Aberrant: The Long March - Chapter 2: Different Roads

[Mr Fox]

Morgan smiles at the play that is being performed for the pair of thieves. Subvocally he sends, "I understand a bit of the language, but I'm afraid I don't speak it. I like Cody's suggestion, I too think the cops will ask questions that we won't want to answer."

Meanwhile the man in the suit frowns a little at the talk of punishment, but then cheers up when invited to sit and eat. He joins you and fixes himself a hearty plate. The uniformed officer, who is wearing a gun, btw, just stands impassively for a time, before speaking, "Agent Harris, I am not allowed to eat on duty, so if you don't mind I will wait in the car outside. Call me when you are ready to settle up and need an escort." With that he turns and leaves. Those with mega-perception notice a slight sheen of sweat forming on the "officer's" forehead.

After he leaves Agent Harris continues to eat with you and make polite conversation, asking things like where you are from, how are you enjoying Vegas, is it your first time here, etc. He really is very smooth. Amidst the conversation he also includes a few comments about how it really is better to settle up quickly; it will save you 5% over waiting until later; people in your position who continue to gamble most often end up losing all or most of their winnings, etc.

[Courier]

Originally Posted By: Ziggurat

Omar laughs and then continues. "With knowledge of their punishment at the hands of the mob in the back of their minds, the thief would run to the police. There he would be beaten and imprisoned...but at least he still has his hands." Omar winked at Steve and started laughing.

Steve laughs uproarishly as well at Omar’s statement and then says, “Oh yeah, I remember. And not just hands or lips. I sometimes saw eunuchs there too.”

In response to Cody and Morgan, Steve sighs over the link and says, *Yeah. I think we could get away with it, these guys are really bad for local business, but it’s a risk we don’t have to run. But speaking as a former federal agent, I really don’t like these guys masquerading as federal agents.*

Steve puts his personal irritation aside and cold bloodedly analyzes the situation. Cody’s plan was like using a shotgun against a goldfish, it was unneeded and overkill. However there were also group dynamics to worry about. This was an opportunity to showcase Cody’s gifts, which could be useful for gelling with the group. It was always a good thing to impress on one’s new partners your own usefulness. Steve’s eyes flickered to the suitcases, and he decides its Cody’s turn.

(Over the link) *OK, Cody’s plan it is.*

Quote:

After he leaves Agent Harris continues to eat with you and make polite conversation, asking things like where you are from, how are you enjoying Vegas, is it your first time here, etc. He really is very smooth. Amidst the conversation he also includes a few comments about how it really is better to settle up quickly; it will save you 5% over waiting until later; people in your position who continue to gamble most often end up losing all or most of their winnings, etc.

Steve also makes small talk… although since he has to skip talking about the FBI, private investigation, and the wars mostly he just makes tourist type observations. Vegas is bright and gaudy and winning was *easy* (isn’t Vegas a great place) and this is their first trip (isn’t Vegas a great place), and that was just an impossible run of luck (isn’t Vegas a great place).

At the comment about the “losing all or most of their winnings,” Steve says,

“Thinking that over, although it might be fun to drop all of this on ‘Red’ or ‘Black’, not only would they not let me, but it’s way past time to take some money off the table. I don’t remember what I was thinking, risking this much money just isn’t me. I guess either it was the bourbon or I was just riding my Luck. I figure I’ll go back with at most two million dollars. I kind of half to, just to see if the Luck is still working, but taking the other 98 off is sound economics, which does imply it gets taxed.”

[Andrew Murphy]

*Time to make my keep guys, let me deal with Connie McSlimebag here ..*

Carter moves over a seat after coming back from the buffet and sits down next to "Harris". He eats quietly for a while before turning to the man.

"So Agent Harris is it? Would it suprise you to know that my brother in law also works in the local IRS office," Carter bluffs with his most convincing act, "Yeah ole Jimmy is an auditor ... you must know him right? Tall guy, like 6'4" and rail thin, probably not more than a buck thirty.

"Well I digress ... You'll understand if I ask to see your credentials, I mean you can't possibly mind, we'd be fools not to ask for it right guys?" Carter looks at his fellows and forces out a very fake very 'I'm sick of this shit' laugh.

[Mr Fox]

"Harris, yes." He appears to think for a moment, "Hmm... Jimmy you say? The discription sounds familiar, but then the Vegas office is pretty large. Can't say that I know him personally." He gets out his credentials and hands them over. They look quite authentic, or at least you assume they do, not having a real set to compare them too. He also hands over for your inspection the paperwork for filing you gambling winnings. That too looks like the real thing. "emm, This cake is really excellent, you should try a piece," he suggests. From a professional stand point, you've got to admire someone able to keep their cool as well as this guy.

[Andrew Murphy]

Carter studies the fake documents carefully especially the IRS creentials, Carter slides in close to the man, puts his arm around the con's shoulder and whispers, "Well 'Harris', if that is even your real name, these are some real nice fakes ... but fakes none the less. Now I can understand that you think we're no more than a few lucky men who can be helped to part ways with our money without too much effort on your part..."

As he speaks to the man Carter lifts his wallet and passes it under the table to whomever is sitting next to him to cross check the man's ID in his wallet.

"Fact is sonny you can't con a con ... no if you'd like to make some money easy all you need to do is point me in the direction of the people who got you these documents an IDs. I'll pay you a hundred large up front and another four afterwards ... that's a half million just for some info. Think you can handle that?"

[Courier]

Steve gets up and walks over to the door and shuts it, then stands next to it looking outside. Even buffet restraunts have seperate rooms for parties and the like. While they hadn't been all that worried about their luggage walking off, being able to talk and eat like novas without attracting too much attention had been worth the $100 it had cost.

(Over the link) *If he says 'No' or 'Yes' but doesn't mean it, then I think Cody will have to give a quick demo on nova level data extraction.*

[SkyLion]

Cody dextrously takes the palmed wallet and sorts it...

[Mr Fox]

The ID matches the IRS credentials. The wallet also contains several credit cards in the Harris name. It does not contain anything that would go against his adopted persona.

Harris thinks for a moment about trying to continue with the bluff, when finally he gets a big 'you caught me' grin on his face. He turns to Carter, "Well since you are being so generous with me, I'll be happy to return the favor. Sammy the Hand, is the guy you want. Does the best paperwork in Vegas; can get his hands on just about any real doc you can imagine too. No questions asked either as long as you've got the cash and he thinks he can trust you not to blab if you get yourself busted." He takes another bite of pie.

[Andrew Murphy]

Carter grabs the man's wallet from Cody drops it on the table, "I must say, most cons wouldn't go through the bother of creating a full wallet of matching IDs, and I can't imagine that you're dumb enough to use your real name." Carter puches teh wallet back toward "Harris".

"You take me to this 'Sammy the Hand' and introduce us and you'll get the $100k, after I get papers for myeself and my freinds you'll get the other $400. Now don't try to double cross me, you'd hate to see him when he's pissed off..." Carter jerks his thumb toward Omar.

[Courier]

Steve glances at "Harris" and evaluates his tone of voice regarding "the Hand".

{Lie Detector is still on}

[Mr Fox]

The con man seems honest when he talks of Sammy the Hand. If he got his fake ID from the guy, then he must be pretty darn good.

[Omar]

When Carter warns Harris about about pissing off Omar, Omar holds up a fork, so he can see it. With the con-man looking on, Omar proceeds to crush the fork into a small metal ball with his right hand. He then leans over and with a big smile, tucks it into the breast pocket of Harris's suit as a reminder.

[Andrew Murphy]

Carter looks at "Harris" seriously, "Go call your buddy, let him know you're coming with some new clients for you. Then we can head over in our limo and get this done." Carter goes back to his food and leaves it at that. If this guy is smart he'll take the money and won't try anything stupid, if he's not Carter has plenty of other ways to find the people they need to talk to.

[Mr Fox]

The con man whips out a cell phone and punches in a number. "Hello, Sammy? Yeah, hey, going pretty well actually. Speaking of going well, I've got some customers for you. No not sure exactly what they are wanting done, probably ID, they just made a bigtime score. Yeah, we'll be there in an hour. Later." He hangs up the phone and looks at Carter. "Done. Oh and on the way out I need to tell my partner to take off for the night."

[Andrew Murphy]

"Phenominal ... why don't you go and let your bouddy know he can take off. Then come on back, eat your fill and we'll head over to Sammy's." Carter plops a grape into his mouth and watches the man leave to talk to his friend, one he is gone he will speak to the others.

"Well here's the deal I imagine we'll be all set with fake IDs for the time being and if we decide to settle down on this earth I can go ahead and start the process of getting the real thing for us as need be.

"In the mean time once he have this taken care of we really need to lighten our load here," he says indicating the money, "No point in luggin all this around and further we won't know if it's any good between realities, better to change it into gold, platinum and gems. Smaller, easier to transport and basically transdimensional. We should be good with that.

"Next question. What exactly is the plan? Clearly we can live the good life realy easy here, heck we could rule the world with a little effort. Personally I've always done what I needed to make sure I lead the good life and bollocks to working hard."

[Omar]

"What about those negotiable bearer-bonds I have seen in movies? Don't they come in denominations of 1 to 20 million dollars each? We could convert some of the cash into a few of those bonds, especially if we plan on staying." Omar was not completely sure if such things were a reality, but he figured the others might have more knowledge.

[Courier]

Steve says,

"Bearer-bonds exist but they have enough problems we don't want to touch them. Less fluid, easier to track, and they'd go bad between realities easier than cash."

"We need to convert the money into other things, gold, other metals, that sort of thing... but the greenback is also pretty resistant to change. If we stay close keeping a few million in cash may save time down the road."

(If everyone isn't here he opens the link for general broadcast)

"As for what to do... I have a few ideas."

"Several of us are starting to show signs of taint, or quantum backlash, or whatever. The good life might not last as long as we'd like. Looking for a cure or treatment or whatever sounds like a good idea."

"And there's another side to that coin. We may be immortal, more or less. I think we need to find out what could blow us away in the next few thousand years. Is ET out there and we've finally gotten the technology for him to notice us? Is he also hostile? Again, the good life might be really short."

[Mr Fox]

After about ten minutes the con-man comes back in and sits down. "Ok, he's taken off for the night. I'm ready to take you to Sammy whenever you guys are. Oh, and if you want you can call me Ralph, and no that's not my real name either, but it's one I use alot."

Thankfully the Bellagio is also a hotel and has the handy suitcase carriers which you pile all your cases and bags onto. Cody pulls the limo around and you pile all but one case into the trunk then everyone including Ralph gets in. As you drive Ralph gives you directions to a rather unassuming house in a suburban neighborhood. You have to park in the street since the driveway isn't long enough to accomidate the vehicle. Cody does his mojo on the craft so that no one can come along and jimmy open the trunk.

You walk up to the door and a middle aged potbellied, man in glasses and rumpled clothes answers the door. He resembles a redneck Ben Franklin with the top of his head bald but his remaining hair long and pulled back in a ponytail. "Hey Ralph." He also nods greetings to the rest of you but looks a little taken aback by how many of you there are. "Come on in." He leads you in and towards a back bedroom that has been converted into a workroom.

"Geez man, I figured a couple ID's, I didn't realize you were bringing a convention. This is gonna be 10 Large for full identities. If you want anything special that'll cost you more. What you get for your money is Driver's License, Social, and Birth certificate. All of which will hold up under even the closest inspection. Course it's up to you to establish those identities. If they start checking databases, their gonna see that there's no activity before today's date."

He gives a sigh, "Ok, one at a time and the rest of you wait in the living room. Make yourselves comfortable and help youselves to anything in the fridge.

Carter volunteers to go first since he has a professional interest. He has you sit in a chair against a backdrop and takes your picture. It takes about 45 minutes for each person, but he moves through it professionally and appears to really know what he's doing. Most of the work is done on the computer and he has an actual machine to print and laminate the License. Same the the state uses he explains. There's no cutting and pasteing in his operation. He even takes a fine grit sand paper and roughs up your id's to make them look a little worn. Once he's done you have a very credible set of docs.

All told it takes about four and a half hours to get everyone done. By the time he finishes it's getting pretty late, about 1 AM and the neighborhood is pretty quite.

You are in the process of paying Sammy when Cody feels the craft being messed with. Someone is trying to open the trunk.

[Andrew Murphy]

Carter drops the man his money as well as a large bonus "as a retainer" should they need any further help. Cody taps Carter on the shoulder indicating that the car is being messed with. Carter nods and heads outside with the rest of the guys.

[Courier]

When it's Steve's turn to get processed in addition to his false ID, he pulls out some other identification and asked for copies with the birthdate changed (the date on the cards would make him 71). Interestingly some of these are photo IDs with the correct photo.

After being informed of the car, he comments,

"I was wondering when that was going to happen."

[Mr Fox]

Ralph is sitting on the couch watching whatever is playing on the tv blissfully sipping on a beer.

[Omar]

Omar chooses the fake monniker of Ziggy Korhat. "I need you to make me an Iraqi Passport. I have dual citizenship right now, but I want to be able to go to my home to see my family."

"Could you also change the birthdate on the ID's, I don't want people to find out who I really am." Omar gives Sammy a big smile.

When Omar hears of the trouble with the vehicle, he turns around and heads outside. I hope it is just some street crooks, and not our Ali Babba from the casino. I was starting to like the guy.

[Courier]

Following the others, Steve checks his hand gun but doesn't draw it.

[SkyLion]

Whoever sits shotgun with Cody (rather than inside the deluxe compartment) will notice that he's not using hands or even watching the road. Rather he seems to be taking in the tremendous sights of Vegas. Those in back will notice that he has somehow acquired a very large collection of top shelf spirits.

*********

When its his turn to pick an ID, he decides on Marcus Kodiak, after his middle name.

Over the link: *I hope we aren't going to have to go through this in *every* timeline...*

*********

The moment he feels the disturburance of their conveyance, Cody telpathically asks,

*Lorean. What are the defensive capabilities of the Cruiser?*

Cody stands and as he is thinking he talks aloud to the group. Its hard to tell with his tek eyepieces, but you get the impression that he is using some form of extrasensory perception.

"Wait! Don't go out that door. Its an ambush. 3 Men. Heavily armed. Let me deal with them. Secure these ones." he gestures towards their new "contacts."

((Since the sensors of the Cruiser are being sent telepathically, I am guessing that it allows me to target with his telepathic attacks. If this is not the case he will attempt to create a channel to them telepathically.))

Cody feels the mind of the first gunman, unshielded and weak. Reaching inside to the memory of his eruption, Cody unleashes a silent psionic scream, overloading the man's mind and sending impulses of pain and violent muscle spasms along every nerve in his body.

((Mindblast please!))

[Mr Fox]

Ralph, sensing that something is up, sits forward on the couch. "What's the matter?" Seeing people preparing guns shrinks back and shuts up.

***

Lorean responds to Cody's question, "It has force shields that provide some measure of protection from damage as well as a tough skin. Small arms should not cause more than minor damage. Larger weapons could be a threat however. It does have a small energy weapon but it is directionally fired. The craft would have to line up on the target."

As everyone waits for Cody's signal, he gets an experession of concentration on his face. After a few seconds you hear a horrible gutteral scream from outside followed almost immediately by a house shattering explosion.

The rocket launcher the man had on his shoulder apparently went off when every muscle in his body spasmed at the same time. You find yourselves in difficulties. The roof of the house has exploded sending the ceiling collapsing in, and spraying the neighboorhood with splinters and debris. Luckily it was not an aimed shot right through the front door like it would have been had you rushed out. You each have injuries to some degree or another. Omar has a bruise on his shoulder where a roof beam bounced off him; Isabel has some bad gashes and likely a broken leg; Marcus has a broken left arm and many scratches; Morgan is badly bruised; Carter also is badly bruised; Courier has a few scratches; and almost miraculously, after shaking off the dust, Cody seems to not have a scratch on him. Ralph on the other hand is quite thoroughly deceased, with a 2x4 pinning him to the couch.

Please let me know what you plan to do next round.

(order: Courier, Isabel, Marcus, Carter, Omar, Cody, Badguys, Morgan.)

[Courier]

Steve's gun just appears in his hand as he looks at the missing roof, then he leaps up, and up, and up. High in the air he looks down, takes aim, and fires.

(Fast Tasks to draw the gun, Q-Leap to leap high in the air, EM Vision to get rid of any range problems, then shoot them... head shots if they are wearing armor... and hopefully they aren't looking up so they won't notice me. Any unused Luck for this turn should go into the gunshot.)

[Mr Fox]

Courier leaps soaring into the air with gun drawn and takes aim on the way down. Only one of the bad guys is in outside the van and he is still looking stunned at the sight of house. Realizing that no matter how good a shot he is a pistol is only so accurate, he holds his fire until he is almost landing. When he lets loose finally, the bullet pierces the top of the man's head dropping him in his tracks. Courier then lands smoothly just behind the limo protected from the van.

[Omar]

Omar is a little irritated. While the beam that hit him didn't hurt, it was going to leave a bruise. It was his friends he was concerned for. Some of them, looked to be in bad shape.

Whomever did this, will pay dearly. Omar was going to let them know just how bad a mistake they made.

Omar runs at the assailants and loweres his shoulder. He is going to tackle the nearest armed man and send him flying into the van (if possible).

(Tackle + spending a quantum to activate Irresistable Force)

[Mr Fox]

Currently the only one that is still conscious is the driver of the van. You see as you charge out the remains of the front door and prepare to charge that the man you were about to charge goes down as a shower of blood erupts from his skull. An instant later Courier lands just this side of the limo away from the van. Seeing you charge out the door, the final man starts to aim your direction.

(Omar you can choose to dive into the van, or attempt to shoulder butt the van and knock it over if you have the strength for it. I don't have you sheet in front of me so I don't remember if you can do that when you are normal size.)

[Thoranon]

Marcus morphs into lightning.

[SkyLion]

Shocked by the unexpected blast, Cody is slower to react than the others. Even more surprised that he is the only one unharmed, a pang of guilt twists in his stomach. Realizing that the quicker among them will have the matter well in hand, he brings his senses back to the tattered house, that he may take stock of the situation. Marcus's arm hangs at an unatural angle, but before Cody can move, the wounded nova's form becomes living electrons. Then he notices Isabel, apparently the most grievously injured.

In an instant, his lithe black tacsuit has been replaced with some kind of tek armor, seeming to be made of black and silver segmented plates. His head remains uncovered however, save for the chromed lenses covering each eye socket. Flexing his newly augmented muscles, Cody starts to push aside large pieces of debris until he has made his way to her.

"It's okay. Don't try to move it," he says indicating her leg.

Gently picking her up and cradling her in both arms he sends over the link:

*Well that wasn't exactly the inconspicuos result I was aiming for. I'm sorry about that. In the meantime we've already attracted FAR too much attention to this area...neighbors are already starting to peek out their windows and doors. In a few seconds they are going to notice Marcus and this will become more than just a routine mob hit. I suggest we suspend further obvious nova activity and make a strategic retreat back to Lorean, to mend our injured. We'll come back in a different guise and convert our funds but for now lets just get the hell out of here...*

[Andrew Murphy]

Carter grabs the IDs and throws himself under the table with Sammy the Hand as the rocket blasts the man's house apart. He quickly pockets all the completed IDs and dashes outside once the majority of the debris has already fallen. He slides into the shadows and watches as his companions solves the problem before he can even decide to run or to fight.

Phew, thank God I didn't have to jump in on THAT he thinks to himself. Carter sneaks over to the SUV and hides within its shadow waiting for the others to return to the vehicle. He will slip inside when the others get back into the car and try to make sure that nobody in the area sees him.

[Mr Fox]

Omar puts his head down and charges like a bull at the van. In the heat of the moment his adrenilin surges through him and when he connects the van sudders like it has been broadsided by a car and rolls right over on its side. He then proceeds to climb on top, rip the door off it's hinges and pull out the man inside who is stunned from hitting his head on the window when the van tipped over.

Only seconds have passed, but people are starting to peer cautiously out their windows. But all they see is a group of people rush to the stretched humvee limo and get inside and drive away. What remains on the street is a van crumpled and tipped on its side and badly damaged, a man with a mortal headwound and a house that is mostly destroyed.

After you turn a couple blocks and pull off into an alley, Cody warps the craft back into one of Lorean's cargo bays.

Once back on the ship Morgan heals everyone's wounds leaving himself quite exhausted, but leaving everyone without a scratch.

[Courier]

Originally Posted By: Mr Fox

Once back on the ship Morgan heals everyone's wounds leaving himself quite exhausted, but leaving everyone without a scratch.

Steve says,

"Thank you Morgan. Cody, Omar, everyone, well done."

(Investigative Prodigy On)

Steve searches the captives for weapons, information, and other clues, and tries to make a judgement on when they'll be ready for Cody.

[Mr Fox]

They have no ID on them. They both have pistols concealed under their coats, one is a bretta 9mm, the other is a glock 40. They are dressed well, moderately expensive clothes off the rack, and are in their late 30s early 40s. The one that Cody put the mojo on is already starting to come to, but seems very out of it. The other one is already awake.

[Courier]

(Lie Detector On)

Steve pockets the guns and reaches into his jacket and takes out a set of mirrored sunglasses but doesn't put them on yet. He doesn't think this is a job for "good cop" but it's only fair to start with that.

(To the awake one) "Well, obviously you know it didn't work. Also obviously you probably know you're in trouble. Hopefully you've figured out that we aren't the police, and we aren't civilians. If you'd tell us what you know and how you know it, that would save yourself a great deal of trouble."

[Omar]

(Awe Inspiring turned on: Intimidation)

Omar stands behind Steve and looks down at the man he pulled from the van. His arms are crossed and there is a scowl on his face. Omar decided that it would be better if Steve did the interrogation. Omar would provide the intimidation, to make the job of getting information, easier.

[Mr Fox]

The driver looks around at you all and at his partner who is still very groggy. "Ah shit, man. We didn't wanna hurt anyone, we was just after the money. It was suppose to be a simple job, bust into the limo or steal it for the money in the trunk. I was gonna lay down cover fire in case you guys tried to come out so that we could keep you away long enough to snatch the cases or steal the limo. The big boom was only supposed to be a last resort incase you guys turned out to be the feds, and even then it was only suppose to scare the hell outta you." He swallows hard and looks scared of Omar.

"Geez, this turned into one major clusterfuck." He puts his head in his hands and groans.

[Courier]

Steve asks,

"Who hired you? And how did you know we were there?"

[Mr Fox]

He looks up at the question, "No one hired us, Joe just asked us to help out for an even split. He thought Ralph was pulling a double cross and wanted his fair share. Said you guys had won millions and Ralph was only cutting him in for a measly 100 grand.