[IP] Uncaring Stars Options

[Volker]

James sighs in frustration. "All right, I'll just assume that all questions you and Eliza didn't answer were all nos. Just don't piss me off if I stop discussing tactics with you at some point. There's hardly been any reaction whatsoever from your part - let alone a single thought on how to pull this off.
I'll leave you to talk to the psycho jew. I'm not good at talking to assholes. Also, there must be something you are willing to do in order to get this paycheck. Seriously..."

bnc turns off James and goes offline for the moment. She gets up, rubs her temples - she's been having some bad headaches lately - stretches and starts doing some light workout to prevent her body from turning into mush in her early twenties.

[Jack_Spade]

Muhme replied to Anna: <<For any ritual you need a circle or something similar. The mana inside that circle becomes aspected to whatever you need. High mana will make it easier to do that, no matter its aspect. So if you prepared a lodge in the gallery beforehand - even a weak one, you could act and fight without problem - or even profit from the high BGC.
What I can't tell you is, what exactly the Vampires are going to do and what it will entail. Getting rid of the statue now would clean the mana until the mana peak appears. You'd also have a chance to observe if someone comes to replace the statue. I'd assume that this was the plan of the vampire hunters.
Another path would be to find out where the statue came from - it's certainly no coincidence that it has been planted there.>>

As bnc moved around the cabin, Muhme frowned first, then reached into her desk and produced something that looked like a cookie. "Here, you look like you could need it."

At 1300h sharp, the team found themselves at the entrance to a cellar. No sign or ARO showed that this was anything but a subterrain entrance to an old building. The heavy oak door had an old fashioned hatch through which a porter could take a look at anyone desiring entry.
The air was mild and quite a lot of tourists were out and about.

[Thanee]

"I guess it's polite to knock..." Nova concluded and knocked on the door three times.

[Crossbow]

Taurus will get the stuff he wanted and bring it with to the meet if he doesn't have time to bring it back. If the room doesn't seem accommodating to his bulk, he will stay outside.

[Gilga]

>> Thanks Mhume, it brings up some ideas.
Anna follows, a bit nervously she has not met a Rabbi in about a decade.

[Jack_Spade]

Taurus reached the HomeHelpers quickly, though he did draw more than a few looks from people on the sidewalk - some even took obviously videos of the towering minotaur riding on the somewhat ridiculous looking monowheel.
Getting fans and stakes was no problem at all. Transporting his haul inconspiciously on the other hand was even more a problem.
Yet he was back in time for the meeting with the Rabbi.

The door was large enough to admit him, though he would have to watch out not to have his horns scratch along the ceiling.

The knock made the hatch open and the immovable face of a humanoid drone appeared. bnc's reflexive look into the matrix revealed no obvious icon of such a device.
By appearance, the drone had to be the same model as James, maybe one or two generations older.
Anna sensed a very strong ward between her and the drone.
"Who acted as your intermediary to receive an appointment with the Rabbi?" The voice was the default option, lacking any emoting features, like those James had. It likewise lacked the realistic features.

[Crossbow]

"Eliza"

[Jack_Spade]

"Correct. Please enter"
The hatch closed and the drone opened the door. Inside, a corridor made of rough stone ended in another large door - this one a modern security door. Just as the team had entered, The drone closed the door again. A loud "Thunk" indicated that this door wasn't just wood and had a heavy bolt lock it down.
"Close your eyes. This chamber will be decontaminated with strong UV light for 10 seconds."
Hidden lamps came to life and flooded the room with painfully bright light. It certainly felt much longer than 10 seconds.
Finally, the drone went for the second door and opened this one as well. It led to a slightly larger room, bisected by what looked like a very heavy transpex window. On the other side a man in the garments, beard and locks of an orthodox jew sat behind a desk. He was old with quite a lot of grey in his beard and hair. His gaze was piercing from behind a pair of wire framed spectacles.
In surprisingly good English with a slight hint of an Oxford education he said:
"Take a seat. Your fixer vouched for you and made a deposit. So you have 10 minutes of my time. Don't waste them. Say what you need."

[Thanee]

"Thank you for seeing us. I'm sure, you have a busy schedule."

Nova took a seat.

"What we mostly need are effective means to combat vampires. And we have about two days to acquire them. For me, that means ammunition that can be used in a sniper rifle, assault rifle, shotgun, or heavy pistol. Mini-grenades, or regular grenades also work. I also need some more mundane ammunition, APDS for the sniper rifle and heavy pistol. And if you have Zapper Rounds for the aforementioned weapons, that would be great."

[Crossbow]

"If it isn't too much trouble you can add assault cannon rounds to that list. Any other gear for fighting vampires we would take also, we have to stop a ritual they will be trying to perform."

[Gilga]

Anna carefully assense the man and the surrounding and takes a seat by Nova. She is not looking for anything in particular but she trusts her astral eyes more than her mundane eyes.

"We were told that you are the expert on such things Rabbi. Powerful UV lights can also work for us, wood-based ammunition, alchemical preparations, magic eating bacteria, stun gas grenades. If you can get it, we can buy it - and we are open to additional suggestions. "

[Jack_Spade]

The transpex pane prevented Anna from assensing anyone but her own team, though the Rabbi did listen intently.

He answered: "Lots of vampire hunting going on right now. No custom Assault Cannon rounds to be had, I'm afraid. Other ammunition, no problem. Wood Pulp rounds for pistols, rifles and sniper rifles are no problem. Be aware though, that those have vastly inferior penetration and damage potential. I do have wood shafted arrows though and a Winchester Airbow to go with it. Anyone with a good foundation in longarms can wield it with a reasonably degree of accuracy. Comes with a top mounted smartgun system.
For UV, I've got Narcoject Dazzlers, upgraded with UV lamps. Not mounted but as heavy pistol systems. You'll have to be very careful not to blind each other.
And finally, my personal invention, the Stake Hammer."

He pulled out what looked like a short sledge hammer with the tip of a wooden stake protruding from its center.
"Shutgunshell primed stake in a sledgehammer chamber, ignites on impact and rams a 3cm diameter ashen stake right where ever you hit. Reloadable, but obviously chambered one shot only.
Stun grenades are also no problem, but I'd suggest using a carpet of them, rigged to go up simultaneously. No sense to take any chances with the blood suckers.
I do not have any FAB. The only thing I can provide you with is a strong preparation to create a heavy dissonant astral background. Drop it and a good 30m in radius will be a pretty hellish environment for any mage or dual natured critter.
Anything else you need?"

[Thanee]

"Let's see... for myself I would like... That Winchester Airbow and 50 arrows. One of those Narcoject Dazzlers with a few reloads. 50 Wood Pulp rounds for the sniper rifle. 50 APDS for the sniper rifle and another 50 for heavy pistols. 12 stun mini-grenades for an underbarrel launcher. 50 Zapper rounds each for the sniper rifle, assault rifle, and heavy pistol."

[Volker]

"Anna, could you please ask him, whether he has any drones equipped with stake-compatible crossbows? A Lockheed or a Nissan rotodrone, equipped with it?
Also, can we get a portable UV lamp roughly the intensity he used on you before you entered? Or will Taurus's stuff do?"

[Jack_Spade]

The Rabbi made a note. As Anna relayed bnc's wishes he frowned:

"I do have heavy crossbows - no problem - but mounting those on flying drones is a major pita - especially if you want to use the reload feature. I'd have to subcontract building those, making them more expensive and taking longer to manufacture. Getting them on an anthrodrone would be no problem.

The lamps I'm using around here are special Mercury vapor, high intensity, Gallium-Indium exemplars with microwave igniters and watercooling for prolonged high intensity radiation. Those are portable only in the sense that you can mount them on a car. The dazzlers are the best compromise in power and mobility you can get. I have a few cloaks treated with high intensity UV-LEDs instead of the normal ones used in Flash-Weave™. But those are both expensive and usually burn out after about five uses.

Also, don't make the rookie mistake and think the vampires go out unprepared. There are people creating kits of filter clothing and masks that reduce even high intensity UV radiation to a mere annoyance that they can tolerate for up to an hour. Not to mention their thrice damned spells to reduce their allergies. That's why I suggest getting the preparations too, to disrupt any such spells.

But if you don't want them, that's fine. It's your funeral and I'll be able to sell them anyway."

[Crossbow]

"We will take whatever you can get to us, I'll even try the sledge, though I am usually a fist and horns kind of guy."

[Thanee]

"I guess you could mount one of those Winchester Airbows on a drone, it does look pretty much like a rifle, but the biggest problem will be reloading."

[Gilga]

"I want the preparations, and if you have a vault of the ages to keep them in- then I want that one too. Would the UV light affect vampires in myst form? I'll take a Dazzler as well, with enough ammo, and two magazines of heavy pistol wood pulp chips. Anything else you suggest?"

[Jack_Spade]

"It's the main reason to employ UV light - prevents them from using their powers.
I have it running continually in my vents - quite a bit of a mess to clean them after one attempts to get in that way.
Vault of Ages is a no, can't spare mine, but you can pick it up whenever you need. Should last at least 5 hours"
The Rabbi replied.

[Jack_Spade]

Since no-one seemed to want to add anything to that, the Rabbi began to calculate:
"Assorted ammunition, including, bolts and arrows plus standard rounds for an Assault Cannon comes to 1500€
The dazzlers go for another 1000€
The grenades including the preparation are 1500€ - I'll include some Blight/DMSO grenades, because you look like you'll need them.
The StakeHammer goes for 1000€
The Airbow for another 1000€
A capable Anthrodrone CRIADO JUAN with an upgraded Pilot as well as the right autosoft sets you back 14000€"

A nice round 20000€"

[Crossbow]

>>Are we splitting this evenly? Are one of you going to try to negotiate? I have never done this kind of thing, we simply requisitioned things we needed at Ares.

[Thanee]

<< @Eliza: What was that about the deposit? How is the payment done? Do we pay for the stuff? >>

[Jack_Spade]

Eliza replied:
<<The deposit was to make the Rabbi see you. For his wares he takes cash.>>

[Volker]

"Please ask how much of a hassle it would be to mount the crossbow on an anthrodrone I already possess. I don't need a new doll. Otherwise, I'm good."

[Thanee]

"We won't need a new anthrodrone, already got one that is pretty tricked out. Would it be possible to mount the crossbow on that one?" Nova asked.

<< @Eliza: I see. Are his prices negotiable? Or should we just accept them. >>