One for the Road

Taurus listened carefully as Marie and Auburn discussed things with each other, the large Minotaur idly running a finger over one of his horns tips as he did so, as if checking to make sure that even those were sharp and serviceable as a weapon, which in the case of Minotaurs, was often enough the case unless they got their horns cut down, which was certainly not what Taurus had done. "Well, it's hard to say but even some Corp riggers are crazy fraggers and would be fired if they weren't so good at their jobs." he considered that aspect, and he always was a bit of an adrenaline junkie so the risks themselves didn't seem to be anything he'd avoid. Half the fun of doing the work he did now was breaking the law and getting away with it, or getting into a gun fight and coming out on top. Sure he liked to stick to the rules, but now and then even he liked to break them. "If Auburn's good with it then I'm in. We get stopped though were gonna have to shoot our way out or something cause the kinda hardware I'm packing without permits is enough to put me in jail for life. Sides, half of it you probably can't get a permit for outside of AA or triple A corp sec." there's another pause before he adds "If it winds up being his fault though cause of him doing something blatantly stupid I'm going to snap him in half. That said it's always risky running the borders so I aint gonna hold a grudge long as he does his job well."

Marie nods, slowly. Her expression is inscrutable, but tension is still evident in her shoulders. "Very well, then." She turns to Old Bear. "The mission is transport and support. Sioux City is the immediate destination, but the mission may range further than that, according to the needs of my agents. You'll be payed four-kay a day, along with any incurred expenses. Combat bonuses amounting to one-kay for each incident, if they occur and you're involved. Finally, upon completion of the job I will personally set up a contract with you to ferry goods for the Black Crescent and Black Star, ensuring you a steady income for the next year. Is this acceptable?"

Old Bear Nods in agreement. Then in turn nods to the two runners in thanks for the participation. He by this point has what he needs So he Says "iffen theirs nothing else its best we get going Lav's taking up two spaces you know? Load up runners" he says to his passengers "We leave on your green light. Ill be in the front if you need me. plotting a course to Sioux City..." Then he looks back to marie "We are threw right?"

(OOC: Hope im not over doing it with the (criminal best at what i do) attitude T let me know if i need to tone it down other then that im having fun)

(OOC: No need to apologize, Ghost. The character's a difficult guy by nature, and the fact that you're portraying that is a bonus, not a detraction from the game.)

"Then we're agreed, and have a contract, Old Bear. By all means, go and prepare to dust off. We should be with you momentarily." She watches the ork leave with cold eyes, the turns to her two runners. "Payment for this mission for you two will be as usual: Ten-kay upfront, with hazard bonuses and expenses. I'll also throw in forty-percent of anything you recover from our wayward operative, to be split between you, or a bonus on completion of ten-kay each, whichever is higher." She pauses a moment, then asks, "If there's anything else you need that I can lay my hands on in an immediate sense, I'll get it for you. If not then you should get underway."

Only half jokingly, Taurus doesn't even miss a beat as he pipes up with a "Yeah, My sister." only after he says it does he pause a moment "You hear anything while I'm out of town let me know. Don't care if she's a bug now or not, owe it to her to find her live or dead." his expression grows a little more grim after he says that last part and adds "And if she's a bug, she's better off dead, even if I gotta do the job myself." Yeah, he'd done a lot for the Black Star, but the only reason he ever got here in the first place was her. The only reason he was here, was her. Otherwise he'd still be in a nice, well paid and well equipped job at Ares rather than living in questionable conditions in one of the most hostile feral cities in the world.

Marie nods, slowly and her voice is as close to kind as she ever lets it get. "If we hear anything Taurus, I promise you'll know."

Auburn's nod copies Marie's, both in posture and timing, although for very different reasons. Everyone, and I mean Everyone, had a reason for ending up in the Shadows. No exceptions. Taurus' was his sister, and those of us who worked closely with him were well aware of that. With Marie's usual - but also quite serious - assent to his request, we were good to head out.
Auburn stood, not waiting for Taurus to take the lead and stretched a bit. This had been quite entertaining, in one of those Action-trid sort of ways. Like watching explosions, but without the fire. Maybe like a power-ball kind of attack. Anyway, she was contented in her amusement, and was ready to head out.
"K T, Let's go hit the road. Let's hit it hard enough to leave chunks liein' around!" One of the reasons she and Taurus got along so well was because they both craved the action, excitement, and sheer bad-fragger attitude that they were encouraged to carry while on a run. More than encouraged, for their line of work, it was almost a requirement.
Auburn grinned at her own joke, and at Taurus as his finger played over his horn. She knew that they were in for a good time. Perhaps the last good time, but a good time none the less.

"Yeah..." Taurus responded to Auburn's request in a weary tone before hiking his backpack a little further up his back and turning to head out looking everything like the tried and true corp sec gun for hire he used to be, right down to the occasionally uncontrollable twitches he got from his augmented reflexes. As he passed the doorway, he slowly came to a stop and turned to look back at Marie "Stay safe, you n' the boys neh?" and then he turned once more and went on his way. He didn't actually care too much for the runner's life, but the Black Star at least had noble causes by and large. Oh sure they had to do thing sometimes just to keep their turf clear of gangs and the mafia, and they had their hands into a great number of shady deals, but they had to fund their organization somehow...

And so few people cared about backing the kind of people that would actually fight for the little guy instead of the bottom line these days.

Marie smiles quietly in response. "As much as possible. Of course, it goes double for you and Aubur."

- I guess it was bound to happen... Eventually there would be a personal run mixed in to things, even with Black Star. There always is. Auburn muses to herself with a grin as she leads Taurus out the door of Marie's office. When Taurus pauses, Auburn pauses with him, just long enough to hear Marie's response. Auburn nods, despite the fact that Marie would be quite unlikely to catch the motion past Taurus's bulky frame. But, "it's the thought that counts," right?
"Hey, wanna wet our throats before hittin' the tar?" Auburn asks, leading the way down the narrow stairs. They were even more markedly narrow considering her companion. She peered back at Taurus as he started to descend the stairs, the walls brushing his shoulders on both sides. He fit, sorta.
"Ah'm in the mood to drop a kick of some of the top-shelf stuff before headin' out. What'cha think?" She says, coming to the bottom of the stairs, and turning to address her question directly to Taurus, as he finished descending.

"Better to wait till when we're already on the way." Taurus responds rather casually, though it wasn't because he didn't feel like a drink. He did however have one good reason to turn down the suggestion. "Stuffs a hell of a lot cheaper, and better when we get outta town. For what we pay here, probably could get at least two, three times as much."

When Auburn and Taurus get out side. They see taking up one and half to two parking spaces a big sleek looking but still vary bulky already revving LAV. It seems to them that someone went too great lengths to bang this Skraacha's armor into something slightly aerodynamic and or pleasing to the eye. The result was something military green and next gen at the same time. Standing in the door to the cargo hold of the LAV was Old Bear grinning from ear to ear. "So what do ya's think?" he says. "Shes got some special surprises if we get into trouble. but i don't suspect we will. Names Green Eagle."

Smuggling route out of chi town roll: Logic 5 + Smuggling 5 + Mapsoft 6 = 16dice =
5 hits

"Already got a route out of chi-town so Load up strap in and ill get us underway no sweat guys" The vertical take off was smooth enough kinda gave the feeling that the ride would take the form of clear skies. Taking the back route out of town was probably no problem for Taurus and Auburn, but when he Went off road they probably looked at each in that he better know where and what he was doing. "Ok guys going strait for state lines so you can be casual back there even come take a look up here if you want that will be all." crackled over the intercom.

Old bear knew that he wanted this to go as smoothly as possible so he took all the right passes threw the various states. So it was that they traveled as fast as the Green eagle would take them. First they shot North West. On a heading taking them just past Dubuque, Illinois...

Auburn nodded to Taurus, not bothering to reply. He was right, of course. She was simply offering for sentimental reasons. Besides which, spending money locally, even if it is inflated, usually goes to someplace we have some indirect benefit from. Either way, though, Auburn was perfectly happy to wait a bit before hitting the liquour. She wasn't entirely sure she didn't need her wits about her to get into the car with the smuggler Chauffer that they were going to be riding with.

Coming outside, and seeing the look on Old Bear's face, Auburn's opinion shifted slightly. Not much, but slightly. The vehicle looked to her like it was quite serviceable, and that it would more than do the job, in a pinch. Marie was right about the lack of "quiet" in the vehicle. But it looked like Old Bear was on to something regarding the needs of the trip. At least, it could be. It remained to be seen, but Auburn was now cautiously optimistic.

"Looks like it'll do..." She said in response. "I can see why Marie was upset. This thing definitely ain't quiet."

Auburn nodded to Taurus and turned back to the large green thing and started to climb in the back. She was not in any mood to ride "shotgun" but was definitely ready for a bit of good fun.

"Ok T-Large, time for us to start to get in to the nitty-gritty of the details that Marie has supplied us so far. Also, as we do that, you got any hacker friends that could run down some info for us, for a price of course?" Auburn says to Taurus as soon as the LAV starts on the journey. She was exceedingly confident in their privacy within the vehicle, if for no other reason than because the vehicle provided a natural "White Noise Generator" making it quite impossible to eaves-drop from the outside. And she wasn't too concerned with the possibility that perhaps Big Bear would over hear them, since his input would be valuable, and he would be affected by anything they ended up agreeing on for a plan of action.
"You good to go on some plannin' yet, or you wanna settle in a bit first?" She says, before letting him answer. She knew that he was sometimes touchy about his "personal space" as that pertained to a quiet bit of thought time to relax into. Hopefully this time, however, he was ready for the planning that they would need to get in on immediately.

"Nah, don't know any off the top o' my head outside of the Star. Cut all ties with the ol' corp." Taurus replies to Auburn somewhat softly. "Couldn't risk having my old boss find out where I'd gone and such see, or he'd have come causing trouble again. He's gotta bad way of popping up now and again." he points out "Less e knows th'better. The star are the only folk other than you I've known for long time now. An' not sure what kinda plannin you wanna be doing. Never been too good at being the one coming up with the plans Aub, I've always been more the trigger guy."

"Ok... the trigger guy. Well, how d'you figgur which one t'shoot at first? I mean, uzh'ly there's more than one target, at least, when I've ben involved. Right? Which one's gunna be takin' yer bullet first?" Auburn responded thoughtfully. Everyone does some planning. And the only ones who don't participate in it actively are only that way because they were told they weren't "smart enough" or some stupid drek like that. - Instincts drive planning more than anything else. And if you've seen action, you've got instincts. She thought to herself, waiting for Taurus' response. She decided that she was going to get him to put in his thoughts, especially because she did trust his instincts. and that matters.

"Ok So for me i tend to aim at anyone who makes a sudden movment you know dont start none wont be none i always say" Old bear could be herd speaking over the loud speaker in the cargo area of the Green eagle "if everybody keeps there hands where you can actually see them then there good provided said hands r not occupied by weapons oh yeah this com system has a mic hope you don't mind"

"Nope. Don' think that'll be a pro'lem. Yer gunna be gettin' inta the same stuff as us, so you mite's'well hear what we got ta say. So, when you decided t'shoot, d'ya warn 'em first?" Auburn asks her clarification question, a small smirk coming to her lips. Of course, it isn't likely the smuggler saw that question coming, but Auburn was on a mission. Err... A mission inside a mission.

Taurus thought about that one before finally answering "Gut feeling I guess. Don' get me wrong. I know tactics are important and good n' all that stuff, but that was rarely my spot in the squad see? Being a Trog means I got stuck with the big guns, so I've always been in a support role by and large. Only recently when I got in with the Star did things change much. E'vn then its uhh.. usually same ol'. I understand how to follow orders but I ain't got a real solid grasp o' tactics like see? So I usually let the ones who know em good call the shots. Smart thin ta do iffn' you ask me when you know you can trust the other guy not to frag your hoop in the middle of a fight. Corp sec drek is lot more differn't than bein a runner. If it's too high risk they hook you up with safety systems so you cant accidentally hit some important corp egg head or somethin that they'd rather see extracted and retrieved later than shot dead. That or round here it's mostly bug hunting and keepin away bandits from the research crews, so it's weapons free round anyone that gets too close or anything that looks at you the wrong way when your operatin in the CZ. Not sure I even remember what the regs are outside of Chicago no more. This is my first time out since..." he cuts off for a moment, his features hardening just a little "Since I came here to keep an eye on my sis..."

"Ok... I think we gut a definition probl'm here. Let's get this stuff straight. "Strategy" is som'h'm that takes some brains to git straight. It take some'n a lil speshul t'be able t'put together a good strategy. "Tactics" are som'h'm dif'rent. You tole' me it was yer "gut" what tells ya which fragger t'reorg'nize their drek first, rite? Wull... Le's think a bit 'bout this gut of yers." Auburn takes a deep breath and sits back a bit, trying to collect her thoughts to make sure she can get this idea across properly. She was no less convinced after Taurus' speech that everyone was capable of tactical thought, even if the larger strategic vision takes a bit of training. In fact, she was somewhat more convinced that Taurus was capable of tactics after what he had said. He basically alread proved her point. Now how to get him to see that...
"Ok, let's start somewhere else. Look... Jus 'cause ya were always the "dumb guy" on the team, doesn't mean that they gut you rite. Ahm tellin' ya that yer tactics are as good as anyones, and prolly better'n most. The dumb fraggers that din't ask yer thoughts before gut what they deserved...
"So. Let's start ta git you thinkin' about the tactics of our situation. We're chasin'. Le's purtend that there's no cars. Le's purtend that we're on the ground, runnin', an'the fragger out in front o'us is only 1 block ahead, an' barely keepin' his lead. Now what?" The look on her face was triumphant. She was certain she had finally framed the problem in Taurus' language.

"Ah, never said I was the dumb guy on the team. I was simply the heavy weapons guy, there's a big difference." Taurus points out. "Simply put I've always been fine with just following orders, ain't cause I couldn't lead if I really needed to I suppose, just I don't have none of that special training and such, but I know how to fight. Don' ever be making the mistake of thinkn otherwise. But beyond that I've always just been with the Star or with Ares. Ain't ever been much of a time before that where I weren't tied to something cause before that was family and they were corp drones same as I was. Just.. they were the behind the desk sort."

"Ok... Got it. Not dumb guy. Note taken. File updated.
"Seriously?" Auburn fixes Taurus with a look that leaves little to the imagination.
"Doncha have more important things to fixate in yer mind than what I'm tellin' ya ya shouldn't be considerin' yerself? I jes said yer not the dumb guy!" Apparently her mood could change as fast as any... She was clearly exasperated.
"AND, I jes finished tellin'ya that ya don' need trainin' t'be able t'think tactically!" She was speaking fast now, and her accent became quite a bit more pronounced. Fortunately, the accent wasn't too far removed from the ones Taurus had grown up listening to, so it wasn't any harder to understand. At least, for him.
"Ain't no one t'give ya orders this time 'round. Ahm a team player. If ya want, I am fine with bein' the one with "final responsibility" for any decishuns we make, but we're makin' them together. Got it?" Auburn said, not really realizing that she was giving an order. If she had, she likely would have burst out with laughter at the irony of the situation. As it was, she was quite serious.

"Works fine by me, ultimately aint either of us that calls the big shots." Taurus notes "The Star will be keepin an eye on us, and if we need to, I can probably call in some help in tracking down our target. Never dealt with the other chapters myself but they'll have our back if need be." And by we, he really meant they would have his back, though by token that would mean everyone else on his team too, given that they were after the same thing, but he didn't mention that little side part as it had a few other implications. "Beyond that though, not sure where exactly we should start. Several years on and I ain't any better at tracking folk down than I was before it seems."

The annoyance in her face melted away as soon as Taurus starting talking some sense. It was quickly replaced by a smile. It was hard to believe, since she rarely let it show, but when she smiled, she was really quite impressively attractive. It is hard to decide if it's fortunate, or unfortunate, that she doesn't smile more often.
"See... Now that's the'talk I ben lookin' for! Now we'c'n git down t'business!" She bestowed Taurus with a wide grin, showing her pearly whites, and the happiness that they were not even remotely concealing. This is when things start to get fun.
"Firs' things firs'... Any chance this fragger knows we're comin' an'is reddy fer us? Traps an' stuff? Think the measly little piddle 'e managed to scamper off with is gunna git 'im some backup? 'Cause we don' wanna be sendin' no one in ta git their noses fragged off..." She said, looking more serious. It was business time again.