Private Zerø Hour on Denon

[Niki Priddy]

The Corellian had stumbled into a dive bar, jaw broken and eyes bruised. Dark hair matted from force only knew what between blood and grime. His usually kept face black and purple floating into yellow bruises.

He'd seen better days for sure even before he had gone into business with Niki. Having warned her about the potential clients she would get with the OrC treatment she had rolled out, Matthew had come with her now a week prior to collect on outstanding debts.

They'd sent out the holo-mail reminders, and these few had gone past even the reminder time period. Warranting a door knocking as Niki had put it.

Their first stop had gone well, even working out a payment plan after a quick sit down to talk about the sudden changes in lifestyle that had happened.

Niki had been more than willing to work with them on the matter before they had left the apartment. The next stop had been just as fruitful. Garnering a payment and finalizing the deal with a official document.

The final one of the day had been unsuspecting. A run of the mill apartment complex that gave Matthew a sinking feeling when the pair stopped on the fourth floor.

Instinct making him scan up and down the hallway with an uncomfortable feeling in the small of his back as Niki knocked and was greeted rudely. When asked about the late payment, the person seemed irritated rather than worried. Further questions only seemed to agitate them more as a door down the hall opened.

His hand had gone for something beneath his jacket when the sharp pain at the back of his head sent him to dreamland. A muffled scream was his last memory before waking up battered and beaten in an alley with a note saying he'd get his employer back when she'd learned her lesson.

Sitting at the bar with an ice pack and the note, he'd spun what he knew to the owner, shaking with effort to keep from spilling the drink.

His nerves were frayed, what few credits he had spared to make a call to his associates on Terminus Rěve to send him a credit's to pay for retrieving their employer. They'd be to late for his liking, and he wanted people now.

"I need people that know the gangs. Guy had a weird mark on him, kept babbling about Zerø or something covering him before he got mad an I got gonked." Matthew hissed while moving the ice pack to the other side of his face. "I don't know what kind of lesson they are expecting to teach her. But gangs never are nice in what I know of them."

He managed to wiggle the note over, containing little more than the threat with some dust on the bottom edge of it.

"I need help. I gotta get her back."

 

[Ivory Stroud]

Niki Priddy

Ivory made it a point to get to know Fixers. You could always count on the inside scoop; rush jobs, special gigs, the kind with a limited time-frame and higher risk that most gonks on the street had no business picking up. Even though she was still a bit of a newcomer to Denon, she'd already begun creating a reputation for herself... Her connections in Darkwire and machinations involving other shadowy Criminal Syndicates often paid off in the most unpredictable ways.

During an early evening stroll through Seven Points, she received a private message through Cryptnet from one of her fellow Shadowrunners that somebody out there needed a Heavy... a Heavy with experience working with the Gangs. Ivory fit the bill.

So, she'd returned home to her small apartment, geared up, took a brief walk to a Public Transport Hub, and caught a ride.

When she showed up at the bar where she was told her contact would be waiting, she faded into a small crowd that was entering first. She blended in well enough - dressed in knee-high leather boots with silvery caps over the toes, dark combat fatigue pants, a violet tank-top, and her ever-present beautiful grey & white fur coat. Raven-black hair hung down her back with half her skull shaved into a sort-of mohawk design, and numerous tattoos could be seen peering through the areas where her bare skin showed. Her violet eyes were bright and alert as she slipped inside the building.

She approached the bartender, taking a seat and ordering a drink... then mentioning quietly she had arrived to sort out a gig.

The guy with the roughed up face looked like he'd been on the losing end of a street-fight. The worry on his face was clear and present.

She changed her seat to sit next to him, offering her hand in greeting:

"I hear you're looking for somebody who can rescue a friend. The name's Ivory. What do you have for me?"

 

[Niki Priddy]

Ivory Stroud

Matthew had been patient for a while, nursing the wounds on his face. Keeping his movements slow for the ones across his ribs and body. It felt like a repuslor craft had landed on him as a voice cut through the soft tones of the bar.

The blinking look gave way to a measured stare, a sort of grin appearing as he replied.

"Matthew Kalzvier. I think my boss would get along with you." Came the humored tone as he slipped the glass of water to his mouth. "Niki Priddy, my boss, got snagged collecting on a debt. Apartments gave me the creeps. Guy had some weird tattoos and the place smelled...wrong."

He set the glass down on the counter and touched the bag of ice.

"I think it was a gang member. I'd have more but I got knocked out and dumped in an alley." Came the final bits of information before he slid the note that had been stuffed in his pocket. His hand rested on the paper, tapping the symbol before commenting. "And there's that. Doesn't mean much to me but I'm not from Denon."

Anyone with a connection on Denon could figure out it was a symbol from Zerø's group. The long and short of the message being that Niki was being held by them and would find him when they were done.

 

[Ivory Stroud]

Ivory gave Matthew a friendly smile, letting him speak without interruption. He looked like he needed a fresh bag of ice... The rebel woman felt a pang of sympathy for him. Clearly, he'd been unprepared for the level of skulduggery one was certain to face when dealing with the gangs. "You're lucky you woke up at all..." She offered, lighting a tabaac stick and sipping her own drink. She offered her companion a smoke, as well, but would understand if he turned it down.

She looked over the picture as her contact slipped it over. One eyebrow rose at his mention that he didn't recognize the symbol. She wasn't entirely surprised... but she figured Niki would have had some idea of the types she was mixing with. Unless it was a blind meet. Ivory pocketed the slip of paper, finished her drink, and made ready to excuse herself. She approached her business as she approached everything: No Reservations. No Mercy.

"I know some place you'll be safe..." She told him, offering him coordinates to a nearby DW Safehouse Daiya had once showed her. The location was well-guarded, secure, and would give him a comfortable (if cramped) place to rest. "When the job is done, I'll bring Niki there. Lay low. Somebody there will make sure you have what you need."

And with that, she made her exit.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Much like Coruscant, Denon was a city that never slept. The ecumenopolis was quickly becoming a home away from home - much like she had done her entire life growing up, she decided to simply walk for a time through the crowded night-time streets. The neon lights, deep shadows, and constant signs of life and habitation brought her a certain sense of comfort that she just couldn't find on worlds where you could see the stars overhead.

She was a street-wise survivalist, instincts honed from decades of life on the run and flying solo. Strangers tended to avoid her... she carried herself, unconciously, like a stalking predator - even when taking a relaxing stroll, she possessed an air of concealed violence. She had no fear, even when taking unfamiliar routes or dark alleyways far removed from the crowds.

She stopped at a small street-food vendor and bought a cheesy, meaty pocket of fluffy, steaming goodness. With her back against a brick building, she took a few minutes to consider her options.

 

[Sola Tymon]

No matter how much effort and how much money went into keeping the outside world out of the B-7 light freighter, Denon always seemed to find its way in. The traffic in the neglected freight yards was constant and the noise of shuffling freighters and dock workers always seemed to cut through into the B-7 more than on any other world. The hazy rain, obscured and misdirected by the dense overhead traffic, towering buildings, and overarching neon lights, fell unnaturally onto the roof of the B-7. The walls rattled as a large freighter landed in a dockyard nearby, causing the still-warm bowl sitting on top of the computing equipment to shake and spin in place. Sola - a near-husk of a woman clad in jackets and a wooly blanket - waddled over while fending off her frosting breath with the warm mug in her hands.

With a quiet sigh, Sola fell into her chair and took a mouthful of the hot drink. The warmth spread throughout her body, down through her chest, and into her stomach, bringing her some relief. One of the four android arms sprouting from her back reached out towards the rattling bowl and grabbed onto one of the machines, where a pair of mechanical fingers took a cable from its palm and plugged it in. Sola's headset, which sat a little crooked over her nose, lit up with loading dialogs and new information before suddenly, all the ambient noise and rattling faded away to nothing.

---

From the darkness came the first dialog window: a brief welcome, followed by a few different menus and prompts. Reports followed shortly after, summarising the latest devices compromised and data captured by a diverse network of bots and sensors, followed by several messages and communications. From them all, one stuck out: a cryptnet communique to one of akkd0g_'s more frequently used addresses. A job backing up a bruiser on a breakout. From what the brief explained, the price was right. That wasn't to say that the job listing was drek, but they could authenticate before committing to the run. Their mind wandered towards the near-empty fuel tank on B-7 and it was set; shifting in their seat to straighten up a little, akkd0g_ began pulling up the list of compromised cameras and cellular networks in her botnets.

Reconnaissance was a timely process, even when the contact information was already provided and half of the systems she needed to access were already compromised. If the Denon sprawl was good for anything, it was spreading resources for the common man too thin, whether they were beneficial to the corpos or not. Several algorithms set to work pulling information on "The Donna" - from news reports, law enforcements databases, and cryptnet information nodes alike - while akkd0g_ set to work on narrowing down their location. Given enough time, and another mug of hot drink or two, akkd0g_ caught up to Ivory, watching her enjoy street food on the streets of Denon. A quick check on their background, however, was much insightful.
"Hm...?" akkd0g_ muttered, their curiosity piqued.

For now, their communication wasn't secure - running a cipher handshake and comparing available cryptography protocols would be much easier with an established connection - so caution was of the essence. From akkd0g_'s thoughts, words translated into a messaging dialog displayed in their headset. Each one was sent to the provided contact device moments later, coming through in quick sequence.
] good choice
] the food, i mean
] don't freak out, i'm a friend of a friend
] let's talk. i want in on this run.
] call me.

While the sender ID did provide a reply address, it wasn't associated with any sort of genuine person - clearly a burner. Regardless, with bated breath, akkd0g_ waited to intercept the call and set up the secure connection they would need to talk openly.

 

[Ivory Stroud]

Ivory brought the meat-bun to her lips for another bite, tearing a chunk off like a ravenous animal and chewing contentedly. There was a soft beep and a vibration on her wrist as her personal comms lit up; an incoming message - then another - and another. Absently, the woman rotated her wrist to check the incoming messages, assuming it was Daiya or another of her people just checking in... But no.

Eyebrows narrowing, the criminal stopped chewing in mid-motion. She stared at the screen, then looked up, giving her surroundings a hard once-over.

] good choice
] the food, i mean
] don't freak out, i'm a friend of a friend
] let's talk. i want in on this run.
] call me.

Seeing nothing out of the ordinary - meaning, nobody watching her that stood out - she decided to stuff the entire remainder of the meat bun into her mouth. She chewed, rinsed it down with a last mouthful of Fizzyglug, then pitched the can into a waste bin beside the street vendor.

A nearby alley served as a reasonable place to retreat to, taking her out of common view.

Now alone in a dark alcove, she logged into Cryptnet, captured the ID number (obviously a burner), set up her own basic encryption protocol, and pressed the "Call" button.

The line buzzed, and she would wait until it was answered. Sola Tymon

"Who's this, and how did you get this number?"

Her tone was conversational - almost amused. It wasn't often she got calls from people she didn't recognize. Ivory was careful like that.

 

[Niki Priddy]

Matthew took his leave, thanking Ivory for the recommendation. The barkeep nodded, taking the credits before wiping down the bar as Matthew checked in with Terminus Rêve about the status of the job and those coming in.

Thankfully they hadn't left yet, giving instructions for expecting the worst and setting a growth tank aside for their employer with her genetic information on standby. He hoped it wouldn't be the worst case, but his experience with the galaxy had been anything but the best of luck.

---

Undisclosed Location

The stockroom of the building was poorly lit. Either by choice or by chance. Niki lulled in the seat she was tethered to, feeling half drunk and still hallucinating from whatever they had sprayed into her eyes.

Her right hand ached, barely able to look at the mess they had made of it without wanting to vomit.

The small room swirling in vibrant colors with faces morphing out of the boxes on the shelves around her. Every sound sharp and making it feel like her head was going to split from the force of it.

Something close to footsteps came closer. The steps like the sound of a mountain cracking and thundering towards her, finding it difficult to raise her face towards the sound.

A sneering face came close to hers, carrying something as their form seemed to morph and change. Whatever they had dosed her with making her energy flag quicker than she could muster.

"Shouldn't......to collect.......Zerø's....teach about......the hard way."

Words came out of their mouth, something snide as the cap came off the container and something was poured over her head.

It started off cold, relief and worry in equal measure before the tingle of fire began. Made her focus more as the feeling sank into her scalp and began to sear. Her mouth opened, something forced there to muffle the scream.

Her hearing going in and out as the world continued its slow turn around her.

"We'll....pretty you......all this."

The single light flickered as she tried to cry. To scream. Flailed in the chair as her scalp and neck burned sharply while the feeling crawled closer to her eyes. The urge to close her eyes tight fighting the need to see whatever she could as the first tinges of pain formed in the corners of her eyes.

Laughter echoed in the room as she twisted and writhed against her restraints, the rag in her mouth stuck their and making her breath through her nose.

 

[Sola Tymon]

---

Collaborative post with Ivory Stroud

---

Battling against the grainy camera footage distorted by a dozen different nodes, akkd0g_ studied Ivory’s reaction to the message - at least, as much as they could - to try and take a better measure of the woman. All the while, their botnet continued to find more relevant information, feeding it back to one side of their display. Even though most of it was duplicate information, and there were certainly many Ivory Stroud’s in the galaxy, enough of it tracked; or at least, enough so for akkd0g_ to take a risk on it.

As Ivory stepped clear of the camera’s view and into an alley, akkd0g_ scowled and turned their attention back to moving through camera feeds. No single one had the angle and lighting they needed, but they were interrupted a moment later by an alert: a session initiation handshake coming from Ivory’s device, followed quickly by a cipher handshake, followed quickly again by a relatively obnoxious incoming phone call. Directing their display with their thoughts again, akkd0g_ accepted the call promptly and put it to one side.

"Who's this, and how did you get this number?"

At first the line was silent, barring the quiet hum of machinery in the background of akkd0g_’s end of the line. The voice distorter was already initiating while akkd0g_ worked on the line encryption. The device had sent through a symmetric key for encrypting the cipher negotiation, where it then negotiated asymmetric encryption for any proper data. It was good - with a few shortcuts taken, granting the ad hoc nature of telephony, but more than enough and reliable enough to execute on the fly - but for akkd0g_’s own taste, it wasn’t quite enough. The line chittered and whined as akkd0g_ forced the cipher configuration to change mid-call - increasing the complexity of the cipher, checking for and enabling more complex cryptography protocols where both devices supported it, and even running a few programs of their own design - but after some moments, a voice finally came through.

“I thought I told you? I’m a friend of a friend,” akkd0g_ jabbed, the amusement in their voice cutting through the distortion that concealed it. Clearly, whoever they were, they were enjoying the conversation for one reason or another. “I’m akk-dog. Our friends at Darkwire dropped me a line. As I think I’ve pretty well demonstrated, I think I can help you, Miss Stroud.”

A grin blossomed over Ivory’s pretty face. So that’s how they wanted to play it. Alright, she’d bite.

She took a moment to peer out of the alcove she’d commandeered for the phone-call, looking up & down the street she’d just came from. Other than a few pedestrians, there was nothing immediately screaming “Bad News”. “Help me? I was just enjoying a lovely meat pie and a fizzyglug. Unless you’re calling looking for Niki, I’m afraid I don’t need much help there.”

The conversational reference was a check - she wasn’t about to start talking biz with a total stranger.

akkd0g_ grinned beneath her headset while the fingers of their left hand moved to drum an inconsistent beat on their leg. The taps faintly picked up in the microphone, mixing in with the quiet hum of machinery. “You know, I was calling for Niki. I was just so impressed that someone in management would work the floor themselves - you don’t see that in many bosses in that industry anymore, y’know?” As fun as the game was, it wasn’t quite enough: “But you interest me too, though. Domestic terrorism, kidnapping, arson, even murder… I think my dear mother warned me about people like you.”

That made Ivory laugh. The sound over the open line was musical. “Doll, I am everything your mother warned you about… and more. But I’m nothing compared to the kinda creeps on the menu tonight. From what I hear, Niki’s little venture may just cost her more than an arm & a leg. If you’ve seen my record, I take it you’ve got a bird’s eye view… not just on this street, but the whole city as well. I know we only just met, but what can you tell me?”

The conversation flowed easily and Ivory took a chance, stepping out from her hiding place and back into the street. She wasn’t about to turn down an offer of help… especially being a relative newcomer to Denon. Having a guide wasn’t such a bad idea.

“For the low price of 40 percent of the cut, special for you just because I always have had a soft spot for the bad ones?” akkd0g_ began, as they moved back through to the original camera to watch Ivory settle back into the street. “I can tell you that I’ve found the last apartment Niki visited on her run. I’ve got footage of her on the approach but nothing of the exit; I’m still not sure if it’s been tampered with or if they took an unmonitored exit. I can also tell you I’m working on tracking down any devices she might have been carrying.” With perhaps one last flair for the dramatic, akkd0g_ paused for effect, before continuing with a bit of a smirk in their tone: “So what do you say, Miss Stroud? Do you care to make like the corpos and bail out a boss together?”

Ivory kicked a discarded Fizzyglug can into the gutter, having taken the few moments Akkd0g_ had been speaking to pay particular attention to the rooftops, sides of buildings, and antennas rising like metal fingers into the dark expanse overhead. The twinkling neon lights did a good job of blinding her, keeping a significant portion of the sky above in shadow, but she knew what to look for.

She’d already spied two of the surveillance cameras CorpSec likely once used to monitor the city streets. She could imagine such systems had long been compromised… Likely, now, they were merely playthings amongst the more skilled Netrunners and Slicers amongst Denon’s population. She knew many Shadowrunners, such as Hacks, lived much of their lives through the Net. Ivory, however, was a little more “Hands-On” in how she conducted business.

As she began to walk down the street, returning to her original direction of travel before she’d decided to stop for a snack, she kept an eye on one of the cameras above her. She was certain she was being watched.

“Just 40%? That’s an offer I’d be a fool to refuse.”

“Alright, Akkdog. Let’s see this apartment. Which way?”

“Sending it through now. Could you also hold that bit of paper up to a camera? Pretty much any camera. I’ll get some information on that symbol.”

 

[Calligenia Io]

Location: Street Clinic - Denon
Attire: Medical Nuetralizer Dress
Tags: Sola Tymon Ivory Stroud Niki Priddy

“That’s the last of it, Callie.” Esala’s melodic voice sang out over the soft hum of the portable power unit, after pushing the last bed into place. Programmed as nurses, the two General Purpose Nuetralizers the healer HRD worked with had been extremely helpful in setting up the small street clinic. While Calligenia had not yet gotten to know them in the context of a demanding, clinical setting, which they could very well experience in serving the forgotten have-nots of Denon, she knew that they were more experienced than her, even though their designs were less focused towards the direct purpose of medicine. They were not her superiors, but she would rely on their experience to fill in the gaps of her programming, so that she could be a better healer.

“Thank you, Esala.” Calligenia answered, briefly glancing up from her work in setting up the synthesizer equipment. “And you, Sanne.” She added, pausing as she did.

“Nervous, little sister?” Sanne piped up.

While she was an HRD, possessing the same eerily graceful aura as her sisters, Calligenia could not hide the apprehension that had taken hold in her dovin basal heart. This was her first day on the job, so naturally, she was nervous. Both of her sisters knew it, but Calligenia wasn't quite ready to admit it.

“I’m just concerned.” She replied, a half-truth. “How long have we been open? Why hasn’t anyone shown up yet? Did we do anything wrong with the registration or-”

“Stop right there, Callie.” Esala cut in, before placing a gentle, maternal hand on the healer HRD’s slender shoulders. “The paperwork wasn’t your responsibility. Everything is taken care of, but the clinic is very new and the word isn’t quite out yet. That said, anyone who is looking will find us in the databases.” She continued. “Now, take your mind off of the minutia and focus on getting ready for your first patients, okay? You’re gonna do great, sister. Mother made you for this.” Esala finished with a kind smile.

“Also, we’ll be here if you need to give someone a leg or an eye!” Sanne added with a girlish giggle.

 

[Ivory Stroud]

drip...drip...drip...drip...drip...

The steady rhythm of an old, leaky A/C unit drummed a pattern on the pavement; a drum-beat to match the gentle thudding of Ivory's heartbeat.

The brief journey through winding alleys and nearly-deserted Denon streets had brought her to an area Sola Tymon explained was the final known sighting of Niki Priddy . The area was dark, slummy - trash piled against the brick & metal buildings, a thin sheet of oil in every small puddle, and the sounds of street life hummed in the distance. Ahead, if she continued down the alleyway, it would open up to the back of the apartment building where Niki had disappeared. Graffiti on a few nearby walls warned of a great many things...

This was Zero territory.

Akkd0g_ was tied into a small earpiece fitted into the raven-haired woman's right ear - they'd be able to communicate, but Ivory had asked for silence while she got her bearings. Every one of her senses (including her hidden ones) were stretched into the environment around her.

The apartments were occupied, but there didn't appear to be anyone outside or milling around the buildings. She could feel an uneasy, simmering violence beneath the surface; as-if someone (or someones) were ready to spill blood at any moment. She moved cautiously, having not yet drawn a weapon - such a sight would be impossible to explain if she were suddenly discovered. But she was prepared, at any moment, for blood to flow.

She took a moment to survey the rear of the building. The apartment stretched up several floors; in the rear, there was another alley which curved off to the right which was filled with refuse bins and discarded trash. She couldn't identify any easy entrance through the back of the building - two large rolling garage doors were chained shut and the few doors that did exist were protected by metal grating which she wouldn't attempt to breach. She had no idea where they'd lead. Above, a few balconies jutted out - too high for her to easily reach. She considered attempting to climb one of the fire escapes, but the access ladders were all too high for anything other than a force-assisted leap... Which she was nervous to attempt. If anyone were watching through the numerous windows and shadows which surrounded her, that would be a sure-fire way to raise an alarm.

"Only one way, it looks like..." She muttered, half to herself, and half toward the Slicer who patiently waited somewhere in Cyberspace.

A few moments later she had reached the front of the building. Hands in her pockets and head down, she shifted into a different mode - walking around the building at a decent clip as-if she knew exactly where she was going. She headed toward the front, her face impassive and jaw set. If anyone stopped her, she would first attempt to ignore them; if that failed, she'd attempt to fast-talk her way through. She was alone, so violence (at this point) as a last resort. Once she got inside, that would change.

Her appearance, hairstyle, and visible tattoos would give the immediate impression that she belonged. If the story was true and this entire place was a Spice Den, she could talk enough of the game to bluff her way past even a second glance.

A cat-call sounded from the opposite end of the courtyard - as-if someone were trying to get her attention. She ignored it, turned up the steps, and walked directly into the building's dark interior.

She said only two words: "I'm in."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Gimp. What the feth are you doing?"

The bald-headed bruiser turned away from the wall, rubbing a sleeve across his nostrils. He coughed, a deep belly-spasm; the Spice had hit the back of his throat and turned it numb for a moment. He grinned sloppily, dreamily, at the tall, slender man staring at him at the mouth of the hallway.

"Ah... you kno'.. Jes-" He coughed again and gave a shrug, trying to hide the small candy-stick from view and doing a terrible job.

The tall, slender man snarled: "Get back to work. You're supposed to be out here keeping the stairwell clear! Not suckin' on Spice."

The big man shrugged as he turned away from the wall completely. A large butcher's cleaver hung at his belt in a make-shift leather sheath that looked like it'd been fashioned by a child. He was dressed in leather and denim - dirty, stained, faded, and unwashed. He stunk... the kind of stink that might have belied some internal health issues, and not just failing hygiene.

"Ah... shi', you know I can do both." His head swam as the spice took effect - making him feel like he was under water. Every word came out slurred to his own ears. Time had slowed down.

The tall man shook his head, spitting onto the dirty floor as he turned away and stalked back the way he'd come. The sound of a door opening (a slight increase in the volume of a thudding, violent musical beat) then slamming shut behind them brought a bit more silence to the shoddy apartment hallway.

The bald-headed lookout slumped against the wall, stuffed the paper stick into a ratty pocket, and started picking his nose with a rotten fingernail.

The man was completely oblivious. Prey to a predator he'd never see coming.

 

[Sola Tymon]

It only takes the right person to get curious once - to get excited and open the image - for it all to go to drek. That's exactly what "big_iggie", the Duro goon with his feet up on a stack of computing equipment, did, with one hand on the keyboard and another in his mouth rubbing a fine powder against his gums. The goon chortled at what he saw: it was a Rodian hunched over in a gutter, bloody and bruised with a pair of shadows looming over them, sent as a message by an old friend. Little did "big_iggie" know that, as the image was loaded into the phone's memory so was a short series of programming hidden in the back of it. The programming set about its work and from a distant sector of Denon, akkd0g_ smirked.

"Gotcha..." akkd0g_ purred, watching the wall of text fade away into a single, unremarkable prompt. After several intercepted, modified, and retransmitted messages, one payload caught the right environment that it needed. While they were in, that wasn't necessarily it; they still needed administrator privileges, which this "big_iggie" didn't have. But now that they could query the versions of the operating systems and applications running in the environment, finding the right exploit in their toolkit would naturally follow - and follow it did.

Now they had the access they needed, akkd0g_ set her programmed minions to work cleaning out the logs of their entry and began cycling through the several internal cameras in the building, where they watched each feed briefly. A young family battled against the loud music upstairs to enjoy their meal. A bald goon absently watched a hallway with a small packet stuck up his nose. A room stood empty, bar the occasional rattle of flimsy furniture from thumping downstairs. A man chortled at his phone with his feet up, while a Kaleesh with cybernetics in her arms and face attended to the computers, connected to them by a cable running from the nape of their neck - probably their slicer, akkd0g_ noted. Finally, two humans and an aqualish counted credits and sorted taped-up brown bags next to a music player, with a symbol spraypainted on the wall behind them; the very same symbol from the note, which akkd0g_ had identified not long earlier. Through a well-positioned window, akkd0g_ glimpsed Ivory making their way around the building and to the entrance.

Switching to the outside cameras, akkd0g_ watched Ivory ignore some young punks and set into the building. Switching back inside, they caught a glimpse of them pressing through the corridors.

"I'm in" chimed the familiar voice. It was lightly intermingled with static from the distance, but the voice was clear enough. For a moment, akkd0g_ considered chiding Ivory for taking their rightful line as a slicer, but the gravity of the job prevailed in their mind. They took it as their cue instead.

"You're looking for a spice den on the seventh floor" akkd0g_ began as they flicked back through camera feeds, shifting to focus back on the entrance to the floor in question. "I imagine you figured it out already, but we're dealing with some Zerø goons. You've got one in the hallway with a knife and at least six others inside. Only a couple of blasters, but plenty of daddy's bats and mommy's kitchen knives." They paused for a moment before continuing: "I'm in their systems but it looks like they have a slicer of their own. They're jacked in, so I can deal with them, but it won't be quiet - and if they're any good, they'll find me eventually - so let me know if you need a distraction. No security turrets or droid though, so it's all you. I'll watch your back."

Leaning forward in their chair, akkd0g_ watched Ivory move through the complex with anticipation. Their breath shallowed at their suspense and interest, almost taken in equal measure.

 

[Niki Priddy]

DENON
UNDISCLOSED LOCATION​

Objective: Survive

Bodies mingled around, the small collective of the operation that Niki had kicked over calming after their brief stir about nabbing someone from Silver Jedi space. Connections had to be checked. Alerts silenced by those capable higher up. Ideas thrown about for what to do.

The decision finally came to move her to the warehouse where they kept the goods before delivery to distributors. All managed in person with a slight worry about the other gangs keeping an ear on them.

The handlers around Niki now had been kept in the dark about her having a friend with her. Only told to make sure she remembered to not come knocking for debts on a whim while visiting Denon.

The being jacked into the systems was silent, someone checking on them briefly to make sure they hadn't needed a short break to hit the john or for food. Cyber-security was well above most of their heads aside from the one plugged in. Muscle and intimidation the chosen tactic of those gathered.

There was a back and forth that slowly escalated to heated words over the cutting and portioning. Eventually calming down after sizing up the cut and one lost their say.

Elsewhere

A being walked through the back of the warehouse, jokingly picking in their ear as they approached the one in charge of their guest.

"You should have put her in the quiet room." They hissed. There was a shake of the others head before they smiled and spoke.

"Needed to make sure she didn't pass out. Buuuut-" they checked their watch before nodding. "Go get the hose and mop. Spray her off and let her sit for a while. Don't. And I mean don't talk to her." They snapped, getting a shrug before the other walked off.

Ivory Stroud (The Donna)| Sola Tymon
​

 

[Ivory Stroud]

(Hotel Throw Down, John Wick Soundtrack)

"You're looking for a spice den on the seventh floor" akkd0g_ began as they flicked back through camera feeds, shifting to focus back on the entrance to the floor in question. "I imagine you figured it out already, but we're dealing with some Zerø goons. You've got one in the hallway with a knife and at least six others inside. Only a couple of blasters, but plenty of daddy's bats and mommy's kitchen knives." They paused for a moment before continuing: "I'm in their systems but it looks like they have a slicer of their own. They're jacked in, so I can deal with them, but it won't be quiet - and if they're any good, they'll find me eventually - so let me know if you need a distraction. No security turrets or droid though, so it's all you. I'll watch your back."​

She'd identified the man in the hallway and witnessed the exchange between the two dealers. One in the hallway, at least six inside. Blasters, knives, and clubs. Plus a slicer.

"It's all you." akkd0g_ said. "I wouldn't have it any other way." Had been her reply.
The bald-headed man with a butcher's knife had found himself a seat in the hallway; the cast-plas chair creaking at the sudden onset of his heavy carcass. A few moments passed... the time ticking away... and inevitably, the Spice did its work. That was the thing about Spice. It didn't make you more alert. It just made you soft. The big man's chin tilted toward his bare, hairy chest - the heavy, thudding music far off behind the walls serving to lull him to to relax. To sleep. Perchance to dream.

Ivory had been watching from around the corner of the stairwell - taking the most direct route to the Seventh floor and avoiding any kind of interaction. Her slim-bladed fighting knife, weighted for throwing, was held low along her thigh; concealed from view, as the silver blade could easily catch what little light shone in the hallway. She slipped around the corner, crouched low... every step steady, cautious, as she stalked closer. She didn't want to tangle with the big man in a toe-to-toe strength battle.

Instead, she went straight to the point.

The tip of the knife caught his carotid artery and filled his throat with blood, rendering him unable to scream. Unable to do anything but shuffle off this mortal coil.

He collapsed to the groud, the chair giving way beneath him as he flailed in sudden panic. But she was already moving on. Her face was an impassive mask; eyes like chips of ice. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears as her adrenaline spiked, but she continued breathing - she'd played this game countless times before and knew the only way to survive was to remain calmer than than her prey. If her slicer friend, from across the net, were to say anything, she'd ignore it and remain focused on the task at hand: "Okay, Akkdog... That slicer. Get ready."

She approached the door she'd glimpsed the dead man's comrade enter - her position in the stairwell had given her clear line of sight down the long stretch of hallway. She slipped her knife back into her boot then reached toward the small of her back, drawing a blaster from a holster covered by her coat. She stepped to one side of the door, reached up with her left hand, and paused...

"Ready?" She asked, quietly. The pounding beat of the music just beyond the closed portal covered her voice from anyone inside. The stained, battered hallway stretched behind her and was completely empty. If it was going to happen, it had to happen now. She waited for Sola Tymon 's affirmative, then:

A firm knock, instead of a thunderous announcement. Only cops did that. The moment the door would swing open would be akkd0g_'s signal to "do her thing".

The inside of the apartment looked like a drug den. Trash, old takeout boxes, discarded bottles and cans, and numerous other pieces of refuse littered the interior - Spice Pushers cared more about creds and their rep than they did about keeping house. Two Humans and an Aqualish were seated at a table counting credits and surrounded by brown flimsi paper bags; obviously their latest push of product and proceeds. Music blared from a speaker just behind them, filling the room with a heart-pounding Denon Grindcore beat. To the right side of the front door was a small seating area; a couch and a few chairs surrounding a table and a holo-panel set to silently play a holo-vid flick. A man lay on the couch with his feet propped up - staring absently at the vid-screen, but his eyes were clear and unaffected by Spice. To the left of the front door was a small room - a dirty lavatory, unremarkable except for its' lack of a proper toilet seat or working hardware in the tub. Beyond the lavatory, further forward to the left, was a hallway - heading deeper into the apartment.

A knock - knock - knock sounded at the front door. The man on the couch (the same who'd met the bald man outside) swung his legs from their position and stood. The group didn't have a set signal of knocks; why would they need it? The only people who came to visit were addicts. Good luck getting an addict to follow complex instructions.

The tall, brown-haired man rounded the couch and approached the door, reaching out and disengaging the two locks keeping it from opening.

He opened the door, clearly expecting to find the man formerly known as "Gimp" standing with a visitor. Instead, he was greeted by a welcome surprise - a beautiful Punk Chick, hair askew and covered in tattoos, smiling at him like a Devil. Green eyes looked her up and down, lighting up as he returned her grin... For the span of a single moment, he thought they'd lucked out and someone had sent some entertainment.

Until, without saying a word, the raven-haired woman raised a blaster. The look in her strangely colored eyes were as dead as Ancient Evil.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The blaster barked once as Ivory drove forward, slamming her shoulder into the man's chest and firing point-blank into his pelvis. She charged into the room, swiveling at the hip toward the left first - clearing the dark bathroom first, then swiveling to the center. Ivory moved as-if she'd danced these steps a thousand times... and she had.

The two humans had their backs to the door, but the Aqualish seated with his back to the music player had a clear line of sight. At the bark of her blaster, all three had turned in their chairs. The Aqualish was the first to go for a blaster resting on the table; Ivory vaguely recognized the weapon as a Spice Runner Special, a cheaply made but still lethal piece of hardware. Knowing the capabilities of the weapon, especially at their range, she cut him down: Two shots, which drove him violently into the music player and caused it to hiccup.

One of the human men grabbed for a razor-blade at the center of the table while the other went for a long piece of pipe near his leg. Both men began to stand at once, with one roaring out a curse in Ivory's direction. The man with the blade was slower, and Ivory took aim at an angle. The barrel of the M-45 pointed in his direction like the accusatory finger of a vengeful God. She depressed the trigger, shooting him in the right knee-cap and he toppled with a scream, the razor clattering away from his reach onto the stained floor.

"FETH YOU!"

The man with the pipe was fast. Faster than she'd anticipated. Definitely faster than any Spice dealer had a right to be.

He closed on her, wielding the metal pipe as-if to knock her head clean from her shoulders. She said nothing, taking a half-step back as he closed the distance and drawing her weapon back toward her chest to protect it. Her left hand shot out at the exact moment he swung and caught his wrist, using the circular momentum of the attack to pivot to the right. The movement through him off balance and his feet left the ground.

From the compressed ready, Ivory pulled the trigger twice as the man was in the air. Both bolts, fired at point blank range, were immediate hits.

Directly in-front of her, the dark hallway yawned, beckoning her into the darkness.

Without a second look at the body that thudded against the couch, she was immediately in-motion; stepping into the dark abyss of the hallway and driving deeper into the apartment. Her blaster led the way. The noise of the brief close-quarters battle would have reached other apartments nearby, but if people knew to mind their business, she had little concern.

Niki Priddy Calligenia Io

 

[Sola Tymon]

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

akkd0g_ smirked at the brashness of the comment. The flickers of blue, pink, and yellow light faintly illuminated their pale face in the dark of their dormant spacecraft, docked almost a world away. With one hand, they reached out to a nearby table and felt their way about it until their fingers fell onto a thin, candy-like tube, not entirely unlike the one the man who they watched silently aspirate on his own blood on the end of Ivory's knife had used a moment earlier; but their fingers froze there, hesitating.

"Okay, Akkdog... That slicer. Get ready." Ivory Stroud 's voice rang into akkd0g_'s headset, further refining their focus on the task at hand. No, akkd0g_ decided as their hand glided back towards their keyboard. Not this time - not yet. While watching Ivory press up against the door on one camera feed and the goons carrying on none the wiser on the other, akkd0g_ flicked through tabs to find a specific terminal - one that had successfully propagated a payload through the local networking equipment, allowing their reach to expand through the network. A quick series of commands typed at rapid succession, as of playing to an endearing crowd in a grand Coruscanti orchestra, queried the information they needed: the hardware and network address of the slicer's device, and captured transmissions to and from the slicer's data jack. As they read the report, they took a long, controlled breath in through the nose, steeling their nerves.

"Ready?" came the voice again. With a pair of echoing keystrokes, akkd0g_ replaced the hallway camera feed with a new terminal - one that presented a series of instructions before presenting a prompt. They nodded as if anyone was there to see it.
"The slicer's mine. Ready." The reply was prompt, with as little flair as they could afford. akkd0g_ watched as the door came open and for a moment, which drew out all too long with anticipation, the goon answering the door seemed all too amused. Then it all broke loose, with the flashes of color and distorted video feeds that betrayed the presence of blaster fire.

---

The slicer, only a few rooms away, practically leaped out of his seat at the eruption of blaster fire. His head swung to face the doorway as his datajack fed images from the security system directly into his mind's eye. A direct interface from mind to machine was undoubtedly dangerous - outlawed in many civilized parts of the galaxy for good reason - but it did what little else could: gave the user a connection so close to the machine that they could feel what it felt, sense what it sensed. Hardcore vid-junkies galaxy-wise did what they had to in order to get chipped up with one of these; little better was being able to feel everything the actor could feel, especially when they could act... or when it was real. The same could be said for slicers, who could send off an alert with a thought - the very same thought this very slicer did as his computers started to whirr with the sudden increase in workload.

Next to the slicer, another man - messaging on a datapad a moment ago - threw it aside to draw a hold-out blaster from the seam of his pants. He trained it on the door, his grip shaking as he nervously looked between the doorway and the slicer next to him. The blaster shots didn't stop, and the echoes that kept going were not the familiar ones.
"..w-what do we do?" the thug stuttered as he rocked between his feet, clearly nervous. "I gotta-"
"You stay right there!" the slicer interjected, his gaze turning to meet the thugs while the screens behind him continued to jump between windows. "The boys can handle it, you'd be a burden to them. Geek them if they come at me, just buy us some time so I can get us some he-..."
A heavy silence fell over the two as the screens behind the slicer presented an alert - then a second, then a third, then several more in sequence before it settled on a single, forboding direction:
] CHECKSUM FAILED: integrity of communication from alerts.zero.rox cannot be verified. Proceed?
] ERR_NO_REPLY: session with alerts.zero.rox timed out. Please check your network settings or contact your administrator for assistance.
...
] WARNING: PROBE TRAFFIC DETECTED TO DATA PACK PORT VTE_02.

Horror erupted in the slicers expression with the realization, which quickly spread across the to the young goon. In a panic, the slicer threw himself out of his chair, scrambling for the lead running from his computers to the nape of his neck. His knuckles strained white from the force he grasped at the plug. It refused to twist, prompting his panic to escalate even further.
"Help me!" he screamed, thumbing desperately at the small tab which stopped the port from being accidentally yanked out "Help me, you blasted kid-!" The 'kid' watched in horror as the slicer stiffened and froze, then began to slump towards the floor a moment later. His breath, erratic and panicked a moment ago, became calm and tempered as if he was in some sort of trance of hallucinogenic haze. He was certainly alive, although he watched the panic in the goon from further and further away within himself. Slicers called this sensation 'drowning'. In his blissful trance, he recalled the countless chatroom conversations on the topic, which flowed through his mind more freely than they ever had. It was perhaps one of the most major risks of using a neural data jack. Just like drowning, first comes panic: claustrophobia, cold, scrambling for safety, being unable to breathe. Then, as the body takes in water and begins to die, the panic washes away; panic is replaced with calm, claustrophobia with serenity, and cold with a pleasant warmth as the endless stream of junk data floods the user's mind. In his serenity, the slicer remembered a highlight from many discussions: that even the sketchiest data jacks had protection against this, as it's hard to sell products to the dead. So then, who exactly had they pissed off? Was it that debt collector girl? Then, he remembered the final stage of drowning, and with solemn resignation, he closed his eyes to beckon for it.

"W-What the feth!?"
The thug watched in horror as the slicer convulsed, thrashing on the floor violently. Limbs broke and skin split in the force of the fit. Every nerve impulse in the slicer's body fired, seized, then fired again, making a bloody mess of what was once the slicer. The horror of drowning is that it wasn't inherently lethal. It blasted out most of the nervous system and made a mess of the brain, but even a comatose victim had a chance of recovering in the modern world. What usually made drowning lethal was the convulsions, which the victim had no choice but to helplessly endure no matter how far it went. Unfortunately for the Zerø slicer lying on a concrete floor, these convulsions continued well past the point of death.

The thug fell back in his horror, crawling towards the window. Caught between fits of screaming and hyperventilating, his efforts to claw at the window to open it were in vain. His hold-out blaster slid across the floor, well away from him.

---

"He's down," akkd0g_ reported plainly to Ivory, "and his friend is done. The room at the end of the hall is clear for the moment." They had stopped watching the camera feed of the room a few moments earlier. The datajack on the nape of their neck felt heavier. With a few clicks, akkd0g_ set their programs to work scouring the computers - and the drive in the still-connected dead slicer's neck - for any relevant bits of data or information.

 

[Niki Priddy]

DENON
UNDISCLOSED LOCATION​

Objective: Survive

His only goal was to survive. The feeling of doom something immeasurable at watching the slicer writhe and hearing the blaster outside.

Everything had happened so fething fast that the only urge was to escape.

The window.

He could get away. At least for a while. Get with the guys at the warehouse. Get backup. Something. Anything to help against whatever had happened.

His hands scratched and clawed at the sill, desperation driving him to flail at it even after the red smears had begun making getting a hold of anything near impossible.

He'd heard something fall. Heard something skate across the floor. It didn't matter now. Had to get out. Get away.

Had to run.

Warehouse Building

The door squeaked open, headphones on as he watched the chair strain against the flailing. The smile from his conversation gone quickly as he paused in the doorway.

He couldn't hear her.

A small blessing as the image burned into his mind before averting his eyes nervously. She'd stumbled across the wrong debtor. Fumbled her way into something bigger than she'd imagined. And this was how they were treating her.

He almost paled thinking about what they would do to teach their own a lesson.

He let go of the cinch he had on the hose. Water surging forward as the flailing stopped. He guessed it was a relief with how she leaned into and shook under the spray. Guilt swamped him. He hadn't even been part of the crew that brought her here. Hadn't done more than glimpse at her.

But this didn't feel right on some level.

His hand shook as he pulled the squeegee from behind the door. Letting the hose fall and run as he carefully worked around the chair and pushed everything to the drain. More than once he had to pull ebony hairs from the circular drain to let it flow again.

His gut wrenching a little tighter with every pause. Wanting to be away from the room, he hurriedly finished his task, shaking off the squeegee mop and gathering up the hose as the headphones slipped down from his kneeling.

"Why?"

Even with his back turned, he could hear her shifting, feel her focus on him. He shuddered at the sound of the hoarse whisper. The confusion and anger beneath it all.

He'd been told not to speak. And it felt wrong to even do so when he didn't even really know the reason. His shoulders rolled with a shrug, his footsteps quick as the door slammed behind him.

Wanting to get away, he slipped outside for a break. Wanted a smoke to help ease the image of his own sisters face in place of that woman's.

~~~~~~~​

She sat in what remained of the silence after the door closed. Water beading off of her nose as the burning eased. The relief was immediate but she felt something missing. Her eyes were blurred, the urge to scrub them fouled by the restraints as she choked on the feelings welling up.

She wept as the other being watched silently with glee.

Ivory Stroud | Sola Tymon
​

 

[Calligenia Io]

Location: Street Clinic - Denon
Attire: Medical Nuetralizer Dress
Tags: Sola Tymon Ivory Stroud Niki Priddy

“Did you hear that Callie?”

The Medical Nuetralizer had only just finished calibrating the synthesizer when the characteristic notes of violence, likely of the criminal nature, caught her pointed aural receptors. Her digital-biological cognition systems correlated the sounds of blaster fire with that of burn injuries. If the victims were wearing armor, she would likely see patients second-degree burns coming in soon. If not, which was far more likely, the victims, those lucky enough to survive at least, would have suffered overpressure injuries, broken bones, severe damage to internal organs, and third-degree burns.

“Another shootout. Haven’t there been like five of those tonight?” Sanne asked.

“Nothing as close as this is.” Esala answered. “Callie, are you-”

“I’m on it!” The Medical Nuetralizer called out, already preparing the bacta tanks for patients who would require a full immersion. They had a special variant of bacta on hand, which had enhanced healing capabilities over the standard formula. Having read Trinity Harris 's studies on it, Calligenia was thoroughly convinced of its efficacy, even though Esala and Sanne were more skeptical of its enhanced regenerative qualities, deeming them almost too good to be true. Nevertheless, at Calligenia’s insistence, they had brought enough to assess it on a few patients. Combined with the supply of normal bacta and the healing enzymes Calligenia could secrete from her skin, they had enough healing agent to deal with a heavy flow of wounded, if necessary.

“She’s ahead of us already.” Esala said with the mirth of a proud mother, before turning to prepare the beds.

 

[Ivory Stroud]

"He's down," akkd0g_ reported plainly to Ivory, "and his friend is done. The room at the end of the hall is clear for the moment."

The hallway stretched before her, its tenebrous depths beckoning her deeper into the apartment. Ivory left chaos in her wake as she continued, moving quickly; her blaster leading the way like the tongue of a serpent tasting the air. She passed two more rooms, both dark, before she reached the end of the hall. A soft blue light flickered and danced through the crack at the bottom of the door... and she could hear frantic sounds of movement from within.

She reared back on her heel, lifted up her left foot, and planted her booted foot directly beside the doorknob. The sound of splintering wood congratulated her as the door violently swung open and slammed into the wall.

She was already in the room before the door bounced, glimpsing a charnal house of gore; a broken, battered body on the floor which was obviously her Slicer Companion's doing (however the feth she'd done it, Ivory didn't want to know). At the window, a young man spun around, his back slamming into the glass as he attempted to get as far from the image of stalking death as possible. The look on his face was of sheer & complete terror... Eyes as wide as saucers and face contorted into a rictus grin. She raised her blaster, not bothering with the sights...

As she watched, a stain began to appear on the young man's trousers. "Pl-Please! Plea-se! PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!" He practically screamed, his hands up in the universal sign of surrender. He completely lost all semblance of composure, sinking to his buttocks against the wall and practically curling into a ball.

Ivory paused. While she wasn't against cold-blooded murder, she also had recognized every room in the building was dark. Niki Priddy was clearly not here. With a quick glance toward the camera in one corner of the ceiling, assuming Sola Tymon was still watching, Ivory said nothing as she approached the youth. She didn't smile, didn't blink... She was a Machine set to do only one job.

The youth screamed as she savagely gripped him by his hair, roughly dragging him across the floor and out into the hallway through the broken door. She continued dragging him as he kicked, gripping her hands in a vain attempt to dislodge her grip - more from the sensation of pain than any honest compulsion to free himself. As she re-entered the dirty living area, she could hear pained grunts and shuffling movement as a man struggled in pain - the same one she'd shot through the kneecap.

He'd attempted to drag himself toward the open apartment door and had nearly reached the first to die - the body of the man who'd first allowed her entry.

She let the young man go, making sure she had his attention, then calmly walked toward the injured man as he attempted to crawl faster. Her gaze unwavering, she casually pointed her blaster downward and depressed the trigger. The young man screamed again, and the injured man was a man no longer.

"Tell me where she is, or you join him." Her tone was conversational; as-if she were simply asking for an opinion on the weather.

He didn't need much convincing.

She made sure to keep the Comms Channel between her & Akkd0g_ open as the youth spilled his secrets. He gave up everything... the name of the leader of the gang, the warehouse where Niki was being held, how many men there were, and what kind of hardware they were carrying.

Before she left, she helped herself to the healthy stack of credits on the table - nobody would miss them. She left the boy curled up on the floor sobbing, with a warning: "The next time you want to play this game, remember what happens to people who fuck with Niki Priddy."

A savage kick was her final parting gift.

And then, she left.

The apartments were deathly quiet. Nobody bothered her on her way out of the building. Once she was outside, she finally spoke to the woman on the other end... Ivory's voice was measured, almost robotic, devoid of emotion after the brief but intense explosion of violence.

"Got directions for me?" She asked. She didn't know where this warehouse was... but Akkd0g_ would.

 

[Sola Tymon]

The camera lens in the apartment twisted and focused as akkd0g_ watched Ivory savage the boy, and as he wept and sung about where Niki was taken, so did akkd0g_ work. Records were filtered and databases queried until only one complex remained.

"Got directions for me?" asked Ivory, her voice ringing quietly through akkd0g_'s headset. akkd0g_ quickly highlighted then copied the address before sending it through to Ivory's device.
"Sending you the address now", akkd0g_ began as they mapped out the directions themselves, opening a flickering blue 3D map of the district and watching three purple lines draw paths across it. "It's in the district in the north-east, near the markets. The metro's delayed by up to 40 minutes, so your best bet is on the surface." As if there was ever a time where the metro wasn't delayed in Devon. There was a pause before they continued, with an undeniable hint of reluctance to the sentence: "And uh- nice work in there, by the way. Why don't you take the scenic route on the way, get something to eat? I'll check out what we're dealing with and get a bit of a plan together."

---

Some time passed before akkd0g_ next had a report of substance for Ivory. The work was cut out for them - they needed background on the building, access to the warehouse's network, and an understanding of the meatspace protection to say the least - and Niki Priddy only had so much time left. Thankfully, this was where a good slicer shined.

Dead and gory as he was, while the corpse of the slicer lying in the bloody apartment was still jacked into his device, his credentials were still transmitted from the drive in the nape of his neck. All the better, before akkd0g_ blocked network traffic, that device had an encrypted tunnel through to what they now knew was the warehouse where Niki was being kept. With the device being compromised and akkd0g_ able to access it at their leisure, akkd0g_ had since intercepted and decrypted the dead slicer's credentials. While they didn't have the time to reverse engineer the hash protecting the password, they didn't need to - with any luck, that would be enough to authenticate as the slicer. After manually assembling data units of the authentication exchange between devices containing the hash, akkd0g_ reinitiated the private tunnel to the warehouse and with bated breath, sent through the authentication information. The screen flickered for a moment, stuck on "Connecting...", before it abruptly settled on "Connected". akkd0g_ let out a quiet sigh of relief before setting back into their work.

The slicer had some manner of domain administrator access, but not as much as akkd0g_ would have liked. Zerø was up to date on zero trust architecture - amusing as the thought was, it also indicated that whoever was running cybersecurity in the organization was at least a cut above the dead slicer in the apartment, which called for caution. So instead of increasing the access of the compromised account or loading malware onto the servers, akkd0g_ set about identifying the addresses of the internal cameras, intercepting data transmitted from them, and retransmitting them back to the apartment building through the encrypted tunnel where the camera footage could be reassembled and replicated. It was tedious and meant the camera feeds were up to 30 seconds behind, but it kept them under the radar for now - and ultimately, kept Niki a measure safer.

As akkd0g_'s bots finished pilfering the holonet for the information they needed, wherever Ivory Stroud was at in the world, akkd0g_ thumbed at the side of their headset to open a line to them once again.
"Ivory, I've got some news for you. I've looked into the warehouse and found that the entity that owns it hasn't been active since two months after it was founded, except for renewing its registration with the Denon Department of Commerce; or in other words, it doesn't exist." akkd0g_ paused before continuing, gauging the reaction - mostly to check if Ivory is okay after the battle in the apartment. "But a little more relevant to you, I have access to their systems - sort of. From what I can tell, even if it's old tech, the slicer here is a few cuts above our friend back in the apartment, so I'm running silent until we're ready. What I do have is delayed camera feeds and from that, I can tell you that there are at least 13 thugs and 5 spice slingers in the building. Plenty of blasters to go around this time." akkd0g_ shifted between terminals to open a camera feed of a single door, which opened and close every so often. It struck them as strange - what about a door would need securing that couldn't be monitored directly inside? Referencing the old floor plan they had pulled from an old request for tradesman work, akkd0g_ marked their best pair of guesses on where the door could be on the plan - as well as other information such as observed patrol routes, points of entry, camera coverage, and other points of interest - then sent it through to Ivory.

"The doors are plated and they have plenty of spice on-site, so I don't imagine this is their first rodeo." akkd0g_ flicked between terminals as they spoke, checking information logs and camera feeds for anything they might have missed. "I can also see a few goons minding the perimeter outside from the public security cameras, so best to mind the approach. I've collated all the information I have and have sent it to you on a floor plan; the plan's a few years old now and I'm working with blind spots, so don't take it as gospel. I'll watch where your back where I can, but I'm working on up to a 30-second camera delay until I get more access, which might mean we have to go loud if their slicer catches it. I can do that if you like - your call."

"Any questions?"

 

[Ivory Stroud]

"And uh- nice work in there, by the way. Why don't you take the scenic route on the way, get something to eat? I'll check out what we're dealing with and get a bit of a plan together."

Ivory let out a breath as she walked out of the mouth of the alleyway onto a secluded back street. Her hands were tucked in her pockets and she kept her head down, passing a small homeless encampment huddled around a burning barrel for warmth. "Thanks... FIgured Niki could use a bit more street cred. Maybe the word'll get out she's not to be touched." She liked the idea of a meal, deciding to do as the Slicer suggested. Denon's night air enveloped her with open arms as she faded into the background noise.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

She'd found a small noodle stand, safe and secure on a busy street, to blend in with a crowd. With a few dashes of hot sauce, she tucked into the steaming bowl - eschewing the typical fork for the optional sticks (which she preferred). She took her time, taking a few minutes to type out a message of her own through Cryptnet - a request formulated and sent to an anonymous contact. While eating, she received a reply. Pleased, she relaxed a little further...

Within a short time, she'd have a bit more hardware than a simple knife and sidearm.

A short time later, Akkd0g_ broke radio silence.

"Ivory, I've got some news for you. I've looked into the warehouse and found that the entity that owns it hasn't been active since two months after it was founded, except for renewing its registration with the Denon Department of Commerce; or in other words, it doesn't exist." akkd0g_ paused before continuing, gauging the reaction - mostly to check if Ivory is okay after the battle in the apartment.

Ivory was in the process of chewing a mouthful of noodles when Sola Tymon spoke; she responded, sounding no worse for wear. "My, that is interesting." One of the individuals seated at the bar looked over at her curiously as she suddenly spoke to nobody in particular. She ignored him.

"But a little more relevant to you, I have access to their systems - sort of. From what I can tell, even if it's old tech, the slicer here is a few cuts above our friend back in the apartment, so I'm running silent until we're ready. What I do have is delayed camera feeds and from that, I can tell you that there are at least 13 thugs and 5 spice slingers in the building. Plenty of blasters to go around this time."

"Mhmm." She mumbled, swallowing the mouthful. "Don't worry. I'll have my own." She grabbed the bowl, lifting it to her lips and pouring the remaining broth into her open mouth - the salty, tangy, spicy flavor setting her taste-buds tingling in a pleasurably painful fashion. As Akkd0g_ continued, Ivory stood up and pushed the bowl forward toward the waiting Atrisian cook then began walking away from the stand.

"I can also see a few goons minding the perimeter outside from the public security cameras, so best to mind the approach. I've collated all the information I have and have sent it to you on a floor plan; the plan's a few years old now and I'm working with blind spots, so don't take it as gospel. I'll watch where your back where I can, but I'm working on up to a 30-second camera delay until I get more access, which might mean we have to go loud if their slicer catches it. I can do that if you like - your call."

"Any questions?"

"No, I think I can handle it. I'll work quietly; no need to rush a good thing." She grinned, checking her wrist-link for the right coordinates to her scheduled rendezvous... "I've gotta pick something up for the party, and catch a ride. I'll be on-site in 15. Warm up the popcorn, and pour yourself a drink. I'll let you know when to start the show."

"Boss." The Quarren greeted her with a nod. The engine of the speeder idled quietly behind him. The alleyway they'd arranged to meet was obscure and well-hidden... They wouldn't be disturbed. She approached, returning the greeting without saying a word - walking toward the back of the speeder. The Quarren, dressed in a suit of black & white, reached inside the driver's compartment and triggered the stowage compartment at the rear. The door swung up just as Ivory reached it.

She stopped, glancing down into the compartment... and a smile slowly slid across her pretty lips.

"Here." She said, reaching behind her back and drawing the holstered M-45 Blaster Pistol. She tossed it to her soldier, and he deftly caught it.

Reaching inside the trunk, she opened the first of two cases; the smaller one, first. Inside, a sleek, powerful hand-cannon rested, awaiting her tender touch. Beside it, a box of 11.5x20mm slugs lay fresh & unopened. She reached out and picked up the powerful blaster - its backplate lighting up bright blue at her touch as the weapon came alive in her hand. She hefted it, twirling it on her finger once, then holstered it inside the same shoulder rig beneath her coat. The box of slugs was then removed and opened, and a number of the immensely powerful armor-piercing cartridges were likewise stowed in her capacious pockets.

Then, she turned her attention to the larger case... However, this one did not appear to be a standard gun case. It was, instead, a beautiful violin case in black leather with gold accents - a work of art to behold. Ivory reached out, twisting the case to face her, then popped both latches simultaneously.

She lifted the lid, and gazed down upon the gorgeously lethal blaster rifle concealed within. A toothy, feral smile grew on her face before she shut the case, locked it, then lifted it from the trunk.

With her free hand, she shut the hatch with a thud which reverberated off the surrounding brick buildings and faded into the night-time air.

"Let's go." She said as she approached the passenger-side door, opened it, and climbed inside.

Her driver flicked the stub of his cigarra into a puddle of water where it uttered a dying hiss before climbing into the driver's seat. The speeder's engine hummed loudly as it took off at speed.

Niki Priddy Calligenia Io

 

[Ivory Stroud]

Daylight had long since passed when Ivory - accompanied by her driver - arrived. The alleyway they chose to leave their speeder was a short walk from the warehouse; a dark, lonely place where it wouldn’t be bothered even by the homeless. Pools of filthy water had gathered in potholes, and bags of trash littered the concrete: it was a haven for filth & disease not unlike the very gang she was hunting tonight. Amateurish graffiti stenciled on the brick walls of the surrounding buildings declared this area as property of the Zeros; likely street punks associated with the group, as “Professionals” often preferred to keep their movements secret.

To The Family, it served only one purpose: To outline the Killing Fields.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The smell of burning plastic, paper, and rotten wood created a noxious, caustic scent which wafted into her nostrils. Somewhere, nearby, someone had crafted a fire to stay warm & were using whatever they could find to fuel the flames. The night air was quiet… there was no far-off thumping beat which might broadcast the presence of a drug den; no laughter, no unintelligible harsh words, no barking animals, no revving of engines.

The grounds were private; marked off by high fencing which ran the perimeter, but little attention or care had been paid to ensuring the compound was actually “secure”. After a brief sweep of the perimeter (taking care to avoid a trio of thugs on patrol), Ivory was able to locate a breach in the fence. She handed off her coat, took her beautiful plasma rifle, and slung it over her shoulders - leaving herself in a purple tank top, black fatigues, and boots. She sent her soldier away with a wave of her hand; if she needed a quick getaway, the Quarren would serve better keeping their speeder safe and hidden.​

Alone in the dark, Ivory took a mental note of her equipment then steeled herself - slipping underneath the fence & dirtying her clothes in the process.
“You still with me, Akkdog?” She asked quietly. “I’m gonna need a way in the building… what have you got?”

Sentry Elimination was brutal business.

It took patience, skill, timing, and preparation. At any moment, anything could go wrong - and once you were committed, you had to follow through. To hesitate meant failure. One had to be fast, precise, and focused.

When she struck, it was sudden and violent; rounding a corner just as the Zero turned his back, looking along the back side of the warehouse. She was atop him in a heartbeat, her Journeyman's Knife (the blade she kept in her boot at all times, and a faithful companion) held point-up. She wrapped her arms around the scrawny man's neck and used her right foot to kick the man's same foot away - collapsing straight down to the ground. The point of the knife entered just below the chin, pinning his tongue to the roof of his mouth and robbing him completely of his ability to make a sound.

She left the body behind a metal storage container.

The noxious scent of burning fuel lessened somewhat around the far side of the building. The shadows were deeper here.. there were few lights to see by, but Ivory's night vision was excellent. She stuck to the shadows, far enough from the building that anyone looking from inside would be unlikely to see her.

Sola Tymon Niki Priddy Calligenia Io