[belaran]

Arnd looks for a second to the ghosty form, clearly trying to get a read on Rex, and then replies:

"Well, man, I don't know what kind of shit you are in to not be able to use an other form than ... well, that, but I certainly sympathise. I appreciate your offer for money, but I'm not sure I can help. I have no idea what those 'Geistratten' you are talking about are. I do know a Bernie, who I guess might be of the smuggler kind. He buys me some products from time to time and apparently move it himself. I think he does that will moving - or rather smuggling some other cargo... A side business kind of deal. I think he knows a guy in Nancy, on the french border of the SOX. This sort of things... I may be able to recall the name of this guy, if there is some nuyen in it for me - but I'm not sure that a contact in Nancy is exactly what you are looking for here..."

[Jack_Spade]

"Well, time is of the essence but thankfully space is not in this form. I'll gladly take what you can give me and compensate you handsomely. If you excuse me for a moment, I have to instruct a payment."

Rex returned to his body long enough to tell Waywalker <<Arnd wants a bribe, could you prepare 250 Euro on a disposable cred stick and have a drone drop it into his hand when he holds it up? Much obliged.>>

And he was off again to return as a ghost.
"Alright, I arranged payment. First half now, second half when I've verified your information - 500 Euro in total. Please extend your hand, palm upward."

[belaran]

Once the first part of the money in his credistick, Arnd start talking immediately. He clearly realizes that time is of the essence - and also probably wants the astral figure and his team out of there as quickly as possible, before the heat reaches his bar.

"Well, man, not sure it is going to help you, but if I recall correctly, Bernie did tell me that he was in the good grace of the local mafia lord in Nancy... A guy called Arnaud del Toro. Apparently, Bernie managed to be one of his supplier, despite his lack of affiliation with the local smugglers." As Arnd says that, the runners fills the blank in their head : the Charognard.

"Del Toro is a rather powerful person in Nancy. He appears to be running eveyrthing from the barrens around the town - you know, the suburbs turned into barrens after being flooded by refugees, back in 2008 - to even the city hall. Bernie mentioned a couple of times that his favorite haunt is an old church he bought, right in the center of the city, at..." - Arnd spent a minute in his ARO before finishing his sentence - "... Cours Léopold."

After a brief pause, Arnd adds:

"Now, guys, to be honest, if you are looking to find Bernie because he is hidden under a rock... Don't look surprise, I know what kind of man Bernie is - if you can't find him, he is clearly hiding. Anyway, if you are looking for him and he does not want to be found, I'm not sure he would have reached out to Del Toro. The mobster is sort of guy to keep tracks of big favors, and you probably don't want to be in his debt. Especially, when you have the SOX at your disposal to simply disappear... For us, the SOX is a radioactive barren lands only used to run automated facilities and play wargames such as the Rad Wars, but for a guy like Bernie, it is... home."

After finishing his explanations, Arnd pours himself a drink from a half hidden bottle, lying on the shelf of the tiny backdoor room, and awaits for the runner followed questions, if any.

[Jack_Spade]

"Thanks. Just one more thing: You wouldn't happen to have a recent picture of Bernie? Something like a security camera or some such? Please send it to this commcode."
Rex vanished and returned to his body and after passing on the information said: <<Entering the SOX is not a good idea for me. The astral pollution would not only unravel my magic but likely damage my connection to the spirit world. We can try the border town though. With a recent image of Bernie I can have a strong spirit start a search for him.>>

[Haywire]

#24

"I'd say that we enter the SOX only if we have no more options. I suggest paying a visit to this guy in Nancy. What do you think?"

[Jack_Spade]

<<Actually, if I understood Trixie correctly Zweibrücken would be the better start, since according to her Bernie had a falling out with the Carognard in Nancy and hides with the help of the Geistratten, which have their main base in Zweibrücken. Besides, we'd have to cross borders and that isn't much fun with weapons.
Besides, it's closer.>>

Rex replied

#116

[belaran]

Unless you want to do some preparation, I'll assume you go to Zweibrucken and update the thread accordingly tomorrow

[belaran]

Waywalker's van leaves Leverkusen and, once on the Autobahn, heads straight west, and also outside of the 'plex. It takes a good hour before the van really clears the urban sprawl, but when it does it became quite dark. The light on the road are dim, and the surrounding country is made of thick forest and empty fields. The trip will take almost 3 hours and the runners will thus probably be in Zweibrucken not too long before dawn. There are still a good hour away from the border of the SOX when the group gets a message from Trixie:

"Sorry, guys, but my friend - who works for S-K, had no other choice than end me over to some other dude of the megacorp who just spent the last hour (politely) grilling me. As agreed, I did not try to keep any intel I shared with you, so I told him that I thought that Bernie is probably hiding within the SOX. I've told as little as I could on you, but I had to tell about the part you played in my escape from the Nurosa. The guy was aware of this, but did not have all the infos, so I'm not sure he was the one behind the hit (or hits) at the club..."

"I'm pretty sure his next move is the SOX, because he did not looked surprise, and rather acted like I just confirmed his suspicion. It may have been a play, but I'm pretty good at reading body language. I wish I could tell you more. I'm back at my friend place, who tries to make it up to me" - the message embedded a picture of two hands massaging her feet with a glass of champagne in the forefront, hiding the face and body of her friend. "I'll try to see if I can pry some more informs from my buddy. I feel a bit bad having to rat on you, guys. Cheers."

[Jack_Spade]

<<Thanks Trixie, at least you weren't hurt. This is a race now, but at least we have a lead. Be well.>>
Rex replied
<<@Team: Interesting. I'm not particularly good at riddle solving, but that sounds as if S-K Prime itself is now on the same trail as us.
I'll try to contact another Kami to search in Zweibrücken for Bernie. Dawn is approaching which means the Ying Kami's won't stay around and I'll have to call on the Yang Kami's afterwards.>>


Sumoning Spirit of Water R6
Calling Spirit of Water R6: 12d6t5 6
Spirit of Water R6 Resist: 6d6t5 3
Ouch, 6 points of drain
Drain Resist: 17d6t5 7
Phew, no drain.

Remote service: Use Search Power at the center of Zweibrücken for Bernie:
Spirit does an extended test (10 minutes for each, 5 threshold basis, +1 for every kilometer, reduce dicepool if person is behind concealment or magic barrier by force of barrier/power/background count)

Search 1: 12d6t5 3 [12d6t5=3, 6, 5, 3, 2, 5, 2, 3, 3, 4, 3, 2]
Search 2: 11d6t5 4  [11d6t5=1, 3, 3, 6, 6, 1, 5, 6, 4, 1, 4] Success if target is within 2 km radius and max behind an R3 Barrier
Search 3: 10d6t5 1 [10d6t5=2, 2, 2, 4, 4, 1, 5, 4, 4, 2]
Search 4: 9d6t5 3 [9d6t5=1, 5, 6, 4, 1, 2, 1, 5, 3] Success if target is within 2 km radius and max behind an R6 Barrier
Search 5: 8d6t5 1 [8d6t5=2, 2, 4, 2, 5, 3, 1, 3]
Search 6: 7d6t5 3 [7d6t5=1, 6, 4, 6, 1, 4, 5]
No chance for success if he is behind something stronger than R6 and farther than 3 km from town center.

Total duration until then 1 hour


Rex once again called the princess of the springs and she answered his powerful call: 'I greet you princess of life and water. Once again I need your help to find a mortal. This man might be somewhere around this city. I bid you to go there and ask the lesser Water Kami if they know about his whereabouts. And please be careful: Not far away from there begins the blighted land and it would pain me to see your beauty tarnished.'

[Haywire]

#25

Luck helped the runners: the ride was a quiet one. Waywalker let the pilot handle the most of the driving, so he could relax a bit.
In the surroundings of Zweibrucken, he started to take back the driving in AR.
"Rex, I think we should start from the Posthaus and Prago, we have a lead and I think we have 2 ore 3 hours of advantage between us and S-K. What do you think?"

[Jack_Spade]

<<It's as good a start as we'll get. That is unless the princess of life and water doesn't return to me with a better place to start looking>>
Rex replied.

[belaran]

After a little while, the spirit comes back, sadly not bearing good news:

"Omae, I'm afraid I'm not bringing you the information you were hoping for. I've searched thoroughly the city, as you requested and I could not pick up the scent of your target. He is not there, nor nearby, or he is hidden behind a powerfull mana barrier or similar protection. Note that i could venture too much in the twisted region nearby, mana is two warped there..."

Some time later, the van finally arrives at Zweibrucken, and Waywalker finds a nice spot to park not far away from the Posthaus. It's quite early in the morning, the city is empty, short for bakeries opening and a couple of automated drone delivery.  As the van could be a delivery service, it does make it a bit less conspicuous, which is appreciable as they did cross path with a couple of military patrol already...


In RAW mana barrier would be a dice penalty on the search dice poll, which is not so practical here as it would require to re roll plus give you the confirmation of your target being behind a mana  barrier.  So I generally turned this dice pool penalty into a threshold (but not one for one obviously).

[Jack_Spade]

'Thank you princess, if I may I'll call upon you again. Until then fare well.'

<<Bad news: The Kami couldn't find him. Either he is in the SOX or behind a strong protective barrier, which means he has the help of a magician. Neither option is particularly good for us.

So, I'd fancy a little walk after this long ride. Who want's to hold the leash?>>

#119

[belaran]

FYI, I am waiting for you guys to sort out how you want to approach the place - so please let me know if you need more info.

[Haywire]

#26
Waywalker smiled while his commlink typed his thoughts.
"I'm ok with a walk, but I think first we should recon the place with a drone and by Matrix. Too many military vehicles around. Could you spot with your mojo before we dive in?"
In the while, he ordered his Fly-Spy to scout the place and got in VR for a little watch in the Matrix.

Teamwork test from Sekretar: 6d6t5 2
Teamwork test from Deck: 12d6t5 5
Matrix Perception: 21d6t5 5
Pilot Aicraft (Fly-Spy): 9d6t5 3
Fly Spy Stealth: 9d6t5 3
Fly Spy Perception (EW): 9d6t5 3