Needles flinches sharply at the sudden staccato pattern of gunfire. His ears ringing, he decides that things have gone to drek, and that his responsibility is to keep Mr. Sowei safe. Pocketing the phone, he moves closer to the ork gunman, holding the pepper spray ready.

"Go! Get out of here!" he shouts at Arleesh and her thug. If they still act aggressively, I will fill their faces with the burning liquid, Needles thinks.

The elf mage seems to need no further encouragement. She appears to be in full-flight, by now a good 8 meters from Needles, Blackout, and Mr. Sowei. The ork has staggered a step back with the damage to his left forearm, putting him 11 meters from the trio and even more than that from Rat and Web's compromised hiding spot. The ork's seems to have lost focus with his pistol -- it's pointing somewhere at the ground as he tries to recover from the pain and shock of the sudden outbreak of gunfire.

[OOC: Action to Blackout, and then Web]

Web peers out from behind the wreck, moving carefully so it doesn't shift again and crush him or Rat. His head hurts, his adrenaline is rushing and his mind is feverishly trying to figure out the best way out of here.

Must calm down. I knew we should have checked this area out better. We should have convinced Mr.Soy to have the meeting tomorrow - people are in too much of a hurry...

Trying to calm himself by envisioning Spider's webs being woven over the situation, Web focuses on what he perceives as the biggest threat right now - the ork with the gun. Web doesn't like guns; especially not when they are being used against him.

Without sight, you can't aim... and then I can get away safely.

Blackout looks around him, his eyes looking for an answer to the mayhem. His eyes lock on the ork, and Blackout sprints at him, steeling himself for a clash. His eyes burn with rage, as he swings at the ork, running directly under the path of his the ork's weapon as it points at the ground.

"HAHA! KAAAAI!" he shouts as he darts at the man.

Blackout's adrenaline turbocharges his little furry legs, and he bursts forward with unusual speed. It's a long way to the ork, and he's more than a little concerned about the gun coming online before he gets there. He dashes across the open field, screaming his battle cry and hoping to shock the ork into submission long enough for Blackout to get there and start hitting him.

Mr. Sowei snaps to attention finally, shaking off his fog from all the gunfire. He scrambles to his feet and backpedals from the conflict, trying to seek some kind of cover in the wreckage. "Don't let them get away!" he cries out in Chinese.

Meanwhile, astral energies creep out from Web toward the ork under siege. He visualizes gray webs clouding across his target's corneas. The webs spin across the orks eyes, and he swats at the sensation instinctively. Web tries to focus, but in his hurry and panic, he just can't be settled enough. In his own alley, he could push it through.... but the ork shakes his head and the astral energies dissipate. With a snap, Web feels the backlash of drain reverberate into him, and he shudders in place. He feels a head-rush and swoons a bit, taking two deep breaths to stabilize himself.

By now, Blackout has almost reached the ork. Just a step away, his mind hammers in a wordless state of rage at the indignity and confusion of the last hour or so. The ork finally registers Blackout as he shakes off Web's webs, and appears undecided about whether to engage or flee.

The elf mage continues her sprint out of the clearing, leaving Jimmy's camera field. She passes about 6 meters out of the clearing, to the edge of a turn in the passageway of twisting metal that leads to the entrance. She breaks stride there, apparently realizing the ork is not right behind her, and throws a glance over her shoulder just as Blackout reaches her ally.

Rat's gun is still pointed in the general direction of the ork, but now Blackout is partially in the way. Rat isn't sure whether to take the shot and hope to fire around Blackout, or pursue another course of action. At least the slugs he's loaded could potentially hit the ork without peppering Blackout at the same time.

[OOC: Action to Rat]

Rat mutters a few grumbling curses. Trust Blackout to charge an armed opponent with his bare fists. Now the hairy mutant is in his way. Frag! He decides not to risk hitting Blackout - besides, knowing Blackout, he would probably be mad about Rat butting into "his" fight if he did manage to hit the ork. So the barrel of his sawed-off shotgun wavers in confusion, as he stops focusing on the ork (who will be busy with Blackout, win or lose), and instead divides his attention between Mr. Sowei and the backside (Mmmmm!) of the fleeing woman. He scowls as she looks like she might turn around, and scowls again as he hears Mr. Sowei frantically babbling something. "What did he say?", he demands into the phone. He is still distrustful of Mr. Sowei. They were here for muscle, nothing more, and if the uppity suit tries to weasel out of it because he 'didn't get what he wanted', he'll just put a few slugs into him. At least Needles already got the credstick from him.

Mr. Sowei looks to Rat like he's egging on a fight on the trid. He's watching Blackout and making sloppy little air punches in the air, shouting and jumping like he had a wager on the fight. He looks like a cross between a cheerleader and karaoke night at the local Triad-wannabe bar. Of course, he does it all from partial cover behind twisted metal. Because he's a fraggin' coward thinks Rat, oblivious to the irony that he himself is partially hiding in twisted metal. Rat just doesn't like the guy.

Blackout swoops on the ork's hesitation, kicking at his shin in an exaggerated gesture. Just as Blackout planned, the ork overreacts, kicking his legs backwards and bending at the waist. Blackout throws a sharp left jab, and the ork forgets about his pistol as his hands come up in an attempt at a brush block. The jab lands squarely on the orks right forearm, knocking his arm into his nose and grounding his balance. Blackout half-expected something like that too, and he follows with a right curving back-hand power punch to the left side of the orks jaw. The ork has no chance to block this one or even shift his weight, since he's too heavy on his feet and his arms are in front of his nose.

The ork flies off his feet, all 130 kilos of him, and slams into the ground as his pistol sails through the air, landing three or four meters away. He has no visible damage from Blackout's punch, but it appears to have rung his bell. He can't seem to figure out how to get to his hands and knees, let alone his feet.

[OOC: Action to Needles]

Needles hesitates. It's not clear whether the fight is over or not -- the elf mage is lingering with cover several meters into the maze, the ork is knocked down, and the human is very dead. Tensions are still high however. Needles stays ready to pepper-spray someone as needed.

Mr. Sowei continues shouting encouragement from his position in hiding. "Kick him! Kick his ass! Kick him hard!" he yells to Blackout, although Blackout cannot understand him. Needles rolls his eyes to himself at Mr. Sowei's total loss of tact under pressure.

The elf mage screams back at the ork, "Come on! Get up!" He doesn't seem to be hearing her, as he shakes his head and tries unsuccessfully to clear it.

[OOC: Actions to Jimmy and Web]

Web ponders the situation - while things appear to be going well, they could be going alot better.

At least no one is shooting right now. Time for some distraction.

Web takes a deep breath and raises his arms, mumbling softly to himself under his breath.

Anansi, forgive me this sacrifice... he thinks.

Jimmy keeps watching through the camera system, on pins and needles. He's not sure whether he'd be happier closer to the action -- he'd see more, but there's something to be said for being safe. Maybe we could rig Blackout with a simrig someday, and then we could play back his kick-ass adventures later, plus sell 'em for a few yen on the side... He starts fantasizing about his directorial debut.

Web reaches through the ether to the source of his power, and a small voice answers him. A small, ghostly tarantula appears by his side in response, and as usual, he gets a piercing migraine in payment. His head throbs so badly that for a moment, he can't see. Then he feels the gentle brush of Anansi's limbs against his mind, and the pain is lifted. By my grace, you may have this sacrifice... goes the voice in his mind. He feels a silent, wordless surge of gratitude toward the Great Spider Mistress.

[OOC: Actions to Jimmy and Blackout]

Blackout thumps at the man, continually punching and blocking in a never ending struggle. He hears Sowei shouting something as the sound of his own blood pumping fills his ears. In his own mind, he hears words coming to him. Something about a weakness. Something about his enemy not being ready for a shot to the stomach.

Forgetting that he can't understand Sowei at the best of times, he takes a shot at the man's stomach, expecting him to topple like a tree.

Thank you Mr. J. he mouths silently in english.

Blackout's fist connects hard with the ork's stomach, just as he was getting to his hands and knees. A taller man would have had to kick the ork, but with Blackout's stature, he's able to deliver a powerful uppercut to the man's stomach, using his quadriceps for lift. The air rushes out of the ork's lungs with a grunt, he lifts slightly into the air, and then collapses completely on the ground. He makes short, sputtering noises as if he's having trouble breathing.

That seems to put the elf lady past her hesitation. She bolts away from the scene, into the maze of cars, disappearing from the sight of the ground team. Jimmy switches camera angles and picks her up running toward the entrance of the yard. He gets a good zoom on her face as she runs by one of the cameras and passes through a light beam. He grabs a still-frame from it and holds it up in space next the 8-paneled wall of camera feeds he's arranged in the blue gridwork of the hostspace. He mentally will the image larger, to the edge of pixelation, so that he has a face shot almost as large as himself.

It's a slightly haunting image. She doesn't look scared or angry. She doesn't look like the proverbial hottie elf chick running from the zombies until she trips in her high heels. She looks cold and empty, like people standing on a subway, pretending not to see you even though you're so close you can smell each other.

I guess she's just out of here. Heading for the car. he thinks. Hm.

[OOC: Action to Rat]

Rat heaves a sigh and shakes his head slightly in relief as Blackout downs the ork. But when he looks up, he still has an intense, almost snarling look on his face, and the adrenaline is still running through him. They did their job as bodyguards, but now's where their employer might try to screw them over, whining that he "didn't get what he wanted" or something. Well, frag him, that wasn't part of the original deal. If he makes a move towards Needles (who has the credstick), or starts otherwise acting suspiciously, he'll be ready. Damn ready.

Schooling his face into neutrality (with only a slight facial tic marring the effect), he ambles over to Needles and Mr. Sowei, finally allowing a grin to crease his face. "Hey, hey, looks like the team supreme kicked a little ass tonight, huh?" he crows to Needles. Despite his rambling gait and casual manner, his Roomsweeper is still held in his right hand, ready to sweep up in an instant.

[OOC: Off of initiative. Post at will, but stay within the next couple of minutes game-time...]

Needles blinks again as the tension evaporates. One dead, one incapacitated, one escaped. At least, Needles assumes the man missing his throat is dead, and the ork is probably not. I wonder if Blackout will stop hitting him.

Blackout's adrenaline rush is starting to fade, now that 10 seconds have passed, and he can almost see straight. He pauses, trying to decide whether to strike the ork one more time for good measure. Sorta depends on whether we wanna have a conversation with him, I guess... he thinks.

Web sends his spider spirit servant flitting after the fleeing elf mage. Mock her for fleeing he directs the creature. It rasps once in astral space and zips off in her general directions. Web frowns to himself as he realizes it'll probably get lost in the maze rather quickly, but so be it. He mentally shrugs as it zips off on his mission and peers out into the clearing. He sees Rat has hopped down and is acting semi-casual. Is it over? he wonders. It was all so fast.

Mr. Sowei steps out from cover, clutching a headlamp danging by the wires. Needles has a quick mental flashback of a barbarian movie, where the conquerer emerges from the temple of his victims with a human head held by the hair. Mr. Sowei walks tensely and briskly toward Blackout and the ork, headlamp dangling from his right hand in what is clearly a ready-to-swing posture. He is glaring at the ork as he approaches with a cautious shuffle, as if approaching the roadkill of a rabid dog that might still have a bite or two left in him.

Needles nods grimly to Rat, and approaches the fallen ork as well, and nudges the pistol from the ork's hand so there is no possibility of a threat. Kneeling beside the ork, he checks for a pulse and any major damage. We may need some answers from him, Needles thinks.

Standing up, he tells the team, "I'm pretty sure he will live, though he's in pretty bad shape. A couple of ribs will take time to heal." Needles gestures at the samoan's body, adding, "And he won't be needing his gun anymore. Looks like I will have some cleaning to do, huh?" Needles glances at Rat with a tight smile, and nods briefly at the guns on the ground.

Needles turns to Rat. "You and Web scouted this place out. Do you think the lady ran down a dead end? I think we might want to leave, rather than make her feel as a caged animal."

Needles is a little embarrassed, as he can't actually find the ork's pulse. He knows it ought to be right around there, but he can't find it. Still, the ork is breathing, so he knows his pulse is there. Needles suspects the ork is even in a semi-conscious stupor. The slug from the Roomsweeper tore up his left arm pretty well too, and there's plenty of blood, though it's not a life-threatening wound unless it were left to fester.

Needles makes his announcement and looks at Rat for his thoughts. Suddenly, Mr. Sowei whips the headlamp around into the ork. "You stupid son of a whore!" he shouts in Chinese with great vigor, while beating the downed ork with the headlamp. "How dare you mess with the Sowei family!" Everyone is shocked at the violence of Mr. Sowei's efforts. His face is even turning all red from the work he's putting into beating the ork, although even this inexperienced group of almost-runners can tell he's having very little effect on the big man.

Back in the office, Jimmy is pacing the elf mage's run from the yard. He snaps a couple of stills of the translucent spider following her, guessing who sent that. Nice touch, Web. Suddenly, she veers away from the exit. Where the hell is she going? Jimmy thinks. He watches with interest as she heads around some junk and forces him to change camera angles. As he jumps into the next camera, he gets a line of where she's headed. Looks like some kind of old building... he thinks for a moment. Suddenly, he gets a sinking feeling as he recognizes the building -- it's the one his meat body is currently squatting in. "Oh drek!" he says in both the Matrix and meat world at once.

Web steps out of his hiding place and walks slowly down towards the rest of the group. He's feeling pretty lousy, but he can't make up his mind if he expected to feel worse or better.

"The lady ran for the exit, I think." he states. "Do we wish to track her?"

He doubts any spirit he can conjure up right now could actually track her down in this maze, but it might be worth a shot — it will mean more headaches though, and he isn't sure he wants that...

"Needle — tell mister Soy to stop." Killing one of them is bad enough, he thinks. There is no need for more deaths. Maybe next time it will be one of us.

Needles grabs Mr. Sowei's arm as he swings again. "Mr. Sowei, you must stop. Beating this man will accomplish nothing," he says, his voice carrying an edge of hardness. "Right now we need to consider how to deal with what has happened."

"I think that these negotiations are over, and we should pull out," Needles says to the teammates standing near him. "We can move the big body and this man somewhere where they won't be immediately noticed, but I think we should leave soon." Needles looks around the group. "What do you think?" he asks.

Sure, overwatch is all well and good and all, and it's kind of his job, but he's got his own hoop to watch out for too. DJ Slyce takes a moment to log off nice and gracefully, and Jimmy fumbles in his pack for his pistol. Sure, it's one of those holdout deals, but how's the elf lady not supposed to know he's packing some kind of whizzer ammo in it, eh?

He looks around a moment, and decides his deck looks reasonably in place here, so he just looks for a place to hide his own meat body first.

Mr. Sowei pulls away from Needles' restraining hand for a moment, and Needles sinks his weight onto that arm slightly, grounding Mr. Sowei's right foot and making his balance awkward. Mr. Sowei loses his leverage in this way and his struggles become ineffective. Needles' direct words pacify him for a moment, and he stops moving. He drops the headlamp as a wordless assent, but he looks tense.

Jimmy glances around the room quickly -- there isn't much to hide behind here. It's dark in the room, but he knows those elves do well in the dark. Unfortunately, he's only got seconds now. He glances at the space under the desk, where the chair normally goes. Too obvious he thinks. The only other viable choice is behind a filing cabinet that is placed near the corner. He squeezes himself into the corner, somewhat pinned in place by the filing cabinet. He won't be visible from the entrance at least.

Seconds tick by. Maybe she skipped it after all, he thinks. He's considering getting up out of his corner when his eyes make out a dark shape transition across the minimal lighting in the room that streams in from the only window, in front of the desk. Oh drek... someone's here and I didn't even hear them... he realizes.

His pistol is out in front of him, and for the moment, the person hasn't reacted to him. He's not even sure which way they are facing, but if they're facing toward him, they're looking right at him. If they're facing away, all they have to do is turn around. He wonders if he should pull the trigger for the ambush shot he seems to have, or hope it doesn't come to that.

If whoever it is hasn't seen me by now, then maybe they don't know what I'm packing...

Jimmy straightens up a bit, and summons up some steel in his spine.

`Freeze. Don't move or I conduct some brain surgery.`

He adjusts his aim to what he thinks is the person's head, and hopes to hell he didn't sound as freaked as he really is there. Too sudden a move from the person, and he's going to fire.

Blackout smiles his wry smile, and kicks the samoan lightly in the side, before walking off to talk to the others, giving Sowei a nod as he passes him.

"So. Guess we win the day. Anyone coming for a beer?"

He flashes his smile around the group, his hands finding the pockets of his new work suit.

The figure in the office goes stone still in response to Jimmy's statement. The lack of motion almost makes the outline melt into the darkness. Jimmy struggles to make out just who or what he's got in his sites. He assumes it's the elf lady he saw running toward him on the cameras, but he just can't make out enough detail to even confirm gender, let alone identity.

Still, as long as it's metahuman, he knows where the vital parts are. He keeps his pistol pointing toward where the head should be. A second or two ticks by, the air thick with tension. Okay, thinks Jimmy. She froze. What now?

Needles nods to Blackout. "It does look like we are about done here. Jimmy probably can't hear us through the cameras, let's go tell him the good news." Needles pats the pocket containing the credstick with Sowei's payment as he starts walking towards the security building. He stops to pick up the ork's pistol, and brushes some of the dirt off of it as he walks. This should be easy to clean, he thinks.

"Hold on a minute! What's going on? I demand a status update! Where is my object?" cries Mr. Sowei. "Mr. Chen, where are you going? We have to search these people to see if one of them has it! And find Arleesh!"

Blackout ignores him, and Rat and Web stare at him. Needles sighs to himself. I wish someone else here spoke Chinese...

Needles turns to face Mr. Sowei. "I doubt that either of these have your object, though you are welcome to search them. Our agreement was to help you present a strong negotiating front, and ensure your survival through the negotiation process. Your negotiations with Arleesh appear to be over, and you are still alive."

Needles stops briefly to translate his words for the rest of the team, then continues with Mr. Sowei. "Arleesh appears to have run off. If you wish us to help you accost her, that sounds like something more than our original agreement. We might be willing to help you do that, for an extra bonus." Again, Needles translates for his teammates. "What do you think, guys? I think Arleesh has run away, so this might be more difficult than just scouring the junkyard."

Pistol whip her...

Some little part of Jimmy's mind runs that thought through, and he bitchslaps that part of his mind. Girl might have some kind of anti-pistol whipping mojo going. Then again she did pause, didn't she?

Jimmy reaches one hand slowly down to dial up the cellphone, mentally counting the time until someone should pick up.

`Alpha Team, this is Overwatch. I have the target in my possession, converge on my location immediatly.`

Ooook...

Where the hell all that came from was beyond him, but it sounded official. Now, if she bought it he'd be ok.

Mr. Sowei's mouth opens and closes again. He looks off into the distance with hard eyes. "Just get her. You'll get her fee." is all he says, and then he suddenly drops to his knees and starts rummaging through the orks jacket. The ork groans slightly at the contact, but does not resist. Mr. Sowei pulls out a lighter, a packet of cigarettes, and a pistol clip from the ork's pockets as he digs through, throwing them on the ground beside him.

Before Needles can reply to him or translate, the phone beeps several times, as if someone is dialing a number. Everyone goes silent, and then Jimmy's voice comes over the line. "Alpha Team, this is Overwatch. I have the target in my possession, converge on my location immediatly."

Everyone jumps. "Drek," swears Rat, looking wildly around the maze. Where was the damn entrance again?

Web picks up on his confusion. "This way..." he says, walking purposefully across the yard and into the maze. "I remember the way."

"We're on our way," says Needles into the phone.

Jimmy breathes a sigh of relief, as quietly as he can. Suddenly the dark figure blurs off to the left, and Jimmy reflexively pulls the trigger, more out of fear than anything. The gunshot seems amazingly loud in the small space, even though it's a hold-out, and the flash lights the room briefly. Jimmy experiences a moment of total night-blindness from the flash, and panic swells in him in that split-second. Then he hears a scuffing sound from the doorway, out of sight on the other side of the filing cabinet... and then nothing. As he is able to see the dim room again, there is no sign of his target -- at least from his vantage hidden in the corner.

The team back in the clearing hears the gunshot, both through the phone and from across the maze, and everyone is spurred into double-time.

Blackout jumps, and is running for where he things Jimmy is. As usual, his heroic outcomes play through in his head. He smiles as he visualises himself standing behind the mage woman, calling her out, then just after her magic tricks don't work on him, he seduces her and takes her out for a beer. Of course, he's more likely to just barge into her from behind and start punching her in the face.

He smiles again, holding the image of himself cannonballing through a window to land on his feet between the mage woman and the decker, before striking a well-timed pose.

"Oh frag yeah, it's all me." he mutters to nothing in particular as his little legs pound into the ground rhythmically.

Web slowly ponders along, shaking his head to try and clear it from the headache - but it just makes things worse.

If the kid has the target, then what's the hurry? If it's the elf and she's mind controlled him there won't be any reason to hurry anyway. We need to stop and plan.

But somehow I don't think the others would agree...

Web sighs and shakes his head again - this time in silent frustration.

"Down that way - turn down by the green car. Rat should know." Or so Web hopes at least. This bunch is too hurried...

The pack of runners quickly seperates by speed. Rat has some running experience, so he lowers his head a bit, bends his knees, and gets moving. He's no Olympic sprinter, but he's off at a good 12 kph, weaving through the maze.

Blackout is following along behind. He doesn't really do much sprinting -- he's more of a jogger -- so his body automatically falls into a jogging rhythm. He pushes it up a light run, but any quicker and he'd probably slip in the mud. His light run is a fast jog for a human -- maybe 9.5 kph.

Needles is next. His deliberate nature and a bit of clumsiness (which he conceals in careful movement) keeps him at a 7 kph casual jog. He bounces along, alert to the possiblity of ambush from above and carefully keeping his footing.

Web is predictably last. He picks his way carefully through the dark, feeling with his hands despite his good thermo vision. He just likes to touch things as he moves, feeling his way along by instinct, and it can only be hurried so much. Besides, his fragile body aches if he jars it with actual running. His "hurry up" mode is really nothing more than a brisk walk at 3.5 kph.

Because of the speed differences, Rat quickly finds himself alone out front, thankful for the directions that Web called ahead before they seperated. Rat is pretty sure of the general direction now, and though he can hear Blackout's feet and huffing breath behind him, it's clear that he will reach Jimmy and the entrance area first.

Back in the office, Jimmy's heart pounds in his chest as he cautiously disengages from his hiding hole behind the filing cabinet and peers out into the room. It is empty. He breathes a little sigh of relief. Looks like it worked! he thinks, grateful that he didn't have to directly confront the wrathful beauty. I wonder if I can find out more about her?

It seems like an eternity to Rat before the entrance and junkyard building come into view. He quickly scans the area, pistol high and on alert. A tiny squeak attracts his attention off to the right, and he glances over to see the heat signature of the woman just closing the gate at the entrance, apparently trying to sneak out quietly. His pistol comes up automatically, more defensively than anything. She'll be gone in another eyeblink, and she's at moderate range now. It's a toss-up whether he'd actually hit her, and he's not sure it's necessary.

[OOC: Action to Rat... to fire, or let her go?]

Rat aims for a second, then lets his pistol drop and cheekily waves goodbye instead. No way he's gonna plug a hot elven cutie. Now, if Mr. Sowei was right there, he might shoot (a bit to the left...) to make it look good, but their erstwhile employer is still behind a ways. As far as he's concerned, they did their job already. All he wants to do now is go back and nab that rifle from the guy he shot. Bet Martin would pay some decent change for it. Reminds him, he needs to bug that goof Blackout about that gun that's probably collecting dust bunnies at his apartment. Guy could probably get a few hundred for it, but can't be bothered. Some people, just no common sense.

Speaking of the dude, Blackout runs up a few moments behind him. "I think it's clear," says Rat in a low but calm voice. "I saw somethin', looked like maybe someone zippin' out that gate there, but whatever it was is gone now." He talks into the phone. "Yo, Jimmy! Ya still with us?" By his jovial tone, it sounds like he doesn't think Jimmy is in any real danger - at least, not any more.

`Hell yeah man, scared that slitch right good...`

Now if only he'd asked for her number before she ran off. Wouldn't that have been killer? He looks back to his deck, and considers a moment.

`We ready to wrap? I've got hardware to pack.`

"Yeah, let's do it," says Rat as Needles comes jogging into the clearing.

"Be there in 30 ticks," says Jimmy, leaping up to pack. He drops his pistol in his bag and deftly prepares his deck for transport.

"Hey, uh, guys, you wanna hang out here for a sec? I gotta run back and, uh, clean up the scene back there," says Rat to Needles and Blackout.

"Do you require assistance?" says Needles.

"Nah, I got it, thanks," says Rat. "I'll just jog back and clean it up."

"Actually, I'd better go with you and see what Mr. Sowei is doing," says Needles. "We should at least see him back to his car."

"Whatever," shrugs Rat. He couldn't care less if Mr. Sowei got lost in the maze and never came out, but he's going back for the rifle.

"I'll keep watch here," says Blackout. Web shuffles into the clearing at about the same time that Jimmy comes out of the house, and they join Blackout by the front gate.

Rat and Needles head back into the maze at a slight jog toward where they left Mr. Sowei. Thirty seconds later, they jog into the clearing, but Mr. Sowei is nowhere to be seen. Rat spots the hardware he's looking for, however, and scrambles over that way to pick it up. Needles looks around in confusion. Where'd that guy go? he thinks.

Both of them jump when Mr. Sowei speaks from the shadows at the edge of the clearing. "Do you want my car?" he says.

"What?" replies Needles in Chinese.

"Huh?" says Rat in Streetpunk.

"Do you like my car? For a ride to the airport and that credstick I gave you earlier, you can have it. It's more than worth it." continues Mr. Sowei.

Needles translates for Rat. "I think he wants us to take him to the airport, and in trade for that, he will give us his vehicle." (Needles also reiterates this in Chinese to make sure that he understood Mr. Sowei correctly.)

"Mr. Chen, please listen carefully. I need that credstick I gave you returned to me. I realize you probably won't give it to me willingly, despite the fact that I was manipulated by that pointy-eared slitch. I need all the money I can raise in the next 20 minutes, and that credstick is the best thing I have. I also want a ride to the airport. For the ride and the credstick, you can have my car, which I bought for 250,000 nuyen just last year. You'll do just fine. Do you understand me now? I have perhaps an hour to live, so please do not delay in your cooperation." Mr. Sowei finishes his speech with an expectant stare.

Rat decides to ignoring the chattering Asian people, just like he's done most of his life. If they have something important to say, they'll say it in English, he reasons.

He picks up the rifle and admires the Steyr name on the side. Good company. I bet this one shoots straight. What else ya got, dead crazy guy? He starts patting down the bloody corpse, and finds the concealed pistol. What have we here? His jaw drops open when he spots the Savalette name. Sweet something of someplace! He can't even form thoughts. The Savalette Guardian is after all the dream piece for gutter trash like Rat. Like all things valuable to him, he quickly stuffs it in his pants while Needles and Mr. Sowei are talking.

He finishes patting down the corpse, and only comes up with a pack of cigarettes and an extra clip for the Savalette. He puts both of those down his pants as well before wandering over to pick up the gun the ork dropped. He smiles at the Hammerli brand LP. These guys were some class! And we ate 'em up! Guess we're movin' up the food chain. He is positively beaming at the haul.

"Dude," he says to Needles. "Y'all got that drek sorted out yet or what?" I wonder if I should pat down the guy who's still alive he thinks to himself. Is that in poor taste?

Needles quickly translates for Rat, and the others as they catch up.

"I'm not sure how easy it will be to fence a car, but Martin probably knows someone who can help," Needles continues. "Besides, with all these things laying around," (he gestures at the pistols and rifle) "we should be pretty decently off. We should be able to get Sowei to the airport, at least. I say we roll, and give Sowei the lift."

Blackout scratches at his thigh idly with his left hand, while considering the deal. He brings his hand up to stomach height, scratching the back of it with his right. He looks, up squints in an odd way at everyone, simply states "No car.", and goes back to staring at the back of his hand.

Jimmy cases the office quickly before leaving. The desk is surprisingly empty -- just two porno mags and the smell of engine oil. The filing cabinet has a bunch of old paper records of parts shipped and received -- certainly nothing Jimmy would care about. That leaves the dataterm itself. It weighs a few kilos, and it's an awkward size for carrying. He waffles for a moment, and then decides it's really not worth it.

As he jogs down to his team, he catches up with the whole group. They've gathered up the guns of the fallen team, and brought Mr. Sowei to the entrance. He shows up just as the discussion is wrapping up about Mr. Sowei's proposal.

"So yeah, for all those reasons, forget it. We walk with the nuyen," says Rat.

Needles nods in agreement. "I am happy for your view. I see now this could was a problem." The grammar is a little off, but everyone understands. He turns to Mr. Sowei. "Sir, I regret to inform you that we cannot accept your offer. We must conclude our employment here. We wish you good luck." Needles knows the team doesn't really care for Mr. Sowei at all, but wishing good luck is a traditional end to negotiations.

Mr. Sowei just stands there, staring at Needles and the team. Realizing he has no leverage here anymore, he just turns and silently walks to the front gate to leave. That makes Rat even more tense. That fragger is too calm... he's probably setting in motion some revenge plan even now... I probly oughta've shot him.

The team follows Mr. Sowei out the front, keeping an eye on him and their surroundings. The black Ford Americar that the opposing team arrived in is still parked out front, somewhat to everyone's surprise.

"Guess the hottie had to walk home," observes Rat.

"The ork will recover eventually and clean up," says Needles. "This car won't be here by morning."

"So we gonna keep this loot, then? Or sell it? You want I should hit Martin, or we just let it ride?"

Mr. Sowei gets in his car and starts it, while everyone keeps an eye on him. The Saab pulls out of the driveway smoothly, and Mr. Sowei drives off into the night. As soon as he is gone, the team starts walking away from the yard to put some distance in while they strategize.

Rat continues the conversation to himself as he walks. "Okay, well, we'll divvy up the 5K, so that's sweet. And then, we should probably keep these phones between us, so we can, like, get in touch when the next job goes down, or if we want to do somethin' else. And then, I'm keepin' the one piece, on account of I shot the sheriff." Rat is referring to the Savalette with this point. He quickly continues talking so no one can object. "I guess Web and Blackout, y'all not really gun guys so far as I can tell, so no need for that. We got the rifle and the Hammerli, which I might add is worth a yen or two, but which I guess it's cool to just pack for style purposes. And you know what actually? Since Needles is all up-close-man and drek like that, I'm thinkin' he gets the flashy piece, you know to let 'em know what's down, and then maybe we hook up Jimmy with the sniper piece. Tho, I could see the other way too. Whaddya think?"

Needles nods in agreement as they walk briskly from the scene. "Yes. Though, some of us need to practice with the larger gun, for Jimmy may sometimes be . . . jacked?"

"Jacked in," interjects Jimmy.

"Thank you," smiles Needles. "Now we must hurry - I do not trust Mr. Sowei; he might try to turn us in for what has happened here tonight. I think we should lie low for a while, and try not to meet in the usual places for a few days."

As they walk, Needles fiddles with the phone in his hand, trying to turn off the 3-way always-on feature. It was a clever tool earlier in the evening, but it could attract unwanted attention now.

Web tries to act as if he's been listening intently to what Rat was talking about, though he assumes it was about the weapons he seems so fond of.

"Buy me a meal and we are even." Web tries to figure out how much his share his, but gets bored of the prospect of actually counting it out before he even starts. "And my share."

He leans on his staff, looks around at the rest of the team, and can't help but wonder if they did the job they where payed for or if this went wrong for all three parties. Not that it matters too much.

"Where now?" Web asks, but his mind is already off in another place. He wishes he was fit and rested so he could send a spirit after Mr. Soy, to keep an eye on things - just in case. He shakes his head and mutters to himself. A better plan next time. Less loose ends and unpredictable things. His stomach growls, and he is instantly back in reality.

"We need to plan a dinner."

Blackout looks at the group, a sly smile washes over his face. The smile drops, and his leg starts to jitter a little as he stares at the air, probably thinking about something.

"Does anyone else realise that we've left a junkyard full of corpses behind? Maybe we shouldn't do that."

His smile re-emerges, somewhat nervously this time.

Rat shrugs. "One dead guy, and the live guy'll probably move him when he wakes up. Those guys are like us - they don't freakin' exist as far as the cops and suits are concerned. Only ones besides us that know what went down are Mr. Sowei and the elf chick hottie, and they're gonna be more worried about each other than with messin' with the hired grunts. Relax. It's another day, another K. I told ya we'd be goin places, didn't I?"

Rat rubs his chin, formulating his thoughts aloud as he walks. "Now, I been doin' some thinkin' about the loot - and we shoulda frisked 'em better, but hell, it's all gravy anyways. What was I sayin'? Oh yeah, the guns and stuff. Now, Blackout don't use guns." He pauses to shoot an exasperated look at Blackout. "By the way, big guy, ya still got that hot gun from the last shootout. Ya need ta take it ta Martin's, I tell ya. Probably trade it for some cool body armor or some electrified brass nucks or somethin'. Or a few hundred in beer money."

Rat continues: "Now Web, he don't use guns either. Needles, he grabbed that fancy pistol from the ork, so now he's got a gun. Jimmy, I guess Needles was right 'bout the rifle an' you being too distracted doing that jackin' yerself decker thing. I think I'll keep it, since I'm the long gun of the group, and it wouldn't hurt to have somethin' with more range and stoppin' power. We'll see about the Salavette. Might be too fancy for me, but ya never can tell. And I'm gonna treat the new guy ta dinner. You'll like Topless Tate's, Web. It's a real classy joint. I'll get ya a burger, fries, an' a pitcher of beer... hell, I'll even buy ya a lap dance from the waitress."

The team separates. Rat and Web head off toward the bar on foot, although Rat asks Web if they can swing by his "apartment" to drop off the weapons. "There's no point carrying all these toys into Tate's. It'll just freak everybody out," he explains casually.

Web thinks, Free food. That's about all Web thinks, and so he's more than willing to follow Rat wherever, so long as food results.

When they get into Rat's neighborhood, Rat asks Web to wait outside "on account of the werewolves". That's his standard line so that people don't nose around his place, and he's always sure to let a few passers-by hear him say it. Web doesn't blink to that. He just nods and waits.

Down in his place, Rat takes a closer look at the Savalette and Steyr before he heads out for the evening. The Savalette is in good condition, but he's surprised when he pops the clip. The rounds are some kind of funky style he's never seen before. Instead of metal tips like he's used to, the fronts of the bullets look like urinal cake or something like that. He scratches his head, and then his groin, as he looks at the unusual bullets. Well, nobody ever makes bullets that are less lethal, 'cept those rubber ones, so I guess these must be extra lethal somehow. He mentally shrugs and makes a note to himself to ask around. The Savalette came with an extra clip too, so he's got a total of 24 of these strange bullets, or so he assumes. He doesn't actually take the time right now to unload the clips and see if literally every bullet is of this new variety.

The Steyr rifle is a carbine with a long 40-round staggered-stack clip. He pops this one out, and is both relieved and disappointed that it seems to use standard 7.62mm FMJ. At least I know what that's about... I'm gonna have to practice how to reach out and touch someone with this baby. I wonder what's it's good to? More than a Roomsweeper, that's for sure, and way more than my old Streetline. He realizes this model is one of those multi-combo-guns that can be rebuilt into an AR, an LMG, and a couple of other things. Unfortunately, the Samoan didn't seem to have the other parts on him, so the street value of this piece is significantly reduced. Kit guns like this tend to have a reputation as unreliable, making it hard to sell just part of the kit, since a buyer gets the loss of reliability without the corresponding gain of flexibility and customization. Just as well to sit on this one for personal use, Rat thinks.

He considers whether to wear with armor and Roomsweeper to the "restaurant". Not that they'd throw him out or anything, but he realizes that with the Kevlar, he won't be able to feel the lap dance as well. And that just ain't fun! He decides to ditch the Kevlar for his non-armored jeans and T-shirt, but bring the Roomsweeper in his pants. After all, I'm a runner now. I gotta stay ready!

Blackout waits while Rat and Web head off, and then looks around trying to decide what to do. Beer, or workout?

Beside him Needles and Jimmy stand on the street corner, just taking in the night air. "Well, guys," says Jimmy. "It's been real. I think. We'll talk, I'm sure." He flips on the trance-mp3s and steps out, heading roughly toward home.

"I am tired, but awake," observes Needles.

Blackout nods. "That is what beer is for. Let's go to the Rogue."

"Agreed."

The two fighters have little to say, alternately lost in their own thoughts and observing their environment. Though they look very different, they can feel a certain similarity of style.

Meanwhile, 2 blocks away, Jimmy gets a sudden urge to check his email. He wishes for the 1000th time that he had the cred to wireless his deck, and then remembers that he does have cred now. As soon as he thinks of that, however, he thinks of 100 other things he'd like to spend it on. Guess I'd better prioritize... I never even got around to spending that last 1000 from the Rogue.

He stops at a public dataterm and logs in. Spam, spam, spam... yeah, my penis is fine thank you... lonely, but fine... He perks up when he sees a note from HackerHouse on Shadowland. They sometimes have specials that he can dream about. It's all hopelessly out of reach, but it's fun to browse. He opens the email.

The first line goes. "DJSlyce: Congratulations!! You are the winner of our frequent shopper appeciation drawing!"

Jimmy's jaw drops open. He forgot about that. He put his tag in the queue for a random drawing for HackerHouse members. They let you sign up for their "frequent buyer" program and earn points toward prizes, but of course, he never buys anything at all. Still, he's signed up, and when these drawings and giveaways come along, he always enters. It was how he got some of the components for Sophie, a long time ago.

"As you know, this was our SemiMegaDraw. Your win here puts your name in the queue for the SuperMegaDraw next month." Oh he thinks it's one of those bulldrek things... The email continues. "Still, your prize now is nothing to filter. Next time you log on to HackerHouse use the HoloLISP code embedded in this icon to access your on-line credit account of 38,000 nuyen! Again, congratulations, DJSlyce. We hope you will continue to enjoy HackerHouse as long as your wetware holds up."

A few days later, Rat is on his way to Martin's. He's not even sure why, but he just figures, there's probably something he needs there. Well, I probably won't buy anything... just gonna look around and ask about those funky bullets.

He's about halfway there when the black van with the tinted windows pulls up beside him. He feels that uncomfortable feeling of not being sure if someone's watching him or not, and then the passenger window rolls down. "Drek!" he shouts, diving for cover and drawing his Roomsweeper.

"Rat, it's me! It's okay!" calls a female voice.

Rat blinks a couple of times at the familiar sound, and then remembers the blond fighter of their previous job. "Hey, the non-screwing Johnson! Alright!" he says.

"Excuse me?" Blondie wonders if he's questioning her sexuality, or just phrased that badly.

"Eh, nevermind. What's up?" says Rat, emerging from behind the fire hydrant and holstering his piece.

"Hey, buddy, take a ride with me," she says.

Suddenly leary, Rat squints at her, making himself look absolutely silly. "Why should I?"

"'Cause I'm about to give you a bunch of money," she replies.

"What?!" Rat looks quickly around the street. "Geez, don't say that so loud!" he says in a stage whisper, jogging over to the van. He opens the van door, looks in the back to make sure Blondie is alone, and then clambers up on the seat. "Are you serious?" he says once he's inside.

"Yeah, serious as a heart attack," she answers. "You guys did primo work for me, and the big man took the fall. We got an outrageous settlement, and my conscience compels me to offer you guys a little bonus for your risks. But drek is it hard to find you. You really need to put your name out there more."

"Yeah, I'm workin' on that..." mumbles Rat.

"Well, maybe you can slide some of this in that direction," she answers, producing a credstick. She hands it over while saying, "You got any idea where I can find the rest of the team? Kayla especially?"

Rat doesn't answer, as he's busy checking the balance on the credstick. "Holy drek, 38K!"

"Yeah, I said it was sweet, right? So what about the others?"

"Oh yeah, of course, I'm gonna share. I mean, don't worry about that. Ima professional, and I wouldn't dream of just, like, pocketing the money and not tellin' 'em or nuthin'..."

"Rat, that's all yours. I don't trust you enough to give you everyone's share." She smiles sweetly at that.

"Oh," he says.

"I just need to know where to find them so I can play Santa Claus."

"Oh." Rat thinks. "Geez, I dunno about Kayla and Lou. They just sorta took off after the job. I guess if I see 'em around, I'll send 'em your way. Maybe try the Rogue. I think they knew people there."

"Good thought," nods Blondie.

"Blackout, though, we got somethin' goin' on."

Blondie raises an eyebrow.

"Not like that! Geez, no, I mean we're workin' together. We put a team together, with a mage and decker 'n'all."

"Oh, okay. Well, whatever, that's cool. Tell Blackout to call me." She hands Rat a business card that just has a phone number on it. "I'll send him his share."

"You bet!" says Rat.

"You need a ride anywhere? Greyhound races? Local brothel?"

She's joking, but Rat takes is seriously. "Hm, no. Just down to my fence. How about just the corner of 3rd and Redbirds?"

"Ah, yeah. No problem. Keep in touch, Rat. This was the big score, but I might have some more work when that buzz wears off. Invest it wisely, neh?"

"Oh yeah, that's me. I'm a shrewd operator."

Blackout raised one of his thick eyebrows when Rat caught up with him at the gym to tell him about the cash bonus from Blondie, but once he got on the phone with her, he was surprised to see that it wasn't a drug-induced hallucination from Rat.

"As team leader, I'm including a little bonus for you. You have an account I can transfer it to?" Blondie explained.

That led to a little confusion while Blackout tried to figure out how to do such a thing. Ultimately, she agreed to just meet him for lunch at a roadside fondue stand on the edge of the Barrens, where she bought the fondue, the beer, and handed over the stick with congratulations on a job well done.

Now back home, Blackout glances at the balance for the first time. It reads 46,550. Damn! he thinks, impressed. Then he shrugs and shoves it under his mattress so he can go jogging.

[OOC: Cinematic time starts]

NEEDLES VIEW

Needles is excited to have hooked in with some local contacts. Blackout's dojo is a nice enough place -- people practice a real mix of stuff there. "Sensei", Blackout's teacher, is a master of hapkido, arnis, several forms of karate, and a secret style of Koga-ryu Ninjitsu from a mysterious grandmaster in the Phillipines. None of those look anything like Needles' own family Chen-Fu Wushu style, but it does mean there is a variety of movement in Sensei's students. That gives Needles a great opportunity to hone his skills and interact with them in a mixed-martial arts atmosphere. Blackout is clearly the most obsessive student there, and Needles comes in as much as Blackout does for the time being. They spend about 2 or 3 hours a night there, every night, working their skills, swapping stories, and comparing techniques. It's a wonderful way to build team trust between Blackout and Needles, aside from advancing their skills and giving Needles a hobby when he's not at Martin's.

They keep in touch with Rat, Jimmy, and Web too. They try to catch a meal together at least once a week, to keep in touch, and Rat spins bulldrek about some job he's lining up for the team. At first, everyone was pretty excited, but then it quickly became apparent that Rat's contacts are either made-up or flakey. One way or another, time after time, the jobs don't come through. Rat seems pretty frustrated -- even panicky at times -- but the team assures him that eventually they'll hook up with the right people at the right place. Meanwhile, everyone keeps honing their skills.

Aside from getting just plain all-around better at Wu-Shu, Needles also manages to replicate and eventually master a trick that he saw his teachers perform many times back in Hong Kong -- the art of striking multiple opponents in one move. Needles knows that he's not really strong enough or good enough to make it super-effective, but it complements his defensive whirling as a means to keep himself in the game against many people. Fighting two or three opponents would probably still take a very long time, given how his attention would have to be divided, but his confidence rises that he at least has some tricks to deal with it. With any luck, he'd only have to hold off people in that situation, because his teammates would have his back. He and Blackout spend a lot of time imaging how the two of them would fight off a raging horde, although Blackout doesn't have the patience to master new or subtle techniques much.

Needles also steps up his acupuncture practice schedule. Aware that he may be called upon to use it under very dire cirumstances, he makes it a point to put in at least an hour a day on it, either studying charts or practicing locations on his own body. Web even allows him to do a little practice on him, to help alleviate the constant pain that Web seems to experience just existing. Needles finds Web a challenging patient, since his body is so abused and his race is less familiar to Needles, but it's rewarding for both parties.

The pistol range concept never quite works out. Despite his best intentions, Needles isn't able to find a range legit enough not to scare him to death and illegit enough to accept him and his stolen gun. Apparently, that's a tricky challenge. Lacking that, he spends his time at Martin's just playing with the pistols that come through. He loads and unloads them, examines the slide and safety mechanisms, and sites imaginary targets with them when no one is around. On the side, he practices drawing and aiming his Hammerli. He just wishes he could actually try pulling the trigger some time.

Otherwise, he works from 12:30 to 3 pm every weekday at Martin's, cleaning and arranging equipment. That keeps the nuyen flowing for his new runner-based lifestyle expenses.