My eyes light when Gladius suggests teaching me the spell after studying alone for so long, it would be fun. Ahm... I'd like it very much if we have the time for that."

We can look at the map and map the stops which are relatively isolated/small where they can get some food to the car, perhaps with a drone, or if you insist on doing something illegal, hacking some low-level cameras."

Gladius replied: "Probably not enough time now, but if we succeed, I can teach you this spell.

I'll go to sleep now. When I'm rested, I go out to our ambush spot and can cast the barriers, rest until the backlash has healed and cast another few until dusk comes. Meanwhile, you can try to locate them and maybe even take them out before we have to stage our ambush."

"Yes, let's get some sleep," Mato agrees.

His sleep regulator will keep him offline from about 02:00 to 05:00.

The Matrix always tells him he should stretch first thing in the morning but he finds it fairly pointless with the titanium limbs. He settles for rolling his head around a bit, then a few torso twists.

If he's the first one awake then he'll take the opportunity to shower before the others are up.

"Sleeping sounds nice" I yawn, quickly shower, and change into boxers and a tee-shirt, and then I look around to find a place to nap. I find a corner of an unused bed and curl up in a fetal position, covering my entire body and face and only leaving a small crack to breathe. Trouble seems to relish the occasion as an opportunity to cuddle, though she never sleeps, so I doubt she'll be there in the morning. I will not fault the cat spirit for that, as I know a few people that would see it as a positive trait in a lover. I absently hug Trouble, and to amplify my sense of privacy, I log into the Trix and enter a virtual sleeping app for counting sheep. So there I stand, in an open field at night with an endless herd of identical sheep to count, and the sheep unrealistically smell like shampoo - or is it my hair? No idea, really. I used the one provided by the hotel, without thinking. After a few minutes of playing cow-girl (sheep girl), I decide to cheat and write a small script to count the sheep for me, that task proves satisfying, and I feel tired and relaxed enough to sleep shortly after - not entirely certain if I finished writing the script or not. I momentarily wake up when the Trix logs me off for being idle for over 30 minutes with a soft beep, but then I fall asleep again instantly. Perhaps there is some truth to the common wisdom about counting sheep to sleep better.

Tamarind pulls up the maps and images around the ambush spot, trying to understand the terrain. If there are reasonably deep drainage ditches she could hide toothless, if there is any structure nearby they could be in it, if there is so much as a line of trees they may be able to use it to their advantage -- she wonders how far Mato can drop safely? If there are trees maybe he could go all Robin Hood and drop from the trees to deal with the villain (or had that been in Star Wars? She's pretty sure it was one or the other, back when she lived in Butte below she had some pretty fantastical ideas of what trees were really like due to some such scene.

Then she does a final matrix search to relax before going to sleep, checking for information on what happened to the owner of the farm, then finally stretches out with a blanket over her, not worry too much about what she is lying on. It has to beat muddy or rocky ground.

"Getting some sleep sounds wonderful. We really need to bring our A-game tomorrow."

Thinking back, a whole lot has happened during the past 15 or so hours. In the morning, they got the message with the job offer, which after the incident with the rather powerful plant spirit eventually led them here to San Angelo. What a crazy day, and getting some rest certainly is rather welcome now. Tomorrow is going to get even worse, most likely.

Tamarind learned that Maria Lopez had been shot and killed in a "mugging gone wrong" about half a year ago. The scream sheet deplored the senseless gang violence, but between the lines it read more like this had been a targeted hit. After all, what biker gang would want to steel corn seedstock?

The night passed by uneventful and even though the hotel was just above average, its amenities wer good enough to also include a well tasting breakfast.

Tien III was up and fully immersed in VR, likely conducting his daily business and conference calls.

Gladius, true to his word left - although without a car. Astrally perceiving people could make out that he turned invisible including the spirit ability to reduce being noticed and then cast levitation on himself, much speeded up by yet another spirit power.

Mato has no trouble sleeping; the sleep regulator takes care of that. He goes down at 02:02 and awakes 180 minutes later at 05:02 and is off to the bathroom.

He does seem unsure of how to dress. His instinct is to wear a suit, at least for the daytime, but the fact that it's Texas makes him rethink that. He eventually opts for his armor jacket, which doesn't get much love these days. It'll be too warm during the daytime sun, but if he's rolling around in drainage ditches this evening then he'd rather not do it in his suit. (Yes, even though AM could tidy it up magically. There were Scout Tuxes for when you wanted to bathe in the dust.) He even packs his ballistic mask.

"I don't know about intercepting them ahead of time," he says. "I like the idea, but it's just so open-ended. What will they be driving? What direction will they be coming from? Presumably from the north, but I wouldn't want to bet the whole op on it. When will they want to stop? Do they even need to stop? It just seems like a big gamble that spreads us too thinly. Better to concentrate our efforts at one chokepoint.

"If we can, let's condition the car when it turns off the road. Then we'll intercept about halfway to the farm. If there are fireworks, that should be far enough to spare anyone on the highway.

"We can prep the terrain too in advance, if needed. Dig ourselves some hidey-holes, as there won't be much cover otherwise. Guess I'll have to buy a shovel. Oh, and maybe some cowboy boots while I'm at it. Anything else sticks out like a sore thumb down here."

No rest for the wicked, and the morning comes way too early for my liking. The early one may get the worm, but I bet it has a sleep regulator. What a life-changing piece of ware to be having. Screw being smarter or stronger or having legs with schemers that make you run as far as a car - waking up without feeling that thick cloud around my head is something else.

So I yawn and quickly change into some unassuming clothes, which I'll cover with an armor jacket in case it would do me any good. If I set my heart to it, I could probably set up some pieces of fashion that would provide me as much protection as body armor while being socially acceptable. It is just that being shot at is not something I ever thought to optimize. It seems important, alright, but it does not happen every day, and I would think that life is streamlining and that I can settle down - but then this amazing money offer, and a day later, here we are ambushing evil mage lady et al., like some train robber in the westerns of old.

After I am presentable to sort, I say, "I'd send a few drones to nearby rest stops mainly so that we know ahead of time which car they are driving, and so forth. It may be tempting to intercept them, but there is only one chance to surprise them. Do notice that they were all carrying camping gear, so they can also approach the farm on feet, and we need to ambush them before they ditch the car."

Tamarind has had years of waking up at odd times of the night or morning, so the alarm from her 'jack was merely irritating. Quickly enough she had herself into function clothes, with her lined coat ready to take along for later. The rest of her wearpons and so forth were strapped to Toothless, who could certainly carry the load.

In response to AM's comment, Tamarind mused: "For that matter they could dump the car a distance back, and walk in while invisible. Or fly themselves in. Or for all I know use some juiced up spell to tunnel their way in. After all, they know somebody was investigating, they may be expecting an ambush. But they may not, or may expect to overpower anyone in their way. You are right that we can't know for sure what they are thinking. But setting an ambush on the obvious way in makes sense, yes they may be ready for it, but it is still the most controlled situation."

"We just need to have good communications and back-up plans. I'd still like to see if we can rig some bombs in the Pellipers, as a general emergency back-up. And we should get a couple Kanmushis into the compound, to keep an eye on things in there in case they sneak past us -- I don't think I could safely park a balloon observation drone over the compound, given the border situation. I could park those further back to keep an eye on things though, say one near the highway turn-off, and one near what might be a logical spot to pull-over to approach on foot."

"We could probably slide a kanmushi into a rest stop or two, but those are often busy places, and they may well disguise their features, which drone level image recognition may struggle to see through."

"Also good point about digging holes, I'd been thinking of using the ditches, but I don't know if they are usefully deep. We could also see if we can get a camoflage tarp? Should block astral senses well enough and they probably aren't THAT good with mundane senses. It is just that time is tight and some of the useful things could be hard to obtain, I suppose a shovel is a safer plan."

A quick look on the map identified Highway 208 or 277 as the most likely direction that the summoners would come from. 87 was possible too, but would have them cross into Atzlan territory, which would likel delay their travels.
If they wanted to be extra careful, 67 was an option as well - provided they were ready for a few more hours driving.

"Okay," Mato says. "Let's make a shopping list.

"I'll see if I can find a high-powered rifle in case I need to make a shot at a distance. I'll look into the Hold-Fast Adhesive Spray too.

"Tamarind, what are you thinking for the Pellipers? Are we just trying to use grenades or do you want something more substantial?

"Shovels, camouflage tarp, check.

"Raven? AM? Any requests or ideas?"

"I don't need anything. We might need some restraints and sedative. Mage Masks could be useful, too."

"I have a couple strong tranq patches but, yes, perhaps we could use some more. And some restraints.

"Maybe some C-squared too. If things go sideways, I don't want to leave behind any material links." He looks to see if he used that term correctly.

"Aren't mage masks illegal? Not that I mind, but we're low on local contacts. Unless Tien III has a bunch of CAS friends he can tap on short notice."

I say, "This whole plan lies from the assumption they are driving here, and we'll need to know which road they take. 208, 277, 87, and perhaps even 67 are good options, and this excludes pulling a Bobby or some other magical equivalent. We'll need eyes on these roads, and I'll need to search for their comlinks. Perhaps I get lucky, and they are around here. So we need cameras or some eyes in the sky to see which route they take. If we get the proper intel, we can set up in advance and ensure we have lines of sight or ways to break them and barriers.

As for disabling a mage, I'd trust the petrifying spell or medically induced coma, and I'd like to try and get Neuro-Stun gas grenades or Narcojet with capsule rounds. It would likely be more accessible than busting through counter-spelling if we can get these things. Even if we do use them, keeping them conscious would be very dangerous.

Shall we compose a shopping list and see what we can or cannot get? Jhonny Morad may have contacts here. He never admits it, but the rumor is that he is ex-Mossad, and he may have the kind of connections we need - or if not, we may have time to spirit fly equipment from Seattle like we did the painting."

Tamarind shakes her head "Unless we know the car that they are driving -- including its current colour if that is variable, or a license plate if that is not also fake-able -- having eyes on the roads won't help much. I'm sure they are not so amateur as to drive with their windows set to transparent. We might have more luck with matrix searches, as they likely don't have the contacts to get new fake ID, so might be using whatever Gladius set them up with? But if they are smart enough to rent, or 'acquire', a generic car or truck once they are in the CAS we won't have any way to confirm visually until they either drive somewhere suspicious or get out of the vehicle. I suppose I can park Lazybones and Mimic -- surveillance drones -- over a couple of likely service centers. I'd certainly want to empty my bladder before hitting a dangerous situation, but I'm also older, living, and female. If she is possessed and dead she may not need to do such things, and he could just stop by the side of the road anywhere."

"It is a tough situation where we know where they are coming, and roughly when they are coming, but we don't know the route and we don't know the timing precisely enough to pick them out that way. I'm happy to deploy drones wherever, and even buy new ones and deploy those too, but I think we would need to get lucky to spot them that way. Basically we are in the position of territorial patrol trying to stop smugglers, and I can tell you that most smugglers operate without too much risk."

"If the roads were quiet enough we could put a small mana barrier across and see when it breaks, and look at just those vehicles. But it would tip them off, and likely throw up false negatives and maybe draw official attention.

"I'm beginning to wonder if we are going about this the wrong way. We are confident that they are going to the farm, to do a ritual. Even a Watcher ritual takes a few minutes. What if we let them get involved in the ritual, where we know where they are and what they are doing, and charge in then? I'm sure they will have spirit defenses, but if we also have grenades planted and ready to go off, drones going in, and a plan to try and deal with spirits ... I realize that the spirit part is HARD, but it might be more solvable than the easier but more luck dependent intercept plan. "

I listen to Tam and think: So me thinking they'll stop is because I am female? or am I getting old? Well if that is the case, at least I am not going to die young. Somehow I can give even positive thinking exercise a dark twist.
...

"It does not have to be one or the other. I'll keep searching for their icons in case they use their comlinks. We keep trying to get a visual if we identify their ride we have favorable conditions. Using a low-level ward is spot on; we're unlikely to knock Mr. High on deepweed out and cause an accident to a random Joe, but when the ward breaks - our spirits can peek into the car and see if it is the right one. Much easier than searching every single car on the road. Then, even if they realize something is a miss - cars don't stop spot on, and it is not obvious they need to stop.

If it does not work, we can still try the farm, we'll have cameras to let us know to stop looking for cars and tackle them there. Does that make sense? I'll keep my eyes on the Trix, and if we're lucky or they make a mistake we are more likely to survive otherwise, we'll go to the creepy farm and fight some regenerating archmages. We may still be able to move the wards if Gladius keeps LOS on the farm and has some visual aid. Because I don't think he can sneak with like eight spells sustained. "

"Fair enough, defense in depth. We have two trucks, maybe I can take one to the farm and get a look at in person and set up what drones make sense there and at the planned ambush site. I'll take along Uncle, the Flying Eye that has an ultrasound sensor, and send him in through that pipe to check out the farm in greater detail, and be a back up sensor there since they are likely not invisible to ultrashound. Takes one taser out of my small swarm, but I think that is worth it"

"And if someone takes the other truck and goes to the likely rest stops I can send some Kanmushi's to plant somewhere with good visibility, and Mimic to deploy from nearby, it can slowly get into better position once it has some altitude. I'll take Lazybones, my other observation drone, and put it up near the likely approaches to the farm.

Mato considers Tamarind's input.

"Interesting thought," he says after consideration.

"It is a risk that they'll come in through the Aztlan side, or pull a Bobby a sneak through the irrigation ditch as field mice, or over the fence as yellow-rumped warblers."

He taps his chin. "Remember that Phillip published papers theorizing about where mass either comes from or goes during transformation magic. What was the thesis? That mass is put in storage and retrieved from other physical metaplanes? That sounds like he's pulling stuff out of thin air, literally.

"So we do need a plan that accounts for such contingencies, that they're going to be small or not encumbered like we presume they will be. That would suggest setting up our nest near the farm.

"But they're going to know about that astral security - the spirits on each side of the border - just as we do. Which means that they must have a plan in place to deal with them."

He looks to Gladius. "Would that trick you used earlier to shield us from scrutiny work for them too? Would it slow them down if they have to 'move' the spell like you're talking about moving the mana barriers?

"They could blast their way through the spirits, but then they'd have to deal with the response... whatever the response is."

Gladius replied from his field position: <<They certainly are capable of disguising their presence on the astral. But they have four kg of reagents as well as other ritual gear to take care of. It's unlikely that they go full transformation. Likewise, that they abandon their vehicle far away from their destination. They need that stuff. I'd expect either mana illusions or magical tunnel digging. Maybe levitation over the fence. But in all cases they have to start close to the compound to bring all their gear along.>>

<<What can earth spirits do?>> Mato asks both Gladius and the women next to him.

<<We know they can cook up monster spirits, and the X-T allows them to summon whatever they want. How hard would it be to get a big earth spirit to dig under the fence? That would defeat the top-down surveillance by the spirits on overwatch.>>

Gladius replied: <<Shards, or spirits as you call them, aren't particularly adept at excavation - at least they don't have any abilities beyond their considerable strength. A Male Ego Shard - you'd call them spirit of men - that is able to create spell constructs would be the better option. Provided of course the shard's creator is familiar with shape material spell constructs.

If they are tunneling, I'd expect Creamor to be the one to do it. Beside healing, he has the most experience with manipulation spells. If they use radical reagents to reduce natual resistance of the soil, he should be able to excavate a tunnel within minutes.>>

"Tunnel might be out best case, they'd likely want to get close, and it should be easy to spot from the surface -- soil generally isn't that compressible so they'd need to dump some out .... Oh if they just move in an underground bubble that would be bad. A tunnel we could spot from an flying drone then dump in gas. But if they have enough air to trust moving in a bubble then there would be a brief window to see them go under, then little we could do until they surface. Still worth looking for signs of a tunnel, and have gas delivery ready. So one Pelliper at least should be loaded with tear gas, if we can get some."

As a Texas frontier town, San Angelo sported an unsurprisingly large amount of home defense equipment in nearly every store. Pepper punch, tear gas and even neurostun were available in consumer grade quantities. A little bit of matrix research produced the address of an outlying farm, called Bobby Ray's Guns 'n Ammo, where the proprietor boasted to sell "almost any kind of ordnance a proud Texan could ever need".

"Looks promising," Mato says. "Let's go pay Bobby Ray a visit.

"I need a cowboy hat and boots too..."

The drive took 45 minutes and led to a dusty farmhouse and a single, dilapidated barn. The property was fenced in with razor wire and a welcoming, hand painted sign informed visitors that the owner had put down a minefield two both sides of the narrow driveway.

At the end of the driveway an equally quaint painted sign above the barn told visitors that this was the show room.

A scrawny old man with a marvelously long grey beard sat in a rocking chair with a large bore shotgun across his lap, smoking a corn pipe, sat on the shaded veranda in front of the farmhouse, looking on curiously towards his visitors.

Mato steps out of the rented Ford. He would squint at the sun but the flare compensators in his cybereyes take care of the glare.

What is it with Texans and mines? he wonders to himself. Maybe their proximity to the border makes minefields seem normal.

"Howdy," he says to the old man with the marvelously long grey bear, trying his best to sound like a local. Or, if not a local - because Mato's clothes would never pass as someone from Texas - then at least as someone who understands that this isn't the UCAS. He'd tip his hat, but he doesn't have one.

"Are you Bobby Ray, sir?" he asks, doing his best to be polite to his elder. "We have a shoppin list and cred to spend iff'n you are. We're fixin to hunt some varmits."

Tamarind squints against the glare -- she doesn't use technology to reduce it because she wants not to interfere with her tetrachromacy. Between slitted eyelids she looks the old man over, then comments: "He must be good, not to get his beard caught in the gun, and to be confident about handling the recoil in a rocking chair." A little more loudly she adds "Anything we can do for you, before we get all predictable and start talking business?"

"Ay, reckon that I am. Welcome to my little emporium. What exactly can I do you for?"

With an alarming creek-sound, the old man got up from his rocking chair and began tottering towards the team.
He kept the shotgun pointed down, but didn't bother to shake hands.

"You metas looking for sumthing special?"

Bobby Ray heh? "I wonder if he has a Spectra vest. I comment absently, thinking about the Trix game. Doubt any of the others in SIS is into trix games, though.
---
At Bobby's

"I want capsule rounds for a submachine gun and a pistol, and I want them filled with some narcotic, nonlethal, but non-bullshit, you know. Something that can say goodnight to a horse with ease. A couple of neuro stun grenades, or pepper-punch in a pinch. Also, I want some of this hand-loaded ammo with some extra punch; then I want these as well. Do you have anything electrical? Tasers, shock gloves, and the like?" I comment - I don't normally enjoy shopping, but we don't usually buy these things.

"Yessir," Mato nods, letting the "metas" thing slide. "I'm in the market for a high-powered hunting rifle and a variety of ammunition for said rifle. A Remington 950 would suit nicely, although if you have thoughts and opinions on the matter I would be glad of them."

Mato has noticed that people often liked being asked for their expertise, and so tries to play into that.

He also slips in, "And if you have something more rare or exotic, I would kindly consider it."

AM has her list, and Mato is perhaps a bit taken aback by how direct she is. People in rocking chairs with corn pipes tend to be the languid types, moving at a measured pace to not overheat under the southern sun.

"And as long as we're being specific, a camouflage tarp or ghillie suit or something else that might assist in staying concealed," he adds to the end of AM's list. "... during the hunt," he tacks to maintain the polite fiction.

Boby Ray nodded along to the requests and finally indicated towards the barn.
"Reckon, I can help you out with that."

The inside of the barn looked nothing like the exterior. Sleek chromed panneling, bright lighting and not a spec of dust dominated the interior.

Above a rail went from one side of the barn to the other. On it a rail drone with an honest to god GE Vindicator Minigun kept watch over the whole interior.

The walls were covered with various types of guns, rifles and ordnance.

"You are looking for a reliable hunting rifle. And from the look of you, I guess higher caliber is better than lower.
Question is if you want a bolt action, or semi auto. Bolt action tends to be a bit more precise, as with the Remington 950. But Semi Auto allows you to put more bullets downrange. A good shooter can place even two or three bullets in the same place. Helps tremendously against armor... of those larger critters.

This Ruger 100 with a smartlink and scope would do nicely for that.

But if you are not sure what you are going to... hunt, I have a nice import for you. Austrian manufacture Steyr Mannlicher. A so called Drilling, on account of them having three barrels - two smooth bore and one rifle barrel. Not the cheapest, but it comes with smartgun, scope and padded stock.

[ Spoiler ]

Mannlicher Marpingen Pro D from Schattenhandbuch 2
First Number for shotgun, second for the rifle barrel
ACC 5/6
DAM 12P(f)/11P
AP -1/-4
MODE SS/SA
RC (1)
AMMO 2(b)/6(m)
AVAIL 5R
COST 1800¥

Bobby Ray adds an external Smartgun for 200, a scope (300) w/smartlink, vision magnification, thermographic vision (2750)
for a total with rebate of 4000¥

The scope is available separately.

Now, there are some beasties, you better not shoot directly at. So I can offer you a Smart Firing Platform. That's a drone on a tripod that can do the shooting for you or you can remotely open fire from inside your truck. Good way to deal with Chupacabras. I can throw in a tarp for that in as well.

As for the nonlethal stuff: Neurostun comes in different flavors. I only got VIII, but as long as you keep your distance, you should be fine. Though I only got four doses left. That's enough for four grenades or 20 rounds of capsule ammo. Take your pick. Pepper Punch I've got for days.
Stick'n shock ammo as well. Flashbangs too.

Hand loads I have, but only for gel rounds. Though no guarantees they won't blow up your gun. It's more an art than a science getting them just right.

For close range, there's the shockglove, though I prefer the good old cattle prod baton. Gives you some reach, you know?"

Bobby Ray smiled, while he began taking out samples for the team to inspect.

"One last thing I've got - as you asked for exotic: A Narcoject Trackstopper. It shoots something like insulation foam. Glues whatever you are hitting in place and encases it in a durable foam. Useful if you want to slow something down, though all in all not a recommendation if you are going for something strong."

Mato can hardly believe his eyes: how do you maintain a dust-free environment in Texas? He wouldn't have thought it possible.

He notes the GE Vindicator Minigun but doesn't comment on it. (Does he have a secret wish to fire it? Yes, but he could hardly do so while it's mounted on a rail drone.)

Mato whistles appreciatively at the Steyr Mannlicher. "A Marpingen!" he exclaims (hoping that he pronounced it correctly) with rather more emotion than one usually hears out of him. "I've never seen one in person!" He picks it up, cradles it, then shoulders it to look down the sights. Perhaps a flicker of a frown when the scope gets in the way.

"I read the trials. A remarkable weapon."

The price makes him pause. He could get a Remington 950 with a smartgun system for significantly less ... but he must admit there is some appeal to a weapon that combines the long-range effectiveness of a hunting rifle with the short-range practicality of a shotgun. Plus there's the street cred of being the first kid on your block to have one. It's very appealing.

"What sort of ammunition do you have available for it?" he asks innocently. "What if I were, say, hunting a vehicle's engine block?"

Bobby Ray frowned.
"Well, if we's speaking h-y-p-o-t-h-e-t-i-c-a-l, I'd say you gonna need some APDS bullets. Though those are illegal to own for civilians, even in Texas.
Though there are some newfangled types out that can stop a car without penetration.
Stick'n shock are the easiest way. They scramble electronics. Get enough of them at a car and it stops dead.
The other one are actually tiny little computers you shoot at the target. Those hack on impact or something causing overload.
No idea how that's supposed to work.

I'd personally stick with a full auto weapon and stick n shock. Aim for one of the antenna and let the current do the rest."

"And here I thought that Bobby Ray offered 'almost any kind of ordnance a proud Texan could ever need'. How else are you gonna keep those awakened armadillos - those, whatchamacallit, juggernauts - off your property?"

Mato clicks his tongue. "Pity.

"The rifle is a beaut. I'd be happy to have her, although I confess my hardware already does what the scope wants to do. The external smartgun system will do nicely though.

"If there is no APDS, hy-po-the-ti-cal or otherwise, what do you have for the smooth bores? Anything with some, uh, pop?"

I nod in appreciation as the man shows his gear and hands Mato a beast of a gun, which seems to be very powerful but perhaps unwieldy for my taste. Still, a hunting rifle can be super nice if one wants to stay alive in a gunfight. I just never learned to use these beasts, my intention was always not to be victimized, but never to win a gang war, or hunt a "deer". I like my pistol, and I feel badass for shopping for this kind of thing.

"Let's do three neuro stun grenades and five rounds. Can't imagine myself needing more than five rounds, but let's do the rest of the clip with pepper punch. It leaves us with enough for three grenades. Any safety equipment to handle such gases? I'll stick with a glove it is more discreet. "

I look at the Ghillie suit and playfully put it close to my chest as if it was my prom dress. "I always wanted to blend in... How many do you think we'll need?", I ask Mato.

Bobby Ray grinned: "You need to listen more carefully. I didn't say that I didn't have them, did I?
Actually I hand craft sabots giving them a bit of extra penetration with some Teflon coating.
Bit of a loophole - as long as I don't fit the bullet to the casing, it's not an armor piercing discarding sabot.
If you decide to combine the two, that's up to your conscience."


He began packing AM's order:
"Sure, gas mask is no problem, but you need a fully sealed suit to be completely save. Neuro and Pepper are both contact vectors.
You can get cheap disposable ones at the Agristore. Farmers are supposed to use them when they use the nastier pesticides."

"We are likely going to be dealing with nasty awakened creatures. I've heard rumours of rounds especially good against anything magical, but I don't know much about them. Might be a bit too exotic for you, but if you have anything like that I'd be interested."

"You are talking about Blight. That's no good against creatures. Those usually have claws and teeth that work just fine even if their magic is cut off.

And unfortunately, I don't have any of that stuff. The only ones I know who have some is the border guard. They use them against spirits. Maybe you can convince Eric Weisman to sell you some under the table. He is a drunk, a gambler and s patrol leader. Hangs around in the Black Aces & Eights when he isn't on duty. He's usually cash strapped."

Bobby Ray replied freely

Tamarind makes note of the name. They have some blight rounds for the one drone, but her current thought is 'throw everything at the wall and see what sticks' so if blight ends up being a useful solution, she doesn't want it to be attached to a single point of failure.

"I'll definitely want a firing platform. Let's see how our tally adds up, might go for a second one if you have them. And I'll need something to mount on it, or on each of them. I think for this purpose I'll trade off range for rate of fire and ammo capacity. Loud is fine, I'd rather those be obvious targets over any of us." She makes a mental note to try not to get too attached to the brave little firing platforms, willing to 'stand and deliver' even when they have no way to dodge return fire. "Given that they are sitting targets, keeping price reasonable on the weapon matters too, trade-offs, trade-offs."

"It doesn't look like you have more mobile drones, but I thought I'd ask just in case they are parked elsewhere. If not, do you know anyone who might be willing to sell a crop dusting droning, and would you have enough smoke to fill its tank? And do you know anyone who might carry more 'defense' related drones? Firing platforms are wonderful if targets will just cooperate by showing up where you want them to, but I'd rather not trust in that." Something that she could mount a hunting rifle on make a nice mobile gunnery platform, should the firing platform not end up in the right place. A couple of things that fly and which she could mount assault rifles or SMGs on would make for a flexible response force, or a second wave in the ambush should that actually work.

To the team she sends <<I'm beginning to feel I want three layers of plans. The ideal ambush in the most likely spot. An intercept option if they aren't using the expected vector but we spot them in time to react. And a 'hit them in the farm' option. That last one would get messy, given the border security, but let's not assume they are naive enough -- nor us good enough -- to guarantee we can catch them earlier.>>

"As for that Narcoject Trackstopper, sounds tricky to use on anything nimble. This is probably a long-shot, but you wouldn't have an auto-soft for operating it, would you? Or know somebody who deals in such things?"

"Can't go wrong with a pair of AKs if you want full auto. I've got autosofts for all my gear, but especially the exotic stuff.
But I don't do drones beyond smart plattforms. If you are looking for some robust ones on the cheap, I'd suggest taking a look at the classified section. Loads of farmers are selling harvesting drones, many of them flying. You might even find some you can repair at an abandoned farm.

There are a few of those around, because of the draughts

Smoke grenades I have enough - you want hot or cold smoke?"
Bobby answered

Mato smiles slyly at having drawn Bobby Ray out. He had suspected that the old man would have some tricks up his sleeve.

"Technically correct is the best kind of correct," he agrees, admiring the loophole.

Mato isn't a skilled armorer but he knows the basics. For example, he knows that he doesn't have the tools to do this himself.

"Do you have a progressive reloading press?" he asks. "Or a single-stage press would be a big help." [Hard Targets p. 189 calls for 'Hand Loading tool kit'.]

Mato has a smirk on his face. Not the most common sight, as hollow as he is inside, but he seems to be enjoying the shopping spree.

He is privately impressed with Tamarind's commentary. Letting the firing platforms 'go loud' to draw attention is smart. So is her 'three layer' strategy.

<<Let's set up near the farm>> Mato agrees. <<That will keep us in position if they slip past us. Our first layer will assume they're coming down the road to the east, but we'll have drones watch the farm, flanks, barn, and our backs. Depending on weather conditions the Marpingen should be accurate out to a klick - or even more - if we can get spot them. That gives me a long reach.>>

<<Of course, at that range you need to account for the Eötvös and the Coriolis effects. I'll put this new Math SPU to work on the trajectories.>>

"You can use my press on your way out." He winked back at Mato

"Anything else I can get you?"

I grin as my grenades, shock gloves, gas mask, ammo, and Ghillie suit are loaded into the package.

>> I'll use the Ghillie suits for the firing platforms like I'd imagine they'll do in the army. If they remain concealed, the first salvo may come as a surprise and hit them, but after they fire they are obvious targets that would be easy to take out. I want them to be obvious but I don't want the ambush to be obvious...


Also, let's rig the farmhouse with some gas grenades, and perhaps some drone to move them as needed. I was thinking of duct tape and wireless detonation. I agree we should do it close to the farm so we can recover from a situation where they get passed us.

"I was thinking maybe we could get scarecrows and put them under the tarp with a stick a bit like a gun, and the firing platform just behind. Hopefully they look hard at where the gunfire is from and shoot -- or more likely cast -- at the human chest or head level. If they just lightning ball it then oh well, but for minimal effort we can give ourselves the opportunity to get lucky and have them waste a cast."

Tamarind suspects that the magicians will have surprises that the team has not thought of, which might nullify much of their plans. But even when not hopeful you need to make plans that give you opportunities.

"If you have two firing platforms I'll take them, with an AK for each platform, an external smart link for each weapon, along with an extended clip, and a full load of stick and shock. And let's add one more of the AKs with the same mods. And then a load of thermal smoke for a presumed crop duster, and a ghillie suit for me too.". Turning to the team she adds "I'm a bit lost on grenades, who was getting how many again, and do we have most situations covered there? I already have fuzzy and looper rounds, should we need those."

Mato smiles. "Sold," he tells Bobby Ray about the rifle and ammunition. "Now what are the options for the shotgun shells?

"I'll take a ghillie suit too. Are there versions with thermal dampening?

"Let's take all four doses of the Neurostun VIII. Then we just have to decide on counts for Pepper Punch and flashbangs. A dozen of each? I'm not sure we'll ever come up with the perfect count."

Bobby Ray had started adding figures on a sheet of paper, licking the tip of his pencil now and then:

"Sure, sure, but those cost quite a bit more. R4 thermal dampening... two plattforms with AKs, grenades, ammo, Marpinger, Autosoft, Trackstopper..."

Tamarind tells the team <<I have 19k available, but that is everything I have so we'd better be confident we'll get paid. But I'll put it in the pot.>>

Mato puts his Math SPU to work.

<<The bill is at ¥24,000 so far. I only have about ¥1K to my name.>>

<<AM, Raven, what do you have on hand? Or do we need to scale back our ambitions? The Narcoject Trackstopper is almost half our current tally.>>

While Mato and Bobby are talking, I discreetly hand Mato my credstick so that he can pay and save face. Then I excuse myself for a moment to cast the improved charisma spell. Negotiations, even if it saves only a little, is always helpful when things get so expensive so soon. I don't do it because it gets costly quickly. Then again, we want to make 250k, so it is worth investing if it improves our odds. I discreetly hand Mato my credstick so that he can pay and save face. I may be conservative, but I'd feel he'll feel more comfortable to just
having the cash. Or almost all of it because that is all I have.

>> Spend money to make money! You have my 18k in your pocket. Make yourself, troubled by the price tag but don't overdo it. I'll try for a discount.

I appear to be calculating our costs ourselves and look at the tally, then I turn to Bobby and say " That is a rather big order; perhaps you can give us a good price, keep everyone happy." I say, trying to make myself useful especially for the case where things go south and we do not get paid after spending half our savings on combat gear.