[SR5][IC] Gangs and Governments

[Karen Lynn]

Tuesday, late evening.

Raktim
It's that kid again. You know the one. The one who smells too clean, always hanging out with the older homeless people, but never really seems to want for anything, like he's some cafe hoppin' slummer. Well, here he comes again. This time, he's walking right for you, rats around him scurrying from his steps as though pushed by an invisible hand. He's only a couple feet away. Looking you in the eyes. Staring. Drawing your eyes, not letting you look away. Why won't he blink? He keeps staring.

And staring...

Finally, he speaks.

"Marymoor Park. The dead ground where the garden used to be. Be there tomorrow at 4."

He continues holding your eyes. Then he walks away. When he gets to the end of the block, he looks around, almost confused, before crossing the street and going in to Star'kaf.

=============

Jagulaar

Finally time to relax. Nobody knows this hole. Perfect place to-

*Knock Knock*

What the- Who the drek knew about this place?

If you check the door, you won't see anyone out the peep-hole, but the knock comes again.

If you open the door, you'll see a young elf girl, holding up an envelope. She won't say a word, and as soon as you take it, she goes skipping across the way to a black sedan.

Opening the envelope, you'll find an old Felix the cat greeting card on actual card stock.

"Come to the party! It's gonna be a blast! Marymoor park, we're going to plant in the old garden! It starts at 4 pm, don't be late! bring your best yard work outfit!"

You know it has to be in code, and three things come to mind.

============

Vito

*WHOOP WHOOP*
"Hey, 'scuse me, sir, but I'm going to need you to come with me." Well, if it isn't Big Joe Star himself. Haven't seen him in a while. "We got reports of a suspicious character, and you almost fit the bill, so I need to ask you a few questions. Will you come with me?" Regardless of your answer, he opens the back door and waits for you to enter.

"Fine, but I can't make any promises that someone else won't come arrest you for jaywalkin' or nuthin'. Boss' orders, need you tomorrow at 4pm for a lineup, Apparently, something happened at the old community gardening center in Marymoor park." Obviously, a message.

If you accept, he'll pull the loose wire on the dash cam and drive around for a bit. "Boss has a job for ya, needs ya to look after something. I don't know anything more than that. 4pm, Marymoor park garden in Redmond. Need me to drop ya off somewhere?"

============

Russel "Whiskey" Roberts

"Another night here, huh? Everytime you're here, I get richer, you go home alone. Why don't you ever take one of the elf mages that keep eyin' ya up?" Paul laughs. He gets a bit of leeway, being the owner of the mage's bar.

"The Rift"- Seriously, like he was trying to buy into the hipster mage crowd with that name. And it always seemed to be mages. You never saw those guys that pumped their magic into their body or the animal worshipers. Nope, just mages.

Another night, another good whiskey. At least he kept real whiskey here. It's bad enough drinking synthahol. Even worse when it's trying to imitate perfection in a glass.

Here comes that meek looking girl. She's here almost as much as you. If you didn't know better...

"Hey~ You're new here, right? Need some work?" If you chat it up with her, she'll tell you about a park that's a half hour's drive from here. Apparently, somebody needs a good eye for security to run a delivery tomorrow at 4. If you keep chatting it up, she may go home with you tonight.

===========

Callum

<Got work for you. Need someone to clean up. Mostly groundskeeping. Pay's alright, meet me at Marymoor park tomorrow about 4pm. Bring work clothes. I'll be at the old garden.>
===========

Atsumori

*BEEP. BEEP. BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-*

Still not funny. Looks like Flatline changed the custom tone for his messages. Again.

<Dude! Got a job! But I can't do it. Can you take over for me? It's at the Marymoor garden in Redmond. C'mon, ya gotta cover for me. I might have a music gig going on and I gotta keep that time free! You do it, I'll owe ya big time.>

[Revanus]

A small smile crosses Atsumori's face as the text flashes before his retina. A job.

The smile fades. A job...from Flatline.

How the mighty have fallen. Your handlers used to be the best in the biz, plugged into the darkest corners of counter-corp. Now, you're getting fed leads by a pimple-faced, street punk DJ.

Still, biz was biz.

Atsumori glances around his flat. Bare walls, empty fridge, stained futon. Cash flow was nothing to sneeze at.

Atsumore types out a quick reply, careful to keep the details to a bare minimum.

<Maybe. Pay? Risk? Contact? Time?>

Meanwhile, he quickly considers what he knows of Redmond area and the pulse of the street there--only fools rush into battle unprepared. He decides to stay off the Matrix--no reason to leave a trail of breadcrumbs for digital snoopers, should things go south.

Dice Rolls:

Street Politics (Street Knowledge, 1 Knowledge+5 Intuition, Limit: 4):
[roll0]

Seattle Geography (Street Knowledge, 1 Knowledge+5 Intuition, Limit: 4):
[roll1]

Area Safehouses (Street Knowledge, 4 Knowledge + 5 Intuition, Limit: 4):
[roll2]

[lonewolf1210]

It takes Raktim quite some time to process what just happened, but as he does he scuttles away quickly into the darkness.

Who was that just now? No, not the boy, something else must have happened there. That stare was not the stare of a boy.
I should hide and get away. He might be dangerous. Yes! Hide.
...
But I dont know what he was. If he is really dangerous he might find me again and be mad that I didnt show up. That could be worse!

Raktim squirms and once again is mad that he didnt assense the boy when he had the chance.

No, I must go there. To find out if there is danger. But i must be careful.
Yes careful

further actions coming tomorrow

[lonewolf1210]

That evening, Raktim looks for a map of the area where the meeting is going to happen and finds ancient sattelite pictures (https://www.google.at/maps/@47.6606141,-122.1174194,16z/data=!3m1!1e3) that seem to be horribly out of date, but nonetheless could be a useful for a general lay of the land.


In the morning, Raktim leaves the Ork Underground and finds his way to the roof of a small apartment building where he summons a powerful air spirit to protect him today.

summon a force 6 air spirit with energy attack and noxious breath optional powers
summoning: [roll0]
opposed roll from spirit:[roll1]
resist drain: [roll2]

EDIT: => 3 services, all drain resisted


The spirit, appearing like a human-sized stormcloud, answers the call and Raktim bows deeply before it an adresses it(in Hindi).
"Oh powerful spirit!
I apologize for binding you onto this earth, but my life may be in danger today and I am in dire need of your protection."
Whithout a mouth, the only thing indicating that the spirit responds is an increased amount of miniature lightnings going of within the stormcloud:
"Your frail human bodies always seem to be in danger. But today you shall have my protection, mage."
Bowing again to the spirit Raktim thanks it gratefully:
"Thank you oh mighty one. I feel much more secure with one such as you on my side."
With that, the spirit dematerilizes to the astral plane again, on standby should his services be needed.

Without a personal form of transportation, Raktim makes his way towards Redmond early using busses and walking the rest of the way over the border into Redmond(where the busses dont go). Even so he is probably one of the first to arrive an hour before the meeting and takes his time looking for a good hiding place nearby from where he can observe who is coming to this meeting before showing himself.

[barticus]

A potential job heh? That beats sitting around the apartment watching old re-runs of Shadowrunner Sam. Callum thinks as he pulls out another bag of soy-pop-corn from the microwave. He was already caught up to the 8th season. But then again the first 3 seasons were the best. Well that was Callum's opinion anyway.

Callum pulls out his comlink and does a quick search of where the Maymoor Park garden is. After seeing the location he thinks it might be a good time to stop by his favorite sushi place since it is just on the other side of 520. He looks over to the desk where Bridget is diligently working on her homework.

Smuggling routes (in case a quick escape path is needed): 1+2: [roll0]

Hey Bridget, how late are your classes tomorrow? You might need to catch the bus back. I'll be heading out around 3:15pm. Probably miss dinner too, but we have a few boxes of mac'n'cheese left. I think I'll be out later tonight too.

Callum always tried to keep Bridget in the loop about what he was up to. Not really what he was up to per se, but at least a time frame of when he would be gone so she could plan accordingly for other arrangements for food and rides to and from the university.

Knowing that it is to late to go to the Stuffershack he makes his way to the Temple of Silent Treasures, a local brothel Callum has been stopping by lately, looking for a good time. Callum was always willing to spend a couple hundred nuyen on the entertainment that was provided by the ladies there.

The next day Callum heads into his work area at noon (it takes 15 mins to create the lynchpins in the spoiler below). After finishing that he tries to take a nap a couple hours before he has to head out to the meeting spot. Around 3:10 Callum packs his bag and leaves his apartment. He arrives at the garden pretty close to 3:45 and casually gets a feel for the area.

*Karen, I wasn't sure if you wanted to do the oppose rolls on the spells or not but I did them here.*

3 Heal (Bandages, command trigger):


bandage 1 (Force 3): [roll1] Oppose:[roll2]
Drain=1 (3-4+2) Resist: [roll3]
bandage 2 (Force 3): [roll4] Oppose:[roll5]
Drain=1 (3-4+2) Resist: [roll6]
bandage 3 (Force 3): [roll7] Oppose:[roll8]
Drain=1 (3-4+2) Resist: [roll9]


Increased Reflexes (leather wrist cuff, command trigger):
Force 3: [roll10] Oppose:[roll11]
Drain=5 (3+2) Resist: [roll12]

Levitate (boots, command trigger)
Force 3: [roll13] Oppose:[roll14]
Drain=3 (3-2+2) Resist: [roll15]

*Edit: Took 3 stun from increase reflexes and 2 from levitate for a total of 5 stun.

Place holder for potency updates after rolls seeing rolls.
*Edit*

Potency
Bandage 1: 8 Hours
Bandage 2: 6 Hours
Bandage 3: 6 Hours
Increase Reflexes: 8 Hours
Levitate: 6 Hours


Resting for 2 hours to remove potential stun damage from the alchemy creation session
Extended Test 8 dice (Body+Willpower)
Hour 1:
[roll16]
[roll17]
[roll18]
[roll19]
[roll20]
[roll21]
[roll22]
[roll23]

Hour 2:
[roll24]
[roll25]
[roll26]
[roll27]
[roll28]
[roll29]
[roll30]
[roll31]

*Edit: Able to rest off 25 points of stun.

[Nocturno]

"Good thing my tools are always ready." Jag grins.

After the car pulls away, Jag sits back down, puts his feet up, and pulls up the map for the park.

Trying to relax for the rest of the night he can't help but to keep running a mental check of his inventory, after one more manual check of his tools Jag is able to get some sleep.

In the morning Jag checks his spare clips, holsters the Predators, one on the back of his right hip, the other in the small of his back. Thinks a couple moments but takes one smoke grenade and clips it on his belt.

He jiggles his pocket pocket to make sure the restraints don't jingle-jangle. Jag runs his fingers over the slap patches to count them, 1,2,3. He wraps on his armour jacket, belts it up, focuses his eyes in and out, does a sound check on his ears, and coughs into his mic. All seems good.

Jag throws some sandwiches into his backpack beside his basic survival gear, fills up this thermos of soycaf, and heads out the door.

The air is almost fresh, but he knows by 9 any freshness will be replaced with staleness.

He sets out on a indirect path to the park, planning to be there by 9am. Hoping to work his way around the park to scope out the landscape and watch as anyone may show up / setup.

[Karen Lynn]

For Atsumori

<Don't know. Minimal if they offered it to me, I don't do risk. No clue. 4pm tomorrow.>

[Revanus]

Atsumori smiles at Flatline's assessment. True.

For a street punk who insisted on wearing a neon yellow mohawk and dressing in pastels, Flatline wasn't dumb.

Pausing a moment to craft phrasing that would allow some wiggle room against a criminal charge, Atsumori sent back his response.

<Go to your gig.>

Low threat was a good sign, but just because the job had low heat didn't mean he wasn't in danger. Still, tomorrow would come soon enough. Time to get the gear ready.

[Lacco]

Russel managed to smile at Paul. Well, you get richer, I get drunk. The "go home alone" is purely aesthetical choice. And... he glanced around I prefer orc girls - the elves are too uptight for me.

He took a sip, enjoying the feeling of large part of his last money going down his throat. He noticed a movement by the corner of his eye.

The meek girl. Bussiness or pleasure? Again he smiled. And listened... bussiness. We'll see about a bit of pleasure.

Yes, I'm new here...and work - it depends. Security? No problem. However, my current apartment is far from here... and I never take job from a lovely lady without knowing her name or having a dinner with her. And again the smile. Quickly he considered his decreasing cash, as he turned to Paul to order another round...also for the lady.

The headache was almost worth it.

When he woke up, his head hurt a bit, but the worst case was that he did not remember part of the night. However, he found a small, handwritten note.

He took a job. And it was time to prepare.

Taking his commlink, he checked the time. He had enough to get there, enough to take a nap somewhere in the park. And enough to get some breakfast.

Opening his duffel bag, he checked and cleaned his guns. He loaded the magazines and holstered them.

He turned on the commlink, opened the WeatherCheck app. Full of ads and not updated since he installed it. According to it, today should be a sunny day with 95% probability of rain. And hot.

Damn. Well, I'll have to improvise.

He put on his coat and shades and started walking.

Whether he wakes up alone or not, he comes at least hour before the meeting, sprawling under one of the trees. Does he have any contact?
The WeatherCheck failed due to his Gremlins. No need to roll I hope.
And one more detail...what is the weather? :smallsmile:

[Revanus]

Three hours before the meet, Atsumori begins to lay out his gear.

First, Atsumori confirms that his commlink and all his wireless capable gear is set to ghost. Silent running is Standard Operating Procedure.

Next, he slaves his concealable holster, wired reflexes, hidden arm slide, sunglasses, contacts, and ear buds to his PAN. These items should get merged under PAN's own generic comlink icon, rather than being individually discoverable, given their lack of immediate lethality. The arm slide's icon resembles a wooden filing cabinet, the concealable holster looks like a jean pocket, and the wired reflexes looks like a red pipe-cleaner stick figure. The glasses, contacts, and ear buds look exactly like their real life counterparts--no reason to hide what was generally visible.

As a persona, Atsumori uses Neil the Ork Barbarian--generic enough to not give a hint as to the person behind it, other than a mild mainstream taste for entertainment. He also does a quick mental check to ensure his bone lacing and muscle replacement augmentations are completely off the grid--no reason to have the wireless functionality of his bones active when it gives no benefit. Their icon symbols of a milk bone and a herculean arm were also a bit...obvious...for Atsumori's taste. However, he leaves his augmented eyes online and slaved, so as to allow a quick smartlink handshake should things go south (Icon: Eye of Sauron).

Atsumori next lays out his weapons on his futon. He slaves each firearm to his PAN, before turning their wireless function off. No reason to call attention to his arsenal--especially not as independent icons. Smartlink was a nice toy, but discretion is the better part of valor--especially when the ol' Mk. 2 eyeball works just fine in a pinch. He does, however, permit the Beretta's laser sight to remain wirelessly active--the quick draw holster it sat in blocked the laser beam from showing, and the item was sufficiently removed from lethality to be safely buried into his general PAN icon and generic enough in its old-fashioned laser pointer icon to be harmless at first glance.

The Ares gets a bow and arrow icon, the Light Fire 75 an ancient sling, and the Beretta is classified as an 18th century cannon. The shock gloves lying next to the guns look harmless by comparison--simple black leather gloves hiding a nasty surprise. Their PAN icon is an electrified hand, but the gloves are off--the only reason they're ever turned on is for charging purposes. Atsumori also tests the shock frills on his dull black lined coat--flicking their wireless activity on and off to see if they show up as a separate icon before making a decision on what to do with the electrified eel icon representing them.

Atsumori slips on the subvocal mike and stows the tag eraser deep into one of the coat's pockets--leaving the bug scanner behind. The white noise generator sits on his desk--ready for easy activation in case of phone calls and video chats. He buries the professional-grade Autopicker deep beneath his coat, and slips his maglock passkey into a small leather cardholder--behind a number of business cards, key cards, and paper scribbles of meaningless notes. He also slips a few empty credsticks into his pocket.

Now for the big guns. First, he considers his Light Fire 75. Flatline might not expect much risk, but Atsumori might face heat for reasons unrelated to the current gig. Plus, one cannot overestimate the value of a silenced weapon. It might be illegal, but if the '75 was in play, legality was the least of Atsumori's concerns. He slides the weapon into its hidden arm slide. He chambers a mag--first three rounds of stick n' shock, followed by a gel--the rest are standard FMJ. Two more full mags for the '75 go along for the ride--one of full stick, two plain vanilla with a first round sticky by way of greeting. The Beretta find its way into its quick draw holster along with a spare mag--both filled half n' half with stick and gel.

Finally the Ares takes its place in its concealed holster. The mag in the well alternates every two rounds between gel and sticky, starting with gel. The 15th round is a lethal FMJ kicker. Two more mags of the same flavor, along with two full lethal mags, will find their way discretely beneath the lined coat.

Fully arrayed, Atsumori will set out for the club with two hours to spare--slotting his Rating 4 Fake Sin, along with his set of rating 2 licenses for ammo (standard and sticky--if the rent-a-cops ever got him into a room and wanted to hassle him for carry gel rounds, so be it), shock frills, shock gloves, and firearms. Atsumori didn't really bother with a fake for concealed carry or his augments...it's not like the fuzz could confiscate his eyes or nerves, and his lined coat was its own form of concealed licensing.

Truth be told, the majority of his fakes weren't great quality. If things ever really got hot under the collar, he had Hannah to smooth things out.
----

Dressed for the job, Atsumori prepares to set out with two hours to spare. Before leaving, he carefully opens up two light pistol rounds. He dumps the contents of one carefully at the foot of his door, drawing a line at the foyer. With the other, he carefully dusts the exterior doorknob to his apartment. He then locks up.

If someone enters his apartment while he's out, he should have at least some warning.

With a slight smile, Atsumori sets out for the nearest light rail station. He'll have a solid hour and a half to scope the area before the meeting.

Mission Equipment:


Armor: Lined Coat w/shock frills

Utility: Upgraded Sunglasses, Contacts, Ear Buds, autopicker, maglock, subvocal mike, tag eraser, concealed holster, hidden arm slide, quick draw holster, comlink.

Weapons: Ares Predator, Ares Light Fire 75, Beretta 201C, Shock Gloves

Ammo Count:
Predator (15 rds): Loaded Mag--7 Gel, 7 Sticky, 1 Standard; 4 Spare (2 like initial, 2 full standard. Total: 21 Gel, 21 Sticky, 32 Standard)

Light Fire 75 (16 rds): Loaded Mag--3 Stick, 1 Gel, 12 Standard, 2 Spare (1 Stick, 16 Standard. Total: 19 stick, 28 Standard, 1 Gel)

Beretta (21 rds): Loaded Mag--11 stick, 10 Standard, 1 spare (11 stick, 10 Standard, Total: 22 stick, 20 Standard)

Total Ammo usage: 21 Gel (Heavy), 21 Sticky (Heavy), 32 Standard (Heavy); 41 Stick (light), 1 Gel (light), 36 Standard (light).

Ammo Remaining: 268/300 Standard (Heavy), 39/60 Gel (Heavy), 79/100 Sticky (Heavy), 262/300 Standard (light), 9/10 Gel (Light), 59/100 Sticky (Light)


Active Slaved Device Count:

Comlink Device Rating: 4
Slaved Device Limit: 12
Wireless-Active Slaved Devices: 8-9--Glasses, Ear Buds, Contacts, Augmented Eyes, Wired Reflexes, Concealed Holster, Hidden Arm Slide, Laser Sight, Shock Frills (if buried under comlink, otherwise--inactive)

Inactive Devices capable of slaving: 6--Ares Predator, Ares Light Fire 75, Beretta 201C, maglock, autopicker, shock gloves

[casualcryptic]

If you accept, he'll pull the loose wire on the dash cam and drive around for a bit. "Boss has a job for ya, needs ya to look after something. I don't know anything more than that. 4pm, Marymoor park garden in Redmond. Need me to drop ya off somewhere?"

Vito had to stop himself from doing anything stupid when he sees Joe Star. It has been a long time, and he doesn't trust as easily as he used to. As Vito watches Joe Star open the door he sighes, "Joe, you're about as subtle as an avalanche." Nonetheless, he gets in.

"Christ. If you don't know any more than that, you don't really know anything at all." He sighes. Information is king in this business, and here lately, he hasn't been getting as much as he'd like. Someday soon he'd need to get to work expanding his network to what it once was. "You can tell the Don I'll be there. You can drop me off on main street."

Didn't Joe Star or anyone else need to know that Vito hadn't gotten an appartment yet. The reality was that it hardly mattered whether he had one or not. He hadn't been sleeping. When he did finally feel like crashing somewhere, he'd just drop into a coffin motel for a night. He knew he needed to settle down, get back into the swing of things and stabilize, but some part of him still reveled in the moment. There was hardly a thing tieing him into this world now.

[Nocturno]

Once 2 pm rolls around Jag starts to be more alert, not more casual strolling in the park or resting on the benches.

He will attempt to stay a little more inconspicuous in the shade of trees.
9d6

[Nocturno]

Once 2 pm rolls around Jag starts to be more alert, not more casual strolling in the park or resting on the benches.

He will attempt to stay a little more inconspicuous in the shade of trees.

[roll0]

[Revanus]

Once Atsumori arrives, he casually spends a half hour surveying the immediate vicinity of the Marymoor.

Satisfied with his gathering of intel, he heads into the location. He will spend the next hour surveying the comings and going of the various patrons and visitors, until the clock tolls 4:00 PM or a different cause of action presents itself.

Rolls (if necessary):
Urban Stealth:
[roll0] (6 Agi+5 Urban Sneaking. Limit: 5 physical)

Perception (if appropriate):
[roll1] (5 Int+5 vis Perception+4 Vision Enhancement[wireless]. Limit: 8 (4 mental+4 vis. enhancement)

[casualcryptic]

Vito starts the night by walking from bar to bar, drinking lightly. As the night moves on he moves to coffee shop after coffee shop. In the early hours of the morning he makes his way to a cache hidden in the broken rock wall of the docks, and fishes out his things. There isn't much to speak of in earnest. He keeps his streetline and his switchblade on him at all times, in case some greasy scumbag ganger mistakes him for a mark, or one of the old enemies comes calling.

The roomsweeper is kept in the cache of course. He slides the holster underneath his suit jacket so that he can easily reach in and go for it. He also puts a few spare clips in his jacket's inner pocket just in case. He also fishes out his trid projector and his last few hits of Cram, also just in case.

Checking his dollarstore metalink, Vito dropped into silent, every item he owned offline. His matrix avatar still in default settings. His matrix security was drek. Like so many other things, he just hadn't had the time to build back up since getting out of the pin. Still, it should be fine for a meeting in the barrens.

Work. It had been a while, but Vito was eager to get his head back in the game. Checking the time Vito finally checks into a pay by the hour coffin motel for an hour or two of shuteye before the meet. He arrives to the meet twenty minutes early. Professionalism was great and all, but this was the barrens, and he'd prefer not to get into a firefight today.

[Karen Lynn]

Everyone observing the meet location prior to three pm will find an older looking human male approaching the garden, carrying a large duffel bag, a backpack, and an armful of garden tools. Right at three, he begins digging up the ground, doing little more than moving the dirt about in a large square pattern, approximately fifteen feet square. Close observation will reveal he's wearing a plain brown shirt under a pair of old looking overalls. The buttons on the chest appear to have been replaced. One is a brass flower, the other a smiling face. His overalls are covered in patches, particularly the knees. He wears a broad, hand woven straw hat.

Anyone arriving at or after will see him hard at work, tilling the garden space. Nobody else shows between then and four.


Do any of you do anything prior to 4pm?

If so, or if not, please state your actions preceding and up to 4pm, allowing for potential interactions between players.

[lonewolf1210]

perception(to notice Jag)[roll0]
Stealth(assuming the urban specialisation doesnt apply in the park)[roll1]

Around 3pm, Raktim gets noticed by Jag and Atsumi as he walks openly towards the garden, looking like a homeless person. At a distance he takes a quick glance at the older an starting to dig(switching over to Astral vision for a second, just to check if the guy is awakened), but then continues moving. He doesnt appear to have noticed either of you. But as they glance away for a second, he almost loses sight of Raktim as he hides himself in an old overgrown bush with suprising agility. From there Raktim continues to observe the area.

[Nocturno]

Thinking he is hidden quite well, Jag mentally breaks up the area in front of him into quadrants and makes a good visual sweep around at 3:45.


Quadrant 1 [roll0] 10d6+3(specifically looking for people)
Quadrant 2 [roll1]
Quadrant 2 [roll2]
Quadrant 2 [roll3]


No matter the result at 15:59:30, he will walk from cover, if he does spot anyone he will just keep an eye on the area he saw them.

[Revanus]

Atsumori notes the presence of a few other individuals, particularly noting the older human with the intriguing package and penchant for digging. A few other individuals are in the park--Atsumori takes particular note of what looks like a vagrant street punk, as well as an Elf in a sharp suit and a second Elf whose body language speaks to...professionalism.

Interesting bunch we've got here...

OOC:
If my initial perception roll doesn't cover everyone, I'm happy to fill in a roll to notice Jag. That being said, it seems like we're all content with standing around until 4:00 PM, so the relative stakes are low. :smallsmile:

[barticus]

Callum arrives at the park at 15:42, traffic was not as bad as he expected. He parked his bike and made his way to the garden. Knowing he was not in a rush he casually strolled through the park on the way to the garden. It took a few minutes to get to the garden. Callum saw a bench not to far that faced the main garden area and decided to sit there until 15:55 taking in the beauty of the area. There wasn't much point in hiding at a meet and greet anyway, that was kind of the point of the interaction. Besides, he hadn't taken a job in a few months so chances were slim that someone was trying to get him caught in a trap. At 15:57 he makes his way to the garden and initiates small talk with the gardener, commenting on the lovely weather and how it was surprising that it wasn't raining today (at least not yet), and has some general questions about the park.

I was planning to roll perception... but somehow I over looked that I didn't put any ranks into it... but I'll roll with it haha :D

Callum notices people as they start coming closer to the garden and out of their hiding spots if applicable.

[casualcryptic]

Vito walks up with one hand in his pocket and the other smoking a lit cigarette. Despite locale, Vito does nothing to hide his presence and doesn't seem to be on the lookout either. He glances around a bit at first, until he lays eyes on the gardner. He makes a nonverbal "ah" with his mouth and then b-lines straight to the man. He stands in front of him, a couple meters off, and continues to smoke while he watches him work. After a few minutes he greets Callum and the gardner. "How you gentlemen doing? Name's Vito, Vito Vigs." He offers his hand to Callum.

[Revanus]

Atsumori focuses on the conversation ahead, hoping his nuyen was well spent.

Perception (Audio)
[roll0] (Dice: 5 Intuition+3 Perception+3 Audio Enhancement (Wireless) Threshold: 7 [4 Mental +3 Audio Enhancement])

[Nocturno]

Jag watches, but holds his ground. He waits till 15:59 to make his approach.

At which point he will stand quietly in the background and observe as the others make small talk or introduce themselves.

[lonewolf1210]

Raktim doesnt come out of his hiding spot at the meeting time, but instead continues to watch.
The more peopele appear, the more nervous he gets, especially since a few of them look quite dangerous.
Instead he uses his magic to turn invisible and creeps a bit closer, hoping to eavesdrop on the conversation before possibly revealing himself.

Improved Invisibility Force 5 [roll0]
resist drain [roll1]

sneaking [roll2]

[Karen Lynn]

"Ah, good afternoon, Vito! I'm Briggs! Well, I'm actually John, but everyone calls me Briggs. How are you?" Briggs will nod to both Callum and Vito, greeting everyone else who approaches visibly. "So, is it just you three? I guess you should be enough for it, but I thought I had hired for seven people... Ah well. must've got caught in a gang shooting or something. So, What're ya good at?"

Raktim:
He glows lightly, obviously awakened. A quick glance shows many small, stronger auras on the man.

[Nocturno]

Jag clears his throat.

"I move people."

Not wanting to look too eager Jag takes an awkward step back.

[Revanus]

Atsumori listens to the Gardener's speech, and slowly rises from the park bench he was sitting at. He comfortably makes his way over to the gathering, bringing himself well within earshot. He makes a point to face away from the group, though--so as to maintain the pretense of non-interaction.

"Flatline couldn't make it. I can resolve verbal and non-verbal misunderstandings."

[lonewolf1210]

Without ending his invisibility, Raktim steps up closer and says: "Im good at not getting noticed. Now would you mind telling us what all this is about?"
The is at least some amount of confidence in his voice that almost entirely comes from his invisible status that gives him a feeling of safety.

[barticus]

"I'm quite a team player. Good with my guns and I'm particularly good at keeping my team mates alive. Worked for DocWagon a few years back. That job didn't offer as much... excitement as the jobs I've been taking lately though. You other guys have names or should I just call ye' zero, one and two?" Looking at where Ratkim should be, then Jag, not looking over to Atsumori because he looks to want to keep his distance. Since Jag is the only other one who has joined the "group" Callum offers a hand shake to him.

[Revanus]

Atsumori smiles slightly.

"Zero works."

[Nocturno]

Jag looks around mostly at the blank spot.

He shakes his head, takes Callum's hand, "The name's Jag, looks like we may be working some of the same angles on this one."

"Let's hope he can do more than some invis tricks"

[Karen Lynn]

"Alright... Well, if you lot are the best I could get, then that'll have to be good enough." Briggs will turn to the spot Raktim is standing. "And if you want some work, you'll have to stop being invisible. Now." Briggs will return to gardening. "It must be all those trids, making you think things are supposed to happen one way. Well, tough. You're gonna have to be a lot less trid about this. It's a double delivery run. You're taking a thing from here to a place. When you get there, you will wait until you are given another package. You will then return to me. You will not open either package, or you will not get paid. Understood? It pays 500¥ a piece. Assuming you can handle this, you'll have two hours to return with my package. The earlier, the better."

[barticus]

Doesn't sound like there needs to be a whole lot of leg work done for this job, this should be an easy one. "Is that it? That sounds to easy. Where is the drop location? "

[Nocturno]

Jag cringes when Callum says "easy".

"Never say easy until the Nuyen is in your hand."

"Now we will probably run into Dunkelzahn himself."

He then looks around to see the other reactions.

[Revanus]

Atsumori shrugs.

"They raise a fair point. You're paying a cool 2.5 for a squad of people to carry out courier duties--no questions asked. Which means there's either sufficient risk involved that a single low-level grunt on salary can't handle the job, or you'd prefer to pay a premium to have this thing done right."

Atsumori turns to look Briggs in the eye.

"One g per man won't be enough to cover the cost of a busted SIN, but I think it's a figure we both can work with. Sound like a deal?"

Rolls:
Negotiation (Bargaining) [roll0]
Etiquette (to smooth any ruffled feathers): [roll1]
Social Limit: 6

[lonewolf1210]

Raktim squirms a bit and then lets the invisibility fall. He is now standing with a openly with a hunch and most of his confidence seems gone.
The money seems fine to him, one month of living for one day of work, but he wont complain if someone else negotiates for more.
He does have one question though, and by now it is easy to identify his indian accent:
"Why do you need so many people for a delivery job? Normally you want this done quickly and quietly without getting noticed, and one or 2 people max have a better chance of staying under the radar. Unless you are expecting someone to know about the delivery and try to intercept it, in which case you want a bigger escort. So my question is: Do you expect trouble?"

[Karen Lynn]

"A kay a head, huh? Sure. I could do that. I would have done that, had you lot shown some professionalism and came up when you saw me, either bit by bit or all at once. No, y'all gotta play 'Secret Agent Man' here. Mister 'Scared of his own shadow' here outright giving away his abilities to anyone who may be watching, unlikely as it is. Mr. 'Too cool for school' here, thinking he's fooling the world by standing within earshot of us in an empty park, facing nobody and seemingly talking either to himself or on a comm. Again, middle of an empty park.

"The rest of you having been here for well over an hour, and just now coming up. Yes, I've kept tabs on every single living being here since before I entered the park. I always do, and always will. You want a thousand per? Not happening. 500¥ each, or walk. This delivery needs to be made. It's a half hour there, half hour back. Half hour to deal with the recipient, half hour for any potential unpleasantries. It's Seattle, after all. Could be traffic, could be go-gangers. The reason I wanted six here is to act as insurance. One or two may open the package, but two won't do it if it'll piss off four others. If you're not interested, find another job. Those of you who are still interested, listen up."

He gives you all a couple minutes to decide. Those who remain here the following: "I need you to deliver a package. It's in my van. It's about two feet a side. It needs to get to the Market Grill at the corner of Pike Street and First Avenue in downtown Seattle. It needs to get there as quick as you can manage. It absolutely must not be opened. Under no circumstances are you to open this package. Understood? If you think you can handle that, I'll have the five hundred each here when you get back."

If you walk away, that's it. You're out of the game.

He will lead you to his van: an old, beat up, dented to hell and back rust bucket. In the back is a large wooden crate. Yes. Wood. It'll take two people to lift, being a dense package of about 65 pounds. You have your package, you have your destination. What do you do?

[lonewolf1210]

Multiple possible responses go through Raktims head: About how we were to know that this old gardner was our contact(from Raktims perspective any of the other runners look more like a potential Johnson to him), or if he wanted us to show up earlier he should have said so, or that professionalism goes both ways and sending magically influenced little kids with incomplete information about a meeting is not really a sign of it(Raktim didnt even know all this was a job offer until this guy started talking).

But beeing confrontational like that just isnt in his nature. He accepts the explanation why this needs so many people as well as the job and once they see the crate he turns to the others: "So anyone got a car we could transport this thing with?"

EDIT: ignore this part
OOC: I dont see anyone having one, so I assume a negative response.

"Assuming we cant simply borrow this van, ..." with a quick glance to Briggs to confirm or deny this assumption, "... this could be a problem. There are a few ways I can think of to transport this thing quickly with magical aid, but none of them would be very subtle. Transporting it in a stolen car, a cab(if we could even get one here) or even public transportation all seem like a bad idea.
Any suggestions?"

[Nocturno]

Jag is a bit startled at the reaction, but isn't surprised.

"My Gopher has a rig I can have it here in a few minutes."

Jag waits a couple moments to see everyone's reaction.

He will then pull up his truck up to the parking lot.

[barticus]

"Hey now, I was here on time with no shenanigans! If you wanted me here earlier I should have been informed of that. I also wasn't told who I was supposed to be meeting so I wasn't sure what to expect." Callum says with a tinge of agitation in his voice. He pauses a second to to regain his composure and says to Jag, "If you can take the other two in your truck I can follow or go ahead on my bike."

[Nocturno]

Jag nods his head.

"I can drive or ride "shotgun""

He also pulls up the map for the area, and tags the locations.

He then tries to see if he can see any obviously poor routes for the group to take, and any obviously good routes to take:

Knowledge skill Vehicle Processions - Street(5 Int) - 5
[roll0]

[lonewolf1210]

Raktim tries to get attention away from the confrontational stuff and focuses on Jag:
"Good! Get your car. If time is of the essence, we should get a move on."

He also checks the map (https://www.google.at/maps/dir/47.6601281,-122.1177001/47.6088298,-122.3399919/@47.6256771,-122.2537036,13z/data=!4m2!4m1!3e0) quickly and nods. "Yeah. Half an hour assuming a bit of traffic. Almost all of it on the highway."

[barticus]

"I'll go grab my bike and meet you back here Jag. Then we can load up the cargo and head out." On the way to get his bike Callum pulls up a map of the area and sends it to his image link *if possible (still not sure if that is but it would be so cool)* and tries to remember about any short cuts that are along the path. After returning with his bike he helps load the box into the truck.

Knowledge (Smuggling Routes) [roll0]
Mental limit 3, not that I can get higher than that anyway...

[Karen Lynn]

"Alright. I'll be in the garden when you lot return. I'll be ready to pay you then."

This is now being lead by y'all. Do as you please.

[Nocturno]

"Any volunteers to drive? If not I will take the wheel." Jag announces when the loading is done.

"Mage with the cargo, Zero in the cab, Callum scouting on the bike. Sound good?" Jag addresses the group as he twirls his keys.

[Revanus]

Atsumori mildly eyes their "employer" from behind his augmented shades.

His question was intended to measure their Mr. Johnson. He might happily pay--which signaled wealth and security. He might try to beg out of the extra payment with a thinly-veiled lie--which would signal the poor guy was tapped out and had scraped all he could together for this job.

Or, he'd be small-time.

The man in front of them was small-time. A meeting in a park, in plain view of Mr. Joe Public and anyone with a two-bit drone. Docking pay for making contact at the correctly appointed time. And professing to care about "insurance," while slighting the very people he was trusting to deliver him his package. A bigger fish would have just had his people run the job--but then, this was Flatline's contact. In that respect, Atsumori should have expected even less.

Still, five hundred for two hours of work wasn't bad. In fact, it was better than government overtime. Though, you didn't need to worry about replacing SINs or getting cuffed when you worked for the flag.

Teach me to take a job from Flatline again...the punk owes me big for not walking...

Atsumori offers Jag a nod, and moves to take shotgun at the front of the van.

[lonewolf1210]

After the crate is loaded onto the gopher, Raktim climbs up behind it onto the pickup and finds himself a place where he can sit. It seems obvious to him that he is going to be the one he gets the most uncomfortable seating. Then he concentrates on the spirit and turns his astral vision on to see it without it having to materialize. Communicating with the spirit in Hindi again he asks it to conceal the crate, the 4 of us and the bike (the gopher is too big).

After that is done he smirks slightly. "Lets go. I dont think that anyone is going to bother us on the way."

[barticus]

After helping load the package into the gopher Callum gets on his bike and heads out taking the lead. "Just stick with me and we'll be fine. Contact me if we get separated so we can regroup."

Any luck on the Smuggling Routes check? I got 2 hits from my previous post. Mostly looking for short cuts or side streets that aren't watched as closely if we need a quick get away path. Time permitting of course.

[Nocturno]

Before Callum leaves Jag sends out a local broadcast to get a connection for all the comms, inviting everyone to a lesser used channel.

"Can anyone secure this?" he says mostly to make sure his sub vocal mic is working.

He then starts to drive, keeping a half a block to a block behind Callum.

[Revanus]

Atsumori shakes his head.

"Not my field."

[lonewolf1210]

Not entirely sure about what to do about it, Raktim leaves the decision to the others and answers on the channel:
"We are beeing followed by an air spirit. Could be under Briggs control, but I cant be sure."

[Nocturno]

"Not much I can do about that, keep me posted if you need me to stop." Jag grimaces at the thought of being followed by a spirit.

[barticus]

"We can try to lose it once we cross the bridge if it materializes. Keep me posted on that. I don't have anything I can use to deal with a spirit at the moment. But lets keep moving in the mean time."

[Revanus]

"Zero" turns to glance at the back of the van.

"You don't know any combat spells?"

[lonewolf1210]

Raktim shifts uncomfortably and responds, slightly dodging the question: "I could try to get rid of it, but Im not sure if thats a good idea if its controlled by Briggs. I leave that decision to the rest of you."

[Revanus]

Zero shrugs.

"Our Johnson didn't say anything about tailing us. If you can chase it off without causing collateral damage or biting off more than you can chew, go for it."

[barticus]

"I'm with Zero on this one. Having a tail that isn't our own isn't usually a good sign."

[lonewolf1210]

"alright, I´ll try."

Raktim focuses on the spirit and weaves a powerful suggestion into the spirits mind, making it believe that what it saw completet its mission and makes it imperative to report back to its controller immediately.


casting Force 5 Influence
Spellcasting: [roll0]
resist drain: [roll1]

ooc: this is assuming that we are at least 3 minutes out from Briggs. If not, Raktim will wait at least that long before doing this.

EDIT: 2 points of Drain are not resisted

[Karen Lynn]

Raktim:

The spirit looks at you, a little confused, then speeds off, blinking out of sight within a second.

All: Traffic seems calm and smooth(for once) as you reach the bridge.

[lonewolf1210]

Thick drops of sweat pearl down Raktims side as he leans back again.

"Its done. This spirit shouldnt bother us anymore."

for a couple of seconds, he even closes his eyes, tempted to rest to recover from this headache, but then realizes that he has to focus here and keeps his eyes open on the astral plane for the rest of the ride.

[Nocturno]

"Alright, you can do more than some party tricks. I can work with that." Jag visibly relaxes.

"How does the other end of the bridge look?"

Jag turns off his mic and look over at Zero. "What you packing?"

[Revanus]

Zero glances towards Raktim.

"Nice work. Stay sharp, though."

He then turns to Jag.

"Pistols--mix of stick 'n shock, gel, and normal JHP. Plus the shock gloves and some 'ware. I try not to leave behind corpses--it brings needless heat. You?"

[Nocturno]

"I'm typically not that picky. I have pistols with Full Metals, and a smoke bomb if things go south. Some 'ware also." Jag looks impressed enough that you can tell.

"Hopefully we don't need to lay anyone out."

[barticus]

"Thanks for getting that thing off our tail, Raktim. If that is all the trouble we run into that'd be great..."

Callum continues to lead the way to the drop location.

[lonewolf1210]

"I have this ... thing. Cant remember the name ... " Raktim fiddles what seems like an eternity until he draws his Yamaha pulsar taser out of a concealed holster to show it to the others. "I hope it still works. Havent used it in forever."

[Nocturno]

"Whoa whoa, put that down I don't want to be tased bro!" Jag says as he hits a pothole.

"How does the traffic look up there?"

[Karen Lynn]

Traffic is flowing nice all to the bridge and across. As soon as y'all reach the end of the bridge, however, you all hear sirens. There's a cop behind the pick up now, lights and sirens going.

[Nocturno]

Jag will start to slow down to look like he is looking for a spot to pull over.

"Does anyone know someone that might help us with this?" Jag mumbles into his subvocal mic.

Jag checks his slotted sin, and puts on a fake smile.

[Revanus]

Zero slots his Level 2 SIN, running the name and basic details through his mind quickly, as he's done hundreds of times before.

Not really, but just play it cool. I can handle the rent-a-cop talk if he saunters up to me--if it's a routine traffic thing, though, just play nice and take the ticket."

[barticus]

Callum slows down as well and asks, "You guys got this or should I try to get back to you? " , before continuing or coming to a full stop.

[lonewolf1210]

Raktim curses silently and cowers a bit in the back. He could try to use his magic again, but he still got a headache from dealing with the spirit and he would rather not use magic on the police, so he waits for now, hoping that the others could talk their way out of this.

[Nocturno]

Jag pulls over where it seems where it seems safe.

"Stay outta sight no need to make this look suspicious, but try to stay close just in case."

[Karen Lynn]

Once you've pulled over in a safe spot off the road, the officer comes up to the window. "Sir, I'm going to need you to wait here a moment." He then turns to Raktim in the bed of the truck. "Sir, were you brandishing a gun while you were crossing the bridge?"

[lonewolf1210]

To call Raktim nervous and uncomfortable as he suddenly is the center of attention of this police officer would be a massive understatement.
"Gun? No. NO! I dont have a gun. Guns are dangerous and kill people. And you need a licence for one, dont you? I dont have that.
I just have this little taser here." He shows the taser without drawing it. "For self-defense, you know? The streets are dangerous at night."

[Karen Lynn]

The officer blinks, then shakes his head. "Alright. I'll let you off this time, buddy, but I see you again after getting reports of someone brandishing a weapon, I'm taking you in. Got it?" Assuming nothing else happens, the officer will head back to his vehicle. You're able to leave.

[lonewolf1210]

Raktim nods complyingly. "Yes. Yes of course officer. Thank you. I wont do that again."

He lets out a sigh of relief once the officer turns to leave and looks apologetic to the others.

[Nocturno]

"All good, back to work."

Jag pulls back into traffic.

[barticus]

Callum continues at his slower pace until he can see Jag's truck in his rear view mirrors and takes the lead again once he does that.

[Karen Lynn]

With the cop puling you over, and the time spent getting back into traffic, you estimate you've lost about 12 minutes. It doesn't take too much longer at this time to get toward the market. As you approach, you find easy parking next to a loading/unloading area directly beside the building.

[Revanus]

During the traffic stop, Zero plays it cool, giving the cop polite attention and saying nothing.

Once the cop departs and they're well on the road, Zero turns back to Raktim and gives a quiet nod.
---
As the vehicle enters the parking lot, Zero gives the area a professional once-over, keeping his eyes peeled for any potential threats.

[Nocturno]

As we roll into the parking lot, Jag starts looking for cameras, and the way in.

"We have anyone watching us Magicman?" He says to Raktim

"After the traffic stop, we are going to have to make this run smooth." Jag says to no one in particular, possibly just speaking to himself.

[lonewolf1210]

"Not that I noticed."
Raktims confidence, which isnt that high to begin with, was shaken a bit by this encounter with the police. That was exactly the kind of attention he had liked to avoid by getting concealed by the spirit. But at least they were there now.

[Karen Lynn]

No obvious threats, and a less than expected number of security cameras(most are pointed at the more crowded places in the market).

The area you're doing the drop only has a couple people going in and out of the grill, though its packed inside.

[barticus]

Callum parks his bike on the other side of the street, but still within view, and contacts the rest of the group.

"I'm parked across the street from the drop location. Planning to head over on foot now, anyone want to join me?"

He waits for confirmation before crossing the street at the nearest crosswalk.

[Nocturno]

"I am going to park a bit closer so we don't have to lug this thing too far."

Jag will get out once parked keeping his face down, trying to shy away from the cameras.

[Karen Lynn]

That wont be too difficult, seeing as there's one camera covering this side of the building. From across the street. Even then, it's aimed more towards the people than the building.

[Revanus]

Zero quietly slips out of his own seat once Jag brings the van to a stop and carefully shuts his own door, careful not to make too much noise. He does his best to stay out of sight of the clearly visible camera, while keeping his eyes peeled for any possible threat.

For the moment, Zero is content to follow the rest of the group's lead.

[lonewolf1210]

Raktim climbs out of the pickup and hopes that the others take care of the lifting and carrying stuff. Even if he would try to help, he would probably be more in the way then actual help.

[Nocturno]

"There must be a delivery door, no way we are muscling this through all those people."

Jag starts to walk to the loading doors.

He looks around for anyone who might work there.

[Karen Lynn]

One of the doors are clearly labeled "Market Grill - Deliveries". Nobody is on the loading dock, but there's a physical buzzer button next to the door frame.

[Nocturno]

"Everyone ready?"

Jag hesitates slightly as he asks, if there are no objections he will push the buzzer in a second or so.

[Revanus]

Zero nods, hanging back a little to provide covering fire should things go south.

"Go for it."

[Nocturno]

Jag rings the buzzer.

[Karen Lynn]

About half a minute passes before someone comes to the door, looking out a small window. "What!? What do you want? Who are you?"

[Nocturno]

"I have a package from Briggs." says Jag in his roughest tone.

[Karen Lynn]

"Briggs? Good, good. Where is it? I don't see it."

[Revanus]

Zero shrugs and steps alongside Jag.

"There's more than two of us. Where do you want to make the exchange?"

[Karen Lynn]

"I don't care. Bring the package. We're busy and we need the stuff." He's obviously waiting on the delivery, and this being a delivery door...

[Nocturno]

Jag will go to grab the box from the truck.

"Callum and Magicman staying outside, or coming along? ?" Jag asks.

[barticus]

"I'll help you carry it if you need." After they clear ear shot of the loading bay he asks Jag "You want to pull around your truck? That would probably be easiest."

[Karen Lynn]

Once you get the box up to the door, the man inside quickly hefts it from your arms, bringing it in before shouting "Hey bill! It's here! Need the return box!" Not a minute later, A different man comes out with a smaller package, cold to the touch and less than ten pounds. "You tell Briggs it's all ready for him." Without waiting for a response, he closes the door.

[barticus]

"Need help getting that little thing to your truck?" Callum asks Jag sarcastically. "Lets get back to Briggs. I wanted to go for sushi after this as long as I can get there before close."

[Nocturno]

"Let's book it." As he walks to the Gopher, Jag also picks up on the dinner plans.
"Where do you go? I'd be up or a couple rolls and a few rounds after this is done."

[barticus]

"It's just a little place in the Redmond Town Center. It's really good for the price, and the all you can eat is very reasonably priced. Last time I went it was only 30¥.

[Nocturno]

"Sounds good, first round is on me."

Jag starts to drive back to the park following the same route we used to get here.

[barticus]

"Sweet!" Callum follows a few cars behind watching the rear of the package.

[Karen Lynn]

You can't seem to spot any tails, or anyone even paying much attention to you at all. Once on the road to the park, traffic seems light. You estimate that you'll make it back well within the time frame.

[Karen Lynn]

With nothing doing on the way there, you make it easily under the time limit set. Briggs greets you all happily. He's moved away from the garden spot towards a small grill. He lights a fire in the grill as you approach.

[Nocturno]

Jag walks straight over to Briggs presenting him with the package.

[Karen Lynn]

Briggs will inspect the package, then, happy it was unopened, rip the seal off and reveal the contents as fish. "Perfect! Just as I ordered. And just in time for dinner, too. Now that that's out of the way, I can pay you all. Would you like to stay and have some fish while we talk business? I have another job, one that will actually require some skill this time." He seems happy that it was done as instructed, and he'll put on a fish for every person that wants to stay. While waiting for the fish and some veggies to grill, he'll pay everyone with a quick transfer of Nuyen.

[Nocturno]

"I'm game." Jag looks to Callum "Looks like we don't have to rush off for dinner."

[barticus]

"Looks to be that way." Callum replies to Jag. He then looks around for a place to sit and grabs a chair if one is available. If no seating is near by, he just sits down on the grass.

[Karen Lynn]

There is a table and several ch. It seems he was setting up while y'all were on delivery. It doesn't take much to gather that he had you deliver veggies and return with some fresh fish. Within minutes, the scents of grilled fish and veggies fill the air. When it's ready, he'll plate for each of you before sitting down himself.

"Well then, seems you lot exceeded my expectations. Now then, I've a job. Who here's a fan of the corporate enclaves?"

[Revanus]

Zero notes the balance in his accounts improve, nodding slightly with the confirmation that he did not waste his afternoon.

In response to the offer of dinner and the discovery of their non-illicit cargo, Zero offers Briggs a small, genuine smile.

A crafty test from Mr. Johnson...

At the mention of corp work, Zero raises an eyebrow, finding a seat.

"Sounds interesting..."

[Karen Lynn]

"Sorry to have tested y'all like this, but I was in the mood for some grilled fish. I had gardening to do. What I need now is to know how capable each of you are in your respective fields of specialization. I've got a few things lined up, and need to know where you lot best fit. So, care to tell me more about your talents?"

His demeanor is much more friendly this time around, and he seems to be the cunning type of Johnson.

[lonewolf1210]

Raktim had been quiet on the way back. He still was quite unsure about how he felt about everything that was going on here. Making some money was nice, but he does feel out of his element.


When Briggs askes about Corporate Enclaves, Raktim gets a flashback to his time inside the hellhole that was the Renraku Arkology.
He shudders and mutters very quietly: "No. not a fan."
He does stay though and will listen to the job.

"As I said before, Im good at staying under the radar. Getting in and out of places without anyone noticing. But I do have a few other magic tricks up my sleeve. Like I am on quite good terms with air spirits."

[barticus]

Callum is relived to hear that this dinner run was only the beginning of a business relationship. He listens to Raktim and waits until he finishes speaking to chime in, but dodges the question about the Corps and goes right into his skills.

"I'm good with my "tools" and I picked up a trick or two to help me be better with them. I was also trained as a first responder back in the day so I'm good to have if you need to be patched up quick."

[Nocturno]

"I've taken some important people in and out of Los Angeles. I never stopped to smell the roses." Jag says deep in thought.

"Like I said before I move people/things. If you need something hidden, moved or protected from personal damage, I handle that." Jag announces while straightening up.

[Karen Lynn]

"Okay. Then you my be a right fit for this next job. There's a man working at a small time soda company. Some old name that's fallen by the wayside, and is barely keeping their doors open. We want to... Hire this man. I just need him in our office to do so. It's pretty simple: Go visit the downtown office, pick the guy up, try some sodas, bring what you can, along with him. If things happen to go in a way that guarantees he'll not be able to go back to working for the old company, all the better. Interested?"

[lonewolf1210]

Raktim hesitates for a moment but then goes for it: "I am interested, but I do have one condition: I need to know exactly who I am working for. I had no problem doing that small job anonymously, but if we are to work together for more than that we could be seen as some kind of allies from the outside, and I need to be at least as careful in choosing my allies as I am in choosing my enemies. Those often come hand in hand. You have given us your name, but apparently you are part of an organization as well. Who are those "we" you were talking about?"

[Nocturno]

"I'm in." Jag looks at Raktim "I have enemies big enough already, that it doesn't really matter to me."
"I wonder if I can pick up some non-lethal ammo before we hit downtown."

[Karen Lynn]

"You'll have to stay in the dark on that, at least for now. If trust and regular employment is built up, then we can discuss our bosses, otherwise: consider yourselves temporary independent contractors. We can't risk any details getting out just yet." He regards each in turn, starting with Jag. "Non-lethal ammo? There's a defense supply shop on the other side of the bridge, a mile from Pike Place Market. Otherwise, if we're to continue speaking, I will need your names. Handles are fine, so long as we can contact you regularly." Briggs seems expectant of you this time, as though he won't take any less than names or actual handles.

[barticus]

"I'm in as long as I'm considered a "temporary independent contractor" by your superiors for now. As far as handle, you can call me Scot. Only one "t". Callum checks his Smartlink to make sure his "tools" are fully stocked.

"How soon do you need this done by? It's always nice to know the time table."

[Nocturno]

"Jag is fine" He will send Briggs his current comm info.

[lonewolf1210]

Raktim hesitates but then nods. Its fairly obvious that he doesnt like this arrangement, but he accepts it nonetheless.

Since he has already given his name to everyone, he doesnt think its necessary to do so again, but if he notices that Briggs does expect him to repeat it, he will.