Faction &nbsp; The Radio Star (Darkwire &amp; Allies)

Cartri Keswoll

Hex · Oct 31, 2022

Location: Control room
Objective: keep hostages in check while smart girls do smart things
Tag:

Brie Jaxx

Powderpunk armor on loan from Daiya
ap-25i SIMP pistol
'Candles' Heavy particle blaster
'confetti' Rocket launcher
Party Poppers (3 explosive, 2 gas)
Dancer repulsor board
Dervish Knife
Cheap data pad and communicator

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

"You're leaving me in here alone with her?" the technician asked with concern, as the first of the two teens stepped out of the door onto the metal walkway

Daiya confirmed her suspicion with a sarcastic "yeeeeep" and a curt wave before following

Brie Jaxx out the door.

'...That was rude, what is so wrong with us...'

"Yeah, spill it, what's so wrong with me?" she laughed, pulling a chair up to watch her charge more closely while fiddling with her dervish blade, her eyes darted about the room as her anxiety levels remained high.

"Just don't hurt me ok, I'm not going to do anything, I just want to sit here, let you girls go and get back to my job yeah?" Hex simply grinned, tilted her head and shrugged her shoulders at that suggestion. She had no intention of harming this poor innocent teen unless they didn't get their way, but luckily, despite her hostility she seemed fairly pliable. Hex started watching the dials as the woman's hands every so often reached out and touched some or other button, managing the other systems on the failing reactor.

"I like you nails." she said nonchalantly, the teens fingers had a bright orange hue to them with yellow edges. Hex looked at her own, they were crudely painted in pinks and blues, but chipped and damaged, maybe she should ask for the girls to go for a manicure as well after this mission, or she could ask her new friend to do it for them. Hex turned her head and looked out at the girls, they looked like they were doing alright, no explosions or collapsing gantries to speak of.

'...That's probably for the best...'
"I'm not actually wishing there was explosions for us to watch you know"
'...We are literally in your mind...'
"Oh shush, you don't know everything"

"Are you alright?" the technician added, looking concerned about her captor's sanity.

Ivory Stroud · Nov 5, 2022

Standing at only 1.7 meters tall, the pair of Watchman Security Droids traded brawn for stature. Their clanking footsteps inexorably carried them toward the very top of the roof; where

Cassus Akovin ,

Cartri Keswoll , and Ivory were hiding. Ivory had a good look at them from her elevated position before she chose her hiding spot, noting that the shields attached to their arms remained un-deployed & the two droids appeared to be keeping their weapons holstered... for now.

Ivory spun on her heel as the droids reached the bottom of the staircase which would carry them to the top of the roof and the radio tower. As she moved quickly & quietly back toward the shattered remains of the doorway into the hardware hut, she grabbed Cartri's sleeve - pulling him roughly with her to bring him out of sight.

A quick glance inside the hardware-filled room told her their mission had been accomplished; the orange text had turned green, and the large text now read: "Upload Successful"

The broadcast would already be reaching out across all of Denon. Their manifesto was out in the open...

There was no turning back now. Their rebellion had begun.

Ivory climbed over the railing on the far side of the hut, using the smoking remains of the door & the metal box to shield herself from view. A small ledge ran along the outer edge of the building which was also lined with safety rails - giving her a tenuous perch where she could remain concealed unless someone approached, stood directly below, and looked straight up. Whether Cartri followed her or chose his own hiding spot was entirely up to him.

Her pistol stowed, Ivory used one hand to clutch the safety rail while she used Voice-To-Text to transmit a whispered message to

Brie Jaxx :

<Transmission underway - mission successful. Danger Close. Stay alive, and keep the power running!>

As she finished, Ivory cursed under her breath. She & the two young men were cornered on a high-rise. Even if they could engage & defeat the Security Droids, they'd have to fight their way through an entire building of Sec-forces to reach the ground floor & attempt an escape. Unless they could find another way off this roof.

"Cartri," Ivory spoke through the Nhaetid Earpiece which linked her to her two companions, "Please tell me you brought those parachutes I asked for."

The joke, similar to the comment she'd made to Daiya once before when they found themselves in a similar situation, would hopefully defuse a bit of the tension rearing its ugly head in all their minds.

Or, it might serve to simply remind the two young men of just how bleak circumstances appeared.

Hex

Cartri Keswoll · Nov 12, 2022

For the past thirty minutes, Cartri had been hiding and waiting for the transmission to finish. Not too far away he could see Pool boy hiding away behind a bunch of crates. Cartri on the other hand was taking cover behind some ventilation shafts where the sound of the security bots was slowly but surely clanking past. Just when they were about to go out of sight, someone roughly tugged him up to his feet by his sleeves "Whoa!" bloody stars Ivory!" he hissed as he followed beside her

"Hey! the upload just finished!" he whispered to her after hearing a familiar beep of progress. Their mission was a success and then some, all they needed to do now was get off this roof without being seen. Climbing up the rungs with Ivory, he hid beside her and heard the mob boss send a message to Brie who was still with Daiya and the others "The girls did well, I'll have to get them all a drink when I get back" he smirked with a nudge to Ivory which indicated one was for her too "Pool boy on the other hand... he can get his own"

Although, after his small joke Ivory said something under her breath as the realization of them being cornered soon came into their minds. When Cartri backed up towards the edge, he looked to Ivory with an unsure expression "Parachutes? you're kidding right!" he said with a small spin "Do I look like I can carry parachutes!" he said to her, his eyes looking down in a concerned expression.

"What do we do? Surrender? offer pool boy as tribute? we better figure out something now!"

Brie Jaxx · Nov 17, 2022

Daiya said:
"Are you sure, Brie?"

''No... Not at all. But someone's got to do it, and... I don't want to be fried before... Yeah, you know.'' Brie replied simply, before putting on the hood and sealing it to the rest of the hazmat suit. Cartri would definitely have had a laugh at the attire as it would have fueled his fishbowl jokes, that was for sure. Although, her thoughts was more on the nicer one of the two shadowrunner boys that shared the same letter in the start of their forenames. The one that had been a hot topic on their way here.

Daiya said:
Her best friend seemed certain, and Daiya grinned at her. Patting her blasters, she told Brie, "I'll go with you. Cover you while you're up there, that's way too exposed to solo it." The young shadowrunner nodded reassurance, she was still supposed to be in charge of their team for this mission and she wasn't about to leave one member vulnerable.

Brie were about to head for the door out the gantry access, before Daiya's statement stopped her in her tracks. ''Uhh, they aren't that stupid that they would risk a firefight close to the reactor... right?'' she asked while hesitation slowly grew on her, but they had not really any options. It was either to wait for the reactor to blow by itself or take the chance fixing it and risk that the Corpos would be stupid enough to fire at them and risking hitting the reactor. Either way, they would be deep fried. Those sweet decisions. Those sweet and easy decisions. Brie thought of what her sister

Ruby Jaxx would have done. For the first time of her life and ever since they discovered their family relationship, Brie had someone to look up to and compare herself to. They were of the same flesh and blood, so of course Brie wanted to match up to her big sister, and thinking of it made her only more decisive that this was the right thing to do.

As Daiya urged her to take the lead out the door and towards the gantry access, Brie hurried over it but kept a steady look out for any enemies that might surprise them from above or the other side of the reactor room.

Ivory Stroud said:
Her pistol stowed, Ivory used one hand to clutch the safety rail while she used Voice-To-Text to transmit a whispered message to Brie Jaxx Brie Jaxx :

<Transmission underway - mission successful. Danger Close. Stay alive, and keep the power running!>

<Copy, Ivy! We... We are working on that! And you too, keep you and the boys alive and we'll see you back at the base!''> Brie replied over the comms, trying not to worry the older shadowrunner of what was going on down the reactor. When they reached the control panel, Brie examined the buttons and levers briefly before finding the lever the technician had talked about. ''Okay, here goes...'' she whispered, before grabbing it and pulled it downwards. She threw a glance over into the control room where Hex and the poor technician sat. <''Alright, it's down! How is the readings?!''>

Daiya ,

Hex ,

Daiya · Dec 8, 2022

"Stupid? Corpos? Sounds like the same word to me." She shrugged to the oldest in their trio, trying not to giggle against the sterile walls of the power plant. Daiya followed along behind Brie, her blasters out and ready. Her eyes traced down the corridors, flicking to her wrist from time to time, darting from shadows to distance the whole way. It was good for them that the plant was still running their drill, she hoped it lasted as long as they needed to keep the power flowing.

The reactor room was louder than the control booth, too loud to talk much less think. Daiya watched Brie make a beeline for the control panel, placed high above the reactors. Of course it would live up there, it was just like the Corpos to keep vital controls far away from their employees. They wouldn't bother relying on some Discrete to solve a critical problem. Or at least, as the young shadowrunner knew from her earlier times in Darkwire, no Corpo would admit to that.

Daiya's eyes strained to cover the whole reactor room, watching for security or workers lurking in the shadows. She shook her head, it was no good, even her well-adjusted eyes couldn't spot everything. The young shadowrunner pried the collapsed helmet back out of its place, unfolding it back to its sturdy form again. She placed it over her head, connecting it back to her suit as the HUD flickered into place and the sensors migrated their readouts back to it. Only once she saw that the room was truly secure could Daiya feel her tense muscles start to unwind.

They might actually succeed in their mission.

She tried to keep the thrill from spreading too far, but the teen couldn't help but crave the warmth spreading through her body. Daiya spared a glance up to Brie's position above her, her HUD outlining a staircase beyond her. It zoomed in when the teen squinted, revealing a door at the top of the stairs. The plant's shielding prevented her suit from scanning beyond there, but Daiya could guess where it led. If she knew the Corpos well enough, it would be another way up to the roof. Maybe even quicker than the fire escape.

"How's it going up there?" Daiya activated the comms, first to Brie and then to Hex, "Everything under control?" After a moment to double-check, the young shadowrunner confirmed their status to her friends, "All quiet here. Too quiet, like 'I need a drink' quiet, anyone else?"

Daiya hoped this mission was over before the Corpos proved her wrong.

Hex

Cartri Keswoll

Ivory Stroud · Dec 12, 2022

The two hulks of steel reached the very top of the stairs, swiveling at the waist as the turned to step down onto the pad of permacrete & gravel which littered the ground. Even from Ivory & Cartri's concealed positions atop the radio tower, she could hear the crunch of stone beneath the droid's heavy footfalls. At the precise moment the droids stepped down from the staircase onto the roof, Ivory realized a truly unfortunate turn of events...

They'd forgotten to move the bodies into hiding.

Cartri Keswoll said:
"What do we do? Surrender? offer pool boy as tribute? we better figure out something now!"

Without responding, she raised a hand - indicating a pause.

The lead droid swiveled back & forth, scanning the rooftop... and immediately recognized the motionless form of the security guard Ivory had shot. It stepped forward and moved out of the way for the second to join it. She expected the duo were already communicating with one-another, and as both droids began to move closer toward the tower, they split up; one heading toward the body, and the other traveling along the outer edge of the rooftop, as-if it was searching for something. The droid approaching the body stopped about two meters away, but paid it no attention directly - likely having already finished its scan for vital signs.

From her position atop the catwalk, Ivory had just enough of a glimpse down onto the ground below to watch the one closest to the body... but the second was out of her field-of-view.

"Yeah..." She whispered, keeping her tone-of-voice low. "We need to do something."

But what?

Cassus Akovin made the decision for all of them.

She hadn't even seen where he'd disappeared to, having lost him as she & Cartri climbed the stairs. Suddenly, there was a massive whump and the sound of screeching metal somewhere on the perimeter of the rooftop as (Ivory guessed) Cassus used whatever piece of tech he wore upon his head to repeat what he'd done to the guard he'd felled from earlier. A heartbeat later, the sound of a distant crash far below was plainly audible... Whatever Cassus had done, had knocked the droid from the rooftop & sent it hurtling toward the ground below.

"Fuck. Pool Boy kicked it off, first!" She hissed, then gripped the railing, swiveled, and vaunted over it in a single leap to land back on the catwalk in-front of the shack. Her clanging footsteps would immediately catch the remaining droid's attention, and it turned, bending backward slightly at the waist to crane its robotic neck & look up. Not waiting for

Cartri Keswoll , the raven-haired Shadowrunner was already producing her pistol from her coat.

With her free hand, Ivory reached into another pocket of her coat, fishing out a round metallic sphere from within. The sphere fit perfectly in the palm of her hand, and with her thumb, Ivory depressed a tiny red button, arming the device. At the same moment she threw the device, she snapped off three rapid-fire shots from her Shatter Pistol - aiming it directly at the droid below her.

Faster than she expected, the droid responded - raising its right arm. With a loud hiss, a coffin-shaped barricade extended outward as the droid activated its riot shield, attempting to stop both the grenade sailing toward it & the incoming fire.

"Let's go, Knuckles! Time to work!" Ivory shouted.

Hex

Cassus Akovin's character NPCed with permission

Hex · Dec 21, 2022

Location: Control room
Objective: keep hostages in check while smart girls do smart things
Tag:

Brie Jaxx

Powderpunk armor on loan from Daiya
ap-25i SIMP pistol
'Candles' Heavy particle blaster
'confetti' Rocket launcher
Party Poppers (3 explosive, 2 gas)
Dancer repulsor board
Dervish Knife
Cheap data pad and communicator

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 didn't know anything about this technology, but was hard not to infer the successful actions of

Brie Jaxx and

Daiya as the row of flickering red columns one after another shrunk in size, turned yellow and then green, eventually the warning sign went off the screen. "That's good right? We're not going to explode right?"

The tech nodded "Yeah sure, not right now at least, just... dont you or your friends do anything else dumb."

Hex didnt respond but flipped up the comm <<Apparently that worked! My comm says the signal is up too, does that mean we won?>> she smiled and relaxed, she agreed with Daiya's assessment that they needed a big long drink. <<Think we can get out now? I'd love to go get a drink at...>> she scowled at the tech as if the girl was a spy listening for their next move, rather than a scared engineer waiting to be free. Hex cupped her hand over the mic. <<At that new cocktail bar on 1401 and seventh?>> she couldn't remember the name but it wasn't important.

'...Cosmic Alchemy...'

<<Yeah... there!>> she confirmed into her mic as if the other two girls could have heard the friendly reminder from Hex's voices.

Finally the blue haired girl looked at the technician. "Listen, thanks for your help, if you ever want to join the cause, hit me up yeah." she gave an exagerrated wink to the teenage technician with her trading but completely hollow offer as she stood and went to the door that her friends had come through, she too noticed the emergency escape on the other side and top corner of the room that her friends seemed to be heading toward. "OK, you can go now" she laughed and waved off the girl, whose eyes lit up with relief and she fled. The moment she left, Hex shot out the door panel, they would need to cut their way into this control room now, giving the girls time to escape, but also keeping the broadcast live that little bit longer.

The emergency route seemed like a nice and unexpected escape vector, instead of fighting their way back through corridors which were no doubt filled with heavily armed corporate stormtroopers, or not, but your couldn't be too careful.

"HEY GIRLS!" she yelled, momentarily forgetting the comm as she ran down the gantry, nearly slipping on the cooling steam, before climbing the ladder up to the gantry her friends occupied. She smiled at them, proud of their successful mission. Now all they had to do was escape.

Brie Jaxx · Jan 8, 2023

Daiya said:
"How's it going up there?" Daiya activated the comms, first to Brie and then to Hex, "Everything under control?"

Brie gave her a thumbs up and watched the readings and lamps by the switch. Fingers crossed.

Hex said:
Hex didnt respond but flipped up the comm <<Apparently that worked! My comm says the signal is up too, does that mean we won?>>

<''I... guess so...!?''> Brie responded and threw a questioning glance down at

Daiya , who could be considered their leaded to carry out this task of theirs, and were more or less the mastermind behind this mission. One of them, at least. <''Ivory and the boys are done up there. Broadcast is out. Now, we just need to get out of here...!''> Which could turn out to be easier said than done.

The reactor room started to cool down, but wearing the hazmat suit were still claustrophobic and didn't let much of their body temperatures out. Brie felt a drop of sweat run down her temple. A cold drink would have been amazing, and that very soon.

Hex said:
"HEY GIRLS!" she yelled, momentarily forgetting the comm as she ran down the gantry, nearly slipping on the cooling steam, before climbing the ladder up to the gantry her friends occupied. She smiled at them, proud of their successful mission. Now all they had to do was escape.

Brie climbed down to Daiya and they were soon met by

Hex , who had left and sealed the control room after her. The technicians were safe from blue girl, and Brie almost felt relieved on their behalf. She were glad that they had not come to harm, being simple no soldiers who were trying to kill them, just people on the way at the wrong place and the wrong time.

''Let's not stay around for too long. I saw you spotted that door, Daiya? Change of plans?'' she asked and threw a glance up the staircase.

Daiya · Jan 18, 2023

Fingers tapped the side of her thigh, and every vibration reminded the young shadowrunner how exposed they were. Trapped, if CorpSec decided to bust in on them now. The minutes ticked by at a glacial pace, unforgiving toward the urge to scream out her frustration. Her fingers alternated between reaching for her holsters and tapping on the sides of her thighs, glancing around before her eyes drew Daiya's attention back to the top platform where Brie stood.

When she saw Brie flip her a raised thumb, the teen felt a little better. Daiya stepped back, allowing herself an easy breath. Now if the Corpos intervened, at least they wouldn't totally fail. She couldn't see beyond the industrial rafters and piping in the ceiling above, but she lifted her eyes there anyway in a pose of solidarity. Whatever Ivory and the boys were doing up there, it must be working.

"That way easier than I thought," Daiya chimed in once her friends reported success through the comms. She mouthed a command to her HUD, and she cast her gaze around as it scanned the room. The young shadowrunner found her palm on her holster, certain that this was the moment she was waiting for. Every muscle tensed, every fiber in her being waited, holding her body with bated breath for the scan to reveal her worst fears. "Too easy..."

Her HUD only revealed the shadows to hold more of the equipment and instruments as the rest of the reactor room.

"Huh, oh well," the teen remarked, startled by the lack of opposition. She tossed her shoulders, finally satisfied, and started for the ladder upwards to meet Brie. Her heart lifted with every step she took, bouncing on her heels once she got to the top. Close enough to put her hand on Brie's shoulder, Daiya grinned from beneath her helmet, eyes crinkling. She winked at her best friend, asking through her suit's speakers, "So, how's it feel to save the day?"

Daiya couldn't hold back a giggle as a streak of blue hair dashed into the room below, shouting as she went. Within a minute, Hex was by her side again. The young shadowrunner could already feel the anticipation of a mission completed, despite having just one more obstacle ahead of them. "I saw this shortcut while Brie was working," she stepped off to the side from the lever controls, pointing up the staircase in the dark. "My suit says there's open space past that door at the top of the stairs, so I'll bet it leads to the roof!"

She beckoned, heading quickly for the first set of stairs. The teen took two steps at a time, but she wasn't worried about Corpos showing up any longer. She was just giddy now with the prospect of getting out of here, back into the air of the city and the easy shadows it offered Daiya and her fellow shadowrunners. The sooner they could disappear, the sooner they could have that drink. Those thoughts propelled her up, legs pumping as she burst through the doorway out into the...

"I knew it!" Daiya laughed, not caring how loud it was in her friend's ears. She broke from her careful guard, letting her arms fly up as she twirled around in the outside air.

WOOOSH!

The rattle of a CorpSec aerial vehicle overhead made the young shadowrunner skid to a halt, digging her heels back in the duracrete decking of the rooftop. Her eyes searched the horizon, then above, spotting the vehicle high above, heading toward the Corell Tower. "Chit..." her thoughts went to Ivory, Cartri and Cassus working in parallel to them up there. Daiya activated her comms to Ivory, sending her a warning. "You got company, there's a CorpSec AV headed your way."

And it probably wouldn't be the last one, either.

"Let's get outta here before more show up, m'kay?" Daiya said to her teammates. Her focus was back in shadowrunner mode again, the thoughts of drinks and spinning far behind her. She lowered her eyes below the horizon, searching for some way to get down from the power plant heights. "You both trust me, right?"

Daiya stepped to the edge of the rooftop, and held up her arm. The liquid cable launcher in her suit's gauntlet was primed and ready, available to her at the touch of a button. "Grab something..." something that wouldn't tear the line, she figured, stepping up to brace her feet against the lip of the rooftop, "...umm, cloth?"

The young shadowrunner fired the line down to the top of an acid-pitted awning hanging over the walkway below. One of three, but it was the best she could do with their circumstances. "You're gonna ride it down like a zipline. Then we'll be done, we can get a drink, and go home." Daiya looked back to her friends, her eyes sending as much reassurance as she could. "Trust me!"

She could easily swing down after them, Daiya had done that much before. Once. Her suit was still so new, the young shadowrunner didn't know if it could handle the weight of someone else using her liquid cable as a zipline.

The fastest way to get clear of the power plant, and any more CorpSec on the way, was to find out.

Hex

Cartri Keswoll

Hex · Jan 20, 2023

Location: Control room
Objective: keep hostages in check while smart girls do smart things
Tag: