Job 1: Into the Black (IC)

You get a number of odd looks as you wheel the gurney through the Votta Market Complex, but no one stops you on your way to the van.

The interior of the van is much more spacious that the cab you took over her, and you have no trouble fitting the gurney in the back. Priya is shocked to see that you brought Yuri with you, but keeps her mouth shut for the moment. The back of the vehicle is without ornament except for some dented handrails for passengers to steady themselves with. The bench-like seats appear to have storage compartments beneath them. The front of the van could fit another one or two passengers next to Roz, but only a small barred window connects the front and the back so you will be unable to easily switch seating arrangements after takeoff.

Just as Roz pulls the hover-van out, a hoverbike emerges from around the corner and begins accelerating towards you. Close behind it you see a second bike join chase with a blocky gray grav-car following.

"Oh thats alright dear. I think I played my part well, though Its a shame it still ended in violence." she replied to Zhen with a sad smile.

Once in the van she politely refuses the shotgun, and reveals a compact handgun concealed as a pocket in her jumpsuit.
"Ive got a family heirloom here, from the old world. I only use it as a last resort though."

"Share me the address and I can help navigate from back here," Gomez says as he pulls his compad out and holsters his gun, glad to not be holding it any more. "I know this city pretty well after all."

"Yeah, I'd hoped to avoid violence too. Whoever called those guards signed their death warrants." Zhen raised an eyebrow at the concealed gun. "No offense, but I... the offer wasn't for you. You didn't strike me as the type to be interested."

As the grav-van pulled out into the street, Zhen reached out to shut the passenger-side rear door, one hand gripping the rail for balance. Just before the door shut, he saw the pursuing vehicles and cursed, slamming it shut. "Looks like backup made good time...

Shouting: "Roz, two hoverbikes and a gravcar! Punch it!"

To the others: "Hold on tight. I'm not going down without a fight."

Zhen slid to hands and knees, then prone on the floor, hooking one foot on a bench leg for stability, and readied himself. He stared at the closed doors, envisioning the two speeding hoverbikes and gravcar close behind. This just gets better and better...

Henrietta looks out the back of the van to see that they were now being chased.
"Its all a bit much dont you think?" she asks in her typically calm demeanor.

Those bikes made a good target to cause incapacity with a lmuch less risk of death then a gun. She reaches out with her mind to give the lead bike a simple nudge on the wheel, a sudden jerk on the handle bars, something to cause the balance to fail.

The driver tries to regain control as the hoverbike suddenly veers out of control, but its too late. The bike turns end over end, spilling its driver onto the road below as the vehicle itself smashes into an electronic signpost with a shower of sparks

Seeing the bike loose control, she simply says, "Such dangerous vehicles...." as if the whole thing had not been her fault at all.

Kolya shuffled forward from the rear door to a seat close to Priya. "Listen, I'm sorry things turned out so ugly. But your boyfriend has a bounty on his head, after felling several strong men with his bare hands in the casino. So obviously we all have quite some respect for meeting him up close in full strength. But, the whole time something felt off to me. Can you please tell me your side of the story?
I appreciate this is not the perfect time or place. But looking out the window I'm not sure how this will play out. And if you are fighting the honest fight we might be the best thing that happened to you two, other hunters might have not asked. Because if the people behind the bounty got you wrong and you are actually fighting for the right thing, I'm the first to help you the best I can." With pleading eyes Kolya stared at the woman, hoping she would understand his honest intentions and put aside the recent history in light of the bigger picture.

He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if he ended up being the tool of an evil megacorp fighting the little guy. The bounty seemed too rich to begin with and Priyas demeanor also didn't really feel like frightened girlfriend caught up in a big guys game. Something else was going on and he was determined to find out what. If nothing else in order to continue their fight should something happen to Yuri and Priya.

Just as Kolya says this, laser fire erupts from behind them. The remaining hoverbike has closed in and is firing his sidearm at the van. The driver of the police car guns the engine and pulls up along side you. Lacking side windows, those in the back of the van can't see whats happening, but Roz can see in the side view mirror that the passenger of the police car has brought a laser rifle to bear on your vehicle and unleashes a torrent of laser fire into the side. The back of the van is suddenly filled with acrid smoke as the shots punch through. Henrietta feels a sudden burning pain in her side, as the laser burns through her armor.

"Sorry in advance; I probably should have mentioned this sooner."

As he shouts over the road noise and weapons fire, Zhen reaches up, opens one side of the rear doors, and lays his arm back on the floor of the van. Immediately a small bipod sprouts from the underside of his wrist, and the skin on his forearm folds back to reveal something resembling the barrel of a laser rifle being assembled at lightning speed, right where his ulna and radius should be!

Bracing, he unleashes a salvo of laserfire at the pursuing hoverbike. His shots leave deep scorchmarks in the body of the vehicle.

"Roz, ram that car into oncoming traffic or get ahead of them! We need a clean shot!"

With one hand, Roz flipped her data pad, from where it had been resting in her lap, out over to Gomez.
"I've got our destination X on the map here on my pad. Don't really remember what it's called. If you can call out directions to me, that would be perfectly cut and shaped. I'm yours to command."

Her hand had quickly returned to wheel, and though she had smiled, her eyes were now on the rear mirror as gunfire broke out behind them. It was such an odd thing, behind forced to turn your back to danger like this. No chance of even being able to see the bullet that might sever your spine. Then again, she wouldn't have seen it anyway. This was just nerves speaking. One bike spun out of control and then the van shot forward out of view to come alongside. Both eyes had returned to road. She needed to try and get rid of the other car. Turning the steering wheel, she slammed the van into the front axle of the car, attempting to make it crash.

The force of the impact jars the passengers of both vehicles. The heavy van pushes the pursuing car drastically off course, its driver rapidly trying to correct before they hit something.

While laserfire pierces the van, Ian's face splits into an eager grin. It's about time!

He turns to the back, drawing his pistol, and notices the rifle protruding from Zhen's arm. Whoa! Maybe *that's* what has him in such a foul mood... I'll have to get a closer look at that later.

He draws a bead and fires out the swinging door at the pursuing bike's controls, hoping to make the driver lose control. His shot sends a metal chunk of hoverbike spinning loose, but the driver stays his course.

Henrietta's hand goes straight to her chest where the armor had been heated rapidly by the laser blase.
"Such ruffians!" she huffs out.
With her mind she reaches out again in an attempt to cause the bike to veer and crash.

Well, they have at least *one* competent rider.

Zhen continues firing, but the hoverbike dodges, narrowly avoiding the shots.

"Was anyone hit?" Zhen shouts between bursts.

The second hoverbike fights against Henrietta's telekinetic manipulation, but with isn't quick enough. The bike swerves wildly before the thrust cuts out and it skids to a violent halt on the pavement below.

The pursuing grav car doesn't correct fast enough after being knocked off course It smashes directly through an electronic billboard in a cloud of colorful sparks and broken glass. You're not sure what's become of its passengers, but regardless it seems to have broken off pursuit.


With Gomez navigating, you manage to find the abandoned vacc suit factory quickly and without further incident. Based on transmissions coming through the van's radio, it sounds like the police company has dispatched other units to patrol the streets for you.

Priya looks up from bracing herself against the laser fire, breathing rapidly as the adrenaline rush begins to slow. She shakes her head at Kolya. "Fuck I don't know. This wasn't even my plan. I don't know how Yuri got his hands on it, I guess it was from one of the corps? He was going around to the people who owed him money so we could get a ship offworld to Yorbund."

"It's ok, calm down, you're safe now. Hey Ian, do you still have some of that rainbow juice? I think our guest could use a morale booster!"

It had all gone very fast, but the pursuit was over and they would reach their temporary hide out in matter of minutes. The danger was averted... For now.

"My friend looked at the scanner data and also mentioned Yorbund. What is it about that rock? What is going on that is worth getting into so much trouble about? And what do you have in that satchel? Why would you run away with it and leave Yuri behind?"

Zhen watches the second bike swerve wildly and lose control. I suppose I judged a bit too soon. It's a wonder that company is still in business. Seeing the wrecked gravcar pass by a second later, he quickly retracts his rifle, pulls the door shut, and takes his seat on the bench again. "Great driving, Roz! Looks like we're clear for now."

No one had said anything, and the only one eyeing him strangely was Ian, though he hadn't gotten off to a great start with that one. Well, if he hadn't been so weirdly trusting of a dangerous stranger... Isn't he supposed to be ex-military or something? Ah, nevermind. Maybe no one noticed my... alterations. I guess I'll just let it lie.

"Ian, thanks for backing me up there. Those guys apparently hadn't seen much action before."

Tensing slightly, Zhen turns to regard Kolya incredulously. "Now Kolya... well, maybe next time save the chit-chat until after the lasers stop flying. We're lucky none of us died back there. And, when we get to where we're going, I think we all need to have a long chat about what we're doing next. Just be careful making promises until we've had a chance to talk."

Zhen belatedly notices the burns on Henrietta's clothing, which was now apparently armor. "What?! Henrietta, why didn't you say anything? How bad is it?" At least she was armored... this woman is full of surprises!

Then he notices Priya's satchel in her lap. "Are we going to allow our abductee to keep her bag, with who-knows-what in it? I'd rather not have uninvited guests at our hideout. Ma'am, I think it's in your best interest to hand it over. I really don't want to have to kill anybody else today."

She waves Zhen off, "No need to worry about a poor old lady. Ive had worse in all my years."

Those kinds of vehicles are nothing but trouble. They're always making loud noises when the veer on the road and waking up all the neighborhood. It serves them right." she adds with a hint of anger, as angry as a sweet old lady could muster.

What hurt worse than the carbon scoring was her head. She had expended her abilities, for today at least. Now she would have to rely on the pistol heirloom she just mentioned not liking. She makes sure the safety was off and the holster was easily accessible.

Turning towards Zhen Kolyas face takes an annoyed look, "Don't you think the whole 'I don't trust you' is getting old? How much longer do you know the rest of the crew? An hour? Two? And if it wasn't for me getting an escape car large enough and a destination your ass would probably be sandwiched between groups of policemen getting fried medium well. So let's either start mistrusting everybody, or take a leap of faith.

And I didn't start shooting, cause the doors where closed and I cannot see through walls. Once the doors flew open, things where done in seconds.

Regarding our 'abductee', I did not make any promises I'm not ready to keep and fight for. If they are out to make a quick buck by stealing someone else's property, they'll be turned in without a doubt. But if you spend two minutes thinking about the whole story, it doesn't add up. And I'll be damned if I turn in someone without being sure he has it coming. So, excuse me to find out things, before our 'detainee' gets hit in crossfire. "

Roz backs the van into the south garage of the abandoned factory, unlocked just as Kolya's contact said it would be. The factory itself is quiet except for your footsteps, its walls covered in several layers of graffiti. The next room off the garage appears to have once been a staging area for shipments, as it is filled with many rollable coat racks. A few tattered remains of vacc suits still hang, shredded beyond repair.

Sharadnar wrote:

"Are we going to allow our abductee to keep her bag, with who-knows-what in it? I'd rather not have uninvited guests at our hideout. Ma'am, I think it's in your best interest to hand it over. I really don't want to have to kill anybody else today."

"No one's made you kill anyone. God you bounty hunters are all the same. There's things in this galaxy more important than credits you know."

Thelonius wrote:

"My friend looked at the scanner data and also mentioned Yorbund. What is it about that rock? What is going on that is worth getting into so much trouble about? And what do you have in that satchel? Why would you run away with it and leave Yuri behind?"

"We're both from Yorbund originally. Its how we met, sort of. I was on an archeological dig, he was part of our security detail. There have been... strange occurrences happening on Yorbund as far as records go back. Yuri and I both have a personal interest in the disappearances. That was years ago, but I've been seeing him off and on since I came to Genoa. And by the way this wasn't my idea in the slightest. He just roped me into this, said it was our best shot at unraveling the mystery. After you shot him," (she gives Kolya a pointed glance) "he told me to run, and that the thing would be able to spring him if he was taken into custody."

She takes off her satchel and holds it out towards the party. "Be careful, its heavy."

Gomez climbs out of the van and turns away from the group to pop a piece of nicotine gum and calm his nerves.

"I know I for one could stand to have a lot less shooting and a lot more talking," he says, turning around. "Trust can be hard to come by but were obviously all on the same side here so lets maybe try to be professionals?"

"And speaking of... well talking, all this talk of mysteries has me intrigued. Care to tell us more Priya?"

Kolya mumbles something barely audible "Yea.. inaudible ... are right... inaudible ... sorry.", turns towards Priya and takes the satchel. Without opening it, or even peeking, he hands it on to Roz. "I think you should take a look at this. By the way, that was some driving there, nice job. Where did you get trained for your license to drive like that? You do have a license, right??"

With that he turns back to the group. "Why don't you go inside and find a good place to hide. I will go and lose the van. Keep in mind, they might have been tracking this thing, so there is a chance they know we stopped here. So do hide well and post guards, just in case. I will announce myself before I come back in, so if you hear something do not assume it's me."

After everybody is out of the van, he takes another good look around the inside of the van, to see if there is anything that might still be off use.

"Look, Kolya, I appreciate that you likely saved my life in there; it may not seem like it, but I'm starting to warm up to you. But don't pretend that you're just as worthy of my trust as these others, forgetting that you're the reason we had to risk that extraction from the clinic in the first place. They come with recommendation from someone I trust and have acted as expected; you showed up on the same trail, but with unknown motives and no explanations. Now, not 5 minutes after we fought and killed to snatch Yuri out of surgery and abduct Ms. Bosque, you're ready to pull a 180 and trust her?! You can't tell me that's not the least bit suspicious."

Zhen looks to the others, gauging their reactions. "Am I the only one confused, here? If so, I'll hold my peace, but let me hear what you think. Maybe he's just an easily-trusting idealist, which I can work with, but I'd like to hear that from him."

Kobras_Aquairre wrote:

"No one's made you kill anyone. God you bounty hunters are all the same. There's things in this galaxy more important than credits you know."

Zhen nods appreciatively toward Priya, relaxing visibly. "Thanks for making this easier, Ms. Bosque. Given the choice between killing and taking a chestful of lead, I'll choose the former any day, but I'd rather not have to choose. We brought Yuri alive, when the job would have been much easier with a pic of him with a hole in his head."

"And do not take me for a mindless merc; I am sworn to things higher than wealth, but ideals don't put food on my table. I'm willing to hear you out, but forgive me for not diving headfirst into your cause without knowing what's at stake."

Henrietta sighed. She didnt like all the backbiting the young ones were getting into. Of course, there were always ones around at ANY age who would do that. Old Mrs. Jenkins for example, would have the whole neighborhood in a turn over some nonsensical slight on her behalf.

She almost smiled at that memory, before she remembered the horrible disease that had parsed her flesh from its bones.

"Now, lets not be hasty here. Mrs. Priya, Im not going to shoot if I dont have too. And Id much rather miss a few credits that leave someone lifeless. I hope you can take my word for it. I am interested in making sure my friends and I have food in our bellies and tea in our pantries. Maybe keep gas in the tank and air filters going to. All the maintenance Roz says in necessary." she smiles at the young woman.

"I cant speak for young Zhen and Gomez here, but they dont seem like the bloodthirsty type to me, now do you?' she says asking Zhen and Gomez.

"That's what I'm trying to say. I'm not performing a 180° turn here. I've been saying all along that something is off. And I appreciate you have principles, I have mine too. And one of those is to never blindly trust a megacorp, especially when hunting someone working alone. If a person works alone against a megacorp, he or she is simply very stupid or, more likely, there is something at stake that is worth dying for. And before I send that person to the wolves, I like to understand that stake.

But it seems we are all in agreement not to kill anyone in the next moments. "

This working in a team is harder than he thought. Earlier he realised he was ready to work with someone. And it felt good. Plus, the extraction, despite all the complications went smoother than anyone of them would have managed alone.
But there is always the people and their motivations and motives.
He kind of likes them all, even Zhen with his grumpy demeanor. But it is hard to get into a group, he realised once again.

It started feeling like the last time he tried to work with a team. They seemed alright back then, everything started out ok, they had welcomed him and the job went smooth, until... But it's gonna be different this time. It will not be like then. It mustn't.

As Zhen called forward that they were clear and she heard the back door close, Roz let out a breath she wasn't quite sure that she had been holding and grinned over at Gomez, before directing her voice back to those behind.
"Apologies for the turbulence back there. The rest of ride should be as smooth as slate. Passengers are advised to keep their seats belted and enjoy the views. Your flight attendant should be round shortly with your drinks order."

She was aware that there was conversation going on behind her while the journey continued, but she was concentrating on Gomez's instructions and despite her cheery demeanour, she didn't fully relax until the grav van came to a halt and wheels extended out to terra ferma. It had definitely been exhilarating acting as the getaway driver she thought, though as she stepped down, she had to pause for an extra couple of second to make sure her legs weren't shaking.

Moving around to the back of the van, she found the rest all in discussion, especially energetic in the case between Kolya and Zhen. Her hands sticking out automatically she took hold of the satchel, almost buckling forward with the weight before she threw the strap over her shoulder and grinning back at Kolya.
"A licence Mr M? Who has time for someone else to tell you how to drive one of these things?"
She slapped the side of the vehicle affectionately.
"Machines and I have a deal, I look after them and they'll do the same for me."

Moving on she winked at Henrietta, before looking at Priya.
"I have big plans for our ship. But yeah, I've had to look after things on a handful of gravel before. Money's important and all but I don't think we are ruled by it so much we can't make a proper excavation."

She glanced between Zhen and Kolya, shrugging her shoulders and grinning at both.
"It sounds like we are all agreed to have a listen nows anyway. We can judge what comes after when it comes. On that note though..."

With the satchel still around her shoulder she moved over to the gurney. While she was curious to finally see him in the flesh, her training had also kicked in. She ran her hands lightly over Yuri, to check how he was doing. Once she was certain that he was in a stable condition, she then moved to what was her hearts hardest beating desire and opened the satchel.

Ian sighs deeply, Finally out of the woods, huh? Who am I kidding, this is just the start of it. He turns his attention to Priya and her remark, snickering.

"Nah, I don't like the up close and personal 'specially cause I pay for the ammo for this little beastie, unlike working demo where I get everything I need to do what I want for free."

He gestures toward his Jericho 941 "baby eagle".

"In all seriousness, I don't deride any joy from taking someone else's life, makes too much noise up there and in here."

He taps his temple and his chest simultaneously then blows the smoke out of the barrel of his pistol, knowing how his remarks may come across, it didn't matter to him at the moment, though. His mind was occupied with the thoughts of what happened to his PMC on Jade reach and how that gang that killed his friends was funded by another megacorp looking for control of the once neutral planet. As he is consumed by his thoughts he instinctively toys with his cigarette lighter, flicking it open then closed, remembering that he had to get another pack sooner than later.

Zhen stares into Kolya's eyes, studying his intensity. "Fair enough, Kolya. I believe you. I apologize for my roughness; I am accustomed to knowing more about my squad mates, that's all."

"Ditching the van is a good idea. Then let's see what Ms. Bosque has for us."

Zhen sets himself to preparing a place to sleep, looking for a dry corner of the garage. Once there, he unpacks his sleeping bag, sets up his dull brownish tarp as an open-ended tent, and stows his pack underneath.

At least it seems dry in here. No major leaks, at least.

...And it sounds like Kruschev will *definitely* be interested in this jail-busting device, whatever it is. I hope he responds soon.

Quote :

"Fair enough, Kolya. I believe you. I apologize for my roughness; I am accustomed to knowing more about my squad mates, that's all."

"Thank you", Kolya reaches out his hand. "Then I'll take care of the van. You guys settle in inside. But be gentle with our guests. I'll be back in a while."

Ian hops out of the van then holsters his pistol in a concealed holster in his waistband.

"Sure thing."

He looks around the garage, only now realizing how little preparation he had actually put into this visit. He walked around a bit before resigning to lean up against a pillar, draping his trench coat over himself, it was comfortable enough as far as he was concerned.

Zhen clasps the proffered hand. "Going alone? I can ride along, unless you don't think you'll need an extra set of eyes."

OOC:

"Thanks, but I think I'll be fine. Doesn't seem like we're being followed and before they come after me, they'll show up here. So probably better you keep an alert eye open here." Kolya turns towards the now empty van and investigates the interior of the the rear. Once satisfied, he smacks close the doors and hops into the driver cabin. " See you in a bit. And remember, I'll announce myself. Unannounced guests are likely unwanted guests." After an investigation of it he cabin and all its storage areas, he tags their current location on his compad, starts the van and drives off in the direction they came from.

OOC:

"The corps can rot, and if I can help speed that along then all the better. But I got no truck with strike-breakers," Gomez says, gesturing at Yuri before looking at Priya, "so your story better be interesting."

Thelonius wrote:

Kolya will check the van front and back to see if there is anything they might still use, equipment, weapons, information.

The glovebox contains a pack of cigarettes, a flashlight, and 3 glowbugs. In the storage compartments underneath the back seats, you find a medkit, a half empty box of shotgun shells that contains 9 rounds, and a case comtaining 3 grenades.

Nitafrong wrote:

With the satchel still around her shoulder she moved over to the gurney. While she was curious to finally see him in the flesh, her training had also kicked in. She ran her hands lightly over Yuri, to check how he was doing. Once she was certain that he was in a stable condition, she then moved to what was her hearts hardest beating desire and opened the satchel.

This close to Yuri, it is easy to see that he's had some work done. The subdermal armor is obvious, and maybe some other combat hardware concealed deeper. The trauma surgeon in the hospital did a competent job repairing his injuries, and Yuri appears to be resting comfortably for now.

Opening the satchel, Roz finds a handgun, a personal datapad, and a sturdy rectangular unmarked black case.

owenstreetpress wrote:

"And speaking of... well talking, all this talk of mysteries has me intrigued. Care to tell us more Priya?"

"Well, Yorbund has its fair share of oddities. There are dozens of anomalous structures on its surface. No one really knows where they came from, they've been their since the first colonial records. The architecture is like nothing else anyone's ever seen, and they exert bizarre changes on the environment around them. But what we find concerning are the disappearances that occur like clockwork approximately every 9 years. Every time, exactly 25 people vanish almost without a trace. The only thing left behind are the markings. They're engraved with near microscopic complexity on the doorframes of houses where the individuals vanish from. My notes are on the datapad, there's images of them. We've yet to be able to decipher them, but the same patterns emerge every time. What's more, some of the patterns bear resemblance to etchings found on the exterior of the anomalous structures. The patterns mean something, they're a code or a language or a riddle, but we haven't been able to figure it out for years. Yuri said that's why he stole the device." She gestures to the black case. "Apparently it calls itself the Skeleton Key."

Ian listens quietly, deciding he could put off sleeping for a while longer. He lays his coat across his legs and starts disassembling his handgun for routine maintenance, cleaning the burnt powder residue from his barrel and internals.

"That's certainly interesting. Is there any planetary records of a native population of non humans?"

Ian wipes down the barrel assembly with a rag he originally meant for cleaning himself up.

"I mean, sounds like something off a cheesy holofilm 'alien invaders kidnapping the locals', y'know?"

He snickers before going back to being serious.

"Sorry, I believe you, you've got no reason to be lying to us. The idea just sort of gets me chuckling."

Ian sighs, wondering what Kolya may find in the van and what he'd have to do to get some of the 'luxury' items that may be found inside.

Roz's eyes widened somewhat as she felt the adjustments that had been made to Yuri's body. With such a desultory investigation, she was unable to tell much beyond the armour and that he was in a stable condition. She was prepared to bet that there would probably be a weapon of some kind hidden somewhere in his body. Grinning for a moment and her eyes sparkling, she waggled her fingers before suddenly feeling the weight of the back on her shoulder again. There were more important things to do than check out Yuri further. Perhaps later...

Looking up, she eyed the others, the grin on her face a little lopsided.
"Doctors seem to have done a good job on Yuri. No particularly violent fault lines there. But you should know, he's had some work done. Definitely subdermal armour and I'd expect he'll maybe have some hidden last resort weapon."

Folding herself down, she crossed her legs beneath her. She then started to look through the satchel, leaving the gun in place for the moment, and laying the black case and the data pad on opposite knees. Glancing up at Priya, her face curious, she tapped her fingers on the datapad.
"BB makes a good point. And if there isn't a present population of natives, maybe they are keeping themselves hidden. Have these disappearances been occurring since colonisation? Or more relatively recent?"
She looked over at Ian and shrugged.
"Could also be someone else has discovered something that was buried on Yorbund and it involves a sacrifice?"
Turning back to Priya, she raised an intrigued eyebrow, and smile ever wider and then pointed down at the black device.
"It calls itself.... Did Yuri say anything else about this or what he wanted to use it for?"

Her eyes had returned to the case as she felt around for the edge.
"Anyone have an objection to me opening this?"

Kolya starts driving the way they came from. It doesn't matter where. Left, right, right left. As long as the direction is away from the camp. Right, right, left... His thoughts start wandering.

The chase, the shoot out, the new crew, trust, mistrust... Suddenly a memory smashes into his head: loud bangs, flashes, yelling. It's dark, just the gunfire lights up the narrow hallway infrequently. "Extract, extract!!" Someone screams.
It's Matthias, from his crew from Christmas Landing. Flash! Bang! He feels himself running, firing backwards to the approching guards. Flash! Bang! The door is so close. Flash! Flash! Bang! Suddenly the whole thing scene slows to a crawl. Left foot, right foot, left foot,... But the right foot does not follow. The stone. He feels again, falling towards the ground. Flash! And Matthias? He is at the door. He turns around, sees him on the floor. A moment of hesitation, then he turns, rushes through the door and it closes.
Loud noises again, flashes.

With a start Kolya realises again where he is. Without noticing he had sped up more and more, to the point the van started swivelling. He barely gets the van back under control, breaks hard to a stop and collapses over the controls. Sweat dripping from his temples, his hands shivering. He pants heavily, blood rushes through his ears with a roar.

After a few moments, or was it hours?, he calms down enough to lift the head and look around.
The neighbourhood seems to be similar to where the factory is. A bit down the road he sees another abandoned construction. Slowly and very carefully he drives the van onto the lot, between the buildings. His head is pounding with a skull-splitting headache.

A quick look onto the compad shows: he is about 20 minutes by foot from the factory. That should suffice. Another few moments of rest...

He takes a deep breath and starts packing the things from the van. The first aid kit, Roz might need it. The glow bugs, those things were always handy.
The grenades for Ian. How did Roz call him earlier? Big Bang? Let's see if he can live up to that name.
He hops out of the van and starts towards the street. After a few steps he hesitates.
He turns around, heads for the driver cabin, opens the glove compartment and takes the pack of cigarettes. He was offered one earlier today, maybe the time would come to return that gesture.

He finally starts walking back towards the crew. This time will be different. It must be. And this time he will never be the last through that door.
With a grim face he increases his pace.

Zhen paces around the small gathering, taking in everything. Abductions like clockwork on a planet his briefings hadn't covered. Yuri, an enhanced warrior. Priya, archaeologist. The device, some sort of key. And a 5000 credit bounty. This is way bigger than the bounty suggests. Either the client is lowballing the job, or he doesn't understand the potential value of this precursor technology. But the fact that they're researching it says they know *something* of its potential value.

Zhen pauses beside Roz at Yuri's bed. He pulls at straps, ensuring that the man is still bound securely. "What can you tell us about Yorbund? I've heard the name, but I don't know a thing about it. Where it is, what the government and population are like, how bad the environment is for us."
"And who did Yuri steal the key from? Are they the ones leading the investigation into the disappearances?"

He then runs a hand across the side of his shaved head, grimacing and gesturing at the case. "And please don't tell me this device is alive... those things always freak me out. If you don't know much about it, I'd rather wait for Yuri's input before we crack it open."

Ian seems amused with the concept of a living machine.

"Oooh.. Living pretech, that's a third theory to add to the list. So now that makes it mysterious natives that we don't know about, a possible strange ritual performed by megacorp bigwigs who want to maintain control over this rock, and living metal and machines!"

Ian had finished cleaning and re-oiling his pistol and was now reassembling it. Man, guns are so pretty when you look at them on the inside! He smiled as he placed the slide assembly back on top of the frame and racked the slide a few times to make sure it would cycle correctly next time he'd need to use it.

"Nah, I think it would be fine if we opened the case. Personally, I want to see what all this fuss is about, what with running from the police and holding an ICU hostage for a split second. I want to see if it's worth the trouble."

Ian gives a smirk, he was joking on all the phrases that may seem to be on the whiny side but he was serious about wanting to see what was inside the case.

Henrietta walks around, examining the area. After koyla left things had seemed to quiet down between everyone, it was a chance to talk to Roz again.

She approaches her and speaks lowly, so that the others couldnt hear.
"Seems we find our selves in one big mess. What do you think we should do next?"

Ian wrote:

"That's certainly interesting. Is there any planetary records of a native population of non humans? I mean, sounds like something off a cheesy holofilm 'alien invaders kidnapping the locals', y'know? Sorry, I believe you, you've got no reason to be lying to us. The idea just sort of gets me chuckling."

"No its you're right, it really does sound ridiculous. Like crop circles or something. There's several native species of fauna but none capable of higher levels of cognition as far as we're aware."

Roz wrote:

"BB makes a good point. And if there isn't a present population of natives, maybe they are keeping themselves hidden. Have these disappearances been occurring since colonisation? Or more relatively recent?"

"Its tough to say. Yorbund has been colonized since before the Scream, but records from that time were almost totally lost. The Scream resulted in a total societal collapse. Folk tales about these disappearances date back at least until shortly after the Scream. Some say its boogeymen come to eat peoples' livers, others say its the gods whisking the chosen away to eternal life."

Zhen wrote:

"What can you tell us about Yorbund? I've heard the name, but I don't know a thing about it. Where it is, what the government and population are like, how bad the environment is for us."

Well its not the most hospitable place but its livable. The atmosphere is a bit toxic and does a real number on filter systems but won't kill you immediately. Its sparsely populated with just under half a million inhabitants, almost entirely native. With a population that small, nearly everyone knows someone who's disappeared.

Most of us live in natural cave systems. Its primitive by current standards; simple computers and nuclear power but it lacks the population base for any large scale manufacturing. It doesn't have much of a government either, individual settlements are typically self governing. In recent times, a single family's become something of a monarchy by controlling the spaceport and the primary cave system. They want to modernize the planet but there's a strong trend of tranditionalism and superstition among the locals. That's part of the reason why its so difficult to study the structures, a lot of locals think they're sacred.

Zhen wrote:

"And who did Yuri steal the key from? Are they the ones leading the investigation into the disappearances? And please don't tell me this device is alive... those things always freak me out. If you don't know much about it, I'd rather wait for Yuri's input before we crack it open."

Roz wrote:

"It calls itself.... Did Yuri say anything else about this or what he wanted to use it for?"

Priya sighs. "Its an AI. I don't know who made it, I'm sure Yuri does though. He said it was built as an electronic warfare device, an advanced codebreaker capable of taking down corporate firewalls. We were hoping it could piece together what all these markings mean on Yorbund."

Ian sat up and holstered his pistol with a slight grunt, he felt like an old man for it but the concrete floor really was killing his hip.

"Oh, Zhen, about Yorbund..", Ian sighed before placing an earpiece in his left ear and playing some old song from earth, the opening drums and guitar filled half of his head as he described his experience there. "It's some backwater shithole that I had to fight on way back when I ran demolitions. Some freemerchant wanted to sell stuff there and the locals wanted them gone. Last I remember the place has turned into some monarchy or something."

Ian then realized he didn't have his pistol loaded and immediately mitigated the issue, making sure his mag was holding all 12 rounds it could hold then racking the slide on the gun.

"It's been a minute but I doubt they'd be overjoyed to see my face again."

He settled back down with a smirk.

"I have a hard time believing someone from Yorbund of all places tossed together and AI like that.."

Ian's eyes widened for a second and he looked over at Priya.

"Electronic warfare device..? Advanced codebreaker?! That thing's a warcrime, dammit! No wonder people are flipping out about you two having it!"

He calmed himself down with a few deep breaths before breaking his trademark mischievous grin.

"So, Yorbund it is, huh?"

Sylphilis wrote:

She approaches her and speaks lowly, so that the others couldn't hear.
"Seems we find our selves in one big mess. What do you think we should do next?"

Roz looked up at the older woman, from where she was still sitting on the ground, with the items splayed across her thighs. Momentarily she brought up her thumb and chewed on the end, before replying quieting to the other.
"It really is. This was just meant to be stopping a dangerous thief. And now...."
She scrunched her face together.
"Well he's still a dangerous thief, but I can understand a little why he did what he did. We've just landed and we've suddenly got ourselves into something much bigger than us. Last day of the season and we strike gold."

Running a hand back through her hair, she disentangled her goggles and laid these too on her lap, letting her red hair fall loose down the sides of her face..
"From what she says Priya seems to be an innocent in all this. My thought would be, hand in Yuri for what he's done, let Priya go, and then decide if we want to destroy this, or just pretend to and maybe check out Yorbund at a later date? What do you think?"

As Priya mentioned that the device was an advanced AI, Roz's eyes widened, and her fingers lightly tapped on the edge of the black case.
"An advanced AI codebreaker? Wow... Some complicated carbon we got here."

She glanced around at the others, one hand brushing away at her hair.
"Probably safe enough for me to look at it here then. The machines and I commune but I doubt its going to be able to hack me. Chances between a 1 and a 0."
She giggled, before turning her attention to Ian.
"Your face does have potential though BB. We give you a good shave, and stick you in a dress and you could pass as my aunt. Or maybe grandmother. These stories about Yorbund are definitely rousing my interest. Before we go jetting off anywhere though, we've still got a retrieval op to complete for the person who kindly lent us the money to buy our ship."

Ian tried to hold his demeanor for a moment before breaking out laughing and giving Roz's shoulder a playful shove.

"Oh, shut up! I'm not old enough to be your grandma I'm only twenty seven!"

He wiped a tear from his eye as he attempted to calm himself down.

"Besides, I'm a brunette and you're a redhead, genetics don't work that way if my high school education wasn't total crap."

Ian let out a sigh before thinking a moment about what to do with Yuri. There's lots of credits in this, but, at the same time the girl could get upset. He ended his thoughts with a shrug and a sigh.

"I say we do what we came here for but we turn the girl loose. Minus the destroying the machine bit due to popular opinion. Sorry Priya, it's nothing personal, but we've got to feed ourselves."

"You think they'll just let you get away with that? Handing Yuri over and keeping the Skeleton Key for yourself? Look, the AI is what they're really after. Yuri's just a loose end to these people, they're probably going to kill him anyway. So you can either hand him over to a megacorp for some blood money or you can let us figure out what's happening to the people on Yorbund." says Priya pleadingly

Ian let out a sigh, she was right. He didn't want to kill anybody but he needed this.

"I've watched my friends, people I knew, people I talked to day in and day out get ripped to shreds by the people on Yorbund. For me this isn't about the people of Yorbund, this is about us and you two."

He reached into his jacket pocket in search of his pack of cigarettes but it wasn't there, so much for his last four.

"I get that you two are interested in solving whatever is going on over there but we have a job. With how close we've gotten to getting you two exactly where we need you I don't think our employers will believe us when we say you got away. So, while us keeping the skeleton key and turning Yuri in is dubious, if we show our faces anywhere near our employers it'll be us on the line next."

He scratches his neck, his thought processes changing rapidly.

"I dunno, maybe we should turn both of them loose and catch up with them after this other job, assuming they don't try to blast us before we can even start on it."

Suddenly all compads of the group chime simultaneously. Kolya had posted in their group: "One minute out, will be entering the building now" and moments later a shuffling sound can be heard, followed by the familiar sight of the missing group members face.

"Alright, the van is parked elsewhere, what's the status here?"

OOC:

"Hmm, regarding the key, there is no way I'm handing it back to some corporation so they can reign war on innocent people for their corporate greed.
Let's keep the key, see if we can help people on Yorbund with it and then we can still destroy it.

Regarding Yuri I'm with Roz, how about we let him explain himself. The massacre in the club is a serious offence, but I don't know whether we should hand him over to the executioner. Let him rather redeem himself by helping on Yorbund. I don't agree with sacrificing the few for their good of the many, but if he was acting in self defence, or something, we should give him another chance. "

Zhen sits down hard, head in hands. He sighs, frustration plain in his demeanor. "This couldn't just be simple, could it? Everything has to tangle me in another web... and a damned AI to boot."

Standing up abruptly, Zhen returns to pacing, hands clasped behind him as he thinks out loud. "Turning Yuri in without the AI is questionable; they obviously want it more than him, and we clearly need him if we're going to try to use it on Yorbund. I don't like passing up the payout, but we don't owe it to anyone to turn him in. The only problem is how we get to Yorbund."

ThePlagueDoctor wrote:

"I dunno, maybe we should turn both of them loose and catch up with them after this other job, assuming they don't try to blast us before we can even start on it."

"I think that once Kolya gets back we wake up Yuri, talk to the AI, and then go from there. He's looking for the payout, too. Maybe we hold onto the AI and let them stay here until we finish the retrieval job, then take them with us to Yorbund. Maybe something else."

Zhen pauses, looking around to Roz. "I don't mean to presume, but it looks to me like you three will need us if you're going off-world with this AI. I don't have anything tying me here, and I've been looking for a good crew anyway. Gomez, what do you say? Maybe even Kolya will stick around." A perfunctory gesture at his tent complements the rueful expression on his face. "Everything to my name, right there. All I have else is a debt to the man who made me what I am, but I'm with you if you'll have me."

Ian sighed as he vigorously rubbed his face, trying to fight off the encroaching drowsiness he felt.

"Uuuuggh! I came out this way for a simple job and I've just ended up fighting myself over this!"

As he moved his arms he felt the bottle on his waist, pulling it out and popping off the cap again and taking a deep swig, it would be a few shots worth for sure.

"A drop of paradise..."

He sighs as he leans back against his pillar again, setting down the bottle in the middle of the group for anybody to take if they felt like it.

"I hope you've come back with good news, Kolya. Cause I've got nothing good on my end."

He gave a toothy grin to his new accomplice with a pat to the floor next to him.

Roz smirked over at Ian and took the shove good naturedly.
"Aww silly sand scrubber. Who says this is my natural hair colour?"

Her eyes flicked between Priya, Ian, Kolya and Zhen as they all put forward their views one after the other, a curious interested expression playing across her pale freckled face. She was honestly surprised at how quick the three had moved to just releasing Yuri and skipping out on the payment altogether. This wasn't what she'd been expecting. It wasn't really a problem, she did really want the chance to talk to Yuri and Priya seemed like she might be interesting. It was more that she was expecting to be one of the more soft touches in the crew. Shadowed God below, she wasn't going to have to get sensible was she?

"Interestingly enough, the contact we have for this job is a bit more casual. We just met him in a cafe after someone else turned this job down. He knows us to see but if we never contacted him back, I doubt he'd be the most surprised. He was also willing to pay us more to have this bit of silva chucked into the bowels of the planet."

Her fingers continued to tap lightly on the black case. Looking over at Zhen and Ian, she grinned suddenly shaking her head.
"Aww a simple job eh? Would it help if Yuri had thick black eyebrows and a twirly moustache?"
She gave Priya a wink.
"Priya, you look like someone who'd be in possession of an evil laugh. Care to let it loose, and calm these poor boys moral qualms?"

Giggling at her own joke, she looked up at the gurney holding Yuri, right beside her.
"But yeah, I'd lay my strike for having a talk with Yuri when he wakes up."
Running her hands through her hair again, her face became a bit more serious.
"Zhen makes a good point. You all joined us on the promise of getting some money for this. Personally I'm for keeping this, and making our way to Yorbund, but that's quite a deeply buried cluster."
As if suddenly catching herself, she caught Kolya's eye and stuck out her tongue.
"Or as Mr Mediator would prefer me to say, it might be a while before you see any profit from this."

Looking between all of those present, she continued.
"I'd be delighted for you to join our crew Zhen, as well as Kolya and Gomez. It's not just up to me though, I'm just one of a three. And its important to know that if you did join you get yourselves part ownership of a fabulous ship, and a share in its debt too. A small part of which will hopefully be removed by completing our other job tomorrow."

While waiting on the others to speak, her eyes returned back to the black box on her lap, and having heard no objection, opened it.

Kolya reaches for the bottle in the middle of the round, it had felt good to take a swig earlier today (or was it already yesterday?) and takes a deep draw. "Thanks man," , he starts, turning his head towards Ian and looking him in the face. A surprised look appears on his face. "What happened to you, while I was gone, you look like... Wait, I brought you something", leaving both half sentences floating in the air, he turns around and rummages around in his backpack and then pulls out the three grenades. "Pro'ly should've packed that more carefully, I'm not used to these things." He tosses Ian the grenades one by one. He then sits down back in the circle and pulls out the pack of cigarettes, "Want one?"

Once everyone was offered a cigarette and all received tobacco rolls are merrily burning he continues, "So, I know, I already had a few ideas today and not all played out as well as I had them in my head, but how about this. Why don't we stage Yuris death? He already looks like shit, sorry once again Priya, nothing personal, if we remove the bandages temporarily and place him conveniently, splash some blood like stuff around, he might just look dead enough. And whatever is in the box we could take out and then shoot up the box.
Of course Yuri would have to run with us and more importantly without being seen and even more importantly can never come back here. But I reckon that last part is true either way...

I mean, screwing over some criminals from a powerful megacorporation with a staged picture, what could possibly go wrong? " his face turns into a fat grin as he looks into the faces of the others.

Ian lit up as he inspected the grenades.

"Oooh! M67 grenades, my favorite! I used to use these things all the time with my old PMC! Kolya, you've made me the happiest man on this rock at this very moment. I'm sure I could find a good use for these sometime soon."

He smiled as he slid the grenades inside his jacket, being sure to position them just right.

"Staging a death wouldn't be hard, specially with these, same goes for faking the destruction of the device."

Ian took a steady drag of his cigarette that he was gifted.

"Damn thugs back there must've made me drop my pack, I still had four left.."

He listened to the ideas intently and scanned the room a little.

"This place has cameras, right, Priya? You two live here so I'd assume you know about this, do any of them have visibility of where we're set up? As for getting Yuri around discretely I may have a trick or two if I can get back to the ship, with a little help from my bestie, of course."

He grinned mischievously and wrapped an arm around Roz, giving her a light shake.

"She thinks she could get me to look like her aunt so getting Yuri to look like a disheveled ex-PMC operator like myself should be a piece of cake, right?"

He knew what he was doing by saying all that stuff, though it was in good faith.

As the group starts to discuss going to Yorbund, Priya looks increasingly hopeful. "I can't really promise payment if you help us, but you'd be doing the colony a great service. If you ship holds cargo, I'm sure you could find a way to turn a profit there too."

Roz unlatches the case and opens it. The interior is padded, and sitting in the center is a multifaceted tablet, roughly rectangular in shape and about a foot long. Some of the facets have data ports, and one central panel contains a sensor module of some sort. A blue light above the sensor blinks on, followed by a soft blue glow from between the paneling. The AI speaks haltingly in a monotone voice, "Hello, please keep this container open to ensure proper function."

Gomez smirked, probably the first real smile he's had since this morning when all this started. "If we can pull the wool over some corp's eyes I am all for it. Especially if they don't know thing one about the operators they hired?" He shakes his head in disbelief.

"I don't know about leaving the planet just yet, that's honestly not something I've ever really thought about. We can leave that for later. Now we should figure out how to stage this death and do this other job. Maybe not in that order. The less time between getting paid for this and getting off planet the better."

"No, don't turn it on!" Kolya leaps towards the Roz, takes the device, puts it back in the box an closes it. "You've got to be careful with that", he looks at Roz with a half angry, half pleading look, like at a child that just got caught playing with a lighter. "We have no idea what kind of modems or other interfaces it has.  Airgapping this thing is not enough. There is a reason they keep it in a metal box. You know, uncle Faraday and all."

He puts the device down and turns back to the whole group, "Gomez has the right of it. The less time between the bluff and leaving the planet the better. But I think we can still stage it here and maybe even now. This setting simply calls for it. Then we take Yuri and Priya to your ship and take care of your other job. On the way back we hand in the 'proof' and off we go.

But what do we use as blood? There needs to be enough to be believable. Have you guys noticed and wildlife on the way in? Rats, stray dogs, anything of the like? "

Henrietta politely refuses any alcohol and tobacco offered her.

"Im for staging his death. There's no need to end his life over this. Too many have died already."

"Oh!" she jumps as Kolya leaps into action to close the briefcase lid.

Ian wrote:

"This place has cameras, right, Priya? You two live here so I'd assume you know about this, do any of them have visibility of where we're set up? As for getting Yuri around discretely I may have a trick or two if I can get back to the ship, with a little help from my bestie, of course."

Priya thinks for a bit."Well, maybe. I'm not sure what corp Yuri stole it from but I guess we can see if the sedation's worn off enough to wake him up and ask. We could stage something outside one of their properties in that case. You could use a personal recording device too, maybe fake a firefight? Yuri looks like he's been through one already at least."

Ian sighs, strolling over to Yuri, seeing if he was awake.

"Hey big guy, I know I've got a gun and I know that I crashed your surgery but I don't mean any harm, We're trying to find you a way out of this, actually."

He inspects the gurney, seeing the straps on it.

"I have an idea but someone's going to need to get me a rat or some fake blood and Yuri, you're going to have to mind a little hum in the drum for a bit after we stage it."

Ian looks over his shoulder at priya and grins.

"I hope you're a good actor cause I'm going to need you to feign trying to stop me, Zhen, Kolya, I'm relying on you guys to hold her back."

After a little deliberation Ian decides to explain his idea.

"I'm going to shoot a rat near Yuri's face as he's still strapped into the gurney, make it look like I took the coward's route and shot him while he was stuck and then we get him to the ship and I turn over some of my spare gear to him to pose as another disheveled PMC operator from a far off cluster."