[Malevolence]

Ohanzee looked at the prisoner's aura, noting his fear, but more importantly his resolve. He might be afraid of dying (who wasn't?), but he was willing to do so for his cause.


Spirits, the Corp control was absolute. Poor drekhead.

"Your mind tricks won't work on me, Shaman. Do your worst. Whatever you think you can do to me will pale in comparison to what they'll do to you when they find you."

"On the contrary, you've been most helpful."

"This man has nothing for us. If we've gotten everything from their comms that we can, lets be done with him quickly and be off."

@Team
<<I agree with Sam. Time to be underway. Should we leave APB behind too? Her situation has not improved.>>

Agreed. Try not to kill him, but make it look good. He might be able to unwittingly deliver a message for us.


Ohanzee switched to English. "Toss him, we have to be in Carbondale before dawn."


With any luck, he'll understand Carbondale and send them there, bypassing Aspen for a few extra hours at least. Now we just have to find a new ride. We can drop APB down the road a ways. I recommend burning the body rather than let our pursuers defile her.

[rednblack]

Ace waits for the Rover to stop moving before opening the door, exiting, and pulling the man out to the side of the road by his elbow.  With a flick of the wrist, he extends a single blade from his spurs and jabs it below what he believes to be the man's lungs before kicking him clean of the blade and face first onto the snow.  There is a part of Ace that feels stoic, deadpan, almost clinical, and there's a part that's horrified, maybe a stitch of humanity unburdened by his memories.  There's also a third part, a part that tells him if he's going to play at killing a man, he's already in a lot more trouble than he ever could have bargained for.  Ace does his best to quiet the third voice as he wipes his blade clean on the pant leg of the fallen man before re-entering the car and shutting the door.

"I did my best.  What about our fallen?" he asks motioning to the seat in front of him.

[Tecumseh]

The Masked Woman leans against the side of the van, listening to Ohanzee's translation while piecing together what they know so far. They are facing highly trained, highly loyal soldiers connected to Knight-Errant and/or Ares. They speak Lakota but not English. Perhaps this is not a surprise. Roger Soaring Owl led Knight Errant Security Services for years before taking a consulting position with the Sioux Nation. That he might have cultivated a talent pipeline loyal to him during his time at KE would be expected, a time-honored custom historically. Ares is also well known for taking talent where they find it. She wonders how deep they are in the pool. Maybe this was the Sioux Defense Force. The Wildcats will come later, maybe with Firewatch. She keeps that thought to herself.

She's not sorry to see the man go when Ace yanks him out of the van and shanks him. She twists a throwing knife over her fingers while she watches. Part of her appreciates his knife work, an underappreciated art. She lets her Mana Bind spell drop, relieved to be freeing up her concentration. There's a very brief consideration of high-fiving Ace when he gets back into the Rover, but that shock hand makes her think better of it. Plus he looks more contemplative than celebratory. To his question, she responds:

@Van
<<Lets get a klick down the road and send APB over the side. The snow is still falling. With luck they won't find her until the spring thaw. Maybe not even then.>>

She gets up from her seated position and goes forward to APB's collapsed form. She flips through the dead woman's holsters, removing her firearms and finding the clips that the Masked Woman had put up for grabs earlier. She pats down APB's pockets, taking care to find the commlink and anything else that might identify her. The proximity to the dead elf and her gaping head wound doesn't seem to bother the Masked Woman. She must keep some questionable company, or be questionable company herself.

[Malevolence]

While Ace was outside taking care of the prisoner - ex-prisoner - the dwarf quickly got to work cleaning up the residue of his casting. By the time Ace returned, he was finished.

Once Ace closed the door and the car was moving again, Ohanzee cycled his gear, realizing that he hadn't done so since waking over an hour earlier. It seemed prudent to do so occasionally, and who knows what the circumstances were before they all ended up unconscious for a couple hours.

"What about our fallen?"

<<Lets get a klick down the road and send APB over the side. The snow is still falling. With luck they won't find her until the spring thaw. Maybe not even then.>>

"I agree, I think we should give it a klik or two, spread the mayhem out some to make life difficult for the Star.  Take what you can use before we get there. We can find a nice spot, lay her out gently, say a word or two, and I'll send her off with a proper pyre. It's a few minutes we don't have, but it doesn't feel right not taking them anyway."


His mind tickled as his devices reported for duty once again. He double checked their current position.


@Team: After that we should hit the outskirts of the campground. With luck, all the campers are sleeping and we can boost a ride without any trouble. Make it come to us, limit our exposure. If we can get to Aspen and get the new car back where we took it from before dawn, so no one is the wiser, it might make it harder to find us. We can send this mess of a ride on to Carbondale or wherever, leave anything we took from the strike team with the car, give them a target to track."

He wasn't sure why, but he still didn't trust the vehicle enough to talk out loud with any details of their plans. Was he always this paranoid? Or perhaps he was always this prudent? The enemy was obviously well funded - best not to underestimate them.

[rednblack]

@Van
<<Lets get a klick down the road and send APB over the side. The snow is still falling. With luck they won't find her until the spring thaw. Maybe not even then.>>

Over the side.  Ghost, APB is supposed to be half the people Ace knows well.  1 of 6 if you count extended company, which by all rights he'd better if he's going to get through the night.  Fuck, this is bad, he thinks as he looks at his hands, or at least where his hands once were, and whatever the hell "his" is supposed to mean right now.  Still, the witchy one has a point.  It's not like they're going to give her a funeral, present circumstances accounted for and all.  Not that he'd know what to say anyway.  She was hell on poachers, and I'm glad she didn't suffer.  How's that for an epitaph?  Ace looks at the troll and gives a conceding nod, You were right.  No reason at all to bring this guy along.  Then he looks to the Masked Woman, who seems to be watching him back somewhere behind her visage.  When she's right, she's right, and she'd do the same to you.  Ace breaks eye contact first, looking down into his lap again.  He'll be glad when some of these questions are answered, assuming he lives long enough.

"I agree, I think we should give it a klik or two, spread the mayhem out some to make life difficult for the Star.  Take what you can use before we get there. We can find a nice spot, lay her out gently, say a word or two, and I'll send her off with a proper pyre. It's a few minutes we don't have, but it doesn't feel right not taking them anyway."

Ace looks back up and in the general direction of the dwarf, careful not to observe him too closely.  Now, that was more like it.  And again, some brief flash, something from school -- So, I went to school -- something about Vikings, or Nords, or something like that, something about Valhalla.  Give her a send-off.  Ohanzee certainly seemed to have a plan for everything.

[Malevolence]

As the SUV began to move again, he had a sudden thought.


@Crumpled: I have a contact in Aspen I'd like you to check out, see if she looks trustworthy.
>> Attachment: Contact - Gloria Winters PhD

[Tecumseh]

The Masked Woman doesn't have any trouble picking out the ups and downs of Ace's emotions on the astral plane. She can't read his mind but she can guess what's on it. She sends him a message when he looks at her.

@Ace (private)
<<It's not because she wasn't close to us but because she was. They get her, they get closer to you and me, and that can't happen.>>

Ace looks away. The Masked Woman glances around the van, sizing up the space. Not really large enough to give APB the same send-off that the smugglers received, with the giant circle and the claymore and all. Six metas, a corpse, and a giant obelisk will fill a Rover fast.

@Van
<<We can check the campgrounds but I don't know how many drekheads pitch a tent in -20 C weather on February 1st, scan?>>

[Poindexter]

Aspen feels like a trap. The giant russian pulls the collar of his insualted coat up tighter around his neck as he thinks. Moving anywhere right now seems foolish. The wind has been whistling though the vehicle's many bullet holes for a few minutes now and the poor beleaguered little heater in the rover just can't keep up with the outside air rapidly entering the inside. The best way to survive now is to ditch everything and everybody and hide in the mountains for a few months. Come out again in the spring and start the search then. Once the pursuit has died down. He's been listening to the chatter over the various comm channels he had privy to and learning nothing from any of it. He keeps quiet despite wanting desperately to say something. The words still just won't come to him. His mind keeps rolling steadily along in pace with the rover. But that would mean ditching the others here. He looks around at the desperate men and women huddled near the heating vents, and even though he has no emotional attachment to any of them, and strongly suspects he might used to have been a heartless bastard, ditching them still feels wrong in his gut. No. "If you stay alive for no other reason, do it for spite." -Maria Bamford. How do I know that? Hmmm...Figure that out later. Right now, that johnson has to pay for betraying me, yes; But not just me. Every one of us here.

Finally, after about ten minutes of riding in the cold, he speaks over the subvocal.

"We're the type of drekheads that can pitch the tents, Mask. Should I keep calling you Mask? Do we have tents? Either way, My brain isn't in the right place to make any sort of decisions or leadership calls here. Ohanzee seems more fit for that sort of role anyway, so I prefer to let him continue to call the shots. My only advice... I feel like the fewer outside people we involve in this until we're relatively safe, the better off we and those outside people will be.

[Tecumseh]

@Van
<<You can call me Katsina. It's a Hopi name for a masked spirit. Or you can call me Kat if we're keeping it simple, Sam.>>

She looks around the van, glancing at Chino, Ohanzee, Ace, and the one she called 'Doc' for reaction to Sam's subvocals.

<<You're not wrong. The fewer people we involve, the fewer people there are to sell us out. I'm willing to follow Ohanzee's lead too.>>

She looks to the dwarf to see what the verdict is.

[Malevolence]

As the SUV began to move again, Ohanzee slumped back into his seat. Things were stressful enough as it was, and the night was decidedly not going their way. The passengers rode in silence.

Finally, after about ten minutes of riding in the cold, he speaks over the subvocal.


"We're the type of drekheads that can pitch the tents, Mask. Should I keep calling you Mask? Do we have tents? Either way, My brain isn't in the right place to make any sort of decisions or leadership calls here. Ohanzee seems more fit for that sort of role anyway, so I prefer to let him continue to call the shots. My only advice... I feel like the fewer outside people we involve in this until we're relatively safe, the better off we and those outside people will be.

The dwarf considered the plan. Avoiding major population centers had an appeal, but with their pursuers using thermographic scanners and Astral vision, hiding in a dense cluster of people seemed the best camouflage. And right now, more than anything, they needed information. He was about to mention this when The Masked Woman spoke.

@Van
<<You're not wrong. The fewer people we involve, the fewer people there are to sell us out. I'm willing to follow Ohanzee's lead too.>>
She looks to the dwarf to see what the verdict is.

Stunned. That was his immediate response. He was quickly becoming the de facto leader of the group, at least for now, and he wondered if it was something he wanted. Decidedly not, but considering his skills, it was something he could at least handle. And if they were to survive the night - he cast a glance at APB's corpse, then just as quickly looked away - they would need to agree on some sort of direction, and choosing a voice to follow seemed a solid first step.


He felt that before the accident that he had not been the group's leader. Somehow he felt that if there were something approximating an official leader it was likely Uncle Sam, he seemed to have taken charge early on and sounded as if he had perhaps spent time in charge of a military unit from his lingo and bearing, or The Crumpled Man, who had directed the operation the previous evening. Or perhaps there was no leader - a group of equals, each one taking point when the situation demanded their strengths.


Unbidden, a flash of memory surfaced in his thoughts. A frightened woman behind a large counter, trying to maintain her composure, the Ares logo on the wall behind her making it clear she was some sort of receptionist. In the reflection from the sheen of the countertop, he could see himself, dressed in an obviously expensive suit, radiating authority like some trid power exec. Behind him and to either side were The Crumpled Man and Uncle Sam, also in suits, though less expensive, playing the part of subordinates, a body guard and an assistant he assumed.


Then the image spiraled off, back into the inaccessible recesses of his memory. So he had at least played the part of leader before if it suited the mission's objectives. And now it looked as if he would have to again.


The little dwarf sat up straight and tried to catch each eye in turn. As he did, his mind raced. Now that he had accepted the burden, how should they proceed? The first order of business would be getting rid of APB. The presence of her body would negatively affect morale - in fact, it already was. Dumping her down a deep ravine would be the most expedient method, but Ohanzee knew that funerals were more for the living than the dead. APB was gone, and had little care as to what happened to the empty husk she'd left behind. But if they were to bond - necessary to functioning effectively as a team in dangerous situations - they have to demonstrate respect. They'd be unwilling to risk their lives for each other if they thought their teammates would simply abandon them if it became more expedient. So there had to be a ceremony. Circumstances dictated it be quick, but that didn't mean it couldn't also be respectful.


"Chino, pull off the road at the next turnout. We'll take five minutes - no more - to help guide APB to the next world."


The next part would be more difficult. "Cold weather or not, staying out here would likely be more dangerous than heading into town. We don't have the equipment we would need to hide effectively - both our heat signatures and our astral auras. We'd literally have to live in a hole in the ground. In town, we could hide amongst the herd - safety in numbers. But I agree that we do have to be very careful about who we contact. We should pool our contacts, check them out, and find one or two that we are sure we can trust before we reveal ourselves to them." His voice was strong and sure, very unlike how he felt. "Our enemies have the advantage of knowing more about us than we do. This disparity will surely kill us faster than anything." He turned to the crate, the elephant in the room that everyone was avoiding. "Right now, the people we stole this from are after us. Very soon, the people we stole this FOR will come looking, and they are unlikely to be very happy. Once we are finished paying our respects, we need to open the crate and find out exactly what we have here."


Almost too quickly, the SUV was pulling off the road. It was time to deal with APB. "Unless anyone has any objections, Sam, would you please carry APB?"


He hopped out of the vehicle and waited to see if anyone objected to the plan.

[Tecumseh]

Katsina follows Sam and APB out of the van. She indicates a snowy patch of concrete on the side of the road where he can put her down.

She stands over APB and positions the elf's arms and legs so that they are not splayed wildly then adjusts her so that APB's head points west and her feet point east. Katsina draws a gloved hand over APB's eyes to make sure they are closed, then draws her claymore out of its sheathe in a smooth movement. Standing over APB's hips, she places the tip of the claymore in the snow and turns in a circle. Between the length of her arm and the length of the sword the circle is almost four meters wide. She moves quickly, both because time is short and because the heavy snow starts to erase her lines almost as quickly as she makes them.

Inside the circle she etches four six-sided stars at the cardinal directions of the circle. She clasps her sword pointing downward over APB, then speaks lowly and quickly in Sperethiel for thirty seconds. Something for the elf's benefit, no doubt; maybe a prayer that she won't be a heinous bitch in the next life. The incantation complete, Katsina traces a "door" in the air to the west, then steps through it. She pulls the APB's body through, then traces the reverse design in the air to close the door, then sheathes her claymore.

She looks up to Ohanzee to indicate that she is done. Others can say something to APB's (short) memory, or they can get moving. It's cold enough that lingering isn't a compelling option. As for the actual send-off, Sam can either send her on her way down the hillside like a bobsled or Ohanzee can levitate her out into the snowy night for a silent departure.

[Ryo]

The time is now approaching 2 AM, and while the deep darkness of the night and the chill from the wind still makes the outside unbearably cold, you do note that, at the very least, the snow is slowing, and will likely stop falling before morning. Perhaps it may be a bit warmer tomorrow, but for now, it is still bitterly cold.

Chino remains in the rover, keeping the engine warm, and noticing that fuel looked a lot lower than he expected. Taking a moment to check the car over while Katsina gave APB a proper send off, he finds that the gas tank was hit in the earlier gun fight. Thinking quickly, and using the Engineering skills he remembers he has, he manages to patch the tank and stop it from leaking.

"Whereever we're going, this rover isn't getting much further than that. We're low on fuel. We should figure out where we're going, if we want to get there at all."

Meanwhile, Crumpled takes the contact info Ohanzee gave him and runs a basic matrix search on Gloria Winters, before reporting back his findings.

>>Send Message
>>Recipients: All
>>"Gloria Winters checks out as an average law abiding citizen, as far as I can see. Only problem is, she's missing. Her boss filed a missing person's report on her three days ago."

[Malevolence]

"We hardly knew her, but she was one of us. With her loss, we are diminished. May she find the next world better than this one."


Friend Dolphin, it was a pleasure to swim with you, but I must bid you farewell. I have need of a spirit to see our fallen off into the next world. You are freed of your obligations to me with my thanks. Swim strong. The water spirit "swam" near the little shaman with a playful smirk, made a gesture that Ohanzee assumed was a nod, and then with joyous sounding whistles and clicks, turned and swam off, fading back to the watery realm from which it came.


Quietly, the dwarf focused on summoning a new spirit, a warrior to see off a fellow. On the astral, he began a chant and shortly it was joined by the beating of war drums. Though only seconds passed, the build up to the crescendo seemed to take minutes, but finally the drum and the chanting stopped, and silence reigned. The arrival of the spirit was completely unnoticed by the shaman and he wondered if the summoning had failed. But the low voice of the spirit broke the silence.


Shaman, I hear your words and believe your need honorable. The spirit stepped forward as if emerging from shadow, the colored auras of the Astral forming a fuzzy outline that morphed into the spirit's final form. The spirit appeared as a male of muscular but lean build, wearing a loincloth, jewelry, and headdress of feathers and beads and nothing more. Paint of vibrant and shifting colors covered the exposed flesh from face to toe, symbols Ohanzee recognized from the tribal elders he knew ... the memory was lost, though the recognition of the symbols remained. They indicated the wearer's great prowess not just in battle, but in crafting and building. A true warrior could survive off of the land, crafting their teepee, their clothing and weapons, and preparing the food they would catch on the hunt. Changing, and thus controlling, your surroundings was the way of Man, and his power over nature.


Honored warrior, my Sister in Arms has fallen this night, and we would be grateful if you would help us to give her a Warrior's send off. We wish to burn her body so that her spirit might leave it and travel to the next world. Please gently carry her to the bottom of this ravine and ensure her corpse is burned to bones. Our enemies will be denied her soul and we can continue our fight knowing she is forever beyond their reach.


The spirit looked past the dwarf to the corpse, a grey form in the colorful Astral world, and nodded.


It is noble indeed to show such deference to one's fallen comrades. I shall grant your request.


Materializing into the snowy night, the spirit's ghostly form walked solemnly to the body of APB and gently lifted her as if she weighed nothing. Facing the dwarf, back to the precipice, the spirit's face showed a small bit of effort as he lifted her over his head and her body continued up, leaving his hands, carried by the spirit's magic. At about ten feet, the body stopped rising, turned to face the precipice head first facing up, then began to slowly move out over the yawning chasm. At about 40 meters, the spirit turned to face the body and it's form shifted slightly as it concentrated on another spell. A light streaked from the spirit out to the floating body and exploded in a shower of fire, harmlessly above the treetops, the streamers of fire winking out long before touching the trees. At first, it seemed that the body was merely charred from the explosion, but a few seconds later the flames began to show, licking hungrily at the cold flesh. Soon, the body was in full conflagaration, and the spirit moved towards it as it began to descend into the gaping maw of the valley below. After about a minute, the body and the spirit both were lost below the tree line, only the orange glow if the fire peeking through the snowdrifts, showing where they had gone.


The task is done, Shaman. The spirit appeared before the dwarf in the Astral. All that remains is bone and ash, scattered across the treetops.


Thank you, brave warrior. You have served well, and I release you to rejoin your tribe. Perhaps we will meet again under more joyous circumstances.


The spirit held its fist to its chest, then took a single step backwards, vanishing into the Astral just as it had appeared.


After taking a moment to clean up the auras left behind by the spirit's summoning and magic, Ohanzee turned and trudged back to the vehicle, dimly acknowledging Chino's message about the fuel. Once in the car, he received the message from the Crumpled man that Gloria was missing. Three days ago. What was it about that day? Did we go dark? Oh spirits, did we kill her to keep her quiet? Or have our enemies done something to her? He stopped heading down that path of thought - these were thoughts for later. For now they needed to get somewhere they could set up shop for a bit without the immediate danger of their pursuers.


>> To: Crumpled Man
>> Thanks.


The rest of the team finished filing into the vehicle and it again began to move.


>> To: Team
>> Next stop, Aspen. We have to get there before the fuel runs out. We'll ditch the car on the outskirts, maybe have it drive itself off the mountain.


Or home - what a horrible surprise for the family to wake up to, but maybe they'd be better off knowing their loved ones were dead. But no, the longer it took for the Star to get involved, the better.


He closed his eyes and thought about calling to Raven again. He doubted the spirit he had called earlier would answer his call twice in one night, but he didn't need such a powerful spirit. Well, perhaps he did, but not badly enough to risk the harm its summoning would almost certainly bring. He began his call, seeking a lesser aspect of the Raven, and soon the call was answered. The spirit seemed to know what he was going to ask - or perhaps his desire had affected the summoning - as the spirit appeared as a White Raven, blending in with the snow that covered the world outside. But, just as the previous Raven, the bird was difficult, and fought against the shaman's call.


Your will is strong, Shaman. Most who seek me come up empty handed. You have my respect, but do not think that entitles you to my services. Ask well, and perhaps I will grant your request.


Wise Raven, please hide my friends and I from detection so that we may find safe shelter in the nearby town without interference from those who seek us. He put an effort of will into the request, hoping to impress the spirit and thus earn the favor.


Very well. Your world is intriguing, and this task provides reason enough to stay awhile.


The spirit cocked its head, looking at the auras of each of the passengers in turn, then with a squawk, the spell was cast, and the dull sheen of a veil fell over the metahumans. The bird nodded its head at the shaman, and flew off, presumably to entertain itself elsewhere, not needing proximity to maintain the concealment.


Now, one more order of business.


The dwarf fished around for the crowbar that he had seen earlier and sidled up to the crate. He looked around the car, pausing to see if anyone had any objections.

[Tecumseh]

Katsina watches the proceedings, her expression - as always - concealed behind her mask. Was she thinking appreciatively about the effort Ohanzee put in on behalf of APB? Was she internally contemplating the compatibility of the Wiccan tradition with the customs of the Sioux? Was she wondering why she even bothered with her ritual when Ohanzee was going to send her into the night like a candle in the wind? Or maybe she wasn't thinking about any of that and was considering the team's next move.

She does not linger outside longer than necessary; her longcoat will keep her from freezing but it's still not comfortable in weather like this. She scans the cold night with her thermographic vision and her astral sight, looking for any evidence that they've been found again, or followed.

Returning to the van, she has no objections about opening up the crate. She forgets that the others haven't seen what she had with her cyberware scanner, so naturally they are curious too. And all the better to get another Awakened person looking at the object, maybe to figure out - or remember - what it is and what it's worth.

@Van
<<To Aspen then. Let's get as close as we can so we don't have to haul this crate too far.>>

[rednblack]

Ace stands with hands folded through the brief ceremony, and as the body levitates over the guard rail, he shifts his attention to the sky before the fireworks start.  It looks like the snow might quit before too long, which will be good for getting where they're going, but less good for keeping their tracks covered.  Ace returns to the vehicle with the rest of his team, and shoots one last glance out before finding his seat again.  Maybe you deserved better, maybe not.  Wish we could've given better to you regardless.  Such is the life our past selves chose.  Ghost speed.

When the familiar crunch of snow is beneath the tires once again, Ace looks to the dwarf now holding a crowbar and nods his assent, for what that's worth.  "Indeed.  Let's see what all the fuss is about."