The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo — Legacy Forums

Re: The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo

#161

Blue shrugged. During the previous stay in Pretoria, the heavy presence of Amerikka Command was palpable, but not overbearing. Abundance of handsome men in uniform was a big plus, too.
"It doesn't have to be all bad - I mean, they're sticking it to the megacorps, refusing to be trod upon, and what recourse does one have when all the journalists, bureaucrats, and lawyers are in the corporations' pockets as deep as they can get, but to reach for a trusty rifle? Or battleship, whatever is handy. You have to admit, the GG Washington does have a certain retro-futuristic flair, too."
Blue saddened suddenly.
"The main drawback is that I suck at goose-stepping, hooves and all. For me, it's all clippity-clop, prancing along. A clippity-clop with the fearsome fury of the forest fawn, if need be, but no marching."
The neo-ethnic perked up, then.
"The Amerikkans are highly visible, though, and we may be unnoticed in the noise they create. So, Jerome, what were you saying, which vehicle would be best hidden among the patriotic hustle? Could we put some flags on the tank? Screaming eagles? Pin-up glamour paintings of scantily clad lasses? Or do we hide the tank, and hop into another sufficiently covert vehicle?"

"Also, let's sweep this thing for tracers and bugs."

Re: The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo

#162

Jerome spoke as he initiated a new scan of the vehicle. Every emission source crosschecked against specifications and watched by a good, but limited AI.

"Its not so much the appearance as its speed, as well as its ability to avoid checkpoints which could sniff out .. this"

"Suggestions Captain - can you get us down there quickly and uncaught?"

Re: The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo

#163

'I know the smugglers roads into South Africa, and you are very luck, I have friends in the military down there. We should be able to get through. We are not, as you say, Federales? Arjan laughs. Being on a Federation watch list might make it easier to get in if we are stopped.

She shows on a holomap the path they will roughly take, and where they will have to stop overnight and repaint the tank into SAUR colors. She says finding the paint wont be hard and that she has stencils to make it look like they are working mercenary logistics

Re: The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo

#164

"Smugglers? I knew a few too! Are the Dusters still in operation? They used to drive on the mountain roads in the heaviest of dust storms, to hide their passage. Insane bunch of adrenaline junkies, if you ask me (or anyone else), but you have to admire their audacity! And how about Double-Pirate? Lost one eye, then the other, had two parrots, and in the end had cyberware put in the ol' sockets, and the parrots' vision wired to a virtual HUD."
Sigh.
"Smugglers, the salt of the earth. Better than Santa."

"Anyways, let's roll. I'll help with the painting. This Blue is an artistic one, capable of using colours beside blue too."

Re: The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo

#165

"Okay, sounds like a plan. I'll join you in a few minutes."

Jerome sat down to reset the firmware on Jerry, using a backup of the recently departed Tom. At least Tom's tics were more known. He nudged the Initiative module down a touch. Less chance for the bot to get 'ideas' if a little slower on the draw.

Re: The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo

#166

The drive south isn't particularly exciting, but the turbo tank makes good time. Arjan reveals that she did have a small generator, and hooks it up to improve their overland speed. It cuts down on stopping at charging stations.

'I am not a fan of using this, is more for emergencies than convenience. It came out of a Federale war machine, I plug it in and it hums and makes power, most of the time. Sometimes, I plug it in, and I have no power but I have migraine and nightmares,' she says.

They pick up the smuggler's dirt roads, and make even better time. They cross a ridge after several days travel, and they cross the border into the SAUR, and predictably, they find the first of the SAURi smuggler cities.

The city has a low mud brick wall, and the buildings inside are all shackled together out of wrecked ships, busted cargo haulers, and the like.

A banner flutters on the breeze, a hand made advert for the tavern and cantina inside the hulk of the Carlsbad, the sign is green and black

Re: The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo

#167

Jerome looked at the place and sighed.

"Lets find the charging station, and get out of here. I'm not really in a mood for shopping, whoring, barhopping or sightseeing. Reviews here are terrible..."

Re: The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo

#168

Blue sighed. "I better not show myself at all - I look expensive. Do give me a call if you need assistance, and please listen for interesting rumours while you're out. The folks here listen to the grapewine closely."

Re: The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo

#169

The Turbotank was one of the larger vehicles trundling through the Smuggler encampment, but it was by no means the strangest, or the most obtrusive. A number of mercenaries made the ramshackle city their base of operations, so there were a number of frankenmechs that could be seen, along with more exotic outfits looking for work, hoverbike cavalry, strider infantry units, men leading rough looking droids on chains like some archaic chain gang. The charging station was near the Carlsbad's wreck.

Blue felt like there should be some bazaar in this place where there were wonders of Old Africa to be found, and fragments of songs hummed just out of earshot.

Arjan oversaw the recharging of the tank, as well as replenishing some of their supplies. Pretoria wasn't far, but that was no reason to skimp on food and water tablets.

Jerome likewise had more to do skimming the net for news, and the only thing that pinged back on his search was a news story about Adeaze's body being recovered from the wreck of a shuttle, and that it came as a tragic end to an ongoing investigation involving Mx Adeaze and her potential involvement with questionable technology and acquisitions.

Re: The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo

#170

"Found her already? Then they already know, whoever >they< may be, that we set the ladies and kinds free (almost, but for the sake of poetry, stay with me), or absconded with them completely."
Blue rolled over on the mattress, sneaked up to Jerome during his browsing, and whispered close to his ear: "Apocalyptic jubilee!" Then, falling back, the neoethnic complained much like a petulant child: "Booooooooored."

Re: The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo

#171

It seemed too much of a coincidence that they found her so quickly. He glanced over at the silent Obutsu for a moment, thinking.

"Yeah, they know. We should have blown up the wreckage when we left to cover that. " Jerome accessed another system, and an AI agent began to investigate the investigators. Who was sniffing around about Adeaze? What was another dangerous question now.

Jerome took care to make sure he put the tablet in a faraday-cage. Nothing too sophisticated - basically a metal container with a bit of superconducting ceramic bands. He also turned off its wireless capabilities
Finally, he took a small command-detonate unit, took its fragmentation shroud and put it in the container. He set it to biometric safe and armed it with a 2 second timer then closed it.

"Don't open this." he said to Blue.

Jerome was now certain there was more on the device then he could access. It would take a better hacker then him to get past the protections. She had been mixed in with powerful people.

Re: The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo

#172

"Don't fear, I'm thoroughly medicated, all in the green, a level-headed common-sense machine."
Blue smiled.
"For the literal-minded: I have no desire to open a container rigged to explode. I like my hands and face too much."
Rolling around on the mattress, Blue contemplated a tangle of lint and mused:
"Where is Adeaze originally from, anyway?"

Re: The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo

#173

Obutsu looked up, 'Adeaze was originally from Goma, Tower three, also known as Goma Gardens.' He hesitated, and looked away. 'She transferred to Kampala three years ago to become an arco comptroller for Kampala Tower Two. She was the head of the Public Security Department there, with command over 350 officers and three times as many support personnel.'

He paused again, physical mannerisms having fallen away. He stood and looked at Blue and Jerome. 'This is why I selected her to take possession of my mothers and children,' his voice lost all accent.

'So, I would rather not kill all of you to recover my property, my queens have roles yet left to play,' not quite Obutsu said

Re: The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo

#174

"Mothef*cking Beefcake Jesus and his twelve F*ckpostles! Would it really be so difficult for you people to simply pay us off instead of threatening us with death? One time?"
Blue adopted the best possible 'strict teacher' pose, and continued: "Really. I am a mercenary who kills people for sh!ts and giggles. I've got no arbitrary moral code that would keep me from selling the WMDs, or 'Wenches of Mammary Distraction' back to you. I picked them up, unharmed, haven't f*cked a single one! Don't you think this deserves credit? You could have had a friend in me, enthusiastic, for money; for the occasional hug or cuddle, I'd make your foes into a puddle, or pancake, if you prefer those. I can even be less verbose. Maaaaaybe."
Shrug. Pointing finger of accusation points accusingly at Matos.
"But what do you do? 'Surrender or die, hurr durr.' So smart. Really. This is why I bomb people. Earth to whoever is driving zombie Matos right now, a) you somehow make him seem even more stuck up, so kudos to that, b) can we for once talk like civilised black ops operatives? It's nowhere near guaranteed that you succeed, and it may be that you lose your hacked cyborg here, whatever mooks are coming our way, and the way the snowball rolls, who knows what will end up caught in its ever widening path."
Huff.
"Fresh start? Hello, this is Blue, the name, not the colour. Who may I be talking to? How can we help each other?"

If he tries something, I'll wallop him with a can of telekinetic whoop-@$$. Pulling attention from Jerome, and trying to get the dudes/dudettes on the other side of the line to give up some info. Insulting Jesus may give Matos some bonus to snap out of it, too.

Re: The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo

#175

'You choice of words and inflection are as colorful as your name,' Almost Matos said. 'But I am not a person, nor a group of people, and I can only extrapolate how operatives will act when presented with such options. Your kin has a self-sacrificing and altruistic streak that appears at the most inconvenient times, times such as these.'

'But yes, let us converse as professionals, I wish for my identity to remain... clandestine... the less is known of me, the... more content... I am. I want the mobile mines, especially units 0013, 0014, and 0017. These contain ...advanced... weapons. I wish to claim these weapons for my own ...interests.. If you bring these droids to the rendezvous point safely, I will compensate you according to the number that arrive. I only care about the three units mentioned. The juvenile shrikes are completely expendable. The other 'Mothers' I will pay bonuses for each that arrives undamaged. For each of the three units I desire that is damaged, lost, or destroyed, I will reduce your reward proportionately.'

'Do we have an accord?'

Re: The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo

#176

"Not a person? Come on, even corporations are people nowadays when it suits them! Don't be so strict on yourself. What do we call you, by the way?" Skynet? Zuul?
Blue gave the best encouraging grin one could muster given the ... anonymous nature of their conversation, and Matos' blank face.
"Yeah, we can agree on a quid-pro-quo trade deal, we'll need some time to discuss with my associates once you forward the specifics, like the amount of compensation and the point of delivery. Also, as a matter of interest, how did you override Matos here? I might need to know for... reasons."
A slightly disconcerting grin this time.
Blue waved a hand in front of Joao's face. No lights on inside.
"And then we'll need a little privacy to discuss how to avoid getting f*cked over during delivery, that much you certainly understand? So, if you could shoo once you tell us all pertinent information? Thanks!"
Fingers, heart shape.

Re: The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo

#177

For his part, Jerome let Blue do the talking. He did not quite trust himself to speak, nor to let fully form the thoughts that he had.

He quietly turned off his inbound wifi - the swarm of implants he used to communicate with his droids, gear and contacts were a large surface area for what Jerome presumed was either and AI or a cybertronian. His queries would be delayed, but that was better then being an open book during negotiations.

Re: The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo

#178

'You may still refer to me as Matos, this is all I am willing to divulge at this time,' Matos said. 'As for compensation, do you desire a national credit, physical compensation like precious metals, or something else? Point of delivery is fluid at this moment.' Matos blinks

'Why are you giving me heart hands?' Matos asks with his accent flooding back

Re: The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo

#179

"Heart hands because everyone needs love, even if they don't think they deserve it. Yes, even you!"
Blue hugged Matos, it was awkward as always.
Blue tried to fix it with an extra genki smile.
"Which reminds me, I need a little private time with Jerome and Arjan... for reasons. Don't worry, we'll let theThe Matos know what we've arrived at.

Blue almost dragged Jerome and the captain to the nearest reasonably private spot. "First of all, totally my bad for picking up Matos. He was less ... dominated by an entity of unknown nature and origin... the last time we worked together. Regardless - immediate crisis averted, what now? I'm all for selling and being done with it. Though the merchandise may be kinda hot, it's getting too hot for my tastes."

Re: The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo

#180

"Really depends on how much shit that _thing_ will raise with those. I really don't want to know, but we really need to. It may impact our personal survival - maybe it wants to bring about a machine revolution or something? Maybe something that gets this big chunk of real estate turned glassy by the wrong people. Imagine if the gloves came off from that thing." Jerome gestured upwards towards the 'Dragon'.

Could this get any more complicated?

"Lets play along and see if we can get any more info."

Re: The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo

#181

"And any ideas about how not to get f*cked over, Mr. Military Man? Or are we on our own? If we're flying solo, we might get a few mercs of our own to cover our behinds. They would think we're just selling a few high-value slaves, and don't have to know the exact sum we're getting. Let me click into MercNet. Aaaaand ... see? There are droves of muscled well-armed gentlemanly security contractors lining up for work. Look at those logos - all bulldogs, hell-hounds, eagles, lions, birds of prey aplenty, fists and swords and Spartan helmets, and the occasional aegis or shield. An aegis is much more classy than a shield, wouldn't you say? Here, take your pick!"
Blue shoved the wristcomp in front of Jerome's face.
"Unless our gracious amazon saviour has a better idea?"

"Also, I'll ask for an excessive payout, just to check whether they actually mean to pay. What is a fair price on an Austerhagen device these days anyway?"

Re: The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo

#182

"Not a clue to be frank. This was supposed to be a fairly simple contract. Now its a shit show. Maybe we just let 'Matos' over there walk all by his lonesome with the entourage, and we sail off into the sunset. Except our prior employers are still going to be gunning for us."

So how to get out of this with his soul intact? Jerome pondered. It would be easiest to simply make the delivery, hope that the bargain was adhered to, and then strike at 'Boss Ellington' to tie up the loose ends.

"I'm not entirely against the merc idea, apart from the fact there would be that many more people nearby to backstab us. Yeah, lets ask for the moon first, and see if Matos can deliver _anything_ up front. It seems to really want the cargo, lets get it to pony something up front. Crypto cash in our 'working' accounts perhaps. Easy to confirm and hard for it to fake. If it delivers, well, that advance cash can buy some of that retinue you would like. I might be able to replace ol Tom here too."

Re: The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo

#183

"Seems like we got a plan. Excelsior!"
Happy to see some resolve return to Jerone, in a rare bout of altruism Blue pondered how to lift the gloom that surrounded the soldier.
But until then, there was a plan to execute - and that's what Blue did.

Re: The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo

#184

Arjan took the notion of finding some backup agreeable and left the turbo tank in their possession and went to the Carlsbad tavern. She knew a few guys she could trust there, and if nothing else, things were getting dicey and she didn't want to be outnumbered by these contractors she was working with, especially the metal man with the alien voice in his head. This was the biggest reason she had zero cranial implants, this wasnt the first time she had seen a cyborg end up getting proxied by... something. Nothing good ever came of it. Inside the tavern she managed to find a few Jo-Boys she trusted.

Matos seemed distracted, and trying to get the proxy agent to talk to them was fruitless. His wrist computer however still seemed to be linked to whatever the agent was. The screen was a pleasant rose gold color, and alien symbols flickered across the screen. This wasn't machine language, Jerome could make out some machine language, enough to tell if an AISC was lying, or being glib, so long as he could see the code, but this... this was just goddamn strange.

Blue could see that there was a rhyme and reason behind the flickering symbols and patterns, and there was something unsettling about it.

Re: The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo

#185

Not likely and AI then, thought Jerome. Something weirder than that. He had his suspicions.

He brought his connections back online, checking to see if any of the agents he had started had found anything for him.

Meanwhile, he found the nearest arms bazaar and began gathering a little more gear, including another battered old Skelebot, ammunition, and a number of mid-grade drones.

As he made his way back to the tank, he received a notification. He did not recognize the sender...

Re: The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo

#186

Behind the usual sequence of proxies, Blue fooled around on MercNet a bit, to see who their new hires were.
Then, Blue gave a tentative ping to some of the fixers and info dealers to see what was going on in several corners of the world, including the SAUR.
Curious about the symbols, the neo-ethnic tried to recall where they may have been seen, and poked around on dark-web conspirator forums half for the laughs, and half for the grains of truth hidden in the chaos. Someone had to know something.
Finally, cursing the need to hide, Blue dressed up in a tent-like robe to hide as many distinctive traits as possible. The horns were hidden under a sizeable turban.

Re: The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo

#187

Jerome's caller was Arjan sending a message via proxy. She was brief, she had herded the preggobombs and their children droids out of her tank and stowed them away in a Federation drop pod near the Carlsbad cantina. The job was too hot, and she was done. Mataos was with them, still a bit on the disoriented side. She wished them luck.

______

Blue had a much more interesting and exciting time. The marketplace was thriving, and it wasn't just basic merc business of guns, ammo, and contracts. This was more than just an armed camp, there were families and children. Half of the market was sundry goods, the other half was food. It came in a dazzling variety of colors, and much of it was discarded Federation stock, gene edited fruits and vegetables, meat that came from actual animals and wasn't grown in a tank, a vat, or some mad scientist's lab. Behind the screens and curtains there were other delights to be had, drugs, electronic pleasures, and the more primal indulgences of the flesh.

Sitting in a Cafe, surrounded by the buzz of people in a relatively good mood, with a cup of kava that was more strong than good, Blue was offered some hashish, by one of the cafe waitresses. She smiled, and shrugged, 'You are pretty, and not one of those goose stepping Amerikkanos, a gift,' she said sincerely.

Re: The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo

#188

"Fuck", thought Jerome. Now what? He or blue would have to arrange fresh transport. Maybe he should just program the lot of em to take a nice walk out to the desert and blow themselves up out there. Would certainly simplify things - then he'd just have his employers - new and old - out to kill him.

Well, the AI seemed to be willing to accept partial delivery.....

He sent a message..

"Blue. We lost our ride. Any thoughts on another?"

And where the hell were they going when that had one...

Fuck.

Re: The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo

#189

"Oh, I do like being called pretty, how did you know?" Blue replied with sincere intensity. Perhaps overdoing it a little. "You appear yourself a gentle mirage, a rare blossom among dreary dust."
Blue toyed with the gifted drug. Did she also have a van with candy? Who knows? Girls and drugs and candy and vans. Blue would know what to do with this combination - but then Jerome's message popped up on the AR.
"Flirtatious furtive glances exchanged, my interest and gratitude gained, do you happen to have a place where I could make a discreet call, and you could discreetly tell me what you would have of me? If you happen to know someone who can jailbreak a bot, please tell also. And, a second, I'm listening but have to reply to a friend."

Blue quickly typed:
"We'll hire or buy a ride once we got the money. Also looking to do some custom programming. You able, or do I get a contractor?"

Re: The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo

#190

Jerome replied back,

"Depends on what you are looking for. Am a domain expert with robotics. Outside of that, might want outside help. "

He had other favours he could call in, but they were attached to individuals he'd rather not contact. Yet.

How closely tied were the mobile mine's forms and their payloads to their new employer's plan? If the 'harmless' form was important, then this almost guaranteed a civilian target. True military would not be taken in by that. Sentries and droids were not terribly sentimental about such things. If they just happened to be a relatively low-key means to transport the warheads, that broadened the target list. Jerome couldn't think of any spiritually safe targets for these....

The walk to the desert plan was seeming better all the time.

Re: The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo

#191

"I'll tell you in private, comms aren't secure, with things popping in and out of Matos' head, and spies snooping at every mic. Let's get together somewhere cozy, hmmmm, my knight in tattered once-shining armor?"
To avoid delaying - once Blue and Jerome are together, we can flick off all the potential bugs and discuss how to avoid the ethical conundrum. Meaning, Blue wants to rig the Wymyn of Mass Distraction to blow. Ideally when Dr. Schneider (the probable ringleader behind this Charlie Foxtrot) is in the vicinity, but anywhere away from civilisation is OK. The perfect way would be a hardware switch that is not tied to the main circuits. We can turn them off for transport, make sure they aren't recording and transmitting, put in a timer, boom. If you could tamper with their transmissions sufficiently to make the higher-ups think that incompetent handling caused it, so much better. E.g., run a one-shot program for some of the mombots to rile up the most macho-looking least intelligent of the buyers, get her slapped, the kids engage, all moms explode, thank you.
To get Matos out of the way, we can lead him to a brothel while he's dazed, he'll get embroiled in some sort of chaos there - or we can take him to a hospital, or the closest equivalent to get him sedated and checked; considering there's probably a lot wrong with him since the Online Thing ASSUMED DIRECT CONTROL. Also, you should disable the hardware of his ... router, or whatever it is. Turn off the transmission function that allows him to be hacked.
These are the things that Blue will discuss with Jerome once they take sufficient precautions against spying. If they are spied on anyway, then we can't think up any plan that would succeed, eh? We're too outmatched to go in, guns blazing.

Re: The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo

#192

Jerome nodded, though no-one was nearby to see.

"Roger. Need a few things and I'll meet you. Name the place."

A few more commands and a couple of drones headed for Jerome's location, each with a case of equipment.

He'd better do this right. Stakes were very, very high....

Re: The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo

#193

Mataos waited with the pregnant women and their children, sitting under the damaged heat shield of a long since decommissioned cargo hauler. It had once been a cantina, but one of the sides had been blown out by some long since past explosion, and no one ever rebuilt inside of the improvised structure. It was increasingly a place for burnouts and drunks to sleep off their intoxication. It was also a popular place for clandestine meetings. The ruined heatshield was a very effective signal blocker, making digital surveillance all but impossible.

A hand painted sign decorated the largely unscathed back wall, Charlie Foxtrot's.

Re: The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo

#194

"I know it will cost me, dear" Blue replied to the waitress' mention of a discreet channel and discreet mechanic being available for remuneration. "There ain't no such thing as free pussy."
Blue shrugged. "The answer is, I am short on funds presently, able to pay a humble yet adequate price now - or a more generous reward later, if a planned business deal goes well. Your choice. Take an hour for the choice, I'll return, most likely."

The neo-ethnic then rushed to Jerome, and laid the plans bare, in hushed tones far from prying ears and intrusive devices. "Bots and buyers and your moral quandaries go BOOM up in smoke and flame, with us chuckling and sipping pina coladas. If we're lucky, the blast may catch Schneider. Who's Schneider? Ficker made me, and many worse things, intentionally, not due to incompetence, and something tells me he may be behind this whole mess. That's why I need you to encode his mugshot in the bots, so that they recognise him, and go give him the blow job of a life time. Like, blowing up. Though we may want to rig them to go boom if anyone tampers with them. Or once we're far enough. As said, best make it look like an accident with one of the kid bombs, and fault of the buyers. So, what you say?"

Re: The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo

#195

Jerome had been doing some work.

"The boom will be, um, epic my Blue friend, and we had best be waaaay away. 100m primary radius, havoc beyond that. EMP Pulse that would likely fry my life support systems. I'm not happy with a random detonation point. We'd need him in a pretty remote place we can get the hell away from easily.

I can handle the bots easily enough, but those warheads are beyond my pay grade. I am beyond shocked that the entire New Hanseatic League army hasn't raided this area. Perhaps it would be best to somehow get them back into their hands. I can't safely disarm the warheads."

Re: The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo

#196

"Disarm?" Blue asked with a naive, disarming smile. "No one is asking you to disarm. We need them to tear our unsuspecting business partners 'a new one', as they say. These guys will not be the techs, they're some minions, not allowed to fiddle around with the nukes. We'll be off in some dune buggy or what-have you, and the Wholesome Mom Delegation will detonate on their transport, or in some storage. I just want them to blow if they see Schneider, because fick that guy and everyone near him. If we get him, many of our problems will be solved, and many of the world's as well. Schneider's a researcher with zero ethics, and by all criteria a rapist, murderer, and monster. He needs to die, yes?"
Blue gave the unsuspecting Jerome a peck on the cheek, and grinned.
"Now be a good boy and get to installing some fuses in the moms and kids; here's a contact for a back-alley tech in case you need aid or special components. And remember, I do have some experience, by which I mean a lot, with 'insurgency' and 'freedom fighting' and 'large scale vandalism'. If you're not willing to do it, then by whatever passes for God these days, I'll pick up a screwdriver, and get to installing that sh!t myself."

Re: The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo

#197

Jerome gave Blue an icy stare but came to a decision. While not much, he had heard things about this Schneider.

"K, you'll get your boomers. Just no deep urban targets, capesh? I'll put a round into them first."

"So do you have a plan for the inevitable surge of forces looking to find out who and why?"

Re: The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo

#198

"Yes, my plan is to get a discreet ride as soon as we get paid, and head off to a place most unlikely until this thing blows over. There, we can either split up and head our separate ways, or cuddle up with some good ice cream and think up our next nefarious plan."
Blue misinterpreted Jerome's cold glance and laughed.
"I like you, like, *like* you, you big oaf" the neo-ethnic winked. "But don't expect it to last unless you do something about it. I've got places to be, people to do." Grin, shrug. "Or do in, in some cases."

Re: The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo

#199

"Ok, lets this rolling. Get me the best image you can on your subject and we'll build a profile. He wouldn't happen to have body doubles or clones, would he?"

Re: The Silk Road Act 1: Old Cairo

#200

"Fick me if I know."
"Sadly, I don't" Blue elucidated then. "Here's his fancy mug, in all its smug glory."