The clicking grew in volume until it sounded like the crackle of a soaked log thrown on a blaze. Manny, following the sound, had been creeping towards the boarded-over supermarket's receiving dock with his beloved Colt Cobra in hand. He kept asking himself in vain Where the frag have I heard that before?! When he caught the first whiff of that strange yeasty smell, he had to fight a wave of panic as the hair rose on the back of his neck. Oh, NO! He thought as he turned a corner and found the dark mass spilling over floor and walls. Then the stain began to undulate. "Oh FRAG" he whispered as a densely packed sea of scurrying roaches began to flow towards him. He thrust out the machine pistol, intending to open fire in the hopes of redirecting the tide, but instead watched in horror as brown bug bodies began climbing out of vent holes, barrel and receiver. AAAAAAGHH! he mentally screamed in disgust. Raw panic suddenly overwhelmed the experienced street samurai and he unthinkingly dropped the gun while repeatedly wiping off his metal hand. The glint of the meticulously oiled and cared-for sub-gun was immediately lost in the moving carpet of encroaching cockroaches. Manny ran for his life.
The bugs' clicking grew to a roar in the fleeing dwarf's ears. Rational thought was beyond Manny's capabilities as he stumbled away from the bug tide. Disgust and revulsion at the pursuing sea of cockroaches, fed the panic which drove the dwarf blindly back towards the team's common area. In the arms master's fevered brain the unreality of the sea of bugs harkened back to the disturbing dream, and rather than looking for an area effect weapon to use on the roaches, he grabbed up the artifact.
As soon as his flesh and blood hand closed around the shaft of the scourge, the panic evaporated. He calmly aimed the artifact at the roach sea and mentally ordered them to die. Not only did the encroaching horde stop, but the tide of bugs immediately began to ebb. Manny smiled as he estimated that thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of the disgusting insects shriveled and died with each gesture of the scourge. Damn! But this is one fine weapon, the samurai thought. No noise, no reload, no jams. Point and the enemy falls over dead. No sweat, no blood, no tears, just *pop* and the problem is gone. I could get used to this!
For the next ten minutes, Manny contented himself with bug huntin. When he had killed the huge seething mass of roaches which had covered walls and floor in the receiving dock, he went off to find and stragglers, or any other area the vermin might be infesting. If he was disturbed when, to further his hunt, he switched his cybereyes to infrared scanning and saw how few bug corpses there actually were on the floor, the thought was quickly pushed from his mind by the idea: Hey! I bet this would be just as good on Devil Rats! Never haveta worry about their squeallin letting one another know about the danger. I could clear the entire place of those filthy beasts........
Rook was more than a little surprised at the silence of the Monster Squad. No wise cracks, no movie lines, no advice, nothing. Even Doc was quiet as the grave. In fact, it was almost creepy because not only had the squad been silent through all the time they had waited for the dwarf fixer, but nobody had shown any kind of restlessness. It was like when I used to go to chess tournaments, the decker thought, the serious players concentrated their whole being on the game and if the other guy fidgeted you knew he was a loser. I guess the guys wanted this Albrecht character to know he was dealing with real pros so they didn't give away a thing while they were in his stronghold. It must have worked because the little slot sure seemed to be more deferential at the end of the meeting than he was at the beginning.
While the young decker was analyzing this latest turn of events, the Monster Squad made their way into Mr. P's. Although surprised by the unexpected stop and alarmed at the openly hungry looks being directed at his friends and himself, Rook wisely kept quiet until Cloak had rented the store room, Doc had scanned for eavesdroppers and established a magic circle against the same, Speed Racer had set up a white noise generator and then with a hand over his mouth had quietly said, "Cover your mouth, don't raise your voice and we should be ok."
All eyes turned to Cloak who looked at Rook and said, "I signaled this stop because as soon as we get back I want you to dig up everything you can on this slot we're going to meet. I want to know how this Corwin ip Theranj is going to get us a meeting with the Council and what we can expect. I also need as much info as you can get on this Dante's Inferno where the meeting is to take place. Ok?"
When the decker flashed a thumbs up, the phys ad grinned and added, "Very nice job keeping still through the waiting. You did well picking up on the fact that Albrecht was testing us and that maintaining the intensity marked us as pros who were not to be fragged with. Very frosty."
Rook saw the nods from his other team mates and started to blush. Cloak turned to Speed Racer and said, "I need you to take Wolfman to the airport so that he can rent a Westwind to use tonight. Rook will take Wolfman's bike back to base." Before Speed Racer could object, Cloak continued "The rental is just protective coloration, my friend. It doesn't need to set land speed records or have hidden missile bays, or be undetectable on radar. Just a standard rental from the airport so that if anybody checks Wolfman looks like he's a moneyed corp suit slumming and is not an actual threat. Wolfman, as soon as you get the car I need you to go immediately to Dante's Inferno and spend tonight drinking, dining and dancing. I know I'm asking a lot, it's a tough job but somebody has got to do it."
The elf mage sighed theatrically and then eventually nodded.
"Just don't forget to actually look at the layout." Cloak said with a small smile. "Speed, after Wolfman gets the car, I need you to do the externals on the nightclub. Figure out some escape routes in the event that Albrecht is as mercenary a bastard as he looks."
"Slippery" Edge said.
"As an eel in oil" Cloak agreed. "But I don't think he lied to us, so we'll have to play the hand and see where it takes us. You and I need to bring the armorer up to speed and see if another perspective suggests anything. Questions? Ok. Lets go."
Madcap slipped out of the flea bag hotel while Nestor P. was on the trid. Simmering over the injustice of being carted around like a coma victim in the target rich environment of an airport really bothered the illusionist. So many lost opportunities for the small cruelties that made life delicious. It was infuriating! The damned ugly elf had overstepped his bounds and if only the dwarf could find the opportunity he was sure he would see to it that Enchanis regretted his error.
While Madcap grumbled along dreaming of revenge he was oblivious to the scrutiny of the small red hared Asian woman who studied him from the shadows of an alley.
So, Kit thought, the dwarf has anger for his companion. Perhaps that is something I can use. After a moment of concentration there was a flash of motion near the Asian woman's feet. That one. She silently directed, gesturing at the dwarf. Do not be discovered. The small sense of motion darted across the street. Kit momentarily allowed a predator's half grin to slide across her face before she slipped on her stylish shades and merged with the shadows.
Anxious as he was to jack in and begin his assignment, Rook caught the alarm of his two team-mates in time to swallow any sound he might have been about to make. He watched the hand signs that Cloak and Edge flashed each other without understanding much more than *DANGER*. He immediately ducked down and scanned the interior of the abandoned supermarket that the team had turned into their HQ. He began to draw his gun, but the concerned look on Edge's face made him realize that Manny's experience and ability were much better suited to solving problems with firearms if that was the way to solve them. If the armorer hadn't been able to overcome the difficulty with bullets, it was not likely that the decker would. The implications began to hit home and Rook realized that the dwarf's failure to respond to their arrival had been the clue that Cloak and Edge were upset about. Further, anything that could keep the tough, experienced, dwarf from proper security procedures was bound to be a major danger. Huddling in the shadows by the boarded over door as Cloak had signaled him to, Rook watched in alarm as Edge drew his paired Katanas and Cloak ghosted into the dark.
The Shadorat and shapcano. Together again for the first time! This serial continues at Winterhawk's Virtual Magespace. To read Chapter 24 click here.
This story is copyright of the author. Shadowrun is a Registered Trademark of FASA Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Used without permission. Any use of FASA Corporation's copyrighted material or trademarks in this file should not be viewed as a challenge to those copyrights or trademarks.
The bugs' clicking grew to a roar in the fleeing dwarf's ears. Rational thought was beyond Manny's capabilities as he stumbled away from the bug tide. Disgust and revulsion at the pursuing sea of cockroaches, fed the panic which drove the dwarf blindly back towards the team's common area. In the arms master's fevered brain the unreality of the sea of bugs harkened back to the disturbing dream, and rather than looking for an area effect weapon to use on the roaches, he grabbed up the artifact.
As soon as his flesh and blood hand closed around the shaft of the scourge, the panic evaporated. He calmly aimed the artifact at the roach sea and mentally ordered them to die. Not only did the encroaching horde stop, but the tide of bugs immediately began to ebb. Manny smiled as he estimated that thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of the disgusting insects shriveled and died with each gesture of the scourge. Damn! But this is one fine weapon, the samurai thought. No noise, no reload, no jams. Point and the enemy falls over dead. No sweat, no blood, no tears, just *pop* and the problem is gone. I could get used to this!
For the next ten minutes, Manny contented himself with bug huntin. When he had killed the huge seething mass of roaches which had covered walls and floor in the receiving dock, he went off to find and stragglers, or any other area the vermin might be infesting. If he was disturbed when, to further his hunt, he switched his cybereyes to infrared scanning and saw how few bug corpses there actually were on the floor, the thought was quickly pushed from his mind by the idea: Hey! I bet this would be just as good on Devil Rats! Never haveta worry about their squeallin letting one another know about the danger. I could clear the entire place of those filthy beasts........
Rook was more than a little surprised at the silence of the Monster Squad. No wise cracks, no movie lines, no advice, nothing. Even Doc was quiet as the grave. In fact, it was almost creepy because not only had the squad been silent through all the time they had waited for the dwarf fixer, but nobody had shown any kind of restlessness. It was like when I used to go to chess tournaments, the decker thought, the serious players concentrated their whole being on the game and if the other guy fidgeted you knew he was a loser. I guess the guys wanted this Albrecht character to know he was dealing with real pros so they didn't give away a thing while they were in his stronghold. It must have worked because the little slot sure seemed to be more deferential at the end of the meeting than he was at the beginning.
While the young decker was analyzing this latest turn of events, the Monster Squad made their way into Mr. P's. Although surprised by the unexpected stop and alarmed at the openly hungry looks being directed at his friends and himself, Rook wisely kept quiet until Cloak had rented the store room, Doc had scanned for eavesdroppers and established a magic circle against the same, Speed Racer had set up a white noise generator and then with a hand over his mouth had quietly said, "Cover your mouth, don't raise your voice and we should be ok."
All eyes turned to Cloak who looked at Rook and said, "I signaled this stop because as soon as we get back I want you to dig up everything you can on this slot we're going to meet. I want to know how this Corwin ip Theranj is going to get us a meeting with the Council and what we can expect. I also need as much info as you can get on this Dante's Inferno where the meeting is to take place. Ok?"
When the decker flashed a thumbs up, the phys ad grinned and added, "Very nice job keeping still through the waiting. You did well picking up on the fact that Albrecht was testing us and that maintaining the intensity marked us as pros who were not to be fragged with. Very frosty."
Rook saw the nods from his other team mates and started to blush. Cloak turned to Speed Racer and said, "I need you to take Wolfman to the airport so that he can rent a Westwind to use tonight. Rook will take Wolfman's bike back to base." Before Speed Racer could object, Cloak continued "The rental is just protective coloration, my friend. It doesn't need to set land speed records or have hidden missile bays, or be undetectable on radar. Just a standard rental from the airport so that if anybody checks Wolfman looks like he's a moneyed corp suit slumming and is not an actual threat. Wolfman, as soon as you get the car I need you to go immediately to Dante's Inferno and spend tonight drinking, dining and dancing. I know I'm asking a lot, it's a tough job but somebody has got to do it."
The elf mage sighed theatrically and then eventually nodded.
"Just don't forget to actually look at the layout." Cloak said with a small smile. "Speed, after Wolfman gets the car, I need you to do the externals on the nightclub. Figure out some escape routes in the event that Albrecht is as mercenary a bastard as he looks."
"Slippery" Edge said.
"As an eel in oil" Cloak agreed. "But I don't think he lied to us, so we'll have to play the hand and see where it takes us. You and I need to bring the armorer up to speed and see if another perspective suggests anything. Questions? Ok. Lets go."
Madcap slipped out of the flea bag hotel while Nestor P. was on the trid. Simmering over the injustice of being carted around like a coma victim in the target rich environment of an airport really bothered the illusionist. So many lost opportunities for the small cruelties that made life delicious. It was infuriating! The damned ugly elf had overstepped his bounds and if only the dwarf could find the opportunity he was sure he would see to it that Enchanis regretted his error.
While Madcap grumbled along dreaming of revenge he was oblivious to the scrutiny of the small red hared Asian woman who studied him from the shadows of an alley.
So, Kit thought, the dwarf has anger for his companion. Perhaps that is something I can use. After a moment of concentration there was a flash of motion near the Asian woman's feet. That one. She silently directed, gesturing at the dwarf. Do not be discovered. The small sense of motion darted across the street. Kit momentarily allowed a predator's half grin to slide across her face before she slipped on her stylish shades and merged with the shadows.
Anxious as he was to jack in and begin his assignment, Rook caught the alarm of his two team-mates in time to swallow any sound he might have been about to make. He watched the hand signs that Cloak and Edge flashed each other without understanding much more than *DANGER*. He immediately ducked down and scanned the interior of the abandoned supermarket that the team had turned into their HQ. He began to draw his gun, but the concerned look on Edge's face made him realize that Manny's experience and ability were much better suited to solving problems with firearms if that was the way to solve them. If the armorer hadn't been able to overcome the difficulty with bullets, it was not likely that the decker would. The implications began to hit home and Rook realized that the dwarf's failure to respond to their arrival had been the clue that Cloak and Edge were upset about. Further, anything that could keep the tough, experienced, dwarf from proper security procedures was bound to be a major danger. Huddling in the shadows by the boarded over door as Cloak had signaled him to, Rook watched in alarm as Edge drew his paired Katanas and Cloak ghosted into the dark.
******
Ha-ha-ha-ha Manny thought, This is so easy! It's the perfect weapon. No noise. Not even a whisper. And aren't Devil Rats supposed to have some kind of magic resistance? You certainly couldn't tell from my "field tests". I just gotta find something bigger to test this on. See if it's as easy to zap something really big. See if it falls over dead the way the fraggin rats do..........WHAT? What was that?......... Sounded like somebody coming in.... Somebody coming in without my permission! Well, maybe we'll get that upgraded field test a little sooner than I thought.
******
Edge danced, catlike, through the abandoned supermarket. Silent, graceful and deadly he scanned constantly as he searched for his longtime partner. He was nervous as he bobbed and spun across the floor, trying to both find his friend and avoid giving any hidden enemy the opportunity to successfully snipe him. He was a blur of motion, his swords guarding against any surprise attack, but he made no sound as he worked his way through the building. Without pausing he noted the small pile of dead cockroaches, and though he was alarmed at finding his friend's prized Colt Cobra lying unfired on the ground, he did not linger. Eventually he discovered three devil rat corpses, but he found no trace of Manny.
********
Just hold still, you son of a slitch! Manny thought as he glimpsed the swordsman. Every time he was ready to direct the scourge to kill, just as he was about to mentally shout "DIE!" the bastard would find some pillar or piece of shelving to put between him and his fate. Damn! He's big enough to make a perfect test! If only he'd quit dancing around like that I could.... At that point Manny saw that if he stepped around the pile of rubble in front of him he would have a perfect and unobstructed view of his target. With a grin the dwarf quickly stepped out.
Cloak timed his move perfectly. While Edge had searched an inner circle, Cloak had moved around an outer one and had spotted the Dwarf watching his partner. Something about the weapons expert's bearing had been wrong however and when the phys ad spotted the artifact in the dwarf's hand, he immediately moved in. When Manny had stepped out to draw a bead on Edge's back, Cloak went into action. He trapped both the dwarf's ankles with his Manriki-Gusari and leaped as the small figure fell. When Manny did not drop the scourge as he hit the ground, Cloak dislodged it by a quick stomp on the dwarf's wrist. He was completely unprepared for the armorer's roar of rage when the artifact was out of his hand.
"NO!!! NOOOOO!! YOU DIE!!!! AAAAARRRRRR!!!! DIE, DIE, DIE!!!!!"
Edge spun at the first sounds of contact and rushed back in time to see the berserk dwarf charging Cloak while screaming. The Phys ad dodged the furious charges and grabs that his smaller opponent kept making at lightning quick speeds, somehow always managing to remain between the frothing dwarf and the artifact. Although Cloak was the best martial artist Edge had ever seen, he noted with alarm that his partner's fury and sudden quickness were giving the physical adept all he could handle. Words obviously were not working, so Edge sheathed his swords and drew a narcojet from the pocket of his longcoat. With a sigh he shot his partner.
And immediately ran for his life. In spite of the knockout dart, Manny screamed "YOU DARE???!!!" and redirected his murderous rage at his long time partner. He charged at Edge, clearly intending to disembowel him with his metal hand, only to be hit by a pair of shots from Cloak's Goren Bee. Manny spun to face the attacker to his rear when the drugs finally overcame him and the spin continued into a boneless slump to the ground.
"That was interesting" Cloak said quietly as he and Edge studied their unconscious comrade. After a moment of silence the phys ad said "Better give Rook the all clear. I'm gonna put that thing," gesturing over his shoulder, "back in it's bag. He....uh, he ever been like this before?"
With a complete deadpan, Edge nodded and said "Once a month".
Albrecht sat alone in his office shaking his head. How could this have happened? he thought. He mentally reviewed the events of the previous 24 hours.
First it had been the out-of-towners. A frosty enough group of fraggers. None of the usual posturing shit. Refreshing. Paid through the nose for the intro to the daisy-eater without even bargaining. He recalled how the entire team had remained totally still through the entire delay and imagined how well they might wait in ambush. Then he smiled as he thought of how Corwin ip Theranj had shivered with delight and handed over a cred stick of his own for the chance to "meet and possibly play with some dangerous hunks". What a flake. He'd better not frag around too much with those slots the fixer recalled thinking. They're liable to cure him of his boredom with life altogether.
So, I'm in hog heaven. I'm pickin up nuyen for nothin and its all good. The next day that bastard Harry sends that pair over and they pay through the nose for data on the out-of-towners. Sweet. As he thought about his meeting with Winterhawk and Ocelot he shook his head. There were another pair of frosty fraggers. No games, no drek. Here's the cred, where's the data, bye. And even unarmed they had complete confidence. Why the frag can't I find talent like that?
No, the dwarf thought bitterly I hire fraggers who figure if you show enough guns the opposition will drek themselves and disappear. He remembered how right after Harry's runners had left the drek started. Byron was bitching about the perimeter. He goes out to check things and when he doesn't come back, Sheetz goes out after him. It's like they've got some kind of fraggin macho script. "I'll take care of WHATEVER the problem is, boss." And then if I'm not impressed they do that dramatically-chambering-a-round-to-show-everybody-I-mean-business crap. Fraggin Morons!
Then Kelly starts takin Daisy out and that crazy fragger comes in with the kid's super-soaker. God damned watergun and he sprays Judy, he sprays Puncher and empties the thing on Jennifer. Fraggin slitch didn't give me any fraggin magical warning and then gets hosed with dope so she can't wake up. Shaking his head, Albrecht replayed the next part of his memory over and over again. Who'd have believed that one crazy motherfragger could do all that fraggin damage? He took out Daisy with his teeth! What kind of a fragging nutbar bites a cybered mastiff? And manages to kill it?! I know that's what Kelly was thinking before he got cacked. It was like the fragger was inviting damage. When Kelly couldn't back him down by aiming that fragging hand cannon at him he was quick to use the stun stick but the bastard just got back up and came back at him. Albrecht shuddered as he recalled the look on the norm's face. Kelly should have just shot the fragger when he had the chance. The dwarf thought, but then thinking it over he wondered if he'd have had the nerve himself to squeeze the trigger on somebody who obviously had absolutely no sense of self preservation.
Albrecht shuddered as he recalled the interview with the assailant who had savaged his guards. Fragger tellin me his name is Quillum like we're havin fraggin tea or somethin. How much he likes the town, and where could he meet other out of towners who might be looking to meet new people. Drek. I might have known he'd want the same fraggin data as the others wanted. The dwarf shook his head with disgust as he mentally calculated how much of his most recent profits would have to be spent replacing security. DREK! Well, I'd better get moving before the word hits the street and everybody's prices go up. As he reached for the telecom unit he thought, I wonder if there's anybody I should warn to stay the frag away from Dante's Inferno tonight?
The Shadorat and shapcano. Together again for the first time! This serial continues at Winterhawk's Virtual Magespace. To read Chapter 24 click here.
This story is copyright of the author. Shadowrun is a Registered Trademark of FASA Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Used without permission. Any use of FASA Corporation's copyrighted material or trademarks in this file should not be viewed as a challenge to those copyrights or trademarks.
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