Shadowrun
Shadowrun Play => Play-by-Post => Topic started by: Kontact on <07-17-11/1911:53>
-
You've gone to meets in all kinds of exotic places in your day, but you never dreamed you'd talk biz in a corpse house. Death isn't something most runners care to be reminded of: it follows them too closely. One slip, and Joe Shadowrunner's dead meat. If not for your Johnson's reputation, you'd never have come to this dead zone: certainly not so quickly.
You circle around to the alley, picking your way over derelicts and around dumpsters in search of the back door. Two hired guns loiter by it, waiting to let you in - a couple of real bruisers. They look familiar; high-priced talent, unless you miss your guess. Someone seems uptight about security. Never a good sign, chummer. Never a good sign.
The inside depresses you even more than the outside, though you wouldn't have thought that was possible during your alley stroll. It's cleaner inside, but darker. A coupe of caskets stand open on lintels; you firmly resist the morbid temptation to peak inside. One of the thugs leads you past the mourning gallery through the makeup room, where tomorrow's star attraction is receiving her final makeover. Plug 'em and plant 'em, that's how it goes. Here today, burned or buried tomorrow.
Lovely thought.
Your host awaits you in a back room filled with caskets, Remington Roomsweeper in hand, but held in a relaxed pose. Your Mr. Johnson is a Ms., a dark-haired beauty in form-fitting armor adorned with blue leather highlights and chrome studs and chains. Despite the fact that she is currently looking at her feet, you recognize her almost instantly as Alpha Blue, a world famous runner and bodyguard to the stars. When she raises her head, the look on her face is one you've seen before, usually after a run gone bad. She's lost someone, and there'll be hell to pay as soon as she finds out where the accounting is due. As you enter, she dismisses the hired muscle with a wave. Once alone in the room with you, she sets the hardware down on the lid of a rosewood casket and starts her pitch.
"Someone shot my brother through and through this morning. Right in the middle of the street. I even know who gave the order and why, but can't do anything about it. Not yet."
She shifts her hips a little and brushes her long black hair behind her ear.
"Not ten minutes after Knight Errant informs me that he's dead, I get a posthumous message from him, routed though back channels saying he'd run into some info too hot for him to handle and he was looking to defuse the situation. He contacted this guy from Multitech Corp, looking to give up the information in exchange for amnesty, but they fragging shot him anyway. Publicly. My brother."
She took a moment to calm herself and continued. "Attached to his message was a copy of the infromation, just in case. A blueprint of the new Multitech chip, and his notes. I don't know how they expect to get away with it, but according to Neil, this chip is garbage. We.. I.. sorry.." She pauses and takes a breath. "Neil got this blueprint from a salvaged cybereye, by way of a fence named Vanian. The blueprint is only part of a set; the rest should be on the cybereye's memory chip. If I could get my hands on the rest of the blueprints, I could ruin the sons of bitches. If I can't.. they shot my brother in the back, on the middle of a crowded street. It's only a matter of time before they trace Neil's message to me and I'm on their chopping block. That's why I need you. I can't afford to show my hand on this. I've been told you are all good at what you do. Will you help me?"
She seems a little frayed, but straightforward in her intent.
-
Johnny had just finished feeding his daily need for combing the Matrix for various gossip and news: memorizing sports scores (the Hong Kong Cavaliers looked like they were in prime position to take the Biker Bowl Championship again), seeing what trids had just been optioned, scanning 3m-C33's blog for political/corporate news, etc., when Isherwood called. While the location and the time frame made him uncomfortable, if Isherwood was vouching for the Johnson, Johnny felt no reason to be overly paranoid.
"A damn graveyard. Time to get into character," he mumbled to himself as he got dressed. After slipping on his dark blue Zoe suit and tying a matching bow tie, Johnny pulled on his shoulder holsters. With the Safeguard under one arm and the Deputy under the other, he felt a little more settled, a little more ready. Before heading out, he drops two cigarette cases into the pocket of his Great Coat: a blue one of regular smokes, a red one of Laes.
As he walks out to to hail a cab, he double checks to make sure his external commlink is properly slaved to his internal one, before letting the smooth baritone voice of Barry Mana pipe through his ear buds.
[OCC: Upon seeing the hired guns]
Johnny adjusted his tie when passing by the pair of heavies, counting on his training and adept skills to keep his poker face stoney. While he felt the muscle might umbrage at being ogled at, Johnny takes a deep breath in through is nose, trying to take in their aroma, memorize it for later.
Intuition + Perception + Olfactory Booster (4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3112716/)
[OCC: Upon hearing Aqua Blue's story]
Johnny bows at the waist, but not too deeply. Again he'll take a sniff in the room.
Intuition + Perception + Olfactory Booster(1) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3112721/)
"Kono tabi wa goshuushousama de gozaimasu. My condolences on your loss and thank you for trusting us with this task. Be assured that my team and I will do everything in our power help you exact revenge on these most deserving individuals. I assume you want us to go see Varian about the other half of this blueprint?"
[I'll roll to see if I know anything about Varian already]
Intuition + Street Knowledge: Fences(2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3112733/)
After asking his question, Johnny will pull a cigarette out of the blue case and light it. He'll just take slow drags as he waits for the Johnson ("She is a client, not a big time runner this time," he keeps reminding himself) to fill in the gaps of her expectations.
-
Marlene was just getting ready for a good night's rest after a long day running errands, when ERIS decided to start messing around with the audio and lighting systems in her condominium.
"What the hell, ERIS, I was just about to go to sleep. Turn off the damned lights and cut it with the synthrash. "I thought you might like to be alert for your call, Mr. Isherwood would like to speak with you." The voice came from a green projection of a non-distinct woman's face. Immediately after informing Marlene of Isherwood's call, the projection disappeared and the sounds and lights went out, signifying ERIS's mildly annoyed mood after being scolded. Marlene knew better than to press the issue with ERIS when she wasn't happy.
"What's with calling me this late, Isherwood? You have a job for me?. After a short discussion punctuated with an interjection along the lines of "WHADDYA MEAN A GRAVEYARD," Marlene ended the call after saying she'll think about doing the job. Jeez I hate graveyards, but the job seems like it might be interesting... I've been behind on my payments anyways... I could use a job like this. Can't keep living off of John..
Marlene readied her pistol and whip, deciding not to take anything more serious as this was just a meeting, and dressed in her armored jacket. She kept her motorcycle on GridGuide the entire way there, no use in getting caught for nothing, and left the bike a few blocks away from the meet.
"Haven't been to a damn morgue since mom and dad... Hate these places. This job better be good." She muttered under her breath as she approached the building.
[OOC: Upon sight of the guards]
Marlene made sure to keep eye contact the entire time with the two bruisers she saw guarding the door. Never let them stare you down, she thought to herself. She tried to recall if she might've known them from any of the security companies she knew.
[ Intuition + Street Knowledge : Security Companies 6d6.hits(5)=2 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3112802/)]
Marlene listens to Aqua Blue's story, taking mental note but not saying anything. She wasn't paid to say things. Besides, there was some other guy here she didn't really know, sent by Isherwood who presumably knew what he was doing. She doesn't feel easy about going up against a rather ruthless corporation like that, after all, even Ares can be forgiving.
Marlene was quite content merely standing in her corner, watching Ms. Johnson's moves while she explained her terms and payment.
-
Ghost finished his daily meditations and proceeded to check his messages. "Wow, a meet there. Kinda odd.". Ghost checks the bus schedules to find out how long it will take him to get there. "Thanks for the reference Van. I'll be there". Ghost gets of the last bus and starts to walk towards the meet. Johnathan hangs towards the back of the group as they approach the two guards. "Let Johnny Hiro do the the talking."
Ghost casts a Force 2 Analyze Truth spell as discretely as possible to sustain during the meet.
Spellcasting 6 + Magic 5 [4 hits but max 2 for force 2 spell]
resist drain intuition 4 + willpower 5 + focused concentration 2 [4 hits]
spellcasting 6 + magic 5 (11d6.hits(5)=4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3114014/)
resist drain intuition 4 + willpower 5 + focused concentration 2 (11d6.hits(5)=4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3114052/)
As he gets closer to the guards he switches to astral perception to assense the guards.
Assensing 3 + Intuition 4 [4 hits]
assensing 3 + intuition 4 (7d6.hits(5)=4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3114046/)
When he enters the room with Alpha Blue he assenses her and after telling her story he drops his sustained spell
-
@Johnny - Yeah, you know Vanian, or Rat as he's generally known. Not because he's untrustworthy, actually he has a very solid rep for a vulture, but because he'll snatch up anything shiny no matter where it comes from. He's the kind of fence that deals in tech, the more obscure the better. Doesn't pay top dollar, but he doesn't ask questions about where it comes from. He's been having a little trouble since Knight Errant came to town, since he hasn't yet figured out just whose palm to grease in order to keep the scrutiny off his business. He runs his biz out of Redmond, in the Chinese part just north of Touristville.
@Bloody Mary - Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum look like a couple of freelancers that usually work the airport crowd. Vat-grown muscle and buzzcuts with not too much in between. You don't know them, but you know their type. Short-time gigs at no notice upwards. Probably ex-military without the brains or personality to make it in the shadows, so instead they catch bullets.
@Ghost - None of them are magically active, and as far as your magic can tell you, Alpha Blue is on the level. Besides, using the public assassination of her younger brother to con some runners doesn't fit her rep... or anyone's rep.
-
The jet black Rover 2068 crawls to a halt outside the meet site, then stands idle, continuing to run for a half minute before the driver switches her off with a thought. Umberto Kempa, a late 40’s spanish male, black hair streaked grey with a tight goatee, pops his fiberoptic cable from the dash with a crisp “snick” and quickly folds it up, slotting it into his metal arm’s hidden compartment.
The driver’s window of the Rover powers down as Umberto hangs his left hand out the window and taps it on the armoured chasis, appreciating the fine lines of his wagon until a trio of gangers on riceracers roar past, sending watery spray all over his newly buffed rims...
“Fraggin’ drekeaters” he breathes as he finishes slotting his Ingram into it’s hidden holster along the back of his right hip and leg. Opening the door and stepping out onto the street, he’s dressed in dark grey jeans, white v-neck top and a knee long duster: a dark purple piece that bulges in a way discerning clients recognise as armour. Someone who follows the Combat Biker shows would also notice the League trademark stitched into the left shoulder.
Strutting across the ‘crete he tweaks the Rover’s door shut with a mental command, locking it down with his implanted commlink. I’ll be back in a cycle, baby. Anyone so much as touches you, ping me.
Seeing the rest of the crew are already here, Jink gives an apologetic wink and brushes in past the heavies, curious about who might be lying in the coffins but not curious enough to look.
In the meeting room he’s very surprised to see Angel Blue. Even Umberto had heard of her, which meant she really was famous. Famous for kicking hoop and scoring cred, Jink reminded himself. Maybe she could learn a thing or two from me.
Pulling up a stool the old biker listens to her story and flaps his eyebrows in a way he hoped she found reassuring. Yes, yes, get the schematics, Multitech, big corp goons. What about the nuyen, Faceman? Ask her about the slottin’ cred. Two-stick Willie's already breathing down my neck this month for frag's sake!
Slouching back a little, the Spaniard takes a good hard look at Angel’s hips. Oh yeah, the job’s keepin’ her fit. He could appreciate that. Like a fine tuned machine. Like Umberto.
Flashing her his best smile he finds himself nodding along to the sound of her voice, and notices when she flicks back her hair. Was that for Umberto. But of course it was!
Once there's a break in the conversation he takes his opp to chime in. "Hoi ya, Angel. I am Jink. I like your hair, by the way, suits you." Tipping his head in a motion of deference, he taps a metal finger on his stool with a cold "clank, clank". "What can you say to us about this Vanian? Where is he? Will anyone miss him if we pick him up?”
-
Switchback checked the scores... again. Doesn't matter how many times you look, the Zeros lost. And you lost, again. At least I've got some money riding on that chromed out elf fighting tonight.
After taking the call from Isherwood Switchback looked over the desk, littered with photos from his latest job. It hadn't paid much, but they rarely did. Then he checked the Urban Brawl schedule before slipping his Uzi into the concealed holster and grabbing two clips loaded out with regular ammunition. Never hurts to have a little extra.
Throwing together a quick disguise (Disguise 3 + Intuition 3 (6d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3113775/) ), Switchback gets on his contrail and opens it up. Love the sound of that engine. Maybe if that fight pays off I can have some work done on her.
[OOC At the Guards]
Switchback glances at the muscle, nodding his approval as he walks into the meeting. Those thugs look like they don't come cheap, I hope that means some nice nuyen. Upon seeing Alpha Blue and hearing what she has to see, he glances at the rest of the team. What drek have we stumbled into?
-
@Jink - Despite being hit on in a mortuary on the eve of her brother's death, Blue seems unaffected by the compliment. You expect anyone whose job requires them to look good next to sim stars is used to such things. She turns to you.
"Vanian's disappeared. I don't know how recently. Might have been before my brother was shot, or it might have been after. I haven't had the time to check up on anything."
She turns to address the whole group.
"My brother has been dead for 5 hours, and I can't show my face. I don't want Vanian hurt. He didn't do this. Multitech did. Niel went to Multitech's boy and Multitech burned him." She stops for a second.
"You know what, I'll just send you a copy of Niel's letter."
(http://i53.tinypic.com/nytd0h.jpg)
"There, now you know everything I know about the situation. The job will pay 150,000 nuyen. That's what I have for liquid assets right now. I need you to be my hands for this."
-
"Jesus christ. 150k? This is some hot shit... Your brother was a technomancer?!" This sudden interjection was all Mary said the entire time. She seemed rather surprised at the incredible price, but she knew that big money means big danger... Jesus... this ain't no errand... How hot is this job. I hope the rest of this group Isherwood brought together is up for the job....
Mary could use the money, but money doesn't do any good if you're dead... And dealing with technomancers and multinational corps with assassin squads not afraid to operate in the sun in Seattle of all places... Mary was rather apprehensive about the whole thing, but when you're stuck against a rock, there's not much you can do.
[OOC: Mary makes sure her commlink is connected to the party's network]
I'll agree to the job. We're gonna need some heavy equipment for this for certain though... I say we look up this Dutch Donovan character and find out his angle. Now the question is: Stealth or Firepower?
-
While Aqua Blue kept her calm at Jinx's remark, Johnny found it to be beyond uncouth. He gave the former Combat Biker the briefest of looks, conveying
this displeasure as best he could with just his eyes; which, when you have almost full control of your facial expressions, was pretty damn good. He took a
moment to read his employer's letter; once, twice, trying to get an idea what her brother was feeling as he wrote his final message to his sister. Poor guy
had gotten in over his head with the wrong corp; a corp that had made him pay for this transgression. Johnny looked around the room at the coffins,
suppressing a shudder.
"While I've not met Vanian, or Rat as I believe he is called in our business, I understand him to be impetuous but honest. As honest as the
Shadows can be. Still if he has disappeared this is most vexing as he is our only link to the rest of the blue print, this Mr. Donovan, and Multitech."
He makes a show of thinking things through, drops his cigarette, grinding it into the cement floor.
"Ms. Johnson, while your offer of 150,000 nuyen is most generous, and I hate to haggle over price at a time such as this, it
will be our heads that will be on the chopping block while your hands remain unseen. Assuming we complete this job well, immediate liquidity will no longer
be an issue and thus the final amount will be subject to change - say an additional 25% if and when all responsible parties are made to pay. Assuming
that we do not complete this job, then money will no longer be a concern of ours. Also, there is the matter of cash up front, as a job of this magnitude
will no doubt require the greasing of palms.
Negotiation 16d6=8 hits (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3114485/)
"Finally, and again I must apologize for touching on a wound that is still fresh, I must ask about the nature in which your brother was
murdered. You have said that it was public and that Knight Errant has been involved, what exactly can you tell me about the event as any
information may lead us to the actual triggerman or men.
When Mary's message popped up on his comm, @team "Definitely stealth. I don't know about you, omae, but I prefer my body with the
proper amount of holes in it. I should be able to get a line on Donovan, but I believe finding Vanian will suit our needs best."
[OOC: Did my olfactory booster pick up anything - mostly looking for emotional state but should be able to sense a variety of things]
-
I tend to agree with not getting shot up. I have a cham suit if we need to infiltrate anywhere. Oh and 25%? Of 150k? That's quite a lot to ask for....
-
@Mary Start high, argue down. 150,000 split five ways is 30K a piece. Now I don't know about you but almost 40K will make being shot at a little
easier to take.
-
@team. Maybe we can start by searching Valarian's place. Might turn up a clue to his whereabouts,
[OOC: Any results on my assensing or analyze truth spell? I posted the rolls]
-
[15d6.hits(5) → [3,1,4,3,6,1,3,6,2,1,3,6,2,3,4] = (3) 5 net hits on negotiation. Olfactory booster cancels her tailored pheremones. Alpha blue has no sent besides the artificial pheremones. The two guards also have no scent.]
"Yeah, that's Rat's rep, but you never know. I've never done business with the guy, but I'm usually out in L.A. My brother vouched for him though. As to the pay, Multitech shouldn't be looking for you unless you make noise. I was told you could be subtle and I hope I wasn't misled." She cocks an eybrow at you. "Additionally, if you're successful, they won't be in any position to exact retribution... but, this is a fairly major piece of action. If this turns out right, a lot of people are going to pay. Let's say that, when this is over, I will owe you a favor. If you want to extract that favor as cash, that will be acceptable."
You see the hardness fall from her face as the financial portion of the discussion is concluded.
"As to my brother, no, he wasn't a 'mancer. At least he never told me he was, and we didn't keep secrets from each other. Ever since we were kids we would have each other's backs no matter what." She seemed to go distant again, and once she returned to business, that distance translated to an almost robotic delivery.
"He was shot several times in the head and chest with a high powered rifle at the corner of Leopold and Loeb. He was driving his Nissan Jackrabbit home from his office at Gibson Hall. He always took the same route... He wasn't like us. He just worked at an office and did consulting on the side. I got the preliminary police report but there's nothing there. My friends in Knight Errant will make sure to slow down their investigation enough to give you time to work. Personally, I don't care any more who shot him than I care which bullet. I know how to hurt whoever paid the shooter, so I know enough."
-
@team: I agree. I'm as big a fan of punching some guy in the face as the next guy, but when the chances are good they've got some big guns pointing my way... I prefer to get in and get out, no one the wiser
Switchback smiles a bit at the counter offer.
@Mary: Let him talk his magic, the bigger the pay the better. Unless you're one of those chummers that have too much money.
-
@Team I'm no enemy of cash, but she isn't the type of person to get on the bad side of. The favor thing looks good, might be useful having a favor from someone like Blue.
@Switch I ain't your chummer, bud.
-
Jink half listens as the conversations unfold, noticing the similarity between his metal fingers and the edges of stool he's sitting on, the same way the light reflects off their rounded surfaces. A change in voice timbre brings him back to the present, and he refocuses his thoughts, dimly insightful that his concentration isn't what it was. Never had been, since his big accident.
Noticing Hiro's frown, Jink can't help but give him a cheesy wink, though he is careful not to let Angel see. What, it's just a compliment chummer! He is secretly very impressed that Hiro had even heard of Rat, he has his hooks in, that one. A massive smile breaks out across his tanned face when their Johnson mentions the payoff: 150,000 nuyen! Slotting drek!!! Treasure bath!! It's clear to all concerned just by his body language that Umberto is on board, and his smile remains plastered on his face till the end of the meet.
@team: I like the idea of trying to quietly locate Rat. Also maybe check out the corner the brother was shot on - maybe some kind of magical assensing clue, or other physical clues? Perhaps finding who shot the brother will lead us to Rat? Is it likely the same shooters are going after him now?
-
". If this turns out right, a lot of people are going to pay. Let's say that, when this is over, I will owe you a favor.
At Alpha's words Johnny can't help but briefly flashback to his childhood.
Yakahama-san, one of his tutors, sat cross-legged on bamboo mat. Masaru felt that this position, so old ways, was in sharp contrast to the multiple datajacks along the man's right temple and the expensive business suit he wore. "There is a limit on the number of ways a monetary debt can be collected," his teacher said, his chrome eyes giving away nothing. "A personal debt, on the hand, well, the possibilities are endless."
Johnny pressed the memory of his past life down.
"Your terms are acceptable. Is there any other information that you think could aid us in our search. Also how can we contact you when the job is complete," he says. Then, visibly softening, he adds, "Your family will have its vengeance, of this I promise."
@team "Let's cool it on the comm chatter until we can do it in person and in a less morbid place."
After this he'll fire off a message to his corporate/political blogger, @3M-CEE "Konichiwa, my favorite dirt digger, I have dirt that needs dug. What can you tell about the haps on Multitech, specifically a wageslave, drekhead by the name of Dutch Donovan? I need this info yesterday but dig carefully and furtively. I might be able to throw a big, AAA-scoop your way if things pan out like I think they will. Until then, here is something to wet your appetite." He'll send her 100 nuyen just for getting started. [OOC: Remaining cash on hand 5,400 nuyen).
Finally, he'll shoot a message to his girl. @RainbowBriteKoolAidBarbie "Hey sweets, I won't be able to make our outing tonight - work has come up. You and your friends go onto Inferno without me. There is a troll bouncer at the door, has two crooked horns (one pointing up, the other down). Slip him fifty and tell it is from me, that should be good enough to get you all in He'll send her 100 nuyen to cover the door and some drinks [OCC: Remaining cash on hand 5,300]
-
"Yeah, we'd better get this moving. Multitech sure as frag isn't playing this low and slow. First off, here's some spending cash." She flips Johnny a credstick. "30,000 nuyen. If something comes up and you need more cash, you can contact me at this dead drop." <link> "Same goes if you run into some other kinda dead end. You won't be able to reach me directly, but I'll check every now and then for updates. As to where to start, you can skip Niel's house. I already went through there with a comb before the cops arrived. Nothing to be found. I did pick up his spare lab key though, so you can use that to check out his place at Gibson Hall, downtown. If you go there, I'd appreciate you picking up any sort of personal effects he might have had sitting around. It would mean a lot to me. You'll also want to check out Vanian fast. I've got his address on this card I picked up from Neil."
(http://i52.tinypic.com/s4s9p3.jpg)
"Don't have his home address though. Did manage to dig up Donovan's home address and the Multitech office where he worked, but those two would probably risk revealing your involvement. That happens and you'll have to go to ground too. On that note, I might as well give you a copy of the blueprint." <link> "Don't go trying to spread it around though. If it goes public, there's not really enough there to pin them, and if they see it in the world, that's just all the faster that they're going to catch on to this operation. As of now, it's best for them to think that they've got this under control."
[contact availability roll: 1d6.hits(3) → [2] = (0) Looks like 3m-C33 isn't awake or around. Her blog is still up though.]
@johnny: Digging through back logs of the Fragged Company blog, you get a pretty good view of what Multitech is and does. It's their business to manufacture short runs of high-tech components for other companies. Their biggest customers include Henderson Multicom, Transys and Magnuson, but they have dozens of other clients that they also work with on a regular basis. The short-order, high-tech manufacturing business takes a lot of ruthlessness to succeed in, and Multitech has been succeeding in it for quite some time. They build high-cost, high-performance computer chips for unique or proprietary systems used by some of the biggest megacorps around.
Public Info - Multitech International
Home Office: Shanghai
Presicent/CEO: Jonathon Ki Won
Principal Division, Seattle: Multitech Design
Division Head: Maximilian Stern
Chief Products/Services: Custom Chip design and production, primarily serving the microtronic industry.
[contact for the grilfriend 1d6.hits(2) → [2] = (1) she's there! for now ;)]
<<RainbowBriteKoolAidBarbie@Johnny Hiro: Thanks Johnny babe! I can get some triple-stacked tabs with that! Gonna eXplore the Galak-seeeee! lol! You should let me know when you're all done with ur SRS BIZNS.>>
-
"Alpha, my deepest condolences on your loss. I do have one question though before we get started. Does anyone known what this Vanian looks like, have a picture?"
Ghost assensed Alpha's mood and feels her grief. He thinks back to his return from China has a somber tone to his voice.
Ghost waits for Alpha and her goons to leave. "How do guys wanna proceed? I can setup astral survailance on any or all three places. I can also find search for Vanian
from the astral plane if I knew what he looked like.
-
"You mage-types are useful... I'm gonna drop by my house and pick up some things. I'm willing to infiltrate Rat's address, see if I could pick something up that might tell us where he is or what he looks like."
"Oh, and if you give me a call while I'm at home.... well I have a ... 'peculiar' gatekeeper, lets say. She's loyal, so don't freak out."
"I'm going to head home now so I can get ready, give me a call if y'all develop a wildly different plan."
Marlene left the building and returned to her Suzuki a few blocks away. "Slotted graveyards. She took one last look at the place, one last look at the rest of the team she'd be working with on this run, and said quietly to herself "This is gonna be interesting... Hope they don't glitch something up,"
There weren't many cars on the road, so she decided to turn off GridGuide and open the bike up a little on her way home.
Reaction + Pilot Groundcraft + Bike Specialization + Handling = 13d6.hits(5)=3 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3115495/)[/purple]
-
Blue sighs and seems to deflate a little, at the same time shedding some of the weight you've seen pressing down on her. Another platitude followed immediately by talk of business. She has come to accept the fact that you are all here, not to mourn with her, but to act in her stead and to be detached because she can not. Still, a tear makes its way from her eye to pause on her cheek, not complete enough to make its full journey down.
"I don't have Vanian's pic. Like I said, I've never met him. He does run a legit front though, so you might have luck checking the nets. He's not a shadowy figure. I've just been a bit preoccupied with the corporate side of things. I'm gonna be making sure that when you guys get me the rest of the blueprint, I know exactly how best to cram it up Multitech's hoop."
-
Blue sighs and seems to deflate a little, at the same time shedding some of the weight you've seen pressing down on her. Another platitude followed immediately by talk of business. She has come to accept the fact that you are all here, not to mourn with her, but to act in her stead and to be detached because she can not. Still, a tear makes its way from her eye to pause on her cheek, not complete enough to make its full journey down.
"I don't have Vanian's pic. Like I said, I've never met him. He does run a legit front though, so you might have luck checking the nets. He's not a shadowy figure. I've just been a bit preoccupied with the corporate side of things. I'm gonna be making sure that when you guys get me the rest of the blueprint, I know exactly how best to cram it up Multitech's hoop."
I know someone who might be able to help with disseminating the information, their not bad at breaking a story. Should you need it of course. We will be in contact
Then, sensing that the conversation is over, Johnny turns to leave. [OOC: or stays if they leave.]
Away from the stresses of negotiation, Johnny almost physically changes: his posture relaxes, his face breaks into a slight, smooth operator, Style's from Teen Wolf smile, its almost like he removed a corporate rod from up his ass. He is about to a bit of macho flexing, to let Razorgirl know not to question his side of the game and he won't question hers, when she takes off.
"She's a data chip worth of teamwork, isn't she," he says, shaking his head.
"Multitech is moving like a wildfire on this one, burning up whatever they can as quickly as they can. That puts us on the slot and run. I would suggest holding off going after Donovan until the morning hours, or at least until this dammed hacker that Isherwood promised shows up.
He looks around the group for some sort of reaction, but only waits a moment before continuing.
"That leaves us with two places we can run down tonight and it should be tonight. I'm thinking we should split on this one, cover as many bases as possible because you know Multitech will be doing it. A sniper shot through a car window isn't an easy shot, this corp isn't sending goons to do this job. Ghost, if you got some personal belongings of Vanian's, could you whip up a sympathetic link? I know a magic ritual is never a "whip up" situation but its only been about five hours so you might be able to find something at his shop that still has his aura. That leaves the Gibson building, now I don't know about their security, but I think -
he pauses to scan the rest of the group: an obviously pugilistic Ork, a mage whose clothes suggest he has been sleeping on the ground somewhere, if not in car, and Don Juan de Keppa.
"I might have the easiest time talking my way in should there be some sort of night crew. Although there is no way I think any of us should be on our own during this time. What do you think, omae? If anyone has a better suggestion, throw it out now.
-
[OOC After Alpha Blue leaves/ the team leaves]:
Switchback nods at Ghost's suggestion. "I like the idea of surveillance, and I think we should check out Gibson Hall while we work on tracking down Vanian. Snatch up whatever's there before any other interested parties go snooping. Not to mention, it'll put us up with Alpha if we get the personal effects quickly."
-
While waiting for the rest of the team agree, disagree or change his suggested plan, Johnny will quickly do some data searching. First he sets the Browse Agent on his slaved com searching for information on the Gibson Building, anything easily accessible on the Matrix
6d6.hits(5)=2
6d6.hits(5)=1
6d6.hits(5)=2
6d6.hits(5)=1
6d6.hits(5)=1
6d6.hits(5)=1 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3115764/)
Total hits: 8
Johnny himself will try running down what he can on Vanian, specifically looking for photo of the guy or perhaps a home address for the guy
8d6.hits(5)=2
8d6.hits(5)=4
8d6.hits(5)=2
8d6.hits(5)=0
8d6.hits(5)=2
8d6.hits(5)=2
8d6.hits(5)=5
8d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3115771/)
Total hits - 21 [OOC: Holy cow!Only four 1's in the whole lot of dice. I think those are the best rolls Invisible Castle has ever given me. Wish it had been for something a bit more useful. :-\]
-
Okay, I'll setup the astral surveillance on Gibson Hall and Vanian's place.
1st watcher
url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3115922/]summoning 4+ magic 5 (9d6.hits(5)=3)[/url] 3 hours of surveillance
resist 3 dv drain
intuition 4 + willpower 5 + focused concentration 2 (11d6.hits(5)=0) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3115940/)
Wow I feel tired!!!
second watcher
summoning 4 + magic 5 - 1 stun damage (8d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3115968/) 2 hours
2dv drain
intuition 4 + willpower 5 + focused concentration 2 (11d6.hits(5)=4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3115973/)
whew!! no more drain
Ghost uses the sense link to convey the places to case. [three hours on gibson hall and 2 hours on Rat's place of business] He instructs the gibson hall watcher to follow anyone who
enters neil's office and for the watcher casing Rat's place to report back if anyone enters.
-
Marlene gets home and hops off the Mirage. Faces. What we'd do without 'em. I prefer the jobs that need muscle, less of this sneaking around and waiting. I'll get prepared just the same.
She walks over to her closet and opens the secret compartment where she stores her less legal items. She decides to take a trauma patch, a stimulant patch, a couple of frag grenades and three extra clips for her pistol. She puts on her Chameleon suit underneath some flats, no need to waste her nice clothing, and attaches the pistol to her concealed holster and puts the rest of her stuff in her pocket.
Hmm.... I don't want to take the AK, but I'd rather have it than not...
Mary decides to load the AK-97 with a couple of explosive clips, and puts that along with her grapple gun in a nondescript bag that she can hide in the Suzuki. She makes sure her PAN is registered under the Traudl SIN, no use in getting stopped for unregistered weapons.
"I hate waiting.... And Isherwood said there'd be some other guy, a hacker or something. Coulda showed up in the Matrix if he didn't want to be there. Probably just watching the thing from one of our commlinks... Damn anxiety... I'll just calm the nerves a bit....
Marlene decides that she might like to take the edge off for a while, and decided to pop some Zen while waiting on the team to call her.
Duration = 1d6=1 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3116060/) x 10 minutes = 10 minutes
-
A few minutes into searching for Vanian, Johnny's agent pops up with pictures of the Gibson Hall place. It's kind of a dump. An old high rise building slowly going to seed. Rental agreements are available for open space, no questions asked. A few minutes later Johnny finished scouring the nets for Vanion's home address, with nothing much to show for it. Just chatter that confirmed what he already knew. Knowing whether Vanion was a first name or a last name or even a pseudonym would've helped. He did find a picture of the guy though.
(http://i51.tinypic.com/mrqur8.jpg)
Ghost summoned a couple of watcher spirits and tried to send them out to scout their next possible destinations, but never having seen them before, much less on the astral, he couldn't really give them any sort of image that they could understand.
-
Hey Johnny, can you send me those addresses to my comm? Thanks Ghost sits down and leans up against the fence as Bloody Mary drives off. Keep an eye on me for a second chummers.
Ghosts body suddenly goes limp as his essence starts streaking through the astral plane. First he goes to the address we have for Vanian. As he gets close he assenses the area to check for lifeforms or any magical barriers.
assensing 3 + intuition 4 - stun damage 1 (6d6.hits(5)=1) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3116305/)
[OOC: If I don't see anything I leave the watcher in place with the previous instructions I provided and proceed to Gibson hall. If I see anyone I will dismiss the spirits and return immediately to my body and report to the team.]
Just in case. Gibson hall assensing roll.
assensing 3 + intuition 4 - stun damage 1 (6d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3116311/)
-
Johnny tosses Ghost the address for the Gibson building moments before the mage slumps against the wall. He also sends everyone's link, including Mary, the picture of Varian.
"That's Varian. Also scratch my previous statement about Gibson Hall, the place is a dump. Any of us should be able to just walk in. That being said, unless you have a good carry license and fake SIN, you might want to stay out of Downtown. Now as soon as Ghost gets back from cooking up his astral mojo, we need to get going. Time is of the essence here. So ka? While standing here with our hands on our holsters, Multitech is out there cleaning up its mess. The clock was ticking on this thing before we even got hired. Who wants to go where? Oh, and wherever I go, I'll need a ride."
-
Umberto takes a squiz at Vanian's card: House of Antiques?
"I am not so much an antique fellow," Jink says, "but who knows what valuable stuff might be laying around a shop like that, eh? I'd be happy to check it out. As for the brother's place, yeah, okay, maybe we go their first - keep chicka happy, like Switch says. You a smart one, Switchback. I like you, eh."
Watching Hiro going into AR searches and Ghost slumping out to the astral, Umberto cocks his head to one side and says, "No downtime for these two, eh, okay then!"
Flicking the antique card back onto the desk, Jink wags his metal finger back and forth for a moment. "But I not so sure we should split up just yet. Yes, quicker, but its like Boss always says - you want to do this quick, or right? We maybe need Hiro at both places, or Marlene's heat, or Ghost's juju protection. I say we keep it tight for now. I say Gibson Hall first. Antiques second. Then see what colour is the crystals, neh?"
Umberto sits back down on his stool and stretches back, giving everyone a big grin. "I got my gear in the wagon already. And just so everybody 'members, Jinky is for shooting, driving, droning and maybe little bit exploding things. OK, wizza..Hiro, I got your ride covered, huh. You know it true." <winks>
-
"I like how you think Jink, you never know what might be laying around..."
Switchback looks at Ghost, slumped out against the wall. "Looks that way. But I agree, there's a good shot with a rifle out there somewhere... I'm willing to go to Gibson Hall, but I'd like someone to watch my back while I'm there."
"The wagon, eh?" Switchback glances at the logo on Jink's armor and winks. "You still keep up with Team Soza?"
-
By now the Zen had worn off, and Marlene was a little less out of it.
Marlene's blonde curls showed up on everyone's commlinks, with slightly less antagonism in her face.
"This Rat fellow looks like he could use a new smile. I'm more than willing to go wherever needed, and I happen to have a fairly good carry license. If that antique store is guarded or has no one in it, I could sneak in, sneak out, and no one would be the wiser. Otherwise I could back you all up if you don't split up.
Marlene shut off the voice message. She looked down at the pistol in her hand, a bit of blood stained the grip where she had missed a spot cleaning.
"Well Eris, looks like its going to be a long night for me... Don't blow up the house.
Marlene leaves the building, looking as fashionable as one can in a set of flats made to cover your body. She moves with an unnatural augmented grace, but rather than being beautiful it seems.... industrial, as if it were utilitarian; as she deftly avoids the cracks in the sidewalk without so much as a look.
Marlene leans against her bike, turning on her smartlink system and checking all the frequencies of vision she has. She tries to listen to the sounds and smell the smells of the night, testing her ability to tell where people are without vision.
"This job might be fast and sweet, if there's such little security at both of these places. But fast and sweet and profitable.... choose two."
-
Ghost's presence left his body and sped across the astral in the general direction he understood Rat's store to be. Using the obvious landmarks, he narrowed it down to a block or two. If Vanian's hadn't had an old raised-letter sign, though, he would have never found it. The shadows of the astral plane don't lend themselves well to detailed inspections. Inside, there were no astral wards or security, but there was a feeling of sickness crawling around. It wasn't an unfamiliar feeling for Ghost in his new line of work. He knew it as the temporary astral disturbance that always seemed to accompany a recent murder scene. The energy was blocked and tangled enough that he knew a little Watcher spirit wouldn't be able to survive in these warped currents. [Background count of 1] Investigating the place, he found five main rooms, including the toilet. There were two bodies on the floor, one by a cot in the office, and one by a workbench in the back area.
-
Well it looks like there's no urgency to get here (Vaniian's). I'll try to find Gibson hall next. Approach slowly with assensing area. (Already rolled assensing for Gibson hall in last post)
-
[By the way, you could probably talk one of the first aid guys into patching up that stun damage, tim.]
Gibson Hall was slightly easier to find. It's silhouette on the astral could be matched to the picture Hiro had pulled up earlier. Moving through the place showed no astral security and minimal physical security. At this time of night the building was basically abandoned. Zipping through a floor at a time, yielded 5 sets of auras, none of which were magically active.
-
Ghost actively assenses the five people in the gibson building.
assensing 3 + intuition 4 - stun damage 1 + actively looking +3 (8d6.hits(5)=2, 8d6.hits(5)=4, 8d6.hits(5)=2, 8d6.hits(5)=3, 8d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3117873/)
He also stick around to see if he can pick up any clues as to what they are doing there. [OOC: I'll watch their movements for a bit to see if I can tell if they security, working, sleeping, searching. If they're all pretty
much stationary I'll head right back to my body]
Ghost feels anxious to get back to his body to report to the rest of the team.
-
Most of the guys are clean, but one guy has dark spots running through his body like thin little noodles and a few more in his head. There were a couple at the front door, three in a room down the hall and two sets of two moving around on the floors, staying to the hallways. All of them seemed rather bored.
-
"The wagon, eh?" Switchback glances at the logo on Jink's armor and winks. "You still keep up with Team Soza?"
Umberto's eyes light up at the mention of Team Soza and he leans in to offer Switchback the traditional Combat Biker fist punch/handshake combo - "You follow the leagues, Switchback? Shiny! Ahhh sadly I don't see much of Soza no more, many are dead now, true. Some others gone elsewhere, maybe couple wifes nag them sensible, hehe, you know. But maybe you remember the winger name Bosspug - Boss Rodrigo? He's still around - right here in the 'plex, in fact - I see him plenty times. Hahahaha, oh yeah, Boss, he good value."
Looking back around the room Umberto notices that Ghost has broken out in a bit of a sweat [OOC: 3 stun damage he took]. "He allright?"
-
Johhny couldn't help but smile at the banter of his new partners. His father had forbidden most sports, with the exception of baseball and soccer, growing up but as he had gotten older he had enjoyed sneaking out to watch a good Urban Brawl or Combat Racing event. He didn't remember Team Soza or Jink at their prime but he had seen the replays of the pile up that ended Umberto Keppa's career. #73 on the official Top 100 Combat Racing X-Treme Crash List. Considering that most of the Top 100 ended in fatalities, that said something about the severity of the accident.
At Jink's statement about Ghost, Johnny kneels down to look at the mage. The husk was definitely showing signs of distress. Johnny kicks himself, should have brought his MedKit.
"Could be anything out there in Astral World. We'll just have to wait and see what he brings back."
-
Switchback grins at Jink. "Of course I follow the leagues! Few things are like it. Bosspug? You know if you still have an inside contact I know a few ways we could make some extra nuyen..."
He glances down at Ghost, frowning slightly.
-
Vanessa is reclined on the comfy sofa, sifting through all the business news feeds of the day when her comm chimes with a message. A flick of the wrist and it pops up in a window on her AR.
Huh, didn't expect Crank to be bagging a job from another fixer. Short notice, too. Guess this Van guy needs some better talent if the yokel's not even showing for the meet. Lucky he got me then.
She drops a quick note back to Crank and this Van Isherwood character. She'll take the job.
While she waits for a response and details on the meet location, Vanessa waves off the AR and starts getting dressed for business. Second skin, mostly transparent, followed by a snug form-fitting half-suit. Plopping down in front of the vanity she starts her makeup, colorful hair extensions, and finer details to throw off her real look.
4 Disguise (Cosmetic) + 5 Intuition = 9 (9d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3118279/)
She just finishes pulling on the skin-tight fake fingerprint gloves when the comm chimes again with the meeting location.
A deadhouse? Hope that's not a sign of things to come. By this timestamp the meeting's probably already underway, maybe done already. Guess I'll check out the security feeds then.
'Yuri' sits back in the plush chair and jumps into full VR. A quick hop over through the nearby access point, crank up the Stealth program and her cartoonish avatar speeds off to the deadhouse's matrix address.
*sigh* Well I suppose I better be quick about this.
A quick look over the node and her avatar whips an oversized swiss army knife and sets about proding the Firewall.
Hacking on the Fly (security account, Firewall+3 extended test) 6 Hacking + 6 Exploit + 1 Encephalon = 13d6 (13d6.hits(5)=0, 13d6.hits(5)=4, 13d6.hits(5)=4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3118321/)
[OOC if you need more, let me know. That's one turn's worth of hacking]
-
Ghost's body wakes from his stint on the astral plane and anxiously gives his report to Johnny, Jink and Switchback. Here's what I found on those two locations fellas. First off, there were two dead bodies at Vanian's place. I couldn't tell who they were from the astral plane but we might be to late to actually talk to Vanian. Gibson Hall has five people in it right now. One of them has been chromed as far as I can tell. Those five might be watching the place, they seemed pretty bored but I can't be sure of that and there was nobody on Neil's floor. Anyway, my opinion now is to go to Gibson Hall first. It probably won't be to hard to stealth past those guys to get to Neil's room. Specially if we can find a hacker who could check the electronic security first. Looks like we already missed the action at Vanian's.
-
Johnny holds his hand out to help the shaky mage up.
"Two dead bodies? I'm going to have to disagree with you on where we head, Ghost. First off, dead bodies can tell us a lot of things. We also don't know who's attention the killing might attract. The longer we wait on Vanian's the better the chance that Knights will charge in and gum up everything. However, I will go with the flow on this one. I'm assuming everyone still wants to stay together as opposed to split up?
-
"It depends on what those thugs are doing at Gibson Hall. Either they're looking for something or waiting for someone to show up. I'd like to know either way. But you've got a point. We should check out Vanian's before anyone goes in and frags it up. I'm ok with splitting up if we need to."
-
The team sees Johnny's face go stony again as he puts on his negotiator's face.
"Alright, omae. It's put up or shut up. Time to stop talking and get going. I think, under this new light, and Jink, I know you disagree, that splitting seems like the most logical course. There are five of us, that's a three-two split. We don't know if the people at the Gibson building are Multitech at all. We're talking five people, could be squatters. The place is a dive. I think I should go there - the living are more of my forte. That being said, it would be nice to have some muscle that's you Switch or Bloody Mary; Jink if you can make things explode or Ghost,if you have a manabolt up your sleeve, that's frosty as well. The rest head to Vanian's. We don't know whose bodies are there, might not even be our guy. That's where a good pair of eyes come in, physical or magical. Take whatever 'links and personal affects you can find, search the place top to bottom. If you disagree, say it now, but we need to get moving - our job related body count just tripled.
@Bloody Mary "It's time to move. We have two stiff's at Vanian's place and some people at Gibson Hall - Ghost says they are bored, but they still might be unfriendly. We're trying to figure out if we go in a group or split. If you have a preference shout out now. If not I'll send you the address of where to go.
@Isherwood "Isherwood-san, what happened, old man? Your hacker is a no show."
-
I'm good with either plan. Anybody gotta medkit to help me with this headache I got from summoning these watchers? Especially if we split up. It's hampering my ability to think straight
-
@Johnny I'll go with you. I'll grapple onto the roof and either meet you in Neil's room or stay there while you distract the what could be guards. You won't see me, at least, you shouldn't. I'm on my way to Gibson Hall now.
Marlene decided she wanted to get to Gibson Hall early, with one last check for her equipment, she turned off GridGuide and gunned it in the direction of Gibson Hall.
"Time to kick some ass"
-
Ok, Since both my and Johnny need rides why don't Jink and Johnny go to Gibson Hall and Switch and I will go to Vanian's. And Johnny, if you find out anything more about Van's hacker could you get him in touch with us so he can check out Vanian's for us?"
-
As Yuri works her way into the funeral house's node a new window pops up next to her avatar in the matrix.
Well of all the... now the commcodes arrive? That does it, I'm getting a new forwarding system.
As soon as she finished working her way into the node, Yuri fires off her Browser to hunt down the security logs, then takes a brief look around the node for anything of interest.
Agent on commlink running search: Agent 3 + Browse 6 = (9d6.hits(5)=1) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3119273/)
Matrix Perception on node: 4 Computer + 6 Analyze + 1 Encephalon = (11d6.hits(5)=6) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3119277/)
OOC: My last rolls should have me in to any place with a Firewall of 5 or less. If it's higher, I'll edit.
While the agent dregs up the files for her she turns her attention back to the comm codes from Van.
<<@Team: Greetings! Our mutual aquiantence, Van, informs me that you have need of some Matrix services. I'm Yuri, and I'll be your networking consultant this evening. What's the sitch?>>
-
@Yuri It appears we now have a hacker. Thanks for showing up, I suppose you're the replacement for the *other* hacker? Presumably you haven't been informed of our plans, I'll let one of the others do that for you, at the moment, I would love to know what you can do with the security at Gibson Hall.
[Sends Yuri all the information that the team has, i.e. pictures, addresses.]
@Johnny I forgot you didn't bring a vehicle... Bikes can fit two, I drive fast though. If you want, I can run pick you up, shouldn't take long.
Marlene turned her attention back to the road, just in time to realize that she didn't have the right of way at the next intersection.
"Slot it all!"
Marlene was practically sweating bullets as she brought her bike to a screeching halt, right before a truck passed through the intersection.
Getting killed on the roads no good... At least we have matrix support. I hate going into a place blind.
-
[OOC: sorry about the holdup guys. Weird day.]
As Yuri entered the node she found herself standing by a wooden cattle fence at the edge of a pleasant meadow. Well, it must have been a pleasant meadow before the storm clouds rolled in. The wind was just beginning to kick up when it suddenly died and a young japanese man with a katana came walking out from underneath a nearby file tree. <<Hmph.. Your man said you'd be coming. If I'd known you'd have such problems getting in, I would have made you an account. There's a pond over here where you can watch the meet. Nearby, you'll find the IDs you can use to contact your partners for this job. Tell them I said good luck. They'll need it.>> With that, he slashed the air and stepped through the hole, disappearing.
-
@Yuri What happened to Spider? Ah no matter, if Van sent you, it's cool. Here's the scoop, we're investigating the murder of a fellow runner's brother.
He got a hold of some blueprints proving some corp was cheating it's customers and he got axed. We're splitting up to check out the deceased's office and the fence's place of business where he got the evidence.
We already know there's a couple of dead bodies at the fence's place and some security guards at the office. If you could get us any intel on<link>and<link>
That would be very helpful. Can you find out if KE is heading towards the fences place? I don't want to be snooping around if they show up with two corpse lying around.
P.S. Welcome to the group
-
"Bloody Mary wants the Gibson building. That's fine. You three head over to Varian's, I'll grab a ride on the back of her bike. What do we think?
@Mary "Fine, I'll wait for you at the corpse house. Make sure your fake is broadcasting on Passive once we head into downtown. Let's not drive too fast, I might wrinkle my suit.
@Yurei "Konichiwa, Yurei-san. It sounds like the rest of the team is slamming you with very reasonable requests. I will not add anything else, as I trust you to be competent enough to make sure we are clear of any unwanted Matrix attention.
-
Umberto is a little confused by all the space staring comm chatter going on that he can't hear, but does register that the team now has a hacker named Yuri.
<@Yuri - Hoi, chicka, glad you could make it, eh. You be on site, or telecommuting?>
As he understands it, Jink, Switchback and Ghost are going to Vanians, so he waves them out the door and pings the Rover 2068 via his commlink, starting the engine then AR rigging it to quietly slip up aside the entry to the alleyway, careful not to get too close to either of the heavies outside. He pops the doors and swings inside, checking the heads up display for anything unusual.
Snaping his metal fingers, he fishes a medkit from under the passenger seat and waves the mage into the wagon, injecting him with a weak pick me up [OOC: assuming no objections]: First Aid check (medkit 6, Logic 6, skill 3, -2 mage, -1 indoors) (12d6.hits(5)=7) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3119454/). "Your colour looks better, eh. So, you two are welcome to ride with Jinky if you like, yes?" , he asks from the driver's seat.
Whatever mode of transport his fellow runners choose [barring objections], Jink steers the Rover down off the curb, pumps up some wizz beats, and makes a beeline for Vanians ...
-
Yuri grins sheepishly at the young man as he makes the comment on getting in. Once he's gone, she double-checks to make sure that alert was really turned off by the fellow.
Matrix Perception to check Alert status: 4 Computer + 6 Analyze + 1 Encephalon = (11d6.hits(5)=6) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3119483/)
[OOC: assuming it is, continue on]
She gets several replies from the team's comms and pulls up the files linked to her.
<<@Team. No clue what happened to the prior joker. Just got cold feet I hope. I'll see what I can dig up on our boys while you're enroute.>>
<<@Jink. Tele right now, omae.>>
Right, first things first then... Yuri glides just over the grassy iconography to the pool and holds a mirror to it, pulling in a copy of the video records as she gets a good look at the team still inside before they head out the door. Then a flick of the ole magic wand to work some magic on the video and access logs to erase the meet (and her entry) from them both, leaving a quiet uneventful night in the machine's memory.
[OOC: browsing and edit actions for both. Extended tests, so a few rolls on each one, use what you need :)]
Browse for video records of meet: 4 Data Search + 6 Browse + 1 Encephalon = (11d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3119486/)
Browse for Access Logs: 4 Data Search + 6 Browse + 1 Encephalon = (11d6.hits(5)=4, 11d6.hits(5)=1, 11d6.hits(5)=4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3119488/)
Edit for Video Feed: 4 Computer + 6 Edit + 1 Encephalon = (11d6.hits(5)=9, 11d6.hits(5)=5, 11d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3119493/)
Edit for Access Logs: 4 Computer + 6 Edit + 1 Encephalon = (11d6.hits(5)=1, 11d6.hits(5)=5, 11d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3119492/)
With info in hand and records cleaned, she logs off the node and launches a pair of Agents to start digging up public info on Gibson Hall and Niel, and on this Vanian character. She sets them to wait like good little potentially traceable icons until she picks them up again. No pinging her.
Agent data search for Gibson Hall and Niel info: Agent 3 + Browse 3 = (6d6.hits(5)=2, 6d6.hits(5)=1, 6d6.hits(5)=0, 6d6.hits(5)=1, 6d6.hits(5)=0, 6d6.hits(5)=1(!glitch!)) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3119501/)
Agent Browse for Vanian: Agent 3 + Browse 3 = (6d6.hits(5)=4, 6d6.hits(5)=2, 6d6.hits(5)=1, 6d6.hits(5)=4, 6d6.hits(5)=1, 6d6.hits(5)=1) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3119503/)
Think I'd better go mobile on this one.
She jacks out, gathers up her gear and finishes getting dressed, then heads for the door. On the way out she blows a kiss at the holo in the trid, "I'm off to work! See you later, lover." As she saunters out to the jackrabbit her gait shifts a bit, settling into character for her runner persona.
She sets the GridGuide to take her a few block away from her safehouse, then settles back for the ride. Once she's a few minutes out from her home, she leave the car on auto and pulls up the AR to check on the agents' progress and see if she can intercept any calls to Ke on the Vanian site.
[OOC: I hadn't quite realised what a busy little bee a hacker could be in a few minutes time!]
-
Switchback slaps Ghost on the back after Jink patches him. "Feel better omae?"
Glancing at the "wagon," Switchback shakes his head. "I'll take my bike and follow you in."
As the Rover pulls off the curb, Switchback guns the engine and pulls out behidn him, heading towards Vanians.
Good to know we've got a hacker now.
-
Much better thanks. Let's get going. Good luck at Gibson hall Johnny.
Ghost jumps into Jinks van and rides off towards Vanian's.
-
Marlene speeds off towards the deadhouse, a fast moving silver bullet in the night.
With one foot stabilizing the bike, the now helmeted figure of Marlene looks at Johnny and tells him to get on the bike. After picking him up, she heads towards Gibson Hall, going a little bit slower than her usual antics.
[OOC: Her comm is on passive]
-
6 minutes after setting her agents to the task, Yrui hears back from both of them as they hop in her bike helmet's AR display. Putting one ear to the task as she drove to the mortuary, she heard the first agent spin a tale of young love and the struggle for growth and self esteem in a world full of marvels. It seemed that its search has somehow lead it to a 60-year-old comic book called Scott Pilgrim by way of the character Young Neil. She would have to keep an eye on that little program... The other agent brought back information on Vanian's Antiques and the man himself without generating much insight. It seemed the guy was a solid tech fence but a bit squirrely. No one seemed to have any complaints about the guy, but he didn't have fans either.
-
Vanian's address is in exactly the nasty part of town where you'd have expected to find it. Third gutter to the left and straight on 'til morning. not exactly a prime location. Still, for a fence, this Vanian character has guts. Few in his profession have the cojones to maintain a storefront; most fences don't care to advertise. Either Vanian's a real drekhead, or he had reason to be cocky. Wedged between a butcher shop that looks to be nirvana for six-legged livestock and an all-night erotisense parlor, Vanian's reminds you of a perfectly legal, if unsavory, pawn shop.
-
It's hard to tell whether Gibson Hall looks better or worse than it did on the 'Trix. The darkness probably helps. AR by the door shows a menu of businesses inside. There are barely enough to fit one per floor. Next to that is an advertising sign promising "Office Space Available!" Quite a shocker. From what Alpha Blue told you, Neil maintained a small office on the second floor where he could work in peace.
-
Switchback stares at Vanians, glancing down the street before he turns to Jink and Ghost. "Looks like a wiz place. Let's keep our eyes open though. I'd rather not add to the body count."
He saunters up past the erotisense parlor, glancing in it's direction before he moves to vanians and tests the door.
-
The door swings inward, the keypad entry system having been completely disabled, with no external indication of tampering. In the front room, you see a coffee table with an interactive surface, displaying a hologram of right-handed cyberarm. You recognize it as a virtual catalog of the items which must be stored elsewhere in the store. Around the table, sit several chairs. Past this is a large counter with a shelf behind. The inside of the place isn't as dirty as the neighborhood would have suggested. It still smells a bit stale though. There are two doors on the north wall, one directly across from the entrance, and one behind the counter. Both are closed.
(http://i55.tinypic.com/2i0r7g2.jpg)
Ghost remembers the first body being in the room accessible by the door behind the counter. The other body was in the back work area, accessible by the other door.
-
While riding towards Vanian's in Jink's van he suddenly goes silent. Again communing with the astral plane. This time to summon a guardian spirit.
Summoning 4 + Magic 5 (9d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3120333/)
Uh Oh 5 ones. Is that a glitch?
-
Marlene leaves the bike a block away from Gibson Hall, and walks the rest of the way with Johnny.
"Nice place. Glad we're not slumming it. she says with all the sarcasm she could muster.
She takes a look at the building, and does a quick check to make sure she has her pistol in it's concealed holster. She made sure to leave the heavy weapons secure in the hidden space within the Bike.
"I'll let you take lead, hopefully we won't need to use my muscle. she says to Johnny.
-
Uh Oh 5 ones. Is that a glitch?
[OOC: Yep. You can always negate a glitch with edge if you like. You also should declare what force spirit you're summoning. Because of the glitch he'll be throwing Force x2 dice to resist.]
-
[OOC: It's a jackrabbit, not a bike. Subcompact car with a few upgraded ammenities. Biking and hacking don't mix as well as auto-piloting cars on grid-guide :)]
Yuri listens to her agents relate thier info and starts sifting through the data feeds.
Scott Pilgrim?? hoookay. Not what I was looking for. .. .. Yuri quietly files that book away for later reading over a hot soycaf.
A bit dissatisfied with the current intel, she takes a few minutes to expand upon what she's got. First, a quick matrix trip to Vanian's matrix node from the data the agent gathered to have a look at the Firewall. If he's a tech fence, it's probably not a slouch, which would mean a much longer hacking job to do it right.
Matrix Perception to observe Vanian's store node: Computer 4 + Analyze 6 + Encephalon 1 (11d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3120422/)[OOC, assuming it's not hiding, that means 2 bits of info. Firewall rating and System Rating would be good :) ]
Followed by a trip to Gibson Hall to see what she can find on it. With luck, the matrix defenses will be as dilapidated as the pics of it looked.
Browse for public data on Gibson Hall, including node location, layout, tennants, etc: Data Search 4 + Browse 6 + Encaphalon 1 extended test = (11d6.hits(5)=5, 11d6.hits(5)=5, 11d6.hits(5)=3, 11d6.hits(5)=5, 11d6.hits(5)=6, 11d6.hits(5)=3, 11d6.hits(5)=8, 11d6.hits(5)=3, 11d6.hits(5)=4, 11d6.hits(5)=7, 11d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3120423/)
Matrix Perception on Gibson Node: Computer 4 + Analyze 6 + Encaphalon 1 = (11d6.hits(5)=5) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3120424/) [OOC: looking for Firewall / System ratings, plus whatever other public info is handy.]
-
opposed test
force 5 * 2 opposed test (10d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3120434/)
[OOC: finally a lucky roll. now resist dv2 drain]
intuition 4 + willpower 5 + focused concentration 2 (11d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3120435/)
A guardian spirit shows up and grants ghost one service to him.
-
Before I enter Vanian's I get to my commlink.@Yuri: Hey we're here at Vanian's. Could you see if there are any security camera's recording here? And if there are if you could access what happened to the
two dead guys we're probably gonna find in there. I'd bet nuyen to donuts though that if that ever existed it's probably been destroyed by now./color]
@Jink and Switchback:: You wanna try to disable the camera's before we enter. I have an endoscope and can target any cameras with a powerbolt.
[OOC: would that make a lot of noise. and if it did would it matter in this area of town?]
-
Vanian's store had no public node, which wasn't too uncommon for this part of town, but not what you'd expect from a guy like him. Scanning on the scene for hidden nodes pulled up nothing either. The sweep pulled up a few hidden nodes in the area. Well, more than a few. Seemed like every house on the strip had someone in it with their link hidden. Again, not uncommon for this part of town.
The full search on Gibson Hall pulled up a lot of records. A lot of not too interesting records. Yuri went through the whole download. Years of tenants. They never lasted too long. Most seemed pretty suspect, if not outright criminal. Short term scams. Shady detective agencies. One gene treatment place run by a Hugo Smendling "M.D." that had no licenses. The small business owner was rarer than a unicorn these days. In fact, unicorns were encouraged to flourish. Neil's Office didn't have a name. It didn't even have a good Matrix site - only a basic placard.
The final bit of chatter came from people talking about people. Only noteworthy person on staff at the time was a man named Jack Stone who was a retired Lone Star SWAT Sargent.
The Gibson Hall building's public node wasn't much. Standard residential gateway. Sending a spoofed update request showed it was running an Olsertech Firewall [of 4] and a Microdeck Data-checker Analyze program [Rating 2]. Business standard stuff.
-
[OOC: now resist dv2 drain]
[OOC: Actually, DV is 2x hits the ghosty gets, or 4dv, but 1S is a gimmie for a talented medic like Jinx, so we'll gloss that for now. If it was combat it would be different.. You also need to decide on his optional power.]
His mind on the astral, Ghost concentrated and opened himself to the universe's energies, hoping to scoop out a protector spirit from the great uncut block of the Tao. What he got was perhaps not what he had expected. In his minds eye, he saw a thin, bearded man in beggar's robes with a fan in one hand and a jug in the other. Momentarily startled, by the suddenness of the apparition's presence, he was caught off guard by a smack on the forehead and face from the man's closed-shut fan. "Why are you out looking for trouble! You don't have enough trouble yet, you have to go take other people's trouble for your own?! Peh! Who you think you are, Dragon Fighter Lohan?" The old spirit takes a long swig from the bottle in his hand and begins to chuckle.
-
Before accompanying Switchback and Ghost into Vanians, Umberto grabs a few items from the wagon to take with him - slipping his medkit into a pocket, popping on his mirrorshades and earbud, and tucking his miniwelder under his duster with his SMG, which he double checks is loaded with ex-explosive rounds. Already two stiffs. And it's that kinda neighbourhood, neh?
He also "jumps into" the wagon for a moment and does a radar sweep of the surrounding area, looking for suspicious surveillance drones that might be taking an interest in Vanian's ... or them [OOC: not sure exactly if I can do this?... But I'm thinking: Radar sweep for nearby surveillance drones - Perception 4 + Sensors (Radar) 6 (10d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3120461/)]
Assuming he doesn't detect any, he informs his team mates of the result and nods at Ghost's suggestion of taking out any cameras they see. "If we see them first, sure. And if not, well, bit of luck Yuri take care of it for us, eh?"
Otherwise Jink moves past the open door and into Vanians, attempting to quietly take up a position behind the counter on the eastern side of the entry room... but not doing such a good job at it... He eases his smartgun out of it's holster as he does so, the overhead lighting finding little to reflect off of it's ceramic frame. Touching his flesh hand to his earbud, he tries to hear anything interesting in the northern rooms (whose doors are currently shut)...
Commlink @Switchback & Ghost: Try for quiet first, neh?
1st roll Perception check using hearing/earbud, 2nd roll using his vision/mirrorshades (10d6.hits(5)=3, 10d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3120470/)
Infiltration - trying to be quiet (6d6.hits(5)=0) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3120471/) - dang! I don't think this is a glitch though? Just no hits?
-
After picking him up, she heads towards Gibson Hall, going a little bit slower than her usual antics.
Johnny smoothes his jacket and straightens his tie. He didn't know if Mary had made the ride speedier for him or if she just regularly drove like a speed demon, but clinging to the back of bike as she took turns fast and low was not his ideal way to travel. Marlene leaves the bike a block away from Gibson Hall, and walks the rest of the way with Johnny.
"Nice place. Glad we're not slumming it. she says with all the sarcasm she could muster.
"Yes, it is quite a fine piece of real estate," he responds with a wink.
"I'll let you take lead, hopefully we won't need to use my muscle. she says to Johnny.
"Here," he says, handing her his great coat after transferring the contents to his other pockets. "Can't have you going in looking like you're about to go all ghostly and rob the joint."
As they approached the dilapidated building's front Johnny focused his complete attention into taking every sight, sound and smell.
Perception tests
Sight: Intuition 4+ Visual Perception 5+ Visual Enhancement 3 = 4 hits (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3120548/) + Actively Looking = 0 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3121614/) = Total Hits 4
Sound: Intuition 4 + Auditory Perception 3 + Audio Enhancement 2= 3 hits (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3120556/) + Actively Looking =1 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3121616/) = Total Hits 4
Smell: Intuition 4+ Olfactory Perception 3+ Olfactory Booster 3 = 7 hits (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3120540/) + Actively Looking = 1 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3121617/) Total Hits 8
-
@Jink and Ghost: "If we see em, we'll take them out. If not, Yuri can work it. And yeah, let's get in quiet, snoop around, and get out."
Switchback moves in after Jink, crouching down and keeping to the wall as he makes his way around the room towards the other door. He stops there in a crouched position and looks around the room before listening against the door.
[OOC: His Ultrasound sensor is set to passive]
Infiltration test: 5 Agility + 3 Infiltration (8d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3120592/)
Visual Perception test: Intuition 3 + 2 Perception (5d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3120602/) + + 3 Actively Looking (Visual) (3d6.hits(5)=1) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3121745/) =4 total hits
Audio Perception test: 3 Intuition + 2 Perception + 2 Audio Enhancement (7d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3120603/) [Not sure if it's a glitch. 3 1s, and a 2] + + 3 actively listening (3d6.hits(5)=1) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3121747/) = 3 Hits
-
<<@Vanian's site team: Bad news. Vanian's place doesn't have any matrix presence. For a tech dealer, I'd say that means he keeps it all offline, so he's probably on the paranoid side. If you're thinking of heading in, keep an eye on booby traps. It also means I can't get to the cameras from here. Might be able to from on-site though.>>
<<@Johnny & Mary: Here's the basic infodump on Gibson's [link current info]. Lots of in-and-out small businesses, and they look as desperate for tennants as the building is for maintenace. Lot of short-term leasing from shady types. Might make your job easier Johnny, neh? Watch for a character named Jack Stone though. Ex-Lone Star SWAT in residence. I assume he's the cybered fellow Ghost spotted earlier.>>
-
@Yuri Thanks for the info. We'll be careful around that Jack Stone character... What a popular travel destination this place is. Wonder if we'll find any organ vendors in the basement.
Marlene thought to herself for a moment about the possibility of having to deal with some cybered SWAT member... She didn't like it very much.
"How sweet of you Johnny. Are all your coats this expensive?" she said with a slight distaste for the fine material the coat was made out of.
"If the Stone character decides to play hero, find someplace to hide. Hopefully my suit will be able to at the least trick him. I'm not carrying any lethal rounds at the moment, but they should put him down for a good night's rest if he get's froggy.
Marlene begins switching through her possible vision setups, seeing if she might be able to make out any figures behind walls and such in the building. If she can identify whom the Jack Stone person is, she makes sure to keep the occasional eye on him. The others oughtn't be much trouble if they decide they ate their soyflakes this morning.
-
[OOC: optional power is concealment. Sweet and old drunken warrior.
There's one body in the office and one in a workbench area.]
Ghost follows Switch and Jink into Vanian's. Upon entering he switches to astral perception to see if anything has changed since his astral visit to this place.
assensing 3 + intuition 4 (7d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3120645/)
-
"How sweet of you Johnny. Are all your coats this expensive?" she said with a slight distaste for the fine material the coat was made out of.
"Fine clothes make a fine man. And don't look at them like that, you would spend just as much on a gun or some 'ware. My 'ware just happens to come with a silk lining.
"If the Stone character decides to play hero, find someplace to hide. Hopefully my suit will be able to at the least trick him. I'm not carrying any lethal rounds at the moment, but they should put him down for a good night's rest if he get's froggy.
"Why would Stone make trouble? We're just a normal couple of people going into a shady building in the middle of the night."
[OOC: I'll post Johnny does next as soon as the results of his perception tests come in.]
-
"I suppose... As for the Jack Stone character, hopefully he won't make trouble, but there's no telling as to whether Neil installed some secret security system or whether Multitech is paying him for something, and its best to be prepared. Rather have some sort of plan in case trouble happens than be trying to think of one when we're getting shot at, nee?
-
Outside, Jinx's rover pinged the area pulling up nothing obvious in the vicinity, but a few flying drones were visible several kilometers south in Touristville proper.
The inside of Vanian's was completely silent... aside from Jinx's slight footfalls. The air was as still as everything else, like the building was holding its breath. Passing through the front door, you immediately notice how solid it is. Despite the building's outward appearance, Vanian's security was not cheap. In fact, it seemed exceptional. On the far side of the counter, Jinx noticed a large red panic button next to an Ares Preadator in a quickdraw holster.
On the astral side of things, it was much the same as before, though calmer now. The immediate shock of the murder had largely worked its way out of the astral as it typically does.
-
Ghost switches back to normal perception. He then looks around the room to see if there are any obvious cameras and any spots that cameras might be hidden. Then he looks at both doors. He checks to see if he can slip his endoscope underneath to get a look at the other side of them.
perception 4 + intuition 4 + actively looking 3 (11d6.hits(5)=6) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3121241/)
-
Ghost's keen eyes picked up several cameras covering the whole front room from multiple angles. The snake-cam showed the office much as it had appeared on the astral. There was a desk in the middle of the room, a cot in the corner and a dead body laying by the cot with a small amount of blood pooled near the head and much more soaking its clothes.
(http://i52.tinypic.com/23mq3k8.jpg)
-
Hey guys, the first body is behind this door
@Yuri: Where definitely gonna need some hacking support. This place has more cameras than a simsense set. I'd let you try to access through my comm but it doesn't pack much punch
Ghost goes to the next door to see what's behind with his endoscope. [OOC: even though from the map it looks like it's only a hallway]
-
(http://i54.tinypic.com/243g8k8.jpg)
Just the hallway, much as Ghost had seen in the astral.
-
@Ghost and Jink: I'm guessing this place is clear. I can check the rest of the shop if you want to take a look at the body and start tossing the place.
Switchback tests the door for the hallway. [OOC If unlocked]: He opens it up and moves down the hall slowly, checking for anything suspicious.
Perception test if needed: Intuition 3 + Perception 2 + Actively looking 3 (8d6.hits(5)=0) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3121767/) Fail :(
-
<<@Ghost, Jink, Switchback: I'm arriving on-site now. Be with you shortly, dearies. Don't get jumpy on me when I come in, ne?>>
She pulls the jackrabbit in behind the 'wagon'. A quick glance at the neighborhood and she's glad she dressed for the occassion. Patting the butt of the pred tucked away beneath her jacket for reasurance, she climbs out of the car. Arm the security and a mental twitch to rev up her wires before she gets to work.
The place looks quiet. No scannable nodes from the street, nothing on the 'Trix... Gotta be offline, maybe wireless shielded, there's no way a tech-vendor would be totally computer-free. *sigh* Guess I better get inside then.
She creeps up to crouch just inside the door behind the foyer table behind her teammates and gives them a cute little wave if they look back at her.
Infiltration to sneak inside: Agility 5 + Infiltration 3 = (8d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3121836/)
A quick look around the foyer to spot the security details (cameras, alarm wires, etc, and if the camera's are wired or wireless)
Perception to look at foyer: Intuition 5 + Visual Perception 3 + Enhanced Vision 3 + Observe in detail 3 = (14d6.hits(5)=4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3121844/)
Then she sets about scanning inside for the security system's node.
Scan for hidden node: E-War 4 + Scan 6 + Encephalon 1 = (11d6.hits(5)=5) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3121839/)
Alright Vanny-boy, let's see what you've got around here.
-
If everything seems copacetic on the outside, Johnny offers his arm to Bloody Mary.
"Following my lead may require that you play it drunk and ditzy," he says with a smile.
With that they'll enter the building's lobby, heading for the elevator unless some one stops them.
[OOC: Slaved com is on passive using his Li Feng SIN. His internal com is on hidden with Mona Lisa running.]
-
"You want me to act? Well this should be interesting...."
Marlene takes Johnny's arm, and squeezes just a little to make sure he knows who's who, and gives him a smirk.
OOC: Do you want me to roll for something?
-
As the two runners enter Gibson Hall, the security at the door barely looks up from whatever AR game they were playing long enough to register that they were there. Aside from the semi-circular desk at the entrance, there were two hallways going in perpendicular directions, and a glass elevator in the middle.
-
Vanian's was dead. There wasn't a single wireless signal in the place besides the team's comms. Switchback headed down the hallway and found himself in an impressive little workshop. Gear, and pieces of gear, lined the wall in various states of repair. There were several cabinets and workbenches, one of which splashed a little as he walked past it. Perhaps he was too busy ogling the half-stripped electronics to notice the pool of blood he was now standing in. Below the workbench lay the corpse of a middle-aged man with a receding hairline and a chest ripped completely open by fragmenting rounds.
-
Ghost opens the door to the office anxious to find out if the body in the next room was Vanian. He goes into the next room in inspect the body and search the room for chip blueprints, clues or anything else unusual.
perception 4 + intuition 4 + actively looking 3 (11d6.hits(5)=2, 11d6.hits(5)=5) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3123327/)
[OOC: rolled perception for body and once for room also]
-
As Yuri appears, Jink can't help but plaster his face with a big smile, "Hoi chicka, you made it."
Seeing Ghost check the office, nodding as Switchback heads for the back room, and noting Yuri is scanning for something, Umberto takes a look at the coffee table with the in-built holo catalogue. He tries to fire it up and locate the cybereye the team is interested in [OOC: not sure how much detail we have on that particular eye and it's chip, but: Trying to use the holo catalogue to find any details about the particular cybereye they're after (7d6.hits(5)=0) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3123366/) "Gah drek!" Shaking his head, Jink moves to stand watch in the entry area near the door, keeping an eye out for any surprise visitors...
<commlink @Team "Clear out back, Switch?">
Rolling his shoulders, Jink activates his wired reflexes, feeling the electric thrum ripple through his entire system. His flesh hand shakes out a slight tremor as the system kicks in, but his cyberarm is super steady, gripping his ingram in its carbonsteel grip. With a thought his smartlink activates, the familiar red cross hairs blinking into being. Umberto finds the blinking somehow comforting; the electric heartbeat of one of his favourite tools. Snapping back to the present, he catches Yuri's gaze. "Anything interesting?"
-
While waiting for the elevator, Johnny continues his act of being a drunk business man with a "friend." He sways and mumbles but says certain phrases loud enough that should security even have half an ear open he'll hear things like "Show you my office...got a couch...we can get acquainted."
Once on the elevator he'll hit the button for the second floor before shooting a few messages out.
@ Everyone "How are things looking at Vanian's?
@ Ghost "Hey, you still have that Watcher floating around the Gibson building? Could it tell us how many people are on the second floor?
@3m-C33 "Yo, chum, scope your messages out. I need that info on Multitech and Donovan."
-
Marlene attempted to act drunk, but came off as somewhat awkward. She generally disliked acting, stealth was easy, but convincing people she wasn't what she is?
Once on the elevator, she immediately separated from Johnny and stood off to the side, waiting for the doors to open. "I love how effective the guards were.
Marlene felt slightly on edge, after all, there was no such thing as a straightforward, easy run. Something has to give, but what?
-
@johnny I didn't leave the watcher there. I couldn't tell witch office was Neil's from the astral plane. There wasn't anyone on that floor when I was there before though. I can check it out again if you like though.
-
@ Ghost "If you have one on call and they can keep an eye open, that would be wiz. Don't cause a nosebleed over us though."
@Yuri "Any chance there are cameras in the Gibson building you can get through? Especially looking on the second floor."
-
@Team: "We're clear. Looks like this was the workshop. Our second stiff is back here and he pissed somebody off bad. Find anything interesting up front?"
Switchback bends down to the body, his gaze lingering on some of the stripped electronics. I'll bet Price could move that...
With a sigh he turns his attention back to the body, searching it to see if he can find anything interesting (if needed: Intuition 3 +Perception 2 +Actively looking 3 (8d6.hits(5)=1) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3124072/)).
"Who did you manage to piss off chummer?"
Switchback stands up, muttering softly as he glances at the pool of blood around his shoes. Gonna have to get those cleaned.
@Team: I'm not getting much from this guy. His chest has been ripped open though, so keep an eye out.
-
Standing over the body, Ghost sees that it is an Asian man, probably Chinese in his early 30s. Most definitely not Vanian. He was shot twice in the chest and once in the head. Inspecting the room, there was a spot under the desk where the carpet suggested a Nexus must have recently sat. Cords dangled limply from a hole in the floor.
In the back, Switchback took a look around and noted that nothing seemed to be touched. Two guys geeked with extreme prejudice, and all of the gear on site was completely undisturbed.
Scrolling through the catalog up front, Jinx didn't get very far. He reached an image of a White night LMG with a rear-view mirror attached to it for shooting behind a bike as you drove. It was so ridiculous that he just started cracking up right there in the front of the shop.
Meanwhile, across town, Johnny and Mary stepped off the elevator onto the empty 2nd floor. The door to Neil's office was 3 doors down to the left. There didn't seem to be anyone else around. Ghost's watcher was lazily patrolling the hallway and rooms, with nothing yet to report.
-
Marlene walked cautiously over to Neil's door, making sure to look around in a variety of spectrums to see if there were any traps. (Perception + Intuition + Actively Looking = 8d6.hits(5)=3 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3124115/))
If there were no traps to be sprung, she walks over to Neil's door and opens it slowly from the side if its unlocked, and either pushes it in or pulls it out without standing in front of the door.
"Can never be too careful, chummer."
-
<<@Johnny: Not looking too promising at Van's so far. We'll give you a heads up if we get something. As for cameras, omae, I can get in but if you need it pronto there's a chance of the alarm going off. Always a risk when things get rushed, ne? If you can wait a couple hours, I can make that system my personal playground and give you the grand tour, null sheen. Up to you, it's your hoop on the line over there.>>
She blinks a sec, refocusing from her AR as Jink starts laughing. "What's so funny?" Peeking over his shoulder at the display she giggles quietly. Then a light goes on in her eyes. "Hey, let me see that thing."
Yuri looks over the gizmo for any commlink or datajack access points. Or a good way to take it with her for further study / prying. Or a good place to her toolkit to it and open the thing up.
Hardware to check or modify for access: Hardware 4 + Logic 4 + Encephalon 1 = (9d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3124425/)[OOC, just guessing, but seemed the right skill here. Oh, and whoops! looked at wrong char sheet. Only Logic 3, so drop 1 die. Still at least 1 hit]
<<@Switchback & Ghost: May be able to get something from this catalogue. Spot any terminals or the central office nexus back there by any chance? I'm not getting any wireless signals from in here.>>
-
@ Yuri "I'm not looking for the whole building, just the office I'm standing in front of. Not looking to set off any alarms with an Ex-Lone Star in the building."
Johnny watches as Mary flattens herself against the wall. "Of course not. But this," he says, pulling the key that Aqua gave them out of his pocket, "might help with the door."
He slides the key into the lock as quietly as possible, focusing on his senses to feel out the other side of the door.
Smell Test: Intuition 4 + Olfactory Perception 3 + Olfactory Boost 3 + Actively Looking 3 (13d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3124418/)
Hearing Test: Intuition 4 + Auditory Perception 3 + Audio Enhancement 2 + Actively Looking 3 (12d6.hits(5)=6) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3124407/)
"Maybe we should go in Low-Light. Keep the lights off in case there are windows being watched.
-
"Keys are useful things, would have been happy to have had it. I agree with the low-light." Marlene hands Johnny back his coat and takes off her flats, "I'll take it one step further, and blend into the shadows. I'll stand near the door, unless you want me to help with the search.
She puts on her mask and gloves, with the tip of her right index finger somewhat loosely sowed back on, to allow for easy access to her whip. She activates the suit and stands guard at the door, switching to thermographic vision.
-
Ghost tries to figure out the time of death of the man in the office.
Magic Backround 3 + logic 3 (6d6.hits(5)=1) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3124465/)
Hey Yuri, there's a bunch of wires coming up out of the floor over here. Looks like everything has been disconnected.
[OOC: Are we sure the other body isn't Vanian?]
@Johnny You two are the only ones on that floor, according to my spirit watcher.
Ghost looks at the body to try to determine if it was moved after it was shot. Are there streaks of blood or just a pool? If the body looks like it hasn't been moved at all he will search the body or any signs of ID. After that he will go check the desk.
perception 4 + intuition 4 + actively looking 3 (11d6.hits(5)=4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3124487/)
[OOC; A rolled a perception test to determine if the body has been tampered with. If I need more perception tests please let me know.]
-
@Everyone "Thanks, for the info, Ghost. We're not lucky enough that the stiffs happen to have their 'links on them, are we? Also shoot me pics of them, I might be able to track down their identities. That is if their faces are still intact.
Johnny turns to Mary [or where Mary was if she has gone all Predator]
"Yeah, you staying invisible might be helpful should someone show up. Give us that upper hand.
With that he'll open the door to Neil's office, keeping the lights off and activating his Low-Light vision.
-
Ghost uses his commlink to take a picture of the dead Chinese guy and sends it to Johnny.
-
Yuri took a look at the coffee table. It seemed to be little more than a trid camera display with the catalog on file. There was an optical jack in the bottom corner. Aside from the LMG and the cyberarm from before, Yuri found hot properties including a second cyberarm, also right-handed, and Ares Predator, a Remington Roomsweeper, an AK-97 carbine, an AK-97 assault rifle, a chrome-plated Ranger Arms SM-3 sniper rifle, a Gas Vent III, a deluxe gyromount, a top-mount smartgun scope and a screw-on silencer the size of her forearm. Gadgets included an optical tapper for splicing into fiber lines, a walking stick with a built-in scanner and tag eraser, a Transys Avalon with a Search Module, an optical data reader, and three pairs of plasteel restraints with a weird radio transmitter.
Ghost looked through the office drawers and found them completely empty. Whoever geeked these guys was looking for information and only information.
-
Downtown, the door clicked open and the lights came on as Johnny entered the room. There was a warm glow to the place, and the kind of smell that fit a home more than an office. You get the feeling that Neil Scott would spend nights here from time to time, probably wrapped up in some project or other.
A youthful voice came on over the room's speakers. "You were out for quite a while Neil. I hope your lunch meeting went alright. I'll start your soykaff brewing."
(http://i53.tinypic.com/2ldeovd.jpg)
-
Still chuckling about the LMG, Umberto glances over Yuri's shoulder from the entry doorway as she scrolls through the catalogue.
"Whoa - wizz - maybe that old man stick, or the restraints come in handy for us...Vanian he got no more use for them, neh? That catalogue tell us if he has any in his shop here, chicka?"
Ducking his head out the door he does a quick check for anything suspicious. [Vision check and Hearing check (13d6.hits(5)=8, 13d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3124841/)]. Assuming he detects nothing, he waits for Yuri to respond before heading out to the back room to see what treasures might be waiting for them. Little bit extra cred never bad thing, neh?
-
"'Fraid it went to shit," Johnny mumbled under his breath at the digital voice. Soykaf did sound good though, hopefully Neil liked it light and sweet.
Johnny placed his Great Coat over the nearest piece of furniture, almost casually walking around the office, opening the other doors [OOC: Unless they are locked] and getting the full lay of the land before digging into the main search. While his movement seemed lackadaisical, his mind was moving rapidly as he fired his Scan program. In AR, a tiny digital hipster with suspenders, tight jeans and big coke bottle glasses appeared. Johnny smiled, he needed to thank Prince again for his custom icons, and set the program on its job.
Detect Hidden Nodes:
Electronic Warfare 1 + Scan 6 + Analytical Mind 2 (9d6.hits(5)=3
Electronic Warfare 1 + Scan 6 + Analytical Mind 2 9d6.hits(5)=2,
Electronic Warfare 1 + Scan 6 + Analytical Mind 2 9d6.hits(5)=4,
Electronic Warfare 1 + Scan 6 + Analytical Mind 2 9d6.hits(5)=4,
Electronic Warfare 1 + Scan 6 + Analytical Mind 2 9d6.hits(5)=3,
Electronic Warfare 1 + Scan 6 + Analytical Mind 2 9d6.hits(5)=4,
Electronic Warfare 1 + Scan 6 + Analytical Mind 2 9d6.hits(5)=5,
Electronic Warfare 1 + Scan 6 + Analytical Mind 2 9d6.hits(5)=2,
Electronic Warfare 1 + Scan 6 + Analytical Mind 2 9d6.hits(5)=3 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3124922/)
Total Hits: 30
With information coming to him, Johnny stands in the middle of the first office, recording things with his image link and debating where to start first.
-
Sticking his head out the door, Jinx noticed a man in a chic long coat with a shock of blond hair, far too well groomed for this hood. Though he was still blocks away, he was strolling down the street towards Vanians at a lazy pace, as though he owned the whole world.
-
Johnny couldn't find any wireless signals from outside the office, but he found one in it. Passive, but not hidden. It seems that the whole room was covered in a thick layer of wi-fi negating paint, and the matrix connection was fed through the building's old wires.
-
Johnny placed his Great Coat over the nearest piece of furniture, almost casually walking around the office, opening the other doors [OOC: Unless they are locked] and getting the full lay of the land before digging into the main search.
[OOC: What about the other two rooms? Were they locked?]
Johnny will start combing over the main room looking for anything that might pertain to the job they are working on or might seem like a keepsake.
Visual Perception: Intuition 4 + Visual Perception 5 + Vision Enhancement 3 + Actively Looking 3 (15d6.hits=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3125471/)
-
Checking around Neils front room showedTwo unlocked doors, leading to the back office and store room respectively, and 3 work stations, only one of which showed signs of use. Up on a shelf was an Erika Elite commlink and a leather case with the initials NS on the front. Inside were a number of data chips labeled with a variety of programs (Attack 4, Stealth 5, Corrupt 4, Analyze 4, Browse 5, Armor 4, Nuke 4.) However the real discovery was a small black box taped to the side of the cubicle with black electrical tape which was showing a countdown, currently at 17 minutes and 43 seconds.
(http://i51.tinypic.com/2yo8n09.jpg)
-
"Ey, we don't know if Van's been geeked yet. The stiffs aren't him. And I'd be willing to bet it's all tagged anyway." Finished snooping through the catalogue, Yuri heads into the office to check on the disconnected wires.
As she enters the room, she pauses for a second. C'mon girl, this may be the first actual stiff you've seen, but it's surely not the last...
Compsure for first dead body sighting: Willpower 4 + Charisma 4 = (8d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3125647/)
Pulling her eyes from the corpse, she focuses on checking the connections to see if it was pulled cleanly, and if there might still be a connection leading to some back-up storage hidden around.
Check to find computer connections for tampering or backups: Logic 3 + Computer 4 + Encephalon 1 = (8d6.hits(5)=1) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3125646/)
-
The wires had been disconnected cleanly and fed straight into the floor. If there was any digital backup device, it wasn't calling out to her. Tugging the wires a little produced only the tightness you'd expect by cables lightly stretching around a corner. Most likely they linked back to the security cameras which seemed to be everywhere in the ceiling. At least one of them was fed into the local telecom grid, the old wired backbone that served the city before the wireless matrix. It's possible there were off-site backups somewhere, but there was no way of telling where that would be.
-
Switchback walks back into the office, glancing around at the equipment.
@Team: Anybody find anything? Unless we sell some of this drek, I'd say we hit a dead end. Hope Johnny comes up with something at Gibson Hall
-
@team I've been standing guard here, Switch, watching Johnny making sure no one sneaks up on us. Looks like so far, no one has been at Neil's office in quite a while. Johnny does look like he found something.... distressing, though. I'll go see what's up.
Marlene moves over to look at what Johnny seems to have found, and sees the timer counting down.
"Well Johnny, looks like we might have to get out of here pronto." She said as she moved back towards the door, to stand guard again.
@team It appears we might have found a.... explosive? We have some time yet, but needless to say, this is going to be the last anyone is going to see of Neil's office.
-
Ghost reads his commlink and immediately scans the room again for anything that might be an explosive. Checks underneath the cot. He then goes to the back to help Switchback with the back rooms.
perception 4 + intuition 4 + actively looking 3 (11d6.hits(5)=4, 11d6.hits(5)=3, 11d6.hits(5)=5) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3125988/)
"Hey guys, let's double check this place just encase there is a bomb here too."
[OOC: Ghost will keep searching until he hears about the guy approaching the place. If Jink warns us about that guy ghost will find bloodless spot to rest his body then astral project to assense the oncoming stranger.}
-
(http://i55.tinypic.com/24y6y42.jpg)
Ghost moved into the back storeroom to toss the place in a desperate effort at salvaging something, and as fate would have it, he did just that. As he carefully shifted a box, he noticed the edge of a piece of paper stuck to the bottom of it. Pulling it free, he found himself holding a small envelope. Somebody sent this Vanian mope a paper letter, of all things. Turning it over produced a home address on the front: Jack Vanian, 9280 Shady Hill Lane, Apt. # 2112. Bellview, Seattle UCAS, 98124.
-
commlink@Ghost, Switchback, Yuri: Might have someone headed our way, chummers. Too good looking to be a regular, eh. I'll keep my eye on him. Switch if you find that walking stick out back grab it for me, eh? I can tag erase no problem Yuri, si?
Jink closes the entry door and connects to the wagon via his 'link. Engaging it's sensors, an AR window pops up to the left of his field vision, tracking the blond man as he struts down the street. Umberto offers the video feed to anyone who wants it. Well he got style, I give him that, Umberto concedes as he smooths out his own duster. Hmm maybe my size, even?
[OOC: Sensor (camera) + Perception + active looking at man to spot any weapons or anything interesting... AR Sensor check (13d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3126215/)]
-
@Jink Can you zoom in on his face? Maybe someone will recognize him.
-
... Jink does a zoom in and feeds it to everyone...
-
Zooming was not necessary. By this point, the man had made it up to the Rover and flashed a smile at the right rear window, picking a little piece of vegetable out of his teeth. Jink recognized him immediately, and a bit of color drained out of his face. That was Clean Steve.
(http://i55.tinypic.com/jtpa46.jpg)
You had a marker out in this town, his was the face you'd have nightmares about. Word was, Steve was so good that he once capped a Mafia Lieutenant for the Yakuza and then got hired by the Mafia the next day to take care of the retaliation. In the near distance, Jink managed to pick up a trace of movement: a figure darting through the shadows somewhere back in Steve's wake.
-
@team Two things guys. Found Vanian's home address. And there is a back door here in case we wanna sneak out. I'm going to check this dude out coming our way. How much time is left on that bomb? Maybe I can help.
Ghost takes the letter and stuffs it in his jacket, looks for a clean spot on the floor next to the wall and sits down. His conscious leaves his body again for the astral plane. He moves to the front of the building where he sees Jinks presence. He then looks down the street to see what's coming towards them.
assensing 3 + intuition 4 (7d6.hits(5)=0) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3126241/)
[OOC: wow, gonna blow a point of edge]
assensing 3 + intuition 4 (7d6.hits(5)=4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3126244/)
[OOC: much better roll]
-
Upon seeing the bomb, time seems slow down for Johnny, the counting down of the seconds on the digital clock making an almost deafening BEEP, BEEP, BEEP. It is only when Mary comes over that he struggles to bring himself back together.
Composure Test at seeing the bomb. 9d6.hits=4 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3126252/)
"Huh, so that is a bomb," he says, looking at the explosive. Then like rabbit sprung from his cage, he'll snatch up the com and the bag of programs, and start moving quicksilver fast through the other rooms. He'll search each room for no more than five minutes a piece.
[OOC: I don't know what modifiers you want to apply to these searches but I'll just roll them all normally.]
Office: Intuition 4 + Visual Perception 5 + Vision Enhancement 3 + Actively Searching 3 15d6.hits=8 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3126260/)
Storage Room: Intuition 4 + Visual Perception 5 + Vision Enhancement 3 + Actively Searching 3 15d6.hits=8 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3126262/)
In the middle of searching his com beeps, the message icon swirling. Thankful that his powers allow him to split his attention he shoots back a message.
@ Ghost "Oh, about 12 minutes would be my guess. We're still here though."
-
@Team: Jink? Are you fraggin' with the feed or is that who I think it is? As much as I'd like the extra cred from snatching this gear, I believe it's time we think about leaving this place.
Switchback looks down at Ghost slumped against the wall before looking back at the door. It's never easy, is it.
@Mary: Watch your back, looks like we might have some trouble down here.
-
Yuri finishes with the wires as the feed comes in from Jink. Huh, he's kinda cute. Got the rest of these worried though, whoever it is...
"I'm done here I think. Whoever went through already grabbed all the data that was here. Looks like there might be some off-site backups, but without the nexus here I've got nothing to start tracing off of. If you chummers are through, I'm all for heading out before Handsome McScaryman stops by to say 'Hello'"
-
Ghost peaked out at the man coming down the street. He seemed in good spirits, extremely healthy, unaugmented, and non-awakened. Behind him, for a fraction of a second, flitted another shape in the shadows, this one seemed to be on edge and most probably augmented.
By this time, he was halfway down the block from Vanian's front entrance.
-
Tossing Neil's office turned up a number of personal effects but very little business info. It would seem that he was a bit deeper into the shadows than Alpha Blue had suspected if he wasn't keeping client records. There was a picture of him and Blue in a holoframe on his desk. It must have been taken before a few cosmetic mods, but it was definitely her. Strewn across the desk, and on the cabinets were a number of little robots capable of preforming a repetitive action when triggered. Inside the desk, there were a set of Baoding balls in a case (which probably didn't get much use except to house an emergency credstick,) a Hammerli 620s that most definitely didn't get much use (or care,) and an almost full box of 9mm caseless rounds. Beneath the desk, Johnny found Neil's Nexus, bolted to the floor. The man loved his 'tronix and certainly didn't get out much. A sentiment backed up by the near constant chatter of his office node's personality program.
The store room was full of cleaning supplies and half-finished projects. Looking through one of the cabinets, Johnny noticed that it seemed a bit smaller on the inside than he would have expected. A quick search produced a false back, behind which sat a number of electronic devices including a makeshift remote weapons platform, handheld UWB Radar scanner, and a cluster of 8 Novatech Airware links all wired together and bound in a hollowed-out book.
All-in-all, there didn't seem to be any physical evidence of Neil's dealings with Multitech.
While all this searching was going on, Mary heard the elevator ding and saw a man get off and begin walking their way. He certainly didn't have a threatening air about him, and he was carrying a box with both his hands, but his intentions were still unclear.
Across town Ghost received a telepathic message from his watcher spirit in Gibson Hall. "Hey! Hey! There's a guy in the Hall! I'm telling you like you told me to tell you!"
-
As Johnny went along he grabbed up all the easily carried objects: shoving the smaller things into pockets (the credstick, the handheld scanner), he stuck the Hammerli into his waistband, so the butt of the gun was in the small of his back. He scooped up the holoframe and the hollowed-out book, joining the leather case and Erika Elite he was already carrying, shoving them under an arm. He gave the Nexi one sad look, if only he had brought his welder, if only there were time. He stopped to throw on his coat, thinking it better that Mary stay invisible.
" Mary, time to jet. Stay cloaked and watch our backs."
Finally, Johnny will pull up the public node of the building and hit the floating AR in the shape of an old red and white fire alarm. He didn't want anyone getting hurt from the explosion, better to get people out of the building.. [I assume I can do this. ]
As the alarms went off and stale water sprung out from the ceiling, Johnny sent off a quick message.
@Yurei "I need you to copy the building's camera feeds and then wipe them."
With that he rushed past where he assumed Mary was standing and found himself looking at the man walking up, holding a book.
-
The man grumbled a little bit to himself as he shifted the unwieldy box in his arms and made to get his passkey out of his lab coat pocket. That done he slid it into the door to Lab 212, pushed it open, and was greeted by a sultry Female voice saying "Hello Dr. Leary. Are those the new cultures you've brought us?"
-
Ghost is search for that second guy in from the astral plane.
-
Ghost saw through the eyes of his watcher spirit as it circled the man's head. Occasionally it paused to look at Johnny or Mary, but it followed the man into his office. The man seemed tired and in poor spirits.
-
[OOC: I'm sorry, I meant the augmented guy following Clean Steve]
Here's an assensing role just in case I need one.
assensing 3 + intuition 4 (7d6.hits(5)=4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3127056/)
-
Yuri got the message from Johnny and sighed inside. Good thing multi-tasking is something they teach in business school.
<<@Johnny: I'll see what I can do>>
<<@Ghost, Jink, and Switchback: Tossing the others a hand, we moving or staying?>>
She hunkers down into some cover and pulls up the AR feeds, cracks her knuckles, and gets to work.
[hacking Gibson Hall for Admin Account]
Hacking on the fly to access Gibson Hall node, IP 1: Hacking 6 + Exploit 6 + Encephalon 1 = (13d6.hits(5)=5) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3127184/)
Hacking Gibson Hall, IP 2: Hacking 6 + Exploit 6 + Encephalon 1 = (13d6.hits(5)=5) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3127187/)
[OOC: if my earlier estimate of Firewall 4 is correct, that should have me in with full Admin access]
[System attempts to detect hacking, if you'd rather handle rolls yourself, I'll edit. figure I can speed it along since I already know what it's got to roll with.]
Gibson Hall node attempts to detect Yuri's hacking: Firewall 4 + analyze 2 = (6d6.hits(5)=0, 6d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3127192/)
[Insuffecient hits to get past Stealth 6, entry undetected]
Yuri smiled, pleased with herself after the debacle at the mortuary. Much better girl. Jarvis would be proud of that one
A quick scan to the building security and she pulls up the camera logs, downloads them, then wipes traces of her team's presence and sets the remainder on a loop of empty corridors for the next few minutes.
Ex-Test Browse for Camera logs: Computer 4 + Browse 6 + Encephalon 1 = (11d6.hits(5)=2, 11d6.hits(5)=5) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3127205/)
Edit Test to mod camera logs / vid feed: Computer 4 + Edit 6 + Encephalon 1 = (11d6.hits(5)=1) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3127209/)
Y'know... while I'm here... Yuri gets ready to pull a search in the system for any connections to Niel's nexus, now a bit absorbed in her virtual work, only keep half an eye on the side window with the feed of the man approaching the building.
-
[OOC: I'm sorry, I meant the augmented guy following Clean Steve]
Here's an assensing role just in case I need one.
assensing 3 + intuition 4 (7d6.hits(5)=4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3127056/)
[OOC: Go ahead and roll infiltration + logic or logic -1 if you have to default. Each has an essence of 2. None are magical.]
Zooming closer to the person creeping in the shadows, Ghost found not one but three people moving through the back alleys. Each of them had dark lines running through their bodies suggesting wired reflexes, skillwires or both. It's not until he looks up that he sees the spirit hovering in the air above the whole cadre, shepherding them forward.
-
logic 3 - defaulting 1 (2d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3127330/)
[OOC: wow box cars]
-
[OOC: Wow stuff happened while I was gone]
As the man got off the elevator, Mary made sure to keep an eye on him, and although she didn't follow him into the room, and she made sure to not bump into him as he passed by, she never stopped watching him.
When she saw Clean Steve's face, Mary's teeth clenched. "Great. Now we have a guy like that on us. No wonder that assassination was so perfect...."
As Johnny whirled by her, she made sure to not move out of stealth and keep quiet. Don't need to draw unwanted attention, especially now that a guy was about to walk into a bombed office.
@Yuri sorry to overload you, but it appears that it might be difficult to get the people out of this building.... Perhaps you could make it think there's a fire or something? If that won't work, tell me quickly and I'll deal with it
Agility + Infiltration = 9d6.hits(5)=4 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3127346/) + -4 modifier to see her.
-
Ghost returns to his body, awakens back to the material world.
@tYuri, Switchback and Jink Help!!!!!! Three heavily augmented goons at the back door with spirit supp
He then sprints out of workshop back into the hallway.
-
<commlink@whole team inc Hiro & Mary> Nullsheen chummers. Jink has seen worse and lived to drive another day. Leave Mr Steve to me. You three take out the backdoor crew, neh? Ghost if you got a magic friend nearby, now might be a good time.>
Umberto inches open the front door, waiting for Clean Steve to come closer, wired reflexes making everything seem almost dreamy. Maybe I find out if that coat fits me after all, eh! ... When the assassin gets to within about 10 metres, he hangs part way out the door, and blasts away with his Ingram for all he's worth!
[OOC: I presume roll initiative ... initiative 15 Initiative (3 IPs) (10d6.hits(5)=5) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3127721/). Jink tries to take good cover in the doorway if possible. ]
-
Frag it, it's never easy is it. At least I've got the Uzi if I need it..
@Yuri; Ghost: If you can sling some mojo and bullets I'll see about getting up close..
Switchback glances around into the workshop.
[OOC: if no one has entered yet] He makes a crouched sprint towards the heavy door, stopping beside it and counting silently while he waits for the first goon to enter.
[OOC: Initiative roll.. 16( 3 Passes) 6 Reaction + 3 Intuition (9d6.hits(5)=7) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3128081/) ]
-
[OOC: Here goes nuttin']
Ghost runs into the office, calls on his guardian spirit. "Looks like I got myself into some trouble" he says through the sense link "Seems like we got a spirit and three goons at back door and a pretty boy at the front. It's our job take out the spirit and those goons. Spirit first"
Ghost then switches to astral perception to see if he can see the spirit. If not he will enter the astral plane again and follow the guardian, wait for him to engage the enemy spirit, then cast a force 5 manabolt at the thing
If astral perception initiative roll
reaction 4 + intuition 4 (8d6.hits(5)=1) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3128354/) glitch
Spellcasting test
spellcasting 6 + magic 5 (11d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3128358/) wow almost another glitch
resist 3dv drain
intuition 4 + willpower 5 + focused concentration (11d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3128360/)
[OOC; wow these rolls #$%^%^]
Ghost takes 1dv stun damage
-
A flick of her wrist in the AR display sent the message to the Gibson Building's system. Fire Detected on the third floor.
Edit Gibson sensors to detect fake fire: Computer 4 + Edit 6 + Encephalon 1 = (11d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3128374/)
<<@Mary and Johnny: Alarms set, enjoy the havoc. I'll try not to get shot now.>>
Side requests done, Yuri pulls out her silenced Predator and checks the clip full of stick-n-shocks. Then she settles into a hiding spot just inside the restroom door to peer at the workshop's big door before looking back to check on the AR windows.
Hiding in doorway to ambush goons: Agility 5 + Infiltration 3 = (8d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3128378/)
She fires up her Agent on the 'link to start scanning for hidden nodes of the incoming team. Maybe these jokers left a chink in thier virtual armor...
Initiative check: Reaction 4 + Intuition 5 = (9d6.hits(5)=4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3128379/)
(Final initiative = 13, 2 passes)
(for simplicity, Agent has same Init, 3 passes)
-
The Hallways at Gibson exploded with sound and strobing light. The elevator dropped to the first floor and deactivated. It seemed like a war was happening. The whole building was now on high alert.
-
<<@Mary and Johnny: I hope you found something good, because it's about to get very interesting around here.>>
<<@Switchback, Ghost, & Jink: I've got Switch's back. Trying to get a bead on these jokers' comms, too.>>
-
Ok, no direct link to Gibson... And I couldn't get in on wireless. But he's a computer guru, so he's gotta have a nexus. Think girl, think! Ok, if I was him, I'd have Stealth programs, some IC, and wifi-blocking in the walls. He's got a runner for a sister so he probably has it all. Wait, then how's Johnny's signal getting out?
A thin smile crosses Yuri's lips as the lightbulb goes on in her head. Dropping the biofeedback filter to make room she cranks up her Track program on her compatriot's messages, looking for a nexus router right before thier commlink IDs.
[use however many rolls I can get in before combat starts. Each one is 1 IP's worth of time. Takes 5 to finish the Track completely. Tracking Mary since she has no Stealth program to slow it down. Not sure if Niel's node would count any stealth it has against it. Ignore any beyond what I can squeeze in before combat I guess.]
Ex-Test Track attempt to find Niel's node: Computer 4 + Track 3 + Encephalon 1 = (8d6.hits(5)=3, 8d6.hits(5)=1, 8d6.hits(5)=2, 8d6.hits(5)=2, 8d6.hits(5)=2, 8d6.hits(5)=2, 8d6.hits(5)=4, 8d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3128922/)
-
[OOC: Composure test to suppress his Thrill Seeker quality... (6d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3128921/)]
Despite Jink's first instinct to open fire on the assassin, a small bubble of prudence pushes through to the front of his old brain and he instead half steps out of the doorway, SMG clearly visible but pointed at the ground...
"Mr Steve I presume. I am Jink. Call off your men and we can talk."
Jink patches everyone into the conversation by repeating everything mentally over his link.
"Nice coat," he offers, by way of opening small talk, raising an appreciate eyebrow.
[OOC: if I need a surprise test: Surprise test if required (13d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3128929/) .. ahh.. not so good!]
-
Steve smiles and walks slowly forward, his clear blue eyes dancing with recognition in the streetlight. "Umberto Kappa! I was wondering who might be in there." He put his hands up shoulder high and waved them forward twice. "You like the coat?" He raises it up above his waist and turns in a circle to show that he's unarmed. "What business do you have here at Vanian's tonight? I don't expect we'll be treated to a second coincidence?"
-
Jink watches CS very closely as he raises his hands, and moves his jacket around, trying to detect whether he has any weapons hidden on him, or if he is a spellcaster, is somehow using his magic ... [OOC: Perception test with glasses 3 and actively looking 3: Perception (13d6.hits(5)=4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3129201/)]
Umberto is happy enough for CS to walk closer, and keeps his SMG lowered as long as he stays at least 5 metres away (if he gets closer than that, he points his firearm directly at him and pipes up with "Close enough, Mr Steve. I can hear you fine from here." )
Otherwise Jink shrugs his shoulders at Steve's question. "You know biz, little bit this, little bit that."
Sending a wireless command to his wagon, Umberto starts her up and directs her to slowly pull away from the curb and pull onto the street, facing it's back towards the front of Vanian's shop. "Wish we could talk more, eh, but I was just leaving."
<commlink @Yuri, Switchback, Ghost> I no like this, chummers. What's happening back there? If you found anything - hide it, or destroy it>
-
[OOC: He appears to be unarmed. Go ahead and roll a Willpower + Charisma test for Jink. Judge Intentions, opposed. You need to beat 2.]
Steve stops at about 10 meters away, raises his left hand and points one finger to the sky.
"I understand, and won't stop you. I happen to be looking for some thing tonight rather than some one. I imagine, if you had it, you would know what I mean." He looks at Jink appraisingly, with that same subtle smile on his face. "If you should stumble across it, I'd appreciate if you'd reach out to me. You can contact me through Judas Caine at club Nosferatu. Yes, I know, terrible name. His real name is Baxter, but the brats at his club like using theatric horseshit to make themselves feel special. Every business has it's costs." He shrugs his shoulders a bit and, again using his left hand, points across the street using only his wrist. "Well, I'll clear out of your way then. I hope to hear from you soon. I'm sure I could find a way to help a man in your position." He puts his hands back in his pockets and begins to walk across the street.
-
[OOC: Judge Intentions (6d6.hits(5)=0) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3129224/) ... aww damn!
Edge to reroll! reroll! (6d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3129226/) better!]
"Caine at Nosfertu," nods Umberto. "Perhaps we can help each other out, si."
Jink watches Clean Steve walk away, but doesn't reholster his ingram until their surprise visitor disappears from sight. Once the assassin is gone he flicks a bead of sweat from his brow and curses under his breath in Spanish. What's going on back there, chummers?
<commlink@team: Your goons clear out? Let's finish up here, neh?>
-
Across town the full panic was on. Hallway strobing, the man in lab 212 burst out of his door, still holding his box. He was looking right at Johnny as he shouted.
"Oh go*REEET*y samples! *REEET* Help me! *REEET* please, g*REEET*lp me!" He dropped his box on the floor and kicked it against the door to keep it propped open before fleeing back into his lab.
-
@Johnny and Mary How much time till ground zero?
-
Keeping half an eye on the exchange between Umberto and this 'Clean Steve', Yuri works quickly on her Track. Meanwhile, her Agent diligently scans down hidden nodes in the immediate vicinity, excluding those of Yuri's team.
Ex-Test Agent scanning for hidden nodes from commlink: Agent 3 + Scan 6 = (9d6.hits(5)=3, 9d6.hits(5)=3, 9d6.hits(5)=1, 9d6.hits(5)=1, 9d6.hits(5)=3, 9d6.hits(5)=5, 9d6.hits(5)=3, 9d6.hits(5)=4, 9d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3129312/)
[It should finish after about 6 seconds]
When Clean Steve starts to walk away, Yuri's mood picks up a little Ah, perhaps today isn't going to be a firefight after all. Sweetness
-
Switchback exhales slowly and blinks when the conversation between Clean Steve and Jink ends. Who says I'm not lucky?
@Team: No sign of them here, but I'm still watching the door. But yeah, let's grab what we need from here and leave. If Clean Steve is interested in this place, some other chummers I don't want to tango with probably are too.
Switchback stays in place, watching the door carefully for any sign of the team.
-
If everyone leaves I'll follow Jink to his car. Not before casting an Improved Invisibility spell though.
intuition 4 + willpower 5 + focused concentration (11d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3128360/)
resist 3dv drain
willpower 5 + intuition 4 + focused concentration 2 (11d6.hits(5)=4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3129639/)
when he gets into the vehicle he checks his comm to compare Johnny's text with the countdown info to the current time
-
Mary thinks back to the bomb. @team we have about two minutes here, I hope this guy gets the drek out of his lab. Johnny, talk him out of taking his samples real quick like, tell him being dead isn't worth losing the samples or something.
@Johnny I'm starting a countdown, at sixty seconds left, I'm getting the hell out of here through the fire escape, and I suggest you do the same.
I only hope we can get to Van's in time. Perhaps they'll be fine though.
-
Johnny hands the things that he was carrying and shove them into Mary's hands.
"Get gone! I'll be right behind you!"he screams over the noise.
He'll scoop up the professor's samples with one hand and pull the out Neil's gun from his waistband with the other. When the professor comes running out again, he points the pistol at the professor and yells, "You've got what you can, time to go."
Default Intimidation 4 + Kinesics 2 6d6.hits = 4 hits (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3131047/)
[OOC: Forgot to add the bonus from having a gun. Has gun (2d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3131051/) 6 hits total
He'll start moving the doctor quickly towards the nearest stairway.
-
[OOC: defaulting to willpower 4d6.hits(5) → [1,5,6,1] = (2) he glitches 4 net hits
"What?*REEET*aaaahhh*REEET*hh! No!
On seeing the man he just asked for help pull a gun on him instead, the scientist screams and drops the delicate apparatus in his hands...
[OOC: 4d6.hits(5) → [2,3,1,5] = (1) not today doc.]
...where it hits his foot and clatters on the floor...
[OOC: 9d6.hits(5) → [4,3,3,1,2,6,2,2,4] = (1) oh, composure failed]
..followed by a scrambling doctor.
"No! no! I*REEET*fix it! Don't*REEET*oot me! Ple*REEET*'ll make yo*REEET*other!*REEET*go with you!"
-
The trace finishes and Yuri look at the node ID. She sets a countdown timer on her link for the estimated time left on the bomb, then loads up her programs for a tough crack job.
[OOC: Analyze, Exploit, Edit, Armor, Stealth]
Oooo this is soooo going to set of the nexus security. I hope the IC isn't too bad... Alright, let's do this
The little scantily clad matrix icon looks at the imposing firewall of the node and cracks her knuckles. Then she launches into a flurry of activity.
Hack Niel's node on the Fly for Admin: Hacking 6 + Exploit 6 + Encephalon 1 = (13d6.hits(5)=2, 13d6.hits(5)=10, 13d6.hits(5)=4, 13d6.hits(5)=8, 13d6.hits(5)=7, 13d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3131386/)
[OOC: HOLY COW!! Got Admin (11 hits) in 3 seconds flat. 10 of 13 d6 hits on second roll O_o]
Niel's Firewall detecting hacking: Firewall 5 + analyze 4 = (9d6.hits(5)=2, 9d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3131393/)
[4 hits, doesn't beat Stealth. Woohoo!]
The little silver-clad icon squirms in through the cracks in the firewall and peers around cautiously. No alert... null sheen baby! Let's get to work!
Yuri quickly sets about downloading anything and everything she can get her digital mitts on for later analysis, focusing on the more interesting bits first, dropping the Armor and Exploit programs as it becomes apparent her intrusion was successful.
Browse for hottest paydata to copy first: Computer 4 + Browse 6 + Encephalon 1 = (11d6.hits(5)=6) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3131399/)
A quick glance shows a few promising items and she puts them at the top of the copy queue, with a careful eye out for any annoying Data Bomb presents. And, mindful that at least part of the transmission would be wireless, cranks up her Encrypt program.
Matrix Perception for Data Bombs: Computer 4 + Analyze 6 + Encephalon 1 = (11d6.hits(5)=4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3131418/)
Edit ex-test to copy large quantity of data from node: Computer 4 + Edit 6 + Encephalon 1 = (11d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3131401/)
[OOC: don't normally need to test for copy, but it's a lot so here it is if you need it.]
Paydata in hand, or commlink as the case may be, she deletes herself out of the logs and leaves the node.
Browse to get right spots in logs: Computer 4 + Browse 6 + Encephalon 1 = (11d6.hits(5)=6) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3131406/)
Edit to scrub logs of Yuri's presence: Computer 4 + Edit 6 + Encephalon 1 = (11d6.hits(5)=6) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3131411/)
-
Yuri found a section with Neil's search history, and another encrypted section full of data. She cut the whole chunk of data out and absconded with it to be examined later.
-
As the team at Vanian's finishes up, Jink finally has a moment to think about what's happening over at Gibson.
<commlink@team> "Hiro, Mary - I know little bit 'bout exploding things. Let me see that bomb. Maybe I guide you through a disarm, eh?"
Assuming the feed comes through, Jink focuses all his attention on the explosive, trying to figure out anything useful he can impart to Hiro/Mary ... [OOC: Demolitions test (8d6.hits(5)=5) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3131697/) sweet!]
-
<<@Team: I just finished nabbing all the encrypted data from Niel's node and some other goodies besides. So if you two are done playing fireman, may I suggest getting your hoops out of there before any authorities show up?>>
Wrapping up with the hack into Niel's, she flips her AR display back over to the Gibson node to check in on Mary and Johnny. She mutters to herself upon seeing the gun in his hand.
A girl's work is never done
A wave of the hands in the AR display and she's off searching through the data files on the Gibson node, aiming for the recent maintenance or diagnostic reports on the fire system.
Browse for diagnostics: Computer 4 + Browse 6 + Encephalon 1 = (11d6.hits(5)=5, 11d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3131852/)
Then a few teaks to add some lines about a few sensors getting close to going bad.
Edit Diagnostics for 'bad sensor': Computer 4 + Edit 6 + Encephalon 1 = (11d6.hits(5)=4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3131853/)
And finally a trip over to the logs to edit out the presense of herself and her teammates from the building's network, having already blanked them from the cameras earlier.
Browse for Gibson access logs: Computer 4 + Browse 6 + Encephalon 1 = (11d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3131855/)
Edit Gibson Access Logs: Computer 4 + Edit 6 + Encephalon 1 = (11d6.hits(5)=5) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3131857/)
<<@Johnny & Mary: Alright you two, the building's node doesn't know you were ever there, and the techs should be hunting down a supposedly bad fire sensor when they arrive.>>
-
Mary tries to stuff the things Johnny gave her in whatever pockets her suit had, and takes off. "I'll see you later, Johnny, neh? Don't get caught."
Mary runs towards the window with a fire escape and breaks it with the butt of her gun, tumbling through at top speed. As she gets down the stairs, she can't help but think about Johnny stuck there dealing with that idiotic scientist.
-
Jink noticed right away that the bomb was too small to be a threat. Something that size would barely even blow up the room it was in. But the bomb's position suggested something. It wasn't on the wall so that the blast would be angled through the room, it was on the desk so that the blast would be angled at the wall. There must be something there, probably a gas line to create a sympathetic explosion. Now that would wipe out the whole floor. If someone could just move the bomb a bit to the side, it would cause about as much damage as a grenade. The problem would be moving it without any sort of motion sensor going off. He couldn't get at it directly. Good thing he's a rigger. All he would need is a pair of mechanical arms and a signal.
-
As Mary began her search for the emergency descender she hoped would still exist on the 2nd floor, the door to the nearest stairwell opened and a security guard came out, searching for the only registered occupant on the building's system besides their own personnel, one Dr. Leary of lab 212.
-
"Slot!" Mary said under her breath. @Johnny Sec guard, inbound. Incapacitate? Or will you be out of there soon?
@team We may have some issues here. Hopefully we should be fine.
-
The security guard rounded the corner and saw Johnny holding a box while the Doctor scrambled to pick up a piece of equipment from the floor. "Hey Doc!*REEET*nd your f*REEET*nd need t*REEET*urry up a*REEETet downsta*REEET*uickly! I*REEET*st protoco*REEET* don't smel*REEET*oke or noth*REET*o we shoul*REEET*fine!"
[OoC: Security guard's perception DP is 4 -2 to spot the light pistol -2 because he's distracted. He is bad at his job. Mary's chameleon suit drops his perception DP to 0 as well, so she's golden as long as she's not making noise.]
-
As Marlene focuses, the world slows down. She knows how to do this, she's done it before.
Moving quietly, she aims her pistol at the security guard. She makes sure to keep the pistol trained on him the entire time, should he so much as reach for his weapon, Mary will unleash her Predator.
@Johnny give me the order, and this guy is on the floor dreaming. If he goes for his gun, he'll be dreaming as well.
-
Ghost gets to Jink's van and once inside drops his invisibility spell. After assessing the situation at Gibson Hall through the info on his commlink he decides there's nothing he can do to help at the moment. He reaches into his coat pocket to grab the letter he found in Vanian's. He looks up the address on his commlink and then goes to see if the letter is still inside the envelope.
-
The envelope was ripped open and empty. It had just been stuck to the bottom of the box with some kind of sticky syrup. Maybe Jack Vanian had pancakes whatever morning when he brought that box in?
-
<@team: OK. Disarming the bomb not gonna happen. But... Yuri, if you give me access to Neil's system, I could remote one of his toys to move the device, and drop the blast from whole floor to just that room... The right nudge will channel blast away from wall pipes, to empty space, maybe leave you - hmm I dunno - say grenade boom... course, things go bunky, and I blow the whole floor. Maybe get off floor first, then I try and contain the damage. Your call my friends, si?"
Jink is in his wagon by this stage, alongside Ghost. As he waits for a response from Hiro/Mary/Yuri he powers up his sniffer program and runs it over the wagon, trying to detect any RFID tags that Mr Steve might have planted on his ride when he stopped to check his teeth... Might have marked her, he thinks to himself. It's not paranoid if it's true, eh?
[OOC: not certain I can do this but if so = Capture Wireless Signal, sniffer 3 + EW 3 Sniffer (6d6.hits(5)=1) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3132926/)]
-
Switchback follows the rest of the team out of vanians and heads to his bike, following the chatter on his comlink.
@Mary: We wrapped up at Vanians, but we can't get to Gibson Hall in time to be of any help unless things really start to blow up.
-
@team We still have a few minutes up here. I don't want to make a scene by shooting the guard, but we ought to get whatever is in that desk. Johnny, make the good doctor get whats in that desk out, I'll incapacitate the guard if the doctor tries to get his attention, and after we GTFO this floor, you can start moving the bomb around.
Marlene was anything but sure about the plan...
-
Keeping on with the pin the tail on the RFID stealth tag game, Jink looks over every nook and cranny of the swagger wagon, using his glasses to help examine anything suspicious. He focuses round the mirror Mr Steve paused near, figuring that if he marked the van, it would be near there ... [OOC: Perception check (13d6.hits(5)=4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3133410/)] All in a days work.
If Mary or Hiro advise him it's time to try and move the bomb, he suspends his search and gives his full attention to the exploding dodad...
"Where we headed next, Ghost," he inquires, seeing the envelope the mage retrieved.
-
<<@Team: I can get back into the node and give Jink access... but why do we want to move the bomb? Whoever placed it is going to be wondering why it didn't go off as planned. The people should be vacating, and emergency services are already on thier way from the fire alarm. I'd rather not tip off our bomber that someone's snooping around behind them just yet.>>
Tucking her Pred away she moves over to the jackrabbit and accesses it's anti-theft system log to see if anyone's approached the vehicle other then herself, and gives it a once-over for RFID infections.
Perception for RFIDs on jackrabbit: Intuition 5 + Visual Perception 3 + Observe in Detail 3 = (11d6.hits(5)=5) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3133826/)
-
Both cars came up clean, despite obvious suspicions.
-
@Team: Did we get anything useful out of Vanians? I say we clear the area. Clean Steve may be gone, but that doesn't mean others won't show up. Besides, I don't want to be here when someone notices those two stiffs.
-
@Team: Let's meet up with the others and discuss our next move in person.
As Jink's van pulls away from the curb Ghost's body goes limb. Another trip to the astral plane. Ghost thought that Clean Steve probably would guess a runner team would have magic support and would not try to has us tracked form the astral plane but mistakes like that have cost some teams their mission or even lives. He stays long enough in the astral plane to feel comfortable that they're not being followed, then returns to his body.
-
As the group drives away from Vanian's with the man's home address, the spirits shape remains hovering in the astral, like a distant sun against the absolute blackness of the sky. Jink keeps an eye on the rear view for the first four blocks, and is rewarded by the sight of Clean Steve walking across the street, hands still in pockets, and into Vanian's front door.
-
As soon as the security guard shows up, Johnny curses himself for drawing the gun - couldn't be helped now though. He puts the gun into his pocket, keeping his hand there. He nods towards the helmet on the floor indicating that the professor should pick it up.
"C'mon d*REET*ou first. Le*REET* out of he*REET*."
@Mary "Watch the guard until we're off the floor. I'm going to get at least the professor outside. Meet me there.
Once the professor picks up the helmet, they'll head towards the security guard like good little evacuees. Johnny says a silent pray that nothing else goes wrong with this evening.
-
@Johnny He'll be watched. Be careful, and something tells me we might want to talk to the good doctor alone.
Marlene keeps her gun pointed at the guard, but loosens up just the slightest. Johnny's plan might not work out, but it was better than getting into a shootout this early into the run. Always complications... she makes sure to stay within 2 -3 meters of the guard at all times, moving as silently as possible.
-
While sitting in the van with Jink."I think I'm gonna call my Talismonger contact. I'm a little worried about that spirit hanging around with Clean Steve.
Ghost pulls up Sonny's comm address"Hey Sonny, Ghost here. How are things? I was wondering If you ever heard of a guy named Clean Steve? I just had a peaceful encounter with the guy. He had a spirit with him guiding his goons but I didn't see anyone there with magical ability. I wanted to know if you knew any mages he might be working with or maybe he's been around long enough to learn how to mask his aura. Also any rumors you got about who he is working for could be helpful. I be real careful asking around about this guy though. This isn't anyone you want showing up asking why you've been asking about him, but I don't gotta tell you that. Talk to you soon.
-
The doctor shuffled forward at a reasonable pace, cheeks flushed with shame and anger for having screamed and dropped his apparatus. He didn't look at the guard, but instead kept his eyes on the strange helmet in his hands, turning it and lifting little panels to look at it. Meanwhile, the guard, lazy as ever, saw that since everyone seemed to be moving in the right direction, and figured he'd just head on down while the other staff checked the third floor.
-
Mary followed the guard and everyone else downstairs. Hopefully the doctor could be interrogated close by, her bike could fit two, but three would be well beyond a nuisance.
@team Would you mind picking us up here? We might have gained a passenger...
-
Yuri pulls out in her jackrabbit, satisfied for the moment that there's no RFIDs. Just in case, she still leaves her Agent running Sniffer for any pings from her car not on her list of normal signals. And once out of sight of Vanian's, for good measure she flips the virtual switch to trigger the spoof chip in her car to generate a fresh ID and liscense plate.
Well, I guess they'll do what they want to with that bomb. May as well keep the well-armed people happy. With the car on auto for a moment, she pulls up the window for Niel's and logs back in with her fresh backdoor account, then sets up Jink with one as well.
[buying the piddly 2 hits with the 8+ pool]
<<@Jink: Oi, here's an admin login for you on Neil's. Have fun.>>
The usual quick clean-up of access logs and off the node again to finish driving out of the barrens.
-
@ Mary "Who is the extra person? The professor here? He is a hapless lab jockey, who has apparently been out collecting 'samples.' The sooner we ditch him the better. Do you still have the stuff I handed you? We need to get on your go-go bike and go-go the hell out of here. I'll make sure the professor doesn't say anything about us, without the need for a kidnapping."
Johnny continues walking down taking it quickly and surely as they descend the stairs. Assuming [OOC: big assumption?] that no one gets in their way, he will push the professor and himself out onto the street. As soon as they get a safe distance from the building (at least fifty feet from an gawkers), he'll stop and take everything in (taking a keen interest in crowds and dark corners for anyone who seems out of place)
Seeing Test: Intuition 4 + Visual Perception 5 + Visual Enhancement 3 + Actively Looking 3 15d6 = 5 hits (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3140055/)
Hearing Test: Intuition 4 + Auditory Perception 3 + Audio Enhancement 2 + Actively Looking 12d6 = 3 hits) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3140062/)
-
[OOC: If Benhatt's assumption is correct then this post is relevant, otherwise, ignore it and I'll delete it]
Mary follows Johnny and the doctor down the stairwell and out the door. She makes sure to put her gun back into its concealable holster, and waits behind the doctor for orders, ready to unveil herself if its needed.
@Johnny I'd rather have them be prepared if we do need to take him, on the off chance he knows more than your average lab jockey about whats going on. And of course I have the stuff you gave me. We can leave the professor if you'd like, I have no need for kidnapping either.
-
Partway down the flight of stairs, the fire alarm stops its shrill droning. The guard, now at the bottom of the stairs, holding the door calls up. "See, I told you I didn't smell no smoke. Well, anyway, we've got to get everyone out to the street just to make it official so we can go back in." Following the guard to the lobby showed one more guard by the front door, and based on the pictures from the 'trix, a man you can only presume is Jack Stone.
(http://i54.tinypic.com/qnv1c7.jpg)
He looks at Johnny and the Doctor, then sighs.
"Alright, state your name for the record and then wait outside while we make sure the building is clear."
Visual Perception to see Mary: 5d6.hits(5) → [6,4,6,3,3] = (2) Opposed by Infiltration.
Visual Perception to see Johnny holding a gun in his pocket: 5d6.hits(5) → [4,6,6,6,4] = (3) Opposed by palming.
(I applied -4 to both perception rolls -2 for a light pistol and -2 for being concealed in a pocket and -4 for the cham suit. And, don't get too freaked out by these rolls, there's still a threshold he has to beat.)
-
@Mary: A passenger? Is there a party over there or what?
@Jink: You hear that? Better free up some room in there...
-
@Switch Its a possibility, just rather you'd be aware that we might need you. Probably won't though. We're leaving GH atm.
Infiltration(2) + Agility(7) = 9d6.hits(5)=3 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3140439/)
Mary takes a good look at Jack Stone. Glad I don't have to be giving my name here. Of course, Eris would handle it either way...
She maneuvers past him deftly, and readies herself for combat on the off-chance that Stone notices Johnny's piece. With one hand on her pistol ready to draw, she waits for the next opportunity to leave to present itself.
-
Palming Agility 3 + Palming 2 5d6.hits=0 hits (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3140992/) - [yoinks, but not a glitch.]
Johnny furrows his brow, steels his eyes and thins his lips - trying to do his best "determined everyman helping a friend out" look.
"Li Feng," he says with feigned exasperation. "And this is Dr. Leary," he adds nodding to the doctor.
-
[OOC: ID check - 3d6.hits(5) → [2,4,3] = (0)]
He breathes in deeply through his nose and exhales.
"Alright, wait outside while we finish sweeping the floors."
He turns and puts his hand to his ear.
"Hurry up and clear the damn building. I'm trying to enjoy my retirement here."
[OOC: Johnny, roll Charisma + Intuition]
-
@Mary "Come on, girl, it's time to fade like dust in the wind.
As he ushers the professor out of the building, Johnny can't help but get a weird vibe off of Stone. He's not sure what it is, but something is up. He hopes he's wrong, he would hate to have to burn the Li Feng SIN should it become necessary.
Judge IntentionsIntuition 4 + Charisma 5 + Kinesics 2 11d6 = 3 hits) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3143459/)
-
As Johnny starts walking out the door with the Doctor, it strikes him. "Hurry up and clear the building." Stone not only spotted the gun, he just called for backup. At the same time, he's trying to push Johnny out the door... Trying to avoid an armed conflict?
"Doc, come over here a minute. I need to get your thumbprint to sign off for your guest."
The Doctor hesitated by the door, then turned and faced Stone. "No," he said defiantly. "I'm done here. Someone has finally taken an interest in my work and now I'm going to go meet them. I told them all that it was possible, but the never believed me - not a single biotech corp. I sank everything I had into my research just to get to this point, and now I'm ready to go forward, with whomever will help me continue. I appreciate your service, but I'm leaving."
At this point, Dr. Leary was actually pushing Johnny out the door. "I'm ready," Leary said. "Where's the car?"
-
Marlene was watching the whole situation, and thought to herself that the doc wasn't as innocent as he seemed. As she looked around and noticed the guards becoming somewhat agitated, she made sure to keep on Jack Stone with her pistol. At the same time, she reached into one of the pockets to take hold of a frag grenade she brought with, a useful diversion if it were necessary.
@Johnny things are getting glitched fast. Say the word and I'll cause enough havoc for you to get out of the building with the Doc and hopefully make the guards panic. I didn't sign up to get killed, though, and I ain't staying for a big firefight.
Marlene was noticeably agitated. If it were necessary, she'd put Jack out of commission, and maybe toss a grenade, but she wasn't gonna fight the whole building security force if she could avoid it.
-
Ghost looks at his comm and checks the time. He tries to calculate in his head the last time he knew the time and the duration left on the bomb.
[OOC: Memorty roll if required: 8d6.hits(5)=4 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3144086/) logic 3 + willpower 5]
@Mary and Johnny: You guys out of the building yet? There's only x time left!!
Hey Jink, you got eyes on that bomb yet?
-
@Ghost Johnny practically flashed his gun at the cybered guy. He didn't seem to notice, but things are startin to get heavy over here. Think its all about to glitch. I can get out just fine, but Johnny has the doctor to deal with, not to mention he might have the attention of boyo Jack over there.
-
@Mary: We're on our way. If things look hot, have Johnny and the doctor find some cover.
@Ghost: Any tricks up your sleeve?
-
Ghost goes deep into thought concentrating on the spirits he summoned tonight. I need your help old man. My friends are in trouble. I need you to go to Gibson hall and give me a visual there so I can instruct you on your task. Try not to be noticed."
Ghost concentrate on the location of Gibson Hall from when he went there astrally not just an hour ago. He contacts the watcher spirit patrolling the second floor. He instructs it to go to a room on the first floor near where the four human presences are. When the guardian spirit gets there and he can see what's happening he instructs the watcher to start making screaming noises in the side room When Jack Stone turns his head I have the guardian use concealment on Johnny and the doctor. "Old man, conceal my friends until they escape the building. Then your service to me is complete."
[OOC: I don't know if I need to astral project to control all this but I think my character would. I will astral project to Gibson hall if that is needed to accomplish these actions.]
-
[OOC: You've been there before, so sending a spirit is a simple thing. With the astral, it's only hard the first time.]
"Just conceal the ones you've pictured at the place you've shown me? Are you sure that is all you would like me to do, eh?" The old spirit raises a fuzzy eyebrow and grins a snaggle-toothed grin. "I suppose it can't be fighting all the time.." He takes a long drink from his jug of sake and is gone in a flash.
-
@Johnny and Mary Be ready to move.
-
Meanwhile, at Gibson Hall, it was about two and a half minutes before the bomb was set to detonate. Jack Stone stopped and took a long hard look at the Doctor. He was weighing his options.
"I got no right, to stop you, if that's what you want... and if you got someone bending your brain to say this, my contract says 'no fighting mages' in big bold letters.. Mr. Feng, I've got your face and that statement recorded right here in my head. The doctor gets dead or disappeared, I will dump this big steaming pile of shit right on those uptight assholes at KE."
"I'm not a cop, and I haven't seen anything criminal here today. It's your life Doctor."
He turns and heads back toward the break room.
"I am just too damn old for this shit."
-
Jink uses the account Yuri gave him to log into one of the little robots with a camera, a crab like thing with extendable claws that Jink hopes should be able to nudge or pull the bomb in the right direction. Starting her up with an electric whirr, he pans the camera to get the bomb in his sights and sends the feed to anyone in his team who wants it.
<Commlink@team: "OK, two minutes eh? Maybe give it another minute, make sure the floor is clear. Then we thread the boom, neh?" >
When the time comes Umberto switches the wagon to autopilot for a moment and sinks into his seat, hotsimming his control of the little robot. In the next beat he can feel the hardness of his shell, the click clack of his tiny legs against the desk, the electricity resonating through his circuits as his power source courses through his small frame. The steel crab shuffles forward, grips the bomb in it's pincers and turns it ... Eeeaasy does it
Demolitions check (skill 2, -2 improvised, +2 hitsim, +6 logic) (8d6.hits(5)=4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3144811/)
[OOC: Sorry - here's the pilot test: Pilot Anthroform test (reaction 5, +2 hitsim, -2 and -1 for no skill! argghh!) (4d6.hits(5)=1) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3145974/) - hmm glitch!!
Edge to reroll failures! (3d6.hits(5)=1) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3145976/) ... ok so overall 2 hits.]
-
[OOC: You'd be rolling Command 6 +2 hotsim -2 mods -1 defaulting (which is impossible by RAW, but RAW can suck it). So, that's one more die to toss. 1d6.hits(5) → [2] = (0) and one more to reroll 1d6.hits(5) → [3] = (0) Oh well.]
The little Crab steadied itself beneath the bomb and moved up until its shell was flush with the bottom. Reaching up, it started to clip off the tape. Now freed from the wall the crab tried to steady the bomb and slowly slide it to the side.
[Motion sensor check 5d6.hits(5) → [6,1,3,1,6] = (2) Oops! Does Jinx get lucky? edge 2d6.hits(5) → [1,2] = (0) Derp. Bye bye, 2nd floor.]
The crab takes a tentative step to the side and the feed cuts out.
-
As the crab explodes, Jink's body shudders spasmodically and his eyes snap open, coughing up blood with a horrible sounding wheez ... "Frag it!!" . He lets the static run for a few moments before cutting the feed after he regains his senses...
<commlink@team: Drek! Jinky not so hot on the crabwalker, neh? Hope nobody was left on that floor!>
[OOC: er... I believe this means Jink might suffer some kind of bad ass feedback..... :o]Soak 5P ... (4d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3146206/)
Leaving the wagon on autopilot, Umberto fishes out his medkit and jabs himself full of healing enhancing drugs First Aid check (6 logic, 6 medkit, 3 skill, -2 wound mod, -2 implants, -1 conditions?) (10d6.hits(5)=1) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3146209/) ... damn!!! Looks like those big bruises under Jink's eyes will be hanging around for a few days!! So I believe he's at 3 boxes of physical damage.]
-
What the frag happened? You don't look so good Jink. Not that you really looked that good to begin with but who am I to talk.
Ghost reaches over and lays his hand on Jinks shoulder to cast a heal spell.
11d6.hits(5)=4 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3146430/) spellcasting 6 + magic 5
resist 1s drain
11d6.hits(5)=1 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3146432/) intuition 4 + willpower 5+ focused concentration 2
How do you feel now?
[OOC: Wow that's only one hit if you count the -5 modifier for cw which I forgot about. Well at least you don't have a damage modifier now]
-
Yuri gets back to the outer edges of the Grid and engages the car on auto, then leans back in the comfy seating of her car. Time to settle in with some juicey data. Pulling up the encrypted datablock she snagged form Neil's, Yuri sets her Decypt program to work on it.
Jink's message pops across her vision.
<<@Mary and Johnny: Oi, you two alright out there? And who's this "passenger"? Give me a name and a photo or vid feed if you can and I'll see what I can dig up on the slot.>>
<<@Jink: How's the dumpshock, chummer? Hope your feeback filter's cranked up or I don't evny you the headache that had to cause.>>
Well, guess I needn't have worried too much about the bomb after all. The Decrypt program pings at her, flashing a big gold key icon as it breaks the protection lock. Ahhh, let's have a look at what you've been up to Mr.Niel.
She starts carefully sifting through the data, trying to get a broad catalogue of the data inside as she probes for potential data-bombs or other matrix booby-traps.
Matrix Perception for bombs and traps: Computer 4 + Analyze 6 + Enceaphalon 1 + Observe in Detail 3 = (14d6.hits(5)=8) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3148256/)
Browse to catalogue data: Data Search 4 + Browse 6 + Encephalon 1 = (11d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3148258/)
-
Going through the man's browse logs showed a lot of research on microprocessor design and some of the kind of searches that a lonely guy might get up to with hours to himself.
Upon encrypting other files, Yuri found a data bomb hiding in the code.
[ooc: Data bomb 6d6.hits(5) → [2,6,1,5,6,3] = (3)]
-
Yuri tags the processor research for following up, pauses at the 'lonely guy' searches ewww... really? Oo, I might have to try that one with Jarvis later..., and finally notes the trace markers of a data bomb.
Well well, I thought you might have the good stuff protected a little better. Let's just hope I do a better job then ole Jink. Ever so carefully she begins to probe at the code with the Defuse utility...
Defuse Niel's data bomb: Hacking 6 + Defuse 3 + Encephalon 1 = (10d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3148394/) [and Edge to re-roll misses: Defuse Niel's data bomb (edge rerolls): (8d6.hits(5)=4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3148395/) for 6 hits total]
It's touch and go for a second but a timely static burst to the right data feed and the bomb's code fragments into harmless bits of binary.
-
Inside the protected data file were several megapulses worth of blueprints for various microprocessors. Several different corp's designs were evident. Some of them carried labels that Yuri could instantly recognize as outdated. Others might be worth a good deal to the right people. The difference between a blueprint like these and a nanofax recipe was what program you ran them through. Someone with these specs could just churn out Transys chips by the bucket-load, even sell them... provided they could find untagged feedstock for the nanofax.
-
Jink is glad to feel the healing warmth of Ghost's spell flow through him, even if he's still left with some painful bruises afterward.
"Gracias Ghost, I needed that. Damn bomb feedback kicked my hoop a little. But my model career still on track, neh?"
<commlink@team Hokay so where we're meeting next. Mary, Hiro - where you at?">
Taking control of the wagon again, Umberto drives her towards wherever the next meet is, pumping up the beats until he is nodding along, the retropunk mix helping to tune out his sore eyes. As the city blocks zip past, he wonders briefly whether anyone got caught in the blast, regretful that he wasn't able to contain it...
-
Meanwhile, back at Gibson Hall, the old Doctor was pulling Johnny out the door when Ghost's old spirit arrived at the scene. These two eh? I suppose you know what you need. Suddenly, a spirit looking like a bearded old Chinese man in a white robe, materialized in the doorway. He grinned a broken grin, waved a fan made with dove feathers and Johnny seemed to vanish from sight. Mary, doubly vanished.
-
Johnny stopped momentarily when he saw the old man appear, his hand tightening on the pistol as he waved the feathered fan. He knew it was too late to stop what was coming, he waited a moment and --- nothing. Nothing happened to him. He looked back to see the doctor and Jack Stone looking agape, almost panicked.
"Fuck it," he muttered.
He placed the doctor's samples down on the floor and then took off running.
@Mary "Don't know what just happened but time to get going while the getting is good. Meet you at your bike. Looks like I'll have to say good-bye to Li Feng."
As soon as he makes it a block away, Johnny will switch his slaved com to broadcast his Kaneda SIN."
-
As the Doctor started to panic, Stone looked back and saw the materialized spirit floating there, smiling at him. "Yep. No fighting mages. Big. Bold. Letters." He continued to walk back to the break room while the Doctor scrambled out into the night, snatching at air and tripping over the sample box Johnny had been carrying. The box's side ripped open and one of the Doctor's samples rolled out with the Doctor sprawling onto the pavement next to it. Mary looked from Stone to the Doctor, to the old spirit, back to the Doctor and finally to the human head, suspended in a jar, which just rolled out of the Doctor's "sample" box..
-
@Johnny Uh... Johnny? The Doctor is carrying around human heads. From what I can tell, you just sort of disappeared into thin air when the spirit showed up. If you want to get going now I'll head over to the bike.
Marlene was a little bit uncomfortable about seeing the human head in a jar, but she was the type who's seen much worse. Still, she kinda wanted to get a hold of the doctor and see what he was up to. Slotted psycho scientists...
@Johnny I'm going to take a real quick look at the rest of the samples to see if its just the one that rolled out or if there is something more important in there....
@Team Well guys, looks like we lost the Doctor. Spirit showed up out of nowhere and made Johnny disappear. I'm heading back to the bike, should we meet you somewhere?
-
Mary maneuvered outside to the street where she could peer into the ripped box as Dr. Leary scrambled to stuff the container back in. From that angle she could see another, similar jar in the box. The Doctor was panicking.
"Wait, damn it! Where are we going! Should I leave these? Of course! Of course! The corp can get more. Naturally. Yes, let's go!"
As Mary hustled down the street toward her bike, following Johnny's smoky form, Dr. Leary was running down the street the other direction with the helmet raised in the air. After about a block and a half, everyone cringed as the Southern side of Gibson Hall erupted with the force of the two concurrent blasts. Most of the side of the building was blown outward, and the 1st and 3rd floors collapsed around the hole, cratering that side of the building. KE was on the scene in moments, but Mary and Johnny were already gone.
-
As Mary and Johnny were headed out of Downtown to meat the others as they came out of Touristville, Johnny got a call from 3m-C33 [OOC: 13d6.hits(5) → [4,6,6,6,6,2,2,3,1,3,5,4,5] = (6)]
<<@Johnny: You were calling about Multitech and Dutch Donovan? Seems you're on to something pretty choppy there John-boy. Rumor mills are churning and there's a lot of conflicting information pouring out. Looks like MT is pulling some kind of snow job. You want me to give you the point by point, or do you have specific questions?>>
-
Ghost follow his companions through the eyes of his spirit. Once he sees that they are out of the building he dismisses his spirit.
@team: Let's meet up to discuss our next move. I have a place we probably want to check out.
[OOC: Ghost is purposely not sharing the address over the commlink. My commlink is pretty cheap and probably real easy to hack. Since the encounter with Clean Steve he is being cautious with his transmissions.]
-
Leaning in to see the address on the envelope, Jink give Ghost a nod and turns down the music as they rumble down the streets towards Vanians...
"Worried about the airwaves, neh? Why don't we find this place first, then you can go astral and round up the others. You can talk to berks when you astral, si?"
Umberto wasn't sure exactly how she did it, but he recalled a shaman once appearing next to him like a fraggin' ghost, just BANG, right next to him, see through like, just to pass on a message. And no, it wasn't a friendly message. Freaked the drek out of him. It was a late night visit. What if Jink had had a lady friend over? After that he began to study up on spellslingers, to know more about what they could do. It was intel which had saved his life on more than one occasion.
Pulling up about a block from Vanians (but within sight of the building), he parks and gives the surrounding area the once over with the wagon's sensors, again looking for surveillance drones or shady characters lurking near their new place of interest...
Sensor test (sensor 6, perception 4, active looking 3?) (13d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3162647/)
-
The block was dead at this time of night. A neighborhood like this might as well have a curfew it was so empty. Security drones buzzed low overhead while blimp gunships hovered off in the distance. Bellview: Suburban police state. Much of the area was owned by this corp or that for their little enclave villages, so at least the extraterritorial patchwork kept the skies somewhat friendly. At least the massive gun on that Strato-9 parked over Ares town can't bother you without creating an international incident. The building itself was an upscale Apartment complex on the northeast side called Shady Hills. It's hardly the kind of place where you expect rats like Vanian to nest. It stands smack in the middle of a part of town they keep polished for the simsense travel tapes, and looks more like a pricey hotel than an apartment complex. Real marble in the lobby, wide-open spaces, oriental rugs that would keep you and ten chummers in high-priced drinks for a year... frag. Vanian must make a nice chunk of nuyen. Maybe you're in the wrong racket...
There's a small guard station by the front door, and a few cameras mounted here and about, but not really the kind of security you'd expect for a place this ritzy. Suppose you don't need massive doors and locks in a neighborhood like this.
-
Switch follows Jink closely, glancing around as they enter Bellview. Bellview? How'd a guy running that crappy store get a place here? Probably should have swiped some of that junk, Clean Steve be damned.
@team: Looks like we should have swiped some of that gear. Must have been worth more than I thought if he lived here.
-
Hold on a sec, I'm gonna see what Bellevue looks like from the astral plane.
Ghost's body goes limp as his essence floats through the top of Jinx van. He slowly looks around the area to check out the area and the building from outside before entering.
assensing 3 + intuition 4 (7d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3163324/)
-
The astral looked like a world of snow globes. Every building on the block was surrounded by an astral barrier. Here and there a security spirit was apparent.
-
Ghost goes back to his body.
Wow Jinx, magical security. Looks like were gonna need some cover to get in there. Do you think Yuri can get us on the guest list?
-
"I sure hope so," Umberto replies to Ghost, frowning a big fat frown.
"What kind of magical security you talking? Spirit? Astral mage? Other magic thingy?"
Swinging the wagon around, Jink faces the rear of the wagon towards the apartment block, the 2064 Rover looking right at home in the fancy end of town.
"Better quick getaway, neh? Just in case. So there's Switch," he nods out the window towards their teammate's bike. "We gonna clue the others in over the link, or you want to guide them here magic style?"
<commlink@Switchback: Hey Switch, your bike it riding a little low maybe. I take a look for you later, hmm?>
-
Yuri digs happily through the wealth of blueprints and back data. Awww, that's the chip Jarvis showed me how to install in my first cyberdeck. Wow, talk about nostalgia. teehee! I'll have to show him that later. Another buzz from her commlink. Incoming message.
Looks like we should have swiped some of that gear. Must have been worth more than I thought if he lived here.
Whaaa? 'Here' where? What have these goombas gotten themselves up to? Bah, I'll find 'em myself.
Tucking her newfound data goodies to the side for the moment, Yuri pulls up her Track program and traces Switch's signal down.
Trace user, Switchback: Computer 4 + Track 3 + Encephalon 1 = (8d6.hits(5)=5, 8d6.hits(5)=3, 8d6.hits(5)=3, 8d6.hits(5)=3, 8d6.hits(5)=2, 8d6.hits(5)=1, 8d6.hits(5)=5, 8d6.hits(5)=4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3165197/)
In the span of about 3 seconds she's homed in on Switchback's commlink signal.
Bellevue? The frack is that orc doing in Bellevue? gonna get himself hauled in by the local sec goons on the grounds of bein' meta around there.
<<@Team: Oi! You chummers might wanna move along before the locals get restless around those parts. Meet me at the Red Swan, I'll be along shortly. I've got to change if we're going to go poking around in those parts.>> She pegs a small out-of-the-way pub in Renton on the border with Bellevue.
Yuri resets the auto-nav on her jackrabbit for home.
<<@Jarvis: Going to be home early, just grabbing a change of clothes before hitting the town again, sweetie. And I've got prezzies! :D>>
-
They got astral barriers around the building. We're gonna have to be real careful around here. You want to go meet at the Red Haven or you want to wait here and case the place?
Ghost looks around to see if there are any coffee shops, bars or anything of the like with a view to the main entrance of Vanian's apt. building.
-
@Jink: Sure thing chummer! Actually, I want to talk with you about having some work done on it.
-
<commlink@team: Red Swan it is, see you chummers there>
Starting up the Rover again Umberto drives her back to the Renton/Bellevue border. Once they arrive he hops out with Ghost and makes his way into the Red Swan, still packing his concealed SMG. Wouldn't wanna second date with Clean Steve without 'er.
Swaggering into the pub, he switches his link to passive (and broadcasts his Sanchez Sancherino ID - if he needs to broadcast one at all?) and pings the bar to order a synth whiskey and dry. Slotting into one of the booths, he amps up the low light on his shades and gets comfortable, scoping the drinks area for any hot chickas...
"What you drinkin' Ghost?" he inquires of his mage friend.
-
Do you think this place has any green tea? It's been a while.
-
Yuri swings by her house before heading over to the Red Swan. There's a holo image in the trid she talks to for a moment.
"Hey sweet stuff! Sorry, just dropping in for a quick change. You wouldn't believe what old nostalgic goodies I came across. Here babe, check it out! First chip you ever showed me how to install."
She giggles quietly as she rummages through her closet, stripping off her somewhat dirty attire down to her second skin suit. She comes back out holding a pair of dresses, draping them in front of her to show the image on the trid.
"Whatcha think? The red?" She poses seductively. "Or the green?" Holding up the other dress with a coy pose. "Hmmm, yeah, you're right. The black. Deffinately the black." Hanging the other dresses back in the closet she pulls out a black Zoe dress and slips the curve-hugging outfit on, gloves, stilleto heels and all. It even comes with a pattern for the Zoe second Skin to match and accent the dress.
"Well, back to work. I'll see you later cutie."
Then it's back in the car and heading towards the Red Swan.
-
Switch follows Jink out towards the Red Swan, glancing around at the houses.
Frak, I knew we should have taken that crap. Ah well.. Here's hoping that fight went my way, I could use the cash. I'll have to check on it at the Swan, over a stout.
-
The Red Swan was at one of it's low points for night business, so parking and seating options were pretty open. Clientele from the Interstate tapered off hours ago when it got dark and the Go-gangs took over the major roads. At the same time, the locals looking to live below their station would still be drinking in touristville for another hour before they dropped into the Swan for an all-beef burger to help them get their head right after a night of downing girly drinks with badass names. The bartender stared the lot of you down as you came in, likely in an attempt to stave off boredom by guessing what each of you would get. The android barback rocked a little and hummed intermittently in a programmed attempt at displaying character. The menu ARO which greeted you at the door hovered expectantly in the corner of your vision as you found a seat. Before you could bring it up and absent-mindedly scroll through, an message came in from Johnny Hiro.
<@team: The Gibson Hall thing didn't go too well for me. Alpha Blue said that she'd make sure nothing sticks on me, but I've got to disappear while those files get lost. Bellview is way too camera-heavy for me right now. Speaking of which, my guy finally came back with info on the chip designer, Dutch Donovan. Looks like he's in Bellview too, just the lower side in the corporate suburbs, the Smallville complex. Whole plot of land is a Multitech corporate village. So, I've got his home address, but there's conflicting reports on whether he's there of not. One ear tells me he's here in Seattle, the other says he's been moved to Shanghai so the bosses can keep an eye on him. Might be worth a look, but I don't know. These guys are burning this whole thing to the ground - anything and anyone involved. Messy, fast and public is what we're up against, and there's no way we're going to beat them to their own home turf.>>
-
@Johnny: Enjoy the beach.
Switch scrolled through the menu aimlessly before he settled on a Beamish and sliders. Bleu cheese burger? Who eats that crap?
@Team: What are you guys having? Can't go wrong with a good beer.
@Jink: Now, let's talk about some upcoming biker matches.
-
Yuri walks into the Red Swan wearing a slinky black dress with long gloves, high heels and a sort of circuit-pattern connecting them, all tucked under a more average-looking coat. It's a little hard to recognize her at first with different color hair and makeup now.
She smiles at the bartender and gives him a little wave before selecting an old favorite from the bar to send over to the table. She sits down in the secluded booth with her compatriots and grins.
"So? What do you think boys? I learned a while ago that I look a lot like some stuck-up high-society slitch and started using her ID to get into some nice places now and then. When I saw you fellas were in Bellevue, I thought it might be good to break out the old girl. Not bad, neh?" She leans in a bit, showing off the flattering cut of the dress's top. "Girls like this slum it sometimes for the thrills. I bet we can mingle in that place easy if we pose as a little entourage getting back after a night on the town."
Her drink arrives (a mixed affair with plenty of fruity flavor) and Yuri beams at the waiter, "Ah, thank you Phillipe, you're such a dear." Phillipe bows slightly and heads back to the bar. With drink now in hand, Yuri quietly slips a little gizmo from a coat pocket and a gentle whisper of white noise fills the booth. Then she address the group again, "So... where are we headed? I might be able to get us an invite, one way or another."
-
Ghost takes a sip of his green tea.Looks like Vanian lives at (Gives address from letter).The magic security is tight and I don't know if I can summon any spirits in there. There were also occasional security drones flying around. I also can't astrally perceive anything in there without entering the building. Is there any way you could get us in by saying we might be prospective renters or guests of Vanian or someone else in the building?
[OOC: Did I get an approximate strength of the astral barrier when I used assensing on the area?
-
[OOC: The force of the wards was lower than your magic rating.]
-
Umberto's eyes linger on Yuri's revealing dress and he nods his head. "Very wiz, Yuri, suits you, neh?"
Downing his synthahol, he gives Phillipe a scowl and taps his metal hand on the edge of his glass. "I happy to play however you like. Entourage sounds like good time to Jink. Can you get us in there, chicka?"
Jink is then distracted by discussing biker stat's, and orders himself and Switch another synthahol for good measure... He stops at two however. It's not time to really celebrate till the job's over, he reminds himself.
-
Switch frowns when he finishes his second drink.
"Well, we should probably go play our part..are we ready?"
-
Ghost finishes his green tea. "Great let's go. We gonna take one car? Maybe we should tell Alpha Blue where we're going just in case we cause a stir. She can slow down KE. Maybe we could mention Clean Steve to her also? She might know him. Anyway, Yuri since you picked the place I think you should pick up the tab.
-
The bill paid for, everyone got up to leave the Red Swan behind. In order to maintain appearances Yuri headed off a little ahead of the others. Arriving at Shady Hills, she was already talking to the guards when the rest of the crew arrived.
"Thanks guys, you have a nice night." She concluded as the rest of the crew walked up. Each of their IDs produced a confirmation on the approved visitor list, and the doors opened wide for everyone's convenience. Vanian's apartment was suite 2112.
-
"Wizzer work on getting us in, Yuri", whispers Jink as the team breezes past the security and heads for the elevators. The old biker begrudgingly admires the surroundings as they file into the lift and ping the system for Vanian's level using AR, Jink activating it with a virtual nod.
As the lift doors swish quietly together, Umberto checks his his SMG is still well hidden beneath his duster, and gives everyone a big cheesy grin (especially Yuri, whom he also looks up and down approvingly...).
"''Ere we go, neh?"
-
Approaching the door to the suite, there's still no sign of foul play. Though, there was no external sign at Rat's shop either.
-
Ghost walks into the first floor of the building. As he enters he attempts to notice the sides of the building that might contain a fire escape and looks for the direction of the stairs as the group heads to the elevator. As I pass the security I'll switch to astral perception to assense the guards to check for magic ability and/or cyberware.
assensing 3 +intuition 4
7d6.hits(5)=2 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3207653/)
As I get to Vanian's floor and approach the room I switch to astral perception when I see the number of his apartment.
-
The guards are both mundane and unaugmented. You'd expect more from security in this part of town. Maybe such expectations are the true security. Vanian's didn't have any additional warding.
-
Hey Yuri, do you think we should scan for nodes before we knock on the door? Give me a second and I'll see if he's in there.
Ghost sits on the floor and leans against the wall and astral projects into Vanian's apartment to scout ahead.
-
As Ghost does his astral recon, and Yuri does her matrix sweep, Jink checks the safety is off on his SMG and takes a long hard look up and down the hallway, straining his eyes and ears for signs of anyone (or anything) that might be following them... his mirrorshades sharpening his vision, his eartech magnifying the right sounds and eliminating "noise". If there are any windows nearby he also takes a look out of them, scanning for any lurking drones or god knows what... Finally he pings his wagon, commanding it to do a sensor sweep around the building, checking for any suspicious characters or drones..
Vision test (13d6.hits(5)=5) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3209423/)
Hearing Test (13d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3209424/)
Sensor 6 (camera/radar) and Clearsight 3 and actively looking 3 ? (12d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3209427/)
-
The scan pulls up a bunch of CHNs, one for each apartment, as well as several commlinks. Running browse eventually isolates what must be Rat's link.
Projecting through the wall, Ghost finds an almost palatable sense of chaos in the air and in the arrangement of objects all over the floor. The place looks so ripped apart and trashed that, for a brief, panicked moment, he fears that they've come too late. But, on the sofa, laying straight as a board and radiating panic was a man who could only be Jack Vanian.
(http://i51.tinypic.com/2ui821z.jpg)
Nothing seems to be stirring outside that Jinx could find.
-
When Ghost enters his body he says...
Break through the door, but don't go in blazin'. He's there and alive but freaked. The less damage we do the better. Make him believe we are friends
-
Yuri pipes up, "Ummm.. I've got his comm number. We could try calling him before we kick his door down."
-
That's probably a better idea.
-
The call goes unanswered for about thirty seconds before Yuri gives up asking and tries to force the issue.
[[Hacking on the Fly for basic access: 15d6.hits(5) → [5,2,6,1,5,1,6,1,4,4,2,5,4,4,5] = (6) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3211725/) In in one. 9d6.hits(5) → [1,3,2,4,4,4,1,2,4] = (0) No firewall spot. Let's see if Van's search spots on an opposed. 9d6.hits(5) → [4,4,1,3,4,6,5,1,3] = (2) vs. Yuri 17d6.hits(5) → [3,1,6,4,5,4,6,4,4,6,5,6,6,2,3,1,3] = (7) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3211733/) turns out Yuri wins.]]
Once in, Yuri decided to do a quick data grab before alerting Van to her presence. Not bothering to decrypt anything, she just copied everything wholesale. "So, who wants to whisper sweet nothings into this guy's ear?"
-
"Hey I'll give it shot" Ghost takes the comm from Yuri."Hey Jack, my name is Adam. I used to work with Neil and now some people have been asking me questions. I was hoping you could help me out because your name kept popping up in their questions. Anyway if you could meet me that would be great and maybe I could figure out what's going on so I might be able to protect myself. Thanks.
-
Jink raises his eyebrows in a "not bad" motion to Ghost, and waits to hear the response from Vanian...
<commlink to team: If he doesn't co-operate, there's always the mini-welder in the wagon. :) >
Looking around the hallway, he spots some typical corp concept art and sighs deeply. Cred doesn't buy taste.
Sure is good for repairing drones, but.
-
[[8d6.hits(5) → [3, 6, 2, 4, 6, 3, 3, 3] = 2 He sees holes in your story.]]
<<What?! Frag! You hacked my comm!? Buzz off! I don't know you from no one and you wanna drop a dead man as reference!? I seen how these guys ask questions. Vape yourself Adam. Get real scarce.>> The line cuts. Yuri notes that his link ID has disappeared.
Through the door, you can passably make out the sounds of Rat talking to himself. "How the frag are people calling me!? This isn't even my link ID... That guy called me Jack! Shit! Shit! Oh shit!" From inside the apartment you hear the sounds of manic activity.
-
I summon a guidance spirit force 5.
11d6.hits(5)=1 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3224037/) (accidentally rolled two extra dice should be summoning 4 + magic 5)
only one hit
spirit resists 5d6.hits(5)=2 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3224054/) (no spirit for me)
drain resist
intuition 4 + willpower 5 + focused concentration 2
11d6.hits(5)=6 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3224057/) (at least I don't take stun damage for this futile attempt, could have used some of those hits on the first roll.
Well so much for that idea, anyone else got any bright ideas before Rat finds a gun back there?
-
Disappointed with his attempt to summon a spirit. Ghost listens at the door to see if he might have time to try again.
8d6.hits(5)=2 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3228066/) perception 4 + intuition 4
-
Things have gone quiet inside the apartment.
-
Jink steps close to the door and examines the handle/lock area, trying to figure out if there's any chance of busting it open with his cyberarm...
<Commlink to team: Miniwelder?> he inquires of the team as he considers his options.
<Hope Vanian no make a runner out the window, neh? We gotta do something now... Switch - how 'bout you bust this door wide open?>
-
"Not a problem." Switch walks up to the door, reels back and lets one fly.
[OOC: 11d6.hits(5) → [6,5,5,1,4,5,6,6,6,5,3] = (8) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3236774/) So, DV = 18 door soaks with 6x2 = 12d6.hits(5) → [4,4,1,1,5,4,1,2,3,6,4,2] = (2) so that's 16 damage. Enough to make a 2 meter hole. Rolling surprise to see if Switch catches buckshot. Switch 9d6.hits(5) → [6,6,5,3,6,2,2,5,6] = (6) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3236777/) Rat 11d6.hits(5) → [1,3,4,1,1,4,5,6,6,3,5] = (4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3236781/)]
The door shatters like a saltine cracker, and Switch rolls out of the way before Rat can get off a shot.
"Knock Knock!"
-
Ghost looks to see how much he can see through the hole in the door without directly getting into the line of fire. I'll target a force 5 stunball approximately five meters into the hole.
Init roll intuition 4 + reaction 4
8d6.hits(5)=3 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3236788/) 3 hits for init of 11
spellcasting 6 + magic 5
11d6.hits(5)=7 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3236789/) ouch!!! 7 hits for 12 stun damage
resist drain of 3 dv willpower 5 + intuition 4 + focused concentration 2
11d6.hits(5)=3 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3236791/) 3 hits no drain
-
[Rolling surprise for Ghost's endoscope move 8 init +3 awareness = 11d6.hits(5) → [5,1,2,5,1,3,5,5,1,5,3] = (5) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3241526/) wins. Van resists magic 4 + 4 good cover = 8d6.hits(5) → [3,2,3,2,4,3,5,3] = (1) 11S = lights out.]
Popping his endoscope around the corner, Ghost spots Rat crouched behind his sofa with a shotgun pointed at the door. Before Rat can react, Ghost concentrates hard and forces mana straight at Rat's mind in a burst strong enough to ripple the air. Rat's mind instantly goes black as consciousness drains out of him.
-
Ghost sees Vanian drop behind the couch and realizes that now the hard work is next. "Hey Yuri," he says in a low voice, You think you can scan the matrix for any calls to security reports a gunshot in the building. Also let's get inside quick and heal this guy. Maybe he can call and use the ole "cleaning the gun story." Ghost suddenly wishes Johnny didn't have to go to ground. He would have been real useful right about now. "Jinx, how does the front look from your car?"
-
"Holy balls Switch!" the rigger quips as the door goes flying into a thousand pieces.
Jink sees the endoscope and mutters "Fraggin' sneaky mages, what chance does an aug have?" under his breath.
Slipping inside the room he gives a low whistle at the magician's work, eyeing off Vanian's slumped and unmoving form. Checking him over for vital signs, he declares "Remind me not to get on your bad sides, eh, frag... Can you turn his body invisible Ghost, maybe we just walk 'im out, and talk later, in the wagon?
Nodding at Ghost's question, Umberto pings his wagon, commanding it to do a sensor sweep of around the building, and keep an eye on the front...
[OOC: sorry dudes, Invisible Castle is down at the moment - but I would have done a 12 dice perception test for the wagon (camera 6, clearsight 3, active looking 3?) and done a first aid to check Van's vital signs - forget if I can heal stun - or if we even want to heal him right now? 13 dice: medkit 6, logic 6, first aid 3, -2 poor environment or whatever?)
-
"Matrix is clean and Rat didn't even get a shot off before you thwacked him. I lost his link right before the scuffle though. He either turned it off or changed IDs. Likely the latter." Yuri walked into the room and looked around. The place was a total mess. There were piles of clothes mixed with piles of rotting take out and computer parts. There was evidence of animals, hopefully pets, living there as well. Trash just piled up against the walls everywhere. There were paths cut through the debris and clear spots in the living room where Rat must usually sit, but the overall effect was reminiscent of a garbage dump. She headed over to Rat and unplugged his comm. "I'd be happy to get out of here as soon as I can, but if there's something here, and we don't find it, then we risk losing it to Multitech." She pauses for a moment while she studies Rat's comm. "On the other hand, our boy did call for help, and it wasn't to the police."
-
While the team was pondering extraction, interrogation or ambush, Yuri was looking deeper into the call for help. The call ended at a node somewhere downtown, and said node wasn't moving. Cross-referencing the location with her mapsoft put it at a downtown databank. Probably a bot router to shuffle the message to another destination and kill the logs. Professional stuff like that was a standard for Runners. She wouldn't be able to trace the message any further, but it did tell them something about their possible opposition.
-
Switch follows Yuri into the room, wrinkling his nose at the decor. "It seems our boy here wasn't much for getting out.."
He wanders down a path through the trash, careful not to disturb any of it. He sighs when he hears Yuri's comment and walks back to Rat's body. It's never easy is it.
"Well, I'd hate to get caught the same way. I doubt there's anything in this dump worth more than Rat or his link. We can take him back to the van and ask a few questions. After that we may as well see what we can get for him."
-
Jink gives a broad grin and picks up Rat's body, hefting it over his cyberarm shoulder.
"Can you make him vanish, Ghost? Best you keep your hands free, eh Switchback? I'll bring the wagon round front. If the spell fails, we leg it, neh?"
Pinging his wagon, Umberto commands it to start circling the block, getting ready to time it's arrival to pull up outside the building when they appear. He also gets it to scan the area for potential hostiles...
Camera sensor test (15d6.hits(5)=4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3254486/)
Radar sensor test (15d6.hits(5)=7) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3254487/)
-
Jinx checked his feeds and saw nothing until the guys were right at the door shooting holes in the security. From what he could tell, it was three guys in full black unloading silenced SMGs into the two door guards in the security booth out front. There would only be seconds until they breached the building doors and started heading the team's way.
-
Let's see if I can call some help.
Summon guardian spirit force 5 with concealment power.
9d6.hits(5)=1 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3255489/) summoning 4 + magic 5
5d6.hits(5)=3 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3255490/) spirit doesn't com
drain resist 11d6.hits(5)=4 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3255493/)
Maybe that astral barrier is affecting my summoning.
Force 5 improved invisibility on vanian's unconscious body
11d6.hits(5)=3 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3255501/)
resist drain
11d6.hits(5)=5 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3255504/)
[OOC: Think I got 2 boxes of stun damage from spirit drain. Is it twice the spirits hits? It doesn't affect spell rolls though]
-
"Drek."
Switchback glances around the dump, searching for some sort of suitable cover. [OOC: Do I need to roll a perception test for that?]
@Jink: "Our boy's not going to affect your aim is he?"
@Ghost: "Have any more tricks up your sleeve?"
-
Yuri was watching the feeds in AR and subvocalizing to the team as the hitters closed on them in fast motion. "These guys are quick. I'm having trouble following them. One just hustled down the hallway to the back stairs. Another one is headed up the front stairs. Third is holding by the front stairs. Fourth just came in the back door! Contact in seconds!"
-
Jink dumps Rat's body on the ground as he reappears, tucking him behind the doorway, and takes cover himself against the frame. Facing towards the back stairs, he checks his ingram is loaded with ex-explosive rounds, he gives a mischevious grin.
"Let's get this party started, si! You guys take the front man. I'll hold off the two coming up behind."
Jink levels his SMG down the hallway towards the back stairs, eyes and ears peeled for enemy arrival...
[OOC: readies an action? Can he do that? Delayed ACtion? Or need to roll initiative first?]
-
Ghost drops the improved invisibility spell on Vanian and then casts one on Switch. (force 5)
11d6.hits(5)=1 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3258066/) [OOC: This website doesn't like me.]
drain roll
11d6.hits(5)=3 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3258067/)
[OOC: Kontact, do I have to keep LOS on Switch?]
I'll set up spell defense for anyone in my view and then get as close to the do as I need to to stick the end of my endoscope out the door to see down the hallway.
-
OOC:No, you don't have to maintain LOS to sustain a spell.
You can just throw away the 1 hit and the spell will fizzle so you can retry. You'll likely get a better result just doing it again with -2 dice. Also, force for a spell like invisibility only affects the maximum number of hits you can have, so force 5 might not be necessary.
I'll need initiative from everybody and infiltration from anyone with a view of the hallway (jinx and switch I believe.)
Also you might as well roll surprise (intitiative +6 for the ambush[pending infil rolls]) to see if you can drop a guy or two before they notice you're there.
-
Switchback glances down the hall, mumbling under his breath.
Initiative: Initiative Roll: Reaction (6) + Intuition (3) (9d6.hits(5)=4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3259357/)
Infiltration test: Infiltration test: Agility (5) + Infiltration (3)=8 (8d6.hits(5)=0) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3259362/) (Epic fail).
I'm assuming since I hit 0 that surprise is out of the question, but here's the roll: Surprise: Initiative (9) + 6= 15 (15d6.hits(5)=5) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3259366/)
-
Okay, new improved invis spell force 3.
9d6.hits(5)=2 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3260338/)
drain
11d6.hits(5)=3 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3260339/) no drain
init roll
8d6.hits(5)=4 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3260341/) 4 hits so I got a 12 initiative
I point my endoscope down the hallway in the direction that Yuri said the most goons were coming. Waiting to cast a stunball.
-
Jink:
Initiative (10d6.hits(5)=6) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3260577/) .. so initiative 16 - he's hot tonight, ready to spray lead down the corridor!
Tnfiltration to hide in doorway to try and ambush, if you need a test: (6d6.hits(5)=0) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3260581/) - arhh critical glitch, I believe!
So... either that rules out an ambush (or worse), or if I didn't need to make an infiltration roll at all, I'll roll a surprise test anyhoo: Ambush (16d6.hits(5)=7) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3260582/) ..hmmm... sweet, pending infiltration....?
-
arhh critical glitch, I believe!
Nope, but..
10d6.hits(5) → [1,5,2,6,4,5,6,2,6,3] = (5)
10d6.hits(5) → [5,3,4,4,1,5,6,5,2,2] = (4)
Surprise is out of the picture.
Top Rear 11d6.hits(5) → [6,5,6,4,1,1,3,2,2,4,6] = (4) goes on 15
Top Front 11d6.hits(5) → [3,2,2,4,6,2,5,1,3,4,1] = (2) goes on 13
Bottom Rear 11d6.hits(5) → [6,1,6,6,4,6,4,2,6,4,2] = (5) goes on 16
Bottom Front 11d6.hits(5) → [6,3,6,3,5,3,4,3,5,6,4] = (5) goes on 16
[Jink 16; BR 16; BR 16; TR 15; Ghost 14; Switch 13; TF 13]
Guys at the top of the stairs are in good cover. Other guys are in full cover and won't be able to fire on you for the first IP even if they run.
Switchback is invisible to people, but not to electronic surveillance.
4d6.hits(5) → [5,1,1,2] = (1)
4d6.hits(5) → [2,3,5,1] = (1)
Neither guy can see him, so they get -6 to shoot at him.
-
Taking cover in the doorway, Jink leans out and fires off a long burst of explosive ammo, the caseless rounds roaring down the corridor towards the enemy hunkering down by the rear stairs. As he fires, the smartlink software in his glasses syncs with his ingram to bring up an aiming crosshair, which he tries to lock on his target's neck area...
"Soza!!!" he yells, over the gunfire...
[OOC - take aim, called shot to increase damage by 4, then long wide burst ( -5 recoil but all absorbed: gun 3, str 1, grip 1), shooting from good cover. Assuming enemy within short range of his SMG - 10m?
Auto 4, Agility 6, smartlink 2, aim 1, taking good cover -2, called shot increase damage -4 (7d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3262062/)
Because it's a long wide burst I think the enemy gets -5 on his defence roll. If it hits, the called shot increases the damage by 4 to base 10P, -1AP (Ex-Explosive ammo. 26/32 clip remaining. 1st IP of 3.)
-
From the scale on the map of Vanian's place, each condo should be about 25-30 meters long. So, from the door to the back stairwell, we should have a distance of, let's say 50m. Since you took aim, you could reduce the -3 long range penalty to nothing with vision mag. That's just -1 die from losing the take aim bonus die, and that last die was a miss, so the hits stand at 3. Guy's roll at -5. 6d6.hits(5) → [5,5,4,6,2,3] = (3) 0 net hits, so it's a graze.
Troubleshooters return fire.
Short wide burst - 9d6.hits(5) → [6,3,3,2,1,4,4,2,2] = (1)
2nd Short wide burst - 7d6.hits(5) → [1,3,2,4,4,5,2] = (1)
Should be -2 to dodge the first, -3 to dodge the 2nd
The two black-clad hitters at the bottom of the steps hustled up as quickly as possible while the one crouched at the stair mouth managed to catch noting but breezes off Jink's fire. Meanwhile, his own weapon puffed out bullets with the *tick*tick*tick* of a suppressed weapon as he shuffled from cover on the stairs to cover behind the near wall.
[Jink 16; BR 16; BF 16; TR 15; Ghost 14; Switch 13; TF 13]
(http://i28.lulzimg.com/596b6fdece.jpg)
-
I'm going to hold my action until after Switch. Can I see these goons with my endoscope?
-
[OOC: In that case I'm going to run (and try to sprint assuming I can default on that?) along the opposite wall toward the front stairs to charge the goons there.
Sprinting tests: Strength (7) + Running (0)= 7 Sprinting test (7d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3262834/) So 31 meters/turn means I'll close with their current location during the next turn
Sprinting test: Strength 7 + Running 0 (7d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3266945/)
Sprinting tests IP 2: Sprinting test IP 2: Strenght 7 + Running 0 (7d6.hits(5)=5, 7d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3266946/)
Infiltration test: Infiltration test: Agility (5) + Infiltration (3) (8d6.hits(5)=5) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3263836/) ]
Switchback grins as Jink let's loose with his gun and sprints out into the hall, running against the opposite wall towards the front stairs. Clenching his fist he holds he holds his breath as he tries to move as quickly and silently as possible.
-
Cato: When in doubt, roll. But yes, you'll need an infiltration roll to see how much noise you make as you run.
Tim: Endoscope should be able to see either of the top guys. You can interrupt as you like.
Rolling perception to notice Switch
6d6.hits(5) → [6,4,4,5,6,2] = (3)
6d6.hits(5) → [2,5,1,3,1,4] = (1)
Switchback manages to charge down the hall without making a sound over Jinx's automatic fire.
-
Ghost sees the two jump from cover to cover and realizes that now his chance.
Stunball force 5
spellcasting 6 + magic 5 - 2 for sustained spell
9d6.hits(5)=1 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3263865/) only 1 hit, hope they don't have cs
drain roll
11d6.hits(5)=5 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3263866/) no drain
-
Top front resists magic 4d6.hits(5) → [4,2,6,2] = (1) successfully.
Top front guy fires two short wide bursts at Jinx while running from cover to cover.
1st - 9d6.hits(5) → [2,3,1,2,4,3,4,3,4] = (0)
2nd - 7d6.hits(5) → [3,1,6,3,3,6,4] = (2) going to be -4 to dodge. 2 from the wide burst and 2 from the previous attacks (not going to count that total miss on the first shot toward previous defenses. So, that's 3 defense rolls in total.)
Yuri is going to try to hack their network for security access.
Hack on the Fly: 15d6.hits(5) → [5,3,5,3,6,3,4,3,3,2,2,1,1,2,3] = (3)[/edge]
Let's edge: 12d6.hits(5) → [3,3,1,6,5,1,3,1,6,1,1,5] = (4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3263879/) In
Sec check: 9d6.hits(5) → [4,3,1,3,6,1,5,4,4] = (2) Unspotted
Opposed isn't worth bothering.
Yuri uses a free action to spot their Tac Net software.
The Shooter at the front stairs moved from the stair mouth to the wall and caught a burst of mana coming from down the hallway, but he shrugged it off. His gun repeated the action of his partner off down at the other end of the hall, spitting silenced bursts down at Jink in the doorway.
Meanwhile, Yuri stopped watching cameras and scanning for hidden nodes and started cracking into their links.
IP 2[Jink 16; BR 16; BF 16; TR 15; Ghost 14; Switch 13; TF 13] (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3263878/)
-
Jink twists and turns in the doorway, hollering "Fraaaaggg iiiitttt!!" as bullets ricochet around him in a ping, ping, ping fashion. Heart thumping as his jazzed reflexes save his bacon, Umberto ducks deeper into the doorway and squints his good eye, willing his smartlink to somehow remove the closest guy's head... squeezing the trigger, he aims for the body and lets rip, steel death raining down the corridor ...
"Ghost where's that juju!" he curses quietly to his doorman in arms.
Where's Switch? Whadda drek Yuri doin' ?? he curses inwardly.
1st dodge at -2 (9d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3263883/)
2nd dodge (8d6.hits(5)=1) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3263884/)
3rd dodge.. (7d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3263885/)
... All grazes I think - phew!!!
Targets Top Front guy, who last action ran closer to us I think - assuming he's now within 40m, Jink aims and shoots a long wide burst (he doesnt have vision mag! oops!! Aim 1, smartlink 2, agility 6, auto 4, -2 taking good cover, -1 range, long wide burst all recoil compensated and target -5 dodge (10d6.hits(5)=6) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3265324/) ooohh yeah, bound to get him this time! Base damage 6P, -1AP. 20/32 clip. IP 2/3.
-
Belated Initiative from Yuri 12d6.hits(5) → [4,4,2,1,1,2,5,4,6,6,1,1] = (3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3265342/) so.. 15.
TF dodges: 8d6.hits(5) → [5,3,5,4,3,1,1,5] = (3) 3 net
TF Soaks 9P -1AP 12d6.hits(5) → [5,5,5,1,1,2,2,1,1,5,4,3] = (4) down to 5P damage
BR and BF finish running to the top of the stairs.
Yuri runs an edit on the enemy's TacNet 13d6.hits(5) → [1,2,6,6,3,2,4,1,6,1,3,4,5] = (4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3265356/) As long as it runs, the enemy TacNet is going to provide 2 - 4 = -2 dice to all rolls due to conflicting and incorrect information.
TR shoots again at Jink from cover. Two short wide bursts.
5d6.hits(5) → [1,2,4,5,2] = (1)
3d6.hits(5) → [6,5,2] = (2)
BTW, Cato, if switch is just running, I'll let you roll multiple sprint tests. Each one is a simple action and will add to your to your total movement, but sprinting will void surprise. They'd still have the -6 blindfire penalty to shoot you though. So, if you want to sprint, it'll sacrifice your first punch landing without dodge, but you'll cover the distance a lot faster.
Jink got a solid tag on the the shooter toward the front, catching the man in the shoulder and knocking him to the floor. From the other side of the hall, the other shooter continued to send bullets in Jink's direction, but not before Yuri could screw their TacNet information up so bad, that they'd be better off just firing down the sights.
IP 2[Jink 16; BR 16; BF 16; TR 15; Switch 13; TF 12]
Wounds: TF {5P}
-
Hugging the wall after firing off his salvo, Jink manages to stay clear of the top rear shooter's bullets as they pfft pfft pfft by...
First dodge at -2 (9d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3266605/)
Second dodge at -3 (8d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3266606/)
woo clean misses, thanks Yuri!
-
Just going to assume that Switch is continuing to run at some dudes. TF will use his turn to stand back up and take full cover.
The hitter who Jink had already shot to the ground rolled fully behind the wall and struggled to get back in a crouching position.
IP3:[Jink 16; BR 16; BR 16; TR 15; Switch 13; TF 12]
(http://i42.tinypic.com/2ia4xeg.jpg)
-
Switching firing stance, Jink lines up the next closest opponent (not the guy taking full cover), and lets loose a burst of roaring badassness, his glass' smart targetter blinking with LOCK! LOCK!
"Phwooarr!! Work that wall berk!"
The biker's shiny grin betrays his enjoyment at the flying lead, despite being flanked by heavily armed sons o' bitches on both sides. "Reminds Jinky of good old times, yes!"
Long wide burst as before, target -5 on dodge: Agility 6, Auto 4, aim 1, smartlink 2, range -3, taking good cover -2 (8d6.hits(5)=5) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3267686/). Oh yeah, haha! Base damage 6P, -1 AP. Clip 14/32. IP 3/3.
-
First the dodge. 4d6.hits(5) → [6,6,2,3] = (2) 3 net hits
Soaking 9P -1ap 12d6.hits(5) → [4,3,4,2,3,5,4,2,4,3,6,2] = (2) Takes 7P and falls down. -2 to his initiative drops his action behind Switch now.
BR shoots a full burst at Jink. 3d6.hits(5) → [2,5,3] = (1) so that's one hit, but -9 to dodge.
BF Suppresses the hallway. 11d6.hits(5) → [5,3,4,6,3,5,1,2,3,6,4] = (4) Switch needs 4 hits on reaction + edge or he has to soak the gun's base damage. Alternately, he can drop prone to avoid the hit (prone counts as cover at distance.)
Jink's fire caught another one, this time across the chest, doing heavy damage. On the other side of the hall, one of the troopers from the ground floor had managed to sprint all the way up the stairs and was now saturating the hallway with bullets. From the rear of the building, that man's counterpart also reached the top and began spitting a ludicrous amount of bullets in Jink's direction. The cross fire and sloppy, long-range shooting brought back fond memories of time spent in the circuit.
IP3: [Jink 16;BR 16; BR 16; Switch 13; TR 13; TF 12]
-
Switch watches as the gunman levels his weapon and drops down, the bullets whistling over his head. He waits for the suppressive fire to end, tensing up for a final sprint.
Drek
-
A stream of bullets hammers the door frame around Jink, but when the plastiboard shards clear, he's untouched ... Frozen in place, holes riddled everywhere like a bad join-the-dots puzzle.
"Si... also remind Jinky little bit bad old days..." he croaks.
Dodge at -9... (2d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3269008/) haha holy hell, I'm obviously using up all my luck!! Go you old biker go!
-
At the rear of the hall, the recently downed man rolled to the side much like his counterpart at the other end of the hall. Meanwhile, said counterpart down the hall unclipped a grenade and tossed it as far as he could toward the open door.
I suppose we should get another round of initiative. As to the grenade toss, I feel a bit weird about it. There's not enough dice after penalties to roll anything, though you don't really miss with a grenade. The roll is just to see how close it gets. 1d6 → [2] = (2) so, with 0 hits, it's 2 meters from intended point, 1d6 → [6] = (6) a bit up and across the hall.
Initiative rolls: 11d6.hits(5) → [1,6,1,4,1,5,6,1,4,6,6] = (5) BF 16
11d6.hits(5) → [5,2,6,5,5,3,4,3,2,3,3] = (4) BR 15
10d6.hits(5) → [4,3,5,4,6,3,4,1,1,3] = (2) TF 12
9d6.hits(5) → [1,2,5,1,6,3,1,3,6] = (3) TR 12
(http://i43.tinypic.com/n2fwyd.jpg)
IP3: [BF 16; BR 15; Jink 13; Switch 12; TR 12; Grenade!; TF 12; Ghost 10]
-
I assumed Jink was on the right side ..?
initiative (10d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3270919/) ... total 13.
So ... when does the grenade go off...? :o
-
Initiative roll: 9 (9d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3270967/)
Initiative: 12 And the grenade will go off right when you least want it to ;)
-
8d6.hits(5)=2 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3273731/) init = 10
-
BF switches to burst fire and shoots at Switch. Short wide burst 2d6.hits(5) → [1,6] = (1) Hit and a glitch. Call it a pipe jam. He'll use his free to eject the mag and 2nd simple to slam a new mag home.
BR runs toward the doorway suppressing the hallway. 9d6.hits(5) → [2,2,6,6,3,6,5,3,1] = (4) Switch still has good cover from being prone. It'll take a simple action to stand up again, but no test if you're still not wounded.
The shooter from the front stairs took a shot at the area where Switch had been sprinting, but his he managed to jam his weapon. From the rear, the man on the stairs began running forward, laying down a spray of fire.
IP3: [BF 16; BR 15; Jink 13; Switch 12; TR 12; Grenade!; TF 12; Ghost 10]
-
Seeing a grenade skitter down the hall and stop right in front of him, Jink messages <'Nade!!!> to the team, adding a strobing emergency effect, flashing red and white with an annoying siren noise. He grabs the limp body of Vanian and half runs, half drags him back into the room, hiding behind the bench a few metres back...
Simple action grab Vanian, run/drag him behind the kitchen bench to the north east of him - I calculate about 6m distance? So i think he can do that in one IP if "running" - then take full cover behind it.
As an aside Kontact - is it possible to fly Jink's rotordrone through the back (or front?) door and up the stairs to help the team?
-
Reaction 6 + good cover 4 (10d6.hits(5)=6) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3274003/)
Strength 7 + Running 0 (7d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3274005/) Sprinting test if needed, although I may be in front of the goon. The goon that has a fresh magaziine. This can't end well.
Reaction 6 - wide burst 2 - previous attack 1 + Running 2 (5d6.hits(5)=1) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3275524/) Fail :(. I'll spend a point of edge if I can Edge Roll: Edge 3 (3d6.hits(5)=1) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3275526/) A total of 2.
Switchback frowns as Jink's message goes out and he launches onto his feet as the old mag drops to the ground, moving swiftly towards the gunman. Somebody's got my back..
He notes the new mag being slapped in. Or a sick sense of humor..
-
TR is going to stand up d6.hits(5) → [4,5,2,6,4,5] = (3) well that's good. He'll take a 2nd simple action to turn off the tac-net.
TF is going to ready his SMG again and fire a short wide burst on Switch 5d6.hits(5) → [3,4,5,6,4] = (2) Switch's modifiers should be -2 for wide burst -1 for previous attack and +2 for dodging while running.
The grenade is a flash-bang, so no one takes any damage since no one was in direct line to it within 10 meters (flash bangs can't go through walls.)
The shooter who Jink had just clipped managed to get back up and hug the wall. The constant stream of garbage data on his network clued him in to what was going on and prompted him to shut it down. Meanwhile, down the hall, the flash bang detonated harmlessly near Rat's door but the man who threw it wasn't even paying attention anymore. Instead he raised up his SMG and sprayed a burst toward's the sounds of the rampaging Ork named Switchback.
CT2 IP1: [BF 16; BR 15; Jink 13; Switch 12; TR 12; Grenade!; TF 12; Ghost 10]
Wounds: TR: {6P} TF: {5P}
-
Ghost still looking through his endoscope searches for his next target. Still straining to keep Switch invisible he uses the rest of his concentration on the closest person he sees.
Manabolt force 5
9d6.hits(5)=1 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3275127/) 1 hit
drain
11d6.hits(5)=3 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3275131/) 3 hits no drain
-
BR resists: 4d6.hits(5) → [3,6,1,3] = (1) successfully. (You really should consider a more aggressive use of edge. A stitch in time and all that.) Speaking of edge, Switch still has a dodge to roll and that shooter is about to get a shot off before melee starts. Might want to spend a point of edge to go first.
The mana surged again down the hall, but like last time, was a whole lot more sizzle than it was meat.
-
Do you mean a dodge test? or action? I rolled and put it in the previous post: I hit 1, and burned edge to get a total of 2 (assuming I could burn edge). I'll burn another one to go first, but I'm not sure if I'm in engagement range at this point. Then ghost can drop the invis and stop fizzing :)
Dodge test: Reaction 6 + Running 2 - Wide burst 2 (6d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3277134/)
Here's the test and post under the assumption I'd go first. If not, I'll edit accordingly.
Attack Test: Unarmed Combat 6 + Charging 2 + Agility 5 (13d6.hits(5)=5) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3277152/)
Switchback charged on through the spray of bullets, clenching his teeth. Glad I paid attention in Sunday School.
He launches his frame at the gunman, his knee coming up as he twists his body.
-
No, it was a different attack. There was the first one from the stairs, BF, where the guy glitched and jammed his gun, which was one hit, and you successfully avoided it without needing to use edge, but then there was a second shot, this time from the guy who was up against the wall, TF. That one was two hits. You don't have any previous attack penalties, on that one, so it should be your reaction +2 for running and -2 for wide burst vs 2 hits. You may want edge there, or you may want to soak the damage down. Either way, you should be able to roll that and then, if you choose to go first, get a charge attack on BF, which will hopefully splatter the guy against the wall so it's not 2 vs. 1 anymore.
-
Splat hiiiiiiiim!!!
-
Shit, I was waiting for Cato to post and didn't notice he edited the rolls in. Well here goes some rolls.
Guy uses an interrupt action to go on full defense. 13d6.hits(5) → [4,6,6,1,1,4,1,4,3,1,6,3,1] = (3) still 2 net. He'll use a point of group edge to keep from getting slammed. 10d6.hits(5) → [5,5,4,4,1,1,5,6,4,6] = (5)
BR runs toward the doorway some more and is holding his other actions
As Switchback swug a massive fist at the crouching gunner's head, the man raised his weapon to block and caught most of the blow with the side of his SMG. The weapon exploded in his hands as he rolled back into a runner's stance. The gunner who had been suppressing the doorway continued his charge forward, keeping an eye out and ready to fire on anything that might present itself.
CT2 IP2: [Switch EDGE-12; BF 16; BR 15; Jink 13; TR 12; TF 12;
(http://i39.tinypic.com/10e4ubc.jpg)
Wounds: TR: {6P} TF: {5P}
-
Leaving Rats unconscious form behind the kitchen counter, Jink runs back to the doorway and let rip with another explosive burst, adding to the shells already littering the hallway... swinging the barrel towards one of the two opponents he previously wounded...
Go down you fragger! he thinks between gritted teeth.
OK so I think he can run back to the doorway in the one IP, then aims and wide bursts at one of the guys he's already wounded - from memory one of them is within 40m? ... I'm not quite sure where everyone is placed now? If not feel free to take off another 2 dice to reflect range -3.
Wide burst (Agility 6, Auto 4, smartlink 2, aim 1, range -1, cover -2, running -2) (8d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3286296/) Ah so that's 3 hits, with -5 dodge roll, base damage 6P, -1AP. 8/32 clip.... and also a glitch I believe... argh!! I'll leave that to you Kontact...
Sorry - just checked the map - so he's shooting at TR (the guy who is NOT in full cover... I think he might be 50m, so take off the last two dice..? which I dont think changes his 3 hits anyway ..? ;)
-
BR is going to take an interrupt action to fire on Jink as he sticks his head out the doorway to shoot. Take aim to reduce range penalties and fire wide long burst. 7d6.hits(5) → [2,2,1,5,6,3,4] = (2) should be -5 to dodge before cover modifiers.
For the glitch, lets go for another jam. You'll need to take a simple action to clear the jam or do it as part of switching your mag.
I'll roll a basic defense on the injured guy in cover. 4d6.hits(5) → [1,6,3,5] = (2) 1 net hit is 7P -1ap which is reduced to stun by armor. Soaking 12d6.hits(5) → [5,6,1,5,2,6,5,3,2,3,3,6] = (6) lucky bastard soaked it to 1S
TF will shoot at Switch again.
1st short wide burst 4d6.hits(5) → [1,2,5,1] = (1) one hit and a glitch. I'll make his buddy roll def too as the glitch.
2nd short wide burst 2d6.hits(5) → [3,4] = (0) total miss
Cato, remember that, in addition to the -2 from wide burst you've got a -3 to dodge since you're engaged in melee combat.
2d6.hits(5) → [5,1] = (1) Well, that's 1:1 and Glitch:Glitch. I'll say that's a contact hit on BF and he'll have to soak base damage.
5P soaking 13d6.hits(5) → [2,6,5,5,3,5,1,1,5,4,2,4,5] = (6) another lucky soak roll. BF is unharmed.
Going to pause for defensive rolls and in case anyone wants to use edge. BTW tim, getting an extra IP is one of the most efficient uses of edge around...
As soon as Jink popped his head out to lay down another burst, the gunner charging the door let rip a burst of his own, further shredding the doorway with the menacing *Tick*Tick*Tick*Tick* of these suppressed weapons.
Simultaneously, Jink fired at the injured attacker peaking his head around the wall, and he clipped him again, this time catching mostly armor. The man recoiled behind the wall and fought to get a signal out through Yuri's digital assault.
Meanwhile down the hall, the other man Jink had previously hit moved forward and began shooting at the area where he suspected Switch might be, but in doing so peppered this own man with the bullets. Luckily for him, the troubleshooter's armor held up to the grazing hits.
CT2 IP3: [BF 16; BR 15; Jink 13; Switch 12; TR 12; TF 12;]
Wounds: TR: {6P, 1S} TF: {5P}
-
... Bullets skim the old biker's swirling longcoat as he rushes to poke his Ingram out the door, not quite finding their mark...
"Filthy fraggers!" he spits, full of venom.
Dodge (reaction 7, cover 4, running 2, -5 wide burst) (8d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3286351/)
I presume he gets the benefit of "running" because he ran during the phase? If not... hmmm... I believe he gets hit!
-
Well, Jink took the -2 to shoot for running, so he should get the +2 to dodge. Still need a defensive roll from Cato.
BF will quickdraw a knife 11d6.hits(5) → [3,5,5,2,3,6,1,6,3,3,2] = (4) and engage in melee with Switch 10d6.hits(5) → [4,3,2,6,6,2,3,5,6,3] = (4)
BR will fire the last of his bullets at Jink. Only 2 bullets left here so it will be -1 to dodge. 10d6.hits(5) → [3,4,4,1,1,2,6,6,1,4] = (2) He'll take a free to drop the empty mag and a simple to load a new one in.
Discarding his destroyed weapon, the hardened killer reached to his belt and brought his arm out in a slash, the glint of the blade flashing in switchback's eyes.
The shooter on the other end of the hall finished emptying his weapon at Jink, paused a moment to swing behind one of the hallway's potted plants and reloaded his weapon.
CT2 IP3: [BF 16; BR 15; Jink 13;Switch 12; TR 12; TF 12;]
Wounds: TR: {6P, 1S} TF: {5P} Ghost: {2S}
-
Dodge: Reaction (6) - Short burst 2 - meleel combat 3 (1d6.hits(5)=0) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3288527/)
Fail :(
Soak Test: 9 Body 6 + Armor 12 (18d6.hits(5)=9) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3288535/)
Melee dodge: Unarmed 6 + Reaction 6 (12d6.hits (5)=5) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3288627/)
-
Psi is in Australia, so if you want to go now Cato, it's not really jumping the line or anything. Forgot the -6 penalty for attacking an invisible target for that melee attempt. Didn't matter, but oops.
One of the bullets sprayed in his direction slammed Switch in the back, to no effect, not even phasing him as he ducked the wild knife swing.
-
Twin bullets zing past Jink's body and bounce down the hallway as the old biker twists to clear the jam before returning fire, his ingram roaring as it spits explosive death down the corridor at the same berk he shot seconds earlier... a guttural snarl betraying his emotion despite his shades hiding his eyes.
< Only 2 rounds left, Umberto> comes the sexy female voice of his link, briefly flashing up a pixelated wench "dressed" in an "armoured bikini", Team Soza emblazened across her prodigious chest as she gives him a playful wink <Make 'em count baby!>.
"That's Jinky's girl!" grunts the old bastard as his gun jumps in his carbonsteel grip.
Dodge (reaction 7, cover 4, running 2, -1 burst) (12d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3289033/) clean miss.
Long wide burst at TR, trying to finish him off! (Agility 6, auto 4, smartlink 2, range -1, cover -2) (9d6.hits(5)=4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3289037/) Simple action clears the jam, other simple action to shoot, still taking 4 cover. So that's a -5 on the dodge, base 6P, AP -1, and down to 2 bullets left in the clip...
-
Hmm, I'll try to sweep him. At least he'll be on the ground if he soaks it again. So 6 + whatever the net hits are (if any).
Attack: Unarmed 6 + Agility 5 (11d6.hits(5)=5) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3289230/)
Switch felt the air brush by as the gunman's knife slashed through the air to no effect. He throws his foot out in a swift kick at the gunman's knee, hoping to bring him down. Come on, fragger, let's go..
-
Third combat turn is coming up. Let's get some initiative cooking. Dodge roll versus wide burst. 6d6.hits(5) → [4,2,2,2,2,3] = (0) Soak roll vs 10P -1ap 12d6.hits(5) → [5,2,1,5,1,1,6,5,2,2,2,6] = (5) takes 5 more Ps and is wasted.
Melee dodge 7d6.hits(5) → [2,2,5,4,1,2,6] = (2) 3 net means soaking 13P 11d6.hits(5) → [2,2,4,4,4,1,2,1,5,3,2] = (1) takes 12P. Dies.
TF: Drops his gun to hang and grabs two grenades.
TR: Is dead, hahaha.
BR's init 11d6.hits(5) → [6,1,6,4,6,1,6,6,4,5,6] = (7) goes on 18
TF's init 10d6.hits(5) → [5,3,1,6,5,1,1,4,4,5] = (4) goes on 14
Jink's barrage paid off with another sucking chest wound for his would-be killer. The man dropped to the floor in a pool of blood. At nearly the same time down the hall, Switchback completed his sweep kick to the knee with a downward striking heel to the temple, crushing the man's skull with a sickening crack.
CT3 IP1: [BR 18; Jink 14; TF 14; Switchback 11]
Wounds: TR: {dead} TF: {5P} BF: {dead} Ghost: {2S}
-
Initiative (10d6.hits(5)=4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3292679/) so goes on 14.
Also I think Jink got a critical success on his last shot, 4 net successes over the 0 dodge, so he gets 1 point of edge back?
Tempted to use it to go before grenade man, but I'll wait and see what Ghost and Switch get.
At the sight of two of their opponents going down, Jink lets out a hearty "Booyeah!!!" and points his meat hand at the guy with the grenades... "You're next chummer!" he barks, eyeing off the 'nades with a worried scowl.
-
Yep, that's an edge refresh. I suspect this combat will be over very soon. Here's to that.
-
Initiative 9 (9d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3292811/)
keeps slipping and slipping.
Switchback feels the skull crack under his heel and spins around, hugging the wall. He eyes the remaining gunman near him, but spares a glance down the hall as Jink yells.
-
Init roll
8d6.hits(5)=1 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3295002/)
[OOC: Do I get -2 for init roll from sustained spell? If so I go on 8. Otherwise I go on 9. BTW, my edge would have refreshed on the stunball to knock out Vanian.]
-
Ok Jink spends his point of edge to go first.
A 2 bullet narrow burst at grenades man: Agility 6, Auto 4, smartlink 2, aim 1, range -3, cover -2 (8d6.hits(5)=4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3295224/) Ok - not bad at all - so that's normal dodge but if hit base 7P with AP-1. And zero bullets left in the clip.
Jinks wired reflexes rev into overtime as he moves to try and take out the grenade man before things get chunky salsa in the hallway... His SMG coughs out the last two rounds from the clip, the rigger trying to keep them in a tight grouping around his target's chest.
Cmon! he prays as the lead roars away...
-
Tim: Yeah, edge should have refreshed if you'd used any. I don't think you had.. Anyway..
TF dodges: 8d6.hits(5) → [6,5,6,1,2,2,4,1] = (3) 1 net means 8S-1AP 12d6.hits(5) → [5,6,5,2,4,2,4,3,2,6,2,1] = (4) Soaked to 4S.
BR fires two short wides at Jink.
9d6.hits(5) → [3,5,5,2,3,4,2,5,2] = (3)
7d6.hits(5) → [4,2,2,4,4,1,6] = (1)
TF falls back into the hallway toward the elevator and tosses the grenades at the wall near the stariway behind him.
toss 1d6.hits(5) → [4] = (0)
scatter 1d6.hits(5) → [2] = (0)
direction 1d6.hits(5) → [5] = (1)
toss 1d6.hits(5) → [3] = (0)
scatter 1d6.hits(5) → [2] = (0)
direction 1d6.hits(5) → [3] = (0)
2 m near and left and 2 m near and right.
The bullets catch on the grenadier's armor staggering him, but not enough to knock him off his feet. The near gunner took the opportunity offered by Jink's distracted state to fire on him from behind the small potted tree he was using for cover. While that was happening, the remaining attacker by Switchback, the grenadier, started running down the side hallway, tossing the grenades behind him, but they landed shallow.
CT3 IP1: [Jink EDGE-14; BR 18; TF 13; Switchback 11; Ghost 8]
Wounds: TR: {dead} TF: {4S, 5P} BF: {dead} Ghost: {2S}
-
First dodge (9d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3298028/)
2nd dodge (8d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3298030/)
Damn! hit by the first one, net 1 hit... so I'm assuming 6S damage? Lined coat 6 plus body 3 soak (9d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3298031/) ..so he takes 4 stun and is knocked down prone.
Focused on trying to take out grenade man, Jink is oblivious to the quick bursts from their other attacker - at least until one of them spins him around and to the floor, rounds hammering into his back and winding him momentarily.
"Goddamn fragger motherdrek eater!!! he curses under his breath, twisting about to prop himself up on his elbows as he brings his gun around.
<Empty!> reminds his commlink cheergirl, spreading her hands in gameshow fashion, a pout on her cherry lips.
A deep scowl comes over Jink as he reaches for his last explosive clip, "Son of a bitch must pay!"
-
Ok, now that I've got the idea :) Switchback is going to seek cover in the stairwell, and ready his uzi.
Switchback watches the grenades roll to a stop. Drek.
Switchback dodges into the stairwell and crouches down, pulling his uzi out. Fraggin' grenades..
-
Psi: Right on all accounts.
Cato: He was throwing the grenades at the far wall, not at Switch. I'll make a blown up map so the action is clear as is the distance.
(http://i43.tinypic.com/4pzfw5.jpg)
-
Don't know if I can see that Switch is would be fine w/o invis because I'm looking through an endoscope the other way. Either way I'll just manabolt the first person I can see
Force 5 mana bolt.
9d6.hits(5)=3 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3300605/) 3 hits
resist drain
11d6.hits(5)=3 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3300606/) 3 hits
As Ghost peers through the endoscope and tries to inflict physical harm on the he wonders who he's actually fighting. Are these Vanian's friends trying to protect me? more assassins? He hopes for the later as releases mana into the shooters coming down the hall.
-
Resisting magic from partial cover. 5d6.hits(5) → [4,5,5,1,1] = (2) One net means takes 6S and is knocked over.
CT2 he'll switch to single shot and call a shot to fire from prone at Ghost's endoscope. 6d6.hits(5) → [1,3,5,2,6,4] = (2) Ghost can roll a defense to try and keep his scope from being shattered. Cover should apply.
After Jink goes, the grenades will detonate.
Ghost's mana blast didn't disperse off the walls this time, but instead slammed the shooter crouched behind the potted plant wh had been steadily advancing on the room. The force of it was enough to throw him on to his back, but not enough to sun him outright as he fired back on the doorway. This time though, it wasn't a spray, but was instead a pointed shot right at Ghost's endoscope.
CT3 IP2: [ BR 16; Jink 14; TF 13; Switchback 11; Ghost 8]
Wounds: TR: {dead} TF: {4S, 5P} BF: {dead} BR: {6S} Ghost: {2S}
-
Pretty simple for Jink this pass - simple action eject clip, simple action stand back up and take good cover. Free action turn off his pain sensors in his cyberarm - which I think if you use the optional rule in Augmentation (p.33) means he can ignore 1 box of damage for the purposes of modifiers, and with his high pain tolerance ignoring another box, means he won't take any penalties yet for the 4 stun...?
Stand up test (7d6.hits(5)=1) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3304491/) ... argghh!! Alas, fail anyway!
Still lying in the doorway, but keeping to cover as much as he can, Jink ejects his empty clip and tries to struggle to his feet... a painful spasm in the lower back interrupting his intent.
"Fraggin' biker wound," he complains bitterly to Ghost, glimpses of his career ending crash flicking through his mind as he slumps back to the floor.
-
defense roll
8d6.hits(5)=3 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3306712/)
I rolled eight dice assuming good cover planning on taking off the last two if only partial cover. Either way its 3 hits.
Also I think BR should have 6P damage. I cast a Manabolt not a stunball.
Ghost flinches from the vibrations of bullet hitting the wall near his endoscope.
-
: Yeah, you right. Manabolt noted. TF's grenades go off, and he didn't get them far enough away to not have to soak both. Switchback should be out of range of both down the stairs. Here's some soak. 8d6.hits(5) → [1,6,4,3,2,6,2,2] = (2) 8d6.hits(5) → [1,4,1,2,1,1,5,3] = (1) so 9S from the bangs overflows S to P, nearly killing him.
As the bullet catches in the wood behind where Ghost's endoscope just was, the grenades down the hall explode with a combined candle power of over 300,000,000 and a concussive blast heavy enough to throw the retreating hitter against the back wall, where he collapses with a smack that no one can hear from the ringing in their heads.
CT3 IP2: [ BR 16; Jink 14; Switchback 11]
Wounds: TR: {dead} TF: {10S (unconscious), 8P} BF: {dead} BR: {6P} Ghost: {2S}
-
Not much I think I can do on this one. Did the blast by chance knock a hole in the wall? If not then I'll walk up, Uzi ready, to check on the guy in the hallway. If I can see that he's down then I'll take a few shots (which have almost no chance) at the guy farther down the hallway. So.. he's going to walk out of the stairwell and to the hallway intersection. That should use up all of his actions I believe.
Switchback stands up slowly, his grip tightening on the Uzi IV. He shakes his head slightly and wobbles a little out of the stairwell before he gets his feet back under him. He makes his way to the intersection in the hallway, scanning for the grenadier. I really hate grenades..
-
You should be able to take a pot-shot at extreme range if you'd like. -5 dice for range isn't the end of the world. BR will begin a retreating action, suppressing as he goes. 11d6.hits(5) → [5,6,3,6,5,2,2,2,1,4,5] = (5) If you just stay down, he'll leave and combat will be over. If you want to kill him, combat will continue as long as you need.
Professionalism extending only so far, the final gunner decides to take his chances elsewhere and starts for the exit, firing the whole time.
CT3 IP3: [ BR 16; Jink 14; Switchback 11]
Wounds: TR: {dead} TF: {10S (unconscious), 8P} BF: {dead} BR: {6P} Ghost: {2S}
-
Lying on the floor, wincing in pain, Umberto's thirst for revenge evaporates as quickly as it came as the last gunman makesa run for it...
"Beat it, fragger," he curses, struggling to his feet and slipping his ingram back into its holster. Staggering back to Van's unconscious body, he hoists him over his cybershoulder.
"Let's get the hell outta here," he suggests to Ghost.
stand up test (7d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3312112/)
-
Switchback slips his Uzi back into the holster and jogs back to Van's apartment, sparing a glance at the collapsed form of the grenadier against the wall. That's going to sting for a bit.
"You chums ready to get out of here? I'd rather not wait for anyone else to decide they want to come look around."
-
Ghost stops concentrating on the invisibility spell.
"Yeah, let's blow this taco stand. Who's carrying Rat? I'll keep him concealed.
Ghost cast invisibility on Rat's unconscious body.
[no rolls right now invis castle down]
On the way out ghost quickly cases the bodies he passes on the way out. He grabs any commlinks they have and looks for anything else he might find interesting.
-
Are you going out the front or the back? Each shooter has an HK 227x SMG with 3 clips of standard ammo, a belt [with a knife (regular-ass,) Colt Manhunter w/ 2 clips regular ammo and 3 flash-bang grenades (except unconscious guy. He has no grenades,)] an armored jacket (with holes,) and a pair of goggles. They are additionally carrying Sawnee Emp-rar Commlinks (All knock offs common to the Touristville shops in Redmond, and all bricked by Yuri to keep the baddies from alerting their bosses.)
Yuri comes out of her VR trance and gets up, switching to an AR scheme. She was never in danger during the combat, but she still seems shaken by what happened. "There's more at the front door. Some kind of security company, seems to have gotten into it with our shooters." She pauses and exhales. "Sorry guys, but I'm stepping off this ride for good. These guys just shot up Bellview like it was nothing. If they so much as got a cap of my face or voice.. If they ran my plates out in the lot.. I'm a citizen, I can't mess with this kind of heat. Even a fourth of 160 grand isn't enough for me to throw my life away. I'll see you guys on the other side, but I.. Sorry."
-
"It's shiny, Yuri. Just do us a favour and wipe our visit here from the building records, neh?"
Giving Yuri a salute, Jink wastes no more time, feeding his team his wagon's camera feed from the front, showing (amongst other things) a badly damaged Lynx combat drone shooting the place up. "Out the back chummers, let's get some speed on, wagon's waitin' for us," Umberto says. He heads down the back stairs, not waiting to grab anything from the dead gunners, pinging his wagon for pickup at the back door (up on the curb, side access door open for them to jump in quickly).
Ensuring his link is in hidden mode, Jink's lungs work overtime with Van's additional weight, despite the fact that his cyberarm lifts him easily enough.
"Who the drek is that outside now? More backup? Frag!"
Not sure if any of this requires a test?
-
Switchback's hand slips back to his Uzi when Yuri mentions antoher party out front. Rat must have been better off than I thought...
"More security? This guy must be hotter than we thought."
He heads out with the team, jogging in the rear and glancing back down the hallway to see if anyone is following them.
-
The back door opens up on a small, walled-in courtyard. The walls are about 4 meters high and topped with microwire. A stone walkway travels the length of the building along its northern side, flanked by tropical foliage that isn't fooling anyone into thinking of Seattle as anything besides a soppy mess of a place.
-
"Nil sheen," quips Jink at the sight of the 4m walls, dumping Van in Switchback's arms. Raising his cyberarm an air pressurized fwoop! sounds as the rigger shoots his grappling hook up onto the top of the wall. Quickly scampering up the wall, he produces his miniwelder from his belt and quietly cuts through two sections of the mircowire, making enough space for the team to climb over.
Perched on top of the wall, he lowers down enough cord on the other side to clamber back down again, scanning the streets for his swagger wagon...
"Ghost can you fly Vans body up over the wall or do we do it the hard way?", he inquires.
Pretty sure he had his miniwelder with him..? I forget now? If not, or if this requires any tests, let me know...
-
Switchback slings Van over his left shoulder, keeping the Uzi in his right.
Watching Jink cut through the microwire he glances back towards the building. "Not a bad trick, as long as we don't have to hoof it to the wagon."
-
The grapple gun's winch isn't powerful enough to pull up a person, only a small load, like 15-20 kg at most. Otherwise, you'll need to climb, assisted by the grapple line. Averaging your arms' strength and adding +2 for assisted climbing will give you 5 dice after defaulting, so you'll need 4 hits on an extended test to climb 4 meters, or you could buy hits and make it up in 12 seconds, since each test will take a Combat Turn.
However you do it, you're not likely to reach the top before you're intercepted by Sundance. Well, too late now.
As Switchback took in the scene, he didn't have high hopes. They were surrounded by tightly-packed residential lots on all sides. There was no street access back here, only access to more buildings with more security, likely on alert after all those grenade blasts.
He didn't have time to consider much else before he heard the voice come from behind him.
"Hey ork! Don't turn around or I shoot you! Where is Vanian, and who the fuck are you?"
-
Dropping back to the ground with the rest of the team, Jink lands in a crouched position, his grapple retracting as he eyes off the newcomer, no time yet to draw a weapon...
<Drek, no street access back there chummers. Looks like we're going out the front door after all. Who is this guy?">
"I'm Jink, perhaps you've heard of me? " the rigger asks, a cheesy grin on his face, turning his shoulder a little to display the "Team Soza" emblem on his longcoat.
-
OOC: I'm actually a touch confused. Where, exactly, are we, and who is present? I think we had a time desyncronization issue.
-
Switchback's eyes flick over to Jink as he drops to the ground. He shifts slightly, placing Vanian in a more comfortable position and tightening his grip on his weapon. Who is this guy? Gotta come up with something to keep him busy..
"Easy chum. Shooting's not in anyone's favor here. We're chums of Vanians. As you may have noticed somebody seems to have taken a shine to him. We came to help out. I'm afraid he's a bit delicate when it comes to getting shot at, but he's fine and dandy I promise you. Now, lower your weapon or at least stop pointing it at me. I get jumpy when guns are at my back, and besides I don't think any of us wants more company at this party."
Switchback stands still, waiting. Just keeps getting better and better...
OOC: I can roll con if needed. I'm not sure what the modifiers would be. We are obviously suspicious, but we do have Vanian. I'm not actually trying to con Sundance though. Just get the gun away, or distract him long enough for Ghost to drop him.
-
Rolls help with roleplaying. Don't worry too much about modifiers. There was a desync with time when you guys ended combat. I thought Umaro was waiting for Mirikon to hack security, but he was hot on your trail and should have reached you before you left rat's apartment. It shouldn't matter too much whether you're in the courtyard or the apartment. The situation is that he's on the other side of a doorway, with Switch framed in it. Yuri detects hidden node 11d6.hits(5) → [5,6,6,3,4,6,6,1,5,2,6] = (7) successfully.
Yuri doesn't move. <<Sorry guys. I don't know how I missed this guy... besides him being a tiny blur..>>
-
"Vanian didn't say anything about friends when he called for our help...but maybe you're telling the truth, and you're right about getting out of here. We're leaving, now, in our van, with Vanian, and you're coming along. When he wakes up, we see how he feels about your help and then I stop pointing my gun at you."
Jink has Vanian, yes? Cato's post indicates he does.
*subvocal to Kouryuu and Motoko* *Found unconscious Vanian, and a possible friendly. We are coming down and getting the fuck out of here, and sorting this shit out later. Get the van ready. *
-
"Well, I'm sure you saw all the bullet holes on your way down here. I'd say you were late, and our friendship has been verified. After all, Vanian is still alive. But, since I trust your good intentions I'll let you in on a few things chum. First, you're right we are leaving. But we aren't going in your van. I trust you, but I'm pretty particular about riding. Queasy stomach and all that, you know? So we'll take ours, and you are free to hop a ride. Might be a bit cosy, but we're all chums, no? Now about your gun... that's your ace. But I know where Vanian is, and I'm not alone. Those are my pocket aces. If you absolutely feel the need to point it at me, just let me turn around. Like I said, I get jumpy when they are at my back. There's more in the pot here then you know... but we should really get moving. Even fraggers like those in the hallway have friends. In fact, they may be quite popular, know what I mean?"
I hope some of those bets come through... I'm not a huge fan of having guns at my back
OOC: As far as I know Van is invisible and over Switchbacks left shoulder. He's holding an Uzi in the right. Jink and Ghost are in the courtyard.
-
OOC: As far as I know Van is invisible and over Switchbacks left shoulder. He's holding an Uzi in the right. Jink and Ghost are in the courtyard.
Looks like everyone thinks of the situation differently as there has been misunderstanding in placement, so @Kontact Could you pleas set the scene so we know where who is and there is no misunderstanding, or better even you could just set the places with the second team so we do not risk meta gaming any way.
p.s. should i start posting here as well as i entered the building just now?
and do we still need a separate topic just for Okamoto and the fleeing thug, as Motoko is hacking the house node and can be considered in the house as well.
[/spoiler]
*subvocal to Kouryuu and Motoko* *Found unconscious Vanian, and a possible friendly. We are coming down and getting the fuck out of here, and sorting this shit out later. Get the van ready. *
@team >understood, joining you as soon as i find you, How is your progress, Motoko, any luck on the hack?
p.s. you still can use my Bike as a ramming drone. Crimson out.<
-
Ah, OK, that explains what's up with Vanian.
"Or you might be here to kidnap Vanian. Or he might be dead and you stashed his body. Alright, you turn around, and we go for a ride - you, me, Vanian, anyone else who wants in on the ride, and my white phosphorus grenades, got it? And don't try any magical shenanigans, either."
*subvocal* *Change of plans. I'm getting in their van. Stay nearby. If a fight starts, you lose contact with me, or their van catches on fire, back me up. Motoko, if you can hack one of their commlinks subtle-like to verify their story, that would be good.*
Sundance looks like a human child with an oversized, armored left lower arm and both lower legs. He's wearing a Strict-9 jacket and hood with a gas mask over it, and it's all currently blurring and blending into the wall of the building. He's pointing a Yamaha Sakura Fubuki at Switchback.
-
"To the swagger wagon!" declares Jink, catching the end of the conversation between Switch and the newcomer. He leads the way down the hallway and outside, his gun still holstered, confident their ork could mash their new tag-along if required, despite the firearm. Pinging his wagon for pickup at the front, the jet black Rover drives right up to the front entry, doors open for easy access.
Jumping inside, Jink connects his fibreoptic cable to his datajack and the wagon's dash for a direct neural interface connection, before thumbing off his commlink and terminating any wireless connections to the wagon.
Assuming the team plus Sundance are happy to travel in the wagon, once everyone is on board, he guns the engine and they speed off out of the area, conscious that Knight Errant is on the way.... once they're going he activates the morphing plates and spoofing chip to try and make it harder to track them.
-
Sundance follows Switchback and Jink to the van, keeping an extremely suspicious eye on both of them and his gun out and ready. As they start leaving, his holowear flickers and he suddenly looks like an unarmed male dwarf wearing street clothes.
-
Umaro: The Intuition roll you made earlier was to see through the Imp Invis spell, and you beat it. As such, you can see Rat just fine. Other than that, yay that things are moving forward. There's just a couple more thing to handle before we hit the road and I hand out some goodies. Yrui hacks in 14d6.hits(5) → [6,1,6,1,1,2,2,4,1,3,3,3,4,5] = (3) successfully as user, Sunbot gets a free spot check 10d6.hits(5) → [1,3,5,5,2,6,6,5,3,2] = (5) opposed by Yuri 15d6.hits(5) → [4,6,6,5,6,3,1,4,4,1,4,6,5,6,5] = (8) Doesn't see her. She's going to browse Sundance's call log while they talk.
<<@Team: Vanian called this guy. The call log checks out. Also a lot of Russians called him. Even I recognize some of these names. This guy is well connected, so be very careful.>>
"You guys have fun. I'm going home and downing some Laes. So, if I see any of you around later, feel free to ask me if I'd like a glass of elven wine. I'll know what you mean even if I have no idea who you are."
-
Kour: So you're running toward the backdoor?
Not running, walking or even a bit slower then that and looking around.
Can do new perception roll for the inside. here - 3 and 4 hits respectively
P.s. People i guess we have to make one thread or we miss a lot of detail, for example Crimson being in the building on her way to join Sundance,
(http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3319013/)
-
*subvocal**We don't have time to screw around - we need to be getting out of here before more goons show up. I give it maybe 50-50 that these guys are legit - at the very least, they're not here to kill Vanian or he'd be dead. We need to figure out something we can all agree to, fast.*
*You know what, fuck being a relay. Join [some channel number]*
"We have a problem. My friends do not trust you. I do not want to waste bullets shooting my employer's friends or let him go with his enemies. Join [channel number], we need to sort this out fast."
OOC: Sundance is basically just trying to put everyone in comm contact so we can talk, instead of him being a relay.
-
"To the swagger wagon!" declares Jink, catching the end of the conversation between Switch and the newcomer. He leads the way down the hallway and outside, his gun still holstered, confident their ork could mash their new tag-along if required, despite the firearm. Pinging his wagon for pickup at the front, the jet black Rover drives right up to the front entry, doors open for easy access.
Jumping inside, Jink connects his fibreoptic cable to his datajack and the wagon's dash for a direct neural interface connection, before thumbing off his commlink and terminating any wireless connections to the wagon.
Assuming the team plus Sundance are happy to travel in the wagon, once everyone is on board, he guns the engine and they speed off out of the area, conscious that Knight Errant is on the way.... once they're going he activates the morphing plates and spoofing chip to try and make it harder to track them.
Crimson Stps the lot on the Halfway to the Van, still in the building. "Whoa, chummer where to?"
-
Switchback joins the channel: What seems to be the problem?
-
The voice of a VERY pissed off woman answers. "The problem is that anyone walking out that door that isn't bringing Vanian to my van is going to be shot dead. I don't know who you are, and I don't care. I'm getting paid. You can have ONE person, nonmagic, in my van, if you want. And if you so much as think of hacking my van, I will blackhammer the lot of you. The rest of you can walk for all I care. And there's a time crunch on this, since the Knights should be responding any minute now."
-
Switchback frowns at the sound of the voice.
"That's cute. Listen, you've got your friend standing here with a gun at my back. That's your insurance. I'm sure he's told you that Van is safe. We have Van, and we saved his ass. I didn't see you when the bullets were flying. You're right. The Knights could be responding. In fact, our friend can probably get us out of that little bit of trouble. Probably by sticking it on you. I'm more concerned with the gunmen's pals showing up with people who know how to do their fraggin job. So we're leaving out of here, now. We're getting in our van. Ride or follow, I don't care. Your russian pal is going with us to make sure Van's safe and you get your money. Clock's ticking. Do us a favor and delay the Knights while we get the frag out of here if you don't feel inclined to let us out the front."
Switchback turns his head towards Sundance: "Your chum out there is making a stupid mistake. At least it's a bit easier to hole up here I guess. But you might tell her that if she shoots me she runs a good chance of offing Van. By the way, if you don't mind I'm going to put my gun away. If I have to run I'd rather not have it out."
OOC: Here's a con test for the getting out of Knights thing if wanted, since that one is kind of a con :): Con test (6d6.hits(5)=1) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3321890/) Le sigh.
-
There's the sound of two high powered rifle shots outside.
"There are now two very nice holes in your van's engine block. Keep talking, and I keep shooting. I am having a VERY bad day!"
-
OOC: hmmm ok things are getting out of hand. I suggest we backtrack to the conversation in the hallway. If at any point the sniper attempts to shoot the wagon, the wagon will try and shoot him first (the wagon has been filming these guys this whole combat, presumably without their knowing it? Initiative rolls perhaps... if we really have to go down this path? ... :( I know folks are playing their characters, but for the sake of keeping this game on the rails, and amalgamating the teams ... a bit of flexibility would go a long way 8)
-
OOC: hmmm ok things are getting out of hand. I suggest we backtrack to the conversation in the hallway. If at any point the sniper attempts to shoot the wagon, the wagon will try and shoot him first (the wagon has been filming these guys this whole combat, presumably without their knowing it? Initiative rolls perhaps... if we really have to go down this path? ... :( I know folks are playing their characters, but for the sake of keeping this game on the rails, and amalgamating the teams ... a bit of flexibility would go a long way 8)
Agree, as there has been a rush, and Crimson could convince your team to come with us for the time being before the Van gets shot, but Motoko's reaction is a appropriate one.
BTW, you are rushing things here, i know you would like to end this part as fast as possible, but we are having a situation, and we all have to react to what have been posted.
Crimson is gona want to talk, Motoko Shoot and Sundances maybe even something else.
-
Yes true I've been trying to push it along... ok will wait for everyone to post.. but lets co-operate people!
-
Yes true I've been trying to push it along... ok will wait for everyone to post.. but lets co-operate people!
I know that there is wish to put this behind us, but there is too much things peapole assuem, for example, the location of Jinks Van.
I do not have a clue where it is, but mokoto shot at it., who knows.
Crimson is between Sundance and the door, so no one is leaving the building before they either pushed her aside or convinced that she needs to back down.
And if you push her aside Crimson will not consider her fault that Mokoto shoots you, she would have warned you about that.
-
Apologies everyone. I had hoped that my post OOC about needing to resolve the situation outside with the remaining troubleshooter would let you guys know that we're not quite ready to move on.
We should have still been working in combat turns. Soon enough you'll be able to paint with broad strokes, but for now, think about how many seconds until that guy we let get away makes us pay for it. :o
In case you forgot the modus operandi of your opposition, it's Slash and Burn.
-
Ghost cast Analyze Truth Force 5
9d6.hits(5)=2 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3324987/) 2 hits
Using edge to reroll fails
7d6.hits(5)=4 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3324990/) 4 more hits
Resist Drain
11d6.hits(5)=3 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3324992/) 3 hits no drain
Ghost slowly presents himself into view to the shooter pointing a gun at Switch with his hands up in the air. "So you say Vanian called you to protect him and you don't know the dead goons in the hallway? Wait's for Sundance's answer. "To be frank I could care less about the health of Vanian except for the fact it would probably make my job a lot more complicated than it's already starting to become. Also if those kick artists were not with you they were probably here to snuff this guy. Let's work together to get the frag outta here and avoid KE and any more would be assassins. Switch, Jink, this guys telling the truth. Vanian hired him for protection."
-
"Yes, that's right. Someone dressed like the dead guy took a shot at me outside, but other than that, no idea."
OOC: I'm assuming Ghost was smart enough to cast that spell before showing himself, right?
-
.
OOC: I'm assuming Ghost was smart enough to cast that spell before showing himself, right?
OOC: Yeah, you might be able to notice him sustaining a spell though. He's sustaining the analyze truth and the invisibility spell. I think you would probably need to use edge or have counterspelling to resist the analyze truth but it's probably in everyone's best interest if you don't.
-
"To the swagger wagon!" declares Jink, catching the end of the conversation between Switch and the newcomer. He leads the way down the hallway and outside, his gun still holstered, confident their ork could mash their new tag-along if required, despite the firearm. Pinging his wagon for pickup at the front, the jet black Rover drives right up to the front entry, doors open for easy access.
Jumping inside, Jink connects his fibreoptic cable to his datajack and the wagon's dash for a direct neural interface connection, before thumbing off his commlink and terminating any wireless connections to the wagon.
Assuming the team plus Sundance are happy to travel in the wagon, once everyone is on board, he guns the engine and they speed off out of the area, conscious that Knight Errant is on the way.... once they're going he activates the morphing plates and spoofing chip to try and make it harder to track them.
Crimson Stps the lot on the Halfway to the Van, still in the building. "Whoa, chummer where to?"
Just reminding you.
-
.
OOC: I'm assuming Ghost was smart enough to cast that spell before showing himself, right?
OOC: Yeah, you might be able to notice him sustaining a spell though. He's sustaining the analyze truth and the invisibility spell. I think you would probably need to use edge or have counterspelling to resist the analyze truth but it's probably in everyone's best interest if you don't.
OOC: You actually can't notice sustained spells without astral perception, only casting. Sundance can't get more than 5 hits, and Ghost only needs 1 net hit to determine he's not lying, so I didn't bother rolling.
-
"Okay, here's my proposal. We help you keep Vanian alive and you let us question him when we're safe and he wakes back up. Deal?
-
"So long as by 'question' you mean 'talk to' and not 'torture information out of,' sure."
-
"Torture is against my basic values.
-
Who is this guy? Switchback's eyes dart between Jink and Ghost. Hope this works..
"Easy chum. Shooting's not in anyone's favor here. We're chums of Vanians. As you may have noticed somebody seems to have taken a shine to him. We came to help out. I'm afraid he's a bit delicate when it comes to getting shot at, but he's fine and dandy I promise you. In fact, some of those thugs ran out the door. If you're here to help you can give us some cover as we get out of here. Our ride's just outside. I suggest we get this guy someplace safe before more competent friends of those goons come to join the party."
Switchback stands still, waiting. Just keeps getting better and better...
The original reaction, slightly edited for the current location/situation/whathaveyou
-
Crimson Notices Sundance pointing a gun at Someone while she comes up the stairs "Who do you have got here Sun?" She speaks in a Light fashion but her Taser in her hand is all other then relaxed "Any news on Vanian?"
-
Sundance pauses.
"Switch, tell her what you told me."
*text-only over comm to Crimson* *Claims his team just wants to talk to Vanian. I'm not sure, do you think he's lying?*
-
Sundance pauses.
"Switch, tell her what you told me."
*text-only over comm to Crimson* *Claims his team just wants to talk to Vanian. I'm not sure, do you think he's lying?*
"So, Switch it is? what can you tell me about Vanian? why are you here and why should we trust you?" Crimson asked in a businesslike voice "A lot is riding on your answer.(4)"
Crimson was awaiting a answear, by witch judging tell her if this man is a friend or a foe (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3345938/)
-
"I said Vanian's fine. As you may have noticed, someone's taken a shine to him. We're his pals and we saved his ass. But, we didn't get them all. As friendly as they were I'm willing to bet they have friends. My colleagues and I have a van out front. I suggest we get in it and leave quickly, before someone more competent shows up."
-
even thou Switch got Crimson to trust him a bit, her professionalism got ahead of her
"OK, We have a Van too, I suggest 2 of each group take one Van and Vanian, the others the other, so in case one tries to backstab the other we have some leverage, with i trust would not be necessary." Crimson declared, "And you are absolutly right, we have to leave now."
nego(5) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3348974/)
-
"Acceptable to me. Me, Crimson, Switch, and one other guy from your team go with your Van and Vanian, everyone else in our van, we get out of here and sort out details later. Good?"
-
"That works. I'd suggest we go now."
-
"That works. I'd suggest we go now."
"Good, Sun will keep the gun on you until we see Vanian, it's nothing personal, just i feel we need some bargaining chip in case your friends do not share your concern for honesty." Crimson Said responding to Switch, and the turned to her Com @Motoko >We are about to bring Vanian to your Van, would be nice if you would park as close to the enterance as posible, o point risking anouther sniper a chance to take our employer out. Sunn will going with you as will two others 'Friends' joining you"
-
The reply over comms came shortly. No problem. And I think I disabled the turrets down the street, as well. So while we're heading out, I at least want to pick up that sniper and his commlink. Might provide info, definitely will provide satisfaction. Within moments, a van that was armored like a small tank was parked in front of the door, the sliding door opening to reveal a small half-japanese woman with a sniper rifle in her hand.
-
Jink takes it all in his stride, happy enough that Vanian and some of his team are at least going with him in his wagonHe rolls the Rover up to the curb and jumps in, plugging in his fibreoptic and cutting the van's wireless access and activating an internal cam to keep an extra eye on Crimson and Sundance.
"Let's roll, neh?" he declares to Switch and his two new ride alongs.
<commlink to team: This is some pretty weird drek chummers... but.... let's get somewhere safe and sort out Vanian before the cops arrive.>color]
[OOC: Assuming no objections, Jink drives them to a nearby safehouse for Vanian's interrogation/negotiation - based on my earlier safehouse roll? He has the morphing plate etc running on the way, and keeps an eye/sensor out for anyone following]
-
"Well that leaves me along in a van with who knows how many other chums you brought with you. I'll agree after I see who's in the other van.
-
Jink - commlink to team <Jinky knows you can handle them, eh Ghost? ;)>
-
Yuri looked once more around the condo, hoping they weren't leaving anything behind since the place would soon be swarming with cops. It dawned on her just as the others were headed out Rat's condo that he'd had a full wired security system at the pawn shop. She what were the chances he'd not have the same here? "You guys go on without me. I'll call Alpha Blue and get her to slow the Knights response a little while I try and clean this scene up as best as possible. I'm not going to risk these trigger-happy pieces of corp-drek getting my face and name before I disappear."
Not 15 seconds after everyone piled into their respective transport, the sound of sirens picked up coming from the south and heading closer. Seems the KEsters were a good 20 seconds early this evening. The team sped off north, toward Redmond and anonymity while the police closed in on Rat's with Yuri still inside. However, as if by some miracle, they stopped a block down, at the high-security apartment building on which the sniper had perched, and exited their vehicles. That building must have contracted with Knight Errant security directly and, as such, bought priority first response.
-
Motoko began cursing in several different languages when the Knights showed up before she could get her hands on the sniper. Then, turning on the people in her van, she waved the rifle wildly. "Who the frak is this? Where's Vanian? I better be getting paid, because I have a drone to fix up because of this mess!"
-
"Switch, what is it exactly you need from Vanian?" Crimson Asked her fellow runner, while thinking to herself ... why does Motoko does not have such a nice car? ...
-
Ghost, having worked with Switch and Jinx before feels comfortable enough to know that him riding by himself in the other teams van won't get him left out of his payday. "Hey, so who am I riding with?" he says to Crimson and Sundance while walking to the van with the scraped side. The disheveled, slightly pungent mage steps into the van and hear's Motoko's rant. In a calmest voice he can muster after just in a firefight he says, "Calm down chummer, Vanian's safe and sound. Just follow that van and you'll get your cash. You good with comms? I got some off the dead goons up there. I wanna make sure any friends of theirs can't track them."
-
Ghost, having worked with Switch and Jinx before feels comfortable enough to know that him riding by himself in the other teams van won't get him left out of his payday. "Hey, so who am I riding with?" he says to Crimson and Sundance while walking to the van with the scraped side.
"She goes by the name Motoko, Nice Gal under a lot of violent armour. Just do not piss her off, she had a terrible day up until now, so she might be easly convinced to shoot someone and i would not like the some one to be you. Bad for our deal and most likely for you too." While sitting in the car Crimson command her Bike to follow in a distance of a few hundred meters, time to time she let's the bike pass the rover to see noone is following it, or the Rover. Nice having sensors in drone/Bike ;D
-
Motoko takes the commlinks, and directs her van to follow the other one, while she begins to dive the captured commlinks. Might not be quite as good as getting hold of the sniper's link, but it'll do for a start. "Any paydata or bank accounts on here goes to me, to repair the drone that got shot up by that sniper."
<OOC> You want me to make the rolls to hack each the comms? She's going to go until she gets admin access on each one, and then drain any bank accounts they have, stealing any information they might contain, and then turning them off.
-
Yuri, Team A's hacker, bricked all of the enemy comms during the firefight to keep them from calling for help or broadcasting information about her or the team (as it was.) The links won't even turn on without a hardware check, and then they'll need a new OS. They were burners anyway, meant to be used once and tossed. Safehouse options are abandoned squats for free, or gang turf for cash/trade. Psi, you're leading the parade, you decide.
The caravan of vehicles made it to the 520 easily enough, and from there piped straight into the heart of north Redmond. KE could be a problem all the way through Touristville, so everyone held their breath until they reached the mostly abandoned part of Novelty Hill road. There were plenty of abandoned warehouses and office parks in this part of Redmond which could make an easy squat for a minute. Convincing any locals to clear out would be a non-event. Otherwise, there were gang nests near enough by that Jink could direct them all into a back lot where they'd have lookouts and such keeping an eye on things, for a price.
-
"So, Mokoto is it? How do you guys know Vanian?
-
Jink steers the mini convoy to an abandoned squat, avoiding the local heavies and their more mobile counterparts on two wheels. Pulling up outside a derelict plascrete apartment, he pops the doors with a mental command and turns around in his seat.
"Castle de drekhouse," he states grandly, waving towards the safehouse. "Better than a KE cell, si?"
Once everyone files out he commands the wagon to keep an eye out for anyone sneaking up on their position, instructing it to send him a camera feed of anyone who enters the parking lot (other than the two teams or Vanian). He tells the wagon to make outgoing wireless communications only, switching off receiving functionality. Unplugging his fibreoptic, he jumps out, locks up, and heads inside to join the party.
[OOC: not sure you can give a "send only" command? I assume you can? If not no worries.]
-
Swtich glances around as he jumps out of the wagon.
@Jink: "Quite a place, just our style."
@Crimson: "We need a few questions answered. By the way, you may not be aware, but there are some serious players after Rat. In fact, there's more going on here than you realize."
-
Motoko shook her head as she got out of the van. The sniper rifle was always pointed at a member of the other team. Not held ready, but still an appreciable threat. "We don't. We're being paid to pick up Vanian, and get him out of the building. And you don't ask any questions until after we get paid. I don't much care who is after him, I'm already going to be spending most of the money I get from this gig to repair my drone. So I get paid, and unless someone can give me a damn good reason to do otherwise, I'm splitting, before I have any more repair bills to deal with."
-
"I assume someone is serious about things if they start shooting up Bellview. Anyone got a better way to wake Vanian up than slapping him? Also, I suggest we let Crimson talk to him first when he wakes up...he might be a bit nervous."
*subvocal to Crimson* *Try to sell Vanian on talking to these people, or at least hearing what they want to know. If he refuses, things might get ugly.*
-
Swaggering alongside Motoko, whom Jink gives an appraising and appreciative eye, the old rigger quips "Yoouu knoow, I have good friend who can help with patching your battle drone. Give you shiny deal too. And he close by. Maybe I give him a call, what you think?"
He gives Motoko a big grin and a friendly wink.
-
"Jink is an excellent field medic. He has healed me many times."
-
Seeing as her bike pulls up on the parking lot Crimson commands it to park near the Rover
*subvocal to Crimson* *Try to sell Vanian on talking to these people, or at least hearing what they want to know. If he refuses, things might get ugly.*
A nod in Sun's direction then she turns back to Switch
@Crimson: "We need a few questions answered. By the way, you may not be aware, but there are some serious players after Rat. In fact, there's more going on here than you realize."
"You do not have to point that out, it was quite visible in Bellview, and i know we are in your debt, and i promise i will help you get any information you need, just do not expect wonders, he is quit the negotiator in these things."
Seeing as Mokoto is taking out her Rifle " Excuse me for a moment"
Crimson goes Over to Motoko cromson is saying in a low voice, but loud enough to be heard by everyone with some kind of hearing enchentments " Please behave, they are the only reason you still have a chance to get paid at all. Hope i do not have to point out that we are on good terms right now."
Turning back to the group hoping Motoko will see reason Crimson says in her usual voice "So Jinkx, you not only drive but Heal as well? I am impressed. Would you mind doing your magic on Vanian, before Motoko here thinks he might go back on his word and take care of him with her gun here?"
A short look back to Motoko shows her Crimson just made a joke to lighten the situation.
-
Looking over to Jink, Motoko's expression is quite cool. One might even call it icy. As she turns to respond, that rifle in her hands, while still not held to her shoulder, just happens to 'accidentally' be pointed with the muzzle a couple inches from a very sensitive part of Jink's anatomy. "Bakabakashii gaijin. The kumi has many excellent mechanics. All I care about is getting paid, and hoping that it will be enough to cover the damages."
Looking over to Crimson, Motoko shook her head. "I don't see why we are dealing with them at all. We should have just taken Vanian from them, and been done with it. This is not part of our contract."
-
"Yeah, Jink's a regular renassiance man alright, just keep him away from the women."
Switch nods to Sundance: "Fine by me." He turns to Motoko: "You can probably put the rifle away. If we were going to shoot you, we would have done it before pulling in here."
-
Raising an eyebrow at Motoko's response, Jink smoothes back his silver black hair and quietly mutters something about the armour on her drone not being so wiz, so maybe her mechanics are not as boss as she thinks... "We talk more later, si? I promise good deal. Good for both of us, neh?" He tries on another cheesy grin, making sure to turn his head to give Motoko his "best side" as he moves alongside the unconscious Rat.
With a theatric longcoat swirl, he plucks out his trusty medkit, and gets to work, trying to coax his his patient to wakefulness as gently as possible. He makes sure to step back to give their subject eyes on his rescue team as he starts to wake (especially Crimson), hoping this will prevent an immediate freak out.
OOC: First Aid check on Vanian (6 Logic, 6 kit, 3 skill, -2 poor conditions) (13d6.hits(5)=4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3360869/) I forget exactly how much stun damage he took - hopefully this is enough- else I think you can add an extra dice for each skilled helper? Also I havent added his own -1 for his 4 boxes of stun, assuming his high pain tolerance and turning off his cyberarm takes care of two boxes for the purposes of penalties - if not though (or if that would have lead to a penalty on the first aid check) - the last dice was a miss anyway.
Also, at some point he tries to heal himself too: First Aid check on self. Including -1 for his own 4 boxes. (12d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3360874/). I think he is left with 1 box of stun for now.
Ps - Jink still has his wired reflexes running for now. Just in case.
-
When doing First Aid, you can specify whether you're healing physical or stun, so as long as one track isn't full he's conscious/alive. That said, there is a threshold of 2 on first aid, so you'll have healed 2 boxes of stun on Rat and 1 on yourself. You'll heal all the stun with rest anyway, so don't worry too much.
Vanian came to a few seconds after Jink had done his work. He was on his back and still very groggy.
"Ahhh... fuck. Wah happen?" He takes a moment to look around, not really settling on anyone in particular. "Who are all you people and what kind of trouble am I in?"
-
Motoko shook her head. "In your dreams, gaijin." Whatever Jink might think of himself, it is fairly clear that Motoko has no interest in him. Then again, she also doesn't look like the combat biker kind of person. As Vanian came to, she moved forward, gun over one shoulder at the moment, and said, "We're the group hired to get you out of that drekhole. I'll be taking my money now. I have repairs to do because of this run."
-
Vanian came to a few seconds after Jink had done his work. He was on his back and still very groggy.
"Ahhh... fuck. Wah happen?" He takes a moment to look around, not really settling on anyone in particular. "Who are all you people and what kind of trouble am I in?"
Crimson circumvents Motoko, to place the troublemaker in second row, there is time and place for everything, and asking a man in Shock form money is nowhere near considerate. @Mokoto >Mokoto, Behave if you want get paid!< The com massage was short but to the point.
"Yo, Boss, Had a nice nap there?" Crimson asked with humour and a pinch of directness, in a way just she could without being called rude. "Some Private army is after you, tried to geek you and as to boot. These people, they were a big help to get you out, without them we all would be dead." Crimson put it on thick, but she had to get the other team on the good grace of Vanian, he never spills his secrets just for fun, there must be some debt to be paid for them to get these things out of him.
Seeing Vanian's mistrusting eye, she added "Uniformed armour, same armaments, polished boots, more military and you are already in the army yourself."
"Jink's here seems a bit more knowledgeable why they might be after you, so they came to your rescues, he is the one who fixed you up as well."
-
Rat's eyes darted back and forth. "Crimson, right? Nagasami's girl? Suppose the insecure one is who Kanaga-san sent, and another one of you answers to Bilotkiy's call. He said 'Sundance?'" He looked over the runners he'd yet to positively identify. "That leaves a lot of 'saviors' unaccounted for. Equal number to my gun-hands here. Not a particularly favorable position for anyone, tactically or financially." He frowned a little at this, narrowed his eyes, and then rolled over on his side and started heaving as the adrenaline wore off and he nerve dumped. "Ah! Uhk! Fraggit! I'm no good for this 'playing it hard' drek. Some of you want money, and some of you want info. I've got both, but what I want is to get the hell out of town."
-
Sundance speaks up when Rat looks for him.
"That would be me. The Terminator sends his regards."
He decides to keep his mouth shut while Rat freaks out and let Crimson calm him down.
-
Ghost thinks to himself that he better let Jink or Switch explain the situation to Rat realizing he might recognize his voice from the hacked call he placed before the fight.
-
Typical Rat, even thou he just escaped death he is already plotting how to get his way out of paying or answearing, but this time it will not work, Crimson will not let it happen again, as Crimson was just about to start talking, Rat himself declared the lose in this. He might have seen tat it would not be as easy to play the runners, or maybe he feared what would happen if he tried. his demands reasonable. so Crimson just went on.
"Secure location out of town? what do you have in mind? or have you prepared for such a need already?"
-
Motoko shook her head angrily. She didn't care about what these gaijin wanted. All she wanted was her money, so she could call the mechanic and get to work on fixing her drone. This night had already gone from bad to worse. She didn't see any reason why the rest of her team should bother helping the other team. Just get the money, and leave. She wasn't being paid to care about their problems.
-
"I've got some friends in the NAN if you can get me to the border. That should cover the 'escort me to safety' part of our contract. It's also worth it to me to drop by my shop in Redmond and pick up some of my spend-ier gear. Don't know if it's still there. Didn't really want to find out after my closed-circuit cameras caught a bunch of guys in black executing Lou and Graham. Scumfuckers. This point though, I'm burnt in this town. Guys showing up at my home, I can't work no more. So, if I gotta quit town, it's worth some cred if someone can bring me by the shop before we head out."
Looking at Cato, Jink, and Ghost, Vanian continues. "Crimson says I owe you three my life. Seeing as how I was paying her for that service, I doubt she would be saying it just to make herself look bad. So what? You wanna know about the eye, right?" He sticks his hand down the front of his pants and starts rummaging around grotesquely for a moment before coming back out with a surprisingly well-made cybereye. "I mean, it ain't a coincidence that I get this piece of shit and my world starts falling apart right after."
-
"I have to strongly suggest against going back to your place of business. After we got there looking for you a guy name "Clean Steve" showed up with goons sneaking in through the back and magic support. You're lucky we got there first looking for that eye, and yes that's why we showed up at your house. Fortunately we're working for someone who doesn't like the way some of these companies do business and has no reason to believe you had a part in some of these recent deaths.
-
Jink nods along to everything people are saying, pausing only to pluck the eye from Vanian's hand and holding it up for all to see.
"Thank you Mr Vannnian. Maybe we help you out bit more, si? Maybe shop, maybe border? What do you know about this eye? Have you had, you know, good look at it?" the rigger asks.
He checks the feed from his wagon as the talking continues, keeping an eye out for any lurking bad guys...
Seeing Motoko's angry head shake, he also sends a quick message to his long time friend and mechanic, Boss.
<@Boss: Hey Bossman, Jinky here. Got a Lynx combat drone all shot up. How much you fix? Quick fix, not like last time, you hear me? OK how much. Ping me you bastard, si? There's a girl involved 8) Yes, course she like Jink.> He sends Boss a few stills of the damaged drone (and a close up of Motoko...) from his camera feed to give him an idea of the damage.
-
"I've got some friends in the NAN if you can get me to the border. That should cover the 'escort me to safety' part of our contract. It's also worth it to me to drop by my shop in Redmond and pick up some of my spend-ier gear. Don't know if it's still there. Didn't really want to find out after my closed-circuit cameras caught a bunch of guys in black executing Lou and Graham. Scumfuckers. This point though, I'm burnt in this town. Guys showing up at my home, I can't work no more. So, if I gotta quit town, it's worth some cred if someone can bring me by the shop before we head out."
"Our Job, is your Security, you will not get near the shop, as it may still be under surveillance, it's much safer to send some one to get what you need then to go by yourself." A strict voice said, it was hard to believe that Crimson's voice had become so hard and determined. " You are welcome to argue, but i doubt you have a shred of hope to convince us otherwise, especially how desperate poor Motoko here is to get paid, she defiantly will not allow you to risk your life to get some trinkets."
"If some one is up for risking their lives to get this man his stuff, then speak up, but i will take one of the cars and keep him safe, while others can go get the stuff." Crimson spoke more to the runners, then to Rat, He was only a fixer, not a Johnson, and fixers she handled easily.
-
Sundance shrugged. "Picking up your stuff is a separate job from getting you to safety, but if you're willing to pay more for the extra work, I'm sure we can do that."
*subvocal to Crimson* *Can you handle the negotiations, Crimson? Also, see about getting us our pay transferred for the 'getting Rat to safety' part first, maybe that will stop Motoko from whining.*
-
Motoko nods at Sundance's comment "If you're going to pay for the service of picking up your things, that's fine. You can stay in my van while the others go and grab them. That'll be safe enough, since it is armored enough to take a tank round and keep on running."
-
Switch grins at Rat as he pulls out the eye: "Yeah, you're stuff probably still there. Steve didn't look interested in swiping it, but he was very interested in you. I'd stay away... and if you want someone to grab the gear... well, cheap isn't something that pops in my mind."
-
"Yeah, of course I'll pay extra to get the stuff. I ain't expect you to do it outta the kindness of your heart. Ten grand goes in escrow. You grab my stuff, I push the button, and you're paid. You show up and spot trouble, we leave, I push the button and you're paid. You show up, don't spot the trouble and walk into it, I'll tack on hazard pay, provided you didn't botch it. Agreeable? As for Clean Steve, geesh. He's looking for the eye too? On top of you guys? How the hell does that make sense?! Loose god damn fragging lips man! Shit is disheartening..."
He folds his legs under each other and stares off for a second, blinks, and then starts from the beginning.
"Okay, so this punk named Breaker struts into my shop, all puffed up like he just knocked over Aztechnology or something. Right off, I get nervous. His kind ain't my usual clientele. Gangbangers have trouble understanding the unwritten laws of supply and demand, and they have no tact. Dangerous bunch of fraggers in general, but, to top it off, this Breaker's wearing chains and warpaint to tag him as a soldier with the Iron Legion - also bad news."
"All part of the biz though, so I put Lou on alert with the silent alarm and ask the kid what I can do for him. He gives me this stupid grin like I'm King Arthur and he has the grail in his duffel bag. Guy pulls out a wad of napkins from his jacket and starts unwrapping something. Noticing the blood and chunks of meat dropping out of the napkins, I start to worry a bit more and move my hand to the gun I got stashed under the counter. His grin gets bigger and I'm about to take it all the wrong way when he comes up with this eye."
"That cybereye, thank the spirits, not meat. Not that you could tell right away. The thing is a piece of work. Nothing groundbreaking, but it ain't come off a shelf, to be sure. Designer made it roll, flex, and react like a real eye, despite the fact that it was packed with microlenses and more. I run a scan and see there's an image still stored in the eye recording unit's front end memory buffer, waiting to get written. Got me pretty curious."
"So, I ask Breaker what he wants for the tech, since I never done business with him or his club before. He pulls this little act for me, pretending to think about it. He wants to come off like a player, coming to me and all, but the poor sap ain't got a clue. After some melodramatic eye rolling and chin scratching, he gives me a figure. Biting my cheek to keep from laughing at him, I haggle a little to make him feel better and finally accept his terms, telling him what a tough dealer he is. "
"After the punk clears out of my shop, I tell Graham to watch the front while I slip into the back office. Right away, I connect the orb to a dummy socket hooked up to a data printer so I can find out what's inside. The printer spits out this blueprint that I can't make head or tail of."
"I have a couple of chummers on retainer who can tell me what I have and what it's worth, so I sent the blueprint for analysis. He ain't sent it back. Instead what I get back is a strike team who kick in my door and murder my friends like they're nothing. Lou, Graham, they never had a chance. The hitters gotta be the corp. Only guys who don't wanna ask questions are the ones who think they already got the answers. Can't quite figure out how you fit in. One guy knew about the eye, one guy knew about the blueprints, and now three teams are trying to get their hands on both. Like I said, it's discouraging."
-
Jink's comm pages back. <<Boss@Jink: Umberto! Well, I gotta say it depends. Is it scrapped or just beat up? A smoking pile will take parts and time, but if it's just a patch-job, that's hardly a thing. Use of my tools, you can have. You want me to bang it out for you, I can do it for cash or trade.>>
-
Jink rolls the eye around in his metal hand for a few moments and says to Rat, "hmm, your friend the techboy, he dead I think. Anybody else you send the blueprint to? Better tell them get outta the plex quicktime."
Dropping the eye into one of his pockets, he asks "The blueprint still on the eye, si? You didn't wipe it, no?"
Noting Boss' message, Jink sends him a short clip of the video showing the Lynx getting shot once with a high power sniper round. <Jink@Boss: Hey Bigboss. Just a patch job. Sniper round to I think power plant, maybe, what you think? If you can fix her, let me know the quick price, I get back to you smart. Gracias.>
-
Sundance does his best to act uninterested in Rat's story, while mentally filing away what's going on.
This could get bad, or it could get lucrative.
"If we're going to grab Vanian's stuff, let's get a move on. If someone's thought of staking it out, the longer we wait, the better an ambush they can set up."
-
Motoko nodded. "Very well. Vanian will ride in my van, since it is likely better protected than anything you have, and I'll run matrix overwatch. Let's get going. No sense waiting for them to get creative in their preparations."
-
Rat answered Jink's advice directly, "Like I said, only one other guy knew about that blueprint. Not even Lou or Graham knew about it. No one else. So I sit here asking myself why you're here now tracking it, especially with the news that my so-called friend Niel got what he god-damned deserved - the corp-rat bastard. So, tell me something I don't know, and I'll tell you something you don't know."
-
Well someone has a beef with multitech. That's why we're here. Obviously somebody had some loose lips where this eye is involved cause we've been running into bombs, hit squads, and runners on every turn of this job. Personally I can't wait to get over with it. Once we get that eye to our employer those corp hitters won't be so motivated to silence you with their secrets all over the grid. You sure Neil was the only other who knew about the eye?
[OOC: Neil was the one who alerted Multitech as well as Alpha as we know from the original meeting.]
-
As the conversation unfolds, Jink tries to figure out if the eye still has the blueprint on it....?
Hardware test on eye? (7d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3383214/) I guess maybe he needs some kind of tools to do this, I dunno? Perhaps he can somehow DNI link it to his implanted commlink in his cyberarm via his fibreoptic link? I am pretty hopeless with tech!
Assuming he figures it out, or if Rat confirms the blueprint is still on there, he sends a message to their employer... <Jink@Angel-blue drop box, cc'ing in Ghost and Switch: Hoi Boss, the rabbit is on the dinner plate, si? Hope to hear from you soon.>
-
"Neil didn't know about the eye at all. He only knew about that one image I pulled out of the resident memory. He didn't know where it came from; he was just the guy who I needed to identify the partial blueprint for what it might be. Fact that you know what it is but not where it came from tells me that you're coming at this from his side of things. What you don't seem to realize is that the rest of the blueprint isn't in the eye."
-
[OOC: scratch my last post about sending a message to Angel-Blue]
"What you meaning, how much of the blueprint is on here?" Jink queries, shaking and squinting at the eye in genuine frustration.
"Did you do something to it, Mr Vanian?" the rigger frowns suspiciously.
-
Vanian sighed a little. "What I did is trust the wrong guy, and now my life is basically over." He points to the eye. "That's all I got. The image I pulled off that was the last thing that the owner saw. It's the only image it has or could have. Everything else gets sent to the eye recording unit, which is imbedded in the socket. The rest of the blueprint might be stored there, but I wasn't going to try hunting down a skull some Iron Legion guys came across until I knew what I was dealing with. I got bigger problems now, obviously, but if you're looking for the full set of prints, you're going to need to find that punk Breaker and quiz him."
-
"Your'e just full of surprises, aren't you? What do you know about Breaker? This seems like quite an item to fall into some ganger's hands."
Iron Legion huh? Great, now we've got to find some gangbanger..
Switch nods to Crimson, and points back towards Jink's van: "Let's talk."
@Ghost and Jink: We're going to need help, unless either of you has a problem with it I'm going to see if we can't hire these guys on.
Roll to see what Switchback knows about the Iron Legion using the knowledge skill Seattle Gangs 4d6.hits(5)=1 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3384107/) Fail :(
Roll to see where Breaker might hangout using Criminal hangouts 5d6.hits(5)=2 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3384109/) Not much better :(
-
With an impish smile, and a glimpse in Motoko's direction, Jink raises his eyebrows approvingly at Switch as the ork and Crimson go into a huddle...
Scratching his chin idly, the rigger finds himself a seat and smoothes out his jacket arms, trying his best to remember any intel he's scanned on the Iron Legion and Breaker... then gives it up as a lost cause. He'd never really taken much notice of gangbangers themselves. Their rides on the other hand...
Turning off his wired reflexes with a mental flick, he visibly relaxes, pretty certain that everyone is about to be on the same side pretty quick.
"You maybe got pic of Breaker we can borrow?" he inquires of Vanian when there is a suitable gap in the conversation.
-
Switch nods to Crimson, and points back towards Jink's van: "Let's talk."
Crimson was following the conversation with interest it seems the other Team had already had some adventures they might be proud of, but as far as Crimson was concerned this was a very unlucky day. Not only were they too late to be of some use when Vanian called but it was sure that with him going into hiding her contract would end.
Switch's voice pulled her out of some thoughts of her future, she was not sure he had said anything to her before the >>let's talk<< but it sounded serious so she went along with it.
"So what do you want to talk about?" She was eager to get doe with it so she could start to prepare to search for a new employment.
-
"Look, you may have gathered from our conversation with Rat that there's something else going on. I can't give you all the details right now, but we'd like to hire your crew. You seem to know how to handle yourselves, plus you are in the right place at the right time. There's a big payoff at the end, but there are some risks. If you are in, you're in from here on out. That means your contract with Vanian will take second place. I don't see there being a problem, but that's the priority."
Switch glances at Crimson. "Are you in? If you are, I'll let you explain it to the other members of your crew, especially the trigger-happy chica . She's in more danger from Jink than anything else."
While he waits for her response, Switch fires off a message to Officer Carl Jeon: "Yo man, I need some info on a bunch of gangers that call themselves the Iron Legion. If you know of any that go by Breaker, I'll owe you."
-
Vanian replies to Jink's latest question. "All the footage at my store got taken by the hit squad. There's a copy at my crib, sent by wire as backup. That's where I saw it happen. If we can patch into the local wire grid, we might be able to connect to my box. It's hard to tell what's hooked up to what these days... If we connect to the wires at my store we definitely can get at it, but I'm sure as hell not going back to the condo."
<<Carl Jeon: Aw hell. Had to know you'd be calling me about this drek... I don't know what you've got to do with this mess, but you're gonna want let it be, trust me.>> You hear Carl call out, "Any of these stiffs got the name 'Breaker' writ on their underwear?"
-
Motoko shook her head. Hardwired systems? How primitive. The Matrix was meant to run free. "If the wires connect to a system with a transmitter, I can probably force my way in remotely. But if it is a closed system, then we'll have to be physically there to access things. Or at least, one of you will, and hook your link to the wires somewhere, and I can go through your link to get into the system."
-
Rat responds, "Nope. Cameras were on a closed circuit. Only a chump would put his security on a wireless system. Shop's main box got took too, so there's no terminal to link into there. Might be an old one in the back storage."
Jink's comm lights up. <<Yuri@Jink: Hey Jinky. Before I forget all about our evening of corpses and shooting, I figured you'd want the data I pulled off Neil Scott's system. Haven't had time to break the encryption yet, so it's still potentially hazardous/lucrative. Don't forget to ask Bloody Mary about Neil's personal effects too, whenever she pops up from hiding Johnny away from the law and Multitech besides. By the by, I managed to get away before the cops came down, obvs, and managed to wipe Rat's redundant surveillance system too! That should put us in the clear with only that one guy getting away and not having any pictures of our face or cars (hacked grid guide, natch.) Try not to get killed, and let the others know I said goodbye! Bye others!!>>
-
Ghost sends a text to his ganger friend Slugger.
@Slugger: Hey man, you ever met a guy called Breaker? Thinks he runs with the Iron Legion. Any info would help. Thanks
-
Motoko cursed softly. "In that case, we would have to tap into the optical line directly to access the system, unless the old terminal is there. Makes things much more difficult. Surveillance may be out, then, but I could probably access the building's other functions remotely."
-
"Since it looks like we might run into them - who exactly did you see there? You mentioned Clean Steve, was he alone?"
-
slugger's gang knowledge: 8d6.hits(5) → [3,2,5,6,5,4,6,5] = (5) boy does he know..
<<Slugger@Ghost: Breaker's a dead man, omae. Him and most the Iron Legion got wacked last night. Sick bastard even took trophies. What's left of the Legion are all down here at the Brighton Mall Blitz. If you wanted to come down to the party, we could talk more in person. Might be able to make introductions.>>
-
Great, just what I want to hear...
@Carl: "Yeah, tell me something I don't know. But whatever pays the bills, you know how it is."
-
Hey, um, guys. I think we have a problem. Ghost explains the news he just read on his comm.
-
"Problem? More like a knee-deep pile of drek... "
Switch glances at Crimson: "So are you in, or are you out? Once you are on board we chit chat about the details, but the total payout for the team is over 100K."
-
Jink's comm lights up. <<Yuri@Jink: Hey Jinky. Before I forget all about our evening of corpses and shooting, I figured you'd want the data I pulled off Neil Scott's system. Haven't had time to break the encryption yet, so it's still potentially hazardous/lucrative. Don't forget to ask Bloody Mary about Neil's personal effects too, whenever she pops up from hiding Johnny away from the law and Multitech besides. By the by, I managed to get away before the cops came down, obvs, and managed to wipe Rat's redundant surveillance system too! That should put us in the clear with only that one guy getting away and not having any pictures of our face or cars (hacked grid guide, natch.) Try not to get killed, and let the others know I said goodbye! Bye others!!>>
Jink leans back on chair and cracks his flesh and steel knuckles, the ruddy light of the safehouse glinting from his quietly humming cyberarm. "Aah," he chimes in to Switch and Ghost, "we always got problems, hmm. There's usually a fix. What is it?"
Jink transmits Yuri's full message to Ghost and Switch to put them in the picture. <Jink@Ghost/Switch: Motoko here sounds like she know systems... Maybe they can help us crack this encryption, si? Will they deal with us, Switch?> The old biker gives a head motion towards the little woman, spreading his hands questioningly at Switchback.
<Jink@BloodyMary: Hey baby, Jinky here. Where you at? Find anything useful at Neils? Ping me when you safe, wiz?>
<Jink@Yuri: Gracias Yuri, you're some kind of wonder, eh. Keep safe, chicka. You need a ride sometime, or a drink, you just ping me, si. ;)>
-
"Problem? More like a knee-deep pile of drek... "
Switch glances at Crimson: "So are you in, or are you out? Once you are on board we chit chat about the details, but the total payout for the team is over 100K."
Crimson Looked at Switch "100k or more you say? that's a lot, but how sure is it? if i deliver Rat to the border we get 10k each, and that's much safer payout then your proposal, so why should i bet on you? If on the other Hand you help to complete the prior assignment, then i would not see any reason to help you on yours, as it seems this one is coming to a close anyway. and i doubt that a bit of cash would harm the operation in any way." Crimson was not sure she should risk a secure payout for a chance of this larger sum and additional risks, but further employment sounded good.
"say what. We drop the Drop the ignore prior job theme and teams are free to join, you should understand that our reputation is on the line as well, no one will trust us anymore if we drop Rat now. And one more thing, We are not team, you might have noticed it, Mokoto is very goo at showing it, so there are no promises from me, but i will do my best to convince her, if this is what you seek." Crimson had come to a conclusion about this - Giving up pay for a larger one in the end, that was acceptable, but risking her reputation, that was something she was not willing to risk just on a whim. This had better be good deal or there would be no agreement. Crimson was working on mutual trust, she had to arrange things, she had to be able to trust her Mr. J., Now this all could be put in jeopardy - would it be worth it?
-
@Carl: "Yeah, tell me something I don't know. But whatever pays the bills, you know how it is."
<<Carl@Switch: Well, yeah, I could tell you something you don't know, but, like you said, I got bills to pay too and I don't risk my neck for nothing...>>
-
Switch nods to Crimson: "Sounds reasonable, but you'll have to convince Motoko. I doubt she'd listen to me."
@Jink: This one is at least, but I think the others will get on board, and get Rat to let you know what this chump Breaker looks like.
@Carl: You know me, chum. I'm always good for the bills, as long as you have something worth it. Anything on Breaker's body, or that points to the perps? I'm after something he had, and I'm not the only one.
-
<<@Switch: I can tell you who did this, but I can't have that come back on me. Not the kind of name that a guy in my line of work should say out loud. Also, I'm breaking some serious rules by talking about this stuff in the middle of an ongoing investigation involving a mound of headless bodies. Grand gets you a name and pictures of the scene. If you want to know more, I suppose I could tell you a bit about what happened so you can be forewarned.>>
-
@Carl: A grand? You must think I'm made of money. But I can do it for you, chum. What do you have?
-
<<@switchback: It is my job and my life; I wouldn't risk both for less. This is information from an ongoing investigation into a monster psychopath. If he found out we're actually looking for him, my whole family would be killed. Anyway, this is the trid. See if you can find your Breaker in there. You should delete it after viewing. It's not something you should have or should want to have. Regardless, that is a recording of Clean Steve and an unknown number of shooters killing 17 members of the Iron Legion gang in less than 4 seconds. We isolated 8 different trajectories from the shots, but the lion's share of the killing was all Clean Steve. As it stands, killing Gang-trash like the Legion isn't a crime, but desecrating a body is. We could actually put out a warrant with this if the brass had the balls to do so.>>
The trideo is coming from a rooftop ledge, showing a group of about 20 gutter punks in patchwork synthleathers traveling down the alleyway in a mud flow of a mobile mosh-pit. They were clearly celebrating and tanked to the gills on all sorts of designer drugs and synthonol. They were also clearly armed and spoiling for a fight. Enter Clean Steve in the same turtleneck and blazer you saw him wearing earlier this evening. The mob came on him quickly and with purpose, surrounding Steve almost as a reflex. A couple of the rowdiest of the bunch made a move on him, and Steve kicked one into the wall while punching the other in the throat. The rest of the Legion members were stunned for a second, but quickly moved to action, only not against Steve. They started killing each other. Before it could go on much further, 8 of the brawling gangers just dropped as gunshot wounds opened in their chests. Steve continued to punch and kick the panicked Legion in an impossible blur of motion until there were only 4 left, each of them scrambling madly though alley trash. Steve lazily pulled out a pistol and shot one of them in the back. The next few minutes involved a vibro-knife and 3 separate trash-bags. It doesn't warrant a detailed synopsis.
-
As Switch watches trideo he sees Clean Steve move through the Iron Legion. Speak of the devil... Should have prayed harder as a kid. Switchback shares the trideo with Jink and Ghost.
@Ghost: "A problem... we might have more than that."
@Carl: Looks like a fella I've seen recently... Watch your back, and if you come across a headless ork with my good-lookin' body, feel free to keep the money.
-
"Well times a wasting. Looks like we're in a race with Clean Steve. Maybe he didn't find the schematic, we should go talk to the survivors asap. I got an in."
-
"Holy frag!" Jink declares as he watches the trideo with a sickening feeling. "Just knew I shoulda geeked that drekker back at the shop! Next time I go with my gut, si?"
Scratching his silver black goatee, the old biker secretly wonders whether he would have got a shot off before Mr Steve took him apart.... but, eh, Jinky had had a good life, and he had some wizzer gear under his (admittedly) aging hood. Maybe I'll find out soon enough. In any case, he was pretty sure Switch could smash the smiley psycho good, just like he did with the team at Vanian's home. Plus - they had Ghost - a real mage for frag's sake. All that kicking was nought against a bolt of eldritch power, or an elemental. The three of them would be enough to take him. Provided they had some help to distract the off screen gunners....
Poking his metal fingers at the trid, he asks "So which one of these is Breaker? Any of them? Hey Motoko - can you run a datasearch on these faces for us, see if you can draw a match with Breaker?"
Addressing the newcomers more generally he says, "Looks like we could use some help with our run. Once Vanian's sorted - you chummers up for some extra nuyen or what?" He flashes Motoko his best old charmer smile, ever optimistic, despite her steely disinterest.
-
"Sure, I'm always ready to work. You'll have to fill me in on the details of this job and such, of course."
At least these three seem relatively professional, as runners go. Most people would have forced me to turn that into a shootout.
-
"Once we've finished our contract for Vanian, then getting more nuyen would be fine. But only after we finish our contract. I do not have a rep for dropping jobs in the middle, and I do not wish to gain such a rep in the future." Motoko looked over to the members of her team, and said, "I can't work in here. Too noisy for AR, and as for VR..." She trailed off with a pointed look at Jink, the implication being she didn't wish to be insensate to the world around her in the same room with him. She didn't even bother to try and hide it either "Send the images and any other info you have on this Breaker to my van, and I'll get to work."
-
As Crimson and switch rejoined the group they had a pleasant surprise
"Seems Mokoto will not need no convincing, she speaks, as always, the language of money. :D"
A wide smile was across Crimsons Face. "But as it stands our priority is completing Vanian's Contract"
"So how will we do it? Who goes o the shop, and who will give us the rundown on this new assignment?"
-
"Shouldn't be too hard. Drive over there, keep Vanian in the van so he's safe. Stop a bit away, I gather one of you two," Sundance said as he waved in the direction of Ghost and Switch, "is a magician. Check the place out astrally, maybe over the matrix too if there are any cameras that aren't offline. Me and anyone else who knows how to sneak around properly goes in to get the stuff discretely, anyone who isn't quiet hangs in the van to protect Vanian and come in if we need backup."
-
Hey, I have no idea why we should help Vanian first. You talk about about finishing a job well I intend to finish mine. Frankly you wouldn't have a job helping Rat if we didn't keep him from getting assassinated in the first place. If we delay we could lose these stupid little schematics to some corp., Neil death goes unpunished and we lose our payday. I hate to mention this but our down payment was more than Vanian is offering so in my book he can wait. Sorry Rat for saying this but I don't need you alive anymore to finish my job, not that I wish you any harm though. Switch, Jink, we should continue following our leads and if the others want to help they should shit or get off the pot. Ghost says in a very calm and even toned voice.
-
"You make good point, Ghost, as usual, but what about ...er..."
Jink takes a moment to perform a few (muted) pelvic thrusts in Motoko's general direction, his dark purple duster flapping back and forth with a plated snap. "Maybe little bit unfinished business, no?" he whispers to his team mates in grandly optimistic (and deluded) style. "I think connection there, hmm?" What you think?
-
Looking at Ghost, Motoko simply shrugged, unconcerned with what the man said. "Then we'll take Vanian, finish our contract, and leave you to do whatever the hell it is you're up to. Frankly, I don't care. But I'm doing the job I got hired for, and then, if the money's right, I'll look in on doing another job. In fact, the further that idiot is from me, the better." She pointed at Jink as she said that last. "I am in no mood to deal with you right now, except at the business end of an sniper rifle, or dishing out black ice. So if you want our help, we finish our contract first. If not, then we're leaving and finishing our contract anyways."
-
Jink sends Motoko the video feed of Clean Steve and the 17 dead gangers.
"OK, ok, let's keep things shiny," he suggests, "can you do a datasearch and figure out if Breaker is one of the dead in this clip, please Motoko?" he asks, completely serious.
"If yes, then you've helped us ... and hell, we do a little detour for them, eh Ghost? We can do this?" Jink raises a hopeful eyebrow towards his team.
-
Rat chimes in, "I'm the only one in this room who could id breaker, and I promised money and info in return for help. I didn't promise it for 'I don't need you alive anymore,' chummer. You wanna work in this business, you gotta learn to hold up your end. Besides, you still ain't grasped the full picture."
-
Sorry Vanian, I didn't mean to offend. If I don't have the big picture maybe you enlighten me some more. But this corp is killing people for this stupid piece of tech and I was hired to expose them. I need that schematic.
-
"Soka Mr Vanian - can you ID Breaker from this video" Jink sends him the clip.
"Then we figure out how to help you."
The old rigger rubs away an imaginary blemish on his steel forearm as he makes the comment, glancing round at everyone and hoping the pause in conversation will provide a moment to clear the air.
-
Switch shrugs as Jink performs his pelvic thrusts.
After listening to Sundance he nods. "Sounds good enough. It looks like Steve found some other playmates, but I'd be surprised if someone wasn't watching the place. We also need to know what gear it is that we're looking for."
He glances at Rat: "Good point, and we're working on getting you out of here. But if you've grasped the whole picture, how about filling us in? I may not be as good looking as old Jinks here, but I look a lot better with my head safely attached to my neck."
-
"Yeah. You don't have to tell me this whole situation is fragged up beyond all recognition. But here's something you didn't check right here." He shuffles over to the ARO projection of the Iron Legion hit that they had been watching and, with a wave, focuses in on the time stamp. "This drek happened almost the same time Multitech hit my shop. Clean Steve, or whoever he's working for, must be coming at this from the opposite side of things if he hit the Legion and then came after the eye. Only way the timeline matches up." Rat steps back. "You wanna find the rest of that schematic, cred says he's either got it, or he knows who does." He scrolls through the trid and points to the ganger with a laughing demon skull painted on the back of his leather jacket. He's frozen in time with his back arched and his knees buckling under him as the one bullet Steve fired catches him right in the kidney. "That's Breaker. Wish I never met the scab, but that's a bad way to go out. Didn't mention it at the time, since it didn't seem important, but the guy had a girl with him when he came in. She stayed outside, so I didn't get a look at her, but I don't think she was in that crowd who got their heads grabbed up. Well, that is if she didn't have fiberoptic hair. Girl was a peroxide blond with about two inches of black roots."
-
Fair enough, I'm with you Jink and Switch. Might be a good idea if everyone looks for some info on this "Clean Steve." If he's still looking for the eye and we run into him trying to help Vanian maybe we could talk our way out instead of fighting. Crimson, could you put some feelers out? Also, I'd like some time to "summon" some more muscle before we go up against him. He had spirits watching his goons when we first encountered him. I don't see why he wouldn't if we met him again.
-
Now that he was definitely on-board this new job, Sundance decided it was time to put out some feelers about this "Clean Steve" character. He started sending out quick queries to a number of his friends in the Vory - anyone who seemed likely to have heard of Steve.
<@Sergei Hey Sergei, you know anything about a guy calls himself Clean Steve? We ever run into him before?
@Olga Olga, you had any luck finding that piece? Also, have you seen anything from a guy going by Clean Steve? Has he ever cut any deals with us?
<etc>
-
"Cyber-eye, blueprints, Clean Steve, Ganger massacre, 3rd party - i think i get, that this is much more complex and we really do not have the time to just stand here and chat about it, so i suggest we get the plan down and start moving while we wrap our head around it." Then she turned hallways to the cars and her bike, indicating her intention to go that direction "And I for one can try to sneak in Vanian's shop if needed, plant a tapper bug or something to get Mokoto, here, access to the data stream. but if you would like to do it in full force i am game with that as well. No point in wasting time here."
A quick message at her Boss was composed while she waited on the reaction of the others
@Jeffry >Hey Boss, looks like our asses were saved by a group of runners, Rat was real deep this time and he is diving down for a while. On that note looks like i will go freelance for a while and as such i have a question you might look into for me. few queries most important - Clean Steve- everything you know about this fellow, recent affiliations would be the cream, but you know my taste right, then there is the Iron legion, and more precise if you have something on breaker. the usual fee applies, if you need extra say so.<
-
Rat pipes up, "Well, I can tell you what I know about the guy since I'm disappearing anyway. Way I hear it, Steve is a total pro. No muscle-flexing bullshit, just hits like the wrath of god. I never had reason to hire the guy, but I also hear he's pricy as hell."
-
"I agree, we should move fast."
Switch turns to ghost: "How much time do you need to do your thing?"
-
Motoko nods. "If we're going to do this, then let's do it. Vanian can ride in my van. THAT," she points at Jink, "cannot." Looking to the others, she said, "A tapper drone would be nice, but I don't have any such things on me at present. However, if you give me access to your link, and jack it directly into the terminal or even one of the cameras themselves, if you can, then I can get into the system through there. I just need a point of entry. Once I have a way into the system, I can get what we need." Looking over at Vanian, she said, "I don't suppose you loaded IC on that system even though it is completely offline, did you?"
-
<@Jink That means she likes you, omae.>
-
<Jink@Sundance: What's not to like? You a good man, Sundance. Maybe put in good word for Jinky, neh? I make it worth your while. ;)>
Jink gives his new team mate a conspiratorial wink.
"You want to do your spirit dance thing, Ghost. Then maybe we roll, eh? Anybody want to ride in the swagger welcome, you welcome."
Pretty pleased with the way things are panning out, Jink allows himself a broad smile and puts his hands on his hips. A moment later he sends Motoko a private AR message: a flashing red arrow sign with the words "Party right here!" pointing at his "man area".
-
Motoko's response was simple. Closing her eyes, she altered that arrow sign to read, If you do not stop this, I will sell you to my boyfriend. He's always looking for supplies for the organleggers.
Looking at the rest of Jink's team, she said, "Let your idiot know that my friend in the Yakuza will be quite happy to relieve him of his various organs if he doesn't behave himself. If I don't shoot him first. I get one more proposition, and he's dead."
-
"What? Boyfriend? Sheesh" Jink declares surprised. Talk about leading me on. Why she flirting with me if boyfriend problem. Hmm maybe they break-up soon?
He waits for Ghost to do his thing, dazed and confused by this sudden relationship wall.
Women, eh? Best give it break for now. Plenty other chickas in the plex. Without guns.
-
@Jink: Tough break... but maybe once she sees you.. in action. Then I'm sure she'll come to you.
"The wagon it is."
-
"Don't know why you'd need the camera logs with Breaker dead. You got trid already of the guy before and after he got his head chopped off. If you're hoping for his girl's pix, I ain't got those. Don't keep cameras outside. Kids always smashed or sprayed 'em so I just stopped trying to keep tabs on the street. Besides chances are by now that I've had cops in my pad where the data's stored. My home security is set up to burn all surveillance records the moment a guy broadcasting police ID steps foot on the property. I don't exactly run a legit business, ya know."
-
I'd need about 7 to 10 hours of prep time to conjure some serious back up, plus a little luck. I'd also need a place to do it.
-
"No way we have that much time. Crimson's right, we best head there now."
-
"Then let's get out there and get the stuff."
-
"Let's roll then," declares Jink, ushering out anyone who is coming along in the swagger wagon.
Jumping into the Rover, he pops his fibreoptic cable in and commences rigging, the hull of the van becoming his body, the twitch of smile breaking through Jink's sleepy looking form as he enjoys the raw power of his thrumming engine-heart. Gunning the beast once or twice for theatric effect, his synthetic voice comes over the speakers as folks file in...
"Next stop pawn shop," he states, his voice fading to black DJ style as he cranks up the bass heavy tunes, the subwoofer in the back playing havoc with passengers' ability to talk among themselves. The rotating disco light keeping time with the base doesn't help either.
Rolling off the curb, the old biker waits for Motoko's tank to take the lead. Damn but that thing's got some armour on it.
-
Switch climbs into the wagon and settles back as Jink takes off.
As the disco light starts rotating he shakes his head.
-
Ghost hope into the "swagger wagon" right behind Switch. As soon as it starts moving he expands his conscious mind into the astral realm. Ghost calls on a guardian spirit to back him up on his astral scouting mission.
Force 5 Guardian Spirit optional power (natural weaponry)
9d6.hits(5)=5 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3448211/) Magic 5 + Summoning 4
Spirit resist
5d6.hits(5)=2 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3448213/) 3 services granted
Resist 4DV drain
11d6.hits(5)=3 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3448216/) 1 box stun damage
Ghost speeds through the astral plane towards Vanian's place of business slowing considerable as he reaches his destination trying to determine if there are any essences in that area. If he perceives nothing outside he'll procede to check the interior for life essences hoping not to see and astrally active presences there.
-
Rat's pawn shop is dead empty, on the astral and in person. On the matrix though, there's a little spark. Makoto notices it as only someone who breathes wireless signals can, but as they approach the building a message is sent from a small RFID to Jink, right before the RFID burns itself out. Jink reads the message.
<<Mr. Keppa, I see that you are back at Rat's "antique" shop. This suggests that we have business to discuss. This business involves your ork friend Jack as well, so it would be good of you to inform him. Please call me at your earliest convenience. -Steven>>
-
Motoko, already in the digital world as she controls her van, watched the RFID burn itself out. <<An RFID just sent a message out.>>
From her chair, she directed the van to stop across the street from Rat's shop, and allowed those who wished to get out to do so before locking the doors. She remained in the virtual, for the moment.
-
After scouting the shop Ghost returns to his body. "Shops quiet. Can't see anyone there from the astral world. Hey either of you have something for this headache I got?"
-
Jink forwards Clean Steve's message onto everyone via his link.
<Jink@everyone: Looks like we were expected?>
-
<We'd best get what we came for, then. It could just as likely have sent Steve a message; he might be showing up soon.>
-
@Team: No need to sneak in now. Looks like you made a friend Jinks.
Guess I didn't win big on that match...
-
<Then get in there and get what we need! I'll keep a lookout from my van.>
-
Crimson Parked her Bike 50m from the Shop. It was close enough to use her UWB on the building, but not near enough to be connected to the 2 Cars that just arrived. She had taken her time just for the reason alone, but she had also enjoyed the soyacaf from the local 24h stuffershack.
Now that she had stopped she activated her Bike sensors n a manner not to show interested she looked around, while having a smoke, this was better then just to look around as this action looked only secondary to eliminate boredom while enjoying her cigarets. Even thou she was no fan of smoking, she still needed to keep up appearances and a way to mask her laes cigarets.
she took in her surroundings and looked for any signs of danger or life.
-
Rat waited in the safety of Matoko's heavily armored delivery van and directed the team as to where to look and what to grab. The place was still and calm, and the bodies were well into the rigor process. The team was in and out with no problems. Though the likelihood of surveillance was very high, it was no more risk than the first time. In the end they came out of the shop with 4 armored duffel bags full of weapons and cyber. It was enough haul to help Vanian establish a customer base where ever he eventually landed, enough to start again.
From there it was a short drive south to council island. Rat smiled one last time as he walked up to the bridge guards laden with illegal and stolen goods, no concern left on his face. He would disappear into this little piece of NAN land and then vanish into another city somewhere else. He turned to face the runners, and tossed them a cred stick. "Pass on my gratitude to your people, but mostly thanks to you crew. You kept me from getting croaked and helped me stay in the game. If this blows over alright, I'd be happy to do business with you again. Use this dead drop [link] if you need to ask me anything else."
-
Motoko's AR avatar nodded to Rat (since she was still in the van, in VR), and said, "Ame futte chi katamaru, Rat." It was a Japanese saying, literally translating as 'After rain, earth hardens'. The meaning was that after a storm, things stand on more solid ground than they did before.
The avatar looked to the others, and said, "Now, you had another job that needed doing, yes?"
-
Switch nods at the avatar: "Yeah, and I've got bets waiting. Let's go."
-
Jink happily tucks the dead drop away in his memory somewhere and gives Vanian a friendly nod as he departs. "Best of luck, Mr Vanian, perhaps we will work together sometime, neh?"
Jumping back in the wagon, Jink gets a conference call going with everyone (unless people dont want to be in, or if he can keep some folks hidden or silent he will do that, if they wish), and prepares to dial up Clean Steve. Checking his message, he sees that it refers to his ork friend "Jack" - who Umberto assumes is Switchback (the only ork he knows who is mixed up in this).
<Let's see what Mr Steve has to say for himself then, neh?>
Placing the call, Jink waits to see if it picks up... a small involuntary shudder runs through his spine as the link rings, the image of Clean Steve's slaughter of the gangers popping into his mind momentarily. Dangerous, psycho fragger, he reminds himself coolly.
OOC: If not he leaves a message for Mr Steve to call him back. If he does pick up, he says something along the lines of "Mr Steve, it is Jink. Switchback is with me. You want we should meet, talk some biz, si? When is good for you?"
-
<<Ah, Mr. Keppa! Hello! I was hoping to speak with you. I trust you are well? Did you perhaps find that item I mentioned earlier? The one I asked you to keep an eye out for?>>
-
" Well met.
Might I inquirer what item you refer, I Would love to help you."
Crimson intended to do the talking for. the team, but would the senior members, or Clean Steve accept it?
" ohh, I forgot to intreduce myself, how impolite from me. Crimson is the name, glad to make the aquentince."
She added before. Anyone else interrupted her.
-
<<Hello Miss Crimson. As I do not know you, I should give you fair warning. Before you decide to act as arbitrator in this matter, you may want to consider what involving yourself might mean. That is to say, if you wish to negotiate on behalf of someone else over their debt, then that leaves you equally responsible for their debt. It is the way of these things. If you feel comfortable with that, I would be happy to continue. However, I would feel more comfortable talking about these matters in person - In public, of course. There is a club downtown near the Regency hotel, Club Nosferatu. I will have an open reservation for Messrs Keppa and Calhoun there. You are all welcome to attend, even if you would rather sit out the discussion.>> With that he disconnected.
-
Some guys just don't get over things...
Switch nodded as Steve disconnected. "Club Nosferatu? Doesn't sound like my kind of place. But I guess we've got a booth already eh Jinks?"
-
Sounds fancy...
Sundance quietly sent his agent to take a quick look online for information about Club Nosferatu.
-
"Hmmm, si, don't sound like a biker club to me, Switch. But maybe some nova chickas, eh?"
A cheesy smile lights up Umberto's goatee'd face as he considers the likely ladies loitering in (what he assumes) is a popular Seattle club.
"So, is there a dress code? I assume no guns, neh? Swagger Wagon should fit in ok, if it's downtown?"
Jink double checks the address on his 'link, trying to figure out if his wagon would be out of place parked near the club or Regency Hotel.
-
Motoko shook her head. "I'll stay in my van, while you people go and do the meet. If I'm going to a club, I prefer Dante's. I'll keep up overwatch from here, if I can borrow someone's eyes and ears during this meet."
-
"I'll go in, in case things go ugly."
-
Club Nosferatu lies a mere ten minutes from the fabulous Regency Esquire Hotel. The hotel runs a complimentary shuttle bus to the club every hour on the hour: standing outside the club, you wonder why the bother. This is one weird place, chummer. some slag converted a failed Mister Crunchy franchise into a faked-up church, and actually did a halfway wiz job. The facade is top-notch, right down to the moulded stonework and simulated stained-glass windows. Still, you have to wonder about anyone who goes to a church to get blasted. Particularly a gloomy, raving-neo-gothic church like this one. Not much light shining through that fake stained glass. Now you think about it, those windows have an awful lot of red. Somebody obviously watched a few too many bad vampire flicks...
Around the entrance way, rings of humans, elves, and sometimes dwarves stand smoking and not really looking at anyone or anything in particular. They are uniformly pale and dressed in black. Most are smoking cigarettes. The others are noticeably junked out of their heads on chips or otherwise. No one seems to be talking.
-
Ghost looks at the people going in to trying in determine if he'll have a problem getting in dressed as is. He then switches his perception to the astral plane to case the place.
Assensing roll if needed: 7d6.hits(5)=2 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3478867/)
"Hey Jink, you got anything in that medkit for this headache I got?"
-
Motoko parked her van a safe distance away, and allowed everyone to get out before locking the doors and slipping into the blessed embrace of VR. Flowing through the electron environment that was her true home, she first summoned a sprite to aid her. She would allow the sprite to take care of any enemy spiders in the system (or anyone who looked at her the wrong way, given how she was feeling at the moment).
The sprite appeared in the form of a man with obvious cybereyes and an impressive physique. Almost as impressive as the gun he carried. In the anime, it was referred to as 'Oh, your standard issue big gun.' In the matrix, it was a sign of something far more impressive, in Motoko's mind.
Batou, let's go. We've got a node to raid.
Got it, Major.
Compiling a Rating 5 Fault sprite. Optional CF: Black Hammer. Got six hits.
9d6.hits(5)=6 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3479232/)
Sprite opposed roll. I got 4 net hits, so four services.
5d6.hits(5)=2 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3479233/)
Resist 4S Fading. No damage.
10d6.hits(5)=4 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3479236/)
-
"But of course, pop one of these chummer," Jink replies to their resident mage, tossing him a pain med.
Grabbing his ingram, he slaps a gel clip in and tucks it away in his concealable holster, covering it with his lined coat, the gun's high tensile plastics marking it as non-standard issue. With a bit of luck, we'll get her through.
He parks the swagger wagon about 30m from the club, preferably with the back facing some of the building's windows.
<commlink@team: OK so, can anybody make Jinky look Goth?> he queries, highlighting some of the clubs customers in private AR messages to the team by way of example. <Like this guy. Black hair. Black lipstick. Black fingernails. Black eyeshadow. Anybody got eyeliner?>
First Aid check on Ghost (First aid 3, medkit 6, logic 6, -2 mage, -2 street conditions) (11d6.hits(5)=7) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3479498/)
-
Switch takes out his Uzi and spare clips and sets them aside.
Hope I don't miss these.
He nods at Jink: "Let's grab a drink, I hear Steve's buying."
@team: "Anybody know of a quick way out besides the front door?"
-
<commlink@team: OK so, can anybody make Jinky look Goth?> he queries, highlighting some of the clubs customers in private AR messages to the team by way of example. <Like this guy. Black hair. Black lipstick. Black fingernails. Black eyeshadow. Anybody got eyeliner?>
"What, you leave purse behind? Don't have fancy stuff, but simple enough. Make 'ware more clash. Get down here."
[spoiler=OOC]I'm assuming Disguise for this? http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3479652/ Disguise 4 + Intuition 5 = 9d6, 2 hits.[/spoiler]
-
While the others are preparing themselves, Crimson approaches the entrance-way. As she enters the small stone archway and reaches for the door, an AR message comes up in the middle of her field of view. <<FIREARMS ARE NOT ALLOWED INSIDE THE CLUB>>
Meanwhile Ghost, as approaching the place in the astral, notices a number of spirits hovering around the exterior. They are immediately identifiable as Watchers and not some sort of restless undead. They flit in and out of the astral ward which surrounds the whole structure in a bubble. There are no less than 6 of them. Ghost will not be able to enter by the astral without breaching the ward.
Makoto, buzzing through the matrix, finds the building's public node easily. A quick scan shows a security-level firewall and system. Bog standard for downtown clubs.
-
Ghost switches his perception back to his home plane, takes out his knife and clubs and leaves them in the "swagger wagon". He then leaves the vehicle and makes his way towards the entrance to the club, spacing himself from anyone he knows who is trying to smuggle firearms in.
-
Motoko begins diving the node. She doesn't have time to probe the system gently, so she's going to break in the quick and dirty way, and own the system. The system wasn't that complex, but she wasn't going for mere access. She wanted to own the system completely, so she could work it as she wished. Let the others worry about getting into the club. She much preferred the virtual to the physical.
Going for Admin access. 11 hits after the first turn of hacking.
IP 1: 10d6.hits(5)=3 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3481320/)
IP 2: 10d6.hits(5)=3 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3481322/)
IP 3: 10d6.hits(5)=5 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3481323/)
-
Firewall attempts to detect the hack.
8d6.hits(5) → [3,1,1,6,4,5,1,5] = (3)
8d6.hits(5) → [1,4,1,4,5,3,6,2] = (2)
8d6.hits(5) → [1,3,6,5,6,1,4,2] = (3)
Mirikon, I'll let you roll a threading test to see if you can get your stealth up after the third throw. You'll need a stealth of 8 to not get noticed. Alternately, you could thread on the Mute option for your Exploit program to delay the alert for a full CT.
Makoto couldn't help but feel the pressure as each second ticked by. When working in zettaflops, three seconds of operation is an eternity.
-
Crimson Looked over her Taser then holstered it and hid it under her Clothing, so that even if searched it would be hard to spot.
Palming 8d6.hits(5)=1 - decded to role with -2 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3482029/)
Palming 8d6.hits(5)=2 -2 last dice 0 hits :'( critical glitch (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3482029/)
Rerolling misses - 6d6.hits(5)=2 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3482031/)
spent a edge point just to have a 1 extra hit, not my day :(
[/spoiler]
CRimon Opened the Team channel, so they all could hear Mokotos answear.
>Mokoto. you in the node yet, can you take a look if they have central MAD in the doors? I am going in<
Then she started to walk toward the Bar, the AR Poping up scared her a bit, but then she just started to repeat to hersefl ... Taser is no Firearm, it's a self defense tool ... over and over again until she felt it n her mind.
then she opened the door. ... Here we go ...
-
Jink breezes in with Crimson, Switch (and Sundance?) thankful for Sundance's makeup work, and hoping it will help the old biker blend his way through the entrance just a little easier....
He gives Ghost a seeyainside nod, then makes sure Crimson knows he's got his ingram tucked away before the group heads in, giving his companions a big shrug as the "no firearms" ARO flashes before them...
... "What? Gel clip. Hardly counts," he suggests, hoping the doormen have their eyes focused on the pretty ladies more than his concealed weapon...
-
Crimson opens the door to find a large human man in a nice suit holding an assault rifle pointed at her face.
"Do not move. Do not speak. On the count of three you will begin backing through the doorway. Once you have passed through the doorway, you will leave. You will not come back this evening. If you ever do come back, you will do so without your weapon. 1.. 2.. 3.."
In case it wasn't clear, the no firearms message was not a generic "welcome to the club" greeting, it was a message from security sent specifically because they detected a gun on crimson.
-
Sundance, seeing that the "No Firearms" policy was serious, decided to leave most of his weapons in the "Swagger Wagon," keeping only his sword-cane. He entered separately from the others and tried to blend in near enough to be on-hand in case violence started, while keeping an eye out for anyone else who might be doing the same for Clean Steve.
[spoiler=OOC]Sundance isn't carrying any firearms. He's using Holo-wear to be dressed appropriately. He is openly carrying the cane as part of his gothic get-up, but not making it obvious that there's a sword in it.[/spoiler]
-
Switch watched Crimson open the door.
Well, drek...
He entered the club and made his way toward the bar, looking for Clean Steve.
-
Crimson turned and left.
... so much for custumer friendlieness ...
She got on her bike and left.
@team >back in 5.<
-
Only two steps behind Crimson, Jink sees what happens and immediately turns around, declaring something about "Hah! Forgot my meds!" and trots back to the wagon. He quietly dumps his SMG inside and trots back, hopefully just in time to go in with Switch (or possibly Crimson, if the disguise thing is a goer).
PS - he has the cybereye with him, unless others think Motoko should keep it safe? Also his link is on passive.
-
(http://i39.tinypic.com/2q8rko6.jpg)
The large human manning the door with the assault rifle (now slung across his back) greets Switchback and Jink separately, but in the same manner.
"Your table is ready." Is all he says, before sweeping his arm toward the main hall.
A digital line paints itself across the floor towards the right rear of the room. In between, there is a large dance floor where absolutely no one is dancing. In fact it would likely be impossible to dance to the cacophonous music filling the place. Instead, people mill about and gossip digitally with each other while pretending not to care what anyone else is saying. At the rear where the pulpit would be placed in a proper church, there was a large stone altar which served as a bar. Not far from it, at a medium wooden table sits Clean Steve.
(http://i55.tinypic.com/jtpa46.jpg)
"Apologies for the location. I needed a neutral zone where we could talk. The one good thing about this place is that it doesn't belong to anyone in particular and no one stakes it out, because no one wants to be here." He looks around a bit at the mopey rich brats high on whatever you please. "Least of all its patrons." Despite everything you know about the man as a cold-blooded killer, he has some charm about him. "So, should we get straight to business, or would you like a drink first? I find it helps you armor against the buffoonery a bit. If it is to business, you could invite your friends over if you like, but what I have to say is primarily for you two gentlemen, and it concerns choices you may not want to mix them up in."
-
Jink transmits the conversation to the whole team via his internal commlink, allowing them to hear what's going on, and Jink will also relay anything they want to say to Steve (if they don't simply wish to pull up a chair next to them at the table).
-
Firewall attempts to detect the hack.
8d6.hits(5) → [3,1,1,6,4,5,1,5] = (3)
8d6.hits(5) → [1,4,1,4,5,3,6,2] = (2)
8d6.hits(5) → [1,3,6,5,6,1,4,2] = (3)
Mirikon, I'll let you roll a threading test to see if you can get your stealth up after the third throw. You'll need a stealth of 8 to not get noticed. Alternately, you could thread on the Mute option for your Exploit program to delay the alert for a full CT.
Makoto couldn't help but feel the pressure as each second ticked by. When working in zettaflops, three seconds of operation is an eternity.
Motoko continued hacking through the system, ignoring the responses of the team for the moment. They were distractions, nothing more. She would continue her assault upon the firewalls, and if anyone came to try and stop her, they would find a very capable sprite ready to blast their brain to mush.
Don't know why I keep forgetting the hot sim bonus to my actions. Anyways, continuing on hacking. Keep the exploits coming, to get admin access, regardless of an Alert or no. And my Sprite will take care of any spiders or IC that comes my way.
10d6.hits(5)=5 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3488008/)
10d6.hits(5)=5 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3488009/)
10d6.hits(5)=4 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3488010/)
-
Ghost walks through the crowd completely unconcerned about any looks he might be getting from the patrons. He had no interest in this lifestyle. As he walks to the table where Jinx and Switch are he sees Clean Steve and switches his perception to the astral plane to assense him. After a looking at him and quickly around the club in the astral he changes perception again. He then manipulates the mana around him to let him sense the accuracy of statements he listens to. Sitting down at the table he greets the people sitting there with his spell sustained. Hello, Jink, Switch, Steve.
Assensing roll
7d6.hits(5)=2 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3488392/)
Analyze Truth spell force 5
11d6.hits(5)=7 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3488393/)
Resist Drain 2S
11d6.hits(5)=5 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3488408/)
-
"I've never been known to pass up a drink when someone else is buyng."
Switch nods as Ghost sits down and spares a quick glance around the club.
"Now, what business are you talking about? Jink can tell you all you need to know about the ladies, and he's still pretty good with a bike. Other than that, I'm not sure what we can help you with."
-
"Si, I do my own makeup, too," Jink chimes in, as he orders a synthascotch via AR.
"What are you drinking, Mr Steve? Ghost? Might as well enjoy ourselves a little, eh?"
He gives the room a long sweep, buying drinks for the group while ostensibly looking for hot ladies ... and also trying to spot any of Steve's backup, folks taking an interest in them, or anyone who's clothing has suspicious gun concealing bulges.
"How can we help each other, Mr Steve?" smiles Jink as he mentally switches on his wired reflexes. Fragger's scary fast, after all.
perception test (intu 3, skill 4, glasses 3, active looking 3) (13d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3488881/) Any penalties Kontact for lighting etc just take the last few dice off. His glasses have lowlight actually.
-
So then just setting off alarms at the club during a meet. That's... a decision. Terminate connection roll
[1,5,3,6,1,4,3,1,6,4 ,3,6,2,6]=(5) Opposed by Hacking + Exploit + 4 admin + 2 hotsim. ICe one and tow roll initiative. 8d6.hits(5) → [6,5,4,1,2,2,2,1] = (2) 8d6.hits(5) → [2,5,4,3,1,3,1,4] = (1). Going on 10 and 9. As your sprite did not hack in, it is not in the node with you. You can call it in to the node with the normal action.
The node is set up as a virtual AR space in and around the club. There are ARO projectors throughout the floor to virtualize everything happening in the node as a projection into meat space. As such, the whole mess of patrons inside immediately see Motoko's icon appear on the dance floor with a flashing "Intruder" sign. This is immediately followed by the ghostly AR projection of a giant twisted tree growing up out the floor and spilling a flood of Ravens in Motoko's direction.
-
Anyone not at the table will need to make a threshold 2 listening check at -10 dice to hear the conversation. You can still get +3 for actively listening...
As Ghost opens himself up to the astral, he sees again several spirits flitting through the ether, none seemingly concerned about him. Steve assenses as a normal, mundane human being with no sickness and no cyberware, not even an old data jack. Emotionally, he is like a featureless slab of iron, but ever so slightly warm. There is a deep yellow glow of calmness about him. It's almost unnatural how calm his aura shows him to be, but you don't detect any drugs in his system. He's not radiating the murky calm of a bliss-head or a chip freak. As Ghost sits down, Steve turns to him and begins to speak. "Are you aware of what it means to be sitting at this table right now? I have to ask you, because... *sigh*" He first puts his palm to his face and then gestures to the scene rapidly unfolding in AR. "I had hoped you could be professional. That means if you're going to do something underhanded, you should try not to get caught at it." Steve produces a white noise generator, places it on the table and turns it on. He brings his hands up to his face and puts his fingers together over his mouth so as to block the view of any cameras.
"Listen. I know what kind of trouble you're in. Your faces are known to people who would see you dead, people who would kill your entire families to draw you out. I believe that you have what I'm looking for, and I believe that those aforementioned people share this belief. When I saw you in the streets outside of Vanian's, I thought 'Here's a piece of trouble, two teams after the same thing,' and I was ready to make sure that the trouble was yours and not mine. But then I recognized you Jink, and later you Switchback, and I thought to myself, 'I know why these two are doing what they're doing. They owe money all over town.' So, I figured, rather than start some sort of messy trouble and expose myself to those aforementioned people, I could simplify things a little for you. and we could help each other out. All of this while remaining under the cover of one of my regular occupations."
"So, I called a few of my friends, people the two of you might know, and I bought up all of your markers. So, now, what you owed all over town, you instead owe to me, personally. So, for Jink that would be the equivalent of 22,500 nuyen, and for Switchback, that would be 15,000 nuyen. It is a considerable sum of money. I am willing to waive it in return for the *ahem* eye-tem and a favor to be agreed upon later. You would destroy any copies of the data housed on it which you might have, and I would make sure that your knowledge of this data would no longer be seen as a threat to those aforementioned people. If that is not acceptable, we can still part as friends - slightly disappointed friends - and I will get back to you later about full remuneration of the debt. After all, neither of us wants this to fall to blood. If I move to kill you, I'm out a substantial sum of money, and if you move to kill me, then every organization or person in Seattle that lends money or makes book will be required to make a lesson of you and everyone you love."
He lets that last part sit in the air a moment before he turns to Ghost. "If you don't mind asking, I would like to know your name. Mine is Steven."
-
Sundance listened intently to the conversation, while still keeping an eye out.
[spoiler=ooc]http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3492634/ 3 hits (Intuition 5 + Perception 4 + Audio Enhancement 3 + Attention Coprocessor 3 + Active Listening 3 - Background Noise 10 = 8d6. [/spoiler]
-
Me? I'm just a Ghost of the shadows. Were those your associates we met up with in Bellview?
-
As Clean Steve explains the situation, a reckless plan begins to form in Jink's mind.
Mr Steve just consolidated our debts..? If we kill him, we not only rid the 'plex of one unholy psycho, but also wipe the slate clean for me and Switch... And remove our competition on this eye....? Plus, if we don't take him out, what, we're in this guys pocket? Holy frag. I've got a son, for frag's sake...
He thinks about the prospect of certain crime lords wanting to make an example of him, but from what Jink knew about his old mafioso contacts, as long as someone paid his gaming debts, they were unlikely to come for him.
Course, Jink wasn't armed. But Ghost was one hell of a mage, and he'd seen what Switch can do up close before. And surely Jink could at least distract Steve, if nothing else.... He pings his wagon, and rotor drone, powering them up and calculating where he needs to put his wagon or drone to shoot through the club's windows from the street (if possible)...
Thrillseeker - composure test! (6d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3497351/) haha holy shit, ok he doesn't have to go thru with his plan.... still .....
After Steve answers Ghost, Jink says "I think you overestimate the bookies in this town, Mr Steve. We can't give you the eye, it is worth much more to us than our debt. But we have a counter offer for you." Jink leans forward to whisper to Mr Steve, to emphasize his point. "We know what you did to those Iron Legion punks. We have the trid. You broke them good, and drek, you did some twisted work on them after. Takes a cold heart, that. I know you know I have a son. And an ex-wife. So. I suggest you leave town. Tonight. And never return. Or Knight Errant's Psycho Squad will have that trid like an electron thunderbolt. As for the debt - chalk it up to a bad debt on your part, neh?"
Jinks wired reflexes are almost bursting out of his skin as he gives Steve the pitch. In all honesty, he doesnt really expect Steve will agree, and frankly, even if he does, he has no clue if he can really trust him to leave Seattle... Hell. This is one slotted sitch. Fraaaaagggggg!!!
OOC: ok, so - if this is too quick a response, and folks want to consult etc no worries - Kontact can we treat this as a potential post to put everyone in the picture of where I think we should go with it. If others are strongly against it I'll retract it. Obviously I know if this turns into a fight its gonna be a bloodbath (not just Steve, and his buddies no doubt in the club, but the club security too). Still... it could also be an awesome biff fest!
-
Switch leans back and drums his fingers on the table as Steve's words hang in the air.
Some people just don't understand... How am I supposed to win big if I can't bet big?
He glances sideways at Jink as he makes his proposal. He leans closer to the table, tensing up.
"Not a bad move chum, seems you've bought yourself a golden ticket on this one. You can't lose. Jink here iss right though, we can't give you the eye. Then we'd be out of work and you would be out of your money. You know how it is. He's also right that we know about your... activities earlier. But who cares about a few less gangers? I'm sure some dumb trog is stepping into the empty space now. We are interested in something one of them had. Breaker, if you can't remember. You give us that piece, we finish our job, you get paid. What do you say, Steve?"
I like Jink's response, bloodbath option and all, so went with it having been done ;) Not sure if any roll is needed, or if con would be a correct role (as opposed to negotiation/etiquette/intimidation) 6d6.hits(5)=2 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3497505/)
-
Resisting terminate connection.
14d6.hits(5)=5 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3497704/)
Matrix initiative: 13, 3 passes
9d6.hits(5)=4 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3497722/)
-
Matrix-side, Motoko goes first. Take an action. Meat-side, Jink is looking to beat 5 hits on an intimidation test. You'll have a -4 from social modifiers (result harmful, street rep of target, players outnumber target.) I mostly want to know if you glitch the test...
"Well, Ghost of the Shadows, as I was trying to explain to you earlier, since you have involved yourself with another person's personal debt, that means you are also held accountable for that debt. So if something should happen involving that debt, then it would affect you as well. Your name is not strictly necessary. Should I need to contact you, a spirit should be able to find your aura. As to what happened in Bellview, I can assure you that neither I, nor anyone who works for me, have taken actions to harm you this evening."
He turns to Switchback. "All your past debts and current troubles gone. It even comes with the promise of future work. You're very sure you have to hold on to that thing? You are giving up very much for what is really very little."
-
hmmm, Jink has charisma 2 and no Intimidation skill... so default 1 dice, then -4 total -3 dice.... So auto fail? should I roll to see if he glitches? I didn't realise his plan would require a check, but yeah I suppose it should.... arrghhh !
OK well say with 1 dice ... intimidation test... (1d6.hits(5)=1) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3504938/)
AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH - glitch!! ? or critical glitch !!! aahhh even worse!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :(
-
Right, I'm in. Now to burn down the opposition. Frankly, I'm going to enjoy this. Motoko's grin translated across her digital face as she made a gesture, and called out, Batou! Cover me while I deal with this! Another icon appeared in the system, that of the sprite she had compiled earlier. Wielding what could be described as your 'standard issue big gun', the Fault sprite nodded, On it, Major!
Complex action to bring Batou into the system.
-
If that wasn't you then it seems then that we're not the only two teams looking for this eye-tem.
-
ICe gets an opposed check to see the sprite enter the node4+4 (8d6.hits(5)=2, 8d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3507221/) 2 hits each. Sprite can beat that most likely. 5+5 (10d6.hits(5)=1) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3507232/) no luck there. I'll throw the sprite's edge to keep it undetected. 5+5 (10d6.hits(5)=5) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3507261/) Goes unseen by 1 ICe.Stealth opposed redux (9d6.hits(5)=5) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3507247/) Much better. Sprite enters undetected. ICe 1 observes in detail twice. 4+4 (8d6.hits(5)=3, 8d6.hits(5)=1) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3507258/) 5+5 (10d6.hits(5)=1, 10d6.hits(5)=4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3507259/) Edge reroll to stay unseen stealth redux (9d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3507267/) works. ICe 2 attacks Motoko. cybercombat 4 +4 attack (area + armor piercing) (8d6.hits(5)=1) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3507252/) Motoko can passive dodge with Response + Firewall or go on full dodge with Response + Firewall + hacking. Only needs one hit. Bato's Init res 7 +5 rating (12d6.hits(5)=7) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3507272/) Goes on 19. The Node tries to terminate the connection once more. Terminate connection 8+4+2 (14d6.hits(5)=5) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3507294/). IP2: Bato attacks ICe 2 attack 5 +5 rating (10d6.hits(5)=1) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3507277/) ICe 2 dodges dodge (4d6.hits(5)=1) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3507279/) successfully. It's Motoko's move.
The crows swarm over Motoko's form in a blur, nipping ineffectively at the code defining her icon. Meanwhile, the tree pulses twice, hoping to illuminate anything yet unseen in the node. The system still attempts it mad scramble to identify Motoko's ports and sever the connection.
-
Steve turns to Jink. "The Iron Legion? You mean the race gang that even Alamos 2000 wouldn't associate with? I appreciate that you're willing to try a play, but you are playing with the safety of your child. I don't mean that as a threat or to provoke you. That's not how this works. I wouldn't go after your family, not while you live. But when you blatantly refuse to pay your debts, as you just have, I'm well in my right to kill you, and then your debt passes on to your son. Does he have money to pay me? That is the reality of your situation."
He ducks his head a little and stares straight into Jink's eyes. "Here is my counter-counteroffer - If you try to weasel your way out of your debt again, it will earn you a jacket as a punk. I do business with every organization in this city and several corporations besides. If I simply told them that you tried to get out of your debt with two-bit blackmail, you will never get respectable work again. As to overestimating bookies, those bookies are run by the mafia, the vory, the yakuza and others. The markers I hold are emblazoned with their names, with respectable names. The only way those names stay respected is if those who disrespect them die for the offense. If a debtor, unprovoked, attacked someone who holds his markers, it would weaken the position of every organization in this city. This isn't something that would be tolerated."
-
Jink raises an eyebrow and meets Clean Steve nose to nose.
"Okay then, guess we're gonna do this. Low life gangers or not, let's see how to media likes that trideo clip of yours. Knight Errant. Lone Star. 'Plex this big can't ignore that kind of blatant carnage. Then we'll see how much biz you get in this town, Mr Steve. My debt was to Harry Big Bones and the mafia, not a sociopath like you, si? Hehehe, I can see you're thinking, nah, Jink can't be this stupid, he wont try this, not here? Never underestimate how far a man will go to protect his family, neh? I guarantee - that trideo will go to every corner of the matrix the moment I walk out of here. So. Are we gonna dance, or what?"
Jink doesn't bat an eyelid, wired reflexes buzzing in his ears and he hopes Clean Steve takes the bait and attacks him.... then at least (if the team kilsl him) - it was "self defence".
-
Work in progress.
After taking the long circle around the block Crimson came to halt next to Mokotos van. Depression had had it's way with her. The red hair had changed into charcoal black, her face, the features of a Raven, the skin itself white, amost albiono. Here eyes so dark, they could be thought to be black, if not the darkest brown you had ever seen. That was her way to put it in a box, limit it's effect, even control it.
She had been listening to them almost since the start, things looked bad, really bad, and one thing was clear - she had to act now if she wanted to salvage the situation, there was no time fo[/color]r sulking.
> Can you put me on loudspeaker? Will try to get you out of there with dignity.< ... even if that even possible now ... she though to herself.
-
Switch shifts in his chair and takes a sip of his synthascotch. He sets the glass down and shakes his head:
"Very little? That sounds like a korean proverb I know. It means don't bull-shit a bull-shitter. It's worth at least 37,000 plus whatever it is you are being paid, and from your reputation I doubt you come cheap. It's important to our boss. It's important to whoever decided to start shooting us. I don't like being shot at. Jink here, he loves it. Bullets and broads, gets him riled up. Besides, just giving you the eye? That's the sort of thing that leads to my rent bouncing."
Going to need to move fast... No telling what ace he's got up his sleeve
Negotiation (2d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3508087/) Negotiation test if needed. As to the loudspeaker I would assume that Jink would have the comm set up so Crimson could talk, but maybe not.
-
Motoko easily dodged the IC's incoming attack, and leapt back, allowing Batou to take care of the two ICs for the moment, while she focused her energies on turning off the alert. Bringing up her Exploit form, Motoko grinned as she began working to undermine the system and make it forget she wasn't supposed to be there.
Resist Disconnect:
14d6.hits(5)=6 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3508377/)
Resist attack, Response 5 + Firewall 5 + 2 Hot sim
12d6.hits(5)=5 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3508383/)
Try to shut off the alert. Hacking 3 + Exploit 5 + Hot sim 2
10d6.hits(5)=3 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3508391/)
-
Jink's commlink is implanted but ... he routes the audio through his glasses inbuilt speaker phone function...
<Jink@Team: Go for your life, Crimson>
-
Ghost thinks to himself "So much for using this meeting to piece the puzzle together. Guess we're here to piss Steve off."
He scans the room to see if anyone seems interested in their conversation.
11d6.hits(5)=5 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3509426/) 5 hits if I get an actively looking +3. Only 3 if not.
-
Jink's commlink is implanted but ... he routes the audio through his glasses inbuilt speaker phone function...
<Jink@Team: Go for your life, Crimson>
After getting into Mokoto's Van, Crimson Took a deep breath and started her proposal to Clean Steve
"Good afternoon gentlemen, Sorry for interrupting your small circle of friendly conversation, but i have the feeling you are not advancing in the talks one bit, since... well, let's say, not at all.
Steven, your proposal, generous as it is, goes against our contract, and even if you promise to take us in and provide work for us, still, it is only your word, and your reputation. And as we have seen your work on Iron Legion, i do not think it screams 'trustfulness' at us. Even your offer is more a stick in carrots disguise then a proper proposal to be thought over. So I am sorry to say, but this is not in our interest, at least not yet.
I have a counter proposal. You allow us to work separately on this matter and we allow you to do the same. Two teams can cover more ground. This way we could help each other. I do not know for who you work, and i do not care, as it is just a job, nothing personal.
About the debt they owe you, i think you will be payed after the end of this Job any way, either you let it go as we came to the conclusion that your proposal is the best, or we might as well complete our original task and use the funds to repay you, or Both. Binding our hands now is pushing us in the corner, and Jinks here does not like to be in a corner, it gives him the urge to kill the responsible one.
I think, I made my idea clear enough, you let us pursue our goal for some time longer, we meet again and find a solution, trade information or other trinkets. But for now we separate as we met, with respect to each other."
Negation roll
13d6.hits(5) = (6) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3509670/)
-
"Switchback, you can't build a T-bird without screws, but if all you have is screws, then you can't pretend you're selling a T-bird. To put it another way, what you currently have is worth far less than the trouble it will bring you, but you have declined my offer. That's your decision to make. I will contact you later about payment of your debt. As to your threats, Umberto, you are not protecting anyone by trying to get my ire up. Just the opposite, in fact. I will take your refusal of your debt at its word. I do not think that it will turn out well for you."
Steve gets up and begins walking toward the back hallway. Looking around, Ghost spots an intense woman and a middle-aged man looking at their table from the far side of the bar.
-
Resist 6P dumpshock. Ouch.
10d6.hits(5)=3 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3513186/)
-
Ghost switches to astral perception to discretely assense the two interested parties.
5d6.hits(5)=2 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3513390/) I took off two dice for sustaining spell.
Ghost drops the spell when Steve leaves the table.
Ghost texts to team "Far table seems interested in us. Man and women."
-
Switch tosses back what's left of his drink as Steve walks away before he looks to Jink and Ghost.
"A good talk, eh?"
@Ghost: "Because we're the life of the party."
Better double my bet on that Screamers match...
-
@Team: I'll stand by if you want to check into those two more closely. But I suggest waiting to see if they leave with Steve or not; if they do, they're probably his backup.
Sundance drifted casually towards the table with the interested parties; not trying to attract attention, just be close enough to do something if a fight broke out.
-
Ghost can tell the woman is awakened and the man is not. He doesn't recognize either of their auras from anywhere else. More concerning though would be the large beast spirit astrally perched on the bar next to them. Ghost gets the sense that all three are displeased with the group's presence. In a five minute span they've seen someone trying to enter with a firearm despite warnings, another getting caught attempting to hack the public node and then a SINless hobo casting magic in full view of the crowd, needless to say, even a place without integrity still has rules, and this crew has broken a whole mess of them.
-
Before Clean Steve leaves, Jink takes a photo of him via his implanted commlink (presumably retains a camera function, maybe in a cyberfinger or something?). He sends the photo to his ex-wife and Vito's last known drop box, warning them that "Clean Steve" is dangerous and to steer clear of him.
"Frag me, but this aint gonna work out well for nobody," the rigger declares once Steve is gone. "Whoever Steve works for wants the eye, and they now know we have it. Next time we see Mr Steve, he won't be asking nicely. Well, frag, drek happens, eh?"
He gives the club security a friendly salute, downing the remainder of his synthascotch in a single gulp.
"Let's burn rubber, eh. Where we to next?"
As an after thought, he shoots a message to Harry Big Bones, seeking confirmation that Clean Steve has "taken over" his debt...
-
Jink calls up his bookie and inquires about is outstanding debts. <<Connection - Harry Big Bones: "What? It's late and I'm busy." "Your mark? Keppa? Yeah, I know who you are. An associate of mine took that account over and I was happy to let him. He handles high-risk cases like you on the regular and he's reliable about it." "What, are we friends now? I don't know you from a hole in the ground and I don't care about what you did or what you do. Only thing I know about you Keppa is that you make dumb bets with money you don't have. I'm sure I knew a lot more about you, like where you live and all of that, but those records got handed over with your debt and I don't concern myself with what's past.">>
-
Ghosts talks to the team, "Yeah let's get out of here, we can discuss our next move in a more private setting. We better be careful about being followed from this place. I think those two at the far table are with the club and if we don't do anything stupid we'll be okay."
Ghost drops his detection spell.
-
Switch stands up. His eyes wander over to the pair at the table before he nods to Ghost. "Right, let's go."
-
So, the team got up and started filing out cautiously enough to not walk into anything, but quickly enough to beat the cops if they had been called. Funnily enough, all the trouble they caused almost was a protection of sorts, since no one who valued their skin would try a move on them with a potential police response only seconds away.
Motoko meanwhile awoke in her armored truck with a headache and a slight nosebleed. First Aid was pretty high on her list of priorities.
-
Motoko groaned as the dumpshock rolled off her. Whatever had dumped her from the system wasn't the IC, she'd been able to beat that easily enough. Though maybe they'd rebooted the system? Whatever. Her bad night was just getting worse, it seemed. Reaching over to her medkit, she let the autodoc do its thing.
Rolling First Aid. Logic 5 + Rating 6 - Wounds 1 = 10 dice. Healed 3P.
10d6.hits(5)=3 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3527552/)
-
Ghost calmly leaves the club while staying alert for more trouble. He leaves and heads towards the "Swagger Wagon." He wishes to himself that he never agreed to meeting with Steve in the first place. They'd of been better off just getting on with the job. He had no idea whether Steve had that last piece of tech to help them finish the job or if he knew of Breaker's girl. Sure that Steve would try some way to track them he switched to astral perception on the way to the car. Looked around for any spirits that might try to follow them. This guy Steve knows all the tricks, the tech, magic and he know our weaknesses, a total pro. I hope it doesn't come down to him or us, he thought to himself.
-
Switch walks with Ghost and Jink back to the Wagon. He slaps Ghost on the shoulder: "Good talk, eh? You said you knew someone that could help us out with this mess?"
-
Sundance meets back up with the others at the van.
"Yeah, we best move fast before Steve comes up with any more ways to interfere."
-
"I'll but call in after we put some distance from this place without being followed."
-
Taking Slugger up on his invitation to talk about the Legion, Ghost directs the team to head down to Brighton Mall in Tacoma. His buddy there told him that there was a Blitz there, so it seemed like both a good place to hide out from any more corp teams and a great place to get lost if Steve had put a tail on them.
On the way, Ghost gives the cleaner-set types a quick history lesson about where they're headed, namely Route 66, the flavor of the month. It's the latest blitz club, the 2050s version of the 'rave parties' that have enjoyed sporadic popularity since they started back in the bleak innocence of the '90s. Toss together some portable mixing gear, a few hundred friends, and a public space, and you had an instant rave.
Blitz clubs work the same way, but with an important difference: they are conducted on private property, without the consent of the "host." Instead, the night's "club owner" hires enough muscle to secure the dance floor and defend it for a few hours. Trendy and dangerous, your average blitz is a who's who of street culture. Route 66 is one of the best of its kind. Tonight the blitz is going down at Brighton Mall.
By the time you get there at 2am. the party is in full swing. A troll stands at the door, wearing nothing but a loincloth and a challenging look, while nearby, people are gyrating convulsively across the dance floor where the food court used to be. A capacity crowd hangs out in the stores, but no one touches the merchandise: pilfering is against the blitz club code. Late as it is though, you know it won't be long before Knight Errant shows up to pull the plug. If you want to find Slugger or Breaker's girl, you'd better get moving.
[tune] (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvLAKrVbCBM)
-
On the way in Ghost will switch perception to see if it's safe summon watchers to help in his search for Breaker.
-
The astral is not particularly active. There are a few wards around some of the more sensitive stores, but the magical presence at the Blitz is very small. The rowdiness of these types of gatherings causes a disturbance in the ambient energies which keeps the Wiz Gangs away.
No astral security at the party, and a BC of 1.
-
Switch moves into the crowd, his movements semi-spastic as he starts to dance. He glances around, his eye lingering a bit on some of the stores. Yelling out to Ghost: "Eh?" He looks around again before he goes back to dancing, moving with even less grace.
Perception test (5d6.hits(5)=1) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3542143/)
-
Jink tries his luck as Switchback's wingman, also rather spasmodic in his dance moves, but somehow convinced he can dance just as well as the new kids. Twisting in time to the beat, he nods and gyrates next to the hottest chicks he can find, not fussed as to ethnicity or metatype, although he is a bit leery of troll woman might snap him like a twig.
"We should of come here sooner, eh," he declares to his team mates nearby, winking mischievously.
Engaging the closest female who doesn't immediately recoil, Jink fires off his standard opening line.... "Hey chica, you like combat biker?"
As the game begins, Jink recalls his debacle with Clean Steve and quickly fires off a message <Jink@CleanSteve: I confirmed my debt to you. I'll pay. Message me the details Mr Steve.>
Glancing around the dance area, Jink tries to keep at least one eye, some of the time, on the look out for hostiles...
Perception check, actively looking and +3 glasses enhancement 13d6.hits(5)=5 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3543389/)
-
At the mall entrance the massive troll bouncer gives you the once over before nodding and signaling that you're free to go inside. You notice as you pass that his loin cloth is actually riveted into the dermal plates his skin. Leaning on the wall next to him is what looks like a giant claymore made out of a beaten-flat signpost, roughly sharpened with concrete. A good reminder that these people were drugged-out Barrens gangers.
Switch figures that there are some easy to recognize patterns in the groups sitting around the emptied-out food court. Their clothing identified them well enough as separate gangs. Their members would would intermingle some on the dance floor, but they all sat off in different areas. The Legion's colors would likely be easy enough to recognize from the trid if he just cruised around the place long enough to find what was left of them.
Meanwhile, Jink's flirting was making a little progress on the dance floor. "Bikes, hunh? So you like to ride?"
From the matrix came Steve's relpy. <<Steven@Jink: I suppose I can understand your caution at not taking me at my word, but I can assure you, my word is good. As to the payment of your debt, that is something we can work out at a more reasonable hour and in better circumstances. In a related vein, you mentioned something about a recording. I assume that you acquired this recording after our first meeting since you didn't seem prepared for my presence in that encounter. Would you be willing to tell me from whom you received it? I would be grateful. After all, I'm sure you could relate. If someone were to sell damaging information about you, to those who don't have your interests in mind, you would also be upset by this, yes?>>
-
Ghost doesn't have much trouble following an ARO from his comm over to his little pal Slugger is sitting with the rest of the Block Knockers, a 3rd rate crew from northern Puyallup. They were sitting around, about 20 strong and chatting boisterously. They seemed to be more the synthanol type than the betameth or eX heads throwing themselves around on the dancefloor. Their insigina of a square with a bat over top of it was emblazoned on some of their clothes digitally or with a patch. Slugger waved Ghost over. "Hey, there's the guy! I was wondering if you'd show! You thirsty? Because I am! Mind setting a guy up?"
-
No problem brah, whadya drinking? Ghost goes to grab a drink of Slugger's choice from the nearest vendor without ordering anything for himself. Probably don't have any green tea here he though to himself. He brings the drink over to Slugger, Nice party you got going here. How are thing going for you? Sorry to bring business into it but I'm a little under the gun. I need to meet anyone who might have known Breaker well. I know he had a girlfriend so maybe we could start with her. I'm looking for an item he might have had. Anyone who helps me might assist in getting some revenge on the people behind the Iron Legion massacre if that's any incentive.
-
Slugger takes the drink and tips his hat in thanks before responding to Ghost's statement about the Legion. "Ha! Even boosters like the Hellhounds are toasting the Legion getting jacked up. Don't know who they pissed off that had the money to hire a big lector like You Know Who, but the Legion's idea of a good time was to kick in the door of a pregnant Trog and unload a shotgun into her stomach." Slugger turns his head and spits. "Legion's a stuck pig now. Once the Blitz breaks up, Half the crews in here will move to bleed them off, so they're hiding under the skirts of the Troll Killers for as long as they'll let them. You can spot them by the north entrance." He points with his eyes. "Baldur wouldn't let them through his door." Slugger grins and nods back the direction the group came in.
-
"Thanks Slugger. I'll hit you up with a little taste when I finish this job. See ya back at the hood." Ghost heads through the crowd tries to catch the eye of Switch and Jink on the dance floor and gives them a follow me nod. He then heads to the entrance where the Iron Legion are to see who's there.
Perception test w/ +3 for actively looking
11d6.hits(5)=3 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3550137/)
-
Gathered around the food vendors north of the dance floor is a sea of well-armed thugs, most of whom seem too serious for a party. Past the line of them, on the far side of the booths are six guys in leathers and chains standing in front of a Mister Crunchy sandwich shop. The blue NoPaint on their faces and arms marks them with Legion crosses, just like the guys from the trideo.
The whole scene is one of latent hostility.
-
(ooc: apologies for the slow posting, was at Origins)
Sundance trails behind Ghost, watching the crowd, letting the others do the talking while keeping an eye open for more trouble.
What a bunch of trash. At least we should be able to get some answers.
Seeing Ghost approaching the Legion, Sundance tensed up in anticipation of a possible confrontation.
These two-bit punks look like trouble.
<<Sundance@Ghost: I have your back if these guys want a fight.
-
Catching Ghost's nod, Switch follows him over through the crowd.
-
"Here goes nothing" Ghost thinks to himself. He slowly walks over to the guys in the blue paint. "Hello gentlemen, enjoying the party?"
-
Switchback follows behind Ghost, still attempting to dance. "Who doesn't love to party?"
-
Probably the people stuck on guard duty during the party.
"Especially at a party as wiz as this."
-
Ghost managed to walk through the line of hardcore "humanists" walling off the food stands with nothing more than a few hard looks and a couple shoulder shoves, but the Troll Killers formed up as Switchback approached. It turns out that Orks aren't welcome in their hang.
The remaining Legionaries were easily ten times as cagey as the TKs though. They responded to Ghost's approach by puffing themselves up as best they could. One guy, bigger than the others moved to the front and addressed Ghost harshly. "Is that a fraggin joke, scrub?" He looked at Ghost like he was imagining all sorts of nasty things to do to the young mage's head and face. "The hell are you selling?"
-
"Well, I'm not exactly a salesmen. I could use your help though. As it turns out one of my associates was friends with Breaker. I was grieved to hear about his demise. I was hoping you might be able to introduce me to some of his closer friends in your club. I also like to mention that helping me might put the corp behind your scuffle earlier in a very compromising position."
-
Switchback stops up short as the Troll Killers form up.
Guess not everyone likes to party...
He glances at the rest of the team and shrugs.
-
Crimson, still keeping a bit distance from the team, keeping up her separate player style was late for the Party, but she did not miss it at all. She might dress like a Punk, but this was just below her Style. Drunk or High on drugs dancing incomprehensibly. She likes more the atmosphere of the Tea ceremony, but she does not think the others would understand that :)
Up until now Crimson dd not have any chance to shine, and here would it be hard as well, they did not like meta humans as it seems. So her job here would be much harder if she could be part of the negotiations at all.
She carefully started to walk toward ghost, keeping her fingers crossed that she would be seen uman enough to get trough to the Iron Legion. ... Come on, let this work out ...
-
Right now, the TKs are hostile towards Switchback and prejudiced towards Crimson. If you would like to improve that, you can roll etiquette to improve their disposition. Swtich would be at -3 for hostile, and Crimson would have -2 for prejudice and +2 for them generally being attracted to her. Opposed for the TKs 8d6.hits(5) → [5,4,6,1,5,3,2,6] = (4). Each net hit will improve your standing with them by 1. Glitch will make things worse. All you need to be able to pass them is to improve their disposition to suspicion. Meanwhile with Ghost should roll etiquette as well. The Legion don't like what he's saying or how he's saying it. Opposed etiquette for the Legion 8d6.hits(5) → [4,1,3,5,4,5,1,2] = (2)
"Frag is this twat-prattle?! You better buzz before my 'club' finds its way to your backside, scrub."
-
Jink is still dancing in the far background, keeping on eye on goings on but somewhat distracted by any nearby female dancers who seem even remotely interested in not vacating the floor where ever he happens to be that instant...
He does notice (in vague terms) the rising tension with Crimson/Switchback. Maybe little bit trouble, but Switch can punch through walls. And there are plenty chicas here, eh!
Back to the gyrating, Jink falls into the jerky moves of the famous Azzie Slambucket; a dance frequented by kids some 20 years ago. Retro chic, he reassures himself as he "brings it"
"Dance fight!" he declares, engaging any chica willing enough to "duel" him.
Jink@team<Maybe try little bit dance, they like you better, eh?> he suggests unhelpfully.
-
11d6.hits(5) = (2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3590643/)
use edge o rerol misses
9d6.hits(5) = (4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3590786/)
6 hits total :)
Crimson Walks right trough the TK's wihout looking them in the eyes, she knows not to provoke them. Then Crimson joins ghost at the IL gig fellow. " Selling?
Nothing, we just want to make a trade. something you got, for somthing you need."
-
As Crimson walks toward the Legion table, she can clearly see the disinterested and withdrawn members perk up a bit. All of their eyes follow her trajectory as it goes straight toward them and she picks up where Ghost left off. The larger Legionaire who'd been talking stands up and moves close to Crimson, pushing Ghost out of the way with a swipe of his forearm. "If I need something, I take it." He half growls as he looks Crimson up and down. "And I do think maybe you've got what I need..."
Just then, the sirens start and the bullhorns begin barking orders to "Get down on the floor with your hands above your head!" and other such things that are never going to happen. The sound of gunfire starts up around the perimeter and the whole place begins its scramble to evacuate, sound system first.
Crimson can try to Negotiate now, or wait a bit and try to negotiate as the cops start to put more pressure on them.
-
Sundance stood around the party sullenly, making no effort (unlike Jink) to enjoy the festivities and focusing on keeping his eyes and ears open for trouble. The police sounded like trouble.
<Sundance@Team: We had best blow this party before the cops get it too well surrounded. Crimson, think you can get them to leave with us?>
How are the Troll Killers reacting? Is it reasonable for Sundance to try Infiltration during the confusion to get to where Crimson and Ghost are before we start trying to leave?
-
Etiquette test: -3 for prejudiced (2d6.hits(5)=1) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3596039/) That's a glitch as well.
Switchback glances over at Jink attempting to "duel" a Troll that is easily twice his size. @Jink: She's too much woman for you. We'd best get ready to run.
He watches as Ghost is swept aside, and glances over his shoulder when the sirens start blaring. "Just when the party was getting fun.."
-
Ghost doesn't resist the push and moves to the side. He the hears the sounds of the approaching 50. "Perfect timing" Switching to astral perception he assenses the Iron legion goons and looks around to see if the police have any noticeable magical backup. As the everyone starts to scatter Ghost uses the distraction to cast improved invis on himself and starts to tail the Iron legion members. If he sees cops he will switch perceptions briefly to recheck for any magic support. "Hopefully the cops think this party is too low brow for any awakened to be here."
Assensing Roll (7d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3597527/) Assensing roll
improved invis (11d6.hits(5)=1) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3597529/) invis roll
drain (11d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3597530/) drain
-
(http://i50.tinypic.com/1zf4lrr.jpg)
The commotion seemed to be coming from the eastern entrance as the police pushed into the relatively unguarded doorway and began spraying bullets out into the makeshift dancefloor. The panic intensified and Ghost could feel it pulse and flail across the gathered mass as music and hormones met drugs and gunplay. Exposing himself to the raw energy of it all paled the runner like his namesake, but he stayed stalwart even as his spell came off half-cocked. He couldn't spot any magic, and the place was such a storm, astrally, that it really didn't surprise him.
Sundance meanwhile was busy watching the TKs operate. Their line was sideways to the security's point of entry, and they handled the situation in a military fashion. Three on the end took up firing positions and completely halted the police's advance with a burst of assault rifle fire. Meanwhile the rest took up rearward positions or moved to evacuate to the west. It was enough to give the Gnome pause. They didn't act like a street gang at all. A little heat came down and their true colors shone through for any one to see. That bunch was a paramilitary organization in street clothes. Probably at the party for recruitment and to wag their dicks at the metas. It was concerning to think about.
The Legion, while in no way organized, had the same idea and lit out to the west. One of their number tried to run south of the food stand and got stitched across the back with a spray of rubber bullets from the police. He went down hard, whacking his head on the counter of the nearby Meat King.
-
Sundance sized up the situation and decided that if the Troll Killers wanted to take on the cops, he was happy to let them draw the fire. The Legion, on the other hand, they couldn't afford to let get away. He switched off his holowear, hoping his small stature, the chaos, and his chameleon coating would be enough to let him tail after the Legion without getting noticed.
<Sundance@Team: the TKs are holding off the garbage so their chummers can escape. We should get out a different way and let them draw the fire. I'm trying to follow the Legion, either get out or help me if you can.>
[spoiler=OOC]Shadowing (4[5]; reflex recorder)+Intuition 5 to follow the Legion. Let me know what other rolls if any are needed. Sundance has Chameleon Coating active (-4 Perception). One hit (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3598205/), rerolling with Edge, five hits total (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3598206/)[/spoiler]
-
Crimson, even thou she looks small and frail, does not back down when the Leader of the Legion makes his statement, but instead gives him her own.
"We could get you all out alive, but if you want the Cops to finish the job the Crazy fuck started, be my guest."
Crimson Looks him in the eyes without flinching back from his scared face and his macho stance.
"So you think you can take on this situation on your own, or do you need some extra guns and skill to to get out in one piece for a small piece of information?
Can you really afford to turn us down, as loosing even more people would defiantly ruin the legion."
Without waiting for a response Crimson called Ghost, over com loud enough so the leader of Iron Legion hears it too.
>Ghost, get your spirits and Mojo going, prepare for a fast exit.<
Nothing convinces low-level gangs like magic, as in the popular culture magic is often overpowered.
"So you take our offer?"
While seemingly taking a look what the sensors of her bike outside can make of the positioning of the Cops.
[spoiler=OOC]
Nego roll
16d6.hits(5) = (5) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3599927/)
[/spoiler]
-
Switchback watched the Legion scatter, wincing slightly when one of them dropped before he went off after them. At least the Troll Killers are being useful, maybe the cops will be useful and take a few out...
@Sundance: On your tail.
Shadowing: BBCode6d6.hits(5)=2 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3600594/)
-
Overdrive's perception test 2d6.hits(5) → [4,3] = (0) Not noticing a thing, but both of you'll have to hang back a bit to make it through the humanist's door without a good infiltrate roll. OD's negotiation 8d6.hits(5) → [4,1,6,6,4,5,1,2] = (3) Leaves Crimson 1 net after penalties. He's convinced, but not eager.
The police hang back, peppering the area indiscriminately with jelly and letting their presence sweep everyone out of the other mall exits. But, just in case their presence isn't enough, they pop a couple cans of gas and toss them out on the floor.
Crimson follows along as the Legion's upright members make for the west exit. Their Lieutenant pauses at the side of the Great Big Tater and starts firing full auto toward the east entrance while Crimson tries to negotiate. The man laughs a sick laugh and grabs Crimson's arm forcefully, dragging her as he retreats east. "Sure thing, honey. After you're finished protecting us, I'll fill you in."
-
Crimson follows along as the Legion's upright members make for the west exit. Their Lieutenant pauses at the side of the Great Big Tater and starts firing full auto toward the east entrance while Crimson tries to negotiate. The man laughs a sick laugh and grabs Crimson's arm forcefully, dragging her as he retreats east. "Sure thing, honey. After you're finished protecting us, I'll fill you in."
"Good, then we have a deal. :D" Crimson smiled for a milisec right there, then she got al serious all of a sudden.
>We protect them, they Talk, the deal is made, so let's protect them!
Motoko Get the Van ready we might need some fast get away.< Crimson said over the Com-link while Reading her weapon.
-
<@Switch: Try to stay hidden if you can. I don't trust these gutter trash further than I can throw them.>
While waiting for an opening, Sundance readied his MGL-6 with white phosphorus rounds, in case cover was needed.
-
Ghost reaches out to his guardian spirit. "Do you think you can cause a distraction to cover our escape? Maybe wreck a few cop cars or cause a commotion behind the police lines" Ghost communicates through the sense link. He then looks to see if a couple of well placed powerbolts might create enough debris to cover there escape.
perception test (8d6.hits(5)=6) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3609778/)
OOC: I think my edge pool just refreshed
-
Sure thing, refresh edge. As to what you spot, there's no structural weaknesses in the mall ceiling or anything, but the police seem to be taking cover behind a number of clay potters that you could probably obliterate with powerbolts. It wouldn't be enough damage to piss them off to the point where they'd call in serious support, but it would force them to drop prone or catch lead. Don't forget though, you're going to leave an astral signature if you cast spells and don't have time to cleanup, so pissing off the cops too much could make trouble for you down the road. You should be able to cast from cover though.
With the TKs mostly out the door, the police began moving forward again, hoping to catch the stragglers, and that was where you were. Ghost hung back to hold off the police, and Switch and Sundance stayed back to follow at a distance. Meanwhile, Crimson was being dragged by the arm out the western door by a humanist gang lieutenant.
Ghost could feel the reply from the spirit echoing in his mind. I can occupy them.
-
Switch watches the humanist dragging Crimson out the door, readying his Uzi.
-
Meanwhile, Crimson was being dragged by the arm out the western door by a humanist gang lieutenant.
Crimson did not like the feeling to be taken away from most of the team, though she was confident tat Motoko would be waiting for her on the other side she was not sure what the intentions of the man pulling her were, one was sure she never trusted a man and this would not be the first case she made a plan B just in case.
SubVocal "We just need the info and this guy seems to have it, basically we need him. to point out the girl we search for. in case i can drop him for some interrogation, but it would be nice to have someone watch my back, i do not trust him on keeping his word."
-
<Sundance@Crimson: Me and Switch are following you. Get him out the door and then stall.>
-
As Crimson was pulled closer and closer to the double doors, time seemed to slow down. She saw two Troll Killers on her left with assault rifles firing all the way across the mall at the police. One was crouched behind a plant-potter while the other was in the doorway itself, protected by two layers of bullet resistant glass, one being the wall and the other the sliding door, now locked into an open position with a crowbar. From outside, she could hear the sound of dozens of vehicles starting their engines, ready to get out of there. Concerned, she turned back to look into the mall for her recent associates, but none of them were going with her.
Ghost was a good ways back, watching the police. Sundance was nowhere to be seen. Switchback was keeping his distance and Jink was just gone. With Motoko still out of contact, Crimson had no idea what was waiting for her out in that parking lot besides two dozen well-armed humanists and five of the worst examples of humanity that even a world-famous z-zone like the redmond barrens had to offer.
Alright, Crimson needs to roll initiative.
-
Ghost stops concentrating on his weekly cast invisibility spell and starts heading out the way the rest of the team left trying to blend in with the crowd.
-
Comanding voice and voice control Combo wanted to con them into believing too, but i guess the commanding voice takes care of it and no nego roll is needed, but if it is just use the old one or i can make one too.
Commanding voice(2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3632891/)
Rerolling misses(1) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3632894/)
Total Leadership 3
I get the feeling IC wants Crimson to be beat up :S
Edit: Adding Con Roll
Con Roll(3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3634650/)
Con Reroll(2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3634656/)
Total Con 5
Still have the feeling IC does not like Crimson :-\
Feeling the stiffening grip of the Man pulling her she knew that it's now or never. Crimson knew quite well how it would end if she alone had to fight all the scum here so she had to be inventive and smart about it, and she just got an idea.
"Bang(Crimson imitates the sound of a gunshot) Drop your weapons!" She Screams in a Commanding voice just in the same manner and tone like the KE had done just a few min back in the Mall, she even throws her voice 10m so that it comes from the other side of the street. Now hopefully they will believe it and at least turn around leaving her unattended.
-
Con resist = [3,6,5,3,1,1,3]=(2) They fully believe that there are cops standing right behind them. Resist +4 for targets = 11d6.hits(5) → [1,5,6,1,5,6,4,6,6,5,6] = (8) They don't drop their weapons though. Gonna use Overdrive's old roll for knockdown.
OD was already tensed up to shove Crimson to the ground at his subordinate's feet when he heard the police right on top of them. Figuring that she'd make a good distraction anyway, he continued his motion and threw her to the ground before shouting "Split!" which the rest of the ganger's quickly did. They headed out into the parking lot, winding through the cars.
-
As Ghost is keeping his head down while fleeing to the exit he reaches out to the sense link with his spirit to see how he was faring.
-
While Crimson was busy picking herself up off the ground and dusting herself off, the TKs had finished clearing the building and Sundance and Switchback could get through the western door without catching a face full of rifle fire. Ghost, still inside, watched as the advancing police stalled out, many of them turning around to deal with the disturbance being created outside.
-
so some more things i need to clear first :)
Taking 1 stun damage (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3645849/)
Slowly picking herself up Crimson took a look where the IL had run of, she had a wish to follow the leader, just not alone.
>They are making a run, need help here, also it would be charming if some one could take the IL guy who got hit by KE, not sure how much does he know, but i would guess more then us.<
@Mokoto >Where are you, werent you supposed to be here?<
-
"Good job, try not to leave any trace and get out of there. I might need you soon." Ghost sends to his faithful spirit as he makes his way back to his team and the rest of the Iron Legion.
-
Switchback grabs the downed Legion member and moves quickly toward the exit to rejoin Crimson and the rest of the team.
@Crimson: "Got him."
-
Ghost is already out helping Crimson as Sundance and Switchback make it through the door carrying the downed Legionnaire. While they're trying to figure out where Motoko might have gone, some TKs still watching the door from the parking lot begin spraying bullets their way. Seems they must have been offended by a Trog and a Halfer using their door. Didn't have much time to be offended though before a rotodrone swept past laying into them with explosive machine gun fire. Definitely not police-issue. The mystery resolved itself pretty quickly as the Swagger Wagon pulled up on the curb and the doors popped open.
<<"Jink was just going to save some pretty chicas and then perhaps disappear with his son before psycho killer or the b-string hit squad comes knocking, but, hey! Jink doesn't leave anyone high or dry! So hop in and we take this party on the road!">>
-
Sundance helps Switchback toss the downed Legionnaire in the back of the wagon and then hops in.
-
Ghost makes haste to the Jink's van. "Impeccable timing JInk" As the the door closes and the tires start to roll Ghost leaves his body into the astral plane. He speeds through the fleeing cars in search of the Iron Legion thugs.
-
Switchback hops in the Wagon and nods. "Always time for the chicas, Jink."
-
From the astral, Ghost has little trouble finding the van with the Legion in it. From the physical, the giant skull with a centurain's helmet sprayed on the front, back and sides sort of gives it away. Jink begins to follow them by way of following Sundance's advice, and soon they are out of the area the police are mopping up with the Legion none the wiser.
-
Ghost summons a watcher spirit and instructs it to follow the van.
9d6.hits(5)=3 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3677000/) Ghost limits it to 2 hours for drain roll.
drain roll
11d6.hits(5)=3 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3677001/)
He then returns to his body.
"I got the van under surveillance. How's sleeping beauty doing? Would it help if I used some healing mojo on him or does he just need a stim patch? Ghost says after leaving the astral. He then looks over the punk to see how much damage was done by the cops.
-
It doesn't take medical training to figure out that the punk isn't bleeding. His leathers aren't even pierced in the back. Near as Ghost could guess, some smelling salts from a medkit would be enough to wake the guy up. The wisdom of waking an unrestrained adversary in the back seat of a car during a chase, though, that is questionable.
-
"Hey Jink, I got a spirit following those punks. Ghost then turns to the rest of the team. "Maybe we could fall back and question this guy. If he's got the info we need we just have to deal with one of them."
-
"I think if any of these idiots know anything, it's probably their leader. If you have a spirit tailing them, let's just follow until they stop and then hit them while they're getting out instead of letting them get to a safehouse or split up."
-
Switch nods and taps his forehead "I doubt sleeping beauty had much up here to start, probably best we just hit them and have a chat with the leader."
-
"Oh, you gotta ask him meaning of life, eh? Guess we better follow the boss then. Jink can't stay though. Good thing they have a van, yeah?"
After 20 more minutes of driving, you've made it back to Redmond. Passing through Touristville and heading northeast you eventually find yourselves in a set of squats partway between the Rat's Nest up north, the Crash Zone to the east, and the meta-ghettos down south in Crimson Crush territory. The van comes to a stop outside a makeshift gate and the guy in the front passenger seat hops out to move it.
Engagement range at this point would be 60 meters.
-
"Alright, let's get this show of the road, da?"
Sundance aimed his grenade launcher into the gangers' van, trying to land a chemical grenade or two in the recently-vacated passenger seat.
Sundance is taking two simple actions to fire two Narcoject/DMSO chem grenades into the front seat of the van (the idea being to splash the people that are inside and out of LOS). 60m is -1 on a grenade launcher.
Hit:
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3688149/
2 and 6
Scatter:
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3688158/
7 and 6, since the vehicle is stationary that's 3 and 0. The first grenade scatters 3m, second is a direct hit (and refreshes edge, right?)
Scatter direction is http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3688164/ (direction 4, backwards) so it will fall 3m short. It's a 10m burst so it will presumably hit the guy who is outside and miss everyone else, unless he manages to get a lot of hits on a dodge.
-
You easily win surprise, so there's no dodge roll. No opposed means 6 net on 12 dice, which is a critical success by any measure.
Take an edge and describe the scene. OR DON'T, LOL. The punk outside is down before he'll get to act as are 2 in the van. One punk and the lt are still barely conscious, but won't be able to react this pass (before the drugs kick in.) People can declare actions. This combat is basically over before its started.
Almost as soon as the door opened to let the punk out, sundance fired a couple of micro splash grenades at the opening and sunk one inside. The other, fired first, bounced off the side of the door and burst a few meters away, drenching the legion ganger with one and then another dose of the powerful toxin. The reaction was delayed, but the punk at the door slouched out and fell to the ground.
-
Switchback grips his Uzi tightly and brings it up towards the van after Sundance fires the grenade, ready to return any fire.
Switchback will ready the Uzi and wait
-
Instead of returning fire, the van lurches forward with a surprising amount of torque and crashes through the barricade and into the building lot. The K.O.ed ganger hanging from the passenger door is dragged by the leg and then caught in the razorwire of the legion's destroyed gate. Jink lurches the Rover forward to re-establish visual contact, and reaches the demolished gate in time to see the van slide to a stop with its side door facing toward the building's doors. The driver disappears from sight and feet can be barely seen tromping into the worn down building.
-
"Ah Frag!!! I'll go check the building out. In the safety of the Swagger Wagon Ghost leaves his body and goes to check out the building the punk just ran into.
-
Zipping into the building takes no time at all. The place seems to be an old office building from before the first crash. Lots of old tech companies in this part of Redmond. Ghost finds the two of them running into a door off the main hallway. They quickly grab a few unidentifiable things and stumble their way back out and to the hallway as they move deeper into the building. Their sense of panic is palpable, and it swirls around them in a mad haze.
-
Ghost keeps following them, he calls on his watcher (that was following the van) to relay to the team what's going on.
-
Switch mutters under his breath as they watch the van crash through the barrier. He jumps out of the Wagon and runs by the van to check it, keeping his gun pointed at the door.
@team: "Looks like the party is back inside."