On The Run

“I noticed something that rose my suspicion.” Ghost answered willingly. “There is something on the door. And that might very well be a bomb. I saw it when I phased through it in astral space. Also, it seems as if there is a bomb in the car as well. But I'm not entirely sure about the latter.” Then she thought aloud. “Maybe I can call upon a spirit to give us more protection.”

"You See?! That's why we need to act like a team!!" Breaker hissed in to her Commlink, punctuating her words by biting off the ends of each one. She was not yelling, just speaking very crisply, making her anger felt.
"We're not animals!" She said, looking around at the slowly re-congregating team. She settled, finally, back in to one of the chairs, waiting for the group to reconvene and discuss the information that had just been revealed. She was already playing with different ideas regarding how to deal with this situation.

Logan halted suddenly. There was a lot of chatter over their commlinks, but Ghost's words had hit him like a hammer blow. Then, incredibly, Breaker seemed to want everyone back inside - with the bomb!
"Guys," he called quietly, feeling the seconds ticking by, "unless you all want to find out what building demolition is like from the inside, I suggest you all get out of there!" He felt time stretching - knew it was running out like sand in an hourglass. But he was stuck between their attackers and his team. He couldn't get to the car in time to stop them setting off the bomb, and too far from his teammates to do them any good.
"You may not be an animal, Breaker," he spat into his comm, "but you're going to be chopped liver if you don't get out of there! Its a BOMB!"

"Unless Ghost misspoke, we're talking about a CAR bomb... I am not particularly concerned with building demolition from a car, parked across the street from here! Now, we need to regroup and make some sense of all this..." Breaker replied to Logan, one of the "Fresh Meat" on the team. She was somewhat tolerant of new faces, some of the time, but he was out there with the mined car, and he wasn't in any position to add to the situation. Even sneaking back inside might be dangerous for him, since being seen now would be just as bad as trying to stop them from triggering the bomb.
"'Trix, can you run a quick search on the security of this place, make sure that it hasn't been mined? Ghost; could you do a quick perimeter of the building and let us know if there are any shady figures with ill intent? We need information here people. Not running scared, that's what "they" want us to do." Breaker went on, taking charge. This headless panic was getting on her nerves, and she knew that they team could work better than this. She looked at 'Trix and Ghost, waiting to see what they would come up with. "Also, Logan, you may just want to stay put for now. If you're seen, it would be bad." She said, hoping that he was hidden well now.

“I said, there is probably a bomb in the car. But there is certainly something bomb like on our front door. And it looks big enough to make a concrete sandwich out of this place. I agree with Logan, we need to get out of here quickly.” She sat down again. “I will do a quick perimeter scan though. Because the idea of someone waiting at the back entrance to add another surprise is not really flattering.” With a sideglance at Breaker, she added: “If you have to leave this place before I return, please don’t forget my body. Alright?”

With that, she left her body once more. This time, she floated through the other wall, looking for metahuman auras around. Circling the building on the outside completely. Then she extended her search to the adjacent building on each side. Just to make sure. She did so swiftly, not to waste time, but she took long enough for it to be actually effective.

A perimeter search in astral space. Looking out for metahuman auras. Int3 +Assensing4= 7d (7d6. hits(5)=2) Two hits.

Breaker rolled her eyes, mostly at herself. In her own, what appeared to be panic, she had missed a critical detail.
"Of course I wouldn't forget the body. You're safe for..." She trailed off once she noticed Ghost's eyes close, and her face go slack.
"Ok, so the door is rigged. Then why didn't it go off when we came in the first time? Or, when Logan just left?" Breaker paused, collecting her thoughts. They were reasonable questions, and important ones. But she was also musing out loud, to some extent, and didn't need to be sharing these thoughts yet until she had had a chance to work through them herself.
"Ok, I think it is clear that someone is able to get in here and rig a bomb. But it sounds like this one is a decoy, since the two obvious times for it to go off have been missed already. So, the questions that remain are: Did they want us to find this decoy? If so, it wasn't hidden in a particularly obvious place. Maybe it wasn't meant for us to find yet? Or, maybe it was meant for someone else to find, later... Also, if the front door is not the real bomb... where is it?" Breaker was definitely on something. If that front door wasn't meant to be the real bomb, and it wasn't meant to be found by us, then that means it was meant to be found by the Knight Errant investigators who would be combing this place later...
"I think I am starting to get a pretty good grip on the situation, and it's not pretty. But, as I said before, we can't be running off in random directions, we have to work as a team... And we need information. Logan, do you see anything out there other than that car? And Trix, could you check your security footage of the bolt-hole to see if that door has been tampered with too? It would be nice to know if we're mined-in."

Logan understood how lines of communication could break down in situations of intense stress. He'd seen it happen in the service - had seen good men and women die as a result. Breaker had the right idea of finding out as much as they could about their present situation; he just hoped for all their sakes that it didn't explode, literally, in their faces.
But being the noob on the team, he also understood his 'rank' and he'd learned long ago that when the one in charge made decisions, you followed them whether you agreed with them or not.
"I'll do a detailed scan of the vicinity," he replied to Breaker's query. "And I'll try and get a better look at our party crashers as well."

Observe in Detail: Street For Other Surveillance Teams
Perception 3 + Intuition 3 + Actively Searching 3
Result =3 hits

Observe in Detail: Surveillance Vehicle
Perception 3 + Intuition 3 + Actively Looking 3
Result=3 hits

Logan you notice that the vehicle is one of the many abandoned vehicles that scatter the area it appears to be a former lone star patrol car.


~Message to Trix From Unknown sender

Mister Trix I have information on the target meet me here in three hours I have a few loose ends to fix you may come alone or bring a few team members.

End of message~


The time is now about seven in the morning. The light shining threw the skylight in the kitchen where the smell of soy cafe and breakfast fills the safehouse.

Trix glances up as he spots Breaker walk around the corner, He smiles knowing the smell of a good brew of cafe would wake her. He sits down at the eat in bar.


"Pull up a chair Breaker."

The current time is about noon. The team is residing in an abandoned two story warehouse that was remodeled with living quarters for each member of the team. The warehouse is a old brick structure roughly one hundred years old. It looks old and shows its scares. The inside how ever is all caught up with the times.

Legit state of the art equipment down stairs in the warehouse front that works to keep lonestar and anyone else off his back.

The team is going over what went wrong with the snatch and grab. The guy they were suppose to get into protective custody was found dead in his home the night before the runners were about to embark on there mission with no idea who's pulling the strings can anyone really trust one another in there line of work.



Trix walks into the den where everyone are going on with a plan as to how there going to grab the guy when suddenly a Breaking news report goes across the screen The report states that a man in his mid thirtys was found dead in his apartment a cause of death is still undetermined

Trix looks at everyone kind of in shock as the guy who they were paid to grab was silenced before they were able to complete there mission what's in store for the team now wondering if the guys that paid them to make the snatch was responsible for the events that just happened.

"Whuh!" Breaker says, cutting herself off. She had been lounging in the chair, enjoying the brainstorming session of the group, but she realized that this news would change everything. Really. Everything.
Breaker stood up, reflexively, pointing at the screen. She wasn't really pointing to catch anyone's attention, since that hadn't really occurred to her yet. She was mostly pointing out of some strange mixture of fear, incredulity, and shock/anxiety.
"He was..." Breaker started, not ever really finishing her sentence as the news cast continued over the top of her. She probably didn't need to finish though, since it was quite likely that the entire team was thinking precisely the same thing.
As her shock continued to overtake the rest of the emotions in Breaker's body, she weakly sagged back in to the chair. It was probably a surprise that her body managed to maintain her decorum, crossing her legs as she fell backward into the comfort of the awaiting upholstery. Breaker allowed her hands to collapse, entirely relaxed, in to her lap, staring fixedly, if emotionless, at the trid.

“This almost looks as if someone else was faster than us.” Ghost fell back onto the couch, pulling up her legs. “I guess that means no pay for us?” She looked around at the other runners reactions. “Unless our Johnson wants revenge.” She took a sip from her soycaf and curled her toes, enjoying the warmth. I would, she thought.

"Well. Maybe. Or maybe we can get the payment that those people are supposed to get." Breaker said, snapping out of her shocked reverie. Ghost's words had given her the impetus to return the present, and she knew that the group would need to respond, somehow, to this new twist in their employment.
"Do you all think that our employer was "hedging" his bets, so to speak?" She asked, somewhat amused by the prospect. They had, after all, just done what they had been told was a good job on their "trial" mission.
Breaker, now back to the present, and somewhat over her shock, took a few moments to survey her current state. She quickly smoothed the skirt out over her legs, making sure that it had no wrinkles in it. She then reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, keeping it from dangling in front of her face. There was a time and a place for hair obscuring your face, and team meetings was definitely not one of those. Finally satisfied, Breaker dropped her hands softly back to her lap, relaxed and ready for whatever the group was prepared to decide as their course of action.

Serintha was pretty smart. Not the smartest, but she was pretty sharp. Acting dumb to throw people off most of the time. In this instance she was pretty sure someone was setting them up. But too what end. The target and the Johnson had been murdered within a day or so of each other. Sounds planed... So That left the team wanted for murder or at the very least questioning. Not her particularly but she was apart of this team. Which put her head effectively on the chopping block. If they knew stuff about the team. They most likely knew about her... These facts weaving around her head. she eventually comes to the point that someone, maybe even one of them! Could be feeding information... How else could they know about her she thought... Grump had told her not to trust these new friends of her's. But she did not listen...

She had come to know shadow san more then anyone else but breaker was a close Second, very close. As the only other girl on the team in the beginning. Then Trix introduced that Ghost character, and that Logan. That to her meant they could be trusted they did not know about Hasty until they met her earlier. But everyone else was suspect! Especially Trix! With his twists, and turns always blindsiding us with some thing new "This sucks man!" She blurted out. "Uuhhh?? Said that out loud did I?" She asked herself more then anyone else... and she flotted slowly off to the side of the room to think more...

She looked at everybody. Glances mostly trying to figure them out. But having very little success, she was so steamed...

After Hastys short outburst, Ghost replied: “Indeed it does. I don’t like to be framed.”

Then she answered to Breaker: “Payment would be nice, but how to get to the people behind this? For once I doubt they don’t know who they hired, and second, we don’t know who initiated the assassination.” She grinned maliciously. “Not that I wouldn’t like to appear on their porch and have a little chat.”

The pale woman sighed. “I guess we’re in this together. I know I haven’t done anything yet, but the camera recorded me as well as the rest of you. With both our Johnson and our target dead, how can we avoid being caught in the middle?” Her expression was open and her voice calm.

"How can we avoid..." Breaker trailed off, looking thoughtful for a moment. Of course, it was just a ruse.
"You see, perception. That is the stuff of fun, and games. Avoiding things is all about managing perception. And that's my game." She said, emphasizing the "game", letting people know that not only is it her game, but she genuinely enjoys playing it.
"I'm less worried about getting caught in the middle, as that might actually turn out to be an advantage, than I am about getting paid! I didn't agree to see that dude dead, and dead he is, to get stiffed on the payment. So, let's figure out where the money's coming from, and going, so that we can intercept! Let's go get caught in the middle!!" Breaker grinned, allowing her over exuberance to beam out of her. Generally Breaker tried to keep her "energy" contained, since letting herself out like this would be an easy way to gain the attention of every living breathing being within eyesight of her. However, she was, more or less, coming to trust her team. Be that for good, or bad.

Ghost grinned back. “I like your perspective,” she replied to Breaker. “If we get in the middle of it but stay low, maybe our opponents only see each other. And blame each other for the trouble we will be causing.” She winked at Breaker. “What about the Johnsons secretary? She’s still alive. Maybe we should ask her about the money, or its source.” A thought crossed Ghosts mind: She is right, this might be fun. Getting the money and blaming the killer. I better get planning. She drank more of the soykaff in her cup. The caffeine would do her good.

The group is going to there plans to figure out who took there job scared that they maybe some how linked in as potential suspects. Things were going as planned when the report came over the trids which has our runners in a tight situation figuring out who they can really trust and whats real.


Trix sits there in one of the lounge chairs trying to gather his thoughts when his com chirps


~ Incoming message:secured sender!

Mr Trix we need to discuss some business the people i represent may be in need of your services. If interested meet here the address will be sent to your teams coms meet me in one hour, The pay will be worth your teams time.~


Trix looks at the team as everyones com receive the address "Looks like we have some business to tend to."

“Already? That’s conveniently quick.” She sat up straight. “Do you know the J who sent this?” While she put on her shoes, Ghost thought: At least it’s a possible lead. “We should at least take a few precautions. Like keeping some of us as cavalry outside.”

"Hmm, "Convenient" isn't quite the word that I would choose to use under this circumstance. This is something else entirely. Something more like "Contrived"." Breaker put in, not moving in her chair. She hadn't really gotten "settled in" before, since the team hadn't been here long enough for her to want to change.
"And I have to agree with you, Ghost. We should do some heavy recon anywhere we intend to go for quite a while. Particularly for as long as we're in the spotlight." Breaker looked down at her hands, as they lay calmly in her lap. Perhaps, given the events over the past several days, her hands were the only calm things around.

Upon arriving at the disclosed location that the contact had given to the team. They pull up to a gate with two armed security guards who wave the band of runners into the complex looks fairly new and has that feel of limitless mana flow to all the magic users on the team you sence this abundance of power coursing through your bodies from head to toe, You can sence this magical presence.

As the team arrives at what appears to be the center of this massive twenty-nine building complex, its massive in comparison to the teams current safe house and then some. The buildings range from magical studies to weapons training to a supplies shop. Every possible gadget or toy is in this facility.


Trix and the entire team walk into the building where there is what appears to be a two level building on the first level there is four rooms that looks to be office space. The people that are present are going about there work hardly paying much attention to the small band of runners who just walked in the door. The second floor has what looks like one fully furbished conference room with everything a conference room would need in it and the other room has lockers with state of the art maglocks this facility runs and feels like its funded by the military.


Trix looks around and spots whole and behold the new president of Tyson Enterprises. The young lady wearing a dark business suit greets the team at the foot of the stairs " Welcome Mr. Trix ah i see there are some new faces to your team!" refering to ghost and logan and the whole team as a whole. She leads the group into the conference room which is completely dim as the lights slowly start to brighten the team is in shock as the johnson that hired them for the initial test run was very much alive and well.

"I think it is safe to speak for the team when we say: "Good to see you again," Breaker said, taking a seat at the table. She looked down at her clothing, nodding in approval at her choice of attire. She was currently dressed, apparently appropriately so, in a gray striped pants-suit, gray on gray, with a white blouse and some modest, businesslike 3-inch pumps. She could just have easily been headed to a business presentation at a corporate headquarters as being a part of a "Wanted" 'Runner team.
"I can say, for myself this time, that I expect some things have changed for you. I am not entirely certain to what extent you have filled in 'Trix regarding these changes, as I have been far too involved in working with the team to get us here to pay much attention to any updates he may have received. I would be very appreciative if you could take a few moments and fill us in, now, on what ever updates you are able to give us." Breaker added, once she had smoothed the fine fabric of her slacks down over her legs, crossing the left one over the right. She didn't have a skirt she needed to worry about, this time, but it was habit.

The elven albino woman wore her lined coat with the white side outward. In her Opinion, it gave her a cleaner, smoother appearance than the black side. It also helped the ghostlike impression she had on some people. When she saw the complex, she let go of all pretences. Any attempt of disguising herself would have been futile, she was quite sure. Her eyes were hidden behind sunglasses, her Urban Fighter securely in it’s holster, just in case.

On the way in, Ghost observed the high mana level.

Ascensing the facilities obvious high mana level. Ascensing4 +Int3 = 7d (7d6. hits(5)=2)

Fascinated, she watched her surroundings in the astral space, analyzing what she saw. Curiosity simmered through the professionally neutral expression. But long before they entered the room, she brought her thoughts back to the meeting again, regaining her cool composure.

When greeted by the lady she gave a neutral nod. Not amically, but also not hostile. And when introduced to the supposedly dead Johnson, her eyebrows rose in surprise. But she had herself enough under control to leave it at that. She nodded him a greeting. Interesting turn of events, Ghost thought. What does the man have to gain if he is willing to give up his own business, not to mention his life, friends, SIN and possessions?

For a moment, the shamaness switched her vision to the astral again, ascensing the Johnson. Just in case.

Ascensing the supposedly dead Johnson Ascensin4 +Int4= 7d (7d6. hits(5)=1)

The strong background of the astral seemed to put her senses slightly off. She could not make out as much as she would like to.

Slightly frustrated, she took a position behind Breaker, leaning against the wall nonchalantly. From there Ghost had a good overview of the whole room too, the relaxed posture belying the aware state she was in, ready for anything.

The Johnson greets the runners who are gathered in the room " My dear friends i am sorry for the way things went with the media i had some how do we say this bad company if you catch my drift Mr trix had no knowledge of what transpired it was necessary to leave all of you out of the loop. please forgive my manners" he looks at the fresh new faces that he hadnt had the chance of meeting. He smiles at ghost and notices the piece she's packing " Thats some nice hardware you have there ." he taps a button on his com and a detailed bio popes up on the screen of ghost and of the whole team.


Trix glanced over at breaker then at ghost "What or who are you hiding from and who took out this man." he sets a folder down on the table and slides it to the j he looks at trix a little puzzled at proceeds to read the contents of the file "I'm sorry but i have no idea who this man is " he looks at the team "i have no idea who or what this guy did to someone to have him killed but ill look into this and let you know what i find till then please make yourselves comfortable, when you leave this building proceed to the building in the middle of the complex thats where your living quarters are located once everyones settled in the tour of the facility will begin."

Hasty Plays the back ground virtually invisible as always she decides to stay near the team but not to make a sound. She was back up the problem was with all this background could she count on her own mental strength to get her through what ever this J had planned for the team. She buzzed around looking for the perfect perch in the office she listened to the J speak she believed him but Hasty always gave people the benefit of the doubt... "This is gonna be our home" she thought "I finally got a place to crash and hubba hubba what a place" she thought as she looked around but shes still invisible...

Breaker listened carefully as the Johnson, and then 'Trix, both iterated in interestingly different ways that neither had been in communication regarding the details of this "new" change. She leaned forward, listening intently to 'Trix, while he discussed what he knew, and what he intended to find out. Breaker knew better than to think that 'Trix would be able to get complete information about this, but a little might be enough for them to put together pieces.
As 'Trix wound up, Breaker was already starting to think on what was needed, given the new circumstances. Breaker settled back in her chair, allowing her back to lean all the way in to the rest. She even went so far as to see if the chair would allow a bit of a tip, although she let the Springs carry her back to an upright position, once she was comfortable with the range of motion the chair would allow. She squared her shoulders, pushing her shoulder blades in to the back of the chair, then relaxing, allowing her spine to straighten out, and her shoulders to face comfortably forward.

"I was unaware that your intention was to have us live with you. Again, I believe that I can speak for the team when I say that our price has just gone up. I am, again, not entirely certain what details you have worked out with 'Trix regarding this deal, but a good portion of the value that I present to any team I am working with hinges on my capacity to build and maintain contacts in the outside world. With me living here, that job will be hindered, and therefor, my services to you will be more expensive. Further, since we are now living under your protection, and I don't trust your accommodations, I will be requiring the entire price we agree upon up front, as a sort of "hazard pay". Your collateral, in this case, is that we are living under your thumb." Breaker said, with a surprisingly smooth and calm voice. She took a moment, looking around the room to see the group's faces. She was attempting, at a glance, to ascertain how the team was feeling about her taking the negotiations forward.

Perception rolls - roll 1 to see how the Team is taking her Negotiations, roll 2 on the Johnson specifically.Roll 1: 2 hits | Roll 2: 3 hits
Assensing roll on the Johnson: (Accidentally did 2 rolls; just use the first one) 3 hits. (This will give detailed description of his mood and health. Also all spells/adept powers he has on him. Also a general understanding of his magical strength - i.e. stronger or weaker than Breaker)

Breaker turned back to the Johnson, studying him for a moment, attempting to see his reaction to the situation before going on. She needed to get a gauge for what he was thinking, before mentioning the price she had in mind. This negotiation would be somewhat important for her and the team, and she intended to make certain that the team walked away feeling nothing less than satisfied with how it went.