MISSION The Dangers of Femininity

[Daiya]

Location: Somewhere in Watson
Objective: Steal a shard
Tags: @Angel @Brie @Ivory Stroud

The pulse of music throughout echoed the beat of her heart, reverberating off the armored insides of the megalimo. Its tinny quality sounded off, wrong somehow. Or that was just her rhythm, with eyes that kept watch on the front cabin, clinging just a little too often to the poles inside to feel the direction of a turn. Her dancing partner moved more easily, Kasey was a veteran of these moving gigs, but she could move in the ignorance that Daiya lacked. No one else in the limo knew what was coming for them.

And ignorance, scarce as it was in Night City, was definitely bliss.

Bliss was furthest from the emotion churning in her stomach every time she looked at the man sprawled out along the leather couch that spanned one side of the limo, an imitation of a nightclub's premium booths. The man was an imitation of premium clientelle as well, the mink coat draped generously over the slender form it hid, like the gold-rimmed dark glasses hiding his eyes. They bounced along to the beat, nodding a slow approval that the teen dancer had a strong suspicion was as much a facade as the rest of the Corpo.

"Ohhh yeah, that's a fine rhythm. Very fine!"

Encouragement came from the bench seat, but Daiya wasn't paying it too much mind. She gripped one of the poles mounted in the center of the limo, which spun under her touch. She had watched Kasey enough at the beginning to follow her motions and now her body moved as flawlessly, falling back into the practiced ease of a dance routine that was as familiar as a new pair of shoes. The Flash Cortex at the base of her skull made it come quickly to the teen, and with her own years of experience she could add the style and flair that drew appreciation from the leather couch.

The limo lurched suddenly, throwing Kasey off-balance. Daiya, foot hooked around the pole at the moment, let the momentum carry her around it, throwing her head back with earnest glee. No matter the audience, dance was something that could never lose its luster. It was so much more than the talent that had once won her a husband. "No need to work so hard, doll! Siddown and have a drink with me."

Slurring words made Daiya glance up with focus in her eyes, glee still firmly on her face as she shook her head. She spotted Kasey nestled onto the couch next to the Zentek Industries Exec, who patted the space next to her. Damon Kiros was a type she knew well, one that didn't like to be refused. Or so it seemed, putting on an act that was all just a game to him. Well, two could easily play at that game. She laughed and spun a little more, sauntering between one pole to the next, just out of reach of his many-ringed hands. "Can't always get what you want..." she cooed at him, pushing her lips into a sympathetic pout. "Aww, but look at that face!"

The face that shared a different sort of grin with his bodyguard, two wolves sizing up the lambs in their den. The bruiser sank low into the couch seat, enjoying the company of the dancer seated between him and his charge. Plenty of warmth and comfort shared on those leather cushions, just the way she wanted it. Everything was falling —some of it literally— into place for her, it was time for Darkwire's founder to play her hand.

"Give me juuuuuuust a minute!" Continuing the tease, Daiya let herself spin around once more as the limo made a turn, then let herself go on the straightaway again, channeling her energy back with the momentum of the ostentatious limo. Too big, too luxurious, the limo featured its own tiny lavatory, doubling as a green room for its hosted performers as well. It made her shoulders feel ten times lighter when she stepped inside, this was the kind of luxury even a girl from Watson could handle without complaint.

Her dancer's outfit gave way to another, both tighter and more flexible. Daiya's eyes studied herself in the mirror, using it to make adjustments as mental eyes flicked over her contacts list. She called them up, activating the holophone and the camera in her own optics, treating her partners to an eye-catching view of herself in the mirror. "Like, oh-em-gee girls, don't I look fab?!"

The loud voice could have thrown off any suspicion that came with using an outside connection, or at least for long enough as they needed. Her voice lowered as Daiya went over the plan with the rest of her crew again. "He's ready, I've got him all softened up and goo-goo eyes. He'll be melting in my hand the second I go back out there, so what's our status? Got the detour prepped Angel? Got eyes on our caboose, Brie?" She winked at the last part, focusing more on her reflection than the reactions of her partners in crime. The anticipation drew a smirk from her face, growing broader with excitement at the words she couldn't resist adding, "'Cause you know there's none finer in this town."

That made for muscle ahead and heat bringing up the rear. Later they might need a ripper, or a place to lay low, and that's when she could bring in the rest of her crew. For now, it all rested on her. Daiya leaned in to dab at a spot of moisture on her forehead, briefly soothing the sting of discomfort lurking there as it always did. It was time for her to bring the charm to the game, and that was something Night City knew her best for.

Daiya rose and hoisted up the front of her lacy outfit to finish the look, taking in a determined breath. When she pulled back the curtain that separated her from the limo's cabin and stepped back through, she knew she wouldn't disappoint.

Showtime!

 

[Angel]

Location: watson
Objective: stop limo
Tags: @Daiya @Brie @Ivory Stroud

Further up the road, currently out of sight from the limousine, Adelaid e sat on a metal toolbox looking into a power cabinet. She wore a high visibility jacket with some utility corp on the back and a hard hat. She wasn't doing much at the moment, she had been playing around with this unit on and off for a couple of days and had most of what she needed set up. Between her and the others was a hydraulic bridge that lifted itself over train tracks below to allow oversized cargo to get from the docks to the militech facility a few miles away. It wasn't used every day but would lift the road section five metres vertically when activated. Angel didn't need that much, even fifty centimetres would be enough to stop that monstrosity that Daiya was currently riding in.

"Think of the devil and she shall appear to you." She laughed as the comm came through and Angel projected it in front of her inside the cabinet. "Looking good chica! I'll try not to get distracted by that image!" She leaned in closer so no one could hear her.

"Bridge is ready, I hope you got the measurements of that thing right as I think it's going to be tight." She looked back at the rest of the road. Other cars would be able to cut around the bridge and use the old track level crossing that the bridge was built to replace, but the turn at the other end of that passage was too tight for heavy goods vehicles so she had set the signs to divert large vehicles down another road that ran parallel to the tracks before joining the primary freeway crossing, this was their spot to attack. Only... the limousine was longer than most goods vehicles and by her maths, the driver was going to be on his game to make that turn without losing half his paint. And if the measurements were off by more than a metre or so, then she guessed the attack was happening back at the bridge.

Just over the shoulder was the van that they had borrowed for the event, hired under the name of some dead guy by their pet netrunner, one of the cholos from her garage was at the wheel enjoying a smoke, once the limousine was on route, he would pull it out into the middle of the road, it was their second roadblock and also their getaway vehicle. He wasn't clued in on the plan but sitting in the van and then flooring it down the nearby alleyway to safety when they were aboard was fair quid pro quo for getting his abuela's century-old Bewick back on the road.

"Yeah, all good to go, firing up the bridge now. How far behind are you Brie?" She opened the valve on the control box manually, overriding the remote commands. As far as she was aware right now nothing had happened, but the pressure was building and in approximately three minutes the bridge would begin to rise, taking another two to get to its desired height and blocking off the road. She figured that they would have about fifteen minutes before the technicians arrived at this box to figure out what had blown and by then they would be long gone.

"See you in about six minutes, should be plenty of time to have him melting in your hand. Just wipe it on the curtain before you pick up a gun yeah, chica." She laughed and cut the link so she could monitor the control's attempts to do a remote fix.

Map of vicinity and current positions for clarity

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[Brie]

Brie glanced at the monitor coming to life in the center of the dashboard in the Quadra Sport R-7 ''Charon'', the car she and the girls had ''borrowed'' from one of the more wealthy inhabitants of Night City the night before. Thinking back at how they had fooled the owner brought a satisfied smirk upon her lips, as she squeezed the wheel and steered the five houndred plus horsepower muscle car down the road, towards another adrenaline fueled heist. The streetlights, large advertisement screens and bar signs showered the cars body with neon colors, as well as breaking into the inside, as the two kept a steady pace and safe distance to the giant SUV-like limousine. Brie hoped that the driver of it cared too much about its paintjob to avoid going up close and personal with them if they were caught. While the ''Charon'' had some wicked omph to it when putting the pedal to the metal, it would hands down lose that battle.

"He's ready, I've got him all softened up and goo-goo eyes. He'll be melting in my hand the second I go back out there, so what's our status? Got the detour prepped Angel? Got eyes on our caboose, Brie?" She winked at the last part, focusing more on her reflection than the reactions of her partners in crime. The anticipation drew a smirk from her face, growing broader with excitement at the words she couldn't resist adding, "'Cause you know there's none finer in this town.''

She chuckled and shook her head at Daiya's statement and use of words about the limousines rear, and obvious reference to her own tush.

''Very funny! Why do I feel that I always have eyes on your caboose, Daiya? I mean, not just because you got a pretty good one... Don't get me wrong, but it has a bad habit of going places it really shouldn't! I'm amazed that you don't feel the heat on it more often than you actually do! So, someone's got to watch it for you not to get burned!'' Brie jested shortly, and shot @Ivory Stroud sitting in the passenger seat an amused glance. The statement didn't come entirely without some truth in it, though. Daiya definitely seemed to actively look for trouble, and thrived being right in the lion's den. Brie had rarely a choice but to follow and clean up the mess, but they both did their jobs with perfection and also had incredibly fun doing what they did. Well, as perfect as it could be expected from two teenage streetkids.

''Speaking of burn...'' Brie murmured after the transmission had ended, and reached for an opened bottle of booze in the center console and took a sip out of it before offering it to Ivory. She made a grimace as she struggled with the liquor burning her throat on its way down. Something little to boost the courage, and it was not like driving under the influence was her worst offence. She bet, no she knew, that Ivory could empty that bottle and still be ready for action. Maybe even more ready and able.

"Yeah, all good to go, firing up the bridge now. How far behind are you Brie?" She opened the valve on the control box manually, overriding the remote commands.

''We're ready and waiting!'' Brie confirmed enthusiastically and kept her eyes on the limousine, preparing for the turn up ahead. ''About two cars behind Daiya's party cruiser. Almost a shame we're going to crash it!'' She added, just before the jerk in the car in front of them tossed out something she had to parry quickly not to hit it. ''HEY!'' She shouted and was just about to show him the finger when she reminded herself that they had work to do, and instead grit her teeth and mumbled something obscene about the driver in front. Brie took a deep breath, and now when they were moments away and no turning back, came to think about Ivory's part in all of this.

"Ivory? Can I really trust you on this one?" She asked after a moment. Of course she could. Ivory was one of the veterans of Darkwire, and Brie and the others knew perfectly well what the woman was capable of. It was a totally irrelevant question, really, probably created by a totally illogical gut feeling.

@Daiya, @Ivory Stroud, @Angel​

 

[Ivory Stroud]

Seated in the passenger seat, the taller grey-haired woman had been watching the road intensely. Occasionally, her pretty face would be bathed in the dim yellowish glow of streetlights as they passed - mixing with the green of her eyes and giving her perfect complexion a sickly pallor. The left side of her head was shaved nearly down to the skin, and it was this side that faced her companion - giving Brie a perfect angle to glimpse, at every glance, the unusual tattoo that shimmered a brilliant neon green tattooed into the woman's scalp. Below it, framing her left eye, another tattoo glowed a dull reddish-pink. Ivory Stroud, the oldest member of the Darkwire Crew, had her lips set in a grim line; her expression serious and determined as she vaguely paid attention to the feminine voice which filtered through both Brie's & her own head.

''Ivory? Can I really trust you on this one?"

At the question, Ivory's head turned - revealing what at-first appeared to be visible mascara lines tracing from her right eye down her cheek as-if she'd been crying... but to those familiar with her (which her entire team was), this was merely a cleverly designed tattoo. A third neon-lit marking in blue framed the woman's right eye, accentuating the bluish-grey hair which partially covered it half the right side of her face. Her full, pretty lips curled into a wry smirk as Ivory hefted the heavy weapon held loosely, naturally, in both hands: a Techtronika VST-37 Pozhar; a powerful automatic shotgun built for reliability and firepower. It was the group's insurance policy against any heavily-augmented bodyguards the 'mark' might have waiting in the wings... and Ivory carried it with the casual ease of someone more than familiar with a life of violence.

Her response came easily; reassuringly carried by a musical, feminine tone-of-voice in an accent which was Night City born & bred:

"Chica, I've been doin' this stuff longer than you've been alive. Let's get fuckin' paid."

She, too, had occasionally been taking sips from the open bottle of whiskey nestled into the Charon's center console, but the clarity in the older woman's eyes was proof enough she was still (metaphorically speaking) miles away from inebriation. Stakeouts and tailing-jobs could get boring, and it was nice to have something to pass the time... but even Brie knew that Ivory could have killed the entire bottle of whiskey herself and still been ready to go to war.

@Daiya @Brie @Angel

 

[Daiya]

Post Soundtrack: "Fever" by Peggy Lee

(Click Me)

Location: Approaching a trap
Objective: Steal a shard
Tags: @Angel @Brie @Ivory Stroud

Anticipation built within her, coiling like a serpent in her stomach and prickling the hairs on her exposed skin. Daiya's heart pulsed to the music, her breath quickening with its beat but calming as her crew, one by one, chimed in over her holophone. They were all set up and ready, and after drawing in one last, more deliberate, breath, so was she. The dancer, back in her prime now, pressed a button that set the lights to dim and the music to fade, setting in motion the plan Darkwire had worked out over the last few days.

The sounds of smooth jazz replaced the frantic beat from before, elicting cries of excitement and confusion from the limo's main cabin. If they didn't notice the arm she extended, alone among her, Daiya was sure it would draw attention once her fingers began to snap slowly with the low notes of the lounge bass. Her foot followed into view to give Damon the first glimpse of her stockings, high heel tapping as she lowered her hand down to it, tracing up the fishnet nylons to the garters above with a slinky finger.

Never know how much I love you,
Never know how much I care.​

Daiya stepped out upon the first words of the singer, deaf to any noise from the bench seat at her full reveal. The corset was tight around her chest, forcing her to move deliberately around the momentum of the limo, planting her toes in firm motions. This part was not a task for her implant, the teen's dancing youth and Peggy Lee's dulcet tones guided her through the streets of Night City, spinning with her arms wide to let the dancing poles catch her before the Corpo could.

When you put your arms around me,
I get a fever that's so hard to bear.​

Pole to pole, Daiya swayed between them, looking at her audience again for the first time since the song began. She saw Damon Kiros watching her with hazy dark eyes, curiosity bridging the short span between them. There had been another Corpo once, gazing at her with blue eyes that pierced through even the fiercest lights of the stage. If today had been any different, with another aim for the job ahead of them, Daiya thought she might have had another Corpo's heart in her hand.

You give me fever when you kiss me,
Fever when you hold me tight.​

She wanted something else from this Corpo instead. Besides wanting him distracted, thinking about the curves beneath her corset, feeling the warmth of Kasey by his side. Gooseflesh prickled across Daiya's skin as she stepped close to Damon, then back again before he could reel her in. It seemed altogether too easy to catch his eye, too easy to fish in this tiny, bulletproofed steel barrel tonight. His bodyguard didn't reach toward her when she danced his way, and the part of Daiya that was keeping score really wished that he would.

Fever in the morning,
Fever all through the night.​

There was no escaping the touch this time as she danced toward Damon again, no matter how much it might have made her skin crawl. Daiya let his hands grasp around her arm, giving him the victory he had been waiting for since she vanished to the back room earlier. Her giggle came easily, offering only a little resistance to his pull. She could have held firm, demanding that he climb up and out of his seat to join her, using the limo's momentum to catch him unawares.

Sun lights up the daytime,
Moon lights up the night.​

It would have been a simple matter to extract what she wanted from his neck then, or dash his head against the dancing poles in a tragic accident. This could have been her moment to seize, Daiya felt the car slow uncertainly, almost swinging off the path her crew had ordained for it. And then, as planned, the limo's bulk and the training of its driver forced it back to plan, drifting into a resigned sort of acceptance straight toward Angel's waiting arms.

I light up when you call my name,
And you know I'm going to treat you right.​

Daiya, too, let herself be pulled into Damon's arms. The moment was gone, and now it was his to savor. Unattended, the music played on as the limo drove soberly forward, but the Corpo's attention was on the too-giddy body of the dancer in his arms, her chest quivering with quick, little breaths. It was everything Daiya wanted, all too easy somehow and still not easy at all. Now she had to trust her crew to do the rest, and that might be the hardest part of the night for her.

"I know who you are," he told her, proclaiming it like a statement of victory. She had to give him a little bit of one, shifting just a little under his close embrace and pulling his hand up from her thigh to her side instead.

"And who am I?" Daiya found her voice again, low and beckoning after letting her body speak for so long. She had his attention now, and nestled up close on the leather couch she was in the unique position to keep it.

His fur-clad arm snaked across the back of her shoulders, its softness too inviting after the tension of her performance. If it had been his heart she was after, Daiya would have let her head lean into it, draping her body against his. She kept her poise just a little less than rigid, attentive enough to draw out an explanation from Damon. "You're that bitch who got Holloway killed, and damn near stole his fortune!"

"Is that how the story goes, now?" Daiya asked, her muscles tensing as nerves coiled tighter. It was the worst moment to freeze up, and she could feel her control slipping away. Her pulse quickened, voice catching in her throat as it asked, smaller now, "It's not true, I didn't kill him."

"Who gives a shit? Truth's just part of the story, and yours is a juicy one." He laughed, throaty and full of himself. Part of her was glad for it, glad for his distraction, but it was a part buried under layers of fear and paranoia swimming to the surface. Long-buried feelings that knocked on her memory, swinging wide doors she had shut long ago. Daiya swayed, almost toppling against his shoulder to bury her eyes there, and only barely kept herself upright.

"I was telling my man Tohru here," He kept going, his voice a heady wine over the music behind it, a drink that went bitterly her throat. Daiya followed the Corpo's nod to his bodyguard, who might have been a statue on the seat but for the hand caressing Kasey's thigh. "That I knew it was you. He figured you were too smart to show your face again. But look at you, desperate enough to dance for the likes of me!"

His face moved to fill her vision, close enough for Daiya to smell the expensive whiskey on his breath. "But lucky for me tonight," Damon wore a grin enough to swallow all of Watson, "'Cause now, I've got some killer arm candy."

Daiya no longer had a will over her own body as she felt it thrown into Damon's shoulder at last with the motion of the limo. It might have been a comforting reprieve from the exertions and memories of tonight, only her ears were filled with a screech of the limo's tires and its sluggish, yawning swerve. The motion of the vehicle, such a constant thrum to carry herself by before, was absent now. Outside, she knew things would be happening, from plans already set in motion, and the climate inside was about to change drastically. For the moment, however, all the scorned dancer could hear was the pounding of her defenseless heart and the waning voice of Peggy Lee.

What a lovely way to burn.
What a lovely way to burn.
What a lovely way to burn.​

 

[Angel]

Location: watson
Objective: stop limo
Tags: @Daiya @Brie @Ivory Stroud

Ada sat, wondering about her friends and watching as the city tried in vain to undo her handiwork, that's why she had to be here, you couldn't undo a mechanical error by sticking in a few lines of code, but as long as they were trying, there wouldn't be any real engineers coming to interrupt their important plans.

The revving of a chooh2 motor broke her out of her focus and she looked up to see the monstrous white corporate vehicle bearing down on her. She stood up and stepped towards her van a little, trying to look like she wasn't expecting then as it slowed down. There were a couple of sharp beeps on the horn of the limousine to get her attention and she waved it off dismissively with a "go around" gesture. Like he could actually get around the carefully parked van in that vehicle but that was all part of the charade. The horn beeped again, this time with a touch more urgency and she heard the passenger side door clunk open. A reasonably large man wearing a nice suit walked out. "Hey, you gonna have to move that, we've got a client in here and he isn't happy." Adelaide looked over and then began to approach the man with a grin on her face. "Listen, you move that van, we won't have an issue." the man said pulling at his jacket to reveal the handle of his piece.

"Oh, look at you, flashing your piece like some kind of cabrón..." Ada grabbed her crotch for emphasis. "You really gonna delta a city worker cos of traffic? Hurry back to your party bus, you look like a stripper." she laughed, taunting the man.

The man got angry and pulled out the weapon to point at her. "Don't try me, get out of the fucking road." He aimed the gun at her head from a foot away and Ada felt her heart racing. She was buying time to see the sports car containing backup pull up behind the limousine blocking any attempts that it might make to reverse out. She knew in her heart that the man wouldn't shoot her in cold blood just to get her out of the way, but the thought that he could blow her brains out with just a squeeze of the trigger was exhilarating.

"Are you deaf?" he asked getting more angry by the moment.

"No, just dumb." The next few seconds happened in a blur, she slapped the gun up and away with her hand, feeling the flash as he reacted to her attack and discharged the weapon wide of her head. With her second strike, she grabbed the hand and twisted the gun out of it before jabbing with the other into the throat of the man causing him to double and spit onto the floor while she still held the thumb that she snapped with her robotic grip before letting go.

"You piece of shit, you broke my thumb, you're fucking dead." he snapped out a telescopic baton and advanced on her just as the limousine driver revved the engine and tried back out of the trap.

 

[Brie]

Spoiler

Her response came easily; reassuringly carried by a musical, feminine tone-of-voice in an accent which was Night City born & bred:

"Chica, I've been doin' this stuff longer than you've been alive. Let's get fuckin' paid."

Brie was quick to remind herself how weird and - to tell the truth - completely unjustified her question were, even before Ivory came back to her. She squeezed the wheel and adjusted herself somewhat in the seat, silently patronizing herself and cleared her throat. The state of self patronizing soon faded though, and a ever so slight smirk appeared on her face.

''Heh... relax, grandma! I... I guess I just... wouldn't like you to get wasted...? I mean, mainly because we'd miss such an uplifting, happy spirit as yourself...'' Brie jested and almost prepared herself to duck a slap from her passenger. Brie hadn't tried to push any of the older womans buttons before, but the little booze they had on the way here fueled her boldness. Ivory didn't seem like the easiest person to get to really know either, even if you were an edgerunner yourself. Definitely likeable, though, with her kick-ass shotgun and wicked shimmering face tattoos. Someone to look up to, for better or worse. Probably more for worse, if you'd ask a regular citizen of Night City. They were far from regular, though. They were awesome, Brie thought as she saw the brake lights from the beast of a limousine up ahead. Time to focus!

She killed the headlights and sped up, steadily keeping the front of the muscle car aimed at the rear of the limousine. She threw an eye in the rearview mirror, making sure that no one have followed them.

The man got angry and pulled out the weapon to point at her. "Don't try me, get out of the fucking road." He aimed the gun at her head from a foot away and Ada felt her heart racing. She was buying time to see the sports car containing backup pull up behind the limousine blocking any attempts that it might make to reverse out. She knew in her heart that the man wouldn't shoot her in cold blood just to get her out of the way, but the thought that he could blow her brains out with just a squeeze of the trigger was exhilarating.

''Hope you hold onto something, Daiya!'' Brie said aloud and prayed that her friend did exactly that. She exchanged glances with Ivory, ensuring she also had her seatbelt on and that she was ready for action. When they were close enough, Brie downshifted and floored the pedal, making the RPM shot through the roof and engine rumble the final bit of tarmac. A second later, and with a loud noise of metal meeting metal, they hit the rear of the limousine and the hood of the ''Charon'' wedged itself under its chassis, making the rear tires lose contact with the ground and when the limousine driver tried to back out of the situation, the tires just spun violently in the air.

Brie pulled the Omaha from its holster, kicked the door open and rolled out onto the tarmac, seeking shelter behind the ''Charon'' and giving way for Ivory to set her plan into action.

@Daiya, @Ivory Stroud, @Angel​

 

[Ivory Stroud]

As the oldest in the Darkwire Crew, Ivory was a bit of an enigma. Always seeking the spotlight, wielding both charisma & determination like a double-edged scalpel, she took her role as the group's creative mastermind seriously - exuding a certain air of mystery which had spread to every level of the small crew's slowly growing tendrils which stretched into every corner of the city's underground. Within the small crew, only Daiya knew enough of Ivory's background to know the full extent & reason for her involvement with the motley crew... but one thing was certain:

Ivory wasn't just some half-retired, washed up Rocker-chick with unrealized dreams. She had hidden depths, and she could be adaptable, clever, and lethally effective when the situation called for it. Despite these traits, Ivory had a certain sense-of-humor which honestly made her fun to be around. Especially when she'd been drinking. Which was almost always.

''Heh... relax, grandma! I... I guess I just... wouldn't like you to get wasted...? I mean, mainly because we'd miss such an uplifting, happy spirit as yourself...'' Brie jested and almost prepared herself to duck a slap from her passenger.

From her spot in the passenger seat, Ivory turned her head to look at Brie with a wry, toothy smirk; one corner of her lips curling upward in an expression of amusement. Firing back immediately with a response: "Girl, you call me a grandma again, and I'll show you exactly how uplifting I can be. Straight off the roof of the Silkscreen, with a mouthful of soap."

In the final stretch of time between intrigue and action, Ivory seemed oddly relaxed. If she hadn't been toting a powerful scattergun, it might have appeared she & Brie were out on the town just like thousands of other Night City denizens - enjoying the evening air and joy-riding in a stolen vehicle, living on the edge. Ahead of them, the limousine slowed to a stop, and Ivory watched a big man in a suit step from the Passenger-side door and approach a feminine shape somewhat hidden from view on the side of the road. The clock was already ticking and as the Charon rapidly bore down on the unfolding scene, the space ahead of the limousine was already beginning to shift upward. Sealing off the way forward and leaving only the way they'd come as an easy escape.

Or so they thought.

The moment the Charon's lights clicked off, a wild, feral grin spread across Ivory's face. The exhilaration of impending carnage made her let out a loud whoop as her eyes went wide. "WHOOOOO!"

''Hope you hold onto something, Daiya!''

Ivory braced for impact only seconds before it arrived. The vehicle's forward motion immediately came to a stop with an immense crunching sound of metal buckling, and the Charon found it's front-end wedged beneath the limousine's rear tires. Both women threw through doors open simultaneously, and Ivory stepped out on booted feet as she swung the shotgun she carried up into a two-handed grip - wielding it with the practiced ease & familiarity of a professional.

Without hesitation, standing tall and and striding forward on high-heeled black boots which clacked against the paved dirty street, she leveled the powerful shotgun at the limousine's front passenger-side tire and depressed the trigger.

BOOM

The VST-37 Pozhar roared, filling the night air with a concussive shockwave as her first shot spat a multitude of pellets into the tire. The tire disintegrated in a cloud of atomized rubber. The weapon's powerful recoil delayed her next step by only half a second, but she held it low; near her abdomen, using her body's center-of-gravity to absorb the impulse. Ivory opened her mouth, but what followed wasn't her lilting, musical vocal tone... instead, it was a heavily-augmented & masculine-sounding voice which sounded like it was filtered through a helmet's vocal processor:

"NCPD! GET OUT OF THE FUCKING VEHICLE!"

The Darkwire Crew had seen & heard enough of Ivory's work to know she possessed a few mystifying pieces of chrome, but this was a new application of it. The Vocal Modulator installed in the woman's larynx allowed her to alter the tone, volume, and pitch of her voice; even allowing her to mimic voices or produce a wide range of sound-effects. But nobody had ever heard her sound like a Max-Tac Officer before. The voice she used carried with it an extremely convincing level of lethality & command. It was a sound every resident of Night City was at least somewhat familiar with, and would undoubtedly know the consequences of ignoring. Failure to obey would result in Death.

@Daiya @Brie @Angel