Mission #4. Babycakes On the Clock.

Well. Couple of decent coffees, some worthless bling and some cash aren't worth mentioning. Almost. The adrenalin rush that came with the last assignment, on the other hand, is. But it was the only thing fun. The action itself wouldn't be worth mentioning either.

Jimmy called, at one point. After four weeks. Bummer. I picked up pointy. We meet tool kit and Jimmy at some upscale bar slash coffee house. The boss is kinda in a hurry. 21 K each for a get in, grab, get out-job: There's a bank robbery going on right now. And of course there is someone as well as something in that very building. Both of which we are supposed to aquire. In a very discret way. And in thirty minutes, tops.

Jimmy sets us up with intel on the swat team, we are connected to their communication. So before we go in or decide on anything we learn that there are at least ten hostages, maybe thirty. And at least five attackers. The someone, is, hold your breath, Vegas. Remember him? Anyway, there are two ways in, the roof and the sewer system. The mage inside has spirits patrol the area. Four humans.

So we head down to the sewers where Leo disables their getaway bomb. While we're at it, he suggests a subtle way to contact Vegas first, to find out where he's at exactly.

„OMW babycakes, where are you? ;)“

Vegas' answer is quick: „On the first, behind a cactus.“

What an image. I am smirking even now.

Pointy summons a spirit who digs a tunnel. Quite impressive. But as always: Wriggly fingers creep me out. Of course anybody can pull a trigger. But with pointy? I'd like to go out in style, some day. Not by some weirdo who spikes my mind. Plants thoughts inside my head.

Few seconds later a stony spirit appears down the tunnel. This is just great. It tries to fucking eat us. And apparently I'm looking the most delicious today; it goes for me first. I barely manage to throw it away. Leo cuts off one ear. It's Aaron who takes it out with style. The spirit on our payroll finishes the whole and I give Leo a boost up there, he ties the rope, we follow.

The voult door is barely closed and the place is ransacked. There's somebody out in the hall. Leo sneaks up to him but quikly draws attention. Everything's happening fast. The guy launches a grenade and attempts to kill not only himself. I was on my way over there, but hafta stop dead midrun. Aaron knocks him out cold. Again. This is getting boring. Leo throws the badass into the vault. Kaboom.

Time is running out. I pop some kamikaze. Next room there are four hostages. I sneak into the lobby, get a closer look. There are three guys on guard duty. One troll with shiny horns. Glowy eyes. Tattoos. Seriously!? Well trained body as well. He is not in such a good shape as I am, of course. Shotgun in one hand, sword in the other.

There are four plants in the entrance hall, one in each corner of the room. And we can't see Vegas anywhere. Since we kaboomed one of the security guys, the left overs over here are just a tiny bit startled. One of them is about to head down to the vault.

Vegas begins to text panic-fuelled. I have to include this here: 

Vegas: They are coming to the basement!!! 

Leo: We are upstairs already, no worries. 

Vegas: :) 

Leo: executive office. or financial or whatevs 

Vegas: Do you have the chip

Leo: The one you were supposed to steal? 

Vegas: It was in my bag. They took it to the basement.

At this point a very annoyed Aaron mouthes what crosses my very annoyed mind: What a fuckup. 

Leo: left or right plant when you enter? 

Vegas: The one on the right. The big prickly one.

Turns out, Vegas not only lost what he came here for, he's also tied up and blindfolded. This is awesome. So there's no getting him outta there by some of pointy's tricks. We don't have time to be smart asses about this. The swat team outside is getting impatient. Flashy spots us. Spirit manifests in the room.

We take down the mage, strangely – easy enough. The last one present of the security minimes surrenders. And refuses to tell me where his colleagues are. Since Leo and Aaron are the one pulling the shots here, literally, this is getting more and more annoying.

After Leo set Vegas free with a „'Sup babycakes?“ we head back downstairs. Time to leave, the swat is getting really antsy by now. They heard us on the surveillance.

Seems I am not myself today. I barely hit the troll, who's not exactly the smallest target I ever aimed at. 'tis the same with the guy in the basement.

Of course we leave safe and sound with the packages. And the loot. Aaron calls Jimmy. Meeting point is some coffee shop in Beverly Hills. Vegas is not so happy about us taking him to Jimmy's. I cuff him and I don't give a fuck that this won't keep him from fucking with me.… yeah. I am that pissed.

At least The Fat Turky has real coffee. With my performance today, this is only cold comfort. But since the only thing better than some black and strong is some amber and stronger it'll hafta do.

Jimmy's pleased, but „Good work, Dudes“, seriously!? Who cares. It's a thousand each from the bags and the 21K.

Water Down The River

Its December. Almost christmas. Or whatever people celebrate these days. Did some training the last couple weeks. Fighting, combat training. Met some old colleagues. None of them had any work though. McNullty hasn't called so far. I haven't spend much of the money, since I am not stupid.

I wonder what pointy and tool kit are up to these days. Probably getting wasted and/or lost with some spell books or spirits hop hop or whatnot.








 

Mission #3. The Silver Bullet.

Killed a werewolf. A friggin furry beast. Suppose I have to reconsider my list of most unwanted creatures. Anything pointy is #two from now on. Arrogant sonovabitch. Didn't like his silver, though. So the fairy tales are indeed correct.

Anyhoo. Jimmy. Jimmy McNullty. Old McDonald had a farm. Heeyah-heeyah-ho. … I feel Indiana-Jonish. So I still am a wee bit beside my usual, great self. Should've kept some whisky around. I'd give Leofwyr's left leg for a bottle of a decent malt right now. Thank the gods he can't read this. I think he'll be pissed.

We met Jimmy couple days ago, november 20^th. In a bar which is called Home of the Brave. No shit. … How am I supposed to write this shit down, when alomst every detail is an invite to be … whatever. 

Jimmy is late. The meet finally takes palce in the vip section. He says he requires „professional assistance“. Says he doesnt need killers. Says he needs men who are able to do dangerous stuff discretely. I should staple my right eyebrow to my receding hairline. 

The target's name rolls right of your tongue. Hosé Carrero. Carrero is retired, allegedly, and was last located in NorCalina. I remember some of it. Supposed to be sort of place for the retired. 

Jimmy wants Hosé. Alive. Wants to ask him some questions. We're supposed to get him. But without any info on his emmo, his whereabouts, his contacts, his whatever. We leave with nothing but the labels „assassin“ and „big shot“. Our contact is a hacker, again. Vegas. 

Redding looks like A Fistful Dollars meets TWD. Electricity off, stations for horses, you name it. Our first stop is a drug store. A literal one. „The Land of the Free“. Leo and Aaron do the talking here. I cover the exit but in the end I tend to be curious so I take a look around. One jar says „The Yellow Brick Road“. I. am. Not. Kidding.

This place (Redding, not the store) is run by two groups. The elves and the Chinese Triad. Since I am not very fond of pointies, I stay in the car while Leo and Aaron go talk to them.

One of the Jacked Ups tells Aaron, that Hosé fucked up the chinese. Killed bout 50 guys. We decide to set up surveillance at the free country. So its hide and seek for a while. Until there's a big van. We wait until everybodys gone. There is some wolf thingy in the basement. Aaron doesn't like it. This looks like some worship place. I remember something liek this. Lone Star had this incident. Dozens of agents dead.

So we have to deal with a werewolf. Awesome. We need silver. Vegas helps us out. He doesnt want anything in return. This is weird. He even has some spanish dude with a workshop on speed dial. Leo manages to manufacture some silver bullets. And a collar and handcuffs as well. Sweet. Can't wait to force these things on Hosé el Lobo. We go to the plantation. I send Leofwyr out first to have a look. It's a full moon. Of course it is. 

Leo and i take out the two smokes on the back stairs. The second Hosé begins ti change Aaron confuses him. I slap the collar around his neck. „You have the right to remain silent.“ Ha Ha. Aaron's spirit just swallows one of the guys on Werewolf's security detail. I call for Lofwyr. He sends the second guy to nirvana while I knock out the no-wolf-anymore. We head back to the shop. Grenade the wolf head thingy. Aaron's really not fine here. Tries to destroy the left over thingy with a huge spell. Fails. Melts the floor. Leo shoots it with a shrug of his shoulders and another silver bullet.

Mission #2. Escaping the Rock II

stupid conference. they couldn't even 
spell my name

It's the middle of the night, again. Mr You-cant-see-me and tool kit are getting wasted, again. The only difference this time: they're doing so on a plane. A private jet, actually. Jimmy Pointy Ears McNull agreed to take us back to the country. Great view from the window. Kept a coffee from the hotel, its devine, even though its cold by now.

The last couple days at the restaurant pass without any further disturbings. Pointy wanted to stash the ork in the freezer. Because of the smell. Since I'm a little impressed by his defense mechanisms and since I don't want to spend the next days with a not just drunk but whining elf I hack up the ork and stuff him in the ice box.


Finally we leave for the conference, leave the guns and the ammo and the ork-gulash in the freezer. Leo actually leaves a note, apologizing for the mess.

Aaron gets a second chance to prove he's worthy. At the checkpoint he confuses everybody, Leo hits the gas and we're off.

The rest is boring. Freeze starts to be all whiny in front of the hotel, since he's confronted with three angry dudes yet again because he puts the "maybe" on the plane ticket. again. What is it with this guy? Leo stuns him, he sags like a pierced balloon. pfffft, he's on the floor. Heart attack. 

There's cake at the conference. Real cake. And real coffee. And a lot of suits, but they're all buisy talking to and about themselves. And there's Jimmy. He babbles on about organized crime in the arctic. Aaron pretends to be asleep in his chair, Leo seeks to impress Jimmy with some been-there-done-that-questions, I keep watching Jimmy and the audience. Can't read him yet. afterwards we talk business. He's interested. He agrees to put us to work and to get us outta here. Got new SINS and everything.

Well. I also kept the Russian 30k. Could be worse. 

Mission #2. Escaping the Rock I

That stubborn, doughnut munching hacker almost jeopardized the whole mission. we left Boris, with his guns, and called Freeze. after some debate we convinced him to meet us at a new hide out. a restaurant this time. thai. deserted, two addicts inside. I don't like addicts.

Freeze arrives, accompanied by two ásatrúarkirkjan guys. So he has a tail. we get inside and talking, the escorts stay outside. i cover the door. He tries a circumventive style this time, but it won't work. since we won't stop asking questions he seriously tries to make a run for it. is he fucking kidding me? he's surrounded by a wizard, a guy with a stun hand and a Troll. I kick him back to his chair but he starts screaming like a girl who dropped her popsicle. The escort rushes in. At my command, Lofwyr follows on their heels. Aiming at the guys from behind. nicely done. They're not interested in getting killed so they leave. The're back later and with company. awesome.

Finally we can convince Freeze to tell us the truth. Or at least parts of it. He owes 400k to the Russians. Ares is offering him a job. the "I'll get you out of the country" becomes a "maybe" again. I knew that guy's full of shit. Leo's pissed and threatens to bust his knee. Whining and wriggling he adds that he's supposed to meet a Jimmy at the conference next week.

When the pagans come back, we make a run for it. Freeze leads us to a second restaurant. polish this time. wtf.

We decide to set up camp. I hide the truck in an alley and pile up the weapons in a corner close the door. Leo takes the first shift. I put Lofwyr on roof duty. the area seems to be clear for now. My comrades' only concern seems to be the number of beer bottles. The voice in my head scoffs that you can't run out of beer, you're in a polish restaurant. I keep that one to myself. 

we hide undisturbed until we spot an ork, who, judging by his attempt to act casually, really tries to pretend not to be on the look out. but he is. Lofwyr spots him, as he closes in on the restaurant. We play a little hide and seek, it almost works but the hacker is so caught up in his stupid game that he lost track on reality. And yells at his phone exactly the second the ork was about to leave. Should've smashed the guy's head when I had the chance.

The ork, however, wants the hacker. Really, really wants the hacker. I guess we all have the same thought: Boris. The first round from his gun yells "i'm serious gimme the hacker" and he's not exactly the chatty kind. It takes us but a few seconds to finish him off. In style: Pointy ears firebombs him, I spike his head to the wall with my spurs. It happens so fast it has to be magic. wink.

Mission #1. The Warehouse

I'm camped out in my truck. It's six in the morning, maybe half past. Turns out I'm stranded on this beautiful, sunny and very welcoming rock. Something happened back home, they say they lost their contract. I lost my SIN, my kinda comfy hotel room, my plane ticket, my everything. Kept the truck, though. S not as nice as my own back home, of course, but it'll do. Has to. So last evening I get a call from this guy, claims to be one Mr Freeze. He pretends to be all mysterious and shit. He knows about my being stranded, and he does the "help me and I'll help you"-routine. So I agree to meet him. At some shady bar and in the middle of the night. of course. can you be any more cliché. 

So i spent some time teaching Lofwyr some new verbal commands. tis always better to have a dog which launches its grenades on commands the enemy won't regard as such.



Anyhoo. The bar. weird place, deserted, no one's there. cept for to other guys. I stay in the shadows, for the moment. they don't spot me right away. then along come's a third guy, stubby, chubby, greasy, you name it. he even has doughnuts on his tie, his stain stings my nose even here. 

he kinda asks around, keeps looking in the shadows. I join the party, turns out, I'm not the only one who's stranded: One pointy ears, Aaron, arrogant, newbie, no idea why Lone Star hired him, or even send him on vacation, after three bloody months "on the job". Thin as a wire. and a show off. wannabe wizard, of course. One walking tool kit. Leo. human. kinda handy with guns. doesn't care about anything, ready to make a deal with whoever serves his interest.Well. Could've been worse.

Donought guy says he has a gambling debt with the Russians. Awesome. Says he owns 40k to one Boris. we should keep him of his back for one week and he'll bring us out of the country. How he knew about the three of us being stranded here? shrug. how he'll fly us home? shrug. he does a lot of shrugging. getting intel out of him is like getting blood out of a stone.


He manages to tell us where we might find said Boris. We head over there. What can I say. Finally some action. Tool kit takes a laptop from the office and in the warehouse me meet a couple guys and even more weapons. Pointy manages to make us invisible. and ends up sending a fire spirit over to the gun nuts, where it hovers exactly above the ammo and the guns: they pop like a bunch of pixes. without the tiny shrieks though.

One fat guy who clearly is in to bling bling has to die. one even heavier dude's our target. he's not at all surprised. I have to do the talks, since tool kit went fetch the truck and since pointy prefers to stay invisible. they keep talking in my head though. its annoying. Boris slides over 30k and asks that I keep the guns. I pocket the money. He promises nothing and clearly he doesn't give a shit about me or the dead guy or the 30k.

Intro. Stranded on Iceland.

I have to start a new journal. Since they shipped me to this wasteland, ruled and divided by the Ásatrúarkirkjan, the usual company (run by an elf, of course) and the russian mob, I don't have my stuff with me. Just my dog, and a rental truck. This sucks. I have to make the best of it. Maybe the hills beyond the slums are still green...

Foto: leoseidel.de