Shadowrun

Shadowrun Play => Play-by-Post => Topic started by: Ryo on <08-22-14/1317:37>

Title: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <08-22-14/1317:37>
A dim light flashing in the cabin of the van is the only illumination you see as consciousness returns to you, the frigid air stabbing at your exposed skin and coaxing you back into the land of the living. Confusion is the first thing that crosses your mind as you come to, trying to get your bearings in unfamiliar surroundings. You see the interior of a van, partially crushed, with broken windows that are allowing the snow to seep in. You notice the other people in the van with you around the same time you notice that you're upside down. You don't remember getting in an accident. You don't know who these people are, either. The last thing you remember, you...you...you can't remember anything. Anything at all.

@The Crumpled Man: You wake up to a flashing in your Image Link, synchronized to the flashing coming from your cyberarm that's lighting up the cabin of the van. You groggily regain consciousness and instantly regret it, feeling an intense pain in your body, but luckily the cold snow you're lying in is helping to numb it. You finally focus on the display in your eyes and try to piece together what's going on.

>> Biomonitor
>> [X][X][X][X][X][X][X][X][X][X][ ]
>> Warning: Critical wounds detected. Attempting to stabilize. Please seek immediate attention at your nearest medical facility.


You note from the readout on your HUD that the armor you're wearing seems to have a medkit built into it. You experience a bit of relief as the autodoc takes over and starts stabilizing your wounds.

@The Masked Woman: Your eyes snap open and you find yourself strapped into a 5 point harness, upside down, across from a troll. You feel the chill from the snow and cold air now blowing through the van, and your thermographic vision easily picks up the heat from the bodies of those around you. You don't feel any pain. An errant thought to the trodes you didn't realize you were wearing activates a commlink that seems to be built into your mask, and the OS boot screen for a Hermes Ikon appears in your vision, thanks to the Direct Neural Interface.

@The Ork: You wake up hanging upside down in the driver's seat, an ache in your chest that sends a slight stabbing pain up your neck if you bend wrong. You've had worse, but you can't remember when. Your head is resting on a pile of snow pooling in through the broken window next to you, and the badly cracked windshield makes it difficult to see what's ahead, though you can tell the headlights are still on. A pair of shattered and useless smart glasses are dangling from your ears.

@The Dwarf: You inhale sharply as you come around and begin coughing as pain burns inside your chest. You notice blood on the snow pile coming in through the windows, and feel some of it dripping down your face. You blink a few times, aware of some contacts in your eyes that are projecting an image into your field of vision.

>> Biomonitor
>> [X][X][X][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
>> Warning: Internal injuries detected. Please seek medical attention at your soonest convenience.


@The Human: You wake up slowly, hanging heavily in your seat between the two women. You notice a bit of discomfort from the cold, and some pain, but doubt you have any serious injuries. You become immediately aware of the feeling of the empty holsters on your body, as well as the hidden arm slide on your right arm, also without a weapon. As you move in your seat, a commlink falls out of your pocket and sinks slightly in the snow below you.

@The Elf: You regain consciousness and grunt in pain, shivering from the cold and feeling like someone has stabbed you in the ribs with icy knives. Your PAN comes back online, and your DNI places the icons of your gear in your field of vision. Your missing gun, labeled as a Nitama Sporter, appears to be in a duffel bag laying near the back of the van, where you notice an assorted pile of gear that clearly got tossed around in the crash.

@The Troll: You wake up and immediately take stock of yourself, using the limited medical training you forgot you knew until just now to determine that you are uninjured. You proceed to glance down at the assault rifle hanging from your body and pull it up to you, examining it closely. You become aware that you are intimately familiar with this gun, with each scratch on its surface and the patterns of wear from constant use. You recognize it as an HK XM30, currently configured in Assault Rifle mode with an underbarrel grenade launcher. You know it has a built in smartgun system, and become aware of a pair of goggles clinging to your forehead that likely have the other half of the smartlink. You check both clips, and note that the rifle is loaded with APDS rounds, and that 6 bullets are missing. The grenade launcher is loaded with a full clip of flashbangs.

You can tell that the weapon has been modified and personalized, as it has a built in Gas Vent that isn't stock. You are also aware that the XM30 has spare parts that allow it to be converted into other weapons, as well as an underbarrel shotgun attachment to replace the grenade launcher. It is not immediately obvious whether you have these parts.

You undo your seatbelt and expertly twist in midair to land on your feet. As soon as you release yourself from your harness, the entire van tips upward and the bags of gear in the back of the van slide forward, but your impact with the ceiling tips it back to a horizontal position. You immediately realize that the van is on the edge of a hill or cliff, and your considerable body weight in the back of the vehicle is acting as a counterweight.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <08-22-14/1454:01>
@The Masked Woman
The Masked Woman
1 - inspect self for injuries
2 - if not unduly injured, release the 5-point harness and fall to the roof-floor as gracefully as possible
3 - inspect The Crumpled Man for injuries
4 - check the pockets of my lined coat and my jumpsuit (if jumpsuits have pockets)
5 - see if this ballistic mask has any vision mods ... can we tell if it is day or night?

1: You quickly inspect yourself for injuries. Logic (5) + Defaulting (-1) (http://orokos.com/roll/215863): 4d6t5 2

You feel like you have to be hurt, after a crash like that, but you feel no pain.

2: Seeing the way the troll threw off the balance of the entire vehicle, you release the harness carefully and try not to disturb the weight distribution. Agility (6) + Gymnastics (2) (http://orokos.com/roll/215864): 8d6t5 4

You easily land on your feet, and your weight seems inconsequential to the balance of the vehicle.

3: You attempt to check the Crumpled Man for injuries, and instinctively Assense him. Intuition (6) + Assensing (4) (http://orokos.com/roll/215865): 10d6t5 3

He's in obvious pain, and is suffering from multiple severe injuries. You also note that his Essence is lower than yours, and see the presence of dead spots in his aura that you recognize as signs of cyberware. These include his entire right arm, his eyes, parts of his head, and three small spots on his left wrist, the side of his head and the back of his neck. His emotional state is confused and disoriented.

4: You search yourself and note that your lined coat has a plethora of hidden pockets, all of which appear to contain knives. You count twelve in total. You also find a number of reagents scattered about your jumpsuit's pockets and a long sheath integrated in the inner lining of the back of your lined coat, with a hole in the outside to accommodate what you assume is a sword. You easily spot the sword in question lying in the snow among the jumbled gear, and can tell from the aura it has that it is a weapon foci bound to you.

5: You send a mental command to your mask for a list of functions. You also send a mental command to your comm to display the date and time.


>>Integrated Systems
>> Vision Enhancement (3)
>> Integrated Trodes
>> Integrated Commlink
>> Integrated Cyberware Scanner (8)
>> Internal Air Reservoir (1 hour oxygen supply remaining)
>> Identity Saver™ locking mechanism (rating 6)

12:01 AM Friday, February 1st, 2075


@The Ork
Is the vehicle still apparently functional at all? Am I getting any obvious signs of DNI or Augmented Reality? Can I feel anything other than scalp / hair when checking my head?

My first actions after getting out of the harness and feeling for any major pain will probably relate to that, if not our immediate surroundings.

You examine the vehicle, wondering if it's still functional. Logic (4) + Automotive Engineer (3) (http://orokos.com/roll/215870): 7d6t5 4

From what you can see from the driver's seat, you immediately come to the conclusion that this vehicle is slag. It'd take a lot of repair work to get it running again, assuming the frame isn't bent.

You think real hard in the direction of a DNI you assume doesn't exist, as nothing happens. You're pretty sure the broken glasses on your face were your source of AR, but they're now useless. You notice no augmentations from a cursory inspection of your skull, though your muscles are huge and look unnaturally bulky and toned.

You are about to undo your harness when you feel the entire vehicle lurch when the troll moves around in the back. Successfully unhooking yourself without dislodging the van will require a Gymnastics test with a threshold of 3.

@The Dwarf
'Dwarf' will:
1. check self for injuries
2. Attempt to free himself from harness without incurring (further) injury
3. crawl out shattered windshield
4. have a look 'round to try and get bearings.

1: You check yourself for injuries. Logic (3) + Defaulting (-1) - 1 Wound (http://orokos.com/roll/215877): 1d6t5 1
You've suffered a wound, but you don't think you're still bleeding. Your biomonitor seems to be giving an accurate reading. (You have 3 boxes of Physical Damage.)

2: You undo the harness and try to land gracefully. Agility (5) + Gymnastics (3) - 1 Wound (http://orokos.com/roll/215879): 7d6t5 3
You dislodge yourself and stand up in the front of the van. You hear the metal groan as you move around, but you're careful and your weight doesn't seem to have too significant of an impact.

4: You try to get your bearings. Intuition (4) + Perception (3) - 1 Wound (http://orokos.com/roll/215880): 6d6t5 1
You take full stock of the van, seeing a number of people you don't recognize now trying to right themselves and get situated. There's a bag of gear towards the middle of the van, lying near the troll's feet, an unsheathed sword lying not far from that, boxes of ammo half buried in snow that have spilled out everywhere, and another duffel bag of gear shoved up under the driver's seat. You also notice a large wooden crate, cracked and splintered from the apparent crash, jammed up against the headrest of the passenger seat. It looks quite heavy. It's too dark to see very far out the windows, and so cold that your thermographic vision can barely make out anything.

@The Human
1. Getting his bearings, look at the immediate surroundings.
2. After realizing several people are moving around, checking if they seem to be hostile.
3. After that, checking himself, if there are any particular pains or deformities that suggest injuries.
4. As the bottom (i mean top) of the van starts to get quite crowded, checking what he has on/with him.
5. After his mind clears somewhat, thinking about where the hell he is and why, and who the hell all those people are.

1. You examine your immediate surroundings. Intuition (3) + Perception (4) (http://orokos.com/roll/215881): 7d6t5 3
You see the same things as above. You also see another bag of gear resting on top of the seat the Troll just dislodged himself from, and a large medkit under your own seat. You notice that the walls of the van have telltale signs of dents and divots from bullets, and even a few holes where they penetrated completely. You can't see out of any of the windows while upside down.

2. You judge the intentions of the people in the vehicle. Charisma (4) + Intuition (3) (http://orokos.com/roll/215882): 7d6t5 3
None of them seem hostile, at least not yet.

3. You check yourself for injuries. Logic (4) + Defaulting (-1) (http://orokos.com/roll/215883): 3d6t5 2
You realize you have zero medical training, but you feel minimum pain. (You have 1 box of Physical damage.)

4. You check your possessions, and come up largely empty. Aside from the commlink that fell out of your pocket, the two holsters and arm slide that lack weapons, and a biomonitor on your wrist that appears to be broken, you have nothing on you.

@The Elf
1. Look around herself for whatever is missing from her holster and a way out of the car, as well as listen for sirens or other cars approaching (perception?)
2. Check herself for injuries; specifically, head and neck for potential trauma, and limbs for broken bones and the like (first aid?)
3. Tell someone (hey, you!) to help her get down safely (leadership?)
   a. If no one steps up, try to break her fall when releasing the harness (gymnastics?)
4. Try to force open a door (STR + BOD?)
5. Once outside, try to figure out how long she can survive in the current (I saw mention of snow; cold?) environment before freezing to death (survival)
6. Check if the commlink is on, and if not if it's damaged (hardware?)
   a. If the commlink is on, try to get some information out of it (computer?)

1. You perceive your surroundings. Intuition (5) + Perception (3) - 1 Wound (http://orokos.com/roll/215886): 7d6t5 1
You see as much as the Dwarf did. You don't see your gun, but you can tell from the subscription on your PAN that it's in the duffel bag laying at the feet of the troll.

2. You check yourself for injuries. Logic (5) + First Aid (2) - 1 Wound (http://orokos.com/roll/215887): 6d6t5 2
You come to the conclusion that you're suffering from some internal injuries, and you're hurt pretty bad, but it doesn't seem like you're bleeding, so at least it isn't getting worse. (You have 4 boxes of Physical Damage.)

3. You attempt to command the Masked Woman, as she's standing closest to you. Charisma (7) + Defaulting (-1) - 1 Wound (http://orokos.com/roll/215888): 5d6t5 3

Masked Woman opposed roll. Willpower (6) + Defaulting (-1) (http://orokos.com/roll/215889): 5d6t5 2

6. You check if your commlink is on. It is. You note its a Hermes Ikon. You make sure it's not damaged. Logic (5) + Hardware (6) - 1 Wound (http://orokos.com/roll/215891): 10d6t5 2
The commlink is fine.

6a. You get the time and date, as well as the current temperature from weather data, and your GPS coordinates. it is currently -4 F°, and your GPS puts you in the mountains of Colorado.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ren on <08-22-14/1527:44>
Hearing no gunshots, the human in the seats decided he was in no immediate danger. He took a breath to speak when, form the recesses of his mind, came an advice to be polite. "Hey, Mr. Troll down there, could you help me down please? I'm a bit dizzy and i don't want to land on you when i get out of this seat."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ravensoracle on <08-22-14/1546:39>
The Crumpled Man sits up enough to lean on one of his elbows wincing as he does. He immediately starts rummaging through his medkit so that he can stabilize himself and begin patching up the injuries.

"Anyone else hurt, cause I'm kinda FUBAR right now."  
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: GrimWulf on <08-22-14/1611:49>
Pain is the first thing he registers, his head is on fire and feels like it's going to explode. He breathe's deeply and momentarily forgets his head as his chest erupts on even more pain.  He involuntarily coughs and watch's as the blood speckled phlegm falls... up?  He blinks hard and his world turns upside down. 

It takes him a moment to realize, that no, it's him that's upside down and he's hanging from the passenger seat of a van. He notes others in the van beside him and goes to call out to the driver when he realizes he doesn't know who the driver is.  Instead he looks 'up' at his waist, and releases the clasps on his belt, falling to the roof of the van with a crunch.  A moment later the van heaves suddenly as the troll in the back does the same and the dwarf curses loudly in Lakotish at the troll.

Looking further around the van he takes stock of the gear laying about, the duffel near the back, the loose sword on the roof, another duffel, a box smashed up against the back of his chair, and... he looks out the windshield for the first time and realizes that he can't see ground in front of it, which can only mean that the van is suspended over something. He starts scrabbling towards the back of the van, flailing away with his limbs in sudden primal fear of falling.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: martinchaen on <08-22-14/1740:17>
"Ungh..."

That's about the only sound I find myself able to make as icy cold fingers rakes across my consciousness.

Talking is difficult with the metallic taste of blood filling my mouth, but I'm finally able to spit out a few more intelligent words. "What. The. Frag..." Ok, so maybe intelligent wasn't the right term.

Looking around, I see other shapes. Other people! Where the hell am I. Wait. We. I'm in a seat... Strapped in. Looks like a car seat. Yeah, that's...

"Woah!" It's all I can do not to shriek like a little girl when the whole damned vehicle suddenly rocks back and forth before settling down. Looking behind me I see a big troll. Fragger must have released himself from his seat to make that kind of ruckus. "Easy there big guy; no more sudden moves, wiz?" I tell him, hoping he'll listen despite the heavy sarcasm present in my tone.

All of a sudden I notice that my PAN is still active. Yes! Link, check. Matrix connectivity. Check. Huh, that's got to be where the gun that's missing from my holster is. Check, I guess. Holy shit, four degrees Fahrenheit below? Jeez...

Nearby is a masked woman, and *thud*. Yep, there goes the dwarf, head first. No way I can make that landing, and my side's really fraggin hurting. Wait a minute...

"Hey, you! In the mask. Help me the frag down, will you? I'm hurt..."

I impart some weakness in my voice, some voluntary, most of it not, and from the looks of things we must have been in this whole thing together. "By the way, anyone else here a little foggy on the details?" I manage while waiting for the masked woman to come help me down. Colorado. Februaruy. 2075. All of a sudden, the dwarf goes nuts.

Well, drek. This is going to majorly suck...
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <08-22-14/1758:51>
You undo your seatbelt and expertly twist in midair to land on your feet. As soon as you release yourself from your harness, the entire van tips upward and the bags of gear in the back of the van slide forward, but your impact with the ceiling tips it back to a horizontal position. You immediately realize that the van is on the edge of a hill or cliff, and your considerable body weight in the back of the vehicle is acting as a counterweight.

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhh..." is the only sound the giant behemoth makes, crouching cautiously on the roof of the van, his eyes wider than picnic plates. He looks over at the crumpled man and pokes him with his rifle barrel, whispering, "Hey squish. You ok?"

"Easy there big guy; no more sudden moves, wiz?" I tell him, hoping he'll listen despite the heavy sarcasm present in my tone.

"Yeah, you said it."

You dislodge yourself and stand up in the front of the van. You hear the metal groan as you move around, but you're careful and your weight doesn't seem to have too significant of an impact.

He whips his head around to face the little guy and snaps, "Careful people! We're on the edge of something!"

"Hey, Mr. Troll down there, could you help me down please? I'm a bit dizzy and i don't want to land on you when i get out of this seat."

MR TROLL?!
"I got a frakkin name, breeder. It's..." The look on his face changes from offended to confused as the giant realizes he has no idea what his name is. "Oh..." He reaches up and unhooks the little man from his seat, careful to set him down near the rear of the vehicle.

The Crumpled Man sits up enough to lean on one of his elbows wincing as he does. He immediately starts rummaging through his medkit so that he can stabilize himself and begin patching up the injuries.

"Anyone else hurt, cause I'm kinda FUBAR right now."

The giant almost jumps when the man he assumed was a corpse begins speaking. "I'm good enough to carry you, but this probably aint the time for an extended stay, wiz? This frakkin van crashed for a REASON."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ren on <08-22-14/1908:41>
"Foggy doesn't even begin to cover it," the lightly-dressed human grumbled. "Thanks, man," he nodded to the troll when he helped him down from the seat. "Seems like we are in the same drek, and its deep." He reached down and took the commlink he dropped earlier. "Uhh, let's see..." Prodding the thing to life, he queried for GPS coordinates and a public map of the area.

"By the way, does any of you have the faintest idea why someone shot at us earlier? This van is more holey than a rat warren." Scratching his head, he noticed the UDC holes. His mind got clearer by the second now. Everyone was throwing around slang, so he decided to switch speech style. "Ugh, scratch that. We have time enough later for the quiz, i think. Yo, big man in the front, do you need help getting out? I think he should be first to move, that would help the balance of the van. Also, mind checking the glove compartment? I get the feeling we shouldn't leave anything."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <08-22-14/1925:04>
"Foggy doesn't even begin to cover it," the lightly-dressed human grumbled. "Thanks, man," he nodded to the troll when he helped him down from the seat. "Seems like we are in the same drek, and its deep." He reached down and took the commlink he dropped earlier. "Uhh, let's see..." Prodding the thing to life, he queried for GPS coordinates and a public map of the area.

"By the way, does any of you have the faintest idea why someone shot at us earlier? This van is more holey than a rat warren."

The giant motions with his rifle. "I dunno, but we sure as shit fired back at em. Whatever escape plan we were using, obviously failed. We need to grab up our shit and get outta here FAST. I'm the heaviest, so I'll get out last, but you'd better hurry!"
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <08-22-14/1929:58>
The Masked Woman opens her eyes and sees the heat and the mana of the world around her. Most of it is cold and metallic, but there are others who look as dazed and confused as she feels. There's an ancient voice in her head, an old connection that hasn't abandoned her even if all of her memories have. She can't place it right now but she will.

She undoes the buckle on her harness, unconsciously confident that she can twist in midair and not land on her head. The dwarf goes rushing by in a panic. She raises a hand to calm him but can't think of anything to say that would be of any comfort. Looking around the van, she sees something that belongs to her. A quick snap of the wrist and the claymore is in her hand, and then in its sheath a fraction of a second later. The weight is snug and comforting on her back.

The elf asks for help and the Masked Woman doesn't have any reason to say no. Getting into position, she tries to steady her footing to ease the fall of the unaugmented, mundane elf. The Masked Woman reaches up to undo the harness but her foot slips in the snow that's pushed its way into the van. She tumbles over as the elf makes the fall gracefully without her help. The Masked Woman stands, sees that the elf is moving forward to grab of gear under the driver's seat. She places a hand gently on the elf's shoulder to suggest that going forward might be unwise. The Masked Woman stretches out her arm toward the front of the van and mimes a pulling motion. The bag of gear clumsily yanks itself free and cartwheels toward the back of the van. She repeats the process with the medkit and the gear that's above the troll.

The woman doesn't know what to make of herself, physically. Isn't this sword a little big for her? Maybe the magic makes the sword do the work for her. She's aware that she's the only one wearing a mask but now's not the time to take it off. No sense in taking off something protecting your face when the whole van could dislodge itself at any moment. She remains silent as she inspects the interior of the van and the one crate that's too heavy for her to move without casting a stronger spell.

Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ravensoracle on <08-22-14/2049:28>
The Crumpled Man is pulling lengths of gauze, bandages and tape out of the medkit as all of this is going down. He doesn't even take time to think about anything to do with his situation.  Got to get the blood loss under control or I am going to pass out again.  The voice of one of his vaguely remembered professors, really nothing more than a voice in his head, begins to regale him with the symptoms of traumatic brain injury.

He dodges over, still wrapping up his chest as the dwarf comes back-pedaling by. "Hey, watch it."

He then takes a syringe out of the kit and shoots something into his arm.

 "No time to think.Trying to save a life here. Namely my own ass."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <08-22-14/2054:18>
Crouched low and aiming his rifle out the shattered read doors, he squints his eyes to see what kind of environment they're in. As he does, he mentally gives the order to his commlink to display the last 3 messages sent and the last three recieved, hoping for some clue as to what's going on. He's visibly impatient as he mutters, "C'mon people, move it!" into his subvocal mic. "No one wants to die in this can."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Novocrane on <08-22-14/2136:39>
Spitting out what turns out to be grit and a fang chip, Ork has about enough time to realise the situation is fragged up before everyone starts moving around, and the vehicle lurches. One hand comes away from his head with a twisted pair of smart-glasses in tow. For a moment, between the crash and the unnatural bulk of his arms, he wonders which broke them. Another moment passes, wasted on trying think the car heater on, or find a switch, before being given up as a lost cause. Maybe a hidden compartment? Glove box?

This might not even be my car. Drek if it is, and twice drek'd if it isn't ...

"Fraggit, chummers, hold onto something while I get out of this."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <08-22-14/2148:12>
Crouched low and aiming his rifle out the shattered read doors, he squints his eyes to see what kind of environment they're in. As he does, he mentally gives the order to his commlink to display the last 3 messages sent and the last three recieved, hoping for some clue as to what's going on. He's visibly impatient as he mutters, "C'mon people, move it!" into his subvocal mic. "No one wants to die in this can."

You try to get a clear view out the rear window, the only real illumination you have being the dim light provided by the crumpled man's cyberdeck screen, and the headlights that are pointed in the wrong direction. Intuition (3) + Perception (2) + Wireless Vision (2) - Dim Light (3) (http://orokos.com/roll/215995): 4d6t5 1

You see mostly darkness, barely able to make out more than a few meters from the back of the van. You can tell you're in pretty deep snow, and that the vehicle you're in dug an impressive trench to get to its current position. The wind is strong enough that the snow is shifting, and starting to cover the trench. You're pretty sure you see impacts in the snow that suggest the van did a lot of rolling.

You speak subvocally. Only the Dwarf, the Crumpled Man and the Ork have their radios set to the right channel. Charisma (2) + Intimidation (3) + Physically Imposing (3) + wielding obvious weapon (2) (http://orokos.com/roll/215997): 10d6t5 5

As you do this, you scroll through your messages. You see your comm has two accounts, and two commcodes, assigned to two different SINs.


>>Frank J. Muntz
>>UCAS National SIN
>>Age: 34
>>Sex: Male
>>Metatype: Troll
>>Race: Caucasian
>>>Registered Bounty Hunter
>>>αTitanium Bone Lacing License
>>>αWired Reflexes 1 License
>>>αMuscle Toner 4 License

<Start Russian>
>> Retrieving message log. . .
>> TO: Mom
>> FROM: Frank
>> SENT: January 11th, 3:05PM
>> Did you receive the flowers?

>> FROM: Mom
>> TO: Frank
>> SENT: January 11th, 3:10PM
>> They're beautiful. I made your favorite. Should arrive tomorrow.

>> TO: Mom
>> FROM: Frank
>> SENT: January 18th, 3:05PM
>> Did you receive my invitation?

>> FROM: Mom
>> TO: Frank
>> SENT: January 18th, 3:10PM
>> It was in the mail this morning.

>> TO: Mom
>> FROM: Frank
>> SENT: January 25th, 3:05PM
>> Am I coming to visit?

>> FROM: Mom
>> TO: Frank
>> SENT: January 25th, 3:15PM
>> Dad wants to see you.
<End Russian>



You check the Contact list for "Frank."


<Start Russian>
>> Mom
>> Dad
>> Gift Shop
<End Russian>


You decide to switch over and check the other SIN.


>>Ralph Hendricks
>>Pueblo Corporate Council National SIN
>>Age: 30
>>Sex: Male
>>Metatype: Troll
>>Race: Caucasian
>>>Registered Bodyguard
>>>Concealed Carry License
>>>Medical Release: Patient's muscular, skeletal and nervous systems contain medically necessary augmentations.

>>Retrieving Message Log. . .

>> FROM: Ralph
>> TO: Johnson
>> SENT: January 31st, 10:00PM
>> Change of plans. Everything has gone to hell. You pay me now.

>> FROM: Johnson
>> TO: Ralph
>> SENT: January 31st, 10:01PM
>> You don't get to change the plans. We had a deal, and I expect you to honor it; payment on delivery, as agreed.

>> FROM: Ralph
>> TO: Johnson
>> SENT: January 31st, 10:03PM
>> I have the stupid thing, so I'm holding all the cards. You screwed me. Nobody screws with me. Pay me now, or I end this.

>> FROM: Johnson
>> TO: Ralph
>> SENT: January 31st, 10:10PM
>> You'll be dead before the night is over.

>>FROM: Ralph
>>TO: Johnson
>>SENT: January 31st, 10:11PM
>>Go fuck yourself.



You check the contact list. The only contact is the Johnson.

The van groans and shifts a little. The headlights go out. It seems you've been out here long enough to kill the battery.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: martinchaen on <08-22-14/2205:09>
As the human fumbles around with his link I quietly tell him not to bother. "We're in the middle of nowhere, omae; Colorado mountains by my count. I'm trying to locate a map as we speak". My voice was surprisingly cool, and I didn't feel nervous; odd. I must be used to high-stress situations.

The masked woman approaches silently, and I smile in what I hope is a reassuring manner to her. She reaches for the belt release and then slips on the snow just as her fingers reach it, and before I can even utter a strangled yelp the ground is rushing towards me. I feel my body move by itself more than I consciously choose to move it on my own behalf, and before I know it I've managed to slide my legs up against my chest and curl my spine. Miraculously, I land in a semi-crouch. I laugh mirthlessly when I address my would-be helper. "Hah. Well, I'll be damned... Jeeze, next time, just give me a three-count, neh?"

Ignoring the jabbering of the others, I look around for other signals, trying to push through the incessant noise that seems to degrade my signal. The Matrix almost calls to me, inviting me into it's embrace. When the ork up front starts moving I decide to get the hell out of dodge and I grab my bag on the way past the others, elbowing my way through despite my small size and almost stepping on the guy on the ground. "Hey! How about letting a woman have some space, you great big oafs". I'm slightly annoyed that I can't come up with more intelligent banter, but my mind is still slightly hazy. Then I remember that I should probably be a little nicer to these people; I might need to rely on them later, after all. But I've always been a survivor. If there's one thing I know, it's that I'm not gonna die out here.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <08-22-14/2233:25>
The Masked Woman sees the ork stirring, and then his coordinated drop. She hears the urgency in the Troll's voice and knows that a plan needs to form. She looks reluctant to talk but finally breaks her silence. She goes for a tone of reason, rather than for one of command.

"We've been out here long enough that the battery is dead. It seems to me that our most immediate threat is the weather, not any pursuers. The cold outside will kill us as certainly as anything." She glances at the human wearing clothes that aren't suited for the weather, and the elf with the skintight black suit. Maybe it's one of the Evo HEL suits that are perfect for situations like this, or maybe it's just a body stocking.

@Dwarf
She turns to the dwarf, hoping to calm him down by grounding him with a familiar task. "Brother Dwarf, can you bring a spirit to help us? A wisp to scout the area and look for shelter, or to keep us warm? Or perhaps your own spirit, if you can project it." She smiles slightly until she remembers that no one could see it through the mask anyway, so she stops.

@Ork
"Brother Ork, can you please grab the large crate as you come back? It is too heavy for me to lift, but certainly you are stronger."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: martinchaen on <08-22-14/2302:50>
Squatting down at the very rear of the car I rifle through the duffel bag. "Hey, there's some stuff in here that probably isn't mine" I say as I pull out the armored coldsuit from the bag. "This thing is far too big for me, obviously. Wait, this looks familiar..."

I don't even notice that I trail off as I grab the Nitama Sporter out of the bag, immediately checking the ammo counter and nodding to myself as I confirm the ammo counter is reading true. I look up at the comparatively huge troll crouching next to me, and feel a pang of envy at his assault rifle. Better stick close to this guy; he seems like he can handle himself.

"Hey, everyone, listen up. First of all, I'm sorry I snapped at everyone just now. I'm a little on edge, as I'm sure we all are. More importantly, however, I've got good news, bad news, and worse news." I tie my long, black hair up in a bun before continuing, opening up the survival kit to rummage through it as I talk. "Bad news is it's fragging freezing out here, in case you didn't notice. I've got a coldsuit for myself, and a survival kit, so we might be able to survive. I don't know much about this stuff, though, at least not that I can remember. All right, on to the worse news; we're way out in the middle of nowhere. Anyone heard of a town called Aspen? Well, we're about 30 klicks away, which probably means we won't make it there on foot before we all freeze to death. Good news is, there's a Rover approaching us, about 5km out. We're 150 meters from the road, so I'm going to slip into my coldsuit and head for the road, see if I can flag that thing down. Gotta be a flare or a light stick or something in this thing... Oh, and I seem to have gotten banged up a little back there. Any chance one of you can patch me up or give me something for the pain?"

I mentally list off the other items in the bag, and decide to keep the other weapons to myself for now.

"So. Who's coming?" Looking up at the big troll, I nod at the doors. "You think you can open those? I'd appreciate it if you'd wait until I get my ass into this thing, but I'd like to get out of this death trap before we all fall screaming to our deaths..." I start unpacking the coldsuit, getting ready to put it on.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <08-23-14/0053:53>
Frank, eh? I don't feel like a "Frank." Probably a fake SIN. Yeah, I'm definitely a criminal, and from the tone of these messages, it would seem a rather hot headed one. Oh GOD, it's probably MY fault we're here.

Without taking his eyes off the sights of his rifle, aiming out the back window, he announces loudly to the rest of the team, "Ok, people! Don't ask me how i know, but there's something in this van that we frakkin NEED! I don't know what it is, but i know we've got it, and whatever it is, it's the reason we're all out here."

Squatting down at the very rear of the car I rifle through the duffel bag. "Hey, there's some stuff in here that probably isn't mine"

"Bring everything we can carry. We'll figure out whose drek is whose later."

"So. Who's coming?" Looking up at the big troll, I nod at the doors. "You think you can open those? I'd appreciate it if you'd wait until I get my ass into this thing, but I'd like to get out of this death trap before we all fall screaming to our deaths..." I start unpacking the coldsuit, getting ready to put it on.

I like the balls on this one.

"Yeah, I'll go with you, but I'm not moving from this spot until everyone's off. Our driver looks very strong. He should more than suffice."

I hope I had the good sense to bring something insulated with me. But, the whole "hot head" thing would seem to suggest I probably relied on the fact that I'm Russian. I probably picked on the rest of them for bringing survival gear. Oh, no. Am i the hot headed asshole on the team?
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <08-23-14/0136:49>
Looking out the back at the snow trench plowed by the van, the Masked Woman slowly abandons her implausible-but-totally-wiz theory that the van had actually been ditched by a t-bird smuggler mid-flight when a coyote run into Denver went sideways. She listens to the facts and figures rattled off by the Elf and the Troll and does some mental math.

"Rovers are rigs for rich corpers, right? Not sec teams looking to clean us up. Should be a soft target."

Oh, Goddess, can a Rover even fit seven metahumans - one of them a troll - plus that crate? I'd sit in someone's lap but this claymore and all.

"The Rover will pass us in 3-5 minutes, depending on highway speeds in a storm. That's how long we have to make it 150m uphill in the snow. The Elf and I can take point. She can show some leg; I can plant a suggestion in the driver's mind that it would be a good idea to stop and help. Damsels in distress, neh?"

Wearing a ballistics mask isn't suspicious, right? Everyone wears masks in weather like this, sure.

"Once they're stopped she can pull her pistol and jam their comm ... right?" This based on the fact that anyone clever enough to find a signal approaching in a storm 5 klicks out is wiz enough to jam a comm.

"There's something metallic in the crate that might be of interest," she says, reiterating its importance. "Can we get this guy into the coldsuit and then up the hill? I can prepare something for him once we're stable."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <08-23-14/0215:02>
"There's something metallic in the crate that might be of interest," she says, reiterating its importance. "Can we get this guy into the coldsuit and then up the hill? I can prepare something for him once we're stable."

He glances sideways at the crate in question, glaring at it like it slotted his sister. "That's probably the thing, right there. He and I come off the van last. The rest of you will finish unloading this coffin here while Elf and Mask get moving. If you two plan to cover that distance in that time, you'll need to leave now and haul ass. Go!" His mind wanders a bit about the crate.

Once we get out of here, I'm putting "Johnson" in this fucking box and dropping it in the fucking snow outside Skovorodino.

Then, as an afterthought to the masked woman and the elf, he adds "Make sure your comms are set to this frequency, too. We'll call you 'red team' for now." After a pause, he mutters, "This is Uncle Sam. Copy, red team."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Novocrane on <08-23-14/0322:14>
Twisting out of the seat with a flip that looked almost well practised, Ork grimaces as turning pulls at a handful of injured muscles he didn't know he had. Opening the glove compartment, he turns to reply to the Masked Woman, but doesn't otherwise stop what he's doing;

Quote
"Brother Ork, can you please grab the large crate as you come back? It is too heavy for me to lift, but certainly you are stronger."

"Aye, and for that please, I'll even consider pulling out to the snow. Just let me check this here first ..."

The toothy grin that was intended to go with it was interrupted by a shiver, but was otherwise well intentioned.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ren on <08-23-14/0444:32>
The Human set the Hermes Ikon to the channel the Troll was broadcasting at, testing the connection with an answer. >>Copy that.<< After that, he cautiously moved back, adding to the counterweight the troll provided and giving space to the Ork to get out of his seat. He squatted beside the bags and started to pick up the weapons and stow them in their respective holsters one by one - the taser in the ankle holster, the light pistol in the hidden arm slide, and the machine pistol, after reloading it with the spare clip, in the holster under his jacket. He felt reassured by holding these, as if naked until then. He also checked if the Ares Armored Survivalist was his - he had the nagging feeling it should be.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <08-23-14/0628:15>
Twisting out of the seat with a flip that looked almost well practised, Ork grimaces as turning pulls at a handful of injured muscles he didn't know he had. Opening the glove compartment, he turns to reply to the Masked Woman, but doesn't otherwise stop what he's doing;

The van shudders and shifts slightly as the Ork changes position, but he is quick on his feet and shifts his weight expertly to keep the vehicle from the tipping point. It settles back down into position. He leans over, making sure not to upset the balance, and knocks open the glove compartment. Inside he finds a Simrig, a Trode headband, a Bug Scanner (Rating 6) and a Tag Eraser.

"Aye, and for that please, I'll even consider pulling out to the snow. Just let me check this here first ..."

The toothy grin that was intended to go with it was interrupted by a shiver, but was otherwise well intentioned.

The Ork goes to move the crate and gives it an experimental push to judge the weight. The entire van rocks, but the crate doesn't budge. He puts his back into it.

Body 5 + Strength 5(9) (http://orokos.com/roll/216043): 14d6t5 6

The crate shifts, and slides forward slightly. The Ork is barely able to move it, and attempting to get leverage on it risks upsetting the balance of the van. The Ork estimates the weight of the crate to be in excess of 300 kilos.

The Human set the Hermes Ikon to the channel the Troll was broadcasting at, testing the connection with an answer. >>Copy that.<< After that, he cautiously moved back, adding to the counterweight the troll provided and giving space to the Ork to get out of his seat. He squatted beside the bags and started to pick up the weapons and stow them in their respective holsters one by one - the taser in the ankle holster, the light pistol in the hidden arm slide, and the machine pistol, after reloading it with the spare clip, in the holster under his jacket. He felt reassured by holding these, as if naked until then. He also checked if the Ares Armored Survivalist was his - he had the nagging feeling it should be.

You examine the Ares Armored Survivalist, noticing the distinctive white coloring and fluffy interior that suggests its well suited for winter wear. You put it on, noting it fits you perfectly, and that you have easy access to your gear while wearing it, as if it were tailored intentionally to allow this.

It is designed for Arctic conditions. Custom Protection (Insulation 4), with a wireless bonus that applies to cold terrain.

The Elf pulls the Coldsuit on and finds it equally well fitting, and now feels significantly warmer.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: GrimWulf on <08-23-14/1255:35>
The dwarf calms down as he reaches the relative safety of the back of the van, and see's that none of the others seem to relatively care if the van goes hurtling off the cliff to a fiery doom. He searches his pockets, hoping to come up with a pair of gloves or something for his head as he comes to the conclusion that it is only his exposed skin that really feels cold. He notices everyone else pulling out whiz gear, and hopes he's got a nice gun or something hidden in a pocket also, so far it seems as if he's only got a nice coat and nothing else.

He slips a little on the roof of the van when the Ork tries to move the crate to no avail.  "Uh hey... what's in that thing anyways?  Do we need it? Can we move it piece by piece?"

Thinking that he knows he can't help much with the crate itself anyways, he makes sure his weight wont upset the balance of the van before stepping outside and looking up the hill back towards where the road apparently is.  He tries to think if there's anything he could do to get up to that Rover in time.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: martinchaen on <08-23-14/1300:07>
"Slot off, I ain't showing leg to no-one, 'specially not in this frakkin' thing!" I exclaim indignantly while struggling into my coldsuit. "Besides, you all worry about getting whatever it is we need out of this thing, I'll worry about stopping that car." I grumble a bit under my breath about the foolishness of trying to run in deep snow, before adding. "But, yeah, how about those painkillers?"

After the Troll opens the door, I look around for a bit and head outside. For some perverse reason, I consider just giving the damaged vehicle a nudge so I can watch the others go flying off the cliff, but reconsider quickly.

Jeez, where did THAT come from...

Despite the weather I spot what looks like at least a slightly sheltered spot nearby, and trudge over to it quickly, settling down by a large fallen tree. I relax my body and let my consciousness fall into the Matrix, delighting in the feeling of warmth provided by my hot-sim VR interface. I send a quick message to the incessant troll on his damned comm channel. "Yeah yeah, I hear you, don't get your knickers in a twist... I'll be right here, you just get that thing out of the car and be ready." Surprisingly, I discover that my Matrix Persona looks like a blend between myself and the masked woman; small, definitely female with somewhat more ample curves than my own (am I compensating for something?) wearing a skin-tight leotard and a mask. I can't even tell my own features in here, it seems.

The icon of the rover blinks in the distance, and in a nanosecond I'm right next to it ready to begin ... wait, what am I doing? Oh, right, I know this.

I must have done this a million times, because my actions are instinctual more than anything. Just like the flip in the car, this is something I know how to do very well. "MARK it, stop it, job's a good'n." Wait, that's not my saying. Is it? Shaking my virtual head to myself, I set to work.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <08-23-14/1309:29>
"Uh hey... what's in that thing anyways?  Do we need it? Can we move it piece by piece?"

"YES! Once everyone is outta this frakkin thing, I'll bring it out with me. NOW MOVE IT PEOPLE!!!"

Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <08-23-14/1359:23>
The Masked Woman sighs inwardly as the Elf rapidly disabuses her of any romantic notions of how elven ladies speak. Not only has the Elf reverted to her original brusque nature, but she also seems to have gone out into the storm for the express purpose of falling asleep against a tree. The Dwarf has ignored two direct questions, and is either unwilling or unable to share his Talent with the group, despite their need. She shakes her head slightly and tries to make allowances for the shock of the situation. Perhaps the ballistics mask muffles her voice, and the wind is loud. Maybe she can strike up a rapport with the Ork later. Maybe she'll just play the Quiet Game.

She turns her attention to her commlink. Through her DNI she sets it to the frequency that the Troll indicated.

<<Copy.>> She seems a bit relieved not have to speak anymore.

Wading out into the night, she turns her collar up; luckily the length of the coat provides some protection from the wind for her legs. She glances around the crash site and then heads up the hill at a steady pace. Moving through the snow is hard work, having to lift each foot up out of the snowdrift before stomping forward. She can't remember, are you supposed to move fast to generate body heat or not to fast so you don't sweat? At the moment she can't think of anything related cold weather survival.

While she's moving, she checks back on her commlink. She looks for her own personal profile, something that would tell her more about herself. Professionally, socially, whatever comes up. She also tries to think of what other spells she might now. Something that can lift the crate? Or the injured man? Or a Cone of Silence for the Elf? Think, godfraggit, think.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <08-23-14/1753:01>
@The Dwarf
He searches his pockets, hoping to come up with a pair of gloves or something for his head as he comes to the conclusion that it is only his exposed skin that really feels cold. He notices everyone else pulling out whiz gear, and hopes he's got a nice gun or something hidden in a pocket also, so far it seems as if he's only got a nice coat and nothing else.

The dwarf checks himself for gear. He's wearing well insulated clothes, and finds a pair of gloves, a beanie and a scarf stuffed in one of his pockets, which he promptly puts on. It looks like the beanie had trodes sewn into it, as he feels a mental connection to his commlink as soon as it is firmly in place. He finds the commlink in another pocket shortly after; a Renraku Sensei.

Continuing to pat himself down, he feels the distinct bulge of a holster on his side near his left arm pit. Opening his jacket to inspect it, he discovers a quick-draw holster, with a heavy pistol firmly in it. He immediately recognizes it as a Ruger Super Warhawk.

Finishing his self search, he finds his biomonitor band on his upper arm, a small and stylish respirator (rating 6) and a pocket full of reagents. He counts about 30 of them.

The dwarf inspects the pendant hanging from his neck, recognizing it as an important talisman of his tradition. He remembers he's a Shaman (Drain stat is Charisma), and that this is a Power Focus (Force 2).

@Everyone

After the Troll opens the door...


Seeing that everyone was bundled up and it was time to get a moving, the Troll goes to open the door and finds it jammed shut from the crash. He's not about to let this stop him though.

Body 10 + Strength 8 (http://orokos.com/roll/216177): 18d6t5 8

The metal screeches as the Troll almost casually tears it apart and forces the rear doors open. You are all immediately assaulted by a cold blast of freezing air and the howling wind from outside spinning through the inside of the van. You hadn't realized just how much warmer the van was, being largely inclosed with 7 metahuman bodies working to heat it up.

Cold Resistance Tests:
The Troll: Body 10 + Insulation 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/216179): 12d6t5 6
The Elf: Body 3 + Insulation 4 (http://orokos.com/roll/216180): 7d6t5 4
The Human: Body 5 + Insulation 4 (http://orokos.com/roll/216181): 9d6t5 4
The Dwarf: Body 3 + Insulation 6 (http://orokos.com/roll/216182): 9d6t5 4
The Ork: Body 5 + Insulation 6 (http://orokos.com/roll/216183): 11d6t5 4
The Masked Woman: Body 5 + Insulation 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/216184): 7d6t5 3
The Crumpled Man: Body 3 + Insulation 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/216185): 5d6t5 2

The chill is intense and your breath hangs visibly in the air like puffs of steam, but you're all insulated, and are able to deal with the temperature shift.

@The Elf
Looking around for somewhere to sit down nearby that's at least partially sheltered from the wind and snow:
Perception [7] (http://orokos.com/roll/216158)
8d6t5: 4 [8d6t5=6, 6, 3, 5, 2, 4, 5, 1] Would have -1 on this due to visibility, but doesn't affect the result.

The Elf ventures out into the snow, the boots of her coldsuit sinking into the drift past her ankle as she strikes a Magnesium Torch she found in the duffel bag. Now having illumination, she looks out into the darkness for a warm place to situate herself, and trudges through the snow towards the nearby tree line. She puts her back against the trunk of the tree in the opposite direction the wind is blowing, and uses the Survival Kit in her duffel to try and make herself a warm place to huddle.

Willpower 6 - Defaulting 1 + Coldsuit Wireless 1 + Survival Kit 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/216186): 8d6t5 4

Using the thermal blanket in the kit to shield herself, she manages to get pretty cozy before dropping into VR. Her icon is surrounded by static, the inherent noise from being so far from anywhere worth being drowning out much of the matrix topography. She reaches out and finds the grid she has access to and connects to it, replacing the virtual world with a blank black sky filled with icons meant to approximate stars, while the ground beneath her feet rises and falls, like she were a giant standing among the Colorado mountains. The elf spots her target, the small car icon of the Rover 2072, and manifests her matrix protocols to crack into its system.

Slipping into VR and hacking the van:
Hack on the Fly [5] (http://orokos.com/roll/216163)
16d6t5: 7 [16d6t5=3, 6, 5, 5, 2, 2, 3, 1, 1, 6, 2, 2, 5, 4, 5, 6]  1 net hit.
16d6t5: 7 [16d6t5=6, 3, 6, 2, 5, 6, 1, 5, 3, 4, 6, 3, 4, 1, 3, 5]  2 net hits; get 1 piece of info from it as if you used Matrix Perception.
15d6t5: 5 [15d6t5=2, 4, 6, 1, 5, 6, 2, 1, 4, 1, 2, 2, 6, 5, 1]  3 net hits; 1 more piece of info

She reaches out and sends streams of data into the icon, discreetly placing a mark on it and granting her basic access. But she's unsatisfied with that and digs deeper, placing a second mark, then a third. In the process she looks for protected files and data bombs, but finds neither.

@The Crumpled Man
I am going to assume enough time has gone by that The Crumpled Man has been able to patch himself up. so now his actions would be

1. Take a closer lok around the van and see if he recognizes anything. With all the guns around he is going to want his.
2. Pull up a quick diagnostic of all of his cyberware
3. See if he has any idea how to survive this horrible cold.

By now the Crumpled Man has finished patching his wounds as best he can and gets to his feet. He takes stock of himself, the van and the gear that's lying around.

Intuition 4 + Perception 3 + Wireless Vision 1 - Wound 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/216188): 6d6t5 3

He sees two remaining duffel bags of gear and guesses one may be his, as well as a large medkit (Rating 6) that he suspects he's best equipped to use. Checking his own pockets and gear, he notes a few things.

He's wearing an Ares Survivalist suit, colored in browns and greys, vaguely aware that it's part of the urban survival line. The custom protection is Insulation 2, Chemical Protection 2, Nonconductivity 1. The wireless bonus applies to cities. It has a medkit, a biomonitor and a respirator (rating 6) built into it.

He finds a spare clip in one of his pockets of 10 Flechette rounds for a shotgun. He also finds a tag eraser, a data tap, a flashlight and a gold credstick in his other pockets. He notes he has a subvocal mic on his throat.

He finds three Datajacks on his body: One on his left wrist, one on the side of his head, and one at the base of his neck.

He then fires up the cyberdeck in his arm and runs a diagnostics check.


>> SONY CIY-720
>>> Attack 4 Sleaze 5 Data Processing 6 Firewall 7(8)
>>>Active Programs: Encryption,  Armor, Biofeedback Filter, Shell
>>>Running diagnostics on Cyberlimb . . .
>> Jonny G's Secondhand Cyberware
>> Get a secondhand second hand at Jonny G's!
>> Strength 6, Agility 6
>> Cyberdeck slot (In use: SONY CIY-720)
>> integrated shotgun: Operational [4/4 rounds remaining]
>> external clip: Operational [ERROR: please insert clip]
>>>Running diagnostics on additional implants. . .
>> Sony Cybersystems TL310 Cybereyes (Rating 1): Nominal
>>> Smartlink: Operational
>>> Vision Enhancement (Rating 1): Operational
>> All Systems Nominal


You manage to find the external slot for the shotgun that's apparently built into your arm near your elbow. You then turn your attention towards surviving this cold

Willpower 5 + Survival 2 - Wound 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/216190): 5d6t5 3

You realize you know a thing or two about surviving, and are confident you'll manage.

@The Dwarf
Thinking that he knows he can't help much with the crate itself anyways, he makes sure his weight wont upset the balance of the van before stepping outside and looking up the hill back towards where the road apparently is.  He tries to think if there's anything he could do to get up to that Rover in time.

You step out into the snow and sink up to your knees, practically climbing rather than walking as you try to get up hill. You think about what you're capable of, and ponder the abilities you have.

You realize you have the Conjuration Skill Group at 6 and Magic 6, and that spirits offer you a number of solutions for faster movement.

@The Masked Woman
The Masked Woman
22. Assensing the Dwarf: 5 hits (http://'http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4616765/').
23. Assensing the surroundings outside of the vehicle: 2 hits (http://'http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4616769/'). Just basic recon.
24. Per the IC post, connecting comms with the group and looking for a personal profile on her own commlink. SINs, licenses, social accounts, recipes, cat trids. I'm thinking that I don't need a Computer test for this but please inform me if otherwise.
25. Trying to remember any other spells that might be relevant to moving people or crates, or detect people or danger, or anything that the current situation might trigger.
26. Actual snow-running: 3 hits (http://'http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4616797/').

Woo, clawing my way up to 20th percentile rolling.

The Masked Woman turns her astral perception towards the dwarf as he trudges out into the snow, seeing the vibrancy in his aura and recognizing it as Awakened immediately. She sees he has Essence 6, Magic 6, and is completely unaugmented. He has a Force 2 Power Focus bound to him, which he wears around his neck. He's in fairly strong health, and his emotional state is fearful, and worried. She notices he has an astral signature on him from a health spell that has been fading for a few hours, and sees it is his own. She also sees an astral signature from a high force manipulation spell, also having had several hours to start fading away. This astral signature she recognizes as her own.

She then turns her astral vision to her surroundings, the dim illumination of the gaiasphere allowing her to see much further than the others in this complete darkness. They're in a heavily mountainous area, with a large hill ahead of them leading up towards a plateau that she gathers is where the road is, before another cliff rises on the other side and the mountain continues upward far above them. A light snow is falling, and the wind is blowing the small astral shadows through her vision, limiting her somewhat on how far she can see. There are a large number of trees in their immediate area, which adds to the illumination on the astral, but makes it difficult to see anything between the auras. She does spot the aura of a few smaller trees laying in the path the van had taken down the hill, their auras slowly dimming from having been uprooted. Turning around, she sees the blackness of empty sky. She has to look down slightly to see the earth again, and sees just how precipitously the van is balanced on the edge of a slight cliff. The fall looks to be at least two or three meters, and the hill blow it slopes dramatically down even further. It's difficult for her to tell where the van would stop if it ended up falling, but it would slide a long way.

She thinks about her spellcasting abilities while absently sending mental commands to her comm to find out information about herself. She remembers she knows the Detect Enemies, Extended spell, as well as the Combat Sense preparation.

The Masked Woman finds two SINs.


>> Ivana Kutchukokoph
>> Aztechnology Corporate Limited SIN
>> Age: 18
>> Sex: Female
>> Metatype: Elf
>> Race: Japanese
>>> Registered Awakened (Claims you are an awakened turnip.)
>>> Concealed Carry License (Specifies 'sharp things' as what you are licensed to carry.)
>>> Anonymity License (Apparently a license to not have to broadcast a SIN. Weird.)
>>> A License to Kill (This is totally fake.)


There are no further records attached to the SIN, no supporting data or history, not even any biometrics. You're pretty damn positive this SIN is fake, and not a very good fake. You check the other one.


>> Ileana Anghelescu
>> Saeder-Krupp Limited SIN
>> Age: 23
>> Sex: Female
>> Metatype: Human
>> Race: Caucasian
>>> Registered Awakened (You are listed as a Spellcaster and Enchanter)
>>> Talismonger License (An international license permitting you to operate as a Talismonger)
>>> Weapon Focus License (Specifies your claymore)
>>> Enchanting Focus License (Specifies your mask)


You scroll through all the supporting data and history attached to the SIN, as well as seeing a full array of biometrics. If this is a fake SIN, it's a very good one. You find your own home address, which is in Aspen.

Your contact list only has a single name: Daria. The profile image you have for her is a Wiccan pentagram. Her address is listed in Denver.

There are a number of photos on your commlink, of the landscape in the mountains. Pictures of forests, of natural formations, of various plants and mountain ares. You have an awful lot of pictures of the mountains. The time codes suggest these were taken a few weeks ago, although GPS tagging appears to be disabled on your comm. You only find one picture of an actual person, which you recognize instantly as a photo of The Human. It looks like a picture from an ID badge, as its simply a picture of his face staring passively straight ahead with a plain blue background behind him. You notice this image came from a text attachment.


>>Retrieving Message Log. . .

>> FROM: Daria
>> TO: Ileana
>> SENT: January 3rd, 10:13AM
>> I've attached a picture of the man you'll be looking for. All I know is he's somewhere in Aspen, but you are a resourceful one. I'm sure you'll find him, and find a way to make him cooperate. Take care, sister.
>>> Attachment: AI_J.png


You check your bank account: you have 915 nuyen to your name.

You begin trudging your way through the snow, up hill towards the road. The snow halves your movement rate, but your 3 hits on running add 6 meters to your total distance per combat turn. You have 150 meters to go, and have Agility 6, so you are traveling at 12 meters per combat turn, 18 while sprinting.

You manage to trudge all the way to the top of the hill in less than a minute. You manage to find where the van went off the road, going straight forward into a corner and plowing through the snowbank and the railing before tumbling down the hill.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ravensoracle on <08-23-14/1831:07>
First things first, the Crumpled Man loads the clip into cyber arm. Once that was done he felt a little more comfortable around everyone else waving guns. If he had one implanted it was obvious he knew how to use it to some decent degree. Why else would he have it installed. The deck and the gear intrigued him but it would have to wait. He grabbed the medkit and slung it over a shoulder then proceeded to chuck the two remaining duffel bags out of the backdoor of the van.

I'll get this stuff out. and get out of the way. Anyone needing medical attention needs to follow me to shelter. I'll let those stronger than I am to grab the crate.

He then pulls out the flashlight, steps out and begins to survey the surroundings outside the van. He sends a mental command to the cyberdeck to bring up the last hour of messages and any footage his eyes may have recorded over the last day. He sets aside to review once he has finished dealing with the injured. If No one speaks up about needing help he starts rummaging through the duffels for his gear.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ren on <08-23-14/2113:21>
Having equipped himself, and now protected from the environment extremes, the Human took a final look around in the van, trying to ascertain if something he saw still belonged to him. He grebbed whatever he had a clear memory of owning, then got out in the snow. >>I'll provide backup to the Masked Woman beside the road. We shouldn't split up too much, i think. Call if you need me down here.<< Without further ado, he tried to follow the Masked Woman, matching her speed. Once up at the road, he looked for a suitable place to hide and initiate an ambush from.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <08-23-14/2128:41>
Having equipped himself, and now protected from the environment extremes, the Human took a final look around in the van, trying to ascertain if something he saw still belonged to him. He grebbed whatever he had a clear memory of owning, then got out in the snow. >>I'll provide backup to the Masked Woman beside the road. We shouldn't split up too much, i think. Call if you need me down here.<< Without further ado, he tried to follow the Masked Woman, matching her speed. Once up at the road, he looked for a suitable place to hide and initiate an ambush from.

All of your gear was in the bag or on your person, so now that you have it, you head out into the snow. You find yourself easily able to keep pace with the Masked Woman. In fact, you have to slow down a bit. [You have Agility 6(9)]

It's pitch black, and the only sources of light are the magnesium torch the Elf is using at the bottom of the hill, and the heat your Thermographic vision can see coming off the Masked Woman, though her insulated clothes keep that fairly dim. You decide to duck down behind the snowdrift to use as an ambush position, just as a new source of illumination appears in the distance: Headlights, winding around the mountain road.

Agility 5(9) + Sneaking 3 (http://orokos.com/roll/216219): 12d6t5 5

You find you're quite adept at stealth, almost reflexively pressing down low and close to the snow drift, using the coloration of your clothes to blend in.

You have the Stealth skill group at 3.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <08-23-14/2148:50>
First things first, the Crumpled Man loads the clip into cyber arm. Once that was done he felt a little more comfortable around everyone else waving guns. If he had one implanted it was obvious he knew how to use it to some decent degree. Why else would he have it installed. The deck and the gear intrigued him but it would have to wait. He grabbed the medkit and slung it over a shoulder then proceeded to chuck the two remaining duffel bags out of the backdoor of the van.

I'll get this stuff out. and get out of the way. Anyone needing medical attention needs to follow me to shelter. I'll let those stronger than I am to grab the crate.

He then pulls out the flashlight, steps out and begins to survey the surroundings outside the van. He sends a mental command to the cyberdeck to bring up the last hour of messages and any footage his eyes may have recorded over the last day. He sets aside to review once he has finished dealing with the injured. If No one speaks up about needing help he starts rummaging through the duffels for his gear.


You send a mental command to the cyberdeck to bring up your message history, but get no results. Confused by this, you start sending more commands, trying to get to the bottom of this real quick. You find that the cyberdeck was recently formatted, and had a complete software overhaul. It also looks like the Owner was recently changed. Checking the earliest timestamps of the first boot, you see that you apparently only acquired this cyberdeck 6 hours ago.

Upon unzipping the duffel bag in front of you, you think you find an explanation for this. You see the shattered and destroyed remains of an implantable cyberdeck; looks like a Renraku Tsurugi with several bullet holes in it. You aren't sure if any data can be salvaged off it.

Checking your cybereyes, they don't look like they use internal memory. Recordings are made to an external device. You imagine that's the deck. You find one video on the deck from 5 hours ago, and set it aside to play it later.

You also find two tool kits. (Cybertechnology Kit and a Hardware Kit)

The other duffel appears to have a bunch of gun parts, explosives, and tools for working on both. (HK XM30 spare parts, Demolitions Kit, Armorer Kit, various explosives.)
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: martinchaen on <08-24-14/0055:48>
The Elf ventures out into the snow, the boots of her coldsuit sinking into the drift past her ankle as she strikes a Magnesium Torch she found in the duffel bag. Now having illumination, she looks out into the darkness for a warm place to situate herself, and trudges through the snow towards the nearby tree line. She puts her back against the trunk of the tree in the opposite direction the wind is blowing, and uses the Survival Kit in her duffel to try and make herself a warm place to huddle.

Using the thermal blanket in the kit to shield herself, she manages to get pretty cozy before dropping into VR. Her icon is surrounded by static, the inherent noise from being so far from anywhere worth being drowning out much of the matrix topography. She reaches out and finds the grid she has access to and connects to it, replacing the virtual world with a blank black sky filled with icons meant to approximate stars, while the ground beneath her feet rises and falls, like she were a giant standing among the Colorado mountains. The elf spots her target, the small car icon of the Rover 2072, and manifests her matrix protocols to crack into its system.

She reaches out and sends streams of data into the icon, discreetly placing a mark on it and granting her basic access. But she's unsatisfied with that and digs deeper, placing a second mark, then a third. In the process she looks for protected files and data bombs, but finds neither.

I'm still acting mostly on instinct, partly because I barely even know what the hell I'm capable of, but mostly because I desperately don't want to die out here. This vehicle could be my salvation so I intend to stop it no matter what, without showing anyone even a hint of my fraggin' legs, thank you very much!

My MARKs are equally as surprising as my Persona; who the frag picks cherry blossoms for their symbols!? The drek kind of a girly girl am I? OK, I have to admit that the level of detail in each tiny little petal is impeccable. Either I spent an inordinate amount of time on this, or I'm rich. Somehow I'm guessing I'm not rich...

With full access to the vehicle's subsystems, I decide it's time to inform the others of my plan. "All right folks; showt... Sorry... Listen up, red team!" I grin to myself at the sound of my own synthesized voice barking out the words in imitation of the jumpy rifleman. "Happy now, Mr. Troll?" I chuckle softly before continuing. "Anyway, here's how this is going to work. I'm going to stop the approaching car right up that hill. When I have it at a complete stop, I'm going to turn on all the interior lights and open the doors; all the rest of you need to do is take out anyone who might be inside. Fish in a frakkin' barrel, wiz? Good. Wait for my count, chummers, and stay frosty. Heh... Get it?"

With the channel open I begin prepping for my attack by plugging a virtual headset into the car node; if anyone tries to communicate with this thing, I want to know. I then draw what I can only think of as a claymore mine out from the darkness surrounding me and attach it to the vehicle's remote control protocols. That's right, suckers; you try to override me I'm going to blast you... uuh... into space? All right, so maybe I need to work on my metaphors. The listener and surprise is in place, that'll do for now; all that's left is to wait.



The vehicle is fast approaching the location on the downloaded map I chose, and I begin springing my trap. "On my three-count, everyone...."

>> Issue Command
>> Pilot: Stop vehicle at this location.

As the vehicle begins to slow, a painfully dull generic icon appears and issues a counter-command. Before it can reach the pilot program, however, I slash through the data burst with a few expertly timed swings of a katana that has mysteriously appeared in my hand.

With no time to waste I launch into space, flying headfirst towards the featureless man wearing a boring suit that sent the command. I don't think he's spotted me yet, and with a deft hand I slap a few cherry blossoms onto his face as I fly past him, right where his eyes should be. I have enough time to admire my handiwork as I effortlessly cut apart another burst of data from him. I feel confident that this guy is still trying to wrestle back control of his vehicle and has no idea what's about to hit him, so I go back to put a nose on him only to recoil in shocked silence when he backhands me right across the face instead. The impression of his palm has left a rather ironic MARK on my face, and I feel it glow red as the force of it sends me flying away from him. In the grim darkness of this deserted little corner of the Matrix I realize I may very well have over-estimated myself.

All right, big guy, you want to play rough? The blade in my left hand morphs into a launcher, and I smile as I squeeze the trigger. The pixelized missile lights up the world around me as it speeds towards my target, and with increasingly angry beeps tries to lock onto the suit until it's got a solid tone. In a brilliant explosion of data I see the icon flicker and then disappear. I just can't help myself and yell into the void. "HAH! SUCK! IT! LOSER!"

I watch from my vantage point as the vehicle pulls to a halt, and begin the count. "3. 2."

>> Issue Command
>> Pilot: Power off engine. Set Interior lights to 100% for 1 second, then dim to 50%. Finally, open all exterior doors and lock in position.

I finish up the count as the Pilot begins executing it's new orders. "1. Go." Bringing up the vehicle sensors, I run a quick inventory of visual feeds and bring them up in my view.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <08-24-14/0114:15>
>> Issue Command
>> Pilot: Power off engine. Set Interior lights to 100% for 1 second, then dim to 50%. Finally, open all exterior doors and lock in position.

I finish up the count as the Pilot begins executing it's new orders. "1. Go." Bringing up the vehicle sensors, I run a quick inventory of visual feeds and bring them up in my view.

As the Masked Woman and The Human watch, the car pulls up near their position and comes to a sudden stop, headlights pointed directly at them. The Masked Woman decides ahead of time that taking cover for this ambush would also be a good idea.

Agility 6 + Sneaking 3 (http://orokos.com/roll/216250): 9d6t5 6 (hit physical limit of 6)

She becomes like a ghost, hiding in the snow. The Elf doesn't see the Human or The Masked Woman on the sensors, and flips channels to internal cameras, seeing four men trying to take cover in the back of the van. Three of them have shotguns pointed towards the doors, while the fourth is loading his hunting rifle. They suddenly freak out as the lights come on and all the doors open. She also sees there's some kind of large animal prone on the floor of the van, restrained in some kind of net.

Initiative Rolls:

The Elf (VR): Matrix Initiative 10 +4d6 (http://orokos.com/roll/216257): 10+4d6 24
Masked Woman: Initiative 9 + 2d6 (http://orokos.com/roll/216252): 2d6+9 20
The Human: Initiative 7 +2d6 (http://orokos.com/roll/216255): 2d6+7 17
The Crumpled Man (AR): Initiative 7 +1d6 (http://orokos.com/roll/216261): 1d6+7 13
Men: 7

The rest of you are at least 150 meters away, and so would take a good 10 Combat Turns to get involved. I imagine this will be concluded before then.

The Masked Woman has Reaction 3. The Human has Reaction 3(4). The Masked Woman and The Human win Attribute Bingo.
The Masked Woman has Stealth Group at 3.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <08-24-14/0125:28>
The troll remains crouched inside the van staring at the giant heavy crate and trying to figure out how to reach it without going over with it. Finally, he has an idea. He shouts out into the snowy darkness outside, "Someone throw me a rope! HURRY!"


Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: martinchaen on <08-24-14/0135:03>
As soon as I see the men inside the vehicle through the sensors I notify my partners. Once again I don't feel agitated or on edge; maybe that's because I'm well out of danger.

>> Send Message, All
>> Heads up; four men with shotguns, one caged beast.

Cursing to myself for not checking the interior first, I begin looking for any electronics I must have missed; weapons, visual sensors, flashlights and similar utility items. A thought strikes me. Grenades...
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <08-24-14/0156:41>
The Masked Woman makes it up the hill much faster than she expected. Maybe she really does live in Aspen, if this SIN is to be believed. The elevation doesn't seem to be having any negative effects. Maybe she's used to it.

She takes a cue from the Human, throwing herself in the snow and blanketing herself with her black lined coat. She's practically invisible in the inky darkness. She glances over at the Human, wondering what weapon he'll choose. She can't see what he's packing due to his concealed holsters. Maybe something non-lethal, she thinks to herself. I don't want to ride in a blood-soaked Rover.

The update on the Rover's passengers catches her by surprise. So much for the theory that it would just be Daddy Warbucks on his way to Aspen for a ski weekend. The Rover itself surprises her again. She was expecting something else. There's no way she's going to be able to run up the hood of this rig to rain down pain via the sunroof.

The Rover comes to a stop and she finds herself staring into headlights. Thermographically, the men are hard to distinguish from the Rover. Astrally, the windshield is blocking her view. The Claymore is impractical in an enclosed space so it looks like it's going to be throwing knives unless she can come up with a money stunball from the dark recesses of her memory.

<<Kill the headlights!>> she mentally comms via her trodes, getting into a crouch to spring forward, wondering if it would have been too much to ask to have the van come to a stop slightly past them so that she could have an open shot on the hatch door in the back.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Novocrane on <08-24-14/0359:47>
"Someone throw me a rope! HURRY!"

Ork chuckles at the comment; a subdued baritone that might come across as a growl if he weren't so clearly amused.

"You know who always has some rope? Alpha frakkin Chino in the Instant Death trids ... always has rope; always finds a use for it. This ain't ina movie, neh? I'll open the crate, and you keep the van steady."

Next time this happens, the Rover is going to have a rear tow cable, I swear.

[cue rope]
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ravensoracle on <08-24-14/1334:16>
"Hey, Alpha frakkin' Chino. Here's your frakkin' rope. I gotta a fight to join.

The Crumpled Man is obviously not happy about missing out on the action up the mountain. He grabs the rope out of the duffel and tosses it toward the Troll. He then decides the Orc and Troll can handle the drek in the van and it's time to join the fight.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <08-24-14/1353:33>
Holding one end of the rope, Uncle Sam tosses the other end over the crate to the ork up front. "Tie this on, chummer! Quick! Once it's good, start pushing and I'll start pulling!
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Novocrane on <08-25-14/0239:09>
"Hey, Alpha frakkin' Chino. Here's your frakkin' rope. I gotta a fight to join.
Fragging ... not that any of you breeders were going to help here.

"Tie this on, chummer! Quick! Once it's good, start pushing and I'll start pulling!

One hand up to his head as though trying to recall something, Chino looks deadpan at Sam for a moment.

"Did you say that last night, too? Lets get this sorted ..."

Without any particular concept of knot tying planned, he ties it 'round in what feels like the most efficient method possible, before testing the rope & preparing for the worst.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <08-25-14/0323:24>
One hand up to his head as though trying to recall something, Chino looks deadpan at Sam for a moment.

"Did you say that last night, too? Lets get this sorted ..."

For the first time since he woke up swinging upside down in a van full of criminals, the troll who may or may not be named Frank allows himself a smile. He takes a tiny pause before the real work begins and responds to the ork up front with, "To your mother."

Then, it's on to the good old muscle power. Say what you want for magic and technology, but there's always going to be some things a giant musclebound chunk of meat and bone can do that nothing else can. As he and the funny ork throw everything they've got into the crate, he manages to grunt out, "If she starts falling, just hold on to her and I'll pull you both up."

It was then that he felt something tugging at the back of his mind. RED TEAM! Grunting into his subvocal mic, he asks, "Status, red team."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ren on <08-25-14/0545:12>
Frag it, I’m on the bad side of the hole in the railing. If I move now, they will surely see me. The Masked Woman already told the Elf to kill the lights, so the Human just waited for that to happen, or for someone to exit the van, poised to move at the same instant.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <08-25-14/1132:02>
Silence reigns for a few seconds as the men in the van point their guns and wait. One of the four gets brave, peeking his head out the sliding door to try and see their unknown attacker.

[Intuition 3 + Perception 4 + Specifically looking 3 (http://orokos.com/roll/216537): 10d6t5 3

He sees neither of The Human nor the Masked Woman hiding nearby, his eyes instead focused down hill on the glowing orb of light from the magnesium torch the Elf had lit that was still burning. He raises his hunting rifle to his eye, pointed down hill.

Your Delayed Actions are free to trigger.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ren on <08-25-14/1422:56>
Not today, chummer, the Human thought as the man's head appeared, seemingly oblivious of him. With a swift move, he took his taser from the ankle holster, aimed for the head, then pulled the trigger once. For a fraction of a second, a thought shot through his head. Would this be as easy with the other hand?
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <08-25-14/1452:39>
The Hunter brings his scope up to his eye, taking careful aim down hill towards The Elf, finger on the trigger and ready to fire. Suddenly, a pair of taser darts lance out of the darkness and strike him in the temple. He convulses wildly from the electrical current, firing his rifle from a finger spasm. The bullet goes wide and hits a tree several meters to The Elf's right. The hunter collapses out of the van into the street, incapacitated by the attack.

The Masked Woman and the Human hear screams from inside, and one of the hunters stumbles out the back and fires his shotgun wildly, doing little more than making a lot of noise.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <08-25-14/1604:48>
The Masked Woman waits for as long as she can. Once the tasing starts, she springs over the snowbank along the side of the road and advances toward the van's open door. Her gloved fingers slip throwing knives out of concealed pockets on her lined coat. Internally she debates over the merits of leaving the men alive or not. There's not enough room in the van for the team plus any survivors, so any of these chummers that survive what's about to happen are probably getting left outside for the night. Perhaps the knife is merciful. In any event, she doesn't have the time to spin the blade in her hand to throw it hilt-first.

In a few quick steps she is out of the vehicle's headlights. She spots a man fruitlessly looking out into the darkness. Her arm lashes out, sinking a knife deep into his chest. She knows it's a nasty wound, one he won't survive without medical attention. She drops into the cover against the side of the van, feeling the weight of the throwing knives in her hands.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <08-25-14/1631:26>
The hunter catches a knife to the chest and falls backwards into the van, dropping his gun and landing on the restrained animal. It reacts angrily, bucking and thrashing in its net.

The remaining hunter loses his cool, taking his shotgun and shooting the animal in the head. It immediately stops thrashing as he chambers his next round.

Second Pass:

Elf: 14 (VR)
Masked Woman: 10
Human: 7
Crumpled Man: 3
Enemies: -3 (No pass)

Thanks Ryo. Also, GREAT job on the ASCII art! :)

My actions for the next Action Phase will look like this, then:
CT1, AP2, IS 14
Free Action: Control Device [5] (http://orokos.com/roll/216323) Turn off headlights
13d6t5: 6 [13d6t5=4, 4, 5, 5, 3, 3, 5, 6, 2, 1, 5, 3, 6]

Complex Action: Hack on the Fly [6] (http://orokos.com/roll/216329): Firewall 4 Commlink
13d6t5: 5 [13d6t5=1, 1, 4, 4, 6, 2, 5, 5, 3, 6, 5, 3, 4]

The headlights go out, leaving only the internal lights in the van for illumination. On the Matrix, the Elf reaches out and discreetly places a mark on one of the commlinks she saw in the rover, unhindered by its defenses.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <08-25-14/1750:49>
The Masked Woman hears the shotgun blast inside the van and gives a shudder to the mess that's going to be on the floor. She sighs, her hopes for a clean vehicle dashed. What the hell are these guys doing with a live animal in a net in a luxury vehicle in February? Probably smugglers, or poachers.

Spinning out from cover, she whips her arm through the door into the van, slinging an ornately carved throwing knife into the man. It's a good throw, the best that she can remember. A low threshold, since she can only remember two, but an encouraging trend of improvement.

She trusts that the Human can take care of the other man firing wildly behind the vehicle. The weekend warriors don't seem to pose much of a threat, other than to the interior decor of the Rover.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <08-25-14/1758:20>
This hunter, having already seen two of his buddies taken out, was ready for anything as the Masked Woman peered out of cover and threw her knife. He dodged to the side, taking the knife in the shoulder with a grunt.

"Fuck! Who the fuck are you?!" He screams, holding his wounded shoulder.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ren on <08-25-14/1835:21>
The Human grinned - or rather snarled - as he saw one of the men stumble out, firing wildly. As the headlights were killed, thermo in his eyes kicked in to compensate for the lack of lighting. He dashed out of his hiding place in a low crouch, and crossed the intervening 10 meters as if it were nothing, trying to hide the sound of his approaching steps in the commotion. When he reached the guy with the shotgun, he dropped the taser and his right hand crackled with energy, as he swinged it towards him.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <08-25-14/1909:30>
The wild eyed hunter continued to scream, firing wildly into the night with his shotgun.

"COME ON!" BLAM! "COME GET ME!" BLAM! "Who the fuck do you think you are, huh?!" BLAM! "I'll kill all you bastards!" BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! click, click.

He looked down at his weapon in confusion, completely failing to notice the shadow creeping up behind him at a decent clip, hand crackling with electricity. He didn't even get a chance to turn around before the palm connected and thousands of volts poured into his system. He convulsed wildly, collapsing to the ground in a fit of spasms, completely out cold.

The Elf, oblivious to her new found allies wiping out the men in the van, decides to strike out with her matrix blade at one of their comms, slicing the icon to ribbons as it de-rezzed and disappeared from the matrix.

"I...I give up! You can have our shit, take the money, take the car, just don't kill us!" The remaining hunter expresses in terror after his last standing friend went down. He starts emptying his pockets of valuables, ignoring the pain in his arm.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <08-25-14/2039:09>
The Masked Woman
<<This is Red Team. Package secure. Four survivors: two conscious, two unconscious. Van's a bit of a mess.>>

After a thought, she adds, <<Let's make sure none of them have DocWagon accounts.>>

She ignores the panicked man while she examines the interior of the van, looking at the remains of the animal and to see if the shotgun blast damaged anything important. The heavy smell of blood and gunpowder makes her head swim for a moment.

She looks over his shoulder to the Human, who is busy electrocuting somebody in the background. She yanks her throwing knife out of the man knocked down on the animal, semi-aware that this is not to his benefit.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <08-25-14/2053:56>
The Masked Woman
<<This is Red Team. Package secure. Four survivors: two conscious, two unconscious. Van's a bit of a mess.>>

After a thought, she adds, <<Let's make sure none of them have DocWagon accounts.>>

Even through the cold and even through the tension and pain in his muscles, Uncle Sam was still pleased at the message, managing to grunt out a reply of "Acknowledged." Then, turning his attention back to the Ork working his ass off on the other side of the crate, he grunts "Elf and Mask got us a ride! Just a few... more... HEAVES!" as they both throw every ounce of strength they have left into grinding the massive crate across the ceiling.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <08-25-14/2054:25>
He yelps in pain as you remove the knife, reaching for a medkit under the passenger seat.

"Take it easy, lady! We're cooperating!" The other hunter remarks, pulling the knife out of his arm gently and laying it down slowly before exiting the vehicle with his hands up.

The animal is massive, looking like some kind of paranormal bear, with ram-like horns on its head and easily 4 meters in length. It fills the entire back of the van, which has had the back seats removed to accommodate it. It's bound in a massive, metal net, with its paws restrained in manacles and a muzzle on its face. However, its head has been reduced to unsightly gore from a close ranged shotgun blast. The resulting mess is currently seeping into the carpeting and dripping out the open rear hatch.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ravensoracle on <08-25-14/2102:23>
The Crumpled Man shares the info he finds from the Van's GPS.

<<They are poachers from the look of things. What are we gonna do with them?

He's still laying flat over the duffels for the moment. He figures while he is VR he'll start digging through his own deck. He also checks the datachip and credsticks in his pocket.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <08-25-14/2113:34>
"Elf and Mask got us a ride! Just a few... more... HEAVES!" as they both throw every ounce of strength they have left into grinding the massive crate across the ceiling.

Uncle Sam: Body 10 + Strength 8 (http://orokos.com/roll/216652): 18d6t5 7
Ork: Body 5 + Strength 5(9) (http://orokos.com/roll/216653): 14d6t5 3

Total Weight capacity: (8*15)+(9*15)+(10*15) = 405 kg

You heave, and the crate obliges, sliding forward and towards the back of the van. Uncle Sam takes a reflexive step back as the tension in the rope gives, stepping out of the van in the process. Instantly, the van tips and goes over the edge.

The Ork:Reaction 5(6) + Agility 4 (http://orokos.com/roll/216659): 10d6t5 5

The Ork reacts quickly, grabbing hold of the crate and snaking his body around the seats as the full weight of crate and Ork tugs at Uncle Sam. The troll stands his ground, though, and as the van descends away below him, the Ork finds himself and the crate swinging towards the cliff side. He impacts it feet first, and reflexively channels his magic into his feet. He clings to the side, supporting the weight of the crate.

The Ork remembers he has the Improved Reflexes and Hang Time adept powers, both at rating 1.

The Ork pushes and Uncle Sam pulls, and before long, he and the crate are back on flat ground.

The Ork remembers he has the Wall Running adept power.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <08-25-14/2120:12>
The Masked Woman stares at the animal with a mix of fascination and horror. Looking at it, she sees beautiful, beautiful regents, but her heart knows that she doesn't have the hour it would take to dig through its internal organs looking for the best magical bits. Maybe I can just chop off the horns and save them for later? No, no. There's more pressing business at hand. Namely, the fact that they're on a mountain highway in the middle of a snowstorm with a very large, very dead animal exsanguinating itself into their ride. Oh, and someone presumably wants them dead, but nobody can remember who or why.

<<Do we have that crate yet?>> she comms. <<Do we have a plan for getting it up the hill? Check to if Brother Dwarf can conjure a spirit of the mountain to help us. That's a big hill and the snow doesn't help.>>

She makes eye contact with the Human, also wondering if anyone has any bright ideas what to do with these guys. If more of them were upright she'd make them drag the beast out of the van. As it is, they'll probably have to wait for the Ork and the Troll unless the Human's cyberarm is awesome. In the meantime, the beast is still bleeding.

She wonders how busy this road is at midnight, and how many cars might pass in the time it takes to get everyone up the hill with the crate. Nothing suspicious about this. Nothing to see here, move along, move along.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <08-25-14/2128:44>
Dripping with rapidly cooling sweat underneath his insulated jacket, Sam finally lets the line go slack and lets go. Triumphant, he slouches over with his massive hands resting on his knees, breathing heavily. Looking up at the Ork on the other side of the crate, he says with a giant tusky grin, "Nice work, Omae. Nice work." He allows himself another few moments to catch his breath before motioning over his shoulder with one hand, toward the rover up the hill. Now, we just gotta haul this motherfucker the hundred or so meters up this hill in the snow. No sweat, right?"
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: martinchaen on <08-26-14/0001:58>
I smile to myself as I confirm my findings; no outbound comms, job well done. The cold blast of air hitting my face jolts me wide awake as I slip out of the sweet embrace of VR. I instantly wish my damned teeth would stop chattering.

I spend a minute gathering up my things while rebooting. Good think I checked, too; all that business had the local demi-GOD on my tail like a skiptrace after a hard target. Wait... The frak is a skiptrace?

The troll and the ork look like they've gotten that box out of the car, at the expense of sending the van over the cliff. Oh well, not like it was much use anyway.

"Hey! Get that thing up on the road ASAP, ladies; we're Oscar Mike yesterday". I smile sweetly as the troll just stares at me for a brief moment, getting more than just a little satisfaction from drawing a rise out of him. I'm under no illusion that they'll make it up the hill faster than I can, so I take my time and run through my digital devices on the way.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <08-26-14/0014:26>
<<Do we have that crate yet?>> she comms. <<Do we have a plan for getting it up the hill? Check to if Brother Dwarf can conjure a spirit of the mountain to help us. That's a big hill and the snow doesn't help.>>

"Affirmative. The box is ours. The plan is to get it up there the same way we got it out of the van."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ravensoracle on <08-26-14/0030:37>
The Crumpled Man exits VR and returns his attention to the meat. He leaves up an AR screen to keep scanning his own gear for SINs or anything he can use to determine who he is. He then grabs the duffels and heads up the mountain to the van. Huffing and puffing his way up.

<<< So what is the plan at this point? Do we leave these poachers alive or dead?How are we going to get the crate up here? Once I drag these duffels to the new van I am going to go under for a while to help out with over watch and to dig through all our files to find out the past. Who do we want in charge to organize this fragin cluster?  Crumpled Out>>>>

Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Novocrane on <08-26-14/0127:19>
Standing in the rut of the van's slow slide over the edge, Ork takes a moment to breathe freely, look around, check his jumpsuit pockets, and realise he just fell off a cliff and walked back up. Even turning into a sweat-slushy popsicle in the middle of nowhere would be that little bit sweeter for having not landed at the bottom. Seeing as he was doing better than that, things were looking up.

"Yup. Didn't do so bad yourself. I might even hang onto the rope - when we're done moving crates and patting each other on the back."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <08-26-14/0354:01>
The Masked Woman grabs the hunting rifle and the shotguns and makes sure they are out of reach of the men. She lingers for a moment on each gun to consider them, wondering if they'll jog any memories for her. She's guessing not, given her proclivities for blades, but she's curious enough to check.

<<So far as these guys know it's just the two of us up here and this is a carjacking. If we leave these guys outside they are going freeze to death, but it's going to be a stretch fitting seven metas and a crate in this rig as it is. Taking them along isn't an option. They can have it quick or they can have it slow. Either way, we don't want them around when the rest of you come up. I'm going to take these two slots for a walk to discuss what they did and did not see, and to talk about their life decisions leading to and from this point.>>

She grabs the man with the chest wound and yanks him out of the van. She grabs the medkit he was using and pushes it at him, then spins him around and starts him walking toward Denver. She does the same to the man with the shoulder wound, shoving him ahead of her with a throwing knife in her hand. As she passes the Human, she does a one-handed clap to ask for his taser.

@Human: <<Loan me your taser for a tick, ace. Keep an eye on the van and those two, if you would please. I'll be back in a few minutes.>>

She marches the men forward, handling them roughly. She pulls the man with a chest wound up when he falls to a knee.

@Team: <<We've got an extra load in the back of the van at the moment. Bigger than a troll. Not sure how these gonks got it in here in the first place but here it is. Anybody a confident driver? Maybe if you go in reverse real fast and then hit the brakes it will fly out the back like some sort of paranormal missile.>> 

She smiles to herself. Taking the men around the bend in the road, she thinks about her claymore. It would be so easy. Just right there. Done. It's cold out; they're numb already. No pain. Shh, shh. It's over.

<<We were on our way to Aspen when we went off the road. Let's continue that direction. Would someone please pull the van off to the side of the road so that it doesn't get destroyed by some autodrone ripping through these curves blind at 80 klicks an hour? Maybe turn the lights and the hazards back on.>>
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ren on <08-26-14/0545:00>
The Human took his taser from the snow and was about to start things when he heard the request from the Masked Woman and replied. @ Masked Woman: >>I’d rather you didn’t deplete my limited ammo so I’ll do it with the shock hands. Anyway, if you taser them they are as good as dead in this temperature, so why not just snap their necks and send them over the edge? But first, a few questions.<< He deactivated the shock hand and grabbed the poacher with the lighter wound and the obviously calmer attitude. ”OK, omae, I’m asking questions and you give me answers, grep? If you don’t, let’s just say tasers ain’t gonna be your biggest problem.” He waited for a second to let it sink in then went on, leaving just enough time for the poacher to answer but not enough to think answers through. ”Where were you supposed to take that thing and to whom? Was there any schedule for when you should arrive? Do you have a hideout or a place where you store your hunting stuff? Where is it? Give me the access codes.”

While quizzing the man, he realized something and shared it with the rest of the team immediately. @Team: >>Ace here. Poachers didn’t see only the two of us up at the road. The one with the rifle saw the Elf in his crosshairs before I shot him, possibly the others as well. The light down there is unmistakable. Unfortunate as it is, I say they should go over the edge. Anyway, we’ll be done here shortly and I will help getting the crate up after that.<< He realized belatedly that he used the reference the Masked Woman used as his name but shrugged after a second. That will do until I know more.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: martinchaen on <08-26-14/0829:07>
The scene inside the vehicle is certainly a grisly one, but I feel strangely OK with it. Must be used to seeing blood, I guess. The Masked Woman asks about their fate, and I snort derisively over comms.

"Who cares if they see us; no way we're leaving them alive on the off chance they find a vehicle of their own. They're witnesses; I say we send them and whatever that creature is flying off the cliff after our vehicle... Oh, and get one of them to hand over ownership of the car, or to invite MARKs on it to everybody at least." OK, so that sounded rather cold, but I am cold. Figuratively, and literally, it seems. Bringing up my AR view of the matrix around us, I take a closer look for other approaching vehicles. Speaking of creature, I wonder what the hell that thing is...

Trudging through the snow is moderately tough going, especially carrying the survival kit, but I try to divert my attention enough to look through my electronic devices for any clues as to who I might be. Maybe the targeting system of the pistol will give me an indication of how good of a shot I am, or have my personal ID attached to it. Maybe the flashlight has an inscription. I've got to have at least a fake SIN if not a real one somewhere. Eventually, I make it up the hill and I breathe freely once more; taking a moment to regain my breath and to hope that my nose stops hurting from the cold air, I grab a picture of the monstrosity that's in the back of the van and begin a Matrix Search for critters matching it's description. I then start gathering headshots of the others, as well as one of myself, so I can do some digital recon on the way to Aspen.

"Anyone have a clue where in Aspen we're going? Also, shotgun!" The memory of clamoring over some other kids to get to sit up front hits me out of nowhere. The hell... I brush it off as I walk around to the passenger side and get in; can't afford to get sentimental out here in the cold. "Oh, and "not it!" when it comes to dealing with the mess in the car; I stopped it, the troll and the ork are dealing with the crate thingy, someone else gets to clean it out. I'll be here doing some recon and keeping a lookout."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <08-26-14/1254:25>
The Masked Woman looks back at the van, debating whether it matters that it is unattended. How long until the rest of the team makes it up the hill? How long will those goons stay unconscious?

<<The creature is a Horned Bear. Very intelligent, and rare. A true shame.>>

To express her displeasure, she grabs the man with the chest wound from behind, one hand over his mouth while the other hand presses down on the gash. She lets Ace and the other man walk ten meters ahead, hoping the man's muffled cries will encourage the man with the shoulder wound to talk.

<<Speaking of intelligence, have we looked to see what's in the crate yet? We're going to feel awfully thick if it turns out to be a drone or something that can pilot itself up the hill.>>
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <08-26-14/1332:31>
”OK, omae, I’m asking questions and you give me answers, grep? If you don’t, let’s just say tasers ain’t gonna be your biggest problem.” He waited for a second to let it sink in then went on, leaving just enough time for the poacher to answer but not enough to think answers through.

"Ye...yeah man, I get it. No problem." He's almost whimpering.

”Where were you supposed to take that thing and to whom?"

"We were headed to Aspen. Reggie knew a guy that was lookin' for a horned bear, said he'd pay big money for it alive. I didn't know his name, just some collector in Aspen."

To express her displeasure, she grabs the man with the chest wound from behind, one hand over his mouth while the other hand presses down on the gash. She lets Ace and the other man walk ten meters ahead, hoping the man's muffled cries will encourage the man with the shoulder wound to talk.

The man starts screaming in absolute agony, tears streaming down his face with his eyes open wide, his voice muffled by the masked woman's hand, but only barely.

"Was there any schedule for when you should arrive?"

"We were gonna deliver it tonight, soon as we got back into town. Reggie's guy was expecting us." He starts looking nervous. He glances over towards the masked woman, able to overhear his friend screaming.

"Do you have a hideout or a place where you store your hunting stuff? Where is it? Give me the access codes.”

"We're just a bunch of guys from Denver, man. We went out hunting for grizzly and Reggie had this crazy idea and..." He starts to break down, trying to hold back tears in his eyes.

"I don't wanna die..." He practically sobs.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <08-26-14/1430:01>
@The Elf

The van moves at the Elf's command after a quick reboot, pulling over to the side of the road and turning on the headlights and hazard lights. There's no sign of approaching vehicles, but you figure its better to be safe than sorry.

You check your commlink, managing to find a SIN.


>> Susan Elizabeth Landon
>> Pueblo Corporate Council National SIN
>> Age: 24
>> Sex: Female
>> Metatype: Elf
>> Race: (your race)
>> Concealed Carry License
>> Nitama Sporter License


You also, much to your chagrin, find a Criminal SIN.


>> Mireille Smith
>> UCAS Criminal SIN
>> Age: 24
>> Sex: Female
>> Metatype: Elf
>> Race: (your race)
>> Crimes: Unlawful use of public grid. Unlawful access to private Matrix systems. Cyberterrorism.  Cyberassault. Cybervandalism. Grand Larceny. Corporate Espionage. Trespassing. Illegal possession of restricted equipment. Illegal possession of forbidden equipment. Assault with a deadly weapon.
>> Currently on Parole


You get the feeling you violated your parole.

Both SINs match your race, which I don't think you've specified.

The Elf has the Criminal SIN negative quality.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ren on <08-26-14/1810:44>
"Just tell me which of you is Reggie." Ace sent a message to the Masked Woman. @Masked Woman: >>Hey, rein yourself in a bit, there's no reason to be cruel, and you're just helping Joe Average wet himself here. And that might be Reggie back there, and that one has info we still need.<<
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <08-26-14/1815:01>
"Just tell me which of you is Reggie."

He points towards one of the bodies left in the street, specifically the one with the hunting rifle.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <08-26-14/1834:52>
The Masked Woman does not appreciably change her handling of her prisoner.

@ Ace
<<Things are going well: he's talking. What's your angle here? These guys are from Denver, not Aspen. They're driving a Rover 2072. They probably have hotel reservations, not a safehouse. Or they were going to sleep in the van, like hunters. What's Reggie know that we want to know?>>
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ren on <08-26-14/1900:38>
@Masked Woman: >>I want to know about who expects them, when, and where. When we ride into Aspen, i don't want to deal with this as a problem. And someone that can sell a rare animal has contacts, maybe some supplies you can't just walk into a shop to buy. We can use that.<< Ace sighed. >>OK, I'm done with this one. On three?<<
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <08-26-14/1925:23>
The Masked Woman steers the man to the edge of the hillside.

@Ace
<<I can do it if you find it distasteful. Wicca accepts death. Hecate's Wheel turns, and we turn with it. There is a ritual for it, to help them move through the veil.>>

She pauses and looks over at Ace.

<<I would need a minute alone. It involves the athame, the sword. They can be tased first if we wish to free them from the anticipation.>>
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: martinchaen on <08-26-14/2153:37>
While reviewing the SINs stored on my link I can't help but laugh out loud at the length of my apparent rap sheet. On one hand I've got this squeaky clean "Susan" persona, and on the other hand there's a "Mireille" wanted for multiple felonies. I wonder which one is real and which one is fake. Maybe they're both fake.

"Worst case, I'm the fugitive and not the skiptrace..." I mutter under my breath. Well, I can't exactly go around without a name, so Susan it is, I guess. "Hey folks, if we get stopped by the cops or find ourselves in polite company, I'll go by Susan Landon. Any other time y'all might as well just call me APB. Don't ask. And none of that Sue or Susie bulldrek, or I'll smack you across the jaw with a brick before you even know you're in a fight..." I find myself scowling at no one in particular since everybody is off tending to their own drek, but it just feels right.

But hey; at least if that CSIN is real it's no wonder this matrix stuff seems to come easy. Knowledge is power, it seems. And now to see what I can find out about my compatriots.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ravensoracle on <08-26-14/2213:18>
The Crumpled Man works on getting the two duffels and all the gear up the hill. He hangs back once he gets to the top so that the hunters can't ID him. He can already feel blood leaking out of one of the bandages. He'd have to take care of that once they got in the van.

<<<Figure out what you're going to do with these drekheads. Either we're going to dump corpses over the cliff or give them a chance to make it with a medkit and a hope that someone comes along. I don't care just get it done so we can get on the road."

While he waits he goes through the data he found earlier. Espoecially the video from a few hours ago. Damn, I was a cold blooded fragger.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: GrimWulf on <08-27-14/0208:29>
The cold must have gotten to the dwarf while he racked his head for answers that didn't seem to want to be forthcoming.  He stood long moments the in the snow up to his waist, the events in the van and and top of the hill going by unnoticed. He's not sure of what brings him back around, but a long foot slog up the hill has apparently delivered him to the Rover, it's hazards flashing out into the night. Maybe it's the rhythmic flashing that brings back some kind of memory, or something, but suddenly he feels like he's back in his head.  Well, partly... it still feels pretty empty in there...

<<@Team: Drek. Sorry for being the fraggin slothead. I get the feeling I just lost another 10 minutes or something. What's our sitch?>>
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <08-27-14/0339:19>
<<< So what is the plan at this point? Do we leave these poachers alive or dead?How are we going to get the crate up here? Once I drag these duffels to the new van I am going to go under for a while to help out with over watch and to dig through all our files to find out the past. Who do we want in charge to organize this fragin cluster?  Crumpled Out>>>>

<<So far as these guys know it's just the two of us up here and this is a carjacking. If we leave these guys outside they are going freeze to death, but it's going to be a stretch fitting seven metas and a crate in this rig as it is. Taking them along isn't an option. They can have it quick or they can have it slow. Either way, we don't want them around when the rest of you come up. I'm going to take these two slots for a walk to discuss what they did and did not see, and to talk about their life decisions leading to and from this point.>>

@Team: >>Ace here. Poachers didn’t see only the two of us up at the road. The one with the rifle saw the Elf in his crosshairs before I shot him, possibly the others as well. The light down there is unmistakable. Unfortunate as it is, I say they should go over the edge. Anyway, we’ll be done here shortly and I will help getting the crate up after that.<< He realized belatedly that he used the reference the Masked Woman used as his name but shrugged after a second. That will do until I know more.

"Who cares if they see us; no way we're leaving them alive on the off chance they find a vehicle of their own. They're witnesses; I say we send them and whatever that creature is flying off the cliff after our vehicle... Oh, and get one of them to hand over ownership of the car, or to invite MARKs on it to everybody at least."

<<The creature is a Horned Bear. Very intelligent, and rare. A true shame.>>

<<<Figure out what you're going to do with these drekheads. Either we're going to dump corpses over the cliff or give them a chance to make it with a medkit and a hope that someone comes along. I don't care just get it done so we can get on the road."

>>OK, I'm done with this one. On three?<<

The behemoth Troll slogs his way up the hill, each footstep leaving a massive trench of snow behind it. He heaves with all his might, dragging the massive crate up the hillside, foot by agonizing foot. His shoulder aches from the rope over one side, but it's too late to give up. By now, the sweat is flowing well and starting to make him feel like taking his jacket off once he's at the top of the hill. He hears all the chatter on the comm, and when it seems like things are about to turn dark, he finally interjects, grunting into his microphone through heavy breathing as he trudges up the mountain.

"Wait one moment, before this happens please? When we say 'poachers' are we meaning starving men who have no other option and this is how they feed their families? Or are we meaning drunken corporate assholes out to score extra money for novacoke?"

Despite the biting frost, the aching in his muscles, and the haze in his head, he still had enough wits about him to think abstractly.

What if I WASN'T a bad person before the wreck? How tragic that I should become one now? But what if I was a piece of shit? He allows himself to look up from his feet toward his objective, only a few meters ahead now. What if i was no better than some drunken corporate assholes out for a thrill kill and some extra money. Surely with the jing I've already paid for this expensive bioware I'm toting around, I could have retired in style already. Why haven't I?

His mind is reeling by the time he and the ork reach the top of the hill.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <08-27-14/0427:05>
<<They're driving a Rover Model 2072, not a Toyota Gopher. I think we can safely assume they are not starving SINless.>>

She listens to the Troll grunt over his microphone.

<<Holy drekballs are you seriously dragging that crate up the hill? Brother Dwarf couldn't conjure up a spirit of the mountain to help? Is he still in shock? Oh there he is.>>
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ren on <08-27-14/0838:24>
@Masked Woman: >>I don’t find death distasteful. I just think unnecessary violence is unprofessional. I will leave these two to you, then. Do as you need to do, and when you dealt with them, join us.<< With that, Ace casually electrocuted the one he was questioning until he was unconscious, with his shock hand. >>Will be easier if you just have to deal with one awake.<< He nodded to her as he left without a word.
He walked back towards the lights of the car. @Team: >>Not that it matters right now, but these guys seemed to be here to hunt for the extra nuyen. Hunt something rare, maybe even near-extinct. And as she says, you don’t own a Rover model at most 3 years old if your family is starving.<< As he got back he leaned down to snap the neck of the one who emptied his shotgun into the night, then started to pat him down for the contents of his pockets. >>Still need to talk to the other one. Can someone with a medkit get there and wake him? I just tased him.<<

All the while, he watched as two sides of him warred inside. He didn’t want to hurt these people. They were just unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time – for them at least. But his other side overruled with ruthless efficiency. As the Masked Woman mentioned, they were witnesses. And in this case, he couldn’t afford to be lenient. They didn’t know if someone was at their tracks. They didn’t know how much their potential pursuers would be able to piece together from the words of these men. And until he knew more, he just couldn’t afford the risk. So, ruthlessness won… again?
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <08-27-14/1226:41>
The Masked Woman returns Ace's silent nod. She starts to hum as he turns to leave, chanting lowly in a language that sounds like one of the tongues of the local Pueblo people. The words return to her like muscle memory, remembering each phrase only as she says the previous one. She draws her claymore and asks Hecate for transition, and transformation.

***

She rejoins the group a few minutes later, her blades cleaned and concealed. She brings the Rover's medkit back with her, tossing it to Ace so that he can revive Reggie. While he does that, she draws a circle with her sword in the snow just outside the van. Standing in the circle, she puts her hands on the Horned Bear and says a short prayer under her breath. When she's done, she looks calm, maybe even relieved. She looks up for the Ork and the Troll to see if they can help move it.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <08-27-14/1338:44>
<<They're driving a Rover Model 2072, not a Toyota Gopher. I think we can safely assume they are not starving SINless.>>

@Team: >>Not that it matters right now, but these guys seemed to be here to hunt for the extra nuyen. Hunt something rare, maybe even near-extinct. And as she says, you don’t own a Rover model at most 3 years old if your family is starving.<<

The colossal ice beast lets out a sigh from his mouth, the breath crystallizing in the air before him as he trudges the final few meters. With a defeated but professional tone, he responds, "Continue."

Well, this is a positively shitty start to things. Dammit! Mind on the task, mind on the task. One foot in front of the other. Almost there.

<<Holy drekballs are you seriously dragging that crate up the hill? Brother Dwarf couldn't conjure up a spirit of the mountain to help? Is he still in shock? Oh there he is.>>

As he gives the crate one last mighty heave and slides it over near the Rover, Uncle Sam looks up at the mask on her face and tries to remember what it looks like underneath, but draws a blank. "Yes. Dwarf took a bigger knock than it looked like, but i think he's starting to catch up to the group now."

After taking a moment to catch his breath, he walks around to the rear of the vehicle and regards the messy pile of blood, fur, and antlers before him. He considers the senselessness of it, the greed, the vanity of this crew of breeders and is disgusted. He'd known men who had no option but to kill illegal animals, either for food or for money to buy medicine and supplies for their families, and he didn't agree with them, but he understood why they did what they did. These men? Just self entitled assholes.

Nature is indignant to all suffering. Does that mean I should be though?

Turning his attention to the human with the taser, he barks, "You. Didn't you say this animal was endangered or something? What is it?"
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ren on <08-27-14/1633:35>
Ace nodded his thanks as the Masked Woman gave him the medkit. He opened it and pondered if it was better to let the thing work on its own, or if he remembered to be skilled enough to operate it. He answered Uncle Sam's question without diverting his attention from the task pointing at the Masked Woman. "She said it was a horned bear. If you want to know more, you have to ask her."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <08-27-14/1647:28>
Ace nodded his thanks as the Masked Woman gave him the medkit. He opened it and pondered if it was better to let the thing work on its own, or if he remembered to be skilled enough to operate it. He answered Uncle Sam's question without diverting his attention from the task pointing at the Masked Woman. "She said it was a horned bear. If you want to know more, you have to ask her."

Wonder if i got any signal out here?

Sam reaches into his pocket, and fumbles with his commlink for a moment, bringing up what he can about the animal. Unfortunately, his shivering cold hands accidentally turn the damn thing off in his pocket as he's typing. He lets a minor growl escape as he reaches back into his pocket to reboot it. During the reboot sequence, all his AR goes dark, leaving only the world as it was at the dawn of time. He's almost stunned at the beauty and stillness of it all. A few seconds later, the device begins to reboot and his goggles spring to life again, with biomonitor readings, ammo count, barrel temp, and a million other things that draw his attention away from the raw majesty of the mountain at night. As quickly as his little primal moment had begun, it was over.

As his world returns to digital, he turns his head to face the masked woman, looking at her with one raised eyebrow and letting out a small "rngh?" kind of grunt almost under his breath,
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: GrimWulf on <08-27-14/1711:13>
The dwarf heads towards the passenger side of the Rover, seeming to gravitate to it by instinct.  He stops at the back and watches as the masked woman performs her rites over the corpse of the animal, and seems surprised to find himself muttering a rite of his own to the spirit of the felled beast.  He looks up to the woman as she finishes and nods his thanks towards her.

He continues around the rover and shakes any snow collected in his clothing to the ground before opening the front passenger door and staring dumbly at the elf for a moment.  He had a feeling that should have been his seat, but shrugged  at the elf and just closed the door again.

He leans against the side of the rover and accesses his commlink, checking contacts, mails, messages, whatever else may be interesting.

Looking over to the crate sitting on the edge of the road with a exhausted troll next to it, he bows his head a moment and prays to the spirits(not a spirit) of the air to life the crate and bring it over to the Rover.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <08-27-14/1757:07>
The Masked Woman looks at Sam. She talks in a low voice as the winter winds whip along the road and the face of the cliff. Her lined coat flaps against her legs, the armor plates not heavy enough to stop the wind.

"They are rare, but not unique. They live around here, in the forest and the mountains. They are intelligent, and have a sense of integrity. They challenge intruders to their territory to non-lethal duels and will honor the outcome. There is a collector in Aspen who wanted it. Ace is working on learning more." She indicates the Human, who is applying a stun patch to the man who had the hunting rifle.

"They give birth every other year in the winter. I hope this one wasn't a female with cubs." She doesn't look like she has the zoological knowledge to distinguish a male from a female.

She turns back to Sam and Chino. "I don't think we're taking it with us. Do you have anything left in the tank?" She looks willing to help but the bear is at least ten times her size. She looks at Ace's cyberarm, wondering if it has boosted strength. He can snap necks easily enough. She'd look at the Dwarf but he's already ignored two of her comms, so that's a dead end. The Elf is too prickly to help, the Crumpled Man too injured.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <08-27-14/1852:59>
He leans against the side of the rover and accesses his commlink, checking contacts, mails, messages, whatever else may be interesting.

Looking over to the crate sitting on the edge of the road with a exhausted troll next to it, he bows his head a moment and prays to the spirits(not a spirit) of the air to life the crate and bring it over to the Rover.

You focus and weave your spell, and the crate lifts off the ground like it weighed nothing at all, moving through the air in response to the motion of your hands. As you sustain it and bring the crate closer to the rover, you absently take out your commlink and go through the data you have on yourself.

First thing you find is a SIN.


>>Ohanzee Oglala
>> Sioux National SIN
>> Age: 40
>> Sex: Male
>> Metatype: Dwarf
>> Race: Lakota
>>> Registered Awakened License

>> Retrieving Contact List . . .

>> Name: Styles
>> Occupation: Fixer
>> Commcode: 59230-l3c4
>> Address: Denver, UCAS side

>> Name: Long Shadow
>> Occupation: Talismonger
>> Commcode: 41023-l2c4
>> Address: Denver, Sioux side

>> Name: Gloria Winters, PhD
>> Occupation: Egghead
>> Commcode: 92107-l3c2
>> Address: Aspen


You don't find any messages between you and Long Shadow, just incoming and outgoing calls, all from several months ago. There are similar calls between you and Styles, but also a few messages, the most recent of which was back in December, to discuss a job. He wanted you to meet him in a bar in Denver, on the PCC side. It looks like you only recently added Gloria Winters as a contact in the beginning of January. You find a number of back and forth messages between you and her, discussing magic artifacts at length and a shared interest in Archeology. From the back and forth messages, you gather that she is a magical researcher at a college in Aspen, and you get the distinct impression that you were hitting her up for information. The messages stop in mid January, after you and she agreed to meet in person. After that, you see a lot of calls between you two, before you stop calling back around January 20th. Around the 23rd, you also stopped answering her calls, and there are three to four missed calls from her per day after that. You scroll to the bottom of the list and find one last message.


>> TO: Ohanzee
>> FROM: Gloria
>> SENT: January 28th, 2:15PM
>> Hey, I haven't heard from you in awhile. Where have you been?


It doesn't look like you ever replied.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <08-27-14/2050:26>
The Masked Woman looks at Sam. She talks in a low voice as the winter winds whip along the road and the face of the cliff. Her lined coat flaps against her legs, the armor plates not heavy enough to stop the wind.

"They are rare, but not unique. They live around here, in the forest and the mountains. They are intelligent, and have a sense of integrity. They challenge intruders to their territory to non-lethal duels and will honor the outcome. There is a collector in Aspen who wanted it. Ace is working on learning more." She indicates the Human, who is applying a stun patch to the man who had the hunting rifle.

"They give birth every other year in the winter. I hope this one wasn't a female with cubs."

Shame. Damn shame.

He stands up straight and sets his jaw firmly. "We should burn it or bury it or something. It just doesn't feel right to leave it here on the side of the road."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: GrimWulf on <08-27-14/2100:38>
'Ohanzee' the dwarf walks back around to the back of the Rover, maintaining the levitate spell until the crate is right next to the Rover and the bear corpse.

"If we burn or bury it, it will not return to nature. As is, it will give many of nature's creations a fine and likely unexpected meal in these cold days."

<< Does the name Ohanzee ring a bell to anyone?  Apparently it is mine.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ravensoracle on <08-27-14/2118:09>
The Crumpled Man grumbled to himself a few choice words before he speaks up.

"We don't have time to bury the beast. Or the men that she..." He points at the Masked Woman. "....just took care of. We need to get moving before another vehicle comes by. "

And on that note the Crumpled Man begins a search for any other signals from any device that may be coming this way. He'll also pull up a map of the area and overlay the signals.

<<<I'll personally do a full background check on everyone that wants one once we get back to civilization. But we need to get moving.>>>
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <08-27-14/2137:46>
"If we burn or bury it, it will not return to nature. As is, it will give many of nature's creations a fine and likely unexpected meal in these cold days."

"We don't have time to bury the beast. Or the men that she..." He points at the Masked Woman. "....just took care of. We need to get moving before another vehicle comes by. "

"Mmmmmm." The big fucker is obviously unhappy with it, but he knows they're right. He takes a slight pause before saying "Ok, lets do this then."

<< Does the name Ohanzee ring a bell to anyone?  Apparently it is mine.

"I can check my comm once we're on the road. I've already searched a bit and have found some things. Things that... bear further examination." He has a look on his face that speaks to doubt and worry.

<<<I'll personally do a full background check on everyone that wants one once we get back to civilization. But we need to get moving.>>>

"Good idea. I may take you up on that offer."

Or I may not. Ghost, do dare find out what manner of villain I was before today? I suppose I'll have to if I'm to settle things with Johnson. Then, the memory hits him like a ton of bricks. Johnson is slang! DREK! That aint his name at all! That's just what runners call the guy with the money and the needs! Yup, I'm a runner. A God damn shadowrunner. Well, lets hope im one of those idealistic, moral, and upstanding ones like from the trids. His mind wandered and began cooking up images of the carnage they were about to leave in their wake and he frowned. Probably not though.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <08-27-14/2143:44>
@The Elf

As you sit in the passenger seat of the rover, you begin taking a few minutes running searches on the other members of your group, based on the pictures you quickly snapped on your commlink.

The Masked Woman (Threshold 1, Duration 1 minute)
11d6t5: 2 [11d6t5=6, 2, 2, 4, 1, 2, 3, 1, 4, 6, 1]

Your quick search of the Masked Woman's mask turns up a lot of articles about Wicca, but nothing specific about her. Seems taking a picture of a mask doesn't help much in determining her identity.

The Crumpled Man (Threshold 1, Duration 1 minute)
11d6t5: 2 [11d6t5=1, 1, 1, 4, 4, 2, 5, 3, 5, 3, 4]

You search the Crumpled Man next, finding nothing helpful. You assume he's SINless, or very careful, as he has no publicly accessible info on him at all.

The Troll (Threshold 1, Duration 1 minute)
11d6t5: 3 [11d6t5=4, 5, 1, 4, 6, 5, 3, 4, 2, 4, 1]

When you search Uncle Sam, you turn up a sparsely updated Social Media profile for a Ralph Hendricks. He's got some supporting data, but not a lot. Less than he probably should have, in this day and age. Your criminal instincts suggest Ralph Hendricks is a fake identity.

The Orc (Threshold 1, Duration 1 minute)
11d6t5: 2 [11d6t5=2, 6, 4, 4, 6, 1, 1, 4, 4, 4, 4]

Your search on the Ork is about as successful as the Crumpled Man. No social media profile, no hits in the public citizen registry, no data trail at all that you can suss out in a casual search.

The Dwarf (Threshold 1, Duration 1 minute)
11d6t5: 4 [11d6t5=1, 6, 4, 5, 1, 6, 6, 3, 2, 3, 1]

You dig into the Dwarf a little more in depth, finding a profile for an amerindian named Ohanzee. He's set up to look like quite the people person, and has a data trail following his purchases throughout Colorado, although his earliest data is sparse, and you discover some things in his profile, like place of birth and schooling information, is outright false. His identity is a better fake than Sam's, but still a fake.

The Human (Threshold 1, Duration 1 minute)
11d6t5: 3 [11d6t5=6, 5, 2, 2, 1, 3, 1, 1, 5, 3, 3]

You turn up a full social media presence for a man named James Anderson, citizen of the UCAS. He's got profiles across multiple matrix sites, from personal to professional. He's apparently a security professional working for a pharmaceutical company in Denver, graduated near the top of his class from a well known college in Cleveland, and has two kids from a past marriage, all living in Seattle. He's got a data trail a mile long, his face in year books and employee registries, and all the data points look like they check out. Either this is his real SIN, or he's got one hell of a fake.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ravensoracle on <08-28-14/0238:31>
No incoming devices at this time but that doesn't mean I may have missed someone running throwback .

He shares his map (overlaid with the signals he's found) to the group channel.

>>> Live feed Incoming
Sender: Crumpled
 

"Looks like Aspen is our best bet. I can find some more info back in civilization. Anyone know of a safehouse we can crash or do I need to set something up on the way?"
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Novocrane on <08-28-14/0723:39>
Ork leans against the Rover's front grill, back flush against the windshield. The lack of bumper left his hands free. It felt like a surprise somehow, and he stuck one beefy finger under his newly (re?)acquired trode-band instead - gaze shifting between it and the ecstatic little samurai duo emblazoned across his Renraku Sensei commlink. Like frag it's mine. Must be for the job. Just the job.

Running a few diagnostic exercises, he connects the two before setting them wireless and seeing what crops up.

---

As he listens to the conversation, Ork slowly comes around to his own suggestion.

<<I vote we dump them with the van. Make it look like an accident between some hunters and the beast, and leave it to be chalked up as not our mess.>>
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: martinchaen on <08-28-14/0915:06>
Seeing the message from the ork, I replied instantly.

>> "Yeah, that's what I said. Dump 'em. Oh, and Crumple; no idea, I've only got a name. I'm running a search on all of you and myself right now, though. No offense intended, but I'd like to know who you all are just as much as I want to know who I am..."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <08-28-14/1820:55>
@The Ork
Ork leans against the Rover's front grill, back flush against the windshield. The lack of bumper left his hands free. It felt like a surprise somehow, and he stuck one beefy finger under his newly (re?)acquired trode-band instead - gaze shifting between it and the ecstatic little samurai duo emblazoned across his Renraku Sensei commlink. Like frag it's mine. Must be for the job. Just the job.

Running a few diagnostic exercises, he connects the two before setting them wireless and seeing what crops up.

As you plug your commlink into DNI and check the contents, you quickly notice that you have no SIN. You suspect this is a burner, as there are no contacts or accounts or anything on it. You see a lot of phone calls to and from the device, but the recipients are just commcodes without names attached.

Checking the files on the device, you do notice several AR and VR games. The one that was most recently opened looks like a parkour racing game of sorts. You vaguely remember how it works, creating an AR track for you to follow based on your immediate surroundings, and scoring points on how quickly and impressively you complete the course. There's also an unlabeled simchip already slotted in the sim module.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <08-28-14/1952:23>
The body language of the Masked Woman expresses a degree of surprise when the crate levitates itself over to the van. She turns and traces the spell back to the source. The Dwarf must be shaking off his shock. Perhaps he is still concussed though.

@Dwarf
"Can you move the bear as well? His loss is a shame but he may help us yet. I will take the take horns, which are useful in alchemy."

She gathers the shotguns and the hunting rifle that she had set aside earlier, out of the reach of the subdued hunters. She brings them to Sam.

@Troll
"Are these weapons known to you? Are they of any use to us?"

Leaving the weapons with Sam, she then moves over to the man who isn't Reggie. She kneels down next to him, her knee immediately feeling cold against the icy ground. She is about the search him when she remembers the cyberware scanner function of her mask. She activates it and scans the man, not so much for cyberware but for other items that might be picked up by the millimeter-wave scanner. Then she pats him down anyway, just in case she doesn't really know how to use the scanner properly.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <08-28-14/2010:59>
She gathers the shotguns and the hunting rifle that she had set aside earlier, out of the reach of the subdued hunters. She brings them to Sam.

@Troll
"Are these weapons known to you? Are they of any use to us?"

"These weapons are theirs?" When she nods, he responds "Then we need to fire them off in all directions, one or two into non-vital areas of the bear, then leave them here before we go. If their deaths are meant to look like an encounter with a bear gone wrong, then we must make it look real. We'll need to burn the van we came in as well, to erase any trace we may have left inside it. It will look like this: The van full of hunters came around the corner and saw the bear. They swerved to avoid it and went off the road. They escaped the burning van and made their way to the road to exact vengeance on the bear, blaming it for the crash. It killed them, but not before suffering fatal injuries itself. This is the scene we must leave here, or the man who tried to kill us will know he failed."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <08-28-14/2021:12>
@Sam

Sam recognizes the shotgun as a PJSS model 55, and the hunting rifle as a Springfield M1A, with a smartlink mounted on it. He feels familiar with both weapons, but has more familiarity with the rifle. Still, neither compares to the familiarity he feels for his own assault rifle.

Sam has Longarms (Sniper Rifles) 3 (+2), and Automatics 6.

@The Masked Woman

You switch on your millimeter-wave scanner with a mental command and scan through the downed man's body, quickly getting numerous hits that the scanner compares to its database, giving you an itemized list.


>> Electronics Detected
>>> Commlink, Model Erika Elite.
>>> Flashlight
>> Cyberware Detected
>>> Cybereyes, Rating 2
>>> Vision magnification
>>> Smartlink
>> Weapons Detected
>>> Beretta 201T Light Pistol, loaded with explosive rounds
>>> 2 clips Light Pistol ammo, loaded with regular ammo
>>> 3 clips shotgun ammo, loaded with Stick-N-Shock rounds


You easily find the items in question when you pat him down.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: GrimWulf on <08-29-14/0316:54>
@ Masked Woman
"If we're to make this look like the hunters did this we cannot take the horns of the beast. A hornless horned bear does not make simply a bear. Though I am sure I can move the body if needed."

@ All

<< I recommend we decide fast on what to do.  My vote is to toss any bodies off the side now and just leave. Probably make sure then van finishes going off the cliff down there. With the van shot up the way it is, no one's going to believe the bear ambushed them and forced them off the road, before they came up and all decided to die.

Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <08-29-14/1242:02>
@All
<<I agree with Ohanzee. A fight with a horned bear on the highway is implausible, as it is not territory a horned bear would claim, and the van already shows evidence of damage neither the bear nor the hunters could have caused.>> She pauses to consider for a moment. <<The hunters do too, for that matter.>>

She stands up from the downed man, holding his commlink, pistol, and ammunition. She is vaguely aware that the commlink is expensive - very expensive - and could potentially be put to use by one of the more technically savvy team members. Or maybe it's been bricked and is a pricey paperweight. She shivers a bit, the cold wind and snow seeping in through the insulation of her lined coat.

<<It's snowing hard. The bodies will be buried by morning and won't be discovered until the spring thaw. And I am under the impression that the presence of the Troll and the Ork with the crate here strongly suggests that the van has already gone over the edge and is both out of sight, and out of our reach. I do not know how we would burn it.>>

She looks to Sam for confirmation of the van's retirement. She then glances at the Human to check on his progress with Reggie.

<<Also, I didn't just leave the other two bodies on the side of the road. I threw them over the edge already. I believe we are committed to the path that Ohanzee recommends.>>
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: martinchaen on <08-29-14/1450:11>
This is taking way too long. We need to get moving yesterday, and these guys are standing around debating fraggin' philosophy?

>> Come ON, people. Let's get the frag outta here!

There's not much I can do at this point except hurry things along by nagging, so I keep my reply short and sweet. I could always just start moving the car... I'm sure that'd light a fire under their collective asses.

Once again, the thought appears out of nowhere and surprises me. Am I the joker and prankster on the team? Am I "that" girl? Maybe I can find out more by searching for stuff on my past. I wonder what I did to earn a cyberterrorism charge on my rap sheet...
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <08-29-14/1455:46>
>> Come ON, people. Let's get the frag outta here!

"She's right. Dwarf, Get the animal out of the rover and let's move."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: GrimWulf on <08-29-14/1648:49>
Quote
"She's right. Dwarf, Get the animal out of the rover and let's move."
It wasn't the first time he'd been called that since he woke up, but something snapped a little inside him when he was told to move the bear's carcass. He glares hard at the troll a moment trying hard to think of nasty things he could do him if so chose.  Maybe it's the cold air cooling him but, he cannot keep the anger going long enough to act on it.

"I have a name."

He called again upon the spirits to move the bear's carcass drawing the energy through himself to do so.
( 12d6.hits(5) → [2,6,1,3,5,5,2,6,2,3,2,3] = (4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4623941/) Needed 3 before so moving on with IC post
Drain
11d6.hits(5) → [1,4,4,3,1,3,2,3,5,6,4] = (2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4623991/) 2 more stun, another wound modifier... yay)

The carcass lifts easily out of the rover and floats across road it hangs a moment over the abyss of the side before dropping suddenly over the ledge. He turns back to the troll, the sign of strain on his face not hidden, and walks passed him and into the Rover, trying to claim the least bloody spot left.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <08-29-14/1706:39>
The Dwarf easily levitates the bear out of the rover, then levitates the crate into its place, angrily getting inside.

It's been a good 20 minutes since you all got out of the van. It is now approaching 1 AM. The wind is picking up, and the chill is starting to creep through your insulated clothes.

Cold Resistance Tests:
Uncle Sam: Body 10 + Insulation 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/217595): 12d6t5 5
The Elf: Body 3 + Insulation 4 (http://orokos.com/roll/217596): 7d6t5 0
Ace: Body 5 + Insulation 4 (http://orokos.com/roll/217597): 9d6t5 3
The Dwarf: Body 3 + Insulation 6 (http://orokos.com/roll/217598): 9d6t5 2
The Ork: Body 5 + Insulation 6 (http://orokos.com/roll/217599): 11d6t5 6
The Masked Woman: Body 5 + Insulation 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/217600): 7d6t5 4
The Crumpled Man: Body 3 + Insulation 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/217601): 5d6t5 2

The Elf shivers, starting to feel a little numb from the cold. She takes 2 Stun Damage.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Novocrane on <08-29-14/1906:40>
Ork makes a rude noise as the horned bear flops onto the ground, looking to see just how messy the situation is. Debate over animal behaviours and territory came across as a waste of time in his books - they didn't need to craft a perfect story, just one that would slow things down. Haste and Speed, chummers.

"Sloppy works too," he adds, "But if we're not going to make it look like anything, take their stuff. No sense leaving them up here by the road, either way. Anyone have any explosives?"

Turning to the dwarf already getting in the Rover; "Can you torch them with the van, or otherwise make this hard on whoever finds them?"
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <08-29-14/1911:03>
"But if we're not going to make it look like anything, take their stuff. No sense leaving them up here by the road, either way. Anyone have any explosives?"

There are explosives in the bag with Uncle Sam's gear.

Turning to the dwarf already getting in the Rover; "Can you torch them with the van, or otherwise make this hard on whoever finds them?"

The Dwarf remembers he knows the Fireball spell.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ren on <08-30-14/0459:13>
While the others argued about how best to handle things, Ace dragged Reggie to the railing so that he couldn't see the dead body of his buddy, and put the slap patch on. He drew his machine pistol and casually held it with his left hand. When the hunter came to and looked at him, he spoke to him in a voice at least as cold as the environment. "Morning, Reggie. We are going to talk, you and me. More precisely, i am going to ask questions and you are going to answer. If you don't cooperate, then i will use whatever means i have to in order to make you cooperate. If you want to spare yourself a lot of pain, answer me, and make those answers good."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <08-30-14/1511:08>
"I have a name."

"Oh yeah. Sorry. What was it again? Something with an O, right?"
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <08-30-14/1602:43>
While the others argued about how best to handle things, Ace dragged Reggie to the railing so that he couldn't see the dead body of his buddy, and put the slap patch on. He drew his machine pistol and casually held it with his left hand. When the hunter came to and looked at him, he spoke to him in a voice at least as cold as the environment. "Morning, Reggie. We are going to talk, you and me. More precisely, i am going to ask questions and you are going to answer. If you don't cooperate, then i will use whatever means i have to in order to make you cooperate. If you want to spare yourself a lot of pain, answer me, and make those answers good."

Ace's Intimidation: Charisma 4 + Intimidation 1 + Wielding Weapon 2 + outnumbered 2 + caused pain 2 + imposing 2 (http://orokos.com/roll/217784): 13d6t5 7 5 Social Limit 5.

Reggie's resistance: Charisma 5 + Willpower 4 (http://orokos.com/roll/217785): 9d6t5 3

Reggie whimpers like a scared little girl as you brandish your machine pistol.

"Y..yeah man, no problem! No problem at all. Whatever you want!" Reggie insists nervously. He doesn't seem entirely aware of what's going on or who you are, but seems perfectly willing to answer your questions.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <08-31-14/0231:06>
After scanning and patting down the third hunter, the Masked Woman stands and straightens herself. She glances over at Ace and his interrogation of Reggie and then at the levitating departure of the horned bear. She shudders in the wind and resolves to act fast. She is as eager to leave as the Elf is, although perhaps less vocal. She grabs the hunter by the collar and drags him a short distance away to not interfere with Ace's work.

Dropping him face down on the side of the road, she draws her claymore and traces a circle three meters wide in the snow around the him. Inside the circle she scratches four six-sided stars at the cardinal directions of the circle. Holding the claymore down over him, she speaks lowly and quickly, an accelerated version of the ritual. When she's done she uses the tip of the sword to perform a gentle coup de grâce to the medulla, then looks up self-consciously. Taking the claymore, she traces a "door" in the circle toward the descending hillside, then steps through it. She pulls the body through, traces the reverse design on the circle to "close" the door, then cleans and sheathes her claymore. The man is sent on his way down the hillside into the blackness of the storm.

She returns to the group, scrubbing the astral signatures of their casting on her way back. She hops into the back of the van, edging forward past the crate toward the front of the van where - with luck - the heaters will be on. She passes the hunters' commlinks to the Elf, hoping they might give her something to do other than swear over the open connection.

"Are these of any use, or did you brick them?" she asks. She is vaguely aware that a Fairlight Caliban is a high-end model - very high-end - but is certain that the Elf can squeeze more out of it than she ever could.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: martinchaen on <08-31-14/0931:02>
I look up from my private AR windows as the masked woman hands me the commlinks.

"Two of them should be damaged, but not beyond repair. Nothing that can't be fixed with the right tools and a little time, though. Err... I think. Let me take a look."

Minimizing the AR windows, I examine the links carefully, one by one.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <08-31-14/1737:38>
The Masked Woman pulls out the Beretta 201T that she took off the third hunter. She removes the clip and makes sure there isn't a round chambered, then sets the safety. She hopes she does it all correctly: between the amnesia and her general lack of familiarity with firearms, it's an open question. She places the pistol gently in a cupholder, then places the two clips of normal light pistol ammunition next to it. Reaching in to her other pocket, she pulls out the three clips of stick-n-shock rounds for a shotgun. She sets those down in another cup holder for anyone to take, a candy bowl for the modern shadowrunner.

Hunkering down against the back of the passenger seat, she takes one of her throwing knives out of her lined coat. She dabs it in the blood left by the horned bear, then begins to trace runes on it while murmuring lowly and turning it over in her hand. After five minutes, the preparation is complete and the lynchpin is locked. She passes it to The Crumpled Man, the final design consisting of an ankh, a crescent moon, a frog, and a pentacle. Once it is in his hand, she whispers "heronitas". The Heal spell discharges, doing absolutely nothing.

The Masked Woman takes the knife back and starts over, muttering something under her breath about cybernetics and working conditions.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Novocrane on <08-31-14/2138:33>
In spite of his comment, Ork looks less than happy with their range of options as he slides into the driver's seat. Leaving the bodies to whomever is willing to deal with it, he checks out the AR parkour game he had apparently been playing recently, while familiarising himself with the expensive drek-stop vehicle they had found themselves with.
Who knows? Maybe this will jog my memory ... can't hurt to see where I've spent some free time, at least.
More serious efforts to pull his past back together could wait until later.

---

"Where we going, then?" he asks, checking the back of the Rover with a sidelong glance.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: martinchaen on <08-31-14/2259:41>
"Aspen..."

I shake my head slowly, not quite believing that he's missed two conversations and AR pop ups with fraggin maps.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Novocrane on <09-01-14/0053:29>
We'll just figure that out in Aspen, eh? Bless you, keeb, Ork thought, turning a cheesy, tusky smile toward the elf.

"Track that. I just thought you might want to say again, before we leave all the friendly I assume was knocked out of you back there in the snow. While we're at it, call me Chino."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ren on <09-01-14/1703:07>
Ace asked Reggie the same questions he asked of the other person. It didn’t hurt to double-check, and the other guy couldn’t satisfy his need for intel completely. ”Where were you supposed to take that thing and to whom? Was there any schedule for when you should arrive? Do you have a hideout or a place where you store your hunting stuff nearby? Where is it? Give me the access codes.”
>>One more minute.<< he texted to the others.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <09-01-14/1738:06>
Ace asked Reggie the same questions he asked of the other person. It didn’t hurt to double-check, and the other guy couldn’t satisfy his need for intel completely. ”Where were you supposed to take that thing and to whom? Was there any schedule for when you should arrive?

"I know a guy in Aspen who's big in paracritter cage fighting. His names Vinny, but everyone calls him The Bear. He's been lookin' for a Horned Bear for months to train up as his new fighter. Me and my buddies were going hunting anyway, regulated, legal stuff, so I figured we could make a few extra nuyen on the side. We didn't mean no harm, we were using stun rounds, thing was fine. We didn't wanna hurt it. We were on our way to Aspen to deliver it when you guys jumped us. Were you following us or something? We didn't know that preserve was so well guarded." Reggie sings like a canary, apparently thinking you're some kind of animal lover who attacked them for breaking into the wildlife preserve.

"Do you have a hideout or a place where you store your hunting stuff nearby? Where is it? Give me the access codes.”

"Hideout? no, we're just a bunch of salarymen from Denver who like to hunt on the weekends. We were gonna get a hotel in Aspen for the night and head back in the morning." Reggie explained, looking confused when you ask about access codes.

"Look man, we're just ordinary guys, we didn't think there was any harm in capturing a bear. We got families waiting for us back home. My wife is gonna be worried sick if I don't call her tomorrow. I told her we'd be back first thing." He looks around for a moment, trying to see where his friends are.

"What'd you do with my friends? John's got a three-year-old daughter, you know. And Kenny's anniversary is next week. Just let us go, we won't tell anybody. Promise! We don't wanna go to jail over that bear, not worth calling the cops for, right? You can keep the rover. I'll tell my wife I wrecked it. Just let us go..."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ren on <09-02-14/0849:47>
Something moved in the depth of Ace’s soul. Was it pity? Was it just annoyance that he had to hear out some poor sob begging to spare his life? He didn’t know and he didn’t really want to. Chip truth was, the fourth guy had to go down as well but he didn’t need to know that yet. So he had to lie. Again? ”I don’t have a problem with you or your buddies. Just give me Vinny’s commcode and we’re out of here.”
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <09-02-14/1126:21>
"Y..yeah, sure man. Of course." He almost chokes it out, suddenly feeling relieved and quickly telling you Vinny's commcode while getting back to his feet.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <09-02-14/1907:17>
Her face concealed, the Masked Woman smirks at Chino's retort to the Elf. She keeps an ear open to Ace's conversation with Reggie while she works on a new preparation for the Crumpled Man. She smears out her old design and then starts over. This time she traces a triquetra that's made out of herbs: one line is rosemary, another is holy basil, and sage. Her fine motor control is challenged by the cold weather but she seems to be used to wearing gloves. She chants in foreign languages under her breath as she scribbles.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ren on <09-03-14/0418:07>
”OK, that is all I wanted to know.” Ace lowered the pistol even more, to draw Reggie’s attention to the moving gun, away from the lightning fast movement his right hand made a split second later, tasing him into oblivion with the shock hand. He then snapped this one’s neck as well, emptying his pockets afterwards. When he was done, Reggie went over the side as well.

He walked back to the car. ”Ready to leave. I got ourselves a number that may be useful if we are trying to get more equipment.” He got in the back, careful not to let blood stain his clothes.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <09-03-14/0447:07>
Uncle Sam watches the grisly work being done all around him with narrowed eyes and his calloused hands in his wooly pockets, his mouth in a deathly frown and the breath escaping his wide nostrils in slow, steady puffs.

We are fiends, the lot of us. Ambushers and slayers in the night. He follows the carcass of the bear with his eyes as it floats from the back of the vehicle and sighs. That's the only one of us that should have survived the night. His companions board the bloody rover one by one and he watches as they do, making sure everyone is accounted for. Waiting until last, he hops on board and finds room wherever is left, cramming himself in one of the bloody areas everyone else has been avoiding. Perhaps we were sent to avenge that creature. Awoken with a mission of revenge on my comm and then slaying the ambushers of the mighty bear. Hmmmm...

Perhaps we are not fiends. Perhaps we are avenging angels of some sort. he thinks as the doors close and the heater starts working.

"Where we going, then?" he asks, checking the back of the Rover with a sidelong glance.

"Aspen..."

"Are you sure we should head right back into the city? There must be some small shitville between here and there we could stay the night in and loose this vehicle. Maybe do some digging around before jumping into the maw of the beast poorly prepared?"

----------------------------

After deciding on a destination, he spends most of the ride quiet, searching through his commlink for more clues as to his identity or history and debating whether to let the rest of these murderers know it's probably his fault they woke up in a van hanging off a cliff or not.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <09-03-14/1459:07>
The Masked Woman exhales with relief once the van is loaded and the doors are closed, finally blocking out the wind. She continues working on her alchemical preparation for The Crumpled Man.

"Our prior selves were headed to Aspen, so maybe we should trust" - she pauses to search for the right words - "what we knew previously and continue there. We must have a contact to meet or a place to stay." She glances around to see if anyone volunteers anything.

"We aren't even sure that we're being pursued. We don't know that we went over the side of the road due to hostile contact. If so, who did we have pursuing us that wasn't professional enough to confirm the kill? The bullet holes in the van could have happened anywhere, like back in Denver.

"We were all strapped in except this guy here." She indicates the Crumpled Man with a jut of her chin. "It's not like we were up and about and returning fire out the open doors and windows. Maybe we were free and clear and just went over the side due to road conditions." She pauses, realizing this might reflect poorly on the Ork's driving abilities. "Sorry, Chino."

She finishes the second version of her preparation and passes it to the Crumpled Man. This time she says, "Dae" as the Command trigger. This spell releases and manages not to fizzle this time. She watches on the astral as his aura is flooded with healing mana, repairing fractures, stitching together wounds, and sealing internal bleeding. The job's not complete but the rest will have to heal from patience and time.

"Do we know what's in that crate yet?" she asks. "Is it equipment for the job, or is it the target of the job? Let's take a look."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <09-04-14/0201:03>
"Our prior selves were headed to Aspen, so maybe we should trust" - she pauses to search for the right words - "what we knew previously and continue there. We must have a contact to meet or a place to stay." She glances around to see if anyone volunteers anything.

"We aren't even sure that we're being pursued. We don't know that we went over the side of the road due to hostile contact. If so, who did we have pursuing us that wasn't professional enough to confirm the kill? The bullet holes in the van could have happened anywhere, like back in Denver.

"We were all strapped in except this guy here." She indicates the Crumpled Man with a jut of her chin. "It's not like we were up and about and returning fire out the open doors and windows. Maybe we were free and clear and just went over the side due to road conditions." She pauses, realizing this might reflect poorly on the Ork's driving abilities. "Sorry, Chino."

"Yeah, you've got a point, there. Aspen it is, but we should at LEAST ditch this blood soaked murder wagon before we get there. Steal something less conspicuous."

"Do we know what's in that crate yet?" she asks. "Is it equipment for the job, or is it the target of the job? Let's take a look."

"Damn good question. Let's find out."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Novocrane on <09-04-14/0558:21>
Quote
"Sorry, Chino."
No 'roke, chummer. Might have been the best we could pull out of a bad situation - and we're still here to put the tale back together," Chino replied casually, thousand yard stare passing through the windshield into AR.

"As for where to head, how about a compromise? If anyone can find anywhere worth pulling over, we pull over - but between there and here, we stay on the route to Aspen. Considering where we got ourselves, whatever we knew previously can't have been that great, but we're not exactly overloaded with choices here."

---

Chino grumbles at the delay for an impromptu patchup, but otherwise doesn't interrupt when dealing with the pain occasionally lancing up his chest. At the very least, it made turning to look behind him easier, as he considered whether anyone sitting back there would put them in a situation where they would kill again that night. Won't miss you, Reggie, but let's hope it was just your poor luck, eh?

"Hoi - leave the crate. If you didn't need to open it before loading it into the Rover, it can wait til we have another vehicle. Scan it, if you're that impatient."

---

Checking the hazard lights as he pulls back into the right lane and drives off, Chino lets his comm navigate along the '82 towards Aspen.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ren on <09-04-14/0738:43>
”Sam is right, we should get rid of the van somewhere near Aspen, where we can do it in the least conspicuous way. We don’t want to make our time harder than necessary, and if Aspen PD found this car in this condition, they would be alert and itchy. I don’t like police itchy, they should stick to their coffee and doughnuts.“
Ace fiddled with his link all the while. He looked through all the data that could be found – contact list, calendar, recent messages, pictures, browser history, logs… he suspected it would probably take quite some time but he wanted to be thorough. Any bits of information had to be collected that could explain the situation they were in.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: martinchaen on <09-04-14/0801:10>
I scowl as the realization hits me. "Nothing but campgrounds between us and Aspen, chummer. It's a good question though; OK, so we get to Aspen. Then what? Anyone got the foggiest idea of what we were going there for?"

I take a quick break from my search to look around behind me. "It's a crate. Somehow I doubt it's Pandora's Box or something... Crack it." Wait, who the hell is Pandora, and what's her box got to do with anything. Mental note: look that drek up.

"Hey, anyone got a hardware kit so I can fix these piece of drek links? Maybe we can transfer some cash or something."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <09-04-14/1944:03>
After finishing the second healing preparation, the Masked Woman looks around. The Crumpled Man seems to be good with a medkit, patching people up efficiently without the use of additional magic. Seeing that the others are being effectively cared for, she starts to work on some different preparations. Increase Strength first, then Combat Sense, both using throwing knives as lynchpins. The basis for the first is a unicursal hexagram: a design drawn with a continuous line. The second has a spider sitting in the middle of an intricate web. She whispers over these while inscribing them.

Chino's suggestion of scanning the crate reminds her that she has a cyberware scanner in her mask. She glances up and activates it, trying to get a sense of what's inside. She had already seen that it was metallic, but maybe the scanner can cross-reference it with an online database like it did with the hunters' cyberware.

"I was hoping the crate might help solve the mystery of where we were going or who we were going to meet. Of if someone has a clue from their comm, now's the time."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <09-04-14/2009:14>
"I was hoping the crate might help solve the mystery of where we were going or who we were going to meet. Of if someone has a clue from their comm, now's the time."

"Well...

I have a theory. I believe we are shadowrunners. I believe we were hired to steal that crate. I believe our johnson betrayed us and tried to have us killed, rather than pay us for it."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <09-04-14/2246:02>
After deciding on a destination, he spends most of the ride quiet, searching through his commlink for more clues as to his identity or history and debating whether to let the rest of these murderers know it's probably his fault they woke up in a van hanging off a cliff or not.

After digging further into your commlink and the history you can find on your own identities, you come to the conclusion that both SINs you have are fakes. (Rating 3).

You find some interest in your call history. Now that you've set yourself up on a network call with the group, you see in your call history a number of similar calls, with several other commcodes subscribed to the network. You notice quite a few with the same repeating numbers, two of which you recognize as belonging to Chino and the Dwarf, judging by the commcodes you're currently connected to. You guess by the history of calls that you've been working regularly with them for at least six months. There are other commcodes in the networked calls that you don't recognize, with a few that come and go, and one that was consistent up until yesterday. You do not see the current commcodes for Ace, The Masked Woman, The Elf, or The Crumpled Man in any of the networked calls prior to yesterday.

Ace fiddled with his link all the while. He looked through all the data that could be found – contact list, calendar, recent messages, pictures, browser history, logs… he suspected it would probably take quite some time but he wanted to be thorough. Any bits of information had to be collected that could explain the situation they were in.

You find two SINs in your comm.


>> James Anderson
>> UCAS National SIN
>> Age: 32
>> Sex: Male
>> Metatype: Human
>> Race: Caucasian
>> Concealed Carry License
>> Ares Crusader License
>> Ares Lightfire License
>> Smartgun License
>> Agility Enhancement License
>> Shock Hand License
>> Synaptic Booster License
>> Security Clearance (Lifescape Pharmaceuticals)


James Anderson appears to have a full life, and a lengthy history. You find all the same info The Elf found on you, and your contact list and call history fully supports it. It looks like you work for a Pharmaceutical company in Denver called Lifescape Pharmaceuticals, an Ares subsidiary. You've got a wife and kids back in Seattle, but it doesn't look like you talk to them anymore. They're in your contact list, but the last time you called any of them was two years ago. You also have a number of coworkers, people you knew in college, some ex-girlfriends with less than favorable nicknames in the profiles on your phone, and a laundry list of purchasing history dating back for years.

Despite all this, you're pretty certain this is a fake SIN, although a very well made one (Rating 6). Someone went through the effort to make it look like you had a full history, and you've probably been using this name for years, but you can see a noticeable change in the quality of the info the further back you go.

You check the second SIN, and notice this is the one that you've been more actively using lately.


>> Josh Adams
>> Pueblo Corporate Council National SIN
>> Age: 28
>> Sex: Male
>> Metatype: Human
>> Race: Caucasian


Josh Adams has a fairly thorough data trail as well, although of obvious lesser quality to your James Identity (Fake SIN rating 5).

You notice that The Elf's commcode is in your contact list under "Susan", as well as the Masked Woman, under "Ileana."

You also have a contact for someone named "Rhodes," located in Aspen. There are no messages between you, just phone calls, that never seem to last more than 30 seconds. The last call was from three days ago.


Chino's suggestion of scanning the crate reminds her that she has a cyberware scanner in her mask. She glances up and activates it, trying to get a sense of what's inside. She had already seen that it was metallic, but maybe the scanner can cross-reference it with an online database like it did with the hunters' cyberware.

You fire up the scanner and sweep it over the crate, penetrating the wood to get a reading on what's inside. The scanner reveals the outline of something almost as large as the crate itself, with a large octagonal base and a thinner, flatter pillar on top. The scanner picks up large amounts of gold, iron, copper, mercury, silver, platinum, osmium and silicon. It appears to be a solid hunk of a strange combination of various elements and metals, which would explain why it was so damn heavy. The shape is also weird, being mostly geometric. The cyberware scanner can pick up indentations across the base that suggest it is etched or engraved, but it can't pick up the fine detail through the thick wood of the crate.

Your best guess at a glance, without opening the crate, is that it's some kind of sculpture or art piece.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <09-05-14/0249:11>
The Masked Woman mentally flits the results of the scan to the group in the off-chance that there's an artist or a metallurgist among them.

"Alright, we have a theory. What can we add to it?"
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <09-05-14/0429:18>
"Alright, we have a theory. What can we add to it?"

He really doesn't want to answer this, as he knows it puts him at a tactical disadvantage should anything come up, but he sighs and says it anyway.

"Well... I do have ONE thing to add to it. I believe Chino, Crumple Stilskin, Big "O" right here," he motions to the dwarf as he continues, "and myself have been a team for a while. For the purposes of this discussion, I'll call us blue team. The four of us met the rest of you yesterday. Let's call you red team, shall we? I must assume if you go through your comm history, you'll find something similar. Given this fact, I'm forced to assume that either red team was hired for the job and blue team is extra work put on by the johnson, or vice versa. Follow me?"
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: martinchaen on <09-05-14/0808:18>
"Jeez, will you please cut it out with the colour drek, big guy? How about we all just use the names we've found or chosen for ourselves; in case you forgot, you can call me APB. My scream sheet certainly indicates there's probably an open warrant or five on me somewhere, so if we meet any cops I'll just sit right here and be very very quiet."

I snort derisively and pull up and review my results on everyone. "Not a lot on the Matrix about you all, though I did find some juicy stuff on myself. I'm not sure about the whole 'runner thing, but "criminal" definitely works based on my own history, at least. I'm betting most of you have found multiple IDs on your links just like I have, and that fact coupled with the bullet holes in our last ride as well as how effectively we took out this Rover I'd say chances are whatever is in that crate is not on the up and up."

Grabbing my Sporter out of its holster I unload the clip with the gel rounds and reload with a clip of regular rounds the Masked Woman made available, stashing the other two clips in the pockets of my suit and reholster the gun.

"Hey, are there any shipping tags or anything on that crate? What about tracking devices; any of you wiggly-fingered chummers check it for magical signatures yet?"

I spend the next little while of our ride towards Aspen working on repairing the broken links and hacking some MARKs on all of them before sifting through the data on them to present to the rest.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: GrimWulf on <09-05-14/1122:12>
Ohanzee sits quietly for most of the talking, trying to sort things out in his head. When the question comes up about contacts in Aspen he pipes up.

"So yeah, I got an acquaintance in Aspen.  I get the feeling that either a) I'm pissed off at her, b) she's pissed at me, c) we were working for her... 'b' might link with 'c' in that case.  Or d) She's psycho crazy and just wants in my pants... Again?"

After hearing about the contents of the crate and the possibility of being a statue or some other piece of work Ohanzee tries hard to recall any information he may have on it.  It seemed like he was interested in archaeology when he was talking to Gloria.

He takes the advice to try and astrally perceive the crate, if he can figure that bit out... magic people do that kinda stuff right?
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ravensoracle on <09-05-14/1447:26>
The Crumpled Man is mostly quiet throughout the ride. He nods thanks at the masked woman as she heals him. He then begins to give each member of the group a triage check-up and does what he can to patch up their injuries. Most of the words that do come out of his mouth are simple directions  "Raise your arm...Move this way...of course it's gonna hurt..." simple stuff along those lines.

While he is patching up one of his patients he slides a hardware kit over to help with repairing the broken comms. "I'll help repair gear when I am done with the living."

Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <09-05-14/1450:11>
"Jeez, will you please cut it out with the colour drek, big guy? How about we all just use the names we've found or chosen for ourselves; in case you forgot, you can call me APB. My scream sheet certainly indicates there's probably an open warrant or five on me somewhere, so if we meet any cops I'll just sit right here and be very very quiet."

"What would you have me call the two groups, then APB? I'm comfortable with calling them whatever makes you feel better." staring him blankly in the eye.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: martinchaen on <09-05-14/1558:04>
I give the troll a deadpan stare back.

"Screw different groups, main. Ain't nothing here but one group of people, and we're all in the mud together."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <09-05-14/1756:20>
I give the troll a deadpan stare back.

"Screw different groups, main. Ain't nothing here but one group of people, and we're all in the mud together."

"Well, i for one would like to know more about the past. And if we go back further than yesterday, we are indeed two teams. Check your own comm if you don't believe me. I'll bet my commcode does not appear before then."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <09-05-14/1849:39>
The Masked Woman finishes one of her preparations then tucks it away into one of the many pockets on her lined coat. She starts working on another, pausing occasionally to chime in.

"I want to know more too. But we're 15 minutes out from Aspen and we need a destination, somewhere to lay low while we sort it all out.

"I don't know if what Reggie was saying is true or not but odds are good at least one of the hunters has someone who will call it in if they don't make contact in the morning. It's 01:15 now, so that gives us, what, 8 to 12 hours before this vehicle gets flagged. We need new arrangements well before then, a doss that can accommodate seven metas and a giant crate while we get our heads straight.

"Anybody know a problem-solver, or even just a friendly face? The shadows of Aspen aren't that dark, which is going to make it tough to hide. Ohanzee, what about your lady friend? Anyone else know who we might have been headed to see?"
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <09-05-14/2142:13>
"I want to know more too. But we're 15 minutes out from Aspen and we need a destination, somewhere to lay low while we sort it all out.

"I don't know if what Reggie was saying is true or not but odds are good at least one of the hunters has someone who will call it in if they don't make contact in the morning. It's 01:15 now, so that gives us, what, 8 to 12 hours before this vehicle gets flagged. We need new arrangements well before then, a doss that can accommodate seven metas and a giant crate while we get our heads straight.

"Anybody know a problem-solver, or even just a friendly face? The shadows of Aspen aren't that dark, which is going to make it tough to hide. Ohanzee, what about your lady friend? Anyone else know who we might have been headed to see?"

Uncle Sam looks grim when he answers her. "I say we get as close to Aspen as we dare, then ditch the rover before security gets too tight and make it into the city proper via some other means. As for friendly faces, I don't trust anyone on this commlink yet. The fact is, at least I, but more likely WE have been set up and betrayed by someone or multiple someones we trust. For NOW at least, if they did not wake up in a flipped over van an hour ago, I don't trust them." He shakes his head and frowns as he speaks.

He fiddles with his commlink a bit

>> Send Message
  >> Contact: Ohanzee, Chino, Crumpliah
    >> Message: I trust some of us more than others. Apparently, I have a long standing working history with you three, if this link is to be believed. I'll be frank with you. I fear that either our group betrayed them or their group betrayed us. I'm forwarding you a conversation between myself and the Johnson for the job we were on before the accident. Its contents lead me to believe that WE were the ones targeted.

>> Send File
  >> Contact: Ohanzee, Chino, Crumplemintz
    >> File: Johnson transcript.Doc
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ren on <09-06-14/0311:51>
Ace looked up from fiddling with his commlink. "I also have people in my contact list, some in Aspen. I agree with Sam, though, that for now, we should get by without using them. Sooner or later, though, we will have to contact them, if we want to know what the hell happened yesterday." He looked at Sam. "So, why don't we use Reggie's contact to get some safehouse and supplies? He is into some well-paying crime, i suppose he has his ways to get his hands on most things we immediately need."

He also sent a message to the Masked Woman and APB. >>Hey, do you have anything on this commcode? Does the name Susan or Ileana ring a bell? Found your commcodes in my contact list, so i figured, maybe we can put something more together if we share." He watched for their reactions carefully.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <09-06-14/0317:15>
Ace looked up from fiddling with his commlink. "I also have people in my contact list, some in Aspen. I agree with Sam, though, that for now, we should get by without using them. Sooner or later, though, we will have to contact them, if we want to know what the hell happened yesterday." He looked at Sam. "So, why don't we use Reggie's contact to get some safehouse and supplies? He is into some well-paying crime, i suppose he has his ways to get his hands on most things we immediately need."

"Good idea, Ace. That's exactly what we do." He looks around at the rest of the group. "Any objections?"
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <09-06-14/0347:03>
The Masked Woman thinks about Sam's question for a moment while continuing to inscribe and hum. She pauses to take a breath and respond.

"APB, do we have any communication going back and forth between Reggie and Vinny the Bear? If Reggie comm'd that he was on his way then Vinny will be expecting him any moment. If we show up at the exact same time instead, without references or introductions, then it's going to look bad and get us off on the wrong foot. But maybe one of you is a sweeter talk than I am." She glances around the van, reasonably confident that someone is endowed with more social graces than she is.

Finishing up her fourth and final preparation, she pockets it carefully, knowing that the next touch will trigger the spell. She leans back, positioning her claymore as best she can, to rest from the fatigue of casting. She looks at APB, waiting for her reply, while comming APB and Ace separately from the group.

@ APB + Ace
<<My good SIN has the name Ileana on it, although it barely rings any bells for me. Evidently we trusted each other enough to be using good names. I might go back to street handle with the group until more pieces fall into place. Ace, I've got your photo on a message from four weeks ago saying that I could find you somewhere in Aspen. It suggests your involvement was key to the task or plan, whatever those were.>>

<<It dawns on me that we could be a second team, either competition or a parallel team hired by the Johnson. Red team and Blue team both have separate magic, Matrix, and muscle resources. The only wrinkle is that our team doesn't have an obvious way to move a crate that heavy. So were we babysitters? Backup? I can't remember anything.>>
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Novocrane on <09-06-14/0433:41>
Chino muses silently in the driver's seat while others throw ideas around, trying to fit it all together like an ill-treated jigsaw puzzle - parts scattered, others missing, and the box replaced - featureless grey cardboard staring him in the face instead of a picture of a park or other scenery. Little of it lines up to him, and the theories even less so. His expression mirrors his souring mood, and he keeps driving towards Aspen as others debate their actual destination.

... If the crate and contents is valuable enough that we were hired to steal it, then betrayed over payment, why do we still have it? If getting shot at and crashing were separate events, why did we crash?

Without an answer to give, Chino uses the driving time to slowly roll up his sleeves one after the other, glancing at the tattoo work and feeling for a way to appraise or empower the qi - if he hasn't unwittingly done so already.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <09-06-14/0446:49>
Without an answer to give, Chino uses the driving time to slowly roll up his sleeves one after the other, glancing at the tattoo work and feeling for a way to appraise or empower the qi - if he hasn't unwittingly done so already.

You examine the tattoos on your arms, the intricate patterns reminding you of the power held within. It's a Force 1 Qi Focus that grants you the Spirit Claw power.

At the same time, the tattoo on your face tingles as you channel your magic into it, your vision shifting towards the astral. It's a Force 4 Qi Focus that grants you the power of Astral Perception. You have Assensing 2.

(The description of the tattoos is up to you.)
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: martinchaen on <09-06-14/1554:22>

>> Message from Ace:
>>Hey, do you have anything on this commcode? Does the name Susan or Ileana ring a bell? Found your commcodes in my contact list, so i figured, maybe we can put something more together if we share."[/quote]

Jeeze, these guys must have gotten their heads knocked harder than I thought.

>> Message to Ace, Ileana
>> Yup, like I already told you, one of my IDs is Susan. I haven't got much else to go on, though. As for traffic, let me finish up working these things and I'll be good to go.

Grabbing the toolkit that's been offered, I incline my head and get to work.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: GrimWulf on <09-07-14/0334:18>
Ohanzee lets the others know what he learned about the contents of the crate, including the fact that it very well could be some type of magic artefact.  This Gloria might be a better bet to visit now that it seems her area of expertise.  Maybe she's the Johnson?
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <09-08-14/1934:16>
The Masked Woman listens to the Dwarf's description of the crate and his contact.

"Ohanzee, it sounds like Gloria might be someone you were... pumping for information. If you're still on good terms then she might help answer the question of what this is and why someone wants it. I doubt she's awake at 1 in the morning though."

She turns and looks at the Troll. "Sam, you have a theory about the Johnson betraying us. Did you have some back-and-forth with the Johnson? That would suggest that you're our frontman with him or her. Is there a commcode we can trace? Might give us a clue."

She thinks about the how the conversation with Vinny might go. "It doesn't sound like Reggie and Vinny were chummer-chummer, just business. He might be disappointed but maybe some nuyen will smooth things over. What's the going rate for a safehouse? Ą250 a night per person? I can cover a night or two for myself but don't have much more than that."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ravensoracle on <09-09-14/1812:28>
The Crumpled Man looks up from his latest patient. "If we aren't wanting to make it all the way to Aspen maybe we can find an old lodge or resort that is out of business. Or if we can't find one out of business to hole up in then maybe on that has some out of the way cabins we can hack our way into."

He seems to be thinking over things in his head.

"I'll look into that."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <09-09-14/1833:08>
It would be pitch black outside were it not for the headlights of the rover, and with the snow starting to fall more heavily, visibility is becoming increasingly poor. On top of that, the road often twists and turns at sharp angles around the side of the mountain, requiring Chino to keep a fairly slow pace. 50 years ago, this highway would have been closed this time of year due to the heavy snow blocking the road, but corporate interests in keeping a route to Aspen open year round resulted in a rebuilt highway to make it harder for snow to pile on top of it, and regular plowing. Even so, you see some encroachment of snow into the road, and Chino has to occasionally slow even further to drive around it.

It's 1:45 AM when APB finishes fixing up the comms and starts cracking the personal info of the four men you murdered tonight. You're about  8 kilometers out from Aspen, and nearing the Difficult Campground, which would suit your needs of being totally abandoned this time of year if you decide to stop.

The Crumpled Man's deck flashes, briefly lighting the interior of the rover with the blue glow of the crystal screen.

>> SONY CIY-720
>>> Attack 4 Sleaze 5 Data Processing 6 Firewall 7(8)
>>>Active Programs: Encryption,  Armor, Biofeedback Filter, Agent

>>Agent Message: New Device Detected!
>> Device ID: UNKNOWN
>> Location: Within 100 meters
>> This Device is Running Silent


Looks like your Agent has noticed a new device in the Running Silent list, one that isn't among the devices in the rover and in the possession of your new companions. It has not yet spotted it, but only being able to tell you that it's within 100 meters.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ravensoracle on <09-09-14/1850:58>
Before the crumpled man can even begin the search, his agent alerts him to the new device.

"Got a device running silent that just showed up within 100 meters of us. Going to check it out."

Before he even gets a response he drops back into where he was seated, apparently unconscious.


>>>Text: Team Channel
"Searching for unknown device."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <09-09-14/1919:11>
The Masked Woman mentally gathers in the mana around her as she begins to focus on a spell. There's a dip in the light around her, followed by a glow like the light of a campfire that surrounds her like a halo. She whispers "melegar versakhansa" and the glow passes. She stares off into the distance, concentrating on a new sense.

She shudders a bit, as if taken with a sudden chill, and then her attention returns to the van.

"We have hostiles. Metahuman. I don't know how many. Behind us, and above. I don't know if they're on the cliffs or airborne."

She glances at those toward the back of the van, wondering if the passengers there can see out the rear window. Then she looks around for a seatbelt. Finding none, she grips her claymore tighter lest it become a sharp pointy object flying around an enclosed space.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <09-09-14/1931:20>
"Got a device running silent that just showed up within 100 meters of us. Going to check it out."


>>>Text: Team Channel
"Searching for unknown device."

Uncle Sam immediately snaps into action. Holding his rifle at the ready, he stands and puts his back to the window before pulling the curtain about an inch to the side with the rifle barrel and peeking outside, into the snowy blackness.

"Look alive, people! We have visitors!"
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <09-09-14/2003:23>
The Masked Woman positions herself to astrally project.

"Be right back. Going to take a peek."

She pauses before she goes, adding, "Ohanzee, be a dear and conjure us some backup, please."

Then she slips away from her physical form. She looks at the projection of her weapon focus that has followed her to the astral plane, then gives in a quick flip with her wrist. Rising out of the van slowly, she keeps on the lookout for magical threats before examining the pursuing helicopter and its inhabitants.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <09-09-14/2019:59>
"Behind us! Airborn! Ninety meters up, forty out!"

Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ravensoracle on <09-09-14/2022:32>
>>>Nissan Hound Incoming, Creating ARO to tag the copter.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <09-09-14/2120:36>
The Masked Woman leaves her physical body and ascends on the astral towards the shape of the helicopter above you, her astral senses keen and not seeing any immediate threats outside the vehicle. As she passes through its hull into the passenger cabin, she finds a room filled with heavily armed metahumans, mostly humans and orks, all sitting around with a sense of tension in them, as well as a distinct kind of boredom and disappointment. They are looking for something, waiting for something to happen, and growing increasingly dubious that it actually will. At least two of them are playing cards.

She counts 6 men sitting in the back, near the rear hatch of the helicopter. Turning around, she sees two more men, one seemingly wired into the vehicle with a thick visor over his eyes, laying motionless, with an aura that suggests his mind is extremely active. The other is Dual Natured and actively astrally perceiving, staring right at her. His magic is weaker than hers, but the shock of being spotted dulls her reactions as he stands from his seat and shouts something into the body of the craft. The emotional content is of alarm and anger, and instantly everyone else in the helicopter begins to stir, their emotions becoming focused and the tension rising as they find their waiting at an end.

Combat Turn 1:

Decker Lieutenant: 30
Enemies: 26
Crumpled: 22
Agent: 20
APB: 20
Sam: 18
Chino: Initiative 9 + 2d6 (http://orokos.com/roll/220200): 2d6+9 17
Ace: Initiative 7 +2d6 (http://orokos.com/roll/220199): 2d6+7 16
Magician Lieutenant: 15
Ohanzee: Initiative 7 +1d6 (http://orokos.com/roll/220201): 1d6+7 10
Mask: 9

Decker Lieutenant & Enemies:
(http://img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/1370/00/1370009499352.jpg)


It is Crumpled's Turn.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ravensoracle on <09-09-14/2219:23>
The Crumpled Man slips into the sweet embrace of VR. He could tell from the senses he felt that this was more home fro him than the flesh. He takes a moment to admire his icon. It looked like anyother nondescript generic icon of a man in a business suit until you looked closer to read the code that made up the pin stripes. Damn some of that is some vulgar drek. I was really screwed up before wasn't I He thinks to himself.

 He slowly rises away from the icons of the van and it's inhabitants, focusing his mind toward the task of identifying the device that had approached running silent. He finds it at the same time his agent does. The agent taking the form of a small stone gargoyle. The agent manages a better look at it and whispers in Crumpled's ear.

"No wonder they are so hard to spot. That's not a bad Firewall and it's slaved."  He looks at his gargoyle companion. "Guard the Deck!" He commands before resuming his attention on his newly discovered prey.

His icon gains a fluidity and almost slithers around the icon of the Hound. He carresses the icon letting just a hint of smoke slip into the device.

"Tell me who is your Master."



Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <09-10-14/0410:00>
"Tell me who is your Master."

The icon of the Nissan Hound has a mark slowly burned into it, and you can see a line of data traveling from it to an icon nearby that was formerly hidden to you. The persona looks like a man in some kind of heavily mechanized suit in jet black with red lights on his visor and gear. Your mark forms on him as well, and you've found the enemy decker.

You recognize several parts of the equipment he carries are representations of the programs he has running, but you can't tell what programs they are without making a Matrix Perception. The most noticeable one is the massive cannon mounted on his left shoulder.

It is now Uncle Sam's turn.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <09-10-14/0418:14>
It is simply not possible that that chopper is NOT looking for us, and once they scan us, they'll get the first shot off. Fuck that.

"FIRING!" The bulky russian shouts though the rover a moment before throwing open the window and hanging his rifle out the window. Seeing the vague shape of the helicopter through the snow and darkness in an ARO brought up by his goggles, he gets his shot just right before giving the mental order to FIRE the underbarrel grenade launcher. Despite the range, the bumpy ride, the poor visibility, and the overall tricky-ness of the shot, he feels calm, almost bored as he relies nearly all on muscle memory to put the 'nade right on it's mark.

After firing, he pulls back inside the vehicle all the way, counting in his head for a moment before 2..3..4...Detonate He can hear and almost feel the explosion high in the air behind him and he allows himself a small peak out the window again to assess the damage, if any.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <09-10-14/0421:02>
Uncle Sam takes a shot out the rear window of the rover, gracefully arcing a fragmentation grenade into the air toward where he believes the helicopter to be. It explodes in a brief flash of energy, and the sound of the boom rumbles through the air and rattles the windows in the rover. The Hound swerves a little, then a blinding spotlight turns on, completely illuminating the rover in a circle of light. They definitely know you're there, now.

The flare compensation in your goggles kicks in, completely removing the glare as an issue. Honestly, you can see the helicopter better now. They just did you a favor.

It is now Chino's turn.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Novocrane on <09-10-14/1047:11>
Chino jolts out of a complacency brought on by a mix of fatigue, drowsily warm AC, and slow driving as the shouting starts. Passing through surprise, anger, and excitement in one muttered vowel movement, he reflexively eases a foot down on the gas. All thought of their greater situation recedes into the background as they pick up speed.

"You will know us by our trail, eh?" he growls, attention split between the winding road and sparse AR feeds.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: martinchaen on <09-11-14/1035:14>
As soon as I hear the warning about an icon running silent, I drop into VR and look around. How the hell did I miss this!? Now that I know to look for it, it stands out worse than a sore thumb, ugly motherfragger that it is with it's high-end firewall. This could get interesting...

My black-clad icon discards the katana in favour of simple set of gloves, and I immediately get to work. I rip snippets of code out of the Matrix and cobble them together into what looks something like Crumple's Agent program, and with a mental command sick it on the newly discovered icon like an attack dog off its leash. The thing snarls furiously and heads straight for its target, and I follow after it while preparing a few utils of my own to try and guide the attacks of my new creation.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <09-11-14/1616:56>
Chino uses his considerable skill at driving that he just now remembers he has to push the rover forward, hugging the curves of the mountain as efficiently as he can in an attempt to break away from the helicopter. He starts gaining some distance, trying to break away entirely, but the pilot in the chopper pulls away from the mountains, keeping the spotlight aimed at the rover while flying out over the trees on the hill.

You count as being at Extreme range. there is a 90 meter distance between the Rover and the helicopter.

At the same time, APB's matrix creation sinks its digital teeth into the icon of the Nissan Hound, initially looking like it was about to be repelled before an extra push from APB broke through the Device's defense. flashing red alarm warnings visibly appear before the decker's persona, and he immediately spots APB and her hound. (APB now has 0 edge left.)

Back in the meat, a bit of smoke seems to be rising out of the Nissan Hound, almost lost in the darkness of the night, but it flies steadily on.

It is now Ace's turn.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: GrimWulf on <09-12-14/1950:47>
Ohanzee reaches... out with his mind, calling to the spirits of the land.  Clutching at the pendant on his neck he begins to sing in Lakota, calling the spirit of air the trickster.  Lightning flashes before his closed eyes as a Raven spirit answers, obviously unhappy that it has been called to work on this cold day.  Ohanzee fights a mental battle, pitting will against will, bargaining with his life force to have the spirit to come to his aid. The wind howls around him as it whips at his astral self. With a howled challenge in response he brings it around to his will, forcing it (for the moment) to obey him.

He snaps back to reality mere seconds have passed, he calls out to the freshly bound spirit commanding it to try and confuse the pilot of the metal bird befouling the skies above.

He then slumps back, spots of light bright in his eyes and pain wracking his body as his body tries to fight off the effects of the spirit resisting him.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <09-12-14/2000:23>
Ace:

Realizing his own weapons aren't well suited to shooting at a helicopter, Ace goes for Reggie's Springfield M1A, picking it up and making sure it's ready to fire.

(Simple Action: Pick Up Item. Simple Action: Ready Weapon)

Acc
DV
AP
Mode
RC
Ammo
6
12P
-1
SA
-
20(c)

Magician Lieutenant:

The Magician focuses his mind and strikes out at the aura of the Masked Woman, astrally attacking her with the intent to shred soul. But she is accustomed to this kind of attack, and defends herself, easily deflecting the Magician's force of will.

Ohanzee:

The massive spirit raven caws in the astral, flapping its wings and circling your aura while eying you with a degree of distaste.

'Your power is beneath me, shaman. I can see the pain in your aura, the way your body bleeds from the effort to summon me. But I am merciful. I will grant you two services, but no more.' His voice echoes astrally in your mind, waiting for your first request.

Air Spirit: Astral Initiative 16 + 3d6 (http://orokos.com/roll/220874): 3d6+16 25 -10 for appearing mid-combat. Its turn is now, so you can spend a Free Action to give it a command.

He snaps back to reality mere seconds have passed, he calls out to the freshly bound spirit commanding it to try and confuse the pilot of the metal bird befouling the skies above.

The Raven Spirit seems to chuckle, flying away from the dwarf. 'A fitting task. Very well, it will be done.' The Raven spirit leaves the rover, flying up to the Nissan hound, and passes through the hull of the ship into the cockpit before Materializing.

Initiative Change (http://orokos.com/roll/220878): 1d6 1

The Air Spirit now has Initiative 18.

It is now The Masked Woman's turn.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <09-12-14/2032:32>
The Masked Woman lets the focused hate and anger of the enemy magician wash over her harmlessly, seemingly accustomed to such strong emotions. In response, she mentally flips her claymore around in a blink, then concentrates her will like a growing storm. She unleashes it in a flash, slingshoting forward like a hurricane blast. She targets the source of rage and loathing, trying to lance it from the astral plane.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <09-13-14/1702:52>
The Magician seems just as capable on the astral as the Masked Woman, taking the mental attack and disrupting it until it passes him harmlessly.

Combat Turn 1, Pass 2

Decker Lieutenant: 20
APB's Sprite: 20
Enemies: 16
Crumpled: 12
APB: 10
Sam: 8
Air Spirit: 8
Chino: 7
Ace: 6
Magician Lieutenant: 5
Dwarf: 0
Agent: 0
Mask: 0

The Decker's massive shoulder cannon revs up, the barrel splitting in two before a pair of red lasers trailing black electricity arcs out of it, aiming for APB's Sprite and the icon for the Rover. At the same time, the Sprite strikes at the Nissan's icon again, trying to sink its digital teeth in.

The Decker's first laser hits the sprite and knocks it away from the Nissan Hound, causing its attempted attack to fail. It successfully defends against the Decker's attack, but still takes the reflected damage from the failed data spike against the Nissan Hound. (The Sprite takes 3 matrix damage).

The second blast flies into the rover's icon and burns a mark into it shaped like a targeting reticle.

Enemies:

The Nissan Hound's icon disappears from the matrix as the pilot switches the wireless off, leaving only the decker behind, as well as the list of Running Silent icons that you assume belongs to the soldiers in the back of the Hound.

Back in the meat, the rear hatch of the helicopter opens and the soldiers start taking positions to take aim at the Rover before opening fire.

Chino gets to make a few Defense Tests. Reaction is 6, Intuition is 3. Willpower is 5 if you choose to Full Defense. You have 3 Edge if you choose to use it. You may make the Vehicle equivalent of a Gymnastics Dodge by adding your Pilot Skill to the dodge roll, but then you add the Handling as a limit on your dice pool. You do get +1 Handling for using AR, so your Handling is 6.

Enemy 1: Full Auto fire. Reaction + Intuition -9 for Full Auto.
Enemy 2: Burst fire. Reaction + Intuition -6; -5 for burst, -1 for defending previously.
Enemy 3: Burst fire. Reaction + Intuition - 7; -5 for burst, -2 for defending previously.

It is then Crumpled's turn.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ravensoracle on <09-13-14/1747:46>
The Crumpled Man cusses as the icon for the Nissan Hound disappears. I wanted to bring the damn thing down on their heads.

Instead of having that joy, he's forced to concentrate on the next target;The Master device. His icon slither's around the persona of the decker. Slipping behind the combat monster as the decker unleashes the attack on the rover and the sprite.

The Crumpled Man focuses all of his skill and determination to place another 2 Marks on the device. Smoke slinks through the armor of the enemy decker. A second and third Suit and Tie appear next to the one that the Crumpled Man has already managed.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <09-15-14/1458:13>
A hail of gunfire erupts from the back of the helicopter as Chino floors it and weaves back and forth to minimize the damage. You can all hear the thuds of bullets striking the outer walls of the rover, and several bullets that tear through the engine compartment, but Chino keeps driving on.

It is now APB's turn.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <09-16-14/1446:51>
Perhaps if he'd been a more tech minded individual, Sam might have thought about hacking the helicopter. But he doesn't really understand all that matrix stuff. What he does understand is trajectory, target speed, and structurally weak points in vehicles. He's searching the seams of the chopper for signs of damage from the last hit, when the most wonderful thing happens. He grins sadistically when he sees it.

Are you good folks REALLY opening the hatch for me? Oh no. Don't do that.

He adjusts his aim ever so slightly and, watching through the range finder ARO of these amazing goggles he woke up with, he squeezes the trigger. He can barely see the tiny little can as it arcs through the night sky and disappears into the open hatch full of angry men with sputtering weapons. A moment later, he gives the mental command to >Detonate<
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <09-16-14/1520:52>
The shooting stops as the grenade arcs up towards the helicopter and the men in the back hatch start to scramble to get out of the way. Two actually leap out of the vehicle altogether and take their chances in the trees below while the rest rush back inside, trying to take cover. There's a loud explosion and a puff of smoke out of the back of the vehicle, which seems to dip slightly in altitude, but otherwise continues flying.

On the matrix, several of the Running Silent icons suddenly vanish from the list, unexpectedly disconnected from the Matrix. The Decker's icon is still present.

In the cockpit, Ohanzee's spirit gets to work, using its powers to confuse the pilot. The helicopter begins to fly sluggishly, and somewhat erratically.

It is now Ace's turn.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <09-17-14/2141:26>
Ace moves to the side window and rests the barrel of the hunting rifle on the edge, aiming through the scope towards the Helicopter, putting it in his sights for a moment before shifting his aim upwards, towards the rotor, intent to take out the Engine directly.

Simple Action: Take Aim
Free Action: Called Shot (Engine Block)
Simple Action: Fire Weapon

Agility 9 + Longarms 4 - Environment 1 - Called Shot 4 (http://orokos.com/roll/222213): 8d6t5 1
Edge Reroll (http://orokos.com/roll/222215): 7d6t5 3

With a loud retort, the rifle fires, and a small explosion of light and sparks is visible in the space where the rotors connect to the body of the vehicle. Smoke begins to rise and the helicopter begins moving erratically before falling from the sky, crashing into the trees below while billowing clouds of black smoke.

On the matrix, the Decker's icon blinks, going fuzzy for a moment while his persona seems to stumble. From what you can see under the helmet of his icon, his face looks pained, and he seems confused. More Running Silent icons have vanished from the matrix.

The Masked woman sees men rush towards the back of the helicopter, their auras shining with surprise and fear before a great explosion on the physical plane snuffs several of them out. The magician ducks for cover behind a wall on the opposite side of the craft from the decker, and comes out unharmed. He stands after the smoke clears, confused and angry, and preparing to attack The Masked Woman again. Then, the entire craft shakes and begins to fall from the sky, and the Magician loses his footing and briefly floats in terrified freefall before impact with the tree line hurls him against the door to the cockpit and cracks his skull, breaks his neck, shatters parts of his arm and collarbone and ruptures multiple organs. He collapses to the floor in a heap as his astral form fades and his aura begins to leave him.

He should have been wearing a safety belt.

Combat Turn 1, Pass 3:

Decker Lieutenant: 10
Enemies: 6
Crumpled: 2
Sam: 0
Air Spirit: 0
Chino: 0
Ace: 0
Dwarf: 0
Agent: 0
Mask: 0

The Decker seems to have lost interest in you, more concerned with the horrible pain he feels dully from the meat, and promptly jacks out. His icon De-rezzes and disappears from the matrix.

Enemies:

(http://img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/1370/00/1370009499352.jpg)

It is Crumpled's Turn.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <09-18-14/0139:04>
Sam watches his handiwork from the window of the rover with grim intensity. As soon as he sees the men leaping from the hound, he's filled with the urge to do the same, track them down the mountain and find out what's really going on. Then, he sees the chopper start losing altitude from the engine shot and it's nearly too much to bear. He shouts over the comm, "Chino! Stop and let me off! I'm going to get some answers from these men!"
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <09-18-14/0332:38>
The Masked Woman pauses for a moment at the surreal nature of seeing a helicopter go down from the inside out while remaining unharmed. With the death of the enemy magician, she floats out the back of the Hound and considers the scene below. She glances about for signs of the men who jumped out the back (or were blown out - she doesn't know) and fell to the earth. This would be easier with thermographics, she thinks to herself, her astral vision blinded by the bright, dense colors of the forest beneath her. Uncertain of whether the men who jumped would have survived - perhaps they were broken on trees in much the way the magician was - it's unclear to her if there are any living auras to see.

She looks up, trying to pick out the van as it continues down the road. She can barely spy Sam and Ace hanging out the windows, Sam's aura both anxious and intense. She catches up to the van in a blink, then rejoins her physical form. She opens her eyes, shaking off the momentary disorientation that comes every time she projects and then again when she returns to her body. APB and the Crumpled Man are still limp, just as they were when she left them, but what is this spreading pool of red on the floor? Her nose twitches as she smells the red mist hanging in the air.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <09-18-14/1558:21>
As the adrenaline of recent combat calms down, you begin to notice that APB isn't simply motionless from a VR trance, as you glance her way and see the blood splatter across the passenger seat, window and dashboard. A whistling sound of cold wind above you draws your attention to the bullet holes in the ceiling of the rover, and you can easily gather that a few rounds from their last attack made it through the car and hit her directly. Lucky shots, or unlucky, as the case may be.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ravensoracle on <09-18-14/1603:46>
The Crumpled Man lets out a scream of rage as a second target dissappears from his grasp. It must be one hell of a fight happening in the meat. He moves on quickly he begins looking for other targets. He spots two more appealing targets and he quickly heads for them. He sends off a message to the team chat before he strikes.

"Don't know what you guys are doing out there but my target rich environment is quickly dissappearing. At least leave the comms intact so I can scour them for information."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <09-18-14/1604:59>
The Crumpled Man lets out a scream of rage as a second target dissappears from his grasp. It must be one hell of a fight happening in the meat. He moves on quickly he begins looking for other targets. He spots two more appealing targets and he quickly heads for them. He sends off a message to the team chat before he strikes.

"Don't know what you guys are doing out there but my target rich environment is quickly dissappearing. At least leave the comms intact so I can scour them for information."

"Roger that."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <09-18-14/1633:44>
The Masked Woman sees the splash of blood, follows the angle to the ceiling, then back down to APB's head.

<<drek, man down>> she comms tersely, jumping up from her slumped position. She sets her claymore aside as securely as she can and then moves forward to the passenger seat.

The situation is grim. On the astral, APB's aura is fading quickly. She presses her fingers to APB's neck but doesn't feel anything. Maybe that's the gloves though. But her thermographics don't see any telltale pulse, and she can't hear any breathing either.

<<medic>> she comms, turning to look at Crumpled, who was good with a medkit earlier. He's still out though, hacking away somewhere.

Not knowing what else to do, she reaches for another throwing knife to start another preparation. It's hopeless and she knows it, since it's going to take a minute at least - and that's with regents - but APB only has seconds, if that. It's too late, but this at least keeps her hands busy.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ravensoracle on <09-18-14/1819:49>
...<<drek, man down>>...<<medic>>...

Shit, Shit, Shit...<<Shit, Shit, Shit>>..."Shit, shit, shit, SHIT!"

The Crumpled Man nearly suffered dumpshock from the way he threw himself out of the matrix and back into the flesh. He jolted up, the expletives rushing from his mouth. The rush of combat seemed to be gone as he leaned over APB. It didn't take a medical degree to see that APB was beyond saving. It only took turning her head gently to the side. He closed his eyes and mumbled something under his breath. He then moved APB's head back and closed her eyes.

He slammed a hand against the wall of the van giving a somewhat defeated look. He places a hand on the Masked Woman's arm "No need to waste the time."

He looked around the back of the van taking in the additional bullet holes. "What happened while I was under?" He seems to say with a strained voice.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <09-19-14/0002:39>
The Masked Woman stops her preparation when the Crumpled Man touches her arm. She spins the throwing knife over her knuckles.

"I don't know what happened; I was out fencing with their magical support. The copter hit the tree line and took him out first."

The Masked Woman doesn't seem overly broken up by APB's fate, as the elf had not done much to endear herself. That said, the Masked Woman is very much regretting the loss of what APB might have remembered, given enough time.

Live and learn. Die and forget... unless you're and expert system. -Zapper Weisman

APB and the Masked Woman had been on Team Red together, which just got smaller. An admittedly unstable situation feels even more precarious now. And APB's corpse is that much more of a mess added to an already messy situation. There's probably a limit to how many bodies you can throw over the side of a snowy cliff in the middle of the night. How close or far the team is from that limit is an open question.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: GrimWulf on <09-19-14/1418:13>
Ohanzee stares out the window for a bit, in awe of the helicopters sudden demise. He had thought for sure they were up drek creek without a paddle. He looks up to the passenger seat where he felt he should be sitting.  The mess that's there brings him a sense of remorse and relief at the same time. Had she not already been there that would have been him.

"Lets stop. We need some answers. These guys seemed to know who we were.... I'd like that same info."

He mentally calls out to Raven.  Thank you honoured spirit. I release you of your bond of an additional task. May you ever finds favourable winds.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ravensoracle on <09-20-14/2224:20>
The Crumpled Man seems to be distracted for a moment. The look on his face is one often seen on those looking at AR. After a few seconds he does a full on facepalm with his un-cybered hand. He makes a flick of the cybered hand sending the data files across the teams comm channel.

Suddenly several windows open up showing:

.... ID for the soldiers, which identify them as a Knight Errant security HTR squad. There's also a file with an image of a strange metallic statue or tablet or something. Just looks like a weird geometric shape to you. There are also several pictures of you, Uncle Sam, Chino and Ohanzee, which look like they were taken from security cameras.

There's also a video. When played, it shows a camera with an outside view of some structure, pointed at a wall. Then the wall explodes outwards and Chino stumbles through, looking like he just kicked the wall open like it was a door with a bad latch. Following him are yourself and Ohanzee, who is gesturing towards the crate and levitating it through. Then Uncle Sam comes out, walking backwards while firing back through the breach on full auto.

"Does anyone NOT see how totally dreked we are. I think we need to be getting the hell outta here cause we just took out a full on Knight Errant HTR team. I don't want to be around when their backups arrive. But that's just me personally."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <09-21-14/0254:40>
The mask hides any expression on The Masked Woman's face as she reviews the video footage sent by The Crumpled Man. Finally, she nods.

"Sam, Ohanzee, I think we should keep moving. Unless we stole this thing from Knight Errant itself then they're just third-party security looking to find and retrieve the crate and perhaps us. The secteam members aren't going to know anything more than what ..."

She pauses midsentence, suddenly realizing that she doesn't know what to call him. He seems like a smart guy and was good with the medkit so she'll start with that.

"... Doc here just uncovered. So, like the Doc says, let's not be here when reinforcements arrive."

Thinking of the inevitable reinforcements, she closes her eyes and concentrates the mana around her, adding another sense to warn her of nearby enemies. Her mind itches at the presence of the men who jumped out of the Hound, but then those itches are scratched as the men either expire on the cold slope or as they reassess their priorities for the evening. Her speaking slows as she retains her concentration on the sustained spell.

"Let's resume the plan previously in progress. Contacts. Vinny the Bear, Ohanzee's egghead, someone who can get us off the road and away from prying eyes until we figure out our next steps. We can scan the campsites but I'm not optimistic about there being a lot of campers out in weather like this."

She sits back, trying to focus on her spell and the team's next steps, and not on the smell of APB on the dashboard.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Novocrane on <09-21-14/0259:44>
"Chino! Stop and let me off! I'm going to get some answers from these men!"
"Lets stop. We need some answers. These guys seemed to know who we were.... I'd like that same info."
"Does anyone NOT see how totally dreked we are. I think we need to be getting the hell outta here cause we just took out a full on Knight Errant HTR team. I don't want to be around when their backups arrive. But that's just me personally."

Chino sobers up from their brief moment of apparent success, as Crumpled outlines their situation. He still looks happier than before their run-in with what was apparently Ares' elite.

"... Frag it. You took care of those drekheads; you get five minutes from now til we leave, and if you're not running back to the Rover at that point, you can ask for a lift from whoever happens to turn up next. Deal?"

Or whatever, he thinks, reflecting for a moment on what security would send their way in retribution.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <09-21-14/1525:11>
"... Frag it. You took care of those drekheads; you get five minutes from now til we leave, and if you're not running back to the Rover at that point, you can ask for a lift from whoever happens to turn up next. Deal?"

The moment the rover stops moving, Sam drops his rifle, letting the sling catch it and leaps from the vehicle and sprints downhill toward the place where the chopper went down. As he runs, he sends a message to his team.

>> Send Message
  >> Recipient: Current group
    >> Message: If anyone's got a location on any of those links, send me an ARO, will you?

He knows it's dark and snowy and visibility is for shit down there. Not only that, but the chances of him getting ambushed while running loudly at full tilt through the trees are pretty high. But at this point, he's so high on rage, adrenaline, and wired reflexes, that he almost hopes one of those corporate bastards down there IS waiting for him. Cause if someone's still alive down there, and in good enough condition for an ambush, they're in good enough condition to have answers beaten out of them.

I wonder if i know how to fight without a gun. Ghost, I hope I'm not one of those guys who just counts on being big to win fights without ever learning shit about it.

Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <09-21-14/1614:28>
As Uncle Sam charges down the hill, he gets close enough to see a nice bright thermal spot through the trees from where the helicopter went down and is now apparently burning. It illuminates the area ahead for him, and lets him navigate through the trees without having to worry about running into anything. But as he goes, he hears a crunch of snow underfoot that wasn't from his own movement, and turns around in time to see a man in full body armor swinging his rifle butt first in an attempt to smash Sam's skull in.

Combat Turn 1:

Soldier 21
Uncle Sam 19

The soldier slams his rifle into your skull HARD, so hard it whips your head around and makes you stumble. You can hear the metallic ring of your own titanium plated skull vibrating as a feeling of pain blasts through your face, only to immediately and abruptly disappear. You suddenly remember you have Damage Compensators, and grin through your busted lip.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <09-21-14/1708:24>
In the flash of an instant between the time he turns to see the rapidly approaching rifle butt inches from his face and the time it cracks him right between the eyes, He sends off another message to the group. One hostile located. Immobilizing. Then CLANG! and for a split second, Sam wonders if he didn't just fuck up really bad. Then, all the pain disappears as quickly as it came, replaced instead by raw hatred. With two mighty steps forward, he's lifted the solider off the ground in a vicious bearhug and slammed him backwards into a tree, causing the joints of his heavy armor as well as the bark of the tree to creak and strain. The force of the hit would have liquified an unarmored foe, but Sam feels fairly certain that the man inside is just fine, despite his frantic struggling.

He constricts his tree trunk sized arms even harder around the little breeder, trying to make good and damn sure this bastard doesn't wriggle away as he sends another message to the team.

Target immoblized. Require assistance.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <09-21-14/1716:53>
Combat Turn 1, Pass 2:

Soldier 11
Uncle Sam 9

The Soldier spends all his effort struggling to break free, but the sudden shock of the attack briefly stunned him, and he puts up a weak attempt. Sam constricts more, and the soldier regains his senses and starts pushing back, showing off his augmented strength and weakening Sam's hold.

Combat Turn 1, Pass 3:

Soldier 1
Uncle Sam 0

The soldier forces Uncle Sam's arms apart, breaking away and putting some distance between you before adopting a fighting stance.

Combat Turn 2:

Soldier 18
Uncle Sam 18
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <09-21-14/1729:27>
Slowly, but surely, Sam can feel his grip weakening. Fuck ME! Whoever trains these bastards trains em WELL. If I ever wanna find out who the frak that is, I'd better step my game up. This guy is going to be harder to deal with than he thought, and his backup did not seem to be coming anytime soon. With a mighty heave, the armored man wrenches aside one of Sam's fingers, forcing him to abort his bearhug. In a flash, the man drops to the ground and rolls about 6 feet away before standing up and pausing for a moment. Oh no, don't do that. In an instant, Sam is crashing into his armored foe again, hoping to get his massive arms around him for a second time.

He's briefly aware of the swing that may or may not have connected during his charge, but he's certain he's got a good hold on his midsection though.

Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <09-21-14/1736:43>
The soldier seems to size you up, trying to read your moves, but doesn't have very long to do so before you immediately act. He responds with a jab aimed for your face, but you close too quickly and his aim is off, allowing you to bodily slam into him and grapple him again.

Combat Turn 2, Pass 2

Uncle Sam 8
Soldier 1

Uncle Sam tries to force the soldier to the ground, but he doesn't budge, and after a bit more struggling, he manages to break away once again.


>>Incoming Message
>>FROM: Ace
>>"Another one is coming out of the trees towards you. I'm moving to intercept."


Combat Turn 3

Uncle Sam 29
Soldier 1 20
Soldier 2 17
Masked 17
Ace 13
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <09-21-14/1830:03>
"ARRRRGH!" shouts the giant, as he tries and fails once again to get the upper hand over his opponent. He knows there's only a few moments before his friends show up and this gets a LOT harder. He was hoping to have one to use as a shield by the time another arrived, but that was looking less and less likely as the seconds ticked away.


>>Incoming Message
>>FROM: Ace
>>"Another one is coming out of the trees towards you. I'm moving to intercept."


FUCK! No more time to goof off here.
From time to time, when you're really afraid for your life, you can move incredibly fast. This is one of those times for Sam. With a speed that defies even his wired reflexes, he closes the distance between himself and the slippery little bastard and unleashes a flurry of punches at him, hoping beyond hope that he can lay the son of a bitch out before his friend draws a bead. Unfortunately, the little bastard is just too quick for him, even with the heavy armor. He easily avoids everything thrown at him, and even manages to dart inside Sam's defenses once, popping him in the chin with a glancing left.

ENRAGED, Sam continues his assault.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <09-21-14/1851:26>
A second soldier is making his way towards Uncle Sam with his gun raised, but Ace appears out of the darkness and snow to intercept him with shock hand crackling. The soldier is surprised and fails to defend, crying out in pain as several thousand volts courses through his body and sends him into convulsions. No longer focused on Uncle Sam, he turns his attention towards Ace.

Uncle Sam 29
Masked 17
Soldier 1 13 (20 -7 Counterstrike)
Soldier 2 12 (17 - 5 Electric damage)
Ace 8 (13 - 5 Intercept)

It is Masked Woman's turn.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <09-21-14/1852:46>
The Masked Woman is not entirely surprised to see her sensible advice go in one ear and out the other. She doesn't seem overly concerned about the heavily cybered troll, reasoning that he can almost certainly take care of himself against opponents who just hurled themselves out of a crashing helicopter.

She's only a few moments into her new preparation when Sam comms for assistance. Clearing her mind, she drops her sustained spell and moves to get a view of what's happening. She sees Sam tangling with a smaller but highly competent opponent. In her mind, she begins the formulations of a spell that will slow down the speedy HTR combatant.

@Sam
<<Hold fast. Will cinch him up once I get clear LOS.>>
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <09-21-14/1910:04>
The soldier holds his hands up in some kind of martial arts stance before moving forward to strike you with his palm.

Meanwhile, the other soldier points his assault rifle at Ace and goes full auto in an attempt to take him out immediately. But Ace is too close, and the soldier too injured from the earlier shock to get a proper shot off. Ace then closes the distance, hand crackling again as he grabs the soldier by the head and doesn't let up the electrocution until he goes limp.

Combat Turn 3, Pass 2

Uncle Sam 19
Masked 7
Soldier 1 3
Soldier 2 K.O
Ace 0
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <09-21-14/1945:35>
Hearing the sizzle of electricity behind him makes Sam feel a bit more secure on his flank than he did a moment ago as he madly swings haymaker after haymaker at the soldier before him. He STILL can't get a good hit off on him; the little man is just too fast. He keeps throwing jabs aimed at nerve centers and palm strikes intended to blind and disable Sam, and sooner or later, one of them is going to connect. Once Ace has zazzed his guy, it will be two against one, but I'll never live it down. I'm supposed to be the big bad killer, here, RIGHT?! Then, like a blessing sent from above, the words in the bottom left of his field of vision pop up.

<<Hold fast. Will cinch him up once I get clear LOS.>>

He grins a tiny bit and waits just a milisecond before his next strike. Sam blocks a coule more strikes on his forearms, waiting until he sees it start to kick in. Then, in just an instant, he sees the opening. He's not sure if the Masked Woman's mojo has started working just yet or not, but either way, he goes for a brutal left hook to the ribcage and connects heavily.  As he does, he can feel something crunch, and he's certain it's not his titanium knuckles. He sends his foe tumbling sideways onto the ground and before he can really even come to his senses, Sam charges over to him and stomps on his left shoulder, pinning him to the ground with his huge, booted foot.

Breath heaving, and with steaming saliva drooling down his massive tusks, he looks down at the squirming man and quietly speaks in an even tone.

"Who are your employers and how much do you know about us?"
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <09-21-14/1959:41>
When Sam's hook to the ribs drops the man, the Masked Woman has a clear line-of-sight. She casts forcefully, aware that the man is a highly capable fighter and might be able to shrug off huge blows the same way that Sam does.

"Telego carronasto," she whispers under her breath, using the Sperethiel for "keep still". On the astral, she sees the man wrapped in hoops of mana. Her fist squeezes tightly as the the hoops constrict. Her shamanic mask surrounds her with a glow like a campfire.

@Sam
<<Spell locked. He's going nowhere fast.>>
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: GrimWulf on <09-22-14/1818:31>
Ohanzee watch's as the troll and others run off into the night shortly after he suggested so. Of course that had come before the realization of who they were.  He followed along with the fight over comm's while keeping a lookout along the road and in the sky.

Once it seemed like it was over he opened his comm to the team again.  <<You can outrun the car, but you can't outrun the radio.>>   He's not quite sure where the quote came from but it seemed apt. "Before Smokey Bear's buddies arrive we better get clear, and heading straight into Aspen?  Ain't gonna work no more.  These guys are gonna have friends sitting up in a road block no doubt.  We got any backroads we can hit?  Hell, we just may wanna talk to Reginald's poaching contact, he'd be used to moving stuff around unseen... well if he's any good at least.>>
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <09-22-14/2126:07>
"Who are your employers and how much do you know about us?"

He swears at you angrily in Lakota, or at least you assume that's what he's doing in-between attempts to break free of both your boot and whatever mojo the Masked Woman used.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ravensoracle on <09-22-14/2139:23>
Once he gets the messages from Sam he immediately jumps into VR  and begins searching for the comms so he can make sure there are no more surprise attackers. Once he finds the 5 comms he sends a message to the others.

<<<Found 5 comms but I'm still missing the deck that I was cracking. Here are the locations...(Insert ARO overlay with locations.)

I'm going to listen in to their chatter and let you know what they are doing.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <09-23-14/2005:46>
The still conscious soldier continues to struggle and swear, but doesn't seem to be making any headway. Crumpled listens in on the comms he has found, but hears no chatter, just occasional incoming messages in Lakota that sound distressed to him, most likely from someone calling for help and not receiving replies.

Meanwhile, Ace bends down and examines the soldier he incapacitated, checking him over for identifying insignias. The full body armor the soldiers are wearing are solid black, with no markings or logos of any kind to suggest affiliation with a specific corporation or security company. He finds a comm stashed in one of the many pockets on the armor, and checks it, frowning at the Knight Errant ID.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Novocrane on <09-23-14/2105:50>
Pulled up just short of the roadside snow, Chino lets the vehicle roll back slowly as the seconds tick down. One eye on sensors, he tests himself as he waits - steering by array, while filling the edge of his peripheral AR with the few emails, maps, videos and notes that had accumulated thus far.

Quote from: Ohanzee
<<Before Smokey Bear's buddies arrive we better get clear, and heading straight into Aspen?  Ain't gonna work no more.  These guys are gonna have friends sitting up in a road block no doubt.  We got any backroads we can hit?  Hell, we just may wanna talk to Reginald's poaching contact, he'd be used to moving stuff around unseen... well if he's any good at least.>>

Difficult Creek, Target's Lake, ... not much for good omens, then. Lincoln?

Keeping it an open team channel, Chino replied, << By the maps, we could hit a larger camping ground before Aspen, or some kinda locals a bit after that, but we'd still be taking the same road in. Only other alternative I see is to go off-road about the same point, and aim to hit town another way ... it doesn't look like much of one. >>
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ravensoracle on <09-23-14/2123:52>
Crumpled tries to make out what the man is saying but has no idea. He feeds the comm into the team's channel hoping for someone to translate.

<<<Incoming Feed...

<<<"Anyone have any clue what he is saying?">>>
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <09-24-14/0235:47>
The Masked Woman keeps an eye on Sam and his prisoner, maintaining her concentration on the spell that binds the captured man. She scans the surrounding hillside and forest for signs of the other HTR team members.

She listens to the chatter that Crumpled feeds over the comms. The words aren't from any of the language families she knows, but she does recognize some of the more colorful obscenities as the same ones that Ohanzee was dishing out when Sam was rocking the stepvan on the edge of the cliff earlier. She glances to the dwarf to see if he can translate. It doesn't sound like information that's going to change their course though.

<<Chino, you're driving, so final decision is up to you. I'm not optimistic about the campgrounds. I think we could get lucky and find a corper's second home that's unoccupied, maybe ditch the van and boost another rig. But like I said before, Aspen's a small town. Not many shadows to hide in. We need to find out why we thought it was important enough to drive hours down an icy mountain road that has no towns or turn-offs -- not a great approach, tactically -- just to get to here. Then once we figure that out we'll probably want to leave just as quickly as we came.>>
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: GrimWulf on <09-25-14/1239:14>
Ohanzee listens to the panicked comm message and relates to the rest of the team that it's somone panicking and calling for help, no one seems to be answering him.

<<Should I respond or do we just want to shut him up?>>

He considers the options given on their route.

<<The way I see it is; The campground gives us the best chance of going undetected, but the lowest chance of finding something to proceed. Going straight in gives us the highest chance of detection yet gets us where we want to be.  The locals... gets us closer, gives us a better chance of finding a place to hide that's actually liveable, and the possibility of other vehicles to complete the journey. Also gives the possibility of hostages, though I get the feeling I don't like that option. There certainly more risk there then the campground but, I think the rewards outweigh them. >>
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <09-25-14/1254:18>
<<Should I respond or do we just want to shut him up?>>

"Tell him if he wants to see the sunrise, he'll tell us who his employers are and everything he knows about us. Unless one of you can get that info off one of their comms."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: GrimWulf on <09-25-14/1331:39>
Ohanzee shrugs and hops out of the Rover turning towards the tree line, knowing who they work for already, but may as well ask. He opens up the channel the screamer is on and talks calmly to him in Lakota.

<<No one is coming tp help you. You are alone, you comms are being blocked, and the only reason I'm talking to you now is because I'm nicer then the rest.>>

He brushes some snow off a sleeve as brushes past a tree. He doesn't give the man a chance to respond yet as he continues talking over the comm.

<<We can make this simple, and maybe we just accidentally leave you out here to live rather then clean up loose ends.  I know, it's a shitty proposition.  But, think of the alternatives. So.... lets have it. You probably know the standards. Who do you work for, what do you know, what would you do for a Klondike bar?>>

He pauses by another tree, seeing the long strides the troll took into the woods and wonders just how long it would take him to catch up anyways, he decides to stop and wait for the soldier to respond.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <09-26-14/1740:15>
As soon as Ohanzee starts talking over the comms, the soldier under the troll's boot stops squirming and yelling at him, laying still while Ohanzee talks.

Then, there's laughing over the comms.

"Who do I work for? You don't know? I work for the organization you robbed tonight. I work for the men who will have your heads on a spike by the end of the week. Do you think we're the only ones who will be looking for you? We were just a scouting party trying to determine which direction you rats scurried away in. You have an hour, maybe two, before someone comes looking for us, and finds you. You are not in a position to threaten or make deals. You're just roaches running into the shadows when the lights come on. So how about I make a deal with you. Give us the obelisk, and tell us who employed you to take it, and maybe we'll let you scurry away." He replies over the comms, in Lakota.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <09-30-14/2130:22>
The Masked Woman watches Ohanzee walk toward Sam and his prisoner, the dwarf's small legs churning up the accumulating snow. She keeps an eye and ear open for threats while maintaining the Mana Bind spell. The spell is probably overkill with Sam standing on the man's shoulder but she knows that she has a tight casting and she's not ready to drop it just yet. Plus what if Sam gets plunked by some shooter hidden in the woods? No, best to keep the man restrained for now.

She listens to Ohanzee's speech. She can't understand a word of it but she's silently impressed by his composure and his controlled diction. Then she hears the laughing, and the tone of the response. Ohanzee translates for the team. The man doesn't sound terribly intimidated, especially given his predicament under Sam's boot. She wonders how he went from pleading for help to vain bravado in the course of a few moments, but maybe it's all that damn cyber. (Similarly, Sam - by all rights - should have a major concussion after that rifle butt he took to the head, but there he is, seemingly unfazed.)

Behind her mask, she frowns at the man's response. I work for the organization you robbed tonight, she repeats in her mind.

@Team
<<These guys are Knight-Errant, right? Did we rip off Knight-Errant directly, or Ares? Do you think the obelisk is theirs, or was it being transported and/or protected by them when we acquired it?>> Not that it probably matters.

<<Clock is ticking.>>
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <10-01-14/0013:16>
As soon as Ohanzee starts talking over the comms, the soldier under the troll's boot stops squirming and yelling at him, laying still while Ohanzee talks.

Then, there's laughing over the comms.

"Who do I work for? You don't know? I work for the organization you robbed tonight. I work for the men who will have your heads on a spike by the end of the week. Do you think we're the only ones who will be looking for you? We were just a scouting party trying to determine which direction you rats scurried away in. You have an hour, maybe two, before someone comes looking for us, and finds you. You are not in a position to threaten or make deals. You're just roaches running into the shadows when the lights come on. So how about I make a deal with you. Give us the obelisk, and tell us who employed you to take it, and maybe we'll let you scurry away." He replies over the comms, in Lakota.

@Team
<<These guys are Knight-Errant, right? Did we rip off Knight-Errant directly, or Ares? Do you think the obelisk is theirs, or was it being transported and/or protected by them when we acquired it?>> Not that it probably matters.

<<Clock is ticking.>>

Pausing for only a moment to assess the situation, the big troll finally utters to the team into his subvocal mic.

"Kill them all quickly, take anything we can from their comms, and get away from here fast." Using his other titanium laced foot, he stomps down HARD on the mans head, cracking the thick helmet, then again, doing the same to the man's skull. After making sure his team has finished off the other one, he begins sprinting back uphill through the thick powder toward the bullet ridden, blood spattered "arrest me" box they'd been driving through the mountain in.

Ares? Makes more sense then Knight Errant, I suppose.

With significantly more huff and puff, he speaks into the subvocal again. "Do we have reason to believe these men are with Ares? Matrix support identified them as Knight Errant. Did I miss some intel? It seems rather unlikely that we stole this rock from Knight Errant."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <10-02-14/0220:41>
The Masked Woman blinks as Sam plants his foot through the man's head. Perhaps she was curious what Sam might do with the prisoner once it was time to leave. If so, question answered. We haven't been making friends all night and it looks like we aren't going to start now, she thinks to herself

She lets her spell go then immediately works on another, this time concentrating on any enemies that may be nearby. A glow surrounds her for a moment, like the reflected light from a candle flame, then it fades as the spell takes hold.

@Chino
<<Chino, get ready to bug-out. Sam just fertilized the forest with this guy. On his way back now, Ohanzee and Ace in tow.>>

@Sam
<<Exactly what you said. No reason to think Ares except that it seems unlikely that we stole the obelisk from Knight Errant. Again, maybe KE were providing protection during transport, but this still seems like something the parent company would have, not KE.>>
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Malevolence on <10-06-14/1524:04>

Ohanzee listened in distress at the wet *crunch* of the soldiers skull as Uncle Sam's UCAS sized boot crushed it like a week old pumpkin. All this death, was this really the life the old him had chosen? What tragedy had set him down this path?
The dwarf pondered how things might have been different if he had woken in a hospital bed like in those old trids where the criminal wakes with no ID and no memory of his past and becomes this completely different person - full of kindness and generosity. Could the same have happened with him? With no memory of the pain and tragedy that had set him on this path in life, could he have emerged a better person? Taken advantage of the clean slate he had been given?
But of course this was no perfect world. And he hadn't woken in a hospital, but in the middle of a fight for his life. This wasn't the fantasy world of the trids, but cold hard reality. And just because you have forgotten your past, doesn't mean it has forgotten you.
A slotting strike team!
He and his companions were mixed up in some bad drek, no doubt. This was not the time for introspection and self-doubt.
Live by the sword, die by the sword.
Unbidden, the phrase intruded into his thoughts. To most people, it meant that a life of violence will neccesarily end in violence. Considering the evening, he supposed that was likely, terribly, true. But there was another interpretation that he also considered - that the metaphorical sword was a fickle mistress - a double edged tool, if you will pardon the pun. If you choose to live by the sword, you must be all in. In moments of hesitation, it will fail you, turn on you in a way. It will kill you faster than any enemy. It is okay to feel doubt, or even remorse, but there is a time for those emotions, and now was certainly not one of them. To waver in your chosen course of action is to invite death.
Ohanzee. Shadow.
He appreciated the humor in the name he had chosen for his alias. Fitting, indeed.
"Agreed. Let's put some distance between this place and us."
Before turning to begin the trudge back up to the SUV, Ohanzee takes a quick look around, using both his normal thermographic vision, and a peek into the astral.


Speech
Matrix/Text
Thoughts

Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Malevolence on <10-06-14/2217:13>
Noticing nothing out of the ordinary, the dwarf turns to head back to the SUV.
We know we are being actively pursued, and our pursuers have awakened and matrix resources. The survivors here will alert them to our heading, so we're going to have to watch our backs in all three worlds. Also, if you aren't using it, shut it off. If you are, get it protected. I'll take care of astral overwatch and clean up our mess there.
@Crumpled
Giving you permission to include my contacts and commlink in your PAN, if you would be so kind.
Once back in the warmth of the SUV, he pulls out the Warhawk and turns off the wireless, then reholsters it. Then he puts on his seatbelt and closes his eyes, slowing his breathing and focusing his mind on the world of spirits. Soon, he is drifting up, away from his body and the vehicle. Looking into the cabin of the Rover, he starts pushing the latent energy of the Masked Woman's Mana Bind deeper into the astral background. Ten seconds later, he looks upon the work and finds it satisfactory. In the wink of an eye, he is at the body of the dead soldier, and cleaning up the other end of the Mana Bind. And then another blink, and he is at the site where the SUV was hijacked, then where Raven was summoned, repeating the ritual and covering the team's astral tracks.


After a minute or so, he returns to his body, takes one last look around the astral for pursuers, and slowly opens his eyes to the natural world. Once the world is completely in focus, he begins a low chant, calling out to the spirits of the water.
Wichi tai tai
Timurai
Huranika huranika
Hey ney
Hey ney
No wey

The sound of the chant is easily heard throughout the cabin of the SUV, though little more than a low murmur. Ohanzee finds the tempo soothing, and with his mind relaxed, he can more easily focus the magic that passes through his body as he summons the spirit.


Soon, his call is answered. Swimming out of the depths of the astral sea came a large dolphin, casting off water in dazzling sprays as it jumped and splashed. The form of the dolphin chittered and whistled, and Ohanzee heard the spirit's words in his head.


I find you interesting, little one. I shall swim in your wake for a spell. What game will we play first?


My pod has found itself swimming in shark infested waters. We can use a sharp lookout. See them before they see us so that we may evade them - that is the game.


Ah, swimming in dangerous waters is the most thrilling game of all!


With that, the dolphin swims off to patrol the area around the shaman, occasionally toying with astral forms happening by - chasing them or circling them, leaping over them, even poking at them playfully, before tearing off to the next interesting thing.


One last scrubbing to eradicate the signature of Dolphin's summoning, and finally Ohanzee relaxes back into his seat, and focuses on resting. His recent activities have taken a toll, and dulled his wits and actions. His next priority must be to rest up, so that he can have every edge available for the trouble that will inevitably find him.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <10-07-14/0042:10>
The Masked Woman blinks at Ohanzee's whirlwind of activity. A minute ago he seemed to have a concussion and now here he is running up and down the hill, giving speeches in Lakota, conjuring spirits, astrally projecting, and scrubbing his tracks (and hers too, for good measure). Privately, she is pleased at his renaissance. A coherent, full-functioning teammate will do far more to ensure their survival than a dazed-and-confused gonk. Having their conjurer fully lucid also shores up a big gap in the team's skillset, one that she wasn't able to fill herself. The astral image of the dolphin is a bit discordant with the snowy alpine vistas outside - do the Lakota even have a word for dolphin? - but all things considered she's willing to let it slide. The spirit is powerful, highly obedient, and could be a jolly snowman for all she cared. The team needs all the allies it can get.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: rednblack on <10-07-14/1115:31>
Ace bends over his fallen quarry and relieves the man of his weapons, taking a closer look at the body armor, and then turns to the Masked Woman. 

@Sam
<<Exactly what you said. No reason to think Ares except that it seems unlikely that we stole the obelisk from Knight Errant. Again, maybe KE were providing protection during transport, but this still seems like something the parent company would have, not KE.>>

>>Agreed.  Something doesn't fit here.  This one's coming with us, at least in the short term.>>

Ace pockets the man's commlink, then wraps the man's arm around his shoulder, and sets him to a sitting position before using his legs to hoist the him over his shoulder, and heads back to the rover at a quick pace.  There's something unsettlingly familiar about his burden, and for a brief moment Ace is treated to a brief flash of memory: smoke, the weight of a man on his shoulder as something warm and wet ran down his spine, subvocal chatter.  Ace tries to pull up details, his clothes, the location, a key word, but as suddenly as the image appeared, it's gone like a lost dream. 

At the rover, he unceremoniously dumps the man into an empty seat and pushes in next to him.  Ace unlace's the man's boots, and tosses them out the open door.  Then, his muscle memory takes over, first binding the right hand in a lark's head, and lashing it to the left ankle in a wide cuff.  As his fingers begin the lark's head on the left hand, he turns to the Masked Woman,   "Can you get a reading on him with that mask of yours?  RFID tags, a weapon I mighta missed, anything?" and to the dwarf he says, "Ohanzee, can I ask you to keep up your translating duties?  I figure we got 3, maybe 5 minutes before we need to dump this guy, but maybe he'll be more forthcoming than the last one."  With that, Ace grabs a handful of snow and places it on the back of the man's neck, then gives him two hard slaps across the face.  "Come on, you bastard.  Come on, wake up.  Come on, come on."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Malevolence on <10-07-14/1548:09>
Breathing slowed, muscles relaxed, Ohanzee was, miraculously considering the situation, on the razor's edge of sleep when a thought struck him.


Vinny Verontesse! Frag me in the hoop!


The dwarf was just about to speak when Ace's message came over the comms.



>>Something doesn't fit here.  This one's coming with us, at least in the short term.


Having more answers was a good thing, but was taking a hostage? Ohanzee didn't know much about technology, but he did know - perhaps from years of running the shadows, or maybe just from watching too many trids - that any corporate asset had a million and one trackers.


We'll have to dump the prisoner fast, and well before we ditch the SUV if we hope to keep some sort of head start on our pursuers.


As the pair approached the SUV, Ohanzee reflexively peeped the potential threat in the Astral. He moved to another seat in the car and encouraged the others to move so that there was room for three people such that Uncle Sam and Ace could sit on either side of the prisoner.


He then tried to rack his mind for some way that he could held restrain or subdue the prisoner if needed - mind control or some form of restraint (paralysis?). Failing that, perhaps a way to help with the interrogation - reading the prisoners thoughts or determining his truthfulness. It seemed that combat was not his forte, but that didn't mean he was useless in a fight, even without his brother spirits.


"Ohanzee, can I ask you to keep up your translating duties?  I figure we got 3, maybe 5 minutes before we need to dump this guy, but maybe he'll be more forthcoming than the last one."


@Team
>>Of course, but I suggest we get moving immediately. They may have backed off, but having all of us in one convenient enclosed area might make too tempting a target for his friends to pass up. Getting out of weapons range should be our first priority.

>>Also, I recalled something about Vinny. I don't know for sure how close he is to the Verontesse crime syndicate, but he bears their name, so its a good bet he's close enough to have some pull. They run half of Las Vegas, so I strongly suggest we play nice with him, or avoid him altogether.






"Speech"
>>Matrix/Text
Astral
Thoughts
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <10-07-14/2031:29>
The Masked Woman nods to Ace, turning her attention to his prisoner. She scans him astrally and with her mask to look for weapons or cyberweapons. She does an okay job trying to split her attention between the HTR captive and her sustained spell.

@All
<<I have a spell up that should detect hostiles out to a quarter klick. Nothing on the radar right now, so they're either outside that range or they've lost the will to fight. But Ohanzee's not wrong. Let's get moving and remove any temptation.>>

Noting that Ace is trying to revive the captive, she concentrates on another spell. She prefers not to sustain two at once but they can be dropped quickly enough. She focuses on the man's unconscious form, then watches as hoops of mana appear on the astral and begin to constrict his arms and legs. On the physical plane, she whipsers ""Telego carronasto." Her outline brightens for a moment, illuminated from within, then fades as the spell takes hold.

<<Ace, I've got an extra layer in place in case the laces don't hold. Try a slap patch. We had a medkit from the van and one from the hunters. Doc exhausted one patching everyone up but the other should have a patch in there.>>
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <10-07-14/2238:03>
The Masked Woman finishes her scan of the downed man. She looks up at Ace and speaks slowly, careful to maintain her concentration on the sustained spells.

@Van
"No weapons or cyberweapons. Reaction enhancers and muscle augs. I've got the spell locked in but best to keep a hand on him when he comes to."

She looks around at the rest of the Rover's occupants. "Are we calling Vinny to arrange for some logistical support or are we going to live off the land? If we call I think Ohanzee should be on point." She looks to him. "You seem to have a way with words, and if you know the scene then so much the better."

Her gaze falls on the Elf's corpse. "Any opinions on the dearly departed APB's remains? I'd feel like a slot for dumping her but a choob for keeping her around."

Glancing around, she makes eye contact with Ace again. When she does, she sends him a private message.

@Ace (private)
<<Alright, Team Red, APB is down so it's just you and me now. Seems like Team Blue has been together for a while. We should figure out where we fit in. I have a theory that you're an inside man for this job but I'm still putting the pieces together.>>
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: rednblack on <10-08-14/1158:29>
Ace mentally composes a text as he fiddles in the medkit to find a low-dosage slap patch.

>>Send Message
>>Recepient: Masked Woman
>>Message: We need to compose a working timeline ASAP.  As far as I'm concerned, we're all in this together now, but I'm not convinced it was always that way.  If I'm the inside man, I'm hoping our new friend here can shed some light on that.  When we get where we can hole up, you and I need to compare notes.

Ace briefly flits through the man's commlink, looking for any personal contacts before finding a suitable patch, removing the adhesive backing and slapping it on the unconscious man's forehead.  Now for the fireworks.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <10-09-14/2047:30>
The soldier wakes up suddenly, looking around groggily before noticing that his movements are restricted. He tenses, opening his eyes and looking at you in a combination of surprise and anger. He starts swearing in Lakota, struggling against his bonds, but failing to break them. You get the feeling he probably could bust the laces, were it not for the Masked Woman's additional magical aid.

"I don't know what you hope to gain, but you're wasting your time. I've got nothing to say to vermin." He says in Lakota. Seeing the lack of understanding on the majority of your faces, he grins. "You idiots can't even understand what I'm saying."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Malevolence on <10-09-14/2112:48>
From the seat behind the restrained prisoner, Ohanzee leaned forward, face stern.  In a low voice, clearly audible to the man, but a mere whisper to the others in the cabin, he chanted an appeal to the spirits to reveal the truth - in Lakotian so that the man would understand it. He reached out and lightly touched the man’s right temple, casting a spell that would allow him to inject his whims into the man’s thoughts. It was weak, but that was okay - he only needed the man to feel the tickle of magic upon his mind, weak as it was.
 
And feel it he did, shivering involuntarily. But the spell was too weak, and didn't take. Drek! Well, I'm committed now, gotta roll with it.

The little shaman leaned back, and spoke at a normal level, the Lakotian words menacing and absolute. “I suspect that your training has taught you to recognize magic. And as you traveled with a mage, you should have some idea of what magic can do. So, there should be no doubt when I tell you that I WILL know if you lie. And it should also be meaningful when I tell you that if you do, the troll sized boot through the brain-pan that your teammate received will seem a mercy.” He paused to allow the words to sink in like acid. Then he continued in English. “Do I make myself clear? Or shall we mock you inability to understand us?"
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <10-10-14/1714:48>
The man looks at you in confusion when you switch to English. You think he legitimately only speaks Lakota.

"Your mind tricks won't work on me, Shaman. Do your worst. Whatever you think you can do to me will pale in comparison to what they'll do to you when they find you."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <10-11-14/1946:31>
Listening as Ohanzee translated for the group, Sam begins to feel more and more uneasy about the situation. Not only was this man's dedication far more than he'd expect from some wageslave, but the group is starting to veer dangerously close to torture here. It's becoming more and more obvious that this man isn't going to give anything up.

"This man has nothing for us. If we've gotten everything from their comms that we can, lets be done with him quickly and be off."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <10-12-14/0211:04>
The Masked Woman listens to the man's defiant tone and Ohanzee's translation.

@Team
<<I agree with Sam. Time to be underway. Should we leave APB behind too? Her situation has not improved.>>
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Malevolence on <10-13-14/1941:30>
Ohanzee looked at the prisoner's aura, noting his fear, but more importantly his resolve. He might be afraid of dying (who wasn't?), but he was willing to do so for his cause.


Spirits, the Corp control was absolute. Poor drekhead.

"Your mind tricks won't work on me, Shaman. Do your worst. Whatever you think you can do to me will pale in comparison to what they'll do to you when they find you."


"On the contrary, you've been most helpful."


"This man has nothing for us. If we've gotten everything from their comms that we can, lets be done with him quickly and be off."
@Team
<<I agree with Sam. Time to be underway. Should we leave APB behind too? Her situation has not improved.>>


Agreed. Try not to kill him, but make it look good. He might be able to unwittingly deliver a message for us.


Ohanzee switched to English. "Toss him, we have to be in Carbondale before dawn."


With any luck, he'll understand Carbondale and send them there, bypassing Aspen for a few extra hours at least. Now we just have to find a new ride. We can drop APB down the road a ways. I recommend burning the body rather than let our pursuers defile her.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: rednblack on <10-13-14/2321:03>
Ace waits for the Rover to stop moving before opening the door, exiting, and pulling the man out to the side of the road by his elbow.  With a flick of the wrist, he extends a single blade from his spurs and jabs it below what he believes to be the man's lungs before kicking him clean of the blade and face first onto the snow.  There is a part of Ace that feels stoic, deadpan, almost clinical, and there's a part that's horrified, maybe a stitch of humanity unburdened by his memories.  There's also a third part, a part that tells him if he's going to play at killing a man, he's already in a lot more trouble than he ever could have bargained for.  Ace does his best to quiet the third voice as he wipes his blade clean on the pant leg of the fallen man before re-entering the car and shutting the door.

"I did my best.  What about our fallen?" he asks motioning to the seat in front of him.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <10-13-14/2343:33>
The Masked Woman leans against the side of the van, listening to Ohanzee's translation while piecing together what they know so far. They are facing highly trained, highly loyal soldiers connected to Knight-Errant and/or Ares. They speak Lakota but not English. Perhaps this is not a surprise. Roger Soaring Owl led Knight Errant Security Services for years before taking a consulting position with the Sioux Nation. That he might have cultivated a talent pipeline loyal to him during his time at KE would be expected, a time-honored custom historically. Ares is also well known for taking talent where they find it. She wonders how deep they are in the pool. Maybe this was the Sioux Defense Force. The Wildcats will come later, maybe with Firewatch. She keeps that thought to herself.

She's not sorry to see the man go when Ace yanks him out of the van and shanks him. She twists a throwing knife over her fingers while she watches. Part of her appreciates his knife work, an underappreciated art. She lets her Mana Bind spell drop, relieved to be freeing up her concentration. There's a very brief consideration of high-fiving Ace when he gets back into the Rover, but that shock hand makes her think better of it. Plus he looks more contemplative than celebratory. To his question, she responds:

@Van
<<Lets get a klick down the road and send APB over the side. The snow is still falling. With luck they won't find her until the spring thaw. Maybe not even then.>>

She gets up from her seated position and goes forward to APB's collapsed form. She flips through the dead woman's holsters, removing her firearms and finding the clips that the Masked Woman had put up for grabs earlier. She pats down APB's pockets, taking care to find the commlink and anything else that might identify her. The proximity to the dead elf and her gaping head wound doesn't seem to bother the Masked Woman. She must keep some questionable company, or be questionable company herself.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Malevolence on <10-13-14/2359:18>

While Ace was outside taking care of the prisoner - ex-prisoner - the dwarf quickly got to work cleaning up the residue of his casting. By the time Ace returned, he was finished.

Once Ace closed the door and the car was moving again, Ohanzee cycled his gear, realizing that he hadn't done so since waking over an hour earlier. It seemed prudent to do so occasionally, and who knows what the circumstances were before they all ended up unconscious for a couple hours.


"What about our fallen?"
<<Lets get a klick down the road and send APB over the side. The snow is still falling. With luck they won't find her until the spring thaw. Maybe not even then.>>
"I agree, I think we should give it a klik or two, spread the mayhem out some to make life difficult for the Star.  Take what you can use before we get there. We can find a nice spot, lay her out gently, say a word or two, and I'll send her off with a proper pyre. It's a few minutes we don't have, but it doesn't feel right not taking them anyway."


His mind tickled as his devices reported for duty once again. He double checked their current position.


@Team: After that we should hit the outskirts of the campground. With luck, all the campers are sleeping and we can boost a ride without any trouble. Make it come to us, limit our exposure. If we can get to Aspen and get the new car back where we took it from before dawn, so no one is the wiser, it might make it harder to find us. We can send this mess of a ride on to Carbondale or wherever, leave anything we took from the strike team with the car, give them a target to track."

He wasn't sure why, but he still didn't trust the vehicle enough to talk out loud with any details of their plans. Was he always this paranoid? Or perhaps he was always this prudent? The enemy was obviously well funded - best not to underestimate them.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: rednblack on <10-14-14/0001:41>
@Van
<<Lets get a klick down the road and send APB over the side. The snow is still falling. With luck they won't find her until the spring thaw. Maybe not even then.>>

Over the side.  Ghost, APB is supposed to be half the people Ace knows well.  1 of 6 if you count extended company, which by all rights he'd better if he's going to get through the night.  Fuck, this is bad, he thinks as he looks at his hands, or at least where his hands once were, and whatever the hell "his" is supposed to mean right now.  Still, the witchy one has a point.  It's not like they're going to give her a funeral, present circumstances accounted for and all.  Not that he'd know what to say anyway.  She was hell on poachers, and I'm glad she didn't suffer.  How's that for an epitaph?  Ace looks at the troll and gives a conceding nod, You were right.  No reason at all to bring this guy along.  Then he looks to the Masked Woman, who seems to be watching him back somewhere behind her visage.  When she's right, she's right, and she'd do the same to you.  Ace breaks eye contact first, looking down into his lap again.  He'll be glad when some of these questions are answered, assuming he lives long enough.

"I agree, I think we should give it a klik or two, spread the mayhem out some to make life difficult for the Star.  Take what you can use before we get there. We can find a nice spot, lay her out gently, say a word or two, and I'll send her off with a proper pyre. It's a few minutes we don't have, but it doesn't feel right not taking them anyway."

Ace looks back up and in the general direction of the dwarf, careful not to observe him too closely.  Now, that was more like it.  And again, some brief flash, something from school -- So, I went to school -- something about Vikings, or Nords, or something like that, something about Valhalla.  Give her a send-off.  Ohanzee certainly seemed to have a plan for everything.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Malevolence on <10-14-14/0121:36>
As the SUV began to move again, he had a sudden thought.


@Crumpled: I have a contact in Aspen I'd like you to check out, see if she looks trustworthy.
>> Attachment: Contact - Gloria Winters PhD
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <10-14-14/0140:48>
The Masked Woman doesn't have any trouble picking out the ups and downs of Ace's emotions on the astral plane. She can't read his mind but she can guess what's on it. She sends him a message when he looks at her.

@Ace (private)
<<It's not because she wasn't close to us but because she was. They get her, they get closer to you and me, and that can't happen.>>

Ace looks away. The Masked Woman glances around the van, sizing up the space. Not really large enough to give APB the same send-off that the smugglers received, with the giant circle and the claymore and all. Six metas, a corpse, and a giant obelisk will fill a Rover fast.

@Van
<<We can check the campgrounds but I don't know how many drekheads pitch a tent in -20 C weather on February 1st, scan?>>
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <10-22-14/0259:01>
Aspen feels like a trap. The giant russian pulls the collar of his insualted coat up tighter around his neck as he thinks. Moving anywhere right now seems foolish. The wind has been whistling though the vehicle's many bullet holes for a few minutes now and the poor beleaguered little heater in the rover just can't keep up with the outside air rapidly entering the inside. The best way to survive now is to ditch everything and everybody and hide in the mountains for a few months. Come out again in the spring and start the search then. Once the pursuit has died down. He's been listening to the chatter over the various comm channels he had privy to and learning nothing from any of it. He keeps quiet despite wanting desperately to say something. The words still just won't come to him. His mind keeps rolling steadily along in pace with the rover. But that would mean ditching the others here. He looks around at the desperate men and women huddled near the heating vents, and even though he has no emotional attachment to any of them, and strongly suspects he might used to have been a heartless bastard, ditching them still feels wrong in his gut. No. "If you stay alive for no other reason, do it for spite." -Maria Bamford. How do I know that? Hmmm...Figure that out later. Right now, that johnson has to pay for betraying me, yes; But not just me. Every one of us here.

Finally, after about ten minutes of riding in the cold, he speaks over the subvocal.

"We're the type of drekheads that can pitch the tents, Mask. Should I keep calling you Mask? Do we have tents? Either way, My brain isn't in the right place to make any sort of decisions or leadership calls here. Ohanzee seems more fit for that sort of role anyway, so I prefer to let him continue to call the shots. My only advice... I feel like the fewer outside people we involve in this until we're relatively safe, the better off we and those outside people will be.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <10-27-14/0217:00>
@Van
<<You can call me Katsina. It's a Hopi name for a masked spirit. Or you can call me Kat if we're keeping it simple, Sam.>>

She looks around the van, glancing at Chino, Ohanzee, Ace, and the one she called 'Doc' for reaction to Sam's subvocals.

<<You're not wrong. The fewer people we involve, the fewer people there are to sell us out. I'm willing to follow Ohanzee's lead too.>>

She looks to the dwarf to see what the verdict is.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Malevolence on <10-27-14/1555:09>

As the SUV began to move again, Ohanzee slumped back into his seat. Things were stressful enough as it was, and the night was decidedly not going their way. The passengers rode in silence.

Finally, after about ten minutes of riding in the cold, he speaks over the subvocal.


"We're the type of drekheads that can pitch the tents, Mask. Should I keep calling you Mask? Do we have tents? Either way, My brain isn't in the right place to make any sort of decisions or leadership calls here. Ohanzee seems more fit for that sort of role anyway, so I prefer to let him continue to call the shots. My only advice... I feel like the fewer outside people we involve in this until we're relatively safe, the better off we and those outside people will be.


The dwarf considered the plan. Avoiding major population centers had an appeal, but with their pursuers using thermographic scanners and Astral vision, hiding in a dense cluster of people seemed the best camouflage. And right now, more than anything, they needed information. He was about to mention this when The Masked Woman spoke.


@Van
<<You're not wrong. The fewer people we involve, the fewer people there are to sell us out. I'm willing to follow Ohanzee's lead too.>>
She looks to the dwarf to see what the verdict is.



Stunned. That was his immediate response. He was quickly becoming the de facto leader of the group, at least for now, and he wondered if it was something he wanted. Decidedly not, but considering his skills, it was something he could at least handle. And if they were to survive the night - he cast a glance at APB's corpse, then just as quickly looked away - they would need to agree on some sort of direction, and choosing a voice to follow seemed a solid first step.


He felt that before the accident that he had not been the group's leader. Somehow he felt that if there were something approximating an official leader it was likely Uncle Sam, he seemed to have taken charge early on and sounded as if he had perhaps spent time in charge of a military unit from his lingo and bearing, or The Crumpled Man, who had directed the operation the previous evening. Or perhaps there was no leader - a group of equals, each one taking point when the situation demanded their strengths.


Unbidden, a flash of memory surfaced in his thoughts. A frightened woman behind a large counter, trying to maintain her composure, the Ares logo on the wall behind her making it clear she was some sort of receptionist. In the reflection from the sheen of the countertop, he could see himself, dressed in an obviously expensive suit, radiating authority like some trid power exec. Behind him and to either side were The Crumpled Man and Uncle Sam, also in suits, though less expensive, playing the part of subordinates, a body guard and an assistant he assumed.


Then the image spiraled off, back into the inaccessible recesses of his memory. So he had at least played the part of leader before if it suited the mission's objectives. And now it looked as if he would have to again.


The little dwarf sat up straight and tried to catch each eye in turn. As he did, his mind raced. Now that he had accepted the burden, how should they proceed? The first order of business would be getting rid of APB. The presence of her body would negatively affect morale - in fact, it already was. Dumping her down a deep ravine would be the most expedient method, but Ohanzee knew that funerals were more for the living than the dead. APB was gone, and had little care as to what happened to the empty husk she'd left behind. But if they were to bond - necessary to functioning effectively as a team in dangerous situations - they have to demonstrate respect. They'd be unwilling to risk their lives for each other if they thought their teammates would simply abandon them if it became more expedient. So there had to be a ceremony. Circumstances dictated it be quick, but that didn't mean it couldn't also be respectful.


"Chino, pull off the road at the next turnout. We'll take five minutes - no more - to help guide APB to the next world."


The next part would be more difficult. "Cold weather or not, staying out here would likely be more dangerous than heading into town. We don't have the equipment we would need to hide effectively - both our heat signatures and our astral auras. We'd literally have to live in a hole in the ground. In town, we could hide amongst the herd - safety in numbers. But I agree that we do have to be very careful about who we contact. We should pool our contacts, check them out, and find one or two that we are sure we can trust before we reveal ourselves to them." His voice was strong and sure, very unlike how he felt. "Our enemies have the advantage of knowing more about us than we do. This disparity will surely kill us faster than anything." He turned to the crate, the elephant in the room that everyone was avoiding. "Right now, the people we stole this from are after us. Very soon, the people we stole this FOR will come looking, and they are unlikely to be very happy. Once we are finished paying our respects, we need to open the crate and find out exactly what we have here."


Almost too quickly, the SUV was pulling off the road. It was time to deal with APB. "Unless anyone has any objections, Sam, would you please carry APB?"


He hopped out of the vehicle and waited to see if anyone objected to the plan.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <10-28-14/1944:26>
Katsina follows Sam and APB out of the van. She indicates a snowy patch of concrete on the side of the road where he can put her down.

She stands over APB and positions the elf's arms and legs so that they are not splayed wildly then adjusts her so that APB's head points west and her feet point east. Katsina draws a gloved hand over APB's eyes to make sure they are closed, then draws her claymore out of its sheathe in a smooth movement. Standing over APB's hips, she places the tip of the claymore in the snow and turns in a circle. Between the length of her arm and the length of the sword the circle is almost four meters wide. She moves quickly, both because time is short and because the heavy snow starts to erase her lines almost as quickly as she makes them.

Inside the circle she etches four six-sided stars at the cardinal directions of the circle. She clasps her sword pointing downward over APB, then speaks lowly and quickly in Sperethiel for thirty seconds. Something for the elf's benefit, no doubt; maybe a prayer that she won't be a heinous bitch in the next life. The incantation complete, Katsina traces a "door" in the air to the west, then steps through it. She pulls the APB's body through, then traces the reverse design in the air to close the door, then sheathes her claymore.

She looks up to Ohanzee to indicate that she is done. Others can say something to APB's (short) memory, or they can get moving. It's cold enough that lingering isn't a compelling option. As for the actual send-off, Sam can either send her on her way down the hillside like a bobsled or Ohanzee can levitate her out into the snowy night for a silent departure.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Ryo on <10-29-14/1735:43>
The time is now approaching 2 AM, and while the deep darkness of the night and the chill from the wind still makes the outside unbearably cold, you do note that, at the very least, the snow is slowing, and will likely stop falling before morning. Perhaps it may be a bit warmer tomorrow, but for now, it is still bitterly cold.

Chino remains in the rover, keeping the engine warm, and noticing that fuel looked a lot lower than he expected. Taking a moment to check the car over while Katsina gave APB a proper send off, he finds that the gas tank was hit in the earlier gun fight. Thinking quickly, and using the Engineering skills he remembers he has, he manages to patch the tank and stop it from leaking.

"Whereever we're going, this rover isn't getting much further than that. We're low on fuel. We should figure out where we're going, if we want to get there at all."

Meanwhile, Crumpled takes the contact info Ohanzee gave him and runs a basic matrix search on Gloria Winters, before reporting back his findings.

>>Send Message
>>Recipients: All
>>"Gloria Winters checks out as an average law abiding citizen, as far as I can see. Only problem is, she's missing. Her boss filed a missing person's report on her three days ago."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Malevolence on <10-30-14/2115:20>



"We hardly knew her, but she was one of us. With her loss, we are diminished. May she find the next world better than this one."


Friend Dolphin, it was a pleasure to swim with you, but I must bid you farewell. I have need of a spirit to see our fallen off into the next world. You are freed of your obligations to me with my thanks. Swim strong. The water spirit "swam" near the little shaman with a playful smirk, made a gesture that Ohanzee assumed was a nod, and then with joyous sounding whistles and clicks, turned and swam off, fading back to the watery realm from which it came.


Quietly, the dwarf focused on summoning a new spirit, a warrior to see off a fellow. On the astral, he began a chant and shortly it was joined by the beating of war drums. Though only seconds passed, the build up to the crescendo seemed to take minutes, but finally the drum and the chanting stopped, and silence reigned. The arrival of the spirit was completely unnoticed by the shaman and he wondered if the summoning had failed. But the low voice of the spirit broke the silence.


Shaman, I hear your words and believe your need honorable. The spirit stepped forward as if emerging from shadow, the colored auras of the Astral forming a fuzzy outline that morphed into the spirit's final form. The spirit appeared as a male of muscular but lean build, wearing a loincloth, jewelry, and headdress of feathers and beads and nothing more. Paint of vibrant and shifting colors covered the exposed flesh from face to toe, symbols Ohanzee recognized from the tribal elders he knew ... the memory was lost, though the recognition of the symbols remained. They indicated the wearer's great prowess not just in battle, but in crafting and building. A true warrior could survive off of the land, crafting their teepee, their clothing and weapons, and preparing the food they would catch on the hunt. Changing, and thus controlling, your surroundings was the way of Man, and his power over nature.


Honored warrior, my Sister in Arms has fallen this night, and we would be grateful if you would help us to give her a Warrior's send off. We wish to burn her body so that her spirit might leave it and travel to the next world. Please gently carry her to the bottom of this ravine and ensure her corpse is burned to bones. Our enemies will be denied her soul and we can continue our fight knowing she is forever beyond their reach.


The spirit looked past the dwarf to the corpse, a grey form in the colorful Astral world, and nodded.


It is noble indeed to show such deference to one's fallen comrades. I shall grant your request.


Materializing into the snowy night, the spirit's ghostly form walked solemnly to the body of APB and gently lifted her as if she weighed nothing. Facing the dwarf, back to the precipice, the spirit's face showed a small bit of effort as he lifted her over his head and her body continued up, leaving his hands, carried by the spirit's magic. At about ten feet, the body stopped rising, turned to face the precipice head first facing up, then began to slowly move out over the yawning chasm. At about 40 meters, the spirit turned to face the body and it's form shifted slightly as it concentrated on another spell. A light streaked from the spirit out to the floating body and exploded in a shower of fire, harmlessly above the treetops, the streamers of fire winking out long before touching the trees. At first, it seemed that the body was merely charred from the explosion, but a few seconds later the flames began to show, licking hungrily at the cold flesh. Soon, the body was in full conflagaration, and the spirit moved towards it as it began to descend into the gaping maw of the valley below. After about a minute, the body and the spirit both were lost below the tree line, only the orange glow if the fire peeking through the snowdrifts, showing where they had gone.


The task is done, Shaman. The spirit appeared before the dwarf in the Astral. All that remains is bone and ash, scattered across the treetops.


Thank you, brave warrior. You have served well, and I release you to rejoin your tribe. Perhaps we will meet again under more joyous circumstances.


The spirit held its fist to its chest, then took a single step backwards, vanishing into the Astral just as it had appeared.


After taking a moment to clean up the auras left behind by the spirit's summoning and magic, Ohanzee turned and trudged back to the vehicle, dimly acknowledging Chino's message about the fuel. Once in the car, he received the message from the Crumpled man that Gloria was missing. Three days ago. What was it about that day? Did we go dark? Oh spirits, did we kill her to keep her quiet? Or have our enemies done something to her? He stopped heading down that path of thought - these were thoughts for later. For now they needed to get somewhere they could set up shop for a bit without the immediate danger of their pursuers.


>> To: Crumpled Man
>> Thanks.


The rest of the team finished filing into the vehicle and it again began to move.


>> To: Team
>> Next stop, Aspen. We have to get there before the fuel runs out. We'll ditch the car on the outskirts, maybe have it drive itself off the mountain.


Or home - what a horrible surprise for the family to wake up to, but maybe they'd be better off knowing their loved ones were dead. But no, the longer it took for the Star to get involved, the better.


He closed his eyes and thought about calling to Raven again. He doubted the spirit he had called earlier would answer his call twice in one night, but he didn't need such a powerful spirit. Well, perhaps he did, but not badly enough to risk the harm its summoning would almost certainly bring. He began his call, seeking a lesser aspect of the Raven, and soon the call was answered. The spirit seemed to know what he was going to ask - or perhaps his desire had affected the summoning - as the spirit appeared as a White Raven, blending in with the snow that covered the world outside. But, just as the previous Raven, the bird was difficult, and fought against the shaman's call.


Your will is strong, Shaman. Most who seek me come up empty handed. You have my respect, but do not think that entitles you to my services. Ask well, and perhaps I will grant your request.


Wise Raven, please hide my friends and I from detection so that we may find safe shelter in the nearby town without interference from those who seek us. He put an effort of will into the request, hoping to impress the spirit and thus earn the favor.


Very well. Your world is intriguing, and this task provides reason enough to stay awhile.


The spirit cocked its head, looking at the auras of each of the passengers in turn, then with a squawk, the spell was cast, and the dull sheen of a veil fell over the metahumans. The bird nodded its head at the shaman, and flew off, presumably to entertain itself elsewhere, not needing proximity to maintain the concealment.


Now, one more order of business.


The dwarf fished around for the crowbar that he had seen earlier and sidled up to the crate. He looked around the car, pausing to see if anyone had any objections.
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Tecumseh on <10-31-14/2039:29>
Katsina watches the proceedings, her expression - as always - concealed behind her mask. Was she thinking appreciatively about the effort Ohanzee put in on behalf of APB? Was she internally contemplating the compatibility of the Wiccan tradition with the customs of the Sioux? Was she wondering why she even bothered with her ritual when Ohanzee was going to send her into the night like a candle in the wind? Or maybe she wasn't thinking about any of that and was considering the team's next move.

She does not linger outside longer than necessary; her longcoat will keep her from freezing but it's still not comfortable in weather like this. She scans the cold night with her thermographic vision and her astral sight, looking for any evidence that they've been found again, or followed.

Returning to the van, she has no objections about opening up the crate. She forgets that the others haven't seen what she had with her cyberware scanner, so naturally they are curious too. And all the better to get another Awakened person looking at the object, maybe to figure out - or remember - what it is and what it's worth.

@Van
<<To Aspen then. Let's get as close as we can so we don't have to haul this crate too far.>>
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: rednblack on <11-03-14/1106:02>
Ace stands with hands folded through the brief ceremony, and as the body levitates over the guard rail, he shifts his attention to the sky before the fireworks start.  It looks like the snow might quit before too long, which will be good for getting where they're going, but less good for keeping their tracks covered.  Ace returns to the vehicle with the rest of his team, and shoots one last glance out before finding his seat again.  Maybe you deserved better, maybe not.  Wish we could've given better to you regardless.  Such is the life our past selves chose.  Ghost speed.

When the familiar crunch of snow is beneath the tires once again, Ace looks to the dwarf now holding a crowbar and nods his assent, for what that's worth.  "Indeed.  Let's see what all the fuss is about."
Title: Re: [5e IC] Tabula Rasa
Post by: Poindexter on <11-03-14/1926:09>
Am I a cold hearted bastard or am I in shock or something?

Sam is almost in awe at how little the death all around him was getting to him. Upset that he isn't upset, almost. Watching the proceedings out of one eye from the bullet riddled rover and going through his comm in hopes of finding some little nugget he'd missed before, he starts to get a little antsy and is happy once everyone loads back up and they get back on the road.

After a few minutes, he glances over to Ohanze.

"So, what's our plan, comrade?"