The Found Arcana - Chapter 12 [IC] Options

[Gilga]

For a weapon, I start with my very own Urban Tomawak, “a proper Sioux weapon,” as my dad used to say, which I was never strong enough to use without magic properly. Since it is entirely legal, and I am a shaman, it makes sense that I’ll have it along with two smaller, legal-throwing knives. I take the Wild Hunt for protection and will change during the flight. It would help me blend in with the guests, being the outdoorsy hiking area, and it is also quite protective. With the best the Cunnigham family had to offer its employees. I also take the Canteen Govi that I mainly use for storing a watcher spirit but is also well... a canteen. I added the Ghillie suit because spirit concealment is limited with Trouble and Raven staying behind.

A ghillie suit and a Berwick dress for the same woman... In the same duffle bag, who would have figured? I take the sexy undergarment, which I never used, kind of like the lackluster condom on that student’s wallet. (Gosh... I miss pickpocketing idiots). I also take the armored jacket for emotional support, but I should probably burn it. It is meant for a tall guy with so many bad memories.

I take my two new surveillance drones, which are entirely legal and would be outclassed by Tamarind’s equipment, which has names and anything. However, the flying eye is also a combat option, containing a flash-pak and a smoke grenade. An expensive distraction, perhaps, but a hostage situation can go south. Reagents anything I have in case I need to make a watcher spirit.

Guns under my bed... I have a soft place for the two baddies. The Sigma is an automatic sub-machine gun capable of hitting the mark reliably at 40 meters and suppressing an area. The Walter has a shorter range and is less practical, but it feels better in my hands.

>> Guys... I want my two sweeties with me. Sigma is practical, but Walter also wants to go for emotional support. Anyone else bringing guns - if I am the only one, I’ll spare you the hassle.

Shortly after, I left my room with a small trolly for fine and daily clothes and a duffle bag with the rest of the equipment. I placed them in the car; perhaps it would be best to use Tamarind’s van. I’ll see what the team decides to take - I could also go with the bike if we’re low on space.

I hand Tamarind my Horizion's flying eye and ask her - "Can you bring it for me with the rest of your drones?"

[Tecumseh]

"I'm bringing the Mannlicher," Mato tells AM. He then explains his logic even though nobody asked him to.

"With my hands and arms I'm good at close ranges. If you're within 50 meters, you're mine. But at ranges farther than that I'm at a disadvantage. And we're not starting off in an urban environment, but a rural environment with lots of open spaces. That's where the rifle comes in.

"Maybe the trail will lead us into the city, at which point the rifle won't be as useful. But maybe we have another situation like we did with the Bellevue Hackers Club when we found ourselves at The Wild Orc Recreation Ranch, fighting in the mountains and forests.

"Anyway, I asked Razak for a shielded compartment if you want to put more in there."

He looks over what she packed. "Definitely bring the Walther," he suggests, uncertain if AM was asking for opinions between the Sigma and Walther, or was announcing her desire to bring both. "It will fit in the Wild Hunt's holster.

"Do you want the ghillie suit? I think one of Rachel's bon-bons makes us invisible." Or maybe he's just looking for an excuse not to bring his own ghillie suit. His does have thermal dampening though, which could be useful for defeating thermographics, especially at night in the mountains when the ambient temperature is so cold.

He grabs the preparations from Rachel and carries them gently, as if they might explode with rough handling.

[Thanee]

"Only for a few minutes, though. These are not good for long stakeouts or something like that," Rachel explains.

"Good luck, guys! I will hold the fort in the meantime."

[Tecumseh]

Mato sighs and goes back to stuff his ghillie suit into his bag. It doesn't fit that well and there are bits of netting, burlap, and scraps of foliage spilling out out of the zipper.

"My mother used to say, 'Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.'" Mato's tone conveys some skepticism. "Then she grossly overpacked. Weekend trip? Two full suitcases. One time she wanted to bring the kitchen knives but my father - well, the man who raised me - wouldn't let her."

[Gilga]

"50 meters with melee!" I say astonished. "I knew you were super fast, but I never thought about the implications." I explained, even though he didn't ask, because I like talking about guns. "The Sigma can be reliably stretched for 50-60 meters, as far as I can go. I never trained on bigger guns because I could barely hold them.
Though, as an automatic weapon, its main use would be suppression to let you close the distance reliably. Keep them pinned. "

I stash the Walter in the Wild Hunt.
"The Walter is for close combat, and Cutty has taught me how to fire it at point blank while in melee, so it is likely my go-to weapon if anything gets way too close for comfort." I say fondly, "Now the Sigma can do 50 meters, but what it does best is suppression. It lets you cover distance when the enemy is pinned and is less likely to harm you. My throwing weapons are also for protection; I need them in line of sight because I use telekinesis and don't even have to hold them... just in case you wondered why I have knives on display in my room."

" My best bet is magic, petrify against a person and mana barrier like Gladius taught me against anything dual-natured. All the other weapons are as backup in case someone can counterspell me or they are using these anti magic armor. Our most glaring weakness without Raven is powerful spirits like we faced on that texas job. I can do the mana barrier trick, but it works so well for Gladius because his talent is considerably stronger than mine. We don't have good options for that kind of threat.

I definitely brought the Ghillie suit and the gas mask, though. Can't help anyone if someone sends me to sleep." Having played the big brave girl role, I soften up and tell Mato. "I just hate that we can't bring Trouble... It will be our first time apart."

[Tecumseh]

"Well, at 50 meters I was thinking about throwing one of these through their face," Mato says, holding up a throwing knife.

"I could charge. With the skimmers I can maintain a consistent pace of 95, 96 kph. If I sprint I can hit 125kph for a few seconds at a time. That can catch you off-guard if you're not expecting it."

He nods approvingly at the Urban Tribe Tomahawk.

"I like those," he says. "They have a good weight to them. They feel good in the hand. I'd really like a gunstock war club, one made of wood like the ones the Lakota used 200 years ago. Maybe I can find one in Cheyenne. Mostly just for show. We could do a display on the wall of throwing knives and tomahawks.

"Do you like the Sigma? You're bigger now; I bet you could handle an assault rifle better than you could before. You should try my AK-97 sometime, see how it feels. Spirits knows it could use the work... I've barely touched it in six months. I'd have to take the personalized grips off, but that's easy enough.

"SMGs are firing pistol calibers. The rifle calibers just feel different. Firmer, more substantial. I think it's more satisfying, personally. You might like it now that you have the muscle mass to absorb the recoil."

Mato likes Trouble and looks reasonably sympathetic about the prospect of being away from him.

"Well, 'apart' physically, right? Don't you feel him in your head, and vice versa? Maybe you can find out if you can notice him purring from 1,600 kilometers away. Or bring him on the plane and leave him with your mother in Cheyenne."

[Gilga]

What not to like with the Sigma? The gas vent system, folding stock, and foregrip all work together in harmony to keep the gun stable as you fire. That gun stays where I point it, and I can shoot seven or eight bullets without stopping, and it comes with a built-in smart gun. I saw it and was instantly in love, I didn't need physical strength to fire it at all. Most importantly, each drum has 50 bullets so I can be generous with the lead."


"Now recoil depends on the projectile's mass and velocity versus the firearm's mass, so the 97 has more mass and can potentially be gentler on the shooter despite having a faster bullet. It is carrying and holding that got me focused on small arms.
I'd like to try the 97 - perhaps you want to shoot with me after this gig? You know, give me a few pointers and rid the world of evil beer bottles. "


-Trouble-
Well... I'll ask Trouble to stay close enough but safe. The thing is shamans don't bind spirits. So, I sort of bent the rules already by using the template of a bound spirit to create Trouble. The thing is, it did not work without a strong anchor to our world. I used myself as one kind of like how Raven can keep a spirit in here where it would otherwise go to another metaplane. So, that was the only solution that worked. It still feels wrong to force Trouble to do my bidding. So having them remain on their own, out of reach where I cannot intervene, is a big step for us.

[Tecumseh]

"Yeah, we'll go shoot. I'm no instructor but I'm a competent amateur.

"I have the Walther from Pike Hall and I think it's wiz, but ..." He trails off.

"Remember Katya Komarova from Pike Hall? That piece of work. I shot her with the Walther and it did nothing. At some point, against some opposition... if the caliber is too small then you're just flattening rounds against body armor faster than before.

"Remember, before the blast, I used to have the submachine gun in my left arm? It was a neat trick to have up my sleeve - literally - but it had no stopping power. I couldn't depend on it. I'm glad it's gone. It freed up other possibilities. I now have a nutritional and biowaste storage systems so I don't need to eat, drink, or use the bathroom for a full day. Great for when you're in a sniper position for extended periods."

He holds up the Mannlicher to make his point about sniping.

[Beta]

Tamarind listens in to the guns and tactics discussion with interest. It is good to know your team mates likes and strategies and ways of thinking.

At the end she muses "I'm not really bringing anything with firing range. I'm far better at shooting things from a drone or vehicle than by myself, but I hadn't really thought that at a detective agency I'd need a serious combat drone -- but this looks to have the possibility to be the 2nd of 3 jobs where we may be out of the city and needing the ranges. Not enough time to do anything about it now, but maybe I need to look into setting up a drone that way. But for right now, should I bring one of the longer guns we picked up in Texas? If nothing else I can provide some covering fire, in a pinch."

[ Spoiler ]

Do we have what we bought in Texas written down somewhere? I didn't move any of it to Tamarind's sheet, and I don't even remember what weapons we bought.

[Gilga]

I grin when he mentions Katya; it feels so badass to levitate her to mid-air, undoing all her investment in combat and armor. Every pot has a lid, but no lid fits all pots. I answer; I see his point about stopping power. I just don't think 'shooting' is a solution to any situation. It's the same thing with hacking, talking, and sorcery. You should always tackle a problem by its weakest link. In Katya's case, it was likely magic, but perhaps a neuro stun grenade would have worked the same.

I muse for a moment and then ask , "Did you ever get to read that Book the Duchess gave me?".

[ Spoiler ]

The Duchess gave AM "The Hive," I don't remember in which chapter AM gave it to Mato some time down the road.

[Jack_Spade]

Bobby looked on in wonder as his coworkers discussed weapons. He had learned to use guns - handguns specifically - during his time in the army. He had even kept up the training, although he had to admit his last visit to the gun range had been at least a month ago.
But all that had been, before he had learned to turn other people into jelly fish with merely a though. There were drones where that didn't work, but that was why he kept a taser around. Or an electrified giraffe. That usually worked too.

[Tecumseh]

"I did read it," Mato nods to AM. "With the sleep regulator, I have a lot of time at night.

"I tried reading it in Spanish - La colmena - but it was too much. I learned modern Aztlaner Spanish while the book was written in Castilian Spanish from 130 years ago. It was too different so I switched back to English.

"It's not a happy book. And there are, what, 300 characters? It made me wish for a mnemonic enhancer. The chronological disorder just muddies things further.

"I wonder why the Duchess liked it so much."

[Thanee]

<<Monday Afternoon - 13:01 - May 15, 2079 - SIS, Bellevue>>

Having packed everything you want to bring along, while Bobby has been tapping his feet for the last twenty minutes or so, the team is ready to head out.

After taking some extra time to store the guns, so you do not run into any trouble with a routine check on the way to the airport, you are on your way.

* * * * *

<<Monday Afternoon - 13:48 - May 15, 2079 - South of Sea-Tac, Downtown>>

Razak's coordinates direct you towards Gate 26-C in the southern parts of Sea-Tac. You drive past various signs marking the area as "Restricted Access" and "Closed for renovations". Through the fence, that is closing off the territory, you can see numerous buildings in various stages of demolition and re-construction. This area of Sea-Tac is under "renovations" for over a decade now. They sure do not seem to have a lot of interest in making any headway there.

At the gate itself, a bored-looking ork in an ill-fitting security uniform sits in a small guard shack. He quickly checks your credentials and then directs you to the building "Number Sixteen", three buildings over on the left. As you head down the access road, you notice that some of the buildings look like they are still in use. Power cables, obvious security measures, and sat-uplinks are visible. "Number Sixteen" is a converted hangar. The walls are lined with repair bays, where various types of vehicles, ground and aircraft, are stored for maintenance or modification. Two Steel Lynx drones equipped with heavy machine guns patrol the hangar. They do not react to your presence in any way. Near the massive bay doors, positioned to move out at any time, sits a matte-black GMC Banshee. One of the maintenance hatches is open, and a pink-haired human woman in her mid to late twenties wearing a flight suit sits there, typing in the air with AR gloves.

Before you can get her attention, a confident voice comes from elsewhere inside the hangar. A short but athletically built human with obvious cybereyes and iron-grey hair, who appears to be somewhere between fifty and sixty, heads towards you. He is wearing a mechanics overall and an old-school flight jacket. At his right hip, he carries a holstered Ares Predator V. The man raises one hand in greeting. "I wouldn't interrupt Osprey. She gets a bit cranky when someone does that. Hoi, name's Blackhawk. I hear you need a ride." Somewhere in the background the head of a young girl with a mop of blonde hair, no older than eight, pops up, curiously observing the new arrivals with a pair of blue eyes.

[Tecumseh]

Mato keeps his sensors running, both for practice as well as a precaution in an unfamiliar environment.

"How do you do, Blackhawk?" Mato says somewhat formally. After introducing himself he says, "Yes, you heard correctly."

Mato privately studies Blackhawk's cybereyes. Mato had gone for a more natural appearance when he got his. There's now a bit of orange in his irises, almost like a bear's eyes, to help warm up the chocolate brown, but for the most part they are not obvious.

Mato's personal opinion was the people reacted more strongly to obviously cybereyes than cyberlimbs. They were both common, of course, but there was a subset of people who were decidedly squeamish when it came to eyeballs. Perhaps it all came back to those magic words, "voluntary replacement". It took a certain type of person to walk into a clinic and say, "These eyeballs I've had all my life? Scoop them out and put something mechanical in their place." It just so happened that Mato was one of those people.

"I've never flown on a Banshee before," he admits, studying the vehicle and running his scanners over it. "Brave new world."

He gives a nod of recognition to the blonde-haired girl. The look on his face isn't quite a smile, but perhaps the start of an amused smirk.

[Gilga]

"I wonder why the Duchess liked it so much."

"I don't know many names, so I can't tell. Though, she did seem rather analog, which explains why the 200-year-old book. I find the masterful description of how seemingly random events cascade into dire consequences appealing, like a very early incarnation of the butterfly effect." I respond.

The drive to the airport and being in an airport is a bit stressful, well, more than a bit, but living on the right side of the fence with our security firm makes me gradually adjust to not running and hiding from men in uniform. I keep to myself and let Mato lead away.

"She is quite a looker," I say, looking at the Banshee with fascination. I then add "I am Emily, Em for short. Very nice to meet you, Mr. Blackhawk." It takes a few moments to get used to the obvious cyber eyes the man carries, but eventually, you can get used to anything.


I astrally examine Blackhawk, the pink-haired lady, and the little girl. Not because I am suspicious but because it is part of my senses, and I look at everyone like that.

[ Spoiler ]

Assensing Pink lady, Blackhawk, nice girl: 3#10d6t5 2 3 3

When I first notice the little girl, I wave a small "hi" but otherwise keep my attention on the adults.

[Beta]

Tamarind was happy to use her van's smuggling compartment to keep guns hiddon on the way to the SeaTac airport, always nice to use a mostly ignored feature. Otherwise the drive is perfectly dull, which is perfect by her.

When she sees the Banshee she resolves to bite her tongue and keep her opinions to herself. It was a free ride, so best not to knock it. She nodded a greeting to Blackhawk, and just says "Let us know when we can stow our gear, and where it should go. "

[Thanee]

"Doin' alright. Thanks!" Blackhawk replies. His eyes are nothing special. Likely some off-the-shelves stuff. Black irises. More functional than fancy.

Mato's radar sensor has a hard time piercing the Banshee's hide. There seems to be some radar-absorbing material in place, as well as a really thick body.

As some of the gazes get fixed on the big bird, the man chuckles proudly. "Ahhh... 'Black Sunshine'. She's a beaut, right? You lot gonna be in for a treat."

Blackhawk nods to Tamarind. "Right, right. I understand, you are in a bit of a hurry. This might not be the most subtle ride, but she will get you there in time. Just pile your stuff over here, and we can get on with it." He points to some empty boxes sitting near the cargo hatch.

AM can see Blackhawk's eye replacements in his aura, but there does not seem to be anything else. She would have expected some serious headware, at least. He is mundane and in good shape, and he feels excited. The love for his trade is pretty apparent. Unsurprisingly, his Essence is lower than AM's. Osprey is also mundane, healthy, and a bit bored. AM cannot make out any augmentations on her. The kid feels happy and excited, no maladies, no implants, and full Essence. She is a mundane as well.

As AM's eyes linger on the girl a little longer and when she waves at her, the kid flashes a big smile and then ducks behind her cover.

[Jack_Spade]

Bobby looked at the vehicle with a mix of appreciation and apprehension.
With a smile he turned to the pilot:

"You've been a while in this business, haven't you?
How much does this run cost our employer? Services like yours usually aren't cheap.
Do we need to watch out for anything beyond keeping all limbs inside at all time and not removing our hoops the seats?"

[Thanee]

"A while and then some." Blackhawk chuckles. "Let's leave it at this isn't cheap. You guys better strap in, if it is your first time riding a t-bird. It's a little... rougher than your typical passenger plane. And we have to go fast to meet the timeline. Really fast."

He does seem more excited than annoyed by that prospect.

"No sightseeing, I'm afraid. You should still be able to take a look outside, though, and it's very much worth it. You guys look fit enough, you can probably handle a little rough and tumble."

[Gilga]

"Looking forward to it..." I say and nod to indicate that the t-bird is indeed impressive. When Bobby joins the conversation, I place my bags in one of the boxes and declare "I take a window seat!" I take a few moments to appreciate the surroundings and perhaps.

I then offer Tamarind help with loading her drones as she has the most things to load.

[Jack_Spade]

Bobby nodded and made his way into the T-bird. Trying to remember, which animals were best equipped to handle acceleration forces that didn't also have hollow bones, he stowed his luggage. When AM claimed the window seat, he just smiled. Seeing the world from above at crazy speeds was a privilege for most other people. He didn't begrudge her that.
Instead he went to the seat furthest in the back and curled himself up in the form of a large cat.

[Thanee]

There are no actual windows, though. The Banshee is a heavily armored military transport, not a civilian vehicle. The spartan interior has a total of 12 seats located along both sides, and plenty of room for cargo. The bulkiness of the hull is even more apparent, once you are getting inside. There is a gunnery station, from which the turret-mounted heavy machine gun can be operated, if the pilot isn't taking control of it. The cockpit itself is locked behind heavy metal doors, once Blackhawk has taken his seat there. He is going to fly Black Sunshine, the two girls are staying at "Number Sixteen".

It takes maybe ten minutes to load everything into the LAV, and secure the cargo. Remote-controlled slits at both sides glide open, revealing at least a little bit of a view, but it's still fairly restricted. It is very likely the best you will get, though. You might need to stand, in order to enjoy it as much as possible, but not during launch or acceleration phases.

[Tecumseh]

Mato is familiar with the basics of smuggling in and out of Seattle, but he's never done it through the air. He prefers the farms of Snohomish that run right up to the border, the the tunnels of Carbonado that pass beneath it. Some liked the lava fields in Puyallup approaching what was left of Mt. Rainier, but Mato felt too exposed. Getting across them was semi-dependent on the geological activity of Rainier knocking out some key sensors, or otherwise confusing the system and putting it on the fritz. That wasn't anything he wanted to rely on.

Mato is certain his body can handle the promised rough-and-tumble, although he's somewhat less sure about his stomach. Was lunch going to stay put? He doesn't like sitting sideways and how the forces of acceleration were concentrated on a smaller surface area.

There's still a part of him that wonders why they're flying into Cheyenne instead of Denver. Was it simply to pass the border and officially announce, 'Hey, we're (officially) here'? Perhaps it speaks to the volatility of Denver; maybe the old routes and relays were no longer reliable and Razak was still setting up new ones.

"Will it fit the Econovan?" he asks, looking at all the cargo space in the Banshee. "Take our own ride with us?" He looks to Tamarind, uncertain of whether she'd prefer to work with something familiar or would rather outsource any risk to whatever ride Razak arranged.

[Thanee]

There is plenty room for cargo, but not that much. A car just won't fit, besides the fact that there is no ramp big enough to load one.

Now, the exterior certainly is big enough, but much of the interior of the Banshee has to make room for the armored hull, engine, and thrusters.

The seats, however, have two positions, and can be rotated to face towards the front during flight.

[Gilga]

"So no windows... heh?" I say disappointed to Mato. Bobby is doing his shape-change shtick again, and it would be a terrible conversation. I guess, "I'll have to make my window..." I am so using magic to peek outside once we're in the air - that is, as long as we fly close enough to the manosphere so that Bobby's spell holds.

My twisted mind has a pretty vivid image of how it will be... It might even give me a boon with the Trickster, but if Bobby stays in animal form, my spell would work, and I could peek outside or watch Blackhawk fly the thing. I don't turn back to a naked man and get smacked around the cabin and imagine myself flying this beast.

Despite the brave facade, I am very nervous before takeoff and hold on tightly to the chair. Anxious to be in the air already and hoping to survive the acceleration well. It is my first time in the air.