[Tecumseh]

Achak asks Mercer for a Fly Spy to bring with him, then slips out into the light rain. He circles around the block so that he can approach the rear of the Sunrise building without being seen by the men out front nor by the camera over the fire exit in the rear. He chooses his angle of approach smartly and is practically invisible in the wet December darkness.

His ears perk up. His magically-attuned hearing - aided in no small part by his EVO Echo^TM Earbuds - pick up some conversation from the parking lot on the other side of the building.

<<@Team [Achak] Getting a bit of chatter from the party out front. One of them referred to "Ms. Pachis". Nori, can we run that down to see if there are any hits? There's a suggestion that she's not pleased that she had to come down. The guy said "she" so I presume he's talking about Ms. Pachis, but it could be another female we haven't seen yet.>>

Achak listens a bit more as he's sliding along the back wall of the building, flattening himself against the plasticrete to avoid being noticed by any security cameras. His footsteps are entirely silent, allowing him to focus his attention on what the men are saying.

<<One guy asks, "So, is it true?" Another voice answers, "Yes.  Whole team.  Why the frag else would you be here?" Sounds like we might have backups to the team we aced, or semi-aced if that dumb trog Rusty let that drekhead get away. Oo, what's this. The voice that asked if it was true just said, "Whip" something something "hoop".>> >>

His mind races at the possibility of having the whip on hand. <<Having the whip would certainly make it easier to climb the beanstalk.>>

He arrives at the fire exit, confident of his successful infiltration. <<I'm in position. Nori, can we nix the fire alarm? It would deafen me up something fierce.>>

[Poindexter]

The stern faced woman listens to Achak and Mercer lay out the plan as they think it should go. Every point the two of them bring up sounds solid and so she remains silent until directly questioned.

"Alright, Sister, it sounds like you're with me then. Would you ask an angel to guide our way? Perhaps St. George would be willing to watch over us."

She nods her head briefly at him, grunting in the affirmative before opening her third eye to the heavenly half world of the Astral. Scanning the area, there are certainly more holy places to ask for divine aid, but the good sister must make due with what she's given. Reaching her voice out to the heavens, she calls on the ally she believes is most likely to help her.

"Oh, great archangel Raziel! I beg of thee; Come forth and aid me in my hour of need!" In a flash, she can feel his presence near her, she can't see him, but she can sense his wrath. He clearly wishes to be elsewhere and she can tell he'll be a bit of a strain to keep here. "Worry not, noble Archangel. I require but brief service, then you may be on your way. To begin, my friend Achak and I need to enter this den of wickedness without alerting it's watchdogs too soon. Will you hide us from the eyes of Lucifer's minions?" With her words, the struggling of the great being of light relaxes a bit, and he seems to understand her intentions are good. Confident in the abilities of the angel, she closes her third eye, falls into position behind Achak and prepares to follow him stealthily into the building.

Before they leave the car though, she asks him, "Should I bring the MGL or leave it in the trunk?"

------------------------------------

With her back pressed against the rainslicked wall and the grimey water running down the back of her thick armor jacket, Sister Rebecca follows every footstep Achak makes. He's clearly superior to her when it comes to this sort of thing, despite his size. My, but he is simply massive. Underneath the visor of her helmet, she gasps a little bit at her own thoughts. Where in the devil did that come from? luckily, her mind is snapped back to the business at hand when the messages start coming in.

<<@Team [Achak] Getting a bit of chatter from the party out front. One of them referred to "Ms. Pachis". Nori, can we run that down to see if there are any hits? There's a suggestion that she's not pleased that she had to come down. The guy said "she" so I presume he's talking about Ms. Pachis, but it could be another female we haven't seen yet.>>

<<One guy asks, "So, is it true?" Another voice answers, "Yes.  Whole team.  Why the frag else would you be here?" Sounds like we might have backups to the team we aced, or semi-aced if that dumb trog Rusty let that drekhead get away. Oo, what's this. The voice that asked if it was true just said, "Whip" something something "hoop".>> >>

<<Having the whip would certainly make it easier to climb the beanstalk.>>

She frowns, but keeps moving, inch by inch behind Achak, her blade holstered but ready to come out at a moment's notice. Yeah, they're definitely talking about us. This is the right place. Good thing Nori set us straight before we got on a plane.

<<@Team [Sister Rebecca] What's the whip?>>

[Malevolence]

Achak asks Mercer for a Fly Spy to bring with him, then slips out into the light rain.

Mercer nods, then calls one of the drones down to meet the Adept as he circles the building, picking a spot that provides sufficient cover from prying eyes so as not to give the sneaking man away. He marks the position with an ARO, then reaches into his pockets and retrieves a small selection of RFID tags that he hands over as well. "Stealth, for tracking things of interest" he says as he indicates the two smallest ones, "Camera," as he indicates two button shaped tags, "Ultrasound," as he indicates the last two. "Just in case you come across some things that are worth keeping an eye - or ear - on."


He gives the kid a pat on the shoulder, then turns and heads back to the van as he sneaks off into the night. Well, if I'm on overwatch, might as well do it right. Let's get you all purtied up, Vera. Keeping the wepons out of sight of the outside world, he readies the sniper rifle for action and keeps Yoki and the assault rifle - he'd started referring to it as Stake - in easy reach behind the driver's seat.

[Tecumseh]

Before leaving the Roadmaster, Sister Rebecca asks Achak about the MGL - the one with an underbarrel monofilament chainsaw. His eyes bug out for a moment over the thought of bringing it on what's supposed to be a sneak-and-peek, but he reconsiders. It's not a subtle weapon, but the goal is not to be seen. If we are seen, it won't matter much if it's subtle or not. He glances to Mercer, who nods, so Achak nods too.

"We have to cross the street though. It's night and it's raining, but Auburn isn't the Barrens. We can't walk around openly with MGLs. Maybe throw a coat over it until we're under cover."

Mercer shoves some assorted tags into Achak's hands before he leaves. "Good thinking," Achak says, pocketing them along with the Fly Spy.

With that, he slips on a respirator to look more like the local populace, then ducks out into the rain.


While they are sliding along the rear of the building, Sister Rebecca asks about the whip.

<<@Team [Achak] A whip is like the vampire's lieutenant. They can be bodyguards, or personal assistants, or whatever else the zeke needs them to be. If they're Awakened then the vampire will avoid feeding on them so that they don't interfere with their Gift; if they're not Awakened, then the vampire will avoid feeding on them until they find one that is Awakened. Then it's usually good night and good luck for the mundane one.

<<They're usually paid well. Very well. Some people say the name comes from the fancy cars they drive. Me, I think they got the name from politics. You know, the party enforcers that ensure voting discipline? But I could be wrong.>>

[rednblack]

<<@Team [Achak] Getting a bit of chatter from the party out front. One of them referred to "Ms. Pachis". Nori, can we run that down to see if there are any hits? There's a suggestion that she's not pleased that she had to come down. The guy said "she" so I presume he's talking about Ms. Pachis, but it could be another female we haven't seen yet.>>

<<@Team [Nori] Sure thing.  What is that, Persian?  Arab?>>

<<@Team [Nori] nvm, it's Greek.  I'm getting the Saint Demetrios congregation, so we'll come back to this one.>>

<<@Team [Sister Rebecca] What's the whip?>>

Nori looks over to Mercer, staring out the open window with Vera laid across his lap.  She bites her lip before asking, "Last I met the good sister, she was fighting free spirits, err, 'banishing demons.'  How long's she been in the vampire hunting game?"

He arrives at the fire exit, confident of his successful infiltration. <<I'm in position. Nori, can we nix the fire alarm? It would deafen me up something fierce.>>

<<@Team [Nori] On it.>>

A moment later, there's the soft click of the maglock opening, which Achak hears first as muffled static.  He opens the door and steps inside out of the rain.  Sister Rebecca follows, and the pair find themselves in a short hallway, with a stairwell to the right.  Since there's a chance, however small, that the elevators are being monitored, and this is as far as they could get from the Sunrise offices, Achak makes the call that they will ascend the stairs here, and then make their way to the other side of the building.  The interior stairwell is modest, bare concrete that should echo loudly with each step, but between the pair's skill and Raziel, they're so quiet that they can hear their own heartbeats until the HVAC unit kicks on with its dull whir.  At the top of the stairs, they're faced with a solid set of double doors, which Achak finds unlocked.  He inches them open slowly, unsure of what might be beyond, but if there are any sentries around Sunrise, they must be keeping closer to the offices themselves.

This is where things get tricky.  Beyond the double doors, a rather short hallway stretchs ahead of him, that goes maybe thirty meters, and one to his left that measures about sixty meters.  Office suites line the exterior side of the hallway, advertising CamTart Trideo streaming, and Doc Hock's Pain Management Clinic, but the AROs have been left off overnight, which Achak is thankful for, especially when it comes to CamTart and his previous loose tongue around Sister Rebecca.  The elevators, storage closets, and two small shared break rooms comprise the interior of the hallway. 

<<@Sister Rebecca [Achak] This way.>> Achak signals as he takes the shorter hallway in front of them.  Becca nods, flexing her fingers around the MGL and crosses over behind her partner and target. 

A quick peek around the corner, and Achak can see the lit up Sunrise office about forty meters down on his right.  He strains his ears, hears the hum of the vending machines in the break room, dripping from the condenser of an on-the-fritz ice machine, and he can smell the remains of a Stuffer Shack burrito in the trash can, but can discern little else from Sunrise.  Carefully, but quickly, Achak skims the hallway and ducks into the break room closest to Sunrise.  Sister Rebecca is seven meters from the bend in the hallway following him when the elevator door pings, and she scrambles back around the corner right before a man exits and turns to his left.  Patrol? she wonders as he leaves her sight.

From his new position in the break room, Achak can better hear the talking from inside the Sunrise offices.  First, he makes out the woman's voice.  "Yes, but we asked for three.  Not two and a child. . . Because it doesn't make any sense, that's why.  Worse, I hear she was reluctant. . . We don't pay you to go knocking off orphans in Riga, do you understand? . . . Good.  It would be a shame if Omo had me pop your spells like so many grapes underfoot and lash you to an olive tree at sunrise. . . Yes, the other shipment was intact.  Bravo.  Would you like to take credit for their training as well?  If I wanted to hear boasts for successes and excuses for failures, I would hire more shadowrunners."  In a much louder voice she adds, "Isn't that right, Iki?"

"But no, I'm on a link with you because you are supposed to have some honor, and you are supposed to KNOW THE FUCK WHAT YOU ARE DOING!  So, here is what is going to happen now.  What?  Let me call you back.

"What fucking what?"

"Uh, excuse my interruption, Ms. Pachis," a man's voice breaks in.  It's timbre is high, probably stress-induced, and it carries the whiff of a CAS accent.  "I'm just, uh, I'm just about done here.  You said to let you know as soon as--"

"Well, better late than never, eh?  And you've properly wiped the archives?" the woman cuts in.

"Yes, ma'am," the man says.

"Good.  Given the pace, I trust that you're thorough."

"About the timing, ma'am, I'm sorry.  We, uh, we assumed that--"

"You heard my conversation, yes?" she asks, coyly.

"Umm, yes, ma'am, I mean, I wasn't trying to listen in, but,"

"But you heard it.  Good.  Do you want to continue with your present line of thought?"

There's a pregnant silence as the man considers his options, before responding, "No, ma'am."

[Malevolence]

Nori looks over to Mercer, staring out the open window with Vera laid across his lap.  She bites her lip before asking, "Last I met the good sister, she was fighting free spirits, err, 'banishing demons.'  How long's she been in the vampire hunting game?"

The grizzled old Hunter turns his head from the window he's looking out to face the decker. "By my count, 'bout 48 hours" he says, smiling briefly before turning back to his window. He ponders her condition the previous day at the hands of a spirit and thinks that perhaps Infected are a better pursuit for the grenade wielding Woman of God - not the least reason of which would be that Infected were far more deserving of the title of "Demon" than any Free Spirit he'd yet met. Of course, he could count them on one hand and still have three fingers to spare, so he'd have to reserve judgement for now.


He tasks the remaining flying drone to circle the building, pointing its laser microphone at the windows of the second floor listening for any conversations of interest.

[Poindexter]

She can feel the weight of the MGL pressing against her lower back, still gecko-gripped to her armor jack as she flattens herself against the wall and tries her hardest not to breathe. This one will not be talked down like the last one who caught me. If he comes this way, there will be blood. She pushes the thought from her mind, concentrating instead on listening to his footprints. With a mix of relief and concern she hears them moving away from her, but toward Achak. She holds position, but sends a brief message to her fellow trespasser.

<<@Achak [Sister Rebecca] Orders?>>

[Tecumseh]

Achak pauses to listen. He fires off a series of message to the team via DNI.

<<@Team [Achak] Some interesting conversation here. Sounds Pachis is on a comm call. She "asked for three" and isn't happy with getting "two and a child", especially a "reluctant" child. She says she's not paying to knock off "orphans in Riga". I don't know where that is. Sounds like she's an authority figure for sure. Maybe the whip?>>

<<She's making a reference to "Omo" having her "pop your spells" and "lashing you to an olive tree at sunrise". Sister, you said she appeared mundane? We might need to consider the possibility that she's Awakened, with masking metamagics. Whips are usually Gifted.>>

<<She says the "other shipment was intact." Not sure if that was the painting or something else. More zekes? She mentions "their training" in the context of the shipment. Oo, what's this ... Sounds like she just shouted at Iki and called him by name! So that big, dumb brute did let him go. Never trust a trog with a sensitive job.>>

His hearing alerts him that a patrol is coming. Sister Rebecca asks for orders.

<<I'm going to try to hide in the supply closet. Nori, can you get the lock? If not, I'll do it.>>

<<If I toss the Fly Spy can Mercer or Nori keep an eye on it, maybe direct it to someplace discrete? The halls are pretty bland up here. It might stand out if it's not tucked away in a corner, but obviously we want to keep ears on this conversation. We need to decide if we want to intercept Pachis and, if so, how.>>

<<Sister, please stay out of sight and have Raziel keep tabs on the patrol. If the patrol gets overly suspicious or seems to be onto something, ask Raziel to confuse his thinking.>>

[rednblack]

"By my count, 'bout 48 hours."

"Oh," Nori says.  "I think she'll be well-suited to it.  Damn it's good to see you alive, Mercer.  You know we should really catch up and finish that interview sometime."

Mercer's Fly Spy hangs above the heads of the oblivious sentry's heads, trying to get a bead on the Sunrise windows through the rain.  At first there's nothing, then switching to another room, muffled, staticy speech.  He pulls the drone in a little closer, and things become more clear.

"Hold still ya big baby." It's a woman's voice, low and almost sultry.

"Have you ever taken an explosive round to the fraggin' cheek?"  The second voice is still muffled, though more as though the speaker is talking through gauze, but Mercer recognizes the raspy undertone of Ikiryo after he was shot.

"I think that's the wrong question," the woman replies.  There's a pause, and Mercer can imagine the little shadowrunner shrugging his shoulders.  "The real question," she goes on, "is how did you lose a stand-up fight, five against two?"

"I said there was another guy.  Tagged the troll with a fraggin' sniper rifle as he came in the door," Ikiryo protests.

"Oh, so we're inept as well as weak then.  You sure know how to charm a girl."

There's a long pause, and Mercer is just about to move the fly spy to the next window, when the woman speaks back up.  "It's not going to be all that bad.  They wouldn't have me patching you up, if they just wanted you geeked.  Though, no offense, hun, but I don't think you're going to be invited into the family."

"You can keep it.  It's the punishment I'm worried about.  Not much left of me to take."

"I'll say, dear.  And they made you wait so long for me to patch you up. . .  Look up now," She says much softer.

"I don't know how many times they wanted the same story.  Do you think they'll still want me in Manhattan?"

"How would I know?  I'm just the low woman on the totem pole." she replies.  "Ms. Pachis might be making the delivery herself.  I heard --"

"Isn't that right, Iki?" Mercer hears a second woman's voice this time, fainter and farther away, though a bit shrill.  Shortly after, texts start coming in from Achak.  Nori gives Mercer a look and is opening her mouth to speak, when yet another voice is picked up by the drone, and Mercer holds up a finger.

"Hey, I've got a few silent running devices that don't appear to be moving, Is anybody running anything wireless that I don't know about?" a man says.

"What the frag are you looking at me for?" Ikiryo says.

"you heard him," the woman answers.  "Give it a look."  Back to Ikiryo she says, So, about these other runners you were with"

<<I'm going to try to hide in the supply closet. Nori, can you get the lock? If not, I'll do it.>>

<<@Achak [Nori] Can you take care of it, dear?  I'm about to hit a dead zone and lose my signal for a moment.>>

[Tecumseh]

Achak takes the Fly Spy out of his pocket. He orders it to run silent while slaving it to his commlink. He makes sure that he grants MARKs to Nori (or that Mercer does) before leaving it in the dark alcove of the break room, where it can hopefully remain undetected until the sentry passes or until Nori takes control of it. He appreciates drones but their operation makes him nervous. He is fairly certain that he would pilot it directly into a wall or otherwise crash it were he in control.

¥2,000 right there. Don't drop it. I know it can fly but I don't want to drop it anyway. Maybe I should get one of those crawlers. At least those won't go banging around if you give them bad directions. Can't be harder than driving a car, right?

He then soundlessly glides over to the supply closet, removing his tools from the pocket of his lined coat along the way. The work is quick; the maglock case pops off easily and - after checking for an anti-tamper circuit - there's little effort in overriding the lock and opening the door.

After peeking inside, Achak quickly reassembles the maglock case and signals to Sister Rebecca.

<<@Sister Rebecca [Achak] We have a hidey-hole. Feel free to join me unless you see a place which you feel is secure. Please ask Raziel to keep an eye on the sentry.>>

[rednblack]

Sister Rebecca joins Achak, and the door clicks in behind her.  The janitor's closet walls are lined with cleaners and a small handful of drones waiting on their chargers.  A utility sink in the corner drips occasionally, and Achak patches in the feed from Mercer's Fly Spy.

"-- Backup?" It's Pachis' voice.

"Yes, ma'am," the man with the CAS accent answers.

"Leave it by the door, then finish up.  I'd rather not be standing around when business opens tomorrow."

"Yes, ma'am.  Packing up now, ma'am."

Out front, Mercer and Nori see the man with the shoulder-length ponytail check his commlink and then enter the Sunrise offices.  Through the Fly Spy they continue their eavesdropping on Ikiryo's conversation.

"Now, these other runners," the woman prompts.

"It's like I told them, two went down and won't be getting back up.  The hunters let the other two go." Ikiryo says.

"Like just walk out the door?" the woman asks.

"Yes."

"But not you?"

"It's like I said, they made it personal with me"

"And you survived by the skin of your teeth." the woman says sarcastically.

"Look, I'm not making a play here."

"Of course not, Iki.  You're not nearly as duplicitous as those other shadowrunners."

"I'm not that stupid," Iki says.

"Ms. Pachis," the woman says, verbally straightening herself up.

"What's your read," Ms. Pachis says.

"He's telling the truth,"

"What the?  I mean, thank you finally, but seriously, you were--"

"Enough, Ikiryo," Ms. Pachis says.  "And he really doesn't know where to find them?"

"The runners or the hunters, no ma'am." the woman answers.

"Ok, Ikiryo.  You have forty-eight hours to take care of Talita and this Tiny fellow. I'll allot 65,000¥ for any bounties, should tha suitably grease the wheels, as it were.  Gavin, what do we have on the hunters?"

"Uh, what?  I'm uh," Mercer recognizes the voice of the man who was talking about their icons, potentially.

"Gavin, the hunters?"

"It's just that --"

"Gavin!  The hunters," Ms. Pachis insists.

There's an audible sigh, before the man speaks.  "Well, let me see here.  We have Achak and an unknown female, no trideo or biometrics or anything aside from Ikiryo's description.  And then we have Mercer, he was the wildcard, and the one who's been making the stink on Grotto1."

"Mercer, Mercer," Ms. Pachis muses.  "Why does that name sound familiar?"

"In the Grotto1 reports, it said he was the survivor of one of our bait and tags." Gavin answers.

"Whose bait and tag?" Ms. Pachis asks cooly.

A moment of silence comes across the airwaves before Ms. Pachis speaks again.  "Ikiryo, twice!?  Twice you frag the basilisk right in the hoop.  I cannot --"

"Hey, I didn't know it was Mercer!  I swear!  I left that whole team in a pile of rubble three meters thick.  Ms. Pachis, no!  I'm sorry.  I didn't, I couldn't, I mean," Ikiryo lets out a momentary shriek that is soon reduced to a low gurgling sound, and then silence between irregular gasping breaths and whimpers.

A minute-and-a-half passes in silence besides the sounds of shuffling office equipment.  Achak moves the fly spy around to the other hall when he hears the approaching sentry, and later hears the elevator door chime, and then the door to Sunrise open and close. 

[Malevolence]

Mercer listens to the conversations with growing anger. These people, these members of metahumanity, had willingly allied with the most twisted abominations the Infection had to offer. Traitors to their own kind, and supporters of the heinous acts the monsters carried out daily, he felt the same hot rage that he felt when faced with the go/no-go before taking a nest.


The building was a fortress, and this was a populated area. That, and there were no verified Infected present. It would be asking for trouble to try anything here - even if they could overcome the odds here, law enforcement would be on scene in short order and they would not look kindly on Hunters using force, lethal or otherwise, on metahumans. The uneasy acceptance most jurisdictions maintained with the Hunter community only extended so far, and he was pretty sure this crossed the line.


But even as he considered all the reasons they shouldn't act, a plan was half forming in his mind. What if the other team started it? When law enforcement started asking questions, the story that they were simply here to investigate a potential lead and the other team went violent without provocation would possibly be just far enough on this side of the line that the law might give them the benefit of the doubt. And, if it were true, then it would be all that much easier to sell. So, the question that remained was then how to both even the odds as well as force the others into taking the first shot. He strongly suspected that simply pulling into the parking lot of the Sunrise offices would be enough to get them shooting, but it didn't do much for bettering his team's odds of survival. He needed some of the, alive. not Iki, of course - he'd led them to the next link in the chain and so his usefulness had ended, but the woman he was talking to could be useful. Of course, if she was awakened, keeping her restrained for questioning would be tough - he wasn't kitted out for torture. His usual MO was to find the nest and take out the nest, not take prisoners and ask them where the next nest was. Vamps tended not to keep up on where other vamps hung their hats unless there was a power struggle, then those things tended to work themselves out until there was only one vamp nest again.


These were definitely new waters he was wading into. His mind drifted to the number they'd gotten from Iki's commlink. It likely rang one of the people in that building. What could he say to that person that might make them behave irrationally or make it tactically useful for them to split their team? How could he use that to improve his team's position? He could probably get them to put Iki out of the world's misery simply enough, which would be one less person to worry about. But that left two in the parking lot, and at least three others in the offices, plus at least one security guard that probably worked for the building and not for Sunrise - he was an innocent bystander, but one that could be a problem. Achak was stealthy, and Mercer wondered if he was capable of eliminating the guard - non-lethally - without raising any alarms.


He waits for Nori to get her gear back online, then asks her if she's reasonably sure their comms are still secure. He waits for her thumbs up then messages the team.


<<@Team [Mercer] Other than the security guard, they all seem dirty. I don't like our odds of victory here, but I don't think an opportunity like this is going to fall in to our lap again. I'm looking for options, but before we do anything, the guard has to be taken out of the fight - alive. Preferably without alerting anyone.>>


He absently strokes Vera while waiting to see what his team says. He thinks of using the call with Iki's Johnson to get them focused on Mercer in his van, then have Achak and Becca attack from behind. Or maybe use the diversion to eliminate any resistance still in the building and use search the offices for intel.

[Tecumseh]

Achak listens to the feed that Mercer pipes through. So, they know who I am. Shouldn't be a surprise. Maybe I should be flattered.

<<@Team [Achak] Agreed on the opportunity. They have numbers but we have the element of surprise.>>

Achak stops to think for a second if there's any reasonable possibility that this could be a giant trap. It's possible that it could be some highly elaborate lure, but he doubts it.

<<I'd wager money that the security guard is one of them. There's no chance that they'd let an Auburn rent-a-cop walk around freely, hearing what we just heard. If this place has an after-hours guard, I guarantee you they sent him to McHugh's for a dinner break.>>

Achak takes a breath, tries to think tactically. How would Stake handle this?

<<Either we tag and track them somewhere private, or we do it now and race the KE boys.>>

Is there a third way?

<<Or we can make a play for the case. Maybe make them come to us. But I'm not sure that gives us any more control of the situation than we have right now.>>

Achak does a mental tally:

• Two men out front. Mercer would have to deal with those.
• An ork and a huge dude with a ponytail inside. Those would be for Achak and Sister Rebecca.
• Ms. Pachis - there's an unknown.
• A man with a CAS accent, and a security guard. Must be separate from the ork and the ponytail, otherwise Pachis wouldn't be giving the CAS guy drek for being slow.
• The woman talking to Ikiryo.
• The decker looking for devices running silently.

There could be some overlap in that list, but worst case scenario - and Stake always planned around worst case scenarios - was that there were up to seven inside in addition to the two outside. Achak wasn't worried about Mercer, but he and Sister Rebecca would have their work cut out for them. Even if Nori distracts the decker, and Raziel makes us three instead of two, that's still six-on-three inside. Maybe I drop the security guard without triggering an alarm, maybe I don't. Maybe I get a second before they have their wits about them. That's still four-on-three.

<<I'm not sure there's a subtle way to do this>> Achak finally comms, looking back at Sister Rebecca with her MGL. He turns his attention back to the Fly Spy, trying to get it tucked away from the circling sentry.

[Poindexter]

"Raziel, pay close attention to that sentry nearest my friend and I and report his actions to me. Soon, you may leave."

In two heart beats and three quick steps she's slipped her small armored frame into the hidey hole with her giant companion. No sooner is she inside than he slips the door shut behind them.

"He nears you, but does not suspect you."

She holds her breath, motionless next to the large and comforting form of Achak for a few tense moments waiting for the all clear from the archangel. Clutching the handle of her mighty blade in one hand, she finally allows herself a small exhale when it finally comes.

"He has passed you."

What now?

The giant gives a small and subtle wave of his hand, listening in on the conversation Becca had been neglecting to pay attention to until just now. Her jaw sets firmly into her head and she grinds her teeth together as she listens. They're in league with the dark prince. Her blood begins to run cold and a small, but growing part of her is just itching to burst out of the storage closet to tear these blasphemers into bits. She's actually a bit happy to hear Mercer and Achak discussing making the attack now, rather than later. She listens as they discuss options and finally weighs in herself.

<<@Team [Sister Rebecca] I say we hit them right now. They'll never see it coming. Get a little recompense for yesterday at Holy Trinity.>>

[rednblack]

While the team comms back and forth over their potential assault, Mercer's drone picks up more conversation from inside the office.  It's the woman with the sultry voice.  "Well, that was a waste of time."

"It had to be done," Ms. Pachis says.  "One failure we could overlook, but Ikiryo must have allowed himself to be tracked to Seattle.  Gavin, where do we stand on Grotto1?"

"Oh shit," Nori says from inside the van.

"Gavin!" Ms. Pachis voice crackles over the speakers.

<<@Becca [Nori] Reboot now!>>

From inside the closet, Sister Rebecca drops the MGL, which hangs suspended by its gecko grip on the front of her armor, and she goes for the link, holding down the power button and waiting for the hard reset.  Come on, come on!

"Ghost damnit, fraggit, slitch fuck shit!" Gavin whines.  "Do you really want to strategize right now?  I just fucking lost it.  There are icons.  I'm getting reads on weapons, and there's somebody out there with a deck, and --"

"You will hold your tongue," Ms. Pachis warns.

"We've lost our dummy accounts, and can't monitor in real time.  Intelligence brokering will put us fourteen to twenty-four hours behind real-time posting," Gavin rattles off.  "Now, can I go back to doing my job?"

At the sound of the elevator's door chiming, Achak pulls the drone back into the far hallway, and sees a tall, muscular human with a blond ponytail approach the Sunrise office door and slot a maglock passkey.  He opens the door, steps inside, and grabs the briefcase before saying, "Will we be leaving now, Ms. Pachis?"  The man steps further inside before saying something else, something that the drone can't quite pick up on, but may be a surprised, "Oh."

Achak estimates that the patrolling guard is just about opposite them on the hallway now.  He's kept to the top floor, and this will be his second pass.

Back in the van, Nori confides in Mercer, "This guy's pretty good.  I'm not specced for combat, and uh, I don't really like going hot sim.  If we go for it, I'll do what I can to try to slow this guy down, but I doubt I can brick him."