Changing the World, One bullet at a time. (Info/Summary thread) Options

[Aidan Pryde]

This will be the information and summary thread for a game being run by me for the Seattle Knights gang (since SD wanted an opportunity to play for a while (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) .) Odds are we'll be alternating campaigns every so often.

We'll post session summaries, as well as OOC and bookkeeping here.

Useful links:

• Seattle Knights wiki (Link goes to the house rules in use.)

Characters:

• Moira McLoughlin aka Hotspot (Pic 1, Pic 2)
• Melissa McLoughlin aka Sovereign
• Emily Sansnom aka Shades
• Ardentes Puella aka Gretchen (Pic)
• Parker

[Aidan Pryde]

Reserved for my own accounting.

[Halinn]

The lovely sheet of one of the technomancer sisters, Moira McLoughlin

[ShadowDragon8685]

Just a reminder: those who attended got 2 Karma for the last session.

Aiden, are you going to post a session recap?

[Aidan Pryde]

Session 1: Due diligence? (30 July 2072)

(As SD has reminded everyone, 2 karma for those that were there and participating for the session.)

We began with a seemingly innocent midday call from a prospective client looking to retain the groups services. The call to Shades' comm was a video of a middle-aged Asian man asking for a call back to set up a meeting. He didn't give any specifics, but did seem to be a bit frazzled.

Intrigued by the call, Shades decided to trace it back to its origination, which was quickly and easily determined to be an office at Federated Boeing's facilities in Seattle. A quick bit of hacking later, she determined that the terminal's logs were being shunted to a mainframe system, and were, thus, not easily accessible. Seeing this, she contacted the remainder of the team with what she had so far, and then checked the terminal's camera and mic to see who was in the office, if anyone.

The inside of the office was mostly dark, with only a bit of light from the window, and there didn't appear to be anyone in there at the time. What could be made out from the furnishings, a nice but mostly functional desk and several neat stacks of papers that weren't readable made it likely that the occupant was probably someone in the mid levels of the organization.

A bit of conversation with the team's technomancers later they see the lack of information as a sort of challenge, and proceed to hack into the mainframe itself. Some scans reveal that it's a hefty machine with a lot of users active. It takes some doing, but Hotspot manages to get in and shut down the firewall's alert before it goes out. Using her newfound power she boosts Shades' access, and gives Sovereign a security account to play with.

Some investigation reveals that the original terminal was being used as a relay for the call, but the origination point was a commlink that was directly attached, and still in the office. A trivial hack later it's found that the commlink only contains the prerecorded video sent, which was apparently recorded at the end of the 19th century, if the file data is to be believed. They also find from some personnel records that the office in question belongs to a Will Tanaka, a second line production manager, but he left the night before at 11:47 PM, and hasn't been back since. Additionally, it doesn't appear that he took anything wireless enabled with him aside from his implanted RFID.

Meanwhile, the technomancer twins clean up the access log, do a quick scan of the basic security protocols that are documented, and scan for any hidden users on the system. Shades also starts a query for the encryption algorithms in use on the employee RFID tags, so that they can verify Mr. Tanaka, and possibly make some cash from selling the info. The file is eventually located, but it's heavily encrypted and data bombed, which leads to some discussion on how to get it out without exploding anything important.

About this time, someone has noticed at least part of the intrusion, as the terminal Shades is logged in to notifies her that an administrator has issued a shutdown order. Sovereign scans the logs and determines that user FB-Athena is the one that issued the order. Her thrill seeking nature gets the best of her as Shades decides to crack the bomb, grab the data and run in the little time left before she gets booted. Unfortunately, this doesn't exactly go as planned, and the data and a chunk of Shades' avatar get quite thoroughly exploded by the bomb. And then all hell breaks loose.

FB-Athena shows up in the mainframe node, and manages to beat all 3 of the intruders to the punch by copying the logs (though most of the teams' actions have been edited out at this point) as well as issuing some system commands to enact security protocols. Sovereign scans FB-Athena's system, and it proves that there's some serious hardware in use. A short battle ensues which results in FB-Athena hitting Shades with a blackout, but some quick thinking results in her crashing the intermediary connection terminal to sever her link, resulting in dumpshock, but at least it's not getting knocked unconscious and locked into the matrix for the corp to trace at their leisure. Hotspot calls up a tank sprite to keep FB-Athena busy, which it accomplishes admirably, though it doesn't manage to get in any hits on the spider's defenses. Rather than face mounting defenses in the form of now-loaded IC, Hotspot and Sovereign decide discretion is in order and log off.

With some help from Gretchen, Shades quickly recovers from the dumpshock, and they set about getting ready to call Mr. Tanaka. Sovereign gives Shades a bit of a lecture about the wisdom of touch files with large exploding things attached to them. The group also does some basic queries on FB-Athena and learn that s/he is probably the head of matrix security research at FedBoeing. Unfortunately, there is basically no data on who he or she really is.

And that's about where we ended the session. Gretchen and Shades have headed out to make a call to Tanaka from an unrelated location in Loveland to see what his job is, if he's even still interested. While Sovereign is tracking down what information she can about FB-Athena, if only because no one else seems to have that information.

(Sorry for not getting this up sooner, Monday was busier than expected and I was travelling on Tuesday and Wednesday. If I missed any details you want added, just let me know.)

[ShadowDragon8685]

Noo, that seems to be it.

[SeptemberAMonth]

Here is my sheet for Gretchen: http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=469071
Here is my >character picture<, with the caveat that her regular outfit is a fancy business suit. In game, I will be wearing that form in private and an identical, except human looking, form in private. Also, it would be nice with links to the other pics (I know some was linked for the twins) in the OP.

Things that need clearing up/GM approval:
1.Spirit Pact. Do I have to get Friendship Pact to get Karma like everyone else and be able to return from the metaplanes in less than several weeks, or can we just handwave that? If I do need Friendship Pact, can we at least ignore the Edge loss when a friend dies, because it sucks?
2. Initiation Ordeals. Do you still feel that the Oath of Servitude wasn't good enough as an Ordeal? I assumed a second Ordeal which would be a Thesis, which is now in the care of my Magical Group, in accordance to their Strictures (Magical Link). Is that acceptable?
3. My Magical Group. It cost nothing to be in one right? I wrote a basic summary of the group in the bottom of my sheet. Any further questions or does it look good enough for you?

[Halinn]

Also, it would be nice with links to the other pics (I know some was linked for the twins) in the OP.

Pics of Moira: http://wulfsbane.deviantart.com/art/Gatlin...ssion-104388626
http://vianaarts.deviantart.com/art/Redhea...t-Pen-310870595

Melissa looks pretty much the same, except a bit taller.

Things that need clearing up/GM approval:
3. My Magical Group. It cost nothing to be in one right? I wrote a basic summary of the group in the bottom of my sheet. Any further questions or does it look good enough for you?

It's 5 karma to join a magical group, as per Street Magic p69

[ShadowDragon8685]

Here is my sheet for Gretchen: http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=469071
Here is my >character picture<, with the caveat that her regular outfit is a fancy business suit. In game, I will be wearing that form in private and an identical, except human looking, form in private. Also, it would be nice with links to the other pics (I know some was linked for the twins) in the OP.

What does Shades have to do to get Gretchen to wear that outfit? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

[SeptemberAMonth]

It's 5 karma to join a magical group, as per Street Magic p69

ok, spending 5 karma on that then.

[Halinn]

I will be absent Sunday.

[ShadowDragon8685]

Awh (IMG:style_emoticons/default/frown.gif) . Okay.

[Aidan Pryde]

Session 2: Getting a job (30 July 2072)

(Per usual, everyone present gets 2 karma.)

We started off with Shades and Gretchen driving to Loveland and 'borrowing' a few commlinks to route through before making the call to Mr. Tanaka. He responded by asking for a place they could meet physically, as he didn't want to speak about it over comms. After a bit of deliberation, the group decided to meet him for an early dinner at the Grey Line restaurant on Pier 63.

The trip through downtown proved uneventful, but Tanaka had already arrived when the team arrived. Shades asked Gretchen to assense him, while the rest of them greeted him in person. Looking over him astrally, he was obviously overtired and agitated, but otherwise in fine shape for an unaugmented human. There was something that seemed off about his aura, but even on a closer examination what that was couldn't be pinned down. Due to this, Gretchen decided to observe the meeting astrally to see if anything would change that perception.

After basic pleasantries, Mr. Tanaka got down to the business of discussing what he wanted. In short, he wanted them to find and rescue his goddaughter Marika Watanabe. He informed the group that he had received an anonymous packet containing an optical chip, the contents of which implied that she had been taken to a corporate lab in Redmond. He couldn't verify the information's source, but did say that the biometric data included on the chip was a match for Marika.

Once the group agreed that looking into it was something they were willing to do, Mr. Tanaka offered to pay 25,000 nuyen for her return. It is obvious he wasn't a professional in this regard, as he flat asked if that was an acceptable amount, as he had no idea what the going rates were. In the end, Shades talked him into paying 5,000 up front for the group to do a full information gathering, and would quote him a price for extraction once that was completed. He also agreed to supply them with all of the information he currently had, including the optical chip that was delivered to him.

After receiving the documents and payment, the group started digging through what they had access to. They found Marika is the 7 year old, elven, daughter of Hisao and Noriko Watanabe. Despite Tanaka's description of the parents as travellers, there was little record of that. It appears Hisao owns a laundry service in Denver, and his wife isn't traditionally employed. Between this and a few other subtle hints, it's fairly obvious that he's Yakuza, and probably fairly well off, especially since he can afford to send his daughter to an exclusive boarding school in Portland, Farfield Academy.

Some digging into the Academy reveals that they are a small, and quite expensive boarding/refinement school for grades 1-8, that has existed since before the Tir was established, and have mostly stayed independent from the Elven nation's rule. Their matrix presence for recruitment is hosted and maintained by a design company, which proved to be of no help. It also appears that if they use electronic recordkeeping, those systems are not matrix connected. Without an easy option to get at that data, the group researched some of the older students to see if they could find someone to bribe into connecting a commlink to the private network so that they wouldn't need to go to Portland themselves. They identified two possibilities for this avenue: Emily Watson, a 14 year old into the generally illegal fighting style known as Sangre y Acero; and Tara Finnigan, 13, who's not shy about posting that she's been reprimanded more than a few times for conduct violations, though the details have been eliminated from her posts.

The chip also provided a few pictues, one a low resolution image of a young girl in a hospital gown on what appeared to be a hospital bed, but no real clues as to where. There were also 3 buildings with pictures, taken from different angles, but all of them appear to have been taken from streets close by, and all of those streets are easy to match up with an approximately 2 block area in Redmond, unfortunately just outside of Glow City, well within the territory claimed be the Rusted Stilettos.

Gretchen went ahead to scan the area astrally, while the twins and shades headed towards that area to send in a drone to scan for hidden matrix nodes. Gretchen's recon resulted in the conclusion that the area was fairly messed up and toxic in much of the astral, though not to the point of having a huge background count in the area being looked at. She visited two of the buildings pictured, and only found a single person sleeping off some booze or drugs in the entryway of one. While the buildings are in disrepair, it's unusual that they would be completely empty, even in this kind of area.

The scan for hidden links turned up a trio of moderately powerful commlinks in the area, possibly pointing to another team of runners working on something in the area. Hotspot hacked the more difficult of the 3, while Shades cracked one of the lesser ones.

And that's where we left off, as some of us needed to leave for the night.

[Aidan Pryde]

Things that need clearing up/GM approval:
1.Spirit Pact. Do I have to get Friendship Pact to get Karma like everyone else and be able to return from the metaplanes in less than several weeks, or can we just handwave that? If I do need Friendship Pact, can we at least ignore the Edge loss when a friend dies, because it sucks?
2. Initiation Ordeals. Do you still feel that the Oath of Servitude wasn't good enough as an Ordeal? I assumed a second Ordeal which would be a Thesis, which is now in the care of my Magical Group, in accordance to their Strictures (Magical Link). Is that acceptable?
3. My Magical Group. It cost nothing to be in one right? I wrote a basic summary of the group in the bottom of my sheet. Any further questions or does it look good enough for you?

1. Don't get friendship pact, it sucks terribly. We'll just say you get karma like a normal PC and can return once you're fully healed.
2. I don't mind the oath as long as it's not to another player's character. You can always have a loyalty 5 or 6 contact that you give it to.
3. The group should be ok, but you should probably have it as a contact. Also, don't forget that there's no group discount on initiations bought at creation.

I will be absent Sunday.

I probably should have asked about this on Sunday, but it slipped my mind. Are most of you going to be around at the usual time, since it's a holiday weekend? (It shouldn't be an issue for me.)

[ShadowDragon8685]

2. I don't mind the oath as long as it's not to another player's character. You can always have a loyalty 5 or 6 contact that you give it to.

Awh... I like Gretchen having an oath of loyalty and obedience towards Shades. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Aidan Pryde]

Session 3: Doing some legwork (30 July 2072)

(All present get 2 karma for the session. Additionally, those that were there last week get an additional 2 karma.)

The session started where we left off, with Hotspot and Shades getting some details from the commlinks they had hacked. The 3 commlinks were generally in close proximity and were running a tacnet, so it appears that there was another group of runners in the general area. There was some video and image data of a mildly deformed troll beating some human or elf savagely as well as some map data with a few locations marked 'Sludge' into Glow City proper. A bit of matrix querying using some images from the other team's cameras, as well as that name turned up a little bit about them.

It appears that the group normally runs 3-6 members, but the 3 currently being accounted for are the core of the team. They are relatively low-key and small time, but can be contacted through a troll going by the name of Sarge. Beyond that, they seem to specialize in wetwork, with little in the way of moral standards, given enough compensation. It seems that Sludge is the name of a troll that runs with the Rusted Stiletto's. With that information in hand, the group decided that they were likely hired to take out Sludge, and it wasn't worth bothering them, despite Shades' assertion that they were scum for not having limits on who they'd off.

Still, there was also a building marked with several camera icons on that team's maps, located within the area purportedly containing the secret lab being looked for. So, they sent Gretchen to check it out astrally. Arriving, she found a squat single-level building, presumably a former convenience store of some sort from the layout and debris scattered about its interior. The entire place was a mess, but the freezer area was also completely covered in in a glowing substance. She didn't have any real insight into what was causing it, other than it was some sort of plant. Also in the freezer, she probed the floor, looking for hidden spaces underneath, and did find an opening to a passage of stairs leading down. It didn't appear to be warded or anything, but she decided to report her findings to get group before going further.

The others noted the lack of wireless availability to the cameras marked on the map, and also noticed that they lacked the tools to physically get into anything like that. So, a call to Sovereign's fixer and a short trek to the Crime Mall parking lot was arranged to acquire some electronics tools. While there Shades also decided to troll the mall and pick up some specialty ammo and a micro-tapper bug.

We ended the short-ish session with the group grabbing their gear and calling up some of the non-matrix members to get ready to break into whatever is sitting below that old convenience store.

[SeptemberAMonth]

I won't be able to focus fully on the game today, as I need to get some work done on my essay. I'll make sure to be present in the beginning so I can introduce AGO's character (and maybe Parker?) to the group, but later I'll be a bit more passive.

[ShadowDragon8685]

I should be good to attend every Sunday this month, though I don't think everybody else will. This could be problematic.

[SeptemberAMonth]

Maybe on next Sunday. Definitely not the other two.

[Halinn]

Maybe the 30th, definitely not the other two.

[Aidan Pryde]

I'll be on this weekend, definitely not the 23rd. Plans are still up in the air for the 30th, but it's likely I'll be around.

(Working on the summary from the last time now.)

[Aidan Pryde]

Session 4: Getting down to business (30 July 2072)

(All present get 2 karma for the session.)

We picked up where we last left off, with the group deciding to meet first at a Stuffer Shack on the outskirts of the Barrens to get in some face time with the members who weren't closely connected to the hackers. Gretchen called up Parkson and another free spirit going by the name of Sunny. While there, Shades decided to have some fun with the store's ambient music, replacing it with some classic rock. This didn't amuse the lone clerk staffing the shop, who promptly turned off the speakers rather than deal with it.

After some introductions and basic discussion of the goals, the group decided to rendezvous a couple kilometers out of Glow City to discuss exact plans in a place that was less likely to be noticed. The basic idea was to hack in through tapping the cameras the team they had encountered earlier had so graciously marked on their map. Once in, they could confirm the presence of the girl they were being hired to rescue, and if she was there they would contact the Johnson to negotiate an extraction price based on the defenses.

As is often the case, such plans don't always fare well when they meet reality. Arriving at the location it was obvious the building was once a gas station/convenience store. It was also in bad shape, with graffiti everywhere and broken out windows and doors. The expected cameras also didn't materialize, as it appears the other team had just marked the building, and not the exact locations.

Not easily discouraged, Shades snuck around to the the back of the building, while Gretchen and Sunny provided overwatch. At the back there was a mostly intact door with amazingly readable lettering marking it as an employee entrance. More importantly, there was an ancient camera housing above the door. With a bit of help from the tapper bug's cameras, it was determined that this was filled mostly with old wires and a bird's nest, but in the back was some kind of sensor, as there was a new casing tucked in the back over the mount attaching it to the wall.

With no easy way into the system's case, Shades steered the tiny drone into the building and entered the wall from there to get into the plastic conduit housing the fiber connected to the sensor. From there she attempted to hack into the system, but was greeted by an exceptionally tough gatekeeper, with an agent keeping a vigilant eye on the system. Attempts to disarm the system's analysis proved fruitless, as the agent noticed the unwanted presence early on. Fortunately for Shades, the system had no offense loaded, so she was able to log out before anything untoward happened. Still, it will present a challenge for getting the desired information.

And, that's where we ended the session, with some discussion on how to get in past that system, and what the likely response to their intrusion would be.

[UltraFennec]

Sunny

Depositing my sheet link for posterity.

"Human" form.

[ShadowDragon8685]

"Human" form.

Heheheheh. Niiiiice.

[UltraFennec]

Unfortunately I can't find anything "hybrid" like that isn't um...totally obvious porn. So. Probably won't be seeing one of those up here on this board.