Job 1: Into the Black (IC)

Roz scrunched her face up and lowered her data pad for a moment, taking a moment to run her free hand through her hair. Trying to hunt anything definite about the lab was starting to give her a headache. Research like this had always been Dessie's speciality, she was better at physical, practical actions. He'd have lapped something like this up, invigorated by how little information there was out there, rather than just get frustrated. Thinking about her brother though, just made another part of her compress with pain. It might have been four years, but the wound was still raw inside her.

She needed to be doing something, anything to distract her mind from spending too much time thinking about the past. Her eyes flicked down to the scanner which was currently attached to the data pad and and downloading lots of raw data and her fingers twitched again. Buried God, but once she got back to the ship she was going to pack something to work on, into her bag. It didn't particularly matter what it was, but she wanted something to take apart.

Lifting her left boot and placing it sole flat against the wall behind her and tapping her heel back and forth, she stared out at the car and then over the parking lot again. So far, so nothing. No possible bounty hunters or police. Was there anything she could build? Anything that could ambush or surprise others? Flicking back to an earlier point she wondered about Kira Gurov. The new owner of their suddenly recalcitrant lab sounded like he might have an enemy with the employer of their employer. It was a little like following the lines of cracks in a rock formation to find the original stress point, all the important movements were way deeper than the surface. It seemed to be the way of this planet, nothing was simple. But perhaps if they did complete this job successfully and Gurov proved an obstacle, Johar-Spiros, or Bloodhound might be able to aid them.

Zhen prepares to peek into the Trauma Room. First, he shoots a few quick messages to the team:

"Kolya/Gomez, any luck with alternative exits? I may need to know where they are relative to the front entrance."

"Roz, did you ever turn up any useful info on Priya? I forgot to ask if we checked for any bounties or priors on her."

"Ian/Henrietta, I found the trauma room. It's just [DIRECTIONS HERE]. I'm looking in, so be ready."

Messages sent, Zhen walks casually toward the door of the trauma room. Fists clenching and unclenching, he consciously controls his breathing. In through the nose, filling the diaphragm; out through the mouth, expelling bad chi.

Condense the spirit, Regulate the breath.

Zhen reaches for the handle and cracks open the door, peeking inside.

Ian's' eyes flicker as he feels his Comm pad vibrate. He reads through the message quickly and turns to Henrietta.

"Well, it seems I'm going to back up Zhen with capturing our boy, if an attendant asks you where I went say I am looking for a bathroom or something."

Ian runs with his head slightly low to try and avoid catching somebody's attention in the direction that Zhen instructed him to.

Henrietta nods, and prepares to scream and knock over the bed in "agony"

Even if she was only a distraction, she was enjoying the least dangerous part of the mission. It kept her mind off of other prior hospital visits that ended in tragedy.

"Yea, I hear you. I am also not a big fan of the shootin', but somehow I always get myself into these situation. I guess it's a job thing.

Anyways, this seems like the back entrance. What is this? The opposite side of the main entrance, one floor down... ish?" Kolya turns his head back and forth trying to orient himself. "Damn this place is a maze. But this seems like a good place to wait out the developments. Or should one of us go back to Rozz? Or do you maybe want to check if there is a third exit? If I move a bit more in this thing, I will get lost." With the questions lingering in the air, Kolya takes off his backpack, rummages around a bit and eventually pulls out a pack of bullets. Concealing what he is doing towards the exit of the street, he replenishes the magazine of his gun. "Just in case..." One after the other he presses the bullets into the metal shaft holding the deadly payload. He loved and hated these things. Just as he pushes in bullet number 5 his compad chimes. He throws a glance, "No 911, ok, let me finish up real quick", he thinks, while packing the leftover bullets carefully back in is pack. Then he pulls up the compad again and reads the messages.

"Look at that, your grumpy friend (what is his name anyways?) found the trauma room. With a bit of luck Yuri and Priya will be in there. Let's hope our friends don't get kicked out by a bunch of angry doctors in the midst of an operation, hehehe", he grins and then starts to reply: "We found the/an entrance on the back of the hospital. It is roughly opposite of the main entrance and one story down. But don't kill me, if it is a story up. This place is a freaking maze. Gomez and I are covering the exit." He sends the message. About to close the application he realizes a message from Rozz. How did he not see that?
She really picked up that mediation joke he made. Oh well, let her have it. He smirks. "No, I am more of a travelling salesman. In my line of business a permanent address is often quickly your last address. I'm from Khocheni originally, but haven't been there in years and don't intend to go any time soon. Been a few days on this rock, time to move again. You have any place to be I could tag along to?

Btw. should Gomez or I come back over there, or will you be ok? Right now we are covering the back entrance."

He packs away the compad and faces Gomez again "Soon the action will go down. Can you feel the tingle in the spine? Won't be long now..."

"Ugh, yeah, the "tingle," Gomez says, skimming the group chat. "I doubt this door leads into the operating room, so if I can get it open we probably won't immediately arouse suspicion." Gomez busies himself inspecting the door to see if there is a way to open it from outside without setting off any alarms.

Glancing down at her data-pad, Roz noticed a flickering tab in the top right hand corner that indicated that she had messages. Grinning with appreciation at the proffered distraction, she clicked on this and caught up with the movements on the rest of team. More than anything she would have loved to be in Zhen's place, though maybe wiser to be just at his side. The boys were getting all the fun tonight. There was a good chance she wouldn't even get the chance to see Yuri after all this. Though of course if he didn't have the item on him, they'd have to question him. The realities of the revolution and the hands on nature of being a medic living on the verges of lawful space meant that Roz had been shorn of many of naive beliefs that a relatively privileged birth had given her. Still though, she didn't want to think too hard on how this questioning would be conducted. She knew too much about the human body. In any case, it might not come to pass.

Following Zhen's suggestion, she spent a couple of minutes attempting to see if she could discover anything more detailed about Priya. Perhaps her mind was still slightly fried from her earlier investigation, or the details were well buried but she was unable to uncover anything.
Responding first on the group chat, her fingers nimbly flickered over the faintly glowing screen.
"I looked but I couldn't find anything on her. Maybe Kolya could have a try, he sounds like he's a better excavator for this kinda pit. Cut clean and polish Zhen and BB, neither of you want me digging more bullets out."

She then flicked over to the private conversation with Kolya. At the mention of his home planet, she absently bit down her lower lip, a contemplative expression animating her lit up face. His was a close neighbouring world to hers, she'd visited Khocheni in fact, though this had been after the revolution. Her accent was distinctive, deliberately lower class Ibeen, but he'd made no mention. After a second or two she felt the force of her teeth and released her lip with a grin. She was overthinking this. Either he didn't recognise the Ibeen accent or more likely he did but thought nothing about it. It wasn't like she was the only one who'd left the world.
"Your line of business sounds remarkably similar to ours. We're all a bit fresh and rough at the moment, so I don't know what anyone's final destination might be, but as of the moment we are moving as of where work or talk of anything silva takes us. The ship is the height of my abode ambitions. But yeah if that interests you and this ends with sparkle we might need to sit down and have a bit of a chat about the future."

Turning the pad off and letting it continue to process the data from the scanner, she blinked her eyes at the growing gloom. She'd have to be careful, if she looked at the pad for too long she'd lose any night vision.

Gomez sees no other obvious security systems other than the lock itself, might be able to disable it if you had a couple minutes.

Roz finishes transferring the data from the scanner. Its data from planetary surveys, all evidentially from the same localized region of a single planet: mineral samples, radiation readings, biological signatures. Other than the atmosphere readings being moderately toxic, nothing jumps out as odd. Its tough to really put these readings into context without knowing exactly what the operator was looking for, but they were clearly interested in a relatively small area of a planet.

Henrietta's disturbance causes a large portion of the staff to flock towards her end of the ward, allowing Ian to join Zhen without much notice. "Ma'am, its ok, we'll get you something to help with the pain in just a second." Says an exasperated nurse to Henrietta.

Zhen cracks open the door. Inside he can see a spacious room containing a single bed surrounded by an array of medical devices and a crowd of nurses. On the bed lies Yuri, looking near death. A Lazarus patch has hastily been applies but you can see a major gunshot wound in the side of his neck still leaking blood. There is another door on the right side of the room, from which emerges a physician wearing a butcher's length white coat and carrying a black duffel bag. "Alright, she paid for the best, so lets take him up to the Nano-suite and start prepping the Lift infusion," says the doctor. From just beyond the door he came in you can see Priya for a moment, looking on in dismay and clutching a satchel to her chest, before she moves out of sight.

Positioning his body to obscure the lock, Gomez produces his metatool and sets to work on the lock. Within a few seconds, he's exposed the inner workings of the lock and disconnected the key functional components. The door clicks open. Peaking through, you observe an unadorned white stairwell leading up with another plain metal door across from you labeled with the letter "B".

Taking in the situation, Gomez begins typing a message in the group chat: We've got a stairwell coming down from a door labeled B that leads right to the back exit.

"I'm going to check this next door, might as well make sure it's a clear path out if we need it," he says to Kolya as he creeps up the stairwell to check out this newly discovered door.

Roz had just started to see in the darkness with a little more clarity when a soft chime from her data-pad signalled that it had finished downloading. Taking a few seconds, she surveyed the parking lot again looking for anything new or suspicious. So far so good. There was no way of knowing exactly how long the others might be inside, but the longer this place stayed empty the better.

Her face slightly animated by interest, she lifted the pad from its thigh slip and examined the download. Her face quickly fell though as she was deluged with bland raw data. Flicking through the different images of data she quickly understood that all it came from a relatively small area of a planet. Which planet though, would take a bit more investigation. Whoever had generated these surveys was interested in something specific, but what exactly that was she was unsure.

Unconsciously she bit down on her lower lip again. She'd been quick to dismiss the scanner after finding it in the rear of the car. Surely something like that couldn't be as dangerous as a bio weapon. Then again, they had been told that the item wasn't specifically dangerous, just that it could be. Data could be very dangerous of course but the data here was so normal, mineral, radiation and biological signatures? Maybe if she could figure out where the data came from it might help.

The sound of hurried footsteps approaches from the direction of Henrietta's room. Zhen turns, noticing Ian, curtly gestures toward the door, then throws the door open and strides in.

Zhen's boots click loudly on the sterile flooring as he stops just inside the door, one hand pushing back his tight jacket to rest on the softly glowing grip of his pistol, and the other holding out his compad with Yuri's bounty marker displayed. "I'm going to strongly encourage you not to perform that infusion. I've got a bounty here for a very dangerous Yuri Delacroix; he's committed multiple murders and major theft. If you get him back on his feet, people will die."

"As for Ms. Priya Bosque, she would be well-advised to accompany me in peace and ensure the well-being of her friend. I would like to bring him in alive, but the bounty will pay out either way."

"I'd really like for things to stay peaceful, if you don't mind, but I have backup in case he gets violent again."

Ian yanks his pistol out of his waistband as well and holds it out to the side.

"We assure you this is in your best interest. Just follow our instructions, and nobody will get hurt."

Ian realizes how much he sounds like a bank robber and laughs about it in his head, but keeps his exterior stone cold.

"If you even think about calling security I will shoot."

Outside, Roz cross references the atmosphere readings with her own knowledge of planets that it might be from. Definitely a toxic atmosphere, probably hotter than average. In this region of the Black it could be Maidstone or Sofia, but neither is a perfect fit. Maybe Yorbund? That's much deeper into the Black but she recalls hearing the name earlier in the evening.

Out back, Gomez peaks through the door to see a hospital basement. Spare equipment lines the plain white walls of a long central hallway. There are several doors leading to various medical support facilities (labs, pathology, pharmacy, etc.). Just ahead and to your right is another stairwell leading up, with a sign labeled "Emergency Department". Much farther down on you left is a set of elevators. Occasionally a staff member will pass through the area going about their business, but no one has taken notice of you yet.

Inside, the medical team freezes at the sight of armed men in the trauma room, some take several steps back. Almost immediately, the doctor who spoke earlier steps forward confidently."You can't be in here, we're a safe haven. We don't want any part in your killing. I don't care what business is with my patient, but I know he's going to die without medical intervention. He's no threat to anyone in this state."

Kolya remains standing in the alley unsure what to do next. Gomez had whispered he would check out the hallway behind the door and disappeared. Following was not an option. Kolya was never one for the subtle sneaky tasks. Whenever possible he talked his way in and out of situations, rather pretending to belong then to not be seen. Gomez seems like he knows what he is doing, no need to spoil his efforts.

He closes the doors enough that from afar it looks closed and leans against the side of a wall. Pulling out his compad, he starts to search around a bit. For passerby's he looks like someone waiting and doodling on the pad.

It had been one of the more unusual days of his  career. The job had started straight forward enough, until the shoot-out and Yuri getting away. This wouldn't have been the first time and he would have picked up his tail quickly. But the new crew had changed everything. It felt strange to trust this crew he barely knew and that, right now, had taken over his complete investigation. It was really not his style to trust strangers this easily and for sure not with a job. But for some reason this time it felt different. Maybe he simply had worked alone long enough and longed for some company.   It is hard to tell, it just happened so fast. The left-over adrenaline from the fight and the blood loss had likely also played a role. Or was it Rozz's cheerful and slightly naive openness?
It doesn't matter, he is where he is. Still, doubt starts spreading in his guts. What if he had just been conned out of a hefty bounty? Gomez was out of sight and had been gone for a while.
Driven by an impulse, Kolya packs the compad into his pocket, turns around and heads back to the front entrance. Rozz should still be there, they would not leave her behind. If he sticks around there they will not leave without him. And plus, Rozz obviously was handy with machines and knew her way around the first aid kit, but she did not strike him as a fighter. In case the others did not catch Yuri, she might need assistance more then the others.
Quick footed he walks through the gloomy alleys around the complex. Grey shapes of pedestrians rush past him, the anonymus mass headed back to their homes through the dark and foggy smog. Nobody notices him and he takes no notice of them.

Reaching the front of the hospital, Kolya immediately catches sight of the red gravcar - but no sign of Rozz. Was he too late? Had he been wrong to trust them? A wave of doubt washs over him and anger starts boiling up. He quickly pulls out the compad and starts writing a message to Rozz: "Where are you? I circled back, the others are all inside. I'm at the car, but noone is here. Did I miss something?". He hits send and waits. 'This better be a misunderstanding', he thinks and hopes...

A few steps back, towards the next wall and he blends into the shadows. Anonymity, curse and blessing of the industrial society.

Gomez stays out of site and pulls out his compad, sending another group text. Looks like the Emergency Department has a back door that leads down some stairs and to a hallway. I've got that hallway covered if we need to shuffle Yuri out that way.

Gomez makes sure the compad is set to vibrate only and slips it back in his pocket before pulling out a stick of gum. It would be rude to smoke in a hospital, he thinks as he pops it in his mouth.

Kobras_Aquairre wrote:

Inside, the medical team freezes at the sight of armed men in the trauma room, some take several steps back. Almost immediately, the doctor who spoke earlier steps forward confidently."You can't be in here, we're a safe haven. We don't want any part in your killing. I don't care what business is with my patient, but I know he's going to die without medical intervention. He's no threat to anyone in this state."

Frowning toward Ian, Zhen motions downward with his open hand. He then turns to the doctor. "As I said, we have no intention of killing him. I won't stop you from saving his life, but I know that you don't need the Lift infusion to keep him alive. I intend to make sure he continues not to be a threat. We can wait until he's stable, if you haven't accomplished that already."

Zhen makes as though to skirt around the room and enter the apparent waiting room where he saw Priya.

OOC:

Still chewing on her lip, Roz looked up from the data pad, looking out but not really seeing anything. Maidstone had extensive mines, quite important to Genoa. Sofia was a failing colony as the talk went, or one rather that had never got properly started. Yorbund she knew much less about, apart from its location. Why did that name seem to glitter in her mind? There was something worth digging there. Her eyes stared unfocused at the passersby as she continued to pick at that pressure point in her mind, until it suddenly came to the surface. That's where she knew that name from. Yuri and Priya were both originally from Yorbund!

The relief and pleasure from this nugget though only lasted a couple of seconds. If this data was from Yorbund, was it why Yuri had taken the device? Could he have found proof that something was planned for his home planet? Or that there was something there he could take?More than ever she hoped that she would get a chance to talk to the strike breaker.

A ping from her data pad rescued her from her reverie and she opened it immediately. A smile immediately crested across her face. Her hiding place must be better than she thought if a bounty hunter like Kolya couldn't see her. Eyes scanning the area in front of the hospital, she messaged back trusting in the muscle memory of her fingers.

"Shattered rubies, Mr Mediator, you sound like you miss me or something. Don't say my silva talk has made such an impression already? I'm leaning against the dark wall about fifteen feet south west of the car, keeping my eyes on it. With the bullet holes and the blood I thought the car might be a bit hot, that's the right lingo right? So I thought it would be better to watch it from cover. On my own other bounty hunters will blow me away. Literally. There's a reason I pack so much in this bag."

In the emergency department, a supply cart is overturned by Henrietta's psychic force, drawing the attention of just about every person in the department. The nurse trying to calm Henrietta down looks around in confusion. "What the hell's going on out there?" Turning back to Henrietta, he continues, "It's ok ma'am we'll give you some medication." Exiting the room, he calls out to another nurse, "Could we get a sedative for her please? I don't have time for this."

In the trauma room, the doctor considers Zhens ultimatum for a moment."Fine, but I need someone to get some supplies from the operating suite. Your bullet nicked his carotid artery and we don't have the tools to fix it here.". As Zhen circles around to the door he saw Priya, he finds no sign of her, just a hallway with two doors; one labeled "Waiting Room" and the other labeled with an exit sign.

In the basement, Gomez and Kolya notice a figure coming down the staircase in the basement. You recognize Priya Bosque swiftly moving towards the exit where you're hidden. She is clutching a olive green satchel to her chest.

OOC:

"Thank you. I'll go with one of your assistants to help them bring supplies. Ian, you can go wait with Priya?"

Zhen crosses the room again, muttering under his breath. "Trauma room, and they don't have the tools? Good grief... "

As he prepares to leave the room, he shoots off a quick text:
"Found Yuri inside near death. Doc stabilizing, Priya nearby but no eyes on her."

In moments time, the compad buzzes several times. Having read Rozz' message, Kolya looks up and waits for his eyes to accustom to the dark again. A faint glow, of what could be a compad in the general direction that Rozz pointed out gave him an idea where to walk. He starts for the hidden companion and skims through the other message. Yuri is still out, that was good news. But Priya not being where she sould be gives him a bad feeling. He was desperately hoping he was wrong about her being more than the girlfriend, but... He pulls out his gun and flicks off the safety. She could be running out any minute - if she makes a run for the car. Gomez should have the back entrance covered. Kolya snickers, the image of Gomez hanging from the ceiling, wedging his hand and feet against the hallway walls shot through his mind.

Reaching Rozz in here hiding spot he says "Hey! You know, I really don't media... never mind. Thought it might be smarter to have a gun on each entrance. It felt wrong leaving you alone here next to the likely getaway vehicle, everyone else being partnered up. Gomez disappeared inside the back entrance - that guy is like a cat, not a sound he made. Creepy. I have two left feet when it comes to sneaking around, so I figured, I'll be of more use here.

Did you find anything in the data? Want me to take another look?" he finishes nodding towards the datapad in Rozz' hand.

He throws a glance to the door every few moments, have his attention on sounds and movements from the hospital.

Gomez pretends to be moving a few boxes, blending in naturally as a janitor. Priya takes little notice of him as she exits out the door Gomez had entered moments before. It would be easy for you to follow, though she seems vigilant.

As soon as Priya passes him, Gomez sends a group message that just reads Priya to alleyway. He puts his compad away and moves to catch up to her. "Excuse me miss, you can't be in this hallway," he calls out. "Can I help you find where you were trying to go?"

Priya looks over her shoulder, slowing down but not stopping. "Oh, sorry! I was just leaving, I know where I'm going thank you." Her hand reaches inside the satchel she's holding.

After waiting a long time out front, Roz and Kolya see a grav van pull up. The somewhat faded name on the side reads "Gibbet Crime Protection." The back door opens and out emerge four men wearing voluminous coats and identity-concealing respirators. Beneath the coats you can see bullet proof vests marked with some sort of badge. It doesn't take a master detective to notice that they're concealing weapons beneath their coats as they move through the front door.

In the trauma room, the nurse returns with a surgical kit, and the doctor sets to work repairing Yuri's wounds. It takes a while but eventually, the doctor steps back. "We'll we're finished. He's all yours, just don't move him right away. The tissue gel needs time to set, just wait 5 minutes so he doesn't bleed all over the place again. We're going now, I'd prefer if you didn't kill him here. The doctor and nurses begin heading towards the exits, seeming to be in a bit of a hurry.

In the main emergency department, the nurse approaches Henrietta with a syringe full of sedative. Does she resist receiving the shot?

As Kolya spoke his first half sentence, a massive grin broke across Roz's face. Her eyes glittering, she gave her head a little shake, red hair fluttering before nudging him with her elbow.
"Aww I know that you old sand scrubber. I was only teasing ya. It just tickled me that was how you were going to dig my core out and leave the rest as gravel."

Teeth still showing she looked up into his face and gave him a wink.
"I know that in reality you are most probably a fairly capable bounty hunter and not really in the habit of getting nicknames. Cracking to you for coming over this way though. If things do start heating up here I'm liable to get a bit liquidy. And yes, I did find some interesting things. Why dont....."

She stopped suddenly as she noticing the gav van and the men making their way inside, the smile quickly disappearing and her eyes wide.
"Shattered rubies..." she exclaimed under her breath, loud enough only for Kolya to hear.

Quickly she messaged the others on the datapad.
"Grav van just pulled in. Four armoured and armed men entering now. Look like other bounty hunters. Might need to move fast."

Looking over at Kolya, her expression was much more serious, though there was still some excitement glinting in her eyes.
"Going to bow to your expertise now. I'll follow your lead. Should we go after them? Or do you want me to disable this van?"

"You know, I don't know whether it's the way you kids talk, or whether it's an Ibeen-thing, but, I'll be damned, have the time I have no idea what you are saying", Kolya replies with a grin.

When suddenly a grav-van pulls in in front of the hospital and a group of what looks like mercenaries jumps out and storms into the hospital, Kolya instinctively reaches for his gun. "Quick, let's get Priyas car. You undo what you did earlier, I'll let the others know." , he says, while pulling out his compad and starting for the car. "We're coming around with the car, pick up at the rear entrance. Henrietta, can you come out back? Are you in distress? Meet somewhere else?" he types, while following Rozz to the car. They would have to hurry and get the crew out. If Henrietta was not yet connected to the others she might be able to get out front and meet them somewhere safe, hauling a cab.

Half way to the car Kolya hesitates. "I have an idea, come" , he says, slows his stride and walks right up to the vans drivers door. He knocks on the window and gestures the driver to roll it down. As soon as the window is open, he holds the gun into the drivers face. "Good day, sir, we would need to borrow your car for a moment." As the driver gets out of the the car, Kolya directs him away from the vehicle and continues to towards Rozz "Hop on in" . While Rozz enters the drivers seat, Kolya makes his way around the van, training the gun on the driver the whole time.
As he jumps in, he points towards the direction he came from earlier "That direction, step on it!"

Zhen frowns, crossing his arms. "For the last time, I'm trying not to kill him..." He trails off as they hurry out of the room. That's strange that they're leaving me alone with him...

Five more minutes before moving him? Ridiculous!

Surely their medical technology wasn't that far behind that of Hyobe. It looked roughly the same as what he'd seen on his many visits to the surgery. And, from what he'd gathered, Lift was roughly equivalent to MS-17 back home.

Feeling his compad vibrate in his pocket, he checks it and sighs. "Well, so much for doing this the easy way. Ian, there are guards coming. I don't know if Priya or the doctor called them, but we need to get out. And Priya is already out back with Gomez and Kolya.

We probably need to go out the back, join up with Gomez, Kolya, and Priya, then have Roz pick us up in Priya's car. You go ahead and check the back stairs, I'll be right behind you with Yuri."

OOC:

As Ian moves to the door, Zhen approaches the medical bed. He quickly rifles through Yuri's pockets, transferring anything useful or valuable to his own pockets. He makes sure that Yuri is still secured to the bed, tightening the straps, then wheels it toward the door to the back hall, planning to have Ian help him navigate the bed down the stairs, judging by Gomez' description that these would lead to the back door.

As he steers, he shoots a quick group message: "G/K, exfil out back. Have Yuri. Henrietta, front. Roz, pickup."

Zhen turns, backing through the door and pulling the bed in front of him. Maybe they'll miss and make the job a bit simpler. Besides, no way I'm taking lead in the back for this guy.

Gomez draws his pistol from his shoulder holster, pulling the hammer back audibly. "I'm afraid I can't let you leave unaccompanied miss. For your own safety. And I'm going to have to ask you about your bag too. Can't have people stealing from clinics after all. Not that you are, it's just a precaution, of course."

"You've obviously not been down to Ibeen."
While her smile remained on her face when she said this, her eyes were clearly concentrated and focused on his face. After a moment she seemed to relax and stuck her tongue out.
"My dusty desert talk obviously isn't of the required quality. I'll take notes on yours then Mr M."
She seemed clearly amused again, that odd look almost inconceivable. Perhaps he had passed a test or she was merely relieved.

Roz followed along behind Kolya, willing but also sending surreptitious looks over at the Grav van, a curious look in her eyes. She was just about to open her mouth to suggest something when he spoke up again and turned towards the vehicle. When he pulled out his gun, she couldn't help as her mouth fell open. Whatever she'd been expecting it wasn't this. Kolya didn't hang about. She was more certain than before that she was going to like him.

"No moss on you Mr M." she said in an admiring undertone as the driver stepped out.
Sliding off her pack she chucked it across the cabin to the passenger seat, and then leapt up to the drivers nest. Closing the door, she rested her hands in their finger less gloves on the steering wheel and took a moment to take in her surroundings. The driver was obviously quite a bit taller, her boots could only brush at the pedals. She adjusted the seat and then strapped herself in. Though her actual driving experience was limited, a clear knowledge of how the van worked definitely helped. What was the worst that could happen?

As Kolya shouted from behind, she grinned, unlocked the autostablization brake and engaged forward motion.
"As you command El Capitan!"

Henrietta sighed. The van complicated things, and right when they were about to bag the target and his accomplice.
She rips off the bp cuff, and awaits the signal to tear off the heart leads as well.

She was glad that they had not actually gone through with giving her meds yet. That mightve complicated her powers a bit.

Priya's hand seems to grasp something in the satchel. He takes a breath to calm herself before speaking, but her voice still wavers slightly. "You don't have to do this you know. This is bigger than all of us, and its not worth whatever they're paying you."

Upstairs, Ian and Zhen strap Yuri onto the gurney and wheel him towards the back. Yuri has no belongings on him, and he seems to still be unconscious. You take him out into the hall and peek down the stairwell. The stairs ahead seem like they might be wide enough to make it down with some finesse. As you pass the waiting room, you see there is a door on the other side leading to the rest of the hospital. There could be an alternative way down through there, but potentially more witnesses.

OOC:

Outside, the driver is shocked to find a gun pointed at his head. He looks outfitted similarly to the men you saw enter the building, but makes the smart decision and doesn't draw his gun. He glowers at Kolya the whole time he's being held up, and watches the van speed away. As soon as you're a few yards away, he grabs his com-piece and begins shouting something into it.

In the emergency department, Henrietta peeks out of her room to see four masked men with trench coats and bulletproof vests talking to a frantic looking doctor. The doctor points towards the trauma room she saw Zhen and Ian enter, and the four men start to proceed towards it, producing compact shotguns from under their coats. Suddenly they seem to receive a message over their com-pieces and look at each other in alarm. One of them breaks off back the way they came while the other three continue towards the trauma room.

Roz glanced up into the rearview mirror as she powered the vehicle away. She hadn't expected Kolya to leave the driver out in the street. Especially when he was armed... From what she could see he just seemed to be using his communicator. A bit better than shooting the rear out of the van but it meant their fuse was already burning.

"Looks like our friend back there is calling in backup. We are going to need to pick up Yuri and Priya and then find somewhere to stash this pre-quake. Contact the others, say we'll be outside the market and to get to the exit. Then- do you know somewhere quiet where we won't be disturbed that we can hole up in for a bit? I'll have to bury this a distance away just to make sure it doesn't have a tracking chip but I can drop you off and then make my way back."

Her eyes were back on the road again as she turned around the corner and out of view of the former driver. The van was heavier and less manoeuvrable than the car would have been but she could feel herself getting the hang of it. Just as long as she didn't get involved in a high speed chase.

"Carnapped their van, heading to rear entrance, sharing live location. I'll head your way as support." Send!
"Alright, I updated the crew. Hmm, I was thinking about taking his pad, but that is for sure tracked. Plus like this he could call inside and rattle them if nothing else. This van is hot one way or the other, we'll need to use it to get out of reach and then park it somewhere..

But solid driving I gotta say... Over there turn right and then we'll have to stop, we won't be able to get closer. I will run towards them, like that I can support and direct them, do you agree? "

Roz grinned over at him, as she took another turn and then started to slow the vehicle as she made her way towards a suitable parking place.
"Definitely, I can look after this thing myself. You are better off trying to shore up..."
She paused momentarily before rolling her eyes, her mouth still smirking.
"..going to assist them. Not sure how stable their ground is and the quicker they get back here the better. Also though, do know anywhere quiet we can talk to these two? We've only just landed and taking them through the port would be too hot. Worst case I suppose we can go to that love hotel."

As the owner had done prior to her, she left the engine running, but as an precaution she flicked down the lock on her door. Once Kolya left the cab, she turned her head to look into the back of the van to see if she could see anything interesting.

Keeping his gun trained on Priya, Gomez slides his compad out of his pocket. "I don't doubt it's bigger than us and I don't doubt that I'm not being paid enough and I don't want to have to hurt you. But I've got a job to do and that requires that you and I have a little chat with some of my coworkers."

He glances briefly at Kolya's new message.

"So we're going to head down these steps, then out into the alleyway and do exactly that. And who knows, maybe we can work it so that we all get paid today."

"I'll try to reach you a friendly party, maybe I can find a place. Make sure you are ready to go once we come back. Hang in there" , Kolya says and with that opens the door and starts making his way to the hospital. While hastily walking down the complex, he starts making a call to a friend he got to know since he was on this planet. She was a local and trustworthy, maybe she knew a nearby place they could go.

OOC:

"Abby, hi, how are you? Listen, I have a situation here. I'm near the Votta Market Complex and I need a place where I can privately talk to someone that doesn't want to talk to me and I have someone that wants to talk to me, that I need to lose, because I don't want to talk to them. Do you happen to know a place that fits that criteria? "

After he hangs up, he increases hist step even more  and rushes towards the back entrance.

Priya takes a step towards the stairs. "Alright, fine, I'll come. Just put the gun away, there's no need for that. I can tell you what this is all about.". Behind you, Gomez hears a lot of banging coming from the stairwell. It sounds like someone's dragging something heavy down it.


Getting the gurney down the stairwell without spilling its passenger is obviously not the easiest task. Taking it around the corner, Zhen nearly looses his grip, but Ian manages to catch the weight of it momentarily. The two of you just barely make it to the bottom when you hear movement in the stairwell above you. "Police, drop your weapons!" You can see the first of the masked officers aim over the railing above with a compact shotgun.

OOC:

Thelonius wrote:

"Abby, hi, how are you?

"Well actually K, I'm really kind of in the middle..."

Thelonius wrote:

"Listen, I have a situation here. I'm near the Votta Market Complex and I need a place where I can privately talk to someone that doesn't want to talk to me and I have someone that wants to talk to me, that I need to lose, because I don't want to talk to them. Do you happen to know a place that fits that criteria?"

"...What? Actually you know what, I don't want to know. Try the abandoned vacc suit factory or something. The south garage entrance is always unlocked. Don't you know what time it is?" She hangs up.

Kolya shrugs about the hang-up. No time to worry about that now. He will fix that relationship later. But seriously, what time was it? He actually wasn't aware what time it was.

He pulls up the local map application and searches for the abandoned factory.

OOC:

"I found a place we can use as a temporary hide out. Here are the coordinates, can you already find a route?"

OOC:

"I had a lead on a location, but it did not pan out. We'll have to ask Gomez adhoc."

Zhen's well-honed instincts kick in at seeing a gun pointed at him; he drops on his back and rolls under the bed, drawing his pistol and unleashing a thunderous shot aimed for the guard's sternum, just above the man's vest. The guard's lifeless body drops to the stairs, head barely still attached. Zhen whispers fiercely, "Either take cover or help me move this thing before the rest come!"

The other officers curse in shock as their partner tumbles down the stairs leaving a bloody trail. They crouch to take cover and blindfire over the edge of the stairway. Their shots go wide, demolishing a light fixture and tearing up chunks of the cheap tile stairs.

Gomez hears gunfire erupt from behind him. Priya, who had seemed to have been calming down, looks around in panic again, searching for routes of escape.

"Okay Priya, same plan, lets you and me get out of here before that," Gomez indicates the gunfire behind him with his compad in his left hand "catches up with us. Trust me, my coworkers and I really don't want to hurt you, but it's a safe bet that one side in that fight doesn't actually care."

With that Gomez lowers the gun and attempts to herd Priya toward the exit.

A slightly guilty look seemed to cross Roz's face, as Kolya spoke his last words. Could he have known that her mind had already transfixed with the idea of checking out the back of the van to see what she could find? Whether they were mercenaries or police, they would doubtless have stocked their van somewhat. Weapons, interrogation aids or other tools of the trade would be worth examining. Though if she was strictly honest, the back of the van could have been filled with drilling equipment and she would still have wanted to give it a poke. When it came to things, items, or tools, anything she could get her hands on really, she had an almost inexhaustible fascination. This however was clearly not the time though. She gave him a smile and a nod.
"I'll be waiting here ready. No worries."

Still though, she couldn't help herself from giving the back one longing stare. It wasn't even like she'd get a chance to explore it later too. There would be no time. A buzz from the datapad on her hip, broke her from her reverie. Checking the message from Kolya, she highlighted the details of the old vac suit factory and inserted it into her map. She was going to have to drive there as quick and as unobtrusively as possible, so it was worth getting a rough idea at least of how to navigate there. And then of course she'd have to drop off the others and drive it a distance away, dump it and then make her way back to the factory. Before whoever owned the vehicle tracked them down.

She flexed her fingers and then gripped the steering wheel tightly, the smile still across her face. Who would have thought at the start of this day that she'd be ending it as a getaway driver?

Priya quickly heads towards the exit, glancing over her shoulder at Gomez following close behind. You both make it outside into the Market Complex, and see Kolya approaching through the thin crowd of the marketplace. A glimmer of recognition flickers across Priyas face, quickly replaced by fury. She makes no overly hostile movements though.

Inside, Ian tries yanking the gurney down the remaining stairs but it appears to be stuck on something.

Henrietta quietly sneaks through the trauma room and into the back hall to see a pair of security officers at the top of the stairwell firing down.

When he enters the last alley towards the hospital, he sees Gomez and Priya exit the backdoor. When he Priya glimpses him, a host of emotions flicker over her face. None of them are friendly. "I guess I deserve that" , Kolya thinks as he closes the final gap between him and them.

"I know, we were of to a bad start, but there is a van with a friendly girl waiting down that direction, I think it would be smart to go with my friend. Gomez, Rozz is down there, waiting in the van. Where is the rest, do they need help?"

OOC:

OOC:

"Presumably behind us in the stairwell. There was a decent amount of gunfire but we didn't wait around to find out who was shooting who."

Gomez will guide Priya toward the van and knock in the outside with the gun. "Hey Rozz it's Gomez, I've got Priya here with me."

Zhen remains under the medical bed, firing at the newly arrived guards. His shot obliterates a section of railing next to the crouched guards, spraying bits of hot metal but not even grazing the guards. Steady... Breathe...

Silently slipping through the backdoor into the unknown hallway, Kolya has no problem knowing where the fight is. Gunshots, shouts, rattling, the sounds of the fight blare from straight ahead. As fast as caution allows he makes his way forward.
As he suddenly sees a flash around the next corner, he knows he arrived.
Leaning his back against the wall he peeks around the corner. In front of him are stairs, half way up is a gurney with an unconscious Yuri, Ian and Zhen crouching behind it. On the top of the stairs Kolya can see the policemen from the van.

"Ian, Zhen, pull back, I'll cover you. Rozz is waiting outside with a car!" with that Kolya pulls up his gun and fires a burst of bullets at the cops at the top of the stairs.

His shot strikes true, one of the officers is sent reeling backwards, firing his shotgun harmlessly into the ceiling as he falls. As plaster rains down from above, the last guard retreats out of sight.

He passes by Henrietta as he retreats out of the stairwell."Stay back ma'am! They're armed!" he shouts at her as he begins radioing for additional backup. He flees out of sight into the trauma room, allowing Henrietta to join her companions without him noticing.

At the bottom of the stairwell, one last good pull from Ian sends the stretcher bouncing down the stairway and into the basement hall. The four of you working together are able to make it down the second set of stairs to the back exit and into the Votta Market Complex. It won't be exactly subtle to push the gurney through the crowd, but the van is only a short distance away.

Priya gets into the van with Gomez and Roz, satchel still clutched close to her chest. Through the van's radio, Roz can hear the police team's backup on the way, eta 2 minutes.

Hearing Gomez's voice, Roz searched the dial of buttons on the console, before finally finding the right one. With a hiss, the two rear doors opened automatically. Twisting in her seat, Roz's head poked around the side, and greeted Priya and Gomez with a bright friendly smile.

"Silva and sparkle! Priya right? As my colleague here announced, I'm Roz."
Her smile momentarily intensified and she stuck her tongue briefly out at Gomez.
"It's great to meet you. I'd really like to talk to you and Yuri about what you found out about Yorbund."
Her wide eyes were on the other woman, watching to see if her casual prospect had dug up anything interesting. Whether the other woman showed any reaction, she next turned her attention to Gomez.
"Are the others far? Backup is her in two minutes. We need to be moving."

As they raced through the narrow hallway towards the exit and then down the dark alley Kolya, interrupted by his panting, said: "I think we thoroughly pissed them off. Doubt they'll just stay away. Good thing is that we have their car." He couldn't help a fat grin spread on his face. "Rozz is waiting in the van, with the foot on the pedal. We looked up a location with some privacy, Rozz has the directions ready. The van should be big enough to fit us all, maybe even this guy with his gurney."

He fell silent again and the four of them pushed on, the van already in sight. As they reached the van he yanked open the rear door and they quickly shoved Yuri and themselves in. The door not even closed yet Kolya yelled "Alright, Rozz, show us what you got. We fought them off, but they did not look like they were satisfied yet. I have a feeling they might come for some more and since we are so much fun, it could easily be that they bring some friends to the party."

As she heard the rear door of the van slam shut, Roz gave the inhabitants a few seconds to grab their places, before she disengaged the air stabiliser and fed the power to the vehicle as smoothly as she could manage. The only sound was a gentle hum, but there was still an initial jerk forward, before Roz got the measure again of the large van and continued around the corner in a smoother fashion.

"Welcome aboard everyone. It sounds like things might have got a bit dirty up there. I'm hoping you're all whole and pure, and no need for me to get my tools out for you? Radio says that there is backup about two minutes away so we are going to have to move sharpish. With a clean cut and polish though, we should have enough time. Would anyone like to climb forward and take the passenger seat? I've got our destination on this data pad, but it would be a mite easier for me to keep my eyes on the road and someone to call me directions."

As the third guard fled, the thermal pistol clicked back into its holster with a faint beep, indicating the auto-recharge had begun. He'd need to change out the power cell once settled in the van. The guard yelled something, then a woman's voice responded.

Zhen thought he recognized that voice... "Henrietta, is that you? I thought you were in the van already! Come on down, we're headed through the mall."

Zhen hurried up the steps, passing her on her way down, as Ian and Kolya finally managed to unstick the medical bed's wheels. Two shotguns lay near the bloody remains of the guards. Poor fools. Had no idea what they were up against. In moments he'd reloaded the shotguns, stashed them in his pack with extra ammo from the guards' belts, and was hurrying back toward his team pushing the gurney.

Catching up to Henrietta, Zhen noted that she seemed completely calm and in possession of all her senses. "Sorry we both left you back there. Things developed too quickly, and we hadn't formed a proper contingency plan. I'm just glad you made it out without getting shot or drugged. Remind me not to let you get separated next time, alright?"

When they caught up to the gurney, Zhen helped guide it, keeping one eye trained on the passersby. Everyone had clearly heard the gunshots and thermal discharges; he could see it in their tense posture and worried eyes. They murmured, watching the group push an unconscious, bloodied man through a busy mall.

This wasn't supposed to be so public. Curse that Kolya for making such a mess! I'm not ready yet. Kruschev won't like it, but I'll have to delay now.

As everyone settled into the vehicle, Zhen addressed the group. "What happened to the other guard? We only saw three; weren't there four? I can watch our rear, but I'd like to know how soon I can expect unwanted guests."

"As for a guide, I'm new here. We need somewhere to lay low. If anyone knows a place, step up and take shotgun. Speaking of which..." He drew a shotgun from his pack and proffered it. "Anyone?"