Clay Moor will listen to what his fellow ork has to say.

"If you have eye wear with the ability to record video, or go wireless we can talk you around where we need a look see. I do not think I come close that what they would consider a vendor or merchant. If we are there to borrow some gear, the less I am seen there the better it will be."

He will then listen again.

It sounds as though the electronics are the highest priority to the rest of team. Atreus listens to the plans for reconnaissance. This place will excel in electronic security. Once we locate our target, we should block all signals and go low tech supported by magic. Smash & Grab. But at this point he withholds comments until more hard data is presented.

With a shrug and dismissive gesture, Porter heads back to the office. There he pulls up mental images of the Seattle Metroplex and overlays nodes. He spends a moment choosing his targets and then casts his consciousness into the void.

The search will only take a few moments, and if it doesn't provide the exact info he needs, it will at least tell him where he can find the information.

"Welcome to the Pier 64 Omnidome Informati..." The bright and chipper voice that pops up in answer to one thread of the search is squelched abruptly as Porter cuts its audio feed.

In other windows, information streams in. Every location in the 'Dome is detailed in maps used as selling points to rent theaters or space, or plan for parties. A list of the wireless accessories is included, everything ranging from MAD and cyberware scanners at the main doors to the dome to the drone that delivers coffee in the larger conference rooms.

An add for the upcoming Electronics Trade Show Expo '74 is plastered across the front of the node.

Security is given in fairly vague terms. "...complete security systems..." "...round the clock surveillance..." "...multi-tiered fully encapsulated IC supported integrated wireless systems for your convenience..." "...fully trained on-site security personnel..."

September 7th, 2074

The past days had passed in a series of legwork and conversations between the runners and their contacts.

Sweetness - Bishop Harriman actually does have a favor he needs dealt with. Several days ago, the church lost contact with another gentleman in town that was working for them. They suspect foul play, and wish for you to check his residence for evidence. Lacking that, you're to try and retrieve a small glass vial filled with oil, with a small chip of wood inside. The item is some notable relic to the church, and they'd like it returned.

Lady Cerulean can provide you with the appropriate accoutrement for the event, including a knowledgeable guide and tickets to the affair. Her only question, message you receive almost a day later, is the level of renumeration you're wishing to extend on the affair.

Calico has a brief conversation with the poodle after repeating trying to crush the thing with a pile of briefs he'd happened to have on hand. At the normal speeds, it would take two weeks to create the portfolio Sweetness wanted, and he'd be willing to do it for a case of purple Crush and an invite to the Church's next black tie affair. Since the tradeshow starts in two days, and is over 4 days after that, to get the info he wanted in a timely fashion was going to cost him a couple grand in actual nuyen and a pair of favors, to be determined later. He would need to put some rather touchy people's work on hold to do it that quickly.

Meriss - The doctors unfortunately have very little brewing at the moment, despite the very busy clinical side of their practice.

Max, however, returns a host of useful information, including a full list of participants, dates, times, and a list of the social events attached to the show. These include a black-tie dinner one night, a much less formal no-tie dinner the next, and a live show by local tech-rock-electronic band Violet Mesh. Additionally, the Omni-dome is still looking to hire additional attendants for the show, subject to a full background check, of course. Changelings are especially wanted, mainly for the exotic flair they would add to the actual locale.

September 6th, 2074

Having a hacker on the team, Atreus rejects any thoughts of involving Link in the run, despite Porter's brash nature. Several times during the day he attempts to contact Ammon but finds him to be off-line. The away message says In Yogo Class. Summoning. He must have gotten an advance on a job. The off-line message persists all day.

Atreus is not one to sit still. He practices katas several times during the day. He is great at kumite, but knows his katas need quite a bit of work.

Towards the evening, he makes a drive by on Tukwila, scouting out the area where the gangers hold up. Not getting too close, just get a feel for the area.

September 7th, 2074

Atreus wakes early to again find that his brother is still off-line. Finding real eggs and sausage in the refrigerator, he sets to making a scrambled breakfast. He is by no means a cook, but real food is real food.

Atreus - The area in Tukwila is basically a neighborhood struggling to maintain it's B rating. The apartment complex you drive by is lit up, even at night, with the entire courtyard and road directly outside lit with some sort of high-powered lights. A heavy duty gate blocks off entry into the complex, probably put in place by the original owners to keep people like this gang out. Two men, not obviously armed, are standing outside the gate looking fairly alert.

Dervish had stood beside his fellow elf as Atreus had practiced his Kata. He had silently practiced his own martial style. A strange mixture of what appeared to be Tai Chi Chuan and something else.

He then had poured over the information Max and Porter had gathered. Where are the weak spots? Téch, I will have to see this téching place for myself. I suppose I could ask Porter to find some blueprints. Why is everything so dreking difficult?

He rises and goes to see what the hacker is up to.

Ikari sets up the other half of the room with a small shrine to the kami and spends some time cleansing the area and laying blessings on it. When finished she returns to the main part of the house.

'I will be preparing for the work ahead by beseeching the kami and see what kind spirits answer my call. This will probably take the better part of a day, shall we meet this evening to discuss the plan for the actual run?"

When Dervish enters the room, Porter is still in the bedroom that he had claimed all his own. Most of his belongings have been spread across the other beds, and he is sprawled across one of them either asleep or in deep VR.

With the motion in the room he speaks, words slurred,

"Wwwhut du yoo whant?"

Within his own my mind, the ork had retreated to study the materials. At least in here, the other people couldn't bug him directly. He had left an analytical program watching the data-feed from his cybereyes for a change of more than 3% of the visual data. Most of the night had been spent of mapping out trid-data with blackouts of missing areas to extrapolate where the areas cross-connected. It would be impossible to say how it all worked, but at the very least, he hoped that he could tell if a metahuman could navigate the spaces.

For Atreus the ramp up times are the worst, especially with a new team. They don't yet have that comfortable feel for each other. A person can't sit back and know that this team mate or that team mate has the various aspects of legwork covered well enough... and Atreus' specialty doesn't lie in sitting a safe house. His is surveying the scene and being a part of the initial team.

As the various team members begin their morning, Atreus goes out to his bike and out towards downtown. The morning is spent visiting drug stores and a costume shop. He revels in the feeling of wind in his face during this brief outing. A few moments of freedom.

When he arrives back at the house, he lays out the three blond wigs and various cosmetic products he acquired. "I figured that the witness accounts should be slightly.. or wholly incorrect as to our appearance... as any cameras that might eludes wiping by our hacker."

He spends the late morning socializing with the team about which companies they might hit, where to hit them and who has what tasks during the run...

Dervsh looks at the obviously out of it hacker. And people wonder why I don't like AR?

"If you have a moment between times, could you find the blueprints to the Omnidome?"

The elf leaves the hacker to his work. He spots Atreus and his purchases. "An excellent idea, meraerth. I also have something of that nature"

A thought occurs to him "Has anyone given any thought to how we might gain these items which we seek? I would prefer to intercept the vendors before the show."

Porter begins to rise up from the depths of his mind. He takes a few moments to go over the data plans ensuring that they are as complete as he is able to make them.

"Here."

The layout transmits across the team's PAN.

"If anyone thinks they have a few free moments as we plan for the big event, there is a possibility of investigating the disappearance of a person."

The ork winks "There foul play suspected!"

"Oh, and a small reward if a certain item is recovered."

Shaking his head sadly Sweetness continues, "Sadly, the renumeration is for the piece of jewelry, and not for the poor soul who had it."

"If any of you think you may be of assistance, you may join me on my initial foray."

Boredom overrides Atreus' normally reserved demeanor, "We're going out? Let's go play." He picked up on Sweetness' innuendos and while he didn't know the details, he was game to figure it out as they went along.

This was the same trouble with perfecting his katas. They tended to bore Atreus. He could kick ass in a stand up fight, that got his blood pumping. There was excitement. Katas were boring. Slow. They were like waiting for a run to get underway. Time to stop doing katas and get into a little fight..

Dervish stands and follows Atreus and Sweetness. I need to move he thinks.

"Mind if I come along?"

"Everyone is welcome to help!"

Clay Moor will respond. "I will come along, what do I need to pack? or carry?"

The troupe is ready to move fairly rapidly. The group recollects at a point about a block from the location given by the priest. The buidling connected to the address is a large apartment building, 20 stories or so. Several Lone Star police cars are parked outside, and the front entrance into the building is cordoned off with yellow crime scene tape. A small crowd of reporters stand nearby, speaking with a young and somewhat charismatic looking Lone Star officer, probably a small press conference.

Glancing at his companions, and considering their skills, Sweetness raises his cane and taps his ears and cocks his head at the Lone Star poster boy, suggesting, "Perhaps you would look around while I make friends and listen?"

Confidently he strides off and inserts himself into the crowd.

Atreus takes a queue from Sweetness and slips into the crowd. He subtly opens several com windows as he moves about.
<<@Ammon [Atreus] Seems like I've picked up several jobs so I'll be pretty tied up for a couple of days.>>

At this point, he's not really clear about what he is looking for so he muddles about and tries to look like the other confused tourists... not much of a stretch at this point.
<<@Sweetness [Atreus] What exactly are we looking for?>>

Dervish seems at home in the chaos. He glances around the building noting with his usual critical eye the ins and outs of the building. The flow of people is always the most telling. Ah, Lone Star what a bunch of fools. He moves quietly to the rear of the building.

Clay Moor will study the buildings walls and if he can see any the structural members.

<<@Atreus:: A small glass vial filled with oil and a splinter from Holy Cross, though it's more likely to be a cedar chip from some ancient Lebanese scam artist's broken cabinet leg.>>

It took a moment to concentrate to send the message, but he had to work his way through the crowd anyway.

Sweetness smiled and nodded as he eased his ork bulk through the crowd to get nearer the front and listened to what was being said.

"...so if all you folks will just calm down and stay back, that would be great."

"Officer, what about reports of a firefight inside the hotel?"

"Those reports are unsubstantiated at the moment, we are investigating right now."

"What about the rumors that someone was abducted?"

"Due to the nature of the excellent security alert system, everyone was evacuated from the building. We are doing a head count now, and will have more information on that later."

The officer looks a bit surprised as Sweetness steps through the crowd, but tries to answer the questions.

Ikari watches the others leaving with mild interest. At their departure she bows to the remaining members and withdraws into the room set aside for her ritual work. Shutting the door behind her, she begins to remove the articles of the modern world from her body. Placing her comm on the nightside table she makes her way to the small altar set up in the far side of the room.

Kneeling before the small table, she begins to chant softly as she lights the incense and breathes in the aroma. Calming herself, she begins to reach inward looking for the dark part of her soul. She can feel it, a small tight bundle of life and death rests in her gut. She can feel the power coming off of it like heat from an open flame. The pact with Izanami forged this connection and gave her the power she needed to call and bind the kami to her will but it came with a price. Mortals were not meant to hold the power of creation that was linked with the power of destruction in a cycle that forever fed itself. Opening it she felt the maelstrom fill her to bursting. Her voice grew louder and she felt her call ring out through the astral and pull the kami to her.

She soon felt the unseen spirits brushing against her and moving in the space. Some curious while others bristled with rage at her binding them to this spot. She gathered those she could in an intricately woven lattice of mana and her life force. She felt their surprise and anger at being held.

Hear me and be still. I call you here for a great work in this world and ask you lend me your aid in this matter. Aid me and I will honor you while all others have forgotten...

Well, if its the real thing then it should be visible in the astral... or perhaps some trace of it. Atreus knew he was grasping at straws, but he was a little in the dark right now and looking for some way to help. To that end, he shifted his perception to the astral while he mingled with the crowd.

Dervish comes around the corner of the building and looks for guards and the usual escape routes.

From his seat in the office, Porter receives a message from Dervish

Subtle eyes and ears on our location please.

Subtle, yeah...

The hacker projects his digital consciousness across the local grid, tracking back the source of the communication to a rough proximity. Finding the end of the line, he cross-correlates information from other systems to attempt to discern where the primary attention needs to be.

Time to knock...

Sweetness wasn't completely sure he'd turned on the microphone, but he wasn't about to double check in front of the nice young man from Lone Star.

"Oh... so how long before you think it's safe?"

Sweetness - The young cop tips his hat back a little bit.

"We're not sure, as I said, we're still gathering evidence. The only thing we can confirm at this point is that there were weapons fire and casualties in the garage. We currently have it and the hallway and apartment where we believe an additional altercation took place under investigation. We're not sure who was involved at the moment, although early reports indicate it seemed to be confined to a small number of people."

The young officer flushes abruptly and looks away, as if perhaps he's said too much. He takes several other questions from the various reporters standing around.

"No, we don't know if it was a shadowrunner or terrorist organization. No, no leads on suspects. I cannot confirm whether or not someone was killed in the garage, I don't have that info.

Lone Star is on this investigation, folks, and we'll hold another press conference as soon as we have a few more concrete details."

Porter - The apartment building's system isn't a total slouch, and someone's obviously turned up the security a notch at the moment, probably to deal with the crowds. You can see a wash of wireless traffic at the location, easily 50-60 people all sending data out from within 1 block of Dervish's location. Lonestar's obvious blue and yellow logo's are stamped all over the place, and the apartment building isn't accepting visitors at the moment. Several LS presences, full VR as best you can tell from a quick look, glance at you, but their gazes seem to slide right over you.

"Keep the public informed!"

After a pleasant smile, he stepped back a bit and eased himself to the back of the group. A sweep of the group of excited new reporters and jaded police beat hacks convinced him that there some things you shouldn't do in front of a set of eagle eyed group of reporters crammed full of active technoligical scanning devices.

He needed a quiet spot for what he intended to do next. Gregor probably couldn't go himself without drawing some attention, or far more use of his powers then he would like.

It was better to send something else to take a look for him.

Dervish smiles despite himself. There is always a way in.

He unobtrusively leans against the wall and types a few messages

<<@Porter: Where is everyone looking? And can you see me? If you can prepare to remove some evidence>>

<<@Sweetness: Which apartment is the one with the item?>>

<<@Clay: Can you provide me with a distraction if I need to enter the building?>>

<<@Dervish: I see you as well as they do. You need to tell me what you are doing otherwise I'll need a smash and grab. That way keeps LS off you for maybe fifteen seconds. Spill it or work fast.>>

<<@Porter: I believe the technique is called editing. Do you see that door?>> Dervish points toward the "Employees Only" door on camera <<If you can remove the image of me walking over to it, in fact remove the last ten minutes or so. Then I can safely enter the building and procure the item. Then do the same thing as I exit. Clear?>>

Teching trog celénit goro

<<@Dervish 476>>

Sweetness refocused on his tasks.

Seeing Dervish head around the building, Atreus moves deftly and gracefully through the crowd to catch up to the team's other elf. I wonder if that boy knows that in astral space he's like a lighthouse on a starless night..?

He switches his perceptions back to the mundane world to utilize his coms as he approaches.
<<@Dervish [Atreus] Find a way in?>>

<<<@Dervish [Clay Moor] Most of my diversions involve explosives,,is that you want?>>>

<<@Atreus [Dervish] A possible entrance over here, maerenath. Can you watch my back if nessecary?>>

<<@Clay [Dervish] If you must, use a small charge on a Dumpster or some thing. I only need a few moments. Please move away from the building though, a block or two will suffice. And save another for my exit.>>

Clay Moor will get out of the van, and act like he is speaking someone on his commlink. He will walk away from the area towards one less security populated. He will walk for about 2 blocks. Once there he will look like he is putting away his comm link.

He will smile and look around the area in careful manner. He will find a suitable distraction target dumpster etc. He will fumble with jacket pulling off one of the panels there, only taking 1/4 of the charge, he will get out a detonator from his secure container and place it into the charge. He will make loud belching noises and breaks wind noises while he is doing this, his back will be to any bystanders.

He will make violent retching noise and get down on his hands and knees. He will place the charge underneath the dumpster, he will then place his finger down his throat covering the implanted charge with his vomit.

He will get up, wipe his mouth clean, look around slowly with an embarrassed look on his face.

Once he feels the area is clear of any bystanders, he will take out a commlink looking device and begin speaking into it in a busied manner and walk away briskly, taking a alternate route back to he van.

Once back in the van, he will reverse his jacket, changing its appearance.

<<<@Dervish [Clay Moor]It is show time when you say when.

Meandering just inside the alley way Atreus surveys the area for potential threats or early warning systems and additional avenues of escape. He keeps Dervish in sight so that he can follow the elf in when the opportunity presents itself.
<<@Dervish [Atreus] Consider it done.>>

"Now, ye familiar spirits that are culled Out of the powerful legions under earth, Help me this once, that France may get the field." King Henry the Sixth, Part I

With a quiet intonation Sweetness exerted his not inconsiderable will, and stronger Talent. A small translucent eyball with a pair of ears for wings and a large flapping ear uncrusted with eyes appeared before him, and something else not quite identifiable of similar size.

"Go to my friends."

<@Dervish: Yes, your majesty.>

Porter takes a second to reshuffle the icons around his own personal node and then slams into the building's code. This was a tactic that he had spent years matering and was better at it then anyone else he knew. Wrapped in viral coding that deflected all but the most intense inquiries, the hacker feels the wall begin to crumble beneath his attack.

Once inside, he quickly looks around, absorbing the architecture and striving to find the surveillance systems.

Dervish flexes his muscles slowly.

<<@All: I do not wish to be seen as a task master but this must go flawlessly if it is to succeed. Clay if you will ignite your charge when I call your name. Porter if you will tend to your task after the charge blows. Atreus, if you will guard my back and exit. Sweetness, now is not the time to be watching "The Saints Row", I would apreciate you keeping an eye out on the astral. And muddying my considerable signature. Inkari could you dispatch a small spirit to help Sweetness. Here goes people.>>

The elf takes a moment and clears his mind. I am the wind, I am the air, I shall leave no trace. He grips his autopicker in his pocket and faces the door way.

<<Clay now!>>

Porter - In an almost classical cliche, the interior architecture of the hotel's system is almost identical to the exterior. The biggest difference is, there's almost nobody here. A few bored looking people in uniform mill around the desk. They ignore you, for the most part. One of them, a bellhop, by the uniform, lifts his head and begins to glance in your direction as you search around behind the desk, moving rapidly from door to door looking for the surveillance systems.

Atreus moves silently deeper into the alley and near the other elf's back as he began to work the lock. Noticing Dervish's light step, Was he a student of Crazy Joe's..?

Atreus crouched down shifting in and out of astral as he kept watch. The bright glow of a person's life essence tended to betray their presence better in the darkness than relying on the light or heat. The latter two were much easier to negate than the sight.

Clay Moor sends the coded signal triggering the explosive charge he placed.

A muffled WHUMP! and a brief roar fill the street as the brief shockwave and a small tsunami of debris is washed down the intervening block by the explosion. In the distance, those in the street can hear several audio and AR car alarms going off. Lonestar reacts immediately, with the majority of the officers and units lighting up sirens and horns and beginning to move toward the disturbance. A skeleton crew of officers, looking anxiously in the direction of the noise, still stands guard over the scene.

Porter moves through the lobby, ducking out of sight as various icons glance in his direction. Behind the desk in the lobby is a door marked "Security", twisting open the door and sliding inside. The storage inside is denoted with old fashioned tape reels spinning as the seconds slide by on 1940's "Flash Gordon" style monitors. He grabs two ends of the tape, breaking the thread and pulling off a length of the tape before sticking it back to another section, forming a loop that runs over the wheels again and again. Eventually the loop will break and the camera's will go back to recording real time, but for the moment, no one can see what's happening at the entrance.

Dervish slides the autopicker into the lock, finger twitching as the gun strikes the tumblers again and again, hoping for them to catch one by one. After several seconds and despite a growing sense of dread, the lock clicks and the door swings open several inches. Atreux and Dervish slide through the open door and quickly make their way through the nearly deserted ground floor.

Excellent The elf smiled. "A litle touch and go with the door, but here we are. I don't need to remind you to keep all electronic communication to a minimum." Dervish whispered to Atreus. He started picking his way up the stairs quietly.