The Wrecking Crew (Inactive)

Game Master Ryuko

"Hm... the first one will honestly be the easiest for me -- I have spells I can use to grab the ribbon down easily enough." Alan announces, "I kind of doubt that it will be just that however -- after all they have to expect that this information will be leaked and plan around that too."

Deirdre puzzles over the conundrum of ribbons and how best to obtain them as she nurses her drink for a bit. After a bit she socks back the rest and plunks her glass down on the table.

"Anyun' that's after one 'o them ribbons 'd need somone to watch ther' back...there's four 'o us. Wha' eef we divide inta two groups and then each group goes aftah a couple 'o the ribbons an we meet up before crossing the finish line?"

@Kid: Neko grins, "Yeah, a fortune and a half. I couldn't have put it together without my agent. A troll by the name of Usami Seika did most of the mod work, but my agent found the sponsors and got us a lot of engineering support from a corp engineer- I think he was with Ares. And the weight... the weight's half the point! A lot of these races are more about maneuverability than speed, and driving a heavy bike gives me more options for crashing through obstacles or running down the competition. And the tires- have you ever ridden on a set? They'll take you over anything! I'd hate to race without 'em, but I still have the factory set in case I ever changed my mind." He shrugs, "UCB ain't about practical racing, there's plenty of circuits for that. UCB's about style, audacity, making it look good- and Sarge has worked out well so far."

@Kid: "Yeah, there's a lot of options. Drones, spirits, spells, climbing... we want something flashy- what're you thinking of?"

@D-Frag: "The guy in the vid and the Johnson both said we had to collect the ribbons in order... what do you have in mind?"

@All: "I think the cocoon tower will be the roughest part, unless any of you have a contact in Renraku...?" He pauses for a moment and hopes for a bit of good news, "...I thought not. Hmmm. There's no indication that security is going to be hostile on this one; they'll probably even be expecting us. What if we arrange for an escort? Find some middle-level manager who's a fan of UCB, wine and dine him, promise him an appearance on the reel- then show up in the lobby, sign some autographs, and have him escort us to the ribbons."

"I'm not too worried about the police, I'm sure we've all outrun 'em before. Thing is, how do we use this info to our advantage? Maybe we let the other teams get there first on the quickest path, get noticed and make a big distraction, then ride in from another direction?"

How long do we have until the race begins? What is the overall length of the course?

Deirdre frowns thoughtfully as she orders another synth-beer

@Neko: "Nar 'o course yer righ'..we canna get the ribbons out 'o order. But mebbe we could stay as one group but split up tha' tasks. 'Ave two runnin' D/O and two to scamper after ribbons and such-like"

There are three days until the race begins. The race should take roughly an hour to finish, if you're lucky or extraordinarily quick you could likely do 45 minutes.

"Maybe the trick is to lay some groundwork beforehand," Slide says. "We could do all the snatching the day before, then just make it look good during the race."

Neko gives Slike an odd look. "You want to try to pull one over on the Yakuza? Hell, they probably won't even put them up until race day, and then there's no telling what sort of security and authentication there'll be on the ribbons themselves... I think we need to play this one straight. I don't want to piss off any of the race organizers before we even hit the course!"

"We do have a lot of groundwork to lay though. We need to plot out routes and alternates and drive 'em all a few times to get the lay of the land," he takes long pull from his drink and continues, "...and we need to find out which other teams we'll be racing against."

After saying his piece, Neko pulls up a map and starts plotting out all the plausible routes they might take between the landmarks. "Now, I'm worried about the bridge. It's a hell of a chokepoint; maybe we should use some of that front-money to have a fast ferry standing by in case something comes up..."

@GM: Please give me an interval and difficulty, or let me know if you just want to handwave it...

Extended test: Navigation(1) + Logic(2)

Note that D-Frag could help with this significantly, with her mapsoft...

"I honestly kind of like the splitting up to grab them -- it's not like we have to all be there, we just have to get the ribbons in order and get across the line." Kid offers, "If we want to we might be able to get the drop on some of the opposition at the bridge. Use the fact that it's a chokepoint to our advantage to wipe out some of the competition. At least the stronger competitors... I don't think we should wipe them all since that would make it easier for lone star to simply focus on us when we get to that point."

Deirdre slides her mug out of the way, leans over the table and checks out the map that Neko has pulled up. After a moment she chews her lip; thinking...and then sweeps her blonde hair away from one ear and reveals a datajack behind it. She unjacks an expensive looking 'soft chip and tosses it to Neko.

"'Ere; u cannae see what's in mah 'ead...but if you slot this inta yer commlink it might be a help chartin' the race. O' course I won' it back after yer done wi' it."

Deirdre; not having any Navigation skill herself (she prefers to let the mapsoft do the heavy lifting) will let Neko borrow her mapsoft for this scene.

@GM: Can we get a description of these landmarks and the roadways in 2070s Tokyo? How high will we be, starting on the 'mid levels'?

Neko slots the chip and tells it the kind of routes he's looking for, then prunes out the less suitable suggestions until he's left with what seem like a few good options. He answers Kid while he's working.

"I like the idea of an ambush, but I don't know about splitting up. That'd leave two of us racing against every other team in the competition, and I know what I'd do if I saw a small, isolated group racing by themselves..." He uses his thumb and forefinger to mime firing a gun. "Lets meet up tomorrow at the bridge. We can pick out an ambush point, try out a few of these routes, and see if any shortcuts come to mind that don't show up on the map. 10 AM sound good?"

If we don't have anything else to chat about over drinks, I'm fine with doing one more IC post to handle the rest of the night and tomorrow morning then jumping ahead to the meeting at the bridge... along with whatever other 'interesting' occurrences the GM may have planned.

"Do we know if regular traffic will be on the streets during the race?" Alan asks.

"Oh yeah, there almost always is. Barricades get you in too much trouble with the authorities; there'll probably be the usual commuter and drone traffic. That's another thing to check for though... it wouldn't surprise me if they scheduled the race during some sort of parade or other big event. Lets do a bit of research and see if anything shows up."

"O' course even if ther is traffic...we can go down a levl' er two..or even up un if we need to. That can be get violent but doesn't 'ave to be a bad thing as long as we're bettr at violent than they are."

Deirdre grins hugely with a spirited glint in her eyes.

The extended test is fine to be handwaved for simple routes, you can perhaps get a slight boost if you attempt a Difficulty 18 with an interval of half an hour.

The mid levels are between 30 and 70 stories (roughly 120-280 meters or 360 to 840 feet) from ground level. For roadways check OOC

"Hey," Slide says, "Keep your hands on your purses, ladies. There's some punk goin' around picking pockets at the bar."

"Heh, that scamp. We've all gotta eat... but I might have some fun with him if he comes over this way."

Deirdre snickers

"'At oughta be good - I luv a good show. Don' start tha fun wi'out me...gonna pop outside an check on tha bikes."

Deirdre drops her empty mug off at the bar and nonchalantly walks outside to check on everyone's rides...just in case this "scamp" has friends that are up to shenanigans outside. If everything is okay she hurries back inside to order some onion rings and another round of drinks before the show starts.

Perception Roll:
Int+Per(Visual)
6d6 ⇒ (5, 4, 4, 1, 4, 6) = 24 => 2 successes

"Maybe we could catch him on the way out, in case we need a patsy later on. Get him to do the really dangerous work for us."

The pickpocket steps closer and casually walks by the table, his hand dips lightly into Neko's roomy pocket and begins withdrawing.

A small swarm of microdrones zip out from under the table and begin circling the pickpocket while his hand is still in Neko's pocket. The guns on the drones are quite small and probably only hold a single shot each... but they are all pointed at his face.

Neko slams his drink down on the table with an emphatic thump, "Oi! What's this now? You seem to have upset my PAN's security system, chummer. Better not make any sudden moves, those tiny drone brains don't have room for the high-end autosofts and they can be a little twitchy once they have a target lock. Cost me a bloody arm and a leg to clean up the mess last time. Maybe you should take your hand out of my pocket and have a seat, and we can talk about this little misunderstanding..."

The drones continue humming above his head, just out of reach.

Spellcasting + Magic, Trid Phantasm spell (force 1): 5d6 ⇒ (1, 6, 6, 5, 3) = 21 = 3 successes
Willpower + Charisma drain resistance: 6d6 ⇒ (5, 2, 3, 6, 2, 2) = 20 = 2 drain resisted, 2 drain taken

"Holy Hell!" The kid nearly falls on his ass trying to get away from the drones, then stands as he wipes his bright blue hair from his eyes. "S-Sure." He says as he sits next to Neko, conspicuously keeping his hands in sight on the table. "Sorry sir. I've gotta make a living."

Alan almost chokes on his drink when he sees what Neko is up to but keeps his mouth shut and continues trying to drink.

Deirdre props her elbows (one metal and one flesh) on the table and extrudes the razors from the metallic fingers of her cyberarm...casually inspecting the way they glint through narrowed eyes.

"M'sunderstandin'? Dinnae know Neko seems pretty clear 'ta meh...e' were tryin ta steal from yeh. I ain't got ta go fishin' in forever; give em to me and I'll use 'im her bait. You know wha' "fishin'" is don'tcha mate? Hogtie ya to tha back of mah cycle; an drag yeh screamin' through the lowest parts 'o the city trawlin fer ghoulies ta feed. Oh it's awesome good fun it is"

She grins wickedly and retracts her claws; then glares at the punk before crossing her arms over her chest and slouching back in her chair to see what Neko has to say. Trying not to laugh she bites her lower lip and scowls extra hard so a chuckle doesn't get out.

Intimidate Roll (see if I can soften him up a little more for Neko's little game)

Cha(3) + Intimidate(1; Mental+2):6d6 ⇒ (6, 5, 2, 4, 3, 2) = 22 =>2 successes

"With the way the ocean looks these days actually threatening to throw him in would be almost as bad, D-Frag" Kid opines looking around to see if this was causing a scene or not... he liked the pub and didn't want to cause a big stir if possible -- at least not the sort the other locals didn't like.

Neko lets a smile stretch across his face at D-Frag's suggestion and rubs his chin and tusk idly while he pretends to think it over. 'Course, we all gotta make a living... but it has been a while since I went fishin' for ghouls..." He finally makes up his mind, "Lets give the kid a chance to tell his side of it." He turns his glare on the kid, "What's your name? Let's see some ID. So, {name}, what're you good for besides bait?"

Neko makes a cursory check to see if it's a fake ID but doesn't sweat it too much. If the kid indicates any proclivity for thievery or violence, Neko brings up UCB and eventually leads the conversation toward a little job to support their next race. UCB has a bit of a tradition of counting coup on opponents by grabbing their bikes; he offers better-than-chopshop prices if he can bring them a bike from the competition.

Otherwise he strings out his bit of fun until it gets dull then sends him on his way, 'giving him a headstart' before they come looking for him and turn him into ghoul bait. After a little while the drones fly back under the table. Neko hands the spell over to his sustaining focus in case he has occasion to bring them out again, but they're mostly forgotten about.

Keep in mind, the kid has a moderate chance of recognizing Neko and/or D-Frag from the fame trait. It might be interesting to see his reaction if he realizes whose pocket he was in...

"The name's Leo. Ain't got no ID man, I'm SINless." The kid looks nervously around the bar, but the other patrons seem to be studiously minding their own business. "Look man, I-..." He stops. "Wait. I recognize you. You're that UCB biker who messed up Tracks a few weeks ago. I couldn't believe you brought him down." His face shifts around a second. "And you." He points to D-Frag. "You're the girl who made that sweet jump in the Blue Lotus Single... D-Fell right?" Leo suddenly seems a little more animated. "Wow, you guys are great riders. I bet those are your bikes outside too right?"

Recognition:4d6 ⇒ (5, 6, 6, 3) = 20
And D-Frag:4d6 ⇒ (6, 4, 1, 6) = 17

Deirdre perks up at the mention of her jump; dropping the scowl (somewhat reluctantly given how he mangled her handle) and leaps into the conversation despite herself.

"S' D-FRAG mate; an aye tha' were me in tha Blue Lotus Single. Ramping tha' overturned truck and then skidding oonder a semi was tha' 'ighlight o tha' race. 'Ad a blast in that 'un I did. Ya follow UCB then do yeh Leo? Wot's yer favorite team then aboot Tokyo?"

Deirdre gives him the eyeball as she waits for his answer. She warms to those with an appreciation for biking or an eye for bikes; but has little patience for empty flattery.

Neko looks the kid over as D-Frag sounds him out. If he's a legitimate fan... well, you don't go around terrorizing the fans. If he seems alright Neko will stop messing with Leo and offer him a few pointers and just enjoy chatting about UCB. "Bah, SINless! You should always have something to show The Man. Even a cheap fake ID to keep the security drones happy..."

If it seems like he was just trying to change the topic to distract us or ingratiate himself to us though... "Yeah, that's us. Now the camera, it catches my good side- you don't wanna see my bad side. I'm gonna ask you again; what are you good for besides ghoul bait?"

Leo is obviously a bit of a fan, though he's not as fanatical as many people you've met. "My favorite team?" The kid considers for a second, then his eyes light up. "Gotta be Operation Winter. The ice magic, the white motif, the cause... they're just way too cool."

UCB Teams (street): 6d6 ⇒ (5, 4, 5, 5, 3, 6) = 28 = 4 successes

"Yeah, they're whiz." He acknowledges, somewhat dismissively. "I'm lookin' forward to racing them on the team circuit- that's right, you haven't heard! Let me introduce you to The Wrecking Crew, you know me an' D-Frag and this here's Kid and Slide. We'll be hitting the streets in just a few days... get ready for a hell of a show."

Neko would chat for an hour or two before reminding the team to meet up at 10 tomorrow for their scouting run. Once he's alone he'd contact his agent to give him a heads-up about the race and the team. He also checks to see if his agent can make an introduction to someone in Renraku who could get us into the tower, as well as seeing if he has any information about which other teams have been invited.

Do you want to RP the call with the agent? Will I need to make a favor roll (core book, pg 280)?

Sorry about the delay guys, big post coming later today, I'm sick so the creative juices are a bit sluggish atm.

No need to RP we'll move forward to the other stuff, however, you'll need to roll a favor roll. You can either go for him getting you access outright for a day (Difficulty 3) or hooking you up with someone who can (Automatic Success)

Tokyo tower, entirely unchanged throughout the entire upward mobility of Tokyo (beyond raising it a few dozen meters a decade ago to keep it relevant), sparkles in a small area of artificial sunlight. Looking carefully you can tell that thanks to the towering skyscrapers, the light would only actually hit it near dusk, right about when the race starts. The plaza around the landmark is expertly built and those choosing not to visit are able to easily move in and out of the circular highway without trouble.

Unless anyone wants to examine something here, I say we scout out the route to the Rainbow Bridge.

Neko rolls up to Tokyo tower and goes to work, driving around it several times and recording everything while getting a feel for the area and any potentially interesting terrain features. The next step is to drive to the bridge and back several times to check out the different routes available and note all the little details that wouldn't be apparent from studying a map.