"Yes, it should last for a while still. Lets get movin'."

Paladin goes to work helping move Iblis into the van.

Murrey assists in loading Iblis and securing her down so her injuries don't become worse. Afterwards, he turns to Paladin, "If things get to hairy for whatever reason, I'll try and get her mo ty bolt-hole."

:: Moira's somber expression changed little through the empty conversation and she is more than ready to shift back into working mode. ::

"I am glad to hear that those spirts are being dealt with. They could create quite a number of serious problems if left unchecked for too long. However, my employer, and the one you call friend, has had two very close calls with regard to her safety so you can imagine that we are a bit hesitant in accepting unexpected offers for assistance. Can you offer me any reassurances regarding why we should trust this offer?"

"I can give you my word that I mean your team no harm. Your professional hesitation is expectable but misplaced on this occassion. There is a sense of community amidst those of us changed, we look after our own. The night of rage united many of the metahumans together, the riots after Halley left her blessing offered a similar focal point for us. I would hope that you understand the value of family, but perhaps you are simply like most shadowrunners with only a breadth of honor between you and simple thieves."

Shiver shifts his weight as he prepares to rise, the response of the woman in white stood to cast the balance in one direction or another.

:: Moira's face softens slightly as the memory of Iblis's immediate and fierce protection of the sweet child Izzy enters the forefront of her thoughts and a sad distant smile touches her lips. It's several moments before she pulls herself out of the depths of her inner self to respond. ::

"I know the value of family. More than most, shadowrunners or otherwise. I have seen the bonds formed by those blessed such as yourself, a pure unconditional bond. I will put my faith in that and trust you, but understand that while you have my trust and faith now, should you violate it, you will come to regret it more than anything else in your life."

The large troll sits quietly during Moira's reverie, the steady flow of his breath keeping time as accurately as any clock. He sips his tea, breaks part of his scone and offers it to Angelina. The large muscles in his arms and upper chest slowly tighten through the newcomers last sentence and the threat within.

"We are all dangerous people, let us not threaten each other lest we wake darker tempers. Come, we have a meeting to attend to. Gather your team if you will and join Angelina and I on the corner of the MLK and nineteenth in Redmond. From there we will go to meet the man who has information to share."

"I am afraid that at this time, we are the only available members of the team. The others are protecting Iblis and working on the next steps we plan on taking. As this is simply an opportunity to gather information, it is not necessary to pull the others off their current duties. If you'd like, I have a car just down the street that can accomodate us all."

"Very well, let us go then."

Shiver rises, offering his hand to Angelina as an aid in rising before taking his cane and walking over to the counter. Paying for his tab, he settles the fedora between his large horns and shrugs into his heavy coat once more. Leaving the coffeehouse, he takes care not to slip on the slick road and sidewalk on his way to Moira's vehicle.

:: The slick black sedan seems almost corporate in it's unremarkable nature, but it is clean and well cared for and the vents offer a bit of warmth on the chilly rainy day. ::

:: Moira navigates the streets like a standard commuter. Her speed fluctuates between the speed limit and no more than 5 miles above and she obeys all traffic standards. Added to that the dark tint on the windows and the vehicle creates an absolute pocket of anonymity for the rather anomalous foursome. ::

"Lead the way, if you please."

The trek out of civilized territory takes almost twenty minutes as the group leaves the downtrodden communities on the edge of the Barrens and crosses over into the fully dilapidated areas that Lonestar has given up on patrolling. Passing burned out buildings and cars that have been stripped of everything except the graffiti, Shiver leads them to a large abondoned building. Squatters down the street move further, driven back by the horrific combined effect of the almost demonic, black scales on the large Japanese troll with slanted eyes. Even though he does his best to seem non-threatening, he cannot break people of millenia old instinct to run from larger predators.

"He should be here by now. Let's go in."

Metal groans as hinges long unused are forced to turn and the door opens.

:: Before exiting the vehicle in the dark territory, Moira takes a moment to once again adjust the appearance of her wardrobe. The sharp urban fashion morphs itself into a much more realistic ensemble. Now dark grey heavy pants complete with a half dozen utility pockets, a black thermal undershirt, navy cotton shirt and a grey hooded sweater adorn her frame hiding her figure under the layered and worn look common to the area. Pulling the hood over her head, she nods to Shiver and steps behind him with Angelina, leaving Blaze to follow behind. ::

With his ward tucked in, Murrey heads onto the streets, his sensors peeled for anything amiss.

Murrey, Paladin & Bakatare
The van effortlessly moves through the traffic. The sound of Iblis's regular breathing fills the interior. The traffic is fairly light this Sunday. The everyday people all around you seem caught up in their own affairs. Families going to breakfast out wearing their church clothes. Friends meeting for coffee and idle chatter.

Murrey makes excellent time to meet location. He pulls the van out of the main flow of traffic and deeper into the alley, out of view of the street. Pausing, Murrey sinks into the virtual network of the van. His awareness stretches out around him, moving beyond the van. Nothing stands out and the area seems safe. He sits in the center of an electronic web, attached and sensitive to the things around him. After about 5 minutes he detects a single metahuman entering the mouth of the alley.

Blaze, Moira, Shiver & Angelina
The interior of the building is pierced through by shafts of weak sunlight from outside. Heavy dust circles lazily on the draft that follows you in. The second floor seems competely gutted and very little remains on the first. Several walls have been torn down or busted through. The smell of disuse and mold hang heavy in the air.

Shiver moves calmly through the area, heading for a small stairway leading to you assume a basement. He pauses to move aside some debris that hides the stairwell.

Paladin steps out of the van with Bakatare. Without a word he bends down and lifts the lid to a manhole cover.

"After you."

assuming Madam Yin and Bakatare don't put up too much of a fuss...

The ladder leads down into a 10 by 10 room with a single door. Paladin takes a step over to it and opens it. Two large trolls turn to face him.

"Hey boys. We're gunna have a meeting for a moment here. Just wanted to let ya know in case you heard anything. But yer not gunna hear anything, right?"

With a wink, Paladin closes the door and turns to Bakatare, giving him a nod.

Leading the group down the dark stairwell, he watches the small hot forms of rats scurry away from their path. Red dots in a land of cool blues and greens. At the bottom of the stairs, the troll notes the quiet hum of the handcranked generator.

"Carl, it's Shiver. There are four of us coming in." He calls ahead so as not to spook the informant. A professional bottomfeeder, Carl had sold information to the Society before. He was one of the many eyes and ears spread throughout the area that helped them to manage the city's paranormal threat level. The rail-thin man gave the same sleazy feeling that good defense lawyers exuded, fed by necessity and trusted only after corroboration.

Entering the dimly lit room, the weak generator put out just enough energy to feebly power a small light. Rags and shredded cloth gave glimpses of a frame with wiry cords of muscle, too little meat to be healthy with a lack of body fat driven by subsistent famine. The massive troll had never met Carl and couldn't help but admire the tenacity the smaller man had to still be alive.

"You said you have information. These two are the ones who need to hear it." He gestures to Moira and Blaze. "I'm here to keep you safe and guide them back out." Shiver reaches into a deep pocket in his coat to pull out a stack of small denomination bills. He leans forward and puts the hard currency on the table between the informant and the criminals.

Murrey, Paladin & Bakatare
A slim woman enters the alley, the sharp sound of her shoes echoes off the walls of the alley. Madam Yin calmly strides down the way towards the van and the manhole cover. Dressed in a somber pant and blazer combo and boots. She pauses at the manhole, looking down with a face that looks shocked. She talks aloud to herself.

"Of course, the sewers. Why wouldn't we meet in the sewers?" She grimaces as she begins to work her way down to the room below. She pauses at the bottom, stares at her hands and then her blazer. She looks at Bakatare and Paladin. "I don't suppose it's too much to hope that either of you have a tissue or a hanky?"

Shiver
Your eyes sweep the room without conscious thought. Everything seems normal at first. The room appears to be a hidey hole, probably some place where Carl goes when he's scored a hit. Like a squatter out here, his hand darts out and grabs up the money. As your eyes adjust, you notice Carl's body temperature is significantly higher than normal, even for meeting with a bunch of professional criminals.

Angelina
You shudder slightly at the sight of a person is so much need of help. He is someone who can have been someone different if the right things had happened. He has lived like an animal, hunting for everything and leaving behind all the things that keep him human. Almost immediately, as you clear the stairs, you see the heavy weaves of mana coiled around the man you came to meet. They seem to be choking his aura in his skin.

Moira
You move once again through the remmaints of a life lost to the rip tide of the city. Souls sucked down and drowned in the sea of misery all around you. You push aside the swelling of feelings, people make choices and everyone gets to decide the course of their lives. You suddenly feel a flash of alarm, your vision shifts as Luna drags your sight to him. The informant is coccooned in an eloborate weave of mana, it seems to stick to him like a second skin. Just as you snap back to your own sight, you sense Blaze stiffen beside you.

Paladin offers her a section of his coat, it is surprizingly clean. Due to his long experiance in the sewers, he learned long ago how to navigate them while getting a minimal ammount of grunge on himself.

Bakatare gives the Madam a sympathetic look, offering a handkerchef that matches the 2000 nuyen suit.

"Please excuse our choice of meeting locales, but ours is a..." and he gives an ironic look around, "dark and sometimes dirty business."

"Our plan, as currently required by our employer, requires us to crash our mutual friends party at your club. Collateral damage will be minimal, but we have every intention of turning his group against him and humilating him before we kill him. We will need you to add Moira to the list of entertainers as a singer. It doesn't quite fit with the general theme of the club, but she is well known locally, so it shouldn't be too implausible. We will need your doormen to allow myself and anyone else traveling with Moira, myself, or Paladin to move through without being checked for weapons. Lastly, we will need the date and time of the party."

Bakatare & Paladin
She pauses briefly, considering her choices and opts for the hankerchief. As she wipes her hands clean she answers your questions. "If she can sing then I'll have no problem getting her added as entertainment." She folds the cloth and hands it back. "As for getting the rest of you in, I can swing it but I have to ask if these people have any idea what you look like?"

"Its a non-issue with me. I won't be seen."

"We have to assume they do. Sans Moira, the rest of us can simply wait in the wings or out of sight until necessary."

:: Thankful for her every watchful companion, Moira sees the signs of danger just in time to react instinctively. Like a boxer holding their fists in front of their face to block an incoming attack, she raises her awakened shield in defense. She stretches her protection to the foursome facing the tainted one before barking out a warning. ::

"He's tainted!"

*edited cuz Im a dumbass*

Moira, Shiver & Angelina
The air shimmers slightly as Moira's warding springs up around the group. Carl seems to struggle for a brief moment before his body snaps into motion. He draws a heavy pistol, takes aim and releases a single round into Blaze's forehead. The back of his head blossoms into blood, light and sound as his body crumples to the ground.

Paladin & Bakatare
She seems to think for a moment. "I can arrange for her to look very different than she normally does. Perhaps the rest of you can be out of sight until whatever you're going to do happens." She takes a deep breath. "I need these people out of my life as soon as possible. I can't hang with all of you and frankly, I have no desire to. So tell me what you need. Just make sure you deal with them in a way that means I never need to deal with them again."

Shocked by the sudden shout by Moira and then the uncharacteristic action by Carl, the large troll places his solid body between the gun-toting squatter and his ward.

"Carl, I don't want to hurt you, but I'm going to if you don't tell me what we need to know."

His electric blue eyes sparkle in the faint lighting, watching the stress level in the informant flicker upward with his body heat. He tries to blot out the warmth rising from the cool pavement below Mr. Black's body.

Angelina's heart ached for the man. That a person who had promise should fall so low. From experience she knew that there wasn't much she could do for his sort either. They had made their choices, and were determined to live by them. Even given all the wealth they wanted, they'd eventually slide back into the gutters.

And there was something else...an aura of magic. Moria apparently recognized it, bringing up shielding. The man suddenly pulled a gun and shot Mr. Black. From the shattered mess of his head, she could tell that there was no saving him. A feeling of helplessness washed over her. She should have seen this. She should have acted to save him.

The collection of negative emotions combined with the already depressing surroundings triggered a change in Angelina. A radical one. Her skin turned red, her golden hair and eyes turned pitch black. Horns, fangs, and claws errupted. Where the angelic Angelina stood, now there was the demonic Desdemona.

Desdemona quickly took in her surroundings. "What's the sitch?" she asked Shiver. Turning to the informant with a drawn gun. "You...put that peashooter away."

Shiver, Moira & Desdemona
The thin man eyes dart, desperately trying to make eye contact with Shiver. Rivulets of sweat are pouring down his face. "Help me please." The phrase is passed through his teeth and strangled back in his throat.

"We will be dealing with him and his crew in a most...final...manner. You'll need not worry about them afterwards. As I said before, adding Moira to the entertainment list, giving us the exact time and date of the party, and getting us and our gear in a back door will be enough."

"Keep him alive."

Shiver calls over his shoulder as he moves in. His hands could easily crush the street rat's throat but that wouldn't give the team the information they so vitally needed. Instead he focuses at extricating the pistol from Carl's hands using his longer arms to keep his own body out of too much risk.

Shiver, Moira & Desdemona
The street rat attempts to fend off the disarm attempt but the smooth circular motions of Shiver evades the counter strikes and quickly flips the gun from his hand to the ground a couple of meters away.

With the lose of the gun, Carl wrests out a single word. "Run." He pulls up his shirt revealing two silver rings about the size of a quarter. He hooks a finger through each and yanks down hard. Several lines are attached to each ring and the clatter of six grenade pins hitting the ground echoes thru the room.

:: Luna, pensive and defensively poised above Moira in astral takes a moment to study the entity that seems entwined around the doomed man. ::

Drawing a blank as far as possible routes to save the man, and knowing full well that she wasn't grenade-proof, Desdemona took the man's advice, darting up the stairs.

Moving with sudden speed which belies his mass and age, Shiver twists and pulls a thin diamond edged blade from his cane. With the fluid grace that comes from long years of practicing drawing one's blade, he whips the sword across the space between himself and the troubled Carl.

With luck and some skill, he'd be able to strike the rig holding the explosives strapped to the informants body and get both of them out of here before it was too late.

Moira, Shiver & Desdemona
The thin blade flashes once up and across Carl's chest. He tries to twist away from the blade but the superior reach and skill ensure a hit. The wet sound of skin parting and the heavy coppery smell floods the small space of the squat. Without hesitating, Shiver charges forward and lifts Carl by force alone off the ground. He struggles and falls off the troll's shoulders about halfway up the stairs.

Murrey, Paladin, & Bakatare
She seems to consider her choices once last time, not seeing much else she can do, she speaks. "Fine, I'll make the arrangements. Tell her to dress the part for the party. The event is schedules for Wednesday night. I don't expect him to arrive till 11 pm but the party officially starts at 9 pm. Anything else?"

Bakatare nods. "That should be all. Thank you." He glances at the manhole and the grime encrusted ladder again, and looks to the women.

"May I assist you to above ground? No reason for you to sully your hands once more."

"Moira, get him out."

Shiver glances over his shoulder at the rig with explosives behind him on the ground and the open door that would funnel the blast into his back. Laying at Moira's feet, the grenades would hopefully provide more than enough impetus to move.

:: Moira takes a look at the room they are in and then at the man on the stairs. A man under influences she doesn't yet understand, and she realizes that when the blast goes off, the only place for that energy to go will be up the stairs. Shiver will surely perish, and Moira doubts she'll be able to muscle the man up the stairs and away fast enough to prevent grave injury to either of them. Then she spots a slim ray of hope. A ventilation shaft. Her eyes dart back to the grenades and she strangely enough, begins to sing. Well, hum really, but as her voice increases, the grenades fly off the ground making a beeline for the Ventilation shaft. The ancient grate gives way to the rocketing grenades as they fly up and out of the basement room. ::

Moira, Shiver & Desdemona
As the grenades fly up the shaft, Luna begins to probe the snarl of mana wound around Carl. He opens his thoughts to Moira.

This one is trapped beneath a blanket of magics. They carry the scent of many working as one. It is a great work from afar, this man is a puppet.

Murrey, Paladin, & Bakatare
"Though I may regret this, yes I would love a way back up without enduring any more of this..." Madam Yin waves her hand at the room around her.

Once more into the breach...

Turning in mid-stride as the weight slips off his shoulders, Shiver takes a step towards the injured man and reaches out with one sweeping arm the size of a tree trunk. Aiming for Carl's midsection he tries to sweep him into his chest as parents take their wayward sons.

Moira, Shiver & Desdemona
Once again the troll moves with a grace that belies his apparent age as he quickly scoops up Carl and rushes the rest of the way up the stairs where Desdemona waits. It's clear he is still struggling but the wound to his chest is still pumping out his life blood and he is visibly weakened.

:: Moira doesn't hesitate to follow Shiver and the captive up the stairs, but she's have enough experience in the shadows to know that the old vent shaft will not fully contain the blast and that a backblast is surely going to chase them out. In anticipation, she struggles to maintain the levitate as she begins to weave strands of protective mana about her. The effort seems trying with her mind on the grenades, so she begins to sing a soft lullabye to herself to calm her efforts. At that point, the weave is complete and she concentrates on moving as quickly as possible. ::

Paladin grins, grabs a rung on the ladder, and climbs back up and into Murrey's van.

With a small nod and a smile, Bakatare wraps the woman in mana, twisting the flows to send her ascending at a sedate pace up and through the manhole after Paladin, following himself a moment later, and setting them both gently down off to one side of the manhole.

Murrey, Paladin & Bakatare
She adjusts herself, straightening her blazer. She gives the group a nod and makes her way back to the streets and you assume, her vehicle.

Moira, Shiver & Desdemona
As you move through the building, you feel sound stop for a brief moment. The world seems to pause and then violently shift away from you. The ventilation shafts explode outward and the building groans as it collapses around you. You see large chunks of walls fall around you and feel the floor tremble. Then as suddenly as it began, it stops. Leaving you choking on dust and grit.

Coughing the micro-fragments of the building clear from his lungs, Shiver holds the informant tight to his chest as he calls out for his partner.

"Des, you alright? Moira?

The large troll shakes his shoulders and loose chips and slivers of plasticrete tumble to the ground. He turns to move clear of the wreckage watching the scavengers of the street scurry off once more into the shadows they hide in, bolder ones standing their ground unsure whether to retreat or advance further.

"Oh...aside from having bits of a building come down on my head, just fine." Desdemona lashed with her ascerbic toungue. "So...what do we have here....informant. Yes...someone's done something with him..." she commented, looking over Carl. "Let's see if we can't undo it..." as she began to pick at the spell.

Moira, Shiver & Desdemona
The Changling begins to pick at the layers of mana woven in and around Carl, when they suddenly snap loose and dissipate. All that remains are echoes of the magic. Carl ceases his struggle with Shiver and slumps against the troll, gasping for breath.

"Mind telling us a bit about where you picked up that little piece of work?" Desdemona asked Carl as the spell around him disappated.

"Come, we need to move from this place." Turning to Moira, he adds "Is there anything you need from your friend? Talismans or the like, they will not be here after we have gone."