Shadowrun Play-By-Post Community

Soundtrack wrote:
Me and Kid Sensation at home away from home//In the black Benz Limo with the cellular phone//I'm callin' up the posse it's time to get rippin'//A freak in each sunroof to keep you suckas trippin'

TIME STAMP wrote: //Location: Downtown Puyallup/Seattle Metroplex/UCAS
//Time: <0955:00/2075-01-18> Combat round OVER
//Weather: <Heavy Overcast, Light Snow, 0C, Wind N 8kph, feels like -8C>
//Air Quality: <Monthly Average: Moderate (Yellow), Precipitation pH 2.6>

INSIDE THE OFFICE BUILDING
Strangely quiet...

A NEARBY STAKEOUT
There is response from Mulpa. The thermal images of figures (assuming that's what they are) move about in the window, eventually far enough away to disappear from view.

There is one of those awkward moments in a restaurant when everything goes silent just as one person blurts something odd out. That happens just as Shrike snorts about his sinuses. The three or so other groups in the diner look at them briefly and then the volume goes back up and everyone moves on. Some of the patrons have been sitting in a booth even longer than the 'runners. No one finds it odd they are there. Except for that moment, no one really paid attention at all.

The 'kaf is almost gone, maybe 15 minutes or so have passed, when the three enhanced elves spot a tiltrotor craft coming in from the north. As it gets closer, everyone sees the tiltrotor, and, what appears to be a light attack helicopter escort. For those familiar with the Tir military, this is a

I'm sure I saw something like this somewhere, but I can't find the reference, so we'll just pretend it's true,

for VIPs and such. There is probably another chopper nearby as well.

Unfortunately, it's hard to tell right now where they are headed. There are a LOT of elves in the area, after all.

On the road, a truck leaves the concrete plant every hour or so, heading out the northeast end of the facility. They appear to enter the plant at the southwest corner. Watching the major roads, Stygge notices a pilot car followed by a

, it appears to be following the same route to the factory.

The odd (probably mutant) group of seagulls or cluster of pigeons or murder of crows are in the air as well, prowling for scraps. Rats of the air, all of them.

They actual target area remains calm. Too calm?

Game Effects:

• Triple travel time anywhere in the Sprawl, with minimum of 1 hour.
• Getting anywhere requires a piloting/driving check Difficulty 2, if you're from Seattle or Portland, increase difficulty to 3
• Motorcycles are worse: difficulty 5
• Visibility: -1 (exterior); Dim Light (-3 visual)

What the frag are you going to do now?

Scone Factory Aerial View:

As the helicopter passes overhead, Shrike makes a note of the time and takes a sip of his Soykaf.

Lets hope they aren't involved, otherwise it will become a bloodbath. Probably of us!

Wraith wrote: ↑Sat Aug 28, 2021 6:02 pm Another nod from the foxelf, idly sliding her tail across her lap. "I cannot say that I am familiar with factory work, but I imagine for that sort of operation, the ovens would have to be running constantly," she muses in agreement with the others. "We should get closer... perhaps the roof. If trouble erupts, we need to be ready to get in there." Tail starting to lash slowly, the foxelf reaches for her small duffle of tools, pulling it open so that she can start sorting through what might be needed most urgently.

"Hang on, if we go now, we will almost certainly blow his cover and put their security on high alert. Trust he knows what he is doing and that we don't need to precipitate a bloodbath. At least not yet. We have a few hours to prep before we begin." Shrike finishes his soykaf, draining the last dregs and signals to the waitress all very calmly.

"A refill please and the same for my friends here." he asks the waitress politely.

"Stygge, what do you think of the traffic? Anything we should be wary of or think we can use to our advantage?"

Muppet Man wrote: ↑Sun Aug 29, 2021 10:55 pm There is one of those awkward moments in a restaurant when everything goes silent just as one person blurts something odd out. That happens just as Shrike snorts about his sinuses. The three or so other groups in the diner look at them briefly and then the volume goes back up and everyone moves on. Some of the patrons have been sitting in a booth even longer than the 'runners. No one finds it odd they are there. Except for that moment, no one really paid attention at all.

Always somebody he smiles, redirecting his hearing enhancement back across the road. "Let me take a walk outside, see if I can hear them."

He drinks about half the new cup before heading out as if for a walk, but trying to listen into the target site, whilst appearing to just be a harmless pedestrian.

Location: Puyallup, Seattle Metroplex
Condition: Ok
Broadcasted SIN: Elisabeth Gibbs (UCAS)

Shrike wrote:"Hang on, if we go now, we will almost certainly blow his cover and put their security on high alert. Trust he knows what he is doing and that we don't need to precipitate a bloodbath. At least not yet. We have a few hours to prep before we begin." Shrike finishes his soykaf, draining the last dregs and signals to the waitress all very calmly.

"They would have to detect us first," Wraith replies cooly, fox ears splaying sideways; she keeps a neutral expression otherwise. "I wasn't proposing breaching the building, merely moving closer... where we are now, if there is trouble it would take far too long to react," Wraith adds in a lower tone, glancing around the small business for a moment then back to the other three.

GM wrote:The 'kaf is almost gone, maybe 15 minutes or so have passed, when the three enhanced elves spot a tiltrotor craft coming in from the north. As it gets closer, everyone sees the tiltrotor, and, what appears to be a light attack helicopter escort. For those familiar with the Tir military, this is a for VIPs and such. There is probably another chopper nearby as well.

"Let us hope that they are not heading the same place we are," Wraith murmurs under her breath, frowning as she watches the VTOLs as carefully as she can without using binoculars.

Shrike wrote:Always somebody he smiles, redirecting his hearing enhancement back across the road. "Let me take a walk outside, see if I can hear them."

He drinks about half the new cup before heading out as if for a walk, but trying to listen into the target site, whilst appearing to just be a harmless pedestrian.

Settling back in her own chair, Wraith finishes off her own soycaf, offering a nod of thanks again to Bushwack; if there is a server of some sort, the foxelf will order a tea next time they come around, while offering to buy a round of whatever for her team-mates. Also? Whatever the restaurant has that is Sausage and Egg McMuffin-ish. Maybe two.

When Shrike gets up to move outside, Wraith watches quietly, sipping her tea and/or nibbling on her sandwich if they've arrived by then. "I will have to give my legs a stretch when you get back; I don't want to get stiff."

Stygge takes Bushwack's drink, takes a quick sniff of it to check for alcohol, and sips it once she's satisfied that there isn't any. She reads the message from her favourite street doc,

Judge Intentions roll just in case:

, and then considers the traffic situation.

"Stygge's traffic report," she says, "there's a definite pattern with the trucks at the nearby concrete plant. Could use that to blend in once it's time to grab one of them bad boys." She gestures towards the two trailers at the scone factory. Upon seeing the flatbed with the tarp covering it, she adds: "Unless someone else has already thought of that."

Soon it's clear that Stygge needs to get moving. "Thanks for the drink ... Bushwack, was it?" she says to the troll who brought her beverage. Instead of going straight for the scone factory, however, she ambles over to the southwest corner of the concrete plant,

Sneaking roll just in case:

and hoping to score a vehicle with enough pulling power. If she feels that TS8's message is 100% genuinely helpful, she will tell them she's near the Fairground Scone Factory in Puyallup. If she thinks it's kinda sus, she will hold off on replying for the moment.

Soundtrack wrote:
Ooh, ooh, ooh//We called it off again last night//But ooh, ooh, ooh//This time, I'm telling you, I'm telling you

TIME STAMP wrote: //Location: Downtown Puyallup/Seattle Metroplex/UCAS
//Time: <1135:00/2075-01-18> Combat round OVER
//Weather: <Heavy Overcast, Light Snow, 1C, Wind N 8kph, feels like -6C>
//Air Quality: <Monthly Average: Moderate (Yellow), Precipitation pH 2.6>

INSIDE THE OFFICE BUILDING
There is no report or commotion or anything to indicate activity inside the building. Mulpa is silent. Is it time to worry?

Wraith's data suggest that there is no hidden exit, and the team's survey of the area more or less confirms that. Still, they could have iced him quietly and just tucked him away in a corner.

Time has passed, but is it too much time yet? What's the play?

A NEARBY STAKEOUT
The aircraft fly past the downtown area and out of view. They appeared to slow and bank towards a landing to the south of the city core. Hard to tell where exactly.

As Stygge considers the cryptic message from her contact, the determination is that his message is probably genuine, but very problematic. Two reasons: the wannabe medic is not dumb, but he's not naturally deceitful, and him knowing about the run on his own is highly unlikely...so someone is probably feeding him info hoping he'll sincerely use it.*

Shrike heads outside first, Stygge a little bit later. Then Wraith when the other elf returns. They cycle like this for a while.

It's a diner. It's morning. There's multiple factories and industrial areas close by. No one wants to pry, especially with Bushwack hanging around. "I don't know about you," one of the patrons says to his companion at a booth nearby (near enough for the Runners to hear without effort), "but I remember when this place wasn't so full of those pointy ears." His companion however responds, "Ain't worse off now though, seems like no matter who lives here, problems come from them rich corporate types. If you ask me anyways. Them's folks clearly waiting for trucks or honest work." he says, feeling like he's won a point in an ongoing argument. To drive it home he says again, "If you ask me anyways."

The sky lightens a little eventually, but it's still a solid ceiling of grey clouds. It feels oppressive. The swirl of shitty snow doesn't help either.

Stygge is outside meandering along. She doesn't look out of place--she manages to seem to be enough on-task that people don't wonder why she's wandering. She hears two helicopters lift off, her enhanced audio easily noticing the distinctive sound. They are not the same little escort choppers as before, these area bigger. They are too far for her to ID the make and model. Certainly big enough for passengers, but not cargo. They fly almost completely vertically and disappear into the opaque clouds overhead.

She's on her way back to the diner when she sees the two new choppers come barreling down out of the sky, some sort of something dampening their sound. They do a quick nose up maneuver. Three or four black clad operators drop from the side of each chopper onto the roof of the scone factory. The helos resume motion, they practically never stopped moving forward, and with minimal noise. Stygge recognizes professional flying, these pilots are hot shit.

Wraith, Shrike and Bushwack are inside, so they miss the drop off, but they all see the choppers zooming off, returning to the clouds overhead.

A few seconds later, there might be suppressed gunfire in the building. Followed by clearly un-suppressed gunfire. There is a muted flash of a blue light that can only be magic, it lights up the second floor of the office. The heat signature of the trailers spikes for a moment. Activity must be centered inside, not much is visible in any of the windows. There's gunfire and commotion from the factory proper too.

It would take less than 30 seconds to reach the factory compound. A minute or two to reach the concrete plant.

And those good ol' boys chatting about how racist they are or are not, well they start acting real funny. Bushwack has seen similar reactions when a clean junkie takes that first hit after years. Sort of a wash of ecstasy over their faces, then they kind of go blank. Like they're waiting for instructions.

---

INFO:
What the frag are you going to do now?

*Super nerdy here, but this is basically how Saruman tried to use Radagast to convince Gandalf to go to Orthanc.

Crackly Commlink with visual on my side so my face can be seen even if its not mutual.

"Silhouette...f**ck I hate tech" bangs the phone in frustration when it doesnt go quickly enough." Listen you received payment from Mulpa via your intermediary Pauline for making a fake sin to get Mulpa in the scone factory. Well he is in and something is cooking and it doesn't seem to be fragging soybuns or scones. If you got marks on Mulpa's commlink from uploading that SIN on it, I need you to provide an audio feed from his earbuds and videofeed from his glasses to the team. We hear gunshots and need to know if his ass is getting fragged and we need to get in hot or if is managing and there is no need to blow his cover.

I will not threaten if you don't do and I will not hold it against you. I know who is doing who a favor. . I WILL owe you a personal favor. The name is BUSHWACK, I do babysitting, light entertainment or I can put my trog ass between you and the corpsec who found you when and if that day comes and you need that hail mary and none of your friends are picking up the phone. I DO not make promises like this lightly. You can and should ask around after you did this."

"Left some exploits inside the system. If they are still there. I need you all to understand: this is the most dangerous system I have run against."

The message scrolls across Bushwack's screen, flashes three times, then disappears.

"I found your Tulpa. I released him from jail. He says he needs his deck and something else from his bolthole. No ETA."

This message repeats twice, blinks, then disappears.

"I have a bad feeling about this."

This line flashes once, then disappears.

"Tir spec ops. FYI."

This text just disappears.

"Either Mulpa is hogging all the fun or he is in deep shit, I will let you know what it was"

Bushwack starts a run towards the building where Mulpa entered, deeply inhaling the fat lit cigar...

Location: Puyallup, Seattle Metroplex
Condition: Ok
Broadcasted SIN: Elisabeth Gibbs (UCAS) <Hidden mode now>

GM wrote:It's a diner. It's morning. There's multiple factories and industrial areas close by. No one wants to pry, especially with Bushwack hanging around. "I don't know about you," one of the patrons says to his companion at a booth nearby (near enough for the Runners to hear without effort), "but I remember when this place wasn't so full of those pointy ears." His companion however responds, "Ain't worse off now though, seems like no matter who lives here, problems come from them rich corporate types. If you ask me anyways. Them's folks clearly waiting for trucks or honest work." he says, feeling like he's won a point in an ongoing argument. To drive it home he says again, "If you ask me anyways."

Wraith pads by the two on her way back from the restroom, giving them a sideways glance one fox-ear flicking sharply, the only indication of her irritation. 'I still don't understand this hatred between the species, what is the point?' she thinks to herself, moving to settle back into the booth they were sharing/onto the chair at the table they're sharing. Tail laying across her lap once more, the foxelf looks out the window again, studying the movement of traffic idly, mulling over this racism thing.

Those sensitive, cyber-enhanced ears of hers easily pick up the departure of the two new helos, gaze drawn to them as they move through the sky. The sounds of gunfire moments later bring her to full alertness, the tip of her tail starting to twitch slowly. Still, Wraith does her best not to visibly react (other than the tail), glancing to Shrike and Bushwack; the latter's abrupt departure does cause her to mutter a few choice words under her breath. Factoring in the behavior of the two chatty humans, the foxelf keeps herself restrained - they could be surrounded by enemies right this moment.

"Stygge, did you see what those two new helos did?" Wraith inquires over their voice-comm while casually shouldering her bag, suddenly feeling woefully under-prepared; the volume of weapon discharges and the presence of obvious magic putting a whole new face on the mission. "Has anyone heard from Mulpa?"

Standing, she makes her way out of the small diner, fighting her urge to sprint, taking a sharp turn as she exits to head down the sidewalk, again keeping her eyes peeled and fox-ears rotating. "The way the helos took off like that, there has to be some sort of involvement. Another team?" Though instinct tells her that they should withdraw, scrap the mission, having one and soon to be two teammates in danger forces her to override that.

Instead, she moves down a block before crossing the street, taking a more circuitous route - its probably too late not to draw attention to themselves, but charging in blindly could well do them a whole lot more harm, in her mind. "I will check out the trailer on my way in."

Soundtrack wrote:
Are we not men//We are Devo

TIME STAMP wrote: //Location: Downtown Puyallup/Seattle Metroplex/UCAS
//Time: <1136:00/2075-01-18> Combat round OVER
//Weather: <Heavy Overcast, Light Snow, 1C, Wind N 8kph, feels like -6C>
//Air Quality: <Monthly Average: Moderate (Yellow), Precipitation pH 2.6>

INSIDE THE OFFICE BUILDING
The puff of suppressed bullets and clatter of firing mechanism is no longer the only thing audible inside the building. People are dying. They are crying out like dying people do. Magic doesn't always make noise, but when a wall explodes, no matter the reason, it sends debris raining across a room, ricocheting around shattering fragile objects (including people), creating an audible chaos. It's a different sound, clearly, from the grenades that follow a few seconds later. More dying people.

OUTSIDE THE BUILDING
Bushwack charges. He hears the commotion inside. He is forced with a

See notes below for specific ingress/egress at each building, but narratively, these are the important choices.

: Door #1 (office building), Door #2 (bakery) or Door #3 (warehouse)]

ACROSS THE STREET
Wraith takes a more subtle approach in response to the action.

As she exits the diner, the two suspicious patrons don't move. Her gut tells her it's not right. Her best guess comes from her security training, these guys might be juicing some sort of drug. Even still, the synchronized nature of the response has her tail all sorts of weirded out and twitching.

Outside the cold weather is somewhat relaxing. As Wraith carefully approaches the target area, her senses are on full alert. The building is as described, her plans and intel were spot on. She can see multiple entrances at ground level, several more above on fire escapes or balconies.

By the time she reaches the trailers, things are starting to happen. She hears shouting in a language she does not know above the whirring and white noise of heavy duty cooling systems. The trailer closest to her starts to shake as violent activity begins inside. Unfortunately, the heat from the internal machinery masks the bodies being tossed about.

A NEARBY STAKEOUT
Bushwack's exit does cause a little commotion in the diner. But as soon as most realize he wasn't doing anything that involved them, they went back to their meals and beverages and conversations. A handful sat up in their booths to see what the big guy was all about, like watching a car crash, they just had to look.

But the two patrons who were mysteriously catatonic get suddenly motivated. Leaving all their belongings behind and without so much as a nod to each other, they move at what one might call a "tactical" pace towards the parking lot. Not quite trailing Bushwack, but heading in the same direction. Stygge's best interpretation of their behavior is someone in the middle of a BTL trip. It's the eyes.

---

INFO:
What the frag are you going to do now?