[martinchaen]

Moto smiled when he heard Bad Johnny Juju's comment on his vehicle. "At least two people on the team appreciate the finer arts of vehicle maintenance. I'll show the Pirate exactly what this "boat" can do", he thought to himself.

He fired off a quick message to Johnny Juju and Count Zorro, but left the Baron and the Captain out; they'd learn soon enough that it could be useful to listen when the rigger whose vehicle you were currently in spoke up.
//Compose message to Bad Johnny Juju, Count Zorro
//"Strap in guys, this could get a little... bumpy"
//Send message

After waiting for a second to make sure that the street was clear of vehicles and pedestrians, Moto revved the engine of the large, armoured car, enjoying what felt like taking a deep breath as the forced air induction spun up to fully aspirate the multi-fuel powerplant. He then threw the transmission into reverse and floored the accelerator, whooping loudly over the comms as the rubber on all four tires spun on the worn road surface, screaming in protest as the massive torque of the powerplants forced the All-Wheel Drive system into action. For a brief moment it felt like the skin on his feet were on fire, and he reveled in the sensation as he prepared his next maneuver.

With a mental command, Moto took in the feeds from every sensor in the vehicle, feeling the electricity flowing to the individual electromotors powering each wheel pulsing vibrantly and the cylinder strokes of the gigantic multi-fuel engine beating away as if in tune with his very soul. He took in the almost euphoric sensations of launching the vehicle from a standstill, and a mere thought later he had flicked the steering controls sharply to the left, paused for a split second, then wrenched the controls back to a three-quarters right lock. The truck bounced slightly on the 40" run-flat tires grounding it as it came hurtling around to a full 180 degree turn, and with a practiced, fluid motion Moto aligned the controls straight ahead and put the pedal to the metal, the physical world echoing his virtual commands. Though the armored truck was a far cry from a race car, what looked deceptively like a lumbering behemoth moved surprisingly well for it's size thanks in no small part to Moto's hard work on it.

As the vehicle sped away from the Banshee, Moto checked the rear view camera to make sure his passengers were all right, and with a satisfied grin he mumbled something about insulting his vehicle over the comms, then remembered that one of the mages had asked about the security of his vehicle.

With a practiced tone, he explained over the interior comms. "The vehicle is resistant to most small arms fire, should be able to handle the occasional rocket or IED, and has several redundant systems to allow for extended operations despite suffering heavy damage." He chuckled to himself, enjoying his perceived moment in the spotlight before continuing. "In terms of electronics and magic, security is less stringent; as I am sure some of you are aware there are no wards on the vehicle itself so passengers are vulnerable to abilities of other magicians. In addition, unwanted Matrix surveillance is unlikely, but cannot be guaranteed against."

While he piloted the vehicle, he sent a MARK invitation for his RCC to Count Zorro and listed his current subscriptions, then patched the video feed from his drone to the commlink of every team member. He then sent a short message to everyone detailing the combat and utility capabilities of his drones, and informed the team that ETA was likely 35-40 minutes.

"Plan sounds good, Johnny Juju; only modification to plan Moto would suggest is sending in a Fly-Spy first to reconnoiter the area." He took a closer look at the scene provided by the camera feed on his Roto-Drone before continuing. "Will pull up in Stuffer Shack parking lot; suggest avoiding what looks like joytoys on corner; likely infected with spirits-knows-what in this neighbourhood. Moto will keep Alpha-1 in the sky just in case gangers decide to pick a fight; if they do, suggest team makes a tactical retreat to exit, at which point Moto will launch additional drone to provide covering fire and will use vehicle as mobile cover, allowing team to safely embark and depart."

[JackVII]

[ 2220 | Moto's RoadMaster | Touristville | Redmond Barrens | Seattle ]

Baron Mojo sighed to himself as he gripped the unsecured vehicle restraints tightly. It would be nice to work with professionals for once... he thought as their driver drew a startling amount of attention to the entire team by peeling out and executing a J-Turn for no apparent reason in his black armored truck with red accents.

As things settled down, the mage strapped himself into the seat. Examining his commlink, he noticed the invite request from Zorro and clicked the authorization icon on the touch screen. While he normally wouldn't be so free with allowing the MARKs, the commlink was basically a burner. Once he got paid for the run, he was going to replace it with something a bit more permanent. As he considered his future purchase, Moto's message came across his commlink, authorizing a MARK on the drone's video feed. Placing a MARK, the feed lit up on the tiny screen of his cheap commlink. Reaching into the interior pocket of his suit, Baron Mojo pulled out a 15cm x 15cm square of laminated blank paper and proceeded to unfold it into a laminated sheet 45cm on each side. Linking the paper to his commlink, the video display opened up and the mage re-sized it so that the feed took up most of the sheet.

After reviewing the footage for a few seconds before folding the laminated sheet back up, the mage replied, "Nice place. I agree, let's do some reconnaissance first. If Moto has the physical covered, I'll handle the astral once we get to the Stuffer Shack. In fact, I'm going to go ahead and check around us right now to make sure we haven't already picked up any astral tails."

With that said, Baron Mojo went limp in his restraints as he projected himself in astral space. Since he no longer was tethered to his material body, he was forced to keep pace with the vehicle. Given that his astral form could easily maintain a pace of roughly 6000 km/h, the task was relatively child's play. With the form of his astral minion floating silently nearby, Baron Mojo got to work. First things first... let's make sure everyone is here. The mage's form slipped across the barrier between the driver and passenger compartments and searched for Moto's aura. Once located, he assenssed the rigger's aura, wondering whether there was an obvious reason for his peculiar way of doing business. Is he diseased? Infected?

His curiosity satisfied, the mage slipped through the roof of the vehicle and looked around the immediate area, searching for any astral forms that may have been following them. After a thorough examination, Baron Mojo slipped back into the passenger compartment and returned to his body.

[Vandarl]

As the confirmations on the MARKs came in, Bobby added the devices to his check off list so that he could scan each for intrusion and not lose track. After a quick confirmation check as to their initial status, he looks over the video feed on the fly-spy.
"Hmmp, I have seen better looking places in the deep Barrens. This is a real winner." Making a quick start of things, he feeds a copy of the video feed into a temporary file for review.

"I am goint to take a quick peek at the neighborhood Matrix and see what is lurking."
With a quick check of his harness, Bobby fades into the VR feed from his deck and cuts himself off from the meat-world. The rush of the electronic world was overwhelming for a fraction of a second, and then it snapped into impossible clarity. The sharp lines and precision of it always took his breath away.
Looking around his position on the grid, he scanned the bargain basement hookers, not expecting anything other than what they are, but professionals didn't cut corners. A quick glance at the Stuffer Shack as well, and then he wrapped himself in a cloak and wide brimmed hat as black as the void with tiny amber and green symbols flowing over it and put on his mask. Running silent, he moved in towards the motel, looking for defenses and a way in.
<<Initial sweep in progress, report to follow.>>

[Triskavanski]

John Cormac may have not been told, but the bastard was lucky. Seeing the others apply the restraints, he follows suit as well. Flopping around a bit, he coughs a bit, managing to hold in his cookies. "Well, its not a ship, but this speed boat is still a good ride." He boldly states. "We should be there any time now. I'll go in first.. Anyone have a smoke grenade?"

[martinchaen]

Moto had chosen a route to Novelty Hills that would take them to the Stuffer Shack down the street from the hotel. With an ETA of just a few minutes he issued a command to slide the roof hatch open, feeling the stale air filling the cabin as if he'd taken a good solid breath of it, and launched his Fly-Spy drones as quickly as possible so he could shut the hatch again. He ordered Romeo-2 to reconnoiter the hotel building and look for entrances, and issued a command for Romeo-1 to hold position 30m above the Roadmaster at all times. Pulling into the Stuffer Shack parking lot, he chose a spot with a clear line of sight of the Novelty Hills main entrance with his vehicle sensors, which by pure coincidence also shielded the right side of the vehicle from view of the Stuffer Shack. "Hopefully, that'll at least keep the Captain off of their security cams exiting my vehicle, the man isn't exactly subtle", he thought to himself.

Making sure that the rear doors were locked and that the manual overrides were inactive, he told the team to hold fast while Count Zorro scouted the Matrix, Baron Mojo took a look in the Astral, and he himself snooped around the physical world.

"Everyone please hang tight until the Baron has done his mojo part and Count Zorro has verified the Matrix security situation. In the mean time, my drones and I will perform some basic surveillance of the... establishment. Video feeds are being sent to your 'links; feel free to review the information available to you."

He noted that Alpha-1 had performed to expectation so far, maintaining an altitude of 300m and keeping a watchful eye for potential hostiles; he jumped into the Roto-Drone for a brief moment to take a closer look at what looked like street toughs from some local gang or another, as well at the people entering and leaving the building, looking for obvious and concealed weapons through the imaging scope of the Crockett EBR currently masked as a weather sensor. He marked all potential targets in AR and then jumped into Romeo-1, immediately noticing that Romeo-2 had misinterpreted his instructions and was apparently just hovering 300m away, unable to decide what to do next. Cursing the pilot program to all the Kami of his ancestors, he forcibly issued a new set of instructions to the infuriating drone, this time marking the target building with an ARO and telling it simply to make a patrol around the exterior and keep it's sensors on the building. "If you want something done right, you better do it yourself", he thought, noting that the old axiom rang true more often than he cared to dwell on.

Riding inside the tiny Fly-Spy always made him feel slightly claustrophobic; it was almost as if his skin was a little too tight, but the gut-wrenching feeling of unstable flight more than made up for it. The little drone was incredibly agile, and he could feel his desire to start doing rolls and loops escalate. With a mental effort he focused on the job at hand; "Get it together, Yoshiro, this isn't the fair, and you're not riding a rollercoaster. Stay frosty!" He piloted the drone at an altitude of approximately 20 meters towards the main entrance while he looked for a way in, and kept an eye on the feed from Romeo-2.

[JackVII]

[ 2245 | Vicinity of the Novelty Hills Sleep & Eat | Redmond Barrens | Seattle ]

"I'll be back," Baron Mojo said before collapsing like a rag-doll in his restraints. With his astral form un-tethered from his mortal shell, the mage stretched out his senses on the astral plane."MInion! Guard my mortal shell from harm while I am away. You will be released from your service when I return." The spirit, still in the shape of a small dumpster, disconsolately rolled back and forth on the astral plane.

With his physical defense covered, the mage slipped through the door of the RoadMaster. The astral plane in this part of Seattle could only be described as grimy. The general feelings of hopelessness and despair infused the fabric of the plane, subduing the vibrant colors of the auras around him and making the grays of the buildings even more gray. Just moving through the area made Baron Mojo feel like his astral form had a sheen of grease covering it. Not wanting to spend too much time in the area, he got down to work.

Addressing the immediate area, the mage moved around at street level, hoping to draw slightly less notice of himself and assenssed the auras of the people outside of Novelty Hills to make sure there were no surprises. When he spotted any Awakened auras, he took a second look to determine if their threat level. Once he concluded his search of the exterior of the building, he focused on the building itself.

Approaching the building, he floated up to the second floor and slipped into the area directly over the building's entrance. Moving a few meters forward, he stuck his head through the floor of the hallway until it phased through to the lobby area below. He had used the tactic before to good effect. Clearing the room of any astral surveillance, Baron Mojo slipped through the ceiling and examined the area, taking note of the number of people and giving their auras a close examination. Committing their positions to memory, he floated down the hallway toward the elevators.

[Bewilderbeast]

Bad Johnny Juju twitched as the Captain "volunteered." "No, you are absolutely not going in first. These are my people, I can blend in much easier than any of you. Once we finish our recon, I'll get out by the Stuffer Shack and hoof it over to the whorehouse. Hopefully I can sniff out Oxycode and we can grab his 'link and get paid." Johnny paused thoughtfully for a moment. On second thought, people might just assume the Captain is a chiphead on a personafix. He might blend in better than I thought.

Johnny shook his head as if clearing a thought. "Captain, I need you to stay with the rest of the team. If things go sideways on me, you'll be the only person in the meat that can help pull me out. We got drones, Matrix security, and the Baron's got the astral covered, but I need you watching my literal flesh-and-bone back. Can I trust you on that?"

[Triskavanski]

John grumps a little at that, "Fine then, since no one else here is man enough to be able to do it." he remarks sitting back in his chair and removing his face mask. Well, easiest bit of dosh I've made. Let the others do the work while I sit back in luxury protecting some dude who probably isn't going to get attack anyways. John, you're such a brilliant man. silently he nods, rubbing his chin. "You've got yourself a deal. Just don't let things go sideways, alright?"

[Celtibero]

The Stuffer Shack being nearly deserted makes for the perfect spot for parking, as Moto parks the Roadmaster (after a somewhat bumpy ride) every member in the party already has a mission to accomplish, time is of the essence and you are on your way to make it count.

Shortly before arriving Johnny receives a message //how you doing? Oxycode? you after that piece of trog trash? zero upset, low life scum, no dealings with him, ear his gone into hiding, someone after him.// the message from "Claw" being pretty succinct about his feeling on Oxycode.

As the drones fly by the Novelty Hills sleep the image becomes clearer, the gangers (unlike the hookers who seem to be just after any John they can find) seem to be on the lookout and alert as if waiting for something, none of them appear to be awaken from the Baron perspective.

The ork gangers are seemingly from the Crimson Crush for those in the knowing, at least 6 of them are in front of the building, 3 loitering the lobby near a glass cage that contains a nervous looking dwarf inside. A single elevator, where three more orks are leaning against the wall, (as well as several catwalks) provides one of the means to access the four stories inside the building, the last level clearly being a recent upgrade (if one could call it that) to the facilities. the yellow painted railing and bannisters peeling from lack of maintenance give credit to the building lack of charm.

As soon as the Baron enters the building, he sees that the more "luxurious" side of the motel has four floors of rooms in a U-shaped configuration: each floor has fifteen rooms against the west wall, five rooms against the south wall and another fifteen rooms against the west wall. A narrow metal catwalk with a weak-looking railing provides access to each of the rooms on each level. A stairwell in the north-east corner and a elevator on the south-west corner allow easy access between floors. there is single metal security door on the NW corner, 1st floor. The feed from the drones clearly showing a stair leading directly outside in the back of the building.

Curiously enough the name "sleep and Eat" actually makes sense, several vending machines are lined up on the north wall of the fist floor.

\\Alpha-1 Status report on surveillance
\\possible threat count: 6
\\weapons: heavy pistols

The search being carried through all means at your disposal, matrix, astral and physical leaves a pretty clear picture of the surroundings, the Stuffer Shack (and its sparse clientèle, a few hookers, a couple of pushers, one hobo and a nasty looking troll grabbing some late dinner) seems to pose no threat other than the occasional baby devil rat quickly sniffing around the trash bins located nearly in the back.

The matrix search on the Novelty is however more enlightening, it seems that defences is not something the owners invested on, nor as it appears on any safety equipment. beneath the bright jade green of the grid sky there are several icons worth checking, as Bobby rides the grid at the speed of thought he quickly notices a maglock on the glass cage on the left side of the lobby, its shiny icon a small beacon, there is also fair amount of commlinks, none of them running silent, one inside the glass cage and 6 others in front of the Novelty Eat and Sleep.

[JackVII]

[ 2250 | Vicinity of the Novelty Hills Sleep & Eat | Redmond Barrens | Seattle ]

Not noticing any Awakened threats at the moment, Baron Mojo decided to try to locate their target. One drawback of astral projection was the inability to read things in the physical world. At least I can still count... the mage thought to himself as he floated to the third floor. While he assumed the rooms were sequentially numbered, he didn't know from which side of the complex they started. Figuring that most things in the UCAS worked from left to right, he moved to the left catwalk, zipped to the 12th room, slipped through the door, and looked around.

[martinchaen]

Having quickly reviewed the sensor data from Alpha-1, Moto sent off a message to the team after he had made his way inside the Novelty Hills Sleep & Eat "hotel".

//Compose message to Bad Johnny Juju, Baron Mojo, Count Zorro, Lucky Dog Cormac
//"Several armed individuals near hotel; count 6 orks carrying heavy pistols outside main entrance, another 3 orks inside main lobby, also potentially armed. Additionally, lone dwarf inside glass cage in lobby; possible receptionist. Have spotted rear entrance on NW corner of first floor; potential entry point to bypass gangers out front. Making way to 312 now; internal staircase in NE corner, internal elevator in SW corner of building; additional 3 orks loitering near elevator. Several commlinks spotted, suggest Count Zorro breach one or more to investigate possible reason for heavy gang presence."
//Send message

With the message away, Moto focused on piloting the little Fly-Spy into the courtyard and straight up to the 3rd floor, bypassing both the elevator and the stairwell, and noting a few guests scattered around the place, none of whom seemed to warrant any concern except for a particularly gnarly looking large troll.

Upon reaching the 3rd floor, Moto began checking both the Matrix for signs of door number AROs, as well as physical door numbers, cross referencing the two to ensure that no one had messed around with either. "Can never be too careful," he thought as he matched the Matrix and physical world data, locating room 312 within seconds. While he made his way over to the door, he quickly reviewed the sensor data from the exterior drones and the Roadmaster before sending a progress report to the team.

//Compose message to Bad Johnny Juju, Baron Mojo, Count Zorro, Lucky Dog Cormac
//"Room 312 located; preparing covert entry, stand by."
//Send message

With a quick look at the approximate location of the room in the Matrix, Moto made his way inside through a damaged air vent and surveyed the room.

[Vandarl]

Scanning the message traffic, Bobby prepared a reply:
//Message All: Hold actions. Confirming control of communications on site personnel.

With a quick flip of his mental wrist, teh Count pulled out a needle pointed stilletto. Stepping forward he used it to pry at the icon for the dwarf's commlink. With a bold slash he scratched a Z of moving characters into it's surface and opened, the icons of its files falling out in a cascade of markers for him to see. Once it was marked and set to his satisfaction he moved over to one of the orcs in the lobby and repeated the process. Scanning the files on both links to see if there was anything noteworthy he sent the confirming message to the group:
//Message All: Communications secured, Internal surveillance of area non-existent, Proceed with actions. 

Returning to his examination of the commlinks he paused and set to work on the link of one of the 6 orcs outside the motel, working quickly to scratch his symbol on it's virtual souls, and gain control of the orc's device.

[Triskavanski]

John in the meanwhile sat in the back of the van, were he was told to stay, kicking up his feet and drinking from an unlabled bottle, he pulled from his sack.

//Message Others: Right right, I'm all standing by and stuff.

With a yawn he stretches, letting the others do the work. The best of all, he played his cards right to be told not to do anything, so nothing could be said that he wasn't following orders from the others. Best  job ever.

[Bewilderbeast]

Johnny muttered a curse under his breath as he read the response from Claw. <<That's for the info, omae. When I'm done with this clown we'll need to catch up for a drink or something.>> Claw always came through for him, but this was bad news. Since most of his team had gone all rag-doll on him, Johnny switched back over to Matrix communications. <<Alright team, good news and bad news. Apparently our target has gone to ground. Those ork gangers? I think they're his protection. So we might have trouble getting access. The upside is he apparently has enemies, so the heavy-handed approach is looking more likely. Still, I want to see if I can flush him out by presenting a "business opportunity" or some drek like that. Let me know when you've finished with your recon, give me all the info you can, and then I'll start chatting up the local color and seeing if I can get myself access.>>

Johnny figured he'd start with the working girls; if Oxycode was a wannabe pimp, they might be his girls or at least know his face. After that, he'd talk to the protection about getting access. The tech guys were more professional than he was used to, and Moto hadn't stabbed them in back yet. So far, so good...

[Celtibero]

@Vandarl

As you set to the task of hacking the dwarfs commlink, your first attempt is frustrated by the devices firewall, its code either too though for your attempt or you where just plain unlucky, refocusing and giving it one more go you are finally able to get a mark on the device, the information flowing unabated, the thing is a cheap Meta Link and inside it contains what appears to be the codes for the cage lock.

@martinchaen

You swiftly enter the premises undetected, find the room 312 and spot a passable ventilation to the room, the shaft that leads to the room is blocked though, you are able to perceive the form of a ork lying down on the bed, gazing up, the room is quiet and apparently there are no devices running silent or otherwise in the unremarkable 2x3x4 cubicle.

@JackVII

As you float around the building heading to the 3rd floor, you notice several non awakened forms either lying in bed, making chores and otherwise unremarkable actions, the place is not full, the activity is what could be considered normal for such a place, the occasional guy or gal sleeping a night in here, the occasional John satisfying his needs, there is of course the occasional awakened character, but you figure they are unrelated to the quarry. there in the distance you spot what seems to be room 312, its not the easiest thing to spot certain worldly details while projecting, but experience does have its uses. taking a quick look you find no mystical barriers that might impede your progression, passing through the door into the room you find yourself inside a 2 by 3 by 4 cubicle, the remains of what appear to be take away meals seemingly discarded on the floor, a pile of clothes and a auraless body on the mattress staring into the ceiling.