[Bewilderbeast]

Zen didn't respond to Marcus' command. As a general rule, he never responded to Marcus' commands (the guy was kind of a hot-head)... but in this case, he was right. If the dwarf was indeed a shaman (and he did certainly appear to be one... those neo-tribal types weren't exactly famed for their subtlety), then it was his job to keep the stumper in check. Astral security was definitively his role in the group, so Marcus could trust that Zen was on it.

First things first, Zen felt the familiar chilling sensation of his pain editor switching on. Pins and needles crept over his body as his sense of touch was dulled and his pain responses utterly eradicated. Outwardly, Zen appeared to comply with the ganger's commands, lowering himself onto one knee and doing his best to look like a cowering civilian. He clutched his pendant to his chest, feeling it suffuse his astral form with power as it awakened in his grasp. He then let his gaze slip into the immaterial realm, and soon the sanitized white light of the Stuffer Shack interior faded into the infinite darkness of astral space. He sent out a mental command into the deep astral planes, to the place where spirits, elemental beings and kami originated. "Ancestor spirit," Zen silently intoned, "I have need of you. Heed my call, thrill to my power, and serve me."

The spirits were... finicky. Unresponsive and elusive. After a terrifying moment of silence, one finally appeared before Zen, the ragged wraith of what looked like a Renraku Red Samurai who'd been forced through a grain thresher.  "Why... have... you... awakened... me... mortal?" it rasped, struggling valiantly against Zen's mystic bonds. He knew he wouldn't be able to contain it for long, so he would have to use it quickly.

"Honored ancestor," Zen began. Spirits of man had a bit more free will than the other spirits he summoned, and Zen had learned from his time studying with the mages of the Black Cedar Sangha that a little flattery can get you a long way in the spirit realms. "I have need of your wisdom. Please study the auras of the intruders here, particularly the dwarf. Tell me everything you can about them; active spells the dwarf may have, augmentations, anything. Do this for me and I will release you, and vow to awaken you no more."

Okay, so Zen is activating his pain editor (this is a free/nonaction, as near as I can tell), activating his Power Focus (simple action), summoning a Force 5 Spirit of Man (Complex Action), then issuing that spirit a command (simple action).
Summoning Spirit of Man: 14d6t5 3 - 3 hits
Spirit Resistance: 5d6t5 2 - 2 hits on spirit's resistance, so I have 1 service and need to resist 4 drain
Drain Roll: 14d6t5 3 - 3 hits, so I take 1 Stun drain. Due to having his pain editor active, he gets +1 Willpower, meaning his Stun Track is 1/12 filled right now.

For the spirit service, he's asking the spirit of man to assense all three gangers. Starting with the dwarf:
Spirit Assensing - Dwarf: 11d6t5 6 - 6 hits, limited to 5 by the spirit's Force. Still plenty, though!
Spirit Assensing - Ganger 1: 11d6t5 7 - 7 hits, again limited to 5. Dang, this spirit is rolling hot!
Spirit Assensing - Ganger 2: 11d6t5 7 - 7 hits, again limited to 5. Spirit knocked it out the park and is peering into this poor dumb gangers' souls!

He will also use his 6 Counterspelling dice to protect his teammates in case the dwarf tries slinging any mojo at them.

[Zweiblumen]

Jonas looks at what's going down, knowing he's got the psyche flowing through his system he knows his options are limited when it comes to the meat world.  He looks through the matrix to see what kind of threat these are and if there are any others lurking outside.  Similarly to Zen he doesn't need to project any sort of physical presence for this and so at least appears to comply with the demands and gently lowers himself to his knees with his hands about shoulder height in supplication.


I'll throw another MP with specific questions this time as my last one was probably too generic and an init to go with it.
Matrix Perception: (Computers 6 + Logic 5(7) + TM 2 + Spec 2 = 17): 17d6t5 2 wow, comically low roll
Two Questions it is then:
1) Do I sense any hidden icons
2) If I do, I will attempt to spot it (with this crappy roll, that's not too likely though)

Just to be safe, he automatically spots all icons that aren't hidden within 100 meters, so he's looking for the gangers pans/'links/weapons and if there's a decker or a rigger.  He figures if there is a decker or rigger they may be silent which is why he was trying to sense hidden icons.

Init (Reflexes 3 + Intuition 5(7) = 10 + 1d6): 1d6+10 11
wow, orokos hates me tonight.  though honestly the difference between 11 and 16 is marginal as both are 2 IPs, just where he falls in the list

[Irn0rchid]

Init since everyone else is doing it:
Jenny Init: 1d6+8 13
'Dee Init: 4d6+8 25
'Dum Init: 4d6+8 25
They really are twins!
Their first Pass will be two Take Aim simple actions as instructed unless stated otherwise in thread before that happens. They're still outside the store.

[Raiderjoseph]

Well... I uh... wow. Ok let me think about this.

[Raiderjoseph]

Everyone roll Intimtation. (Damnit I can't spell today.) You get 2 bonus die due to the various factors.

[Herr Brackhaus]

Can we teamwork it? I've got Rating 4 in Intimidation, so I could gain up to 4 dice and limit to my test if we treated it as a teamwork test instead of all separate tests.

If yes, feel free to roll up to 4 extra dice for me or let me know to do so; if not, this is my roll.
Intimidation (Physical) 4 (+2) + Charisma 2 + Modifiers 2 [Social 4]: 10d6t5 4 hits [5, 5, 4, 4, 1, 6, 1, 6, 4, 2]

ETA:
Since Irn0rchid and Zweiblumen together hit my potential max extra dice for a teamwork test, I'll go ahead and roll the extra four dice just in case:
Intimidation Teamwork Dice: 4d6t5 2 [2, 5, 6, 4]

That puts my total hits at 6; 4 from the original roll with a limit of 4, and two more hits with a +3 limit from the teamwork.

[Irn0rchid]

Fluffed my roll: Intimidation (7 + 2mod + 2clothes): 11d6t5 2

[Zweiblumen]

For either teamwork or just straight up:
Intimidate (Cha 3 + GM 2 + Mortimers 2 - Defaulting 1 = 6): 6d6t5 3 Limit 8

[Bewilderbeast]

Yeah, a guy who literally can't get angry isn't terribly intimidating...
Intimidate Roll: 1d6t5 1

[Raiderjoseph]

Alright look im gonna level with you all. Last friday my buddy needed the plots and paydaya booklet back. He had to sell the set and needed all the stuff. (Its gently used.) We are all already in other campaigns so I guess it isn't so bad but I am not at inprov level. If this were dnd I have seven books and the dm guide but I dont have much else on hand. Sorry guys. I know my limits and can't improv this.

[Herr Brackhaus]

In the interest of moving things along, I'll post Marcus' response regardless of whether or not we teamwork the test, as I have the highest Intimidation result.

ETA: RJ, check your PMs

As Zen went to one knee and Jonas adopted a somewhat pacified stance shortly thereafter, Marcus suddenly felt the slight movement of his arm hairs raising up. While slight, the feeling was one he'd learned to associate with Zen working his magic, though he could only really pick up on it if the magic being worked was strong or if Zen was close. He'd been told that sensations like these were further dulled by an implanted cluster of nervous tissue designed to filter out undesired stimuli. He remembered what pain had felt like that time his instructor had broken his arm during self defense practice, and for a brief moment he lost himself in memories of the surgery that had taken place the week after, and how the world had changed after that day. Subsequent surgeries had been performed without anesthesia and he could vividly remember nearly every detail, but the sounds were most clear of all; a brief swish as incisions were made with monomolecular scalpels, the rattling noise of suction draining his bodily fluids away, and the constant humming of the surgeon. "I will remember that sound until ..."

>>It doesn't seem like this is going to resolve well...<< Jenny's message broke him out of his silent reverie as it was received and processed through the trodes in his baseball cap, then translated directly into his brain almost as if it had been his own thought. The memories of the countless procedures vanished as quickly as they had surfaced, and just as swiftly Marcus made the decision to act. Taking a step forward and cracking his knucles loudly, he stared the lead gutterpunk right in the eye and growled through gritted teeth.

"Are you gonna bark all day, little doggie, or are you gonna bite?" He let the insult sink in for a moment while holding the thugs gaze, then sneered loudly. "That's what I thought. You've got exactly three seconds to clear out, or I bag and tag you both and throw your remains in the Sound." His voice was like silk gliding across steel, and his body language spoke volumes about his willingness to follow through on the threat.

[Raiderjoseph]

"Ok... chummer..." They looked at each other and backed away...

Zen. Roll perception.

[Bewilderbeast]

Perception and not assensing? Either way, currently taking -1 to Intuition due to his pain editor being active. Really lucked out on this roll, though:
Perception:: 3d6t5 2

[Raiderjoseph]

Sorry for the wait. Everyone roll perception then the fun begins.

[Herr Brackhaus]

Perception (Visual) 5 (+2) + Intuition 4 + Hawk Eye 1 [Mental 5]: 12d6t5 4 [1, 6, 3, 2, 1, 4, 5, 6, 2, 3, 3, 6]

What was the result of the Intimidation test?