll all be hung over. Plus, there's a twenty four hour MegaMart up 405 a couple miles. It'll have all the repair crap we want. If there's a coffee shop or some shit nearby, we can boost their wireless hub and a car or two and go home. Either that, or we could take the truck that Rico and Twiggs stole. But maybe we just want to case the joint a bit today. Ain't in no hurry. That kid who showed up will make a good decoy, get people's guards down. Nobody expects a jackmove from a chick with a kid... well, at least, not outside of this hood."

00:13:13 Monday, November 3rd - Ravens HQ
Nevada

"Oh yeah, because a run into the 'Plex itself is SO much wiser at this hour."

She rolled her eyes and lost the edge of sarcasm as Bockscar mentioned bringing Caitlin along.

"Slow dow there dude, the kid's not leaving this place. It's bad enough that she's here and we're still not certain just where the hell she came from but most likely someone from Toyland may sniff around this place and demand their property back in the very near future. Now do you want to explain to them just how their merchendise got damaged up in the 'Plex should something not quite go our way? I'm sure as hell not letting them take it out of my ass. At least if they come around here it's still easy enough to explain it away and not ruffle too many feathers."

She wasn't quite ready to turn the young girl back over to the Toyland pervs if that’s who came looking for her, but she sure as hell wasn’t about to take the girl up the 405 in the middle of the night even if it would be a good con.

"I'm all for going on a supply run, but not with the kid. Not inside the 'Gate with all hell just starting to settle down."

00:02:20 Monday, November 3rd �€œ October Ravens HQ - Just south of Kirkland City Park, between 128th Ave NE and NE 142nd LN
Ink

Thumper asks "Hey, who'd you say you rolled with before?"

Ink looks at the ork incredulously for a few moments before responding. "Who did I roll with? Are jou fuckin' kiddin' me, ese? Who the fuck jou think I crewed with this lingua and these brasso's" He flexes letting his wiry musles communicate for him.

Thumper seems unimpressed with Ink's display, it is clear from the expression on his face that the ork expects a real answer.

Ink sighs dramaticaly and rolls up the right sleeve of his blood stained tee. Thumper doesn't seem impressed or to understand the message Ink is sending. Ink glances down at his piece. *Oh fuck! The gauze!* The Cubano peels back the gauze on his right arm revealing the once proud emblem of the LoCoS, now crossed out with two heavy black lines.

"That answer jour question, ese?"

00:13:14 Monday, November 3rd - Ravens HQ
Child

He had spent the morning checking pipes, wires, cables, conduit, and drains. There was a lot of work to do. A lot. But it might be do-able. And it felt good to be doing something useful. He wasn't much good with out a supply of parts and work to do, and people willing to pay him to do it.

"I don't wanna go up the 405... too much opportunity for trouble from the Hounds, or worse the Lotus riders. But as long as I have some back up, I could probably take off with anything with an engine. Whats our relationship with the Kings anyway? SSR never had any trouble with them, but I know they don't screw around. Look at when they did to the Brickhouse Boys."

Child picked at an uneven piece of steel on the back of his wrist. "About Caitlin. I kinda have this guys number. He used to... well he and my sister" he trailed off, "anyway, hes a cop. I mean, that would solve a lot of problems at once, right? Shes nice and all, but its not that safe here, and if we are right, about where shes from..."

00:02:30 Monday, November 3rd, October Ravens HQ - Just south of Kirkland City Park, between 128th Ave NE and NE 142nd LN
Thumper

"Loud and clear. Look man, we don't need a grudge match right now. When people see me they know Legion's sending a message and we don't want to be sending it without soldiers to back it up."

Thumper glanced around the room.

"Shit gets up close and personal and Grack and me are all we got. So bodega's out. I'm feeling sushi tonight."

00:25:00 Monday, November 3rd - Ravens HQ
Bockscar

Close my expression a bit as Nevada unleashes a string of bitchiness in my general direction. Guess she doesn't wanna go. Or some shit. I'll fold on arguing it.

Once the shit blows past, raise my hands palm-up, gesture of acquiescence. "Fine, don't wanna bring the kid, we won't." Pause a beat. "As far as the other crap, we're not trying to break into the Tir, we're just going up to the fucking megamart. It's only midnight. If you wanna go to bed, just fucking say so."

"In the meantime, I'm gonna walk down and see if the Kings got any tools we can borrow."

To Child - "man, ALL the kings do is screw around. That's what they're about. Rolling over a safehouse and fucking off ain't mutually exclusive. Lotus and the Hellhounds ain't gonna give us any trouble unless we bring some with us. We ain't beefing with them, and they got other shit in their box of give-a-damn, like each other."

Stand up as I'm saying this, get my stuff together and stashed. Figure maybe that will curtail unnecessary debate.

00:12:26 Monday, November 3rd – October Ravens HQ - Just south of Kirkland City Park, between 128th Ave NE and NE 142nd Ln
Aziz

Aziz awoke abruptly with a start. He had gone upstairs in the HQ and fallen asleep some time after returning home, weary from the day's events and still not feeling at the top of his game, due to his injuries.

Mm, just past midnight... he thought groggily, checking his commlink.

He sat up and pulled his shirt and jacket back on, and left the closet he had been sleeping in, deciding to head upstairs and do some more training. Coming out of the door onto the roof, he was surprised to run into Felix, Shade, and Legion.

"Oh, hey guys. Didn't think anyone else would be up... Whats going on?" he asks, sliding a cigarette into his mouth and lighting it up.

00:02:30 Monday, November 3rd, October Ravens HQ - Just south of Kirkland City Park, between 128th Ave NE and NE 142nd LN
Thumper & Ink

Thumper and the Cuban stared each other down for a moment. The big ork's flat rejection of Ink's proposal hung tensely in the air between them.

Ink weighed his options carefully, trying to decide whether or not his familia's safety was worth angering both Legion and el hefe's hit squad. Maybe there was a way, Ink recalled trying to peice together Grack's original request. The ork's lingua was more than Ink own fractured inglais could handle, but finally they had found a way to communicate, the Cubano's demo book. Images had become their method. Ink recalled the orks first trip back to the old shop and the royal beating he had endured to understand that the loathsome ork lived in the sewers. That was it.

"Ci, comprende. Jou want raw feesh, we get jou the rawest fishiest theeng we find, ese. Course I could go for some nice hot barbacoa, maybe a mendenoche, and some empanada's. But jou want feesh, jou get feesh."

He sighed dramatically, "S' too bad, ese. I coulda made it worth jour while. Maybe we coulda taken Grack's underground way. But jou want feesh."

He hitched up his pants and let his pistola settle into the waistband. "H'okay we go."

Thumper raised an eyebrow.

"Dude, I want food. I want beer and I don't want to tip off another gang war before this one's really over. if you can hook me up with all that and a burrito, I'll go to your fucking bodega. Otherwise, lets eat some sushi."

Thumper's attention was diverted as Grack smacked his lips loudly, but whatever the sewer dweller had reacted to seemed to have little bearing on the conversation.

Ink decided to try some honesty on top of his macho bluffing. "Look ese, I promised some peoples I'd look in on them. I'd rather do it with some mano's then by my lonesome. So we take the sewers up that way. Duck up, grab some eats and split, I've prolly got enough cash to grab jou some cervesa, too. And jou get jour pick of mi pistolas when we get back. Fair deal?"

The Cuban's sincerity, something Thumper had not seen before, spoke volumes to the big ork. This was something that mattered.

"Don't give me your gun, man. It's not fair for me to take it. Eats and cervesa," Thumper grinned at the word, "are cool. And if we're rolling together I don't want to leave you hanging, it's not what I do."

The ork paused reflectively, then continued: "but I don't know if sewers are the right way to do this. What we really need are some boys on bikes, but the moving van would work pretty well for us. Roll down there quick, get in and out, drive back before there's any trouble. Hell, no one knows that van's ours anyway. And we don't smell like ratshit and we don't get seen."

Ink nodded slowly his machismo returning. "Sounds like a plan, ese. You wanna grab the key an' we'll hit the road"

00:26:00 Monday, November 3rd - Ravens HQ
Child

Child stifled a yawn and shrugged at the idea of going for a hither-to-unknown supply run at a bit after midnight. The idea of some quality tools was very appealing, given that he wasn't too keen on the idea of using his 'good' tools on something as rough as plumbing. He also jotted down a mental note to get his welder back from Ink.

"You got me up. If you want to go scope out something on the Kings turf, let's at least check it out."

He hoped the 'Kings had some tools worth liberating, as the idea of riding what was basically a very dirty Hellhound special into opposing turf brought some excessive risk. He needed a cigarette bad.

00:02:30 Monday, November 3rd, October Ravens HQ - Just south of Kirkland City Park, between 128th Ave NE and NE 142nd LN
Grack w/Thumper & Ink

Follow to truck.

Climb in back.

Close.

Now it's dark.

Volume up.

Sleep.