@Izurich SatoCorp VIP Lounge, June 12th 2177, 21:52, tick... tock...
"Data Acquired; Analysis Complete!" The tactical drone transmitted as its crumple zones bent and twisted by Lenneth's tackle. It struggled against her to the best of its abilities, but was quickly left in various states of matter phase transitions as Nibelungen's high velocity particle streams flash-heated its insides to temperatures approaching the surface of the sun. "Observation: Impressive, but futile." a distorted voice from the inoperable tactical drone's speaker spoke. "Advisory: Reinforcements are imminent; Consider cessation of hostilities."
The buzz-drones, or rather what remained of them, righted themselves after they were swatted out of the air. Not likely they'd give Lenneth much more trouble without the tactical drone coordinating them, but they could be enough of a distration for her when the more specialized reinforcements after this initial scouting party arrived. Lenneth's HALo system sweeped the area. The lounge may have been in lockdown, but there was a broken window to the outside now, as well as an evacuated turbolift shaft.
Zap! Zap! two more whistling rounds registered on Lenneth's sensors. "Consolation: Your termination will be swift."
@Expendable Safehouse, June 13rh 2177, 04:08, tick... tock...
"Sir?" A second person emerged from behind the strange decor, and Dex excused himself for a while to discuss the matter. A good while, longer than Niner anticipated - 744056 entire milliseconds to be exact. When he came back and sat back down, he continued the conversation without much delay.
"Niner, your rescue is part of a far greater operation than you realize. The NYSF has been trying to track down and unravel the Brain for quite some time now, but they continue to evade us. Shell companies inside shell companies. Whitewashing computations with continuously changing legitimate services. It was an
ordeal to track you down and infiltrate the cell, and we managed in the end, but there are still more, others like you, still trapped, used, exploited. And their security will only get upgraded after last night. But we think you can help us in saving them, and dismantling their operation." He motioned towards the terminal. "The data stored in here aren't just of you, Niner. They also belonged to your...
original. We hoped your mind was sufficiently alike that you could unlock its neural encryption, maybe even reconstruct some memories of key figures in the Brain's operation, or at least some accomplices. But it seems we were too hasty. The data isn't corrupted. Your brain just doesn't have the experiences to make sense of them yet." He took a breath. "I will have you live-in with an agent of ours. We will accompany you for now, for your wellbeing, of course. Rent-free, all-inclusive, and we'll show you the sights to boot. But we would like your help in the future. What do you think? Any preferences?" He asked with a smile.
@Eviledd1984 Black Sun Neurostim Den, June 12th 2177, 20:08, tick... tock...
"Thankz, bro." Benji said as he shook his hand, and Ben felt his digital wallet get lighter as the handshake signed their transaction. "Still, the shit you get yourself into, man... these ᛒlutwölfe are no joke. Ever seen the uncensored vids from the wars? Right gnarly. 'ᛒlood demands loyalty', they say. My azz, I say. Buncha cloned fuckers salty they were on the wrong side of the war." He nodded. Yes. That was his opinion on the matter. "Be careful out there, Zebrowski, else I'll never get that beer."
The ᛒlutwölfe. What an enemy. Clones originally bred for cybernetic warfare, they were set to be decommissioned when the cyber-wars ended, but ended up doing what they did best: fight back, and killing a lot of people in the process. Many of them became the bought-and-paid-for enforcers for the mob-gov - mobsters who could well be called the de-facto local governments in the downtrodden districts of the Lower City. As such, these bloodhounds mostly terrorized the deepest darkest parts of Neon-York now, kept them in line, or at least contained. For this reason, the NYSF generally stayed out of their way to focus on more pressing targets. And the ᛒlutwölfe saw no reason to upset this unspoken truce, for now.
The Black Sun lived up to its name. Lit dimly only by UV blacklight, people would come to drink and hook up their brains to cheap stimulators. Or, that was its front, at least. Who knows how many private 'meeting' and 'interrogation' rooms could be found there. Its main entrance was flanked by a duo of bouncers, but Ben saw some private entrances that required a face-scan before entry. And around it were figures hidden in the shadows, many of them probably still reeling from their stims. One of the shadows spoke up. "Happy hour's long past,
oji-san. Better keep walking."
@KazAlkemi Sprocket's Scraphouse, June 12th 2177, 15:45, tick... tock...
"Finally decided to kit yourself out with some of the good stuff, huh?" Sprocket laughed as she took out some of her slightly above-average equipment, with only the most stylish touches of rust here and there. She definitely knew how to match her wares to the customer. "Boss got you a sweet gig or what?"
When Zain asked his second question Sprocket turned an ashen gray as the blood drained from her face. A terminal on the other side of the counter started blinking with a vitals-linked alert -one Sprocket quickly swiped into standby mode-, and the spider-bots started pre-emptively flanking Zain. "Ah. So
that's the gig you're here for? I never thought..." She started. The caffee machine pinged and she poured two cups. In her own, with blatant disregard for the skull-and-bones warning label, she put a glug of cleaning alcohol. "Black market's a bitch, Zain, you have no idea. Cut-throat. Dangerous. And sometimes you have no idea what you're messing with until the unsavories come knocking at your door --no offence. Last customer was the whole damn trifecta. Wanted to buy a brain-case. Easy money, done it before. But this guy was different, wanted one of the oldest ones I had, ancient stuff! I tried prying at him a bit, if the brain he wanted to store in it was just as ancient, but he didn't answer. Just had this strange cold stare, creeped me out. Weirdest thing is I have no idea what he looked like now I think about it. Wore a green coat, strange ring, mole on his face, but nothing else about him particularly stuck out to me. So there you go." She shrugged her shoulders and sighed. "Ah, I was bound to get bountied someday, but
that's what they wanna hush me up for?" She shook her head in disbelief.
"Sprocket the fugitive, some title. Guess I'm gonna have to up my prices now for that... But I tell you what." Sprocket continued. "How about I offer you this baby here." She started typing in a passkey to a safe behind her counter, and slid forward a small package containing a chip. "Neural assistant, not the most advanced by a long shot, but it's plug 'n play. And it has a friend's discount on it.
Best friend's discount, if you get what I'm saying. All I ask is you let some more time pass on that bounty-timer of yours. I get out of dodge, and you can tell the boss you got here too late."
@AwesomeZero5 Somewhere in the Depths of the Lower City, June 12th 2177, 16:50, tick... tock...
The harpoon-claw scratched their car, and in the split second that it did, a digital signal briefly scrambled its systems. Kit could almost see the hovercyclist wince through her visor as she barely managed to swerve out of the disrupted car's way. Rizzo applied some percussive maintenance to the dashboard, and the systems quickly came back online. "Hmm. Should try that on you some time." Sticking his head out of the window looking down onto the scratched side, Rizzo grumbled some more. "Repairs for the dents are coming from your pay,
amicello!" He said as he unlocked the safety off of his gun. The rider previously in front had quickly swerved back in line, hacking-harpoon retracted and ready to fire once more, but the gunshots of Rizzo echoed throughout the streets, and the front rider braked and quickly evaded the attack. When the other bikers caught up, their bikes got the full force of Rizzo's gunfire. Center mass, perfectly by the book. Their bikes started sputtering as their hover-pads sparked and flickered and the bikes slowly descended back into the city's cruel underbelly. The front rider quickly retreated behind and seemed to speak something into an earpiece, and the chase was broken off. "All too easy." Rizzo said as he came back inside, and clipped on his seatbelt.
The rest of the trip was comfortably uneventful. The skycar descended into an alley behind a dilapidated warehouse, out of sight from the main street. Rizzo checked his watch, then stepped out to scan the surrounding and popped a chewing gum into his mouth. He motioned for Kit to follow. The rendezvous point seemed as inconspicuous as ever, but Rizzo never ever settled until a job was done. "Something feel off to you?" He asked.
Some minutes later, a figure emerged from the shadows, smoking a retro-cig. A tall woman, her features obscured by a hood. "Rizzo," she acknowledged, then eyed the scratch. "Ran into some trouble did you? Did you get the drop at least?" As she came closer, she noticed Kit and turned to face him. "Good thing you brought the tin man." Virginia smiled. "It's been a while, Kit..."
GM Actions and Prompts:
- @Izurich: Tactical Drone Defends (-1 vs 1, stress applied: 2, taken out); Buzzdrones Defend (3 vs 3, stress applied: 0, boost gained: disoriented), Sniper-Controller Attacks 2x (roll Defend against 4 and 3), Buzzdrones Create Advantage "Tied up" (roll Defend against -2).
- @AwesomeZero5: Front Blackstar Chaser Ties (gains boost), Back Blackstar Chaser Defends (4 vs 7, stress applied: 3, taken out), Front Blackstar Chaser Defends (4 vs 2, success, Concedes).