View Full Version : ShadowZero: Ch4: On The Wheel
She shrugged.
"He'll make a good bargaining chip somewhere down the line. Now can we please get the frag out of here before somebody else shows up?! And would somebody please remove my boyfriends truck from those fragging trees before he breaks down into tears?"
Desolator12
03-23-2007, 06:33 PM
"I'd help out, but I don't have anything that can get it out." Rush said. He started to move for his bike, collecting the pieces. "Eh, it's not so bad... bit of stuff there, some stuff here... good as fraggin' new..."
Nyerguds
03-23-2007, 06:36 PM
"Gruddammit, just load 'em all in my van so we can get out of here!" Bunny yelled, while helping Shotgun and Greenleaf carry Jackson into the airvan.
"I'd appreciate it if one of you people stayed with me though. I don't want to get a crazy rigger strangling me from behind when I'm flying."
"Thanks for the info!" She sighed towards Rush. This was getting ridiculous, they'd nailed the fragger - Now was the time to scramble and mull over this munce later! "Maybe if we get the fragging truck out, we'd have something to transport that piece of scrap in! Or if you'd like to stand in the middle of the road all day until the fragging peelers come, be my fragging guest! Maybe you could kindly point out that you don't have your own handcuffs for them to arrest you with, hm?!"
Desolator12
03-23-2007, 06:41 PM
Rush ignored Steel Rose. He'd already told her that he couldn't help.
"This crazy rigger'll guard that crazy rigger. Let's get that other van out though... the less we leave behind, the less the cops have to trace, mm?"
"Ugh." Mr Grin heaved and metal screeched. Steel Rose's van, now loose, rolled gently back onto the roadway. The minotaur wiped his brow.
"If we's done here, maybe we want to scram? Meet up somewhere 'gain later, when the coast is clear, and decide what we're gonna do with that fraggin' deserter shaman?"
Wesforce
03-23-2007, 06:46 PM
A GM Roadgrub appeared from the smoky gloom, and paused, whoever was inside obviously looking over all the carnage in disbelief. It parked next to the Corporate Man's Zeon, but no-one got out of it.
Steel Rose's drones spotted yet more vehicles on the way - approaching at high speed from the North and only sixty seconds out: Two Neuwerke Neunbrechers.
"Thank you! Finally!" She smiled towards Mr. Grin, opening the cab door and loading Mr. Traxx in the back. She supposed she'd have to carry something now though, and she'd rather carry equiptment than people. "Anybody who wants to put anything in the bed, do it fragging quickly! We got company! Serious company!"
Serenla
03-23-2007, 06:48 PM
"No problem," said Shotgun in reply to Bunny. "I'm too winded to do much more than guard detail anyway. Fragger won't try anything if I'm here. Assuming you can hold both me and the pretty boy here," she said, waving a hand in his general direction.
She coughed up a bit of blood and sat down on the road to catch her breath. "Lemme know when you want to go. I'll wait here." Jovis, her rasp was worse than ever. She held up a hand to examine and was surprised to see her arm shaking, the skin bright red and peeling in a few places from the heat.
It was time to bail. Frag any evidence - they had two tankers crashed on the highway, one of the vans scuppered beyond roadworthiness - it was better just to get out of here now.
"Mail me a meetup, okay?" He said to Steel Rose. He headed back to his car beyond the roadblock and got inside.
Desolator12
03-23-2007, 06:53 PM
Rush quickly wheeled his bike, well, what was left of it, onto the bed. He grabbed the other two pieces, and put them on as well. On his way back to the aerodyne, he grabbed his pistol. It was covered with green goo and a splattering of C12, but nothing a good cleaning wouldn't fix.
"Right, let's go." he said, pulling Hazard Stripe into the aerodyne with him.
SW Freak
03-23-2007, 06:58 PM
"ARGH! Motherfraggers! Let me at 'em! I'll take 'em all on!" Jackson leapt to his feet. His left leg twinged, badly, but it wasn't nearly so bad as the massive compound fracture that was his right leg. "Sweet mother of Jovis!" he cried, tumbling down again.
After thumping the ground several times in his agony, he managed to push himself onto his moderatly better foot, Shotgun giving him support. He looked around blearily. He had been half awake during the whole thing, but was just getting over a minor concussion. He focused on the elf who was helping him.
"Like me, huh? Lucky me," he said, sounding, as usual, almost bitter. Then, surprisingly, came, "Thanks, Shotgun. Hey! Cleaner! What're you yellin' 'bout?" The two of them hobbled over together. "Jovis, Cleaner, you don't mess around, do you? Frag...Here, I'll hold that for you," he said, holding out his hand to snatch the container in the assassin's hand, the one holding all the green and red drek. "Make sure it doesn't move, I'll put this somewhere safe, and get some help. That Greenpeace guy, I'll bet he knows about this sorta thing."
Hurrying now, before the Cleaner could say a word, Jackson and Shotgun eventually made their way to Bunny's aero-van. Jackson sat down inside and exhaled heavily. His leg was in a complete state. He looked up at his helper.
"Hey, could you get me something to splint this with? And some rope, or something, fraggit, I dunno...Hey, you okay? Have you been bleeding?" He pointed to a speck of blood on her upper lip, something approaching genuine concern in his eyes.
As well as the bike, The Cleaner threw one of the unopened bodybags into the cab - She wouldn't usually take it, especially seeing as the condition the truck was in could attract attention - But the fragger had done good, so it was the least she could do she supposed. Greenpeace threw the canvas over both the bike and the bag, which also helped cover up the obvious mangling of the trucks bed.
"Ciao, fraggers!" She said, in her best Fast Eddie voice, before dragging Greenpeace away from the Aerodyne and into the drivers seat. He rigged in, powering up the engines and flooring it.
"That was... Interesting..." He remarked on the way home.
"Could've gone better..." She sighed. "Still, least we're alive."
"Yeah... So, about that meal..."
"Tomorrow. I'm fragged." She sighed. "Can we stop off at Vincent's on the way home?"
"Sure, why?"
She cast a glance towards the bed of the truck, and smiled a wicked smile.
"I think I've just found the perfect way to raise funds for your truck repair."
Serenla
03-23-2007, 07:07 PM
"I'm fine," Shotgun lied to Jackson, hoping it was true. "Had a run in with some fragging imp things in the forest. Nothing a few days rest won't fix." A few days and a new brain, maybe. This one hurt too much. She could feel a slow trickle of blood coming out of her nose again and wiped it away before he could notice.
She managed a faint laugh. "At least we'll actually get paid for this. Johnson won't be able to deny we took out the truck. Fragging BBC News won't be able to deny we took it out."
Wesforce
03-23-2007, 07:08 PM
Blue Flashing lights. Two Neuwerke Neunbrechers smashed through the smoke, appearing onto a scene that was a textbook Dantean vision of hell. The first police car smacked into the back of the parked Roadgrub, the second swerved around and drove over the stunned Corporate man.
Two NBPs jumped out of each car and immediately pulled out pistols and submachineguns, taking cover behind their cars.
'Armed Police! Out of the fragging Aerodyne NOW!'
Then they opened fire, bullets spacking off the Airvans body, and hitting the interior through the open door.
Serenla
03-23-2007, 07:10 PM
"How good's the armour on this thing Bunny?" Rachel asked. "Think we'll be able to take a beating from the cops, or do we need another plan?"
Desolator12
03-23-2007, 07:12 PM
Rush dived down onto the floor of the aerodyne... "Anytime there!" he said to Bunny.
SW Freak
03-23-2007, 07:14 PM
"Yeah..." Jackson, much to the shock of everyone inside, actually sounded worried for someone else. "That fraggin' slitch of a druid, though...I ever see her again, her ass is fraggin' mine."
Jackson sighed again. Then, quick as a flash, he grabbed his leg below the knee and tugged down, hard. The bone that had been protruding from his flesh slid back in with a click, and Jackson hissed his way through all the expletives in his repetoir. Then the bullets started flying.
"Jovis...Y'know what? If we get out of this, I'm buying you dinner, just 'cause I'll be so fraggin' happy to be alive," he said, hitting the deck.
He dragged Shotgun down beside him as a couple of ricochets threatened to put a damper on her pretty face.
Nyerguds
03-23-2007, 07:25 PM
"Just fragging close the door already!" Bunny said, as the aerodyne roared up into the sky.
He had two choices now... go away from the city and lie low for a few hours, or head straight back to the city, blending in before they could alert the air pigs.
The second seemed the overall best option, since he didn't have a clue where he could hide behind the dead forest.
Full thrust forward, upwards thrust 45 degrees, sound dampeners to medium. Bunny's mental commands were executed as he thought them.
The AirVan's thrusters roared, and with bullets ricocheting off its armored hull, the aerodyne flew straight over the attackers towards the city.
From his side camera, Bunny saw one of the NPB's getting blown off the road by the aerodyne's thrusters. He'd survive, probably. And anyway, at that moment, he really couldn't care less.
Desolator12
03-23-2007, 07:28 PM
"Alright then..." Rush said, moving to Hazard Stripe's unconscious form. He stripped the grenades and weapons off of the Rasta-Rigger's person, and kept the knife at the ready... He'd clean his gun later.
Serenla
03-23-2007, 07:38 PM
"We get out of this, I think I might just take you up on that offer," Shotgun coughed. "I wouldn't have put it past the shaman to have called the cops though, and she knows who we are. Might have a welcoming party when we get back."
She tried to smile at Jackson but couldn't quite manage it. Jovis, how long has he had three heads? Something...definitely not right here. She turned her head to ask Rush but the motion was sluggish and her sight blurred. Something was dripping onto her hands, making them wet, but she couldn't tell what.
"I think..." she managed to rasp and then the blur turned into a dark whirlwind. Someone was talking but she couldn't make it out. Her back hit the side of the AirVan and Shotgun's mind slipped away into the pain.
SW Freak
03-23-2007, 07:42 PM
"Jovuuuuus! Bunny! Get us to a hospitable, now! Shotgun must be hit! She's bleeding, bad!"
Come to that, we could do with some medical attention too, remember? Since when did you start caring?
Shut up, Indie.
Nah, I'm proud of you! You're evolving as a person.
Desolator12
03-23-2007, 07:48 PM
"****" Rush said... he took his jacket and then his white undershirt off, replacing his jacket and buttoning it slightly.
"Wrap the most severe wound in this." He said, handing the shirt over. It was damp, but not in a smelly body odor way. "Staunch the wound for until we get to a doc."
Wesforce
03-23-2007, 07:58 PM
Snowflame finally arrived home.
It had been one gigantic frag-up of a night, but she'd made it out in one piece. She wondered if any of the others had - That damned rigger who'd got her into this mess, that cyber-psycho, that Elven woman who'd gone hunting in the dead woods, even that fragging show-biker.
What a frag-up indeed.
Time to cut her losses. She phoned the Dwarf, had a shower, and settled down on the couch with a glass of red wine to nurse her drain-fatigue, studied her grimoire some more, and went to bed.
SW Freak
03-23-2007, 07:59 PM
Jackson used the garment to wipe away most of the blood, and found that it wasn't from any one wound; she had a few grazes, possibly from near misses, that were bleeding relativly heavily, but she wasn't in any real danger. All the minor stuff must have built up, though, possibly coupled with the speed at which they had taken off. Jackson could hear Indigo s******ing in her head and fought not to smile; the tough-ass elf had fainted! At least, that's how it seemed.
"Hey, Bunny, false alarm on Shotgun. I could still use that hospital trip, though." He glanced at his phone. "HKB hospital, please, guv'nor! It should show up there, right?"
Posh place, he thought.
Expenses paid? asked Indie hopefully.
Yeah, in our dreams, maybe. You mind doing the talking on this one, Teach?
Not a problem, Jackson.
Wesforce
03-23-2007, 08:18 PM
Before long, the AV6 was flying over Britsprawl, just above the smog-layer that completely obscure the ground but for a few strong, piercing lights at ground-level.
There were many Skyscrapers at the centre of Britsprawl. The City, they called it. Old London to the archaic old fraggers out there. Skycrapers, while down at the bottom were layer upon layer of hovels, flats and general scum-of-the-earth dwellings.
Not up here though.
The Hildebrand-Kleinwort-Bernal tower had one of Britsprawl's most exclusive hospitals on it's top floor. Strictly Corp execs only - not for this place the usual influx of Orks hit in drive-bys, or street-kids burned with fireballs.
Twenty armed guards from Alpha Assault Services lined the roof in phalanx formation, headed by a blonde-haired woman in a lime-green evening dress, which fluttered about her body enticingly in the breeze. She took shelter behind the guards as the AV6 landed, and came forward, surrounded by guards as it cut the power.
Two hospital orderlies in plain white tunics came and stretchered Jackson off into the building, clutching the package he'd gotten from The Cleaner.
'The rest of you have approximately thirty seconds to get your low-life arses out of here before we have you atomised.' The woman said in a rather robot-like voice. 'That goes double for you, Mister Crux.'
Nyerguds
03-23-2007, 08:19 PM
"Uh, sure thing." Bunny said, and made the Aerodyne ready for lift-off.
He frowned, and turned to the other runners. "Weren't we supposed to destroy the truck's cargo?"
What were these things anyway? Hacker clones?
A lot of weird stories and conspiracy theories went around nowadays. Bunny was always afraid the craziest ones were the most likely to be true...
Apparently, he said that a little too loud though...
Wesforce
03-23-2007, 08:21 PM
The woman sneered at Bunny and laughed, as if at some kind of unseen joke. When she saw Bunny's puzzlement, she said:
'I wouldn't mention a word of this to any Dwarfs you might know if I were you.'
Suddenly Bunny had the feeling that this woman and her goons might decide to kill them all just for having seen her...
The two of them pulled up outside Vincent's place - Part of her was amazed that they'd made it there in one piece. It had been a hell of a night, and she half expected somebody to stop her on the roads, drag her out of the cab and put a bullet in her brain.
Her thoughts turned to spiders. She'd seen one eat a man alive, and they still seemed a more comforting thought than what people could be doing to her right now - Or what she'd done to people.
Life in the Shadows. She shrugged, and they knocked the door.
Cruncher was the first through, pushing past the bushy bearded old dwarf and grasping her by the wrist gently, but persistantly, dragging her inside.
"Hullo!" He cheered, all grins despite the fact they both probably looked like steaming piles of drek. "Late ain't it? What can I do yer for?"
"Smashed up the truck a bit..." Greenpeace admitted. "... Wondering if, y'know, you could help."
"Sure try, hee-har-har-ho!"
Greenpeace took the truck 'round back and the three of them soon gathered around it, he threw the canvas off to reveal the bike, the bag and a whole fragload of mangled truck.
"By Odin's beard, lad! What the bloody 'ell did yer do to that?! Let a fraggin' truck drive through it?!"
They both looked at each other akwardly.
"Dunnae matter, mind - Can straighten it out, or fix yer up a new bed... Pretty hefty job though..."
"Would the mono cover the costs?" She asked, motioning to Rush's bike.
"Mayhaps, mayhaps... Certaintly put a dent in yer bill, that one!" He peered into the bed. "What about the bag?"
"You don't want to know. Seriously."
"Ain't for us to reason why, eh Steelie? 'Specially where the shadows are involved. Hee-Hee-Har-Har." He chuckled, nudging her arm. "I'll take the bike though, bit o' a fixer upper but good nick."
"Thanks Vincent." She smiled, before turning to Greenpeace. "Honey, can you take a cab home and bring me my van?"
"Your van?"
"Well, I'm not gonna fit Traxx into a robocab, am I?"
"Right, sure... Um... See ya Vince."
"Take care Leo, m'lad."
She kissed him on the cheek, because he had been good tonight - Even if the taser hadn't worked out. She wondered what had happened to that, but just assumed it was causing more trouble than it was worth. He left them alone, and she let out yet another in a long series of drawn out sighs.
"I need tea." She informed the dwarf, who rested his hand on the small of her back and told her she'd come to the right place.
Desolator12
03-23-2007, 08:34 PM
Rush sat back down in the aerodyne... holding himself and saying 'ohcrap' at several times normal speed... not only had someone noticed him, they knew who he was...
Wesforce
03-23-2007, 08:37 PM
(GM: Okay, its been a long, hard fragging day, and you've got a meet in the morning. Mister Dwarf has left you all messages while you were away for a trip back to the Zoo. Make one short post and go home to bed please ;) )
Snowflame tossed and turned in her bed. She was reliving it. The ecstasy, the thrill of being on a 'run. Being under that fragging Shadowwolf's jaws and yanking the trigger to blow its brains out.
She loved it. She loved the action.
In her mind's eye, she saw the headlights in the distance. Here we go. She roared out in front of the tanker, hearing the din of hits horn. She cast her spell... She trashed that fragger good and proper.
Only, in her dream, she knew the tanker was not her target. She did it anyway... And then went to the crashed vehicle.
Only it wasn't soy-milk pouring from the tanker...
It was wasps. Thousands of wasps.
She woke up, head hurting.
Fragging drain she thought. All for a wasted 'run, too.
She got out of bed, walking naked across her living room, basking in the freezing cold of the freezers that cast an arctic chill and mist over the flat. There was a small laser display that recreated the Aurora Borealis on the north wall too.
Something bothered her about the place as she walked to her soykaf machine and poured herself a cup.
She went a closed the fridges, feeling disturbed.
She was starting to feel cold...
She went back to bed.
Desolator12
03-23-2007, 08:40 PM
(Player Note: Last post for the night.)
Rush looked at Bunny. "J... just drop me off somewhere... I'll get a cab..." He said... his nerves obviously shot.
Bunny, not wanting to land anywhere except a safe spot, took the aerodyne to his pad and landed it... Rush got out and, dazidly, and with Hazard Stripe, got a robocab home... paying the fee...
"Fragging... ugh..." Rush said, kicking at the door to his place. It was unlockable, but for some reason he never got around to fixing the fact that it was more stuck than some floors in certain bars these days... He instead took the route through the garage, making a note to call Steel Rose once he got her number... he closed the bay door, locking it as well, and headed past the greasepit known as his garage, which looked like any typical male human garage - Tools and grease everywhere.
He entered the main room... his house consisted of 3 rooms: the main room, the bedroom, and the bathroom... not counting the garage.
He sighed, and headed over to his little mini-bar... well, it looked like it at least. He wasn't that frilly in his main room. It pretty much doubled grease-wise as his garage, and he frequently tinkered with stuff in here, small patches of grease just about everywhere. The corpys at GM didn't like the image, so whenever he needed an interview done at his house, he rented a posh apartment and said his current one was under renovation. It worked. He poured himself a drink... didn't care what it was, so long as it wasn't motor oil, blood, or piss. He took a swill, and headed over to his chair. He dialed up a number on his phone...
"Wheels of Steel, this is Mac"
"Heya Mac... listen, got my old bike lying about anywhere?"
"Yeah, it's in the back. Needs some work done on it though... minor stuff, prolly'd take you an hour. Why? What happened?"
"Some fragger decided to punk it when I was at the show earlier."
"Aww, tough break man, y'know though, even though you are a good friend o' mine... you did sell it to me."
"Yeah, yeah... I got the money... Have Rick tow it up to my place, I'll give him the cred then"
"Right. Talk to ya later."
He hung up. Mac was cool. He didn't brag about knowing the Daer Daemon, or whatnot...
Few hours later, the bike arrived. He pulled it, and Hazard, into the garage, and began tuning it up... enjoying the relaxing bits of working in the grease...
"Where the frag am I mon?!"
Daniel sighed... it was going to be a long night...
She was sat in the front of her van outside Vincents, mulling over what to do next. She'd loaded Traxx back into the van, along with the body... It stille breathed. Nobody had told her it still drekking breathed. She shuddered, and wondered what to do next. She figured she'd crash at Greenpeace's for the night, it'd keep him happy at least, and she didn't want to be alone. Not tonight.
Her wristphone vibrated, and she checked it in the futile hope that Eddie had got back to her on the Shotgun situation. No such luck, it was Mr. Dwarf - Inviting her to blow a further £200 at the zoo.
Signed Your Boss... Well, that was interesting.
She fired off a mail of her own,
---> Somebody's trying to screw us over, and I have a body in my van...
She deleted the bit about having the body. She realised it would probably be a very bad idea to admit to having it. She rewrote the message.
---> Somebody tried to screw us over on the graveyard shift. We need to talk. - Your Employee. <---
Serenla
03-24-2007, 02:23 AM
It was either very late at night or early in the morning when Rachel finally got back to her apartment. She'd felt mostly better when she came to, with only faint headaches and an painful amount of sore spots on her body to tell the tale. One more reason to hate the fragging magicks, she supposed.
Bunny had offered to drop her off at her apartment, but despite the evening's events, she wasn't quite ready to trust him with that much. She'd been dropped off a few blocks away, tried to take a robocab, and ended up hiking the remaining distance on foot. Seems the Econocab had gotten a picture of her on the last trip and were refusing to take her anymore until she paid up for the damages.
The lights in her apartment flickered on when she typed in the security code. Jovis, she was hungry, but she headed for the washroom first, to assess the damage. All things considered, it could have been a good sight worse. There was a largish smear of blood on her upper lip that trailed away onto her cheek, and her hair was more black and brown, probably from soot and smoke. Her arms still looked a bit red, where they were outright purple or blue, but that was nothing a night's sleep wouldn't fix. So. Shower first or food? She settled instead on calling Terry. She knew he'd be asleep and that only made it all the better.
"Terry. Shotgun here."
"Shotg...what? Why are you calling me now?"
"I got into a bit of trouble. Cops locked down my bike. You know how much I need it."
"I know, I swear you like that Daisaka more than me." That was a fact. "I think I can get you the stuff you need. When do you want it by?"
"Any time in the next few days should...hold on." She noticed a flashing dot in the corner of her vidphone, blinking with a new message. It was short, to the point, listing details for a meeting tomorrow and a cryptic signature that could only belong to that fragging dwarf who'd hired her. "Scratch that. Can I come by and pick it up in the morning? Seems I have an appointment."
"Grud Shotgun, morning's in just a couple hours. Can't you let me get some sleep?"
"No. I'll be by in a few hours to pick the stuff up. Don't worry - you'll be paid." He was still grumbling when she hung up.
Alright, now what's on the menu for tonight...
SW Freak
03-24-2007, 04:35 AM
Jackson let out a sigh and slumped back in his bed. He had been curtly informed that he'd be in a wheelchair for a day or two. He'd made it up to the roof since, with some difficulty, and had then retired to his room. He had sent off a few mails; One to Brett, telling him that they were okay, just that they wouldn't be home until morning. Another went to Sven, asking that he arranged a meet with some of his shadowy 'net friends. Jackson needed a new vehicle and some ammo, and a bigger boomstick, if he could swing it.
Aside from that, he'd have to talk to Steel Rose. That was annoying, considering he hated the slitch. Whatever it was about her, none of the collective could stand her. Ah, the feeling was mutual, though, or so it seemed. Looking out the window at the panoramic country view the glass had been left on, presumably intended to be more calming than the real sight of the city outside, Jackson sighed.
"What a day..." he muttered, before drifting off.
Mr Grin let himself into his flat and switched on the light, flooding the small, dirty room with yellow light. It was late at night. He regarded the pizza again, and shrugged. He didn't feel hungry now. The 3DTV buzzed on standby, and on the desk the wristphone - the one he used to take calls from his mum, and his girlfriend - blinked gently in black and red.
He'd missed both calls, although there were messages left for him. His mum wondering when he was next coming to see her, his girlfriend wondering more or less the same thing, and the Johnson wanting them back at the zoo the next day.
The zoo! Although he was sleepy, Mr Grin smiled. He liked the zoo.
Anonomuss
03-24-2007, 04:25 PM
The Cleaner left as soon as the body was safetly loaded onto the van. He signalled his thanks to Steel Rose, and left as qickly as his two feet could carry him. He reached his car, hidden on the edge of the forest. He opened it quickly, started it up and sped away from the crash-site.
As he drove, he contemplated what he had left to do. Jackson still had the sample of the green drek, so he couldn't bring it to McGuire yet, that was if Jackson had made it, he thought to himself. He also needed to get the body back off Steel Rose, as she didn't look too pleased with him tossing the body in the back of the truck. As he pulled his car into Fromage's garage, he began questioning himself as to why he was doing it. Curiosity, he told himself. He left the building walking, he didn't mind, he was too tired to take his normal route out of the building. When he saw the looks on the faces of those few he passed, he decided it might be best for him if he took the sidestreets, as he was spattered with some of the green drek. Suddenly a brainwave came to him. he could gather it all together and give it to Doc to sample. That and he was going to have to get some new car-seat covers.
Thoughts kept flying at him from nowhere on the way home. He knew it was partially his 'problem' but he didn't have anymore of the tablets on him. So he had to wait until he was inside. By then, the side-streets were foggy and out of focus, but he managed to make his way into his apartment, and take a pair of tablets. He was running low, another reason he needed to visit doc. He scraped the drek off his combat suit, and put it into a small container.
A while later, after he had showered, he noticed he'd gotten a messge on his porta-phone. He took it out of his pocket, 'The Boss' wanted to see them back at the zoo. He sent a confirmation that he would be there, and a message to Steel Rose to meet before the meeting, so he could take the body off her. He'd drop it off at Doc McGuire's before the meeting and be back in time, he thought.
This was a friggin interesting day, he thought, as he slumped onto the small bed in his room and fell asleep.
Nyerguds
03-25-2007, 02:09 AM
"Frag, what a night..." Bunny said, as he entered his appartment.
The light was still on in the living room, and he heard sounds from the 3DTV.
He took off his coat, and walked into the room.
"Edie?" Bunny said. "I thought you'd have gone to bed by now."
"I don't have to get up early tomorrow." Edelweiss smiled. "Imp-Ag is doing some database updates, and the ID system of my section will be offline from 6 to 11 AM tomorrow. So they're keeping it closed for security."
"Wow. Must cut back the profits quite a bit." Bunny said.
"Well, it's just the section where I work."
"Hm. So you waited for me?"
"Yep." she replied, and leaned back on the couch.
"Even though you knew I'd probably be fragged and no good in bed?"
"Yup."
"Heh." Bunny grinned. "I love you."
"I know. Come on, let's go to bed. You have to start working quite early tomorrow."
"What? No I don't."
"Oh yes you do." she smiled mischievously. "You still have to pay me back, you know."
"Heh. Just don't make it too early." Bunny said, as he made his way to the shower.
Wesforce
03-25-2007, 10:53 AM
BBC News – 10:00, Wednesday, 13th of March 2069 – City of London, Central Britsprawl
With Chip Dobsky and Hælllen Bettina Jacoby
------> InfoMat: pollution count of seven, followed by 0.4 acid rain by seven this evening. Flood dip of 0.1 centimetre to follow<-----
Scenes of jubliation in a sports stadium. Big chunky Orks, Trolls and Humans in bright pink armour are mowing down the opposition
'In a stunning finish, AAS United storm past the Grexxon Grenades to take the Urban Brawl Corporate Cup. Squad Leader Grunk Hangfire had this to say:'
'Yerr, we wuz all "get in there!" and "Bish bash bosh" an we did it. Ah reckun weev got a good shot at the world cup.'
'However, it wasn't all good news for United as star Heavy Man Thurg Scrawnyneck's leg wound is expected to cause permanent damage.'
Cut to shots of new IWS Hoplite Aerodynes coming off the production line. A human man in a suit shakes hands with a mediaevally-dressed Elf for the cameras
'Tir nAn Og and IWS have completed their deal for seventy new Hoplite Scout vehicles. This has drawn critiscism from both the Kingdom of Sigurrson, which faces the Tir in an undeclared war, and from AET, the Tir's preferred supplier of military equipment.'
Cut to scene of devastation on a familiar-looking Wild-lands road. At least five bodies lay messily dead, both shot and then savaged by animals. There are many trashed vehicles including two tankers, a grey GM Roadgrub, a green Zeon and a burning Neunbrecher Police car
'In local news: Carnage North of Britsprawl. Five die, including two Police Officers in what is being called a Nomad attack. Police are said to be following up several leads, and are calling for witnesses to the savage, murderous attack to step forward.'
***
In the morning, Jackson was turfed unceremonially out of the hospital, literally onto the streets in his motorised wheelchair. His legs hurt like hell, but apparently he'd be able to stand on them come the end of day. That was a miracle, when he thought that he'd been hit by the wrecked tanker - Both his legs had been literally broken in half. The miracles of modern medicine then: They'd sealed the bones and stitched up the ragged wounds in both legs where the bones had ripped through the skin with synthi-skin.
Now he was on the street, with just his wheelchair and his Remington Stormbreaker, and his instructions.
A robotaxi, ordered by the hospital, pulled up, and dutifully took him home, where Indie had to face Brett's accusing stare.
'And just where the frag were you last night?'
***
Bunny woke up, having had an uneventful and moderately pleasing night. The 3DTV was on, showing the news, and a message had been taped to the screen.
--->Called in to work early at the office. See you later - Edelweiss<---
***
Mister Grin woke to a call on his telecom as well. No new messages from his Mum, but his girlfriend had left a new one. She sounded quite distressed actually, and wanted to meet as soon as possible. Looking at his watch, Billiam saw he had an early meet to go to first...
***
Steel Rose woke to the sound of someone knocking at the door. She moved, sluggishly, hoping they'd go away. When they didn't, Greenleaf had to get up, leave the warm confines of the bed, and go to answer the door. While he went, she luggishly checked her messages: One had come in from The Cleaner, but she didn't check it just yet.
'Y'ello?' Steel Rose heard. Greenleaf, being sleepy.
And then...
B'DAM!
***
Shotgun had another short message on her wristphone. It was Terry: apparently he'd been the early bird and gotten to work on her two-wheel for her - it was at his place, ready for collection - after a substantial amount of money.
***
Rush woke to the sound of banging. Banging and clanging and muffled shouting. It was Hazard Stripe, in the garage, straining against his bonds and gag, and banging his head on the garage door for attention.
(GM: Anyone I haven't mentioned has had an uneventful morning)
Drek! she swore, pulling the covers up to her neck. Like it would actually help.
Her breathing came heavy and ragged, this was it! They'd found her, lying in somebody elses bed, half naked with no drones to defend her and she hadn't even recharged her taser from taking the 'witness' down last night.
She dashed out of the bed, grabbing her armoured jacket on the way and headed into the bathroom. She fumbled around in the inside pockets and pulled out her Trueshot, slamming the door behind her with the intention of locking it and pumping anybody who tried to open full of lead.
But as she pulled it to a close, something caught between the door and the frame...
Wesforce
03-25-2007, 11:16 AM
'What was that?' came a voice at the slamming of the door.
'The slitch must have a girlfriend or something. Slot her. I'll blow this van. Be quick.'
Heavy footsteps came down the hallway...
"They were after him..." She mouthed. Oh, now that was almost fragging insulting!
She kicked Greenpeace's fragging underwear out of the way (she was almost glad he was probably dead, the stupid fragger!) and slammed the door, locking the door and retreating into the bath.
There was at least one small bit of comfort she could take from her position, she'd set Traxx up to protect her unexpected bit of cargo for the night... She could only hope the fraggers went poking around inside.
And that I get outta here a-fragging-live enough to see it..
Wesforce
03-25-2007, 11:27 AM
The footsteps came closer, closer...
Puff-chink
That'll be them blowing the van's doors open, thought Steel Rose.
'Alright, I-'
The chatter of autofire that came next was the sweetest thing Steel Rose had ever heard.
'Drek!' snarled the man in the hallway.
He turned and ran back to the front door...
She reclined into the bathtub and breathed a sigh of relief.
Too close. She thought. Much to close.
She waited until the man had left, hoping Traxx would finish him off for her before rising from the tub and slipping out of the bathroom. She went to the doorway where she found Greenpeace, lying still...
"Leo..." She whispered, kneeling down. "Talk to me..."
Wesforce
03-25-2007, 11:37 AM
'Eat this you metal son of a-'
CRUMP!
That was the other bastard - he'd just thrown a grenade into the back of the Van. Mr Traxx was still firing, distracting him...
Greanleaf wasn't moving; he'd been shot in the head with a heavy pistol...
She cradled his head in her arms, it was already going cold and he'd lost a lot of blood... So much blood. It stained her vest and trickled down her bare legs as she held his head on her shoulder. She was surprised to find she actually cared. Cared about the stupid son of a slitch peace hugging hippy who used to be her ace rigger. The stupid fragger pulled her with a tilt-wing... It wasn't his, but all that seemed trivial now...
He was the closest thing she had to a social life.
"Love you." She whispered, although the words seemed to die in her throat and sounded so much fainter coming out of her lips than she'd intended.
She let him fall back to the floor and returned to the bedroom, she pulled on the rest of her clothes, zipping her armoured jacket up tight and holding the trueshot close as she exited his appartment.
Those fraggers better not have scuffed my drones... Or they will fragging pay!
Wesforce
03-25-2007, 11:52 AM
There were two men: One was dead, quite messily. Apparently he'd used a small breaching charge and blown the doors off her van, and Mr Traxx had nailed him spectacularly, cutting him almost in half with close-range LMG fire. The armour vest he'd worn under his black all-in-one suit doing nothing to help him.
Mister Traxx was still firing sporadically, obviously damaged - The second man, in black suit and shades, was just outside of the Traxx's line of fire, preparing to toss in another grenade, with a smoking Ultra-power in his other hand...
Nyerguds
03-25-2007, 12:01 PM
"Ahh, gruddammit. Corp bastards, giving people leave and then calling 'em back..."
Bunny yawned, and microwaved himself a soycaf. Bloody stuff didn't contain nearly as much caffeine-substitute as they claimed on the package. Or it was a crappy substitute. Either way, it didn't do a good job waking him up.
"Mmh... what time did I have to be there again?" He looked at the message he'd received on his wristphone last night. "Eleven. Dammit. It's already half past ten."
He got dressed, and left.
She realised that if that grenade got into the van and blew all her drones to pieces, that's it. Game over. She was ruined. She'd lost everything in the big sale, there was no fragging way she was going to lose it all over again.
She raised her trueshot, and hoped to grud it lived up to it's name.
Wesforce
03-25-2007, 12:05 PM
The heavy pistol thumped backwards in her hands, taking the hitman in the chest and splattering blood over the side of her van. He grimaced and looked at her, spitting blood through his teeth.
'You slitch!'
He drew his pistol on her...
Duck for cover! Duck for fragging cover!!! Her brain screamed at her, but her legs wouldn't move. It was like they were frozen to the spot.
She felt a tear run down her face.
Something irritating my cybereye... She told herself, as the recoil hit send a dull, reverbarating pain down her arms once more.
Wesforce
03-25-2007, 12:15 PM
Hit a second time, the hitman thumped back against the van and slumped to his knees.
'Fraggin'... Slitch...zzz...'
And with that he fell foward on his face, the gun dropping from his hand as blood started to pool around him.
Mister Traxx stopped firing.
She took a few ragged breaths, if only to recompose herself. Was he dead? It looked that way. She slowly lowered her gun and walked over, kicking his gun away before crouching down and grasping his chin.
"Who sent you?! IWS? Zaibatsu?"
"Urgh... Your mum... Motherfra...uuuh." He spat, before letting go his final breath. His head hung limply in her hand. She dropped it, and went about searching him for any ID, credsticks, vidphones or any other useful information she could find.
Wesforce
03-25-2007, 12:29 PM
According to the slag's ID card, he was Leroy Chalmers, a 'Security Consultant' for Transys Neuronet, Scotland. He was carrying a credstick, wristphone, a Browning Ultra-power and two frag-grenades. His shades were armante' originals, with heads-up display - When Steel Rose tried them, they showed a zoomed-in map of Britsprawl - centred on her van.
Her van.
Mister trax was damaged, but still workable - he'd need some fixing up and new parts before he was serviceable. Luckly he and the body and the soft walls of the van had taken the most of the shrapnel.
The body...
Well maybe it was a mercy-killing, but whoever - whatever - it was was dead now, and largely recognisable as a metahuman being. The organic-looking chip plugged into the body's datajack was still intact.
Just across the road, a GM Roadgrub in dark grey was parked, its electric engine still idling, doors open.
She leaned into the van, cautiously wrapping her fingers around the chip. She remembered what had happened when the Cleaner had unplugged it from the living specimen...
Specimen! She spat. It's a fragging human being! Maybe if we'd all realised that from the start we wouldn't have been ferrying it around like cargo in the first place...
She quickly pulled it out, before recoiling as if a bomb was about to go off.
Wesforce
03-25-2007, 12:36 PM
Nothing happened.
The body - it definitely was just a body now - was as unmoving as before.
Steel Rose looked at the chip, and wondered how the sickly, glistening lump of matter inside looked like a minature brain...
"I wonder..." She mused. Stepping away from the van and back towards the apartment. Once inside the doorway, she slipped on the glasses once more. Maybe it was some sort of tracking device, and how they found her fragging van in the first place.
Wesforce
03-25-2007, 12:44 PM
The glasses still indicated her van - or something in the van at any rate.
Everything seemed oddly quiet, especially after the deafening gunshots. This wasn't a very good part of town, and often the police didn't bother to attend reports of shootings. But could she be sure they wouldn't come here?
She shrugged and pocketed the chip, if it wasn't the thing they were chasing she could at least check it out later. Only that meant there must be something else on the body that they were tracking her with.
She striped the man she'd killed of his ID, credstick, 'phone and the shades - Hoping that if the police did come, they'd believe he'd gunned them all down. Unlikely considering the state the other fragger was in but she couldn't help that right now. She'd heard the police had all sorts of things about the new cyber police branch, after all... And they weren't afraid of neighbourhoods like this.
She sercured everything in the back of her van and finally remembered The Cleaners message. It was his body after all. She scanned over, shot back a quick reply - Telling him to meet at her place, within half hour or she was destroying it. That seemed too kind, she should just dump it right now. She checked the clock... Remembering the Johnson meet was soon...
Frag. She couldn't turn up to the country's most prestigious zoo covered in two lots of blood with a broken vehicle and grudd only knows what in the back. She shook her head, she couldn't believe she was doing this... But it just didn't seem to matter anymore...
---> Covered in boyfriends blood. Attempt on life. Can't make it. - SR <---
Covered in boyfriends blood... She stared mournfully at the words for far too long, before sending it to the boss. She rigged in, but then realised just how stupid she was being...
"I can't move with a fragging homing device zoning in my van!" She yelled at nobody inparticular. "They'll be on me before I even get out of the fragging neighbourhood."
She rigged out, snatched the glasses and went poking around in the back of her van.
Wesforce
03-25-2007, 01:13 PM
With the glasses, she found the homing device easily, but not before getting her hands all bloody. It was a tiny chip the size of a birdshot pellet, implanted behind what had been the poor fragger's left eye socket.
While she was doing that, a message came back from the Boss' number:
--->Unable to reach 'phone. Will call back at earliest opportunity<---
"Looks like I'm not the only one having problems..." She said, reading the message. It made her feel somewhat better, imagining the Boss knee deep in drek... To be fair, it wouldn't take an awful lot of drek.
She looked at the homing chip, and wondered what on Earth she was going to do with it. She could just discard it in the street, but that seemed too tame considering all she'd been through. If she had to suffer for this fragging thing, then Grud only knows she was at least going to inconvience them.
She got out and eyed the hitman for hire, Leroy... She pushed him onto the pavement and struggled with his trousers, pulling them down just enough to shove the gruddamned chip straight up his fragging arse before pulling them back up and leaving him there.
Your mum indeed... She snarled, before climbing back into her van and leaving the scene.
The Cleaner owed her for this, big time...
Anonomuss
03-25-2007, 01:34 PM
The Cleaner was just getting out of bed as he got the matrix-mail from Steel Rose. Frag! he thought, pulling on his suit as quickly as he could. He stopped half-way through putting on his trousers. He'd need to wear his combat suit to get their on time. He packed the suit into a backpack, put on his combat suit, holstered his pistol and knife and made sure his rifle was hidden away and secure. He headed for the door. Once he reached the street he began to sprint, leaping fences and rolling under railings. He climbed a building fire exit, and jumped from building to building. He entered the building, opened his car and started the ignition. He left the building going as fast as he dared.
He reached Steel Roses flat and went to the garage, where he supposed the body was being kept. Steel rose was there waiting for him, the van she was driving shot to hell, and she didn't look too good herself. The look on her face told him that he needed to take the body off her now. 'What happened?' he asked.
"I need a shower..." She responded, somberly. "And tea. Lots of tea."
She opened her jacket, revealing the great red stain underneath where Greenpeace had bled all over her.
Anonomuss
03-25-2007, 01:55 PM
'Well, Jovus, you look like you need more than that.' he said. 'I'll take you out for tea, after I've gotten rid of the body. I'm fairly certain we'll want to get rid of it soon.'
"There was a chip inside..." She told him. "Inside the body... Locked on to my van..."
She could tell he was going to ask where the chip was now, or if it was still inside.
"... you don't even want to know." She said. "It should be safe to carry it but grud knows what use it'll be. It's... He's dead."
Anonomuss
03-25-2007, 02:02 PM
'I'm fairly sure the Doc can still do tests on it.' he said, 'Just see what the hell it is. Whatever it is it dosn't look properly metahuman'
He walked round to the back of the van, and gestured at the body.
'You don't mind if I take it do you?'
"Just don't touch the drones." She warned him, walking around back with him. She felt dirty... The dull realisation of where her hands had been playing on her mind. Grud, she hoped she could get this over soon and get that shower...
"This Doc..." She began, walking around the back with him. "... He wouldn't be able to fit a datajack, would he?"
Anonomuss
03-25-2007, 02:15 PM
'He is able to, but if you don't have one we'll need to pick one up.'The Cleaner said. 'But I know a guy who should have what you need. Any particular reason?'
"No..." She said, the chip suddenly feeling very heavy in her pocket. "... Just been meaning to get one for awhile. Getting rather tired of having to use simsense connections all the time."
Anonomuss
03-25-2007, 02:20 PM
The Cleaner took the body out of the car, and brought it over to his car. He dropped the boy to the ground gently and opened the boot. He hefted the body into the boot of the car. 'Sure, I can bring you if you like.' he said.
Wesforce
03-25-2007, 02:23 PM
The shredded body, with blood and more of the green fluid leaking from the porous bag, was going to make a hell of a mess of the car's boot, The Cleaner realised. Ironically, he thought, he'd have to do some actual cleaning later.
"Um..." She wasn't entirely sure she really wanted to do this. But on the other hand, they'd killed her boyfriend. She felt somewhat cheated. She'd put a lot of hard work into finding him, and even more into actually tolerating him for so fragging long... And for what? So some fragger could come along and shoot him in the head?
Well, at least I don't need to pay for his truck... She mused. She needed to speak to Vincent about that... And she still had debts with Eddie. Frag, that bastich Dwarf had still better pay her for all this.
"Can I get cleaned up first? You can wait inside... If you like..." Seemed like neither of them were going to make the Johnson meet at this rate.
Anonomuss
03-25-2007, 02:35 PM
'I might just wait in the car,' The Cleaner said. He wondered if Greenpeace was inside, but then again, he didn't know anything about their relationship, and so kept his curiousity in check. He sat into the car and matrix-mailed, 'The boss' to tell him that he wouldn't make the meeting.
At least he wasn't going to have to put up with the monkeys he thought.
Wesforce
03-25-2007, 02:39 PM
(GM Note: There is still time to make the meeting: Its about 10:30)
A simple message came back:
--->Unable to reach 'phone. Will call back at earliest opportunity<---
She quickly went inside and stripped off her clothes. She considered just burning them all. Except the jacket, that cost too much money... But the rest... Urgh... She wasn't sue if she could stand to wear them again.
She got herself cleaned up, but she still looked like drek afterwards and didn't really feel clean. It was going to take a lot more than a quick scrub for that...
Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? She'd seen that in a trid, somewhere... Probably something her mum had liked.
She sighed, got changed and dashed back down to The Cleaners car, slipping inside the passenger seat.
"Let's go." She told him.
Wesforce
03-25-2007, 02:47 PM
The journey in two cars was undertaken in sombre silence through always-busy Britsprawl streets. A squall of acid rain washed the blood off the side of Steel Rose's van, and the vehicles splashed through half flooded, murky streets scattering Devil-rats and street urchins alike.
The cars pulled up at Maguire's clinic's back entrance, and an Ork in grubby white uniform helped unload the unfortunate occupant of the body-bag.
Maguire appeared not much later. As usual he looked like drek, stinking of Doctor Slot's semi-finest Synthi-scotch with huge dark rings under his eyes/ As soon as the Ork wheeled the body into a secluded examination room, the Doc regarded the shredded, brutalised body and said:
'Hmm, its no good, I think we've lost him.'
Seeing his gallows humour was lost on the 'runners he said: 'All right, fine. I'll poke around and see what I can find out. I can tell your first off that that green drek is suspension fluid - used to keep people held in tubes and the like for lengths of time - it carries nutrients, minerals and drek into their bodies see. And oh yeah, one of you gimme a few thousand quid to make this worth me while.'
***
Bunny was bright and early to the meet again, he saw. By the Gibbon-house, a young human man in a shimmering green-blue suit and hat, with a silver-topped cane, was entertaining the little furry creatures with magical illusions: A multicoloured glowing gibbon was dancing some kind of funky dance. The Gibbons watched, entranced.
The young man spotted Bunny and turned off his illusion with a snap of the fingers.
'Ah hello! Are you a Shadowrunner as well? The name's Edward Xian-Lung esquire - Mage for hire!'
Anonomuss
03-25-2007, 02:56 PM
'Here's a thousand' the cleaner said, handing doc his credstick, 'I'll give you the rest later. Also my friend here need to have a datajack installed, and...' then he said in a hushed voice 'I need the usual.'
Wesforce
03-25-2007, 03:01 PM
'Right y'are...' Doc Maguire winked, 'walk this way.'
'This way' was a short room out of sight where the Doc gleefully doled Mort out a new supply of his pick-me-up pills.
'New design, see? I call 'em "Happy Trolls".'
The pills, Mort saw, were the classic "Smily face" design, but in greeny-grey, with tusks on the smile, and a "horn" that would probably hurt like hell when the pill was swallowed.
'Now young Lady,' the Doc said, exiting the store room, 'Basic Datajacks start at £2,000. However I'll do yer a cybereye datajack for £8,000, or a finger datajack for £9,000.'
Her credstick winced at the prospect of shelling out that much money. Especially with the repairs to Traxx, her van and the purchase of that drone Vincent was holding back for her weighing on her mind. Maybe she could make some money back from the bike and truck sale, but in the meantime she needed to see the Dwarf. Looked like she was going to the meet afterall.
"I'll have to come have it installed later, but I'll take the cybereye model. Any chance I can have some cosmetic work done on the eyes while I'm at it?"
Wesforce
03-25-2007, 03:10 PM
'Yarp. Take my catalogue why don'tcha,' he said, flinging a thick, plastic-laminated book at her. Dried blood crumbled off it in her hands. She started to say something, but the Doc was already in his examination room poking around at the dead body and swigging more synth-scotch.
The Ork orderly escorted the two out.
Anonomuss
03-25-2007, 03:14 PM
They left the building and back into the car. 'Reckon we could still make the rendevous?' The Cleaner asked Steel Rose.
"After blowing all that money..." She sighed. "I don't think I can afford not too."
The hitmen didn't get her, but it seemed like comfort spending would...
Wesforce
03-25-2007, 03:29 PM
For Steel Rose and The Cleaner, another drive through the rain-lashed streets followed. Fast, frantic, barely-legal driving brought them through Picadilly Circus and its towering 300-foot holos, sparkling in the rain. Tourists huddled together under transparent plastic umbrellas and took holos of eachother before being splashed by the waters cascading along the roadside by passing vehicles. Wheeled drones skimmed the pavements with aquavacs, fighting the losing battle against litter, getting kicked in by a gang of Robogoths who walked down the street in their transparent plastic rain-capes.
As if the day wasn't depressing enough.
Steel Rose and The Cleaner reached the dome of the zoo two minutes before their meet was due to begin. Bunny was already there, talking to some slag in a greeny-blue suit, twirling a silver-topped cane.
She left The Cleaner to deal with the new arrival, presumably a replacement for Snowflame (only a mage could be that arrogant) and walking back over to the giant spiders. It wasn't that the gibbons were doing her head in again, they were strangely quiet today - More content than her, the bastiches. It was just she wanted to be alone, and moreso, wanted to see what had became of her giant, man-eating friends.
It seemed that their home had been repaired, and most of them were laying low in caves. She didn't blame them, it'd been a long day for her - And it was just the fragging begining of what could turn into one long drekstreak. Regardless, one crawled out to eye her warily, she wondered if it was the same one that had knowingly looked up at her the day before. The fact that it was missing an eye confirmed this.
"Frag you." She swore, before turning her back to it and settling down with the catalogue. If she'd felt unclean before, this beast of a book was certaintly amplifying it.
That's encouraging... She thought, sarcastically, before turning to cybereyes.
Serenla
03-25-2007, 04:31 PM
Shotgun arrived at the zoo a minute or two before the meet was supposed to start. She'd left with plenty of time to spare, but had spent far too long haggling with Terry over the price of getting her bike back. Eventually he'd come out on top in that exchange, but Rachel wasn't about to forget it. A new bike could hardly cost what he'd charged her.
The drive over had been soothing though. It had been less than a day since she'd last ridden it but she'd missed it sorely in that time. Not to mention that she'd gotten little enough sleep last night that she needed its calming effect to wash away the drowsiness.
Most of the team was already present once she'd paid the £200 entry fee - again. Rachel wasn't surprised to see Jackson absent, but she'd been hoping he'd make an appearance anyway. Snowflame was gone too, good riddance there[/i], and some new magic-wielder had taken her spot.
After satisfying herself that everything was going according to plan - it was far too early for things to get fragged out of proportion - she retuend to yesterday's bench and sat down to close her eyes. Maybe she'd be able to get a minute or two of rest before the dwarf showed up.
Nyerguds
03-25-2007, 04:44 PM
"No, actually, I'm a WESForce undercover investigator." Bunny replied with a weak smile.
Wesforce
03-25-2007, 04:48 PM
Edward looked at the mohawked Elf with confusion for a few seconds... But noted how resigned and... tired... he looked.
'Oh, you Shadowrunners and your gallows humour!' he guffawed.
Several others had arrived now: A female Elf who sat on a bench and seemed to consider herself above everyone else, and two more humans, a cold, smartly-dressed male, and a female with lots of plugs in the side of her neck. She wore a large military-style jacket and looked like she'd had the shock of her life.
'Ah, brilliant!' Edward said, point at each of them, 'A rigger, a street samurai, a former company man and another rigger, am I correct?' he grinned,
Nyerguds
03-25-2007, 04:51 PM
"Seriously, man." Bunny said. "No one will ever admit being a shadowrunner. We're all just 'specialists for hire'."
He looked at the other people that arrived. "But yes, I guess you're pretty much right. They call me Bunny, by the way."
Wesforce
03-25-2007, 04:57 PM
'Aha, I get it,' Edward winked theatrically, but then perked up as if he'd just had a brainwave, 'but you just did!'
He guffawed again, and twirled his cane.
Edward repeated his line for the newcomers to hear:
'Edward Xian-Lung esquire - Mage for hire!'
To punctuate this he threw a hand up in the air, causing a mid-sized firework explosion which set the gibbons off screeching again.
Steel Rose eyed the elvish rigger and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. He seemed to be the very last person in the group to be saying who and what a Shadowrunner is and isn't - Specialist for hire indeed. Since when had an overpriced cab driver been considered a 'specialist'.
As for the 'mage', he seemed less a mage for hire and more a clown for hire. It was the kind of thing she'd have expected to turn up at her birthday party when she was seven, but then as obnxious as he was - At least he wouldn't be listening in on all her conversations. Still, it was almost a shame Snowflame had bailed, she didn't she didn't set off all those furry abominations at a whim, at least...
I wonder when he'll start making balloon animals... She mused, with the first slight smile of the day.
SW Freak
03-26-2007, 10:21 AM
"Pretties," came a deep, pleasant voice.
The speaker was a tall, thin, outlandish looking character who strode contentedly amongst the cages. It became appearant that he wasn't talking about the mages fireworks, but rather about the varied array of animals that surrounded him. He tapped on the gibbon's enclosure, attracting their manic attention, and crooned softly to them with a smile on his face.
"Been some time sinna saw a monkey," he said, his voice an odd medley of accents.
Big Brother then turned and surveyed the other 'runners present. He nodded to the group before him, right hand resting casually on the hilt of his sword.
"Ho, serrs et serras. They call me Big Brother Wildkin. Looks like I'm offerin' my services. Whereabout's the boss-man?"
Anonomuss
03-26-2007, 10:46 AM
The Cleaner took it all in. He noticed that Jackson wasn't there, but the two newcomers seemed to be making up for thewir missing component parts. The showboating mage looked like a replacement for Snowflame, and the nomad looked like he was odd enough to count for Jackson's multiple personalities. The life of a shadowrunner he thought, leave for a moment and you're gone.
The circularity of things became obvious to him as it had been since he had begun in the business. it was also clear to him what their employee meant by returning to the same place as their initial meeting. Things were to start anew, past to be forgotten. It still shocked him, as it had when he was young, the callousness with which people discarded with one another. 'it shouldn't bother you' a voice said to him in his head. He paused, it was odd, it had been said to him in Greenpeace's voice. Usually only dead people talked to him in his head. But Greenpeace wasn't dead, was he? He took a pill out of his pocket and winced as he swallowed it. The drink must've really been getting to Doc, he didn't usually try to hurt him.
He put the tablets away and waited.
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