| From: | Mike Goldberg <michael.goldberg@*******.COM> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Midnight's masquerade (part one) |
| Date: | Sun, 14 Sep 1997 15:04:07 MST |
>>>>>[ It's turning into a fun night.
+++++ begin feed.
You see a dark shadow in one corner of a barren apartment. The
synthetic rug is threadbare and the paint is coming off the walls in
chip segments. The polyplastic serves to keep people from seeing in,
but nothing more. The shadow moves. It's a man you think, wearing
full urban camouflage. There is a Colt Manhunter and a Franchi
SPAS-22 next to him. He is thoroughly cleaning the Colt. As he is
putting the pistol back together, there is a soft knock at the door.
The man grabs the rifle and says, "It's open."
The door opens and in walks in two trolls. The family resemblance is
amazing.
"Been a while, guys. Having fun playing tourists?"
One troll grins and responds, while the other frowns, "It's been an
utter blast, Shadowfox."
"Of course, Whirlwind. Why should it not be? There are no doors in
the apartment. But pick a room, although I wouldn't suggest this
one, and change. I suspect once everyone is here, we will move.
Time is way too short."
The grinning troll nods and as he walks toward what was probably once
a bedroom says, "Time is always short."
Shadowfox shakes his head and finishes putting back together his
pistol.
---
You see the two troll-like shadows next to the human shadow. The
trolls are cleaning their guns. The man is leaned up against a wall.
"What ammo are ya usin' 'fox?"
"Soaker's, Doomsday. Didn't want to attract too much attention."
"Someddin' tells me dat won' matter."
"Undoubtedly." There is another knock at the door. "It's open." In
walks Blitzkrieg and a young girl with him.
Shadowfox observes, "What's up Keys? Blitz looks angrier than usual.
Beat him at another trid-game?"
The girl smiles and says, "Geiger has told him he isn't to go in
tonight."
Whirlwind nods and says, "Wise, yet unfortunate move."
Doomsday shrugs and says, "Riggers will need deir guards toni't." As
yet another knock at the door. "It's open."
In walks a deliciously long-legged elven female clad in black
leathers, followed by a gruff, yet handsome looking human.
Blitzkrieg grins and says, "Now the party can truly start." He picks
up his extremely-battered guitar and plugs it into a small portable
speaker. He quickly tunes up and starts jamming. His left
cybernetic hand clatters out an eerie, yet fitting, drumline on the
fingerboard to the heavy metal that he is playing.
Shadowfox simply says, "Spare camouflage outfits that should fit you
both are in the back room. Afterwards, we have many talented artists
who should be able to paint your faces."
"Camouflage." Easy winces slightly. "Is that strictly necessary?"
Shadowfox raises his eyebrow slightly and shrugs, "Strictly? No. No
one will tell you what to do because we do not want to mess with
whatever pre-action preparations are."
He pauses and then says, "I normally encourage the people I hire for
runs to wear camouflage because it hides their identities, which
makes it harder for the opposition to gain revenge at a later date.
They have to go through more hassles to figure out who was there and
at some point the cost isn't worth the revenge. You are fairly
noteworthy for your looks and your leathers. If they have access to
Shadowland ... I personally like all the margins of safety I can get,
because nothing is fool-proof.
"In addition, I make sure if my runners for the evening do well, then
the right people find out about them without having to do their own
advertising."
Easy nods, reluctantly. "You're right."
Shadowfox shrugs indifferently. "Not dressing in camo has the right
effect for some missions. Best rule of thumb for me has been to do
what is right for each mission based on your m.o.p. of the day. I've
worn suits on some jobs just to do otherwise would be way to
noticeable."
Whirlwind nods and says, "I always encouraged it for a simpler reason
than hiding one's identity. It makes sneaking around without being
noticed a lot easier. Especially if the guards are paying attention
to something else."
Puppet giggles and says, "A very important thing for a man of your
size, Whirlwind."
Doomsday grins and says, "She hasn' ev'n seen ya in bed!" Whirlwind
playfully punches his brother in the arm.
Blitzkrieg leers and says, "At least you all get to play trick or
treat tonight. It's such a drag. I was _so_ looking forward to
going in with you all."
Whirlwind says off-handly, "Ah! That explains why you were so
thrilled when you arrived here. Next you'll start praising Geiger
for letting you get soft."
Blitzkrieg snarls, "Frag you, wirehead."
The gruff human chuckles and says, "It would take one to know one."
By the surprised looked that Griffyn receives from Blitzkrieg, it is
obvious that Blitzkrieg was caught off-guard by the comment. There
is more knocking at the door. Without waiting for a response it
opens. Midnight walks in wearing an expensive suit. Following him
are three more humans (two male and one female). One male, Croaker,
is in his early twenties and looks like he hasn't eaten a meal in
weeks. The other, is in his late thirties and looks absolutely
bored. The female (possibly in her early twenties -- if that) seems
excited and is almost humming.
Whirlwind laughs. "Coming from a dinner date, Midnight?"
Midnight glares at Whirlwind and flicks his wrist. Three inches to
the side of where Whirlwind was a throwing dagger slams into the
wall. The pommel of the hilt is an ornate cross. "If that is your
idea of a dinner date, then yes." Whirlwind almost levels Midnight
in reaction to the throw, but a last second shift of Whirlwind's
weight saves Midnight from having an angry troll tear him apart.
Whirlwind says angrily, "I thought you knew better than to pull that
drek with me, sir."
Shadowfox pulls the knife out of the wall and says, "I can't wait to
see them, either. Spare suits and some weaponry for those who forgot
to pack is in the back bedroom." He weighs the dagger for a while
and says, "Nice balance. Dikoted too. I think I'll keep this just
in case. Midnight, you got a holster for this?" Midnight thinks
briefly and tosses the wrist sheath to him. He then heads into the
backroom. Gunner (the older human) follows him carrying a suitcase.
Shadowfox puts on the holster and sheathes the knife. He practices
drawing it a few times to make sure he has the feel of it.
An ork and a very bleakly-painted human walk in, followed by a dwarf.
The painted human says, "Free face painting in the kitchen." He and
the dwarf walk into what was probably once the kitchen and quickly
set up shop.
The ork sits down next to Puppet and just hangs out, obviously
enjoying Blitzkrieg's playing. A red-headed female comes out of the
back bedroom. "Such pretty toys in there, Shadowfox. Oh wait, I
shouldn't talk about Midnight like that." She laughs and sits down
next to Blitzkrieg.
Doomsday shakes his head in amusement and says, "One day ya'r going
to push too far."
She giggles and says, "Yeah, but it won't be him. When's Quinn going
to get here?"
Easy smiles tightly (and ever so briefly) and says, "When she feels
like it, FireWraith."
---
The door opens admitting Lady Quinn and a tall, Amerindian.
Shadowfox nods at them and says, "Better late than never. For those
who need it, spare clothing is in bedroom. Face painting by the
experts is in the mess. And for probably the first time, we are as
together as we are going to be."
"Toys?", The Amerindian looks about slowly, the smartly walks off to
the doorless bedroom. "Never mind, found what I need."
Midnight walks out of the bedroom passing the Amerindian but doesn't
say anything. He walks over and pulls up a piece of carpet. He
pulls out a bible and starts reading it. There is a knock at the
door. Puppet gets up and opens the door (since it didn't open on its
own). She laughs as she sees a drone enter in. "Hiya, Trax. Been a
while."
Shadowfox grins and says, "Oops. It seems like we are always missing
someone."
Quinn says, "Speaking of missing someone, you were with the
Wildcats? Good guys."
Shadowfox says quietly, "I was with them for four years. I was a
point man. I did a lot of raiding secure facilities, and plenty of
other stuff as well. They didn't like it when I didn't volunteer for
another four." ]<<<<<
-- Croaker <23:44:05/14-SEP-58>
