[IC] Neon Skies

[Mag Lev]

The sun set over the chrome of Lotus city, another day ending as the neon lights flickered across the metal skies. With the bombing of the tram station far back in the mind of its citizens, Lotus City once more was a bustling metropolis and the curfew lifted. Bars and clubs opened their shutters and Corp workers gladly flooded in for a bit of relief from their monotonous lives. For those in the slums of the grand city, life was not so wonderful.

In the weeks following the bombing, a large amount of Lotus Corp Sec had flooded into the slums, both undercover and blatantly as a police force. Their actions were well and truly justified for the Slums had long been a home of contentious people and violent gangs seeking to control them. While Lotus could hardly care about the drug addled fools who thrived in the wastes they provided them, no more could they idly allow the Slums to rest under the control of gangs.

However, there was but one place that the Corp Sec had avoided, not out of fear but out of respect for the small operation being ran in Slums. Clubs and Spades was no less a bar than it was a den for drug addled crazies and a gang simply known as The Deck. Though tiny in comparison to most of the other gangs of the Slums, The Deck was the only gang supported by Lotus and headed by one of their low ranking executives, Yuri Chang. However, the gang was not what was not the objects of interest in the bar, at least not to those who weren’t fucked up on Lupus. Instead, the focus was on two men standing before Yuri.

”Do you know how hard it was to even get you two together,” Yuri said to the two men, ”You are near impossible to even track down, truly you are good at your job. And you are simply a pain in the ass. The first person we sent to you died.” A brief sigh escaped his lips as he looked between the masked mercenary and the elusive elf. Fixer had been near impossible to track down to a single location and cost them quite a few credits to get him to even come to the club and Bishop’s messenger was an idiot to mention Lotus to him. ”Anyway, I brought you both here because we need your skills for this. We’ve got missions for you and we are willing to pay a lot to get them done. What do you say?”
@Necrophage@IgaFlan

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Corp Sec had been stretched thin for a long time in Lotus City, flying in numerous units and mercs from elsewhere to fill slots where necessary and even poaching units from other Corps as quickly as possible. Weiland Voss had been picked out of the crowd of German military quickly, Lotus having barely gotten a contract to him before Delta. They were lucky he was willing to work with them, even more lucky that they could supply him Lupus as needed for his augs. With the bombing still fresh in the minds of the Executives, they called him out to Lotus City and arranged for his meeting with the recently appointed head of the Security Initiative, Victor Helios.

The Lotus Tower was more magnificent than almost any other building in Lotus City, a beacon in the skies miles higher than all others and yet, despite all appearances, near impossible to infiltrate. Weiland had been placed in the Corp Sec barracks on the fifth floor, a temporary housing yet still a home nonetheless. It wasn’t long before an assistant came to bring him to Victor, an unusual woman covered in strange tattoos. He’d heard rumours from the Corp Sec during his stay in the barracks a previous night of this woman, an assistant skilled in magic that allows her to manipulate her art.

However, there was little time to talk as they soon met Victor in the lift and he smiled briefly to the two. ”Thank you, Sam, for bringing him to me. We’ll be heading to the twenty-first floor but on the way let’s talk business, Weiland.” Victor’s tone had shifted quickly from warm and welcoming to cold and serious, his face no less different. ”I’m sure you’ve heard news of the bombings and, more importantly, news from the Corp that we have yet to track down those responsible. We’ve brought you here solely for this purpose” The trio left the elevator as they arrived on the twenty-first floor and stopped inside a small office.

”You see, we at Lotus cannot operate as freely as we would like with this investigation. When I was given position as the head of our Security Initiative, I was told that I could act as I wish. With a strong emphasis on not making a public display of force against anybody,” Victor sighed and seemed rather sad with his last statement, ”That is what you are here for. Lotus cannot act against any Corp if we find them at fault but you can. You are here to head our operations in the Slums particularly with investigations into the so called Information Brokers who have taken root in there. We need to know who sold our security information of the tram to the bombers and who did it. Do as you will with the Brokers and, if need be, kill them. Sam shall go with you as your Liaison with me. Do you accept the terms of this contract, Weiland?
@wrecca@Eisenhorn

[wrecca]

“Breathe, Sam.” The young woman leaned over the steel and porcelain sink in the executive level restroom and stared at her reflection in the rectangular mirror which hung just a above it. “You'll pull through this like always.” She sighed, dabbing a bit of clear liquid that welled up near both eyelids. “Not that you have a choice.”

Her emerald-colored pupils caught the overhead fluorescent light in such a manner that gave the impression of a faint green glow, which had more to do with the subtle power flux emanating from strategically placed neural implants. Of course those same implants, while in place to regulate fatigue levels caused by the implementation of her magic abilities, ironically caused her emotional and some physical pains right near the end of her menstrual cycle. Not exactly the best tradeoff, but while many other procedures failed or her body simply rejected foreign components, the current implants were most stable and effective. Stomach cramps mixed with nausea, throw in a bit of vomiting and muscle aches, and you've got yourself a pretty nice time hanging out near the latrine with your head hovering over a toilet at least one day out of the month.

Absolutely charming.

After spending a few minutes spot treating various areas of makeup, tightening the bun of long dark hair behind her head, smoothing out wrinkles on her pinstriped suit jacket, and straightening the matching skirt, Sam stood in front of the adjacent wall mirror and was seemingly satisfied with the overall ensemble. Rarely was she ever happy with her appearance, for one being the amazon that she was at six-foot-one wasn't exactly normal for a woman, but she knew looking the part was at least half the battle right there, and she certainly had an air of confidence and power encircling her at that moment. And with a chin up, she left the restroom and made her way toward the elevator.

“Good morning Miss Helios” The elevator’s computer greeted her in its typical friendly mannerism as she stepped through the glass double doors.

“CorpSec Barracks” She said in a matter-of-fact tone, the computer acknowledging with a low chime followed by “Descending to the Fifth Floor.” While waiting for the minute or so of her travels, Sam searched again through the latest dossier on her holopad: “Weiland Voss”, an old career soldier who had been hired on for security detail as well as special operations. Like many instances regarding Lotus Corps day-to-day decision making on special projects and the like, Samantha Helios was granted the privilege to examine classified intel and provide feedback of her own, which would sometimes become the deciding factor. In this case, it had been a no-brainer, on top 9f the fact that Delta Corporation would have scooped him up had she not intervened. Lotus needed well-trained military men like Voss for certain assignments, and there was no way in hell Delta would be allowed to succeed in securing a contract with him.

She made sure of it. She made sure of a lot of things.

“Fifth Floor, CorpSec Barracks”. The lift computer vocalized, as the double doors opened, and Sam stepped into the main corridor where most of the Corporate Security housing was located. Truthfully she hated being on the floor, because it seemed judgemental eyes were always watching her every move. A nonchalant gaze from a group of agents sitting at a table in the mess hall, or perhaps the random guard walking by as they prepared to start their shift, or better yet, the half-naked male strolling from the locker room to his quarters, shooting her a wink as though he had something to offer her besides respect. She hated the stares, all of them, and yet the partially hidden dragon tattoo that peeked out from behind the V-shaped opening of her jacket didn’t help in the slightest. She had heard enough of the comments and rumors, read enough of the mean-spirited and sexist emails, and experienced first hand how humanity could turn on their own for being even slightly different than they were. As if it wasn’t bad enough that Orcs and Elves ran amuck on the streets of just about every major city in what was left of the planet, but humans, those who survived and endured the longest above all other species were sometimes treated as second-class citizens by their own. Of course she wanted to be “normal”, whatever that was, and never asked for any type of supernatural powers, but she couldn’t change who she was unless she was dead, but that wasn’t happening today.

Sam stood in front of the door leading into where Weiland Voss was currently staying, and pressed the button which would create a synthesised “door bell” on the other side, indicating her presence. “He better be dressed...” She muttered to herself, waiting patiently for the asset to be escorted to her father, Victor Helios.

[Eisenhorn]

"'Course the Augs flare up today, just enough to wake me up..." Weiland Voss had already been awake for nearly an hour before the time he was told a Lotus rep would be coming to fetch him, the dermal plates had been itching and aching to the point of rousing him from his slumber early. Nothing bad enough to warrant any use of Lupus, thankfully, but enough to keep him from going to sleep again. Fittingly, he altered the alarm on his PDA to be slightly earlier, to ensure he was properly dressed instead of opening the door half naked like some sort of Corp Sec thug. Granted, he was already dressed barring his greatcoat, which strictly speaking wasn't necessary, but given that he would likely be tasked with heading out straight away after the contract was confirmed, it paid well to be ready for anything. As part of that constant prep work, he was using this time before he needed to be ready to meet the higher ups for contract discussions to do routine maintenance on his weapons. The revolver had been first, and outside of regular cleaning and maintenance, was quick. The shotgun, however, took focus and a lot longer, though it was all muscle memory so it gave him time to think.

Weiland suspected he was here in response to the bombing that recently occurred, and given how sudden his call to arms was, likely a panicked move. Or someone had their hands tied and needed assets to work outside their jurisdiction. Considering who he was likely to be meeting with, given what little information he could gather before being packed up and shipped out here, though in nicer terms of course, odds were he was in this for deniable operations. Something goes south in a hurry, Lotus can claim he was rogue or otherwise not involved officially. Typical business, far as he had gathered in his post military career leading up to this point, and it made enough sense that he took no offense to it. Reassembling his shotgun and slinging it onto his back, he thumbed the alarm on his PDA before it had buzzed more than once. It was time to finish getting ready, though that mostly involved grabbing his great coat, layered material that also helped conceal anything he had from a casual glance from the sides or rear, and throw it on. Good thing too, since the sound of an artificial door buzzer sounded just as he finished straightening his coat out, and with that he opened the door as he finished affixing the buckles on his right arm brace.

Weiland, being only 5'10" himself, left him having to glance slightly upwards to meet the eyes of the woman sent to collect him. Rumors among the Lotus Corp Sec at the main building was that this was one Sam Hélios, and outside of the various unflattering remarks and chatter about her, he was able to glean a few useful things. Unique magical gifts, skilled hand to hand, one of the more senior, and powerful, people at Lotus Corp, at least here in Lotus City. A quick up and down glance, something that a trained eye would recognize as sizing them up in a threat evaluation manner (instead of the likely far more common lecherous manner), confirmed she was indeed here for purely business, and could more than likely handle herself in a hostile situation, at least in hand to hand. Sure enough, the slight appearance of the tattoo also confirmed her identity. Extending his hand for a brief, firm handshake, his tone was decidedly neutral, accent giving away his place of birth being within Germany. Keeping his gaze level with hers, Weiland presented himself as a professional first and foremost, as first impressions were key and, often times, hard to erase.

"Frau Hélios, I presume? Corp Sec was rather chatty about you during my stay. Not all of it flattering, though you likely are aware of that." Weiland still used snippets of German, even when speaking other languages, an old habit of his, though in this case he could have said Ms. and, by most common standards, conveyed the exact same thing. Before falling in step rather easily, matching his pace to hers with practiced ease, following her lead but not overtaking in stride, or letting himself lag behind. He'd worked with his fair share of women in the German Army, and often found them easy to work with, at least the professional ones. Then again, gender did not make a lick of difference there, considering there were men who just wanted easy rides as well and tried to get by without putting due effort in. Such was life, but he refocused his thoughts both to any remarks that Frau Hélios might have responded with, and to the meeting with one Victor Hélios. Weiland was no stranger to family following in each other's footsteps, though he had quite earnestly abandoned his family lineage of scholars and scientists in favor of his own path, business was quickly focused on, something Weiland could work with just fine.

"Yes, news was rather lively in discussions about the incident." Weiland kept his response rather neutral and brief, not making Victor wait on any sort of long winded babbling or needless conjecture to continue speaking on the matter that had brought Weiland to Lotus City. Once inside the small office, Weiland would remain standing, an old habit since he had not been invited to sit, and a hold over from military life that remained. Arms linked behind his back, he looked almost statuesque in nature, the sub dermal plates preventing the usual rise and fall of his chest in breathing, space having been allocated during surgery for that, so he almost looked mechanical at times. He was to operate in the Slums, track down the information brokers and do what was necessary to figure out who had sold the information, as well as who executed the terror attack itself. Do what he had to with the Brokers, lethal force being authorized as well. Frau Hélios would be accompanying him as a liason back to Lotus, which was unforseen, if Weiland was to be honest. He was then asked if he accepted the contract, and a rare rise of the corner of his mouth, indicative of a smile, appeared on his face.

"Well, Herr Hélios, it would be rather foolish of me to come out all this way with the intent to tell you I refuse." Victor's disappointment in not being able to actually do anything had been apparent, meaning that it was likely he would be given broad tolerance in his choice of means when it came to executing orders and operations. Weiland could work with that, and his concern with Sam being present was not in her capability, but in her potential notoriety. Should she be recognized, she could be pinned as part of Lotus and, by extension, his own actions pinned to Lotus. Officially, of course, it could be explained away, but it was a concern of note all the same. Now, if Sam was not a public figure outside of the chatter in Corp Sec, it would not be nearly as much of a problem.

"Point me in the right direction, Herr Hélios, and I will get to work right away. It will take time to dig up the right names, and have the right discussions, so the sooner started, the better. I presume that any information you have on these brokers already will be available for further study?" That, and his sub dermal plates were still aching, which he didn't let show, but it was an irritant all the same. This was going to be a long job, and a stiff drink and a good thump on the plate in the right place were sorely needed. But this was his business persona, focused on the task at hand. Normally he was kept on as muscle and intimidation, but he wasn't an idiot, far from it, so an investigation with bursts of potential violence was perfectly within the realm of his capabilities.

[Necrophage]

A fuzzy note of white noise blurted out of Bishop's mask. Something that could reasonably be understood as a scoff when Yuri mentioned to him about murdering the messenger. "Let's just say he had an awful taste for words." He brushed an armored glove against his collar and straightened it. "Clearly not a man in God's good graces or the Spirit would have told him not to offend me with that name." He explained. The strange stares from those that were still mostly sober only looked at him more intensely. He looked back at one of them and cocked his head to the side as if to say, mind your damn business. The man turned away and returned to a drink he had been coddling.

"So, a job with good pay. I want some details before I jump into this deal." He said to Yuri. As many details as could be had were better when working with someone you suspected of being a corp. Of course sometimes the other extreme was also preferable. If the corp sec knew you had too much information it would put you at risk. It was dangerous tight-rope walk between having enough details for the job and avoiding the information that would get you erased.

[wrecca]

“Yes, gossip will always be a constant in this line of work, Mister Voss.” She nodded, acknowledging the man’s comment regarding chatter amongst CorpSec. “If I allowed every alleged comment and rumor that wasn’t considered ‘flattering’ to unhinge me, then I’m certainly in the wrong place.” Sam cracked a half-smile, mainly out of courtesy for the new team member, her eyes unwittingly sizing up the shorter of the two, not that stature was really any measure of a man in her eyes.

Weiland seemed a lot more mild-mannered than she assumed someone with such a vast military background would be, but perhaps it was age that set him apart from many of the younger upstarts who had come through Lotus over the many years. Several were eager to perform their job, proving themselves in any way they could, and ultimately being sloppy enough to either become severed by the company, or killed through reckless behaviour. Either way, Sam had a good feeling about this one, and hoped he wouldn’t disappoint.

“This way, Mister Voss.” The tall, professionally dressed woman turned to walk down the hall once again, heading toward the lift that would take them to her father, Victor Helios. As much as she enjoyed working for Lotus, the one aspect of her career was downplaying the fact that she was daughter to an Executive Chairman, even though anyone with half a brain would already know this based on a relatively uncommon surname. But still, it was the difference between keeping humble versus boasting. Truth be told, she would rather allow the accolades to fall on her father’s shoulders at the end of the day.

As the trio headed to the twenty-first floor, Sam stood and stared out through the glass wall of the elevator, which looked over a great deal of the cityscape below. Days were usually so beautiful when things were clear, but today brought a dark overcast which had been looming for almost the entire week. She loved the rain, as there was always something therapeutic about watching and hearing the patter of water droplets as they hit window. It was also a reminder of her mother in many ways, who had been spending the last several years within the psychiatric hospital across town. The woman missed her every day, and the one fear was that her mother’s condition would become worse before it became better, and she would ultimate die in that cold hospital. Samantha didn’t want to forget her mother’s memories, and yet each day that passed, she felt a little bit of her essence leaving her as the brutality of the real world permeated around her.
Snapping herself out of the brief reverie, Sam turned her attention to Weiland and Victor, and noticed that the elevator was slowing to their targeted floor.

[Mag Lev]

”Wonderful,” Victor said with a smile as he tapped a few keys on the computer near to him. With a brief flash the monitor showed a basic layout of the Slums, aptly named District 22, and its surrounding areas. The layout then appeared on the wall of windows opposite of it as Victor turned towards Weiland and Sam. ”As you can see, the red spots on this map are hotspots of activity within District 22 where we believe information trading has been going on. Our undercover operations in the area have allowed us to track down most of these spots as being under the control of a gang called ‘Hive’” Victor quickly tapped on the computer a few more times and the image changed to that of one of the locations.

”We recently managed to get an meeting with one such broker at an apartment just outside of our controlled territory. Unfortunately, we are unable to send any of our undercover ops or other forces due to them likely knowing of their connection to Lotus. You,” Victor said with a brief motion towards Weiland, ”Are thus perfect for this mission. As you have never been stationed in Lotus City or directly associated with Lotus itself, you are the perfect person to meet the informant. You are to attempt to get whatever information the broker has on Lotus and, if possible, the broker himself back to us. Victor briefly looked over the layout of the District and sighed. ”We’d prefer him alive mind you.”

The blue light of the map blinked out and Victor took a seat in the leather chair near the desk before looking at Sam. ”As for Sam, she’ll provide you with backup if things go wrong and will meet you at our covert ops station once your mission is down. Her main mission, however, will be to handle a raid on one of Hive’s dens on the edge of District 22 with our Security Forces. Sam and the Security will try to handle it as quickly as possible and should provide you enough of a distraction to not be overwhelmed by Hive should you need to use violence, Weiland.

Victor briefly tapped on the computer’s keys for a few seconds before turning to both of them. ”As of right now, you have been paid 50,000 credits Weiland. Use it as you wish. Your pay will be 25,000 more with a bonus based on the value of the information you retrieve. As for you Sam, you are officially appointed as a Sergeant for Corp Sec, act well and fully in your capacity and capture as many members of Hive as possible. A car will take you both to where you need to go and information will be provided further with your liaisons in the District.”
@Eisenhorn@wrecca

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”Good, I knew you’d understand Bishop,” Yuri whispered to one of his guards and the man stepped out and led Fixer off to a different room. Yuri simply watched as the man went out and then sighed. ”That elf always gave me the creeps. Anyway, you’ll be paid about 100,000 credits if the mission is successful. If not, well you’ll probably be dead or I will and either way you wouldn’t get paid. So make sure not to fail.” Yuri stood and guided Bishop and his crew into a small meeting room behind the bar, making sure to take a bottle of vodka with him and place it near Bishop’s side of the table before he sat down.

”You see, I’ve got word that Lotus is making moves against a gang in the area, Hive, and they are going to cause quite a commotion. Gangs all throughout the slums will be moving to strike them while they are down. And that is where you come in. See Bishop, we’ve got contacts with a Decker and we need you to meet up with them and keep them safe,” Yuri pulled up a small tablet and slid it over to Bishop. The tablet displayed the layout of a warehouse on the Docks and some… unusual inconsistencies with the structure. ”A broker sold us this information and there are things with this warehouse that are off. If my hunch is right, there are things stored here that I want. The Decker is to hack you into the building and get into the mainframe, you are to protect her while she gets what we want. If anybody comes in, you kill them. Corp, Gang, I don’t care. Put a bullet in their heads.

Yuri rolled over a small comms transmitter to Bishop and tapped his own. ”Once you’ve got the information, take whatever you want from the building. I’m sure they’ve got some nice guns or armor stored there. You’ll alert us when done and a car will drive you outta there. Understand?
@Necrophage

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The black forum board flickered across the Decker’s screen, nothing more than a entry way into the DarkNet but nevertheless a step into the world of illegal jobs beyond. Most were small missions barely paying out 20,000 credits. Steal some man’s information, get the security footage of an affair, the usual kind of small jobs one would expect. Some jobs were more dangerous. Hack into the database of a cam for a gang, fuck up the guidance system of someone’s car, all looking to kill someone or steal someone’s shit. Then there was one job which stood out among all of them.

A gang needed a Decker for a run to steal some information from a rival and they were paying heavily. A solid 100,000 credits for a simple hack and run. The catch being that the operation would be during some sort of chaos in the Slums and all gangs would be active. It was dangerous but 100,000 credits could very well pay for an upgrade to one’s deck. All it required was meeting the muscle in the Docks and getting out without causing too much trouble. A solid job. An easy job for a Decker of her skill.
@MarsAdept

[MarsAdept]

Victoria leaned back as she read her usual darknet forum. 20K is a good but standard price for a gig. There was the usual amount jobs on the board. Victoria had more or less done every kind of job on the board before. It was either the repetition of similar tasks or the relative lack of effort she would need to apply that caused her to start to become bored. Jobs on the darknet was not yet a chore, but she did need a challenge. As she scrolled past the listings of jobs, Victoria came do one offering 100K. Victoria leaned forward in her chair to read the details of the job. That was a lot of credits for a simple job, so Victoria's interest was peaked. Victoria leaned back on her seat with disappointment as she read she had to go meet the muscle in person. Normally she would never do that. She did not want to risk being identified doing criminal activity. Over the net, she had some protections. Victoria thought for a moment. Victoria looks accross her apartment suite towards her closet. "...Well, 100K is a lot of credits... and there was that cosplay party..." Victoria says as she signs her name to the job with the handle Dark_Phoenix.

Victoria arrived on the docks at the designated meeting location exactly 10 minutes early. She was dressed in tight jeans, a comfortable blouse and a hooded jacket. Nothing that would make her stick out from crowd. She wore her brown hair long and straight, which was unusual for her. However this was perfect for her disguise, for silicon elf ears poked out slightly but noticeably from her hair. From a distance any eye magical, mechanical or mundane would assume she was an elf not a human. With her hair straight it was less likely that the ears would be seen as fake up close. Victoria looks at her gauntlet computer to check the time. She then leaned her back up against a wall to wait and watch the meeting. All she could do now was wait for the muscle to arrive.

[wrecca]

It was nearly eight years ago that the woman was first allowed a ride-along on one of Lotus Corporation’s many raids, which were done in such secrecy that only a select few CorpSec Personnel were aware that such a mission was in affect. Long had she been just an Executive Assistant to the upper echelon of the company, spending most of her working hours within the glass and steel office building which towered over the City like a watchful eye. But, there came a time that furthering her knowledge of not only internal security matters but external as well, and so she was given the opportunities, one after another, to participate and learn in the field. And while not every mission and ride-along was really all that action-packed, both fear and excitement would course through her veins regardless as she anticipated each opportunity. Additionally, there were only a handful of cases where she herself had to either defend or go on the offense against would-be attackers, but it was nothing she couldn’t handle. And while she was not military trained, her years of martial arts and weapons handling gave the girl plenty of chances to prove her grit to her peers in tight and stressful combat situations.

Of course, the rank of “Sergeant” was certainly more than a surprise, as it hadn’t been previously discussed prior to their meeting, but Samantha kept her cool, and instead merely nodded in respect and acknowledgment toward her father. Although somewhere deep inside her psyche where emotions were kept locked away, careful to not allow them to surface, she was ecstatic. Not just for the mission itself, but having the opportunity to wear the armored fatigues which were designated for SecCorp Agents for special operations, but damn if they weren’t badass looking and fit like a glove to boot. It helped as well that face protection and goggles were used, which of course provided anonymity as well as practical protection against chemical explosions and melee attacks. Overall, Samantha couldn’t wait to suit up.

[Eisenhorn]

Weiland nodded as it was agreed that he would be working for Lotus out here in their own city, remaining silent as he was briefed on District 22. Typical mega city residential area, looked like, which meant a lot of claustrophobic quarters and vertical hostilities to potentially be dealing with. Suited him just fine, really, close quarters was his forte, and he always had a back up for reaching out a bit farther if he had to. Gang known as 'Hive' ran the district pretty much, he would have to ask for more details on them once the brief was at a point he could interject and ask questions. Next up was his mission tasking itself, since he was new and wouldn't be immediately pinned to Lotus, not as easily at any rate. Head to the meet, gather as much info that they have on the Corp if possible, then snag the broker and get them out alive if possible. That part wasn't nearly as much his usual tasking, but he would make it work. Next was pay, and he nodded when it was mentioned he was now 50,000 credits better off, with another 25k plus bonus waiting depending on information quality extracted. Part of that bonus probably also worked with bringing the broker in as well, so he would have to keep that in mind. After Victor informed his daughter of her promotion, he found the opportunity to chime in.

"You want this broker, its going to get messy, odds are they aren't just going to agree to walk out with me. Assuming I will be briefed on this "Hive" group en route, how much do you care about collateral damage? Depending on what I bring, it will get nasty. Local schematics and blueprints for the meeting ground in question as well would be handy to have." If collateral was not a concern, he would be loading flechette, his preferred go to ammunition, as well as a breaching round in the secondary barrel of his modified weapon. A lot of the gory details of how he would get in, and extraction options, would likely be briefed in transit, even if he could expect Frau Hélios and Corp Sec teams as potential reinforcements. He did not want to make a plan just to have a key leg get kicked out. No, he would have to assume he would be on his own for this, even if he was nominally partnered with Frau Hélios for operations outside Lotus Corp territory.

[Necrophage]

Bishop looked over the layout of the warehouse, making mental notes here and there on good positions and points of interest. Satisfied he returned the pad and took the comms device from Yuri. "Alright. Let's do this." Bishop stood up and confirmed.

______________________________________________________

Later at the meeting spot.

The broad-shouldered merc walked up to the location just a short distance from the pier, eyeing up the elf warily. "Are you Dark_Pheonix?" His voice came out a touch electronic and fuzzy from the speaker on his helmet. He adjusted something along the back of his helmet with an armored hand. His voice came out more clearly this time. "There that's better." He extended his hand out to her for a formal handshake. "Name's Bishop."

[MarsAdept]

Victoria looks at the large man, at least she assumed he was a man, before her. Seeing his helmet obscuring his face, made Victoria feel embarrass. If she had known she could have just gotten away with just a face covering mask, she would not have to put on the silly fake elf ears, and maybe been able to wear a few more layers of cloths. Victoria did extend her hand cautiously but confidently to the man. Victoria speaks in a practiced but slightly forced Russian accent, "I am. It is a pleasure to meet you, Bishop. For this operation, you may just call me Dark or Phoenix. Saying the decker Handle every time could be time wasting."

Victoria withdraws her hand. She keeps her back against the wall but tensed to be prepared if Bishop attacked her without warning. She smiles and speaks in her Russian accent, "So, you have more information about this gig. I hack to get you into a spot or am I have you escort me to a terminal to hack. Maybe a little of both? Either way, we need to get in and out with minimal effort.

@Necrophage

[Mag Lev]

”Collateral? Well, we’d rather you keep any deaths to Hive members or those who are armed. If you run into any resistance from the civilian population, try to remain non-lethal. It would be bad for our stocks if people associated their deaths with Lotus.” Victor stood up from his chair and walked over to the windows of the tall tower. The sun had almost fully set by their point and the chrome skyline glinted in its rosy glow even as neon lights flickered on. His pager dinged and woke him from his distracted state before he looked over to his two employees. ”Your rides are down in the garage as we speak. Feel free to ask them any more questions as needed. I look forward to the completion of our missions.”
@Eisenhorn@wrecca

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Silent. The dock was near completely silent in the early dusk of the city. No workers or security had stayed late and, even then, few would’ve been seen at the port nearest to the Slums. Through the silence a dull hum could be heard coming from the warehouse near the two operatives. Though it seemed liked a normal building at a distance, up close there were minor details one would normally miss. Much of the building had seemingly been reinforced with more sheet metal then usual, its door seemingly thick plated steel rather than a light alloy, and a new code lock placed where the old ones had been.

No city maintenance would’ve performed such upgrades nor could most of the gangs have done so quietly without paying off the guards. However, none of that mattered to the decker and merc as the night fell. All that mattered was that they get in, get the information, and get out.
@MarsAdept@Necrophage

[Necrophage]

@MarsAdept

Bishop spoke as he started heading in the direction of the warehouse. "Dark it is, faster name anyways. Far as I'm in the know, we need to get in before we can get the information. They have some kind of server or terminal on the inside that's separate from the outside security, standard gig. We get in and get what we need. Naturally you'll be doing the getting in part and I'll be handling the burning and smashing part."

A pause broke Bishop's speech as he looked at the warehouse in question across the dockyard. It almost looked like nobody was home yet the secure door and terminal system on that thing looked like they had been put in yesterday. "I'm going to guess our fixer's boys are doing their job and drawing attention right about now. Well now, that is one bitchin' door. He gestured both his hands toward the entrance. Bishop's voice was jovial as he said, "Ladies first, if you can crack it."

[MarsAdept]

@Necrophage

"I certainly can crack it" Victoria says with confidence. Her fake Russian accent cracked slightly sounding almost flat. Victoria, with one foot in front of the other, hips playfully swinging side to side, casually walked up to the electric lock that was on the door. Victoria looked over this newly installed device with a detective eyes. She reached into her jeans pocket and pulled out a small thin Flathead screw driver. Poking the flat head into the base of the box, a small hing detached. Victoria stowed the screw driver and grabbed at the gauntlet computer she had on her left forearm. She pulls out a wire and connects it to the hole that was revealed when the hatch opened. Victoria began to click away.

Victoria worked for a moment before stopping. She hit the emergency pause on her hacking software. She took off her gauntlet and held it with both hands. She looked at screen with some interested confusion. Taking a knee, she clicked away with both hands. After a moment, Victoria gave Bishop a thumbs up and with a press of a button, the door slowly began to open. "Did you have reason to doubt me?" Victoria says with pride. Victoria puts her gauntlet back on her forearm and begins to disconnect from the code lock.