Tuesday, September 15th, 9:00 pm, team HQ, dock warehouse district, Tacoma

Void nods. "Hrrrm, yes, well...I am not inclined to.. gentle persuasion, no, no, but my presence might lend a certain... gravitas, to the negotiations. Sun Tzu says 'To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acne of skill', but while the great philosopher might equate it to a pustulent facial blemish, I find a certain... satisfaction in the prospect of getting a third party to do some of the work for us."

Tuesday September 15th, 9:00 pm, team HQ, dock warehouse district, Tacoma

Jovan smiles sadistically at Zo's suggestion. <<A perfect way to further instigate conflict at the shipment dropoff. But we must take care, because the Tartarus Ring is still associated with the Blind Man, and he may send along an entourage who knows about us. Better to clue them in through another party - and I believe I may be able to locate a very suitable entity for the task. I will find one of the ghosts that haunt the Underground and 'negotiate' with it to act in our stead.

Zo and Void, while you meet with this quaint Bonecrusher character, I will continue my interrogation of the first prisoner. We still need whatever information the man can give us, and I need more time to convert him into a human intelligence asset. Altering the memories underlying his beliefs and his loyalty to the Blind Man will be a tricky affair, not to be done recklessly.

Before you depart, however, a few logistical details will need to be worked out. I presume that we will try to persuade that Bonecrusher Vince to pay us for the tip-off with a portion of the weapons they procure from the hit. What bargaining chips will you try to use if he refuses? And if he does accept, how shall we obtain those weapons from his people in a secure manner afterwards? A dead-drop, perhaps?>>

Tuesday September 15th, 9:00 pm, team HQ, dock warehouse district, Tacoma


"Dats an easy question. Certified cred works well for me, an if ya charge for it, he can upcharge for it and make some money when he goes ta da pasta lovers. Dats's how I see it going down. I don't want anythin ta do with blind man's weapons if I hav ta. Might have stealth tags or something ta track them wit."

Tuesday, September 15th, 9:00 pm, team HQ, dock warehouse district, Tacoma

Void's fingers restlessly drum on the table. His intense gaze is disrupted as he remembers to blink, something he often forgets to do for minutes at a time. "The main objective is to convince this person of our... sincerity. Getting paid for it is a nice additional irony, but less important - it is mainly so we can seem appropriately, hrrm, self-interested, yes."

Tuesday, September 15th, 9:00 pm, team HQ, dock warehouse district, Tacoma

"Void, I agree da amount is unimportant ta me really--I'd even say I'd do it for a later favor. Frag, I'd even cave if dey get threatening. Da point something given freely looks like a grifters con game. If ya charge for it, they take it more seriously."

Tuesday, September 15th, 9:00 pm, team HQ, dock warehouse district, Tacoma

Professor looks around the table. "It sounds as if you are tending towards farming out the raid on the weapons to someone else. Who among the options we've put on the table seems best to try first?"

Tuesday, September 15th, 9:00 pm, team HQ, dock warehouse district, Tacoma
"Nah, just try'n ta find a few interested chmmers dat would take dat info an slot an run with it. If we can get some cred or a favor outta of it, dat would be wiz. Oh an dat Cargo Bill, he's a tusker like me an void and runs guns in da underground. So he's got some cred dere.

Oh an I forgot ta mention it, da Gates Casino in Bellevue, on Shoreland Drive is a likely place ta find stolen magical goods. Run by the Mafia with da typical offerings. Deres some rooms for 'discrete' meetings an I can fragging guess dat some high-roller art-thief types frequent the place, both to do a little flashy gambling, slotting da joygirls or boys, and ta do biz wit independents, buyers and Johnsons. Could be worth checking dat out. Void, you'd fit well in dere wit your look, me not so much. Perwillig has had some biz there."

Tuesday, September 15th, 9:00 pm, team HQ, dock warehouse district, Tacoma

A faint smile flickers across Void's face, a rare expression for him. "Yes, people dealing in magical goods would just love me." The barely-there grin fades as he looks more reflective. "So this Cargo Bill works in the underground. Interesting. What reputation I do have, from the idyllic days before I went freelance, is in the underground. It might even be possible that he's heard of me. No matter. I don't really have any ties down there, any more."

Tuesday, September 15th, 9:01 pm, team HQ, dock warehouse district, Tacoma

<<I am still of the mind that outsourcing our raid and retrieving some of the Blind Man's weapons from it would benefit us much more than any other course of action. The more assets we have, the more capable of bringing him down we will be; and the nuyen we can make from selling his weapons will help me offset the cost of expensive conjuration supplies. However, simply selling the information to the Bonecrusher meat and leaving his people to do what they will is an acceptable compromise, I think.>>

<<Are there any other details to discuss before we get started?>>

Tuesday, September 15th, 9:01 pm, team HQ, dock warehouse district, Tacoma

"A few extra guns don't make da difference--we're not da army. Frag, dat we ain't even got da numbers for a Ring. A couple years back, some upstart gang tried dat route to keep da star outta der turf. The drek hit da fan real quick after dey took out a city master wit a rocket. SOme times straight up fight'n is da worse course of action. Da wiz thing ta do to da blind man is ta put one between his eyes. Dat's da only way dis is goin ta fragging work. Of course findin him and doin it iz not going ta be one of dose null sweat things. I'm guessing this guy never shows his face ta anyone. As ta selling da info, as I said it may involve barter for a favor later instead of cred. We need chummers dat will help out or look da other way if need be too."

Wednesday, September 16th, 2071, 02:00, team HQ, dock warehouse district, Tacoma

[OOC: read OOC post #537 first.]

The team talked some more and decided to rest a few hours and take a refreshed crack at planning. Professor ducked out on a mission of his own.

At the stroke of 2 in the morning, the lights in the whole building come on. A soft two-tone bell rises in volume for a few seconds, and then a commlink message comes through to the three team members:

<<Professor@team: Wake up and dress for action. I have intel Orlando has been on the way with some of the equipment you ordered. He is being followed by a black Land Rover 2068. Has been aware of it for about 15 minutes. I've instructed him to be at this location: Maxwell Way, West off of Port of Tacoma Rd. at 02:30. It's about 5 minutes from our base. Woods on either side of the road. Deal with the tail. Survivors could be useful, but letting anyone get away is bad news.>>

Wednesday, September 16th, 2071, 02:00, team HQ, dock warehouse district, Tacoma


Void stumbles out of his room quickly. It is hard to tell whether he just slept in his street clothes, or whether it is only his usual slightly unkempt look. He is muttering a bit to himself, but still seems fairly alert. He must be using voice to text on his commlink, as the scrolling messages display Void's usual verbal tics.

"Hrrm, yes, it seems this Blind Man is the sort who stays busy. Prefer enemies who are a bit less... energetic, yes, yes."

He heads towards the area where the group has been doing its planning, although he knows better by now than to expect Jovan to attend the meeting in person.

"At least we have better working conditions, yes, plenty of cover. No time to get my own rifle, though, so I fear I must use this piece that we, heh, liberated. Prefer weapons with less... superfluous... features, but it will get the job done."

Wednesday, September 16th, 2071, 02:00, team HQ, dock warehouse district, Tacoma


Zo, snorts awake at the sound of Professor pining him. He quickly gets up as if the place was about to get raided by cops. He grabs both pistols lying next to him and his duffle bag that has the AK in it, heading towards the garage.


"Dis might get a bit tricky. Da pawns will be on us like a dandelion eater at a salad bar. We gots a few minutes before dey show up if tings get a bit too noisy. Void, ya got a silenced sniper rifle, right? I got a silenced pistol dat is good for soft things, if dey in heavy armor, I'll have ta pull out da big guns an wake da neighbors. Prof, we should have Orlando meet us some where in da docks, or a stuffer shack after dis. They might've bugged da car he's in. Void ya wanna a lift? Jovie ya cover da astral. Let us know who da wiz worms are so we can slot dem first. Personnally I'd sooner ya be dere in da meat. We might need yer mojo ta cover our tracks or counter any spell slingers mojo.. "

Wednesday, September 16th, 2071, 02:00, team HQ, dock warehouse district, Tacoma

Jovan's voice floats in via their team commlink channel, with his usual monotone. Unlike Void and Zo, he doesn't sound even slightly sleepy. Weird.

<<Astral cover you shall have, of course. Orlando is a shaman, so he will be able to handle any counterspelling you may require without my being present in the flesh. We have 30 minutes - would the two of you like a change of weather to cover your strikes? A rainstorm, perhaps, or a blanket of fog? Or would you prefer more of a showstopping earth elemental, to better surprise Orlando's tail and ambush them suddenly? I can offer one or the other, but not both at once.>>

Wednesday, September 16th, 2071, 02:01, team HQ, dock warehouse district, Tacoma

Professor responds, sounding distracted, as if something else is going on in his meat space. <<Uh... yeah, but Orlando is setting a path trying to look like he doesn't know he's being tailed. If he changes now, the alteration may wise up the tail. Look, the wooded area is away from any nighttime traffic, and looks like a good ambush place. I'm sure you three can take out one vehicle. Blow out a tire or two... flame up the interior with a spirit.. that kind of thing. Gotta go, I'll leave the planning up to you.>>

Wednesday, September 16th, 2071, 02:01, team HQ, dock warehouse district, Tacoma


"The rifle - have those stats from Ivan copied here somewhere - yes, yes, there we go - electronic firing, less noisy, good, a proper anti-material rifle, also good. Yes, I need a ride...we will smite our enemies. As Sun Tzu said, 'He who is prudent and lies in wait for an enemy, will not be victorious.' Wait... what? Hold on, ah, I see. 'He who is prudent and lies in wait for an enemy who is not, will be victorious.' Yes, yes, much better. Hrrrm. Always wanted to shoot one of those damnable Land Rovers."

Void pauses briefly to ponder Jovan's offer.

"We will already be hidden under cover, so... perhaps the spirit, better, yes. No such thing, as excessive firepower, no, no."

Wednesday, September 16th, 2071, 02:00, team HQ, dock warehouse district, Tacoma

<<Jovie, if da spirit can better conceal us for da Ambush, I'd thing dat da rain would be da greater asset. We needs to make sure dat dey don't see it comming. I'm assumin onces da bullets start flying da spirit can cause problems in other ways?>>

Wednesday, September 16th, 2071, 02:01, team HQ, dock warehouse district, Tacoma

Void mentally shrugs as the other half of the team's muscle chooses the other option; it's not really important enough for him to even reply to. The only thing surprising him was the temperamental mage offering them a choice in the first place. Currently, he is more concerned with giving the rifle a quick once-over, planning on giving it a more thorough check during the short drive. It seems a fine weapon, but he prefers to practice and accustom himself to a new gun before using it in the field.

Wednesday, September 16th, 2071, 2:01 pm, team HQ, dock warehouse district, Tacoma

The comm channel is silent for a few seconds while Jovan mentally sifts through what statistics he knows about elemental performance. <<Conditional yes. It would depend on several factors, as the spirit would need to work quickly in order to have a good chance at bringing your desired weather cover to a peak by 2:31. It could offer you magical concealment beforehand as well, but up until the completion of the summoning, it would be largely preoccupied. You would need to time your ambush precisely. If you were intercepted or caught before the time was right, there would be a lag in reaction time while I redirect the spirit to assist you. There is more room for error if you choose to have weather cover from a water elemental.

Still, as long as both of you are equipped with thermal or sonic vision of some variety so that you won't be affected by it yourselves, a fog or thunderstorm would certainly help to obscure your activities from the enemy. But such cover will force you to implement the entire attack yourselves, while I can at least implement a surprise first strike for you with an earth elemental. The elementals involved in each choice are incompatible, so you will have to choose whichever option you feel will best aid you in killing his men. Suddenly and swiftly, I would hope. >>

Wednesday, September 16th, 2071, 2:01 pm, team HQ, dock warehouse district, Tacoma

Zo hops on his bike, and checks all his guns readiness. Green lights show up in AR for each of his weapons, indicating full loads. He checks the ammo types for all 3 of his primary guns. The AK notes ex-ex explosive rounds, the CZ120, subsonic, and his ruger thunderbolt ex-ex as well. Satisfied, he checks his stock of clips.

"Let's go den. Da spirit can conceal us an we can get da drop on dem. I think wit dat gun Void ya can take down a tank. So we should be wiz. I'm just gonna be back-up and if we needz it da spirit can be third string. "

Wednesday, September 16th, 2071, 02:02, team HQ, dock warehouse district, Tacoma

"Stop a tank? We will see, we will see. Hopefully this overcomplicated contraption will live up to its billing, yes, hope it's not overhyped, like that last Ares gun... well, no matter. Soon, yes, soon. So we are going with the fog? I can work with that, see through it, yes."

Void clambers onto the bike with Zo, who feels the enervating effect of the uncanny assassin's astral hazing. Perhaps offering Void a ride wasn't such a good idea, but at least they don't have to cover a lot of distance.

Wednesday, September 16th, 2071, 02:02, team HQ, dock warehouse district, Tacoma


Zo steps off the bike for a second to get his bearings and clear his head. Immidately after getting away from Void the drained feeling goes away. He gets back on the bike and feels drained again.
His reflexes seem slowed, and the usual clarity with which Zo senses things is gone.

What the frag is up with dis guy? I felt fragging drained like I've been on a 3 day drinking binge when he came near me. Zo braces with a discernable grimace, and gets back on the bike.

"Void did anyone ever tell ya you frag wit magic?"

Without waiting for Voids reply Zo revs the engine up and pulls up the Ares Citizen CRIME-Watch in AR. He then limits report alerts to Tacoma only.