Shadowrun: In Media Res

[Tulpa]

• Cram*: +2 reaction, +2d6 initiative
• Psyche*: +2 Intuition, +2 Logic
  *Narco enhances effects

”The Decker is out back, behind the restrooms.” The Decker is out back behind the restrooms. I’m out back behind the restrooms. Fuck. ”One moment.” The guy is blind and doesn’t see me. We can do this. Tulpa gets to work exploring the deckers icon, looking for a way into its control panel.

”He hasn’t found me yet. But I know where he is. Im going to brick his deck, then deal with him in the real. If anyone is free, some backup out back might be warranted.” If Tulpa manages to get one more mark on the deckers icon, he will smile, knowing he is in. Lets show this punk what a real decker can do.

Pass 1
Free action: stop running Silent
Complex Action: Hack on the Fly:

: 3 successes

Pass 2
If at least a third mark is gained:
Complex Action: Format Device:

Explosions:
Explosions explosions:

: 9 successes

Pass 3
Complex Action: Reboot Device:

Explosions:

: 2 Successes

[Shrike]

The second both thugs are down, the clock on his comms unit springs to life on his image link.

He pats the store clerk on the back and steps out from behind the counter "We weren't here!" he says to the clerk as he passes. Still holding his pistol with one hand, he grabs something suitable to try and wipe the gunk he was covered in off.

He activates his comms as Tulpa fills them in, listening to what the Decker tells them with interest.

”The Decker is out back, behind the restrooms.” The Decker is out back behind the restrooms. I’m out back behind the restrooms. Fuck. ”One moment.” The guy is blind and doesn’t see me. We can do this. Tulpa gets to work exploring the deckers icon, looking for a way into its control panel.

”He hasn’t found me yet. But I know where he is. Im going to brick his deck, then deal with him in the real. If anyone is free, some backup out back might be warranted.” If Tulpa manages to get one more mark on the deckers icon, he will smile, knowing he is in. Lets show this punk what a real decker can do.

"Acknowledged. We have 38 minutes to do our job. This is a distraction. Don't know about you but I like to get paid for tonight. Enough of us, we can split our focus, so I'm going to suggest some task division. Wraith, you are infiltration, so you get on site and meet our contact. Tulpa, we need that access and schematic for the site, so Wraith doesn't trip any sensors.

Gnat, you are outside already. Chase down that mage and bring him back. Don't want him bringing further trouble down on us. Bushwhacker, not sure what you can do. If you can do infiltration, accompany Wraith, otherwise help Gnat.

I'll go with Mulpa and find this decker. Watch out in case these yoyos have any backup. Any objections or I missed somebody, holler or join the most appropriate team for your abilities!" With that, Shrike heads towards Tulpa's location.

[Wraith]

Location: Stuffer Shack, Tacoma, Seattle Metroplex
Status: 3 Stun (-1 CM)

He communicates with the team "Sorry for being late to the party chummers, I spotted some 5-0 tailing me a block away and they seemed to want to book me for cruising while being Trog so I had to take it real slow..."

Wraith's second set of ears twitch upwards at the sound of a familiar voice, the foxelf taking a peek around the edge of the shelving unit and out the window. 'Huh, Bushwack... didn't know he was attached to this. Things are looking up?' she muses while holstering the sidearm. With her initial target down, and the wannabe-runner-mage on the run (so, no longer wannabe!) Wraith refocuses on their actual job.

"Acknowledged. We have 38 minutes to do our job. This is a distraction. Don't know about you but I like to get paid for tonight. Enough of us, we can split our focus, so I'm going to suggest some task division. Wraith, you are infiltration, so you get on site and meet our contact. Tulpa, we need that access and schematic for the site, so Wraith doesn't trip any sensors,"

The terse, professional tone from Shrike draws a brief smile from the foxelf, who nods to herself; while the elf has no difficulties with independent action, she very much prefers not to be in a leadership sort of position. With Shrike stepping up, Wraith feels more comfortable and it allows her to focus on her more immediate tasks. "Copy that. Assuming our employer is not misinformed, getting onto the property should be easy enough; the sooner I can get a floorplan the better however," she adds, almost diplomatically. Moving around the shelf towards the door, the foxelf shoulders the messenger bag carefully. 'Misinformed, or misleading... this job feels weird, too rushed...'

Once outside, Wraith sets the cheapo disposable commlink to hidden (invisible?) mode, then pulls a much, much more effective unit out from a concealed inner pocket - a Pulse Wave with improved software; this commlink is clipped to the inside collar of the plain black t-shirt beneath her jacket, and snuggled neatly between the cloth and the durable form-fit body armor that she is wearing beneath all of it.

Moving to the sidewalk bordering the road, Wraith looks both ways - with Bushwack having mentioned the possibility of law enforcement in the area, she wants to avoid drawing attention to herself, and intends to cross the street relatively legally. It also gives the elf the opportunity to re-arrange the configuration of her electronics, with all of the wireless devices tied to the Pulse Wave, which is also set to invisible (?) mode. "<Gomenasai> Tulpa, you should have guest access to my PAN now. I have an orientation system, just feed any maps or information directly to that. If you manage to get into security feeds, feel free to send those to me as well. <Arigato, ganbare>."

Not bothering to wait and see if anyone is going to join her, Wraith darts across the street when it seems safe to do so; she avoids approaching the property directly, taking a more oblique approach, hoping to use alleyways, buildings or vehicles to interrupt line of sight. Just in case.

Skill rolls

Sneak 12 dice:
Perception (Visual) 11 dice:
Perception (Audio) 11 dice:
Perception (Smell) 11 dice:

Notes

Although quick on her feet, Wraith isn't rushing things, taking the time to make active perception checks - I'll roll one each for Audio, Visual and Smell. Also a Sneak check, just in case; she's not trying to be obvious about sneaking around, but is doing her best to be unobtrusive. Note that Wraith has access to Low Light and Thermographic vision and a Spatial Recognizer; the form-fit armor has Thermal Damping 3.

If it matters at all, the Pulse Wave had been in a concealed faraday pocket, connected to her datajack with the usual cable, and the datajack set up to receive wireless signals from the rest of the team; now that its no longer in the faraday pocket, Wraith has it set to a more typical configuration, with the Pulse Wave being the hub of the PAN. Anything that needs to be wirelessly enabled is, and connected to the PAN.

[Mulpa]

With a nod to Corrigan, Mulpa heads to the back, to protect their "Geek" from whoever might be trying to interfere with their run and their team.

[Muppet Man]

Code: Select all

I'm so alone
Nothing feels like home
I'm so alone
Trying to find my way back home to you

//Location:Tacoma/Seattle Metroplex/UCAS
//Time: <2230:00/2075-01-05> Combat Over
//Weather: <Heavy Downpour, 5.6C, Wind SE 22kph, feels like 0C>
//Air Quality: <Moderate (Yellow), Precipitation pH 3>

Shrike and Mulpa dash out towards the back of the Stuffer Shack, finding themself in the alley, right next to the giant troll port-a-potty. Tulpa is scrabbling aournd in the troll-john. Mulpa can also vaguely see another human sized person, not much different in size and shape than Tulpa, on the opposite side of the big roto-molded green, stinky shitter on thermal.

However, as they pass the real restroom, they both hear someone whimpering and trying to be quiet even though they are panicking. It's a woman or maybe a terrified teen. They may be saying something like, "They can't get me, they can't get me, not again...not again..." through sobs and whimpers. With Mulpa's thermal vision, the professional runner can see a person scrambling around trying to find a way out through the upper wall vent.

Bushwack races past the port-a-potty and Mulpa on the Trollhammer, skidding to around in a tight turn smacks the guy behind the toilet with his spur. The skinny kid goes sailing into the side of the port-a-potty. He bounces off the flexible plastic and lands hard, sprawling out across the oily, filthy pavement. HIs 'deck goes skittering across the alley and comes to a rest in the garbage. He's out cold.

Inside the Honey Bucket, Tulpa happily hacks away. In moments he has brutally dominated the other hacker and his 'deck. Suddenly however, the deck goes silent, silence accompanied by a revving engine, a squeal of tires, a thump against his shelter and the unmistakable thump of a limp body hitting the ground.

Out front, the thug dwarf continues to make an escape, albeit slower and slower by the inch. He probably won't make it much further. Gnat remains on station out front taking things in.

Wraith darts past on her careful way to the actual site. She can make a relatively careful approach quick enough. It's just like intel they got, a big fenced warehouse on the the beautiful Puget Sound.

Warehouse Info

This large dockside warehouse complex sits near the local dockworkers favorite Stuffer Shack. The wall around the complex is four meters high and topped with barbwire.

Scaling the wall requires an Athletics + Agility (4) test.

Wraith spots a few dead animals in the area, the fence appears to be electrified. It will hurt to just climb over, the fence needs to negated somehow or lots of stun damage. There are no warning signs on the wire as this is extraterritorial property, and the owners don’t care.

The wall is topped with a series of cameras on posts that rotate 360 degrees every thirty seconds.

The guard stations are empty. The cranes can bee seen from outside and are still.

[Nathanial Deepgorge]

Gnat rolls his eyes as the wanna be tries to keep crawling away. ”By the Arcana!! Really? You lost.” He walks over to the mage and with a chuckle, bends down and grabs the guy’s ankle. With a grunt, Gnat drags his target back over to the car. Using his dwarven strength, Gnat puts the dude in the trunk. ”Stay!!” He puts his gun away and gets back into his ride. With a flick, he uses his comms ’What do we do with him?? Keep him or frak him?? The shaman is in my trunk for now.”

[Bushwack]

"Think about it. Why add kidnapping or murder to your rap sheet if your not getting paid for it, Gnat. Drop him off in the alley with the dumpsters. We lock him and the wannabe decker that was running interference with Mulpa in troll toilet. Flip the toilet over with the doors down so nobody can't escape.
So far any halfway decent lawyer can argue everything you did in this situation was just legit self defense and helping law enforcement like the decent concerned citizen we love and trust.
The cops come 50 pct of the criminals is dead, 50 pct is caught. Cops happy, probably won't have to look to deep in who was the more professional crew that prevented the heist.
I will murder any mofo that tries to lay a finger on any chummer I am running as its the Trogs scouts honour, but don't be calling heat we don't want for a prize that aint worth it. In and out man... Like Ali used to say: Dance like a butterfly, sting like ahem... Gnat."

Bangs the industrial toilet hard enough for it shake. (The sound inside must be deafening )

"Mulpa. Get yer pecker inside your pants up and get out you perv. That decker you were playing with is dumpshocked by my fist. Get out so we can lock him and that shaman in this toilet. Help those guys get in the compound. If you wanna sleep and drool and because your playing matrix games you can do it from the comfort of Gnat's car.Muuuu-uuuulllllllppppppppppppppaaaa"

Bang, Bang, Bang

[Mulpa]

"Think about it. Why add kidnapping or murder to your rap sheet if your not getting paid for it, Gnat. Drop him off in the alley with the dumpsters. We lock him and the wannabe decker that was running interference with Mulpa in troll toilet. Flip the toilet over with the doors down so nobody can't escape.
So far any halfway decent lawyer can argue everything you did in this situation was just legit self defense and helping law enforcement like the decent concerned citizen we love and trust.
The cops come 50 pct of the criminals is dead, 50 pct is caught. Cops happy, probably won't have to look to deep in who was the more professional crew that prevented the heist.
I will murder any mofo that tries to lay a finger on any chummer I am running as its the Trogs scouts honour, but don't be calling heat we don't want for a prize that aint worth it. In and out man... Like Ali used to say: Dance like a butterfly, sting like ahem... Gnat."

Bangs the industrial toilet hard enough for it shake. (The sound inside must be deafening )

"Mulpa. Get yer pecker inside your pants up and get out you perv. That decker you were playing with is dumpshocked by my fist. Get out so we can lock him and that shaman in this toilet. Help those guys get in the compound. If you wanna sleep and drool and because your playing matrix games you can do it from the comfort of Gnat's car.Muuuu-uuuulllllllppppppppppppppaaaa"

Bang, Bang, Bang

*Over comms*

• "Bushwack, ya dumb Trog... how many times do I need to remind you... Tulpa is the bloody human decker. Mulpa, aka me, is a Dwarf. Even from way up there you should be able to tell the difference. I will see who is in the other latrine that is trying to escape... that person is who you they may have been after... there may even be a payday in it for us... from either the target or THEIR Mr. Johnston. Tulpa, I can also grab the deck that wannabe was using, if you'd like. Now I will see what I can do with talking to the rabbit in the other latrine..."

"They are all gone, ma'am... and if you don't have the right tools, it is almost impossible to remove the grates off the ventilation. They used to lose too much stuff to theft before they started doing that. Now if you come out here, we can get you somewhere safe."

OOC Comments

Are any rolls required? Maybe Con since Mulpa's idea of safe is somewhere we can determine if she is worth credits to someone?

[Muppet Man]

Mini Update:
The facts:

• Dwarf on Dwarf Action
  The dwarf shaman is unconscious and Gnat can have his way with him...put him in whatever trunk or toilet he wants. A First Aid + Logic [Mental] (1) to see if he's actually alive or not.
• Potty Talk
  With a hard pull on the door, Mulpa can wrench it open. Otherwise he needs to charm the occupant; a Charisma roll of some kind (player's choice!) for 2 hits. Once open, Mulpa sees a pregnant orc woman in the restroom inside the Shack. While probably conventionally attractive under normal circumstances, right now she looks terrible. She's got short blue hair with a flower "hair tattoo" design, stylish and moderately expensive to expensive clothing, and it all is torn and dirty and disheveled right now. And she has been crying A LOT and probably running for her life (and her baby's too) for some reason. Her current financial state is unclear.
  
  She tried to black mail the dead beat baby daddy (no sweetheart himself), baby daddy's non-binary parent, the COO at Alliance Designs (a local mini-corp) did not take to the idea of black mail or illegitimate children and is themself a nasty piece of work (unclear if it was a straight up murder job or a scare out of town job)...hmmm saving her may have just put this team on the Alliance Designs radar.
• Found in the Trash
  The deck is an Erika MCD-1 Cyberdeck (broken in crash)
  Repair: Extended Test Hardware+Logic [Mental] (10/30min), requires Tool Kit, it will never look good unless the case is replaced.

[Bushwack]

*Over comms*

"Mea Culpa Mulpa for mistaking you with Tulpa. Call me a dumb Trog again and we will see if you are still so much smarter than me when you are deader than me and your brain is bashed into bloody pulpa."

<vague Russian insults and indiscriminate growling>