ATeam-Ch06

= >>>[ __CHAPTER 06__ ]<<< = = >>>[ __MORALITY PLAY__ ]<<< =

__ **Chapter Logs:** __ **-- Part 1** **--** Part 2 **--** Part 3 __ **Chapter Paydata:** __ --  --

__ **Characters:** __ Johnathan, Anne-Marie, and Nova with Nick C.

__ **Summary:** __ After three weeks of licking their wounds, our trio is contacted via telecom where a faceless voice gives them the details of a meeting that night in an Industrial Zone construction site. They are joined by Nick C., a former Triad goon turned wannabe shadowrunner. Met at the gate by an ork brandishing a large sledgehammer, the shadowrunners are escorted into an open courtyard where their employer and his entourage emerge from the shadows. Their Johnson is a tall, muscular human wearing a maroon longcoat. He has thick brown hair, scarring on the left side of his face, and a pair of mirrorshades over his eyes even in the dark of night (picture Mickey Rourke from //Get Carter//). He introduces himself as Harold Palmer, and offers them 10,000¥ a piece to execute prominent Seattle shipyard owner, Roy Embers. They are specifically ordered to make the hit at Embers' home -- and that his wife, Jasmine, and their two daughters are to be brought back to Palmer alive. An additional 10,000¥ bonus is offered to the person who delivers the killing blow. As a parting remark, Palmer tells the runners to let Embers know that 'Rudeboy' sends his regards. As our team splits up to do some legwork, almost everyone in the group is nagged by the names 'Rudeboy' and 'Embers' -- and unbeknownst to him, Nova came very close to encountering the dock owner once before (see The Bounty Hunters). Each runner does some digging on the names, with varying results. It is discovered that Roy Embers is actually 'Burning Embers', a retired shadowrunner and former leader of 'The Wrecking Crew' -- which Rudeboy was a member of. Eventually, their leads bring them to a club called the Skeleton Crew and a bartender named Sarge. They try very hard to get the salty drink mixer to tell them what he knows about the Wrecking Crew, but he basically laughs at their ineptitude. It isn't until Nick drops the name of 'Rudeboy' that Sarge takes an interest. He sits the group at a table and explains things to them... Years before, Rudeboy and Embers had a serious dispute over the attentions of a dancer at the club named Jasmine. The stripper had taken to the leader after a short fling with Rudeboy. Soon after, the Wrecking Crew was wiped out on a job -- with Embers being the only survivor. He came into the bar one night and left with Jasmine. She quit the following day. After that, Burning Embers retired from the shadows and went straight. Nova asks Sarge if the description of Palmer matches that of Rudeboy, but the bartender says no. Rudeboy, as he recalls, was bald with a goatee -- but would always wear his sunglasses, even at night. The group thanks the man and departs the Skeleton Crew. With this new information, the runners are divided as to their next course of action. Half of them surmise that Harry Palmer is Rudeboy, and that Embers more than likely killed the team to wash his hands of the business. Anne-Marie believes that Rudeboy set up the team but was defeated by Embers, and now he (or someone close to him) wants revenge against the retired runner and his family. Johnathan doesn't know what to believe, and keeps his options open. Anne believes that destroying the family is wrong, and that they should at least attempt to find out the truth before making a call. Nick is strongly against such actions. Nova believes that Anne may have a point, but that they were hired to do a certain job and should carry through with it. And Johnathan thinks that everyone should stop trying to plan in a goddamn parking lot and go somewhere else! The argument ends in a draw-down outside of the Skeleton Crew, which is truncated by an annoyed troll bouncer wielding a shotgun. The shadowrunners head to Anne-Marie's apartment before anyone dies, and decide to sleep on it. The next morning, everyone holds pretty much the same opinions and argue incessantly for a few hours. Nova begins to agree with Anne, but Nick just wants to kill the guy and get it over with. Things almost turn violent, until Anne-Marie whips out her credstick and hires everyone for 11,000¥. Always the consummate mercenaries, this ends the squabbling and the shadowrunners head to the Embers' residence to have a little chat. They arrive unannounced at the Renton home of Roy Embers, looking very thuggish indeed, and try to convince Jasmine that her family is in danger and they need to speak with Roy. She says that Roy is at work and refuses to talk until everyone but Anne-Marie has left -- the others begrudgedly depart. Nova parks a block away in Anne's Eurocar, and Nick and Johnathan go looking for a burger joint -- everyone keeping in constant communication through their now-exceptional commlinks. Anne enters the house and has a sit-down with Jasmine, who doesn't let on that she's already contacted her husband. To Nova's suprise, Roy Embers rolls up next to his car and holds him at gunpoint. He instructs the elf not to speak or try anything funny, but Nova talks anyway and gets a clip emptied into him. Embers pulls the elf's body into his car and heads home. Nick gets a bad feeling from the one-sided comm communique and returns to the house, finding Anne's car abandoned with a single shell casing on the street. He warns Anne too late, and our gorgeous heroin finds herself staring down the barrel of an SMG held by Roy "Burning" Embers. The retired runner takes Anne hostage as Nick and Johnathan prep to attack the house. There is a stand-off, but Anne-Marie drops the name of Rudeboy at the last minute. Embers questions her and is told the whole story. After several tense moments, Embers cautiously brings everyone into his house where they find the unconscious body of Nova, who was hit with special stun rounds. They stim-patch the shocked street samurai awake and have a long discussion with the Embers Family. They talk well into the evening hours, and Roy reveals that Rudeboy, AKA Harold Palmer, set up the Wrecking Crew for a very large sum of money. Embers survived, and burned Palmer's face with a steam valve before blasting him into the machine-works of the factory. He blew the place up just to be sure, and retired with Jasmine after hunting down and killing the people who'd paid Rudeboy off. Nova almost takes a liking to one of the Embers children because her red hair and blue eyes remind him of Flare. The shadowrunners, now lead by Roy "Burning" Embers, decide to take the fight to Harry "Rudeboy" Palmer. The dock owner outfits the group with weaponry from his impressive personal armory, and they begin to plan... Johnathan is designated as the team's sniper, with Anne -- decked out in stripper gear and a blond wig -- playing the part of the captured Jasmine. Nova and Nick pretend to be the only survivors of the phantom battle and set up a meeting, while Embers will launch the initial attack with a flashpak. They contact Rudeboy using the real Jamsine as bait, and set up the exchange at the same construction site where they were given the job. Embers sends his wife and children to her mother's house, and gets geared up to take out his long-time adversary. Johnathan and Roy drive to a nearby parking tower, where John sets up overwatch and Embers leaves to do whatever it is he plans to do. Meanwhile, Nick and Nova head to the meeting in John's windshield-less A-Team van -- with Anne-Marie playing opossum in the back seat. It begins to rain, and the exchange goes down tensely. Johnathan dispatches a hidden sniper spotted on a scaffold (her name was Raven). The team in the courtyard stalls pulling Anne out of the van, and she ends up kicking Nick in the gonads as a result. Embers gives the comm signal and the runners draw down -- only they forget to avert their eyes from the flashbang and half of them are blinded. A gunfight ensues and Rudeboy flees, taking to the skeletal structure of the unfinished building where he is confronted by Embers. While the two old shadowrunners face off hand-to-hand, our team dispatches Palmer's muscle through sniping, shooting, and spurring prowess. Nick gets delusional and goes off on his own program, jumping around and practicing his acrobatic shooting moves -- but Nova and Anne-Marie begin scaling the construction work to aid Embers. Johnathan offers to take Rudeboy out, but Embers refuses. The Battle Royale rages on, with Anne and Nova getting beat down when they try to intervene. It becomes clear that Roy isn't going to win this fight, especially after getting his collar bone broken in a nasty fall. Palmer, on the other hand, appears to feel no pain. Eventually, Anne and Nova just shoot the evil shadowrunner to death. Following the firing-squad-style execution, Rudeboy uses his last bit of energy to tackle Roy Embers off the edge of the scaffold and into the yawning abyss beyond. Embers grabs hold of the edge with his good hand, while the dying Palmer loses his grip and plummets 30 meters down into a dunnage heap. Nova dives for Roy's hand, and catches his arm just as the man loses his grip. The Amerindian shadowrunner is too heavy to lift from this angle, though -- and only working together with Anne-Marie does he bring Roy to safety. Nova heads down to the rubble-pile to make sure Palmer is dead, while Anne helps Embers to ground-level. Johnathan crashes the gates of the site in Embers' sedan and picks Roy up, driving him to a hospital. Meanwhile, Anne and Nova both rush up the pile of industrial garbage and begin to loot Rudeboy's corpse. They come up with only 11,000¥. Enraged, Nova empties several bursts into the shattered body, and inadvertantly causes the collapse of the dunnage. Both runners escape without injury, and receive calls from Roy Embers with an offer for dinner that Friday night. Nick is gratefully paid off by Embers at his home, and told to forget he ever met the man. Johnathan recieves a similar payment of 15,000¥, but talks with Embers about the trio becoming more than business acquaintances. Johnathan takes the money, and immediately heads to Patch's clinic to get his Smartlink installed. Nova and Anne-Marie attend the dinner at the Embers household on Friday, and the retired runner asks them if they've ever considered forming a solid team. The idea is mulled over, and Roy pays Nova 15,000¥ while giving Anne 45,000¥ to cover her expenses in the endeavor. They part ways, with Roy "Burning" Embers giving them the contact number to his headware telephone. Anne-Marie Banning was able to prevent the destruction of another family -- as she never was her own. Nova gets the odd feeling that he "did the right thing", but is sure it will pass. Johnathan Myers finally settles his medical bills with Patch, getting his long-desired Smartlink implanted. And at long last, the A-Team is formed...

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