Setup

McVay introduces us to Setup. Their leader is Duke, he's very friendly and seem like a very supportive guy. There's also a couple of stormers; Marble and Blackeye and the usual ebon healer; Liz Armstrong (River). The pilots of "The Deluxe" (the dropship) is Kirsten Drummond and Steve Redding your average pilot geeks. And then there's a couple of on/off members of the team - two scouts/snipers for support and ... well scouting.
After a short introduction we're told that we're leaving tonight at 8 - so we just got time to pack our stuff and get going - I call Azer to tell him where we are and then I grab Red and head home to pack - my first real off world trip!
2 days later we arrive at our foldship "Orion" - I'm totally hyped and can't wait to try this - so it's a major disappointment when nothing happens - well it does - I just don't notice 'cause I'm busy feeding Red or something!
We talk a lot with the other team, they're all really friendly and tell us that McVay's a really good boss - he can be really nasty but he always pay good money and most of the BPNs are really interesting.
"The Deluxe" takes both teams to the surface of the planet and Kirsten gives us very clear instructions on what to do and how to do it - just in case and all that! Soon we're heading into a very dense forest - the two scouts are way ahead of us to see if they can spot some of our little critters. Red is eager to hunt and I sense that the rest of the team is infected by his energy and enthusiasm - this could actually be a lot of fun!
When we finally get our destination from the scouts we move out in two directions. Setup is going to catch the meanie critter and we're to catch the not so mean critter. After several hours of almost running through the woods I'm bust! I think half my hair is missing and twigs and leafs has somehow gotten under my suit! I'm just happy my suit is light - AAA is sweating like pigs...
In the middle of the night we get a call from Kirsten - she's lost her connection to The Orion and she can't seem to reestablish any kind of communication. She asks us to come back now since she doesn't know if she'll suddenly be called out to help. So we pack our stuff and sprint through dry twigs and leafs again - this is the last time I'll do a BPN like this - give me Downtown anytime!
When we arrive back at The Deluxe Kirsten is frantic - The Orion has been shot out of orbit, Sean says he noticed a bright flash on the sky earlier and we all let our eyes wander to the sky where the stars are all we can see. Kirsten tells us that her scans show unknown ships by the nearest planet, she can take us there but we wouldn't know who'd welcome us. Duke takes charge and asks us to pack all our stuff back in the dropship and then we'll take our chances and move to another location on the planet. Kirsten readies the ship and the rest of us stash everything as fast as we can. Duke tells us to prepare to dig ourselves into the ground for as long as it takes...he's done this before but we'll have to split up to improve our chances of survival - and no radiocontact - at all! We'll just have to wait for help. I can feel the panic taking over my body - the thought of lying in a pit for weeks - maybe longer is making me dizzy. Red looks at me and whine and I pat his head for comfort - I feel better already.
When Kirsten throws The Deluxe down in a small clearing we move as fast as we can out of visual range of the ship. Setup stays for a few minutes to camouflage the ship, we take McVays assistants with us - all their research and notes are extremely important so we just grab their suitcases and run.
When we've moved far enough away from the ship we sit down to rest. G'rr suggest that we hide in the trees - when we find a suitable place. We decide to use Red as our message carrier and we send him to Setup with a note. He returns with word from Duke saying the snipers are gone and the rest of the team is with him.
Blue thinks someone has set down on the planet and he takes Sean and Red with him to have a look, that way they can send back Red if there's trouble.
Suddenly Red comes walking into our camp again without Blue and Sean, I'm guessing something has happened and I'm already beginning to worry when McVays assistant tells us that we're to return to The Deluxe for debriefing - huh?
It turns out that this entire trip was a setup from McVay. He had created a new stormer morph /variant and since he needed another team to work for him he figured he might as well test the two things at the same time. "Setup" is his regular experienced team - their real team name is AlphaTeam and they were off course in on this - as was the pilots. The new stormer is a crossbreed between the two new stormer types Xeno and Vevaphon. So far he hadn't been able to make it work but the one he sent after us had the specifics for both types - great!
When the new stormer had attacked Sean, Blue and Red, both Red and Blue had refused to attack it since it obviously was a Karma product - our two stormers could smell the Karma products used to create this thing. When Sean had guessed that, he'd quickly figured out that something fishy was going on.
When the new stormer variant reported back to McVay he decided to call the thing off since Sean already was on the right track. So we were all called back right away - and was given the option to sign up with McVay and Karma as his second team - whoopie!
We headed back to Parr - the real planet called Parr - to take a look at our new homeplanet and to get aquainted with McVay, AlphaTeam and all the other people working for Karma on the xenobiology projects. This feels good!
McVay tells us to relax for a day or two - then he has another green BPN for us back at Mort - something really exciting I hope!

Red & Blue & Green

February 11th 899:
Azer (our weird monitor) called us today, he wanted to see us - guess he thought we'd been away for a while. It was a tired team that met up at his office - we'd just spent a day in CS1 digging for hidden treasures left by "The Lord of Lies" and we'd found quite a bit of equipment which we turned over to SLA for quite a sum of money - yay! Azer wanted to know what we'd been up to and then he wanted to tell us that our first psych evaluation is up on the 15th of february - nooooo! I think we'd all forgotten about psych evaluation and I don't think I was the only one wondering if we'd all be terminated for our small adventures. I guess Azer knew something was up from our expressions so he asked if there was something we wanted to share? I said that our first BPN was a bit weird - but he already knew that, and then I told him the official story about our white BPN - the one with the 2 girls who killed their husbands.
Azer doesn't think there's anything that'll get us into trouble so he sends us on our way.
We decide to go get a Blue BPN - something nice and quiet for a change. G'rr comes back with a Blue maintenance/clean-up suburbia sewers - yay!
We complete our BPN without much trouble - there's a breech during the night but the shivers are quick to close the gaps and get out of harms way. There's some speculation whether the attack was by DN since it looked very much like a bomb attack - but after my talk with Cloak Division it's quickly dismissed - I'm not going to argue with those boys!

February 14th 899:
Today Red was delivered on my doorstep - a cute little puppy - or just the biggest meanie domino dog to walk the planet! He makes me want to hunt big game. I call the team and introduce them to Red. Blue loves him right away - I suspect Red thinks Blue is a bit stupid. The others think we should let Red hunt all sorts of weird dangerous things - just to see what he can do, they also think we should see how much hurt he can take - I guess someone's a bit jealous! I let him lick the others' hands and tells him their names - that way he'll always be able to track them - at least that's what the Karma guy told me.

February 15th 899:
omg omg omg omg! psych evaluation! If I hide in CS1 maybe they wont find me?
Later:
Aced it! No problem "Phoenix maybe you shouldn't do so many BPNs?" WHAT!? I don't get it!!! No problems, everything was OK - no biggie!
When we left we all felt a bit confused - but we all got through without any incidents. So we just went to the Pitt to get drunk and get laid - well the others did - I just enjoyed Red and the attention he got. When it was time to go home I just grabbed a very drunk Blue (God he's heavy!) said goodnight to the others and went home alone - well except for my 2 favourite stormers!

February 16th 899:
Dated Max - the Karma guy that got me Red. I suggested that maybe we could get some special BPNs to test Reds abilities - we might as well see what two prototype stormers could accomplish? Max figured that was a good idea so he called a friend at Karma - I was already beginning to feel much better!

February 18th 899:
AAA is introduced to Morgan McVay Karma doctor - expert in xenobiology and a very friendly person. He'll let us participate in this little green BPN along with his other team called Setup to see if we're what he's looking for. We're going to Parr to collect two different creatures it really shouldn't be a problem and Setup will be there to take over if we fuck things up - great now we got babysitters!

Back in my room...

Bellamie Asylum 899 date unknown.
I stare at the grey ceiling and try to keep the tears at bay. I miss GaNing, I miss my parents and I miss my team. I want my dagger back. I let my hand run over the wall remembering the feel of the inscription on the blade "I am your key - you are my life". The hilt fitted perfectly in my hand, I hadn't let it out of my sight since we came home from Orienta, when I slept I had one hand one the hilt - it fitted perfectly!
I wrap my blanket around me - tight - if I concentrate really hard I can almost feel his arms around me and his breath in my ear. But it's no good - Someone start screaming in a cell further down the hall and I know more will follow soon. I know my team is having trouble sleeping, I can tell from the look in their eyes, and sometimes I can hear their screams too.
My head is fuzzy, the drugs are more powerful now and I can hardly keep my eyes open. I choke down my sobbing and finally fall asleep. When I wake up my pillow is still wet.

When we came home from our first trip to Orienta we were all so scared. I think we all expected something bad to happen. I decided to call this Karma guy I'd met after our TV debut in "Run for your life", I had a big icecube where my heart used to be and I needed someone to hold me for a while. As it turned out he wasn't really interested in me in that way - well he was - but he had an offer for me and my team. Karma had noticed how well Blue had fitted on our team so they wanted to let us test another of their big new inventions - the Domino Dog. That was just what I needed, something to get my head of Orienta. The Karma guy figured I was the most responsible on the team so he asked me to come take a look at the different kinds and pick one for AAA - sweeeeeet!
I was introduced to 3 variants of the Domino Dog. A huge beast - almost tiger like, a small badger like dog and the one we've seen pictures of on billboards around Mort - the long awaited meanie! I fell in love with the dog imediately - its sleek well muscled body and the deadly jaws made me want to hunt through the cannibal sectors with him by my side. The Karma guys insisted on showing me what the puppy could do - I thought they're a bit mad and I really didn't get why they had to shoot the dog - they told me it's because they wanted to show how much hurt the beast could tank! They gave me a brief instruction on how to feed and groom it (a godzillian cans of proteine drinks would be delivered with the dog) and then they told me he is smarter than your average 313 stormer - wow!
I touch the wall again - I miss Red, I miss the way he licked my hand when he wanted something from me, I loved the way he always protected me, and I loved the way he and Blue could look at eachother and something was passing between them.
I named him Red because of Blue - I thought it was a really nice touch to have colorcoded stormers on our team - I can't believe how much I miss the others - even obnoxious Sean.
Someone scrambles at my door and the usual meal with the usual pills are pushed inside - I scramble off my bed and eat the grey pudding on the plate - I really hope we get to go to the dining hall today - I need a smile...

Orienta. Part 2

I look at the man beside me, he is handsome, not too old with strong beautiful eyes. He don't say anything as we drive, neither do I. We enter the tallest building in the city, a building we'd seen earlier but hadn't been able to find. He leads me to his chambers and on the way there, I notice everyone is extremely polite around this man. They bow when he is near and nobody talks directly to him. He opens the door to a huge room where every wall is a large window allowing me to see all parts of Orienta - or so it feels. We're above the clouds and I can feel the first rays of the sun on my face. He smiles for the first time as I climb the window to get a better view and he supports me with a hand at my back so I don't fall. I let myself fall into his arms and he carries me to his bed where he undresses me still without saying a word. Strangely I am not surprised as he undresses and reveals that he's wearing an ebbsuit. He looks at me with an impish grin, slides into bed with me and as he kiss me I wish that I don't have to fight this guy - he feels too right.

I know it's been hours. He's asleep, the bedsheet's not completely covering his perfect body. I stretch and walk naked to the window to gaze at the sun, it hasn't moved - at all! I climb onto the window-ledge and enjoy the light on my body, this is a very strange place.
Suddenly a tiny delicate woman comes into the room. She ignores me and start fuzzing around "my man". I look as she wash him, rubs him in perfumed oils and combs his hair. I put on my suit as he awakens and he motions for me to follow him. He takes me too a very large room where a lot of men are talking - unfortunately in their own tongue and I don't understand anything. Many of them are wearing ebbsuits and I'm starting to wonder if it's some kind of status symbol? He leads me to a large water filled basin where a bunch of naked girls are whispering among themselves. He lets me understand that I'm to get into the water and I quickly slide down besides the other girls. I ignore the girls and look around the room; there's all sorts of men here, some of them look very strange and only remotely human, none of them pay any attention to me and I curse the fact that I don't understand what they're saying, but it seems as if they're anticipating something important.
Finally a very tall guy comes into the room he's easily 3 meters tall, slender and well toned, his eyes are black pools of dangerous. He's wearing an ebbsuit just like mine and as he moves through the crowd he talk to everyone touching and probing their suits as if he's communicating with the suits and not the men wearing them. I notice that he talks to my man for a while and they both look pleased, he never look at me - I'm gratefull. Suddenly the big boss grabs hold of a man. I watch in horror as the little guy start running from the big boss but the boss just ports or teleports or moves really fast - I dunno - but he catches up with the running guy and plunges a knife in his back. The room sighs and slowly returns to "normal" as the big boss moves through the crowd again. I slip a little bit further into the water and wait for the big guy to leave - this is not so much fun anymore...

I decide that I have to stay for a while. There's too much going on that I really don't understand and I'm not quite ready to leave my very interesting man yet. I don't know what I do for the next couple of days. I move around in the building unhindered and I figure out that my lovers name is GaNing. I'm with him most of the time and I can feel that it's getting harder for me to remember why I'm here - I just want to be in his embrace floating through the sky above Orienta.
At some point he approaches me carrying a dagger. He says some words in his strange tongue, smiles his impish smile and solemnly holds out the dagger in both hands reciting a verse or something. I take the dagger without saying anything. He smiles and walks away. I'm confused! Somewhere deep down I know I just bonded with him, or maybe I had always been connected with him somehow. All I know is that he feels like a part of me.

One morning I wake up with the bitter taste of poison on my lips. It's very strange but my body isn't affected by it and in a daze I follow GaNings little serving girl into the bathroom where she bathes me and gives me a strange leaf to chew. Suddenly there's a shift or a ripple or a turn in reality and one of the big bosses stand in front of me. He tells me I don't belong here and he wants me to leave, our worlds are not meant to come together and he doesn't want Mr. Slayers spies in his world. Still, he tells me that this tower is controlled by 7 masters and their minions. My husband GaNing is a minion and serves "The Rising Sun". I am but a lowly SLA operative and if I don't leave, GaNing will pay. I'm confused and scared, this guy feels like raw power - his presence overwhealming me. Suddenly GaNing steps into the place? room? He is angry I can tell and the master (Force?) dismiss me, he wants to talk to GaNing in private.
The little serving girl grab my arm and give me my things, her face is smeared with blood, it looks like someone cut her. She pushes me into an elevator and sends me away. I'm having a serious feeling of "body functions - mind trapped elsewhere" as I let some guards put me in a rickshaw and I drive away from the building. I desperately want GaNing to come pick me up, but nothing happens. The driver looks at me and I suddenly realize that he isn't human; his legs are twisted , his body scaled and totally out of proportions, a tail flicker between his legs, his arms are very long with large black claws and his face... his face is very large and flat as is his nose, his eyes black swirling pools of chaos, he is a true demon. I look in the mirrored glass of the buildings we pass and all I see is a Rickshaw with a barefooted oriental human driver and the passenger a tiny oriental girl...me...I'm an oriental girl? I notice it all around me - nothing is what it seems; it is as if people are wearing masks...I don't know if I faint but suddenly I awake in an alley. All my things are gone except my suit, my phone and the dagger. I feel like I'm walking next to myself as I call G'rr an make them pick me up. They pick me up at the station and as I walk I notice people looking at me - a lot - some of them are bowing and nobody is looking me straight in the eyes. Suddenly I'm freezing and I just really want to go home. As we drive back to the little old lady I try to tell the others what happened but it is as if it isn't real, the demons...the masters...if only I'd been able to talk to GaNing. As I tell the story the others look very confused, somewhere along the way I lost two days! G'rr asks me if there's something written on the knife I got from GaNing and when I pull it from it's sheath I'm back by the tower of the rising sun. And then it hits me - the shifting market!!!
I look around, notice I have all my stuff and instantly recieves a message from Greg asking what I'm doing. It's two days old but somehow I know he just sent it and I'm standing in front of the tower 2 days ago. My head spins and I'm about to faint, the sorrow of losing GaNing is too great when suddenly he appears in front of me.
He tells me that i have to leave the market for the 6 masters are looking for me. He takes my hand with the dagger in it and puts it to his heart. I try to let go of the dagger but he tells me I have to stab him or I can't leave. He tells me that we have bound eachother with our lifeforce and I can't leave the market if I don't stab him. I cry as I push the dagger through his chest - and then I'm back with my team. I clutch the dagger to my chest and tell the other that I want to leave now. G'rr is totally calm and asks me what happened, as I try to make this story make any sense I realize I'm still one day short and I just know I have to go back to the market before things are right. I'm so scared!
When I look at the other and repeat what my husband said to me I suddenly realize that I know what's going to happen - and I speak Orienta. The rest of the team grabs onto me and this time I don't even notice that I arrive at the market. The others are here and we're all hit by the memory of what happened that day in Downtown when we killed a Nec. To me there's more though. I suddenly remember more than a year with GaNing, he married me when he gave me the dagger, I speak Orienta and my husband is in fact a demon... The grief overwhelms me and I stagger a few steps before I sit down. I look at the others and see that they all look at G'rr; he has fallen to his knees, his chest is bared and something is crawling out through bones and muscle. It hits me like lightning; this is the 7th master... the 7th master of "The Rising Sun" - The lord of Lies.
We're all very very confused and scared now. We killed a Nec to save some poor girl but in truth we'd killed a Nec to free a demon (and free G'rr from a demon) and we'd helped a softcompany (The Rising Sun) to get one of its masters back - we're so screwed!
The Lord of Lies speaks to G'rr. Tells him that he's very grateful of our help and that he'd tried to return home for a while. Only G'rrs surrender of will had made it possible for him to guide us in the right direction and get us to Orienta. The Masters are not capable of travelling by themselves in the real world they only exist physically in the shifting market, they are the powers, forces, protectors of the people of Orienta - the people brought them here in their minds, hearts and in their every day rituals. The people of Orienta had given life to the Masters/Demons and the masters protected the people. But SLA industries had given Orienta to The Dragons, a team of Necs that were sworn to keep order and peace.
The Rising Sun was tired of watching the Necs abuse the people and destroy the city so they had taken the matter into their own claws. The Lord of Lies had infiltrated The Dragons to find out how to seize power of Orienta - not to take it from SLA industries, but to make it prosper and grow as a part of SLA. Now it was time to wage war on the Dragons and the fact that SLA industries hadn't stopped it before it came to this, was seen as an invitation to the true Masters of Orienta to seize control again.
The Lord of Lies finished his story and we all stood like statues staring at him. He thanked us for our help in bringing him back and told us that he'd left some things in the building where we killed Rain and that we were free to take it - if we dared go back there. Then he left.
GaNing appeared again and this time there was no mercy. We would all be stuck for eternity in the shifting market unless I killed my husband. Silently the team touched my arms and back and then GaNing walked into my embrace, piercing himself on the dagger. We returned to the Real World.

Orienta. Part 1

February 3rd 899:
We left for Orienta. We weren't sure what to expect and the BPN didn't really give any clues as to what we were to do once we got there. "Find and investigate the shifting market". That's it, no helpful hints - no contacts just 6 words.
I've never travelled by train this far before, and the way the rest of the team is looking out the window, I suspect they haven't either. I try to sleep a bit but my eyes keep opening and I look at G'rr who's on the edge of his seat looking at something far away. Greg is holding his sword, every now and then he smiles and touches the edge with a tenderness you rarely see. Jack is resting, it is obvious that he's thinking about our last assignment and how we're to solve this next one, he's flexing his fingers sometimes touching his gun, he nods when he notice I look at him. Sean is sleeping - or pretending to be, his lips are moving and I'm guessing he's telling himself small secrets, sometimes I'd wish I knew what was going on in his head. Blue is sitting relaxed in his seat, sometimes he's frowning and muttering but when he notice me looking at him he smiles, large drops of drool running down his face. Allan is eating, his mother insisted on making food for him, reluctantly he asks if I want a bite, I shake my head. I smile at everyone of them and sighs. This is my team, the people who'll keep me safe, my team... I sleep.

We arrive in Orienta, I'm still a bit groggy from the sleeping, and the trainstation doesn't make it any better. I don't think I've ever seen so many people in one place and they're all running or yelling or selling something. I try to stay close to the rest of the team and as we move through the crowd I realize how much we look like operatives - even in our travelling clothes. We decide to try and find someplace to stay and get into something less noticeable, we have to get Blue out of the way too as people are staring at him with obvious curiousity.
We rent a couple of rooms with an old lady. She seems like a total nutcase and she keeps referring to Blue as a demon. She stuffs our faces with food and tea and tells us all sorts of weird things about dragons and demons and other fantastic creatures. Half of it we don't understand, but it's OK since she probably don't really understand who we are anyway.
We leave Allan, G'rr and Blue with the lady, I can't help smiling as I watch our huge stormer with a tiny teacup in his claw, they'll be fine!
We take a look around the slums, everything is dirty and rainy - much like Mort DT only here we really don't understand anything. People are yelling a lot in their strange tongue. We're often stopped by dirty barefooted children who pulls at our legs or arms to get us to go with them. Eventually we decide to go take a look at some sort of games house. We notice a lot of clean welldressed guys with sunglasses (!!!) entering and our curiousity pulls us there. We enter a very beautifull room with luxurious interior and loads of small oriental guys at tables. Around them is large oriental guys with weapons and mean expressions - bodyguards. There's a bit of shouting at some of the tables when money changes hands but otherwise it seems as if everyone here is friends. When people turn to stare at us I notice that I'm the only woman here, except for the delicate and very beautiful hostess'. Obviously Sean doesn't notice and I trail behind him to the nearest table. The yakuza-guys at the table welcome him and tell him to take a seat, and as he sits I stand behind him one hand on his shoulder. As they tell him to join the game we both realize that we have no cash with us - or at least not the amount these guys spend. Jack and Greg leaves to get more money and meanwhile Sean tries to keep the conversation going. The suits tries to get him to bet his badge, his gun or his suit but he turns them all down. One of the bosses who's been keeping in the background (but I noticed him looking at me), asks if Sean'll care to bet his bodyguard. I look the boss straight in the eyes and squeezes Sean shoulder, if he stakes me I'll pull his head off!
Sean looks at me and smiles and I tell him, without looking away from the boss, that he would regret staking me in a game he doesn't know. Sean sighs and tell them no. Instead he wagers his right pinkie - stupid Brainwaster!
During the game Sean tries to keep the conversation going, but none of the players seem eager to tell anything. I try to observe everything, but the boss who asked for me as part of the stake keeps drawing my attention, and I find myself staring at him most of the time.
Sean loses his finger to one of the bosses and after that wager they're not interested in money, they want other body parts. I drag Sean out of there and meet up with Jack and Greg. We walk down the street wondering what to do next, when a large black car pulls up beside us. The door opens and I see "my" boss in the backseat, I look at the boys, none of them object, I tell them "see you guys later, I'll call" as I jump into the car and drives away.

Rain

The next couple of days was a blur. Most of the time I was in bed looking at the ceiling trying to remember what made me kill the girl. I don't remember what I did or who I talked to. Blue moved in with me - I guess he didn't want me to do anything stupid. I know we talked to the investigators on the suicides, but I really don't remember what we said - only that it made a lot of sense then. I didn't tell the rest of the team what we'd done. I felt bad enough as it was and I suspect that Blue didn't want me to tell either.
Luckily G'rr decided that we couldn't just hang around anymore. The big shaktar was getting restless and wanted to go back to Downtown - to the place where he'd been killed. It certainly took my mind of my own problems and I agreed to go with him - anything to get my mind off Sissal.

February 1st 899:
The entire team met up for a picknick in Downtown - sometimes I'm wondering if I'm really in charge of my own life? Blue showed up driving a huge APC - wtf? He'd been kicked out from his appartment - he wouldn't tell us how he'd gotten it - I suspect he hustled someone, the sneaky stormer!
G'rr was eager to go, so we just packed our stuff and returned to our own little place of horror. Almost as soon as we arrived G'rr started ranting. He seemed as if he was in another world where he could see things we couldn't. Obviously he'd made some sort of contact with the nec/gorecannon that killed him and through him she tried to tell her story. She had been thrown into the White by necanthropes to add to their "Eight as One", but she had not been ready and she had returned from the white as a part of one of the members of that group. As a parasite she'd lived as his gorecannon trying to get her vengeance. Now she'd manipulated us to come here and finish one of these necs - Rain.
We stared in horror at the shaktar as the words tumbled from him. And then Sean pulled a lead cylinder from his backpack and Blue threw a large gymbag on the ground. Sean didn't know where the cylinder came from, only that he knew it contained the most dangerous thing for an ebb user - a DU bullet. Blue opened the gymbag and pulled out weapons, grenades, ammo, drugs and other stuff that might come in handy when you try to kill a necanthrope.
I had to run a hand through my hair to make sure it didn't stand on end, but I also felt a sense of purpose and righteousness - I remember looking at my teammates thinking that this was the right thing to do.

Shadows and rain. The smell of burnt flesh and pouring rain fills my nostrils and makes me gag. We know the nec is waiting for us at the end of the stairway. Blue is front, he might be able to take a single hit to buy us some time. He kicks the door in and for a second his silhouette is burnt on my retina, then he tumbles backward down the stairs while the rest of us throws ourselves into the room. The beast has already taken control of my body and with my stunty legs I follow the rest of the team against a large skeletal humanoid standing above a burning woman.
Sean screams at me to stay away and I try to get near the burning woman instead. Rain looks at me, forces his mind upon mine and for a second I see a large seven-headed dragon. Before it is a large snake coiled around itself and the snake strikes at the dragon several times spitting its venom into the screaming dragon. I shake his mind of me and sees Sean throwing himself down before the nec with the cylinder in his hand, Rain slashes out to take Seans face but Greg throws himself between. The brainwaster fires the cylinder turning his head away but I can see as he drops the cylinder that his eyes are burnt. I pick up Sean and gets him outside where I hold his hand while we wait for Greg, Blue and Jack to get rid of the bodies and blow up the building. My mind is chaos and once again I'm wondering who's in control of my life.
G'rr walks out he seems strange - almost peaceful. He asks us if we trust him and if we'd like to forget this "incident". We look at eachother for a while and then we all nod. We've just killed a nec for no reason whatsoever - we might as well sign our own extermination warrants! Sean is against it at first, mostly because he killed a nec and if he's forced to forget noone will ever know. But we finally convince him that for the sake of his sanity and his eyes he better go with the mindfuck.
G'rr looks all of us in the eyes and in a blink of an eye the event of this day changes to something else...
G'rrs version of February 1st 899:
AAA had taken yet another Blue BPN in downtown, coincidentally same sector as G'rr was killed in. We were to look out for strange or increased carrien activity. Somehow we find a large nest of carriens where the nasty critters had figured out how to use bodyparts from other races to improve themselves. The big mean daddy carrien was wearing the head of an ebon and was trying to influence us to surrender ourselves to an unknown fate. We fought all its' nasty critter minions but in the end we had to run and blow up the building behind us.
Afterward we went home not noticing that we never got paid, never got a better SCL rating and with G'rr assuring us that this one gave a follow up BPN in Orienta.
I've never been there - sounds exciting!

The Sirens. Part 2

I slowly stepped aside opening the door to the appartment. G'rr and Jack was inside their faces blank and scared. The operative stepped past me into the apartment letting the Termination warrant fall to the ground with a smile. I stared at it for a very long time and I could feel Blues eyes on me, I think he was shaking.
After a while the operative came back out. He closed the door and looked at me, then he asked if there was a problem. I was having a hard time answering since the termination warrant was laughing at me from the ground. He told us that if we cleaned up our end of this, he'd clean up his. I just nodded picked the termination varrant up and watched him leave. With a look I told Blue that he couldn't tell the others about this, and we left the apartment with G'rr and Jack.
I went home and took Blue with me. I asked the rest of the team to just let me think for a while I'd contact them when I knew what to do. I'd been looking at the ceiling in my flat for about an hour when the phone rang. It was Sissal and she was hysterical, I couldn't make out what she was saying - only something about Diane and suicide. Blue and I hurried to her place and she let us in, she'd been crying and she was only wearing a thin nightgown. She dragged me to the bedroom where she showed me footage, from the surveilance camera, in Dianes appartment... She pointed to pictures of Diane getting her throat slit by the big Operative who'd asked us to clean up. I didn't really know what to say, but Sissal looked at me with tears in her eyes and said "Look Phoenix, She killed herself. She killed herself and left me alone." She threw herself in my arms and I held her while Blue played the tape again. I cursed the operative for not making sure there was no surveillance in the area. And I cursed myself for taking this assignment. Sissal was heartbroken and as I sat with her, hugging her tight she told me how Diane and her had lived eachothers lives and had used men of power for their own perverted pleasure. They had discovered a drug that made people more willing to do what they were told and they had fed it to their husbands making them kill themselves. They had slept with almost everyone in the building, had made people slaves of their own desires and controlled many high ranking people. I could feel she was trying to make me do something, and I couldn't really fight it. She begged me to take Dianes place, begged me to be her friend and I knew that if I really listened to her I would do as she asked.
For the first time since we entered the bedroom I looked at Blue. His hand was resting on the computer and he was looking at me with the saddest expression I've ever seen. I sobbed for I knew what he was thinking. I told Sissal that I'd be her friend, I told her I'd get her out of this mess and promised I wouldn't let anyone hurt her. She looked at me with tears in her eyes and I led her to the bathroom. As we waited for the bathtub to fill with water I mixed a couple of very strong drinks. I let her drink 3 shots while I brushed her hair and removed her ruined makeup. I undressed her and gently pushed her into the hot water. Then I washed her hair and let her drink directly from the bottle of liquor. She put on a new layer of makeup and let me have a drink from the bottle. She looked at me while I took the razorblades from the cupboard, she asked me to make sure she looked pretty, and then she put her arms on the edge of the bathtub. I could hear Blue tapping on the computer in the bedroom and as I quickly slit her wrist she smiled at me and let me push her under the water.
I returned to Blue in the bedroom. He looked up when I entered and quickly rose and put his arms around me. He showed me the modifications he'd made to Sissals diary and the footage from the surveillance and then he told me to be brave. We called the medics and as we waited I watched the dying woman in the bathtub, watched the last shreds of my innonce and naivety dissolve in the hot water like the blood from her body.

The Sirens. Part 1

January 28th 899:
We were all exhausted after our run and the little social event afterwards didn't exactly help on our lack of energy. It was actually kinda boring despite all the socialites, a guy from Karma gave me his card (Phantom Pregnancy) and told me that one of our earlier BPNs had a D-notice - yeah - we figured that one out ourselves! But he asked me to call him - I'm not certain though he seemed like a real smartass!
Lack of sleep, drugs and bullets - there was no excuse - we needed a new BPN - fast!
So we went to the BPN hall where we got a white one - apparently someone's "misplaced" a dropship and we're to investigate. I've got a bad feeling about this!
We're to contact Frank Sooth in the airport in suburbia sector 341, he'll tell us about the pilots who disappeared with the ship and who hasn't been seen since they left the airport.
Mr Sooth wasn't exactly pleased to see us, I'm guessing he wasn't too happy about a bunch of green operatives messing around in his airport. But he told us that his two pilots Oliver Williams and Mark Raine had taken their ship out as usual but he hadn't heard a word from them since they left. We were to figure out if they'd run off with the cargo or if someone had stolen their ship and killed them or if it was something completely different.
Well we've no choice so we start our investigation. Jack and I go talk to other pilots and the boys split up to read files and contact the place the pilots were supposed to drop off the cargo.
As Jack and I walk around we quickly discover that people here don't like us very much, they wont answer our questions and in the end we have to be extremely rude to get anything out of anyone. Apparently everyone is afraid of the management and afraid that if they tell us too much they might get kicked out - Great!
We decide to go talk to the wives; Sissal Williams who I talk to and Diane Raine, Jacks problem. Sissal tells me that Diane is a real slut sleeping with anything remotely alive - but especially her personal trainer Jerome. She doesn't talk much about her husband and I think she suspects Diane of sleepingwith her. All in all Sissal seems jealous of Dianes good looks and the way she can get anyone she wants.
Jack talks to Diane and when we meet afterward he seems very upset and rather confused - apparently Diane tried to seduce him while telling him what a wonderful wife and mother she is.
Sweet!
January 29th 899:
We meet up at G'rrs place. Blue and I decide to take a look around the cargo bays and talk to the people there. G'rr and Jack goes down to talk to the wives and Sean and Gregg goes down to look some more at the where the cargo was supposed to be delivered.
After a while I get a call from a very panicked G'rr. He wont tell me anything over the phone but asks if we could please come to Dianes appartment. We hurry there and is met by a very upset G'rr and Jack who's completely oblivious to our presence. He mutters to himself, rubbing his hands against his thighs and in his eyes is a crazy sheen. On the bed is Diane - she's tied up gagged and bloody. Blue and I stare at her for several seconds and then we turn to G'rr. G'rr was very confused by everything, apparently he'd fainted and when he woke up Jack had been fighting Diane. G'rr had helped Jack offcourse but he wasn't sure what had happened. Jack had said something about her influencing his mind making him do things he didn't want to and apparently she'd asked him to do something bad. I knew we couldn't keep her tied up like that - I don't know enough of Jack to trust his sanity. So I decided to have a little talk with Diane. I posted Blue at the door and asked that he kept everyone out.
I gave Diane a shot of Honesty and then I asked her a few questions. She wasn't very cooperative and kept telling me that we'd be in real trouble because she had friends with power and that they were on their way. She refused to answer my questions and I was already pondering my new carreer as a shiver when someone was at the door.
Blue asked me to come out and since this guy insisted that he enter the apartment I came out and closed the door behind me. Outside was an old operative, SCL 5, Blitzer - angry looking! He told me to piss of and let him sort this out. And I told him that it really wasn't possible since I had an ongoing investigation and my main suspect was in the apartment. He didn't really care what I was doing he wanted me out of the way now... or else! And then he pulled out his Blitzer and pointed it at my face. Nothing in school had ever prepared me for this - I was speechless. I wanted to say that you can't just kill people like this but no words would come out of my mouth. Blue pointed out that you just can't kill other operatives and the guy just looked at him, pushed a few buttons on his wrist and handed Blue a termination varrant with my name on it.

First sighting...part 4

We run almost before we hit ground and as we follow G'rr towards a possible "safe place" the first psycho war-vet is opening fire. I thank whoever invented UV as I'm hit in the chest by a high caliber explosive bullet. I spin around myself by the force of the impact but continues to run I knew this guy'd kill me if he get the chance! Luckily some carriens find the war-vet very interesting and he's forced to handle them before he can do something about us - unluckily those carriens of his has friends who'd like to eat us for supper! At this moment I'm realizing I must be a complete and utter moron to agree to an assignment like this!
The boys spread out to stop the carriens and I sprint towards a manhole so that we might get away from the surface and this arena! I rip the lid of the manhole and turn to look for the others. They run past me and jump down the hole - stupid stupid stupid Phoenix! I am looking at a horde of carriens... Blue grabs the lid and I jumped head first down the hole. Blue follows quickly, one of the big carriens had somehow gotten between us and began clawing its way down. Blue forces the lid shut and destroys the lock - that should keep them out! Sean and I deal with the carrien while Jack and Gregg runs to meet that manchine we can hear further down the drain - Blue is stuck since he can't get down because of the carrien, Sean and I. A few insane seconds later all is quiet. Only the clawing from the carriens upstairs, ragged breathing and dripping water (blood) is heard. A quick check reveals that everyone's still alive. Gregg has sustained some serious damage to his arm as the Manchine has tried to take it from him. We patch him up and continues our insane run through dark damp drainpipes.
Suddenly a horde of filthy wild civillians attack us. They're basically unarmed and we're carrying guns and swords!? They call for their protector and master and we're guessing the manchine might be it. Amidst the butchering of some 20 unarmed civillians I suddenly regains all my flux - one second it's spent - the next I'm feeling like I could burst with flux. I look at Sean and I can see the glow of power in his eyes. He felt it too!
We haven't got time to talk about it now so we climb through heaps of bodies trying to find a way out. Suddenly we can hear the nasty sound of claws - lots of claws - lots of running claws. Gregg and I take the back and the others scramble to find a way out. We follow but the carriens soon catch up to us. The biggest of the carriens quickly discovers that Gregg is hurt and they try to get him down, but the frother is by no means ready to give up and he empties his gun in their faces. Thy're still on us though and as I keep one at bay with my claws I grab Gregg and throws him ahead of me as we run. Sean is waiting for us and we quickly kill a couple of carriens before we continue down a narrow pipe.
I take front with G'rr and out of nowhere 3 guys in shiver uniforms jumps out to tell us where we're supposed to go. Obviously they're a bunch of frauds and I tell them to step aside or die. As they're not inclined to follow instructions G'rr lobs one "shivers" head off and the other two jumps to get the shaktar down - the two of us pulls them apart in seconds and we continue running for our lives.
We've got 50 carriens behind us and the only thing keeping them away is our occasional bulletspray in their general direction. Finally we find an exit and we throw ourselves out into an open area where we run for the nearest building to find some cover.
As we enter the building G'rr is shot in the shoulder by a big fucking gun. Who the hell told all these people we're here?
I follow G'rr into the building, damn short legs! The rest of the team follows and as we finally catch up to the shaktar we just see him cutting the head of the guy who shot him - nice!
Blue and I take point again as the rest of the team is looking like something out of Slaughterhouse Six. We run through the building and when we come to a long hall Blue takes point alone to spring traps and ambushes - I know he can make it but it just feels wrong anyway. It's not like I can do anything about it for the chagrin is so much faster than me and I can't catch up. Suddenly Blue comes running back with a giant "thing" behind him. It's a machine - maybe made for lifting really heavy things and it just grabs Blue and start crushing him moving towards some large spikes in the other end of the room. The team explodes in total chaos. We all try to get Blue out of the manchine but it has pinned him and no shooting, cutting or cursing is going to change that! In the end Blue takes matters into his own hands and he rips his arm off at the shoulder and pulls out - cutting the wires is no longer a problem and the team dismantles the machine while Blue puts his arm back on - yuk!
We can hear the noise from the cameracrews and Micks comments and we spot the goal just before us. We run as fast as we can but as we leave the building a wraithraider comes sprinting past us. He screams as if Digger is behind him and as we reach goal just seconds after him, we're told that Digger might have been on his tail and that his team didn't make it.
Well we made a nice second - and no one died - 2 teammembers lost their arms and in the middle of all this fuss we suddenly realise that our teamname gotta be Arms & Arms - Since half the team has lost an arm.
We get our 3 seconds of fame but what everyone else remembers from this episode of "Run for your life" is the insane Wraith Raider who ran from Digger and the stormer team who ended up blowing themselves to confetti along with a nest of carriens. But we got our invitation to a banquet with some mediapeople and Mick. So this wasn't a complete waste!
Sean and i talk about our strange fluxregeneration but we don't know what to make of it. So I just write a short note to our BPN report and let Allan sort out the rest - I'm going home to sleep!

First sighting...part 3

January 25th 899:
The entire team met up and we took a train down to one of the fighting arenas in Downtown. My suit was still a bit hurt from the last BPN and Sean had also had trouble healing all the damage his suit had sustained from our stay with DN. We just hoped it wouldn't come to a confrontation with her.
There's tons of people in the arena and I must admit i start to worry about people getting hurt if she attacks us, I just hope there are more operatives around. I soon forget it though as G'rr and Blue decides to fight... each other! Great idea except Blue is somewhat larger, stronger and regenerates a great deal more than G'rr but it's very entertaining. The rest of the team is keeping an eye out for her as Blue keeps G'rr occupied but as the fight is over we all sense his anxiety. Suddenly Blue looks around and sniffs the air - there's a smell he recognizes. We all panic: weapon in hand we search the area near us but find nothing. G'rr has a vague idea of what she looks like and we ask around if anyone has seen her. No one has but we find some people with cameras who might've caught her on tape. G'rr looks at the tape and spot her in the crowd near us... as he cries out everything around us erupts into chaos. People start screaming and tries to get away from us - her? We try to keep calm and prevent people from hurting themselves or others but we all feel how fear is consuming every rational thought. Soon we find a guy on the ground - dead - he's white as bone - just like G'rr, and our big shaktar is shaking trying not to show his fear and frustration. More dead people are found and we're trying to find a way to retreat. Sean copies the film with our lady on it for later use and as we're retreating, still keeping an eye out for her, G'rr abruptly excuses himself and runs for the bathrooms. One of the boys follows him - just to make sure he's safe. Sean decides that we better take another look at the footage so the rest of us can recognize her - just in case. But as we look through the tape there's nothing there - just white. I'm scared to death at this point and as I look at my teammates I can tell they're not feeling quite up to this either.
When G'rr returns he looks tired but determined, none of us really knows what to do now and as the shivers seem eager to take over we wont argue. We slowly break up and go home - none of us really want to ask any questions - I for one would rather live in blissfull ignorance.

January 26th 899:
Wakee wakee rise and shine. I've never felt so good in my entire life! My body feels... I don't know... Perfect. I just feel like eating half a cow.
I order tons of food and prepare to sit in front of the tv all day when Jack calls - he wants to work so he asks if I'm on for a Blue BPN. I reluctantly throw the few remains of he food out and meet up with the team in the BPN hall.
Greg is totally stoned when we meet and on top of it he's found an entire pack of Flip with a card in it. On the card there's only one word "Mick". I only know of one "Mick" and he's the coolest operative at the moment, but why he'd throw Flip at Greg is beyond my understanding.
Sean returns with a BPN of doom. He couldn't get anything but a Blue offcourse but this one sounds like it'll be hard work; we're to meet Shiver private John Smith in Downtown sector 402 - this might be ugly!
John Smith turns out to be a Stormer variant 313 - a huge 313 - almost the size of Blue. He looks like a real mean git and I'm already imagening being thrown into the sewer never to be seen again! As it turns out John Smith just punches our Blue BPN through and asks us to be in this show called "Run for your life" hosted by... yes you guessed it... Mick! I know this show... it's dangerous - we're gonna die! In this show 4 - 6 teams are dumped in Cannibal Sector at different locations the team that reaches goal first wins! The entire show is under strict surveillance but people often die - teams often die!
The boys are totally crazy - they want to do this - bad! I agree and congratulate myself on being smart enough to buy a couple of UV just in case. I pop one before we leave, together with my usual cocktail of Bass and Pineal Stim - My head is all fuzzy and I'm having a hard time concentrating - I hope this pass!
We're dumped in a large open area in Cannibal Sector 1 with tons of possible ambush places - and as I hit the ground I wonder why I ever said yes to this!