Nix resists the urge to smile, keeping his poker-face in place. He quickly considers two ways to play the team, deciding on the cool professional. "Break it down for us. Step by step, from the beginning. Do not omit details, even those you initially feel inconsequential."

The ork takes a long pull off his pint, looking none to pleased with the situation, but after a moment leans in, keeping his voice down. There’s a definite tone of anger to his deep voice, thick with the cockney accent.

Weren’t nothing’ to the job,so we ‘expected. Simple, break inta the old croakers digs, look ‘round a bit, get out. They told us ‘bout the dogs and other beasties, so we came loaded for bear. Literally. Me and mine don’t mess around, right?
We come in at night, figure use cover o’ darkness. Was, lesse, ‘bout hour ‘fore midnight. Clouds were good, not a lot o’ moonlight. No problem for us, we got night sight, right?
Was four o’ us, comin’ down from the town, and south, so a bit off the beaten path. Figure they got dogs, they pro’lly watch the main drive. So we went a different way. Real smart like. Not so smart after all, eh?

He takes a long pull from his pint, fortifying himself. His grimace and angry gleam in his cyber eyes makes it clear this is where the story takes a turn for the worst.

For o’ us there was, more than enough at’ ‘andle any hounds, be they Baalzebub’s bitches or not. I got me ingram out, Tossie’s got a spell to light up their night right like, and Cable’s sitting back, pretty as you could be, up in a tree ready to put a round says fifty caliber on it through some dog’s head. Crack’s sittin’ on ‘is duff poutin’, cause there ain’t much fer ‘im to do. Him was our system man see, down right diabolical when it comes to computers and the like. He ain’t got naught to do ‘ere. So he just sits there with a Koch I given ‘im, waitin’ to throw some rounds down range.
We ain’t got much further than a ‘undred yards, them dogs is on us. Four o’ ‘em, quick as the night, comin’ runnin’ out, mouths burnin’ an everything. I open up, tear one o’ them beasties down faster than you can say ‘extreme prejudice’, and Tossie tosses out his pyro show. Only problem is, ‘is fire don’t take. ‘E looked surprised as ‘ell, right before two of them damn beasties took ‘em down. They was on ‘em right quick. I was ‘xpectin’ Cable ‘ere to give us some cover, keep ‘em back a bit. Bit of a shock when you find your gal with the gun not coverin’ your back.
His eyes look over at the female sitting next to him, who’s got a scowl on her face, but also a very pained expression. She looks at him, nodding, and goes back to her drink.
I can see Tossie’s pretty much steak already, so I throw down a hail at the pack on ‘im, letting Cracker throw some rounds at the other dog. I tear down a couple o’ beastie’s, not doin ‘ Tossie any good, but definitely keeping the heat off me and mine. Turn and gun down the last one that’s ‘bout to tear into cracker. Rounds hit, beast goes down. He’s lookin’ at me, surprised as hell that he survived it. Then he’s just gone. Just like that, red mist. Head makes like a pumpkin all over the place. Wasn’t no beast that did that. Was a round, and big one too , right?
Tossie’s meat, Crack is gone, I got no idea what happened to Cable ‘ere, I make like a bobbie and run for ir. I head back towards ‘er tree to see, and find her on the ground, bleeding bad. Took two rounds, although not near so bad as Crack. All the sticks on the ground, round ‘ad to ‘ov come through the branches. Took some power out o’ the shot. She’s all tore up from the fall, rifle on the ground, us both in a bad way. I make the grab for her, and BAM! The ork smacks the table hard, breathing hard now, a fire in his eyes.
Round takes my arm. Blows the thing apart. Cyber, like this one, blown to bits. Heavy round. Not a sound, definitely suppressed. Sniper from somewhere. Only thing was, way we got hit, rounds were comin’ down on us. Rainin’ down the fire. We got outta there, barely with skins intact, right? Don’t care what these gents say, there’s more there than beasties. Well, less beasties now. Took them bitches but good. Four o’ them for two o’ us right?
He drains the pint, taking what win he can from the fight, and the mug, before slamming it down and sliding it off in disgust.
We done? I want my pay and to get back to heavily imbibing myself.

Nix decided to play the cool operator while the ork talked. He listened silently. Intently. A thousand questions. Where to begin? He lifts his pint, draining it, then sets the empty glass down. He then reached up and rubbed his chin. Actually. No questions. There is nothing more they can tell us.

<<@Team [Nix] Someone doesn't want anyone to learn the truth. That is all these orks have to tell us.>>

Nix smiles, "Thank you. That tells me what I need to know."

<<@Team [Nix] The question now is, what is the truth? The shooter should be able to give us the next piece of the puzzle.>>

<<@Team [Dingo] Assuming, of course, that said shooter hasn't jumped town already...>>

<<@Team [Nix] While I think the shooter could sure answer a lot of questions, it greatly narrows the field. This means that there is either foul play or the primary is actively seeking to give that illusion. In either case, he didn't slip off on holiday or due to dementia. Additionally, there is.. or was evidence on the estate worth confirming that fact by direct confrontation.>>

He looks at the ork. "And I need one of the bullets."

The ork nods.
Not like I brought the slug 'round, but I got one. The one that took my arm off. 50 caliber, rifle round. Heavy stuff. I'll get it to these toffs for ya'.

Nix nods to the samurai and turns his attention back to the Johnsons. "We'll take a trip out to the residence after an evaluation of the spent round."

<<@Team [Nix] Snipers. Could be third party or could be simply bad ass defenses gone skynet. Are we ready to move on? Feels like I've been here months.>>

Jack nods. We'll make the arrangements, and getcha on the line just as soon as we do. Anything else ye'll be needin' then lads?

Nix shakes his head or more correctly the mask that covers his true face. "For now those two will suffice. We may need some additional recon drones when we probe the estate. Anything available?"

Jack laughs. HAH! Yer in the U.K. boyo! Recon drones we got plenty of. What's yer pleasure? Simple roto-dog? I'll cut ya' a good rate.

Nix shakes his head. Taking a queue from their hacker he replies, "No. A pair of extended range dragon-flies with a full sensor package."

Jack nods. That I should be able ta dig up. Know a gent, has just what you'll need. Get right back to you with a price. Anything else?

Nix shook his head. "No, I think that is it for now."

He rose, finishing his beer, smiling as he left the pub. His magical mask still in place, the gleaming Gaelic elf sauntered towards the door, his gloves having stopped him from leaving any fingerprints as the mask stopped him from leaving any legitimate video traces.

Rupert walked through the airport, ignoring the crowds going to and from their flights. A weekend of snow skiing in the alps had been just what he needed to give him an adrenaline burst; This current dry spell was killing him. He was without weapons or gear at the moment, unless one counted the stack of cyber-ware and bio-ware melded into his body. It also didn't count the havoc he could wreak with just his comlink.

The taxi ride from the airport to his condominium was mostly occupied updating his games and blog on FriendSite™. When he finally arrived at his building, he paid and tipped the cabby, then nodded to the doorman Kirk. The old man had been the doorman since his parents had lived here. Rupert was actually surprised to see the doorman still here when he moved back several years ago. His father used to talk to Kirk, but Rupert had never said a word. He always nodded to the old man who nodded back.

His flat was just as he left it: Neat, clean and devoid of other people. The furniture was all picked by two previous girlfriends of Rupert's, but none of it was really his style. He preferred not to mix his own style in, keeping the flat sanitized of himself in case he needed to cut and run. It took him just over half an hour to shower, shave, select a suit and be back out the door.

On this night, he found himself mingling with the crowd at Dazzy Jay's. The music's beat consistent and the tail was on display and on the hunt. It didn't take long for him to find an overly attractive piece with no self esteem who valued girth over length and muscles over personality, especially when augmented with his obvious bank account.

Nix slips out of the bar, just another one of the crowd, and back out into the London fog. The ork at the door gives a discreet nod, already taking his attention back to watching for the next Hard with an eye for trouble.

Nix slips into the deep fog, checking the astral to insure he is not being watched from there before dropping the masking spell.

<<@Team [Nix] Let's pull back to the safe-house. We can do a little recon & legwork on the estate while we wait for the bullet.>>

The astral in this part of the Smoke has a nasty , grimy feel to it, like old wounds that never quite healed. However there doesn't appear to be any presences giving them undo attention.

Once deep in the fog the spell drops, but Nix keeps his jacket pulled tight. He navigate his way back to the vehicle to meet up with Caliph and the hacker.

It's a quiet ride back. It seems almost wrong to chit chat in the thick fog. Somehow the close streets and the mean looks of the Squeeze seem more like home than the sublte oppressiveness of the London back streets.

Caliph doesn't say much until they're back inside the safe house, new and old paranoia working over time here.
There are a few ways to get a round on target, and I doubt that any of them here include a sniper team in place. It seems more likely a drone controlled weapon, although that conflicts with everything we've been told about our objective. The damage done to the runner's cyber arm strongly suggests a high caliber, anti equipment weapon, such as a barret. Which means serious artillery. Makes you wonder why a nobleman would need that to keep people off of his lawn.

Nix kicks back during the ride. This run feels likes years. Need a nap.

Back at the safehouse, they talk.
"Perhaps we're being played, but to what end? We need that bullet so that I can try to get something from it; Validate or invalidate your theory. Then we need a recon of the grounds. Agreed?"

Nix reviews the path to the noble's house and the neighborhood. Best to know the neighbors as well.

Agreed. Recon from a distance will hopefully give us a better idea of what sort of paras are around the manor, and maybe a little something else. If the area is as remote as suggested, there may be some remains where the previous team had the contacts, something we can work off of to get a better idea of what we're facing.

Caliph doesn't wait any time getting gear together, apparently intent on heading out himself to scope the area out.

Nix looks over the maps, looking for more information on the area. There doesn't appear to be any other homes for miles within the lands, which isn't very surprising, since the area is marked right on the borders of the Wild Lands.

"I'll come with. It will give me a chance to do an astral recon and see what matter of strangeness exists. Just give me a chance to gear up." Regardless of whether or not Caliph waits, Nix gears up. He peels off his suit, down to his form fit and pulls on his chameleon suit. He then puts the SecureTech shin guards and forearm guards in place. He also grabs his backpack with his miscellaneous gear and fly-spies and looks around for his ork companion.

Caliph is waiting by the door, his usual duffle bag and a heavy coat at the ready waiting for him. With a nod once Nix is ready, he heads out to the car, dropping his bag in the back seat where he can reach it easily. There's the distinct metallic clink that somehow always seems to reassure Nix.

The car pulls away smoothly, heading off into the night. The manor is a good few hours drive, giving Nix a chance to catch up on a little sleep if needed. Caliph multi tasks, pulling up publicly available satelite images of the area, then crossing them with topographical maps and overlaying them while the autopilot does its thing.

Once in the car and understanding the distance they must travel, Nix takes the time to lean back and nap. Before closing his eyes, he calls for a spirit of man. Protect us this night on our journey. The strain of the summoning was greater than he expected, making sleep even more welcome....

The drive out to ChemsFord, once Chelmsford, before the winds changed a few years back and brought down the chemical stench from the stinkfens, is relatively short. The area has been depopulated more and more over the years, as the East Anglian Stinkfens seem to slowly spread, and the ever erratic weather shifts the stench around, making the land less and less desirable.

The estate, located north some twenty miles near Bardfield, is off the main roads, the hills now mostly overgrown with a off color green grass. There's not much else in the area, the towns having been passed off for pastures of a more pleasant green some years ago.

Nix is not able to sleep as he relaxes on the ride out, nervous energy beginning to build as they get closer. The odd color of green sets Nix ill at ease given his youth spent in the NAN. He then considers Caliph's current penchant for the outdoors and expects that his teammate is equally disturbed if not more so.

As they draw closer, Nix shifts his perceptions to the astral. Seeing the spirit, in the form of an astral Bobbie, sitting watch over the vehicle and its occupants brings some peace to the mage. He takes a moment to survey the scene to determine if any form of background count exists that will disrupt his magic.

The area around the lands is surpisingly clean of background count, especially considering the landscape and how close it is to the stinkfens. There's a distinct miasma in the distance to the north, but none in the direct area.

Assensing Test

Assensing [2,3,3,6,6,2,4,5,3] = 3 hits; If you deem this as aura reading, I get two more dice: [4,6] = 4 hits total

The area has something akin to an after taste lingering. This area was once certainly permeated with the same taint that fills the astral to the north. It seems that it has been regularly cleansed over the years. While the grass is a little odd, it isn't unhealthy, although the aura it gives off is slightly different from normal grass, certainly some sort of minor mutation.

Seeing a clean lack of disturbance in astral space, Nix breaths an audible sigh of relief. He turns to his mundane companion. "I'm going to take a look from the astral. Won't show me electronic defenses, but it should give me an idea about magical and dual natured."

With that, he crawls into the back seat and lies down. As his astral form lifts from his body and floats out of the car, he moves slowly enough to be able to keep track of his surroundings and begins a high, wide circle of the grounds.

Caliph simply nods, already eyeball deep into binoculars, checking the lay of the land, his spotters scope peeking out of his ever present bag.

Jumping into the astral, it isn't surprising to find the area around the home rich with plant life, some of it dual natured, which provides excellent areas for concealment. The area immediately in front of the manor house is cleared for a large gravel drive way, a fountain at its center. Most of the house its self seems to be covered with dual natured Ivy as well. Beyond the obvious, there is a pair of air elementals, and a fire elemental continuosly patrolling within 50 meters of the manor house its self, eyeing Nix's astral form carefully.

Astral Perception Test

Intuition(5) + Perception(2) + Actively Looking(3) [1,1,2,3,4,6,1,2,1,5] = 2 hits

Nix takes note of the elementals, but steers clear of their patrol area.

While lurking in astral space, Nix spots a particularly strong aura moving within the thick bushes near the house it's self. It's hard to make out the actual form through the aura of the bushes, but it is definitely a dual natured canine of some sort.

The mage returns to his meat body and slowly rises. "Elementals and probably hell hounds or the like. Dingo got a drone out here scouting the physical security?"

Caliph gives an unhelpful shrug
Don't know. He mentioned something about a spy drone though. I'll bring him up on the line.
Caliph calls up his comm, bringing up the number for the new hacker.
Hell Hounds I can handle as long as I can get a bead on them. Can you handle the elementals?

Sending the call through, Caliph runs up Dingo, shooting him a message with the chat window pulled up and shared on the team net with Nix.


<<<<<@Dingo[ CALPIH, Nix] At the location. Have any assests in the area? A top view would be helpful.>>>>

<<<<<@Team[ Dingo] Nothing readily available, unless you can spot a flyspy lying around. I might have accidentally left one in the van. I'm pokin' at the CHN for the manner right now. When I get in, we won't have any problems gettin' in an' out. Gimme a sec, and I'll see if I can find anything with a nice view of the area.>>>>


Dingo rolls his shoulder, wincing at the soreness. Fraggin' hobo swung a mean bat, if nothin' else... Shaking the thought way, he gets back to work, diving into the VR world through his hotsim module.

He starts off by remote activating the flyspy and commanding it to sweep the area, making sure that it stays within its flight range of the van. He channels the video straight to the others' commlinks, allowing them a real-time view of the area. That done, he shoves it aside and moves on.

He follows this up with a search for any conveniently located satellites, hoping that they would provide a view of a larger area. As the search continues, he goes back to focusing on probing the CHN.

While he works, he also regularly spoofs his trail, searches for others hacking him, and generally acts like a paranoid hacker.

The mage reaches into his pocket and pulls out a couple of boxes a dozen centimeters long, wide and deep. He opens each and sets them on the dash board.
<<@Dingo [Nix] Here are the subscription codes to my fly-spies.... But if you lose them, you bought them.>>

He looks back over at his partner. Caliph had had his back for years; They'd always been together when things got thick. The fact that he had a favor to repay and that someone else was standing in left Nix on edge, at best.

"I can handle to elementals. One way or another."

Mickle/Dingo
It isn't difficult to find recent satellite imagery of the place, although "recent" wouldn be a subjective word. While there may be individual sats in the region as well as constellations, something would have to be hacked to get a live feed.


Redjack/Nix
Caliph nods, looking grim, and certainly none to pleased with the situation.
Looks like there's a number of entry points. One of the back doors would probably be less secure. For some reason, people tend to put the most security out front. Or we could go in from above, like Provo. Have to make sure those elementals are out of the way.

It's a fair guess that if anyone's inside, they don't want to be disturbed. Hard to believe that they wouldn't know about sniping off intruders and sicking the dogs on them, literally. I'd still like to know where the round came from.

Zyerne/Alice
Stepping off the boat, literally, is like a step backwards in time. Colonist in England. The dock workers don't look all that different, although the accents and languages in the air are a world apart. The men passing by give Alice a once up and down, taking in the duster and hat with a rueful grin. At least there's and ARO pointing the way to her new ride, and a commcode waiting on her account with a line for "Caliph" and "Nix", her new partners.

Alice tipped her hat to the dockworkers as she passed, soaking in the atmosphere and hoping taking this job hadn't been a bigger mistake than staying in Denver.

Reaching the car she'd been provided, she stowed her bag on the passenger seat then pulled out her 'link.

<<<@Nix [Alice] I believe you're expecting me. Just landed, we should meet.>>>

Message sent, she stowed the link and settled back to wait for a response.

<<<<<@Team[ Dingo] Find attached some relatively recent satellite imagery of the area. I could hack something a little more real-time, but it'd bring a bit more attention down on this place than we probably want. It'll take a bit o' time, but I should have complete access to the estate's network. Once in, I'll see what cameras they have rigged up. Finally, I'm sendin you the live feed from the flyspies. Tell me if you spot anything of interest you wanna see again.>>>>


Having sent that off, Dingo makes a note to himself to start looking into acquiring a satellite of his very own. That out of the way, he spoofs his trail once more and continues poking at the network, carefully searching for holes in the firewall for him to take advantage of.

Listening to Caliph's recommendations, Nix was sidetracked by the distraction of another change in the roster. At least this time, it was for reasons other than the death of teammate. He redoubled his efforts to focus. "Thanks for the readout. I imagine it would be best if Alice and I talked through the options. And yea, I'd really like to get that bullet before we execute the insertion."

Links the conversation to Alice into TeamNet in read-only.
<<@Alice [Nix] Agreed. [ GPS ARO attached: The Coffee Shack ] I'll be there in 2 hours.>>

<<@Dingo [Nix] Can you get eyes in that coffee shop? Once we make sure she hasn't been followed, I can escort her to the safehouse. Caliph already vouched for her, so we're past that bit of nastiness. Also, the satellite scan is great. I'm leaning towards an aerial insertion, but we need to test the defenses. Make a dry run with a straw man.... or two. I figure we test the defenses with both mass and heat, as well as seeing what happens when I pop those spirits.>>

Once Alice got the coordinates from Nix, she entered the general location into the autopilot and let the car do it's thing, allowing her to soak in the environment as best she could on the drive.

She put the car in manual mode for the last couple of miles, driving past the coffee shop and finding a parking spot a good 10 minutes walk away. Stowing her bag in the trunk, she headed back on foot to meet Nix.

On the way in, Nix casts physical mask and checks with his drone's sensors. Then drops and recasts not once, but twice more. By the time, he had a spell of acceptable effect he realized how much this change was affecting his center. He took the remaining time to meditate, only allowing enough focus to sustain the spell otherwise.

He arrived at the coffee shop half an hour early in the guise of a balding middle aged man in a cheap suit. One of his fly-spies fluttered at the second story level to a spot on the wall across the street. He ordered afternoon tea and sat drinking it slowly at a small table near a front window, watching traffic stroll by. He fed the video feed from the drone into TeamNet.

When Alice arrived, he reached out to their hacker.
<<@Dingo [Nix] Pull out the video the the last several minutes of those passing by and everyone passing by for the next several minutes. I'd like you to run analysis and determine if we have anyone who starts to remain constant.>>

He heads down the street several blocks, ducking into a parking garage and out of sight from eyes and video. He morphs his mask to that of a twenty-something elf and changes the SIN on his com. Back on the street, he checks AR to insure Alice is still in the coffee shop as he sends his second fly-spy across the street before walking into a diner.
<<@Alice [Nix] Table for two and the Corner Diner. Two blocks down the street and around the corner.>>

I imagine as a friend of Caliph's she is probably used to a little walking.

<<@Dino [Nix] Move the flies as you need. I'm trusting your over watch..>>

Draining the last of her coffee, Alice pulled on her hat and headed back out. Getting the run around didn't really surprise her and at least this next stop ought to have something more substantial to eat than a soymuffin.

Arriving at the diner Nix had indicated, she found a booth she could see the door from and pulled out a menu.

<<@Nix [Dingo] On it.>>

Dingo sits back in the driver's seat of the van, a hat pulled low over his eyes, looking for all the world like he's taking a nap. Meanwhile, he, like Nix, has one of his fly spies on a nearby wall, providing overwatch for the van while he works.

He sighs as he screens the footage, looking for anything suspicious. He hadn't ever trained in something like this, so he was pretty much winging it. Suddenly, he has an idea and contacts his fixer.

<<@Halcyon [Dingo] Hey Hal! I don't suppose you have access to any high quality sensor-softs, do you?>>

After reviewing a few minutes of footage, Dingo doesn't find anyone out of place, or passing by the street regularly. He does spot one person out of place however, a "cowgirl" type, very CAS-Texan in appearance, who leaves shortly after Nix sends his second message.

Bringing up a line with Halcyon, in a moment, the old troll's icon appears in response to his query, joining his personal chat.
Roll street Etiquette + Connection Rating

Etiquette(3) + Charisma (3) + Connection Rating (4) + Edge (5)= [1,[6, 6, 2],3,4,4,4,4,1,5,4,[6, 1],1,5,4,2] = (5)

<<@Halcyon [Dingo] Outstanding, mate! I appreciate it. Tell me, what's the charge for this beaut?>>

Chuckling to himself, Dingo scans the software for viruses, downloads it, covers his trail again, and begins running the software on the footage.

<<<<@Dingo[Halcyon]First shot's free o'course. The first ones that version Knight Errant's guys use. Good stuff. I can set you up with what they call their "trial" version, as in first timer, not like "Trial" trial. That's 1500. Or I can get you the full program the Knights use for 4500.>>>>

The young, wage-slave elf sat at a small table watching patrons come and go while looking over the menu. In actuality, he was watching his future teammate walk up the block towards the cafe. As she rounded the corner, disappearing from the view of the first drone and entering the field of vision of the second, he ordered the first to move down the block.

As the woman passed through the front door, he never made eye contact, watching her instead with his peripheral vision. He ordered a bowl of soup and kicked back, allowing her time to order and Dingo to insure that she wasn't followed.

Eventually, the elf picked up his soup and tea and made his way to her booth. "Welcome to London. How was your trip?" he said casually, sitting as though they were old friends.

"Lets call it 'interestin''. Alice replied after sizing the elf up, her Texas drawl all too obvious. "Interestin' enough that ah'm not real interested in playin' games."