A Time for Secrets

"Woah... What is this Kesslan? Ashe opens up a bit on her Commlink, wondering what these pieces of paper might potentially be.

Message
From: Watashi
To: Line

Jack,
It has come to my attention that your team has been successful in stealing the VTOL Plane. That said, I do not believe that they will be in a position to return for you. Which means that you will have to get yourself to Japan.
To that end, I have been managing a small team to steal the vehicles that were left behind on the base. They are proving to be proficient, and I believe that they would be mostly of use to you and your team. Please liaise with them.
Once you have worked it out with them how to smuggle the vehicles to Japan, you may accompany them as well. They seem to be somewhat less experienced than you and your team, and would benefit from your perspective in this job ahead.
End Message

AND:

Message
From: Watashi
To: Team

All, I have just contacted Jack regarding your current location, and the probability of a safe return to the UCAS Airspace. I have asked Jack to liaise with the other team, and coordinate them in the "Smuggling" of the vehicles in to Japan. I have invited him to accompany them, as that would likely be the most economical, and practical, way of doing things.
End Message

LT shoots message to team:

Message Begins:

What do you think at least Jack will be in Japan. And Jack for that matter how do you feel about meeting this other team. I hate being watched! But hey who knows could be a good thing... Wish we could have asked him to set us up with a safe house in Japan. Ill get on that now.

Message Ends:

Then fires off a message to JoB

Message Begins:

Ok So should have asked before but can you see if any of your old contacts has any safe houses in Japan. We could use like soon. take a looks see get back to me sir thanks. LT Out

Message Ends:

Ashe looks around somewhat confused about what is going on. "Ok, can we keep things to a "1 thing at a time situation here please?" Ashe says, wondering if there was some strange coincidence between Kesslan finally reading the papers that he had managed to steal, and Watashi jumping on the bandwagon regarding Jack and the other team.
"Ok, Tiamat, You take care of whatever is going to be going on between Jack and the other team. I can't think about that right now, first I need to spend some time with Kesslan's new documents here and try to understand what it is that he sent over our way. Kesslan, think you can spare a bit of your attention to thinking through these while you're on guard duty? I think these might be important. Also, can you remember where you picked them up? I know that we got them in the heat of the moment, so to speak, but if you can remember, it might be somewhat important. If not, maybe we can ask the Captain.." Ashe says, moving in to the Cockpit to have a seat and spread out the holo of the papers that Kesslan sent over so that she can page her way through them in detail.
"I am going to be taking a look at these for a little while, so any light you can shed on these would be helpful." She adds, almost as an afterthought.

It doesn't take long for Kesslan to recall where he'd found the papers and as such it's only a short while before he responds to the question. "The base commander's office you had us search. They'd jammed in the shredder." he wasn't sure however, what to make of the whole mess of documentation beyond it's obvious value to certain groups. "I'm not sure what use it might be to us, other than to sell it off however. I'm no good with encryptions."

"Really? The Commander's office? I can't believe they were that sloppy! What luck! Ok, let's start to really get in to the gritty on this, and see if there are any patterns or inconsistencies between what we have here, and what we experienced directly. You want to start with reviewing the list of Upgrades to the plane, and see if they're accurate? I don't know enough about mechanical stuff to be of use to you on that anyway..." Ashe responds, obviously excited by the turn in their apparent luck.

"Well, I'm the last person you'd want to ask when it comes to tech upgrades. Driver or his AI would be the best bet to go to there, their the ones with the know how for this sort of thing." Kesslan points out.

"Yeah, I know, but Driver's busy with driving..." Ashe pauses a moment to appreciate the joke. "And Eleanore can't really observe the plane at this point... So we're going to have to make due ourselves. I was just hoping that you might have had enough experience with military stuff to recognize the upgrades when you saw them. Think that might work out?" Ashe asked, hopefully. It would be really nice to be able to verify some of the upgrade claims.

Kesslan tilts his head slightly at Ashe's response to that and simply shakes his head "I have no experience with these things. If you were asking me about Aztechnology or awakened creatures, then I would have a wealth of information available to share, but when it comes to things like this. This is.. different. I do not know these things very well. I can try, if you wish, but you likely know more than I do when it comes to such things."

Driver looked over the controls of the newly acquired craft, the clipboard checklist that had been left, which included a list of the features that had been added in it's time on the ground. A deep sigh as he found the auto pilot suite located center dash, he plugged in coordinates for a route that would take them to the meeting point with the second team, hit the appropriate codes, and let the on board computer take over, feeling comfortable at the moment that if they were out of Eleanor's range, then they were out of the military's as well. Taking a peak at the AR screen on his glasses, holding his hand out as if looking at an actual piece of paper. he looked over the pages of numbers that had been sent.

--
Logic 5 + Military background 5 = 10 = 2 hits
--

After setting aside the pages of data, he picked up the check list, taking careful note of everything that had been added, with a sly grin he noticed the controls were already in place for the racks, the VTOL, the usual hovercraft control sticks, and 2 additional fuel gauges, he quickly scanned the list, rewrote in a message that was sent directly to the team, a basic confirmation that everything was as it should be for the moment. Saying nothing at the moment, but switching off the Auto-pilot and taking the reigns back himself, and contiued to sail towards the abandoned airfield that they would meet up at.

The message returns to LT, a sheet of rice paper with elegant calligraphy written upon it. As the message is received and opened, an overlay of words appears above the Japanese characters.

It is an adequate
task. I expect minimal
problems regarding
a successful
completion. When
a location is
confirmed, transport
will be arranged.

Ashe audibly breathes out in frusteration. She isn't, of course, frustrated at Kesslan, more at the situation. Without someone expert to look over the plans, there was nothing that the three of them could do. At least, until Driver was able to free himself from the controls long enough to review the info himself.
Receiving Driver's notes about the upgrades, Ashe was somewhat revitalized regarding the current dilemma.
"Yes! Good call on this one Driver. Kesslan, we're off the hook, now that Driver can pay attention! Driver, do any of the other sheets make any sense to you?" She asks over her commlink, excited that they were making some headway on the papers. Ashe stopped pacing in the forward room, since Driver was somewhat available again, and returned to the controls, taking the co-pilots seat for some comfort.
"Hey," She says, taking the co-pilot's seat, leaning back in the chair and enjoying the endless view of ocean. Ashe laced her hands behind her head, enjoying the momentarilly brief comfort of being able to sit in the cushioned chair finally. She smiled, and took a deep breath, ignoring the fact that she hadn't had a chance to change out of her rumpled and stained clothing. Both her white skirt and the green silk shirt would have to be trashed, beyond any reasonable semblance of repair at this point. But that was just fine, sort of a Casualty of War, at this point.
Having been heading out at full speed, she figured it wouldn't be too long now until they reached Japan.

Little did she know...

Kesslan for his own part went back to paying his full attention to the group of soldiers, wanting to make sure they didn't change their minds. Of course actually owning up to paying them was going to be a bit tricky if they didnt give him some way to transfer the money to them. Then again they had to have comlinks right? He could probably just wire the money there and if they got busted, it was their own damn problem, not his.

Looking out the window, Ashe was suddenly roused from her revelry and relaxation - Huh, I wonder if "R&R" stands for Revelry and Relaxation... I suppose not, since it's a military statement, huh? She thought to herself, momentarilly side-tracked from the thought that had brought her sitting up straight.
"Driver... There is a sunset, I can see it in the water... behind us. Shouldn't we be flying in to the sunset?" She asked, quite surprised by their current direction. It clearly was not what she had expected. "Where are we headed? She followed up with, clearly both surprised and concerned with their direction. Ashe looked around, trying to reconfirm her surprise, again wondering why they were now headed east, rather than west. She was not in the mood to be headed back in to the "heat" that most definitely awaited them on the CFS Shoreline. Even Tir would be unlikely to welcome them after they hit an armored base.

LT fires a message off to Jack.

Message Begins:

Roger that when we have some place see you there...

Message Ends:

LT watched the prisoners unaware as to the direction of the plain. Replacing the bullets in his revolvers that were spent. Then placing the guns in there respective slings....

Just after Ashie asks driver why theres a sunset in the oposite direction to where they were going everyones comlinks start to play static and then a mesage can be heard through it though just barly "*static*....Think....In Wa.........Taiki...Problem.......Found*Message overun by static* just after the static cuts out the comlinks audio outputs send out the most horifying screach anyof you have ever heard and it just reverberates inside the aircraft making it even louder than the roar of the engins (ill fix my typo later) roll a willpower test against 3)

"Wha..." She says, Driver's choice of direction temporarily forgotten. She puts her hand to her ear-piece, trying to get better reception, or something. Of course, the 'link is attached to her belt, which is where the real reception problem could have been coming from, but Ashe isn't that technologically adept...
She wiggles her ear a bit, trying to get a better focus on the sounds coming out, but to no avail.
"Driver, you getting..." She starts, turning her head slightly to look in Driver's direction. She never gets a chance to finish her question however, as her attention is otherwise reallocated...
"Aiiee!" Ashe let's out a quick screech, bringing her hands up to protect her ears from the awful noise. They never arrive at her head though, as her eyes roll up and she collapses back in to the seat, entirely losing consciousness.

Willpower 5, 0 Hits.

LT heard the screech and banged on his com once or twice but it would not stop he then threw it on the floor but he could not escape the sound bellowing throughout the plain. Dropping to one knee LT tried to keep at least one eye on the prisoners.

Willpower roll called for by GM Havoc:

Willpower 4 edge 1 = 5 dice = 3 hits! good to be back!

Willpower 4 = 1 Hit


Kesslan for his own part had continued to keep an eye on the prisoners, and hadn't been paying too much attention to what was going on otherwise, for lack of any reason to suspect the plane had been turned around and was headed in the wrong direction, or anything else being amiss for that matter. Thus, it was a surprise to say the least when his earbuds crackled to life with the broken message, followed by the rather debilitating sound that soon followed, and he quickly sought to shut off his earbuds and cut out the sound.

They're coming!

....

.... Ashe heard the voice in her head. She was running down one of the back streets of the Denver downtown. Close enough to the A districts that she had to be careful of the cameras, otherwise "they" would definitely know instantly where she was. She whipped her head around, first one direction, then the next. This was one of the worst botches that she had ever witnessed, and it was her team that had been slaughtered!!
Ashe turned another corner, going from dark to darker, scurrying in the shadows away from the searching lights. - Argh! She thought to herself, feeling the hot tears of pain and anger start to fill the edges of her eyes. She reached up with one hand, scrubbing them away before they had a chance to effect her vision.

CRACK - CRACK

The shots went off, ricochetting off the walls right next to her. - I've been spotted!! In this case, it didn't matter if it was one of her persuers, or just a local gang punk. The heavy cracks of the handgun would undoubtedly be heard, and lead to her current location. Ashe redoubled her steps, feeling her lungs burning with the need for oxygen, and her throat sore from the ragged breaths she was dragging in. This chase had already been going on too long, and that ganger had just made it longer. Maybe too long...
Ashe reached for a last-ditch effort. Magic. She had not been using it so far, because it was traceable for hours, days even to an experienced initiate. But it's better to get away now, and try to survive a few days while her magic trail goes cold than to not get away at all. - Last ditch, here I come! She said to herself, ducking behind a corner and starting to chant Sperethial in a low voice. She could feel the magic start to course through her, soon it would be....

....

It's just a dream... She heard a voice in her head say. It sounded strangely similar to the warning she had had earlier...

Kesslan and Ashie both hit the ground within seconds after the noise emits from there comlinks unconcious (driver may or may not depending on his roll) LT manages to stay his ground though suffers a masive headache after the noise is cut out and you have a new message beeping on you comlink that is only two words "Kaname Takasato".


another sound you hear just over the roar of the engiens as you start to regain your hearing is the roar of jets that seems to be getting louder

LT's head pounding, he stumbled to the front of the plain "Think we got a problem guys!" He growled. Ashe and Driver (i think drivers out) were out. He poked driver with a massive finger in the chest. "We got company make with the counter measures." he looked at the controls then out the window he calming down a little the thought was that they had prisoners and he figured they were not going to fire as long as they were presumed alive. but then again how would they know...

Looking out the window LT looks for where the sounds of Jets are:

Intuition 3 perception 4 = 7 dice = 1 hit

willpower 4 + edge (1 point used so far) 4 = 8 = 4 hits

Driver grabs at his ear, jerking the earpiece out as he cranks hard on the stick, fighting the urge for his arms to let go. "Christ she's got a big ass." Pushing Ghost out of the cockpit with one hand, with his free hand he pushes the plane to nose down back towards land, if this became a fight, they would need speed. With the image link on his glasses, Driver cues up a quick message to Eleanor, praying the 'trix came out this far

--
From: Driver
To: E

Sweetie, I hope you get this. We are going to need you in a hurry.
--

Pulling up hard on the stick, he did his best with his augmented strength to pull the nose out of the short dive, keeping an eye on the warning bell for incoming missiles.

As soon as Driver gets his hands back comfortably on the stick, pulling the plane out of the short, but surprisingly efficient dive, the cockpit alarms start blaring. If the ECCM noises weren't enough, the sound of a fire solution that the computer was putting out would pull all but the nearly dead out of the deepest coma. That, of course, didn't bode too well for Ashe, who sat there looking for all the world as if she had bitten the dust for one final time. Except that she wasn't "Jacked In" to the plane. Of course, most people wouldn't really know the difference, the 'Trix being no different to the average "turtle" user than magic, but Driver knew. Ashe was in no serious danger. From the ECCM, anyway.
The obnoxious repeating blasting of the high-pitched alarm was all but driving Ghost and Driver crazy, Driver for the right reasons. Ghost, probably too; he had seen enough trideos about this sort of thing.

Ok, gunna need some initiative rolls from you three (Driver, Ghost, Kess); Driver, unfortunately, you're not in range for Eleanor yet. Ghost, you aren't useless in this upcoming battle, but you're usefulness will require a bit of creativity. Kess: believe it or not, you might be in for a worse ride even than Driver on this... you're going to have your hands full...

initiative 9 dice 3 hits so 12

(OOC: sorry very tired going to bed but did not want to hold u up nite)

Init
reaction 6 + intuition 5 = 2 hits = 13