Newbie Mission

8/24

I wake up, the buzzing from my commlink keeps going it takes a few seconds, then I see the caller ID. Oh yes it is Misaki maybe she wants to go out tonight, I quickly scramble out of my bed and answer, trying not to sound like I just woke up.

Misaki's voice is soft and chirpy as if she has some real good news.
Oh it's a job, well that is good news, not the best, but good.

" A job you say, lay it on me!"
"I think I have just the wheels for this type of job, actually maybe even the fastest wheels in Mingmei, and I'm sure she could use the Nuyen"
"alright so no pay if we don't get whatever it is in the forest. Well it's a gamble but that is not something that would stop me"
"nope absolutely no reason to look for anybody else I think I have the guts and speed to do this"
"Bye Misaki, wish me luck"

I hang up, Misaki has really come through for me, this is a sweet gig, but the pay is quite high for a pickup job, I better prepare.

As I start putting gear in my duffel bag, I write a text for Misaki Ogawa.  She will be perfect for this job she has skills behind the wheel, and that is what I need here.

>>>>>"Hoi Misaki, I have got a line on a job. It pays suspiciously well. 200.000 Nuyen,
>>>>>I need you to drive, and we will need to go fast, as only the one who gets the "package" gets paid, and there may be some competition for this race.
>>>>>Meet me at my address  4-3-5 Saitama apartment #33 Mingmei, I will be waiting in front of the building"

I go through my gear one last time before I head down, I strap my katana under my coat and head down the stairs onto the street.

Misaki Ogawa replied by text:

>>>Hi Kuro... 200,000?!! (∩╹□╹∩)
>>>I'll head over, but what do we need to pick up, where is it, and where do we need to deliver it?
>>>When you say 'competition', do you mean that there will be a fight? Or just a race?
>>>Anyways, I'm on my way!! (⌒▽⌒)

Misaki was sitting in the garage after school, chatting with her friends via the commlink as she was working on her drones. Kuroi Hitsuji's messages sent a shiver along her spine.

"Do you hear that Marshmellow? 200,000 nuyen! I could upgrade your pilot software with that kind of money," the chatty teen said to the newly acquired hoverdrone. It was a Lockheed Optic X-2, a VTOL drone that was no larger than a small cyberdeck.

"200,000 nuyen is a lot of money, Mi-chan," the drone responded politely.

"You got that right," Misaki replied, as she scooped up the drone and walked over to the van. She placed the drone in the front passenger seat, and loaded the other drones.

Before getting into the van herself, she walked over to the edge of the garage where there was a mirror, and looked over herself once.

Hair? Check.
Lip gloss? Check.
Eyeliner? Black as outer space.
Mascara? Sparkly.

Nodding in satisfaction, she donned her armor jacket and scooped up her weapons. She then climbed into the van, jacked in, and drove to the address that Kuroi had provided.

[Earlier...]

When Misaki pulled the van up to where her Oni friend was standing, the passenger side door swung open.

Misaki was was wearing pink high top sneakers, knee high fishnet stockings, short denim shorts, and a dark grey jacket with colorful racing logos all over it.

"Hi Kuro-chan," Misaki said, between loud pops of bubblegum. "So, where are we headed and what are we picking up? I hope it fits back there." She brushed her long back hair over her shoulder and nodded at the space in the back of the van with the seats folded down.

In the rear, there were a set of drones, but the large folded Dalmation hover drone seemed to move an actuator to acknowledge the newcomer.

"Greetings, Kuro-san," said the drone in an flat, robotic voice.

When Kuroi Hitsuji provided the coordinates, Misaki asked the van, whom she seemed to call "Mochi," to proceed on autopilot in the appropriate direction.

=====================================================

Once the course turned into the woods, Misaki jacked in to control the van in cold sim mode.

"Bunny, can you fly above us, and follow us, 100m above the tree canopy? If you see anything suspicious, try to alert us. If the signal is too weak, just fly lower and do circles until we notice you. I'll stop the van if I notice you and you can try to land."

A Van pulls up, I greet Misaki  and her drone. "I do hope that some of that clothing is armoured, well at least I brought a Medkit". I get in gives Misaki the coordinates and she takes off.
For now, this job seemed simple enough.
I turned to Misaki " Did you bring some protection other than the drones?"

"sorry but you know as little as I do about what we pick up and how much space it will take up, let's hope it isn't too big or too heavy."
"In fact I don't even think the Johnson knows. But I guess anything that drops from the sky is worth picking up "

Kuroi positioned himself better in the seat, Pulls out his gun and checks the clip once again, not really because he was expecting trouble, just checking. Don't want to mess up on this job.

"smart, having Bunny as an overwatch, it might see the thing we are looking for before any of us"
Kuroi sends a text to Misaki Yachi:
>>>>>On our way, I will let you know when we have acquired the target, hugs Kuroi.

Kuroi turned to stare out the windows, to scan the horizon for any clues of anything fallen from the sky.

Misaki sat in the driver's seat with her legs crossed and arms folded, a blank look in her face as she was plugged into the van.

"Eh?," Misaki's voice came from the speakers in the car, while her body remained motionless. "Oh, the jacket I'm wearing is armored, and I brought my gun. It's a super big gun though, and kicks like a horse. I've never really used it except at the shooting range. It was a gift from a friend."

"This van, Mochi, also has two Ares Alpha assault rifles on a pop up turret. Are we expecting trouble? I hope your Johnson could provide us more details..."

Kuroi turns towards Misaki, as it feels weird not to look at the one he talks to.
"A gift you say, may I see it?"
"Are you any good with it?"
"hopefully it won't be necessary"
He fiddles a little with the breast pocket of his coat, yep it's still there.

"Ummm. Ummm. One second..."

Misaki switches to AR mode. Her slender body stirs to life and she blinks a few times, and stretches.

She reaches into her jacket and withdraws a heavy pistol from a concealed holster. It looks comically large in her tiny hands. With reassuring precision, Misaki ejects the clip, racks the slide, and locks it back. She holds the gun towards Kuroi Hitsuji to take while the car continues forward.

"Savelette Guardian, sparkles, eh?," she said smiling.

After Kuroi took the gun, she popped her bubble gum a few times. "I could also send one of my smaller drones ahead to scout out the GPS location and fly back with pictures. Ya think that's a good idea?"

"That is a nice gun, I wouldn't be caught dead without my own" Kuroi smiles, the gun looks like it is kept well. It will serve Misaki well in a bind.
"oooh if you don't mind a question, aren't you afraid you might choke on the gum while you jack in?"

"Actually, getting some "eyes" on the target is a brilliant idea, I knew you would be perfect for this job"
Kuroi rests back in the seat, return the gun to Misaki with a "thanks".

Misaki smiles, and takes the gun back. She inserts the magazine back in, flicks the slide release, and with a firm SNAP, the gun's slide whips forward, loading a bullet into the chamber. She gently returns the gun to her holster.

"I'm ok with it. I depend on people like you, Bunny, and Pretzel to keep me safe." Misaki pointed up at the sky to indicate 'Bunny', and pointed her thumb at the back of the van when she mentioned 'Pretzel.' Pretzel was apparently a small drone with tank treads, carrying a metal box.

"No, I won't swallow the gum. I've had lots of practice," Misaki snorted.

After awhile, she stopped the van and released Marshmellow on her first mission.

"Well look at you, your first job, Marshmellow. Please fly ahead to these GPS coordinates, remain a minimum of 40 meters above the forest canopy. Once you get to the crash location, can you please take some pictures and video? If there is commlink signal, just relay it to me. Otherwise fly back on the track that you went, and once you see Bunny, you'll know where we are. Then you can fly down and greet us.

"They do seem to be able to protect you, do they have some heavier weapons? I will try my best to keep us out of harm's way."
The way she talks with to the drones as living beings is endearing or cute somehow.
"Do you think of them almost as pets?, I mean Bunny and Pretzel"

"Alright, I've never jacked in before so I just wondered."
Misaki prepares the drones, she is a girl of many talents it seems, and for such a young age. Maybe she is some kind of a wunderkind.
"how good is Marshmallow to take pictures?, is it made for surveillance?"

"Yup," Misaki replied, with a twinkle in her eye. "Pets, or friends, they're all pretty ace."

"Bunny and Pretzel both have a hidden Alpha Ares that shoot 7.62 NATO, with a grenade launcher. For Bunny it's in the pizza box, so people think that it's a pizza delivery drone. Pretzel has it in that other box, so it looks like a sushi delivery robot."

"Yeah, Marshmellow is a recon drone." Indeed, the rotodrone was no bigger than a textbook. "I guess she takes good pictures... I'll try to teach her to take some good selfies."

"How about you, what kind of gun are you packin'? I didn't know much about them, but the last crew that I worked with showed me the ropes."

"But do you get hurt emotionally when they get hurt, you know like pets?"
"Ares Alpha is a pretty good gun on a drone, especially with the grenade launcher, what kind of grenades have you got loaded?"
It is really cool the way she has camouflaged the drones to look like delivery drones of different types.
"selfies? You got an entire online persona?"
"I have got a Savalette Guardian just like you though I have put on a silencer. If I do want to go loud I have a Ares Predator V, its big and it demands attention.
"as a backup I carry this little thing"
Kuroi pulls his coat aside and shows the katana he has strapped on his person.
"this is my favorite way to handle problems, and it is very silent." Kuroi makes a half smile. He has really gotten to appreciate this weapon since he got to Mingmei.
"I do have a few other surprises, if the drek hits the fan."
"do you have any idea what we could be picking up, fallen from the sky? Maybe a meteorite?"

"I would probably feel kinda bummed," Misaki said, pondering the question. The Renraku van drove deftly around obstacles. Misaki seemed like a very skilled multi-tasker. "So far, I have been able to fix any drone that got damaged. I did get a memory wipe once, that was really lame."

"I have explosive grenades loaded," she said, popping her bubble gum a few times. "I guess I could get some smoke grenades?" Misaki twirled her hair in her finger as she considered this.

"Woah! Is that an honest real katana?! Sparkly! Can I see?"

"Yeah I could imagine, but at least you can repair it."
It is impressive she even has the ability to fix these complicated machines.
"explosives are always good, they definitely gets the job done. Smoke could be a good idea if we have a way to see through it and our enemies don't" Hmm thermal vision might be a good thing to invest in, maybe some googles or get it installed in my ballistic mask.
"Yeah it is "sparkly"," I go to learn this street speak Kuroi thinks to himself, I must seem like an old fart to this girl.
"sure, here check it out, but watch the edge it is quite sharp" Kuroi unstraps the scabbard and blade, and reaches it over to Misaki.

"Mochi, drive for a bit," Misaki said.

"I have control," the speakers in the van responded, in a demure, feminine voice.

Misaki gawked at the blade and took a hold of it gingerly.

"Eeeeee- kakkoi!" She unsheathed a portion of the blade just to admire the sharpened edge for a few moments, then stowed the blade and carefully handed it back to Kuroi Hitsuji. "The last shadowrunner crew I worked for, one guy had a katana also, but he never let me touch it."

"Mochi is that the name of the car?"
Kuroi smiles to himself remembering the day he got the blade, he was just as excited as Misaki was right now.
"Well some impart too much feelings into their tools, it is a blade and it cuts. "
"but yeah it is a really cool tool, but it doesn't break that easy"
"Maybe you could try giving it a few swings when we have the time for it, though maybe we could start out with some Bokken" rather safe than sorry Kuroi thinks to himself, remembering he nearly cut himself badly first trying out using this blade.

"Yuppers. Mochi is this babe," Misaki says, patting the dashboard of the van. "One sec, the road is getting a bit more difficult."

Misaki switches to VR mode to handle the driving more carefully. She hums a tune over the speakers as she continues driving, not seeming to be bothered by the offroading.

=========================

After some time, Marshmallow reports seeing an anomaly in the forest ahead.

"Marshmallow sees something ahead, I'm going to go take a look."

Misaki puts Mochi, the van, on autopilot, and requests it to be cautious and methodical. In the meantime, she switches to cold sim VR into the hoverdrone scouting ahead.

"It is a nice van, Mochi neat name"
Kuroi gives a thumbs up as he understands Misaki might need to focus a bit on this next stretch.
===========================
"Alright but be careful, you never know what creeps around in a forest like this, let me know if anything stands out and how far out is this anomaly?"
Kuroi sits back and rests, it feels like hours, but he has never been the most patient type, which he is abundantly aware of.