@Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:19:00 Touristville, Rambling down NE 85th Street]

Late night in Touristville. A shiny amalgam of lights, sounds and vibrant street life. Safety so close to the desperation of the Barrens just hundreds of yards away. The playground of the rich and famous slumming to find meaning in life...

As always, Mr.Green was pulled out of his troubled inner monologue by the sheer perversion that was Touristville in full late-night swing. Nowhere else in Seattle was the disparity between have- and the have-nots so apparent as in this 2 block difference. One side of the security barriers, life, and entertainment, enough to lose yourself or hide from anyone in the world; on the other, a place where you could hide because noone had the strength to care.

The last of his stolen skillsofts had finally degraded beyond repair last night and even aether hadn't been able to do anything to preserve them any longer. Despite the extraordinary finesse he had recently learned, crafting hooks and calls out of the Resonance, these mundane programs still seemed arcane as they ever had, and yet, they were yet one more casualty to the freak who got away. The last few months in this city-within-a-city had been a whirlwind of hiding in plain sight, working a few jobs every know and then for Maggie and her many colleagues, though only Hansai had been a repeat customer; he seemingly didn't care too much, or perhaps didn't know about Jacob's history.

Tonight was no different. Every morning Jacob had made a sort of macabre pilgrimage down to the court house, at the corner of NE 85th and 163rd Ave to view and track those the system threw out and discarded. Only here, among the refuse of society, did he not feel the need to be wrapped in constant iconic imagery, protective, shielding iconography to mask the pain underneath. It was a sort of vicarious rite for him these days, looking through the faces, trying to see his own, in a mirror that always changed. He had managed to help a few people out, even a few who came back to thank him later, but he never managed to assauge the longing for his old life.

As he walked on past the drugged out refuse that was the latest pile of newly-addicted chipheads, many of which merely reacted blindly, as if somehow sensing his swirl of painful emotions caused them to twitch and moan even more, he felt a tug in the flow of data, someone had started to look for him. Out of habit more than necessity he flipped on the image link in his cybereyes, those blessings and curses both, just in time to see the message arrive, freshly scrubbed on his PAN:

<<Mr Green. Thanks for the excellent work on the Marcelli outfit. I appreciate that it is very late at night, but I have an urgent and important task for you. A very bad man is framing some acquaintainces of mine. My partner and two of my close personal friends have been killed or seriously injured in the last 2 hours, so I hope you understand that I am feeling rather emotional at the moment.

I believe that these acquaintainces of mine have some evidence that they need a person of your skill level to deal with. I also think that there is likely to be a black operation against a hard target with some serious matrix defences, as well as the physical defences. Are you available? Here <ARO Link> is a summary of what I suspect. - Hansai >>


Working for him again? Hansai has been increasingly agitated recently, especially after the Marcelli info-dump. I wonder if he got caught with the data? He seems to be running from something lately and I ought to figure that out... Switching out of his idle pondering Jacob took a moment to think and then replied:

<< H. - How much is the pay etc etc? I appreciate the repeat business but am concerned about being onsite. Not my usual pattern. - Mr. Green>>

He really doesn't seem too broken over the loss of his partners though... As Jacob read over the transcript once more, he decided he needed to do some more digging on Mr. Hansai, some of the pieces just weren't fitting. It's not like I can turn him down though is it? I can use the rep and the protection, not to mention the hard cred...

@ Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:20:00 Parking Lot]
[The Pixel Special, ID "Aubert Benoit"]

Demon takes note when Ember mutes his commlink and follows suit. He nods in agreement with the sentiment of his compatriote.

"You hired me for the task of dealing with the villain who attacked your wife, and that is enough for me to continue pursuing Teague until he is dead. That he has waged a public libel campaign against ma réputation, attempted on several occasions to ensure our untimely deaths, and assassinated one of our number strengthen my resolve to see this through until l'acte final when we bring down the curtain upon Teague's miserable life.

"As we have no other leads, I suspect it is best to follow Hansai's. When should we infiltrate le nid du serpent? The morning or evening? Going earlier minimizes the possibility that Knight Errant surprises us, but going later would give us the chance to plan, tend our wounds, and investigate Allanby's data."

@ Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:20:00 Parking Lot]

"We cannot afford another ambush...this one we must plan carefully, non? And be prepared with all our tools of the trade...?"

@Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:19:00 Touristville, Rambling down NE 85th Street]

<<[Hansai to Mr Green] I appreciate your reticence about being on site. I do believe that this is a high threat engagement: so be under no illusions. I will be offering your usual rate, most of it at the high threat rate, plus a substantial bonus for success. I have a particular interest in their Decker: one EMM386. Should that Decker be captured alive for arresting, I will be particularly generous.>>

@ I'm on a boat
[April 15th 2072; 23:50 SS Henry VIII 4000 meters off shore, Puget Sound]

Siran nods to Silk, while moving. "Let us break the line of sight between ourselves and where the ward was broken. I suspect a visit from an astral mage and / or a spirit. However it takes time for them to respond: but that time is only seconds... I shall leave a diversion." Saying that, Siran paused and summoned a watcher. "Little one: you are to wait over there. When you see a large spirit or mage, you are to flee in that direction. After you have exited the boat you are to return from where you came. Go!"

"When they arrive, their attention will be distracted. It may buy us some more seconds...So lets make the most of our time. As they say in the simsense's: Go! Go! Go!"

@ Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:20:00 Parking Lot]
[The Pixel Special, ID "Aubert Benoit"]

"My thoughts, exactly. I have---perhaps 'had' is a better word to use if Knight Errant has discovered my abode---a few items that will help in breaking and entering. However, maybe it might be better to acquire another set en route..." I hate having to pay for something that I already have, but in this situation the sin of wastefulness is probably better than the sin of stupidity...

@ Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:20:00 Parking Lot]

Copperhead stifles a yawn, then rubs her temples with a grunt and a grimace.

"Stim is wearing off so I gonna have a major headache which means no spellcasting. And den I gonna crash hard when da cram wears off. Gonna need some beauty sleep to be back at my best. So morning is out. I don't work too good in daylight anyways, so I agree dat best if we do it in da evening."

She glances at her bandaged up team-mates. "An I ain't da only one who could use some rest."

"From what Hansai was saying, sounds like I still got some friends in da Crush. Dey ain't too smart, but by firebombing our squat da cops will have a hard time finding anything to link to me or Cutter. Does mean dat my lodge and summoning materials is gone up in smoke, so I can only summon temporary help."

She shrugs in an 'easy come, easy go' sort of gesture. "We was planning on getting a better place anyways."

"So unless, one of youz got a place for us all to hole up, can you drop me off somewhere?"

@ Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:20:00 Parking Lot]

Dealer makes sure his link is not in audio mode, then begins to talk.

"Gentlemen...and Copper...we do not have the luxury of time. Right now we still have a manhunt on for us, and they have enough people crunching the legwork that its only a matter of time before we pop up. We have a decision point from 0730 - ~0900 when Teague will be en route to or executing his celebrity brunch. After that we've got no known schedule on him. I'm not really sure what his team's playbook is, but they're going to sweep the hell out of that place at least an hour before he gets there, probably with some loyalist security forces if half cut isn't lying about the Yanaga issue. Track that back, anything he's got running escort out of fortress Teague is going to be humming by 0400-0500.

Other than that, daylight is coming up fast. Check your links: 0407 starts morning twilight, and its full sun up by 0519. If we're going in cover of darkness, we need to start 0330 at the latest, and even that might be riding out into the sunrise depending on how long we're in there.

So, if we're planning on taking advantage of this little affair before the KE catches up, we've got about 3 hours to get our drek straight. In between then and now we need to get this pile of data cracked, and see just what we have, equip ourselves, and hopefully grab a wink so we can all clear our heads.

I'm thinking running to known associates ala the crush is a bad idea, as is leaving people alone. But if you're all confident about the crush, we can run out of there, temporarily.

this is what i'm thinking, feel free to intervene when it sound stupid:

Now - 0200: We move the van out to a hidey hole and get our mystery friend to help crack this data. Copper, Ember, you might as well crash out for a bit. Everyone else, catch sleep if you can, once we're hidden.
0200 - 0230: We figure out what we're doing with the data we got. Make a decision to either hit teague's place or a different plan.
0230- 0315: Final legwork for plan.
0330: Hit time. Either we're bodies in motion by now, or we're going in disadvantaged in a big way. Final call on if we're going or not."

Right now, i'm looking at four basic options:

1. Hit Teague's place while he's gone, use the data there via datahaven or any newgroups we can tap. Problem is, this is going to bloody novatech, so we isolate Yanaga.
2. Hit teague's place early, broadcast his guilt at his press conference, with the world watching.
3. Kill teague and friends quietly. Let KE take the credit for a daring raid on teague as a major terrorist financier of the GLF. Yanaga buys in, claims that Novatech, naturally concerned for the public safety, had been investigating him internally for a while and cooperated with KE for the public good.
4. Cut a deal with Yanaga. We disappear into MCT territories, and don't come out until we have new lives. In return, we remove Teague and maybe stay on call as an in house runner team.

No matter what we choose, we need to make sure KE gets public credit for someone other than us, teague dies horribly, and MCT gets to keep the spectres in the stable so we didn't just out a mega a multi-million yen franchise.

@ Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:20:00 Parking Lot]

Copperhead frowns through her growing headache as she tries to follow Dealer's plan.

"Let me get dis straight. We rest up a couple of hours den go after Teague. You meaning to hit his place while he's still dere. Got balls, but security will be tight. If we go in afterwards, dere will be less security but den we only get da data and no Teague."

Just thinking hurts her head. She does some quick math.

"Okay, I reckons I got about 4-5 hours before I crash. A couple of hours to lose dis headache while youz crack da data and we could still have a short window while my reflexes is still jacked up and before you have to carry me out. And I dont think you wanna be doing dat."

So I'm leaning toward option 2. Option 3 could turn inta a clusterfuck. Option 1 is maybe safest but I might be out cold from withdrawal, so still risky. I don't like cutting deals with corps, but if it keeps me in my skin, then option 4 is possible but only a last resort. If we gonna be doing dis, den I needs a nap."

@ Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:20:00 Parking Lot]

Well, here's the deal...after 0900, we're pretty much out of whatever advantage there is to be gained by this press conference. After 0500, we're out of darkness. And every day we hold out is another day that the KE are getting closer. Unless we plan on a daylight assault on Fortress Teague, that means at least 16-18 hours with the city of Seattle still looking for us if we don't start moving by 0330. If we had a fast talker, maybe we could swing it. Straight up sneak and thief or smash and grab, we'd be in it rough for a daylight raid. That said, if all we need to do is kill teague, we can probably bushwhack him when he's in a convoy or any number of other places...so a lot of this is real dependent on whats in these little hard drives."

@ I'm on a boat
[April 15th 2072; 23:50:15 Somewhere in the pacific]

Raul was supposed to file a report with his superiors, make sure the public relations guys informed the appropriate local authorities, and then make sure the insurance guys and legal cleared deployment, and then only take such actions as would be needed to provide due diligence to the customer before management could reach a decision on what assets to deploy for this contract. As a junior mage, it was pretty clearly set in the Six Sigma program that he was certainly not supposed to take unilateral action unless necessary to preserve "life, limb, eyesight or contractually identified critical assets in those circumstance where the Ganymede Collective has a clear contractual responsibility in the preservation of any of the above.'

He did, in fact, file a report. Then he broke SOP, courtesy of Karl Kombatmage, and flung himself into astral, streaking across miles between him and the Henry in mere seconds. Because, hey the rules only count if you lose, right?

As it stood, Ganymede had good reason to write the rules the way they were. Raul, nervous, excited, and slightly daydreaming about getting to do something new and unique, fell hook line and sinker for the watcher spirit Siran had sent out. It gave a game chase, and he finally butchered it somewhere in the Pacific. Only after glorying in how easy it was did he realize there's no way that little watcher could have chopped through the ward that fast. if he could have blanched astrally, he would have. Because it was then that it hit him that the real threat was still running loose on the Henry, and he didn't even know if the alert had been processed...

@I'm On A Boat
[April 15th 2072; 23:50 SS Henry VIII 4000 meters off shore, Puget Sound]

Robert dashed through the night, barely keeping up with his teammates. The old tricks he'd picked up sneaking out of his parents' house were proving to be useful: move when they're distracted, freeze when they're not, keep your head down and your heels up. He even managed a fancy-looking quickstep to avoid being noticed by a passing drone. The fact that navigation consisted of keeping his eyes trained on the shapely figure in front of him certainly helped. *splash* *beep* *whoosh* Watching her break the maglock was like something out of the trids. Right down to the snazzy keycard with the flickering lights. Go figure. The door slid open, and he charged in before somebody came along to see them.

Something tugged at the edge of his mind. Something on the astral? *SNAP* Yep, something just severed his link with the spirit that was following him. He whirled around, opening his third eye just in time to see Siran tear down the last shards of the ward. Before he can even process what's going on, the other mage has already summoned a spirit to cover their tracks and the shapely sprite is halfway up the stairs.

Good grief, what am I DOING out here? Robert takes a deep breath, and hustles up the stairwell as best he can. Hopefully whoever comes to check on the ward has enough on its mind to let them escape before it gets here.

@Dysfunctional Family
[April 15th, 2072 11:52am; Stuffer Shack]

Ajax was thoroughly frustrated. He was going to be late to the meet site due to the traffic and he had to go to the Stuffer Shack to pick up some clothes for the kid to change into. He can't have the boy roaming around in street urchin clothes. It will be a dead give away for people watching for him. He entered the Stuffer Shack and a cheery clerk smiled and welcomed him. He smiled and returned the greeting. He moved over towards the clothes section and grabbed a variety of sizes for some generic solid color shirts and pants. He didn't know exactly what size this kid was, but his intuition told him he wouldn't be too large at that age due to malnutrition. He still bought a wide range of sizes just in case. He could always donate the ones that didn't fit to the local street urchins that lived in the alleyways near his loft.

He was seriously contemplating having the kid stay at his place, which was probably safer than having him tromp around with the others. He was an unknown at this point. He would be safe for a short while since the pursuers did not know who he was yet. He picked up some candy, soda, and general snack items for the boy as well. Nothing like food and clothes to bribe a street urchin. He didn't really consider the gifts a bribe, he honestly wanted to help this kid. He took care of some of the street kids in his neighborhood. Put them up in a halfway house and gave them a free meal when he could spare the cash. He always had been fond of children.

Sent accessed the Matrix real quick to send a message to Jotamon <<Might be late, traffic was awful and I am picking up some essentials for the kid. We need to change his appearance so he is not as identifiable at a glance. I would like to talk to him at our meeting place if that is alright.>>

As he was heading to check out he noticed an interesting item. It was an auto haircut razor that could be programmed to automatically give a style of hair cut. "Hmm, that could be useful" He thought to himself. "Damn its expensive though. Oh well, might as well" He went up to the counter and placed the items before the clerk who scanned them into her system. "That will be 110 nuyen please." She said cheerily. Ajax smiled and forwarded the money over to the clerk and waved goodbye as he headed out of the shop.

@ Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:20:00 Parking Lot]
[The Pixel Special, ID "Aubert Benoit"]

Demon frowns, not exactly liking any of the options. However, his personal preference is to let action dictate the end-result rather than pick an ending and hope it comes true.

"Whatever we do, we are likely going to need more ammunition. Judging from the feux d'artifice in the warehouse, I'm guessing we lost a lot of our bullets and grenades. I have a few left in my smartpack, but I'd prefer acquiring more rather than trying to run another campagne underarmed. Does have an ami dans l'ombre who carries the firepower our cause requires? I am a bit hesitant to try another shop, as it will likely be filled with serait chasseur de primes..."

With the trauma patch wearing off and the resulting headache setting in, he starts slipping back into French despite a concerted effort to keep speaking English.

@I'm On A Boat
[April 15th 2072; 23:50 SS Henry VIII 4000 meters off shore, Puget Sound]

Khalil felt the eyes of the nodes security pass over him and he knew that whatever happened in the next few seconds would have to be something worth the effort. Bringing up every exploit he knew Khalil began overloading the node with a classic attack straight from the old school. As the data crashed he felt the warm feeling of a job well done. <<Distraction made ma'am. Good luck.>>

@Dysfunctional Family
[April 15th, 2072 11:53am; Van in transit to Touristville]

<<Pheromones to level 2 reassurance, Engage emotion monitoring software, Select medicare software suite>> Jotamon sent the commands to his internal 'ware. Time to wake the child up, and to wake him gently.

<<Task: awaken child, keep sedation at level 2, ensure cognitive functions operational>> More instructions were issued, then the 'ware began to do it's thing. Jotamon always found this fascinating: it was almost like being a passenger in his body as the Move By Wire^TM took over. Drugs were dispensed from his medikit, and gradually the child woke.

"Wassat, What the Fek's nappening?" said the child "Weres eye, Whos U. Feks Up". Jotamon sighed mentally. He hated this <<Engage gutterspeek linguasoft>>. The boys words blurred and Jotamon understood their meaning. The linguasoft had the advantage that it allowed him to speak as well.

"You're safe for now. The people that were chasing you down the alley when you ran into me are dead." at least that's what he meant to say, what actually came out of his mouth had every other word a profanity. "There are still some people that want you dead though, and Doza and a few friends of mine are about to go and find out who they are and what they want"

"If you want to escape them, we need to know who they are, and what they want. We are about to go back to where we picked you up, and ask some of the people there what they saw. Any help you can give us would let us deal with them". Jotamon winced internally as the words "beatz the fekking crap out of their pwned asses" came out of his mouth, although he mostly agreed with the sentiment.

"So the big questions are: why were the men chasing you, and who are they?"

While he started asking the kid questions, he started arranging meeting up with the others

<<Ajax: can you book us a room in cheap robo hotel in Touristville near where you are? If you can spoof the records so that they don't record any pictures as we come in that would be great. I would rather have a room in a hotel, where no one can see us, than meet in, say, a cafe.>>

<<Isaac: thanks for following. Looks like these guys aren't bad guys (I think). I'm planning on making a temporary base in a hotel. We have a Decker coming with us: name of Ajax <ARO link to digital signiture>. I'll be sending you a destination in a minute.>>

@Dysfunctional Family
[April 15th, 2072 11:53am; Van in transit to Touristville]

Doza quickly scanned the van as she came back out of VR, checking her weapons more by touch than sight as she did so. Jotamon was starting to wake the kid, using various skillsofts, first to medicate, then to talk to him. She sensed his distaste in using Gutterspeek and grinned, careful to keep out of the child's line of sight as she did so. She stayed quietly in the background, only slowly raising a hand when he named her.

In her experience small children tended to be a bit..... nervous in her presence. That is until they got to know her, then she seemed to become their favourite climbing frame!
Content to let Jotamon do the talking she watched out of the window as the van took a turn, heading to a new deatination.

@Dysfunctional Family
[April 15th, 2072 11:53am; Chinese Cafe]

Ajax had already arrived at the meeting spot when he got Jotamon's message. "Dammit, the place I know is on the other side of town and I just got my food." He motioned over to the waitress and smiled, "Hey Ju Li, can I get this stuff to go. Something has come up."

Ju Li smiled back, "Of course Mr. Smith, it is no problem at all." She quickly dashed to the back room and retrieved a box for the food. Ajax handed her a credstick with 200 nuyen when she came over to the table. "Here Ju Li, buy Mao something nice. It's his birthday in two days isn't it?"

Ju Li shook her head "Mr. Smith, do you forget anything?" She laughed.
Ajax smiled, "Not much escaped me Ju Li. He is turning 6 isn't he? That is a big step, he will be going to school soon. You should buy him a really nice toy. I don't know what he likes so I figured you would be the best person to get him a gift."

Ju Li smiled "Thank you Mr. Smith. You are very generous."

Ajax beamed back, but really in his heart he was incredibly sad, his boy would have been turning six around now. Giving Mao a great birthday would ease the pain a bit. Besides, Ju Li didn't have the money to spare on a present for the boy. Every kid deserves a present on his birthday.

Ajax collected his food and bowed to Ju Li. She returned his gesture and Ajax left. He had some calls to make.

<<Jotamon, I have a contact over at the Motel Ferdero in Touristville that can give us a room off the books. Not much good at spoofing camera footage, but Miguel can take care of that for us. It will take me awhile to get to that location so I will tell him you are coming.>>

Ajax quickly dialed Miguel, the hotel clerk. The call went through and a thick accented man came on the line, <<"Hello, who is this?">>
<<Miguel old friend I need a favor. I need a room off the books for a couple of hours. I will make it worth your while.>>
<<I don't know Mr. Ajax, you almost got me in trouble last time. How many people are coming to this room?>>
<<I would say about 4>> Ajax replied << I am willing to pay 200 nuyen for the unofficial stay. The cameras will have to be edited though.>>
<<Mr. Ajax, It will cost you 500 nuyen, with cameras edited, boss might find out.>>
Ajax sighed, Miguel was always so difficult just because he got investigated when Ajax protected him from a couple of go gangers looking to wreck the motel. It wasn't his fault they got shot and bled everywhere. Well, time to haggle.

@ Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:20:00 Parking Lot]

"Well, there is one place out in Snoho. Prices premium, certified credstick only. You place an order the right way, a price comes back. Drop the stick where they tell you to, the link you used to order gets a GPS ping for your pick up when they verify the cred. No human interaction, it all comes pre-dusted, nothing hot. Place an order the wrong way and you get a pizza. KE leave it alone for the most part - its a Humanis joint, no doubt about it, but if you can get past that, very discrete.if not, we can always hit the crime mall. Pullayup. Demon knows the place. Otto, yeah?"

@ Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:20:00 Parking Lot]

Copperhead's snake eyes narrow at the mention of Humanis, then she spoils the effect with a massive yawn.

"Youz guys wanna deal wid da breeders, be my guest. I lost some stuff in da explosion, but it was mostly da stuff I replaced wid da new gear from Molly. Time fer a change anyway. Dat long coat look was totally last year."

"Normally I could go to da Crush for help, but dey is hurting or lying low, so we aint gonna get help dere. Not until I gots some time to frag wid da Bloody Skulls fer comin after my gang. And dat aint gonna happen till we sorts dis drek out."

She points a metal finger at Dealer.

"You! You is one crazy fragger, but without you we would be maybe dead tonight. So we goes in early and we goes in hot. Get da fraggin decker to us and whatever da boyz need from da breeders or da shadow market. I'm gonna crash in da back next to dem computer disks so I is good ta go at 3:30. Wake me before den at yer own risk robot boy."

With a lot of grumbling she finds a vaguely comfortable spot amongst the hardware in the back of the van. She angrily punches the controls of the medkit for some relaxants and painkillers, ignoring the warning about using them if on other medication.

Frag, if I'm going to get any rest at all I need to take the edge off the cram. It's turning me into the troll bitch from hell.

@Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:19:00 Touristville, Rambling down NE 85th Street]

The response from Hansai felt weird... nothing more than that but it raised the hairs on the back of Jacob's neck, Hmmm I really need to check this guy out again, something seems a tad too easy. With a quick mental twist he sent out inquiring strains of data along the constant whirlpool of the world grid and had answers almost instantaneously.

Interesting characters isn't the half of it... with a wry grin at some of the more... indiscriminate footage of the "Terrorists" (which, as thinly veiled as it was meant that they were probably doing something right in this corrupted world), especially that last little flicker of niche-porn from the one named Demon, Jacob realizes perhaps just why Hansai is so desperate for matrix overwatch. They seem prone to the limelight a tad too much for my taste but oh well, Im in need of the money, hell if I get caught, I was only trying to cover and apprehend the Terrorists after all...

<<@Hansai - Alright I'll do it but I want double bonus if we pull this off plus health benefits... I'm allergic to lead, and quite frankly the footage I've pulled up of your terrorists is... well... frightening to a person like me. Care to give me a commcode so I can figure out where they are?>>

<<Hansai - Mr.Green - Thank you. I do believe we can discuss those after details are arranged, but yes I believe adequate compensation can be arranged. They are currently, at least if they still maintain the links I gave them, at a remote shopping center, corner of 62nd Ave East and by the old 99 overpass. Make it there quickly if you please, my sources tell me they are somewhat skittish.>>

Well... isn't that convenient? Jacob stopped to watch a Knight Errant drone fly by, hover for a second and then disappear around the corner towards the court house, Hello Mr. Hansai... watching my moves too are you now? With nothing to hold him back and all too many reasons to go forward Jacob mentally shrugged and sent a call out to the local Miracel Shooter Node and logged into one of his lesser used accounts. The comforting anonymity of the battlefield prep station instantly soothed his doubts as he used his erstwhile favorite game and convenient cover to place a call for emergency pickup from the nearest shooter transport specialist and a promise of help leveling later.

Minutes later <Carryman Rick>> had shown up in a beatup growler and made an impressive (if rather frightening) skidding halt in front of Jacob and requested permission to transport his comrade to continue the fight. The trip was rather spontaneous and roundabout, filled with a fairly large number of clashes with enemy forces, all of which were conveniently linked through the Miracle Shooter node, but was uneventful. The growler slid to a halt at the bottom of the overpass about 200 feet from the most garish sushi delivery truck Jacob had ever seen, conveniently out of the range of the defunct security system which characterized this stereotypically decrepit shopping park from a more naive and hopeful era.

Jacob got up rather shakily from his "gunnery" position in the sidecar and threw a crisp salute toward Rick and began walking towards the emissions he could sense coming from the commlinks Hansai had gifted to his errant running team. Now let's hope it's still them that has them...

@ I'm on a boat
[April 15th 2072; 23:50 SS Henry VIII 4000 meters off shore, Puget Sound]

The flyspy spiralled ahead of Silk, the tiny whine of its rotors barely audible over the hum of the engines reverberating through the steel work. In Silk’s peripheral vision an AR display showed her the stairwell ahead as she thumbed a grenade into her hand ready for the assault on the bridge…the chattergun was cradled loosely against her side as she rounded each landing, doing a visual confirmation check before racing up the next flight…

@ Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:20:00 Parking Lot]

Ember studied the resolve of his reluctant companions. He felt vaguely guilty about dragging them into this mess but acknowledged to himself that he wouldn’t have survived his first encounter without them…Teague had much to answer to and it was up to them now to see that he did.

“So are we agreed? We rest up until near dawn and then strike Teague’s fortress? It doesn’t give me as much time as I would like to prepare but the noose is tightening and whilst it would always be possible to just disappear, if we wish to continue our lives without looking over our shoulders, we must resolve this quickly.

It feels like we are still one step behind this situation but I’m not sure there is much more we can do. The only other option I can think of is to ambush Teague en route to this breakfast meeting and force him to absolve us. He would be under duress and it would be far too easy for him to wriggle out of that.

Sadly, just killing the petit merde, while satisfying, is even less likely to be effective. We need to ruin him and expose his secrets, once he is discarded then he will become our prey as we have been his…the data here casts doubt on the facts but it is too circumstantial and he has done his work too well for it to be useful without further corroboration.”

He settled back like Copperhead to rest but not before asking one of the Korrigan to watch for anyone approaching the van and warn him. Hopefully the new decker would join them soon and they could begin a real sift through Allanby’s data haul. No doubt there was information in there that would provide more evidence of their lack of guilt but he was convinced it still wouldn’t be enough.

As his body rested his mind whirled through his own options. He had a life here that was threatened. He could take his family back to France away from this risk, and that seemed the perhaps the safest immediate course but that would mean exposing them to the machinations of the noble houses which was hardly safer in the long term. But perhaps the Family could help him with this situation…at the very least to distance Ember from the Penthièvre name. Unlike the others he did not do this for a living and so the loss of his handle would be no great blow. The Family deckers could probably provide an alibi for himself and his kin to prove they weren’t in Seattle during this debacle…after all, a respectable Professor of Magic would hardly be caught up in the likes of these events…now he just needed a secure ‘link to get the message to his Uncle…he certainly was not prepared to trust the one that Hansai had given him.

@Dysfunctional Family
[April 15th, 2072 11:53am; Van in transit to Touristville]

The kid looks up at you…there’s fear in his eyes but he has carefully masked it behind the false bravado of the streets. Now he’s a bit cleaner you assess his age downwards…he’s somewhere between six and eight, scrawny but basically healthy, aside from the bandages around his arm anyway…

“So you fekers are elping me out eh? Waz innit for youz den? I takes it you int with dem fraggers dat kilt everyone udderwize I’d be ghoul meat. It was dem freaky dogz that sniffed dem out and den da hunterz fragged em. Doze dey didn’t cart off anyway…de uva bunch came afta…guess dey didn’t want a mess…dey was dressed like Crimsons but aint no wayz dey was…didn’t talk right…so you did em did ya? Fanks”

[Translation: So you are helping me? Why? I understand you aren’t associated with the attackers otherwise I would be dead. It was the disturbing dogs that sniffed them out and then the hunters did nasty things to them. Those they didn’t take away. The other group came afterwards to clean up…although they were dressed like the Crimson Crush they did not speak in the correct patois…so you killed them did you? Thank you]

@ Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:20:00 Parking Lot]
[The Pixel Special, ID "Aubert Benoit"]

Demon nods in acknowledgment about the place in Snoho. He is aware of it, although he avoids it whenever possible. The Humanis moral authority always seemed hollow to him, stuffed with the nothingness of sham logic and nonsense. He always enjoyed the company of mages and metahumans. After all, they often boasted more "talent" beneath the sheets than the blanket-wearing bigots who decried their existence.

However, beggars often cannot be choosers. Arc d'Morte was running low on arrows, and Chevalier Noir could probably use a sound suppressor if they planned to make a stealthy approach.

Perhaps they might find themselves having to answer difficult questions if the free press got word that they had financed a known terrorist...

"Oui, I am aware of the place, if not familiar with it. I do not like the idea of financing such people, but I may have to take solace in knowing that at least the weapons I buy will not be used in their objectif dégoûtant."

Still not convinced that going earlier is better than waiting---especially given the condition of Ember and Copperhead---he gives one last argument for going after Teague later.

"I still think we would be better off by taking out time with our next move. So far, we have been forced to jump from fight to fight, and while I always enjoy a challenge I do not like the idea of picking a new fight at half-strength. I will go with whatever we decide as a group, but I simply wish to reiterate the benefits of rest and research before launching a new campaign against our adversary."

@ Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:20:00 Parking Lot]

Dealer looks around the group and nods to Demon.

"We kit up, I'll let Demon pick which drop he wants to do it at. Aside from a lack of any normal clothes I'm doing ok here, though I would look a little bit conspicuous by daylight. Could use another long rifle though, and some nano-paste. Actually, before we complete our shopping list, lets review the hit at hand. At very least, we need to get the initial recon in this morning in preparation for his charity run tonight. I'm not thrilled about waiting while we're hot on the KE list, but knowing he'll be out at night as well as the morning opens up our timeline somewhat significantly:

1. Lets start with the target: The data. Only accessible from Teague's bedroom. Hard copy, can be blown by anyone in the bed room. We need some form of physical tap, or at the very least a strong back. Think we got those. Which brings us to the real decisive point:

2. The bedroom. Third floor, big string of full length windows, looks like they're ballistic glass and wired tight if the schema is correct. It also has a panic room attached. To add to that, if Hard Core is running the usual exec protect, the moment we set up an alarm, that place is going to be swarming. We need a way in. I've got a mini-blowtorch and a glass cutter but we might want to invest in some breaching charges and a mono-chainsaw. Looks like we can get in through the windows, or somewhere else in the house. Maybe a cut and drop through the roof, but I don't think we've got the time to set that up....now, if we go when Teague's not here, the good news is no one will swarm the room on instinct - until they figure out whats going on anyhow. Of course, we'll also be Teague-less, so if he has a remote det, the data will go up as soon as he hears about it. We probably need something to seal the doors against anyone coming in, and a way to blow in to the panic room if need be.

3. The rest of the house: fragging big. Real big. I'm looking for any entrances that might be less likely to send up an alarm, but I'm not finding them. Correct me if I'm wrong. I think even if we enter somewhere else, we still need to get to the bedroom.

4. The killing ground - aside from the tasetfully expensive shrubbery, the lawns around this place are a slaughterhouse waiting to happen. 50 meters of unobstructed field of fire. artfully landscaped to peak towards the house - what money buys you, mmm? If we go in quiet, we need a way to saty over that sensor net. If we go in hard, we can probably cross it on the way in no problems, but the way out is going to need something to make sure we don't get butchered on the exfil.

5. The perimeter. 12' wall, and some tastefully invisible mono-wire on top. Plus, a very sexy series of lasers and motion sensors tied in to the yard. The gates a weak point, but it looks like Hard core keeps it well staffed. Anyone see any alternate points of entry? I'm thinking kevlar blankets to throw on the wire and up and over unless someone here can make us fly...actually....mages?

6. Astral. Fr-ragging the bane of my life. This one is all you mages, but unless you got a clever plan to clear it out or blind it, going in quiet is a complete no-go.

7. Matrix. Emm386 running their defenses. No way we're going to dominate the system, so we might get a few seconds of surprise where we have matrix interference. After that, out new hacker and emm are going to lock horns. We got to make sure we spend this when it counts.

So..that's my read on the situation..."

"

@ I'm on a boat
[April 15th 2072; 23:55 SS Henry VIII 4000 meters off shore, Puget Sound]

Siran carried on moving up the stairs behind the others a dark song of destruction building in her heart. Her huge two handed sword light in her hands.

Pausing while the others moved ahead, she summoned forth the heart of the storm, writhing crackling lightning sparked from her hair, and as she walked there was a constant Zing. The sword looked particularly nasty as sparks nearly a foot long arced from its tip. Normally this would be distracting, but Siran focused on the call of the upcoming battle preparing to deal harshly with any that opposed her.

Bluring with the unnatural speed of the spirits, Siran moved and caught up with the others, careful to avoid touching them.

@ I'm on a boat
[April 15th 2072; 23:55 SS Henry VIII 4000 meters off shore, Puget Sound]

The runners sprinted up the stair case, clearing the second floor and coming into view of a topside camera


[Bridge]

"Skipper! Deck-ops just crashed! Last message is hacker was near by, port side"

"Sir! Report from Ganymede. Portside door had a severe ward breach!"

"Drek!, 3 dudes in the stairwell coming up fast, portside! Is that a fragging sword?!"

The bridge was chaos. Despite mandatory anti-piracy training, and even one or two sailors who had been in similiar situations before, no one really expects to be pirated. They certainly don't expect it 2 miles off shore from a friendly port. Against a lesser man, the runners may have found the bridge in this state. However the skipper was a cut above the rest. He had ridden out pacific storms, high speed runs, bad markets, and worse. In the moment of crisis, he emerged as the one thinking head.

"Mr. Carter. Please seal the bridge door. Gentlemen, stand to your stations. Here's what I need"

[Stairwell]

The runners had crested the third story and were on their way to the 4th when the intercom blared to life:

"THIS IS THE CAPTAIN. NOW HEAR THIS, NOW HEAR THIS: WE ARE BEING BOARDED. THIS IS NOT A DRILL, I SAY AGAIN, THIS IS NOT A DRILL. THE ENEMY HAS MATRIX SUPERIORITY. MANUAL SEAL ALL DOORS, SHUT DOWN ALL DRONES. ENGINES TO FLANK SPEED AND DE-NETWORK. SECURITY PERSONNEL TO THE SMALL ARMS LOCKER. NON-SECURITY PERSONNEL, DO NOT RESIST UNLESS THE LIFE OF YOU OR A CREWMATE IS THREATENED. NO HEROES. THE INSURANCE WILL COVER ANY LOSS IN CARGO."

Deep in the hull of the ship, the engines roared to life and the Henry began to gain momentum. As the runners crested the 4th floor, a single midshipman rushed to seal off the access doorway to the hall. The bridge door was already sealed Someone had knocked over the "silver bullet" soykaf maker, probably the young gentleman in question: he was soaking in brown liquid, and probably had several second degree burns. That didn't stop him from trying to close the hall door. He got to the opening at the same time as the runners.

[Astral]

Raul arrived the breached ward just as the runners hit the 4th floor. He took one look at the magical energies humming around the group up the stairwell...and he hesitated. His moment to be a hero all of a sudden seemed a very much less sure thing. His mind warred with the desire to live out his adventure, and the suddenly equally prominent desire not to suffer vast amounts of pain. To his infinite shame, the latter won. He backed out and waited for reinforcements. The collective said only to surveill against superior forces anyhow, right? it wasn't really cowardice...

[KE Port Authority Tactical Operations Center]

LT Stevens re-read the message one more time. Tonight had already been a disaster for KE with the Jucy Lucy incident and that fight out at the bar. Plus the Gamma Liberation Front nonsense. He had just been happy that none of it involved him. He was going on vacation in a day, and just standing a watch shift because Fredericks had come down with the 24 hour flu. He had been severely hoping that it would be an exceedingly quiet night, perhaps some drunks being pulled out of the sound after they fell of their yacht. A nice short report to the morning relief, a nap, and then off to that new park up by the Tir that Hayley liked so much. That dream died with the text on his screen.

Still, he was at his core, KE. He was professional. And he was damned sure not going to let KE get embarrassed again tonite.

"Sgt, send this to legal, check what the insurance parameters are if they try to pull us out of territorial.
Jacobs, go get the Captain.

Deuce, give me ISR. Yeah, I know it was watching that little smuggling cove - frag it, that place hasn't seen anything in a week, swing it, see what the techies can give us for SIGINT too. Its already burning holes in the sky, might as well get something out of it.

Mage-ops: We're internal on this one, all the higher drek is till supporting the firewatch glory boys. Whatever. get me spirits here, and some clue whats going on astrally."

Then he shunted to the known files on the Henry to the Port Response Team. He didn't have the authority to release them, but at least they could start spinning up...

@Dysfunctional Family
[April 15th, 2072 11:56am; Car heading to Touristville]

Ajax was about to lose his temper with Miguel who simply would not budge on his absurd price. Time to bring out the leverage <<You know what Miguel, you will be giving me that room for free now or I will tell your wife about that little fling with the blond floozy that was staying at your hotel. That's right, I know about it. Nothing escapes me. If I remember correctly your wife holds all the titles to the house and assets in her name. It would be a shame if she divorced you because she would keep the house due to the fact that she will most likely get the children and she will most likely get an absurd amount of alimony from you. UCAS courts are not lenient on adulterers and I know the perfect judge to try your case. He is a very straight-laced man that does not take kindly to adulterers. You most likely will be on the street by the time he is done with you. Oh and if you even think about double crossing me, I will get you arrested for the drug trafficking you are doing from the motel>>

<<I do not traffick drugs!!>> Miguel said, panic rising in his voice.

<<Miguel, with my skills you will be put away for a long time, whether the charges are true or not. Don't get on my bad side Miguel. I will destroy you.>>

<<Okay, okay I will give you the room. Just don't tell my wife. I am very sorry to have angered you, just please don't tell her. The room number is 54A and the access code to the room is 473684A>>

<<Thank you Miguel. This is the last thing I will ask of you. Goodbye>>

Ajax sighed, half of what he said was complete bullshit, but Miguel didn't know that. Wage slaves are so simple minded. They are afraid of their own shadow. He dialed the number for Jotamon. <<Jotamon, I got us a room at the Vista Motel in Touristville. Room number 54A, the access code is 473684A. I convinced my contact there to keep the cameras off while we are there. I am about 10 minutes out. If you are questioning the boy would it be possible to give me a live video feed through your image link?>>

@ I'm on a boat
[April 15th 2072; 23:55 SS Henry VIII 4000 meters off shore, Puget Sound]

Siran saw the door, and pursed her lips. That barrier looked hard work. Fortunately she had a toy that she had brought along for situations like this, although that really looked like a big door... Sheathing her blade in a scarily smooth operation, she pulled a tube from her belt, and shook it. The tube telescoped into a staff, and Siran swirled it around her head, trailing huge sparks, a veritable lightning storm forming around it. Focusing her will on the task, she smashed the magically enhanced staff into the door, pounding it once...twice...and with a huge all out effort...thrice.

@ Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:20:00 Parking Lot]
[The Pixel Special, ID "Aubert Benoit"]

Demon bites his bottom lip anxiously as he listens to Dealer's assessment of the situation. A quiet approach would be impossible. Perhaps it would behoove us to provide a distraction.

"That sounds about right. Maybe we could buy a bit of time by creating a distraction that agite les frelons. If missiles are available and we can find where the gunships are, I could try shooting at them to keep the gunships occupied right before the rest of the group braves the mansion. Or, if we want to concentrate on the mansion itself, I could try launching missiles at the house itself. When the HardCore chiens de porc come out, I can start picking them off with sniper fire from afar. I can be about 385 meters away and still hit them in their shrunken, coeurs noirs.

"It might also be a good idea to try and disable the antidémarreur in Teague's bedroom. It would be quite unfortunate if someone pressed the button while we were still extracting the data..."

@ Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:20:00 Parking Lot]

Dealer blinks at Demon's suggestions. "I'd rather not take my chances against a gunship that can kill us all from farther than we can see. That said, you might be on to something with the missiles. Way I see it, we might just need to kill the hell out of something if everything goes wrong, or dynamically breach ahead of us. Plus, launch contrails are an excellent way to make sure hardcore is firing everything they got at wherever it came from rather than the poor bastard running across the lawn. Which I'm beginning to think is likely to be me. Where the frag is the hacker? He's kind of key to this planning.

So, new timeline:

Now - 0130: Meet this hacker, go buy our stuff. One account is probably best, so feel free to drop your requests into this ARO, and your cred onto this stick.

0130-0300: Crash out in the van.
0330-0730: Recon on the house. Need at least one of you mages doing the astral; hopefully the hacker can give us some high altitude drone stuff and all the matrix drek. Everyone else gets real familiar with routes in and out, and we make sure Demon has a good position where he can wathc and shoot everything from. Nothing physical: vashton is too hot and too well guarded for us to waste 4 hours of potential id time just for recon. The its just a matter of watching Hound's status while teague is there, when he's gone, and while he's leaving and returning. Bonus if we can dope how he runs his convoys.
0730-1600: Sleep, sweet, sweet, sleep. We still need a spot. Alos, we'll need to dithc the van by the then. Owners will have reported it to KE.
1630-1830: Final plan and rehearsal.
1900-2000: Move into start up positions.
2000-2015: Go baby go.

"

He pauses for a moment, remembering something. "Oh, Copper, the only 'robot' in me is the wires. Glass houses and cyberarms, yeah?"

@ Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:20:00 Parking Lot]

From her less than comfortable spot in the back of the van, Copperhead opens one eye and smiles up at Dealer. She raises one cybernetic finger in the univeral gesture of 'frag you'.

"I may not be some hotshot mage like Ember here, but I can still see how much 'ware you got in you robot-boy. An' anyways I figger if da mage wid da cyberware can't make fun of you about it, who can?"

"Your plan sounds solid. Gives me time to get over da cram crash so dat's good. Maybe if da breeders got some magical gear, I can maybe get some extra help from Snake. Otherwise I gots me enough gear for now. Hmm, might wanna think of some disposable jammers to frag wid der systems. Especially for on da way out, neh?"

@ Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:20:00 Parking Lot]
[The Pixel Special, ID "Aubert Benoit"]

If the lady is right, perhaps that explains why our new companion lacks a certain human spirit... I suppose I should lay off on all of the "lack of soul" comments...

"I have linked and set up ballista backpack missile launchers before so that they can group fire on a target from different locations. Usually, you need a hacker to set up the programming so that the backpacks are subscribed to the same node and linked on a PAN. That way, the missiles fire from different locations, drawing the fire away from the person who is actually pulling the trigger. If our new companion is capable and we can purchase the necessary hardware, we might be able to do something similar...

"Or, I guess I could just grab a LAW and run..."

@ Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:20:00 Parking Lot]

“Whilst I appreciate your enthusiasm for heavy ordinance surely these measures are as a last resort, non? To answer an earlier question Dealer, it is possible that I could fly us in but the effort would tire me…” Ember looked cautiously at the reclining Copperhead… “perhaps if we were able to acquire some gliders I could provide the boost to get us into the air and request a spirit to aid us into land on target? In the right conditions we could be on the roof before anyone has an opportunity to react…the technical solutions of how we get to the data I leave to your expertise but I am confident that I can keep the astral threat at bay for long enough to complete our task.

Copperhead, once you have had an opportunity to rest I am willing to introduce you to The Circle. They are sufficiently removed from all this that recent events won’t concern them and as they are difficult to lie to they will take our word of innocence. I am hoping they will be able to give us some magical assistance to aid us in this matter.”

@ I'm on a boat
[April 15th 2072; 23:55 SS Henry VIII 4000 meters off shore, Puget Sound]

With a last bound Silk reached the top of the stairs as the coffee machine tumbled to the deck and the junior officer scrambled to close the door on them. Knowing that that would seal them off completely she regretfully brought the Ingram smartgun to her shoulder and fired a tight controlled burst into his centre of mass. She winced inwardly at the vicious crunch that followed the phuut of the silenced weapon…although her pacifist ideals had died with her mother she would never be truly reconciled to hurting those who did not pose a direct threat to her or her friends. At least the gel rounds wouldn’t kill him, regular rounds would have cored him like an apple at this range.

<<We need to get that door open now. I will try and get Nine access to the security node…>>

She glanced over as Siran moved past her and drew a staff of all things…she looked at the welded steel door to the bridge with a raised eyebrow but before she could say anything there was a reverberant ring as the staff struck the door and dented it! Holy mother of…

She released the flashbang from the loop on her utility pouch and prepared to pop it through the door…who needed deckers when there was a mage in the house?!?

@ Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:20:00 Parking Lot]

Dealer considers that for a moment and shrugs. "True, I don't usually see mages with cyber, come to think of it. Messes with their we're to good for the universe outlook I suppose, plus all that 'ware eats your soul stuff the tree-huggers sell you on. So, by extension you have a point and are proudly elevated to the rank of "not quite as bad as other mages. Its a high honor, trust me."

Other than that, we're beginning to see a plan here for the actual hit:

1. We get Demon into an overwatch position with his rifle, and hopefully he has some alternate firing points for the heavy stuff if needed. Rest of the team is off in the truck or whatever we've boosted for this joy ride, waiting to move. Ember gives us a final fly by on astral, hacker give sus the last minute skinny on 'trix and drones. Once Demon calls the situation good, then we pull up the far wall there. Since we're already either pissing off MCT or making friends with the Novatech CEO, lets limit our firing positions to MCT territory if possible. We'll want to hold off tossing missiles form municipal territory. Plus, as half cut pointed out, the KE can't touch you there.

2. Our conspicuously absent hacker goes for matrix dominance at the same time we toss jammers over the side. Then we go over in the middle of it all. Up and over, cross the lawn fast as hell. In demon we trust to drop anyone who notices us, and to hit the gate hard if they start focusing too much on us. This is maybe 9 seconds.

3. Scale the house. I'll go first and pinion the rope for the rest of the team. I'll work on cutting in through the window while you're all climbing. The other option is demon blows the windows with a missile before we get there and we go in through the blasted remains.

4. Kill or subdue everyone in the bedroom and seal the doors in. Copper, Ember, hold back any security while I disable the manual detonator. hacker makes sure there's no matrix trigger.

5. Get into the data storage. We're going to need to hack, break, burn or cut our way in...last thing we need is to breach it with explosives and have shrapnel destroy the drives. Depending on size, we either set a physical tap for the hacker or grab and run.

6. Smoke the living hell out of the lawn, then out we go. Demon, we need you to drop anyone pinning us down. Mages, I know you love your spirits and all, but this is definitely one of those times when their being mildly inconvenienced by being shot is a lot better than us dying horribly trying to run through machinegun fire. So i'm thinking the spirits go out and tussle and die long enough to help us get out to.

7. Option here: we can go over the wall, or have Demon's missiles blow the wall down.

8. Getting out: here's the real doozy. We can break and rally, try and go out on foot as a team, or have a vic ready...whatever we do, we need to cross out of both MCT and muncipal territory, and Ares for that matter - its a long drive out to the barrens. And we need somewhere to go. ideas?"

7.

@ Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:20:00 Parking Lot]
[The Pixel Special, ID "Aubert Benoit"]

Demon grins, "I would have thought of all people, mon frère, you would appreciate the esprit de justice poétique such a distraction would provide. I've always favored this form of distraction because it is easy to plant and abandon the backpacks. However, if the group prefers a more...subtle approach then I will follow suit.

"That sounds like a decent plan. I prefer dealing death from afar...it helps to keep my vêtements blood-free."

@ Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:20:00 Parking Lot]

Mr Green approaches the RV, and introduces himself. His eyes widen as he sees the pile of prehistoric junk that lies in front of him. Some bits of it were old before he was born. "OK well lets see what we can do: Looks like the person that attached this" he points at the wireless repeater "didn't really know what they were doing". With the quick use of a microtonic toolkit, a few lengths of fibre and a 5 minutes of swearing, the equipment was interfaced correctly.

With the equipment in place Mr Green dives into the system. The IC is as effective as you would expect given the age of the system. The extra "present" left by EMM386, was the real challenge, but that too was constrained by the hardware it was running on. In a matter of 30 seconds, the system was cleaned and the following available:

[April 15th 2072; 21:37]
The cigar goes back in the mouth, and the eyes narrow. "I record everything. Everything I tell you" this is clearly an important topic to Mr Allenby. "Pah! Knight Errant cannot be called off. Its part of the protection." Allenby drains 2 inches of Brandy, and slams the glass on the table.[indent] "4 minutes 30 seconds". He leans back. "Your wife had an accident. I saw the reports: no foul play. Accidents happen: she should be more careful".

"Look in the last six months I've only had a kid plant some weak HE in the car, and some floozy working for me had an accident. That's hardly enough to warrant getting all panicky" Seeing the look in Ember's eye he leans forward smirks and says "4 minutes. And maybe they will be early. You lot look like you might be on someone's wanted list, and they move quicker if there is a reward on offer".

"Now don't get panicky..." he reaches for a drawer very slowly and extracts a folder some 6 inches thick. "Here. A present for you. The death threats I have got in the last 2 years. I particularly like the ones on yellow paper. Best of luck." The folder is thrown on the table, bits of paper dropping out of it as it goes.

Suddenly, wind whistles through the office. Loose pages swirl back into the folder and the whole folder lifts off the desk and floats over to Ember while Copperhead glares at the dwarf. As the folder lands in Allanby's hands she growls, "Time to go." Then she turns on her heel and stomps out of the office, making the floor vibrate with her steps.

Demon is seen rolling his eyes then walks out.

As the door closes, the door to the washroom opens. A blurry figure emerges, only visible by the distortion against the background. Allanby looks up seeing the figure. His eyes widen, and his hand flys to the drawer of the desk. But too late, twin bullet holes appear in his forehead, and he collapsed.

@ I'm on a boat
[April 15th 2072; 23:57 SS Henry VIII 4000 meters off shore, Puget Sound]

The door was just a door. A solid door, but not a class one military structure, and it was not capable of withstanding the magically enhanced attack. The final blow smashed in the top half of the door. Siran grinned as she heard the consternation inside. Tossing a flashpak inside to entertain those on the other side, she cartwheeled through the door electrical death sparking around her as she moved.

@ I'm on a boat
[April 15th 2072; 23:57 SS Henry VIII 4000 meters off shore, Puget Sound]

Silk[b]’s raised eyebrow threatened to climb higher as she watched [b]Siran leap through the hole she had just made…granted she had had the sense to toss a flashpak inside but there were at least three people in there, all likely armed by now…she was a mage for frag sake…but then it took all sorts and it wasn’t as if this profession didn’t attract the odder types. It looked like she wouldn’t be needing the concussion grenade after all…

With practised ease she removed her toolkit and with the simple expedient of burning off the outer casing soon had access to the guts of the security camera...sparky over there meant that subtlety was no longer really required… The interface would be clunky but she should be able to wire in the commlink, there…

<<Nine, you should have access now via ‘link {@:77-903#}, unless they’ve got a hardwired kill switch anyway. Let’s see if we can confuse or at least slow down any reinforcements>>

Having done that she drew her scorpion and moved to the door to support Siran…

@ Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:xx:xx Parking Lot]

Ember composed himself and let loose his body as he slipped into the astral once more. Rested and relieved of the nagging pain of his burns he felt almost himself here…only the simmering anger belied his state, his aura rippling with spikey reds and greens. Sending one of his Korrigan ahead to warn of his coming he swept high into the air and hurled himself at speed towards Stillwater lake.

As he slowed himself at his destination he noted with interest the activity around the ruined tower. Even now the events of two years ago clung to it like a dim feeling of seeping dread but there seemed to be a ritual underway to cleanse any taint. The problem as he knew was that all those deaths had ingrained themselves into the fabric of this place. It would never be the same, no matter how many spells and rituals were woven about it…the dream was not gone but the slumber was restless now.

Steeling himself to the draining of his power he flew past the reluctant sprite that he had sent ahead. It seemed to have done its job though as rising to meet him he saw the glorious aura of Desire

~It is good to see you again. I’m sure your intelligence sources have told you all about my supposed links with Gamma and the fallout from that, ah yes, a pun…so, I have a boon to ask of the Circle~

@ Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; Stillwater]

Desire looks into Ember's eyes. ~Gamma is not your problem yet. He is our problem. Even now his agents probes our defenses. Even now they prepare."

~It seems to me that your run in with Gamma was fortuitous: he fled deep into the Astral and has to find a way back. That will take even him a time. We have found much about his plans from the people he was meeting, and we are preparing to move.~

"We have anticipated your request. It will arrive at your location in about 5 minutes. You should warn your friends that a drone is coming~

@Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:xx:xx Parking Lot]

The piece of junk posing as electronic storage had pushed Jacob's frustration to the max but he felt quite relieved when it finally gave up its secrets. As he refocused on reality and mentally forwarded the image captured from the storage computer to each of the runners links as well as to Hansai and his own datastorage chips at home, Jacob looked around to finish sizing up his new teammates.

"Well it would seem, as you can see if you look at the imagelink, that someone was there before you boys and heard everything you had to say..." Jacob motioned towards the slumped Ember and then to Copperhead, "You wizards notice anything funny in the room when you came in? I've heard, dunno if it's true to be honest, but I've heard, that you guys can sense intent or some drek like that?" Seeing no reply immediately forthcoming, Jacob turned to the wiry, almost arrogant runner who went by the tag of Demon, "So, you seem to kind of be in charge here... what's the plan? I assume you want me to check out the last known of that intruder? I was informed that you gentlemen already have the floorplans for Teague's place? I need to know what you know, and asap, nothing like being blind-sided by lack of information." With that rather extraordinary speech out of the way, Jacob whirled up an instance of Miracle Shooter to request surveillance of an enemy fortification, specifically looking for information on "5th column specialists who refuse to keep their Miracle Shooter alias dark until just before they strike".

@ I'm on a boat
[April 15th 2072; 23:56:03 SS Henry VIII 3930 meters off shore, Puget Sound]

The bridge crew waited nervously behind the closed door, executing their Captains commands to the best of their ability, racing against time. Hopefully the door would hold the pirates long enough for them to enact their plan. The one security guard on the bridge leveled his Spas-22 at the door, while the watch officer aimed a comparatively meager defiance Ex-shocker in the same direction.

The comms officer was sending frantic messages between the insurance company, the legal department, and the KE all the while. As the techs worked the controls, the Captain calmly waited.

Then the first dents began. Moments later the top half of the door peeled open and a cartwheeling banshee stormed into the room on the trail of a flashpak...the security guard's shotgun roared twice and the watch officer fired his taser blindly in the direction he had been looking before the flash, moments before he was smashed into oblivion by a burst of gel rounds.

The techs desperately entered a final command and then did their best to disable the controls in the midst of the confusion. All the while the Captain's voice echoed over the scene:

"Cease fire! Cease fire! we can't win this one! We surrender!"

@Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:xx:xx Parking Lot]

Dealer raised an eyebrow, jkeeping his thoughts to himself as he watched the interaction play out.

I'm not sure which is more annoying...to find out I'm probably a pawn in Ember's "Circle" games that undoubtedly started all of this, or listening to the hacker harangue Demon. I mean, in the long term, anything with a name as typically grandiose and arcane as The Circle must be a right bunch of magic assholes who don't give a drek about anyone else, and probably deserve to die, but they aren't exactly here being irritating at the moment either. I suppose we need him for the files though. Not enough money to buy a full body remake...

@Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:xx:xx Parking Lot]

Copperhead gives Dealer a wry smile at his compliment. It was not often she got a positive response for giving someone the finger and certainly not from a 'real' shadowrunner at that. Then Ember is offering to introduce her to his magical group. She sits up straight, thoughts of sleep gone with the cram-assisted thudding of her heart, then nearly jumps out of her skin when Mr Green pings her comm.

"Well frag me, it's been quite a night. Ember I don't know if yer buddies can get me materials fer a lodge. Mine just got firebombed. Mind you, I aint exactly gots a place ta set up right now. I has also been looking fer a magical focus but my talismonger's been holdin out on me an is as likely to turn me over to KE than sell me stuff right now. Somefin to sustain taste the air {detect enemies} or serpent speed {enhanced initiative} would be cool. Hell, I'd settle for just a plain old power focus."

She moves out of Mr Green's way as he fiddles with the ancient hardware.

"I don't like to sacrifice spirits, but dat beast spirit I summoned earlier wouldn't take it too personal as long as it gots ta chew on a few corpers. Hmm, an ifs we got no other option ta get rid of da van, head for Crush territory. I might be able to trade dis for something else if dey don't shoot me right off fer da bounty."

When Mr Green shows them the footage of Allanby getting shot, she hisses. "Frag I did pick up on something but thought it was da KE fraggers on dere way up. Problem wid da magic is its all feelings an shit, it dont work like an AR interface."

@Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:xx:xx Parking Lot]

Shaking his head at the vagaries of magic, Cant really count on magical mumbo jumbo anyways, too bad they are so useful...if only I could write a macro to express it..., Jacob leaned against the side of the RV. While he waited for one of the other runners to lay out their plans he decided he needed to poke at allanby's and focused his attention on swimming through the datastream towards the gigantic record system that was the home node referenced in the piece of crap hardware. On approaching the node he realized that the vinyl was covered in a translucent flowing caution ARO in the form of revolving crime scene tape and guarded by a few ominous looking "Big Brother" Icons.

Hmmm, looks pretty heavy better take some time to think about entering there, may be a bit more than I can handle at this point. Jacob quickly extended his senses to feel for images and any electronic monitoring devices in the geographical location of the office.

@ Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:20:00 Parking Lot]
[The Pixel Special, ID "Aubert Benoit"]

Demon affords himself a self-satisfied smile when Mr. Green addresses him as the leader. It's nice to see that someone finally recognizes my talent and value. Alas, I must now correct him.

"Bienvenue, Mr. Green, to our group. My name is Demon. While I have led runners on many a perilous and successful quest before, I cannot claim leadership of this group. I am but a mere entrepreneur indépendant on this particular venture. You are looking for Ember, my friend and employer. If details are what you desire, though, you might consider speaking with Dealer as they are his specialty. The lovely Copperhead should be able to provide you with more details with magic as well."

When he sees the death of Allanby, his face falls into a contemplative pout. An almost perfect assassination...two shots to the forehead to make sure he is dead... I could have done it better... A pity he did not suffer...

@Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:20:00 Parking Lot]

Mildly impressed with the smooth talking runner, despite his arrogant manner, Jacob turns and directs his attention to Dealer as indicated and says in a slightly awkward voice, all smoothness gone, "So sorry about that... ahem... what can you tell me about your plans? Are you the team leader or just rather more experienced?"

Paying only half of his attention to the reply, Jacob called up two of his sprites, sourcian and ipso. <<Aid me my pets, we have work to do...>> Mentally aligning himself with the ebb and flow of the matrix he called up an ornate key with wings and a halo. <<Fly and find me the information I seek my pet>>. With a scurrying, flying sound the Browse complex form flies off into the emerald landscape leaving a set of keys for Jacob to follow. What seems like an eternity passes before Jacob hears the tinkle of key rings returning to his mental fortress.

So many data points! Jacob sighed and began using a vacant portion of his mental capacity to sift through the images and feeds which any mere computer would take millenia to sort. As results poured into his virtual sieve he amed himself with a magnifying glass and an even larger set of keys with odd implements on the ends of them. Choosing one with a sticky sweet honeycomb at the first node to come to his attention, he offered it to the bear standing guard over the entryway. The bear glommed onto the exploit program and didnt even flinch as Jacob breezed into the inner workings of the node.

Hmm how interesting....Jacob paused minutes later to stretch out his mind and replay the recordings of Dealer's comments over the last 5 minutes. Mentally sending the interesting, and, Jacob was willing to bet, previously unnoticed image of the assassination of Wallace to his data storage device for later use, he uploaded the rest of the pics of the assassin and the van to the other's links.