The Bodhi Tree
His face takes on a respectful cast as he clasps his hands together and presses them to his forehead and then his chest. He smiles as he speaks seeming much more open than before.

"You honor my shop. I am Korean though that means less in this day and age. I have had the honor of working with the monks and nuns from the temple. I welcome the opportunity to work with those called to service. When we opened this shop it was our hope we would work closely with holy men and women but sadly there appears to few at work in our world today."

"You honor me with your kind words. It is hard for anyone to be holy in a place as filled with evil as this city."

Emilio quietly walks out of the bathroom, starts recording on the comm link, and looks around. Seeing no one looking, he slowly spins around so the comm link can capture the whole area.

In VR

Working from gut instinct, Rikik quickly begins overlaying the pings from his scan across a rough map of the area that he pieced together from the sensor feeds on the drones. He nods at it once and lets it flow away from him on the tide of the small bay, Fleet had formed in the Matrix for the team.

The technomancer then begins reaching out across the waters, calling forth the eddies and pockets of viral code to slice through security protocols. Holding them together, without having them infect his own mind, requires concentration. He unleashes them against the hidden node, prowling along the edges. There is always a weakness or soft spot. A few hours later, he finds it. His body would be aching from its cramped position, unmoved in the back of the car. Here he was a god, a paragon of living code, trapped within mortal flesh.

He could feel the rush and aching need to have more of the system. More sensation. Rikik pushed away from that part of his mind, feeling the tendrils of addiction trying to take hold. He held back the oncoming tide and changed his focus. His network had taught him the secrets of a self-sustaining widget. This one would provide some minor protection if he got into a fight--hopefully enough for him to log out of the system.

With the widget built, the technomancer immersed himself back into the flowing tide of the Resonance. He breathed it in, turning slowly to wrap himself in the tide, concealing his presence under layers of network traffic and background noise. Then, he slipped into the system.

Emilio
You exit the bathroom silently listening to the conversation drifting in from the front of the building. You slowly pan your commlink back and forth at several different heights capturing digital feeds of the space. You look around and see various storage boxes and crates as well as a small area set up like a potting shed with benches and shelves. You see an assortment of pots, bags of soil and several different lamp configurations. You see everything that you think you would for a small business and nothing that jumps out as strange or weird.

Rikik
You sense the node tucked away in the ebb and flow of the data in the landscape. You slip and slide up to it and subtly alter its flow to create a small opening in its shell. You glide into the node and open your senses to the matrix around you and find yourself confronted with an endless reflections of your virtual self. You turn and see the multiples stretch out before you. Clearly the node has been encrypted and you are just being presented with a feedback loop of your own icon.

Rikik
While holding the sheath of resonance obscuring you from the senses of other icons and the system, you pull another strand from the ambient flow around you and begin to form another temporary program. This ripple builds up around you and then rolls out all around you latching on to the node and bringing its true structure into the reality of the node. You watch as the images of yourself are absorbed by the ripple and the digital reality of the node is revealed. You are in a large open air arena with crowds cheering from the seats all around. The spectators are dressed in loose flowing garments of cotton, muslin and linen. The ground beneath you is blood soaked sand and gravel. There are weapons littered around the floor - you see a harpoon, a net and a dozen different types of swords. Several patches seem to have been the site of blood and violence with large dark brown stains from where someone or something bled out. There is a single gated portcullis behind you which you recognize as the entrance to the node. There are two centurions posted on either side of the entrance, their faces obscured by their helmets and the sun blazing above you glints off their armor. You see some sort of sword strapped to the their sides and each is clutching a spear which all seem to be made of bronze.

You turn and see in the center of the arena kneels three gladiators. The first has skin so black that it reflects blue highlights in the light of the sun. He is armed with two cruel looking axes strapped to his back and is wearing a breastplate of hammered red metal of some sort. His shins and feet are covered in the same metal as well. The second and middle figure is a lean woman covered with tattoos and scars decorating her skin. Her hair is shorn off and she has braces of heavy looking daggers running down her arms and legs over a light and flexible looking leather. Her bare feet show thick callouses and her skin is sun beaten. The last warrior is a bear of a man with massive arms and legs. He wears a simple loincloth and on the ground before him lies a massive wooden maul with metal spikes jutting from it. His hair is braided with beads and metal along with his beard.

As the vivid imagery washes over you, you reach out to the layer beneath to try and translate these images into what they are in the matrix. You reach out and attempt to peer beyond the iconography. You sense the presence of an Analyze program, the sun high above you. There is a Encrypt running which was the mirror maze and two ICE programs at the entrance who seem unaware of your presence at the moment. This node itself seems to be an archive or data storage of some sort - the audience represents data files. As you probe deeper the infrastructure of the node itself is only a step down from top of the line models commonly available to the average user. The system seems still and passive so you think your intrusion has gone undetected so far. The mystery still remains of what the three gladiators represent.

Fleet
You watch as the data streams from you to Rikik and a few moments later you get back a digital map overlaying the nodes with the visual feed from the drones. Every location seems to have a person or vehicle attached to the nodes the hacker found with the exception of the house which shows two nodes - one active and another hidden.

Satisfied, Emilio heads back out to the front. Once next to Fat Man, he turns to the shop keeper and makes a short bow.

"Thank you for your hospitality."

Rikik sighs lightly as he lets go of the pent up tension from holding the Resonance flows which oriented him to the system. Cloaked in code, he steps lightly across the loose sand towards the three gladiators in the middle of the arena. He examines them, bending and twisting the reality of the system to understand their function.

Slumped in the van outside the store, Eklipse scans up and down the street for anything out of the ordinary. He tracks a blond pony tail as it bobs towards the van, but the girl is asian and much younger than Heidi.

Frag, I am not looking for threats but for Heidi.

He glances towards the store, seeing Emilio emerge from the back of the shop.

Hopefully they have found something. I do not wish to remain here long. I need to sleep.

The Bodhi Tree
The old shopkeeper nods and smiles weakly at Emilio as he emerges from the back. He seems put off a little bit by the act of bowing but resumes his conversation with Fat Man.

"There are places where that that is changing. The temple in this neighborhood contains devoted priests and nuns who care for the homeless, feed the hungry and tend to the sick. A great and powerful spirit is rumored to live there that guides and protects them in their work. I, myself have never seen evidence of this but I can say the work they do is holy. They brought much comfort to me and my wife with the deaths of our children. They entered the darkness with us and stayed there until we could find our way out again."

Zero
You pause a moment and draw on your connection to the guardian you had summoned earlier. You feel the light swell within your chest and hear the chorus of voices answer as one.

"I answer the Call to Service!"

You allow yourself to be held briefly in its embrace, feeling any doubt and uncertainty melt away in its presence before asking for the aid you require. You feel it resonate with purpose as it shares the knowledge it has of the defenses of this place. Upon the request for parting the veils and seeing what lies beyond it answers.

"I have seen what is planned for this place and time! Those you seek will gather here this eve to celebrate but heed my warning! A shadow you cast is not your own and it brings with it steel and wrath! The sins of the father will be visited upon the son this night!"

Rikik
You delve deeper into the node and the code looking for the clues to determine what the gladiators really are - what they mean in this reality. You send a pulse of resonance through the icon and map it in its entirety. The first icon you probed, the axe wielder seems to be an access point to a private data archive of some sort. You look to the next one, the woman in leathers with the multitude of knives and send a pulse rippling through her. You sense another access point and programs on a node but these ones are all for drones. Your pulse doesn't travel quite as far as the previous so the picture is incomplete. The last pulse is weaker still perhaps from the sustained effort as it travels through the final icon you once again detect an access point to another node this one loaded with drone programs but a slightly different configuration.

<<@Fleet [Rikik] These Access IDs look like drone control systems or hubs. Can you handle them while I try and find out what other data is in here? I've got some IC that is passive at the moment and a private datastore. Hopefully somewhere in here is information about shipments that they are delivering or might be expecting, to help plan a good spot for the rest to hit them.>>

The siren song of the knowledge in the private data archive calls his name, but there was plenty of information in this node.

<<@Rikik[Fleet]: Confirmed. I'll ping them and see what we're dealing with, and then advise on a preferred course of action.>>

He scripts the few short commands he needs on a new screen in his line of sight, spooling up the Spoof program, watching the almost comical avatar of the old Arabic conjurer appear, swaddled in archaic desert garb, and motion with his hands before a poof of smoke enveloped the commands, and then dumops it into the buffer to send to all drones in the area. With everything short of bad luck, even if it was noticed, it shouldn't generate any immediate suspicion.

That done, he gives a shake of his head. Maroon Dream, the blasphemous slitch, never ceased to make his life more difficult If she hadn't been such a useful contact, he'd have lost the woman's (if she even was a woman) commcode number long ago.

The Bodhi Tree
The pleasant conversation continues for a good 15 minutes until another customer enters, an elderly Japanese woman stopping by to get an order filled. The shopkeeper nods to her and with smile excuses himself from the spot in front of Fat Man. He speaks with her for several minutes in fairly smooth Japanese before asking her to wait a moment. He returns to the counter by the runners his face apologetic.

"You must excuse me, this order will take some time but I would love to talk again about herbs and service as we have been. Take my card and please come back should need any other orders. I would be happy to assist you. Thank you for coming in. It was delightful to meet a new face and I look forward to seeing you again hopefully."

He hands over an old fashioned business card and clears the holo projector from the counter and bows once before returning to his new customer. You exit the shop with the cheerful chimes following you out to the streets as you climb back into the vehicle. You see Eklipse pull back from the sunlight and to avoid being seen.

Fleet
You watch the code execute and flow out from your system. You monitor its progress watching it slide into the nodes pinpointed by Rikik. You see it slide pass the encryption and send its orders through the subscriptions attached to both nodes. You await the response and open windows to feed the reports to but nothing happens. You blink and look over the logs and then the code. Everything is in order and nothing impeded the program sequence. You should be seeing a data dump from each drone but you see blank screens. Looking it over you think either the drones are completely powered down or these subscriptions are tied to nothing.

<<Rikik [Fleet]: Alright, nothing back, so either they're old connections, or the drones are completely powered down. Maybe bikes in for repair or out of range of the network? Either way, not much we can do until they come online. I'll keep an eye out, though.>>

With a small motion in physical space, which translated to him calling the agent program up and spooling out a series of commands in AR, he left the agent to search for those nodes to come online, and to immediately repeat the command, exactly as written, when they were available.

Fat Man
Fat Man bows to the shopkeeper.

"Thank you as well. I am sure we will have the opportunity to speak again."

Once he had a chance to meet back up with the rest of the team, Fat Man relays the conversation and shares his opinion.

"The shopkeeper seems to be a good man. His family history certainly ties him to this conflict, but I hesitate to place him in any further risk."

With a quick gesture, Rikik activates the backup protocols. He directs the information to a small storage container in his meatspace pocket to browse through later. As the flow of information washes over him, the elf quickly begins editing the logs to hide the backup being run outside of the normal schedule.

That finished, he gently probes at the first node to see if it is powered on. Fleet's comments about the others being offline makes him wary of leaping across the chasm of connectivity to wake up with a massive headache.

<<@Team [Zero]: I have asked a ravmalakh to assense and divine the ranch. It is surrounded by a powerful ward that appears to have been set in place by ritual. The ravmalakh has offered this glimpse into the future, and I quote his words to you now:

"I have seen what is planned for this place and time! Those you seek will gather here this eve to celebrate but heed my warning! A shadow you cast is not your own and it brings with it steel and wrath! The sins of the father will be visited upon the son this night!"

I wish I can offer more insight, but such warnings are ephemeral gifts from Providence. The future is fluid, and outcomes are subject to change.>>

<<@Team [Rikik] The Bodhi Tree isn't going anywhere. I think there is something he can give us, information that is important but he doesn't realize it. His family has too many connections to these issues to be coincidence. Maybe after we clear up the Ranch, we can go back and talk with him. It sounds like tonight is going to be the night to hit the ranch--everyone will be home. We should expect trouble to catch up to us. If the ravmalakh is right, some kind of loose end (my bet is a hot shot coming after the bounty) will find the team. If it was the sins of the son upon the father, I'd almost think they were going to hit the herbalist. Let me get out of this system and we can start rolling. Anybody got a plan?>>

<@Team[Fat Man]: I still like our original plan - surround them, smash the ward, and hit them before they have time to organize a defense. Maybe you are right about the herbalist - but I like the idea of broaching the subject once we've shown we can actually do something about the Yakuza.>

Rikik
You send a pulse of resonance through the node to see if it actually exists in the matrix and you feel the echo confirming it's existence.

<<Team[Fleet]: That's the bounty on our head, right? Well, if they're going to find us, I'd rather they find us in full gear and ready to rock and roll. Just means we'll need to keep an extra watch out, not leave anyone unguarded in VR or anything like that. If one of the mages can task a spirit to watching for that kind of intrusion, I'll keep a rotodrone back to help if it's less than magical in nature. If we're ready for it, won't be much of a surprise.

As for the gang, let's stick with the original idea. Get them drunk, smash the ward, kill them all. If we don't, they're just as likely to be the next group that comes gunning for our heads on orders from the higher ups anyway. Let's plan on the team arriving with any additional gear we need maybe two hours before midnight? Should give them time to start getting drunk, and maybe we can ambush our ambusher.>>

<@Team[Fat Man]: I'm not sure the divination is referring to us. Saying that the shadow we cast is not our own makes sense - we're working for Management, not pursuing our own grudges, but it will still bring us enemies (steel and wrath). I don't understand the part about the father and the son. Do any of you have children? Or living parents who might somehow be involved?>

Rikik
Satisfied that the node is powered on, you carefully and artfully slip out of the system and shift your focus back to your AR reality. You see the cluster of data files copied from the node before you. You quickly pull on the lines of code around you and create a temporary tool to help you sort through the information. You watch the spark of resonance ripple through the program and bring it to life, they transform into a legion of small gear driven ants that begin to work their way through the files.

You soon realize as the streams of data pour back through you that this our records of crimes committed by the group or at least their assignments as given by their boss further up the food chain within the Yakuza. You see dates and times, pictures of couriers or objects to be transported. Time tables of security patrols or run downs of security protocols along with mapping of grid guide usage. Everything a go-gang would need to transport stolen goods through the Seattle metroplex. There are even rosters of active Knight Errant employees for several time frames and locales.

Looking through the data kernels being deposited by the industrious clock work bugs you don't invoices that could be altered but you're fairly confident you could forge a message from their higher ups perhaps claiming to send them a reward for work well done. You have enough here in the back up to create a reasonably forgery, at the very least something that will hold up for a night. After that, if all went according to plan, there would be no one left to verify its validity.

So, second time in as many days that I find myself pressed for a forgery...some might think that I fell in with the wrong crowd.

Rikik chuckles to himself as he weighs his options. The forgery looked like the best route given the team's desire to drug the gang before the attack happened. Calling his army of ants back from the archive, he turns his attention to the Matrix at large and some of the shadier parts of the web. The technomancer unleashes them as he quests for a program that would teach him how to become an expert forger.

Finding it, he thanks his friends and lets them slide back into the Resonance. He builds a new construct in his mind, emulating the flow of resonance through his synapses the way electricity flowed through a computer. The final step is to invest it with memories, pieces of him to ground it into being. He puts Widget and the small drone as the mnemonic seal to hold the code together.

<<@Widget [Rikik] In case this ever comes in handy for your wires...>> He attaches the skillsoft that he donwloaded and sends it off to the other technomancer.

Rikik
An immediate reply comes back.

<<@Rikik[Widget]: THANKS SO MUCH! >>

<<Zian[Emilio]: A friend of mine sent me your info. Let's call her 'A'. Some other friends banged up their cars really badly, and A said I should talk to you about fixing them up. So here I am talking. What can you do and what do I need to do?>>

<<Team[Emilio]: I'm following up on the mechanics lead I got. I need to follow through if just for politeness sake. In all the excitement, I forgot I had specifically asked about mages who could fix the cars up, so if this Zian fits the spec, we have a good shot at getting cars back. Big questions of course are if he's can deliver and if we can afford it. One without the other is useless.>>

Rikik
You pull out the details from the code and begin to fashion what you think to be a reasonable forgery. The odd sensation of knowledge just being in your mind from the skillsoft makes the experience novel on many levels. You look through the data file and find a company that has delivered food and drink to the ranch before for parties it seems. It's a simple matter to find their node and hack it. You shift through the code and create an order and assigned it to their system, showing it as paid in full and prep it for delivery for today. Satisfied you attach the fake message and send it on its merry way. You can feel the happy hum of the resonance around you - the pleasure of staying here for so long flows through you and leaves you feeling connected in a way you can't seem to pull off in your meat body.

Emilio
You send the message out and wonder how long it will take to get a reply when an icon flares to life in your field of vision. You access with with a flick of your eye and a thought as a reply scrolls past you.

<<@E[Zihao]: We are going to look at the cars this afternoon but as long as there is something there..... >>

Your face shows open confusion as the line of text trails off without finishing the thought or sentence. As you double check the message to make sure it wasn't damaged when it arrived you see a new alert for an new incoming text. You access it and wait to see who it was from.

<<@E[Zian]:....my brother and I should be able to repair it. If not completely then at least far enough along that mundane methods can be employed to complete the process. We will send over an estimate tomorrow morning, >>

The Ranch
The day passes with the team regrouping to discuss plans for the predawn raid on the gang. Rikik shares the forged order and message delivering several kegs of premium beer to them ensuring at least some of them will be well and truly drunk by the time you launch your assault.

The rest of the team departs to make what preparations they need to as well for the night's work. You see Widget has made some attempts at cleaning up the bunker and adding homey touches to it. The small army of drones move through the halls clearing debris and running cables for lights. The main gate appears to be repaired though no t by any means a professional patch job but it could slow someone down attempting to breach it. You can see the crude welding and soldering along the hinges making it usable with a little bit of force and jiggling.

You head out as ready as you think you can be. Silently driving out from your temporary home in a small collection of unremarkable vehicles.This area of Seattle is almost completely dark without the infrastructure of a city or urban slum to light it up. You continue to take indirect routes to avoid possible pursuit and keeping an eye out for the hunters you know are lurking in the shadows looking for their next big score or at least a jump up in standing within the shadow community. You eventually arrive in a copse of trees that should hide you from sight of the ranch.

You can clearly see the area lit up by several bonfires burning in fire pits and small electric lights strung up illuminating a few areas where the signs of a party in full swing is still going on. The music drifts on the wind - something with a heavy low techno beat and shrill strings over it along the smells of BBQ meat. You see small groups dancing and laughing with everyone on unsteady feet. As you watch the area for a few moments it becomes clear that they are having a great time and have been for awhile.

With a thought, Fleet sends the insect-small drones out again, putting one near the bar, one near the main house, and the other's where ever the concentrations of men were greatest. A second directive sends the floating cloud drifting high above the area on whisper-quiet motors, the exterior of the drone rippling to invisibility against the dim night sky as it hovers a few hundred meters above the ranch.

He settles back into the seat of Rikik's van, the other vehicles they were using, unmodified and like clumsy tools in his hands without rigger adaptations, crouched in the darkness in a low scatter around, all the vehicles concealed as well as possible and banking as much on their distance from the site as their ability to stealth to let them remain unseen.

As the time ticks down from 2am towards 5:30, he runs systematic checks on the heavy shotgun cradled in his arms and the military grade armor that bulked out his form. After the debacle at the warehouse, he was feeling less than confident about this particular group, and even his own decision making.

If I'd spread the cars out more, given better orders... The helmeted head swings back and forth in a quick, negating shake. He couldn't have guessed what Cypher had run into, or what the hacker would do about it, but it didn't change the feeling around it.

Fat Man arrives accompanied by an oddly generic-looking and expressionless man dressed in casual clothes - obviously a hologram from the way he "clips" into parts of the van.

"These are the allies I described, honorable spirit," Fat Man explained in Mandarin to the thinly-disguised and heavily-armed spirit.

"I have asked the noble shen to accompany us. He is concealed...somewhat...beneath a hologram."

Eklipse checks the timer in his display for the thousandth time: 03:27.

How much longer?

It had taken him nearly an hour to creep to this spot. Even with his abilities and the stealth suit, it was as close as he felt he could get without being spotted.

He had been lying here, for twenty minutes watching the party wind down as the gangers got increasingly drunk and began to drift off to bed alone or in couples. There were still a few die-hards drinking as well as a couple who were keeping watch. He tags them in his AR, wishing that they had been able to set up a new tacnet. But Fleet had seemed wary for some reason and the technomancer Rikik did not have the equipment to manage one.

What did I expect. These are shadowrunners, not a corporate strike team.

Soon Fleet's drones would be in position and then he expected all hell to break loose. He realized he was looking forward to it. The last few days he had hidden out in their new base of operations, helping Widget clean the place up and jumping at every noise, expecting a S-K strike team to kick down the hastily repaired door.

As the clock ticks down, he focuses on his breathing, drawing the shadows to him. His senses sharpen and time slows. His hands become as deadly as the blade strapped across his back.

He checks the timer in his display: 03:28.

Fleet
You open a series of windows to flow the data from the drones to. You launch the programs and send them out to their positions around the compound. You see the camera feeds as they twist and bob through the air weaving last bodies and bikes. You see the map overlay and track their routes on it. After about 15 minutes they have reached their perches and transmit steady sensory feeds.

The paddock has been set up to BBQ and dancing as well. There are motorcycles around the outside of the area in an impromptu parking lot. Large trash cans that have been converted into makeshift cooking pits. You can see table with food laid out and throw away table ware. The fare looks to be the standard cook out - burgers, hot dogs and chicken. There are bags of chips and several dips strewn about.

The barn is full of bikes and people lounging about in various stages of undress and inebriation. There is a heavy low beat pulsing through them space from a portable sound system. The air looks heavily saturated with smoke and perhaps incense. The lighting is dim and the whole area is clearly being used as a make out place. Blankets, jackets, and sheets are strewn about for use.

The house is lit up inside with people inside continuing the party. There is dancing, talking, and game playing inside the rooms of it. The doors are open letting the the night air flow through the house and carrying the sounds of music and voices out into the air. Furniture is pushed aside in most rooms to accommodate dancing and sitting. The kitchen has been set up like a bar of sorts with kegs, various bottles, and chests of ice. One large table in the dining room is laden with food of a similar style of what's in the paddock area. One room is given over to trideo gaming with an elaborate ARO display above the group playing the newest tactical shooter game. Voices rise and fall with spectacular kills and massive explosions.

During the night, Zero cloaks himself with various protective spells. He recites psalms, centering his mind with the songs praising His Name. At the break of dawn, he summons forth one of Archangel Michael's ravmalakhim. He begins to hum, letting his voice join the splendid choir on high. One of the many hears his voice, and descends to the world below. The ravmalakh appears to Zero on the astral, and speaks to him.

"I am Isaias of the Fiery Sphere of Archangel Michael. You have called me, young one, and I have answered. What aspect of His work would you have me do?"

"Brother Isaias, thank you for answering my call. My allies and I intend to confront those who bring pain and suffering upon His Children. I ask that you help protect us... um..."

"You hesitate, young one. What weighs so heavily upon your heart?"

"I am worried, Brother," Zero explains. "My allies intend to kill these villains, but...I...I cannot bring myself to deal so final a blow to these people. If they can be redeemed, then they should be given the choice."

"Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' says the Lord."

Romans 12, Verse 19.

"It is this that concerns you, yes?"

"Yes, Brother."

"Then follow His Will, and stay your hand. I shall stay mine, unless His Will commands me to act. For remember, Young One, it is also to Him that I must answer."

Rikik
You rest and wait for the results of your earlier communion with the matrix. You feel the last traces of disorientation and lightheadedness fade from your mind as the connection to the construct flares to life and comes forward in your awareness. You shift your senses in and deeper to see the realm of resonance all around you. You see a small breach in the AR reality as a small and sleek looking clockwork flea emerges from the hidden layers that most users of the matrix never touch. It's abdomen is distended and swollen with swirls of code. It leaps forward and plunges its mouth into your hand and you sense the the code being transferred to your consciousness. The back door to the node you requested is now yours. It removes itself and waits patiently for its next task.

Eklipse
You feel the moisture collected on the grass and ground brushing against your skin. The heavy sounds of the music vibrate over your skin and you smell the the ever-present food and the underneath that the sour scent of alcohol processed through the skin. You assume from the dancers and their efforts as you watch the frenzied motions of their forms in the make shift dance pit they formed. You glance around, taking a care to minimize your motion and preserve the illusion of the ruthenium. You see various people gathered together, laughing and eating but still unaware of your presence or the teams.

Fleet
You move between images from location after location, looking over each spot to make sure no one is alerted to the team moving into position around the ranch. You quickly see a repeated tattoo on people - a stylized set of slim blades, one made of water and the other made of air. You scan through the crowds and see most carry it somewhere on their skin but others don't and they look to be the girl friends, party favors and hanger ons.

Eklipse
From your position you study the party goers and quickly see a gang tattoo stand out. Crossed swords of some sort made of water and air. You see it repeated on bikes, clothing and bags but it seems only actually members have it on their skin. All of them appear to be nano-tattoos as you watch the blades slowly ripple and undulate on their skin. The ones without it look to be friends and lovers of members.

<<@Team[Fleet]: Heads up, everyone. Looks like they've gone through the trouble of marking themselves out for us so that we know exactly who the gang members are. Look for a tattoo somewhere of a pair of crossed swords made out of water and air. Appropriate, obviously, and convenient, for our purposes.

Emilio checks his silenced pistol and assault rifle for the 500th time.

First a Christian Cultist runner, now a machine-gun-toting other-worldly mage thing. It looks like a god-child made a powerful glowing spirit-thing then dressed it up like a patchwork puppy...

<<Team[Emilio]: Just to connect the dots, are we clear-cutting everything? Or leaving passed-out non-members to wake up to vengeance? Anyone good at chopping hands?>>

Eklipse has been silent, waiting for the go. His abrupt text to the team is the first communication from him in over an hour.

<<Team[Eklipse]: I have only quarrel with the yakuza. The others may live if they do not get in my way. I will deal with the hands. Are we ready?>>

Ranch
The team sits and watches as Rikik slips from the van and with a ripple of magic aiding technology becomes nearly undetectable. The small satchel of grenades strapped to his chest for easy access as he silently approaches the ranch. Those that can, watch his progress as he moves through the area and plants the grenades at key locations which create a constant coverage for the areas with people. The seconds click over to minutes as he winds his way out and back again. Only till he slips back into the van does the tension lessen. No one seems the wiser and the party proceeds unhindered.

<<Team[Fleet]: Alright then, sounds like it's combatants only unless someone gets stupid. Here's a pic of the logo I spotted, just so everyone's on the same page.>>

The hobgoblin considered the situation as he transmitted the clearest shot he had of the crossed swords of wind and water that made up the gang's tattoo. He wasn't squeamish about wiping out everyone associated with the group - they were Yakuza, after all, and you made certain choices when you chose to associate with them. Every since Germany he'd had a certain fondness for professionalism, however, and the lack of loose ends and vengeful family members it left behind. He felt the faint buzz behind his eyes, as he so often did when he thought about the end of his stay in Germany and his boundaries surrounding work, and wondered for the thousandth time just how much of what he thought now had been implanted during his stay under the dragon's care.

The Ranch
The time display clicks over as the anti-climatic release of the gas grenades goes off. With just being an odorless and clear gas, very little actual seems to happen when the signal is displayed showing them being triggered. The seconds roll by and forms begin to lean and wobble while others just fall over as the gas overtakes them. The first few victims illicit laughter and insults about their being light weights as people rush over to grab them before they knock over tables and bikes but as the next wave of people start to drop panic surfaces. Voices are raised as people call out for help and shouts of distress are echoed from all over the ranch. You hear and see things - motorcycles, chairs and other people are knocked to the ground by the falling bodies.

The Ranch
The seconds tick by as move voices rise and fall across the compound. Bodies stagger and continue to drop to the ground as the gas lingers in the air.

Emilio walks over to the opening of the barn, pulls out his pistol in a flash, and shoots each of the two squirmers in the barn. With a soft pop, each struggler gets a bullet added to his troubles.

To the toon of, "Here we go round the mulberry bush." "Here we go now we shootie the Yaks, Shootie the Yaks, Shootie the Yaks. So early in the morning."

The Ranch
The barely audible sound of two shots go off and the two lone figures struggling their way towards the exit of the barn are knocked down and fall still.

<<Team[Emilio]: Barn looks to be in good shape. Two squirmers stopped squirming.>>

With a quick arm to wrap himself in the background of the Matrix, Rikik pulls flows from the Resonance all around him. Safely blanketed, he slips into the hidden archive that he had found before. The system would hopefully be quiet and not suspect his approach.

<<@Team [Rikik] I'm going to probe into the secure node I found earlier. With luck it will have their security systems and I can start erasing your approach.>>