Miami Vice Options

[fistandantilus4....]

-Cash -Thursday, May 16th, 2070: 15:15 - Charlie's Doss

Arriving just a tad late (aka fashionably) Cash makes his way up to Charlie's apartment, rapping on the door twice.

Hey Chuck, you home?

Walking in after the answer, Cash scans the room. As for himself, he's wearing his typical black on black, and looking like he had a good night.

Sunny, heya. Chuck, thanks for letting us doss down here. Crow. Shell. Where's that ninja boy? Ah well. Loosing at poker there Shell? So what do we have so far guys?

Again, Cash makes a point of shaking hands with each member of the team as he rounds the room. After all, he plans on spending the next few weeks in their company. Best to get to know each other, or at least comforatble.

As Cash talks, he finds the kitchen , and takes out a bag of actual coffee beans, holding them up for Charlie to see, then setting them down next to the coffee maker. Out of his little "black bag of tricks" (aka plain black back pack) he also produces a pair of 6 packs.

Brought some beers as well. None of the soy-crap, so enjoy gents.

Cash finds a seat at the poker table ,watching for now, and waiting for what ever information the two computer wizzes have found.

Since everyone else is busy, he hands a beer to Crow. Wacha' reading there chummer?

[Meriss]

Charlie grins at Shell, opens the deck of cards and offers it to the troll. Cut for deal.

OOC: Callidus choose even or odds, then roll a dice and lemme know.

Charlie grins as Cash enters the room. He responds to the troll with a stream of chatter.

No big. Wiz Cash you brought beer too. I got donuts, for the coffee. Hey watch that machine it can get tricky. Drek I don't have grinder thou. Anybody wants something else you all know where the kitchen is. Or there's a nice little Italian place down the block, they'll do delivery or takeout . Want us to deal you in, Cash? Where is that ninja guy, I barely saw him last night.

Charlie is clearly enjoying himself playing host.

[Redjack]

In response to Shell and Charlie's comments about the book: "Yea. I don't have very many. They are pretty expensive... but for me the hand printing imprints a certain something...." At that point he realizes he's probably passed into the too much information zone and lets the subject pass away.

When Cash enters he returns the hand shake. Definitely our face. Even if he is a troll, he's an operator. He replies to Cash, "Haven't seen Neit."

He watches as Cash moves on through the apartment. At the sight of real coffee beans he even perks up. When Cash inquires about the book, "The Nature of Beast Spirits and Their Relation to Spirits of Man, though I think I should be reading about air elementals with the day I've had."

[fistandantilus4....]

Yeah Chuck I'll do a few hands. We should get down to biz soon though. What's the buy in?


Cash sits then turns back to Crow as Charlie deals. Always worth the extra yen for qualitiy, isn't it Crow.

I gotta ask though, how is there a relation between beast spirits and spirits of man? I'd always thought they'd be polar opposites, man versus nature type thing.

[ Spoiler ]

Workin' that Magical Background 2 baby!

Sharp group. These guys could be worth spending time iwth afterwords. I like that Shell is eyeing Charlie. No "dumb street trog" this guy. Good to see. Doesn't trust Charlie, at least at cards. Smart.

Catching Crow's words a bit late as he organizes his cards, he looks up at Crow again. You say something about a problem with an air elemental? I know a lady that's real good with those sorts of things. What's the scan?

[Grinder]

Sunny gladly accepted to offer to play poker until all team members arrive in the apartment.

He shakes hands with Cash when the troll enters the room. Hoi, good to see you.

[Redjack]

"Well, my core focus has been on spell casting, astral space, magic theory... Conjuring has been the most neglected area for me. I summoned a little storm spirit earlier.. Quite a feisty one at that... " Don't think I'm ready to admit any degree of failure not directly affecting the run to someone I've known less than 24 hours... "There were some complications. I need to do a little more research to better understand the nature of them though.." He ends by looking off pondering the thought.

Realizing that he is drifting from the conversation he focuses back on Cash and the other question, "Oh and as to spirits of man vs beast. They definitely seem to represent a dichotomy, but some theorize that the relationship is somewhat symbiotic.. The best example I've seen is like comparing them to the ego and the id."

[Callidus]

Nodding to each of the other runners as they come in Shell holds his face still and expressionless as he glances at his cards.

OOC: I'll take odds, and rolled 6

Picked up a fair amount of information on both our horse and the ranch, off the boards. We'll probably want to take a deeper look into some bits, there's some worrying bits, but hey that's why they pay us. I'll need Charlie's help, well let's say I'll try to help Charlie dig further in, 'trix hacking really isn't my strong suit. I'd prefer to wait til everyone was here before going into depth on the information we've gathered but if any of you want to review first be my guest, it's on here.

And with that he places an OC on the table.

[Meriss]

OOC: Tough luck Callidus, my deal. (No that was not a force)

Charlie grins when Shell cuts a three. He accepts the deck with a smile and a shrug.

Tough luck, Shell my deal. We're playing Texas hold'em fifteen nu buy in, Cash. Blinds are ten and twenty. Table stakes are in force gentlemen. Let's try and keep this civil.
I'll check your chip later Shell. Did you want to spill first when Neit shows up or shall I?

[fistandantilus4....]

It's already half past. Start without Neit, he can catch up. Chuck's just trying to keep us playing longer so that he can take all our money.

So Crow, it's a balance thing? Let me know if I''m of base. Magic isn't exactly my strong suit, but it's definetely something worth putting effort in to learning more about.

[Grinder]

Let us begin, Neit can get a summary when shows up here.

[Tashio]

A moment later the bell rings as Neit arrives.

Sorry I'm late got tied up, hope I've not missed anything important.

Neit grins seeing the dice on the table.

Or maybe I'm just in time.

[fistandantilus4....]

Just made it. Why don't you buy in to this one? Maybe get your self a cred for a new watch omae. Cash winks and smiles, letting him know he's only half serious.

Shell, Charlie, wacha got so far?

[Meriss]

Thursday May 16 2070, 15:30 Charlie's Place

Charlie smiles as Neit enters the apartment.
Actually chummer you're just in time we were going to start without you. Game's hold'em and the odds are what yah make em. Blinds are ten and twenty, buy in is fifteen nu.

As he finishes the hand, Charlie rises from the floor and turns to the assembled runners.

Okay looks like I'm starting, host's priviledge. Lemme grab the lights. I put together a little show. Charlie closes his eyes for a moment and the apartment lights dim, the trid stops flickering and displays waiting for input Charlie begins his show. Well folks here we have Lucky Day, the horse, the myth, the legend. Our target. A shot of Lucky Day appears on the trid, it's a different angle than the one Lincoln showed last night. Our boy is going for the Triple Crown. Not bad. The shot of the horse shifts to a flyby shot of a pastoral ranch. Oak Haven Ranch, Lucky's home. I got good news, bad news and terrible news on this. The good news is the security team is small, only five guys. Two riggers and three sec goons. Bad news is their all on site, I also didn't get an employee list so I don't know how many more folks we may need to deal with. And the terrible news is that there is only one road into the place. Charlie pauses to let this sink in. If I learned one thing from Sensei, a place with only one way in and out is a trap waiting to happen. Also there are wards on the place. But no on site mage. So astral looks light. Charlie pauses for a beat and closes his eyes, the lights come up. Then he turns to the runners and smiles. There's more, but those are the basics. Also it looks like Lucky's owners are about as well connected as Lincoln is. So that's something to think on. Anyone who wants more info, I can put it on chip for you. Or you can just ask.

[Tashio]

What're odds and game?

Neit chuckles and sits down in the nearest avalible spot on the couch.

[fistandantilus4....]

Ok Chuck, that's the over view. We need details. First, what do you mean by 'connected'?

Second - two riggers? This place has spiders or what? What's the details of their tasks?

One access road: How long? Is it patrolled? How far from the highway? What's the terrain like?

What's the intel on the owners? For starters names, pics, general profiles if you've got them?

Any pcs of the place? Satellite images would be ideal, so that we knw what we're looking at.

We also need mroe details on the horse it's self. For starters, where's it kept at night? Does it wander the pastor? In the barn? Is the barn rigged for security for that matter.

Also, you said no on site mage. What about elementals?

Maybe I should just scan the chip.

While he's talking, Cash deals in Neit and Shell, leaving Charlie out for this hand since he's doing the presentation.

[Grinder]

There is a second way: through the air. I don't know if it's doable, but we shouldn't discard the possibility lightly.

And it would be an awesome stunt.

Sunny grins and goes to the kitchen to look for something to eat.

[Callidus]

Glancing at his hand and folds, Shell leans back from the table and sets up an AR screen.

Well time for the bits and pieces I found. he smiles and then continues On the AR screen you'll the pertainent information, as for a summary Lucky Day is, as Charlie mentioned, going for the Triple Crown, first horse in 70 years to have the chance. At birth he was worth 3.4 million, if he wins the crown that'll become more like 11 million. As for his, and the ranch's, owners well they have interesting, and maybe exploitable, habits. Bunny, the wife, is a socialite, probably alcholic and man chaser. Jefferson is known to have a mistress in Savannah, Georgia. Either of these could be helpful or useless.... If they each know the others secrets then using the information would be more harmful.... Also Bunny is confirmed, well confirmed by multiple rumours and boards at least, to be second cousin to a Lucas Scapelli a family man from Atlanta.

Now it gets interesting. The deed for Oak Haven Ranch is currently under lien with a company by the name of Global Alliance Inc. as the lien holder. Further digging showed that the lien was placed as part of a debt collection attempt by Svengali Casino and Resort in Atlantic City. A closer look at Svengali C & R shows a Mr. Lucas Scapelli as a member of their Board of Directors.

I also got a little medical info on Lucky as well, although it's observation based, spotters are fairly sure that the horse is suffering with arthritis like his grandmother and mother. This is from a previous race when he limped off track, but since then has been on top form and so he could have been modified or it was just a muscle strain. If we want his real medical records then we'll have to hack into his vet's Riverside Veterinary Clinic, but I'm probably not up to it alone, I'm not really a hacker, but I'll give it a go.

Anyway the rest of the info is on that OC if you want to read through it all.

[Meriss]

Charlie waits for Shell to finish.
Alright Cash, make me earn my nu, neh?

First I mean mob, Lucky's old lady, Bunny is Lucas Scapelli's cousin. Yeah that Scapelli. That was a suprise find neh Shell?

Second, one guy's just vehicles, he may have drones too. Couldn't find out. The other one's comps like me prolly. Rig boy runs the trailers and stuff. The other I couldn't find so he's more'n likely comps.

The road is a twenty mile long double wide to and from the public road, forty from the highway. Patrols and stuff I'll have to check. Terrain's mostly hills. The trix said the owners use a helo so I guess it's pretty rough.

The owners are Jefferson Davis Jr. and his wife Bunny like Shell said. I got basic pics and some juicy gossip. Mostly dupes of Shell's stuff. We can workup more if you guy's want.

Here's the Gridguide stuff on the ranch. Charlie sends Cash the Gridguide info on Oak Haven.


I shoulda got more on our boy, thanks for covering that for me Shell. I did get his sched though. He's on a break right now, till the Belmont Stakes. He's got himself a photo shoot on the 20th at 15:00. And a vet appointment the 24th noon at the ranch.

No elementals from what the trix said. But you can take that with a pinch of soy. Definate wards on the buildings and grounds

If we need to tap the vet, I can give it a go. Shell you want to watch my back?

[Meriss]

Charlie shifts his posture a little and says Guy's I thought about it and your cyber is your biz. I don't need to know. You guys don't know me from Jack, so why should you trust me? I'll tell you one thing though. You give me a job and I'll do my level best to make sure it gets done. That being said, do we need more info? And Shell nice find on that corp connect, it makes a piece I found on the stable site fit a little better.

[fistandantilus4....]

I honestly think that grabbing it at the vet or shoot is going to be too public, and have too quick a response time. Perhaps when it gets back though. It might be more manageable, and they'll be less likely to be watching it closely , having spent the day with it.

I think we should look more closely in to the gossip around them. See if there's anything in the scream sheets about these two guys. There's always society rags. If there's a hint in there about affairs, it's probably known about. If not, it might be something we can exploit.

So that everyone knows what we're dealing with here, Lucas Scapelli is a sottocapo in the Gianelle family out of Atlanta. In other words, he's just as big, bigger actually, as Mr. Lincoln. This does bring up the possibility of an inside job. If this JEfferson guy is in a bind because of his wife's cousin, and knows that his horse is aging, he might be betting it all on one last throw. Collect the huge insurance instead of trying for a race the horse might lose. It makes sense if we have to grab it before the race. If it loses, it could depreciate in value.

It also makes sense for Mr. Ridgeborough to go to someone like Mr Lincoln. Have Family backing of his own.

Of course, this is all complete conjecture. Let's not get loose and sloppy because we suspect it's an inside job. Even if it is, they have to make it look good.

Sunny, you suggested an aerial intro. Anyone have a means for that? I'm sure I could get us wings, and at least a skill soft. But it would cost. Anyone else have any options along those lines? Last I checked, an Ares Dragon was still pretty expensive, and pretty easy to detect.

Oh, and I can handle any explosives work we need.

Oh, and when you guys get some down time, take a look and see if either Eidgeborough or the misses has any gambling debts. Most likely with that casino Spenneli has his interests in.


Cash deals another hand, this time dealing Charlie in again. He deals out to Sunny, Charlie, Niet, and Shell.

Crow, you in this hand? Might as well get everyone in here. Small stakes, and I'll front ya' $100.

[Redjack]

[fistandantilus4....]

Interesting idea Crow. We would have to deal with the riggers of course. But that 20 mile road probably has more than a few good spots for an ambush. Of course, we'll have to seriously high tail it out of there. Any plans on how to take out a rigger and a bunch of drones ? There's got to be a mandatory stop point somewhere, but I doubt it'll be on the 20 mile stretch in to no where.


And we'll have to do some serious jamming to stop them from calling for help, as well as make sure that they can't call once we leave. Which also presents the problem of stopping their little road show without hurting the horse.

Any chance you can hit the drivers wit ha spell or send a sipirt after them? I know most vehicles are tinted or mirrored to prevent spells getting in, but can they be warded against spirits? Then again, I suppose we could always shoot out the windows. I might be able to arrange for some small explosives along the road, just to take out the wheels, if you can conceal them.

Hey Chuck, can you find out what the speed limit on that road is? I'm guessing somewhere around 45 if it's a winding hilly road, hauling a damn expensive horse and trailer behind it. We have to find a way to stop it without trashing everything.

How about we do a vote: grabbing the horse at night, or catching it on it's way back in. I think we'd have to do after the vet visit, that way we can watch after the photo shoot to get an idea of what we're looking at.

Private PM to Shell, running IC along with it just in case

[ Spoiler ]

"hey Shell, run a scan for any transmitting cameras or drones while Chucks distracted, will ya. Boy gets a few too good of hands. This is his home turf, and his deck, after all. Keep it quiet though. I just want t ofeel the guy out a bit. ;)"

[Grinder]

Going in with a heli might be expensive, but I don't want to run down a 20 mile-long straight road with a truck and a horse trailer when a rigger is chasing me with his drones - and maybe get the cops to block the crossing to the main road where heading to.
Can't we make the horse and one of us invisible and silent and ride out of the ranch? Anyone here has a knack with handling animals?

Looking at his cards, he grins. Another $100 from me.

No, I don't know anything about poker rules.

[Tashio]

Meh! Neit folds his hand. What a load of junk.

I can provide some spirit cover possibly one to provide concealment, but hard to conceal a dust cloud. Can anyone ride? What sort of cover is there elsewhere in the area, why not take the horse and ride it in another direction other than the road then arrange a pick up somewhere along the way. Maybe there is a better road closer by that does not go to the farm but is not 20km's of dirt road.

It's strange though that the only road into such a place is in such bad condition, considering that the wrong jolt and you could end up with a horse with a broken leg or such. I wonder if maybe there is another covered up but better quality access route?

[Redjack]

"Riding the horse out in the night is just a bad idea. I for one know nothing about riding or leading animals. I'm not sure how real it was, but I saw on the trid when I was a kid about how a horse stumbled and went lame. I could see that happening on a long ride in the dark." Crow shifts from closed body language to more open. He unfolds his arms, his pupils get slightly larger, etc. "I think we have two viable paths at the moment. The airlift possibility, though that one still leaves us facing the home ground advantage... or intercepting the package in route. The first order of business however is finding a way to get the crew to stop..."

OOC: Crow casts Physical Mask F6 6 hits; Resist DV4 Drain: 3 hits = 1 stun

The spirit mask of the crow is visible for a split second as a power magic is cast by Crow. Then in his place is a voluptuous blond, her breasts all but spilling out of her torn, disheveled top. A thick trickle of blood runs down her face from a nasty bump on her head. Her voice is sultry, though slightly panicked as she wobbles in her seat, "On please help me. I've just crashed my car...I ...I .... Oooohh.. I think I may faint....". She releases a small, playful giggle then stands up. She leans over at Charlie bending straight from the waist. Little of her breasts left to the imagination any longer at this angle and in a clear, sexy voice says, "You'd at least stop for me... Wouldn't you?" She bats her eyes a few times and then stands back up to look around at the crew, a hand on either perfectly shaped hip.