They'd finally tracked the locket down, through Curren's reservations 'Ghost's contacts appeared to have come through.
However he had even greater reservations about becoming embroiled in some exchange on a boat in Puget Sound.
Still he'd been volunteered for the recon part of the task, Astral Recon at that.
Firstly he'd taken Drake out at etheric mach one, to survey the area, encircling waters they'd spotted three fast moving boats, heading for a rendevous with a yacht.
A yacht that had half a dozen watchers and a few hidden larger spirits, however being prudent 'Drake' had pulled them back before they were discovered.
Although at the speeds they were travelling most things would have struggled to have seen them.
Black had set off via his bike, while Ghost and Drake had made their way physically via magical flight, Curren had gladly accepted his role as astral guardian.
He'd returned to the area, however the terrain had dramatically changed, a storm had erupted from nowhere, it was exhilerating though flying at his enhanced speeds, through the depths of natural chaos.
The waters below were alive with astral and magical forms, swimming in some intricate dance or conflict, flashes of arcane light occasionally illuminated the depths below.
Usually winds or storms wouldn't have unduely affected his astral form, however the fact that the winds and the static charge were affecting him told him that this storm wasn't at all natural.
His astral armour reshaped around his face, into that of a proper helm, Curren thanked his Accelerity power, even the power of astral flight would struggle to contend with the strength of the astral winds. Curren on the other hand rode the storm, spying his companions astral forms he watched them descend to the yacht and mayhem ensue.
IC - Mad World
Moderators: arcanus, Curren, Drake, Otto, Black
-
arcanus
- Site Admin
- Posts: 1775
- Joined: Wed Dec 26, 2007 7:18 pm
Sea Breeze
The old fashioned sign of Ourobouros Supplies & Trinkets swung with a suddenly fierce sea breeze.
Ursula looked up from her talismongering, sorting through some freshly gathered Saskatoon, for plant radicals, the flow of the store had changed.
Stepping into front of house, nothing had changed; the grills were down over the store front.
Looking around Ursula examined the contents of the shop, the various jars of dried animal parts, herbs, semi-precious stones and minerals, the shift occurred again, turning her gaze fell upon the set of three Japanese hourglasses, first made in the city of Nima in the 6th Century.
The coloured sands within each, shifted and flowed as if some wind or breeze had gained entry to the antique time pieces, steadying herself she allowed her vision to flow into the astral realms.
Faint trails flowed from the hourglasses throughout the room, despite the inside of the rooms being suitably warded, following the trails back to the hourglasses she saw a shape form from the spectral sand. The shape of a shark, Ursula’s eyes widened, the karmic landscape of the Sound had been altered, for something to have had such an effect it had to be powerful, very powerful indeed.
Ursula looked up from her talismongering, sorting through some freshly gathered Saskatoon, for plant radicals, the flow of the store had changed.
Stepping into front of house, nothing had changed; the grills were down over the store front.
Looking around Ursula examined the contents of the shop, the various jars of dried animal parts, herbs, semi-precious stones and minerals, the shift occurred again, turning her gaze fell upon the set of three Japanese hourglasses, first made in the city of Nima in the 6th Century.
The coloured sands within each, shifted and flowed as if some wind or breeze had gained entry to the antique time pieces, steadying herself she allowed her vision to flow into the astral realms.
Faint trails flowed from the hourglasses throughout the room, despite the inside of the rooms being suitably warded, following the trails back to the hourglasses she saw a shape form from the spectral sand. The shape of a shark, Ursula’s eyes widened, the karmic landscape of the Sound had been altered, for something to have had such an effect it had to be powerful, very powerful indeed.
-
arcanus
- Site Admin
- Posts: 1775
- Joined: Wed Dec 26, 2007 7:18 pm
Ill Gotten Gains
A few well placed vidcalls and ‘Heavy Leadz Recoveries’ had appeared within the equation, ‘Lenny Leadz Jnr had appeared at the waterfront parking lot at 4.15am.
Vehicle wise the haul was five Suzuki Streetbikes, plus two hogs, with a second hand street value of Y32K, his fee for expedient collection, armed haulage and then transporting them to Oakland was 20% all in.
Lenny knew the risks, the bikes were ‘Halloweener’ property, however his dad and him had recovered vehicles from all of the major gangs in Seattle, that’s why part of their fee included bringing the ‘Heavy Metal Krew’, a troll gang turned protection outfit.
Three of the crew sat atop the semi, as ‘Lenny’s drone winch hauled each of the bikes up and into the trailer, ‘Lenny’ yawned, time was of the essence, currently the ‘Weeners’ were trying to get some of their leadership out of ‘Star’ custody, once that was pulled off they’d come looking for what was theirs and then take out their frustrations on the nearest target, best not to be around when that occurred. 'Lenny' was far from a good samaritan, however he had no particular liking of gangs, so he'd put the word out in the area for streetfolk to be scarce.
He had been studying the lightning effect contained within his blades, neither were stable, a containment of power, in order to fully lock such power he would need to perform a full scale enchantment, however it was an absolutely perfect place to start.
The power was mesmerizing, white furious motes swirled contently within the blades pattern and then suddenly would entered a frenzied state, he was watching lightning at work.
His other great discovery had been the formation of the Mana within the storm clouds, the dolphins had conjured the effect of that there was no doubt, ‘Storm Dolphins’ he’d reminded himself.
Ordinarily Mediterranean creatures a long way from home, a curiosity in itself.
‘Back on course’ he chided himself, through their manipulation the clouds had gained a widespread background count, what if such a thing could be manipulated, even uttilsed offensively a ‘Mana Vortex’. He would continue his studies, but not here, his laboratory was sufficient for Magical practice, but exploration of astral/mana power that would require something significantly more comprehensive!
Vehicle wise the haul was five Suzuki Streetbikes, plus two hogs, with a second hand street value of Y32K, his fee for expedient collection, armed haulage and then transporting them to Oakland was 20% all in.
Lenny knew the risks, the bikes were ‘Halloweener’ property, however his dad and him had recovered vehicles from all of the major gangs in Seattle, that’s why part of their fee included bringing the ‘Heavy Metal Krew’, a troll gang turned protection outfit.
Three of the crew sat atop the semi, as ‘Lenny’s drone winch hauled each of the bikes up and into the trailer, ‘Lenny’ yawned, time was of the essence, currently the ‘Weeners’ were trying to get some of their leadership out of ‘Star’ custody, once that was pulled off they’d come looking for what was theirs and then take out their frustrations on the nearest target, best not to be around when that occurred. 'Lenny' was far from a good samaritan, however he had no particular liking of gangs, so he'd put the word out in the area for streetfolk to be scarce.
Curren ignored Black’s grumbling about Fixers costs and Finders Fees, although allowed himself a sly smirk when the elf protested ‘That it was hard to do a dishonest days work with such despicable people around’, Drake had not been so self contained and roared with laughter.GM wrote:11 Heavy Pistols: Y1950
3 HK227s: Y1500
5 UZI IIIs: Y1500
Miscellaneous Equipment (Portacomps . etc): Y1500
Minus Fixer Handling Fee (15%): Y5482
Credsticks x 13: Y29K
Minus Fixer Handling & Hacking Fee (High Risk due to Yak ownership - 35%): Y18'850
Bikes: Y32'000
Minus Pickup and Haulage Fees (20%): Y25'600
Total: Y49'932
He had been studying the lightning effect contained within his blades, neither were stable, a containment of power, in order to fully lock such power he would need to perform a full scale enchantment, however it was an absolutely perfect place to start.
The power was mesmerizing, white furious motes swirled contently within the blades pattern and then suddenly would entered a frenzied state, he was watching lightning at work.
His other great discovery had been the formation of the Mana within the storm clouds, the dolphins had conjured the effect of that there was no doubt, ‘Storm Dolphins’ he’d reminded himself.
Ordinarily Mediterranean creatures a long way from home, a curiosity in itself.
‘Back on course’ he chided himself, through their manipulation the clouds had gained a widespread background count, what if such a thing could be manipulated, even uttilsed offensively a ‘Mana Vortex’. He would continue his studies, but not here, his laboratory was sufficient for Magical practice, but exploration of astral/mana power that would require something significantly more comprehensive!
-
arcanus
- Site Admin
- Posts: 1775
- Joined: Wed Dec 26, 2007 7:18 pm
These City Streets
Captain Lucas Marley watched the HRT and SWAT teams go in, across Tacoma premises were raided, tackling both Mafia and Yakuza operations, ones that the LS OCT (Organised Crime Taskforce) had confirmed ownership or connection.
In quieter days, these businesses would have been left alone, kept under surveillance to establish connection to larger prizes, but war had commenced across the sprawl so now any prize had value.
La Costa Nostra did not go quietly, firefights in all three locations and along the wharf, the Yakuza had been characteristically reserved, trouble in one location.
The irony 'Marley' knew was that the families would feel betrayed, how could the police become embroiled in their affairs, how dare the peace keepers keep the peace.
Marley reviewed the trid screens, drones across the city feeding information into the command centres, they'd even buzzed the properties of the family heads, although their hardware had been zapped by their Electronic Warfare.
In quieter days, these businesses would have been left alone, kept under surveillance to establish connection to larger prizes, but war had commenced across the sprawl so now any prize had value.
La Costa Nostra did not go quietly, firefights in all three locations and along the wharf, the Yakuza had been characteristically reserved, trouble in one location.
The irony 'Marley' knew was that the families would feel betrayed, how could the police become embroiled in their affairs, how dare the peace keepers keep the peace.
Marley reviewed the trid screens, drones across the city feeding information into the command centres, they'd even buzzed the properties of the family heads, although their hardware had been zapped by their Electronic Warfare.
-
Drake
- Solo
- Posts: 260
- Joined: Wed Jan 02, 2008 1:11 pm
Re: Ill Gotten Gains
arcanus wrote:He had been studying the lightning effect contained within his blades, neither were stable, a containment of power, in order to fully lock such power he would need to perform a full scale enchantment, however it was an absolutely perfect place to start.
Is that something Drake could help stabilise with his Enchanting skills?
Maybe a combination of his Quickening & Talismongering could tun the swords into lightning capacitors, storing up the power until needed.
And if by chance Drake learnt more about electricity while doing this, that's not a bad thing. Particularly when learning Curren's Lightning spell...
(As I'm away for probably 2 weeks, that's what Drake will be doing. let me know what rolls you need as next week i will be on t'forum)
-
arcanus
- Site Admin
- Posts: 1775
- Joined: Wed Dec 26, 2007 7:18 pm
Hot In The City
The act had been rash, the 'Troll Killers' in an attempt to redeem themselves staged an assault on the 'Angel Foundation', attacking from both the rear and front.
The Foundation under the protection of Knight Errant Security Services, put up unrelenting and unyielding resistance.
Sargeant Warren Caldwell responded to the door sentries alarm, the helmet cam of the door sentries was on constant feed, this in turn fed into the units BattleTac, which in turn ran a constant threat analysis.
The guarded body language of the newly arrived pedestrians triggered the ‘Psyche Program’ , the guards went to threat response before the gangers had even acted, they were already loaded for bear when the gangers drew their weapons.
As the situation unfolded the guards had triggered collaspable barriers, ballistic screens laid on the front steps and at the rear exits, articulating into impromptu bunkers.
The clients of the foundation were ushered into the centre of the building away from windows.
***
Seattle Knight Errant Division Head ‘Joseph Bradwell’ watched the secure feed with a combined sense of Pride, Excitement and unease, the majority of the personel guarding the Foundation were Knight Errant Security, Grade 1s, highly trained in Security and Law Enforcment with mid level military tactical training.
Their command Sargeant Caldwell was Grade 2, special ops, far more military trained.
Thirty gangers were disabled or dispatched within two minutes, the combination of coordinated training, coolness under fire and BattleTac was almost symphonic, the gangers stood little chance and had no opportunity to fire the building or deploy the explosives they’d brought along.
This would make fantastic PR, his next call was to the head of Seattle Marketing.
The Foundation under the protection of Knight Errant Security Services, put up unrelenting and unyielding resistance.
Sargeant Warren Caldwell responded to the door sentries alarm, the helmet cam of the door sentries was on constant feed, this in turn fed into the units BattleTac, which in turn ran a constant threat analysis.
The guarded body language of the newly arrived pedestrians triggered the ‘Psyche Program’ , the guards went to threat response before the gangers had even acted, they were already loaded for bear when the gangers drew their weapons.
As the situation unfolded the guards had triggered collaspable barriers, ballistic screens laid on the front steps and at the rear exits, articulating into impromptu bunkers.
The clients of the foundation were ushered into the centre of the building away from windows.
***
Seattle Knight Errant Division Head ‘Joseph Bradwell’ watched the secure feed with a combined sense of Pride, Excitement and unease, the majority of the personel guarding the Foundation were Knight Errant Security, Grade 1s, highly trained in Security and Law Enforcment with mid level military tactical training.
Their command Sargeant Caldwell was Grade 2, special ops, far more military trained.
Thirty gangers were disabled or dispatched within two minutes, the combination of coordinated training, coolness under fire and BattleTac was almost symphonic, the gangers stood little chance and had no opportunity to fire the building or deploy the explosives they’d brought along.
This would make fantastic PR, his next call was to the head of Seattle Marketing.
-
arcanus
- Site Admin
- Posts: 1775
- Joined: Wed Dec 26, 2007 7:18 pm
Murder One
The Seattle Metroplex receives an average annual rainfall of 40 inches, this night was no exception.
A thick, grey, persistant rain swept across Downtown and Tacoma, leaving plexiglass windows and sidewalks slick with water.
The high caliber round destroyed ‘Tony Siola’s nose and jaw before exiting through the nape of his neck, it spewed a deluge of blood down his tuxedo and stark white shirt, his friends were completely unaware, continuing down the sidewalk towards ‘Majorido’s Restaurant in Tacoma’s Theatre district.
The world stood still as ‘Tony’s corpse stood motionless, devoid of life and motionless.
Lone Star was alerted by CCTV and first response Drones arrived within minutes, however the assassin was long gone
***
Eye of The Needle Pirate Trid Report: War erupted in the north of old Seattle today.
In Southern Lake City, the Matthews Beach neighbourhood or the Northern Core as it was known these days.
The Halloweeners Gang struck at three specific targets and anyone else in their way, in a display of firepower and lethal pyrotechnics, the targets were the 65th Street Precinct formerly SPD now Lone Star, the second being a Renraku owned Cinema called ‘Vision’ and the third a gang hangout for ‘The Cutters’ gang.
After a recent loss of face the Halloweeners were out for blood and mindless violence, they didn’t disappoint, the death toll reached 43, before substantial numbers of Lone Star HRT Teams and Seattle Metroplex Guard Units forcibly pacified the area.
***
In an undisclosed location witin the Seattle Metroplex, one of the Cities three premier Fixers, watched the flow of data streaming into their mainframe.
The Mob War was in full swing, all it had taken was the right person killed and the tinder box had ignited, the tentative skirmishes turned into war.
Tony Siola was a member of the Ciarniello Family, his hit was in response to the hit the night previously of Aldo ‘Al The Squid’ Burke in the ‘Neros Resturant‘, Al being a member of the Bigio family, the hitter from the Ciarniello’s and so the Mob War escalated.
FBI agents intervened and prevented three further hits on Ciarniello or Bigio family members or employees, both theirs and Lone Stars Organised Crime taskforces concluded that the assassinations were internecine.
What was certain was that for many this would be bad for business, for others it would be very good, the challenge was choosing the opportunity and keeping your enemies close.
A thick, grey, persistant rain swept across Downtown and Tacoma, leaving plexiglass windows and sidewalks slick with water.
The high caliber round destroyed ‘Tony Siola’s nose and jaw before exiting through the nape of his neck, it spewed a deluge of blood down his tuxedo and stark white shirt, his friends were completely unaware, continuing down the sidewalk towards ‘Majorido’s Restaurant in Tacoma’s Theatre district.
The world stood still as ‘Tony’s corpse stood motionless, devoid of life and motionless.
Lone Star was alerted by CCTV and first response Drones arrived within minutes, however the assassin was long gone
***
Eye of The Needle Pirate Trid Report: War erupted in the north of old Seattle today.
In Southern Lake City, the Matthews Beach neighbourhood or the Northern Core as it was known these days.
The Halloweeners Gang struck at three specific targets and anyone else in their way, in a display of firepower and lethal pyrotechnics, the targets were the 65th Street Precinct formerly SPD now Lone Star, the second being a Renraku owned Cinema called ‘Vision’ and the third a gang hangout for ‘The Cutters’ gang.
After a recent loss of face the Halloweeners were out for blood and mindless violence, they didn’t disappoint, the death toll reached 43, before substantial numbers of Lone Star HRT Teams and Seattle Metroplex Guard Units forcibly pacified the area.
***
In an undisclosed location witin the Seattle Metroplex, one of the Cities three premier Fixers, watched the flow of data streaming into their mainframe.
The Mob War was in full swing, all it had taken was the right person killed and the tinder box had ignited, the tentative skirmishes turned into war.
Tony Siola was a member of the Ciarniello Family, his hit was in response to the hit the night previously of Aldo ‘Al The Squid’ Burke in the ‘Neros Resturant‘, Al being a member of the Bigio family, the hitter from the Ciarniello’s and so the Mob War escalated.
FBI agents intervened and prevented three further hits on Ciarniello or Bigio family members or employees, both theirs and Lone Stars Organised Crime taskforces concluded that the assassinations were internecine.
What was certain was that for many this would be bad for business, for others it would be very good, the challenge was choosing the opportunity and keeping your enemies close.
-
arcanus
- Site Admin
- Posts: 1775
- Joined: Wed Dec 26, 2007 7:18 pm
Revelations
Frank Drake stirred and raised his head from the work bench, it was just before dawn and his Hearth Spirit still remained, its remaining time until daybreak short.
The entity following Drakes religious leanings and in keeping with the building resembled a metal angel, waiting patiently for its summoner to realize where he was.
The previous night, they’d all reached the point of exhaustion, however they’d kept looking, examining the locket, looking for its meaning, but found nothing, or nothing that explained the eagerness almost hunger with which the syndicates had pursued it.
***
The Nipponese man stood, his anger internal, they had been outmatched, outclassed, honour was in question, fortunately his team and himself were held in higher grace and were more useful than the rank and file. However that wasn’t the point, the attackers had deployed the most bizarre tactics against them, some form of emp bomb that had neutralized the majority of the yacht. After liberating his team members from Lone Star Custody, they had seized a member of the ‘Halloweeners’ gang, finally the interrogation had yielded fruit.
Miko came into the warehouse office, she bowed, stoically he awaited her report
“The Halloweeners did not set us up, she was completely unknowledgable of the attackers or their methods, however! She added
***
Drake turned to the spirit, a little surprised to see that the spirit remained, he thought for a moment
“Did you find anything else?†he enquired
The spirit smiled “There was something else within the locket†he said simply
***
“What†replied the more senior Japanese man
“There was something within the locket, they removed it before coming aboard†Miko added
***
Drake sat upright, “Something in the locketâ€
“That’s what I said†replied the spirit.
“Where is it now†spluttered Drake, however the first rays of dawn broke through the polarized windows and the spirit had gone.
***
“Where is it now†demanded the senior
“She did not know, presumably lost with the boatâ€
The senior was already on the phone, he gestured for Miko to organize the cleaning up of what was left of the ganger.
The entity following Drakes religious leanings and in keeping with the building resembled a metal angel, waiting patiently for its summoner to realize where he was.
The previous night, they’d all reached the point of exhaustion, however they’d kept looking, examining the locket, looking for its meaning, but found nothing, or nothing that explained the eagerness almost hunger with which the syndicates had pursued it.
***
The Nipponese man stood, his anger internal, they had been outmatched, outclassed, honour was in question, fortunately his team and himself were held in higher grace and were more useful than the rank and file. However that wasn’t the point, the attackers had deployed the most bizarre tactics against them, some form of emp bomb that had neutralized the majority of the yacht. After liberating his team members from Lone Star Custody, they had seized a member of the ‘Halloweeners’ gang, finally the interrogation had yielded fruit.
Miko came into the warehouse office, she bowed, stoically he awaited her report
“The Halloweeners did not set us up, she was completely unknowledgable of the attackers or their methods, however! She added
***
Drake turned to the spirit, a little surprised to see that the spirit remained, he thought for a moment
“Did you find anything else?†he enquired
The spirit smiled “There was something else within the locket†he said simply
***
“What†replied the more senior Japanese man
“There was something within the locket, they removed it before coming aboard†Miko added
***
Drake sat upright, “Something in the locketâ€
“That’s what I said†replied the spirit.
“Where is it now†spluttered Drake, however the first rays of dawn broke through the polarized windows and the spirit had gone.
***
“Where is it now†demanded the senior
“She did not know, presumably lost with the boatâ€
The senior was already on the phone, he gestured for Miko to organize the cleaning up of what was left of the ganger.
-
Black
- Runner
- Posts: 191
- Joined: Fri Jan 09, 2009 3:29 pm
The elf cleared away his things and plugged himself into the terminal on his desk. His desk?
Odd how he suddenly considered it his. It was Curren’s desk, Curren’s terminal, Curren’s building. It all belonged to Curren, a small obscure success story.
Black was not going to let some greasy wops and a bunch of slant-eyes ruin the good thing his friend had painstakingly built here.
Knight Errant had done a good job repelling the Troll Killers, who had tried to storm the building.
Now, was that a desperate attempt by the gang to redeem themselves for past failures, or an act of vengeance initiated by the gang’s sponsor?
If it was the latter then that could mean that someone had somehow managed to identify them from last night’s attack.
It didn’t matter, with over thirty of the Killers cooling their heels in the local lock-up, the gang was now at a diminished capacity.
Now would be a good time to pay their boss a visit.
Putting that aside, he concentrated on his current mission.
The Redmond Barrens was a dangerous place, roving go-gangs, criminal elements, even the local residents were harsh. Even the law avoided the Barrens if it could.
The greater number of the populace were orcs, trolls and humans. Those members of society that were on or below the poverty line.
It was the ideal place to set up a base of operations. Property was cheap in the Barrens and for good reason.
Black flicked through the numerous to let and to buy properties listed within the ghetto’s. Then he found one that took his interest.
A fire station located just inside the Barrens.
The realtor had somehow managed to get a virtual building up on the matrix, so Black was able to peruse it.
Even in the ‘tweaked’ representation it was a little rough, which told him that in the cold light of day the building would be in a bit of a mess.
There was evidence of blast damage to the building too, even though the repairs were of excellent quality, they weren’t done to blend in.
It had all the standard services – power, comms, water.
It also had high walls topped with razor wire.
What concerned the elf was the price tag. It seemed too low: Y48,500.
Checking the history of the sale he noticed that the price had come down from over Y95K, but after a half dozen interested parties had resulted in no sale the price had steadily fallen.
Leaving the brokers site he did a quick search on the address and found a remote link to a message board that was advertising the property privately.
The vendor was one Mr Hunting Eagle, now a resident of Salishe-Shidhe.
Black dialled the number on the site and spoke directly with the vendor.
The conversation was brief and direct and the man, an operative of the shadows himself in former years was more than willing to accept the payment in cash.
Within twenty minutes the transfer of funds was complete and Mr Hunting Eagle’s lawyer had drafted and signed all the required documentation to make one Arthur Pendragon the new owner of the old fire station.
The red Indian was pleased to be rid of the building.
All black had to do was turn it into a base of operations; Op-Centre, Seattle.
Unplugging himself from the terminal he wandered up to Curren’s/Angel’s lab.
On the stairs he met a distraught looking Drake.
“Bastards!†the gnome swore. “Bastards!â€
“What’s the problem?†Black asked.
“They’ve still got what was inside the locket!†it came out in a rush.
“There was something in the locket?†Black asked, his hands on Drakes shoulders to steady him and keep his concentration.
Drake nodded.
“Who and where?â€
The little man shrugged. “ I don’t know.â€
“Fuck it!†With a heavy sigh Black suggested they find Angel and break the news. The man was already in a half suicidal mood as it was this morning!
Odd how he suddenly considered it his. It was Curren’s desk, Curren’s terminal, Curren’s building. It all belonged to Curren, a small obscure success story.
Black was not going to let some greasy wops and a bunch of slant-eyes ruin the good thing his friend had painstakingly built here.
Knight Errant had done a good job repelling the Troll Killers, who had tried to storm the building.
Now, was that a desperate attempt by the gang to redeem themselves for past failures, or an act of vengeance initiated by the gang’s sponsor?
If it was the latter then that could mean that someone had somehow managed to identify them from last night’s attack.
It didn’t matter, with over thirty of the Killers cooling their heels in the local lock-up, the gang was now at a diminished capacity.
Now would be a good time to pay their boss a visit.
Putting that aside, he concentrated on his current mission.
The Redmond Barrens was a dangerous place, roving go-gangs, criminal elements, even the local residents were harsh. Even the law avoided the Barrens if it could.
The greater number of the populace were orcs, trolls and humans. Those members of society that were on or below the poverty line.
It was the ideal place to set up a base of operations. Property was cheap in the Barrens and for good reason.
Black flicked through the numerous to let and to buy properties listed within the ghetto’s. Then he found one that took his interest.
A fire station located just inside the Barrens.
The realtor had somehow managed to get a virtual building up on the matrix, so Black was able to peruse it.
Even in the ‘tweaked’ representation it was a little rough, which told him that in the cold light of day the building would be in a bit of a mess.
There was evidence of blast damage to the building too, even though the repairs were of excellent quality, they weren’t done to blend in.
It had all the standard services – power, comms, water.
It also had high walls topped with razor wire.
What concerned the elf was the price tag. It seemed too low: Y48,500.
Checking the history of the sale he noticed that the price had come down from over Y95K, but after a half dozen interested parties had resulted in no sale the price had steadily fallen.
Leaving the brokers site he did a quick search on the address and found a remote link to a message board that was advertising the property privately.
The vendor was one Mr Hunting Eagle, now a resident of Salishe-Shidhe.
Black dialled the number on the site and spoke directly with the vendor.
The conversation was brief and direct and the man, an operative of the shadows himself in former years was more than willing to accept the payment in cash.
Within twenty minutes the transfer of funds was complete and Mr Hunting Eagle’s lawyer had drafted and signed all the required documentation to make one Arthur Pendragon the new owner of the old fire station.
The red Indian was pleased to be rid of the building.
All black had to do was turn it into a base of operations; Op-Centre, Seattle.
Unplugging himself from the terminal he wandered up to Curren’s/Angel’s lab.
On the stairs he met a distraught looking Drake.
“Bastards!†the gnome swore. “Bastards!â€
“What’s the problem?†Black asked.
“They’ve still got what was inside the locket!†it came out in a rush.
“There was something in the locket?†Black asked, his hands on Drakes shoulders to steady him and keep his concentration.
Drake nodded.
“Who and where?â€
The little man shrugged. “ I don’t know.â€
“Fuck it!†With a heavy sigh Black suggested they find Angel and break the news. The man was already in a half suicidal mood as it was this morning!