Apoc nods. "You can ride with me. Just watch where you sit."

Pierce stood with the rest of the group, sensing that the conversation was moving onward. Extending his hand to Mr. Johnson, he said, "Well, I suppose we will get started on that job. It is a pleasure working for you, sir; we'll contact you when we have the merchandise." As Pierce grasped Mr. Johnson's hand in that ages-old ritual, Pierce's automated chemical analyzers did their silent, undetectable work. The readout of the amount of sweat on Mr. Johnson's palm made a bit of Pierce's inward grin show through on his face.

Turning to Apoc, Pierce said, "Your place sounds fine. I could use directions though."

Dragon walked through the door into the back room of Matchsticks. About 5’7, 153 lb human, he was dressed in a long jacket and dark military style fatigues. He was very well built, athletic and in shape, but lithe and muscled rather than big. He had brown eyes, and black hair cut close to his head, military style close cropped.

Although he moved with a calm grace, it was clear that he was slightly uncertain of himself. He glanced around, a bit uncertain. Taking quick stock of the people inside, he made a brief nod of apology. “I’m sorry I’m late. I had a bit of a hold up. I hope I’m not late.”

Assessing the situation, he surmised that he was. “My apologies. If it isn’t too much to ask, would someone mind filling me in quick? I heard the job was open to all comers, so I figure one more wouldn’t be cutting into anyone’s profit margin. In fact, hopefully I’ll be able to make all your margins a lot more certain. So what do you say, got room for one more?” He paused and waited for a reply.

"Actually one more would cut into our proffit margins. so what skills do you have to make our margins alot more certain?"

Dragon nods in acknowledgement. "Fair question. I am an experienced mercenary, I've worked in Asia, Australia, and North America. That means I'm no stranger to firefights, and if it gets nasty, you can count on me in the clutch. My operational specialties were recon and intelligence, and if I am not mistaken, a large part of ensuring an operation goes off smoothly and efficiently in a shadowrun are those two elements."

How much should I tell them...I'm not really sure, but I'm the new guy, so I should probably be cool and defer to them...wish there was a set chain of command, it would make things so much easier...I guess those are the breaks

After pausing slightly, as if in thought, he continues, "Allow me to further qualify my statement. I am not a decker, or a rigger. My intelligence and recon specialties involve personal field work, which I am aware exposes me to danger. Think of it as a point man, of sorts. I will state upfront that I am used to, and expect, the risks, responsibilities, and rewards that go along with it. As such, my value to your operation is twofold. First, another professional. I assume that you can always use another professional. More to the point, one who is willing and prepared to state and assume upfront, risks that you yourself may hesitate to undertake."

Giving his questioner a thin smile, he continues, "and besides, if you flatline, that cuts into your margin, doesn't it? If I flatline, well no skin off your back. The more help you got, the more targets the enemy has. After all, money is only good if you get the job done and are alive when it's all over. That should help you sleep more soundly at night."

He glances around. "Are there any further questions?"

To Apoc "Heard you offering a ride when I came in. Mind if I grab one with you as well?"

The rigger nods. "I've got seating for six... more if you're really friendly with each other."

Standing at his full height (6'7") beast smiles, looks down at his lower half, looks back at Dragon
"Do I look Like I'm afraid to take risks? [he laughs]. You and I are in the same line of work, amigo. and though I fight like a demon when I need to, I prefer not to, and for this mission, if even one shot is fired, we've failed, so none of that military combat seeking here. Use violence only when you need to. Do you think you can keep that gun holstered?"

Apoc grins without humor. "Given what we know about the warehouse, if shots are fired, everyone inside on our side is likely to be dead. Those tracks sound a lot like defensive drones, and unless someone's got some military grade ammo to take care of those, they'll turn most anything to hamburger before you can pierce their shells."

Pierce frowns. "A comm yes. Decent encryption no." Pondering a moment, Pierce blinked up a notepad app on his pocket secretary and handed it to Apoc. "You can zap 'em in here, or I could just follow along or hitch a ride if you perfer."

Apoc punches in a few frequencies into the pocket secretary. "Encryption is good... but we'll probably be okay if we keep chatter to a minimum." He passes the pad back. "Following's too suspicious and leaving too many vehicles here is likely to end badly... the city tends to tow things left unattended."

"If you can give me an adress, I can find it on my own. I've got a very good sense of direction, and I guarantee no one will follow me"

Apoc pulls a small piece of card out of his pocket and scribbles an LTG number on it. "Give me a call in ten and I'll give you the address. I'd rather not talk about it here," he says, looking around at the room in general.

Cass furtively picks out her glob of bubble gum and sticks it under the edge of the table where she sits. She slips out of the big leather chair, glances at the new arrival, and then wanders over to stand by Apoc and Pierce.

"Hey," Cass says from just behind Apoc. "I've got a scoot out back..." she tilts her chin lazily in an over-the-shoulder gesture that must indicate the general direction of 'out back.' "I'm not real good with directions though." Cass fiddles with the thin leather cord that dips into her shirt collar. "But I promise not to act suspicious--so maybe..." she twists lightly, looking from Pierce to Apoc and back. "...I can just tag along behind one of you. Just don't drive too fast," Cass grins. "Soka?"

Anyone who happens to be watching Cass's rear will notice that the girl's back pocket now holds a certified credstick. She must have snatched it from the table when she left the chair.

Mr. Johnson

The young man doesn't like the way this "negotiator" is dictating things, and it shows in his reluctant hesitation to shake hands with him. No one else seems to feel the need to do so. It's like this guy is forcing him to do it.

I wonder why he needs to touch me? He's either puttuing something on me or taking something from me. Or both. I wonder if his straight job is selling used cars? At least that's how he makes me feel. "Sincerity, once you can fake that the rest is easy."

And I thought a fight was going to break out when the bartender sent in the merc a few minutes after that feathered dwarf guy left. I should have said something to the bartender when I got the extra money that guy hit me up for.

And they're looking at me like it was a bad idea to split the money up on several credsticks. I bet if I'd shown up with just one or two, they'd be arguing over who gets to hold it. I bet they argue over who gets the extra ones.

"Lady and gentlemen, since my backup for this meet hasn't expressed any interest in joining you, I make the count 7. To avoid any squabbles over the cred, why not have Matchsticks split three of those credsticks in half and someone can take the thousand in cash. That gives everyone 3 thousand nuyen for up front expenses.

Are you wanting me to accompany you any further? Let me know what you expect from me."

Apoc picks up the remaining three credsticks. "We'll give you a call when the job is complete, Mr. Johnson." After the man leaves, he holds up the handful of credsticks.

"These things always take startup cash, so unless you guys are going to be chinsy about a G, I suggest we leave 'em as is and use them for what needs using. Twenty ain't nothin' compared to two hundred."

Cass

"Hai, that's green by me." Cass readily agrees. Gravitating to the door, Cass pauses to look back at her new chums. "So...who's my tourguide?" She asks over her shoulder.

Dragon silently watches this entire exchange take place, then speaks up. “I’m cool with the two for now. As far as communication, I’ve got quite a few radio channels, plus encryption. The encryption should be more than enough to keep anyone from listening in on us. And even if they do, it’ll be a snap for me to scan through frequencies for an empty channel. I’m riding with Apoc, so if you guys wanna keep in touch through me, that’s chill.”

During his scan of all this, he noticed that Cass had picked up a credstick and it was now sticking out of her back pocket. He choses not to say anything about it though, since it didn’t seem like she was trying to cheat anyone.

Hmm…it seems like she’s a sneaky one…but as long as she doesn’t screw us over, that’s wiz. Ha, her being sneaky will probably even come in handy.

Directing his attention to Beast, he looks him in the eye and says, “Oh by the way big man, don’t worry about me. When you go on LRRP’s, you learn real quick that no violence is the ideal situation. I don’t go looking for trouble if I don’t have to, and if this is supposed to be quiet and by the numbers, then that’s the priority. So null perspiration chummer, I scan you.”

Addressing the group as a whole, he states, “Since it seems like we’re ready to roll, how about we meet at Apoc’s in say, an hour? Should be more than enough time for everyone to do whatever they gotta do, and also space things out enough so no one gets suspicious.”

He jots down and hands out a few frequencies to each person. “I’ll be monitoring these, if you want to get in touch, I don’t mind linking us up and running the communication through me. Does that sound kosher to everyone?”

Apoc nods. "I suggest everyone take the long way to our destination. Give me a call once you're clear of the parking area and I'll relay to you the address."

He leads those wishing a ride out to his vehicle. It looks like a standard GMC Bulldog, the kind used for local deliveries all over town. The sides are plain white, though that is also not common. He concentrates for a moment and the back door slides open. A very large drone is occupying a good deal of the space, with a machine gun mounted on top. "Don't mind him, he likes meeting new people," Apoc grumbles as he tips down two bench seats which had been fastened against the sides of the interior. Much of the inside is taken up with armor which is an obvious refit.

"Have a seat and buckle up. Ride shouldn't take too long," he says as he climbs inside, over the drone, and settles into the passenger seat. The windows on the inside are sealed over with heavy armor plates, though it's obvious that turning handles set into the plates would make them removable.

He grabs a datajack cable and slides it into the one set behind his ear. "Mount up," he mumbles, over the comm and to those at the van.

The address he gives when you radio/phone him is a garage in Milton (in Tacoma), not far off I-5.

to Dragon,
'null perspiration chummer, I scan you'... did he really just say that? wasn't that from one of those 'Passion Sinclare: Shadowrunner for Hire' movies? Either way, he's not a hothead who has to have it his way, that's enough to give him a shot.
giving a slight smile to show that he's been accepted at least until he makes a mistake "Ok, we'll see what happens."
To the group in general
"I expect most of our initial pay to go into covering the expenses and equipment for this job. so it makes no nevermind to me who carries them for now. [to the Johnson] Thank you for your time, we will contact you if anything else comes up, or when we have the merchandice."


Beast leaves matchsticks and stretches his left leg for a second before sprinting off down the street. He seems to have no trouble overtaking the flow of traffic, running at a brisk 42 mph, and maneuvering between cars, and around traffic signals. He rounds a corner, jumping from the street onto the roof of a convenience store, then jumps off onto another building, and out of sight.
in about 5-10 min, he calls for the adress, thinks it into his Orientation system with it's map of Seattle, finds the quickest route there but makes sure to change directions and take impossible paths so that no one could hope to follow.

Cass strolls out of matchsticks behind Apoc and walks across the parking lot. She sits down on a plain gray/chrome Dodge Scoot, slots the key, and unlocks a purple helmet with a bright orange star. Fixing the chin strap of the helmet in place, Cass and her little Scoot putter off behind Apoc's big GMC Bulldog.

The scooter drops behind the GMC in the Downtown congestion, but Cass catches sight of Apoc making the turn off onto I-5 and whisks smoothly into the traffic lane behind him. The little bike chugs along as fast as it can, which is not very fast at all, and at length Cass arrives at the garage behind the others. She parks her bike, locks down her helmet, and pads over to the doors.

Apoc's garage is big enough to hold half a dozen vehicles, and it's not got a lot in it so it doesn't prove to be too difficult for the group to park all of their vehicles inside. A small living area is above the garage itself, and seems to be where the planning is going to take place.

Meanwhile, a small blimp is making its way slowly toward the target building. It looks like nothing so much as a weather balloon and does nothing to disuade that notion.

Pierce finished up his drink slowly, mulling over the meeting. Maybe it was just paranoia, but he was sure there was something a little off he shook hands with Johnson. For a moment there was almost a flash of suspicion in the man's eyes; it was almost like the kid was hiding something.... Pierce shook his head, figuring it was probably just the handshake. It *was* a pretty outdated custom, something he had picked up out of an old interviewing techniques book. Maybe it set the guy on edge.

After what he judged a reasonable amount of time Pierce left the bar and headed in the direction of home. After a few blocks however he turned onto the I-5 and headed to the address he got from Apoc, arriving a little under an hour after the end of the meet.

Tuesday, April 14, 0002 Hrs.

Mr. Johnson thanks Snow for his services and hands him a credstick.

Tuesday, April 14, 0012 Hrs.

Taillights light up the night sky as cars wonder what that was that just ran past.

Tuesday, April 14, 0016 Hrs.

Cass wonders what the traffic jam is from at this hour as the light rain falls on her.

Tuesday, April 14, 0020 Hrs.

Clearing the traffic tie-up, Apoc notices a Stuffer Shack clerk observing the exterior of the building, has a hunch what might be causing the disturbances and alters his route.

Tuesday, April 14, 0035 Hrs.

Pierce notices a half dozen motorcycles gaining on him from a couple blocks away.

Frowning slightly, Pierce decided that it'd be best to avoid the other bikes. At this time of night, they were almost certainly not friendly, and if there was one thing Pierce was ill-prepared for it was a gun battle on a bike in his street clothes. Keeping to the more public roadways, Pierce tried to lose the bikers in the array of motorists still driving about at this time of night. He also sped up a little, moving faster than the flow of traffic but hopefully slow enough that he wouldn't get pulled over for anything.

Pierce noticed that his pursuers weren't following too closely. In fact, he might have been entirely mistaken that they were following him at all. Seeing a convenient alley to his right, Pierce had a flash of inspiration (read: common sense). He ducked down the alleyway, rode to the next street, and made another right. After about another block, he made two more right turns, doubling back in the direction he came. All the while, he paid close attention to his rearview mirror, hoping that the bikers weren't in pursuit

Pierce sees the bikers half a dozen blocks ahead of him. They continue on their way oblivious of the lone biker.

Pierce slows down to be going a bit slower than the bikers, and waits for them to move further out of sight. Okay, so maybe they weren't following me, he thought, All the same, it doesn't hurt to be a little careful. Slightly reassured, but still alert, he continues toward Apoc/s meeting location.

Apoc's place is pretty lacking in personality. The main room has a single table and a desk, along with half a dozen chairs and an old trid which crackles if you look at it wrong. Three doors lead from the living area, one to the bedroom (which is closed), one to a bathroom (which is generally open) and one back to the stairs leading down. The room lacks windows to the outside, but has one looking over the workshop floor below.

The shop downstairs is segregated into three areas. Immediately inside the large door is an area with vehicle parking. At the back and over to the left side under the stairs leading up to the apartment are various vehicle tools and even a lift for raising low slung vehicles. To the right, various electronics tools are arrayed.

The decor is late "greasemonkey" with the only real decorration in the living area being a large map of North America with several pushpins stuck into it.

Pierce pulls up to the designated meeting spot, a couple of minutes early despite the burst of paranoia. Coming to a halt he mutters, "Knock, knock," into his transceiver and waits to be let in.

Hearing the call over the comm, Apoc checks the small black and white security display and hits a button. The door rolls up allowing entrance. Come on in, he supplies over the comm.

Pierce idles his way into the garage, parking his bike off to the side, but pointed out to make it easier to leave. Waiting for his 'wires to get themselves out of "biking mode," he takes a moment to glance around at the impressive array of hardware in Apoc's garage. With control over his muscles once again, Pierce disengages himself from the bike and heads up to where the rest of the new team has probably already gathered.

Beast came a running. making a quick double back to see if he was followed, he then aproaches the door, and radio's up. "Present."

He accepts the Buzz in and comes on up, waiting for everyone else, and pulling a small notebook and pencil out of a jacket pocket.

Once everyone arrives, he begins.

"Hello, my name is Beast, and I excel in athletics and stealth. I am a strategist and an able combatant in melee and with firearms."

He then looks expectantly at the person to his left (I'll just assume it's Apoc)

[How'bout me instead? ]
Pierce looks rather dubiously at the tall Ork standing to his right. He specializes in stealth? With those legs? Guess I'll believe it when I see it.

"I go by Pierce. I mostly specialize in high-threat response medicine." He grins. "On a run like this I guess we'll all be hoping I never have to actually *do* anything, but if I'm ever needed you'll be glad I'm there, I'm sure. I did a bit of sneak-work as a kid, but I'm pretty sure there's quite a few people here better at it than me."

He nods to the next person 'in line,' as it were, to his own left.

Dragon nods and replies, "The name is Dragon. My primary specialty is military recon and intelligence gathering. I would not consider myself exceptionally stealthy, but probably good enough for our purposes. In addition, I am proficient in firearms and hand to hand combat."

He looks around, then continues, "For this mission, I'm fine with either going in, or keeping an eye on things outside for support. I have solid communications gear, so I don't mind coordinating things from the outside through me, if necessary."

He then nods to the person on his left to continue.

Apoc grins. "They call me Apoc an I'm guessin' you've figured out what I do fer der team. I'll be providing surveillance and aerial recon as well as some support for the infiltration effort."

"I'm Blender, physical adept. I specialize in stealth operations and close combat."

"I'm Renegade. I'll be providing magical support."

"Apoc I've found the best things to take out drones are other drones. Do you have combat capabilities? Oh yeah, and can you drive a truck?"

"Renegade, I've known many mages in my day, and no two of them alike. I'd be very interested to hear what forms of magical support you have to offer. Can you control people, for instance?"
Crap... how did I know we wouldn't have a decker... Oh well.... we can buy one

Apoc shrugs. "Takin' out drones is really a function of firepower. It takes some pretty heavy firepower to do it, an' I ain't got a drone that's packin' that kind of ammo. Doesn't much matter how you're launchin' it. I can drive most anything with wheels and some stuff without 'em. I've got a few combat tricks, but against drones, they're likely to be baby kicks."

He grows thoughtful for a moment. "Now, if the drones are runnin' on an RC network, I might be able to degrade their rigger's control or maybe even take it over. If he's on CCSS, though, there's no quiet about that."

Pierce nods. "Yeah, none of that seems particularly stealthy anyway. My gun's an eloquent speaker, but he's really no good at subtlty. More importantly, we're supposed to make it look like we were never there; you can't do that leaving a trail of mechanical corpses."

Beast chuckles a bit "Oh I agree, but better to leave mechanical corpses than our corpses. Anyways, I'm just sizing up what we're working with."

"Yes, " Renegade says, "as a matter of fact, I do have a mind-control spell. It plants a compulsion in the target's mind. It's perfect for the job, since it does not alert the target that they are having magic used on them. I also know a physical invisiblity spell, and a telekinesis spell which simulates the functions of my own hands, as well as a healing spell and some combat spells that I hope not to use. I am also adept at astral reconaissance and aura reading, and can summon spirits who can conceal use, help us move faster, distract guards, or cause minor problems that appear as simple accidents.

Dragon

I’d like to get everything on the table, so we’re all clear about what we’re up against. So just to sum up our objectives and opposition: we’ve got two boxes in a cage that is maglocked, which we have the passcode for. The cage is also magically protected, and under video surveillance. Working from the inside out, we also have a warehouse with alarms on the doors of three sides, and presumably on the main door as well.

There are also drones on tracks housed in each of the four corners. There is a guardhouse at the only entrance to an otherwise razorwired and fenced in enclosure, with about five guards. One patrolling the grounds, one jacked in and monitoring, one doing paperwork for the trucks, one physically inspecting the trucks, and one filling in where needed.

We have three shifts that run round the clock.
Day- 8am-4pm, medium familiarity
Evening- 4pm-midnight, low familiarity
Night- Midnight-8am, high familiarity

Incoming shipments 4pm-10pm
Outbound shipments 8am-3pm

We do not know how if there is a gap between shifts, we do not know when the guards change shifts either. I do not believe we know where the secondary objectives, six boxes, are located, although we do have their item numbers.

The warehouse itself is located in Tacoma, near I5.

We are also required to make it easy in, easy out, no noise, with nothing but the target items taken.

I believe that currently sums up our knowledge of the situation, have I left anything out?

He looks around the room.

[ooc: please put quotes around speach]
Beast nods in agreement with everything that has just been said until the end
"Close, but not exact on that last point. we're requested to make it low profile. We're required to make sure that the items are not known to be stolen. This carries a subtle, but definite distinction. We can perform a very high profile operation, as long as it cannot be linked to those boxes. Not that I'm in favor of this plan, but we could steal the boxes and then blow up the entire fascility and everyone in it, it would obviously not be covert, but would be hard to link to the boxes. Again, I don't support that plan, I just acknowledge it as a possibility.

Now, I've seen several groups who try to make many plans and then do recon to see which ones won't work. I don't like that since it leads the recon people to only look for things that could make plans not work, and not things that could open whole new plans. So, here's what I suggest:

Apoc, you said you've got surveilance? Well there's no time like the present. can you jack in, take off, and get us some aerial views? if so, is there a way you can display what you're seeing on a view screen, or could I jack in with you and watch that way?

Raven, the Johnson didn't say for sure that they had magical security, I believe he suspects it, but hasn't verified it. While Apoc here does his own form of astral projection, could you hop over there and check it out yourself? Things that would be good check on a flyby would be wards or patrolling spirits (who could see invis). If the building isn't warded, maybe go in and see if the cage, or any other part is. It would also be nice to have a headcount of how many people are in there, and definitely to know how many are casters."

Pierce grinned. He was beginning to feel very good about this group; even the magic-users seemed fairly level-headed, which in his experience was extremely rare. "Good thinking Beast," he said, "I'm especially interested in mapping out the surrounding area; there's bound to be something useful there for us to exploit. Don't take any big risks on the warehouse itself, though; if we put them on their guard it'll make our job that much more difficult." Most of that probably went without saying, but it didn't hurt to make sure.

Apoc raises an eyebrow at the mention of surveillance. "What, you mean like this?" He presses a button on the RC deck connected to the wall outlet and a vid screen set on top of it flares to life, showing an slowly panning aerial view which seems to be moving across downtown. He pokes a finger at a small numerical display in the corner. "Looks like it'll be another few minutes before it's in position, but it's on the way."

Dragon scanned the images on Apoc's screens, then said, "Well, I guess we'll be wanting some more legwork on this place, probably stuff that's Matrix accessible only. I've got a decker friend I could call, it probably shouldn't be too hard for her to crack this system. Before I do, why don't we come up with a list of what we want her to look for. Blueprints, I am assuming, probably any external security they may have, layouts of the building and security systems/protocols, if possible. Definitely any other nasty electrical surprises or defenses they may have in place."

He pauses, and since no one's really said anything since watching the blimp head out, then continues, "Beast, I believe that you and Cass were our infiltration specialists. Is there anything else you'd want? Apoc, you're the tech man, any other technical stuff you'd want to know about? I don't know much about magic Renegade, but perhaps you want to give the place a scan in the astral, and more importantly, cover the magical angles we'll need to have down. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems me and Pierce are more of the backup on this run. Maybe we can go have a look in person so we can see how to cover you guys on the insertion and extraction."

He gives a thin smile. "Besides, I signed on as a point man type. So I guess this is where I earn my money, right? Unless someone has a problem, how about Pierce and I go take a look in person, while you guys hang back here. When I get the info from my decker friend, then I can send it back to you guys, and we can compare notes: what the Matrix blueprints say compared to the actual physical layout. In my experience, it's always good to know both. Since it seems like Cass and Beast will be primarily responsible for the going in, they can come up with a plan and Pierce and I can be the on-site eyes to relay information back to you that can help you iron out the kinks, at least in the preliminary plan. Then we can meet back up and start hashing out the details. How does that sound to everyone?"