It's been about five weeks since Eve closed out accounts with you. News of the hit are tucked away in the screamsheets. The reports are vague; a group of gangers attack local business; repelled by security. Of course, the shadows know better. It takes longer to get out, but soon you hear about another odd event on the same day, 2am Pacific Time. An Ares group hit a Mitsuhama enclave and extracted a high-level researcher. Some coincidences are too much to ignore.

Cavilard turns up in the news again nearly a month later in the form of business asset sales. But that's not in the sort of circulations the street normally reads up about. No, in your circles the news is back to the filth of the streets; go-gangs trading turf, corpses turning up in the street, and a new line of trids which are supposed to be better than ever.

There's no word from Blake, which is probably a good sign.

Meanwhile, money continues to get spent on crappy food and new toys and greasing palms, and the jobs aren't moving like they should.

Tonight you are at Reno, decked out in your finest 'running clothes', hoping to find a Johnson to keep you fed for another week. This is a runner bar, but the bouncer at the front makes sure any visible hardware is left at home. Assault rifles aren't good for business.

You can feel the music as much as you can hear it. Deep, throbbing bass and the piercing ring of a synth-guitar. Even though it's early, the rockerboys are whipping the crowd into a frenzy.

It seems like every runner in Seattle had the same idea. There's going to be fierce competition for any pickings tonight.

The handsome, albino man of asian descent made his way through the crowd towards the stage. If he wasn't going to find work tonight, he may as well find someone pretty to look at. He checked the place out on the astral plane, flashing back and forth between beats of the base to elevate his own mood. He throws himself onto the dance floor and lets himself get lost in the beat for awhile. Maybe his brother-in-law was being sarcastic when he sent him to this place for chance at running the shadows, but he'd at least get to make the most out of his night.

Copperhead scowled at the young orc server who looked to be approaching her table with intent, then suppressed a smirk as the teenager altered course.  She took another sip of the synthahol she'd been nursing for the better part of an hour.

Fraggin waste of time.

The whole point of having a fixer was to avoid having to go into places like this.  Places where she had to go as "meat".  She winced slightly as the lead troll's guitar let out a piercing wail happened to perfectly hit the resonant frequency of one of her "upgrades".  Apparently it wasn't as firmly attached to her endo-skeleton as clinical good practice might dictate.  Or perhaps whatever bio-glue the military had used wasn't meant to withstand a 20 meter drop out of a damaged chopper or the deceleration from 200k to zero in 0.5 seconds or the various other forms of abuse her frame had endured since then.

Regardless of the reason, musical establishments weren't her friend.  At least the volume here wasn't aimed at those with sound dampeners like some establishments.  Those places could have her going snaky in seconds.

She glanced at her watch.  She'd give it another 30 minutes and then she was bailing, regardless of what Alfred said.  She didn't fraggin' need friends.  Just Nuyen.

Every now and then, Noruas takes a sip of his purple soda. The music wasn't too bad, but the atmosphere was terrible. There were just too many people at this joint to properly enjoy himself. Miyuki had pointed him to this place when he said he was bored. He meant it as playful comment to try and instigate a conversation with her so that they could spend some time together.  Obviously she didn't catch on.  Seeing how busy she was, Noruas decided to give her some space and come here on his own.  He slipped on his previous mask before leaving home.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:44, Sat 03 Oct 2015.

Caduceus put down the kickstand of his motorcycle and took off his helmet.  After straightening out his hair he took a moment to cast a quick Health Glow spell over himself before getting off.  A weak shamanic mask of scale patterning rippled over his body and his dead skin cells flaked off like old snake skin before disappearing as dust in the wind.  "That's better," he said to himself.  Then he straightened out his alligator print longcoat and headed for the doors to the bar.

Once inside he followed the outer wall to try and find a place to sit.  The place was a little more lowbrow than he preferred, but it was decent enough.  He ordered a Frankenblend Synthahol with lemon twist from the young orc server passing by, then pulled up a stool next to the wall.  He got to work surveying the crowd with his astral sight, letting the music lull him into the slight swaying of a light shamanic trance.

If he was going to find work here, he wanted to know who might be offering it, or at least more interested in finding it as well.  He kept an eye out for anyone with an aura more focused on business than pleasure.  They would be the ones worth keeping an extra eye on.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:16, Sat 03 Oct 2015.

Caduceus spots the woman first; 5'2", blonde hair tied back in a perfect coif, tight, black slacks, a black coat with the ornamental flared shoulders, and dangling gold earrings. Real gold, you notice. She approaches, and leans in to be audible over 16 MaxMaster speakers. "Good evening. My name is uh... Johnson. I wonder if I might take a moment of your time?" She nods over to a nearby booth.

Should Caduceus agree, she doesn't immediately follow. Instead, after some searching, she confronts Copperhead now, with the same instructions, inviting her "and her team".

White Duck is last, as he's kicking it on the dance floor. But it doesn't take him long to notice the woman; while she's dressed for the club, she stands out among street types. And she's watching him. Apparently she does not care to go wading into the dance pit. Sure enough, when White Duck emerges, covered with a sheen of sweat, she moves to intercept him, leaning in against his ear to make her offer, "Meet me at the booth? I have an offer that is worth your time." She follows White Duck to the booth.

Once everyone is sitting (I will let Noruas decide how easily contacted he is at the club, and if he sees Copperhead and decides to act), she joins you.

"Good. Now that we are all here, I can get started. I have brought you together to offer you the opportunity to make some nuyen, a sizable amount. I need a group of professionals to reacquire several objects that were stolen from my company. I cannot afford for this run to have a high profile, so I am willing to work with younger talent. If you are successful, your careers, and your credsticks, will be greatly enhanced. Unfortunately, every minute is precious and I cannot give you time to think about it. My question is a simple one: Are you the people I have been looking for?"

(Assuming everyone says yes; you may ask questions, but she won't divulge much at this time.)

"Excellent. As I am sure you realize, this is not exactly the place for a business meeting. We will meet at The Banshee at exactly 1:00 A.M. Do not be late. When you get there, ask for Urian. You will be directed to the meeting from there. Are there any questions about the meeting place? If not, I suggest we all leave. Do not attempt to follow me; it would strain our budding relationship."

With that, she heads for the door.

quote:

09:09, Today: Copperhead failed (no successes) using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 6 with rolls of 4,3,4,4,2,4.  Spot Noruas.

Given the crowded nature of the bar and the fact that Noruas doesn't have any strongly distinguishing features (usually a good thing), plus the fact she has no reason to expect him to be here, I'm going to assume that's not sufficient for him to notice me.

I'm a bit more unique, plus more likely to trigger a reaction in those around me, so presumably Noruas' target number will be lower.

Caduceus - what do you look like?

Team?

Copperhead shrugged and slid out of her seat to head over to the indicated booth, doing a quick scan to see if there was anyone here she knew.  Maybe the woman was merely referring to her toys.  Most of the time, they were the only 'team' she needed.

She eased herself into the new booth, opposite the well-dressed human male sitting there.  She gave him the once over before draining the remains of her drink and waiting for the Johnson to return.

(If Noruas comes to the table, she raises her eyebrows in surprise, then indicates the seat beside her, elbowing herself up to again scan the room.
"A run mebe.  Ya see anyone we knows?")

When given the description of the run, the scarred rigger shrugged in what could be interpreted as a slightly affirmative manner.  Nuyen was good.  "Retrieval" of items, whether a re-aquisition or an initial "borrowing" was well within her line of work.  Certainly worth talking about.  And it was an excuse to leave here, which was reason enough.

Given the J's explicit instruction, she figured following her preferences and leaving immediately would be bad form, so she decided to make the most of the time she still had to tolerate the driving beat.  At least the troll wasn't hitting that annoying note anymore.

She looks from Cadeus to White Duck and back again and speaks with her typical scowl.

"Who're you?"

Noruas continues to sip his purple soda as his eyes scanned the room.



He spots Copperhead in her booth and reacted slightly surprised.  What's she doing here?  The dwarf also notices the blond woman approaching her.  From the looks of her outfit, she seemed more like the type to give out orders.

Looks like she found a Johnson...Let's see if she wants to share the job... thought Noruas as he approached the booth.  He continues to sip the synth-grape soda until the straw could offer no more liquid sweetness.  As he makes eye contact with Copperhead, he offers a slight nod and asks her in a whisper, Mind if I join you?



He shrugs, Sorry, nope.

As the other potential members start to approach the booth and find their places, Noruas furtively pulls out his phone.


After the instructions were given, Noruas is the first to leave the table to get some more synth-soda.

Duck seemed hesitant about meeting with the Johnson at first. He wondered if things were seriously done this way in the shadows of Seattle and not through more private channels. Maybe the work would be legitimate, so it was worth at least going to that other meeting. Maybe in the next place he wouldn't have to check his gun at the door. He agreed to the pitch, then watched the Johnson depart. She'd made it a point of not being followed, but was anyone following her? He considered tailing after her- maybe he could find out more about who she worked for? Then, Copperhead asked him a question.

"White Duck. Infiltration specialist." he said nonchalantly, his eyes still on the door. He didn't seem bothered by Copperhead's line of questioning, it was just that things seemed fishy. They always seemed fishy to him, though. Maybe he'd just read too many comics.

"Thinking of tailing her anyway, since she made such a big show about it."

Caduceus is a man of average height and weight.  Not very muscular, but he is very sharp and alert.  He is in his thirties, has cinnamon skin, and short brown hair that is well kept.  He usually wears a jacket or longcoat made of dark green material similar to crocodile skin. (Probably not authentic though.)  He tries to keep an upscale appearance and usually has a look in his eye of a predator trying to befriend its prey.  (I copied and pasted this to his character description now if you ever need to find it later.)

After listening to the woman's sales pitch and taking a few moments to gauge its authenticity, Caduceus relaxed back into his seat and focused all of his attention back on the group.  "Tailing her could be useful," he admitted, "but it could also spook her off.  Judging by the way she first introduced herself to me, I think she may be new to the whole Johnson gig.  That could work in our favor, if we're careful.  Just gotta make sure we don't let her set us up for a bigger bite than we can chew."

He leaned forward and took a tiny sip from his drink, then pushed it away with a wrinkled nose.  "I'm Caduceus, by the way. I'm good at magic tricks," he said with a wink.  Then, pointing to Noruas and Copperhead he asked "What about you two?  You know each other?"

The presence of another spell-slinger suggested that perhaps her other prior teammates weren't going to be required, though this new team did seem a bit short of muscle.  If it was an acquisition run, then muscle probably wouldn't be required if things went smoothly.  She knew from experience that things almost never went smoothly, especially when you weren't prepared for the other possibility.  The J. probably didn't realize that though.  Best to wait for details before calling in the others though.  No point splitting the payout unnecessarily.

"Rigger.  N' ya, we's run t'gedder once.

I cn tail 'er next time.  We knows where she's gonna be.

Probly right she's a virgin.  No pro says she's got lotsa nuyen.  Cuz that's settin up da wrong negotiatin stan.  But she's inna rush, so she prolly gots dreck breathin down 'er neck.

I'll go ta da site now an keep an eye on tings.  If I gets der before her, I can sees her ride an put a tracker on it.  If she gets der first, den she's a fraggin' good driver an she ain't done nothin 'citin 'tween now and den.

Anyone as wants a ride kin come wit.  An if ya don't, mebe ya can give me yer LTG nums?  I kin call ya if it gets fun."

If no one stops her, the rigger will slide toward the exit of the booth, waiting for anyone who's sitting beside her to move out of the way and accepting any proffered pieces of paper with contact info.  She then grabs a double-strength soycaf at the bar before making her way to the door and then to her van.  This was probably going to be a long night.

Noruas returns with another purple soda, this time in a plastic cup with a lid and the straw sticking out of it.  He listens in on the conversation between the newly formed team, but keeps quiet while continuing to slurp his sweet liquid yumminess.

Once they had decided to adjourn the meeting, he follows Copperhead to her van.

Caduceus gave Copperhead his contact information before getting up himself.  "I've got an extra seat on my bike too," he offered.  "I'm heading out now though.  I'll see if I can get us a hearth spirit willing to help us out on the inside, if need be.  And I would rather do that sooner than later."  He payed for his unconsumed drink, then headed outside to get back on his Harley-Davidson Scorpion.  If White Duck wants a ride, Caduceus will offer him an extra helmet, then take off down the city's back streets and alleyways to try to get to the destination ahead of their Johnson, just like Copperhead.  (And if he beats Copperhead, more bragging rights for him!)

13:05, Today: Caduceus rolled 2 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 1,(6+1)7,3,3,(6+4)10,3.  Knowledge: Seattle Back-ways.

What time is it now?

OOC: Hammer Time?

You have about an hour, if you want to take time to pick up anything. There's no particular rush.

Noruas begins going through all the pictures he had taken at the bar.  He extracts the ones of the suspicious man he had seen and shares it with Copperhead.

I saw this small guy back at the bar and I think he might be related to our J or at least her mission in some way.  Feel free to share this intel with the other two.  Ask them if they know of him too.

This is the description I received upon seeing him:

quote:

You notice that a small man in dingy synth-Ieathers watches Roxanne leave. He glances at the characters and quickly speaks into a wrist phone as he scoots after Roxanne.

Duck you can decide who you're going with.

"Drek.  Don even got da miss'n yet and iz already hozed.

Les get goin."

She popped into the front of the camper and quickly pulled out into the lighter traffic of the Seattle evening.  For once it wasn't raining.  She watched carefully for any signs of a tail, doubling back once or twice.  Odds were good that if anyone was following anyone, they'd be tracking the Johnson, but it didn't hurt to be sure.

Once she was sure she was clean, she drove as quickly as she could without drawing attention.  While she wanted to make it to the Banshee, though she did have to travel a bit out of her way to get within range of her fab shop and summon her arial drone to meet them at the new location.  Its LMG had been re-rifled.  She didn't want any rounds fired on this run matching up with the last one.

Do any of us know anything about the Banshee?

Looking up at Nouras' pictures, then immediately departs in search of the man who departed, leaving his LTG number on the table.

"Pardon me, we may want to tail that individual and I need to pick up the trail immediately. Can someone call in oh, say, fifteen minutes? I'd be much obliged." He smiles, nods politely, and then suddenly looks to be an unassuming, yet still quite handsome, brunette human of asian descent, his albinism seeming to fade as he moves away from the table's light and out of the door the man went through in search of him.

OOC: I could try and look it up, but I'd need to connect to somewhere first....  Funny how in the future, wifi is not available everywhere....

Noruas unholsters his Predator and checks his clip for the right type of ammo (gel rounds) before holstering the weapon again.

OOC: So is Banshee a facility?  Bar?  A huge stretch of empty land?  Rolling hills?  The town in the awesome TV series with the exact same name?
This message was last edited by the player at 13:00, Wed 07 Oct 2015.

Anyone can roll any street knowledge skills to find what a banshee is. TN is 3. Barring that, a Banshee is an armored VTOL military aircraft, and a terrifying Irish monster.

There will be a brief intermission, as Duck has separated from the group.

At what point is Noruas showing the photos - while we're still in the booth shortly after the J. leaves, or at Copperhead's vehicle after we've chatted for another 5 minutes or so and grabbed another drink to go?

quote:

11:54, Today: Copperhead rolled 2 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 5 with rolls of (6+4)10,1,5,2,1,4.  Banshee - ST:Scrounging.
11:53, Today: Copperhead rolled 2 successes using 2d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 5 with rolls of (6+2)8,5.  Banshee - ST:Gang turf.

So I probably know where it is and know a bit about the area

Copperhead watches White Duck's transformation with interest.  That could be a useful skill indeed.  She wondered if he could do the same for her . . .