The next morning, my phone rang while I was eating silage. Shinobu, the Jade Fang enforcer. Weird. He never called me. "Hello?"

"Chiwa, mikata!" Shinobu cheerfully called through the line. "Listen, I'm in need of a… subtle talent. I'll pay you, of course, and even owe you a favor if you help me out."

"What is it?" I asked. Why was a Jade Fang Enforcer asking for my help instead of another Fang? Shinobu was quite tight with the others, so he definitely had some other people he could ask.

There was a pause, as if he had put the call on mute. "... I caught wind of a shipment coming through Little Yukoto headed for the Corporate Quarter. I need someone to help me, uh, examine the product."

So he wanted me to steal something? Interesting… still, why wasn't he calling in someone else? "What's the shipment?"

"Hmm…" I heard the sound of his hand rubbing against his metal arm as he did from time to time. "Perhaps we should speak in person about this."

I didn't have any pressing matters to attend to. "Uh, sure… Big Mike's?"

"Hai. I'll be there in an hour." He hung up.

I stared up at the ceiling of my small container for a minute, enjoying the relaxation. It would be so nice to rest for a day or two. I'd been going and going near constantly since I got the interface…

Maybe I should take a break sometime? The Rayn though… No, it was better for me to work while the gigs were abundant so I could prepare for a drought. 'Sides, if I made enough? Might even be able to get a place with a shower of my own.

Maybe I should also start thinking about alternative revenue… klepping pockets wasn't sustainable, and it was only a matter of time till I was caught. It was just a loose thought at the moment, but maybe I could start using Tech or First Aid. Maybe I could help out and patch up some of the Fangs, or use Tech to chop vehicles?

Why, necessarily, do they all have to be used for crime though? Maybe I could go legit and work under Medtech Solutions. Help with Medevacs or something. Did I want to work under a corp like that though? I could- I could start my own business making guns or something…

I grabbed my gear and headed out to my bike. I could think about all of this later. For now, money.

— — —

I'd already ordered a burger from Big Mike by the time Shinobu arrived. The price wasn't too high, and the scent of others' burgers caused my small stomach to rumble. It was so delicious last time. I couldn't wait!

"Chiwa, Shiro." The big man said as he slid into the booth. Ironically, it was the same one that Iris and I had taken the other day.

"Yes, hello…" There was a moment of silence as Big Mike brought a platter over. My stomach was on the edge of rumbling as I breathed in the delicious scent.

He pulled of his Jade Fang jacket, which twirled with glowing neon dragons. The holoprojectors shut off, taking away the ancient samurai armor that overlayed it. He slicked his hair back, t-shirt flexing around his muscles. "Can I have one?"

"Uh- chek. Help yourself." I inhaled a slice. It was just as delicious as last time- better, even. I didn't have a crazed murder puppy staring death holes through my tiny stomach this time around.

Shinobu grabbed a slice of the pizza-sized burger and leaned back in the booth. "How's life been?"

"Good, good… been keeping busy." I had a massive flow of gigs coming my way recently, and pretty consistently at that.

We chatted lightly and ate. Shinobu ended up taking the bill from me. He held it just out of reach, where I could snatch it back. After that, he pulled a puck-like device and tossed it onto the table. I'd seen such a thing before: a scrambler. Should keep our conversation private.

"Business, then?" I propped my head up on my fist, staring up at the enforcer.

The large man nodded his head. "So… the plan is to hit a small transport. Should be Netrunner stuff. Most of it is low-end programs, but I caught wind of there being some Daemons."

Damn, that was some expensive stuff. Even the lowest-end Daemons sold for around a thousand… This was perfect, actually. Just one of those programs could complete the Eye of Avarice request. But- "What's the catch?"

"Its a corporate transport-"

"Are you insane?!" Hitting a corporate Netrunner was a quick way to get flatlined in my sleep. I rather liked my face still being in one piece.

He raised his hands placatingly and glanced around superstiously. The scrambler did its job though. No one so much as glanced in our direction. "Small corporation, mikata. They'll barely have any security. Just a quick in and out."

"Okay, okay…" Think this through a bit more. The guy wouldn't just hit a corporate transport without ensuring we could ghost without an issue. Did I even want to get involved, though? "What's the pay?"

"Based on what you bag. Six way split regardless. I'm taking two for my informant and equipment fees, then there are three others." He leaned forward and looked at me seriously. "We're expecting at least a couple thousand a piece if my intel is right."

That was a lot of money. I could already feel myself wavering at the thought of lining my pockets. "Why not a Fang?"

He sheepishly rubbed his head. "We're trying not to involve the Jade Fangs. If there were two Fangs, we would be obligated to give the Matriarch a cut since it would be a 'Fang activity'."

"Won't the Fangs get upset about you going behind their back?" That was the real kicker. I didn't want to ruin one of my main income sources for a bit of instant Rayn.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"No. Shouldn't care about outside 'projects' as long as it doesn't blow back onto them." Shinobu shrugged. "Trust me. Done this kinda stuff before."

There was just one thing that was still bothering me. "Why me though?"

He smiled and lightly caressed his metal arm. "You helped me out? I talked to Ishimaru-sama- you're one of his best non-Fangs."

That was oddly kind of the man. To cut me into a potentially big deal just because I sent him to a good Medek? I wasn't even the one who readjusted the nerve connections. And that 'talk' with Ishimaru was more than likely a drunken ramble. Could that even be trusted? "Then what's the plan?"

He glanced around once more, the dim neon glow catching the reflection of his arm as the metal bits tensed. "Not here… we have a place set up.."

Fair, fair… still annoying though. Why not just tell me to meet him at the place? Unless he didn't want to tell me until confirming I was in. "Chek."

— — —

I cautiously followed Shinobu to an 'abandoned' apartment building on the north side of Little Yukoto. It was a bit sketchy. I knew Shinobue pretty well, but I couldn't say it went far enough to completely trust the guy. The shotgun strapped to my back gave me some comfort.

Shinobu stopped me before we left the parking garage. "The rest of the team is here. Good going as is?"

Right. I rifled through my saddlebag and grabbed my Slashers hat, pulling it low onto my face. I also tied a Jade Fang bandana around the bottom half of my face. Should be good enough. "Thanks."

"No problem." Shinobu smiled. "Just Shiro fine? It's not exactly a rare name."

Another good point. I hadn't taken to hiding my identity very much. For now, Shiro would work. This was probably just a one off anyway. "Yeah."

He nodded and entered the apartment building. He led the way up a rocket set of stairs to a specific room. It was a rather large space. The wall between two apartments was missing, granting way more space. The neon shining through cracked windows gave enough light to see by.

Two people stood arguing over a large paper map of the city. One was a woman with massive chrome arms. Hexagonal lights pulsed with a green light around the joins. Medtech's stuff, probably. Old though? Maybe only gen one or two. She looked like the muscle.

The other was a diminutive guy who looked as though he hadn't eaten for months. He had on a holo-mask displaying the classic hacker mask, as well as an AR Vizor. His arm was weird too. A section of it looked like it might be able to open up. Netrunner, maybe?

Both looked up when we entered the room. The muscle immedietly reached for a gun, and the runner looked like he might, well, run. Shinobu raised a placating hand. "She's with me."

They calmed down and curiously eyed me. The Netrunner spoke first. "Who's the chick?"

"Shiro, the thief. The woman is Kat, our muscle. And finally, Anon, the Netrunner." Shinobu made quick work of introductions.

"Where's the fifth?" I asked. He said there were four others.

He looked confused for a moment before realization came to him. "Oh, the fifth cut is for our fixer. She agreed to find sellers and check all the loot for for ICE."

Nice, he already had a plan to sell everything. That tended to be the second hardest part of any heist: fencing the loot. It sure was the part I struggled with the most out of anything.

Kat seemed to lose interest in me. "Great! Now that you're here, boss, won't you tell this slag that we can't just hack their car?"

"Yes, we can! It'll be a simple thing for me to just get in and disable the engine, leaving them stranded." Anon argued.

Shinobu shook his head and approached the map. "Their truck short-circuiting would cause suspicion. They aren't supposed to know something is up until they start off-loading."

Anon looked as if he wanted to argue more, but he relented. He sighed and flopped a rather weak hand towards the map. "Then what's the plan? You've barely told us anything."

I lost interest in their ramblings and looked at the map. It was a large map of Aythryn City with a red line drawn on it. Looks as if the transport, assuming the line was its route, would move from Portside through Little Yukoto and down into the Corporate Quarter. A blue line split off from the red for a few blocks before meeting back. There were even some figurines, though they didn't look as if they'd been placed yet.

"Right." Shinobu picked up one of the figurines. It was a small transport truck, the kind with double doors on its back. "Listen closely. A small start-up corporation, Shen Studios, will be moving a lot of programs through the city. They've hired a secondary company, Yue Security, to move the lux goods from Portside to Downtown.

"My insider informed me there should only be one Armored Truck coming through. Standard package, so two guards, and both will be in the front cabin. Maybe some vests and rifles, but nothing too serious. The standard operating procedure is check-ins every five minutes, and a direct panic button for the Crusade. If the alarm gets set off? We ghost."

He reached out to a stack of folders off to the side of the map and pulled out a picture of a Yue Security truck. He also grabbed two blueprints and passed them to Bo and I. I looked it over, my knowledge in Tech slightly helping me to understand what I was looking at.

He set the van on the line and moved it from Portside. "To move the transport to a more desirable location, the fixer set up some small-time local gangs to get into a fight, blocking the main path."

"Couldn't have been cheap," Kat muttered under her breath.

"It was. One of the gang bosses is sleeping with the other's wife." Shinobu then moved the armored truck down the blue line instead. "Since they're corpo, they'll take the next closest route available to save time, which is this one. Here's where we start moving in."

"Anon will provide overwatch and let us know when the truck arrives." He grabbed the tokens of two cars. "When he gives the signal, Kat and I will crash in front of them with boosted cars, forcing them to stop. We'll get into a fight and make a big distraction."

Motioning to me, he picked up a cat token. Probably shoulda used it for, you know, KAT, but whatever. "This is when Shiro sneaks up and takes advantage of the distraction."

"How am I getting in?" I pointed toward the blueprint. "They got maglocks on their trucks."

Shinobu nodded to me. "They can be hit with specialized keys. Keys that the guards carry. Not really an option. Anon?"

Anon looked over the blueprint again. "Right… um… Probably use a shard and pop 'em open? It might take me a few seconds. You'll need to stick it into the door's emergency access panel here."

I checked where he pointed at. Shouldn't be too hard to get into. "Chek."

Anon asked Shinobu, "Cams? I could cut the feed, but the cabin will notice. Not enough time to loop either."

Shinbu slid the kat figurine to the truck. "You have anything for cameras in your bag of tricks?"

"Shouldn't be a problem…" My biggest worry was the actual cabin itself. It had a mesh door where the shotgun seat could look back and check on the cargo. I'd have to get in, and instantly get against the wall to avoid being spotted.

"Nova. After that, Shiro will move sneaky beaky like, and klep the goods. The programs will be kept in briefcases." Shinobu passed me a picture of the inside of a Yue Security truck and the typical briefcases they used. Looked to be silver ones mostly. "Six chips per case. My insider will mark the cases holding the valuable programs with a strip of red tape around the handle. Take those, then take anything that looks valuable. Also, Anon, give Shiro some extra shards in case she'll need them in the truck itself."

He motioned between Kat and himself. "We'll only distract for a minute to avoid too much attention. You'll have to move quickly and get out without being noticed. If our cover is blown before they get to Downtown, we'll have the full force of a corporation hunting us. Everyone for themselves at that point. They may be small, but they are still a corporation."

"Dedicated escape routes?" Kat brought up a valid point.

Shinobue grabbed the cars, resetting them back to where they first sat. "Make your own. Don't tell anyone else in case one of us gets caught."

I looked through the map and plotted a route just in case. I opted for the narrow alleys. I'd be able to fit through them fairly well, but anyone larger than me? It'd be a squeeze.

Shinobu moved the truck to Downtown. "By the time they realize something is wrong, we'll be ghosts in the wind. Any more questions?"

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