Runners
Carol Turpentine
Avocado
Kitten Caboodle aka Kit
Creature
ThinkTank
Aradia

After healing up and agreeing to more future work from Juan, the team agrees to take a job from Matt Wrath, who just needs them to meet him and deliver a package within a few hours. They head to the diner where Matt is and are just sitting down and starting the meet when the windows are shot out by hybrid forms, a van screeches up and disgorges some ant spirits, and a sniper nearly kills Matt. The team scrambles to respond….

After a brutal firefight and with the help of a large spirit Aradia summons, the team defeats the attackers and stabilizes Matt Wrath, racing off from the scene in case more attackers are incoming. They rendezvous with his DocWagon pickup a little ways away and pass him off after confirming the DW crew aren’t bugs. Avocado rides with to keep an eye on the situation.

The team then follows Matt’s request and heads out to deliver the blade in the case he gave them to Becky 99 within 2 hours. Having already lost a little time, they call Becky 99 and try to plan a safe route. B99 warns them that many Ramblers have been corrupted by bugs, so Kit plans a backstreets route, with Aradia and Carol watching out for bugs and gang traps. They get pretty close before some cops pull them over, Aradia can detect some mind control traces on them. But luckily the team’s fake SINs hold up and they’re able to talk their way out, even at a severe disadvantage.

They get a few more blocks before the bug ambush strikes, with one large insect manifesting inside the car while others surround it. Kit, quick on their feet, manages to ram their way out of the trap, getting the van clear of most of the enemies while Creature grenades their pursuers and Aradia helps with spellcraft. TT and Carol fight the bug inside, but Carol gets an unlucky miss with his Alpha and catches TT in the chest with a full burst, nearly killing him. They do finally mange to finish off the bug after Carol switches to knife and gets a lucky hit in. However, a lot of their armor is pretty shredded and the van has seen better days.

They finally reach the meet site and hand off the dagger to B99, quickly assensing it Aradia thinks it is a powerful weapon foci suited to a tradition she is unfamiliar with. Some DA’s race back and report that ants are pouring out of nearby sewers, so the team decide to help the DA’s flee and figure out pay later. Kit again bashes through the ambush with van, with 2 DA vans staying close behind. Seeing that the bugs are lead by a large nymph spirit, Carol calls in Dr. Ellis, but requests no FABIII carpet-bombing this time as the situation is mobile.

The team sees some ARES stealthed VTOLs drop some figures in BugStomper suits with FAB throwers corralling all the pursuing bugs, and then some smoke bombs are dropped and a large container, similar to the ones they saw in DC, is dropped in the midst. Out come the horrifying hybrid bug things that ARES seems able to control, making short work of the bugs around them. The figures in BugStompers use some kind of pain controllers to get the ARES hybrids to respond to command, and manage to capture the nymph, which Ellis is thrilled about. The team is a bit stressed about all this, but what choice did they have…

Reaching DA safezone turf, B99 explains that the dagger was a gift from Arleesh’s vault, to help against the bugs, and would only be useful to members of her gang’s magical order. She pays the team, with a bonus for helping them escape, and the team heads back to the Bolthole to rest and restock on ammo. Kit and Carole head to Goober’s, and Kit etches some cool art onto Carol’s new armor playing for his cyber-legs (an abstract representation of the two different personalities within Kit, which merge into 1 image when together). Kit also gets some upgraded van armor and adds a concealed 360 degree turret with 2 ammo hoppers, so they can switch between KEV ammo and stick and shock, wanting a non-lethal option for non-bugs.

Carol posts a bounty of Jackpoint and NooseNet for info about any bugs/nests/hives anywhere in the world, and starts getting some leads and positive comments, especially once he starts paying out above market rate for the info on his ARES expense account. He sets up a protocol for MAMA to filter out junk messages and apply a pay scale, and then forward the leads to Candace.

The team waits around a bit, wondering what will come next.