IC: Down in the Puyallups VI, Someone fracking attacked the Mall Office! Options

[Saytr]

Saturday, March 28th, 2071@00:49 Mall Office, Crime Mall, 136th Street East & 122nd Avenue East, Puyallup Barrens, Seattle Metroplex

Zion nods to papa in agreement than looks towards the business women. "Null sheen, by chance do you have the wife and childs contact info as well." Looking towards the others he goes about forwarding the information on the given to see if the areas of interest were around the fly boys territory. If they were purchasing real estate of a magnitude that required the kidnapping of a corp executive to hold up it had to be a huge purchase or one that required a certain skill set. No the less zion gives the hoot for the fly boys to look for and taking a shot in the dark hoping they see something. <@team[zion]"I appreciate the help papa two days isn't a lot of time and trail is still hot of there was mojo used on the roof for escape can the mojo users take a look on the roof to if there is anything to track. Once we have a direction this will pick up fast, if it was a knapping they will need a safe house to hold the man, papa can you search and see if the wife and child have been reported missing or see if there is any activity of their coms.">

[phlapjack77]

Saturday, March 28th, 2071@00:49 Mall Office, Crime Mall, 136th Street East & 122nd Avenue East, Puyallup Barrens, Seattle Metroplex
Lucky

The run was all but official now. As the negotiator handed over the chips Lucky had that feeling of being employed in something important, sending an all-too-familiar tingle up his spine and back down to his toes. Biz was what he had now, biz with his team. More biz meant more cred, and more cred meant he could take care of his madre, the kids, WICCANS and all the rest. Maybe he could even take Kendra out for dinner for once. It was tough letting her always pick up the check (even if it was usually delivery). With a little nuyen to his name, he could feel more like a man again.

To biz: he hoped his posting to the Lone Star forensics team was picked up in time. He knew they were short-staffed and over-worked since KE took over the city's contracts, but he thought he still had enough connections to pull it off. Next thing on the list was to shore up their magic weakness. Too bad that mage earlier had left. Lucky knew a fair amount about the astral and all things mana-related, and he knew going up against magic opposition without your own backup was a losing proposition.

Lucky raises an eyebrow at Zion's comment. "No one has any contacts that can look for mojo it seems. I'll reach out to Smokey Joe."

<<@SmokeyJoe[Lucky] We're going to need some magic support on this one. Who can you put us in contact with? Probably would be a contract-basis with the opportunity for more work.>>

[Redjack]

Saturday, March 28th, 2071@00:50 Mall Office, Crime Mall, 136th Street East & 122nd Avenue East, Puyallup Barrens, Seattle Metroplex

"The family comlinks have not been online since they boarded a private plane in upstate New York 4:00pm Pacific yesterday. We are monitoring networks for their Access ID and their MSP for account activity. We will alert you if they do. Anything else?" She suddenly seems impatient to be on her way.

<<@Lucky [Smokey Joe] I'll have you a couple of names in a few minutes.>>

[phlapjack77]

Saturday, March 28th, 2071@00:50 Mall Office, Crime Mall, 136th Street East & 122nd Avenue East, Puyallup Barrens, Seattle Metroplex
Lucky

This was starting to be Lucky's scene. His old instincts were coming back to him as the situation unfolded. Those around him noticed him standing a little straighter, leaning slightly towards the woman as he questioned her. A pose of confidence, almost commanding one might say, if one weren't familiar with Lucky and his usual meekness.

"The family comlinks have not been online since they boarded a private plane in upstate New York 4:00pm Pacific yesterday. We are monitoring networks for their Access ID and their MSP for account activity. We will alert you if they do. Anything else?" She suddenly seems impatient to be on her way.

"Yeah - give us everything you have on their private plane and their trip. Did they often fly on a private plane? Who were the pilots? Where were they headed? They would've had to log a flight plan with the FAA, the plane would be in direct contact with all towers it passed by leaving us a datatrail a mile long for the flight."

[Aria]

Saturday, March 28th, 2071@00:49 Mall Office, Crime Mall, 136th Street East & 122nd Avenue East, Puyallup Barrens, Seattle Metroplex
Mouse

Mouse watched the negotiations quietly (well she did everything quietly so this was no different)...she could hardly believe the figures these runners were bandying about with such ease, even the upfront payment was several months rent for her and her family, perhaps, finally their luck was changing and she had no intention of interupting anything crucial. She would wait for when the runners were alone before speaking again, and anyway, they clearly had the right ideas about finding these missing corper souls...

[Redjack]

Saturday, March 28th, 2071@00:51 Mall Office, Crime Mall, 136th Street East & 122nd Avenue East, Puyallup Barrens, Seattle Metroplex

The negotiator's demeanor changes slightly, reengaged with the team now. "Susan had a pattern of visiting her father for his birthday, chartering a private plane to do so. With Sarah, her ultimate destination was here in Seattle. The pilot, Michael Carr, was located in the trunk of his car at the airport fifteen minutes ago. Around 10pm yesterday, it was determined that Susan and Sarah were not actually on the flight, rather a SINless woman and child with forged credentials departed the plane and were taken into custody. They were unaware of their employer and paid in a medical procedure given to family members." She pauses a moment before continuing, "Assuming your next line of questions, left me address that: At that time we placed a heightened watch on Mark. Late this evening he slipped offsite using the credentials of a subordinate and a throw away comlink."

[phlapjack77]

Saturday, March 28th, 2071@00:51 Mall Office, Crime Mall, 136th Street East & 122nd Avenue East, Puyallup Barrens, Seattle Metroplex
Lucky

A short whistle escaped the thick tangle of Lucky's beard.

"Nice and neat, huh? Was this Michael Carr their normal pilot? I don't suppose he's alive and able to give us any information, or that there was any information left at the scene where it happened? No, probably not. These fraggers are too cautious. They've planned out everything."

The ex-detective waited patienly for the reply, chewing the details over in his mind.

[Redjack]

Saturday, March 28th, 2071@00:51 Mall Office, Crime Mall, 136th Street East & 122nd Avenue East, Puyallup Barrens, Seattle Metroplex

"They do not travel enough to have a normal pilot. Michael was determined to be a career employee with an otherwise untarnished record. He was tasered at home and his home security system had been tampered with."

[phlapjack77]

Saturday, March 28th, 2071@00:51 Mall Office, Crime Mall, 136th Street East & 122nd Avenue East, Puyallup Barrens, Seattle Metroplex
Lucky

"Left him alive and everything. Sounds like the women were willing participants in this and didn't want any deaths associated with their disappearance. I mean, look at the carnage that happened here at the Mall. This wasn't the work of people who were concerned with loss of life."

[Redjack]

Saturday, March 28th, 2071@00:52 Mall Office, Crime Mall, 136th Street East & 122nd Avenue East, Puyallup Barrens, Seattle Metroplex

The negotiator, sensing the conversation is drawing to an end, takes a step backwards. "You have contact details on this chip for a retrieval squad. They will expect you to secure the targets in a safe location for transfer. If there are no other questions..."

<<@Team [Kilroy] Smokey Joe said you need magical support after yours bailed- very disappointing. I have three available. In the interest of time, here is a brief bio of each.
- Torch: Hermetic Mage. Former UCAS Marine. Specialization in fire magic.
- Walks-with-Kittens: Cat Shaman. Puyallups Native.
- Watson: Mage specializing in divination. New to the shadows
Let me know your thoughts.>>

For Mouse, her AR suddenly turns slow motion. Then several very, very large berries bounce across her view before exploding, sending AR berry goo everywhere. Then her comlink crashes and reboots. She feels the troll's hand, reassuringly resting on her shoulder as the reboot begins. Once her comlink is online again.
<<@Mouse [Papa] You were infected. Someone tapped our teamnet via your comlink. I'm taking you offline for a moment while I upgrade your firewall.>>
Messages cross her view as the upgrade is installed. Moments later, a significantly increased number of tuning options for her firewall is presented in a shiny new interface.

[phlapjack77]

Saturday, March 28th, 2071@00:52 Mall Office, Crime Mall, 136th Street East & 122nd Avenue East, Puyallup Barrens, Seattle Metroplex
Lucky

<<@Team [Lucky] As far as magic support, we're gonna need two very important skills. Tracking astally, and defending against this Wilt of Shadow Team Six. Watson seems perfect for the first role, and Torch for the second. Me, I'd go with Torch, as surviving an encounter with a hostile mage seems the smarter move. Plus he's not a rookie. Any opinions?>>

[Thanee]

Saturday, March 28th, 2071@00:52 Mall Office, Crime Mall, 136th Street East & 122nd Avenue East, Puyallup Barrens, Seattle Metroplex
Aeryn; PAN = passive [Skinlink, Datajack]; SIN = Selina Seymore

Aeryn nods to the woman.

"Thank you! We will get your Mr. Simpson and his family out."

<< @Team [Aeryn] Yeah, Torch gets my vote as well. Close call between him and the Cat Shaman, but since this is likely an assignment where we will see combat, that guy sounds like he will be up for it. Besides, I don't know how well Mouse would get along with the Cat. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) >>

[Redjack]

Saturday, March 28th, 2071@00:55 Mall Office, Crime Mall, 136th Street East & 122nd Avenue East, Puyallup Barrens, Seattle Metroplex

The SK team retreats to their helo and takes to the sky. As it clears the Mall, several random gunshots can be heard; no doubt street hunters of the Puyallups trying to bag the great iron bird.

<<@Team [Papa] Torch is here and on the other side of the Mall. Kilroy connected us. The mage is inbound.>>

As the helo disappears, the noises of life begin to return. The quiet was not really noticeable until it was gradually broken by people begins to move again, vehicles starting and driving, conversations & arguments ramping up.

As the team moves back from the open parking lot towards the Mall, a motorbike races around the corner of the Mall, heading straight for the team. AR tagging (assuredly by Papa) shows it to be Torch.

The bike slows as the rider approaches and dismounts, effectively jumping from, the off-road bike. The bike rolls in to a stop, gyro-stabilization keeping it upright.

Torch is wearing a black armored riding suit, with a black leather (or faux-leather) trench coat, open, tails trails like some action figures cape during the dismount. Removing a black, full face riding helmet, her long, bright-red hair spills down in a single pony tail past where her right breast is sure hidden under the armor. Her pale face is splotched with freckles that hint at youth and fire, while crows feet on the edges of her eyes betray maturity. The hardness of her eyes coupled with the long scar from below her left eye to the mid point of her cheek leave the beholder with a sense of strength and danger from the woman. The pair of heavy pistols, one to a hip and the smg across her chest only add to the picture.

She steps up to the team, looking at no one in particular and says in a gruff, hard voice that further betrays a hard life, "I'm Torch." Her gaze settles on Aeryn, "You're Papa?"

[phlapjack77]

Saturday, March 28th, 2071@00:55 Mall parking lot, Crime Mall, 136th Street East & 122nd Avenue East, Puyallup Barrens, Seattle Metroplex
Lucky

Keeping his face averted, Lucky makes a small "towards Papa" motion with his head. Surely his beard is hiding the grin on his face. Surely.

[Saytr]

Saturday, March 28th, 2071@00:55 Mall parking lot, Crime Mall, 136th Street East & 122nd Avenue East, Puyallup Barrens, Seattle Metroplex
Zion

zion watches the icon in his hud then focuses on torch as she rolls up. Looking her up and down noticing a lot of fire power for a spell slinger, zion turns to papa than back towards torch. "well your armed up, can you track mojo? There is a scene up top for us to get started."

[Thanee]

Saturday, March 28th, 2071@00:55 Mall Office, Crime Mall, 136th Street East & 122nd Avenue East, Puyallup Barrens, Seattle Metroplex
Aeryn; PAN = passive [Skinlink, Datajack]; SIN = Selina Seymore

"Well, that was fast..." Aeryn says.

"I'm Aeryn. Papa is the big guy over there. These are Mouse, Zion, and Lucky. Nice to meet you!"

[phlapjack77]

Saturday, March 28th, 2071@00:55 Mall parking lot, Crime Mall, 136th Street East & 122nd Avenue East, Puyallup Barrens, Seattle Metroplex
Lucky

After the brief introductions, Lucky steps forward. It's obvious to those that know him that this takes a large effort on his part - a short year ago would've seen Lucky hanging back, afraid of being noticed. Now, he has an air of authority. Whether it's from his former life as a cop, his current life as a (successful) shadowrunner, or something else entirely...there's no way to be sure. The only flaw in the moment is the slight tremor that's visible as Lucky comes to the forefront. It seems he still isn't as sure of himself as he could be.

Nice to meet you, err, Torch. I'm not trying to push you, we're lucky to have you now but we have a situation that needs to be looked at as soon as possible, if it's still possible at all. Astral signatures fade fast, and the longer we stand here talking the less likely it is you can find something useful on the astral. What kind of arrangement do you expect from us, or has that all been taken care of through Kilroy? Let's get that squared away so that we can all get to work tracking down our missing persons.

Lucky seems to just now realize what a long speech he's just made, and he ducks his head a moment out of embarrassment before turning and facing Torch with a slight smile on his face.

[Redjack]

Saturday, March 28th, 2071@00:56 Mall Office, Crime Mall, 136th Street East & 122nd Avenue East, Puyallup Barrens, Seattle Metroplex

Torch looks from to another, momentarily blushing at her mistake, but quickly regaining composure. She nods to Zion, and each of the teammates as Aeryn introduces them, then replies to Aeryn, "I assume I got this job because I happened to be at the Mall." Her eyebrows furrow for a moment as that sinks in.

She turns he attention to Lucky, "Kilroy said the team is assembled and needs someone with my skill set. He did not negotiate terms, stating instead they had already been negotiated. I assume the drama with the helicopter was part of those negotiations?" She takes a breath, but doesn't really wait for a rebuttal. "Given I also assume this is tied to the explosion in the Mall and, as you said, time is short, I'm in for whatever this is... Cut me in for a fare share and we can work out the details when we get a chance to. So ka?"

[Thanee]

Saturday, March 28th, 2071@00:56 Mall Office, Crime Mall, 136th Street East & 122nd Avenue East, Puyallup Barrens, Seattle Metroplex
Aeryn; PAN = passive [Skinlink, Datajack]; SIN = Selina Seymore

"Actually, we didn't know you were right here," Aeryn replies.

"A quick rundown on your talents was the deciding factor, because this is very likely requiring combat expertise. And it sounded like you got that covered."

"You will get a fair share, of course. We negotiated for one hundred thousand nuyen for the whole thing. Got twenty in advance."

"Our job is to retrieve a missing employee... vice council member Simpson, and his wife and daughter. Alive and well. Within two days tops. Simpson was here when the Mall was attacked, meeting with another runner team, calling themselves Shadow Team Six. We do not know, whether he went willingly or unwillingly, but it is clear he has left with them. We got a couple more details, and can fill you in on those, but I think you should first take a look into that room, as Lucky mentioned."

[Redjack]

Saturday, March 28th, 2071@00:56 Mall Office, Crime Mall, 136th Street East & 122nd Avenue East, Puyallup Barrens, Seattle Metroplex

A hint of a smile creases her lips before being suppressed. "I'll assume that Kilroy only forwarded my resume based upon my being here and leave it at that. Whichever, fortune smiled on me today. Let's head to that room then."

[phlapjack77]

Saturday, March 28th, 2071@00:56 Mall parking lot, Crime Mall, 136th Street East & 122nd Avenue East, Puyallup Barrens, Seattle Metroplex
Lucky

The ex-cop follows along after the others, hanging back to have a word with Mouse.

"Keep an eye on things, would you? We might be too focused on looking for evidence that we miss other important elements."

With that said Lucky strides to the front, joining the group as everybody heads back to The Office.

[Aria]

Saturday, March 28th, 2071@00:56 Mall parking lot, Crime Mall, 136th Street East & 122nd Avenue East, Puyallup Barrens, Seattle Metroplex
Mouse

"Keep an eye on things, would you? We might be too focused on looking for evidence that we miss other important elements."


"Err, sure..." Mouse replies to the departing runner...not that she'd intended to do anything less! This still felt out of her depth, although she'd be damned before letting this lot know that, and all her senses were on a hightened state. She'd probably pay for it when the adrenalin wore off but that didn't seem to be likely any time soon. She just wished she'd packed her Dad's SMG this evening...the witch was toting more than she was!

[phlapjack77]

Saturday, March 28th, 2071@00:56 Mall parking lot, Crime Mall, 136th Street East & 122nd Avenue East, Puyallup Barrens, Seattle Metroplex
Lucky

Lucky glanced back at the small runner and noticed her patting unconsciously at her pockets. Probably forgot something at her home in the burbclave.

He remembered what it was like to be young and inexperienced, feeling out of your depth. He'd been a rookie once...
Hey lookee here, we got ourselves a real-life hispy, just like in the trids! Where'd you come from wetback, Tex-ass? Yo quero dinero eh? s-o-c-k-s! Hehehe
The transfer to Seattle following the scandal had been rough on him, even rougher on his marriage. He'd been lucky - if it hadn't been for Danny, welcoming him and showing him the ropes...
Shut it Markowitz! You give my new partner a hard time, means you're giving me a hard time. You don't wanna do that now do you?

The mists of time clouded the ex-cop's mind as tended to happen. Shaking his head like a dog to clear the memories, Lucky tried his hardest to focus on the present. Mouse was new at this, it was obvious. So he'd make an effort to help her, protect her even. Keep her clear of real danger if he could. Protect her... like the daughter they'd never had. Maria would've liked that.

He continued on with the rest of the group into the interior of the Office.

[Redjack]

Saturday, March 28th, 2071@00:58 Mall Office, Crime Mall, 136th Street East & 122nd Avenue East, Puyallup Barrens, Seattle Metroplex

As the team begins meandering back towards the Mall, Itchy steps out of Papa's shadow to the front, leading the team back towards the office. Zion steps up beside Torch and finds himself falling in step. Papa & Aeryn fall in next while Mouse & Lucky bring up the rear.

<<@Team [Papa] The dwarf, who ID's himself as The Bartender, sent this video over from the bar camera.>>
The first is a human in street clothes and a long coat, Wilt, is tagged. Following him is an ork in an armored jacket with an AK strapped across his back is tagged as Crush. A human female with sandy-blonde hair in a form fitting jumpsuit, tagged as Hips is next; a pair of pistols are holstered on her shapely hips. Bringing up the tail is a human male with obvious cyber arms. He is wearing a large armored coat and has a rucksack on his back. A few moments later, a human male in an expensive suit, but looking harried, walks through the bar, nods apprehensively to Smokey Joe and enters the room; obviously Simpson. Several minutes later, the shit hits the fan.
<<@Team [Papa] Word on the street pegs the team as a team is six. Micky, an elf specializing in disguise and a Zero-One, a dwarven hacker round out the team.>>

Torch slows up as they enter the first floor of the Mall, allowing Aeryn to be engaged in further conversation. She begins to walk through what she knows, identifying holes as they walk. "Simpson is our target. Wife and daughter are also missing. Retrieve them all." She pauses, then continues. "Simpson was last seen with the team, here. Smoke seems to have confused the exit of everyone involved. I assume Papa's details are all we know about the team?"

[phlapjack77]

Saturday, March 28th, 2071@00:58 Mall Office, Crime Mall, 136th Street East & 122nd Avenue East, Puyallup Barrens, Seattle Metroplex
Lucky

"We know that the leader, Wilt, is a mage. We suspect that magic was used as part of their escape, lots of sudden winds were reported in the parking lot area. If we're lucky there's enough of an astral signature left for you to pick up on it. Hmmmm, looks like we have tags for 5 of the 6 runners on this Shadow Team Six. What's this last one's name, the one with the cyberarms?"
This last question is asked of no one in particular. Then Lucky turns to the troll.

"One of their team's a hacker. Papa, is there any way you can check this vid footage to see if it's been altered? And also see if you can dig up an intel on these members of the runner team. I'll contact my guys at LoneStar to see if they can be any help too."

<<@LS_Records[Hugo Sanchez] : Hoi chummers. Got some questions about possible low-lifes. You have any files on some runners belonging to a team called Shadow Team Six, some handles are Wilt, Crush, Hips, Micky, Zero-One. Thanks>>