Deal Me In [IC]

[Tome]

Chicago, 16:32, 07/05/2076

You got the invite a few days ago, word from your fixer that someone had been looking to hire you, specifically, for a job. The meet was scheduled here, in a grimy bar on the outskirts of Chicago. You recognise the other two drek heads lingering outside the bar - you've worked with them before. Probably here for the same job as you. Good to know you'll have somebody you can trust watching your back.

You exchange greetings and head into the bar. It's cramped and thick with smoke, every broken light adding to the gloom. Assorted detritus lines the walls in an attempt to seem classy while the busted trid flickers in it's stand, adding the hiss of static to rumble from the patrons. Everyone's clustered together and weapons are close to hand. The message is clear, "none of your business chummer". The barman waves you through into the back room quickly enough.

Bare walls and a single working light illuminate a surprisingly well maintained poker table in the back room. It's not exactly spacious, but after the claustrophobic confines of the bar it seems spacious enough. The only person in the room is the human in the expensive suit seated at the table, shuffling a deck as he waits. Your client, if you're not mistaken. He flashes you a predatory smile and greets you, with supreme confidence and the faintest hint of a german accent.

"Good of you to come gentlemen. Shall I deal you in?".

[Mekboy]

Feeling a little overdressed in her business wear compared to the other patrons, Rachel was a little relieved to be waved through to the back room. No, she corrected herself mentally. Her name was Noise here. She knew she looked pretty conspicuous with fairly expensive clothes, lengthy ginger hair weaved with fibre-optic implants glowing soft shades of red and orange and fancy AR goggles strapped to her forehead (of course most the time she didn't actually need them, with all her gear being wired directly into her brain, but she preferred the feel of them to using the DNI and besides, they looked cool)

She gave the man a warm smile and activated her implanted simrig. In her experience a recording of these encounters tended to help in the long run, even if it was just to help remember all the information. Of course, you had to make sure no-one got hold of the recording besides you, and the Johnsons tended not to like it, but what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them, right?

"Please do. You would be Mr. Johnson, I presume?"

At least she was decent at poker.

[themunck]

The elf known as Shade looked rather out of place, in his jeans and black t-shirt, covered with a hooded jacket that has been washed a few times too often. Even the belt, containing a large pistol and similar proportioned taser, seemed to be cheap and worn. He reluctantly pulled back the hood as he entered the room, took off the glasses he’d been using to watch the newscast, pulled out the earplugs attached to his commlink and sniffed slightly , being a little disappointed the room didn’t smell of cigars as well. It would have fitted the image. As he pulled back the hood he revealed his short black hair, which looked like it hadn't been washed nearly as often as the clothes. Or indeed, nearly enough in general.

He moved with surprising grace, though, as he sat down opposite their new employer, opening his senses as surreptitiously as possible to begin astrally perceiving and assessing the aura of the human, looking for the small telltale signs of chrome or magical ability. It never hurt to know what tools your employer has.

It also never hurt to at least appear to be polite, either. “I suppose that depends on the buy-in, holmes. How high stakes are we playing for?”
[OOC: Never done play by post that wasn't freeform before. How do we handle rolls? Are they done by the gm (who has acess to our cha sheet anyway, but probably don't remember all our bonuses as well as we do)? Or do we roll, not knowing what situaltional modifiers might apply?]

[Tome]

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, of course" he agrees, dealing out the cards. "We'll just play for chips I think. Much as I'd like to relieve you of the money I'm about to be paying you, I've found there's always a little resentment when I do that".

"Incidentally" he adds, "I'll need to know whether you're taking the job before we discuss details. It's functionally an extraction, subject to a few conditions. Pay is thirty thousand, with a possible bonus of up to ten kay for completion of secondary objectives. Are you interested?".


[OOC: Never done play by post that wasn't freeform before. How do we handle rolls? Are they done by the gm (who has acess to our cha sheet anyway, but probably don't remember all our bonuses as well as we do)? Or do we roll, not knowing what situaltional modifiers might apply?]

You roll using the forum dice roller. I'll try to mention likely modifiers to rolls when setting the scene, but don't be afraid to ask if you think there might be some I haven't mentioned. For instance, there's a -1 penalty to perception checks due to poor lighting in the current scene that I haven't mentioned.

I will roll for things like passive perception where I'd rather you not know there was even anything to roll for if you fail.

I'll toss up an OOC thread in the morning.

[Maquise]

The (mostly) human known as Spektra sat down, her armored black trenchcoat flourishing behind her. She raised her stylish black sunglasses, revealing a pair of neon-red eyes that matched the streak in her otherwise jet-black hair, as well as a pattern of geometric tattoos on her face and neck. Before coming in, she assessed every entrance and exit into the building and room, out of mere habit.

"We can do an extraction. As long as all of these 'conditions' are made clear upfront. I'm not a fan of... surprises." As she says this, her hand imperceptibly tightens on the black hilt of the carbon steel katana at her side.

After a moment, though, it relaxes, and she brings both hands up onto the table. "Deal me in."

[themunck]

[roll0]

”Very well, holmes. Deal me in.” Shade would begin assessing the human’s aura when he was dealt his cards, pretending to study them while focusing on the aura. Whatever his hand, he’d just try to play as aggressively as possible, not really caring if his bluff is called or not. After all, he had no skin in this game, and wasn't that good at poker anyway.

“As to the matter of accepting the job, I’m afraid my college is right. We need a little more detail than that before we commit. What is the nature of the extracted party? A person, an object or information? I’d hate to show up with a datachip, only to later learn I should’ve brought a car.”

[Mekboy]

Rachel shrugged. Of course she needed a job (rent was coming up soon and she really shouldn't have impulse bought her new cyberdeck), but she was hardly going to agree to something blindly.

"Yes, I'm afraid we'll need a touch more information first."

With that she took a glance at her cards. She was a fairly conservative player, rarely bluffing on low to mid cards and trying to sucker her opponents into the pot on good hands.

[Tome]

Mr Johnson pauses to consider his reply, before taking a deep breath. "The target is a person. She was last seen in Chicago and is a mundane with no notable combat experience or augmentations. It is probable that she will be under armed guard, likely with awakened support. Her current location is unknown, you will have to locate her first. I do have several strong leads on her whereabouts, but cannot disclose them unless you agree to the job" he rattles off quickly, and flashes another predatory grin. "Would that be sufficient information? Because there really is little more I can tell you until you agree to the job".

He slides a few chips into the pot and smirks at you. "I'll raise, incidentally".

He appears to be mundane and in good health. By your read he is currently feeling rather amused and a touch peckish.

Find it here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?361510-Deal-Me-In-OOC).

Incidentally, feel free to make either a Con+Charisma or Judge Intentions test to see who wins the hand.

[Maquise]

Spektra's eyes burrow into him, as though trying to wring any element of truth out of him.

Judge Intentions: [roll0]

"The phrase 'armed guard' can mean a lot, from a couple of gangers with street sweepers to an army of cyber-trolls. But, there are ways to deal with either, and I trust you already know how much muscle you need."

Spektra plays boldly, as though challenging the other players to call her bluffs. "I'll match your raise, and raise again."

[Mekboy]

It was a pretty good hand, all things considered. Rachel flicked a handful of chips forward, subconsciously reaching up to fiddle with her goggles a bit. Not point in scaring them off the pot. As for the mark, well, she hadn't had to track anyone, but she knew a few people online and Kirsty tended to pick up a fair amount of news while at work.

[roll0] to con.

"Call. I'm happy with the job so far, I don't know about my too associates though."

[themunck]

Is the choice of whether to roll con or judge based on what makes most sense from our actions, or just what we're best at? I'm gonna roll both below, just to be safe.
[roll0]
[roll1]

”I'm all in. With both the job and the hand.” Shade pushed the stack of chips to the middle of the table, blinking a few times to steady himself as he shut off his astral perception again. “Can we assume the target will cooperate once the armed guards are dealt with?”

With that, the elf leaned back to study the face of the man, mentally adding up all he knew. The German accent worried him more than he cared to admit to, especially after working in Germany himself, and hearing the stories from people who claimed to have met Seader-Krupp’s master in person. Or perhaps in dragon. Maybe he could narrow down the accent if he kept the man talking?
“Indecently, does this place serve any food?”

[Tome]

"Nothing you'd want to eat, I'm afraid" he replies with a momentary expression of disgust. He looks at the cards in his hand. "Fold".

"Excellent to hear". He tosses a photograph - hard copy, how old fashioned - into the pot. It depicts a young ork girl, mid teens by your best guess, with dark hair and a serious expression. By the looks of it, she wasn't aware she was being photographed. "Your target. Roughly a week ago she was taken from her home by a group of armed assailants, before my own associates arrived".

"They were masked, but sloppy. They changed vehicles in a car park on Saeder-Krupp property, in full view of the cameras. Analysis of the footage managed to identify at least one of the assailants, allowing us to identify the group as a whole as the Long March, a small splinter group formerly of Winternight. It's fairly small, with only twenty three confirmed members but unexpected levels of funding".

Another picture is thrown into the pot. A human male, caucasian, bald with heavy burns and extensive scaring. "Ansger Tjader, the leader of the Long March and the possible awakened support I mentioned earlier. He's been confirmed as a Toxic Adept, so be careful. His men were last seen around the docks area this morning".

"Your job then, is to find the girl and deliver her into my care. Unharmed, I emphasise. She's no good to me dead or traumatised. There's an additional bounty of five hundred nuyen for every dead Long March member and a further two thousand for proof of Ansger's death in particular, above and beyond any existing bounties they may have".

"Questions?".

Roll whichever is better.

[Mekboy]

Rachel forgot the game for a moment, considering the offer.

"Firstly, payment. How much up front? And how much evidence is required to prove the deaths of Angser or the other Long Marchers?

Secondly, is what sorta timescale are we working on here? Obviously you'd want it as soon as possible, but we'd need time to research and plan."

[Maquise]

Spektra waits for the Johnson to answer the questions, while thinking of what she knows about the Long March.

Knowledge: Gangs [roll0]

[themunck]

[roll0]

”Speaking of funding, are you footing this bill yourself?” The elf picked up the photograph of the orc, looking at it while thinking. “Actually, now that I think about it, there are some other things I wonder about as well. You said they changed in an SK parking lot and didn’t care if they were spotted. Any chance Lofwyr is involved in this? And what was it, I knew I had one more point…oh, right. You mentioned you have associates who could have prevented this. Why are you hiring us for this instead of using them? I doubt a little splinter group of terrorist organization requires much in the way of deniability, so it must be for some other reason…hmm… You said their funding levels were unexpected. Any guesses as to who might be footing their bills? Someone with the power to make miserable the lives of anyone attacking them?”

The elf puts down the picture again. “Oh, and where do you want us to drop her off once we’ve gakked the toxic shaman and almost two dozen others? And when you say ‘untraumatized’, I assume you mean aside from quite possibly having seen several people getting killed in front of her.”

[Tome]

"Pay is thirty thousand. Ten now, the rest on delivery. Recorded footage will be enough proof, assuming he does not later show up alive. As for the timescale, your most pressing constraint is that I need her alive. Take as much time as you feel may be safe, considering her circumstances, though preferably not more than a week at most".

He deliberately ignores most of Shade's questions, fixing him with a disapproving glare instead. "I have no suspicions I wish to share. However, should you find any evidence as to the source of their funding I am prepared to add an additional bonus to your payment. As for the girl, do not do anything stupid that would damage her mind. Minor traumas can be treated, but I need her as functional as possible. You will be given a commcode to call once you have secured the target".

You've heard of them. They're normally northern european, making it strange to see them here, and the 'well funded' part is new. This also isn't their typical MO, which tends to be me much more about low level terrorism and petty violence.

-1 penalty to negotiation rolls with the Johnson for asking questions about where the money comes from and why he want to hire you. That's unprofessional.

[Maquise]

Spektra takes a look at the picture.

"Do you have any other resources that might aid us in this mission?"

[themunck]

"Does this girl have a name we might call her, by any chance? It might help her feel more at ease if there's some sense of familiarity."

[Tome]

"A point". He consults his commlink for a moment. "The girl's name is Adele, surname is Fletcher".

"Should you require additional material this number", he slides a plain business card across the table, "will allow you to contact an associate of mine who may be able to arrange such in a timely manner. It will, of course, be deducted from your pay. Use it only if needed".

"Were there any other questions?".

[Maquise]

Spektra says nothing. She'll wait for her companions to speak, if they have anything else to ask. She believes she has all of the information she needs.

[themunck]

"I only got one left. You said she was taken from her home? What's the address, in case the kidnappers left something behind while they were there? You already mentioned they were sloppy."

[Tome]

"They are. My people have inspected it quite thoroughly, though I suppose there's no harm in you performing your own investigation". He scribbles the address on a piece of paper and tosses it over to you. It's not the nicest of neighbourhoods, but it's not the barrens. The star actually gives a devil-rat's arse what happens there sometimes.

[Mekboy]

Rachel kept quiet, focusing on the game and listening to the Johnson. She'd got pretty much everything she wanted to know now, and in her experience Johnsons didn't tend to like it to much when you flicked your goggles on and started searching the matrix before they'd finished with you.

[Maquise]

"Well, I think we can safely call this an agreement," Spektra say. "We'll get her back, in one piece. Do you have a drop-off point already in place, or would you like us to contact you once we have her in our care?"

[Tome]

He nods. "You'll be sent a commcode within the next twenty four hours. Call it once you have the girl to arrange the drop off, but only once you have the girl".

[themunck]

Shade held out his hand in front of the human. "Well then, holmes. It seems we got a deal. You mentioned a downpayment?"

[Mekboy]

Nodding a little too enthusiastically, Rachel perked up a little at the mention of payment. "Yes, I believe that's all we need to know."

[Maquise]

Spektra didn't have much to say. Not that she wasn't fond of talking, but in her experience, people with money usually didn't like talking to her. She'd save the haggling for the more versed in etiquette.

[Tome]

"If that's everything..."

He withdraws three credsticks from inside his suit jacket and slides them across the table to you.

"Your advance. And I'll call whilst we're at it" he explains, flipping his cards face up.

Two queens. That gives him three of a kind. His smirk fades a little when he sees Shade's royal flush. The last of his chips are scopped up by Shade, bringing Shade's stack up to par with Skeptra's. Between the two of you you cleared out Noise a while back too. It's between the two of you if you want to finish the game before getting on with the run, or just be happy with cleaning out the Johnson.

He sighs and rises from the table. "I shall see you gentlemen later. Remember, the target must be retrieved alive".

[Maquise]

Spektra waits for Mr Johnson to leave. "Alright, I see two possibilities. Either she's been kidnapped and we're rescuing her, or she's a terrorist in which case I have no problems with bringing her in. Though in that case, things might get more complicated."

[themunck]

Shade pushed his chips over to Spektra as he stood up and began to pace around the room. "Or she's been kidnapped by two different parties. Something just bugs me. He was pretty specific that she had to untraumatized, indicating our employers care for her. But if she's some corp-boss' daughter, why would he bother telling us her name and address? Corp's tend to be more paranoid than that when their families or friends are involved. So yeah, things will get complicated. Might as well find out how. Noise, mind checking out what you can pull up on the girl? I wanna go check her place out, see if Mr. Johnson's goons missed anything."

[Mekboy]

Twirling the hastily retrieved credstick around her fingers a couple of times, Rachel nodded. "Yeah, was planning on it. I'll see what I can pick up on these Long March fellas too. You two need me for anything immediately, or am I good to head off and get to work?"

[Maquise]

Spektra takes the credstick and the chips. "The corps are never straight up about anything, but you're right about one thing..." she says, fingering a red chip. "Something doesn't add up..."

"Noise, keep in touch, and stay out of trouble. Shade and I will investigate Fletcher's house."

[Mekboy]

Done fiddling with the credstick, Rachel unlocked the compartment in her right wrist with a thought and slid the credstick inside. "Gotcha. Contact me when you're done, we can meet up someplace and talk." With a slight wave she wandered out of the dingy bar and considered her options. It was a way away, but Melanche was probably the best bet. She hailed a taxi and gave the driver an address a couple of blocks from her place before flicking the goggles down onto her face and settling back for a bit of urban brawl to pass the time.

One cab fare and a short walk later to her apartment she was back at her apartment. After quick change of clothes into a more comfortable t-shirt, hoodie and jeans and another longer walk, Rachel found herself at Melanche - her current favorite place to log onto the matrix with some degree of anonymity. Plus they did some pretty good food. None of it was anything more than reflavoured and retextured soy and tofu of course, but it was tasty stuff all the same. Smiling at the girl behind the counter, she paid for a spicy tofu sandwich (fake tomatoes, onions, lettuce, some sorta fancy sauce and liberally seasoned tofu on lightly toasted bread) and found an empty private booth. These were the main reason she liked the place, apart from the food. A handful of meter-square rooms off of the main body of the place, each furnished with a comfy chair, a panel of jacks to plug into and a lockable door. They had a higher hourly rent than the rest of the place, but it was worth it.

Tucking into the sandwich, she pulled on her goggles and prepared for her foray into VR. Deck loaded up? Check. Jacked in? Check. Chip containing questionably legal programs slotted into place? Check. She finished her sandwich, made sure she was sat comfortably (nothing worse than waking up from VR with a dead leg) and dived into VR. Her head lulled onto her shoulder.

Rachel's persona, a small impish-looking creature made of fire, with her robot arm and goggles, shifted from one burning foot to another and rubbed its hands together. Time to dig up some data.

Okay, quite a lot here. I'm guessing food/taxi/renting a booth is covered by lifestyle costs. I'm joining the local area grid via a DNS link (so no noise). My starting configuration is 7 in data processing, 6 in firewalls, 5 in sleaze and 4 in attack. The programs I have loaded are browse, toolbox, wrapper and configurator. Configurator's alternate loadout is 7 in sleaze, 6 in attack, 5 in data processing and 4 in firewalls, with the programs virtual machine, baby monitor, exploit, hammer, mugger and stealth.

And of course the search for data on this girl.

Computer (5) + Intuition (3) + Hot-sim (2), limit 8

[roll0]--

[Maquise]

Spektra slots the creds and looks at the total, surprised. "Well frag a duck. That guy knows how to pay." She watches Noise leave. "C'mon Shade, unless ya want to spend any of those creds, lets hit the mark's house."

She'll take her Suzuki Mirage to the address the Johnson gave, with Shade riding along presumably. She drives perhaps a tad cockily, but nothing to attract attention. Though Shade probably gets a start or two.

[themunck]

Shade grabbed his own credstick and pocketed it, deciding to check the balance later. A Johnson wouldn't shaft their payment before the run was over, anyway. Shade would then spend most of the ride lazily looking at the Mirage's side mirror, occasionally muttering to himself in Spanish after each less than stellar turn.

Boyscout could drive better than this in his sleep. Next run, I'm hiring a rigger. Wonder what he's up to these days, anyway. Probably still babysitting his mom in Seattle.

"So, Spektra. Think we'll find anything there? It's been a week after all, so the place might have been looted four times over by now. The terrorists, our employer, the Stars, random people who saw an unlocked door...meh, at any rate. Toxic shamans. That means mages, and that means we might need to fight astrally. Can you do that?"

[Maquise]

Spektra talks back over the commlink built into her head, obstensibly connected to one in Shade's helmet as they weave on the bike through traffic.

"Astral combat? Hmm... I've got some AP bullets... I think I heard somewhere that swords were good against them...

Anyway, I figured that if shamans were involved, there might be some... bad juju left over at her house. Maybe you could figure something out. And you don't have to grip so tightly..." she says as they round a corner rather sharply.

[Tome]

NOISE

It's not too hard to find the information you want.

Adele Fletcher, age 15, student. Single mother, no father on record. Her mother was out during the attack, she's under protective custody right now. Her school's local, and not a bad one.

You manage to find her social networking profiles easily enough. Seems fairly normal. Her last post was just her complaining about feeling tired at school. Her grades peg her as pretty bright, and personality wise she seems to be pretty calm, remarkably so for her age. You note she's the star pitcher of her school's baseball team.

No record of what her mum does for a living on the public matrix. Strange. Whatever it is apparently makes a decent amount, considering the school and where they live.

-------------------------------------

SHADE & SPEKTRA

As you enter the neighbourhood a message pops up on your dash. It's the Star, ordering you to pull over.

You look behind and yep, there's a police bike tailing you.

[Maquise]

"Drek," Spektra mutters as she pulls over. "Why did we have to get sent to the decent part of town?"

[Tome]

SHADE & SPEKTRA

The cop pulls in just behind you, dismounting with one hand on his sidearm in what he probably thinks is an attempt to seem casual.

"Ma'am. Sir. Care to explain what has you in such a hurry?".

[roll0]
[roll1]

[Maquise]

Spektra keeps her hands on the handlebars as the cop approaches.

"Car- er... bike-pooling to work, officer. Friend here overslept a little."

Con (Limit 4): [roll0]

[themunck]

Shade would remain mostly silent and let Spektra do the talking, or at least establish if they were trying to talk their way out, fight, or just run for it. He also silently cursed himself for not getting a new SIN. His current one was one he'd gotten from an old friend, and had him listed as a troll.

[Tome]

"Fair enough ma'am, but I'm afraid your friend here will be coming with me".

A police drone drops down beside him as he draws his revolver. He turns to Shade, but isn't quite pointing the gun at him yet.

"Sir, you're under arrest for use of a fake System Identification Number. Please dismount the vehicle and disarm".

[themunck]

Shade climbed off the bike and slowly, and as nonthreateningly as possible, drew his pistol and put it on the ground in front of him, while chatting idly. "Oh dear, is that thing flaring it up again? My boss promised he'd look into it. Apprently there's some punk with a SIN only a single digit from mine, and the system sometimes gets us confused. I could show you some proof on my comnlink, if you'll give me a few seconds, officer?"
After his taser had joined the pistol, he'd slowly pull out his comnlink and the credstick he got from the Johnson, slot it in and transfer 8000 ¥ away, leaving 2000 on the credstick, before turning the comnlink (and attached crestick) over to the officer. "See sir? Everything is in order. Tell you what, why don't you take this pocket change and go get yourself a nice cup of soykaff, as a gesture of thanks for making sure us ordinary people can feel safe in the streets."

[Tome]

The cop looks over the commlink and nods, dismissing the drone.

"Just be sure it's fixed next time you come here citizen" he orders as he remounts his bike and rides off, credstick in hand.

I actually rolled a die to see how corrupt the cop is. The moderately excessive bribe made it very unlikely he'd turn you down unless I rolled a double six and he was the only honest cop in Chicago.

Your Fake SIN is still burned though, but you should be fine for this little excursion.

[Maquise]

Spektra waits until the cop drives away. "You need to get that taken care of, chummer," she says back to Shade before taking off again, this time much more carefully.

[themunck]

The elf was happy the helmet covered much of his blushing face as Spektra said that. "Sorry about that. Good thing we've just gotten paid, I guess. I'll sniff around for a good forger after we've checked this out. As but as I was about to say before the Star decided it should probably consider doing its job, a sword is only good against spirits if it's enchanted. Oh, and any 'bad juju' that might've been left behind by a spirit will probably be gone by the time we're there. Can't hurt to check, though".

[Maquise]

Spektra shrugs as she keeps going. "Hopefully Noise is coming up with something useful..."

She thinks some more about the spirits. "Are there any special bullets against them?"

[Tome]

You pull up to the street. It looks reasonably well maintained, the street has had it's potholes filled, the signs aren't blinking on and off in places and the only broken windows are on the building you're here to see.

The apartment building is fairly upscale, or it was. Now it's a burned out wreck - evidently they set fire to it on their way out. Police tape and official AROs cover the windows and door, and blocks off a perimeter around the building. Debris have already been cleared away, and one of the AROs advertises the company contracted for the rebuild.

Against the edge of the barricade you can see some bouquets and pictures, even a couple of candles. They were far from neat when they took the girl.

[Maquise]

Spektra finds a concealed but easily accessible place to park her bike, then looks around for anyone that might be watching if she enters the building.

Perception (Limit 5): [roll0]

[themunck]

Shade went for the front door, stopping by the memorial. "Been there. Poor bastards."

After paying his respects, Shade would walk around the building and pick the best choice for a stealthy entrance, (presumably a basement window nobody bothered to lock or similar. It's amazing how the rich hood are all fairly paranoid, and the barrens guard what little they have closely, but the middle class still haven't understood how easy a house can be to break into). Once in, he'd text Spektra's comnlink with a decent entrance.

/[roll0]

[Tome]

There's no one particularly watching you. The small handful of pedestrians cast suspicious glances in your direction, but you're pretty sure they're just suspicious on general principles.

Down the side of the building you notice a basement window. It's charred and the frame has been burned clear off, but you reckon you can squeeze inside. You can see a rear entrance, but there's a couple of Orks chatting over a soykaf around back.

I'll need a simple Agility+Escape Artist to squeeze in through the basement window, or Agility+Stealth to sneak past the folks chatting out back.

[themunck]

Moving with uncanny speed and agility, Shade headed for the rear entrance and hunched down, watching the two Orks like a cat watching magpies. After deciding on an entry plan, he picked up a small piece of debris and lugged at a lamppost, hard enough for it to give off a loud rattle, then took advantage of the Orks' distraction to slip in through the back door and get out of sight, before pulling out his comnlink and sending Spektra a text.

"I'm in. Unguarded and cramped basement window on the north side, or open back door with some chatting Orks on the east side. Or I can open the front door for you and get spotted. - Shade."

[Maquise]

"I'll sneak around back," Spektra replies via text. She creeps around to the entrance indicated by Shade, attempting to avoid the orks.

[Maquise]

Sneak (Limit 6): [roll0]

[Tome]

Two orks stand in the small yard out back, clutching takeaway soykafs under the outdoor light of the adjacent building.

One looks straight at you and pauses, his partner tracing his line line of sight. There's a moment, and then they turn away, doing their level best to pretend they never saw you. They're on break, gosh darnit.

The inside of the building is much as you'd expect, a burnt out wreck. Charred concrete and ash fill the hall, but the stairs to the next level seem mostly intact.

[Maquise]

"Huh. Well, that went better than I expected," Spektra mutters. She isn't sure why she thought those orks would cause trouble. Because they're orks? Screw that, she gets enough flak for her chrome for that line of thinking.

She meets up with Shade. "Well, we didn't figure we'd find much, but lets go over the place. Go ahead and do your thing. I'll take a look around in meatspace."

She starts with a cursory inspection, trying to see if there's anything left behind.

[Maquise]

Perception (-2, Limit 5): [roll0]

[themunck]

Shade sat down and leaned against a wall, as he closed his eyes and began to astrally project.
When he arrived beyond the veil, he was back to the form that felt so much more natural than his meat one ever had; a rather frightening looking mercreature.
"Well, then. Let's see what we can find." With that, shade would fly/swim around the building, looking for any trace spirits or magic, not expecting to find anything.

[themunck]

"Scheiße. Whomever did this really had no sense of discretion. Maybe they were trying to kill as many civilians as possible? Maybe I should stop talking to myself and get on with this."
[roll0]

[Tome]

Spektra finds little among the ashes. A few fragments here and there that might have been people's belongings, but nothing that looks important. There's footprints, markers left from CSI, but everything relevant has already been cleared out.

Unfortunately, Shade can only discern one astral signature, and it's not Toxic. Adept, but practising christian theurgy anyway, unusual for an Adept to have an actual tradition behind them but not unheard of, with a decently powerful weapon focus. Actually, that's a hell of a lot more recent than anything related to the attack - he might still be around. Astral signatures decay fast, and the background count has obscured anything that might have remained. All you can pick up is pain, death and a vaguely Toxic malaise.

You both hear footsteps from the stairs, and whip around. A man in a suit, the Adept you sensed, locks gazes with you from the stairs.

And enter... Adeptus.

[ChaosArchon]

The man is finely dressed in what looks like a black suit a corporate would wear. His black curly black hair is moderately long, but not long enough that it goes over his ears. What stands out most are his piercing blue eyes, which seem to suggest a sense of clarity and focus most businessmen seem to lack.

He smiles as you notice him and begins to walk over to you,"I see you're investigating what happened here too. Names... Adeptus, used to live here too before some drekheads burnt the place down. Now I'm trying to find them so I can show them who the frak they messed with. I take it that is why you two are present as well?"

[Maquise]

Spektra quickly grabs the hilt of her sword as she hears the footsteps. She keeps it there as they come closer and the figure emerges, but does not draw.

She looks the odd businessman over. He doesn't seem too threatening, but she's not dumb enough to think that means he's harmless. "Spektra," she says, indicating herself. She bobs her head towards her mage friend. "This is Shade. We were hired to track down a girl, Adele Fletcher. She was kidnapped from this place by a bunch of terrorists. They call themselves the Long March. Did you know her?"

[ChaosArchon]

Adeptus replies,"Can't say that I did, saw her once or twice, seemed like a nice kid, but didn't have much contact beyond that. You're saying she was the cause behind the whole building being torched?" with one of his eyebrows arching in surprise. "As for the Long March, nasty pieces of work from what I remember, German based no?"

[Maquise]

"That's what our employer tells us."

[ChaosArchon]

"Employer?" Adeptus says,"you two runners as well or just corporate wage slaves?"

[themunck]

"Do I look like I'm taking home a regular salary, holmes?" The elf looked the adept up and down. "You're the adept living here?"

[ChaosArchon]

"Well a floor above to be precise, but yeah I used to live here before the place burned down. Now I have a lot of time on my hands and nowhere to stay, as well as a grudge against the drekheads who did this. Say you guys wouldn't happen to be lacking a smooth-talking adept for your team would you." he says as he flashes a dazzling smile.

[Maquise]

Spektra finally takes her hand off her sword. "That depends. How do you feel about Toxic Shamans?"

[ChaosArchon]

"A shaman? My family's been hunting spirits and their masters for generations, I can handle any spirits a shaman can summon." Adeptus grins,"so does that mean I'm in?"

[Maquise]

"Sounds good. I was worried we weren't gonna pack enough heat on that front. We could always use another gun. Or fist, whatever it might be."

[themunck]

"Sounds a tad too convenient, but I suppose another bullet sponge can't hurt. You're in, holmes. And, erhm..." Shade looks around the burnt building "My condolences for your neighbors. Nobody should die like this. Anyways, Spektra. I didn't have any luck in the astral. Did you find anything here? If not, we better go regroup with Noise and fill her in on our new friend here, then hit the docks. After I've found a forger for a new SIN, that is."

[Mekboy]

Rachel grinned to herself. It wasn't the most exiting stuff, but VR always left her feeling buzzed. Probably good to look up these Long March people too, but she might as well let the other two know how she was getting on. She rattled off a quick message to Shade's and Spektra's commlinks. "Girl seems normal enough from what I've found. Well off, but nothing on parent's job. Don't suppose any hints that way on your end?"

Hmm... now on the one hand, she should probably wait until she heard back from the others before she kept looking. On the other, she was itching to get back into the matrix. Ah, screw it. She could multitask.

Same modifiers as last time, looking for info on the Long March and Ansger [roll0]

[Maquise]

Spektra shakes her head. "Nothing. I guess we'll have to wait and hope Noise was more successful." She hears a beeping in her skull. "Well, speak of the devil..."

She listens to the decker's report. "Got it. We didn't find anything about her from our end, but we did pick up a... fellow interested party. Keep looking, we'll wrap things up here and meet you later."

[Mekboy]

As Rachel's persona danced through the whirling font of data, Spektra's reply blinked into her head. She paused slightly to comprehend the new information. "Interested party? Who? You bringing them with you later? Does the Johnson know?"

[Tome]

In addition to what you already know about the Long March, you're able to dig up full profiles on all of it's members and their recent activities.

Surprisingly for a bunch of Toxics, the Long March is actually pretty light on Awakened support. Ansger is the only one fully awakened, the rest are all minor abilities. Seven members have astral sight, four others whose abilities are limited to single spells - Pollutant Wave, Mindnet, Dream and Physical Barrier - and one burnout noted to be trained in those rare rites that function even for the unawakened. The other ten members are all mundanes, none of them with much in the way of augmentations but all well trained.

All current members were originally part of Winternight and given paramilitary training, but split off just after the Crash. Needless to say, they all have bounties. Their activities since have been about what you'd expect, attacks on vulnerable targets responsible for damaging the environment that have slowly been escalating. Their last couple of attacks were foiled and then they dropped off the radar for a year before recently re-emerging. Mostly attacks on arms shipments and a few ransom attempts targeting corporate brats.

Ansger himself is pretty simple. Looks to have signed up with Winternight straight out of college and run off with his own little splinter group after they brought the hammer down on themselves. Noted to be violent and aggressive in person, he's none the less managed to keep his group together and active without getting them wiped out, so it's probable he knows when not to push his luck. Notes on his abilities peg him as being initiated into the Warrior's Way, with a focus on unarmed combat and an affinity for radiation.

[themunck]

"Well, only one thing left to do before we regroup, and that's getting me a new SIN...I think we might need to call that supply guy the Johnson gave us the number for."
The elf took out his comnlink, and pushed in the digits, wincing a little as he could feel the paycheck diminish with each beep, before eventually and reluctantly hitting call.

[Tome]

It only rings twice before someone picks up. "'Ello 'ello, this is Less Lost deliveries. You want it, we deliver it. Evy speaking, as always, how may I help?" greets a man with a vaguely northern accent.

[themunck]

"A Mr. Johnson told me you were the person to talk to regarding some new ID? Male elf, late twenties, Aztlander origin". Shade hoped he hadn't dialed the wrong number and just asked a random shop to give him a fake ID. Then again, if he had, at least he could enjoy 15 minutes of fame on "World's Stupidest Criminals" before his execution.

I'm guessing specifying "rating 3" would be too meta.

[Tome]

"Ah, I know the one you're talking about. Gimme just a second...". The lines flare with white noise and static for a moment.

"Alright, that should keep anyone from snooping. You wanted an ID, right? Got a couple that meet your specs on hand. With the preferred customer rate, as per the boss' order, you're looking at six and a half kay for mr. boring 'I have a driver's licence' or another thousand on top of that if you want the standard package with all the proper licences for carrying your boomstick in public. I'm guessing you're not much interested in waiting for something a little more customised".

[themunck]

"Sadly not, holmes. 7.5k it is. How soon can I have it?"

[Tome]

"Soon as I get my money - wait, boss already gave us an account for you folks. Make that five minutes whilst I get this all transferred".

Five minutes later you get a message with your shiny new SIN attached, along with instructions on how to switch it out on you comm if you need them. As far as the world's concerned, you are now one mister Luis Munoz, duly licensed personal security operative. He even looks a little like you, if you squint.

That's 7,500 out of your pay, and one R3 Fake SIN with R3 licenses to drive, own firearms, concealed carry and be a bodyguard.

[themunck]

"Alright, I'm set up, as long as we don't mention the M-word. You, new guy. Got a vehicle? The bike we came in on only seats two."

[ChaosArchon]

"I'm afraid not, but I can likely find some means of transport. Where are we all meeting up? If I know that I can meet you after I... relieve someone of the burden of transportation." Adeptus says.

to be clear, I'm not going to legit steal someone's vehicle. I'm just going to very nicely ask to borrow it and hope I am charismatic to do so

[Maquise]

Spektra calls Noise.

"We're finished here. Wanna meet back at your place?"

[Mekboy]

As the little window containing Spektra blinked up in the corner of her vision, Rachel paused once more.

"Yeah, I'm nearly finished here. Fifteen minutes tops. You sure about this new guy though? I rather like the place I've got at the moment. Would hate to have to find a new apartment because some fraghead ratted me out."

[Maquise]

"Where are you?" Spektra asks. "We should find someplace where we'll be left alone, but still fairly public."

[ChaosArchon]

While the others are talking, Zane activates his commlink,"Hey John, it's Zane. Listen... I have favor to ask, mind coming over to the wreck that was my apartment and giving me a ride somewhere? Yeah I got a lead on the bastards who burnt down my apartment.... and then maybe letting me borrow your ride for the day?"

alright first roll of the game for me, assuming this is CHA+Negotiation:[roll0]

[Mekboy]

"Matrix cafe called Melanche. Not really anywhere we could talk in a group particularly privately, I'm afraid. I do know a couple of normal cafes that'd do near here."

[Maquise]

"Send me the address, and we'll meet you there as soon as we make sure our new friend has a set of wheels."

[Mekboy]

"Yeah, on it. See ya soon."

Closing off the voice link, Rachel flicked the place's address to Spektra's commlink before returning her focus to her research on the Long March

[Tome]

Fortunately, the trip to the cafe is far less eventful than the trip to the apartment. Shade and Spektra park up, followed a few minutes later by Adeptus' friend dropping him off outside.

The apartment was mostly a bust. Now what?

[themunck]

"Alright, chummers. We know they were spotted at the docks. Do we have any leads aside from that? Oh, and Noise, this is Adeptus. He's got a grudge with our friend, Herr Ansger. Adeptus, this is Noise, our decker."

[ChaosArchon]

Adeptus smiles at Noise,"Nice to meet you Noise, looks like I'll be the spirit specialist for this little venture."

[Mekboy]

Rachel smiled back. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance. The other two explained the job's specifics to you yet?"

[ChaosArchon]

"They said a girl who lived in the flat below me was kidnapped, the Long March were involved, and there might be a toxic shaman wrapped up in it as well. Am I missing anything?" he says.

[Maquise]

Spektra adds, "Our only lead on their location is that our employers saw the Long March last at the docks. That's pretty much it. I was hoping we could find out more about the girl."

[Mekboy]

Rachel nodded. "'fraid I haven't found much on the girl. Basically seems to be a normal kid. Father's missing, and it doesn't say what her mother does for a living but judging by their lifestyle it pays pretty damn well. From what I can tell though, the Long Marchers have a bit of a predilection for kidnapping corp kids so it's oh so slightly possible that's the reason behind this one."

[Maquise]

"A basic hostage rescue? What are the odds it's that simple," Spektra mutters.

[ChaosArchon]

"If spirits are wrapped up in it as you say, then I doubt it will be a simple mission one bit. People don't hire Awakened to help nab random people, there was a distinct purpose to this attack." Adeptus muses.

[Maquise]

"We have no way of knowing what that is, though," Spektra says, exasperated. "We need a plan."

[Mekboy]

"They did disappear for about a year a while ago. Possibly related? Maybe they found themselves some new sponsors? Also, quick note, very few of them are actually awakened. Ansger's the only one fully awakened, and the rest of them appear to have fairly minor powers."

[themunck]

"At any rate, the docks are our only real lead at the moment. Noise, think you can hack some camera histories and track his movements?"

[Mekboy]

Rachel looked thoughtfully into space for a moment or two. "Well... I'd probably need to get up close and personal to one of them first. Better access to the grid that way. If I get my hands on the camera histories though, I don't really have any way of finding Ansger apart from just watching all the footage. Suppose I could try and whip something up to help with that though..."

[Maquise]

"We'll get you in. Stealthily; I don't want to tip our hand just yet to anyone."

[Mekboy]

"Still think we should be looking for a little more information on them before we start properly delving into this. I do know a few people who tend to have their fingers on the pulse, so to speak."

[themunck]

"Yeah, I know a guy who might know something too. I just wanted to see if we could get those camera feeds so we knew what to ask, other than 'have you seen this guy in the past week'. Then again, I suppose it wouldn't help that much." With that, Shade pulls out his trusty comnlink and calls up his talismongrer contact, hoping that a mage like Ansger might have made some noticeable purchases.

[ChaosArchon]

"I know a guy, his info is pretty reliable but contacting his is always a pain. Anyway he might have some info on the corpkid." Adeptus says as he too plus out his commlink and tries to message the Cipher.

[Mekboy]

Rachel shrugged as the other two pulled out their commlinks. Maybe they were contacting their people then. She pulled her goggles down and activated the standard AR keyboard. It melted into existence in front of her. She typed quickly, feeling the non-existant keys under the AR gloves she always wore.

"Hey Kirsty, need some help for my side job. Don't suppose you've seen or heard anything about a Mister Ansger Tjader or the Long March?"

[Tome]

NOISE

Her reply is prompt. "Hey 'Chel. Nothing off the top of my head, but I'll do some asking. Slow day anyway".

A second message arrives not even a minute later. "First, Toxics? Kind of dangerous there girl, but you knew that already. Second, only thing I dug up was from one of the bouncers. Guy pulls a second shift in this seedy little place down by the docks, remembers tossing out a bunch of skinheads who started trouble. Got the faces via his cybereyes, they match some of these guys you're after. I'll put it on your tab sugar".

[Tome]

ADEPTUS

After a few moments, you get a reply. Heavily encrypted, as always. The message simply reads "Adeptus, you have my attention. Be quick".

[Tome]

SHADE

It picks up after a few rings. "Yah, this is Hugo, what do you want?". Gods, you'd almost forgot how nasal this guy's voice was.

[themunck]

"Information, that I am willing to pay for. A German toxic mage, Ansger Tjader, is in town. Killing people and leaving a lot of scorch marks and craters. Any chance he's been your way?"

[Mekboy]

"Lifesaver. I owe ya one. Got an address for this seedy little place?"

[Tome]

"Shade? Well frag you too"

"A new Toxic in town? Heh, like that don't happen every couple of weeks. But I miiiiight know something. Depends on what's it's worth to you?".

[Tome]

"Already gotcha covered 'Chel".

The reply has an address attached. It's close to the docks, but it's also in Chicago proper. You should probably be thinking 'more patched up shack with a still' than anything fancy here.

[themunck]

"Well, holmes, how does 3000¥ sound?"

[Mekboy]

"Fantastic stuff, Jenkers. Don't suppose I could get a pic or name of this bouncer? 'Case I want a quick chat with him."

[ChaosArchon]

Zane replies to Cipher,"I need any info you have on a kid named Adele Fletcher who was kidnapped recently. Specific answers that would be nice would be the identity of her father and the occupation of her mother. Also any hits on where the Long March have been seen recently in the city would be nice."

[Tome]

SHADE

"Sounds like someone has you over a barrel".

"But far be it for me to argue with turning a profit. Someone, and by that I mean someone who stinks of toxic, hit a bunch of local talismongers about a week back. Mostly took the more generic stuff, reagents and telesma, 'cause nobody's stupid enough to keep anything for toxics in stock".

"Couple of guys I know managed to catch the trail before it faded, followed it towards the zonewards before they hit a background count and lost the trail".

NOISE

"Not sure what good it'll do 'Chel, he didn't exactly pay much attention at the time, but I'll pass along his commcode".

True to her word, there's a commcode attached to the message.

ADEPTUS

"Search fee is 500 nuyen. I will send you the results upon receipt".

[ChaosArchon]

Zane thinks for a moment and replies,"The job I'm on will probably be sending me into corp area, I might even come across some info you might find interesting. How about we make a deal? For right now you send me the info and in return I'll relay any corp-related information I find on the job. If you're not truly happy with the information, I just pay the 500 nuyen. Deal?"

CHA(6)+Negotiation (5): [roll0]

[Maquise]

Spektra reclines in the cafe's booth, and looks around. Taking out a black pen-shaped device, she begins sucking on the end, then exhales a puff of vapor.

[themunck]

SHADE

"Sounds like someone has you over a barrel".

"But far be it for me to argue with turning a profit. Someone, and by that I mean someone who stinks of toxic, hit a bunch of local talismongers about a week back. Mostly took the more generic stuff, reagents and telesma, 'cause nobody's stupid enough to keep anything for toxics in stock".

"Couple of guys I know managed to catch the trail before it faded, followed it towards the zonewards before they hit a background count and lost the trail".

"Alright, holmes. Think you can give me some exact coordinates for where they lost the trail?"

[Tome]

ADEPTUS

"Acceptable" comes the reply, a short, hastily written report attached.

"I shall be in touch".

It umms an ahhs and makes a lot of noise, but it says very little. You learn little about Adele Fletcher that you didn't already know, aside from the fact that she isn't corporate.

The section on the Long March is similar, containing little you didn't already know. It does note that they've been purchasing a lot of milspec gear on the black market recently, and suggests local arms dealers as an avenue for further inquiry.

SHADE

"For the money you're paying, sure. I'll ask the guys and send it along to you".

[Mekboy]

"Good enough for me. As I said, I owe ya one."

[Tome]

"Anytime 'Chel. Now, if you don't mind, I believe I have a bar to tend".

[ChaosArchon]

Adeptus looks up and says to the party,"My contact says that they've been buying alot of milspec weapons lately, black market arms dealers might be a good place to look for a lead."

[themunck]

"Thanks, Holmes. I appriciate it." With that, the elf hangs up and gets around to the sad task of transfering the funds, while taking in what Adeptus shared. "Reagents and telasma, too. I should have a specific location where we at least know they've been soon. The trail ran over a background count, so I probably can't pick it up again, but depending what caused it...who knows, could be the HQ itself, or at least another crime scene to search...I still kinda want to see what we can sniff out at the docks, too."

[Maquise]

"We need to prioritize," Spektra says, sucking her e-cig. "I don't want to split up at this point; the chances of us hitting heat at this point are going up."

"Going to the arms dealers might get us some more info, but I've got a feeling they'll just lead us to the same place, so unless any of you know someone you can get in touch with quickly, I'd say we put them on the back-burner. That leaves us Noise's bouncer, the docks, and Shade's trail. At this point, I'd say we go after the one most likely to disappear quickest..."

[Maquise]

"Your silence fills me with confidence," Spektra deadpans. "I say we head to the bouncer, find out what he knows. Then we'll hit the docks, and investigate the astral trail if we don't turn up anything else."

[Mekboy]

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, sorry. Got a little distracted." said Rachel, sheepishly pushing her goggles back up. "Seems good to me, unless this astral trail's gonna fade or something. Are trails time-critical? Or can we leave it for a while?"

[themunck]

"They are time critical. But they fade away in hours, not days. If we go there, is on the chance of them either returning for something, finding physical evidence at the scene, or for the chance of running into interested third parties."

[Maquise]

"Right, so in my book, more of a last resort than a first choice."

[ChaosArchon]

"I think that we should check out the astral trail first, and then go see the weapon dealers and at the very least see what arms they procured."

[themunck]

"We could also split up? Let Adeptus and Spektra check out the bouncer and arms dealers, while noise and I handle the trail and the docks."

[Maquise]

Spektra doesn't seem to like this. "We could run into heat at this point. Rather not be on the other side of town if that happens." She adds, "But if we do split up, the last thing we want is to send you and Noise out to the trail and docks without fire support."

[Mekboy]

"If we're running out of time for it, I say check the trail first."

[Maquise]

"The trail's already gone cold," Spektra clarifies.

[themunck]

"So, bouncer, arms dealers, docks, trail?"

[Maquise]

"Sounds that way to me. Does everyone have a lift?"

[ChaosArchon]

Adeptus silently agrees with the order of the list and then sighs,"I just had my friend drop me off, but otherwise I'm lacking wheels too unfortunately."

[Mekboy]

"No wheels here either I'm afraid."

[Maquise]

"I can... bring one person with me."

[themunck]

*Shade just sighs and begins to head for the nearest busstop* "Good luck with that. Where was that bouncer, again?"

[Maquise]

Spektra relays the location. "Alright, see ya there. Link me if you run into trouble."

She looks at the other two. "Anyone coming with?"

[ChaosArchon]

Adeptus nods,"I'll come with you."

[Maquise]

Spektra gets on her bike, and waits for Adeptus to get behind her. "No funny business," she snarks, and rockets off, heading for the docks.

"Shade, Noise, head for the docks. We'll stop by the bouncer and meet you there."

While she's driving, she gives the bouncer a ring.

Pilot Ground Craft (Limit 6): [roll0]

[ChaosArchon]

Adeptus smiles,"What me? Never miss Spektra."

[themunck]

While making their way, Shade turned to Noise. "So, what do you think of the new guy? I mean, I like an extra bullet sponge, but I can't help feeling that this is so terribly...convenient".

[Mekboy]

Rachel shrugged. "Yeah, I suppose so. Lucky coincidence maybe? Does feel a bit too lucky though. Some guy who just so happens to be feeling helpful hanging around the crime scene..."

[Tome]

SPEKTRA

Your comm rings as the city flashes past you, a small icon in your peripheral vision telling you the call is active. After a few moments the bouncer picks up."'Ello? This is Tyson" he rumbles, distracted.

[Maquise]

"Tyson, my name is Spektra. A friend of a friend told me you bumped into a couple of skinheads a few days back. I've got a bit of loose nuyen if you wanna chat."

[Tome]

SPEKTRA

"Oh, right, you're Kirsty's chummer. The one who was after those skinheads".

"Not much I can tell you mate. They started making trouble in the bar a week back, so I tossed 'em out their rears like every other drek head that tries something. Didn't even think much of it until Kirtsy started flashing around those mugshots".

"My eyes recorded it. Not much to see, but it's yours for some jing".

[Maquise]

Spektra wires him 50 nuyen. "Here ya go."

[Tome]

SPEKTRA

"Ta' mate". The connection closes.

A few moments later you receive a file. It's the recording. Visual only, you'd guess he doesn't have cyberears, but it's clear enough.

The recording starts fairly normally, Tyson standing outside the door to a rundown bar. Near the waterfront, judging by the view of the ocean on the horizon, and the shipyard visible nearby says it's by the docks. The field of view runs over each of the patrons, Tyson's height advantage pegging him as a Troll, picking out weapons, faces and other details. A few are turned away. An AR tag, added later, identifies three faces. Two humans, one Ork, all male and caucasian with shaved heads, moving together. Their clothes are encrusted with dried on filth in places, but that doesn't necessarily mark them out in this particular scene. Tyson notes their weapons, just pistols and holdouts, nothing special, and stops them at the door. One of them forks over a bribe and Tyson lets them pass.

There's a skip forwards, though the intervening footage is included if you wish to watch it, to a mostly similar scene. An AR marker, an exclamation mark in orange specifically, pops up in Tyson's vision. He sticks his head in the door to see a fight breaking out near the bar. It's the trio of skinheads from earlier, mixed up with a group of elves wearing what you'd guess to be gang colours - minor enough that you don't recognise them. There's a broken stool nearby and a puddle you'd guess is a spilled drink. The elves back off as they see Tyson moving in but the skinheads fail to notice with their backs turned. They turn in surprise when he draws their attention, quickly becoming angry again. You'd assume he's asking them to leave. One of them, the Ork, makes a swing at Tyson only to be flipped over his shoulder. He picks up the other two with one hand each and carries them over to the door, the Ork getting up to take another swing, only to be bludgeoned with one of his friends - another post-edited AR tag notes 'hitting a motherfragger with another motherfragger'. He physically tosses all three of them out the door and has to deck the Ork across the face, before they finally give up and leave, screaming what you assume to be insults all the while.

All three of the faces match the mugshots you have for Last March members, though none of them are particularly notable.

[Maquise]

Spektra stores the recording in her commlink, and keeps heading for the docks. She keeps a lookout for anything out of the ordinary as she rides, such as pursuers. She suddenly has a bad feeling in her gut.

(Will be right back to post roll)

[Maquise]

Perception (Limit 5): [roll0]

[Tome]

The journey is uneventful for Spektra and Adeptus.

Shade and Noise are not so lucky. Used gum is plentiful on the seats, the child behind them refuses to stop kicking the back of theirs and driver stops the bus along the way for his union-mandated five minute smoke break. By the time you arrive a good fifteen minutes late, an unending hatred of public transportation has taken root in you. Fairly average for a bus ride in all.

These are the commercial docks. Crowded, noisy and filled with the stench of salt and pollution. But past the warehouses and the cranes, you can see the night sky for once. There no sky scrapers here. You can even make out the moon, past the polluted haze.

What do you wish to do?

[themunck]

"If the long night has any vehicles, I call dips. Anyways, Noise, let's look around and see if we can find a good place to sit down and let you sniff around the cameras, while I sniff around the astral. Who knows, maybe we'll find something."

[Maquise]

Spektra meets up with the two bus-riders. "You two are late. And look like hell," she remarks, and start looking for a place where they can set up some Matrix/Astral surveillance.

Perception (Limit 5):[roll0]

[ChaosArchon]

Adeptus sympathizes with the two who had to take the bus, since his apartment burnt down he had to take the bus to get around, as his insurance corp had conveniently "lost" their files and as such he received no money for the incident. As such he had to sell his own car... public transit blew. "So any idea of where we should set up a watch?"

[Tome]

There's a couple of places you could get some privacy nearby.

There's a cheap diner not far down the road from the bus stop, if you'd rather work from somewhere out of the sea breeze currently working it's chill into your bones. You can also see that some of the warehouses a few streets over aren't currently being used, you could probably slip past what little security they have to get yourself some privacy there.

Failing that, you could be cliche and slink off into a darkened alley or lurk on a rooftop.

[Maquise]

"I say we hit the warehouses," Spektra says. "I'd rather avoid being seen."

[themunck]

*Shade glances over at the warehouses* "Fine by me. I just need a place to sit undisturbed. Who knows, maybe we can even find something worth stealing in one of them."

[Tome]

You slip closer to the waterfront, scoping out the warehouses. It's easy to tell which ones aren't in use - just look for the ones they can't be bothered to hire guards for.

The one you choose is dark and unguarded. It'll be simple enough to sneak in the back or climb in through a window.

Everyone needs to make a Sneaking test and one person needs to roll Locksmith.

[themunck]

16d6
"Well, time to get to work...did any of you guys bring a lockpick?"

I can't see my roll for some reason. Is my formatting wrong? oO

[Maquise]

[roll0]

Spektra feels through her trenchcoat. "Dammit. Busted my auto-picker on our last run. Was going to replace it..."

[ChaosArchon]

[roll0]

As Adeptus ventures towards the warehouse, he relies on his agility and minor training in the art of remaining undetected. As he climbs through the window, he gingerly places his fingers across the sill of the window has he uses the strength of the steel used in the window's creation to pull himself up. As he enters he slowly lowers himself to diminish the sound of his body's impact upon the ground. Once there, he slides next to the nearest cover and tries to minimize the profile of his body best he could.

[Tome]

You make it inside easily enough, though Shade has to pull Spektra back when she almost stumbles into the light switch - this building might not be guarded, but the one across the street is.

Either way, you're in. One dark, deserted warehouse to work from. Don't make a mess.

[Maquise]

Spektra uses her cyber-eyes to scan the interior, looking for some secluded corner they can set up shop in.

Perception (Limit 5): [roll0]

[Tome]

The warehouse is essentially nothing but secluded corners. The large racks, calling them shelves seems too diminutive, have been left in place, dividing the interior between them.

[Maquise]

Spektra has Noise and Shade set up in one of said corners. She gets her gun ready, and keeps a lookout, sucking on her e-cig in the process.

[themunck]

*Shade makes himself comfortable against the wall, closes his eyes and begins to astrally project* "I'll begin sniffing around the astral. If they've been doing something ongoing here, rather than just move gear in a week ago, I should be able to find traces of them."

*In the astral plane, Shade begins the long and boring search around the docks, looking for any sign of magic, especially toxic magic*

[roll0]

[Tome]

Noise looks up and asks "What are we looking for exactly?".

SHADE

As expected, you find little to go after so much time has passed. The only spells you can pick up are a couple of detection spells cast in one of the active warehouses - Shinto tradition if your guess is right, so probably a wagemage.

There's a low-level background count everywhere you look around here, aspected to pollution. Nothing major, but enough to itch. It gets stronger as you head towards the coast, towards Chicago proper. Odds are good, the Toxics will be where the pollution is worst.

[Maquise]

"Search the local grids for any unusual activity. See if you can find anything to link to the Long Night."

[themunck]

*Returning to the physical world, Shade opens his eyes*

"Well, they're not here anymore. I got a background count that gets bigger the closer we get to the city. Follow that to where it's biggest, and we can probably find them there." With that, Shade turns towards Noise.
"I don't really know if you can hear me while you're doing your thing, Noise, but if you can, try to get camera footage from when they were here a week ago. I want to know what they were here for."