The hacker is knocked down from the force of Miyako's pistol shot, but he grips the girl to him on his way to the floor. Blood seeps from her neck...
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Initiative Dice Rolls:
NPCs 9 8 14 PCs 10 5 [2 IPs] 12 +12=18
The Spirit stops advancing toward the hostage taker and looks marginally less threatening.
Well, uh, mister, I'm jus' a tour guide wanting to make a living not hurting nobody. he seems uncomfortable talking about moving "hardware." He composes himself, and puts on his previous smile. I can take you to Pirate's Cove, sure! 50¥ each please! The kid seems unwilling to budge from 50¥.
Fighter 5 wastes no time in rushing to cover in the opposite direction of the tiger.
Oh yes,, chummer! I've played in these tunnels since I was a little kid, he says without a trace of irony, no one knows 'em better'n me! Just 50¥ each for Pip's amazing Underground tour service! He beams, striking his chest with his thumb. So where to, chummers? he says, holding out a battered commlink with a crack down the screen, a payment program visible.
The Spirit pauses momentarily in his mauling of the Hacker, claw raised, and Jack hears a eerie, primal, growling voice in his mind's ear, courtesy of the summoner-spirit mental link. Shall I continue ripping these metal-skinned brutes apart or do you require another service of me? It seems enough of the Spirit's favor lies on Jack to give him a moment to change his orders. [dice=computer+logic+analyse-1]12d6 = 5 successes A combination of tech-savviness, a top-grade Analyze program, and luck reveals the node to Fighter 3's cyberspur. With some hacking, you could set the spur to diagnostic mode, and force it to retract, for example... Reality Hackers & Skraacha
Or'zet:
The orks appear to be confused--the girl is clearly a Topsider, so some of the orks are in favor of just continuing the beatdown on the Hackers and Topsiders be damned, but most don't seem to want the girl to get hurt, either. The Skraacha don't drop their weapons, but have stopped attacking. The Reality Hackers take advantage of this delay to regroup away from the melee, although Fighter 5 is clearly still petrified of the Spirit and doesn't trust the Spirit to let him go.
Perception+Intuition (3) Test success:
A small, insectoid drone has just zipped into the room and is perched on the crate that makes the square of cover between Jack and the Spirit.
The noise level in the room is fairly loud--a cacophony of the yells and nervous clatter of the fleeing crowd is echoing down the tunnels and the scuffling of the melée still going on by the Skraacha who haven't been able to react to this newest development. You are reasonably sure the noise would cover your footsteps walking or running.
Kat:
I think you do need to keep the illusion in LOS to maintain it, so that takes care of that.
As soon as you all leave the hotel, a young ork boy--possibly 9 or 10 years old-- loitering across the street spots your motley group, runs up with all the vigor and excitement only a kid like him can muster and cries Hey, chummers, need a guide?
Fighter 3 gives an angry grunt and presses the spur closer to the girl's neck, and you can see a dribble of blood fall from the blade--a superficial wound which could turn deadly if he dug much deeper into her neck. Show yourself now, mage, or the girl gets it! The rest of the Hackers continue trying to subdue the Skraacha in melée, but no decisive blows are exchanged.
Initiative Dice Rolls:
NPCs 10 6 11 PCs 10 7 [2 IPs] 12 16 Initiative Order
Droid, your Matrix Perception test does not return any hidden nodes. You still have 1 Simple Action left, would you like to use it?
RH Gunner 3 staggers as the bolt of mana energy hits him courtesy of Jack's Stunbolt, but despite the pain this man is in, he is still standing.
RH Fighter manages to just duck out of the way of the Spirit's claws.
Desperately, Reality Hacker Fighter 3 runs after to the fleeing crowd and grabs a straggler, a spindly preteen girl with orkish teeth protruding from her lower jaw. Those who didn't notice continue their panicked run deeper into the Underground, while those around the girl stand paralyzed, expressions horrified, obviously either friends or family. None of them look capable to fight. Put down your weapons and get to the floor, or the girl gets it! His spurs are held at her neck, and she wails, pleading to be released but she is smart enough not to flail, knowing the razor-sharp spur could cut her if she wriggles too much.
Sorry for my absence. Work has been killer these past few weeks, and will be likely for the month. I'll try to monitor the thread better in the future.
Adam: The Matrix just confirms what you already know, it's a smuggler's den in the OU. Your searches don't reveal any clues to its location, though.
The Skraacha manage some good wounds on the RH Fighters, downing 1&2 with a combination of bullets and nail bats. The Skraacha Brawlers are clearly afraid of the tiger spirit, but seem to accept that it is on their side, and tentatively move away from it to pursue the gunners. Group Dice Rolls:
Fighter 3 goes on the defensive but still manages to receive some hits to the chest. Miyako has clearly caused him some major pain, but nothing life-threatening.
Sk Group Interception Rolls:
Fighter 1 quick-draws his Colt and fires 2 shots on Miyako.
Meanwhile, Fighter 5 spots Droid behind cover and draws his Colt, but is only fast enough for one shot this time. It appears the Gunners, having finally downed Crix, are now focusing their attention to the orks in melée with them, too afraid of an interception to run for better shooting positions. Instead, they pop their spurs and join the melée. Group Dice Rolls:
The melée Hackers are easily dodged and parried by the Skraacha.
The Spirit of Beasts makes a sizable gash along Fighter 3's chest, whose armor now sports a claw mark.
Everyone, make Intuition (2) Tests, and then continue :) Intuition (2) Test Success: Kat's "spray paint" is actually an illusion, so don't worry about having to pay for damage to the room. Who knows how long the housekeepers will scrub before they realize it, though... ;-)
The Reality Hackers break through the Skraacha's melée defenses this turn, dealing wounds to the brawlers. They bellow at the gashes in their arms and chests, and you can expect an angry retort next round. Group Dice Rolls:
Initiative Dice Rolls:
NPCs 9 7 PCs 13 6 [2 IPs] 14 (3 IPs) 15 18
Jack's stunbolt has no effect on Gunner 3, who seems to have resisted the spell completely.
Kat: It would depend on how soon the group feels like moving out, but I don't get the feeling anyone is in a particular rush. The glitch, in this case is irrelevant, I'm ruling. Either way, even at hour 5, you still have no idea where to go about finding Pirate's Cove. Unless your colleagues have better luck wracking their brains/contacts for more info on Pirate's Cove, it seems you all will either have to head out into the tunnels off the beaten track and hope you get lucky, find a guide, or ask locals for directions.
The Spirit unleashes a powerful charge, but Fighter 3 reacts the way only wired reflexes can provide, and he gracefully dodges the charge, the Spirit's claws raking thin air.
The gunners once again focus on Crix, who has downed so many of their men.
The rest of the group attacks the Skraacha in melée, to no effect. Fighter 3 tries to scratch the Spirit with his spurs, but the Spirit doesn't feel a thing, the spurs unable to harm the materialized Spirit. Group Dice Rolls:
Kat:
You receive a reply back, also in Sperethiel, from Selidur. <Kat, glad to her you're ok. Once you get paid we can go for drinks and you can tell me how many slots you had to geek to get it. ;-) I did happen to overhear something about Turner. One of the Knights Errant brought in someone who was part of the same drug ring. Said something about him working out of Pirate's Cove, but no one knew what he was talking about. It's not on any of our maps. It's probably some code for a location down in the Underground, I'm guessing. Don't know anything about this Frank, but Faed Kaykes worked for Seattle PD years ago before joining Knight Errant. She didn't know it at the time, but the Knights were using her like a mascot to bolster their image--they didn't take her skills seriously and only put her cases as a publicity stunt of sorts. Seems she got tired of being used like that, because she quit and the trail stops there. I can only assume she entered your line of work.> Everyone else, responses from your contacts vary from "I don't know, sorry" to stuff you already know, but in the end none of them return any more information.
Fighter 4 slumps to the ground, unconscious after an invisible bolt from Jack knocks him out.
Yeah go ahead. The internet at my house is down, and my phone is not a good platform for posting. I'll resume posting within a day or so when I can get it fixed.
The Gunners also aim at Crix and his vicious knives.
The rest of the Reality Hackers focus their energies on the Skraacha, but they just can't seem to repel or damage the Skraacha Brawlers. Group Dice Rolls:
Group Dice Rolls:
Jack's spirit is too fast for the Reality Hacker, but the Hacker's armor stops the worst of the ferocious slashing claws. Still, the Hacker is bleeding from a wound on his torso and looks to be in quite a bit of pain.
RH Hacker 2 is hit twice with Miyako's SMG, and although it doesn't look like the gun penetrated his armor, the pain is too much, and he falls to the ground, unconscious.
Crix's first knife misses its mark, but the second hits Gunner 3 with such force that he is knocked off his feet, the knife driven into him to the hilt within an inch of his heart, blood seeping from around the knfie hilt. Amazingly, he seems to still be awake, though obviously a few steps from death.
Being Awakened only gives a -2 penalty to First Aid or Medicine tests used to heal you; it doesn't preclude you from receiving medicine.
More Hot Sim Dice Rolls:
Needing a place to rest and conduct Matrix searches down here, you all head to the Broken Tusk Hotel down the street. No frills, just a queen bed (or two twins, per your preference), a bathroom, and a small table and chairs, all reasonably clean. It costs 135¥ per room. You suspect that the bump in price from standard motel rates is for its Matrix connection, which is reliable and surprisingly fast, which the clerk is all to eager to roll out as its main selling point. You won't find a better connection anywhere in the OU! You aren't able to find anything online about the girl or the stone--not surprising, since you guys are being paid to investigate it, and if a simple Matrix search would have sufficed, it would certainly have been done by the fixers themselves. Nothing you can find online about Turner gives you anything more than you already knew from Knight Errant and the police's info. As for hideouts, your knowledge tells you all sorts of possibilities of the types of places a smuggler might hide, but without commensurate knowledge of the Ork Underground, you have very little to work with. The OU residents are very tight lipped on the Matrix--and you suspect, in the meat world--about the layout of OU's many tunnels, which bloggers note they keep secret from Topsiders as a matter of pride. Many bloggers claim if you grease enough palms, you can get someone to guide you off the beaten track, but also warn you not to share the info, or you might get a visit from the Skraacha. You are fairly certain that his hideout would have to be somewhere well away from wandering tourists and have some sort of access to the 'Topside,' since it is unlikely he is smuggling through the public entrances.
Initiative Dice Rolls:
NPCs 11 9 PCs 14 6 (2* IPs) 12 (3 IPs) 13 17 (2 IPs)
In response to Frank, Chelsy says Thanks, chummer. I think I'll be okay. One of my most loyal friends tracked this guy down, I trust them to have done their homework. Good luck! You can see a hotel down the road, so you may stay there if you want to crash down in the OU while healing. Also note that some of you can do legwork while any who needs it rests, if that's what you decide.
Crix, in one fluid motion, draws a knife from its sheath and throws it. It lands in Fighter 2's belly, and he lets out a bellow of pain.
RH Gunner 2 moves behind the good cover blocking Crix, not wishing another of his knives to land, and returns fire with his Colt.
Gunners 1 and 3 also turn and fire on Crix in revenge for the severe injury of their fellow gunner, who probably called for help via commlink.
Group Dice Rolls:
The Reality Hackers don't fare well in their melée assault on the Skraacha, dealing no discernible hits, and fire no shots on the Skraacha, having directed their gunners to attack the runners.
Oaks nods curtly, and signs off, while Athack replies to Adam. Don't have any intel other than that he's down there. We can't exactly waltz down there and ask around, it's out of our jurisdiction. That's why Oaks is hiring you. We've done all we can just by tracking him down there. Now it's up to you. He obviously doesn't want any more conversation, because he motions for the Knight Errant officers to come with him as he lumbers back to the escalator. Chelsy, who has been texting furiously on her commlink during the whole exchange, has grown red in the face, her expression knotted in anguish and anger. She takes a deep breath, and turns to the group. I've--I've finally found a lead. Chelsy sputters in her Irish brogue. My parents were killed in an accident at Novatech years and years ago--or what I was told was an accident. I've been putting out lines for ages, digging for clues, and finally someone bit. They've got some paydata for me. If some bastard paid for my mum and dad to die, then I've got to go after him. I've been texting and convinced Mac that Faed and Frank should be hired in my place, if you want the job. she says as she turns to them. Adam, Kat, and Rick can all fill you in. she lowers her voice and adds, Some kinda coincidence, but it's another job to do with Turner. She stands up and waves a quick farewell. I've got to catch a flight to Denver, if I'm going to meet my source. Lemme know how it turns out with Craig and Turner. Best of luck, she says as she ascends the escalator. At this point, a few more DocWagon medics come down the escalator, passing Chelsy as she goes up, and it becomes apparent from the crossed bone & wand and bear patches on their uniforms that these are medmages. They come down and begin casting Heal spells.
The medics ask you if anyone would like to go to the nearest DocWagon medical facility to heal any remaining damage. If you decline, they hand you each a card and tell you to present it at a DocWagon facility for treatment if you change your mind. A medic also removes the biomonitor wristbands from Rick and Faed, and it now dawns on you it was probably less for your health and more of a way of making sure they could track you if your bills weren't paid.
Heal Spell Dice Rolls:
Gunner 2 staggers as though struck by a bolt of lightning though he still remains standing. He is bleeding from various gashes the manabolt has left on him.
Nope, you haven't been searched even. They just wanted you to stick around for questioning. I wouldn't have let them take any weapons from you without giving you the chance to resist.
After a few minutes of back and forth, Adam manages to talk her up to ¥4000 per person, as well as healing for injuries sustained during the fight. Oaks will pay for DocWagon to administer Medicine to aid your natural healing and for one Heal spell to be cast by their mages.
The troll waves away Frank's story--he obviously isn't interested in an explanation of what happened between the gangs and speaks to Adam. Glad you didn't waste my time denying it. the troll says, though his growling tone doesn't betray much gratitude. I'm Detective Tosh Athack of the Special Crimes Task Force he glares a bit and says, that means I deal with gangers and shadowrunners. Guess I got both in one day. Lucky me. He stands a bit straighter and says Now if it were up to me, I'd drop all you runners down a hole and forget about ya, but lucky you, it's not my call. My boss, Assistant D.A. Dana Oaks, needs a job done only people like you can do. She's already hired Frank and Kaykes here, but she's just informed me that she thinks it'll take a team, thanks to this mess you all stumbled through. A beep chirps from Athack's commlink, and he says Call from the boss, she wants me to forward it to you.
The video feed shows you a pale woman with striking green, almond shaped eyes in a crisp blouse and slacks. Her auburn hair is in a tight bun, and she is obviously quite busy. I’m not fond of working outside the law. She tells you with no preamble. But in this world, the law is, quite frankly, a mess. Criminals have a million ways to avoid the long arm of the law, as I’m sure you’re well aware of. However, I have a job to do, and one way or another I plan to get it done. That’s where you come in. Seattle law doesn’t quite extend below the streets of Seattle. The government doesn’t recognize the Underground as a part of the city, and as such won’t contract Knight Errant to police it. The criminal scum who prey on my city know this, and seek refuge in that pit. As she speaks, her voice raises slightly in pitch, and it’s clear this isn’t the first time she’s had this discussion, and it’s a sore spot with her. I’ve been tracking someone who’s holed up down there somewhere. I need him brought somewhere so that I can have him legally arrested. Your job is going to be to find this man, and deliver him to Detective Athack here. He’ll claim to have caught the guy inside his jurisdiction, and he will go to jail for a long, long time. You’ll keep silent about the matter, and get paid. How’s that sound? She takes a breath but doesn't wait long for your assent. The man is called Jack Turner. He's been smuggling very unstable and dangerous BTLs into the city, and with him we'll finally be able to strike the death blow to the drug ring he's supplying. I want you all to capture him alive and bring him to the Lordstrung entrance to the OU--Athack will leave his number with you to arrange a pickup--and you'll get paid, 3000¥ each. I've got nothing for you if he's dead.
Jack's tiger pounces at RH Hacker 2, ranking him in the chest, deep gashes appearing on the hacker's chest, the claws having pierced the dermal plating. The Hacker howls in pain.
Faed and Frank:
You recognize the troll I'm about to describe. It's Detective Tosh Athack. When he sees you, he gives you a faint twitch of the head in recognition. About 20 minutes after the fight ended, the largest troll you've ever seen lumbers over to the group. He's seriously huge, 3 meters tall (not including the horns) and at least 225 kilos. His green, scaly skin is pockmarked and scarred, and his eyes indicate continuous suspicion and alertness. On his navy-blue armored jacket you see the letters SPD-SCTF where a nametag might be on another jacket, though not this one. You're shadowrunners, aren't you? the troll asks.
Group Dice Rolls:
RH Hacker 2 fires his heavy pistol, a Colt Manhunter gleaming in the streetlights, on Crix after seeing his devastating knife toss at Fighter 4. He seems distracted however, the first shot poorly aimed and the second a wide miss of Crix. Although annoyed at Droid's firing at him, Fighter 4 seems to decide the lumbering ork swinging the bat a meter away is the more pressing threat, and focuses his attention on the ork. Likewise, Fighter 3 seems to decide he can't risk the free shot he'd give the ork on him if he decided to run after Crix.
Sk Brawler 5 (or any Skraacha you choose to target, really) Dice Rolls:
The knife hits the Brawler straight in the heart, causing him to fall over, almost dead before he hits the floor. RH Fighter 3 (or any RH you choose to target, really) Dice Rolls: Crix's knife cuts a deep gash across the side of RH Fighter 3's neck as it is thrown, and a bleeding wound soon blossoms, but the Reality Hacker is still standing.
Droid levels his smartgun at the Reality Hacker and hits him with a three round burst. The bullets ricochet off the dermal plating but leave several painful looking dents in the armor.
Group Rolls:
Since Kat is out of touch until Thursday and Adam has bronchitis (sorry, dude, I've had that before so I feel your pain :P ), I'll wait until Thursday to advance the story. If the rest of you wish to keep RPing conversation while your characters are waiting for the KE questioning, feel free :)
My brother is getting married on Saturday and I will be out of town tomorrow until Monday, so this weekend will be quite busy. I'll get posts in when I can, but I won't have access to Roll20 for most of that time (just my phone internet), so if I am able to post, I probably won't have access to the map.
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