Wednesday 0200

The location Blake's agent leads you to is an abandoned, decayed section of the wharf district, where a warehouse waits for you. The warehouse still bearing the faded sign of its former owner, Cerebus Shipping.

At this hour, there's no sign of anyone within a quarter mile. Given the neighborhood, you don't imagine it gets a lot of traffic in the best of times. If Blake is here, he's not showing his hand ... yet. The door to the warehouse is unlocked. Peering through windows, you can make out tall stacks of boxes and crates, temporary walls, catwalks, and loading equipment, making it a veritable labyrinth. There are a few electric lights dangling from the ceiling providing weak, flickering light. Around the back of the warehouse is a power and network junction.

As a reminder, Eve stipulated you invite her to meets with external contacts.

Copperhead did a thorough aerial sweep of the area, looking for heat signatures or anything else that might suggest company.  She also examined potential lines of approach and sniper positions, doing her best to inspect any possible nest areas.  Once she'd learned as much as she could, she put the LoneStar drone on overwatch and approached the building on foot, the Ferret purring along at her heels.

She extracted her lock-picks and prepared to go to work on the door, cursing softly when it opened without intervention.  Someone was obviously wanting company.  She opened the door and guided the small wheeled drone inside, then returned to the van and brought in one of her Azzie crawlers as well.  (The Ferret wasn't big on stairs.).  She returned to the safety of the van a second time and jacked in.  Time to scan the place and see what was up before she had to go pick up the J.


Crawler is the one with the grenade launcher.  Not sure who's accompanying, but Toombs is welcome to leave his meat in the van while he scans the warehouse and surrounding buildings from the astral and she'll happily install the dataline tap for Noruas to use remotely from the van as well.

Is St. V going to follow Copperhead's advice about the J?  I.e. Schedule a meet with her about a half hour ahead some distance away and have me pick her up and bring her along to the proper place?

quote:

08:49, Today: Copperhead rolled 3 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 4,3,2,(6+3)9,4,3. Perception inside.
08:48, Today: Copperhead rolled 3 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 5,1,(6+6+5)17,(6+4)10,1,2. Perception - outside.

Not sure if I can use my security-related companion skill or not.  Ferret has sensors 4, so
low-light, thermal, radar, etc.

St. V plans on following Copperheads advice.  He is just waiting for the time to pass so that he can.

Also, I'm a bit confused on the time.  Is it supposed to be 2am Wednesday morning, or 2 hours until the meet, or is it supposed to say 2000 instead of 0200?

St. Velveteen sits in Copperhead's ride prepping his gear for the mission ahead. Currently he was checking over his shock gloves to make sure they were still in tip-top shape.  He tries his best to stay out of the way as Copperhead works her machines.  "Let me know if ya need somethin," he offers.

Noruas moves to a seat out of the way of the others and sets up his equipment.

Copperhead I need that tap installed if you want me to take a peek inside.

I'll just assume that she installs the tap and move on to my decking thread.

I can roll electronics if necessary, but given that the equipment box is sitting so nicely exposed, I'm assuming it's not?"

It was my intention to bring Eve along, I guess I should have said that somewhere.

Toombs buzzes the warehouse quickly, to get a sense of what's inside.
(4 successes)

We're going to bring Eve, but I was thinking it would be better if she didn't know the precise details of the where or when until she got there.  I don't want her fragging anything up.

We are jumping ahead to 0200 Wednesday. Your run is 0200 Thursday, so you still have twenty four hours to prepare. If you want to do anything else before meeting Blood, you can post it in the other thread. It sounds like no one is doing anything especially high risk, so a little simul-posting is okay.

In this case, electronics is not necessary for hacking the local network.

For future reference, stealth and perception checks you'll want to actually post what numbers you rolled. The highest perception is compared to the highest stealth, so the actual number (and how many of that number) is important.


The area is run-down and ramshackle. There's no shortage of hidey-holes, and the drone picks up plenty of heat signatures of rats and other vermin. While Copperhead doesn't get a lock on anyone, she gets the sense someone is watching, most likely from the second warehouse across the road.

Peering through the front door, you're looking deep into the darkness. However, a pair of heat signatures (astral, for Toombs) are plainly visible, not at all hiding. Hearing the door open, they stand to receive visitors, but don't step into the light yet.

For Noruas, the job is a little easier. He can camp out beside the junction and wire himself in. He's a little expose. With a length of cable, he can at least duck into one of the service sheds to the side. With that, his body goes limp as he decks in.

Moved from other thread (sorry)

I think you'd have to remain in the same domain though.  There's no continuous hearth or city domain from where you are to the site.  At minimum, there's a forest domain in between.

We need to retcon opening the door if Toombs and Noruas are along

After scanning the area from the air, Copperhead reported her findings and waited until Toombs has had a chance to check things out as well.

"Check 'at building 'cross too.  Near da top."  Once she has an idea of what lines of site exist from any visible cameras as well as who or what happens to be across the street, she plots her course to install the data-line tap.

quote:

13:29, Today: Copperhead rolled 2 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of (6+2)8,3,1,1,2,5. Stealth - install dataline tap without being noticed.

If she can use one of her security skills as a companion, she will.

Presuming that Toombs or Noruas reports people inside the warehouse near the front door, she won't bother opening that.  She doesn't want to "meet" anyone yet.  Though she may do some more to scope out whoever's across the street once she knows exactly where they are.

St. V continues checking over his gear in Copperhead's vehicle.  He is presently polishing up one of his grenades. He is either waiting for something to happen that needs his attention, or for the time when the Johnson needs calling.

Hope you guys weren't waiting on me to post again.  I was just planning to wait until St. V is needed.  He'll be sitting in the vehicle for now and not doing much that is post-worthy, so you can skip over me as needed.

Toombs awakens with a start, scattering bottles of "magic potion" ("with authentic synth-hops flavor!"). "'sclear, two people. N' much else t' go on, 'less ya wanna place bets on the feral cat a coupla' alleys over versus th' local rat population." He pulls a nub of a cig from behind his ear "'f we are, I bet on th' rats."
"How long y' think th' Boss Lady'll take t' get here so we c'n get on with th' interrogatin'?"

Didn't get a precise answer on how her arrival is being arranged, but it sounds like "approximately the right place/time", so I guess we'll say here and now :)

Eve's car parks a few blocks away, at the provided address. Copperhead updates her on the where, and she hikes over. She's dressed for action; armor-plated leather, and carries a handgun on her hip.

"Thank you for the little exercise there. I missed my gym time today. So can you tell me who we're meeting now?"

Copperhead, Toombs and Noruas arrived at the site about 2 hours ahead of time (St. V can be along too if he wants).  Copperhead's scanning the area aerially, Toombs checking it astrally and Noruas is decking.  Haven't heard the results of Noruas's decking and haven't heard Toombs results from searching the building across the street that Copperhead had the sense someone was watching from.  Depending on that info and information about the building across the street, Copperhead may try to do some more scouting of the second building.  Plan is to meet Eve about 20 minutes before the meet some distance away while at least a couple of the others provide overwatch on the meeting site.  Then I'll drive her to the warehouse and she can go in w/ St. V, one of Copperhead's drones and anyone else who wants to be inside rather than on overwatch.

Noruas is decking very quickly, but this is pizza time :P It's definitely worth getting your decker moving well before you all arrive, even if it's just a 'hey, we're going to X'.

Right now you all are in the drivers' seat(s), so tell me what's happening.

This message was last edited by the GM at 19:12, Tue 07 Apr 2015.

Copperhead is waiting to hear back what Noruas learns and what Toombs reports about the watcher building.  If you can provide any info about the watcher building, I can start plotting how I might approach going inside if I decide that's necessary/appropriate.

Toombs has already shared his info, it's not a lot. I can Assense them if you want.

I'm pretty sure she's asking for assensing or an astral sweep.

Toombs checked the warehouse - he didn't check the building across the street that Copperhead thought someone was watching from.  (Or if he did, that wasn't clear - did he check it and not see anything?)  Assensing the two in the warehouse isn't a bad idea either.

What are the potential entry points for the watcher building?  How many floors?  Are there any security cameras visible anywhere?

Right. Toombs floats out of his body again and does a quick sweep of all adjacent buildings, followed by assensing the people inside.
Astral PER test - 4,4,2,(6+6+1)13,4,(6+5)11; remember that Perceptive drops all TNs by 1
Assensing (INT) - 3,5,2,5,2,1 Perceptive still applies
After the pass is done, he'll relay findings in his idiom.

There is indeed a single individual lurking around the far warehouse, watching the area. It's hard to make out details; it's a nicely setup nest which works well to block details. But Toombs is pretty sure the guy isn't waiting with a gun.

What are the details of the second building?  How tall?  Any easy entry points?  How are things for security cameras?  Presume none of the individuals show signs of being magically active or possessing significant cyber?  Knowing what room the watcher is in, can Copperhead get a decent sense of what the individual can see (and can't)?  For example, can he/she see the electrical box for the target warehouse?

The warehouse is two stories, with a "hay loft" access door on the second level. There are cameras and some limited lighting, plus the front door is locked with a padlock. You can't tell if the cameras are working without hacking in, and your decker is currently occupied. It has a nice view of the entrance to this warehouse, but not the rear where the network junction is. Toombs can't get any more details.

The two individuals inside the warehouse do have substantial modifications, although Toombs can't tell if they're combat or something else. They're positioned deep inside of the warehouse, which provides a view of the door, but nothing outside of that (including just beside the doorway). Noruas seems to be safe (although he's been quiet for a while, so maybe he's dead and you just don't know yet).

Can we use "watcher warehouse" and "meeting warehouse" to avoid confusion?  I presume the lock on the door is for the watcher building.  You didn't state modifications to the watcher or magically active for either, so I'll assume no on both counts.  Is there only one door on the watcher building?  No street-level windows either?  Is the window used by the watcher open or closed?

Noruas did have the option of using a tap and decking from inside the van rather than lying on the street where the rats can nibble at him.  Up to him whether he opted to take advantage of that though . . . :>

yes to your assumptions. There is a side door on the watcher warehouse. The upstairs window is open. There are a few ground-level windows, but they are blocked.

If Noruas is sitting in the van, he's still probably going to have a long cable leading to the junction, to ensure he's getting maximum speed and cyberpunk.

Dataline tap is rating 6, so as long as his MCPC rating is 6 or less, there's no difference to being cabled in.

Presume there's a camera over both of the watcher warehouse doors?

Is the network junction visible on the back of the "watcher" building too?  I'm presuming that "real time", Noruas is likely to only be tapped into the target warehouse for 5 minutes tops, so presumably he can check out the other building too?

Now that Copperhead knows exactly what room he's in, can she roll another perception test, say from a klick out?  That would give her the equivalent of looking through the window from 4 meters away.

Can sky spirits add concealment to someone who's on the ground?

I can summon all sorts of spirits, but I dismissed that last one when we left the area. Besides, I'm kinda our face so I wasn't planning on hitting myself with stun damage and then trying to negotiate through slurred speech.

Last spirit was night before.  Not looking for a super strong one.  Even a +3 to perception on top of my stealth would be good.  (Which would be a 3M drain to resist and you could toss your full pool at resisting)

If you really want it, I'll roll out a low force City spirit.
Toombs calls forth a Force 3 City Spirit.
Conjuring 6d6 (witholding 1 for drain resistance) vs TN 3 - 5,3,4,(6+4)10,4; 5 successes
Conjuring Drain CHA 6+1 vs 3L Stun - 5,3,5,5,3,1,2; sufficient successes.
Toombs now has a Force 3 City Spirit with 5 services owed on hand. He spends the first on using the Concealment power on the van, all drones, and all party members.

His MPCP rating is above 6, and his cyberpunk rating even higher than that.

If he's got an Avatar, then yes, this won't work.  That's unfortunate. :(

Answers to my other questions? (from #25)

In reply to Copperhead (msg # 25):


Yes to cameras, although it's not clear if they're working. No visible network junction though, so hacking in may be a little more difficult. Yes to perception test, yes to concealment (as long as the subject is under the sky--so not inside of a building or something).

Now knowing exactly where the watcher is hiding, the rigger lines up her drone a good kilometer away looking straight through the window, seeing if she can catch a glimpse of who's watching and, more importantly, what they've got with them.

quote:

19:15, Today: Copperhead rolled 3 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 5,(6+3)9,2,3,2,4. Perception.

Thermo, low-light, etc.

You manage to see there is someone through the window, but his gear, if any, is concealed.

I've got gender.  Do I have a facial image?  Race?

You have a gender because I suck at gender-neutral pronouns :P What you have is a red heat signature from an individual under three-quarters cover. His stealth roll was very high and you got one success, so you are aware that 'something is there'.

Noruas calls the others and informs them that from his limited view of the place, there are 3 people in the building.

"Ya see weapons?  What're they up to?  Any oth'r defences?  Where they at?  You able to kill the lights or anythin if the drek hits the fan?"

I thought Toombs only saw 2 in the building?

Looks like Noruas is better at searching than Copperhead. ;)

St. V looks up from his work now that he actually had something else to capture his attention.  "Three eh?  At least we got 'em outnumbered.  I'm gonna give the Johnson the call so she can get over here, now that we're startin ta get a handle on what we're up against."  St. V equips all his gear first, despite what he just said.  Both so he can hear the answers to the questions Copperhead just asked, and in case anyone had a good reason to object to him making the call.

I can only control whatever lights there are, that are connected to the system.  I did mention my view of the place is rather limited, right?  So other than three people, I can't identify much else.

I can also lock them or you in or out of the facility.  Unfortunately, I can't communicate with you bunch via comms.  So we will need to work on a signal that will tell me what you want and when you want it.

Oh, and do me a favor.  Don't tell the J what I am doing or where I am doing it from.  And don't tell her of any signals we come up with.  In fact, don't tell the J anything other than to get her arse over to the site and attend the meet.

The dwarf pulls his silenced Predator out of his holster and keeps it out and ready.  Better to be ready when he jacks out than to be stuck grappling for his gun.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:40, Tue 14 Apr 2015.

0200, 24 hours before go-time.

Online, Noruas's cameras catch the two people in the main area, shifting weight on their feet and muttering to each other. The Johnson is still waiting her call.

Copperhead interrupts the troll before he dials.  "Don' tell her here.  Tell 'er t'come ta the Silver Collar.  I cn grab'er der.  One o' you best stay to keep an eye on Noruas."

The silver collar was a relatively well-known gay bar with a well-equipped bdsm dungeon in the basement.  Copperhead smiled briefly as she imagined the Johnson trying to decide what she should wear.  It wouldn't take the rigger more than about 15 minutes to get there, but it was far enough away that anyone tailing the RV from the bar have to be very good to keep Copperhead from noticing.

Why is it 0200?  We were headed to the meet site for about 10:00pm and nothing we've been doing should have taken more than about 30 minutes all told.

Noruas - and everyone else has a sub-vocal-transmitter hooked up to an encrypted radio unless he refused to take one from Copperhead, so he's free to share what intel he has.  I presume he and Toombs will coordinate and verify they see the same number of people and exactly where they are.

Presuming that the Johnson agrees to the agreed meeting, Copperhead swings by to pick her up.

Even if I did have a sub vocal comm, it wouldn't work while I'm jacked in.  That's why I told you guys to come up with signals.

I think you can hook the radio up to your cyberdeck, but lets see what BB says.  Certainly real-time communication is difficult - you'd be talking too fast and we'd be talking too slow.  But we should be able to transmit basic requests to you in a way that would be useful, and you can transmit to us summary information.  (A decker who can't communicate with his team isn't going to be able to help much . . .)

It is 0200 because the clock needs to keep moving. If I only advance the clock one hour per post, this game will literally take 9 months, just for the footwork.

You can wire radio equipment into your deck, but it requires some time (and a radio). If you want to do that before the main run, you can take care of that then. But yes, there will be some communication... difficulties, owing to the different speeds involved.

Not really, you just have a buffer program that records audio inputs between both streams. Incoming messages are recorded and compressed into an audio file (temp), and played at Noruas's speed while jacked in. Same goes in reverse - N records what he wants to say and the program plays back the sound byte over comms. We didn't have Lollipop Guild voices in Eclipse Phase either.

The tricky part that the rulebook actually has is that his turns take something like 1/10th of ours, so he's sitting in a hostile network getting more so by the moment while we're plodding along in sausage space. So comms aren't (too) hard, it's coordinating the poor decker's exposure time to the party's distinct need for doors.

Anyway, yes Toombs coordinates with Noruas and the rest of the party. I think we should have 2 on site and 2 retrieving the J, so I'll let St. V decide if he wants to stay or go (I will do the opposite).

St. V will stay in case anyone shows up and decides to cause trouble.

Copperhead and Toombs peel out to pick up the Johnson, while St. V keeps overwatch with Noruas. The warehouse is quiet for the twenty-minute there and back. Donovan is a little less enthused about the choice of pick-up locations, but keeps her opinions to herself.

Soon enough the group is regrouped in front of the warehouse. Donovan is quick to speak, "Who are we talking to, and are we ready to go in? Do you know what his angle is?"

If the J tries to make any calls or make use of any other radio devices while en-route, she'll find they're non-functional

"Dunno da name.  Angle's Nuyen s'far's I know.  We'll go in soon's we're der."

She swung by to pick up St. V and Toombs (if he wishes), then  pulled the van up right in front of the door to the warehouse.  If things turned ugly, it'd give partial cover to anyone exiting the building.  Plus, it gave her a good position to plop a grenade through the relevant window.

As soon as the van is in range, she'll let it drive itself while she uses her aerial drone to look for anyone in the area.  That done, she does her best to try to get a sensor lock on the watcher, or at least on the window.

"Everybody out . . ."

Copperhead's sensors are working themselves weary. While she can lock onto the watcher, there's no new contacts to track.

Copperhead sets the grenade launcher to be ready to launch a gas grenade through the window as soon as she chooses to un-conceal the launcher.  She considers the possibility of sending one of her drones into the meeting, but decides against it.  Some people could be spooked by a small droid wielding a sawed-off shotgun.  Much less a grenade launcher.

As soon as Noruas heard the news of Copperhead's approach, he jacks back into the system.

"Listen, lov. If you're uncomf'table out in th' open, we can keep an open comm channel and you can run ov'rwatch while the big boys talk" He works up an earnest, yellow-toothed smile. If you are expecting patience and understanding, this is about the best you can get. "'sides, I got a mighty fine arse, 'n it needs look'n aft'r. So if yer game, I'm game."

Does St. V know about the watcher yet, Copperhead?  Remember they got the warning that someone else has been looking into Haruhiko Blake too.

"Yeah, the angle is probably nuyen," St. V agrees as he hops out of the van with the others.  He makes sure he has all his gear situated properly on his person, save for his machine gun, which he leaves in the vehicle.  He figured the sight of it might make people a bit too trigger-happy.  "His name is Haruhiko Blake though.  My sources tell me he was the security director for Cavilard.  Think he goes by 'Blood' now though.  Runs the Blood Brothers chop shop.  Sounds like he is about as friendly as you would expect someone named Blood to be, too."

After pulling his shock gloves on tight, St. V says, "Alright, I'm ready.  Let's do this."

Has St. V gotten his list of items shipped in and out of Cavilard from Rose yet?  I was wondering if there were any items on it that might hint at what they are researching there.  I figured it might help inform their chat with Blood, depending on what was on the list.

Yes, St. V knows.  He'd have been present when Toombs relayed the information and he would have seen the thermal image on the screen inside the van.

Rose would report back that the company is Russel Overland Transport. They're a bonded shipping company for dangerous materials, and they're scheduled to come by daily. They're scheduled for biohazardous material. It's hard to get any more details than that. Rose doesn't know enough about the industry to understand the data sheets, although she can send snippets to you.

Sounds like Toombs, St. V, and Eve are going in. Noruas is doing his thing, Copperhead is providing overwatch. Right?

That's my understanding.

Toombs slaps St. V on the back and lets him be first through the door. "Give'm a good impression. Show we mean business."

St. Velveteen fills the doorway as he lumbers in, Toombs and Eve close behind. The two fellows waiting inside stand a little straighter as the troll enters, holding their guns closer to their chests. One shouts out, "You St. Velveteen?"

Once introductions are made, a third man enters the light from a side passage; tall, sharp features, long, dark hair. He eyes each of you in turn.

"So you want Cavilard. You found the right person. I have the keys to the kingdom. Practically let you walk in the front door. But what have you brought to the table?"

Eve will slide in on this one; "We have cash. Ten thousand for the information. Twenty if it's really good."

Blood laughs, "cash? I'm rolling in cash. You going to pay me enough for me to notice? It'll be a hundred thousand. I'm willing to accept that. If not? Maybe you have something more interesting to offer me."

"Werll you seem to have us a' a disadvantage, Mistah Blake, cause most people come inta' negotiations wif th' assumption tha' we value th' same fings. As y' can tell, we value scratch an' inf'rmation, an' can offer services of a delicate nature. You have information, so y' obv'sly hold it in some regard, but I've not th' time ta prance about all day figgerin you out." He picks at his teeth with a roofing nail before continuing. "So I tells ya what. We c'n offer services of a delicate nature in return for th' information we need - expenses covered plus intel and a little extra - when we're done our own docket."
"Or y' can just spit out what ya want and we can sees about gettin' it for you."

While Toombs and Eve begin the negotiations, St. V stands at the front of the group with his arms crossed, nodding and grunting as appropriate.  He tries to give the impression of a sturdy wall.  A tough fortress that the other two are protected behind.  All the while scanning the three in front of him with a careful eye, both to search for any hidden weaponry they may have and to be ready in case they reach for any of that weaponry.

Do they have any weapons or armor other than their guns?  And is the equipment high enough quality that their claims to not need money sound valid?

The HKs are nice guns. You're pretty sure their jackets and coats are armored. No signs of any heavy equipment like battle rifles. Given the amount of cyber they're each sporting, they do have SOME money. Too bad money can't buy taste.

Toombs, go ahead and throw me an etiquette test to try and feel out what a man like this might be interested. Since it will come to negotiations, you can throw that out now or later.

Toombs cracks his best winning smirk as the fates rattle their bones.
Etiquette 6: 5,5,5,(6+1)7,4,(6+1)7; 6 successes vs a TN 4
Negotiation 3: 4,5,(6+4)10; 3 successes vs TN 4
Yes, his Negotiation is low, I ran out of skill points >_>

You get a few readings off the guy. Namely, his main headache is competition with other gangs, including Lone Star. If you could call in a favor to help his business in that regard, that would probably help. Secondly, he's still upset over his removal from Cavilard, and you're pretty sure offering to modify your run to fulfill some desires of his might get you the buy-in you need for him to share-all.

He also seems like the sort of guy who likes to be 'large and in charge', and is just looking for an excuse to slap down any of you, so treating him with appropriate deference may get you a lot of mileage.

"Now liss'n. As y' c'n prob'ly guess, we mean to do business t' yer old acquaintances. If ye've got a score ta' settle with 'em, helping us out can cut inta' their bottom line. If ya want us ta set up a dumpster fire 'r grab some other fun little data off th' site, maybe we c'n work somethin' out with you. We're goin for min'mal footprint, so blowin' the place ain't exactly on our itinerary, but if ye know where we can grab you some good blackmail, that's all yours - if y' can get us in."

unfortunately, Toombs is also an alpha personality, and not really prone to backing down from anyone who hasn't already proven themselves to him.

Blake frowns as he considers.

"If I wanted to walk into Cavilard, I could just walk in there, don't you think?"

Still, he stops to consider. "Still, it's a start, and it's worth something. I have a pair of small packages. Attach one to the inside of the biotech director's office, and the second to the director's desk.

"And another favor, to be pulled at my leisure. Information for information. Is that fair?"

I'm just curious here, but who's picking up the tab of the extra favor without getting paid?  Coz I'm certainly not gonna do it!

Dunno! You going to ask? You have radios.

Hahahaha, I think I'll stay inconspicuous for now.  Its just a thought.

St. V looks back over his shoulder to Toombs, then over his other shoulder at Eve, seeing how both of them react to the offer.  He shrugs and tilts his head toward Blood, signaling to Eve to add in her two cents.  He then casually picks at his teeth with a fingernail.  He didn't mind doing a bit of extra work if it was worth it, so long as the task was within reason.

"I'm willin ta meet ya halfway. Stipulations, though, devil's in th' details:
Th' packages we drop ain't gonna be CBRN, and anythin' explosive is tol' to us ahead a' time an' not armed 'til it gets there. Nonlethal's fine, but nothin' that'll get us pinched by sec scanners that wouldn't catch us otherwise.
2," he puts up two fingers knuckles out, "ye can call on us f'r favors, but we get to say no to a fav'r until ya find somethin we c'n agree on. On that job you cover expenses, palms greased, and a fair wage. I don't firebomb Lone Star fr free fr anybody, but I'm down ta give a gang a hotfoot if that's all ye had in mind." He drops his hand back to his side "Ya know we're gonna stick to you 'cause anyone with a rep for droppin out o' bargains don't work long in this burg or biz. 'Sides, even if we get greased, at least ya can sleep sound knowin ya got some property damage back on 'em."

If we're paying services for info, then the J pays us instead of the source, I'd say.  (Expect the J. to get antsy about anything that could make this run noisy/messy)

Eve visibly relaxes as Toombs presses the point.

Blood responds; "you ask a lot of questions."

He considers for a while, then nods. "The second one is an explosive charge. Set for two and a half weeks. Quiet is good, it means no one will be looking for it. If you fuck it up and the Star catches you with an explosives, all the more on your head. If you pull it off, it'll never be connected to you. So how about it?"

Eve discreetly nods her concurrence, but leaves it up to Toombs to manage the negotiations.

"Then I'd say we're agreed. Now let's get them details now tha' old scratch aired his drawers." He rubs his hands together, quite pleased with himself. Got the information and didn't even have to make someone's brain explode! Now he can focus on a booze hangover instead of a magical one.

He nods to himself, then says something to one of his two thugs. The guy separates and disappears into the darkness.

Blake goes on. "Your job is perhaps easier than you think. The place is a mess. They always cut corners. The camera system is out of date. The cameras static out regularly. The guards are expecting that. The SOP is for someone to check it in person, and they will, eventually. At least, they would have, under me.

"The doors all use maglock keypads. I'm sure they've changed the codes, but a passkey should be able to get past them all.

"I know something about the computer systems as well. There's a set of secondary data lines that connect into the heart of the computer system. The address you want is NA/UCAS-SEA-8206. There's also a purge system around the main data stores that can be activated from the Security Center. It's controlled by a Slave Module tied to the Security Subprocessor. That's if you want to give them some real trouble."

He stops. "Not quite the front door keys, but enough to make some real trouble."

"Much obliged, much obliged. 'sides, I mighta' been a little more suspicious if ye'd offered th' keys ta th' kingdom. Now, if ya'll excuse me tha hesitation, I'd appreciate if ya could deliver tha packages ya want delivered to a secure location of ours so we dannae have ta drive around town with at least one crate a' firecrackers." he claps St V on the shoulder thigh "If ye're comfortable airing out tha bolthole ta these enterprisin folks, we can get on with business."

"Now let me consult with my TECHNICAL EXPERTS" he hollers into the radio "ta see if they've got any more questions about the setup they have o'er there. I confess, I've got trouble with any gadget more delicate than a toaster, and ta play an old joke - it's all o'er me head." He wheezes halfheartedly. If Copperhead or Noruas want to talk to him directly, Toombs will pass his radio.

he turns and mutters to Eve "Now, this seems ta be a little less of tha convent'nal palm grease, which may turn to a slight refocusing on our contract. All in pursuit of upholding our new bargain, yeh? So whenever we get 'round ta repaying the debt, I would take it as a personal favor if ya could back us up should we need it." he murmurs respectful-like.

"How'd e know ta target?  Ya didna tell 'im wha we's after?  An mebe check if'n anyone else's been chattin' wit im.  An let us know if some'un else comes snoopin'.  Don' wan no 'un spillin 'is guts 'for we's done"

Where are the secondary data lines located?

Eve nods and whispers to Toombs, "agreed."

In response to Toomb's request, Blood nods, holds a hand up to someone in the shadows. "It will be there."

The secondary data line is available via the matrix. Without the address he already provided, you could spend years hunting for it. Now, you just get on the matrix, go to that matrix address, and you're in.

That's cool.  So that means I can check the place out without needing to plug into a camera?

Yes. Not only that, but it sounds like you'll be better positioned on the host. The cameras will presumably dump you into some security SPU, which likely will be way out on the fringes of the system.

"Y' said y' were involved with th' security. You know what mojo-sec they got on call? Spirits, wards, wizards? Even a poorly placed physad can be a nuisance."

"Ask'im about the 'mergency exit doors too.  What sensors they got, an sensors in da rest too."

When this is done, I plan to do some closer drone snooping, ideally while Noruas is watching things on the cameras.  If the hazardous waste folks are there, wouldn't mind tailing them and learning more about them too.

EDIT: fixed formatting
This message was last edited by the player at 22:49, Sat 25 Apr 2015.

"Good call, Toombs," St. V says to the negotiating dwarf.  Blood hadn't mentioned anything about magic security.  Hopefully that meant there wasn't any.

Next St. V relays Copperhead's question to Blood, and adds one or two of his own.  "One of our 'technical experts' wants to know about what sensors the facility has too.  'specially around the emergency exit doors.  An' I was wondering, as a former head of security for the place, who at the facility would be most likely to escape yer notice for being new at the facility?  A new janitor?  A science type staying late to churn out s'more of all a that biohazardous junk they ship outa there daily?  Specialty maintenance?  Obviously we can take care of ourselves, but I figured It'ld be good ta get yer opinion since you're right here in front of us."

Saint Velveteen shifts his weight and rests his hands on his hips, waiting with interest for Blood's reply.  But then one last thought occurs to him and he adds, "and is there a good way to reach you if we ever need your current services?"  St. V knew all too well that a chop shop could be a handy asset.  His father provided similar services at one point, but only on rare occasions.  And that was a long long time ago.

"Magical security is on call. There's not much on-site magical security. Why should there be? The work is all highly technical, and everything important is done via the matrix.

"The emergency door has an alarm that is triggered if the door is opened, plus cameras. We always figured if someone were to try and exfiltrate data, that would be the most likely avenue. As for sensors? Cameras, door open sensors on exterior doors. Technically we could track doors opening on interior doors, but we never had the manpower.

"Who wouldn't I notice? No one. I was a wolf, and that was my den. But now it's not, and now it's Drury's op. I wouldn't trust him to notice a naked troll walking through his hallways. But if I had to choose, I'd go with one of our support contractors. Janitors, suppliers, things like that. We our eggheads internally. Used to be security was internal too. Now they hired some drek lowest-bidder, Applied Security Concepts. You should absolutely go in disguised as them. I'd pay to see that."

He considers the last request.

"We do business out of a lot of places. But people like you, you seem like discriminating customers. Higher needs than most gutter rats I see. Check out Neon Tears in Takoma. It'll fit your needs."

"Lady, gentlemen. My time is valuable, and I'm afraid you've run out your credit. Expect the package, as agreed. I'll know if they were planted or not."

With that, Blood returns to the shadows. Eve waits a few minutes. "We should get back to work."

"We'll check it out," St. V says with a half-wave as he turns toward the exit.  "Make sure your boy 'cross the street doesn't shoot us down on our way out, 'kay?"  St. V wasn't sure if the person was actually one of Blood's or not, but now things were less likely to get messed up by either themselves or their new contact getting accidentally shot.

Without hardly a second thought about it, the big troll rest an arm on Eve's shoulder to escort her back outside.  "Yeah, back to work.  We got lots of that left to do.  But 'least it should be easier now..."

The door on the van slid open as the troll's bulk appeared in the driveway.  It was starting to rain again.  Wind was from the east, so more grime, lower rads.

She waited for everyone to pile, then drove slowly over an oversize pothole, meandering her way back to the pick-up point for the Johnson.  The woman was going to be a little crowded with the full team crammed in back there.  She could always sit on St. V's lap . . .

As she drove, she kept her drone on station for as long as she could maintain communication range, just to see if anything interesting happened.  Toggling her sub-vocal, she checked in with the rest of the team.

"I'm headed back ta get a closer peep at the doors an' ta see if we cn get a bit more info on ta waste disposal folks.  Noruas, ya up to doin 'trix overwatch?  Rest o' ya can come or I cn drop ya some'er"

"Yer time is valuable an' so is mine, I appreciate we could make th' exchange." He makes an impish little curtsey and follows StV out the door.
"Gad, 's so damn damp out here. Least were I come from the wa'er has tha good damn decency ta stay froze!" He snuggles up next to the door to the latrine and pipes out "'ve got a little drek ta deal with, so if'n ya could drop me off, tha' woul be grand." he points out an intersection near his seedy dive bar, hops out and trudges towards the drudgery of working for a living.

Eve declines the offer of the shared seat, and will stand if necessary.

There's no change around the warehouses after you leave (at least, not within the next hour).

As promised, Blood's suitcase will arrive at the drop-off before dawn. And as promised, one of the small packages appears to be heavy and large enough to contain an explosive (the other is significantly smaller).

Is the van still at the target when we arrive?

Which van at which target?

Waste disposal van at the Cavilard facility.

When you arrive, the van is long since passed. At this hour, the facility is quiet. There's a few cars in the lot, but not much else.

What time is it?

Around 0330.

<orange>K.  I'll wait to see what everyone else is doing.  Then (presuming Noruas is happy to deal with the cameras), I'll go take a closer look at the doors.

After dropping off Eve, St. V cracks his knuckles and makes himself comfortable.  "I'll stick around.  Haven't seen Cavilar in person yet.  Might help me with some brainstormin' if I do."

0400

Your little crew sets up a safe location outside of Cavilard. Noruas, meanwhile, is tucked away at his safehouse, remotely connecting. There's no call or anything from him yet. Hopefully he isn't sitting with his brain melting out his ears.

In between his band prep, Toombs will buzz through the facility and check up on things. Mostly he's going to be standing inside of walls and sticking his head through (toilets) to double check magical security, number of guards and metatype, anything he can gleam.
Did you want him to roll Stealth or Assensing?

Toombs gets some solid intel, swooping into the facility. Nothing is warded, but then, all of this damn technology is largely unreadable on the astral anyway. There's about five people in the whole facility at this hour, and with one of them pushing a mop, that puts the maximum number of guards at four. One maps to approximately where the security room is, two in the lobby, one in one of the basement offices.

There are a few odd things. One of the rooms is under construction (room 23 in the basement). The west side of the basement has a lot of biological... stuff. Not magical, not corrupted per-se. Just... stuff. The whole section is separated from the rest of the facility by airlocks.

What kind of construction? Are we talking "new rooms" or "new shelves?"

Like 'new walls and wiring'.

Just waiting on Noruas before I can go exploring

"Hmh. Pity contractors don' show up at midnight neither."

Copperhead smirks.  "Not ta kind a c'ntractors they opens the door fer, anyhow"

Noruas calls Copperhead, "Yeah, good news and bad news.  Bad news, is I haven't gotten as far as we need to go just yet on the nodes given to us before they booted me.  Good news, I got some intel on the security."

The dwarf fills her in from what he saw of the records by memory.

Didn't see those posts, so I'll need you to provide some details

That's not good . . .

Ya want me ta set up a jack poin' direct ta the cameras?  Dey didn' trace ya or nothin?

I was hoping BB could provide the details since I never really got much of a description for them.

I don't think I was traced, but I need a little time to recover before I hit those cameras.

At this point, Noruas knows where the records are, and has employee numbers for all the security folks (or at least, everyone for him "security" is listed as part of their record). He was dumped before he could download them. Once he's had a chance to recover, getting back there and downloading or manipulating them should be pretty easy, but that recovery time is going to push it back a bit. More importantly, any hard core decking he does like that now will directly impact his ability to perform when it's time for the mission to go. Little things shouldn't be an issue, but anything that raises the security tally will come back to haunt him.

Copperhead, are you going to wait a few hours to try again, or are you going to move forward without decking support? (Or call it altogether?)

"Gotcha.  Sleep good.  We cin poke more tamorra night, mebe.  When yer more awake, we might wanna poke the garbage guys."

How hard is it to get a laser that's sufficiently powerful to burn out the CCD in a camera?

In the next twenty four hours? Actually pretty hard. I'd have to look if lasers are even effective against cameras. This isn't something I was especially aware of.

A moderately strong laser will fry photo-voltaic cells about as fast as they'll fry a human retina, maybe even faster.  It wouldn't need to be something that would do physical damage (i.e. not weapons grade).  The kind of thing they have kicking around for undergrads to play with in a physics lab would work fine.  Normally taking out a camera that blatently would get noticed, but I'm getting the opinion that here, it might not get a lot of attention.  And the nice thing is the camera sort of "dies" but you'd have to do significant forensics to figure out how (unlike a rock or spray-paint).

This shows up in burn notice. It doesn't have to be weapons grade, you're actually hitting a very vulnerable component. So those nifty lasers that can piss off pilots in flight are definitely high-powered enough, but even one of those "1 mile" laser pointers should be enough.

Fair enough. You can pick one up quickly enough. You'll be betting on how powerful you want it, "weak and free/immediately accessible" or "strong but need a fence, so maybe 12 hours if nothing goes wrong?"

Would prefer the guaranteed quality over an impromptu rave. Etiquette 6 test, 2,4,5,3,3,(6+1)7. Not trying to keep this quiet, since Copper knows what tolerances to aim for, and all we're doing is asking for a powerful cat toy. Right guys?

Actually, I take it back. The Johnson can provide a laser if you need it, but it'll take her about 8 hours. You won't have it until about 16 hours before the run.

You all doing anything else tonight?

When Noruas is feeling up to it, I'd like to learn more about the biological waste-disposal place so we can decide whether that's a feasible route or not.

Did the Johnson have anything to say about the early warning plan for if the other team messes up?  (forgot to mention something about it when she was in the van with them.  Maybe Toombs can bring it up when he asks about the lasers if need be.)

How much data do you need exactly on the waste disposal? Just a quick run-down?

St. V: If you ask, she will tell you it is not possible.

Who the people are, where they'll be before going to our target site, how "regular" the people are.

20:52, Today: Noruas rolled 2 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of (6+4)10,2,3,3,3,(6+3)9. Computer skills for research purposes.

Noruas spends his afternoon cracking into the system. He comes back with two pieces of information.

1) He has IDs and fuzzy black and white pictures for each of the drivers. The vehicles can have two to three, and while there are drivers assigned for tomorrow's shift, it doesn't seem to be a permanent assignment (i.e., they can change up drivers as work shifts).

2) They're coming from another small facility downtown. You can plot the route easily enough. Because of how secluded Cavilard is, there aren't a lot of routes to the facility.

Any non-humans?  Do we know what their badges look like, and if not, do we know enough to be able to look at an employee of the firm working in the day time?  Can Copperhead identify an appropriate location to waylay their vehicle?  Roughly what time did the waste van arrive at Cavilard the night I was watching the place?

Plenty of non-humans (especially orks). Yes, it's pretty easy to find a useful chokepoint. Last time they arrived a little after 2am.

The sun comes up and the early-morning commuters arrive at the facility. It's still a little overcast from the previous rain, but you're expecting it to clear up nicely by tonight.

Time is now 12:00pm. You have 14 hours before your run.

(Your Johnson does provide the laser as promised.)
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:44, Tue 19 May 2015.

So....how much have I recovered, BB?  BTW, how do we calculate recovery periods?

For stun, it's no more than an hour per box, so three hours of rest and you'll be fine. I imagine your day at work is pretty rough though.

So I'm back at work until 2PM.  Anything noteworthy happening at my workplace?

Your boss asks that you stay over the weekend to complete some TSP reports.

St. V scratches his chin as he churns all their information around in his head.  After a while, he speaks up.  "How 'bouts we commandeer on of those bio trucks, then when we go to pick up the delivery we do somethin' to distract the security that will divert their attention elsewhere.  I'm thinkin something at the severity of firecrackers bein' set off halfway across the compound.  Even if they don't go investigate, they'll prolly be distracted, and then a couple of us can slip off to do the dirty deeds."

4pm, 10 hours to the run begins.

"Could work. We get th' nethead ta set up a few vuln'rabilities in their system, trip a couple'a alarms on th' opposite side of th' compound - enough ta get 'em ta check 'em, not enough ta call in the cav..." he shrugs "we c'n mebbe loop th' sec feeds in th' loading bay, make it look like we're loadin' up th' truck while we sneak 'round th' place for a few minutes, then get back and hop out in tha rig."
"If we really need ta split up, I c'n keep an eye on th' truck an fib our way through a guard check. Can get a ghostie workin' oversight ta give y'all th' stealth y' need."

If we want to sneak in, we would have to disable and hold the original workers - possibly knock them out and stow them in Copper's RV. Toombs can get another spirit up and running to give the rest of the party some Concealment (and possibly some astral support). If you guys want, Toombs can stay with the truck in case guards swing back - I can be plenty convincing, especially if you all look like you need to pee when we get there. Copper could even try getting a couple of drones to help with the loading process if she wants to lend a little bit more respectability all around. Otherwise, small drones can probably just hide underneath the truck and give you all a little more firepower if the worst should happen.
I just really regret not having any mind control spells now.

8pm, 6 hours until the run.

12pm, 2 hours until the run.

Probably time to get to your places. (I'll post a '1am' post on Thursday, 2am next week, then just action-by-action until you finish.)

Copperhead spent a few hours familiarizing herself with the roads and terrain around the complex as well as in and around the ambush site.  If things got hairy, she wanted to know every escape route and bolt hole there was.  Then it was time to get ready.

First was a thorough inspection of her vehicles.  A run was not the time to run into a blown tire, an empty gas-tank or a low battery.  Particularly not when you were the fraggin' rigger.    Then it was time to attend to personal needs:
- Extra deodorant - it was only polite
- Water bladder - dehydration could be downright inconvenient.
- SeeCure undergarments - over hydration could be pretty inconvenient too
- A remarkably clean lab coat - much more likely to trigger an "ask questions first, shoot later" response than the reverse.  (Some lab geeks were expensive.)

She considered bringing her predator, but it was really just for show.  And it would more likely cause grief than provide benefit in this environment.  She did retain a couple of smoke and neurostun grenades though.

Confident that she was as ready as she could be, she headed to the ambush site and did a thorough sweep of the area, hiding one of the crawlers deep in the alley the waste disposal techs were most likely to run for if they decided to make a break for it.  Then it was time to go pick up the J.  After all, there were soon going to be negotiations to be performed . . .

Toombs arranges the joygirls and pays out of pocket to make sure their performance is up to snuff. While the team is assembled, he pulls out a massive handgun, starts to take it apart, and has to use a hammer and chisel to get the slide off of the frame. There's a lot of cursing and sputtering as springs don't so much fly off as disintegrate with a cartoonish huff. It takes about a half an hour for him to reassemble the gun (it takes 2 tries for him to not have parts left over), but by the end he has a very impressive facsimile of lethal force. He slides a candy bar into the magazine and slots the mag.
He then starts stuffing roofing nails and pencils into every available pocket, followed by a trio of pool cues. If questioned he just mutters "'s magic drek. Don' question m' methods."

Noruas checks that he has all the necessary decking equipment before pulling out his customized predators.  He ejects the mags and inspects the ammo. Better not be EX Explosive rounds like last time.... Assured that they were indeed gel rounds, he slots them back in and holsters the guns.

He pauses for a second before turning around to grab 2 extra clips of EX Explosive rounds and stuffs them in his pocket.  Better safe than sorry.

St. V checks over his weaponry one last time as well.  He brings along his Ares Predator and makes sure the smartlink is working properly before loading it and tucking it into his Concealable Quickdraw Holster.  He brings along the silencer attachment too, but keeps it separate and slides it into one of the pockets of his bio hazard removal uniform that he'll wear over his usual armor.  He also stows two extra clips, his shock gloves, and one each of a smoke and flash-pak grenade.  After testing out all of his communication equipment, Saint Velveteen is ready for the run.

Pool cues??

While not stated, I'm willing to assume everyone is riding in the van with Copperhead. If you're taking your own transportation, please tell me.


The van pulls into its ambush spot early and sets up. The van is pretty crowded with the call girls, the mages, the Johnsons, the troll... But Copperhead can park it out of sight (or in sight, if she prefers).

1:05, actually a little early, the truck comes rolling along. You can hear it before you see it. Half a minute later, you see the two headlights cutting through the dark. A noisy, heavy truck, driving a little below the posted limit, and slowing down as it takes corners.

Fortunately, this stretch of highway is pretty quiet, but you still can't guess how long you have before the next car comes through.

I presume the joy girls will be getting there on their own.  (If necessary, I'll "borrow" a car for them to drive - presuming we can find one who knows how.)

Also, I thought we only had one Johnson and one mage?  Or did we pick up some others along with the Joygirls? :>

So we're on a highway?  Can you give an idea of the environment?  That'll better let me describe where the van is (and potentially where any of the other drones are.)

Copperhead's drone picks up the vehicle on radar and then on visual long before the vehicle is audible and digitally zooms in on the side panels to confirm that this was indeed their target.

edit: *cue balls*. As in the white one that you smack.
The call girls will be waiting closer to the site, I've given them a burner cell that I can call them on to get the show on the road.

"We gots a plan ta stop da truck or am I gonna have ta wing et?"

It's a small, state highway, one lane in either direction, speed limit of 55mph. Grid guide is active here, so most cars do actually drive at 55mph. Street lights are intermittent, otherwise it's just lit by the headlights of passing cars. You generally see about one car a minute. Past the edge of the street, it's largely wooded. You're skirting the edge of the park, and the particular spot you chose from the ambush (the one with the fewest witnesses) has another copse of wood on the other side.


Zooming in with the drone, you can confirm it's a biohazard truck. If you want to make a perception check, you can try to read the license plate.

Toombs pulls out a cue ball, rolls down a window, and begins to focus intently on the truck. "I got yer backup."

quote:

10:03, Today: Copperhead rolled 2 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 5,5,1,2,3,3. Perception test.

Checking the plate as well as any other useful information about the vehicle - such as whether it seems armored.

The van will be parked around 200 yards back from the ambush site, ready to pull out and do a very awkward 13 point turn in front of oncoming traffic if someone shows up early.  If the terrain permits.  Won't bother bringing out the Doberman.  I presume there's no cameras in the area?

Once they're in location, Copperhead drops off the other three team-members at the ambush location.  She stays in the van to man the sensors and drone.

"R'tine cop stop.  Da flashin' lights should make'em stop.  An if not, da MMG makin' a line o'dust in fron a dem otta.  When dey stop an open da door, ya cuffs 'em an sticks 'em in da back right fast.  Den one o' ya drives to our neotiatin spot while da udder two sits in da back and cuffs and watches.  I'll jam em so der's no callin."

I'm going to presume that Toomb's question and subsequent discussion happened well *before* we could see the lights of the approaching truck :>

As soon as the vehicle passes the van, she'll start jamming.  Whether the others are willing to hide in the woods or not, Copperhead will swoop in with the Lonestar drone coming towards the vehicle with lights flashing at about windshield height, MMG leveled.  If they don't stop/pull over, she'll move further in front and lay down a line of fire in front of the vehicle.  If she absolutely has to, she'll take out a tire, but hopefully it won't come to that.  Once the vehicle comes to a stop, she'll use the loudspeaker to broadcast a "Please exit the vehicle and place your hands behind your head" announcement.

Assuming the vehicle stops, St. V runs out all sneaky-like to pull the guys out of the truck and cuff them as planned.  He tries to stay to the shadows as much as possible since he is dressed nothing like a Lonestar employee.  He puts a shock glove on one hand just in case one of the biohazard guys decides to give them trouble and he needs to stun them real good.

12:21, Today: St. Velveteen rolled 2 successes using 4d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 1,4,3,4. Stealth: sneak up on truck.

The truck is reinforced and does seem to have some specific modifications for resisting certain types of damage, although it doesn't look to have any ballistic armor (just plenty of size).

The truck continues on for about five minutes before it slows, flashes hazards, and glides to a stop. The engine shuts off as the drone hovers safely behind. The driver-side door opens and a large ork in a biohazard suit (minus helmet) steps out. She shouts at the drone, "bugger off! We're paid up and on a job. Send issues to corporate and stop harassing us. We ain't got any bribe money."

Meanwhile, from the passenger side, St. V closes in on the vehicle and gets within twenty feet without any apparent alarm. He can see two more people waiting inside the truck. I wasn't sure from your post if you're actually running up to them, or just preparing to.

He'll continue right for the truck to restrain the guys inside.  I was assuming someone else would be helping him too, but even if he's by himself then St. V doesn't have time to waste time.

If possible, the drone moves to a position where it can cover both the orc and the passengers through the now-open driver door.

"All occupants exit the vehicle.

Place your hands behind your head

LoneStar appreciates your cooperation

Failure to comply will result in escalation"

The pre-programmed voice was a bit more imposing than Copperhead would likely have managed on her own.  And the MMG definitely helped.  There was a loud click as she chambered a round for emphasis.

quote:

12:49, Today: Copperhead rolled 3 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 3,2,5,4,(6+2)8,2. Observe in detail.

The drone calls out and the driver already outside of the truck sighs and leans against the side of the truck, arms behind her head. The two inside seem a little less eager to hop out (but also don't have LOS on the drone). Then the passenger door opens and the one closest is yanked out and thrown to the ground. There's a few moments of shouting, but St. V can pin and restrain him.

The one guy remaining in the truck draws a small handgun and holds it, shaking, at St. Velveteen. "Who... Who the hell are you? You're not Lone Star, are you?"

The one with her hands up moves back to the truck cab, but a quick warning from Copperhead is enough to get her back in line.

Is Copperhead able to maintain line of site on the Orc while getting line of site on the guy in the front seat through the open driver-side door?

If you circle around. It'll put you on the far side of the road and you'll have to close in a little bit.

"Drop your weapon!
This is your first and final warning"

Copperhead holds action, waiting to see if the gunman complies or if V or one of the others can either talk him down or disable him in short order.  If he moves to shoot, she'll put a 6 round gel burst in his back.  Provided she believes they're far enough from anywhere that would react to a burst of MMG fire, she'll wait until his weapon deviates to the point she's confident St. V won't take an errant reflex round when the gunner goes down and put a burst in him anyhow.  A car could come along at any time and showing they're serious now might cut down negotiation time later.

Toombs will hop out and hoof it to the truck to help St V out, with a ski mask over his face. "Listen, mate. You can fight the good fight now, or pick the better one later. We don' need y' ded, we don' want ye hurt, just doin' our jobs too"
He levitates a cue ball menacingly, letting it skip around like a wolverine in front of his outstretched hand. "They don' pay ye enough ta deal with me, but we're pr'pared t' compensate y' for yer time if'n y' can keep from raisin' a fuss."
"Jus' hop outta th' cab with no silent 'larms an' we'll let y' get back tae th' bus'ness of livin' quick as y' can. But fuck w' us, an' one'a you gets ta try ta catch th' cannonball w' his teeth."

Going to roll Etiquette to coaxe them out, might be taking a defaulting penalty to Intimidate, but having an overt use of magic while being backed up with a milspec drone and a troll should give me a little bit of an edge.
14,4,5,9,2,5

St. V just scoffs with a smirk on his face when the guy asks if they are really Lonestar, then lets Toombs take it from there.  While his friend works his magic with words instead of spells, St. V picks up the guy he restrained and holds him between himself and the guy with the gun as a metahuman shield.  "What he said."

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!