Date 13/02/2060, Location 40.98304, 29.02231

Aswon sat up and winced as his burns and wounds changed position. He steadied himself for a moment, and then took three rapid breaths followed by one slow. He repeated the pattern three times, then paused for a moment, sitting absolutely still. His heart rate slowed and his eyes cleared slightly as he exerted control over his body, and the pain of the wounds diminished somewhat. It was still there – but distant, as it on the other side of a barrier. With a grunt he climbed to his feet and slowly tested the range of motion he had without causing the pain to grow to excessive levels.

Marius, meanwhile, got on the phone to the restaurant and filled in Ohmar on their current situation, but advised that they would be on their way soon.

"So you have a replacement vehicle for the goods?" Marius blinked and thought about what Ohmar had said, then mentally smacked his forehead. Of course they couldn't just get a cab or use a bus to get back to the house – not with sixty grands worth of stolen, hot, very illegal, weaponry and explosives.

"We're ahh, we're working on that. But it shouldn't be a problem. I'll see you soon."

He turned back to the team.

"We have a problem – we need a vehicle to get the 'supplies' back to the house. We can't use a taxi or walk, or anything like that. And we can't ask Aswon's friend in Lionheart to give us a lift back. Not with that lot. So we need to find a replacement vehicle, and fast."

"How about trying to get our truck back a day early – or for a few hours?" asked Kai.

"No, we don't want to be bringing an obviously armoured Russian truck in here, given the tension in the area at the moment." Aswon shook his head emphatically, making it clear he thought this was a really bad idea.

"What about calling that scrote from the other night – what was his name, Emete?" They looked at each other and shrugged. They weren't sure if they could trust him, but he was known to them, and he had a van. And of course, he was terrified of their ghost…

"How about trying to buy a van off of one of the locals?" They considered this, and agreed that it might be the simplest solution. They approached the Imam and explained that they needed a vehicle, and wondered if he knew of any of his people that might have one to sell? He wandered off to speak to some people, and they waited by the side of the room. A few minutes later he returned with three men, all dressed in a similar fashion.

"I have a van, a white one. It's quite large, but a little old. The heater is broken, so it is very cold in the morning. I could part with it for perhaps five hundred Nuyen, to put towards another vehicle?"

"I have an Isuzu Carryall. The cab seats three, so the rest of you would have to sit on the flatbed. It's a good runner though, and I use it for work. I'd have to ask 1500 for it, but the Imam says you really need help." The second man shrugged somewhat apologetically at them.

"Mine is not a van, but a large taxi – it's an eight seater, but there's still a little room in the back for gear. It's done a lot of miles though, and things are a little worn –but it runs well. I couldn't possibly let you have it for less than two thousand." He stared at them defiantly.

The team looked at each other quickly and then turned to the first man, and accepted his offer, passing him five hundred Nuyen in their precious hard currency. He passed them the keys and turned away to go about his business, while the team grabbed their gear. As a result, none of them saw the sly smirk on his face.

Once they'd put their boots back on and grabbed their gear, they left the Mosque and looked around, finding the white panel van just around the first corner, double parked and already causing some congestion. It was a rust bucket – covered in holes and the tyres looked to be in dire need of replacement, being almost bald in some places. It wasn't rigged – in fact it only had a radio in the cab, and that was broken. Marius, Kai and Aswon crammed into the front, whilst Shimazu, Nadia and Hunter climbed into the back. As they started up, the van jerked and bunny hopped a little, and Marius gave a slightly disgusted look as he fought with the manual controls. It appeared that along with the broken radio, the van also had no second gear, instead having two firsts and then maybe no third… He fought against the controls, wincing as the soft spongey brakes added to the "fun" of the driving experience and the bald tires took the turning of the steering wheel as more of a mild suggestion than a directive. Fortunately the journey to the restaurant was pretty short, and they got there in one piece – in fact Marius seemed to be getting the hang of the 'unique driving style' it demanded. That or the grin on his face was one of terror – it was hard to tell.

On arrival, they found the gates to the restaurant were now clear, allowing them to back up to the doors and rap loudly, then reverse in a little as they were quickly swung open. The view from the street was blocked, and they could conduct their business in peace, at least. Ohmar and a younger man swiftly bought out the supplies, opening each box to be examined one at a time before being loaded into the van.

"Ok, first box, here are the sub guns. I couldn't get the Cobras you wanted, but these are FN Eagle come with a built in suppressor and the latest smartlink interface, and three magazines in total. Right, next we have… ah, the grenade launchers. One Ares Antioch six shot, one twelve shot. Both with smarlinks of course." The first large plastic crate was resealed and slid into the van, pushed up against the wall to the front compartment. The younger man dragged over a second crate from the storeroom and swung it round to face them, and Ohmar flipped open the catches and yanked the lid open.

"This is the…. Ah, the shotgun. Again, I couldn't get the Franchi you asked for – not in the timeframe we have. They're not so common over here. I do have something nice though – this is a Neostead 2100. Design originated back in South Africa, and much improved. Good handling, and quite sturdy, and handles the hot weather well. At the bottom here is the Ares Predator II and the smartgoggles and silencer accessory pack. Don't think you need any introduction to them. Oh, and in the corner there are the throwing shurikens. They were difficult to find – there's only twenty, but they look quite vicious."

Aswon pulled up one of the shurikens and examined it. Made from some kind of metal, they consisted of two strips of material about fifteen centimetres long, joined together in an X shape. Each side had been sharpened, and the ends of the strips came to a vicious point. They were not quite the weighted throwing knives he'd been after, but they would be effective none the less. He nodded in approval and replaced them, the box was closed and loaded, replaced with the third crate.

"So, in here we have the silencer you requested, thirty centimetres, counter clockwise threaded, and the scribing kit and adapter. You should be able to put this on just about anything, providing you can get the weapon on the bench for a while. And these are the two suppressors for the Ares Alphas. They're not originals, but made under licence, so they're good stuff. There's also the aftermarket shock pad add on – just follow the instructions carefully to make sure the glue sets properly, or when you fire the gun they'll work loose. And this is the new ammo I was talking about." He hefted up the box from the corner of the crate, a thin brown plastic container that flexed slightly under the weight of the contents. Pulling open the top he showed them the cartridges inside. The nine millimetre rounds pinched down at the neck much tighter than normal, and had a red band painted around the actual bullet. "Sabot rounds – high penetration, very good against body armour. Lightweight still, so won't damage vehicles especially, but great for anti-personnel work. Eight boxes of ten rounds, as agreed."

The third crate was loaded onto the van, and the young man struggled with a long gun case as he pulled it from its hiding place. It was over two metres long, and made of dull grey plastic, with thick reinforcing ribs running the length of the top and bottom case. He carefully lifted it, grunting slightly as he did so, and turned slightly to the side, so Ohmar could flip the catches and open the top.

"And this is the special item for your friend here." He nodded at Aswon. "It's a top grade, current issue military sniper rifle. Chambered in 12.7mm long." Ohmar flipped open the case, revealing the one hundred and ninety centimetre long rifle made of sleek and deadly-looking black metal and composites. It drank in the light, apparently being covered in some non-reflective finish, and looked… mean. There was no doubting that this was something designed with a very clear purpose in mind. The last thirty centimetres of the barrel was a large suppressor, with flutes and vents along the top third, whilst the barrel was hexagonal in shape, and sunk deeply into a sturdy looking receiver with a small fold out bipod attached to the front. A magazine was inserted and two more lay next to the gun in the case – by the size they held ten rounds at the most, probably less. A large scope with multiple lenses was integrated into the top of the receiver, finished in the same matt coating as the rest of the weapon.

"Top scope is a high power thermal unit, integrated into the rangefinder and ballistic computer. The whole thing is cold weather sealed and adapted. British Army – L99A1 from Enfield. Superb reputation. And look here – see this?" He pointed at a sturdy fitting on the bottom of the suppressor." Bayonet lug. If things get personal, it's robust enough to use as a weapon. This is the one that is perhaps most important to get out of the city though, if you understand my meaning?"

The case was closed and sealed, and put in the van, then Ohmar pulled out a credstick reader from under his apron, and he raised his eyebrow at Kai. Kai sighed, and slotted his certified stick, and watched as another thirty thousand Nuyen flowed out to pay for the weapons. Once the transaction was complete though, Ohmar smiled and shook his hand. The team mounted up again, with those in the back sitting on the crates as makeshift seats. It also had the advantage of stopping them from moving about.

In the front, Aswon pulled out his phone and dialled Sophie. The call went through after a few rings, and he could hear the rush of wind and the noise of traffic, even over the shielded microphone – Sophie was obviously standing in the turret and driving somewhere at speed.

"Aswon, you ok?"

"Yeah Sophie, we're fine. We've got wheels, of a sort, and we're heading out of the AO. If there are checkpoints though, we could do with a kind word…"

"Ok, that I can do. Where are you, and what are you in?"

"We're about a kilometre south of the main road, heading towards the bridge. Still in the side streets at the moment. Driving the most beat-up and rough-looking van you can imagine – a white panel van, though with the amount of rust on it, it's fifty percent orange."

"HEY! It's doing ok," Marius called over. Aswon rolled his eyes at him as Marius continued to swing the wheel left and right up to fifteen degrees while the truck sedately carried on in a straight line…

"Right, we're in another sector – but I can put in a call. Just play it cool, and if you're stopped mention my name."

"Thanks Sophie – owe you one."

"You owe me plenty – now let me make that call."

Marius drove carefully, moving onto the main road and heading west towards the bridge. The traffic slowed to a crawl, and as they got closer to the Bosphorous, the reason why became clear. A pair of Lionheart APCs blocked the road, forcing traffic to go around them in an s-bend. Their turrets were manned, the gunners traversing back and forth with their canon ready, whilst the squad of troops conducted vehicle checks. These seemed to be relatively quick though – so the traffic was actually moving at least.

The slowly crawled to the front of the queue, but as they did so, the demeanour of the guards changed. All at once, weapons came up on both squads, pointing at the van, and both turrets tracked to point straight at them. One of the mercs took point and moved towards their van, taking care not to cross the lines of fire from the rest of his team.

"GET OUT OF THE TRUCK –NOW!"

"I've got this, stay cool everyone." Aswon slipped out of the van, keeping his hands raised and clearly in view. He slid clear of the door and used his hip to nudge it closed, and called across the intervening distance

"Hey, I just got off the phone with Sophie. He said he'd warn you we were coming through."

The Lionheart point man looked at him in surprise, then looked back over his head at his patrol leader and twitched his head. The officer came forward and joined his man, still with weapon raised.

"Says he's the one Sophie called about, sir." The officer looked equally surprised and stared at him.

"Hi, my name is Aswon. I'm a merc, and used to work with Sophie. We were just at a restaurant, down in the maze over there, and got caught in the troubles. Our car got totalled, and we got a little caught up in the violence, until we found somewhere to hide until your drones showed up and cleared the streets. Soon as it was clear, we purchased this… thing and tried to get clear."

The officer smiled, then snorted. He looked for a moment like he was about to sneeze, then an enormous belly laugh erupted from him. The trooper next to him also grinned and sniggered, and Aswon could see a similar reaction on the face of the rest of the troops – at least the ones in earshot.

"You b.b. that thing? You actually paid money for it? To a person?" Aswon lowered his hands to his hips and frowned at them – judging that they were too busy laughing hysterically to shoot him.

"Yes, I did. I mean, it's not great – but it's better than walking, right?"

"Oh man, you've been had. Please don't tell me you paid much for it. Ahh, never mind – it doesn't matter. That you paid anything for it is enough. You have been had, good and proper my friend." He wiped away a few tears from his eyes, and looked at Aswon, fresh laughter bubbling through him and threatening to erupt at any moment. "Whoever sold you that vehicle – well, they're probably still laughing too. It's a known vehicle to us – it's a slaver van. Positively ID'd in a number of crimes, and on our wanted list. No wonder they were willing to sell it.

Aswon threw his hands up in the air in disgust, wincing at the stabs of pain from his wounds. He radiated such revulsion and annoyance that the officer and trooper lowered their weapons, followed shortly afterwards by the others. The officer closed on him and lowered his voice.

"You've got problems enough, it seems but I'll offer you some advice. Get rid of this soon, like immediately after you don't absolutely need it. Met 2000 and the local police also have this on file, and they won't care what Captain Fairfax has to say about you." He stepped back and raised his voice. "These aren't the Templars, no problem here. On your way."

Aswon had a sudden thought.

"Hey, there. Just a thought. We bought the guy's van – and we're fairly sure we saw him heading for his house. If you have a unit nearby, you may be able to pick him up before he vanishes into the woodwork. It wasn't that long ago…" Aswon reeled off the address and confirmed the pickup time, and saw the officers relay the information back to their command, as he climbed back into the van.

"Let's go, Marius – and quickly. Back to the house and don't spare the gas. I'll explain on the way."

As they set up and the van laboured up the incline to the bridge, he filled the team in on the history of the van and what the Lionheart troops had said, and that they needed to ditch it quickly. Marius seemed to object, having claimed some ownership of the vehicle already – but was swiftly shouted down by the rest of them, who agreed they needed to head straight back and preferably ditch the van into the water. In the back, they heard Shimazu making disgusting noises.

"What's up? You alright back there?"

"Meh. No. Well, yes, but it's not nice. I just checked out the back of the vehicle for astral taint. I'd say that slaving isn't the only thing that's gone on back here. It tastes… horrible. A mix of fear, desperation, revulsion in places, and avarice, lust and corruption in others. Glad that Tads isn't here… I don't think she'd like it at all."

They made it back to the house ok, and Marius pulled the truck into the grounds, then reversed up to the entrance way, using the body of the vehicle to cover them as they unloaded the cases and moved them into the atrium and around the corner, out of sight. As they unloaded, they saw a head watching them from the 4th floor, though it disappeared after a moment. Whilst Marius parked the van up around the rear of the house, they started to bring the new weapons upstairs. As they headed for the lift and the stairs at the back, the head appeared above them, looking over the balcony.

"Hello, my friends. Perhaps come and see me when you have your shopping put away?" He didn't wait for an answer, and disappeared again. They shrugged, and continued to carry the stuff upstairs, struggling with the unwieldy plastic crates and their contents. Once they had everything upstairs and in as far as the main room, and Marius had returned from parking the van, Kai beckoned to Shimazu, and headed down to the fourth floor. He rapped on the door once, and watched as the door swung open under his knock. The three occupants were watching the trid, relaxing on the couches arrayed around it in a U shape. The man who had waved and shouted down to him rocked forwards and rose in a smooth motion, walking around the sofa to meet them.

"You did us a favour the other night. So, it seems only fair to return it. I thought this might be interesting to you?" He proffered a data-slate to Kai, keying the advance button as he did so. Kai watched in silence as the pictures of a car with multiple shots in the windscreen, a couple of broken bikes, a crossroads, all paraded before him. Then there was a picture of Hunter, wearing the motorbike leathers. Most of his head was obscured by the helmet, but the visor was up, and most of his face and his eyes could be seen. The quality wasn't great – probably shot from a body camera worn by the officer. The next picture was similar, but showed Tads laid out on the floor, the shot of her face fleeting and less focussed, as the officer turned to examine her obviously broken leg. The next few shots showed longer views – with IDs showing the vehicles they had been taken from. The carousel returned to the start, rotating through the images again. Kai turned his attention to the text below, reading the APB with the descriptions of the incidents and the details they knew about the two figures – which was thankfully brief.

Glancing up, he made eye contact with the man.

"I have never seen this man, of course. Just like we never heard a noise the other night. But I think perhaps you might know him. You might warn him, if you knew such a man, or woman. But that's up to you of course. I hope this helps though." Kai nodded at the swarthy guy, who recovered the data slate and cleared the display, then went back to sit on his couch and watch the trid. Kai nodded to Shimazu, and they backed out of the door, closing it gently behind them, and returned to the top floor to tell the rest.

Once they'd relayed the information, they got on the phone to Tads, and advised her to sleep in the truck for the night, and avoid the journey to and from the house – just in case. Tads didn't seem too fussed – after all, she had a bed, toilet, food and water, and all her things – so on reflection it wasn't that bad a deal. The rest of the team got themselves a meal sorted out and relaxed. After food, Shimazu helped Aswon by redressing his wounds, ensuring that everything was clean and properly covered, coated with anti-septic gel and with just the right mix of sedatives and compression bandages to help the wounds heal.

Aswon was pretty spaced out on the drugs by this point, and crashed, so the rest of them organised watches and relaxed for the night, each taking their turns to keep an eye on the road and the house, and be alert in case of further intruders. The night passed uneventfully though, with nothing disturbing them or raising the alarm until about half past six the next morning. Hunter was watching the trid with the sound turned down until it was almost mute, when he heard the attention bell – someone was hitting the call button at the front gate. He sprang up and crossed to the security system, and was somewhat surprised to see Milo standing there – but he buzzed him in, watching him enter through the gate and seal it shut behind him, then head for the stairs.

Hunter headed for the bedrooms, rapping on the doors one after another and calling out loudly, to rouse the sleepers, then returned to the front door in time to let Milo in. Milo greeted him with a smile, walked past him, and then flopped onto the couch, grabbed the remote and started to surf for something interesting to watch. Hunter watched him spread out on the couch, and stood watching silently, confused as to why he was actually here.

Milo looked up over his shoulder, to the watching orc, and smacked his lips together.

"Any chance of a coffee?" Hunter stared at him, and didn't move. His eyes flicked to the right as Kai wandered into the room wearing a robe.

"Oh, hello Milo? Is everything all right? Didn't expect to see you this morning?"

"Yes, everything's fine. Or nearly fine. Hunter's just not made me a coffee yet."

"Oh, you're making coffee? I'll have one too then, cheers." Hunter snorted in disgust but moved off to the kitchen, leaving Kai and Milo to exchange pleasantries. When he returned a few minutes later, the rest of the team had assembled and were sitting on the couches and chairs, yawning and wiping sleep from their eyes.

Milo looked around and asked where Tads was, and was told she was sleeping away somewhere else for the night. He pouted a little, but then shook his head as if flicking away water, then reached into his pocket for a handful of ID sticks. Each was in a slightly different case or design. He fanned them out in his hand, and plucked at them, one at a time.

"Ok, this is for Tads. Her ID is in the name of Ivana Woltchok, an environmental journalist and researcher for Pattersons. Originally born in Leningrad, she's travelled extensively, and has permits and visas for a number of countries in her history. There's details of how she was detained by one of the police forces in a Chinese province during an investigation, and the place got firebombed, and that's where she picked up that scarring, and there's notes on there about having PTSD and flashbacks in captivity, and that it can be triggered by claustrophobia." He put the first stick on the table. It was a fairly plain metallic finish, somewhat rough and looked to be of a low to basic quality – but then it was supposed to have been issued by the Russian Federation, who were not known for their high standard of living…

"Next is for you, Kai. Or should I say Zunduin Khangal. You're a political speechwriter and PR activist, from Ulaanbaatar – the only city worthy of the name really, but that means you're actually a city boy. You've just finished a three year contract working for Yamatetsu, and according the notes on your file, you're actually responsible for certain aspects of the PPG coming together. Now you're on a sabbatical, touring the world and soaking up cultures while you spend your contracting fee." He flipped the credstick over to Kai, who snatched it out of the air and examined it, seeing the Yamatetsu branding on it and examining the colour sheen impregnated into the plastic. When he clicked the button to activate the beacon built into the ID stick, the Yamatetsu colours became bright and vivid.

"This is for you, Shimazu. You're a Yamatetsu corporate bodyguard, and have been assigned to look after Zunduin here for a period of time, following his work. According to the notes, his work on getting the Pacific Prosperity Group up and running put some noses out of joint over at Mitsuhama and Renraku, along with a host of other corps, so it was felt he needed looking after. Being the negotiator that he is, he took your services in part payment to keep him safe." He flicked over another Yamatetsu branded stick to Shimazu, who caught it much more deftly than Kai. His was made of metal, not plastic, and looked to have a sturdy belt loop or key chain attachment made as part of the construction.

"Aswon – you're covered as Obi Asika, a tribal elder from the western parts of Nigeria. You've come out into the world to look for mercenaries to employ for your village. Your SIN was issued by Zeta-Imp-Chem, who are present in some small and limited mining expeditions near you. According to the legend built up here, you often carry precious stones rather than Nuyen, as you've no real banking system to speak of back home. There's various records of you having exchanged diamonds, rubies and sapphires along with lesser gems for cash, in a variety of places along the way – so people are probably going to guess you're sitting on some gem mines and that's why you need the mercs." This credstick was a little shorter and fatter than the others, and finished in an iridescent material with jet black relief showing "Z-I-C".

"Marius – we managed to get a nice one for you. Mr. Hans Schmidt, a heavy lift air freight pilot, you used to work on the north coast doing all kinds of supply runs for the various corps. It seems that you were in public air space, and a faulty defence system fired a SAM at you. The missile took down your bird, but you managed a soft landing, and avoided taking out the town centre. Of course, the corp blamed Shadowrunners, but it was too public to deny, and they had to hand over sizable compensation to you for the potentially fatal assault. As a result, you're doing a once in a lifetime round the world walkabout on the profits, before you have to go back to work. Your SIN covers your implants and has licences that were up to date for a variety of aircraft up to about six months ago." His SIN was a clean looking white stick, made of glossy plastic with rounded edges and was perfectly formed.

"Hunter – you're Ernie Green, a comms specialist working for a 3rd tier company based in the UK. They have some ties to universities, and you're on a sabbatical, travelling the remote parts of Europe and Asia and learning about atmospheric conditions, radio reception and propagation and other electromagnetic stuff." Hunter smiled when he caught his stick, and saw that it was divided into three stripes – two wide in red and blue, and a narrower in white.

"And last but not least, this is for Nariya Hasanov, International Student in her gap year. Studying Economics and Politics, your family is moderately wealthy and operate in international law, and are funding your trip. At least that's what the regular payments from the company in Egypt would indicate." Nadia looked at her SIN which was a rough looking block of sandstone coloured plastic, inlaid with a complex gold design of spirals and a small version of the Egyptian flag on the end.

Milo sat back and let his gaze flit around the room from one face to another, checking that there weren't any questions. He turned his attention back to Kai.

"So, if there's no problems – there's just the matter of payment."

Kai winced and nodded, and pulled out the small collection of certified sticks, sorting through them and started to pass them over to Milo. He in turn fed them into his reader, and pulled off the funds from them – ten thousand here, thirty thousand there – until he'd received one hundred and seventy five thousand Nuyen. Nodding, he passed back the pile of sticks to Kai, and drained his coffee cup, then rose to his feet.

"Well, nice working with you all. See you around sometime. Take care, Marius… excuse me – Herr Schmidt." He smiled broadly and headed for the door, with a chorus of voices wishing him well. Marius rose and walked to the door with him, shaking his hand firmly before he left.

The team secreted their new IDs in pockets, or on chains around their necks, and grabbed their own coffee cups, and smiled a little as they heard Aswon's stomach rumble. The solid night of sleep had done him a world of good, it seemed, and he was much more chipper this morning, though still careful with his movements. Shimazu checked his bandages, changing one or two he wasn't happy with and commented on how well he'd slept.

"It must be the drugs – or my body needed to rest. Very unusual. Normally I can get by on three or four hours at most in a night. Ever since the tribal shaman took me in and started my training, it's been like that. Sometimes we would work for hours at night, hunting and working the land." He shrugged, and watched as Shimazu tended to his wounds, watching his face to make sure he was happy with the progress. "Oh, by the way, Kai – now that we've paid for all these guns and these new IDs. How much money do we have left?"

"A little under fifty thousand. Enough to get on with, but we certainly need to get paid for this work."

"And how much is this job worth to us?"

"Sixty five thousand cash, and two magical rocks. Foci things. Tads seemed happy anyway. I mean she should be – whilst we've been sorting things out this last week or so, she's been relaxing in her moose lair. With some magic rocks, she should be even better."

Aswon stared at him, and his expression didn't look happy.

"I hope you were being flippant there. She has been working very hard, these last weeks, learning new spells and abilities to keep us all safe. If anything, she has been under more stress and tighter time schedules than any of us, and has probably given up more of herself to us, than we have to her." There was a definite edge of challenge in his voice, and Kai raised his hands in a calming gesture.

"Relax Aswon, I didn't mean anything by that, and yes, I wasn't being serious. It's just that she's not been with us, while she's been working." Aswon stared at him for a moment longer, then gave a little 'harumph' noise and returned to his coffee.

The front door swung open, and Marius stomped back in, his face looking like a thundercloud. They hadn't noticed him leave, and he couldn't have been gone long… maybe he'd gone down with Milo to say goodbye.

"Some little shit has stolen our new van!"

Most of the team smiled, and Aswon and Shimazu both exclaimed "Yessss!" A moment later though, Aswon's face fell.

"Oh crap. Crap, crap, crap – that's bad."

"Ah – good, you see my issue then. You can help me hunt them down and deal with them!" Marius seemed vindicated that Aswon understood the issue with someone dicking with *his* new vehicle at last.

"No – that's the last thing we want to do. But if some local thief has stolen the van and taken it away, and they get picked up – they're probably going to squeal to whoever gets them, as to exactly where it was stolen from, at what time. Which means we could end up with a SWAT team or a MET2000 strike force kicking down the door real soon if we're unlucky, thinking that we're the slavers. And we've just taken delivery of a haul of very illegal guns to go with our selection of otherwise very illegal gear that we've got stashed here.

As he described the situation, he saw the smiles fade from everyone else's face as they followed his chain of logic.

Kai pulled out his phone and hunted for a number, then raised his eyes to the rest of the team.

"Didn't think I'd be having to do this a for day or so…. Hey! Emete! You remember me? Of course you do. Well, we've been watching you… and we're very pleased with your progress so far. No no, don't worry. The ghost isn't coming to get you – it's quite pleased with you, as it happens. But we need you to do one last thing for us to prove yourself. Yes, its quite simple. No. No, we're not calling you here to kill you – if we wanted to do that, we could do it from here. No, no. NO! Calm down, we're not going to kill you. You are far too useful. Just get you and your van over here, to help us move some things. You're twenty minutes away? Ok, we'll see you in fifteen minutes, then."

He hit the disconnect button on the phone and looked at the rest of the team.

"Ok, transport sorted. Let's work out what order we're getting stuff moved in."

"I suggest the guns, and Hunter, go first, along with our explosives and other IDs and restricted items. Once Hunter is up at the truck, there's a whole lot less here for anyone to get excited about in terms of people, and very little gear that will cause an issue." Aswon proposed.

Kai dialled the garage, to check on the status of the truck, and listened to the voice babble a greeting in Turkish. As he tried to sort out in his head who was going first, with what kit, and what they were going to do – his mind went blank, and all the basic Turkish he'd been struggling to learn vanished from his head. A comedic look of panic crossed his face, as he moved the phone away from his ear and stared at it for a moment, then he just hit the disconnect button in panic. Hunter shook his head and grabbed the phone, hitting the speed dial and calling in to the confused worker who was just opening up the workshop. He checked and found out that Sasha wasn't expected in until lunchtime, but the work on the truck was all but done…

Kai reclaimed the phone and called Tads, advising her of the change in plans and the fact that they might need to start putting lots of gear in the trailer in about thirty to forty-five minutes. Tads didn't sound thrilled about the concept – but having also been told that both Hunter and herself were now wanted, she could see the need for it.

As they were getting the first boxes down to the ground floor they heard the green panel van turn up, and a very worried looking man peering out of the door at them. He was somewhat put at ease by their smiles, but remained tense. Hunter waved for him to reverse up to the gate, again using the body of the van to shield them from view.

Emete helped Hunter and Kai load the crates of guns and gear into the back of the van, grunting at the weight of some of them – but he didn't ask any questions about what was in them. Instead he asked where they needed to go, listening as Kai described what they needed to do.

"Right – we need to get this lot up into the city, up to Grey's Automotive. You know the place? No, don't worry, we'll guide you there. We unload all of this gear, then you come back here. Marius and Aswon will help you load a second lot of gear, then bring them up to the same place. Then back here again, for the third trip with Shimazu and Nadia, and all the clothing, personal gear and stuff. Clear?"

"Um… I suppose. I am worried though. I have little fuel, and that sounds like a lot of driving."

"Don't worry – first garage you go past, stop and we'll fill up the tank to the brim, ok, and we'll pay. Do this for us, and we're out of the city sooner, and out of the way – and you can get on with your new business." Kai watched Emete brighten up a little at the mention of his fuel being covered, and secured the last of the guns into the back. The green van looked very low on the suspension, and he cautioned Emete to drive carefully.

A few minutes later, they were on the way, while Aswon and Marius finished packing the drones, electronics gear and other spy stuff that would also cause issues. Shimazu and Nadia grumbled, but set to on the cleaning and tidying, returning the house to the state it had been in before they arrived. As Marius was carrying one of his drone kits to the lift, his internal phone rang. He answered, trying to remember not to mentally pant from the effort of lugging the box.

"Marius? I'm just calling to check that you're ok? Haven't heard anything for some time, and time is marching on." He recognised the voice of Georgi, his Talislegger friend from Tbilisi.

"Hey Georgi. No, we've not forgotten you – don't worry. We've been getting ready for work, getting some essential supplies in and such like. We're almost ready, in fact, and were going to call you later on today. We're in the middle of moving some stuff around as it happens – so if I can call you back in a bit, that'd be great?"

"Don't worry my friend, no need. As long as everything is ok, I will just wait. Good hunting!"

Marius thought for a moment, then placed another call, using the number given to him by Georgi. It rang for nearly a minute before it was picked up and the voice when it answered was distorted by some kind of electronic device.

"Yes?"

"Anatoli – it's Marius. And before you say anything – no, I'm not dead, yes, I know people thought I was. I've gone for a little self-employment so it's best for the family that the old boss thinks I'm no longer around – so I'm trying to keep a low profile. I think that covers everything." The voice at the other end of the line chuckled, the voice changer making it sound shrill and like some weird kind of Halloween effect.

"Now, Georgi told me you'd had to lay low a little yourself – we tried to meet you when we passed through Tbilisi, but we couldn't sort that out. We're in Constantinople at the moment, just sorting out some biz – but we should be heading east again shortly. Thought I'd give you a call to find out if there's anything you need moving? We're not kitted out for bulk, but we can do reasonably secure and discreet, either back to Tbilisi or somewhere else in the Trans-Caucas League."

The voice at the other end changed, as the voice changer was removed. Instead of the weird rippling tones of the electronically adjusted pitch, a gruff sounding middle-aged voice answered.

"Good to hear your voice… have I got half a day to make some enquiries and get back to you?"

"Of course, Anatoli – we're not due out until tomorrow, so anytime tonight should be ok. Right, I have to go – our ride is just pulling in."

He broke the connection and watched as the green van drove back to the front gate and the doors swung open, then worked with Aswon to load the drones into the back, along with all their other gear. As they drove up to the workshop, Aswon called Sophie.

"Aswon? You gotten rid of that van?"

"Yeah, though not the way we wanted to. Some local stole it from our house overnight – could be anywhere in the city by now." He heard Sophie inhale sharply, but continued talking, cutting him off. "Don't worry – we're relocating, and have abandoned the house we were staying in, so there's no direct link. And we're just about ready to leave the city anyway – another twelve to twenty-four hours and we're out of here. How are things over on the east bank?"

"Still pretty crazy. The locals are all still riled up by that Templar attack, and we're trying hard to calm things down without resorting to strikes. But they're not really in a listening sort of mood at the moment, and there's lots of calls from the less peaceful Imams for some fatwah against the west. Ain't helping, let me tell you."

"Glad we're not having to deal with that – fun as this city has been, I think we'll be glad to leave this stuff behind us…"

"Guess I'm going to have to wait for that drink, then?" Sophie's voice was a mix of relief and regret – happy that his friend was safe, but regretting that they wouldn't get to catch up on old times.

"Well, about that – how long is your tour here? And do you know where next?"

"I've got another three to four months here. Beyond that? I don't know. Rank has its privileges it seems – I actually have a lot more say in my deployment zones now. I've got enough put by for a break if I needed it, or any one of half a dozen spots where I could be working."

"Well, in three to four months we should be well on the way to being set up, probably somewhere east of here, in the TCL. You're welcome to come stay for a bit, and I'll buy you that drink, and more."

"That's cool, cheers Aswon. Thanks a lot – I'll think about that." They chatted away for a few more minutes as they drove through the bustling streets of the city, and swapped contact details for a number of matrix drop-boxes, in case they lost phone contact.

As they arrived at the garage, they met up with the others and swiftly unloaded the van, sending it back to the house to collect the last two. Tads came over and looked Aswon up and down, and without saying a word just pointed at the trailer. She followed closely behind him – prodding him gently when he stopped to speak to Kai, and climbed up into her lodge behind him, pulling the door firmly shut behind her.

In the back of the trailer, there were a lot more 'trappings' than the last time he'd seen it. Bits of bone hung from leather strips, and the walls were covered in chalk marks, primitive art that none the less radiated the faint tang of power. It smelt of incense and a vaguely woodland smell, like that of wet moss that had been ripped up and crumbled between the fingers, spreading rich loamy soil around.

Tads carefully peeled off the bandages that Shimazu had applied, examining each of the wounds carefully. She, too, raised her eyebrow at the pattern of wounds, looking at the placement across his back, shoulders and legs, and wondered how he'd come by them… not that it really mattered. She clapped her hands together, and the sharp retort echoed in the van – louder than it had any right to be, and lasting longer, too. She muttered under her breath, rubbing her hands together in a circular motion and then pulled them apart, a golden sphere of light forming between her palms. She moved over his back, guiding the golden light over his flesh, rolling it across the wounds.

Aswon closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He felt the magical energy roiling through him, energising him and knitting his flesh together, cleansing and purifying the burns and bonding together muscle and sinew. His arms raised from his side, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end as the sheer rush of power sent an exhilarating shudder through him. Beneath the power of the healing globe he felt something more – a wave of peace and caring, a gentle but loving caress. The bonds of their magical group tied them together like a family, and as she healed him, she in turn felt his respect and thanks washing back through their bond. No words were needed – they both knew everything they needed to. A minute later the golden light faded and vanished, and Aswon stretched and flexed, testing the movement of his arms and revelling in the lack of pain and freedom of motion from his fully healed body.

They pottered around the garage, trying to keep out of the way and away from the road, where passing cameras might spot them. Around lunchtime, Sasha arrived in a sleek-looking sports car, and wandered into the office, spotting Kai and Hunter waiting for her there.

"Hi Sasha. Look – I've got to come straight to the point – the vehicle you leant to us is toast. We got caught in the troubles yesterday over the water, and were unlucky enough to be caught near a car bomb. The loaner ate most of the blast, but it was wrecked in the process. So – let us know what we owe you for the vehicle and the hassle, and we'll square it up with you." Kai spread his hands before him, speaking frankly and plainly. Sasha pursed her lips together and her hands dropped to her hips. She looked pissed for a moment, but then sighed, shaking her head gently.

"I guess you didn't plan it that way, and there's no point crying over broken cars. At least you didn't feed me a line or make me pry it out of you. Throw an extra ten kay on the bill, and it's dealt with. That'll cover a vehicle and getting it clean and tidy with the local police." Kai winced a little, but he didn't have any choice in the matter, really.

"And, just so you know, we're probably going to need to sleep in the truck tonight, because of the trouble. We'll stay out of the way, but again we didn't want to try and sneak past you."

"Hey, I'm not looking, and I'm not listening. I'm sure I wouldn't even notice something like that…" She winked at him and shrugged, then turned to the coffee pot and sorted herself out a drink. "So – where's Marius? I can show him the work we've done on the vehicle and let him know what's gone on."

Hunter spoke up before Kai could respond.

"Oh, he's over in the truck – I think he's expecting you, in fact. Just wander on over if you like, and let yourself in – I'm sure that will be fine." Sasha examined him for a moment, then shrugged again, grabbed her coffee and sauntered over to the truck. Kai watched as she sashayed over the forecourt, admiring the curve of her legs and ass in the tight-fitting leggings and closely-tailored top that emphasised her superb figure. Then his head flicked round to face Hunter.

"Isn't Nadia in the truck with Marius?" He watched the grin form on Hunter's face. "You like to walk on the line, don't you? I don't know who'll hurt you more – Marius or Nadia. But I'm not getting in their way…."

Both of them drifted over towards the truck – close enough to hear, but not so close that they had to get involved. Just in case.

Sasha climbed into the truck, and saw Marius checking over some gear he was stowing in the storage locker under the map table.

"Hey there, slick. Want me to show you what I've done to make your baby purr?"

Marius turned to face her, a grin of welcome freezing on his face a second after it had formed as he heard a voice behind him.

"What is she doing here?"

"Nadia… it's her garage. Of course she needs to be here."

The conversation went downhill from there. Nadia clearly saw the garage owner as a threat to her boyfriend, and descended into a series of bitchy and cutting comments. Sasha in turn with the experience and maturity of her age, rose to the challenge with a series of cutting retorts and put-downs that only enraged Nadia further. Marius was caught between them, trying to act as the voice of reason and reconciliation, and mostly being ignored by both of them. Tempted as he was to grab their heads and bash them together, while he thought he might be physically capable, he knew he wouldn't get away with it.

As the comments flew back and forth, Nadia looked to be closer and closer to losing her temper, and Marius wondered just what kind of shopping trip it was going to take to sort this one out. But then Sasha made a comment and appeared to over-extended slightly.

"That's ok, dear. I can imagine why you're so confused. After all, I doubt you know what's even going on here, do you. You don't even know why we've had to change this wiring loom for a GRPE cradle do you?" The sneer on her voice made it clear that she felt confident that Nadia had no idea what she was talking about. Of course, Sasha was unaware that Nadia had grown up working in a family that ran an extensive courier and delivery company.

"Of course I do – it's obvious. You don't want to be using the traditional steel-cored cradle this close to the power amp in bay 2, especially not when you're installing photo-voltaic paints. Otherwise, whenever you're transmitting, you'll get a radial hue on the outside of the vehicle from the EM leak. Any fool would know that. Of course, if you were a real expert, you'd see that your monkeys have installed it upside down, and the first time we hit a hard drop, there's a good chance the clip will work loose and the loom will go flapping around all over the place."

Both Marius and Sasha looked at the cradle closely – only then spotting that she was entirely right. Sasha snorted, but declined to answer. Instead she turned on her heel and jumped down from the back of the truck, whilst Nadia crossed her arms in defiance behind her, challenging her to say anything further.

As Sasha walked past Kai and Hunter, she saw the grin on his face.

"I hope you sleep with one eye open, Hunter…."