Faction In Too Deep | Darkwire

[Darkwire Matron]

Deep below District 7 on Denon lies a chamber hidden from prying eyes, a labyrinthine maze of poor lighting, flooded tunnels, and collapsed maintenance shafts, all but forgotten by the ordinary Discretes and Corpos above. Here, in the murky depths, is where the Underground Revolutionaries known as Darkwire find refuge.

Called “The Tombs” by its current residents, this mysterious centerpoint of activity was originally founded by the Amavikka - a sub-culture of former & current slaves transplanted from their homeworld of Tatooine into the Denon System. The Amavikka would prove to be instrumental in not-only navigating the maze of underground caverns & tunnels, but also in aiding Darkwire in their survival against the Corporate Authorities and their Military/Enforcement Arm, CorpSec. Following an explosive attack on a Hover-train Line perpetrated by members of the Seven Corners Cell, The Tombs opened its doors as a refuge from those who would see them either imprisoned or killed in the street.

Above them in the district, CorpSec tightens the noose, strangling any Shadowrunners or their sympathizers who still roam free. Contained and boxed in, Darkwire finds itself trapped in the Tombs for the time being, sharing finite resources with no aid in sight. Only limited time remains for Darkwire to rest, heal their wounds —both physical and not— and press on toward daylight. Aided by experienced guides (who have become experts in navigating the numerous threats present in the darkness), Darkwire may begin to gather their strength & make plans for battles yet to come.

Objectives:

1. Environmental Hazards: A gas leak has rendered numerous chambers uninhabitable and many tunnels impassable. Colorless but with a pungent odor, the gas has already killed several Amavikka techs sent in to fix it, and stand in the way of Darkwire and an alternate exit. Rumors are that the tunnels can even reach to another district, but Darkwire will have to seal the leak —and contend with other dangers lurking in the depths— before they can discover an escape route.

2. Restock, Recuperate, Regroup: The Tombs has more than mere refuge to offer Darkwire in their time of need. Transformed into a miniature city block, The Slab offers a place to gather above its lower barroom tended by Gideon (who always has the latest news), while Trader's Row provides street-worthy wares to buy or barter for. Use the facilities to meet with your Darkwire operatives, recover the best you can, or discuss what to do about recent events.

​

 

[Peyton Steele]

Even for Peyton, a relative expert, of sorts, in the way of under-dog militia moves, she was still a bit blown away by what was going on. She knew that getting involved with Darkwire was going to be pitting herself against a larger enemy, with superior tactics, firepower, and well, man power. But here they were. After she had gotten the attention of some of the Corpos above, well, that was where she really realized that her firepower was lacking. Her skills though? That was what carried her through.

A few coming at her, and a few tricks of flash bangs, distractions in attacks, and going more for the injury than the full kill and Peyton found herself running. And that meant hiding. What she had was a connection to the TattChat but it wasn't enough. She had to get off the street.

The Tombs. That was going to be the refuge. But she didn't want to go empty handed.

Finding herself the quiet alley, she was able to use the shadows and the just… general state of the location to give herself a reprieve. Taking the second she pulled out her one last trick. A small remote communicator and linked it to her datapad. Typing a message for Cuan, she nodded.

She needed her eye in the sky. What she needed from him was to stay hidden but to take as many holos as he could. With a good heave, she threw the communicator to the balcony she saw, the one looking out to the open sky. Then she opened her datapad, the data was going to be wiped shortly anyway. Most of it was not necessary, she kept that with Cuan and on the ship. But as she started the communication, a burst that would give Cuan a bit of information and bring attention barreling down here, she started moving through the street.

Her first sewer grate? Well, she hated to do it, but it was her destination.

 

[Ruby Jaxx]

Tag: Open​

Ruby finally blinked.

Blurry vision returned. And pain -- lots of pain. A groan escaped her dry lips, and she turned her head to take in her new surroundings. It was dim and dank, somewhere she'd never been. At least, not that she could remember. Ruby didn't even know how she'd ended up here.

The shadowrunner closed her eyes for a long moment and tried to piece everything together.

She remembered their group: Doc, Anakin, and Johnny. After hopping that fence, she'd split off from them and took a few blows by a pretty nasty Corpo weapon. Her hand moved up towards her face, and she winced when she touched her jaw... the skin was cut, bleeding, and terribly sore. Just like her ribs, probably broke a few. Trying to sit up made her head blaze with electric pain, so she gave up. She, like many other wounded, were being laid out on the damp ground, a staging area.

There were a few other shadowrunners trying to do for them what they could.

But the tell-tale look of panic on their faces told a grim story. Ruby couldn't totally grasp just what the situation was, her brain was scrambled. She knew it wasn't good, though. As someone started to move past her, she reached out for their ankle.

"W-" she started, but coughed -- her throat was too dry. "W-where am I?"

 

[Ivory Stroud]

On the way to Denon...

Without the comforting illumination provided by a small hand-held torch, the cramped confines of her private tomb would have been oppressive. Secreted away in the bowels of the freighter, Ivory had little in the way of comfort; much like the jail cells she’d languished in the past, she had only a thin padded cushion to sleep and a single crate from-which to eat a can of luke-warm rations. It was certainly not the ideal way to travel to Denon… but it had taken her some considerable time & effort to even locate someone willing to make the trip.

Whatever had happened in her absence had been enough to stir the Hornet’s Nest, and most smugglers seemed loath to tempt any interaction with C-BoP - CorpSec’s Customs & Border Patrol. With luck, however, she’d met one… a Zabrak named Vetru who came highly recommended. His ship, The Azimuth, was a peculiar mix of high & low-tech with a peculiar shape; the way her host spoke of it, it was clear he was proud of the vessel, and just as proud of his skill as a pilot. Ventru had accepted her offer of 10k Credits - half up-front, and the remainder on delivery.

Accompanying her on her return to Denon was one of The Family’s Made-members; the Ubese Bounty Hunter Diocletian Kahmen’’a , who would serve as her bodyguard & protector. Nearly a month had gone by since she’d left Denon in a hurry - escorted from the planet after a failed kidnapping attempt by the Zeros in retribution for The Family nearly wiping out their power base. Her savior, Dominik Borra , had returned her safely to Coruscant, and in the interim, Darkwire had conducted what Ivory had assumed (at the time) would be a simple political play…

…but instead, had turned into an all-out war throughout District 7 and resulted in Martial Law across the district. Nobody in Darkwire had attempted to make contact with her, nor had they received any messages she’d sent. For most of their trip in the freighter (before directions from their Captain to make themselves ‘comfortable’), she’d nearly worn a rut in the durasteel with her worried pacing. Diocletian had tried to help her relax but had been unsuccessful.

The news from Samuel Exel that things had not gone according to plan had her deeply concerned.

Before crawling into the small compartment which would serve as her home for the next few hours, Ivory thanked her host & patted Diocletian on his armored shoulder. She’d given the Ubese warrior answers to all his questions, inwardly thankful that she’d chosen the stoic, taciturn soldier over someone else who might have been more chatty.

Alone in her little box, secreted away in The Azimuth’s Neuranium-lined cargo bay, she took some time to do something she rarely did of late… She took the time to close her eyes, and quiet her mind.

 

[Diocletian Kahmen’’a]

Location: Enroute to Denon
Objective: Protect Ivory
Equipment: Scimitar Railgun Carbine Rifle Thermal Detonators
Tags: Ivory Stroud | Vetru | Open

___________________________________________________________​

Ivory had directly asked him to join her for a mission to Denon, and he accepted, no questions asked. She needed him by her side. He was briefed on the details as they went to the port. Diocletian and Ivory were secreted away in the bowels of the freighter, covert operations and all that.

The Ubese cares little for spaciousness and comfort. He would sleep where he could, even standing up when no beds were available. Thankfully, he had packed a blanket, so he didn’t have to sleep standing up.

Nobody will dare hurt Donna while he is there. If anyone tries anything, they will get a sword to the face and then some. The most important job of his career, more so than hunting and capturing bounties.

He had made sure everyone else kept their respectful distance from his boss. He tried to stop Ivory from pacing. He attempted to stop her, for both their sakes. She could pace right out of the ship if she kept going, and the suction would pull him into space too.

In Space, no one can hear you scream.

Despite his efforts, he failed to cut the tension and calm Ivory from her rising panic, so he backed down, as he didn’t want to make her mood worse. The thing with nervousness is that it is contagious, and he needs to be at the peak of alertness, as he protects Ivory no matter what.

When Ivory eventually turned in, the Ubese stood guard silently. There is no weather in space unless you count endless darkness as any kind of weather.

It is bland and endlessly boring too.

 

[Vetru]

Ivory Stroud Diocletian Kahmen’’a

Vetru always found the cerulean swirls of hyperspace calming. It was his home. Or rather, this ship travelling between the stars was his home. He had been raised here, he suspected he would die here.

That suspicion was born of ignorance. Vetru hadn't realise quite how irksome his cocksure attitude had been to some remarkably dangerous people over the years.

Vetru eased back on the hyperspace controls, dropping them into real space on the edge of the system. Reaching over his head, he flicked two switches to run on covert mode.

The cockpit went dark. The engines ran as cool as possible, active scanners were disabled and the Azimuth drifted towards Denon.

It should have been smooth sailing.

For five minutes it was. The star at the centre of the system slowly resolving from a pin prick to a small disk.

His console beeped. He was being scanned. The comm flashed.

"Unidentified vessel, come to a halt and wait for escort and inspection."

Ventru sighed and hit several switches. The lights returned, the reactor hummed into full power operation and the sensors did a sweep. Instead of a few stations and corporate vessels the sky was full of ships. There were even some Alliance vessels out there, ships with much more advanced sensors than the corporate authorities.

Whatever was going on down there, it was hotter than he had realised. Warnings appeared as his sensors picked up small ships on an intercept course.

Vetru switched on the internal intercom.

"You two had better come up here and strap in. We're going to be doing this the hard way."

 

[Daiya]

(Post Soundtrack: "The Corner Dwellers" by Vocal Few)

The sensation of a breeze lifted her head from the work, searching for its source. Here, locked deep in the Midnight Zone, nestled inside the broken metro station where The Tombs had sprung up, there was no air moving but the slow circulation of struggling environmental controls. The kind that the teen had grown up surviving on, living where no breeze or sun touched her skin. Here, in the bowels of Denon's endless city, Daiya found herself entombed by the weight of her choices in the levels above.

She took a deep breath, and the chill stuck in her throat. The teen wasn't used to the cold any longer, or being this far deep in the city. It was comforting in an odd way, with the odd compulsion to glance up toward the sensation of a breeze. Or look for a glimpse from a window. Then Daiya shook her head, tossing the messy pink locks she hadn't bothered to put up again. Just like a phantom limb, she figured, and turned back to her work.

There were so many of them. It seemed like the least the young shadowrunner could do, but the sight of all the wounded and hurt drove a spike through her heart. Daiya looked over each with her medscanner, letting it tell her what her eyes didn't want to see. It wasn't part of her armor typically, but she was grateful to have found it in the extra holster pocket anyway. The birthday gift from Doc Painless proved to be an invaluable tool as well as a reminder of his absence, and Daiya couldn't help wishing he was here to remind her what could be done for each of the shadowrunners she looked at. Or at least to keep her from wondering with each blaster wound, every broken limb, or through all the harrowing stories of their survival.

Is all of this suffering because of me?

Daiya tried desperately not to think of it. Yet the more she focused away, the more it invaded her thoughts. Wriggling and clawing its way in, the thought settled into a throne of discomfort, goading her with every patient under her care. The teen didn't have a clinic, she barely had a medkit that was quickly growing empty, sparing what she could for the worst affected. Her own hurts had been cast aside, she groaned or winced through every movement, pushing on despite it all. The flickering relief in the eyes of her fellow shadowrunners, the brief warmth as hands offered what little thanks they could, wasn't nearly enough to sustain her.

Still, she pressed on. The young shadowrunner saw others helping the ones arriving wounded, even a few who managed to scrounge up real bacta from storage deeper in the Tombs. Seeing it sent relief through her sore muscles, wiping again at the hands she had already washed of the blood. Daiya pointed back at the runner with seeping bandages, feeling the pull of a smile on her face to see the life-preserving medicine reach at least one being in need. She blew out a breath, unable to steady the leaping presence of her heart inside, and the teen glanced once more to the slowing line of shadowrunners creeping into their new refuge.

"Where are you?" The plaintive sound escaped her lips in a whisper, and she felt heavier still for it. Some of her friends were already accounted for, Hex and Das had preceded Daiya's arrival in the forgotten metro tunnels. Even the underfoot Squib was here, and he seemed just at home as the Amavikka who had carved out one for themselves after the groundquake. Her desperate eyes searched for others, their names a fleeting breath on her lips, feeling less real with every passing second. Daiya would happily take the sight of them trudging in like the specters that walked, hollow or hurt, into the renewing light of the Tombs, as dazzled by the sanctuary as she was.

"W-where am I?"

The grip on her ankle was firm, Daiya nearly stumbled as she caught herself a moment before. She crawled back, drawing in a sharp breath at the sight of the shadowrunner before her. Wide eyes took in the elder Jaxx sister, her swelling jaw and grime-covered form. Relief flooded its way through her veins, and the teen fumbled a few times before she could pull out the medscanner again. "Oh, Ruby!"

"You're safe, it's okay," Daiya could hardly keep down the whimper threatening to take over her throat. She managed to swallow it, pushing back her thoughts to look at Ruby Jaxx as just another shadowrunner. Another patient, just injuries to be found and treated. She could...mostly. "It's okay, you're safe," Daiya repeated, uncertain if that was for her benefit or Ruby's at this point. "You're in the Tombs."

That wasn't always the most comforting of news for some of the others she had encountered, either. Daiya's brow furrowed at the readout, wiping off a fleck of dust obscuring the results. "You've got a mild laceration on your jaw, it's cut but not too bad. I don't think it's infected yet, but I'm gonna clean it anyway."

The young shadowrunner turned to her medkit, glancing at its paltry stock remaining. The medical-grade gauze was gone now, all she had was the torn scraps of cloth one of the Amavikka had provided her. It wouldn't have satisfied the Doc, but with enough disinfectant...and of course that was almost gone as well. Daiya looked bitterly out at the crowd and toward the line again, hoping she wasn't wasting something vital now. Soaking the cloth in the disinfectant, she touched it to Ruby's cut jaw. "It'll hurt, but it'll help so hold still. You've got a fractured rib too, on your right side, but I can't do much for that without more bacta. Just take it easy for now, it'll hurt like chit to breathe until it doesn't, m'kay?"

Luckily ribs would heal on their own, despite being a pain in her side all the while.

"What the feth happened out there, Ruby?" Daiya couldn't stop herself from asking as she worked, the whirlwind outcome of the bombing had sent her into tunnel vision. The more she heard, the more the young shadowrunner realized everything she hadn't noticed on her flight through the district above them. "Did Brie and Cartri find you? Or Doc? Cassus? Peyton...?"

She trailed off her list of names and sat back to take in the one name in front of her, reassured that her best friend's sister was going to be fine after this. Ruby just needed rest, like all of them down here. If they were ever going to get out, if they were ever going to get revenge, Darkwire was going to need a moment to pull itself back together.

Before it could do that, before Daiya could do that, they needed all of its parts intact.

And there was no medscanner or training for that job.

Ruby Jaxx​

 

[Hex]

Objective 1. Environmental Hazards

Tag: Daiya Peyton Steele Ruby Jaxx Ivory Stroud Diocletian Kahmen’’a

Location: The Tombs
Objective: Reunite with darkwire

Spoiler: Equipment

• Powderpunk armor on loan from Daiya
• Guarderma HE suit metallic pink hex pattern with mag boots
• ap-25i SIMP pistol
• 'Candles' Heavy particle blaster
• 'confetti' Rocket launcher
• Party Poppers (6 explosive, 2 gas)
• 2 x Iadrium charges.
• Dancer repulsor board
• Dervish Knife
• Cheap data pad and communicator
• Hand held plasma cutter

Spoiler: Hex dialogue colors

Poor Hex hears voices in her head

Hex speech to others
Hex speech to herself

Hexes inner voices
'...Neutral...'
'...Doubt...'
'...Anger...'
Coloured '.....' are also words that Hex can hear , but I decided not to write them to reduce clutter

Hex walked down the corridor behind the Amivakka that had allowed the three of them into the tombs, there were eyes on them from all around, the brightly coloured trio stuck out like a sore thumb. The man spoke without turning around, as if had had read Hex mind. "They are fearful because what you all do above affects everyone, even us down here. The Seccers will be looking for you" He gestured towards a holoscreen which showed news footage of corpsec and emergency vehicles surrounding the burning wreckage of the train. "And if they come here, it will be my brothers and sisters that pay the price." There was a measure of fear and anger in his voice.

"What we are doing is for the good of all the people of Denon!" Hex retorted almost mockingly.

He spun round and pointed his bony finger at Hex and looked at her under his hood, scars marked his face and one eye was replaced with a cybernetic. "Tell me how, little blue! right now, tell me how blowing up a train and bringing the wrath of the corpsec benefits us all?"

Hex felt his eyes coreing into her soul and she opened her lips to speak but nothing came out.

"I didn't think so..." He turned back to the path on which he led them.

'...He can't talk to us like that!...'
'...He did, and he's right...'
"Oh shush, not now" Hex's voice was beginning to crack.

"Voices little blue?"

She gasped and paused for a few moments looking at both Under Foot and Das . The synthetic material of her suit creaked as she clenhed her fists and caught up with them. "How dare you! My friends might have died today to try and make things better on Denon!" It was true that Hex herself did not get to see the bigger picture and some people might say thay her little part of it was just reckless terrorism, but she was part of something now. The man in front of them stopped and sighed. Before swinging round again and catching Hex by the wrist. His hand extended from his robe and his arm was pitted with sores from a long life in a harsh environment. He looked into the pink and blue eyes of the teenager, shrinking her with his glare.

"It's so easy to say, "i would die for my cause"? Isn't it?" his voice was stern "If you are truly willing to risk your life for others.... prove it!"

He gestured at a corridor that had been cordoned off. Several dark bags lined the blackened corridor and the word "Gas" was daubed on the walls in red paint. Hex looked at the corridor and looked back at the man, she instinctively tried wriggling out of his grasp. Fear was beginning to swirl in her mind but she could not remove herself from the gaze of the Amivakka.

'...You have your other arm... shoot him...'

"I assure you, little blue, if you kill me, you and your friends will never make it out of this place alive."

A tear ran down Hex's cheek as she reached for her blaster, before her arm went limp and she weakly nodded "Ok"

"Good..." the man said, releasing his grip on the poor teen's arm. She instinctively pulled it close to her chest fearfully, before wiping her tear way from her pretty pink eyes.

"Down that path is our home, but we cant go in there, the gases from below have rendered ot deadly to life. Your suit might protect you, but it might not.... prove you are willing to risk your life for the forgotten peoples of denon. Succeed or die, you will have proved yourself honorable, and your friends will he treated as such. Refuse and you will have proved my point." He turned and walked away leaving her.

Hex looked at her two friends, Underfoot was a scrapper and mechanic, Das was a slicer, they could do this right? Hex's suit was in poor shape after months of using a hazard suit in combat, but its seals were intact and she could probably cope, if it wasnt anything too nasty. Neither of them wore hazard suits, so would need to help remotely or obtain them "You two aren't kitted out for this right now, so I don't mind trying on my own, but yeah...." she shrugged and gestured with her head. "I suppose I better get started."

Hex's grin finally came back to her and she gave a wicked and slightly detached smile to the other two. "Wish me luck"

 

[Brie Jaxx]

Location: Not far from Tomb Station
Objective: Reunite.
Tags: Cassus Akovin , Cartri Keswoll , Daiya , open!
Continuation of Fate of Denon
​

Spoiler

The bulky yet surprisingly light boots touched the solid ground below them with a thud, as Brie let go of Cassus' shoulders and took a few uneasy and shaky steps back after their totally insane plummet through hundreds of Denon levels.

''That was...'' she begun and supported her forehead some, feeling a bit dizzy, but quickly suppressed that feeling knowing they were not entirely safe yet. ''... some heavy chit, Cassus...!'' she uttered, trying to crack that helmeted face a smile. It had worked! They were alive! They hadn't been turned into three gross spots on some airspeeder windshield! All along, thanks to him! If those boys had any issues with eachother after this endeavour, Brie wouldn't know what to think! He had saved their fething lives, but they had no time to waste for gratitudes right now.

Brie took a few deep breaths to regain some strenght - fighting an unknown entity of a monster with inhuman strenght and power were far from a walk in the park for the young shadowrunner - before she checked their surroundings and saw a man studying them from across the dark street. According to their calculations, they should be at the right place. Tomb Station. The enterance to safety, one hidden from detection by the corpos; The Tombs. Brie took the chance and ran across the street, pulling up her sleeve as she did and revealed her Darkwire tattoo around her right wrist, showing it to the man.

''Hey! We need a doctor! QUICK!'' Brie pleaded before the man, who after a thought of two, nodded them in the direction of a hidden enterance.

''We need to contact Daiya! How are you holding up, Cartri?'' she uttered and threw a quick glance at ginger boy when she rejoined them. Brie brought up her wrist and began broadcasting at the Darkwire net.

<''Daiya! Me, Cassus and Cartri are just passing through Tomb Station. Uhh... Cartri is pretty beat up... We're getting a doctor for him, but you should come... He needs you...''>

 

[Under Foot]

[ post theme ]​

This was bad.

Not bad as in, people are returning merchandise and want refunds, but arguably even worse. They'd gone to ground, but they all had targets painted on their backs and the Amivakka did too.

Because they were here.

It had created a rather tense landlord-tenant issue, which not even a free couch was going to be able to solve.

Well, it seemed the Amivakka had an idea of how to solve it. And the risk-to-return valuation was raising questions in the Squib's mind.

Hex seemed to have reservations as well.

Oh well, at least they weren't being asked for a security deposit...

"You two aren't kitted out for this right now, so I don't mind trying on my own, but yeah...."

The fox-like alien's fur bristled. With all the potential chemicals down here, they'd all need a week in a refresher to try and clean it all off. And at least two-thirds of them probably caused cancer in womprats.

"My goggles should be able to differentiate the gas particles and trace back the leaks," the Squib remarked, trying to offer a helpful suggestion to what otherwise seemed like a rather intimidating task.

But, a journey of a thousand steps and all that.

Glancing over at Das , Ree inclined his head as he added, "I have some enviro suits on the garbage speeder. I'll run back and grab those, then come back here and help you sniff out the source."

As the two-tailed Squib turned to leave, he heard Hex say, "Wish me luck"

As he walked, Ree glanced back as he answered, "Don't you humans say luck be a lady or something like that?"

Hex was a lady. And Emily was a lady. Chances were, at least one of them was going to lucky. "Well, we've got two of you here, so I'm sure we're fine. Just don't do anything explosive until I get back."

As he started to jog away, the Squib's voice echoes back as he added,

"Or after I'm back for that matter!"

 

[Ruby Jaxx]

Ruby had probably never been so happy to see the blonde teen.

Though, she didn't smile because it hurt too much. And even if she was safe, there was little relief in that fact. She let Daiya assess her wounds and begin treatment. As the gauze touched her jaw, she winced hard and squirmed a little under Daiya's ministrations. However, she did her best not to jerk her head away.

"I don't know," she said, honestly.

What had happened out there? One moment, she was sulking in her basement home, and the next she was running for her life. "I was out there with Doc, Anakin, and Johnny--" Ruby cut off. Daiya was right, it hurt like hell to breathe. "Got separated."

Worry twisted her stomach as she realized they weren't with her. What had happened to them?

"Brie," Ruby said. "Where is she?"

Daiya

 

[Cartri Keswoll]

Location: Denon
Objective: Survive
Attire: Link
Tags: Brie Jaxx / Cassus Akovin / Daiya

Cartri had lost track of everything by the time they reached the tombs. Who knew how long the trip took, a few minutes to him may have been a few hours. Either way, all of them had made it, some worse than others. In Cassus arms, the ginger was getting weaker by the minute. His clothing was covered in blood and his body was limp. It was clear Cartri was on dire straights now, without any medical attention he was sure to lose what remaining blood he had left.

Breathing heavily, Cartri was struggling to keep his heavy eyes open much longer. Even so, he was looking for the person who meant everything to him.

Daiya... if there was one person in these tombs he'd want with him it was her "D-daiya... F-u-fuck..." Cartri said hoarsely, his eyes desperately trying to catch a glimpse of her. If this truly was the end of the road, he wanted to see her face one last time.​

 

[Peyton Steele]

Once in the sewer, that was the problem. It was at least humid down here. The blubreen shook her head as she moved to the side of the tunnel out of the flow of everything. Peyton knew she'd have to get a little dirty to get safe, such was the nature of getting to the Tombs, but there was nothing in the contract that said she needed to be happy about it. She pulled a glowstick out from her suit and activated it. The warm red light was at least somewhat helpful as she continued her route to the Tombs.

Avoiding the surface was going to be important. She hoped her partner was fine as an eye in the sky and knew she'd have to head topside to reestablish communication, but Cuan was smart, he knew how this all worked.

First goal was to get with Darkwire, see what was needed. She was all for fighting for a cause, but she wasn't about to throw herself away for it if the cause was gone. The hybrid doubted it was a situation where they were all gone, but it still didn't make her want to rush off to blow up some corpo building for no result. Getting the group back, and creating a proper offensive was the important thing.

She had a map installed into her suit and was making her way there. The woman was a warrior, she just needed to find the others who were ready to fight, resupply and get back topside. The longer they hid, the longer the corpos had to get their proverbial ducks in a row.

But it was probably hover tanks.

The blonde stepped through one of the thresholds, and looked around.

Oh.

 

[Ivory Stroud]

Bringing her immediately out of her meditation, a voice piped up over the loudspeaker - that of their Devaronian pilot:

"You two had better come up here and strap in. We're going to be doing this the hard way."

With a sigh, Ivory levered herself up onto her feet and stepped out through the small bulkhead, joining Diocletian Kahmen’’a inside the small cargo hold. "I guess a quiet ride was too much to ask for. Let's go. Hopefully, this guy is worth the credits."

With that, she led the way out of the cargo-hold; climbing up a short ladder to remove the hidden bulkhead panel, and climbing out into the main deck of The Azimuth. Dio followed, and she helped him up... before suddenly struggling with her balance as the ship rocked violently. With a curse, she reached out to steady herself on one of the walls, throwing her bodyguard a concerned look. Once he was successfully out of the hole, she kicked the floorplate back into place, then began to move quickly toward a set of seats nearby; selecting one and sitting down in it roughly.

"Strap in, Dio!" She ordered, as the ship violently shuddered again. Were it not for the inertial dampeners, it would have been much worse.

"What's going on up there!?" She yelled, expecting her voice could reach all the way to the cockpit. The Mafiosa suspected she already knew the answer.

Customs & Border Patrol.

Vetru

 

[Das]

Location: The Tombs | Objective 2: RRR | Soundtrack: Everything Is Going Great

Das stood still as Hex went toe-to-toe with the Amavikkan. Her focus was dead-set on her dad, staring at him like he was a ghost. He looked just as surprised as she did, shocked beneath his new veneer of stubble and age. He hardly resembled the well-kept, tidy man she remembered from before the riots. He looked tired. Weathered. Lost.

He looked like a Shadowrunner.

Her gaze remained fixed on him, unwavering despite the rising tension right beside her. It wasn’t until the doorman grabbed Hex by the wrist that Das snapped out of the daze. She stepped closer, her hand instinctively balling into a fist, but when she heard the man’s words, she eased off…

Was what he said true? Darkwire destroyed the train? Das’ frosty eyes slowly turned to Hex as the realization dawned on her. Was she the one who orchestrated the bombing?

Were they the bad guys now?

“Prove you are willing to risk your life for the forgotten peoples of Denon.” Her gaze flashed to the hooded man, and for a moment, Das could’ve sworn she saw his pain.

Years of hiding underground, living like scavengers under corporate apostasy - she couldn’t begin to imagine what that was like. The strong possibility that it was partly Darkwire’s fault made her feel even worse. She spent last two years clawing and scratching at CorpSec, but now she wondered if they’d done more harm than good. Perhaps this was their chance to make things right. Or at least to start.

Hex certainly seemed to think so. That, or her notorious love of danger was talking for her. Das looked down at her getup, which was probably the farthest from an air-tight hazard suit you could get. Luckily, Under Foot took off with a start, shouting something about explosions and extra gear.

Das wasn’t exactly focused on the Squib, though; The moment she knew Hex was safe from the Amavikkan, her eyes were scanning the crowd where her father stood. A sharp pang shot through her chest when she realized he wasn’t there. She stood on her toes, trying to get a better look over the people passing by, but it was no use. She’d lost him.

Again.

---

Tags: Hex ; Under Foot ​

---

 

[Hex]

Objective 1. Environmental Hazards

Tag: Daiya Peyton Steele Ruby Jaxx Ivory Stroud Diocletian Kahmen’’a

Location: The Tombs
Objective: Reunite with darkwire

Spoiler: Equipment

• Powderpunk armor on loan from Daiya
• Guarderma HE suit metallic pink hex pattern with mag boots
• ap-25i SIMP pistol
• 'Candles' Heavy particle blaster
• 'confetti' Rocket launcher
• Party Poppers (6 explosive, 2 gas)
• 2 x Iadrium charges.
• Dancer repulsor board
• Dervish Knife
• Cheap data pad and communicator
• Hand held plasma cutter

Spoiler: Hex dialogue colors

Poor Hex hears voices in her head

Hex speech to others
Hex speech to herself

Hexes inner voices
'...Neutral...'
'...Doubt...'
'...Anger...'
Coloured '.....' are also words that Hex can hear , but I decided not to write them to reduce clutter

Hex had a smile on her face as she realised her friends didn't expect her to go in alone. The fact that Under Foot had spare hazard suits was very handy, and not all that suprising considering his chosen profession, she had over four feet of hair, she knew the pain of getting chemicals in it and trying to get it clean again.

She looked at Das as Undie walked back to his truck to get the suits and tilted her head slightly, she wasnt good at this but had been around enough broken people to know when someone was hurting. She walked over and placed her arm around the neck of the other teen before speaking to her quietly. "Who was that guy? You know him? If youre not ok, thats ok, ok?" she giggled a little as she fumbled through her supportive words, before tightening her arm to bring Das into a hug.

'...She might not want to be strangled...'

She laughed and released Das before taking a few steps down the corridor towards the thick black backs that lined the edges, there was something sticking out of one of them, Hex bent down and had a closer look.

"My stars!" she called back to the others, "These bags have got bodies in them!" she touched the palid dried finger and it bent stiffly to her touch. Hex realised that the Amivikkan weren't joking that this was dangerous.

'...You cant do this, you'll end up in a bag if you try...'
"I have to, its my job now..."
'...You'll never see her again...'

A shiver went down her spine and Hex cracked her knuckles, spinning on her heels as ahe stood and spoke to her friends again. "We should go before I chicken out or something."

Once Undie and Das were suited up if they still wished to follow, they would be given a crude map of the area and pointed on their way. It was a little walk from the main corridor into the darkness until they would find a large heavy door that sealed off the contaminated sections. Beyond that, any chemical warnings on their suits, including Hex's would indicate high toxin levels in the air, a little red light at the top of Hex's helmet interior warned her not to deactivate the shield that was her only barrier between her and the outside world. Hex grabbed one of her braids that stuck out of the shield and lifted it up. She ran it between her fingers, wiping off beads of some chemical in the air that had condensed on her blue locks. The girl laughed nervously, "Let's get this done then I'm going to need a long shower." she wondered just how bad her hair might smell after all this.

 

[Daiya]

(Post Soundtrack: "In Case You Don't Live Forever" by Ben Platt)

Breath caught in her throat as she worked on Ruby's hurts, the teen had to force herself to exhale past it every time. In every second that passed, she waited for news of her friends, expecting the worst to pass from the woman's mouth. Daiya squinted, biting her lower lip in the effort to focus on her job. Ruby wasn't the only one hurt, nor was she the worst off, Daiya knew she would have to move on eventually.

When it came, the news might have crushed the young shadowrunner. Her eyes looked at Ruby, really looked, watching the elder Jaxx sister struggle with the same frustration she was. Try as she might, Daiya had found her communications blocked and the HoloNet completely down. The one hardwired connection the Tombs had to a newscast was playing little more than propaganda, the Corpo-approved version of events. It would hardly cover the details they both so badly yearned for, news of their friends, their whereabouts, even announcements of arrests would have been a welcome report to the constant paranoia that lived in its stead.

"Brie. Where is she?"

"I got—" Daiya started her answer, her voice brimming with the chance to share. She halted midway through her lies, her heart betraying her in the instant. That wasn't fair. The young shadowrunner didn't need to look around to be reminded of the others who were here, Ruby was lying hurt right before her very eyes. And it was all because of her. A breath in her voice as she drew in a breath, swallowing back the whimper that would betray her again. Daiya didn't want this guilt inside her, the ugliness that swam inside and churned her stomach sick.

And still, the teen knew it was going to hurt to confess her responsibility for the whole mess.

"I told her to go with Cartri, to keep them out of it," she admitted in a small voice. Her head turned aside, casting her eyes somewhere else than to look at Ruby now. Whatever relief she might have gained from her admission, Daiya wasn't about to let herself feel it right now. There were more shadowrunners left to tend, and thinking of herself wasn't going to make that easier to do. "I should have stayed with her, I know Ruby, please don't hate me. Cartri wouldn't let anything happen to her. Brie's safe, I know she's safe. I just...don't know where..."

For a moment, Daiya thought she had imagined the voice in her head. It would be just like her tumultuous thoughts to bring Brie to the surface, reminding her in the most torturous way of what she had left behind on that train. The specter's voice rang too close to the words her heart had written a hundred times in the voice of her best friend. Daiya! Me, Cassus and Cartri are just passing through Tomb Station.

"She's safe..." Daiya repeated to herself, a promise to herself even if Ruby didn't want to listen. The teen began to gather her things as as the voice continued in her head. She couldn't make herself stop listening to the words, hanging on to even the worst of her fears just to hear Brie one more time.

"...He needs you..."

Daiya jerked with a start, touching the comlink in her ear with a short gasp. It was as real as the words in her head, as real as the ones she had just heard through the comlink. He needs you. The teen sought the last few moments in her mind, working them over with her newfound understanding. "Oh my stars," she said at once, the alarm in her voice widening the shape of her eyes. Her hands harried to a rush, scrambling with the last few items for her medkit while she explained, "Brie's here, Ruby, and Cartri. He's hurt, I gotta go to him, he's..."

She couldn't bring herself to say it. We're getting a doctor for him, but you should come. The words clutched at her throat, closing it off to anything but her shuddering gasps of air. Daiya could hardly thing of anything else but for the state of the boy she cared for most in the galaxy. Meeting him, getting to know him, really know him, was one of the only things keeping her going in these days. As her eyes met Ruby's one last time, she could almost see a mirror of her own. What Ruby's sister meant to her, Daiya's boyfriend meant the same.

Daiya had enough wherewithal to promise a short, "I'll send her," before dashing away. She ran, thoughts of her duty and penance fleeing behind the teen as she rushed to find Cartri. His was the closest soul to hers in all the galaxy, Daiya knew his every freckle and the beat of his heart. Hers tried as best as she could to match it, its frantic pace skipping out of sync as her eyes scoured the Tombs entrance for sight of his perfect ginger hair, his kind eyes, his mischievous smile. They strained through the blurry dampness that assaulted the edges of her eyes, while the rest of her struggled through sniffling breathes and limbs that couldn't work fast enough.

Brie was covered in blood the first time she spied her best friend, nearly stopping Daiya dead in her tracks. Her voice cried out and she willed her feet to work, not wanting to see the worst of it all. Her best friend was standing, alert and looking just the same as Daiya, whose mind took another moment to register that fact. As she drew closer, the teen finally recognized the twisted form beside Brie, and then her limbs nearly did give out. "No..." she called out, tears staining across her reddened face. It was brighter than the red that stained the clothes he wore, the armor that was meant to keep him safe. "Cartri!"

She rushed the last few meters, flying across the distance to her boyfriend's side. Her hands hovered above his form, hardly daring to touch him. "Is he...?" she managed, her eyes finding the depth inside the man who carried him. Cassus stood strong where Cartri could no longer, setting him down on the filthy, debris-strewn floor of the Tombs. Daiya collapsed down beside him, her eyes hardly recognizing his pale, broken form. "Cartri, please, say something. Be here, please, be alive."

Her head touched to his chest, listening for that rhythm she thought she knew so well. It pulsed to a different beat, weak and erratic, and at last the teen remembered her medscanner. Her hands fumbled for it, grasping nothing in her palms, pointing instead with hapless guidance to her friends, "In the medkit, the scanner..." As she squeaked out the words, Daiya glanced up at Brie. It took everything she had to remember her promise, to remember herself as more than just the mourning girlfriend of the prone form beneath her. The teen managed to point her best friend in the direction of her sister, "Ruby's..."

Daiya was overcome by the sobs in her chest, turning back down to Cartri's again. Blood fled from his wound, swelling fiercely around the bandage already soaked red throughout. Tears swelled fiercely in her eyes, and the teen pressed her hands down on the bandage. "No, no, no," she looked over at Cartri, freeing one hand to brush the sweat-drenched hair from his face. "Cartri, please, Cartri, look at me?"

Sobs wracked her body, flooding up as she desperately pressed down to stem the flow from his wound. "Don't leave me, Cartri, please don't." It couldn't have been a blaster bolt, the way it bled so much, Daiya figured. Nothing made sense to her, not that anything had since the start of the day. "It's all my fault, I'm such a fething idiot," she told him, her guilt rushing up like so many tears, "This should never have happened!"

When he had appeared on the train, Daiya thought it was all ruined. Everything they had disagreed on, argued about, even nearly broken up over was at risk in that moment. She was convinced then that Cartri couldn't know of her involvement in the bombing, he would have hated her for it. Him being there, seeing who Daiya and her Darkfire contacts had decided on as their target, could have sent it all crashing down. It was a stroke of luck that his presence convinced the Jedi to follow her, and an even bigger stroke that Cartri trusted her enough not to.

"I failed you," the words came freely between her sobs now, unable to hold anything back. Daiya peered down at him, wishing they were talking about this over a drink instead. Maybe then he would have just laughed about it, or started talking about how to fix everything. More than likely, she knew, he would have been disappointed in her, at least at first. If only he could just be disappointed! "You weren't supposed to be there, you weren't supposed to know about the train today. That was between Hex and me and..." Daiya buttoned her lips to keep her silence, lest she betray the others who had helped her set up today's event. "It's all my fault that this happened. None of us was supposed to get hurt, just that Jedi. I didn't know she was a Jedi, just some Alliance higher-up. We were going to blow them up and it would've made the Corpos look bad to the Alliance, and then they'd be too busy to focus on Darkwire for a while. It was stupid, I know that now." Her words stumbled over each other as she repeated, "I'm such a fething idiot for all of it, it's all my fault."

"I never wanted you to see that, to be there, y'know? We decided not to argue about that part, remember? You wanted to talk to Denon, and talking's great, but we saw how it worked with the whole broadcast thing. Talking didn't work, Denon needs more than that to wake up. And you didn't wanna know, remember? I was trying to respect that, Cartri, I thought that's what you wanted..." Daiya couldn't know if Cartri remembered their tearful argument at her apartment, right after the tattoo-aided meeting with Darkwire. Her rage had been so fierce then, burning up inside of her. Seeing the train go up was meant to have been cathartic. It was meant to be easy!

"I was gonna meet up with you right after, I swear! I even asked Brie to watch with me, 'cause..." She didn't dare look at her best friend then, not wanting to see the hurt and betrayal in Brie's eyes either. It crushed Daiya to know that she had put two of her closest companions in such lethal peril. Her heart felt gripped by it, slowly suffocating her with each moment its grip tightened around the beating of her guilty heart. She pressed against Cartri's wound, hoping with every fiber of her being that she wasn't about to be responsible for the death of her boyfriend.

She liked Cartri too much for that. No, her body revolted against that idea. A fresh round of sobs came down upon her, as Daiya leaned in to kiss him. "I love you, Cartri." Her hand stroked through his hair, in the way he only ever suffered her to do. "I don't know why I never said that until now, I've felt it for a long time. You're the only one I ever want now, just please live, Cartri."

Daiya bent her head down to kiss him again, "You can't die, Cartri, I love you too much. Please forgive me, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen, I love you and I was just trying to keep everyone happy. Please look at me, and if you can say something, please...?"

Her ear pressed down to his chest as her eyes lingered on his, quieting the sobs that still escaped from her lips. Daiya just waited, listening and hoping to hear something from the boy she loved.

Ruby Jaxx Brie Jaxx Cartri Keswoll Cassus Akovin​

 

[Under Foot]

[ post theme ]​

The Squib returned, passing Das an enviro-suit that was supposed to be one-size-fits-all.

That usually meant one-size-fits-none. At least in his experience, but then he was only about a meter or so tall. Taller species might actually have better interactions with off-the-hanger suits.

As the Squib was squeezing inside of the suit that had been cut-down and then patched back together to fit him, he heard Hex call out.

"My stars! These bags have got bodies in them!"

Dropping his goggles over his eyes, the fox-tailed Squib dropped the suit's helmet over his head. He was still adjusting the sealing collar as he wade his way into the muck over where Hex was. The HUD on the goggles gave him all the data he needed on composition.

...or decomposition, as the case may have been.

And was, in this instance.

"Happens more frequently than you'd imagine," the Squib mused aloud. Checking the seal on his gloves, the diminutive alien set to work, sorting through the bags as he began to scan for vapor trails. As he worked, he said, "Sometimes I find 'em picking up trash in the lower levels. Other times, people seem to think my junkyard is the place to just dump a body."

Pushing the corpse out of the way, the Squib continued scanning.

"Been that way since anyone in my family can remember," he mused aloud as he worked. It was a rather morbid topic of conversation. If it could be called a conversation, it could have just been the Squib talking to himself. "We usually just dispose of them as quickly as we find them to avoid any attention from CorpSec."

Corporate Security.

If a bounty had been put out on him, then what did that mean for the junkyard?

"We should go before I chicken out or something."

Glancing over at the woman, the Squib realized something just then. There was nowhere to go. At least, not for him.

That didn't have to be true for Hex

He didn't want it to be. "Hey, it's okay. This is what I do. This is actually what I'm good at," the Squib remarked, adopting his usual cheerful, salesman demeanor. He actually considered making some pitch about satisfaction guaranteed, but it just never quite came together.

He wasn't making a sale and this wasn't business as usual.

It'd be pretty disingenuous to pretend otherwise. And that wasn't how he wanted to be with her.

"If you need to take a break, I got this," the Squib remarked finally. An oddly serious tone for him

"Either way, I'm here."

 

[Das]

Location: The Tombs | Objective 2: RRR | Soundtrack: Everything Is Going Great

“He- I—“ she stammered as Hex pulled her into another embrace. Das didn’t know what to say. Well, she did, but the words wouldn’t come out. Saying them aloud would make it real, and she wasn’t willing to lose him again.

Not now, not ever.

“If youre not ok, thats ok, ok?"

Das giggled at Hex’s sentiment, but her misty eyes betrayed what she felt inside. She knew that she could talk to her blue-haired friend about anything, and Under Foot too, but something told her it wasn’t the time. Probably the disturbing pile of body-filled trash bags.

When Undie returned with envirosuits in hand (or… paw?), Das gingerly accepted one. Without hesitation, she slipped her feet into the garment, zipped it up to her neck, and began sealing her wrists and ankles.

As she took the rebreather into her hands, she gave one last look at the crowd, hoping to every star in the galaxy that her ghost was still there; His absence was all the drive she needed to clip the mask over her face and step over to the tunnel entrance.

“Fuck it,” she said with teary eyes contradicting her determined grin.

“I’m right beside you, Hex.”

---

Tags: Hex ; Under Foot ​

---

 

[Peyton Steele]

Peyton had no clue what to expect when she entered the Tombs, but it clearly wasn't what she saw.

This was the stronghold? The rally point? There... well, it worked, but the Underground Operative found many items that needed to be addressed. Repairs and keeping this place standing was important, but if it was the rally? The point where people should be safe? A lot more needed to be said for the triage they had set up. Peyton shook her head. She had a few wounds but nothing her own internal focus, the Force be damned, it was her mental capacity that was responsible, could keep her going. Bumps and scarpes were the least of the worries here. And this was from an agent, not someone with medical training.

A few faces she recognized, those of Ruby Jaxx and Daiya . Where were the others? She'd find the ones that had come to her classes and check in on them, but apparently just before she arrived, so did others. Daiya was one of the kingpins for this little operation, but there was something that even from this distance, Peyton saw and knew better than to interrupt.

Where were the others?

They were going to need to move. Call it her singular focus, call it her getting out of the way, call it her not knowing what Darkwire wanted, but the Blubreen made two stops as she entered, one to the medical... area? Was that a tent? To restock and clean out the water on her suit, this planet was NOT good for her skin, quite literally. And the second? She was making her way to what seemed to be the armory.

She was going to prep this to be defensible, and to find a way to get the kids back into the fight, or out of harm's way.