[Poindexter]

As soon as Ohanzee starts talking over the comms, the soldier under the troll's boot stops squirming and yelling at him, laying still while Ohanzee talks.

Then, there's laughing over the comms.

"Who do I work for? You don't know? I work for the organization you robbed tonight. I work for the men who will have your heads on a spike by the end of the week. Do you think we're the only ones who will be looking for you? We were just a scouting party trying to determine which direction you rats scurried away in. You have an hour, maybe two, before someone comes looking for us, and finds you. You are not in a position to threaten or make deals. You're just roaches running into the shadows when the lights come on. So how about I make a deal with you. Give us the obelisk, and tell us who employed you to take it, and maybe we'll let you scurry away." He replies over the comms, in Lakota.

@Team
<<These guys are Knight-Errant, right? Did we rip off Knight-Errant directly, or Ares? Do you think the obelisk is theirs, or was it being transported and/or protected by them when we acquired it?>> Not that it probably matters.

<<Clock is ticking.>>

Pausing for only a moment to assess the situation, the big troll finally utters to the team into his subvocal mic.

"Kill them all quickly, take anything we can from their comms, and get away from here fast." Using his other titanium laced foot, he stomps down HARD on the mans head, cracking the thick helmet, then again, doing the same to the man's skull. After making sure his team has finished off the other one, he begins sprinting back uphill through the thick powder toward the bullet ridden, blood spattered "arrest me" box they'd been driving through the mountain in.

Ares? Makes more sense then Knight Errant, I suppose.

With significantly more huff and puff, he speaks into the subvocal again. "Do we have reason to believe these men are with Ares? Matrix support identified them as Knight Errant. Did I miss some intel? It seems rather unlikely that we stole this rock from Knight Errant."

[Tecumseh]

The Masked Woman blinks as Sam plants his foot through the man's head. Perhaps she was curious what Sam might do with the prisoner once it was time to leave. If so, question answered. We haven't been making friends all night and it looks like we aren't going to start now, she thinks to herself

She lets her spell go then immediately works on another, this time concentrating on any enemies that may be nearby. A glow surrounds her for a moment, like the reflected light from a candle flame, then it fades as the spell takes hold.

@Chino
<<Chino, get ready to bug-out. Sam just fertilized the forest with this guy. On his way back now, Ohanzee and Ace in tow.>>

@Sam
<<Exactly what you said. No reason to think Ares except that it seems unlikely that we stole the obelisk from Knight Errant. Again, maybe KE were providing protection during transport, but this still seems like something the parent company would have, not KE.>>

[Malevolence]

Ohanzee listened in distress at the wet *crunch* of the soldiers skull as Uncle Sam's UCAS sized boot crushed it like a week old pumpkin. All this death, was this really the life the old him had chosen? What tragedy had set him down this path?
The dwarf pondered how things might have been different if he had woken in a hospital bed like in those old trids where the criminal wakes with no ID and no memory of his past and becomes this completely different person - full of kindness and generosity. Could the same have happened with him? With no memory of the pain and tragedy that had set him on this path in life, could he have emerged a better person? Taken advantage of the clean slate he had been given?
But of course this was no perfect world. And he hadn't woken in a hospital, but in the middle of a fight for his life. This wasn't the fantasy world of the trids, but cold hard reality. And just because you have forgotten your past, doesn't mean it has forgotten you.
A slotting strike team!
He and his companions were mixed up in some bad drek, no doubt. This was not the time for introspection and self-doubt.
Live by the sword, die by the sword.
Unbidden, the phrase intruded into his thoughts. To most people, it meant that a life of violence will neccesarily end in violence. Considering the evening, he supposed that was likely, terribly, true. But there was another interpretation that he also considered - that the metaphorical sword was a fickle mistress - a double edged tool, if you will pardon the pun. If you choose to live by the sword, you must be all in. In moments of hesitation, it will fail you, turn on you in a way. It will kill you faster than any enemy. It is okay to feel doubt, or even remorse, but there is a time for those emotions, and now was certainly not one of them. To waver in your chosen course of action is to invite death.
Ohanzee. Shadow.
He appreciated the humor in the name he had chosen for his alias. Fitting, indeed.
"Agreed. Let's put some distance between this place and us."
Before turning to begin the trudge back up to the SUV, Ohanzee takes a quick look around, using both his normal thermographic vision, and a peek into the astral.


Speech
Matrix/Text
Thoughts

[Malevolence]

Noticing nothing out of the ordinary, the dwarf turns to head back to the SUV.
We know we are being actively pursued, and our pursuers have awakened and matrix resources. The survivors here will alert them to our heading, so we're going to have to watch our backs in all three worlds. Also, if you aren't using it, shut it off. If you are, get it protected. I'll take care of astral overwatch and clean up our mess there.
@Crumpled
Giving you permission to include my contacts and commlink in your PAN, if you would be so kind.
Once back in the warmth of the SUV, he pulls out the Warhawk and turns off the wireless, then reholsters it. Then he puts on his seatbelt and closes his eyes, slowing his breathing and focusing his mind on the world of spirits. Soon, he is drifting up, away from his body and the vehicle. Looking into the cabin of the Rover, he starts pushing the latent energy of the Masked Woman's Mana Bind deeper into the astral background. Ten seconds later, he looks upon the work and finds it satisfactory. In the wink of an eye, he is at the body of the dead soldier, and cleaning up the other end of the Mana Bind. And then another blink, and he is at the site where the SUV was hijacked, then where Raven was summoned, repeating the ritual and covering the team's astral tracks.


After a minute or so, he returns to his body, takes one last look around the astral for pursuers, and slowly opens his eyes to the natural world. Once the world is completely in focus, he begins a low chant, calling out to the spirits of the water.
Wichi tai tai
Timurai
Huranika huranika
Hey ney
Hey ney
No wey

The sound of the chant is easily heard throughout the cabin of the SUV, though little more than a low murmur. Ohanzee finds the tempo soothing, and with his mind relaxed, he can more easily focus the magic that passes through his body as he summons the spirit.


Soon, his call is answered. Swimming out of the depths of the astral sea came a large dolphin, casting off water in dazzling sprays as it jumped and splashed. The form of the dolphin chittered and whistled, and Ohanzee heard the spirit's words in his head.


I find you interesting, little one. I shall swim in your wake for a spell. What game will we play first?


My pod has found itself swimming in shark infested waters. We can use a sharp lookout. See them before they see us so that we may evade them - that is the game.


Ah, swimming in dangerous waters is the most thrilling game of all!


With that, the dolphin swims off to patrol the area around the shaman, occasionally toying with astral forms happening by - chasing them or circling them, leaping over them, even poking at them playfully, before tearing off to the next interesting thing.


One last scrubbing to eradicate the signature of Dolphin's summoning, and finally Ohanzee relaxes back into his seat, and focuses on resting. His recent activities have taken a toll, and dulled his wits and actions. His next priority must be to rest up, so that he can have every edge available for the trouble that will inevitably find him.

[Tecumseh]

The Masked Woman blinks at Ohanzee's whirlwind of activity. A minute ago he seemed to have a concussion and now here he is running up and down the hill, giving speeches in Lakota, conjuring spirits, astrally projecting, and scrubbing his tracks (and hers too, for good measure). Privately, she is pleased at his renaissance. A coherent, full-functioning teammate will do far more to ensure their survival than a dazed-and-confused gonk. Having their conjurer fully lucid also shores up a big gap in the team's skillset, one that she wasn't able to fill herself. The astral image of the dolphin is a bit discordant with the snowy alpine vistas outside - do the Lakota even have a word for dolphin? - but all things considered she's willing to let it slide. The spirit is powerful, highly obedient, and could be a jolly snowman for all she cared. The team needs all the allies it can get.

[rednblack]

Ace bends over his fallen quarry and relieves the man of his weapons, taking a closer look at the body armor, and then turns to the Masked Woman. 

@Sam
<<Exactly what you said. No reason to think Ares except that it seems unlikely that we stole the obelisk from Knight Errant. Again, maybe KE were providing protection during transport, but this still seems like something the parent company would have, not KE.>>

>>Agreed.  Something doesn't fit here.  This one's coming with us, at least in the short term.>>

Ace pockets the man's commlink, then wraps the man's arm around his shoulder, and sets him to a sitting position before using his legs to hoist the him over his shoulder, and heads back to the rover at a quick pace.  There's something unsettlingly familiar about his burden, and for a brief moment Ace is treated to a brief flash of memory: smoke, the weight of a man on his shoulder as something warm and wet ran down his spine, subvocal chatter.  Ace tries to pull up details, his clothes, the location, a key word, but as suddenly as the image appeared, it's gone like a lost dream. 

At the rover, he unceremoniously dumps the man into an empty seat and pushes in next to him.  Ace unlace's the man's boots, and tosses them out the open door.  Then, his muscle memory takes over, first binding the right hand in a lark's head, and lashing it to the left ankle in a wide cuff.  As his fingers begin the lark's head on the left hand, he turns to the Masked Woman,   "Can you get a reading on him with that mask of yours?  RFID tags, a weapon I mighta missed, anything?" and to the dwarf he says, "Ohanzee, can I ask you to keep up your translating duties?  I figure we got 3, maybe 5 minutes before we need to dump this guy, but maybe he'll be more forthcoming than the last one."  With that, Ace grabs a handful of snow and places it on the back of the man's neck, then gives him two hard slaps across the face.  "Come on, you bastard.  Come on, wake up.  Come on, come on."

[Malevolence]

Breathing slowed, muscles relaxed, Ohanzee was, miraculously considering the situation, on the razor's edge of sleep when a thought struck him.


Vinny Verontesse! Frag me in the hoop!


The dwarf was just about to speak when Ace's message came over the comms.



>>Something doesn't fit here.  This one's coming with us, at least in the short term.


Having more answers was a good thing, but was taking a hostage? Ohanzee didn't know much about technology, but he did know - perhaps from years of running the shadows, or maybe just from watching too many trids - that any corporate asset had a million and one trackers.


We'll have to dump the prisoner fast, and well before we ditch the SUV if we hope to keep some sort of head start on our pursuers.


As the pair approached the SUV, Ohanzee reflexively peeped the potential threat in the Astral. He moved to another seat in the car and encouraged the others to move so that there was room for three people such that Uncle Sam and Ace could sit on either side of the prisoner.


He then tried to rack his mind for some way that he could held restrain or subdue the prisoner if needed - mind control or some form of restraint (paralysis?). Failing that, perhaps a way to help with the interrogation - reading the prisoners thoughts or determining his truthfulness. It seemed that combat was not his forte, but that didn't mean he was useless in a fight, even without his brother spirits.


"Ohanzee, can I ask you to keep up your translating duties?  I figure we got 3, maybe 5 minutes before we need to dump this guy, but maybe he'll be more forthcoming than the last one."


@Team
>>Of course, but I suggest we get moving immediately. They may have backed off, but having all of us in one convenient enclosed area might make too tempting a target for his friends to pass up. Getting out of weapons range should be our first priority.

>>Also, I recalled something about Vinny. I don't know for sure how close he is to the Verontesse crime syndicate, but he bears their name, so its a good bet he's close enough to have some pull. They run half of Las Vegas, so I strongly suggest we play nice with him, or avoid him altogether.





"Speech"
>>Matrix/Text
Astral
Thoughts

[Tecumseh]

The Masked Woman nods to Ace, turning her attention to his prisoner. She scans him astrally and with her mask to look for weapons or cyberweapons. She does an okay job trying to split her attention between the HTR captive and her sustained spell.

@All
<<I have a spell up that should detect hostiles out to a quarter klick. Nothing on the radar right now, so they're either outside that range or they've lost the will to fight. But Ohanzee's not wrong. Let's get moving and remove any temptation.>>

Noting that Ace is trying to revive the captive, she concentrates on another spell. She prefers not to sustain two at once but they can be dropped quickly enough. She focuses on the man's unconscious form, then watches as hoops of mana appear on the astral and begin to constrict his arms and legs. On the physical plane, she whipsers ""Telego carronasto." Her outline brightens for a moment, illuminated from within, then fades as the spell takes hold.

<<Ace, I've got an extra layer in place in case the laces don't hold. Try a slap patch. We had a medkit from the van and one from the hunters. Doc exhausted one patching everyone up but the other should have a patch in there.>>

[Tecumseh]

The Masked Woman finishes her scan of the downed man. She looks up at Ace and speaks slowly, careful to maintain her concentration on the sustained spells.

@Van
"No weapons or cyberweapons. Reaction enhancers and muscle augs. I've got the spell locked in but best to keep a hand on him when he comes to."

She looks around at the rest of the Rover's occupants. "Are we calling Vinny to arrange for some logistical support or are we going to live off the land? If we call I think Ohanzee should be on point." She looks to him. "You seem to have a way with words, and if you know the scene then so much the better."

Her gaze falls on the Elf's corpse. "Any opinions on the dearly departed APB's remains? I'd feel like a slot for dumping her but a choob for keeping her around."

Glancing around, she makes eye contact with Ace again. When she does, she sends him a private message.

@Ace (private)
<<Alright, Team Red, APB is down so it's just you and me now. Seems like Team Blue has been together for a while. We should figure out where we fit in. I have a theory that you're an inside man for this job but I'm still putting the pieces together.>>

[rednblack]

Ace mentally composes a text as he fiddles in the medkit to find a low-dosage slap patch.

>>Send Message
>>Recepient: Masked Woman
>>Message: We need to compose a working timeline ASAP.  As far as I'm concerned, we're all in this together now, but I'm not convinced it was always that way.  If I'm the inside man, I'm hoping our new friend here can shed some light on that.  When we get where we can hole up, you and I need to compare notes.

Ace briefly flits through the man's commlink, looking for any personal contacts before finding a suitable patch, removing the adhesive backing and slapping it on the unconscious man's forehead.  Now for the fireworks.

[Ryo]

The soldier wakes up suddenly, looking around groggily before noticing that his movements are restricted. He tenses, opening his eyes and looking at you in a combination of surprise and anger. He starts swearing in Lakota, struggling against his bonds, but failing to break them. You get the feeling he probably could bust the laces, were it not for the Masked Woman's additional magical aid.

"I don't know what you hope to gain, but you're wasting your time. I've got nothing to say to vermin." He says in Lakota. Seeing the lack of understanding on the majority of your faces, he grins. "You idiots can't even understand what I'm saying."

[Malevolence]

From the seat behind the restrained prisoner, Ohanzee leaned forward, face stern.  In a low voice, clearly audible to the man, but a mere whisper to the others in the cabin, he chanted an appeal to the spirits to reveal the truth - in Lakotian so that the man would understand it. He reached out and lightly touched the man’s right temple, casting a spell that would allow him to inject his whims into the man’s thoughts. It was weak, but that was okay - he only needed the man to feel the tickle of magic upon his mind, weak as it was.
 
And feel it he did, shivering involuntarily. But the spell was too weak, and didn't take. Drek! Well, I'm committed now, gotta roll with it.

The little shaman leaned back, and spoke at a normal level, the Lakotian words menacing and absolute. “I suspect that your training has taught you to recognize magic. And as you traveled with a mage, you should have some idea of what magic can do. So, there should be no doubt when I tell you that I WILL know if you lie. And it should also be meaningful when I tell you that if you do, the troll sized boot through the brain-pan that your teammate received will seem a mercy.” He paused to allow the words to sink in like acid. Then he continued in English. “Do I make myself clear? Or shall we mock you inability to understand us?"

[Ryo]

The man looks at you in confusion when you switch to English. You think he legitimately only speaks Lakota.

"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."

[Poindexter]

Listening as Ohanzee translated for the group, Sam begins to feel more and more uneasy about the situation. Not only was this man's dedication far more than he'd expect from some wageslave, but the group is starting to veer dangerously close to torture here. It's becoming more and more obvious that this man isn't going to give anything up.

"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."

[Tecumseh]

The Masked Woman listens to the man's defiant tone and Ohanzee's translation.

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