Tempus Fugit, Aurora Warrens, 7:55 PM, September 11, 2075

Mel was having flashbacks. She remembered the racing vid-games she'd play with her friends when she was young. Ironically, she was terrible at them...always smashing into walls or flipping over.

That's what she was going through now, only in real life.

She tried to focus...block out the mayhem and go into AR. It sort-of worked. She cranked up some music and ran through some simulations, attempting to override her normal senses with her 'ware and the Matrix. She bounced off of Jack a couple more times.

She breathed a sigh of relief as the cab pulled up outside of the club. It was starting to get busy, though from the outside, it looked like a group of raver kids just loitering around a disused building. Mel could hear the steady rhythm of the piped-in house music beyond the outer walls. First DJ wouldn't go on until 9pm at least.

"You guys can hang here...I'll be back in three minutes."

Mel stepped out of the cab, and had to balance herself on the non-moving concrete. The double soyburger felt like it was reconstituting itself and trying to force its way back up her throat. She steadied herself, then moved to the door.

A couple of the kids on the street recognized her and waved. One yelled, "Oi, Mel! You spinnin' tonight?"

"Sorry, Micah...not me in the booth! Probably either Synth or maybe Kinetic!" She got to the door and the doorman, a big Troll named Sid, let her through with a nod.

She hit the back stairs fast and went down to her room. She unzipped a few zippers in her jumpsuit, allowing access to the holsters inside. Unholstering the Fichetti, she put that away and grabbed the Crusader, adjusting the holster to handle the larger gun. She quickly ran through her ammo loads, and slotted in a clip of Gel rounds. The smartgun system synced with her DNI and she mentally ticked through its diagnostics as she holstered it on her right side. Then she grabbed her Viper. God, she loved this gun. She polished it whenever she could. It was just so...slick. Loading in a clip of slivers, she checked its smartgun diags as she slid it into the other holster, on her left side. She then grabbed a backpack and put her stun baton, the flash-bangs and the flash paks. She made sure she had all her IDs, just in case, and grabbed her medkit, elec kit, and burner comm.

She checked her internal chronometer. 2 minutes, 32 seconds. Not bad. She grabbed the backpack and ran back up the stairs. She almost bowled over Kinetic as she got to the top of the stairs.

"Hey, girl! Where you flyin' to?"

"Gotta go, Kin...got a gig. A good gig."

Kinetic looked at her for a few seconds. "You be careful, little girl. I don't want to have to work any more hours at this dump."

Mel smiled at the elf. "Fuck you!" And she kissed him on the mouth. Breaking away, she yelled back, "I will!" and ran out.

Out the door and into the cab. "Alright...let's go!"

4 minutes and 10 seconds. Damn you, Kinetic.

Gear

Snap's new apartment, 7:30 PM, September 11, 2075
Amy goes back home earlier than expected. She thanks and pays the babysitter and when she's gone, has a talk with Sam.

"Okay so you probably guessed it by now. I'm going to have some work to do again for the next few days. It won't take as long as last time, far from it, I promise, but you'll have to stay at Hubert's until I'm done, okay?"

"I understand, Aunt Amy."

It was still surprising to Amy how Sam could be just a kid who wants to play one minute, and the next minute be this serious, understanding, mature-sounding person. One always wonders if this seriousness comes from imitation or actual maturity. Not having an answer to this, Amy just smiled to her adoptive daughter.

"You're a really good girl, you know that, right?"

Amy then called her old mentor, again asking for a favor. Thankfully, Hubert was okay with taking care of Sam even as soon as this evening, after Amy assured him that it would only be for 2, maybe 3 days, tops. This man is too good to me, I wish I could do more for him...

Preparing for the run was simple enough for Amy. Everything she could possibly need was already in a small bag, and she just took off her armor vest for a more protective armor jacket.

Meeting Grease outside, she hopped in with Sam, and she made sure her seatbelt was firmly fastened before the other elf took off.

After dropping off Sam at Hubert, Grease and Snap drove straight to the quarry, meeting Jack and Mel there.


Abandoned Rock Quarry, 8:25 PM, September 11, 2075

With the sun set over an hour ago, the team had made their way to the quarry, the lights of their vehicles the only ones on the road. Reaching the quarry, the team exits one at a time, each one doing a quick sweep of the area. The eerie quiet after the constant noise of the city was disconcerting to all of them, but they each dealt with it in their own way as they waited for the coyote to arrive.

They did not have to wait long. At 8:30 precisely they could hear an engine in the distance. The noise grew louder quickly as distance closed at an alarming rate. Looking up and down the road, they were unable to see anyone on approach, and the night was pitch black, the clouds blanketing the stars and moon. Suddenly, a shape, blacker against the black of the night, popped over the eastern rim of the quarry and settled down on the floor scan meters away from them.

Grease looked at the vehicle and frowned. A Venture... highly unreliable, had I known we were going in an LAV I would have requested a Banshee. Those things can move. The team backed away quickly, the heat from the engines intense, despite the dampening installed on them. The aft hatch opened slowly, and a good looking young man came down it, the swagger in his step on display for all to see.

"I'm DJ, pleased to meet you." He flashed a ready, almost infections grin. "I understand you have a schedule to keep, so let's get aboard." Noticing the disapproving look on Grease's face, DJ clapped a hand on his shoulder. "She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts." DJ moved off to help the others with their gear, and Grease looked down at his shoulder, grimacing at the stain left their by DJ's hand. With a mental command, Grease sent both his cars back to his house, and got busy stowing his gear.

Abandoned Rock Quarry, 8:25 PM, September 11, 2075

As the LAV landed, images of burning helicopter wreckage flashed through Jack's mind, rooting him to the spot. The ork had taken a few commuter flights since the crash, but those had been civilian birds with little chance of being shot down. This was an entirely different animal. The LAV risked all kinds of threats from multiple borders. DJ looked pretty self-assured, but it did little to help the ork. After a few moments of gathering his wits about him, Jack silently picked up his duffel bag and walked onto the vector-thrust vehicle. Flipping down one of the jump seats, the ork quickly connected the five-point harness and settled in for the flight.

Looking down the ramp, Jack shouted over the whine of the thrusters, "DJ, we need to let our transport in the CAS know where to pick us up. Can you provide us with the LZ?"

Abandoned Rock Quarry, 8:25 PM, September 11, 2075

Mel heard the engine sound long before the others, and as it approached, she had already calculated its direction and speed. When it showed up, she marveled at it. She could see Grease's distaste.

He looks like I felt looking at him in the Matrix.

Mel nodded to DJ as he approached, big smile on her face. "So this is our 'ride'...I love it! I guess if you gotta go, go in a obnoxiously loud washing machine!"

She clambered aboard and found a place to stow her bag, then took a seat, strapping herself in.

Abandoned Rock Quarry, 8:31 PM, September 11, 2075

Placing his hand against his chest as if mortally wounded, DJ responds to Mel, "Oh ye of little faith, you wound me." Slapping his hand against the frame of the LAV, DJ smiles, and then quickly fixes a panel that slipped down a few inches at the impact. "I've made this crossing a thousand times" he crows to the team, "and I've never had a complaint about the old girl apart from her looks."

Ducking his head inside the overhang, he calls up to Jack, "The LZ is at a farm located just over the border off of Route 86. Once we cross the border area, we go through Bayou Gulch, and I fly NOE till we get to the LZ. Onyx owns the property, or at least owns the person who owns the property, so we should be fine once we get there."

Abandoned Rock Quarry, 8:31 PM, September 11, 2075

Jack nodded his head in thanks and mentally composed a message to Grease.

<<@Grease [JustJack] For operational security, I doubt DJ is going to give us the exact location of our LZ. Can you get a hold of Stone and let him know the pick-up will be in the vicinity of Route 86 near the UCAS border? I think we're just about at brass tacks with Stone... go ahead and do your thing. We've still got about 9K left, but some of that is for the return trip...>>

Abandoned Rock Quarry, 8:31 PM, September 11, 2075

Snap saw their means of transportation appear in the distance and then close in pretty quickly. Not knowing what to make of it, she just trusted in everyone else's judgement. Grease didn't look impressed, but was willing to give it a shot -- good enough for Snap.

When they met with the driver, Snap inspected DJ's aura almost as a reflex and found no sign of doubt in the swirl of his emotional colors, which fit what he was saying.

"Good to meet you, chummer. You sound pretty sure that nothing bad can happen to us on our way over, I'm happy to hear that."

Abandoned Rock Quarry, 8:31 PM, September 11, 2075

Grease takes his seat, wiping it down first with a grimace of distaste. How can he let his stuff get like this? Doesn't he have any pride? Some people... Nodding to Jack, Grease calls their erstwhile contact over the border. Stone, wonder why he got that name...

Over the low whine of the thrusters, you can barely hear Grease talking into his commlink. "Stone? Hoi chummer..." The rigger's voice is drowned out by the increasing scream of the LAVs thrusters. A minute later, Grease messages the team. <<@Team [Grease] I know you're all going to be thoroughly disappointed that Stone wasn't able to get us our own vehicle. But he did manage to hook us up with a driver he has on retainer. He should be meeting us within 30 minutes of touching down. Sometimes I wonder why I'm even along for this ride.. Jack, you'll have to free up 1,100 for this guy, that gets us him and his vehicle for 24 hours.>>

DJ was outside greeting Snap, his grin even more dazzling than the one he threw at Mel, the young man obviously interested in the pretty young elf. "Thank you, finally someone who seems happy to see me! Step right this way." He leads Snap up the ramp, and then makes sure everyone is strapped in. "It's important you don't release those straps. While everything is going to be perfectly okay, I'm going to have to perform some pretty hairy turns as we go, and I really don't want to come back here and find out one of you has broken several bones, or smashed their head against a strut by accident."

Heading to the cockpit, he turned on the intercom to the back compartment. "Alright folks, touchdown is in just under 30 minutes. Enjoy the ride and the music." As the team was thrown back against their seats, the LAV rocketed off across the landscape, DJ's voice echoing back "Looking at youuuu..." as he sang along.

The Skies Above the Abandoned Rock Quarry, 8:32 PM, September 11, 2075

Jack held his harness in a death grip, his teeth gritted as the LAV started to gain acceleration. The fact that the interior of the bird was without windows didn't help matters at all. At least in a helicopter you can see the rocket coming at you... The ork wondered where that thought had come from... his memory of the helicopter crash was still an almost full black-out, but bits and pieces were starting to poke up from the quagmire of his long term memory. Where was I headed? Who was flying? Were we shot down or did I just make that up?

Looking around the passenger compartment, the others seemed to be dealing with the experience in their own way. Mel seemed to be silently jamming out to some kind of dance music. Snap's face was almost blissful, the ork wondered if she had ever flown before... he doubted it since she just acquired her first fake SIN within the last month. Grease just looked around the compartment in distaste, probably some professional beef he had just created in his own mind with DJ. Closing his eyes, Jack slowly started to count down from five hundred.

The Skies Above the Abandoned Rock Quarry, 8:32 PM, September 11, 2075

"Hold on tight back there. Things are about to get a little bumpy."

This is what hell must be like... Grease felt powerless in the back of this tub of junk, cut off from the world around him, the vehicle he was sitting in a lifeless hunk of metal he couldn't interact with. He sought comfort by jumping into Rhex, his body relax as he tested Rhex's sensor suite.

The teams' stomachs collectively dropped as they felt the LAV fall about a dozen feet, and then it began a twisting turning route through the air. "We're over the border, should be smooth sailing from here on out. Touchdown in 10."

LZ CAS Zone, 9:02 PM, September 11, 2075

Jack felt like at least ten times that long had passed before the LAV slowed and eventually landed. DJ kept the engine running and lowered the back hatch. "You are all set. See? I told you everything would be fine." The team debussed, stepping out into the crisp night air and getting their bearings. Grease sent a quick message to Stone, <<@Stone [Grease] We're here, Send the driver ASAP please. ||ARO attached>>

DJ was talking to Mel and Snap as Jack's breathing slowed down from his in-flight flashbacks. "You ladies ever need someone to show you the sights, you give me a call sometime." An ARO appeared in the air before them, a digital image of DJ flashing his winningest smile along with his commcode. Addressing the group in general, he says, "Just get in touch with Onyx, and we'll set up your return journey. Have fun!" With a wave he boards his ship and zips off into the night.

As the team takes stock of the empty landscape around them, about ten minutes later a pair of headlights appears, flashes once and then slowly approaches them.

LZ CAS Zone, 9:02 PM, September 11, 2075

Snap almost answered that she'd like to see the view from the cockpit next time, but considering the size of it and the man's obvious intentions, she thought the better of it.

"Thansk for the ride. I'll ... think about your offer." She ended up answering. It never hurts to let a guy have some hope.

When they were away from DJ, the shaman turned to the group. "What now? Has anyone called our driver?"

On her own, she had already decided that summoning some backup would be a wise idea, for security.

LZ CAS Zone, 9:02 PM, September 11, 2075

Within seconds, what vaguely resembled an aging Cheyenne native with very long dark hair appeared in astral space, facing Snap. "Thank you for answering my call, oh living soul of our ancestors, for now please just follow me and be ready for my instructions." The reply came with a thick accent. "Yes, my lady."

LZ CAS Zone, 9:02 PM, September 11, 2075


Mel almost laughed out loud at DJ's antics.

Total player.

She then stores his commcode number, and winks at DJ.



Mel shakes her head as DJ takes off. "Wow. Right out of a trid. Or maybe like 5 trids. Guy does have style though...gotta give him that!"

She then limbers up, stretching her muscles as she hears the car approaching in the distance.

LZ CAS Zone, 9:02 PM, September 11, 2075

Holding his bag with one hand, Jack discreetly drew his Streetline Special and held it against his leg, the dark fabric of his suit obscuring the matte black frame of the diminutive pistol. Betrayal is always right around the corner, you never can see it coming. Jack remembered that line from an episode of Karl Combat Mage. Sure the show did a drek job of presenting what life was really like for a shadowrunner, but sometimes it got close to the truth.

Glancing at Grease, Jack raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Might be our ride, best to stay on your toes and spread out until we get confirmation."

Having said that, he moved several meters away from the clustering they presented. The ork had picked that up from a military trid course he had found on a chip in Nic's shop.

LZ CAS Zone, 9:02 PM, September 11, 2075

At Jack's warning, Snap crouched and used her excellent elven vision to look into the darkness as best she could, also paying attention to astral space at the same time.

LZ CAS Zone, 9:03 PM, September 11, 2075

The vehicle approached, the outline of the Renault Eurovan becoming more easily distinguishable as it got closer. It stopped about 100 meters away from them, and the driver door opened, allowing a figure to emerge into the night. He came out with his hands held in a non-threatening manner, and approached another 10 meters. His blue-black hair slicked back over his head, and his tusks stuck out jaggedly over his upper lip. "Gentlemen, ladies." his voice had a slight southern accent to it, as if it were diluted by living in the melting pot of the Free Zone. "Are you the party I was sent to meet? I believe we have a mutual acquaintance in Stone."

To Snap's vision, the astral was clear, the ork's body showing that patchwork of monotone grey that appears when metal and vat-grown fibers replace meat. She scanned left and right, and then turned and whispered a quick "All clear." to her fellow runners.

Sensing the team relaxing slightly, the ork slowly lowered his hands. "Name's Sisco, where can I take you?"

LZ CAS Zone, 9:03 PM, September 11, 2075

Grabbing his gear, it took most of Grease's considerable training not to pout the entire trip here. He knew from a rational standpoint they needed to take the Coyote; there was no way they were going to get their gear across the border otherwise. Still, he would have preferred to try his luck with the border agent. How scrupulous could they be? All the trids talk about how easy it was to bribe them; and they could have gone through in his car with his stuff for less than the 5 grand they were ponying up.

5 instead of 10; that was a small blessing at least. The new decker didn't say much, and she lacked in table manners. Of course, there were very few people that Grease ran with that he'd consider bringing into polite society. As a rule, the types of people he worked with were crude either by their circumstances or their choice. Either way, it was all the same in the end. That said, she knew her drek, which was really all that Grease cared about. His team could be made up of monosyllabic trolls with overbites, provided they knew how to do their jobs well.

Nodding at the rigger, Grease suppressed a grimace.

Another rigger. I better figure out a way to earn my keep on this run, otherwise I'm going to have to find a new set of friends to stand between me and the bullets.

"Everyone calls me Grease. We're here to sample the world class cuisine of Chinatown. We weren't sure what to wear, so we brought a variety of outfits."

GEAR

LZ CAS Zone, 9:03 PM, September 11, 2075

"Hoi, Sisco," Jack said, giving the rigger a firm hand shake. "Thanks for picking us up. I'm Jack." Looking to the rest of the team, Jack asked, "Before we go sample the cuisine, can we swing by O'Roarke's first?"

As he spoke, the ork mentally composed a message to the team.

<<@Team [JustJack] I've got a line on another fixer that operates out of there and the place is supposed to be a hang-out for runners. We might be able to pick up some local intel on what's going on in the shadows of the CAS sector before we jump in. Shouldn't take more than an hour once we get there>>

LZ CAS Zone, 9:03 PM, September 11, 2075



<<@Team [Melpomene] That's a good plan. Any idea what this place is like?>>

LZ CAS Zone, 9:03 PM, September 11, 2075

Jack replied to Mel's question by sending a text message with an ARO of the location attached.

<<@Team [JustJack] From what I gathered poking around, it's been a working-class bar for a long time, so probably nothing too fancy. Beyond that, security is pretty tight considering the clientele, so you may want to leave anything heavy in the vehicle when we get there. | ARO Attached>>

O'Roarke's, CAS Zone, 9:40 PM, September 11, 2075

The trip to O'Roarke's was uneventful - eerily so in Jack and Snap's opinion. The first five minutes each was braced against their restraints, waiting for the high-speed turns and close calls that were so commonplace to their experience with rigger-adapted vehicles, but they never manifested. Sisco drove carefully, maintaining a speed about 10-15 kph over the limit even stopping completely at stop signs and using his signals properly. To Grease it felt like they were driving in slow motion. He just gritted his teeth and smiled though, his hand on Rhex's metal plated "back". We could have been half an hour ago if I were driving.

The ork rigger was quiet the whole way, a simple, "Ok, boss." as an answer to Jack's request to swing by O'Roarke's was the only speech he offered. Once in the van, he slumped over, and remained motionless and unresponsive as the van threaded slowly through traffic.

The van pulled to a halt in the parking lot, although Sisco had to cruise around a bit before he found an open spot. Sisco came out of his VR trance, and looked back in the mirror. "I'll stay here as long as you need." The team hopped out, leaving their more obvious forms of armament in the van itself. Grease patted Rhex on the head, "Good boy, you stay here." With a wink at the others, he straightened out his suit, and led the way to the bar.

There was already a line at the door, and each time it swung open to admit a new patron, the loud roar of voices, clinking glasses and cutlery as well as a hard rock beat would pour out into the night. The building itself looked ancient, although the AR around the building was clearly recently updated. Neon postmodern augmented reality visuals lay over brick and mortar from the 19th century. The physical sign over the door appeared to be a simple wooden slab with the word "O'Roarke's" burned into it.

As the team approached the line, they could see two bouncers at the door, each with a visible sidearm strapped to their hip, as the team took in the rest of the crowd, they noticed this wasn't unusual in the slightest, as it seemed everyone else was armed as well, an assortment of Colt's and Ares weapons predominantly, but with a few more exotic variants among them. The bouncers, however, also had shotguns strapped across their backs, and not the double-barrel, break-action kind - they were both more of the assault-style, drum-fed, military kind.

Snap took a moment to shift here view to the Astral, and found several other magically active members in the line, and many of the others sporting major cybernetic modifications. The bouncers at the door in particular, their aura's appearing almost solid grey. Snap shivered, feeling sorry for those two, having cut out so much of their connection to their inner selves. She wondered how human each of them were. The two barely spoke, quickly searching each patron and then passing them along with economy of motion.

The team got in the line, and waited their turn to enter.

O'Roarke's, CAS Zone, 9:40 PM, September 11, 2075

Snap had never seen that many magically active as well as cybernetically enhanced people in the same place at the same time. "Everyone is.. like us." She whispered to the other three as they were approaching. Whatever that meant to her...

O'Roarke's, CAS Zone, 9:40 PM, September 11, 2075

Jack switched his Hermes Ikon to silent mode and booted up his Meta Link. Leaning toward the front of the vehicle, he said, "In case you need to get in touch with us while we're inside, here's the commcode for this 'link, hombre."

Leaving the majority of his hardware in the vehicle, the ork secured his Streetline Special and spare magazines in the concealed holster of his suit jacket. Glancing toward the front of O'Roarke's, Jack realized he and Grease might be a little overdressed, but figured the occasional Johnson used the bar as a meeting location and those guys weren't about to dress down. The ork mentally reminded himself to tone down his Hispanic lingo; he couldn't change the fact that he was an Aztlan ork, but there was no reason to rub these folks' noses in it.

Accompanying the rest of the team to the back of the line, Jack assessed the crowd with a practiced eye. When Amy whispered that she thought the other patrons seemed very similar to the team, he nodded his head, mirroring her assessment. After spotting the umpteenth heavy pistol, Jack couldn't help but chuckle. Overdressed and underarmed... let's see how this goes.

Accessing his commlink's messaging application, Jack sent the team another message.

<<@Team [JustJack] When we get inside, I'm going to see if I can find my contact. Like Amy said, these are basically our people. Rub shoulders with your counterparts, see what you can turn up>>

O'Roarke's, CAS Zone, 9:40 PM, September 11, 2075

Snap puts her trodes on just to reply to Jack, even if she'll look a little foolish with the headgear on.

<<@Team [Snap] And by Amy, he means Snap. Oh and whatever you do, don't go making any trouble in there.>>

O'Roarke's, CAS Zone, 9:40 PM, September 11, 2075

Mel looked over the clientele, figuring the bar out quickly from the sights and sounds.

"Hey guys, I don't know if I'm overly needed inside...I might make myself useful and try to get some more info on our target tonight. You need me, comm me, k?"

And unless someone has an objection, she'll slide into the back seat of Sisco's ride, smiling at the rigger. "I'm gonna jack in...keep an eye on my meat-side, please?"

O'Roarke's, CAS Zone, 9:45 PM, September 11, 2075

Grease, Snap, and Jack reach the front of the line, and a quick pat down from the guards sends them on through. Given the cursory nature of the pat down, it is clear that they are looking for heavier weapons, and completely disregard anything lighter than an automatic weapon. Snap maintains a view of the astral, and as she enters the bar, she sees a glowing humanoid astral form flanked on each side by man-sized Spirits of Fire. The astral traveler, vaguely feminine in nature, appraises Snap, and then continues to move around the bar, maintaining an astral watch on the surroundings.

Unlike the clubs that the team is used to on the UCAS side of the border, O'Roarke's doesn't favor the modern, synth-fueled techno that is so popular on the charts. The music is all retro, circa early 21st century - drums, guitar and bass. The team walks through the main door, eschewing the revolving one to the left, and heads down the hallway. They can feel eyes watching them, as they are slightly out of place, Jack and Grease especially, but soon most eyes return to their drinks and the conversations at the table.

"I'm going to go mingle at the bar, see what I can find out." With a wink, Grease heads to the main bar in the center of the club

Jack and Snap stand nearby, the ork's eyes scanning around the rooms. He has Tara's holopic set in the corner of his vision so he can make comparisons. He soon spots her, the dark haired woman bent low over one of the two pool tables. She is playing solo, although there seem to be many waiting to use the tables. One patron puts his credstick down, calling next game, but a Native American man walks over and picks it up, handing it back to him. The man's black leather is covered in tribal patterns, including a large stylized raven covering the back of his jacket as he leans over and whispers something in the other man's ear. The erstwhile pool player blanches, then nods and walks away.

The Native American returns to a spot on the wall where he remains standing, arms folded across his chest, maintaining a watchful eye over his charge.

O'Roarke's, CAS Zone, 9:45 PM, September 11, 2075

Spotting Tara, Jack sent a message to Amy, noticing the mage was still wearing the trodes he formerly owned.

<<@Snap [JustJack] Pool table. Feel free to join me, but try to keep an eye on the Amerind in leather>>

Walking up to the table, the ork positioned himself opposite of Tara. As she lined up a shot, Jack said, "Sorry to keep you waiting, ready to play the game?"

O'Roarke's, CAS Zone, 9:45 PM, September 11, 2075

Tara looks up from her shot, and looking Jack up and down, and then sinks the 8 ball into the side pocket. She simply nods and says "Rack 'em". She puts a slight hand up to keep the Amerind back, and leans on her stick.

Jack slots his credstick into the table, collecting the balls and placing them in the triangular rack. As he pulls it away, there is a thunderous crack as Tara breaks, balls flying in all directions.

"So, Honeypot tells me you are here to party in our neck of the woods. What kind of favors will you need?"

O'Roarke's, CAS Zone, 9:45 PM, September 11, 2075

Snap follows along and stands slightly behind and next to Jack, in a position that says "I'm with this guy." As per Jack's request, she pays special attention to the man with the leather jacket, assensing his aura.

O'Roarke's, CAS Zone, 9:45 PM, September 11, 2075

Picking up the pool stick, Jack sights down the length of it to make sure it was straight. He didn't really have any experience with pool, but Nic had a table in the shop, albeit one that largely served as a table-table rather than a pool table. Jack only knew to check whether the stick was warped after watching Nic buy one off some ganger in the past. Satisfied the stick was straight, the ork lined up a shot on the 14, Tara already having laid claim to the solids.

"Not sure yet, to be honest." Jack said, sinking the 14. "We just crossed the border, but managed to bring along most of our toys. We're partying in Chinatown, so it might be helpful to get an accurate map of the area and a Mandarin linguasoft for starters. Beyond that, we're going to need to find out a little bit more about the party before we have an idea of what we might need to bring for the housewarming." Taking his next shot, he misses the 12 ball, banking it off the side of the table and missing the pocket.

O'Roarke's parking lot, CAS Zone, 9:45 PM, September 11, 2075

Sisco waves a vague affirmative to Mel, and settles back down to watch the AR feeds from the several discrete drones he deployed.

Its like we went to Bizarro World and found Grease's counterpart... Mel slips into the Matrix, her body slumping slightly against the curving metallic body of the Renault.

<<The codes provided by Jingfei sends a towering blue cone of light up into the night sky of the Matrix, visible only to Mel. Flying through the unfamiliar territory of the CAS portion of the Matrix, Mel soon arrives at Huiquing's host. Mel expected something very different from what she experienced when she arrived at the host.

Instead of something out of a Golden Harvest production, Mel encountered a ultra-modern skyscraper. As she approached the host, the data provided by Jingfei came online, morphing her persona into a young Chinese woman in a grey suit. An ID badge appeared on her jacket, and as she approached the front door, it swung open automatically.

Entering the door, she found herself in a large open foyer, with sarari-men bots moving busily from desk to desk.>>

O'Roarke's, CAS Zone, 9:45 PM, September 11, 2075

Finding almost nothing but dull gray on the Native American's aura, Snap wasn't very impressed. A glorified hump of meat with a fortune in chrome. Just like all the others, the shaman thought with disdain. Too bad any bonehead with enough cred can become a monster, it's a weird era we live in. With that, she just turned back to Jack and the interesting back and forth that was going on. Might as well keep an eye out on my own, favorite hump of meat instead. I wonder how much a linguasoft costs...

Mel is not here to do anything but observe, so that's what she's going to do. She will move confidently past the desks, looking at whatever is visible. Also, she'll try to observe any icons that happen to be within "eye" shot.

O'Roarke's, CAS Zone, 9:45 PM, September 11, 2075

Meanwhile on the other side of the bar Grease was having a friendly but heated conversation with a group of the locals.

"All I'm saying is; you could have redone the amendments anyway you wanted. Why stick with the old language? All that drek about 'militias'..."

An ork a few seats away at the bar chimes in. "'Cause that's how the founding fathers wrote it!"

Grease makes a calming gesture with his hands. "Sure, of course. But you know better by now, I'd think. Why keep it vague? Say, "You can have on your person any weapon you can carry, and even ones you can't carry provided you have a wheelbarrow with you." He gestures with his beer. "What about cyberware? That's not in there at all. Do I have the right to have a big frag-off arm with all the bells and whistles?"

A dwarf on the other side of him shakes his head, brow furrowed. "I don't know.."

The elf raises a finger. "But what if there's a gun inside the arm?"

That clears up the confusion for the dwarf. "Oh, in that case of course. Common sense, really."

With the locals warming to his demeanor, Grease starts asking his neighbors more pertinent questions. "So are there any places you can't bring your weapons with you? I heard Chinatown is pretty nasty, especially at night. "Live and let live", something like that?.."

O'Roarke's, CAS Zone, 9:47 PM, September 11, 2075

Tara pushes herself off the wall and steps up to the pool table. Leaning over, she takes a second to push her hair behind an ear, and then sinks the 5 and the 7 in quick succession.

She walks around to the other side of the table and speaks as she sizes up the table, "I can get you the Mapsoft in a couple hours, and the Linguasoft a few hours after that, assuming that timing is acceptable." She sinks the 1, and then misses on the 3, ceding control of the table back to the ork.

She waits until Jack is about to take his shot and says, "Its going to run you about 3,000 "

O'Roarke's, CAS Zone, 9:47 PM, September 11, 2075

Jack paused momentarily. That's a lot of dinero... Shrugging, he whacked the cueball solidly into the 12 ball, running it down the bumper resulting in it and the 11 ball sinking in the corner pocket.

"Timing isn't great, but I understand it's a last minute request." Thinking over the offer, Jack nodded. "Deal. I've got the nuyen with me. I assume payment upfront?"

Lining up his next shot, the ork misjudged the angle on the 9 ball and scratched.

O'Roarke's, CAS Zone, 9:47 PM, September 11, 2075

Snap listens along and opens wide eyes at the mention of three grands just for a piece of drek software. This business is so expensive, no wonder we're paid big bucks for what we do. I wonder how much Jack's chrome is worth...

O'Roarke's, CAS Zone, 9:47 PM, September 11, 2075

Tara fished the cue ball out of the pocket and lined up her next shot, "You assume correctly. I don't like having to chase people down for what they owe me." She throws a sidelong glance at the Amerind, who is still stoically standing against the wall. With a quick stroke, the 4 ball goes into the corner.

"This place will still be open, do you want to pick the stuff up here?"

O'Roarke's, CAS Zone, 9:47 PM, September 11, 2075

Jack patiently waited his turn, although he was uncertain he was going to get another shot on the ball. Tara was running the rest of the table in sequence. "First time to the CAS sector," Jack said, thinking to himself As far as I know..., "so I guess this place is as good as any. We'll probably be a lot closer to Chinatown at that point, so if you know of a better location closer to that area, I'm sure our driver can find it."

Jack reached into his jacket, eyeing the Amerind the entire time, and pulled out the credstick containing the team's advance. "I assume you take credstick?"

Mentally, the ork composed a message to the team.

<<@Team [JustJack] We'll have a Mandarin Linguasoft and a Mapsoft of Chinatown in four to six horas. Anything I'm missing? Since we haven't even checked out the place, I don't have much to go on...>>

O'Roarke's, CAS Zone, 9:47 PM, September 11, 2075

Tara nods, grinning, and then proceeds to run the table. As the 8 ball sinks into the corner pocket, she hands Jack a certified credstick. "Add the funds there, and then you'll have to excuse me, I need to make some calls."

Checking the balance after Jack transfers the nuyen, she looks up at him, her blue eyes in striking contrast to her jet black hair. "If I can find a location closer to Chinatown and have someone available, I'll contact you. Otherwise, assume we meet up here again. Good game." She reaches out and shakes his hand firmly, and then tosses her cue to the Amerind.

O'Roarke's, CAS Zone, 9:50 PM, September 11, 2075

After Tara and the Amerind departed, Jack said to Snap, "Well, I'm not sure if there's all that much more we can do here. Stone is supposed to meet us here in a bit, but I think we need to get actual ojos on this place before we know what we're going to need. Let's go find Grease and figure out a plan."

Spotting the rigger in the middle of a small crowd of locals, the pair could see that Grease was doing what he did best. Rather than interrupting the elf directly, Snap and Jack moved to an area in the vicinity of the bathrooms while the ork sent a message.

<<@Grease [JustJack] Take a break and meet us by the bathrooms>>

It took the elf a lot longer to disengage than Jack was happy with, but eventually Grease made his way over.

"Look, I'm getting good information over here, what's up?" the elf asked, a tone of annoyance in his voice.

"We finished up with my contact. I thought it might be a good idea if we headed over to the estate to get a first-hand impression of the place. Do you think you can handle meeting Stone and not getting in trouble while we're gone?" Jack asked. "We need Stone to secure shock-proof cases for the items and a drek-load of bubble wrap, just in case."

Grease looked flatly at Jack, but before he could reply, Snap interjected, "I'd like to check out what's going on in the Astral. With all the trouble we had with spirits last time, I want to know what to expect."

"Yes, yes, that's probably a good idea." Grease responded quickly, checking his chronometer and seeing that he had been away from the bar for too long. "Plus I really don't need you two around while I work my own brand of magic over here. These people in the CAS are so easy, just bring up guns and destiny and they're like putty. Oh, before you go, you should take the Fly-Spys, I shouldn't need them here." The elf sent an ARO to Jack inviting him to place three MARKs on each drone. "Just send them a message letting them know what they need to do. Don't try to fly them... I want them back!"

Grease patted Jack on the back, surreptitiously slipping the two drones into the inside of the ork's jacket. The metallic appendages pinched and poked the ork as they crawled around under his jacket. God damn it! the ork thought, ruing the day he had met Grease and his drones.

O'Roarke's, CAS Zone, 9:50 PM, September 11, 2075

Snap and Jack head outside, moving past the bouncers and over to Sisco's Renault. The door opens automatically as they approach, and they hop inside, Jack pushing down the urge to sit on Grease's drones. Although it would be satisfying, they needed them right now.

Strapping themselves in next to Mel's unconscious body, Jack toggled off a quick message to the decker,

<<@Mel [JustJack] "We're on the move, heading to the target. Grease is staying behind at the bar to meet with Stone and gather intel. You still okay?">>

When he received an affirmative from the young decker, he nodded and sent Sisco an ARO of their destination.

"Roger that." came back the reply from the rigger, "ETA 30 minutes."


Chen Huiquing's Estate, CAS Zone, 10:20 PM, September 11, 2075

Well, he's certainly punctual, if a bit quiet. Wonder if we can hire him to replace Grease? The van came to a stop about a block and a half from the entrance to the estate. A low perimeter wall surrounded it, about 2 meters in height, and solid stone. Jack reached into his pocket to remove the two little insect-like drones from his pocket, stifling a yelp as he felt one pinch his fingers between its forelegs. I really wonder if we can't hire this guy to help out...

Making sure they are running silent, he releases them out of the van's window and lets them fly overhead, sending them into a stationary orbit several hundred meters in the air.

Within a few minutes, the drones start sending the data via video feed, each member of the feed getting their own streaming video. The house sits on its own grounds, complete with golf course and swimming pool.

The main entrance has a large gate, wide enough to accommodate a large truck, but no guard house. The road winds through the gate about a half mile back to the house itself, which sits about 700 to 1000 yards from the perimeter wall, depending on direction. There are lights on in the house itself, suggesting that someone is at home. The thermographic lenses on the drone's cameras pick up three teams of two security personnel walking the grounds.

The drones make a sweep around the perimeter, and the wall maintains the same height throughout, and there does not appear to be any wire, razor or mono, atop of it.

In addition to the main house, there are four other buildings on the property. The building near the pool appears to be a cabana/pool house, and is easily twice the size of any residence that the team has lived in. There is a multi-car garage about 50 meters east of the main house, with a large circular driveway in front of it. Finally there is another building near the golf course, one can only assume is the clubhouse for the patrons of the course.
Finally, there is a smaller outbuilding located about 100 meters to the east of the main house, about 20 by 20 with a roll up door, perhaps a storage building.

Chen Huiquing's Estate, CAS Zone, 10:20 PM, September 11, 2075

Mel straightened her business suit (she'd have to investigate that...it's almost like OCD...) and flipped through the file folders. She had the floor plan, as well as an approximation of the numbers and types of devices on the host. After getting the comm from Jack about the scouting, she started collating a message.

<<@Team [Melpomene] Files attached via ARO. First three are floor plan of the estate. Second floor, middle right is a room marked 'Artifact Room'. Probably our best bet. Fourth file has general numbers on camera, sensors, etc. It is well canvassed. I'm going to delve a little deeper to get more concrete info on critical cams and locks. Please advise on where you think you want to enter the building. I'm going to start on that room...if I can get a feed from the cams in there, I might be able to spot our targets.>>

Chen Huiquing's Estate, CAS Zone, 10:20 PM, September 11, 2075

When Mel's message came through, Jack glanced at Amy and said, "Drek, she's good..."

Scanning through the documents, the ork compared the floor plans with the hand drawings Jingfei had provided and noted they matched up pretty well. Considering the plans for a few moments, Jack sent a message to the team, wanting to keep Grease in the loop.

<<@Team [JustJack] Great job, Mel. This is muy útil. From a quick glance, I think our best option is either the mud room on the first floor or the car garage in the basement. Both give direct access to the stairwell that leads directly to the room with our targets. Let's get eyes on those areas if we can. Once we confirm the layout, we may be able to determine what devices we need to worry about along that path. That should help us eliminate a lot of the other devices from the list. Six commlinks and twelve weapons? Probably the six guards patrolling that the drones picked up. I'm going to send one of the Fly-Spys closer to the car garage to get an idea of what we're dealing with there.>>

Pulling up the commcode Grease had sent him in the ARO that allowed him to MARK the drones, Jack added contact information to it in his commlink and sent the drone as specific a command as he could put together. In no way, shape, of form did he trust the drone's dogbrain to not frag this up if left to its own devices.

<<@DrekHead1 [JustJack] Reposition to the east side of the building. Maintain a distance of 100 meters from the building. Hover 0.5 meters off the ground. Use any available vegetation for concealment. Conduct sensor scan of the base of the structure>>

The ork watched the video feed now marked DrekHead1 to see if it complied with his orders.

O'Roarke's, CAS Zone, 10:25 PM, September 11, 2075

Grease was deep in the middle of a heated debate over whether or not a Beignet was better than a Zeppoli, when he noticed someone who fit Stone's description enter the bar. The dwarf was wearing a football jersey and his Stetson, and Grease felt his head explode trying to contain all the jokes he could make about the walking cliche.

He's one of our contacts, have to play nice. He bought the pro-Beignet crowd a round, and excused himself for a moment. He caught up with the dwarf at the bar, and got his attention.

"Hey there, how can I help y'all?", asked Stone.

Chen Huiquing's Estate, CAS Zone, 10:20 PM, September 11, 2075


<<Mel felt uncomfortable wandering around the sterile business environment that was Huiquing's host. For one, she felt like she wasn't in her own skin, having never been partial to suits. For another, the sculpted system not only affected the appearance of her persona, but the appearance of her programs as well.

Finding the icon for one of the security cameras she was looking for, she reached out for her normal musical instrument, but instead found herself with a digital commlink in her hand. Gritting her teeth, she found that there was no loss in functionality, but it was still irritating. Her hands flew over the touchpad, and the video feeds from the three cameras appeared, one at a time in her vision. Two of them showed what was listed as the "artifact room" from two different angles. The third seemed to be an external camera, covering a second floor patio.

The feed from the cameras inside the room showed that at least some changes had been made from the schematics she had sent to the team. Judging by the schematic, one camera faced northwest, its view including the exterior wall and its view of the patio outside. The other camera seemed to face southwest, and the two video feeds overlapped, leaving no gap in the coverage for someone to sneak past.

The schematic showed this as a bedroom, with an interior bathroom, but it seemed to have been completely converted into a showroom. The bathroom had been removed, and instead of bedroom furniture, there was only a series of pedestals, all enclosed. Along the walls were expensive wooden shelving, covered in books and other trinkets, while the west wall showed ancient weaponry hung on the wall, swords and daggers of bygone eras.

The dragon and the vase were located in the center of the room, clearly the showpieces of the collection. With a final push of the touchpad, Mel fed the video feed over to the team, giving them a view into the target room.>>

Chen Huiquing's Estate, CAS Zone, 10:20 PM, September 11, 2075

<<@Team [Snap] Good job! I have a good idea of the layout so I can send my spirit to do some astral scouting of the house now. I'll let you know when I have more info. What a big estate he has, this Chinese mafia guy!>>

The shaman turns her attention to her spirit. "Great Ancestor, I need you to do some astral reconnaissance for me. The estate in this direction has a large house. I want you to look around inside of it and report back the number and types of auras and wards you find. Avoid detection as much as you can, including not trespassing any wards."

Chen Huiquing's Estate, CAS Zone, 10:21 PM, September 11, 2075

Within a minute the spirit's voice rings out in Snap's head. "Mistress, I searched the ground and basement floors of the house. There are six mundane auras in the basement, and two on the main floor of the house. The entire second floor of the house is warded, preventing me from entering. Fare well."

Amy feels her contact with the spirit fade as it vanishes back to the Astral.

O'Roarke's, CAS Zone, 10:25 PM, September 11, 2075

Back at the bar, Grease greeted the dwarf cordially.

"Pleased to meet you. I'm a friend of Chapel's; you must be Stone." The dwarf gives him a quick grunt, tipping his hat.

"It's always good to become acquainted with new faces, especially in parts of town I'm not familiar with. I think you'll be able to help me tonight, although what I need almost isn't worth the trouble." He spreads his hands. "That said, there's no telling how often my business will bring me to this neck of the woods. I'm excited to work with you; and if things go smoothly you'll always be my first call when I need something in this sector."

The dwarf nodded noncommittally, and Grease continued.

"For the moment, I've got a short list of items I'm interested in. First and foremost; I need to transport a pair of delicate items. I'm sending you dimensions. Ideally, the casing would be resistant to scanning, but since I need them tonight, I'll take what I can get." The elf leaned in a little closer. "I could use a set of disguises, as well. City worker, maintenance, whatever you have- someone who could reasonably trespass to fix a downed power line, for example. 4 sets." He scratched his chin. "And, just out of curiosity, how hard would it be to come by.. Let's call them fireworks. Specifically the flashy, smokey kind." He finished with a grin.

Chen Huiquing's Estate, CAS Zone, 10:21 PM, September 11, 2075

Jack reviewed the camera feeds Mel had managed to tap. Triangulating the angle of view, the ork updated his copy of the floor schematics Mel had sent with the locations of the three cameras as well as his best estimate of the arc they covered. Nodding, he sent a message back to the decker.

<<@Team [JustJack] Great work, Mel. See if you can identify any other slaved devices that may be running in that room, probably maglocks and sensor suites. From there, we just try to walk the perro backward to the mud room, picking out devices along the way>>