[Mercy Merchant]

Monday   11 June 2075   1645   You do not know where


A shadow fall across the table in front of you as you sit massaging your temples.  Looking up you see a middle-aged woman who is still attractive, but no raving beauty..  "Hello.  My name is Sigrid.  I sort of try to run heard on the girls in the magic section here and abroad.  Do you want to talk here or in my office?"

[VegasRigged]

"Here." I try to keep my tone cordial and polite but it's a tad more clipped then intended. I adjust it into something more soothing and smile professionally "We can do it here, and let's be brief but complete, I I'm still looking forward to my prisoners being... processed."

[Mercy Merchant]

Monday   11 June 2075   1645   You do not know where


Sigrid is wearing what appears to be a comlink on a chain around her neck and she looks at it now.  "I am quite happy to do this here, and we have plenty of time before the prisoners wake up from their naps.  So, let's talk a bit about you.  I sense that you have a good bit of power in you.  Can you tell me what you can do?"  The woman's eyes do not leave your face as she talks.

[VegasRigged]

"Mostly disabling, deception and manipulation, though I've been looking for someone to teach me proper mind control. I'm also fairly adept when it comes to spirits, able to get them talking, producing better results then usual, that sort of thing." I  waver for a moment before going on "I'm also fairly clever when it comes to Feng Shui, I could probably enhance the mana flow of.. wherever the mages have a sanctum here in the base." I smile as though I feel foolish "At least, I assume we are in some kind of base, fort or bunker, after the excitement I'm afraid I was rather asleep when we came in."

[Mercy Merchant]

Monday   11 June 2075   1647   You do not know where


Sigrid smiles. "Yes, we have a special place here for our awakened team members and if you are selected to join us and accept, you will be provided space there as well as a room for a lodge.  I am glad that you understand why you were drugged to get you here.  Hopefully you will not need that sort of care when you leave.  Our awakened team is a bit light at the moment and we could use someone with the skills you have.  Our purpose is to give magical support as requested to the operations accepted by the Chairman and the Board of Directors.  Right now, we have teams away on three different projects, all with mage support, and we are fairly short handed to begin with.  It is not easy to get a good mage to want to work cooperatively as most of us are pretty self-centered with large egos.  Are you self-centered, Miss Coulter, or would you be willing to work within a framework of a team?"

[VegasRigged]

I hiss and recoil in my head at the mention of being drugged. It's a fight to keep my hostility inwardly focused and change the subject immediately.

"I wasn't aware this operation was so large as to have a full governing body, though I am not really surprised. As for teamwork I am capable of carrying out orders but for more used to giving them and having them followed. With a few key exceptions I have been master of my own destiny for some time now and I admit it will be challenging to give that up."

This isn't entirely a lie, back in Wuxong I was in charge of a lot, certainly things have changed for me and I do answer to a few people now, but the leadership tendency is hard to shake.

These are only minor problems, truth be told their are many challenges involved in taking on such a large responsibility, especially if I am to complete my other work, but I'll make time, even if I have to bend the rules of time to do it.

[Mercy Merchant]

Monday   11 June 2075   1648   You do not know where


Sigrid nods.  "We shall see how you work out.  Are you up for a trial run?  There is a new mission on our boards and it is quite possible that a mage will need to be part of the team.  You could call it part of a probationary run.  I know that you have just got here, but this may work out to advantage for you.  Interested?"

[VegasRigged]

"I have some housekeeping to take care of, a few calls to make but thay shouldn't take long, otherwise I look forward to my first assignment."

I fold my hand in front of me, posture professional and calm.

[Mercy Merchant]

Monday   11 June 2075   1650   You do not know where


Sigrid looks a bit uncomfortable. "Would these housekeeping things require you to leave the facility?  If so, I think we had better request authorization for that, given your status.  And I will get you a new 'link to use for making calls.  It would not do to have anyone you call be able to GPS you.  The new 'link will disable that function for anyone but us."

[VegasRigged]

My calm goes down and cool professionalism goes up but I smile all the same, a little condescendingly "Very well, lets take care of this operation of your as soon as possible."

In my mind I'm juggling responsibilities, mostly my need to secure my base in Chinatown, without which this league of assassins are my only real defense, which would make them too important to my survival to refuse, not a situation  want to be in.

[Mercy Merchant]

Monday   11 June 2075   1651   You do not know where


Sigrid looks a bit more comfortable as she stands.  "Come, I will introduce you to your team lead and you can get briefed on the op.  It is scheduled to go down on Wednesday morning, so you should have time to iron out your personal issues."

She waits for you to gather anything that needs to be put away on the racks then leads you out into the hallway. and down the corridor past several closed doors before stopping in front of one.  "This is Rigvald's, office.  She will be your team lead for this.  This is a probationary mission for you and your actions will be judged.  If you fit in and do well, you will likely be offered a slot here.  Any questions before we go in?"

[VegasRigged]

"Not that I can think of." I say smiling "Your help has been most gracious, I look forward to working here." 

I examine her again as she turns and assense her, I assume she has magic but I also want to know for sure what kind and more importantly, how much.

[Mercy Merchant]

Monday   11 June 2075   1653   You do not know where


You assense her as she leads you out of the cafeteria.  She is clearly awakened and has no implants that you can detect and her magic is greater than yours. 

Sigrid knocks on the door and a woman's voice calls out to enter.  The mage opens the door, ushering you in and closing the door as she comes in behind you.  The office you enter is fairly spartan, with a desk in the middle of the room, two chairs in front of the desk, a couple of filing cabinets along one wall and a closed door on the other.  A woman is sitting at the desk, but she rises as you enter.  She is tall, perhaps a few inches above six feet, with the sort of features that would be considered average in most people.  Her eyes are the most striking part of her face and they seem to gaze at you as if they can see into you.  She motions to the chairs and sits in hers.  "Good afternoon, Miss Coulter, I have been expecting you.  My name is Rigvald and I will be your team lead on a small mission you have been invited to participate in.  I am told that you are to be my mage support.  Have you worked in a team before?"

[VegasRigged]

"Loosely, I am accustomed to leadership but I will curb that for the time being. What sort of assignment are we involved in here?" I assense her as well and make careful note of her height and features. Not that a name like that will be hard to forget either. Rigvald. Norwegian? Finnish? Maybe even Slavic?

[Mercy Merchant]

Monday   11 June 2075   1700   You do not know where


The woman behind the desk smiles and you are reminded of a wolf for some reason.  Sigrid, who has remained standing, taps you on the shoulder.  "I will catch you up later.  You are in good hands.  She will show you where to go to check in when you are done."  With that, she leaves the room, shutting the door behind her.

Rigvald waits for her to leave then touches a button her desk, bringing up an ARO map of a Man's face. "I will get right to it, then.  I received the mission from the Chairman a couple of hours ago and picked the team from the available pool.  I was disappointed that it appeared I would have to do without mage support, so I am glad that you are here.  I will give you the short and dirty then take you to meet the rest of the team." She motions to the slowly spinning head. "This is Mark Weyland, AKA  Vinnie the Garrote.  He is an enforcer for the Carlini Family of the Boston Mafia.  He has apparently ruffled some Irish Mob feathers and was shuttled off to somewhere for his safety.  The Irish contracted with us to find and eliminate him.  Our East Coast intel section traced him to Seattle and he is now our target.  He has been under observation for several days and we are just about ready to move on him.  It will be a straightforward op, but the one truism about this line of work is that we never plan on things going as smoothly as they might appear."

She waves her hands and the face shrinks to a small version of itself and a blueprint of a building appears.  "This is the "High Roller", a bar in the Downtown District.  It is located on the front floor of the Gates Casino, which is controlled by the Finnigan Family of the Seattle Mafia, who are apparently providing Vinnie with a place to hide away while he is in town.  The man lives on the second floor of the casino but spends a lot of time in the bar.  There is a lot of protection for him and we do not necessarily want to take out the casino just to kill one man.  Also, we do not wish to kill any of the Finnigan muscle if possible........we do not want to jeopardize the relationship we have with them.  The issue, then, is to isolate him from the building, but it seems that he is doing that for us.  On Wednesday morning, he is going to leave Seattle for Buenos Aires.  We have his travel plans and there is a small window of opportunity as he exits the casino by way of the bar to get into the car that will take him to the airport."  Another wave of her hand and the bar shrinks and a scale diagram of the block appears.  "We will put a shooter on the fourteenth floor of this hotel,  She will have one shot, which will be enough.  Simple plan, but there are always things that could go wrong, which is where you and the rest of the team come in.  We have an alternate shooter that can cover the airport entrance, but the shot is not as good.  Comms is taken care of to keep everyone in the loop and medics are tapped to accompany both shooter team.  I would like you to accompany team 1 to the primary site and be available.  I do not expect any reason to need your skills, but history is full of dead people that have said that and been wrong.  Any questions before I take you to meet the team?"