It'd been a rough day so far, but for 40k, Case could put on a good face. Or, rather, *be* a good face. Maybe even the best.

He taps in his account code, "For five digits, I'll sell you your own shoes and make you think you got a good deal on them. I'm in."

She merely smiles at Case and again hits a button which causes the terminal to scroll data in front of you.

Masquerade slots her credstick into the attache case. "I'm a mage, I'm a pro, I have a very light touch, and I'm definitely in."

Zane glances at Masquerade... Those who think so highly of themselves are rarely worth what they think they are... I wonder if this will be true of this one as well...

"Well, when you put it that way, who can resist?", Skee says with a grin. "Account number? Sorry... fresh out. I'll take a certified 'stick, if it's all the same to you."

Skee keeps an eye on Morgan as the data flashes across his terminal, watching her aura as she speaks. 40k would be a nice bit of scratch. That kind of green didn't pop it's head up too often in the Barrens without a wood-chipper being involved. Still, the prospect of not having to worry about him or his sister eating at the Stuffer Shack for a few months made him forgive Morgan for her lack of details.

Assensing test: 07 04 04 03 02 #D:5 TN:4 HR:7 S:3

Spook, she is not awakened. She is in a rather mundane mood. She is hiding something, but that prolly could be anything plus she is a J.

Morgan smiles at all of you all as you slot your sticks. She looks at Skee and pulls a stick out sliding it across the table, " No problem Mr. Skee. Now if all of you will look down at the data in front of you it will give you all the information we have for the job. My employer requires you to obtain a car. This car is a prototype interceptor being tested at the R&D facility in the North Barrens by Renraku. The facility has a testing ground that encompasses over six blocks of the the Barrens inside it's gated community. We would advise you to attempt the snatch while the car is undergoing testing between the hours of 18:00 and 21:00 PST. The testing site as you can see has many different obstacles used to test the new prototype such as drones, critters, and the occasional gang they allow to wonder onto the test site to test the vehicle against live targets. These tests do use live rounds and the car is quite highly armed. There will be two occupants in the car that you will have to neutralize, a driver and a navigator/gunner. I have provided a map of the test facility as you can see. Getting in will be rather easy, getting out with the car is a different matter. The car will be monitored by a security network that includes cameras all over the site. They use these to record the data they have been accumalating on the car. I have arranged to have a friend blackout that network for ten minutes which you may activate by dialing this number..." a number scrolls across the screen.

" Security as I mentioned is quite tight around the facility itself which is a three story concrete bunker that has two floors underground. Security is run by Renraku's private security force. From what we can ascertain, there is two security riggers with an extensive secuirty network setup. The only flaw is that it is mainly centered around the building. Though they do have many different drones and sentry guns they can utlize inside the test grounds it is not nearly as extensive as it is near the building. The fence surrounding the facility is a fifteen foot high steel fence with a gap between each bar being a total of three inches. The fence is concrete reinforced and extends down two feet into the ground and four feet at the gates. There are three gates on the test site and two at the building. These gates are guarded at all times with three sentries heavily armed and armored. There is at least one roving patrol that walks the grounds near the building. This patrol is made up of two guards and one awakened critter, we have no other info on this unfortunately. " she adjusts her glasses and looks around.

" As you can see we have provided the specs for the vehicle. It is a state of the art rotary engined v-8 with independent digital suspension. It is armed with a pop up 12 gauge on the front left fender and a grenade launcher mounted on the back of the vehicle. It is armor rated to LMG rounds. It will not be easy gaining access to the vehicle. I'll leave those details to your more than qualified hands. Are there any other questions I can entertain?" she asks looking around the room.

"So we bring the car to you. What kind of shape does it need to be in when we hand it over to you? Does it need to be is perfect working order? Can it have some dings and scratches, or can it be really messed up?"

" We would prefer that the car be in good working order... the less damage to the car will gain you a bonus after it is delivered to us. It is essential that the electronic system is not damaged in anyway. This is non negotiable and if the car is delivered in such a manner the money in your accts will be withdrawn and Mr. Skee your cred stick will be null and void. Any other questions?"

"You got maps of the compound? Hopefully something compatible with an Orientation System."

No... sry no maps. Try and find somethin here pretty soon. If not you'll have to use your imagination. Besides it's six city blocks of ruined buildings and such.

"Ok. I guess I'll just have to send in a drone and make my own maps."

" I may be able to get my hands on a satellite image from orbit, however the detail will not be nearly helpful, but will provide you with some idea of the test site." She begins hitting keys on the table.

"That would be a good starting point for me to work with. Many thanks. Do you have a picture of the car in question? Do you know what it is called?"

" Of course..." she taps a few more keys and picture of a very compact formula style car appears in front of each of you, " It's called the RX- 777... no nickname yet. " the car before you looks like most prototype concept cars. Sleek and out of this world, a rigger's wet dream.

"Alright. Anyone else have questions? If not, I'll take that Satelite image and start scouting the place out."

I finally took the time to finish designing Zane's van and his one drone. I know most riggers have more than one drone, but this one is very very cool. I paid like 200 grand for it (not to mention the 450+ for the van).

Kewl... send me the specs so I have them...

I presume that when you say the Barrens, you mean the Redmond Barrens (where the space station crashed into Microsoft and the Z-Zones are), and not the Puyallup Barrens (where the Crime Mall and the lava fields are). Just clarifying because Skee's got friends and skills that may be useful in Puyallup.

Skee reaches inside his suit jacket and punches a code into one of the devices clinging to his suspenders. His eyelids flicker for a second as a flood of prerecorded reflexes grabs hold of his nervous system. A familiar warming sensation slowly spreads from the base of his neck, a reminder of the defective thermal coupling buried somewhere just under his skin.
"Ahhh...a good, old-fashioned carjacking.... makes me feel like a kid again...", he says with a smirk. "Ah, yes... what about v-term chips and transponders? Do we know if they've installed any yet? Getting it out of the playground isn't going to do us any good if they can follow us home or shut us down on the freeway."

" We would assume that some type of precautions would be installed. As to what will be up to you to find out and disable." she replies looking at Skee with a cock eye at his motions. Her hand moves closer to the attache case, which makes everyone in the room a little nervous for a second til she pulls at a Real cigarrette and lights it with a very expensive lighter.

Oops. Meant to include that Skee was loading his Electronics (Security Systems) activesoft from his skillsoft jukebox.

"Simple enough. I con my way in as a replacement driver. I pull over mid-course, hand it over to the rigger, and off we go. We'll need a nice stealthy muscle-man to take out the driver. Bing-bang-boom. Cut and dried, easy as pie."

" Well I will leave the details to you... if thee is nothing else, my number is there in the data file. Feel free to call me when you have the vehicle and we will inform you of a safe place to drop it off. Thank you for your time and good luck!" she says standing and closing the attache case.

Skee nods in agreement to Case's idea. "One thing... this joint is full of bad roads and live ammo. I think we'd all be happier if we had Zane in the driver's seat right from the get-go. Why don't you both go in - him as the driver, and you as the gunner? You do the talkin', Z does the drivin'. Going in as a team'll also help if you need to fight yer way back out."

"The rest of us can put on our sunday's best and slip in as the local trash. We cause a distraction to draw their attention away from the car, then we black out the network. You tuck the car away, and we close the back door.

"Which reminds me," he turns to Morgan, "what do we do with this once we get it? Do we drop it off somewhere? Do we give you a call?"

Fallon, if you have any images (maps, scans, etc.) you'd like to show us, I'd be willing to post them on my website for everyone to see.

"Before I present my idea, I need to ask those of you who are spell slingers... Do you have any combat spells that only effect living beings and have a wide area of effect?"

"I can whip up a Smoke Cloud that'll knock a few people out and make it hard to see, but it won't ruin the upholstery or nothin'", Skee says.

"Thats a good start. I was thinking that we could hit the car with a spell to take out the two inside, then I hit it with freeze foam to keep it from crashing. It'll only take me a second to desolve the freeze foam and get outta there with it."

Case pipes up. "Freeze-foam? Spell? Hell no. I can talk us right into the cockpit, and we can drive away none the wiser. Simple like that. All we need is someone to take out the driver and his partner before they get there."

"You can not be serious? How on earth would you do that?"

Masquerade can barely hide her shock as the team blithely proceeds to discuss the details of the job right in front of the Johnson. "Don't they know the Johnson isn't always on your side?" she thinks. "For all we know, this could just be that company testing their own security by hiring a bunch of street trash. Damn, but I have to give the Johnson points for confidence. All the money up front, and casually mentioning that it will be rescinded if we fail. Most just give a retainer, with the bulk of the fee on delivery."

She recovers a bit of her composure when Skee addresses her.

"Yes, disguises are my specialty. I can do a spot-on imitation of someone when I have time to study them, but since we're moving fast, a more generic disguise will have to suffice. And I can take most mundanes down quickly, but no area affect spells, sorry."

Yes, it was definitely not spoken aloud, except the part where she responds to Skee. I said she slotted a credstick - which would be certified too, since she doesn't have an account number. But if you read back, the Johnson also told Skee that if we failed, his credstick would be "null and void". I didn't see it so much as them having the information from us to allow that, so much as I saw it as her implying that she has so much power/connections that if we fail, it won't be a problem for her to take back the money - which is insanely confident.

Agreed .

Morgan walks out letting the group talk among themselves, she closes the door as she steps out leaving the group inside to discuss things in private.

Shiro looks at everyone seemingly unconcerned with the money issue, in fact Case is the only one that notices that he did not enter any information during the entire encounter. " I would have to agree with Mr. Case there. His idea to infiltrate and replace the driver is a very good one. If we can find out his identity and where he frequents after work, the lovely lady there..." he says motioning to Masquerade, " could perhaps manage to seduce him long enough for us to snatch him and hold him til our task is done. I will happily sit on any guests while you do the bait and switch. My skills as a swordsman would be best suited for that role. As Mr. Skee has surmised we do not have the muscle with this group to pull a strong arm snatch and considering our employer is against such tactics I believe the current plan of action to be the best. As a matter of fact I have a safe house that would be perfect for our needs."

Zane kicks his feet up on the table and asks, "Where do you want me to be when all this is going down? Am I going inside and driving out with the car, or are you guys going in and bringing it out to me? I would suggest having me go in with you, as it may get nasty trying to drive that thing out."

"You'll be coming in with me, and you'll be driving the prototype out."

The hobgoblin squirms in his seat, and says in his think middle-eastern accent, "But uhh... I don't exactly blend in, you see?"

" Yes our friend will have a problem being a non human. Japanese Zaibatsu's have a strict policy about human personnel. He would have a very hard time convincing the security that he is part of the testing crew. More than likely we will have to smuggle him onto the grounds of the testing site and bring the car to him." Shiro interjects.

"I could smuggle myself in using the Van and just use its remote controll to drive it back out. Mr Johnson did say that someone gangs go out there and give them something to test their stuff on. If a gang can get there, I'm sure that I can handle it without them even knowing I'm there."

"Or... we could change how you look," Skee says. He holds up his left hand, exposing the fox-print tattoo on the back, and snaps. Zane's orkish features smooth and reshape, along with his clothing. When the transformation completes, the redheaded waitress sits in the seat formerly occupied by the hobgoblin. With the exception of the foxpaw-shaped birthmark on her left cheek, the illusion was a perfect copy.

"Of course, that might not work either if they have their own wiz on the job." He pauses a moment before continuing. "Maybe we should case the joint before we move any further?"


Physical Mask spell:+1TN for light stun
Sorcery: 5 + 5 (spell pool) = 08 08 05 05 04 04 03 02 02 01 #D:10 TN:5 HR:8 S:4
Ah, well.... your average (INT:3) joe will be completely fooled, but most anyone smarter'll figure it out. Still, if I were going to sustain it, I'd keep trying until I got something better.
Drain: 5 +2 (totem) = 07 05 02 02 01 01 01 #D:7 TN:2 HR:7 S:4
Reduces Moderate stun to 0.

" I believe that would be a waste... Renraku would have at least one mage in a high position that would easily recognize the ruse. Though that was quite impressive..." Shiro says as he eyes the physical change.

Masquerade ponders: "I can give people more... lasting... makeovers. But the spell is of limited utility for disguises - I could cover up his skin tone, or imitate a worker's uniform, but things like the teeth would still give him away under close inspection.

It might be a good idea to give the place a good astral recon first, though, to check out their magical defences. I hate the thought of possibly alerting them, but we can always act like slumming corporate wizkids or stoned street shamans if we get spotted. I have even more reservations about going in without a good idea of their defenses."

She turns to Shiro. "Could you tell me a bit more about this safehouse that you want me to bring our little victim to? Specifically, is it someplace like a hotel that I could plausibly bring him to, or will we have to subdue him before we bring him in?"

Case turns to Zane. "Under a jumpsuit and a helmet, you'd look like any other metatype as far as I can tell."

Zane nods slowly... "Yes, that much is true... We'll have to look into what their testing crew wears, but it would make since they have protective clothing like that."

Skee chuckles for a moment at Zane's gravel-like voice rumbling from the image of the petite waitress. With another snap of his fingers, the illusion melts away to reveal the hobgoblin's true form.

Zane frowns slightly, wondering what Skee is chuckling at, but lets it go. Some people find humor in the oddest places.

Shiro looks at Masquerade, " It's a small wharehouse in Puyallup. Should be perfect for our needs. I can sit on our quarry while the rest of you manage the heist. When the car is secure you can return it to the safe house until we get further instructions."

As the group sits and discusses things, a gun shot rings out from the bar. Afterwards yelling and all kinds of racket can be heard.

Zane is on his feet in an instant and heads over to the door. He opens it a crack to take a look outside and see what is going on.

Perception - 11 10 09 05 02 02

Masquerade is about to reply to Shiro when she hears the shots ring out. Her eyes narrow dangerously, then her face takes on a soft, ethereal cast, and a nimbus of light surrounds her, as she summons her magic. There is a ripple in the air, then a form seems to materialize, taking the form of a miniature she-devil in a slinky red dress. About what she should expect from summoning a hearth spirit in a strip club, although Masquerade still cringes inwardly before murmuring for the spirit to follow her as she moves up to where Zane is.

She is conjuring a Force: 4 hearth spirit.
Conjuring test: 13, 8, 5, 2, 2, 2 (3 successes).
Drain test: 11, 7, 5, 3, 3, 2, 1, 1 (fully resisted Drain).

If she can spot the attacker/troublemaker, she will have the spirit use its Confusion power on him/her.

Zane opens the door to see Fallon standing behind the bar with a gun in his face. Two Asian men standing in rather nice suits stand before him. The larger one and Wall seem to be having a stare down contest as the shorter Asian man points a gun at Fallon. They seem to be having some type of conversation, but Zane can't make out what is going on over the screaming of Burn, who is letting loose with insult after insult at the two guys. The rest of the bar is not visible to Zane or Masque.

Shiro stands and asks, " What is going on. Shall we go help?"