Shadowrun
Shadowrun Play => Play-by-Post => Topic started by: Marlowe on <11-27-13/0200:56>
-
It was a cold, clear night in the Seattle Metroplex as wind whipped across Puget sound. Fog drifted across Outremer, obscuring the rundown neighborhoods and cracked roads that dotted the islands. Just past midnight Bainbridge Island was quiet, even with the last few ferries dropping wage slaves returning from the Seattle core; middle managers and blue-collar workers drive off towards home, the only disturbance on the otherwise quiet streets.
A lonely hangar stood near an abandoned airstrip when the SUV pulled up and the troll got out to unlock the hangar's main door. He entered and triggered the lights with his commlink, walking towards a set of stairs that led up into a loft. He looked around to make sure everything was in place. He placed the case he'd been given on a small card table for the 'runners per his instructions, then loaded a datachip in a portable trideo projector. Finally he turned on security measures that would secure the building and warn of any vehicles approaching.
He’d gotten the call to check the location less than 2 hours ago, which meant the offer had gone out to the various ‘runners. There was a short turnaround on the current project which meant that the new hires had to be sure to move fast. He wasn’t too certain the project would work but it wasn’t his job to ask questions. He sat down and waited for the players to arrive.
You receive the following message from your fixer:
[spoiler]
>>Job Description: Secure location to be disclosed and prepare goods for retrieval.
>>Payment: 25,000 ¥
>>Timeframe: 1-2 Weeks
>>If you want to hear more about the job visit the following location: *********. 5,000 ¥ provided as good faith money.
>>As always, discretion required.
[/spoiler]
-
"damn its cold, almost naturally so" ron thought to himself as he pulled up to the hanger on his bike. Ron did not like meeting in a hanger like this. "to easy to set up a trap" but that was the cost of being a runner, always danger. Ron figured he would do a sweep of the area just to make sure no tricks were being played. He also shut of his comm link for good measure and looked around [roll visual perception] (3 succ)
-
Perception - Ron
[spoiler]
The hangar you've pulled up in front of looks decrepit - the metal exterior is covered with patterns of rust. You do get clues that not all is at seems as there are cameras that seem to cover the entire areas around the hanger discretely tucked underneath the overhangs of the roof, and there aren't any holes in the hangar like you'd expect.
There's a late model, blue Chrysler-Nissan SUV parked in front of the hangar, the engine is cold and no one is in it.
[/spoiler]
-
"great second job out and i already don't like this" Ron proceeds closer to the hanger and walks inside whale making sure his enforcer was in his concealable holster
-
A series of quiet tapping was the only announcement of Martin's approach, a faint burn registered in left leg from walking from the bus stop, agitaiting the old bullet wound in his thigh. Martin walked past the motorbike, which was faintly reasuring in that he doubted other people would be invited to his ambush. He paused outside the hanger, leaning on his walking stick as he peered into the astral at the meeting place, the ground was full of runners who ran in before checking, although he knew that Adversary would say that sooner or later the ground is full of everyone. [Roll Assense 7D6(5)=3 hits]
-
Assensing - Martin
[spoiler]
The area is remarkably low in magical energy - you can sense the faded energy in the airport as the impression of human activity has begun to die. You do see watcher spirits moving in a pattern around the boundary of the airport but there does not appear to be any spirits or an active magician on site.
You also see two people inside the hangar. One is magically active and the other is mundane, although you do notice cyberware in both.
[/spoiler]
As you enter the hangar you see a troll sitting at a table on a second floor platform looking over the small area you've entered into. He's well dressed, but looks bored. He rumbles when he sees you. "Good evening, Mr. Ron. I'm pleased to see you made it."
The troll stands to his full two hundred ninety centimeters as he waves you up to the top. He nods when Martin walks in and greets him as well. "We have a few more people coming but feel free to wait up here."
As you walk upstairs you see that the loft area has an area set aside as a kitchen with a soy dispenser and soykaf machine, along with another area set aside with cots, obviously set up for the 'runners to use during their run. The troll was sitting at a beat up conference table surrounded by chairs facing a trideo screen that's currently tuned to the latest season of Urban Brawl.
"My name is Mitchell, I'll be happy to answer any questions you have as soon as the rest of the group is here."
-
"Hey, Vic, ya busy?"
I was, but I knew Digger wasn't going away. I looked at the scrawny ork boy holding his hat in his hands, smiling dopily upward. "What is it, Digger?"
"Zing found a couple of jobs on the wire. Wanted to know if anybody was lookin' for nuyen. I knew you was, so, um, here --" He held out a well worn datastick. I slotted it and spent a moment sorting through data file of job listings. Only one of them paid anything like the cred I owed to DocWagon.
Open cattle call, eh? I instantly began calculating variables, mostly for something to do on the walk to the bus stop. I stood amongst the derelicts and wageslaves for another few minutes, then picked the seat farthest from the door, directly in view of a camera. I opened myself to the astral and traced a rune in my head, infusing it with enough mana to call a watcher spirit.
"Inform me if anyone approaches my body, and what my body's location is when this occurs."
The rune sparkled its assent and I let go of my physical form. I arced through the manascape over Seattle to get the lay of the astral land at the meeting point, and see who else was checking it out. (5 Assensing hits). (Knowledge 'Runners: Ron (3), Martin (2))
After a half hour of watching, I headed to the bus stop to meet my body. Turning up my collar to the rain, I strode to the hangar.
I remember thinking that the air smelled like Destiny.
-
"So be it ill wait" ron leans up against the wall in the waiting room
-
Knowledge - Shadowrunners
[spoiler]
You don't recognize the man walking into the hangar, or the big troll standing upstairs. The other human you recognize as a 'runner named Vincent or Ron, depending on who you're talking to. He's known mostly as a womanizer and a pistol fanatic, there's rumors that he's an adept.
[/spoiler]
Mitchell grunts a little as he cocks his head ever so slightly, like he's straining to listen to something in his ear. He nods as the door opens and Gray limps in, followed a few minutes later by the mage known as Invictus. Three so far, good. Now I just need the last few players to arrive and I can get the frag out of her.
"Come up, come up. You must want to sit, Mr. Gray. And you...Invictus. I'm sure you want to relax as well. There's soykaf for those who want it, or if you're hungry there's a food dispenser. I must warn you the flavors are rather limited. I believe there's an Italian and an American setting," his smile is sarcastic, "mostly the difference is the color of the cheese additive."
Mitchell begins to drum his fingers against the table as he waits for the last few people to arrive.
-
Bullpen shades his eyes and watches the ball he just hit at the batting cages fly toward the fences. It falls just short of what would be a homer, and he snorts irritably. He turns to his former batting coach Leo Mazzone.
"Thanks for the session. It's been too long since I took a swing at some balls ... at least the baseball kind." He chuckles at his own dirty joke, but Leo doesn't. "I'd buy you a few drinks, but I'm already late. Bookies don't pay themselves off, ya know."
Leo smirks. "You'd be in a lot less shit if they did."
With that, Bullpen heads out of the batting cages and gets on his Harley. He hates being late for a business meet, but when your friends are few, you gotta keep 'em happy he thinks as he rounds the corner and makes his way to the meet. When he arrives at the nearly abandoned hangar about 15 minutes later, he checks the time and sees he isn't too late since traffic wasn't an issue. He parks his Harley next to the SUV, heads in the hangar and up to the loft. Once he sees the rest of the lot upstairs, he gives a shit-eating grin and opens in his accented English, "Evening, hombres."
[Perception outside the hangar: 2] [Perception in the loft: 1]
-
[Increase Reflexes, Force 3: 3 sux; +2 IP, 4 drain, all soaked][Knowledge 'Runners: Bullpen 3 sux, Log+Int for fame: 8 sux]
Sipping the soykaf, I shifted the mana subtly around me. As my awareness attenuated the world slowed down, giving me plenty of time to analyze all the angles. I leaned on the rail of the loft and took stock of everyone there. [Assensing : Ron 3, Troll 4; Bullpen 1; Gray 3]
The soykaf was exactly as bad as I expected, but not so bad that I wasn't going to get a refill. Still watching for newcomers, I approach the suited troll.
"How many more heads are we waiting for, omae?"
-
If you observe me in detail:
[spoiler]
INT+Perception: Invictus is a mixed ethnicity human somewhere in his mid-30's. His hair is a mass of wild, unmanageable black angles. He is tall and reedy, physically unimposing. A well kept suit from this year's Actioneer Business line seems to hide no concealed items or weapons. You may notice that his right eye's dubious color matching and seams, telltale signs of cyber.
INT+Ettiquette: Every move, gesture, and word belie a confidence of command. This is clearly a man who is used to being followed. [/spoiler]
-
Iris had gotten a cab to drop her a little bit away from the meet, deciding to walk the rest of the way. She pulled the collar on her trenchcoat up to brace against the wind, and lit a cigarette as she thought about how she'd been convinced to take this job.
At the time, she was between glasses at her main favorite watering hole - the place was a dive, sure, but the band was alright - when Sal had walked in, all bluster and camaraderie like he was her best friend or something. Wasn't that hard to figure he was having a hard time filling a job that needed doing. "What's going on, Sal? Make some sort of promises and have someone cancel on you?" She gave him a look like she wasn't in the mood for the pleasantries, hoping he'd get said what he needed said and leave her to drink in peace.
"Oh, come on, it's not like that." Sal acted wounded, but she knew it was just part of his game; try to get some sort of sympathy, move on to flattery, and hopefully get her to agree to whatever he needed before she knew what it was. "Okay, well, maybe it's little like that; you can always see right through me." It struck her that he was rushing his routine a little this time; of course, he probably still didn't realize he was so predictable.
"Yeah, yeah, read you like a fragging datachip. So what?" She knew she had to play along a little bit if she wanted to get this over with.
"So there's this job needs doing, might be sorta in your wheelhouse - figured on getting Frankie to do it, but I can't get ahold of him. Something about securing the place, getting some sort of package ready to go. Not sure where, but I figure you go out there, spot the angles, lock 'em down with the other guys that are going, and it's an easy 25 grand. Meet's tonight, though, so you'd have to get moving pretty quick."
Easy. It always sounds easy, right up until you actually have to do it... Still, it wasn't like she was rolling in money, so the idea of an easy payday was hard to turn down. Besides, this was a lot better than the last couple of things Sal had tried to line her up for - sometimes he seemed to conveniently forget that she wasn't just some magician-for-hire. "Can't hurt to see what they've got to say when I get there, I guess. I'll take off after this set." She got up after that to go find Mac, looking for some soykaf so she'd be halfway in condition for the meet.
Bringing her mind back to the present, she was already regretting coming out here. Damned cold night; hopefully there's some sort of heat on at the meet.
She took a long drag on her cigarette as the walked into the hanger, noting the various vehicles outside, and gave everyone inside a good looking over, before casting a spell she liked to use as a precaution for these types of meetings.
She took another drag on her cigarette as she sat down. "I take it I've come to the right place."
[spoiler]
Observe in Detail and Assensing: Outside of Hanger, Inside of Hanger, Suited Troll, Ron, Martin, Nobody's character, Bullpen (14d6.hits(5)=4, 5d6.hits(5)=1, 14d6.hits(5)=5, 5d6.hits(5)=1, 14d6.hits(5)=3, 5d6.hits(5)=0, 14d6.hits(5)=3, 5d6.hits(5)=2, 14d6.hits(5)=5, 5d6.hits(5)=1, 14d6.hits(5)=5, 5d6.hits(5)=1, 14d6.hits(5)=8, 5d6.hits(5)=1) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4320139/)
So, that's 4 for OiD and 1 for Assensing outside, 5 and 1 inside, 3 and 0 on the troll, 3 and 2 on Ron, 5 and 1 on Martin, 5 and 1 on Nobody's character, and 8 and 1 on Bullpen.
Force 5 Analyze Truth, Resist Drain DV 2S (11d6.hits(5)=6, 10d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4320144/)
Only get to count 5 hits, but still; the dice seem to like me tonight.
[/spoiler]
-
Martin swiveled his chair around, and sipped from his thermos of real coffee, you could never be too careful after all. He watched from a corner of the loft as people filed in, and as more people arrived he became more and more pessamistic. 25,000 nuyen each, 6 runners already and from the lack of the pasty drek with the million nuyen commlink they still had some to come. He felt the reassuring weight of his combat fetish, an iron inverted cross, hanging around his neck and hoped he wouldn't need it,
Assensing
[spoiler]Assense-7d6(5)-Vic/Isis/Bullpen/Ron-hits=4/2/2/1/[/spoiler]
Observation in Detail
[spoiler]
Int+Perception:Gray is a relativly spry 50 year old white male, with watery gray eyes and neatly combed black hair going gray about the temples. He is dressed in a thick black overcoat with a small but noticable bulge suggesting some sort of handgun, as well as a modestly expensive RhineGold suit. The very perceptive may notice some faded scars on his hands and a shifting of his weight onto one leg.
Int+Ettiquette:despite the relativly harmless appearance and kindly sounding voice, his presence after a while seems to bleed malevolence, and he gives the impression that he wouldn't change his expression much from chatting over a beer to tying you to a chair in Glow City and ringing a dinner bell.
-
and so more pieces come onto the board, well i guess that rules out the trap cant be to sure ron thought to himself
Ron surveyed his surroundings once more although he was the first player to arive he felt a like he should of waited, the feeling in the air was that everybody was observing him and the others, and although this did not bother him initially it gave him a small prickling sensation on the back of his neck. "least no corporate bullshit i guess" ron noticed the man standing over the rail and wondered where he had seen him before, the initial glance didn't trigger any recall memories but he felt familer somehow, ron shook off the feeling and did one last perception around the hanger. (5 hits 5,5,5,6,6)
-
Well i guess we are all almost here, so wheres the last one ron thought
-
Invictus - Knowledge: Shadowrunners
[spoiler]
Bullpen is as notorious as any Shadowrunner who has a bull's head and is known for using a baseball bat in combat should be, leaving aside his stint with the Seattle Crushers. Aside from his obvious physical qualities he's known mostly for his gruff manner and mercenary attitudes, as well as being perennially short of cash. He infrequently appears in local scandal rags given his known penchant for gambling and the fact that he's fallen into Seattle's underworld, although no one's come right out and accused him of being a Shadowrunner yet. [/spoiler]
Bullpen - Perception
[spoiler]
The hangar you've pulled up in front of looks decrepit - the metal exterior is covered with patterns of rust. You do get clues that not all is at seems as there are cameras that seem to cover the entire areas around the hanger discretely tucked underneath the overhangs of the roof, and there aren't any holes in the hangar like you'd expect.
There's a late model, blue Chrysler-Nissan SUV parked in front of the hangar, the engine is cold and no one is in it.
Inside there's less obvious decay and the location has been set up for people to stay centrally if needed. You don't see any rats running around, the sign of a quality operation.[/spoiler]
Isis - Observation in Detail on the Hangar and the Troll
[spoiler]
The hangar you've pulled up in front of looks decrepit - the metal exterior is covered with patterns of rust. You do get clues that not all is at seems as there are cameras that seem to cover the entire areas around the hanger discretely tucked underneath the overhangs of the roof, and there aren't any holes in the hangar like you'd expect. Your trained eye can tell that the rust and cracks in the runway seem mainly cosmetic. Someone's put time and effort into making sure that no one looks twice at the airfield.
Inside there's less obvious decay and the location has been set up for people to stay centrally if needed. You don't see any rats running around, the sign of a quality operation but you also don’t see any overt cameras or listening devices in the obvious places. That’s not saying much when a trid camera can be the size of an old U.S. quarter piece, but maybe this place is on the up and up.
The troll is big, even for a troll – almost three meters tall the oversized SUV out front is obviously his, it’s the only car that fits him. He’s dressed well, in a tailored maroon pin-stripe three button suit, harkening back to the last century and his hair and teeth are perfect, as is his bland Midwestern accent. If he weren’t a troll you’d swear he was a corporate front-man but he’s too intimidating for that. [/spoiler]
Isis – Assensing (I’ll leave it to the players to describe their mood.)
[spoiler]
Outside – Watcher spirits patrol the perimeter in almost-random patterns, but other than that you get no sense of spirit traffic or watching mages wandering around astrally. On top of that, the sense of decay and disuse in the area covers everything, slowly eroding the once-strong impression of human activity.
Inside – You don’t sense anything unusual about the hangar interior.
Troll – You can’t get a read on the troll, which is too bad because he moves just smoothly enough to have high-end ware or to be an adept.
Ron – Ron’s an Adept, but something seems to have damaged his essence somehow.
Martin – Martin’s Awakened.
Invictus – Invictus is Awakened.
Bullpen – Bull is a mundane, or as mundane as a minotaur can be.[/spoiler]
Ron - Perception
[spoiler]
Inside the location has been set up for people to stay centrally if needed. You don't see any rats running around, the sign of a quality operation, but you also don’t see any overt cameras or listening devices in the obvious places. That’s not saying much when a trid camera can be the size of an old U.S. quarter piece, but maybe this place is on the up and up.[/spoiler]
Mitchell sighs inwardly when the first runner approached. Of course they’re impatient. That bodes well for the whole enterprise.
“There was one more coming but she’s apparently been delayed. However, there are enough of you here that we should be able to proceed.” He waves his hand towards the small case at the table. “In the case below is your initial good faith payment of 5,000 nuyen. The dummy account they are linked to is monitored to ensure that the payments are in fact withdrawn. Please be aware that taking the money comes with a verbal agreement on your part for confidentiality. Failure to adhere to this agreement would be…unwise.” He clears his throat and waits for you all to take a cred stick and transfer funds.
He pushes himself up and stands to his full 293 centimeters as he triggers the projector to start playing. It displays a map of Seattle and a portion of the ‘Plex is highlighted. Unfortunately it’s the Redmond Barrens, and the projector starts to zoom in to a particularly bad area near the eastern edge of the zone.
“Back in the ‘10’s and ‘20’s there were a number of sites placed in and around major U.S. cities in the case of the spreading of AIM insurrections or the need to quickly impose martial law. These installations typically contained armories that allowed U.S. National Guard and police forces a place to be armed to handle large scale problems, as well as a secure location to store persons that the government deemed important enough to keep under close protection.” He looks around to make sure you’re all following him.
“Your employer believes that one such location is in the Barrens and that is largely untouched. He needs you to confirm the existence of the location, remove any…wildlife…at the site and secure the location until a retrieval team can show up to remove any hardware that is located there. For this service you will be paid 25,000 nuyen each, however it is important that the location be secured sometime in the next two weeks. If for any reason you are unable to secure the location, you will be paid 10,000 nuyen for your time, however your employer would be unlikely to hire you for future work.”
Mitchell presses a button and the picture shifts to an abandoned complex of buildings surrounded by a high concrete wall. Despite their obviously dilapidated condition it’s clear that this is pretty prime real estate for the Barrens, and there are a few figures wandering around peeking over the edge of the wall. He presses the button again and you see a large open area with tangled wrecks of benches, old playground equipment and burnt out oil-drums dotting the land scape with what can laughingly be called bushes and trees struggling for survival in an old park.
“There are several likely locations however we believe that either the old Pritchard Park or the abandoned Federal Complex in Redmond are the most likely locations of the site you need to secure in Redmond. Part of your job is to determine if these locations are in fact the ones that are required and if so to communicate that fact to us ahead of your attempt to secure the site so we can be sure to arrive promptly once we know the area is secure.”
He looks at you and frowns. “We had attempted to secure independent Matrix support for you, unfortunately that did not pan out as planned. For this particular job we will provide that support for you at no charge, but support may be limited due to other commitments.”
He shuts off the projector and turns to fully face the table. “Now, before I depart to leave you to it do you have any questions?”
Isis - Analyze Truth
[spoiler]The troll is telling the truth as he sees it.[/spoiler]
-
So buy "Wildlife" what exsactly are you exspecting us to run into in either of these locations? ron asks with a raised eyebrow and lets say we get to either of these locations and there is nothing to be found?
-
Further note on Assensing Invictus:
[spoiler]
Gray got 4, right?
(1 hit) Attitude is aloof confidence, with a hint of greed. His aura doesn't have the vibrancy of a healthy body, as though he's recently recovered from something major. He's Awakened.
(2) He's got a cybereye and a small implant in his thumb. He's a magician.
(3) Dunno what Gray's magic/essence is, but it's a safe bet Invictus's are lower.
(4) You find 2 pieces of bioware in his brain. Essense is 5.12, Magic is 4. The spell he's sustaining is a F3 Health Spell. [/spoiler]
Rolls from watching the door:
[spoiler] On Isis: Assensing: 2 sux, Knowledge 'Runners: 3 sux [/spoiler]
I'd always found conversations in bullet time fascinating. The lilt and texture of each inflection becomes chant-like . . . meditative. Absolute tedium, of course, when attempting to actually communicate information with someone whose perceptions of time were unaugmented. As I waited for the conversation's text to form on my image link I studied the image the troll was talking about. [Perception: 2 sux]
As the words formed, I wandered through my mnemonic palace, seeking context for the minimal information presented. [Knowledges: Astral Topography 3 sux; Parabotany 2 sux; Gang turf 1 sux; History 3 sux].
The whalesong basso of the trolls voice majestically lifted into a questioning tone as the text caught up. ". . . any questions?" I took a split second to measure out the pace at which I would speak.
"Dozens. Let's start with: how will we know we're on the correct site? I also presume that there's an item or items that we should avoid damaging in the process of pacifying the locals. Care to elaborate on that?"
[More questions will almost certainly follow the results of the Knowledge checks]
-
Bullpen uncrosses his arms. "I'm in. Are there any comemierdas interested in this site? I need to know if we should expect competition." He smiles at the thought of kicking the ass of some good competition.
-
Well heck bullpen if ya wanted to fight just hop in the underground fight circut ron chuckles im sure you could find some competition down there
-
Invictus - Knowledge Rolls
[spoiler]
Astral Topography - The area in question is rife with all sorts of problems - feral spirits freed by the death of summoning mages, magic lodges and barriers set up by the less sociable mages in Seattle, the always entertaining wizzergang fights and the overriding senses of despair and misery that come from living in a place you'd normally like to avoid. There's also rumors of a group of toxic shamans trying to poison the atmosphere between Glow City and the Crash Zone to create a toxic leyline.
Parabotany - You don't know of any particular Awakened plants or mutations out of Pritchard Park, not that unusual in a dead zone like the Barrens.
Seattle Gangs - The old government complex isn't ganger turf, but Pritchard Park is a favorite combat zone between the Red Hot Nukes and the Crimson Crush. Part of it's rumored to be a proving ground as much as an actual out and out fight however.
History - You haven't heard any rumors to effect of secret sites (aside from standard conspiracy theories) but given the massive government spending of the era, the almost certain insanity of the Garrett administration it's certainly plausible that there'd be a few installations buried around the old U.S.
[/spoiler]
"Given that the locations are in the Barrens, I imagine you'd have to deal with the inhabitants, gangs, possibly organized crime and any animals or para-animals that inhabit the Barrens." Mitchell slowly explains himself to Ron, as he's clearly not comfortable with euphemisms.
"And of course it is possible that neither of these two locations are correct however we did hire you to investigate the area." Mithcel pulls up the second area on the eastern zone on the projector, and then nods politely at Isis before continuing.
"Although since the location is pre-Crash of '29 there are no computer records, Redmond does have a physical records building near Touristville that you can examine. We are relatively certain the location was built in or around 2015, and it was a government building project so there will be a limited number of records to cross-check. How you get access to these records is, of course, up to you.
He turns to Invictus then to address his concern. "First of all we would prefer you damage no infrastructure until we are able to secure the site itself. In the event that is impossible all computer hardware, hard documents or other records, and especially weaponry should be preserved. You are being paid to secure the location and its contents. Secondly, the United States government was inordinately fond of embedding seals in the floors of its complexes. There should be a large one from the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the enterance to the facility you're trying to locate."
Mitchell points to the area on the projector again. "Given the nature of the facility, the relatively small radius it should be in, the fact that it remains, to our knowledge, untouched there should be little doubt as to whether you've located the correct location."
"Finally we do not anticipate any resistance or competition outside native factors." He looks around again. "Anything else?"
-
More Knowledges! [spoiler] Oops! Forgot to throw Parazoology (3 hits) and Parageology (2 hits)[/spoiler]
"Have you got any images of those seals, or data on where one could be acquired? How long will it take your people to get onsite once we call it in as clear?"
-
Gray cleared his throat when Invictus had finished speaking, having been sitting back and drinking in the infomation on the projector.
"Just wondering, but are there any other bunkers like this that have been found, stands to reason that they would be similar and it would make it a lot easier for us to clear it out if we knew the basic layout in advance. I think I can help with the seal though, I know someone with access to the goverment records archive down in Washington, if FEMA hardcopy records exist anywhere, they'll be there, and pre-UCAS records aren't going to be very closely watched." He inhaled a sharp breath through his teeth when he wondered what sort of denizens the bunker had attracted sitting in the barrens(underworld 6d6/Magical threats5d6.) never mind actually finding it, bunkers like these would be built to hold off a city's worth of angry mob, combining it with being concealed to hide it from said mob, it was not going to be fun to crack open. But it did narrowed down the field somewhat when looking at locations though.(security Design7d6)
Assensing Gray
[spoiler]
(1)Awakened, attitude is interested with a hint of suspicion, his aura is that of a normal healthy metahuman
(2) You don't see any signs of cyberware, he's a magician
(3) His Essence and Magic are higher(Invictus)
[/spoiler]
Knowledge Rolls
[spoiler]
Security Tactics-7d6-3 hits
Magical Threats-5d6- 3 hits
Underworld- 6d6-4 hits
[/spoiler]
-
Invictus - Knowledge Rolls
[spoiler]
Parazoology - Devil rats, Gabriel hounds, stormcrows, ghouls and the occasional gargoyle are all things to look out for in the urban wilds. The Seattle Barrens, outside of Glow City where all bets are off, has the standard assortment of paranormal animals and threats although there's no cover for any of the larger problems. However your biggest concern is the fact that an underground bunker might be infested with demon rats, particularly if they broke into an undisturbed bunker to nest.
Parageology - You're not aware of any major mana lines or geomantic spaces running through the area of the Barrens in particular but the Barren's astral background is lousy with interference in general from the last 40 years of all out magical anarchy. It's possible there's a magical aspect to either of the locations but you're not aware of any - and the old U.S. government wouldn't have any magical traps regardless.[/spoiler]
Mitchell grunts, then slaves his commlink to the projector and shows a FEMA seal from the Encyclopedia Renraku Matrix site. "This is the seal you should be looking for, it's the standard design for the era. And we'll be staging resources reasonably nearby during the window you have to locate and secure the site. Outside catastrophe we should be able to get to you within two hours once you signal us that you've completed the job."
Mitchell turned to Gray as he asked about how many other bunkers and clears his throat before continuing. "I'm not privy to any other bunkers being discovered, however due to the love of standardization shared by governments everywhere I'd imagine you'd be dealing with heavy security doors to get into the bunker with a combination of mechanical and pre-Matrix electronic locks with, reinforced concrete walls and long corridors with doors split off to any communal or work areas. There would also be large, maintainable air filtration and power systems in the site itself. Inside there should be much less security, although it is possible you'll see artificial dividing walls and more security around any communication or armory rooms."
Gray - Knowledges
[spoiler]
Security Tactics - You know how'd you build a bunker like this - you'd make a killing field with blind corridors, firing positions recessed into walls and turrets with automatic weapons in the ceilings and sensors everywhere watching everything with a security spider controlling it all 24 hours a day.
Unfortunately you're dealing with Yanks, and worse Yank bureaucrats who have terrible ideas about security so Mitchell's description is possible. Worse, this location was built back in the '10's which is practically the Dark Ages, so they probably relied on secrecy and human security more than you would today. The real question is if the place was really abandoned in the chaos, decommissioned, or booby-trapped as it was left behind. Any explosive devices left would be hideously unstable by now.
Magical Threats - Abandoned underground locations attract very few purely magical threats - the astrak barrier of the living earth cuts people and spirits off from discovering locations via astral travel and most spirits like hanging around more active areas so they can spend time with metahumanity and feed off the activity.
The bad news is that the types of threats that they do attract are the crazies. Toxic and Twisted magicians loved the civil defense tunnels in the Old Smoke, and then there's always shedim who may have taken bodies in a bunker if any where left behind when the place was left.
Underworld - You haven't heard of any place like this and outside bad fiction most criminals don't like remote locations since that seems to shout "look at me" whenever they're visited. Not to mention that this chap wants guns, if you read between the lines, and a huge number of antique firearms would've been quite noticeable in this day and age.
[/spoiler]
Iris - Analyze Truth
[spoiler]You get a hit when the troll says he doesn't know about any other bunkers. He's clearly lying, but why?[/spoiler]
Invictus - Common Sense
[spoiler]You worry a little about Gray's "someone" accessing a government archive - the UCAS government regards itself as the only legitimate successor to the U.S. government, and if they catch wind of this you might find JTFS forces competing for the site itself. [/spoiler]
-
well that's all i need to know im ready to go when you guys are
-
I held out my hand to seal the deal. "I'm in."
Meanwhile, I was manipulating variables searching for optimal outcomes. I decided to wait and hear what the others had to offer before settling on my first instinct.
-
"Well i guess this is a good start"
-
Bullpen extends his hand to Mitchell. "Sounds like we have a deal, bisnero. We'll knock it outta the park."
-
"I think, before we make that decision, we should know why it is you don't want to tell us about the other bunkers, and fir that matter why you've chosen the teatre of using this site, Mr...?" She let her voice trail off. She had considered keeping this to herself for now, but she wanted to see how their prospective employer would respond, and for that matter how the others might react.
[Spoiler]Judge Intentions on Mitchell. (9d6.hits(5)=5) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4326841/)
And as I forgot to make that 5 rolls...
Judge Intentions on Ron, Martin, Invictus, and Bullpen. (9d6.hits(5)=5, 9d6.hits(5)=1, 9d6.hits(5)=3, 9d6.hits(5)=4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4326846/)[/spoiler]
-
"Johnson, I belive is the traditional choice, madam, I think that with 25,000 nuyen a piece, our employer has bought some discretion. There's a reason people don't run under their real names and the same is true of those who hire them." Gray said softly but sternly as he went to shake Mitchell's hand, icy disapproval etched onto his expression at this breach of runner etiquette,
-
Iris - Judge Intentions vs. Mitchell
[spoiler]
Mitchell doesn't seem to be malicious in his intentions, and he's annoyed, not angry at your response to his statements.
[/spoiler]
Ron, Gray, Invictus, Bullpen
[spoiler]
I leave resisting Iris' Judge Intentions and any descriptions of your motives to you.
[/spoiler]
Mitchell is initially pleased that the runners began to accept the job, although he scowls at being called a liar in front of his new employees, although his face clears quickly when Gray responds to Iris's provocation.
"Precisely, Mr. Gray, I couldn't have said it better myself. Although it may be unusual for most of you in your profession," his voice drips with sarcasm, "employers do occasionally reserve the right to keep confidential such information as they feel is not needed for the job at hand.
As for the meeting location, this site was prepared as a temporary safehouse for you to use while pursuing this matter. Although it is not close to the Barrens, it is far enough away and isolated enough that no one in the target location should be able to locate it, and if they try to tail you should they catch on to what you're doing you should be able to lost them. Finally, my organization believes in adding conveniences to his employees when ever possible."
Mitchell finishes the handshakes of those runners who want them and places a disposable commlink on the table you are gathered around.
"On this 'link is an LTG number for a Matrix operative for you as well as another LTG number to contact us when the site is located or should insurmountable complications arise. Additionally we've included a small credit line of 10,000 nuyen for expenses, in case there are any...administrative fees that you run into. I wish you all good luck and look forward to hearing from you soon."
Mitchell starts to leave, descending down the stairs with a purpose and moving to his SUV.
-
For sense motive ron is clearly up for this mission although quite wary he knows something is not being said here but the money is good so no time to ask questions.
-
[spoiler] Judge Intentions: 3 sux, 5 1s (glitch)
Invictus shows no sign of judgement, positive or negative, to Iris's comment. Something in the way he shakes the trolls hand, though, indicates a deep, abiding confidence and eagerness to engage in something challenging. [/spoiler]
After shaking Mr. Johnson's hand, I helped myself to another cup of soykaf. Stepping to the table, I gestured to the other chairs as I sat.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I believe we have our task. Shall we begin? I suggest we begin with introductions. I am Invictus. I excel at planning, group management, and magical support. With your permission, I'd like to cast a MindNet on us all in order to ensure an absolutely private and clear planning session. Any objections?"
Assuming none, I let the mana I was holding slip away and drew a new surge to bend to my will.
Dice Stuff:
[spoiler] Spellcasting (Force 5) 4 hits; Drain 5P 8 hits. Everyone who wants in can be in. [/spoiler]
-
"ron Cervantes pistol expert and weapon-smith" Ron glances over at invictus then pauses for a moment before saying "WHAT?!"
-
I knew this would happen, and was prepared for it. Even in the thaumaturgy labs, surrounded by the tools of the arcane, some oaf would inevitably balk and having a spell cast on them for the good of the project.
"What I said was, "I'm going to cast Mindnet on us." To clarify, this is a spell from the Detection school which provides a superior form of communication to the group through a non-invasive magical link and will only transmit the thoughts, images, and emotions that you decide to share. What you thought you heard was, "You clearly have secrets, so I must want them, and all spells are scary." What you should have heard was, "As the team's point man, sometime in the next two weeks you're going to depend on this wizard to keep extradimensional jellyfish from turning you into a zombie, so you should probably trust me to do my job."
I caught and held his eye contact. Without aggression or judgement, I waited for him to come to the correct conclusion. "Think of it as a team building exercise. You'll want to get used to me casting spells on you. I can make you smarter, faster, and tougher. But not against your will. You'll notice I also said "with your permission."
Trashy trids were responsible for this reactionary nonsense. This was the burden of being the 1%.
-
Clearly the bookish sort - probably spent more time with them than with people. Speaking to people like that isn't gonna make him any friends...
"Zombie is a very specific term, chummer. I'd thank you not to misuse it." She took another drag on her cigarette.
"And if you're gonna try to get people comfortable with a spell being cast on them, you might want to try not explaining it to them like they don't know anything. Not like you can blame someone for being nervous about something that sounds like it's gonna let someone into their head."
-
Mitchell was just starting his SUV when the little bell icon started showing in the upper right corner of his vision telling him he had an incoming call.
He clicked the answer button and wasn't surprised when he saw the LTG ID that came up
"I see most of the initial payments were accepted excellent. Our original Matrix support did not come through?" The voice that came out was flat, modulated to be removed of accent and gender. Mitchell privately suspected it was actually computer generated, but if so it happened a lot more quickly and spontaneously than most programs could manage.
"I'm afraid so. Our original hire ran afoul of the wrong security feature. Obviously he wasn't of the caliber we were looking for." Mitchell was secure in his critique, he hadn't assembled the team after all. If they all ended up dead and embarassed the talent scouts, well, that's one more job in the organization for him to take over.
"A replacement has been found. I'm uploading his dossier to you now." The file that came through looked good, standard stuff for a hacker. His appearance was a bit of a surprise, but no skin off Mitchell's nose. Not everyone was lucky enough to be a troll.
"I already gave them a commlink with an LTG number for backup support, should I retrieve it?"
"No, contact our new member, have him call through the 'link. I have other activities for you."
Mitchell shrugged to himself and put his car in gear as he began to drive off. He put an LTG call through to the new hacker, Fang.
"Good evening, Mr. Fang. My name is Mitchell and I received your name through your friend, Jessica. I have a proposition for you..."
-
Bullpen initially furrows his brow at the mention of a having a spell cast on him. He gives Invictus the once-over.
Invictus:
[spoiler](Judge intentions: 6d6 -- 6 successes!)[/spoiler]
-
[spoiler] Judge Intentions resist: 2 sux. You sense no malice or deceit, only confidence and control. His reaction to the conversation is patient assurance. [/spoiler]
-
He visibly relaxes. "Cast it so we can move on," and then moves to pour himself a soycaf (he'll skip the dairy creamer, thanks).
Looking at the group, he smiles cheerfully. "They call me Bullpen and I'm usually the filtro who goes in swinging first." He chuckles briefly and makes a mock swing in the air. Some of his coffee spills over the top of the cup as he does this, but he doesn't seem to mind and takes a drink.
Iris:
[spoiler]2 to defend against your judge intentions. Bullpen appears to have been honest, and is fairly chipper to have a job, especially one paying this well.[/spoiler]
-
Fang started as his commlink started signalling a call. He shook off the daydream he was in and answered, listening as the caller spoke. Sure Jessica, give me no warning. Woman loves her secrets sometimes.
He went through the polite greetings, listening as Mitchell detailed the information about the job, and the pay involved. "Accepted. Would you desire that I speak with the rest of the team now or later? And do you have any other requests or objectives for me?"
-
"In case you didn't hear, I'm Gray, and I specialize in human intelligence gathering and concealing illusions, and it's looking like I'm going to end up Face as well, unless any of you happen to have any untapped resevoirs of charm you've not seen fit to show us. Now get the 'Net over with, this is going to take some time." Gray said dryly, he coughed and poured a slug of scalding hot coffee down his throat.
Iris:
[spoiler]
Resist judge intentions 10d6(5)- 5 hits
[/spoiler]
-
"I suppose it would be a good thing to all be in touch. Ya go ahead and cast it so we can go, the sooner we get this job done the better, i don't like this one."
-
"Your objectives are as stated, Mr. Fang, and we feel you will make a better impression if you are proactive. Your team for this job is not full of the shy, retiring types. Do you have any further questions for me?"
-
"No further questions sir. Thank you for your consideration. Please have a nice evening." Fang said his polite goodbyes. As soon as Mitchell had ended the call, he examined the information briefly. Then he got into a comfortable position on his bed, slipped into VR, and began contacting the LTG number provided to him.
Upon answer: "Hello. My name is Fang, and I will be your matrix support for this task. Mr Johnson contacted me and assigned me to you."
-
He finishes his sofkaf, crushing the cup in his hand, and turns to the food dispenser. He snorts with some distaste at the American/Italian options and chooses American.
"Welcome to the team, Fang." Addressing the whole group, he says "The big question is where do we start. There are 2 sites marked, and no guarantees on either. Which one do we hit first?"
-
"shall we split up or do one at a time and be cautious?
-
"Name's Iris, but if you need a codename or something I guess Aziyan will do. I'm an investigator, so I think the fact that they've brought me on and given us two weeks should make it clear they don't mean for us to just go running in blind."
-
"Ron Cervantes pistol expert and gunsmith. Ex military but dont worry about that im done with that part of my life." "If ya need a weapon fixed or enhanced, or if ya just need something dead im your man." "Don't know about you guys but id like to get ourselves introduced and get this show on the road, the more we stand here the more i get the feeling our job will get harder." Ron didn't know what to make of this group, since his days in the military he had only done 2 shadow ops and they had been solo where he though it was good to have backup he still didn't know how to feel about these runners. He noticed a little bit of muscle magic and tec in the group so he relaxed a little knowing that the group had a good wide variety of skills. After ron introduced himself he went over to lean against the nearest wall of the warehouse and started twirling one of his ares warhawk pistols in a fancy gunslinger fashion.
Roll perception outside the warehouse door {3 hits}
-
Ron - Perception
[spoiler]
You continue to see a quiet night on the edge of the abandoned airstrip.
[/spoiler]
-
Gray rolled his eyes,'With teammates like these, who needs security' "I'm Gray, and as for what I did, well I think I'll wait until Ms Naivette here has got a bit of shadow on her before I tell, I've far too many people after me to be chatty. I won't say don't go looking" He adressed the commlink to the table."I know better than that,but be ready to have a lot of angry people wanted to have a chat with you, and even if you're like the last hacker who went for a gander, and just a torso in a bunker under siberia, I'd recommend changing the locks at least.
So in sum we have a girl scout, an ex-squaddie with a pistol fetish, a half-cow baseballer, a man who has had his frontal lobes replaced with a library, and a voice on a commlink. All we need now is a harmless old man with more blood on his hands than some corperations and it's the punchline of a bad joke, Oh. " He looked down at himself for a second, thin bloodless lips momnetarily forming a smile before he snapped back and put his head in his hands, sighing."Well I didn't come back to this in the hope of a long life, lets get this over and done with."
-
I waited as the group eased into conversation to guide them along to the point. I spoke simultaneously over the comlink and the mindnet. I also visualized and shared the images of the areas over the mindnet as a map.
"Glad to hear we've got the Matrix covered, Fang. Ron's right, we should get down to business. I'd suggest we first conduct reconnaissance on both sites remotely. I can send spirits to search for the image of the seal, and I'd suggest others do the same. In the meantime we can use our relative specialties to assess which is currently the harder target. That way, if we don't get a lead from the spirits' efforts, we can prioritize which area we search in force. Fang, can you find us anything on other bunkers like this one that have been found, and by whom. And what can you do about setting us up some secure channels for long range communication? We're currently supplementing with magic, but without you here I can't include you."
-
Iris fixed Gray with a deadpan stare for the naivete comment, before responding on the Mindlink.
"First, I don't appreciate it when people lie to me to conceal vital information - especially information that could keep people from getting killed. I know, for a flat and indisputable fact that he was lying, which leads me to my second point; I felt we needed to know why, and frankly wanted to see how the rest of you would react. The fact that he was annoyed at being called out rather than angry or worried when he found out I knew suggests that he's not concealing it out of malice; he doesn't actually care that I know he's lying. Add to that the other evidence, it starts looking an awful lot like this whole thing is a test." She tossed her cigarette to the concrete floor. There was more to why she asked what she did how she did, of course, but calling her naive was like calling the sea dry; she was a little surprised the self-styled Face hadn't read her intentions a bit better.
"Third, if I'm gonna get jerked around like that, I don't much care if anyone complains when I swing back a bit. In any case, I think you're all looking at the wrong approach here - it's not like it's impossible to figure out which site is going to be the right one before we move on it; we should focus on the right target rather than the soft one. And you should know full well, Invictus, that there's no spirit that's much going to like being tasked to investigate these sites; the astral around there is liable to be badly corrupted, after all, and that's assuming there've been no efforts made to bar astral access."
-
" Well first girl, confronting your Johnson is the best way I've ever heard of for getting him to take his 25,000 nuyen apeice and walking, and funnily enough, I enjoy not living on the street. This is Seattle, finding some other runners isn't exactly hard here is it? And if you do feel it's a test, try not to pick the option which could lead to us getting blacklisted, smartmouthed runners end up unemployable very quickly and as much as I would like your share, us being sans an investigator is going to get us killed a lot more quickly than some dodgy info.
He met Isis's stare with his own for a second before breaking away and looking up at the ceiling.
Secondly, he's a Johnson, the good ones always lie, and the best way out of it is to nod, smile, and go in prepared for anything up to and including an insect spirit hive. Now this looks remarkably convinient that there might be records of this bunker here in Seattle, given that this site would be top secret and pre-Crash 1.0 it'll be both hardcopy and if it exists anywhere west of Washington it'll be in either a safe or a vault depending on how strict those bean-counters decided to be on secuity. So I hope one of you knows a little B&E or we may as well just guess on this, so while we think this over I think I'll give my friend in Washington a call, just in case"
Gray reached into his suit and turned his commlink back on, old habits having made him turn it off before he approached the hanger. Images flashed across his glasses as his PAN fired back up, he retrived the list of sleeper agents in UCAS from a dark crevice in his mind, managed through blind luck to get his encryption program running and made a call to a Dr James Miller, history lecturer at Washington University.
//Hello Danny Boy, time for a trip to the archives,
we're looking for an old storm drain dug by great-uncle sam,
try the old FEMA stacks, call if you require more details.
yours, Torque
the traditonal sum will be deposited in the Zurich account//
Rolls
[spoiler]
remembering Agents 8d6(5)-5 hits
Loading Encryption Program 3d6(5)-1 hit
Persuading Contact to assist-9d6(5)-4 hits
[/spoiler]
-
"We don't need the spirits to do the reconnaissance for us. I intend to instruct mine to find the seal whose image we were provided, and that's all. If there are significant astral defenses, then that's another datapoint in our favor. If there are strong permanent defenses up that have had the sort of astral effect one would expect from decades of existence, that's as useful as finding the seal itself. An astral presence as well as any drones we have on tap will help us confirm the site, and if the spirits come up lacking then we still have data to work with. Are there any other indirect, low-risk methods of observation we have at our disposal?"
-
"I can provide encrypted long-range communication that will make it highly difficult for a hacker to read our communication. However it would still be less powerful in security to a magical method of communication." A quiet laugh. "If my lack of presence is an issue with that, there's nothing stopping me from joining the team at a physical location. Just give me a time and location."
Fang left that in the air, before addressing the next point of the unknown voice. "I'll do a bit of research into other found bunkers now."
[spoiler]Data Search on bunkers similar to the mentioned one, and who found them: Data Search (4) + Analytical Mind (2) + HotSim (2) + Browse (6) (14d6.hits(5)=5) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4331979/) (forgot this probably qualified as specialised, so make that 4 hits)
Data Search (4) + Analytical Mind (2) + HotSim (2) + Browse (6) (14d6.hits(5)=8) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4331981/) (total 13 [12 if specialised], public and private thresholds reached after 2 minutes)
Data Search (4) + Analytical Mind (2) + HotSim (2) + Browse (6) - Specialised (1) (13d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4331986/) (total 14)
Data Search (4) + Analytical Mind (2) + HotSim (2) + Browse (6) - Specialised (1) (13d6.hits(5)=4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4331989/) (total 16)
Data Search (4) + Analytical Mind (2) + HotSim (2) + Browse (6) - Specialised (1) (13d6.hits(5)=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4331991/) (total 19)
Data Search (4) + Analytical Mind (2) + HotSim (2) + Browse (6) - Specialised (1) (13d6.hits(5)=5) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4331993/) (total 24, hidden/actively hunted and erased threshold reached after 6 minutes)
Not sure how you're handling limiting extended tests, if at all. I'm assuming the Missions method of a number of dice rolls equal to the dice pool. If you plan to use the cumulative penalty, let me know and I'll modify the post. I'll likely be doing Data Search a fair bit, so let me know if you want me to do things differently.[/spoiler]
-
Gray
[spoiler]
\\Nice to speak with you after such a long time too, Torque. What kind of records are you looking for? Press releases, funds appropriations, disaster plans? And are we talking pre '79 CDA , or post '79 FEMA?[/spoiler]
MaxKojote
[spoiler]
GM Note -The missions method works fine for extended rolls. I'd count this as obscure instead of specialized - secret installations that actually exist as opposed to paranoid ramblings by conspiracy theorists like Plan9.
You don't find any credible reports of FEMA bunkers themselves, mostly you find thousands of articles about hidden dragon lairs, old missile silos being used as spirit lodges by the NAN governments and other oddball requests.
There are a few reports of government facilities being found over the years since the U.S. government disbanded but none in the Seattle area. You are able to confirm that the Redmond City Hall Department of Records does keep an archive of building records on hardcopy for pre-Crash projects for any contractors or corporations that engage in new construction projects in Redmond. You get the sense that it's not the busiest of government departments however.
You also see reports of vintage weapons showing up in large numbers in the slums of other cities in the CAS or UCAS over the last 3 years, as well as some speculation that the sudden influx of weapons is tied into discovery of old US stockpiles. There's also some reports you remain skeptical of that old US weapons are being funneled to the Yucatan rebels in Aztlan.
-
"Fang, someone can meet you at the ferry dock nearby and bring you to us. Look for the minotaur." I made eye contact with Bullpen and sent him a feeling of certainty in his ability, confirming that he'd take on the task. "Before you ask, that's not code for anything. I mean an actual minotaur. How soon can you make it?"
The plan seemed to be falling into place, and the team seemed competent at first glance. Luck counted for a lot in the shadows, though.
-
"Bainbridge Island dock? I should be able to arrive there in about half an hour or so. I should also be able to maintain communications during travel as well. " He got up off the bed, sliding out of AR as he continued communicating mentally, gathering his gear and directing his drone to the SUV. He really didn't want to go to Bainbridge, but was aware that Encryption had limits. If at all possible, magical communication was still superior. As soon as he was set up in the SUV, he ordered the autopilot to take him to the docks through normal means, and sank back in VR to continue his research and communications.
-
// post '79, and the plans were for the total colapse of society in the 10's and 20's, last redoubts,
safe houses for the politicos to sit it out, secret arsenals in case they were cut off, that sort of thing. //
He pushed his glasses up from his eyes for a second to rub them and said "But if we go saturating the place with watcher spirits and drones, we could attract some rather unwanted attention, do we really want some wizgangers or a curious Toxic coming to see what all the fuss is about. I'd say drop a few credsticks into the local homeless population, squatters get into all sorts of places after all, and most importantly it can't be traced back to us, supplemented with one or two watchers per magician. Now lets dig into that expense account, we'll need some stuff to secure the bunker once we've found it and cleared it out, I don't really feel like trusting 50 year old defences, especially after we've just broken through them."
Knowlede Roll
[spoiler]
Security Tactics 7d6(5)-5 hits
[/spoiler]
-
I put on a wry grin at Gray's point, waiting until he finished. "I agree that putting on a visible presence may draw unwanted attention, and the plan improves if we have a cagy illusionist acting as a force multiplier with the group's efforts. Subtly activating social networks and contacts also increases our chance of knowing what we're walking into when we decide to act. Does anyone else in the group have anything useful in that arena?"
I turned to the gunman, "Ron, I assume you're already thinking of methods to handle the combat side of securing and defending the site? Any first impressions on what we'll need to procure?"
-
\\Torque, top secret bunker plans don't just lay around in libraries, especially pre-Crash U.S. records. You know as well as I do how crazy Garrety and Jarman were and if they built bunkers to arm their genocide squads there isn't going to be a direct record of them anywhere. They digitized the surviving records back in '46 but a lot of the information was lost in the second Crash. I can ask a colleague to look for references on securing VIPs or facilities in the Crisis Management school but it'll take time, any records we have will be imaged from the original files.
I do know someone in the Metroplex government's Records group, he might be able to tell you more, but he's going to want a payoff or a favor for his help.
Gray - Security Tactics
[spoiler]
Which roll are you going for? Things you'd need to secure the bunker, or how to approach a potential hidden site without being detected by direct or incidental security?
[/spoiler]
-
//And that's why I came to you Danny Boy, though I'd stick with nuyen for this, you know how the Old Man gets about showing someone our reach, and if you get any questions, I think a paper on how distrust of the populace lead to the USA's collapse should do, it's been done to death already and they aren't going to send away good PR about how enightented the current administration is.//
-
Ron looked over "Yes i have been thinking about possible ways and strategies for combat" I imagine loading up with armor piercing and stick and shock will be good for and drones or armor we may come across as for spirits and magic stuff i am unfortunately not that experienced." I will let those experienced with magic deal with how we will take care of that" Ron though deeply about this mission he had never really fought any spirits or magical creatures, most of the time it was simply another man or women trying to kill him with a gun but this was a bit more. "other than the ammo i suggest we have good magic defense and make sure to eliminate as much of the bunkers defenses as possible other than that it should be good." "The only other thing i can think of would be to watch it on the explosives no telling how the structure integrity has held." "Once we have the bunker takken or even better,under our control, we should not have a hard time defending it. I hope our hacker is up to the challenge"
-
\\I can arrange an introduction, but it'll take a bit - just because I'm up in the middle of the night doesn't mean he is. And give it up about the "Old Man" and his reach. You're disavowed and I'm semi-retired and feathering my retirement accounts.
The usual account for the 250 for the introduction, Torque. I'll do some research on disaster planning in Seattle and see what I can find out as a bonus.
Gray - Security Tactics
[spoiler]
Ten thousand nuyen won't get you what you really want, but your best hope is directed anti-personnel explosives and heavy machine guns. Depending on how many entrances you need to secure, a GE Vindicator or a HVBR behind a short wall might work. If you grab enough barrier foam cans you can cutoff access in case there are any cracks in the walls you can't cover.[/spoiler]
-
//Wrong Old Man, Danny Boy, Brightman may be down in Denver but don't doubt he's watching us all, I'm sure you recall what he did to the Falconer when he started attracting attention. He really doesn't like security risks, especially now that some of the new guard have come sniffing arround. Remember the nest egg is his to dish out, and without it, you're stuck on a goverment pension and everything that implies, and I'm a week away from being hunted down like a dog, so lets not piss him off. The money should be with you directly// [wire 250 Nuyen]
He looked over to Ron and said "Well for our defence of the bunker I do have a little expertise in the area. Lets see, warding equipment, barrier foam, and few machine guns should form the basis of our defense, and whatever's spare, we use turning any access point into a deathtrap. Landmines, monowire, broken metal and glass for the floors, maybe gear up in chemsuits and gasmasks and fill the place with a cocktail of CS, nausea gas, breathtaker, possibly some neurostun if we feel that it isn't overkill. 10,000 may make this a little tight, so if anyine knows someone who can get us this sort of equipment on the cheap, now is the time to say so." He was already jotting up a price list in his head before he had finished speaking, and the numbers were already squeezing their expenses to the limit.
-
Bullpen returns Invictus's nod. Being the muscle on a meet in the meat was something he was used to doing at this point. It's almost comfortable even.
"As for my part, I can be a big, loud distraction or I can close in and cause much damage once we find the place. I have also been a ... cómo se dice ... ah, 'meat shield' for mages. No es fácil, but it's a living," Bullpen says, ending with a short chortle. "But if we're spreading chemicals, I need to get a chem suit before I will go in. And my contacts won't be much help for what we need."
-
"i may be able to smuggle us some equipment not sure what but ill try" Connection 3 loyalty 4 for my smuggling contact 3 success (555)
-
Ron
The comm picks up and you get Edd with the ever-present bar noise in the back ground.
"Ron, what's the haps, chummer? This a social call or you reaching out for professional transportation?
-
"I may need some supplies if ya catch my drift actually some transportation i may need later but how well can you perhaps get me some shall we say gas and chemical items" ron thought about this one edd had come through for him before and he knew edd was a good smuggler and he could get things.
-
"Whoa, hold on there, pal. I transport, I don't ask questions and that's all I do. Rule three, right?"
Edd starts quoting his three rules of transportation, which he has explained at drunken length are what makes his smuggling business the best available.
How that leads to him flying a beat up T-bird out of Salish territory doing short hauls instead of running the Big Dance escapes you.
"Look, you want gear maybe I can't point you in the right direction, I hear things OK? No charge 'cuz we're friends and all, right? Maybe you fly turret again one of these days. There's a guy I know, skeezy dude, hangs out at Fenris Nacht in Tacoma. Thing is, you're...ah...a little vanilla for that place. You got someone you trust to come with you who's more exotic?"
-
"sure thing edd thanks for the help ya i think i got a friend or two whos more.....uh....exotic, but yes thank you." "Hay i may be callin ya up to fly turret again cause if this new line of work goes smooth i may be needing that.....but uh what do ya mean....exotic" Ron thought to himself and looked over at his newfound "coworkers" he looked over at the minitour and then over at the older man. Ron thought to himself {Exotic??}
-
"Look, the folks in Fenris is mostly those who can't fit in with a more normal crowd, right? So when someone who can fit in with a crowd shows up you tend to get too much attention, like you're perv'ing out on them. Some of them may get a charge outta that but others resent it and you don't want them mad at ya. But if you show up with one of their own they'll leave you be."
His voice gets distant for a second and you hear "Yeah, babe, just biz for a sec. I'll be riiight wit' ya."
He comes back to your conversation at full volume, "So listen, I can make the call and he can give you a time but it's getting on into prime hours for the evening so I need to know when you want the meet OK?"
-
"You know, I can't help but consider that this plan is just gonna call more trouble down on us. The more force we go in there with, the more likely people are to take notice and cause us trouble. That said, I can keep us apprised of anything living down there within a pretty good distance from us, so we don't have to be too worried about things sneaking up on us."
-
Ron turns and informs the group of a possible aid (REFER TO DIALOGUE UP TOP)
-
Fang's voice sounded out of the commlink after Ron's explanation. "Fenris Nacht? I'm not too far from there now, and I can get in easy enough and hopefully someone else as well." From the sound of it, not many of the rest of the team really fit the 'exotic' requirements of the location. Not really an issue for him. He pulled over as he had already bypassed Fenris Nacht on the way to the port.
As he finished collating the research on the bunkers, he spoke up again. "I am sending the information on the bunkers to the commlink. Please review it at your convenience." As he spoke, he reached into the threads of Resonance, weaving them into a new complex form, one made for secrecy. Sometimes one doesn't want prying eyes. As he completed, he infused it into the communications link between his commlink and the commlink the team possessed.
[spoiler]Threading Encrypt: Software (4) + Resonance (6) + Analytical Mind (2) (12d6.hits(5)=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4338058/)
Taking 2 hits
Fade DV: 2S
Resist Fade: Intuition (5) + Resonance (6) (11d6.hits(5)=7) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4338062/)
Fade DV: 0S (shocker right there)
Encrypting the communications line.[/spoiler]
The document he had sent mentioned the difficulty of finding credible reports, the vast majority only stating rumours of hidden dragon lairs, old missile silos being used as spirit lodges by the NAN governments, and more.
A couple of sourced reports mention government facilities being found post-U.S Government disbandment; however none were in the Seattle area. There was a note that Redmond City Hall Department of Records has hardcopy information for pre-Crash projects for any contractors or corporations engaging in new construction projects in Redmond. Fang theorised that it's not the busiest government department however.
Further reports mention vintage weapons showing up in large numbers in the slums of other cities in CAS and UCAS over the last three years, along with speculation that these weapons are from old US stockpiles. A last report highlighted as 'unlikely' mentioned that old US weapons are being funneled to Yucatan rebels in Aztlan.
-
"good, thanks fang ill check it right away" "when and where should this meeting go down" {This is what happens when you leave old military bunkers unattended} After reading the report ron now felt even more off about the mission, if it was possible for others besides runners then they may be facing more trouble in the future, ron also wondered who else had access to the bunkers, rumors of weapons going around was never a good thing.
-
"Any reason a good masking spell won't address that problem? Always been my go-to for blending in where I don't fit." Iris spoke aloud and over the Mindlink, this time.
-
"A sound idea, but getting in isn't the hard part, the hard part is talking this fellow into selling us the material cheap enough that we'll have enough for the rest. if you factor in roughly 5,000 nuyen for a couple of White Knights and ammunition, 2,000 for 2 meters of monowire to string along at shin hight at the main entrances, let's call it 500 for barrier foam, 1,500 for finding someone willing to get us some mines and actually purchasing them, that leaves us the last thousand for the gas and chemsuits, gasmasks, that sort of thing, and if we're careful that should leave a small quantity for us to shave off the top." Gray stood up, donning his leather gloves. Leaning on the back of the chair he said "Now who's going to join fang, and who's going on a shopping trip, I hear the Crime Mall actually gets tolerable this time of night."
-
"Hold up a second. I'm still not sold on this plan - seems like going that loud is just going to make things more difficult. We all know that we'd being calling all sorts of the wrong attention down on ourselves, and I take the impression that our employer would prefer we take a quieter approach. In any case, the point of the mask is simply to get us in - if you style yourself a Face, I'd say you, me, and anyone who'd actually fit in without the help. At that point, the 'hard part' is your job" On the Mindlink, a striking lack of confidence was carried with that last bit.
She tasked her agent to run a search on Fenris Nacht so she could get an idea of the sorts of people who usually showed up, and started working out the maskings.
[SPOILER]
Rolls to follow when Invisible Castle comes back up.
[/spoiler]
-
"Do I really need to repeat myself, this is to secure the bunker once we penetrate it, and as to atracting attention, who do you think will actually be there to watch other than Mr. Johnson's men so they can swoop in afterwards. If you haven't noticed, the Redmond Barrens have been in a state of guerrilla warfare for the past 40 years, a little noise when we cut our way in is not going to draw any attention. And if everything does go to hell, would'nt you prefer 10,000 nuyen worth of sudden, messy death between you and whoever wants to take the bunker from us."
Just to Isis he sent a message through the mindnet, wrapped in a feeling of reproach.
A little professional coutesy would be apreciated in future, Isis, I wouldn't be here if I wasn't capable, so lets keep things civil. If you feel that I should have struck you dumb with my charm in order to be qualified, well, there is a time and a place for everything, and pre-op planning sessions I find are neither."
-
"You shouldn't ask for consideration you refuse to offer. In any case, machinegun fire is rather beyond what I'm used to finding in places like Redmond - and that'll bring the locals down on us, even if for no better reason than thinking we're invading their turf; better they don't find out we're there. And for fuck's sake, it's Iris. It's the only thing ma ever gave me, so I'd thank you to get it right."
-
"I think we are getting ahead of ourselves," Bullpen says between bites of sub-par American food. "We should do some recon before we jump into buying gear. We will not know what we need for certain until we get a look at the place, and I do not want to waste all our baro on crap we do not need. As for how we do recon, it is not my specialty, but I think we should go in quiet first to get an idea of what these sites offer. A stealthy spirit or drone, or an infiltrator, perhaps?"
With a laugh, he adds: "And Ron, I think I might be 'exotic' enough for Fenris Nacht." His accent on "nacht" isn't quite right, but it's understandable.
-
"To confirm, do you wish for me to continue making my way to where the team is currently located, or shall I wait near Fenris Nacht for whoever is planning to head in there?" Fang queried. "In regards to the masking spell... Can someone explain the effects and limitations of the spell to me? My knowledge of magical theory is rather limited."
-
"Essentially, the spell gives you a new physical appearance - complete with a different voice, scent, and so on. Cast effectively, the physical variety I'd be using fools tech as well."
-
I waited, gauging the group's dynamics. I was careful to listen not just to what was said, but to the subtexts and the absences. The picture was clarifying into a unified whole. The pattern was becoming clear before me.
But first, I had to call them to action. I centered my thoughts and sent of wave of calm focus to each of the Mind Net participants while I spoke aloud to the 'link.
[spoiler] Composure Test (right?) = 3 hits [/spoiler]
"Bullpen is correct. The proper course of action at each phase of the operation is first to observe, second to plan based on observations, and lastly to act accordingly, repeating the process as our actions create new goals. I admire your initiative, Gray, but until we know which site we need to secure, any plan or purchase is premature. Our first priority is to find the site and plan from there. I suggest we spend the rest of this evening on that process. Fang, continue to the docks and we'll proceed to get our hardware sync'd up and we'll prepare your drones magically to quietly check out the 5 km area surrounding the sites. We'll send you and Bullpen out with Ron and whomever else wanst to go out to Fenris Nacht. We can plan as information comes in and have a contact team already in place once we know what we're going to be dealing with. Gray, it might also be a good place to start checking the rumors about areas amongst the underpriviledged."
I stood and strode to the railing overlooking the hangar, preparing to touch the mana around me. It was listless here and while it didn't resist my will, if I was to operate at peak efficiency I'd need to bring it to life.
"In the meantime I'll be summoning a Detection Spirit to search for the FEMA seal. I'll instruct her to inform me if she is unable to find it and why. I suggest anyone else who can summon one do the same. We should pool our resources, instructing them to conceal each other. Once we've sent them off, I'll begin preparing wards for the building. With a dash of luck, by the time Bullpen gets back with Fang, we'll have better information on which site we'll be working with."
I began walking down the stairs, "Anyone Awakened but not practicing a Hermetic tradition should probably avoid a 4 meter area . . . here." I gestured to indicate an area in the far corner of the hanger and unleashed the fractal seed of the spell I'd been casting. "I'll be using it to prepare."
[spoiler] [Hermetic] Mana Static Force 4: 5 hits; Soak Drain 7S: 5 hits [/spoiler]
Pain wheedled its way through my astral self and settled behind my eyes and the spell took hold of the mana in the area. The astral seed exploded outward, imposing its pattern onto the mana around it. Iteration after iteration ordered the patch of the astral plane into recursive perfection, ready to spring to the application of Hermetic formulae.
"If there are no questions, shall we begin?"
Reaching the hangar floor I loosened my tie, removed my jacket, and rolled up my cuffs. If anyone here was going to shoot me, they'd have done it by now, and I needed to be comfortable to call Dagny. I walked into the spell's reach and instantly felt the mana ache to answer my call. I would be conservative for now, but I knew that it would tempt me at every turn to use it all at once so that it could consume me.
-
Fang instructed the autopilot to resume the current course once he was informed to continue proceeding to the port. He was still about fifteen minutes away. As the speaker continued, he mentally noted down the details of what they wanted.
Wonder how he got 'drones' from 'matrix support'. I suppose it might be a bit of a vague descriptor, but still. Kind of wish I did have an observation drone now as well as my Lynx. Should look into getting one.
He knew he had to be careful after arriving. The recent panics over 'virtuakinetics' that had been talked about in the shadows were of major concern to him. He was aware of what he was, and knew he had to keep it concealed from the team. Hopefully the oddity of his physical appearance would distract them from any other oddities that might hint towards his Emerged nature.
For now though, he should probably dispel the idea that he had multiple drones at his command. "I um... I don't really have observation drones. Just a combat one. A spirit or a team member would be better suited toward observation than my combat drone."
-
Gray sighed inwardly as his proposals were shot down, and there was an urge to ignore the lot of them and do it on his own, he could afford, it after all. He felt Adversary urging him on, but you didn't get to be a Black Magician as old as he was without an ability to ignore spirits whispering in your ears. No need for that, a little loss shouldn't bother either of us, and I'm sure they'll be someone stupid and rude at Fenris Nacht, we can have some fun then, I promise. He forced the insidious tendrils of influence from his mind and pushed himself off the chair. "Well of to Fenris Nacht we go, now please tell me if this is exotic enough." He walked as far away from where Invictus stood as he could, then tapped the surrounding mana, pulling it into him until he felt he had what he needed. Blanking out his surroundings he focused entirely on the mana within him, hammering and shaping it under his will, warping it to his satisfaction and letting it spring loose, enveloping him in a shadowy tangle of illusions. Where Gray had be standing now was a tall, thin but hard looking man with the sharp, promenant features and dark eyes of an eagle shapeshifter, dressed in a leather duster with norse runes around the cuffs and torn, dark clothing. Coming back to the table he brought a smell of woodsmoke, musk and old dried blood, and in a deep voice thrumming with a danish accent he said Shall we get on with it? gesturing with an arm at the door to the hanger.
Composure:
[spoiler]
Roll 10d6(5)=(3 req.) 5 hits
[/spoiler]
Physical Mask
[spoiler]
physical mask force 5 :10d6(5)= 6 hits
DV=3 resist drain 10d6(5)= 4 hits
[/spoiler]
-
As Fang spoke, I walked through the summoning process in my head. Dagny could be a strong willed avatar, and this had made summoning her difficult in the past. But it was her dogged determination that I relied on.
"Well if ever you've wanted an aerial support drone, I assume you received the same advance as the rest of us. I'm not one to tell you how to spend your money, though. We can operate fine without secondary methods for the moment. If Stuffer Shack has one and you pick it up, we'll fold it into the plan."
I tapped into the mana around me, bringing into focus a mental vision of snowcapped peaks and wispy clouds. In a split second the roar of an engine entered into my consciousness. I became the plane she was chasing, and through the astral I sent out the call, the question that I knew would drive her through the metaplanes and to my side: "Who is John Galt?"
[spoiler] Summoning Force 5: 4 hits; Drain: 5 hits [/spoiler]
-
Invictus - Summoning
[spoiler]
Resist = 2 hits for 2 net services on the spirit.[/spoiler]
The presence of the spirit fills the near-astral, and you see the insubstantial form of a tall, statuesque woman come just into focus near the edge of your vision. Around her you hear the faint sounds of a locomotive moving in the background, one of the more unusual parts of your metaphysical construct for dealing with the air spirit.
Sorry I'm late, I got held up at a red light.
-
[spoiler] Forgot to mention, activating Astral Perception as a simple action. [/spoiler]
Each time I summoned her, she looked more and more like Angela. Perhaps I was just imagining it . . .
"Nonsense, Dagny. You're exactly on time, as always." I reached out and formally kissed her hand, reaching again into the carefully structured manascape.
[spoiler] [Ultra-Wideband Radar] Cryptesthesia (Extended) Force 8: 7 hits; Drain v. 6P: 5 hits[/spoiler]
Pain shot through my lips when their contact released the spell. I tasted blood on my teeth as I succumbed to the temptation to channel more dangerous amounts of mana.
I reached out over our mental bond. "I need something from you, of course. You'd be insulted if I offered you the opportunity to affect the physical world without asking something of value in return." I called the FEMA seal to memory in exacting detail, "I need you to search the old Federal District of Redmond for a bunker with this seal emblazoned on it and report its whereabouts to me, as well as a detailed image of the area using the sense I've provided you as well as your astral sight. If the bunker with the seal isn't present, or you can't continue safely, the images and a report of what impeded your progress." I dropped her astral hand, "Don't take any unnecessary risks. I need you." For some reason that came out more tender than I had intended it, and I knew I was projecting emotionally. I shook off the creeping tendrils of the past to focus on the here and now. "Wait here until I give the signal. If you have any questions, you should ask them now."
I looked back at the group beginning their preparations. I spoke through the Mind Net, "You look perfect, Gray. I take it you'll be leaving the summoning for the Pritchard Park search to Iris? Whomever else is going to send a spirit, I'd be happy to cast some enhancements on it. Bullpen, I've got some spells to cast on you, too, before you go."
-
Bullpen casually finishes the American "cuisine" and pulls out a can of chew. He pops a pinch in his mouth to replace the lingering flavor the food left behind. He curiously eyes Invictus as he sees him bow and then kiss a seemingly non-existent hand, but he figures it must be a mage thing.
"Go ahead and cast your spells on me, Invictus. I have no fear of your magic. Just tell me what you are casting and how long it will last. I will be ready to go after that."
-
Dagny smiled at the courtly gesture of your astral form.
I will search for this seal, although our definitions of unnecessary risk may differ. How long do you want me to look?
You sense the usual impatience from the spirit as it wants to get your assignment over with.
-
Hermetics had always frustrated Iris - always seeming to presume their understanding of the magical world was complete.
"I believe I've already made my stance on asking such menial tasks of the loa quite clear." Her voice took on a hard edge here, leaving little room to debate the subject. "And while your disguise is well executed, Grey, have you considered that you'd have to play the part of an eagle wearing a human shape? It seems it would be wiser to mask as a changeling - certainly seem to be a good number of them in the clientele, and at least that way you're not having to put on the appearance of belonging to a completely different species."
-
Gray sighed, "Well I suppose I could cover it, I do have a few bound spirits knocking about, but go easy on the spells, I much prefer your brains inside your head."
He called Miasma to him, tugging on the bond between them,and as he opended his eyes to the astral, there stood a shifting roughly man-shaped form made up of mist and shadows. It bowed to him and looked up expectantly, waiting for orders. Breaking him in had taken some time, Gray reminisced, but it seems to have worked.
"You are to survey the Pritchard Park in Seattle, to locate a secret bunker, which may be identified by this symbol." He projeted the FEMA symbol through the bond. "But first you are to have spells of detection cast upon you by this mage."
Once he had dealt with his spirit, he turned to Iris, "This is getting into a bit of a theme isn't it, now please think about it for a second, Eagle shapeshifters suffer from claustraphobia almost to a man, and coupled with the fact that transforming into an eagle in the middle of a club isn't going to be nice at the best of times, it gives me a good excuse to deal with any confrontation before I attract any attention, and who would expect someone to disguse themselves as shapeshifters when there was the much easier option of a changeling? Plus, if our man thinks he has an advantage negotiating, he isn't going to make as much effort trying to scam us."
-
After a little while, Fang was watching Bainbridge Harbour from the water taxi he had taken for a faster trip. A shortcut as it were. Certainly cut out the travel time of taking a passenger ferry. "I am approaching Bainbridge Harbour now. It should be a couple of minutes for me to meet up whoever is there." He had left his car and drone behind on the other side, no need to attract further attention than he was already doing.
-
"Your call." She leaned back; she couldn't decide if that actually had been his plan or if he was just covering for a mistake. She also couldn't be bothered to care at this point, seeing as he'd either prove to be worth having around or not.
-
Across the bond to Dagny I let her know, "I know you won't be satisfied unless you give your best effort, and that's enough for me. If you've come up with nothing before 6:45am tomorrow, give me your report and then you may take your leave." With that, I gave her the mental signal to commence with her purpose.
I moved to the edge of my artificial background count and pulled the mana around me again. Extending my finger out of the bubble, I beckoned Miasma to touch it.
[spoiler] [UWB Radar] Cryptesthesia Force 8: 5 hits; Drain v. 4S: 6 hits [/spoiler]
Next I gestured to Bullpen. "You'll be faster, more alert, and harder to hit. They'll last until I sleep, if you need them that long." Placing my hand on his massive arm, I continued to let mana course through me.
[spoiler] Increased Reflexes Force 4: 4 hits; Drain v, 4S: 5 hits
Combat Sense Force 5: 4 hits; Drain v. S: 5 hits [/spoiler]
It was getting difficult to concentrate through the thrum of mana coursing through my astral form. If anyone needed any other spells, I'd let them ask rather than offer. If my spell load got any heavier I wasn't going to be able to make the wards last long enough.
As I cast, Fang's message came through. "Excellent. Any software the team should be downloading to make your job easier?"
The mindlink sent along the sense of reproach to accompany my words, for Iris's mind only. No sense calling her out in front of the group if I didn't have to. Yet. "Your attitude is counterproductive. Being uncomfortable with an idea is one thing. Refusing to help the team without suggesting an alternative is exactly the sort of thing that will erode the team's trust in your ability. Let's set aside the fact that critiquing an actor on his technique and creative license is tantamount to pistols at dawn. If here and now, at the first and easiest step of the job we're hired to do, you balk then what will happen when someone's life is on the line? If we can't count on you for the little things, how can we count on you for the big things? Whatever your hangup is, you need to either get ahold of it or go home so we can find someone who'll earn the pay you're getting. As it is, you're doing nothing.If you can't find a better way to help the team, then start helping me with the wards on this place."
The wards were going to be the most painful part of the process. I took out my penknife and began scratching a series of formulae in the corner, setting up my standard layering of alarm and polarized barriers.
-
"No software is required to make my life easier. If desired, I can run a centralised Tactical Network for the benefit of the team. However this would require slaving your commlinks to m-my commlink." He stammered slightly, cutting himself off before he indicated that they slave their commlinks to him. With how things were at the moment, that would be a fantastically poor idea. "Slaving to my commlink would also provide protection from other hackers."
He throttled the feeling of anxiety as he left the water taxi onto Bainbridge Harbour. "I am now at the harbour." The voice coming from the commlink sounded nervous, tense. "For the person who is meeting up with me; understand that I was given the name 'Fang' appropriately. You will likely easily find me. " Hopefully before the more conservative residents decide to express their opinions.
-
Once Invictus casts his spells, Bullpen dusts off his hands and heads to the door, saying "Time to go."
As he steps outside the building, he spits away from the door, getting some fair distance, and continues to chew as he heads for his bike. He sets his autopilot to take him to the meeting spot at the harbor.
-
Well of you go Miasma, return to me either when you find the location or 12 hours elapse, try not to kill so many gangers this time, you're making Id jealous. With marching orders given, Gray sauntered after Bullpen, picking up his walking stick and with the faint tapping of carbon fibre on concrete he departed the hanger.
"Any chance of a lift" he said to Bullpen as he exited the hanger and spotted the minotaur heading for the bike." My leg isn't what it was, and being borne aloft by spirits isn't very nice this time of year." gesturing to the cold, barren sky with his walking stick .
-
Quick calculations of the space of the hangar told me that this would certainly be a one person job. The reproach cut from the mindlink to Iris. "Alternately, you can follow up on digging into our Johnson. I have a feeling you'll enjoy that one more. If this is a test, and I think you're correct, then it's important to know who's writing the syllabus if we're to perform."
Hearing Fang's answer I sent a mental message to Bullpen, "Swing the hacker by the hanger to set up the commlinks before you head out. And don't forget Ron. It's his introduction."
Aloud, to the commlink, I addressed Fang, "How long will it take you to finish shoring up our commlinks? The magical link won't help us when we separate."
-
"I'll be hitting the streets 'round both locations, too, see what I can scare up. Need to find out what we're walking into. Figure out if I can find anything for blueprints one the place, too. Someone wanted to tag along as backup, can't say as I'd mind."
-
"Setting up your commlinks into a protected network should only take a few moments of your time. After that they should be as secure as I can manage." Fang's voice came from the commlink. "After that I can travel back to Fenris Nacht on the mainland with whoever is going there."
-
"Ill tag along, figure might as well." {why was that strange feeling coming back to ron} {and why do i keep getting this feeling that im being watched.....by something other than my comrads....}
-
"Well, Gray, how cozy do you want to get with me and another stranger? I am picking up the hacker, and, as you can see," he points to his bike, "there is no side car. You could ride behind me on the way there, but I do not know how big this other guy will be, so getting back may be difficult. Hackers are often small, but not always." With a shit-eating grin, he says, "Want to ride on my horns on the way back?"
The bike is huge, obviously modded for a metahuman his size. It's a style of Harley that you see a lot of go-gangers and some trid stars riding. As he waits for a response from Gray, Bullpen starts the engine and commands the license plate to morph its numbers. No tiene sentido mantener los mismos números que van y vienen de este lugar. (No sense keeping the same numbers coming and going from this place.)
-
Gray chuckled at Bullpen's 'offer', his masked voice making it sound like a stalling engine."I think I'll pass, Bullpen. If there's no other way, I'll dust off my stiff upper lip and take the spirit option, though if I do end up a stain on some concrete I'm coming back to haunt you." He waited until Bullpen had finished fiddling with his bike, and clambered onto the harley behind Bullpen.
-
"Sounds fair to me." Bullpen heads to the harbor, using the auto-pilot on his bike and staying at the speed limit.
-
The docks on Bainbridge Island are eerily quiet. Combined with fog rolling in off the Sound and the distant foghorns of water traffic on the water, you get the feeling you're stepping into a horror movie.
For late night travelers there's a 24 hour water taxi service that has its own building shedding a pool of harsh white light into the fog, obscuring most of the surrounding area for anyone dependent on natural light. A small sitting area exists for those waiting for someone to come pick them up, walled in glass with hard plastic chairs for customers monitored by a smart system that allows the taxi service to keep people on its more valuable boats in the middle of the night.
-
Fang himself was seated in the glass-walled area sitting area on one of the chairs, browsing a couple of pages in AR. His hands were in the air needlessly as he operated his matrix persona, moving pages around, recording information and so on. He wasn't really watching the newcomers for a minotaur in particular, recalling what one of his team had informed him; with how quiet it was, watching specifically was mostly unneeded. His ears were perked for the sound of any arriving vehicles.
At least it wasn't crowded and noisy. He welcomed the quiet of the late hour, as eerie as it was. Nevertheless, he hoped his teammate arrived soon; he was starting to get somewhat nervous at the wait.
-
Before I let the Mindnet fade back into raw mana, I sent to Iris, "Thank you. Would magical radar aid your task?"
[spoiler] Assuming yes: [UWB] Cryptesthesia Force 7: 5 hits; Drain vs 5S: 5 hits [/spoiler]
-
When they finally got to the docks, Gray waited until the bike hlted and hopped off, he turned to Bullpen and said "I'll go get the hacker, you keep an eye out for anyone who's trying to get a jump on us in this fog" With that, Gray engaged the thermographic option in his glasses and strolled into the fog, until he was only a faint silhouette in the gloom.
Gray stepped into the pool of light surrounding the water taxi stand, looking over his glasses at their new hacker; and his eyebrows raised momentarily when he saw just how SURGEd Fang was. He quickly recomposed himself and went up to rap on the glass wall with his walking stick."Time to get going Fang, I'm Gray, I just slipped into something more comfortable before coming down."
-
Fang blinked in surprise as Gray came into view. He closed a couple of the AR windows he had open to take in the other 'runner more clearly and stood up. I didn't think we had a shapeshifter... Or perhaps he used that masking thing they were discussing before? The changeling exited the glassed in area to join Gray outside, stopping himself from memorising the other's scent. They said it disguises scents... No point in remembering this one.
However the oddity continued when he did speak, but his mouth did not move. The voice came from a commlink somewhere on his person. "A pleasure, Gray. Shall we get back to base?" His ears moved around slightly, capturing other sounds from the harbour as well as Gray's voice. "I would like to set up the network quickly before we head to Fenris Nacht."
-
After Bullpen parks the bike, he stands next to it and looks around to see if anyone else is in the area, though he isn't sure how much he can actually see in this fog.
[spoiler]Perception: 2 hits out of 6, with a glitch :([/spoiler]
He spits tobacco juice into the water and keeps chewing as he watches Fang and Gray. Supongo que todo el mundo en las sombras sólo tiene un nombre...incluyéndome a mí (I guess everyone in the Shadows only has one name...including me). He chuckles.
-
Bullpen - Perception
[spoiler]
The fog is obscuring the area but you're not fooled - someone has a recon drone lurking on the outer edges of the parking lot, watching all of you.
[/spoiler]
-
Bullpen slowly takes out the Jupiter club and then remembers Invictus had given him some sort of Radar power. He's not sure how the power is supposed to work, so he narrows his eyes at the recon drone, points the club in its direction, and tries to extend his mind to ping it. ¿Qué tan grande es esta cosa? (How big is this thing?).
An outside observer might think he's trying to move something with the Force by the look of concentration on his face, but he hasn't even seen those classic movies.
-
Gray saw Bullpen gesticulating through the fog and ingrained instinct took over, he quickly moved to put the glass walls between him and whatever Bullpen had seen."Get down" he hissed at Fang."We've got some unexpected company, now you've got better eyes and you don't look like you can take a shot well, so I'm going to drop an invisibility spell on you. Try and get a look at what it is, if it's dangerous, run like hell, the 'taur and me can probably deal with it as long as we don't have to worry keeping you free from holes."
Gray pulled on the mana surrounding them, sucking it in in great wracking gulps until he knew he could take in no more without harming himself. He wove the mana together into a thick shroud inside him, his eyes closed and faint, mumbled incantations issuing from his mouth. With a quick gesture he wrapped the spell around Fang, grimacing momentarily at the flash of pain behind his eyes as the spell left him.
[spoiler]
Physical Invisibility force 5:10d6(5)-6 hits
Drain DV3 10d6(5)-2 hits
[/spoiler]
-
Fang had immediately ducked down as soon as he heard the command to do so. He nodded as Gray instructed him to investigate and, if needed, flee. "If need be I can try to... Discourage its current behaviour." He informed the older male before the Invisibility spell wrapped around him. Hesitantly, he stood upright and moved carefully out of cover, peering into the fog to see what got their team member worked up.
[spoiler] Perception test on what Bullpen is reacting to: Intuition (5) + Perception (4) + Vision Enhancement (3) + Actively Looking (3) (15d6.hits(5)=8) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4368004/)
I see everything forever. -Forever-.[/spoiler]
-
Before I let the Mindnet fade back into raw mana, I sent to Iris, "Thank you. Would magical radar aid your task?"
"In time, maybe - but for the moment, it's best not to go into this sort of thing calling attention to yourself. Better to keep the magic to a minimum until I know what the astral situation looks like. Word of advice, though - be careful with that whole portable domain spell of yours; it would be very dangerous to use that in the wrong place. Someone might decide you're messing with their territory, which wouldn't be taken kindly to..."
-
Fang - Perception
[spoiler]
You don't see anything in the slowly drifting fog, or indeed much motion besides the pilot back in the water taxi loitering and smoking a cigarette as he pulls the night shift. You can see the usual night insects and your heightened senses catch the musky smell of the minotaur's adrenaline pumping so he's not just hazing you.
If Bullpen and Gray are right whatever's out there has serious masking capabilities. If you want to make a check for Combat Tactics or Logic for options go ahead.[/spoiler]
-
Fang tilted his head to the side. While he couldn't tell what was bothering Bullpen, he knew something really was. He quickly tried to think of a couple of options for where to go from here.
[spoiler]Nothing on 8 hits? Harsh. That's pretty well-disguised.
Logic (5) (5d6.hits(5)=1) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4369250/)[/spoiler]
-
[spoiler]Nobody informs me I need to make a second perception roll for the Radar. 3 hits out of 6 -- no glitch![/spoiler]
-
Fang - Logic
[spoiler]
Your senses are keen - keener than most trolls in fact. And frankly you're not convinced that there's anything out there. It's possible, remotely, that your contact was somehow tracked to Bainbridge with a high tech drone or spirit.
If it's a drone you can try to detect the node, since anything that high tech with instant response is probably being rigged right now.
If it's a spirit that somehow manifested you don't know what you'd do.[/spoiler]
Bullpen - Radar Perception
[spoiler]
You don't get anything back on the radar sense the mage gave you. Could it have been a spirit you've seen or a drone with some kind of masking? You remember back when you played baseball that the drone camera used in stadiums had chameleon coatings to prevent them from interfering with the view of the ball in play. Or maybe the mage isn't as good at his casting, but your eyes could track a 157 kph fastball so you know there's nothing wrong with them![/spoiler]
-
Fang narrowed his eyes. It was rare that his senses failed him as they had in this circumstance. He decided to cast out his senses in the matrix instead. He decided to get a little extra help though and his Living Persona drew on the Resonance, making a call for assistance from a sprite that interacted with the very essence of the matrix.
[spoiler]Free action - Detect Active/Passive nodes.
Complex Action - Compile Code Sprite R6 (optional powers: Scan, Corrupt): Compiling (4) + Resonance (6) + Paragon (1) (11d6.hits(5)=4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4370601/)
Resist drain: Intuition (5) + Resonance (6) (11d6.hits(5)=5) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4370602/)
If successful: Use first task to Detect Hidden Nodes.[/spoiler]
-
It's possible something's there, but Bullpen isn't sure since the Radar didn't pick anything up. La magia parecía estar funcionando ... (The magic seemed to be working ...)
He walks to the edge of the parking lot to get a closer look, tapping the bat into his left hand as he approaches, ready to swing.
[spoiler]Perception: 1 success out of 6[/spoiler]
-
Fang - Matrix Work
[spoiler]
OOC - Do you want to roll for your sprites or do you want me to? I'll update the post with results if you'd prefer I roll.
Your sprite is summoned and proceeds to run around looking for nodes in the immediate area. It begins to scan the area, occasionally reporting back to you whenever it rules something out.
[/spoiler]
Bullpen - Perception
[spoiler]
OOC - Come on now, trying to get out of a non-combat glitch by rerolling one second later? You do have Edge you know!
There's an eerie quiet in the parking lot area as you stride towards the edge of the lot. You don't see anything - could it have been an animal? But if it was an animal why didn't the radar sense pick it up?
[/spoiler]
-
Tal vez la niebla está jugando trucos en mis ojos (Maybe the fog is playing tricks on my eyes). Still not sure, he straightens himself taller and snorts into the darkness in an attempt to scare off anything that might be nearby.
[spoiler]Intimidation: 1 success of 3[/spoiler]
The snort comes across a bit juvenile.
He turns his back and walks back toward the bike. If anything is there, he figures he can take what it has to dish out, O por lo menos mejor que estos coños (Or at least better than these bastards).
"It looks clear", he calls to Fang and Gray.
-
Bullpen - Intimidation
[spoiler]
Whatever it is seems to be suitably impressed, it avoids showing it's face and stays hidden.
[/spoiler]
Fang - Sprite Scan
[spoiler]
12d6 - 7 successes. Your sprite happily reports one hidden node, designed to be masked behind the main node of the security system of the harbor.
[/spoiler]
-
"and so it begins" Ron kept one hand on his weapon getting a strange feeling about him
Perception roll 5 hits
-
Hm... What might you be? Fang thought to himself as he received the results from his Sprite. He focused his attention on the node that the sprite had indicated, utilising his internal Resonance to get as much information on the node as possible.
[spoiler]Matrix Perception Test: Analyze (6) + Computer (4) + Technomancer (2) (12d6.hits(5)=4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4373352/)
1. What is your function?[/spoiler]
-
Gray moved out from behind the glass wall, with a black look on his face. He made a small gesture with his fingers, disrpting the mana flow from him to the invisibility spell, causing Fang to pop back into visibility again. " Bullpen." He said, in a soft voice that nevertheless made him seem like he was about to explode" Please don't make that mistake again, the last few months I've had some very angry terrorists looking for me, and when a lookout says he sees something, I'm expecting around a dozen armed men, and so is Adversary. What this means is that there is at present a spirit rather disapointed that I haven't killed anyone sitting in my head, and it isn't that discriminating when it comes to entertainment."
He felt a familiar tingle at the back of his brain, a sign that Adversery was going to drop in, most likely with some scathing commentary, but he hopefully mitgated the incoming chastisement with a quick explination" Oh hush, you know I've never been good at peptalks, and when hasn't been scaring the drek out of people not been a good motivator, I know it's a bit dramatic, but you can hardly talk on that front, you old ham.
[spoiler]
Intimidation 7d6(5)[5char+2int-2outnumbered+2obvious magic]: 5 hits
I'd say the physical intimidation is balanced out between Fang, who sees 6 feet of norse pseudo-eagle and Bullpen, who knows he's a slightly decrepit human who looks like he needs a walking tick to get anywhere underneath
[/spoiler]
-
Ron - Perception
[spoiler]
What are you trying to look at? The parking lot?
[/spoiler]
Fang - Analyze
[spoiler]
Node Resists - 2 hits. Function - To obtain data from the parent node.
[/spoiler]
-
Fang turned around to look back in surprise after he finished investigating the hidden node. He hadn't really been paying attention to what was going on so he was surprised when he found that he was visible again. He had heard Gray speaking of course, but felt less nervous because it wasn't directed at him. Didn't stop him feeling somewhat anxious around the magician though.
"Um... Could we continue going to the base? I can't find a drone anywhere, but I'd rather not remain in the open all the same." His commlink chirped out the words. "How will we be travelling?"
-
[spoiler]4 hits of 7 to resist intimidation[/spoiler]
Fairly irritated but still calm, Bullpen says, "I did not say shit to you, coño. I was checking out something I thought I saw -- I did not realize you would panic. So let us calm down, hm?"
Turning to Fang with a more jovial tone, "Good to meet you in person, Fang." He extends his hand to shake Fangs's. "Either way, you are right. We should go now."
He walks toward his bike and gets on. "Hop on. I know we just met, but it will be a cozy ride."
Once the two get on the bike, he will change the plates and set the autopilot to take a slightly different route back to base.
-
Gray let a breath his through his teeth, letting his anger bleed from him. He shook himself and turned to head back to the bike, returning to his expression of mild amusement." Sorry about that, I've been a little tense lately, just don't be too shocked if something unfortunate happens to anyone who decides to get in our way at Fenris Nacht, Gode of Loki are not known for their tolerance of fools after all, and thats a part of this disguise I'm perfectly happy to play." He eases himself onto the bike behind Bullpen, holding his walking stick in the crook of his arm.
:Back at the Hanger
Gray dismounts from the bike, and walks back into the hanger, he sees the growing scrimshaw of runes carved around the hanger by Invictus, nodding with appreciation as he looked through the astral at the intricate layers of wards that were being formed, but the physical defenses left something to be desired. Catching sight of Invictus still scratching symbols into the hanger, Gray headed over to him and said quietly so as not to distract him from his work "Wards look like they're going well, but I doubt they'll be finished before we head out to Fenris Nahct. Since we'll be taking our only heavy support that leaves this place pretty much unguarded apart from our resident gunslinger, so I think setting a fire spirit as a watch dog until we've got time to put some more defenses in would be a good idea, I could probably manage calling up two at a pinch if we really need it, but you're the one who's going to be sitting here with a bullseye on your back, so what do you think?"
-
There was a palpable thickness in the air as the wards fused themselves to the physical anchors I had set up, like the taut inhalation held in expectation of a moment of achievement. Under careful scrutiny the manascape shimmered and sparked with tiny flickers of mana still settling into the alarm ward.
[spoiler] Current Magic 8 + WIL 5 sustained -4 = 3 hits; Force 1 alarm ward will last for 3 weeks. Drain v. 1 = 4 hits [/spoiler]
In the foggy quiet of the island, as the crew schemed in the corner, I was reaching out for the next ward. I prepared myself grimly as the mana built, teasing its way through the carefully placed formulae inscribed into the floor and walls. This ritual would last long into the night.
Gray's question caught my attention. After a moment to ensure everything was smooth, I replied. "Don't bother. There nothing to find here yet, and if we're blown this early in the caper then it was a setup from the beginning. Besides, it's simply not cost effective to task a bound spirit to something like this. They're a valuable resource, best spent on other things. Thanks for the offer, though."
Hours passed as the group carried out their assigned tasks. I listened to their reports as they came in, commenting when there were convenient breaks in the process. Each moment demanded more focus than the last, each piece of the puzzle necessary and important.
Finally, at the moment of sunrise, the runes glowed white hot, channeling the ambient mana through my astral form and into contact with the physical plane. I had spent hours preparing for this moment and braced myself against the sudden rush and still it was like standing at the edge of a waterfall and letting the water pass through me without teetering off the edge. The heat started out as deceptively pleasant until its intensity infused my whole self with bittersweet anguish. I narrowed my focus to predict every flow potential, every mana-fluid dynamic, and tried to keep ahead of the surges.
[spoiler] Magic 4 + WIL 5 = 4 hits; Force 8 ward for 4 weeks; Drain v. 8: 5 hits; Damage equals body, subject to knockdown. [/spoiler]
It all peaked in a moment of transcendent clarity. The pain only sharpened the sense of satisfaction at a job well done. As I sank to my knees, I let my head hang back and surveyed my work. From nothing, I had called it into being. This is what it was to be Man.
-
Fang had arrived and looked around, taking in what seemed to be the team for this job. Unconsciously he sniffed at the air, taking their scents to memory, making sure he'd remember them by that alone. He still had no idea who most of them were, but figured he could research into that later when he had a bit more time. For now, he had a job to do, setting up matrix security. His tail swung fromside to side, at least he couldremain in his element for now, even if he felt uncomfortable on the island.
The changeling narrowed his eyes slightly, focusing in AR as he took more full control of his living persona, sending a connection request to each of the commlinks he could detect with a specification for an admin account. As he did so his own commlink chirped."Sending connection request, please accept." Yes he could just hack in, but that tended to be rather impolite.
-
A flick of the eye granted complete access to the cheap 'link in my pocket.
-
Gray shut down his encryption program, and with a curt gesture accepted the connection request. That done he turned in Fang's direction and let his eyes glaze over as he looked through the astral at their new hacker. Concerning other runners, he always found a policy of 'trust but check' to be useful, particularly those with access to his commlink.
[spoiler]
Assensing:7d6(5)-3 hits
[/spoiler]
-
Gray - Assensing
[spoiler]Fang's essence is equal to yours, you do not sense that he's Awakened, nor do you sense the presence of any bioware or cyberware, although you can tell that your senses aren't working to piece all too deeply into his aura.[/spoiler]
-
[spoiler=Gray - Assensing]Fang is physically healthy. Emotionally he's a bit nervous but trying to be confident. He seems a bit odd... More animal than human in some aspects.[/spoiler]
Fang's persona took form in both Gray's and Invictus' nodes, appearing much like he does. He quietly sent a command to each node, admin-level, to slave themselves to another device; that of his bionode. His own expression not changing too much, he waited for the others to grant him the same option before they left for Fenris Nacht.
-
Bullpen nods and grants Fang the access to his commlink.
Looking at the hacker, he says casually, "How do you get a name like Fang, anyway? No offense, but you don't seem like the type to bite."
-
Fang's persona appeared in Bullpen's node as the changeling slaved it to his bionode. At the minotaur's question, he smirked with a chuckle, shyly displaying his namesakes. "Mostly it's for the fact I do have fangs, and I tend to show them whenever I smile." The synthetic voice came through the commlink as he indicated his fangs with a claw. He looked at the last two members of the team, awaiting permission. Although if not given soon, he was going to forgo politeness and just hack his way in.
-
"Perhaps I'm mitaken, but wouldn't this let you access anythinIg I have on here? I have confidential information on here I can't let other people have access to, so that might be a problem." Iris knew the answer already, of course - her agent had detailed the implications of the request for her. It didn't hurt to be polite about it.
Still, if Fang wouldn't take no for an answer, they were going to have a problem.
-
"You are correct." The response was polite. "For what it's worth, I won't look at your confidential information." He shrugged at Iris. "I will be running a TacNet through this, if you don't want to be a part of it..." He trailed off. While not too experienced a shadowrunner himself, he knew the benefits of having a tactical network set up.
Frankly, if she knew enough to understand the implications of slaving, she should have better security protecting it. Or not make it available in a commlink.
-
Gray had to stifle a chuckle at Iris's second little faux pass tonight. Still smiling, he says "You still don't get it do you Iris, this is the shadows, mutually assured destruction comes as standard. He could run off with all our secrets, well all that we left on the commlinks anyway..." He said the last part in a tone suggesting that anyone who left sensitive infomation on a commlink practically deserved to have it taken. "...and shout them from the virtual rooftops, in turn we could simply take one of his hairs, which are hardly a scarce commodity, and he would be at our mercy for the next few decades. We could call johnsons on their bullshit, they could put us on every blacklist from here to albania, are you sensing the theme here." He pushed up his glasses and rubbed his eyes. " However that reminds me, if any of you have the time, could you pick up some high strengh c-squared, I doubt we'll have the lease on this for too long and I don't fancy being tracked down by forensics or a wagemage after we've cleared out, and I don't think any of you do either."
-
"And again you miss the actual point. You'd do well to understand what someone's actually saying before trying to jump in, rather than pretending to know what's going on. She shook her head at Gray condescendingly, before turning to Fang again. "In any case, it's only files I haven't gotten around to moving off of here yet, rather than active case files I need to keep on hand. Perhaps once I've had the chance to deal with that, I should message you?"
"C-sqared is some annoying shit, though, pretty much perfect for that."
-
Fang raised his eyebrows slightly as Iris turned to speak with Gray. Perhaps this wasn't as solid a team as he first thought. Gray was right though, he wasn't really in a position to be shouting information from their commlinks, not that anyone would truly be interested in it. "I can add you in later. It's really up to you." Another shrug along with the voice from the commlink. "You will have time, since I will be going to Fenris."
-
"Well, then. Is there anything more we need to deal with here tonight? I've got to get started on my investigations, and I need to pound the pavement in the daylight; not sure if we all still need to stick around here."
-
I spoke into the 'link, "Better out than in. We've all got something to do, and my task requires intense focus. I'll let you know as soon as I hear anything that might narrow down our search."
A surge caught my eye, and I returned my concentration to the ritual at hand.
-
"Unless anyone has any further requests or tasks for me, I might start heading to Fenris in advance. Probably the safest place for me other than here." The changeling shrugged. He looked at Iris, then at Ron. "When you two are set up for the network, send me a message and I'll add you in."
-
"Ready"
-
Fang shrugged and sent another message requesting admin access into Ron's commlink. Upon acceptance, he commanded it to slave to his bionode, adding Ron into the tactical network.
The members of the network who qualify will notice the changes in AR as Fang's tacsoft starts feeding their commlinks tactical information.
The changeling looked at Bullpen. "I know we just arrived... But may I request a lift back to the harbour so I can get back to the mainland?"
-
"Well, if you don't need me around here right now, I'm gonna drop be the office to offload those files, and hit the pavement in the morning."
-
Fenris Nacht sits at the end of a cul-de-sac in an abandoned neighborhood in Tacoma. The single story building lies in a pool of darkness, obviously designed so people moving into and out of the club will have a hard time being seen.
The single doorman sniffs at you as you walk in, whether in dismissal or trying to place your scent you're not sure. Inside the club you see small tables and booths placed far enough away from each other to provide privacy. In the back surrounded by a cloud of cigarette smoke a man, if you can call the changeling that, sits and beckons you over.
He's obviously a Stage III changeling, morphing into a mixture of what looks like a gorilla and iguana. Occasionally his tongue slips out to taste the air around him as he inhales a longue Chinese cigarette.
"So, you must be Ron and his friends. Edd told me you'd be stopping by for a little shopping consultation."
-
"ya thats me nice to meet ya mister.......what was your name again.?" Ron is still feeling a little uneasy since the strange feeling at the hanger but he is shrugging it off.
-
"Call me Sid, everyone does." You notice he neatly sidesteps telling you if that's his real name or not.
"But you're not here to become my friend am I right? You're looking for some...home security devices." Sid flashes a smile which shows a very impressive set of needle shaped teeth.
-
Fang kept his focus on the conversation between Ron and Sid, not joining in. He briefly sniffed the air, gathering in the scent of the other changeling to help remember him, and to get his basic emotional state. He wanted to do some research on the team, but that would have to wait until he had more time to do it himself. The technomancer felt somewhat more relaxed in Fenris Nacht, he was less of the 'odd one out' in here. He did decide to bring back the encryption he had set up earlier to allow for secure conversation.
Mentally, he sent a message to the commlinks of the other team members. @All: Iris, Gray, do we have any further information gathered so far?
@Iris: Have you been able to unload the information yet?
[spoiler]Threading Encrypt:
Resonance (6) + Software (4) + Analytical mind (2) = 12 dice
12D6E5 => [ 4; 5; 2; 3; 2; 4; 6; 1; 2; 5; 5; 5; => 5 success(es) against 5 ] = 5 | ones: 1
Take 5 hits
Drain DV: 5S
Drain Resist: 11D6E5 => [ 1; 2; 6; 3; 2; 1; 1; 5; 4; 5; 2; => 3 success(es) against 5 ] = 3 | ones: 3
Drain MDV: 2S
5 Simple actions: Encrypt communications link to each of the teammate's commlinks (yes I have -just- enough subscription slots to do this, along with all my other subscriptions).[/spoiler]
-
Bullpen remains standing so that he can keep a visual on Sid while surveying the rest of the room casually. He orders a Cuban Toro via the AR menu as he scans for potential threats or unwelcome listeners.
[spoiler]Perception: 2 hits. Also, Cuban Toro is this http://www.tasteofcuba.com/toro.html[/spoiler]
-
"in a matter of speaking.....yes and we hear your the one to uh help us with our.....predicament"
Sence motive: 2 hits
-
Gray quickly responded to Fang while waited for Ron to finish his introduction //Nothing back yet, but friend of a friend access takes time when it's something like this, and relay to the others that we're keeping our aim hush hush, we don't want anyone putting two and two together after we've finished//
Gray waited till Ron had finished talking to Sid, then he approached and stood to the side of Ron. In the deep rolling norse baritone bestowed by his mask he said "Yes, an aquantance of mine has suffered a few highly embarassing break-ins, and he would both dearly like for that to never happen again and for the perpetrator to be alive if at all possible, he mentioned something about making an object lesson. You came recomended as someone who can cut through all the red tape in aquiring these sort of items and be reliably quiet afterwards. My aquantance values discretion very much and is willing to pay, one way or another, for you to have a tragic case of amnesia once we have finished our transaction."
-
As Iris was on her way back to her part of town, she figured she'd start on at least the networking part of her work.
@Karen: <<Hey, caught a case tonight, don't have much by way of detail to work with right now. Think you can meet up for drinks, talk intel? I'm buying.>> When Iris had first gotten into Seattle, Detective Karen Walker had been dealing with a group of deeply corrupt cops that had set her up to take the fall for them, and she was smart enough to realize she was going to need some outside help; a freshly relocated private detective with a history of going after corrupt cops was about the best she could hope for, even if the circumstances of Iris's departure from her home had been a cause for concern. True to that reputation, though, Iris was able to find a way to deal with the ring, even if it did make her some enemies in the darker parts of of KE.
@Sal: <<Hey, this job you've got me on - how much do you know about it? Client's holding back, could be something big.>> Taking this job had been a favour for Sal as much as anything else; hopefully she could count on him to be up front about it.
@Fang: <<Not yet - on my way, but I might be making a stop or two yet.>>
-
@Iris: Alright. Remember to be careful.
@All: Our communications are encrypted. So it's relatively safe to talk through this network, but be careful all the same. As Gray said, make sure to be careful about how much information you give while networking.