Episode 04: Deepening Shadows

Last night the Coalition was obviously in a snit. Rumors were flyin' all over the place this "morning" of a huge CS strike in the East Side of the market. Just goes to show you that even when we try to fly under the radar there's other whackjobs out there workin' to make life just a bit more difficult for the rest of us. Thanks a lot jackasses.

Doc received a visit from that reporter that has a problem with him. Turns out the snoop took some incriminating photos of Doc passing some pills to the gangers at Fer's little meet and greet and was threatening him with them. Bad move. You don't threaten one of the Prophets.

We talked a bit about how to find the the burby bitch at The Top Hat. Well I should say everyone else talked about it, ol' Jack had to start getting everything ready. Nothing was really settled except Vic created a rumor online that "Burger Brian" has info on people disappearing from the park and linked it back to the snoop stalkin' Doc. 

Fer was a nervous wreck. She started the day off by hitting the bottle pretty hard. When ol' Jack asked her about it, she told him about the drug deal she had later.  No wonder she was hitting the bottle. Ol' Jack poured her a double. She'd need all the liquid courage she could get. 

After that things devolved into an impromptu advertising meeting as the Prophets tried to come up with slogans for Doc's newest designer drug. I think my favorite was "Remember, if your grandfather hadn't tried Old Spice, you wouldn't be here."

Fer and Doc left soon after to go to their arranged meeting. I heard about it from Fer later on. It took another double to steady her nerves afterward to get the story. 

The deal went bad. Fer and Doc were told in no uncertain terms to get out of the drug business, because the Shadow Masters didn't take kindly to the Prophets horning in on their territory. In return they'd make sure the pretty little girl we were trying to recover would stay safe. The presence of sharp pointy objects sealed the deal for Fer. Who agreed "no more drugs, just please don't stab me." Negotiating may not be her strong point.

That snoop tailin' Doc showed up again. Fer bird-dogged him and tailed him home. While waitin' for the other Prophets to show up so they could take out that guy, an old friend of Fer's tracked her down and asked for her help. Nothing too dangerous he said, just a simple retrieval mission. According to him it was just a few crates of goods containing some Pre-Rifts artifacts and some Naruni guns. What he mentioned next, was who had taken his shipment. 

Yup you guessed it. The Shadow Masters.

These creeps were everywhere the last few days. Apparently, they had ganked the shipment and he wanted it back.  He offered us one of the crates of weapons. Fer figured they could be fenced for a tiding profit, so naturally agreed. Fer's friend reiterated what Fer and the others were now sure of - the Shadow Masters were moving people (and drugs, and who knows what else). She agreed and let him show her where the stuff had been taken.

Meanwhile Doc & Richard had a talk about how to deal with the snoop. Richard promised he wouldn't kill the reporter, but Doc wasn't sure what he had planned for him was any better. I gotta admit his idea, while creative, was disturbing to me too. Like Doc said, "Is squirrel-based psychological torture that much better than murder?"

Richard went off to 'deal' with Gavin. He drugged him set it up so Gavin fell asleep to the techno-beat sound of "Badger, Badger, Badger". Rich destroyed all evidence of the drug deal, and printed a mock pamphlet from his printing presses which he later handed out. Then took mister snoop out into the woods, covered him in peanut butter, birdseed, and cheap booze, along with a fabricated cab receipt. It's clear to ol' Jack that Rich has been spending way too much time with Vic.

At a parking garage just outside Firetown...

The place hadn't been used in a while from what I was told. Something ate one of Vic's squirrel bots and triggered its smoke grenade. The goons guarding the place were taken out pretty easily. It was what was inside that would give the Prophets trouble. 

A monster made of multiple corpses crawled out from the lower depths. I tell ya the Burbs get weirder all the time. Sure it spooked the Prophets but we're a hardy lot - well most of us are. It wasn't alone either. It had buddies that crawled out of the woodwork. 

The big terrifying slab of meatsickle grabbed one of the smaller ones and put a whole new spin on "togetherness". The thing's body stuck to it like the damned thing was made of that sticky-assed paper you used for catching flies. Rick reportedly slashed a hole in it's belly and gave it a live "Bun-in-the-oven". The little ones were killed or scattered but the big one seemed unfazed and just plugged the hole in it's body with a corspe bandage. Fer's friend got a little close to the action and got a bit roasted by the explosion.

For all his flaws apparently, the answer to all problems is to give Vic an automatic rifle. He rained fire down on the corpses sending 'em back to hell along with their sticky-fingered buddy who had engaged in a slap fight with Richie. 

Doc stabilized Z'Reni, and in the lower level of the garage we found Z'Reni's crates and truck, plus an extra crate of old artifacts, books, and a stone tablet with unrecognizable writing on it.

Our take for the job is a crate of Naruni weapons and the wooden crate of artifacts. Vic was ecstatic. In the crate was the Holy Grail he'd been searching for - a DVD called "V for Vendetta".

Why does ol' Jack always miss out on all the fun? These double shifts are nuts (see Vic's squirrel escapades are even getting to me). I tell ya Fer's sister needs to hire some more people to work so ol' Jack can do what he does best.