[Ravensoracle]

The Crumpled Man works on getting the two duffels and all the gear up the hill. He hangs back once he gets to the top so that the hunters can't ID him. He can already feel blood leaking out of one of the bandages. He'd have to take care of that once they got in the van.

<<<Figure out what you're going to do with these drekheads. Either we're going to dump corpses over the cliff or give them a chance to make it with a medkit and a hope that someone comes along. I don't care just get it done so we can get on the road."

While he waits he goes through the data he found earlier. Espoecially the video from a few hours ago. Damn, I was a cold blooded fragger.

[GrimWulf]

The cold must have gotten to the dwarf while he racked his head for answers that didn't seem to want to be forthcoming.  He stood long moments the in the snow up to his waist, the events in the van and and top of the hill going by unnoticed. He's not sure of what brings him back around, but a long foot slog up the hill has apparently delivered him to the Rover, it's hazards flashing out into the night. Maybe it's the rhythmic flashing that brings back some kind of memory, or something, but suddenly he feels like he's back in his head.  Well, partly... it still feels pretty empty in there...

<<@Team: Drek. Sorry for being the fraggin slothead. I get the feeling I just lost another 10 minutes or something. What's our sitch?>>

[Poindexter]

<<< So what is the plan at this point? Do we leave these poachers alive or dead?How are we going to get the crate up here? Once I drag these duffels to the new van I am going to go under for a while to help out with over watch and to dig through all our files to find out the past. Who do we want in charge to organize this fragin cluster?  Crumpled Out>>>>

<<So far as these guys know it's just the two of us up here and this is a carjacking. If we leave these guys outside they are going freeze to death, but it's going to be a stretch fitting seven metas and a crate in this rig as it is. Taking them along isn't an option. They can have it quick or they can have it slow. Either way, we don't want them around when the rest of you come up. I'm going to take these two slots for a walk to discuss what they did and did not see, and to talk about their life decisions leading to and from this point.>>

@Team: >>Ace here. Poachers didn’t see only the two of us up at the road. The one with the rifle saw the Elf in his crosshairs before I shot him, possibly the others as well. The light down there is unmistakable. Unfortunate as it is, I say they should go over the edge. Anyway, we’ll be done here shortly and I will help getting the crate up after that.<< He realized belatedly that he used the reference the Masked Woman used as his name but shrugged after a second. That will do until I know more.

"Who cares if they see us; no way we're leaving them alive on the off chance they find a vehicle of their own. They're witnesses; I say we send them and whatever that creature is flying off the cliff after our vehicle... Oh, and get one of them to hand over ownership of the car, or to invite MARKs on it to everybody at least."

<<The creature is a Horned Bear. Very intelligent, and rare. A true shame.>>

<<<Figure out what you're going to do with these drekheads. Either we're going to dump corpses over the cliff or give them a chance to make it with a medkit and a hope that someone comes along. I don't care just get it done so we can get on the road."

>>OK, I'm done with this one. On three?<<

The behemoth Troll slogs his way up the hill, each footstep leaving a massive trench of snow behind it. He heaves with all his might, dragging the massive crate up the hillside, foot by agonizing foot. His shoulder aches from the rope over one side, but it's too late to give up. By now, the sweat is flowing well and starting to make him feel like taking his jacket off once he's at the top of the hill. He hears all the chatter on the comm, and when it seems like things are about to turn dark, he finally interjects, grunting into his microphone through heavy breathing as he trudges up the mountain.

"Wait one moment, before this happens please? When we say 'poachers' are we meaning starving men who have no other option and this is how they feed their families? Or are we meaning drunken corporate assholes out to score extra money for novacoke?"

Despite the biting frost, the aching in his muscles, and the haze in his head, he still had enough wits about him to think abstractly.

What if I WASN'T a bad person before the wreck? How tragic that I should become one now? But what if I was a piece of shit? He allows himself to look up from his feet toward his objective, only a few meters ahead now. What if i was no better than some drunken corporate assholes out for a thrill kill and some extra money. Surely with the jing I've already paid for this expensive bioware I'm toting around, I could have retired in style already. Why haven't I?

His mind is reeling by the time he and the ork reach the top of the hill.

[Tecumseh]

<<They're driving a Rover Model 2072, not a Toyota Gopher. I think we can safely assume they are not starving SINless.>>

She listens to the Troll grunt over his microphone.

<<Holy drekballs are you seriously dragging that crate up the hill? Brother Dwarf couldn't conjure up a spirit of the mountain to help? Is he still in shock? Oh there he is.>>

[Ren]

@Masked Woman: >>I don’t find death distasteful. I just think unnecessary violence is unprofessional. I will leave these two to you, then. Do as you need to do, and when you dealt with them, join us.<< With that, Ace casually electrocuted the one he was questioning until he was unconscious, with his shock hand. >>Will be easier if you just have to deal with one awake.<< He nodded to her as he left without a word.
He walked back towards the lights of the car. @Team: >>Not that it matters right now, but these guys seemed to be here to hunt for the extra nuyen. Hunt something rare, maybe even near-extinct. And as she says, you don’t own a Rover model at most 3 years old if your family is starving.<< As he got back he leaned down to snap the neck of the one who emptied his shotgun into the night, then started to pat him down for the contents of his pockets. >>Still need to talk to the other one. Can someone with a medkit get there and wake him? I just tased him.<<

All the while, he watched as two sides of him warred inside. He didn’t want to hurt these people. They were just unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time – for them at least. But his other side overruled with ruthless efficiency. As the Masked Woman mentioned, they were witnesses. And in this case, he couldn’t afford to be lenient. They didn’t know if someone was at their tracks. They didn’t know how much their potential pursuers would be able to piece together from the words of these men. And until he knew more, he just couldn’t afford the risk. So, ruthlessness won… again?

[Tecumseh]

The Masked Woman returns Ace's silent nod. She starts to hum as he turns to leave, chanting lowly in a language that sounds like one of the tongues of the local Pueblo people. The words return to her like muscle memory, remembering each phrase only as she says the previous one. She draws her claymore and asks Hecate for transition, and transformation.

***

She rejoins the group a few minutes later, her blades cleaned and concealed. She brings the Rover's medkit back with her, tossing it to Ace so that he can revive Reggie. While he does that, she draws a circle with her sword in the snow just outside the van. Standing in the circle, she puts her hands on the Horned Bear and says a short prayer under her breath. When she's done, she looks calm, maybe even relieved. She looks up for the Ork and the Troll to see if they can help move it.

[Poindexter]

<<They're driving a Rover Model 2072, not a Toyota Gopher. I think we can safely assume they are not starving SINless.>>

@Team: >>Not that it matters right now, but these guys seemed to be here to hunt for the extra nuyen. Hunt something rare, maybe even near-extinct. And as she says, you don’t own a Rover model at most 3 years old if your family is starving.<<

The colossal ice beast lets out a sigh from his mouth, the breath crystallizing in the air before him as he trudges the final few meters. With a defeated but professional tone, he responds, "Continue."

Well, this is a positively shitty start to things. Dammit! Mind on the task, mind on the task. One foot in front of the other. Almost there.

<<Holy drekballs are you seriously dragging that crate up the hill? Brother Dwarf couldn't conjure up a spirit of the mountain to help? Is he still in shock? Oh there he is.>>

As he gives the crate one last mighty heave and slides it over near the Rover, Uncle Sam looks up at the mask on her face and tries to remember what it looks like underneath, but draws a blank. "Yes. Dwarf took a bigger knock than it looked like, but i think he's starting to catch up to the group now."

After taking a moment to catch his breath, he walks around to the rear of the vehicle and regards the messy pile of blood, fur, and antlers before him. He considers the senselessness of it, the greed, the vanity of this crew of breeders and is disgusted. He'd known men who had no option but to kill illegal animals, either for food or for money to buy medicine and supplies for their families, and he didn't agree with them, but he understood why they did what they did. These men? Just self entitled assholes.

Nature is indignant to all suffering. Does that mean I should be though?

Turning his attention to the human with the taser, he barks, "You. Didn't you say this animal was endangered or something? What is it?"

[Ren]

Ace nodded his thanks as the Masked Woman gave him the medkit. He opened it and pondered if it was better to let the thing work on its own, or if he remembered to be skilled enough to operate it. He answered Uncle Sam's question without diverting his attention from the task pointing at the Masked Woman. "She said it was a horned bear. If you want to know more, you have to ask her."

[Poindexter]

Ace nodded his thanks as the Masked Woman gave him the medkit. He opened it and pondered if it was better to let the thing work on its own, or if he remembered to be skilled enough to operate it. He answered Uncle Sam's question without diverting his attention from the task pointing at the Masked Woman. "She said it was a horned bear. If you want to know more, you have to ask her."

Wonder if i got any signal out here?

Sam reaches into his pocket, and fumbles with his commlink for a moment, bringing up what he can about the animal. Unfortunately, his shivering cold hands accidentally turn the damn thing off in his pocket as he's typing. He lets a minor growl escape as he reaches back into his pocket to reboot it. During the reboot sequence, all his AR goes dark, leaving only the world as it was at the dawn of time. He's almost stunned at the beauty and stillness of it all. A few seconds later, the device begins to reboot and his goggles spring to life again, with biomonitor readings, ammo count, barrel temp, and a million other things that draw his attention away from the raw majesty of the mountain at night. As quickly as his little primal moment had begun, it was over.

As his world returns to digital, he turns his head to face the masked woman, looking at her with one raised eyebrow and letting out a small "rngh?" kind of grunt almost under his breath,

[GrimWulf]

The dwarf heads towards the passenger side of the Rover, seeming to gravitate to it by instinct.  He stops at the back and watches as the masked woman performs her rites over the corpse of the animal, and seems surprised to find himself muttering a rite of his own to the spirit of the felled beast.  He looks up to the woman as she finishes and nods his thanks towards her.

He continues around the rover and shakes any snow collected in his clothing to the ground before opening the front passenger door and staring dumbly at the elf for a moment.  He had a feeling that should have been his seat, but shrugged  at the elf and just closed the door again.

He leans against the side of the rover and accesses his commlink, checking contacts, mails, messages, whatever else may be interesting.

Looking over to the crate sitting on the edge of the road with a exhausted troll next to it, he bows his head a moment and prays to the spirits(not a spirit) of the air to life the crate and bring it over to the Rover.

[Tecumseh]

The Masked Woman looks at Sam. She talks in a low voice as the winter winds whip along the road and the face of the cliff. Her lined coat flaps against her legs, the armor plates not heavy enough to stop the wind.

"They are rare, but not unique. They live around here, in the forest and the mountains. They are intelligent, and have a sense of integrity. They challenge intruders to their territory to non-lethal duels and will honor the outcome. There is a collector in Aspen who wanted it. Ace is working on learning more." She indicates the Human, who is applying a stun patch to the man who had the hunting rifle.

"They give birth every other year in the winter. I hope this one wasn't a female with cubs." She doesn't look like she has the zoological knowledge to distinguish a male from a female.

She turns back to Sam and Chino. "I don't think we're taking it with us. Do you have anything left in the tank?" She looks willing to help but the bear is at least ten times her size. She looks at Ace's cyberarm, wondering if it has boosted strength. He can snap necks easily enough. She'd look at the Dwarf but he's already ignored two of her comms, so that's a dead end. The Elf is too prickly to help, the Crumpled Man too injured.

[Ryo]

He leans against the side of the rover and accesses his commlink, checking contacts, mails, messages, whatever else may be interesting.

Looking over to the crate sitting on the edge of the road with a exhausted troll next to it, he bows his head a moment and prays to the spirits(not a spirit) of the air to life the crate and bring it over to the Rover.

You focus and weave your spell, and the crate lifts off the ground like it weighed nothing at all, moving through the air in response to the motion of your hands. As you sustain it and bring the crate closer to the rover, you absently take out your commlink and go through the data you have on yourself.

First thing you find is a SIN.


>>Ohanzee Oglala
>> Sioux National SIN
>> Age: 40
>> Sex: Male
>> Metatype: Dwarf
>> Race: Lakota
>>> Registered Awakened License

>> Retrieving Contact List . . .

>> Name: Styles
>> Occupation: Fixer
>> Commcode: 59230-l3c4
>> Address: Denver, UCAS side

>> Name: Long Shadow
>> Occupation: Talismonger
>> Commcode: 41023-l2c4
>> Address: Denver, Sioux side

>> Name: Gloria Winters, PhD
>> Occupation: Egghead
>> Commcode: 92107-l3c2
>> Address: Aspen


You don't find any messages between you and Long Shadow, just incoming and outgoing calls, all from several months ago. There are similar calls between you and Styles, but also a few messages, the most recent of which was back in December, to discuss a job. He wanted you to meet him in a bar in Denver, on the PCC side. It looks like you only recently added Gloria Winters as a contact in the beginning of January. You find a number of back and forth messages between you and her, discussing magic artifacts at length and a shared interest in Archeology. From the back and forth messages, you gather that she is a magical researcher at a college in Aspen, and you get the distinct impression that you were hitting her up for information. The messages stop in mid January, after you and she agreed to meet in person. After that, you see a lot of calls between you two, before you stop calling back around January 20th. Around the 23rd, you also stopped answering her calls, and there are three to four missed calls from her per day after that. You scroll to the bottom of the list and find one last message.


>> TO: Ohanzee
>> FROM: Gloria
>> SENT: January 28th, 2:15PM
>> Hey, I haven't heard from you in awhile. Where have you been?


It doesn't look like you ever replied.

[Poindexter]

The Masked Woman looks at Sam. She talks in a low voice as the winter winds whip along the road and the face of the cliff. Her lined coat flaps against her legs, the armor plates not heavy enough to stop the wind.

"They are rare, but not unique. They live around here, in the forest and the mountains. They are intelligent, and have a sense of integrity. They challenge intruders to their territory to non-lethal duels and will honor the outcome. There is a collector in Aspen who wanted it. Ace is working on learning more." She indicates the Human, who is applying a stun patch to the man who had the hunting rifle.

"They give birth every other year in the winter. I hope this one wasn't a female with cubs."

Shame. Damn shame.

He stands up straight and sets his jaw firmly. "We should burn it or bury it or something. It just doesn't feel right to leave it here on the side of the road."

[GrimWulf]

'Ohanzee' the dwarf walks back around to the back of the Rover, maintaining the levitate spell until the crate is right next to the Rover and the bear corpse.

"If we burn or bury it, it will not return to nature. As is, it will give many of nature's creations a fine and likely unexpected meal in these cold days."

<< Does the name Ohanzee ring a bell to anyone?  Apparently it is mine.

[Ravensoracle]

The Crumpled Man grumbled to himself a few choice words before he speaks up.

"We don't have time to bury the beast. Or the men that she..." He points at the Masked Woman. "....just took care of. We need to get moving before another vehicle comes by. "

And on that note the Crumpled Man begins a search for any other signals from any device that may be coming this way. He'll also pull up a map of the area and overlay the signals.

<<<I'll personally do a full background check on everyone that wants one once we get back to civilization. But we need to get moving.>>>