Guns for Hire - Script Thirty

Forlorn Hope, Night City 7.17pm - 02/02/2016

Over a chilled beer or three Mariusz & Alex filled Jörg & the others in on what they had or hadn't found that afternoon, Jörg, satisfied with what he'd heard, slipped a roll of bills across the table & put a call in to MilKor as he departed the Hope promising to be in contact as soon as anything else came up.

With Jörg out of the way, Skinpin in attendance & the bar filling up another round of beers were ordered up.

Whilst the others chilled out to the sounds of the new house band, Dope Stars Inc, Vrasten considered current events, all his years of experience working on the side of the law told him that things weren't as straight forward as Jörg seemed to think, flicking open his palmtop he started digging for information, cross checking news reports as well as public access records for the governors office. Without the scale of access & police records he had had available to him when serving as a NCPD detective it was somewhat frustrating however after a couple of tortuous hours he was convinced that the level of police involvement in the foiled attack at the warehouse couldn't be dismissed lightly but with no access to NCPD records he was hitting a blank.

Whilst he was at it Vrasten ran a search on MilKor, their history seemed pretty straight up if not quite as "American" as first thought, they appeared to have originated in South Africa in the early 1980's manufacturing & successfully supplying a light weight grenade launcher to the South African Defence Force, rapidly sales grew & they soon transferred to US production chasing the bigger market. Various other small arms followed however variants of their initial product remained the backbone of the company. According to a independent financial review their success lead them into the home defence & urban security market in 2010 since which they had provided security forces extensively in Africa & southern Europe but more recently were believed to be looking to expand into American trough, surprisingly he couldn't find anything to suggest a darker side.

Forlorn Hope, Night City 10.39pm - 02/02/2016

After a couple more beers Vrasten's internet search turned from the present situation to one of general surfing, at one point he happened over a site using womankind's best assets to promote the latest in personnel firepower, this touched home & he set looking for something he'd long had a inkling for & new how to wield, twenty minutes later Vrasten grinned as he proudly displayed the photo of the mono bladed katana he'd chosen to buy, Alex, groaning, swore,

"Jesus Vrasten, you're a fucking liability with a driving license never mind a fucking pointy stick"

Undeterred Vrasten continued, realising that he no longer had a home tag for its delivery he decided to give Frank Uzzitt a call to see if he could get it delivered to Frank's ranch from where he could collect it. One phone call later the & katana was on route however Vrasten informed the others that he'd spoken not to Frank but the ranch foreman, Heraclio, Heraclio had told him that Frank was in hospital having suffered a bad stroke a month or so back whilst driving back from Mariposa, almost immediately the conspirators amongst them assumed the Shore Chemical Company's involvement.

Inevitably such conversation turned to firepower, or in T Bird's opinion, his lack of it, between them they began to scribble a shopping list of small arms & the like that they figured they'd be able to acquire via the Hope's supply chain.

Forlorn Hope, Night City 2.06pm - 03/02/2016

With the RV modifications pretty much done & no further contact from Jörg the day was spent kicking back.

Vrasten hit the road late in the afternoon in the Chrysler accompanied by Mariusz as he'd had an email notifying him that his consignment had been successfully delivered to Mariposa, promising to drive carefully he suggested they'd be back some time the next day.

Forlorn Hope, Night City 9.47am - 04/02/2016

The following morning Vrasten & Mariusz, bleary eyed having driven through the night, arrived back from Uzzitt's place complete with the lethal looking blade, Vrasten sadly confirmed Heraclio Mendoza's tale that Frank Uzzitt was hospitalised having suffered a debilitating stroke, Heraclio had gone on to say that whilst Frank was doing OK there hadn't been much improvement in his recovery so far. Vrasten, suspicious, also added that he'd quizzed Heraclio about the incident & the events in general but there was nothing to suggest anything other than an unfortunate accident, what Heraclio did show him however was a post card sent months earlier to Frank from Helen wishing him all the best for the future, like the card they'd received it came from some god forsaken backwater in New Zealand.

Over beer & pancakes the pro's & con's of maple syrup were discussed but their conversation was abruptly interrupted by the shrill of Vrasten's mobile,

"Yeah, it's me Jörg, look, some things come up, no, not over the phone, just get over here as soon as will ya, that's right, the yacht, you'll be expected"

Harbour Boulevard, Night City 10.51am - 04/02/2016

As promised they were waved through the security checkpoint on to the private yacht moorings with out any hassle, pulling up aside the yacht being used by MilKor it was immediately apparent that something was amiss as several of the yacht's crew as well as a half dozen armed grunts wearing MilKor security gear were patrolling the deck & adjacent wharf, again they were waved on board obviously expected.

Inside the yacht's copious meeting room waited Bjarne & Jörg as well as the two MilKor suits uninjured from the warehouse, Jaylon Paxton Martinez & Uriel Sebree, as before it was clear that whilst Martinez did most of the talking for MilKor ultimately Sebree held the upper hand.

Briefly Jörg brought them up to date,

"Long storey short ways guys. Acquaintance of mine gave me the nod yesterday that some spook was asking to questions, he, O'Connell, feigns ignorance that he hasn't a fuck who or what the fuck this bastards talking about, anyways this joker tells O'Connell he'll maybe call him back in a day or so in case he remembers anything in the meantime about what went down at the warehouse & that if he did happen to remember something it could be worth his while. When O'Connell quizzed him about how he'd got O'Connell's number the spook was pretty vague but eventually suggested it was from a supposed mutual friend."

After taking the call O'Connell pulls in a favour & gets a trace run on his own number, this showed as caller's number withheld but for a few dollars O'Connell's man fingers the number, turns out to be an unregistered mobile, nothing unexpected there. "

"A couple of hours later O'Connell gets itchy fingers & phones this mobile from a Dataterm, & get this, it's answered by some woman cop who tells O'Connell that Detective Apatari's away from his desk at the moment & can she take a message, mumbling about it being a wrong number O'Connell ditched the call & contacted me as he was pretty sure that I'd want to know about it."

Jörg went on to add,

"After O'Connell tipped me off I did some digging of my own, Apatari is a cop to the core, got a list citations & commendations as long as your arm so when a month or so back he requests a transfer to 'Protective Duties' at the governors office it goes through without any problem. With a name I pulled in a couple of favours of my own, turns out rumour is that this Apatari was, or is, involved in something undercover, possibly linked to what went down at the warehouse."

"The short of it is that Apatari's been pulled by internal affairs & has spilled his guts, named names, seventeen of em' our friends from MilKor tell me" nodding towards Martinez, "Pulling the list as we speak"

Interupting, Vrasten looked towards the Martinez,

"If we're gonna track these scuzzers down we need more than just a crappy list of names & addresses, I, we, need access to the PD data base, what's the chance of reinstigating my security code"

Uncommitted to Vrasten's request Martinez let Jörg continue,

"By the way, don't be surprised when you hear the news later about MilKor taking over the running of the NCPD, it's a done deal"

"So the deal for you guys is this, everything has to be above board OK but at the moment MilKor don't want to officially take a personnel interest, what they can do is pull a few strings & get you dudes invested sweet as official Night City Bounty Hunters, no waiting six months, no fee & no going before the court to apply yeah, if you just happen to pick out certain names from NC's outstanding warrant register, well, it's a pure fucking coincidence."

Before Jörg could continue one of the yacht security grunts pushed open the door & ushered in several crew bearing plates of hot food & pots of scalding coffee, taking the opportunity Marinez suggested it would be prudent if he & Sebree were to leave them to discuss private matters as they had no wish to eavesdrop on any private arrangements between Jörg & his colleagues.

Dribbling Langostino juices down his chin Jörg made then an offer,

"OK, you all get a twelve month bounty ticket, no cost, plus a list of names, each one retrieved & delivered to the city court is worth $7500 from MilKor, dead's only gonna get you half the money, anything offered by the city is bonus. The emphasis though is alive, MilKor have to tread carefully, they might be taking over the NCPD but they wanna do it legit OK, no vigilantes on their team."

Whilst the offer was being discussed Martinez briefly returned, ignoring the conversation he helped himself to a plate of food but as he left he dropped a crumpled leaf of paper in Jörg's lap.

As he disappeared out of the door Alex shouted after him, "Any chance of a couple of those MGL-105' grenade launchers for this please"

Without stopping or turning Martinez replied,

"Don't fuck up & who knows what you might get for your birthday"

Forlorn Hope, Night City 1.18pm - 04/02/2016

Gathered in the RV Vrasten gave the list a once over however he didn't recognise any of them first look, then again it wasn't that much of a surprise really, he'd pretty much kept his own company during his fourteen year stint in the police department. Skinpin, who'd remained at the Hope, quizzed the others,

"Let me get this straight, we get shiny badges, chase cops & get paid for it, Sweet Jesus, it just gets fucking better by the minute"

Forlorn Hope, Night City 2.47pm - 04/02/2016

Ferreting out ID's, real ones, Mariusz called for some hush & turned up the volume on the RV's stuttering overhead TV, on the screen a PR stooge for the Governors office was reading out statement to the press

" . . . following extensive talks Governor McCrae has signed an agreement giving full judicial control of the city's police force to MilKor Inc, this agreement is for a minimum period of seven years & should be considered as being in force with immediate effect . . . "

The statement went on to say that this had been a hard decision to make but the governor felt it was in the best interest of the city & was intended to end the ongoing chaos resulting from the NCPD's inability to maintain adequate levels of law & order.

Civic Court House, Night City 3.29pm - 04/02/2016

By the time T Bird parked the Chrysler in the Justice Dept parking lot the radio was alive with talk of MilKor's arrival in NC, witnesses on the ground announced that aircraft were arriving at NC's Metropolitan Airport & that well equipped security forces were deploying to provide immediate support to the city's over stretched police department. In fact by the time the five were cautiously walking up the courts steps, only Vrasten ever having done it voluntarily before, armed MilKor personnel were assisting at the buildings external security check points.

Inside they were obviously expected, an officious looking woman handed them each a sheaf of documents in part completed, expertly she guided them through to completion, there was a brief hiccup as she asked for photographs, fortuitously Alex had a small digital camera in her bottomless handbag & did the honours. With all the forms completed in triplicate the court appointed representative took them into a empty courtroom & swore them in explaining that the District Judge was already aware of the nature of their appointment & wouldn't need to actually oversee the process.

Ushered out they were told that it would be a day or so before they could collect their authenticated certification, when Alex objected to this delay their guide kindly suggested that if the young woman wasn't happy with the service provided she might like to go by normal channels which, if the current court backlog didn't increase, would allow her & her friends to qualify as probationary officers of the court in about six months, suitably chastised Alex left the building.

Forlorn Hope, Night City 6.44pm - 04/02/2016

Kicking their heels back in the RV, Skinpin assisted by one of the Hopes regulars, appeared at the door dragging several packages behind him care of the Hope's quartermaster,

"Looks like some of that kit we wanted has turned up"

Forlorn Hope, Night City 6.53pm - 04/02/2016

Spread out on the RV's table was a motley collection of armaments, tasers, stun sticks, cuffs, needle guns, CS sprays & grenades as well as a handful of micro vhf transmitters & a receiving unit. Pawing over the goodies T Bird made one to many suggestive comments in Alex's direction regarding hand cuffs & stun sticks, calmly Alex clipped in a nitrogen propulsion cell into the EMDX26 taser in her hand & fired it without warning point blank at T Bird's midriff.

Instantly T Bird screamed & dropped writhing to the floor, the twin pronged capacitor discharging its load into T Bird's guts, there was the distinct smell of piss,

"Oops" said Alex

Forlorn Hope, Night City 7.04pm - 04/02/2016

Eleven minutes later T Bird dragged himself out of the RV, he could barely stand, let alone walk, but he needed to get away from the others & sort himself out. Lying on the floor, body flailing, he'd heard the others berating Alex at his predicament but they'd been nothing he could do, unable to speak or control his bodily functions he new he'd crapped himself but could do fuck all about it.

Gasping for air outside the RV Skinpin came to check he was all right & bring him a towel,

"Er, there's nobody in the shower if you want to use it now"

Forlorn Hope, Night City 9.47pm - 04/02/2016

Later, in the Hope, T Bird, Mariusz, Vrasten & Skinpin gathered for a beer & carefully talked about anything other than Alex's use of the taser on T Bird, fortunately the news of MilKor's involvement with the NCPD on the small screen behind the bar was enough of a talking point for now.

Alex, not giving a fuck about T-Bird's reaction had remained in the RV, she watched as news footage showed fresh trouble on NC's streets as peace protesters & looters alike rioted at the presence of a new oppressor however the reporter did suggest that the police, supported by seasoned MilKor security forces were dealing with the swell of opposition confidently.

Forlorn Hope, Night City 10.17pm - 04/02/2016

Alex stared nonchalantly out of the RV side window at the abandoned & unlit tenement building across the junction from the Hope, blinking she realised that she'd seen movement at one of the broken windows on the sixth, maybe seventh floor, without turning on any lights she felt around trying to locate a set of the Prisbins she new should be to hand however before she could bring them into play the shadow, for the movement had been no more than a dark patch of movement, for the moment vanished.

Forlorn Hope, Night City 10.46pm - 04/02/2016

Vrasten was just coming back from the John, across the packed bar he could see Skinpin, Mariusz & T Bird hunched over their beers watching the ongoing news reports, half way over a face he recognised stepped into view,

"Nelson, how you keeping"

Nelson King smiled & accepted Vrasten's offer of a beer, Nelson steered him towards an unoccupied table off to one side,

"Pretty cool man, you" replied Nelson

After several minutes of idle chat Nelson got down to business,

"Vrasten, enough of dis bullshit yeah, I is looking for you as I hear you an your crew maybe looking for some action & I maybe got your ticket to riches dis time yeah, plus somebody telling me you maybe be knowing the mark"

Intrigued Vrasten tried not to breathe to much of the smoke billowing from the enormous spliff dangling from Nelson's stained fingers but did ask him to expand on the contract he was touting for his client, across the table Nelson flicked open his Ipod & calling up an image turned it to face Vrasten,

"Sweet looking kid ain't she, murdering bitch more like, got more moves on her than Beatrix Kiddo I been told, she been pissed off by some fucker somewhere & now she stalking em' down for fun, you want in ?"

Looking down at the CCTV image Vrasten could see a female, mid twenties, staring up into the camera as she calmly slit the throat of some young gun in a suit,

"To be honest Nelson, I'm kind'a busy right now, got a nice little contract, no strings attached, I'll mention it to the others & maybe give you a call but don't bank on it OK"

Nelson shrugged, "Your loss, bids starting at a cool $1,000,000 dead or alive"

Vrasten stood & with a nod left Nelson talking on the phone, as he made his way towards Mariusz, he wondered just how he was going to tell him & Alex he'd just been offered a substantial contract to collect on H12.

Forlorn Hope, Night City 11.57pm - 04/02/2016

Alex put the glasses down & rubbed her eyes, she was absolutely positive she had seen somebody earlier, but now, well, she wasn't sure, she'd watched the building for nearly two hours & seen jack shit, then from outside she'd heard gunfire.

Forlorn Hope, Night City 11.58pm - 04/02/2016

Vrasten was still trying to find away of broaching the subject of H12 with Mariusz when the sound of gunshots & a blood curdling scream cut across the jukebox, assuming it was trouble on the barricades the bar emptied in seconds, pushing through the crowd Mariusz was as surprised as everybody else when there were no more gunshots & those manning the barricades looked as confused as everybody else milling in the street .

Vrasten joined several others clambering over the overturned cars & onto the street to the North of the Forlorn Hope, by the time he got there Skinpin & T Bird along with a dozen or so others were stood around an ever increasing puddle of blood, through the throng Vrasten could see King's head in the gutter, fear frozen across his face, somebody behind Vrasten was asking where the body was.

Forlorn Hope, Night City 11.59pm - 04/02/2016

Suspecting the truth of it Alex ignored the flow of bodies North & sprinted for the building opposite, forcing the locked doors she pounded up the debris strewn stairs, out of breath by the time she got to the seventh floor Alex desperately tried to cease her panting & listen, other than noise echoing from outside she couldn't hear fuck all. Moving as silently as she could over the garbage littered corridor Alex made her way towards a door about halfway down the corridor which she judged was about where she expected the watcher to be, it was open, pistol at the ready she burst in.

The room was deserted but bore clear signs that somebody had been living rough there for some time, half eaten tins of food, ripped open & festering surrounded the moldering mattress suggesting that who ever it was personnel hygiene wasn't number one on their list of priorities. Sure that the apartment was clear Alex scribbled a note on a piece of paper & left it on the mattress, the note simply read,

"We need to talk"

Forlorn Hope, Night City 10.42am - 05/02/2016

Thankfully, thought Vrasten, his phone rang saving him a further piece of Mariusz's mind concerning H12, the call was from the court official they'd met with yesterday informing them that their documents would be ready for collection by about 10.45am the following morning, thanking her for telephoning Vrasten looked around the table,

"Just what the fuck do you want me to say"

Forlorn Hope, Night City 2.38pm - 05/02/2016

With little to occupy thier time until the next morning the soon to be posse hung around the Hope for the rest of the afternoon kicking thier heels, by late afternoon however boredom had well & truely set in, with nothing better to do Vrasten suggested that whilst they couldn't do anything official maybe they could scope out the nearest couple of addresses.

Forlorn Hope, Night City 9.27pm - 05/02/2016

Alex had again declined the hospitality of the bar & as per the previous night chose to sit it out in the RV watching the building opposite for any sign of movement, suddenly there was knock at the door, startled, Alex opened the door, outside, was a distinctly grown up H12.

"Look" said Alex, "I need to tell you that what ever's gone before I don't mean you any harm OK, it's over"

H12 smiled, falteringly she replied,

"I know this thing is true, I smell your truth, it is true also that I have things to do in this place before my kin emerge but soon they will come, soon they will feed."

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