The Found Arcana - Chapter 9, The last Tarot card Options

[Beta]

Tamarind is skipping back and forth between views from her own eyes, from her drones overhead, and from the sensors on the car with Bobby and Raven. Despite the drama with Tiny and the card it is the latter than grabs her attention.

She tells Mato "Let me know if I need to be focused on the here and now, I think I need to do some remote piloting."

Then she messages Raven <<Raven, dear, would you like me to drive for a bit? I'll let you know if I have to leave to pay attention here.>> Remote driving the Americar is somewhat awful due to the sensor suite being designed more for autonomous driving than for remote control, but it is certainly possible. She gives herself an AR dashboard and smooths out the car's movements at the least.

[Tecumseh]

Mato watches the encounter. He wishes he were dragon, capable of seeing moves and countermoves four, five, six steps in advance. Instead he's stuck on move #1.

"What's the play here?" he whispers, mostly to himself, while he watches the standoff between the Crimson Crush and the Halloweeners.

"The friction is inevitable," he continues, thinking out loud. "But what's better for Redmond? A unified syndicate that can keep the peace, or a fractured syndicate where the district isn't ruled by some criminal kleptocracy, or some draconic monarchy?"

But ultimately he wants to get paid, so he figures trying it Mel's way is worth a shot. But, speaking of shots, his preferred set of gear just drove off in the Americar.

That armor jacket has fire-proofing, he thinks wistfully looking down at his AM-tailored chasseur field uniform. And my AK. And my high-explosive grenades. I could just blow the card up, everyone's happy. Except Tiny.

He retrieves his Walther P118, then he grabs a selection of grenades, figuring that they can add to the general chaos. The pepper punch grenades should help break things up if they get out of hand.

"But why doesn't Tiny just rip it up?" he asks nobody in particular. "Why fight over something Stank thought he wanted to destroy anyway? Is Stank looking for this fight, or does he really want to negotiate?" He thinks of the Crush plotting a trap with the Humanis goons and wonders if the Halloweeners will meet a similar fate. But the reinforcements on the way mostly seem to be Halloweeners...

The Crush are viciously violent goons, but they are at least predictable as far as ill-tempered gangers go. Halloweeners are psychotic pyromaniacs, and generally the fewer of those in the world, the better. Mato slaps a magazine of explosive rounds in the Walther, thinking that he might introduce them to those Molotov cocktails.

"Wait here," he tells Tamarind. "I'm going to pick a fight."

[Thanee]

Rachel replies to Tamarind. << Oh, you can do that? That would be great! I really need to practice driving some more, when we have the time. That autopilot is a better driver than I am. Maybe you can give me some lessons, when things have calmed down once more. >>

"I will take a quick look into the van, if you don't mind," she says to Bobby. "Tam will drive the car until further notice."

Stealthily, Rachel approaches the van in her astral form, making use of any existing cover to hide her approach and taking only a quick peak into the back through the roof for now, in order to assess what is in there. She will also look out for any signs of the card blooming in astral space, of course.

[ Spoiler ]

Stealth + Logic 4 hits

If there is no astral activity that threatens to expose her presence, the witch will take a moment to assense the people inside the van.

[ Spoiler ]

Assensing + Intuition 3 hits

[Gilga]

Rachel spots three people in the van. She does not identify anything magical in the van aside from a biofiber pocket faintly glowing on one of the auras. The pocket may be large enough for the card, but aside from its existence, there is no evidence that the card is there. There are no obvious signs of spells.

There is an awakened person with a magic equivalent of her own, as well as two mundanes in the car, both with minor cyberwar augmentations in their brain.

[Thanee]

Rachel returns and sends the information to the others.

<< I have looked into the van. Three people, one mage and two mundanes with minor augmentations, mostly headware. The card is not visible, but there is a biofiber pocket, where they most likely keep it. >>

[Jack_Spade]

Bobby nodded: <<Alright. The mage is a problem, but as long as there are no spirits around, we can pull this off. Tamarind do we have options to stop the car with electronic warfare? I could go bear and rip it open, but it's a bit too public for that - even with invisibility.>>

[Thanee]

<< Are we trying to get the card back? >>

[Jack_Spade]

<<That was my understanding - why else should we follow them?>> Bobby replied

[Tecumseh]

<<Yeah, let's stay in the game>> Mato replies.

He gets out of the Eurovan and looks around. He's a dude dressed in an expensive suit in Redmond with a bunch of angry gangers nearby. He'll try to stay to the shadows as much as possible.

He wants a concealed position where he can see as much as possible and keep overwatch. His goal is to be an agent provocateur from the dark.

He also wants a Molotov cocktail. He looks to see if there's a Halloweener straggler that he could pick off. He also checks Tamarind's drone feeds to see if one of the reinforcements is lagging behind.

Mato looks for an elevated position that he might be able to use for an ambush. Failing that, some alleyway or concealed position that he could use to get the drop on someone passing by. His hydraulic jacks and retractable climbing claws help him move vertically.

He has other backup plans but first he'll get the lay of the land.

[Thanee]

<< Just making sure. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) I can probably seperate them, if we can get the car stopped. My spirit friend could cause fear in one or two of them, and I also know some spells that could help with that, which might give us the time needed to get the card. >>

[Jack_Spade]

<<Idea: make your spirit invisible, have it manifest inside the car and open the car door from the inside for me, when they stop at a red light. Doesn't have to be a large spirit. I'll go in as a monkey also invisible and fish the card out before they notice what's going on.>>
Bobby suggested.

[Gilga]

Using Tamarind's drone feed, it is not difficult to find an isolated group of Halloweeners; the minor groups are two, while most are five or six. Mato has no problem sneaking; he might as well wears a gorilla costume - all eyes are on the Halloweeners and their flame weapons, massing their numbers in a disorganized but very quick manner around the building. Mato might as well wear a gorilla costume, as nobody pays attention to him.

It is not difficult to ambush a small group of Halloweeners if they have an organization or a coherent plan. It does not seem so. Instead, they seem more interested in shock and awe, making their way to the building with as many distractions as possible. Occasionally tossing around Molotovs for gigs on shops and buildings or just at people that walk the street. They seem to need no provocation,
or any reason for their attacks.

In sharp contrast, the Crimson Crush is quiet - and they avoid confrontation despite themselves. They make their way to a rallying point, and some of them move in pairs ahead of the Haloweeners to give people enough heads-up to clear the streets and bolt the windows. Others seem to use some intel of their own to avoid the Halloweeners as they make their way to their gathering.


@Tamarind, notices that the building is sieged with the Halloweeners blocking anyone from getting in or out, including the inhabitants, that seem terrified to be caught in that crossfire. She can spot a very tall human in a trenchcoat making his way inside. The weather is very cloudy; it drizzles rain occasionally. It has been for a week, and fire is unlikely to spread too much in these conditions, but it can still choke or burn anyone inside the building.

At the building, the leader of that siege is now apparent; a Rager named Inferno seems to be in charge, and as old-school as it is, they seem to yell at each other from a distance rather than use a comlink or anything similar. Inferno has a surprisingly loud voice that fits an orc or a troll more than a mere human. "First, release the prisoners, then we talk about the magic card. Do that now, or I burn the entire building and everyone inside." He says calmly.

Prisoners?! Tiny seems genuinely surprised and says, "Give me a minute" before leaving the Balcony. Whatever Inferno has demanded has caught him by surprise.

[ Spoiler ]

The Gorilla reference is a tribute to this experiment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJG698U2Mvo...el=DanielSimons
where participants are asked to count how many times people in white shirts pass the ball and completely miss the Gorilla.
If you want to read on the experiment:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-natu...dness-17339778/
So cool that the scene remainder me of it.

[Tecumseh]

Once Mato has found an isolated pair of Halloweeners, he plans to ambush them. His goal is to do this quietly and non-lethally, using his shock hand on one and perhaps grappling the other and choking them out. Granted, this is a dicey proposition when you're as strong as a troll and your arms are metal instead of meat. A slight slip could crush someone's windpipe rather than just constricting their carotid arteries. Luckily, Mato has a fine touch and isn't really concerned with it. And if he goofs? Oh well. Fewer Halloweeners in the world would generally be a good thing.

He wants to claim some of the Molotov cocktails for himself. He'll also frisk the Halloweeners to see what they're carrying, whether it's weapons or combat stims or communication equipment. A commlink or an earbud or anything else that would allow him to eavesdrop would be wiz.

[Thanee]

<< That's a good idea, but this is not how magic works, unfortunately. Spells cannot travel between the physical and the astral space. I can send in the spirit to open the door, but at that point, they will be alarmed. I can check right before, where the one with the pocket is located. We just need that card, right? >>

[Jack_Spade]

<<Right, don't worry, all I need is the open door and a second to get in - preferably while the car is stationary and I'm invisible.>>

Bobby replied.

[Thanee]

<< You are invisible, already. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) >>

[Gilga]

@Mato The perfect opportunity is a gamble, but a good enough opportunity is a good thing to settle. Two Halloweeners are carrying a beltful of Molotov cocktails that seems at a standoff with a dog next to a rundown office building residence. The glass windows were covered over the years with logs and plastic sheets, but the building is in use, and likely contains multiple squatters. None of them seems eager to face the lunatics - well, except for the dog that seems determined to keep them away.

On the plus side, the surprise is almost guaranteed as they are distracted by the dog, on the negative you are likely not truly alone. Though it is raining and the streets are empty - there may be eyes behind the shut windows. Also, there is no telling how friendly the dog is going to be with Mato.

[Beta]

Between driving the Americar remotely, Tamarind finally responds to Bobby
<<Sorry, nothing better for stopping a vehicle right now than hitting it with taser. Once it is stopped I can pry it open easily enough -- my medical drone's "jaws of life" are good at that. I have electronic warfare tricks to keep a message from getting out, and I could jam or use 'fuzzy' ammo rounds to try to make enough noise to confuse the pilot and force manual control.>>

She isn't quite sure what Mato is doing, but offers <<Would you like a Flying Eye with a taser for back-up?>>

[Tecumseh]

<<Sure>> Mato responds. <<But let's use it up front so that we don't get to the backup phase. Taze the one on the left while I taze the other one. Right in the neck if you can. Hopefully that will satisfy the dog. If the dog objects to me...>> He thinks back to his time with the hellhounds at Pike Hall. <<... I'll take care of things.>>

Mato acknowledges that there might be eyes watching him from inside the building, but he'll take the risk. What are they going to say? That a corper in a suit emerged from the night to abuse some gangers and box their ears? Ha! He might as well be wearing a giant bat costume.

Once the Flying Eye is in place he'll strike.

[Beta]

Thank goodness for split screens Tamarind thinks, as she jumps back and forth between making sure that the Americar stays on the road and monitoring Auntie 2's progress towards Mato. Fortunately with all of the commotion it is unlikely that anyone is going to pay a lot of attention to a small drone zipping through the air. The Flying Eyes do have a distinctive whistling-whish from their air jets, but the Halloweeners aren't exactly standing around quietly, so Tamarind just hopes for the best rather than taking the time to sneak the drone into position. She should have sent it in Mato's pocket, but what is done is done. To be on the safe side, she flies it around 8-9 metres above head level.

She tells Bobby <<I'm just going to help Mato for a few seconds, then I'll get ready on the Squelch>>

Once it is within medium range she pings Raven <<I need to focus on someething else for six seconds, can you keep the car straight for a bit?>> Once Raven has the controls in hand, Tamarind alerts Mato <<in 3>>, then she focuses on the drone, taking aim at the ganger for a few seconds, then pings Mato <<now>> and takes her taser shot. As soon as she is done there she passes control of the drone to her RCC, telling it to shoot at either ganger if they are moving.

Then she picks the car back up, telling Raven <<I've got you>> and to Bobby <<Let me know when.>>

[Tecumseh]

Mato appreciates Tamarind's synchronization and rigger-like precision. On cue, he strides right up to his target and places the palm of his right hand on the back of their neck. His shock hand disgorges enough volts to drop a troll. Mato holds the contact perhaps a moment too long; the smell of burnt hair reaches his olfactory sensors. He crinkles his nose.

Once the targets are done tweaking and freaking from their respective tazings, he tries to grab one with each arm and lower them gently gently to the ground to avoid make a loud crash. Once that is complete, he intends to frisk them for interesting bits, like earbuds or glasses or commlinks or anything else they might be using to communicate. He'll disarm them too, but he's mostly interested in the Molotov cocktails. A lighter or some matches to light the cocktails would also be wiz.

Once that's complete, he gives a playful wink to the barking dog before disappearing into the shadows.

<<Excellent shot>> he commends Tamarind.

[Gilga]

The two Haloweeners drop before they manage to do anything; they do not carry much on them besides an emperor comlink, the kind handed over at the Funhouse, a small purse of pills of unknown composition, an energy bubble gum, car/house keys, as well as cheap cred sticks.

There are no identifying details on them like SINs or library cards, perhaps it is part of the job of being a chaos agent.

[Tecumseh]

Mato leaves the pills, the bubble gum, the keys, and the cheap credsticks. He's not a petty thief. Well, not at the moment at least.

He sees if he can get lucky with the commlink. Perhaps it is unlocked, or can be unlocked by biometrics from the incapacitated Halloweeners. If so, he'll take his prize back to Tamarind for interrogation.

As for the dog, Mato remembers what he learned from the kennels: stay calm, speak softly, keep your eyes low, don't bare your teeth, and move slowly.

"There's a good pup," he says soothingly. "Took care of those Halloweeners for you. Your turf, neh? I don't taste that good anyway. You'd hurt your teeth and get slobber on my suit. No need for that. There we go, nice and easy."

Mato backs away smoothly, leaving the dog to its territory, and taking his Molotovs with him.

[Jack_Spade]

Bobby changed his form and patiently waited for the other car to stop at a red light to do his smash and grab.

[ Spoiler ]

Body Boost: 10d6t5 3
Agi Boost: 10d6t5 3

Shapechange F7: 17d6t5 5

CHIMPANZEE
B4(7) A6(9) R7(10) S4

Drain Resist: 13d6t5 7

No Drain

Ini Ini: 16+4d6 32

[Gilga]

@It takes a while for the car to stop, perhaps 20 minutes when it stops at a traffic light halfway to Renton.

@Mato the dog, remains suspicious but considerably less hostile. It keeps its distance and focuses on you, but it is no longer roaring. The comlinks are locked with a four-digit pin code. So one needs to hack them or guess the password.