ATeam-Ch09

= >>>[ __CHAPTER 09__ ]<<< = = >>>[ __RESCUE 2064__ ]<<< =

__ **Chapter Logs:** __ **-- Part 1** **--** Part 2

**Characters:** Nova, Anne-Marie, Glitch, and Tony ... w/ Fenix Hawk, Navajas, Grubber, Judas, Atomic Ken, and many more!

**Summary:** After countless days of captivity in the New Ork Underground, our heroes are now considered the champions of the Arena deathmatches. King Mikrob requests an audience with Nova, Glitch, and Tony -- who are joined by Morbid the ork. Brought before the New Underground's ruler, they find Anne-Marie kept at his feet like a sex toy. Glitch, acting like a child, begins laughing hysterically and gets his teeth kicked in by a surly guard. Mikrob has the gladiators give him their life stories, and sensing the animosity between Anne and Glitch, asks if she wants the decker's head. Anne readily accepts the offer, under the condition that she can take it herself. Pleased, King Mikrob sends the group to the pit and has Anne-Marie taken away. The escaped Sinbad delivers the message to Arden as promised, and the fixer contacts Roy "Burning" Embers -- who had been heading a covert investigation into the A-Team's disappearance. The retired shadowrunner straps on his guns once again, assembling a crack team of seasoned veterans and new talent for the extraction. Fenix Hawk the former Tir knight, Grubber the british razorboy, Judas the angry street samurai, and Pope the combat rigger are joined by Navajas the blade-wielding gangster, Atomic-Ken the idiot cyber-boi, and Uncle Willy the spell-slinging voodoo king. In the Arena, Tony and Glitch are pitted against two angry humanoid creatures with shell-like exoskeletons and retractable spines on their backs and forearms. Tony manages to wound one and beats the head of another to pulp. Glitch attacks the wounded creature and manages to get into its soft underbelly, where he goes crazy with his spurs in a fit of rage and bloodlust. Nova and Morbid face off against two armored trolls with heavy staves, which they expediently dispatch. Next, Glitch is brought out and pitted against Anne-Marie. She tosses him around for a long time instead of killing him, which pisses off the crowd. King Mikrob calls the whole spectacle to a halt and has all of the combatants brought out into the Arena with two armed guards. Once they are assembled, he orders that everyone must now battle to the death -- against a Wendigo of Hatred! Mayhem erupts in the pit as the exits are sealed off, trapping all of the fighters (as well as two very shocked and armed guards) inside. While the A-Team hangs back and Tony dons a dead troll's armor, the wendigo makes short work of the other combatants -- rending them to giblets. Morbid slays a guard and takes his rifle, beginning to fire on the wendigo with little effect -- because the creature's wounds immediately regenerate. Nova kills the other guard and gives Glitch his rifle. Tony and Nova then take the awakened beast on in melee combat, with Tony going toe-to-toe with the monstrosity while Nova continually launches sneak attacks on its lower body -- injecting it with poison from his spurs. The wendigo counters by swatting the elven street sam aside like a ragdoll and then disemboweling Tony. Anne-Marie approaches Morbid and gets the rifle from him in exchange for a kiss -- then she begins firing on the wendigo. Glitch begins taking well-aimed shots, and while he has little skill with the weapon, manages to make some pretty effective face and throat shots -- slowing the creature visibly. Meanwhile, the "B-Team" infiltrates the New Underground with the help of two combat drones run by Pope. They split into two groups, with Embers leading one team and Fenix the other -- taking a drone with each. FenixHawk's group consists of Grubber, Atomic Ken, and Navajas; who eventually discover the large wooden doors to the arena guarded by a whole mess-load of metahumans. Fenix immediately launches into an attack against them -- slicing and dicing with fervor -- while Ken unloads auto-fire into the group with complete disregard for his comrade. Fenix takes a point blank burst of lead to the chest and goes down hard, while the B-Team finishes off the metahuman guards. Atomic Ken applies quick medical aid which greatly improves Fenix's condition, bringing him back from the brink. Ready for action, they remove the great door's barricade and barge into the fray... As Tony tries to keep his guts inside his body, Morbid jumps on the wendigo's back and begins attacking his head and shoulders. Anne-Marie attempts a headshot on the thing, but her round strikes the ork in the chest, killing him instantly. At that very moment, the B-Team throws open the doors to the great Arena and barge inside. The wendigo turns his attention to them and immediately smites Atomic Ken, who started throwing wisecracks instead of lead. Navajas begins to embed throwing knives into the beast, while Nova continues to inject poison into the backs of the wendigo's legs. The awakened creature is momentarily overwhelmed by the attacks coming from both sides, but recovers rapidly and begins to beat Grubber's face into the ground. Glitch fires off another unlucky shot, and strikes Navajas in the arm. FenixHawk, the last of the noble line of Tir Bladesingers, launches into an offensive against the wendigo of Hatred -- wielding both of his swords in an amazing display of combative prowess. He sails through the air, assailing the awakened creature with several deft blows before being torn in half by its deadly claws. The wendigo topples forward -- its scalp and half its brain severed from its body by the elf's blades. The others quickly fall upon the corpse, quickly mutilating the wendigo's spine and skull. The New Underground is infuriated, and both the A-Team and the remainder of their rescuers flee the Arena into the tunnels. They meet up with Embers' team, who also took losses -- namely one drone and Uncle Willy -- and begin to make their way topside. To cover their escape, Burning Embers activates a series of explosive charges he'd planted along the way -- burying the New Underground behind them. They emerge into Seattle above on the banks of Puyallup and the Seattle Sound, where Pope's VTOL awaits with Doc the magical healer on board to mend the group's wounds. Glitch's deck is returned to him by Embers, and they are all flown to safety. After a day of rest, the A-Team is called into a meeting with Roy Embers and Arden. It is explained that Arden received word of the A-Team's accident from Pope, and that Embers had been keeping tabs on them since the incident with his own family. The fixer owed the former shadowrunner a favor, and they teamed up to look for the group -- with Embers funding the operation. No leads came until Arden was contacted by the escaped Sinbad with a message from Anne-Marie. They then hired a rescue squad and went on the assault. Nova asks about Johnathan, and Arden tells him that there was no body discovered -- it is assumed that the orks took the corpse for use as food. Tony questions why he was rescued along with the others, and is told by Judas that it was a simple matter of mathematics -- they were hired to rescue four people, and that's exactly what they did -- Tony taking the place of the deceased Johnathan. Nova assures the troll that the A-Team wouldn't have left him behind because he was such a great help during their time in the Underground. Members of the meeting begin to disperse, and soon only Nova, Anne-Marie, Glitch, and Tony remain with Roy Embers. The A-Team all express immense gratitude to the man, who sites that this would make them just about even in terms of debts owed. When it is mentioned that Tony and Nova were physically attacked by the wendigo, Embers insists that he contact a doctor. He explains to them the risks of HMHVV infection, and how metahumanity is transformed by the magical virus. The A-Teamers become nervous and somewhat frightened of the possible consequences as Patch arrives, dispensing business cards and blood tests. The results come up negative for the two muscleboys, but Anne is given an antibiotic for her gonorrhea. The good doctor departs and Embers throws Nova the keys to the Van of Idiocy, telling him that it was recovered and given minimal repairs to make it drivable. Tony offers Glitch the option of shacking up at his apartment until the decker can get on his feet, and Glitch readily accepts. The offer is extended to the decker and troll thug to join the A-Team in a merger of shadowy proportions -- the answer is a resounding 'Yes'. Together, the group hops aboard the Death Chariot and ride into the sunset...The A-Team again four strong.