Living on the Edge - IC

"He vanished in the bushes behind the car, be carefull, there is too much material density for my sensors to break trough, must been forcefeeding them with lead." Andromeda exclaimed in a hear-ably disappointed voice, would have been nice if the first culprit to fall would be by her hands.

Letha heard the note of disappointment in Andromeda's voice, but ignored it. It wasn't that Letha didn't sympathize with the rigger, but Letha's reason for being hired for this job was to handle these kinds of situations and she took her role seriously. She would not attempt to handle transportation for the team or control drones so she felt justified in what she was doing now.

Moving quickly past the car, Letha approached the bushes, still examining the area for any sign of an intruder.

(Daedalus, I'm still operating on my previous Perception roll. If you need me to roll again, I will.)

After Bark got the message, he turned around. The car wasn't far away, because he just checked the road that leads to the "safe"house. He thought he had seen somebody disappearing, but maybe it was just a shadow. Or, it was a shadow like himself - they don't like to be seen, so Bark quickly assessed the surroundings and circled to the direction that offered the quickest way of escape. If that person was a scout or a spy, he will try to vanish in this area. - thought Bark, who knew how these kinds of people thought...because he was one of them.

He saw Letha barging in straight to the bushes. It was unlikely the person just waited there to be discovered, so Bark scouted the area, using his radar sensor which was excellent to detect movement, climbing to one of the buildings if necessary, to boost his field of vision.

Bark & Letha [safehouse]

As Letha reaches the bushes she can see that, hidden in it's center is an old manhole cover sitting in a slightly raised concrete dias. Next to the cover, mounted to the dias, is a maglock control panel that is corroded, sprinkles of rust can be seen around its edges.

Bark sweeps the area, sensors straining to bring him information, but besides those objects already tagged, he finds nothing.

Letha [Safehouse]

Observe Maglock in Detail= 5

Letha crouched to examine the maglock to see if it was engaged. Though rusty, the corrosion would not necessarily obstruct her view of whether the lock was secure. Having no experience of such devices - she was far from having the highly specialized knowledge or training of a hacker - she knew she'd need to let Bark take a look at it, but she wanted to at least be able to provide as much info about her discovery as she could.

Re-holstering her weapon, she rose and moved far enough out of the bushes to be clearly visible before speaking:

"There's a manhole here, maglocked. Anybody got the equipment to seal it off from this side? Or maybe rig it with some kind of alarm sensor or trap?"

Jagger wrote:

Re-holstering her weapon, she rose and moved far enough out of the bushes to be clearly visible before speaking:

"There's a manhole here, maglocked. Anybody got the equipment to seal it off from this side? Or maybe rig it with some kind of alarm sensor or trap?"

" I do not like the spot it is, either we close it for good or we burn down the bush so no one can get in and out in secret. Keep the package safe, I am coming to take a look at the lock" Andromeda sent and her conciousness travelled back to her body, she left Habu, gave it an order to park at the abounded building and turns on it's sensors, full alert and engaged all locks and anti theft, now if some one comes as near as 25m she will get notified and can give evasion command to it.
She herself went on foot the last 50m and joined Lethal at the manhole and started to check out the Maglock
As Andromeda checked the Maglock to see it's state, but it took some cleaning and some working to open it up. [Hits. extended hardware test.(1)(1)(4)(3)(1)]

Letha [Manhole near Safehouse]

"I'd like to go down there and see where it leads, or who might be using it and why," she said to Andromeda as the other woman joined her near the bushes. "But it will have to wait. I won't risk the job, or splitting up the team more than it already is. Its a potential security risk, but I think sealing it up will have to be enough for now."

Letha knew she didn't have to necessarily tell Andromeda all this. She had a habit of voiceing her thoughts aloud, partly to consider them better and partly to let her partners know what she was thinking in case they had any thoughts to add from their own expertise and knowledge.

After Andromeda set to work on the maglock, Letha returned to the car to keep watch on the package and await the arrival of the rest of the team.

The package needed to be transferred to the 'Panic Room' but she wanted to make certain the perimeter was secure before moving into the house and securing the interior. She didn't want her actions, or lack of, to jeopardize the success of the job. She wanted to do it right, and if that meant going to extremes to insure the safety of the package, then extremes was exactly to where she would go.

Bark returned to find Andromeda working on the maglock. He stepped their, thinking of offering help, but then he saw that the girl knows what she's doing.
So this way, huh? - he murmured - Watch your hands, Andromeda, these covers are awful' easily booby-trapped from the inside.
Then he walked to the car, checked on the package.
"Now where the hell are the others?" - he wandered.

Letha [Outside Safehouse]

Letha watched as Bark checked with Andromeda then approached the car and looked in on the package.

"Now where the hell are the others?" he said to no one in particular.

Letha, however, had been wondering the same thing. It had been too long with no sign or word from their absent teammates.

"I'd better call and find out what the holdup is," Letha responded to Bark's question.

Calling up Z's commcode, she spoke when the connection was complete:

"Hey Talker, its Letha. You guys decide to do some sight-seeing? Or did you sneak off to have some drinks and ogle a few 'packages' without lil ol me?"

Letha giggled at her joke, but her momentary humor faded quickly as the seriousness of the situation reasserted itself.

"I don't like this. We're split up. We need to secure the package, and we find a 'secret' access to the 'safe' house. As soon as Andie finishes sealing that manhole, I think we should get the package inside. I'll feel better once its inside the Panic room."

She looked at Bark for any response he might have. She knew there had been some tension between them, for which she regretted if only for the effect it might have on their working efficiency, but she still could not let any 'ruffled feathers' deter her from fulfilling her part in this mission. Too often she was taken as an 'air-head bimbo' and she knew her fashion choices and open pursuit of physical pleasures did nothing to discredit this kind of attitude with most people. But she was a competent woman and an asset to her teammates, whether they knew it or not. So she did what she had to do, even if it meant taking harsh comments and disrespectful looks and condescending attitudes as par for the course. She would prove her worth, even if only to herself.

Bark felt uneasy, standing on the street, with the metaphorical bulls eye on his back, knowing that unknown elements are hiding below (and maybe around) them.
He checked his grenades, throwing knifes, ran a diagnostic on his cyberware systems and everything checked out. Yet the feeling remained.
To break the silence and maybe ease the tension, he turned to Letha:
"Nice finding. I didn't think he or she would go down. But I checked every other direction, and the streets seem to be clear. Maybe it was just some sewer rat, seeing if he could score some easy grab. But to show up exactly in the few seconds when we were not here... - he said in a concerned voice - This shows we need to be extra careful, count in every possibility, even if it seems unlikely. So I think when the others are arrived and the package sits safely in the room, we should sit down and talk this over between us. More eyes see more point of view, my mother used to say. "- he smiled with a hint of sadness.

As Bark spoke, Letha nodded in agreement. The only addition she made to his points was something she knew he probably realized as well, but she voiced the thought anyway, just to have it in the open and acknowledged between them:

"It could have been just a coincidental nobody, but the maglock on the manhole tells me it wasn't a random thing. I think you're right, we'll need to make some kind of plan for how to handle it once the package is secure."

Having said that, Letha told Bark she wanted to check on Andromeda's progress and moved back toward the bushes. She had noticed Bark's sad expression at the mention of his mother, and though she could appreciate and sympathize with the ork man for whatever the memory was that brought on his reaction, the time for telling and sympathizing would have to come later. Right now they had a job to do and it had to take priority.

"How's that coming?" she asked Andie when she drew near.

Z [Cruising around in a taxi cab]

Over the link to Letha:
"Hey Big and Sexy, I'm still alive, thanks for checking in."

"This is taking a little longer than expected, seems like some unforseen circumstances have come up and I may have to make a stop before..."

"DREK its the cops, gotta go."

@Z and Isabelle [Taxi]

Out of the darkness a double set of headlamps followed closely by strobing blue and red pulses. The taxi quickly pulls to the side of the street. Minutes pass as the vehicle just sits there. The doors finally open and the driver walks to the taxi. He says a few unintelligible words to the taxi driver on the other side of the dividing glass. Looking back at Z an Isabelle he raps on the window.

Evening ladies... or morning I should say. I need to see some identification, ... please.

Bark, Letha & Andromeda [safehouse]

The maglock is rather simple, looking to be a very early model. It takes Andromed an extra bit of time to crack the code as the programming is rather odd. It is indeed starting to feel rather ... naked out here...

"All done, The maglock is engaged again, let just hope they do not have the key. might be a good idea to burn this bush so the man hole is in the open." Andromeda looked at the other two "If the house is safe let's go inside, will be much easier to protect if we have cover. By the way, if you see things that need to be taken care in the house you know where to find me, and do not shy away to ask." Andromeda Went to the Shin and took out her Sniper, the package was not really her thing to carry, and in her head she went trough the calls
... Still no answear? Nor From Kouryuu, nor from Aron? whatš going on here? they usually call her back right away. ...

Z [Taxi Cab, sometime in the morning]

Z gives the officer one of her most charming smiles. "Good morning Officer," She says, "What seems to be the problem?" She pulls out her ID and hands it to the cop. (or sends it to his link or however the drek they do it now)

Isabelle pulls her SIN as well trying not to look nervous at the arrival of some random cop asking for ID to random people

As Andromeda readies her sniper rifle, Letha looks at the spot where the manhole is hidden in the underbrush.

"I don't think we should burn it," she says, shaking her head. "If someone else comes through there and sees the cover is blown, we'll play hell catching them and getting any useful info out of them."

She looks at Andromeda and grins.

"Whats-a-matter, HotShot? You going to tell me you couldn't pick off an intruder with that big, hard, sniper rifle you're packing?"

Letha gives Andromeda a wide-eyed, smokey leer, then bursts out laughing. She gives Romie a back-handed pat on the arm and heads back to the car.
Slipping the odd package - she actually dislikes handling the thing, mostly due to the (man? woman? thing?) person inside - out of the backseat, the girl-troll hefts it up onto her shoulder, closes the vehicle door, and turns to Bark.

"C'mon, Bark ol' chummer. Let's put Rip Van Winkle here beddy-by. I'll feel better once we're less...exposed."

Letha gave another mischievous grin at the idea of being exposed, then moved toward the safehouse's front entrance with a purpose.