The "Seep", Capitol Hill
Friday 8/22/70 22:36:10
Smith
PAN - Hidden
After Smith transfered his half of the money, he smiled at spring, who had been doing a wonderful job of pretending not to overhear Smith and Fortunato talking about their upcoming job. Unfortunately, he had kind of hoped to pique her interest, so he could bring up an arrangement he had in mind. Instead, since he had his commlink out, already, he decided to try a different tactic.
"That reminds me. Is there a number I can contact you at?" He shrugged, "I'm sure we'll be in the market for more of this stuff, soon - and probably in a position to send more business your way."
Full Version: Up from the Bottom
Pages: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28
Karnivore Karl's
Friday 8/22/70 22:05:50
Big Jimmy led the way through the raucous eatery and through the spacious kitchen - looked like it had been custom designed to accomodate a crew of very large people. No one glanced at them as they went through.
They came out into a narrow service corridor - wasn't finished in the way Sledge assumed it would be if it was built or maintained by Pacific Place. No, this was Underground work - makeshift appendages to decades-old infrastructure. There was just enough light spilling from the kitchen a dozen meters back that the woman had no trouble seeing. Ahead of her in the single-file hallway, Big Jimmy stopped short - around him she could see a door that looked more than anything like a submarine hatch, except that the big circular handle was missing. The troll reached behind some pipes and pulled out a huge cast-iron crescent wrench with chipped red paint, and started turning the bolt that the handle would have been attached to. He talked while he worked. "Simplest security in the world - there just ain't many smoothies could open this. Security's real important, ya know?"
He turned, and that was when Sledge felt a hard, sharp impact between her shoulder blades. "Sorry, Mary Sue," said Big Jimmy. There was regret but no hesitation in his eyes as he swung the wrench in an overhead arc towards her head.
Friday 8/22/70 22:05:50
Big Jimmy led the way through the raucous eatery and through the spacious kitchen - looked like it had been custom designed to accomodate a crew of very large people. No one glanced at them as they went through.
They came out into a narrow service corridor - wasn't finished in the way Sledge assumed it would be if it was built or maintained by Pacific Place. No, this was Underground work - makeshift appendages to decades-old infrastructure. There was just enough light spilling from the kitchen a dozen meters back that the woman had no trouble seeing. Ahead of her in the single-file hallway, Big Jimmy stopped short - around him she could see a door that looked more than anything like a submarine hatch, except that the big circular handle was missing. The troll reached behind some pipes and pulled out a huge cast-iron crescent wrench with chipped red paint, and started turning the bolt that the handle would have been attached to. He talked while he worked. "Simplest security in the world - there just ain't many smoothies could open this. Security's real important, ya know?"
He turned, and that was when Sledge felt a hard, sharp impact between her shoulder blades. "Sorry, Mary Sue," said Big Jimmy. There was regret but no hesitation in his eyes as he swung the wrench in an overhead arc towards her head.
Westwood, Downtown District, Seattle Metroplex
Friday 8/22/70 22:19:50
Before getting out of the Love Machine, Angel had reported that everything was as it had been at the cemetery - she even routed the feed to a utility node where Rocky could access it himself.
Then she went inside for their food. When Rocky looked up from his message to the team, he saw that a Lone Star cruiser had pulled up to the Stuffer, its two occupants also headed in.
Friday 8/22/70 22:19:50
Before getting out of the Love Machine, Angel had reported that everything was as it had been at the cemetery - she even routed the feed to a utility node where Rocky could access it himself.
Then she went inside for their food. When Rocky looked up from his message to the team, he saw that a Lone Star cruiser had pulled up to the Stuffer, its two occupants also headed in.
Westwood, Downtown District, Seattle Metroplex
Friday 8/22/70 22:20:02
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden
Seeing the Star roll in to the parking lot Rocky kept his head down and shot a quick message to Angel just so she would have the heads up.
<<@Angel:: Heads up, Star inbound. Play it cool.>>
The message was really all he could do, so till something else went down he just kept on eye on what he could see of the Stuffer Shack.
Friday 8/22/70 22:20:02
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden
Seeing the Star roll in to the parking lot Rocky kept his head down and shot a quick message to Angel just so she would have the heads up.
<<@Angel:: Heads up, Star inbound. Play it cool.>>
The message was really all he could do, so till something else went down he just kept on eye on what he could see of the Stuffer Shack.
The "Seep", Capitol Hill
Friday 8/22/70 22:36:40
It had been over a quarter hour since Johnson had gotten the commcall from Rocky, but other than a brief Message Received reply, he hadn't had time to address it. It wasn't urgent, and he would be able to get back to the troll once he knew more about Fort's disposition and his own plans for the night.
The place's proprietor was more than happy to give her personal number to the face, although she seemed intent on catching a moment with the elf mage before he left. Leaving the college student with Deerwalker, she went over to where Fort was gathering up his various parcels. She got close, but not too close, and remarked quietly, "Hope I'm not overstepping, but you seem like a talented guy that may have gotten off on the wrong foot. Seems like your schooling may not match your calling. I know people that can help with that sort of thing, if it's something you're interested in."
Friday 8/22/70 22:36:40
It had been over a quarter hour since Johnson had gotten the commcall from Rocky, but other than a brief Message Received reply, he hadn't had time to address it. It wasn't urgent, and he would be able to get back to the troll once he knew more about Fort's disposition and his own plans for the night.
The place's proprietor was more than happy to give her personal number to the face, although she seemed intent on catching a moment with the elf mage before he left. Leaving the college student with Deerwalker, she went over to where Fort was gathering up his various parcels. She got close, but not too close, and remarked quietly, "Hope I'm not overstepping, but you seem like a talented guy that may have gotten off on the wrong foot. Seems like your schooling may not match your calling. I know people that can help with that sort of thing, if it's something you're interested in."
Westwood, Downtown District, Seattle Metroplex
Friday 8/22/70 22:22:00
A couple minutes later, the cops left, snacks and giant Cokes in hand. Angel waited till the coast was clear, and then came back to the van.
The mismatched pair each reflected privately on a life of always looking over their shoulder.
Friday 8/22/70 22:22:00
A couple minutes later, the cops left, snacks and giant Cokes in hand. Angel waited till the coast was clear, and then came back to the van.
The mismatched pair each reflected privately on a life of always looking over their shoulder.
The "Seep", Capitol Hill
Friday 8/22/70 22:36:50
Fortunato
PAN - Passive
Astrally Perceiving
He scratched his beard. spring was saying something he'd known, on some level, since he spoke with Rocky about his magic. It was just strange to hear it vocalized. Putting the words in the air made the idea real.
It was like a magic spell.
"I guess I've been thinking the same thing. I'm not going to be free for a while, but I'd be interested in hearing more about what you're talking about. If there's someone I should talk to, I'd like to know about them."
He smiled genuinely.
Friday 8/22/70 22:36:50
Fortunato
PAN - Passive
Astrally Perceiving
He scratched his beard. spring was saying something he'd known, on some level, since he spoke with Rocky about his magic. It was just strange to hear it vocalized. Putting the words in the air made the idea real.
It was like a magic spell.
"I guess I've been thinking the same thing. I'm not going to be free for a while, but I'd be interested in hearing more about what you're talking about. If there's someone I should talk to, I'd like to know about them."
He smiled genuinely.
The "Seep", Capitol Hill
Friday 8/22/70 22:37:20
Smith
PAN - Hidden
Smith collected spring's information, and was about to follow up with his lead into the conversation he had wanted to have - when she, taking their business to be concluded, walked away, joining Fortunato on the other side of the room, and talking in hushed tones. Smith smirked. He brought up a new message in his commlink, and left it for spring to consider at her leisure. He had hoped to kill two birds with one stone by involving Deerwalker in the conversation, but this meeting had gone on long enough.
<<@spring:: "Thanks for the information. Here is mine. If you find yourself in need of anything done quietly, give me a call - I know a few young problem solvers looking for work. I'm always looking for more, though, so if any of your clients is looking for work, feel free to pass this number along to them, too.">>
He sent it off, and while he was in his inbox, he decided he should reply to Rocky.
<<@Team:: "Sorry for the delay - Fort and I have been in a meeting. It sounds like things are going well. I've got a jammer and tag-eraser, so I'm not as worried about those, immediately. As for the saw, if it doesn't fit on the truck - even if we get our hands on it, we won't be able to bring it to the site, very well. It's critical equipment, though, so Sledge might have an idea how you normally transport them. Fort is going to be busy looking around for a half-hour or so, but if you need an extra pair of hands before he is free, let Sledge or I know. I think we've both got things we need to attend to otherwise, though, and Sledge will be a lot more useful than I will, when it comes to that sort of thing. Keep me informed, in any case.">>
Friday 8/22/70 22:37:20
Smith
PAN - Hidden
Smith collected spring's information, and was about to follow up with his lead into the conversation he had wanted to have - when she, taking their business to be concluded, walked away, joining Fortunato on the other side of the room, and talking in hushed tones. Smith smirked. He brought up a new message in his commlink, and left it for spring to consider at her leisure. He had hoped to kill two birds with one stone by involving Deerwalker in the conversation, but this meeting had gone on long enough.
<<@spring:: "Thanks for the information. Here is mine. If you find yourself in need of anything done quietly, give me a call - I know a few young problem solvers looking for work. I'm always looking for more, though, so if any of your clients is looking for work, feel free to pass this number along to them, too.">>
He sent it off, and while he was in his inbox, he decided he should reply to Rocky.
<<@Team:: "Sorry for the delay - Fort and I have been in a meeting. It sounds like things are going well. I've got a jammer and tag-eraser, so I'm not as worried about those, immediately. As for the saw, if it doesn't fit on the truck - even if we get our hands on it, we won't be able to bring it to the site, very well. It's critical equipment, though, so Sledge might have an idea how you normally transport them. Fort is going to be busy looking around for a half-hour or so, but if you need an extra pair of hands before he is free, let Sledge or I know. I think we've both got things we need to attend to otherwise, though, and Sledge will be a lot more useful than I will, when it comes to that sort of thing. Keep me informed, in any case.">>
The "Seep", Capitol Hill
Friday 8/22/70 22:37:20
As Smith made his commcall, spring and Fortunato were wrapping up their tete a tete. "No problem. Just give me a call if you're interested in an introduction," the masked woman said.
Friday 8/22/70 22:37:20
As Smith made his commcall, spring and Fortunato were wrapping up their tete a tete. "No problem. Just give me a call if you're interested in an introduction," the masked woman said.
Westwood, Downtown District, Seattle Metroplex
Friday 8/22/70 22:33:20
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden
Rocky and Angel stayed out of sight in the van as they waited for to see if they were going to get any help on picking up the needed equipment for the job.
As the time passed Rocky kept an eye on the feed Angel had provided from the site with the GPR they would need. After about ten minutes of waiting with no response Rocky decided they should get moving since they had a bit of a drive to make. "Lets go grab the truck and then we can meet Smith to get the fake docs for it."
Friday 8/22/70 22:37:50
They were still downtown when the message finally came in from Smith, after reading it over it seemed like he had made the right choice to get moving and started putting a message together to let him know the plan.
<<@Team: Angel and I are going to head back south so we can grab the transportation. Once we have it we'll check in and meet to get the tools we need for the rest of our pick ups. If someone wants to tag along the backup would be great. Any problems let us know.>>
Rocky just hopped he and Angel could pull the heist off on their own. "You going to be able to handle the electronic security on the truck if I can get in?" Angel nodded in the affirmative and then went back to her music. the short conversation, if you could call it that had got Rocky thinking, was he going to have to hotwire the truck, or would she be able to start it up and hand control over to him? With that in mind he pulled up his comm and started doing some searches looking for instructions on how to hotwire a car, this was going to be a new experience for him.
Friday 8/22/70 22:33:20
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden
Rocky and Angel stayed out of sight in the van as they waited for to see if they were going to get any help on picking up the needed equipment for the job.
As the time passed Rocky kept an eye on the feed Angel had provided from the site with the GPR they would need. After about ten minutes of waiting with no response Rocky decided they should get moving since they had a bit of a drive to make. "Lets go grab the truck and then we can meet Smith to get the fake docs for it."
Friday 8/22/70 22:37:50
They were still downtown when the message finally came in from Smith, after reading it over it seemed like he had made the right choice to get moving and started putting a message together to let him know the plan.
<<@Team: Angel and I are going to head back south so we can grab the transportation. Once we have it we'll check in and meet to get the tools we need for the rest of our pick ups. If someone wants to tag along the backup would be great. Any problems let us know.>>
Rocky just hopped he and Angel could pull the heist off on their own. "You going to be able to handle the electronic security on the truck if I can get in?" Angel nodded in the affirmative and then went back to her music. the short conversation, if you could call it that had got Rocky thinking, was he going to have to hotwire the truck, or would she be able to start it up and hand control over to him? With that in mind he pulled up his comm and started doing some searches looking for instructions on how to hotwire a car, this was going to be a new experience for him.
Westwood, Downtown District, Seattle Metroplex
Friday 8/22/70 22:35:02
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden
<<@Angel::>>
Rocky and Angel continued south out of the downtown district, letting the auto-nav do the driving so they would not attract any unwanted attention. Rocky knew the Star had not been there for them, but it still wasn't any fun having them that close. As the van plodded along Rocky started working through a plan to get the truck they were going to need. He just hopped Smith would be ready to make it disappear so he didn't end up in jail.
Boise, Auburn - Fringe of Enumclaw
Friday 8/22/70 23:47:52
The drive had taken a while but gone smoothly getting them back to where they had found the trucks with the best chance of them actually getting away with one. As they got closer, Angel slipped in to the matrix to work on getting them information on the site security and some video feeds of the area. Within a few minutes Rocky had a feed coming in to his comm with a few video feeds as well as a site plan, which included the location of all the vehicles and security personal. Once those feeds were available Rocky picked his target, which was a lone truck at the south end of the site with a few buildings and other equipment between it and the main part of the site. Knowing where the truck was allowed him to then work on how they were going to get away as quietly as possible and allow multiple options for escape routes. The main route he planned headed them straight for the Barrens. Maybe that will make them think twice about following, and if they do they'll get less support and give us more options if we have to dump it and run.
With the target chosen and an escape route set up the next step was getting in, looking over at Angel he tried to set up the next part of the plan. "Can you cause a false alarm in the security system that will draw the Knights to the north end of the site and make sure I don't leave a record on their camera systems?"
Angel thought about it for a minute and then shook her head in the negative, "I can do one or the other for sure, but trying both could cause both to fail." Rocky wasn't thrilled with the answer, but getting one part done for sure was better than nothing. "Ok, so we go for some hired help for the distraction."
It didn't take long this close to the barrens to find a group hanging around that might be up for a little chaos. Rocky stopped the van about 2 blocks from the group and turned to Angel, "Ok, I'm gonna see if I can get these dregs to provide a cheap distraction for us to get out job done. Once I'm out, take the van down the street and around the corner. I'll leave a channel open so you know whats going on. If something goes wrong I'll try to get to you, if I can't take off, and let Smith know what happened." Digging in to his pockets Rocky pulled his cash out and pull about 500:nuyen: out of the stack, the rest he put in his duffel bag. He shoved his spending money in his pocket and opened the van and climbed out, quickly closing the door and knocking on the side to let Angel know she was good to get moving.
As he stood there slowing stretching and standing at his full height, his body started started to protest. It wasn't enough to stop him but it did slow him down a little. Crap, why did doc ever have to give me those fucking pills. With a little work he was able to work the kinks out and get back in to control of his body. He slowly started walking toward the crowd, as he went he made sure his pistol was in its holster at the small of his back. He cracked all the knuckles on both hands and tried to get his stiff joints moving after being folded up in the back of the van for the evening.
Once he got about a block from the crowd they stopped talking and took a serious look at him as he approached. The group consisted of two orks, with two humans and what looked like a troll or another really big ork at the back of the group. Here goes nothing, fuck isn't this Smith's job? "Hoi chummers! Who wants to make some quick nuyen?" Rocky figured his best chance was to keep it simple and get straight to the point.
An ork wearing a leather jacket and carrying what appeared to be a baseball bat stepped up and glared at Rocky, "What you want Trog?"
"Its simple, even for you. I give you a stack of nuyen, and then you and your crew wander over to that new construction down the street and give the Knights something to worry about other than me and my crew." Rocky was really sure how it was going so far, but at least no one was swinging or shooting just yet.
The ork twirled the bat a bit as he acted like he was thinking about the offer. "What you offer'n?"
"Lets say 150:nuyen: for you and your crew, thats 30:nuyen: each for walking about 10 blocks and about 10 min of breaking shit, which I'm sure most of you would do for free if you didn't have to walk."
It looked like he had the orks attention, but was sure he wasn't going to get away with on 150 for the work, and wasn't even surprised at the counter of 500:nuyen:. They went back and forth for a few minutes and finally agreed on 300:nuyen: for the job. As he walked away Rocky hoped they would go through with it, he had to pay upfront so they wouldn't have to come back in the wrong direction when leaving the area.
Rocky was starting to fell better about this whole thing, he wasn't sure just he and Angel were going to actually be able to pull the job off, but they were making progress.
Friday 8/22/70 23:59:39
The plan had been for his new friends to go to work at midnight, which had given Rocky enough time to jog back to the van, which his body yelled about the whole time and then get over to the south side of the construction site.
He sat in the back of the van with the back doors open waiting for the noise to start. They were a couple minutes late, but the showed up and he could hear them from the three blocks the site stretched. With in another couple minutes he could see the indicators for the locations of the Knights moving away from him and toward his new friends, on the feed Angel had been able to set up. Then Rocky was on the move again, this time the complaints from his body were not as bad with the adrenalin that had started pumping through his system as he prepared to add grand theft to the list of crimes he had committed in the last three weeks since leaving his old life behind. FUCK! How can it have only been three weeks, it seemed like it had been years.
As he approached the gate he thought he heard a lock click as Angle came over the comm to let him know the electronic security was under control for the moment. Moving up to the gate he touched it lightly to make sure it didn't still have power to it. When his hair didn't stand on end, he got a solid grip on the gate and slowly rolled it open, doing his best to keep it quite. In the distance he could see their target, setting quietly aware it was about to go for a trip.
He did his best to stay to the shadows and tried not to knock anything over that might get someone's attention, not that it was real likely, he could hear the screams of his hired crew and the Knights as well. Looking the truck over from a distance he didn't see anyone around it, so he moved in. Walking around quickly he scanned for any easy found RFID tags which he saw none, but he did catch blocks behind the wheels which he pulled and set off out of the way.
<<@Angel::Can you open the door for me? Or am I breaking a window?>>
The only response Rocky got was the sound of the door lock popping open. "Wiz!" Things had actually started to quite down across the site so he really didn't want to start the truck just yet if he could help it.
<<@Angel::You going to be able to start it too? If so give me a minute to get it out to the street.>>
<<@Rocky::Just tell me when.>>
With that Rocky went to work, leaving the door open he moved around back to get a good grip, and put his back in to it. This was not a small truck, but after a few seconds it started to move. Once he had broken gravity's hold on it he started to move back toward the drivers side door, keeping pressure on it so it wouldn't stop rolling. Once at the door he took up a position where he had a good grip on the truck and could reach the steering wheel. With in a couple minutes he was passing back through the gate on to the street. AS he sent the go message to Angel he heard the tell tell sound of gun shots. Guess they didn't know how to keep it from escalating.
<<@Angel::Start it up!>>
With a roar the truck came to life and Rocky jumped up in to the cab, pulling the door closed behind him. The cab was not really set up for Trolls, but it had more space than the van did. He dropped the truck in to 2nd gear since it was already moving and headed down the street per the map on him comm link.
<<@Angel::Ok, hit the road and don't look back. I'll be right behind you.>>
Once he was a couple blocks from the site he sent a message out to the team.
<<@Team::Truck acquired, where we going to clean it? >>
Friday 8/22/70 22:35:02
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden
<<@Angel::>>
Rocky and Angel continued south out of the downtown district, letting the auto-nav do the driving so they would not attract any unwanted attention. Rocky knew the Star had not been there for them, but it still wasn't any fun having them that close. As the van plodded along Rocky started working through a plan to get the truck they were going to need. He just hopped Smith would be ready to make it disappear so he didn't end up in jail.
Boise, Auburn - Fringe of Enumclaw
Friday 8/22/70 23:47:52
The drive had taken a while but gone smoothly getting them back to where they had found the trucks with the best chance of them actually getting away with one. As they got closer, Angel slipped in to the matrix to work on getting them information on the site security and some video feeds of the area. Within a few minutes Rocky had a feed coming in to his comm with a few video feeds as well as a site plan, which included the location of all the vehicles and security personal. Once those feeds were available Rocky picked his target, which was a lone truck at the south end of the site with a few buildings and other equipment between it and the main part of the site. Knowing where the truck was allowed him to then work on how they were going to get away as quietly as possible and allow multiple options for escape routes. The main route he planned headed them straight for the Barrens. Maybe that will make them think twice about following, and if they do they'll get less support and give us more options if we have to dump it and run.
With the target chosen and an escape route set up the next step was getting in, looking over at Angel he tried to set up the next part of the plan. "Can you cause a false alarm in the security system that will draw the Knights to the north end of the site and make sure I don't leave a record on their camera systems?"
Angel thought about it for a minute and then shook her head in the negative, "I can do one or the other for sure, but trying both could cause both to fail." Rocky wasn't thrilled with the answer, but getting one part done for sure was better than nothing. "Ok, so we go for some hired help for the distraction."
It didn't take long this close to the barrens to find a group hanging around that might be up for a little chaos. Rocky stopped the van about 2 blocks from the group and turned to Angel, "Ok, I'm gonna see if I can get these dregs to provide a cheap distraction for us to get out job done. Once I'm out, take the van down the street and around the corner. I'll leave a channel open so you know whats going on. If something goes wrong I'll try to get to you, if I can't take off, and let Smith know what happened." Digging in to his pockets Rocky pulled his cash out and pull about 500:nuyen: out of the stack, the rest he put in his duffel bag. He shoved his spending money in his pocket and opened the van and climbed out, quickly closing the door and knocking on the side to let Angel know she was good to get moving.
As he stood there slowing stretching and standing at his full height, his body started started to protest. It wasn't enough to stop him but it did slow him down a little. Crap, why did doc ever have to give me those fucking pills. With a little work he was able to work the kinks out and get back in to control of his body. He slowly started walking toward the crowd, as he went he made sure his pistol was in its holster at the small of his back. He cracked all the knuckles on both hands and tried to get his stiff joints moving after being folded up in the back of the van for the evening.
Once he got about a block from the crowd they stopped talking and took a serious look at him as he approached. The group consisted of two orks, with two humans and what looked like a troll or another really big ork at the back of the group. Here goes nothing, fuck isn't this Smith's job? "Hoi chummers! Who wants to make some quick nuyen?" Rocky figured his best chance was to keep it simple and get straight to the point.
An ork wearing a leather jacket and carrying what appeared to be a baseball bat stepped up and glared at Rocky, "What you want Trog?"
"Its simple, even for you. I give you a stack of nuyen, and then you and your crew wander over to that new construction down the street and give the Knights something to worry about other than me and my crew." Rocky was really sure how it was going so far, but at least no one was swinging or shooting just yet.
The ork twirled the bat a bit as he acted like he was thinking about the offer. "What you offer'n?"
"Lets say 150:nuyen: for you and your crew, thats 30:nuyen: each for walking about 10 blocks and about 10 min of breaking shit, which I'm sure most of you would do for free if you didn't have to walk."
It looked like he had the orks attention, but was sure he wasn't going to get away with on 150 for the work, and wasn't even surprised at the counter of 500:nuyen:. They went back and forth for a few minutes and finally agreed on 300:nuyen: for the job. As he walked away Rocky hoped they would go through with it, he had to pay upfront so they wouldn't have to come back in the wrong direction when leaving the area.
Rocky was starting to fell better about this whole thing, he wasn't sure just he and Angel were going to actually be able to pull the job off, but they were making progress.
Friday 8/22/70 23:59:39
The plan had been for his new friends to go to work at midnight, which had given Rocky enough time to jog back to the van, which his body yelled about the whole time and then get over to the south side of the construction site.
He sat in the back of the van with the back doors open waiting for the noise to start. They were a couple minutes late, but the showed up and he could hear them from the three blocks the site stretched. With in another couple minutes he could see the indicators for the locations of the Knights moving away from him and toward his new friends, on the feed Angel had been able to set up. Then Rocky was on the move again, this time the complaints from his body were not as bad with the adrenalin that had started pumping through his system as he prepared to add grand theft to the list of crimes he had committed in the last three weeks since leaving his old life behind. FUCK! How can it have only been three weeks, it seemed like it had been years.
As he approached the gate he thought he heard a lock click as Angle came over the comm to let him know the electronic security was under control for the moment. Moving up to the gate he touched it lightly to make sure it didn't still have power to it. When his hair didn't stand on end, he got a solid grip on the gate and slowly rolled it open, doing his best to keep it quite. In the distance he could see their target, setting quietly aware it was about to go for a trip.
He did his best to stay to the shadows and tried not to knock anything over that might get someone's attention, not that it was real likely, he could hear the screams of his hired crew and the Knights as well. Looking the truck over from a distance he didn't see anyone around it, so he moved in. Walking around quickly he scanned for any easy found RFID tags which he saw none, but he did catch blocks behind the wheels which he pulled and set off out of the way.
<<@Angel::Can you open the door for me? Or am I breaking a window?>>
The only response Rocky got was the sound of the door lock popping open. "Wiz!" Things had actually started to quite down across the site so he really didn't want to start the truck just yet if he could help it.
<<@Angel::You going to be able to start it too? If so give me a minute to get it out to the street.>>
<<@Rocky::Just tell me when.>>
With that Rocky went to work, leaving the door open he moved around back to get a good grip, and put his back in to it. This was not a small truck, but after a few seconds it started to move. Once he had broken gravity's hold on it he started to move back toward the drivers side door, keeping pressure on it so it wouldn't stop rolling. Once at the door he took up a position where he had a good grip on the truck and could reach the steering wheel. With in a couple minutes he was passing back through the gate on to the street. AS he sent the go message to Angel he heard the tell tell sound of gun shots. Guess they didn't know how to keep it from escalating.
<<@Angel::Start it up!>>
With a roar the truck came to life and Rocky jumped up in to the cab, pulling the door closed behind him. The cab was not really set up for Trolls, but it had more space than the van did. He dropped the truck in to 2nd gear since it was already moving and headed down the street per the map on him comm link.
<<@Angel::Ok, hit the road and don't look back. I'll be right behind you.>>
Once he was a couple blocks from the site he sent a message out to the team.
<<@Team::Truck acquired, where we going to clean it? >>
The "Seep", Capitol Hill
Friday 8/22/70 22:37:20
Fortunato
PAN - Passive
Astrally Perceiving
Fortunato nodded and walked out of the store. Outside he dropped astral perception almost immediately and guided Smith around a corner.
"If you want to stay in touch with me, say my name followed by whatever message you need to get to me. Sound good. Now hold on a minute."
Focusing for a moment, Fortunato pulled a watcher spirit from the aether and instructed it to follow Johnson and to relay messages that began with his name to him. He wiped his signature.
"This should work for two hours. I should be back in touch by normal methods then, so this should be about it."
Walking onto the street, Fortunato hailed a cab.
Friday 8/22/70 22:37:20
Fortunato
PAN - Passive
Astrally Perceiving
Fortunato nodded and walked out of the store. Outside he dropped astral perception almost immediately and guided Smith around a corner.
"If you want to stay in touch with me, say my name followed by whatever message you need to get to me. Sound good. Now hold on a minute."
Focusing for a moment, Fortunato pulled a watcher spirit from the aether and instructed it to follow Johnson and to relay messages that began with his name to him. He wiped his signature.
"This should work for two hours. I should be back in touch by normal methods then, so this should be about it."
Walking onto the street, Fortunato hailed a cab.
The "Seep", Capitol Hill
Friday 8/22/70 22:41:50
Smith
PAN - Hidden
Smith nodded, and as soon as Fortunato was off in his taxi, he headed back into the shop to check up on Deerwalker. As he opened the door he mumbled quietly, "Fortuanto. Testing. 1. 2. 3." Smith smirked, and didn't really expect a reply.
Inside, he made smalltalk with both Deerwalker and spring for a few more minutes before offering to take Deerwalker home - as he had one more meeting to make tonight, and was told to come alone. She tactfully declined, as she and spring had already begun making plans, which suited Adam just fine. A few more minutes of goodbyes, and confirmation that his earlier text message was received, and that spring would stay in touch, and Adam found himself out on the road again.
He fired off another message to his mystery mechanic. [color=yellow]<<@Anonymous:: En route to Starbucks. Can you still meet me in, say, a half hour?>> Adam was pleased to note, as he constructed his message, and consulted his MapSoft, that not having to return Deerwalker to her place saved him a significant amount of time. Despite confidence in his estimate, he wanted to get there sooner, rather than later.
Friday 8/22/70 22:41:50
Smith
PAN - Hidden
Smith nodded, and as soon as Fortunato was off in his taxi, he headed back into the shop to check up on Deerwalker. As he opened the door he mumbled quietly, "Fortuanto. Testing. 1. 2. 3." Smith smirked, and didn't really expect a reply.
Inside, he made smalltalk with both Deerwalker and spring for a few more minutes before offering to take Deerwalker home - as he had one more meeting to make tonight, and was told to come alone. She tactfully declined, as she and spring had already begun making plans, which suited Adam just fine. A few more minutes of goodbyes, and confirmation that his earlier text message was received, and that spring would stay in touch, and Adam found himself out on the road again.
He fired off another message to his mystery mechanic. [color=yellow]<<@Anonymous:: En route to Starbucks. Can you still meet me in, say, a half hour?>> Adam was pleased to note, as he constructed his message, and consulted his MapSoft, that not having to return Deerwalker to her place saved him a significant amount of time. Despite confidence in his estimate, he wanted to get there sooner, rather than later.
"Nowhere"
Friday 8/22/70 23:33:51
Adam had gotten an curt but affirmative response on his rescheduling of the meet, along with the reminder to come alone and the warning to expect to take a ride.
He made it to the coffee franchise in plenty of time - it was a hop, skip and a jump from Capital Hill - and seated himself in the window with something warm to drink.
Right on time a small and beat up van pulled up directly in front of where he was sitting, an Asian human behind the wheel waving him out. The Goblin Rock hammering its way out of the vehicle made the coffee bar's plate glass windows shudder. It wasn't exactly as planned, but he went with it.
Once in the shotgun seat, the driver offhandedly tossed a wad of heavy black nylon into Adam's lap. Stopped at a red light, the Asian man said: "If you wanna do biz homes, you put it on."
Holding it up, Adam recognized the item as a so-called magemask. It would render him blind and use white sound in his ears to keep him from getting any aural clues about where he was - as if the screeching trogs on the van's amped up speakers couldn't handle that just fine.
With a shrug, the young man put the thing on and sat back for the ride. By now he was getting very used to this sort of treatment. Indeed, it seemed to be sort of a standard MO for these sorts of meets, at least when he needed the other party more than they needed him. Someday, maybe the roles would be reversed.
This time, however, instead of stopping on a nice suburban street, after about ten minutes it felt like the van was crunching its way over something unpaved - maybe a service road - a park? They rolled to a stop and someone turned off the white sound on the mage mask.
The ork-art cacophany was still going strong. The hood came off.
He was alone in the cab of the van with the Asian man. The windows were all polarized...from the inside-out. He couldn't see outside at all.
"You can call me Eddie. We talk biz here. If it sounds like we can be of some use to each other, we'll take things from there."
Friday 8/22/70 23:33:51
Adam had gotten an curt but affirmative response on his rescheduling of the meet, along with the reminder to come alone and the warning to expect to take a ride.
He made it to the coffee franchise in plenty of time - it was a hop, skip and a jump from Capital Hill - and seated himself in the window with something warm to drink.
Right on time a small and beat up van pulled up directly in front of where he was sitting, an Asian human behind the wheel waving him out. The Goblin Rock hammering its way out of the vehicle made the coffee bar's plate glass windows shudder. It wasn't exactly as planned, but he went with it.
Once in the shotgun seat, the driver offhandedly tossed a wad of heavy black nylon into Adam's lap. Stopped at a red light, the Asian man said: "If you wanna do biz homes, you put it on."
Holding it up, Adam recognized the item as a so-called magemask. It would render him blind and use white sound in his ears to keep him from getting any aural clues about where he was - as if the screeching trogs on the van's amped up speakers couldn't handle that just fine.
With a shrug, the young man put the thing on and sat back for the ride. By now he was getting very used to this sort of treatment. Indeed, it seemed to be sort of a standard MO for these sorts of meets, at least when he needed the other party more than they needed him. Someday, maybe the roles would be reversed.
This time, however, instead of stopping on a nice suburban street, after about ten minutes it felt like the van was crunching its way over something unpaved - maybe a service road - a park? They rolled to a stop and someone turned off the white sound on the mage mask.
The ork-art cacophany was still going strong. The hood came off.
He was alone in the cab of the van with the Asian man. The windows were all polarized...from the inside-out. He couldn't see outside at all.
"You can call me Eddie. We talk biz here. If it sounds like we can be of some use to each other, we'll take things from there."
"Nowhere"
Friday 8/22/70 23:35:30
Smith
PAN - Hidden
"Eddie. Glad to meet you." Smith offered his hand, and a smile. "Call me Smith."
"As for how useful we might be to one another, I'll let you decide."
"Short term. I'm looking for some do-it-yourself kits - license-plates that change, microchips to foil the GridGuide, that sort of thing - plus whatever tools we would need to install them, and possibly re-install them. I was told to talk to you."
Smith glanced at the Asian appraisingly, trying to judge if this was a fence or a mechanic, "... That said, if you know a mechanic that can work fast, and not ask a lot of questions, I think, longer term, I would have a lot of work for such a person. I've got two vehicles collecting dust, that I no longer feel safe in - and a third one on the way. There is some minor bullet damage on one of them. That sort of thing."
"Anyway, that is how you could help me. Aside from paying you for your services, is there anything I could do to help you?"
Friday 8/22/70 23:35:30
Smith
PAN - Hidden
"Eddie. Glad to meet you." Smith offered his hand, and a smile. "Call me Smith."
"As for how useful we might be to one another, I'll let you decide."
"Short term. I'm looking for some do-it-yourself kits - license-plates that change, microchips to foil the GridGuide, that sort of thing - plus whatever tools we would need to install them, and possibly re-install them. I was told to talk to you."
Smith glanced at the Asian appraisingly, trying to judge if this was a fence or a mechanic, "... That said, if you know a mechanic that can work fast, and not ask a lot of questions, I think, longer term, I would have a lot of work for such a person. I've got two vehicles collecting dust, that I no longer feel safe in - and a third one on the way. There is some minor bullet damage on one of them. That sort of thing."
"Anyway, that is how you could help me. Aside from paying you for your services, is there anything I could do to help you?"
Karnivore Karl's
Friday 8/22/70 22:06:06
Sledge - Hunter Hunted
PAN - Hidden
She couldn't believe it.
Carbon nano tubes laid out in micron thin layers slid over each other and transferred the kinetic energy into a new vector instantaneously over an area logarithmically larger then the carbon steel knife edge. The metric tonnes per cm squared of impact energy diluted to almost nothing. Almost nothing in comparison to the initial force, but still strong enough to send a shockwave shredding through her left shoulder blade and release a spray of ruptured cellular material through out a full muscle group.
Big Jimmy was making the play on her.
The blow from behind knocked her forward, and in the same motion she stepped into his reach, a trick she learned long long ago, snap dropped her hand to her waist pocket and as the taser slid out smoothly, she pulled the trigger. From this range it was going to be hard to miss. A few kilojoules of stored electrical energy discharged in a few milliseconds.
Big Jimmy wasn't taking no for an answer.
She followed the shot with an extended lunge, but the troll brushed the contact points past his torso. For a moment she resisted the motion, but then a twinge reminded her she had someone else there and she stepped into her lunge again, carrying herself away from the knife edge slashing across her exposed back.
Big Jimmy didn't know when to stop.
Stepping around and under, her boosted reflexes slowed it all into a crawl as she planted the taser against his torso and snapped the trigger again.
Big Jimmy tumbled down.
She grabbed the wrench in her other hand and ripped it out of the trolls grip as he convulsed down and went slack, snarling in rage she glared over his body as her other assailant lunged over and stabbed into her midsection. The angle was all wrong, and the armored folds of her suit twisted the energy away.
"... run ..."
A few thousand kilojoules discharged across the tip of the wrench and taser contacts in a miniature bolt of lightning illuminating the scene. Her snarling teeth and rage lit up as she focused on the opponent visible past her ready weapons.
"... while you can..."
Two deep breaths later, Sledge relaxed, and after checking the troll was still breathing, she keyed his commlink and left a message.
"I'm letting you -walk-... you understand."
Message left, Sledge laid down the wrench, reloaded and set away the taser, then started heading back up the tunnel to deal with whatever was going to happen next.
Vut... what a mess... Monica... someone's gonna get seriously hurt for this
Friday 8/22/70 22:06:06
Sledge - Hunter Hunted
PAN - Hidden
She couldn't believe it.
Carbon nano tubes laid out in micron thin layers slid over each other and transferred the kinetic energy into a new vector instantaneously over an area logarithmically larger then the carbon steel knife edge. The metric tonnes per cm squared of impact energy diluted to almost nothing. Almost nothing in comparison to the initial force, but still strong enough to send a shockwave shredding through her left shoulder blade and release a spray of ruptured cellular material through out a full muscle group.
Big Jimmy was making the play on her.
The blow from behind knocked her forward, and in the same motion she stepped into his reach, a trick she learned long long ago, snap dropped her hand to her waist pocket and as the taser slid out smoothly, she pulled the trigger. From this range it was going to be hard to miss. A few kilojoules of stored electrical energy discharged in a few milliseconds.
Big Jimmy wasn't taking no for an answer.
She followed the shot with an extended lunge, but the troll brushed the contact points past his torso. For a moment she resisted the motion, but then a twinge reminded her she had someone else there and she stepped into her lunge again, carrying herself away from the knife edge slashing across her exposed back.
Big Jimmy didn't know when to stop.
Stepping around and under, her boosted reflexes slowed it all into a crawl as she planted the taser against his torso and snapped the trigger again.
Big Jimmy tumbled down.
She grabbed the wrench in her other hand and ripped it out of the trolls grip as he convulsed down and went slack, snarling in rage she glared over his body as her other assailant lunged over and stabbed into her midsection. The angle was all wrong, and the armored folds of her suit twisted the energy away.
"... run ..."
A few thousand kilojoules discharged across the tip of the wrench and taser contacts in a miniature bolt of lightning illuminating the scene. Her snarling teeth and rage lit up as she focused on the opponent visible past her ready weapons.
"... while you can..."
Two deep breaths later, Sledge relaxed, and after checking the troll was still breathing, she keyed his commlink and left a message.
"I'm letting you -walk-... you understand."
Message left, Sledge laid down the wrench, reloaded and set away the taser, then started heading back up the tunnel to deal with whatever was going to happen next.
Vut... what a mess... Monica... someone's gonna get seriously hurt for this
Karnivore Karl's
Friday 8/22/70 22:07:00
By the time Sledge finished with Big Jimmy, her other assailant - the EMT - was long gone. Heading back through the kitchen, she was studiously ignored by the crew there, and in no time she was back in the customer-friendly chaos of the ork eatery.
She was hungry. Time to order takeout.
Friday 8/22/70 22:07:00
By the time Sledge finished with Big Jimmy, her other assailant - the EMT - was long gone. Heading back through the kitchen, she was studiously ignored by the crew there, and in no time she was back in the customer-friendly chaos of the ork eatery.
She was hungry. Time to order takeout.
"Nowhere"
Friday 8/22/70 11:36:03
Looking closely at the other fellow, the fence/mechanic question was easily answered by the grease-encrusted fingernails and the multi-tool hanging from a belt notch. The callouses on his hands said he used them. But maybe he was a fence, too.
The young Asian nodded repeatedly, acknowledging Johnson's words. "Do for me?" he responded, "be safe, be reliable, that's all I can ask. Stuff you want isn't that hard to come by, but it's not cheap. Star hates that stuff worse than guns, so there's a premium carrying charge, more if you want installation. But if you're serious about doing business, I can help you. Plates are two-K-per, chips one-K. Tools I'd throw in for free. You need it, now or later, I can offer full service on civilian and commercial vehicles. Not set up for the heavy stuff."
Friday 8/22/70 11:36:03
Looking closely at the other fellow, the fence/mechanic question was easily answered by the grease-encrusted fingernails and the multi-tool hanging from a belt notch. The callouses on his hands said he used them. But maybe he was a fence, too.
The young Asian nodded repeatedly, acknowledging Johnson's words. "Do for me?" he responded, "be safe, be reliable, that's all I can ask. Stuff you want isn't that hard to come by, but it's not cheap. Star hates that stuff worse than guns, so there's a premium carrying charge, more if you want installation. But if you're serious about doing business, I can help you. Plates are two-K-per, chips one-K. Tools I'd throw in for free. You need it, now or later, I can offer full service on civilian and commercial vehicles. Not set up for the heavy stuff."
"Nowhere"
Friday 8/22/70 23:36:40
Smith
PAN - Hidden
Smith smiled, as well. "No heavy stuff - a bike, a van, maybe a commercial truck." He paused for a moment, wondering if the construction vehicle was going to qualify as 'heavy', or not. It didn't really matter, they were probably going to ditch it after this mission, anyway. He decided to take the opportunity to make his pause look like he was considering whether or not he was willing to pay the mechanic's asking price. "I'd like to order two plates with chips, but 6-kay seems a little steep, even if I have to do all the work myself." Smith had this way of considering an offer that made it clear that he was still interested, but needed a better offer. "I get that you take a lot of risks... that's how I operate, too... but, I mean, isn't the whole point of those toys to keep you off of the Star's radar."
Smith glanced around, feigning slight concern, as though he was getting slightly cold feet. "If you've got the Star all up in your business... maybe they don't work as well as I had heard." The trick, Smith thought, was to read the mark, and push them just enough to get them defensive - but not so much that they take their ball and go home. Smith knew the Asian mechanic took his security very seriously, and he hoped to give the impression that the his comment about the Star had cast doubt on his ability to operate inconspicuously. He was careful not to take the ruse too far - he didn't want to offend him by saying he didn't want to deal with somebody who had the Star's attention. He just hoped to get the mechanic to admit that he didn't have a problem with the Star, so he would have to bring the price down a little bit.
Friday 8/22/70 23:36:40
Smith
PAN - Hidden
Smith smiled, as well. "No heavy stuff - a bike, a van, maybe a commercial truck." He paused for a moment, wondering if the construction vehicle was going to qualify as 'heavy', or not. It didn't really matter, they were probably going to ditch it after this mission, anyway. He decided to take the opportunity to make his pause look like he was considering whether or not he was willing to pay the mechanic's asking price. "I'd like to order two plates with chips, but 6-kay seems a little steep, even if I have to do all the work myself." Smith had this way of considering an offer that made it clear that he was still interested, but needed a better offer. "I get that you take a lot of risks... that's how I operate, too... but, I mean, isn't the whole point of those toys to keep you off of the Star's radar."
Smith glanced around, feigning slight concern, as though he was getting slightly cold feet. "If you've got the Star all up in your business... maybe they don't work as well as I had heard." The trick, Smith thought, was to read the mark, and push them just enough to get them defensive - but not so much that they take their ball and go home. Smith knew the Asian mechanic took his security very seriously, and he hoped to give the impression that the his comment about the Star had cast doubt on his ability to operate inconspicuously. He was careful not to take the ruse too far - he didn't want to offend him by saying he didn't want to deal with somebody who had the Star's attention. He just hoped to get the mechanic to admit that he didn't have a problem with the Star, so he would have to bring the price down a little bit.
Primary escape route
Saturday 8/23/70 00:00:08
Rocky felt like he was barely off the starting blocks - or, for his sport, barely out of his corner - when he heard sirens on two sides. They were obviously converging on their general location.
Knowing he couldn't outrun them in this thing - and he couldn't hope to ram allof them - he decided to play it cool just like at the convenience store. And sure enough, one moment a couple of cruisers were screaming straight towards him, and the next moment they had whizzed past, sirens dopplering off in the direction of the construction site.
But he knew he only had as long as it took for someone to notice the truck was missing, and then every traffic sensor is town would be tracking them. Couldn't take them all out; even Angel could never hack every single one as they approached it. they didn't have the right tech to smack down the RFIDs they assumed were scattered through the rig's guts. And then it came to him: if you can't hide, you've got to make sure no one is looking for you.
A quick conversation with the little elf girl and five seconds later she told him the truck had been removed from the site's equipment manifests.
Still, sooner or later some meatbag with an actual brain and eyes was going to notice it was gone....
Saturday 8/23/70 00:00:08
Rocky felt like he was barely off the starting blocks - or, for his sport, barely out of his corner - when he heard sirens on two sides. They were obviously converging on their general location.
Knowing he couldn't outrun them in this thing - and he couldn't hope to ram allof them - he decided to play it cool just like at the convenience store. And sure enough, one moment a couple of cruisers were screaming straight towards him, and the next moment they had whizzed past, sirens dopplering off in the direction of the construction site.
But he knew he only had as long as it took for someone to notice the truck was missing, and then every traffic sensor is town would be tracking them. Couldn't take them all out; even Angel could never hack every single one as they approached it. they didn't have the right tech to smack down the RFIDs they assumed were scattered through the rig's guts. And then it came to him: if you can't hide, you've got to make sure no one is looking for you.
A quick conversation with the little elf girl and five seconds later she told him the truck had been removed from the site's equipment manifests.
Still, sooner or later some meatbag with an actual brain and eyes was going to notice it was gone....
"Nowhere"
Friday 8/22/70 23:37:02
Eddie just kept nodding throughout Johnson's speech. Smiling and nodding, nodding and smiling. When the college student finished his counter, the young Asian made a pillow with his hands and put his head back against the side of the van's interior. It was the first time he'd stopped nodding, but he was smiling even bigger. "Hey, glad to see you're not a chump. Means you might stay alive long enough to be a good repeat customer."
He sat forward again and resumed nodding, but different this time, sort of introspectively, as if agreeing with himself. "Four and a half for the package." He grinned like a Chinese Cheshire Cat and put out his dirty hand to shake on the deal.
Friday 8/22/70 23:37:02
Eddie just kept nodding throughout Johnson's speech. Smiling and nodding, nodding and smiling. When the college student finished his counter, the young Asian made a pillow with his hands and put his head back against the side of the van's interior. It was the first time he'd stopped nodding, but he was smiling even bigger. "Hey, glad to see you're not a chump. Means you might stay alive long enough to be a good repeat customer."
He sat forward again and resumed nodding, but different this time, sort of introspectively, as if agreeing with himself. "Four and a half for the package." He grinned like a Chinese Cheshire Cat and put out his dirty hand to shake on the deal.
"Nowhere"
Friday 8/22/70 23:37:20
Smith
PAN - Hidden
Smith held out his hand, but before he shook on it, he said, "I hope to live long enough to be a return customer, too." He winked, "I'm glad I inspire confidence."
He took the hand and shook it. "Okay, four and a half. I guess we'll do the install ourselves. I think we've got the know-how for a job like this, but, if I am mistaken, is the number I have for you the best way to keep in touch?"
Friday 8/22/70 23:37:20
Smith
PAN - Hidden
Smith held out his hand, but before he shook on it, he said, "I hope to live long enough to be a return customer, too." He winked, "I'm glad I inspire confidence."
He took the hand and shook it. "Okay, four and a half. I guess we'll do the install ourselves. I think we've got the know-how for a job like this, but, if I am mistaken, is the number I have for you the best way to keep in touch?"
"Nowhere"
Friday 8/22/70 23:37:40
Smith got his first "no" of the evening, although the man pretty much kept nodding. "Naw man, here's a new one. This is to the shop, and it's only used by previous customers. That way, if I'm not there one of my boys can help you out. Now come on up front and we'll hammer out the details while I drive you back to civilization."
No hood this time. They were only about two minutes from downtown, in an isolated section of a park just east of Lake Union. As they discussed payment and delivery, Smith couldn't help but notice that despite all this new-found trust, there was no mention of actually going to the shop.
Friday 8/22/70 23:37:40
Smith got his first "no" of the evening, although the man pretty much kept nodding. "Naw man, here's a new one. This is to the shop, and it's only used by previous customers. That way, if I'm not there one of my boys can help you out. Now come on up front and we'll hammer out the details while I drive you back to civilization."
No hood this time. They were only about two minutes from downtown, in an isolated section of a park just east of Lake Union. As they discussed payment and delivery, Smith couldn't help but notice that despite all this new-found trust, there was no mention of actually going to the shop.
Seattle Streets
Friday 8/22/70 23:59:45
Sledge - Prowling
PAN - Hidden
Mind blank, it took the arrival of the take out packages to make her realize she'd been staring at the same three ARO plates, the same ones she'd just ordered, for the last twenty minutes. Disgusted with herself she slung the carry straps over her shoulder and headed out again. Her comm kept happily lying about who she was all through the mall and out through the streets. All through loading her bike, cruising through town, and heading out in the general direction of the damned trogs. Well, only one left now.
.. vut ... this looks good...
She'd finally been able to turn off her comm broadcast and immediately felt better.
Sledge pulled over, parked the hog, and got off, carefully threading the head of her hammer onto the handle. The vehicle was stripped, up on blocks, and in this part of town, no one was going to come tow the carcass away.
Twenty minutes, a few centilitres of sweat, burning muscles, and a pile of compressed jackrabbit sheet steel later she stopped.
<<@Team::Truck acquired, where we going to clean it? >>
... back to work...
<<@Team:: bringing 20 kilos of ribs and soybeers. eta 13>>
Friday 8/22/70 23:59:45
Sledge - Prowling
PAN - Hidden
Mind blank, it took the arrival of the take out packages to make her realize she'd been staring at the same three ARO plates, the same ones she'd just ordered, for the last twenty minutes. Disgusted with herself she slung the carry straps over her shoulder and headed out again. Her comm kept happily lying about who she was all through the mall and out through the streets. All through loading her bike, cruising through town, and heading out in the general direction of the damned trogs. Well, only one left now.
.. vut ... this looks good...
She'd finally been able to turn off her comm broadcast and immediately felt better.
Sledge pulled over, parked the hog, and got off, carefully threading the head of her hammer onto the handle. The vehicle was stripped, up on blocks, and in this part of town, no one was going to come tow the carcass away.
Twenty minutes, a few centilitres of sweat, burning muscles, and a pile of compressed jackrabbit sheet steel later she stopped.
<<@Team::Truck acquired, where we going to clean it? >>
... back to work...
<<@Team:: bringing 20 kilos of ribs and soybeers. eta 13>>
Downtown
Friday 8/22/70 23:59:50
Smith
PAN - Hidden
After being escorted safely back to Starbucks, Smith transfered the agreed upon amount of money, with the understanding that the rest would be delivered when the items were, which the mechanic assured him would be within the hour. Not wanting to meet up with the team, only to have to come back this way to pick up the goods, Smith decided to head inside, get a cup of something expensive, and listen to some music, or do some random socializing while he waited.
He wasn't disappointed. A half-hour later, he got the call, and headed outside, where he hopped into the same van. Moments later, he emerged with a nondescript brown box, and a big smile. While he was in there, it sounded like the rest of the team had achieved some notable milestone as well. He put together a quick message.
<<@Team:: "Plates and chips in hand. I also got the necessary tools for a do-it-yourself job. I haven't looked at it yet, but I think between the 4 of us, we should be able to get it connected to the onboard computer without too much trouble. Where would you like to meet? I'll get my equipment, and we can take care of any tags at the same time that we're doing the mod-job.">>
Friday 8/22/70 23:59:50
Smith
PAN - Hidden
After being escorted safely back to Starbucks, Smith transfered the agreed upon amount of money, with the understanding that the rest would be delivered when the items were, which the mechanic assured him would be within the hour. Not wanting to meet up with the team, only to have to come back this way to pick up the goods, Smith decided to head inside, get a cup of something expensive, and listen to some music, or do some random socializing while he waited.
He wasn't disappointed. A half-hour later, he got the call, and headed outside, where he hopped into the same van. Moments later, he emerged with a nondescript brown box, and a big smile. While he was in there, it sounded like the rest of the team had achieved some notable milestone as well. He put together a quick message.
<<@Team:: "Plates and chips in hand. I also got the necessary tools for a do-it-yourself job. I haven't looked at it yet, but I think between the 4 of us, we should be able to get it connected to the onboard computer without too much trouble. Where would you like to meet? I'll get my equipment, and we can take care of any tags at the same time that we're doing the mod-job.">>
Greg's Doss, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 23:00:00
Fortunato - Support Mage
PAN - Passive (Contacts, Earbuds, Smartlink)
Astrally Inactive
Arriving in the apartment Greg cast off his coat, landing it with surprising accuracy on a coat hook. He unbuttoned his sleeves and rolled them up to his elbows. His bed was slightly unmade, he made a point of smoothing the sheets, making it pristine. He took a deep breath and perceived, diving into astral and shattering the smooth gray world that surrounded him. The walls were all still shifting in a slow circle. The fixtures of the room stayed in the same spot, creating a pattern that crawled sideways.
The astral was always scary and unknown. Nothing good came from it -- just angry fire elementals, Lone Star Cops, portents and strange colors. And now snakes, he guessed. He was banking on the snakes, this time. He lay slowly on the bed and closed his eyes casting himself into the astral.
The peacoat that followed him everywhere on this plane was lined with snakeskin.
The Astral Plane
Friday 8/22/70 23:38:00
Astrally Projecting
His trip to the target building was uneventful as was his exploration A single bored guard covered a facility devoid of magical security. Good news.
Fortunato found his body and settled into it before firing off a message.
<<@Team: Did my task. Tell you results in person, but my angle is looking pretty good. Give me location to meet up.>>
Friday 8/22/70 23:00:00
Fortunato - Support Mage
PAN - Passive (Contacts, Earbuds, Smartlink)
Astrally Inactive
Arriving in the apartment Greg cast off his coat, landing it with surprising accuracy on a coat hook. He unbuttoned his sleeves and rolled them up to his elbows. His bed was slightly unmade, he made a point of smoothing the sheets, making it pristine. He took a deep breath and perceived, diving into astral and shattering the smooth gray world that surrounded him. The walls were all still shifting in a slow circle. The fixtures of the room stayed in the same spot, creating a pattern that crawled sideways.
The astral was always scary and unknown. Nothing good came from it -- just angry fire elementals, Lone Star Cops, portents and strange colors. And now snakes, he guessed. He was banking on the snakes, this time. He lay slowly on the bed and closed his eyes casting himself into the astral.
The peacoat that followed him everywhere on this plane was lined with snakeskin.
The Astral Plane
Friday 8/22/70 23:38:00
Astrally Projecting
His trip to the target building was uneventful as was his exploration A single bored guard covered a facility devoid of magical security. Good news.
Fortunato found his body and settled into it before firing off a message.
<<@Team: Did my task. Tell you results in person, but my angle is looking pretty good. Give me location to meet up.>>
Primary escape route
Saturday 8/23/70 00:05:32
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden
Rocky was still riding on the wave of adrenalin, much like he used to after a fight. It had been a rush slipping in to the construction lot and getting out with the truck. The appearance of the other Knights or maybe Star had pushed the wave even higher. Things were starting to slow down now and he had caught up with Angel in the van and sent her a quick message.
<<@Angel:: Do me a favor and see if you can find a good out of the way spot close by we can meet the team and get this thing cleaned up. Maybe a truck stop or something like Sledge suggested. Let everyone know where to head and I'll follow you.>>
Rocky figured her comm system would be more secure than his and it would let him focus on driving.
Saturday 8/23/70 00:05:32
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden
Rocky was still riding on the wave of adrenalin, much like he used to after a fight. It had been a rush slipping in to the construction lot and getting out with the truck. The appearance of the other Knights or maybe Star had pushed the wave even higher. Things were starting to slow down now and he had caught up with Angel in the van and sent her a quick message.
<<@Angel:: Do me a favor and see if you can find a good out of the way spot close by we can meet the team and get this thing cleaned up. Maybe a truck stop or something like Sledge suggested. Let everyone know where to head and I'll follow you.>>
Rocky figured her comm system would be more secure than his and it would let him focus on driving.
Primary escape route
Saturday 8/23/70 00:05:52
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden
As Rocky kept his eyes on the road and ears open for the sounds of approaching sirens he saw the requested message come across to the team.
<<@Team:: Meet: Joe's Gas & Sleep, Junction of 164 (Auburn Way) & 18; ETA 20 min. >>
At the same time a second message appeared with a map and the route outlined they would be taking. Rocky was happy to see it was not going to be a direct route and that it would stick to less used roads, hopefully making it easier to slip further away unnoticed.
Saturday 8/23/70 00:05:52
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden
As Rocky kept his eyes on the road and ears open for the sounds of approaching sirens he saw the requested message come across to the team.
<<@Team:: Meet: Joe's Gas & Sleep, Junction of 164 (Auburn Way) & 18; ETA 20 min. >>
At the same time a second message appeared with a map and the route outlined they would be taking. Rocky was happy to see it was not going to be a direct route and that it would stick to less used roads, hopefully making it easier to slip further away unnoticed.
Joe's Gas & Sleep
Saturday 8/23/70 00:20:10
Fortunato - Support Mage
PAN - Passive (Contacts, Earbuds, Smartlink)
Astrally Inactive
Fortunato had busied himself with cooking a small meal of watery noodles on the camp stove he kept in the apartment. The fire hazard was outweighed heavily by what he saved on food. He munched the mildly crunchy spaghetti soup and stowed his propane tanks before thoughts of the wicker basket in the corner crossed his mind. He opened it up and received a blast of musty, heavily spiced air. Inspiration struck him. He immediately headed to the Stuffer down the street and purchased a box of 200 eye hooks. He was contemplating how best to implement his plan when Rocky's message reached him.
He typed quickly <<@Team: En route -- see you there.>>
He closed the basket, set the eye hooks on top and headed out of the apartment. His cab was blissfully automated and his arrival uneventful. The stop was a standard turnpike gas station with a line of big rigs out front, guzzling diesel from the ground. The one-story, formerly whitewashed but now browning gas station squatted in the distnce, backlit by the endless traffic of the junction. A few traffic drones flitted in the distance, which temporarily unnerved the spell slinger.
He settled in to wait for the team.
Saturday 8/23/70 00:20:10
Fortunato - Support Mage
PAN - Passive (Contacts, Earbuds, Smartlink)
Astrally Inactive
Fortunato had busied himself with cooking a small meal of watery noodles on the camp stove he kept in the apartment. The fire hazard was outweighed heavily by what he saved on food. He munched the mildly crunchy spaghetti soup and stowed his propane tanks before thoughts of the wicker basket in the corner crossed his mind. He opened it up and received a blast of musty, heavily spiced air. Inspiration struck him. He immediately headed to the Stuffer down the street and purchased a box of 200 eye hooks. He was contemplating how best to implement his plan when Rocky's message reached him.
He typed quickly <<@Team: En route -- see you there.>>
He closed the basket, set the eye hooks on top and headed out of the apartment. His cab was blissfully automated and his arrival uneventful. The stop was a standard turnpike gas station with a line of big rigs out front, guzzling diesel from the ground. The one-story, formerly whitewashed but now browning gas station squatted in the distnce, backlit by the endless traffic of the junction. A few traffic drones flitted in the distance, which temporarily unnerved the spell slinger.
He settled in to wait for the team.
Joe's Gas & Sleep
Saturday 8/23/70 00:25:10
Smith
PAN - Hidden
It didn't take long for Smith to cross town with his box of new toys strapped to to the back-seat of his bike. The music in his helmet drown out the monotonous drone of late-night travel, and he arrived, uneventfully, about a half-hour later. He had no idea which of the trucks was "theirs," but noticed Fortunato waiting patiently, and idled his bike over to him. "Any word from anyone else?" he asked - mostly making small-talk. He was eager to try his hand at soldering the spoof-chip to his own bike, but had decided on the way over to offer the spare to the Love Machine, first, in case the mission could use another ride. So, he had to wait.
Saturday 8/23/70 00:25:10
Smith
PAN - Hidden
It didn't take long for Smith to cross town with his box of new toys strapped to to the back-seat of his bike. The music in his helmet drown out the monotonous drone of late-night travel, and he arrived, uneventfully, about a half-hour later. He had no idea which of the trucks was "theirs," but noticed Fortunato waiting patiently, and idled his bike over to him. "Any word from anyone else?" he asked - mostly making small-talk. He was eager to try his hand at soldering the spoof-chip to his own bike, but had decided on the way over to offer the spare to the Love Machine, first, in case the mission could use another ride. So, he had to wait.
Joe's Gas & Sleep
Saturday 8/23/70 00:25:10
Fortunato - Support Mage
PAN - Passive (Contacts, Earbuds, Smartlink)
Astrally Inactive
"Haven't seen them yet, word had it that wings were on the way." Fortunato said from the bench he'd been sitting on.
As if on cue, the steady puttering of Sledge's hog was heard. The ork woman pulled up in a parking spot imposing close to Smith and dropped a paper bag on the bench. It smelled like barbecue and Fort dug in with gusto.
"I figure I'll have to say this again, but the place doesn't have astral security. There's proabably a sec mage on call, but until any alarms are raised I should be able to provide a lot of support if I'm on site-- a few magical disguises, maybe getting the guard to be a bit more compliant, stuff like that. If I'm off, I can at least make a decent lookout.
Saturday 8/23/70 00:25:10
Fortunato - Support Mage
PAN - Passive (Contacts, Earbuds, Smartlink)
Astrally Inactive
"Haven't seen them yet, word had it that wings were on the way." Fortunato said from the bench he'd been sitting on.
As if on cue, the steady puttering of Sledge's hog was heard. The ork woman pulled up in a parking spot imposing close to Smith and dropped a paper bag on the bench. It smelled like barbecue and Fort dug in with gusto.
"I figure I'll have to say this again, but the place doesn't have astral security. There's proabably a sec mage on call, but until any alarms are raised I should be able to provide a lot of support if I'm on site-- a few magical disguises, maybe getting the guard to be a bit more compliant, stuff like that. If I'm off, I can at least make a decent lookout.
Joe's Gas & Sleep
Saturday 8/23/70 00:27:19
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden
The Love Machine rolled in to the parking lot first with Angel sitting in the driver seat, but she didn't appear to have her hands on the wheel. The van stopped a little ways from where the group sat on their bikes, as a large flatbed truck pulled in to the lot and headed in their direction.
As the truck passed under a light for the parking lot the group could see Rocky sitting in the drivers seat with his big hands around the large bus like steering wheel. The truck rumbled forward passed the van pulling up to the group coming to a stop with a shudder. As Rocky shut the truck off, Angel pulled the van in behind the truck to help block the view of it some from the street.
Rocky climbed out of the truck and stretched, it had more room than the van did but was still a tight fit for him. His body was starting to complain more since it had been a few days since his last pill and it was turning in to a long day and what looked to be a long night.
"This freaking thing is slow, and handles like a pig. Had to take the long way to stay away from Star and their chummers. Angel has the info on the other sites once we get this thing ready to go. Oh and I'll need another 300Y had to pay for a distraction."
Saturday 8/23/70 00:27:19
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden
The Love Machine rolled in to the parking lot first with Angel sitting in the driver seat, but she didn't appear to have her hands on the wheel. The van stopped a little ways from where the group sat on their bikes, as a large flatbed truck pulled in to the lot and headed in their direction.
As the truck passed under a light for the parking lot the group could see Rocky sitting in the drivers seat with his big hands around the large bus like steering wheel. The truck rumbled forward passed the van pulling up to the group coming to a stop with a shudder. As Rocky shut the truck off, Angel pulled the van in behind the truck to help block the view of it some from the street.
Rocky climbed out of the truck and stretched, it had more room than the van did but was still a tight fit for him. His body was starting to complain more since it had been a few days since his last pill and it was turning in to a long day and what looked to be a long night.
"This freaking thing is slow, and handles like a pig. Had to take the long way to stay away from Star and their chummers. Angel has the info on the other sites once we get this thing ready to go. Oh and I'll need another 300Y had to pay for a distraction."
Joe's Gas & Sleep
Saturday 8/23/70 00:29:10
Smith
PAN - Hidden
When Sledge delivered the messy take-out, Smith politely passed. He had gotten something to tide him over while he was waiting at Starbucks. He listened carefully to Fortunato's report, and suggested, "Well, I think having you there, in spirit, is still our best bet. We've got identification for the 4 of us who were planning on going, in person - and if that pans out, having you arrive unannounced would complicate things. If nobody magical is there, that pretty much means you can play lookout and not worry about being noticed, right?" The three of them started to discuss the options, but were cut short, about a minute into it, when the rest of the team rolled into view.
As the Love Machine, and Rocky's new truck came to a stop, Smith headed over to his bike, and removed the box of new gear from the back. When Rocky was stretching, he came over and handed him a small electronic device. "That should take care of the non-security tags, if you hold down that button, and run it close to every square inch of this thing. Security-tags are a whole other matter, but I'll bet Angel can take care of those for us." He then gestured in AR to open a wireless transfer, "... and this should take care of the expense."
"I've got new plates and a mod-chip in this box, which should help it keep a low profile on the Grid." He gestured at Angel who was poking her head out of the Love Machine. "If you could give me a hand with these, I think we can be ready to roll in a couple of minutes. I picked up a spare set, for myself, because I wanted to clean up my bike, too - but if we think we'll be using the Love Machine, this weekend, maybe to keep our offsite assets close by, I don't mind installing the spare there until we're no longer in need of the set on the truck."
He checked his expenses in AR one more time, once the transfer completed. "We've got almost exactly
1,000 remaining in our expense account, so lets take care of the hardware here, check out those sites, get a discount on our tools, and then get ready for work tomorrow. We can't really afford to line up any more insurance, and it'll be good to keep a little pocket-change around in case something comes up."
Saturday 8/23/70 00:29:10
Smith
PAN - Hidden
When Sledge delivered the messy take-out, Smith politely passed. He had gotten something to tide him over while he was waiting at Starbucks. He listened carefully to Fortunato's report, and suggested, "Well, I think having you there, in spirit, is still our best bet. We've got identification for the 4 of us who were planning on going, in person - and if that pans out, having you arrive unannounced would complicate things. If nobody magical is there, that pretty much means you can play lookout and not worry about being noticed, right?" The three of them started to discuss the options, but were cut short, about a minute into it, when the rest of the team rolled into view.
As the Love Machine, and Rocky's new truck came to a stop, Smith headed over to his bike, and removed the box of new gear from the back. When Rocky was stretching, he came over and handed him a small electronic device. "That should take care of the non-security tags, if you hold down that button, and run it close to every square inch of this thing. Security-tags are a whole other matter, but I'll bet Angel can take care of those for us." He then gestured in AR to open a wireless transfer, "... and this should take care of the expense."
"I've got new plates and a mod-chip in this box, which should help it keep a low profile on the Grid." He gestured at Angel who was poking her head out of the Love Machine. "If you could give me a hand with these, I think we can be ready to roll in a couple of minutes. I picked up a spare set, for myself, because I wanted to clean up my bike, too - but if we think we'll be using the Love Machine, this weekend, maybe to keep our offsite assets close by, I don't mind installing the spare there until we're no longer in need of the set on the truck."
He checked his expenses in AR one more time, once the transfer completed. "We've got almost exactly
1,000 remaining in our expense account, so lets take care of the hardware here, check out those sites, get a discount on our tools, and then get ready for work tomorrow. We can't really afford to line up any more insurance, and it'll be good to keep a little pocket-change around in case something comes up."
Joe's Gas & Sleep
Saturday 8/23/70 00:31:49
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden
Rocky took the scanner and dropped into the pocket of his lined coat, and then accepted the transfer of nuyen to his comm. "Thanks."
He then walked over to the pile of food and followed Fort's lead and dug in. Rocky hadn't realized how hungry he was untill he had smelled the food. He nodded in Sledge's direction in appreciation.
After having a large helping of the BBQ Rocky moved back over to the new truck and pulled the tag scanner out of his pocket and started his work on the embedded tags. It was kinda boring work after having pulled off the heist and arranging the distraction but it was a lot easier.
Saturday 8/23/70 00:31:49
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden
Rocky took the scanner and dropped into the pocket of his lined coat, and then accepted the transfer of nuyen to his comm. "Thanks."
He then walked over to the pile of food and followed Fort's lead and dug in. Rocky hadn't realized how hungry he was untill he had smelled the food. He nodded in Sledge's direction in appreciation.
After having a large helping of the BBQ Rocky moved back over to the new truck and pulled the tag scanner out of his pocket and started his work on the embedded tags. It was kinda boring work after having pulled off the heist and arranging the distraction but it was a lot easier.
Joe's Gas & Sleep
Saturday 8/23/70 00:35:23
Smith
PAN - Hidden
While Rocky goes to eat, Smith opens up the Love Machine to hand Angel the chips and tools and sees the familiar lifeless rag-doll body, of somebody in VR. A quick message confirms that she's working on the security tags - which Smith agrees is a much better use of her time. He isn't entirely sure how difficult the DYI mod-kit will be, but locating and disabling security tags sounds a lot harder.
It took a minute or two for Smith to install the software on the van (which included AR instructions, which cross referenced the make and model of the vehicle with its own database of instructions), unscrew the original plate, and replace it with the morphing plate. A few wires were threaded into the bumper, and Smith followed the instructions, carefully, to solder them in place and piggy-back on the vehicle's rear-bumper sensor to carry the signal from the onboard computer to the plate. He then climbs in the passenger seat, and spent a minute or two looking around under the dash for an access panel. Once he got that open, he soldered the chip into place - again, the AR diagrams were surprisingly helpful. It was almost as though a standard vehicle's board was designed to allow this sort of bypass of the VIN and registration.
After some simple diagnostics to verify that everything was connected as it should be - which, to his own surprise, it was - Smith initiated an initial automatic spoof, and watches as the system accessed the Grid, collected data on vehicles of similar makes and models (there were a lot of unmarked black vans like this in Seattle). He hopped out and excitedly ran around to the back, and saw that the numbers had changed.
<<@Team:: "One down, one to go. Is the truck all set? I'm going to need access to the node to install the software component.">>
In the meantime, Rocky had finished eating, and begun his task of cleaning sensor tags off of the truck.
The process went about the same, the second time around - although it was a little dirtier, accessing the back-bumper of the truck, and the instructions a little less exact (it defaulted to some generic commercial truck electronic diagrams, but Smith found the connection-points he was looking for). When he was done, he tossed both original plates into the Love Machine, to be disposed of later.
He then stood back and examined his work with visible pride. His electronic engineering courses had come in handy - but he felt a much greater feeling of accomplishment than he ever had wiring a sensor-tag to an actuator, or rebuilding a commlink (which he needed help with, come to think of it). Somehow, he doubted Angel would be particularly impressed by his ability to solder a few pins where the instructions told him to - so, after a moment of basking in his own success, he rejoined Fortunato and Sledge.
<<@Team:: "All set. We can roll out of here when you guys are finished.">>
Saturday 8/23/70 00:35:23
Smith
PAN - Hidden
While Rocky goes to eat, Smith opens up the Love Machine to hand Angel the chips and tools and sees the familiar lifeless rag-doll body, of somebody in VR. A quick message confirms that she's working on the security tags - which Smith agrees is a much better use of her time. He isn't entirely sure how difficult the DYI mod-kit will be, but locating and disabling security tags sounds a lot harder.
It took a minute or two for Smith to install the software on the van (which included AR instructions, which cross referenced the make and model of the vehicle with its own database of instructions), unscrew the original plate, and replace it with the morphing plate. A few wires were threaded into the bumper, and Smith followed the instructions, carefully, to solder them in place and piggy-back on the vehicle's rear-bumper sensor to carry the signal from the onboard computer to the plate. He then climbs in the passenger seat, and spent a minute or two looking around under the dash for an access panel. Once he got that open, he soldered the chip into place - again, the AR diagrams were surprisingly helpful. It was almost as though a standard vehicle's board was designed to allow this sort of bypass of the VIN and registration.
After some simple diagnostics to verify that everything was connected as it should be - which, to his own surprise, it was - Smith initiated an initial automatic spoof, and watches as the system accessed the Grid, collected data on vehicles of similar makes and models (there were a lot of unmarked black vans like this in Seattle). He hopped out and excitedly ran around to the back, and saw that the numbers had changed.
<<@Team:: "One down, one to go. Is the truck all set? I'm going to need access to the node to install the software component.">>
In the meantime, Rocky had finished eating, and begun his task of cleaning sensor tags off of the truck.
The process went about the same, the second time around - although it was a little dirtier, accessing the back-bumper of the truck, and the instructions a little less exact (it defaulted to some generic commercial truck electronic diagrams, but Smith found the connection-points he was looking for). When he was done, he tossed both original plates into the Love Machine, to be disposed of later.
He then stood back and examined his work with visible pride. His electronic engineering courses had come in handy - but he felt a much greater feeling of accomplishment than he ever had wiring a sensor-tag to an actuator, or rebuilding a commlink (which he needed help with, come to think of it). Somehow, he doubted Angel would be particularly impressed by his ability to solder a few pins where the instructions told him to - so, after a moment of basking in his own success, he rejoined Fortunato and Sledge.
<<@Team:: "All set. We can roll out of here when you guys are finished.">>
Joe's Gas & Sleep
Saturday 8/23/70 00:37:45
Smith
PAN - Hidden
After a few more minutes of discussion, and a good-faith effort to wash the truck, despite the innate filth of its current location, Smith recognized one of those situations where it was critical that he perform what small contribution he believed he was capable of offering - Leadership.
"Alright, guys, our ride is looking good, and its getting late. Planning on comms."
<<@Team:: "Alright, here's the plan. I'm open to suggestions. I'm going to go dump this bike. Rocky, you and Fortunato take the truck and Sledge and Angel will follow in the love machine. All four of you will check out the site that Angel has eyes on - Security is tighter there, so I think we should hit it first, while we're still at roughly one-hundred-percent. The lighter security area will be slower to respond, if anyone is onto the theme of our evening - and if we end up winded or wounded, it won't be a deal-breaker. Afterward, split up, and rendezvous at the second site, and make the second pickup - which should hopefully require less work, assuming the target has not moved.">>
<<@Team:: "How you deal with security is up to you - but I would prefer something clean and simple. Our profile has been pretty low, so far. Let's try to keep it that way. Meanwhile, I will be looking for a warehouse or something where we can keep the truck, radar, and saw overnight, and out-of-sight. We'll meet up there to clean the new hardware, and lock things up for the night.">>
<<@Team:: "Sound good to everyone?">>
Saturday 8/23/70 00:37:45
Smith
PAN - Hidden
After a few more minutes of discussion, and a good-faith effort to wash the truck, despite the innate filth of its current location, Smith recognized one of those situations where it was critical that he perform what small contribution he believed he was capable of offering - Leadership.
"Alright, guys, our ride is looking good, and its getting late. Planning on comms."
<<@Team:: "Alright, here's the plan. I'm open to suggestions. I'm going to go dump this bike. Rocky, you and Fortunato take the truck and Sledge and Angel will follow in the love machine. All four of you will check out the site that Angel has eyes on - Security is tighter there, so I think we should hit it first, while we're still at roughly one-hundred-percent. The lighter security area will be slower to respond, if anyone is onto the theme of our evening - and if we end up winded or wounded, it won't be a deal-breaker. Afterward, split up, and rendezvous at the second site, and make the second pickup - which should hopefully require less work, assuming the target has not moved.">>
<<@Team:: "How you deal with security is up to you - but I would prefer something clean and simple. Our profile has been pretty low, so far. Let's try to keep it that way. Meanwhile, I will be looking for a warehouse or something where we can keep the truck, radar, and saw overnight, and out-of-sight. We'll meet up there to clean the new hardware, and lock things up for the night.">>
<<@Team:: "Sound good to everyone?">>
Joe's Gas and Sleep
Friday 8/23/70 00:37:50
Fortunato - Support Mage
PAN - Passive (Contacts, Earbuds, Smartlink)
Astrally Inactive
"Do we really have to use comms?" Fortunato complained. "I mean, we're all here. Can't we just talk? I think that's actually harder to snoop in on."
Grumbling, he typed:
<<@Team: I don't expect heavy magical security on these sites. I'll check it out when we get there, but we can probably get some good mileage by sending in someone disguised as a guard.
Speaking of light magical security, the target is basically astrally undefended. I should be able to provide support. I've just got a lot of rituals to get done between now and then, ~12 hours worth.>>
He walked over to the truck and was joined by Rocky. "You should drive big guy, I'm more useful riding shotgun."
Friday 8/23/70 00:37:50
Fortunato - Support Mage
PAN - Passive (Contacts, Earbuds, Smartlink)
Astrally Inactive
"Do we really have to use comms?" Fortunato complained. "I mean, we're all here. Can't we just talk? I think that's actually harder to snoop in on."
Grumbling, he typed:
<<@Team: I don't expect heavy magical security on these sites. I'll check it out when we get there, but we can probably get some good mileage by sending in someone disguised as a guard.
Speaking of light magical security, the target is basically astrally undefended. I should be able to provide support. I've just got a lot of rituals to get done between now and then, ~12 hours worth.>>
He walked over to the truck and was joined by Rocky. "You should drive big guy, I'm more useful riding shotgun."
Joe's Gas and Sleep
Saturday 8/23/70 00:37:30
Smith
PAN - Hidden
The team went over the plan a couple more times, making sure everyone knew what needed to be done, and by whom. Smith made sure everyone understood that he would be available via chat should any emergency decisions need to be made, and then packed up his tools, and strapped them to his bike once more. He waved goodbye as he tore out into the night.
Bus Station #32
Saturday 8/23/70 --:--:--
Smith
PAN - Hidden
Smith returned his bike to the dorms without a hitch. He stopped in to check up on his roommate, who (not surprisingly) was already in bed. He stashed his new tools in his room, and replenished his wad of cash from the briefcase buried in his closet.
He made sure he was well on the way to his destination (a bus station as close to his final destination as he could get at this hour) before putting in the commcall to arrange accommodations for the truck for the night. He had chosen his first contact wisely. Smith didn't go out of his way to be vague, but watched what he said to Eddie, in case anyone was listening in. Although Eddie was a bit surprised to hear back from him so soon, he was agreeable to helping Smith stash one of his vehicles, after confirming that it had been scrubbed and that Smith had put those chips and plates to good use. Negotiations were also pretty straightforward, and mostly involved the level of security, space needed for a truck of this size, and the usuall high-balling and low-balling that came with this sort of deal. Smith got a little worried when he was put on hold for about five full minutes, but it gave him time to exit the bus, at the station, and start looking at his options for finishing the last leg of his journey. It was too far to walk, so he put in a quick request for a cab.
Luckily, when the mechanic came back on the line, it was to tell him he had a place, and within Smith "budget". it sounded just right, and the mechanic offered his personal guarantee that if it was paid up, the vehicle would be safe. As Smith expected, he wanted to deal in cash, again, and was willing to accept payment when the vehicle was dropped off, later tonight. Smith was assured that if the mechanic could not be there personally, he would make sure someone was there to take the money, and transfer the physical key.
A quick message to the team informed them of his success, and gave an ETA for his arrival at Site 1.
Saturday 8/23/70 00:37:30
Smith
PAN - Hidden
The team went over the plan a couple more times, making sure everyone knew what needed to be done, and by whom. Smith made sure everyone understood that he would be available via chat should any emergency decisions need to be made, and then packed up his tools, and strapped them to his bike once more. He waved goodbye as he tore out into the night.
Bus Station #32
Saturday 8/23/70 --:--:--
Smith
PAN - Hidden
Smith returned his bike to the dorms without a hitch. He stopped in to check up on his roommate, who (not surprisingly) was already in bed. He stashed his new tools in his room, and replenished his wad of cash from the briefcase buried in his closet.
He made sure he was well on the way to his destination (a bus station as close to his final destination as he could get at this hour) before putting in the commcall to arrange accommodations for the truck for the night. He had chosen his first contact wisely. Smith didn't go out of his way to be vague, but watched what he said to Eddie, in case anyone was listening in. Although Eddie was a bit surprised to hear back from him so soon, he was agreeable to helping Smith stash one of his vehicles, after confirming that it had been scrubbed and that Smith had put those chips and plates to good use. Negotiations were also pretty straightforward, and mostly involved the level of security, space needed for a truck of this size, and the usuall high-balling and low-balling that came with this sort of deal. Smith got a little worried when he was put on hold for about five full minutes, but it gave him time to exit the bus, at the station, and start looking at his options for finishing the last leg of his journey. It was too far to walk, so he put in a quick request for a cab.
Luckily, when the mechanic came back on the line, it was to tell him he had a place, and within Smith "budget". it sounded just right, and the mechanic offered his personal guarantee that if it was paid up, the vehicle would be safe. As Smith expected, he wanted to deal in cash, again, and was willing to accept payment when the vehicle was dropped off, later tonight. Smith was assured that if the mechanic could not be there personally, he would make sure someone was there to take the money, and transfer the physical key.
A quick message to the team informed them of his success, and gave an ETA for his arrival at Site 1.
Joe's Gas & Sleep
Saturday 8/23/70 01:35:15
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden
It had taken him just a little over an hour, but Rocky had gone over then entire truck with the tag eraser, making sure to erase any tag it found. By the time he was done he could barely move, his muscles had started cramping up about twenty minutes in to the project and just kept complaining as he went on. When he was working on the undercarriage of the truck laying on his back his legs got a little better but he still found his bottle of pills in his free hand randomly a couple times. Luckily each time he slept if back in his pocket and switched hands to make it harder to get a hold of them again. As he was scanning inside the cab of the truck he removed any personal items he found that may help trace the truck back to anywhere that would cause problems and bagged them up, keeping the troll sized hard hat he found, thinking it may help disguise him a little while driving the truck, maybe making him look like he belonged in it, or just stupid. He wasn't sure which it would do and was to tried to care. "Can someone dump this somewhere along the way to the next stop?"
He had caught the general gist of the plan for picking up the GPR that he and Angel had scoped out earlier in the evening. Since the others were running the show and he was just going to be along for the ride he didn't pay much attention.
After climbing out from under the truck he went over and tossed the tag eraser in to the back of the van so it didn't get lost, doing his best to stretch his aching body as much as he could.
"Ok, lets get this show on the road."
Saturday 8/23/70 01:35:15
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden
It had taken him just a little over an hour, but Rocky had gone over then entire truck with the tag eraser, making sure to erase any tag it found. By the time he was done he could barely move, his muscles had started cramping up about twenty minutes in to the project and just kept complaining as he went on. When he was working on the undercarriage of the truck laying on his back his legs got a little better but he still found his bottle of pills in his free hand randomly a couple times. Luckily each time he slept if back in his pocket and switched hands to make it harder to get a hold of them again. As he was scanning inside the cab of the truck he removed any personal items he found that may help trace the truck back to anywhere that would cause problems and bagged them up, keeping the troll sized hard hat he found, thinking it may help disguise him a little while driving the truck, maybe making him look like he belonged in it, or just stupid. He wasn't sure which it would do and was to tried to care. "Can someone dump this somewhere along the way to the next stop?"
He had caught the general gist of the plan for picking up the GPR that he and Angel had scoped out earlier in the evening. Since the others were running the show and he was just going to be along for the ride he didn't pay much attention.
After climbing out from under the truck he went over and tossed the tag eraser in to the back of the van so it didn't get lost, doing his best to stretch his aching body as much as he could.
"Ok, lets get this show on the road."
Joe's Gas & Sleep
Saturday 8/23/70 01:57:28
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden
The drive over was slow and very boring, neither Rocky or Fort had much to say and it was taking a lot of concentration on Rocky's part to keep the beast of a truck under control.
The address for the site with the GPR was still in his comm so it was easy to find again. As planned they took a not to slow pass in front of the site so the mage boy could get a good look at the guards and their uniforms. Rocky had forgotten why until Fort explained it would help him get his and Sledge's disguises better.
After the pass by the site, that only caused one guard to look up they found the Love Machine waiting for them a couple blocks away out of sight of the guards. Rocky parked the van and shut it down, making sure to leave the hard hat on the front dash board in plain view, to maybe make it seem more normal.
A couple minutes later they were in the van with Sledge and Angel, it looked like the later was in the process of doing her part of the job, dealing with the electronic security. With a bunch of weird words and odd gestures Fort did his part and changed Rocky and Sledge's appearances so if they were caught by a security camera it would look like some other ork and troll were wandering around. The two specialist seemed to finish there jobs at almost the same time, and so they moved on to the next step.
Angel started the van up and made the short drive back to the site, as they went Fort was talking to the air again, which seemed to be normal for him, so Rocky just sat and waited. A couple minutes later they were as close as the van would get to the hut the GPR was stored in and they would need to go the rest of the way on foot.
Listening for any sounds of waiting guards Rocky opened the door slowly and glanced around, not seeing anyone he climbed out and started for the hut, hearing Sledge jump out and close the back door of the van. The hut was not to far away and they covered the distance with out issues, Rocky was starting to think this might go just as easy as grabbing the truck had. Well till they got to the door of the hut that was.
It appeared the door had a keypad to unlock the door, tapping his comm he turned on his sub-vocal mic to make sure it was not going to be an issue, he didn't remember the girl mentioning it, but that was probably just because he had been busy watching Sledge's appearance change as he watched.
<<@Team: Ok, made it to the hut, but their is a keypad on the door, whats the code or is it already unlocked?>>
It only took a couple seconds for the good news to come back from Angel
<<@Team: Keypad, what keypad? I didn't detect a keypad. If I'm not finding it, its hard wired. Your on your own.>>
Rocky swore to himself and could here Sledge do the same.
"So now what do we do? You got your hammer with you? it should be a little less noisy than my Warhawk. Unless you got a better idea?"
Saturday 8/23/70 01:57:28
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden
The drive over was slow and very boring, neither Rocky or Fort had much to say and it was taking a lot of concentration on Rocky's part to keep the beast of a truck under control.
The address for the site with the GPR was still in his comm so it was easy to find again. As planned they took a not to slow pass in front of the site so the mage boy could get a good look at the guards and their uniforms. Rocky had forgotten why until Fort explained it would help him get his and Sledge's disguises better.
After the pass by the site, that only caused one guard to look up they found the Love Machine waiting for them a couple blocks away out of sight of the guards. Rocky parked the van and shut it down, making sure to leave the hard hat on the front dash board in plain view, to maybe make it seem more normal.
A couple minutes later they were in the van with Sledge and Angel, it looked like the later was in the process of doing her part of the job, dealing with the electronic security. With a bunch of weird words and odd gestures Fort did his part and changed Rocky and Sledge's appearances so if they were caught by a security camera it would look like some other ork and troll were wandering around. The two specialist seemed to finish there jobs at almost the same time, and so they moved on to the next step.
Angel started the van up and made the short drive back to the site, as they went Fort was talking to the air again, which seemed to be normal for him, so Rocky just sat and waited. A couple minutes later they were as close as the van would get to the hut the GPR was stored in and they would need to go the rest of the way on foot.
Listening for any sounds of waiting guards Rocky opened the door slowly and glanced around, not seeing anyone he climbed out and started for the hut, hearing Sledge jump out and close the back door of the van. The hut was not to far away and they covered the distance with out issues, Rocky was starting to think this might go just as easy as grabbing the truck had. Well till they got to the door of the hut that was.
It appeared the door had a keypad to unlock the door, tapping his comm he turned on his sub-vocal mic to make sure it was not going to be an issue, he didn't remember the girl mentioning it, but that was probably just because he had been busy watching Sledge's appearance change as he watched.
<<@Team: Ok, made it to the hut, but their is a keypad on the door, whats the code or is it already unlocked?>>
It only took a couple seconds for the good news to come back from Angel
<<@Team: Keypad, what keypad? I didn't detect a keypad. If I'm not finding it, its hard wired. Your on your own.>>
Rocky swore to himself and could here Sledge do the same.
"So now what do we do? You got your hammer with you? it should be a little less noisy than my Warhawk. Unless you got a better idea?"
Dig Site 87RT67IU90
Saturday 8/23/70 01:57:28
Sledge - Breaking
PAN - Hidden
She'd just let Sugar Lips keep flapping his gum at the truck stop. Figured it was nerves. She had stuff to think about anyway. Things she couldn't do anything about right now. Like checking if her littermate was still alive. Keeping the kid from messing up the crew was low on the list, besides he was getting the basics over ok.
20 minutes running the brushes over the truck helped with the ache in her back, she almost felt normal after warming up a bit. It didn't help the ache in her heart.
Rocky and Angel had done a good job, she let them lead on. It let her settle down and think about other things.
"vut..."
Sledge stood outside the door at the damned lock,a nd simply closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"So now what do we do? You got your hammer with you? it should be a little less noisy than my Warhawk. Unless you got a better idea?"
In response she held her hand up asking for a moment to think.
... should have paid attention... this is what I get for moping around ...
Saturday 8/23/70 01:57:28
Sledge - Breaking
PAN - Hidden
She'd just let Sugar Lips keep flapping his gum at the truck stop. Figured it was nerves. She had stuff to think about anyway. Things she couldn't do anything about right now. Like checking if her littermate was still alive. Keeping the kid from messing up the crew was low on the list, besides he was getting the basics over ok.
20 minutes running the brushes over the truck helped with the ache in her back, she almost felt normal after warming up a bit. It didn't help the ache in her heart.
Rocky and Angel had done a good job, she let them lead on. It let her settle down and think about other things.
"vut..."
Sledge stood outside the door at the damned lock,a nd simply closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"So now what do we do? You got your hammer with you? it should be a little less noisy than my Warhawk. Unless you got a better idea?"
In response she held her hand up asking for a moment to think.
... should have paid attention... this is what I get for moping around ...
Dig Site 87RT67IU90
Saturday 8/23/70 01:57:50
It didn't take the ork runner long to decide what to do. Pulling some small tools from her belt she went to work on the maglock's casing, a quiet electric drill sucking out screws.
As she worked, Rocky positioned his huge body to screen her from view as best he could.
The job took all of ten seconds, but maybe she should have taken just a few more, because just as the last screw came free the casing slid off all too easily...her left hand darted down to catch it, but too late...the metal plate clattered down the aluminum siding of the quonset hut with a sound that seemed deafening in the quiet suburban night.
Saturday 8/23/70 01:57:50
It didn't take the ork runner long to decide what to do. Pulling some small tools from her belt she went to work on the maglock's casing, a quiet electric drill sucking out screws.
As she worked, Rocky positioned his huge body to screen her from view as best he could.
The job took all of ten seconds, but maybe she should have taken just a few more, because just as the last screw came free the casing slid off all too easily...her left hand darted down to catch it, but too late...the metal plate clattered down the aluminum siding of the quonset hut with a sound that seemed deafening in the quiet suburban night.
Dig Site 87RT67IU90
Saturday 8/23/70 01:58:03
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden
The sounds of the plate bouncing off the wall made Rocky jump and take a quick look around, ready to silence anyone that may have noticed.
After a few seconds it became clear that there was still no one close enough to care. Waiting to follow Sledge's lead Rocky quietly waited to see what was next. As he waited he was able to still hear the music coming from inside the shack and no other noticeable changes.
Tapping Sledge on the shoulder he gave her a thumbs up and indicated for her to keep going.
Saturday 8/23/70 01:58:03
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden
The sounds of the plate bouncing off the wall made Rocky jump and take a quick look around, ready to silence anyone that may have noticed.
After a few seconds it became clear that there was still no one close enough to care. Waiting to follow Sledge's lead Rocky quietly waited to see what was next. As he waited he was able to still hear the music coming from inside the shack and no other noticeable changes.
Tapping Sledge on the shoulder he gave her a thumbs up and indicated for her to keep going.
Dig Site 87RT67IU90
Saturday 8/23/70 01:58:03
Fortunato - Support Mage
PAN - Passive (Contacts, Earbuds, Smartlink)
Astrally Inactive
Fortunato winced as the metallic clanking echoed through the night. Do we always have to fuck up? Just doing one good op would make me happy.
He nearly lost the spells because of his stray thoughts. His attention was spread precariously thin maintaining two disguises and keeping an eye on the guards through his spirit. The spirit was had its hands, in as much as they existed, full as well. It kept snapping irritatingly back at Fortunato; its bland face nesled between a snakeskin suit and a snakeskin hat would lash out with invective using a distinct forked tongue.
There was a lightning exchange of thoughs and intentions.
What are the guards doing after that noise
Something, I'm sure
Goddamn it spirit, tell me now.
Why should I, I'm holding all the cards here.
It's my will holding you together and so help me god I'll tear you to the pieces you came from
Fortunato held his waited for a more useful report.
Saturday 8/23/70 01:58:03
Fortunato - Support Mage
PAN - Passive (Contacts, Earbuds, Smartlink)
Astrally Inactive
Fortunato winced as the metallic clanking echoed through the night. Do we always have to fuck up? Just doing one good op would make me happy.
He nearly lost the spells because of his stray thoughts. His attention was spread precariously thin maintaining two disguises and keeping an eye on the guards through his spirit. The spirit was had its hands, in as much as they existed, full as well. It kept snapping irritatingly back at Fortunato; its bland face nesled between a snakeskin suit and a snakeskin hat would lash out with invective using a distinct forked tongue.
There was a lightning exchange of thoughs and intentions.
What are the guards doing after that noise
Something, I'm sure
Goddamn it spirit, tell me now.
Why should I, I'm holding all the cards here.
It's my will holding you together and so help me god I'll tear you to the pieces you came from
Fortunato held his waited for a more useful report.
Dig Site 87RT67IU90
Saturday 8/23/70 01:58:24
The serpent recoiled at the threat, its earlier bravado shed like an old skin. They do only what I have led them to do, master, they chase a non-existent grafitti tagger, it hissed to Fortunato.
In the meantime, Sledge, not immediately seeing the bypass function, had simply rejiggered the wifi toggle on the lock. A quick scan found the node and in seconds she had used her agent to brute force the device into compliance. In AR, her matrix-slave presented her with a green button - the door was hers to open as she wished.
Saturday 8/23/70 01:58:24
The serpent recoiled at the threat, its earlier bravado shed like an old skin. They do only what I have led them to do, master, they chase a non-existent grafitti tagger, it hissed to Fortunato.
In the meantime, Sledge, not immediately seeing the bypass function, had simply rejiggered the wifi toggle on the lock. A quick scan found the node and in seconds she had used her agent to brute force the device into compliance. In AR, her matrix-slave presented her with a green button - the door was hers to open as she wished.
Dig Site 87RT67IU90
Saturday 8/23/70 01:58:40
Sledge - Breaking
PAN - Hidden
An eternity of frozen time.
**clatter**
The world was still there. Her ribs still ached. Her heart a lead weight flinging itself to nowhere. At her side another damned trog tormentor. She straightened up from her instinctive balanced crouch holding the cover and lightly replaced in unfixed as she sent the mental signal.
In the bright Augmented Reality display in her head the giant green button slowly depressed.
The door opened and Sledge strode in and barked, "What the vut are you doing?"
Saturday 8/23/70 01:58:40
Sledge - Breaking
PAN - Hidden
An eternity of frozen time.
**clatter**
The world was still there. Her ribs still ached. Her heart a lead weight flinging itself to nowhere. At her side another damned trog tormentor. She straightened up from her instinctive balanced crouch holding the cover and lightly replaced in unfixed as she sent the mental signal.
In the bright Augmented Reality display in her head the giant green button slowly depressed.
The door opened and Sledge strode in and barked, "What the vut are you doing?"
Dig Site 87RT67IU90
Saturday 8/23/70 01:58:43
Stripped to the waist and banging his head, fingers flying across the frets of an invisible guitar, Hirsute Hannibal lived up to his name - he was the hairiest thing Sledge had ever seen without tusks.
Looking up in shocked confusion, the man could only say, "What? What?" as his hands scrambled over a nearby counter. Unable to decide whether to prioritize his shirt, his gunbelt, or the off switch on the boom-box, all he managed to do was spill his beer on the plastic floor of the shed.
Saturday 8/23/70 01:58:43
Stripped to the waist and banging his head, fingers flying across the frets of an invisible guitar, Hirsute Hannibal lived up to his name - he was the hairiest thing Sledge had ever seen without tusks.
Looking up in shocked confusion, the man could only say, "What? What?" as his hands scrambled over a nearby counter. Unable to decide whether to prioritize his shirt, his gunbelt, or the off switch on the boom-box, all he managed to do was spill his beer on the plastic floor of the shed.
Dig Site 87RT67IU90
Saturday 8/23/70 01:58:44
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden
Rocky followed Sledge in, leaving enough room to not get caught in the back swing of her hammer, just in case she changed the plan suddenly. He stopped and pulled the door shut behind him and stood in front of it to help keep the sound down and limit the hairy guys options if he decided to make a run for it.
Saturday 8/23/70 01:58:44
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden
Rocky followed Sledge in, leaving enough room to not get caught in the back swing of her hammer, just in case she changed the plan suddenly. He stopped and pulled the door shut behind him and stood in front of it to help keep the sound down and limit the hairy guys options if he decided to make a run for it.
Dig Site 87RT67IU90
Saturday 8/23/70 02:01:30
Sledge - Breaking
PAN - Hidden
Chewing the guard out while Rocky manuevered the GPR away ought to have made her feel better.
It didn't.
The poor slob was just doing his job. She knew all that he was supposed to do was simply be there to be a backup to the systems. Anything like Fortunato or Angel coming along and really wanting to take something wasn't going to be stopped by some hairy chested slob with pretensions of being the latest synth star. In fact, that the guard was actually doing something active to keep awake was a good thing. His only mistake was not paying attention.
"I came here to check the vutting security for the client on this piece of gear, and I find you playing with your... instrument ... now I gotta take a couple more hours on shift finding a place to park this damned thing, and find someone reliable to babysit it, and I got to come back with it first thing Monday morning! That's at least four more hours, and I don't get overtime like you do. And I'll probably get my pay deducted the cost of the babysitter too! I better not hear anything from you ever again!"
Saturday 8/23/70 02:01:30
Sledge - Breaking
PAN - Hidden
Chewing the guard out while Rocky manuevered the GPR away ought to have made her feel better.
It didn't.
The poor slob was just doing his job. She knew all that he was supposed to do was simply be there to be a backup to the systems. Anything like Fortunato or Angel coming along and really wanting to take something wasn't going to be stopped by some hairy chested slob with pretensions of being the latest synth star. In fact, that the guard was actually doing something active to keep awake was a good thing. His only mistake was not paying attention.
"I came here to check the vutting security for the client on this piece of gear, and I find you playing with your... instrument ... now I gotta take a couple more hours on shift finding a place to park this damned thing, and find someone reliable to babysit it, and I got to come back with it first thing Monday morning! That's at least four more hours, and I don't get overtime like you do. And I'll probably get my pay deducted the cost of the babysitter too! I better not hear anything from you ever again!"
Dig Site 87RT67IU90
Saturday 8/23/70 02:01:55
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden
Following Sledge's lead Rocky walked in the room looking pissed off and hassled. With a quick scan he found the box they needed. Not even looking at the shirtless guard he walked over and picked it up. With a little work he got control of the box and turned for the door, nodding to Sledge as he passed.
He left the door slightly ajar as he left and made straight for the van, not stopping to make sure she was following him. He was fairly certain that she could take care of her self.
Saturday 8/23/70 02:01:55
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden
Following Sledge's lead Rocky walked in the room looking pissed off and hassled. With a quick scan he found the box they needed. Not even looking at the shirtless guard he walked over and picked it up. With a little work he got control of the box and turned for the door, nodding to Sledge as he passed.
He left the door slightly ajar as he left and made straight for the van, not stopping to make sure she was following him. He was fairly certain that she could take care of her self.
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