"Sure, that works. I can just toss my bike in that big old beast I guess."
"Sounds good ta me."
Once back at Paddy's crash-pad.
"Okay boys, this is gonna take me a few minutes. Feel free to scarf the soy-dogs, and I think there may be a couple of beers left over in the fridge."
The apartment is pretty much a dump. The building should have been condemned long ago, and the neighborhood borders on a Barrens zone, battling up into simply "poor" by a hairsbreath. Inside, everything is neatly organized, with a small auto-kitchen, an old trid-set and a dilapidated pull out couch. Beyond the normal living area, though, is a much better kept and extremely well organized workspace.
Around the perimeter, old mis-matched shelves hold jars, boxes, and strange equipment, seemingly in equal parts chemical and magical. The walls show a relatively new coat of off-white paint, and the floor is immaculate, with a large pentacle drawn on the floor in chalk.
Paddy enters this back room laboratory and starts plucking items off the shelves, quietly humming to himself.
The red-haired mage lights candles, placing incense at the points of the pentacle, and re-scribes several of the chalk lines, ensuring the symbol is perfectly drawn. Once settled in, he places his street gear on a nearby workbench, taking his shoes and socks off and sliding them underneath. As he settles into the center pentagon of the pentacle, a subtle pressure washes the room, before a very faint golden glow surrounds the image and Paddy, forming a dome around the circle.
Crunch:
vs. Force*2 1 hit
Drain Resistance vs Drain 2: 4 hits, no drain
Net Hits: 4, Watcher sticks around for 24 hours.
With that first ritual out of the way, Paddy takes a bit of a break. As he stands you may notice the golden sheen drop away from the circle, and the barely felt pressure in the room returns to normal.
"Well, that worked very well. A little watcher spirit to give us some eyes and ears. Now I am gonna conjure up a more potent spirit, which should help give us some concealment and assistance on our way into the scrap yard. Just a few more minutes, lads!"
Paddy takes a couple of gulps of water before returning to his circle, gathering ingredients in a faster, less ritualistic fashion. He sits down in the center, murmuring an incantation to the spirit of air he calls to assist him.
Crunch:
Paddy stands up decidedly woozy after that summoning, grabbing his head in obvious pain. "Ow. Jeez, now I remember why I don't play around with these things very much...Let me just grab my stuff and we can go."
Moving a bit gingerly, as if with a really bad hangover, Paddy assembles his running gear.
He wears his Lined Coat, strapping on the Ruger with 2 speedloaders and a box of loose shells in his pocket. In a small backpack, he adds: Fake Pistol License, Fake Mage License, Optical Binoculars, Flashlight, Gas Mask, and a canteen of water. He pulls a pair of heavy, enhanced goggles on (Smart Goggles (Rating 6, Smartlink, Image Link, Flare Compensation, Low-Light Vision, Thermographic Vision, Vision Magnification), while adding his Meta-Link commlink and micro transciever. Finally, he pulls a bandolier out of a case, with 4 HE grenades, 4 Frag grenades, 2 CS/Tear Gas grenades, and 2 Neuro-Stun IX grenades. He thinks for a minute, before placing a 1kg can of Foam Explosives and a pack of 6 detonator caps, all switched to "wireless off" mode.
Slipping a couple of Stim Patches in his pocket, he nods to the rest of the team.
"Okay, I'm ready to roll." All told, Paddy's gearing up, including the Watcher ritual and failed Summoning took about 10 minutes.
While they are in the car, Paddy places a call to one of his contacts, looking for a little intel.
Japanese: "Yorimoto-San, glad to speak with you again. I'm looking for some info on a new gang, calls themselves the Junkyard Boys, operating out of a scrap-yard in Puyallup. There might be some new product for you to distribute in the near future, as well. Let me know what you can, I appreciate it. Domo arigato."
When comments are made about the gear, he will simply say "I'd prefer to at least make sure we can see what we need to and don't have to worry about having secured comms. I see way too many runner teams who make that mistake."
Verve will also start calling his local contacts to get information regarding the junkyard boys.
Sits down at Paddy's and waits till he is done and shows him his open hand
Alakazam!
Shows the fly spy drone
Mine was much easier to summon.
Thanks for letting me swing by home, be right back just need to grab Spud. From the garage
Loads up spud in the back of the Roadmaster.
BC waits on the others to get finished. So much wasted effort when all you need is a strong pair of hands and the ability to fight your way t someone's gun. Why rely on tech and spirits when you can rely on yourself.
"We all set boys?"
He gently elbows Bulletcatcher, "Getting anxious to go punch someone, big guy?"
Why is it, always the 8 foot trolls talking about hitting things? This is why Ares makes guns for drones
I am good to go, I wanna go wiz ganger hunting
"Nah, just bored sitting round waiting for the drek to hit fan. Ever since the SK job I been waiting for our karma ta even out.."
Well if you are really bored feel free the hit Paddy's elementals around
"Sorry to disappoint, but the spirit gave me the old frag off. Left me with a headache like I hit the ork beer again, but no help for me. The little guy, the watcher, he doesnt even have a body to smack."
Are you sure you weren't hitting the whiskey and not Ork beer?
"Might've been, at that. All I remember is a wicked headache and a taste in my mouth like I chewed on the bottom of a taxi."
Ewwww your rechewing BC's gum
Handing the keys to Shade, Verve says "okay, gents, let's go be heroes. Big damn Heroes." then shakes his head, realizing he made reference to a movie that none of them were alive to see in the theaters. On the plus side, I can reuse jokes from movies from 3 decades back, and everyone thinks they're mine. As the car starts and they head out into the night, Verve mumbles the end of the quote under his breath "ain't we just."
A vehicle without rigger control is a crime against meta humanity, I guess I have to actually drive this thing
All aboard, please have your tickets in hand to show for transport, Passports as well if going outside the current city block. Find your seat and fasten your seat belts as I can promise a extremely fast and bumpy ride
Sure hope you have full coverage insurance Verve
"Vroom, vroom. Lets get to the boom-boom time!"
glancing sideways at Shade, Verve says "Just how good a driver are you?"
Smiles
Ever play that game death race? If it is on the road I consider it a high value target. And I am REALLY good at bumper cars. Just relax I got this
"No, I never played the game. I saw the movie when I was a kid, but that was a long time ago, and David Carrodine was creepy in his gimp mask."
Very creepy, someone is showing their age
As you say that, Verve pulls down the rear view mirror and begins checking himself for wrinkles before smiling and saying "I see what you did there."
Snickers
What ever do you mean Mr Elf
"Nothing. We should get moving, unless anyone else has things they need?"
"I'm good. Unless you happened to have an extra assault rifle or combat shotgun laying around? " Paddy grins as he wonders if Verve could pull just such an item at no notice.
"I don't carry guns. They attract the wrong kind of attention." For the briefest of moments, Verve withdraws into himself, as if he is reliving a none-to-good memory. Shaking his head to clear it, he says "Any other requests?"
Well since you asked, What kind of hair gel do you use and where can Paddy get some?
"Hair gel? Thats silly. If and when I need to style up these luscious locks, I'll use mousse!"
Just thinking with the right style you could look like a matchstick to light you explosives
"You've been watching too many trids. You don't use fire fuses anymore. Hell, I doubt anyone's used one for like a hundred years."
BC shifts slightly, the slight movement seeming as to the first shift of snow before an avalanche descending. A moment later there is the crack of broad knuckles further adding to the metaphor. He seems to be watching something off in a corner and any looking in his eyes can see the shadow of movement play a crossed his iris. Dark rage brews beneath the surface.
Did I miss something? We are all loaded up and ready to go? Do I need to make a driving roll for just a standard drive there?
yes we will stop a block away so I can release my fly spy drone to recon the area and buildings. I will also carrying the bug drone so I can send it in when we start to move in
The area of town seems to be run down slums that no one is living in. even a block away you can here gunfire.
You see what appears to be a full Milspec Assault Team attacking the junkyard. You see a logo that appears to be a black 2 headed bird with the initials RWTS over it. They are supported by 1 Steel Lynx, 2 Dobermans, and 4 Roto-Drones.
Spirits: Can tell that they have a few adepts guarding a team of 2 Mages.
"Go, little watcher. Scan the area and find metahumans. Also look for any spirits or astral barriers, then return."
Look closely at the surrounding buildings and for a van or other vehicle large enough to launch the drones. I will also advise the team of the full mil spec assault team attacking, the group of men appearing to be guarding 2 other men and the steel lynx, 2 Dobermans and 4 Roto drones. I am looking for the rigger now. I would love to be able to keep the drones and we could get a good haul for his rcc deck if we can get it and him.
"Okay...a milspec strike team beat us here, and have serious overwatch and drone support rocking already. Perhaps a modification of our plan is in order."
"Maybe we should see if we can find their comms network and figure out who they are? Cause they're walking out of here with our money, and I like to be the one to take my money home with me at the end of the night."
Verve will get into the back of his van and look around for something that would let them get access to their comms network.
Turning to Shade, he adds "See if you can find their vehicle. I'd like to go have a talk with these gentlemen."
Finding what he was looking for, Verve will pull out a 2' long device that looked like a weird gun attached to a small backpack power supply. Noticing the questioning looks, he says "This is a directional jammer. A fairly powerful one. Once we locate them, we can jam their communications if needed." He then sets the jammer in the space between the front seats. "Just in case, of course."
As soon as fixer passes the info I will alert the team
You hear a knock on the door and notice a man in military dress with the same "black 2 headed bird with the initials RWTS over it" symbol as the men attacking. He holds up a sheet of electronic paper asking to have a chat.
<Uh, so, wanna say hello V? Or do I prep a little claymore action for when we open the door?>
Will casually drop my hand down from the RCC deck on to the handle of my predator
Will activate the Doberman and have it slowly move into position to fire on this guy in case he tries something
i am sure Verve would be happy to discuss anything with you, But please feel free to tell us what it is you have there
RWTS Captain: He keeps his hands where you can see them."Relax My name is Captain Jericho of Raven Wing Tactical Solutions. It seems our intel was right about a team of runner's being hired to come and retrieve something these fragging idiots stole. I was thinking if you would help us out then maybe I can get you a little extra pay. How does 15,000¥ sound in exchange for helping us get into some of their safes."
"Extra nuyen is always appreciated. You need a safe cracked, eh?"