"Ah," Zero says, visibly relieved by Fat Man's, "That is a much better plan. So...how should we do that? Should we leave a few malakhim---I mean, uh, watcher spirits here to let us know when someone that powerful leaves? I could tell them to mask their true purpose by spreading the Gospel..."

Breeze
You wait a moment before a small and quick three wheeled bright orange cab zips up towards you. You look down and see an obvious holographic driver in the front who turns and smiles in your general direction as the canopy pops open showing space for two people to sit. You climb in and see script flow by in AR in front of you but behind the driver - it seems to be translating whatever the driver is saying into multiple languages with a pulsing icon for you to slide and select the languages being offered.

"Welcome! Please fasten your seat belt - safety regulations require me to inform you that if you choose not to wear the provided safety harness then Quik Kab is not responsible or liable for any injuries you might sustain while in transit."

The dome closes over you and the voice is thin and tinny - it seems that one of the speakers is blown out on the right side. A new icon pops up asking you to select music for the drive as the holo-man turns to face you but it seems to be slightly off as he looks somewhere to the left of your shoulder and up.

"Where to?"

You give the address and the cab lurches forward and darts into traffic. The cabby keeps talking to you asking you where you're from, how long you plan in being in town and whether you saw last night's urban brawl match. It's clear the interface is malfunctioning as the holo-driver babbles at you and jumps topics left and right. You grip the seat as the cab weaves erratically through the traffic, you hear other cars honking horns and dodging out of the way of the cab. You finally arrive downtown as it slides into a curb nearly crushing a cyclist and lets you out.

"Thanks for using Quik Kab and think of us for all your transportation needs!"

"We're looking for a building, Jon. Our mages trailed the ward caster to an around roughly here, so we're looking for the building the ward-caster lives in, so we're going to find him so they can fondle his nuts or whatever they have to do to bypass the ward."

Strangeglove guides the car in an attempt to recreate the path Fat Man took walking.

<<@All: Basic geography is the same, right? So if Fat Man took a left here on 5th street, our target has to be on the north side.>>

<< @Team[Emilio]: Should I head downtown too? I am pretty good at Scavenger Hunts.>>

His icon's eyes narrowed as Cypher looks at the strange agent, matrix ghost, thing.

"Alright, I'll play along. Why do you need my help? And who is this Daimyo fella?"

The hacker double checks his program load, making sure that his Armor utility was active. If everything went south, he wanted to be able to get the hell out of here fast with his brain still solidly between his ears.

<<@Team[Fleet]: If Emilio's headed downtown cuz he's the only one with the skill to decipher the mages Etch-A-Sketch™ map, then someone else needs to come babysit the brain dead bodies in the warded car while the mages are out and about. And yeah, basic geography is the same, but keep in mind the mages are responding to life and emotional context more than physical structures, so...>>

Cypher
The neo-geisha rises fluidly to her feet and withdraws a fan from her deep sleeves. She opens it smoothly and gestures for you to follow her into the room.

"The Daimyo is surrounded by enemies in the guise of allies. I failed to convince him of the danger here, the fault is mine. You are the first person outside of this realm to venture here and time grows short. I must get my lord to safety but can not do so on my own. I must ask you to take on my burdens and save him."

She moves into the pleasure palace - the inside of the room has a ridiculous bed in the center like something from a bad kung fu trid sprinkled with cheap porn accents. To one corner there is a large walk in tub - steam rising lazily into the air. The other side has a series of couches and cushions for massage and rest. She kneels with her legs folded beneath her at the foot of the bed holding her fan just in front of her mouth.

"Before I can help you, I need to know more about what is going on. Speak plainly please. Is the Daimyo here in the Matrix or out there? What are the dangers to him? Can you show him to me?"

Cypher felt a tidal rush of excitement about spreading the data he downloaded from the node far and wide, setting it free. He quashed the flood of memories and tried to focus on the neo-geisha doll.

Cypher
You see a look of hope mixed with uncertainty pass across her face as she looks into your eyes.

"I was created here and tasked with seeing to this place, as well as see to any of the Daimyo's needs when he visited. He is not here right now but does return frequently to see how I am doing in my duties. As to the dangers, I know the man who controls this place does not intend to allow my lord to retain his freedom. Some time ago I happened upon a conversation while looking over the vaults this place holds."

She slides languidly towards a corner of the bed platform where large metal braziers rest with thick and pungent incense burns. She runs her fan through the lines of smoke and they begin to swirl and form wispy insubstantial images. You see a thin and hard looking man enter the space shaped in the smoke - it looks like a small office of some sort. The smoke twists and turns to draw a young Ork boy maybe in his early teens sitting at a desk looking over a small drone. You see the thin man's mouth move but no sound follows but words begin to flow out of the smoke.

"Make sure that unit is back in place before tomorrow."

The image centers on the man as he exits the room with the boy, passing what looks like a restroom of some sort into a larger room with a troll in it. The troll has an open look of disgust on his face, he speaks after the thin man closes the door behind him. Once again the words form in the smoke above the scene playing out before you.

"I can't stand that kid or that fucktard of a friend of his."

The thin man laughs and gives the troll a conciliatory pat on the shoulder as he replies.

"Think of the money we pocket by having them around. We lucked out when we scooped them up. Just think of the extra money every month. As long they keep breathing and stay stupid we're golden. I am telling you now they are staying put until the boss lady dumps us then we're unload them for one big payout."

She snaps the fan shut sharply blowing the incense built scene away into the air. She gets to her feet and makes her way to a small chest near the massage area and withdraws a slim statuette. She turns and presents it to you.

"This is what I know of the lord I serve. He thinks he is safe here and these men are his boon companions. I fear that if I share what I know he will make a bold choice, as befits his spirit but may lead to his death. I am trapped and need your help to find any hope of an honorable solution."

<@ Team [Cypher] I stumbled across a small problem in my research. We have two non-combatants on the grid. Looking for more info now, but it seems no job is truly done until we save someone from the clutches of ruthless imprisonment. FML!>

"I'm going to begin looking into this, while we talk. That means I need to use some of this data. Don't hit me, okay?"

Cypher grabs the best images he can from the smoke and spools up data searches. Running pictures through facial recognition utilities and scanning the data about the warehouse and Zuzane for any records of the men and why they would be kidnapping teenagers. Especially freaky teenagers that make friends with scary pseudo-alive agent things in the Matrix.

He collects a data packet of info, with his scans of the weird agent, analysis of the node, and the smoky recording. Jotting a note to the only other hacker he's currently on speaking terms with, he launches it off.

<@Widget [Cypher] This crazy job you found for us, just got weirder. Have you ever seen Analyze patterns like this? Yes/No, I'll buy you a drink. More info, more drinks or nuyen.>

"Alright, while I work on that, I need more answers. I'm going to do everything in my power to get the Daimyo out of there. My friends like to hurt people who kidnap other people--it's kinda their thing. Our part is going to be getting my friends into the building with as little noise as possible. So, what can you tell me about the building, its networks, users, and all of the sentry drones wandering around the area?"

<@ Team [Emilio]:FML? Frak my liver?>

Emilio
You begin to take all the data and feeds from the various team members working Downtown - you look over the source material from Fat Man and begin to sort the puzzle out. Walking the blocks and eliminating buildings as you go. You arrive at a tall and gleaming tower of glass and metal. The AR around it advertises the many amenities it boasts - heated pools, work out facilities, 24 hour security and state of the art technology throughout. Emblazoned along the outside is the name of the complex - Excelsior along with contact info to arrange tours of the few remaining units so hurry and book one now!

Cypher
You are startled to see a reply come back from Widget before remembering she's on the clock now with Management backing this side job.

<@Cypher[Widget] Yes I have - that's some sort of Sprite you looked at which means there is a technomancer somewhere in the mix. I'll take drinks on this one. What else can I do to help? >

You open up three windows and begin to run the protocols to start data searches, feeding the images you have of the thin man and the troll. Looking over the statuette you see its a data file that this Sprite just created for you. Taking the risk and extending the first show of trust you access the file and copy its contents. You see a series of captured images of a young human boy of Asian descent roughly the same age as the latino looking ork you saw earlier. The images are from odd angles - you think the Sprite must have used what it could find and was trying to be discreet. You add another window to the array and transfer the biometrics you can get from the data file and start another search. An alert flashes to let you know searches have concluded.

Looking over the results, you start with the troll and quickly find a record with Knight Errant for resisting arrest and assaulting their security personnel. His name is Robert Jones aka Hammer Hand Harry. He has worked a few extortion angles and "freelance security consultant" jobs that were grey at best. He had a brief career as a boxer, where he got his handle, until it was discovered he was throwing fights for money. As you look through the streams of data you see an image of the thin man pop up amongst his known associates. Dragging that over to the window for his search you see a positive recognition of the data so it seems you were on the right track. The file notes he has some light augmentation in the way of bone lacing and reaction enhancements when he was scanned for a brief stay in a holding cell with KE. Sliding the window to the side you bring the other up to center view.

It seems the thin man is Brian Braun aka Blink who is suspected of having worked several jobs with Harry. He has been charged numerous times but nothing seems to stick to him - either insufficient evidence or people change their stories when it comes time to go to court. He appears to be a confidence man of sorts with some minor magical talent - though it is unclear whether he is an adept or magician. He got his nickname from his ability to get in and out of situations - he just "blinks" to where he needs to be it seems. He works with Harry as muscle and he does all the talking and some suspect the thinking as well. He seems loyal though every time Harry has taken the fall for him he seems to get him out of the jam created by it. The last search registers as complete and you swap the windows again to see the results.

You see a picture of both boys pop up first in connection with a missing persons report. It seems the Daimyo is Ryan Shin and his friend is Louis Magana. They were corp brats attached to NeoNet that went missing about 6 months ago though the time seems uncertain since they went on a trip to Europe with classmates and some older chaperones. They weren't noticed missing until they failed to meet their group for their return trip back. The trip was 6 weeks long so there is no idea how soon they dropped out of the sight. Their last reported sighting was a week into the trip at a local eatery. There is a reward offered by the Shin's of 50,000 nuyen for any information leading to his safe return with a matching amount from NeoNet. There is nothing but a standard and flat statement from the Magana's about "wanting to see their son returned safely" and their "sorrow that such things still happen in this day and age". The Shin's have updated their offer over the course of the time - the reward initially started at 10,000 nuyen and has steadily rose with the recent offer of NeoNet to match their reward being the last change. You are pulled back to the feed from the node when the geisha speaks again.

"Promise me that you will help him, please...."

Her voice cracks with emotion and you see the naked need for her to secure your bond in this.

From his viewpoint on the roof, Eklipse curses. He had redirected Jon to more or less the right area, but realised that he had not brought any binoculars with him and had left his bike helmet with its vision enhancements with his Rapier.

He scans the area as best he can with his normal vision and coordinates the team's movements using the tacnet and the information Fleet had overlaid from the mage's recon.

<<@Team[Eklipse]: Recon team is in the right area now. However, there is not much I can add to the search from my current location. If Emilio thinks he can find the target, I'll switch with him to cover the mages.>>

"Oh cool, this is just what Mandy wanted!"

<@ Team [Emilio]: I Found it. It's called Excelsior and here's my geo-location. I'm going to walk one block past and hit a coffee shop. Do the mages want to find me and make sure I'm one block north of the building they want? If not, let me know where to head next.>

Emilio heads a block north, hits a coffee shop, and starts surfing his comm unit while drinking coffee.

Strangeglove parks the car a block from the Excelsior, tells the car to photograph visitors, and starts scanning the area himself for security.

<@Widget[Cypher] So, do sprites normally get all emotional and bent out of shape about people, or have sex with them? Also why would some no-neck muscle scoop up two runaways in Europe and have them working on hardware here? It's a long way to pull someone when we have local talent picked up cheaaper.>

<@Team [Cypher] FML is Fuck My Life...which seems to be the way of things. We have two stray runaways that got swept up from Eurotown and dropped in our backyard, courtesy of two thugs. We're gonna do the right thing and help them out, because we're nice people and fifty thousand other reasons I can think of. Here are the data packets on the thugs. [Hammer Hand Harry] and [Blink]. They are in the warehouse and I'm working on more complete access.>

"Ok, I'll help. I need to know thou how much reach you have inside their systems. This whole metaphor needs to be toned down too..."

The hacker sits down on the tatami mats cross-legged as he takes a casual posture. It was time to talk about the nuts and bolts of a rescue mission with overwatch.

Breeze gets out of the cabs and starts slowly making his way around the various blocks, weaving in and out of peoples way, he attempts to stay out of sight and out of mind but he is unsure if he was able to do so, a few times drawing some attention from people thinking he is being shifty and weird.

Every block he passes he sends a long a message attempting to aid in the navigation of this area of town, all the while keeping an eye out for the building they are looking for.

<@Team[Fleet]: FML seems appropriate. Well, who am I to argue with fifty thousand reasons? We're busting in any way, I say we get paid twice. Eklipse?>

<@Team[Emilio]: Paid twice? Cha-ching! Can we tell our grandkids?>

Downtown Recon Team
The group moves through the area being led by Emilio and coordinated by Eklipse they isolate the one building they think the magician is in. They set up surveillance and settle in for a wait with Fat Man and Zero joining them shortly after the stake out begins. They see the flow of people coming and going from the high rise structure - shiny and perfect specimens folding themselves into shiny and perfect cars. Your Awakened talent looks over each person looking for the individual that erected the ward.

The boredom settles in and threatens to numb you to the core until finally a blip emerges from the automated doors of the building in the form of a woman - her dress is strangely archaic looking hand sewn and straight out of the gothic romance trids down to the flowing raven locks and alabaster white skin. She is wearing jewelry that looks handmade and covered with obscure symbols and runes - raw gemstones are set into the pieces as well. Trailing behind her is a small Siamese cat - it's fur a soft cream color ending in dark chocolate tips on its ears, nose and paws. Fat Man and Zero quickly slide to the astral and doing their best to stay unseen and peer into her aura while she waits for her ride - vintage Rolls Royce. She opens the door and makes a grand gesture towards the cat to let it enter first - which it does with a great deal of dignity before she follows behind it. The magicians reanimate their bodies as they slide back into them and inform the rest of the team the have her signature and she was Awakened.

In the Node
Cypher begins a lengthy discussion with the Sprite in the node about the security. You learn that the building has embedded tracks or rails that drones can be deployed along. The neo-geisha tells you that they are autonomous - she can alert them to a threat with an actual yellow light pulsed through the lighting of the warehouse. Se thinks they are moderately skilled as far as drones go - they can see, identify and engage targets independently. She has access it the external door locks but she hacked them and if discovered they could remove her ability to control them. She has one maintenance drone under her control which is what she used to get access to the external doors. She does have control of the internal doors through the node. The roof has security measures as well - sensors are tied to this node to alert her if they are triggered but she doesn't know what they are. They are also sensors mounted along the exterior walls that she can access that monitor the outside.

While looking over the information from the Sprite - Widget continues her conversation with the hacker in another window. She reveals a level of familiarity with technomancers and is very certain this strange agent would not, could not act against her compiler in any way that would threaten his/her life. She goes on relating stories she has heard of Sprites having unique personalities and behaviors especially if complied or created numerous times by the same technomancer. She seems convinced that if he is really trying to help her maker and does so that this program will do what it promises and try to help in anyway it can. She cautions against betraying the Sprite - being a creature of the Resonance it could make his life very messy in the matrix if he betrays it. If the team decides not to help she recommends either bargaining with it for the safety of her maker or just pop the poor thing to put it out of its misery.

The neo-geisha provides a clear and current layout of the interior and knows that there is a computer in each storage room that contains a list of the current goods stored there. They are kept off line now since the Daimyo was discovered to be hacking into them. They are ten security people at any given time with the troll supervising the day shift and the thin man running the night shift. The overlap for exactly 1 hour at the beginning or ending of their shift with the other. They each cover a 13 hour shift with the rest of the security personnel dong 8 hour shifts. She has heard them mention magical security measures for the outside and inside the building but she has no idea what form it takes or what it responds to. She can show you where the Daimyo sleeps with his lone attendant.

The Daimyo comes to this node every 6 hours after stopping briefly at the Sanctuary to see what activity has happened. He remains here for about an hour before returning to the world beyond. She can hide your passage here and will do so since you have sworn to rescue him from these men and this place. She knows nothing else of the building or the people.

Q's Info Gathering
Q enters into a lively and barbed discussion with his female contact. She weaves words and innuendo with skill and finesse. They go back and forth playfully score hits against the other verbally as she tries to draw out more information about the current job he is working on. The game goes for awhile before she offers her information about Zuzane. She is a new Fixer trying to make a name for herself in the business. She had a solid reputation as a bodyguard before this with a angle of being able to go anywhere with no weapons and keep her client safe. She had a long term of employment with an asshat with magical connections but seems to have parted ways. She doesn't know much more than that though she has heard rumors she is working out of somewhere in Seattle. They talk for a bit more before she throws him out for real work that pays the bills.

As he makes his way through the city he receives a call from yet another friend in the shadows. Opening a quick window in AR he dives into yet another discussion. The man takes in the initial information while quickly pulling up small windows of his own for data searches and files. He quickly taps several icons well nodding and asking questions designed to narrow down his search. Q learns that there is a strong suspicion that the Shin boy is valuable in some way to the corporation. There are speculations that he is gene modded or a prototype clone or maybe even Awakened. With the rising reward and then NeoNet matching the amount just adds credence of the idea of him being special in some way. The Magana boy is unremarkable in almost every area except for his aptitude with machines and mechanical devices where he shows a great deal of natural talent but nothing approached savant - more like an aptitude.

Looking through what he can find from sources in Europe - it seems the kidnapping is not being seen as being done by professionals. It seems the two boys went to a party at an underground club run by the Vory. They were snatched there by it seems like security working the club. Though it seems the Vory are not responsible for it or at least clamping they didn't. Being a criminal organization they don't have employment records so he is not able to see who was working the club during the window the kidnapping could have occurred. He recommends asking very carefully and respectfully someone locally working for the Vory if you want to pursue that angle. The call ends with Q arriving at his home with his head spinning with information and angles to play in the upcoming job.

Fleet's Decrypted Capture
You feed the traffic you captured into several filters and decryption programs looking to see what happens near the site. You see the signals slowly get sorted into readable data. You see a steady flow of traffic from Federated Boeing - security check ins and clearances as vehicles and drones exit and enter their territory - it seems to be mostly automated with a template for requests and then followed by a standard all clear from their security. You section off those files and move on to the next set.

You see very light traffic from the actual warehouse. You see a few requests for units to be opened for work - mostly inventory and pulling upcoming purchases. You see shift changes happening every 8 hours and then a supervisor shift change every 13 hours but there is an hour overlap. You see very little traffic from anything else - there is a request to log into something called Sanctuary every 6 hours or so. You see no traffic from the outside world to the warehouse so you suspect the traffic is kept light to non-existent on purpose. You see only on incoming call to the warehouse which was a request for a unit to be cleaned out and prepped for cold storage.

At the Office
The team finds themselves back at the office - gear prepped and information shared from the various members. The day to act is today and all that's left is the last run through of the plan and then doing it.

Strangeglove opens up an encrypted video chat with Aideen.

Aideen's genteel virtual assistant comes on the line. "Ah, Mr. H--"

Strangeglove, who has no patience for talking to software, interrupts: "I've got a bizop good for about three minutes, get her on."

The assistant barely has time to respond before being replaced by Aideen.

Strangeglove, clearly geared up on pre-raid adrenaline, lays the facts out quickly.

"We've got a good problem to have: We're looking at a run with way more loot than we can drag away, even including my mobile home. You got some goons and some trucks? We'll will do the heavy lifting, all your guys would have to do is load everything up and drive away. But security is never too far behind, so you'll need a crew that can move fast. Best case is kilotons of gear and six hours to shop, but no promises. If you're interested, I'll send you the coords and target, but keep the crew in the dark. Go time is a few hours. We'll take the usual cut."

Fleet feeds the data about the traffic and shift changes out to the TacNet for assimilation in it's calculation algorithms, and to provide easy access to everyone else. AccessID's and message templates were filed away for future use...they could be useful if things went bad. Which they did. Often.

<<@Cypher[Fleet]: I'm assuming the Sanctuary hits was our boy doing his regular check-ins?>>

<<@Team[Fleet]: Alright, so, plans on the ground right now that Eklipse and I worked out based on all the recon - We know we've got a ward on the building, sensor's on the roof, and a series of semi-autonomous drones around the facility, as well as 10 security guards, a supervisor, and remote magical security. Fat Man and Zerone, do you guys have any bound spirits that you could put to baby sitting the mage? Something strong enough to smack her upside the head if she suddenly jumps completely into the astral while we're robbing the warehouse? Stop her, stun her, knock her out, at least give us a round or two of notice from them getting popped?

I didn't see any uniforms on anyone that left, so seems safe to assume they're all runners, so mileage is going to vary per individual. I didn't see any serious vehicles, so unless there's something stored in the actual warehouse, we may have the advantage there.

So, here's rosters:

Inside Team
Eklipse - Close Combat/Close Ranged
Zerone - Interior Magical Support
Strangeglove - Close/Medium Ranged
Breeze (if he ever shows up) - B/E
Jon - Close Ranged
Emilio - Close/Medium Ranged
Optional - Fleet - If Breeze doesn't show up, I'll do interior B/E as best I can.

Exterior Team
Fat Man - Exterior Magical Support
Cypher - Systems Control and Matrix Overwatch, Interior Hacking as necessary
Q - Exterior Overwatch, External Liaison
Optional - Fleet - If Breeze shows, Exterior Overwatch, Medium/Long Range Ranged/Fire Support

General Plan (Good for the first 12 seconds) - Cypher or his new mythical friend in the system loops the exterior feeds an hour or so after a shift changes at night. Interior Team gets up to the building, pops the lock on one of the doors, and we pile in. B/E/Cypher disables the yellow flashy lights inside and any other sensors possible while Zerone powers back up. Pop Area Smart Jammer inside, general jamming on signals in that area outside to prevent communications. Interior Team will sweep the building, clearing out security guards and drones. Once that's done, we locate and secure the Daimyo and his friend, and tap Cypher into each of the inventory computers. Once he's got a full list, we pick out what we want, move it, and signal Aideen to come pick up the rest. Clean up anything that would help identify us on the way out, and we leave quietly.

Any questions/mods/request for a warm blanket?>>

Eklipse grimaces a little as Fleet's data and message flow across his consciousness and AR view. The goblin was thorough at least, if still somewhat tetchy at times.

"Let me just stress that ze primary goal of this mission is now ze extraction of ze hostages/prisoners. Ze acquisition of equipment is now ze secondary objective. It is dependent on a clean insertion and total control of ze premises. That means we need to go in fast and silent, so go easy on ze grenades SG."

Any alarms go off and we extract, hopefully with ze hostages. We are too close to Fed-Boeing territory to take any of ze risks. Clear?"

"Fatman, Zerone, do you know if my abilities or my sword vill trigger ze ward?"

"You will need to deactivate your bond with your sword before passing through, then turn it back on."

Zero nods in agreement with Fat Man's advice.

<<@Fleet[Cypher]: Yeah the Sanctuary should be the kid.>>

<<@Team[Cypher]: I should have control of the interior doors. Can someone open the exterior doors, or do I need to get down and dirty like before? I can call out locations of guards and feed them into the TacNet. If Zuzane, further known as Psycho-Bitch, is around, shoot her. Then, shoot her again. When you think Captain Overkill would say 'that's enough', shoot her again. I have footage of her putting a guard's face through a car door. If you don't want that to be your face, stay out of arm's reach.>>

"Just so I'm clear on what you mean by 'alarms', Eklipse, is that any alarm? Cuz we're probably gonna spring something during the bufft in. Or are you talking about some sort of external resoponffe, like KE showing up or FB scrambling?"

Eklipse grins.

"If it is an internal alarm or eine matrix alert and you or Cypher can be silencing it before ze polizei or BF are alerted zen I am seeing no reason to be running away. On ze other hands, I am quite attached to this blue fur and would prefer to be keeping it in the one piece, ja? So let us say that if the Lone Star or ze KE are coming or ze BF are sending in ze drones then we are making with the leaving in a hurry. Is that clear enough, Herr Fleet."

"Cypher, if you wouldn't mind, while you're in their system take a look around and see if you can't find a set of elven twins or anything about kids taken before the change of ownership. I'd still like for our business with Madam Yin to pan out favorably.

And in preparation for unwelcome guests, I'd like to convince anyone coming down the road that we're there legally. Say random patrols or even an alert that gets here while the rest of the team is still inside. Do we know anyone who can whip up some documentation to support this?

Separately, how much do we know of Aideen or her crew? Should I have second backup inventory with hidden cameras and Stealth RFIDs?"

<<@Fleet,Cypher[Q]: If you're interested you guys can load up my comlink during this run. Be polite to the reality filter while you're in there though.>>

"I've worked with Aideen, she's fine. I'm all for slapping tracking tags on everything that moves though, because its always a friend of a friend who jacks your shit."

Strangeglove considers this for a moment.

"Don't spend much time on it though, she'd probably make it right if they do bug."

<<@Team[Fleet]: Good idea, SG. I'll pick up a bunch of tags today and we'll mark it all once we have time. Based on the pattern of timing, we're going to want to hit at 1am. This gives us about 7 hours before the next shift change of security, and leaves us dealing with the Thin Man at night. I've got a little shopping to do, and I'm going to get some sleep. Anyone else have any other plans before then that need transportation, speak up now. Otherwise, I'll pick up those of you that told me you need transport at the following spots at the locations I'm transmitting now, which is at least a 1/2 in a random direction from the points you gave me. Cars are available for us during the day, like I said, just let me know.

For those of you that don't need rides...See you at 12:45a at the designated site.>>

<<@Team[Emilio]: Sounds good. See you there then.>>

All
The time flies by with people going about their last minute preparations and getting geared ready. A flurry of last minute transactions happen with discreet couriers dropping off items in nondescript packaging or quick runs to local stores to get the everyday things that can be used for criminal activities. Cars depart and move along randomized routes to prevent predictability and to lose any possible tails. They collect their passengers and their cargo before making their way to the rallying point. As people settle in for the drive a group message is sent out from Widget.

<<@Scooby Gang: Sooooooooo it looks like Breeze had an allergic reaction to something he ate or drank or put in his body through other more creative vectors. I was contacted by a "concerned citizen" and I have made arrangements for his care but the "doctor" says he will be out for a few days possibly a week. Thought you should know.>>

It's followed up shortly after with a message from Aideen. You see an attachment to the message that contains a comm code you assume to reach her at.

<<@JW's Crew: My people are in a holding pattern and ready to deploy when needed. Just send the green light and we'll take care of the heavy lifting as per our agreement.>>

You arrive one after another - spacing out your arrivals and directions of approach to keep those alert to your kind lulled and unaware of your intentions this night. The air is crisp and cold as you gather round to start this night's plan with hopes high for a pay out and gear up if you can pull it off.

Securely entrenched in one of Fleet's vehicles, Cypher slips into VR. His agents begin scanning his link for probes and hackers, and redirecting his data trail through a quagmire of nodes on three continents. The hacker reaches out to the scripts waiting to be activated. With a light touch, he activates the camera loop.

<<@Team [Cypher] They are blind. Time to go.>>

The rigger had the wireless taps. Now it was time to control doors and get ready for security, because there would be problems that hadn't been accounted for and pain before this was all over.

Eklipse checks his gun one last time.

<<Safety: OFF | Mode: BURST | Ammo: Gel, 28 rds remaining>>

These were not yakuza, so he had loaded a clip of gel rounds for the initial insertion. He would switch to explosive or APDS if things did not go well.

He pulls the hood of the chameleon suit up and over his helmet. It felt a bit like sticking his head in a goldfish bowl. But otherwise he looked like a floating head when he activated the suit as the bike helmet did not have a ruthenium coating.

He spins up the tacnet link, letting the data from Cypher and the rest of the team coalesce into a set of extra senses across his mind. As he moves towards the door, he hands off his blade to Fat Man.

<<Please take care of zis until we are through ze ward. I would not want to be setting it off accidentally.>>

He pauses outside the entrance, taking a deep breath. Suppressing his abilities took only a moment's concentration. He did not like feeling so mundane, and could call on them again with a thought. But it would not do to trigger the ward and fail at the first hurdle.

<<Eklipse. Ready.>>

Locking the seals on the bulky suit of heavy armor, the hobgoblin slap down various latches and buckles, ensuring all the pieces were on an seals were connected. He chambered a last round into the brutal looking shotgun, having set two shock-lock rounds first into the magazine in case doors did not give way to more subtle persuasions, and, slinging it over his shoulder and drawing the pistol, the bulky shape of the silencer obvious over the tip, he tapped quick to ensure the gel rounds in the clip were settled. Flickering in the light, the soft stuttering of the rotodrone's blades added a steady whirr to the early morning sounds, the drone set just high enough to put it's blades above SG's head. Unfortunately, this setting did put the two weapon turrets somewhat disconcertingly at most people's face level. Perched on his shoulders, four small drones, no larger than dragonflies, blinked through a serious of system checks before beginning to flicker and fade, similar to the rotodrone. The two VTOL jets crouched in their cradles, prepped and ready to leap skywards, while up in the air the rotodrone puttered through it's slow series of urban smog sample collections, or so it advertised, while the zipping duel-prop job spun quick circles, nearly invisible to both the naked eye and sensors several hundred meters up. With a nod to Eklipse, a thought sent his own armor into a matching translucence, the wall behind him suddenly becoming visible.

Across his vision, screens and interfaces dancing and spun, rearranging themselves as Fleet took in the TacNet and assimilated it into his current feeds, basic icons giving stats on all of the drones, with secondary feeds funneled in from the nexus on the vehicles dotted around in the insertion sight. He tagged the group's ID's with the drones to prevent accidents, locking them behind files that would take more than seconds, at least, to decrypt. He arranged the feeds from the rotodrone, Stormcloud, and the microdrones currently on his shoulder as priorities, delegating the rest to his periphery.

<<@Team[Fleet]: Going gel until things get nasty.>>


I only hope this particular collection of random individuals is a little less likely to sink me in trouble and leave me stranded. Eklipse and Cypher, at least, seem to have it together. But I swear, if we get into another pissing contest in the middle of...

THERE'S NO "I" IN TEAM.

The jolt is accompanied by a vision of ranks upon ranks of black masked corporate 'expendable assets' lined up in row after row, off into infinity. With a pained shake of his head, he recentered himself.

<<@Team[Fleet]: Ready.>>

With the sun set and the group ready to strike, Zero turns to his fellow magician.

"Um, Mr. Fat Man, could I ask you for some help calling a ravmalakh? That way, I can have it stand by while I cross the ward."

The elf utters a proverb in Latin as he laces together a will-bolstering spell. He secures the spell in his sustaining focus, and awaits Fat Man's reply...

<<@Team[Emilio]: Starting gel sounds good, ending EX if needed. I've also got smoke grenades loaded (both regular and thermal) & explosives to finish.>>

Emilio checkes over his weapons and armor one last time. Certain of his spare clips, other gear, and especially the explosives, he stands and forms up with the group.

<<@Team[Emilio]: Ready.>>

Enroute to the run:
Q notices a message from Fleet blinking for his attention. Clicking on it, it leaps in front of his AR and informs him that he's been granted security privileges. Suddenly numerous windows open up on the right and left sides of his vision. Each one having vital statistics eagerly awaiting his perusal. After opening just a few, he is amazed at the amount of information and data that Fleet must routinely keep track of to have his chrome armada operate at peak efficiency.

Q's a bit overwhelmed and distracted by the deluge of data. Closing his eyes he submerges himself in the VR of his commlink. The roaring of waves assaults his ears as he's soaked to the bone and slammed into the rough bark of a tree. Opening his eyes to the chaotic churning of waves, he's protected from the roughest pars of the raging waters by low hanging branches from Anzen, the mighty tree at the center of this world. Q climbs up the massive tree and seats himself on a branch where he can get a good look at the sea that has sunk his world.

He lays out a dish of rice and small cooked anchovies, lights some spicy incense and start to play a rhythm on a shamisen. The water before him starts to churn more voilently and large ripples swirl beneath the surface of the angry waves. Coils form beneath the water and a great spray of foam is unleashed when a mighty serpent springs forth from the water. It stretches its sinuous steel body upwards and looks at Q with steady powerful eyes filled with data streams.
"Greetings mighty one. You are new to this place and it's my honor to work along side for this brief period. It will give me much pleasure to help you defend your master and bring death to his enemies. You should have a name suitable for such a majestic and powerful program. You shall be called Umikane no Kami, God of the Metal Seas. Now let us organize your brethren."
Together they order a hierachy of beings and as each one takes form the sea becomes calmer and even evaporates until the land is dry and undamaged once again. With a nod to the dragon, Q steps back into the real world.

At a small warehouse hiding in Federated-Boeing's shadow:
Q sits next to Cypher watching the team and the drone set in AR. He switches between watching the perimeter, the action in the warehouse, making sure Cypher is doing well, and checking the astral for suspicious activity.
<<@Team[Q]: I'm ready to go.>>

<<@Strangeglove[Q]: Kick some ass and watch yours.>>

Strangeglove gripes, “Goddamnit, I told Breeze not to use that knockoff garbage. At least he tested it beforehand instead of passing out on the run. You can’t cut corners with combat drugs, name brand only.”

Matching action to words, Strangeglove pulls out an olive green cylinder the size of his pinky. He examines it briefly, the Aztechnology logo visible in the moonlight, before putting it to a nostril and – pssht – inhaling deeply. Strangeglove’s pupils dilate. The twitchy energy that accompanies pre-run preparation disappears, replaced by a spasmodic speed reminiscent of helicopter blades viewed on out-of-sync video.

Tossing the empty canister into a nearby vehicle, Strangeglove dons his googles, and slides his helmet closed.

Glancing around to confirm the team’s readiness, his suit transforms his deep voice into a terrifying robotic monotone, “Let’s go.”

Strangeglove flickers into transparency and disappears around the corner. The ripple of his passage is lost in the cross-hatched shadow cast across the parking lot by a neighboring building’s antenna.

Fat Man, at sundown.

"I apologize for interrupting your business in the spirit world," Fat Man says to the severe-looking glowing warrior in front of him as he tried not to wince from the sudden headache he'd acquired.

"I beseech you to assist us, in the name of Guan Yu. I and my allies are conducting a raid on an enemy compound tonight. We expect it to be heavily guarded and would appreciate your assistance."

The figure nods curtly before barking brief questions: "What layout? What guards? What targets?"

Fat Man spends the next few hours going over the answers to the shen's satisfaction before the astral warrior fades away, ready for the shadowrun. Fat Man's remaining time vanishes quickly, as he meditates in preparation for the difficult task of getting past that vexing ward...

-----------------------------

Fat Man, outside the warehouse.

Fat Man's new clothing suggests either a very bizarre fashion sense or a total disregard for looking impressive while committing crimes. It also looks seriously heavy - Fat Man's truck rocked from side to side after he stepped out. He had on a set of "refurbished" SWAT armor with a crudely-painted-over NYPD Inc. logo, accessorized with a heavy high-collared linked cloak and matching scarf, with a large, translucent poncho overtop of that. He also has a heavy machine gun (complete with bayonet) and ammo belt slung over one shoulder.

Hearing Zero's request, Fat Man leans the HMG against his truck and gestures, touching Zero's throat with a complicated hand gesture as the faint image of a red flower with sixteen upward-pointing petals appears.

"May Heaven look kindly upon our venture."

-------------------------------

Fat Man, as the run starts.

"I'd be honored to hold your weapon, Eklipse,, but I'm afraid my hands are full, and in any case the ward may block my entrance" Fat Man explains, hefting the HMG and looking vaguely distracted.

"If you're concerned about accidentally activating it, have one of the mundanes hold it while you go through. No focus can work except in the hands of an Awakened user. I'm not sure quite why - some fundamental law of the world. Maybe something to do with the flow of chi - I think my master said something about...never mind."

Focus! Getting through the ward won't do any good if the psyche makes me too distracted to help.

"Remember to keep in line of sight of as many of our magicians as possible - especially if enemy magic shows up. We can't protect you if we can't see you when it happens.". As he spoke, Fat Man twisted something on his poncho and it started changing color, growing a dull grey to match the surrounding plascrete. Meanwhile, Fat Man focuses his attention on the astral, paying careful attention to the flicker and flow of the alarm ward as he tries to synchronize the flow of energy through himself to fool the ward. Here, the psyche helped - he starts to see patterns within the flow, order within the constant change. Remembering how the ward's creator looked, Fat Man attempts to forge himself into the key to astral doorway as he cautiously approaches.

Interior Team
You step out and feel the crisp cold air on what skin you have exposed and hear the distant rumble of cars from the nearby freeway. The tacnet brings each member up and assigns them an icon dividing the group between two sets. You see it begin to spool up and collect data - it streams out micro corrections to position, angle of approach and spacing as you all make your way towards the building.

Cypher
You move into the node and are confronted with the almost absurd image of the neo-geisha transformed into a ninja sex kitten from the latest manga. Her bosom is clad in black leather and her hair done in elaborate braids with small charms woven throughout. You see an array of small bowls on the floor around her as she passes her hands over each in turn and locks the image in place - a false feed for the sensors to keep the security inside in the dark as long as possible. You see the elder man from before slumped to the floor - his body riddled with a dozen or more shurikens.

Fat Man
You approach the delicate and nearly invisible ward as you follow the group across the parking lot. You pause, push your way through the jittery energy of the psyche moving through your system and reach for the core of who you are. You unweave it and attempt to set it into a new unnatural shape - one matching the woman you saw downtown. You feel the sweat gather in the small of your back as you hold each flow of chi in place as you walk forward and through the ward. You see it pulse slightly as you mesh with it and hear a chorus of laughter - like children on a playground sharing a joke before passing through to the other side.

Strangeglove
You jog easily across the space, randomizing your approach with no conscious thought from all the times you moved through similar environments before coming to Seattle. This jungle or that one - it didn't make much difference you're finding. They are still people who make their own laws and those who suffer their rule. You scan across the area and see nothing out of place. The sensors are there and you feel the itching on your skin with imagined eyes watching you but you were told that your approach would be masked.

Eklipse
You remember so many times approaching a building like this - sent to retrieve company assets either things or people but this time you would be keeping whatever you came away with. You look over the group and the area - the tacnet providing exact positions for everyone. It looks tight and together - how long that would last would all depend and what happened in the next few minutes. You see nothing so far and the plan seems to be going smoothly.

Fleet
You feel the rising irritation at the thought of someone else inside your set up and potentially fucking up things - people were almost universally incompetent.

WORK TOGETHER AND HARMONY IS ACHIEVED

You feel the all too familiar rush of nausea ripple through you as your thoughts lurch and shift suddenly. This team was solid and you would get this job done. You see the minimized windows in your AR display there - waiting for you to give orders and hop into if necessary. You scan left to right - so far so good.

Expecting at each moment the wail of alarms and clatter of heavy weapons, the ten second dart across the killing field takes an hour to Strangeglove's heightened senses. I'd prefer a jungle to crawl through but pavement beats knee deep mud any day. His long strides cover the distance in no time, the silence unbroken except for the sound of boots scraping pavement.

Arriving well before the others, Strangeglove nestles himself into the empty southeast corner of the warehouse. Once so secured, he unzips his bag, and spoils his perfect camouflage by readying the matte black shape of an HK Urban Combat rifle.

Scanning the cutout in the side of the building for traps and sensors and finding nothing suspicious, he drops locations into the tacnet:
<<Eklipse: Move here>> — A green dot appears just north of the door to room 107.
<<SG: Move here>> — A dot just south of the door.
<<Everyone else: Take cover here>> — A dot appears in the relative safety of the corner where Strangeglove is hiding.

Once everyone else arrives, Strangeglove emerges from the corner and presses himself against the wall south of the door.

<<Cypher: Ask the sprite if any of the doors or loading bay doors are permanently sealed, or if they're all operational.>>

With a glance from the fallen guardian to the Sprite, Cypher nods a polite greeting. "We are ready. Are you aware of any of the doors that are sealed shut or don't have locks on them?"

Pulling up the map, the hacker feeds the script information into the TacNet. Each door in the sequence between the exterior door that had been hacked to the kids. He activates the waypoint marker for the team members that configured their HUDs to show it.

<<@Team[Cypher]: Here is the sequence that the doors will unlock.>>

The hacker then pulls up his connection to the nexus. He runs a brief scan of the node and Q.

Fat Man breathes a sigh of relief as he makes it past the ward. His aura relaxes into its natural form as he recalls the shen he had summoned earlier and refocuses his chi-focusing magic.

He moves to the corner Strangeglove indicated, although his attention is on the astral for the moment. As he reaches the corner, a translucent man wearing black leather armor appears next to him and takes the heavy machine gun and ammo belt, lifting them as if they weigh nothing. The shen says nothing, but as it moves, everyone but Jon and Emilio acquires the same translucent quality.

Fleet gritted his teeth, the same response he had to anyone in one of his machines, as he watched Q acclimating to the node...at least with the agent the man was competent.


He triggered his scripts as he was moving across the lot, eyes sweeping back and forth as he took up the indicated position next to the corner. He almost physically twitched as the feeds from the drones dropped away and were replaced with the Analyze routines on his cyberware, patiently waiting the infinitely long couple of seconds it took for the system to pour through each of the devices and ensure it was clean before reconnecting to the drones traveling with him.

Hidden in the corner, Strangeglove winces every time Zerone walks through a floodlight's glare.

Let's hope he doesn't get us killed too.

Then more charitably: I'll have to give him directions, at least he listens.