Guns for Hire - Script Twenty Seven

Forlorn Hope, Night City 8.06pm - 26/01/2016

"So that's how it is yeah, day after next, 4.30pm, we drive down to the harbour & wait for the merchandise to emerge, one of you gets in with the package & the others follow, you baby-sit for 24 hours tops & provide an escort back to the harbour, job done. I should get word of the drop some time tomorrow, as soon as I do I'll let you know OK, at the moment all I can spill is that it's in the warehouse district, so to be fare it's on you're fuckin' doorstep" drawled Dresdner.

Sitting back Dresdner listened to the conversation around the booth,

"If that's all you need I can, for a price, sort out a clean set of wheels, lets say $5K with a full tank of piss, I'll dump it here tomorrow with the drop details yeah, OK then, I gotta' split, I'll give you a call if anything changes, otherwise I'll see you 3.30 here on the 28th"

No sooner had Dresdner made his way out of the Hope than Mariusz, Vrasten, Alex & T Bird got down to putting meat on the bones,

"You know" muttered Vrasten, "If I know Jörg as well as I think I do then he knows jack shit about just who or what the pick up is"

Nodding in agreement with Vrasten's thoughts about Dresdner T Bird order up another round of beers & quizzed Alex about the Forlorn Hope's reputation for being to able to supply pretty much most anything, grinning Alex suggested they go shopping.

Forlorn Hope, Night City 11.23am - 27/01/2016

Next morning after paying Skinpin & eating most of his grapes they set off in the RV to scout out the private yacht entrance to the harbour, since their, with the exception of T Bird, last visit to the harbour back in June the previous year security had been ramped up considerably, in fact, despite Alex's little lost sheep act they never made it onto the wharf itself & had to settle with checking out the various routes from the harbour road back to the warehouse district, with the various blockades dotted around the corporate harbour zone what should have been a ten minute run was nigh on forty minutes.

Not long after midday Vrasten's phoned buzzed into life,

"Vrasten, yeah it me Jörg, OK, I've just dropped off the wheels at the Hope, clean as a whistle & well worth the greens you're payin' for it, I've left the key tab behind the bar & drop location's in an envelope under the drivers seat, catch ya' tomorrow then dude"

Forlorn Hope, Night City 2.18pm - 27/01/2016

Satisfied with the general lie of the land Alex headed back to Hope.

Forlorn Hope, Night City 2.48pm - 27/01/2016

Back at the Hope advantage was taken to restock their dwindling supply of munitions from its discount armoury after which Vrasten & Alex checked over the Chrysler, as Dresdner had stated it was a tidy saloon less than a year old, lifting the hood Vrasten was rewarded by the sight of a 5.4L straight eight.

Inside the envelope there was a single leaf of type written paper detailing the address of a warehouse some ten minutes drive from the Forlorn Hope, after locking up the RV Alex bullishly snatched the keys for the Chrysler from Vrasten announcing that she'd drive, shrugging Vrasten joined Mariusz in the rear whilst T Bird watched appreciatively as Alex slipped behind the wheel.

Warehouse District, Night City 3.12pm - 27/01/2016

For the third or fourth time Alex rolled the Chrysler past the padlocked gates of the former Union Ice House, there was little traffic about as apart from the odd business venture the warehouse district had pretty much fallen into disuse, Night City's new wealth being linked to the corporate identities & money laundering.

As far as they could see from the road the ex UIH warehouse sat within its own debris covered compound surrounded by relatively high rusting razor wire fences to the front & both sides, along the front of the building were several closed roller shutter doors above which were a row of broken & boarded up windows, presumably offices, it looked like it hadn't been occupied for at least a couple of years.

Sat opposite the gates Alex nodded towards the CCTV units mounted along the eaves of the warehouse,

"I'd say those cameras ain't been her for more than a couple of weeks if that, they don't look anyway near as shitty as everything else around here"

Scoping the units Mariusz confirmed that that they were definitely live & who ever had fitted them had made dam sure they gave good cover of the warehouse frontage & the road side, as Alex looked on a flicker of light, a reflection maybe, caught her eye from one of the broken windows, watching the shadows intently it dawned on her that there was a figure stood back from view shouldering a rifle, however as they'd been here for at least twenty minutes without taking fire she guessed they were safe for now, not wishing to push their luck they headed back to the Hope again checking the various access routes to & from the warehouse.

Soon after Vrasten's phone again rang, flicking it on speaker phone all could hear Dresdner,

"Jesus fucking Christ Vrasten, what the fucking hell are you bastards playing at, get the fuck away out'a there will ya, I mean you could . . . . . "

Before Vrasten could interrupt Dresdner's tirade Alex leant over & snatched the phone,

"Now you listen to me you little piece of shit, if you think we're gonna take a ride over here tomorrow all cozy like without having the faintest fucking clue what we're getting' into then you can fucking think again OK"

Before Dresdner could reply Alex turned the phone off & threw back to Vrasten,

"Fuck him"

Forlorn Hope, Night City 5.17pm - 27/01/2016

In the Hope was Jörg Dresdner sat waiting for them,

"Look fella's, yeah, your right OK, but my man, he's shitting himself, my op's unit, he calls & says some dudes are eye balling the warehouse, unfortunately this is just when I'm telling the money that everything's covered, he knee jerks & starts tellin' me its all off, it's only when my man gives the plates of the Chrysler I sus' it's you guys, all I ask is you give me a heads up OK, that a ways at least I'm ready for any shit that comes my way."

Some what mollified by Jörg's explanation, & by the pitcher of beer on the table, the matter is dropped with only the odd dig about fucking amateurs.

Forlorn Hope, Night City 6.56pm - 27/01/2016

With Dresdner having made his excuses & cut the others got down to discussing the likely outcome of the impending hospital job, Dresdner had insisted that one of the crew would be required to ride shotgun in the clients vehicle, with Alex opting for the role it was agreed that Vrasten, despite some moaning & groaning from T Bird, should drive the Chrysler as he new the city streets far better than T Bird should everything go tits up. With everything pretty much covered & the bar starting to fill up, Skinpin, frustrated & bored at his enforced confinement, paid them a brief visit however it was obvious that he was still pretty fucked up & after an hour or so pale faced he headed back upstairs.

Forlorn Hope, Night City 3.28pm - 28/01/2016

Good to his word a be-suited Jörg appeared just before 3.30pm, as Alex drove the Chrysler through the Hope's barricade passed Jörg Vrasten a brown envelope,

"As agreed, $35K up front, balance on completion yeah, less the $5K for the wheels"

Harbour Boulevard, Night City 4.29pm - 28/01/2016

Parked fifty yards or so from the harbour security check point all watched as various cars were checked in & out of gate by the harbour security force, for the tenth time Jörg checked his watch, pager & phone, bang on schedule his pager trilled as a stretched limo eased out of the gate & nosed up opposite the Chrysler, unnecessarily, Jörg announced this was the merchandise.

Tossing Vrasten the Chrysler's key tab Alex walked towards the limo, as she neared the drivers side door the mid side passenger door clicked open, glancing inside she could see an empty bench seat behind the chauffeur, to the rear was a sealed glass security screen, happy that it was kosher Alex got in.

As the chauffeur pulled away Alex realised that her radio to the others was dead, the driver confirmed that the limo was equipped with a signal blocker however it did have a external link to a central control point that she could use, sourly Alex rapt directions to the chauffeur as she realised that this was well beyond the frequency of her & the others short wave com's units.

On the seat besides the chauffeur lay several spare clips for a Hancock 9mm.

Vrasten neatly spun the Chrysler around & tucked in behind the limo as it headed off on the route that they'd agreed the night before, when they couldn't raise Alex on the com's Jörg chipped in that the limo was off limits, unimpressed at not being advised of this previously T Bird kept his hand close to his LAP LzS.

Union Ice House, Warehouse, Night City 5.17pm - 28/01/2016

Under Alex's guidance the limo's chauffeur turned between the now open gates of the former Union Ice House, the chauffeur brought the limo to a halt in the gateway unsure what to do next, stepping out Alex eyeballed her surroundings, everything looked nice & quiet.

From the Chrysler T Bird hurried past the limo to the left hand roller shutter door directly opposite the gate, clearly they were expected, the padlock had been cut & as T Bird hauled the door up it slid noisily but easily open.

Alex peered inside, there was considerable evidence of the warehouse's previous life, redundant & broken refrigeration units along with the occasional dead pigeon as well as a rusting tractor unit, above air handling ducting & electrical trunking dangled from the north light roof supporting steel work. Directly above the roller shutter doors & spanning across the front elevation was a mezzanine floor with open tread steel access stairs to either side, presumably leading to the abandoned offices above. More interesting however was the bizarre sight of several new sofa's, a coffee table, coffee maker, temporary lights & fridge sat roughly central to the warehouse floor.

Satisfied that all was clear Alex waved first the limo & then the Chrysler inside.

As Vrasten pulled into the warehouse T Bird released the chain & the roller shutter door clattered noisily closed, once secured he dragged the yard gates shut & settled down to wait just as it started to rain.

As the chauffeur killed the engine Jörg hurried to the rear of the limo & spoke quickly through a partially lowered window, nodding in acknowledgment he turned back to Alex, Mariusz & Vrasten,

"OK, so far so good, it would appear our client is expecting the arrival of some associates shortly, they have no wish to be disturbed & have asked we keep out of the way unless requested"

At this the chauffeur piped up moaning that he was only being paid to drive & not to toss himself off hanging around this dump, Jörg raised his eyebrows,

"Vrasten, can you people do what you gotta' do while I discuss matters with my friend here yeah"

Mariusz, gave the place a cursory once over noting the three personnel doors to the rear & side wall, leaving the others to cover the building he forced the left hand rear door & scouted out the back of the building, the concrete hard standing continued around to the buildings rear as did the razor wire security fence, although it was sagging in places it still looked secure enough to prevent any body simply jumping over the low level wall. As noted out front surveillance cameras had been recently added. Happy that it all looked relatively tight Mariusz cut through T Bird's com's chatter & confirmed he'd remain out back for a while.

Accompanied by the grumbling chauffeur, Alex, Dresdner & Vrasten headed for the stairs, before however they managed to set foot on the lower tread T Bird's voice crackled over the com's,

"We got company"

Taking the stairs three at a time Jörg sprinted into one of the offices, moments later & out of breath he popped his head out of the door,

"Its cool, let em' in"

Union Ice House, Warehouse, Night City 5.32pm - 28/01/2016

With the the roller shutter door again secured Alex & Vrasten headed back towards the high level offices but not before they'd had opportunity to earwig the introductions below.

For the first time both saw the limo's passengers, three brief case carrying non descript desk jockeys, as well as the newest arrivals, two similarly attired corporate's accompanied by two be-suited body guards, whilst little conversation could be heard Alex did pick up on one of the limo's passengers introducing his colleagues from an outfit called MilKor, whilst this wasn't a name neither Alex or Vrasten were directly familiar with it sounded distinctly jingoistic. Below the mezzanine deck both could see the grunts park themselves in front of the closed roller shutter door, beneath respective jackets were the obvious bulge of weaponry.

In the right hand corner office they found Jorg looking over the shoulder of a seated surveillance op checking out eight or so colour monitors, introductions made, Bjarne, as he was apparently called, filled Alex & Vrasten in on what he'd got in place, he explained that all the cameras were external & between them gave full external cover of the warehouse, this was duly communicated to both T Bird & Mariusz.

In the corner Alex noted a scoped rifle which she assumed was the one she'd seen the reflection from the previous day.

Whilst Alex talked shop with Bjarne & Jörg Vrasten checked out the remaining offices, ignoring the bored looking chauffeur who was two doors along sat in a broken office chair watching some crap on a midi entertainment unit, Vrasten found what he was looking for, the roof access ladder, removing the discoloured & stained suspended ceiling tiles he hauled his butt through & up to the underside of the main roof, once there he forced open the rusted access roof light. From his perch the view of the road & opposite buildings was pretty good although in the cold falling rain Vrasten had no intention of trusting the spindly looking crawl ladder which crossed the rotting roof, satisfied with his current location Vrasten turned up his collar & made himself as comfortable as could be expected & checked in with the others.

Union Ice House, Warehouse, Night City 11.51pm - 28/01/2016

Cold & distinctly wet T Bird was more than happy when Alex announced over the com's that Jörg had requested that somebody went out for pizza, several minutes later the roller shutter door went up & Alex emerged snug behind the wheel of the Chrysler, smiling at T Bird she waited patiently whilst he reopened the gates, blowing him a kiss before she drove away.

Union Ice House, Warehouse, Night City 1.46am - 29/01/2016

Loaded up with pizza, caffeine free low fat coke & fries Alex again checked her mirror as she neared the warehouse district, it had taken her longer than intended but she'd had to avoid a couple of crowds that had looked like they were getting bloody, plus the NCPD had turned her around at one point as demonstrating rioters had torched a local government welfare & food shelter. As she turned the Chrysler on to the main district feeder route Alex noted the broken headlight that trailed behind, she was sure it'd been there at the last two sets of lights & she figured there couldn't be many reasons for driving into the near derelict warehouse district at nigh on two o'clock in the morning.

Weaving her way towards the warehouse her com's unit finally fell back in range of the others, warning T Bird to keep an eye out for uninvited guests Alex made the last corner & put her foot down, T Bird had the gate & roller shutter door already open which he closed immediately she was under cover. High above Vrasten wiped the rain out of his eyes & squinted over the barrel of the Ingram in anticipation, grimacing to try & stop the tick below his eye putting him off. When the suspect tail didn't materialise T Bird let out a sigh of relief, cold & wet he called up over the com's,

"Er guys, can I have some pizza"

Union Ice House, Warehouse, Night City 5.04am - 29/01/2016

It had been a long wet night & Mariusz was kind' a bored, after stuffing down pizza earlier he'd figured that the surveillance goon had got things pretty much covered outside & so he'd tucked himself out of the way at the back of the warehouse only occasionally venturing outside.

Union Ice House, Warehouse, Night City 5.19am - 29/01/2016

Sheltered in the second & locked doorway on the back of the building Mariusz was just contemplating returning inside for a coffee when he heard the other door near the rear left hand corner open, keeping his position he watched silently as one of the suits from the second vehicle dodged across the yard trying to avoid the rain & into the shadows surrounding the disused sub station, taking a piss maybe thought Mariusz, a couple of minutes later the figure reappeared & tucking himself back in ran for warehouse cursing the rain. Professional curiosity forced Mariusz not to assume anything so before returning back inside he jogged over to where the suit had taken refuge & sniffed, yeah piss all right, however as Mariusz headed for the door he had the niggling feeling that all wasn't as it seemed.

Forcing himself not to rush he gave the yard a final once over & satisfied it was clear for the present headed back inside. The suit he'd watched taking a leak was sat back around the table enjoying some joke with his fellow jerks, nothing out of the ordinary there thought Mariusz, but unable to throw off his distrust of the situation Mariusz skirted the meeting & joined Alex, Dresdner & Bjarne upstairs,

"Are you recording or just monitoring" asked Mariusz "cos' if your recording can you wind back ten minutes or so & let me see out back, one of the suits was taking a piss, can't see why he'd go out in the rain though & mess up his pretty clothes."

For perhaps thirty seconds or so Bjarne stop framed the recording back until he found what Mariusz was after,

"Give me a coupla' minutes or so OK" murmured Bjarne as he played about to enhance the image.

Five minutes later Mariusz watched as the suit took a piss but also made a call on his mobile,

"So who the fuck do you think he's calling at this time of the morning ?"

Union Ice House, Warehouse, Night City 5.39am - 29/01/2016

Whilst Jörg considered the options, Mariusz, suspicions as ever, suggested that maybe they should provide a welcome party to the various external personnel doors at the rear of the warehouse, playing it casual he & Alex went to to take a look, Alex, at Mariusz's suggestion, rigged up three crude grenade trips that would be triggered instantly the door was opened, Mariusz, keeping half an eye on Mr Tinkle & not wanting to openly broadcast what they'd done, returned to the upstairs office to fill Jörg in on what they'd done.

Union Ice House, Warehouse, Night City 5.44am - 29/01/2016

With the T Bird & Vrasten alerted to keep there eyes peeled Alex, Mariusz & Bjarne watched the screens intently whilst Jörg, nervous about the visitors two body guards, kept watch on events below from the office gantry, minutes later Bjarne stabbed a finger excitedly towards one of the monitors,

"Bastard drain cover, it's fucking moving"

Following Bjarne's finger Mariusz & Alex watched fascinated as the cover, about halfway along the rear elevation, was lifted clear of its frame & slid to one side, from within the chamber, one, two, three & then a fourth figure crawled out before sprinting for the cover of the rear of the building,

"Jörg" hissed Alex, "Get your ass in here now, we've got trouble out side"

Over the com's both Vrasten & T Bird acknowledged the shout, Vrasten adding that he was on his way down. Instantly Jörg sprinted to warn his client but not before issuing instructions,

"No fucking heroics OK, just get the pay dirt clear of the situation"

Union Ice House, Warehouse, Night City 5.45am - 29/01/2016

Alerted to what was going down the MilKor dudes started to argue however Dresdner assisted by Mariusz herded them towards the limo but not before an explosion from one of Mariusz's booby trapped doors filled the air with debris & dead pigeons.

Union Ice House, Warehouse, Night City 5.46am - 29/01/2016

Vrasten slid behind the wheel of the Chrysler as Alex released the chain securing the roller shutter door, beside him Mariusz ripped open the sun roof & stood upper body above the Chryslers roof SK19G at the ready. Behind the Chrysler the limo's chauffeur impatiently gunned its motor whilst the two body guards hustled their charges into the second vehicle, neither however could flee the warehouse as the Chrysler was blocking the exit.

As the dust & feathers began to settle gunfire out front rattled against the tin sheeting.

Out front T Bird, listening to Alex on the com's ran for the front left corner of the building as the roller shutter door rattled open, poking his head around the corner he could see a crouched figure furtively moving up the side of the warehouse towards him, ducking back he casually lobbed a frag grenade blindly around the corner just as the echo's of the explosion to the rear died away. As the dull thud of the grenade faded he again stuck his head around the corner only to be met by a hail of gunfire, fortunately skin weave & flak jacket prevented any serious injury, returning fire he saw Alex out of the corner of his eye run from the cover of the roller shutter door.

From inside the doorway Alex could just about see T Bird off to her right & assumed from what she'd seen on the monitors that their opponents were coming up both sides of the building, glancing left she was pretty sure somebody was at the opposite corner, sprinting low & fast she headed out to provide support to T Bird & to see if she could reduce the odds.

Inside the Chrysler Vrasten watched Alex scoot outside accompanied by the sound of a second detonation & more gunfire, aware that T Bird & Alex were under fire he gunned the engine & shot forward, to Mariusz's surprise he didn't head for gates but swung the wheel hard over spinning the Chrysler towards & passed T Bird & around the corner of the building, cursing Vrasten, Mariusz abandoning any intention of firing & clung on to the roof of the Chrysler for all he was worth.

Alex, keeping low, returned fire towards the figure hunkering down at the right hand corner, she new she'd hit him in the leg at least twice but the bastard just wouldn't die & kept firing back, out of the corner of her eye she saw Vrasten accelerate hard out of the warehouse but before she could do more something ripped into her right hand, in disbelief she felt hot blood trickling between exposed bone & metal, instantly she realised that if it were not for the strength of the light weight alloy wolvers that reinforced her hand she'd have lost more than a few finger nails, even so she was barely able to maintain the grip on the Viper, firing off the last of the clip she was thankful as she saw the fucker who'd shot her finally slump forward.

Gripping the roof with one hand Mariusz despite being thrown about like a rag doll managed to let loose a full clip in the general direction of T Bird's antagonist.

Vrasten, tyres squealing, spun the Chrysler passed T Bird missing him by inches, all he could think of doing was killing the bastards by any means possible, to that end he figured that running the fucker over that was shooting at T Bird made perfect sense, at the last second however he threw the wheel hard over & stabbed at the breaks as he realised that he was going to hit the wall & maybe that wasn't such a good idea, anyway's as he slid passed his intended target it looked like he was pretty much done for anyhow & just what the fuck was Mariusz screaming about.

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