[gilga]

Solo indeed was in Hot Sim his oersona is that of a ferytale wizard. Including the hat and beard. Solo thinks it is funny because he is an established mage and adept. He was special with matrix and magic... disguises and talking but there are always bigger fish. He is surprised that his friend prefered to just come visit him in the matrix when he was just around the corrner. Maybe Matrix is as real to him as real world. He said:" welcome... abroad i am already burning daya processing to the limit... I am not sure about drinking in here sruff is addicting as hell I cant wait to get to meatspace... I dont like to dive too deep during a run... under more friendly circumstances sure... but the thought of someone killing me in hot sim with a bullet is too much. Once we finish the scan I will be in AR where it safe unless we are desparate."

[Aria]

[Thursday June 18th, 2076, ~01:23, Soho, London]

@All:

The team spread their net as they approach the supposed safe house, justifiable paranoia firmly at the front of their thoughts.   The area is more populous than they might like…although that means they themselves are less out of place it is all too easy for there to be watchers hiding amongst the street dregs that scurry or saunter, as the need takes them, in the alleys and side streets around the target.

As the sportscar makes its way with care through the throngs it gets no few envious glares which thankfully fall away as it enters the centre of the block dislodging a couple of human rats who skitter away at the sound of the throaty engine reflecting on the hard surfaces around the parking area.

In the heady realms of the matrix the area is equally thronging with personae despite the hour.  Searching for illusive hidden icons across the grids reveals two hidden links within a couple of hundred meters of the safe house.  Neither are in close proximity to the other and, judging by the RW map overlay, don’t have LOS to the site.  Whilst it’s not impossible it would seem unlikely that they are doing anything connected with the team.  There are plenty of icons dotted around, some even of smartguns of which further interrogation shows them to be semi autos and the occasional taser.  Again, given the neighbourhood nothing that looks drastically out of place but certainly enough to give pause…the rabid police response to firearms in this country would indicate that this is a neighbourhood where they don’t anticipate a big police presence!

Similarly the views of the astral, whilst disquieting, offer nothing concrete to confirm or deny the presence of any active hostiles.  There are certainly a number of people in the street outside and surrounding buildings that the team skim through that have murderous intent but then this is a rough area of London…

The apartment itself mercifully seems to be clear.  There are no lifeforms inside, no active matrix signals and the physical insertion after the initial scout is met with nothing more threatening than a house spider.  The place is dusty and clearly hasn’t been occupied in a while.  It smells of age and damp…so a large number of the group are going to feel right at home here!

***
_#16

[gilga]

Delving into massive amounts of data icons, identifying two silently running some weapons - but nothing that seemed overly suspicious for a bad neighborhood. The drones themselves also did not found much out of the ordinary and the spirit mentally reported that it does not identify anything out of the ordinary in astral space. All aspects of reality gave green light... all reporting to the same mind. Maybe I am the command and control kind of person, I could grow to like this position with the massive data feeds. There was something a bit odd about mr. Peabody but Solo was not sure what it was - somehow he seemed so comfortable in hot sim, as if he belonged there. Solo felt that being so fast in the meatword - hot sim offered him little - the deck that he loved was out dated already - and its data processing speed limited how fast he could be in the matrix. Yet, it was his deck and he loved it and knew everything about it.

He felt comfortable in his improvised command and control room with the RCC and deck deployed, six of his drones provided feeds over the entire spectrum and there was mr. Peabody’s drone. “Incredible...”  thought Solo. Once back in AR he texted all the team.

<< Everything seems to be in order... there are some weapons, a couple of silently running icons that are worth checking out carefully but nothing that seem directly related to us. I’d say it is reasonable to approach the building. >>
The drones were circling the convoy in battle formation. Solo was dressed for combat with his leather jacket and helmet, and the Ares alpha brushed and polished for battle in his lap, just in case he’ll need it.

He mentally contacted his spirit “Pride... we are going in to the safehouse - be extra alert for changes in our vicinity. Thanks again for your quick help... To answer your question that incident with the hair was when I was six, I cut my sister hair because I thought that way it will grow faster. Why do you find this particular event of interest? ” There was no reply from the spirit. Spirits kept asking him all sort of crazy questions and they always seemed to be a bit stronger than anticipated. Solo had no idea why he has such a connection with the spirit world but he longed for an even closer connection.

Whatever the next step is going to require - he was ready to deliver. He was good at many things... Sometimes it was matrix combat, other combats guns seemed more effective, other time talking solved the problem and he could always solve problems with spells or spirits.  The wisdom was to know when to use each tool. Soon, Solo will up some drone skills and will become even more diverse. In the meanwhile they were expensive toys for some cover fire, but all starts are difficult. 

[ScytheKnight]

[Thursday June 18th, 2076, ~01:23, Soho, London]

As they neared the safe house Solo started to get ready, placing his helmet and forearm guards in place, and easing the Ares Alpha out from under the seat, propping it next to his leg where he could reach it in moments, he knew this was the kind of place where appearing too strong to mess with was going to save them issues.

Snow Crash to all teams <<OK folks, I'm sure we all know the drill for this kind of place. Don't be shy about showing weapons, police won't be called about weapon sightings unless they're being used and if we show we're too much to tangle with we'll be less likely to get trouble from the natives. No need to go ramming them in peoples' faces, just let it be seen we have too much firepower to mess with.>>

[Crossbow]

Smiley to all << What if a person is only armed with a heavy pistol and his DEVASTATING good looks?    >>

[ScytheKnight]

[Thursday June 18th, 2076, ~01:23, Soho, London]

Snow Crash to all <<*chucking* Well then use those good looks to look like the meanest SoB on the street. I'd rather intimidate the locals into not messing with us then testing local response times.>>

[Crossbow]

<< Roger that, Meanie Face active    >>  Smiley realized it was a lot easier to relax in such a large group.  His ego didn't require him to be in a leadership roll, though he usually fell into that space.

[Jack_Spade]

Isaint nodded to Snow. Gearing up was in this part of town a good precaution. So not only did he take his rifle, but equipped also his additional armor parts, including the mask.

He then moved over to Al's car with the family inside.
<<While our scouts clear the path, we organize the protective detail. Normally I'd take the family into the middle and form a diamond formation. But we might have to move fast suddenly, so I want one defender per person to act as a body shield and if necessary as a booster to movement. By that I mean, grab the target and run.
I'll take the doctor. Al, could you take care of the wife. Snow, I'd be much obliged if you could get the son under your wing and Daddy, I'll leave the daughter to your tender mercies.
The rest will have to act as additional eyes and ears. I don't expect any problems with such a show of force, but you never know if there isn't some drekhead with to many uppers and to little sense somewhere around. If you have them, put on filters and gas masks. This kind of setup is vulnerable to gas attacks.>>

[adamu]

[Thursday June 18th, 2076, ~01:23, Soho, London]

"Roger roger, kemo sabe," Al responded, emerging from the cab into the back of the van, Spike at his heels. As the others led their charges out the rear doors, Al put his hunting rifle on his back and slung his good medkit over his shoulder - he'd carry that this time instead of the bomb bag. Then he grabbed the big black, collarless dog by the scruff of the neck and pulled his snout into the wife's crotch. She stepped back indignantly with a squeak, and Al smirked. "That's how he knows yer his responsibility. Anyone wants ya now, missus, they gotta come through him. And me. Now step down out."

Spike went first, then Mrs. Pelletiere, making Al the last out. He unslung his rifle and, taking Isaint's advice, switched to internal air. Better safe than, sorry, he reckoned. And he was getting antsy.

Stepping over to Isaint, he whispered, "So advance team says not a creature is stirrin'. I'll concede I'm a bit hazy onna details o' this here rumpus, but is that right? We bring 'em here an' jist leave 'em? No one here - I mean good guys - here ta take 'em from us?"

 

[gilga]

In reply with the job assignment Solo reply:
<< Solo has entered Badass mode...>>

With his RCC and deck packed as a back pack and AR displays in the periphery of his eyes. Solo paid little auttention to the drones, just a look from time to time to see if they notice anything unusal the drones had their own AI that would alert him of hostiles. (or so Solo hoped) He got over his beloved growler, and drove with his Ares Alpha close at hand. The drones were creating a perimeter around the convoy  trying to spot problems as they form.  Driving while holding the assault rifle was not convenient but Solo knew that if you carry a gun it should be loaded and ready to fire -  otherwise you just mark yourself as a good target. In his case, despite being a skilled marksman, the gun was more somewhat of a disguise - he was both a decker and a mage - prime target to be geeked first.  Having an armor and a combat rifle made him appear as a less attractive target.

[Jack_Spade]

Isaint whispered his reply to Al: "Yeah, I get you. I certainly won't let those guys out of my sight until our employer gets here and hands me my paycheck. For all the fuss we had, all this still went to smooth. Feels like the other shoe has yet to drop. So let's try to get them before they get us..."

[Aria]

[Thursday June 18th, 2076, ~01:23, Soho, London]

@All:

As the van door slides open the shitstorm descends…so much for badassery keeping the team out of the line of fire…where did all these fraggers come from?

Solo has a brief moment when his spirit alerts him to an astral presence and then across the street three windows on two different upper floors shatter outwards…telltale sign of shaped charges… and silenced fire target the drone overwatch pattern with murderous intent… behind the van the outriders have mere seconds to lunge out of the way as an enormous creature composed of street drek risers out of the pavement and with prodigious strength swings a rusted out hulk of a sedan across the narrow alley effectively blocking retreat…ahead of the convoy one of the street bums, rather than hiding at the mounting furore, swings out a shotgun from under the ratty lined coat and pumps a nasty hotshot round into the front grille of the van.  A female orc sauntering in the opposite direction pulls an Uzi and taking cover behind another hulk targets the outriders in a spitting sweep of fire…


***
_#17

[Triskavanski]

[Tobbis -Wednesday June 17th, 2076 - Circling Safehouse at a safe distance away - Kid Extraction team - Current condition 2 Stun damage -In VR- Silent - Solo's Chatroom]
Tobbis spits the virtual beer all over the screens he was watching with Solo. <<Holy drek! I'd hate to be down there. Wait..I am down there! Who brought these fraggers along.. and how the hell did they know where we were going and get here before us?>> He demanded answers, but for now, surviging lots of sharp pointy death bullets was something that was probably more important. First thing to do was go on the total matrix defense as his car attempted to break away from the rest of the group. 


28th Post
So far Solo and Hal have cameras 8/10 cameras left in my possession.
Hal has a Datatap of mine

Hotsim VR Init: 4d6+12 31
Hot digity dog. At least I rolled well.
Is it just me, or does matrix combat actually seem slower than real world combat?

Taking Total Matrix Defense as an Interrupter action. However I still have to take my actual turn.

Perception Test on the drone over head.  Perception Test: 13d6t5 2 13d6t5: 2 [13d6t5=2, 2, 2, 5, 3, 3, 2, 4, 3, 6, 4, 1, 1]

My question is basically, what is on the drone's pan?

[Jack_Spade]

Isaint hadn't finished his - now equally prophetic as well as ironic - sentence, when all hell broke loose. With a quick shove he pushed the Doctor back in the car and had just enough time to utter a short prayer before he pulled his gun and shot at the nearest threat: The guy with the shotgun.


Initiative: 15+4d6 24
Not good...

Attribute Boost AGI: 7d6t5 3
Quickdraw Savalette: 16d6t5 9
Free action: Vitals Shot at Foe#5
Short Burst APDS (AP-6 Dodge -2): 17d6t5 7

10P AP-6 + net successes

52

[gilga]

"Fuck Fuck fuck!" mumbled Solo, there were so many things to do and so little time.  "Spirit we need some help in this combat... go for elemental stay in astral."  Drones: "<<go for street bum - if bum die go for that female orc.>>" In the first split second Solo did not even think about himself he instinctively made sure that his allies were all busy.


First initative pass:
Simple action command spirit  to help in combat.
Simple action: command drones - RCC makes it a single simple action to command all of them.
Free action: say " Fuck Fuck Fuck!"


With spirit quickly charged the massive elemental in the astral with what could best be described as a rapid serials of blows.

Astral Combat: 16d6t5 4

Everything happened so fast, but Solo was almost certain that he heard the drones shower hell on that bum, but with so much gunfire it wasn't clear who is shooting who:

They'll fire short bursts, DV 10, AP -2 (regular ammo)
Drones Firing: 3#9d6t5 5 2 4