I need to know who is going into the party, who is staying outside, who is doing other stuff. If you're going in, tell me what you're bringing.

As the group wraps up their conversation (or at least, their requirement for matrix access) they pile back into the van and head westward towards the party. You get about two miles when a pair of lone star cars come in from behind, sirens and lights on full blast. Copperhead preps the van's discrete defenses, but holds on showing her cards until she knows their intent. The cars zoom past the van and continue on.

Copperhead continues on route. A few hundred yards on, the flashing lights clearly demark the cause of alarm. There's a meat wagon from the local chop shop parked out front of an old, but clearly inhabited tenement. They are laying the exsanguinated remains of a young dwarf bearing way too much skin. The 'medic' (for lack of a better term) covers her blue corpse with a sheet as you drive past.

The drive is chronologically short, but in regards to class differences it's different worlds. Everything is flashing lights and beautiful people. The address on the invitation, a glorious white condominium, is bathed in light. The Seattle fog surrenders itself to the twin searchlights parked out front. Stretch limos and taxis alike glide to a stop in front of the complex's security station, and with a wave of their golden invitations, they pass through the magical portal to the luxury beyond.

Copperhead's drone moved ahead and settled into a comfortable orbit at her usual 1-k height trying to get a lay of the land before arriving.  She was going to have to be a tad mor cautious here as there would likely be a good number of legitimate LoneStar drones in the region and she didn't feel like them taking too close a look at her serial numbers or wondering why she was in their sector.  The good news was that standard operating procedure called for a height considerably lower than hers.

Once in position, she did a quick scan looking for threats and to get a sense of the building's layout before changing her focus to finding a good parking spot.

"Probaly best if ya goes in on foot.  Dis ride ain gonna be a good fit."

She offers her tracking device to White Duck before he exits the van and passes her ear-cell to the mage.

"Think yer spirit frens kin 'ceal da van an da drone?  An mebbe me an' Noruas too, case we needs ta do some outside sneakin?"

Which floor is the party on?  It sounded like 2nd or 3rd floor, but I wasn't totally clear.  How big is the floor?  Does that floor have an outdoor balcony or courtyard?  Largely glass windows around the exterior of that floor?  Multiple rooms?

What are the parking options like?  Ideally I'd like a position kitty corner where I can shine my laser eavesdropping tool on two sides of the building.  And somewhere that it won't be super hard to drive up beside the building, behind it, etc. as needed.  And of course, not a location that's likely to have the friendly neighborhood LoneStar patrolman tapping on the driver window 2 minutes after I park . . .

There are multiple Lone Star cars outside of the perimeter, and a Knight Errant van parked in the lot. There's a wide space around the building itself, with a pool, tennis courts, and gardens. The gardens have a few small groups looking for privacy. The pool has beautiful women in bikinis, handsome men in their speedos or trunks. Clearly it's heated, and very well lit. The building itself shows all the signs of modern engineering and luxury.


The party is on multiple floors, but mostly the 16th. The condo is very large, easily three full-sized apartments. It has a large bay window on one side and a patio.

There is parking under the building, and a second lot behind. However, there is a wall around the green space, which keeps people away, and there's no street parking by the apartment building itself. On the good side, aiming lasers at the 17th floor means you can be pretty far from the building, as long as you clear line of sight. If you don't mind being down the block, you can clear it.

Duck, suited up in a classic black tuxedo, brushes some errant cat fur from his shoulder and looks to Cadeuces. He palms his invitation, looking around somewhat saddened, if only for a moment, to not have some drop-dead gorgeous girl on his arm, but, well, maybe he'd find one at this party to begin with.

"Shall I go in now and expect you to join me in a few?"

As soon as Caduceus had the phone in his ear, she buzzed him with the burner phone she'd acquired for the purpose.

"Comm check.  I'll letcha know if we see 'r here anythin interestin from out here.  We'll try ta fin a place where Noruas kin deck, so we kin dig some intel fer ya too."

Is there anywhere nearby he could jack in safely with a decent connection speed?  Cyber cafe would be ideal.  Alley with promising wiring could work too if I can cover that while watching the building.

Sewer line with access would also be ok.  But would it be too hard for us to access to the underground parking?
This message was last edited by the player at 14:49, Wed 07 Sept 2016.

Cafes are a little sparse here. You could find one, but it won't be LOS on the building. Underground telecom access is far more common, if you feel like running a tap.

Caduceus will be leaving most of his gear in Copperhead's vehicle, in his satchel bag.  He is only bringing his pocket secretary and pocket flashlight with him into the party.

"Yeah, you can go ahead without me White Duck," Caduceus said as he fitted Copperhead's earpiece into his ear.  "I wanted to do an astral sweep of the place before going in anyway.  I'll mind-link you when I get in, assuming it's safe, so don't be alarmed if you feel my thoughts slither into the back of your mind.  The link should stay stable so long as we remain within about forty feet of each other.  It should allow us to share information freely at that point."

The snake shaman slicked back his hair and brushed a nonexistent speck off the front of his fancy silk vest, then cracked his knuckles in a series of satisfying pops.  "But first let's see what spirits this city has to offer."  Caduceus closed his eyes, rolled his shoulders, then let out a long controlled breath.  He slowly reached out one hand and pressed it against the wall of Copperhead's rig and brought his other hand quietly up to his face.  He held his pointer finger lightly against his lips and murmured words just quietly enough to be indecipherable.  In this way, Caduceus called a spirit of the city toward him.

13:04, Today: Caduceus rolled 4 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 3 with rolls of 2,(6+2)8,2,3,(6+1)7,4.  Conjure Force 3 City Spirit.
13:04, Today: Caduceus rolled 6 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 3 with rolls of 5,5,(6+4)10,4,(6+5)11,5.  Drain Test.

After greeting the new spirit appropriately, he asked it to do what Copperhead requested, using descriptors it would understand. "I want you to keep these two, this vehicle, and Copperhead's drone Concealed and Guarded whenever they happen to be in your domain."

"Hopefully that will accomplish what you hoped," he said, flashing Copperhead and Noruas a half-smile.  "Now, if you would be so kind as to keep me alive for a moment, I need to take a quick stroll outside of my body.  Oh, and make sure I don't drool on my fancy outfit."  Caduceus strapped himself into one of the vehicle's seats and got comfortable, then began murmuring to himself again much like before.  It was only a moment before his eyes rolled back into his head and his entire body slumped.

Caduceus will go have a look around the building, keeping his distance as he looks for obvious wards, spirits, or evidence of spells.  Then if it's safe, he'll go in closer and see if anyone seems to be observing the astral and/or if there are any noteworthy auras.

"I thinks I gots a napkin 'ere somewhere.  We kin try ta keep ya presenable."

So is there a location where Noruas could tap where I could keep an eye on him and he wouldn't be too obvious?  If he needs to go down the sewer, I can send a small drone with him to keep an eye on him.  (We really need to acquire a high-rating wireless tap or two so that you can just install the tap and then do your decking from the comfort and safety of the van, but the timelines on that are too long for this run.)

You can park overtop an access manhole. It goes pretty deep; fiber laid inside of existing utility tunnels. But you're 80% sure there aren't any ghouls down there.

Duck nods to Cadeuces, palming his invitation and making sure his unobtrusive, yet incredibly lethal deck of playing cards is keep enough in the pockets of his coat to remain hidden. He walks up to the party's entrance and attempts to get himself in.

Firefox made a mental note to install a trap door in the bottom of the van.  Such a feature would have a number of potential uses.  She'd just have to figure out how to ensure it didn't   In the meantime, she parked a bit in front of the manhole and opened one of the upper cabinets to reveal a pair of crawler drones, each the size of a small dog.  One had a shotgun mounted, the other a rifle, though the barrel was currently unscrewed and strapped to the door of the cabinate.

"Ya kin take both if ya think ya kin handle da weight goin down da ladder, but da shotgun one's probly 'nuff.  Be sure ta keep yer respirator 'n goggles on tight 'fore ya jacks in.  Gas mask'd be even better.  An lie to da side o' da tunnel ta somewhere dat's gots at least a tirdy meter straight line o sight ta eider side.  That way I kin drops any critters 'fore day gets ta ya an starts gnawin on yer leg.  Oh, an bemember which way ta run ta da ladder if ya wakes up ta shootin."

Noruas sighs deeply at the thought of crawling into the sewers.  The things I do for this team....

I'll take both of them.  Just screw in the rifle barrel and I'll head on down.  Got any sources of lights I can use?  He begins loading his Predators with EX explosive rounds.

Once he has finished loading his Predators, he puts the comm in his ear and taps it into his deck, Comm check, he asks the group.

She handed the decker a flashlight, then unstraped both drones, and passed them to him as well.  She eyed him critically for a couple of seconds, then reached out to take the rifle-mounted crawler back.

"No way ya kin carry'em both on da ladder.  I's only gonna be able ta run one adda time anyhow."

<blue"Comms good, but  da only one on da coms's me.  I kin relay over da phone to da udders.  If I gots time, I'll see if I kin patch'em tagether."</blue>

She helped remove the manhole cover and then pushed it back in place once he was down, keeping her eyes open to make sure they weren't drawing attention.  Then she returned to the security of the van.

"While yer patchin, I'm gonna take a look roun.  See if I sees any signs o' critters"

As soon as Noruas put the controller down, it sped off at a surprisingly rapid pace.  The tracks kicking up a spray of what Noruas hoped was just rain-water.  A minute or so later, a whirring noise signalled the drone's return, splashing him again as it quickly headed down the tunnel the other direction, returning again and coming to a stop along the opposite wall of the tunnel.

"S'all clear 's fer as I kin tell"

I'll check 200 meters in both directions, using thermographic vision, radar and if appropriate, ultrasound.  If I see anything particularly interesting, I'll turn on my strobe to light it up and study a still visual image.  Then I'll park with my shotgun facing the wall (will make Noruas more comfortable than pointing it at him), so I can quickly spin in either direction.

quote:

14:10, Today: Copperhead rolled 4 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of (6+2)8,5,2,(6+1)7,4,1.  Perception in sewers.

If I do actually see something, I'll obviously adjust the "all clear" in my post

Noruas, you might want to be explicit about whether you're wearing goggles and/or a respirator or gasmask.  If I end up triggering neurostun, it's going to matter.

She continued to monitor the drone in the sewer as she dug out her laser eavesdropper and scanned the windows of the building for a point that seemed promising, before settling down into captains chair mode. She used her aerial drone to pick up what she could of the conversations in the garden or the balcony, occasionally pausing to aim her laser device at a new patch of window.  Her focus was to locate Pengrave as well as anyone else who seemed interesting, relaying what she learned to Caduceus.

While here ears were busy, her eyes flicked between a view of the air traffic around her arial drone and the more limited signals returned from the base sensors of her crawler - radar and low-light being the most useful in the circumstances.  For good measure, at semi-random intervals, she would spin the drone one way or the other so she could check in infrared and ultrasound, just to confirm there was no change in the surrounding environment.

<orange>

"Noruas is online if ya gots any questions"

The dwarf shrugs at the mention of not being able to carry two.  He graciously takes the flashlight and begins his descent down into the sewers.  Once he has reached the bottom, he places the drone on solid ground before beginning to look for the cables.

After making his trip carefully around the building, Caduceus returned to his physical body.  He shook his head a bit as he regained his bearings then said to Copperhead, "I'm back.  Got a bit of bad news too.  The entire building is warded, so I can't safely get a look inside.  And to top it off, there are three powerful spirits watching over the pool and gardens area too.  Which probably means there are some spirits inside the building as well.  Haven't dealt with a place with such high magical security in quite a while..."

After a moment's pause, he called his city spirit back since he hadn't had the opportunity to leave its domain as planned.  He had a new instruction for it.  "Sorry to keep you from the party, but what we're doing is important.  Please let Copperhead know if she or Noruas are ever being observed from the astral plane by anyone besides you or myself."

Caduceus straightened out any minor wrinkles that might have developed in his clothing while he was astrally projecting, then prepared to go find his way into the party.  He was actually a bit nervous now, but tried to push that feeling away.  He didn't want it showing up on his astral signature.  "Anything else I should know before I go into the lion's den?" he asked Copperhead.

Can Caduceus determine what type of Spirits are above the pool and garden, and just how powerful they might be?

16:50, Today: Caduceus rolled 4 successes using 5d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 5,4,(6+1)7,2,(6+4)10.  Knowledge: Conjured Entities.

The utility tunnel is perhaps a little nicer than Noruas imagined, only insofar that there are not any dead bodies visible at this particular moment. The communications are a little spotty, but as long as Copperhead stays almost immediately overhead, he can still talk.

Working in the wet and dark is a PITA. The junction box is right by the access hole, so it takes a few moments to pick it, then plug in and, if Noruas feels especially trusting of leaving his body limp in a sewer, he can jump in. Hopefully Copperhead's drones will keep him from drowning in a puddle of refuse like the hero he is.

Caduceus knows two of the spirits around the building are slightly stronger than he is, magically speaking, with the third one weaker, but not by much. They are all elementals. By his guess, whoever is running security had plenty of time to conjure up something fierce.

White Duck doesn't have any time for second thoughts as he heads towards the gate. Not a lot of people are walking to the front, but to the doormen, walking, car, unicycle, it doesn't matter if you have an invite. All doors are open.

Past the gate, steps meander up to the building, lit like a torch in spotlights. Revelers lounge half way up, enjoying the stares of the street people below. A waiter serves drinks to those on the steps. You continue your climb, finally reaching the front door.

You can hear music from inside, faint in the distance. Entering the building lobby, you look out the opposite window to see more party-goers frolicking In the moonlit pool. Off to your right waits a open elevator. The uniformed doorman guides you
inside as you wave your Invitation like a wand.
"The action Is especially lively on the 16th floor, sir." He waits for your order.

Copperhead, you finished scanning the place yet?  If so, I'll need you to guard my meat.

As he spoke, Noruas plugs into the line but doesn't fully immerse himself in just yet.  He wanted to wait for Copperhead's confirmation first.