Perception: 1 2 4 4 5 5

I've already got my increase reflexes +3 focus active, so it should only take me a couple seconds to assense these spirits.

First spirit Intelligence: 1 1 2 4 4 5 Aura Reading: 1 1 4 4 5 Four successes
Second spirit Intelligence: 1 3 4 5 5 15 Aura Reading: 3 3 4 4 11 Five successes

Also, Fenris, you used my player name instead of my character name on your last IC post.

Would anyone have a problem with me heading to the meet early and finding a spot, preferably high ground, to cover the meet and the members of the team doing the talking, just in case the drek hits the fan?

Go for it. My only concern is that if we are inside a building that Moe can't see inside of without her active sensors, you may not be able to cover us. If you planned on going into the building early, be ready to face some trouble in the form of 2 beefy spirits.

I don't think we have anything to fear from Vinnie, but go for it.

Steel's bringing her blades, her Ingrams, a half-dozen spare clips (you never know), all her armor stuff and her radio.

Edit: Oh yeah, and her medkit thingy. And her bike, of course. I'll bring the AK's and the shotgun on the bike as well.

Loki is bringing the same stuff he has on him now.

Never mind then, I'll just go with the rest of the team. It seems Lotus knows this guy, so we'll play it cool for now. Nameless is bringing all his stuff. He'll leave the rucksack and extra medkit in the car.

Fenris,

My meditation geas should still have plenty of time left on it, but just in case, I"ll meditate before we leave for the meet. Gathering focus, and centering my mind.

I am bringing....

Bessy in her backpack (modified one w/ running gear as sheet)
Mr. Bang-Bang (loaded with gel)
Backpack Speed Loader w/ EX (6)
2 Cougar Fine Blades (Long)
RTL Hvy Jumpsuit
1/2 Form Fitting Body Suit
Forearm Guards
RTL Helmet
Secure Jacket
Big Mama Bang (in the Vespa add-on trunk/loaded with EX)

Since Jake is the leader and would no doubt adivse Diesel on weather or not to bring his guns because Diesel likes to bring them with him wherever he can (hes not dumb enought to walk down the street with them) im gonna go with what Jake says I brought. Even if he says dont bring my guns Diesel will have his pocket PC, transciver set up with all its accessories, and his chain wrapped around his neck like its part of his outfit.

The gun choices are

A.) Assauolt Cannon
B.) Rocket Launcher
C.) Grenade Launcher
D.) All of the above

Diesel--Bring the chain and any gun you like that has a concealability of 3 or higher. Just keep it under a coat. The Mafia should expect us to be packing but let's give a modicum of respect and make them look for the guns.

Fenris--Few quick questions.

Was the Ward visibly up when Loki passed by? So he would have a chance at assensing it.

If not, did Moe see anyone come up to make the ward?

This line of questioning is all leading up to my rather sad assensing test on the ward.

Int--05 04 03 01
Aura--09 03 04 02 Looks like a total of 3 Successes.

Magic Attribute of 8--Force higher, lower or the same?

Are the elementals outside the building, or outside the room?

They must be outside the building, because I didn't go inside it.

Ok Diesel will bring his grenade launcher hidden under his jacket loaded with HE grenades (thats 12 in a full clip) and and will bring an extra clip of concussion grenades.

I did assense the two elementals before the meet, still waiting for results.

Pazergiest - You did, and with plenty of successes. Both spirits are F8 fire elementals, and their aura's will tell you that they're bound to the building. They are currently guarding the exterior of the building, on a somewhat random patrol. Your assensing test will allow you to recognize the summoner of the spirits.

McQuillan - The ward is not visible from the exterior of the building, which is why it wasn't mentioned on the recon.
Your assensing test allows you to recognize the signature of the warder.

Reading Vinnie's aura.
Intelligence: 1 3 3 4 4 4 Aura reading 2 3 4 4 5 Four successes.

Did you guys consider that Vinnie would likely get very pissed off if he found that you were broadcasting this conversation over your tranceivers? I'm sure you have good encryption, but the Yakuza have good equipment too.

This must be those leader skills we've heard so much about.
Don't worry, its all good but thanks for the concern.

Fenris--Thanks.

Panzer--As captain of this motley crew I will take full responsibility for any communication problems.

Ok...Im not sure how heavy duty Fenris is going on the rigging rules, but I can post a synopsis of the rules regarding infiltrating our network and my ability to prevent/stop it. However, Im not sure if the com frequencies will be handled on the same set of rules. If not, the closest thing I can think of to roll to detect a listener would be to roll Electronics Warfare. Let me know if you want me to roll something else.

Electronics Warfare: 11
5:5:4:4:4:3:3:3:2:1:1

GOD How sucky was that? Good thing we're changing frequencies!

Hey I object to us being merely "motley"! I think we've been around long enough to at least work ourselves up to "hardcore scumbags" at least in the eyes of Lone Star.

Winter you're right, in the eyes of Lone Star we can be Grade A bastards and scumbags. I'm calling us motley because we don't exactly have a solid theme that runs through our group to unify. Unless of course you count nuyen...

We could all wear eyepatches and talk like pirates.

When's National Talk Like a Pirate Day again?

Panzergiest - Vinnie is in a generally unhealthy state. No diseases or toxins, he's simply out of shape. He has headware, bodyware, and some sort of bonelacing. His general emotional state is anxious, and the source is the group in his office. Not magically active, Essence is lower then yours.

FYI - I will be on vacation for a week starting tomorrow and will be back next Thursday. Fenris or McQuillan are welcome to NPC me if needed so it doesn't drag the game down. A good chunk of you have played with Iblis before and have a good handle on her 'play-style'. See ya in a week!

Wow, this sounds tough. I think it's time to try something I've always wanted to try. In Rigger 3 there is a crop-dusting drone. We could get one and load it with gas, and gas the whole dock down. It costs 34,250 nuyen for the drone, which is easy enough to get, and the gas will cost extra. I think we'd better negotiate for some extra money up front to pay for operating expenses.

Panzer--My thought is that the 20k per head includes whatever we want to spend on an operating budget...

Medesha--Close down our negotiations with the standard half up front.

Everyone--Does anyone else have questions for Vinnie or can we get out of the meet and onto our planning?

Fenris--Did the papers that were printed include a layout of the warehouse and boat? Also will the 6 crates fit in the van or are they the "Shipping" crates that are like 15'x15'x10' each?

Um, yeah, 20k per head does include operating expenses; that was implied by the fact that he didn't give us any more money for operating expenses. What I'm suggesting is that it is not enough, which is usually the reason why people negotiate for more money. Combat is going to be unavoidable on this job, and pretty dangerous too. That means a high operating budget will be unavoidable as well.

Dang it, knew I shoulda gone for the sniper rifle...Oh well, why would a B&E guy carry a sniper rifle? So direct confrontation is definitely not a good idea. Beyond that, could you be a little more specific on what we were given on the printouts?

I agree with Panzer. We're talking anywhere from 25-40 guys, roughly, with top gear, and probably cyber and training too. They're carrying mil spec weaponry (as cargo), have magical support, plus we've got another 50+ people to account for (the crew) in dealing with. Add that to the backdrop of a known brewing syndicate clash, and that's ugly. 20K is on the shallow end, if you ask me. Definitely put those negotiating skills to use, that's my vote.

I can. Just being lazy, cause I was tired last night

The plans contain the floorplans for a three story warehouse on the docks, complete with markers indicating external security devices and patrol routes, as well as a small office/security post on the inside of the warehouse. Possible entry points are the loading doors at both ends, and a single human size door, all covered by camera's.

The plans also contain a complete layout for the cargo ship. It's approximately 200m long, and 50 meters wide. There's no security marked, and the size of the passages and such on the ship indicate it will be tough getting a troll inside with any amount of manuverability.

The 'crates' are 2m sq., and made of construction plastic, so externally fairly durable and waterproof. Each crate will take up about 3 CF, assuming a CF is .5m x .5m (Blitz, please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.)

If by direct confrontation, you mean combat, that will be unavoidable. But a sniper rifle wouldn't be much good, as our best bet will be to intercept them out at sea, where there are no lone star, dock guards, or yakuza reinforcements to help the crew out. Not to mention enough room for us to divert the ship to a pirate port and sell it for a hell of a lot more than we are actually getting paid for the run. Speaking of which, how large are the crates? Would we be able to ferry them to shore in a lifeboat or some smaller boat, or are they so big as to require the ship itself, and a crane?

Edit: 1 CF is equal to .5x.5x.5 meters, or one eigth of a meter. What the hell does 2 meters square mean? These are 3-dimensional objects. Keep in mind that when you multiply fractions, you get smaller fractions, so half a meter on each dimension is an eighth of a square meter, not a half.

We definitely better not be having to pay for the boat rigger. Completely unacceptable, as far as I'm concerned, since they aren't paying us much as is.

I'd prefer the money over the manpower. Combat may be unavoidable to a degree, but if we get in a flat out firefight, we're outnumbered certainly, outgunned probably, outclassed definitely not. So I don't see how having extra guys necessarily helps matters, since it just makes it more likely we'll get into more of a protracted fight. I'd prefer options that come with the extra cash.

Although that's assuming we're going in finesse. If we're going in hard, then by all means, take the guys.

Panzer - I'll try to make things clearer for you in the future, since I'm positive the only person that didn't understand my intention was you. 2m square simply means two meters on every side, or 2x2x2. However, I will bow to the math I didn't bother to work out. Each crate will take up 16 CF, not 3.

Actually, they're 64 CF each:

.5^3 = .125 m^3 = 1CF
2^3 = 8 m^3 = 8/.125 CF = 8*8 CF = 64 CF

Make sense?

Actually, each crate will take up 64 cf. Fortunately, that's still small enough that we could transport them on a large boat. A large hovercraft wouldn't be big enough, and we probably can't get a copter that big. Probably also too heavy to levitate anywhere.

If we end up trying to steal the ship itself, Moe should be able to pilot it fine, outside of combat. Would be kinda risky for her to pilot it into a harbor, but we should be able to work around that. Riggers capable of piloting a ship might be hard to find. I think now would be a good time for us to hear what vehicle skills Moe has. I don't suppose anyone else has boat, hovercraft, or chopper skills?

Heh, ninjapost!

But yeah, you're definately looking at a boat here. You might be able to fit that on a semi, but certainly nothing much smaller, and probably nothing street-legal. And I'll say it now: damn, that's a lot of guns!

Yes, a lot of guns, but still nowhere near the cargo capacity of a 50-crew ship. Ah, loot, let me count thine names: loot, l00t, ph4t l3wt, plunder, spoils of war, booty, the fruits of a raid, pillaging rewards, the driving purpose behing RPGs. Loot makes the world go round.

No, no, no. Wrong genre. More like: Ay, matey. There be nothing like life o' the account, says I. Arr!

To paraphrase the old adage, give me a bag as big as the earth, and I will steal the moon. Or at least it's mineral rights.

Double or nothin'! Here's my negotiate roll:

[8] [4] [4]

Wooo, lucky orange dice...

Edit: Unless that should have been Etiquette? Since I have the same number of dice, I guess it doesn't matter.

3 successes

Opposed Negotiation Roll: Negotiation 6, TN 4
4,4,1,5,4,3

4 successes. Net change: -5%

If he's not bumping it up at all, I vote a no go on this one guys. That's ridiculously little to take on what they're throwing us up against. And for the complications that're sure to be involved, it's just not worth it.

The only way I see it is if, and mean IF, we are sure we can sell the boat (and whatever else we grab off of it) for a nice profit, AND we're sure we can duck the heat that taking out a target of that magnitude is going to bring.

Don't forget that taking that boat will bring consequences; our profit margin needs to be able to cover the heat that's going to bring down on us as well.

It looks like negotiations have failed--anyone wants to walk now should feel free to do so, with the appropriate damage to their rep.

For those staying--
1. If we are going to take the boat, that needs to get cleared here and now. We also need to set up the buy before we go in, because I am not sitting on it for ten days while we find someone for 30%

2. If insatead we plan on using explosives, we are going to need an inventory of what we have in the way of munitions. In addition we need to make a plan for how to get whatever we would need.

These 2 plans are mutually exclusive. No one is going to buy a boat that has a few holes and scorch marks from explosions in it. Make your choices.

Well it sounds to me that the Bossman has already made up his mind about what the team's doing. You're the leader, so you if say we're in, count me in. Just figured I'd voice my two cents. But hey, if that's the call, I'm cool with it. Just say it IC and I'll RP accordingly. Anyway, I got zilch in the way of explosives/heavy artillery, but I'm willing to go along with whatever the majority decides, as far as approach 1 or 2. So to summarize, of course I'm in with the team, and I'm fine with either approach. Let's do it.

I have plenty of things that go BOOM heres the list of stuff

[24]Off. HE Minigrenade B:-1/m
[20]Arbelast II MAW Rocket

I have a rocket launcher and grenade launcher and a 6 skill in both. Plus ill hbe aiming at a fragging boat so sinking it prolly wolnt be a problem

I also have 24 concission grenades if for some odd reason we decide to go non lethal.

Diesel could try his hand a pursuasion but it would probably be more like threatening to shove a grenade launcher up his hoop and pulling the trigger if he dosent up the price so unless yall wanna see an italian guy crap his pants i dont think Diesel negotiating would be a good idea . naw im j/p I think i could point out that well be taking alot of heat from this one and the price might need to go up but ill need to get feedback from yall before i do so.

I'm against using explosives. Wouldn't want to inadvertently sink the ship. How high is it's deck above the water?

Also, I have to agree with Rat, 20k is a pitiful sum for assaulting such a well-guarded yak ship.

I'd say sinking the ship--and then salvaging the crates--is probably the only thing you *can* do, if you decide on a direct assault. I seriously doubt you're up to facing the small army on the boat or the small army on land without some kind of cheap trick like that.

Otherwise you're going to have to stealth it. That's going to be hard, considering the size and tremendous mass of object you have to walk off with. Any of you guys have a ruthenium-coated forklift handy?

Hence the knockout gas. It will make a much better "cheap trick" than sinking the thing. For once Panzer isn't the one suggesting use of large explosions. I'm impressed.