Faction The Radio Star (Darkwire & Allies)

[Ivory Stroud]

"Yea, we're okay to keep going" Cartri groaned, choosing to hold the door open as he ruffled his hair to see if he could somewhat fix it "The things I sacrifice..."

Ivory could feel the sudden change in air pressure as the door across the dimly-lit supply room was opened, but remained where she stood - watching the hallway they'd entered from. Cartri's confirmation elicited no response for a few heartbeats, until she slowly stepped away & turned. Cat-footed, she crossed the room, mounted the stairs, and joined Cartri at the door - glancing backward at Cassus Akovin without saying anything to ensure he would join them.

"Let's go." She said, leading the way through the door.

They found themselves in another stairwell straight up, with a rectangular portal of light above which showed the Denon "Sky". The walls were made of concrete and cool to the touch. Ivory reached out and laid a hand on a metal rail which ran the length of the stairwell toward the exit above, and began climbing - taking steps two at a time.

The pressure of the wind increased, ruffling the locks of black hair which ran down the left side of her skull and cascaded down her back. As she approached the top of the stairwell, her right hand drifted inside her greyish-white fur coat, reaching below her armpit... withdrawing a sleek, black, narrow-barreled sidearm from a shoulder holster. The weapon didn't look like any other kind of firearm either of her companions had seen before - clearly, a custom design.

With her weapon held in her right hand, she signaled to the boys with her left - indicating for them to remain behind her as she crept the final few steps to peer cautiously out onto what she assumed would be the roof.

An agonizing few moments stretched by - the trio's hearts beating in unison as they awaited some sudden surprise, an alarm, a shout, the crack-hiss of blaster fire...

But none came.

"We're clear." She said, leading the way out of the stairwell with her pistol held low - along her thigh, with the barrel pointing toward the floor.

The trio found themselves one step below the actual roof, on a lower level. Around them, various utilities such as air-processing units, power junction boxes, and metallic chain-link fencing worked together to create an open-air labyrinth; cabling of various sizes snaked across the metal floor, criss-crossing this way & that - presenting a tripping hazard which would threaten their secrecy if any of them took a misstep. Ivory stood, for a moment, surveying their surroundings, clearly judging their next destination; then, she pointed with with her left index finger to Cassus & Cartri's benefit.

A short distance away was another stairwell, this time encased entirely in chain-link fencing, which led to the highest point of the roof.

Above them, dominating the sky, was a large radio tower - lights blinking silently at various levels of the metal edifice, which served as warnings to sky-based vehicles so that no wayward flier would damage the expensive structure.

They couldn't hear or see any movement, at the moment... but that did not mean they were alone.

"There it is..." She breathed, then looked at her companions.

"Shouldn't be hard to find our way to that stairwell. Keep your eyes peeled for cameras... I don't see any, but that doesn't mean anything."

"You guys ready?" She asked, flashing them both a grin; attempting to disarm the anxiety of the moment.

Their quarry was less than 200 yards away. If they got "made" now, they didn't have many options for escape.

Cassus Akovin Cartri Keswoll Daiya Hex Brie Jaxx

 

[Brie Jaxx]

''Someone is edgy!'' Brie uttered with a joyful giggle, looking at Hex as they saw Daiya spin around at them, blaster in hand and ready to annihilate the vending machine. Brie were just about to take another sip, before Daiya approached them and grabbed the can out of her hand, taking some swigs herself. It was alright, though. Brie couldn't see herself ever being mad at the little gamine and fresh breath of Darkwire. The sharing of the fizzy and sweet soda was a moment of switched focus for the three girls, and a welcome recess in the mission. For a second, there was just them, the soda and shared smiles. Fun times. Times that always seemed to end too quickly.

''Hey, what would you say we go out and grab some food after this? Just the three of us?'' Brie suggested to her two friends, as they proceeded into the breaker room.

Daiya had been complaining on the odor that surrounded them, and pretty much had contaminated them from walking through the gooey stuff down the sewer. Brie were largely unaffected by the smell, not always having her helmet on and breathing oxygen during her salvage trips. She were pretty used to the stuff, but of course she also thought that there was better smells in the galaxy. Hex were quick to add a comment to the complaints of Daiya, which made Brie chuckle.

''Heh, eww? That is pretty disgusting to think of!'' Brie uttered with a frown and raised eyebrow looking at Hex. The blue haired girl were honest enough to speak what came to her mind, Brie would give her that. Pretty disgusting, but also pretty fun.

They had little time to investigate the breaker room, before Daiya hissed in panic that someone were coming. Brie heard it now too. Footsteps quickly approaching the door. The only door in and out of the breaker room. The thing were, that there was no useful cover to hide behind!

Before long, the three girls were making eye contact with two technicians asking who they were.

''We're... We're the new trainees...? Who- who are you?'' Brie said and countered with the same question, out of pure reflex. A completely silly question from a third person view, but they had to say something while they figured out what to do exactly. And it was only polite to answer the question, right?

While Hex pointed Brie to the guy at the left, and herself jumping at the woman on the right, Brie pulled her dart shooter and fired a tranquilizer dart at the guy. Thanks to the close distance, the dart hit the technician in the thigh and punched through the yellow suit. The dart quickly worked its magic, first making his leg go numb, before it sent him to sleep on the floor. Brie sighed in relief and stood up straight again, just to see Hex unwrapping her braid off the womans neck.

''Sounds like a good idea. It will probably save us some time, without having to blow up or slice doors the rest of the way.'' Brie agreed with Hex, putting away the dart shooter.

 

[Daiya]

Stealth.

That was the whole point of their mission today, or at least the first half of it. The young shadowrunner held her breath for seconds after she hissed her instruction, keeping her blaster trained on the closest technician. If they ran, if they shouted, it was all over. Her suit's disruption field could only do so much, Daiya knew, cursing the moment she had kicked the hatch closed. Her jaw tightened as her muscles tensed, seconds stretching endlessly into uncertainty.

Her friends moved with little hesitation, quickly turning disaster into opportunity. For a moment, Daiya hesitated with surprise at their speed, blinking as her acute senses dropped off as quickly as they had appeared. Her mouth hung open at both of the girls, admiring their strikingly different, but effective approaches. "Chit," she said, almost bewildered by the sight itself. "That was a-mazing."

The young shadowrunner stepped past Hex and Brie. Her feet moved quickly, heart in her throat and muscles still tensed, closing the gap between her and the downed technicians. She checked both, lowering her cheek to feel the quiet breath still flowing from their mouths, and unhooked the ident cards pinned to their chests. A calmer, more relaxed Daiya rose from the pair of bodies, turning back to her teammates. "These'll let us into the control room."

She handed one to each of them, a growing confidence in herself convinced that she wouldn't have need. Daiya glanced down at the unconscious bodies again, glancing at her gloved hands in the suit that didn't blend outside of shadows. Daiya tapped her chin as she thought out loud, pacing between her fellow shadowrunners and the unconscious forms of the plant technicians. Her eyes fell on the yellow protective garments of the techs, and a grin bloomed on her face again. "Wait, wait, give that back to me, Hex, I got a better idea."

Crouching down, the teen began to undo the ties and fasteners that held the outfits on the tech's bodies, telling one of the girls to, "Help me with this." Daiya was relieved to find that the protective garments were mostly outerwear, as she had hoped. Once she had both suits stripped off, she held them up to the girls. "So here's the idea. We dress up as them, and then one of us," the teen eyed Hex's perilous braids, "I think Hex, those braids are fething lethal!" she giggled before continuing, "plays the hostile intruder while the other two are her hostages. And she threatens her hostages to make everyone else run out, then we lock the doors. By the time they figure it out, it'll be too late and we'll have control!"

She tossed one of the suits to Brie, starting to pull the bright-yellow garments over her own, her eyes catching the belt worn by her best friend. All at once, Daiya's cheeks flushed as she recalled the real purpose behind a belt she thought just part of Brie's new look. "Chit, I forgot Brie. You got that new stealth tech, that's even better. Go stealth, I'll dress up, and Hex plays lethal weapon on me."

Daiya gave Hex a hapless look as she pinned the ID card to her new yellow disguise, making one more request, "Just please don't really shoot me, 'kay?"

Hex Brie Jaxx​

 

[Cartri Keswoll]

Nodding to Ivory he began to carefully follow her up the stairs, the mob boss taking the lead as they slowly pushed themselves outside the door. His eyes looked to her hand which reached into her coat pocket, a brow raising when she pulled out a fancy blaster. All he had was himself, no weapon, no armor, just the force to keep himself safe. Cassus was probably holding something too, but that was yet to be revealed yet.

Cartri waited a few anxious moments before Ivory said to them the roof was clear. One by one they filed through the exit and walked onto the windy outdoors way above the ground. Around them were various cables and the giant tower that dominated the sky above, one of which was their target for today. Cartri looked to both of his companions and wondered what they were going to do next. It was obvious they were going to infiltrate the tower, but once inside they'd need to figure out how to transmit the message they made.

"I don't see any either, they haven't thought about updating their security for a good while" he mentioned as he began walking towards the stairwell first, his head motioning upwards to try and get moving "I'll go up first and peek over, you two stay behind me," he said in a more hushed tone before slowly making his way up. Cartri got near to the top and peaked over, instantly noticing two figures that were sitting on chairs next to a door. Two guards were sitting beside either side of the metal door, their attention on some sandwiches their wives had made them beforehand.

Without turning to his companion he raised two fingers to them "I have a plan, but you've got to be ready alright?" he asked them, his mouth releasing a sigh "Wish me luck..." he groaned before causally walking up the stairs without a care in the world. The guards, who were about to take a bite out of their food opened their eyes wide and jumped from their seats, stun battens at the ready "Hey! what you doing up here kid!" one of them demanded, their forms approaching quite fast.

"H-hey! I'm only just exploring!" he said in a realistic scared tone as he moved away from the stairwell, leaving the guard's backs facing the pair "Come on guys... I'll just get out of your hair!" he said in a panic as he tried to walk past them, only to be grabbed roughly by the scruff of his collar "Where do you think you're going huh? we still haven't finished speaking to you yet!" he said sternly as Cartri played them like a fiddle.

In his mind, he just hoped they'd come anytime now!

Ivory Stroud Cassus Akovin​

 

[Cassus Akovin]

Upon entering the small room where Cassus was hiding the body, his mouth couldn't help but smirk at what pool boy had done "Damn Cassus, you actually safely knocked out a person? I'm in shock right now..." he taunted as he lightly nudged the downed chef with his foot. Nodding Ivory, she began to drag the body away towards the door they were meant to go through. But for now, the boys were alone for a brief few minutes "So pool boy, did you cook anything good while you were in there? you know, a nice steak? stu? anything?" he joked again, folding his arms and looking away from the bounty hunter "Knowing your behavior you probably gave the poor man brain damage because there weren't enough banther sauce..."

"Most Bounties pay better with a heartbeat. I'm not a killer unless I want to be," Cassus responded matter-of-factly to Cartri's goading, but as they skulked through the building, one point needed desperate correction.

"And it's bantha sauce." Despite himself, Cassus did smile at the banter under his helmet. After that exchange, Cassus kept a low profile and reduced his involvement, allowing the mob boss and her kid sidekick to lead the way. He was here to deal a blow to Corporations, which meant laughing in the face of their security and directly harming anyone benefiting from that security, in his eyes, unjustly. The actual message didn't matter to him. As long as they were all killing the same people, he'd allow himself to be an asset to their operation.

Who "they" are specifically didn't matter to him; Darkwire, a segment of Darkwire, a Bounty Hunters Guild, the names didn't matter.

"There it is..." She breathed, then looked at her companions.

"Shouldn't be hard to find our way to that stairwell. Keep your eyes peeled for cameras... I don't see any, but that doesn't mean anything."

"You guys ready?" She asked, flashing them both a grin; attempting to disarm the anxiety of the moment.

Their quarry was less than 200 yards away. If they got "made" now, they didn't have many options for escape.

Without turning to his companion he raised two fingers to them "I have a plan, but you've got to be ready alright?" he asked them, his mouth releasing a sigh "Wish me luck..." he groaned before causally walking up the stairs without a care in the world. The guards, who were about to take a bite out of their food opened their eyes wide and jumped from their seats, stun battens at the ready "Hey! what you doing up here kid!" one of them demanded, their forms approaching quite fast.

"H-hey! I'm only just exploring!" he said in a realistic scared tone as he moved away from the stairwell, leaving the guard's backs facing the pair "Come on guys... I'll just get out of your hair!" he said in a panic as he tried to walk past them, only to be grabbed roughly by the scruff of his collar "Where do you think you're going huh? we still haven't finished speaking to you yet!" he said sternly as Cartri played them like a fiddle.

In his mind, he just hoped they'd come anytime now!

As they finally reached the precipice of their objective, Ivory once again checked in on them to gauge their readiness, and once again, Cartri had exactly one trick. Cassus rolled his eyes as Cartri let himself get caught up distracting the lonely pair of guards. Cassus considered just letting him take the fall while he ascended the Radio Tower but thought better of it. Ivory was better suited to getting out whatever message she needed and probably wouldn't look favorably on exposed assets. It was the way he viewed both of them. Ergo, why should their views be any different?

Ivory had an unfamiliar weapon drawn, and it occurred suddenly to Cassus that almost none of his weapons were so concealable or subtle as that. He was a bounty hunter by trade, and while it required subtly getting into an advantageous position, once blasters started to get involved, the trade preferred stopping power to discretion. The distance wasn't too far, and he could probably get to Cartri and disable one of them before either noticed his approach, especially with his helmet's capabilities. Maybe Ivory would take the other one out. Or maybe Ivory wouldn't care if a couple of guards were occupied for a while longer.

Suddenly, Cassus didn't care. He wanted to hit something, and if Cartri got splashed a little, he wouldn't mind.

A shimmering field enveloped Cassus in a tight oblong shape around his body as the entropy of his movements accelerated to super-human speeds. Vaulting over obstacles, Cassus was a blur that crossed the distance before either guard had enough time to turn their ears to him. Then, as the shimmering field dissipated, Cassus' red helmet connected with one of the guards square in the shoulder, delivering a wave of kinetic energy amplified by his initial velocity. Probably shattering bone, the arms grappling Cartri on one side went limp as the body attached to them was sent flying precariously close to the edge. If Cassus had even been a single foot more aggressive with his tackle, there would have been a new paint job on the pavement below.

There was just one left standing...

Ivory Stroud Cartri Keswoll

 

[Hex]

Location: In the tower corridors
Objective: get in discretely
Tag: Daiya Brie Jaxx

Spoiler: Equipment

• 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

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

There was laughter from Hex as she watched Brie Jaxx reholster her tranquiliser pistol, "That'll do the trick, maybe I'll save myself the split ends next time." They were working well as a team and things seemed to be going OK, for now.

As Daiya knelt down with an idea forming on her face, Hex raised an eyebrow, interesting proposition, dressing up as techs and sneaking around? Hex wasnt sure she could muster the finesse for that kind of deception, but was relirved to hear that she would be playing the part of the unhinged invader.

'...Why so relieved, it just means she thinks you are the crazy one?...'
"Well...duuh!" she giggled.

She watched as Daiya dressed in orange. Hex pulled out Candles and trained it on her new friend, she would have to be careful not to shoot her. The blue haired girl looked down the barrel with one eye and grinned "Maybe we should rough you up a little bit first, just to make it believable" she looked at Brie, "What do you think? Or maybe not if we are eaying after this, that sounds good to me by the way, although we might want a shower first." She lowered the gun and the girls walked towards the control room. The code cards would make this part significantly easier.

Something bothered Hex about the plan though, but she couldnt put her finger on it, what was it? She held the barrel of her gun at the base of Daiya's spine, not putting any force in to it, there was no need to shove her. Maybe she wouldn't tell her she never built her gun with a safety though.

"Blip-bleeep"

The cards read on the first swipe and the door hissed open. The room was darkened and one wall had banks of computer screens and sensors, there were four people at their desks, two of whom turned around to look at them coming in the... only... entrance. "Chit!" That was it, one way in, one way out, if they let these techs leg it, there could be a hundred soldiers waiting outside to arrest them, they had made themselves a trap.

'...You dumbass, you aren't getting out of this one...'
"We'll see"

She glanced at Daiya then stepped past her, in one hand she had her pistol, in the other she had a party popper, its light blinked to show that it was armed.

"Change of plan! Everybody away from your computers and faces on the floor. Noone do anything stupid, you'll all be fine, one of you moves, all of you die? Any questions?" Hex cackled as she waved her pistol in the air, gesturing them on to the floor. "Quick quick, we have work to do." The four innocent technicians put up no fight and lined up on the floor next to each other. Two of them laced their fingers together in fear, a gesture Hex found interesting. "OK girls, you do you, and I will keep an eye on our guests here." She spun a chair round and sat on it backwards facing them. She rolled the party popper back and forth for a few moments before looking like she was about to drop it, to the horror of the closest tech. Hex deactivated it with her thumb and clipped it back to her belt as she giggled "You've all behaved so far, how about I put this little guy away."

 

[Ivory Stroud]

She'd figured that, at the very least, Cartri would use his fists instead of his mouth.

She'd clearly given him too much credit.

"Knuckles" had taken the lead, and she'd let him - wondering what the Shadowrunner had up his sleeve. As the voices ahead swelled into a questioning shout, the taller, older Mafiosa had rolled her eyes. "Figures..." She muttered, glancing at Cassus & preparing to open her mouth. She noticed, immediately, that he was paying her no attention at all.

A faint blue sheen enveloped the young man, and then... suddenly... he was gone. He moved too fast for her to track without the help of The Force, and by the time she recognized what was happening, it was too late.

She ascended the stairs the rest of the way, cresting the top just in time to see Cartri & Cassus nearly side-by-side, and a body flying away from them in the opposite direction; a guard or worker, Ivory instantly recognized, and entirely out of the fight. There was, however, one more left standing...

The man wore a simple uniform; a windbreaker in dark blue with a black shirt underneath, black BDU pants & laced boots, and only a few items on his belt she could immediately recognize. He looked like he was in his mid-20's, with sandy blonde hair covered by a black cap with no label. His eyes were wide with shock & surprise at the sudden appearance of the red-helmeted monster, and his mouth hung open...

In the man's right hand, a baton sizzled with raw electrical power but it hung loosely in his fingers, forgotten. The man's left hand was already drifting toward the Comm-Unit on his belt. Ivory immediately recognized what was about to happen, and knew she couldn't move fast enough without tapping into her own hidden reserves.

They couldn't afford to be recognized. Couldn't afford for their descriptions to be given to CorpSec. Couldn't afford to leave witnesses.

So, she chose to act.

The sleek, elegant blaster clutched in her fist rose and she depressed the trigger. Only once.

Instead of a bolt of light, the blaster whispered - emitting a sound not unlike a polite, muffled sneeze during church. A tiny pellet flew from the muzzle, crossing the 8-meter gap between them almost instantaneously, striking the guard just below his left eye and dumping all of its kinetic energy immediately. The shot sent a shockwave into the man's brain, turning his left eye to a ruined mass & reducing his face to a bloody pulp; killing him instantly from the sheer concussive force of the impact.

The body simply folded at the knees & collapsed where it stood.

The smallest pang of guilt & remorse struck the raven-haired woman as she lowered the blaster; looking at what had, only moments before, been a young man in his prime... but was now just another victim of their war.

She allowed herself a sigh, silently cursed, then stepped forward, joining the two young men. She kept her blaster un-holstered and held low, along her thigh - with the barrel pointing toward the ground. Instead of a look of regret, her face could have been chiseled from granite. She looked from one to the other. Instead of making a quip about Cartri needing a new nickname, or wondering aloud where Cassus had gotten his newfound abilities, she said nothing for a moment... then, nodded toward the stairs leading up toward the control booth a short climb above them.

"Let's get this done." was all she said.

Then, she took the lead once more.

As they climbed the flight of stairs, the wind picked up considerably - tugging at Ivory's black hair and pulling a few strands out of the tightly-woven braid she normally kept so neat. The metal grating made a stealthy approach almost impossible, so she instead chose speed; approaching the small metallic structure mid-way up the tower with haste.

They reached the door, and Ivory tested the handle - unsurprisingly finding it locked. The small shack did not, however, appear to be occupied.

A small display on the wall beside the door looked as-if it were designed to accept a keycard - which they didn't have. There was no keypad visible, which meant access would only be granted if one possessed the proper credentials.

With another curse, Ivory inspected the display, then looked the door over...

She still had a trick up her sleeve.

Ivory reached into one of the capacious pockets of her coat and extracted something from from within - keeping her palm closed, concealing whatever the object could be for a moment as she weighed their options.

"I have an idea." She said. "But, it's gonna be a little loud. It might set off an alarm, and bring a horde up here looking for whatever caused it..." She paused, glancing at the two young men with her, "Or, it might not."

Then, she showed them both what she'd been holding in her palm:

A small black sphere with silver nodules spaced equally across its surface, and a single tiny red bulb which was still dark. The device looked like a piece of metallic fruit, and was only about 4 centimeters in diameter.

She knew what it was, but didn't expect either of them to recognize it.

It was a "Demo-Key" - one of The Family's secret projects, purpose-built for precisely this kind of application.

Cassus Akovin Cartri Keswoll Daiya Hex Brie Jaxx

 

[Brie Jaxx]

The mere thought of acting as hostage captured by the wayward blue haired girl was frightening enough. On the other hand, Brie thought that none of them was better suited for the role but Hex . She could allow one or two reasonable digs for the cause of the mission. With that, they begun to strip the knocked out technicians of their gear, Brie getting one of the suits tossed at her by Daiya . They would be considerably shorter than the suits original owners, that was for sure. They could only hope that the rest of the staff didn't think of it until it was too late.

That was when Brie spotted Daiya staring at her... Waist? Hips? Brie looked back at her with a puzzled look and followed the gaze down to her... Belt! Her stealth belt acquired at the mission down to the Abyss. Brie had almost forgot that she wore it, but it would definitely come in handy now as Daiya suggested a minor change in plans. She nodded and instead of putting on the suit, checked her gear over before they would carry on with the next step in their plan.

A short laugh amusement escaped Brie's lips, as she saw her best friend in the suit, few sizes too large as it was. ''Oh my stars, Daiya! You look like a deflated float toy!'' she uttered, remembering seeing some of the things kids played with at their trip to Belazura. Brie prepared herself to parry something thrown at her from the younger shadowrunner. Daiya would know that the scrapper girl didn't mean any harm by it, as much as they had teased each other about boys and what not through the years.

Shortly after, an uneasy feeling hit the scrapper girls stomach as she got a confirmation that she was right to be a little frightened of being a faux-hostage to Hex, as the blue haired girl suggested that they would rough Daiya up a bit to make it more believeable. Brie drew a silent sigh of relief as she realized that the girl was joking. It seemed that you always had to be on your toes with their wierd fellow shadowrunner.

The entering of the control room was pretty easy and straight forward, with Hex leading Daiya in and Brie sneaking in behind and made sure her moves were calm and steady not to disrupt the energy field breaking the light around her and keeping her hidden. She realized what Hex were cursing at, but kept herself calm as she saw the girl taking control of the situation. It turned out that Brie could spare the batteries of the stealth belt for a better moment, and de-cloaked close to a technician laying on the floor, startling him a bit.

''Uh, sorry.'' she said with a sidewards smirk at the guy, before hurrying over to join Daiya at the computer screens. Could as well show a little politeness, to balance the fear Hex instilled in them. ''You got the gear and codes ready to tamper with this thing? Once we have activated it, people will now where to start looking first...''

 

[Daiya]

Daiya had to giggle at the joke from the blue girl, busy with the last touches of her getup disguise. At least she hoped Hex was joking. The peppered notes of her laugh gave way to a halting, bumpy rhythm, turning to Brie with a plaintive look. Her best friend was only visible for a split second longer, but it was enough get the scrapper girl's take on the scene. Daiya snorted at the wisecrack, feeling her nerves ease with the presence of her friend behind her.

Or beside her, or ahead of her, Daiya was losing track of the invisible Brie.

"What if I just limp instead?" Daiya suggested, her throat too tense to giggle this time. She was starting to reconsider trusting Hex as the villain for this ploy, even if it wouldn't have worked any other way. Daiya could imagine a lot of fun with the blue girl's wild eyes and loose boundaries, especially on another day. Today she worked her jaw until her throat felt looser, adopting a slow gait favoring her left leg.

It wasn't hard for the young shadowrunner to look frightened, leaning hard on the joke and the loaded blaster pistol Hex waved behind her. Daiya looked to the four workers in turn, a silent plea on her eyes as it had been to Brie a minute earlier. She imagined the scrapper girl behind the workers, feeling the familiar glow of satisfaction creep over her skin to see the workers mirroring the expression on her face. Daiya fought back the sensation, not wanting to tip any of their hostages off to the fact that she wasn't one.

"We agreed you were going to threaten me, Hex, not them!" Daiya found herself grumbling with the change of plans, disappointed to be stripped of her character role so quickly. She moved to one of the stations the workers had vacated, stepping gingerly over one of the technicians. She was about to say something charitable to them when Brie decloaked and said it for her.

Daiya grinned at her best friend, motioning Brie over with a tilt of her head. The terminal in front of her wasn't like the datapads or holodisplays she was used to, and the teen squinted in front of its archaic controls. "You ever run into something like this on a salvage run?" Daiya crouched down into a squat, looking underneath the computer as she peeled down the top half of her disguise. She drew the leads from her Sneakthief glove, holding them out like a digital dowsing rod in search of a port. "Xan never gave me any codes, and she's been comms-dead since we entered. I think we're on our own now."

When she drew back to reassess in better light, Daiya noticed one of the technicians slowly reaching out an arm to her. She frowned, setting her boot firmly on the creeping fingers until the worker made a sound. With attention on her, the young shadowrunner whispered to the worker. "I'm not the nice one, but I'm not the one waving the blaster around either. Cut the chit or Blue Girl's gonna start some real chit."

Hopping back to her chosen console, Daiya spied what she was looking for and connected the slicing glove to the well-hidden dataport. Plugging in the datalink cable, the teen set her glove to work. "I think I can get us past the security layer, this thing should give us access to the terminal. But I got no fething clue after that..." she told Brie, adjusting the program on her glove to try another approach. Two dead ends. Daiya set it to work a third time, hoping the descrambler would do the trick.

The screen flashed, drawing her eyes to a dizzying array of output and data streaming across old-fashioned monitor. The controls looked confusing, the data seemed nonsensical, but Daiya grinned with a gleeful sound. "That did it!" The young shadowrunner rose and leaned over the console, squinting first at the monitor and then back to Brie. "Help me figure this out."

Hex Brie Jaxx​

 

[Hex]

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

Spoiler: Equipment

• 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

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 hummed as she rocked her hips left and right making the wheeled chair roll slightly.

"We agreed you were going to threaten me, Hex, not them!"

"Oh, I'm sorry blonde, how about... hack into that computer or I'll shoot you too?" she giggled to herself "There, feel better now?"

'...He's laughing at you...'

Hex snapped down and looked at one of the technicians and scowled at him. "What's so funny? Think because I can have fun while i work I won't blow a hole in your head?"

"I'm sorry! Please don't hurt us, you told a joke, I thought it was funny."

Hex intensified her scowl then sighed and rolled her eyes before relaxing into her chair "I'll let you off, I'm a very funny girl.... but I've got my eye on you." she looked close again and pulled down her lower eyelid revealing her blue eyes laced with short lines of pink. Sitting back she watched as Daiya too, reminded their hostages of their place with her sturdy boots. She smiled to herself that she wasnt on her own in keeping a firm hand with the techs. She watched the blonde girls talking to each other over the terminal. Hex was good with building stuff and repairing stuff, but hacking had never been her field of expertise.

While she had a moment, she started thinking about their escape strategy, back through the sewers was the simple option but would it be covered. "I could do with a smoke, where's the best place for a cheeky smoke around her?" she laughed, toying with her victims, but there was no response. "I won't shoot you if you answer, alright"

"Err, out the door you came and first left, theres a fire escape up to the roof, we usually go there...". Hex glanced at the girls to see if they had noticed her oh so discrete interrogation. It was good to have at least one alternative exit planned. Hex wondered how the other two girls would been about jumping off the roof though. She was hungry and eager to get out of here. "This belong to any of you?" she quipped to them, grabbing a half eaten protein bar off of the desk by her side and biting into it. "Oooh, chocolate and nut, someone earned themselves some brownie points right there."

Hex looked across at Brie Jaxx and Daiya wishing there was more she could do to speed up that part of the mission, but she was doing her bit here so she wasnt bored at least.

 

[Brie Jaxx]

"Oh, I'm sorry blonde, how about... hack into that computer or I'll shoot you too?" she giggled to herself "There, feel better now?"

Brie glared back at the blue haired girl, silently wondering and realising that she probably wouldn't have any problems shooting them both, at least a teeny tiny bit, just enough for Wierd Girl to satisfy her trigger finger, if they didn't hacked into the computer soon enough.

''Y-you won't blow a hole in anyones head if they play nicely, right? The guy thought you were funny, and I wish I thought you were funny too, but... Please don't shoot us, your friends who is just trying to crack this system and succeed with our mission... It would be very nice of you... Thanks, Hex.'' Brie pleaded with worry and a good amount of sarcasm towards their erratic friend.

"Xan never gave me any codes, and she's been comms-dead since we entered. I think we're on our own now."

''Great! That is just perfect! If we get out of this alive and not behind bars, I'm going to have a word with that woman!'' Brie said despondently as she punched some buttons and watched the screens and the ones and zeroes that were presented to them. Instead of trying to interpret them, Brie tried to look for patterns and windows for them to get out on the net.

''Hey! Easily entertained guy?'' she said, looking back at Hex and the guy she just threatened to blow the head off. Brie were relieved that Hex had not realised the threat. Yet. ''I guess I am the nice one then? You want to avoid that hole in the head for a couple of minutes? Come here and show us how to get online. Please? One transmission and we are out of here. You won't see us again, and we won't see you again. Pretty neat, right?'' Brie told the technician and whole heartedly took on the role as the good girl, giving Hex a look to be good and let the guy stand and come over to them if he agreed to make things quicker. The sooner they had access to the net, the sooner the technicians would be free from Hex's enchanting grip. Win win.

Hex , Daiya ​

 

[Cartri Keswoll]

Thankfully, a few seconds later his colleagues jumped into action. The first guard was taken out by a well time headbutt from Cassus, who had vaulted from his cover with unnatural speeds. Cartri felt the guard's arms go limp as he flew across the roof, almost getting frown over the edge by the sheer force of the blow. The ginger stared daggers into the bounty hunter as it could have been a potentially dangerous move to himself, why on earth he couldn't just take down someone with a simple choke was beyond him.

On the other hand, Ivory had pulled out a blaster of some kind and leveled a young man to the floor. The sound was silent and deadly, leaving no suspicion to those close by as to what was happening on the roof. Cartri narrowed his eyes at the boy and barged past him as he went to the nearest body, dragging it into a place where no other guards could see it "Always have to go the extra mile" he grumbled, hiding the last body on top of the other one to keep their presence secret for now.

Cartri joined them by the door and looked at what Ivory was holding in her hand. From the sounds of things, it was some kind of device that would help them open the door. How was a different question entirely, Cassus and Cartri just had to prepare for what was to come "Alright... we'll keep an eye on the entrance while you set it up. Just try not to injure yourself in the process" he smiled as he gave Cassus the side eye.

"Come on pool boy, let's move. Just don't be tempted to fling me off the roof on the way there"

Ivory Stroud Cassus Akovin Daiya Brie Jaxx Hex ​

 

[Daiya]

Daiya peeled off the pieces of her disguise, laying out the yellow garments on the floor next to the captive workers. They huddled together after her words of caution, but for one who tested the patience of Hex. The unmasked young shadowrunner lifted her head over the top of the desks to peer at her friend, heart thumping in her ears as she held a breath, only letting it out in one low, slow motion when it seemed like no one was going to get shot today.

They were still on a stealth mission, after all.

"You really are the nice one," she told Brie, flashing the scrapper girl a grin. Laying her arms across the edge of the desk, Daiya watched Brie work the terminal to gain access. The numbers on screen flew past in a dizzying manner, blurring together in the teen's vision. She should be paying closer attention, but getting below the friendly, interface layer of technology could all but put her to sleep.

The young shadowrunner awoke in her mind to Brie's request, shifting her attention to the technicians nearby again. She felt concern rising in her throat as she stepped aside to let the worker access the terminal, her eyes tracking their every move. "But clearly not the tech one, I thought you'd be the best out of all of us..."

Daiya folded her arms, her eyes darting from trigger-happy Hex to the shaking technician. She kept an eye on his movements, watching the screens that came up under his commands, willing herself to focus even as most of them passed by unfamiliar. The last thing they needed was for the worker to alert the forces outside the door, or CorpSec itself, to what was happening here. Not yet, anyway, they needed more time.

"You're contacting—" she was about to say names like Ivory, before the young shadowrunner stopped herself. This was still a stealth mission, after all. "—our team on the comms tower, right?" Daiya looked pointedly at Brie, expecting her best friend to take point on composing the message once they could send one. "Tell them we've got control of the power plant now, and we can probably hold off for a good..."

She glanced across the hostages, mentally tallying them up in her head. Glancing to Hex, Daiya held up three fingers, counting off the techs who were still on the floor, their fingers interlaced. If they had to, they could probably let most of them go. "Ten minutes? Fifteen with one hostage, you think?"

The young shadowrunner emphasized the number one to make it clear what she was thinking.

Daiya pulled a blaster from her holster, setting it across her arms for a visual to the other hostages. They might be young, but their shadowrunner trio were armed and willing to fight back to hold this place until the mission was over. Getting here had been the easy part now, holding it was going to be a lot harder. When it was time, she decided, the young shadowrunner would put her helmet back on and take cover behind the desk next to her.

If a fight was coming, she was ready.

Hex Brie Jaxx Ivory Stroud​

 

[Hex]

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

Spoiler: Equipment

• 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

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

One of the technicians went over and nervously helped her friends as Hex sat and polished off the found snack. She put her feet up on the desk and started playing with the wiring on her pistol. She had no part in the hacking part, it just wasn't her field. She would find something to do soon.

Hex looked at Daiya as she counted of the hostages, only one was required?

'...She wants you to kill the others...'

Hex raised an eyebrow and held up a single finger with a slightly confused but determined look on her face. She did not expect this of the other teen. "Really?" She held her SIMP pistol up as a gesture to emphasise what she thought was being asked of her.

"Oh feth, no!" Daiya held up her palm to Hex, waving it to stop her friend from doing something stupid. Like leaving irrefutable evidence of their crimes. "Don't kill them, they haven't done anything. Just stun 'em," she jerked her head back toward the break room, " and stick 'em in that closet out there."

Hex laughed loudly at her near faux pas.

'...That would have been embarrassing...'

She rolled her eyes and held the gun out. "You heard her, let's go for a little walk shall we?" The three stood and walked up, following Daiya's suggestion and Hex's instruction. "And don't think to try anything... I was this close to shooting you all already, don't make me reconsider." she flipped her braids behind her head and strolled out to the corridor, "Gonna borrow this, yeah?" she said to Brie Jaxx as she passed her, taking her stun gun with her.

The remaining three techs were very obedient, clearly frightened of their unstable escort, and they made themselves comfortable in the closet, Hex even let them sit before she shot each of them with Brie's weapon.

Strolling back in to the control room she looked at the other girls. "Everyone is sleeping soundly, we nearly done here?" no longer occupied by guarding hostages she tried peaking over the other girls shoulders. Screens scrolled in front of her meaning nothing.

Daiyalogue used with permission

 

[Ivory Stroud]

Ivory waited a few moments for the boys, Cassus Akovin & Cartri Keswoll , to give her some space, before she prepared herself for the final phase of their plan. The wind tugged at her coat and strands of black hair as she stood, alone and silent, for a few minutes - contemplating what she was about to do. Plans which had been in-the-making for months were about to come to fruition... for better or for worse, the next few minutes would decide not only the fate of Darkwire but of Denon as a whole. Ivory glanced down at the small black orb clutched between her thumb, index, and middle fingers; turning it over, inspecting it, as she weighed the gravity of the moment.

"In for a penny, in for a pound..." She muttered to herself, her words evaporating in the breeze.

In her pocket, Ivory imagined the shard containing Frankie's link to the outside world vibrating with the same frenetic excitement & nervous energy she, herself, felt.

The metallic structure of the broadcast tower yawned - creaking, as-if it were speaking to her - imploring her to not do what she was about to do. But it was too late. They'd come too far... and Denon had suffered too much.

But, Ivory would have been lying if she said to anyone she wasn't looking forward to what came next.

The door to the small metal shed stood before her, set into a small alcove out of the wind. At her shoulder, running along a central post, a ladder stretched higher into the air - leading up toward the top of the antennas where technicians could adjust, repair, or access the various hardware. The alcove would contain some of the blast, and the wind (she hoped) would help dissipate some of the noise... but there was no way to be absolutely certain she wasn't signing all of their death warrants.

With a determined look on her face, Ivory depressed the small red button on one side of the device & held it down for three seconds... there was a low beep, and with speed, the numerous metallic spines deployed from the small black orb. She held it between her fingers, focused on the door, cocked back her arm... and threw the Demo-Key at the very center of the portal.

Two of the metal spines struck the solid surface with force, depressing instantaneously into the casing of the grenade. An electrical charge, triggered by the action, caused the small payload of High-Explosive Plastoid to detonate with a subdued whump - audible across the roof as the metal frame of the door caved inward and the blast punched a round hole about two feet in diameter straight through into the room beyond. The demo-keys had been designed to minimize collateral damage, and Ivory hoped it had been successful... or else their mission had failed before it even began. A cloud of acrid smoke bellowed from the destroyed door and was swept up immediately by the wind.

Ivory had shielded herself from the blast by crouching & turning her face with the momentum of her throw, and immediately upon detonation, she stood and began moving into the thick cloud of smoke. Through the haze, she noticed the impact had been close enough to the point where the latch met the door-frame, and the door had shifted slightly; all that remained was a smoking hole & charred remains of the door's electronic lock. Her right foot lifted & lashed out in a vicious, full-force kick - dislodging the broken door from its resting place. It swung, half off its hinges, to hang limply to one side.

Inside the small control center, everything appeared to be functional, save for a flickering light overhead and a filing cabinet which stood directly beside the door. It had taken some of the blast, and been likewise damaged. At the opposite end of the room, mounted high on the wall, an orange klaxon-light had begun to rotate wildly in a clock-wise direction. At a glance, Ivory already understood that it was a silent alarm; warning others there'd been a disturbance inside the secure area of the facility.

She had to move fast.

The raven-haired rebel strode through the broken entryway into the room, immediately greeted by the sound of chirping consoles & flickering lights. To her left, a bank of monitors she immediately assumed were to control the direction & angle of the broadcast antennas were disregarded - instead, she homed in on a single screen with its own dedicated set of controls near the back of the small shed. Instead of sitting down, she again viciously kicked, sending the small rolling chair careening violently against the wall with a metallic thud. She punched a key on the control panel, causing the holo-screen to spring to life - illuminating the room in a dull purplish-blue glow as a prompt greeted her.

Later, when all was said & done, Ivory would offer a silent thank-you to whomever had chosen to leave the system unsecured by a password.

Unceremoniously, she stowed her pistol inside her coat, bent over the desk, and produced a small metallic data-stick with a pink microchip imbedded inside it. Absently, she remembered when Daiya had handed her the shard, with explicit instructions to keep it safe...

But, she was already jamming it into an open port on the control panel. The screen showed a progress bar with the words "Processing" displayed above it in bright orange letters.

Then, it was replaced by a prompt.

A single nail, painted in a style reminiscient of black leafless branches against a white background, punched the "Confirm" key, signalling the program contained within the shard to begin uploading directly to the tower's broadcast queue.

<<"Cartri, Cassus, get ready... we're going live... and we're probably about to have some company.">>

Daiya Brie Jaxx Hex​

 

[Brie Jaxx]

"But clearly not the tech one, I thought you'd be the best out of all of us..."

''I'm doing my best, okay?'' Brie stated in a defensive manner, while giving her bestie a slightly annoyed look. Time was ticking. This was stressful enough, being stuck in a small room with only one way of escape if they heard Corpo footsteps approaching. Hex's usual erratic ways adding to the time pressure and their shared concern that the technician would do anything stupid.

Brie stood on the other side of the technician, leaning over the control panel as she closely watched him start punch in commands. Even though they all were teens, the technician knew that one of them were completely insane and with both Daiya and Brie on his sides, he wouldn't try anything. Or, at least Brie hoped so.

"You're contacting—" she was about to say names like Ivory, before the young shadowrunner stopped herself. This was still a stealth mission, after all. "—our team on the comms tower, right?" Daiya looked pointedly at Brie, expecting her best friend to take point on composing the message once they could send one. "Tell them we've got control of the power plant now, and we can probably hold off for a good..."

She glanced across the hostages, mentally tallying them up in her head. Glancing to Hex, Daiya held up three fingers, counting off the techs who were still on the floor, their fingers interlaced. If they had to, they could probably let most of them go. "Ten minutes? Fifteen with one hostage, you think?"

Brie looked up quickly and over at Daiya in complete surprise.

''Wait-? What?? You mean we are going to wait for them to find us?! Are you serious?!'' she uttered, momentarily causing the technician to pause his work. Brie noticed that, and nudged his shoulder to tell him to keep going, for the moment shaking off her besties plans. She glanced over at Daiya, shaking her head in doubt. ''And I thought you at least were more sane than-'' Brie paused, as Hex walked by and ''borrowed'' her stun gun.

The technician announced that they were in, and a message box had appeared on the screen. It said that the recipient was Communications Tower.

''Thank you.'' Brie said sincerely, before excusing herself for what she had to do. ''I am sorry... I have to turn you over, back to the wierd one. Nothing is going to happen to any of you though, I promise.'' she explained, before Hex was welcome to bring this one over to the closet as well.

<''We have control over the power station. Ready when you are. Be careful. /D, B, H''> read the message that were soon sent by Brie to the team at the broadcasting tower.

Hex , Ivory Stroud , Cassus Akovin , Cartri Keswoll ​

 

[Daiya]

Daiya patted her bestie's armored shoulder with her own gloved hand, flashing her an encouraging grin. She let out a breath, a calm starting to grow inside her. Not quite relief, not yet. The young shadowrunner couldn't afford to let her guard down now. Instead she felt calm, alert and ready for what might come, with a confidence bolstering her muscles and mind.

It meant that Daiya only laughed when a flustered Brie questioned their plan.

''Wait-? What?? You mean we are going to wait for them to find us?! Are you serious?!'' she uttered, momentarily causing the technician to pause his work. Brie noticed that, and nudged his shoulder to tell him to keep going, for the moment shaking off her besties plans. She glanced over at Daiya, shaking her head in doubt. ''And I thought you at least were more sane than-'' Brie paused, as Hex walked by and ''borrowed'' her stun gun.

"Yep! We're the defense team, Brie," she explained, pointing out the windows behind them to the reactors of the power plant. They hummed away, unaware of the change in command. Daiya wanted to keep it that way, for the generators and anyone else outside this room. "We took this place, now we're gonna hold it. For however long it takes Ivory and the Boys to finish their part as the offense team."

The young shadowrunner watched Brie finish their message, leaning herself against the edge of another cluster of terminals. She brought her wrist up, remembering her tiny droids once again. The cameras were still working, and one was waiting outside the command center. Daiya directed it to a spot where it could watch the hallway from the vantage point of the door, and set its heat sensor to ping her if something changed. The other one, she set to explore the rest of the power plant, darting from shadow to shadow to leave the remaining workers unaware of their presence.

"Anyone getting hungry? I feel like I could go for some Gluk after this," Daiya mentioned, her nose almost capable of smelling the tasty, if low-grade, noodle soup here now. The teen distracted herself by examining her blaster, hoping to avoid being bored out of her skull until something happened. The gas levels were fine, swirling in a stable mixture, though she only really had her eyeball and nose to tell her that it was. Her blasters were a prototype, experimental, and the only two in existence as far as she knew.

Maybe she could build a few replicas for her friends.

A thought made the teen wander over to the computer terminal, poking at a few of the buttons. There were more systems than the one the technician walked them through. "I'm totally muscling in on your job, Brie," Daiya giggled with her explanation, elbowing the older teen gently in the ribs. She scrolled through the options on the terminal, most were simply monitoring programs, and she brought up a few. "Just wanna see what else—"

"Uhh, Ivory and the Boys better hurry the feth up!" Daiya pulled in Brie to look at the output on the diagnostic monitors she'd brought up. Her voice was tight as the teen pulled her lips thin, drawing in a sharp breath of air. She pointed at the screen monitoring the reactor pressure levels, which were slowly rising as she watched. "I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure that red is bad."

Daiya stared out the windows to the reactors below, as if her eyes might be able to spot the problem themselves. Or better yet, a solution. "Someone please tell me I'm wrong!"

Hex Brie Jaxx Ivory Stroud Cassus Akovin Cartri Keswoll​

 

[Cartri Keswoll]

Cartri followed Ivory along and kept a distance when it came to the doors. He took cover behind a crate and watched as she got to work, his eyes narrowing slightly. The teen closely watched the tool she was using, curious as to what it exactly did when she pressed it against the door "Ivory, what are you-" but before he could voice his concerns the door in front of him exploded, leaving the entrance in tatters as Ivory went back up to it once more to barge what was left to the floor.

When he looked back up from his cover, he coughed a few times from the smoke coming his way and was amazed to see that Ivory had already gone inside. Cartri couldn't help but grin as he followed suit, going through the smoke until he reached the control room with Ivory. She seemed to already be working away on the consoles, too busy to notice anything else but the task at hand.

"That's some gadget, you'll have to throw me one over when you get the chance"

Soon enough, the screen began to show a processing screen which indicated her effects we're not going to vain "We're in? good work Stroud" he said with a brief nod, looking back to her when she expected some company "Me and Cassus will deal with it. Fingers crossed he doesn't throw many of them off the roof to their deaths" the teen laughed before going into a more concentrated expression "Even so, we'll get it sorted" Cartri said just before walking to the door and motioning away some of the smoke with his hand.

"Hey Poolboy, where ever you're lurking we need to get ready!" he said, his head looking to see where Cassus had went.

Ivory Stroud Cassus Akovin Daiya Brie Jaxx Hex ​

 

[Ivory Stroud]

"That's some gadget, you'll have to throw me one over when you get the chance"

Ivory smirked in his direction, glancing up from the computer as she started the process for delivering their payload. "I'll do that. Free of charge, even." She quipped - but also sounded genuine. She was watching the screen as the percentage began to tick upward; the progress bar colored bright orange with the words "Uploading" above it in bold. Satisfied, she stepped away from the controls and reached back into her coat - producing the same pistol she'd used earlier.

She followed Cartri Keswoll toward the door and stepped through it, looking around the roof with a concerned expression. They were trapped. Isolated on a roof high above the city with no means of escape. "Honestly?" She said, glancing at her friend, "I'm more worried about how we're gonna avoid the same trip."

Suddenly, Ivory's watch - a Hermes Holo-Communicator which had been heavily altered by The Family's own team of Netrunners - beeped, signalling the arrival of a message through CryptNet. She tugged her sleeve backward and raised her wrist, bringing up a glowing purple background which shimmered in the air before her eyes:

<''We have control over the power station. Ready when you are. Be careful. /D, B, H''>

"Right on time." She said, then typed out a response:

<"Uploading in-progress. Silent Alarm triggered. Holding position to defend! /I"> Brie Jaxx

The moment she sent the message, a whisper stirred in the back of her mind - quickly rising to a crescendo in The Force - signalling that something terrible was coming. Her stomach knotted with anxiety, and Ivory dropped her arm. The expression on her face would have been unmistakable.

Barely audible above the wind, an echoing crash rose from the same stairwell below them where they'd entered the roof.

"They're coming." Ivory said, just loud enough for Cartri to hear - indicating with the barrel of her pistol the stairwell below.

As the two watched, two hulking shapes suddenly appeared - marching up the stairwell and out onto the roof. Atop their angular heads, mounted to their chests, and around their ankles, red & blue lights steadily blinked - signalling at a glance their role as Security & Enforcement Droids. They appeared unarmed... but that was likely only because of a silent alarm & not a direct threat.

Each of the droids stood over two meters tall, and marched along with precise, unhesitating steps. They were already turning, navigating the maze of air-conditioning units and making a beeline for the same long metallic staircase which would carry them to the roof where Ivory, Cassus, and Cartri were located.

Ivory swore under her breath, then hissed a single word: "Hide!"

The Watchmen Security Droids would be there within moments.

Daiya Hex Cassus Akovin

 

[Hex]

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

Spoiler: Equipment

• 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

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

''And I thought you at least were more sane than-''

"Ha! barely!" she cackled as she walked the last technician back to the closet.

Returning, she saw the other girls deep in conversation, but then Daiya spoke up about a warning indicator on the desk she looked over it herself, she wasnt a slicer but she loved fixing and building things so was very curious. "yeaaah.... red is bad. So what I think, if they built this place properly, when it over loads it should automatically shut down..."

'...corpos don't build things properly...'
"I was just getting to that"

"Buuutt.... if they cheaped out then." she made an excited look with her eyes, gestured with her hands and silently mouthed the words BOOM. The look on her eyes suddenly changed as she realised the implication of what she was saying and there was a look of fear that crossed them, little flecks of fuscia started snaking their way into the beautiful cyan blue.

Without saying anything she ran back out in to the room "Ow! Ow! Your hurting me! Stop it!" could be heard from the corridor before the blue haired girl returned with one of the techs roughly in tow. "owwww!" she said as Hex yanked her and put her in front of the console. "Fix it or you're dead!"

The techs eyes widened, "OK, OK...chit! What did you press?" she looked down at the console and the readings that were flashing in front of her. "We didn't press anything, can you fix it?" Hex asked with the gun still pointed at the innocent woman.

"I'd be able to think better if you put the gun down....if I don't fix it, it's not just me who's dead yeah." she looked over at Daiya And Brie Jaxx who in this moment she had decided were the rational ones in the room.

Hex lowered her weapon slowly and began pacing nervously.

'...This is probably some kind of trick you know...' Hex scrunched up her face at the words trying to ignore them.

The technician, now free of distraction pulled up a chair and started working at the terminal, the girl was barely older than the three teens. She pulled a rubbery red coil of candy out and began to chew it as she worked. "I don't know what you girls have done but you have shut down the coolant pumps" rolling her eyes she keyed in a few commands, then the same command again... "Huh...feth? its a manual iss... OK girls, because you decided to take over a power plant, you have certain responsibilities to the people within the nearest city block. One of you needs to go out on that gantry and pull that big red lever." she gestured towards a small metal hatch that led to a gantry above the now steaming hot reactors. In the centre was a dark silver column with what looked a like a large emergency panel. And on it was a red lever. "it isnt far, but its hot, slippery and who knows how well they installed the shielding on those things."