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

[Jack_Spade]

Bobby had replied: <<Yes, and that's good, because I'm still driving this car naked. We are driving back towards the commotion - tell me if you need support or an escape car.>>

[Tecumseh]

"Mischief managed," Mato whispers to himself and/or Raven if she's manifested nearby at the time.

<<Crimson Crush just wasted the Halloweeners>> Mato announces. <<They downed dozens of them.>>

Mato briefly wonders if the two Halloweeners that he and Tamarind KO'd were spared the onslaught for being prone on the ground. Plus, Mato has their Molotovs so he knows those didn't go off in their faces.

He pulls out his Transys Avalon and tries to tag the flying eye but doesn't do a great job of it.

<<Let's see if we can destroy this card to make sure nobody realizes that it's a fake.>>

Mato briefly daydreams about shooting the drone out of the sky like Ace Holt in the trids, but he knows that's not really practical. He'll follow on foot if he can, and depend on Tamarind if he cannot.

Before he goes, Mato tries to see how the Crimson Guard are reacting to all the carnage.

[Gilga]

@Mato, The Crimson guard, is not visibly supportive of the effort. However, he would probably later learn from Raven can confirm that he used his spirits to take down the Molotovs. Mato can see the crimson guard receiving an envelope from Big Stank, and then he leaves on foot. This signals the ugly part of making sure everyone is dead and robbing the corpses for weapons or vehicles and anything of value, but Mato does not stay for that part; he is after the drone - and he is not alone.

Perhaps fifteen bikers with unaffiliated Haloweener outfits are also struggling to maintain their line of sight to the drone and a few others. These wear the generic black leather and orange bandana but none of the Rager-specific outfits.

[Tecumseh]

<<Stank paid off the Crimson Guard>> Mato reports. <<I wouldn't have thought that they care about money since they get whatever they want from Urubia.>>

The killing and looting of the fallen was a nasty business, but Mato wasn't going to intervene. He had no desire to stick his neck out for the Halloweeners. Quite the opposite, really.

<<In pursuit of the card to make sure the Halloweeners don't get it, there are a dozen or more of them on motorcycles>> he comms to the rest of the team. He leaps off the roof, his hydraulic jacks absorbing the shock of the landing. Then he activates his skimmers and takes off running.

<<Tagging my position>> he tells the Bobby the Naked Driver. <<Not sure how far this chase is going but why don't you set an intercept course.>>

Mato knows that it's a bit ridiculous to be sprinting at motor vehicle speeds while wearing a fine suit, but it can't be helped.

He tries to trail the pack so that he can approach them from behind. Then, his plan depends on the bikers' grouping. If they are spread out, perhaps he can pick them off one-by-one from the rear without those in front noticing the ones behind them falling away. If they're tightly clustered, then maybe he can use one of these Molotovs after all...

[Gilga]

@Mato quickly realizes that the bikers seem to be competing against each other, looking at this like some contest or initiatiation.

[Tecumseh]

Mato DNIs to the rest of the team: <<Looks like we have some prospects who haven't been patched in yet. They're competing instead of cooperating.>>

Mato looks for an opportunity to disrupt those at the back of the pack. He's looking for non-lethal takedowns that will hurt a bit. Maybe he could use his retractable climbing claws to slash a tire, or his shock hand to taze a rider. Grabbing them and throwing them - or shoulder-checking them - off their motorcycles is possible too. Ideally he would like to pick them off one or two at a time like he did before, rolling them up from the rear so that the ones in front don't even know - or, if they're competing, don't even care - what's going on.

[Jack_Spade]

Bobby still sat behind the steering wheel - naked but invisible - and said:
<<Rachel, can you tell your spirit to materialize in front of the drone and just snatch the card away? That would be the easiest way. Or I can turn into a raptor and fetch it as invisible bird man.>>

[Thanee]

<< Is that, where the actual card is now? So, the van team put it there, I assume? Either way, if you can bring me to that drone, I should be able to do that. But I won't be able to find it from the astral, I need to see it. >>

[Gilga]

Mato moves quietly and ambushes numerous of recruits. To his surprise, those discovering him treat it as part of the game and bolt. While he is busy, he can see that the drone carefully begins its decent, and it is likely that it would be recovered soon.

[Jack_Spade]

<<No idea, but I don't think that BS kept the real card. Frisson's crew likely just managed the handover to the muse before we got to the scene.
Still, it would be a good idea to secure the fake.>>

Bobby accelerated, not quite going beyond acceptable violations of the speed limit but close.

[Tecumseh]

<<Or Frisson kept it somewhere else in the vehicle or on her person>> Mato points out.

He can't talk much because he's in the middle of a chase, which might be a game. If the psycho-wannabes are going to enjoy themselves then he figures he might as well too. Maybe he couldn't go toe-to-toe with a cybermonster like Katya from Pike Hall, but he was good enough to bully some gangers.

He'll race to position himself underneath the drone. If it seems like it might be a close call with another party to retrieve it, he'll either A) use his hydraulic jacks to jump for it, or B) shock hand the competitor, or C) both.

[Gilga]

It takes a bit of time for the drone to make its way to the lucky winner. It is a plastic makeshift tent, with a burning barrel emitting terrible stench but enough warm to keep the dweller alive. Mato would have missed the tent for a heap of garbage had he not triangulated the drone path to that place.

There is a kid there dressed in a makeshift ghilee suit out of garbage, he blends almost perfectly with the heaps of garbage around him, but as a bike stops by his tent he stands up holding a brand new and heavily modified sony emperor comlink.

The boy looks at the biker expectingly, and the biker runs toward the kid "You really got it?" he hugs the kid. "Yes, I was lucky, tried several times until I got it right, so it wasn't stealthy or anything, but it would be here any moment."

"I got you two more their owners won't be needing them. Pawn them, don't break them apart. If, I win this test, we'll never go hungry again. Everything would change for us." he says hopefully.
The tween answers- "Thanks Tom - you are the best."

The two look expectedly as the drone closes the gap to them and begins landing.

Mato suddenly realizes that this scene is going to get bloody soon. Though, none of the bikers had a coherent plan to get the card - they all kept a line of sight and waited for someone to get the card so that they could take it violently. He got like four, but there are perhaps ten more and they would be arriving very shortly.

[ Spoiler ]

Mato can buy the hits to sneak past them, none of them is overly paranoid or suspicious and most of the cadets are still running around the streets without a coherent plan to get the drone - just waiting for someone else to do it

[Gilga]

@Tamarind, Tiny is clever; he sends the drone over the lake within the route of numerous delivery drones and surveillance drones, and knowing which drone is the right one is difficult, and Tamarind quickly loses visual contact - but she can tag the drone and then once the kid hacks the drone and changes its course - it becomes evident that it is the tagged drone.

She can observe that it is heading toward a little makeshift dumpster not very far from the shore of the lake... A dumpster may be overselling it, a garbage heap of the kind that is formed when you put a lot of people in place with very little city services. A big pile of plastics and other forms of trash from all sources.

She does not have a line of sight, once the drone descends it is difficult to maintain unless she intercepts but - Tamarind knows enough to instruct a spirit or Raven to the likely location.

[Tecumseh]

<<I might have found the lucky winners>> Mato comms the team.

He tries to get to Tom and the tween as quickly as possible, so that he can talk to them before the rest of the pack arrives. Mato isn't terribly sentimental but if there's one thing that makes him go a bit weak in his cyberknees it's kids, youngsters who never had an opportunity for anything better. He might not realize it at the moment, but the hug has triggered something deep within in, a sense of family that he has an instinctual urge to protect.

"You don't want that!" he yells, racing up at high speed on his skimmers. Who knows what sort of impression an ork in a business suit makes in this situation.

He stops ten meters away. He knows that they'll be shocked and surprised, but he needs to use that to his advantage.

"That card is nothing but death!" he says, pointing in the direction of the drone. He points back to pack of Halloweener cadets and dials up his infrasonic generators to get his point across. "They will tear you limb from limb to get it!"

Mato knows that even if the kids come down with the card and manage to hand it over that Nightmare will call it a fake and likely rip their throats out over the forgery. But Mato doesn't want that intel out in the wild, so he can't use it to bolster his argument.

He dials down the infrasonic generators and softens his voice to try to appear more reasonable. "Give it to me," he says, holding out his black matte cybernetic hand, hoping that the cyber helps convey the seriousness of their situation. In his other hand, he produces a credstick from his pocket. "I'll pay you for it, and I'll take care of them." He juts his chin toward the approaching pack.

<<I'll get it one way or the other. If I destroy it in front of the cadets, it might accomplish Vala's plan.>> This was Melpomene's suggestion. And, yes, she might be manipulating Mato, but the idea seems to work. And it's not like Mato wants a fake card and a horde of Halloweeners haunting him for it.

"You're good with tech? I need people like that. You'll never go hungry again." He spins the credstick in his fingers to drive the point home.

[Gilga]

The tween takes a few steps backward, and Tom takes a few steps forward; he thinks about reaching for a pistol but then thinks again. He has no hope in such an engagement an unaugmented normal against a cybered orc, and the business suit suggests money. Tom asks "You got my attention, how much for the card? " he says with the realization that he does not have many options left.

[Tecumseh]

Mato does some quick math, trying to balance a subconscious desire to help with a very conscious desire not to overpay. There's also the balance of not giving them so much that it would make them a target, although in Redmond that could be ¥5. What would be a meaningful sum to Barrens rats?

"I'll pay you a thousand right now," he proposes.

Mato senses the need for some additional tech expertise. With Jawsey gone they've lost their connection to Zwipe, and AM leaves town often enough that they could use a backup option. The hacker club could hack, but SIS needs hardware knowledge too.

"You're good with tech?" he asks the tween, indicating the heavily modified Sony Emperor. "I'll put you two on retainer. ¥500 a month - each - for technical support, plus local knowledge and insights. And I'll toss you the spare tech I come across."

He dials up his infrasonic generators for his final warning. "You do NOT want to work with the Halloweeners, Tom. You are not a psychopath. They will rip your fragging soul out."

[Gilga]

Tom signals the tween, which in turn stops the drone mid-air - out of easy reach for now. Having formed some sort of limited leverage, he says, "Perhaps 2k for the card, and if you actually have work for us this month, it is free?" He does not comment about the Halloweeners, he wants to say something but stops himself not wanting to cause a conflict perhaps.

[Tecumseh]

Mato growls and makes sure the infrasonic generators are at their maximum setting.

"They are NOT your fragging friends. They will geek you to get ahead and not think twice about it."

Then he softens again. He doesn't want to rake the kids over the coals more than necessary. He turns the infrasonic generator off.

"2k. Give me your commcode. A good commcode, a reliable one where I can reach you." He points at the heavily-modified Emperor. "In the meantime, make me one of those. I'll get you the Sony for it. You want more, deliver it to me by the end of the month."

Is he corrupting the kids? Will they let their guard down once they have more money than they've ever had before? Is Mato killing them with generosity? Only time will tell.

He taps the credstick against his Transys Avalon to load it with funds, then holds out his hand expectantly for the drone.

[Beta]

Once Mato confirms that he's on the scene, Tamarind can converge on the location. Which is to say, she heads that way in the van, helps the poor fly spy that had lost Mato to go in the right direction, and brings Pelliper 2 out of the delivery drones lanes to head directly to the location -- and to start circling the location, filming and broadcasting to the team what it sees, once it is on scene. Mato may be sharing things from his perspective, but the aerial view might give them a bit more warning of trouble, as well as another 'witness' to the card being destroyed.

She is only able to partially pay attention to what Mato is streaming to the team, due to the distractions of driving through the barrens. But once she picks up that Mato has found some young hardware hackers she sends <<I'll buy the kid some decent tools if it turns out he is any good. I have plenty of work to be done.>>

[Jack_Spade]

Now that the chase had stopped, Bobby was able to actually get closer to the pick up location - even faster if Mato came to meet them. So he put a ping on himself and transmitted it to Mato

<<As soon as you have destroyed the card, get your hoop moving in our direction. I'll have the door open for you.>>

[Thanee]

<< If that is just the fake, that still leaves the question as to what actually happened with the original. It wasn't in the van, and I couldn't find it in the house, though I only did a cursory search there. >>

[Gilga]

The tween makes the drone land in Mato's palm - well, not precisely; it makes it hover so Mato can grab it. "My name is Rat, and I shared the details of my Emperor with you, and that card is worth more than ten times what you paid." he speaks for the first time.

It took a few long minutes to land the drone, and Mato guesstimates that the Haloweeners would be there very soon. In case he needs a crowd, or in case he wants to GTFO.

[Tecumseh]

Mato grabs both the drone and the card with one hand, and with the other hand flips the credstick to Tom since he's standing closer.

"Perhaps," he says to Rat. "But I get paid ¥10K to steal the ¥100K prototype, not ¥100K." A bit of bluster, as Mato is not really a super-criminal shadowrunner.

"Rat, remember that everything of value is a double-edged sword. The more it's worth, the easier it is to just kill you for it rather than pay you for it. Do you really want to put yourselves at the mercy of another man's moral code?"

He keeps a firm grip on the drone so it doesn't fly off again. He'll use his retractable climbing claws to dig into it if he thinks that will help. He wants the card attached to the drone so that the approaching Halloweeners will know he didn't switch out the card.

"You played your hand well: you're alive and you got yourselves a payday. You can call me Mato.

"Now, you might want to lay low for a minute. Things might get hot."

He turns to confront the coming pack. He pulls out the lighter that he took from the Halloweeners earlier.

<<I've got the drone and the card>> he comms the team. <<I'm going to torch it in front of the cadets so they can send word back that it's gone. I'll try to keep it non-lethal since dead men tell no tales. Bobby, if you want in on this then try to leave some of them alive.>>

Mato isn't necessarily looking for a fight but - gangers being gangers - he's willing to box a few ears.

[Gilga]

Once Mato pays them, Rat and Tom take off by foot, leaving the Scooter covered with some rudimentary disguise. "got to make that cash disappear before someone takes it." Tom explains.

Shortly after, a rowdy gang of Haloweener cadets arrives at the scene. Seven of them, Mato makes a mental note. He can hear a command, "Poppers activate... it is that businessman!" and they each take out a small inhaler and take it. Ready for combat and less emotionally stable, they advance with drawn guns to Mato, and while the narcotic takes effect their leader decides to chitchat. "There are many of us - and one of you. So you will hand us the card and return to your side of town." he says while pointing his gun at Mato.


They are armed with regular pistols rather than flame-based weapons, and while they do not appear to be very proficient, they all point their guns at Mato.

[Tecumseh]

Mato isn't sure if he should use his infrasonic generators or not. They're good at unnerving people, but are scared people with guns going to run or open fire?

"Who says there's only one of me?!" Mato says, dialing up the infrasonic waves with the hope that they'll rattle the gangers.

"I've got aerial cover!" He points to the night sky.

<<Tamarind, do I actually have any aerial cover, or just eyes and ears>>

"And magical support!"

<<Raven, is one of your spirit friends available>>

He flicks the lighter on and holds it up to the card, (hopefully) igniting it.

"Now you wanna get nuts?! LET'S GET NUTS!!"