"not likely. A fireball is not nearly hot or lasting enough to burn a car - unless you want to unleash a full-blown forest fire. I heard, Austrian trees are quite explosive...

We are definitely going to keep the mage. Preferably, I'd say we offer him to Muhme. Maybe she'll give us a little extra. She'll know which questions she'll want to ask. Also, I think it's about time to collect some nuyen."

<< There is still the matter of the dwarven girl, and that someone or something that is after her. Also, are we sure there is nothing else to be done here about the rituals? >>

>> I can send a spirit to look for her, and we may learn more by checking their links.

The girl showed bruises and signs of other misstreatment as well as slight dehydration. This cabal seemingly hadn't been interested in keeping the girl healthy. Still, she wasn't in mortal danger, but the extreme excitement had let her faint.
As James took care of her, she regained consciousness:
"What... who are you?"

Taurus and Nova busily secured the scene. The two dead mages as well as the life one carried their switched off commlinks with them. The woman had dropped her Athame, while the other two carried concealed holsters with light pistols. Inside the car, bags with magical paraphernalia were piled high. Most of the stuff looked tacky as hell, but Anna could sense lots of them were reagents, albeit of low quality.
The car clearly was a rental.
Cracking their links at leasure revealed further details on what had happened: After spotting the two girls on their way home, they drove by them, using mind magic to coerce them into getting into the car. The girls had been bound and gagged and hooded. So secured, the trio had been lax in their guard duty. The dwarf girl had managed to somehow open the window in the bathroom they had been confined to and gotten out without alerting the mages. After that, the trio had gone into panic mode, even going so far as to ask the parents in the guise of police after a sample of their daughter's hair for a tracking ritual after the spirit tasked with using search wasn't able to locate the girl.

Nova put the guns over her shoulder and went to the other side of the car, to open the door and get the girl out and turn her away from the carnage.

"As I said, we are bringing you home. We are actually after the three monsters here, to stop what they were about to do, and when we learned that you and your friend were kidnapped, we couldn't just let that happen, right? It's over now. We will bring you back to your parents. But we still need to find your friend. She seems to have fled somewhere."

Yasmine, sobbed: "Yes, Christine said she could see through her mask and she managed to get up despite the restraints and through the window. When they found out, they totally freaked out. They hit me to tell them where she went. But I didn't know, I couldn't see through my mask."

Anna finally takes the spell off, and then she texts >> So what do we do with dead bodies around here?

"Not our problem, we need to find the other girl...and I need a shower and a change of clothes." Taurus heads off to get his bike and find some water, carrying the captured mage over his shoulder.

<< Sounds like the dwarf girl is a mage... As for the rest, someone suggested to burn the car. Do we have anything to start a proper fire in there? >>

>> I can do a fire spirit - anyone with a better technique?

"Uhm, well...", bnc stutters when the girl opens her eyes. Why the frag does a Schwarzwälder girl speak English to random strangers? Odd world, that.

When Nova jumps in, James retreats, relieved. "Yeah. She's healthy. Uh."

He/She steps back, somewhat awkwardly, then looks around and wipes her brow, notwithstanding the fact that a drone would hardly break into sweat. She instead joins the conversation in the team channel after having hacked the 'links:
"Let's just leave the bodies and the car. Law enforcement will see it as what it was: There were black mages who gutted deer and kidnapped girls. Some angry folk geeked them. I don't expect them to go after us. If anything, they'd send a package of Merci chocolates to us for dealing with their biggest problem.

Anna, if you can, send forth your spirit. However, if they couldn't find her with a spirit, neither will you. I'll try and find out where possible hiding place might be, and who and what this Magog is. Anna, you might try using their sample of hair they mentioned. It must be somewhere around here. How fast can you find her using ritual spellcasting?"

Anna says >> I don't practice ritual magic but I'll let Mhume do it.

Anna augments her willpower to prepare her mental capacities for summoning, she conjures another spirit of man - and tasks it with finding the missing girl, starting the search from the structure she escaped from.

>> I sent my spirit after her, it is as powerful as I am comfortable summoning without risking my health. Let's return the girl, and deliver the prisoner.

"All right, we don't have to worry about Magog anymore. It was a bound spirit, and I have trouble believing that once freed it'd still try and harm the girl.
I made a quick survey of the area and I believe I have some clues from where I can find her faster than Muhme. Nova, would you accompany me? I'd be happy for some muscles with me, just in case. Someone of the rest should probably return the girl and say something nice to the parents or whatever you do after rescuing a teenager. Anna, would you grab Taurus and deal with prisoner and hostage?"

James nods towards Nova, then starts running towards the place from where the girl escaped, then starts tracking her down.

>> I'll come with you, let's see if I can do more Sherlocking... She says and grabbed her monocycle to follow James and do some tracking of her own.

Nova reloaded and broke down her guns to store them in her backpack.

<< If Anna comes with you, which makes sense, since the dwarf girl seems to be awakened, I can bring the girl here back, too. >>

If they havn't done so, yet, she will also check the car's trunk.

"Yeah, fine by me. If she can pull her Sherlock-Holmes-thing off another time, I'm happy to have her with me. See you at flying gingerbreads, then."

Driving/walking back to the bungalow while Taurus and Nova took care of the ambush site as well as their prisoner, Anna and James soon reached the aforementioned bathroom window. Here the signs were clear: disturbed earth in the little flower patch and the clear imprint of a sneaker. Moving away fromt he house came grass and the day old track was a lot harder to make out. The girl - despite what she had said - clearly hadn't seen clearly, or she was too dehydrated to walkin a straight line. The track lost itself in the underbrush - at least for a few meters, until Anna found it again. The trail became more and more erratic, even doubling back a bit - as someone blind might do. Finally it stopped right next to a small, round hole in the ground, that looked like a fox hole. Anna noticed how her spell fizzled out. The background cound at this spot was unbelievable high. Something was down there - maybe that flaring leyline that fed into the nexus the black mages had wanted to use?



Looking through the rover it became clear, that this was a rented vehicle - beside the hastily thrown in bags of gear there wasn't anything more of interest there.

>>bnc, BGC is insane - no more sherlocking from me until we leave this place. So keep double watch. Giving up the spells, she carefully observed the foxhole and surrounding with her mundane senses.

"Well done, you fox. I don't think it'll be necessary anymore - we might just have found her. Remind me I need to talk to you about this spell later."

When everything was done, Nova turned to the girl again. "Alright, let's bring you home. Can you ride one of these?"

Nova pointed to the monocycles. If the girl was capable, she would fire up the autopilot of her own bike, to drive to them. Otherwise, they could take Nova's bike together and let the monocycle autopilot on its own.

The girl nodded and let herself be put on one of the monocycles. She was still shaken, but gripped the controls, but let Nova drive before her.

Anna and James were able to hear faint breathing.

Anna nods at James signaling that the girl is down there. Christine can you hear us? We are here to rescue you.

">>Care to climb down? James is likely strong enough to carry her, and can stabilize her if she is hurt. My mojo would barely work in this foxhole, and I am not strong enough to carry her back up. I'll have to levitate which would likely physically harm me.

Taurus will stop at the first stream, bathroom, fountain or birdbath and clean the worst of the muck off of himself, never leaving the bundled up mage out of his sight.

When he is cleaner, he will check the restraints and sensory coverings. Once back to his monocycle he will take back roads and whatever else he needed to keep out of sight.

>>Eliza, Muhme, I am bringing in a prisoner. How do you want to do this? Just bring him to the hut or keep him offsite?

"Climbing is the very thing he was built for. That, and he is the most amazing sex doll in the Sixth World"
James climbs down the rabbit hole.

Finding a stream around here wasn't very difficult, so Taurus was able to get rid of the worst gore on him and on his gear. The mage was still incapacitated and hadn't tampered with his restraints.
Eliza replied: <<Muhme is currently performing a ritual, looking for the child. Bring the captive to the clearing and secure him there. I'll inform her as soon as she no longer has to concentrate.>>

Meanwhile, James had got stuck. The fox hole got rapidly narrower and only the fact that the drone didn't have to breath or was restrained by normal human anatomy in the workings of his joints prevented the situation from being hopeless. Only 20cm away from his outstreched hand, the sensors could make out the girls feet. The dwarven girl barely moved or breathed now, certainly she wasn't conscious and as far as bnc could make out, she was still restrained and hooded.

Anna smirks at the sex doll reference texting >> wow, any conquests for James? she tires to maintain an eye contact with James as much as she can, and is surprised as to how deep the girl managed to fall.

Ignoring the question for the moment, bnc curses slightly. "Damn, how could that girl fit in there? Drek"

James then tries to bring his arm low enough to release the grapple hand, hoping against hope that he could grab the girl and pull her out of the hole.

Earth crumbled around James as the drone moved its body in a kind of wave pattern to create forward movement despite getting no good traction with its feet. It worked. Centimeter by centimeter the drone moved forward, until he could grip the dwarf girl. Her slight frame had much less trouble fitting in here.

Now, getting out again would be another matter entirely. But at least in this direction, Anna could assist

Whooping silently, bnc embraced the experience of ultimate control over a body that is so similar and yet so different from her own failing, frail, imperfect lump of flesh with its second-class sensors and mediocre interface.
@team "I got her! I got the girl."
James grabs the girl and pulls carefully. Despite the load and despite the awkward motion of moving backwards, James moves with more ease before. Once he had the knack, the rest came with ease and perfection - well, that is, kind of worming herself through mud and dirt with as much perfection as inching oneself through a rabbit hole can be achieved.
At last, James returned from his awkward journey, dirty all over, but the joung girl still in his grip. He lays her in a comfortable position, lying on her side, and before anything else, checks her vitals.

Impressed with bnc's performance Anna comments Wow, that was one tight hole. She assenses the girl to gauge for her medical condition.

James replies dryly, then smirks. "Yeah, I already told you I built James to fit into tight wholes..."

The orc bicycle repairman had already closed down his shop, but evidently hadn't been in bed since just as Nova and Taurus together with the rescued girl stopped in front of his shop, they could make out movement behind the upstairs curtains. Before they could even ring the bell, the door was opened and the orc came running out in a fashion that in most North American cities would have Lonestar's trigger fingers itch.
"Papa!" The girl cried out and hastily got off from the bike as well. What followed was a particularly tight hug and a stream of Turkish so dense and fast that no normal translation soft would have been able to follow.
Finally, with tears in his eyes, the man looked up and said: "Thank you, oh thank you so much. Whatever can I do to thank you!"

Meanwhile, bnc and Anna had a chance to check the dwarven girl. It appeared that besides a mild case of hypothermia and dehydration as well as a bunch of scrapes and grazes the girl was healthy enough - just exhausted from her involuntary 24 hour stint as a would be fox.

Eliza replied: <<That's great! I have informed Muhme and she asks you to return the girl to her parents and then come to base asap.>>

Nova smiled, it was nice to see them so happy.

"It's alright. You already helped us, and it's really refreshing to see some happiness every now and then. The world is bad enough as it is. Just be there for her. I'm sure, your bond will be stronger than ever. Make the most of it."

"Alright, she is fine... Let's get her home." she says, pausing she adds care to carry her? It would be difficult on the monocycle with an unconscious girl.

The mage and the drone make their way to return the girl to her parents.

The two dwarves had by now finished their shift and moved on to the next building. Getting hold of them wasn't hard though since bnc had the father's commlink number and the elderly model put up barely more resistance than a wet cotton ball to her attempts to reveal its location.

The two runners were able to witness an amazing transformation: As the dwarf couple appeared from the building they just cleaned they looked tired, beaten down and ready to drop. Yet as soon as they saw the two runners with their daughter waiting at their car, they crossed the distance between them in record time and started to hug their daughter barely that James had released her.
"Oh my god, where have you been, what happened to you. Christine, Christine! What's wrong? What happened to you?!"


The ork shook his head over and over again, still hugging his daughter: "Come on in, at least let me make you some tea and something to eat."

Anna politely answers "She needs rest, dehydrated, and exhausted. She was a brave one - and tried to escape while restrained and blindfolded. My friend dug her out of a foxhole actually. Anyhow, get her well-rested, and she will be alright." she pauses, and then adds "We need to go now, no rest for the wicked"

"Well, guess I can't say no to that. Thank you! But I cannot stay too long," Nova replied politely.

James explains in German: "The girl is physically all right. Give her enough to drink and warm her up. Best would be herbal or fruit tea. Warm milk, optionally with hot chocolate, protein powder or honey would be all right, too. She might have caught a cold down there, maybe fever, but nothing to worry about."

Then he pulls the more stable looking of them to the side and continues: But be aware that the girl most likely suffered a trauma. She got kidnapped by black mages who intended to sacrifice her in a blood ritual. She barely escaped and stumbled blindly through the forest, leaving behind her friend to be tortured and sacrificed. There she stayed until there was little hope to survive at all. Don't push her the way you just did but signal her that she can always talk to you. I recommend to find professional help for both yourself and your daughter - even if... especially if she doesn't show an immediate change in her behavior. Depending on her personality, she might try to bury the experience, but she might also suffer from depressions, panic attacks, uncontrolled rage outbursts, and projectional actions, like self-harm or substance abuse. She's gonna need a lot of love, but also space."

Then she nods to the group. "Like my partner said, we need to get going. Take care."
After one step back, James turns to the girl. "Ah, and Christine. You don't have to worry anymore. We found the mages who did this to you, and we killed them. We also found your friend. She is unscathed. Whatever happened to you, it is over now. A very bad memory."

Then she leaves.

Nova found herself on a sofa with a low table and a glas of sweet, strong tea as well as some kind of white confect, while Yasmine spoke in a steady stream of Turkish. The ork became visibly agitated and only shook his head: "Satanists. I can't believe it. It is good that you killed them all. I'm sorry, I can't repay you how I should be able to...
Well, maybe I can do something for you at least." He grabbed his commlink and sent Nova an ARO.
"This is the adress of my cousin Ali. He has good connections to the Grey... to a patriotic organization. He might be able to get you in contact with people who have access to various pieces of war worthy hardware. I'll write to him at once and tell him of your help. He'll make you favorable deals within the organization."


The pair of dwarves nodded, still hugging her daughter. "Thank you so much, whatever can we do for you."

Taurus meanwhile had brought the captive to the clearing - not encountering anyone this late at night. Unexpectedly, Muhme came out and took a look at the black mage.
"Good work. As soon as the others are back you'll receive your money. Keep this one restrained and blind while I wake him up and take a look on what he knows."

Anna is embarrassed by the situation - not that her family did not love her. She just misses that warmth, the idiotic and hopeless life at the edge of society. She won't go back, but it is still painful to remember.

"There is nothing to do, we were happy to help." She says, and turns to leave. Once out, they make their way to the Muhme's base. "Time to get paid! she comments happily.

"We did our job, nothing more. Just ... Just... Seek out professional help for your daughter. Live on. Give h-.
I am sorry. It's none of my business. Stay safe."

bnc is very thoughtful and calm on her way back.

Nova smiled, when the ork tried to explain what his cousin Ali does.

"Thank you very much and you have nothing to worry. I'm sure, you two are smart enough to have figured out by now, that we are not actually private investigators. Well, sortof, but not quite. But I did mean everything I said, when we visited you earlier. I'm just glad it worked out and your daughter is unharmed, physically. It might require some time to work through everything that happened. Anyways, thank you for your hospitality. The tea is really good and those sweets are amazing!"

She gave the girl a friendly hug and the father a (for her size remarkably) strong handshake as she said her farewells before she headed back to the base as well.

Taurus drops the mage on a rough patch of ground and checks all of his knots for the third or fifth time. He was momentarily taken back to his father's boat, practicing and learning different knots from the fisherman.

"You are going to do magic on him? Fair warning, he threw a hell of a fireball, so he has some talent. Should I be watching him or watching your back while you do it?" Taurus didn't really have a handle yet on when a mage left their body behind and when they didn't.

Muhme nodded: "Keep him still and blind. As long as he can't see, he won't be able to fire - and I'll be ready to counter him too."

The rest of the team arrived in time to see Muhme standing over the mage with her foot on his back.
"Your payment is inside on the table. I'm nearly finished with this degenerate. When I'm done We can start moving to the next objective."

Anna gets inside to grab her payment. "Chi ching" she says once she pockets the credstick.

James autonomously moves to the shower to clean himself and his suit, while she in the meanwhile gets up and stretches her physical body. "Ah, fraggit. I need to practice more..."

Still somewhat stiff, bnc joins the crew and also pockets her credstick. "Looking forward to get to know what the mage's brain's got ready for us."

Muhme straightened and with an almost casual move of her hand, the mage below her foot turned into goo. One moment he was there, the next he was a slimy, transparent mass on the ground. With slight distaste on her face she stepped back and stuck her hand into the mess, pulling out something that looked like a weird, blook colored, oblong crystal. only on the second look it became clear that this was a crystal spine.
The next moment, the goo turned back into the man. He lay absolutely still, only a soft moaning coming from his mouth, than he lay still.

"Spineless coward", was all Muhm said before returning to the blimp. "Come on, there is no time to waste."
Once the team was assembled inside, she said:
"I now have confirmation that there is indeed organized opposition at work here trying to organize others, such as these amateur satanists, to exploit the mana spikes.
Adam out there wasn't the brightest, but he did witness his dear sorceress pursuing a clandestine affair with a man in a well tailored business suite and green eyes. His aura showed him as perfectly mundane, but that was likely only a masking effect.
Nevertheless, we are done here and you earned your bonus for being quick about it. That gives us a bit more time to prepare for the next stop: Prague.
So better polish up your Czech a bit. That city is full of secret magical societies. So we'll have to be extra careful."

bnc's belly turns into a tight knot. Unable to breath, let alone speak for a moment, she stares at the spine in shock and horror.

"What is that? What do you know about that?"
Her eyes pierce right into Muhme, determined to get answers.