Private Strap In

[Xan Deesa]

Denon/Yula's shop​

Evening/Rain​

"I'm telling ya, Yula's a solid bet. Still think she should make up her mind already on where her loyalties lie, but she's been solid in Darkwire over the years." Xan explained as she walked with Ivory through Baker's Row towards Yula's garage. Ivory was the first piece to acquire and that was an enormous boon in and of itself. With her ties to the Family and the Underworld, the two of them would have no problem to gain some very nice toys. "On top of that, she ain't useless with tech either. And she proved at Sakedo that she's willing to go hot and heavy if needed." She looked at Ivory with her neon mask gleaming in the darkened street. "Between you and me, though, I'd rather take another ride on that bike of yours... but work is work. Can't get sloppy on Denon."

When they finally reached the shop, Xan looked around for a bit. The security was really solid. Proximity alerts, cameras, whatever could keep Yula's place safe was set in place. A normal person would struggle to get into the place unannounced, likely even find it if Yula didn't want it to be found... but she wasn't a person anymore.

"I should have called, right? Maybe tell her that we're popping in for a drink and a chat?" She looked at Ivory then at the roller shutter that kept them out. "Kark it. Worked before, why not again?" With a maniacal chuckle she raised a foot and slammed it into the door, shattering it open for them to enter... and for every single alarm and sensor to go off. "Age before beauty." She joked as she gestured to the new entrance with a smug grin.

Yula Perl Ivory Stroud

 

[Ivory Stroud]

Ivory strode along beside the Neon Demon, one booted foot splashing in a puddle of oily water, listening as Xan Deesa talked. She didn't say much; purely along "for the ride", giving up control (for the moment) to the beautifully colorful electric wildcat. They'd left the sleek & powerful DH-17 Speederbike a short distance away; traveling on-foot in order to avoid the majority of any attention.

She knew a bit about Yula, but hadn't worked closely with the Zeltron woman yet. If she was telling the truth, she was actually excited to get to know the rogue Jedi. Yula's reputation preceeded her.

When the duo arrived in front of Yula Perl 's shop, ivory glanced both ways down the street, thinking Xan would attempt to breach using subtlety; perhaps hacking the door and disabling the security system so the two could creep in unannounced.

Instead, Xan did exactly what Ivory had not expected. The door smashed open at the impact of the colorful Demon of Denon's booted foot, and Ivory winced slightly at the sudden cacophony of alarms. She gave Xan a toothy grin before stepping forward, crossing the threshold of the damaged door and saying in retort: "Pearls before swine."

She'd let Xan lead the way. Clearly, her companion knew where she was going.

 

[Yula Perl]

When Xan and Ivory stepped through the newly made door to Yula's garage, they'd find themselves caught in the strong gravitational pull of a tractor beam projector that had been mounted on the inside wall.

A few loud footsteps later, the harried Zeltron herself appeared from a door at the far end of the room. Jaw tensed, she fired two shots from an ion blaster immediately—maybe she didn't recognize right away who'd broken into her small business, or maybe she did and felt the need to shoot them anyway. Whether they dodged, deflected, or were hit, Yula would grumble and press her hand to a palm scanner adjacent to the doorframe. Klaxons stopped blaring, and the miniature tractor beam deactivated.

"Really, Xan? A body made out of code and you couldn't be assed to slice your way in?" The digital Shadowrunner was capable but unconventional, as they all were. Making her way around a line of speeders waiting to be boosted and a scrap heap of ripped droid parts, she inspected the new hole in her durasteel shutter. "Feth, you're lucky I didn't grab my disruptor. CorpSec's got us on our toes since the ri-protest."

That didn't explain why they'd pummeled into her life. Not yet, anyway. If Xan and Ivory were really here to pose a threat or do some damage, they would've been crafty. That much she knew.

Tired and frustrated, she fixed them with an impatient stare. She had a Deputy Law marathon to get back to.

"Well? What is it?"

Xan Deesa Ivory Stroud

 

[Xan Deesa]

Of all the defenses Xan was expecting inside the moment she stepped in, a tractor beam was never on the list to begin with. Her body flung forward and a few ion bolts finished her off. The neon sputtered out and her lifeless body crashed to the floor. Her empty eyes stared up at nothing as the glow finally faded.

A short moment passed before a nearby holoprojector flickered to life with Xan's old look, complete with a very angry expression. "What the kriff, Yula?! Did you know it was me before or after you decided to pop a few ION BOLTS IN ME?!" She practically exploded over every speaker around them. The hologram massaged the bridge of her nose for a moment with a deep sigh before her golden eyes looked down that the body. "Um... can... can one of you just, uh... prop me up against the wall? I'll be up in a bit, just let the body reboot." She asked with a significantly more calm voice as she looked at the other two woman.

"Okay, now with that outta the way... Yula, meet Ivory. Ivory, meet Yula. Now where's the caf in this building? And by the way, Yula, your system is a pain in the ass to slice into. I've had easier times deleting my info from the NIO database than getting in here." The hologram stepped over the body as Xan went searching for the caf machine. "You might wanna make a mug or two for yourself, Yula. This conversation is gonna need it." She smirked, looking at Ivory for a moment. "You didn't bring a flask of that whiskey with you, by any chance?" She asked casually as she phased through the woman.

Whether or not Yula's reaction would be as passionate as Ivory's was still up for debate... but she really needed the caf. Even if only to get back at the Zeltron for frying her circuits. But she had a more dastardly plan in the works for that.

"But before we start talkin' about the juicy stuff... how was your day, choom? She asked with a sing-song voice as her hologram wandered through the shop.

Yula Perl Ivory Stroud

 

[Ivory Stroud]

The moment Ivory stepped through the battered remains of the roll-up garage door, she found herself bathed in a bright blue light; immediately weightless and unable to control her own body. Her feet violently left the ground as she tumbled in the air. "Wo-ah! Oh, shiii-"

At that moment, two sharp reports of blaster-fire sounded from deeper within the garage. Fortunately for her, her proximity to Xan Deesa saved the trenchcoat-wearing rebel from being struck by the two arcs of electricity which streaked in their direction. Unfortunately for Xan, however, the neon-colored Demon of Denon took the brunt of the sudden ambush. Ivory watched in horror as bolts of lightning raced across every inch of Xan's body; shorting out her neon mask and causing her brightly-colored body to convulse.

Suddenly, the miniature tractor-beam projector died and both Ivory & Xan's lifeless body crashed to the floor. Ivory landed on her belly, wincing at the impact - then crawling toward her companion's "dead" body. The look on Ivory's face was of total shock & horror as she glanced around the garage; spying Yula Perl staring at her from the staircase.

A short moment passed before a nearby holoprojector flickered to life with Xan's old look, complete with a very angry expression. "What the kriff, Yula?! Did you know it was me before or after you decided to pop a few ION BOLTS IN ME?!" She practically exploded over every speaker around them.

Before Ivory could begin to react, Xan's screeching voice flooded the air. A nearby holographic imager flickered to life, and Ivory leveraged herself into a kneeling position, looking from the body to the image which now stood staring angrily in Yula's direction.

"Um... can... can one of you just, uh... prop me up against the wall? I'll be up in a bit, just let the body reboot." She asked with a significantly more calm voice as she looked at the other two woman.

With the sudden rush of adrenaline already fading, Ivory offered Yula and the holographic image a sheepish smile as she began to do as Holo-Xan requested. She offered an embarassed half-wave in Yula's direction at the introduction. The sudden comedy of errors and resulting awkward moment would have been comical to anyone watching from outside. "Hi, Yula."

Ivory finished moving the lifeless android against one wall, brushing her hands off as Holo-Xan continued. She couldn't help but laugh to herself... The element of surprise had so decisively been lost that she'd remember this moment for the rest of her life.

"Yeah... I've got some." As Holo-Xan strolled through the garage, Ivory approached Yula and gave her a friendly (embarrassed) grin then shrugged, as-if to say "Wasn't my idea."

 

[Yula Perl]

"Maybe, maybe not." She sneered. There was just a hint of satisfaction in her voice from rendering Xan's proxy body immobile, at least for a few minutes.

Did Yula know that it was Xan before shooting? Who's to say, really. Still, she snorted at Xan's comparison to her security measures against the New Imperial's.

Ivory's greeting was returned with a cordial yet brief nod. Yula's nerves were still a bit touchy, almost as fried as Xan's circuits. "You couldn't, y'know…call first? Just haaaad to be all dramatic, didn't cha. Seriously! Who does that??"

Grumbling, she thumped down the stairs and made for the old caf machine tucked in the far corner of the garage. The brew wouldn't be as good as what she kept upstairs, but oh well. She stole another glance at Ivory, this one lingering on her face.

"You look familiar. Did I sell you a bunch of garbage rat droids?"

Soon they'd have three disposable plastoid cups of the worst caf on Denon. If there was whiskey available, Yula would stream some directly into her drink. There were heavy rings of fatigue around her eyes—or maybe those were the healing bruises she'd received after being beaten by CorpSec goons after being jailed.

"Cut the chit, Xan. As soon as you're booted, you two are helping me fix this mess." A pink hand waved impatiently towards the busted durasteel links Xan and Ivory had emerged from. For the moment, her curiosity needed to be slaked. What was so important that they had to seek her out in this way? Given everything that was going on around Denon, it could be one of many things.

"Get to it, choom."

Xan Deesa Ivory Stroud

 

[Xan Deesa]

The hologram's arms folded as she leaned forward just a bit to glare hard at the Zeltron. "Well obviously I do!" She retorted. "Besides, since when do Shadowrunners need to announce themselves!" She was losing the argument and she hated it. But not by a longshot was she going to relent first. "Ya know, this is why I steer clear of Zel- oh hey!" The hologram cut out and the body stood up with a bit of a wobble.

Xan turned to Ivory with a smug look and a mischievous grin. "Don't think I didn't notice the panic. You freaked the kriff out, choom!" She snickered away as she followed Yula. "Hey, Yula, did you see her reaction!" The snickering continued until the first sip of caf hit her lips, shutting her up immediately. She stared down at the plastoid cup with a disgusted look for a long moment, utterly shocked by the severe taste of the brew. "cybernetic lubricant tastes better than this stuff, what the hell- where's that whiskey?" She looked to Ivory, hoping that the Donna could save the drink to some degree.

"Get to it, choom."

The hyperactive attitude cleared out as Xan's technicolour gaze turned to Yula once again. "Ya know, why don't you cut out it with them negative waves?" She grumbled, taking another sip of the liquid bioweapon in her hand. "Alright, here's the deal. We were all at Sakedo. We all saw what happened there. So here's the pitch: How would you like to join me and Ivory to hit the corpos back a bit? Answer them in a way that they will be forced to listen to?" The sentence sounded a lot better in her head... but now it simply sounded like cryptic mumbo jumbo.

"Basically, how would you like to become a domestic terrorist?" She quickly followed, flashing a happy grin as she rested an arm on Ivory's shoulder to lean on the woman.

Ivory Stroud Yula Perl

 

[Ivory Stroud]

"You look familiar. Did I sell you a bunch of garbage rat droids?"

Ivory grinned at Yula Perl 's moment of recognition. Ivory had, in fact, not only six of the snarling, rabid little terrors, but also an augmentation - which she'd had installed shortly thereafter. "Yeah. They make decent guards... but they terrify the help. I assume that was by design."

Employees of the Star Lounge on Coruscant despised the little creatures, which Ivory had deployed in the back alley. Word on the street amongst the homeless population was to avoid that particular area if you valued your life. As Yula indicated the broken door and demanded the two eventually fix it, Ivory glanced back toward the damaged metal door; impressed at the sight, but also feeling a tad sorry. Xan hadn't given her much of a voice in the matter... and even if Ivory had attempted to stop her, she wasn't sure Xan Deesa , Demon of Denon, would have listened.

Yula was clearly frusterated, and Ivory decided it was best if she played diplomatic... She'd let Xan take the heat, and hopefully Yula wouldn't throw her out too.

Suddenly, the holo-gram stood up, and Xan arose from the dead like a cyber-zombie out of a B-rated Holo-vid horror flick.

Xan turned to Ivory with a smug look and a mischievous grin. "Don't think I didn't notice the panic. You freaked the kriff out, choom!"

Ivory couldn't help but laugh, momentarily embarassed as she joined her fellow Shadowrunners near the cafe machine. "Shut up." She muttered, taking a cup of cafe and taking a sip. Xan's reaction was much more open than her own... but she felt the same way. "Yeah, I've got it." Ivory said, reaching into her coat and extracting a metal flask which she promptly opened, pouring a healthy offering into Xan's cup first, then offering it to Yula before pouring some in her own. She figured they all needed a drink, anyway.

As Xan explained the reason for their visit, Ivory took a sip from the laced cafe; finding it somewhat more palatable than before... but not by much.

"Basically, how would you like to become a domestic terrorist?" She quickly followed, flashing a happy grin as she rested an arm on Ivory's shoulder to lean on the woman.

Ivory relaxed - the pair standing side-by-side, staring at Yula with a shared mischevious grin. Excitement and amusement equally sparkled in Ivory's beautiful violet eyes as she watched the Zeltron Technomancer with bated breath. She said nothing. Xan had pretty much summed it up... in her own way.

Xan would either love the idea... or shoot them both for real.

 

[Yula Perl]

"I didn't freak out, neon-for-brains." Yula mumbled against the rim of her plastoid cup with indignance. She most certainly had. Recent events had left her pretty high-strung, wary of CorpSec retaliation. Some of the Alliance senate members were trying to reduce corporatist power in their sphere, but Yula had her doubts. Denon wouldn't change without some massive shakeups.

Speaking of…

Hitting the Corpos back didn't sound like a bad idea, actually. She'd come into the part of Darkwire where they'd been actively antagonizing CorpSec, but in careful steps. A warehouse raid here, disrupted communications there. Sakedo had changed everything.

"Basically, how would you like to become a domestic terrorist?"

Yula choked in surprise, spitting watery caf back into the cup. She looked between Xan and Ivory, trying to discern whether this was a fething joke or an actual pitch.

No one was laughing. There was an expectant silence.

"Well, I, uh…" Wiping the caf dribbles on her chin with the back of her hand, Yula struggled to come up with an explanation of what had been going in her head over the past few weeks. CorpSec had labeled them an official terrorist organization directly after the protest-turned-riot, so Darkwire's future was uncertain. Would they crumble away and dissolve under the pressure? Or take to the shadows and hit the Corpos even harder than before? Part of Yula wanted to keep out of it, stay and run the garage.

She swirled the cup in her hand. This was a particularly tricky situation to be in—if she refused to join, would Xan and Ivory figure her to be a loose end in need of cutting? They were both dangerous.

All three of them together would be a potent kind of danger.

"This better not be just some kneejerk reaction." Taking another sip of her drink, she let the burn of additive whiskey slide down her throat before continuing. "We're terrorists to them anyway, just means they'll be coming at us harder than before."

Settling on one of the steps, Yula pulled a cigarette from her waistband and lit up.

"Hit them how? Killing civilians is my line in the sand."

Xan Deesa Ivory Stroud

 

[Xan Deesa]

As Yula mulled over the rather blunt offer, Xan glanced at Ivory and lightly tapped her with her cup. "Top me up, please, this stuff is garbage." She grumbled softly as she held her cup towards the Donna. It took a few moments of silent contemplation, but eventually Yula spoke up again with some rather valid concerns.

"Come on, Yula, when have I ever been known for kneejerk reactions?" Xan spoke up with a grin, glancing at Ivory. She hoped that nobody answered that question, pretty much all of her time in Darkwire consisted of kneejerk reactions... usually resulting in an explosive conclusion. Watching Yula pull a cigarette out, Xan huffed with a look of disappointment. "You know those things ain't good for ya, right? Especially on this planet, the pollution's bad enough." She protested as she took a long sip of the spiked bio weapon in her hands. "... You got any?" She quickly asked Ivory before Yula continued to talk.

Xan's demeanour shifted almost instantly as she studied the Zeltron. "Not by a longshot. Our targets are the corpos. We target areas that won't have civilians. And if there are civvies in the way, we get 'em outta the way first. Any factories, transports, operations, whatever... we get them out. Our goal's to turn the people against the Corpos, not give 'em a reason to turn against us. And I don't want Darkwire to get any more bad rep than it already has." She didn't even notice her rising tone until she stopped talking. She glanced at the two women then at her cup for a moment. "You can explain the details to her." She muttered as she walked back to the caf machine for a refill.

Ivory Stroud Yula Perl

 

[Ivory Stroud]

"Come on, Yula, when have I ever been known for kneejerk reactions?" Xan spoke up with a grin, glancing at Ivory.

Ivory turned her head slightly, giving Xan a side-ways glance as she offered the flask again - pouring another measure into her cup. She'd only just met the Neon Demon, but their entire previous conversation before traveling to Yula's shop had sounded like equal parts "Knee-Jerk Reaction" and "Big-Time Dream". She said nothing, choosing instead to return the grin.

At Xan's question of whether she had a smoke, Ivory let out a barking laugh - reaching into her back pocket and extracting a metallic silver case. She would open it & extract a cigarra before offering one toward Xan, then Yula.

"Not by a longshot. Our targets are the corpos. We target areas that won't have civilians. And if there are civvies in the way, we get 'em outta the way first. Any factories, transports, operations, whatever... we get them out. Our goal's to turn the people against the Corpos, not give 'em a reason to turn against us. And I don't want Darkwire to get any more bad rep than it already has." She didn't even notice her rising tone until she stopped talking. She glanced at the two women then at her cup for a moment. "You can explain the details to her." She muttered as she walked back to the caf machine for a refill.

Ivory nodded as she lit her smoke with one hand, stowing her P-Series Lighter back in a pocket of her trench coat. As Xan walked away, Ivory removed her cigarra from her lips and exhaled a cloud of smoke into the air.

"Xan is right." She said, directing her attention toward their Zeltron companion. "The only way to have a hope of breaking The CAD's stranglehold is to unite every Discrete on the planet against them. Granted," She said, speaking with the hand holding the smoke, "It's likely going to be... Messy..." She said, glancing across the garage toward their brightly colored mutual friend, "But if we don't start now, they'll hunt every one of Darkwire's safe houses down, kill or capture every last one of its members, and spin the story that they're somehow the saviors of The People - when we know they're actually the greatest threat."

Ivory took another sip from her coffee cup, allowing her words to settle for a few moments. She took another pull on her cigarra; twin streams of smoke roaring from her nostrils as-if she were an angered beast awoken from its long slumber.

"The best place to start, is we need to explain to our mutual friends that this fight is coming, whether we like it or not. After that, and this is the dangerous part: We start pushing back. Keep our movements secret. Act with surprise, and decisive force. Hit something where only the Corpos will suffer - no Civilians, no chance of collateral damage. Send a message, and then spin our own story..."

She grinned, glancing between the two women.

"That things are changing. That CAD isn't in control anymore."

Yula Perl Xan Deesa

 

[Yula Perl]

Yula raised a hand to Ivory at the proffered cigarra, before motioning to the one already between her lips. Pink fingers raked through dark, messy waves as she exhaled a stream of smoke from the corner of her mouth.

It all sounded idealistic at best.

"You sure that's smart?" She flicked some ash onto the floor, scrunching her nose at the mess. She'd clean it later. Or not at all.

"Some of the old school runners still take a Corpo paycheck. All about the creds, and really-" Leaning back, Yula tiled her chin upward and fixed the two women with an observational gaze. "Can't blame em. Well, maybe now…"

It was a short way to say that trust ran thin. On Denon, you had to be pragmatic.

Daiya might know more. The kid was one of the OG Shadowrunners. Cartri might have some good info too, maybe Xandyr…but she wouldn't risk dragging the kids into this business. Xandyr maybe. Still, it would be risky.

Spin our own story, huh…

"The propaganda part, I like. But the Corpos are experts in shining the light wherever they want it to go. Wouldn't put it past them to put innocents in harms way just to hurt us. Or, y'know, blow up a res building and pin it on Darkwire."

Alright, alriiiight, she was a cynic. Yula had watched Dagon fight for his ideals for years, to no end. Each time he'd come back bloodier and more bruised than the last. Still, this offer to hit CorpSec back appealed to both her ironic sense of justice and need for revenge.

Taking another drag from her smoke, Yula fixed her eyes on Xan and Ivory. They were serious, nothing less than resolve written into their faces and posture. They'd be doing this with, or without the Zeltron.

"Who else knows?"

Xan Deesa Ivory Stroud

 

[Xan Deesa]

Xan accepted the cigarette with a grin, before a finger opened up and a borderline blowtorch erupted from it. After toning it back, she lit her cigarette and marched off to go get some more caf. While busy refilling her cup, she listened in on the rest of the conversation. Calmly she took a few drags from the very nice cigarette as she walked back to the other two, silently listening as they spoke.

Her gaze fixated on Yula for a moment, her words sticking in her mind as she tried to figure out a concrete solution for a scenario like that playing out. Unfortunately, she didn't know what to do if the Corpos decided to target civilians and pin it on Darkwire... yet. "Right now, our best chance is to play the propaganda game solid enough so the people won't believe a word the Corpos say... of course, that's simply unrealistic. But that's all I got so far." She admitted, glancing to Ivory for a quick second before her silence was broken by an obnoxiously loud slurp and a puff from the cigarette. "Hot damn, this stuff's cleaner than the air in the Slums, honestly." She muttered, glancing down at the item.

"Who else knows?"

"Right now? Just us... and you now, of course. So, uh... don't go tellin' anyone about this just yet, please?" She asked with a polite tone and a charming smile, with a gaze that portrayed nothing but ill intent to get her point across. She didn't want to put a gun to a Runner's head, but she would do it if it meant that they had a chance at succeeding...

This fight needed to end soon. Recognizing herself as of late was becoming more difficult.

"This is still in concept phase, right now we're just scoping things out. So... whaddya say? You in?" She asked, finishing off her caf.

Yula Perl Ivory Stroud

 

[Ivory Stroud]

"Honestly, the propaganda game is where we need to start... but I have an idea about that." Ivory said. "The only way this works is if we get the entire planet of Denon, as many people as we can, on our side... And in order to do that, we have to broadcast our message further & faster than they can." She glanced at the two women, taking a draw from her own cigarra then speaking during the exhale:

"What people have right now is Slavery. What everyone wants is freedom. If we can make our idea of freedom sound more plausible, more attainable, then the Corpo idea of "Freedom", then CAD & CorpSec will do our work for us. All three of us know what comes from this... but, so long as we stick to our message and don't make victims out of the people who's support we're trying to earn... Well, CAD can't squeeze blood from a stone."

She glanced toward Xan, smirking outwardly... but inwardly, she was just as aware & concerned that they were taking a huge risk by bringing in a third party. Not only a risk for Darkwire, but for Ivory's own organization; the extent & strength of which, nobody else on Denon knew. In places far from the system, The Family had a wealth of resources and considerable power; but on Denon? It could take months to solidify ground enough for the Syndicate to stand on. Ivory knew she was bringing funds & resources to the table which nobody else in Darkwire likely had access to - but in order to do that, she had to put her own head on the chopping block.

If someone in Darkwire couldn't be trusted... or worse yet, if one of them couldn't be trusted...

Ivory had already made the decision to take whatever steps were necessary to protect not just her own interests, but the interests of whatever this group was they were forming. She had made those decisions in the past. She knew she could make them again.

She glanced at Yula, taking another drag from her cigarra and exhaling slowly.

"We can do this, Yula. I know we can."

The truth was, she could feel it in her bones.

Yula Perl Xan Deesa

 

[Yula Perl]

Yula imagined that important Corpo decisions did not take place in a dingy garage with the galaxy's worst caf.

She also imagined a number of ways in which this situation could go wrong. Xan's words may have been polite, but there was an unmistakable hostility to her gaze. A threat.

A good one, too.

Ivory was dangerous in her own way, too. Trouble was, Yula didn't know how far her reach extended. Last thing the Zeltron wanted was to make two powerful enemies tonight. Two enemies who knew where she lived and had no problem kicking their way through her door.

"I can't make any promises."

The admission was practically dragged out of her with a growl. Tilting her head back, she exhaled a breathy cloud and watched as it dissipated into the rafters. What Ivory said was key- if the people of Denon really thought that things would get better for them by overthrowing CorpSec, they could be swayed. Would their support be enough to remove the corporate bastards, though? And if they cut off the head, then what? Alliance rule?

It was messy, no matter which way you sliced it.

"Won't get in your way though, that's for damn sure. Tell me what you need, and I'll tell you if I can help."

Ivory Stroud Xan Deesa