2072: Game World, IC thread for 2072: Recruitment always open! Options

[Combat Mage]

[07:20 AM, January 2nd, 2072; A Ruined Road; Redmond]

The snake-lady was a mage. He hadn't expected that considering her cyber-arms. But after all Akecheta was an adept himself, even though he had wasted most of his potential through his extensive 'ware collection, at least that was what some spellslinger had told him once. Akecheta himself had never really thought about magic much. The whole talking to Snake deal explained the scales at least. A bit strange but who was he to judge...

"You can call me Beast. Pleasure to meet ya, Copperhead."

"The Plan?" The massive troll scratched his head under the black and crimson lion mane. "I usually just go in and shoot everything that moves. Worked so far... No idea what you can do with your mojo though, not my thing, so if you wanna do some fancy spellslinging, have at it."

Akecheta felt like he was supposed to reassure her that her friend would be fine, that they would get him or her back unscathed. But how could he, knowing too well what horrible discovery could await his new acquaintance.

[Notsoevildm]

[07:20 AM, January 2nd, 2072; A Ruined Road; Redmond]

"I can see why dey call you da Beast. You are pretty scary looking.

Then her smile fades to a frown as he explains his 'plan'. "We can't just kill everyone. My Cutter's in dere. He's an ork. Most likely wearing Crush colors. So don't shoot him okay. Look, can you watch over me for a minute and I'll go take a look. Then we can kick in da door and bust heads. Just don't get any ideas while I'm gone though."

She quickly looks around for a shady spot, where she sits down and rests her head against the cold wall of a burned out building. Then she sets her spirit free.

Her astral form rises up, scales glistening. She takes a moment to examine the Beast. Indeed like her, his magic is limited by his implants. Then she turns her attention towards the warehouse, floating slowly closer as she scans for spirits and living auras.

[Grimm]

Akecheta and Copperhead
[07:23 AM, January 2nd, 2072; A Ruined Road; Redmond]

Akecheta
The adrenaline that coursed through his veins still kept that living feel pulsing through him. His body knew that he would be knee deep in corpses soon, though he was not entirely sure whose they would be. Meeting up with Copperhead out of sheer luck (*cough cough*) who just happened to need an in to the same warehouse, seemed odd but he had no fears of magic. Not with the bullet-hoses he called firearms.

He watched the shaman slip off into the astral as she went to scout the warehouse. Akecheta leaned back against the wall and attempted to look as inconspicuous as possible. The wall was barely comfortable and he could swear he heard the hiss of a devil rat from behind it; but that is not what caught his attention. A brief glint of light overhead gave away a patrol drone that seemed to be circling the property line over the warehouse about 50 feet above it.

Copperhead
Slipping into the astral plane was accompanied with the normal shift of transition that she often felt as she worked magic and traversed the astral plane. Her call to Snake for the assistance of a spirit went unheard though she felt a bit of a tug from the spirit itself. After she had slipped into the plane, in the astral form of the wall opposite of her she had caught sight of a pair of reptilian eyes looking at her. They closed and the wall solidified to her sight. She felt the presence, and annoyance, of Snake stronger now that she shed her physical body. The spirit would get over her quip from earlier, he was likely just being obstinate for no other reason than to do so.

In a flash she was before the warehouse. Even before she slipped inside she could feel a strange permeation from the other side. She moved inside and floated part way up into the warehouse to get a better look. She could clearly see Cutter’s aura along with three others near a pipe on the wall. Their forms all appeared to be balled on the floor. Beneath them was a strange anomaly she had not seen before. It appeared to be a black spot almost 10 feet around. The spot emitted some of the darkest, most depressing energy she had come into contact with in astral space.

Satisfied she had located Cutter, she slipped quickly around the warehouse to do a head-count of guards. It appeared as though two were watching over the prisoners, two were patrolling a cat-walk above, and a few others were moving around a large, boxy container near the doors. She could not tell if it was a truck, box car, or shipping container; there was simply not enough definition. Noting a side room, she spied an energy sitting at a console or desk. It seemed likely to her that it would have been the electronic security room.

OOC: Sorry about the late post. Had a bunch of stuff IRL crop up. If you guys got stuff you wanna do, take it from here. I’ll check the OOC thread later on.

[AStarshipforAnts]

[January 5th, 2072; Summeroaks Apartments 29C, Renton]

Dahlia pulled out her comlink and set the trideo-display of her meeting with Mr. Watson back to the beginning. “The short story is that we’re retrieving some individuals for our employer. They’ve flown the coop, but they need to be returned alive, and as unharmed as we can manage. I can send you dossiers on each target,”

[Combat Mage]

[07:23 AM, January 2nd, 2072; A Ruined Road; Redmond]

Damn they have drone support! For a moment Akecheta thought about shooting the thing down but that would make everybody inside realize that they were attacked. In addition he couldn't really start a fight while he had to drag snake-lady's (Her name's Copperhead, he reminded himself) body around with him.

So he just tried to meld into the shadows as much as he could (which wasn't very much) and waited impatiently for the snake shaman's return.

[Notsoevildm]

[07:23 AM, January 2nd, 2072; A Ruined Road; Redmond]

While she wanted to spend more time examining the dark energy, she didn't fully trust the big troll, nor did she want to spend more time here while her body lay out in the street. With a wistful sigh, she snapped back into her meat body.

Opening her eyes, she squints at the light then gives a short hiss to Akecheta.

"Frag, dere's a whole bunch of dem in dere. I count two guarding Cutter and his boys. Dere's somefin weird dere, like black magic but I didn't see no mage. Dere's another two on catwalks up above, and den two or three more around like a truck or container, hard ta tell on da astral. An' den dere's like an office with another fella in dere. Don't suppose you got a better plan dan charge in and kick butt?"

[Combat Mage]

[07:23 AM, January 2nd, 2072; A Ruined Road; Redmond]

After what seemed like an eternity for his psyched up nerves but in reality lasted only a few seconds, the snake-lady finally awoke. Akecheta couldn't help but grin when she asked him for a plan again.

"Not really. I saw a drone up in the air patrolling around the building so they'll see us coming if we go in straight. Can't you turn us invisible or something like that with your mojo? The mages on the 'trix always do stuff like that."

[Notsoevildm]

[07:23 AM, January 2nd, 2072; A Ruined Road; Redmond]

"I can't make us invisible, only look like someone else."

Copperhead frowns, thinking hard. The Beast doesn't seem like he's much for planning. I can't turn us invisible...but maybe I can create a distraction so they don't see us.

"Hmm, I did see a guy in dere at a desk. Mebbe he is working da drone. If I could distract him, and maybe some of the da others, den we can get in before dey see us. Ha, maybe I been going about dis de wrong way and dat why Snake not help. I shoulda listened better to your plan. We don't need sneaky air spirit, we need ass kicking beast spirit. "

"I gonna ask Snake for spirit. If it comes, I set it on da rigger. Maybe some of da guards go to help him. You be ready?"

[Aria]

He-Who-Sees-Within nodded to Silk and gave her a polite smile. "Indeed. There's a sort of coffee shop turned jazz lounge not a couple of blocks from here, called Common Grounds. It has a pleasant, ah... flavor in astral space that I enjoy being around. Many young, bohemian-style hipsters and college kids go there to recite poetry on open mic night, or just chill out. It's probably my favorite place to relax. We could go there. There's a booth all the way in the back where we'd have the privacy to discuss our business arrangements. And, I'll buy of course."

[15:39 January 1st, 2072; Ravenna Park, Downtown Seattle]

Silk smiled back at him, "That sounds fine, it sounds discrete enough..." whilst making polite conversation she mentally contacted Aria again to ensure someone knew where she was going and to give her a gentle nudge on the matrix angle

<<Aria, I'm heading over to Common Grounds with my new contact...any luck on finding some matrix backup yet? I've been stuck indoors too long, this small talk stuff is harder than I remember, but he seems interesting, and possibly interested but that's a story for another time! Will talk to you soon, fancy another hit at the Citadel again later if you're not busy? Summer could tag along too, she seemed like a nice kid!>>

[Combat Mage]

[07:23 AM, January 2nd, 2072; A Ruined Road; Redmond]

Akecheta put his helmet, which he had taken off while waiting for Copperhead to return from the astral realm, back on. The last thing that could be seen from his face before the visor closed was a widening smile of anticipation.

"I'm ready. Let's rock!"

[Grimm]

Akecheta and Copperhead
[07:26 AM, January 2nd, 2072; A Ruined Road; Redmond]

With some knowledge of the internal layout of the warehouse, the pair had formulated a plan on how to best breach it without endangering the hostages. Copperhead’s call to Snake for assistance brought a monstrosity gliding to her on the Astral. The serpent had feathered wings and flew like a bird, barely twitching the wings to stay in place as it received its instructions.

Copperhead set it off to wreak havoc on the internal security after showing it where to move and attack.

[The Security Room]
The guard sat in his chair, monitoring the overhead drone and cameras with a sense of boredom. The late night shifts he had been pulling were draining at best since he was so used to working during the days. His masters did not care about that little detail of course.
He took a sip of his SoyKaf and leaned back in the chair, his hand brushing something soft.

“What the hell..” he muttered to himself as he turned around and came face-to-face with the materialized form of the winged serpent. He reached for his sidearm but the serpent quickly snapped its tail around the man’s waist. It lunged in and began biting his face, throat, and shoulders as it constricted him. The last words from the guard amounted to nothing more than a bloodcurdling shriek that could be heard even outside.

[A Ruined Road]
The pair of trolls moved quickly towards the fence that circled the warehouse after hearing a shriek that pierced the morning air. Akecheta led the way, being the combat monster that he was; though even he was intelligent enough to realize the fence they were approaching had a heavy current running through it to surprise would be intruders. The pair could almost smell the scent of ozone as they approached it from the amount of electricity coursing through it.

[Notsoevildm]

[07:27 AM, January 2nd, 2072; A Ruined Road; Redmond]

Copperhead almost runs into the back of Beast as he pulls up short in front of the fence. She could feel a tingle of static in the air and if her arms had hairs instead of scales, they would be standing on end right now. She scans up and down the fence looking for a circuit breaker to disable or some other way through, around or over.

“You got a plan for dis, right?” she almost grins at the big troll, but the fading screams keep her expression grim.

[Grimm]

Scar
[January 5th, 2072; Summeroaks Apartments 29C, Renton]

Scar sat quietly, watching the information the Johnson had provided to Dahlia for the upcoming job. It didn't seem very difficult in the major scheme of things. Though these things tended to have a mind and growth of their own. He sighed and looked at his empty synthahol container. "I don't think it is in our best interest to bring these individuals together to try and capture them. If they are used to working as a team, they'll work much better together. I think it's an unnecessary risk, particularly since they'll all be using live ammunition and I'm assuming we'll be using Stick N' Shock."

[Aria]

[14:11 January 11th, 2072; Lecture Theatre 7, Seattle University, Downtown Seattle]

Ember looked out across the tired faces in front of him. Just after lunch on the first Monday back was not likely to inspire a huge amount of concentration but he felt a flash of irritation at the blank looks of the undergrads sprawled in various states across the hard seats of the lecture hall.

His antiquated commlink stuttered as it interfaced with the university servers and then the AR feed began to spin out the faces of his students and identify them as present, even if their minds where still on their last fling weekend binge sessions.

He briefly allowed his gaze to enter the astral and inspect the low powered ward linked to the triskell on his desk. He smiled at his watchers, two diminutive Korrigan, one beautiful and sylph like and the other hideous and golbinoid, who cavorted along the perimeter of the room guarding against breaches. The wards weren’t designed to actually keep anyone out but might give him some warning if anything was amiss.

The students themselves were mostly mundane and, judging by their auras, as apathetic as they appeared to his natural sight. None of them would appear to match the criteria that the Stillwater Circle had set out for his other role as a recruiter. In the back corner, however, he noted that one of them was watching him as he spied on the class, the aura showing amusement and intelligence, perhaps there was something here after all…

Reluctantly he released his hold on the astral and, mentally shaking the cobwebs away, checked the AR feed to get the student’s identity…hmmm, this could be interesting…

“Ok, let us begin…”

[Grimm]

Copperhead and Akecheta
[07:30 AM, January 2nd, 2072; A Ruined Road; Redmond]

The sharp sounds of gunshots emanated from inside of the warehouse as the pair of trolls hunted for something to help defeat the fence. A metal point stuck out of a pile of bricks that formed the corner of one of the adjacent buildings. He could hear scrabbling inside as he threw some of the bricks off and hefted the piece metal out.

The pillar of metal appeared to be the remains of a drive-shaft from some sort of heavy duty vehicle. Where the rest of the vehicle was or how it got buried into the side of the building was anyone’s guess. Still would not have been the strangest thing either of the trolls had come across in the Barrens.

[Grimm]

Copperhead and Akecheta
[07:30 AM, January 2nd, 2072; A Ruined Road; Redmond]

The sharp sounds of gunshots emanated from inside of the warehouse as the pair of trolls hunted for something to help defeat the fence. A metal point stuck out of a pile of bricks that formed the corner of one of the adjacent buildings. He could hear scrabbling inside as he threw some of the bricks off and hefted the piece metal out.

The pillar of metal appeared to be the remains of a drive-shaft from some sort of heavy duty vehicle. Where the rest of the vehicle was or how it got buried into the side of the building was anyone’s guess. Still would not have been the strangest thing either of the trolls had come across in the Barrens.

[Grimm]

Copperhead and Akecheta
[07:30 AM, January 2nd, 2072; A Ruined Road; Redmond]

The pair of trolls heave the driveshaft from the rubble and get it into a manageable position near the fence. Working together, the pair throw the driveshaft into the fence that has already been weakened by time, vagrants, and the flow of electricity through it. The tip of the shaft pierces the links and rips a hole through it, taking a chunk out of the fence.

The end of the driveshaft bounces into the ground into a large puddle of.. Something puddlish. The instant short between the fence and the puddle causes a quick burst of sparks and a surge of electricity as the fence shorts out and the exterior lights of the warehouse go dark.

[Combat Mage]

[07:30 AM, January 2nd, 2072; A Ruined Road; Redmond]

Akecheta laughed as he saw the sparks flying. To him they seemed like little fireworks that heralded the carnage he was about to cause inside that building. Without wasting a second he sped up and just barrelled straight into the fence at the same spot where their improvised projectile had already ripped a hole into it, trying to crash through it and enlargen the opening for his partner.

[Grimm]

Copperhead and Akecheta
[07:31 AM, January 2nd, 2072; A Ruined Road; Redmond]
The Beast led with his shoulder and rocketed himself into the fence. It barely seemed like paper as he tore a larger hole through it to give Copperhead access. The pair could again hear the bark of gunfire from inside of the building coupled with another blood-curdling shriek, followed by a dull thud.

The outside of the building was relatively clear. This side of the wall featured no entrances or exits on it. To the left was the main gate and entry while the right led to the rear of the warehouse.

[Abschalten]

Silk
[15:39 January 1st, 2072; Ravenna Park, Downtown Seattle]
Aria replies almost immediately to Silk's nudging:

<<I was just about to message you! I was looking across a few networks, and there's this person called "Red" who's looking for work at the moment. I haven't contacted them, but I did get contact information in case you're interested. Seems there's a pretty good rep on this one. Reliable, far as I can tell.>> Silk sees the contact information scrolling across the bottom of her augmented reality view as it's sent to her. <<Give them a call, and if it doesn't work out then I'll keep looking. How's that?>>

[Aria]

[16:15 January 1st, 2072; Common Ground, Downtown Seattle]

Silk watched as He-Who-Sees waited for their drinks at the counter and settled back in to the comfortable booth at the back of the lounge, with a clear view of the other patrons and the doors. She took the moment of peace to respond to Aria and message Red.

<<Thanks Aria, you're a star...will chase you about the Citadel later, biz for now...>>

<<Red, my name is Silk, a friend of mine passed on your contact details and said you were after work. I've got a job lined up that might suit your talents. I'm meeting with a mage at Common Grounds at the moment, you'd be welcome to join us if you can make it over here...otherwise we could meet somewhere this evening or tomorrow morning.>>

She tagged her message with their location...hopefully she'd be able to get this run off the ground shortly...and if Red could dig some intel on the target she'd know if this job was going to be suitable for the three of them or whether she needed to stretch her budget to get some muscle on board.

[Notsoevildm]

[07:31 AM, January 2nd, 2072; A Ruined Road; Redmond]
Copperhead follows the Beast quickly through the ruined fence, just in case the power comes back on. Although from the sounds coming from within the warehouse, it sounds like her spirit is wreaking havoc. Thank you Snake for giving me the services of this spirit to protect my kin.

Looking left and right she sees on immediate way in. Hmm, front or back? Front would normally be guarded, but the spirit's distration might be enough to get us in unnoticed. Back might have a fire escape or some other entrance, but that's a big 'might have'.

"If we stick to your plan, den I guess we go in da front?" she whispers to the big troll, this time unable to suppress the grin that steals across her face. Without waiting for a repy, she heads off to the left.

[Atomic Communist]

[16:15 January 1st, 2072; Haddleton Apartments, 13M, Renton]

<<Silk, sounds good. I'll be by fairly soon, give me a few minutes. If traffic isn't too bad, that is.>>

Red snapped out of VR and came back to reality. She clapped her hands and the walls went blank, the AR overlay turned off. She grabbed the keys to her bike and a few more odds and ends on her way out the door, locking it behind her. Taking the stairs two at a time, Red exited the apartment building and put her helmet on over her eyes. She started her bike and opened up the GridGuide AR. She studied it for a moment before choosing a path that would skip around the heavier bits of traffic and take a few more of the less driven routes. Downtown Seattle wasn't too far, thankfully.

[Aria]

[16:18 January 1st, 2072; Common Ground, Downtown Seattle]

Excellent, with luck Silk would be able to get this thing off the ground in the next couple of days. Her profit margin wouldn't be that high unless they managed to snag some paydata not associated with the run, but that wasn't why she was doing this. She needed her edge back again, it'd been too long...

...and here's He-Who-Sees-Within with the coffees, she needed something that was less of a mouthful if she was going to have to refer to him as something other than 'oi you,' but as soon as the run started she'd insist on coded communications anyway so they could sort it then. She was looking forward to getting to know this suave shaman, even if his role in this caper was likely to be limited by her budget.

"Ah you're back. I hope you don't mind but I've asked a hacker to join us to discuss the details of this run, but perhaps you would like to join me for something to eat afterwards...?"

[TheDoctor]

[January 5th, 2072; Summeroaks Apartments 29C, Renton]

The Doctor considered the job and the comments about taking all of those rogue operators at the same time.

"I also think it would be dangerous to take down all of them at the same time. What do we know about their habits? Is there any way for us to coordinate take-downs that snap them up one-by-one. It would be great if we could even use their check-ins as a trap."