ShadowZero Ch1: Enjoy the Silence

[Wesforce]

(GM: Here it is: The start of ShadowZero. Nyer, please send me your opening text and I'll add it to the Bunny section I've written. I lost your link :scared: )

NewsFlex - Shoving THE FACTS down your throat whether you LIKE IT or NOT!

Cut to Henk Almqvist in studio.
'Hi there. News from the top of the hour.'

Scenes of humans identically-attired in the latest fashion Corporate Suits: Black with green ties, and red shoulder pads

'Reaffirmed dedication to the news: Executives sign a deal stating that the foul, downmarket and shoddy so-called 'news channel' NewsEye won't succeed with its takeover of the loyal, upstanding NewsChannel 'NewsFlex' fir at least twenty years. Spokeswoman Hilary Faltermeyer called it:

A great day for freedom and integrity of the press

Cut to shots of Orks with AK97s jumping up and down on top of a large tracked tank with twin cannons, and smoke pouring from the engine compartment.

'News is coming in that Neo-SU forces are beginning to withdraw from Orkislavia. The fragile ceasefire in that war-torn country has not held fully, but the latest step bodes well for future peace in that reason.'

Cut to shots of Newsmen with heavy weapons fighting each other, while trying to get better camerawork than their rivals 'We'll bring you a full report once NewsFlex's elite combat-reporting team has finished clearing the proposed broadcasting site of undesirables.'

Cut to shot of lots of rent-a-cops keeping people away from a high-rise apartment block.

'Speculation is growing whether the brutal murder of a young woman in Geneva earlier this evening is related to one that occurred two days ago under similar circumstances. A Daisaka spokesman was informative.'

Cut to fat man in Daisaka uniform trying to eat some doughnuts without camera being poked in his face.

'All I can say is: There are knowns, and there are unknowns. Um, we don't know the knowns but the unknowns are... Unclear.'

'What do we know, Investigationsführer Dawlish?'

'Someone was murdered. Quite brutally. Blood all up the wall, chunks stuck to the c - Wait, I didn't tell you that.' *munch munch*

Back to studio

'And this just in: Pollution levels in Geneva have reached an all-time low. Time to ditch those smog masks and acid slickers and enjoy the sunshine!'

Cue plastic-surgery-enhanced grin

***

A non-descript General Metro Courier delivery truck hissed with the sounds of welding from inside. The truck was barely recognisable as what it had originally been - Many components being replaced over time by makeshifts of varying ingenuity. A roofrack carried bundles of gear wrapped in tarpaulins against the Geneva acid rain, and a thick layer of grime coated the truck from top to bottom.

Not that the occupants were filthy: Bonnie and Clyde Hanrahan were just very busy. Here, out near the lake Geneva Ironyards, they had reason to be.

The Ironyards were probably the richest source for scrap and bits of cast-off tech in the whole FEZ. You'd find just about anything there: Scrapped Vehicles, kitchen appliances, bits of cyberdecks and chips degrading in the rain. Sometimes Corps would leave a whole limited production run's worth of gear out here.

Inside the van, Bonnie and Clyde were seeing to their latest prize: a GM-manufactured GOLVE 9090 Turbocharger that might be useful.

Hearing something, Clyde put his oil-soaked blue hand up. Bonnie shut off the laser-welder.

That sound. Mournful moaning. Halfway between the wailing of the wind and the death-rattle of a drunk on the streets.

Then something hammered against the side of the van. Again. Again. Then more hammering. Then from the other side. The van began rocking.

Ghouls outside had sensed the warm, living meat inside the van, and they wanted it, using their bare hands on this cold night if they had to...

Clyde's wristphone chirped, the van rocking all the more violently: Ghouls leaving bloody trails on the grime, but almost rocking the vehicle right over.

The rainbow-haired visage of one of the Lieman twins winked at Clyde.

'Hi there. Thought I'd give you two a favour and tell you to go to The Wastelands Club for a job, but I can see you're busy. Byeeee!'

***

Laura Canterby sat cross-legged on the floor, meditating, precious Katana laid across her lap. Some old music blared away in the background. If sensei was in, he would have raised hell about that, but he wasn't and didn't. Laura liked it: It helped her concentrate.

A burst of Automatic gunfire shattered the peace outside. It jarred her, but it wasn’t uncommon in this part of town.

'Frag you!' Someone screamed. The roar of a monobike engine screamed down the street. More gunfire - Then a rending crash. Probably whoever had been riding the monobike.

'GET THE FRAGGERS!' Pistol shots rang out, then a shotgun boomed. The firing died away as suddenly as it began. Just another incident of gang-related violence. Laura thought. There'd be a few more young fools lying dead in the gutter, and a few more dead bystanders, but the world would keep turning.

It turned again when a flashtext beeped up on Laura's wristphone, over on a table.

--->Greetings<---
--->I have been forwarded your details by someone who knows what he's talking about. I request your casual employment for an undetermined period of time.<---
--->If interested, meet at The Wastelands, downtown Geneva. Come alone. Ask for Johnson.<---

***

Revan Nightscream sat watching 3DTV. Not much seemed to be happening today. He could hear gunfire off somewhere, but it was way out of the territory he controlled, Besides, he had lackeys out there making sure no-one tried anything: Between the Replicants on Wumpscut Street and the GunDogs on Machiavelli, they had the territory so tightly controlled that making any gains would mean dozens of dead bodies in the streets. This was good, because it meant the rent-a-cops kept their noses out, but it made life boring.

'Boss, I got a message for yer!' Wittered a small gobbo lackey. Revan couldn’t be bothered to remember the runt's name, snatched the text-plate he offered and gave the little fragger a good, solid belt.

--->Greetings<---
--->I have been forwarded your details by someone who knows what he's talking about. I request your casual employment for an undetermined period of time.<---
--->If interested, meet at The Wastelands, downtown Geneva. Come alone. Ask for Johnson.<---

***

In a completely different slum area, Robert Smith, AKA Kelvin Zero also received a message. It interrupted his current clean-spree, but he had a good feeling that there'd be money involved. More money to add to the stash was always good. He reluctantly put down his duster and checked it.

--->Greetings<---
--->I have been forwarded your details by someone who knows what he's talking about. I request your casual employment for an undetermined period of time.<---
--->If interested, meet at The Wastelands, downtown Geneva. Come alone. Ask for Johnson.<---

A typically uninformative request for a shadow run, he'd know one anywhere. Maybe it was time for 'Kelvin Zero' to make himself known...

***

Pierre Steiner gazed out at the rain tumbling in sheets from the sky against his windows. Behind him, Ellie cried and sobbed on the floor - Another of her hormonal fits of depression. They came and went like the rain. Here, it seemed to rain all the time.

Pierre felt like going downtown, to a bar or something. The idea of riding in weather like this wasn’t exactly appealing though. The smartlink port on his hand itched - Just behind the conductive plate that would interface with a smartlinked gun. It irritated him. Maybe he could find a street-doc and get it removed?

The vidphone rang.

'Could it be a job? Please, let it be so!'

He received the incoming call.

'Bonjour, monsieur le fraggere. Merde alors, you make me sick. You have breath like a horse's arse and your father smells of elderberries. Your Mother was a hamster. I wave my underpants in your general direction. Au revoir, and FRAG YOU!'

*click*

Pierre quivered with rage. He had a pretty good idea who that was: Someone 'phoning to hassle Ellie again. Worse, the fragger always called with the vid pick-up turned off, and from a public vid-phone. If he called back, all he'd get was nothing.

Now Pierre really wanted to go to the pub.

Another message came in: He thought about deleting it out of hand: But this was rather more important.

--->Greetings<---
--->I have been forwarded your details by someone who knows what he's talking about. I request your casual employment for an undetermined period of time.<---
--->If interested, meet at The Wastelands, downtown Geneva. Come alone. Ask for Johnson.<---

***

Derren Bingum woke up: He'd dozed off in front of the 3DTV and was no on his face, on the less-than-clean floor.

'Whuh?' He gasped, groggily. Staring down at him was Mandy, dressed in the usual tight clothes. She looked glum: Dee remembered that rent was due, and they would be struggling to pay this month.

Mandy handed him his wristphone and a steaming cup of Soykaf. He mumbled thanks, and drew his lanky frame up and into the bathroom to get cleaned up.

BANG! The soykaf was like a sledgehammer to his sleep, knocking him wide-eyed staring awake almost instantly. His head was spinning, and he wanted to vomit. Everything was normal.

'Ah, good old soykaf.' He mumbled, reading the message on his 'phone.

--->Greetings<---
--->I have been forwarded your details by someone who knows what he's talking about. I request your casual employment for an undetermined period of time.<---
--->If interested, meet at The Wastelands, downtown Geneva. Come alone. Ask for Johnson.<---

***

*Bzzzt*

Bunny looked at his wristphone and tapped the button on the side. The 'phone clicked open. On the display, a familiar face appeared.
"Hello Bunny." the man on the display said.
"Hello Kitty." Bunny repied in the usual way.
He immediately noticed something was wrong though. The cold killer never looked that stressed.
"What's up?" he asked.
"Trev's in big problems. I sent the coordinates, you just get him the hell outta there, OK? He'll handle the business side."
The display turned black.

"Frag!" Bunny cursed while closing his wristphone. Trevor in big trouble.. that was bad. And apparently Kitty was too far away to help his boss.

A trap. Bunny thought, while running to the underground car park of his appartment. It was obvious to him what had happened. Trevor walked into some kind of trap, without his bodyguard Kitty around, and with a single push on his wristphone he had sent Kitty an automated call for help, with included GPS coordinates.

Bunny opened the door of the small van, dropped into the driver's seat, fastened his seat belt and plugged in, the car interfacing directly with his brain. A split-second later the onboard computer had translated the GPS position to an address, and gave a few route suggestions with time estimates calculated from traffic reports.
Bunny sighed. "All right, let's get this over with."

The car park exit opened quickly when he approached, and closed just as fast after he was through. The car park made the appartment a lot less cheap, but it was definitely worth it to Bunny.

***

Exactly four minutes and twenty-six seconds later, Bunny arrived at the GPS loation. He saw a man dressed in grey, escorted by four men carrying sub machineguns. The van's small camera zoomed in on the faces. The man in grey was Trevor all right, but Bunny didn't recognise any of the men around him.
Prisoner escort / execution squad he quickly concluded. He immediately had a plan in his mind, and executed it.

***

Trevor looked up when he heard the sound of the approaching van.
"What the frag now?" he mumbled. The van was heading straight at him.
The men 'escorting' him had noticed the van too though, and quickly jumped out of its path.
"Shoot!" one of them yelled. They aimed at the van and started shooting.
Just then, the van changed direction, aiming straight at the three goons now standing at Trevor's right side.
When the side door of the van slid open Trevor quickly realized what was going on. He grabbed the handle attached to the inside of the van's roof and swinged inside.
"Clear!" he yelled. The van door closed immediately.

For a few seconds, it was quiet in the van, while Bunny was getting as far away from the place as possible.

"Kitty couldn't make it, so he called me." Bunny said after a while.
"Thanks." Trevor replied. "You'll get compensated. Expect a bonus on the usual fee."
"Thank you, sir. You gotta be more careful though. Why wasn't Kitty with you?"
"I gave him a few days off." Trevor replied. "He had some personal problems. The new kid... well, he just wasn't good enough, it seems."
"Damn man. Sucks to lose a new bodyguard."
Bunny knew Trevor had liked the 'new guy'... it was all in the way they talked. If he had said 'the kid wasn't up for the job', it meant the guy chickened out and was killed, maybe even by Trevor himself. If he'd said he was 'bad', it meant a double-cross. Bunny was used to the way these guys talked, and never needed much words to understand them.

"So, where to now?" Bunny asked.
"Kitty's place. He isn't home, but I'll be OK from there."
"Roger that, sir." Bunny said, and followed one of the route suggestions on his nav-computer.

Much later on...

Some fragger was blasting out the whole street with hardcore Ork gangsta-rap. Just for a moment, Bunny wished he were back in the cockpit of a Zaibatsu fighter... Cannon-fire would turn those Ork bastards and their customized pick-up into so much scrap metal in seconds, and do worse to the soft-bodies inside.

Sure, Orks were tough... But the iron-sided feeling he got of jacking in, rigging, becoming a vehicle was so much better.

But then again, Bunny had never killed anyone before.

The 3DTV was broadcasting crap. More depressing news from somewhere or other: All the stories seemed to blur into each other after a while, as did the usual crappy sitcoms from the CAS that may well have been written by the same advertising exec that had come up with the bright idea of putting a Zaibatsu ad-blimp right over the centre of Geneva.

A message flashed up on Bunny's wristphone.

--->Greetings<---
--->I have been forwarded your details by someone who knows what he's talking about. I request your casual employment for an undetermined period of time.<---
--->If interested, meet at The Wastelands, downtown Geneva. Come alone. Ask for Johnson.<---

***

Seeing the News from Orkislavia, Lendon Lei was pierced by feelings of anger, then guilt.

MUNDI should be in there, he thought. There's no need for such pointless violence. The Neo-SU's aggression could have been forestalled before it started and the whole sorry mess could have been sorted out.

But no - MUNDI had been undermined yet again, and another war had taken place. Coincidentally, The Arms Corporations had made a killing in more ways than one: Orkislavia was overflowing with low-grade tech sold to the Orks cheaply, and they'd gotten a large toehold in the country.

The reason for Shatter's - That was pretty much his name these days - Guilt was unjustified. It was natural for an ex-military man to think he could have changed things had he been there, even though the decision was not his.

Now he was stuck here in these stinking slums. A car burned a few streets away: No firemen would be coming for fear of more gang violence. Law and Order wasn't being maintained here: It was up to the residents to take care of themselves, while the Rent-a-cops only acted to keep everything in the slums so it wouldn't spoil the views for the corporates in their own little world, safe from the lower dregs of society.

Shatter snapped out of the line of thinking, receiving a message.

--->Greetings<---
--->I have been forwarded your details by someone who knows what he's talking about. I request your casual employment for an undetermined period of time.<---
--->If interested, meet at The Wastelands, downtown Geneva. Come alone. Ask for Johnson.<---

***

Raiken's ears pricked up. Voices outside, near his place.

Near his car!

He looked out the window of his flat - A Dwarf and three Orks in Gang colours were loitering with intent near his Geozoom.

His 'phone beeped, with a message.

--->Greetings<---
--->I have been forwarded your details by someone who knows what he's talking about. I request your casual employment for an undetermined period of time.<---
--->If interested, meet at The Wastelands, downtown Geneva. Come alone. Ask for Johnson.<---

'Get fragged' He muttered, turning it off, in case it gave him away.

Things were going from bad to worse: Now the gangers were throwing things at the car.

'Yo ho tee hee har... LET’S SET THE BASTARD ON FIRE!' Screamed the red-haired Dwarf, quite madly.

'Hur hur. Hur hur hur hur' Chortled the Orks, flicking their butterfly knives, while the biggest one, a black Ork, itched his back with an IWS Shotgun with 'DA CUTTA' etched on the barrel.

T5his sort of crap was happening all the time: The price for having such a flash car in a slum area. It wasn’t as if he could threaten the gangers with mob retaliation or anything either: All the mobs Raiken knew were far from here.

He rushed downstairs and outside in his Jeans and white t-shirt.

The Dwarf turned to look at him, about to light a Molotov cocktail.

'Oo the frag are yoo, eh?'

'Hur hur, looks like you're a long way from yer fraggin' tower, corp boy.'

Raiken looked at his jeans and white T-shirt - They made him look like the typical spoilt-brat teenager from a corporate family. Could have been worse: The gangers usually just called him gay.

***

Deadwood sat in the Wastelands, on a ragged couch. It had been a long time since he’d recognised anyone here - The old faces had faded away, the newer ones regarded him with suspicion. Here were two razorguys - Identical twins with identical cyberware. There were some Ork and Elf gangers - They looked so young they were probably just out of high-school - Not that people who had actually gone to high school came to places like this.

Deadwood glanced at the barman - Dark-skinned Troll named Bryant. He's used to be a Street Samurai. Deadwood wondered if he still had that belt-fed fragging light machinegun behind the bar somewhere: What was a heavy weapon in the hands of a human was little more than a big submachinegun in the Troll's hands. Despite the lack of obvious weaponry, Bryant would still be able to handle himself, and probably anyone in the bar. Deadwood had seen him flip a Daisaka car with his augmented muscles.

Deadwood got up to go to the bar. Some blue-haired girl with a gang scar on her face got in his way.

'Excuse me.' He said.

'Frag you.' She said, and tried to push past.

'Meh.' He replied, brushing the upstart aside with a flick of the wrist. She smacked her chin on a table and spilt a Dwarf's beer before slumping to the floor, quite out of it.

'Way to handle the new fish.' Grinned Bryant broadly.

'Bryant, old mate, a beer please, ad is my old mate Mr J here?'

'Is he ever?' Bryant said, pressing a switch to let Deadwood into the meeting area.

[VO]

I see in grand old shadow tradition, you steal the name of a song for the subtitle :p

“For feck’s sake,” swore Clyde. “Trust her to call now.” He kicked the ancient 3DTV combo bolted to the side of the van’s off-switch several times, and the screen flickered off, blinked back on again in a flash of static, and finally settled down to what it was meant to be doing, before flicking back on, showing Newsplex, as the van rocked with renewed vigour.

“The buggers are outside again”, he continued, pulling off the goggles. “We’d better get moving”. Bonnie agreed, and began to lash the Turbocharger to rungs which seemed to extend from all 4 walls, ceiling and floor of the van with thick cords. There was too much stuff here worth more than it looked to risk smashing it up with a piece of hardware weighing almost as much as a fully grown ork bashing about like a bull in a china shop. His brother scrambled over the padded but oil-stained bench, over the rear of the front seats, and dropped down into a chair which was massively too big for him – unfortunately, it was the best conditioned one they’d been able to find, so it was still here, almost two years after it’s ‘discovery’. The pedals had been built up, the gearstick elongated, and the wheel moved down into an easier position to grasp to accommodate this.

Outside, Clyde could see the ghouls. There were a lot of them – indeed, their numbers had been increasing recently – and the goblin wondered if perhaps the towering IWS waste-processing plant had been churning out some other crap into the waters of Lake Geneva.

A face full of leering teeth and stringy, ragged hair pressed itself against the window – judging from the torn but distinctly pointed ears, this had once been an elf. Clyde turned the key in the ignition, and the souped-up engine roared into life, coughing out smoke from both exhaust pipes, and momentarily scattering the slimy degenerates outside. It would take more than that to shake them off, however – in the past, these things had managed to keep up with the van as it crawled as fast as it could along debris-strewn roadways, and at one point, the duo had had to resort to driving over them – the van had stunk of rotting organics even worse than it normally stank of oil for weeks afterwards.

Bonnie, meanwhile, had finished securing the Turbocharger and climbed over a pile of lifeless machinery to reach a large canister attached to the wall. He pulled down the switch attached to it, and immediately outside the fumes from the vehicle became denser, and positively deadly to any ghoul unwise enough to hang around. This temporary addition to the exhaust had proved the best way to deal with them previously, and the van began to move, clunking over discarded pipes and rubbish, before slipping onto a more clear roadway, and making it’s way out of the ironworks. There was no point sticking around while ghouls were out – they’d just follow the van at a safe distance, and regroup once the choking clouds of fumes had dissipated. Besides, as they’d just found out, they’d just been give the lowdown on a job – and it was bound to be a good one, too, Cecily Leiman (or was it Anna, neither Clyde nor Bonnie had ever been able to tell them apart) could be relied upon not to bother then with something unlikely to pay well enough for the new power cells she knew they wanted – the very kind of stuff that you couldn’t find in the Ironworks.

[Artificial Idiot]

Wewt, And so it begins. Seeing as you didn't post a bit for me, I assume you want this :p

"Ah, the bright lights of the Corps!" Wrightman commented to herself as she wandered the streets of upper class Geneva. "They blocked out the sun, so they compensatre with cheap neon... probably the fairest trade to come out of the filthy fraggers."

She was meant to meet her client outside a flash, new club that had been set up in the ricer area of Geneva. It was called "Th3 L1gH7 z0n3", otherwise known as 31703, a MUNDI registratsion for one of their minor operations. Wrightman found it ironic that while she, a simple street scum trying to forge a living, knew that, most of the arrogant, "highly educated" brats that turn up here do not. But then, it's not your brain that matters in this word, just how many Nuyren daddy has on his Cred-stick. As for The club it's self, Wrightman had never been there. All she knew of it was that it was basically where young people went to get drunk and fragged out of their minds by BLT chips, which may sound like any other club on the face of the Earth to some, but there is a twist! These people were generally upper-class, the future people to be running the country (Light help us).

Wrightman didn't like to dwell on the "upper classes", it made her so damn angry. Which was why she was going to enjoy the job ahead. She could now see her client, face lit up by the aforementioned cheap neon lighting that made up 85% of the light here. She saw Wrightman, and gave her a false smile. It was a smile that was not from the heart, but to hide the obvious disgust she had for the other woman. Wrightman on the other hand, didn't bother with false politness. It was work, not pleasure. She extended her hand for a handshake, got the small talk out of the way and then it was down to business.

"So, have you found out if my husband..." She paused, and cleared her throat. As if she could not believe the words she was about to speak. "Has he.. been cheating on me with that little slut-whore "assistant" of his?"

"Well, after a few weeks on the job, I can honestly say I have some good news, and some bad news. All depends on which you want first." Wrightman said casually. This had been a very uninteresting and typical case to follow up. Basically some over protective wife wanting to be assured she was just being paranoid. yeah right. "Why don't we go inside and sit down?"

The woman nodded and they entered "Th3 L1gH7 z0n3".

* * *

The two found a "queit" corner in the club. Or rather, just a corner. There was no peace in this place. Just half-naked, drugged up spoilt little brats who were partaking in dodgey dancing and much abuse of the waiters and waitresses. Like they are short of practice Wrightman thought as a young boy in a golden-yellow jump suit gave one of the waitresses a good, hardly slap on the rear. What a terrible meeting place... but hey, she was getting paid for all of this. And she had to admit, the drink didnt taste as much like centaur piss as she had expected. Not like she had ever drank centuar piss of course, but she had heard it had high nutrional value.

"Anyway, down to business." Wrightman yelled over the deafening sound of ‘Sharper than Light’. She had complete and utter disreguard for them. To her, the infamous tour that everyone talked about was just another example of cheap commercial tactics. In other words, The "We're completely ****, so let's frag around with people's minds!" theory. And looking at some of the fraggers here, it had obviously worked. They couldn't get enough of the music, it was like they were living though it. You could call it the new age rose tinted glasses. "The good news is, my inquiries have shown that he isn't having it off with his assitant. However...There is someone else..."

"Who, tell me who!" The woman almost pleaded.

"To be honest, I was hoping you could help me with that." Wrightman was about to produce her evidence, when she caught a youth in the corner of her eye. He had a 4 inch long, green mohawk, jet black trousers with neon lighting pattens sewed in and a T-Shirt with a catchy, corprate slogan on it. He was obviously drunk, or on the BTL, and had taken leave of his senses. Either that, or he was just incredibly dense to start off with. He was advancing towards her, making lustful eyes. If his mouth had been open any futher, he'd be dragging it along the floor.

"Hey yoo!" He spat, grabbing Wrightman by the hand. "Dance! Dance 'n' sex, eh? Heh, Big Ronney show yer gud bitch!"

"Excuse me." Wrightman apologised to her client. She used her other hand to pull her air tazer from within the depths of her Trenchcoat. She'd was tempted to pull her pistol on him, but you couldn't shoot these people without punishment. More's the pity. One short, sharp, sho to the neck and he was down. She turned back to her client, taking in her shocked expression. "Oh, he'll be fine! Just remind me to get the dart on the way out, and he'll think it's a love bite!

"Anyway, as I was saying..." Wrightman continued, fumbling in the pockets of her Trench coat. "I was hoping you could identify these for me."

She pulled some underwear from her pocket. This provoked many screams and wolf whistles from some fraggers near by. She tried hard to tune them out. Now, if you had to say one thing about these garments, it would definatly be that they were not innocent. Oh course, if you wanted to be more uncloth, there were other things you could say. But don't worry, the club goers had this base covered.

"I can't say I have..." The women replied, sheepishly.

"Well, I found them on the floor of your husband's office. Notice how the bra strap has been stapped by force, they were obviously in quite a hurry." The woman's face reddened with embrassment. Maybe because she wasn't used to this subject matter, or maybe it was at the way Wrightman just casually came out with it. It didn't matter, Wrightman took a bit of pleasure in it. "I also futhered my enquiries and was directed towards an unidentified woman, I "tagged along" with her for awhile, and found something very interesting..."

"Oh, please, do tell..." Wrightman could see the anticipation building in her expression now. It was time to play the big gun.

She took her voice recorder from her other pocket and pressed play. After about fifteen minutes of explict moaning, which due to the convieniant sudden halt to the music, was whipping the club into a fenzy. After that, a soft, worn out female voice was heard.

"Oh, Jeremy! You are so good to me!" It exclaimed. Her client sat, open mouthed. An expression of shock plastered on her face.

"Could you repeat that... p-please?" Wrightman rewound the tape and repeated the statement. The woman asked for it again and again, the detective could see the anger building up inside her, until suddenly, she cracked. "That... that... filthy bastard! He, he's been.. at it with my daughter! Right beind me back! I'll kill him, I'll kill him, I will fragging kill him!"

"I don't think corperate policy allows that, maam." Wrightman said cooly. The woman took no notice, she just muttered a promise about a credstick transfer and left.

* * *

About an hour later, Wrightman was on the way home, ears pounding from the music and feeling a little tipsy after having one too many. Work generally made her thirsty. She was engaged in a lively vidphone conversation with Mad Rovel about her current job.

"I swear, she was none the wiser." said Wrightman. "Should have seen the look on her face when she saw the underwear..."

"Straight outta ole Rovel's personal collection, babe!" Rovel smiled, revealing what was left of his teeth. "Picked the best, just for you!"

"And as for Gary's little voice manipulation..." Wrightman continued. "He's a very skilled kid. The moaning, the little voice tag I managed to catch of her daughter... he slotted it togeather so perfectly. He'll go far that kid!"

"Damned right 'e will! 'e betta, or Rovel gunna bust some 'eads, yeah?" Rovel laughed. He then had a hushed conversation with another ganger, then returned to the vidphone. "Anyway, Rovel gotta go babe! But ah'm gonna tell yer this, Ah'm betting old many Jeremy is furious!"

"Serves the fragger right for not paying me last year then, doesn't it? He shouldn't frag with a detective who has a long memory, and a taste for revenge."

"Ole Mad Rovel wouldn't mind a frag with a certain detective, if yer catch me drift!" Typically pushing out his sexual slur. Every time she spoke to the man, he always got something in. "Anwyay, be seein' yer darlin'!"

The vidphone blinked off, and suddenly, Wrightman felt all alone on the streets. Hand resting on her pistol, she continued towards her office. She became so tense when walking alone, that she almost jumped out of her skin when her vidphone beeped.

--->Greetings<---
--->I have been forwarded your details by someone who knows what he's talking about. I request your casual employment for an undetermined period of time.<---
--->If interested, meet at The Wastelands, downtown Geneva. Come alone. Ask for Johnson.<---

She tried to check the ID, but it was protected. Fraggers, it was probably a joke or just some petty little thing like her last job. And she wasn't in the mood for one of thouse again, easy money as they were. But then, she noticed something tagged onto the end of the message, as if as an afterthought.

---> Job well paid. Worth doing well. <---

"Well, somebody has been doing their homework." She muttered. "Well, if curiosity is a good enough death for a cat, It's a worthy one for me."

[Wesforce]

Chromed Orchid - Often simply called 'Bladegirl' - Strolled into The Wastelands.

It was a typically dingy bar in an area not-often patrolled by Daisaka. An unlikely-looking sign set into the side of a large neo-gothic building, with a small plasteel door underneath.

She walked in - No-one on the door. You looked after yourself in a place like this. Her boots clanged onto a rusty gantry that strecthed over most of the very high-ceilnged bar, then down the other side on a spiral staircase.

Fiery braziers lit the building in flickering orange that set off the rust everywhere. Tables with grim-faced people behind them were sat here and there.

The big Troll barman nodded at her. She nodded back. Then she followed his gaze to the girl lying unconsious on the floor.

'Frag it. Not again.'

'She tangled wiv wun of da old-timerz. Keep an eye on her.'

'Will do. Give us a beer will ya? I'll be sitting over by da stage.'

Orchid dragged her charge over and sat in the shadows, watching.

[CKW]

"Mmm..." Pierre meditated. This wasn't what he expected as a "job". Usually, only small action private investigation and Daisaka covert jobs were the calls he received. Whoever who has, he had to have guts to make an offer, reffering as "johnson." That meant a Shadowrun. And that was HIGHLY illegal, unlike the "plausible" illegal dirty stuff the usual bosses...

"Ellie! Come here meine liebchen!"

He yelled. Her sister crawled, still a bit heated by the tearing scene.Poor girl. Fragged that way.

"What do you think? The "Oddman Supreme" jacket, or the "Democracy isn't equal, death is?" "
The girl gave him a puzzled expression.
"Why in hell do you need that crap?"
"To look badass cool and get the chicks!" Pierre winked, as he put on some sunglasses.
"Driving with sunglasses, in the middle of the rain, and with a pimp look. You are idiote, bro."
Pierre just nodded. "Oddman Supreme" was best.
He put the jacket, then the coat. He didn't forget about the heavy gun, with the smartlink, and the tactical kit. He never knew what could happen, so it was better to have resources...

And so, after a few tries, the roaring motor of the Harley Davison bike drove towards the Wastelands.
Pierre gripped , and placed the bike on its side.

"Shame that were no chicks looking, oh well."

[Artificial Idiot]

"Or so you think, fragger." Wrightman half muttered, half whispered. She was about to enter "The Wasteland" when she had heard the roar of a bike and the typical macho howlings and ravings that could only come from one man. Oddman. Wrightman had "knew" him in her Daisaka days. Even though they were in different departments. He was in some kind of special sercurity team for some reason, which was a laugh. He was a loose cannon at the best of times and a complete idiot at the worst. She did not have a very favourable impression of him, which is why she had doubled back around a corner upon seeing him.
When he had disappeared inside, she waited for a few moments and then followed. She had been here before, but not very often. It's not that it wasn't any worse then any of the other bars and clubs in Geneva, it was just that it attracted some very strange custom. The man who supposdedly lives with the ghouls is meant to frequent it.
She walked up to the bar, careful not to catch the eye of Oddman, wherever the fragger is lurking. She flashed the Troll barman a smile, not that he took any notice, but it never hurt to seem friendly.

"I would like to inquire about a Mr. Johnson." She stated. "Do you know where he can be found?"

"Nay, ain't 'ere yet I'm 'fraid." The Barman replied.

"Frag it." Wrightman muttered, hoping it wasn't a prank afterall. "Just get me a strong drink while I wait then."

[Wesforce]

The bar troll poured Wrightman a foaming half-litre in exchange for a few Nuyen. The beer was fizzy and sour with a bitter tang to it.

'Ugh.' She said, taking a look around. The ghoul-guy wasn't here - Just a few young looking and wasted gangers, and some oddly-human looking Ork girl with a comatose blue-haired friend.

Youngsters can't handle their beer... she mused.

[Apache_Longbow]

Finally, a possible job. He could use it.

Darren entered the run-down bathroom and began to start his morning routine (even though it was nearly afternoon by now). He turned on the shower, looked at the curtain to make sure it was still mildew-free, then began searching for his shampoo and towel. The Soykaf was good, but it had only succeeded in waking up his mind, not his body. He fumbled clumsily around the apartment for a few minutes, going through a pile of stuff in a corner that was abnormally messy - not that it hadn't been messy before, it was just more so now. He at last located the towel, only to find that it had begun to grow mildew while it had damply sat in the middle of the pile. Fragging nasty, he thought as he returned to the bathroom. He rummaged through the cupboard before finding a fresh green towel, smelling it to make absolutely sure it hadn't been used since it's last cleaning. Happy with himself for finally getting all his materials in place, he started to strip off his clothing. Once that was done, he stepped into the steaming shower and felt the prickles of warmth shoot up and down his body. He had no idea what this job was going to be about, but the shower allowed his mind to wander, all in an extremely comfortable setup.

* * *

Darren pulled a shirt over his head, and grabbed his jacket from it's hanging place on the foot of his bed. Draping it over himself, he walked into the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator and frowned, not liking the selection of food that was currently stockpiled. Oh well was what raced through his mind as he decided on a leftover half of a turkey and cheese sandwich. As he munched hungrily on the morsel, Mandy came waddling in, her body wrapped around a towel, her skin glistening with little leftover waterdrops her towel hadn't managed to catch. Any other man's jaw would have dropped, while another thing did the opposite, but after a few years of seeing it day in and day out, Dee had strangely become immune to the display of beauty.

"I got a message. Something about a job - maybe I won't be struggling to pay the rent again next month." He grinned. "Anyways, I'm going to be leaving in a few, I'll walk or catch a cab. You know how where The Wastelands is?"

"Somewhere downtown, I presume."

"Yeah, that's what it says..."

"Then we'll find out later. I'll give you a lift if you want. I have to run some errands downtown anyways. Just let me get dressed, and we'll leave." She smiled, turned around and walked into her room. Darren had no idea what would happen once he got to the meeting place, but he was never a person who liked to sit and wait and wonder about things. Who cares. It beats paying for a cab. But still...

"Hey Mandy!"

"What?"

"Please hurry up. The suspence is killing me."

[Nyerguds]

A faint smile appeared on Bunny's face. "Looks like a busy day today."
Even though the fact he knew Trevor provided him with some sort of 'job security' that was pretty rare for freelancers like him, he went for every job offer he could get. Not like he was swimming in nuyen... If that were the case, he'd be back in England by now instead of in this dirty appartment. Well, it wasn't that bad. At least he had basic accomodations like water here... sure, it leaked off the walls instead of coming out of a tap, but you couldn't be too picky in this neighborhood.

He read the message again.
"Undetermined period of time, eh? Looks like a long job then. Better pack some clothes."

He opened the closet, and grabbed some underwear, his spare Zaibatsu uniform and some hair gel, and stuffed it all in a plastic backpack.
"Right. That should do."

He swinged the backpack over his shoulder, grabbed his gun and walked down to the car park. He knew he probably had a few days to prepare for the job, but he wanted to be ready for anything.
Once he reached the car park he quickly got in the van and plugged in.

The computer automatically picked up the info in Bunny's mind and processed it.
> Destination Search
> Name: "The Wastelands"
> Rough location: "downtown Geneva"
The computer quickly found a reference, and plotted out a few route suggestions in Bunny's head.

"Ah, frag off, stupid thing." Bunny said. He knew the area; he'd been in The Wastelands before for some personal favour for Kitty. He quickly accessed his Alt. Routes database, picked the easier way Kitty had shown him back then, and started the engines.

Really gotta incorporate that in the main system someday he thought, as he drove off.

***

The van stopped. Bunny looked around to see if he still recognised some stuff.
Yep. This was the place. Kitty's old hideout. He could easily put his car here without having any problems with gangs trying to trash it.

He grabbed the remote control, and activated the 'car alarm'. Anyone touching the van now would get the equivalent of a cattle prod zapped through his body. Kitty could never resist making a joke about Bunny's hair whenever he activated the security system.

Bunny sighed, closed the big door of the hangar he parked the car in, and walked to the bar about 50 meters away from it. What was up with Kitty anyway? He looked really bad on whe wristphone, and Bunny was pretty sure it wasn't because of Trevor. Kitty would stay cool, no matter what.

Ah well. Bunny thought. He'll take care of himself.

He entered the bar. Some people there were obviously there for a job too.
So... they're recruiting a lot of folks then?
He smiled. Big job. Probably well-paid then.

He suddenly heard the name 'Johnson' being said, and turned his head. A woman, about his age, was talking to the barman, who replied the Johnson wasn't there yet.

"Figures." Bunny whispered to himself. "He's gonna wait 'till they're all here."

The woman seemed to have heard him though. "till who are all here?" she asked.
Bunny looked up. "The 'runners, of course." he replied softly. "Look around. Lots of people waiting for a job here. Gotta be something big."

"Yu wan' sumthin' ta drink?" the barman asked Bunny.
"Gimme a light soybeer. Still gotta drive." Bunny replied casually, and looked back to the woman. "They call me Bunny." he said to her. "I'm here for the same Johnson."

[landry38]

(This is my December, this is my time of the year. This is my December, This is all so---)

"Dammit! Old relic!"

The boom box had given up again. It was surprising that the thing had lasted this long, and who knew when it would really give up the ghost. "Oh well," she thought, "I'll fix it later."

-gunfire-

"What the hell are these teenagers fighting for?" she thought. "Probably just for self recognition. They'll all turn on each other eventually. So depressing. Just thinning the herd."

-flashtext beeps-

--->Greetings<---
--->I have been forwarded your details by someone who knows what he's talking about. I request your casual employment for an undetermined period of time.<---
--->If interested, meet at The Wastelands, downtown Geneva. Come alone. Ask for Johnson.<---

"Interesting, maybe I can get some money out of this one. At least it's different from delivering groceries, I hope."

Laura then sheathed her katana and removed her gi. She walked into the shower room and proceeded to remove her undergarments. She was already relaxed from meditation, and now a shower would finish the job. A hot shower helped her to free her mind from the troubles of the depressing world, a serene calm as the hot droplets of water blanketed her unclothed body in a clear warm comforting coat. She lathered herself in a gentle soap
and rinsed off. The whole ritual took about 20 minutes, as she was very fond of taking hot showers.

The glass door opened and a billow of steam diffused into the entire room. Laura stepped out and wrapped herself into a towel. She opened the oak wood drawer that was in there, where her stash of clothing was.

Five minutes later Laura stepped out, dressed in short jean shorts and a low cut black tank top that conformed to the shape of her body, and allowed for a little bit of cleavage. The hormones from the black market sure were doing the trick, in a big way.

Laura's thoughts drifted back to her wristphone.

--->Greetings<---
--->I have been forwarded your details by someone who knows what he's talking about. I request your casual employment for an undetermined period of time.<---
--->If interested, meet at The Wastelands, downtown Geneva. Come alone. Ask for Johnson.<---

She packed her black gi in her backpack and gathered her dagger and katana. The slums were rough. But she was well prepared. She never left without them. After all, when outnumbered as often as she is, she was making herself a target amongst the gangs as the person to "recreationally take out." As some attempted to do.

As she walked out she saw the blood from the battle about 30 minutes before. The life spilled out in the battleways was wrenching to most, but she was used to it. Still she always wondered what the deceased would become if they chose something different. Something good? Or something even worse? But her thoughts were interrupted as a stray bullet whizzed by her head.

"Yo. Think you're all bad? You ain't crap!" said a bulky, shadowy figure.

Laura simply turned her head to her left. "You again? How many times does this make?"

"You, don't speak unless I tell you to. And you, my bitch, have spoken your last words." said the figure, as he stepped into the light. He was in a dark camouflage jacket and under was a black slevelesss shirt. The tag on his jacket read the name "Blaster" His head was well waxed, his body ripped with muscles. He dominated in size, standing at 6'7.

Laura's facial expression grew stern and she walked intently over to her challenger. Blaster reached for his rifle but as quick as he drew it, Laura drew her katana and knocked the rifle from his hands. Blaster reared his fist but Laura blocked and quickly kicked Blaster's legs from under him.

Laura walked off, after owning Blaster for the umpteenth time. She commenced to find her way to the Wasteland, many blocks away.

[Artificial Idiot]

"Ah... I should of known." Said Wrightman, her face suddenly going pale. "It all fits, Johnson, undisclosed message, no time set... a run."

"Yep, pretty much." Said Bunny, sipping his soygarbage. Wrightman wasn't sure if she had seen him before or not. He had the look of a typical ganger about him, however that didn't narrow it down a lot. "Are you, alright?"

"Oh, don't mindd me, I look worse then I am." Wrightman assured him, the colour slowly coming back into her face as she got over the slight shock. "The name is Wrightman." She said, knowing that she definatly shouldn't be waving her full name around. "I'm a detective. Usually legal enough."

"Look's like you picked the wrong line of work then." Said Bunny, with a slight smile.

"Well, nuyren is nuyren around here. You just can't afford to be picky."

"And don't I know it."

[LeFire]

Shatter's stomach grumbled, reminding him that he was down to his last few nyuen. Unlike others, he simply could not bring himself to resort to robbery, theft or begging to sustain himself. Old ways died hard.

Now the promise of a job beckoned... Shatter didn't hesitate, stepping into his UrbanKar for the drive into town. The tough but cheap vehicle was surprisingly undamaged, the vandals (who were largely made up of Orks) having recognised the car as a Ork-built machine. Apparently, they were too stupid to realise that destroying the vehicles that civilians had purchased would increase demand for new cars. Shatter didn't mind that one bit.

But before pulling away, he paused to look in the direction of a commotion along the street.

It was a low-level street-mage thug, attempting to rob a little old lady with an illusion of a assault rifle. Pricked by his conscience, Shatter touched his hand to the pommel of Neutraliser, his Spellbreaker blade. The weapon was in its scabbard, slung around his knee, driving being the only time when it was not riding slung across the Spellbreaker's back. There was the familiar spark of magic in his mind... and the street mage's weapon upruptly assumed its true form. That of a cucumber.

Turning away with a smile that vanished as soon as it appeared, Shatter gunned the engine and headed downtown.

Behind him, the street mage turned tail and ran. Unfazed, the little old lady reached into her bag and pulled out a ancient sawn-off double-barrel shotgun. There was a shot... and the thug went sprawling, howling from a busted knee. The granny shuffled the twenty paces that the punk had crossed, paused to retrieve the cucumber for dinner, and put the barrel to the kid's head.

Just another stain on the sidewalks of Geneva.

[VO]

The van clattered to a halt across the street from the Wastelands, and both goblins pulled less-stained garments on over their overalls. Clyde picked up a pistol from the dashboard, and in the back, Bonnie found a similar weapon.

He eyed the place through a grime-encrusted window - typical craphole, probably, almost exactly the same as every other club in this whole town, full of an equal mix of grizzled veteran runners and neon-haired, wannabe teenagers. Exactly the type who hang around places like this because they thought it was cool, and then ended up dead. And in a town like Geneva, no-one would care.

They left the gun inside - carjackers in this place usually didn't bother with something as inconspicous and dirty as the van, and the really valuable stuff inside was exactly the kind of stuff that looked exactly the same as the rest to anyone apart from Bonnie. Besides, if anyone tried to Rig into the vehicle to steal it (providing that they could fit into the modified Goblin seat), the protection system he'd installed would probably fry every neurone in their brain.

They exited the van, locking the doors and switching on the security systems, and entered the smoky underworld.

***

As they had expected, heads turned to watch them as they entered. Goblins weren't usually expected in dives like this - except those almost big enough to be orks. Society itself didn't even like the little green buggers, it was said - in the better parts of town, they weren't even allowed in public libraries. The pair didn't even look like runners anyway, really.

A man on the counter grunted, (his counterpart troll bartender busy serving a electric-yellow haired girl), lazily wiping a glass with his snot-encrusted apron. He was the kind of guy who'd be called Butch, or Hamchop, mainly because, Bonnie reflected, the only thing his kind were good for was low-grade animal fodder. Hell, you could probably fead a dog on someone his size for a year, and sell all the fat he wouldn't eat to one of those "synthorganic food" places.

"No gobbos. Get out. We don't like your kind."

Clyde scrambled up onto a bar stool, to be much nearer eye-to-eye with the eight-foot monstrosity.

"What if I asked for Mr Johnson?"

This took a few seconds to tick over in Hamchop's mind. "Wait here. Don' try anythin funny. I watchin' you." seconds later, he added "an you ain't havin' any of da drink, either - I know how fast it does to you little gits."
This, of course, was probably the longest and most complicated sentance he had even constructed in his life. Bonnie and Clyde were used to fraggers like him.

[Wesforce]

Engine whining like a trapped robo-spaniel, Shatter sidled and parlked up next to a grimy-looking van near the wastelands. A group of gangers - Mostly Dwarves, in purple and black army gear - Sat around keeping an eye on things.

Shatter couldn't tell the age of Dwarves too well - Not many people could. They all seemed to develop ful beards from 10 onwards. But by their actions he guessed them to be young. They kept sayong thngs like 'Lets set our hair one fire.', passing around chips, blades and laughing madle - 'Yo ho tee hee har'.

They seemed to be keeping an eye on the vehicles, and judging by the amount of un-stolen cars near them, could have been running security for The Wastelands.

Clattering in over the walkway, the forst thing he noticed was he place's atmosphere. Almost tribal - Some synth-drums pounding out somewhere, the place lit by fiery braziers. Dozens of eyes were on him, but only for a second.

He spotted two Goblins who seemed to regard everyone as potential enemies, and a woman in a longcoat chatting to a skinny Elf with leathers and ports in his head. They looked the least group-affiliated here.

***

Bunny and Wrightmann's conversation was interrupted with the sounds of a fat man being manhandled by a Troll who knew what he was doing.

'For the last time you fragging bastard, get away from the bar before someone gives you a 10mm lobotomy. Again.' The Troll dragged the man back off his stool with blinding speed, especoally for his size. There was more to him than met the eyes.

The fat (but miniscule next to the 9ft Troll) man was booted out of the doors without ceremony.

'Soz 'bout dat.' Grumbled the Troll. 'Can't get the staff. Surprised that fragger's lasted as long as he did 'round 'ere.'

Wrightman noted the Troll's somewhat genial attitude, and wondered why some of the scum here didn't just walk all over him. Maybe his reputation spoke for him.

***

Bright lights. Towering buildings.

This was a lower part of the city that Nikita Milashek Oktaybr found himself in, but even so, the Corporate towers dominated the skyline like they wanted to remind everyone just who was in charge. There were soy-cola machines on every street corner (mostly broken), GM Robotaxis scooting about, even the whores had the make of their sex-cyberware tattooed on their forheads. To cap it all, an airship hung overhead braodcasting the virtues of LG Systems in a blazing array of 3D light.

He felt sick. Sick to the stomach.

But he had to keep his feelings to himself right now: He was being called to meet someone at The Wastelands. Probably a job.

A chance to be used as a tool by one corp against another. A stiletto thrust between the ribs of a rival.

[landry38]

-whoosh-

Laura swung her katana as she casually walked down the alley. The sound of vehicles was growing as she was nearing a street.

"Oh good," she thought. "Maybe I could get a cabride."

-horn blares loudly-

"Mees!! Mees!! Does you needz a ride?"

Laura raised her head sharply, to see a run down robotaxi about an inch from her feet.

"Um, uh, sure, can you take me to The Wastelands?"

"Zee Vastevands? Sure I takez zhoo to zee Vastevands, but eet's dangerous!"

"Why do you think I carry these around?" Laura said, showing the cab driver her katana and dagger, as she climbed in.

"Zhoor credsteek pweeze? Shose sure are nice!"

"Oh yeah, here."

Laura took back her credstick after the cabbie was finished with it.

"This is crap,"

The cab had a distinct rotting odor, and the backseat was stained in blood, presumably from a drive gone bad. Laura closed her eyes and relaxed through her ride, not worried about the prospect of someone taking aim at her. "If it's my time, it's my time," she thought.

Her meditation was interrupted all too soon however by the cabbie's squeaky voice. "Vheer heeeeeeree!"

Laura stepped out and walked off without thanking the cabbie, and walked into the club. She was greeted with the sight of a rusted gantry, and lighting eerily provided by some strategically placed braziers.

"Hmm, an eerie calm," she thought. "Suits my mood perfectly. But it could use some damned renovation.

Laura stepped off the gantry and walked to the barstool. She waved for the bartender, a huge tough looking troll.

"Excuse me, but can you please tell me where Johnson is?"

[VO]

Clyde flicked his eyes over the other patrons. A young, blue haired human passed out of the floor - a pair of skinny trolls attempting to staple each other's hair to the wall - a dwarf in fishnet tights - a trenchcoated and depressed-looking elf - a woman making her way up to the bar, clad in tight clothing. A nasty-looking weapon was slung across her back. She asked for Johnson.

Unfortunately, she looked like an amateur - no one went around like that in this part of Geneva, showing that much skin made you a great target for just about anything. Even a samurai sword wouldn't save you from a determined gang of orks.

However, she did look somehow... different from the rest of the people in the club - more finely cut, less rough around the edges, her features sitting just outside what might be normal. Above all, she looked interesting, and just maybe it might be worth getting to know someone on the 'run beforehands - one less person to watch your back against was always a blessing.

Clyde moved towards her through the crowd, Bonnie following, furtive eyes moving from left to right. They reached her.

"Looking for Johnson, eh?" Clyde tried to make his voice heared over the roar of the music.

She spun around, not noticing the diminuitive goblins for a second, then her eyes looked down and alighted upon them.

[landry38]

"Looking for Johnson, eh?" came a voice that was barely audible compared to the blaring music.

"Eh? Who said that?" Laura asked herself. She couldn't tell if she was hearing things or if someone actually said something. It wasn't the troll, who seemed to ignore her.

Laura's head wandered aimlessly in search of the person who just spoke. Finally she looked down and noticed the speaker, a blue skin goblin, clad in work overalls and a black shirt. He was quite diminuitive, standing at, she estimated, just over half her height.

"Why yes, I am. How did you know?"

[CKW]

The door closed with a rusty sound.
Fake ID. Got it. Harley motorbike. Hidden. Kevlar Vest. Got it. "Blank" Wristphone...yeah.
Oddman's eyes laid back at the door.
"I don't need the tactical googles or le Kill-o-matic right now. This is a job rendezvous."
He eyed it a bit more, before walking at fast pace towards the Wasteland.
As soon as he entered, he began spotting faces, and pointing them slightly, while whispering.
"looking for Johnson."
"you too."
"and you..."
After a while, he stopped. He eyed a familiar face.
"HEY! If it's Wrightman! How are you?" He yelled, and headed towards her.

[Apache_Longbow]

Wes, I edited out the whole Mandy coming along thing. I know you said I didn't have to, but I figure I might as well not screw everything up with my first post.

_______

The hummer's engine slowly rumbled, dropping it's pitch lower as well as it's RPM's as the utility vehicle came rolling to a halt. The ride had been a quiet one, and Dee's mind was filled with more than it's fair share of questions and predictions. He grabbed the handle of the truck and clicked the door open, stepping down first onto the side rail, and then finally onto the ground.

"Good luck," was all Mandy could really say as he slammed the door shut. The engine hollered as she accelerated, and in a few moments she had turned onto another road and was out of sight.

Dee turned towards the front of the building. It had The Wastelands written across it's top, and although it wasn't in as bad of shape as many of the buildings in the slums, it still wasn't in pristene condition. He walked across the road and approached the door. Dee was still relatively new to the game, and meetings like this had always been a bit nerve-racking for him, no matter how hard he tried to get used to it. He took a deep breath and walked in.

There was a large number of people inside. Many were just sitting there, a few doing absolutely nothing while the other portion of the group sat chatting to one another or sipping on a drink. There were also a few creatures that seemed to be regulars at the establishment, holding lively discussions with others or just sitting glumly at the bar with a pile of empty glasses in front of them. Darren moved towards the lone employee present, the bartender.

"Hi, I'm looking for..."

"Johnson ain't 'ere yet. You'll 'ave ta' wait for 'im. Want sumtin ta drink?" Dee grabbed his wallet and looked inside. Only a few Nuyen. I better pass.

"No thanks. I'll just take a seat."

"Fine. Jist don't make no trouble, or you'll be outta 'ere before you kin meet your Johnson feller."

"OK, thanks." Dee turned and spotted an empty table. His mind was racing even more as he took a seat and waited for Mr. Johnson.

[Artificial Idiot]

"Oh frag..." Muttered Wrightman. "Frag, frag, frag."

"What's wrong?" Bunny asked, as Wrightman tried to hide herself behind the collar of her coat.

"Let's put it this way, there are two things I can not stand in this world." Wrightman began. "Heights, and him!"

"Wrightman!" Oddman repeated, slapping her on the back. At least he hadn't thrown her name around, this time. "It's been awhile!"

"Yes... it has, hasn't it?" She said, as Oddman pushed a stool inbetween her and bunny.

"And hey! It looks like we're going on a trip togeather too! What a coincidence!" Oddman continued to yell out, as if the whole bar couldn't hear him already. Although, he wasn't completely stupid. "Going on a trip" meant they were doing the same job. Not something Wrightman had wanted to hear.

"Oh joy." Wrightman muttered sarcastically. Bunny gave her a sympathetic look, she smiled. She was starting to like the fragger already. He speant awhile ranting on about various things, Wrightman had put herself on auto-pilot thouhout it. And then he rounded on Bunny.

"You with us too?" It was more of an exclaimation then a question.

[LeFire]

Shatter didn't waste time, going right up to the barkeep and asking for Mr Johnson. He was asked to wait for more runners to arrive, but didn't bother him... If anything, it showed Shatter that the employer was for real and not just a fake name cooked up by some gang fraggers who hoped to trap, overwhelm and rob runners.

It was odd to find goblins in a bar... Shatter tracked the goblins across the place, figuring that they were runners too. Then to his surprise, he spotted another person with a sword slung over her back in the same manner that Neutraliser rested. Her blade was a true Japanese katana though... with its curved edges and cloth-binded grip unlike Neutraliser's straight European-styled blade and metal hilt.

He stepped over to talk to the fellow swordswoman, if only to pass the time.

[KrasnyOktyabr]

As his old Rover clunked through the swarms of bubble cars Krasny made it a point to avoid eye contact with the other drivers. They made him want to puke, products of the capitalism he found all around him. Nothing here was like Russia, no one had any values. But then he though, it was through that lack that he survived. For now it seemed he was no better than them. But he was, he told himself, he hadn't been sucked into the life of greed like they had. He was Russian, he could stand the tests and taunts brought by the mass marketing, he was far better than them.

He slamed on his breaks and veered left, in his thoughts he had almost missed his turn. Horns blared around him and "Fragger!" could have been heard miles away. He really didn't care though, his only goal was to find out what was going down at The Wasteland. It some bar in town, he knew that much of the place. He knew how to get there too, or he is pretty sure he does. Aside from that Krasny knew nothing of what was to come.

****

An hour later Krasny pulled up into a lot a block from The Wasteland, he didn't want his truck to be recognized. Weary of his surroundings he shut off the Rover and reached behind the seats for the AK. He paused. "No" he said quietly, "No I won't quite need that." Having set the assault rifle back down he took the Beretta out from under his seat and set it inside his trench coat. With an anxious feeling he got out of the truck, and out of habbit kicked his front tires before walking to his destination.

****

Finally the Russian reached the establishment. The Wasteland was disgusting, and it wasn't just the atmosphere. There were metas, god damnit there were metas. And there was smoke, and odd lights, and colors the damned weird colors. Too many colors in this world. Krasny pushed through and reached the bar, and ended up sitting two sears away from some goblin. He didn't look at it, he didn't want to look at it, too disgusting. So he sat there, staring ahead, until he saw the bartender. A troll.

"Do you know of a Mr. Johnson?"

"Sit da-er now, you will be wit der man."

Krasny felt insulted, but it wasn't worth fiddling over. So he sucked up his pride and ordered a bottle of the cheapest vodka, pouring what he could into his flask to save for later, and lighting up a cigarette.

[Master Chris]

Never one to rush into such things unnecessarily, Robert Smith finished cleaning his apartment before making a move. He called his long time comrade, Susan Wellington. It took several rings before the vid-phone was answered, Robert imagined that it had been left under a pile of dirty clothes in Susan's apartment, as dreadfully messy as it was.

"Wot?"

A face smudged by cosmetics left on overnight squinted at Robert a moment before realising who had called.

"Oh? Oh! Ro-Robert. How are you?"

Robert replied:

"Kelvin-Zero has a job and he needs his sidekick, Shotgun Suzy. May I speak with her?"

Susan, whose secret alias was the aforementioned Shotgun Suzy, had heard that line many times before and replied the way she always did, indulging Robert in his little fantasy:

"Sure, one moment please. I'll get her, yeah?"

With that Susan did her best to wipe the smudged blush and lipstick from her face before slapping on a pair of sunglasses and a curly, brunnette wig.

"Hello, Shotgun Suzy speaking."

"Good, good. Listen Suzy, we've got a job afoot down at The Wasteland. Got to ask for a Mr. Johnson, tell your roommate, Susan, that you'll be going out for a while."

Robert smiled, he adored going through this routine everytime he got called up for a 'run'. Susan, AKA Shotgun Suzy, nodded and said:

"Yeah, meet yah there, Kelvin-Zero?"

"Roger that, tally ho!"

A little while later, a monobike pulled up to the Wasteland just before an immaculate yet out-of-date electric car did. A helmeted figure dismounted from the bike and strolled towards the familar electric car, as the cars door swung open the helmet came off and Susan greeted Robert as he came out of the car:

"Kelvin-Zero, it always be a pleasure to work wit'cha, what's da scoop?"

"Better scope the place out in cognito before we make a grand entrance, eh Suzy?"

"Choo mean as Mr. Smith and Ms. Wellington, yeah?"

"Of course, my dear."

Careful to stagger their entrances so as to provide no evidence the two were associated with one another, Susan and Robert entered the bar. A dark, dank, and dingy dive, the Wasteland was a typical establishment of the times. Robert swaggered up to the bar and ordered a drink, his voice a conspirational whisper:

"I'd like a Johnson, lots of ice."

The barman, having recently constructed the largest and most complicated sentence he had ever spoken, caught on surprisingly quickly for a Troll:

"Yeah, you wait just like der others. Meanwhiles, wot's yer poison?"

"I don't suppose you have a Strawberry Twist hidden away somewhere?"

"Alco-soy it is."

Robert nodded softly in Susan's direction, his 'all-clear' signal.

[KrasnyOktyabr]

Krasny closed his eyes, the vodka warmed him while the cigarette calmed his tensions. He almost felt home again, back in Moscow, with his childhood friends. He could remember sneaking down to the old Volga factory with his friends, he remembered the fun they had. The vodka, the smokes, the girls, the dreams of leaving Russia. They were all so foolish back then, none of them had any life experience. How things change. Then he remembered the posters on the walls, the ones with the traitor Orks on them. Suddenly he remembered Irkutsk.

Krasny's eyes jarred open as he fell off his barstool.

"God damned fra-"

He hit the floor hard.

"-gger."

[Wesforce]

Deadwood was already accustomed to the hazy gloom of the 'business area' when the other 'runners were led in.

A woman in a trenchcoat, followed by a man also in a trenchcoat, and a wide-brimmed, old-style hat. An Elf with Rigger jacks and a cocky sneer that reminded him of someone he used to know. Two shifty-looking goblins who might have been twins, and reeked of engine oil. The man behind them wore blue, in a not-quite military uniform style that struck Deadwood as nostalgic, and he was followed by a lighter-coloured man of almost identical age and clothing, his darker than the blue. A silver-clad man who seemed high on life was next, followed by a scantily-clad young girl with a sword. And the last man, clad in dark colours topped off with a Soviet-army issue trench coat and beret, seemed to chill the very air around him.

The age of the first and last set them apart - People who'd survived as long as Deadwood. The rest seemed older than their years, but you can never really tell until the bullets start flying, he mused.

A quick glance of astral-perception confirmed his suspicions about The silver-clad man. The blue-clad man also had some kind of power - It seemed Mage-like in appearance, but something about it seemed odd. The young sword-wielder had the power too, just channelled it a different way. A physical adept.

And then Mr Johnson made his appearance. Snappy retro-styled suit, cropped blonde hair, elf, with shades and the regulation expressionless 'Mr Johnson face'. Not for the first time, Deadwood wondered if these fraggers were rolling off a production line somewhere.

'If you'd all like to get seated, we'll begin.' He began, handing his Armanté to the Dwarf in shades behind him and setting his Laptop on the table. If the guarded looks he was getting from the black-garbed beret-wearing man were botheriong him, he didn't show it.

'You're not stupid, you'll know why I've called you all here, so I'll dispense with the usual preamble.' He said, in crisp, schooled tones. Time is of the essence for the task I require you, so I'll be suitably quick. First up: Can anyone tell me if they recognise these...'

He handed around a selection of printed 3DPhoto Hardcopies. All of them showed blood-spattered walls, offal, the disembowelled remains of a young human female.

'Nice holiday snaps!' Winked Oddman.

'These are shots of the murder scene that was on the News a few days ago...' Murmured Wrightmann. As a detective, she'd taken a casual interest in the case.

'Pity. She was such a hottie too!' Oddman said again, and he caught a few glares. 'What?'

Mr Johnson took back the photos, and handed out some more: These showed two other crime scenes: One from four days ago, another from the recent killing. Mr Johnson had pictures even the News channels weren't allowed yet.

'Same MO in each case. Victim has been partially eaten, and then literally torn to shreds. When that fat imbecile spoke of "chunks stuck on the ceiling", he wasn't lying.'

[Artificial Idiot]

(Note: I worked out the details of this post with Wes, So it's probably better if you work out any crazy deducations you may have with him too, before jumping the gun.)

Wrightman examined the pictures with a keen eye. What a way to die. Very grusome, and unlike the fragging news, no detail was left to censorship here. The cogs in her brain got to work, but she had more photo's then hands, and really wanted a decent comparison.

"May I borrow your desk for a moment?" She asked Mr. J politely.

"Yes, of course." The elf replied. She stood up, and spread the photo's out across the surface. Then she began her examination.

"May I have the recent ones back?" She asked, Mr. J just threw them onto the desk. "Most interesting. It seems, upon first glance to be the work of ghouls. However, reason leads me to believe otherwise. Notice the animal like claw marks on what is left of the victims body, I've rarely seen a ghoul up close, but that is definatly not their work."

"Correct." Came the voice of Deadwood. "Ghoul's usually hunt in packs, this is the work of a single animal."

"Quite so." Stated Wrightman. "There also seems to be no pattern, most creatures would not be so careless with their meals. It's hunt or die out there, and this meathod seems very... wasteful."

"A waste of a good cutie." Oddman said with a smirk.

"Thank you." She nodded to Mr. J and took her seat again. "Are there any other details you could tell us? Every little bit of information would help."

[CKW]

(arg, curse you AI!)

Oddman urged to answer Wrightman.
"Like you stated. It seems like a blood frenzy, rather than a kill-for-food. I think someone has some weird art style. And of course, this does not look like the job of professional assasination."

Oddman gave a look at the pictures once again.
"You said there were chunks on the ceiling. How high was such ceiling? That would help narrowing the complexity of the possible author."

[Wesforce]

'The room was the victim's apartment. Standard-sized. My -' He coughed. 'Sorry, the victim was alone, at home, as were the other two when they were attacked. You'll notice that this first victim - Miss Sarah LGSystems - had her murder's media coverage vetoed by her parent Corporation, lest it damage their reputation. She had, I believe, entered into a bonus scheme with her employer, paying her for changing her name to that of the company.'

(GM: Thanks/Apologies to Max Barry for that one ;))

Deadwood had noticed Mr J's slip - He'd never seen a Mr J do something like that.

Mr Johnson carried on.

'I think you can guess what this job entails now, and what my employer wants you to do. Questions?'

[Artificial Idiot]

Wrightman leaned back in her chair. Deep in thought. A most interesting case indeed. But she needed more details. More leads. She didn't feel like being led blindly in a wild goose chase across Geneva!

"Was there anything seen in the vicinity of the crime? Any possible motives? Any evidence left at the crime scene? Any witnesses?" She cleared her throat. "Or should I say, are there any... still alive?"

She knew the what extreames corps went to "silence" people. And besides, whatever was doing this wasn't to be sniffed at either. This was murder, of that she was sure!

[KrasnyOktyabr]

[Bit about the name Mr. Johnson edited with permission from Wes.]

"An elf!" Krasny thought to himself, "Mr. Johnson is a bloody fragging elf!" How badly he wanted to strangle point pointy eared freak, but then he did need a job. The Rovers transmission was on the verge of giving out and that would cost a lot to replace.

Krasny walked towards a human woman and another elf, they were taking a closer look at the pictures. He ignored them as he stopped next to the table, deciding that he too needed to see them a little closer. He didn't see the girls, he only saw the blood. All he ever saw was the blood, the human didn't exist anymore. That is how you learn to see things in the camps. Whatever was left had been partially eaten, or so thats what he had overheard. He hated metas, and he was sure this was the work of one of them.

[Wesforce]

'Such enthusiasm, Ms. Wrightmann. I take it you are signing up for this job? And the rest of you?.

Mr Johnson produced a certified ¥1000 credstick.

'Standard payment, ¥1000 now, ¥5000 upon satisfactory completion of the case.'

'Wait.' Deadwood held up his hand.

'Aren't Daisaka investigating this? Why should we bother? Most of us are just grunts.' Deadwood said. 'No offence.' He added to the others.

'All I'll say now is that Daisaka are part of the problem and the solution. I'll have to take your acceptance first, and before I answer any other questions, Ms Wrightmann.'

'Well I'm in.' Sighed Deadwood, stoically.

[Artificial Idiot]

"What can I say, I'm intrigued. This is a case every detective dreams about." She took a glance at Oddman. She didn't want to guess his dreams. "Well almost every detective. And the money is always nice. You have my services, Mr. Johnson!"

She'd probably sounded terrible to the others. Like some sort of spoilt little high-class girl who had got her first cyber enchanced racing pony. Even at that young age, all they wanted was money. But this was, as she had said, her dream! It was the stuff you watched in those dramatic, 3DTV detective shows.
Frag all the cheating husbands, petty thefts and other crap the rent-a-cop's wouldn't even sniff at. This was big, and the pay was good! More then enough to get a new shirt. Maybe even some cyberwear. Like those language chips she'd seen around. They would definatly come in handy.
And besides, she knew Daisaka. Useless fraggers would most likely abandon the slum and middle class areas of geneva to go and aid the protection of the fraggers on the top rung if any more of these killings happened. Especially if the "victims" were of higher social status.

[Nyerguds]

(Krasny... All people hiring people for 'runner jobs are 'called' 'Mr. Johnson' :p)

Bunny got up. "Nice show... but what am I supposed to do in a murder investigation? Just driving people around? What am I, a robocab?"
"I thought you prefered to refer to yourself as a 'Hot-spot taxi driver', no?" the Johnson replied with a plastic smile. "There will most likely be situations where your skills will come in handy. And not just the driving."
"And I get paid a lot more than these stupid bots." Bunny said, and smiled back. "Very well. Count me in."

He took the 1000¥ credstick Johnson gave him, and walked back to his chair. He sat down, pulled his sunglasses down a bit, and looked at Wrightman, revealing an oddly pale spot on the retina of his right eye. "Looks like we're in then."
He smiled, and leaned back in his chair.

[CKW]

"Wait a sec... did you say something's fishy in Daisaka? Fishier than usually?"
Oddman seemed thrilled.
"Do you accept it or not?"

"Well. I never liked many of these fraggers anyway. Of course they offered me jobs and such, but never cared about people."
Wrightman gave Oddman a glare look. Since when that idiot cared for anything more than boobs.
"...besides, I want to take revenge on that harpy that fired me for just a little shag."
So that was it...

[LeFire]

"I'm in." Shatter replied quietly, silencing any sign of the urgent need he had for the job for fear that Mr. Johnson might decide to cut down on his payment. He pocketed the 1000 nyuen credstick, the feel of the little device oddly unfamiliar to him... MUNDI had provided all meals and shelter before, and Shatter had not needed to use a credstick since many years ago.

The photos told Shatter little... He wasn't a forensic detective like Wrightman and what little he knew about such stuff was limited to approximate cause of death. In this case, the marks looked like claw wounds and he was willing to leave it at that.

As far as he could see, no magic was involved in the murder.

It would be an easy run then.

[landry38]

Finally Laura was handed the photos. The graphic display she saw instantly struck a chord with her, and she seemed to stare in disbelief at the carnage. It wasn't the carnage itself that startled her, but the pattern, or lack thereof, of the shredded body.

Laura's face conveyed deep thought and concentration, with a hint of anger. While outside she seemed collected and focused; inside, however, she was burning.

She always told her friends that her parents were simply "assassinated", but she never spoke of how they were murdered. The pictures bore striking resemblance to the grisly scene she recalled in 2054, when she found her parents dead.

She could hardly resist crumpling the pictures in anger, so she handed them back to Johnson.

"Count me in." she said.

[VO]

Bonnie and Clyde didn't bother looking at the photos much, and simply passed them on. A dead human was a dead human - and they much preffered to leave it to the self-styled detective who was still making increasingly unrealistic deductions to think about them. They were here for the money.

"We're in," said Clyde, slipping off the dirty couch-chair. Johnson tossed him a credstick. The goblin looked at it for a moment, and then turned back to Mr Johnson.

"¥2000. If you hadn't noticed, I said we, as there are two of us."

Johnson glanced at both goblins for a second, then, resignedly, tossed Clyde another. From the looks of things, although generally he would have argued, another actual seasoned 'runner instead of the variety of wannabe action-heros they had here would be useful, despite the fact that the two goblins would probably have counted as one.

[Wesforce]

'Very well.' Said Mr Johnson, smiling slightly to himself. Slightly smugly. 'That just leaves our friends Dee and Kelvin Zero here.' He waited expectantly, but patiently.

Mr Johnson deleted two names off his list - The Troll gang leader and the Rigger known as Raiken.

Unfortunate, but to be expected. Still, these 'runners seem eager enough. I'm confident of success...

His face, of course, cybernetically deadened of emotion, betrayed none of this.

[KrasnyOktyabr]

Krasny hadn't really been paying attention to anything Mr. Johnson had said. Not that he didn't think it was important, he was just too distracted by his surroundings. Though he did hear something about a 1000 nyuen credstick now and 5000 later, and that was enough to cover the Rovers repairs and then some.

"Count me in Mr. Johnson." He forced himself to look at the elves disgusting face, so emotionless. Then Krasny looked around, for the first time he noticed just how many others there were. He suddenly became uncomfortable, pulling out his flask.

[Apache_Longbow]

The pictures had passed by a few minutes ago, but Dee was still in awe at the gruesomeness of the scene. The half-eaten carcass would have been enough, and the fact that the body had been mutilated and scattered on the walls an ceiling told him that it was a murder done out of rage rather then professionalism. And now he was being called on to find out who did it.

He was still unclear on what exactly the mission would entail, but he knew he wouldn't mind giving the murderer his come-uppins. And besides that fact, work meant ¥1000, and ¥1000 meant that he would have two or three months where rent wouldn't be constantly nagging at his mind. He grabbed one of the credsticks off of the table.

"I'm in."

[General Rodall Juhziz]

(GM: Okay what the frag was that, Juhziz? Don't do this again or I'll have to get you banned from RPG forum. And don;t even think about posting in this thread saying you didn;t understand or something)

Everyone else... Move on. Nothing to see here...

[Wesforce]

(GM: Waiting for Red's post... Will edit it in hopefully soon)

'And now in response to your earlier questions Ms Wrightmann: We have as yet been unable to gain access to the scenes of the crimes: Daisaka cordoned all of them off: Even one in a slum zone, which means they have taken extraordinary levels of interest in these cases and know them to be linked. Daisaka have also not released any details of evidence or witnesses. Additionally, their investigation seems to be going nowhere. Which leads me back to my earlier comments: Get what information from Daisaka that you can,’ He nodded at Oddman ‘but do not let them hinder you by any means. It’s no accident that the team I have assembled here is combat-orientated. I trust you won’t let us down. The repercussions would be… Unfortunate.’

Mr Johnson handed Wrightmann and Oddman chips with the names and addresses of all the victims, superimposed over a map of the surrounding area.

(GM: Everyone would be able to see this)

The victims:

1.Sarah LGSystems - Credit Controller at LGSystems, age 26 - Human
2.Lydia Himmelstässe - Administrator at General Metro, age 29 - Human
3.Monique Dubarry - Unemployed, age 21 - Human


‘Any other questions?’

[Artificial Idiot]

"All Human eh?" Wrightman muttered to herself. "What a coincidence."

She studied the map for a moment. Nowhere near each other. However, they were all women, all in their twenties... all human. Was this a link? Or just pure coincidence? Wrightman had learned very little was purely coincidence. Maybe there WAS a pattern after all. But why? I guess if they knew that, there wouldn't be a case.
It was a wide attack range as well. Even if Mr. J did have a list of all the possible types of people Wrightman could link to this case, there was still no way to centralise it to a specific area. It would be like looking for a credstick in a hard-up street scum's pocket.

"Ah well, soon as they were finished here it was off to Daisaka I suppose." she thought.
She could have some contacts look into it, but she didn't like putting her "friends" in Daisaka out this much, it brought too much attention to them. Suppose it was up to Oddman... light save us.
She saw Bunny trying to look over her shoulder out of the corner of her eye.

"Here." She passed him her Matrix-cable computer, map and names still displayed. "What do you think?"

[CKW]

"Looks like a triangle, but this is for no use. Anyway. I know the perfect place for a meeting to discuss is. There is some slight problem, that you need to leave your weapons concealed. It is in a good neightbourhood, after all".
Oddman smiled. With so many chicks, he could score if he invited them to some snacks and wine...
"Oh, and well. Only women allowed.I don't mind about men, but that would spoil our cover".
Yeah, right.

[Nyerguds]

"No *****, sherlock." Bunny replied dryly, ignoring Oddman's whole stupid attempt to pick up chicks. "Three points on a map ALWAYS look like a triangle."
He looked at Wrightman, and accepted the computer with the map on it. "Thanks. Let's see..."

He looked at the map. Not much there to see, except the fact the Daisaka substation was about in the middle of Oddman's 'triangle'.
"Hmm... equal distance to the Daisaka substation... that could be something, no?"

Bunny had the feeling there was something odd about the job, though. The Johnson's slip kept echoing through his mind.
'my' he had said. Most probably 'my boss'... especially since she was Credit Controller at LGSystems. That meant she might be someone responsible for 'runner jobs, with a 'Johnson' working for her.
Was this a matter of personal revenge? A good old-fashioned Quest for Justice?

[VO]

"Daisaka", murmoured Bonnie. They'd done alot of jobs over the years, but oddly enough, none directly involved with the megacorp. Should be nice covering new ground, then.

Just then, gears snapped into place in the goblin's head, and he realised the rigger commenting aridly on Oddman's analysis. "Bunny!", he squeaked. "How's the cattleprod kept going?"

[Nyerguds]

"Hey, Bonnie! Hi Clyde." Bunny said, and turned to the two goblins. "System's still working like a charm. Had to replace the condensator array though... it wasn't meant for such intensive use."
"Well I warned ya about that... got it of a scrap pile." Bonnie replied. "Ya got quite a few buggers with it, then?"
"Oh yeah. I optimised the short-circuit check though, and put a larger battery on it."
"Oooh! You gotta show me that!" Bonnie said, visibly excited.
Bunny smiled, and glanced at Johnson. "After this deal is talked out."

[Artificial Idiot]

"Daisaka, yes, yes." Wrightman thought aloud. "But why?"

"If we knew that, we wouldn't be here, would we?" Said Deadwood, with just a hint of sarcasm

"Corps..." Came the low, bitter muttering of Krasny, who had kept very quiet until now. "Wouldn't trust them as far as I could frag them."

That was a sentiment Wrightman could agree with. But Daisaka was a law enforcement company, it would make no sense for them to go around randomly murdering people. But Bunny might have something there none the less.

"Maybe it's not Daisaka as a whole we should be focusing on." Wrightman commented. "Actually, we shouldn't be focusing at all. Not until Oddman has found out all that he can."

[KrasnyOktyabr]

"Merzavec!"

Krasny hadn't meant to say that aloud, let alone in Russian, but things do slip and he'd said more in the past 5 minutes than in the previous 5 hours. He took a quick look at the other elf, the one the others had been calling Oddman. "Pathetic opertunist," Krasny thought to himself. "Using such a foul situation in an attempt to find shallow gratification in women." How he wanted to do something about it, do defile this thug, but this was not what he was here for.

The Russian slid closer to the computer, he stared at the information, processing it as swiftly as possible. He looked over at the girl, Wrightman was it? That was her name? One of the few decent individuals in the room, one of the few humans.

Krasny spoke. "Those streets, this world, it a cruel injustice."

[Wesforce]

'Well if there are no more questions, I'll be leaving.' Mr Johnson said.

'I can be contacted by the number supplied on that chip. I needn't remind you that disclosing anything we've talked abouit to persons or entities outside this group will lead to unfortunate repercussuions.'

He stood up, closed his compuer and walked out of the room with his guard.

'Good luck.'

And he was gone.

The 'runners were disgorged back onto the streets - The back alley behind The Wastelands to be precise.

'Well, first we're going to need somewhere to plan.' Deadwood began. 'Men and women' he said somewhat jovially, to Oddman.

Then he pointed to the assorted vehicles.

'If we're going to work together I'd recommend only taking two vehicles, too. Maybe divvying up into two groups...'


(GM: I can edit in q's to Mr J if anyone wants)

[KrasnyOktyabr]

There was no way in hell that Krasny would offer the use of his truck...

"I have an old Rover pickup a block away from here."

Damnit.

[VO]

"Well, we're definately taking our van," said Clyde. "We have our gun in that, so we need it, and we can carry a couple of you, as long as you don't touch anything." Bunny, who had seen the inside of the van, screwed up his face in disgust of the idea of having to ride inside it.

[Artificial Idiot]

"My "car" is practically scrap metal. No big loss, be happy to leave it behind." Wrightman said, and she was right. Vincent had told her it was "beyond repair" a few months back, she'd been mostly walking since. "But if possible, I'd like to drop by my appartment and pick up a few things, if not it's no big loss though."

"I imagine most of us will." Said Deadwood. "But after we figure out what to do next."

[KrasnyOktyabr]

"You can ride with me if you'd like."'

Krasny finished the sentence in his head. "-afterall you are a human."
He was stupid enough to volunteer his truck, but he was not transporting any Metas.

Hell, and she isn't half bad looking either.

[Apache_Longbow]

Dee finally said something, breaking the silence he had been in for the pastfew minutes.

"I have a friend. She's a rigger. I could ask her for the use of her vehicle - it's a modified hummer - and she might even come along herself for the ride, if it's Ok with you guys."

He sat back and scanned the faces in the group, trying to see what their reaction was. Of course, this was almost impossible as they were all experienced runners and new how to keep a great poker face. He decided to wait for a reply before saying anything else, and reverted his mind back to the map, trying to decide whether there was anything unusual.

[Nyerguds]

"Well, I'm a rigger." Bunny said. "I'm sure I can put quite some people in my van. It's pretty comfortable, since I mostly do taxi jobs."
"Just don't touch the van when he's not inside it!" Clyde grinned.

Bunny kinda missed Kitty's obvious 'or your hair will look just like his' comment. He sighed.
I gotta check on him later. See if he's OK.

"Yeah, but remember, if you ever get zapped by my van, you got these two little guys to thank for it." Bunny said, smiling.
"HEY!" Clyde protested. "I got nothing to do with that! Bonnie installed the system!"
"You aimed that laser at my van." Bunny replied dryly. "And fired it."
"Myeah..." the Goblin nodded apologetically.
"While I was supposed to evac you guys."
"All right, all right! Nothing they need to know!" Clyde squeeked.

"Heh. Right then... back to the subject. I can stow seven more people in my van, so that should cover one group."

[landry38]

"Crap, I'm going to get left behind. I better say something." Laura thought to herself.

"Um, can anyone give me a ride? I'm deeply interested in this case, and, while I'm no detective, I want to do my part." Laura said before everyone left.

[KrasnyOktyabr]

"I figure I have room for one more in the cab, but I'll have to duct tape the spring down on the passanger side seat."

No frigging non-human was riding in his truck, Krasny was determinded to make sure of that. No he didn't much like company, but he'd rather deal with a little girl and a woman than any Meta.

[landry38]

"Thank you," Laura replied to Krasny.

"And, if it isn't too much trouble, I'd like to go back home real quick. I need to pick something up, if this katana has to be concealed."

[KrasnyOktyabr]

"As soon as everything is organized Child, then we shall go and retreive what is needed."

Krasny looked at the young girl with a combination of sadness and disregard. He knew that he shouldn't care about her, as she is nothing to him, but she was too young to be fragging around like this.

[Apache_Longbow]

Nobody had seemed interested in his offer, but Dee decided to make one final reminder before choosing not to call up Mandy.

"If anybody still needs a ride, I'll call up my friend. Otherwise, I'll just catch a ride with someone else." Dee waited for someone to speak, in either a plea or an offer for a ride.

[Artificial Idiot]

"As much as I apprciate the offer, is it really wise to travel in four, rather large vehicles?" Wrightman said, after taking in all the offers. She was not at all surprised though, Runner's often had vans. Vans were very useful, as transport and as storage. "I mean, it's not like we're leaving the vehicles behind forever, is it?"

Wrightman let the question float. As far as she knew, they only needed a quick ride to somewhere where they could plan. Although, with the Goblin's stubborness and Krasny's obvious distaste for metas, she felt trouble ahead.

[LeFire]

Shatter finished off the packeted soy meal that he had picked up from the bar in a few quick bites. When one hadn't eaten in 2 days, one had to attend to basic needs first.

"I'm ok to ride with anyone. Krasny, may I ride in your vehicle?"

Shatter asked... He wasn't the greatest in sensing anti-metahuman tension, but he somehow had a feeling that the russian wasn't very keen on their collection of metas. As the Spellbreaker was human and an ex-soldier as well... he guessed that Krasny wouldn't mind his presence.

[KrasnyOktyabr]

"I can hold two in the cab and quite a few in the back, since the lady hasn't made up her mind you can sit up front. But if she joins us your in back, alright?"

His truck was full now, and Krasny didn't mind too much. No Metas, he got what he wanted. Smuggly he pulled out a silver case and removed a cheap cigarette from it.

[Apache_Longbow]

Dee glanced at Wrightman. She was very smart, and by the way she had a feel for the whole situation Dee could tell she would come in very handy down the road.

"Yeah, I guess you have a point. I'll just catch a ride with one of the other three." Dee looked around. Krasny was evidently full, and he didn't know how many people Bunny or the two goblins could carry. "Does anybody have room?"

[CKW]

"I can pick up someone in my bike. If you don't mind the wind and the rain."
Oddman pointed out.
Iwish that a hot chick answered to this, oh well.

[Nyerguds]

"As I said. I got room for seven more."Bunny replied. He was getting slightny annoyed by the whole situation. "Can we cut the chatter and start organising things? It seems Johnson has assigned two leaders - Wrightman and Oddman. Unless we can organise something better, I'm with Wrightman."

"Quick decision there." Oddman said.
"I'm a driver. Quick decisions save my life." Bunny replied casually. "Now get the frag on and divide this group in two equally capable teams, OK? As far as I can see, transport is hardly our primary concern."
He looked at Wrightman. "Your call. Pick your team."

"I could take a team myself though." Deadwood said. "J. only gave them the chips. He didn't assign any leaders."

[Artificial Idiot]

"I thought that space was taken up by your Ego." Wrightman said, in reply to Oddman's bike comment. Appearing to be jovial, but the thoughts behind the statement were quite mocking.

"Don't pretend you don't love it." Oddman winked, acting the fool. As usual. She just turned her back on him. Crazy fragger wasn't worth it.

She turned to face Shatter, and looked him over. She hadn't really paid much attention to him before, but like Krasny he had all the chracteristics of a military man. She guessed MUNDI, from all the blue he was wearing. And her guesses were confirmed by the standard issue MUNDI boots he wore. Most ex-MUNDI she had met still wore them, mainly as were too strapped for cash to get anything else.

"Says the woman who still owns a Daisaka shirt" Wrightman thought. Which reminded her she was still wearing her "professional" clothes from talking to that corprate fragger in Th3 L1gh7 Z0n3". She'd have to get changed when she got back to her place.

"Hope you don't mind the back seat." She said to him, almost apologetically. Krasny seemed to be the best choice at the moment. Even though she would have liked to have spoken with Bunny a bit longer.

"I've had worse rides." Wrightman had seen some of the vehicles MUNDI use for transportation on 3DTV, and he wasn't kidding. "Name's Shatter."

"Wrightman, as you've probably heard." The two shook hands briefly, and then she heard Bunny talking to her. "Team? You mean I'm in charge here or something?"

"You're the detective." Bunny shrugged. "And this is murder case."

"Well, it seems the Gobbo's have decided to go on their own anyway."

"Damn right we have." Clyde interupted, to the obvious distaste of Krasny.

"Mr. Krasny, Shatter and the girl are already with me. Which leaves Mr. Deadwood, yourself, Oddman and the two other guys with you." But then she remembered, Oddman probably wasn't going to leave his bike behind either. Damned akward fragger. "Unless Oddman want's to go on his own, but as far as I'm concerned, that is his problem."

"Thank frag for that." Deadwood muttered. He, obviously, was also getting tired of this drawn out debate. "Well, what you all waiting around for? We ain't got all day you know."

[CKW]

"Bah, I am fine with leaving the bike. It can get very damaged if given situations, and that's a fragging expensive bike!"
Oddman sighed.
Damn you Em.

[KrasnyOktyabr]

"Well Oddman, you're not riding with me, my truck is full."

"I hope that fragging bike is stolen or parted." He only spoke the second sentence in his mind, the responses otherwise would have been unkind.

[Artificial Idiot]

With everything sorted, and the eperianced runners becoming more and more impatient, they moved towards the vehicles they had been allocated. Wrightman gave Bunny a nod of farewell, before climbing into Krasny's Rover pickup. Wrightman was no expert on cars, however this thing looked old. Very old. And by the look of it, built somewhere in the Neo-SU, or a place very near it. But it was comfy enough, Laura settled inbetween Krasny and herself. Her blade sat in the back with Shatter, who seemed to be finishing off any last crumbs left from his soy meal.

"Where are we going again?" Krasny asked.

"Deadwood said to follow Bunny's van. The Goblin's have gone their own way to make it less obvious." Krasny nodded, putting the keys in the ignition. It had a key ignition! It MUST be outdated!

It wasn't long before she saw the "Bunny Van", as she had already called it, pull out. The rest of the runers (minus the Goblin's) inside. Krasny started the van, jerking Shatter around in the back as it took off.
It didn't take long for Wrightman to discover the lack of decent suspension in the rig. She'd been so used to the sleek, stream-lined suspension systems of her own car, even though those were out dated, that it came as quite a shock to be able to feel every bump in the rode. She felt sorry for poor Shatter, having only recently eaten. But he'd live.

[VO]

This takes place before AI's bit

Clyde climbed into the van, kicking the dashboard and running his thump over the ignition scanner. Due to the idiocy of the other runners - especially that fragging russian - the goblins were alone in their vehicle. Most of the rest had loaded into Bunny's van, although the overly cheezy Oddman was wandering around, obviously trying to find a vehicle driven by a woman with no other occupants. Clyde considered offering him a lift, but thought better of it.

Bonnie had dissapeared into the back of the van, and began to root around in the numerous pocketed hangings - he quickly found what he was looking for, and picked it up, leaning over the back of the seat to Clyde.

"Glad we kept this, eh?" He turned over the small metallic box in his hand. "I managed to fix it up a while ago, and the program inside is only slightly corroded - we can probably get a chance to use it"

"Good work", said Clyde, and continued talking. "Just what is it exactly?"

Bonnie grinned into the mirror, and held it up infront of his brother. "miniature EMP mine - sends cyberwear and mechanicals haywire, and should do some physical damage as well - our 'hater friend won't know what hit him. All we have to do is get it on him somehow, and trigger it with a short-range broadcast whenever we want to take him out."

Clyde smiled back. "Good work" They were going to put an end to that fragger's meta-hating ways - with any luck, they'd be able to scavenge that esoteric old vehicle he had too.

Oddman began banging on the window - "Hey, uh, any cute chicks in there? The others look like they've forgotten me!"

[Wesforce]

(GM: Now, everyone will get a chance to go home and tool up with items from their currently-exisiting inventory. Please say exactly what you're picking up, etc. CKWs bike and the other's vehicles can be taken home. If anyone wants to take a look at any of the bulidings on the map, please say so.)

Newsflex - The Direct signal of Media inserted up the oesophagus of public consent!!!!

Hanna Elstrup, studio, grinning inanely.

'From the top of the hour...'

Cut to shot of angry Dwarf rugby-tackling a man in the street, then pummeling his face to mush while onlookers stand aghast...

'Failed actor takes up new employment!'

Cut to shots of angry man ranting at an audience

'Senator Herb Hackenstrasse starts drumming up support for his anti-metahuman 'purity' bill in the CAS...'

Cut to shots of a fearful looking man in white trainers, blue nylon trousers and a blue helmet, stripped to the waist, running around in a futuristic-looking studio gunning down dozens of ghouls with electric baseball bats, before getting reduced to a bloody smear on the floor.

'Controversial game show draws criticisms...'

Cut to old lady 3DTV campaigner...

'I mean its hardly Inspector Rivendale is it? Eeeeeeeeeh, in my day it were all nice shows on tele...'

Back to studio - And then to a shot of familiar scene of the outside of the bulding where the last murder victim was found.

'Daisaka Security reports the horrendous double-murder case of Lydia Himmelstässe and Monique Dubarry has been satisfactorily closed. Verdict: Rogue paranormal animal attack.
No Daisaka personnel were available for comment.'

'I've been the News. And I will be. Goodnight!'

winks

[Apache_Longbow]

Dee looked around. Bunny's van wasn't as bad as he had thought it would be, but the company wasn't all that great. Bunny was busy piloting the vehicle through the streets, while the mysterious man who they called Deadwood seemed to be immersed in his own thoughts. Dee figured he would get some thinking of his own in.

He reflected back on the map that Mr. Johnson had showed them. He remembered that someone had metioned the Daisaka substation being at the center, but he also remembered that Kruetz Software had been very close to all three of them too. He wondered if anybody on the team had the capability of hackign into Kruetz'z system and see who worked there. He also recalled that the Pizza Slut, while not in the middle of the triangle, was very near two of the three murder sites. Maybe their attacker was an employee there, too, or maybe just a regular customer. Of course, the criminal Wasn't neccesarily involved with Dasaika, Kruetz, or the Pizza Slut, but it was at least somewhere to start.

"Anybody need to drop by to their houses?" asked Bunny, turning around to face his passengers in the back.

"Yeah, I'll need to grab a weapon or two. It sounds like we'll need them sooner or later." Dee frowned as he gave Bunny directiosn to his apartment.

"Alright. What about you?" he glanced in Deadwood's direction. Dee' mind went back to the map as Bunny waited for a response.

[Wesforce]

(GM: Apache, Kreutz is a Cyberware shop, not really a big company. LGSystems, on the other hand...)

Deadwood got Bunny to stop by his place out near the Ironyards - It wasn;t such a good idea, being so near ghoul country this time of night, but they wouldn't be there long.

'Stay here.' He told his van-mates. 'If anyone knocks on the door and says 'brains', you shoot 'em up. I'll be back in a minute.'

Slamming the door and bounding into his abandoned warehouse, he quickly made his way to the locker he kept his choicest hardware in. The drum-fed heavy HK SMG and the semi-auto-shotgun went into the slots in his longcoat - He'd give one to someone who looked like they'd need some more hardware if need be.

He ran back outside and pounded on the sie of the van. Someone inside jumped enough to rock the old heap on it's hydro-suspension.

'Got guns. Lets go.'

'Righteo!' Bunny enthused, and they drove off. It was night-time now. Pitch dark out here - No time to be in the Ironyards.

Deadwood mused - He'd try and persuade the gobbos to leave their van somewhere and transfer their laser to the Humvee Dee said he could whistle up. Better to get two rigger-driven vehicles than one.

'Hmm, what say we use the Pizza Slut as a meeting point?' He said. He relayed this idea to the other two vans by wristphone.

[Artificial Idiot]

(Going to be out of it for 2-3 days. Don't have too much fun without me ;))

Wrightman, having the place closest to the Wastelands out of them all, was the first to stop off of Krasny's team. She could have just walked it, but would have had trouble getting to the meeting place they had arranged afterwards. Pizza slut she had heard. She physically shivered at the mention of it... it had been very hard to block the memories of her first "job". But don't think she wasn't trying!
After a quick trip the the shared toilet facilities, she ran up to her apartment, only to find the door had been tampered with.
Wrightman pushed the door open. Unlocked again. Son of a slitche's backside! It always happened. Just a consequence of living in a bad area, or an occupational hazard in some cases.
She looked around her office, not much taken, as per usual. It would require her to have something to take in the first place. She strode past her desk, into her makeshift bedroom, the clothe covers having been pulled down. Stolen. She sighed and stripped off, couldn't be getting bullet holes or whatever the frag was going to happen to her during this mission ruin her best clothing, could she? She opened the small fridge by the side of her bed and examined the contents.

"Oh joy! Soy milk!" She murmured as she took out the small container and drank from it. It was sour, two weeks past it's sell by date, but she swallowed it none the less. You just couldn't be picky about these things. Even if they did play all kind's of havoc with your taste-buds.

With that out of the way, she kicked up a slightly loose floorboard under her bed. Not loose enough to be noticed, but loose enough for her to move. With effort.
She retrieved her Daisaka shirt, pale blue trousers, boots and a worn, black case. Throwing all this over her light armoured vest, and then draping her Trenchcoat over the clothing, she was ready to gather the rest of her equipment. Assuming it was still here. She rummaged around under the floorboard pulling out her E-pad and a spare matrix cable.
She already had her computer, voice recorder and weaponry on her so that wasn't a problem. She packed all this, and her "professional clothing" into the case, before turning her vid-phone back on. She'd turned it off since her call to Rovel and already had a pile of messages left over from the day before. She began to play them as she made her way over to the desk.

"Merde alors fraggette! Your father is le drekface an' le mother played le french trombone! I stick my arse out at her, and spit on you! Au revoiur, daughter of snail's rectum!"

Ugh, that fragger again. Always calling from public pay-phones and always with that bloody voice synthesized! "Her" accent sounded a lot like a friend of hers, but that was impossible. The insults were just too witty.

There were a few other calls that flashed by. Poor Thurg Stone-Hammer had forgotten where he had left his trousers, and was wondering if she had them. Never been the same since that drek of a Troll with metal lined fists had give him a beating. Although, they were good friends now, fragging trogg logic. There was a message from Vincent, her mechanic, telling her that he could get a reasonable profit off her car... in scrap metal at least. Good, at least the fragging thing would be worth something in the end. Then Thurg phoned again, informing her that he had been wearing his trousers all along. Poor fragger. And lastly, one from Rovel telling her he would be "out of town" for a few days.
With that sorted, scooped up the case and walked over to her desk. She give the bottom of it a good, hard thump, knocking out a piece of wood. Three marked credsticks and her Daisaka security clearance fell out. The first three fake, the last one invalid. She pocketed the security ID, slipping the credstick's into the top pocket of her shirt.

As she left, she didn't even bother locking the door. Might as well let them know there was nothing worth taking before they wasted their time. Unless they wanted to move the desk, but hey... some fragging lock wouldn't have stopped them anyway, would it?

"Great." She thought, lugging her case down the stairway and knocking over some goblin kid (or at least, she assumed it was a kid) who was sucking on a soy-pop. "I can look over the data while the other's are fragging around in their homes. Might be something I overlooked at the Wasteland that I can pick up on."

[LeFire]

"I don't need to drop by my place... All I need is on my back." Shatter said to the others. His UrbanKar was still parked at Mr Johnson's place, but somehow he suspected that it was even more at risk parked in his own street than at Johnson's. Similiarly, his full battle armour was hidden away and under lock and key... he decided that he did not need it for this run. Meanwhile, the forearm gun and Neutraliser were with him.

[landry38]

After several minutes, Wrightman came out, and the next stop was Laura's home. Laura was quite brief in picking her belongings to take, picking up her credstick, and her dagger. She was walking back out the door when sensei spoke up in the dark.

"Where have you been?" He asked.

"I'm going to be running."

"Running? Why?"

"I need the money. And, I think I might have a lead on who killed my parents long ago. If everything pieces together, heads are going to roll."

"Think this through! The killer's probably long go--" Before sensei could finish his sentence, Laura snapped back.

"Always, overprotective. Don't get in my way." With that, Laura bolted out of the dojo and back into the Russian's Rover.

[KrasnyOktyabr]

Laura jumped into the Rover and looked at Krasny.

"So are we off to your place now?" She chirped.

"No."

Krasny had all his equipment in the truck, either behind the seat or in his trench coat. He yawned and took a drag of his cigarette. It was good, artificial stress releif.
Krasny looked over at his passengers, then to Shatter in the back. It was nice to have a fellow soldier, it made the Russian a little more calm. Shatter must know how it is, he must know of what goes through the mind. He shifted the Rover out of Neutral and sped off to Pizza Slut. Who the hell picks these rondevous points?

[Nyerguds]

"Pizza Slut sounds OK to me." Bunny replied. He knew the Pizza Slut restaurants were often used for 'runner meetings like this. He didn't really care.
"But then I'm driving past my appartment first. Just so I get to eat something decent tonight."

A few minutes later, the van was parked before the appartment. The car park had scanned the van, and decided there were too much unknown lifeforms in it to let him in. Bunny cursed the security system, and stepped out of the van.
"No funny business." he warned the people in the van. "The computer fries anything plugging in that doesn't have my mental pattern."
Bunny could never actually afford such a security system... but they didn't know that.

With that, he closed the van's door and went inside.

***

Outside his appartment door, two bearded people were waiting for him.
Bunny frowned. "Kitty?! What are you doing here?"
"I... got a bit of a problem." the dwarf said, somewhat apologetically.
"Trev mentioned something like that, yes... 'personal problems'."
"It's not what you think. It's family trouble. No, not that kind o' family. My own family."
Bunny frowned. Kitty had never said anything about his family, to anyone.
"There's been a bit of a fight at me parent's place, and they kicked her out."
He pointed his thumb at the other dwarf, standing behind him.
"Bunny... I want you to meet my lil' sister, Mariam."

Bunny's eyes widened. A female dwarf?!
He took a better look at the second dwarf. He'd seen enough dwarfs to know she must be about seventeen years old. The girl's beard was long enough to cover her chest though, concealing anything that might identify her as a woman.
"What the frag are you bringing her here for?" he asked, trying to stay calm.
"Look, I'm gonna talk it out with me parents... but I just need her out of the picture for a few days, just so they don't freak out all the time... can you do that as a favour to yer ol' friend?"
"Drek! Kit, I'm leaving for a JOB, RIGHT NOW!" Bunny yelled. "My van outside is filled with people expecting to get somewhere! I won't just leave someone alone in my apparement, even if she's your sister!"

"Ah won' be causin' any trouble..." Mariam said, softly. Her voice sounded like that of a young man.

Bunny looked at her, and sighed. "It's not just that, dammit. I know the security systems of my appartment. You'd probably lock yerself out on the first occasion."

"You could always... er, take her with you, on the 'run..." Kitty said.
"Are you mad? She's a teenager, dammit! This isn't just a taxi job... it's gonna be dangerous!"
Kitty grinned. "Then she might come in handy..."
Bonny gave him an odd look. "She doesn't look that marketable."
"Ach, don't ye dare even joking about that! She's my sister, drekhead!"
Bunny smiled. "Dude, she got a beard anyway."
"Ah've seen quite some hot ladies with beards!" Kitty growled.
"Kit, we're talking about your sister here." Bunny replied, visibly amused, and unlocked his appartment door.
"Shut up." Kitty grumbled.

***

"So..." Bunny said, while taking the soy-spaghetti out of the microwave. "I guess whatever got her kicked out of the house is the same thing that could help me with my job, right?"
"You always catch on quickly." Kitty replied.
"So, what did she do? Blow the place up?"
"Nay. From what I've heard she'd been trainin' her private army in mom's basement."
"It wasn't mine!" Mariam threw back. "Frish was the leader."
"Oh, right. The fragger who got his brains blown out by Mom." Kitty replied dryly.

Bunny sighed again. "Let me get this straight. Daughter ends up in a gang, gang leader gets her to use her basement for gang training, and mother notices and blows the fragger's brains out?"

"Yep." Kitty replied.
"Pretty much, yeah." Mariam said.

"Drek, that's so fragged up." Kitty finished the meal, and got up. "So... what skills do you have then?"
"Frish... wasn't just some young punk gang leader. He'd served in the army. We got actual army training."
"They didn't get to the guns though." Kitty said. "That's when Mom heard them."
"She killed an ex-soldier that was in mid-gun training?!?" Bunny replied in disbelief.
"Ye dunno our mom... she can take on a wyrm if she wants." Mariam sighted. "But I'm pretty good with guns anyway."

Bunny glanced out the window. "Dammit, I don't have time for this." Mariam, get down there and wait for me, and consider yerself hired. Kitty, get out, I'm locking this place."
"Thanks, Bunny." Kitty said.

***

Bunny sighed, opened the front door of the van, and got in.
"Took your time." Deadwood said.
"I got an unexpected guest." Bunny said. He connected the rigger jacks, and opened the side door of the van.
"I want you all to meet my personal bodyguard, Mariam." he said out loud. "Please don't shoot her, or her bro will have my ass. And yours."
"Eh... hi..." Mariam said. She looked pretty nervous.
"Get your ass in there." Bunny said.
Mariam quickly sat down in the van.
From the moment the van's sensors told Bunny she was sitting down he closed the door and drove off.

"Anyone else needs to stop to get something?" he asked.

[Wesforce]

The assorted vehicles pulled up at the Pizza Slut. Set into the roof of a moderately-sized apartment block and accessible by a skyroad that wasn't in complete disrepair, it let them use that aptment;s parking space - Watched over by a rotund Ork guard in the (pizza-stained) uniform of Jolly Roger security: The world's least reputable private security firm. Rumour has it they were on the edge of securing the policing rights for parts of cash-strapped Britsprawl.

The vans rolled down into the covered rooftop car park, and the Ork Guard ambled over from his broken-glassed "office".

'Whatchew wan'?' He mumbled, dropping bits of Locust and Goat's cheese pizza over his filthy armour.

Deadwood leaned out of a window and flipped a credstick. It dropped with a tinkle on the ground.

'Shut up get us the "Private meeting room", you fat fragger.'

'Okay yuh son uv a slitch.' Winked the Ork guard. 'Damn... Give me a while to bend over and pick dis fraggin' thing up friom da floor...'

Minutes later, they were in the Pizza Slut's private room. The light was diffuse, and rotated from green through blue and red in a calming motion. Deadwood explained that he'd known teams to use this room in the old days as a base of operations - It had a large screen, somewhat secure Telecom points, an alarm to tell them if any intruders were coming in. Apparently there was a Wrd around the room to stop astral snoopers, but Deadwood wasn't convinced of that.

If the 'runners were really desperate, they could order food and drinks.

He noticed Oddman had already settled down into an overstuffed, stained armchair, an intercom set in his hands.

'Three large Soy and 'yellow cheese-flaviur food substitute Pizzas please... Also one Elven hottie and... What do you mean 'all out at the moment?' Okay a human then. Bah, fine, an Ork, watever. Just make her a hottie!'

He turned to the others - All the 'runners in one place again, joined by Shotgun Suzy and Dee's friend - Mandy. Dee had to work overtime to keep Oddman away from her. She was dressed pretty tartly.

'How about the rest of you?'

Getting blank stares now.

'What?'

Deadwood had linked Wrightmann's computer up to the screen, and displayed the map.

'I recommend splitting up into teams - One detective and one magic user on each team, and one close in fighter and one heavy weapons section. How about Oddman, Shatter, Laura and Bonne & Clyde on one team, with Wrightmann, Oktaybr, Kelvin, and Myself on the other team?

'Who's vans?' Asked Oktaybr, thinking of his prized Rover again.

'BunnyWagon for team 1, Mandy's hummer for team 2.' The hummvee might be an old vehicle, but at least it was rigged. Rigged vehicles could mean the difference between life and death if it came to that - Especially if they got in trouble with Daisaka.

One of the goblins mumbled something under his breath.

'What?'

The little fragger startled, obviously not meaning to have been heard. His companion said 'What about or laser?'

'I'm sure there's room for it in the Hummvee. Isn't there?' Deadwood replied, raising an eyebrow. He noticed Krazny getting extremely pissed off with the two.

Looks like I'm going to have to play the peacemaker... If these two go at it, it'll be stuck in the middle. Meh.

Oddman's pizza and slut came in - An Ork maybe, but he didn't let that hold him back right now. The armchair began to creak.

Deadwood coughed.

'Yes, what? Can't you see I'm busy?'

'Me wuvs yoo long time, big boy.' Simpered the Pizza Slut girl.

'Any luck with Daisaka?'

'I'll get on it, soon' Said Oddman for the briefest moment.

And then Deadwood noticed the rather shorter Dwarf that had gotten in The BunnyWagon.

'So, just who are you again, little fella?' He asked - Johnson's closing comments foremost in his mind.

[Nyerguds]

(it's the Bunny-VAN dammit :p)

The dwarf girl looked up. She wasn't really surprised to be mistaken for a guy; that happened all the time. But she was feeling terribly uncomfortable in the group of 'runners, realising that her 'army training' was nothing compared to the real-life battle these people went through every day. Nearly panicking, her gang-habits took over.
"Sh-shadewing reportin', sir!" she yelled.

Bunny sighted, and looked at the ground. The girl was trembling. Kitty, I'm gonna get you for this.
He looked up. "Deadwood. She's with me."

Deadwood looked op, a frown on his face. "...she?"

"She is the sister of one of my associates, left under my protection for a while. She has nothing directly to do with the job; she stays with my van at all times I am, as a guard. I'm sorry about this complication, but I had no choice."

"She might be a liability, Bunny..."
"You're just scaring the crap outta her. She's not used to real 'runners, just a bunch of pseudo-military gang fraggers." He looked at the dwarf girl. "Mariam, cut the drek and sit down."
Mariam nodded nervously, and sat down on a nearby chair.
"She'll adjust fast enough." Bunny said. "I know I did."

"I'm not finished." Deadwood said. He turned back to Mariam. "What's your main area of expertise, 'shadewing'?"
"Hand-to-hand combat and basic firearms, sir." Mariam replied quickly.
Deadwood smiled. "You don't have to use that 'sir' crap with me. This isn't the fragging army. You magically capable?"
"...Eh? no, s-, eh... no."

"Ah well. No particular special skills then." He looked at Bunny. "Whatever man. You take care of her. Not like she'll get paid; she isn't hired."

Bunny smiled. "Don't worry. She won't be a problem. Oh, and please just call her Mariam."
He looked at the dwarf girl that was quietly talking a seat next to him.
"Seriously girl... 'Shadewing'? There's a ton of fraggers out there calling themselves lame stuff like that. Just be Mariam."
Mariam sighed. "Okay."

[Wesforce]

(Based on an IM with CKW)

With an averagely-cute Ork girl on his lap (in scanty Pizza-Slut "uniform") and pizza on the table next to him, Oddman was ready for business. He made a vid-connection to Daisaka - Through the Pizza Slut's head office, another feature of this meeting room.

'Daisaka security services incorporated, how may I-'

'Bonjour, old fragger. It is I!' He yelled.

'Uh... Oh, that guy who got fired for shagging the HRT team leader. Uh, hi... Is that a large green woman on your lap?'

'Bon! Been a bit of trouble recently, nein?'

'Gah, tell me about it.' Said the operator. 'Been a lot of stuff happening here. Thank frag its all over now... Though I'm not supposed to talk about it. About that wo-'

'Merde und Scheisse! Cn you tell me who can talk about it?'

'Keep your voice down. Look, I'll put you through to Dawlish... But go easy on the fat fragger. He's not even supposed to be here.'

*click*

'Dawlish speakin. Wha frag wan'...'

Oddman could almost smell the whiskey fumes over the vidphone. Whatever had happened to the fat Investigationsfuhrer, he was taking it tough.'

'Bonjour! Been having a spot of trouble, I hear?'

'Tell me about it. Fraggin' Internal Inveshtigashun sons of shlitches... Shushpended me and my boysh...Cashe closhed my Arshe!!!!'

Internal Investigations, eh? Oddman wondered.

'Danke schön, I will go now.' He reached for the connection.

'Wait! I haven't finished yet! And whatsh with the big green elephant?'

*click*

Oddman turned to the others, the Ork woman almost toppling off his lap.

'Success! I have gleaned information!'

'Which is? Deadwood regarded him coldly, with folded arms.

'Um, we know Internal Affairs branch was involved, and probably took over the case...'

And there he trailed off, realising he didn't know anything more, or hadn't asked any more, even who from Internal Affairs was on the case, or about any of Wrightmann's earlier questions.

Deadwood sighed.

'Tell you what, you keep working the leads. I feel like going to one of the crime scenes, see if there's anything Daisaka missed.'

[VO]

Bonnie raised a hand - he had been thinking about the actual logistics of the crime more than his brother, being the more thoughtful one. He wanted to be heard before they ran off down blind alleys.

"Wouldn't it be a good idea to do some kind of background check on the victims before we get going? With just the fact that Daisaka investigated the killings, and that they're all human - that's hardly a lead when there are four fragging million of them in this place - (Oktayber scowled) - and finding out something about these women - frag, they may even have known each other, and our detectives haven't even suggested checking them out?"

"Hey!" said Oddman reproachfully - "I check out women all the time!" He turned to rant at the goblins, but spilt Pizza on his slut.

"I can grab my deck and try a sweep for you lot, if you're willing to wait - or we could try something abit more indepths - infoCORPus might be able to help, I hear they have records of everyone on the planet who's used one of their partner corp's services, but that would mean paying - or doing it below board."

Oddman was about to make another useless suggestion, when Shatter cut in succintly - "why not just use Wrightmann's deck?" He turned to her. "You have it, don't you?"

[Apache_Longbow]

Wes, I know Kruetz is a small company, I was just suggesting that maybe an employee that works there could be a victim or the culprit.

"There should be room in the hummer for the twins' laser. How many people will I have with me? Six?" replied Mandy as she slapped Oddman's hand away, preventing him from getting a handful of rear end.

"Six seems about right. It will be you, Dee, Krazny, Wrightman, Kelvin Zero, and myself. Is that ok?" replied Deadwood.

"Yeah, we'll have room." said Mandy, growing more and more uncomfortable with each minute that Oddman continually gazed at her. Pervert. Cant settle with the slut, just keeps wanting more.

"Alright, that's settled. Now about those background checks..."

[VO]

Wheumph

Bonnie stood outside the dark walls of MatrixSearch - The premier search facility for over 78.45% of the Matrix, it said in flashing neon letters. This huge building was lined with consoles not unlike the ones used to be found outside banks to distribute old paper money, and at most of them, other avatars were busy making inquiries.

Bonnie kicked off the ground, and soared upwards into the starlit sky, gracefully touching the wall and coming to a hover beside a portal. An archaic qwerty keyboard was below it, but Bonnie's avatars fingers instinctively knew were to find the keys as he thought what to type. Willing it to appear, a softscreen rolled out of midair, listing the names of all three murder victims.

M o n i q u e D u b a r r y dissapeared into the portal, and for a few seconds, streams of data fell like rain across the portal, coalescing into a a sign saying THE COUPLE-ATOR : MATRIX DATING FOR METAHUMANS

Worth a try, thought Bonnie, and stepped through.

Wheeumph The familiar sound of the datajack's neural compensators rapidly switching the simulation filled his virtual ears. He was now sitting in what appeared to be a very antiquated but lush bedroom, the kind you'd find at theme hotels, complete with faux-victorian wood panelling and a four poster bed. A young woman, barely out of her teens, was sitting on the bed, wearing a rather revealing nightgown. Bonnie recognised this as the woman who's grizly remains he'd seen in one of the photos back at The Wastelands

"Hi," she said, and before Bonnie could reply, launched into a pre-recorded simulation.

"Thank you for applying to my couple-ator advert, but I'm afraid I'm unavailable right now - I'm taken", she paused for breath, and giggled, then continued. "However, if you'd like to leave your name on the list, complete with an upload of your virtual avatar, a description of your interests, and some pictures of you in the real world..." - at this point a mechanical, fast voice put in "pictures must reflect actual applicant and be approved by the European Matrix-Dating standards comitee" "... I'll might get back to you if I break up with" there was a slight break in the voice, as if another pre-simulated track came on "Norbert" - back to the original, "Thank you! (giggle)" She bared frightningly white teeth at Bonnie, who scrabbled over to the open applicant's book, and wrote down Krazny Oktayber as a name, uploading a backup alias for the avatar, and flicked through the book. Luckily, there was only one Norbert, and Bonnie told the datajack to record his name, profile, and pictures. Then he quickly left, the dead woman's avatar still grinning inanely.

***
S a r a h L G S y s t e m s yielded nothing, unsuprisingly considering the information that she had changed her name recently before the murder.

***

L y d i a H i m m e l s t ä s s e

A whole host of signs appeared this time - Western Europe Shaman-Fanclub - Covering all Totems!'s message forum, General Metro Online and Geneva Entomology Society at the top of the list. Knowing General Metro's scant public service would yield him nothing without any decent decking tools, and unwilling to enter a forum undoubtably full of annoying fangirls swooning over whoever had won The Golden Totem this year, Bonnie resolved to check out the third option. What was Entomology again? The study of insects?

Wheumph

Bonnie was standing outside a building built unconvincingly in the shape of a giant beetle. Inside it's glass walls, he could see fluttering butterflies - the whole building was a virtual greenhouse -. There was only one entrance, guarded by a resolute ICE.

He greeted the ICE. "I'm looking for Lydia Himmelstässe".

The ICE took a moment to respond, and it's blurry form coalesced into the form of a young woman.

"I am sorry, but Geneva Entomology Society reserve their member's right to privacy - if I could just take your name, Lydia will be informed of your inquiry next time she logs in."

"Forget it," said Bonnie, he wasn't going to learn much here - pity they didn't have a dedecated decker, or he might be able to find out more. Before he could leave, however, the ICE said something else.

"You have a better accent now, though"

Bonnie turned around - it was rare for ICE to offer sentinent conversation, but apparently more and more were 'evolving', so to speak, via the huge number of subtle viruses on the matrix, and tiny changes in their programming. Evolved ICE did, however, tend to lack in other departments, as this one appeared to be in recognising individual avatars

"What accent"

"Yours, of course! Svetlana Dawson had to update my programming to deal with it. She didn't approve of you, by the way, keeping asking about Lydia on the matrix, when she says you're seeing her in life. She doesn't like frenchies, either."

Bonnie thought for a moment, and via another thought, activated the scrambler on his avatar. This would hopefully stop the ICE recording anything about his description or matrix-provider after this meeting.

"Who's Svetlana?", he said.

The ICE repeated itself.
"I am sorry, but Geneva Entomology Society reserve their member's right to privacy - if I could just take your name, Svetlana will be informed of your inquiry next time she logs in."

"No thanks," said Bonnie, keen not to press the ICE too much, and activate any sort of backup security. He'd already learnt something useful - Svetlana Dawson, and another quick search revealed that she was too an employee of General Metro. They had a lead, or at least something else to investigate - just who was this frenchman?

[landry38]

Laura quietly accepted the group she was placed into. While neither one was perfect, she wasn't going to raise Hell now. She would have rather worked with Wrightman, but she couldn't stand the cig chomping Krasny. Bunny's van seemed alright, but with Oddman on board, she'd have to straighten him out, somehow. However, for goblins, Bonnie and Clyde seemed to know what they were doing.

[CKW]

(I can change it, if you like Wesforce)
Internal affairs took the case up and settled a cover. But there's something missing. Something that lacks on Daisaka modus operandi.
Oddman jumped out the chair on jolt.
The Black OPS!! The Black OPS were missing there, to clean the mess definitely. Internal affairs was just the peak of the iceberg.
"What the ...!" The slut yelled. She rocked to a side and fell.
"I am sorry, miss. Er.. umm..." Oddman wasn't sure of what to say.
"I am done. Thank you. Go get me the bill, Ok?". Although not noticeable to others, Oddman's pervert expression had switched off to a stone face.
"Hold on, DeadWood. I think something is missing."
The black ops. Tell it. The black ops.
"I have some things to reconsider..."
Tell it and get the chicks good side. No deal, fragger.
Oddman grabbed his e-pad, and started to write some stuff. Trying to predict what was the next move of Daisaka.
They will get a head as paranormal monster. But Daisaka doesn't...
"Oh, frag. Jewel."
If Daisaka was going to make a cover, they would need her.
"Er... I need to do something. Will be back soon."

[Phyre]

Raiken woke up in a dark back alley near his apartment. He supposed the gangers had left him here after they took the car. Maybe he'd have to go and buy another one. He checked his pockets... frag! They'd taken is ID chips Penniless and without a hope in hell of getting his car back, let alone buying another one. He looked down to his feet and saw that they had left one chip, maybe it had some money on it... Today was looking good!

[Wesforce]

(GM: Phyre, Money is contained on CredSticks, not chips. Chips are for data only, whereas CredSticks are Combi-ID's. Would you keep money on a 3.5" Floppy?)

Raiken took his solitary chip and plodded back up the steps to his apartment, leaning on the damp-blotchy wall for support, the mouldering carpet sticking slightly to his feet. His teeth hurt like frag, and spots still ran in front of his eyes.

The telecom still beeped - He checked the message that had arrived just before his comeuppance - And noted, with regret, a new message that had appeared from the same source.

---->You blew it. Frag off.<---
J

Grumbling, he turned the chip over in his hand, and slotted it into the port on the telecom. He saw right away it wasn't money,, and almost took the hated thing out and ground it to dust underfoot. But some grim curiousity made him examine the data on-screen more closely.

Falkun's plAn

I, Flc0n, reel nam Nrobret Falkenr, hav a plan t00 ditsh these n0-go0d gang fragntuz woo call themseelvs 'Teh Crims0n Wheel's. Firsht I need ta get Monique back...

Monique... Raiken had heard of a Monique. Monique DuBarry. He didn't know her, he just knew her name from somewhere. He knew where she lived, too...

***

'Where the frag do you think you're goin?' Demanded Deadwood of Oddman.

The Dark Elf's lower lip quivered slightly - The Ork girl behind him was shouting something incoherent and high-pitched, giving them both migraines.

'We have a job to do, Oddman. What the frag are you up to?'

There was no way Deadwood was letting this shifty bugger out of his sight right now - The way he was acting was so suspicious. First he'd been less than demanding in his information from the Daisaka guys, and secondly now he was trying to sneak out somewhere. The attitude didn't go down well with Deadwood.

The others looked on warily.

'Hey,' Deadwood said, indicating Wrightmann and Bunny, 'Why don't you go and check out one of the crime scenes? Take the rest of your team.'

'Won't Daisaka be watching over them?'

'Yeah, but I'm sure you can deal with them, right? And they won't be so visible in the crimescene in Volkestadt slums...'

[CKW]

Looks like you have to tell it, old fragger.
Oddman scratched his neck.
"Well, Um. I had to leave because I know someone who can be blamed for this. Given her situation, she can cooperate with us, just to clean her name."

"And that will help us in?" Deadwood gave an ironic look at Oddman.

"Trust me. She has an innate talent to Sniff clues. She has helped me in the past. Besides, she's not with Daisaka."
Oddman finally sighed
You forgot the Black Ops
He messed his hair.
"Besides, we have less time for investigation. If i am not mistaken, in the next hours the crime scenes will be destroyed in "accidental" fires."
Wrightman stared at him.
"What do you mean?"
She demanded.
"The Black Operations of the private army of Daisaka. They are always after Internal Affairs to clean the crap... By the way, I'll call back that fragger again. Wish me luck."

[Artificial Idiot]

Wrightman was fuming. First that slag Oddman had gone onto a perfectly good lead, and wasted it! Holy frag, he was even DRUNK! He'd be sober by the time Oddman even attempted to call again, and that would definatly be no good. Secondly, she had some fragging goblin running around trying to do her job, I mean, what was she being paid for? To sit around and look pretty? Oh course she would have checked up on the victims eventually, she just wanted to get things clear with Deadwood too. And now, Oddman was rambling on about the "BlackOps". It was all getting too much.

"Well, if the crime scenes are going to be burned." She began, she'd been almost silent so far in the "meeting". She was just too damned angry. "We better get there fast, eh?"

She noticed Laura looking longfully at her. She obviously had some agenda, and Wrightman's guess was that meant checking out the crime scenes herself.

SUPER ELITE VOES EDIT!!!!111
Bonnie had finished disconnecting the datajack, simultaneously informing the others of what he'd found out. Oddman stank of alcohol, and was trying to sneak away, but Bonnie had met alot of people like that before on runs - although they usually ended up dead by the end of it.

The detective woman was looking at him vaguely reproachfully. It was probably because she was jealous of him doing what she thought was her job.

"Look lady, you can't even 'jack into the matrix, and don't even seem to have suggested anything useful yet anyway. If you have a problem, why not do something, nobody's stopping you, ok?"

Edit ends after the next "and"

"You should get up to speed before you start yelling at me for not doing anything, mate." said Wrightman and grabbed her trench coat, which she'd draped over a chair. "I was already planning on going to the crime scene while you were off in matrix land." She paused, remembered Deadwood had just, practically, switched her team. "And it looks like your coming with me!"

Krasny gave her a look of approval as she followed Laura out of the building. While Bunny had stopped for a moment to talk to the dwarf girl. "You can come along, but no funny business and be on your best behaviour". She thought she heard him mutter "Kitty is going to kill me" several times as well, although not in the dwarf's range of hearing. The team left the Pizza Slut, something which Wrightman was very happy for. She had felt very sorry for that Ork girl. Especially considering Oddman had ordered her. Enough to make her shudder.

"I did sent you the directions, didn't I?" Wrightman asked Bunny as they got into the 'Bunny Van' - Shatter, Laura and Bonnie & Clyde, with Bunny driving (of course) and Wrightmann (replacing Oddman) in the co-driver's seat.

"No need, auto route will sort it out."

"Is it true that they are going to burn down the places?" Laura asked. Wrightman shook her head, turning around to face her.

"Doubt it, Oddman might think he knows it all from his HRT days. But this case has had extraordinary media-coverage. If all three places go up in smoke, it'll land Daisaka into some pretty deep drek." She paused for a moment, as Bunny rigged in and the engine sprang to life. "The media aren't stupid you know, they are like sharks waiting around a kill. And Daisaka won't be able to get all it's blood out the water before they home in on it."

[CKW]

Woah, Keep it slow, guy. You just crashed the Enterprise with the fragging Picard on board.
Oddman snapped all out in a sudden, and he shook his face, still serious. He grabbed the phone, and began to push keys like crazy. Dawlish phone.
Don't frag it this time, DON'T DO IT!

[Apache_Longbow]

Dee walked slowly towards his group's vehicle, Mandy's hummer. The first group had already left, and now Krasny, Deadwood, Zero, Mandy, and himself were getting ready to leave.

"So what's the deal here?" asked Mandy. She was obviously confused, as she had been listening to the team's conversations but hadn't been fully briefed on the mission quite yet.

"Basically, three women have been murdered, quite brutally. Half eaten, torn apart, more gruesome than your average murder. And believe me, you don't want to see the pictures of the crime scenes."

"So what are we doing about it?" She still didn't get it.

"Well, we are trying to find out who the murderer is, I guess. Mr. J said that Dasaika was somehow involved. My guess is we're supposed to uncover what Dasaika is doing, and that will lead us to the killer."

"That can't be all. All these experienced people here? It doesn't appear as simple as it did at first." Mandy's mind finally had wrapped around the concept. The talks in the Pizza Slut were starting to make some sense. "That pervert Oddman seemed to know something about it, but didn't press whoever was on the phone too hard."

"And Wrightman seems to have missed her mark. When your everyday goblins are being smarter than an experienced detective, you know you're having a bad day." Dee had taken a liking to Wrightman at first, and still had respect for her, but he could tell she wasn't going to be one that would get pushed around. If she had an opposing viewpoint to anyone, especially the goblins since they had taken initiative and made her look bad, she was most likely going to be stubborn and not let up.

They reached the car and everyone hopped in. Like Mandy had said, there was plenty of room, more so now that Wrightman had switched groups. She looked back at Deadwood; he seemed the most senior and experienced member here, and the most likely candidate for their 'leader'.

"Where to?"

[Wesforce]

Oddman got back on his vidphone - More earnest, more probing this time. He forced the issue with his contact.

Dawlish answered the Vid-phone: More sober this time.

'Oh, it's you.'

'yes, I have been working for some spare time, to talk.' Winked Oddman.

'Listen man, like I said, this case is off my hands now. I'm not even meant to be here.' Said Dawlish, suddenly fearful. 'Guy running it now is a real nasty fragger. Name of 'Metal Gear' Johnson. The most cybered guy on the force.'

'Nobody's a saint, Dawlish.'

'Seriously: You don't want to bump into him.'

'Holy crap. Johny Screws!?'

'Is that how is he called now, Metal Gear Johnson?'

'He looks like a fragging robot. No-one even knows who he was before he was cybered.' Said Dawlish, lowering his tone all the while. 'Had a bad encounter with one of those Ork Freedom bombers a few years back. Didn't know he was clear to walk the streets yet...'

He shook his head in subdued awe.

'Anyway, got some more info... Not sure I should give it ya for free though...'

'Well, Mr "Don Perignon" can be very convincing. I still have some bottles of those that were "missing" in the incauted alcohol illegal delivery business.'

'Nu-uh. Try harder, sacked-boy...'

'Chivas 12 year. My last offer.'

'Know how many bottles of that I get from dead rich fraggers every year?' Dawlish laughed. 'Here's a hint buddy... I'm looking to retire soon. Going to need to settle the nest... with credsticks'

'I see. How much cash would feather the nest, Friend?'

'Gimme a thou. Ths is classified information, you know.'

Oddman sighed. This was going to hurt.
'OK, that's it. ¥1000. And it's closed!'

'Right then. Save this file to chip.'

The green scrolling bar of a download in progress flashed over the vid-screen, the soft green light reflecting in Oddman's swelling tearducts - He hated to see that much money go at once. Dawlish wasted no time after the download finished by discnnecting with a parting

'Adios, chum. Watch your back.'

*click*

Oddman quickly scrolled through the data on the chip. Backups of the information already available, with lab reports of the victims' blood samples, forensics. etc.

The foresnsics report had some useful info:

Victims in all three cases appeared to have died without a struggle. Oddly little signs of damage to the surrounding apartments, considering the extent of damage to the victim's bodies. Most of the blood sprayed around the room was arterial in nature: From the throat, most likely. It also appears to have partially coagulated before leaving the body: The victim died before the bllod was let to flow.

There was a Forensics Mage's assessment of the area, but it made little sense to Oddman. Just mystical mumbo-jumbo about a 'stained aura' in the room. 'An intense background of pleasure and pain that pervaded the entire toom...'. It did seem tio suggest that some kind of powerful magic had been used.

Dawlish had added a note here:

The main factors in common between the cases were that the victims were young female humans who lived alone, the spread of blood and body matters in a manner signifying a paranimal attack, and in two cases a message left on the answerphone left by a french-accented men we have yet been able to identify: Its possible he used a voice distorter.

All the witnesses in the LGSystems case were protected under the corporate rights act, ditto with the Himmelstässe case. However, Monica DuBarry was believed to have a known gang affiliation: Her boyfriend at the time was one 'Norbert Falkener' of the Crimson Wheels gang, in the Volkestat slums

'Hey, Deadwood. I got something...' Oddman whistled, winking at Wrightman.

At last! Time to prove to them he knew what he was doing!

[Artificial Idiot]

Wrightman flicked her vid-phone off. It was Oddman, he'd just told her everything he knew. And in turn, she'd told the others. It had been most interesting, and she was glad he had't fragged it up again. She turned around to explain the situation to the others.

"It seems Deadwood and the others are going after some slag named Norbert." She explained. "He was apparently a boyfriend to one of the victims."

She glanced at Bonnie. She remembered him saying something about a Dawson. But she couldn't remember him giving an address.

"Bonnie, did you get the Address of that Dawson woman?" She asked.

"Well, erm... no. Never occurred to me..."

"What the frag do you mean it never occurred to you!"

"Just didn't seem like it was needed." He looked down at this boots. Wrightman remembered the patronising tone he'd taken with the detectives earlier. Serves him right for trying to play one then, didn't it?

"Watch and learn." She said simply. Tapping a number in to her vid-phone.

* * *

There was a groan from under the bed sheets. A pale, skinny hand crawled from beneath them, making a grab for a nearby bleeping vid-phone. Gary slowly rose from his bed, hiding the sim-sex chips under the bed sheets before his mum came in. He straightened out his hair, or at least, did the best he could with it. And then answered.

"Hello." He half heatedly groaned.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you up?" It was Emily. Giving him the "Use my first name and I will debowl you" look.

"Oh, h-hey E... W-wrightman!" He said, he always got slightly jumpy around women who talked back. "No, no, not at all. I was just, erm, well... ah... cleaning."

He could tell by the raised eyebrow that she didn't believe a word of it.

"Listen, I need a search for a Svetlana Dawson. Don't stop until you have an address, understand?"

"S-sure, no problem! Right on it!" How could he say no?

"Right, phone me back with the information." Her face vanished before he could get in his stuttered good bye.

"Time to get to work." He groaned, Emily had better be paying him for this!

* * *

Moments later, Gary had phoned back with the information a moment later. He was a good kid, very good decker. Too shy for his own good though. Wrightman had to take him out one night, although he'd probably get the wrong idea.

"Hey Bunny." She said,seemingly to nobody. She had seen the microphones around Bunny's van though, and there was a lack of an intercom. So she was positive he could hear her. "Change of plan, We're going to Apartment #337, the GM tower. There will be security though, so watch your driving."

She gave the others the security warning, and then settled back in her seat.

[Wesforce]

'Okay'. Said Deadwood, rasping the stubble forming up on his chin, clambering into the Humvee.

'Volkestadt slums. We'll see what this son of a slitch nows, shall we?'

'Sure, sugar.' Mandy winked coquettishly, strapping into her rigger-seat and plugging her rigger-jacks in.

'Hey - ' Dee started to say, feeling left out. But Mandy was inside the vehicle now , her pert body comatose.

Immediately the vehicle bucked and roared around, doing a perfect handbrake turn on a penny, startling the Ork guard so much he dropped a whole load of pizza-grease all over himself and the floor.

Krazny laughed like a madman upon seeing this - Discomforting Kelvin, next to him. Oddman took position behind the big 4x4 on his bike, stopping by the ork.

'Heh. Sorry about that mein freunde! She is a game girl, non?'

'GET FRAGGED YOU FRAGGING FRAG-SUCKER!'

***

Pulling out into the morning haze and high on the cross-town skyroad, the whole City seemed to be for the 'runner's taking. Mandy took the going easy, not going too fast so she wouldn't attract undue attention. Tying to impress her, Oddman posititioned his heavy bike abreast of the humvee and waved.

'HEY!' Said Dee, again. He didn't like all the attention his girl was getting.

'Ram him... ram him...' Krazny was whispering over and over again in quiet but almost subliminal tones.

The traffic was light - Not many people wanted to head into the slums, any kind of day. The traffic out was lught too, but only because most people there couldn't afford wheels.

The road started to descend - Down into the slums. First would be a token couple of checkpoints and Daisaka patrols to keep a visible reminder of the slum's inhabitants to stay where they were. Next would be an overwhelming stench of urban decay, and all many of sleazy clubs, pubs, jerry-rigged gunshops and hatchet shops where you could bring some second hand cyberware and have some mad Doc bolt it onto you. Inbetween them all, the lowest and unluckiest of human society.

Oddman saw something in his wingmirror - Another biker.

This guy was on a red GM monobike, thick green bare Orkish arms, tiger-striped green combats and a tattered Black vest open to bare, muscled chest, his head hidden by a battered helmet.

Oddman blinked: Two more bikers rode out from behind the first - then two more behind them. Another Ork, some humans, a dwarf, all more or less identically attired.

The Ork pulled a disc-shaped object off his vest. An Aerofoil grenade.

A biker gang! Asking for trouble here, on the sky road, hundreds of feet in the air!

***

The BunnyWagon pulled up a safe distance from the GM tower. It immediately looked out of place: It was the only vehicle within a square mile not to be a GM make. GM cars were everywhere, lining the roads, on the pavements, on top of advertising billboards. There must have been thousands of the bubblecars - Not counting the hundreds that surely resided in the GM Tower's huge underground Employee car park.

The nearest billboard advertised a car by one of GMs subsidiaries, the struggling Eurocar firm 'Fiat' and its newest sports coupe - The 'Accompli'. Wrightmann liked the look of it... But knew she wouldn't be able to afford one for a long time.

The ground floor was a pleasant, open plan lobby - The glass panelling set to maximum transparency to let in the hazy orange sunlight that broke the oppressive red sky. At the far end, the elevators that led up to the thighest levs of the tower for Offices and Apartments. A Troll guard sat on reception using a fountain pen as a toothpick.

Wrightmann hopped out of the van quickly for a look around. Magnetic and chemical weapons detectors in the elevator door frame. PanicButtons that would summon armed guards. Cameras. The usual crap.

The Troll carried a shotgun strapped to his left leg. Wrightmann was just about to go in and talk to him, when a tall, dark-skinned Ork in front of her asked the guard:

'I'm looking for Dawson. Svetlana Dawson.'

[Artificial Idiot]

ohfragohfragohfragohfrag was Wrightman's basic trail of thought. Somebody had found to Svetlana first, and he didn't look friendly. She fingered her tazer, the Troll guard and the Ork were busy talking, but they'd soon be on the move. And with both Wrightman's pistol and tazer concealed in her pockets, she'd be fragged. She moved closer to the Ork, just in time to hear part of his conversation.

"Yerr, 'partment #337. Cun't mizz it, fullow da numbaz." The Troll guard slurred out. Metahuman guards weren't known for their high inteligance, they'd have taken a higher paid job if they were. Like, say, brain surgery

"Thank you very much, my good troll." Said the black Ork, Wrightman was shocked at his politeness. Nobody was polite these days, it had all but died. Maybe, just maybe, this fragger wasn't that bad. But she couldn't afford to take the risk.

"Excuse me sir, would you like to sit down? You are looking a little faint." Said Wrightman, sincerely.

"Nonsense woman." The Ork scoffed. "I feel as fit as the day I wa... ugh."

The Ork fell into her arms as the Tazer dart took effect. She'd moved very close before using it, so hopefully the camera hadn't seen her. Alarm bells weren't sounding yet, so it seemed they hadn't. And hopefully, she'd be long gone before they even had reason to double check the footage... hopefully. And the hustle and bustle of the lower level of the GM tower had covered the noise.
The stench of the Ork almost knocked her off her feet though. While he was clean in the sense of body odour, which was rare for an Ork, his breath still smelt like raw sewage in a brewry.

"Durrr...." The Troll guard thought, trying desperately to keep up with events. "Doez 'e need med... mehical.... Medekull attenshun?" He asked eventually.

"No, no. I'm sure he will be fine. He can recover in our van while I visit a friend, it's really no trouble at all." She gaged. She tried to give the Troll a reassuring smile, but it just turned sour in the full force of the Orkish breath.

"Dat's very kind ov ya." The Troll smiled, finally feeling on top of things. "'ope da git gitz betta."

Wrightman nodded, she didn't want to brave talking again. Shatter had come from the van to help her remove the Ork, Wrightman thanked Grudd they only had to carry him a short distance. Once they had lumbered him into the back of the van, Shatter slammed the back doors shut.

"Right, first thing's first." He said, letting his military side take over. "Let's get this drekhead tied up and out of the way." Wrightman had very little idea how they were going to tie him, but she had seen a large piece of cloth that could be used to cover him. Unless Bunny was going to throw him in one of the many secret compartments in the van.

"We have another problem." Said Wrightman, as the suggestions for just how to bound the fragger went flying backwards and forwards. "The elevator doors are lined weapon detectors. Not unexpected, but that means whoever goes up, goes up unarmed. And it's a long way back down again."

"So, not only do we have a fragging Ork in the back, now you're telling us we can't get arms up there?" Said Clyde. "Well, that is just great."

"Well, unless you have any ideas for getting weapons up there, then yeah, pretty much." Although, he was right, it wasn't going well. But it could be going worse. "Look, We can't all go up there, especially now we have sleeping beauty in the back. Laura is good for unarmed combat, so she is defiantly going into the tower with me. I don't think they take too lightly to gobbos, but one of you might be ok. Bunny, you'll be needed to keep the engine running, just in case, and Shatter... it's your choice."

With that, Wrightman carefully handed Bunny her pistol and tazer (she wouldn't trust the Goblins with them, and didn't know what to make of Shatter yet) and sent off a quick message to Deadwood's vid-phone.

--->Ork was looking for Svetlana when we got here. Taken care of, although highly suspicious.<---

(It just wouldn't be Shadow without kidnapping, would it? :D)

[LeFire]

"No can do, I'm afraid." Shatter shook his head.

"My spellbreaking ability is low-level and requires Neutraliser to work... without the sword, I can break only the simplest of spells. I'm also trained only in the forearm gun and sword... I won't even be able to scavenge and use a weapon should we run into trouble. I'll be more of a liability than a asset up there."

Shatter pursed his lips as he looked over the Ork in the back of the truck, considered his options for a moment, then turned back to Wrightman.

"This one might be part of a larger party... Since he won't be moving around anytime soon, they might just decide to come in larger numbers to investigate. I'll stay here and observe, keeping you guys informed via vidphone should we need to relocate."

[CKW]

Definitely, these guys want trouble. Think Quickly, freunde! The flashbang could be definitely lethal against high speed bikers... But i don't want to use it lightly

"Bikers to our six, pals"

Is that all!? C'mon, do anything more, you can. This is no time to think into shagging chicks and looking cool. React! Show them who's a cool guy, and you will get the shagging later!"
He pulled out his gun...
Hmm. Wheel-snipping.Sounds good to me.

[VO]

"Let Bonnie go," said Clyde. "He can do some basic decking, and if you get in a fix, you still have me down here to work the laser."

Bonnie nodded. "You might need me up there, and alot of places like this have goblin technicians and cleaners. I'll fit right in!" He held up a small box of tools that he kept in his overall pocket.
"Think I can get these through? They're all made from plasteel, shouldn't set off the detector and if they think about searching us, it's pretty easy to fool a troll like the one on the door that it's legit."

Wrightman agreed. That made three of them.

[Master Chris]

Robert Smith, AKA Kelvin-Zero, wasn't keeping his cool. The biker gang began to surround the hummer in a classic formation. Two behind, one on each side, and one, no doubt the leader, just in front of the 4X4, weilding an aerofoil grenade. Kelvin, white knuckles gripping the seat in front of him, spoke to Krazny without taking his eyes off of the helmeted biker leering at them through the window:

"Good sir, have you a plan to deal with these upstart vagrants?"

Krazny nodded slowly, as if the answer was obvious:

"Kill 'em."

As if to punctuate his words, a loud Crack! announced Oddman's contribution to the proceedings. Kelvin took that as his cue to act:

"Seems we're in for some bad weather!"

With that outburst, Kelvin began to shift his awareness to the astral, drawing ambient energies from the surrounding air and drawing them into himself, which resulted in a thermodynamic change in the radiated kinetic energy of the real world. In short: Kelvin was trying to freeze the road around the humvee. The idea was to ruin the biker gang's traction and have them slide off of the sky road and fall to their deaths.

It was an amibitious, even genius, plan. However, because the hummer was moving at high velocity Kelvin had to constantly absorb the ambient energy of the several hundred meters of road before any tangible effect would be wrought from his actions.

The human body can only absorb so much warmth before it starts to overheat, and that was exactly what happened to Robert Smith. Unable to keep up with the demands of his plan, Robert was thrust from the astral world back into his body, albeit a body suffering from heatstroke. As if to add insult to his failure, Robert fainted.

[Apache_Longbow]

Mandy looked around, and saw the individual members of the gang grouping around her humvee. Looks like this was about to turn into a real mission.

"What the frag is going on back there?" she calmly asked Dee as she tried to focus on the road, and how to avoid the gang. She had felt the sudden chill that the hummer had been plunged into, and then had noticed as it abruptly ended. "Some sort of magic going on?"

"Zero was trying to freeze the road. He overheated, I guess, and fainted." ****. That would have worked, and his power was valuable tous in other ways. I guess we'll have to live without him for a while. Darren pointed at Deadwood. "You try and get the son of a slitch to wake up, and you" - he pointed at Krasny - "help me out."

Krasny nodded. He knew what was about to go down, and grabbed his AK97 from it's resting place in the back. Dee clambered into the back, taking Mandy's assualt rifle from its storage compartment in the flat load floor. He brought the gun into a position where he could actually shoot it well, and waited till Krasny was ready. He began to nod his head up and down, before Deadwood interrupted.

"Wait. Frag Zero for now. Three guns is better than two." He smiled, and brought out his HK MP22. "Lets make them learn their lesson - the hard way." Deadwood nodded, and he and Krasny both flicked the switches for the power windows. As they went down and cleared the way, shots ripped through the air.

Dee unlatched the rear window and flung it upwards. He immediately focused on the lead bike in front of him, and slammed on the trigger. His first set of bullets was a few feet off. Frag. He calmed himself down. steadied his body, and aimed again. The click of the trigger sounded off, and almost instantaneously the biker's chest flung deep red liquid in every direction. The wind buffeting off of the sides of the vehicle partially drowned out the scream of the driver, but it could still faintly be heard as the bike swerved on the road and the plummeted to the ground. The pilot behind him expertly swerved out of the way at the last second, but at least 1/5 of the problem was gone. Dee spoke quickly to the others, all the while keeping his head and eyes intensely focused on the enemy in front of him.

"You guys have any luck?"

[Wesforce]

Wrightman, Bonnie and Laura jandered up back into the GM building - The Troll guard eyed the Gobbo suspiciously, but didn't seem surprised to see such a motley group .

'Wonders wherez all da fraggerz iz comin' from taday' He said, tuning his Headcase television into the live feed from Killing for Credit$.

One of the elevators opened, and they walked into its mirror-walled, spotlessly clean, muzak-filled interior, causing a man and woman in the fashion green suits with shoulderpads and mirrored wrap-around shades to back off slightly.

Mr and Mrs Corp eyed each other nervously. Seeing their discomfort pleased Bonnie in a way. He moved closer to the woman. She wrinkled her nose and backed away. He bared his teeth - She jumped.

***

The Ork was stirring - Shatter still hadn't found a way to bound him securely yet.

'I've got some winch-cable in the back of the van.' Bunny suddenly realised. 'I'll get it. Hold on!'

He nipped out, and Shatter was left with the huge, black-trenchcoated black-ork and his sweaty bulk, and an irritating warbly tune that seemed to be coming from his person.

He searched quickly, gingerly - Nothing on the wrist. He probed the insidepocket of the jacket - Just as he thought, a wristphone fell out. So did a chip.

The wristphone beeped as it hit the floor - It began playing the message it had just received.

'Svetlana and I are waiting for you' Said the voice - It sounded a lot like the Ork in the van - Orkish, yet educated, polite. 'Do you have the information? We can assist if the Guard is troubling you...'

Shatter reached for the 'phone.

His hand never got there: It was seized by the Ork's arm, which felt ten times more powerful than it should have been.

'I suggest you leave that where it is.' Said the Ork with, a voice like thunder, conversely in a calm tone, rising into a sitting position, eyes glowing venomously red.

Shatter felt a surge of mana energy - A powerful spell.

Just then a manabolt sprang from the Ork's other hand and catapulted shatter across the van, his aura, his very soul taking a shock from the spell, which he had no time to prepare for.

***

Apartment 337.

'I'll handle this, you two.' Wrightman said, pressing the entry chime. After ten seconds or so of waitng, the vid-plate next to the door blinked from the GM, logo to the haggard face of a young woman, unmade with eyes ringed by tiredness.

'Svetlana Dawson... What do you want?' She sounded weary, and upset. Wrightmann caught a slight movement in the frame behind her.

***

Deadwood let his MP22 aim at the Dwarf mononbiker on his side: Red taregting icons filled his view from the dozen or so best hit locations that the smartlink conjured up, and automatically corrected for speed and wind.

A dozen rounds rattled off the gun's the computer-controlled bolt barely juddering in Deadwood's tight grip. The Dwarf was flung high into the air as bullets fragged the gyro-stabilization unit of the monobike. Deadwood was already turning to his next target, and only caught the screaming halfer's tumbling form disappearing down into the city in his peripheral vision.

'I got one.' He announced - And gave Kelvin a quick, short sharp slap to try and wake him.

Meanwhile Krazny had gone for a more direct route with his AK97 - A promptly shot a pinpoint perfect 3-round burst through another Ork biker's head, ripping through both his helmet and thick-boned skull. Rider and monobike soundlessly slipped from the skyroad, taking a 'Volkestadt Redevelopment, coming soon!' sign with it.

The Leader, out in front with his aerofoil grenade, decided discretion was the better part of valour. He had in no way expected such a tough target. He started the grenade's timer by mashing it against his helmet and went for a over the shoulder lob right onto the Humvee's bonnet more to divert the 'runner's attention than anything else.

Crack!

The grenade dropped from the Ork's suddenly-wounded arm, exploded on contact with the ground and sent his bike out of control, tumbling all over the skyroad and throwing the rider, though he disappeared from view before they could see if he went over the side.

Oddman reholstered his pistol, grinning.

The one remaining rider gunned his throttle in attempt to outrun the Humvee. Just as him was roaring past, Mandy sideswiped him with contemptuous ease - She actually felt the Soft, fleshy biker rebounding from hermetal skin. He disappeared from the view: More junk littering the pavements a few hundred feet below.

[Artificial Idiot]

"Ah, good morning Mrs Dawson. My name is Detective Miller, from Daisaka security." She briefly flashed her outdated Security pass. "I'm here about a murder investigation, I believe you knew the victim?"

"Ah, yes. Lydia." Svetlana murmured after a moments thought, then lashed out in a sudden burst of anger. "Look, I've told you everything I know! Just leave me alone! Ok?"

"I'm sorry, have we come at a bad time?"

"No, no... I'm just, a little upset."

"It's understandable." She noticed Dawson's sideway glances towards Laura. "Don't mind her, she is a trainee and hopes to get some experience." Laura nodded brightly. "Anyway, Mrs Dawson, may we come in?"

"Now isn't a good time!" She snapped suddenly.

"Well, you must understand, Mrs Dawson, I am on a tight schedule."

"Look, please, can we do this another time? I'm busy at the moment." Her eyes flicked sidewards again - Maybe at someone in the room.

"My inquiries will only take a few minutes, Mrs Dawson."

"Is it possible that we could arrange another meeting?"

"No time like the present." Wrightman said, off hand. Svetlana sighed, she was obviously in no condition for this.

"Fine, but please, make it quick, I don't want any trouble."

Wrightman ushered Laura in, and then bent down to whisper to Bonnie, who had been hidden behind the two.

"Stay out here, look inconspicuous. Send a vid-phone message to me if anybody is coming, ok?"

"Right you are." Said Bonnie, getting out his tools and starting to unscrew a near by light switch. Wrightman followed Laura inside.

[Nyerguds]

"Drek!" Bunny whispered, when hearing the Ork. He saw a flash of light, and then nothing.
Immediately, he hid behind the back of the van, peering at the side door. He considered calling out to Shatter, but decided it'd be better not to. If Shatter was still alive and conscious he'd have yelled something by now. So far, Bunny hadn't heard anything, so the only thing shouting would do was alert the Ork to his presence.


He saw the van's suspension tilt towards the door, and noticed a dark hand grabbing the side of the door for support.

Bunny didn't hesitate for a second, and grabbed the small remote control from his pocket. Normally, the cattle prod system would stop electrocuting after giving a small surge... but that could be fixed. Bunny deactivated the system's short circuit check, and activated it.

A series of bright flashes lightened the side of the van. Only after about four seconds, Bunny deactivated the 'car alarm'. He heard a loud *thud* when the Ork's electrocuted muscles let go of the door.
He quickly took the cables he needed, and went to the door. The Ork was knocked out cold, and would probably stay that way quite a bit longer than before. Bunny looked inside the van. "Shatter? Are you OK?"
He looked in the van, and saw Mariam kneeling over the Spellbreaker, who was still recovering from the manabolt.
"W-What the frag was that?!" Mariam said. She looked pale.
"Magic." Bunny replied.
"Not that." Mariam said. "I mean, just now..."
"Oh, that?" Bunny showed her the remote he was holding. "The van's anti-theft system. Pretty effective."



(Yeah, you totally forgot about Mariam, Wes. :p)

(GM: No I didn't. You may have noticed I posted nothing about Clyde either... :rolleyes: )

( \/ Hmm... Lefire, you'd better reload the page before posting :\)

[LeFire]

(Removed)

[Wesforce]

A muscular black-skinned arm grabbed Bunny's arm - A savage chop shattered it. Howling in pain, Bunny dropped to the floor - Before he got there, a claw-like hand was around his throat.

How fragging fast - Was all he could think. Why isn't this thing out?

Mariam's shrill screaming was loud in his ears - Getting quieter. The day was getting darker around him - Spots began appearing before his eyes - He couldn't breathe.

Got to... move...

His arms and legs began flailing uselessly - He was now being dangled by the neck.

pop! pop!

With a mighty heave, Bunny was thrown back - He hit a parked GM Bubblecar, shattering the canopy and blacking out.

***

Mariam had saved Bunny's life - Now she feared for her own. The small pistol the Goblin had left seemed useless against the Ork - They'd just made two barely visible red holes in his jacket.

The... thing (It couldn't be any ordinary Ork... The fire in its eyes...) advanced on her, baring its teeth, snarling breathlessly.

Abruptly a large section of it's Midriff burst into flame. Its clothes and leather jacket vapourising almost explosively. It howled in pain and terror - The Ork scrambled around in terror, trying to put out the flames, shedding clothing and limbs. A huge hunk of flesh dropped to the ground, smouldering - Mariam saw with horror it was the Ork's arm.

Clyde almost dropped the laser - It was too much for him to handle alone, especially after his near-miss with the van's inbuilt tazer. Even so he tried for another shot, but the Ork had run off, howling. Smoke, and screams of terror marked its path.

Must have been carryiing a hell of a lot of cyber to stand that! He thought.

He glanced at Bunny: Concussed, but alive.

***

Wrightman entered the apartment: A typical 20-something single woman's flat: New woman Holomags dotted around in neat piles, simchickflicks like My Husband is a Troll and sop on arranged next to the 3DTV with some fake plastic flowers and some ornamental pots full of faux-porri
The only thing missing was a cat - Not allowed due to building regulations.

It appeared Dawson was alone. A yin-yang coffee table in the middle of the room sported a lonely Gin and Tonic.

'Now, Detective? Now what? Don't you think you people have bothered me enough?' She said, close to tears.

[Master Chris]

It took a little while for the heatstroke to recede, but once his body had cooled down Kelvin returned to consciousness.

"Euughh...my fraggin' head..."

Kelvin stuck his head out of the window, briefly enjoying the cool air before returning to his seat.

"So, what's up?"

A disgusted snort was issued from behind him.

"Did sleeping beauty have a relaxing siesta while we fought off a gang of bikers?"

[LeFire]

Shatter clenched the hilt of Neutraliser, willing the spell's destablising after-effects away. It was as if cold water had been poured on a burn... the burning sensation ceased, leaving only the throbbing of the initial manabolt attack.

Now steadier on his feet, the Spellbreaker scrambled out of the van to witness a scene of carnage. Bunny was down and out, Clyde had a strange-looking weapon in his hands, Miriam looked stunned... and the black Ork had apparently left a smouldering arm at the scene. Shatter put two and two together and guessed what had happened.

"Great shot!" he said to Clyde as he ran up to the unconscious Bunny and carried him in a fireman's lift into the van, hurriedly running back to retrieve the mage's severed arm as well (after stabbing it with Neutraliser to break any form of malicious spell left within, as unlikely as it was). There was no sign of the rest of the mage... Shatter hoped that he died of his injuries before he made it to any of his buddies, but the Spellbreaker wasn't sure, especially after witnessing the unnatural strength of the Ork. Miriam was fingering with the chip and wristphone.

"Svetlana... The voice on the phone mentioned a 'Svetlana' as one of this guy's associates. These fraggers sound organised, we might be dealing with something big here."

Shatter brought up his wristphone and started calling Wrightmann.

"I'm going to tell the others what just happened. Keep a lookout and try to revive Bunny in the meantime. We gotta get out of here asap."

[landry38]

"No weapons, eh?" Laura thought. "This should be fun."

Laura followed Wrightman and Bonnie up, and to Apartment 337, the abode of Svetlana Dawson. Wrightman started questioning, and Dawson quickly became annoyed. However, Laura noticed Dawson gave a hatefull gaze to her. After some one sided bickering, Dawson gave in. Wrightman motioned for her to enter the room, and Laura stepped in, returning a stern stare to Dawson. Wrightman resumed, causing Svetlana to become annoyed again.

"That gaze," she thought. "She knows something."

[Apache_Longbow]

"Frag you!" shouted Kelvin back at the voice. He wasn't sure who had said it, but whoever it was, they deserved it. "I passed out because I was trying to save you slags."

"Boo-hoo drekface. Go cry me a river. Better yet, go run to your mommy and tell her that her son can't even pull off a spell." It was Krasny, and he was more than a bit irritated.

"I'll show you a spell I can pull off!" screamed Kelvin. He got up on his feet and began moving towards Krasny. Dee promptly stepped in the way.

"Shut the frag up, both of you. We have a job to do. Save your women's bickering for afterwards." Both of the men gave each other a snotty look and a snarl, and then turned away from each other.

They all turned around, and watched through the windows as they entered the Volstadt slums. It wasn't a pretty picture. There were prostitutes scattered at each streetcorner - at least Oddman might enjoy it - and passed-out drunks littered the street. They passed by someone getting mugged at gunpoint, but nobody payed attention. The residents just looked the other way, knowing it wouldn't do any good to get shot themselves. The person getting robbed wasn't losing much anyway - nobody here had anything of value.

We'll be lucky if we all get out of here uninjured, thought Dee as he scanned the surroundings. Especially with those two bickering.

He hoped they would get through it as Mandy guided them to their destination.

[Artificial Idiot]

"If you don't mind, Mrs Dawson. I'd like to go over some of the basics, what was your relation to the deceased?" Wrightman began, but she was interupted by her vid-phone. "Excuse me for a moment, will you?"

Svetlana reluctantly nodded, obviously annoyed, or scared. But of what? Wrightman could see nothing. She noticed how the woman kept glancing into another room, it didn't look good. They were unarmed, Wrightman was all but useless and if it was something like that Ork downstairs, Laura might not be able to handle it. And it was a very long way down. Wrightman held off the urge to gulp.

"Detective Miller speaking, how may I help you?" Wrightman opened the phone to find Shatter looking back at her. Worst for wear. The van also looked a mess, blood was splatted up the side of the wall. Two types if Wrightman wasn't mistaken, one dark and one light.

"Ah, detective." Said Shatter, falling in very quickly. "We've had a bit of trouble near the slums, a large Ork ganger attacked our postion. We held him off, but we're one man down and need you down here quickly"

"Just let me wrap up here and I'll be right on it." She closed the vid-phone, after sending a quick message to Bonnie, and turned back to Svetlana. "I'm very sorry about that, Now, as I was saying. What was your relation to the deceased? Friend? Family?"

"We've been over this!" Svetlana moaned. Her tired eyes still darting backwards and forwards to whatever was lurking in this place. It was unnerving, and Wrightman was starting to feel uneasy.

"I know, Mrs Dawson. But vital records were lost recently and certain aspects of the case need to be reaffirmed. Now please, answer the questions."

[landry38]

Laura could only listen to the miserable attempt of a conversation. But she stayed focused, intent to hear the facts. "This might have something to do with my parents."

She was no detective, but she was trying to put something together. "That gaze, it seems vaguely familiar."

However, her attention darted back to Wrightman and Dawson. They both kept glancing at another room, and with the news of the struggle with the rest of the group, something was bound to go down.

Laura was prepared for whatever was about to happen.

[CKW]

Oddman looked around the trashed landscape. He was smiling, not because of his perverted mind, but by his rising egocentrism.
"What have we learnt today? There's only badass biker, and that's me."
He gave a wink to Mandy, even if she didn't realize.
Frag, better not chase Mandy, someone's got a crush on her. But in the other hand...
Oddman's eyes widened.
CHASE!!! Women had been stalked by a french! Women had been stalked by a French pervert. And he did know of someone who could be. Badjimmy!
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Krasny bickered.
"Nothing, just trying to tie some loose ends."

[Wesforce]

'Look, Lydia was my friend. We knew each-other from General Metro's adolescent education course. We both spent all our lives working for the Corporation... I wouldn't have thought they'd let more of you Daisaka people in here.'

'More?'

'Yes, the other detective. The fat disgusting man, and the bald Dwarf who came in a day later and told me "everything was being handled..."'

She bit her lip, shutting herself up.

'You... You know something, don't you?' Wrightman said. She could feel Svetlana breaking. The woman's breathing increased, her face became red...

'They have someone in Daisaka. I'm not sure who. they told me.'

'Who? Who's they?'

'Lydia's... boyrfriend...He's planning another...'

She sobbed.

'Another murder!'

A figure appeared in the corner of the room - The corner Svetlana had been glancing at. A large Ork in a long leather coat. It was the unfurling motion of the coat that had revealed him to Wrightman's peripheral vision in fact - Like he'd just swept off a piece of background-covered cloth that was concealing him.

'Tut tut' Said the Ork, in oddly good English. 'Bad Svetlana... We let you into our little circle in strict confidence. Deep down I knew you wouldn't have had the guts to see it through... To kill your own friend and become one of US!'

At the sound of the last word he'd flashed across the room and delivered the screaming Svetlana a punch that exploded her ribcage out of her back - Blood and Organs splattered up the wall behind her.

Laura dropped into a combat crouch, Wrightman looked aghast and went for a gun in her coa t- But of course no gun was there.

The Ork kneeled by Svetlana, ripped off one of her delicate arms, and began chewing. He saw Wrightman, looking, and stopped long enough to say.

'Gah. I so hate it when its already dead, you know?'

His eyes centred on Wrightman, narrowing down to pinpoints.

'Fresh. Meat.'

He went straight for her. The next thing Wrightman knew was the pain of razor-blade sharp teeth digging deep into her upper-arm. There was a pain above that - Part of her, some intangible, everr-living part of her, however small, was being taken away too.

Laura upper-cutted the big Ork and he flew back howling in pain, a chunk of flesh dropping from his bloody mouth. A solid kick to the chest knocked him back to the wall - He left a huge indent there -and a sweep took his legs out from under him. He crashed to the floor, laughing and spitting blood.

'Hah ha!' The Ork chuckled, a horrifying sound. 'Well I've had my appetizer. Main course tonight!' He rolled his coat about him - And vanished.

Laura knew she'd only gained a few second's respite: She could still feel the bastard here...

(GM Note: Magical invisibility doesn't work against electrionic devices like Night vision goggles, thermo, cameras etc, though it does against cybereyes)

(Will add more shortly)

[Artificial Idiot]

The pain! It rushed though Wrightman's arm like a sledge hammer though concrete. It was all around her, all she felt. Drowning her feeling. But she couldn't leave Laura alone. She had to do something, anything! She tried her vid-phone, but the pain of moving her damaged arm reduced her to tears. There was only thing for it. She stumbled to her feet, and while Laura distracted the beast, as Ork wasn't the right word for it, she made for the door.

"BONNIE!" She gasped as she slammed against it, causing it to open and her form to sprawl across the corridor. "Run! Get help!"

The goblin didn't ask any questions, he gathered his tools and made straight for the elevator. He was already going down when the Ork turned his beady eyes on Wrightman.

"Well, well, well." He muttered calmly, seemingly out of nowhere. "Some people never learn, just like poor Svetlana."

She felt the claws of the beast scoop her up. She seemed to hang in mid-air as they wrapped around her. It felt as though he was crushing the very life out of her, tighter and tighter. The world started to fade to black, but then a scream jolted her to her senses.

Laura.

She was stood behind the figure, who was now dripping blood. A plastic table leg shoved in his back. Laura removed it and took another stab, this time closer to the neck, but she obviously missed. It's very hard to judge where an Ork's neck is when you can't see him. She took another stab, and another, until the back of the beast seemed to run red.
Wrightman tumbled out of the beasts clutches, hitting the floor with a thud. Laura tossed the table leg aside and then grabbed Wrightman by the collar of her trenchcoat.

"Come on, we've got to go!" She inisted.

[landry38]

"Dammit, we gotta go!"

As much as Laura wanted to stay and beat down the beast, Wrightman was much more important. She knew Wrightman was badly hurt, and medical attention was priority #1. Laura scooped her up and darted out. Time was everything. She enabled her Rage spirit, not only for some extra speed, but for some extra insurance should that Ork pull anything sneaky. It produced a substantial red glow around Laura and Wrightman.

Laura darted out, down the stairs bypassing the elevator, and out to where the Bunny Van was.

Laura stared in amazement at the carnage outside, as did Shatter, Bonnie, and Clyde back at Laura.

"First thing's first," Laura said, "Wrightman's badly hurt."

[Artificial Idiot]

"I-it... It was, It was an Ork! But then, It was not an... It... It was an Ork!" Wrightman rambled as Laura lowered her carefully into a seat. Shatter tried to silence her, but he only made her worse. "It SLAUGHTERED Svetlana! With it's bare hands! Just blood... and guts and... and... all the blood! Just everywhere in one hit! One hit, just... ONE!"

"We understand." Said Shatter softly, using some of the Woman's own Trench Coat to quickly patch up her wound, but it wouldn't last. It was a quick fix he had learned as part of his MUNDI training, but she needed proper medical treatment. As did Bunny.

"NO! No you don't! It killed her! K-killed her just like... like you'd... just like you'd pop a balloon! It, it wasn't human! It... It killed her! Just smashed into her rib cage and... just all the blood! The blood! It was all red and... and..." She stopped as Laura dragged Bunny's body into the van. "BUNNY!"

"Take it easy." Shatter tried to reassure her. "He'll be fine."

"It's all my fault. Oh grudd! If only I'd have done things differently! If only I'd had just... just left that first Ork alone! Not insisted on going into the appartment..." As much as she didn't want to, she burst into tears. "Oh Bunny, Bunny! I'm sorry! It's... It's all my fault! Svetlana is dead and... and... It's just all my fault!"

Laura and Shatter were going to try and reassure her, tell her not to think like that and that it wasn't her fault at all. But by this time, she had passed out.

[landry38]

"Don't worry, there was nothing else you could do."

Laura forgot she was still in Rage, and let go.

"What happened, Laura?" asked Shatter.

"I think we found our killer. Just like the scenes in the photos. That's what happened to Dawson."

Laura was getting pissed, but not because of the scene.

-flashback-

"AAAAAAAARGG!"

"Mommy? Daddy? Where are you?"

"AAAAAAAAH!"

"Fresh. Meat."

-end flashback-

Laura pounded the ground in anger.

[Wesforce]

Mandy pulled up at a typically dingy bar with lots of Monobikes parked outside it - All the bikes had Red wheels. They'd gone past all the biker bars Oddman and Deadwood knew until they found it.

'Follow my lead, ja? This vill be like popping pancakes.' Deadwood said, striding off into the dimly-lit bar.

Two Orks were stomping a gobbo flat on a wonky pool table. A sneering Mohawked Elf in leather trousers was having his albino-like girlfriend tattoo him with a lasneedle down the bare back.

A human bartender looked at Deadwood - Then at Krazny with his AK97 eyeing some bikers in the corner.

'Help youz gennelmen?' He inquired, adjusting his footing slightly. A slight glance up revealed to Deadwood a cluster of netguns in the ceiling fixed at angles to cover a good ten square feet of the floor in sticky fibrous nets that could possibly be laced with toxins. The barman must have had a footswitch down there.

'Crimson Wheels?' Deadwood asked. The Barman rolled his eyes over to a group in red leather jackets in one corner. They were looking back at the 'runners - Then quickly looked away.

Word must have spread Deadwood grinned. Gangers don't like their rivals, but neither do they like it when uptowners come and grease some of them while passing through...

'I can take them.' Murmured Krazny, ever so slowly raising his rifle. Fragging metas... Wheeling around like they own the roads.... A few of the gangers were Orks or elves in fact.

But no Dwarves.

'Around the back.' Kelvin said with effort - He had that far-off look that said he was astrally perceiving. 'A short, rather fearful chap.'

Deadwood gave the barman a ¥100 credstick.

'If you get us the Dwarf.' He added.

'Sure will, gents.'

***

Norbert was terrified. He'd thought the 'runners were after him. Well they were, but for different reasons.

'Sweet frag and Jovis!' He gasped. 'Thought you wuz those Daisaka bastards! You know they almost never come down these parts unless they mean it! HARR HARR! Shot me mate, Robo-Rob - The most cybered guy in our gang. Never got me though. And they wuz after me...'

'Because you were a witness.' Said Deadwood.

The Dwarf biker - Flame red hair, long beard, combat trousers, armoured vest and two holstered heavy pistols with added axle-grease and tattoos - Shuddered and downed his Soy-beer.

'Almost. I'll never forget the look on that fragger's face when I saw him coming out of Monique's apartment. I went on the 'run right then, seeing Monique dead. I knew she was cheating on me with some fragger... Just needed to find who.Bah!'

He grunted loudly, and stood up.

'I'll take ye to the crime scene. We can take care of any of those Daisaka bastards on the way!'


***

But there weren't any there.

'This is where we lived... Once' Norbert said, supress
ing his sadness.
Apart from its decrepit suroundings, the crime scene was disappointingly clean - The door had been ripped off ages ago and all of Monique's meagre possessions stolen, for what they were worth.

Bastards. Thought Deadwood. Young woman in the slums struggling to get by, ground under the heel of the Corps, unemployed, loser for a boyfriend, then killed and every trace of her once being removed.

Get used to it manling Said the voice in Deadwood's head. Your kind have been ding that to each other for centuries. They just don;t make so many bones about it now.

Get fragged. He told his voice.

Obviously Daisaka had gone over the crimse scene with a microscopic comb for anything that might leave clues - The apartment was entirely bare. It hadn;t been burned like Oddman had been rambling on about earlier, but it was useless in the physical sense.

'Want to try the astral?' He asked Kelvin.

'Righteo.' Muttered Kelvin.

The first thing that hit them both was the immense wave of sadness, depression and denial - The feeling of the whole of the slums, and in particular this one house. Soaked into these four walls were the feelings that were everything that remained of Monique Dubarry - It manifested as an ingrained sense of loss - And deep down, elation at finally being free.

The point where she must have died was clearly visible. It hovered in the middle of the one-room flat's floor like an aurora borealis of intensely bad feeling. Two jagged lines of hatred extended from it - Like the corner of something, off into the manasphere across the city. Deadwood would have liked to see where they went sometime.

When they rejoined the bodies, he and Kelvin found they'd felt pretty much the same thing.

She was happy when she was killed. Deadwood thought. Well well, isn't that something.

'Whoever these bastards were, they lied to her. She thought she knew what she was getting in for.' Kelvin added.

Then he, Norbert, Kelvin and Oddman turned to look out the window.

***

The van that pulled up wasn't unlike Bunny's, but for being armoured enough to ride low on the shocks, and being painted black.

The Six Daisaka HRT-issue goons that spilled out and took up positions behind the parked cars were unlike anything Bunny would have carried. They quickly formed a perimeter and drove off anyone stupid enough to be loitering on the streets - They seemed to know exactly where all the 'runners were. They must have been watching the building.

Krazny - Covering the street while the others were in the flat - ducked for cover as a burst of autoshotgunfire shredded the wall behind him - The fraggers had quickly and efficiently covered the front of the building.

Two troopers stormed Mandy's Humvee and dragged her out to the pavement behind cover, under boot with guns pointed at her head.

The leader took off her helmet - Revealing an attractive, olive-skinned, raven-haired female face.

Oddman recognised her easily, ducking in the flats one road-facing window. Its only window, in fact.

'Carmen Bacchus! From HRT unit 2! I heard she was promoted to Internal affairs! What's she doin... Oh.'

Carmen addressed the 'Runners in a pleasant, softly-spoken voice.

'Attention murderers! I would like very much for you all to surrender - Can't have me execute this sweet little bitch right now can we?' She said over loudhailer, remaining sweet and calm throughout.

Oddman called out.

'Carmen! Its me, Oddman! We didn't murder anyone!'

'Oddman honey? Is that you?' She smiled. 'Been a long time. To be honest, we don't really care who murdered who, we just want to bag some Shadow-scum. Want to give us a hand?' she winked at him.

[KrasnyOktyabr]

"God damned mother fragging son of a slitch... if you think twice about crossing us Oddman I'll blow your fragging head off!"

Krasny stared at the elf from the corner of his eye, he'd kill the fragger with no hesitation if he tried anything. God damned elves can't be trusted.

"Whoa man, calm down I'm not doing anything stupid."

Yeah, too late for that.

Krasny unfolded the AK's stock and raised the gun to his shoulder. Some serious **** was about to go down and if it was his time to die he sure as hell wasn't going out alone.

[landry38]

"Bunny too?" Laura asked.

"Yes, Bunny." replied Shatter.

"Where's my sword," asked Laura.

"Um, it's...."

I didn't want to know where it was, I want it here now!"

"Sorry!"

Shatter retrieved her katana and handed it to her.

"I'm going to go change."

Laura took her backpack and stepped behind the van.

[CKW]

Oddman gave a look to Krasny.
Oh, well. Mr Psycho is on the rampage. As if it weren't enough with the Daisaka goons out there. Time to brush up some negotiation skills.
"You should put down that weapon right now. Killing me is something stupid, more stupid than chasing girls almost full time. Mon Freunde. You would have killed an Elf more. But seriously, am i worth your life, Krasny? Are you willing to spoil the last chance you have to overcome this situation? Mein Goth... lower that weapon, Oui? You don't lose anything by doing so."
Hope this is enough. The step two is to convince Carmen... Hmm... What should i say?
"Carmen, do you still wear that red silk underwear?"
Breaking the ice and the tension... or getting killed... BRAVO...

[KrasnyOktyabr]

"I don't know what the frag your thinking, but this gun isn't pointed at you Oddman, though I wish it was!"

Krasny continued staring forward at the Daisaka people, there were quite a few of them and only one of him. Too bad most everyone else was inside, not that there were many 'runners' here anyways.

Suddenly a shot rang out, Oddmans underwear comment must not have helped much.

"Who the frag?!"

A bullet zoomed past Krasny's shoulder, the Russian returned fire.

[CKW]

(this might be somewhat of a potential abuse, but I'll leave it to your criteria
wes)
"IT WAS A BLOODY JOKE!" Oddman shouted. "DAMN IT GUYS, KEEP IT COOL!"
It's all. I am fed up. With that psycho.
The gun's back landed on Krasny, the moment he was distracted aiming outside. It aimed for the neck. Having a reasonable nice hand to hand training, Oddman's frame was enough to knock down someone, if aided with a contundent object. Krasny's body felt numb, before falling to the floor.

*thud*

"Sorry for the inconvenience, guys. My friend's are a bit nervous.But now they are under control. And you, Krasny, stop being so hot-headed.You want Mandy to get killed?"
He spoke, wether Krasny was KO or not. But he did look like he was.

[Apache_Longbow]

Oddman turned to around in time to meet the barrels of an assortment of guns, pointed directly at his face.

"And you Oddman, stop being such a dumbass, you fragging slag." Dee clicked the safety off of his gun, and made sure that Oddman knew his finger was already pressing down, bit by bit, on the trigger. "Tell your little army out there to go. Either they leave the building, or your face leaves your skull."

"Just hold up ze shooting," said Oddman in a calm voice. "I vill try and get them to leave ze area."

"Don't try, just do it." Dee let Oddman know he was serious by pushing the gun farther towards the space between his eyes.

"Okay, okay. I vill do ze best I can." He turned towards the window. Dee kept the gun pointed at him as Deadwood set down his firearm and began to help Krasny, and then they both waited to see what Oddman would do next.

[Nyerguds]

"Nnngh...."
Bunny opened his eyes. "Frag on a stick. What the hell was that?"

Hey... I'm not wearing my sunglasses... he suddenly realized.

"We were still lucky." he heard Shatter say. "Wrightman met another one of them... without any lasers around."
Bunny sat up. He noticed he was lying in the back of the van, with the unconscious Wrightman besides him. Then, a sharp pain made him remember exactly what happened.
"Argg... my arm!"
"Be careful. It looks broken!" Mariam said.
"It is." Bunny replied calmly. "There isn't a more terrible sound than that of your own bones cracking, believe me."
He looked around. "Where the frag are my bloody sunglasses?"
"Smashed." Shatter said. Completely unusable.
"Frag." Bunny said. He tried to get up, but immediately got a terrible headache. Black spots clouded his vision. "Agh... drek..." he said, while quickly sitting down again.
He looked at Mariam. "Can you help me get in the front seat?"
"Yeah, sure." She replied quickly. Oddly enough, she seemed more at ease with the whole situation now than before the Ork attacked. She might just have been more comfortable seeing Bunny without the sunglasses though.

As he got out of the van, he saw the arm lying on the floor.
"Can anybody take a blood sample of that? It might give us some more information about what the hell that thing was."

Agh, stop thinking dammit. You're only making this fragging headache worse than it already is.

A bit later, he reached the door of the driver's seat, and with Mariam's help, he got in. He immediately grabbed the rigger plugs with his still usable left arm and plugged them in.
The computer immediately did its routine scan, and gave a warning message.

"Concentration levels below acceptable."

No kidding Bunny thought.

"Probable cause: headache."
"Do you wish to apply chemical compensation measures?"

Bunny accepted the request, and felt his headache flow away only seconds after the MicroBullet System injected the painkiller/neuro-stim drug in his neck.

"Aah... much better." Mariam heard the roughly synthesyzed voice of Bunny through the van's speakers. Bunny opened his eyes, and unplugged.
He looked at Mariam, and then at his broken arm.

He sighed. "Now what?"

"Wrightman's still out." Mariam said. "I'd better check how she's doing."
"Hm."
Bunny got out of the van, holding his right arm to make sure it wouldn't move too much. He walked back to the van's side door, and saw it was crumpled like cardboard at the spot the Ork had been holding on to.
"Ah drek. That'll cost me... I just hope the door still closes."
He looked around as he saw Mariam dropping something in the van. It was the Ork's cut off arm.
"Eh... I said a blood sample."
"Ye got any medical equipment? I sure don't." Mariam said. "An' the arm's been burnt off; it doesn't bleed."
Bunny turned to Shatter. "Can't they track us on that? I mean... with magic..."

[CKW]

(apache, Oddman doesn't speak that way! He's not french froggie.)
"I was willing to do all the time, but that trigger happy Krasny started to shoot."
He said back to Dee.
Well, I had to do it. That maniac is dangerous.
"And now, be good runners and lower the weapons.If i knocked down Krasny, it was because he was getting on my nerves."
He messed his hair.
Oddman licked his lips, deciding what to say...
"Carmen... are you still there?"
Great, just great. The best ocassion i have to infiltrate back in Daisaka, and these guys HAVE to react that way. Hope they don't know tactical signals
(if it's OK with you, Wes. Oddman will try to get as close as Daisaka as possible, to gather more info)

[landry38]

Laura stepped from behind the bunny van, wearing her black gi, and conversed with Bunny, seeing he was coming to.

"Nice sleep?"

"Yeah, sure, if you wanna call it that." Bunny replied.

"All of you, listen up. Have any scanning tools, use them. We aren't out of the woods yet. That fragger inside, I lost him, he used some cloaking magic. Heat sensors, whatever, use them. Just be on guard."

"And are any of you an expert at healing? Wrightman could use a little."

[LeFire]

"The arm's safe. I stabbed it with Neutraliser to make sure. Any tracking spell inside would be broken by now."

Shatter replied to Bunny as he pulled out his blade. Placing the honed edge against a vein near the hand, the Spellbreaker allowed blood that had not been damaged by the laser to drip into a something he pulled out of his jacket.

"What's that?" Miriam asked, indicating the container.

"Condom. Standard practice for soldiers to carry a few. Not just for the purpose it was designed for, mind... the unscented ones also comes in useful as emergency water containers, sterile finger gloves, gun barrel water-plugs. Get one of those extra safe ones designed for Orks and Trolls and nothing short of a blade or a bullet will burst it" Shatter said as he tied up the little rubber bag.

"Wrightmann should know how to run a blood analysis on this thing. And Kelvin might be able to sense its astral signature. Don't ask me to do the second bit... I'm a Spellbreaker, not a mage or shaman. So no astral sensing ability for me."

[Nyerguds]

"All right then." Bunny said. "Mariam, take care of Wrightman. Laura, Bonny, Clyde... get in there with them. Shatter... get on the passenger's seat. We're getting out of here before our invisible 'friend' returns."

He plugged in, and closed the side door. As expected he got some error about the door not locking in completely, but he ignored that for now. It was closed, and that was enough.
He checked the camera's, both inside and outside the van. He didn't see any Ork matching Laura's description. He started the engine, and drove off.

In the end, taking the other Ork's arm didn't seem like such a bad idea after all. Bunny highly doubted they'd find any cyberware in it... these things seemed to be some kind of vampires or something... he'd never forget these red eyes.
"Say, Shatter... " Bunny's synthesized voice came out of the speakers. "That Ork... he seemed, like, possessed or something. Not that I know much of magic, but I thought demonic possessions were just an urban legend, right?"
"I have no idea... we'll have to ask Kelvin about that too. But urban legends usually contain more truth than people would think."
"Heh, I dunno." Bunny replied through the speakers. "There's one in the Ork district, about some giant green bat. But don't expect me to believe that... these Orks make up loads of scary things. Probably to keep people like me away from there."

[Artificial Idiot]

Wrightman's eyes slowly opened. She never had been one to sleep on the job. At first, things were a blur. And her ears picked up the faint sound of a young girl telling her not to strain herself, or something along those lines.
At first, she was blissfully ignorant of what had just taken place, but then it all came rushing back. The pain, the Ork, Svetlana and...

"DAISAKA!" Wrightman shot up from her postion, but then the strain on her arm pulled her back, and she soon slumped back down. "Laura! Have you told them everything?"

"No, not yet."

"Daisaka! They have somebody inside Daisaka! And Lydia's boyfriend! He killed her! Svetlana was in on it too, it's almost like some kind of...."

"Cult?" Bunny suggested over the Van's microphone.

"Bunny! You're ok!" Wrightman exclaimed.

"No thanks to you."

"I know, I'm so sorry. But can we talk about this later?"

"Sure, I want to yell at you in person anyway."

"As I was saying, Svetlana was in on it. But when she blurted out who murdered Lydia, this... thing killed her. It was inhuman."

"Yes, we had another one down here." Shatter stated.

"The one you put in the van." Bunny put in.

"Bunny, it didn't bite you, did it?" Wrightman asked.

"Nope. Just broke my arm and tossed me around like a rag doll."

"Well, when I was bitten... I felt like a part of me had..." She paused for a moment. "Died. Like it had sucked the very soul out of it something. Those things aren't normal! And if they have somebody inside Daisaka..."

"Ok, ok. Calm down. We'll get Zero to have a look at the wound, just in case. But in the meantime, can you run a blood analysis on this?" Shatter held what looked like some kind of defalted balloon over her face.

"What is that?"

"Condom."

"Oh. Well, I can't do it personally, but I have contacts who ca..." As she turned to face Shatter, she saw her wrapped up wound. "You son of a slitch! Is that my trench coat? You ripped my trench coat?"

"Would you have rather bled to death?"

"Don't you carry bandages or something?"

"Nope. Just condoms. MUNDI took my med-kit from me."

"Anyway, I know a doctor of sorts, she works for the corps. I can contact her if you like..." She bit her lip. "But I don't want to get her into any trouble."

[Wesforce]

Oddman held his hands high and walked across the road, taking his coat off and twirling slowly to show Carmen he was unarmed.

'Good, good, come over here. Heh. We'll be freinds again. LIKE LAST TIME!' Said Carmen. And then she dropped her sweetness for a second and added in a low dangerous tone.
'And no, you should know its always black military-issue for me, fragger.'

Oddman was now in the road directly in the middle of both camps - The 'runners looking down from Monica's dingy flat's one window (with Krazny in a heap near the entryay to the apartment block) on one side and the itchy trigger-fingered Daisaka boys and girls (with Mandy) on the other side.

'One thing, mon petit' Said Oddman. 'Can't you let the girl go? She's pretty, and I can;t let anyone pretty die without at least trying to ave sex with them first.'

'Sure, okay!.' Said Carmen, still with her foot on Mandy's neck.

BANG!

The pistol shot split the air - People gasped on both sides. Camren grinned maniacally.

Then laughed.

'Only joking. You '- She told Mandy. 'Frag off.'

She gave the Dis-armed rigger a gentle kick in the ass to get her on her way.

Oddman walked forward slwoly once more, eager to end the delicate stand-off...

***

Frag it all Thought Irving Drakenevov, AKA Dragon. His autonav was having merry hell getting him around the twisted and crumbling streets of the Volkestadt slums, sop he had to do all the driving by hand. He was on some petty errand for some slag-ette calling herself Johnson (don't they all?) and here he was in the worst part of town.

He glanced at his watch - Almost 4:30 pm - He was going to miss Killing for Credit$ if he didn't hurry up.

Time to floor it! He grinned. No rent-a-cop patrols around here!

The electric engine whined and the car achieved it's maximum 35 Miles per hour on these non-power-rigged roads.

He spotted an armoured Daisaka HRT wagon.

Hey! Those frag-suckers aren't supposed to be here!

He only had a split second to see the look on the face of the fragger in a hat, with a trenchcoat in one hand, as he was bounced off the bubblecar, shattering the canopy. Then all hell broke loose.

***

'Get 'em!' Dee yelled - Noting Mandy jumping into a heavy dumpster by the Daisaka side of the road. Hopefully she'd be safe in there.

Things weren't good - Oddman had been bumped and thrown about twenty feet by the fragger in the bubblecar. Said Bubblecar got filled full of shotgun-holes a split second later. The Crazy slitch leading the Daisaka team kept screaming out loud orders to fire. Krazny was out behind a car, out of the line of fire, but he was dragging himself to his feet.

Deadwood ducked behind his window as the Daisaka troops truned their attention to the house - The bubblecar was in pieces now, but the occupant looked safe thanks to his KrashKage(tm) Crash foam system that had immediately filled the car in thick-setting foam.

Deadwood took out his guns - Shotgun in one arm (the cyber one) and SMG in the other, just artifical-muscled arm, and rose.

He let off a long burst with the SMG that had three of the Daisaka men ducking behind their wrecked car, punctuated by two quick smartgun-aimed shots from the shotgun that shredded it's battery cell, leaking fluid over the pavement.

Thwip!

Deadwood had already hit the floor by the time the Sniper's bullet hit the wall behind him - But even his wired reflexes wouldn't have saved him were it on target.

'Watch out ja? Der Sniper!' He called.

'Got it' Said Dee.

'YAR COME ON LAD LET'S SET OUR HAIR ON FIRE!!!' Yelled Norbert, taking a molotov coaktail out of his jacket and running for the flat's door.

He opened the door - Three Daisaka men were charging up the stairs from an adjoining flat - Another team had been using the time Oddman took talking to get in behind the 'runners!

He lobbed the molotov at the assault team - Who started screaming. He ignited the petrol by throwing his custom Crimson Wheelz zippo (made before the invention of self-lighting Napalm Filter cigarettes) down the stairs. Then the Daisaka men really started screaming.

Flames licked up as Norbert slammed the door on the human torches. He realised he'd just trapped the 'runners in a burning building.

'NOW WE'RE REALLY FRAGGED! TEE HEE YO HAR.'

'Thanks for the info!' Winked Kelvin.

[VO]

Clyde held up something, and gestured to the others The others turned to see what it was, and observed the goblin holding up large and dirty plastic goggles that could have covered his small face.

"Night vision", muttered the goblin, waving the headgear. "Don't tell me that none of you have anything else that's capable of seing that thing - if it's magical invisibility, we should be able to spot it with this, so anyone outside the van should make sure they're at least with someone who can see whatever that ork you saw is." Bonnie nodded in agreement. "We have two pairs, but it would help if anyone else has something like thermo-imagers."

[KrasnyOktyabr]

Done with Comrade Wes's permission.

Krasny pulled himself up towards the Hummvee, he was enraged, barely feeling the pain of what he had gone through. Reaching into his trenchcoat he pulled out a small explosive, anti-personelle, it would do the job. He timed prepped its cheap timer for 30 seconds then threw it in the direction of the Daisaka people. The explosion seemed almost feighnt next to the crackling of gunfire. With that done he moved away from the truck, little by little gaining his energy. He raced towards the building, but then he spotted something.

Towards the corner of his eye he saw Oddman, laying crumpled on the ground. Determined, Krasny ran low to avoid detection. The elf was hurt, poor little slitch, but soon it would all end. The Russian stood up and pulled out his Baretta. Grabbing the buggar by the neck he dragged him off the ground.

"Suka!"

With that Krasny put two round in quick succession right into Oddman's face.

[CKW]

(odd :(, What the hell was roaming your mind wes? You do realize oddman was an hilarious char? And Besides, No warning for me? How disappointing.)

(GM: I told you earlier I wasn't going to pull miracles to keep Oddman alive, and you seemed to be itching to ditch him and use Jewel instead, so meh.)

[Desolator12]

"Frag frag frag..." said Dragon. Normally the limp body lying on the ground would make him happy, but his tinted bubble canopy was shattered to bits, and the tinting cost him quite a bundle...
Dragon, quickly, gathered his equimpent up, donning the black assassin garb, and grabbing his Dragons Claws, with one of them rigged with a sword shocker. The Datsaika could wait. Where there was a fire, there was death and the sound of screams that fed his insanity. utilizing the small, suction cup-like microspheres on his hands, he began the ascent, weapons sheathed. "This will be fun..."

[Master Chris]

"I'm afraid I may not be entirely capable of dealing with this inferno."

Kelvin commented, his hands on his hips, eyeing the door before him. Kelvin turned to Norbert and continued:

"Are you pleased with yourself?"

Norbert grinned and replied:

"DEAD, DEAD, ALL DEAD...HEE HEE HAR HAR HO HO!"

Norbert then opened the door again and watched as the HRT soldiers twitched their last and surrendered themselves to the flame. Once they stopped moving Norbert slammed the door shut and giggled. Kelvin strode forth, opened the door and began to concentrate. However, after his exhausting previous efforts he found himself struggling to extinguish the flames.

"All I can do is hold it back, even then not for very long."

[landry38]

"Night vision. I sure don't have it. That's why I told you guys." replied Laura. "If you guys don't have anything, be on the lookout for walking puddles of blood. That would be the only other way to see him. And frag, can someone fix Wrightman?"

[Desolator12]

Reaching the window, Dragon, sitting there, enjoying the screams and yells coming from somewhere else, saw two people immediately. One, who looked almost as insane as Dragon was...ALMOST... and another who seemed to be some type of a mage. The mage was, apparently, trying to quelch the flames. "Fool..." thought Dragon,"...With those kinds of flames, you'd need to dump the whole fraggin city resivoir to quelch them..."

"All I can do is hold it back, even then not for very long." said the mage-type person. Dragon just stood there, as he knew it was neigh impossible they'd be able to hold out for long, and they too would then succumb to their fiery deaths that awaited them... Dragon just smiled... "bliss..."

[Wesforce]

'The... Bastard.' Said Carmen, seeing the man in the greatcoat putting two bullets through Oddman's face.

'Those bastards... she corrected herself, seeing a human torch tumble down the building's stairs and out the front door - The man in black turned and was about to riddle the corpse with an AK97 he carried. But the just let the HRT man burn.

'Uptown 1 -Take him down with one shot!' She gasped - This to her subdermal mike, keyed in on her HRT team's frequency.

'It will be done.'

A slight moment as the sniper adjusted his aim, and-

*Thwip*

The man in black toppled.

'Now get the fragger who's climing the wall on suction pads!'

Meanwhile she and the rest of her troopers behind the car carried on their fusilade at the Bubblecar - All its wheels were off now, and it was unrecognisable as anything but a pile of scrap plastic and plasteel.

A considerable volume of fire was coming from the crime-scene flat's window still - More proof that Sturmfuhrer Holliday's team had failed. She pulled her SMG70 and fired itno the window, pockmarking the side of the building wioth 20 riounds in quick succession - Her other men with SMGs and Autoshotguns did the same.

'Keep them pinned down!' She said, breaking cover. First she got on her mike again:

'Holliday! Where's our backup?'

The Dwarf team leader, Spencer Holliday, replied:

'Johnson's 1 minute 30 seconds out. Don;t worry, we can take them. HAR HE HO HARRR!'

Carmen ran - Her target: The dumpster where that slut was hiding. It was her fault Oddman had been killde - Carmen fingered a grenade from her combat-webbing: It would give the bubblegum slut some company in there...

***

Krazny groaned in pain, seeing his own red, red blood on the pavement. Some bastard had shot him - Through the abdomen. It felt like a Trogg had kicked him in the pelvis. But the exhiliration he had at killing that fragger kept him going - He had been able to drag himself across the pavement behind the Humvee, just in front of the building and a large manhole, leaving a bloody trail in his wake. The stench of burning - Burning plastic and human flesh from the HRT man nearby, as well as the blaze in the building - Filled his nostrils.

***

Deadwood ran past the window, letting off a split-second jagged burst and a blast from his shotgun on the way - Covering the HRT men behind their car in burning battery fluid. They screamed and put their hands to their goggles, or tried to strip off their smouldering armour.

Then Dee popped up and let off another covering burst

Smoke was billowing up into the room by now - The building was taking hold quite fiercely - Now most of the ground floor was ablaze. Smoke and flame drifted up past the window making seeing difficult. But still Dee saw the woman running to the dumpster.

'Where's Norbert?' Deadwood called.

'Went out down the stairs.' Said Kelvin sombrely. They heard his voice.

'HO HO HAR HE - YARRRGGGHHHH!'

'Looks like the only way out is the window then!'

***

Almost at the window, part-obscured by the smoke and flame, Dragon felt right at home. He was almost at his target destination, too, ready to avenge his car's canopy (he hoped it wasn;t damaged too badly).

But wait! What's this? Three Daisaka HRT men with SMG70s had appeared on the roof - And had set up rappelling lines that would take them to the Window also!

***

Also in the Volkestadt slums, 'Jewell' sat alone in her apartment. Bits of rubbish strewn all over the floor made the place seem like home, her own little urban den.

But it wasn't a proper home - This was the cuty, no place for a country animal like herself. However, the countryside being highly toxic these days agreed with her even less. So here she stayed: Among the filthy, ignorant humans - Dumb, instinctless creatures who believed their technology could help them where they'd let their animal instincts fall into non-existance.

Three of those humans were appraching the door to her den now - They thought she couldn't hear them, smell them, or with her astral perception, see the filthy, bloodthirsty emotions in their auras.

There was a knock at the door.

'Like, hi, we're um, neighbours, you know. Got any soy kaf? We're - hehe - out at the moment.'

A metallic 'click' sound came from the other side of the door. She smelled the chemical tang of cheap explosives.

Jewel quickly looked around: She had one window, just about big enough for her Wolf form to fit through, a large cupboard, a ratty sofa and large piles of ripped up paper and trash to make use of...

[Desolator12]

"today just is my day...not only do I get to watch a barbeque, but I get some HRT hor'douvres to start the fun." thought Dragon, happily. His best bet was to get inside the building. there, he could hide behind a wall and as soon as those fraggers gained enterance VIA the window, the mettalic smell of blood would mingle with the smell of burning flesh. The fire would play hell with their thermals, so he believed he ought to be somewhat safe behind the wall. Just has he jumped into the window, in his normal fashon of enterance, a rifle report sounded, and a bullet impacted on the side of the wall. "frag... soon as I get the dough, I'm gettin some long-range weapons training... and then I'll get my money back from my teacher" though Dragon, with a wry grin on his face. He also noticed a few more people in the room with him... all seemed either worried or pissed. Although nobody knew who he was, he was a small bit worried himself... as much as he liked fire, if it got hot enough the building would collapse... no way for an assassin to die... that, ahd the fact that pretty juch everybody in the room had somewhat of a ranged weapon with them. He had no intention to hurt them, at the time... and to give them a heads up, he somewhat yelled to them, while pointing up and outside, "HRTs...get cover now!"

[Wesforce]

The Bunnyvan pulled off uncertainly: High on stimulants, Bunny was safe from the worst of the pain. Rigging in helped him get over the worst of it too: He was able to leave his human body behind at least for a time.

'We'd better get out of here!' Said his voice on the intercom, sounding amazingly chipper for Bunny's condition. But he was right: GM security were starting to secure the area and find out what the frag had just happened... And the 'runners needed medical attention for several of their number.

Bunny rolled off, with his charges comfortably trigger-happy in the back. He consulted his autonav.

The IWS Metro might be good for gun accessories and survival gear - Oncludign goggles. But discount suturing was a relatively cheap "no questions" kind of street clinic, which had something of a deal with the Kreutz Cyberware establishment...

[Nyerguds]

Bunny wasn't sure what to do... they had to get Wrightman to the hospital ASAP, that was certain. And his arm had to be taken care of too, of course. Even though that didn't seem so urgent when he was in his rigger state, he kept reminding himself of that fact. Without his nerves sending pain to his conscious mind all the time, it was so easy to forget...
Personally, he felt relatively safe, since he could see magically invisible stuff with his camera's. But if that thing would follow them, they could have a fight in the street clinic... where he wouldn't have the comfort of his van's rig. Not that Discount Suturing wasn't equipped to deal with violence, but they wouldn't be prepared for this. If there would be a fight, they'd need the goggles first.

"How's Wrightman doing?" he asked the 'runners.
"She's missin' a piece of her arm, gruddammit!" Mariam said. Bunny thought she started sounding more and more like her brother.

No time to shop then. Dammit.

Hoping the hospital would have wands against invisibility spells, he planned out a route of the most probable GM roadblocks, and plotted a route around them and then west, to the street clinic.

[Apache_Longbow]

Dee strafed passed the window, letting his trigger finger do all the talking for the moment. They were in some deep ****, and it was only going to get wors-

Out of the corner of his eye, through the dense smoke and the blurred air where the fire had heated it up, he saw Oddmans old friend, the Carmen lady, running otwards the dumpster. With a grenade. Oh frag. Mandy...

He didn't think rationally after that. In fact, it was almost like he wasn't thining at all. He just knew he had to save Mandy.

He ran towards the window, got to the edge, and looked around. He saw ropes hanging down from the roof, with HRT soldiers coming down. It didn't matter that they were there though. He had to get to the ground, and had to do anything in order to. He slung the strap of his submachine gun around his right shoulder and leaped out of the window. His nimble hands quickly got hold of the nearest rope, and he began to rappel down towards the ground. He hit the ground with a thud, and turned towards the dumpster. As he caught his first glimpse, he saw Carmen lob the grenade into the air.

Dee acted out of instict next. He grabbed his submachine gun and just let loose, emptying the entire clip into the air on fully automatic mode, hoping the one of the projectiles would catch the grenade before it caught Mandy. He watched as it reached the top of it's arc and began to descend.

Frag frag frag. I missed.

Then the grenade suddenly exploded in a flash of brilliant light. Dee covered up his face as dust flew by and the heat from the explosion prickled his arms. The light subsided, and Dee brought the gun back up. Now to take out HRT's leader, he thought as he clicked the gun into three-round burst mode and aimed at the woman's head. She shifted her gaze towards Dee, saw what was happening, and decided to retaliate. She directed the barrel of her firearm in Dee's direction and slammed on the trigger. Dee unleashed one round before dropping to the ground to avoid her salvo.

When he looked back up, she was on the ground swimming in a pool of blood, and their were three bullet holes in the wall behind him just inches from where his head had been.

[CKW]

(Wes, I assume that Jewel's home is on the ground level, lacking any information of where it is placed,judging that animals don't like high places, and that is safe to jump out the window to street. If you say such place was in a higher level, i'll edit this post.)

Jewel's mind thought fast. Following the instict. SHe withdrew herself to wolf form, and ran fast.
Wristphone. Could be useful to call for help
She grabbed the device with her mouth as she leapt through the window, to safety.

[Wesforce]

Deadwood saw Dee jump from the window and at first thought the younger 'runner was making a break for it.

Fair enough he thought stoically. Every man for himself and all that. He ran for the window ledge himself - Then darted back, slinging both his weapons and taking Kelvin in a firm underarm grip, taking the Mage with him. His Dog-taught loyalty to his comrades wouldn't let him just leave one of his own behind, even though he'd only knowwn Mr Zero for a few hours.

Bit late for that I'm afraid, you pus-brained shaved ape.

Gunfire rattled outside, people screaming. A grenade went crump somewhere.

'Nooooo!' Yelled Kelvin as Deadwood ran headlong for the smoke-shrouded window, and jumped.

Smoke. Flames. Heat. A metal storm of gunfire. He saw the hanging ropes at just that last minute - And thanks to his highly-juiced reflexes, caught one.

SMACK!

Heavily booted feet came down on his back and shoulder - Kelvin dropped to the ground like a stone, landing heavily - Deadwood followed a moment later, his Cyberarm hitting the ground first with a jarring clang that sent megajoules of pain shooting up through the arm's anchor-point in his shoulder. He strangled a scream - And then the HRT man who'd hit him while rappelling down also fell, shocked from the impact.

Deadwood's shotgun leapt to his hand and he double-tapped the thick-set, armoured man with two point-blank range shotblasts that left even his augmented muscles groaning in pain.

The HRT trooper was thrown back. Behind him, Deadwood saw Krazny clutching his Pelvis, down by the Humvee. A crumpled heap in a trenchcoat a bit further on marked the sad end of Oddman.

Frag frag FRAG!

He'd done it again! Lost another teammate!

His depressive thoughts were brushed aside for a moment - A HRT Dwarf was screaming in anger from the top of the blazing apartment block, waving an Autoshotgun wildly in rage.

'CARMEN!!!! NOOOO!!! YOU BASTARDS!!!'

Deadwood fired again and took a chunk of the ledge out The Dwarf barely flinched, but didn't rappel down just yet.

'Deadwood!' Called Dee. 'Mandy's over there in the dumpster!' Deadwood followed Dee's pointing finger, and saw a dumpster just past the thrashing, bloody, once-alluring Daisaka team leader. 'We can't drive the Hummer without her!'

Deadwood spotted the Manhole cover that Krazny lay near. If he could wrench that up, use it as some sort of shield against the fire from the Daisaka men on the other side of the street....

But the Daisaka sniper and the mysterious man that had just entered Monica's blazing flat had other ideas about that.

***

The Bunnyvan made good time and managed to avoid the roadblocks - Confused, GM security were slow and inefficiant at putting them up, and when they did, ran afoul of a Daisaka street patrol.

A nail-bitingly tense, cautious yet hasty ride across this skyroads sector of the FEZ and down into the Volkestadt slums drew the Bunnyvan up alongside Discount Suturing. Typically for this part of town, a localised war seemed to be happening just a few streets away, complete with towering pillars of smoke, automatic gunfire, and an approaching Daisaka Tilt-wing.

Odd for those sons of slitches to be in this part of town. Looks like we got here at the just the right time, too - The casualties will start flooding in anytime. Assuming they can afford treatment. Bunny sneered.

Discount suturing advertsised its name and profession by dint of a bullet-riddled plasterboard sign. The buzzing of flies and smell of rotting flesh and outdated disinfectant told him the Doctor was in.

A Dwarf of indeterminate Gender behind a grubby desk barely cast an eye at the wary 'runners who clustered in, weapons drawn. He or she wiped his or her soy-greasy hands on his or her age white coat.

'Ho ho, more customers. TEE HEE HAR!' Said the Dwarf, before his (or her?) features collpased into a frown.

'Ya been huntin' Dragons or zummat? Those odd-lookin' scratches that slitch there has got will cost ya extra.' He said, nodding at Wrightman.

'Please tell me this place is warded.' Snarled Shatter.

The Dwarf shook his or her head, muttering something about 'Expect they'll want a fraggin' jam sponge next...'

***

No sooner had Jewel leapt throught he window, a concussive blast tore through her rat-infested drekhole of a flat.

The random grunts and snarls made by the hairless ape fraggers chasing her emanated from the open window.

'Frag it! FRAG IT!'

A stuttering burst of autofire - Some chiphead idiot was obvioudly shooting her place up with his machine-pistol in frustration.

'Oi! The fraggin' Window!'

But by now Jewel was far away. Random hobo's and street filth backed away in sudden fright at something so rare as a wild animal with a wristphone in it's mouth. Soon Jewel had found some dark, dank and damp alley filled with rotting cardboard a a corpse or two to be alone in. She was certain she'd lost her would-be hunters.

[LeFire]

Shatter's attention wandered away as the dwarf took care of Bunny and Wrightmann. He soon found himself near a blaring TV set left in the filthy waiting room. The sound was a mish-mash of static and crackles, but the picture was easy to enough to see.

Shatter glanced away, then upruptly turned back.

The TV networks had typically zoomed in on violence like vultures to carrion... On the screen was a splayed corpse, its head a mess of red thanks to media-enhanced gore effects. Across the top was a garish logo... "Runners engage Daisaka forces in HUGE battle. Live!"

"Oh frag." Shatter said as he recognised the trenchcoat... The corpse was Oddman.

***

Shatter hurriedly slapped a credstick into the grinning cab driver's hand. The run was becoming big... and big runs called for big risks. Shatter made a decision, leaving Laura and Clyde to defend the other two for an emergency run via cab back to his place alone.

***

Back at his place, Shatter pulled out two bulky carry cases from under the bed, blowing off the dust as he popped the locks. He heaved the cover of the first one open, breaking open a previously sealed window back into his past life.

The mirrored faceplate of a MUNDI Special Forces Full Battle Armour stared back in his face, his callsign stenciled lovingly into the brim of the black helmet in small print. His title was there beside his codename... "SF Spellbreaker" along with a graphic of a guantleted fist shattering a lightning bolt in its powerful grasp. It was like seeing an old aquaintance again... Shatter allowed himself a second of reflection, before his urgency to save his friends took over as he rushed out of the door again and hailed a cab back to the runner hospital.

***

Back in the hospital after a heart-achingly large cab fee, Shatter solemnly lowered the mirrored faceplate, the vision panel for the armour's integrated thermovision gear fitting comfortably over his eyes. Clamps secured a extended shield to the forearm gun on his left arm, allowing Shatter to stop even rifle rounds and deflect heavier stuff. Fighting with full battle armour was radically different from fighting without it. While the Spellbreaker would use his sword to deflect blows as well as rely on agility to evade enemy attacks during a non-armoured state, Shatter would have to rely more on his shield and heavily armoured shoulder pauldrons to stop blows when armoured.

He flexed his gauntlets, armoured ceramic composite clicking with machined precision.

Shatter was pulling out the stops.

(Note to GM: Since his place and the hospital are close by in the slums, this post should be ok right?)

[CKW]

BTL filled metacrap storming on my den. How irritating...
Jewel stood in the quickly made hideout.
They don't worth it, my cub. They soon will be gone
It was her shaman guide. An spirit wolf.
Why is that?
They are nothing but hired cheap crap. They have no patience for wolf-hunting at all.
Jewel whimpered. The Wristphone fell soundlessly to the ground.
Why, what have i done?
I ignore it. I only can think of people who hired these cheap druggies were after you, for some reason.
Jewel closed her eyes. She could hear the humming sounds of the crowds a bit far away. She even could hear each conversation...
"We lost her."
It was one of the goons. They were heading towards the other side of the street, hence out of her flat.

They are gone.
Jewel grabbed the wristphone, and ran fast, not wanting to get advertised by the goons, and sneaked inside the flat, via the window she had used earlier.

The flat was clear, as far as Jewel could sense... and for a wolf with astral sense, few things were missing to check, by human standards. It was safe to regain her human form.

No soon after it, she noticed a few BTL used chips. And the scent for humanity... But that was crap, nothing harmful. The wolfwoman retrieved the credstick. Carefully hidden in the junk, the goons hadn't been able to get it.
She checked both it and the clothes. They also were useable.
No sooner she reached them she put them. Clothes were scarce. If it were for Jewel's criteria, she would go naked. But humans did have some taboo parts that needed to be hidden. The cotton top was a bit restricting, and lacking any bra, revealing too. At least the trousers were a bit comfortable, as they were long enough to only hide the underwear. Boots were also good, but nothing like walking with the bare feet. Finally the armless jacket. It wasn't neccesary, but she needed a place to put all the accesories people at least had, meaning the credstick. With a clipping sound, the wristphone was on place. Now she could pass off as a human, if a bit too much of a flirt.

Jewel sighed, and used the wristphone. Maybe Oddman, his only human friend could help her...

[Nyerguds]

"Just get 'er patched up."Bunny said. His arm was hurting like hell now he wasn't plugged in anymore. "We'll pay."
"Yo ho ho!" the dwarf said when she saw Mariam. "Here for another abortion, dear?"
Mariam 's face turned red. "Wha...?" She recovered quickly. "Oh, frag off old hag."
"Tee hee har! Some respect for the doctor!"

A bit later, the doctor was busy treating Wrightman's arm.
"For the record..." Mariam whispered to Bunny, mainly to distract him from the pain in his arm, "I've never been here before. And, before you ask... no, I got no idea whether that's a man or a woman either."
"You called 'him' a hag." Bunny replied.
"So? That'd be an insult anyhow."

She stood up and walked to Wrightman, who was patched up by now. "Feeling any better?" she asked.

The doctor looked at Bunny's arm, feeling the bones with greasy fingers. It hurt like hell, but Bunny could see the dwarf knew what he/she was doing.
"Ain't lookin' good... multiple fractures. Whaddaya do, fight a troll?"
"Something like that, yeah..." Bunny said, knowing the doctor really didn't care about knowing anything about it anyway.
"Well, that'll be some good ol' plaster for a few weeks!" Doc said, getting on with setting the bones. Bunny was glad the neuro-stim drug's calming effect hadn't completely worn off yet... the doctor didn't seem to have any sedatives for his patients besides some cheap vodka, and knowing he still had to drive, Bunny didn't really feel tempted to drink that stuff. His arm was enough... he didn't want the rest of him to get plastered too.

[LeFire]

The door to the operating theatre opened, revealing Shatter who stomped in wearing full armour, his faceplate raised for the benefit of his friends. Bunny gave a low whistle at seeing the MUNDI gear... It wasn't exactly something that one could buy at a black market. Shatter must be pretty riled up about something.

"Heads up people... Our other team is getting fragged over by Daisaka nearby in the slums. Oddman's dead, and by the extent of damage that I have seen inflicted to the surrounding buildings, the others would be as well if we don't help out. Afraid we have to get ourselves over there pronto." Shatter said.

[Nyerguds]

"No can do, soldier." Bunny replied. "No matter if I let this fragger finish I'm gonna get charged full price for this."
The dwarf grinned in reply.
"Seriously dude... this arm is in far worse condition than I've let it seem. If it doesn't get treated I won't be able to walk to my van. And if I manage to plug in I'll get the fragging BTL effect on me when I unplug."
He looked at the armor. "What are you doing scaring the crap out of everyone with that armor anyway?"
"That's not so bad." Shatter grinned. "It kept the fragged-up gangers from waiting a bit to go here to get treatment."

"Yo ho, seems like ye'r all patched up, aye!" the dwarf replied, putting the finishing touches on Bunny's cast. "Now, ah'd loik ta see ye cough up some nuyen 'ere!"
"Yeah, yeah..." Bunny said, plugging the unmarked credstick he'd gotten from Johnson in the counter. At this moment he didn't really care about the fact he was paying for Wrightman too... he could still arrange that with her personally, when they had some more time.

He saw the money on the display count down, and pulled the credstick out once it was done.
"All right." he said, while walking outside. "This is now officially a hot-spot rescue mission, people. Get in the van, and be ready for trouble."

[Wesforce]

Deadwood beckoned Dee over - Ducking under a hail of shotfire that shredded even further the decaying line of Bubblecars that were all that saved Deadwood, Krazny, Kelvin and Dee from certain death even further.

The Daisaka troops held fire for the moment, not able to see their targets - The troops on the opposite side of the road, that is.

The Dwarf team leader, Sturmfuhrer Spencer Holliday, was still enraged at seeing his long-time friend and colleague Carmen shot down in an air of finality. So much so he was now prepared to rappel right into the mouth of hell - The building the team's rappelling lines were set up on was now burning fiercely. What's more, the targets were moving. They were already out of the building.

'FIRE! HEE HEE HAR HAR!'

***

The three men on the roof opened up, firing directly down at the 'runners. Deadwood, Kelvin and Dee roled under the Humvee to try and escape the autoshotgun fire that sent pellets ricocheting around like mad things. Krazny was obscured from them for the moment by the bollowing smoke.

'Dee, I'm going to make a break for it!' Deadwood yelled. Lay some fire down on the opposite side of the road, ja? Krazny, if you can still shoot, cover the roof.'

Krazny grumbled. Deadwood looked at Kelvin - The poor Ice-Mage wasn;t having too good a time of it this run - Not one of his spells had come off successfully. Deadwood said nothing, he just hefted his acquired manhole cover. A rotten stench still issed from it and the hole he'd pulled it from. He had considered briefly jumping down into the sewers and trying to escape that way, but he wouldn't drag wounded 'runners down into that miasma, nor leave Mandy to the Daisaka Internal Affairs investigators.

Dee let off a burst from under the Humvee - Neatly aimed. A Daisaka man went down as a shot visibly sparked from his helmet. By the sounds of it Krazny was firing too.

By that time Deadwood was already up and running - Amazingly fast due to his wired reflexes and augmented muscles, and in relative safety thanks to the improvised, thick manhole-shield. Instinctively, several Daisaka men fired at it, aiming for the centre of mass.

***

Nice try, thought the Ice-cool Daisaka sniper, still unseen. Some of us are more considering about our shots though...

His smartgun link let him sync perfectly with his custom rifle. A ballistics computer add-on calculated exact windspeed and bullet-drop as well as calculating the sprinting man's exact path of movement, while respiratory control shut off the movement of his lungs and activated reserve oxygen canister's in his chest. The tight, precise grip of a custom cyberarm ensured a steady shot.

thwip

***

The bullet tore through Deadwood's left calf muscle - It wuld have been his head had the manhole not covered it from the sniper.

Said manhole dropped with a clang, and Deadwood tumbled end over end. He slipped, he slid, leaving a trail of blood - All the way to the cover of the dumpster where Mandy still sheltered.

Fighting back excruciating pain, Deadwood took a moment's respite - Just enough time to see the ice-path that had let him slide this far, out of the line of fire.

Gotta use this thing as mobile cover and get Mandy back to the Humvee to get us out of here... Dunno If I can push with this leg though...

***

Just metres from Krazny, the warbling of a wristphone issued out from Oddman's corpse, easily within reach...

At the same time, the fragging maniac Dwarf on top of the burning bulding was getting ready to rappel down.

***

'GO GO GO! HAR HAR!!!'

Holliday sent two human troopers first - Past the flames, past the smoke - Into the mouth of hell!

The plan was: They'd drop next to the two fraggers under the Humvee with flashbangs, and take them out very messily at close range. Spencer himself would drop straight after. The plan wasn't subtle but it would end this messy engagement quickly. Besides, the Dwarf always liked a good frontal assault.

However, he;d be dropping straight past the unseen Dragon.

***

The Bunnyvan rounded a trash-lined corner on two wheels - Flames filled the street dead ahead. A hovering camera-drone dodged the Bunnyvan on its approach, and a jeering mob of bystanders about to join the fight against the hated law-enforcers scattered to the buidlings.

'Looks like we got here just in time.' Said Bunny. 'This whole block's going to explode. These fraggers don't like Daisaka turning up on their turf!'

At exactly that moment a longcoated man ran across the road carrying a manhole cover. An unseen shot sent him tumbling to the ground...

'Agh, watch it!' Saiid Wrightman, being thrown from her seat. Her hand found something - Someone's Wristohone and extra memeory chip, It didn't look like any of the other runners Wristphones...

[Artificial Idiot]

"Well, well, what have we here." Wrightman slipped the chip into her computer, almost dropping it as the pain from her arm overtook her. It had stopped bleeding, but still hurt like hell. Information flashed up on the screen, but her eyes didn't adjust to it at first, she was still drowsey from the treatment. "Shatter, where did this come from?"
She dangled the phone in front of his face.

"It's off the Ork fragger that attacked the van."

"Did he have a chip too?"

"Not sure, I was in a pretty bad state at the time."

Wrightman nodded and got back to the screen. It was becoming clearer now, she could start to make out the details as her vision became more and more focused. Then, the Bunny Van jolted wildly.

"Making it really hard to concentrate here, guys!" She frowned as Laura passed the vidphone back to her, it having slipped out of her hand. She returned to the screen.

"Oh my...." She whispered almost voicelessly.

[Desolator12]

Dragon quickly peeped outside, noticing the sniper was concentrating on the ground(Oi'! 'm still in the fraggin building... eh, get out of there in a sec...) The insane dwarf was now coming down the building. "I'd like you, if you weren't my enemy fragger..." Dragon mumbled to himself. He quickly readied his Dragon Blades, turning on the sword-shocker... he only could have it running for a short time before it got too hot and burned his hands, so he had to be quick. Ducking under thelower part of the windowsill, Dragon had a small, although nice, view of anything deciding to rapell down, such as a Dwarf...
(I'd be nice if somebody were to acknowledge the existance of my character other than Wes, guys... it may be dark outside, but there's a building on fire and it's illuminating all kinds of fraggin ****)

[landry38]

"What is it?" asked Laura to Wrightman.

Before she could find out, she diverted her attention to the warzone. She noticed someone in a long trench coat take a bullet to his left leg.

"Frag, is that Deadwood?"

Laura noticed the entry angle of the wound. "Frag, guys, we have a sniper."

[Apache_Longbow]

Dee sat under the Humvee, sweat glistening on his brow and soaking him to the bone. The sweat was chilled, and it's strange feeling as it touched his skin at least diverted his mind from the white-knuckled fear that had gripped him tightly.

He suspended the fire of his weapon and saw out of the corner of his eye Dead wood falling to the ground. Frag. Just what we need, more injuries. Now he was in a bind. Dead wood wasn't capable of saving himself and getting to Mandy. So it was either Dee sit tight and Deadwood would decide to either save himself and forget about Mandy, or he would save Mandy and leave himself for dead. Losing Deadwood meant losing expierience and leadership, but losing Mandy meant they wouldn't be leaving anytime soon. Dee reflected upon his options, and scrambled up and away from the cover of the Humvee. I'll have to go and save Mandy, and let Deadwood get to safety on his own.

"Krasny," Dee shouted over the ear splitting cracks of gunfire and the rythmic crackling of the burning building. "Give me a couple bursts of cover fire, over by Mandy." The Russian nodded and fired a few shots in the general direction. Here we go again, Dee, he thought to himself as he stood up and ran.

Suddenly, three Dasaika soldiers appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, exploding through the thick smoke and ash littering the air. Two of them hand flashbangs at the ready, while another Dee recognized as the dwarf who was the newly designated leader of the assault. Their appearance happened so quickly that Dee couldn't stop, so instead he dove by them, turning around once he hit the ground so he could get off a few clear shots before he became swiss cheese-like in appearance, thanks to the Dasaika guns. He blasted the remainder of his clip in their direction, and thought he hit one before he slid far enough away that the smoke once again blocked his view.

Dee looked around. He was closer to the building now, but he didn't know exactly where. With the thick, murky air surrounding him on all sides, he couldn't recognize anything that would tell him his exact location. He swivled his head, searching his surroundings aimlessly, trying to find his way as he heard the screams of pain and gunshot blasts echo through the sky.

[LeFire]

"Get over to the dumpster!" Shatter yelled as he readied himself at the end of the van, snapping down his helmet. Bunny obliged, bringing the vehicle zig-zagging wildly across the tarmac to Deadwood's last position. One of the goblins -Bonnie or Clyde- had triggered smoke grenades mounted on the van's roof. While any decent sniper would have thermovision to defeat smoke, it would still play merry hell with the aim of any other Daisaka assault troops without them. Laura had given the sniper warning bare moments earlier... but Shatter was ready to deal with the problem.

The Bunnywagon slid to a halt next to the dumpster as Shatter threw the door open and jumped out, bringing up his shield as he did so.

CLANG!!!

The sniper rifle round glanced off the Spellbreaker's raised shield in a shower of sparks, jolting the heavily armoured soldier. Shatter could not fire back with his shield in defence position. However, the time that the sniper needed to reload was enough for Laura to step out behind the cover provided by Shatter to reach out to Deadwood and Mandy.

[VO]

Hanging by one arm from the handle on the roof which had triggered the smoke launchers (which he had installed himself on a previous meeting with Bunny), Bonnie dropped down next to his brother, who was already strapping on his backpack, and had the laser next to them on the floor, quickly warming up.

A shot clanged agaisnt Shatter's sheild, making everyone jump.

"Get out the front doors", Clyde said - "We can use the van as cover then!"

Hoisting the laser up between them, they climbed over the seats to the front.

[Desolator12]

"frag..." dragon had dozed off and now the dwarf was on the ground... "time to do this then..." he said, grabbing onto the rapelling line and quickly making his way to the ground. he snuck up behind the dwarf, Dragnos claws at the ready, one of which was getting hot...

[Wesforce]

Deadwood leaned past the dumpster and unleashed a fusilade of autofire and shotgun blasts at the Daisaka troopers while Laura jerked Mandy out of the dumpster and into the van in one swift motion that almost dislocated Mandy's arm but got her out of harm's way. Moments later she did the same for Deadwood, who slammed in a new ammo drum and let rip at the whole facade of the building he reckoned the sniper to be hiding in. He was screaming frenetically as Laua hauled him back by his shoulders - The moment he stopped firing another round slammed into - Through, actually, but then it fragmented harmlessly - Shatter's riot shield.

The Sniper, head down from the suppressive fire, had gotten his nerve back with professional swiftness. Maybe too much swiftness - He was revealed to Bonnie's Enhanced vision goggles - A third story flat window above a rundown old Regal Burgers boarded up with plasboard, only a building or two down the road.

***

Dee whirled - The Dwarf had appeared from the smoke with his two buddies. Goggles down, they appeared to be able to see through the smoke. The two to either side dropped to the ground throwing their flashbangs, while the Dwarf levelled his Brutal-looking, gyro-stabilized autoshotgun and chambered a round.

'Life's a bitch, humie-boy. YO HO HO HO HAR!!!!'

Twin concussive, blinding blasts knocked the air from Dee's lungs, slamming him first against the brick wall, then throwing him into the air, slamming back down again. He thought he heard the thunderous roar of dozens of shot-rounds on their way to tear his battered body to shreds, but he realised he had stopped hearing anything but that thunderous roar, or seeing the incredibly bright sunspots on his retinas from the flashbangs, even though he'd reflexively shut his eyes tight.

Then, slowly and painfully, his eyesight and hearing began to retuen...

***

Krazny had also been stunned by the flashbangs, but was further from the epicentre of the blasts. He dragged himself over to where he could see what was happening - Just in time to see a short, mis-shapen ugly fragger that had to be some kind of metahumn neatly disposing of the equally shorrt, ugly mis-shapen Daisaka Dwarf with the fragging autoshotgun who was moments away from shredding Dee.

'YO HO HAR H-URRRGGHKK!!!'

With a nauseating sizzle and the waft of burnt flesh, Spencer Holliday's head rolled and bounced on the floor, severed at the neck and alight from flame-red beard to bald scalp.

The two covering Daisaka men turned - One towards the mystery man, the other towards Krazny - Wondering how the hell he could have done that to their boss.

***

Jewel growled in frustration at the lack of response from the wristphone. She was only getting the message service right now.

She left a brief message, hung up and dialled Oddman's home number...

[landry38]

"Okay, now's my chance." Laura thought.

Laura dashed from the cover of Shatter to the dumpster, and clutched Mandy. In an almost cartoonish series of events, Laura threw Mandy into the Bunny van. She was safe. Then Laura ran to Deadwood, his leg bleeding profusely. She grabbed a hold of him by the shoulders. Deadwood locked in another clip and unloaded in the general direction of the sniper.

As Deadwood's firing ceased and he was loaded into the van, Laura asked Deadwood.

"Ya think ya got him?" Laura asked, referring to the sniper.

-ding-

"Nope," Laura thought

Shatter was hit with a round, but appeared to be unharmed, thanks to his ridiculous armor.

"Perhaps it does do some good," thought Laura.

Amongst the Hell that was outside, Laura got to itching for action. She grabbed her katana, and let everyone know her intentions. She was thirsty for battle. Laura spotted two Daisaka goons approaching the Bunny van in a sneak attack.

"Good," Laura thought, "This will get the blood flowing."

From what Laura could tell, one was a goblin, and the other seemed to be either a human or elf.

Laura sprinted toward the goblin and swiftly kicked him to the face. The goblin rolled back a couple of yards, and Laura drew her katana. The goblin stood up, dazed, only to have his head roll by a swift clean cut. The elf, realizing he was outmatched, decided to turn tail. When he saw Laura walking in the general direction he was going, he however decided to make a stand. Laura sprinted over, but however was floored by some invisible force, like an invisible brick wall.

Laura got up and wiped the blood from her nose and mouth. She realized the elf was gone and she was out in the middle.

Laura then realized in record speed thinking, "Damn, that was slick. I better get out of here."

Laura tried to make her way through the smoke back to the Bunny Van. A wandering stumble through the smoke made Laura comically bang her head into the van. "Frag it!!"

Laura was back in, "safe" for now.

[Apache_Longbow]

The bright spots faded, and Dee looked around in a dazed and confused, half-asleep state. Blood had sprinkled on his face and one of his arms, and the severed head of the dwarf leader that sat next to him explained why. On the ground in front of him, the two remaining Dasaika soldiers were looking in different directions, one at Krasny, the other at a man who Dee couldn't make out. Sound vibrations pierced through Dee's eardrums as Krasny let loose with his gun. One of the enemy men dropped to a heap, motionless and stained a deep burgundy all over. Krasny didn't even pay attentoin to the fresh corpse, though. He quickly turned to the other soldier and slammed on his trigger.

Click.

His magazine was empty, and he didn't have any extras. Krasny looked on in horror as the Dasaika trooper slapped the butt of his rifle into the face of the man in the shadows, knocking him out in a single blow. The man turned to Krasny. Krasny had no defense, he was a sitting duck. He was as good as dead.

****! thought Dee. The team couldn't afford to lose another man. Aching pains shot through Dee's body as he lifted his arm, grabbed his gun off of the ground where he had dropped it, and slammed on the trigger. A burst of fully automatic shots sprayed through the air and punched holes into the enemy. He screamed as he fell to the ground, writhing in pain for a few moments before he went completely still.

Dee looked at Krasny. He was frozen in shock for a moment, eyes wide, not believing what had just happened. He seemed to pull out of the shock after that, but Dee couldn't remember clearly. His aching, beat-down body slumped down to the ground as he blacked out and got some much-needed rest.

[LeFire]

Shatter now pulled back into the cover afforded by the van walls, after seeing that both Deadwood and Mandy were safe inside the vehicle. Fragments of the sniper rifle round that had hit him had scarred his heavy chest and shoulder armour plates, but no bodily harm had been done.

Looking over into the front compartment, he saw Bonnie and Clyde scramble into the front seats, the muzzle of their fiendish laser already pointing out and aiming at their target.

Looks like Mr. Sniper's about to get a little bit of a suntan.

The Spellbreaker's attention returned to the scene nearby... He spied the female Daisaka assault team leader curled up in a bloody heap. Her abdomen had been shot through, but the woman was still alive, moving weakly in the puddle of crimson.

We don't know nuts about what Daisaka has to do with the case. Looks like that woman's our best bet for info. That is, if she lives.

Shatter glanced back towards the forward compartment, willing the goblins to hurry up and shoot so that he could go out and retrieve the incapacitated Daisaka team leader immediately afterwards.

[KrasnyOktyabr]

The Daisaka man moved closer to Krasny, he was tall, definatly human. Or so it looked. It wasn't long until he was standing over the Russian, weapon pointed and ready to fire. At first Krasny froze, not quite sure if this was the end, but then came the adrenaline rush.

Krasny shot up, removing the auto-shotgun from his face with one arm and pummeling the soldier in the nuts with the other. The groan of pain turned into an almost girlish scream. With the soldier for the moment in shock, Krasny swiftly twisted the mans arm in a counter-clockwisemotion. There was a sudden snap and the Daisaka man dropped his gun.

The soldier never saw the light of day again.

With imminate danger out of the way the pain of being shot came back and hit Krasny like concrete. He stiffened up then crumpled into a ball, clutching his wounds.

[CKW]

"It's dead..."
The phone answered.
"Jewel, he's dead! I saw him on 3d TV, and it was him! he's dead!"
What the!? Oh, that's a shame. I liked that human. He could be tamed
Would you JUST SHUT UP!? HOW CAN YOU BE LIKE THAT IN THAT MOMENT!? HE'S dead!
A tear rolled down Jewel's eye. Human emotions. She was having human triggered emotions. Animals did have sorrow. But not in that kind of situations.
On the other side of the line, Oddman's sister had broke out in tears, and only gurgling sounds were heard.
"WHHHHY..!?"
She repeated over and over
Tch. You are getting too human, Jewel. Don't ever think about it. Don't go to help her.
Still... why not!? It's true humans have lost their instincts... but look! they still outnumber us, and I am pretty understanding why. In the past, they helped eachother, creating what they called "society".
Her spirit muttered. It had been outwitted by her pupil, and that didn't happen all days.
OK. Do what you want... but don't EVER think to forget what you truly are...
I never will
Jewel said to herself.
"He...sniff... went to the slums...and..."
Slums, eh? Might find something there of interest.Possibly the bastard that did it.
"Okay,I'll check there. And I will try to bring the assasin down."
The girl blinked.
"...About you, your brother had plenty of friends. I am sure someone will take care of you, you are not bad at all..."
Jewel grinned. But it wasn't enough to break the sorrow of the moment.

[Desolator12]

Dragon woke up with a searing headache and a large bump on his head... the datsaika fragger had hit him with his gun. His weapons were nearby, and dragon quickly grabbed them, and seeing that the enemy was now dead, Dragon sheathed his weapons. "Talk later, run now" Dragon said to krasny. "Where's the escape vehicle?"

[Wesforce]

'Where's Kelvin?' Asked Deadwood.

Everyone in earshot - Bunny and Shatter mainly - Looked at the ground. They'd forgotten about the beleagured Mage, wherever he was. The death-rattle of autofire resounded outside, along with the screams of the dead and dying.

'Last I saw was under the Humvee. I'll check-'

'No you fragging wrote. Snarled Wrightman. You're wounded. Besides, look at this!' She showed Deadwood the screen of her wristphone. His face contorted in anger.

'Scheisse! We have to get out of here, now!'

'Not without my Humvee!' Mandy said, darting for the rear-door. She was out before anyone could stop her, but Deadwood gave her some cover fire to keep the sniper's head down - And was saved again by the van and Shatter's shield.

***

'Where's the escape vehicle?' Snarled Drakenevov again. The human he was snarling too had the grim-set face of someone who'd rather have eaten a frag-grenade then give a Meta even the time of day.

The shriek of a human female behind him brought his attention - He almost decapitated the blonde, short - for a human - bitch there and then.

'Dee! We have to get up!'

Madness! Thought Drakenevov. Daisaka fraggers all around, more on the way, and she stops for a dead fragger like that?

But then he saw the human wasn't quite dead.

Another human crawled out from under the big military 4x4 - A flashy character in a dusty silver suit.

'The escape vehicle is here!' He said. He bent down to get the Big Russian and try to help him into the Humvee, but the skinny, smooth-skinned and weedy-looking woman was struggling with 'Dee', who she seemed emotionally attached too.

'Help them two and we may just let you tag along!' The silver-suited guy shouted.

***

Deadwood looked aghast at the info.

'Frag it! Why couldn't we have seen this sooner?'

'Look, just what the frag is on that chip?' Bunny all-but-screamed, over the van intercom. He was irritated and raring to get the frag out of here - He was hearing the engine's of a tilt-wing almost on top of them - Not to mention the gangers lining up either end of the alley, waiting to get their pop at Daisaka.

'The name and address - Of a young, single, female human - North of here. The fragger who owned this chip was meant to meet his buddies there this evening. 5:00pm.'

'Yeah' said Deadwood. 'And it's 4:47 now...'

[Desolator12]

Dragon looked toward the silver-suited guy and nodded. Quickly, he ran over to help get the human into the vehicle.

*thank God for bionics* thought Dragon. Normally he wouldn't be able to even budge the human, but enhanced reflexes and strengh helps out a big bunch. Carrying the human into the Military vehicle, Dragon put down his end of the body and checked the wound.

Quickly, dragon said to the Silver-suited man, "As much as I like death, I can't help but think you actually like this person. I'm gonna need some tape and a hell-uva lotta gause."

[LeFire]

Shatter spotted Krazny, Kelvin and some other new guy with twin blades (Dragon) making it to the Humvee. Turning around, he switched to thermovision to try and pick out any other members among the runners who had been left behind. The Spellbreaker soon spotted Mandy trying to haul Dee to his feet.

Running over, he got there just in time to see two Daisaka come looming out of the smoke. One had a riot prod extended and aimed at Mandy, the other had a shotgun and was covering him.

Shatter yelled to get their attention as he came running in. The shotgun crashed, but the Spellbreaker took it on his shield. Running past, he brought Neutraliser cleaving down in a powerful swipe that removed the man's firing arm. The other policeman lunged at him with his prod, but Shatter ducked and brought the edge of his heavy shield crashing across the elf's helmet with a deafening clang. He dazed elf sat down on his rump, eyes unfocused.
The shotgun bearer was screaming, blood fountaining out of his missing arm. But Shatter put him out of his misery with a violent thrust through the human's visor. He finished off with a kick delivered in an armoured boot to the elf's face, mashing his features and knocking him out.

Breathless from combat, the Spellbreaker shoved Neutraliser back into the scabbard-wincing at the thought of having to clean the blade later, grabbed Dee under one arm while Mandy got the other, dragging him towards the Humvee. From the van came a loud whining sound, followed by a sound of a energy capacitor discharging... the goblins had fired at the sniper.

Hope that gets the fragger. Shatter thought.

Mashing the 'last number called' button of his wristphone against his faceshield, Shatter screamed into the thing, yelling at Wrightmann to tell Bunny to 'get the hell out of here'. The Humvee would follow immediately afterwards.

[Wesforce]

'Doesn't need to tell me twice.' Grumbled Bunny - The BunnyVan's engine roared in anger, tyres screeching deafeningly - Then he popped the handbrake and the Van blasted forward leaving the smoke cycloning behind him.

'Hold on!' He said, unnecessarily as it turned out, because everyone had been thrown over in the back already. A huge crash resounded as the Bunnyvan blasted through a barricade made of rotting Bubblecars hauled into place and lit - Burning debris rained all around, careening off Bunny's windshield. He felt the heat on the vehicle like it was his skin.

'Frag it... Going to have to wax her again now... He thought.

Bullets ripped across his windshield leaving web-patterned hits in the glass - Which didn't shatter.

Everyone onboard was thrown around again as Bunny threw the van into a handbrake turn to get around the corner. Hot on his heels, the Humvee - carrying everyone else, including the newcomer - Almost rear-ended them and had to swerve.

'Fragging amateur!' Bunny snarled.

But both vehicles soon passed the baying mob and their barricades and were soon on the way Northward - On Wrightman's instruction.

There was the dying Daisaka woman Shatter had hauled in - But no-one seemed to know what to do with her right now.

***

A Daisaka KA-72 Hollowpoint helicopter gunship hovered in the smoke over the flaming area of the Volkestadt slums. Every so often a bullet pinged or zinged from the helicopter gunship's armoured body. Both pilot and weaons man were scared to frag at the prospect of one of the 'stadters launcing a SAM. Even an unguided, home-built rocket could be a threat if luckily aimed or fired in large numbers. Choppers had been lost in such incidents before. For some reason, the gangers in this part of town didn't like Daisaka much. The feeling was mutual.

But though both pilots had voiced their disapproval of their involvement in this operation, their views were ridden roughshod over. This was an important assignment. Internal Affairs stuff - People you don't want to piss off if you valued your career (and therefore life in this cut-and-thrust world).

'Sir' Said the pilot. 'Two vehicles leaving the area. They're not broadcasting transponders or carrying recognised vehicle-chips. Do you want us to follow them?'

The voice that answered him was flat, emotionless, almost uninterested.

'Affirmative, and do not attack - Tac-display says Team leader 2 is onboard the lead vehicle. Request an armed evac at this location. Daisaka troopers are dying down there.' The radio report ended with a metallic sigh.

'Roger sir - I recommend -'

Clank!

'What's that?' Said the gunner. 'Crazy bastard, is he going to-'

A further clank, then the explosive bolts firing answered the gunner's question.

***

Assorted gangers seized their chance after the two vans left to rush in and get some payback on the rarely-seen Daisaka troops - Both Riot-vans were firebombed quickly, and the warzone intensified. The 3DTV drone was shot down by Daisaka shotgunfire - One brave trooper sacrificing his life by stopping it broadcasting such bad PR for his Corp, because he was mown down by a Monobiker seconds later.
The Daisaka troops were falling one by one - Ammunition ran low, combat became bloody, hand-to-hand.

'No good.' Said the trooper now leading Carmen's team. 'Going to have to surrender.'

'Sarge! They'll eat us alive!'

Both Troopers threw themselves flat a second later, seeing the spherical object about to land nearby.

Crash!

The large metal ball sent shockwaves out, though it had cushioned its own impact with a sophisticated set of hydraulic dampers. The troopers saw the ball was not perfectly round, but segmented - Then the ball unravelled until it took on a more or less humanoid shape. A seven-foot tall man made of segmented chrome - Insectile legs and four arms - two ending in mission-customizable weapons-pods. The low-set, chromed head had a red-glowing sensor array that resembled the lenses of a pair of smart-goggles, and a small swivelling antenna.

The Daisaka logo was emblazoned bold on the armoured shoulders. On the front carapace, one word: JOHNSON.

'Metal Gear!' Said the Daisaka sergeant, falling limp with relief.

Jimothy Merzbough Johnson - Known more commonly as 'Metal Gear' Johnson, stood tall and surveyed his surroundings.

'Metal Gear, you saved us!'

'Get into cover, Sergeant. I don't want you or your men getting in my way. We will hold until evac arrives.'

'Uh, yes sir!' said the Sergeant.

Pitiful, soft, fleshy bastards. Thought Johnson. Because I value your lives marginally more than I care to be ordered by your kind, the mice are fleeing the trap.

Personel-locating radar and 360 IR and Sound sweeps confirmed the stuation: Dozens of hostiles with automatic weapons and some heavy weapons. Johnson was - on paper, in the NewsVids - incapable of feeling emotion. The perfect crimefighting tool.

He knew better. He had but one emotion, aided and abbetted by psychoses-inducing drugs. He had only dropped here from the helicopter carrying him to fight. Not to save the worthless Daisaka cretins that had so ineptly manned his trap for the 'runners. Simply to fight.

The 'runners would come later, but for now... Targets abound!

The monobiker came at him, elven female rider carrying a flaming molotov - He astonished her by darting forward despite his heavy frame, then shattering the glass and her ribs with one backhander. The monobike and rider continued. a screaming, flaming one-wheel fireball.

Then he was charged by no fewer than twenty enraged gangers. He deployed his tri-barrel 7.62mm caseless machinegun pod...

***

'We can still make it,' She gasped. 'We must have interrupted them earlier... Maybe they'll be late and we can catch them. Maybe we can save this' She checked the name on the chip's data 'Chiaki Yokohama.

'Maybe' Said Deadwood. 'But if we meet these fragnuts, and they're as bad as you say, you're staying back. Leave them to the fighters.

'But you're injured.' Said Wrightman, voice trailing off slightly. She was in no hurry to face the scary fraggers again.

Deadwood opened a window for some air once the Bunnyvan had left the slums, travelling the ground route - He could have made better time using the skyroads, but that would leave them sitting ducks to any Daisaka aircraft, and there was at least one about.

Wrightman suddenly felt an irritated, itchy patch on the back of her neck, and moved to the side subconsiously, intent on reading her data. Her bite-mark also itched. She ignored it for now.

***

Trailing behind, was the Humvee - The two vehicles stopped their insane, hurtling spped for a while to avoid attracting more attention from Daisaka - But Mandy had been told why they were hurrying.
She hesitated before telling her passengers over the intercom though.

'Is it safe to talk?' She whispered to the newly-awakened Dee. If her body wasn't unconsious - jacked into her vehicle - He could imagine her motioning with her blue, blue eyes in the newcomer's direction

'Not sure.' He murmured. He, Krazny, Shatter and Kelvin exchanged glances - It was going to be a weird interrogation of sorts, in a crowded, speeding vehicle that may or may not have aircraft following it...

***

Jewell was well on her way to the slums - For once trusting a Robocab enough to bring her anywhere. She hated the human's technological fads, but necessity outweighed that distrust. Now zooming across the skyroad, she had a good view over this part of the vast human zoo.

She was looking through the Bubblecar's tinted canopy admiring the pall of flame over one area of the slums when the sleek purple-blue shape of one of the human's flying machines darted through it, sending the smoke into spirals. It was talking a low course, slowing down, dodging behind buldings as if trying to remain unseen.

Interesting. The human machine thinks it is a hunter... But what is it hunting?

Her gaze naturally followed the anticipated progress of the machine - There - Two of the human's blocky, unnatural four wheeled vehicles. They moved faster than the other road traffic, but were slowing down.

Follow them... Said her spirit guide. One of our near-kin is aboard... One of our near-kin who has disgraced his body with technology. His aura - or lack of it -smells familiar...

[KrasnyOktyabr]

Krasny looked out of the Hummer, not really caring where he was only that blood was still seeping from the bullet wound. Not giving much of a **** he played with the puddle of red next to him, smearing it on the upholstry and dabbing some on the window.

"You do understand I've been shot, yes? And that I'm not the only one..."

Yes he had been shot, it wasn't the first time either. He remembered one night in Siberia, a prisoner had managed to get a hold of a pistol. It had been hell trying to stop the bastard, Krasny and two others were nailed, but it wasn't life threatening. He remembered the prisoner, a burly son of a slitch, thought he could get out. What a laugh, the bastard is under six feet of ice...

With that the Russian passed out.

[Artificial Idiot]

"Erm... Deadwood?" Wrightman ventured. She didn't really want to disturb him, he looked... well, to be crude, pissed. Not that she could blame him.

"Yeah?"

"These things..." She began. Then she had to pause, the whole notion of this was silly, she shouldn't even be thinking this way. Although, she had to know. "They aren't like, say... werewolves at all are they?"

Deadwood looked stunned at the notion. His eyebrows slowly raised and his mouth hung slightly open. For a few seconds, it looked like he was speechless, but then he simply stated...

"What?"

"Nevermind." Replied Wrightman, head bowed. She could feel the heat of a blush taking over her cheeks. Seriously, she was a trained detective! Not some simpering little school girl. She ventured to scratch the back of her neck.

"Ow!" She exclaimed. She wasn't sure what had happened, if the pain had came from touching her neck or the movement of her arm, but it hurt.

"What's wrong?" Asked a concerned Laura.

"Nothing." This was getting embrassing. But at least she was staying here as opposed to fighting those.. things again.

"You are alright, ja?"

"Fine." She tried to supress the urge to scratch the itches, but they just kept getting worse and worse. She shuddered slightly as the werewolf thought crossed her mind again, but then told herself to stop being silly.

[CKW]

Jewel stretched forward.
"Follow them, Cabbie. If it's possible, remain unseen to that chopper."
The cabbie blipped. It was processing orders.
"I will give you an extra."
Jewel had already answered to the question. The Cabbie stopped processing and began to change its route.
Amazing...Hope THIS worths it, Old Wolf, I've had enough with Oddman's death
Gah... Whincing about that Oddman all the time... Why's that... Hmmm?
I liked him. Aren't we animals allowed to like people!?
Yeah, right... But don't those matters mess up your mind... understand?

[Desolator12]

"ey! You guys asked me to get this person into here. Ya want 'im alive or what?!?" Said Dragon. Truthfully, he was a bit nervous now... confined spaces equal death in most cases... and the van wasn't an exception. Not only that, but they all had guns or weapons of some sort... he was fast, but not fast enough to dodge all attacks in there. "If ya want him alive, I need fraggin gauss or cloth or one big-fraggin band-aid!"

[LeFire]

Shatter took a quick look at the wounded in the Humvee at Dragon's complaint, passing over Dee when the soldier realised that he was only unconscious from exhaustion. Krazny had a nasty pelvis wound, but being unconscious, was thankfully out of it for a while. Shatter cursed the fact that they didn't have a medic runner with them. Discount Suturing was going to get a lot of business.

The Spellbreaker had kept his wristphone link with the van on, Laura having taken over the comms since she had nothing else to do. Speaking through the wristphone, Shatter asked Laura about conditions on the Bunnyvan.

"We're rushing to some sort of meeting with some chick called Chiaki Yokohama. Wrightmann thinks she's the next target who's going to get wasted by the fraggers that killed the other girls if we are not there in the next 5 minutes. The Daisaka leader that you hauled in here is unconscious. Her bleeding is stauched, but she's out of it for now. If we don't get her to a doc in a couple of hours, she's not gonna make it." Laura replied.

Shatter thought for a moment, then replied. "Secure the Daisaka leader with tape or something until then... Don't want her to pull off any suicide-bomber tricks on us. I've got a lot of questions to ask her about what Daisaka knows about this whole thing. Besides, she's a valuable hostage. We'll get ourselves to Chiaki's place ASAP, and patch up our wounded at Discount Suturing afterwards."

[Desolator12]

Dragon looked down at the person they had just dragged in... the bleeding had stopped... he mentally beat the frag outta himself... assassins shouldn't make mistakes... mistakes get you killed. " So... could you guys tell me what the frag I just got myself into...let alone who the frag you guys are and why we kidnapped a Datsaika..."

[landry38]

"Let's just say you got yourself into a lot of fun."

Laura was a bit unsure about Dragon.

"How could he just wander into us like that?" she wondered.

She chose not to say anything about it, for now, except explaining to Dragon that "this was no Sunday Drive."

"Hey Shatter," Laura quipped on the wristphone. "What is your situation? Is everyone alright?"

Laura was rather concerned, which was unusual. She thought that after this, not many would hear from each other again, and everyone would go their separate ways on different missions. But she didn't know. She was feeling a sense of strange camraderie amongst everyone, perhaps only out of necessity, but, still everyone was trusted to do their part, and up to now, they did it.

[LeFire]

"We're pretty ok. Dee and Krazny are out of it for a moment, but they'll be good for another firefight, I think. Everyone else is ready for whatever comes."

Shatter replied as he pulled out a medical kit from the Hummer's cargo boxes under directions from Mandy. Kelvin had applied localised ice magic to Krazy's stomach wound, numbing the nerves there before Shatter binded it up tight. Russians were a generally tough bunch... and Krazny looked like he could eat a few more rounds and still have time for breakfast.

[landry38]

"Good. Keep everyone able on alert. ****'s about to hit the fan tonight."

"Okay, out."

Laura took a look at Wrightman, she still seemed uncomfortable.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." replied Wrightman.

"Ya sure?"

"Yep, I'm sure."

"No, you aren't." Thought Laura. "Seems a bit itchy."

[Apache_Longbow]

Dee heard Shatter's words, and cringed. Not again, he thought to himself as he did a mental check of his body. His arms were bruised up, and he had a headache so bad that he thought his face was going to tear in two. His legs were limp, going through the weak feeling right after the adrenaline rush is over, and the body relaxes. He had a few cuts, a little bleeding, and a plethora of bruises, but he seemed to be ok. He'd live, at least, which was something he hadn't been sure about a few minutes before.

"So we're going to some girl's house?" Dee asked Shatter.

"Yeah," was the quick and calm reply.

"And Dasaika is supposed to be showing up?" Shatter just nodded his head as he looked over Krasny to make sure he wasn't in need of emergency medical attention.

Great. Just what we need, another gunfight with the fraggers. Dee rusted out of his current position, laying on the ground, and "stood up" as much as was possible in the Humvee. He stretched out his arms and legs, then grabbed a quick drink from a bottle of water that had been in the back of the truck.

"You guys better get some rest. It appears as if we're going to be going back out into hell once more before this day is over."

[Wesforce]

Blip blip

The robocab acknowledged its new destination - It careened wildly across the skyroad, cutting up a Fiat Accompli, a Nuovo Inzio V8 and half a dozen Elektros before hitting the edge with a bump that send nico-stick stubs flying from the waste-tray on the front dashboard. Jewel's teeth jarred as the little vehicle crashed down to Earth after a couple of yards - Her ears were horrendously battered from the blaring of car horns.

Stupid human creations... The robot pilot of this thing seems to have been blessed with the humans general level of intelligence, it seems.

But the Robocab had picked up the trail of the Van and military 4x4. Jewel's instruction to avoid the line of sight of the helicopter didn't seem to have done much good though.

She followed the vehicles to their destination.

***

The two vehicles arrived at their destination under a darkening sky - another stock-built glass and plasteel apartment building in a serviceable state, but with architecture so unimaginative it could have been the world's tallest soyflake packet.

Sensibly the 'runners parked at different sides around the building.

'Right, stay here -' Began Deadwood - but Wrightman had already hauled back the door and jumped out.

'Frag it!' Snarled Deadwood - He made a futile gesture before jumping out after Wrightman, limpiing after her favouring his unwounded leg. Blood driped in steady drops from the other one, though it was bandaged.

Bonnie and Clyde immediately surveyed the area with their goggles on - A few pedestrians looked on suspiciously at the arrival of the vehicles and their wounded, frantic occupants - But with any city-dweller's instinct for self-preservation, made themselves scarce.

But no-one - no thing - attacked them as yet. They had the laser ready anyway.

Even with his augmented muscles, Deadwood had trouble limping after Wrightman - She ran onward into the building, drawn, seemingly with no thought of her own preservation. Shatter and Laura came after them.

The security desk in the apartment block was ominously empty. The ;runners piled into the elevator and went up, a deep sense of foreboding semed to seep in through the walls like so much rising damp.

Onward they went, down the red-carpeted corridor - It was quiet, hot and humid in here. Deadwood was panting in effort.

But soon they reached the apartment.

They could tell it was the apartment - The door being wrenched off and the blood spilling out onto the floor was a dead giveaway.

Wrightman was about to go in - Deadwood's firm hand jerked her back.

'No.' He whispered. Drawing his Shotgun and SMG, Laura by his side, her peered into the apartment.

The first thing he thought was how could a human blody have held so much blood?

It was everywhere - Walls, floor, celing, sizzling on a light fitting, spattered over the inside of a microwave oven. That was nothing compared to the ragged red remains on the floor - almost the exact size of a young woman.

It couldn't, he concluded quickly. With effort, he took an astral view of the scene. It shocked and appalled him no less than the scene at Monique DuBarry's had. In fact, it felt much the same. But there was definitely evidence of magic at work... A sense of a great, mournful loss, and pleasure.

'We were... Too late.' Wrightman murmured, the words sounding like they could have been a damning indictment of the entire human race.

'No...' Said Deadwood. 'We seem to have got here before Daisaka.'

If Daisaka had come here, they would have set the place up like at DuBarry's. Obviously they were covering up the crime scenes. They would do the same here. He sent a message to the 'runners in the van to tell them to be on the lookout for Daisaka.

Wrightman entered the room.

'You're walking on a crime scene.' Shatter told her, unnecesarily.

'So what, Daisaka are just going to clean this whole place up anyway. Anyway shush - I'm onto somethong. Watch me, the bastards might still be here.'

Skirting the edges of the pools of blood, Wrightman was sure there wasn't anyone home - She would have expected to die in seconds were that true. Laura's presence next to her reassured her somewhat.

'So what have you found?' She asked.

'This.' Wrightmann pressed the message playback button on the telecom system.

A handsome yet shifty-looking blue-haired male Elf sprang into view, conspicuous by his solid black cybereyes. Wrightman recognised James 'Badjimmy' LeMarchand instantly.

'Bonjour mes amis' He said, voice distorted somehow - Wrightman knew Badjimmy liked gadgets and trinkets like voice distorters and syntehsizers. But what was he doing here?

'Bon. Just checking your are still okay for our little date, mes petit cochon. I will be 'zere shortly, around 4:50. See you.'

He blew a kiss at the screen, seemingly having to screw his face up to do so.

A drip passed jusgt by Wrightman's head.

She looked up.

Large red words were pasted all over the cracked plaster ceiling.

SAME TIME TOMORROW, FRAGGERS?

[VO]

Sorry, haven't had much time to post recently. WOC post coming tomorrow

Clyde sat at the back doors to the Bunnyvan, flicking bits of grit the the runner's boots had left behind onto dark grey asphalt. Wrightman - fragging idiot woman - had just left, dashing into the apartment building, and most of the other runners following her. Idiots, all of them. Although they hadn't been on a run quite like this before, both Bonnie and Clyde knew when caution was the best policy - and it definately was when, well, when the victims of what you were looking for ended up looking like they'd been passed through an industrial shredder. The Daisaka woman was struggling, muffled sounds coming from inside the van, but the goblins didn't care. Let whatever fragger decided to bring her with us deal with her

Bonnie was adjusting one of the power conduits to the laser, changing a fuse or something. Clyde didn't actually understand most of the workings of the thing - he left that to his brother, and provided most of the muscle for the pair. Drek, Bonnie probably couldn't lift the thing.

Looking up, Clyde watched the aircraft in the Genevan sky, blips of light in the darkness. A pair of what sounded like helicopters were circling nearby, although that didn't mean a thing in a city like this - the sky was ablaze with light, and Clyde knew every one of them weren't stars. They even had to make the occasional dragon that stopped over in this smoggy hellhole wear specialist identification lights at night, to prevent any accidental mid-air collisions.

His vision drifted back to the ground again, and other senses picked up the rustle of traffic, the thick petroleum scent of the Bunnyvan, the coarse texture of the tough material used to floor the inside. He ran his hand along it, and with the other flipped up his goggles for another sweep. Nothing much, only the same outlines of hurrying pedestrians, whatever human had stayed with the other vehicle, and again those two circling choppers.

[Artificial Idiot]

Wrightman shuddered. That message, couldn't possibly mean the 'runners, could it? No, it MUST mean Daisaka. After all, these people didn't really know about the 'runners... did they? It didn't matter if they did or they didn't really. Another girl had been killed. A woman, human, like herself. Drek, it could have been her! Could have been any woman on the planet. Didn't change the fact she was dead, didn't change the fact the other four were dead either. She sighed, walking over to the telecom system.

"I'm going to forward the messages to my phone." She began, a little shakey. She was still itching, and it seemed to be geting worse. "And then delete them."

"Delete them?" Deadwood seemed to caution with a raised eyebrow.

"Anything to keep Daisaka behind." She lied. Jean was her friend, she just couldn't believe he had anything to do with this, it was impossible! No, she wouldn't have Daisaka hauling him in over this, not like they would. They seemed more tangled up in this then those mutant ork's themselves.
She forwarded all the messages on the telecom and then casually deleted them. It wasn't shaping up to be a good day. Their sloppiness had cost a life, her skin was going wild on her, one of her best friends may be a murderer and just to top it all off she was getting a head ache. Not to mention Daisaka would be here soon.

"I think I've seen enough." She muttered, adding in her thoughts "enough to make my stomach churn for a month".

[Wesforce]

Bunny picked up a small object approaching at high speed - Too small to be a Daisaka patrol cruiser. He told Bonnie to hold fire.

A Monobike arrived, gyros whining as it parked up. Charred patches marred the big, Crimson wheel.

A very singed-looking Dwarf dismounted - all his hair, beard and eyebrows had been burned off, making him look very odd indeed. He looked to be in a bad condition, but high spirits.

'YO HO HO HAR HAR! Bit of a tight spot that eh?' Said Norbert enthusiastically.

'Was gonna burn it back to the gang's safehouse, but then I saw you'd left a guy behind...'

He went to his monobike - He had Oddman slung over the back.

Oddman's corpse. Norbert seemed surprised to see he was dead.

'Ah well, looks like the fraggers got him. Still, at least we made it out eh? HAR HAR HAR HEE HEE YO!'

Wrightman and Deadwood came out of the building to see. Wrightman felt her skin inflame again the moment she went outside - and was puzzled by the Dwarf, but Deadwood seemed to know him.

[Artificial Idiot]

Wrightman gasped. She hadn't seen what the Dwarf was carrying, and in all the commotion nobody had told her the exact details of what had actually happened with the other team. She'd just assumed Oddman was in the humvee, but seeing his corpse on the back of the dwarves bike...

"ODDMAN!" She shrieked. "Oddman... what... what happened?"

"He was... shot, ja?" Deadwood part explained, although he seemed to be holding something back. Or at least, was unsure about the details himself.

Wrightman was close to tears, but held back, if only for prides sake. Looking back, Oddman wasn't a bad person... not as bad as she had treated him over the years. If only she'd been a bit nicer, if only she hadn't shunned him, mocked him... if only she'd just treated him like... a friend? But it was too late now. He was stone cold, and would never warm up.
She took one cold hand in her's, kneeling by the side of Norbert's bike, and finally burst into tears.

[Wesforce]

'Did anyone catch who shot him?' Asked Deadwood.

No-one answered.

Deadwood was thinking... With one of their number dead, and a body they couldn't really afford to lug around with them.

He switched his mind to full-on practcality mode... And what Wrightman said about 'keeping Daisaka one step behind' seemed to make sense to him.

He looked at Shatter.

'Are you thinking what I'm thinking?'

Less than two minutes later they'd manhandled Oddman into the elevator and into the apartment - Good thing there weren't any witnesses around.

They'd carefully propped him slumped into a corner, pistol in his had. Maybe it would look like he'd shot himself and the victim... Or maybe been shot defending her.

Whetever, it made Daisaka's job harder.

'Okay' Wheezed Deadwood, nursing his flesh-wounded leg. 'But we really have to go. Soon.'

On the way back down past the security desk, he flipped out and picked up the data chips for the cameras to that floor and the lobby. With any luck they'd contain some more clues.

[LeFire]

Shatter stopped Deadwood before they got in earshot of the others.

"Let's get everyone to Discount sulturing. Your leg looks nasty, dermal plating or not. Krazny also requires medical aid..." Shatter hesitated.

"I'm also starting to have doubts about Wrightmann. I noticed her scratching at the site of her bite just now, and... I don't know how to say this, but I'm suspecting that the injury is something more than just a flesh wound."

Shatter and Deadwood resumed walking to the Bunnyvan.

"We'll get that Daisaka woman I picked up to Discount sulturing too. I'm not the guy who would torture a wounded woman, but a bit of truth agent, sodium penthonal I think, might just convince her to talk about just what kind of creatures or mages we are up against."

[landry38]

Laura accompanied Shatter and Deadwood toward the Bunnyvan. She only nodded in agreement at what they had to say, understanding the conversation was that of a private nature.

"Wrightman, you alright?"

She didn't seem to be physically, and now with the news of Oddman's death, was in no great mental shape.

[Nyerguds]

Bunny unplugged from his van, and walked over to Deadwood and Shatter.
"I just got a... worrying message from Discount suturing. They found some kind of virus in Wrightman's blood, and asked me to come."
"Crap." Deadwood said. "That's about the last thing we need right now."
"They told me not to bring her along, probably not to risk infection. I don't think that'll be a problem though... after all she was bitten."
"Right." Shatter said "We were just talking about the wounded. So, I suggest you take them all to the street clinic and get them patched up, and find out what's wrong with Wrightman."

"Sounds good to me." Bunny glanced at Wrightman, who was standing a bit further. "You just get all wounded in my van. I'm gonna talk to Wrightman now, OK?"


He took off his sunglasses, walked over to Wrightman and Laura, and opened his Wristphone. "Wrightman, you gotta see this... we got a problem."

He showed he the message on his wristphone.

---->Discount Suturing MedDesk
*Need a bullet taken out of you and put into some other fragger? We're you're #1 choice!*<----

Dear Mr _Credstick ID Unknown_
Some rather worrying information came up about one of the patients you brought to us earlier. We have detected... abnormalities in her blood, of a viral nature.

Um, best if you came down here in person to talk really.

But don't bring her.

Regards: Tina *the Dwarf*<----

Wrightman's face turned pale.
"I wouldn't worry too much," Bunny said. "They're just afraid it might spread. But since you're the only one of us that has is, I doubt it just spreads through the air."
"What now?" Wrightman replied.
"First of all, stop scraching; the last thing we need is you bleeding again, since the virus probably spreads through blood. I'm taking the wounded to Discount Suturing in my van. You just stay with the rest, K?"
"Hm. OK." she replied.
"Don't worry, we'll find a way to cure this stuff." Bunny said.
He winked, put his sunglassed back on, and went back to the van.
"Shatter!" he yelled. "I'm gonna need that blood sample of that crazy ork, to give the doc something to compare with."

Deadwood looked up. "You got a blood sample off that fragger?"
"We got the fragger's entire arm. Not the one that bit Wrightman though." Bunny said "But I suppose they most likely both got this virus."

[CKW]

(Sorry, Been busy lately and under stress, forgive my lack of length)
Jewel had staid away at a safe distance, but given the reaction of the people towards the corpse, she had no doubt. The corpse was oddman, judging by the smell, and that lady had mourn over him. It was common that only people who were "Friends" reacted with such emotions towards fallen comrades.
Maybe they can help me... find the assasin.
Quite possibly. And that Deadwood is the one i mentioned earlier. See? It was worth it.

"You must be a dog shaman..." She finally spoke, luring the attention of the runners.
"...I am sorry, but I have been following you."
Are you Blushing!? Hell, no, behave!
Jewel blushed, and looked down in submission. Her long raven hair was covering her face.

[Artificial Idiot]

"I think it's better if I don't travel with you." Wrightman admitted. She had her suspicions on this, and the last thing she wanted to do was to hurt her new friends. Especially when they were doing such important work. She didn't trust Bunny's simple reassurances for a second, she knew why the doc didn't want her there. And it had nothing to do with infection, she could feel it. "I'll take a taxi home. Just call me with any developments."

"Wrightman, you ca..." Laura began, but Wrightman cut her off.

"I need the rest, and I'm not use here. I need to be alone." She looked up at Shatter, his face said it all. He wasn't going to lull her like Bunny or Laura, he knew as well as she did that something was wrong, very wrong. "If there are no objections, I'll be going then. The rest of you better get out of here too. Daisaka don't wait around for long."

Wrightman walked away, pushing past the raven haired woman who had just appeared, almost knocking her over. She growled after her, but Wrightman didn't care. She felt physically and emotionally weak. She needed to go home, relax, cry, think... she just needed space to piece things togeather! She'd also need to phone Jean, she knew him and he had links with this case. It was the most useful thing she could do now.
She hailed a taxi and got in. The driver was a dwarf, one who looked like he'd seen plenty of action in his time. He was either military or runner, or maybe even both. The cab it's self smelt faintly of tobaco, although a much stronger kind then Krasny often smoked. She suspected he smoked cigars or a pipe.

"Where to?" He asked. Wrightman gave him her address. "Pretty rough area, miss. Hope you know what your doing."

"I live there." Wrightman muttered, flashing her pistol. The dwarf shrugged and the taxi took off along the road.

[Desolator12]

Dragon walked over to Deadwood, ignoring the raven-haired person talking to Deadwood. "So, what did you find in there anyway? You look pale as an albino dragon..." Deadwood pondered whether he should tell the newcomer assassin, especially since he might even be the one who was killing everybody...

[Nyerguds]

Bunny frowned, and looked at the woman. They didn't have time for this; Daisaka would be here any minute. He wanted to say something, but was cut off by a loud *thump*, followed by a deep growl. Something had jumped on top of the van, and apparently it wasn't happy.

Bunny sighed. He didn't even need to look at the van to know what was on there. There was only one animal that would be able to jump on top of his van from the ground, and he'd recognise that growl anywhere.

Bunny looked up to the blue furred monster on top of the van.
"Steady, Sheila." he said. Why the frag was that cat here anyway?
The cat jumped down and walked in between Bunny and the woman, the growl changing to a long hiss, and her ears flat against her head.

Cats, unlike humans, had once again entered the game of evolution. Sheila was one of the end products of that... the cat was about half a meter in length (without the tail), and perfectly adapted for a life on the streets of Geneva.

"What the frag is that monster?" Deadwood said.
"My cat, Sheila." Bunny said quickly. "Found her as a kitten, fed her from time to time. As you see, it paid off."
He looked back to Jewel. "Sorry, miss, no time for introductions. This place will be swarming with cops in no time. I suggest you leave as soon as possible."
He looked back to Deadwood. "Come on, get in the van."

Seeing as all the wounded except Deadwood were already in the van, Bunny didn't waste any time. He got in the driver's seat and plugged in. He looked in the back of the van with the internal camera's. They had folded down some of the the seats to give the wounded place to lie down, and it seemed necessary too. Krasny didn't seem like he'd benefit much from sitting upright.
They had put the Daisaka woman there too. She seemed to have a nasty head wound.
Dee was sitting in the only remaining chair. He seemed pretty beaten up. Mariam was just sitting in the corner.
As soon as Deadwood had gotten on the passengers' seat, Bunny started the engine.
Just before he closed the side door, the huge blue cat slipped in the van.
"Don't bother trying to stop her; it's no use." Bunny said through the van's speakers. "She'll just roll up in the corner, like she always does."

The cat skillfully navigated through the wounded people, stroking past Dee's legs, and went to the corner as Bunny had predicted. Mariam, who was sitting there, suddenly had a big cat on her lap. She didn't look like she minded though, and started petting the cat.

With that, Bunny drove off.

[Wesforce]

The rest of the 'runners scattered around the Humvee couldn;t see much else to do: They had to leave here as soon as possible, half the team had just taken off, and everyone was hungry and fatigued. Poor old Dragon still hadn't been told what was going on.

'Best bet's probably to get some rest and see where this goes next.' Said Mandy, resignedly. She realised Wrightman must have some things to take care of first - She had been getting distraught.

Shatter couldn't be left here, not wearing his not-exactly-inconspicuous MUNDI armour. The same went for Bonnie and Clyde and their laser, now there wasn't room for it in the Bunnyvan, and space in the Humvee was at a premium too.

(GM: It's up to Apache to decide who he wants Mandy to take - But bear in mind there's blood all over the seats thanks to Krazny, and the Gobbos are ugly little things that dislike humans and have a big bulky laser...)

Norbert offered to give Laura a lift - In fact she was mildy creeped out by the look in his eyebrowless eyes. And so soon after losing his girlfriend too...

Jewel was left with a number Deadwood had handed her just before the Elf in the van had been whiosked off - And the firm advice to 'Get out of here... We'll talk later' in scruffy writing she barely understood.

Dragon had been gven the same number and instructions. Deadwood hadn't seemed to be in a very talkative mood right then. But it had been a long day, after all, for all involved.

The Hummer drove off, leaving the rest of the group standing in the shadow of the nearby GM Tower - Laura bitterly realised that the time they had fought the crazed Ork, they were mere blocks from the eventual murder scene, not realising...

***

Wrightman sat at home, feeling famished and slightly dizzy - The taxi drive had gone by in a barely-consious blur - What was happening to her?

It was Dark now though - She felt slightly more at ease than earlier, and the itchy sensation had completely stopped. She still felt hungry though - And none of the cheap soy flakes and Pizza Slut take-away in her fridge seemed to appeal to her.

Presently she sat at her Telecom - A grimy, unshaven, blue-haired Elf's face with obsidian-black cybereyes filled the screen.

'Allo? Who is eet?'

***

The BunnyVan turned up at Discount suturing for the second time in a day - But now the whole place seemed to be overflowing with dead and dying: Mainly gangers with crushed bones and limbs, multiple tightly-grouped gunshot wounds, shrapnel lacerations and burns - Detritus from the Daisaka incursion.

Somewhere gunfire still rattled in the night.

'TEE HEE HAR! Business is good!' Yelled the receptionist. 'But don;t worry, come in! Still room for you, most of these fraggers will be dead soon - Most of the others can't afford to pay for treatment, and so... Well, HO HO HEE HAR!'

Ticking a few more boxes on her Epad, then bending down to prize a watch from the clutch of a dead ganger on a trolley near her, the receptionist did a double-take.

'Oh, its you lot.' She said, starting to look very worried - She looked over each of the group in turn, obviously checking to see if Wrightman was there.

What she saw instead, was Carmen Bacchus, still in Daisaka uniform. The sight didn't please her.

'Holy Grud! Get that bitch out of here before you have the whole of Daisaka's HRT wing in here levelling this place!'

(GM: Below: Updated map, with murder scene 4: near the GM Tower Hamlets)

[Desolator12]

Dragon decided that what had happened today was enough... he was tired, hungry, and flat-footed... he couldn't kill someone today if he tried... too much stuff was being processed and sorted in his brain... Dragon hailed a Robo-Taxi, and gave the instructions of a drop-off point nearby his house... safety precautions needed to be taken anywhere in the Slums.

After being dropped off, Dragon headed up to his small apartment. It wasn't the Ritz, but it got him through... All the necessites-o-home...telecom, shower, kitchen, and especially, bed... but first, there were a few questions that needed answering. Dragon dialed up Deadwood, hoping he was home or nearby...

*Connection Not Established. Owner Not Home*

"frag..." said Dragon. Since it could take a while for him to get back, Dragon got into bed, after hiding his weaponry. "I'll just have a minute or two of shut-eye... that's it... then I call this Deadwood guy again... all....I....ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ"

[Wesforce]

'Looks like we have no choice.' Said Deadwood. They'd have to get rid of her. It was cold-hearted of him and he knew it - But seeing the dead and dying littering this place (whole corridors, gangers, mostly just kids) tipped his decision.

'You'll be killing her, man! Its murder!' Piped up Bunny.

Deadwood carefully didn't look Bunny in the eye when he replied:
'Look, she was one of the ones trying to kill us. For all we know, she could have killed Oddman, and she tried to throw a grenade into a fragging Dumpster that Mandy was hiding in.'

'She might be able to tell us what we need to know.' Bunny countered.

'Then again she might not, and if she brings Daisaka down on us, we're all here, everybody, as good as fragging dogfood.'

And at that the voice in his head piped up again.

Yet another young life taken by the so-called Shaman of Dog... 'Loyalty to humanity'. You make me utterly sick, manling.

Deadwood angrily snapped, cutting off Bunny and shoting him down- The first time he'd lost his temper in front of everyone.

'Look! Get Krazny some medical attention before he pops it, ja! And lose the murdering bitch! I don't care if you have to do her yourself or give her to the fragging gangers!'

[landry38]

"Well, looks like we're stuck here." Thought Laura

Laura wasn't sure if anyone was available to give a ride, she was considering Norbert, but something about him made her uneasy.

"Oh crap," Laura realized. "We aren't that far from where we faced that damned Ork."

[Nyerguds]

"All right!" Bunny replied, visibly annoyed. "All wounded are out of the van, right? I'll get her back to the van and deal with her." He turned to the dwarf. "Tina? Whatever you wanted to tell me about that virus you can tell to him. I got a blood sample of one of those things that attacked us and wounded the woman that was infected; it might be of use to you."
He grabbed the condom with blood, gave it to the Dwarf, grabbed Carmen under her arm and got her back to the van.

"Mariam, help me with this, will you?" he shouted to the van. A few seconds later, Sheila gracefully jumped out of it, followed by the dwarven girl.
"Sorry, had a rather heavy cat on my lap." she said, and helped Bunny get the woman in the van.

"Gruddamn Deadwood..." Bunny sighed, and got in the driver's seat. "There's a small medkit somewhere in there I think." he said to Mariam. "In one of the small compartiments by your head. Just make sure she stops bleeding all over my van, OK?"
"Sure." Maram replied. Then, she frowned. "Why didn't you mention that medkit before?"
"Eh... it's actually strictly for personal use."

He plugged in, and looked into the van through the camera's.
"Crap. And dump that arm once we're a bit further. The way things are looking now it doesn't seem like we'll ever get a chance to investigate the fragging thing anyway."
As he closed the side door he saw the blue cat disappear in some dark alley.
Meh, whatever. She can take better care of herself than me.

He drove off onto the slums, and stopped for a brief moment while Mariam dumped the arm. Then, they drove off again.
"Where are we going anyway?" Mariam asked, while carefully cleaning the woman's head wound to the best of her ability. Apparently her 'army'-training in that gang had included some useful skill after all.

"As long as we keep driving Daisaka won't be able to track us down that easily; especially in the slums. But I'm going to one of your brother's special parking spots near the Wastelands club, to have a nice chat with this lady. I believe the place has some kind of com disruptors, but I'm not sure. Anyway, warn me if she wakes up."

"What if she doesn't wake up at all?" Mariam asked.
"Then we just dump her somewhere and hope for her sake Daisaka finds her before some sex-starved fragger does."

[Desolator12]

"*zzzzzzzzzZZ-SNORT* uhhh... what the...?!?" Said Dragon, as he woke up... those 'few minutes' had turned into a few hours... but it was well-deserved... Dragon tried calling Deadwood again, but no dice... nothing was really happening, so he got into his street clothes, armed himself, grabbed a money-only cred stick and locked the compartment under his bed... Dragon needed something to drink... some time to now think over what conspired over the day...

[Apache_Longbow]

Mandy decided to speak briefly over the intercom, to her backseat occupants. None of them looked very happy.

"Where do you guys want to go?" Bonnie and LCyde looked at each other and shrugged. They seemed more worried about their laser, strapped onto the roof of the hummer and covered with a tarp. Shatter was busy too, trying to get off at least some of the lumbering, hot armor. "If you guys want to get some rest, you can crash at my place, for now at least."

Shatter looked up, and nodded slightly.

"Sounds fine to me. I could sure as hell use some sleep, and maybe a shower." Mandy acknowledged, then reverted her attention back to the Gobbos.

"Alright guys, what do you want. I can either take you back to your van, or you can come to my place. What'll it be?"

* * *

Dee groaned. He was starting to get all feeling back. Nothing was numb, and that wasn't a good thing. His body ached in constant pain. His headache still threatened to tear his head in two, and he was getting a bit lightheaded from the slow but continual bleeding from the handful of cuts he had. And now he had nagging consience. Carmen wsa going to die, and it was his fault. Shut up, he told himself as he shifted his body, trying to find a position that would yield the least possible pain. It was either her or Mandy, and losing Mandy would be ten times worse. Hell losing Mandy would be the worst thing that could possibly happen...

"Hey, get up. It's time for you to get fixed up." It was Bunny.

Dee looked up slowly, and smiled as much as he could without knifes shooting through his nerves. "I don't think I can move myself much."

"Stop being a wimp, and lets get a move on. We don't have all day." Bunny leaned over and helped Dee to his feet. Dee slowly shuffled to his designated door, feeling a little better now that relief was in sight.

[Artificial Idiot]

Based on an IM conversation with Wesforce.

Wrightman was tense all over. She took a few deep breaths and tried to calm her now raging headache before facing the telecom system.

'Allo mon fraggere...?' An impatient voice said. It was BadJimmy, and she knew she shouldn't be keeping BadJimmy of all people waiting.

'Hey, It's been awhile Jean.' She said finally.

'Frag alors! Le merde, it is you?' He was obviously slightly taken aback. As Wrightman had said, it had been while. ''Ow can I say this,... Would you 'ang up? I am about to call a VERY Important Ladyfriend...'

He raised his eyebrows Obviously smug and self satisfied. Although, with that performance on Yokohama's telecom, she wasn't sure why. I mean come on, blowing her a kiss? Like anyone was going to fal for that.

'Am I not important enough for you?' Wrightman asked, slightly playful. Although she felt she had to drop the bombshell on him sooner or later. "Going to meet her at 4:50 were you?"

There was a pause.

'Uh.. No, not at all. Heh heh...' Facing the stern look in Wrightman's eyes he added. 'How le frag did you know that?':

'I'd tell you Jean, but I'm not sure I should.' She began. But she knew how touchy he was, and had to tell him something. 'What I can tell you is, I know she's dead..."

Another short pause.

'... Zis is... hard to believe.' He began. She'd say he had greif written on his face, although it was hard to tell with BadJimmy. 'You lying biche, what kind of fraggery is zis?'

'Look, I'll try to explain. I take it you've been following the recent serial murder case in Geneva?'

'Nope. Have been busy.' Why?'

"I've been investigating it. Chiaka Yokohama was... is.. the forth... fifth victim."

'...Forth? Fifth?'

"I'm sorry, I'm not feeling too well at the moment. One of the victims, Svetlana Dawson, slipped my mind."

'...Oh frag...'

'Jean... you don't know anything do you... anything about what did... this' She lifted her wounded arm up to the screen. She'd taken her trench coat off and she could now see the full extent of the damage. She'd have to do something about it eventually.

'... Non, I do not know anything about that... Looks like it was a nasry bastard...' He began. 'But does le name Sarah LGSystems eman anything to you?'

'Yes, she was another of the victims. LG systems kept her files locked up tight though.'

'LE MERDE!' He screamed. 'I 'ave been set up! Wrightman, I must get out of here!'

'Set up? Jean, what do you mean? What have you done?'

'Some f... I was hired by an ork fragger, a couple of weeks ago...' Wrightman had a bad feeling about this. 'just a routine job... Find some biches in the local area... Youngm female humans, with no cyberware... At specific geographical poins in the area'

'How many did you find Jean?'

Yet another short pause.

'Five.'

'Five... Svetlana seemed to be an unplanned murder... Our apperance sparked it. Who is the fifth Jean?"

'Lydia Himmelstasse?' Wrightman didn't even have to tell him about her death. He could see it on her face. 'Uh, okay... there is one more. Portia Nakarov - Over in West town'

'You're sure of this?'

'Oui, le certanement' He said, slipping in and out of French like an eel. 'I contaced each of them in turn - I was to have no more contact after setting up a meeting with them and myself. And my employer would go in my place'

'I've met him....' Go in his place? Yeah, he went alright... 'He did this to my arm.'

'Le merde! Anyway, I was paid to keep shut afer the last one...' He explained. 'He was loaded, Wrighman. Le nyen cming out of ze ears! I needed the money!'

'I understand. It's a tough life... but seriously, you should check if your employers are GRUDD DAMNED DMUTANT ORKS FIRST!'

'Frag you, I am not le physicien!'

"Yeah, yeah. I'm sorry It's just... nevermind. It's been a hard day.'

'Bah!'

'Thanks Jean, thanks a lot. You're a Grudd sent. Now get your ass out of there before those fraggers come and turn you into a fine paste... literally.'

'Le merde... Can;t an Elf get a decent job setting up single young women these days? Eei is no job for a respectable private eye!' He grumbled. Wrightman knew the feeling well. Chasing after fragging Orks. What kind of a job was that? Why was she even doing it? 'Au revoir... And maybe I owe you one, non?'

"Perhaps. I'd say you owe me more then one for clearing up your grudd damned mess."

'BadJimmy doesn;t give you anything for free.' Le frag and good bye!' He sent the map details to the next victims home and then signed off. Leaving Wrightman feeling even more tired and famished then she had been before. But at least now, she felt useful too. She carefully dialed Deadwood's number into the telecom, she'd have to call Shatter too. She just hoped he wasn't already undergoing treatment from Tina.

'Ja, hallo?" Obviously he wasn't.

'Deadwood, I've just been speaking to a friend of mine. He's a detective like myself. he says that he was hired to track down the young girls who were murdered, he tracked down five. I have her details with me, we might be able to save her.' The last few words sounded desperate. She'd failed the last woman, but she wouldn't fail this one. Deadwood nodded and accepted the details. 'Any idea what's wrong with me yet?'

'No. I will call you when I know anything. Just get some rest and be ready to go, ja?' With that, Deadwood signed off. She dialed the number for Shatter and told him much the same. The Humvee was still on the road, and it seemed only Shatter, the Gobbos and Mandy were on board. Laura and those two other people they seemed to have picked up were nowhere to be seen, not to mention that Norbert fellow. Didn' change the fact she felt physically and mentally drained either. She dialed one last number, almost fed up with the effort all this dialing was taking. The face of a young Troll appeared on the screen.

'Hey there... um, Wrightman. What do you want me to look up... now?' Asked the Troll, obviously fresh out of bed or off the matrix.

'Nothing. If it's not too much trouble, I'd like you to come over. With food, preferably.'

'I dunno Emily... I'm allowed to use that, right?' Wrightman nodded. 'You live in a pretty rough area and all...'

'Please? I really need the company... and I'm starving...'

'Well, you don't look well an... fine, fine! I'll be right over!'

'Oh and Gary, Chances are I'll be asleep. So if I don't answer, just let yourself in. Oh, and if my vid-phone or telecom system rings, wake me up.'

The Troll vanished much the same way the others did. That pretty much covered everything. She could go to sleep being sure that she wouldn't miss any important news from Shatter or Deadwood and wake up to eat. Besides, Gary spent far too much time on the Matrix. He could use the company. So could she really. She slipped between the covers of her 'bed', for lack of a better word, flicked on the 3DTV and promtly fell asleep.

[VO]

"If your place has a power point, we can recharge this thing", Bonnie said, looking up from the laser. "It's best to keep it topped up, even though we've only fired two shots from it".

"Ok," said Mandy, "How much will that cost? Electricity's hardly cheap nowadays."

"Relax," replied Clyde. "Bonnie here knows some tricks - got a neighbour you don't like?"

[CKW]

The wristphone of Jewel beeped. It was Oddman's sister. Jewel looked in disbelief as she was still sorrowed, and nearing death. She had no where to go, no where to cry.
Let's put end to this misery. Plus, she would be tasty.
No.
Why not!? Don't ever think into pitying her. You are human but in disguise, Jewel! You WILL NEVER be evil. Nor Compassive.
But, why do i feel... empathy towards her?Why. Is that also animals do have feelings, even under the shell of instict?...
She messed her hair.
"Oddman had many friends, phone one of them. I am afraid I am not the most likely person to help you"
Person...? But am i really a person?
She bited her nail with her slightly sharpened fangs. She made blood. Even under human shell, she had still a nasty bite.
She looked around. Nobody was in the flat.Jewel sighed, and dropped her bulk on the coach. She had arrived soon to her flat. Cabs were extremely efficient this time.

Let's phone Deadwood

She sighed.

Wrightman's phone rang. It was Oddman's sister.

[Artificial Idiot]

Gary knocked catiously on Wrightman's door. No answer. He gulped. The smell of fried meat filled his nostrils... he hoped Wrightman wasn't vegitarian or something. As he'd got a small bucket of fried meat from one of those Ork bars down the road... probably not the best choice in the world, but he knew she hated Pizza Slut, and chocolate would have been suggestive. He pushed the door, it swung open.
He stepped into Wrightman's office, looking over her desk it looked like she'd been very busy lately. A vid-phone, map chips and her matrix cable computer were sprawled across it's surface. As well as serveral recordings of news reports. At first, he wasn't sure she was even here, but the sound of soft snoring alerted him to her presence. He pushed back the dirty grey drape to see Wrightman, lying in the middle of the floor, still fully clothed... or at least, as far as he could tell, not like he was intentionally looking or something. The dim flicker of the 3DTV illuminated the room, she must have muted it while sleeping.
He shrugged and settled the bucket of meat down on her desk. It would take awhile for it to get cold, or at least it should. He'd had stuff from those ork places before that had stayed hot for days. It was crazy, they just didn't seem to lose heat. Gary's thoughts were interupted by the ringing of Wrightman's telecom system.

"She told me to wake her... better check if it's important..." He answered the call to see the face of an elf staring back at him. An incredibly dark skinned elf. "Uh... Hi?"

"You're not that green haired woman! You're a Troll!" She choaked. She'd obviously been crying a lot lately, but Gary didn't have time to find out. Emily had mentioned a blood sample or something to him earlier.

"Is this about... a blood sample or something?" He asked. He really didn't want to wake her.

"N...no..."

"Well in that case, I'm afraid E... Wrightman can't talk right now. Bye." Gary hung up on the woman before she could protest and sat down next to the sleeping human. He checked her fridge to find left overs from Pizza Slut and out of date Soy-Milk. He shrugged and took the remains, chewing on them while he watched a 3DTV film about CAS hillbillies who go into space.

[Wesforce]

(GM: I'm advancing this a few hours to around 10: pm at night - Everyone has time to get some rest, food or re-equip, unless they are encountered in the passages below...)

Newsflex! Flexing the muscle of News at the simpering naivete of public opinion 24/7!!!

Cut to Henk in studio

'Hi there, I'm Henk Almqvist with sopme breaking News here. There's been another murder in the so called 'SingleHumanFemale-to-go case!'

Winks and walks out in front of video wall showing a map

'The latest victim, identified only as "Helen" According to Daisaka sources, was murdered here in her flat, only a few streets from the GM Tower Hamlets building - Scene to a completely unrelated bout of random gang violence earlier today that left five unemployed Ork oldsters missing presumed dead. Here to speak with me is Daisaka Representative 'Jean Jones.' Jean, what can you tell me about the murder?'

Plain-looking woman in her forties appears on camera. Her eyes continually shift left, then right, then back again.

'Henk, we believe we have found our murderer. A Dark-Skinned Elf was found at the crime scene, with a recently-fired pistol in his hand. Evidently, he shot the victim, exploding her body all over the room. Then he shot himself in the face, twice, obviously knowing that he would have eventually been forced to pay his debt to society.'

Back to Henk with a deep grin.

'Another case closed for Daisaka! Nice one fellas! And what do you say to the sources claiming this murderer was in fact an Ex-Daisaka emplyee?'

'Um...'

Daisaka live feed cuts out, leaving Henk puzzled.

***

Krazy opened his eyes to a weird sensation - Feverish heat, jumbled, garbled voices in his ears. Images of the cap swam in and out of his vision. Sometimes he felt he was there, gun in had, Sometimes he knew he was bolt upright shivering in some hospital bed, sometimes he didn't.

Some time during that delerious haze, he felt something jabbed into his forearm with little precision Nothing really got better after that, but he was able to focus. The visions and waking dreams went - He was in a room whose off-white walls were spidered with cracks and blotched with dry brown patches. It smelt of dampness, cheap disinfectant and death.

Hospital it is, then.

A stabbing pain in his pelvis made him look down, at the blanket covering his lap, and the bandages underneath. He couldn;t move his legs.

If those bastards got my spine...

'Relax. You're still under anaesthetic. You'll be able to move soon enough. You'll be able to feel the full extent of the pain too, but meh.'

Cigarette smoke wated over from the speaker: An Elf in a white coat that stank of soy alcohol, back to Krazny. Streaked grey hair sprang up in a wavy mushroom from his scalp.

'Tell a lie' The Doc said. 'You'll feel the full extent of the pain once you see your cred-balance.' A smirk, then he left.

After a few minutes, Krazny was able to move. His clothes and gear - minus his weapons, back with the other 'runners - were dumped on a rickety chair next to his bed.

***

Deadwood had been taken in next - His wound was a simpler operation than Krazny's - Just a simple clean and stitch. Soon he was walking down the Corridor back to meet the others, and checked his wristphone.

A message had been left by the odd woman who'd met him outside the latest crime scene - He remembered how nervous she'd been, talking to him. He didn't really have time for this... But sent her a message anyway, while trying to form a plan to get everyone back together in his head.

He settled for asking her who she was, and how she'd found him. He had an inkling she was some kind of Magic-user after advice. He laughed darkly - He'd be no use there, but being the friendly chap he was, decided it might be worth a go.

He was just about to call shatter when Tina came up to him, looking very worried and pale. He remembered Bunny had said she had to tell Wrightman something.

'So whats this all about, and how much more are you going to charge us, hm?'

'Have you ever heard of HMHVV?'

'Human-Metahuman Vampiric Virus?' Said Deadwood. 'Well yes but I-'

He thought.

'Oh.'

He immediately sent a call through to Wrightman, but saw some vacant-looking Troll fragger.

A few moments later he was desperately calling all the other 'runners, trying to find out Wrightman's address. He had to get there now.

***

'Who's that?' Murmured Wrightman, stirring from her sleep. She could smell food nearby. Strong, overpowering, irresistable. She had to have it. She felt full of energy, ten times the woman she was before.

Must have been a good sleep.

Gary was talking to someone. She glanced over his shoulder - Deadwood.

Good, she'd find out what he had to tell her after her food. She had to eat now.

The smell of food became stronger. She moved towards it - past the bucket of steaming meat.

Food... It was there... Coarsing through Gary's veins...

***

Dragon was just leaving, heading down to his local bar: The Wastelands.

No sooner had he left by his block's front entrance, he noticed a Dwarven gang member was lounging about outside the building, eyeing up scantily-clad ganger-girls from rival gangs, and showing off his trusty monobike. Dragon recognised him as the odd type who'd met the 'runners earlier. Norbert.

'TEE HEE HAR HAR! Its you lad!'

'Who is?' Said Dragon. The Dwarf was intimidating him: Almost the same height as him, but with a heavier build.

'Don't think I'm stupid HEE HEE HEE HO HAR HO! I saw you hanging about near my Monique's place you HAR HAR HEE HEE Murderer! I heard about you and your professional hits and put two and two together see? HEE HO HAR HEE'

Almost casually Norbert flicked out a short-barreled shotgun from under his synthleather jacket and had it levelled at The Goblin's chest as gangers and their girlfriends went diving for cover at the side of the road...

***

Bunny wheeled around the trashed streets, past a few hobos clustering around a fiery brazier whouting incoherently. Worryingly, he could still hear scattered gunfore - Much neareer to the clinic now. Scattered single shots, and the then hugely powerful sounding streams of autofire that had to come froma minigun or something.

Heading this way...

He was interrupted by Miriam, over the intercom.

'Um, Bunny? I don't think she will wake up...She's not breathing.'

[VO]

"Nice place here". Bonnie and Clyde followed Mandy up the stairwell of the apartment block - the one lift was out of order, with what looked like a chair rammed through the door. Somewhere, loud dwarf rap music was being played - just enough to send faint tremors through the furniture of Dee and Mandy's flat, as she pushed open the door, revealing the remains of Dee's breakfast on a table by the bin.

Clyde unslung the laser from his back, it clunking down by an unpainted radiator. Shatter followed them in, and Laura, the unarmed martial artist requesting if she could use the shower. Mandy picked up a remote control, and the battered old 3DTV flickered on, just in time for half of the evening news.

"...found our murderer. A Dark-Skinned Elf was found at the crime scene, with a recently-fired pistol in his hand. Evidently, he shot the victim, exploding her body all over the room. Then he shot himself in the face, twice, obviously knowing that he would have eventually been forced to pay his debt to society..."

No-one really felt like extrapolating over that. Mandy flicked the TV onto another station.

... in the run up to to the UCAS elections, officials are concerned that the right-wing Church of Light may be using banned mind-control drugs during sermons to influence the minds of potential voters. Here's Thesa LeVoo to tell us more...

Attention drifted away from the television, and Mandy punched some buttons on the microwave.

"Mind if we have something to eat?" Muttered Clyde, and Bonnie continued for him. "It looks like it's gonna be a long night, and a longer day tomorrow."

Shatter nodded his agreement, unbuckling the rest of his heavy armour. The beat of the music droned on.

[KrasnyOktyabr]

Krasny slowly removed himself from the hospital bed and changed into his clothes. His lower regions hurt like a drek, but it was better than being passed out becouse at least now he could pretend to be useful. Now that he was all set he moved out into the dimmly lit hallway, it was night time but being a low quality no questions hospital it was pretty crowded. Where in the hell were his weapons? Probally with the other fraggers, ah well not much to be done about that. Though he did need a weapon of some sort, easy enough to rectify. Krasny walked into a ward, the patient was connected to a bunch of machines but was still concious to the Russian beat him once in the forhead knocking him out. He searched the room, all he found was a Baretta and a 6" knife, not much but better than nothing.

Quickly he left the room, as not to be found out, and made his way to the lobby. Krasny had to climb over some drunk passed out fraggers but made it to a bench. He figured he would be fine resting here for a bit, more open than the hospital room, and it offered a view of what was going on. Krasny layed back and put his feet up, lighting a cigarrette he took a puff, it felt good and served to draw his mind from his situation. Soon he had the vodka out, and that releived some of the aches. It wasn't long before Krasny was feeling prett good, too bad his AK was gone, whatever he had his vodka and cigs.

Then it hit him, he'd been operated on by a fragging elf. Krasny dropped the ciggarette onto the tile, it fizzled out, those bastards! An elf! As fast as his druken stooper could manage Krasny got off the bench and ran to the front desk. Towering over the receptionist he began cursing out the entire institution. The nerve of them! An elf!

It wasn't long before security came along and planted his arse outside of the building.

[Artificial Idiot]

"Oh uh, hey Emily, I was... uh. Just about to wake up." Gary stuttered, but she didn't seem to hear him. She was almost like a zombie or something. Well, she did say that she was ill... but still. "You've had two calls while you were asleep... is everything... ok?"

"Just perfect..." Wrightman whispered. Her thought process had turned detective. If she just bit him, he'd resist. She'd have to play his weaknesses, and she knew him better then most. He was a teenage troll, hormones running wild, one sure fire way to do this. She started to unbutton her shirt. "Have I ever told you that you have the most wonderful eyes?

"Erhm... n-no? Emily, what are you... doing?" Gray backed away, right up to the 3DTV screen. Wrightman just giggled.

"Relax. I'm your friend..." She raised her eyebrow at him. "You don't honestly think I'd hurt you, do you?"

"Well, n-no... Of course not... It's just..." He gulped. "I'm not comfortable with this, Emily."

"Relax. Like I said, I'd never hurt you..."

She moved in to kiss him. A tingling sensation ran though her body as she felt the warmth of his flesh, the blood pumping under the flesh. She needed more. Much more. She needed the blood... needed food

"Grudd, Grudd, Grudd, Grudd, Grudd...." Gary whimpered as Wrightman pulled away. She licked her lips.

"You don't need him... I'll take good care of you." She looked at him meaningfully. "You do trust me, don't you?"

"Of course Emily.. it's just..."

"Sssh." She placed her hand on his. "Now whatever I do, just go with it... ok?"

Gary nodded sheepishly. Wrightman started to nibble experimentally at the flesh, promting small yelps from Gary and small specks of blood. They sent a plesent sensation down her tounge, and a yerning for more! But her fangs were just a growing pain at the moment, no where near big enough to puncture the skin. She'd have to do it the way the Ork fragger had. She bit him. Ripping a chunk out of his flesh with her blunt teeth.

"ARGH! GRUDD! EMILY! WHAT ARE Y... ARGH!!!!" Gary yelled.

"Gary! What's the matter? I thought you trusted me?" Wrightman said, sounding hurt.

"You BIT ME grudd damn it! Sweet Jovis you bit me!" Gary yelled.

"Then I guess you don't trust me after all..." Said Wrightman, licking the fresh red blood covering her lips. "I guess that means we can't be friends... Good bye Gary... I-I'm sorry."

She pulled her Tazer from her pocket and put a dart in the Troll, he left a trail of blood as he slumped to the ground. Wrightman licked her lips. The sight of the blood made her more and more excited! Any guilt she had was erased by a feeding frenzy. She bent down to feed, thinking how nice it was of Gary to bring her food.

[Nyerguds]

Bunny hit the brakes, put the car at the side, unplugged from the rigger interface and went into the back of the van.

"Crap!"
He put on the lamps in the van, and checked the woman's pulse. It was weakening by the second.

He sighed. "She's a goner. Damn that dwarf woman."
"What do we do now?" Mariam asked.
Bunny looked up. "Not much we can do. But we're in a quiet neighborhood. We just dump the body here and get the frag back to the street clinic."

He opened the side door.
"All clear?" Mariam asked.
Bunny looked around. The street was deserted. Some dead guy was lying on the plascrete, his head blown in pieces. "All clear."

They quickly put the body somewhere in between a big overflowing trash container and the pile of trash lying beside it, and drove off.

***

After a quick ride, they were back at Discount Suturing. He parked the van, told Mariam to get out and activated the 'alarm system'.

He walked into the street clinic and sought out Deadwood.
"I'm back." he simply said.
"Hm." Deadwood replied. He obviously didn't want to hear the details any more than Bunny wanted to give them.
"Found out what's wrong with Wrightman?"

"Some bad drek, man. HMHVV."

Bunny turned pale. "...what?! The vampire virus?"
He grabbed the nearest chair and say down. "Crap.... Oh, crap, Wrightman."
He looked up. "Can't it be cured somehow?!"

[KrasnyOktyabr]

Bunny walked right past Krasny, "that arrogant drek" the Russian thought to himself. He got to his feet and chased after the other 'runner, he saw him talking to Deadwook, whatever he wanted his equipment.

"Bunny hurry the hell up and open your van up before I fragging bust you in half, I want my weapons. Why the frag didn't you leave them with me you fragging drek? Gah!"

[Nyerguds]

"Look, you drekhead, I'm the driver here." Bunny said. That arrogant bastard was about the last thing he could take right now. "If you keep giving me this attitude I might just leave you here, and the way you act I'm not at all moved to give you any weapons either. So just shut the frag up! If you're in such a hurry to leave go ahead and get yerself fried on my van. Not as if I care."

He brusquely got up and walked to the van.

"Looks like you still gotta get your economic torture anyway." he said as he passed Krasny, nodding towards the doctor sitting behind her desk. The dwarf woman looked pretty pissed.

Bunny quickly got in the van, and put Krasny's weapons away in a secured compartiment.
He's not getting anything back as long as he's riding in MY van, dammit! he thought. He didn't like the guy, and he generally didn't trust people he didn't like.

[Desolator12]

"Hey bub... It wasn't me... I was on my way to go to a potential 'backer' when i saw that building on fire... I think I hit a datsaika before I got out... My attention was on my broken bubble canopy and the fire... After that, i'd been with the rest of your apparent pals... I couldn'ta made the kill. It was apparently fresh, as the Dats weren't here...did you happen to get any information on what the murder scene looked like?"

Dragon hoped that the gun-toting Dwarf could get through his thick skull that it was impossible for him to have made the kill, and that he was extremely confused...

[landry38]

"Aah, a lot better."

Laura walked out of the bathroom, decked in her usual street clothing.

"So, what's news? she asked.

-Laura's wristphone beeps-

"I'll be right back."

Laura got herself out of sight from the others. It was her sensei, Akira.

"Hello?" she asked automatically.

"Laura! What have you been up to? It's a warzone out there, it's been all over the news!"

"I've been researching."

"Do these things have anything to do with your fellow "runners"?

"It's Daisaka, Sensei."

"I demand you get back here right now, Laura. It's unsafe!"

"Unsafe?" Laura thought. "Dammit, I live for unsafe!! And besides, I'm on to that Ork who killed my parents."

"Listen, I'm going to find the killer of my parents, so back off!" Laura started to shout.

"You get back here or I'll bring you back here myself! You are not going to be involved in any of that running on my watch!"

"You never listen, do ya?"

-click-

"Old man, I'm not his frickin child." Laura thought. "But damn, does he like to stay true to his word."

This meant that the gang would probably have another one on their hands. Although well equipped in the martial arts, his health had been failing, and probably wouldn't be much of a nuisance to an enemy, especially an Ork.

Laura walked back in. "So, what's been on the news, guys? Anything to do with us?"

[LeFire]

Shatter finished off putting the remaining pieces of heavy armour into the two suitcases that he had brought up from the Hummer to Mandy's apartment and leaned back, allowing his body to relax against the soft cushioning of her sofa.

Time for a nap...

His wristphone rang.

Shatter cursed softly and put it up to his face. Deadwood's face was on the small viewscreen, a look of alarm on his face. Immediately concerned, the Spellbreaker sat up and upped the volume on the wristphone.

"Deadwood, what's up?"

The ex-shaman proceeded to tell him about the HMHVV and how the blood sample had shown up traces of the viral infection in Wrightmann's body. And Shatter wasn't slow to catch the drift that the detective could be one of those crazy things that attacked them that morning... a vampire herself.

At the end of the conversation, Shatter's mind went back to his MUNDI courses on biological terrorism, remembering that viruses had to be counteracted by specific antibodies and that the only way to get such serum (with the antibodies inside) would be to deactivate the virus in some way, emplace them in a fresh healthy human, metahuman or monkey host, and extract the body's naturally produced antibodies. But all that took time, and a whole lot of research.

There had to be another way. Shatter thought... He didn't mind if solving the vampire problem meant killing all of them. But the thought of having to take down Wrightmann gave him pause. He touched the hilt of Neutraliser, remembering a strong magical aura from the ork that had attacked him with the manabolt earlier in the day.

Maybe I can break their powers somehow... but how?

Laura had just walked into the room, and he updated her on the information from Wrightmann and Deadwood, yelling for Bonnie, Clyde to join them and for Mandy to grab a street directory. It would be a far shot... but they might be able to get to Wrightmann's apartment in time...

To do what, Shatter didn't know.

[Artificial Idiot]

Wrightman rocked backwards and forwards, curled up in a little ball, 3DTV still blarring out the news. Tears ran down her face, the guilt at what she had just done was just... unbearable! The bloodlust, it was gone. For now. But that didn't change the fact she'd killed Gary. At first, she didn't have the heart to do it. She planned o leave him there... alive. But then, then it hit her. He'd never live again after this. Not fully alive. He'd live a half life, feeding off others and as Wrightman had just discovered, unable to go out in the sun. She'd betrayed him once, the least she could do was not betray him again.
But what next? There was enough blood in Gary's limp, lifeless body to keep her sustained for a few days, it was cold, and her body yearned for fresh, warm blood... but she couldn't. Not again. But if sh couldn't interact with people without wanting to turn them into a main course, what could she do? Her professional life was all but over. She couldn't stay here either, she'd have to move, out onto the streets or something. But what hurt the most was, she'd have to hurt others to live herself. Could she really live like that? Would bloodlust drive her to do it again? Like it had driven her to kill the troll sitting next to her? She just didn't seem to know anything anymore, as if her life had been taken out of her own control and placed into the hands of some kind of... monster.

"Drek." She whispered. She remembered now, Gary had been talking to Deadwood. Deadwood must have known by now. That means the others must know... and that means they'd be coming here. She couldn't let newly found instincts drive her to hurt them. She'd have to keep them out.
She looked around the room for something, anything to block the door with. The only thing she had was her desk, which she decided would do. With great effort, she moved it in front of her door then sat on it.
She'd failed Svetlana, she'd failed the forth victim, she'd even failed Gary... her friend. She'd let all of them get killed because of her actions or inaction. She wasn't going to have anymore blood on her hands, especially the blood of her friends.

[Wesforce]

Deadwood gratefully received the message from Shatter - And went and fetched Dee - Just patched up, but dead tired. Everyone was, the wounded all the worse.

He saw Bunny and Krazny arguing - The team was coming apart from the stress of it all.

I'm coming apart myself. Damn it! Need to get a grip!

He paid for the treatment himself, using the money he'd squirreled away to overhaul his cyber. Maybe he'd be able to get the worth back from the others, but for now he didn't care.

'Lets get going.' He growled, pushing past the arguers, giving both in turn a shut the frag up glower. 'We'll give you your fragging weapons when we get there.'

Weapons...

On a brainwave he ran back into discount suturing and came back with a large quantity of tranquilisers. More money, but these were important.

With everyone in the van, he gave one more instruction to Bunny.

'We'll need to stop at the Gun'n'run. Make it snappy, Ja?'

***

'Get any information on what the murder scene looked like? YO HO HO HAR HAR!!! I lived there, fragger!' Norbert yelled manically, eyes bulging out, bloodshot. He shook his gun at Dragon.

'And I seen you around here HO HAR HAR before... I don't like you frikkin' Greenskins. HEE HEE HO!'

[VO]

Bonnie hastily unplugged the laser from the wall, where (unknown to Mandy) it had been recharging. He helped Clyde strap it to their back, while Shatter impatiently waited for them at the door.

"Hurry up, you two. Does Mandy even know you're doing that?"

The goblins didn't bother to reply, and, having secured the weapon to Clyde for it's transport downstairs, Bonnie scrambled across the kitchen counter to the beeping microwave, knocking over a pile of papers, and popping it open and pulling out the soytacos Mandy had been warming inside.

"Shame to waste them," He mumbled, stuffing one into his mouth and handing one to his brother." Clyde took it and eagerly devoured it.

"You want one?" Bonie offered the final wrap to Shatter, who viewed it with disdain - it was now partially coverred in some kind of oil, and rather grubby from Bonnie's dirty hands.

"I'll pass," the warrior said. "Now hurry up."

"All the same to me," replied Bonnie, and took a bite out of the taco. They hurried out of the door, which Shatter slammed shut, hearing the lock click, and followed after them.

[KrasnyOktyabr]

"Fine."

Krasny wasn't too pleased at not getting his AK back yet, but then he had been a bit harsh about it, ah well he was fragging tired and thats the only excuse he had. Everyone was tired, it had been a long fragging day.

Krasny looked around at the assortment of leeches and scum, "fraggers" he said to no one in particular as he opened his flask and downed another shot.

[CKW]

The metal flew a meter away or so.
"Gah... I soo hate that cyberware..."
Why don't you prey more tender flesh? One day, you will get parasites by eating crap
No. I like to prey these. Because no one's gotta take revenge on their death. Revenge makes people terribly nasty. Sigh... i want a juicy cow...

Jewel looked back at the carcass in the back alley, blood trickling from her mouth. It had been a young troll, a young bold troll wannabee ganger. A bit in the neck, and the boy choked to death. As far as she recapped, nobody would miss the victim. Good. But she still felt somehow... thrived. This was nonsense. Humans said that eating people was depravated. But, in fact, killing for money was more depravated than sheer survival.
It was him or me. Jewel sighed. She looked back at her top. It was not in her place, and messed up. She putted it back as good as she could.
"Wonder why male metahumans find my appearance fascinating?"

Speaking of humans... what had happened to that ex-dog shaman?

While she was leaving the dark corner, she received a call.

"Sob..."
Not her again
Jewel wiped off the blood from her mouth. It wouldn't be good that the hysterical sister of Oddman saw that face of hers.
"NOBODY has answered. Not even that Wrightman."
"And what can i do? I don't have the resources to comfort you."
"..."
The girl realized it.
"True, you are... one of those werewolves."
Well, that certainly was expected. She hang up.

"And now..."
Hey, why don't you owl a little? When was last time
It will make noise, but what the hell

Jewel took a deep breath.
"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!"
The owl echoed down the street, the dogs barked at chorus.
Now that felt sooo goood. But i must be gone.

[Desolator12]

Dragon managed to dodge out of the way, but still got about 4 or 5 of the shotgun round into his sholder, which hurt like hell

"FRAG! I meant what the scene looked like AFTER the bloody murder! There are other assassins, and I haven't made a kill In a fraggin long time...well, except for that Datsaika person that was gonna frag yer friends. Perhapse I could check it out with some of my fraggin friends? Besides, I don't want to kill you... 'last think i need is your buddies to come and frag me..."

Something Owled in the distance... something Inhuman...

"What the bloody frag was that?!?" Said Dragon, still aware that the dwarf had the gun.

"I'm gonna call up that buddy of yours that gave me his number... he wanted me to call him... perhapse he can help us straighten this out a bit..."

Said Dragon, pulling out his portable phone...

"...and perhapse you could be polite enough to not shoot me... when I make a kill, there's no evidence whatsoever... the pale look on that one guy's face seems to prove otherwise, that there was one fraggin mess... and I know what the frag it's like to lose a loved one damnit... that's why I got into this business... to frag the company that fragged my parents..."

[LeFire]

Shatter made a final call to Deadwood just before Mandy put her foot to the accelerator of the Humvee. The ex shaman was on his way to Gun-and-Run with the rest of the Bunnyvan runners and agreed to meet the Humvee's load at the gun supply store entrance, mentioning that he had picked up tranquilisers along the way.

Satisfied, Shatter busied himself with cleaning the Neutraliser's blade. His armour sat in the two suitcases by his boots. The Spellbreaker would wear the heavy gear just before breaking into Wrightmann's apartment, if the plan went right. Vampires did their transmission attack with fangs... and unless Wrightmann could bite through inch-thick ceramic composite, Shatter would be the best first man in with Deadwood backing him up. For self defence, he could lash out non-lethally with the pommel and flat of Neutraliser's blade... hopefully that and the tranquilisers might be enough to stun Wrightmann without killing her.

[Wesforce]

Outside the IWS Metro Gun'n'Run:

The Van skidded sideways leaving black tyre tracks. An overweight woman nearly dropped her boxes of Firelite 9mils and soytacos jumping to avoid the van, which had disgorged Deadwood before it even stopped moving.

He ran in, getting a nervous look from the counter boy, who's finger must be trembling near the switch to activate the sentry guns and gas-dispersers these places normally fitted.

Deadwood forced himself to calm down and slow down so as not to attract such undue attention. He did, and the counter clerk visibly sighed.

Deadwood stalked the aisles which seemed to be displaying a surprisingly small range of gear: Enfield AS5 Semi-Auto shotguns, Colt AR20 Semi-Auto rifles, assorted pistols and evena few antique revolvers.

He found what he wanted - Some cheap Nightvision goggles and a fairly generic IWS Dartgun. Next he went to the ammuntion section and grabbed a box of darts. On second thoughts, he got a few boxes of 9mm pistol ammo, 12-gauge shot-shells and some rifle ammo for Krazny. Hollowpoints).

'¥1,765.' Said the shop clerk with a scowl, as if he'd just developed some balls and wanted to use them. Deadwood paid without a word and went at speed back to the van. He handed out pistol ammo to everyone.

Later, the Bunnyvan arrived at Wrightman's - The Humvee was already there. Wisely, they waited until everyone was there.

It was eerily quiet, as if someone had cast a localised silence spell over this darkened part of the town. Or maybe it was just psychological. Everything seemed muted - The traffic dounds, the low hum of 3DTVs on up in the resident's dismal apartments.

Deadwood loaded a gauss-dart into the dartgun - The low-powered railgun-type coils enabled the weapon to fire quieter than an airgun with better penetrating power for the needle. He just hoped the tranqs would be enough to take Wrightman down - Providing they'd need to. He didn't even know what they'd do with her yet. All he knew was that he had to keep her from the public, and had to try and keep her safe: She was part of the team after all, and had gotten them far.

'Sure about this?' Asked Shatter, sliding his armour on.

'Don't see any other choice.' Said Deadwood. Laura was behind him, and Dee stood with Krazny, who Deadwood trusted enough to give back his AK97.

A figure appeared from the darkness with shocking silence. Deadwood dimly regarded the longcoated figure from the corner of his eyes, thinking at first he was a hobo or something.

'Frag.' Mouthed Shatter quietly. It was the Ork Wrightman had kidnapped. The Ork who'd manabolted him - He still felt messed-up from that.

'Shhh.' Said the Ork, putting a finger to his lips. He mut have been wearing a new coat, and his other arm was fastened firmly into the corresponding pocket. The Ork added, in a heavy, mushy baritone 'We don't want to wake up the sleeping beauty.'

He chuckled. He chuckled and moved forward - blindingly fast.

Deadwood dived left and brought up the shotgun, but Shatter had darted forward, blocking his line of sight. The Ex-MUNDI cut a glittering arc with the Neutraliser, and the Ork ceased to exist.

'Illusion spell'. Said Shatter.

'Didn't even show up on my sensors.' Said Bunny. 'And there's nothing on the streets within a hundred metres of here.'

'I suggest we get a move on.' Said Deadwood. 'Arm up! And Bunny, let us know the moment anything weird happens. Bonnie, Clyde - Do your thing, protect the Van. Laser's too heavy to bring inside a building.'

The group made its way into the darkened building with military precision, with NVG's checking each area. They almost gunned down an unsuspecting elderly Ork who blundered into their path. Deadwood told Krazny to take him back to his apartment. There didn't appear to be anyone else out of their flats - Sensible of them.

And now they found themselves at what must have been Wrightman's place.

'Hold up a sec. I'll check the astral.'

It took Deadwood longer than normal to calm himself enough for astral projection. It was harder every day, even more so in this tense situation. Just asthe others were showing sign of losing patience, he did it.

He floated through the door, spotted Wrightman - Grudd, her aura looked terrible. It had faded somewhat and was blood-red. It was also swollen with feeding. There was someone else, too. He couldn't recognise him from the Astral, especially as his aura looked extremely dim - also containing a hint of that which infested Wrightman's.

With horror Deadwood realised it must have been his Aura Wrightman had fed on (The blood transfer being mainly a physical link for this). She's fed already. She's pretty much a full Vampyre. Frag. FRAG!

'Hello Deadwood.' Said Wrightman.

'You can... See me?'

'My eyes... They tell me all sorts of things about the world thses days.' She said softly. 'Yes, I see the astral. Overlaid upon the real world.'

She paused.

'It sucks.'

'Wrightman, I'm going to go back to my body. Let us in. We can help you.'

[Artificial Idiot]

Wrightman was trembling. She had a cup in her hand, it's contents were cold. She'd decided to stockpile the blood from the Troll's body, and even though it was as nourishing as the fresh, warm stuff she could still taste on her lips, it calmed her nevres and did the job. Deadwood had just arrived, she could see his astral signature. It was very weak, just as she'd imagined it to be with all that cyber. She was surprised he could even manage projection.

"I... I can't do that Deadwood." She replied, as calmly as she could. "I'm not going to put you at risk. Any of you."

It took a few minutes for Deadwood to reply. Back in his body, she heard his voice though the door.

"Wrightman, we can perhaps talk inside, ja?"

"We can talk now. Only differance is, you are firmly out of my reach. I can't hurt you here." She paused, and laughed uneasily. "I never really thought they existed you know... Vampires. I thought they were just some kind of cult of black haired, evening gown wearing weirdos who make blood pacts... Or just 3DTV nightmares that charm women into bed and bathe in the blood of young virgins... shows what I know? Doesn't it?"

Deadwood was silent for a long time. She could hear him, and the others whispered voices. Debating what to do. What to do with the monster they had trapped in a corner. Wrightman curled up on her desk. She couldn't let them in. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt them.

"Wrightman... It's Shatter." Finally, a raised voice. "I'm coming in wearing full body armour. I'll be safe, Wrightman. Just open the door."

"And then what? You're going to restrain me? Keep me bound and gagged in the back of one of the vans until who knows what? Until I break free and hurt one of you? Or worse..." She shuddered. Just the thought of actually aiding those Grudd forsaken Orks in killing her friends... with no will of her own... It wasn't worth thinking about. "Just go! All of you! You can't do anything for me, just find that last woman, save her. Just please, don't let another person die because of me..."

[Wesforce]

'Just open the fragging door Wrightman!' Said Deadwood, taking a sudden angry turn. If he was the angry one, and Shatter the "good cop", maybe they could keep her off-guard enough. He was reluctant to do this: He actually quite liked Wrightman.

'Look Wrightman, we need you to be able to save this other woman, and you're going to come with us whether you like it or not. We're not just going to leave you here with all these innocent people, so you can come willingly, or we'll beat some sense into you!'

After that tirade he nodded at Shatter. Your turn.

He looked at Dee or Krazny, gauging them by size: It was looking like they'd have to break down the door. Some flash grenades might be useful too...

***

Bunny picked up something on IR. A (meta)human sized contact, walking slowly towards the van.

He gave the heads-up to Bonnie and Kelvin - Who were able to make out a tall, tanned Elf wearing one of last season's suit's and a pork-pie hat. He was carrying a briefcase and walking for the van, whistling a jaunty tune.

***

Norbert put up his gun, grinning.

'YO HO HAR HEE HAR! Had ya there, didn't I?' He grinned.

'Uh, yeah...' Said Goblin, uneasily.

'Nah, I know who the real killer is. Saw the bitch just the other day in fact. Just wanted to see if you had the guts.'

The howl came again. Norbert carried on.

'And the bitch is near! YO HO HO HO HAR! Wanna come and skin some Wolfie with me?'

[Desolator12]

Dragon, now a bit more at ease, said "Sure... why not... besides, that howl's gonna give me the creeps... too much strange stuff goin on. Let's go get us some 'wolfie'" Said dragon...

[CKW]

Frag, i carried away, and i need to run. Quickly.Anyway, gotta see that "cousin dog" shaman. Things could be interesting.
Jewel leapt away from the remnants of her prey, and began to run, trying to reach the nearest cab available...

[Wesforce]

Norbert and Dragon went for the source of the howling - Alleyways not far from the main road, with its quite battered Robocabs.

Someone was coming down the alley. The two could hear the soft, running steps - Norbert backed off so he could cover the mouth of the alley. A veteran killer, Dragon did the same.

Norbert looked at Dragon and nodded at him to get ready: This was it. Though he didn't say anything, the look on his face was unmistakably YO HO TEE HEE HAR! He had his shotgun ready, a round in the chamber.

***

Jewel made her way to the end of the alleyway - But paused just before she got there.

Odd... Familiar scents. Smells like a Dwarf and a Goblin I've met recently...Nearby

But that could mean anything. She had to leave this alley to get to the main road - And a cab.

[Nyerguds]

Bunny considered just driving away... especially after what happened last time. The whole job was really getting on his nerves. Sure, he'd done long taxi jobs like this before, but never with a chance that one of the people of his team would turn into a fragging vampire. Now he knew what they were up against he knew it probalby wouldn't make much difference on his paycheck if he drove away or not; against these things, how could they possibly win?

"Bunny?" The voice shook him out of his thoughts. It was Kelvin's voice. "What do we do now?"
Bunny thought about their current situation again.

A briefcase. He's carrying a briefcase...

Crap. If those are explosives, we're done for.

"We wait."Bunny replied through the intercom. "I just activated the security system, so whatever you do, don't touch the outside of the van. If he puts that briefcase on the ground, we get the hell out."

If this job gets any worse, I'm out, dammit. Bunny thought.

[CKW]

"Who's there?"
She yelled.

Oh, frag...frag...frag...frag...
Jewel turned back,and there was no response:it was obvious. They were after her. She needed to run away. NOW.

She took little time to shift, and less time to pick the wristphone and the credstick the best she could in her mouth, before running away like an exhalation from the place she was.

[Desolator12]

Dragon, hearing the sound of feet... or paws... or something... running, said to Norbert,"Heh, she's running away. Hope ya got your running shoes on!"

Said Dragon, unsheathing his Dragon's Claws and activating the Sword Shocker... Dragon touched them together, and a huge electric spark formed between them for a second.

"As you would say, 'YO HO TEE HEE HAR'" Stated Dragon with a grin on his face... those occasions where his target ran from Dragon, he liked that even better... the feel of the chase... of the hunt... frag, he was getting to be like this wolf he was going to target... well, actually, that's not that bad... the first step to be a proper assassin, know your target's mood and feelings...

...then assimilate.

[Wesforce]

The target had known he was there, and had run off. Like she was psychic or something.

The Gobbo new boy, Dragon, was off after her like a shot, his small and nimble frame with its wired reflexes making him a blur. But Norbert didn't have a hope of catching her on his stubby little Dwarf legs - He ran as best he could. Now he was supporting Dragon, it seemed.

'Grab her and hold her still while I blow her brains out - TEE HEE YO HO HAR!'

***

Jewel ran on her little Wolf legs - She jumped the body of the Troll she had killed, she hurdled a pile of trash. But it was no good. There was a Gobbo behind her - he was just too fast for her. He must have been cybered or juiced or drugged up or maybe all three. Legs and arms pumping frantically, he ran and launched himself at her.

CRASH!

The Gobbo landed on her, grabbing her and knocking the wind out of her. Both rolled into the gutter, with Dragon on top.

'Hold her! Hold her! HO HO HAR HAR!' Norbert shouted.

***

The Elf came wandering over and set down his briefcase near the van.

Bunny held his breath.

'Hey - Any of you guys want some beetles?' Said the Elf.

[CKW]

THis can't get any worse. This is the end.
But then, the wristphone beeped.
Correction. It can be worse.
Jewel moved to get free of the gobbos grasp. It only made the wristphone land a few meters ahead. It was a man's voice

"Hey there, jewel...uh... Is that, you Jewel? Can you hear me?"

Not him... Not NOW...
Jewel tried hopelessly to break free once again.

[Desolator12]

Dragon put his non-'shocked sword to her neck. "Move and I Might not give the dwarf the honor of blowing your brains out... you're givin us assassins a bad name, what with your murderin' an' all... before the dwarf gets here, what do you have to say in your defence?"

Dragon grabbed the wristphone and spoke into it "Jewel is busy right now, and unles she has a good explanation or an alibi, she won't be doin anything for a long...long time..." And with that, Dragon turned off the wristphone and threw it far away...

"Now, where were we? ah yes... what do you have to say in your defence... hurry up now... I can hear the dwarf'a comin..."

[Wesforce]

Deadwood was contemplating blowing the door's hinges off with his shotgun. But that might cause too much of a scene.

He dialled Bonnie's (or Clyde's) Wristphone. The gruff, surly-looking Gobbo answered simply with;

'What?'

Chip on his shoulder the size of a Troll, concluded Deadwood.

'Is your overgrown flashlight available for a bit of DIY?'

[CKW]

He wants to talk? Well, I am lost anyway, let's try the human way.
Jewel's body started to glow, catching Dragon off-guard. The goblin stumbled backwards, freeing her body. When he tried to close again, an average tall feminine body was standing in front of him, completely naked. The curves of such body were soft, giving somewhat of a frail appearance. The perfect balance between beauty and fitness. The long, raven hair covered part of her chest. The lips began to move.

"Is it wrong to kill for a living? Most people kill for money, and that money helps them struggle in life. I just skipped the money part."
She stared back at him, her slightly sharpen teeth cutely pressing her lips.
"...because you meant that deceased troll, didn't you?"
I think they are here for that 3dtv stuff about the paranormal attack. I've seen the dwarf earlier, with that dog shaman.
"...or is it something else?"
She inquired.

[Desolator12]

*Frag, a shapeshifter...* thought Dragon... Shapeshifters were really the hardest things to kill, as they could change moods and other things within a minute's notice.

then again, was it her that really did the killing... she had appeared at the scene, but, Dragon wasn't so sure...damn she was beautiful...perhapse...

"Look, did you kill the dwarf or not? I don't kill others without a reason... I'm not being offered money, and I can outrun that dwarf like a bullet can outrun a slug... did you kill that fragging dwarf or not?"

[Wesforce]

'YO HO HO HAR HEE!' Yelled Norbert, his stubby legs working frantically to catch up with Dragon.

Dragon was talking to the shapeshifter bitch who had killed Monique.

Wait - Had she killed Monique? Norbert remembered a well-spoken Ork in a black longcoat, and then Daisaka coming after him. He grunted with effort trying to remember.

Less thinking, more drinking. Norbert sure could use another drink - He'd go back and find some all-night bar after this, after scragging the bitch-dog-woman and selling the corpse to Daisaka. Sure, Daisaka had almost killed him, but they could repay the debt by buying Norbert off the streets!

He'd heard they were after a shapeshifter Wolf-woman, and word had gotten around about one in these parts.

***

Deadwood waithed while Bonne and Clyde hefted their laser at the corners of the door ahead. With the power turned down and everyone shielding their eyes, the door began to smoke under the invisible beam (guided by a low-power secondary laser, comparable to a conventional old-fashioned laser sight).

Suddenly the hinge of the door burnt out in a brief flame. The air was filled with the stench of melted plastic and hot Iron. The second hinge was dealt with similarily quickly.

'Right!' Said Deadwood, manhandling Bonnie and Clyde out of the way with a startled yelp from the two, followed by angry curses as the laser scraped against the wall. He didnlt mean to disrespect helpful 'runners so, but he had to be prepared for anything. Wrightman had to know they were coming in, and if she tried something he wanted to meet her head-on.

He kicked the door, and it hit something in the room. With a curse he rememberd the desk Wrightman had blocked it with, that he'd seen from the astral. He angrily pulled the door back instead and it came away from the frame - And with his enhanced strength flung it back down the corridor (narrowly missing Dee, Krazy, Laura and the two Gobbos) and ran into the room, hurdling a desk that had been placed behind the door.

He spotted Wrightman, sitting on the other side of the desk and had his Dartgun out and levelled at her chest.

'Wrightman!' He hissed. 'Calm down!'

But she was calm. She looked eerily calm, in fact.

[Artificial Idiot]

"Really Deadwood..." She murmered, still not sure how Deadwood had got from point A outside, to point B inside. All she remembered was that the hindge she had been lying against had became hot to the touch, and then the world seemed to cave in as the door was kicked onto her form. And then, well, she wasn't sure how she managed to dive out the way before Deadwood literally barelled though the doorway, obilterating her desk. She really did feel like a new woman, 10 times younger, and 20 times older at the same time. "That was quite awful of you. I have a terrible headache...."

Deadwood stood unmoving, some kind of gun leveled directly at her chest. Had they really gone though all this just to kill her. End it before it began? Perhaps. She wouldn't blame them, but she'd hate to be in Deadwood's shoes, and had to real desire to die.
She looked down at herself. She was a complete mess. Her shirt was still unbuttoned, only it was now more red then white. In fact, all her clothing was stained red now, since Deadwood's impression of a raging bull had sent the cup of cold blood splashing all over her, all over the floor. A waste. Such a terrible waste.

"Coming quietly?" Deadwood still hissed. Wrightman wondered if he'd shoot her if she attemped to move her head from the puddle of blood she was lying in. She guessed so, but had no desire for red hair.

"As I said..." She began, her breathing becoming deeper and deeper. She was quite sure she was blushing, but the burning warm of her blood rushing to her cheeks felt alien to her now. As if it wasn't happening to her, but somebody else. She'd changed. She'd changed oh so much she wasn't even sure how she could contain herself any longer. But she did, she needed them to go away, away from her. Where they were safe. "I can't do it, Deadwood. I'm not putting any of you at risk. I'm a monster Deadwood, a monster damn it! And if you don't get out now, I may have to knock some sense into you"

She gasped inwardly. Where had that come from? She was no match for Deadwood, he was a hardened runner, and not to mention all those modifications oto his body! She'd never last a second against him... would she? Either way, she could see a rising amount of anger registering on Deadwood's face. It looked like she'd soon find out.

[Wesforce]

'Heh. I like you Wrightman. Don't make this harder than it has to be. Besides, what are you going to do? Bite me? there's not enough essence left in this body to feed a fragging Mosquito.'

Wrightman looked tense, like a coiled snake about to strike.

Frag this. Thought Deadwood. He fired.

*Thwip*

The dart shot firmly into her bare chest.

Wrightman barely even seemed to register it.

[Artificial Idiot]

"Deadwood... I..." She seemed lost for words. She was positive Deadwood was about to kill her, but instead of a bullet she got... a dart? She blinked several times, she couldn't believe her eyes! They were trying to subdue her like an animal, just as she had thought! Tow her around in the back of a van until... the unthinkable happened.
She looked up at Deadwood, her eyes glossy with unformed tears. She couldn't let them take her. She'd decided that before they got here. But she had no desire to fight her friends. One one other option.
Before Deadwood could put another dart in her, she swiped the gun out of his hands. He must have thought she was putting up a fight, and made to grab her. Wrightman was shocked by the ease in with she had broke free of Deadwood's iron grip, although to her it felt more like tissue paper!
She ran across the room, her shaking hands unlatching the small window at the other side of the room. She couldn't believe what she was about to do, but had no other choice.

Don't look down... don't look down... don't look down. Was all her paniced thoughts could muster. She flung the window open, letting in the cool nights breeze as it gently blew the curtains into her face. At this point, she wanted to look back on them, see them one last time, say her goodbyes perhaps? But she could already hear Deadwood's heavy footsteps pounding across the floor.

In a movement that would either kill her or allow her a clean escape, she threw herself, head first, out of the window.

[Wesforce]

'Frag und sheisse! DAMMIT TO HELL!'

Deadwood was furious. He punched his hand clean through a wall in anger, startling all the other 'runners who were just coming into the room. They hadn't seen the normally reserved veteran 'runner so downright furious. He scared them (apart from Krazny).

Deadwood picked up the desk and launched it against the wall, shattering the plastic into hundreds of splinters. Someone in the next room yelled something - Daedwood whipped out his shotgun and was about to start blowing holes in the wall.

'Yes! Do it! Dot it now, kill a few more innocent people, just like last time. Bravo, manling.'

With effort, Deadwood put down the gun. He sank to his knees, breathing heavily.

'Dammit, you don't understand!' He screamed. 'I care about her!'

'Yep, just like last time. Again.'

Deadwood sobbed, then slapped himself, trying to get his frag together.

He turned to tell the others to haul arse downstairs and get after Wrightman, though it was doubtful they'd catch her, but they'd already gone. Hopefully they'd have missed Deadwood's scene.

***

'HOLY FRAG!' Squeaked Maryam. Bunny blnked, not having heard langauge like that from the young girl before - But then when he saw what it was leaping down from on high with a cat-like fall, drenched in blood, with a furious face and extended fang-like canines...

'HOLY GRUDD!' Screamed the 'Beetles' man. The case dropped to the ground and broke open spilling dozens of little chips inscribed with skull-and-crossbones. He took out a light pistol, aimed at the Hellion and fired rather pathetically.

[Artificial Idiot]

Wrightman clambered to her feet. Her palms were white with fear. Heights, she hated heights. And yet, she'd fell from the window of her flat, landed flat on her side and she felt releativly ok. Her arm stung with minor pain, as did her leg, and her head pounded with the raging head ache that had only go worse in her enchounter with Deadwood. But otherwise... she could make a run for it...
That is, until the red hot metal of the bullet sank into her upper shoulder. With it, it brought pain. Not the same pain as she'd expect from being shot though. Like her blush earlier, the pain felt like it was happening elsewhere. The anger, however, was very real.
She felt her face redded, her pulse quicken, her thoughts soon turn to revenge on the shooter. She heard the gun go off again and again, most of the bullets missed due to the unsteady hand of the attempted marks man, however it couldn't conceal the anger she felt for the first bullet.
She threw her ehead up eractically, unnaturally erratic for one such as Wrightman. She saw the Elf. She saw him clearly. From his sweat drenched face, right down to his plump, juicy aura. She tingled with the same sensation she had when she felt Gary's warm essance. However, there was no detective like mind, with an edge like a razor involved her. Just rage. Just a beast.

no... no... no... no! Whimpered a part of Wrightman's brain that was still her. But it was no use.

Deadwood was right, they couldn't leave her. She'd NEVER be able to control the bloodlust. It played her like an anncient harp. And now, it was telling her she was very, very hungry.
She lept to her feet, barely even noticing that she was covering distance at all. The aura, the very life essence had always felt close. She didn't even feel the pistol, as the elf propelled it at her. Hitting her on the forehead, leaving a small scar and a trail of blood in it's wake.
The next thing she know her newly formed fangs, although still small now, sank in. They barely penetrated the skin, and it was made harder to feed while the Elf was struggling. The fresh warm blood smeared all around her mouth, right down to her chin as the elf struggled under her grip. And even now, the bitter shame seeped in. It was as if they had put the shattered pieces of her heart back into the grinder again. But it was too late, she had to end it.
She held the Elf's head in her hand. Telling herself, over and over, it was better to kill then make another monster. Tears once again welling up in her eyes, as if she hadn't sobbed enough today, she snapped his seemingly brittle neck. He didn't struggle anymore. His aura slowly faded from her view, until it was nothing but the a faint mimic of life.
She tossed the body aside in half-hearted anger that didn't last long. The kind of faint, meaningless anger you feel before guilt, shame... the unshakable sense of wrong doing set in. She slumped, tramatised, against the Bunny van. Although as soon as she touched the painted surface of the metal, a shock ran though her body. And this time, the pain was as real as the anger she had felt before.
There was an unearthly scream, that Wrightman barely recognised as her own voice. And then she leapt to her feet, slightly more crisp then she had been before

"Drek it all!" She yelled, almost giving the van a good, hard kick, but she thought better of it. Instead she sat, legs extended like some over played with rag doll and siged. Even vehicles gave her no peace.

She sighed agai, a deeper sigh, one of defeat. She didn't have the enegry to run anymore. She didn't have the energy to fight. She'd tried both, and look what had happened. Another corpse added to her personal body count.
She suddenly felt exhausted once again. As if the effects of her transformation had worn off. But they weren't, she knew they'd never go away. Ever.

"It's cold out...." She muttered to herself. Trying to amuse herself, or at the very least drag her thoughts, and eyes, away from the corpse lying just inches away. "I wish I'd have brought my trench coat..."

[Nyerguds]

"By the Goddess..." Bunny thought, totally unaware of the fact the voice convertor let the other people in the van hear him.
Bunny's face turned pale as the rigger interface showed him how the vampire killed and drained the Elf. Bunny wanted to convince himself this wasn't Wrightman... but his cameras didn't lie.
He turned them off. He couldn't bear to see what the friendly woman he'd met in the Wasteland Club had become.

He felt her touch the van for a brief moment, and he heard the unearthly scream when the Cattle Prod system activated.

"Crap... Oh, crap!"

Not caring about the consequences anymore, Bunny unplugged. He couldn't handle the calm comfort of his rigger-interface, knowing what just happened out there. Constantly being reminded of her being outside, being a monster.

He looked up and turned around to the other people in the van. They were quiet, aware of the danger outside, and unsure what to do. Through the window he could see Wrightman, just sitting there, talking tot herself.

She looks sad Bunny thought. Not the blood-thirsty monster that just killed the Elf, or the creature that produced that horrible scream. Just a sad woman sitting alone on the cold plascrete, in the cold night.

Suddenly, he heard the side door slide open. Automatically he gave the menal command to close it again and lock it, but realized too late he wasn't plugged in.

***

Mariam jumped out of the van, careful not to touch the outer plating. She saw the others look at her, not daring to scream. She didn't care. She didn't even care when someone closed the van's door again.

She walked over to Wrightmann. The vampire slowly looked up when she heard Mariam approach. Mariam noticed how exhausted she looked.

She simply sat down beside her, took off her jeans jacket and put it on Wrightman's shoulders.

"It's too cold to sit here on the plascrete." Mariam said.

[Desolator12]

Dragon looked calmly at Jewel, Norbert starting to catch up.

"You can stay here and fight me, or you can run, but I'll probably catch up to you again and we can have another talk and try to figure what the frag is really going on... there's been a lot of talk about these things called werewolves..." Said Dragon, turning his eyes towards the dwarf that was only two blocks down from them...

[landry38]

"Frag, oh frag!"

Wrightman was a vampire. Her chance at cracking the case of who was in on killing her parents was in serious jeopardy. Seeing Wrightman like that lying on the plascrete tore at her, the last time that she felt such emotion was when her parents were murdered. But Wrightman was one of them now. Part of those that will kill and kill again.

"Strange. I would've thought that I'd be over there in a heartbeat making sure that she would feel her whole body writhe in pain in a slow, painful death. She is THEM now. In the same league as those ****ers that killed her parents." Laura thought.

But Laura had a sense of grief. Grief, she never thought she would experience that emotion again. But Wrightman never intended to be who she was now.

"Damn it all to Hell!" Laura screamed out, a crack in her voice indicated that she was on the verge of tears. "It was that ork! Dammit, I should have been on my game at Svetlana's!"

It was clear that Laura was becoming overcome with guilt and grief.

"I failed......." Laura cracked.

"Calm down," said Deadwood, flatly.

Laura then composed herself the best she could. Such emotion was foreign to her, she didn't know how to go about it.

"Is there any way to save her?" asked Laura.

-silence-

"Is there?"

[Apache_Longbow]

Dee was already racing down the stairs, intent on stopping the vampire who had been Wrightman before any more bloodshed occured. It was in the middle of the flight of stairs that it hit Dee: That...thing wasn't really Wrightman anymore. Deep down inside, she was still living inside the beast, but she had no control over what her body was doing anymore. It was like she had been driving a car, and someone hijacked it and kept her inside. The new driver had complete control of the vehicle, and all Wrightman could do was stand idly by and watch what unfolded. Dee also realized that the fact that Wrightman was still in there couldn't get in the way of his judgement. If the beast was about to get away, and there wasn't another option, he would have to kill her. Yes, she was his friend, but trying to save her would result in many more other people's friends being murdered, and that wasn't fair to anybody. Even Wrightman, deep down, would probably rather die than kill so many innocent lives.

He reached the end of the staircase, and darted out of the front door, hearing Krasny's footsteps right behind him. He rushed out into the street and looked around, searching for Wrightman. He caught a glance of her and...What the frag?

He saw Mariam, Bunny's tag-along, sitting next to a Wrightman who wsa both exhausted and even bloodier than before. She must have killed again. That means she might be done for now, but Mariam is still in danger...

Dee rushed over towards the fallen Wrightman to try and figure out the situation further.

[CKW]

"Oh, my aren't you messed up, dear? You say you want an explanation, then you want a fight. What are you really up to?"
Jewel sighed.
What an insufferable wretched creature.
I worry about the dwarf. He's always laughing. It's not good. Not any good.
"As for the dwarf, recap for a second. I'm not a newcomer to this city. I do sometimes kill people, people who wouldn't be missed,and if they aren't missed, they aren't avenged. Killing people whose deaths would bring me trouble it's not my style."
Jewel lowered her head.
"However, if you wish to fight me, I will warn you. Don't take me lightly."
As if, to point this, a small spark popped out of her finger,fading in the air.

[Artificial Idiot]

Wrightman pulled the jacket over her shoulders. It was small, she doubted she could get it over her chest, but still... it was comforting. She held back any tears that were forming, and let a weak smile play across her face.
She turned to the dwarf, it was Bunny's friend. Mariam. She tried to ignore her aura, which was making her sick to her stomach. Like the feeling you get when you've had far more then your share of food, and look upon a buffet table. She focused on her eyes, there wasn't even a trace of fear, or uncertainty. And that was something, she couldn't even say that for Deadwood.

"We should really get you somewhere warmer." The dwarf said to her, trying to place an arm around her shoulders. Wrightman stopped her before she could.

"Please, don't touch me..." Her voice was little more then a whisper. "I can't risk you touching contaiminated blood and becoming...." her voice trailed.

"I don't care." The dwarf stated, with a shrug.

"I do."

She saw Dee out of the corner of her eye. His face was a completely different picture. One of fear, uncertainty. He skirted around the edge of the van as if she was carrying a plauge. She assumed she was really.
Then there was Laura, behind him. Her face a contorted display of emotion. She didn't dwell on the child. She couldn't see Krasny or the Goblins yet. She wondered how Krasny would react to her... would he consider her an inhuman freak, just like he considred the Goblins? And all metas? Would he just let his gun do the talking for him? Or would he just shrug it off as if it was nothing? She wouldn't allow herself to think he'd be afraid. Krasny could never be afraid.
Then there was Deadwood... she wasn't loking forward to that. He was already furious with her. What would he do now she'd killed again?
Suddenly, Dee rushed towards her, seemingly spurred on after figuring out she probably wasn't a threat anymore.

"Mariam, what the frag are you doing?" He asked. Almost as if Wrightman wasn't there. She'd always assumed Vampires were the living dead, and while she knew now that was false, she assumed she couldn't feel worse if she was undead.