[Shaman_Yuri]

"I have the data right here," I pat my stomach where my Erika lies safe beneath a layer of armor.  "Unfortunately, most of it is video.  And there's a lot of it.  Even at 10x speed, it'll take quite some time for me to assess it.  I also don't really know what I'm looking for - what would be interesting to you all.  I do have some other data, like the fire escape maps and other schematics of the place.  If Marco doesn't mind me taking over his trid display, I can start showing some of the most obviously interesting stuff off right now."

[Mercy Merchant]

Yelena smiles and looks at Marco.  "Yelena sure Marco willing risk trid for cause."

[SgtBoomCloud]

Arc's attention was on Marco as she listened to his questions, her little smirk returning as she gave a shrug.  "With the Pink Ladies?  Y'all are gonna wanna be slick-n-smooth, stylish and masculine.  And plenty too..you ain't a trog, they'll think you're not enough man to handle em.  You think you pull that off, you got their respect.."  Nodding her head, she returned to her food as Firefly explained to them what her business at the Stardust was.

And followed by their newest member asking about the Stardust in particular.

"I'll take the data and look it over with ya after tonight.  I'll be busy likely, but I can spend some time on some of it.  Tuska, the Stardust is the club what's hiring me for tonight's job.  it ain't pretty, but the gist of the deal is I'm working to get inside.  That club is up to some shady drek that we're trying to bring down...they're making this strange mojo-fueled chem that does weird drek in its abusers, and I think the end goal is to shut it down.  Which since we all here, I might as well say it.."

"Guys, Ninelives gave me a job tonight that might give us some help with this drek.  A triad mage been caught snooping round their wards, and the Stardust wants me to take him or her in.  Way I sees it, we could learn some stuff from this one and decide whether or not to take the mojo in eh?  The challenge is that they's holed up in a safehouse and gonna be shipping out after tonight to Hong Kong or wherever.  They moving the mage between safehouses tonight.  The challenge?  being shipped in an armed'n'armored van with a go-gang escort, and the highway be the only good place to make the jump.   I could use all of y'all's help on this, and could even call in some go-gang muscle of my own if I need to.  So, if you want out, I needa know now.  Who in?"

After a moment, she blinked twice, turning to Yelena.  'You said your girl Bella be acting funny..like, what kinda funny?"

[gilga]

Arc's attention was on Marco as she listened to his questions, her little smirk returning as she gave a shrug.  "With the Pink Ladies?  Y'all are gonna wanna be slick-n-smooth, stylish and masculine.  And plenty too..you ain't a trog, they'll think you're not enough man to handle em.  You think you pull that off, you got their respect.."  Nodding her head, she returned to her food as Firefly explained to them what her business at the Stardust was.

I smile a devious smile...  and ask Arc... "Is my mind misleading me or did you just suggest getting intimate with a group of lusting female trogs in pink as a manner of getting their respect? Do you think that If I am man enough to *handle* them they will stop sabotaging our soup kitchen? I must admit that I am intrigued and surprised. You are not running a practical joke on me are you?!"

To Yelena and Firefly "The trid well alright... I barely use it but you cannot buy a descent sound system without some 3d. They seem to go together nowadays." To firefly "Feel welcome... you probobly know what to do better than me."

When Arc explains about the mission I say "I have just one request Arc... I want to try and find out what he managed to learn about the Stardust before bringing him in. I might be able to do so just by looking at him... depending what kind of mage is he..."  Then it hit me... that guy we are extracting is a mage. If there is one thing that I am terrified of is mages. I can totally understand why my kind need to be geeked first.  Somehow being awakened only makes this fear of mages more real. I know exactly what magic can do... and some mages are so dangerous the best chance for killing them is old age. I smile and ask Arc "Let me get it straight Arc, there is a mage and we have no idea what he looks like.  We are to assense an armored car and if one of the passengers appears to be awakened kidnap him/her/they. It seems odd that Ninelives is interested in a mage but gives no  identifying signs. It can be done with astral sensing as we can just extract whomever is awakened in that car... but It seems a bit suspicious don't you think?  Are you certain that Ninelives even knows what mage he is actually buying?"

[Mercy Merchant]

Yelena looks first at Arc.  "Yelena in if can use.  What need?  And Bella was gloss skin.  Affect matrix.  Like other you saw first time club."

Then she looks in some surprise at Marco.  "Marco want slot whole Troll gang?  Brave Keeb."

[Shaman_Yuri]

With Marco's permission I use AR using my Erika to access the elf man's sound system.

Pshhh, I don't even need to ask him his password - it's still at default.  As I enter it I clean out a bunch of foreign marks from people who had been stealing his music library.  I then secure the thing so no one not at least as good as Jenna will be able to get in remotely.  Marco doesn't strike me as someone who will be annoyed at not being able to control his equipment without the handheld control.

That out of the way, I turn on the trid display and use it to first show a snippet of Yelena's cell with her talking to the shaman, then I show the back door to the basement from the kitchen, and finally end with the fire escape maps.

"This is all that I know so far," I finish.  "Thoughts?"

Something Yelena said while I set things off brings a question.  "Gloss skin?  Affecting matrix?"

==========

I listen to Marco's curiosity about the mage, and I can't help but mirror it.  Mages are dangerous!  And this is coming from someone trained to lead teams against them.

"I mirror Marco-san's disquiet about the mage," I say aloud.  "I certainly can imagine a snatch and grab with vehicles on the highway.  Howlers keeping the go-gang escorts busy.  Our troll on her bike with Yelena making the transfer.  Arc driving the Americar with me using my hacking skills to control the armored rig.  Marco-san doing whatever it is Marco-san can do with magic.  But if Marco-san is worried about the mage, then I'm doubly so.  I cannot deck and use magic at the same time, and even if I could I am not a combat mage."  I look around the group before tossing out my own idea.  "Is there any way we could find out how they plan to get the mage out of Seattle?  If it's a private or cargo plane, might we hijack it using stealth to sneak in and take out the guards one by one?  If we took it over, we could fly it to a place...say maybe Okinawa...where we could hand it over to the Yakuza in trade for something else.  We'd then have the mage AND perhaps even our own plane."

[Duck N. Cover]

Tuskaloosa listens intently to Arc's explanation.  She is equally intent as Arc outlines the mission for tonight.
It doesn't take too much imagination to see her potential role in this. Definitely going to need more armor.
"I'm in like Quin."  So the Triad is backing the mage...who's the go-gang escort?  Home grown or imports? 

[SgtBoomCloud]

Arc couldn't help but give a grin, dismissively lifting her hands up and giving a shrug.  "You asked me for intel, Marco, it's on you to take it how you take it.  Y'all think you can avoid geeked by dasnoosnoo, be my guest."  She gave a laugh, the mechanic leaving it at that while sitting back and eating from the fine cuisine, watching the trid view that Firefly was sharing with them.  The intel didn't show any damning evidence about the Stardust..but it didn't have to really.  But it was helpful.

"That drek will give us some direction too..if we can get through that big-hooped lock, we can do a full dig into that place.  Good work Firefly.  This will help

Arc nodded at the details on Bella and her symptoms..glowing is generally hard to forget, and the Matrix glitching is indicative of what they were looking for.  She feels like she has seen the glossy glowing somewhere before...the big question is where...

The others all chimed in their responses, all positively, and Arc was thankful for that...even as Marco and Firefly voiced concerns in the same breath.  "Wiz, omaes.  Hell yeah we'll be trying to learn what we can from this.  If the situation calls for it, I'll even bamf the job if it helps us shut the place down. But to get to this mage we need this opportunity.  I dunno anything about their plans to leave, but I dunno if we can guarantee the job's gonna go right that way if we try for the plane, assuming we know how to find it.  I can only work with the intel that I've been given, and I'm not getting any more.  Sorry about that."

She took a moment, breathing a little as she sorted her thoughts.  "Firefly had the right idea, and I figured we could take it a step further than that.  Most cars these days got some wireless, so hacking it shouldn't be an issue.  From there, what's to say we don't just pass the marks on to me and I just jump into it?  The escort won't stand a chance against the go-gangers, and our target will be untouched.  Tuska and Yelena could provide external support, while the Americar holds the meatbodies of the rest of us at work eh?  I can make a call too..I think the Whollyhells would lend a hand if I comped them some bike jobs.  That's the best case scenario.  Worst case, we do this the old fashioned way and do a transfer, and Firefly will work on disabling the weapons.  Works?"

At Tuska's line, Arc got a little quiet.  "They local to here, in a way.  Jade Dragons.  They're a Triad backed go-gang, and they don't drek around.  They don't beef over turf, and getting on their bad side could turn ugly.   It's why we won't get caught, you feel me?  Any questions on all this, or did I just confuse the drek outta everyone?"

[Shaman_Yuri]

I sigh in frustration at the limited information.  If only we knew more about how they were getting this mage out!  But we don't, and with what little I have to go on no amount of research will likely change that.

"I can certainly try to take over the rig and hand control over to you, Arc-sensei.  I've done exactly that before, but to again mirror Marco-san's concerns I had better...and more reliable...intel.  I also had a better deck."  I pause as I pat my tummy again.  "This little Erika has been remarkable good to me, I'll admit.  But there will come a time when she'll fail me.  I just hope we get to live through that experience.

"Are we absolutely certain we're not being set up?"

[SgtBoomCloud]

Arc listened intently, giving some nods at the work.  The resources this decker had were limited, but hell, she was using em nova.  The human was a little frightened to see what she could pull off with some better tech.  "Can never be certain, but it ain't likely.  I've given no reason to let Ninelives believe I'm up to drek, and for all he cares, I'm some money-funneling slitch cut off the same asphalt he grew up on.  I'm a charity case.  He even paid a bonus for that warehouse job cause we did it so well."  she gave a smile.  "And as far as he cares, Yelena and I just did a job together and that was it.  Her rep won't hurt me"

Nodding, she tapped her forehead.  "We'll do what we can, but I can't believe you'd fail at that, Firefly.  Even if it ain't rigged, RC will override their driver's drek, let alone a dogbrain.  Give me access and I'll tear em apart.  And like I said, we got plans even if that don't work.  But if y'all feel we need some extra bodies, say it now and I'll make the call to get the Whollyhells in on this"

[Shaman_Yuri]

I find myself staring back into my glass, hoping perhaps that in the distorted light I might see some fleeting image of the future.  Sadly, all I see is the refracted light from the table behind the water.

"I will do my best, Arc-sensei.  That armored van will be yours.  As far as the go gangers, though," I glance up and toward the troll, "perhaps our driver has some experience and can suggest how best to handle that angle?"

[Duck N. Cover]

"I'd still be flexible boss"  Tuskaloosa relies. "If this mage is that important to the Triad, they'll take extra care during a transport.  Either their wireless protections will be hoop-scorching  nasty, or they'll make it unhackable by keeping things manual.  The arms on the other hand...their ride would definitely stand out if their offense was nothing but manned turrets.  Their outriders would never see a shot from their own tank.  Get gun control, and the Whollyhells are unnecessary."

When Arc praises Firefly and mentions digging in the Stardust after "that big-hooped lock" is cleared, Tuskaloosa will ask Firefly to enhance/ blow the image of the lock up: to see if she has the tools in hand already for it.

[Shaman_Yuri]

"So you're suggesting I focus on the gunnery rather than the van controls?" I ask even as I mentally arrange to bring up the image the troll requests.  "Is this what you're after?" I ask when the image is displayed.

[spoiler]Smiles, Grenades would like an assessment of what she can discern about the lock from the image display.[/spoiler]

[SgtBoomCloud]

The mechanic took a breath and gave a nod of her head.  "I'd say like Tuska said: we be flex.  Best case scenario we get full access to the van and give them hell.  If not, we go after the guns.  But that's the kicker isn't it?  We get control of the sitch.  Those guns could cause probs we don't need so we handle it.  Then the issue is the escort...and we handle those from both angles.  Once done, we take control of the van proper and get our prize.  We got this"

She smiled.  If nothing else, Arc was pretty good at remaining positive about situations, it seemed.  Even still, she knew there was some prepping to be had, and little time to do it.  "Let's lay some drek on the line then.  I got some tech coming in today that might help us.  I got Tuska some wheels to work with tonight.  Yelena, you can work in the Americar or on your Scorp, your call.  But, I'm sure some peeps might need some prep help.  What else will we all need hm?"

[gilga]

Marco laugh looking at Yelena "I am not sure about a whole gang... I am just intrigued that's all... I kind of like that gang already... probobly wont when I discover that they are mislead and violent but the image in my head right now is quite iconic."

Looking at the video on the trid Marco packs his sequencer and auto picker and brings them. Trying to figure out... "The problem is that there is no wireless in there, making these a bit less effective, but I think that if anything can handle that lock is the auto picker. " Marco grins "Since I met Sam I developed this habit of being in places without being invited but I never actually acquired real skill in locks,  I just know how to place this stuff and follow the instructions."

After just a few moments with it, Firefly seems to know my entertainment system much better than me. She even removed the annoying watermark that said "Not  activated" when ever I projected something with it, that projector seems very wiz perhaps I will watch movies also now that it actually works. I look astonished as the muslim lady deep in her element. 

and to Arc he answers "Well... I am not exactly the expert on highway grabbing, but I think that I can try to scare or confuse them so that the rest of you get to do what ever it is that you do with just a little bit luck.
 
My most powerful ability in this context is summoning a daemon they are very powerful allies. Capable of maneuverability, muscle and stealth. Since, I do not want anyone harmed my daemon included so I am not sure I want it to just materialize in that van but they can do it. Projecting my skills on the problem I can probobly use their own alertness and stress to our favor and confuse them. There is the physical mask spell, how do you think they are going to react if one of them suddenly appears very different? They may become violent, they may become suspicious but I am certain of one thing - their eyes are not going to be focused on the outside but on the inside. It may give us that moment of surprise we need so we can do the deed. 

If the mage is knocked down or is a willing participant I can try and repack him into a shape that is easier to move. They might try to shoot at their own mage so that we cannot have it. Would they?   Perhaps a small forest animal will allow Tuskaloosa to steal it with her bike while the rest of us either pull of a ruse and make them pursuit the wrong car. I am just suggesting I can ofcourse also improvise on the field.

Last, this is always my last resort but I am also very passionate when it comes to automatic weapons, I can bring my AK-97 and Crusader. I must tell you that surpressive fire is very efficient when applied to vehicles.  Basically, if it comes down to that. The people in there do not have much room to dodge and their only option is to be lucky.  This is last resort kind of stuff I enjoy shooting AR mooks a lot more than people.

What I am saying is that I trust Arc and I am sure we can pull this up, one way or the other."