The gunman considers a moment longer, then tosses the gun out. He climbs out of the cab, hands raised in the air, still scowling.

"App'rciate th' cooperation. As y' c'n tell, we've got our faces covered. Tha' means we have no interest in hurtin' you unless y' make our lives more diff'cult than ye'r worth.
So please, I want the three o' you on this side of the truck. Wallets, cell-phones, credsticks, docwagon bracelets, screamers, PanicButtons; all go in this bag. Now's yer time ta come clean. We find one'a these on our own, we're liable ta get ornery. That means unpleasantness fer you. We catch you usin' one of 'em, you'll be dead b'fore they get you. We clear?"

If they comply, he will pull up each person's identity info, showing the registered home address. "See this? Think on that address. That's where ya get ta go home to after this is all over. Might even get a little extra in yer pockets for any small mouths ta feed. Y' got anythin else ta tell us, now's tha time. Otherwise y' get ta cool off somewhere quiet with an AC and maybe even a radio."

As the hostages comply with the instructions Toombs gives them, (if they do) St. V gives each of them a good pat down.  He feels for any hidden objects and scans them with his thermo-vision for anything out of the ordinary such as cyber enhancements.

10:12, Today: St. Velveteen rolled 1 success using 5d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 1,4,1,1,1. Perception - hidden things.

Wow...

"They're clean," he says with confidence when he is finished.

Copperhead has a couple of sets of cuffs she'd have donated to the effort.  You'll have to figure out what to do with the orc though.

The rigger flicks off the drone's flashing lights, though the drone continues to monitor everyone until they're secure.  As soon as the orc is secured, she gains altitude to get a better sense of inbound traffic.

"Stick'em inna van 'an let's get offa da highway"

Each of the hostages drop weapons and bracelets into the sack. Velveteen notices flickering LEDs on the headware of one of them. A closer inspection bears it out; Motorola internal cell phone! Fortunately, the troll is as quick with his fingers as he is with his eyes. A quick tug to disable it and ...

A broken datajack later, the three hostages are stuck in the back of the van, one *most likely* not suffering brain damage, as fiber optic cables dangle from the remains of the jack.

The whole operation took about thirty seconds. The truck is pulled over to the side, the van a safe distance away with three hostages (and a rigger) inside.

Presume our Johnson is in my van too?  Is Toombs going to help with the quick interrogation?

Copperhead flips off the jammer pops into the back of the van and winces as she looks at the dangling cable.  The jammer was on and, the back of the van was a Faraday cage, so that was sort of unnecessary.  No fixing it now anyhow.  She does a thorough scan of everyone (not all cyberwear was as obvious), then leaves it to the others to explain the situation.  She had a toxic waste van to drive

quote:

13:35, Today: Copperhead rolled 4 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 3,(6+3)9,2,4,4,(6+6+2)14. Scanner 6.

That should find pretty much anything.

Copperhead will drive the acquired van to somewhere it's unlikely to be noticed.  Her own vehicle follows along at a distance.

"See, if you ha' tol' us that ya had th' implant, we coulda gone a little more gentle on ya. This's what I was talkin' about, unpleasantness an' such." He shrugs "Now, you all gots an inside look of tha place we're aiming ta get into. Tha better tha intel ya give us, the more inclined we are ta pay ya for it. You opt out, ya get nothin. We clear?"
With the guys trussed up in the back, Toombs is careful to keep them spaced out and away from each other - corners if possible. Anyone who isn't currently talking is getting more deliberately searched, and Toombs is pulling everything out of all their pockets and sticking it in a plastic bag. Dirty tissues, used needles, whatever - he's not even leaving pencils. He'll stop when every pocket is emptied, and if possible pulled inside out. He will also want someone to start looking at the ID's to see how they can scam out the pilfered goods with the photos and such they have.

Otherwise, going to be asking about security arrangements, cameras, minutiae, and also how to work the job and where the paperwork is. If it's his job to be a distraction, then damnit he'll be a good one.

The leader seems to be the chattiest, and even more so when she senses there's money in it for her. She won't spill secrets in front of the others, but if Toombs pulls her aside, she'll tell more.

"Listen, we pull in the garage. When we're there, sometimes we just leave stuff, or pick something up. Sometimes we gotta bring it to a room. There's a storage room we go to sometimes. It's through an airlock. They beep us through. That's as much as I've seen. Just that hallway. The guards and everyone aren't allowed to touch nothing, so we have to haul it. Just put it in the store room and walk away. Get our receipt signed and we go. Normally done in like ten minutes. Five minutes if we're fast, then to the Stuffer Shack. There's a camera in the hallway, but not the storage room. Nothin' too good in there though, if you're looking for drugs. It's not that kinda a shop, you know?"

The cards don't quite match; two orks and a human. But they're in little plastic sleeves you might be able to work around. Finding the (digital) clipboard is easy enough, and it's a simple mechanism to work.

Searching pockets is pretty quick, as they don't have any on their suits! Underneath the suits it's mostly light wear; t-shirts and shorts. Clearly the suits don't 'breath' much. The grumpy one is wearing a shirt and socks alone, a decision he's come to regret today.

Copperhead listens in over the radio and focuses on familiarizing herself with the vehicle, including checking out the back of the waste van, if necessary arranging things to give herself and the decker a place to hide when they arrive.

When everything's ready to go, she waits for a suitable pause then interjects over the loudspeaker: "Clock's tickin'.  Dese folks cn hang wit Missus J. in da van.  Ders a few col' uns in da fridge.  Biffy's in da back.  Ya poke in anythin else, yull be wakin wit a nasty headache from da neurostun.  'Less ya triggers somethin worse and don wakes up atall.  Ya wants yer money, don make no mess."

We can go ahead and update the Ork's card with St V's face, and I'll take the male human. Man HR sucks with these gigs. Toombs will also pass on that the boss should get a little Expense Account scrip from the J.
"Good ta go if'n one 'a you has tha cards ready." He hops out of the van and into the passenger seat of the truck. "Ya still want that spirit? I think this might turn into a hard sell with a hangover."
"You drive, big guy. Feet don't reach the pedals. Damn breeders."

For the spirit to be useful, it'd need to be a spirit of man conjured at the site.  Best to do that on arrival before you buzz to be let in.  (Hopefully the background count will be low enough at the loading dock that it won't be a toxic . . .)  A low force air spirit to cover the drone wouldn't be a bad thing though.  A force 4 will up the target to notice it from 8 to 12.

"Fer da drone?  Shure."

Once she's convinced that St. V is unlikely to crash the van into a tree, Copperhead moves to the back of the van and crouches down behind a pair of barrels that have more warning stickers than she cares to read.  She pulls on her respirator just in case and watches the proceedings from outside.

"Comm check"

St. V slides into the driver seat without question and tries not to look too scrunched in.  He adjusts his seat to its optimal position.  "Copy.  Check one two," he says in reply to Copperhead, testing out the subvocal microphone he had hidden under his spiffy uniform.  "You still ok with tha three stowaways, Toombs?  If they give ya trouble just let me know an' I'll pull over and give 'em a reason to behave again."  Not that he actually thought the dwarf would take him up on the offer.

It was at this point in a run that St. V's blood really started pumping.  The anticipation and uncertainty is what he lived for.  Even if everything went exactly as planned, it was still impossible for St. Velveteen to know in advance.  Only time and the skill of their team would reveal tonight's outcome.

"Not far now," he says into the mic.  "Everyone ready?  Sounds like our window is going to be very narrow so we need to be on our A-game."

"Ready 'soon as Toombs moves up"

Toombs pokes his radio twice before slamming it on the dashboard. With a recalcitrant crackle it ekes out "Comms check. Damn cheap chiba bulldrek..."

As St V roars responsibly down the road, Toombs pulls delicately at the strands of mana outside the window. That right there is an air spirit. They really hate it when you stick your finger right up their-"
Conjuring (Air Spirit) Force 3, Conjuring 6 (withholding 2d for resistance).
4d6 vs TN 3; 5,3,3,1; 3 successes.
CHA 6+2 vs Drain 3L; 3,1,4,2,3,(6+2)8,2,4
Toombs summons a F3 Air spirit with 3 services for no drain.

"Righ', listen careful and you'll be back in yer demesne 'fore dawn. Migh' even call y' up later for a beer. Smoke?" He offers the spirit a stick from his cig box.
"Righ', now listen up. I gots 3 tasks for ye all lined up:
First, I wan' you ta conceal any of tha drones tha lady in back has with her for as long as they are under your sky. Keep 'em safe, keep 'em quiet until we need 'em, aye?
Secon' an' third, I want ya on overwatch sittin' by th' door with an ear for any of the four o' us in my clan. Troll here specifically. You hear me, tha troll, tha lady with tha skin prollem, or tha other dwarf in tha back of tha truck call for you, ya come an do what they ask. They ask for concealment, ya cover tha truck, tha drones, and all four of us if ya can manage it, otherwise it's tha truck, me, tha lady, an' the other dwarf in that order. If they tell ya to attack, you gots free reign of everythin except that what's designated as my clan. Oh, and the J. If ya can read my mind, then that's the one. Don't geek her neither.
Oh, and for tha love a' Mab, don' conceal tha truck until at least one of us is inside it."
He smirks and waves the spirit back to the Astral. "I get outta' this alive, an' maybe I'll owe ya some bacon smoke."

Toombs settles back into his seat and attunes his energy to try and pull the next spirit without getting the mystic wedgie he caught the last time he summoned something near the base.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:51, Wed 17 June 2015.

Going to assume that Noruas is also in the back of the truck, so he doesn't get forgotten in the van with no network connection.)

The Johnson responds to Copperhead's radio call; "Understood. I'll make sure our guests are comfortable."

The truck is a converted Ares Roadmaster. The rear is reinforced and armored for containing poisonous chemicals. It can hold people, but isn't designed for it, and given there are already a few barrels in there, some degree of caution is recommended.

Toombs gets a spirit smelling slightly of diesel fumes. When Toombs lights the ciggie, the end burns bright and the little wisps of smoke disappear up to the spirit, floating in time with the truck. The cigarette only takes half a minute before it's a line of ash and a filter. "Conceal... Wait... Listen. You, the other smelly one, motor oil, and perfume. Yes."

Assuming this is how it goes, for the sake of expediency. you are welcome to 'interrupt' and correct at any point.

The truck arrives at the front of the facility, pulling up beside the card reader. The microphone sputters, barely audible, although it's not clear the person on the other side is expecting you to care. Showing the card at the grimy camera and a swipe at the reader is enough. The fence grunts then withdraws on rusty wheels.

With the route clear, the truck can pull directly up the driveway and into the garage. The door opens and Copperhead can pull the truck into the covered garage, and the door closes behind. It's about thirty seconds before the airlock door into the facility opens and a guard walks out carrying a clipboard, looking tired, bored, and in need of a soykaf. "Come on, let's get this done with."

Is the Roadmaster rigger-adapted?  If not, Copperhead can't drive it from the back.  If it is, cool! :>  Any other entertaining features she should know about?

While she waits for the Roadmaster to rumble its way up to the loading dock, the scarred rigger does a sweep of the area with her drone looking for anything that seems different or out of place from her last couple of examinations.  She then positions the drone in the best possible position to give herself a view of what's happening while still allowing her to monitor the guard's radio frequency.

quote:

15:17, Today: Copperhead rolled 3 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 1,1,(6+1)7,4,3,(6+3)9. Observation.

I'm presuming our joygirls have already started their performance?  And the camera in the loading bay has been "lazed"?  Also, while you're waiting for the security guy to open the door, that'd be a great time to summon a city spirit to cover our butts on the inside.  Suggest concealment on Copperhead and Noruas and accident on anyone other than team members who tries approaches comes near us once we're in the building.

As she scans the area, the rigger configure the drone to act as a relay to her van so she can communicate with the J and, if necessary bring the van up.

The truck is indeed rigger-adapted. In fact, it's been modified (or perhaps rolled off the line) with only minimal, emergency passenger controls. Instead it's made to be handled by gridguide or a remote rigger, but it still has a datajack for easy maintenance and such. You'd have to drive it remotely though, since the back is sealed, so no data cables.

Ladies are outside the side gate? Also, while you have lazors, no one said they are actively setting out said lazors. So no, cameras are not yet lazored.

The facility is quiet, minimal lighting, not much activity. One extra car in the lot, but otherwise things seem solid.

St V makes sure that all of his personal effects are well hidden and where they should be.  He says, "Here we go," then gets out of the vehicle to meet the guy with the clipboard.

"Long night, eh?" he ask the guard rhetorically as he waits for the others to get out too.  He nonchalantly scans the contents of the garage, checking to see if there is anything noteworthy or pertinent to their ruse.

Remote is fine.  Presume it doesn't have weapons or anything exciting or out of the ordinary?

Toombs will be the only one going with you.  How good an angle does the camera have on the back doors (and did we have the option of parking in a way that the answer was non-existant?)  If the answer is "no", it would be rather nice if that camera lens suddenly got dirty or otherwise unhealthy . . .

Ladies are outside the gate but clearly visible to one of the cameras, if that's possible.  Ideally in a spot that would be semi-realistic for them to be seeking "privacy in nature".

Forgot to change over threads, because I am a failure as a GM. I'll count up XP in this one on Monday, but nag me if it doesn't get done by Tuesday.

2nd nag ;>

Karma!

1 Karma for everyone, +1 Karma for Copperhead and Noruas, who really pushed the action (Noruas mostly off-screen with decking).

I hope I live long enough to use it!