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Natalyachildren overboard posted:Kale approaches the young security guard who brandishes a hand-held metal detector. The young man smiles broadly as Kale approaches, taking the fixer's hand and shaking it warmly. Kale asks in Tagolog about the wellbeing of the young man's six children by name. After they are finished their cheery discussion about their families, Kale's voice gets low and gentle as he puts an arm around the young man's shoulder while he gestures towards your group. Nail picks up a few of the fixer's words including "veteran" and "wounded" and "replacement". Natalya stood there quietly, looking around the airport with bored indifference as their contact smoothed the way for them on-board the plane that would carry them the rest of the way to the island. Though she gave no appearance of paying attention she listened in as the two men spoke, lips quirking as she heard the transparent excuses being offered...she could only imagine what the security guard thought of her "replacements"...but she was satisfied that the linguasoft she'd bought seemed to be working. quote:Five minutes later you're finding your seats onboard the twin-prop plane. The plane's PAN offers a little primer on the island including a few common phrases in Tagalog like "which way to the church?" and "what time is mass held?". The in-flight information says the flight will take about an hour. The plane's matrix uplink is slow but workable. Glancing across the aisle, Natalya took in the sight of the ork struggling with his seatbelt. "Tsk, I know...it is shameful, is it not?," she said sympathetically. "Here we are in the 70's and still they have yet to invent an airplane accommodating to those of us who choose to be more than what we were born." She patted one of her legs, both uncomfortably folded up behind the seat in front of her, the space clearly not designed with augmentations such as hers in mind. "I am Natalya," she said, leaning over and offering the ork both her hand and a grin. "You are traveling to the island too then, yes? Oooh, may I see?" Without bothering to wait for a reply she began looking the ork's cyberarm over with the keen interest of an enthusiast. Rolling Transhuman Body Mod Culture to see if it can tell me anything noteworthy about the ork's cyberarm JUST BECAUSE I CAN. If you feel like this is an in appropriate use of the skill then it can just be flavor. Otherwise three hits.
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Apr 9, 2013 04:18
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Vincent Coll The in flight movies, matrix access, helpful cultural programs, and live updated infographic laden maps are completely lost on the unwired elf. Without so much as a buzz from the single beer he had drunk, Mad Dog Coll sits stewing in his own ire, looking forward to tedious flight. Then the orc seated in front of him begins cursing and thrashing about after ruining a seat belt. Ah. A volunteer. Vincent reaches forward and grips the orc's left shoulder with his right hand. "I think you've been hitting the BTLs a little hard, friend," he says in a menacing tone. "You'd better hand me your commlink for safe keeping, so nothing... bad, happens to you." As he speaks, the blade that normally rests inside the edge of his right hand slides out slightly, pricking the Orc's neck. Let's get started on gearing up. Five successes on scaring the piss out of that annoying orc. e: Oh, someone beat me by three minutes. Look at the bright side, something to bond with him about!
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Apr 9, 2013 04:21
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Mystic Mongol posted:e: Oh, someone beat me by three minutes. Look at the bright side, something to bond with him about! Oh well, these things happen. Natalya's just going to pretend she doesn't know you.
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Apr 9, 2013 04:31
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Blades on a Plane Noise jacks in and starts his first search. It looks like Nigel Newport is a self-made man: He dropped out of school at 15 and started a mail order business repairing broken cyberdecks. It grew into a medium-sized company, and then a large company. He made his fortune when the matrix went wireless and the Newport Corporation was awarded a massive tender to build the TRG supplying the net to the British Isles. Shortly after he also set up a charity called Commlinks for Kids, aiming to get sturdy, solar-powered, satellite-capable commlinks to impoverished children in poor nations. Though Nigel has a reputation as a playboy (parachuting into press conferences and such), he's largely skirted controversy, with two exceptions that you are able to uncover: 1. He was involved in a defamation case a few years ago. A bitter former employee was threatening to release a tell-all biography of Nigel. Newport sued for libel days before its release, and the author issued an apology and deleted the manuscript. Though most traces have been scoured from the web, you discover the defamatory material related to accusations Nigel possessed illegal tailored pheromones, and the former employee claimed he'd used these to bamboozle government figures and rig the RTG contract. 2. One year ago when visiting India as part of a Commlinks for Kids fact-finding mission, they were out in the wilderness when someone in Newport's entourage shot and killed a protected species of naga. Mr Newport's then-bodyguard was convicted of the shooting and sent to prison over the affair. Aside from that, the guy looks legit. Meanwhile, Natalya offers a hand to the ork. The red-headed fellow smiles warmly but doesn't return the handshaket. "Lovely to meet you, ma'am," he says in a rapid Irish brogue. "Me name's Behan. I'd shake yer lovely hand but me arm's been playin' up lately." You see it's a CATco series 700. You recall the 700s had a problem with their firmware at launch which could cause uncontrolled spasms. The company patched it but he's probably got wireless connectivity disabled. You suspect if he turned it on for a few minutes and let it sync with his commlink his arm would auto-update and solve the problem. And then Coll decides to mug the guy on a plane. Coll is quite scary, which people react to pretty badly when he utters a threat and they realise they're in a cramped cabin with a maniac. The Hawaiian shirt-wearing woman beside him gasps and spills her pre-flight shiraz. Behan jerks away in shock when he feels the blade against his neck, twisting in his cramped seat to stare back at Coll, fear evident in his green orky eyes. "W...what the gently caress ye fucken madman?!" he stammers out, putting a hand to his neck. "Did ye just fucken stick me with summin?" Someone fearfully hisses "terorista!" The air steward returns through the curtain from first class carrying a spare seatbelt (the one they give out to trolls and otherwise husky passengers) and stares at the situation. "Sirs... is there a problem?" From the back of the plane, a sturdy woman dressed in an offensively plain pantsuit (as in 'government official' plain) has noticed the disturbance and starts pushing her way down the aisle past passengers loading the overhead luggage racks, making her way towards you as she reaches into her coat.
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Apr 9, 2013 17:02
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I was trying to be waaaaay more subtle than that. In the future, will I be able to threaten someone without alerting everyone in the room, or is intimidation a 'outdoor voice only' skill? I guess I'll find out... WITH THIS POST (dun dun dun) Vincent Coll The knife disappears back into Vincent's hand the instant the shouting began, but apparently the damage was done. That eagle-eyed witch beside him had apparently spotted the blade through the gap between the seats. Getting the Commlink now probably wasn't happening, but at least Coll could punish the morons for inconveniencing him. "This orc," Vincent says, doing a credible impression of a annoyed middle management, "This orc, he is having some kind of attack! Cyberpsychosis, like on the trid. Everyone's getting seated, and suddenly he starts cursing and thrashing about, destroying his seat with that killing machine he calls an arm. I try to calm him down, and suddenly he starts shouting about knives. Every day, there's a news story about some lower class freakshow losing control of his implants and killing a half dozen people, and now I have to sit trapped behind him?" He turns and gestures with one hand--the same one that moments before had a blade--at the woman in the Hawaiian shirt. "This woman saw it all, she can confirm that the orc is at fault here." Coll turns so that only the woman can see his face, and his expression flashes from righteous indignation to genuine fury. "Isn't. That. Right." Six successes to con the flight attendant. After edge, eight to scare the woman some more--god I hope more successes at intimidate is 'more control' and not 'more scared' or she's just going to dive out the window.
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Apr 9, 2013 17:43
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Nail Wow, where did they find this elf in the suit? He talks like he's lived his entire life coddled in some corp arcology watching trids all day, but doesn't even know that it's a bad idea to try to mug someone on a plane. Sure, even unarmed we could take down the agent walking this way but it's really going to make a mess of things. I'm sure the last thing Mr. Newport wants is a bunch of supposed terrorists on his payroll. Maybe if it was another of our group it would be different, but so far the elf's rubbed Nail the wrong way so just going to sit back and observe for now. Sending off a message to the rest of the team. I don't know what this guy is up to but I'm not going to interfere and be labeled a terrorist myself. Should know better than pulling forbidden weapons on a commercial plane.
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Apr 9, 2013 17:55
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Oh, goddammit, you too? How many people saw that knife, a small blade that was never fully extended. I'm not robbing a gas station here, go start your own scene hooks. Next time I shall roll palming.
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Apr 9, 2013 18:13
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Well, Behan sounded quite normal when he was talking to Natalya then you started your thing and he turned around and looked right at you while mentioned being stuck with something. After your not well taken intro to the group(by Nail's view) He can only assume you're causing problems again. Maybe mentioning forbidden weapons was a bit of a stretch, but still not getting involved in problems you created on a plane.
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Apr 9, 2013 18:22
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Yeah fair enough.
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Apr 9, 2013 18:32
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Also, that red-headed ork who you are trying to mug is sitting next to me. So yes, I probably heard every single thing you told him and may have seen the blade if you pricked him on the neck with it.children overboard posted:The red-headed ork seated next to Nail cursing in lilted Gaelic after his cyberlimb has just accidentally ripped his seatbelt out of its socket is one.
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Apr 9, 2013 18:33
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Turns out finding a picture of a hand on someone else's shoulder that isn't of a mostly naked woman swooning behind a shutterstock logo is pretty hard! So I made due with this. See, the blade that runs along the edge of the hand is concealed from this side of the orc by the elf's hand. And from the other side, it's concealed by the orc's big fat ugly head. I'm not seizing him by the hair and holding a knife to his throat like a trideo supervillain, I'm resting a knife gently against his neck like a trideo mob boss.
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Apr 9, 2013 19:31
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ltr posted:Nail Noise If the RAS override didn't have his motor functions on lockdown, Noise's eyebrows would be crawling up to his hairline at the text Nails sent his way. AR response: Are you for real? I thought that elf was kind of weird, but this is something else. If we're just going to sit it out, see if you can get a recording - maybe we can sell it to that "Undernet Blooper Reel" pirate tridcast. OOC: Is there anything we can do to settle this down? I'd be willing to try - maybe I could hack together some supporting evidence for a story about a security drill? My fake SIN does list me as a freelance security consultant - it's not totally implausible, I guess. 
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Apr 9, 2013 22:11
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Natalya Natalya's expression goes from friendly to dark in a heartbeat. She had been content up to this point to allow the man in the suit to act however he felt like...the more he antagonized people the more likely he was to be shot at first, after all, which suited her just fine...but this was getting to be ridiculous. "It's a bad job when I'm the one having to play the professional," she thought irritably to herself before standing up and holding her hands out to the steward and the woman approaching them down the aisle. "Everyone please. Please," she said, glaring at Vincent for emphasis before continuing on, "this has all been an incredible misunderstanding. The gentleman here is not having a cyberpsychotic episode, his arm is having uncontrolled myo-actuator spasms due to a problem with the firmware. You are using the CATco 700 series, yes?," she asked the ork though she already knew the answer. "That model is known for this particular glitch as well causing the occasional bout of neural feedback along adjoining nerve clusters...hot and cold, numbness and pricking sensations, things like that. Trust me, I am something of an expert," she said with a grin. She turned her attention back to the ork, favoring him with another smile. "I suspect that the issue can be resolved with a firmware update. Sometimes the wireless connectivity on these CATco models becomes inadvertently disabled, it is quite frustrating. I suggest checking to see if that is the case and if so allowing your arm to synch with your commlink for a few moments to see if that does not resolve the matter, though I am certain that it will." And, she quietly hoped, resolve other matters as well. Natalya didn't see any blade, but given that she was having a conversation with the man as this went down I figure she can hazard a guess that SOMETHING happened.
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Apr 9, 2013 22:43
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Stormcrow Stormcrow's hands flow gracefully over an imaginary keyboard. His response comes in an instant. Of course. No need to tar the rest of us while he's making an rear end of himself. Still, there's no need for our first mission to be bailing Coll out of some Filipino jail. I'm going to see what I can do behind the scenes. He leans back in his chair, eyes closing, brow knitting. There, deep down at the base of his spine, the entrance to Susanno-o's realm. Nobody here could see into the astral, as far as he knew, but if they could they'd see an aura shining like pale fire and a belly full of thunder. All of the hairs on his arms stand up, and there's the almost imperceptible smell of ozone, like the aftermath of thunder weather. Stormcrow reached out and lightly brushed Coll's pantleg. Reality thrummed, and rearranged itself slightly. Going to boost Coll's Charisma to help him negotiate/cow onlookers. Force 6 spell, 5 successes, which brings his charisma to 10. I'll hold that for however long it takes for him to talk his way out of it. Rolled 12 dice to resist drain and got a 6, rolled one dice for drain. Considering drain is 1 for that spell it doesn't even phase me.
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Apr 9, 2013 23:11
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Baby Babbeh posted:Stormcrow Noise Noise's guardian lions simultaneously bury their shaggy heads in their paws as AR messages flash into existence in the glowing stream of ideograms that hoves in front of them. Jobs usually go wrong after you meet Mr. Johnson ... I'll see if I can't do create some reasonable doubt on my end. Good luck, everyone. The lions turn their glowing eyes skyward, searching the digital sky for data. Simsense limiters fall away with a thought, and Noise twitches almost imperceptibly as the rush of a full-strength hot sim feed burns through his nerves like a white-hot wire. Time to hunt. I'm going to try to deflect the attention of that sky marshal, if I can. Let's start with a Matrix Perception test - Computer 4 + Analyze 5 + Hot Sim 2 yields: Matrix Perception on sky marshal's node: 11d6t5 5 successes I'd like to get the following information, in priority order: -Access ID -Active transmissions (is she calling in a report?) -Encryption status -Firewall rating -Active programs
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Apr 9, 2013 23:47
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Aaaaaaaaah you jerks don't try to support my story by explaining that I just lied and here's what really happened because if you succeed it makes me a suspicious liar and if you failed I've got a suspicious liar backing me up. Right now we've just got two people yelling at each other. If you really must get involved at least give a conflicting story of something completely unrelated to promote confusion. Go find your own NPCs to hassle. How about that lady? She got a character portrait and everything! I bet she's important.
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Apr 10, 2013 00:56
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I'm mostly trying to make sure that sky marshal coming up the aisle doesn't have the cops waiting for you on the ground. After that, it's back to the data mines with me. Enjoy your yelling!
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Apr 10, 2013 01:04
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Mystic Mongol posted:I was trying to be waaaaay more subtle than that. In the future, will I be able to threaten someone without alerting everyone in the room, or is intimidation a 'outdoor voice only' skill? No one saw the blade--the woman was reacting to your threat and then others to Behan's claim that you stuck him. And I'm going to stick by my first position and say that it's impossible to mug someone on a plane without at least someone noticing. Not sure if you've misjudged the tone of the game I'm going for here, but for future reference mugging someone on a plane (without even any value to a mission at hand) is about five levels too stupid. Also, if you're going to start an incident it's really uncool to then tell other players not to get involved in it. - The Humourless Marshal The Hawaaiin shirt woman cowers under Coll's glare. "The... that ork was cursing!" she tells the flight attendant. "I din do a fuckin' thing!" Behan protests. "That fucker's got a wee blade on 'im!" The government official arrives holding an air-marshal's badge in one hand and a commlink in the other. It takes a bit of fiddling but in hotsim now Noise is able to pick the signal amidst the Christmas-tree of commlinks. With a standard-browser/encryption suite and rating-3 across the board model, she has an audio connection open to the flight tower. This is probably standard procedure. "Sir, offensive language will not be tolerated," the hefty marshall says. "Now, I'm going to need you to both to take off your coats and step into the aisle for a search." A row away, Kale sits silently, staring intently at his fingernails as he grinds his teeth.
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Apr 10, 2013 12:44
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children overboard posted:[/i]Not sure if you've misjudged the tone of the game I'm going for here, but for future reference mugging someone on a plane (without even any value to a mission at hand) is about five levels too stupid.[/i] Apparently so! I thought it was more gonzo than it's turning out to be. I'll stop causing trouble, then. Vincent Coll Vincent continues to complain bitterly as he stands up from his seat and removes his jacket, the exhausted tirade of a corp suit that's been put upon. More con I suppose, eight successes. Thanks, wizard!
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Apr 10, 2013 19:21
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children overboard posted:
The glowing river of data swirls into a graceful loop in front of Noise's paired lions, neon droplets resolving into a calligraphic depiction of the air marshal's commlink node ... and the connection she's opened to the tower. One of the lions seizes the thread of the audio link in its steel-fanged jaws - gently - while the other picks through the flowing data with a taloned paw, looking for any transmission in need of a bit of judicious rewriting. Nothing too harsh, nothing too drastic. Just enough to get the job done. With any luck, it might even be enough to get Kale to speak to us once we get off the plane," Noise thinks aloud. "Maybe we can even talk Vincent into reeling the attitude in a bit once he sees what we did for him." Glad to see there's nothing too heavy-duty here. Since she's got an audio line open to the tower, I'm going to go ahead and make sure she doesn't tell them anything too disruptive or inconvenient for us. Going to Intercept Traffic on the marshal-to-tower connection. Hacking 5 + Sniffer 5 + Hot Sim 2 = Intercept Traffic for the air marshal: 12d6t5 5 successes If the transmission is encrypted, I'll Initiate Cryptanalysis until that pesky encryption goes away. If it's not an encrypted transmission, disregard! Electronic Warfare 3 + Decrypt 5 + Hot Sim 2 = Decrypt airmarshal's transmission: 10d6t5 4 successes Second round of decryption = Decrypt airmarshal's transmission #2: 10d6t5 5 successes Nine total successes should be able to break any encryption she's running in two Combat Turns or less. Once I'm eavesdropping on that audio connection, I'm just going to stand by to Edit any inconvenient truths that happen to pop up from either end - overly specific descriptions, requests to have the cops on standby at the airport, that kind of thing. Computer 4 + Edit 5 + Hot Sim 2 = Edit inconvenient truths: 11d6t5 8 successes That's a bunch of rolls! Did I do that right?
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Apr 10, 2013 22:38
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Mystic Mongol posted:Apparently so! I thought it was more gonzo than it's turning out to be. I'll stop causing trouble, then. Thanks! Save it for the missions! And Noise, that all looks correct to me. Cool reality filter too: +1 karma. Deescelation The hefty marshal gives both elf and ork a very thorough patdown and goes through your pockets. She spends a half minute just examining the ork's cyberarm for any hidden weapons ports, but doesn't find any. Satisfied, she turns back to the worried crowd. "Passengers, please calm down. Nobody has any weapons, everyone's been through security just like you. "Sir, please," she says to the ork, "You're coming to sit beside me where I can keep an eye on you. Follow this young lady's advice and fix your arm. Any further outburst and you will be arrested." "I don't need a bloody babysitter!" "Sir, please, your language." "Ah fu... Goodness sake." Behan grudgingly follows her to the back of the plane, stopping only to flick Coll the finger. In VR, the lion's prey never arrives. Noise feels like a boxer all limbered up and pumped for a big prize match... And then the opponent forfeits. Just a trial run for now. Hawaaiin shirt gulps and prepares for a very uncomfortable flight next to Coll.
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Apr 11, 2013 02:02
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Natalya Natalya frowned as the air marshal escorted the ork to a different part of the plane, giving him an apologetic look. "Trust me about the arm," she said in passing, pulling out her commlink and shooting him her contact information as he passed by. "And do let me know whether it solves your problems, yes?" She slowly let out a breath before turning back to where Vincent sat, her expression unreadable for a moment before it flipped into a friendly smile once more. "Excuse me," she said to the woman in the Hawaiian shirt, "I cannot help but notice how anxious you seem. You are a nervous flier? I have been on many flights before and I know many tricks to help one relax...sometimes something as simple as a new seat can make all the difference. If you would like, perhaps we can trade seats and see if that helps?"
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Apr 11, 2013 02:46
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children overboard posted:And Noise, that all looks correct to me. Cool reality filter too: +1 karma. Thanks! I'll just deactivate hot sim and go back to my datamining and contact emailing. Where's Rodney, our gunslinging master of the Jewish arts? He's the one who recognized Suit as a shadowrunner, I think. Vicissitude, where art thou? Emerald Rogue fucked around with this message at 01:55 on Apr 12, 2013 |
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Apr 11, 2013 03:04
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Stormcrow The Japanese mage relaxes, and the threads of power around Coll loosen and dissipate into the surrounding ether. There is a release of pressure, like 8 million kami stopped holding their breath. The world is as it was. "Well, that went well," he said, to no one in particular.
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Apr 11, 2013 03:14
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Haven't seen a post from Vicissitude in a week. Check in or let me know if I need to get a replacement, thanks. If there are no objections to skipping over roleplaying customs I'm going to move forward a bit more rapidly over the next two days to get you into the storyline proper. Airplane Food A message arrives from Kale, to those of you who do have commlinks (what happened to your commlink, Vincent? Did you lose it or smash it or leave it on a bus to stop people tracking you?). ::My apologies for the incident. It seems my dossier on Mr Coll contained inaccuracies. It had him listed as a problem solver. Let us hope this was an isolated occurrence and he is able to save his energies for the rebels:: But the situation calms down. Hawaaiin shirt switches seats gratefully. A few minutes later Behan flicks Natalya a message. ::That looks like it fixed the arm. I owe you a couple latrines:: A second message a moment later. ::Latrines=drinks. Sorry, autocorrect. I have no fucken luck with technology. Shoot us a message if you end up downtown one night yeah? Heard Ilyas is a good bar for us jackoff all trades types:: Noise continues searching around, compiling a folder full of information: infodump posted:There's a huge amount online about rebel activity on the island, given that every blogger who's come out here to ply their trade has managed to film a snippet of the aftermath of a bomb blast or a spirit running amok downtown, but its hard to know which sources to trust and which are trying to up their pagecounts. It does seem that up until last month the rebels were only focusing on foreign-owned corporate operations, but since a new police commissioner was installed and started going hard after the rebels with patrols through the jungles, the Panthers have also bombed a police station and the Thunder Children were responsible for a mystical attack on a police barracks killing four security mages-in-training. That's about all you have time for before your PAN advises you the plane's starting its descent.  "Aircrew please take your seats for landing." 20 minutes later and you're on the ground. Oppressive tropical heat hits you as soon as you step out of the stairway onto the airport tarmac. The sky is hazy and the humidity must be close to a hundred. Sweat starts to prickle under your clothes. Across the monowire perimeter, thick jungle lends a sweet decaying organic smell to the otherwise acrid smoke that rolls out of the factory districts, where foreign corps have been able to set up massive plants without concern for environmental regulations or labour laws. "Welcome to Lagu-Lagu," Kale says as he comes down the stairway after you, tossing his jacket over his shoulder and rolling up his sleeves. "Try not to let the heat get to you. Just accept that roughly five minutes after your last shower you will be sweating again." children overboard fucked around with this message at 18:04 on Apr 12, 2013 |
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Apr 12, 2013 06:17
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Natalyachildren overboard posted:But the situation calms down. Hawaaiin shirt switches seats gratefully. A few minutes later Behan flicks Natalya a message. Natalya couldn't help but giggle as she dashed off a quick reply. ::I'll be sure to take you up on that. Watch your back, sweetie...I hear it's a jungle out there.:: Matters having been smoothed over she leaned her seat back as far as she could, shifting back and forth for several minutes in a fruitless attempt to find a comfortable position for her legs before sighing and giving up. "So," she finally said to Vincent once the plane had taken off, her voice quiet and conversational, "I am sure that one of the others will have something to say to you when we land, perhaps the other man in the suit, perhaps not, but I imagine that they will only have boring things to say whereas I have useful advice to give. Now normally I would not care who you choose to piss off...the more you draw attention to yourself the more likely other people are to concentrate on shooting you instead of shooting at me. But this Mr. Newport has, for reasons known only to himself, decided that we are to work together on a team, which means that your actions do not simply reflect upon yourself, but the rest of us as well. Perhaps where you come from business is conducted with angry threats all the time, but out here you must learn to be more...adaptable." She looked the elf over appraisingly. "By your accent, you are American, yes? I am guessing that wherever it is you are from, you had to leave in a great hurry...no commlink, no luggage that I saw. That is fine, there is no shame in that. It is a thing that happens to us all at one time or another. Every job is an opportunity to start fresh and rebuild. When we land and meet with our employer, you can politely inform him of your situation...lie if you want, there is no shame in that either...and I am sure he will be happy to provide you with the basic necessities. A commlink, a weapon." She plucked at his sleeve with her fingers. "Something to wear besides this suit. He is a rich man or else he would not be hiring us, yes? And from there, who knows? Perhaps this will be the job that earns you your fortune. Or perhaps you will be shot in the face like an rear end in a top hat," she said with a shrug. "Who can say?" "Oh, and if you tell anybody else that we had this conversation I will shoot you in both kneecaps and use you as bait." Natalya gave him a lopsided grin. "We all have our reputations to maintain, yes?" That having been said, she hit the button on the ceiling to call a flight attendant, beckoning him over. "Excuse me, I will have all of your vodka please." quote:20 minutes later and you're on the ground. Oppressive tropical heat hits you as soon as you step out of the stairway onto the airport tarmac. The sky is hazy and the humidity must be close to a hundred. Sweat starts to prickle under your clothes. Across the monowire perimeter, thick jungle lends a sweet decaying organic smell to the otherwise acrid smoke that rolls out of the factory districts, where foreign corps have been able to set up massive plants without concern for environmental regulations or labour laws. Natalya stretched gratefully as she finally disembarked from the plane, reaching up to the sky with both arms...then sagging as the muggy heat hit her like an unpleasant spell. She had spent her fair share of time in places where the weather was perfect for a lazy day of sunbathing but was still more accustomed to colder, eastern European climates. Going from that to Lagu Lagu was like going from MDMA to Kamikaze. She pulled down the zipper on her jumpsuit halfway, opening it up to the t-shirt beneath, then hooked her commlink to her belt and pulled the retractable jackcable from its port, plugging it into the datajack behind her earlobe and mentally dialing Hong Kong. ::Bobbyyyyy, I'm hoooome!::, she subvocalized. ::Well I finally made it to the island and you were right! It's a shithole. Buuuut if this Newport's money is good then I'll probably stick it out for a while, at least until the whole thing falls apart. I wanted to thank you again for arranging my flight out of Vladivostok on such short notice, tell your pilot friend thank you for me as well. I still need to meet up with Newport but once I've had a chance to settle in I promise I'll get another recording prepped and ready for you, okay?::
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Apr 12, 2013 07:09
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children overboard posted:Noise continues searching around, compiling a folder full of information: Noise will compile this info with the other results of his data searches into a single archive and pass it along to the other members of the team (or at least the ones with commlinks), "compliments of Short Troll Travel Guides, Inc." Added note for Natalya: "Thought you might be interested in the club-scene notes at the end. Ilya's looks like a good place for us to visit. Wanna check it out? I'm also curious about that Long Nights place - this island doesn't look big or weird enough to support a niche joint like that." children overboard posted:20 minutes later and you're on the ground. Oppressive tropical heat hits you as soon as you step out of the stairway onto the airport tarmac. The sky is hazy and the humidity must be close to a hundred. Sweat starts to prickle under your clothes. Across the monowire perimeter, thick jungle lends a sweet decaying organic smell to the otherwise acrid smoke that rolls out of the factory districts, where foreign corps have been able to set up massive plants without concern for environmental regulations or labour laws. Noise takes a good, long look around while rolling his shoulders out after his stay in a cramped, undersized airline seat. Riding out to Manila crammed into the hold of Sparky's t-bird next to a load of Kong chips and some kind of Awakened durian fruit was more comfortable than that! "It's not that different from Hong Kong in the summer, actually. What's our next stop?" Activating his commlink's AR interface, Noise pulls up his contacts list and fires off a couple of short emails: To: Sparky@flycasual.whampoa.net Hey, babe - just wanted to let you know that I'm on the ground on Yomi or Lagu-Lagu or whatever this rock is called. Thanks again for the ride out to Manila. When do you get up this way again? I might need some supplies - or a ride out of here in a hurry, depending on how weird this gets. Love you - I'll be in touch soon. To: Lo.Pan@10klions.3ad  Hey, you old thief! I just touched down in Lagu-Lagu on a work trip and might be staying for a while. I hear that you're up to your old tricks on this little slice of hell now - think we could meet up for some beers and a snack? I could use your perspective. I also have an associate who might be in the market for some accessories - poor guy lost his luggage.
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Apr 12, 2013 17:58
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Redeye The heat and humidity may be a bit overwhelming to those not used to it, but after several years of island hopping, it really didn't effect Nail. Stretching a bit to work out the kinks, he replies to Noise, "Kale would know if we're going straight to Newport or headed to get settled in and pick up your gear when it arrives. I don't even know if Newport is sending a car for for everyone, but my truck is in the parking lot and everyone can squeeze into it if needed, though Noise here will have to sit in the back, the cab is not really troll sized."
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Apr 12, 2013 23:56
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NatalyaEmerald Rogue posted:Added note for Natalya: "Thought you might be interested in the club-scene notes at the end. Ilya's looks like a good place for us to visit. Wanna check it out? I'm also curious about that Long Nights place - this island doesn't look big or weird enough to support a niche joint like that."[/i] Natalya looked over the information that Noise had sent her way, skimming over the sections on the rebels...really, once you'd seen one insurgent group you'd seen them all...before shooting him a reply. ::As it so happens I'm owed a couple drinks at Ilya's, so I'd love to. Long Nights...either there are pathogens in the water here or that's the dumbest front for drugs I've ever heard of. I'm drinking bottled in the meantime just to be safe, but it could be worth checking out.:: ltr posted:The heat and humidity may be a bit overwhelming to those not used to it, but after several years of island hopping, it really didn't effect Nail. "My bike should also have been delivered along with the rest of my equipment," Natalya said, glancing around the tarmac with the watchful gaze of someone accustomed to being armed who currently wasn't. "If it is not I will be quite cross."
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Apr 13, 2013 01:57
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Climate Change "We do have a car waiting to take us to meet Mr Newport," Kale says as he steps outside the front door and lights up to take that first grateful puff. "I was happy to take Nail's truck but Mr Newport is big on appearances." There's a shiny new black hummer waiting for you outside with the engine purring. "Come," says Kale, opening the car door and letting out a blast of near-arctic airconditioning. "We can have your weaponry delivered to the barracks later tonight. Trust me that you will not need such equipment simply to meet Mr Newport," he chuckles, then excuses himself to answer an incoming commlink call. "Good afternoon, Will." The driver is a sturdy little dwarf named Gerraint with a heavy Welsh accent and a big Ruger holstered at his hip. He throws your bags in the back and then gets into the driver's seat and turns up the stereo to listen to some incomprehensible tunes from his homeland. Kale turns the music off again and taps the console to open up an audio-connection with Nail's truck so he can listen in too. Meanwhile Bobby Lao's voice picks up on Natalya's line, a little crackly owing to the ad hoc matrix infrastructure here. "Wai pang jau, Gecko! Glad you made it. You need anything, let me know. Rebellion makes it a little tougher to ship goods in--army's paranoid about people supplying arms to guerrillas. But no trouble for Bobby Lao, just takes a few more red packets in the right pockets is all. Look forward to your next show. Last base jump's still getting new hits every day but they want more, lah?" Noise also gets a couple messages back in his inbox, first one from Sparky. ::Glad to hear you okay, chasiu bao. Stay safe, okay? Remember this is not a combat hacker trid, you just stay in the car and do your thing!:: Lo Pan also texts back that there's good noodles at Mrs Liu's downtown (which is less a review of the food, and more a suggestion of the other, less savoury goods that can be bought there). The cars have barely pulled out of the airport when Kale puts his commlink down a moment. "Actually, change of plan. We are going to get the guns now. There has been an incident at our desalination plant. Nail, please follow our car." children overboard fucked around with this message at 06:47 on Apr 13, 2013 |
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Apr 13, 2013 06:41
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Nail Not driving nearly as fancy of a vehicle as Newport sent for them, Nail rolls down the windows of his truck and climbs in. The air conditioning may barely work in this combination of heat and humidity, but at least it blended in with the locals much better than the Hummer. As he pulls in behind the black Hummer and begins to follow, "Of course there's already trouble for us to deal with. Welcome to Yomi Island guys!" Reaching under the bench seat, Nail pulls out an Ares Predator IV pistol, two spare mags and a knife. "I guess you guys will learn quick, never go anywhere here without being armed."
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Apr 13, 2013 07:14
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Natalyachildren overboard posted:"We do have a car waiting to take us to meet Mr Newport," Kale says as he steps outside the front door and lights up to take that first grateful puff. "I was happy to take Nail's truck but Mr Newport is big on appearances." ::Dāngrán,:: Natalya replied with a giggle as she slid into the air-conditioned car gratefully. ::I know what my adoring public wants. I'll have to scout out the terrain first, take in the sights and see what there is to work with. So far all I'm seeing is jungle and dirt. Might have to get creative on this one-:: quote:The cars have barely pulled out of the airport when Kale puts his commlink down a moment. ::gently caress,:: she subvocalized irritably. ::Bobby, I'm going to have to call you back. You know how it is, work work work. Bǎozhòng, sweetie. I'll let you know if I kill anyone interesting.:: Terminating the connection she mentally dialed up the rest of the teams' commlinks backtracking from the message Noise had sent them earlier on the plane (minus Vincent who was still without any equipment, something they'd have to rectify once they arrived on-site rather than shaking down Newport), her voice emerging from various speakers and earbuds a moment later. ::Right, comms check.::
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Apr 13, 2013 08:01
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Stormcrow Stormcrow sighs, reaching into his pocket for a pack of Benson and Hedges. He pulls out a cigarette without offering one to the others and lights it with a tiny arc of electricity from his fingertip. "Don't worry," he said. "As long as I have Susanoo I'm never unarmed."
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Apr 13, 2013 08:06
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Noisechildren overboard posted:Climate Change "What's going on, Kale? What kind of incident are we rolling into?" Noise takes a moment to zip his armor closed. Better to be overheated than to catch a bullet in the neck. Sparky would never forgive him. OOC: Man, now I need to redraw Noise as a steamed bun with horns. Kai Tave posted:Natalya ::Transmission received. We need to establish a secure tactical network - subscribe your commlinks to mine and switch to hidden mode. I'll act as a gatekeeper - nothing will get to your nodes without going through me first.:: AR windows spring into existence as Noise wills his tactical subroutines into readiness. Glowing ideograms and holographic icons display network security status, along with the hacked mapsoft downloaded before he left Hong Kong. With his commlink's GPS tied into that, it makes a nice little mini-map, just like in Virtual Shooter. Assuming everyone subscribes their commlinks to mine, I'll Encrypt my node and our internal transmissions. My node will act as a chokepoint, with our tactical network behind that and all external traffic routed through my node. Additionally, I'm switching my commlink to Hidden status and setting my Analyze program to run in the background, in case any enemy agents or hackers try to take a shot at us through the Matrix. If possible, I'd like to find the desalination plant's node and get some visuals on what's going on.
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Apr 13, 2013 22:07
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He Drives Like a Welshman Noise patches you into a secure network and starts working up a map. The paved roads end about five feet outside of the airport gates. Kale yammers into his commlink as Gerraint steers his way through road workers building the new highway and local children trying to sell small carvings and fabrics to newly arrived travellers. Once you're away from the built up area the hummer bounces along the unsealed, uneven roads at a worrying pace. The 50-metre high trees are thick either side of the narrow path making it hard to see ahead, but the Welsh wheelman sticks to the road like it's a rail.  "I'm working on getting blueprints, but the desalination plant is on the coast about 10 minutes north of here," Kale says, but then the wheelman interrupts to say "nah, more like seven minutes!" "Yes, thank you, Gerraint," Kale mutters. "Information is scarce at this stage. It seems that a squad of rebel gunman smashed through the main gate and stormed the building. There were four security and four staff on site at the time. The last information we have before their biomonitor feeds dropped off the grid was that two guards were dead, a third was badly wounded, and the fourth appeared to be alive. "But shortly after the incident was called in all contact with the plant was lost. It's slightly too far out of town to be tapped into the mesh, so its matrix connection relies on a single booster station relaying all data to the main grid. That booster is no longer responding. "The truck with your gear is en route and will meet us nearby. We also have another operative in the area--a scout and designated marksman--who was nearby on an unrelated mission. Before the signal dropped he was instructed to approach and provide a visual. We'll be back in range of his commlink's signal shortly." - I'll put together a map to make things a bit clearer (the mapsoft will provide a general satellite view of the area but the blueprints will be more detailed). You're about close enough now that Noise can start searching out the plant's booster node (assuming it still exists, this will be Electronic Warfare+Scan[4]). Vavrek, once you're ready to join in you can jump onto the radio channel and introduce yourself to the team. children overboard fucked around with this message at 15:37 on Apr 14, 2013 |
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Apr 14, 2013 15:34
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Okay, I made a map, just going to update now before I head off to work for 9 hours. - Pirate Broadcast "I have blueprints," Kale reports a couple minutes later, flicking it across to your commlinks. Melding them with the satellite view gets a look at the surrounding jungle cover. The Welsh wheelman swings around a corner and slams on the breaks as he sees a large flatbed truck parked by the side of the road. A sturdy ork truck driver is up on the back, pulling straps free from the half dozen large aluminium crates sitting on the bed. "Your equipment," Kale reports. Looks like Nail's man at the docks came through. Meanwhile Snipey's reached the edge of the undergrowth. A monowire perimeters runs around the exterior of the paved compound. The gatehouse is riddled with bullets and a dead guard is slumped outside. The gates have been smashed open by a vehicle at high speed. There are four structures on the compound. The first is the office building, two stories high and with polarised windows. That's great for defending the place but means you can't see inside. There's also a one storey garage, a small maintenance shed, and the giant eight-storey tall water storage tank. A second guard lies in the middle of the carpark clutching his belly, shaking, trying to stay awake as blood pools around his hands. A bullet's slipped his vest. It's lucky the guy can't see the gory exit wound in his back. Your PAN reports Kale's commlink is now in range. Suddenly the radio in the hummer bursts to life playing a rousing theme tune. Kale is about to yell at Gerraint to shut off that racket when a recorded voice starts speaking in passable locally-accented English. "Foreign thieves," the voice announces, "We are the Provisional Panthers, the true legacy of the legendary Huk resistance. We have taken your employees hostage as you have taken our homeland. We will execute one hostage every half hour until 6pm, unless you deliver us a news crew to broadcast our manifesto on the six o'clock news. Do not attempt a rescue. If we see a gunman approaching the building, we will shoot a hostage, and then the gunman. If the biomonitor around my wrist finds me to be dead, then the fragmentation grenades your employees are lying on will explode. It is 4pm at the time of this broadcast. 30 minutes until the first hostage dies." - Map: Red=doors, blue=windows. 
children overboard fucked around with this message at 01:17 on Apr 15, 2013 |
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Apr 15, 2013 00:50
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Noisechildren overboard posted:
Noise bites down on his lower lip in concentration, unleashing sniffer protocols and signal scanner programs as fast as his wired nerves will send out the commands to his AR interface. "Unless those gunmen are just trying to cause as much destruction as they can, they probably haven't taken out the booster node - maybe they just dropped it into hidden mode or altered the access protocols or something. I'll find it." I'm definitely going to try my best to suss out that node - Electronic Warfare 3 + Scan 5 = Scan to locate the booster node: 8d6t5 2 successes That won't find a hidden node, so I'll spend a temporary Edge to reroll my failures. 6 rerolled failures = Edge reroll: 6d6t5 2 successes Four successes total. children overboard posted:
 Noise pauses in his efforts for a moment, jaw dropping slightly."Diu. This isn't how I expected to start my new job. We need more intel - Kale, what else can you tell us? You heard of these guys before? Got any more information about the plant - or an admin account I can use?" Noise shoots off a quick message to the rest of the crew via AR. ::poo poo just got real. Anyone got a plan? This sounds like cop work, and I've always been more of a robber. I'll try to get access to the plant's node and get some live intel.:: Emerald Rogue fucked around with this message at 17:16 on Apr 15, 2013 |
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Apr 15, 2013 03:22
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Snipey A message to Kale: ::Hacker. Hacker! We have a hacker, right? Got to. We need interior surveillance cameras active, working for us. Can't go lethal until we can see their wrists. I'm heading in.:: Snipey first adjusts the rifle on his back, getting it ready to draw, then begins to walk out of the jungle. There are some advantages to wearing a Chameleon Suit on a routine mission. Once the office building is clearly in view, he pauses to examine the scene and find the best way to approach. Perception: 12d6t5 3 After examining the scene and comparing it to the blueprints in his head, Snipey advances carefully, heading for the northeast corner of the office building by way of the broken gate. Infiltration: 14d6t5 5 plus vs. Thermal: 6d6t5 2 if it matters. ::Kale, I hope you chums didn't spring for great outside cameras...:: Snipey will join the team's AR chat net when someone, probably Kale, tells him to. His commlink's running hidden. Noise probably has higher priorities than tracking it down just to say Hi. Also, pre:== Info ==
Street Name: Snipey the Elf
Name: Unknown
Movement: 10/25, Swim: 6
Karma: 0
Street Cred: 0
Notoriety: 0
Public Awareness: 0
Elf Male Age About 30
Height 5'10" Weight 170lbs
Composure: 7
Judge Intentions: 6
Lift/Carry: 7 (60 kg/40 kg)
Memory: 7
Nuyen: 450
== Attributes ==
BOD: 3
AGI: 6 (10)
REA: 3 (5)
STR: 2 (4)
CHA: 3
INT: 3
LOG: 3
WIL: 4
EDG: 4
MAG: 3
== Derived Attributes ==
Essence: 4.02
Initiative: 6 (8)
IP: 1 (3)
Astral Initiative: 6
Astral IP: 3
Matrix Initiative: 6
Matrix IP: 2
Physical Damage Track: 10
Stun Damage Track: 10
== Active Skills ==
Armorer : 2 [Firearms] Pool: 5 (7)
Con : 1 Pool: 4
Dodge : 2 Pool: 7
Etiquette : 1 Pool: 4
Infiltration : 4 [Urban] Pool: 14 (16)
Leadership : 1 Pool: 4
Longarms : 5 [Sniper Rifles] Pool: 16 (18)
Negotiation : 1 Pool: 4
Perception : 3 Pool: 9
Pilot Ground Craft : 2 [Bike] Pool: 7 (9)
Pistols : 2 Pool: 12
== Knowledge Skills ==
Bars and Clubs : 2 [Elf] Pool: 5 (7)
Combat Tactics : 5 [Urban] Pool: 8 (10)
English : N Pool: 0
Firearms : 5 [Longarms] Pool: 8 (10)
Magical Theory : 2 Pool: 5
Sperethiel : 1 Pool: 4
== Contacts ==
Geoffrey Mullane, MD (3, 2)
Vera Niven (4, 1)
== Qualities ==
Adept
Augmentation Addict
Distinctive Style (5 pts)
Low-Light Vision
Restricted Gear (Rating 2)
Sensitive Neural Structure
== Powers ==
Improved Ability (Combat) (Longarms) Rating: 1
Improved Reflexes 2
== Lifestyles ==
1 months
Low ("Newport Barracks") 100 months
== Cyberware/Bioware ==
Attention Coprocessor Rating 3
Commlink
Cyberears Rating 4
+Ear Recording Unit
+Sound Link
+Audio Enhancement Rating 3
+Balance Augmenter
+Damper
+Spatial Recognizer
+Select Sound Filter Rating 4
Cybereyes Basic System Rating 4
+Eye Recording Unit
+Image Link
+Flare Compensation
+Low-Light Vision
+Protective Covers
+Smartlink
+Thermographic Vision
+Vision Enhancement Rating 3
+Vision Magnification
Datajack
Muscle Augmentation Rating 2
Muscle Toner Rating 4
== Armor ==
Chameleon Suit 6/4
+Thermal Damping 6
Clothing 0/0
Lined Coat 6/4
== Weapons ==
Ares Predator IV
+Concealable Holster
+Chameleon Coating
+Easy Breakdown, Manual
+Personalized Grip
+Silencer
+Smartgun System
Pool: 14 DV: 5P AP: -1 RC: 1
Barrett Model 121
+Bipod
+Chameleon Coating
+Easy Breakdown, Manual
+Electronic Firing
+Extended Clip
+Silencer
+Sling
+Smartgun System
Pool: 18 (20) DV: 9P AP: -4 RC: 3
Ceramic Knife
Pool: 9 DV: 3P AP: - RC: 0
Defiance EX Shocker
Pool: 12 DV: 8S(e) AP: -half RC: 0
Defiance EX Shocker Melee
Pool: 9 DV: 8S(e) AP: -half RC: 0
Survival Knife
Pool: 9 DV: 3P AP: -1 RC: 0
Telescopic Staff
Pool: 9 DV: 4P AP: - RC: 0
Unarmed Attack
Pool: 9 DV: 2S AP: - RC: 0
== Commlink ==
Novatech Airware (3, 3, 3, 3)
+Iris Orb [Suite: Basic+]
+Sim Module (Cold)
+Subvocal Microphone
== Gear ==
Ammo: Taser Dart (Tasers) x40
Autopicker Rating 6
Fake SIN (John Frum) Rating 2
Glasscutter
Goggles Rating 1
+Ultrasound
Linguasoft (Japanese) Rating 5
Linguasoft (Tagalog) Rating 5
Maglock Passkey Rating 4
Maglock Sequencer Rating 4
Mapsoft (Yomi Island) Rating 6
Medkit Rating 6
Miniwelder
Plastic Restraints x100
Spare Clip (Barrett Model 121) x16
+Ammo: EX-Explosive Rounds (Sniper Rifles)
Spare Clip (Ares Predator IV) x11
+Ammo: EX-Explosive Rounds (Heavy Pistols)
Spare Clip (Ares Predator IV) x10
+Ammo: Regular Ammo (Heavy Pistols)
Spare Clip (Ares Predator IV) x10
+Ammo: Stick-n-Shock (Heavy Pistols)
Standard Rope (100 m)
Stimulant Patch Rating 6 x10
Tag Eraser
Tranq Patch Rating 6 x10
Trauma Patch x10
Wire Clippers
== Vehicles ==
Suzuki Mirage (Racing Bike)
+Vehicle Sensor
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Apr 15, 2013 03:58
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Nail Of course we're the dreking hostage rescue team. None of us know how the others work, now we've gotta deal with not getting any hostages killed in the process. It sounded like Noise was on the job getting us cameras, that was a good start. "Any other alternate entrances other than the windows and doors? A roof hatch maybe? Also, Noise or Kale, we're going to need key codes or a card to swipe for the doors." Getting out of his truck, Nail reaches behind the seat and pulls out an olive drab canvas bag. From it, he retrieves his M23 assault rifle, ammo and a few other pieces of gear.
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Apr 15, 2013 04:55
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Natalya Once their came to a stop Natalya was out the door, zipping her jumpsuit back up again despite the oppressive heat as she quickly made her way over to the supply truck and keyed open the cargo containers carrying her equipment. She silently called up the local mapsoft as she began checking over tools and pieces of gear before sliding them into pockets or hooking them to attachment points, half-listening to both the rebels' ultimatum and the cross-chatter over the comms as Newport's go-between found them an actual blueprint of the nearby facility. That earned a bit more of her attention, and she studied the layout carefully as she loaded a magazine into the Ingram, pulling the bolt back and letting it sync with her smartlink before slinging it over one shoulder. ::The direct approach is out,:: she subvocalized over the comms. ::Even with active camouflage it's too open with not enough cover. Guard on the ground is probably a trap...anybody tries to pull him out and they go down too. Also that garage looks like a good place to have an ambush set. At a guess, I like the processing shed for the hostages and the leader. No windows, no back door, the tower gets to overlook the entire area between it and the front entrance.:: She pulled her handgun out of the crate, slid a magazine home, then handed it to Vincent grip-first. "Here," she said. "I am assuming you know how to use one of these, yes? Just remember this is a loan, not a gift...I will be wanting that back." ::I say we circle around the south and approach the tower that way,:: she quickly switched back to subvocalizing. ::We'll be going in blind until we can get camera feeds though, and I can't cut the glass or they'll see it. If there's a rooftop entrance I could try that, shouldn't be a difficult climb. And hey, we've got a wizard, right? Have him do some wizard-y things.:: Mystic Mongol, you're free to use Natalya's pistol for this part if you want. Ares Predator IV, silencer and a smartlink along with 1 point of RC, along with magazines of EX Explosive and Stick-n-Shock.
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Apr 15, 2013 08:26
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