At Alan's workbench, he watched the two teams interact evaluating and re-evaluating the relationships that presented themselves in gesture, posture, tone. He spent a lot of time wrangling wheeled and rotored scraps of metal and found that it made him extra sensitive - perhaps by contrast - to the movements of living creatures.

He would have to discuss the cavalier use of drones to deliver explosives with Boomer later. Styx's ideas had its merits, though Alan was more conservative. He piped up and his modulated voice came clearly through The Handyman's speaker, cold and dispassionate, "That idea has its merits.

"One) the most important - the intelligence we recieve about the target's repsonse times and types; Two) the repetition and surprise of our actual attack; Three) the target may rely on Lonestar to deal with the gang and they would not have that support on the third night.

"But it has the following flaws: One) it is unlikely that we could recruit a local gang on the target's home ground or trust a local gang that we could recruit; Two) it is unlikely that we could recruit a non-local gang without tipping the target off to strange happenings in their territory;Three) Lonestar will not be tied up on the first two nights, the gang could be captured, killed or otherwise put off; Four) After two nights of conflict the target will still be in a heightened and likely very effective and efficient state of alert - it is my opinion that two nights of conflict is not sufficient to wear down or mislead an effective, well-trained team, in fact, it may give them time to drill and practice in a live situation."

There is a slight pause and the voice continues.

"We could take advantage of flaw number one - that we cannot trust local gangs - to seed fear of an attack in the target of just our kind but farther in the future than we plan."

Styx listened to Alan's analysis, and took a second to think it over before replying.

"While the concern with repetitive attacks merely heightening the state of readiness of the target is a valid concern I think there are mitigating factors for the other concerns. One; the target is a Yak boss, which means if we hire a gang with a relationship to either the Mafia or one of the other criminal syndicates it would be more likely we could trust them to do the work and keep quiet and if the Yaks do figure recognize the gangers they're going to assume its one of the other syndicates making a move. Two; hiring a group of gangers would be easily enough accomplished, five or six grand and a couple of nifty bang-bangs and we'd be able to hire half a dozen street punks, I'm sure our local connections could accomplish that. Three; if the gangers get captured they aren't going to know enough to be able to screw anything up other than they were paid to shoot up a couple of rich people's houses."

As he laid out the idea and defended it he looked for flaws, and the only real flaw he could see is that the target would likely heighten security.

"The only way we're going to get realistic data concerning the target's response is to stage a fient-within-a-fient op. The big problem is that the target will likely lock down its security which might make our employer's primary mission less possible. They've got to actually penetrate the on-site security and be free to move around enough to accomplish their mission."

Drake rapped his knuckles on the table before speaking up: "No, there's not going to be any feints." He began matter-of-factly. "Hitting them with a feint, though we may learn their response times will be useless. In a heightened state of alert, they're response times may be even faster, not to mention that they may call in outside resources if they believe a credible threat exists. Doing this would essentially make any recon that's been done up until that point unreliable at best. What we should be asking, is do they believe a threat exists at this moment? We don't want to devise a compicated plan, just an effective one. The more outside resources we utilize, the less control we maintain over the operation."

Drake pauses for comments before continuing. "Of the explosives delivery methods, I think the drones is a good plan, but we open up the possibility of losing the drone before it's had a chance to make it's delivery. Not to mention, destroyed drones cuts into our bottom line." Drake winked at Styx. "Do you think with the help of elementals we can have the tunnels dug in time if we decide on that route. Navigating underground would be a simple matter so long as there isn't a signifigant amount of metals in the earth we'd be digging through. Then, if we use a GPS, even that isn't a problem."

Styx didn't take long to deal with Drake's suggestions.

"I don't have the spells necessary to move that much earth, all my spells are more combat oriented."

"As for there not being feint, I'm not ruling out any plans at the moment. While I agree those are valid concerns you've raised we're at the initial phase of this operation, everything is still a possiblity. We're just batting around ideas at this point."

While he respected Drake's tactical knowledge Styx didn't want to shut down any ideas yet, especially with the employers sitting there not having a chance to put their two cents in yet.

Iblis lets the surprise show on her face at each suggestion. "Well, you all certainly think outside of the box. I think the less we annoy the security forces before we go in the better. I would like them to think everythings just another dull day until the building comes crashing down around them. How you do that part is all you as far as I'm concerned. As for a distraction, as J-J mentioned, we have a party planned for the Star in the area to keep them out of your way"

Styx nodded, to Iblis, and then turned back to the crew.

"Okay, so no feint then, we need to keep the sec forces unaware of our actions until its time to hit them."

He turned to look at the rest of the crew, including a glance at one of the drones sitting in the room.

"So would we be able to put up a recon drone over the target and keep it unobserved for a day or two? That would give us more data about what forces are on-site for a response."

While the question was open to the entire floor he was really looking for an answer from his riggers. Maybe one of the runners had access to sat coverage over the area, he had no idea what resources they had at their disposal.

He went back to studying the layouts, trying to figure out what the best use of his own talents would be, confident that if the entire team could play to their strengths the target would never stand a chance.

"Once we get in and I get a moment, I should be able to tell you about the matrix end of things and god help them if their security is wired into it." The last part brings a wicked smile to Iblis's face. "But I can't get any info till on-site, they have the system closed and no way for me to get into it from out here."

"What information do you need directly from us? I'm sure you are all capable of pounding out the finer details without us breathing down your necks and asking inane questions about why a charge needs to be shaped a specific way. Similarly, there are arrangements that we must make elsewhere to coordinate the strike by our large diversion with your actions."

Jake looks to Styx and Drake as thus far they had seemed to be the leaders and mentors of this team.

Styx nodded at Jake and checked over the notes he'd been making on his p-sec.

"I think its clear that we're going to need some additional information as we go, including your precise time schedule. We'll continue to work out our plans and try and co-ordinate them with you as we go. We'll need a way to contact you, one primary and an alternate if you please."

He looked over at Iblis, he needed to clarify one of the lingering questions before the parties split up again.

"The distraction you've planned for Lone Star, is that going to also distract or delay any DocWagon fast response teams? We'll need to know what the distraction will and won't take care of and if a DocWagon team is likely to show up in a heavily armed combat helo it will need to be factored into our planning."

"We can arrange for a large enough casualty rating to keep Docwagon out of the picture, but I would prefer not to."

Reaching into his coat to pull out a business card with his info on it, Jake adds Iblis' public LTG as well.

"Time tables are dependent on you. Tell us when you'll be ready, and we will be there. If I say 2130 day after next will that give you enough time?"

Iblis nods and gives Jake a smile straight from the Miss Teen Beauty Queen runway. "Thanks for the face to face."

Styx blinked, the only show of emotion he allowed himself, and then glanced over to Drake to see if he felt that time table was "do-able".

"Just remember Fiji, hon. And everything it took to get there."

Jake smiles that same easy smile which made no promises but carried the hint of bending knees and a dash of heat.

Drake shook his head, a look of disapproval on his face. "Without a clear plan in place, specifically the delivery of the explosives..." Drake trailed off for a moment. "Things are uncertain, but rest assured, if that's the time, we'll have something ready to go."

As the team works it way out of the building, Iblis receives a small alert icon in her field of vision. With a quick mental tap, the icon unfolds into a line of text.

Found your team, set your meet place & time and we can get things rolling.

With a half smile, she turns to Jake. "Your man has come through again for us. He has the things we need to get things done. We just need to pick a time to meet and greet. I think we could do this all virtual, if that works for you?"

Styx listened to the locks "clunking" shut on the pressurized door and then turned back to the table where the team had gathered. It was just the start of the operation and he could already feel the pressure gathering at a point just behind his eyes.

He rested both hands on the conference table a leaned over to stare at the over heads again. Letting his thoughts percolate for a few seconds as the rest of the team gathered. Finally he looked up, making eye contact with each member in turn.

"Okay team, we've got our mission specifics, lets figure out what we need to know to do the job and get on that." He looked over at Drake and nodded.

"Drake you're in charge, I'm going to get some supplies and summon up some help, I'm not sure any of the elementals I've got on call will be strong enough for this job. Lets put together a couple of different assault scenarios and some 'what-ifs' just in case our employers distraction isn't enough to draw off the locals."

"You just want a chance to sneak off and playtest that new Avatar Assassin game."

Turning to the mercenaries, "we appreciate the hospitality you have shown us, but we unfortunately have more meetings to attend to so that we can put all the pieces into motion. In forty-eight hours, we go live. Do what needs to be done, we'll be in touch if anything changes. I'm sure your planning will be much easier to do when there aren't a group of strangers in front of you to distract and limit your creative processes."

With a nod to the rest of his team and a motion to head for the door, Jake rises. The large Italian reaches out to shake hands with Styx and Drake.

"I have every confidence. Good luck."

To his own team, "Alright guys, let's leave the professionals to their work. Howling, Nameless after you." Jake follows a step behind Iblis caught in the slight wake that she leaves, a scent of dark promises and warm fires.

As the team walks to their various wheels, Iblis motions to get Jake's attention. As he walks over, she takes the moment to drape herself across his shoulders. Pausing to get a good long smell of him, she begins to talk into his ear. "I'm going to make the arrangements for the meet with our 2nd group. I'll send you the info to bump along to your sweet thang. I'll meet them in the next few hours. I just wanted to know how much baby gets to spend on this little outing?"

"We can support a minor carrot now, but most of the payout will be at the backend of the run. Lay it out to them that we already have the plan, the buyer, and the location of the product. We just need a pickup and delivery with minor considerations."

"You got it and I am on it." She turns to grab the helmet from the back of her scooter. "I'll send the info Fixx will need and have the people send one person to talk terms. I hate that whole feeling of a room staring at me. I'll get this deal set in about 6 hours tops. Cross my furry heart." With a smile, she pulls the helmet on and hops on the Vespa. With a jaunty wave, she heads off down the road.

November 17th, 02:48

Seattle is, as usual, cold, crisp, and smoggy in the early morning darkness.

Arriving home, Iblis pokes her head in on the main floor to see Izzy setting up for the night's festivities. He gives her a happy wave as she makes her lift to the lift. She waves back with a wistful expression. No fun for me, just more of this sober crap.

She arrives at her flat and makes her way to a corner with a large neon cheetah print beanbag. Plopping down and placing her bag in between her legs, she begins to unstrap it and lay it out for some decking. Plugging into the deck, she feels the meat world drop away and finds herself floating in her natural element.

With a thought she arranges a meet locale at a small seedy matrix cafe, one known for it's shadow deals and rentals. As that happens another rift opens in the air beside her as she composes an email to Fixx.

Here's the info they'll need to meet me. I just want to deal with one person so have them send a rep to this LTG in 1 hour to discuss the details. I'v talked with Mr. BoBo and you're cleared to pick your regular table here as per our agreement. Smoochies.

The rift seals back up and the message is away as she finishes with the matrix cafe. Opening a large portal at her feet, she drops through into the virtual space for the meet. Looking around, her face crinkles at the sheer blandness of the icongraphy. She cups her hands together and small ball of energy forms. She begins to manipulate the code and the programs in the room. The ball glows brighter until it bursts like a nova washing over the space. As the light fades a fabulous disco love lair is revealed. Disco ball and heart shaped bed, and a thumpa thumpa pounds through the room. Her face is suffused with joy as she sprawls on the bed.

"Drag-tastic!"

Tir Team:

"It's here. They want to meet in just under an hour. Virtual." Vathiel sat down at the table the three of them had been using to eat and discuss things at.

"Well, that means you're out Sunshine. Vath if I go in, you can keep any traces from making it here and you can watch through a hitcher jack the way I usually do, to make sure there aren't any surprises. Worst case, we pull the plug and move on." The muscular elf had spent the better part of his lifetime working for the Tir and now Kincaid and his companions couldn't go home.

If Madigan hadn't betrayed us... He still had no proof that it was the civilian who had let word leak out that the team was inbound, but she was the only X factor.

Everyone knew their task and did it well. Vathiel began working on getting a secure satellite connection, her beautiful hands gliding over the delicate lattice of electronics. Sunshine calmed his mind and began to watch for the astral fluctuations signalling a spike in Kincaid's emotions or a change in his health.

With a quick knock at the door, Generic Icon 2174 enters the room. A large, bulky, somewhat androgenous figure with pale skin and long white hair.

A summary glance around the room to ensure it was just the two of them, "Your man spoke of work."

Iblis looks over the new arrival. "And work we have in spades. We want to set up a little B & E number. We have a buyer in the works and a nice choice place to be hit. Our share of the profits will be modest since you're doing most of the grunt work. We do have a few points though that have to be met. The robbery has to occur at a fixed time and we require that the Star get it's attention fixed on your part of town during the job." She leans back and smiles, trying to look friendly and sincere. J-J always makes this look easy.

Kincaid routes his thoughts through the DNI commlink rather than the terminal for a second.

"What do we think? Vath it's a simple grab and go with party favors." With the team's agreement, he continues.

"Before we can accept the job we will of course need a few more details. How large of an area will you need the focus on, level of support, commodity and what the expected return will be, etc."

At Merc HQ:

The door seals shut with a hiss as the last of the visitors leaves. Alan watches and listens through a high-flying drone's sensor suite as the whine of the white-furred woman's moped rises and falls. A small army of tiny drones scurry to and fro collecting and destroying cast off genetic fragments, hair, skin... fur.

<< All clear. Styx, before you start your summoning, do you want any of them followed? >>

<< Drake, weather conditions are what you might expect. **linkedforecast** Crappy, overcast. No good for wave propogation for the RC network. I'll have a better forecast for you closer to our date. >>

Alan makes a rare personal appearance in the warroom to get some more coffee, he wrinkles his nose when he see where the furry decker had been sitting. His cleaner drones at her seat cluster working overtime to remove her white fur.

He leans against the counter sipping the kaf, all rangy intensity and twitchy nerves. His eyes over the respirator mask alternate between glazed and focused. He's multitasking. But when isn't he? When the drones chime their completion of the cleaning sweeps he unhooks the mask from his face, opening his mouth wide, stretching his jaw and face. He rubs the red grooves the masks wear into his face and pushes his hair back.

He squints at the assembled team and speaks through his transducer, "So. Faster than I like to move. Drake's plan seems sound enough, straight forward. Simple. The drones I have are not expendable resources - not the best vector for delivering explosives," his squint hovers on Boomer.

"I'd like to get some more intel on the target's security network. Can we tap our employer for this or are we on our own? If so, I'll start remote recon immediately."

Drake thinks for a moment after Alan dispenses the weather report. When Alan mentions the security network, Drake chimes in. "Though our employers seem to be a capable gorup, I'd like you to perform that recon one way or another as soon as possible."

Drake didn't try to hide his contempt for the group they were working with. Connected, capable..allegedly, and smooth, but they didn't seem reliable. Not for any reason in particular, but it was just a feeling. Briefly, he had a flash of his team, hung out to dry, taking responsibility for their employers' botched mission. The fatal kind of responsibility. It was always part of the job, but that didn't mean he had to accept it or like it.

"Styx," Drake added, addressing the man. "Next time you talk to our employers, lets try to tap them for that security network info for Alan...Also, I'd like to discuss an alternate exit strategy with you."

"well, hell then." Boomer blurts out. "No magic, no drones, i guess that leaves is with going in and placing the charges live. Not my favorite option, but i dont think we can get enough propellents to make some home-made, high powered missles, so i guess we're going in?" Boomer looks disappointed, despite having combat experience, he knew that trying to place charges offenseively would not be an easy task to succeed at.

Drake laughs. "Well until we can find a mobile SCUD, we don't have much choice. But I think if we stick to the plan, and move carefully, we can do it."

Taxi pipes up from where he's slouched in his chair, "Well unless I missed something which I probably did, we have over 40 missiles and rockets to play with we could always jury rig a couple up with extra explosives instead of normal bang bang. We have 2 APC's which mount 3 missiles at a time, plus at game time I have 3 drones with 4 Dragon Missiles each. Thats plenty of bang. Plus whatever toys Alan has. They may not be scud but they sure are mobile and pack a bang. If someone wants to play reload boy we can keep that base under constant barrage for long enough."

"Hell we could probably flatten that entire based if we wanted to."

Iblis smiles or at least tries to, in a sincere fashion. "The area is here.." WIth a lazy motion of her hand she creates a three dimensional map of the area they need kept busy. "and the cut works out like this.." She points to another spot in the air and a chart appears with figures of the estimated sales of the goods and everyone's share plotted out. "and as for support let me know what you need and we'll do our best, within reason, to accomodate. We only need the Star pulled away for a bit, no more than 30 minutes or so I think."

"So, you've got all those missle bodies, eh Taxi? Kannst du..."

Boomer pauses a moment, realizing he slipping back into german....

"err, Do you think that you can pull out the heads of them to be replaced with a handpacked charge? I'd rather not just wrap a bunch of explosives around the outside and cally it "jury-rigged", ya know?"

Kincaid

"Very well, it should be doable. Send me the time and date that you need the us to do our magic."

With that he logs out.

Pulling the 'trodes off, Kincaid looks over to Vathiel and Sunshine.

"We've got our work cut out for us. I think we can probably drop the power grid by hitting the main transformers and redundant systems. That can drop the city into a panic. Vath can you think of any kind of bug which could hit the matrix and start attracting attention. Some kind of bug that bounces from one system to another stirring up the hornets and leaving? Sunshine, we'll need you to help get us in and out. Some storm spirits would be nice if you can get them to make a bunch of noise and whip up some chaos--mass confusion in small pockets will probably draw attention away from our target and from our employer's party."

Wiping equations clear from the board on the wall, the former staff-sergeant begins breaking down the objectives and brainstorms ways to get around obstacles.

Alan

"Our own recon. Got it." Alan fills a small thermos as the smell of burnt hair fills the room. His drones have finished their cleaning work. He pulls the mask back over his face and puts his hand, palm down, on the warroom table. His eyes unfocus momentarily. The tiny drones scuttle over to him and swarm up his outstretched arm. Without a word he walks out of the room, shifting clusters of spider drones, many capable of delivering deadly toxins, nestling snug and safe all over his body.

Back at his workstation, Alan settles into a custom built command chair. As he leans back into the cushioned seat, his complement of spider drones scurry topside to avoid being crushed. He sighs, settling in and getting comfortable, and searches out the businesses, residences and streets surrounding the compound.

Over the team comms he says, << Taxi, we should get dinner. Udon. I know just the place. Anyone else hungry? >>

Boomer salivates lightly mmm, food he thinks to himself before replying "whats on the menu?"

Party Central
Jake watches the meet through the roll-out screen in Iblis' portable decking command station. He never understood how she was able to tear holes in the fabric of the matrix and generate the graphics on the fly the way she did, but then again, he couldn't easily explain how to bend mana to her will to kill and maim Lonestar. Thinking about it, it was probably best that his furry friend didn't have that type of power. At least with guns, she could only carry so many bullets.

"It looks like we are good to go, now we just need to actually hit the site. Nameless, I don't suppose you can find anyone who has been inside the house. A rough internal sketch would be better than nothing."

The Unshed Tir
"Vathiel, I'm going to need a schematic of the city power grid if you can grab one for me. We've got the info that our employer provided, but we may want a little more as well.

"Sunshine can you take a walk through the area and see if we are going to have any surprises in the land of magic?"

The muscled-elf crosses the room and pulls open the locker where their gear was stored. He began field stripping and cleaning all the various weapons. Kincaid would leave the small darts and shurikens to his companion, an unfamiliar hand dealing with sharp poisonous implements would be a liability here.

MERCS

Dinner had been tasty, a noodle joint, very traditional. They had had to pass Boomer off as their body guard, not a tough role for him.

Now they were cruising into the target zone. Alan shifted uncomfortably in the passenger seat next to Taxi.

Several miles away from their target, but close enough that Alan was getting twitchy with adrenal response. He bit back comments about their passage through the neighborhoods, if there's one thing he didn't need to do it was give Taxi driving tips. Boomer was in the back with some of Alan's stripped down drones, made up to look like generic couriers, and Alan was running through the scripts that would let him snag transponder codes from nearby vehicles, spoofing them as drone's own as it made its hopefully smooth scouting run.

Alan was looking for a suitable place to deploy the drones, an alley or deserted parking garage with no occupants or a blind spot in surveillance.

Tir Team

The young elf looked up at the mention of his nickname. "I can probably ask for some help fom my brothers and sisters to sow confusion here and there." He moves to a chair and sits, beginning to prepare himself for the works ahead. 'I'll just need someone to show me or drive me by the locations you want me to scout out from the spirit ways." He looks hopefully to his teammates, slightly embarrased by the fact he still doesn't know how to drive.

The Loft

Iblis leans back and stretches out from the decking. "I've tapped out my people for info so we may need to come up with new friends for information. I have no idea who would know the stuff we want to know....." She slumps back into the bean bag.

Tir
"I can drive you. The air will help clear my head." Kincaid lowers his voice slightly, "and to be honest, watching Vath do her decking thing is a bit to much like watching her die for my stomach."

The Loft
"Can Lotus shed any light? I remember her saying that she had been inside this guy's place before, or was that just his office?"

Boomer Sits in the back with the drones, trying to make idle conversation with them, without appearing crazy. As he glances to the front, he notices taxi glancing in the rearview mirror for long periods, eventually getting the hint that it's not working too well, and he finally shuts up, once again resigning himself to his fate of being stuck in the back half with a buncha metal.

He thinks to himself, I shoulda payed more attention in the electronics classes in the Academy, then maybe i coulda got a jack put in my head, and all of my victims wouldnt know how big i really was.

Styx jotted down yet another correction in the summoning formula he was working on and saved the corrections to the personal computer he was using. The number of hours he'd have to spend on this summoning was substantial but the team would need the additional "punch" when it hit the target zone. Vestra brought him another cup of steaming soykaf to drink while he ran through the formula one more time, frequently accessing the reference database he kept for just this purpose. He stifled a sigh and hoped the team could handle the physical recon without him running astral cover.

Setting aside the distractions he focused on his work, knowing he'd need to be equally careful in the actual drawing of the conjuration diagrams he was so laboriously preparing.

The Loft

"I have no idea but I can try to ring her and see what she says." Iblis moves from the bean bag to what looks to be a pile of shed skins from drag queens. She begins to dig through the pile of glitter, baubles and accessories. "If she has do you want her to talk to the gun and bomb set?" With a cry of victory she emerges from the pile of party nights before with a small portable phone. She falls back into the pile and begins to search the memory of the phone for a number. With a press of a button she holds it up to her ear, waiting for Lotus to answer.

The Tir Team

Sunshine watches out the window as the city passes it by. It still shocked him to see so many non-elves in one place and the city was so mundane to him. None of it spoke to him of childhood or home but this was his life now. He was glad that he had friends like Kincaid and Vath but he missed his sense of purpose from before. Pulling himself out of his self induced funk, he began to study the area so he could travel back here along the spirit paths and do his part of the job.

The Loft
"If she knows anything about the inside let's get it first hand. Then, if she is comfortable talking to the mercs, have her call them and answer any questions that they have. Let's not expose her too much if we don't have to."

Tir Unshed
Looking at his friend, Kincaid could almost hear the wheels turning. He wasn't always sure why Sunshine had these bouts of quiet reserve, but he usually snapped out of them.

"Did I ever tell you about jump school? The sergeants used to get a kick out of having new jumpers watch a team clear the line. You'd see two or three clean jumps and then one guy would get out and his chute wouldn't work properly. The entire squad would break out in a run to go help out grabbing medic-kits as they went. As soon as we got there, all the sergeants would stand laughing because we went to help a resuscitation dummy with a camera. They have pictures of the shocked faces of every new jump class on a wall in the office."

Kincaid chuckled to himself, remembering the feeling of hauling ass over a quarter mile with seven guys at his back ready to help carry-out a soldier and then seeing the camera strapped on to the dummy's chest with the word SMILE painted boldly above it.

Boomer starts getting irritable in the back with the drones. "Wen will vie" Boomer again pauses, letting himself slip back into english, "get to wherever it is we're going?"

Iblis -

Steel hrms over the phone. "Well, it's a bit of a sticky situation. I don't personally have any information on the security at his home, I've only been to his office. I know some people that have been doing some reasearch that could be useful. My standing with them is just a little...tricky."

Iblis

"Well, if we can lets get that info. How sticky is it? Like I shot your dog and forget to mention it sticky?" She cups her hand over the mic of the phone. "Flower may have some info but you may have to do that talking thing again cuz it's complicated." She goes back to her conversation with Lotus.

Sunshine

He gives a dry chuckle at the story. "I think I can hop out now and look around park over there so I can find my way back again." He points to a small alley where Kincaid should go unnoticed for a time while he looks around. Taking a deep breath and dropping the car seat back, he opens himself up and slides out of his skin.

He pauses, still amazed, at the sight and feeling of this world. He glances at Kincaid and is stunned by the beauty there, the delicate nuances of emotion and life that was there. Shaking it off, he slides from the car and begins to look over the area. Time to work.

Jake
"Can you find out if it's "party foul" sticky or more along the "guns and knives" level of sticky? If the latter, we may need to back away. I don't want her to put her neck out on this one."

Loft

Iblis nods as relies the question to Steel Lotus. "J-J wants to know if its the kind of sticky that people get shot for?"

Steel laughs sharply. "Disowned and dishonored, cut off from all family contact and left to fend for yourself after a lifetime of service, yes. Shot? No, that'd be too easy."

The bitterness in her voice is obvious, even through the phone.

Loft

Iblis makes at a face at the bitterness. "Sorry I asked. What can we get from you without making things worse?"

Tir

Sweeping through the area, Sunshine slides back into his body. He shudders a little at how heavy his own flesh feels after coming back to it. Looking to Kincaid with a smile he gives the thumbs up gesture. "Ok I have an idea of the layout so we can discuss plans back at the shack."