IC: Into the Abyss, The crushing black depths... Options

[Method]

(Vertigo)

"And what about specialized equipment... wet suits, diving gear, things like that... can your employer provide anything we need?"

[Bearclaw]

Wishbone

Assuming the preparations are made to their specifications, I'm in.

[Shadow]

"Yes, the escape pods will be on the map. As for the wets suits and diving gear. Not only will you not need those, if you tried to use them at the depth were talking about you would be killed instantly. So it looks like everyone who is going to agree has. I am sorry the rest of you felt it was unacceptable, however that is your prerogative. The plane for Guam leaves in 4 hours. Please return here before that time."

[Bearclaw]

Kim’s Nails, Puyalup, June 3nd 2064, 1810 pm (Wishbone)
“No sugar, I don’t have time for that. I’m leaving town for a couple of weeks, tonight.”
“But Wishy, I want to… you know. And now you’re saying you’ll be gone for two weeks?” Tears on her chubby cheeks again. Maybe I should just dump her now. She’d be happier.
“Look, this is big biz. Big money. The kind of money that’ll let us go somewhere nice for a couple of weeks when I get back. So here’s what you do. Take this cert credstick. It’s got :nuyen: 1000 on it. Spend the next few days researching a nice vacation for us. A couple of weeks somewhere sunny, where they won’t look funny at an asian girl and a big redskinned Orc. Don’t spend more than 5000. Yea, you heard me right. 5000 for the two of us, for at least a week somewhere. Use part of what I gave you as a deposit, and the rest to buy yourself some nice clothes for the trip. Make the reservations for the 20th. If I’m not back by then, and you haven’t heard from me, go to Lucy, at Chen’s Pay Day Advance, and tell her Wishbone sent you. She’ll give you any info there is, plus any money I’m still owed. I’ll let her know it’s cool. But not til the 20th.”
“Do you have to go? I don’t care about the money or the vacation to Aztlan..”
“Forget Aztlan. How ‘bout Hawaii?”
“Hawaii?.” That brought a smile. “I can do that”.
Wishbone kissed her hard and said goodbye and after a quick stop a Lucy’s to drop off 5K of his advance, just in case, and give her her cut, he headed over to his house to pick up the rest of his gear.
While waiting for the cab, he gathered up his stuff, which all fit in a duffle, with space left over for the regular stuff he was wearing. If you’re likely to change shapes and lose your clothes, you should always have something to carry them in on hand.
The cab showed up, and he took it to the same parking garage two blocks from Penumbra. Duffle in hand, he walked to Penumbra and waved down another cab. By 8pm, he’s sitting back at the Airfield eating beef and chicken fajitas with lots of hot sauce.

[Gyro the Greek S...]

Puyallup Barrens, Asher's Crash, June 3rd 2064, 5:03 pm (Tiptoes)

She hadn't expected him back so soon, and he didn't bother with the silent games this time.

"Tell the boys and girls not to look for me in town for the next couple weeks. Biz is taking me out of the sprawl."

Jessica tried to keep her face flat, but question marks floated into her eyebrows. The Asher's basement had been filled while Tiptoes was out: two hijacked vending machines lay on their sides, snacks and hard nuyen spilling across the floor. The gangers affectionatly referred to such escapades as 'stuffer runs'. Half a dozen of the gangers were gathered around the shattered hulks, and Tiptoes was standing next to the stair, addressing everyone.

Rain, a scrawny Hispanic techie chick, tossed him a soda and asked, "Whaddya mean, Tip?"

Jessica was already asking the same question in her head. As far as she knew, Tiptoes had never even been out of the sprawl before. In fact, she had half been expecting him to turn the job down.

Tiptoes shrugged. "Some corp drek, you know?"

Rain nodded. "Awright, chummer." The others nodded and went back to their work.

Tiptoes raised his eyebrows at Jess. "See you" he said.
She nodded, and Tiptoes walked back up the stairs.

[Shadow]

The hangar where you were instructed to go to after returning looked like the countless others on the airfield. Corrugated aluminum with big double doors. The doors were open slightly revealing the big silhouette of a Skytruck. The large plane was being swarmed with ground crew as the team approaches.

[Gyro the Greek S...]

(Tiptoes)

Tiptoes hefts his duffle bag and looks around.
With that hurricane, things are going to get dicey he thinks. And I don't know if they've provided us with airsickness bags. Anxiety puckers under his cool facial expression. It's business, he reminds himself. Act like you do this every day. You do do this every day. Maybe not with an airplane or outside the 'plex, but business is business.

Tiptoes sets his jaw and waits for boarding instructions...

[Dashifen]

(Gin)

Looking around at the rest of the team I wonder how well they'll handle all of this. Seems like a cakewalk, which is inevitably when the drek hits the fan. Some real talent it looks like we have here, but a rather large group. Should be an interesting ride.....

[Ninja Please]

Spartan

Spartan turned off the engine of his borrowed pickup and pulled the keys from the ignition. He got out of the truck and looked around the hangar, taking in the massive cargo plane. The sights, and particularly the smells, brought him back to earlier times. He turned and hefted two huge bags from the pickup bed. Better to be over-equiped than under-equiped, he thought to himself. He would have a long plane ride to pare his load down. Besides, I need to talk to the others and figure out how we're going to handle this before I make any moves on my own.

He walked over to his fellow runners and set the over-sized duffel bags down. Spartan extend his arm and spoke, "Hi there. My name is Spartan. You can think of me as a heavy lifter. Figure we'll need one or two of those when we get down there. You?"

[Gyro the Greek S...]

(Tiptoes)

Tiptoes eyes Spartan warily. The man just screamed 'merc', and most of the mercs Tiptoes knew weren't very quiet about things. Depending on how things went down, however, he and Spartan might be spending a great deal of quality time together.

Tiptoes shakes Spartan's hand. "I'm Tiptoes. I can handle electronics." He hefts the large military duffel bag he's wearing. "And a few other things."

[Dashifen]

(Gin)

Looking at the others saying hello, I move twoards them, "I'm Gin. You guys shoot, and I'll watch for more .... spiritual problems. Sound good?"

[Bearclaw]

Wishbone

"Well, they look like they know what they're doing anyway.
Hi guys, I'm Wishbone. Shaman. Spirits and mojo. I prefer illusion and misdirection to fighting, but I can hold my own when I have to."

[Gyro the Greek S...]

(Tiptoes)

Tiptoes glances between the two Orc mages, then at the sky.
"Magic seems important, on this one" he says, nonchalantly. "You two figure anything?"

[Dashifen]

(Gin)

"Honestly, I'm a little worried. He claimed that the manasphere was un-polluted at those depths but I've heard all sorts of horror stories about the way spellcasting can act in strange ways when you get away from the normal, habitable sections of the world." I sigh, thinking of all that time indoors. "Actually, I guess I'm here for a little more than just spell-slinging. I have some decent computer skills, though I'm no decker. Doesn't sound like we're going to need too much in the way of technicals for this one; copy and paste not being that difficult."

I glance over at Wishbone giving him an appraising eye. I notice him noticing and smile nonchalantly. Hoping the others think me flirtations, I say, "Mind if we step aside and have a chat, Wishbone."

[Shadow]

The lead of the ground crew approached the gathered group.

"Ok were just about done here folks, the cargo’s been loaded so you will have to squeeze around that to get to the forward seating area. No smoking, and the seatbelt light is always on." He tips his hat to the runners and walks away.

The inside of the plane is immense. 4 large cargo boxes take up the rear of the plane. There is only a few feet between the boxes and the skin of the hull, making it a tight squeeze for all but the smallest people.

The seating area is 6 rows of benches. each seats 8 people. They all have five point safety harnesses, and a netted cargo area under the seats.

[Dashifen]

(Gin)
I sigh, "Guess that chat will have to wait." I comment to Wishbone.

Getting into the plan, the cargo containers give me a moment of pause. Hoping to cover my action by letting somoene else move around me, I lightly touch one of the cargo containers, casting a spell in the process.

[Method]

(Vertigo)

Vertigo edged her way into the hanger through the big door, trying to look casual but hoping no one would notice her. Sneaking up on your new teammates wasn’t the best way to make friends, but she had a tendency to be stealthy even when she wasn’t trying to be, and wide open spaces like the hanger made her nervous.

Here we go… she sighed to herself. Try not to look like an amateur…

She strode up to the group in what she hoped would look like a confident swagger and dropped her duffle bag to the floor with a thud. Looking around the group she suddenly felt very small.

“Sorry I’m late. My name is Vertigo.” She extended her hand to the big orc on her right.

[Ninja Please]

Spartan

"Pleasure to have you aboard," Spartan said as he reached for Vertigo's outstreched hand. "I was beginning to worry about our team going in undersized. Particularly if that meant some of the people at the intial offer knew something I didn't."

Spartan picked his bags up from the ground and began walking towards the plane. "Hey, anyone here up for a little wager? I say we get a pool going about what is actually down there. How about 100 nuyen to get in, winner takes all... but the winner has to buy the first round of drinks?"

[Raiko]

(Mirage)

"Sorry to keep you waiting, is everybody here?"

Mirage walks into the hanger carrying a kit bag in her left hand that appears almost as big as the diminutive French samurai. She is dressed in a different designer suit under her flowing grey coat, she pushes her shades to the top of her head as she walks towards the group, a friendly smile on her beautiful face.

[Method]

(Vertigo)

Vertigo nodded to Mirage with a smile. “I’m Vertigo. Nice to meet you. Captain says we’re just about on our way…”

She grabbed her duffle bag and followed Spartan up the ramp. The tight confines of the plane were much more to her liking. Moving among the crates she made her way to the front of the plane and quickly secured her equipment under her seat before surveying the rest of the team. She took a mental inventory.

Three orcs (at least one ex-military), two shaman and two infiltration experts (counting myself and Tiptoes)… But Walker said there was no opposition, no magical problems and no automated security to by-pass…. something isn’t adding up here…

She shot a wry look at Spartan. “I don’t know about your wager, but I agree that this isn’t going to be the cake walk our Johnson made it out to be. The way I see it we have about 18 hours to plan for the worst. Anybody have ideas about how we should operate once we get on site?”

[Dashifen]

(Gin @Vertigo)
"I've never honestly never worked in an environment quite like the one described by Johnson. Have any of you?"

[Method]

(Vertigo @ Gin)

"Me either. I mean, I'm sure we've all "gained access" to a corp research facility here and there, but nothing like this. The lack of exit strategies makes me more than a little nervous..."

[Bearclaw]

Wishbone
"Nope. I've done stuff underwater, it's the easiest way into the Tir, but never into the deep like this.
The upside is that the money they're spending on us is a pittance compared to what a facility in water that deep would cost. I always worry if I think I'm being over payed, but in this case, we may be underpaid, considering the value of the investment we're recovering."

[Method]

(Vertgio @ Wishbone)

"Thats a good point, but I'm sure they have trained salvage crews that could do this for hourly pay plus or minus hazard. Why enlist people with skills like ours? I know Walker mentioned investor confidence, but..."

[Gyro the Greek S...]

(Tiptoes)

Tiptoes looks at the others.
"Mutiny, maybe." He focuses on the shamans.
"Add some toxics in with the mutineers, we have a reason for the mojo."

Tiptoes pauses.

"Or, worst case," he continues, "they really don't know what's going on, and they don't want to risk their more expensive people. So they hire us."