Dramatis Personae
Runners
Lodestone
Rooster
UltraBoy!
Tobias Cheney
Thankyou
Atlas Park

The team drives around a bit and finds a bar while Tobias hacks street level cameras to follow the car that left with the algae-suit team. He tracks it to a multi-level parking structure, but is unable to find any active nodes within. He then tracks it to a junkyard, where it looks to have gotten crushed and cubed. However, only one guy leaves the car at the junkyard. Tobias crashes for a while, having not slept in a bit.

Lodestone is able to pick up the trail of the other 3 at the parking lot, and with Baelor’s help, tracks them to the spaceport, where they ascend the elevator, after meeting up with the fourth man. He gets feeling it is 3 men and 1 woman. TY and UB! head to the junkyard to investigate there while Rooster and Atlas head out to the spaceport. At the spaceport, A and R contact Riahna Kelp, who helps them get some info: 4 pretty hardass looking Japanese people in suits with no luggage came through at the time when LS placed them there. So, it seems that the Turing Army has either gotten a bit more pro, or some corp is backing them, or using their name. The team speculates that Renraku might be involved, as Daedelus emerged in their arcology. R and A rejoin the others at the junkyard.

They pay the guy there for some vid footage, and a look at the cube. It seems that the Japanese guy ditched the car and took a cab to the spaceport, paying all with credsticks. They sprayed the car down with Cleaner Cleaner again, preventing LS from picking up any useful info.

Meanwhile, Tobias calls Elton Massey to try to find out anything he can about the flight that the Japanese folks left on. T quickly realizes that Massey is trying to stall him while tracing his call- Tobias tells him he is disappointed in him and breaks the link. He then calls One Shot Wade to warn him that the guns that T and TY sold to the Problem Children might have some problems that require a software update. Wade is understandably worried and requests more info. Tobias admits that the guns might not be able to shoot KE cops, but that he can send out a software update.

He spends a few hours frantically programming a workaround, and then sends it to Wade, who says he will get it out as quick as he can. However, Tobias and the rest of the team shortly receive a message blast from Wade and others warning of a massive KE raid-they seem to know where everybody is hiding out, and where all the weapons are. Wade calls Tobias in a panic, and curses him out for selling out the gang. The rest of the team goes into panic mode. LS flees his hideout, headed for Lihua Wan’s compound in the uppercity after Ibn Hassan warns him that the crackdown is not limited to streetgang turf: KE weapons have spread throughout the undercity.

LS tells Atlas, Rooster, and TY to meet him there, but leaves out Tobias and UB!. Tobias creates a trap using a web of mines and a node broadcasting his ‘Tobias’ SIN at the undercity warehouse that he just rented out. He then goes into full stealth mode, and hides in a dark alley while sirens blare around him and choppers and drones buzz overhead. The rest of the team races for the uppercty, and potential safety.

UB! tries to round up the Ultradudes, but Jaro is busy driving Wade, trying to flee the city since their safehouse network seems compromised. In the end, only Mike shows up. UB! is contacted by a reporter Janelle Haversly, who asks if he is the head of the Ultradudes. He answers “Hell Yes!” She tells him that she got his contact from some undercity sources who said he might know what was going on down there: KE is blocking access as best they can. She offers payment for an exclusive, if UB! gets up to the Hermes Entertainment tower. UB! agrees, and brings Mike. They arrive and are ushered into makeup before their segment. UB! strongarms some producers into paying upfront, and refuses to remove his helmet, or the latex mask underneath. He also gives Mike shades and a bandana to obscure his face.

They are interviewed, and T forwards some edited data to make it look like Massey was working directly with the notorious terrorist Hamshallow, rather that with Tobias (though they are actually one and the same). UB! reveals this on air, as well as some general details of the gun smuggling op. Haversly is thrilled with the scoop, and pays well. However, as they break for commercial, she warns UB! that he better flee, as KE is sending cars to detain him, and Hermes security will only be able to hold them off so long. They provide a car, and UB! and Mike flee.

KE is quick to respond with an Emergency Broadcast declaring martial law in the undercity, since various instigators are trying to stir up trouble during this temporary and necesary sweep. KE flacks confirm that the corp sold guns to undercity criminals, but claims they were non-functional and allowed them to track and observe these same criminals, and now to successfully crack down. They deny having any dealings with Hamshallow, and claim this is a malicious piece of hacking on the part of desparate criminals. They id Hamshallow as an alias of Tobias, who they claim is a sociopath manipulating an old friendship with a former Ares exec (Patrick Henry Hughes). They also announce the the team members are all wanted under 1 or more SINS for questioning as associates of Hamshallow. They provide descriptive details and trid footage of the team in their smuggling hideout, which appears to have been monitored.

Seeing this on the news, the rest of the team abandons the Wan compound plan for the greater safety of the uppercity Evo Corporation office, after Nikolai Morozov suggests that they may want to flee Mars for a while, until things cool off. Morozov says he can protect them until he can find a way to get them off planet. They agree, and hightail it to the tower, where they are ushered into a waiting room while a serious looking individual leaves with Rooster’s car.

Tobias, also seeing these broadcasts, callsDaedelus and asks for an out. Daedelus requests and receives access to Tobias’ ’link, and sets up a HUD to show him how to get out of town. Tobias flees, and meets up with Marlowe in the desert. They then head for an Exchange safehouse away from the city. Tobias decides to exist under the Hamshallow SIN fulltime now.

UB! tries to get in on that too, but can’t shake the KE cars tailing him to get to the undercity. He calls Tamanous too, but they say they can’t help with a hot pursuit, and to only call back if he loses the cops. UB! passes the wheel to Mike, and blasts the car behind them with a series of grenades. He kills their engine (and shreds the car), but not before return fire has heavily damaged their car and critically injured Mike. UB! and Mike share a moment, swearing fealty to the Ultradudes unto death. Then UB! flees on foot, throwing his duffel full of explosives into the car and leaving a grenade linked to his PAN.

He triggers just as two more cars go by, destroying the Hermes car entirely and sending the two KE cars crashing into nearby buildings. UB! is lanuched through the air, slams into a building facade, and slides to the ground. He rights himself, and flees on foot, but he’s picked up two more tails. All visible predestrians and traffic in the area is fleeing away from the scene, so he can’t even grab a hostage or steal a car. He heads down in an alley, but is quickly cornered. The cops tell him to drop his weapons and surrender, and he won’t be harmed. They tell him his friends have abandoned him. They tell him it doesn’t have to end like this.

UB! throws his grenade launcher out, and surrenders. He decides he would rather live to fight another day than go out in a blaze of glory. Plus, he wants to know what Ultraman thought of his trid interview!

Next up: What compromises will UB! be forced to make to survive? Will the rest of the team be able to get off planet? Will Tobias find happiness as Hamshallow?