And they said it would be a milk run...
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Lyst naturally hops behind the wheel, thankful that there are manual controls in the vehicle. Nonetheless, he mostly ignores them and pulls up the AR displays to set a scenic route to the target; He doesn't want the timing to be off and doesn't want the truck seen too much on the main roads.
The next phase of the plan was simple: show up for the contract, get inside, then pop a door for the team in case they needed to make an entry while Val locates the data store.
I really planned this thing around having a hacker.
Do we still have Val?
Lyst raises his hands innocently and nods. "Alright, alright. But it's not just cameras I'm worried about."
Lyst rolls his eyes. "Again, I don't want you seen by anyone. You're pretty easy to recognize. If you want to bankroll Cinder's plan, that's fine." He gives Venom a glance up and down. "And I hope you're not thinking of going into a corporate facility looking like that."
"I prefer to be unseen when I take someone out, but you're probably right about the bribe. I'd cover your face though so they can't sell you out later." Lyst says as he taps around on his 'link screen. "But I had an idea on the way over here. Say Val, think you can whip up an ARO indicating a tow order for illegal parking? While those two schmucks try to figure out where their van went and how to get it back, we can be off taking care of business. They'll be arguing with the tow company for hours. We'll have the van back before anyone's the wiser."
They'd all huddled into a restroom on the parking level, and some cheap "caution" tape assured they would remain unmolested while making preparations. The van was scheduled to arrive in a few minutes, but the team had all arrived early. Which was right on time. Lyst zips up the bulky plasticanvas overcoat and spares a glance down at the company logo stitched on the chest. He pulls the bottom down to straighten it but finds the wrinkles seem to be pressed in. He fixes his hair in the mirror and frowns. "Classy." He says sarcastically before he turns to the others. "Are we ready?"
"It's not always about staying out of sight. It doesn't matter who sees you as long as they don't notice you. But you, my friend," Lyst says to Bullet Catcher before turning to Venom, "And you, will certainly be noticed."
"Except that this place usually only comes in with a crew of two. It'll be suspicious with a lot of us there. Unless some of you stay in the van or I manage to sneak away into a maintenance closet." Lyst drums his fingers and ponders for a bit, then continues. "I think we can make it work. Val, can you fake some uniform requisitions? Otherwise we'll have to buy these custom, and I don't like the the data trail that leaves."
Yeah, I like some of the changes to the system, if I can call them that.
"I like your attitude." Lyst says with a smirk to Cinder Block. "But let's avoid knocking people out or breaking drek unless we need to. I think Val can liberate a van for us, but you'd better go with her in case it doesn't go down that way. Once we're on-site, if we need a quick exit, you're our guy. And if things really go south, well, then we call your 'boys'." Lyst leans forward and puts his comm on the table. It's clearly a fairly expensive unit, but not some corp pocket supercomputer. But for now it's just a display as he scrolls through some of the data he gathered for the others to look at. "Any of these companies strike your fancy? They all service our mark."
Conversation probably died. Though chiming in to discussion would be a nice gesture. Maybe some of us are a little new to Shadowrun and not really sure how to plan a run?
I expected more conversation personally. I just didn't want to be the only one talking.
"Yeah, I don't feel great about that. Reminds me of a guy I ran with once that just had static on him. I had a hell of a time getting a stable matrix connection around him and my stuff kept rebooting. He just said 'sorry' like that made it all okay. Nearly cost us the run, maybe more." Lyst throws back the last drop of beer and slides the bottle onto the table casually. "But at least you're telling us now."
Lyst cocks an eyebrow and shrugs. "Not bad, but a new vendor would be suspicious, both because we don't have a matrix presence for it and because companies usually have certain whitelisted vendors. In a company that size, it isn't just logged, it's probably managed by a person or small department that would know better. Can it be done? Sure. But it would be simpler, I think, to hijack a legitimate operator." Lyst smiles as he continues. "Find a big service provider, log one of their vans as 'out for maintenance', swipe a few uniforms, then show up by real contract schedule." He taps the table at the end for emphasis. "Clean."
Lyst shrugs. "It wasn't on my calendar. Hope you didn't have plans." As Venom starts fantasizing about blowing things up, Lyst rubs his temples with two fingers on each side. "Can we just not blow things up?" He looks incredulously at the changeling. "Bring some narcoject arrows and maybe you can help out. Especially if you can look..." He gestures at Venom's entire figure with a slight frown, "Different." He lets out a small sigh before continuing. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to bring some small amount of explosives in case we need to make a hot exit. But you'd better know what the hell you're doing." Lyst leans back and puts one hand behind his head while the other holds his nearly-empty beer. "Now I can handle getting in. I can disguise myself pretty well too." He says with a glance to Venom. "I'm also good with locks and such." He nods to the ork. "I can hack when I need to," he says, pausing to tip his beer towards the girl, "But most importantly for a job like this, I can manipulate people. And no hacking or smashing is quite as good as having a paid employee unwittingly do the job for you." He grins proudly.
"Yeah, I got a bad feeling the pay data is going to be locked in a data vault inside the main complex. Something like that." Lyst says as he swirls his bottle. "But we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, all we have to go on is what we were told. So let's roll with that for a bit." He takes a drink and leans back. "So, I know I can get in, but a teenager, a ganger, and..." Lyst waves vaguely at Venom, "Whatever you are, none of you are walking in the front door. And if you get spotted inside, we're blown. Which reminds me, where's big guy?" He scans the bar as though he might've missed the huge man's entrance.
Lyst comes shuffling out of a door at the end of the bar and finishes zipping his pants. He swipes a hand under his nose and assesses the crowd, or lack thereof. He nearly missed the lizard at first--apparently the freak could change his color--but the big ganger was familiar. That guy had a head on his shoulders. He'd even had the sense to dress down a little. Up? Whatever. He strides down the length of the bar and whistles at the bartender, knocking on the bar on his way down. "Hey, three over here." He points over his head towards a booth in the far corner from the passed-out fellow. Without breaking stride he heads that direction, tapping his teammates on the shoulder on his way. The way he walks shows that he's comfortable here, almost like he owns the place. He crashes casually behind the duraplast table and leaves the overhead LED bulb swinging and flickering slightly.
I was going for random. The short-lived kind that changes hands every time the owner runs out of money.
DMD:
Lyst opens a group chat from the comfort of his apartment.
Yeah, sorry about special snowflake-ing. I just couldn't think of a way to bring along a Halloweener or a Megatroll without being really conspicuous. -Posted with Wayfinder
DMD:
-Posted with Wayfinder
Val: new message:
<From: Blackjack - So you're the matrix wiz, right? Good to have a hacker on the team. Be a good girl and get us some info, will you? I'm guessing if the pay data was on an open-network system you could just get it yourself. But that seems unlikely. See if you can find any info about their network (spiders, IC, etc) and the location of their software system. Also, schematics of the building and surrounding buildings would be helpful. I'd suggest sleazing your signal through a matrix bot node and sending agents to gather similar data from surrounding locations, just to throw anyone off if they notice your snooping. Oh, and don't get caught./> Legwork: Lyst stopped by the sporting good store the next morning and got a pair of classic optical binoculars. Bird watching was not on his itinerary, however, as he booked an autocab to the business park in Bellevue. A worn jumpsuit of plain grey paired with tossled hair and the lined face of a middle-aged Chinaman left him looking like just another generic laborer; perhaps a janitor or waste disposal contractor. Without knowing the dress code around here, it was best to go with something generic that polite society preferred to ignore anyway.
He set off to make a wide perimeter and find periodic lookout points where he could observe unmolested. He kept an eye out for delivery vehicles, contractors (not unlike what his current disguise resembled), employees, parking & transit, entrances & exits, and the comings and goings of anyone wearing at least a blazer. He recorded notes to his commlink and saved some images with his eye recording unit.
After everyone has left: Lyst walks back into the fast food place with a smirk. He finds the spot under the table where he'd recoiled earlier and plucks the microphone from it. The glue had dried and was no longer so annoyingly sticky, so he didn't need to wipe off his fingers this time. He peels the remaining glue from the sensor and slips it back into a hidden pocket. He mentally replays the conversation after he left, nodding absentmindedly, and once again departs; this time back to his apartment.
Lyst feels under the table and immediately regrets it, pulling back his hand with something sticky yet clinging to his fingers. He grabs a napkin and wipes at it fruitlessly before using the same napkin to paw around under the table again. Finally he pulls out a stick and slots it into his 'link. The payment clears. "Well, it seems our employer is serious. But I'd like to make one thing clear," He says, pausing to eye the rest of the team, "This is a data grab. If we do it right, nobody needs to get hurt. If we do it wrong and somebody gets hurt, I might be able to stabilize you, but the rest is between you and Doc Wagon. And if it all goes to drek and I catch someone like you--" He says, pointing to the scaled guy, "swinging that thing at someone's face, I'm out. The rest is between you and Knight Errant. We're not hitmen or soldiers; this job isn't wetwork or war. Remember it." Lyst stands and moves for the door. "I've already sniffed some of your comm codes. I'll be in touch." And with that, he starts to walk out of the distasteful place with the distasteful company. But he pauses with a glance to the magician. "Hey spells, you wanna go anywhere without drawing a crowd, you need to cover up a little." Then he looks at the giant troll-thing. "And you?" Not finding anything good to say, he waves his hand dismissively and leaves.
Oh, didn't realize. I was never very good with timelines.
Sounds good. Still pretty bold, walking around like being a lizard-man ain't no thing.
I feel like if we don't retcon your first post we're going to need to have some crazy RP. You know, as you're hauled away by Lone Star.
"Oh, literally under the table. I thought that was an expression." Lyst replies as Ryna produces the credstick. He pushes over his commlink with suspicion. "If that 500 clears, I'll take the job." Beneath the table, his hand rests on a Defiance taser; he's not in the mood to be played.
Lyst's eyes narrow as Ryna makes the offer. "Eight thousand? That's awfully high for a milk run. Either she's underselling this Knight Errant HTR team or there's something she's not telling us." He sits quietly and snoops the matrix for her icon ID. He probes for hidden icons just in case she's up to something fishy.
Matrix:
Lyst is relieved that at least someone is talking business, though a bit surprised it's the ganger. Nonetheless he remains silent and waits for Ryna to answer the question. He checks his eye recordings to make sure he's captured some good images of the Johnson and then pushes his AR window to the side.
Lyst keeps his arms crossed in front of him and holds his chin in his hand. He stares blankly at the small woman, Ryna apparently, and listens to her rather unusual droning. When he speaks, his accent his noticeable. "The future is made one day at a time. Do you have a job for us or not?" He asks with mild boredom. Lots of people who thought they were more important than they were liked to try to broker long-term relationships before extending a single offer, and usually nothing came out of it. At least that had been his experience. But this gnome did seem a bit out of sorts. "Maybe she's stoned." He thinks as he glances at his AR windows.
Val, the roll is dependent on your lifestyle level. From your IC post I'm guessing you're not middle like Catcher and I. EDIT: I don't fully understand custom lifestyles though, so if you're working off of that then by all means, ignore me.
I sent him a message as well. Haven't heard anything. These boards are killing me.
Lyst walks in and is disappointed to find a ganger and some metafreaks. "Johnson must be on his way." He thinks to himself, wincing at the prospect of tolerating the present company until his contact arrives. He sits in a corner booth and plays on his 'link, passively analyzing the icons around him in the matrix via AR.
Lyst had the day off, so he slept in and had a late breakfast of leftover Asian takeout. An hour passed by in front of the trid while he idly browsed new 'link software before he finally decided to get dressed. He put on his usual business attire and then, feeling inspired by his breakfast, he stared into the mirror until the sharp features of a Japanese man stared back at him. "Shall we, Mr. Black? It's not polite to keep a Johnson waiting." His accent was decent, but wouldn't fool any native Japanese speakers. He winked at himself for good measure before going down the lift and hailing a car from the matrix.
Val: You wouldn't need to roll command unless there was an unusually difficult task, just like you don't need to roll palming to pick up a pen from your desk. It would be appropriate to roll for command if you were doing some fancy driving or something, issuing commands in real-time to try to pull stunts the car's pilot wouldn't normally do. So if we're involved in a car chase and you're taking a hijacked autocar, then you'd roll command. But I don't really recommend that course of action.
Do note that if you don't have a Command program (or the technomancer equivalent) then you can't issue commands at all, so you'd be SOL in that case.
Val:
None of the facility systems are connected to mall's public face.
Lyst was on-site at an Ares sub-contractor facility when his commlink pinged. But it was the wrong persona--his work account was clear. This had to be the other kind of work. Not a good thing to check out while on corporate duty. That night he slouched into his favorite synthleather half-back chair and flipped on the trideo to a non-stop action stream. A short glass of hard tea made for his only company as he jumped into AR with his shadow matrix persona. He read the message and tapped his fingers on his glass contemplatively, wishing people would put more details in their messages so as to not waste his time while simultaneously realizing that was a bad idea. A moment later, with the barest realization, he was suddenly in cold sim VR walking around the mall. The roast beef place up on 3rd was about what he expected. A banner above the mass-commercial counter read "We have the meats*" with a small disclaimer at the bottom. Lyst wondered if it was there in meatspace too; Sometimes that line got a little blurry. The menu was obviously an ARO flying in the air, displaying a cheap list of unenticing fare. He considered whether he should eat beforehand, but there weren't many great places in his neighborhood and not a long list in between. He frowned. He spent the next hour wandering the space in VR and studying all the public information on the node, including floor plans, bathrooms and utility closets, and other icon traffic. Once he jacked out, he realized his tea was room temperature and he had a mild headache. Apparently his trideo had gotten quite loud since he jacked in. He muted it while he got up to get some ice for his tea. Good thing he didn't have any neighbors to complain about the noise.
I was expecting a linked discussion thread. Got here from Bullet Catcher's recent posts instead. I think I'm ready, fyi. I've rejiggered a few things to make sure I can actually do the things I'm supposed to be able to do, but I'm sure I've forgotten something(s) important.
What are your short-term goals?:
Lyst poured a drink to dull the corporate-induced headache from the day's work, then relaxed in his low-back synthleather armchair and stared into the trid. But instead of mindless streaming, tonight was a call. Or, at least an interactive trideo message. His telecounselor would probably skim over it later.
"Goals? Well, everybody needs goals I guess." He said resignedly.
He tapped his fingers on his glass idly. His gaze drifted towards the ceiling. "Maybe I'll pull a few strings and get some licensing, open my own consultancy. Sounds dull as drek, but I'd get to call the shots and I'd be rolling in nuyen. Wine, women..." He fidgeted in his chair and it squeaked in plastic protest. "Real leather, maybe." He shrugged. "Look, I know some people are looking for love, or religion, and all that's fine for them, but I'm young, handsome, smart, and lucky. The world is my playground. I just want to have a good time." He threw back the last of his drink and slid the glass a few centimeters across the end table with his fingertip. He half-smirked and waved dismissively at the trid. "I'll be fine. Don't worry about me." A button on his commlink flicked off the recording and for a moment his apartment was silent, and just a bit dim. His finger hovered over the 'link display and he mused for a moment, his smirk slowly fading. "Just wiz." He paused before tapping an icon in the corner of the display. The trid jumped to life with the dramatic intro to Darker Shadows, the sequel to the famous hit series about Shadowrunners and corporations entangled in overly-elaborate plots. The light and sound filled the small apartment and carried Lyst mindlessly into the night. How did you get your street name?: The cute 'runner across the booth was a little too inquisitive for his liking, but she dangled the carrot of an easy run with good pay, and her figure made her tough to say no to. What Lyst lacked in caution he made up for in confidence, so he went along for the time being. "Well I never really intended to have a street name. Didn't exactly plan on being a Shadowrunner,
you see. Never really a fan of corps, and no strong feelings about abiding the law, but you know, I went to school, my parents worked in corps, I just never had a reason to break out of my world. But then the place I was working was about to lose a major project and everything was scheduled for transfer elsewhere... except the people. We were all getting dumped on the street. But the transfer hadn't happened yet when the Shadowrunners hit." He raised an eyebrow to indicate the danger and intrigue entering the story but the girl seemed unaffected. "Right, she's a Shadowrunner." Lyst mentally reprimanded himself and continued, "I did physical matrix security, making sure the access points were working and untampered, doing checkups on our hardlinks and optical network, things like that." He glanced up to see if this was impressing her; it wasn't. He lost a bit of steam for a moment, but quickly picked back up. "It's more dangerous than being a spider or a decker because you're not hiding behind a datajack.
"So I'm in a fiber closet running diagnostics and in come these two fraggers, all hush-hush and waving pistols around. I go for my taser but the guy with the cyber was quicker than a Jazz-head, and I had 9 millimeters of round steel pointed at my braincage." He made a gesture with his fingers of a gun pointed at his head while he continued. "I figured I was as good as nightly news when the other guy starts having a fit. I guess they'd come in with the wrong tools and were about to royally fumble their job. Which I found slightly amusing." Lyst added with a proud smirk. "But then this fragger waves a credstick in front of my face and makes me an offer. All I had to do was take down the surveillance node for 'maintenance' for a few minutes, and I get a thousand nuyen in my pocket." He leaded back with a look of self-satisfaction. The girl rolled her eyes, caught between charmed and incredulous. "That didn't come back to haunt you?" she asked with mild suspicion. "No, of course not. We didn't have enough budget to operate that place properly, so things like that happened all the time.
The girl smiled back at him, which was most of what he was going for.
"Yes, that. Well, I asked them if they had any more work I could help with since I was about to be out of a job, and they asked for my comm code. I had to give them an alias obviously, so I had to come up with something on the fly. And I figured my job was to keep people out,
"So, can I call you later?" He asked with all the suave he could summon. She checked her comm and then looked back at him. "No,
Here's a draft of my infiltrator. Since I can't find my other books right now and it's been a while since I did 4e, I'd appreciate any constructive feedback.
"Wexley Tabberhorn, good to see you'll be joining us this time. Not that there was anything we couldn't handle." Lyst pipes in from behind the taller folk. "But an extra pistol is hardly something to complain about."
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