The world was a dark place, stifling in its heat and absence of fresh air. Blindly Benzie struggled. The scent of her own sweat filled her nostrils, she flailed, her arms, groping towards an unseen goal. Like a slow moving landslide she slid from her confinement and landed with a soft thump on the bare boards of the floor. Instantly she began to rethink her decision to wake up as white light seared her eyes. With a mutter of protest she rolled gracelessly over and shimmied back up the side of the mattress and into the welcoming oblivion of her bedding. Mornings never had been her favorite time of day, even when they came at four in the afternoon.

She had been out late last night. Or maybe early this morning, riding her Growler rather aimlessly while she thought. She had ranged as far as Bellvue and the sun had been well risen by the time she got home and passed out. Still her thoughts were no clearer then they had been. She’d been plagued by dreams lately. Nightmares. She had been as long as she could remember, but lately they had shown her images of people she loved. Memories she had no memory of. Last night she had lain down to sleep and come screaming awake less then an hour later, woken by the images of Finn's death. Getting out, getting away had seemed like the best thing at the time but driving all night and the few hours of fitful sleep she had managed had done nothing to burn the images from her mind.

Showering improved her mood some and by the time she had put her blue and pink colored hair up in twin knots at the back of her skull and dressed herself in her typical torn jeans and tank top she felt almost normal again. She jammed her feet into her chunky, buckle spangled, black boots and strapped her katars to her thighs. Throwing on her electric blue duster as an after thought she pocketed her comlink and headed for the door. Tonight she had a meeting with Old Scratch and she didn't want to be late. Late comers didn't get the benefit of the free round of cheap beer Scratch bought.

The ever fickle wind had changed again, blowing north and west now. The ash was particularly bad, visibility lost in a haze of white. Benzie secured her goggles and respirator in place before heading out. Crossing the street and stepping into the openess of the community park she absently hoped that todays errand would take them out of town. She hated when the ash was so thick. Hated when she couldn't see the vista of the mountain. It made her feel claustrophobic and no Wind follower takes that well.

Approaching the large plasticrete half dome of the band shell she saw a lone figure materialize out of the haze. Tall and unshaven. He had a patch over one eye and was dressed head to toe in black.

"Evening Benzie" his voice was so rough he sounded years older then he looked. Feigning surprise she looked around the park, taking in the hidden sky line.

"How can you tell Scratch?" He gave her such a bland look in response that she laughed out loud. Muttering under his breath he gestured at her to fall in beside him, the pair of them kicking up ash as they went on in silence. After a few moments a pink glow appeared in the whiteness ahead and within a few more steps it revealed itself to be a hot pink bullet streaking under the words "The Lucky" in neon. The Lucky Slug had the honor of being both the chosen meeting place of the Black Princes and the only bar in the whole of Tarislar.

        As the two of them stepped into the street, head lights pierced the ash fall and a nondescript black sedan pulled over abruptly, brakes squealing in protest. It came to a jolting rest between them and The Slug.

"You gonna let him drive tonight Benzie?" Old Scratch asked sounding amused. She shrugged slightly.

"It's his car, do I have a choice?"

"Fine line between bravery and stupidity."

"That's what they keep telling me Scratch." By this time the driver of the car was stepping onto the dusty pavement. His white hair was cut short. His black suit only slightly creased. He squinted into the falling ash, an unlit cigarette dangling from his lips. Twytch was about the only elf in town who didn't wear a filter mask no matter how bad the ash fall got. When half your body was replaced with mechanics, Benzie figured it probably wasn't necessary. Spotting them he gave a friendly nod.

"What's up?"

"We'll talk inside." Scratch stepped up to the bar pushing the door open and disappearing inside. Benzie gave Twytch a smirk and followed suit, holding the door open so he could enter behind her.

The Slug was unchanged and to Benzie at least, seemed unchangeable. A haphazard collection of folding tables and mismatched chairs made groupings around the single room. Sterile fluorescent light shown down on the bar itself, worn and pitted, it gleamed faintly from frequent scrubbing. Behind the bar stood Mitch. His rusty hair swept back from his face, widows peaks gleaming in the harsh light. He was the owner and operator of the Lucky Slug having taken over the bar a few years prior. Already he seemed a permanent fixture.

Scratch gestured to Mitch and headed immediately for the farthest table in the corner. It never seemed to matter if they were the only ones there, Old Scratch required at least the illusion of stealth when it came to business. He seated himself with his back to the wall in the farthest corner of the bar and gestured for Benzie and Twytch to sit as well.

"So," Twytch leaned in close, setting his still unlit cigarette in the ashtray, "what's all the excitement about Scratch?" He raised his blond brows comically high.

"We'll get there kid. Settle." Scratch barely looked at Twytch as he lit a cigarette. Twytch glared at him as he sat back. Taking a worn looking deck of cards from his jacket pocket he began shuffling them. A sullen expression on his face which brightened a moment later as Mitch appeared, setting a pitcher of beer and four glasses onto the table. With a flourish he tucked his cards away again and reached eagerly for the pitcher. Pouring for himself first and then accommadating Scratch and Benzie. He stopped over the fourth glass, hovering uncertainly.

"Am I doing my math wrong here Boss or," His words were interrupted by the door opening. There framed by the dying ash filtered light of a Tarislar sunset stood Athena. Her black hair hung loose, falling like the waterfall she worshiped, almost to her waist. Her rich purple trench coat hid her clothing, revealing only the medallion at her throat, the arcane incision on the stone highlighted in the fluorescent light. Her eyes, pools of deep blue liquid, fastened on their little group in the corner and she smiled slightly. "Ah. I guess a little magical assistance never hurt." Twytch said in sudden understanding and tipped the pitcher to top off her glass as well. She came over and took her seat across from Twytch.

"Nice of you to make it Athena." Scratch remarked sourly.

          Wordlessly she saluted him with her beer glass and a smile. He responded by spreading his dirty look around the table before leaning back in his seat. "Alright kids, we don't have much time so here's the deal. Tonight you will go and acquire a truck. It's carrying some valuable cargo that's going to make us a nice chunk of nuyen. It should be coming through the area in about an hour, give or take. Security wise, I know they hired some go gang outta Puyallup, the Sunset Messiahs to ensure safe delivery. Go make it unsafe and bring the truck back here. Any questions?" The three of them stared blankly at their gang leader for a moment before they all started asking questions at once.

"What's in the truck?"

"Who are we stealing it from?"

"Where is it actually gonna be in an hour?"

"How many gangers?"

"What's our cut?"

"Just the three of us seriously?" and on like that till finally Scratch raised one hand.

"Okay, okay, okay I'm fraggin sorry I asked!" He glared at the three of them. "What's on the truck isn't any of your damn business, leave it alone. I'm not sure how many exactly, but they're simple gangers, I have faith you three can hack it and I don't have the exact route. I'd guess the main highway outta Puyallup. It ain't like they know they got company coming. Now, time's wasting kids. Go get em." With that he drained the last drops from his glass and stood, slamming it down on the table. "Ill be here when you get back." He turned and walked away, disappearing into the men's room.

        It was silent at the table for a moment then Benzie rolled her eyes, "Probably the main highway, probably? They could bloody drive right by us and we would never know it."

        Twytch gave her a half smile as he stood up. "Only one way to find out Benzie." Athena followed suit and the three of them headed for the door. The two girls stopping to strap on their filter masks. Outside the sun had fully set and a deep greyness had draped itself over the town. The ash so thick the air had substance. Twytch headed straight for his own car, not bothering to see if the girls were following suit. On the sidewalk Athena paused narrowing her eyes at Twytch's back.

"Do we have to ride with him Benzie? Really?"

"I walked." Benzie shrugged. "Besides, he's still alive. Maybe he's gotten better since last time?" She grinned at Athena's apprehensive expression.

"You guys coming?" Twytch called cheerfully from the car.

"I seriously doubt it." Benzie heard Athena whisper darkly but they both made their way over to his car. Athena ducked into the back, hastily buckling her seat belt into place. Benzie dropped into the front passenger seat and slammed the door behind her.

It didn't take nearly as long as it should have to get out of Tarislar and onto the highway. Benzie was fervently wishing that she had just let Athena drive. Or better just brought her bike. Glancing over her shoulder she was convinced that Athena was thinking along the same lines. The set look on her pale face said it all. Twytch on the other hand seemed blissfully ignorant of the terror he inspired as he chatted cheerfully about the likelihood of catching them on the highway and what they should do if they did.

As they drove northward the ash began to thin out. Benzie rolled down her window and tried to focus on the wind blowing in rather then Twytch's inability to choose a side of the road. Abruptly they were all flung forward, seatbelts biting painfully into their hips. The car fish tailed and drifted off toward the side of the road, with a jerk of the wheel Twytch over corrected and brought the vehicle spinning back the other way all the while pressing on the brakes. The dark sedan inscribed a slow half circle before coming to a grinding halt perpendicular to the road itself.

A deep sigh emerged from the back seat, "Let me out of this car now!" Athena's voice was tense. Not having to be asked twice Benzie threw off her seat belt and scrambled out of the vehicle at lightning speed, leaving the door open for Athena to exit. She staggered a few paces from the vehicle breathing deeply while Benzie turned on Twytch. He was already free of the car and staring intently northward

"Why here Twytch? And bloody hell mate why like that?" She demanded shrilly. He shrugged slightly not looking at her.

"Seemed like a good spot for it.."

"For what?" Athena demanded from the roadside.

"An ambush." He was right of course. They need to stop the truck somehow. Stop it and dispatch whatever security was guarding it but in Benzie's eyes this didn't seem like the best place. The road was an old four laner. Certainly not as wide as most highways these days, but wide enough that blocking it was out of the question on such short time. To either side of the road was open ground with a few evergreens sprinkled around. There was one particularly tall tree by the road. She briefly considered trying to climb it and jump onto the truck from one of the over hanging branches but Twytch interrupted her train of thought before she could discard the idea.

"They're coming." he pointed down the highway toward Puyallup proper. "I'd say we have maybe three minutes." Vision magnification. Benzie mentally smacked herself for not thinking to use that herself. Activating the option on her red and blue lensed goggles she turned her head to follow Twytch's finger down the road. With a small lurch the terrain came flying towards her. A line of headlights emerged out of the distance, quickly resolving into a group of figures on motorcycles strung out around a large white truck. She could make out at least five figures. Four of which seemed to be elven or human sized but the one out front looked considerably bigger.

"Great, " Benzie muttered. "They have an orc."

Twytch smoothly pulled his Colt Manhunter, stepping around to stand behind the car he rested both arms on the roof, taking aim at their approaching adversaries.

"Athena, you might wanna get off the road." He gazed towards the approaching group. She complied quickly. All but disappearing in the darkness beneath the trees. A deadly little surprise for the oncoming go gang. Benzie joined Twytch behind the car. Not much she could do with her katars till they got a whole lot closer. Twytch on the other hand fired a deafeningly loud shot. Benzie focused in on the approaching group again. They were close enough now to be seen with the naked eye but she zoomed in anyway to gauge the damage Twytch's shot had done. The windshield of the truck was painted crimson. Before the truck could even begin to drift a second shot thundered in Benzie's ear and the orc leading the group gave a slight jerk, his grip momentarily loosening on the handlebars.

Benzie adjusted her vision back to normal and drew her katars. The go gangers definitely knew something was up. They seemed to speed up slightly, the orc grimacing so much she could only imagine the language issuing from his ugly mouth. Twytch took another shot. This time the orc did lose his grip. The front tire of his chopper turned sharply to the right and the bike gave a violent lurch, tipping over onto it's side, orc and all. Man and machine skidded along the pavement, not seeming to slow much as it careened towards Twytch's car.

        The truck was definitely drifting by this point. Drifting and slowing down. One of the gangers, an elf with an electric green mohawk and a jacket so covered in bright patches that the fabric was indiscernible, was forced to fall back or risk being crushed by the out of control truck.

Twytch took aim again and with an explosive detonation a young human ganger's shaved head split like a ripe melon, his body falling limply from the back of his racing bike. The bike carried on without him for a few more yards before falling over and sliding to a screeching halt off the far side of the highway. His partner on the same side, another human, this one wearing a black helmet with antlers rather comically affixed to the outside and an obvious cyberarm suddenly convulsed. Surrounded by a purplish blue light he jerked spasmodically for a moment. As the light faded he turned his head groggily and spat a mouthful of blood onto the pavement, his bike slowing abruptly. Athena was at work from the shadows.

The truck came suddenly to a shuddering stop and the back doors were thrown open from the inside. Deciding that she had waited quite long enough Benzie jumped up and rolled over the hood of the car, landing lightly on the other side, she ran to meet the skidding orc. He had disengaged from the chopper and was flailing around with one arm. It looked like he was trying to grasp the handle of an uncomfortably large axe strapped to his back. Gracefully she knelt on the pavement, waiting for him to slide by, katars poised. As he came abreast with her, still struggling to free the axe as he skidded, she thrust both blades into his belly. Smoothly in and smoothly out, allowing him to continue with barely slowed momentum. She paused to examine the tips of her katars. Not as deep of wounds as she had hoped. Fragger was wearing some heavy armor. She glanced back over her shoulder to see Twytch adjusting his aim to the oncoming orc. Figuring he had it handled she turned back to the truck and smiled. A black clad elf had stepped off the back end of the truck, holding twin stun batons in his hands. This was much more her style. She flowed to her feet and moved towards him, katars ready.

Behind her Twytch took another shot at the orc. With amazing alacrity considering his entrance the orc jerked himself sideways, using the last of his momentum to roll up into a crouch. Stunned, Twytch could only stare for a moment as his opponent gained his feet. Twytch was relatively sure orcs weren't supposed to get that tall. And what’s more he was absolutely sure that they shouldn't be allowed axes of that particular size. The orc pulled the axe around in front of him and gave it an experimental swing or two. The blue tuft of hair on his head blowing in the breeze created by the axe's passing. With a less then friendly smile he stepped towards the end of the vehicle, evidently coming round to make himself better acquainted with the blond elf behind the car. Prudently Twytch took a few steps the other direction before taking aim again.

Off on the side of the road the antler helmed ganger had stopped his bike, leaving it standing free on the pavement with the kickstand and gone to investigate in the bushes. There was a second flash of blue light in the shadows. He didn't emerge again.

Benzie had engaged the stun baton wielding elf. His reach was about equal to hers and he was almost as fast. Deflecting an incoming strike with her katars raised over her head she missed his off hand coming in at her left flank. The impact itself only stung but the shock that accompanied it was painful enough to make her gasp. For a split second she thought she was going to drop her weapons but the moment passed and she drove in at him again with irritation powering her every move. From the corner of her eye she noticed an electric green mohawk sneaking around the truck, trying to catch her by surprise. The need to dispatch her opponent dismissed any finesse and she drove both katars up under his collar bone, lifting him slightly up off the ground. His arms jerked forward, and both batons caught her sides. The shock this time brought her to her knees, her vision blurring briefly. As she went down the elf went with her. Flopping on top of her and taking her the rest the way to the pavement.

Twytch's game of tag was going a little better. At least the orc hadn't managed to catch him with the axe yet. Twytch aimed rather carelessly at the orc's torso and fired. Shreds of the gangers black tee shirt went flying, allowing Twytch a clear view of the ribbed flesh beneath. Damn orc just had to have dermal plating. For perhaps the hundredth time he found himself pondering why he never took the trouble to get his hands on some nice armor piercing rounds. He didn't get to think on it long. The orc dove forward snarling. The huge axe sweeping in a powerful arc on a collision course with Twytch's head. With a yelp he hoped the girls couldn't hear he threw himself backwards, stumbling he landed hard on his hoop. The orc lumbered around the vehicle in time to be met by Twytch's retaliation. Not bothering to get on his feet he aimed and unloaded two explosive shots into the orc's face. In a splatter of gore his would be killer fell backwards, hands coming up too late to try and block his face.

A rush of ethereal light flowed in a wave from the roadside again as Athena saw Benzie go down. From where she stood concealed there wasn't anything she could do about the mass of elf on top of her friend, but she could definiteley encourage mister mohawk to mind is own business. The poor fragger must have had the will power of an infant. With a gurgle he toppled onto the pavement. Blood pooling from his ear before the light from her spell had ebbed. A slight headache starting between her temples Athena murmured to her totem, preparing another attack.

Never one to take chances, at least chances where there was no money involved, Twytch hefted himself to his feet and unloaded the remainder of his fifteen round clip of explosive ammo into the orcs armored chest. Only then stooping over to check for a pulse. Satisfied that the big brute was really dead he reloaded, scanning the area for his friends. He couldn't see Athena of course but the toppling elf between him and Benzie's prone form was a good indicator that she was fine. With a crash the passenger door of the truck flew open. Bursting forth was a middle aged human male. Salt and pepper hair sticking up messily he aimed what looked like a small machine gun at Benzie where she lay struggling to free herself from his former companion's corpse.
"
This is what you get slitch!" He cried.

"Yeah, this is what you get." Twytch agreed softly, pulling the trigger on his newly reloaded Manhunter. The detonation blew Benzie’s attacker back into the cab of the truck just as she finally managed to shove the body off of herself and stand up. Theatrically Twytch blew imaginary smoke from the barrel of his gun. "You're welcome." He grinned at her impudently.

She shot him an irritated look and swung up into the cab. Checking to make sure it's occupants were truly dead. With a shove she heaved first one dead guy and then another out onto the pavement.

Athena emerged from the shadows. Pointedly trying not to look at the bloody heaps littering the street she walked directly to Twytch's car, sat down in the driver's seat and fastened her seat belt.

Oblivious Twytch knelt down to poke at his orc friend in fascination. This guy had a lot of cyberware, of that Twytch was sure. Not even an orc went through all that without some modification. Decisively he grabbed the orc by the ankles and began dragging him to the car.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Athena asked as he threw open the passenger door.

"Oh," he said leaning over the dead orc to peer in at her. "You're driving? Good idea!" He resumed adjusting the front seat and began laboriously shoving the body into the back seat of the car. "Ill see if his motorcycle still runs!" Unable to think of a suitable response for this Athena settled for turning back to the driver's window and vomiting onto the pavement.

In the meantime Benzie was checking out the truck. Despite Scratch's warning she took a look in the back. The cargo area was surprisingly clean and seemed to be stocked with pharmaceuticals of some kind. Nothing very exciting to Benzie. At one end there hung several long bags that looked to be filled with liquid. The hazard symbols printed on them were tempting but the pounding in her head from her mini electrocution overcame the urge to check it out She hopped out of the back, securing the rear doors and making her way back to the cab.

Just in front of the truck Twytch had picked up the orc's chopper from the pavement and was looking expectantly at Benzie.

"Anything good?"

"Probably expensive." She returned his grin and his smile widened.

"I like the sound of that!" he twisted on the bike to look at the car. Athena was leaning her head against the steering wheel. Her face white. "Ready to go home Athena?" In response she sat up and started the car. Backing away from the curb and turning back south in such a hurry that the tires screamed in protest. Twytch started the heavy chopper and pulled in behind her. Benzie swung up onto the seat of the truck with a grimace. The blood she could handle but the little chunks of flesh left over only reminded her why she was a vegetarian. She rolled down the window to help free some of the blood scent and started the truck. Falling in behind her mates, heading home.