One for the Road

Old bear Listens to the conversation. When he feels its appropriate he speaks up. "Ma Moneys on he knows. He at least knows he did the wrong people wrong. Its obvious he knew to hall tail i mean we are chasin who ever your talking bout. dus we can conclude he knows your comin. Surprize is in not knowing who there sending. I mean we don't exactly look like the star or nuthin."

"Oh he'll know he's got some one after em for sure." Taurus speaks up on the issue of their quarry. "The Star ain't some group you just screw over without them coming after you. You can quit, you can leave, you can retire, but when you cut n' run with the Star's stuff then there's gonna be trouble. In this case, were the trouble for em. Star aint as bad as say, Mafia or Yaks, but every full member is just as good at kicking ass n' take'n names, if not better givn that most of us are runners. Main difference is, we aint in it for the money, or least not only the money. Everyone in the Star's in it for a cause, which means it's a principle of the thing. Your word is your bond, your standard of honour. What he gone done ain't something we can just let slide, and he'll know it. What he might not know, is that just like the Yaks and Mafs, we got a long, long arm too."

"Yea, yea... that's not what I wus talkin' 'bout an' you know it. Can we skip the righteous lekchur 'bout the Star? What I wanna know, an' it's anybuddy's gess, is if he knows it's us whose comin' ta get 'im?" Auburn narrowly managed to avoid rolling her eyes. It's not like she is new to the Star. She knows the game, the group, and the referee's for frag's sake. She had been there and done that, and Taurus had been with her for damn near the whole time. He was near enough her "handler" for lack of a more modern word for it.

"Us specifically? No. Just that some one is gonna come gunning for em, though my guess is that e's got others after'um too neh? I jus don't get why he up n' ran with so little if you ask me." Taurus responded. On the whole however, as he mulled it over, it probably didn't matter, other than potentially added complications.

"Good. That's gunna make a diff'rence. That way we don' have t'worry too much that he knows our faces, we're jes' runner-types, hangin' out. Chances are, 'e's genna be hangin' in some spots that runner-types're genna be 'nyway. Right?" Auburn pauses for a few moments, trying to work out what she was going to say next. She looks at Taurus, seeing that he was starting to catch up to where she was headed with her thoughts.
"See... Ahm thinkin' that the little fragger's genna be guarded, but 'e's not genna know who'se comin'. Makes it tough ta'lay a trap, doesn'it? 'Nless we get stupid, an'try'ta ask the wrong questions t'the wrong guys." She let's her thoughts trail off a little, still trying to consider her thoughts. This is where the "planning" part gets important. They had to figure out who to contact, how to do it, and all told get information on his whereabouts, without him finding out. And it looked like Auburn was the "puzzle solver" in the group, tasked with trying to tie all the information they could come up with together.

After a few more moments of thought, Auburn figured she had a good thought process on how to get a start on this puzzle.
"Ok... Le's see if we'c'n get this right. I don' have anuh contacts in RC specifically, but I might be able t'git some... How we genna git a handl'on where the fragger is hidin'? Any Idears?" Auburn asks, finally figuring she has a good feel for how to put together a plan.

"Well, when we land I'll see bout hooking up with some friendlies in the area, bound to be some where were headed. See what sorta resources I can get out of em for the job and go from there mebe..." Taurus says with a slight frown, he honestly wasn't all that sure how to approach something like this, it was the first time he'd ever had to actually try to plan this sort of thing out and the inexperience was no doubt showing.

Auburn frowned, and nodded.
"I guess, then, th're's nuthin for it but t'git there an' git to it, huh?" She said, in mild agreement with Taurus. She settled back into her seat, looking forward out the window as the land raced by in either direction. They would likely be travelling quite a bit faster than their target could have, so they had a chance to make up some time on him. And, chance are he would have shown his face in some bars or something, just for the "norm" kind of feel. They would have some recollection of him.
Auburn nodded, mostly to herself, though doubtlessly Taurus noticed. She was ready to move on and get to Dodge. It was time to catch the rat by the tail...

The ride from Illinois to Sioux City or the second leg of their trip was uneventful. Old Bear had been good at his job and the route selected was relatively free of unfriendly Vehicles. They flew under conventional radar systems view. That made things well bumpy from time to time. But each bump was apologized for "Uh sorry, oops sorry again." This went on for some time when he figured they understood.

After a while the intercom beeped in "We're at the edge o Sioux City Lady's N Gents. Orders?" and then he left the intercom open so as to receive those orders. The LAV sort of hovering in place....

"Fer starters, le's find'a place t'hide this rumblin' hunk. Then le's git ourselves t'a'nice little speak-easy, an' see what kinda information we'c'n get..." Auburn said, grinning as she came out of her semi-comatose state.

Old bear had set the runners down just outside of SC, in a shallow valley between a couple of low hills. A free-way ran down into the suburbs of the city just a few hundred meters southeast of where the LAV was cooling. Getting into the city would take a couple of hours of walking, unless the team was willing to risk drawing attention by taking the smuggler's low-altitude jet into the city proper.

"Huh. This ain't such a bad spot." Auburn said, crawling out of the side door. As soon as both her feet were on the ground, she started to stretch out her sore muscles, and get the blood flowing properly. She reached for the sky, then squatted down, moving her weight over first her left foot, then the right. Then she pushed one leg out in front of her, still low in her stance, and reached out to the toe of the boot, pulling it toward her face. She repeated the process with the other leg. Once she was done with that, she stood up and did a few seconds of shadow-boxing, before turning to see if Taurus had joined her in the open air yet.
"Good thing it's'a nice day fer a walk, huh?" She asked, grinning. She grabbed her duffel and threw it over her shoulders, looking around at the scenery, as if she were getting her bearings.
"Question is: Do we leave the bear here, with the back-up so that we'c'n call 'im in if we need 'im? Or do we bring 'im with us, and leave the tin-can? First option's my choice, for the obvious reasons. I think we'c'n find someplace t'stash it when the lights're all out... Thoughts?"

"Yeah I gots no problem with that, eagle needs a few things looked into and what not." Old bear grumbled and banded twice on the hull of the Aero-Machine. "if you need me i can be ready in to shakes of a hairs tale got me just hit me up" and he walked to see if can find some tools in the cargo hold...

Taurus considered the suggestion for a moment and shrugged "Well, either or could work well when it comes down to it, but I'm thinkin be best we had the extra feet on the ground. I cant think of too many situations I'd expect from this guy that would need an extraction vehicle without it being planned for." he paused a moment before looking to Bear. "This thing locks up secure right? I'm thinking it wont be a good idea for us to go round hauling all the hardware, so were going to have to find a place to stay in city, move the stuff there later. Once were in the city proper I can maybe see bout getting us a loaner set of wheels or something.."

"Sounds good t'me." Auburn stated, turning slightly toward where they would be headed. She took a moment to survey the path they would be travelling. Down a bit of a hill, then on the road the rest of the way.
"Let's go." Auburn said, peeking back over her shoulder to see the progress of the other two in unloading. To be perfectly fair, her load was most definitely the lightest of the groups, and was likely the easiest to cart out. Seeing that they weren't ready, she turned back.
"You boys need a hand wi'that?" She asked, being serious, not really realizing that it would be just as easy to take her question as a jibe.

Old Bear grabbed his predator out of the hold checks the safety, ejects, and checks the clip, flips the clip then puts it back in. The Ork sort of holsters the weapon in the folded down, black, urban explorer jump suit which he was only half wearing. The heavy pistol nestled next to his spine felt familiar. Lastly he threw on his leather jacket to cover the obvious concealing his intents. "Ready" he growled more then said. Then acknowledged Taurus's question. Looks the troll in the eyes and said "Yeah ill locker up no problem." He waited for Taurus to get his gear then stepped up and locked the eagle up...

Taurus gathered up most of his gear, though left the assault rifle and combat axe behind in the vehicle. That would be best moved with a car or other vehicle. Or at least a really big duffel bag. Sure they had a chameleon coating, but he didn't see any reason to take a chance that some one would notice it anyway. "Right, we'll have to comeback for some of this stuff later though. Don't want to risk drawing unwanted attention." He may have been out in a no man's land for several years now, but he remembered what it was like to live in the 'normal' world none the less. While he was at it he pulled up his comlink to see if he had any already existing listing of contacts for the Black Sun here in Seattle, if not he'd try to fire off a quick message to those still back in Chicago and see if they could help him link up.

Auburn snorted and nodded. "See, tha's why I was thinkin' it might make some sense t'bring this hunk closer t'town... But it makes near'nuff sense t'leave it here too." She says, hefting her pack a bit and looking toward the road. "But, 's'up t'you guys I guess, I gut all I need right here." She adds, looking back toward her two large teammates.
Auburn was somewhat annoyed at their lack of "intel" on this. She liked to go "in" with a little bit more than what they have now. But she was no stranger to doing her own wet work, and was completely willing to do what needed to be done. In this case, or the next.
[color=gree]"Like I said... Reddy when you are."said again, looking from Taurus to Bear. [color=gree][i]- They look ready enough...[i] She thought to herself, taking a step toward the road.

OOC: I'm going out of town Friday for a week hope that dose not put to much of let down lata everyone.

(OOC: Was waiting for Ghost to get back and post his response but I guess that's going to take some time to say the least)

"True, but we bring it too close and it'll bring in a lot of unwanted attention neh?" Taurus asks pausing a moment as he looks over his messages to note the contact points listed "Looks like I got a good list from the boys back home of places to hit up once we get into town." he adds after looking over the message to figure out what all it was telling him. "And they should be able to give us any updates we got on our runaway." he pauses again ever so lightly before adding "Probably best if we walk a ways then just call a cab."

Together, the runners set out. The countryside was quiet, gently rolling hills, specked here and there with the occasional house. Getting to the suburbs of the city took quite a while, but the trip, while long, was uneventful. The grassy hillsides of the country gave way slowly to the clutter and concrete of an urban landscape just as the sun was setting behind the horizon.

After several blocks, the team finally managed to find a cab. Pulling over, one yellow door swung up. The inside was surprisingly clean, with only a couple of stains on the polyester upholstery. A small screen and keyboard hung at the front of the roomy interior: one thing about pilotless cabs, removing the driver's seat and console certainly freed up a lot of space.

"Ahh, now that's the stuff!" Auburn says as she climbs in to the driver-less cab, settling in to one of the seats and stretching out her legs luxuriously. She dropped her bag from her lap onto the floor under her legs, and leaned back into the seat of the cab, watching the two guys climb in. Each of them was somewhat more bulky than she, so it took them a few moments longer to get in, but once in, the cab was easily able to accommodate their sizes.
While the two guys were piling in to the cab, Auburn had crouched down in front of the command keyboard, using the GPS and Map to locate a bar somewhere near the downtown area to target for the cab. It took her a bit, and by the time she was close the two guys had managed to get in and settle down.
"Wonder if the Shox in this sucker're built t'carry you two..." Auburn said once the two guys were in. Her eyes glittered with the spark of her teasing. Auburn was, afterall, quite playful. Unfortunately, Auburn did have something legitimate to discuss with the two guy, so she cut her teasing short and turned back to the map she had up. "Ok, I gut us this spot, what'cha think? Shudd I hit "Go"?" She asked, moving out of the way so that the map would show.

Old Bear stared at the map and shrugged his shoulders "Good for me" he looked at Taurus still not use the Trolls unusual head he starred then caught himself and spoke. "What'cha thinking big guy credit for your thoughts." Of course he had no intention of paying for someones thoughts but he did not want to look as though he was staring So he sat back and waited for them to get moving.

Auburn looked at Taurus for a few moments, waiting through his silence for his "thoughts". When they didn't come, she shrugged, scratched the side of her nose, punched the big red "Go" button on the coordinates of the driver-less cab, and slouched deep into the cushions of her well worn seat, enjoying the relaxed feeling of the ride. It shouldn't take too long for them to get near down town where they had directed the cab, and she was looking forward to that drink she was planning on having when they got there.

Taurus had been a little distracted trying to dig up where exactly it was he was supposed to meet up and how he was supposed to contact the folk listed in the slightly cryptic message he'd received before taking note of Auburn's chosen destination... "Well.. duno if..." he blinked a moment feeling a little tired "Ah frag it, might as well enjoy being in a proper city again for a little first neh? Still... we should probably meet up with one of our contacts soon and dig up some help tracking this slitch down." but one drink wouldn't hurt... or two..

It really had been a good many years since he'd been away from the whole mess Chicago had become.

"Tha's the spirit, T!" Auburn exclaimed as Taurus "came to" from wherever he was. She picked her head up a bit from the deep slouch she was enjoying in the not-so-comfortable Cab seats. The things were obviously designed with an eye more toward the functional side than the comfort side.
"We'c'n git us a proper drink, and try'n remember wut't's like ta'be a wage-slave again. Ahh... That was the life. Sorda..." Auburn kept her eyes closed, not bothering to attempt eye contact while she anticipated the upcoming bar out loud.
"MMMMM." She said, finishing her thought.