"We can't just kill her. We aren't murderers." Kyle looks around hopefully making eye contact with each member of the crew. "but if she has information that can help us save the children it would be irresponsible of us to not ask. Once we have the information we need from her we can turn her over to the authorities."
"I can hit the streets and ask around to see if I can figure out anything. Do we have a place to use as a headquarters while we are on this moon?"
Anton says, "Given what we have heard about tanks, I would almost say we should look at bringing our 'Mechs down.... but then, I do not want to get the children killed because the terrorists see us walking toward them - it may be better to save the possibility of dropping onto whatever base they are using - especially if we can either cause a distraction on the ground or take out their ability to track things in the sky when we do it."
He then nods, "I am getting ahead of myself. We need a target first... Given the nature of this world, maybe we could find a stimulant that would wake our friend here before it would otherwise be healthy to do so?"
Kyle excuses himself from the group. "I don't really have a stomach for..." He looks over to the CyBull "questioning. I'm going to check out some of the local night life. Text my communicator once we have a place to hole up in. And you folks are done with the questioning.
With that Kyle walks off into the settlement. The first thing he does is reserve a bargain basement hotel room as a personal bolt hole. Next he spends some time dirtying himself up, and dressing down in the style of the locals. Once appropriately attired he sets out to find a criminal contact he suspects might be on the planet.
In response to the stimulant suggestion, Ling says, "I know a guy. You people better know what you're doing. Especially because we need my wife to open my vault. We use a two-key system."
He gets on the comm and reaches a local streetdoc who hurries over. "Mags is no fan of the CyBulls. You can stay here if you need. Hoffen should be touching down in the south yard in a couple hours and there are no other dropships currently on-world, that will keep us safe."
A short time later a tall, lanky blonde man wearing a torn and stained lab coat arrives with a black leather doctor bag. He observes the woman's wounds making little 'hmm' sounds. Finally he opens his bag and withdraws a large needle that looks like it was intended for veterinary work. He swiftly stabs the woman in the heart and depressed the plunger just a bit. She opens her eyes and mouth immediately gasping then grunting in pain.
"You likely do not have much time before she either loses consciousness or expires."
I see. I guess we had better ask the questions quickly then.
He walks over, gives her the stink eye, and matter of factly states to the Cybull
I could care less if you live or die, but you will tell us what we need to know, so that your passing will be relatively painless
He then walks back over to the rest of the group.
So where do we start
Orpheus offers, "I have some limited training in interrogation - it focused mainly on resisting, but one needed to learn how questions are asked.. forcefully."
"Yer welcome," Jester announces to no one in particular. Before the woman is awake he adds, "Who wants to be the bad cop here?"
Seeing Viper take the lead here he deccides to play the 'good' cop though he is unsuited to the roll. "Listen, I saved yer life...against my friend's wishes. Ye had better tell 'im what he wants to know. He is not too happy now..."
Viper walks back towards the Cybull after Jester starts talking.
I hear that your organization has some children. Where are they
He walks back to the table, drops his gunbelt off, and pulls out the vibrodagger.
Switching it on, bringing up the high pitched wail of the blade in use, he walks back towards her.
You only have so much time, tell me where they are.
Orpheus adds, "We deliberately did not kill you because you might be useful to us. That will only continue as long as you remain useful."
The woman's breathing comes in rapid shallow breaths and she breaks out into a full-body sweat. Through gritted teeth she spits out a stream of curses. "If I...t-t-tell you...get..m-me...help," she demands with a hard look in her eyes.
Jester holds his hand up to Viper indicating to hold for a moment. "I'm listening..."
Viper pauses and looks over at Jester.
Just say the word.
Orpheus says, "Tell us what we need to know, and we will ensure that you do not die from your gunshot wounds... That means answering all of our questions.. and honestly."
Titian turns away in disgust.
Thats why I prefer machines to people. They are so honest.
"Well a two person safeguards sounds good, but it is not as safe as lot of people think. In any case, give me a computer and I might do some magic!"
"J...thirty three," she groans.
Ling brightens up. "That's not far from here! It is a warehouse near the waste reclamation dome."
The woman groans and goes limp. Magnuson checks her vitals. "Alive, but not for long. Pulse is weak and fading fast. I doubt she would survive getting to an operating table." His voice is completely devoid of emotion and it is obvious he doesn't really care about her welfare one way or another.
Orpheus shrugs, "Save the ammunition. Either we can stabilize her and she survives, or she will remain unconscious and expire without feeling anything more."
He asks, "We should make the effort to save her life, as promised, if only to keep a reputation as folks who deal fairly."
He turns to others, "Did we get a sensor scan on that area on our way down that we can review? I did not have a view of the terrain on the way down. It would be best to know what we are facing - if there are no vehicles, then I would suggest we move swiftly and try to seize the element of surprise. If there are, then I would say we need to blind them and get our 'Mechs here as quickly as we can."
Breathing a quiet sigh of relief over not needing to kill a helpless person, Viper goes back to put his dagger away.
Fair enough Orpheous, I can live with that. As for a scan, that wasn't what I was looking for on approach, so I guess we will have to do it the old fashioned way.
He flips his gunbelt around his hips, and looks around.
So shall we go look
As the others watch on while Magnuson works to keep the bandit woman stable, Kyle Lambert finds himself in a seedy little bar built in an old storage shed. Rusty saw belts and bands cover the walls along with other salvage tools. A large drill bit hangs from the ceiling festooned with lights.
"You want to break into their comm? A moment, please." Chang moves to his large toolbox, moves a tray of first aid equipment to the side, reveling his finer tools. He then turns to the device, to give it the attention the warriors think it needs.
As he works, he says, to no one in particular, "She was promised our best attempt to save her. If we do less, then we can't trust that everyone will receive their share of the pay, can we?"
"It appears the plan was for her to walk us into an ambush at this J33, so the gang can trade for travel off-planet. It appears they only care about terrorizing the locals as a way to increase their chances of getting off-world."
Then a few minutes later after some more drinks.
These Cybulls So they have hardware? Do you have any idea what they might have access too? Certainly nothing more advanced than a couple old mining mechs with some rocket launchers strapped on right?"
After getting all he can from his contact Kyle will find some low grade street drugs, head back to his hotel room, shower up, and wait for the group to contact him to let him know where to meet them.
Viper pauses and then inquires.
So if we are looking at tangling with them on their own turf, I need to get some stuff from the drop ship.
Plus, having a mech on standby would not be a bad idea.
He then finishes buckling up his gunbelt and starts to make his way to the door.
The CyBull's comm chirps with a new message: "So? What do we know? Kill or jump or negotiate with them?"
"Speakin' a rumors, the scuttlebutt on the pirate is that she is pretty ruthless. Ain't care who she hits and tougher than an elemental's backside."
"They are requesting an update, wanting to know how to prepare for our arrival. How would you like to answer? They suggest a willingness to negotiate with us."
"Sounds like th' jig is up," Jester grunts, "Best to get ready for the s***storm."
"They are using text messaging, currently. Perhaps a simple 'They'll talk?'"
Orpheus nods, "Agreed.. both that we tell them we will be coming to talk, and that we keep the response short... However, the response would imply they will be expecting us far before a 'Mech could arrive. I would suggest, however, we use the link to mislead them - both about our numbers and their expectations. For instance, have them expecting a negotiation team while the rest of us strike from behind."
"So, what do you want it to say? Needs to be terse."
Orpheus suggests, "What about: Negotiation. Details to come."
"Works for me," Jester grunts in reply.
A reply comes a few minutes later: "Good! Their DS is coming down. I will have Lefty prep the vehicles so we are ready the min a deal is done"
Everyone's comms chirp. The Jenni Lynne will be on the ground in about thirty minutes, according to the captain.
Kyle thanks his contact and heads out.
Kyle meets back up with the group at wherever their designated rendezvous point was carrying a 12 pack of beer and a grocery bag of snacks. He somehow looks cleaner than when he left despite filth of the moon.
"Hey Everyone, I brought snacks!" He takes a beer for himself and sets the rest on the table. "Any luck with the questioning?"
Not really waiting for a response he lets the party know what he found out. "So, I heard some interesting things while I was out. Turns out the CyBulls didn't just kidnap the kids to have hostages. They want to trade them for passage off world. Word on the street is that they want to meet up with a pirate queen and join her crew. Goes by Woku. Anyways, they are being held at a place called J33. Its not far from here. From what I can tell their load out is pretty minimal. Some souped up industrial mechs, a Shrek, maybe a washed out academy pilot. Nothing you guys can't handle."
"That sounds like military intelligence to me," Jester snorts, "I think we may be in for more than you think.'
"Military intelligence, out here in the middle of nowhere? Doesn't seem likely. There would have to be a couple of neurons native to this place for them to be able to do anything."
"As you will." He types in "They'll talk. They'll be along."
So, are we looking at ambushing them, or just distracting them, while we recover the families
"Why not make an honest deal and make some profit?"
Kyle looks slightly confused. "I'm sorry, I'm slightly out of the loop. Who are we making a deal with, and what for?"
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"Ooooo a Shrek?! Like, a real live honest-to-goodness Shrek? Oh, man, those are sooo shiny!
And deadly. No, srsly, this thing can scrap a 'mech at a whole bunch of paces. If we even try to get in a stand-up firefight with that thing, we're gonna leave with more holes than we came in with.
That thing has -no- weakness at long range. I mean, like, the only thing it fears is something fast that would quickly close to CQC...but where would we find something like that?!"
She taps her cheek cutely.
"Anyway, ya, wiz-bang work, KL. I say we smash 'em straight-up once we can get in a jumpseat."
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"You can't make a deal with pirate scum like that Chang," Jester shakes his head, "I say we do as the lady says here...starting with that Shrek!"
"Then we should try to spend some time under that hood . . .." He taps his toolbox as he makes that comment.
Titian shrugs and adds."A Schrek is a very good tank, but it has a few weaknesses. It relies on a clear line of sight and of course on distance. It of course depends on the terrain, but if you manage to get under its PPC range, or even worse behind it.... it is a piece of junk.