JINx busies himself with a routine not dissimilar to a babe on Christmas morning, as he slowly unwraps each gun, lovingly rocks back slides, explores every inch with a professional eye, slots in the clip into one, and gets the feel for their weight and balance.
He stops geeking out long enough to get a few boxes of ammo.
Cruising through the ARO's, Red was glad for the Sensorlink in his commlink. Nothing quite like feeling the weight of the guns, well, it was pretty close to real thing.
Bringing up the picture he had taken of the shipping manifest, Red starts checking to see if any of the equipment happened to be in the dealer's list of gear. He stops dead when he comes across the ARO of a Savalette Guardian. "Well, hello sexy thing." The rigger says out loud.
Mentally, the rigger composes a quick message and sends to Ahlwin and Hawatari via his comm. "Hey chummers, I'm looking through his catalog manually to see if anything in the shipment is listed. Mind giving me a hand? If your not busy shopping, that is. There's a couple of grade A bang-bangs in here :) " the rigger adds an archaic smiley face with a hint of grin on his face.
"Well, seeing as how you look to be an arms dealer, a crate of small arms and ammo where most likely what would come your way." Red comments as he walks over to Tarnish. The rigger was being friendly, as trying to intimate the human would be foolish in the extreme. Even if Tarnish wasn't safely encased behind bullet-proof plasglass and reinforced plascrete, the human looked like he wasn't going to take any drek. "I noticed the Savalette, happen to be in stock?" The rigger asks changing subjects.
"Yeah, chummer, couple a' boxes a' gear came my way. Fellow called me up outta da blue, said he had a line on some stuff that was fallin' off the back of a truck. I said sure, lemme know when ya got it and I'll take a look. Strictly biz, ya know?" As he's talking, the AROs on the glass start to move a bit, a window irising open.
"Shipment turned out ta be MERF drops. Dunno how the guy got his mitts on 'em, didn't ask. Wasn't too good a negotiator, got the merch for a decent price." Tarnish grins at the memory before continuing. "Bought the pair off tha guy, turned out to have a decent selection of pieces and plenty of spare parts. Also plenty a' ammo, specially gel rounds for some damned reason. Figured it was too good ta be true, and I wasn't disappointed, obviously."
The window shows a pair of plasteel containers, about a meter or so long and half that tall and wide. Large white stenciled letters spell out MERF on the top and side, while a serious looking maglock secures the lid. Graphics zoom in on the maglock, showing what turns out to be an RFID tag.
"Thing had a tracer on, a' course. Nothing high-powered so it couldn't transmit more'n a couple hundred meters, tops. But enough to get my interest goin'. So I got a hacker friend to backtrace the signal, dug out a commcode and gave it a ring. The voice seemed surprised to hear someone call about missing MERF boxes, especially calling on the code I did." His smile vanishes and a serious business demeanor crosses his face.
"I dunno 'zactly who I was talkin' to, and I don't particularly wanna. The code was definintely local Seattle LTG, so long as they didn't bounce it here and there, and it was pulled from the 'trix bout as soon as I hung up. Long story short, the fellow I bought the crates from boosted it from the folks I called, and they weren't too happy with that. Figured it'd just be a matter a' time til some team or other came by ta ask about it. Just to be clear, they told me I could keep the merch."
He leaves the ARO open and flags it to be available for copy/store if you so desire.
"As to the Guardian, yeah, I got one ready to rock and roll. Got another one currently stripped and on my bench. Even got a concealed holster for it, took it in trade actually. You interested?"
(3 hits, no 1's)
(3 hit, 2 miss)
Red smiles faintly as Tarnish mentions a team showing up to investigate.
"No worries about the guns and ammo, chummer," the rigger says with a nod of his head. He copies the offered ARO, making sure he gets the RFID tag for tracing when they get closer. "I don't suppose you have a pic and handle of the guy who sold you the gear handy?" Red asks the arms dealer.
"Oh," Red taps the ARO with the Savalette. "And yes, I'm quite interested in this fine piece of steel." The rigger grins slightly at the ARO of the heavy pistol.
It is love at first sight.
Like a kid with his snotty nose pressed up against the window of a candy store, Synxol focuses on each ARO with lust in his eyes. Playing back and forth he finds it difficult to make up his mind, and comes very close to blowing his wad and walking out under the crushing weight of everything that throws lead downrange.
"Yeah, no prob omae. Slot yer creds and I'll get ya da piece easy 'nuff."
Just like Jinx's purchaes, the Svalette Guardian emerges from a port in the glass wall, cased nicely and ready for action (after loading it with bullets, of course).
"The guy called himself Simon, never got much more than that. Human, maybe 30, maybe a bit younger, he wore a cheap suit with an armored jacket. Decent shoes and watch, nothing that stood out though. Came by with the details, and had his boys wait outside the Mall with the goods. Gyro's crew helped move the merch inside once we finished the deal."
Another ARO window opens, showing the image of a medium build human man wearing a dark grey suit and carrying a worn metal briefcase. Dark haired, his glasses obscured the camera enough to prevent you from seeing his eye color.
"Ya'know, ain't my biz what ya'all are gettin' up to, but this fella seemed awful cool and collected for a guy who just boosted gear off a syndicate. I'd watch my back around him, chummers."
"Shipment was probably quality of life assistance after the ork/troll referendum. All well and good for gettin more rights... those supplies seem more like they're trying to create another sphere of influence beyond a voting block. Arming a 3rd party militia on someone elses doorstep is a nice little way to avoid direct conflict. That's my read, at least."
Al copies the image of Simon and runs the appropriate searches: public sightings, warrants, pattern incidents.
"Someone should check back with the freight jockeys - see if they noticed anything about the men and vehicles."
|
Ahlwin: You can make a Matrix Search (legally) via Computer + Intuition [Data Processing] to determine publicly available information on the target.
If you are looking for more specific info, or things like DMV records or police files, you'll have to find the correct hosts & hack them to get the data.
(1 hit, 1 miss)
"Wiz" The rigger comments as carefully removes a credstick and slots it. Admittedly, he probably shouldn't be spending the money, Red had been looking for a Savalette for a while. The Guardian finds it's way to the elf's eager hands. The new Smartlink goes the process of shaking hands with the Wire in his head. Looking over at the new ARO window that Tarnish had opened up, he listens to the arms dealer.
Red looks over the human in the still pic, taken a copy of the pic and files it away in his headware. He nods at Tarnish's warning.
"Duly noted, chummer," the rigger says, taken note that the arms dealer was basically given them a warning. The thief wasn't gonna be some push over.
Briefly, Red wondered what Ahlwin was talking about with "creating influence beyond a voting block." He was going to have to ask once they got back to the relative safety of the Bulldog.
"Right, I'll ask Gyro if he happened to notice anything on our way out," Red adds with a pleasant nod.
|
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Al: (This takes 30 min to return info) Matrix image search comes up with a LOT of similar pics. Notably, his suit is a couple year old Actioneer Business line, and his jacket appears to be an off brand Aztechnology Stopper armored jacket knock-off.
No known public bounties are published for a Simon, although there are several which might fit his physical profile. No way to narrow them down without better details, unfortunately.
You do turn up a few KSAF (local trid news station) stories about the materiel rebuilding and MERF itself. Seems there's rmpant corruption involved, even more so than usual, but no-one seems able (or willing) in Gov. Brackhaven's office to really dig into it.
"Well, anybody else need to finish up a little shopping? Our friend Tarnish has been of great assistance, and we should probably stop taking up his time." Red says with a half grin as he looks at the other runners. He tries to think of any other questions that might deal with their job.
"Oh, I would like to buy a box of ammo before we go," the rigger says with a chuckle.
Barring any other questions the others might have, waiting for those to asked and answered, Red waits by the locked door. The rigger keeps himself occupied by loading a clip with the slightly oily caseless rounds. The gun was well out of his hands, in one of his trench's pockets, as to not send any stress Tarnish's way. Loading his new weapon, Red puts in a inner pocket, smiling faintly to himself.
Synxol, tips both his freshly loaded hold-outs in his voluminous jacket pockets, and joins Red at the door.
"No prob. Regular JHP rounds, or something more exotic? I got plenty of pistol ammo, just pick em up in the drop box on yer way out."
"Exotic sounds like music to my ears," Red comments as he turns in mid step towards the door. Facing Tarnish once more, the elf grins like the Cheshire cat. "And what exotic little bits of candy do you have to sell? Strangers always have the best candy," Red says with a short laugh.
Despite being on the job, Hawatari seems distracted - very distracted, truth be told. She gets into whatever vehicle has an open seat (Pelinore's gopher, by preference, but she'll suffer through the Trog Rock if she absolutely has to), riding along as she sinks deep into some search or other with her own commlink. She doesn't bother calling her relatively-local contacts; neither of them are Barrensfolk, and some Redmond hijacker probably isn't going to chop-shop a truck in southern Auburn anyhow.
Nor does she want those people to know about her at the moment - at least, not until she can vet them.
She receives Red's information with a rather abstracted air, that of someone thinking, and probably thinking of something else. It isn't that she's missed it, it's just that ... well, she's clearly distracted. That distraction carries her through the interaction with the Gypsies (and thankfully Red oozes on by them with a payoff - she makes a mental note to remind everyone that that sort of thing needs to come out of communal cash), and she follows along behind 'the boys', frowning at their backs as she keeps coming up bone-dry.
Fortunately, her filter shrugs off most of the craptastic ARO spamming; she wants neither DRINK, nor GIRLS, nor FOOD (well, at least not the food to be found in this sort of place - Red's delight at his ratburger doesn't quite get her gorge, but only barely), but the AMMO gets her gazing idly for a bit, and the Gypsies by Tarnish's shop an absently professional glancing-over.
In Tarnish's shop, listening to the conversation and speculation as she looks out the windows, Hawatari captures the offered information - snapshots of the MERF containers, the image of the briefcase-carrying contact - and frowns to herself. If he wanted to arm someone, he never would have sold the guns and ammo. We need ... hm.
She wanders away from the window and over to the exchange point, the attractive female idly watching the others snap up useful and interesting items. "Tarnish," she asks, "would you happen to be able to get us an introduction to someone ... useful ... inside the local Cutters operation? Someone with whom this 'Simon' might be likely to have interacted - perhaps cut a deal to operate without close Cutter oversight?"
Having a name is fine, but if you don't have a way of tracking it down, it won't do a spot of good.
"Hmmmmm, so many choices.., so many options, this might take me a moment or two to decide," the rigger says with a chuckle. "Well, I'm glad to hear that we're not stranger anymore." Red smiles and nods to Tarnish.
Red was glad that Hawatari had chimed in, she had a excellent idea that he flat out hadn't thought about. Plus, he needed to drool over some ammo.
"Sweet wiggling elder tentacles, is that.., APDS I spy?" Red's sharp eyebrows climb towards his hairline.
Cutters, huh? Sorry, they don't usually come down this close to Glow City. Their turf's more northwest a here, towards Touristville. Mebbe Gyro knows a guy, can ask him."
Seeing Red's attention go to the APDS rounds, Tarnish calls up the Ares advert, showing a bunch of military/CorpSec types running around punching holes in steel.plate targets.
"Yeah, them little fraggers will mess you up. If yer going up against armor, pretty much can't beat 'em. A course, the old zappers tend to pack a wallop, too. Typically leave a lower body count, too. If that's a concern a yers, a course."
JINx can't help what's in it for Tarnish. Perhaps as simple as remuneration, avoiding potential conpletitiin associayef wth perceived complicity to the shipment jacking, or most likely I just shielded him from being associated with the jackers.
Well-armed and with a fire lit 'neath him, he patiently waits to take his lead from the roon, unsure of where best to proceed.
"Well, I'm always a fan of a bullet that can punch a hole in a motor. Especially one that isn't fired out of a Barrett and is made from depleted uranium," the elf says with a laugh as the Ares ad finishes up. "I've never played around with the zappers though, might be nice rather than having to use a baton. Bodies tend to leave behind angry relatives, something I try to avoid if I can." the elf says with a quite chuckle.
"Alright, I think I've made a decision," Red nods. He gets 20 rounds of both APDS and the Stick and Shock, as well as 2 extra clips. Sending his nuyen to the arms dealer, the elf smiles happily when the ammo and clip reach his waiting hands.
"Well, I know I'll be visiting again in the near future. Much thanks chummer," Red says with a nod and smile to the cybered human. Looking over at the other runners, the rigger arches his left eyebrow and looks at the door. "I think I'm done shopping now. Ready if you guys are."
Red takes a moment while the others finish up to load out the two extra clips. One held the zappers, which he loaded into the gun. The Wire syncs up the gun, confirming the loaded. Smiling to himself, Red slides the heavy pistol into his inner trench pocket. "Wiz."
"Gyro then...otherwise, cutter/touristville area. Anyone know what gangs and organizations have shifting borders with the Ork Underground? Might get a better idea of who hired Simon - maybe work this top down.'
"The Underground is ten miles away - almost twenty, by the roads - so there aren't going to be any gang-territory border issues." Hawatari makes a note of Tarnish's commcode - because there's no such thing as having too many armorers - before speaking to the man behind the armored glass. "Sir, you wouldn't happen to have any other imagery of the fellow who cut the deal with you, would you? Different angles, back shots, that sort of thing? Any video of him moving?"
Once that discussion reaches its natural end, she moves outside Tarnish's establishment with the others. "There might be a gang involved in the theft, but it'll be organized crime involved in the original misappropriation. If the thiefs are okay with the Cutters, with the Cutters getting chummy with the Vory, then my bet for Simon's client would be the Italians." She fiddles with her commlink, calling up the information through her skinlink, and considers the information known.
"Hm. Human, glasses ... that suit doesn't look like any top brand. Worn metal briefcase ... this is probably either their decker or rigger; maybe both. The feed Simon gave us of the moment of the hijacking cut off far too soon, and the vehicles themselves had pulled over to the side of the road in a place where they shouldn't have done so. That says 'we got hacked rigger-style' to me." She sniffs faintly. "Talented. Not wise, but talented. They got rid of the guns ..." She takes a few steps, looking at - or, with that thousand-yard gaze, perhaps far past - the Gypsies lounging flagrantly near-by.
In a voice as faraway as her gaze, she says softly, "I don't think they have muscle. Sh!t. If that's true, it follows that the Cutters are going to be hard-cases, because they are the muscle - probably bought off with a portion of the cargo."
While the others headed towards the vehicles Red makes his way over to Gyro.
"Hoi, chummer, need a little input from ya. When you and the guys where doing the unload for Tarnish a little while back, you happen to notice if anything was odd about the transaction? Maybe some of the suit's muscles be from a dressed down Cutter perhaps?" the rigger inquires.
Standing at the door, he nods along with Ahlwin's line of reasoning: Gyro was the logical next move.
Syn positions himself in such a manner that should Gyro, or any of Gyro's friends, or relatives, or close acquaintances, decide to act in an unladylike manner that he would be in an opportune position to play chaperone.
His fingers twitch a bit as he glances about at the barricades now on the wrong side of the gangers and considers the challenge of rebranding this from Gypsy turf to JINx turf.
Using his 'ware, Red brings up still pics he had taken with his eyes. The pic of the truck joins two stills of the vehicles that where visible in the provided video. They where pretty common looking vehicles, but if they happened across them, there was a chance that the elf might recognize them. 'Small chance,' Red thinks to himself.
Adding the pic of the seller that Tarnish had provided under the vehicles, Red mulls over the location that the truck was last seen in. The elf wonders how large of a team that the seller was working with or running. It seemed that the Cutter's where getting something out of the deal. Whether it was just nuyen, stuff from the truck or a combination of the two was still anybodies guess.
Hawatari shakes her head, then glances around - at the Gypsies lounging near Tarnish's shop, then towards the place the group entered. "Which one is Gyro again? Did one of you meet him already? And is he supposed to be a gizmo to help balance something, or a Greek lamb sandwich?"
Nodding towards the ganger Synxol does a s#%%ty job of hiding his disdain, "This helpful young man is a mix between a valet and a guard dog watching Red's ride; a job he earned with posturing and not-so-subtle threats towards our persons."
While the others headed towards the vehicles Red makes his way over to Gyro.
"Hoi, chummer, need a little input from ya. When you and the guys where doing the unload for Tarnish a little while back, you happen to notice if anything was odd about the transaction? Maybe some of the suit's muscles be from a dressed down Cutter perhaps?" the rigger inquires.
"Ya know yer bud's cruisin' fer a beatin' keepin' talkin' all big an' drek. We's cool, biz, what wit' yer nuyen an' what. Jus' a friendly warnin' is all." Pondering the question about the Cutters, Gyro spits at the ground and lights up another cigarette. It smells mostly like tobacco.
"Them boys was sometin' aight. Two of em slung dem boxes like dey wuz nuttin', and dem drek wuz heavy as frag all too. Da other two jus' stood aroun' lookin' all mister scary an' all, wearin' bike helmets. Dey didn't sling hardware out, but my boys said dey was packin' subs, mebbe sawed-offs under their leathers." Letting out a drag of his smoke, he continues. "No colors, no frontin' neither. If dey was Cutter blood, dey kept it close to da vest. Once their boss man came back outta Tarnish's, dey packed up and split. Two hogs and a Ford, lit outta here like we set fire ta their hoops."
Hawatari glances sideways at Jinx, the corner of her mouth twitching upwards; in a melee contest of any three of the Gypsies against Jinx, she'd give six-to-one in favor of the coarse razorboy. If it was him and her, no guns allowed, she'd give twenty-to-one -- but while provoking a fight would get a lot of Gypsies dead, it'd definitely screw with their own profile. "Jinx, why don't you check on the cars?" she suggests. If he heads that way, once she's behind his back she rolls her eyes and shakes her head apologetically to Gyro and the rest of the Gypsies.
Listening to the street ganger's description of the set, she frowns in thought. "Any of them obviously metahumans, maybe an ork or troll for the muscle?"
"Nah, biz. Dey wuz all norms," He shrugs and finishes up his cigarette, ash falling from his fingertips. "Big boys, ya scan? Mebbe got wares or what, but norms. We ain't get ta huggin' an' pettin' time dry all split. Coulda been Cutters, coulda been freelancers, who knows. No colors, an' dey kept it pr'fessional, right."
Synxol remains in place, feeling that should the fit hit the shan, that he would like to be adjacent to its epicentre. He neither moves to rectify any hurt feelings, nor antagonize the ganger further.
His carcinogenic friend is destroyed one puff at a time, and he sups upon its sweet tobacconic contents one drag at a time.
On his way back to the Van, Al texts through his comm to the group...
"Sounds like Simon kept his own men with him. I doubt the Cutters were paid with anything from the shipment since they unloaded the weapons here. If we're lucky then Simon paid for passage/protection rather than silence. Cutters might even be angry if they didn't get first dibs on the good stuff."
Nodding as he listens to Gyro, Red taps his chin in thought. Glancing at Jinx, the rigger looks back at the ganger and chuckles. "He's a little.., keyed up at the moment. No worries, we're not here to make a scene."
"Thanks for the info chummer," Red says with a nod to Gyro. "See ya around."
As Red begins to saunter back to his GMC, he glances over at Ahlwin and nods in response to his message.
"That would be excellent." the rigger says with a faint grin.
Sending a message back to Ahlwin, Red's fingers trace the unlock to his Bulldog.
"Any chance there are any cameras you could take a look through? Gyro mentioned 2 hogs and a Ford America. I'm wondering if the Ford was the same in the video provided when the delivery truck was run off it's route."
"Doors are unlocked," he comments as he slides into the drivers seat.
Taking his seat in back, Al shuts his displays and rubs some life and moisture back into his eyes.
Still on honest-work time.
"First thing I was looking for when we got here. Looked like Tarnish was the only real player that valued his stock enough to keep trids. Didn't sound like he was holding anything back either - probably would've told us if his stall neighbors kept anything better."
Al opens one of his smuggling compartments for a little GI stimulation. Vapors from a small coffee thermo begin to waft about.
So glad I brought the Fazenda...
"The Cutters might have a more eclectic collection of data taps. But I'm not sure how high up the food chain they are. Their idea of security might be Gyro's. Which could be a good reason Simon contracted them - if proximity wasn't a factor. Little to no matrix records, expendable drek with short term memory loss and low life expectancy..."
One more quick sip, might have to ration this out.
"Won't know until we get there."
Sorting pics in his field of vision, Red slips the jack into his skull and the Bulldog rumbles to full wakefulness.
"It sounds a little like "Simon" spend the extra nuyen for a little bit of protection, rather than relying on the Cutters. Of course, Simon just might be the face of the group, if there is one, and the lackies moving the crates where actual partners." The rigger thinks for a few moments.
"Which, if they are a group, we might have to ask for more nuyen if we bring them all in alive," Red's chuckle could be faintly heard under the rumble of the engine.
"Okay, so here is my thoughts," Red says as he puts the Bulldog into gear and pulls out of the Mall parking lot.
"I'm thinking we head out towards the Bargin Basement, to the last place we can confirm the presence of the stolen truck and hopefully most of the shipment. We'll, more than likely have to do so, or several types of recon when we get to the Basement." Red falls silent for a moment as the Bulldog feeds his chromed brain with local traffic info. "Anybody have any tangible contents in the Barrens we might tap? I have a LTG of someone in Glow city, thanks to the rat vendor. They might, and I emphasize, might, know of someone new running in the area, but that's kinda a long shot, I'll freely admit."
"Just so it's out there, I'm really against just blowing through a wall and run in, guns blazing, as I forgot to bring my Invunrability jeans with me tonight. Foolish mistake, I know," the riggers chuckle comes out of the speakers, rather than his throat.
"I share Red's sensibilities. Bullets, blood, and time are nuyen."
Al stores his thermo and adjusts his briefs of invulnerability - while giving the tiniest of side-eye to the warmachine and thorny rose.
"But this might be a split vote."