02:16
The night was crystal clear, uncommon for Seattle, stars glimmering through the open sky, throwing dim illumination across the docks. Two men waited on the docks, occasionally glancing around, cradling snub nosed submachine guns, sunglasses tossing back reflections of the men moving around behind them. The similarly cut Italian suits, black loafers, and slicked back black hair were like the twisted uniform for a modern day secret army.

What was that 21st century pop song, I wear my sunglasses at night?

There was a shout, and both heads swiveled in unison, body's twisting as they turned to sprint towards the noise. Automatic fire rings out, brief stacatto bursts of death filling the previously empty night.

An explosion rings out, lighting up the darkness, illuminating the ranks of men moving towards the warehouse, darting between boxes, moving vehicles, and trucks, occasionally drawing rifles up to their shoulder to fire off another burst.

One man stands in the front, waving smaller groups forward, his hands gesturing towards the warehouse as faint outlines hovering over the docks slowly gain resolution, two towering pillars of flame materializing. They sweep towards the beleaguered defenders, pausing only to send jets of flame washing over the pier. The bursts of fire die off, replacing by the sizzle of flesh and the occasional pop of ammunition cooking off in the blaze. A grim smile touches the leaders lips, a sad, resigned satisfaction tinging the expression.

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20:47

A fist slams down on the table, rattling the plates and glasses covering the surface, several of the men flinching back, not so much from the fist as the expression on the mans face.

"I DIDN'T TAKE THIS CITY JUST TO HAVE SNATCHED BY THOSE FRAGGING SLANT EYES!" he roars, palpable anger radiating out as he swivels his gaze across the gathered group.

"Vinnie," and one of the shorter men at the table flinched again, leaning back even further, tipping his chair up on the legs.

"Take care of this. I don't care how, but I want them bleeding."

The shorter man slides his hand over a growing bald spot, nodding and pushing back from the table, giving the rest of the assembly a nod and turning for the door.

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Nameless:

Styx's icon fuzzes onto the screen, Charon's visage glaring through the electronic media. The droning monotone of his voice blared through the speakers of the 'trid unit.

"No-Name? You there? One of these days you're going to actually answer the 'trid when I call, just to let me know you're there. Anyway, I've got a job. Nothing spectacular, but it'll pay the bills. Tomorrow night, Tacoma docks."

He rattles off an address, the monotone consistent with the same electronic voice that used to grace the phone lines on disconnected numbers. The click and hum of the dead line after he hangs up is almost a relief.

_______________________________________________________

Jake

A light touch on Jake's shoulder draws his attention away from his conversation. Not that Jake couldn't tell when Stephan was moving through the club.

A business card is slid over his shoulder, the white linen paper contrasting sharply with Jake's shirt.

"Tomas would like you to attend an...acquaintance of his, at the Tacoma docks tomorrow eve." Another soft pat, and Stephan glides away into the crowd, aways moving in the club, looking, nodding, working the crowd at Extassis without lifting a finger.

_______________________________________________________

Diesel

Earl pounds on the door, cursing constantly, a stream of expletives accompanying the heavy slams of the meaty fist on the door. The white shirt is open halfway down his chest, gold chains dangling through curly black chest hair as he begins to kick the solid door, still cursing the day the first chink got off the boat.

Diesel jerks to the door open, glaring down at the relatively tiny man. Earl sneers, never did seem to have any sense of self preservation, and crams a transparent flimsy into the trolls hand, still biting off curses as he spins and stomps off down the hall, the focus of his cussing swapping from the run down tenement Diesel lived in as he kicks at a squatter sleeping in the hall.

Glancing down at the crumpled flimsy, it gives an address, indicates the Tacoma docks, and 5k


Earl was always so professional.
______________________________________________________

Loki

The phone rings, and Loki scrabbles through the litter of fast food containers scattered across the floor, grabbing the offending object and making to fling it across the room. A second later it's dragged under the covers, and a muffled, "Hello?" answers the offensive sound.

"Loki? It's Casey. Look, I know I don't usually call, but this guy I know's looking for someone for a few acquisition type propositions. Interested?" A non-committal response is the only reply, and Casey plunged on.

"Look, if you're interested, here's the address. The guys name is Vinnie, and he works out of the docks." His nervousness is obvious, even over the phone, and he barely spits out a "Bye" before the phone goes dead.

_______________________________________________________

Steel

"Look, all I'm saying is that with a little work, I'll be we could find a pump that could push the water around the entire building. We'd have to get a few more tanks, but imagine how nice it would be to have hot water all day." He wrapped a length of spaghetti around a fork and scooped it off the plate.

Shinobu chuckled, shaking her head as she sprinkled more cheese over the pasta. "You never quit, do you? I mean, you've build up these apartments way above anything else out here, and you still want more?"

He shrugs, tousled hair and perfect teeth making her smile again. "And why do you keep wearing that when it's only the two of us?"

"Makes people feel comfortable."

The ringing phone cuts off her response, and she holds up a finger, turning way and taking a few steps towards the window as she answers.

"Steel."

"Hey babe, it's Vinnie. Look, I've got some stuff going down you might be interested in. Up for a little violence?"

She smiled, Vinnie wasn't much for social niceties.

"What time and where?"

"My office, tomorrow night, 10:00. There be a few other people, so be prepared for some new faces."

She clicks the the phone closed, a savage grin touching the corners of her mouth. Society be damned, she liked her job. Besides, she'd just got the Blitzen tuned, and she was betting she could top 220 on the highway to Vinnie's.

___________________________________________________________

Iblis

A tiny, white furred form stumbles into the room, still blinking her eyes open, still not completely adapted to the sudden shift between sleep and waking provided by the regulator. She leans against the faux fur covered fridge, eyeing a box of custom Pop-Tarts sitting on the counter, advertising colors that should be toxic just because of the combination.

Why didn't I pawn more of those off on those guys?

The phone rings, the business line, and the last strains of the theme song are dying away as she lifts it to her ear.

"Your dime."

"Hey Candy girl." End-Run's voice was unmistakable, and he never used names. The file was already downloading, and a moment of meaningless chatter filled the seconds before it completed.

Hanging up the phone and plopping down on a bean bag chair, Iblis pulls her backpack to her and plugs in, sifting the data in the blink of an eye.

End-Run had a run for her, and he hadn't slouched in his normal legwork. The run was being put together by a local Mob middle man, linked directly to the big family through some convoluted chain of marriage and blood. No specifics about the run were given, by it was indicated that satisfactory performance would be rewarded with additional work. Several notes highlight recent Yakuza/Mafia clashes that had spilled out into the streets. The file also contained an address and a time at the Tacoma docks. Tomorrow night, 10pm.

______________________________________________________________

After reading the flimsy Diesel scratches his head and heads to the phone to give Iblis a call. She usuially had alot more informtion to give him about these runs than Earl did.

He picks up the phone and dials Iblis's number. After a few rings he says Iblis its me Diesel we just gotta run and I need whatever info you have on it.

Smiling at Sara, Jake slides the card into his shirt pocket. The bartender sets the tab on to his account with the club as Jake heads to get his coat and then stops and looks over his shoulder.

"Hey hon, can you tell Fixx I'll be working tomorrow? I won't be home when he gets there."

Smiling again, Jake grabs his coat from Crystal and makes his goodbyes to the doorstaff.

With the supple leather duster weighing comfortably on his shoulders, Jake exits the club. In the quasi-darkness surrounding the faux warehouse exterior of Extassis he looks down at the card Stephan gave him.

Steel shakes her head and goes back to finish her dinner. "That was Vinnie. Looks like I'm going out tomorrow night. Hopefully there will be hot water so I can shower beforehand."

She finishes her dinner and spends a quiet evening with her friend before retiring to her room to clean her guns. She tries to get a good night's sleep in preparation for the next night's activities.

"I'm fine Diesel, thanks for asking." Her voice, it's usual sarcastic tone. "But please, enough about me. Was there something I could do for you?" Iblis pulls up the deck's main interface with a thought and sends out End-Run's email. Taking a moment to edit out his information. She slaps the label 'Sushi and Meatballs...........ugh' on it. "I got the info you probably want and just hit the group with the 411."

Nameless sits back after listening to Styx's message. He closes his eyes in quiet contemplation. Another day, another job, he muses. He was currently reevaluating a lifestyle that had gotten his whole family killed, prompting him to seek and obtain, bloody revenge on those responsible. And of course, their friends and associates were now looking for him, as well.

Is there more to life than this? Does it even matter? After all, this is all I know how to do. Perhaps such introspection is unnecessary. This is who I am, this is who I was, this is who I always will be. There is no room for anything else.

Taking a look at his surroundings with grim humor, he reasoned that he needed to work, if only because it might be nice to start saving up for a real home instead of constantly moving from safehouse to safehouse, flop to flop, always a ghost in the shadows, staying out of sight. Maybe it was time to stop this wandering, stop being nothing but the wind, and start putting down some roots.

Those are thoughts for another time. For now, it is time to focus, to prepare.

With that, he crossed his legs into the lotus position, closed his eyes, and began to meditate, gathering his chi, gaining focus.

Loki grumpily gets out of bed and starts to prepare for the meet. Throwing on some nondescript clothes and shurring on his secure jacket over them, he pulls his soft-soled sneaking boots on. Lastly, he puts on the two rings that are his sustaining foci.

Walking into the living room, he sees Katie, his ally spirit, right where he left her, watching the trid. Katie appears as a normal human girl in her late teens, except that she is exceptionally short, just under five feet tall. Her short black hair frames her face, which is characterized by a small button nose and a near-perpetual expression of curiosity. "We have a job, Katie."

Excitement, curiosity, and apprehension vie for control of her facial expresion. Katie is always eager to learn about the world and it's metahuman inhabitants, but she was also afraid to explore the world, knowing that it was an unforgiving place filled with many cruel people. "When is the meet?"

"Sometime tonight at the docks. The information was pretty vague; I hope the rest of the team were given more specific information." So saying, he calls up Diesel. Hey Diesel, I got a call from a contact regarding a job. He said the Johnson's name was Vinnie, but the only thing he said about the location was that it was at the docks. You get an address or a more specific time?"

Ya I just gave Iblis a call she sent everyone the info she has so check your mail.

After the call from Loki Diesel scratches his head as he ponders his next course of action. After thinking for a moment he decides that he might as well give his guns a good onceover while hes thinking about it.

After making his way through the mounds of trash that have accumulatedoer the past months since he last cleaned he reaches the metal box that is his weapons locker. Taking out his assault cannon, rocket launcher, and grenade launcher he checks them for any visible defaults and double checks the loaders for any trash or vermin espically after the last incident with the mouse. After Checking his weaoons he lays them back into the chest closes and locks it and lays down for a quick nap.

Coming out of his trance, Nameless decides to call his friends and ask around about the job.

First, Steel. "Steel, how's it? What's going on? How's things with you and your boy?" After making small talk for a bit, he cuts to the chase. "What've you heard about the job? I'm thinking of heading down there tonight, getting a feel for the territory. What do you think?"

Next, Loki. "Loki I and maybe Steel might be heading down to the meet location tonight to check it out. Your thoughts?"

Finally Jake. "Hey, fearless leader," Nameless opens up with a smile, "Some of us might go scope out the meeting location tonight in advance. Any particular opinions on the matter? Maybe a little paranoid, but meeting in a secluded spot like the docks, better safe than sorry, you know?"

Loki responds that he thinks that would be a good idea. "Come pick me up at my apartment tonight." So saying, he gets his gear ready for the meet.

Getting distracted from the card, Jake answers his phone.

"Hey Nameless," Jake grins to himself as Nameless gets right down to business.

"First, give me the 411 on who is involved. Is it the usual players or did we bench a few for this game? If the usual are involved, send a driver down to take some pictures and get back to me."

Jake reflexively looks at his watch. Almost midnight.

"I'll grab some shut eye then call my favorite girlfriend and see if we can get some info. If people are free, order some thai and we'll meet at rave central in about ten hours."

Finishing up the pleasantries, Jake hangs up the phone. Jake heads home, sleeps for 8 hours and showers. He then dials Iblis' number.

"How's my favorite girlfriend? Have you put any thought into that offer to come over to Mr. C's team?"

Jake rests the ear-phone in place as he pulls his helmet on and revs the bike to life.

After a good 20 min of shuteye Diesel wakes up and pickes the phone up off the table to give Jake a call.

Ey Jake its Diesel you got a plan for this one?

"I admit he keeps the best boys in town but I'm going to pass for now. I wouldn't be able to keep my pinky up through dinner." Iblis laughs as she moves through the house, pausing a moment to slip into a pair of over-sized bunny slippers that squeek as she walks. "I can assume you didn't call to have some cheap phone sex." She heads out the side door from the kitchen and walks around to the back of the house to the free standing garage. "I sent out a brief info sheet on the job. Looks like the yaks and the mafia aren't playing nice. It seems we're popular with the sausage and tomato sauce set." She pauses and enters a code into a small door set into the larger garage door. "Hold on a sec....." She places her hand over the phone. "Mee-Moe, rise and shine!! Mr. J is knocking and the nuyen is calling!!" She steps back outside after waiting to hear some movement from the loft. "I assume we're meeting somewhere to cover the basics or can I pencil you and Fixx in for an Iblis sandwich?" Her tone is light and playful.

:: Blinking in the semi darkness of the garage, she realizes she fell asleep at her work bench again. Smacking her lips as her furry teeth taste like something left in the cooler for a month, she grimaces and mumbles something at the door before shuffling into the bathroom for a MUCH needed shower and general hygine check. ::

:: Rubbing her temples as she slips into a reinforced jumpsuit, she curses the usual headache that follows her after a few nights of non-stop partying. Slipping into the far too bright daylight, she slips on a pair of ultra black sunglasses and looks up at her colorful friend. ::

"Got anything perscription strength for a mondo headache?"

<by Blitz...on a friends comp...sorry!>

Hearing the beep of an incoming call, Jake cuts the banter with Iblis short.

"Sorry, love no can do on the sandwich--can't play outside the company pool. Nameless is going to pick up some thai food and I was hoping we could come and play at your house tonight. If that won't work, I'll have people meet me at my place--Fixx is out for the night. Since you have Moe there, can you send her out to get a few pictures of the site. Can you hold on a sec--the other line is beeping."

Switching over with a quick tap to on the helmet, Jake recognizes Diesel's gravelly tones.

"Diesel I'm on the line with Iblis now. I'm going to have Moe snap a few pictures, if you suit up for some recon I can have her swing by and get you. Still negotiating our location for face-time. I'll e-mail everyone the decision in 2 minutes."

Switching back to the Furry-Decker, Jake begins to roll out of the parking lot towards Seattle proper.

"Okay hon, what's the decision? Your place or mine? I also need Moe to arrange with Diesel for a pick up. He's going to keep her company during the recon."

Grabbing his stuff and heading to his car, Nameless starts making calls, feeling the rush as the usual pre-run drill starts running its course.

First, Loki. “Ok bro, I’ll be there in a few. Grab your gear and get ready. How you wanna do this? Start thinking while I make some calls, will ya?”

Hopping into his trusty Chrysler-Nissan Jackrabbit, he starts the engine and smoothly pulls out of the driveway in front of his low rent doss as he dials up Steel.

Next, Steel. “Lotus, babe. Call me back. En route to pick up Loki, let me know if you want in with us, we’ll swing by and pick you up. If not, we’ll see you at the usual place.”

Pulling onto the highway, he eases into traffic and cruises at a sedate five clicks over the speed limit as he rings up the heavy artillery next.

Can’t forget the big man. “Diesel, my man, or troll, whichever you prefer." He ignores the scowl that he always gets with that little joke, and continues, "Just talked to the boss man. Loki and I, maybe Lotus, we’re heading down to the meet site to check it out. Boss feels like Thai, so you wanna grab some and meet us down at Rave Central? We’ll be meeting the rest of you guys there. I know he asked me to do it, but I’m gonna be scooping the place out in person, so I might be late and the food might get cold.” He grins. “And we can’t have that, can we? So I guess that means you’re buying.” He chuckles to himself as he hangs up before Diesel can fire off the retort he’s sure is coming.

Cruising off the highway to Loki’s neighborhood, he dials up his two favorite ladies to party with. An odd and crazy pair, but wild and fun. Not to mention damn good to work with…

The party girls. “Moe, Loki and I are going in on the ground, can you get some aerial recon for us? We won’t be long, just want to get a feel for the place at ground level. Jake should be contacting you shortly with the details, if he hasn’t already. Oh, and tell Iblis to starting digging up what she can bout the job. Just passing the word along. Oh, and I’ll pick up some painkillers for the headache I know you must be having.” He gives her a teasing smile. “See you soon.”

Taking one of the last turns before Loki’s doss, he pulls up in front and dials his number.

“Hey, I’m out front. Come on out and let’s roll.”

While he’s waiting for his partner to grab his gear and roll out, he makes the final call.

Last, back to the boss. “Bossman. I got on the circuits with the crew. It looks like we’re running the usual, but I don’t know what’s up with Tsuru. You hear anything from him? Anyway, Loki and I, maybe Steel too, are heading out to ground zero to check out the meet, just get some on the ground feel for the place, you know? Diesel is gonna grab the food and meet us at Rave Central, like you said. And I talked to the party girls, and asked Moe to get some eye-in-the-sky pics for us. Hope I didn’t contradict your orders. Anyway, keep us posted on the meeting place, and we’ll be there in an hour or two. Don’t let our food get cold.” He grins, then hangs up as Loki hops in the car. He slips back into drive and cruises on out to the docks.

Answering the phone for what feels like the tenth time in as many minutes.

"Nameless if you and Loki are going in, don't get your hoops caught in the webs of any spiders. Moe should pick Diesel up and take the pictures we need."

After the convorsations with Jake and Nameless Diesel Gives Moe a quick ring

"Hey Moe Diesel here go ahead and pick me up before heading to the docks. Im planning on Bringing my usuial gear (audibly bangs fist on the weapons locker he likes to bring on runs) so I hope you left enough room for me and my cargo"

Hanging up the phone he walks over to the dresser where he keeps his armor and puts it on while grinning at the thought of Nameless's call Pausing for a second as he fastens the Chain around his neck he thinks to himself "Just because that trick worked the first 2 times dosent mean it'll work the next 5 other trolls might be that dumb but I sure aint"

After giving himself a good onceover he puts packs some rockets grenades and belts of ammunition into some bags and places them next to the weapons locker and waits for Moe to arrive

Walking back from the bathroom, Iblis tosses a bottle of pills to Moe. "Straight from Quiver, should take the sting out of being awake." She squeeks out to the living room and flops into a cheetah and glitter print bean bag. "J-J wants you to pick up Big Daddy D and scope out the meet site at the docks, make sure everything is on the up and up." She leans over to look at Moe, her head hanging from the back of the bag. "They need some sort of aerial-rigger thingie." Her hand makes a series of finger wiggles at Moe. "That voodoo you do, then I think everyone is heading here to chat and look over the recon. They had better walk through that door with food or I will cap someone's hoop. A girl can't do crimes without something to chew on."

:: Moe catches the bottle one handed and pops the top off, biting down on three pills, the acrid taste snapping her into reality. ::

"Ib's got da pills I need, so don't waste yer time. I'll get tha eye 'n tha sky up wi'hin tha next hour. I'll be keepin' the area under recon until tha meet goes down."

:: She pulls the phone from her shoulder and disconnectes before dialing Diesel. ::

"D, You're welcom'ta come 'long, but ah don't plan on leavin' tha site 'til tha meet happens, savvy? It wont do no good ta get pictures 'nd 'ave tha scen'ry change jus' prior."

"Dont worry ur little head Moe I think i can keep from changing the landscape for a little while for you. Hell I might be able to make it as long as 20 minutes before blowing something up chuckles at his own wit just gimme a ring when ya get here and well go from their do ya think we can swing by a stuffer shack on the way Im starving and we all know know how cranky Iblis gets when ya dont bring her some food"

Nameless smoothly changes directions, heading towards Iblis and Moe's place. In response to Loki's questioning stare, he responds, "Change of plan. Moe's doing aerial recon. We're to report in first."

Heading to the girls' doss, he thinks I sure hope Diesel falls for that trick again. Iblis gets really cranky when she's hungry. Oh well, I'll tell her it's Diesel's fault. He already fell for it twice. Even if he didn't a third time, who's going to believe him? Chuckling to himself, he cruises on towards the house.

Arriving, he lets himself and Loki in the front door. Before Iblis can even say anything, he raises his hands in mock self-defense and says, "Don't worry, Big Daddy D's got the food, so he should be bringing it. Don't be looking at me like that." He gives her a playful smile and starts clearing up their usual meeting space.

Steel answers the call from Nameless and says in her usual, clipped tones, "That sounds like a good plan. I'll head over there on my bike, let me know when you get close and we'll coordinate."

After disconnecting, she gears up, rolls her bike downstairs and out of her apartment, and heads for the meet site.

:: Moe runs a hand over her face slowly, before responding. ::

"Any chance you can jus' grab some grub and meet 'ere? We'll leave from 'ere to the site directly...'less you need a ride for some reason?"

"Nah Ill be ok ill just meet yall at your place "

With that Diesel puts on his microtansmitter and accessories grabs his pocket PC and Crates his weapons locker and ammo bags to his Nomad and Heads to the stuffershack and picks up 12 soyburgers and 12 soykaff for 27 and heads to Moe's

When he arrives Diesel greets everyone and plops the bag and drinks from the stuffershack on the table.

In a sarcastic tone "Dont think I got this stuff cause o you Nameless I just picked it up cause I knew none of you good fer nothings would get Iblis here anything." He gives Iblis a big tusky smile.

"So we bout ready to go?"

Nameless calls Steel while enroute to the party girls' house and says, "Change of plans. Meet at the girls' house first. Jake wants to plan things out first. See you there."

When Diesel walks in, Nameless just gives him a patronizing (in a joking way) smirk and helps himself to the food. "Thanks for the food chummer. I'll get it next time, chip truth." He ignores the middle finger that comes popping up and tries to keep a straight face. "Although I wonder if you got enough for you and Iblis."

"Got it," Steel replies, and turns her bike to the girls' house.

Upon arrival, she parks the bike outside and strolls in, dressed to the nines as always. Steel never goes anywhere looking less than perfect. Tonight she's chosen the electric-blue blouse with lace at the cuffs and throat, and black leather pants. "Evening, all," she drawls as she steps inside.

"Hey all!" Iblis's voice carries from the living room. The interior looks like a drag queen exploded in it, from the faux-fur covered fridge to the assortment of gaudy print bean bags. "Just waiting for J-J to arrive."

Accessing the Pocket Sec at a red light, Jake realizes that the e-mail with Iblis's details hasn't arrived yet. Jake shoves the PDA in to his inner pocket on the jacket. The phone dials as he kicks the bike into gear and rolls back into traffic.

"Hey love-bunny, do we have food or am I stopping somewhere on the way?"

As Iblis describes the fare laid out by Diesel, Jake arranges to stop and get thai food from the place on the corner. With hot noodles in hand, Jake strolls into the house. He puts one order in the fridge, attaching a screaming yellow post-it to it, and walks into the living room. Jake hands a box of noodles to Iblis and sits down opposite her with his own box.

"Alright folks, it is 1100, our meet is in 11 hours. Let's get some info from our eyes and ears and we can get down to business. First off, anyone know who Vinnie is or what has been going on in the docks?"

Loki has a question. "Exactly how close to the water is this meeting place? If it's really close, I could swim up and look inside with a clairvoyance spell, or listen inside with clairaudience.

:: Grabbing a nuk-em-burger and soykaff, Moe slings her backpack over her shoulder and jabs a thumb at the door. ::

"D...we're on. Moun' up, we leave in 2."

:: With that, she disappears out the door and jogs over to the garage. Technically it will take 5 min to setup the condor and another 2 to get ready to actually leave, but knowing the big troll, Moe will still be ready before he shows his face in the garage. ::

Steel, leaning casually against the wall with her arms crossed, grins at the mention of Vinnie.

"Yeah...I know him. I've worked for him in the past. He's never steered me wrong before, for what it's worth. He's a loud-mouthed little Italian with a propensity for patronizing nicknames." She grimaces. "Such as 'babe'. He sometimes gets a little - ah - worked up at my methods, but I suppose I trust him as much as anyone trusts anyone these days."

"Aight gimme a sec to grab my things"

Diesel eats one last soyburger whole then moves his guns from his car to Moes and takes a seat.

"ready when you are"

Nameless is slouched slighly in one of the bean bag chairs that decorates the room, his long coat running over the sides of it. Glancing at Steel, he asks, "Anything we should know or be particularly concerned with where this guy's involved?"

Turning back to the others, he adds, "For that matter, if the Mafia and the Yaks are involved, there's probably almost certainly some nasty stuff waiting to go down. Think we should scope out that scene a little more?"

Steel shrugs at the question. "He's Italian, and he sends me against the Yaks a lot. I think that speaks to Mob ties. He's never set me up and he always pays in full and on time." She grins. "What more does a girl need to know?"

Swallowing his last bite, Jake looks at Nameless.

"I can call some people to see what they know. But as we all know, a friend of a friend can lead to distortion in the info. I'd say to have people canvas their street and syndicate contacts, see what we can dig up. By the time we've finished with our calls, Moe should have the pictures we need. After we get that info, we can send Loki to scan the astral space and examine any wards that we might be facing."

Jake stands up, takes his jacket off and hangs it on the back of his chair.

"Let's get to work unless there are further questions. Iblis can you run through the recent newsfeeds for any public activities between the Yaks and the Mafia--especially the Bigios. "

:: Moe smiles at D as she straps into her seat in the Van. As she attaches her RC Deck to the port next to her seat, she straps the 5 point harness into place. With a thought, the van's systems hum into life and the video displays blink on showing the view in all 4 directions as well as a Thermographic view of the front and rear. ::

:: Her body becomes limp as the van pulls out into the midday sun. The drive is a pleasant, yet disorientating experience with the lack of actual windows. As they approach the area for the meet, Moe slips the bulky van into a quiet alley and the read gate opens to release the tiny airship carrying one mean looking rifle in a clever set of machinery underneath the soft balloon. As it floats up into the sky, the top 4 vids in the van switch to the sensor feeds coming off the Condor as it begins it's lazy figure eight, just high enough to be nearly indistinguishable from the ground. ::

When the van stops Diesel puts his autocannon, grenade launcher, and rocket launcher on the floor and rechecks the loaders before slipping a belt of ammo into the AC then setting up the hip bracing system and strap. Now he Slaps a clip of concussion grenades into the grenade launcher and puts a rocket in the launcher.

After his guns are set up diesel takes a seat and begins watching the viedo feed.

:: Allowing the sensors to feed directly into the video displays, Moe removes herself from the network and takes a look at Diesel's armory. One eyebrow shoots up as she blinks at the heavy munitions. ::

"Whoa, D...expecting a couple of Dragons to the meet?"

Iblis crawls over and retrieves her backpack, unfolding it into her mobile decking platform. "I will look into boss man." She plugs into her deck and the screen flickers to life. Her icon hangs in the virtual enviroment. She opens a doorway with a gesture and flys out into the matrix. You can see the area around warps and conforms to the same icongraphy as the deck. "I'll be in here awhile, but you can talk with me through the deck." Her voice comes from a small speaker unit near the deck.

::supressing a grin::

"At this point ive come to expect anything"

"Thanks Iblis."

Jake straightens and connecting his pock-sec to his ear phone, speed dials Fixx.

"Hey, it's me. How'd everything go last night?"

So as not to distract anyone else in the room, Jake heads out the side door to stand on the driveway during his phone call.

Since everyone else seems to have a lead, Nameless calls Johnny Li. Unfortunately, he isn't home, but that's par for the course with him. Undaunted, Nameless leaves a brief message. "It's me. You know anything that's been going down with the Mafia and and the Yakuza? Heard it's getting a bit nasty out there. Drop me a line, let me know what's going on. Thanks."

Iblis - You trail back over the last few months to try and get a good idea of the events leading up, and are easily able to trace the strings of events through the screamsheets and the police reports.

The war has been building, with a series of escalating strikes from both sides leading up to a fire just two days ago on the docks that burned a known Mafia warehouse to the ground. The strikes started as standard organized crime stuff, but shifted rapidly to include strikes on personnel, business locations, asset storage and shipment, and family members. A few scattered reports out of China town indicate that the Oriental crime families may be forming treaties and alliances to deal with the Italian threat once and for all.

Nameless - You receive a return message within half an hour. "Things are heating up on the streets. Word coming through the ranks is that there's some big meeting next month between the heads of the Triad and the Yakuza. In between them and whatever they want is not a good place to be."

Moe and Diesel - As you slip through the midday traffic, there's a change in pace as you near the docks, the commuter cars giving way to loaded semi's stretching down the lanes, some carrying two or three trailers. Visuals on the office fit perfectly in the with the description you've already gotten, a simple office in a row of similar offices, most owned by various shipping and transportation companies.

Loki is anxxious to go do something. "So, who's up for scouting out the meeting place? Anyone wanna go with me?"

Nameless looks over at Loki. "I think Jake wants us to stay put until we get the pics from Moe. You may want to ask him what he's got in mind first."

Thinking a little further, he decides to call a hitman friend of his and see what's been shaking, particularly if there's been an increase in work for Mob or Yak targets.

Going off to one side, he dials up (the hitman) and says, "Hey, just wondering if you could tell me what the job market's been like for guys in our line of work lately. Particularly in regards to Mob or Yak employers or targets. You got any info on any trends that might be taking place?"

"Why? You interested in taking a job?"

"No, but it's related to something I'm working on. If you hear something juicy though, give me a ring, you never know, I might be able to squeeze it in."

"All right, I'll get back to you. And yeah, if I hear anything about a job, I'll keep you posted."

Nodding, Nameless hangs up and continues to wait for everyone else to finish their tasks, helping himself to some more food in the process. Better eat it before Iblis and Diesel get rolling or there won't be any left. That thought in mind, he sets to eating with a purpose.

3:00pm, April 5th, 2064

Jake: "Everything went as planned. Are you on track?"

Diesel: You're scanning the images flashing across the screen in Moe's van, and you can't see anything out of the ordinary.

Moe: Your scan over the area gives you a complete layout. The most interesting thing you notice is that the apparent office address you've been getting stands out. The thermal signatures and ultrasound don't register as well. There seems to be some sort of dampening or insulation, just specifically on that one office.

Loki eats like a pig, chatting telepathically with Katie as he does so.

:: Moe spends a bit of time compiling the data into a nice data packet before calling up Jake. ::

"Heya JJ...got tha vids on tha place. Looks like tha buildin' i'self is insulated which makes detailed info impossible wi'out going active on tha sensors, 'nd I'd rather not hang a sign on mah door if ya get my meanin'. Stand by for tha data transfer."