Faction Welcome To The Revolution (Darkwire Tatt-Chat)

[Ivory Stroud]

("Firstlight", VNV Nation)

“Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.”

She was still getting used to the surreal, dream-like state of the amorphous "Reality" that was colloquially referred to by members of Darkwire as the "Tatt-verse".

Ivory had lost track of time; she wasn't sure how long she'd been lying on her bed, safe in her apartment, but she felt like it could have been hours. For all she knew, it could have only been minutes. However long it had been, she figured she was only just settling in - besides, she'd made a new friend.

"So… you gonna show me what's up with the book, or what?" Frankie asked, quizzically eyeing the large leather-bound time which sat on the long wooden table in the center of the large open warehouse Ivory had envisioned. The building was almost entirely empty save for a few wooden crates, a long wooden table, and a number of chairs. Ivory understood that this place didn't really exist… but that didn't make it any easier. She was actually rather surprised at its limitations - the building had no doors or windows, there was no illusion of outside street noise or atmosphere, and the entire space was exceedingly clean. It was unlike any warehouse Ivory had ever set foot within.

The raven-haired rebel had her arms crossed over her chest, smirking at the "woman" in-front of her. Frankie was, in Denon slang, what one would call a Good Choom. Her appearance was similar to Ivory’s own: green combat fatigues, metal-tipped combat boots, a tank top, and a radical haircut. A pair of aviator-style glasses were perched on the Avatar’s nose.

“You remember what we talked about?” Ivory asked, and Frankie nodded, shifting onto her back foot and emulating Ivory’s pose. “Yeah. About the fighting back n’ shit?” Ivory nodded. “I’ll explain completely, when everyone gets here… and I’ll give Lance a copy for you, so you can read it.” Frankie smirked, reaching up with an augmented finger and pushing her glasses higher up on her nose. “If we do, no Corpo'll ever hire a Shadowrunner again." Frankie said matter-of-factly. Ivory shrugged. “It’s either that, or everything Darkwire has worked for goes up in smoke.”

Frankie shook her head. “Kark that. You still want my help?” Ivory nodded. “Yeah, you’ve got a big job.” She winked. “In fact, the biggest.”

Frankie dropped her arms, holding out her palms in an expression of “Well?!” - then, she paused, looking behind Ivory’s shoulder.

“Here they come…” She said, eliciting Ivory to turn her head and look behind her - noticing they were no longer alone.

The Shadowrunner Mafiosa uncoiled her arms and rubbed her hands together, stepping away from the crate she’d been leaning against and turning to face the new arrival.

Spoiler: Tattoo Info

Hey Darkwire! Welcome to a very special Tatt Chat! If you haven't received your Darkwire Tattoo just yet, stop by Maude The Maverick's tattoo parlor in Seven Points. She's expecting you! Let her know if you'd like a custom design - she's the best artist on Denon! Once you're done, find a safe place and drop into Tatt Chat; we're waiting for you.

Anakin Stormrunner Aren D'Shade Brie Jaxx Cartri Keswoll Cassus Akovin Daiya Gray Venasir Jerec Asyr Lynch Saija Kwann Xan Deesa Yula Perl hado Doc Painless Samnai Rouber Sola Tymon Ruby Jaxx Niki Priddy Zole

 

[Xan Deesa]

This was the second "tat-chat" ever, if Xan remembered correctly. It was also the first time she joined it. With the last one, she was tied up with other work while the rest talked the situation with the doppels out. That felt like a lifetime ago, and it might as well have been an entirely different life for the former human being. This wasn't supposed to be too much of a big deal for her, but Xan was nervous for some reason. With a deep breath she relaxed into her computer's chair and activated the fresh tattoo.

Her eyes fluttered open and took in the area around her. She inspected herself, only to be surprised by the neon paint, purple clothes, and all the other effects of her old self. "Hot damn, I hard-wired this look." She muttered with a chuckle. Her golden eyes inspected the rest of the area, a simple warehouse with no doors or other effects, only a building with some crates, chaires, and a table with none other than Ivory waiting for the new arrivals. "Hey what's up, choom." She called out with a wave. Upon reaching the Donna, her gaze turned to the other individual standing by her with a look of amused curiosity.

"You ain't human." She blurted out with a curious look. "Lemme guess, did they strap you into a chair and do stuff with your brain?" She asked rather bluntly. For the artificial intelligence, there was more to see than the physical appearance of the tat-chat, there was the lines of code, the connection, the makeup of the individuals, all of it drifted around Xan as she kept looking around. She didn't doubt that it was very similar for the old Shadowrunner as well. "Ivory, you gotta step your game up, you're surrounded by dead people right now." She joked as she folded her arms and leaned against a crate.

Ivory Stroud

 

[Niki Priddy]

LOCATION​

Weapon: 'Revy'
Equipment: PCA/EA, x2 Hutt Cartel Kidnap Jabber Rings-One on either hand, ENVC-370 Bodyglove, Tinfoil Hat Band, Earsculpt Comlink, Magno-grip Formal shoes, Paralyzing Lipstick, Covert Colors in #10-Coal, Absorbelt, HH-Eclipse ring, HH-Iris, Force Warning Pendant, "The Klaive" - PDW
Augmentation: PGEM-SAP "Amber Eyes"
Ship: The Tourist
Aboard the Ship: x2 Nuisance Engine Mark I Droids capable of producing Nuisance Droid Mark I and Firebee Security Droids

Niki wasn't entirely a fan of permanent alterations to the skin. At least those that distinguished one from the crowd. Why she had bothered listening to Matthew on the matter of contacts that could hide her eye color or even the blasted ring that could help divert attention.

The call had gone out, and while the last operation with Darkwire had been a success for both Niki and the group, she had become far more cautious in her dealings with most everyone to this point.

Matthew had watched the parlor the day prior. Niki quietly dealing with business from the Tourist before he returned with his findings. She found solace in his presence at least while on Denon. A steadfast figure in her life as the galaxy continued to shift from the one she had remembered some time ago.

The next day had come and she ventured out to receive the strange ink at the behest of someone whose words held enough weight to slip through the caution. The process had been surprisingly quick, the ornate scrawl of her favorite letter spread in a circle across her upper arm. Deceptive in the highest regard to those looking at just one point, the sight similar to a blossoming flower rather than a vain clutching to her favorite insignia piece.

Much like the ornate letter across her market listing, she stared at the display with a smile.

She traveled back to the Tourist before directing Matthew to begin some tea and maybe a light meal as she leaned back into her office chair. The tattoo felt strange, allowing herself to engage the mental slip as she felt herself drawn elsewhere.

A table, some crates, three beings before her as eyes opened to the strange surreal vision before her. Her suit had transferred over, a hand combing through the space where hair should have been. It had appeared also, a sigh of relief as Niki came forward and gave a small nod to Ivory.

There was nothing short of wary caution for the other two. One seeming very much an independent rather than a usual of Ivory. Something she had noted with the augmentation to her eyes in their last encounter for Ivory's people.

"Wanting to get everyone all riled up for a good time then, huh?" Niki bothered to joke running a hand along the desk.

Ivory Stroud Xan Deesa Cartri Keswoll
​

 

[Cartri Keswoll]

When the word spread of a tat chat going down it seemed like something big was going to be announced. This technology was mainly used for secret meetings between members, but only twice had he been sucked into the VR space to discuss matters. Laying back on his bed and sighing, he activated the tattoo and drifted out of reality.

Within seconds his eyes shot back open to reveal an open warehouse, one that barely had anything in it other than a few crates to sit on. Cartri inspected himself and glanced at the attire he wore previously, one that was simple yet appropriate for the meeting. His hair was coded to be perfect at all times, so if anyone was funny enough to try and ruin it the hair would keep in place. Cartri slowly rolled up his sleeves and looked over to the three figures who had already arrived, a smile crossing his face as he first approached Xan Deesa

"How you doing sis!" he said with a chuckle before opening his arms wide and giving her a tight hug, holding it for a few seconds before pulling away and raising a brow at the familiar attire "Damn, going old school are we? never thought I'd see this Xan again" the teen grinned before playfully punching her on the shoulder if the permissions allowed it.

Turning his head, he turned his attention to the crime lord known as Ivory Stroud who he had gotten to know more recently "Don't think I'm giving you a hug Ivory..." Cartri smirked, his hand extending out for a firm handshake instead if she accepted it. For now, he liked Ivory. Although, it didn't necessarily mean he trusted her with his heart. At the same time, his gaze would rest on a more unfamiliar face Niki Priddy who seemed to have just arrived too.

"Depends what this good time is, for all we know it could be Ivory announcing her birthday 70th party. Cartri by the way" he said with a small wave of his free hand and a cheeky smile back to the Donna, who probably wasn't going to be too impressed...

 

[Doc Painless]

The last time Doc Painless had joined a tatt-chat, they'd plotted the death of a DireX.

They'd gone through with it, too. In the wake of the destruction caused by the Corpos' doppelgängers, Darkwire had been looking for a way to hit back, a means of telling the Board that they weren't to be fethed with like that. The CAD had used the secret organization before, wielding them as a tool to gain control of worlds like Belazura, and then had tried to dispose of them after that nasty business on Parcellus Minor. It'd been before the Doc's time, and there had never been a doppelgänger of him. He'd come in with lofty ideals instead of vengeful thoughts, hoping to see this little enclave of rebels and nonconformists fight back against the Corpos for the sake of all Denon's people.

It hadn't exactly gone the way he'd hoped so far. Darkwire was public enemy number one now, and a lot of friends were dead or jailed.

So were a whole lot of innocent people, caught in the crossfire of the shadow war the Doc had helped start.

Given all that, it was no surprise that the street medic was a little apprehensive on the way into this tatt-chat. He'd upended his whole life when he'd participated in the Xopsaloff assassination, and plenty of folks had gotten it even worse, with no clear net positives to show for it yet. But he was committed now; a man in his position - wanted terrorist, to be specific - couldn't just suddenly decide he was going to sit this one out. Besides, he needed to look out for his friends, many of whom were very young... and tended to attract trouble like a bantha draws sand flies. He'd gotten into this whole mess to try to help the people he cared about, and his priorities hadn't changed at all.

So the Doc took a deep breath and activated his Darkwire tattoo. He found himself whisked into the virtual realm, a mostly-bare warehouse materializing around him. Although one could choose to look pretty much however one wanted in this digital space, the Doc just looked like himself. Let the young people turn into fire-breathing dragons or eyebrow-raising fursonas if they so desired; he wanted people to know who his avatar was at a glance, in case they needed to talk to him. And despite all the infinite image possibilities, he found that he recognized all of the arriving runners. Xan and Cartri were already here... along with a few folks he'd met only more recently, during the blizzard.

"Folks," the Doc said, offering a nod and a little wave. Beyond that, he kept to himself for now.

Anxiety twisted in the pit of his stomach. He wanted to know what this was all about.

He also kind of didn't, but it was too late to stick his head in the sand.

Ivory Stroud | Xan Deesa | Niki Priddy | Cartri Keswoll​

 

[Zole]

Zole swam around in her own head. The light of her desk lamp was dancing across her ceiling. A myriad of colours in a raging maelstrom she was barely conscious of, despite her eyes being open.

Her last gig had gone well. Her credits had gone exactly where they usually went: upgrades and spice.

A persistent sound interrupted her reverie. The colours condensed back into a single white spot on the ceiling. The headache started.

"Feth," she grunted. Zole pulled herself upright and then stood from her bed. She almost fell straight into the wall.

Her terminal was flashing with a message. An invitation.

Zole stumbled to her skin. There was a loaded blaster on the ceramic bowl. She ignored it and splashed her face with cold water to try and sober up.

A few minutes later she emerged in the virtual world. Few in darkwire would have seen her without an entire armoury about her person.

There was grunt that could have been a greeting.

 

[Darkwire Prophet]

Frankie figured she had been alone for a long time again when the shadowrunner Ivory appeared with her plan. She barely kept track now, the loneliness all seemed to blend together in the voidspace that constituted the tatt-verse. From time to time, the uploaded shadowrunner had her own pursuits or events to observe through the HoloNet, though she did so as she would have in her organic life. Frankie could not be as omnipresent as she wanted among her Darkwire family, not until Lance finally owned up to his promise to her.

And that had been...she didn't know how long now.

"You ain't either, Glowlight," Frankie gruffly remarked at the first newcomer to Ivory's warehouse setting. She didn't usually need an environment from the Real anymore, it was just something that gave the living shadowrunners comfort. In the warehouse, the neon woman stood out like a glowlight in the dark, colored in the bright glow that Lance programmed for any non-organics. "Brightband got shut down, so what the kark are you?"

Frankie stepped in close to the neon woman, powerful in her own domain. This wasn't the HoloNet. This wasn't even a normal Virtual Reality. This was the tatt-verse, fueled by custom nanites no longer made, and even a slicer would be at its Moderator's mercy at first.

"So what powers that nugget in your metal chassis? You got meat or electrons up there, choom?"

Xan Deesa​

 

[Anakin Stormrunner]

In the recent months, Anakin had taken to retreating to the Tatt-verse whenever he needed a break. The moldability of the environment allowed him to appear with two wings, fully healed of his recent injuries. It helped that the company was good.

Frankie was level headed with a wit sharper and dryer than any sandstorm. She’d spent her life on Denon, had walked its streets every day and seen what it was like for the less fortunate. He could relate to her - world weary as she was - in a way that he couldn’t with the youths that made up the majority of Darkwire.

It was why when he arrived, bearing two wings and no sign of his healing injuries, Anakin greeted her with a small smile. They hadn’t talked since his second capture and escape, too busy scrambling to find safe houses for his people.

“Frankie, long time no see. I’d ask how you’ve been, but I figure the answers same as the last.” He swept his gaze across the other occupants of the room. He knew Doc, had seen him at the last meeting and the emergency house call after his first prison break. Cartri and zole were familiar but not close. They’d done a couple runs together, but never interacted much. Then he saw Xan, her avatar lit up like a Tatooine firebug. Spice blue eyes softened, as a small smile graced his features.

“No need to worry, Frank. This is Xan Deesa; she’s a shadow runner, and a friend.” Perhaps even more than that, though to what degree he wasn’t quite sure.

“How have you been?” He turned to Xan and moved to grab her hand.

Movement to his left caught his attention, dragging his eyes away from Xan. The woman beside her was pale, with dark eyes and dark hair. A complete stranger to him, Anakin couldn’t help but grip Xan’s hand tighter. He’d always been wary of strangers, but with enemies around every corner and so many people in this war only for money, his hackles always seemed to be up. Nevertheless he gave her a kind look, though it wasn’t a smile. The least he could do was give her the benefit of the doubt. Her actions would tell him what kind of person she was, one way or another.

“My name’s Anakin. Who are you?” Even among strangers, he stressed the weight of his name. Not the name itself, but the simple fact of having one. He was a person, and no one would take that away from him.

Pupiless eyes flicked towards Xan. She alone was the only other that could understand the weight of such a simple greating, having been slowly learning of his culture and past.

 

[Hacks]

Zenna Motel, Denon

The room certainly wasn't luxury, but it was dirt cheap. There were wall stains in the kitchen that suspiciously looked like black mold, and decades-old grime that was impossible to scrub or bleach out of the furniture. Hacks lay down on the bed, picking at the forming scabs on her arm from the fresh tattoo. She'd been tipped that she ought to get inked for an upcoming meeting. The skin around the tattoo was still red and itchy. The technology was something she would have to investigate later, not quite yet wrapping her head around how it worked.

She closed her eyes, felt a dropping sensation in her mind, then opened to see she was no longer in the motel. She now stood in a relatively clean warehouse, no windows or doors. There were others around the room, some she recognised, most she didn't. Then her eyes fell on Frankie. Her stomach sank for a moment, tilting her head at her. "Neat trick, weird though," Hacks muttered, not realizing it was Frankie, instead believing she was looking at some digital farce. What in the hell were these kids up too in Darkwire? now parading some digital clone of Frankie around. She didn't like it. As far as Hacks was concerned, Frankie had been offed for knowing too much, her body likely ash in the wind by now.

She looked over to Doc, offered a brief smile and a slight tilt of her head. The slicer turned away, crossed her four arms over her chest and dropped her gaze on Ivory, slowly drifting her stare to scan the room. She didn't really know any of the shadowrunners here but the uncomfortable apparition of a dead friend. Friend? Was that even right? She had known Frankie, hell, Frankie had tracked Hacks down to recruit her into Darkwire. Frankie had been the first shadowrunner, Hacks the second, then later came Enigma. Of the three, Hacks was the only one still standing. Where was Enigma? He too had vanished in the early days. Then again so had Hacks, but she was back now. Could she consider Frankie and Enigma friends? Sure, she supposed, they were the only people who had really gotten close to her in years. Despite how short lived their time together had been. Her eyes fell last on Frankie once more, unable to tear away her gaze now.
​

 

[Darkwire Prophet]

Frankie relaxed —as much as any digital construct could relax— at the sound of the newcomer speaking up in defense of the non-organic. The uploaded shadowrunner turn to look at the familiar avatar of Anakin Stormrunner. Now there was who reminded Frankie most of the old days.

"Can't kark up these digi-feathers, you know how it goes," Frankie quipped back to the Harpy man, falling back into a comforting paradigm loop with one of her most regular visitors. He looked the same as always, a fact that the construct took note of. "If you're vouching for her, then we're all good, Bird Brain."

When Frankie was still Human, her implants gave her near-seamless access to any computer system she connected with. In this realm, accessing the controls of the tatt-verse were little different to her. Her head tilted for a moment, she'd always liked the little visual cues, and the shimmering light around Xan Deesa faded away. "Shame. I needed some test listeners for my opera..."

The construct gave Xan an open-mouthed grin as she walked off. Someone else in the tatt-chat was giving her eyes, Frankie barely even needed her powers as Moderator in here to feel that. The construct shook her head when she spotted the lookie-loo, her grin cocking high on cheekbones that hid under her large glasses.

The woman in front of her didn't so much remind Frankie of the old days, she literally was them. The four-armed brawler was a spirit of the streets herself, even meaner on her good days than bad ones. If Frankie thought the modern shadowrunners had spunk, it was only because Hacks had lived it every day since she'd been recruited. "The kark, Hacks? You're not dead yet?"

Xan Deesa Anakin Stormrunner Hacks​

 

[Daiya]

Wings sprouted from the tapered ends of her eyes, traced over in layers of the Sithliner that was a birthday gift for the teen. A delicate finger smudged the line up towards the top of her eyelid, then traced back over the wing once more. Eye shadow followed over the smudged foundation, a silvery-sparkly shade that would reflect well under strong neon or club lights. The teen applied it all carefully, dusting the bottom shadow under her eyes with some of the silver from above as a painted mirror.

Daiya leaned back, turning her face this way and that to survey her work. She traded out eye shadow for blush, applying it over the light foundation that covered her freckles. Then she uncapped the tube of lipstick, her favorite shade of pink, applying it just enough to smack her lips for the complete picture. She smiled at herself, her face finally fitting the outfit she'd chosen for today, determined to make more of a lasting impact in this tatt-chat than the last.

Starting with her looks.

The young shadowrunner knew full well that she didn't need to dress or make herself up for the virtual environment, she could be unshowered wearing the grubbiest clothes and still look exactly how she saw herself now in the tatt-verse. The effort was more to create the memory for herself, getting the image right in the Real so it would look right in virtual. Daiya smacked her lips on last time, finally pleased with herself, before leaving the mirror behind to the rest of her apartment.

Reclining on the bed, Daiya reached underneath flaxen hair to touch the nanite-infused tattoo on her ear. At once, her world dissolved into the tatt-verse, an odd sensation for the girl who preferred a planet underneath her feet. She materialized inside a warehouse this time, a slight frown tugging at her lips over the disappointing change of venue. Especially with the drab lighting washing out her meticulous selection of color. Her eyes widened and a grin lit up her face when she spotted familiar figures, including the venerable shadowrunner's construct of Frankie.

"Heyyyyyyy Darkwire!" The ball of energy in her stomach fueled the bouncing teenager, tapping an aloof Doc on the opposite shoulder she passed by and sending a wave in the direction of a gruff Frankie interrogating Hacks. Even that appearance couldn't dampen Daiya's resolve, parking herself inside the circle of conversation that included a particularly neon-looking Xan, a rebel-clad Ivory, a Zole looking quite green without her customary arsenal, the restored wings of Anakin's avatar, and coiffed, ginger hair on Cartri that she tried ruffling to no avail.

A glance to her own shirt and sleeves told the teen at least one part of her avatar was working as intended, she could only hope the rest of her appeared just as lavishly as on her fellow shadowrunners.

"Oh, you I don't know," Daiya stopped near of an unfamiliar woman, thin spears of crimson hair framing the woman's face. "You hair's a-mazing, is it like that in the Real? I'm Daiya, by the way."

Daiya looked around to those assembling, seeing even more pop in while she had wandered around. The warehouse venue had space for many more, stoking curiosity in the peppy teen. "So what's on the agenda?"

Ivory Stroud Xan Deesa Niki Priddy Cartri Keswoll Doc Painless Zole Anakin Stormrunner Hacks​

 

[Zole]

"Heyyyyyyy Darkwire!"

"Oh I am not sober enough for this," Zole muttered.

The teenager's enthusiasm and energy was like bright sunlight to the post-spice low Zole was swimming through.

 

[Xan Deesa]

People started to pile into the... meeting? Lobby? She wasn't exactly sure what to call it, so far it felt like a perfect opportunity to have some wacky VR shenanigans. But that can wait. So far, her attention was on all of the familiar, and unfamiliar, faces pouring in from behind her. It was only when the weird AI started to throw shade at her that she turned to look at her with a smug grin. "What's the matter, bot? You jealous of the chrome?" She fired back at the "gatekeeper" in front of her.

Any hopes of seeing how she differed from this AI was dashed when Anakin came in and, likely for the best, smoothed the situation over. "Could've been better, bird brain! Haven't seen you in a hot minute." She joked, pulling closer for a hug. What surprised her the most about this "tat-chat" was the fact that everything felt real. More so than the body she used normally. She felt like she was really there. If this situation wasn't so important, and the familiar faces weren't bombarding her, she would have went off to explore what the space had to offer. "This place is awesome." She muttered in Anakin's ear as she pulled back.

Once more she was assaulted, this time by the teenage battalion. She stared in horror for a moment before a punch yanked her out of her nightmare. An arm yanked Cartri closer to try and ruffle up his hair... only to not work at all. "... That's cheating, for real." She grumbled with a light punch at his shoulder. "Choom, this place is amazing. I actually feel in here... hell, I might just keep this cranky harpy company for a while after the meeting." She commented, holding an arm around his neck as she leaned against him to look around.

Cartri Keswoll Daiya Ivory Stroud Hacks Doc Painless Anakin Stormrunner Zole Niki Priddy

 

[Samnai Rouber]

Sunlight spilled through the open window as Samnai prepared for the tatt-chat. She sat down on her couch, arriving at the designated warehouse in the blink of one eye and the next. It was very clean, filled with nothing but a few chairs and tables—and of course, the people pouring in. She leans against a wall, watching the people. Some she recognised, others looked unfamiliar.

Getting the tattoo had been done after careful consideration, weighing the pros and cons before deciding. It was a simple line, hidden on the inside of her elbow.

Samnai has woken up early every morning for many, many years, and yet she still can't bring herself to be a fan of it. She probably never will be. And she will probably never get how people can talk so enthusiastically when the sun has barely come over the horizon. Are they not tired as hell? Her caffeine hadn’t kicked in yet, making her feel particularly irritated and snappy.

"Oh I am not sober enough for this," Zole muttered.

The teenager's enthusiasm and energy was like bright sunlight to the post-spice low Zole was swimming through.

“Me neither,” she muttered to herself, hearing the whisper from nearby. At least one person felt like her today.

 

[Ivory Stroud]

Xan Deesa

“What’s up, choom!” Ivory replied in kind to the Neon Demon of Denon, grinning at the woman’s fierce color & attitude. Xan was always the life of the party, whenever she showed up. Ivory laughed at Xan’s assertion she was surrounded by the dead; "If you only knew..." was her only reply.

Niki Priddy

“Yeah, that’s the plan.” Ivory replied to Niki’s assertion that she was intending on getting people riled up. The raven-haired Rebel grinned, reaching out to shake Niki’s hand - the two had formed the beginnings of a friendship after Ivory recently helped Niki out of a bad spot. She had to admit, Niki looked good in a suit.

Cartri Keswoll

Ivory laughed at Cartri’s mention of a hug. “Oh, don’t worry. I didn’t want one from you, either.” She joked, shaking his hand firmly. His suggestion that she could have been turning 70 earned a playful (but still firm) open palm to the back of his head. “Up yours, Knuckles.”

She found Xan’s colorful means of dress more exciting, and found Cartri’s excitement regarding the Neon Demon’s appearance amusing.

Ivory nodded, returning Doc Painless’ greeting with a wave. Ivory didn’t recognize the Mirialian Mercenary, but smiled welcomingly at her nonetheless. “Welcome, both of you.”

Frankie stepped up to Xan and the two began to have some words. The “friendly” banter between the two caught Ivory’s interest… though she knew better than to speak out in defense of either.

Anakin Stormrunner

The appearance of the winged young man was met with curiousity on Ivory’s part. He approached the group and expressed immediate familiarity with Frankie, and was clearly well-aquainted with Xan Deesa - but when his attention turned to Ivory, herself, his demeanor seemed to change. He regarded her with hardened eyes; suspicion and caution in equal measure, while also maintaining a cool exterior. He introduced himself as Anakin, and asked for her own in-turn; to which she replied, looking into his eyes: “Ivory. It’s good to meet you, Anakin.”

She had heard of the Winged Defender of the Discretes; rumors that he was a leader and a powerful ally in Darkwire, and she made a note to pay her respects. “I’m glad you could make it.” She said, smiling at him disarmingly. Hopefully, the topic of their meeting wouldn’t turn him completely against her. She needed as much support as she could get. Anakin spoke up for Xan, which seemed to quell some of Frankie’s suspicion.

Hacks

Next to arrive was Hacks - whom Ivory did not know. The slicer seemed familiar to Frankie, and that was enough. The two began to converse, and Ivory stopped paying attention at Daiya 's sudden appearance.

The blonde gunslinger was a bright bundle of energy, as always - mischeviously playing a prank on Doc Painless and introducing herself to Niki. Ivory chuckled, noticing the energy in the room had improved greatly. Daiya had a way of doing that.

“So what’s on the Agenda?” Daiya asked, and Ivory responded: “Once everybody gets here, we’ve gotta talk Biz.”

Over the next 30 minutes, more than two dozen faces - none of them Ivory recognized - populated the space. She was pleased to see Darkwire showing out; people exchanging hugs and handshakes, the buzz of conversation in the space growing as old friends exchanged greetings and caught up on recent biz. For the moment, she let them talk. Ever the social butterfly, she, too, did a little networking - introducing herself or being introduced to Darkwire Operatives new & old.

When it appeared as-if nobody else was joining them, Ivory rubbed her hands together and walked toward the table at the front of the group - leaving Frankie, Xan, Cartri, and Daiya to stand where everybody could see her. She rapped her knuckles twice on the wooden surface - only somewhat surprised that the sound actually carried - calling the attention of everyone in the room. Then, she leaned her butt against the table, resting on her arms as she surveyed the room and everyone gathered.

"Alright... looks like everyone who's coming is here. Welcome, friends and fellow Shadowrunners." Her voice carried across the room, reaching everyone. "I'll just get right to business."

She took a breath. "Things are changing on Denon. CAD is changing. Darkwire needs to change. The days when Shadowrunners and Suits held a tentative alliance are over." She spoke as-if this were an indisputable fact. "At the Blue Flame, Anakin and Doc, amongst others, assaulted in a raid. Sakedo Tower didn't just go bad. It exploded. Some of you were lucky enough to get away from it, myself included. CorpSec arrested anyone they could get their hands on, and I'm glad to see some of them standing here today. I know how much you suffered that day."

She looked sympathetically at Anakin, then raked her eyes across each person in turn.

She spread her arms wide to encompass the group, the warehouse, and symbolically, Denon itself, then gestured as she spoke to emphasize her words:

"Now the Corpos have declared Darkwire a terrorist organization. It's horrifying to watch. They've begun arresting people right off the street, checking identification —I even saw an old couple, just average discretes, hauled off for questioning the other day. They only got out because they could afford to pay, for those that can't...the transports to Belazura and Altier have been unusually packed this week."

She paused a moment, allowing those words to sink in; attentively observing the assembled congregation for signs of agreement or dissent.

"That's why Frankie and I decided to call everyone here. We need to talk about what this means for us."

Samnai Rouber Zole

 

[Hacks]

Walking Among Ghosts...

"The kark, Hacks? You're not dead yet?" Frankie said to Hacks, who stared at her for a long moment and then spoke aloud, not addressing the woman, "Alright that's not funny." She still didn't quite grasp that this wasn't a doctored program of the shadowrunner talking to her, but the real thing. More shadowrunners began to appear, most she didn't recognise. Only a few that she did, they were older, grim-faced, tired. She opened her four arms and said aloud, "What are we even doing here?"

It was then that Ivory picked up the pace for the crowd, addressing everyone in the 'warehouse'. Her brows settled into a deep frown, a crease lining her forehead in frustration at what she was hearing. The remark about those being arrested at Sakedo fell on ears that did not care. Had she been drinking at the time she would have spit it out in surprise at the following comments. This was insanity. Her face was saying everything her voice did not. Then at last the remark about Frankie, Hacks eyed what she thought was a program, and it irked her deeply.

"Of course they labelled us a terrorist organisation you moron," Hacks barked in the silence that followed Ivorys statement, furious "We've been doing hits on competing Corpos for years now, not to mention all the other kark we've done across the sector." She looked around at the others in the crowd, but found few familiar or welcoming faces. A metal hand ran over her hair and smoothed it out as she thought, "We're just contractors, they pay us, we do the job. The Corpos have to keep a front for the public, it's how it's always been."

Hacks pointed a finger at Ivory while gesturing to the crowd with her three other hands in a wide armed stance, "What? You all lost your nerve? Bunch of cold-blooded criminals who decided to play goody-two-shoes? I've seen the criminal records of half the people in this room, and we all deserve to be labelled as terrorists, and some of us are still labelled as terrorists outside of Denon." Her hands dropped to her sides, bar one that ran its way over her hair again in stress, "It comes with the territory."

Her mind was racing. This conversation alone could have her contracts dropped. She would be financially devastated. Her accounts frozen. She was a slicer working for the highest bidder, she was no politician. She cared little for how CAD ran the planet, far better their stability than the power vacuum Denon had suffered for years following the departure of the Galactic Republic. She couldn't risk losing her contracts here. She didn't want to find work with the Hutts, and the Sith tended to use hired help as cannon fodder. Goddamnit Enigma, where the hell are you? she wondered to herself, wishing she had a familiar face to back her up, but when she looked around it was strangers and sorry folk.
​

 

[Doc Painless]

A returned nod to Hacks, who'd recently been on his table (or at least a table he was working on) twice in rapid succession. A chuckle as Daiya made him spin around in the opposite direction from where he stood, tapping his far shoulder in the classic misdirect high school students had been perfecting for a thousand generations. Beyond that, the Doc stayed quiet. There was a strange mix of energies in the room - enthusiasm and tension, light-hearted mirth and deep-seated stress. They were a community, a family even, and it was good to have them all back in one place... but the reason they'd come together, the recent series of events that had necessitated this meeting, wasn't so fun.

Ivory's speech laid it all out. Times were changing, and not for the better. The Doc was painfully aware of the consequences of their actions - he'd faced them personally, and he'd watched his closest friends face them, too. He'd seen the toll inflicted by the Corpo doppelgängers, using their false likenesses to rip apart the lives of the people they'd been copied from. When he'd helped strike back, he'd lost not only his Seven Corners practice but also his whole way of life, forced to flee into the perpetual darkness of the midnight zone... and to give up his code against killing. And the consequences hadn't stopped there. Good people, Darkwire and otherwise, were suffering in this crackdown.

Denon was changing. The Corpos were changing tactics. Darkwire had to change too, if it wanted to survive.

Hacks's objection was the expected pushback to all of that, the voice of old Darkwire.

"As the resident goody-two-shoes," the Doc said, stepping forward with a smile intended to defuse the sudden tension, "I resemble that remark." He paused, letting a little chuckle run through the room, if he'd earned one. He turned to face Hacks, his face open and guileless. "I was never part of the Darkwire you remember, Hacks," he told her. "I wasn't part of the inter-Corp warfare from back then. I've always been the bleeding heart, so maybe I'm not the right person to say this. But things have changed for Darkwire since back then, changes that you missed while you were..." He hesitated, grasping for the right word. "... while you were incapacitated."

Time for a little history refresher. The Doc turned to cheat out like an actor on stage, still partly facing Hacks but playing to the whole crowd. "Darkwire's runners were the secret soldiers-for-hire in the Corporate Authorities' internal intrigues. We operated that way for years. We're part of the reason that Belazura was delivered into Manfloon's hands, why it's a planet-wide strip mine instead of a paradise world now. We helped do that, because it was a payday, and what happened afterward wasn't our problem." He paused, gazing around the room, eyes hard. "Until it became our problem. Until working for Corpo sleemos caught up with us."

"That's where the doppelgängers came in. They were a weapon aimed at us. Not some other Corp that hired us, us directly. The DireX Board at large had gotten what they wanted from us, and so we'd become an inconvenient loose end. So they hit us, the Corpos as a whole, and we hit them back." He shook his head, mouth tight, cybernetic gaze intense as it swept the crowd. "This declaration that we're terrorists isn't business as usual. It's the next step in the Corpo effort to destroy anything they can't control, and that means us. If we go back to the way they were, go ask them for new jobs, we're just laying our heads on the executioner's block."

"The only way we survive is by making things better. CAD has to fall. We're on the same side as the people they oppress now."

"We have to be agents of change, not solo operators for profit. But we can't do it alone. We need to inspire people."

"Inspire them to rise up." There. He'd said it. The biggest ask he'd ever made of anyone: revolution.

Ivory Stroud | Xan Deesa | Niki Priddy | Cartri Keswoll | Zole
Anakin Stormrunner | Hacks | Daiya | Samnai Rouber​

 

[Zole]

Zole wasn't as invested as everyone else here. Now was she as concerned. She had enough contacts that she could get off world and pick up one of three identities she kept and start working again on the far side of the galaxy.

She could had yanked herself out of virtual and started planning her exit right now. Perhaps, she thought to herself, she had come to like Denon just a little.

"You want change," she said, vaguely in Doc's direction, "then you have to run the numbers. And you have to give the corporates an alternative. And then you have to make it look attractive."

"Big suits make the calls, but it's the shareholders behind them you need to get interested. They run the numbers and another option looks cheaper then they're gonna take that option or have the shareholders take their heads."

In some cases, Zole imagined quite literally.

"So what do you want to do? Make Denon operations so expensive they upsticks and leave? Something else you can put on the table that's cheaper than all out street war?"

 

[Daiya]

The bouncing teenager gave the green woman a dour side-eyed glance, throwing her arms akimbo. The tatt-chat was as low pressure as meetings could get, especially if no one could muss her makeup or hair like she'd tried on Cartri. Frankie might feel trapped in here, but Daiya was feeling nothing but freedom. She turned over to Zole, brushing back her hair as she walked by with a smart turn of phrase. "Then maybe you shoulda pre-gamed it, huh?"

Ivory was starting to talk biz, as she'd promised, and Daiya rounded toward the middle of the pack. The open space of the warehouse promised accommodations for dozens more than had appeared, and for a moment the young shadowrunner wondered just how many of their number had been lost at the riot and ensuing arrests. Maybe more than their absent number would suggest, though. Her eyes glanced over to Hacks, who had already given the young shadowrunner grief enough to consider the woman duplicitous.

Daiya turned her eyes on their speaker, the woman she knew presented herself as Ivory the Rebel. The teen had seen another side of the woman, Ivory the Donna, and how keen the members of her Family were to respect her word. Darkwire was far less tame or organized, and Daiya folded her arms to watch how her fellow shadowrunners treated the woman's appeal, nodding along to her silver tongued descriptions of the events she mostly knew firsthand.

As if to satisfy her inner demons, the first person Daiya heard after the initial spiel was none other than Hacks herself. The four-armed cyborg spat out a chiding retort, waggling her tongue nauseously at shadowrunners who had lost something far more valuable than the accused nerves. Daiya's eyes narrowed, her furrowed brow squinting daggers through the woman's virtual form. She started towards her with hands balled in fists at her side, original shadowrunner or no, Hacks was going to hear a piece of her mind.

It took the even tones of Doc, and more than a few of his words, before Daiya slowed her roll for a moment. She stopped to listen, nodding again at a few points, then turning to glare at Hacks when the stalwart medic mentioned the doppelgängers. Nails raked against her palms, and the teen took a step again towards Hacks. One by one, stalling out the rest of Doc's time until he had finished with his message.

She didn't bother to listen to the rest of it. Daiya had her finger aimed square at Hacks' chest, stepping up so her nose hovered close to the cyborg's virtual chest. Hacks couldn't hurt her in here, and the knowledge fueled the teen's snarl on her face and the bitterness in her words, "You've had your eyes closed the whole time you've been back, then? Or is that chip still to blame for all your problems? This is new territory, bootlicker, you slept and you missed it!"

Daiya had more words for the woman, and stuck her finger in the cyborg's chest. "You weren't there. You didn't get to see your exact double fething up your reputation, dropping jobs without finishing, and sending you on the run before you even knew you were a target."

The thought of Puurgil Corp danced in the teen's head, and she tapped the woman's sternum again.

"You didn't have to watch your friends getting shot right in front of you, and then see them come back."

She still started sometimes at the sight of Cassus Akovin 's face, and what he had looked like with a hole in it.

"And you didn't have your entire life ripped apart, or lose your friend, your partner, and your fething dignity, all in one day —all 'cause of some pretty droid wearing your face!"

The most painful memory in her life brought tears to her real face whenever she remembered, in here her face was still pristine with the same perfect makeup that she'd so diligently constructed.

"So who's the moron now?!"

Daiya whirled herself away before the woman could even respond, tossing up her hands in surrender to Ivory and Doc —she knew they'd be on her for trying to start a fight in a peaceful meeting. If anyone was to blame for starting a fight, it was the fething woman with four arms, and the toxic bile that spewed from her mouth. If anyone had lost their nerve, it was that spineless cyborg schutta, who'd probably had it replaced by some implant by now anyway.

She leaned against a wall a little ways apart from the crowd, her head pressed against the back of the hand holding the wall back from her. The teen took long breaths, bitter and tired of Corpos and their bootlickers. Her teeth ground against an invulnerable jaw, and she kicked the wall a few times with the boot of her invulnerable foot. The tatt-verse allowed her a single tear at last, and it dropped from the end of her eyelash to the ground, before Daiya turned her back to the wall and sank down on her haunches to recuperate and watch the rest of the conversation at a safe distance from her emotions.

Ivory Stroud Xan Deesa Niki Priddy Cartri Keswoll Doc Painless Zole Anakin Stormrunner Hacks Samnai Rouber​

 

[Peyton Steele]

Looking for her next big score, that was what kept Peyton Steele going. She wanted to help the galaxy, sure, but there was also the need to make some credits. It was a balancing act. The blonde had her morals to stand by, and she was nothing without her morals. Wasn't she even said to be someone that would help for the right credits, or cause?

But that was when Yula Perl had dropped the idea of checking out the Darkwire crew. It seemed like something she could support. She was an Alliance type, rebel at heart, but always against those who were going to subjugate others. Learning to live on the Rim, Peyton knew what it meant to be part of a team. She had her pilot Cuan Kunn, plus her friend in Jenn Blanchard and a number of others. One person was only as good as their skills. She had Kunn drop her off here on Denon. Finding a few things out, Peyton was able to locate a group, and part of that, well, most of that, was making her remember when she got started in the life of being an info broker. But these Darkwire beings, they had different goals that turning away the Sith through subterfuge.

Maybe she could help these people, maybe she couldn't. But with the recent turmoil that was attributed to Darkwire, Peyton would be remiss to not inspect them. Using the location that Yula had recommended, and the vouching that the Zeltron could provide, the Blubreen added the Darkwire tattoo to her upper arm next to her Alliance and Outer Rim ink. This one though, was a stylized design of the location of Sullust on a Jedi Compass. After it healed, she took some time to get settled into a small motel in Denon's upper city. Not the highest class, but it was quiet enough, cheap enough, and had a connection to the holonet.

Depending what would happen, she'd have to stay connected, she understood. But if it went awry… She didn't think this group was going to be one she'd be going against. She fought empires. This was definitely something to add to her resume. She'd been around the galaxy a time or two, but nothing could prep her for this experience.