[ismilealot]

@ Jed  >>Got it. 2,900 per person or 4,500 each if one of your party is a wanted celebrity. But security and accommodations for that rate are top notch and very private.<<

[SmilinIrish]

Currently no celebrities. I'll provide my companions with your contact info. Reserve under the name Boyscout. To be clear, this is a contingency plan. Please incur no cost for yourself prior to confirmation of reservation. . Dropping a message to the others he typed in case we get separated, I've reserved a table for 4 under the name Boyscout. .  Playing with his comm, he leaned on Yelena's should and started showing her beautiful landscape photos. He briefly flipped over to the message chain and pointed out the price.  Just in case... we are ever there, we should check out the scenery

[Mercy Merchant]

Yelena looks at Jedediah's comlink as he shows it to her and nods to him.  She understands what he has worked out and supports it as a last resort if things go south.  In her consideration, the plan is solid and she trusts her companions to pull off their parts, just as they trust her to do what she needs to do.  She does not share Blackbird's thoughts that Nicolai will betray them, in fact the thought is completely foreign to her and does not weigh on her mind.  He is Vory and has sworn the oaths, just as she has.  Just as she still does every day.  Tsina is an anomaly in the Vory world, where traitors rarely exist.  She has every confidence that Nicolai will treat them as promised.

[gilga]

Blackbird continues silent the entire trip his mind wonders and he thinks about roses, beautiful red roses, once this is over he dreams of having a garden with roses.
 

[ismilealot]

@ Marco As Marco was meditating on the roses to take his mind off the task ahead a ghostly face slowly appeared. It was "The Lady" His Lady, the wealthy client who'd only ever wanted to talk and to have his help with projects like the soup kitchen he'd had to abandon. In his mind her words were desperate and afraid.  Marco! Marco! Please! Please! You have to be here! You said I could always contact you this way and you would help me! They've taken me! But, I don't know who they are. You said be careful. And I was! I was very careful Marco. I rented different rooms. Hired more security. And my new security man said he'd seen something and to stand right against this wall and he would shield me and they came right through the wall. They look like priests! But, priests could not be so evil. They showed me a picture of us together and said you were evil and your taint was on me and you had infected me and I needed to be "cleansed for humanities sake". But, the way they said it, "cleansed", I think they mean to kill me. Please, I don't know who else to turn to. Who else to trust! I need you. And as Marco focused and looked at her he saw much further away another ghostly apparition. A priest. He'd been afraid they'd take Yelena. But, Yelena had been recent. The Lady he'd known and worked with and been close to for a few years now. Of course they'd known this, and where one mage can go in the astral, another can follow.

[gilga]

Marco's heart raced softly not only did the Vatican knew he was alive, they also knew where he is. They pressured lady and then followed her as she asked for help in a manner that only she could. Marco thought that the powerful mage could protect herself, she had rare magical talent accompanied with actual wealth and resources. Marco's defeat was no complete, everything he did was pointless - he was right the first time when he refused to disappear. Marco speaks and due to his lack of experience in astral communication his lips are softly whispering the same words "I love you Lady, somehow I always did from the moment I saw you. I look at you and think about the person I could have been have I never become a priest." He sighs "Yes, I confess I am one of these people.  My only comfort love is that they are not going to kill you. You were never their goal, it is me they are after.

He sighs and continues You see love, they know me better than I know myself, and I love you more than I realized. I dream about you when I sleep, you are the best possible leverage they now have on  me and as long as they have you I will have to do what ever they want.

He then address the priests and coldly say "I assume you are here to tell me what happens now?"

[ismilealot]

@ Marco She will be cleansed of all unrighteousness. That's always been our goal Marco. And once all her memories are gone. We will make her in our image. The cold smile of the priest as he says this brings a rush of memories to Marco. Memories of others who'd been "cleansed". They'd always been completely broken afterwards. Broken and all to willing to do the bidding of the priests in charge of the program. Several times over the years the priests had brought someone in who'd been subjected to the cleansing, a lesson in humility they called it. The subject had learned to be humble above all else is what they said. But really it had been a lesson in just how depraved the orders of the priests could be. One such subject had rushed to eat the still warm shit of the priest who'd brought him in. Several of the boys had vomited seeing that, but the priest had only said, "The animals do it. we should never despise any part of the body. Or refuse any order of the priesthood." Marco shuddered. They'd marked her for cleansing because of him. They'd break her and make her do anything they wanted. Everything they wanted.

[gilga]

Marco said "Open your eyes, the world is filled with evil, every way you look the devil gets his way. People are abused, killed or enslaved and you do nothing to stop that. I am not without sin but at least I struggle, stumble and attempt to truly amend my ways to be the best I can be. It is not easy, and whereas you see things in black and whites in your ivory tower I only saw grey in Seattle.

You cannot do bad things for a good cause as this is exactly how the devil seduce and corrupt you. Believe me - I know something about seduction, this is how it works.  So in all this darkness, you choose to 'cleanse' a talented mage, an entrepreneur and a philanthropist.  Nobody is completely without sin but if you can justify doing anything to anyone, you are just as bad as the daemons you are trying to stop."

Marco had to try and get his truth heard, perhaps someone will eventually understand. So far the only one mildly receptive to his point of view was Gabriel the head of the program, but Marco did not know if it was genuine or just  another mechanism of control to form an emotional attachment.
 

[ismilealot]

@ Marco  The mocking grin on the ghostly face of the priest flashes for only a moment and then it is gone. The Lady looks confused for a moment and then realization hits. They weren't after me. They were after you. And now that they know where you are, they have no need of me. She appears infinitely sad as she looks at Marco. I will die because I know you. Because I've loved you and tried to be your friend. You don't remember me brother. I don't know what they did to you to make you forget me and our parents. Or if the night of their deaths is just to painful for you to remember. But, if I am to lose all that I am. I want you to . . . . She disappears suddenly from Marco's view.

@ Jed, Yelena, Marco, Arc "Here is good to park." Nicolai tells Arc. "Good eyes on meeting. Room for guns to fire. Yelena, ladder leads to roof."

[Mercy Merchant]

Yelena nods at the others and goes to each one to give them an embrace and a word of comfort.  She is concerned when Blackbird does not immediately respond, but puts it down to their past.  She opens her weapons case and removes the sniper rifle, assembling it in quick, loving movements that waste no energy or time, leaving the scope unattached, which she puts in a pocket of her parka.  She slips into her camouflaged snow pants and puts a pair of foot warmers in her boots before putting them on.  Taking several extra sets of hand warmers, she shrugs into her parka and looks around.  "Yelena thank all.  Justice served tonight.  Long time needed.  Back soon together."  She wlaks close up to Arc and leans over to whisper in the human's ear.  "Srui, leave if all goes bad. Shadow protect Yelena.  Arc must go home to rigger man.  Leave Yelena if have to.  Take PI man and leave.  Promise Yelena."

She then goes to Blackbird.  "If goes south.  Get Arc and Jedediah home safe.  Know Yelena forgives Marco.  Hurt not forgotten.  But Yelena forgive."

Jedediah is next.  "Yelena not know long.  But like PI man.  Get friends home safe.  Tell Mike do for justice.  He might understand."

She looks at Nicolai without saying anything.  After all, what needs to be said between them?  Yelena leaves the van and walks to where the ladder is, climbing to the roof and crawling her way across it to a hide that gives her a great view of the killing field.  Uncapping the scope ends, she uses it to sight in to several locations, taking meticulous care to note the ranges to each one and setting them in her memory.  Personal issues are put aside.  Marco/Blackbird are both forgotten.  Even her Srui and the PI man are placed out of thought as she forces the shadow to come to her.  She is concealed, warmed, and protected by the one constant in her life, the shadow.  It has always swirled about her, bringing life, and death.  It has rewarded and punished her, but it has always been there for her to reach out for and grab hold of.  She believed in shadow long before she met Nicolai and would believe in the shadow until she dies and is taken to be part of it.  She attaches the scope to its mount and slips her mask on, breathing into her parka to reduce any tell tale sign of her being on the roof, trusting in the thermographic signal reducers in her snow gear to keep her undiscovered as she lies in wait.  She is an assassin and is doing what she loves, living the life that the shadow has prepared her for.

And she waits.

[SmilinIrish]

Jed was so laser focused that Yelena nearly finished talking before he snapped back to hear what she was saying.  Smiling tensely, he whispered Tell him yourself Milaya, I'm getting us all home.  He'd better.  Jed didn't think he could cope with the loss of another woman who was relying on him.  No time for that now.  He needed focus.   Running his hands over his pocket, he felt to make sure his stims were there.  He'd likely need them...

As they are pulling up to park, Jed uses a spell to extend his astral sight without projecting outside his body.  Carefully looking around, he searches for any projecting mages, spirits and lastly for any living being. 

[gilga]

@Marco looks at Lady and the priest as they fade away, his last words are "I love you sister". Somehow he knew, without knowing and the suggestion that his own memory was edited is not new to Marco. Marco has suspected manipulation, but he did not suspect external manipulation. Marco thought that he did things to himself to survive the pressure. His gaze is blank, he feels completely lost and struggles to find a reason for going on.

[Qwikfix]

Arc pulled up to an easy stop, just out of reach of where the train would pull in.  Double-checking the weapon systems on the van, she powered down the engine, and proceeded to cut the van's Matrix presence, rendering the vehicle virtually undetectable from prying cyberspace eyes.  Looking to the others, she offered a reassuring smile as she fished in her back, cyberarm pulling out her weapon drones while her real one offered some microtransceivers to her friends.  Once all were connected, she stopped Yelena, bumping foreheads as she brought her voice low.

"...we all going home, Srui.  I need a Tary'ken, and you don't gotta choice on it, ya feel?"  Thumping the elf's shoulder, she nodded to the others as she set her drones down outside, closing up the doors behind her.

Booting up the two rotodrones and the fly-spies, she set the latter on a distant perimeter check, running them silent and integrating them into Jed's camera network.  From there, she set her gun drones to silent, adding markers on the map to interface with Yelena.  Her AR windows in place, she set back in her seat, hands on her stomach as she activated the comms.

"Check check, Em'rald Team, come in.  This is A.  J, B, camera drones are circling for another view, running in a pattern.  Adjust as see fit.  Y, coordinate with me on where you want suppressive support and fire support.  Latter will be long range, to stay out of sight, former mid-long range for proper effect.  Ready once in position, over"

The kid gloves were off, and with a deep breath to calm herself, the tusked human rigger plugged herself in... It's go time...

[Mercy Merchant]

Yelena is a bit surprised at the effect of having the drones on watch for her.  She has always worked solo on missions and this type of support is new.  She organizes the feeds on her 'link to take advantage of them, but still relies on her own gut and experience.  She uses the sub-vocal and says, "Y in place.  Move long distance support fifty metres to the right.  Mid-range support is fine where it is.  Over."

[gilga]

Marco sobs quietly in the car and feels completely helpless. "This nonsense has to be stopped... but how? I am an adept and a mage and yet so powerless so nothing." The SMG Arc has handed him suddenly  seems attractive. Marco pets the bulge in his jacket and can feel the dark temptation of the sub machine gun - 'use me'. Depressed he summons a spirit of air.

Summoning F6: 15d6t5 8
spirit defense: 6d6t5 2
drain resistance: 11d6t5 5
six services optional powers psycokinesis and fear.


There was the air lady, and seeing her turned Marco's sob into actual tears. The air spirit looked so similar to Lady, with her constantly moving constantly swirling essence. A more objective viewer would say that she look nothing like lady but had some cloudy quality to her nature as different viewers saw different things in her. "Six services mage, and if it makes you feel better you can call me Lady- though I prefer something more... windy..."

Marco replied "No that would be too painful to call you that, how about Wendy." 
'Wendy" replied: "I'll be whomever you want me to be for six services."
Marco said "I appriciate it wendy - could you conceal Arc's drone, Arc, Yelena and myself. I want nobody to see these tears, not now."