As soon as he finds out that there's No Such Activities scheduled for tonight in the park, Ace radios back to Block on an encrypted direct link: "Two. Three. Nothing scheduled. This isn't Official. Out."
The struggle to gain control over the Falcon invigorates Ace's attitude, like a pair of kittens vying to see whom gets to play with the mouse in the corner.
Back & forth, leap & pounce, deploying here & slapping aside the deployment of the other, a 3D game of whack-a-mole with the drone as the prize.
A brief growl as the owner encrypts the link turns into a triumphant "HA!" as Ace manages to break the encryption, then back to a frustrated "Damn!" as that's as far as he gets into the system.
But the bird's eye view is enough to salve his frustration into a soft awed whistle as he gets to see what the Falcon perceives down below.
Struggling to control himself from a desire to just shout it aloud, he takes a deep breath & steadies himself.
Over the encrypted "Group to All" link he radios hurridly: "Primary. Three. Count sixteen, repeat sixteen robed & hooded figures dancing around the central barrel fire. This is in addition to our intended Target & twin bodyguards. Out."
With his comrades thus appraised of what he's just gotten a gander of, Ace promptly moves to cover his hoop, specificly to get it under cover.
Moving to better cover behind a tree, Ace squats & looks on towards the fire & forces himself to focus- both on the task at hand and on what he's witnessing.
At this range he's too damned far to bother taking any pot shots at the dancers, even the armored trio are too far away to make good targets, but he still holds his gun down beside his thigh just in case.
He clips his decoy ComLink to his left shoulder like an epaulette & gives it a tug to make sure it's secure, then squats down even farther into a three point stance as he looks outward.
When Leeson starts his message to the group, Ace sends back over the same link: "Mister Magic, I can see sixteen robed dancers cavorting around that barrel fire, but not her specificly. I'll keep looking though. MonkeyWrench Out."
At Tiny's broadcast & warning, Ace takes a quick look around to make sure there's nobody sneaking up on his butt, then looks forward again.
Nestling even tighter into the backside of the tree, going as still as a bunny thinking it's heard a prowling fox, he holds his breath for a bit.
Ace radios back over the same link: "Primary. Three. Confirm still kicking... and put me down for One Thousand NuYen on surviving tonight's run. Out."
He chuckles softly to himself, the thought in his head that if he doesn't survive to collect his winnings then he won't give a frag about anything anymore anyway.
As he's trying to refocus on the scene before him, Leeson's second squirt comes through & Ace nods slowly in agreement.
Replying back over the same link he quips: "Mister Magic, I concur on the desire to keep my distance. MonkeyWrench Out."
He's trying to crouch a bit lower, a bit tighter into the protection of the tree when Mister X radios to the group with his intentions.
Ace turns to Block with a raised eyebrows look of incredulity as if to silently ask "Seriously? We're in MORE trouble than we thought? No S4 Sherlock!"
Turning back & facing forward, Ace radios back on the encrypted "Group to All" channel.
"One. Three. I've heard & understood your idea, but remind you that I've got no armor, nearly no stealth, & only a pistol with which to lend to it's completion. Will follow your lead. Out."
With that he goes back to scanning as intently as possible for everything & anything that might give him an edge to surviving this night.
Something tells him he's going to need as many of them as possible.
Senses & sensors perked up into Paranoid levels of acuity, he scans both the land & the ether for signs of physical or electronic stuff to report.
((Perception: 4, 2, 1, 6, 2, 1, 2, 5, 4.
Electronic Warfare: 6, 5, 1, 3, 5, 1, 4, 6.))
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