Willie is having a hard time. This is the first group he has worked with in a while that does not have a set command structure. Everyone here is jockeying for ... input, if not control. What's worse is that Willie has his own ideas swirling more and more around in his head. He's not used to vacillating. He's used to doing.

Gone are the simpler times of, "Willie, go there and shoot whoever comes through the door." Or, "Willie, get us there as fast as you can." Here, his thoughts seem to carry weight. That is a scary thing. Especially since error could now be his fault. Willie doesn't like that.

"Look, I don't want us to fight. I want to fight the other guys. I like doin' some shootin' and some smashin'. I think, yeah, that's right, I think, that the magicians gotta have some cool shit to do, too. With the right gun, I can shoot somebody a click and a half away. I don't get how a bullet goin' that far is different from a spell or a spirit goin' that far.

"I do get that whatever we do tonight, we're either gonna have a friend at the top of the Ancients, or an enemy. That could be worth mor'n just a few nuyen. How'bout we invest and bend a little on the friend side? We're not sure about what Belial meant when he said we gotta stick together. I think it was just us physical types. But who the drek knows what snob-ass elves think? Sorry, ladies, not you. Those uppity shits. They're likely to look for some angle to screw us over in the end. Like some insurance company and their 'clauses'.

"Just 'cause we're wearin' these jackets, an' they say we are them for tonight, it don't mean it's so. So why don't we play the elves safe and do shit just where we are? I know I got the first bit o' fun here tonight. But the crazy shit the decker and the mages can do is whut's gonna get us over the top. Let's do it."

Can Opener looked from Smiley to Willie, then back again. Then back to Willie. Then she threw up her hands and settled back down behind the seat.

"Too cool for school? Whatever you say, hot stuff. I guess I'll be your standby medic until you decide you want some damage done. Line A is for bleeding wounds, line B is for venereal disease, line C is for hangovers. Don't want no help? Won't get drek help. Frag and slag all night long any way you want it. Willie, I guess mister booze bomber over here wants a drive over to someplace he can set things on fire. Hope for his sake that stuff's over 100 proof otherwise it won't burn much."

She then took the ancients jacket that she'd grabbed and pulled it over herself like a green, armour-plated blanket.

"For this I came out all the way here? Oh well, at least that paid for bus fare, and then some. Maybe I could get my axe etched nicely with some of what's left after some rent."

@Selina - Confused and afraid, the girl instinctively withdraws away from you. But her desire to be free doesn't let her go much further as she unburies her head to look upwards at you. Revealing her battered, forlorn face. A purplish bruise mars the side of her cheek. Evidence of her being slapped around a little as a way to ensure she does as she's told. "I'm... I'm... Dawn. My name is Dawn. Please! Get me out of here!" Her voice cracks in-between words as she starts to cry a little. The shame of what she had been forced to do began to set in. Making it near unbearable for her to continue speaking.

Willie is getting antsie. "We need to get going, chums."

He hops into the driver's seat and straps in. He messages the team, but mostly Selina.

<<Time to go. I was driving by the time I was 9. So probably one of these kids can drive, too. Give 'em the truck and let's get on to the next stop. Closest are the Orks and Humanis. We can have some fun there, both for the talkers and the flamers.>>

IC Princess

<<Grab the links from the dwarves. I'll take control of the van, and can turn it into a good truck for future runs.>>

Kathy's voice came from the back seat behind Quick Willie: "Have to wait for Catwoman, Willie. Otherwise we're breaking the sacred rules. You don't wanna die a heretic, do you?"

Smiley hops out and goes to the dwarves, giving them a quick pat down for comms, keys or anything of note.

"Hey Selina! You okay? Clock's ticking lady!"

Selina

"Hi! I'm Selina. We will get you out. You, and the other girls as well. You are safe now. Come!"

<< Gee, guys. You sound like I was gone for an hour, not like ten meters away for just a couple seconds. Will be right there, just give me a moment to handle the situation with the girls. Did anyone get that car to work? >>

Selina took Dawn with her and headed over to the other girls, looking for one that seemed clear-headed enough to be in charge of the group. She quickly explained that they can take the van for now, assuming they got it to open and drive, and that her friend Fiona would take them to a safe place. Fiona, in the meantime, changed into her human form behind the curtain and joined the rest to take charge of the girls' rescue from there, so Selina could quickly rejoin with the rest of the team.

"I will project into the astral space and fly up, so you can easily find me, when you are ready to come back," Selina told her, while she headed for the Rover and hopped in.

"Alright, alright, I'm here. So, where are we headed now? Do we try to beat them to the Spikes, or do we take the other targets down in the vincinity?"

Once in the car, Selina remembered the data, Belial had given them, and found his com number in there. So she called him directly, to let him know about the girls.

"Wait, you found the elf and we are just going to leave her here? You guys really don't want to win this at all do you?"

IC Princess

<<Someone slave the links to mine. I can control the van to drive all the girls to Belial. Soon as the links are slaves over, we can get moving, hit up Humanis next. Slot and run people!>>

Willie is getting pumped. A few good kills can do that for a guy.

"Alright! Selina's gettin' the pimp's link and squaring the kids away in the truck. She gets here, we roll! Humanis! Grumage! Yahhhh!"

He guns the engine. "Let's get outta here 'fore the pigs come and we got some 'splainin' to do."

Can Opener sat in the back, wedged comfortably in place. While the engine revved, she used a foot to erase the chalk design she'd drawn on the back of the seat in front of her. Nothing hurried or anxious - just a great calm of sorts. Fatalism, perhaps.

IC Princess

<<Tell her to get that design back and ready. If my drone beats the Laesa to the spikes, we're sending the spirit. While she deals with the Spikes and you all deal with Humanis, I'll deal with the truck. That'll leave just the Skraacha for us to handle. Be back with all five before the hour.>>

Selina

Looking at Smiley, Selina said: "Nobody is leaving that little girl here, or the other girls. But clock's ticking, right? Fiona will guide them back to the Chain with the van and keep them safe. I can stay in contact with her and guide her actions from here. Meanwhile, I am calling Belial to let him know they are coming to them, so they can prepare some blankets and such."

<< @IC Princess: You can hear us when we talk in the car, right? >>

"Okay, listen, please. We might not all be on the same page as to how to approach this whole thing. But we should be, right? So, let's figure this out while Willie is driving us to the next place. First, each of you give me a vote where to go now, so we can be on our way. A) Humanis, B) Spikes. Majority decides. Everyone okay with that?"

IC Princess

<<@Selina: See and hear, now that I have the drone's feed up. You know my vote. Humanis. We can go with the spirit plan for the Spikes if the Laesa don't get there before my drone.>>

Selina

"My own vote goes to the Spikes. This way, Willie can really show us what he is made of, and if the Laésa are heading there, and we beat them, we will have the whole thing in the bag, pretty much. If we both have the Spikes as targets, and it is the only overlap, and we leave it to them, they can still make all five, while we can only get four. Anyways, that is my vote. I will ask Belial about the sending drones and spirits out thing, when he picks up. Seems like the only way to be sure about it."

Can Opener groaned in the back and rolled her eyes before drawing the bowler hat's brim down.

"If the location matters, I don't care. Get it? I'm a medical kit with a pulse. Drive wherever you want that isn't off a cliff or into a wall. I'll be taking my pay and buying salt and vinegar for pickling. If you want an opinion, ask the boss. I just work here."

With that last remark, she lifted one hand out from under the jacket enough to jerk a thumb at Smiley, before settling back down in her nest.

"Humanis or Skraacha, which ever is closer, then the other, and then we hit the truck. Alert the Spikes so they are ready for the other team if we can on the way, so the other team has a bigger fight. That's my vote." Smiley hands over what ever he found on the dwarves to Princess.

Willie pulls out of the parking lot with his team all secured in the Rover. Smooth as silk he cuts through traffic, heading north towards the old town of Puyallup. The driving brings its customary focus to Willie, and his thoughts coalesce.

"From here in the driver's seat, it looks stupid to race past two targets in the hopes of gettin' to the Spikes before the other team does. An' I'm pretty sure that Belial cutie-pie will look for a way to screw us if we do anything outside whut he said. But ain't nuthin' says we can't have a drone lookin' at what goes down there.

"If the other team's got the same targets we do, we can seal the win by doin' these two close uns before they get to them. An' I know a few here would like to do a number on the Spikes, but the Humanis scum push a lot more buttons in this car, I bet.

" I'm gettin' the feelin' some in here are pissed about who gets to do whut. Lookit this way. This life is like rock-paper-scissors. I'm rock to a lot o' scissors, 'cause I'm so fast. But I come up against some spirit from the likes of Can Opener or Selina, an' I might as well be throwin' spaghetti at it. My rock turns to paper real fast. An' fucked if I know anythin' 'bout what Princess there does. She can probly make my innards turn against me. Ain't no run where we all get to shine the same bright. So whut? We get paid, its all good.

"Smiley, I know you got all them molowtov thingies, an' they cost you. We can pitch in to spread the cost even if we don't use 'em all this time. An' I bet you can sweet talk the Skraacha better'n I can! I'll try to keep my mouth shut more this time.

"So I say, let's burn a few motherfraggin' Humanis's next. Everybody gets to play there."

Selina

"That's three for Humanis. Then it's settled, we go there next."

While not her prefered choice, it was good to have a common direction here, and Selina had no problem accepting that the rest thought of this as the better target for them, as long as there was some sense of unity. To be honest, she had seen enough from trolls that day. More than enough, clearly. Only Can Opener seemed a little grumpy still, but she was a dwarf, so that was probably normal.

There has been another topic of heated discussions, previously, and she had used her short call to Belial to clear that up.

"By the way, since that part wasn't entirely clear, when I gave him the heads-up about the girls, I asked Belial specifically about sending drones and spirits to another place, and he said no. In the spirit of this thing, we can only act in a locale where we are present with our meat bodies, so to say. Alas, no across-the-city shenanigans. So let's keep it that way."

@All - With their slave-drivers dead, the women start to sober up. One by one, they come to terms with what had just transpired. They look at one another and at you, their anxious, desperate faces glowing in the parking lot street lights. The eldest among them, a red-haired human probably in her mid twenties snatches a spare set of keys off of one of the deceased brothers and herds the rest of girls with her. They thank, hug and maybe even try to kiss each one of you as they prepare to leave for the Daisy Chain, taking Dawn with them as well. Hopping inside the Bulldog, they say their thanks once again as they wave goodbye.

You start to feel a warm, fuzzy feeling welling up somewhere within your core. It's not often you get to make the world a better place in such an immediate way. Usually, shooting someone in the face tends to have the opposite effect. Not this time though. This time, you can actually say you made a difference. Even if a small one.

March 14th, 2073, 12:12 AM

The Puyallup Barrens aren’t just for Seattle’s poor and downtrodden. They’ve long been a stronghold of Seattle’s metahuman poor and downtrodden. Redmond’s much more firmly in “pure” humanity’s grasp, and the Humanis Policlub hate group’s in roads into Puyallup have been much slower going. Opposed by virtually every gang in this corner of the Sprawl, the 13th Chapter Of The Righteously Human aren’t exactly the most popular kids on the block. Even from here, you can see how run down and crappy their cute little clubhouse is. The place might have started as a VFW or Elk’s Lodge a hundred years ago, or maybe some neighborhood rec center, or dingy bar. Hell, maybe it was always a dump, who knows? All you see is that whatever pitiful examples of metaracism run the place now, they can’t even be bothered to keep their own walls free from local ganger graffiti or their sign out front from being used by local dogs and squatters to mark their territory. A small collection of run down Americars and a pair of old Toyota Gopher pickups sit in the lot, and while only the main room seems to be lit up, you see a second door into the place. Decisions, decisions…

Selina

"The girls have reached the club," Fiona had informed Selina, when the Bulldog arrived at its destination and the girls were at a much safer place now. "On my way back."

As previously suggested, Selina had projected her self into the Astral Space, and hovered a good distance over the car, in order for Fiona to easily find her way to their new destination.

When they arrived there, she said: "This place is just sad, in more than one way."

"Since lighting up the Spikes is a no-go, how about you bring forth your fire elemental now?" Selina asked into Can Opener's direction. "Seems to me, that this building could benefit from some fire clearance."

"What I can do is give us some information on what to expect in there," the shaman said as she concentrated on a spell.

IC Princess

<<@Team: Alright, I'm going to create my backdoor into the truck. That way we're ready when the time comes to take it. Geek those disgusting pieces of drek, and have fun doing it.>>

IC Princess then turns and begins working on getting through the truck's firewall.

Smiley will be glad to give anyone a hug that wants one. He will also tell anyone of age that they should give Josie a call if they need real work to help them get on their feet.

At the clubhouse he grabs the box and takes it away from the Rover into an alley, his thought is to start raining cocktails to help fuel the chaos once the elemental starts.

At the clubhouse, Willie parks so he has a clear view of the front door from his position in the driver's seat. Window down, he has the SMG ready, zooms with vision magnification onto the front door, and takes good aim as the rest of the crew do their thing. "I'll take care of any rats jumping the burning ship out front."

Whoa. That's a cool ... analogy? ... metaphor? ... simile? Whut tha fuck?

Can Opener nodded at Selina, not speaking. With a few swift motions of chalk she outlined what looked roughly like a triangle in a circle, and in a moment she drew a squiggle in red chalk in the dead centre. On doing so there was a brief glow that faded, while Can Opener herself looked vacant, as if wondering what had happened.

In reality, she was communing with the small spirit she had summoned.

"O scion of flame, I thank you for heeding my call. This day I bring you a gift, of a place to cleanse with fire of its corruption. Behold this hall, and the people within. Look you at the well-dried wood within the walls and roof, out of sight of the people that dwell within. Look at the piles of trash that they leave in the back, and the fat in their cooking. Go forth and dance, servant of flame, wherever they do not look and where the fabric and contents of this building are most dry and ready for your embrace. Let them not see you, for they may interfere with you before your joyous work is done, but swiftly bring the light of purity to every angle and eave in turn. With this, your service shall be complete."

Can Opener shuddered then, and sighed. "Yup, that should work." She looked over at the building, fully expecting to see wisps of smoke emanating from the roof's ventilation in short order.

Selina

"There's eight of them in there, all human males. They are armed, but seem to be unaware of our presence, as of yet. Probably just slacking," Selina reported. "Guess that will change soon."

Willie chuckles at Selina's remark. "Yeah. They ain't gonna be bored!"

IC Princess

<<@all: I'm in. The truck is ours when we're ready for it. Now, to spy a bit on our competition...>>

And with that, she turned and began to analyze the master node for the Laesa team.

@Can Opener - Without question, the elemental spirit obeys your command. Through the astral you see it's form. A tiny thing really. A wispy flame sprite of vaguely humanoid proportions glides through the invisible ether and heads toward the building complex. Passing both into and through it's walls. Your burning servitor uses it's magical senses to detect the best spot to ignite, free from onlookers and anyone else that might disturb it's mayhem. The elemental settles for a supply closet around the side of the chapter house's main entrance. There, inside, it manifests a physical body akin to how it looks on the astral. Not wanting to waste any more time, it sets about finishing it's task. Embers, sparks and tongues of flame lash and break out as it walks. Using it's "arms", the spirit swats and smacks anything and everything the looks remotely combustible or flammable. Seconds pass, and then... BOOM!

Grand! What luck! It seems that supply closet kept something explosive and extremely ignitable inside. The inferno expands outward and reaches the main building. It wasn't long at all before everyone inside came mobbing out. Screaming, yelling and cursing as they struggle to understand what had happened.

Can Opener looked on thoughtfully as the building experienced localised ignition, explosion and conflagration in quick succession, the flare compensation in her glasses flipping in and out so briefly it might have been a flicker.

"I suppose that they weren't watching their arsenal. Shame, really. Darned shame. .... could have been janitorial supplies too, I suppose. I'll leave that question for the philosophers."

She didn't sound sympathetic. She might have been describing the price increases on Sukie Redflower TriD gift packages.

Flare compensation kicks in for Willie as well, and having waited patiently for the occupants to boil out of the building, they politely complied! As they boil, Willie picks the first three out as they exit, gracing each with a full burst of his submachine gun.

@Willie - You unleash a shredding barrage of bullets at the men exiting the burning building, and they part like wet paper. Torn to pieces by the lead ripping holes into them. Three down, five to go.

Before the echo of the explosion died but after the the SMG started to chatter, Smiley began lighting the rags and letting the bottles fly. His intention was to land his first shots into the beds of the Gophers and then turn the parking lot into a merry hell.

He was no grenadier, but he used to enjoy being able to pick off runners stretching for extra bases from deep in left field.

IC Princess

Seeing the Humanis members coming out and Willie already lighting them up, IC Princess sends a command to the roto-drones to eliminate the humans coming from the building.

Roto-Drones

Command received, the first of the two drones takes aim at one of the remaining five before firing, the report of the sniper rifle cracking through the sky. It then takes aim at a second target, then unleashes another round of fiery death from 100 meters above.

@All - The drone's alpha strike hit the Humanis gangers dead center. Knocking them off their feet with a sniper slug lodged deep within each of their chest cavities. As the remaining gangers flee from the raging inferno, they draw their pistols and start lining up shots. They yell at one another, and at you before they begin to fire back. "Subhuman fucks! We'll teach you what happens to those who mess with The Most Righteous!" The ones still alive and still standing pick Smiley out of all people to focus their hatred on. Probably because he was the one seen tossing Molotov's at their rides, turning them into burning piles of slag and metal.

Selina

Seeing that the humanis goons are basically dealt with, already, Selina does not see the need to pile onto their misery and keeps herself in a safe spot inside the car.

Can Opener sat in the car, watching intently. She saw the dead fall and the living start to fight back, and raised her hand, then hesitated.

"Fraggit, I can drop them, but ... maybe I won't be in shape to bring anything else. Don't need to take the chance."

Her hand dropped, and she bit her lip.

"If they hurt him, drag him closer and I'll get him on his feet again."

Smiley sees the policlubbers looking and dives deeper into the alley as the hail the gunfire chatters and ricochets around him. "I thought you goons like fires, all that burning crosses and whatnot!"

Willie shouts out the window of the Rover, "You tell'em..." He almost says Smiley's name, but something holds him back. "Let's see what the few Righteous left have left in'em. 'Course we might hafta punture 'em to see!"

At that, Willie sucks back mightily on his sinuses, pulls what he can of it into his mouth, and horks a loogie out the window. "That's whut I think o' the Righteous."

Selina

Eww. Gross.

"Speakin' o' punturin'..." Willie loads another clip in place of the one he ejected from his SMG. He lines up one of the two Humanis members still standing, and then lets a full burst do the "punturin'".



He scans over to the next standing goon and does the same. No emotion on his face. Just a job.

@All - Bodies fall and bullets fly. One by one, each thug takes a lead sandwich somewhere between their face, or what's left of it, and the swiss cheese they call a torso. Five lay dead at your feet. With three more on the ground groaning in pain as the try to staunch their own blood flow and keep their insides from becoming 'outsides'. One of them, a fresh out of high school boy judging by the looks of him, reaches a bloody hand upward in protest and screams pleadingly. "Please! Don't kill us! We won't tell anyone you we here, we swear!"

Can Opener looks on impassively. It's not the first killing she's seen, nor will it likely be the last. Mercy is given in proportion to mercy shown, in general, and Humanis has a poor track record there. A swift death now would probably be more mercy than the ghouls and devil rats would show.

Maybe leaving them would be the right thing to do.

Smiley grabs the box with the rest of the vodka and heads for the vehicle. Holding onto one, he puts the rest in the back and climbs in. He takes a swig of the bottle as he eyes the boy, his face blank.

@All - Two more loud, thunderous shots echo throughout the neighborhood. Sounding a reverberating death knell for the men crawling on the dirt and pavement. Struggling, just to stand, and as they do they are knocked down once more. This time permanently. The policlub teenager watches in shock and horror as a couple more of his friends are gunned down in cold blood. His face awash in a potent mixture of terror, despair, pain, suffering and torment. With a foreboding panicked tone, one filled with a torturous realization that his end has come, he manages to shriek out. "Oh God! They were right... about all of you metas… You really are all monsters!"

Selina

This was really nothing more than a slaughter. They had done more than enough.

"Let him be. He's barely more than a kid," Selina said to the others, hoping they would listen to her.

Can Opener sat back again and turned to Selina:

"If you don't pull him in here and nurse him back to health, he's just ghoulmeat now. Leaving him is the slow death. Mercy is a fast death. If you feel badly for him, kill him yourself. Me? I'm saving my juice for more important things - unless you reckon me patching him together is more important than whatever else we have going tonight. Your call, sister."

She didn't sound vicious about it; her voice carried neither malice nor rage. Simply resigned fatigue. The streets weren't pretty.

"Ghouls gotta eat too, let's roll. Tick-tock." Smiley waves his bottle down the street.

Can Opener sighed, and sat back again in the vehicle. The jacket stank of elfsweat, and the job was chaotically ill-planned. She hadn't done much, but it was still wearing.

"While we're worrying about death on the streets, has any of our overwatch picked up anybody looking for us? If Elfyboy mcJohnson sent something after us, or his opposition's pet mercs, I could see an argument for recycling its parts. Maybe some torqued-off thugs at the market got their drek together - it would be surprisingly fast, but it's possible."