Jay Gould |
"Give it a try". Danny nods to 0nyx, then looks mournfully at the congealed coffee remnants and bacon noodles. "I'm heading out to get supplies. Anybody want anything?"
"I'm good."
Hearing 0nyx's phone discussion.
"Please take it out to make your call, 0nyx. Other way from Toshi's Soba there's a park that I use for calls.
We've got more issues. I think Angel's stash is burned. We should let her know or move it ourselves. Not sure where to though."
Tilnar |
Figment shrugs, "Ain't likely to be much infrastructure 'round here to trace it to anything too close. Not a cheap phone like that with location off, in any case. They'll know where you are to a couple of blocks, maybe - so almost no difference being here or in the street."
He chuckles, "'less you're planning to have a 20-minute call. If that's the deal, I'd suggest we go plug into something and bounce the call a few time."
0nyx |
"Nah, just a text or two, see what's on the other end. Can you tech magic the call, Figment? Or do you still want it outside, Jay? Your place, your rules." 0nyx holds the burner between thumb and finger like the tail of a rat.
Gotta go back and review the beginning before making more intelligent posts.
Tilnar |
The machine pings a minute later, Yeah. Whole attack a dragon-sized hose-job. One of their fire-teams didn't show - but the drekheads came anyway, nano-thin. We managed to punch a few holes in the thin lines and get out a strike team to slam 'em against our hardpoints, hammer and anvil style. They didn't see it coming - mellows weren't watching their hoops. Guess they were expecting some overwatch and didn't get it. Let's just say there's a lot less fragging Triad folk about today.
The machine beeps again, You wanted to meet? Let's make it sunset. Need to finish the cleanup -- plus the sun makes me itch.
0nyx |
Funny they didn't have eyes in the sky, huh. See you at sunset.
"They live," 0nyx tells the others. "Stretch'll be there tonight for a meet, sunsetish. Wouldn't mind debriefing with him. If we've been exposed and made Triad enemies, might as well get info on them."
0nyx |
"We need to work on Mr. Johnson's request today, though I do want some time to peek at the two foci left by the shaman. As far as the mission goes, we didn't get the statue, coin, or all the creds, and we left a sizeable stash of weapons hidden there. I'd guess the hit was deliberate, based on the beeline Figment said they made for the big stash, but we don't know who did it." 0nyx pauses to think for a moment.
"If we recover the remaining weps, we get the full 25% value of recovered armory. We need a place to stash them - here, Jay? We got one of the cred sticks and some scrip, at least, though some are doubtless gone. We need to stash those, as well. Figment got video. I've got an impression of the shaman's signature, as well as the real signature of the statue, as well as the one of the coins. We've got those things going for us. But most of that doesn't earn us anything. We've got to get the coins and statue - those are our paycheck."
"I vote we take a look at the vid Figment recovered, see if anyone looks familiar. Then we return to the armory today and recover it, bringing it here to secure, if Jay's good with that. We're meeting the Chrome Domes tonight, so we can get any info they have. Maybe they'll know some of the bad guys. We weren't required to hit them, just identify them, but we'll need to meet them personally to recover the important stuff and get the full fee. Also, if these were runners, Johnson probably wants to know who's behind it, not who the runners were."
Surveying the rest of the team, 0nyx shrugs. "I'm out of ideas, besides that. Any others? I mean, other than working out?" She grins at Danny.
Jay Gould |
"Securing the stash is important. We can keep it here short term. My rents due in a few weeks. But we've also got to start investigating. The vid's an obvious first step. And we've a lot of daylight left before we can see the skulls. We need to hit the streets too. I've got a couple contacts. I can work the custom gun and art angles with them. "
Jay's proposing an afternoon of going out 'shopping'. Alone or with one partner. The whole party might make his contacts nervous.
Tilnar |
Figment says, "Reckon I can take some time to mine the vid -- and probably can send out a few searches and cross-references when that happens. So, I reckon I should find a nice dark corner near a junction box I can hack into. Wouldn't mind having someone to guard my carcass, just in case."
Tilnar |
Ok, to speed through things a little - who's with whom - and who's doing what. You've got most of a day, even sleeping in after your big night - but chasing down contacts, bribing 'em, hauling stuff about, watching the decker so the sunlight doesn't cause his fur to burst into flames -- all takes a bit of time and effort.
0nyx |
Going with Figment to find a safe place to plug in, then return to the safe house and examine the fetishes, if I can do it before the evening meeting. 0nyx can use fetishes, right? I see them on shaman gear lists, but the books say "the magician" can use them. Would they be loaded with a spell already?
Tilnar |
Ok, I lost *two* posts here now. Ugh.
Anyhow - expendible spell foci (per p. 190 of the sourcebook) have a specific spell category attached to them -- and can be used freely by anyone casting that type of magic. There's no bonding required... which is good, because they cease working after being used.
Fetishes, on the other hand, are basically magical crutches -- a mage or shaman can learn a spell with a limit that they need to have a fetish on hand to cast it -- doing so reduces the hit on the mage when they cast the spell compared to a non-limited spell. Taking a limit like that both reduces the karma it takes to learn a spell and the effective force of the spell (for the purpose of drain) -- fetishes are generally reusable, but need to be attuned to.
Tilnar |
Figment pulls a thin jumpsuit from his pack, putting it on and adjusting the collar before sliding his jacket and helmet on. "Don't think we need the smell of burning fur... We're called night ones for a reason." He double checks, then says, "Think I'm good. Let's go."
I assume Onyx is doubling up on Figment's bike -- Danny?
Okay, Jay - make your calls and start with the Et(Stret) rolls
Jay Gould |
Jay throws on his jacket and a ball cap. "I'm going to visit some old friends. Maybe they can tell me something about what we seek. Here's a set of spare keys."
He strides out the apartment, hustles down the stairs, closes the door softly behind him, and onto the street.
It's about an hour walk to his first stop, a shop called The Watch Doctor, set on the ground floor of a three story brick building fronting a boulevard featuring an overgrown center island. The scraggly grass and scrubby weeds may not be inviting, but the double aisles of trees would provide friendly shade, were the sun strong enough to generate it. The windows of the shop are papered in cardboard. The recesed glass door is similarly papered. A camera stares down into the little pocket of space.
Jay pushes the buzzer beside the door and looks up at the camera. A voice somehow thin, but also gruff crackles through a speaker. "Jay Gould, that disguise won't fool anyone. What do you want?"
"Just want to talk some biz, Mr. Laurie."
The door buzzes open. Inside Jay can see that the cardboard in the windows is backed by chain link fence. There's a small space in front of a counter of empty glass cages. The man behind the counter is lean, unshaven, dressed in a white lab coat. He shuffles forward, leaning on a cane. "Out with it then. No shilly-shallying."
Jay draws a breath. "A friend of mine has lost a gun. A very special gun, and is willing to pay for information leading to its recovery."
Jim Laurie is Jay gun-dealing contact.
Tilnar |
Laurie looks up, "Well, I'm not an information broker, and I sure as drek won't be burnin' my contacts... but I can put the word out you're looking to buy a specific piece and see what happens."
Ok, Jay, this is where the appropriate social skill - usually etiquette -- kicks in, in terms of seeing how far your contact will go, and for what price.
Also, apologies, I didn't note that this didn't actually post last Tuesday.
Jay Gould |
[b]"That's all I'm asking, Mr. Laurie. I anticipate whoever took the weapon will try to market it, and you are well-connected.
No worries, Tilnar. You were super patient with my delay.
Okay, I've also got negotiation. What will the house specialization ruling do? I've got Street and Coporate Ettiquette, and Negotiation. Could I roll street ettiquette with negotiation as a complement? Or negotiation with street ettiquette as a complementary skill?
Street Etiquette .... 5 House Ruling 6 points spent as specialization
Corporate Etiquette . 3 House Ruling 6 points spent as specialization
Negotiation . 6 Specialize Fast talk. 5/7(Fast talk)
Tilnar |
High successes are good, but it's generally the number of successes that matter more. Still, good price reduction, there.
Laurie sighs, "Ok, like I said, don't want to burn myself, but I can start putting out some gentle feelers while handling other biz. Since I'm trying to keep things quiet, it likely won't be quick, though. Plus, I'll probably need some nuyen to loosen a few tongues along the way. I'd normally ask for at least 2k to try this, but you've been a good loyal customer, and I figure that you'll probably want to move some goods later, so I can make it up on my commission... So let's call it 1,200."
Jay Gould |
Colt doesn't smile; he tries to maintain his biz face, but he is well-pleased with Laurie's offer. "Mr. Laurie, you have a deal. The piece we are looking for looks like a Colt Manhunter, but it's a custom-built weapon, internal smartlink, extended clip, heavy bore and custom sculpted grip."
He holds up a credstick. " Is this an acceptable form of payment?"
Jay Gould |
Got my two fixers, Lip Silver and Fen Martin, to save time why don't I just roll without the RP? Then you can roll Figment and we'll get everyone involved.
Street ettiquette, Lip: 5d6 ⇒ (2, 6, 3, 3, 5) = 19
Negotiation, complement, Lip : 5d6 ⇒ (1, 4, 4, 5, 2) = 16
Street ettiquette, Fen: 5d6 ⇒ (5, 3, 6, 1, 3) = 18
Negotiation, complement, Fen : 5d6 ⇒ (6, 4, 6, 6, 6) = 28
Tilnar |
Jay calls Lip -- who asks him what kind of trouble he's in, and then suggests he can find someone who'd make a perfect forgery from images, if the price is right.
Fen, on the other hand, agrees to keep an ear to the ground, and throws out a 2,000¥ price, but Jay reminds him of some of the good biz he's brought him in the past, and the fixer agrees to waive his fee - though he does make more than a few comments about Jay's birthright and some impossible suggestions about the species and nature of his parents while doing so.
---
Figment leads the others to a wrecked building about a click and a half from Jay's place -- just in case. As you arrive, a small figure about the size of your hand that looks like some sort of strange cross between a housecat and a dragonfly appears out of nowhere, shouting, "Go away! Go away! There's nothing to see here! Go away!"
Figment curses, tugging at his broad hat with his gloves trying to keep the sun from touching him, looking at Onyx, "I assume this little brat can't hurt us? Because I suggest we ignore him and head inside before the hellsphere in the sky ruins my complexion."
0nyx |
"Subtle," 0nyx breathes in awe, attempting to peek under the kilt of the little critter for more info.
Assensing spirit, TN4 for astral sigs: 6d6 ⇒ (2, 3, 6, 2, 3, 5) = 21
Not sure if I can do this, but trying to find if this creation has the same astral signature as the one on the gold coins in the apartment. Also, is it a simple watcher or something else?
Explosion: 1d6 ⇒ 5
Bluh. 3 successes.
Jay Gould |
Jay calls Lip -- who asks him what kind of trouble he's in, and then suggests he can find someone who'd make a perfect forgery from images, if the price is right.
"No trouble, Lip. Just a sticky job. I'll keep the forger in mind, but the client's a chummer who's stuck it out for me times past. Don't want to muddy that relationship."
Fen, on the other hand, agrees to keep an ear to the ground, and throws out a 2,000¥ price, but Jay reminds him of some of the good biz he's brought him in the past, and the fixer agrees to waive his fee - though he does make more than a few comments about Jay's birthright and some impossible suggestions about the species and nature of his parents while doing so.
Insults are Fen's way. Already expecting it, Jay considers returning fire, but the relationship isn't one of equals yet. So he let's it slide off his back with some self-deprecation.
"Mr. Martin, that cuts. You know I was budded asexually." He smiles. " I do appreciate your consideration of our business relationship, but you needn't go empty-handed. I'll give you half of my cut on anything we recover based on your information."
Tilnar |
Watcher. Force 3. You don't recognize a signature, but it's hard to get that from a casual glance at a simple spirit like this one.
As Onyx looks at it, the thing shouts, "Guards! Guards! This one's making magic!". You don't see any immediate reaction.
I'll take Perception (Int) rolls from those who are there
Jay Gould |
Jay gives Fen the number of one of his cell phones, thanks the fixer, and starts his walk home. He's feeling pretty good with the progress he's made so far and starts plotting his next steps, while keeping an eye on his surroundings. This isn't the Barrens, but it's not a Corp-controlled safe-zone either.
Informal to do list:
1. Move Guardian's stash to Jay's or get redoubled Chrome guards in place.
2. Canvas pawn shops, thrift shops, etc in area of Guardian's stash.
3. Get transport? (Chrome Domes?) (Check drone battle site?)
4. Check back with contacts.