@ I'm on a boat
[April 15th 2072; 23:56:05 SS Henry VIII 4000 meters off shore, Puget Sound]

Siran spun her staff of electric death around her body then with a casual move collapsed it, and placed it at her belt. Lightning death still danced all around her, and she felt that it was unlikely that the crew would do anything stupid. Speech was difficult for her while possessed, but she grunted at Silk at take charge of the prisoners, tossing Silk a roll of duct tape.

Silk could do the negotiations, while Siran kept the area secure.

@ I'm on a boat
[April 15th 2072; 23:56:05 SS Henry VIII 4000 meters off shore, Puget Sound]

Silk smiled grimly behind her facemask and stepped gracefully through the impromptu doorway. Her synthesized voice was metallic in her ears but offered another layer of protection against a surveillance culture

“Thank you for your timely surrender Captain. We do not want any unnecessary bloodshed either. We are going to take you unharmed off the Henry and we wouldn’t want any of your crew to interfere…please ask them to stand down. Once we are away they will be free to continue on to port. I’m sure you are anticipating support from Knight Errant but given our current location we will be away before they can assist you. We apologise for this inconvenience but it is just business as usual…”

That should be enough for him to see the sense in complying with them, she didn’t fancy the prospect of fighting their way off the ship with KE breathing down their necks. Everyone here had a vested interest in maintaining a professional calm, she hoped…

@Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:23:00 Parking Lot]

Ember levered himself up off the floor of the RV wincing at the tendernes of his injuries. He looked at the mangled mess of his armoured coat and said ruefully,

“It would seem I could do with some more clothes…and another dose of those painkillers might be in order. Before anyone gets excited there is a drone inbound containing some equipment that Copperhead and I need to continue with this raid.”

He moved over to Copperhead and said in an undertone

“I’m not sure there is much to be done about a lodge at the moment, although I know that Doctor Finney is also a follower of Snake, the time taken to make a new one is probably beyond us at the moment. I believe there will be something for you on the drone however…”

Turning back to the others

“Don’t worry, I haven’t compromised our security, the Circle have ways of finding people that aren’t open to others. It may be that when the time comes we can persuade them to help us locate Teague in a place that would prove suitable for an assault…although I dare say our new decker…” he nodded “will have resources of his own to draw on…”

@ I'm on a boat
[April 15th 2072; 23:56:08 SS Henry VIII 3885 meters off shore, Puget Sound]

The Captain smiled at Silk's speech.

"Well miss, we have a slight problem then. You see, Davis there broke the controls" he points to the sparking ruins of what was once a control panel "and unfortunately manual steering doesn't quiet work on a ship this size. We are going...about...30 knots. I don't know how you were planning on removing me, but given the airspace is clear, it has to be a boat. The likelihood of us successfully getting into a small boat from this ship while going 30 knots is very, very small. It will take engineering 3-4 minutes to take the engines off line manually. By that time we'll be in territorial waters."

@I'm On A Boat
[April 15th 2072; 23:56:08 SS Henry VIII 3885 meters off shore, Puget Sound]

A smile spread across Robert's face as an escape route occurred to him. He paused a moment to type up a quick text message with his trodes, and sent it off to his teammates: <<Lifeboats work when the ship's moving, right?>> He adjusted his grip on his weapon, "I assure you, captain, we have this 'moving' situation well in hand. Please come with us before we are forced to resort to further violence." The words came slowly, like silk placed gently on a king's table. They also carried the weight of Robert's will.

@I'm On A Boat
[April 15th 2072; 23:56:11 SS Henry VIII 3840 meters off shore, Puget Sound]

Robert could feel his mental "suggestion" forcing its way into the Captain. For a moment, the resistance seemed unnaturally fierce, as if the good skipper could force back the magical assault with nothing more than an iron will. For the briefest of flashes, it almost seemed as if Robert's own will was going to crumble; then as quickly as it came, it was gone. While the Captain's face stayed coolly masked, Robert could have sworn that grizzled seaman had winked at him..

"I suppose you have a point. No need to make this bloodier than it has to be, right? I'll come with you, but I don't suppose you'd be open to a counter offer?"

@ I'm on a boat
[April 15th 2072; 23:56:12 SS Henry VIII 4000 meters off shore, Puget Sound]

Siran pointed to the door. There was no time to waste talking, while the ship approached the line to the Knight Errant territory. "Move" she grunted.

@I'm On A Boat
[April 15th 2072; 23:56:15 SS Henry VIII 3795 meters off shore, Puget Sound]

"As you will miss, as you will. Mr Carter...hmm..I suppose Mr. Carter is out of the question for opening the door. Do it myself tehn"

The captain moves over to the door and begins the laborious process of spinning the wheel lock open. It doesn't take long before the locking bar is undone. The captain struggles to move the malformed door out of the way, grunting mightily.

"A little help?"

@ I'm on a boat
[April 15th 2072; 23:56:18 SS Henry VIII 4000 meters off shore, Puget Sound]

Siran gestured for the Captain to move to one side, then hopped through the hole. She gestured for the captain to follow.

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

At Ember's mention of incoming gear, Demon mentally snaps his fingers and asks his new camarade about an alternative place to acquire items.

"Monsieur Green, perhaps you might know of a place for us to resupply before our next combat avec l'ennemi? Monsieur Dealer mentioned a Humanis-run establishment, but I am hesitant to fund such a...suspect organization. If I must choose between paying a villain and fighting a battle well-armed or standing on principles and fighting without proper equipment, I will choose the former almost every time. However, I would be grateful if you could name a less méprisable alternative."

@Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:25:00 Parking Lot]

Dealer chuckles at Mr. Green's question.

"Not in any formal sense, no. I believe Mr. Ember there hired most of our happy team for some personal biz, and I'm here representing third party interests. Well, and my own interests of not being associated with Global Terrorism TM. However, I do seem to be laying out most of the baseline planning, and here's what we have so far..."

About 5 minutes later, Dealer stops talking the plan.

"So, barring any final revisions you have, we're going to be driving out of here nowish. Also, I would love a lay down of the territorialities around the target area if you have one. We are going to want to take advantage of the mighty power of Balkanization."

@ I'm on a boat
[April 15th 2072; 23:56:18 SS Henry VIII 3750 meters off shore, Puget Sound]

The Captain glances at Siran, glances at the hole, and shrugs. He climbs over the gap in the door, frowning as he unceremoniously tumbles onto his ass on the other side and then stands up, brushing himself off.

"Miss, not all of us can do cartwheels though bent steel door halves. Anyhow, where are we going? Can't very well lead you there if you don't tell me."

[Outside]

Khalil had watched as the big ship surged forward through the waves, neatly shunting the tug aside and pushing it in a lazy spin towards Kunk's boat. It was a lucky thing the tug's skipper had started moving off to the port side when he noticed the Henry start to churn through the waves. Aside from a minor clipping which threw all of the tug crew to the deck, it had escaped relatively unharmed. or rather it had until the attached tow lines snapped. The once-tensed cables whipped across the tug deck with unfortunate consequences for the crew. By now the tug was blaring a series of repeating data transmissions, undoubtedly in response to the recent disaster. Kunk took a long look at the scene and then turned to Khalil.

"You guys are the money here. What do you want me to do? I can run her down easy enough, but there's probably a lot of eyes watching the behemoth. of course, staying here, there's probably going to be a lot of eyes unnaturally close to that tug as well..."

[KE Port Authority]

"...yeah, right there. Whats that. Trailing the ship back a few hundred meters...sneaky son of a bitch. Henley, how many Heimdahls do we have in ordance bay on that thing? I know we can't fire, but the commander is going to want his options laid out when he gets in here..."

[Off the stern]

You can do this Raul. You can do this. They may be some fancy ass mages, but you WANT it, WANT it. No more junior assistant mage wards division for you. Your going to be a big damn hero. now you just have to figure out how..

@Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:25:00 Parking Lot]

There is only so much a troll metabolism can take. Despite the excitement and cram running through her system, when Dealer starts running through the plan again, the evening's events finally catch up on Copperhead. By the time he has finished recounting the tale to Mr. Green, she is sound asleep, the big combat shotgun cradled in her arms.

@Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:25:00 Parking Lot]

"My apologies, your plan sounds fairly reasonable however I'm concerned about getting in and out of Vashon than I am about which territory we use... I frankly am not fond of MCT zero-zone policies and would suggest that we use the less well known portions of Outremer from which to launch our strike. That old ferry complex, not the new one with hydroplane services... might prove useful if we can smuggle in on a refuse or refueling barge."

Jacob pauses to check his Miracle shooter status and has a sudden spark of inspiration, with a slow drawl as the light bulb in his head grows, "You know.... I think I may have a way past that overwhelming security... Any of you ever play miracle shooter or gone on a btl trip?"

@Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:25:00 Parking Lot]

Ember simply raises an eyebrow as if to say 'does it look like I have?!?'

Hunter's Pursuit 2072
12:07AM [Perrigan Golds - Bounty Hunting Bar]

Dave the barkeep and owner of this joint was good to you. He always put your drinks on the house since you cleared his bar out from that Devil Rat infestation. You see, Dave was always kind of foolish. I mean what did he think would happen if disposed of spoiled drink and food into the sewer hatch in the bar's basement? Nevertheless it worked out, though Jericho had to get his big toe reattached after you all retrieved it from a Devil Rat's stomach. That was not fun, I mean, have you ever smelled the contents of a Devil Rat's stomach? It made most of you throw up. Anyways, you are all celebrating Jericho's birthday today. It is nice that this one is so peaceful because the last one he almost died of a bullet to the chest and Glass had to get some expensive dentistry done because of that troll street brawler. Not a very good birthday if you ask me. You all had been there since 8 this evening and you are thoroughly drunk, especially the elf, Herbal Thought forgot to mention that awakened whiskey does weird things to elves. Unfortunately Mr. Belvedere decides to call you at the most unfortunate time with a job. Belvedere was your bounty contract contact. No one has ever seen him and any attempt to get info on him leads to a dead end. The guy was a ghost and you gave up trying to get the scoop on him a long time ago. Now you just accept his contracts and get paid the big bucks. Of course, they are never easy. Belvedere sends you against the worst society has to offer and the contacts are usually labeled under the wetwork label. Vigilante justice seemed to be his game.

You were all brought together by Belvedere two years ago for a job and he told you that he had a lot of work for you all if you chose to stay together. His only stipulation was you stay in Seattle. You all thought it was strange, but he paid really good money and has never screwed you like other Johnsons tend to do. Your commlinks automatically answer his call, you have never figured out how he does that...

<<Good morning Magnificent Seven and a happy birthday to you Jericho. I sent you a present, it was left on your kitchen table. I think you will like it very much. Alas, but to business we must go. I have a job for you Seven and it is not your usual manhunt. You will already known where the marks are. Yes I said marks, plural many times over. Your task is to eliminate a certain gang known as the Terror de Invierno. A nasty group of drug runners and foul murderers. I have sent the location of their compound to your commlinks. I am afraid you will have to dig up more about them on your own as my contact who was investigating wound up in several different pieces spread across Seattle. It is a tragedy, he was very reliable. His family will be taken care, poor little Dahlia...but I digress. This gang is terrorizing a large part of the Seattle Barrens and I want you to eliminate them. I was going to have you just shut down their operations, but in light of Gerald's murder I think it prudent to send a message to their suppliers that the Barrens are off limits to this kind of brutal tyranny. Gerald was a good man, you would have liked him. i want every single person in that compound eliminated. Each one of their company has committed horrible crimes that are stuff of nightmares and they need to be put down like the rabid dogs they are. The police will of course do nothing, such a pity. There was a time when the badge of a police officer meant something. Oh dear, I am showing my age. That is your briefing Seven, any questions?>>

Hunter's Pursuit 2072
12:07AM [Perrigan Golds - Bounty Hunting Bar]

Herbal was currently possessing a Mogwai child's toy. The origami party hat was starting to slip, as he drank in the emotional high from the others. The tale of terror kind of brought the party to a bump. Not yet over, but definitely a bump.

"Hay mon you sound all wound up. Remember 'it's all good all the time'. It unfolds according to the will of the most high. When the injustice of Babylon rolls over you like that you need some weed. This meta Ganja is smooth. Cannot I and I just take the word, and some of this weed to the Terror de Invierno and invite them to chill?"

@Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:25:24 Parking Lot]

Ember's obviously sardonic implication that he was beyond that sort of kid stuff immediately reinforced how socially awkward Jacob always felt ever since being cast into the world on his own, away from the safety of the familial compound. And to be going back there again?! MCT territory my ass! I've GOT to figure out how the hell to keep my hands clear of this mess... Jacob stuttered and stumbled for a few minutes before finally getting back on topic with his idea, "Well... erm... yes of course you haven't... I...errr... I imagine that would do bad things to your mojo or something right?" Jacob paused and noticed that Ember's eyebrows were nearly to the top of his head and decided to cut to the chase rather than dig himself deeper in the presence of real shadowrunners.

"Look all I'm saying is... there are a ton of chipheads all over the 'plex... some are good souls but to be honest most of them are wasting their lives on pornstims." Jacob takes a deep breath before plowing on with his well-thought-out albeit dodgy plan. "Well what I'm saying is why not turn a few of them to our good? They are always around so noone looks at them as a REAL threat anyways... nuisances sure but not major threats except in the worst of areas. So they kind of have a decent amount of cover that normal people don't enjoy... I mean for frag sake most of us just look THROUGH them... like they aren't even there! What I propose is this: You want a distraction and/or ability to both delay HardCore, get into the compound and at the same time tie up Teague right? Well, what if we purchase a couple action flick persona-fix chips; you know, the ones that override a personality and have the override removed so people can move etc etc but are totally different people? Hell most chipheads will come pre-set up with the right equipment but if we want to we can always set up some links with a bit of nuyen and background story and give them to randoms...

Give them a "top-secret mission" or similiar drek like that which I can edit on their links or just leave implanted, one group to go be "shadow-reporters" around teague's place specifically the guard post(s), around the main HardCore Base (as infiltrator missions) and after Teague either mid-convoy or at one of his events tomorrow? Arm a couple of the more programmable ones with a panic button, a couple of grenades wired in (either EMP or the real thing) and then another set with disposable jammers and boom! We have instant and mass distraction at all 3 points of contact, they will be alot more busy with the people at Teague's events or at Hardcore HQ... perhaps busy enough with all the emp and jamming going off that we can get over the fence before they notice....

Alternatively, I could probably hack/ get you guys to masquerade as the response team to help seal off Teague's residence... I'll have to watch for that wiz decker they have but if hes with teague like I expect.... more power to us, less to him and hey,maybe all the jamming and EMP will screw with his reaction times?"



Taking a deep breath and sitting down with an abrupt plopping motion Jacob decided he knew why public speaking was never any good for him... it was one thing to address team-mates in Miracle Shooter: E-Sensor than in real life. He had in fact been so distracted by his addition to the plan that he had forgotten that he was in the meat for a second.

Hunter's Pursuit 2072
12:07AM [Perrigan Golds - Bounty Hunting Bar]

Yazata perked up at the mention of the particulars. "Excellent! More demon-spawn to be removed from dis wondrous city. Counting it for me in!"

He mentally perused his possessions. I must replenish my stable of celestial allies. I hope I have time to do so while we investigate the location of these murderous scum.

Hunter's Pursuit 2072
12:07AM [Perrigan Golds - Bounty Hunting Bar]

<<I thought you might say that Herbal, so I have amassed quite a collection of their most recent exploits complete with photos. I caution you not to look at them if you have recently eaten, they are...quite graphic.>>

You all receive a ton of files on your commlinks. The photos attached to them are too gruesome to describe in words. Merely observing them slightly taints your auras. Though the style is similar to the cartel's style of killing. The files are filled with the names and pictures of the members of the gang. Each one has a list of murders he is responsible for in their files. How did Belvedere get all of this information? The murder victims names are all linked to a picture of them pre-murder. Women, children, elderly, everyone of all age groups and metatypes are listed among the dead. This is just a months tally of their crimes and there are over 100 murders.

<<As you can see these are not your average criminal organization. Judging from this evidence I doubt they will sit down and smoke a peace pipe filled with your special ganja Mr. Herbal. I will pay you handsomely and your preacher friend will be able to afford that new addition onto the church. I am sure the children will love the new youth center as well. Children need more exercise, it keeps them out of trouble.>>

Hunter's Pursuit 2072
12:07 [Perriang Golds - Bounty Hunter Bar]

The dwarf sat in the corner, a bottle and a half of rye whiskey on the table, along with his bare foot with the newly reattached toe. Say what you will about DocWagon, they do good work on short notice. With hat rim titled low over his eyes, one arm hanging straight at his side holding a glass he looks almost a sleep. Jericho wasn't though, the drinking just made him more mellow then the rest of his dwarven kind and being his birthday of all days he was incline to feel however he wanted too. His interest was pique they their J's gift though.

He listens to Belvedere rattle off the assignment. Jericho flicks through the pictures and reports of the gangers work and frowns deeply. With a voice like gravel, he says, "Yeah, these hombre's need some killing..."

Jericho cycles through the pictures again and frowns.

"These fraggers don't act like no normal ganger scum. Its gots the likes of something new, or old school. Blood cult, or Azzie..."

He sits the dwarf suited chair down on all fours and sets his glass on the table to refill it.

"We're not making the peace with this drek. Killing womens and children, they get a rope or a bullet," Jericho seals the deal by throwing his shot back, "..or ax to the skull."

Jericho also felt incline to be mean when he drank and talk business.

@ Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:25:24 Parking Lot]
[The Pixel Special, ID "Aubert Benoit"]

Demon mulls over Mr. Green's suggestion for a moment.

"How do you think HardCore will respond to your marionnettes de vie---your programmed 'Pinocchios?' Will they use lethal force or simply subdue them? I believe that might be a concern for some of our number."

Hunter's Pursuit 2072
12:07 [Perriang Golds - Bounty Hunter Bar]
[Erika Elite running Novatech Navi, ID "Robert Diggs"]

Stringer is bobbing his head and snapping his fingers to his favorite set of beats when Belvedere takes over his commlink.

"If you from the West Coast and down with Brooklyn Zu"...wait, what the fuck is this shit? Dammit, B! He hocks a phlegmmy loogie into the bucket next to him---Dave had him use a bucket ever since he first hocked up a big one in his bar. As he listens to the message and sees the sent images, his face grows dark red with anger. He hates that kind of shit---it's one thing to kill a fool who is asking for it, but this is evil on a nasty level. He chugs the glass of beer next to him and flings it against the wall across the room. The glass explodes at the same time as he does.

"Fuck those frontin', punk-ass mother fuckers! I'm gonna---Oh shit! My bad, Dave. Yo, I got it, my man." He transfers the usual amount for a broken glass to Dave's account. "I'm gettin' better at rememberin', right? That's just the third one this month..."

When he hears Herbal's question and Jericho's response, he adds, "I'm sorry, my chummer, but the J-bomber is right. Cats like those is clowns. They're the scum that give the streets a bad name. They gotta be checked, and usually you gotta take it to their level. You can't use reason with clowns. You gotta use "teknical" skills, meanin' you gotta stomp 'em or snuff 'em.

"Yo, B, you're right to holla at your boys. We got this shit and we're ready to thug it out, word is bond. And those fools workin' for The Man? Yo, B, you know they ain't cops. They just a bunch o' bitches in costumes, given gold 'n gats and the right to beat the shit out of any poor sucka who pissed off the boss."

Stringer looks back to Jericho, "Sorry 'bout this, my man. Not sure if that's what you wanna see on your b-day..."

Hunter's Pursuit 2072
12:07AM [Perrigan Golds - Bounty Hunting Bar]

"So you saying to me that 'The righteous man should not tolerate the wickedness of Babylon in these final days. These down pressers need to be judged for these abominations.' and to that I and I say that this injustice should roll off you like water. The most high will do the judging.

But mon, this is bad shit this stuff here, and I and I be thinking that these agent's of Amagideon need opposing. "

A paw points around the table

"I and I will do this, but we don't become like them. The most high will judge them when we deliver them to him.".

Hunter's Pursuit 2072
12:07AM [Perrigan Golds - Bounty Hunting Bar]
[Erika Elite running Novatech Navi, ID "Robert Diggs"]

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense Herbal T, but I just wanna make sure you know what I'm sayin'. And I'm sayin' that I'm not sayin' we go killin' and spillin' innocents like these fools be doing. I'm not about that kinda shit. I've never been about that kinda shit. It's just...well...kinda hard to see stuff like that and not get ready to throw down 'bout it, y'know? All I'm sayin' is that we go out there, we check 'em and wreck 'em, see?" He grins at the possessed toy and emphasizes the "checking and wrecking" with a punch to an open palm.

Hunter's Pursuit 2072
12:07 [Perriang Golds - Bounty Hunter Bar]

Glass suspected Dave was trying to get her drunk...but that wasn't new...he'd been trying that for a while. No success yet, at least not what he was looking for. She peered down the bar and rolled the whiskey tumbler across the bar into the slowly growing puddle of...whatever that liquid was that formed in a pool on the bar. Funny how no one never thought to name it. It really should have a name. She was just about to ask the group for suggestions to that effect when Belvedere called.

Smooth name, wonder why I never thought of that before, smooth...funny...heh, it even fits with the bar music...and smooth whiskey...frag...focus....

Glass re-oriented her world to be a little more vertical and a little less horizontal. By the time everyone was more or less aligned in their proper geometric angles, a lot had happened. Putting together a cognizant reply file took a while longer, but it was much safer than actually talking given her current state..frag, what language was she supposed to be using anyhow...

<<Mr. Belvedere. As I'm sure you've heard, our team agrees your marks need killing. That you need to call us in clearly marks a sad state of affairs for the police to be sure. No doubt their corporate masters don't see the profit in it. Though if they knew you were offering this much, they might change their minds I think. It is very generous. Still, there are some items that need to be refined, contract wise, and we're probably going to need some special equipment if this first read looks right. We're not in the position to start talking equipment lists and such but lets talk what constitutes contract completion.>>

I can't believe the trodes could actually get that out straight...

@ Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:25:24 Parking Lot]

Dealer looks at Mr. Green and shakes his head in a simple negation.

"Very, very messy. Acquiring some beetle heads wouldn't be hard, and I'm sure you could program their burnt out minds to think they were on a mission from god if you really wanted to, and with some superb effort we may even be able to get them onto Vashon/Outremer. Actually controlling them tactically would be very difficult, especially synchronizing all the moving parts. They add a a huge random element to what is already going to be a very tight run. We'd be introducing Murphy for what could be achieved with other means. We'd really need to justify their effects as above and beyond what we could achieve with simpler plans.

Unless you're making them into full out bio-drones. I'm not tracking SOTA on that, but human bio-drone probably takes a bit to make, and facilities we don't have. Plus, there's all sorts of traceability issues..."

@ Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:25:24 Parking Lot]
[The Pixel Special, ID "Aubert Benoit"]

"When put that way, I believe mon ami is right. We are unfortunately running on a very tight timeline, and so a simpler plan with less variables might be more appropriate for the moment... Before you arrived, I had mentioned the possibility of planting a few ballista missile launcher backpacks within range of the mansion, subscribing them together in a node to respond to the same laser target designator, and firing them so that HardCore focuses on targets away from the mansion. Of course, we would need to acquire them, and we have this classic dilemma: if we had steak, we could have steak and pomme frites, if we had some pomme frites. Dealer mentioned a Humanis supplier, but...if you know of another, more accessable place to find the necessary materials, I believe we would all be grateful. If this too appears to be an unnecessarily complicated distraction, then perhaps we should look for another alternative..."

Hunter's Pursuit 2072
12:07 [Perriang Golds - Bounty Hunter Bar]

Jericho wonders if Stringer is drinking soycafe instead of booze after his overly excited outburst. He waves off the comment about this taking place on his birthday. It had to happen sometime, now was the best time as any.

"Don't worry, Herbal. We go in there to give'em their final helping of vitamin lead and get out. No collecting heads to shrink down as talismonster-er, talismonder, whatever.."

Hunter's Pursuit 2072
12:07 [Perriang Golds - Bounty Hunter Bar]
[Erika Elite running Novatech Navi, ID "Robert Diggs"]

"Sounds like a plan, my man! Let's do the damn thing right now! We ready?" Stringer hops off of his bar stool and looks around at the rest of his crew. He frowns as he sees that everyone but Shrike seems pretty much crunk. He is a little woozy himself, but stayed away from the Awakened stuff after a particularly bad trip the last time Herbal offered the "peace pipe." Despite his attempts to stay clear of it, he thinks he might have a gotten a tiny bit of a contact high from Herbal's sticky icky. Sheeeeeeeeeeit...all y'all chummers can't hold your liquor...

"Or maybe later..."

Hunter's Pursuit 2072
April 16th, 00:07 [Perriang Golds - Bounty Hunter Bar, Seattle]

Glass blinks a few times at Stringer steadying herself on the room to prevent the bar from spinning. The room impolitely reminds her that something that is only really a frame of reference will not actually catch your outstretched hands, and perhaps she should have tried the other way around. Only substantial muscle memory of how to sit on Dave's barstools prevents an ignominious crash to the floor.

"Nyet. ..Err...Nein..mm..Hai?...I mean..no...right...no. Ready. No. Not ready so much right now. Besides. Karaoke. Song is in two. If we go for bounties now, miss the song. You all said you were singing back-up. You don't get out of it because of a...job..."

Hunter's Pursuit 2072
12:07 [Perriang Golds - Bounty Hunter Bar]

Belvedere cleared his throat <<My dear Glass, you are refreshing as always with your direct approach. Contract completion depends on a number of factors. First the gang's leadership must be terminated. Second, their operations must be shut down permanently, how you choose to do that is up to you. Lethality is only my concern for their membership, not their business partners. This gang must be taken apart piece by piece and the final blow will be the destruction of their compound. I have attached what my contact had obtained about their operations in the file you are browsing. Unfortunately he was killed before he could make a full report. You will have to pick up from where he left off. Mind you that the leadership of this gang is heavily guarded and they will not be easy to take out, but I am sure you can handle it. Your team IS one of my favorites, which is why I chose you. Once the contract is completed I will wire over to each of your accounts 65,000 nuyen. I am giving you an allowance of 15,000 nuyen for any equipment you need to acquire for this assignment. Any extra left over you may keep. I will mention that you all have a great advantage in that these mongrels have no magic support and they are less than interested in complex matrix security. They feel that they are untouchable and that no one will oppose them. Teach them that pride comes before a fall will you? Cheerio, I have important things that must be attended to.>>

Hunter's Pursuit 2072
12:07 [Perriang Golds - Bounty Hunter Bar]

Yazata couldn't remember the last time he had felt quite so woozy. Maybe the first time he rode a camel. Fortunately, his accent still managed to hide the worst of it from his teammates.

"Dis is magfinicent amount of paying. Should be tough servants of evil, no? Why am I thinking is strange dey have no magic, no matrix? Is one-dimension of talent they have. But, is spy of Belvedere get caught. Dey no push-it-overs. We need," *elbow slips off table* "be careful." He looks at his elbow as if he is seeing it for the first time.

@ Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:25:24 Parking Lot]
[The Pixel Special, ID "Marylin Monroe"]

Copperhead gives a short snort, then sits up suddenly. She licks at her lips, tasting the air with a forked tongue. While her eyes are still closed, the glowing serpent eyes of her shamanic mask glare around at the rest of the team.

"Mundane foolss! The sscircle hass provided you with the toolss you need. The sspirit of man can open the way. SSilence will sserve you better than missilesss. Ssend my sservant and the empty one to recover the sssecretss. The one called Demon can provide cover with hiss sssniper rifle and the druid can protect from the asstral.

Glowing eyes turn on Mr. Green.

"Your domain iss the digital. Protect the othersss from disscovery and recover thiss Teague'sss ssecretss for uss.

The speech over she curls back up on the floor of the van, snoring softly.

Hunter's Pursuit 2072
12:08AM [Perrigan Golds - Bounty Hunting Bar]

"I and I is heading to the temple to Babylon. I be overstanding that these bad guys have little magical support. Well I be minded to take a jander over there and explore. I be smooth, chilled and real careful. Yazata, my man, be you coming along too?"

The toy Mogwai appears to be deep in thought.

"If the wrath of the rightous men is to descend upon these agents of terror, those of you that grok electrons need to get a grokking."

"The love of Jah be with you"

The toy slumped, and Mogwai headed off in the spirit world towards the compound.

@ Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:25:24 Parking Lot]

Ember looked across at Copperhead, perhaps less surprised by her outburst than the others...Snake had provided the sound beginnings of a plan, one less fraught with complications than the chip heads, if perhaps less inventive.

He went back to studying the ogam stone that the aerial drone had dropped off moments before. He turned it over in his palms - it was old, surprisingly so, how the Circle had come across something like this in this forsaken New World was a mystery that would probably never be answered but he was thankful for the power it would offer him. He traced the runic script inscribed in the granite pebble and began to focus his mind on attuning it...

Hunter's Pursuit 2072
12:07 [Perriang Golds - Bounty Hunter Bar]

As soon as the message came in Shrike cancelled the subroutine that permitted her to simulate some of the effects of inebriation. Suddenly the actions of her colleagues came into focus and she forced a frown off her face; drunk people were always less amusing when you were sober.

<<The terms seem acceptable. The removal of this group from existence will balance some karmic scale somewhere I am sure. Society could certainly do with less of their kind!>>

@ I'm on a boat
[April 15th 2072; 23:56:18 SS Henry VIII 3750 meters off shore, Puget Sound]

After the Captain had been unceremoniously shoved through the hole in the door Silk moved ahead once more, with the tiny hover drone preceding her to check for surprises. Her ruthenium suit rippled with colour and then she faded into the background. Her synthesised voice whispered back to them

“I have point. Don’t worry Captain, we know where we are going…”

<<Nine: Do you have access to the security server? Wiping out our presence might be a good idea, let’s not leave any breadcrumbs for anyone to follow. Can we jam their comms from there? I don’t fancy their spotters relaying our course to the authorities…I will handle jamming our ride once we are on board until we can make the rendezvous point>>

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

Demon opens his mouth to speak to "Copperhead", but closes it once he thinks better of it. When she goes back to sleep, he glances at her, then at the group, and then back at the slumbering troll.

"Perhaps we should listen to our herpetologically influenced sorcière. At the very least, it is much cheaper than anything else we have discussed so far... Simply allow me to purchase a few more APDS bullets for my rifle, and I should be ready for battle once more."

Hunter's Pursuit 2072
12:08AM [Perrigan Golds - Bounty Hunting Bar]

"Is good idea." Yazata settles into a booth near the back and opens his mind to the astral. the swarms of emotions and memories in the bar colour the astral environment in a rainbow of hues and textures. He looses himself from the bonds of his material form and shoots after Mogwai, leaving the cacophony behind.

Good to be free of the effects of the alcohol on my body. I will have to be more careful. The attractions and vices of that world are eager to trap the unwary.

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

Jacob grows visibly unsettled at the obviously unconscious Copperhead's speech and casts about for something to hold onto. "Erm... ok... ahem....uh... have one small problem with that... the records are likely to... ah... be off matrix and requiring physical meat presence...ahm... Yeah, look at me..." With a hasty and awkward gesture Jacob motions to his very lanky and gangly physique, "I'm not exactly a professional at infiltrating or well anything besides matrix. I mean if I could get some chips for my wires sure, I'm wiz on the chip but uhm... hmm yeah... maybe I need to buy a few... I mean, I like the plan and all, but the getting shot... and the being in the meat part...uh I dunno, I'll go after the matrix overwatch null sheen but ummm....you mages got anything to keep them from putting holes in my delicate bits? Oh and keep those jammers the frag away from me, they do as much to me as the enemy..."

Hunter's Pursuit 2072
12:09AM [Perrigan Golds - Bounty Hunting Bar]


Two memebers had already left to check out the compound. If the information was good, they 'shouldn't have too much trouble. That left Jericho nursing the bodies and the other drunks on the team. He pours himself a half glass of rye and downs it before turning to the bar tender and signaling for a pot of coffee; oh he also put his sock and boot back on his recently reunited toy and foot. "Looks like we're going to get an early start tonight."

He looks at those still staggering around trying to decide rather to stand or fall over. "Git hoops back ina' chair before ya' fall over."

@Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:25:00 Parking Lot]

As "Copperhead" starts her speech, Dealer reflexively moves towards his holstered Predator, wires buzzing silently beneath his skin. By the time he can mentally overridden his instinctive response, his hand is locked around the butt of the weapon and the safety has been flicked off with a subconscious mental command. The gun never slides more than a millimeter out of its hip holster before he very deliberately lets it go and shows an open palm, but it was definitely a close run thing.

FRAG THAT. goes to show you. Never. Ever. Ever. Trust. A. Mage. Just got done complimenting this one and she goes and freaking gives up her free will as a conduit for one more magical manipulator.

After his jaw muscles unlock themselves he begins to speak.

"Ok, so we go in with this...spirit...helping us. Is it going to beat the laser trips? The motion sensors? The automated alarms that don't have a deceivable metahuman mind in the loop? I'm willing to try quiet on the way in, but we need to be prepared to go hard, fast, and loud the moment the magic fails. "

As Mr. Green chips in about his physique and preference for staying out of harm's way, Dealer makes a cut with his hand, duplicating the "stand" signal for a blackjack table.

"Don't worry about dragging yourself in. If this goes hot, you're going to be a liability in a fight that close, and so long as we have a way in, we can leave it open for transmissions out to you from a physical tap. You're much more valuable shutting down all the commo and what you can of the security systems from a safe perch, preferably near Demon. We're going in via window or roof anyhow, so we'll have opened a hole in the wifi inhibition..worst case I can laser link it out. Hackers who are behind rapidly disintegrating cover usually don't hack well, especially if any of the bullets make it through...

All that leaves is exfil. Does anyone know how the hell we're getting out of dodge? Also, I asusme we're crossing the ferry at 19:45 or so..."

@ I'm on a boat
[April 15th 2072; 23:56:18 SS Henry VIII 3750 meters off shore, Puget Sound]

The Captain seems to be getting a little nervous, but shrugs non-chalantly.

"Alright miss, lead on...don't say I didn't offer."

Hunter's Pursuit 2072
April 16th, 00:07 [Perriang Golds - Bounty Hunter Bar, Seattle]

As Glass struggled to remember what song she had volunteered the group foron the karaoke machine, a stray thought, somewhat more professional, slipped into her mind:

I wonder if we can get paid twice for these guys. Just cause Belvedere wants them dead doesn't mean he's the only one who does. Lets see what's out in public.

Three dozen mental flicks later, which is about two dozen more than it would usually take, she is perusing the KE "Auxiliary Contract Support - Personnel of Interest" bulletins.

Hunter's Pursuit 2072
12:08AM [Perrigan Golds - Bounty Hunting Bar]
[Erika Elite running Novatech Navi, ID "Robert Diggs"]

Stringer lets out a loud beer-tainted belch, smirks at Glass and flips a thumb in Herbal's and Yazata's direction.

"Deal was that we ALL sang the song, and I ain't acting a fool up in here 'less Smoky and Shorty come back." Stringer hops out of his chair and is about to launch into another rendition of why "bitches be trippin'," but it is at that exact moment that he remembers that he is very drunk and that the world is a very dangerous and nauseating place away from the safe perch of his bar stool. Instead, he makes a beeline for the bathroom, using both hands to hold in what his stomach so desperately wants to throw up.

After about 5 minutes of a very loud and profanity laced "episode," there is a minute of silence. He staggers back into the bar and leans against the doorway for support. He looks at his host, his face steeped in sheepish embarrassment.

"Uh...Dave, I'm real sorry 'bout the bathroom... I tried to clean it best I could, honest..."

@Suicide Kings
[April 16th 2072; 00:26:00 Parking Lot]

Deale's comments spark a tiny bit of memory somewhere deep in Jacob's mind about an article concerning the metroplex's budgetary issues with resupplying Vashon and the other outlying islands that had come up during the first part of the elections. Tossing his conscious into a Browse CF it is only seconds before the needed information returns to him and with the new information in hand a solution comes into view. "You know... I don't like that ferry business but I did a tiny bit of searching and I think I have something we can leverage for infil AND exfil....Ingram's barges (no relationship to the gun) is run by a dad and two sons. They have a chronic history of run-ins with the law ... all of them have been held for drunk and disorderly behavior. At the moment the youngest is being held as the family doesn't have enough for a bail bond... with the oldest son having spent two years in a penitentiary for BTL smuggling money is a bit tight. Maybe we can bribe them to be their cargo for the day? They do night runs every day between 1900 and 2330. A total of 4 runs to be exact..."

Hunter's Pursuit 2072
12:08AM [Perrigan Golds - Bounty Hunting Bar]

@Stringer

Dave rolled his eyes, "Goddammit Stringer, alright, I ain't cleaning up your mess this time or any other time, here take this and clean it up" Dave tosses Stringer a mop and a bucket, glaring at him the whole time.


Hunter's Pursuit 2072
12:08AM [Astral Plane]

@Herbal Thought and Yazata

You head to the approximate coordinates given to you by Belvedere; the compound is relatively easy to spot; the Astral Plane is tinted a dull gray due to the violence and murder that most likely goes on here yet despite the discoloration something is off about this place. You can't quite explain it, but you know something is not quite right. Inside the dull gray astral haze you see spots of inky black, auras tainted with violence and evil emotions, scattered amongst them are regular aura's most likely animals. They very between the size of a dog and the size of a small rodent, perhaps they could provide better eyes on this den of evil than you can see from Astral Space.

Hunter's Pursuit 2072
12:08AM [Perrigan Golds - Bounty Hunting Bar]
[Erika Elite running Novatech Navi, ID "Robert Diggs"]

With his head hung low, Stringer takes the mop and bucket and sets off to try and clean up the chunks he blew all over the men's room---from which now emanates the faint but definite sour smell of liquor mixed with gastral juices. He uses the mop for support as he stumbles back in and gets to work. About five minutes later, he comes out and tosses the mop and thankfully empty bucket back at Dave.

"Bathroom's clean, boss. Do y'have any tylenol or aspirin? My head's killin' me..."

Hunter's Pursuit 2072
12:08AM [Astral Plane]

My friend, I am a little worried about the aura around here. I'll see if I can figure it out.

Yazata focuses on the ambient aura and tries to discern why it feels 'off'.