Steel swallows the last bite of her bagel and smiles at Jake. "I'm always up for a little swordplay."

Jake is taken aback by Loki's sudden movements.

"Patience, Loki. A warrior is never anxious for a fight, but plans each strike as a chess player sees pieces moving on a board. That preparation is twice as important for a wielder of the arcane lest we over-exert ourselves before the true battle can be fought."

Replying to Steel, he returns the smile.

"Great, I look forward to the practice. Something tells me I will be using my sword quite heavily tonight."

Jake then pours himself a cup of coffee and politely asks if the rest of the team would like some as well.

A stream of foul language cuts through the air. "This is so fragged up, do you know what time it is?" Iblis stumbles from her room, lurching her way to the bathroom. "It's bad enough I'm sober but this is inhuman." She staggers into the bathroom and the sound of running water can be heard followed by a few short screams and more colorful language.

Jake smiles over his coffee.

"Everyone knew about Iblis' special sleeping patterns, right? She'll be doing better around twelve or after she's killed someone, whichever comes first."

:: Moe weaves in and out of traffic as she finishes up her conversation to Sade. ::

"Ya, look for me, I'll be 'round even if were no' workin it. Can't miss an opportunity to see ya!"

:: The morning of the meeting, she wanders into the house proper still wearing her PJs, extra baggy bottoms with skulls and crossbones, a tshirt for a local neopunk band and fuzzy bunny slippers. She helps herself to 3 bagels before Diesel can get his grubby fingers on them and proceeds to much happily. Her mind seems consumed with her breakfast, and she remains quiet....for the time being. ::

Nameless grins at Moe as she walks in. "Love the bunny slippers sweetie. They're so cute."

Helping himself to a bagel and coffee, he calls out to Iblis, "Actually, I don't know the time. What time is it anyway?" He smiles at the assorted curse words that come flying out of the shower. "Well, whatever time it is, it's certainly breakfast time out here. Better come out here and grab some before Diesel gets here and gets his hands on the food!"

Spreading some cream cheese on his bagel, he comments to no one in particular, "You know, I gotta say, it's odd how Loki can just sit silently and do absolutely nothing for X hours, but once we get near to go time, he couldn't sit still to save his life. Been on however many runs with him over the years, and I'm still not really used to the sudden shift."

Shrugging, he mutters, "Of course, it's way too fragging early to be up anyway, let alone thinking. Hey Jake," he looks over at their fearless leader, "why are we up and about so early again?"

:: Moe giggles at the compliment. The holds up first her right foot, then her left. ::

"Dis one's Fizzlebums and dis is Buttface cuz his cheeks are overstuffed and look like a butt. Haha!"

:: She muches some more, her eyes half closed in sleepiness. ::

"why are we up and about so early again?" Nameless asks.

"Because e's a bleeding sadist who uses 'is lea'ership to torture us poor gurls!"

"I try to save the sadism for other arenas hon. Actually, I am up this early because I always rise just before the sun is a hand's breadth into the sky. Blame it on my upbringing. I presumed we would drag the ladies out of the woodwork around ten o'clock. Unfortunately, Nameless, you seemed to be a little noisy this morning and woke the dead."

Jake smiles and quickly ducks behind Steel as bagels fly across the table with every intent to maim him.

After kicking in the door to the bathroom Diesel grumpily goes back to bed to try to sleep for a few more minutes but gives up on account of all the noise in the other rooms

After sitting on the bed for a few minutes to collect is thoughts Diesel heads to the shower only to discover that all the hot water is gone

:great he thinks to himself they NEVER leave any for me I gotta start showering the night before:

After clothing himself for the days activites he heads to the kitchen shoves half a box of bagles into him mouth and says one word "coffie" and heads straight for the thermis and pours and drinks 4 cups in a row then turns to the rest of the team and says.

"Yall could leave some hot water for me sometime. Jus wait and see, next time im gonna get up before all of ya and use it all mysel and tell me again why we are up at this unholy hour of day" Diesel says and gives a half gin

Grinning, Nameless subtly motions to Steel with one hand while picking up a bagel with the other. With a sharp flick of his wrist, he signals Steel to dive to the side as he hurrels bagel shurikens (also known as two halves of a bagel) at Jake.

Busy dodging the projectiles from the ladies, Jake is caught off guard, and the bagel whacks him on the head. "Hey! What was that for? What about male solidarity?" Jake laughs as he readies his own weapons against the assault.

"Male solidarity? Blaming your stealth guy for waking everyone up? After I already made this bagel run for you all? For shame!" Nameless replies in mock seriousness.

Jake is ready to retaliate when Diesel walks in, right through the food fight, bringing a temporary cessation to the activities. He stomps over to the coffee machine and downs four cups before going into his usual, 'you didn't save any hot water for me' speech.

"So it's water you want, is it, Big Daddy D..." Iblis's voice trails off...

"Mebbe we can 'elp you with that..." Moe chimes in. Hands drift towards glasses of cold water as Jake adds, "Unholy only if you're too lazy to get up early enough to eat..."

"In which case it is our responsibility as loving team members to help provide you with incentive enough to rise early..." Nameless finishes.

Simultaneously, they all chuck a glass of water at Diesel, drenching him. He just stares at them in shock, before roaring in mock anger and launching himself at the offending party members. Chaos erupts as the guilty foursome crash into everything and each other getting out of the way. Even the normally taciturn Steel is practically rolling on the floor laughing.

After a suitable period of retaliation and chastisement all around, some semblance of order is restored as the team sprawls out throughout the apartment, laughing and gasping for breath.

"Well I gotta say, how many other teams would start off the morning of a run with an early wakeup call and food fight?" Nameless laughs.

Man, I'm glad to be with these people. I can't imagine a team I'd rather run with. Sometimes, the best things in life are free... he reflects as he calms down and enjoys the smiles and gasps of laughter all around.

Quietly, the team begins calming down and preparing for the run, cleaning up and readying themselves for some serious biz. Play time was over, now it was time to go to work...

Jake, still toweling off his face, looks over the room and does a mental count. Looks like everyone is here.

"Alright folks, if we're ready to actually start."

He bends down to pick up one of the bits of bagels that had been squashed under foot by the team scrambling around and tosses it into the trash.

"We've gone over the basics of this plan before. Tonight at nine, Schnell's boat leaves the harbor with us on it. The trip sould take several hours and we'll come up on the vessel before dawn. Loki, you're going to summon up four spirits and task them to aid me in the fight against the crew of the ship and the spirits guarding it.

"If the ship is stopped as it should be given the efforts of the second mate, then we will have two options. If the crew is out on deck, Loki and I will lay down a few spells to subdue the crew members that are blocking the entry point for the quiet team. If they are not on deck, then Nameless, Steel, and Iblis will move in to place the gas at these points. Gesturing to the map.

"If the ship is still moving, then the spirits and I will go out to destroy the guardian spirit that is making the vessel move faster. Once that is done, Schnell will need to match speeds with the ship and the stealth team gets to climb across while everything is still in motion.

"Once the gas is deployed, we will need to wait about a minute before going in so that it can clear the area. After that, Moe, Iblis, Loki you three are taking the bridge. Nameless and Steel go with them to help make sure everything is secure. Big D and I are going to take the engine room.

"Once both rooms are secure, I want Nameless and Steel to do a search and destroy on any remaining resistance. Loki will provide astral overwatch and can check around corners or through doors to spot ambushes for you. I'm going to engage the ship's mage in astral combat unless he stays in his meat body. If that is the case, I will strip away any protections he might have and lead the two of you to him."

Jake pauses to make sure everyone is with him so far and to answer the inevitable "what-if" questions that are bound to happen.

Surprised at the lack of questions, Jake pushes on.

"Once the ship is ours, we are going to bring Schnell aboard to take it to the harbor that Moe directs us. We need to try and keep civilian casualties to a minimum during the raid on the ship in case the ship needs additional assistance in the engine room et cetera.

"Plan B is in case we are unable to take the boat. If two members of the team fall and we have still not been able to secure the bridge or engine room, the team pulls out. Schnell brings the team back here while Big D lays covering fire on the ship. Aim just below the waterline. One or two small holes won't be enough to sink the ship if they have a good crew, but should slow it down enough for us to escape. The team that is combat-ready will hit the warehouse with extreme prejudice. Hit them harder and faster than they can imagine and suppress the drek out of them. During our jog, Nameless brought up the idea of laying down some explosive charges before we go out to sea, just in case we have to come back. I'm hesitant just because I don't know how you would hide them.

"Plan C--Problems taking the vessel and Schnell's boat gets taken out. I will clear a space on the deck with any means necessary. Once that is done, Diesel, it'll be your job to make sure my body keeps going if I'm not in a position to move myself. If Schnell dies, Moe is going to be our best bet on a ticket home--so that means Nameless and Steel need to make sure she stays in one piece. Everyone on this team is important. I'm not assigning a higher value to anyone, or saying that you can't take care of yourselves. We've all worked as a family and a team before, time to do it again."

Swallowing his twentieth powdered-sugar coated chocolate-covered coffee bean, Loki grins. "I can do that. I'll summon some great forms for us. One to decelerate the ship if need be, one to confuse anyone on deck, one to attack their mage, and the rest to attack his spirits." He speaks quickly, his mind in overdrive.

Iblis grabs something to drink from the kitchen and slumps into a furry bean bag, a large pink fuzzy towel wrapped around her head. "Sounds good. Remember that the comm system on the ship will appear to be functioning but isn't and when you enter the code I set on the security system that all the doors will lock down and only accept that code. The boat should be off the main shipping lanes with the alteration I made to the navigation system and the cameras will loop a clear static image once the run begins."

Steel is trying to look serious, but her mouth keeps quirking into a smile at the memory of the breakfast-table antics. "All clear here," she says. "Drop the gas, pick off the stragglers, get the lady home."

"Loki the great forms sound fine. I'll need a small army of watchers and a hearth spirit if you can arrange it. Iblis, can you leave a message with the second mate for when he needs to have his diversion prepped? Steel, you're right on the money. Anyone else have questions or input?

"Moe will there be any trouble getting our gear from here to the boat? "

Nameless laconically raises a hand. “Hey boss. I got two questions. Under plan B, what if two members of the team fall but we have secured the bridge and/or the engine room. What then? And who’s the number two for this run? It sounds like you’re gonna be in and out of your body, and if you go down, who’s in charge of making the crucial calls? Just figured I should ask so we don’t sit around having long and elegant discussions in the midst of a firefight.”

Looking over at Steel, he gives her a smile. “Looks like I’ll be running with you for most of this one. Try not to get me killed in the process, ok?”

:: Moe listens quietly until he gets to the part about who's driving the boat. ::

"I've bin givin' i' some though, an' depen'in' on how da t'ing is rigged, I migh' be able ta naviga'e i' enough to ge' oos safely in da dock, bu' if i's beyond me, den we'll fall back on Schnell. Asi'e from dat, doe'n't seem like mooch for me ta do, am I pre'y much jus' along for da ride 'ere?"

Jake looks over at Moe.

"You darling are our insurance ticket. If for some reason I need to kill Schnell or he gets injured, we'll need you to get us home safely. And besides that, we couldn't possibly leave you at home could we?"

The large Italian man smiles and pats the small woman on the shoulder.

"In answer to your question, Nameless if we have the bridge and or engine room then we stay the course. And since you so kindly volunteered for the number two position, that's settled as well."

"Sounds like a plan to me" Diesel says as he walk into the bathroom for a towel and returns a few seconds later drying himself off

"What a great way to start this mission he says as he takes off and wrings out his shirt and puts it back on Lets just hope this is the only time we get wet today"

"I'm ready, then," Steel says as she stands, and then gives Nameless a small smile. "Don't worry. The first one to go down on a run is usually me."

Nameless smiles back. "Yeah, and then I get the joy of hauling your hoop," he pretends to check out her butt (actually he does), "lovely as it is, out of the fire."

Steel throws a casual lighthearted slap at him. "Hey! Just whose butt are you checking out anyway?"

Easily catching it, he replies, "Only yours. Always only yours." They both share a quick, intimate smile as the phrase brings back old memories, old times, and old feelings. But this is neither the time nor the place, and they quickly brush it aside for biz, hoping no one else caught the microsecond shift in their attitudes towards one another.

Flushing ever so slightly, Steel yanks her hand away. "Well just for that, you better hope I don't just let you go down first so I can save your worthless hoop. And you better believe I will be rubbing it in if that happens."

Knowing exactly why she spoke with a little more venom than she actually meant, Nameless gives a sheepish, playful smile and says, "Wouldn't want that happening, that's for sure. Forgiveness?"

Pretending to harumph ever so slightly, she looks slightly away and says in brief clipped tones, "Forgiven." And to show she followed the whole subtext behind it all, she tosses him a quick, deep smile before turning her attention back to Jake.

Responding with the same deep smile, Nameless turns back just as Jake interrupts, "Well, if Nameless would mind refocusing his attention off Steel's lovely butt," he pauses to duck a bagel that comes flying at his head, "and back on the job, does anyone else have any questions?"

Giving Jake a salute, Nameless replies, "Sorry boss. I'm through with my ahem...observations." He also ducks a bagel before continuing, "So as I was saying, I'm ready to get down to biz." He grins.

Jake looks over at Nameless and just shakes his head.

"Well, now that that's settled. Has everyone here taken their basic rope climbing courses? I don't want to get out to the ship and get told you can't make it across. Iblis, do you know anyone who could throw together a quick mock-up of the ship given the layout we've got? I'd like to send everyone through a simsense version, similar to your shooter video games, just so they can have the feeling of walking the hallways. The ship will probably be cramped, and I don't want anyone turning right into an ambush when they should have gone left.

"Moe, what was the answer on our gear?"

Sensing the meeting starting to wrap up, Jake pulls down a tray from on top of the fridge and sets a large mug of coffee on it with two of the last dozen safe bagels that never made it into the food fight. He makes a gesture hinting he'll be right back and walks down the hallway to the third rommate's bedroom. Knocking softly, he sets the tray down in front of the door and heads back to the kitchen.

:: Moe looks slightly confused. ::

"Whot question? Di' I miss some'in'?"

Steel chuckles. "I think Moe needs a nap. Jake wanted to know if there will be any trouble getting our gear from here to the boat."

:: Moe shrugs. ::

"I's not like we're bringin' anythan' unusual...I don' see why we can't ge' i' where i' needs ta be."

Iblis frowns. "Sorry J-J, I don't know anyone that could whip up a simulation like that off the top of my head."

"uhh, Moe what about the assault cannon and rocket launchers?"

:: Moe sighs heavily and looks up to the ceiling. ::

"Yeah...hello...big honkin' van...rememba?"

"I'm simply asking because I haven't been out to the Marina in a long time. If you are going to be able to pull the van up right next to Schnell's boat so we don't have to drag that gear across the shipyard, great. All of us walking out to the boat may not look too bizarre, even with our eccentricities, but if we are all lugging multiple duffel bags with armor, guns and climbing gear..."

"Sounds good to me. Did we get the gas grenades by the way?"

"Yeah, Steel grabbed 'em last night."

Nameless adds, "So do we have anything else we have to do between now and the run on the boat?"

Jake shakes his head.

"Steel and I have some practice to do and Loki needs to get the neurostun devices ready for install. The rest of you have the day. Be back here at five so we can go over the directions on how to put the gas bombs into the system. We leave for the marina around eight."

"Da parkin lo' is 'bout 50, 60 yards away frum da dock. Cake a' 9pm. If we grab some coolahs, dat would make i' even less obvious."

Iblis - A few hours after the group breaks up, you receive a message from the Mad Doctor. He's asked for a few days to get the new changes integrated into the design, and he'll contact you again when they're ready.



Tuesday, April 7th, 2064 - 5:25pm
All - The hours pass quickly, dusk com aming rapidly in the pollutant hazed city. Loki has grown even more nervous, if possible, and the rest of the team is feeling the building tension that comes before every run.

To counteract the growing tension that always builds within him prior to a run, Nameless meditates to both calm himself and to center himself for the coming run.

After the meeting breaks up, Jake and Steel head out to the backyard to practice swordsmanship a little bit. Tired and sweaty they come back into the house.

The large Italian offers the shower to the Asian flower while he goes into the kitchen to get a bottle of water from the furry fridge. He smiles and has a hushed conversation with Iblis about hotel rooms and submachineguns.

Jake takes a brief shower and waits in the kitchen for the team to assemble.

Iblis drags a large duffel bag out into the living room with some effort. Her "screaming rave" pack already loaded up and on her back. She unzips the bag and does a quick inventory on its contents before dragging it through the kitchen out to the Moe's vehicle. A few mintues pass and she returns, stopping to grab a energy drink from the fridge. She leans against the wall in the living room. "All packed."

Steel assembles and checks her gear in the kitchen, checking the clips and settling the two cross-slung submachine guns on her hips, and arranging the hilts of the two katana's for easy access on her back, tips of the handles just showing above her shoulders. The cross-laced dark purple Victorian era blouse, edged with laced, gleams dully in the bright kitchen lights, sure to appear darker in the night. The long coat she shrugs on over it all is cut slimmer then most, probably custom work, accentuating the need for style even in a criminal career.

Having finished his meditation, Nameless begins putting on his armor and packing his weapons. The matched Brownings, the HK, the various items, all in their appropriate places. With practiced precision, he moves smoothly into 'job mode'. No more fun and games, now it's time for cold, deadly serious business. Checking the action on the HK, he listens with satisfaction as it snicks into place. Show time...

"You know I'm ready," Loki says, vibrating like a paint mixer. He pops another powdered-sugar coated chocolate-cpvered coffee bean into his mouth.

Diesel checks in with the all clear as well, but his pile of gear looks more like an arsenal for a third world country, with the rocket launcher and the assault cannon. He tucks the chain around his neck for easy access, and the team heads out, swallowed into the night.

The marina is basically deserted this time of night, with only the occasional worker moving around the docks, coiling lines or sweeping. The gear is moved to the boat with a minimum of fuss, dark shapes in the dark night. The boat has only one red light lit on the stern, with a slim dark shape moving around onbaord. He waves to you as you approach the boat, and motions to Moe, pointing to a steel footlocker lashed to the side of the boat just under the external nav station.

He grins and winks, "Just to keep up appearances and all." He motions to several other footlockers attached to the sides of the boat, on the inside walls.

"You can stow your gear there. They won't go anywhere, and they're water tight. We leave in 15."

Jake nods amicably to the rental-rigger as he steps aboard the vessel. He sets his duffel bag and the cooler he was carrying down next to a footlocker and transfers everything over.

After the team is done transferring the goods, Jake and Nameless take the coolers that they had used to smuggle their gear in with back to the van.

"Hey Nameless, this guy seems to be a professional but watch him for me, just in case."

The Stealth-Ninja shrugs his shoulders, "Sure thing, boss-man."

When the two men return to the boat, Fearless Leader goes over frequencies for tonight's outing. With a primary and two alternates established, Jake sets up the channel for Iblis' music, chatter, and verbalized inner dialogue.

Settling into a comfortable spot on the boat, Iblis reaches underneath the collar on her shirt and attaches the three induction datajacks in. Her image link flares to life. She quickly checks her skates, popping them in and out several times through the DNI interface. She pulls up the status report on the speed loader built into her deck bag. So far so good. She runs her thoughts through the 3rd jack to her deck and brings it on-line.

Reaching into a side compartment of her pack, she digs out small hand-made gizmos and begins to pass them out to the team. "Ok kiddies, it's that time again. Make sure to put this somewhere decent. I'll be using the same channels as usual for the visual feeds for those of you with image links or HUDs. With the plans I lifted from the trix I'll be able to give you a rough estimate of where everyone is." With a thought she brings the units on-line and quickly checks each one's feed. The last one has a small flip up screen, which she hands to Jake. "The switchboard is up and running."

Settling into the boat, Nameless selects the seat closest to the rental-rigger, and prceeds to focus and visualize the upcoming run. Casually, he keeps an eye on the rigger per Jake's instructions.

Almost there. I hate this part. Let's just get down to it. Hope these disguises will work worth a damn. They help buy us just a few seconds, and they'll have done their job. Here we go...

Taking the device from Iblis, Nameless follows her instructions and is quickly linked in to the system. Turning his attention back to the water, he waits.

Sitting up in the boat giving his disguise a onceover Diesel lets out a sigh thinks about how out of place he will look on the boat.

:Damn this thing on me wouldnt even fool a blind man I just hope I dont give us away to early:

At this thought he begins to restlessly play with his chain.

Steel absently strokes her Ingrams as she waits, staring into the darkness as if not really seeing what's there. She twitches very slightly now and then, her fingers drumming silently on the metal of her guns, clearly ready to move at a moment's notice.

Schnell makes a final check over, making sure lockers are closed and gear is stowed before heading down into the cabin. The door is closed, but doesn't sound to be locked. A few moments later a few small display screens mounted near the external controls light up, and a thrumming noise comes up through the deck as the engine starts.

He idles back out of the slip, smooth as you could wish, and pulls the bow up and around as the engines rev up a bit, pushing the boat through the marina's no wake zone relatively quickly and out into the night.

The trip is dark, and oddly silent under the muted roar of the engines and the sound of the sea. Moonlight reflects off the water, scattering light across the peaks and trough's of the steady waves, and then across a sheet of glass as you move farther away from land and the ocean calms.

Several hours later the engines throttle down and the boat settles into the water, running lights blinking out, accompanied by a bit of steam from the engine. Schnell appears on deck a few moments later, stretching a bit and turning to Jake.

"Your boat should be along in an hour or two, we're at the coordinates you gave. I'll fire her back up and take us alongside as soon as I can pick her up on the sensors. I'm running passive right now to try to avoid being spotted."

Jake nods to Schnell.

"Thanks for the head's up."

Turning to the team, "Alright boys and girls, time to gear up and say any last minute prayers."

Walking to the rear of the boat, where he stored his gear, Jake strips down and begins to pull on the form-fitting body armor that will help conceal him from the sensors of the ship. Sliding into the camo-suit next, his body begins to blend in with the dark night. He settles the rest of his gear onto his body, then pulls the climbing harness on over everything else.

Padding quietly back up to the bench Nameless was seated at, the well-muscled Adonis hands over the extra harness to his silent companion.

"These two kept me and a friend alive through Africa, hopefully they'll bring us some luck." Jake pats the phys-ad on the shoulder as he turns to Loki.

"I know the watchers are coming as close to the vessel as we can since they are short-lived, but how about the great-forms you mentioned?"