Guns for Hire - Script Fifty Six

The Strip, Mariott Hotel, Pacifica Central 11.17pm 12/09/17

Stood outside of the Mariott Alex decided she really couldn't face going back to Vrasten's apartment, it was, well, OK, but it lacked a certain level of amenities, hot water for instance, & therefore suggested to the boys they go back inside the Mariott, book rooms & relocate back to the bar, when neither Vrasten or T-Bird objected she lead the way.

The Strip, Mariott Hotel, Pacifica Central 10.41am 13/09/17

Nursing a mild hangover Alex tentatively ate breakfast leaving Vrasten to settle up the bill & turning slightly green as T-Bird devoured a second plateful of scrambled eggs & bacon, account settled they ordered a cab, collected the RV from Vrasten's lock up followed by Skinpin from the FH & then headed for Mariposa.

Uzzit farm (AKA Wildgoose Sanctuary) Mariposa 3.49pm 13/09/17

Back in the comfort of the ranch Hercaclio, like a dog with two dicks, proudly showed them what he'd spent the $165K on, a shiny new double cab jeep as well as a state of the art John Deere R8 8235R tractor & trailer, as Hercaclio enthusiastically kicked the tractors tyres Elodia, just about to depart the sanctuary to collect the girls from school handed Vrasten an envelope she'd picked up from the Mariposa post office that morning, quite clearly it bore a NCPD - MilKor postmark, slitting the envelope he read the contents, reread them & scratched his head then passed the letter to T-Bird,

"What the fuck's this about Vrasten, skeletons in the box ?"

Over coffee Vrasten filled T-Bird & Alex in on his dismissal from the Night City PD in December 2015 following a number of deaths for which he was thrown to the wolves by his Captain, regarding the letter he admitted he wasn't sure what it was all about, he vaguely recalled there being an appeal & review system but frankly he'd thought it was a crock of shit so after clearing his desk & handing over his badge he'd walked out of the precinct & never returned, the rest as they say is history.

"Well dude," suggested T-Bird "it looks like history's coming back to bite you in the ass, as according to your letter Vrasty old son you're standing up before the big guns in four days time"

"Will this be a private lynching," asked Alex "or can anybody come watch ?"

Uzzit farm (AKA Wildgoose Sanctuary) Mariposa 11.27am 15/09/17

For the next couple of days they'd taken life pretty easy, helping out Hercaclio & generally making sure the sanctuary administration was up to date, Alex had also spent some time looking for the most remote spot on the ranch where they could maybe try out some of the new hardware when John Freeman came good.

Late on the morning of the fifteenth Alex was taking a break when the phone rang, it was Helen calling from New Zealand, just for an instant he expected the worse, maybe a warning of an impending visit from H12, H11 aka Helen's younger half sister, fortunately it was nothing so terrible.

Later over coffee he filled Vrasten in on the call,

"Pretty much she's looking to cement her life as a Kiwi, got herself a job as a kindergarten teacher but has no credit history, she figured that as part owner of 450 prime American acres we might want to buy her out"

Like Alex Vrasten had no issue with this, in fact they agreed that they could simply gift her the money, she needed around $300K USD to buy a property & get on with her domesticity, she had however insisted that she didn't want to abuse what she thought of as her family & was therefore happy to be bought out rather than mad such a large gift.

Pulling out the details Autumn Addison, the mbd Mariposa land agent, had provided during the transfer of land title to Alex, Vrasten, Helen & Mariusz they figured that the land was worth a little under $1.3M, happy to proceed Alex made a few calls to mbd & a local attorney, Bryant & Starchman, to start drawing up papers for the buy out, whilst they were on with this Vrasten suggested it was about time they put some capital in Mariusz's hands as Skinpin had intimated that whilst Mariusz was off the critical list he was likely to be confined to a wheel chair for the rest of his life as his bodies nervous system was rejecting any new cyber splicing.

Happy to oblige Larry Bryant said he'd put things in motion & contact Helen's legal representative in NZ.

Uzzit farm (AKA Wildgoose Sanctuary) Mariposa 9.42am 16/09/17

Having exposed the alias of Archibold Cohen, chartered accountant to the world Vrasten decided the option of a further alias in his back pocket might be required, with that in mind he put a call in to William Hoffmann, the forger he'd used previously to supply passport & ID cards for Archibold & his other imaginary friends, on this occasion Vrasten suggested he wanted a set of papers showing him as a Singapore born citizen but with at least one European extract parent, Hoffmann suggested a payment of $25K would cover a set of genuine Singaporean issued documents delivered to the West beach address in a couple of weeks, happy with this Vrasten emailed several new images of himself to Hoffmann.

With this sorted Vrasten, accompanied by T-Bird, took the ranch's old pick up & headed for Night City not quite sure what to expect.

Uzzit farm (AKA Wildgoose Sanctuary) Mariposa 9.51am 16/09/17

With time to kill & T-Bird & Vrasten out of the way for a few days Alex ran a search for any outfit capable of providing intensive rotor pilot lessons operating out of the Mariposa-Yosemite Mount Bullion County Airfield, as luck would have it there was a flight school, Midpines, who covered the Mount Bullion area, ten minutes later a trial flight was booked in for that afternoon.

Before heading for Mount Bullion Alex put another call into Bryant & Starchman, all the recent talk of financial arrangements & Mariusz's crippling injuries had made her think again about her own mortality, when she finally got through to Larry Bryant she instructed him to draw up a will with Hercaclio & his family the sole beneficiaries.

Mount Bullion Airfield, Yosemite 2.48pm 16/09/17

After some forty minutes in the air Midpines chief instructor Rick Durness settled the the R44 dual control helicopter on the deck & killed the engine, Alex was keen to progress however Durness played things by the book & insisted that whilst he was happy to instruct Alex before they could take things further they'd need to complete the paperwork & get a medical on the file to ensure compliance with their insurers & Californian Air Regulations, notwithstanding he was happy to take Alex's advance payment for forty hours instruction commencing on the following Monday, the 18th September with a view to coming back the week after to log sufficient hours that she could hopefully sit the exam & flight test at the end of it.

Driving back towards the ranch Alex called Hercaclio to see who the Ortega's used as a doctor, armed with this Alex headed into Mariposa keen to get the medical done & dusted.

Vaguely recognised from her growing involvement in life in Mariposa there was no issue with arranging the medical although it couldn't be fitted in by community practise until the following day, like a kid who'd missed out on chocolate Alex sulkily headed back to the ranch.

NCPD (MilKor) HQ Precinct 2, Little Italy, Night City 10.08am 1709/17

On arrival at the operational headquarters Vrasten felt his chest tighten & his vision narrow, for some time now the medication Skinpin had supplied had been doing him a power of good but coming back here just stirred up bad thoughts, he was actually quite pleased that T-Bird had accompanied him thus far.

At the counter he & T-Bird were logged in, photographed & tagged with temporary visitors permits allowing them access to the public access area on the thirty-fifth floor, entering the time limited ID code in the lift access panel Vrasten wondered if maybe he should have sought a lawyer or union support, after all he'd paid his IUPA dues for fourteen years & never called on their services once, not even at his dismissal.

Leaving the lift Vrasten found himself before an armoured glass window behind which sat a uniformed officer, the officer ran her eye down the list on her screen before marking of his attendance & directed him though to a waiting room in which were sat a dozen or so serving or ex officers up before the review board, glancing around Vrasten didn't recognise anyone but then it was fourteen years since he was last here himself.

Eventually it was Vrasten turn to enter the room, T-Bird wished him luck.

Disciplinary Review Panel, NCPD (MilKor) HQ Precinct 2, Little Italy, Night City 10.33am 1709/17

More nervous than he'd like to admit to Vrasten answered the usher as she ran through various questions to confirm he was who he claimed to be although Vrasten couldn't for the life of him imagine why anybody would want to impersonate his attendance before the DRP, the usher seemed a little taken aback that nobody was representing Vrasten in a legal capacity & emphasised that if he couldn't afford it they could appoint somebody to assist or speak for him, Vrasten declined, with that the ranking officer of the three uniformed officers who made up the panel began the proceedings.

Mariposa Community Health Practise, Mariposa 10.54am 16/09/17

For twenty minutes Alex ha done her best not to touch, breath in or even look at the various coughing, sneezing or spluttering people crowded into the practise waiting room, in hindsight maybe the community health practise hadn't been a good choice, eventually her name was called & she called before the doctor, forty-five minutes later & several hundred dollars lighter she was on her way back to the ranch having been passed fit for duty, the degree of cybernetics had disturbed the doctor but as she'd pointed out eggs get cracked when you make omelets.

The practise receptionist had said she'd be able to pick up the medical report the following morning.

Disciplinary Review Panel, NCPD (MilKor) HQ Precinct 2, Little Italy, Night City 11.39am 1709/17

For a little over an hour the Deputy Commissioner & his cohorts had questioned Vrasten over the events leading to his dismissal finally asking if their was anything former Detective Nordskov could add to the events of disciplinary findings of 2015 that could influence the review boards findings, Vrasten responded that on balance there wasn't, on the day in question he'd followed Captain Sharapov's instructions to letter & whilst he regretted the death of what turned out to be several innocents he had thought that he was serving in the best interests of the city, he added that his only regret was that Sharapov falsification of evidence to ensure that he, Nordskov, took the full brunt of the departments wrath had allowed the bastard to continue his flawed career.

Flicking through the file in front of him Deputy Commissioner Lang frowned, there was several minutes of muttered disagreement between Lang & his two fellow officers before which Lang dismissed Vrasten to the waiting room while he & his colleagues discussed matters.

Disciplinary Review Panel, NCPD (MilKor) HQ Precinct 2, Little Italy, Night City 12.19am 17/09/17

Called back before the review board it was clear there had been some disagreement between the three, from the tone of Lang's voice he'd lost & was not to happy about it.

"Mr Nordskov" began Lang, "We have been presented with a petition from persons within the governing MilKor executive, albeit that they civilian, it would appear from what they testify here that they feel you have continued to serve the both the city, the state of California & it seems the country as a whole in the intervening period as a consequence of which further internal investigations have been made on your behalf which appear to confirm that evidence against you was falsified."

"It goes against my personal better judgment Mr Nordskov but it appears that I must reluctantly congratulate you on being cleared of all former charges & advise you that you have the option of reinstatement to your former position or in lieu of your period of service offer you your pensionable entitlement backdated to the time of your dismissal."

" Please see the officer beyond this room, dismissed"

Somewhat biting his tongue at Lang's obvious discomfort Vrasten, humming to himself, returned to the waiting room.

Forlorn Hope, Night City 4.53pm 17/09/17

Sat in the FH T-Bird toasted a smiling Vrasten as he completed the forms to instigate his reinstatement & immediate retirement from the NCPD.

After leaving the DRP he'd put a call into the Uriel Sebree, the groups Night City contact for MilKor's more salubrious activities, Uriel had confirmed that he'd had a hand in what had occurred but that the testimony they'd obtained from, former, Captain Sharipov was factual & therefore all as he'd done was ensure a full & thorough investigation had been carried out. Uriel had added that he was pleased Vrasten was accepting retirement as it would have been difficult if Vrasten had taken the option to return to active duty given his subsequent activities for MilKor.

Several beers later William Dolarhyde wandered over with a fresh pitcher of beer,

"Evening fellas, good timing, I was due to give you a call tomorrow to arrange a day for you to meet up with your prospects"

With several of the likely FH sourced candidates out of state or abroad it was agreed that Dolarhyde would arrange for them to come worship at the Hope the following Sunday, expenses to be paid of course, with business concluded Vrasten & T-Bird happily continued to drink Vrasten's pension.

The following morning Vrasten dropped the completed NCPD forms off before he & T-Bird hit the road for Mariposa.

Uzzit farm (AKA Wildgoose Sanctuary) Mariposa 3.48pm 19/09/17

Mid afternoon Vrasten checked his email, there was a message from Lorenz Werner, in veiled narrative it confirmed all was progressing & the itinerary for the flight was set although they were still working on gaining authority to refuel at a number of the stop over's however he'd attached an intended itinerary;

Burbank to KIA, Kansas - RIA, Richmond - RIA to Gander IA, Newfoundland - Gander IA to Keflavik IA, Iceland - Keflavik IA to Gardermoen IA, Oslo, Norway - Gardermoen IA to Odesa IA, Ukraine - Odesa IA to Heydar Aliyer IA, Baku, Azerbaijan - Heydar Aliyer IA to Tashkent IA, Uzbeikistan - Tashkent IA to Paro IA, Bhutan - Paro IA to Suvarnabhumi IA, Bangkok - Suvarnabhumi IA to Culio, Palawan

Total mileage 13,651m, average cruise speed 362mph therefore total fly time approx 37hr

Unfortunately it was as bad as they'd been expecting; they were up near the max payload of the Spartan thus reducing its range considerably however they required the capability of the C-27 to take off & put down on the despairingly short landing strips on the island of Culio & the Inandeng Community Airstrip, even so the latter, at around 1200 feet was going to be interesting to say the least.

Uzzit farm (AKA Wildgoose Sanctuary) Mariposa 9.51am 21/09/17

With Skinpin seemingly happy to sleep nigh on 24/7 & Alex busy at Mount Bullion Vrasten & T-Bird killed the days assisting Hercaclio & several of the hired hands fencing the new paddock, with ever increasing patrons looking for stabling it wouldn't be long before they'd need to extend the stable block.

Late morning T-Bird was taking five when Vrasten's mobile, which he'd left in the kitchen, rang, recognising the number T-Bird took the call, it was John Freeman requesting delivery & payment details as the truck & most of the kit was ready for delivery, diving outside he grabbed Vrasten & passed the phone over, Vrasten gave Freeman the ranch address figuring it had to be delivered somewhere & as he & Alex's identities were already tied to the mariposa address there was no real harm in Freeman knowing it as well.

Finally Vrasten confirmed payment details from the sanctuaries account to the account number provided by the Hope's owner, delivery was scheduled for the following day.

When Alex returned from Mount Bullion that evening she was disappointed to hear that the Militech Ripper wasn't part of the following days delivery.

Uzzit farm (AKA Wildgoose Sanctuary) Mariposa 1.03pm 22/09/17

Desperately trying not to eat a second helping of Elodia's spicy albondigas they were relieved when the sound of a wagon pulling up outside, even so Vrasten couldn't resist one last mouthful knowing full well he'd pay for it later.

Outside the wagon driver was unlacing the tarpaulin on his forty foot flat back, as he dragged it back all, including Hercaclio, Elodia & several ranch hands, could see a very shiny, very military looking Model M1165A1 6.2L V8 powered ballistic armoured 4 speed automatic HMMWV complete with deep water fording kit & gapless mine protection.

Quickly T-Bird delayed its off loading while Vrasten dragged open the doors of the larger barn, fortunately Hercalio's new John Deere & trailer were already outside so there was plenty of room inside. Within minutes the humvee was off loaded & out of view inside the barn whilst the wagon was on its way back to the highway, with the barn doors closed Vrasten & T-Bird were rummaging through the many boxes stuffed inside the humvee however T-Bird, almost paranoid, pressed Vrasten to leave the kit where it was until Alex got back, besides he added I don't want it lying around where the girls can mess with it.

With a sigh Vrasten agreed although he reckoned they could easily get all its contents & more into the ranches underground hurricane shelter come armoury.

Uzzit farm (AKA Wildgoose Sanctuary) Mariposa 7.02pm 22/09/17

Alex pulled the key out of the S-MAX's ignition & stepped of the bike leaving it cooling outside deciding she'd wheel it into the small barn later, satisfied but tired she reflected on the weeks flying lessons, it had all gone pretty good, well, she hadn't wrapped the R44 up so that was a big plus in her book, in fact having paid over for a second, next, weeks full time training, Rick Durness was confident that she cruise through both the written test & the practical exam that would follow giving her legal entitlement to fly solo, it was all down to timing however & when Lorenz confirmed they were ready to role.

Inside the homestead she could hear the Ortega girls screaming with laughter, sighing she opened the door & went inside.

On the upside Vrastens call to say the delivery had arrived made her smile.

Uzzit farm (AKA Wildgoose Sanctuary) Mariposa 11.27am 23/09/17

Alex, Vrasten, T-Bird & even Skinpin spent most of the day locked inside the small barn & the armoury inspecting new kit, cleaning & making sure everything was as expected.

Idly chatting about the arrangements to transfer funds to Helen for her share of the sanctuary as well as putting some cash Mariusz's way Alex made mention of her instruction to Bryant & Starchman to draw up a will, this got Vrasten thinking about what would happen to his share if he too were eradicated, maybe, he thought, I should give them a ring as well.

As the afternoon turned to evening they made sure everything was safe & secure, bid Hercaclio & Elodia good-bye & headed of to Night City in preparation for interviewing the hired helps at the Forlorn Hope the next day.

Forlorn Hope, Night City 8.19am 24/09/17

After spending the night at the West Beach apartment they headed over to the FH in plenty of time to grab some breakfast before seeing whoever Dolarhyde had lined up as potential back up, Skinpin unphased by it all ran through their respective medical history & checked over their physical condition as well as cyberware, happy with what he'd seen he left the others to do the actual interviews & disappeared into the FH's back of house.

For the rest of the day Alex, Vrasten & T-Bird chatted informally as a group with the prospects & then through individual interviews, they had to hand it to Dolarhyde & Kronus hadn't made it east for them, all seven candidates who'd been able to attend were to put it bluntly the dogs bollocks &, on paper at least, were more than up to nursemaiding the plane & its crew as well as providing armed assistance if the main strike went tits up.

All seven candidates could provide client testimonies as well as substantial details of where they'd seen action, in the end the choice of who to employ simply came down to who they liked the most, Vrasten & T-Bird instantly agreed with Alex's choice of Boyd, the physically massive exoskeletal adorned mouthy Australian was at the top of their list, in himself he was a man assault team bringing a wealth of heavy weapon & artillery knowledge as well as medical support to supplement Skinpin's talents.

After that Vrasten opted for the only applicant whose background wasn't 100% military but who had studied law, served in the police & also spent a number of years with the National Guard, the Puerto Rican born Xavier Diaz, despite his 'civilian' background his weapons skills were formidable plus he came equipped with a high level of forensic based & scientific knowledge. Initially T-Bird wasn't keen on having another ex cop in the team but in the end he just couldn't argue with what Diaz brought to the table.

For his own preference T-Bird opted for the big, brash German speaking Norwegian, Augustus Martin König, as with all of the candidates he could without doubt handle himself in a fire-fight however not also was he a competent pilot but he could fix them as well, in addition he seemed to know his way around most things mechanical.

Fourth & final they agreed to take the quietly spoken Omagh spawned Irishman, Ainsley Bancroft, it seemed he had a penchant for blowing things up which appealed to Alex, knew his way around helicopters which went down well with T-Bird & impressed Vrasten by his knack to fix anything, or at least fix it for enough time to do its job, apart from that he was also an expert underwater.

With preferences made the three unsuccessful candidates were paid off & the serious business of agreeing contract fees were negociated, after another hour or so it was agreed that each would receive a one of payment of $100K for a twenty-eight day fixed term deal, all expenses to be reimbursed & $2500 per day for each after the fixed term, all payments in full to be made to a named beneficiary in the event of death, the only question that remained from the hired hands was when.

Forlorn Hope, Night City 2.49pm 24/09/17

When Boyd & the others had departed on the promise of near future contact Dolarhyde returned,

"Good to see your sorted, small matter of finders fee I'm afraid, $12K total on the fixed term deal, 3% payable on daily rate on completion.

By the way, as you're here we've got the last of your kit in the armoury, pull the RV upside of the side door & we'll get you loaded"

Alex near wet herself in anticipation at the thought of getting the Militech Ripper back to ranch & giving it a whirl, T-Bird near wet himself at the thought of Alex wetting herself.

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