IC: SRM04-02 Extraction, Artifact Rush, Part 1 Options

[O'Ryan]

Eclipse
Shitty Apartment Building, 1800 hours

A call. Eclipse was starting to think it'd never happen; you get left for dead outside one little check point and all of a sudden everyone stops calling to see how you are... This was a special occasion, and as such, warranted special attire. With great reverence Eclipse pulls on his "nice" slacks and a button up shirt he may or may not have liberated from a Stuffershack charity line. There'd be no hiding the skate shoes unfortunately, and there was no way he was leaving his synth-leather coat behind, not when he'd just gotten the pocket stretched out enough to conceal his hand wrapped around the ceramic pistol. Even so, he spends a couple seconds infront of the mirror to make sure he's as presentable as possible for his "interview." With a last check around the oh so cozy studio digs, he steps out to find himself some good ol' public transit to a few blocks away, planning on a nonchalant walk in through the front doors.

Eclipse
Friday, 19:46; Rooftop, Yojirushi building

Of course he was late. It was his luck, right? Showing up just as the Scion gives his spiel, he's in prime position to watch wide eyed, horrified, as the plan seems to be launching through windows. Relief flickers across his face when Mr White speaks up. He clears his throat.
"Er... I think yer right. Nae'body, not even Parker, has t' know we've come and gone until mornin', yeah? Eclipse, by the by."
With that he stuffs out his hand towards the sanest of his new business partners while wary eyes dance among the others' antics.
"Way I see it, if Mr John Scion there was kind enough t' hook us up with grapple lines, might as well use 'em. We hit the top, hack the roof access," His eyes land on Gardner when he says "hack," clearly imaging something entirely different. "An' we make'r way in nice an' delicate like. Looks t' me like we got the capability to drop guards real silent," Another look to Gardner, and then a pointed one to Silas. "'n if you're good enough t' talk us in, should be good 'nuff t' get us by any nosy guards, yeah?"

[O'Ryan]

[Edited above for content.]

[Severus Snape]

Frak. Just...frak.

Needle logs out of the matrix, silently cursing herself. She knows better than to attempt a hack on a secured corporate building...especially Horizon. But with the timing of this mission, and the parameters set by The Scion, she really had no choice but to try. And although she made a good attempt, the corp was better.

Frak.

She paces for a few moments, trying to figure out what to do next.

People on the balcony, but that's where the node was that I tried to hack. They will probably be at least a little heightened to any more attempts there, so that is out of the question.

What else...what else...aha!

She spies the sniper, and for the briefest of moments is able to catch his commlink in range. But he moves away from the edge of the building and, at least temporarily, out of range.

There's my way in. Through him. I can disable him AND probably get into the building's nodes all in one shot. I just have to wait until he gets back in range...which I hope isn't too long. We've only got so much time here...

And wait she does. But not forever...

[Dak]

Mr. White eyes the balcony across the way for a moment before turning back to the team.

"In about ten seconds, I'm going to take a ride downstairs in the elevator. Then I'm going to walk in the front door of that building," he nods toward the Horizon Corp building, "and I'm going to go shake hands with Mr. Acson. That would be a great time to have some shadowrunners burst in with guns drawn. Everyone runs the other way, Mr. Acson goes out the windows with you lot. I'll either come along as well, or make my way out separately and catch up afterward." he glances at each of the other 'runners. "If anyone has a better idea, let's hear it, but quickly. While we stand here flapping our jaws and scratching our heads, the clock is ticking." He pauses a second, in case anyone has a better idea, but then will be on his way downstairs.

[Kiirnodel]

"With that much magic just for decorating the banquet hall, I can't imagine they would mind a guest arriving looking his best..." Gardner takes a step forward and rests his hand on Mr. White's shoulder.

Suddenly, Gardner's face changes. His eyes begin to glow the a soft green light, his hair and beard transform into a tangle of vines and leaves. Even his skin, which already looked like it must feel like the side of a tree, becomes even more bark-like. As quickly as it appeared, the mask is gone, and left behind is Gardner's regular face. Smiling gently, he encourages Mr. White, "Your idea is sound, go quickly, we haven't much time."

[O'Ryan]

Eclipse grins. They have a mage? Problem solved! A giant mage. A hand lifts to wish Mr White luck. Eclipse heads to the duffel bag then, hooking up the spool to the gun with practiced, but not veteran, hands. The harness from the climbing gear is the next to go on.

"Too easy, yeah? Shaman, you got anythin' that'll keep us hidden from the party? If there's no objections I don't have a problem with climbing down a little to get in position for Talky here."

Wary, Eclipse runs his eyes over the building again, lingering on the dragon behind the bar. That's an illusion or drone, right? Has to be. Hestaby? Drek. He holds on actually firing the line across in case somebody has a last minute burst of mental or magical inspiration, and it's while he's pausing that he catches a glint of movement from high above.

"Oi chummers, looks like we've got somebody on the roof. M'guess is sniper, yeah? I pr'pose Talky goes in, grabs Ascon, we grab them from above, 'n we all make a merry exit down the elevator shaft 'n out the sewer.. or jack a car. Either way, but 'm nae so keen on takin' a Barret to the back."

[Severus Snape]

Needle, usually quiet in social situations, speaks up when Eclipse mentions the sniper.

"The sniper is mine. I'll make sure he can't fire his weapon or call for help when you guys launch yourselves across the divide here. Which, by the way, is highly dangerous. You know that, right? You'll be suspended 30 stories above ground here, 28 on the other side, with little more than just a piece of high-tensile wire and your own muscles to keep you from being pavement paint."

She looks back to the sniper's position, checking her commlink to see if he's back in range.

"As far as transportation, you guys tell me which exit to pick you up at and I'll be there with your ride."

[Dak]

As Mr. White leaves the lobby of the Yojirushi building, he flips open his comlink and scrolls down to James Harrison, Horizon Corp, and he hits the call icon.

"James, Harvey White.... Yes, good thanks, yourself? ...... Sorry for the back and forth, is that ticket still available? ..... Good, good. Listen, since this is is grey area, there's a chance that things could become a little complicated, and I wouldn't want for there to be any repercussions for you. Should we run it through a third par- ....... Oh, alright." he glances down at the image that comes up on his comlink. "Oh I see. Well played. I appreciate the help. Let's talk over lunch next week? ..... You too." he slips his comlink back into his pocket as he smooths his lapels and approaches the entrance to the Horizon building.

[ChromeZephyr]

Friday, 19:54; 30th floor of the Yojirushi building
Hermes Ikon: Hidden | SIN: Ivan Mozhayev

Tundra Wolf turns to Needle, an almost visible tremor thrumming through him as his cybernetic reflexes are triggered in preparation for the drop into the Horizon building. "I believe the best door to exit from would be the one the defense cannot close," indicating the long spools of rappelling cable with his hand. "We grab the target, then we go back over the edge of the balcony. No doors to lock in front of us, and if we are quick enough few people to shoot at us. If we are not quick enough..." The mercenary shrugs fatalistically. "Then we earn our monies the hard way." He picks up one of the harnesses and begins slipping it on, though definitely not with the grace that Eclipse slipped into his with.

[Mach_Ten]

Silas looks up from his inspection of the gear at the back of the departing Mr. White
<Rather you than me, Chummer ! walking straight into the lions den> he thinks.

He can feel a warm spot between his shoulder blades, almost a dot, he imagines the snipers scope settling in as he adjusts his breathing, finger resting lightly but firmly on the trigger
<Woulds I even feel it? We're far too exposed out here>

"Hey Tiny !" He whispers audibly to Gardner " Keep your head down Chummer, if there's a guy up there .. well you know what they say huh Geek the Mage first !"

The friendly smile fades and turns his attention back to the task in hand. the climbing harness is integrated with his Smart weapon pouch system, quick release straps and soft weave mesh for added comfort and agility, at least that's what the sales guy said.

there's Carabiners and ropes and all the good stuff a Runner needs for this kinda job, "Eclipse, Tundra-Wolf do yous guys know the sharp end from the other on this gear ? .. After I gots my creative spirit stifled I gots to admit I'm no expert on the maffamatics in setting this up, but we wants da grapple in the wall just above and to the side of dat balcony over dere' "

Silas points in a downward direction where they could potentially zip line to and still maintain maximum stealth

"Also's is dis ting gunna make a bang ? likes da pistols .. not dat anyone be firing no more pistols " He mutters something under his breath
about best intentions and spur of the moment etc.

"Cause then wes gonna needs summat like a distraction to do it while Whitey gets to eats all da sammiches, he better brings some for all of us ! "

He packs his lined coat and the disgarded wing suit into the bag of tricks and looks for secure anchoring points on this rooftop to tie off the other end of the zip line and for the escape rope for the team on this side of the building

That done, he begins to fashion a makeshift rope harness, essentially two figure-8 rope loops with Caribeners to go quickly over the arms and legs of a less than willing subject in a hurry
<no time for messing with a proper harness, da guys be knocked out anyways>

He stows this across his shoulders ready for the extraction.

"Hmmmm, anyfing else we needs ya fink guys ? maybe one o' yous gots a Chummer wiv a helly-chopper ?"

[Slacker]

As Mr. White approaches the front entrance to the Horizon Splendor building. a couple of the guards stiffen slightly. Looking him up and down, they relax somewhat assessing him as little threat. None of them move to stop him and when he reaches the actual doorway, a well dressed (though still obviously armed beneath the suit coat) man opens the door for him.

"Welcome sir. Are you here for the banquet?"

Mr. White gives the man a friendly smile as he says he's running late for the banquet.

"Of course, sir. Please present your ticket to the woman at the reception desk," the doorman gestures towards a reception desk within the lobby.

Mr. White passes by a troll and two other guards walking patrol in security armor emblazoned with the Horizon logo and presents himself to the receptionist.

"Greetings sir. If you would be so kind as to connect your ticket to your Active Mode commlink, it will only take a second to verify before you can head on up. They should be starting the presentation of our new hires shortly." She chatters on for a moment about how the company brought in one of their premier phantasm mages for some special entertainments out on the balcony. Presently though a green ARO shows up within both your and the receptionists peripheral vision.

"You're all set now sir. Please proceed to the executive elevators and enjoy your evening." A new semi-transparent ARO appears within Mr. White's vision showing him the path he needs to take.

Following the virtual dotted line, Mr. White heads past the a bank of elevators off the main lobby, apparently these only serve floors L through 25 though there is a sign indicating 25 as a cross-over floor with additional elevators to the higher levels of the building. Once past those elelvators, he turns a corner and is greeted by a smaller, though more opulent lobby containing 2 more elevaotrs. There is also a security door off to one side that is partially obscured from view at the entrance.

These elevators appear to have no buttons, but one silently opens at his approach. Soothing music floats out from the cab as he enters. As he steps into the cab, the doors silently close behind him. A moment later the elevator begins to rise on its own.

[Mach_Ten]

The nervous tension is almost palpable in the air with worried glances from the others to the towering structure across the way, but Silas tries to put his own concerns to the side while they get the job underway.

"Left over right, right over left.... Rabbit goes up the hole , round the tree and down the hole" he mutters quietly to himself the steadying mantra of rope-craft. as he fashions and secures the climbing equipment.

Everything seems secure, two bracing ropes around the heaviest air-con exhausts that come together in a "Y" shape to hold the ropes going down this side but also the zip line to the target tower.

"Heys guys ? how you fire one of dese fings ? " he asks as he shoulders the grappling gun, sighting doown the barrel at a point above the left side of the balcony "is there a safety ........" *CRACK* "......catch ...? ..... oopsies!"

The silver spider arcs across the void like a viper striking it's prey in the night, the point pierces the wall and embeds just as a drone above them breaks the sound barrier on it's passage to who knows where, masking the impact sound.

"I meants to do dat !"
He grins at the suddenly upturned faces all looking open mouthed in his direction,
and begins to haul in the slack of rope and secure it off on the setup braces.
"Little brown eel comes out of the cave... Swims into the hole... Comes out of the hole... Goes back into the cave again."

<Still no sign of Whitey hopes him not choked onna sammich>
Silas glances at Gardner peering into the windows and anxiously checking his comm and looking at Tundra Wolf and then back again at the building.
"So's you guys worked a'gether before dis job den Tiny ?"
Gardner is silent for a while and Silas looks at the other members of this sorry little affair,

Needle looks pensive, now out of the Virtual Landscape, She is examining the angles of the streets and the buildings and keep glancing at the bag of climbing equipment.
"You can borrow the wingsuit ifs you like ! .. I'm nots allowed to play wid it anymore but no reason I can't watch you do some craziness innit !"
She looks back at him, almost taken aback at the shock what they are about to do but a sudden grin crosses her face and she grabs the suit from the bag.
"Ssssshhh ! keep it quiet, I have a plan" She hisses and dashes around a vent.

[Slacker]

Mr. White has a quiet and quick ride up up in the elevator. Arriving at the 28th floor, an automated female voice announces "Splendor Banquet Hall."

The elevator open to an elegantly appointed foyer with comfortable seating should it be required. As he steps out of the elevator he sees a suited gentleman standing by a pair of grand double doors who greets him with a smile. "Welcome Mr. Reynolds. The presentations of new hires is already underway. So if you don't mind, please use the other doors and quiet proceed to your seat. There will be festivities on the balcony following the presentations." The dotted line in Mr. White's AR vision is instantly updated directing him to enter through another set of doors at the other end of the hall.

Mr. White thanks the obvious, though well dressed, security guard before heading down the hallway to the other doors. He passes the restrooms and a large alcove where a pair of men appear to be watching tonight's Urban Brawl game. They straighten up a little when they notice him, but do nothing more than nod an acknowledgement of his presence.

The double doors at the far end silently open, letting the amplified sound of the speaker on stage spread into the hallway. One of the men watching the game, turns around and give White a little glare before turning back as the on of the Seattle Screamers takes hit to the shoulder with boos from the viewers.

Inside. the lights have been dimmed except for those set on the stage itself. A handful of executives are on stage talking about how excited they are to have such promising young men joining their corporate family. The ARO in Mr. White's vision further guides him to a table in the back of the hall that is highlighted in blue for him. There are a number of chairs at the table, though only 2 are currently occupied. Glancing around he notices a few other empty chairs around the back of the hall. Seems his contact wasn't the only middle manager with limited interest in attending.

[ChromeZephyr]

Friday, 19:55; 30th floor of the Yojirushi building
Hermes Ikon: Hidden | SIN: Ivan Mozhayev

Tundra Wolf watched the point of the rappelling line drive itself into the facade of the building, then glanced at Silas. "Let us hope that all of our shots are so well placed tonight, neh?" The last clasp of the harness clicked into place, and he swung the sling attached to the submachine gun over his head and snugged it in place. The last few minutes of quiet before the storm seemed to drag, as they always did. He just hoped the storm this time didn't end up like the last, caught in the inferno of an attacking fire elemental.

[Mach_Ten]

<WHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!> "ooomph"

[Severus Snape]

Needle sits and monitors for signals in silence and is about to give up and think of something else when the sniper's commlink gets into range again.

Hot dog. Let's see if I can take over his commlink.

She sets about hacking his commlink, finding that getting an administrator account on the device is easy as eating pie. No alert triggered, and she now has access to...well, everything he has access to. But reading his email isn't on top of her priority list right now. No...the icons of a pair of eyes and a rifle sitting on a desk are more important.

"Guys...I'm in the sniper's commlink," she whispers to the team as they get ready to zip-line across. "Give me a few more seconds and I should have him disabled."

She knows from her experience of running in the Matrix that the icons represent systems that are slaved to the device. And she knows that with administrator access, she can travel through those nodes to their representative systems and disable them.

Let's start with the eyes, shall we? Even if they don't control total sight, at the very least I can take them offline so he can't use them with the weapon itself...

[Severus Snape]

Hot damn I'm good.

Needle jumped around in the node for the eyes, shutting off functions like she was flipping light switches. She had almost forgotten what it felt like to be hacking into someone instead of something. It started her adrenaline pumping, her heart slightly increasing in beats per minute, her breathing in the physical world getting a little rapid. She shut off his his sight, his smartlink, and his image link.

No seeing us. Now I have to stop you from telling on me.

She made her way out of the node for his eyes and back to his commlink, where she saw the microphone program slide out from the desk. She loaded up her Edit program and set it about to blocking his outgoing message. It wouldn't prevent him from speaking, but it would prevent the commlink from taking the message in and sending it on its way.

With that all done, she sent a sub-vocal message to the team as she made her way into the node for his rifle.

"The eagle is flying blind. You are now cleared for take-off."

[Kiirnodel]

Gardner secures himself on the Horizon side of the building, and with a bit of intense concentration readies a response message through his trode net.

<<@Needle Last one is coming across now, we should be clear. Thanks for the cover. You were going to ready a ride for us head out quick, yeah? I'd say use the confusion up top to get yourself down the building. @All Be ready for White's signal...>>

[Severus Snape]

This is easier than eating. This guy's ass belongs to...

The thought was cut off rather abruptly, the digital landscape cutting away like an old-school television with horizontal control problems. Her vision swam in front of her, the images of the eyes and the rifle being washed away as if they were flushed down a drain. And then there was white, followed by black.

She had been dumped. It happens to everyone from time to time, but it hadn't happened to her in a long time. She had forgotten what it felt like to be severed from the Matrix without warning. It hurt. With a capital H-U-R-T. Her head ached, the nerves in her head and neck jumping with pulses of unused energy, waiting to get out. Her vision blurred slightly, and her hands and feet twitched.

"Oh, holy hell..."

She took about 2 seconds to compose herself before vomiting on the concrete of the roof.

Hopefully the pigeons will think it's food.

She stared at her commlink for a few moments, willing her eyes to go back into focus. Shen fumbled about for a bit, sending the command to the bus to be at the foot of the building at 20:00 hours. She checked the time, and then sat waiting for the sniper's signal to come back online, trying to do a better job of timing when she would need to not only log out, but get downstairs to run the bus when the team came out.

[Slacker]

Atop the Horizon Splendor building, the nameless security guard with his trusty sniper rifle is handedly being schooled on just what a well trained hacker can do to his off the shelf commlink. First his vision went dark, then his comms went dead, then his gun safety went on and ejected his mag of APDS ammo. How the hell can it be so damn easy for some dweeb hacker to do that shit? he thinks to himself while muttering curses under his breath.

He quickly tries to reboot his commlink to reset everything. He started laughing as his vision came back online. "Take that you hacker freak!" he shouts triumphantly. Then he tries connecting to the security office to alert them to the digital intrusion. For an instant, it looked like the call was going to go through, but then the microphone icon in his AR display just vanished like it never existed.

Instantly his elation was shattered and cold sweat started pouring from his brow. The joy was very quickly replaced with fear and paranoia about some leet hacker toying with him and fixing to blind him yet again. In desperation, he yanked the commlink from his belt to throw it as far as he could away from him. Turning to run for the building alarm, he didn't wait to watch it fall to the ground 50 stories below him (narrowly missing a ganger that was just about to tag the building's exterior with some paint).

Running as fast as he could, it didn't take him very long to reach the hardwired alarm button. He'd always thought the company was stupid to install something like that up here since a commlink call is a hell of a lot quicker. But tonight showed him exactly how much he himself needed to learn about security...

------------------------

Meanwhile, inside the banquet hall, the VP of Operations in Seattle was handing off the microphone to the Director of Human Resources for yet more inane speeches. With the count down nearly finished. Mr. White ignores the quizical looks he's getting from the two men sitting at the same table with him as he stands up to make his way towards the front of the hall.

As he reaches Acson's side, he glances over towards the security guards stationed around the room. He notices that they are subtly turned away from what's going on in the banquet all itself. He guesses that their attention is on something in AR as a couple of them have reached up and are cupping a hand over their earbuds to make sure they are hearing something correctly.

He reaches down to touch Acson to get his attention, words prepared to convince him to come out on the balcony with Mr. White.

edit: changed to take account White's words happening just before the spotlight hits them.

[Dak]

Mr. White speaks directly to Acson.

"They're coming up the elevators right now. It's an internal job, and the security people here are in on it. The balcony, now."


Con test: 10 dice, 10D6E5 => 6 | ones: 1

[Slacker]

Something in Mr. White's voice cuts through the noise on stage. Parker Acson blinks up at Mr. White as his eyes lose focus for a second and flick to the side momentarily. Then a look of utter confusion covers his face as he begins to stand up. That's when the woman on stage finishes up her speil about how closely Horizon has been working with MIT&T to develop the future of the awakened world. "So let's get the ball rolling by introducing are more promising new hire yet....Parker Acson!"

A new spotlight appears aimed directly at Acson's standing form with Mr. White's intense gaze caught in its brilliant light at the same time.

[Dak]

In a non-threatening manner (not grabbing), Mr. White will touch Acson's arm and give a gentle pressure, as though steering - coaxing - toward the balcony.

If there's time to do so, otherwise I'll see what happens between now and my pass.

[Dak]

This is getting ugly.

Mr. White will whisper to Acson, "Looks like we'll have you get you out another way. Don't panic and just follow my lead. You'll be safe." I'll stay glued to him, and we'll go along with the crowd being escorted out of the place. I'll let my teammates know what's going on via a quick call.

<<@Team {Mr. White} : Balcony doors locked. Guests being herded elsewhere. Will look for an alternate way out.>>

[Slacker]

Parker Acson's face loses it's confusion as it goes completely blank for a second. He quickly glances between the Mr. White, the balcony, the security guards, before returning back to Mr. White. A more genuine look of confusion covers his features as he drags his heals and only takes a half step to follow Mr. White. He seems very reluctant to follow Mr. White with the crowd as the rest of the attendees react in different ways; some running for the exit pushing people down out of their way, some haltingly walking towards the exits, and a few just sitting at their table trying to figure out what's gonig on.