IC: Vein of Truth, An adventure into the wilds Options

[TinkerGnome]

As the last memeber of the team gives their assent, the Johnson nods in satisfaction. "Very well, then."

As Hellcow begins to bargain with the Johnson he seems somewhat reluctant to do so. "I may be able to go as high as 22,000 :nuyen: for startup, but nothing more. Ammunition and gear mainteance is something that will have to come out of the back end, if it is so extravagant as to exceed the seed money."

After a few seconds of dickering, Hellcow gets the distinct impression that the Johnson has already spent considerable resources in getting the required gear together and that justifying additional expenses will be tough.

That concluded, the Johnson nods to his assistant who pulls a rolled up vid screen from beneath the table and rolls it out over the middle of the two tables where the runners are seated. The Johnson places his pocket computer on the table and hands his assistant a cord which he then inserts into the vid screen. The screen flares to life, showing a standard UMS sceme of the contents of a chip. There appear to be several files, but the Johnson selects one of the middle files.

The vidscreen flickers and a satellite image comes into perspective, showing much of the Salish-Sidhe Council. "This is the target area." He does something and the map zooms again, showing an area north and west of Seattle by a small distance. Those with any knowledge of the area know it as Vancouver Island.

"Some thirty years ago, the mining operation at Myra Falls was halted when the cost of extracting metals from the earth became prohibitive. The mine itself was located at the very heart of the island and environmental concerns were raised as well. The mine has since been shut down, though it is still in the hands of a small corporation and not in the hands of someone who will likely have to be convinced to sell."

The map zooms in again to show the very interior of the island and the vast green belts of the area.

"The resources are expected to be mineral, though exactly what is not known. I will provide a driller and the necessary software to run it, along with the survey drones and their controller. Most of the process is automated, but the sample will need to be taken from inside the mine itself. It is highly unlikely that anything of value will be visible from the surface."

The map zooms back a little and is replaced by a political map with distinct areas outlined. "As you can see, while this tract of land is outside of the public coffers, much of the surrounding land is not. Recently, some light logging efforts have been occuring in order to feed Vancouver's industrial complex, such as it is. There has been eco-terrorist resistance to this, of course, there may be terrorists or traps in the area. There are also the Masuru's lands to consider. Fortunately, they are on the far northern section of the island, but they likely serve as a base for these terrorist activities. Alerting the dragon's agents to your presence or intent is likely to be a bad idea."

[A Rodent of Unus...]

"You mean you don't know what they were mining there thirty years ago? Shouldn't that be a matter of public record?"

[TinkerGnome]

"It is. Copper, zinc, tin, and some gold and silver. My information is that something is there now of great value... I place very high trust in my information or I would not be going through all of this trouble. It is possible that it is some mineral which was not of value at the time but now is. That is one reason I need the samples."

[A Rodent of Unus...]

"I see. Is your company capable of issuing a SIN, even if temporary, for those of us who might need one to get across the border? Also, if things do take a turn for the worse, how discreet do we need to be?"

[TinkerGnome]

He shakes his head. "The extend of my involvement has already reached the greatest extent that it may. For SINs, your fixer may be able to help. I am told that this building," he waves his hand in the general direction of the upper floor, "is owned by smugglers. As for discression... if there is something of value in the location, I must have at least 12 hours notice and the output from the survey drones before any other corporate entity. If someone else discovers our interest faster, there is a chance that someone might pounce upon the resources."

[A Rodent of Unus...]

Belfast flashes a polite, if somewhat chagrinned, smile. "It never hurts to ask, eh?" At that the lean, athletically-built human leans back in his chair and waits to see how his new teammates proceed now that he has all the answers he was interested in.

[Beast of Revolut...]

"How thick is the forest?" Thor asks.

[TinkerGnome]

"The woodlands are being thinned toward the edges, though, by all accounts, it is a very responsible harvesting effort. There have been a few forest fires in recent years which have thinned out parts of the interior, but the damage has been spotty. It is fairly heavy in most places," the Johnson says.

[crechebaby]

Looks like we're going camping, Brand thinks to herself as the Johnson brings up the vid of Vancouver Island. She reaches up one hand to scratch idly behind one ear, but the hand freezes as she hears the word "dragon".

Great. We're all gonna die.

[Shadow]

Border patrols, eco-terrorists, and a dragon. This’ll be a milk run. We're all gonna fraggin die.

Raven listen absently as the Irishman rattled off his list of questions, combined with enquires from the others. She was trying to think of something to say, but the questions that normally came easy to her eluded her tongue.

Her mind started to wander, trying to solve the tactical problem of crossing the border. She could, of course, use her legitimate SIN to go skiing. And if she happened to get off the beaten track, well, she was legal.

Last resort, though, no need to frell away my life more than I already have.

She could always use her bike, or maybe score a dirt bike for a week or two. Zoe could probably line one up for her. A dirt bike could come in handy where they were going, especially if it was equipped with a thermal baffler and some noise reduction, maybe a suncell and a portable solar collector.

She smiled when the negotiations concluded. Hellcow did a good enough job at getting the Johnson to come up in price. She doubted anyone else could have done better.

“Maybe I missed this, but you said this was time critical. How long do we have to complete the job?”

[TinkerGnome]

"The job should be completed within five days of tonight. My best estimate on time is that it will take approximately three days to reach the site and do the necessary work. With travel the way it is, however, you may wish to depart immediately."

[FXcalibur]

"Hello, 'scuse me." Evans half-raises his hand before resting his elbows on the table. "Do you happen to have any casualty index for us?"

[TinkerGnome]

The Johnson blinks and on the astral it is obvious (to anyone looking on that plane) that he is more than a little surprised at the question. "Well... provided you don't do anything to tip off the ecoterrorists or the dragon and successfully run the border, I wouldn't expect any casualties."

[FXcalibur]

"I figured as much." Evans smiles, rubbing his chin. "Well, just wanted to be clear. Always better to ask first."

[tisoz]

Skeeter's attention started to wane until he heard 'dragon'. He might get to see a dragon! Oh, this was going to be great. Hiking and camping out. He wondered if he should mention he brought a tent, sleeping bag, frying pan, baseball, bat and mitt. Nah. He'd probably only get dirty looks from these guys. Hardly any of them looked like they new how to have fun.

[A Rodent of Unus...]

Belfast sees the flurry of questions coming to an ebb, so he decides to take a bit of initiative rather than continuing to sit with this thumb up his arse. He leans forward a bit before addressing the Johnson a second time while doing his best to keep his heavy accent in check.

"Right, it looks like most everyone's asked what they needed to ask, so I think that about covers everything. I assume we only need to get in touch with Frederick upon our return with the samples and data you need, so unless there's anything else you think we should know..." Bel pauses long enough to give him the opportunity "...I believe it's time we get started with a preliminary plan of attack on how this is going to go down. Is it cool if we use this room for that or do we need to hunt down some other pad?"

[FXcalibur]

Evans leaned back in his chair and decided to just sit back and listen. He's never done a run outside of Seattle, so better let the others handle this.

As a plan was hammered out, Evans relaxed and went through the routines of a run again in his memory. Partly because he had nothing to do and partly because it needed refreshing. He hadn't wrapped his hands around the Alpha for nearly a month and his fingers felt stiff. Now was a good chance to get back into shape.

Then something occured to him.

"Hey, uh, sorry to interrupt fellas, but is anyone...how do you mages say it? Pulling overwatch? Sorry, I'm just a little paranoid." He grins softly.

[A Rodent of Unus...]

Belfast lifts a brow in Evans' direction. He leans in his direction just long enough to whisper out, "it's covered."

[FXcalibur]

"Right, if you say so. Sorry to disturb you." Evans whispers back.

[TinkerGnome]

After another five minutes or so, the Johnson seems to feel that all questions have been answered. He nods to his bodyguard who places a briefcase on the table, collects his noise generator and takes his leave. Just before he does, he drops a chip on the table. "This should have copies of the relevant maps, as well as a manual on the survey equipment. You will find the location of the survey equipment notated, as well. It is hidden in a ravine a few miles from the main road about five miles on the other side of the Salish-Sidhe border."

He pauses for a moment. "Good luck. I am sure I will hear from you in three or four days." And with that, he takes his leave.

[A Rodent of Unus...]

After watching and waiting for the Johnson to leave, Belfast turns his full attention on the motley crew of runners gathered before him.

"I think before we begin, we should each introduce ourselves and let everyone know what we're bringing to the table. From there, we can move on to figuring out how we're going to get across the bay and otherwise get this party started."

He pauses just long enough for that to sink in and long enough to determine if anyone else has anything to say before he begins his own introduction. He pulls off his matt black Oakleys as he starts.

"Right then, I suppose since it was my suggestion I should be the one to go first. The name's Belfast, but most of my associates in the biz just call be Bel. Feel free to use either. I'm a practioner of the thaumaturgical arts and I have some experience in dealing with the procurement of rare metals. This," he takes another pause just in time to proceed the materialization of a one-foot tall leprechaun on his shoulder who then proceeds to tip his bright green derby politely, "is my friend and ally, 'Red Tom' O'Malley. He'll be providing most of our astral overwatch on the run, I'm sure, as well as a few other useful tasks. Beyond that, I can pretty much hold my own if things get dirty." He unfastens his peacoat just long enough to reveal a FN Five-seveN tucked into a concealed holster underneath.

"So... unless there's any questions, who's next?"

[Chance359]

Once the Johnson and his bodyguard leave, Sedryk reaches out and takes the map chip, slotting it. Slowly he begins picking out routes he's taken on previous trips to Vancouver.

After hearing Belfast, "The name Sedryk. Most of my friends call me Sed. I tend to handle some of the damper situations our line of work offers."

"I have a friend who trades in valuable merchandise from Seattle to New Orleans. He might know of a few border patrol guards who could use some extra money. Or at the least a good spot to slip the border.

"Even though Mr. Johnson says it should take only three days, I expect Senor Murphy will have other plans."

[Shadow]

Raven’s eyes perked up as the mage revealed his fire-arm of choice.

Nice gun, maybe he isn’t a typical mage. Might as well get this out of the way.

Without standing, or otherwise drawing attention to herself, she speaks.

“Raven. I’m not the subtlest person so I prefer the direct approach. Pistols and Rifles are my thing. I am very, very good with them. I can also effect minor repairs on most firearms,” she says the last while drawing her own Five-seveN, spinning it around, and handing it butt first to Belfast.

“I did the custom grips on this, as well as the modified barrel.” She says in a slightly quieter voice. “Don’t worry, smart linked safety, only I can fire it.”

She smiles as he takes the gun to examine it.

“I am pretty good in the wilderness too. I grew up in the forest, and I have a fair knowledge of critters, both magical and mundane.”

Not sure what to do next she leans back against the wall, brushes the dark hair out of her eyes, and waits for Belfast to hand her gun back.

[crechebaby]

Brand lowers her big black boots off the table and raises a hand to call attention to her corner of the room. The slender woman is beautiful, even among her kind, but unadorned and simply dressed in a white tshirt, jeans, and a black trench. She has straight, dark red hair that falls to the middle of her back. You're not sure, but she might be wearing lip gloss.

"Brand. Demolitions. I blow stuff up."

[A Rodent of Unus...]

Without saying a word, Belfast gives Raven a curious look before taking her pistol. He ejects the clip and makes sure the chamber is empty before giving it the once over. He twirls it around in his hand a few times, apparently testing its balance, before bringing it to aim at the light over the table.

"Bloody hell," he thought to himself while checking the alignment of its iron sights. "She would have a good taste in sidearms, too."

He shoves the clip back in and spins it around so the barrel is in his hand as he returns it to the lithe elf while flashing a polite smile.

"Nice piece."

He then proceeds to fold his arms and returns to listening to the others as they make their introductions. His mind wanders off a bit, however, as he ponders quietly to himself. Amongst the myriad thoughts running though his mind, he thinks, "Now if she ends up having a fetish for explosives, well, I have a feeling dear ol' mum's gonna be having a heart attack when she finds out I'm bringing a fookin' elf home with me for Christmas..."

At that, Red Tom can't help but interject into Bel's thought bubble. "Pshah! She'll be rollin' o'er in her grave is more like it! 'Cause she'll have died long before that if she finds out she's not Catholic."

"Well, it's not like I'm Catholic either."

"Details, feckin' details."

He had finally gotten the thoughts out of his head when the redheaded elf piped up with her intro. Bel's jaw just about dropped in response. "Oh begorra. I'm a dead man."