?Kerri? Yeah, I just got a call?you too? Alright good. What?s your 20? Gym? Good, then snag my files on the previous dockside incidents with the boats. Also anything else we got from the 19th, and meet me there. I also had dispatch send out for Jubal, Doc and Waterman, too. Yeah, I think it?s back too. If it is, we?re in for a busy summer. Alright, see you there.?

?Yo, Cheeks! Momma?s gotta call to go to, so you better not skimp on those reps, cause I?m watchin?. I?m always watchin?! What? Hey, I don?t cheat! Okay, not ALL the time, though. Hey, just keep that arse tight baby, cause that?s how momma likes it! What!? Sexual Harass?oh you! Just do what I say an respect my Authoritah!?

It didn?t take long for Kerri to snag a quick shower n? change, grab the files and raise dispatch as she headed out to the motor pool.

?27th 101 to Dispatch.?

?27th 101, QSK (*Go ahead with your transmission) .?

?Dispatch raise or get a hold of GIU 100, TMR 100 and 27th 201. Have them check their MDBs (*Mobile Date Browser) and respond to Dockside. That?s Jubal, Doc and Waterman. Actually have them QSY (*Shift to Channel) to 5 for me, also. I?ll be waiting there too.?

?QSL (*affirmative) 27th 101? Attention GIU 100, TMR 100, 27th 201. Check your MDBs respond to Dockside per ?Rip an Run?. Also, QSY to Channel 5 for 27th 101 at 0831.?

Kerri figured if the voice dispatch wasn?t heard due to some of the units being away from the radio, the MDB dispatch would catch them instead. That being said an done, she called Brian once more.

?Bro-cephus! I?m enroute. ETA 10 or so, an I reached out to the others via Dispatch an MDB. See ya soon!?

"Attention GIU 100, TMR 100, 27th 201. Check your MDBs respond to Dockside per ?Rip an Run?. Also, QSY to Channel 5 for 27th 101 at 0831.?

Alex shifted slightly when his radio went off and sighed. No time to enjoy his tea. "I'll take it to go, Lex" Alex said, changing his order only slightly, before grabbing his radio. "27th 201 to Dispatch, received and responding to Dockside 'Rip an Run', Wilco QSY to Channel 5. Proceeding on foot. ETA 15 minuets." Taking his tea with a short nod and smile to Lex behind the counter, Alex headed out of the tea house and headed on his way to the scene. Fun times.

It didn?t take long for Kerri to snag herself a driver & his jeep, citing it ?procurement on the fly?. The driver would more than likely have called it kidnapping, had it not been for those bars of hers.

Whatever the term, it really didn?t matter. Cause it was what it was? and what it was, was happening. So that driver made his peace with it, cause like it or not, it was going down.

?Hey, hey, hey! Man who the hell thought it was a good idea to let all these?wha? It?s always like this?! Man, I need to get out more! Alright, so we can?t take the sidewalk. Damned pedestrians an their right o? ways. Yeah, yeah I know. Alright, just keep to the road then. Ima see if my peeps are on the radio.?

Leaving the driver to do what he does, Kerri fiddled with her radio and shifted over to channel 5.

?Alright, alright! Kerri?s on 5, who else be here??

?Alright, alright! Kerri?s on 5, who else be here??

"Poppa Bear on Air, Momma Cat." There was a chuckle. "Awww, Momma Cat, all you had to do was tell me you needed a lift."

"Doc on Air... Behave, omae." The doctor grinned as she maneuvered the bike through the smaller side streets and alleys.

"Fun Vampire..." Came the playful rumble.

?Alright, alright! Kerri?s on 5, who else be here??

Hope took several side streets, alley ways and even down several dry canals on the motorcycle. The docks were in sight.

"Sergeant Jubal, General Investigations, responding on channel 5. What's the skinny on this fish tale?"

?Alright this is what we got, folks. We have what?s left of a vessel, washed upon the shore of a small isle just off the far north end of the docks. Mostly the deck, from what I?m told. We have no bodies on scene that they can tell of, but we have a substantial amount of what seemed to be blood. Thankfully a good portion of the deck is intact and the scene hasn?t been compromised--- too much. Here?s why I am calling all of you in? I got a call to my home this morning from an anonymous party who told me of the scene before, I got the call from the local Watch. They specifically said ?Another boat? and ?It?s back?. If you check your MDBs you?ll see docs from a previous pair of cases that Kerri and I worked on in regards to incidents with vessels and bodies on the docks. The first incident was 2 years ago and the next was 1 year ago?nearly to the day.?

Doc was pulling up to the scene by then and securing the bike as the Bus pulled up beside her. Both Medics were listening to the run down as Doc stepped into the back of the bus to suit up. Jericho was all business as he pulled the kits they would need from the side compartments. Soon Doc hopped out of the the ambulance and grabbed her own kit. Much of the processing could be done on scene. The marvels of Ultra-Modern Technology.

?Yeah man, the 19th took that first case from us?botched that ^&%$ up like a boss, too! Then we gave em the 2nd case and they STILL ^&%$ that ^&%$ up, man! I mean come on!?

?The colorful editorial aside? You?ll see my notes on each of the cases and why I believe they are related and what I think is out there doing this?as outlandish as some may think, I think I?m fairly close on this one, that?s why I called all of you in, because it?s time to pin this down and find a way to shut it down, permanently. So check it out, if you can. If not we?ll brief on scene. That said, this is how we?re gonna break it down.?

?Doc and ?Poppa Bear?, you?re on crime scene. I need it locked down, and I need every scrap of evidence we can get. Trace and otherwise. We need some back story here, an keep an eye out for any type of scales what so ever?I know you two got this. Maybe with a good trail we can find some bodies to go with this boat, or at least something else, I dunno.?

The look that passed between the two Shadowrunners was rather serious at the news. Doc was processing information on the internal HUDs. The look was positively grim upon Doc as she reviewed those notes... "Received. We're on scene, Captain. Bear, Can you see if the spirits know anything?"

"Roger. We'll get this place locked up tight." He rumbled as they proceeded to the actual ship. Both medics presented their badges to gain access to the scene. They met with the officer that was in charge of securing the scene a moment to get a lay of the land.

?Alex, you?re on area canvass. Someone had to see something, let?s see if we can find out who and what they saw. Grab some of the local Watch units on scene to assist you, it?s your show.?


"Copy that Captain." As Alex got on the scene, he pulled a couple of Watchmen to set up a perimeter. "Lets keep the scene clear for the CSI types, guys! Dannie? Get a couple of the guys loitering over there, and go out amongst the crowd, find out which of them was here first.
I don't think there was anything worth stealing in a half a boat covered in blood, so they'll probably be telling the truth when they say they didn't touch anything. That said, pull them aside and keep them under watch until we're finished questioning them.
Let's go find out what the crowd knows. Everyone meets back here, twenty minuets, then I'll report to the Captain."

With a nod from Dannie, Adam, Jameson, Dickens and Barry The Troll (don't ask about the smell) to Alex, they all spread out amongst the people and started taking names, descriptions and events. A couple of likely sources were pulled aside to wait for further questions, all of whom waited with Barry. No one tries to run with a troll on their tail.
To those witnesses, Alex applied his knowledge of the local people and events.

Lifting his radio, Brian then keyed up. ?All 27th personnel, we?ll have some assistance from the 19th on this, they?ll be working area canvass on a wider end, surveillance from the pier towers and extra patrol. Coordinate accordingly, I?ll be on scene in a sec.?

Alex sighed in relief at hearing the Captain over the radio and gave an exasperated look at one of the 19th's men that were attempting to take his witnesses away for questioning. "Do I call my Captain back, or would you like to wait for him to get here and tell you bugger off himself, Sergeant?" The man shifted uneasily for a second, before shrugging and stomped off to push some other, lower ranking Officers, around a little bit. Alex returned his attention onto the salty sea dog before him. In this case, it wasn't actually a dog, but a wire thin man that could have been anywhere from 60 to 100 years old, who was currently twining some hemp into rope and chewing what Alex assumed, was tobacco. He'd been sat there rather stoically on one of the pillars supporting the pier, even when the Sgt. from the 19th came along, there was a lot of history in the man's bones, and none of it was yielding.
"Oookkaayyy, then. Jerry? Why don't you tell me about that black shape again, hm? You said it was out across the water in the early hours?"

"Aye. It mov' fast. Fas'er 'en-any ship I e'er see" A glob of black stuff was spat into the waters off the pier. "You rek#en on catchin' it, Sar?"

"Thats the plan, Jerry." Alex replied, finishing up his notes. "Okay, thanks Jerry. Wait here for a bit, please. I might need you to talk to my Captain shortly."

Doc was already scanning and recording the scene up close and personal as she worked. It was a useful function within the cybernetics of her eyes and one she used quite frequently.

?TMR 100 to GIU 100, Let's explicitly request DNA samples from next of kin on the warrant requests as well. Looking at this scene, it's going to be the only way we'll be able to identify any victims.? She murmured into her comm.

She was already having blood and tissue samples processed. This was going to be a mess and the 19th was already trying to come in and take over the scene. She was not in the mood for a turf war and barked at one green investigators that nearly compromised the scene as it was. She was not the ME, but she would not allow people to mess this one up through their sheer ignorance. ?Take extra care with those samples. I don't want to explain to someone's next of kin why we dropped this ball!?

Within moments, she had them performing the scene investigation and evidence collection. This was going to be a big pain, but the DNA analysis was automated. Hopefully, they would be able to separate out each person. Good thing she wasn't going to be involved in the notification of family. That was the ME's job and they were going to have a metric ton of work dropped in there collective laps.

If there were family members to cooperate on this one... Fishing boats tended to be family men or greenhorns looking for big money legally and had no clue how much work was involved.

She glanced over to Jericho who was doing something that would seem very odd had you not known he was a Shaman. He was performing a ritual summoning. He was good to have at your back in a fire fight but his true strength was his connection to the world and the spirits.

Doc waved off the officer that looked funny at Bear as he was preparing for this ritual. She would not have someone that didn't know the business end of a wand inadvertently harming the Shaman. Doc may not be one of the Awakened but at least she was aware.

She was overseeing the rest of the investigation and murmured over on the channel. ?There's not enough here to make a positive identification on the victims without that DNA typing and it may get sketchy with it. So far I am not seeing fire damage or indications of a gun battle. I think it is safe to say we can rule out the typical high seas predators like pirates unless they are rich enough to employ a wiz-bang mage and even then we would see magical damage on the deck.? She surveyed the deck from her own perspective, looking at the damage. ?Given our suspicions on what we are looking for... Matoskah is prepping a ritual to see if there are any ghosts here that might be able to shed some light on this.?

As she listened to the chatter, she made a quiet promise to herself to talk to a certain Tsalagi Runner about some toys for Hope.

It took the Captain a bit to make his way over from the command center, mostly due to shifting various assignments in regards to backing up and then locking down each of the scenes to prevent any further issues. As it stood the 19th was doing all they could do given the fact they had never handled a scene quite like this, something that wasn?t lost on Brian. So a few harsh sentiments here and there would be more than likely, especially since the 27th were really outsiders, when it came to dock business?Watch wise.

Hearing the radio, paid extra attention to what his people were going back and forth with, knowing all too well that they had it all in hand. Still, he had to keep an ear out none the less. Protocols, yo.

First stop on the Captain?s way, was one Sgt. Waterman.

That being said, Brian arrived and gave the young man a pat on the shoulder, ?Alex, what do we got??

Off in the distance, waves started to stir. If one wasn't used to the water, they might think a storm was brewing. Yet there were no clouds.

Keeping distance between herself, and her latest kill, or what remained of the boat, green eyes surfaced, along with the tip of a dark snout. Fangs gleaming and blood stained as the beast took a breath.

In moments, the creature had slid back beneath the waves.

((Solid shout out of thanks to Sinestra, Brian, and Keri for being on for a live rp that made this posting possible.))

Hope heard Brian?s call for clarification on the quantity of fish being hauled by the Angla More. "Well according to the manifests, their first load was maxing out their cargo holds. The skip jack for Rhy'Din was half a ton. So it is possible the dragon is gorging on ships laden with food besides crew. 21 people plus 1,000 lbs. of fish would be, I don't know, a passible snack?" she said over channel 5. The boat was just out of the harbor, and approaching the 10 mile marker buoy/emergency light beacon.

Keying up, Brian replied. "One helluva snack, indeed. The other two didn't have near as much however, but I think we're on to something with that."

Water started to ripple in the distance, and start to form waves, It almost seemed another storm was blowing in as water washed over the bow of the ship.

Hope grabbed onto a handrail as the waves started to kick in. She looked to the captain at the wheel. "Is this common?" The watchman shook his head no. The other nine watchmen on board the power boat were grabbing on to railings as well.

"Unusual weather Sergeant but nothing too uncommon. We are passing out of the calm harbor barrier."

Hope kept one grip on the rail and nodded to the watchman. "Well a little water won't hurt me. I grew up with it. Keep heading out. The faster we get the files the better."

"Copy that, Hope. See you soon."

A whale like echo soon sounded nearby, followed by a bump to the boat from beneath.

Hope almost stumbled as the boat thumped from bellow. "Did we hit something?"

The crew looked about hearing the whale echo. "Whales shouldn't be this close in." The captain said. Some of the crew were getting an icy feeling down their spines. The captain poured on more speed, making the engine whine and roar.

They were trying to outrun her! Yet she enjoyed a good chase. Another bump, this time from the Starboard, listing the boat towards port.

The captain staggered a bit as the wheel jerked free of his hands. One watchman tumbled into the water as his seating was soon to his left several feet and he was in free fall, the railing slick from the waves.

Hope shouted over the roar of the engine. "Man over board! Slow down and double back for him!"

The captain ignored her for the moment as he worked on getting the boat back under his control. They were still running full out and had drawn close to the marker buoy.

Circling around the unfortunate man that had fallen overboard, soon jaws sunk into his leg. There was a pained scream that turned into a gurgle as he was drawn under.

Hope watched the man bob and swim about in the water then flailed like he was in a bad remake of Jaws and he was gone. That icy feeling the crew had was now worming up her spine. This was not good. Not good at all.

The captain pulled the boat about, heading for where the man had been. "Where did he go?"

Bubbles rose from below, followed by a hat.

Hope saw the bubbles and the hat and she suddenly wanted their boat anywhere but here, right now. The captain had made a mistake and throttled down the engine so they could search for the man. Hope turned to him and the throttle trying to reach for it. "Speed up and move. Move!"

It wouldn't be long until a long serpentine neck rose from the waves. Green balefire eyes on the boat load of well, dinner. Blood still dripping from her fangs as she snapped out for another watchman.

There wasn't any sound outside of the cascade of water from that massive dragon and its neck. The shadow fell upon the boat drawing their eyes up from the water. Seeing the dragon started it all. Screams. Screams and panic. The captain fell back in shock and terror. The buddy of the man over board found himself the next victim of the dragon.

Hope saw the dragon and swallowed hard. Pixies, trolls, minotaur and ogres all considered to pale to this thing. She wanted to flee, to hide, and to be out of its sight. She did the only thing she could think to do. She yanked the throttled into full speed and took the wheel trying to get herself away from the beast, and by selfish concern for life and limb, the remaining crew on the ship.

Bones crunching between her jaws as the unfortunate watchman found his end, blood dripping down her black snout, into the water, and onto others in the boat.

Two of the crew, in terror unholstered their side arms and the sharp cracking reports of .38 caliber rounds rolled up the harbor as they emptied their 6 shot revolvers in panic. Hope did her best to get the boat to move and flee. She'd been on boats but never piloted them and was finding the turning difficult in water.

Sinking below the waves, but not before the revolver shells hit her scaled hide, she?d glide after the boat, water churning in her wake. Another whale like echo, along with a growl, and the boat would list to Starboard.

Hope swore as the wheel spun out of her wet hands and clipped her in the chin. Warm blood trickled from the split as the boat slid about to the left and deflected off of the buoy, ringing the bell on it loudly and causing it to nearly capsize. The two firing went over into the water, having been standing and not holding on to anything. Then the engine died as water poured into the lower deck. Hope learned how sudden and terrifying silence could be on the ocean.

One man, then two, disappeared beneath the waves, the water turning red beneath the boat. Another bump, then the beast surfaced once more, this time nearly leaping toward the vessel's railing. Wing sails tattered from past encounters.

Hope braced for impact as the dragon broke the surface and lunged for the ship. She was hitting the com link rapidly. "Mayday... *crackle, hiss* ... we are being .... *crackle, blip, blip* Mayday ..... *crackle, blip* God it?s a dra....?

The screams of the captain broke over Hope's transmission on channel 5 as he was snapped in half. Crunching fiber glass, breaking glass and groaning metal was heard as the sky was blotted out by the dragon. Then Hope's world went cold and wet as the boat was rolled over into the ocean.

The echoing sounds of a whale like call also heard. She was plunged back into the water as the boat rolled over, though she took the half of the captain with her.

Brian looked to his radio, "The hell?"

Suddenly Kerri keyed up, "Bri we got smoke! I'm headed out, it's the way Hope went! Get some boats, man!"

Hope gasped as she broke the surface of the water. She was treading the cold water, looking about, dazed.

Talons caught the floating woman's arm, though the body seemed to just be floating. Nostrils flaring, before searching for the other half of the ship's captain.

The talons ripping in to her arm broke the daze from Hope?s mind as pain was a searing reminder of being alive. She spotted the boat barely floating above the water, belly up. Muffled thumps could be heard among the waves from trapped crew under the boat. Hope swam for the ship?s hull and scrambled up the slick hull. She could hear more pounding from bellow. She pulled out her mag light, trying to break the fiberglass hull, each whack bringing more pain and blood dripping onto the white surface of the hull.

Another Watchman then keyed up, "We have a MayDay, call for Distress. It's ours! Dispatching boats!"

Seeing everyone just to action, Brian tore for the nearest boat. "Get this mooring off, let's go!" He keyed up again, "Hope, Hope!"

Hope hissed with each slam of the flashlight. Her arm bled freely into the water. She felt a bit of hope hearing the hull start to crack from her blows. The thumping was getting fainter and fainter and the smell of diesel fuel getting stronger in the water.

Finding the other half of the captain, legs dangling from her jaws as she eyed the woman nearby. Green balefire eyes held an intelligence.

Kerri keyed up again, "Bri get me an air unit, it's a mess! We're two miles to arrival, hurry!"

Hope saw the balefire eyes as she perched on the hull. The look froze her a bit and her fingers lost grip of the flashlight. It tumbled into the water. Something surfaced behind her and it was the last remaining watchmen still breathing. He was floating she thought, but it seems he was trying to open a sealed emergency kit. Succeeding, the man pointed a bright orange flare gun to the sky and shot the flare up. Hope couldn't scream or shout, the dragon putting her into terrified silence.

Crunch... Bones cracked and broke between her jaws, then soon those eyes turned to the man with the flares.

Hope watched the flare's fire drip onto the water as it made a signal in the sky. Water turned to fire and expanding heat as the diesel ignited upon the waves. The man screamed, being burned by the oily fuel. Hope was blown into the water as the boat exploded, raining debris into the water.

An angry screech sounded at the boat then exploded, showering her with bits and pieces.

"We got flares!" Kerri cried out, her boat less than a mile away now. "Weapons hot!"

Hope sputtered and spat water out as she surfaced again from a near drowning. The floating fire, thick black smoke, and floating debris had her confuse a bit. The concussion did wonders as well. She could remember terror, a need to run, to flee. She was in the ocean and her primal mind said it was not safe. She tread water a moment and saw the buoy 600 feet away. She began to swim for it. Swim for hopeful safety. Her arm bled and flared in pain more with each stroke.

Brian keyed up, the boat he'd taken was well under way as fast as it could go with two others in tow. "Kerri, we're seven out, call it!"

Sinking once more, ripples followed the swimming woman.

Hope felt something following, that hindbrain function that made evolution to what humans were now possible. She was 300 feet to the buoy. The sight of solid stone pilings and metal supports, bent and abused from the boat impact urged her on. She was getting a bit light head as she bled more.

She followed the blood trail.

Hope reached the buoy and hauled herself up the salt encrusted rungs and moved for the metal supports, pulling herself to them, her boots still in the water.

Catching up, jaws just barely missed those booted feet.

That near miss had Hope wedging herself into that caging of metal on the buoy. Heart hammering in her chest, she drew her 9 mm pistol and started firing in a panic at any ripple or shadow she could see in the water. Once the clip emptied, she eject and slap in a new one. She didn't want to die. She didn't want to die.

Bullets hit, and bounced off a few scales, though one or two elicited an angry shriek as they got through. Nostrils flaring as she circled around the buoy. Blood stained jaws and fangs parting as she occasionally surfaced for air.

Hope continued to pop off more shots anytime the dragon surfaced to breath. She heard someone screaming and didn't realize it was her own voice screaming incoherently as she fired every shot. The second clip emptied and she slapped in her third and last clip. She trembled and tried to become one with the metal framework.

Hissing as a round hit her in the snout, her own blood mixing with that of the deceased watchmen. Waves soon washed over the buoy as she lunged for the woman's safe spot, jaws snapping against the metal framework.

Hope cried out as the jaws crushed the framing, breaking metal stabbed into her left thigh and a dragons tooth would lodge into her belly a bit, and caught in a bit of twisted metal being ripped from the dragon?s maw. Hope started firing again, her aim lost from pain and blood loss. It was really a sloppy, point blank spray and pray with her gun that soon clicked empty as she ran out of ammunition.

The lost tooth had her growling again, though soon she sunk back beneath the waves.

Seeing the dragon slink beneath the waves, Hope trembled. She started at the debris riddled water that burned and glowed with fire. Would it come back? Was it lurking under the waves just waiting for her to relax? Could it eat stone? Her panicked mind rabbited through the questions over and over again until nature took over. Blood loss had her stare wide eyed at the water and the flames and soon she stumbled into blackness, held in that buoy by twisted metal, dragon tooth and fear locked muscles. She?d be seen among the rolling, black clouds of burning diesel smoke.

The watchmen she'd devoured enough to tide her over until next she'd hunt.