[Jayde Moon]

Rodeo watched the other mage go and shrugged.

Not sure how knowing my name would change how she felt about any of this and sure didn't have time to exchange life stories... she'll just have to make due.

With that, Rodeo maintained her position, scanning the astral plane around the train.  Let the gun-bunnies handle the chummers inside.  If they had a magical ace-in-the-hole, Rodeo was damn sure she was going to be ready for it.

[Csjarrat]

Morgan composed his thoughts, replying on the channel the clown had used.
//We'll keep away from the RV for the time being on the condition that no-one else gets hurt. What are your demands?//

[saithor]

<<To:All//This is Alicia Reeves on Landtrain 1 Car 5. I can search the first land train for you Security. Anything else you need? I have a couple of sprits back here.//>>

[adamu]

<<To:all//Hostage situation in the wounded RV. One member of crew killed, do not approach, repeat, do not approach. Are all main cars secure yet?//>>

Al spat a couple of screws out of his mouth and spoke: <<Lead train's cab is secure.>> He paused and glanced up at the huge whatever-she-was looming above him on the seat, and added: <<In a manner o' speakin'.>>

He wondered if he could spare the time to light a cigarette and still get the rig under control before it crashed, but then he felt the teensiest of bumps as the wheels went over the curb and decided maybe not. Anyway, the fat lady had his damned lighter.

<<One clown down. Driver's dead an' controls shot, but I got this. An' Ms. Reeves, best keep any spirits outta this here cab fer now. Jist sayin'.>>

[saithor]

<<To:all//Hostage situation in the wounded RV. One member of crew killed, do not approach, repeat, do not approach. Are all main cars secure yet?//>>

Al spat a couple of screws out of his mouth and spoke: <<Lead train's cab is secure.>> He paused and glanced up at the huge whatever-she-was looming above him on the seat, and added: <<In a manner o' speakin'.>>

He wondered if he could spare the time to light a cigarette and still get the rig under control before it crashed, but then he felt the teensiest of bumps as the wheels went over the curb and decided maybe not. Anyway, the fat lady had his damned lighter.

<<One clown down. Driver's dead an' controls shot, but I got this. An' Ms. Reeves, best keep any spirits outta this here cab fer now. Jist sayin'.>>

Alicia listened to the man's statement, and curiosity got the better of her. <<Why? Is there some sort of localized spirit destabilizing effect? Anyway, I'll check the rest of the landcars on this train.>>

[8-bit]

<<To:all//Hostage situation in the wounded RV. One member of crew killed, do not approach, repeat, do not approach. Are all main cars secure yet?//>>

Ghost pauses for a second in thought, then sends back:

@Team <<All, right. Stall them, keep them occupied. Train 13 is secured, we'll comb the rest of the trains of hostiles. Do whatever it takes as long as they do not get away with any hostages. Or kill any more, of course.>>

He turns around and says to Flicker, "You know what's going on. We have to secure these cars. I'll cover the front half of the train, you cover the back half. Stay in communication in case either of us needs backup. When we're done, inform Morgan."

Having said his piece, Ghost takes his own orders and starts heading up to check the first 7 cars for insane clowns. Had to be the damn clowns, of course. I hate Circuses...

[Lusis]

Leaving the empty car, Luz runs into a throng of circus cadre escaping the carnage clogging the forward cars. Several members of the mob were now taking the exits in-between the cars and jumping off the still-moving land train.

Luz moves through the exit and drops into the soft ash, "Get back on-board!" she yells at those abandoning ship.

A short, pot-bellied man with thinning hair and jagged-teeth looked up at the cybered woman and thrust a short sausage of a finger at her, "Your supposed to be guarding us you bitch!" Luz's sensors detect the odor of stewed greens from his mouth.

"There's ghouls in this area, get back on the fucking train!" Luz shot back, barely stopping her advance towards the first train and it's admin car.

The squat man takes a few panicked looks at the building, turns and hurries back to the safety of the train.

Luz sends her cyberlegs into a dead sprint towards the first train's admin car, using the hydraulic jacks she had installed years before to lengthen her stride.

Where is everyone? Did they decide that this job was too much work?

[Aria]

[Saturday September 14th, 2075; Ruins of Graham, Puyallup, Seattle]

@Morgan (car 4):

//We'll keep away from the RV for the time being on the condition that no-one else gets hurt. What are your demands?//

The clown mask leers into the camera and then pans down to the woman behind him as a wicked looking hooked blade begins to slice away her clothing

//Condition?  There ain’t no fucking conditions!  Get us replacement wheels now or it won’t be her clothes I peel off, ya scan?!//

Keep ‘em talking, keep ‘em talking…got it, there’s a hidden ‘link in the RV that’s sending the feed, shouldn’t take you more than a few moments to break into their communications…

@Al (car 1): 

The train shudders to a halt and you spare a moment to thank the Gods that it’s pace was so abysmally slow…it should also stop the second train rear ending you.  Beside you ‘Ole Meg pouts and runs a suggestive hand down your back and the cabin feels even more crowded than it did moments before

“So are ye gunna entertain me some more?”
 
@Cutter (west side of the convoy):

Quietly cursing the mirrored glass preventing you from seeing the interior of the RV you are increasingly aware of the ghouls gathering in your peripheral vision…

@Harrier (yellowjacket):

Damn, there’s a vehicle approaching, it’s low and damn fast, dipping in and out of radar…could be nothing, there are smuggler routes nearby, but you’d probably better not risk it as the profile screams T-bird…

@Ghost (car 6):

Luz powers on ahead of you, seemingly oblivious to the thirty centimeters or so of ash underfoot, heading for car 3 and the admin area, that leaves you to jump on board the rear of the front train and start making your way towards her from inside.  Hopefully you’ll flush out any of these damn clowns between you.  Indeed, as you are approaching the car ahead of you there’s another weapon retort and one of the roustabouts staggers back into your compartment clutching at a nasty gut wound…

Down the narrow corridor you can see a clown with smoking shotgun emerging from the seer’s quarters…

@Luz (car 3):

The train comes to a halt as you vault onboard and suddenly Ghost is reporting contact behind you on car 5…the mage with the spirit support was back there wasn’t she…?

@Flicker (car 10):

A sweep through the rear train is coming up dry when the others report contact in the lead train.  Damn, out of position, unless it’s another bloody diversion, these clowns seem able to strike multiple locations, the benefits of being insiders…

@Betsey (astral space over the convoy):

The violence suddenly springing up around the convoy is clearly visible on the astral and you can feel it drawing the ghouls closer.  What disturbs you more are the flickers of energy that appear on the edges of your vision, always as you are turning to watch something else…  Determined to catch a clear view of one…there, a spirit, but not like any spirit you’ve ever seen before…it has an ancient feel about it, malicious but not necessarily malevolent, and you recall stories told by your compatriots of the fae, spriggans maybe?  That might account for some of the stranger auras you’ve seen on the circus folk… but they are supposed to be a European phenomenon and linked to the land rather than to a travelling gypsy band…?

@Alicia (car 5):

The gun shot is all too clear in the corridor leading off your compartment and the other circus folk in here jump like startled rabbits as it becomes clear that they aren’t as safe as they’d hoped!  A quick mental calculation suggests that there are three metahumans in the area where the shot came from and a couple more in the entrance to car 6.  The three key players are all human and the aura of violence is palpable…

[JackVII]

[14SEP2075 1316 | Cirque de l'Ombre Caravan| Puyallup]

Double drek! With the RV ground to a halt and Morgan attempting to negotiate, Harrier was in the middle of deciding what to do when his sensors picked up an intermittent signal. Something was coming in fast, nearly on an intercept course with the convoy. Moving at that rate of speed, it could only be a fixed wing aircraft or a LAV. Given the altitude it was flying at, it was probably the latter. Broadcasting on multiple channels, the dwarf sent out a quick message.

>>All, this is Harrier. I've got a contact, fast as Hell, coming in on an intercept course. Possible LAV, moving to intercept. Someone help Cutter out over by the RV.

With that, the rigger and his drones quickly gained altitude and flew over the nearest building on an intercept course with whatever had been picked up by the Wasp's sensors. In mere seconds, the formation was out of sight.
 

[adamu]

[Saturday September 14th, 2075; Ruins of Graham, Puyallup, Seattle]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The touch of the fat lady’s finger on his back sent Al’s eyebrows so high it’d be next Christmas before they came down.

“So are ye gunna entertain me some more?”

Some more??? The possible implications of that were either bad or worse, and he had no time to consider which.

Stall. “Temptin’ as that no doubt is fer all parties concerned, darlin’, that there’s jist the brakes done.” He raised his head above the dashboard and found himself staring into a greenish visage covered with scabs and graced with the nastiest set of teeth he’d laid eyes on in a long life of associations with the dentally underprivileged. The huge rig had ground to a halt barely a meter from the face of a crumbling apartment block, and only the shatterproof windshield separated him from the rag-cloaked feral slavering at him past tattered curtains. He flashed the zombie a peace sign and fired up a soldering iron. “Be a second or three more afore ol’ Al kin git the acceleration and steerin’ back up, an’ maybe it’s jist me, but I’m thinking sooner’d be a damned sight better’n later.”

Making quick work of his bypass to the steering hydraulics, a Lucky Strike appeared in his mouth and he added, “But if’n ya wanna light muh fire, baby, howzabout startin’ with this here smoke?”

[Jayde Moon]

'th tarnation?  Now that's innerestin'...

The question was, of course, if these spirits belonged to the 'fors' or the 'againsts', which was always a popular question when stumbling into the middle of Nunyabiz.   Still, her meat was on that train and the train was endangered so really they had just crossed the border into Becamerbiz.  She hustled back to the meat.

Opening her eyes and sitting up, she quickly sent a broadcast on the channel Oblique told her to use in case of trouble.

<<Hey ya'll.  This is your friendly samaritan on board the Shit's Gone ta Hell expressway.  Ah know ya'll got troubles, jus wanted ta throw out there that we may have some spirit activity stampeding our way.  No idea if'n it's friendly 'r not.  Hopin yes, but Ah'm getting ready ta wrangle em, if'n ya'll get my meaning.  Try not ta shoot me thinking ya'll got a rogue mage trying ta blast ya.  I'm on your side.>>

With that she got up and headed out between cars 8 and 9 and climbed up to the roof.

"YEEEE HAW!" she shouted.  Jus' like on 'em old flat trids!

[saithor]

Alicia cursed and ducked behind the door as the gunshot rang. Still astrally perceving, she could see the auras of the men. She turned to one of her spirits, one she had affectionaly called Irongut for his love of alcohol and Iron Stomach. After a quick mental discussion, a deal had been struck for a bottle of whiskey, and the Irongut was more than eager for a battle. Only attack the ones with the clown masks and guns. All the other ones are off-limit old friend. May the Snake aid you. Irongut materialized, a ten foot-long snake made of flames. Some of the carnies  started to scream, but she shushed them. Irongut slithered out of the door like an arrow, and immediatly leapt at one of the clowns by the door to Car 6, massive jfiery jaws opened. Alicia smiled as she saw it. she wasn't a violent woman, but she had heard about the hostage getting executed. She wouldn't shed any tears for these men.

<<To: All Clowns in Car 6 of the Train. To anybody in the area some help would be appreciated, be warned, the Flame Spirit there is on our side, do not shoot him. He hasn't hade Alcohol in a week, and I will not be responsible if he decides to bite you.>>

[Ericen]

Flicker thinks this is all wrong, tactically incorrect why split forces, they should sweep the cars in bigger groups, they had to expect resistance, this is more like a diversion. Like they are trying to keep us all busy while the real objective happens. They are forcing us to all show ourselves and determine which of us are the largest threat to them.  Are the ghouls the real threat or another distraction. I need to talk to the seer, we need to know what they are really after.

Message To Team:
This is wrong they are dividing us and determining the threat level of each of us. We need to find out what they really want. Back half of train clear. On my way to the seer.
Message Complete:

[8-bit]

As the performer stumbles by, his hand covered in his own blood as he futilely tries to stop his wound, Ghost just moves past and raises his shotgun to his shoulder. There's no time for emotions or thoughts; it's bad enough that it was an inside job that the runners were not prepared for. It's impossible at this point to stop casualties, and the man is clearly moments from death.

As he turns the corner, he sees the clown emerge from the Seer's room. Ghost, with the ease of long practice, aims at the clown and pulls the trigger. A smile touches Ghost's lips as the bullets fly towards his unsuspecting target.

[8-bit]

A spray of blood appears behind the clown as a hole appears in his head. However, before Ghost can react, the clown's body is immediately engulfed in flames. What the hell?

He sees a message in the side of his vision, and he decides to open it up.

<<To: All Clowns in Car 6 of the Train. To anybody in the area some help would be appreciated, be warned, the Flame Spirit there is on our side, do not shoot him. He hasn't hade Alcohol in a week, and I will not be responsible if he decides to bite you.>>

All right, the fire spirit's on our side. Seems like a good trade-off. A little unnecessary to fry the guy I already shot, but all right.

Another message appears in his vision.

Message To Team:
This is wrong they are dividing us and determining the threat level of each of us. We need to find out what they really want. Back half of train clear. On my way to the seer.
Message Complete:

Ghost tries to quiet the singing in his blood; the ultimate feeling of adrenaline going through his veins ever since the clowns revealed themselves. He wasn't ashamed to admit that he loved the feeling of guns, the thrill of battle, but now was not the time for that. He needed to respond rationally. Closing his eyes didn't seem to help, but he sent anyway:

<@Team [Ghost] - The Fire Spirit and I finished off a clown near the seer. The area seems to be clear.

Ghost finally remembers the wounded performer, and turns to check on him. The performer stared back at him with lifeless eyes; his hands and shirt covered in blood.

"Damn, Señor Oblique will not be pleased."