03:02:27 Monday January 8, 2063 - Highway 18 near Sunset Blvd - Border of Redmond Barrens

Even at night Highway 18 wasn't deserted, cars zoomed up this oft used route along the edges of the civilized zones of the sprawl. Erebus kept his eyes open looking for anything that would suggest they were being followed.

He lead the crew off 18 at the Maple Valley turn off and headed into the heart of the Barrens traveling in a winding path through the safer areas of the sprawl. The Barrens reminded the young Elf far too much of his youth running the streets of Berlin, it was a boiling kettle of the desperate and dangerous dregs of the sprawl.

He understood that it hadn't always been like this, that once the Redmond area showed the promise of inheriting the overflow of its affluent neighbor Bellevue. The landscape certainly suggested it, with large office buildings long since abandoned and sprawling industrial parks nestled back among parking lots overgrown with weeds and refuse. Only the squatters rented space here now, policed by thrill gangs and chip dealers controling their turf.

It was to one of these abandoned industrial parks that Erebus led the team. A smaller park, built against the side of a hill which desended into Kingsgate township proper. It consisted of six small buildings on the upper level fronted by a long narrow parking lot that had obviously served duty as some ganger's battleground. The upper lot was over grown with weed close to the building but the area just back from the small street leading around the hill remained clear. The six buildings appeared to sit half on top of eight other buildings that opened out onto a much larger parking lot built lower down the hill. The parking lot held a dozen junked cars and had multiple openings leading to at least three block worth of side streets. The eight lower level buildings were all bigger and looked like they'd been built right into the hillside. All of the windows and doors had long since been covered with plastiform sheets to keep out the elements.

Erebus lead the crew into the lower parking lot which was far less over grown and around the edge of the lot to an small office front which had obviously been damaged by fire some time ago. Most of the roof remained intact and three walls were almost pristine, but the fourth wall had borne the brunt of the damage and was missing a large section. A careful driver could back a delivery truck into the area that used to be the side wall of the building, Daedalus had no trouble backing the small sedan deep inside the building.

Erebus pulled his bike to a halt, not facing outward but facing down into a long interior hallway that lead between the burned out office space and the next building over. He tugged his helmet from his head and let it dangle in his fist.

"Well, this is it troops. The area that I've taken over used to be the winery two buildings over, its large enough to suit my needs and the cask room was actually dug into the hillside itself and was easy enough to secure. Its got power, water, and sewer along with some basic necessities but not much in the way of comfort. We can reach it through here." he said, gesturing down the hallway.

He retreived his gear from the trunk and lead the others through the delapidated corridors to his hidey hole. In just a few seconds they came to a far more modern looking steel security door equiped with a sofisticated maglock. Erebus showed everyone the keypad combination then ushered them inside.

The interior still smelled somewhat of must and mildew but it was generally clean. It had obviously been a storage room, with a series of empty racks along one wall and a giant tank near the front of the room. The floor was bare ferrocrete but, except for a little condensation, it was dry and warm. Erebus quickly showed everyone the bathroom, complete with a "shower" which was really one of the old chemical safety showers surrounded by a removable cubicle stolen from some office space and covered in polytarps. The 'bedroom' consisted of three foam camping mats and a pair of artic rated sleeping bags near the back of the room in the corner. The kitchen area was actually a kitchen in the next room forward, restored by Erebus from its break room status. Several chairs and table were in secure room as well.

Erebus dumped his duffle bag on the floor near the table that held his spare p-sec and checked it quickly for messages then turned to the others.

"Well, like I said it's primative, but it's secure. Multiple access and egress points, all of which can be reached through interior corridors and stairway access to the upper level and an alternate escape route that way as well. Everyone make yourselves at home."

03:15:00 Monday January 8, 2063 - Erebus's Safehouse by Highway 18 near Sunset Blvd - Border of Redmond Barrens

After Erebus had given them the grand tour, the team gathered in the restored break room. Once the team had settled in, Dragon stood up and began pacing. "OK, here's the situation as I see it. We have the following objectives that need to be accomplished immediately."

Holding up his fingers, he ticked off the items one by one as he listed them. "First, we need to find out who hired Erebus and Tenmou so we can finish our deal with Vinnie. Second, we need to get Daedalus's van back, with or without Vinnie's help. If we can get Vinnie's cargo too, that's an added bonus that could give us some extra negotiating room. Third, we need to figure out who is trying to kill us. We've got a couple leads on that I'll go into in a moment. Fourth, we need to stay alive." That last drew a couple of tired smiles from the team.

He pauses to organize his thoughts, then continues, "The flower shop is probably the place we're most likely to run into trouble. Erebus, Virgil, and myself will go check it out and see if we can learn anything about who orchastrated that setup. We know where Daedalus's van is located already thanks to Vinnie, so he and Tenmou can go check the place out at least. That shouldn't be too dangerous, and it'll give Tenmou more time to recover. Like I said if you two can find out anything about Vinnie's cargo while you're there, that'd be nice too."

Everyone nods as he gives out the team assignments, indicating understanding, if not necessarily consent. Coming to a stop in the center of his pacing pattern, Dragon adds, "If we don't turn up anything at the flower shop, we still have two names we can check. According to our mysterious friend earlier, Ishikawa Kamura, a low level Yakuza boss in Auburn is the one using us. I don't know how much we believe that, but it's a start. And we know from our...ex-friend that a guy named Ichagowa-sama, and his now deceased nephew are responsible for the attack on us at the Depot."

"Well then, as far as who's trying to kill us, at least we've got some idea about that," Virgil says.

"If nothing else, those are two names to give to Vinnie to get him off our back if we can't dig up anything else," Daedalus adds, beating Dragon to the punch.

Instead, the mercenary just nods. "Agreed. I suggest that we perform our assigned tasks, and if we come up blank at the flower shop, we can start digging on Kamura and Ichagowa. If we still have nothing after investigating them, we can at least turn those names over to Vinnie to fulfill our deal with him. By then we'll have a better idea of what we need to do to get Daedalus's stuff back in the event Vinnie doesn't come through for us."

Dragon looks around, gauging the response of the team. "This plan should at least enable us to get Vinnie off our backs, put us in a better spot to get Daedalus's stuff, and help us figure out who's trying to kill us or at least give them something else to worry about by siccing Vinnie on them."

He looks over at Tenmou and Virgil. "I know we want to get you both fully back up to speed, but it looks like that's going to take more time and effort than we have available to us right now, especially your," he looks over at Virgil "problem. If you know anyone else who might be able to help you, I recommend you start thinking of them, because I have a feeling we'll need you at full strength sooner rather than later."

Looking around the room, he concludes, "Any thoughts or questions?"

03:17:07 Monday January 8, 2063 - Highway 18 near Sunset Blvd - Border of Redmond Barrens

Erebus was nodding even before Dragon finished talking.

"That sounds like a plan to me. If we need to I can lay my hands on another car so we wouldn't be split between vehicles. I've access to the bike I left at my apartment but I'm guessing Lone Star will be tearing the place apart right about now because of the gentle-ninja I left on the street, so I think staying away from there would be a good idea right now."

He looked around, to see if anyone had any questions concerning the plan.

03:20:07 Monday January 8, 2063 - Industrial Park Hideout - Border of Redmond Barrens

Let the others figure themselves out, things gotta get done, and they gotta get done now.

Erebus pulled one of the two throw away phones from his jacket's pockets, and logged the phone number into his memory to be sure to get rid of the phone soon, and dialed the message drop for his Lone Star contact, Detective Derrick Watts. As always the answer was one of the generic female neutral voices simply requesting a message and call back number.

"Detective Watts this is Snitch, I gotta some hot data that directly relates to you. This is time sensitive stuff, call me soonest." He left the phone number and terminated the call.

Watts worked the O.C. desk in Lone Star's Detective division and was an ambitious little slot. He believed in what he was doing, all that law and order drek, but understood the concept of little fish/big fish well enough that he was willing to play. If he was the first gold star to report the syndicate war that'd be a big feather in his cap, if he could give his bosses the skinny on who was fragging who the day it happened he'd look totally wiz. That had to be worth some help getting Daed's van and Vinnie's package out of impound, even if the help was no more than making sure the guards were looking the other way for a few minutes.

Erebus had been cultivating the detective as a source for the last four months, feeding him whatever little tidbits of data that Erebus came across. This deal took it to a whole nother level though, the fight at Vinnie's being able to point a finger at who fragged over the bar with a missile, that kind of data would alter the relationship. Too many bodies on the ground already, and the prospects of another syndicate war looming, upped the ante..

03:17:08 Monday January 8, 2063 - Highway 18 near Sunset Blvd - Border of Redmond Barrens

After what seemed like a long minute Daedalus nods in reply.

"It sounds like the best that we've got. We will need to get our hands on another car though, I may be able to work something out in that department, but I don't know how long that will take."

Dragon arches an eyebrow and asks, "You actually know someone here?"

Daedalus shrugs and smiles, "I didn't come all the way to Seattle for the sole purpose of getting shot at with you Dragon. This guy is an old pal and I think he has set up a little auto shop in town. I havn't told him I've arrived yet, not that we've had much down time to see him, but well, I guess necessity provides opportunity."

03:20:18 Monday January 8, 2063 - Industrial Park Hideout - Border of Redmond Barrens

Erebus's phone rang almost as soon as he'd hung up on the call.

"This is Watts, whatcha got for me?" the detective's nasel twang asked.

03:20:20 Monday January 8, 2063 - Industrial Park Hideout - Border of Redmond Barrens

"Hey Watts, I guess you got my message huh? How about an inside line on a possible syndicate brawl? Something involving an attempted hit and the use of anti-personnel rockets?"

That ought to give the man enough to know which action Erebus was talking about. The rocket attack in Tacoma had to have set Lone Star spinning, they tended to feel like they had a monopoly on the use of force in the streets of the sprawl, looking to put a finger on the culprit.

"I might have a line on who's who in the fight but to get inside I might need a hand from you. I'm willing to trade."

03:20:30 Monday January 8, 2063 - Industrial Park Hideout - Border of Redmond Barrens

"Yeah, I got your message. I'm interested. Whatcha need from me?" Watts asked. Erebus could almost imagine that the detective was licking his chops at the moment.

03:20:37 Monday January 8, 2063 - Industrial Park Hideout - Border of Redmond Barrens

Erebus paused to run through his speech in his head, he needed to give enough to the detective to show the amount of data available, but needed to keep enough data in order to still have something to trade for later.

"Ya, well the word is out that someone's put numbers on a Maf strong man named Vinnie, and that someone made an attempt on that contract at this guy's joint, the Spagetti Palace. Its a good bet its the Yaks and I'm close to getting inside on this, no entirely by my choosing, so I might be able to ID the contractor. The deal is this though, I need to be able to lay my hands on a van pinched coming into Seattle tonight and at the very least I need to know what cargo the van was carrying, preferably I'd like to lay my hands on that as well. If I can do that then I'll be able to feed you the rest of the data. The van that was coming in belonged to a courier but the cargo belong to a player, and that it might have something to do with the rocket attack in Tacoma earlier."

03:20:50 Monday January 8, 2063 - Industrial Park Hideout - Border of Redmond Barrens

"That "rocket in Tacoma's" got the forsencs boys working overtime," Watts said, voice trailing off at the end.

After a moment, he began again: "It fits in with some other stuff I've heard tonight. And a Yak hittin' someone like Vinnie and not following though would cause some waves. How close you in on this? And tell me about this van. I dunno if I can get to it, but I'll tell ya what I can do after I know more about it," the Star man asked, fully on the hook for Erebus's story.

03:21:02 Monday January 8, 2063 - Industrial Park Hideout - Redmond Barrens

"I'm close enough to smell the Chianti on Vinnie's breath, chummer. Close enough to have to brush the rice of my pants from Ishi. . the other player's meal."

Erebus smiled, at the thought of Watts expression when he kept getting hints but not enough meat. If Watts could drop some data to his bosses that would move the investigation along this quickly he'd surely get a big gold Star in his personnel file.

"The rocket attack was directly tied into the hit on Vinnie and it all ties into the van that got picked up coming into the plex earlier. Supposed to be in the impound lot right now. Its totally grey, unregistered, etc. but the reality is that it belongs to a courier friend who was just having it delivered and Vinnie used it to smuggle his goods. I don't know much more about the van than the fact it had contraband in it and it got impounded. If you can get me more data, and maybe a quiet word to the guards, then maybe I can get the van back. If I can get the van back and the contraband then maybe you can catch Vinnie in possession of illegal contraband at some future time."

Erebus hoped he wasn't making promises he couldn't keep but if it got them out from under Vinnie's death threat and the rest of the death marks on their heads then so be it.

03:18:59 Monday January 8, 2063 - Highway 18 near Sunset Blvd - Border of Redmond Barrens

Dragon waits to see if Virgil or Tenmou has anything to say, but neither of them seem interested in adding anything else to the discussion. Finally, after a long pause, he concludes, "OK then, as soon as Erebus is off the phone, we'll work on getting that second vehicle so we can split up, then move on from there."

03:21:40 Monday January 8, 2063 - Industrial Park Hideout - Redmond Barrens

Erebus could almost see Watts counting coup and new uniform slashes as he spoke. "Listen, you get me something to back up that. I'll start looking up your van. Time's ticking, boy! Get to it," the Star detective said, closing the line.

Opening up another line, he called down to Murkowski's desk. "Bob, you fragger! How are the kids? You know anything going on with Vinnie tonight?..."

03:18:10 Monday January 8, 2063 - Highway 18 near Sunset Blvd - Border of Redmond Barrens

Daedalus dials the number for his friend whom he hasn't seen since what feels like a total lifetime ago, back to the days in the CAS. They had been in touch more recently, but Daedalus had not had a chance to actually come out and visit Brandon in Seattle until now.

The phone rings and he regrets that this call would have to be about biz. Thus is life in the shadows.

A familar voice picks up: "Hello?"

"Hi Brandon, it's Joshua. Sorry for calling at a weird hour."

"Hey Josh! Good to hear from you. Are you in town?"

"Yep I'm here, and I gotta say, this is quite a city you've picked to settle down in. But yeah, I would have waited till daytime but I need your help. I gotta find a set of wheels for temporary use."

"Heh, living the busy mercenary life I see eh? Let me see what I can do..."

03:21:01 Monday January 8, 2063 - Highway 18 near Sunset Blvd - Border of Redmond Barrens

A half-minute of neo-tribal hold music lifts up as Brandon comes back on line. "Ok, I've got a Spirit that's running and won't be missed if you've got to have some wheels, like, pronto. Guy's stiffed me on paying for the battery pack on it, ain't heard from the slitch in a week and I don't care what you do to it. Whatever you're doing.." Brandon says over the commlink. Daedalus can hear the grin over the link, well, hear it over the sound of some rustling parts being moved and a dropped wrench banging on a hard surface.

Daedalus's friend whistled slightly, having found what he was looking for."Ooh, better yet if you can wait a few hours, I've got a '59 Nomad that just needs a new differental and some tuning. I can have it on the road, say, by 7 if you give me a hand putting the parts in. No smoking in it, don't get pulled over, and the owner's coming to pick it up Thursday afternoon, so don't get any dents you can't pull out and polish up rapido. But, if you need to haul more than a sack of groceries it'll do it," Brandon said.

"So, feel like gettin' some grease on those fingers?"

03:21:55 Monday January 8, 2063 - Industrial Park Hideout - Redmond Barrens

Erebus stuffed the cell phone back into his jacket and stretched, trying to ease the tension and fatigue he felt from his muscles. He'd slept earlier that day and his sleep regualtor took care of the need for sleep but a person could get mentally tired from tension and stress mighty quick in this business. Shaking his head he turned and headed back into the main area, grabbing a ration bar to scarf on the way by.

"Hey all, we've got a plan and the clock is running let's get rolling."

Seeing Daed distracted he addressed himself to Dragon and Virgil and Tenmou.

"How bout me, Dragon, and Virgil head off for the flower shop."

"Fine, let's get to it." Dragon's short statement carried neither approval or disapproval, and it seemed to exhaust his vocal skills because the other street samurai began pulling out a multitude of weapons. He quickly began checking barrels, re-filling clips, and re-loading magazines. It appeared to Erebus an awful lot of fire power and prep to preform a simple B&E until he remember how the night had gone so far.

"Ya, good idea." The young Elf added, and began checking his own weaponry.

03:30:00 Monday January 8, 2063 - Industrial Park Hideout - Redmond Barrens

Slightly less than ten minutes later Dragon was satisfied with his arsenal and its conditions. Mentally, he ran through his internal checklist.

Ares Predators for concealable weapons...check.

HK227X for engaging multiple targets and suppression fire...check.

Remington 990 for single target engagement and to look cool by shooting at people through walls...check.

Extra ammo to ensure the party doesn't stop before I'm ready...check.

Grenades for area engagement and blowing someone into next week...check.

Armor to stop someone from blowing me into next week...check.

Appropriately negative attitude to better facilitate the process of systematically removing anyone who gets in our way from the picture in the event of trouble...definitely a check.

Self control and restraint to avoid making an already bad situation worse...

...

...

...

...check.

Turning to Tenmou he said, "You know the plan, contact me if something comes up or there's reason for one side or another to deviate from the plan. Good luck."

After ensuring Erebus and Virgil were also ready to leave he said simply, "All right then. Let's move out."

03:30:10 Monday January 8, 2063 - Industrial Park Hideout - Redmond Barrens

"Right." Erebus let the H&K 227 he'd picked up at the ambush site dangle from his hand. Most of his time hand been spent checking it over and reloading his Predators. He decided to leave the AK-97 in the trunk just in case.

He looked at the serious expression on Dragon's face, it went beyond business-like to almost angry, but Erebus couldn't point to any one facial feature that left that impression in his mind. Between all the lethal gear and the expression he figured he'd better ask before assuming anything.

"You want to drive or you prefer shotgun?"

03:30:15 Monday January 8, 2063 - Industrial Park Hideout - Redmond Barrens

Without changing expression or putting any emotion in his tone, Dragon replied, "Why don't you drive? You know the way."

At times like these, Dragon was grateful for the metal in his body that made him more machine than man. It made it easier for his mind to be focused on the task at hand as opposed to allowing emotions to interfere.

03:21:20 Monday January 8, 2063 - Highway 18 near Sunset Blvd - Border of Redmond Barrens

"I'd like to, just like the old days eh? But I think I'll have to go with the Spirit, time is most certainly of the essence, and well, I don't wanna trash your reputation with your customers... your good customers anyway. How soon can I swing by to pick it up?"

"Alright, thats too bad. You can come by right now, I can have it ready for you as soon as you get here. You know the place."

"Thanks much, I'll be there real soon."

Daedalus hangs up looking forward to seeing his friend again, looking forward to seeing the life he has built himself here in Seattle, and very sincerely hoping that the violence that had been swirling around Dragon, Daedalus and the others would not spill over into Brandon's life as well.

Better get dropped off a few blocks away.
---

Seeing Dragon looking over his equipment, Daedalus remembers to reload his gun and run though his own gear and check on his drones.

Checking over the addresses of their current location, Brandon's shop and the flower shop, he runs down the most efficient route with Erebus as they prepare to head out.

03:50:17 Monday January 8, 2063 - Highway 18, Travelling to Auburn, Seattle, UCAS

Fitting everyone into Juliette’s car didn’t require a lot of reshuffeling, but for Tenmou and to a lesser degree Virgil, the ride definaly wasn’t comfortable. The cold car, combined with pain from his gunshot wounds (Tenmou) or bone-deep headachy tiredness (Virgil felt as they slumped in the well-worn back bench seat of the older Americar. Erebus, bundled in riding gear, still felt the icy cold wind as he followed on his motorbike.


The trip over had been an exercise in keeping the car pointed in the right direction, especially in Redmond. The one good thing that could be said for the snowstorm was that the road had smoothed out: most sections of the road out here hadn’t been in good repair in most of the residents’ living memory. Traffic had packed snow into the potholes; nightfall had lowered the temperatures enough to cause what little had thawed during the day to refreeze into extremely slick, hard to spot blobs blobs on the roadway. In several places, large blocks of cars appeared to be frozen in snowdrifts on the side of the highway at odd angles; accidents of overcorrection on the roadways or just not paying enough attention. Or maybe just dumb enough to be out on the roads Erebus thought, wishing for heavier clothing or an enclosed ride as he dodged a patch of ice behind the car.

04:12:29 Monday January 8, 2063 - #8 SE 256 St, Auburn, Seattle, UCAS

Despite the street number, Erumi’s Auto, Paint And Body turned out to be about as far from the florest shop and still be in Auburn as was possible, according to the barely working Autonav in the older Americar and the completely fragged up Auburn street numbering algorithm. The large, acid-rain scarred concrete-block multi-bay building didn’t look to be in the best repair, but the surrounding chain-link fence with razorwire guarding the stored vehicles was in much better shape. The gate was in similar shape, an moved smoothly back on rails when Brandon punched them through after Daedalus called over the battered intercom. Highway 18 just behind them, normally busy with traffic even during this time of day, was very silent. That, combined with the snowfall, caused an eerie lack of sound that, once noticed, was difficult to get rid of. Only the occasional sharp whirring of a air wrench cut through the blanketing slience.

“Wow. You sure you don’t want to pull that jalopy in here for a bit? ” Brandon said as he emerged from an open workbay door, wiping his hands on a rag while giving a tusk-filled grin to his old friend as the group pulled up. A large, grey Gaz-Willys Nomad was raised on a hydrolic lift behind him in the workbay, and a few other mechanics were tending to vehicles in various states of repair in the service area.

04:16:44 Monday January 8, 2063 – Erumi’s Auto, Paint and Body, #8 SE 256 St, Auburn, Seattle, UCAS

“Guy on the bike’s with you too, right omae?” Brandon said, motioning at Erebus.

“Yeah, just dropping me off. Mind if he leaves the bike here? He’s already a soysicle from the ride we’ve had tonight,” Daedalus said. The cars in the yard of the repair shop were dressed in thick, white snow from the earlier evening snowfall, and the ill-repaired driveway was beginning to ice over.

“’S no trouble. Just walk it inside, put it on the far wall. There’s some space next to the grey toolbox. That street rod should fit in there just fine,” Brandon said, laughing to himself as he pointed into the shop. Erebus set it where indicated, lingering a bit under the overhead-mounted infrared heater to restore blood circulation cut off from the freezing bike ride.

"So, who's the other guy?" Brandon asked his friend, noticing that Tenmou hadn't joined Erebus in getting in the car.

04:40:44 Monday, January 8, 2063 – Along Highway 18, Auburn, Seattle, UCAS

It took Erebus and Dragon a good minute to get the Autonav’s route computer to map an route to the florist shop that didn’t include a detour to Bellevue; the older software was convinced up that several of the major thrufares were closed due to the snow. A hard smack on the dash from Dragon (after all, what was one more dent on the car going to matter?) convinced the computer to map out a direct route down Highway 18. Not that it was any quicker; as the group moved further into the more populated (and car-owning) part of Auburn, the effects of the unlooked-for winter weather increased: more cars laying at more obtuse angles in the road, stopped and abandoned cars blocking half the roadway on a ice-laden viaduct over a railroad track, and one almost wipeout while trying to pass a stranded SmartCar on the median.

05:04:30 Monday, January 8, 2063 – 320th Street SW – Auburn, Seattle, UCAS

Eventually, although slowly, the florist shop was in sight, albit half a block down. The night was cold and the clouds blocked any trace of moon, but the piled snow reflected both the streetlighting and the ambient light of the Sprawl, creating an easily observeable area.

Erebus did not notice any difference from his earlier visit, other than the lack of lighting in the shop and the anti-theft and vandalism metal shutters pulled down over the doors and windows. On a nod from Dragon, Virgil, who had given up trying to sleep his headache/illness away at the first spinout on the 18, summoned his watchers and commanded them to check out the shop. Almost as soon as they blinked into the astral, they winked back into form. “Nothing, master,” they said in unison.

Remembering his earlier encounter at the tavern, Virgil checked himself, switching perception to view the area. Unfortunately, the solid metallic shutters covering the windows and door blocked any interior vision into the shop. Projection would be nice now, he thought.

04:19:23 Monday January 8, 2063 – Erumi’s Auto, Paint and Body, #8 SE 256 St, Auburn, Seattle, UCAS

Daedalus' face cracks into a grin to match his friend's.

"This is Tenmou, we're all workin together tonight, got some ugly business to handle."

Tenmou nods as he is acknowledged and quitely replies, "Nice to meet you."

Seeing his friend, Daedalus is finally able to let go of the stresses that had been weighing him down these past few days . This is the first time he has seen Brandon in a long time, and it was great to see him doing well.

"Good to see you again finally. This is quite a place you've got here, nice and subtle, no one would suspect what kinda trouble you've got brewing in there."

"Thats darn right. Next time you come by you should stop in and take a look yourself, but by the looks of things, you two have got plenty of other things to do tonight. I'll bring the car out, just sit tight." Brandon clasps him on the shoulder briefly before he disappears back into the garage while Daedalus and Tenmou wait and watch the surrounding streets. Daedalus slips quickly to Icarus' bird's eye view to search out any stray cars lingering too long, or worse yet, any other drones floating around.

04:21:10 Monday January 8, 2063 – Erumi’s Auto, Paint and Body, #8 SE 256 St, Auburn, Seattle, UCAS

Satisfied for now that he had not led trouble to Brandon's front door, Daedalus slipped back to his bodily perceptions and looked over at Tenmou casually scanning the early morning cityscape. He looked a little the worse for wear, but carried himself well.

"Hoy Tenmou, you ok with driving? I'll keep my eyes in the sky and I figure this car won't have any rigger mods anyway."

04:21:10 Monday January 8, 2063 – Erumi’s Auto, Paint and Body, #8 SE 256 St, Auburn, Seattle, UCAS

"I think I can manage. Just keep any problems away from me and we'll be fine."

05:05:13 Monday, January 8, 2063 – 320th Street SW – Auburn, Seattle, UCAS

Scanning the area with his cyber-enhanced vision, Dragon pulled up the mapsoft of Seattle he had slotted in one of his chipjacks via his Orientation System, and honed in on their exact location courtesy of his Internal GPS. Using the zoom function on the maps provided, he carefully scanned the geography of the area, looking for any potential ambush spots and paying especially close attention to those areas.

While he scanned the area, he asked Erebus, “How do you want to play this? I’ll let you do the talking since this is your show, but you want us going in light or heavy? After the events of the last 24 hours or so, personally, I’m all for walking in fully loaded. This appears to be the kind of neighborhood where as long as we aren’t too obvious about packing the heat, we should be able to get away with it.”

Looking back over his shoulder at his teammate who was obviously still suffering from whatever bizarre affliction had been ailing him lately, Dragon asked sympathetically, “Hanging in there ok Virg?”

05:05:52 Monday, January 8, 2063 – 320th Street SW – Auburn, Seattle, UCAS

Being brutally honest with himself, Virgil was sure how to respond to Dragon, as either his friend or his trusted commarade. The reality of the situation was that he was no longer able to carry out the primary tasks that Dragon had always been able to count on him for. Far worse than your buddy forgetting to give you lift or be on time . . .Dragon depends on Virgil to keep him alive against threats that he can't handle, likewise Virgil depends on Dragon. They shared this arrangement very reliably under conditions far worse than this errand seemed . . .often enough that both never had to question the other's capabilities, but just know that the protection was there.

Abrupty Virgil snapped his mind away from the blackhole of self-pity that threatened to make him a worse liability than he may have already become. It did neither him, Dragon, or Erebus any good to bitch about things that were beyond control at the moment. They were only concerned about what he could do. . .not what he cannot.

"I'm still breathing aren't I?" he quipped back to Dragon, keeping the morale in his tone high.

"There are two options for me providing support to you two. Option one," Virgil ticked off with his pointer finger, "I have not tested my spell defense capabilities yet, and they might be fine. I can go in with you two and then be in the position to provide some magical defense. If the situation can be negotiated, that also puts me in a position to talk . . .and give our champion negotiator a break." The shaman smiled at Dragon.

"I know you've probably begun scoring maps of the area," Virgil accented the words by tapping the side of his head, "so option two places me outside of the shop in a concealed location where I can watch the front door for you two."

"Either way I can still keep some extra eyes outside of the building by using my watchers. I'll also send them inside the shop, before anyone enters, to get a live body count."

05:06:24 Monday, January 8, 2063 – 320th Street SW – Auburn, Seattle, UCAS

“Using the watchers is always a good idea. I love those things.”

Dragon paused, trying to decide how to phrase this tactfully, then opted for the direct route and asked, “How bad is this drain on your mojo Virgil? Don’t give it to me in technical terms, just ones I can understand. What do you know that you can and can’t do, what don’t you know if you can do, what does it cost you right now to do what you can do, and what can we do about hiding your weaknesses and maximizing your strengths?”

While waiting for an answer, Dragon consulted the maps in his head for a moment, trying to find a good spot to place Virgil. Turning to Erebus, he said, “I don’t know if we’ll face any magical threats inside the building, and I don’t think it’s a good idea to put Virgil on lookout when we’re not even sure how much he can defend himself. It might be valuable to let Virgil wait in the car, where he can use spell defense on us when we come out, and he can drive to pick us up in case we need an exit in a hurry. What do you think?”

05:07:06 Monday, January 8, 2063 – 320th Street SW – Auburn, Seattle, UCAS

"The only ability I have completly lost is projection, my astral form is stuck in my body now. Spellcasting is possible, but more difficult than usual, and each spell is taking a lot more out of me. I think I am maintaining some casting ability because I am a pretty proficent caster, however each attempt I make seems to make the next attempt more difficult. I have not had any trouble communicating with my watcher spirits, but I have not attempted to summon any additional spirits yet."

"I think it is best if I limit my spell casting for now, so that I can still throw some offense out if the drek really hits the fan. I have not tested my spell defense capabilites yet, but I think that they might be on the level of my casting. I am well practiced in defense so I think I can stilll defend you two, with some additional difficulty."

05:08:05 Monday, January 8, 2063 – 320th Street SW – Auburn, Seattle, UCAS

As Dragon watched the street, a sharp gust of wind rocked the car, swirling snow in a mini-tornado around the vehicle. The pattern repeated itself (minus the car) up and down the block in the narrow alleyways the separated every third or fourth building. Dragon’s cyberware vision mods penetrated the foul, cold weather easily, though. While sniper locations were aplenty, the gusting wind and icy, miserable weather seemed to send everyone not absolutely insane (or very well paid) inside. The street looked almost normal; the drifting snow and ice having covered the trash in the gutters, smoothed over the potholed streets, and driven the vagrants to less drafty accommodations.

The florist shop itself looked just like the rest of the shops on the street; shutters battened down against potential thieves and the weather alike were decorated with graffiti from at least three different gangs, all attempting to overwrite each other. Dragon’s closer look this time, however, turned up two additional things: the door to the shop itself was ajar, and there were footprints in the snow leading up to the door.

Virgil sent his watcher spirits in again at the same time that Dragon checked out the street and surrounding buildings. However, his watchers returned quickly, with the same report as before: “Nothing, master,” was their answer.

05:08:08 Monday, January 8, 2063 - 320th Street SW - Auburn, Seattle, UCAS

Erebus fought the urge to wipe his damp palms on his cargo pants and instead slipped the Predator IV from its holster. The visual display told him that it was locked and loaded, ready to fire. He held it down by his side and tried to see through the walls of the flower shop, pretty dam unsuccessfully though.

He glanced over at the human samurai at his side, only to see eyes that were as empty as a cold winter night. He suddenly knew where he'd seen eyes like that before, it was the time he'd simmed a VR tour of the Ruhr-Rhine Aquarium, where he'd spent time swimming with the sharks. Their little black button eyes were too liquid to be lifeless, but they were utterly empty, and you just knew that it would eat you for dinner and think nothing of it, nothing. Dragon's eyes were like that, appraising, measuring, weighing but as distant as the stars hidden behind the clouds. He met the man's gaze and fought to keep the tension from his voice.

"Alright, we'll head on in, Virgil can stay here and provide cover from here. If there's a spell slinger in there, his mojo'd better be faster than my trigger finger. I got point."

Erebus slipped out of car into the snow, trusting that Dragon had his back and headed to the door of the shop. He felt a tiny shiver run down his spine, and told himself it was just a physical reaction to the cold air.

Ya, right.

05:08:36 Monday, January 8, 2063 - 320th Street SW - Auburn, Seattle, UCAS

"Alright, we'll head on in, Virgil can stay here and provide cover from here. If there's a spell slinger in there, his mojo'd better be faster than my trigger finger. I got point."

Dragon nods his agreement. "Be careful. The door is ajar and there are footprints in the snow leading to the door. Someone beat us here, probably recently, given the weather conditions and the fact that we can still see the footprints. It's probably best to assume the worst: that they're still here, hostile, and waiting for us."

The elf didn't say anything to that, just slipped out of the car into the snow heading towards the door. The mercenary debated what weapon to bring for a moment, then opted for the shotgun. In close quarters, he wanted the high takedown rate. He wasn't planning on getting into a pitched ranged battle. If things turned ugly, it was time to beat feet.

Cradling the Remington and disengaging the safety, he silently trailed Erebus into the shop, a shadow in his wake.

:09:20 Monday, January 8, 2063 - 320th Street SW - Auburn, Seattle, UCAS

Erebus slipped up the snow-lit sidewalk, hugging close to the buildings to prevent any observation; Dragon trailed behind a couple of meters, echoing his partners footsteps. Reaching the door, Erebus used the exterior doorframe to shield himself while Dragon took a position opposite, bringing his shotgun up to a firing position, fingers on the trigger guard ready to slip to the trigger. Both tried to look in the cracked door; a small beam of snow-reflected light shined like a moonbeam into the store, unfortunately revealing nothing other than the far wall of the shop. With the security shutters pulled down and no light on in the shop, visible light wasn’t plentiful enough to show anything. Dragon held a hand up, signaling to stop for a moment while he cycled thru the vision options on his cybereyes. After a couple of seconds, he shook his head and signaled to continue: changing vision spectrums didn’t change the fact that the crack in the door, and his angle of viewing, only showed what looked to be a wall on the opposite side of the shop, and a cold area directly across from the opening. Well, it’s a florist shop. It’s got to have a cooler Dragon thought, nodding toward the door.

Erebus, holding the Predator up, slipped out of the cover of the doorframe, taking the step right up to the door. Glancing half back, the elf nodded, taking a deep breath then toeing the door wide open, gun upraised to cover the area across from him.

The influx of light made the scene less sinister. The flower shop, tidy when Erebus last visited the place, showed signs of a struggle. The glass counter was cracked, judging by the snow-reflected streetlighting streaming in the open door. Dragon glanced quickly around the shop, cycling thru the vision spectrums. Heh, the watchers were right he thought, not seeing any heat signature in the place, other than the colder than normal glass fronted cooler.

05:12:20 Monday, January 8, 2063 - 320th Street SW - Auburn, Seattle, UCAS

Dragon and Erebus continued to look around the shop, guns slightly lower now that there was no immediate threat to them. The shop appeared just as Virgil’s watchers had said: no one was apparently in this place.

Someone had been, though. At least one other someone Dragon thought, taking in the scene as Erebus looked up and around the medium sized shop. The clear polycarbonate front counter/display case featured a large radial starburst in the middle of the front, as if someone had been thrown very hard into it. An open fronted cabinet behind the counter had been pulled over, real glass vases and flower arraignments laying in ruin where a clerk might be. Other arraignments in cases in front of the busted up counter seemed disturbed as well, though in a more upright condition than the one located behind the counter. Only the refrigerated case to the left of the store stood undamaged.

Looking up, Erebus saw a lone security camera in a corner of the shop, angled to cover the area from the counter forward toward the door. At least, it would have covered that area when it was working: the camera’s housing and lens lay in the smooth polished asphalt tile floor of the establishment, smashed by a heavy caliber bullet most likely, Erebus thought. A small, curtain-covered alcove in behind the counter wasn’t spared the struggle either: the recording equipment that the smashed camera fed had been ripped from its cabinet, and what looked to be wiring for an alarm panel had also been ripped from the wall. A wall-mounted telecom unit had been knocked off, but was still in one piece, laying on the floor

Still holding his pistol, Erebus searched quickly, looking for a trash bag or anything to help identify the Johnson. Behind the counter, he found the trash bag, but more importantly, he found a small puddle of blood, right under the point of sale station.

05:12:30 Monday, January 8, 2063 - 320th Street SW - Auburn Seattle, UCAS

Quickly grabbing the telecom from where it lay on the floor Erebus holstered his pistol and, with a last look around to be sure, he spoke to Dragon without turning to look at the other man.

"Looks like we're a little late. I'd say it's time to leave."

05:12:45 Monday, January 8, 2063 - 320th Street SW - Auburn Seattle, UCAS

Still scanning the area for any potential threats, all his senses on maximum alert, Dragon answered, “Agreed. But before we leave, do you think there might be any hard copy documents we should search for, or do you think taking that telecom will be sufficient? If you’re sure you’ve got everything we could use, then lead the way out and I’ll cover you. ”

05:12:50 Monday, January 8, 2063 - 320th Street SW - Auburn Seattle, UCAS

Erebus quickly rifled the papers behind the counter, looking for notes, receipts, any type of document that might be helpful. He doubted there would be any but better safe than sorry. Giving up on the search after a few seconds he grabbed the telecom and headed for the door.

"That's it, let's roll."

05:13:00 Monday, January 8, 2063 - 320th Street SW - Auburn Seattle, UCAS

Dragon nods in affirmation. “Lead the way. I’ll cover you.”

05:26:22 Monday January 8, 2063 - City Streets of Auburns - Auburn Seattle, UCAS

The streets were filling up now, as the street lights began to compete with the lightening sky to provide illumination. The weather had continued to worsen, meaning that much of the time the runners had to devote most of their attention to the traffic around them rather than to looking for tails, a fact that had Erebus more than a little worried.

It took them almost an hour to work their way through the early morning rush of traffic, especially delayed by the myriad fender benders brought on by people who were driving in snow and slush for the first or second time in their lives. The long drive in the warm car, the night of constant ups and downs, the normal physiological reactions brought on by the stresses of combat, all combined and weighed on the young Elf's eyelids. His bio-augmented sleep regulator kept him from falling asleep due to physical stressors but the mental fatigue was still there. His hind brain kept hinting that it'd be easier to simply check out for a few hours, all the problems would likely be better then, even though his intellect told him otherwise.

Eventually they all got back to the safe house, using enough roundabout routes and turns to confuse any tails, they parked the car in time to avoid dawn's not-so-early light and trooped into their doss to figure out their next move.

04:25:10 Monday January 8, 2063 – Erumi’s Auto, Paint and Body, #8 SE 256 St, Auburn, Seattle, UCAS

Daedalas and Tenmou followed Brandon inside the shop while one of the younger shop assistants pulled the car around from the storage lot. Tenmou parked himself under one of the overhead radiant heaters that kept the shop reasonably temperate compared to the outside. Brandon and Daedalus talked shop for a moment; Daedalus popping into his drones a couple of times to check on the environment. The only other overhead activity was a Lone Star traffic drone way off to the north, emissions getting fainter as it pulled further from the shop.

“And there it is,” Brandon said, as the greasy human assistant brought the burnt orange Honda Spirit around, still partially covered with ice and crusted snow. “Sorry it’s that Ghost-awful color, but it does run well. Full tank of methane as well, you could get the critter to Vancouver if you wanted. Plates and registration on it are good, nothing out on it that I know of. Just try to keep it that way, ‘k?” Brandon said with a tusky grin.

05:31:22 Monday January 8, 2063 - Barrens safehouse - Redmond UCAS

Erebus carefully examined the telecom, looking for anything which might indicate it'd been boobytrapped, and then setting about removing the cover, intent on looking at the internals before hooking the machine up and probing its memory.

04:18:44 Monday January 8, 2063 - Erumi's Auto, Paint and Body, #8 SE 256 St, Auburn, Seattle, UCAS

Glad anyone else didn’t need to come Tenmou thought, wedging himself in the driver’s seat of the subcompact two-seater. There was barely enough room to find what passed for a comfortable position in his current state. The car’s heat was warmed up, though he hoped the suspension didn’t jar him as much as he feared it would.

04:40:10 Monday, January 8, 2063 - Route 18 and I-5, Seattle, UCAS

Tenmou and Daedalus, after leaving the repair shop, had a somewhat easier time getting around than Dragon’s group. Just after getting on 18, Daedalus (via Icarus) spotted an automated plow-spreader convoy heading toward the 5. Keeping the car a good distance behind them to allow the IceMelter enough time to work without losing the convoy, Tenmou followed the convoy, following Daedalu’s directions from his drones. The trip got slower as they exited the 5 downtown, but it still wasn’t time consuming, considering the weather conditions.

05:10:52 Monday, January 8, 2063 - Lone Star Downtown Impound Garage, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

Daedalus turned the heat down slightly from the full blast Tenmou had it on as they pulled close to the impound garage. It was an anomyous structure from street level and first glance: a retrofitted parking garage from the look of it. Lone Star had installed some heavy-duty rollup garage doors over the entrance and exit ramps, an equally heavy duty metahuman-sized door next to one of the garage doors, and had built up the railings of the various levels into a solid wall. The overall effect was as if a block of concrete had been dropped onto the neon lit block. Multicolored light reflected off the snow covered sidewalks as Daedalus ordered his drones to close-to-rooftop level a block away from the building while [b]Tenmou[b] looked for an parking spot.

05:32:01 Monday January 8, 2063 - Hideout- Redmond UCAS

Erebus looked through the various bits and pieces of the telecom, deciding everything appeared to be in order, and snapped a fiber optic cable from his p-sec to the telecom and another from the p-sec into his datajack.

I hope there's sufficient data to make a connection here, we need the break.

05:40:01 Monday January 8, 2063 - Hideout- Redmond, Seattle, UCAS

Erebus scrambled to close programs as the transfer started and the trideo feed from the telecom's memory began to fill the buffer of the smaller psec. It took paring down to just the basic phone and contact manager functions, but after a bit of playing around with the device, he managed to get the trideo emulator running, and started cycling through the storage.

The feed appeared to be a couple of things; whatever was on KSAF's broadcast, a local weather forecast, and the security cam footage from the (now-destroyed) camera that overlooked the entrance and the front door. Erebus highlighted this feed and played the footage.

It started, from the timestamp on the screen, from an hour before Tenmou and he first entered the store. Fast forwarding through their encounter with the thugs, there was only a handful of entrants.

Things got more interesting around 2300 last night. Only a few hours after that drek with Vinnie that started this he thought. saw the owner was apparently closing up shop, but let two human males into the store. Bowing to them, he disappeared from the camera view for a moment, reappearing a moment later with a tray and cups. Slowing down to normal time, Erebus saw the two bow to the florist, then kick the tray out of his hands. The sound pickup, not good enough to pick out normal voices, banged with the clatter and smash of the chinaware hitting the floor.

The florist backed up slowly, arms out trying to ward off the now-hostile intruders, loud but indistinct pleading played in the background. The one in the lead backhanded the florist, knocking him to the ground. The second man (they look Japanese the elf thought) looked around the store; upon seeing the camera, he pulled out a pistol. The bang of the round signaled the end of the feed from the camera, but seconds later a loud report from a pistol could be heard from the mic pickup. The timestamp of the last round was 23:05:10.

05:41:00 Monday January 8, 2063 - Hideout - Redmond Seattle UCAS

Erebus closed the window on the video feed and instructed his P-sec to copy and forward a link to all the other members of the team so they could view it if they wanted to. To him it seemed somewhat like a dead end but the reality was they needed more information.

Information, that seems to be the key. he thought to himself, since the other side knew what their goals were and seemed to be working along some kind of plan. We're going to need to get ahead of them rather than just reacting.

Without bothering to notify the others he pulled out his cell phone and dialed Elan, getting the expected voice mail.

"Elan, it's Erebus, I need contact info for a decker who's good at assembling background jackets and digging into ownership records. No ties to organized crime. Get back to me with the price and the contact info."

05:35:52 Monday, January 8, 2063 - Lone Star Downtown Impound Garage, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

From Tenmou's vantage point a half-block away, the Lone Star Detention Garage looked to be a formidable building. Also an untrafficked one he thought, shifting slightly in his seat to get as comfortable as the wounds he had would allow. The early morning time didn't seem to see much traffic. Just after he'd parked, both he and Daedalus had seen an ork security guard exit from the main people entrance. Somewhat spooked, Tenmou had almost pulled out until the guard started walking the other way. Daedalus took a chance, calling up Icarus and Talos to do a patterened flyby to cover the guard while Tenmou timed the guard's route.

As the guard rounded the last corner, kicking a small snow drift, Daedalus came out of piloting the drones. “Way too quick,” Tenmou said, watching the guard bang on the entrance to be let back in. “That's the same person, right?”

“Yeah, he made good time covering the building. We could have stood there and he might not have seen us,” Daedalus replied.

06:00:00 Monday January 8, 2063 - Hideout - Redmond Seattle UCAS


Just as the clock ticked over to 0600, Erebus's cell rang. The number he dialed earlier for Elan showed up as incoming.

Hoi there. Got a guy that fits what you were calling for. He's actually just coming off some work, and should be available this morning. When would you like to meet?” . Elan's voice, while cheery, did sound as if he either had just woken up or was just getting in.

06:00:15 Monday January 8, 2063 - Hideout - Redmond Seattle UCAS

Sleep?!? What's sleep? The Elf thought to himself. He was thankful for the sleep regulator he'd had installed, it made sleep a minor distraction most of the time.

"Elan, good to hear your voice chummer. I'd take the meet as soon as you can arrange it, someplace public is preferable."

06:00:45 Monday January 8, 2063 - Hideout - Redmond Seattle UCAS

Sure, sure. Ok if he calls in half an hour?

06:01:18 Monday, January 8, 2063 - Lone Star Downtown Impound Garage, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

Daedalus and Tenmou looked upon the station. At a point, a couple of minutes apiece, both, with Tenmou’s knowledge and Daedalus’s drones, they looked at each other. We’ll need some time both of their look’s said to each other. It wasn’t so much the station: both had identified independent points of entry. So what? Each said to both themselves and the other. This type of urban cavern could take hours to search, and neither could, respective of the stash, say that they could fight or flight their way out without some intervention. And Vinnie didn’t look to account for any intervention beyond what he’d already provided. Daedalus treated it with a shrug that more counted his years than what he felt at the movement, while Tenmoun saw it as another mountain to yet be toppled, but not at this time. Both saw the other in their eyes, and yet themselves.

06:01:15 Monday January 8, 2063 - Hideout - Redmond Seattle UCAS

“So, what now?” Erebus said to the smaller Dragon as he got off the phone with Elan. Virgil had excused himself as soon as they had made it back with a headache. Dragon sympathized with his friend lying on the couch, but that didn’t do anything about the situation. The Yak that had given up Ichikawa blew this into a bigger thing than what was originally supposed to be just a simple ‘get Daedalus’s toys back’ situation.

Erebus and Tenmou both had the same thoughts going though their heads, from across the Sprawl. Contracted to do something seemingly simple, both had been drawn into something that was way beyond the pay for the job they were sent on. And not likely to collect on Erebus thought, having been in the flower shop.

Brooding over the what appeared to be meager choices, Dragon spoke up first. “No way to go after Ichigowa, not without some extra resources. Daed’s drones would help, but we need a lot more time.”

Daedalus chimed in with a report over the link. Daedalus’s voice was clear, but the slight overhum of static told both Dragon and Erebus that this was close to the limit of their comm range. We’re here. Building’s Big Mac, but extra Onions. 5 floors up, at least one below.

Tenmou chimed in, barely knowing the code. Good drone patrols, but looks like they’re relying on them. Metahuman presence low, but it would take awhile to search unless we knew where to look. He didn’t need to mention that he wouldn’t be much help in the search, and while the pain from his wounds was something that he could power though, physical mobility was becoming something of a concern.

Astral? Dragon asked, voice terse, almost regretting it.

I’m about the last person that you should ask that to Daedalus said, suppressing a giggle despite the sparse conversation. Tenmou heard it as well, but took it more stoically.
Give a sec. Erebus spoke up, saying what Dragon thought as well. “Way too much ground to cover, no counting on astral or drone help, and with three working people? That’s a lot of parking garage to cover,” the elf said, belling his years.

Dragon couldn’t help but agree. Tactically, it wasn’t a great situation to go into blind and short-manned. “And Ishikawa-san? You’ve got money riding on that; they’ve just shot at me,” he said, without much emotion apparent. As much as he’d already done, killing and coxing information out of a Yak soldier was one thing, going after a Yak boss for what seemed to be a line-of-business hazard was another. This also didn’t seem like it was tied to the Blimp earlier in the week; they’d only gotten out of that due to some dumb luck. The Yak soldiers, despite being sent with some heavy armament, didn’t read as being in the same league.

“Ishigowa is a bigger fish than we can reel in right now, I think. If we even want to reel him in. Fading away right now may not be a bad idea; I’m not getting paid enough to go after high-end Yakuza,” Erebus said. He wasn’t holding too much of a grudge against Ishikawa either, but he had more immediate concerns, like not being tied down to going after a Japanese mob boss while looking over his shoulder.

“You want to split up then?” Dragon said.

“Yeah. Gather some info, get us healed up, maybe come back if this doesn’t blow over.” Erebus answered.

“Let me get them in on the conversation,” Dragon said, opening up the channel to Daedalus and Tenmou and filling them in on the conversation.

“I’m not going be much help until I get these wounds healed,” Tenmou agreed. The money wasn’t a factor for him, but he knew that going after a Yakuza boss wasn’t a job for a body with bullet holes in it.

“And Vinnie?” Daedalus asked. He understood that getting the drones back wasn’t going to happen tonight.

“He’s just going to have to wait. We need those resources, but they’re no good if we’re dead,” Dragon said.

“Fine with me then. I’ll head over to Brandon’s then. I may be able to scrounge up something to help, between both of us.

”I’ll see what I can find out. I may be able to find some things out easier on my own,” Tenmou said. Finding a doctor went unsaid.

“Ok then, it’s settled. We’ll keep in touch. If you hear anything on this, let us all know.” Erebus said. Like everyone, he was a little apprehensive about splitting up, but, like Dragon, it was a lot more comfortable to do so.

“Agreed.” Dragon said. “I’ll get Virgil up.” Shaking hands and exchanging contact information, Dragon walked out to the foyer where Virgil was napping, while Erebus began packing up.