Shadowrun: In Media Res

[Muppet Man]

Code: Select all

 Radio, live transmission 
Radio, live transmission 
Listen to the silence, let it ring on 
Eyes, dark grey lenses frightened of the sun…

//Location:Tacoma/Seattle Metroplex/UCAS
//Time: <2217:30/2075-01-05>
//Weather: <Heavy Downpour, 5.6C, Wind SE 22kph, feels like 0C>
//Air Quality: <Moderate (Yellow), Precipitation pH 3>

"I trust Findler-Man," is the code word. The code word to make the "person" do something the "person" doesn't really want to do.

Standard run, sort of an interview, with a new client. It's simple really, like all runs start: break into a secure facility, find a person, make that person do something, get out with proof that the something was done. Simple.

And as usual with any good run, it starts at a Stuffer Shack.

Why? Because this particular Stuffer Shack is located very close to the intended target, a shipping yard in Tacoma.

Never mind the corporate ownership of the Stuffer Shack, because if you mind it, it will make you paranoid, since the target is, to all appearances, an Azzie facility. You say to yourself, it's all going to be okay, we're (probably) not stealing anything from the Azzie's, just chatting pleasantly with an employee. No harm, no foul right?

The price is in line with acceptable smash-and-grab standards, each runner gets 1,000¥ upfront and 5,000¥ on completion. Not bad for a couple hours of honest work right?

The Jonson was straightforward, this run could get the team more work with a well funded client. Pull this job off professionally, and there will be a classy face to face to discuss long term work.

Johnson's Brief

• Overview: Contact the Target, upon confirmation of codeword "I trust Findler-Man," the Target will provide you with a package approximately 300mm x 300mm x 150mm and no more than 2kg. Steps have been taken to ensure the Target is on site between 2200 and 2300. Package is nominally inert, but could have been rigged without our knowledge.
• When: 1/5/2075, between 2200 and 2300, deliver package to Contact at Bar Neleus 2200 1/6/2075.
• Where: Pyramid Warehouses, Tacoma
• Security: Site is fully automated after 2200, no onsite personnel. Automated physical security and passive awakened security to be expected but not confirmed.
• Pay: [#of runners x 6000¥] total, with [#of runners x 1000¥] upfront
• Target: Warehouse Manager

[Tulpa]

Perception:7d6>5
Sneaking (to appear unthreatening and go unnoticed):6d6>5

Datajack Plus: Signal Scrub, Smoke & Mirrors, Stealth

”I’m all eyes on the job, partner. Forward me the deetz on our new friends and I will make sure everything is ready to go for tonight.” Topher flashes the Vory dwarf a trusting smile as he pulls away and begins forming a mental list of what needs to be done. Lets make sure this goes smooth. If Mulpa is impressed, he may help me reduce my debt… Tulpa shakes his head of such opportunistic hopes. He finds his way to the nearest bus stop and gets on.

Tulpa sits down on the bus and plugs his glasses into his commlink. First things first.

Programming the decoy: Software: 12d6>5

and starts a timer for 20 minutes, set to delete itself once the countdown has ended. He then boots up his wrapper program and wraps the timer in an image of Tophers Comms Unit icon (a brown dog). The next time the bus stops, Topher quickly slides his own SIN card (Topher Maetheson)out of his commlink and inserts his fake SIN card (Omar Shaddiq). As quickly as possible, Tulpa also

Edit File:Computer:13d6>5 VS Host

Now, both Topher Maetheson and Omar Shaddiq are registered riding the bus.

Two stops later Tulpa will leave the bus as Omar, leaving the timer wrapped in Tophers icon to continue to ride the bus for some time before vanishing when the timer runs out. That should give me enough of a data trail to keep my prints clean. Tulpa wanders the streets for a short time, just long enough to reach another bus stop. Tulpa will take the buses for another hour or two before arriving at the predetermined stuffers shack. As he gets close to the Stuffer Shack, Tulpa will open a group audio chat with Mulpa while also sending invites to any other runner Mulpa had forwarded the info for.

”This is your operator for tonight’s get-together. You can call me Tulpa, just a gentle voice in your ear.” If anyone else has a visual connection, they see the small brown dog representing Tulpa’s Comm’s Unit pull on a pair of heavy-duty earphones and yellow tinted glasses. ”I will be keeping this line open for ease of contact between the team. Once I get to the arrival point I will attempt to use the Host as a means to peer in on our target. Lets say some magic words and make some money runners; Daddy needs to pay rent.”

Topher looks at the glowing lights of the stuffers shack both across the street in the Real, and also the Shack’s Host via his glasses. He will open the hidden compartment of his Comms unit and pull out the small, wrapped chord that is his subvocal microphone. Stringing it through his hoody, he applies the adhesive part to his neck and connects it to his Comms Unit. ”Comms Test. This is Tulpa on Subvocals. Who has recording capabilities? I am assuming our employer will be wanting as much proof as possible tonight. Worst Case Scenario: we make sure the words are spoken in view of a security camera and I can handle the rest. One moment-“ Tulpa enters the Stuffers Shack and starts browsing the isles somewhat aimlessly. After a few short minutes of browsing the isles, Tulpa will make his way back towards the restroom. ”Bad bean burrito.”

Con roll:5d6>5

as he moves by.
Tulpa will make his way to the bathroom and, after putting numerous paper covers on the seat, lock the bathroom stall and sit down on the toilet, resting his comms unit on his lap. ”Alright. Im ready. One moment while I access the Host-“ Tulpa once again opens the secret compartment of his Comm’s unit. He slides out two brown baggies and a machine pistol. Tulpa puts the pistol onto of the toilet paper dispenser and withdraws a single item from each brown bag before returning the bags to the hidden compartment; One inhaler and one small bundle of wax paper.

He will mute his comms. ”Lets do this Tulpa, Lets show these runners how a real decker do.” Topher puts his mouth around the inhaler and presses down, releasing the contents of the pressurized canister directly into his lungs. Filling the rest of his lungs with air, Tulpa drops the inhaler on the bathroom floor and stares at the ceiling as the

Duration: 9 hours | Effects: +2 Intuition & Logic. +2 Mental Limit

creeps into his bloodstream. As his irises expand to the point of bursting, Tulpa brings the wax paper up to his mouth and slides the sugar chew in the papoer into his mouth. Even the oversweet taffy struggles to hide the chemical taste of

Duration: 9 hours | Effects: +2 Reaction, +2d6 Initiative

.

Tulpa loses himself for a long moment. Then he remembers to breathe. ”Alright. I’m ready.” His voice comes across a tone sharper on comms; the uncertain tenor that permeated the deckers words previously seems to be replaced with pure confidence. Lets see what we have here.

Tulpa will disconnect his glasses from his box and slide his datajack chord out of his hoodie to plug it into the comms device. Letting the Hot Sim envelope all his senses, Tulpa looses track of reality and welcomes the embrace of the Matrix. ”This place is a mess.” Tulpa begins

Looking for security controls, active hackers in the Host, or any other file or icon of interest within the Stuffer Shacks Host:Matrix Perception :12d6>5

around the Shacks Host (Running Silent).

While looking for the above, Tulpa also has two immediate goals in the Matrix: 1. Gain access the the Stuffer Shacks Security system, namely its cameras. I want to see if I can gain eyes on the warehouse before accessing its systems. 2. Find an avenue to jump hosts (just a check mechanically) to gain access to the Warehouse systems.

• Matrix Initiative:13+5d6
• Hack on the fly: Mark file/host: 12d6>5
• Hack on the fly: Mark file/host: 12d6>5
• (Swap out receiver for Attack Dongle) Crack file:8d6>5
• (Swap out receiver for Attack Dongle) Crack File:8d6>5
• Control Device: Control Camera:10d6>5 vs Hosts Intuition+Firewall
• Roll vs being spotted if anyone is looking:16d6>5

[Muppet Man]

OOC: Great first post!

Brief update:
The door is locked to the bathroom and when Tulpa jiggles the handle he hears a whimper and meek “It’s not me, not me.”

He does spot a sign on the ground by the toilet with an arrow and the word “trolls”. If Tulpa chooses to follow the arrow, he finds a troll sized—and with a troll sized smell—semi permanent Honey Bucket just in the alley behind the Shack.

It is quite sufficient for his actions.

There are overflowing dumpsters in the alley. At one time maybe one was recycling and one was garbage. But now both are home to rats and other vermin.

There is one fizzing light on the back wall, casting moderate light, that flickers enough to be an issue for someone with epilepsy.

The air is warmer and damper here from exhaust from the Shack’s various systems. The vents and fans are also noisy and rattle.

[Mulpa]

Having walked from the drop-off three stops before the Stuffer Shack, Mulpa makes his way into the store. He is wearing his coveralls concealing his armored vest and wearing his work helmet and work glasses, looking much like any other Dwarf technician... even to the carrying of his

Hardware Toolkit with enough empty space to hold the package

. Those who are very observant may notice his Ares Predator in a concealable holster under his coveralls, his work gloves looking Shock Gloves, and his knucks concealed in one of the overalls pockets.

Wandering his way up and down the aisles, Mulpa looks like he is just trying to decide what snacks to bring for his upcoming shift, but is actually trying to see if there is anything unusual with how things

Intuition 5 + Perception 6 + 2 Visual Enhancement (Glasses) = 13

• 13d6>4

both here in the Stuffer Shack and how much he can see at the docks from inside the store... as well as anyone who might try to pick a fight with

Tough and Targeted

[Wraith]

Location: Tacoma, Seattle Metroplex, UCAS
Condition: Somewhat damp, but fine otherwise

Wraith waits outside of the Stuffer Shack, leaning against one of the big front windows. Hands tucked into the pockets of an oversized, loose-fitting jacket that hangs to mid-thigh while a hood is tugged over her head, partly to shield herself from the rain and partly to hide the braided white hair and fox-ears. Tucked between her feet sits a brown messenger bag. The slim figure and youthful looks would have the elf not look out of place loitering here or outside an inner-city high school.

If anyone were to check her commlink (which is perhaps surprisingly in Active mode*), the elf's commcode reads '<Miyako Ishikawa>' - a somewhat inane name among the melting-pot that is Seattle, but those that she is waiting to meet would know too look for it. A signpost of sorts, but not the commcode provided to the rest of the team to contact her with.

'Jumping straight into a job without having met up with the rest of the team first is not something I like to do, but Shiori assured me that the Johnson's rep is good and the time-frame unavoidable,' she muses as she glances up and down the street idly, taking note of civilians and law-enforcement alike. For all the world looking to be just a student out late waiting to meet a friend. 'Ehhh... hopefully no one takes me for a prostitute...'

Taking in the time on her image link, Wraith wrinkles her nose, concerned. 'Short notice for this job, and already within the narrow time-frame. I hope the rest of the team will be here soon,' the elf adds to herself, then tenses up as a contact request makes itself known. Recognizing the handle, she accepts the invitation while searching the nearby street with her gaze, relying on low-light vision to pick out details.

”This is your operator for tonight’s get-together. You can call me Tulpa, just a gentle voice in your ear, ” If anyone else has a visual connection, they see the small brown dog representing Tulpa’s comm-unit pull on a pair of heavy-duty earphones and yellow tinted glasses. ”I will be keeping this line open for ease of contact between the team. Once I get to the arrival point I will attempt to use the Host as a means to peer in on our target. Lets say some magic words and make some money runners; Daddy needs to pay rent.”

Already prepared, the elf eyes the channel list icons - her own a wine-hued flower - a smile briefly tugging at her lips when she sees the dog. "<Konbanwa> Tulpa, I hear you," she replies sub-vocally, raising her head enough to take in local area, wondering if the decker is physically here or not. "I have a few different ways to record what we may need, though I did not have the time to pick up all of my kit," the elf adds; her voice is low and soft, words clipped but well enunciated and with a touch of a Japanese accent. 'I hope that what I did bring will be sufficient; I never trust being told that a job should be easy, but with how little prep-time we had I do not have much choice, ne?'

Reaching back into her hood, Wraith carefully adjusts the micro-cable linking her datajack to the commlink in one of her concealed pockets; this commlink is in ghost mode, it's commcode identifying the user with three Kanji characters that read <Ikiryou>. If anyone were to check, the commlink that Wraith is using in the chat channel is not the same one that is visible in Active mode.

"What would be nice is if we had... any information at all on the facility. Overhead photographs or video would be a good start, floorplans better," Wraith speaks up, shifting her attention to the facility itself, studying it as best she can given her relative postion to it. After a long moment she looks away from the warehouse and towards the parking lot, just in time to see a familiar looking dwarf move past her and into the Stuffer Shack.

'Ah, I remember Mulpa now... if I am remembering right, he does not hold much liking for elves,' she reflects inwardly, stifling a sigh. "<Shikatanai>," Wraith murmurs under her breath - anyone else on the comms would hear that, as she still has the subvocal mic set to voice-activate.

The elf waits about thirty seconds, then straightens up and slings the messenger bag over her shoulder and moves into the store to idly browse the aisles. Tugging back the hood of her jacket, if she ends up passing by Mulpa at any point she twitches a fox-ear at him as a display of recognition but doesn't say anything.

OOC Comments

The active commlink is a 'cheap, prepaid' commlink with DR 1, poking around on it will reveal the sort of mundane randomness that might be found on a typical student's commlink: innocuous photos, school homework and digital text books, etc.

[SARGE]

Sarge downs the entire pot of soycaf and gets up from the counter. The counter growns as does the wall, its how everything responds to his size.

He was hoping to head up to one of the local salmon runs and catch some fresh food but it looks like something else has taken priority. Looking over at @Wraith as he passes through the small door, "Whatchya after elf-sister?" His size blocks out the street lamp and even prevents Wriath from getting rained on.

Sarge sees that his bike, a Yamaha Growler still sits off the street on the curb. The bike has saddle bags with intricate beadwork and designs. It sits low to the ground with heavily reinforced struts, shocks, hell the entire bike has been custom fit for Sarge. The bike has a large seat and then a pillion suitable for upto a human sized rider.

Tapping Wraith on the shoulder gently, "You need a ride somewhere, elf-sister?"

[Corrigon]

Shrike pulled up outside the Stuffer shack on his Thundercloud Mustang early. Pretending that he is only there for snacks and to chill, he slides off the bike. His lined coat is done up with his Ares Predator in a concealable holster and slung over his shoulder is his backpack. Inside, his armour jacket and chameleon suit are folded up in case he needs them, with his Ingram Smartgun tucked in with them.

First rule on the job, don't call unnecessary attention to yourself. Job like this shouldn't require violence or need any armour, but best to be prepared.

Heading inside, he tosses a few credits on the counter after he picks up a drink and a snack to munch on.

Should be nobody here except the contact after ten. Eat dinner, watch everybody leave, make sure we don't have any surprises.

Perching on top of a post, he absentmindedly eats his snack, whilst his vision magnification cyberware does its work. He keeps an eye out on the site, watching for coming and goings.

OOC Comments

Using vision enhancement 3 and vision magnification

”Comms Test. This is Tulpa on Subvocals. Who has recording capabilities? I am assuming our employer will be wanting as much proof as possible tonight. Worst Case Scenario: we make sure the words are spoken in view of a security camera and I can handle the rest. One moment-

He taps his own microtransceiver and responds

"This is Shrike. I have an image link and vision enhancement capabilities. I can be your eyes. What do you need?"

[Wraith]

Location: Stuffer Shack
Status: Startled, still damp

As she heads into the Stuffer Shack, Wraith suddenly finds a rather large, unfamiliar male in front of her, reaching out in her direction; smoothly she side-steps and slips past him without too much effort, that legendary elven grace and agility paying off. "<Suimasen>..." she murmurs in a low, distracted tone. Once inside though, the elf turns to face the male with an impassive expression.

After a moment of silence, she proffers a brief bow at the shoulders. "<Gomen'nasai>," Wraith starts, her tone polite. "<Tomodachi wo matteimasu>," the elf finishes, the impassive expression shifting to one of apology. After another bob of her head she turns away to continue her journey into the Shack, satisfied that courtesy and decorum has been met.

During the exchange, Wraith notices Shrike enter the Shack and pass by; though she recognizes him the elf is careful to not let that show on her face, though she lightly brushes her tail against his calf once he is behind her.

OOC Comments

First, "Excuse me". Then, "I apologize, I am waiting for a friend."

[Tulpa]

[Rolls Carried]

Jacked into the Matrix, Tulpa takes his time searching his environments. He is particularly p[aranoid about any icons that might be wrappers containing observation nodes spying on him or their surroundings. As He familiarized himself with the Stuffer Shack Matrix, he also pings all of the Comms Units that answered his group call.

Already prepared, the elf eyes the channel list icons - her own a wine-hued flower - a smile briefly tugging at her lips when she sees the dog. "<Konbanwa> Tulpa, I hear you," she replies sub-vocally, raising her head enough to take in local area, wondering if the decker is physically here or not. "I have a few different ways to record what we may need, though I did not have the time to pick up all of my kit," the elf adds; her voice is low and soft, words clipped but well enunciated and with a touch of a Japanese accent.

"What would be nice is if we had... any information at all on the facility. Overhead photographs or video would be a good start, floorplans better,"

'Ah, I remember Mulpa now... if I am remembering right, he does not hold much liking for elves,' she reflects inwardly, stifling a sigh. "<Shikatanai>," Wraith murmurs under her breath - anyone else on the comms would hear that, as she still has the subvocal mic set to voice-activate.

”Copy that Wraith. One moment will connecting to you’re hardware… Please accept the incoming access request.” Tulpa will attempt to remotely access Wraiths comms unit, and any tech slaved to it. ”I will actively record a backup of any feeds you are willing to share; Don’t worry, I wont go snooping where you don’t want me. As for the intel you want, I was given just as much heads up about this gag as you, but I am safely into the Shack’s Host. It should not be long for me to gain access to the Warehouse. Once I do, finding the intel we need, including blueprints, employee files and security systems should be doable. I will also see if getting all of you onto the employee docket for the night is a possibility. Why sneak in if we can get you some overtime work tonight to, right?”

"This is Shrike. I have an image link and vision enhancement capabilities. I can be your eyes. What do you need?"

“Good evening Shrike, welcome to the party. Just the same access I requested of Wraith. If I can be let into your Comms unit, I can actively record any and all inputs you have to a remote backup. It will also help if anyone like me tries to mess with your tech; I will be able to be there to fend them off. Or distract them.”

Tulpa will begin syncing all of the teams comms units with his, ensuring he has an active HUD filled with the teams Matrix imprints and firewalls. Once he gains access to a teams comms unit, he slaves it to his, so all traffic is being fed through his own firewall.

[Muppet Man]

Code: Select all

I can't see, cause it's burning deep inside.
Like gasoline, a fire running wild.
No more fear, cause I'm getting closer now.
So unreal, but I like it anyhow.

//Location:Tacoma/Seattle Metroplex/UCAS
//Time: <2221:30/2075-01-05>
//Weather: <Heavy Downpour, 5.6C, Wind SE 22kph, feels like 0C>
//Air Quality: <Moderate (Yellow), Precipitation pH 3>

The team, Wraith, Mulpa, Sarge, and Shrike have moved inside the 'Shack, all the while Tulpa has set up shop in the troll-sized port-a-pooper in the alley.

There are a variety of shoppers inside, along with the clerk behind the counter. The clerk is an average looking human in slightly rumpled clothes. His hair is brown, his skin is super pale, he may have a habit of some sort. He perches on a stool behind the counter, vaguely staring at the space in front of him, probably an AR window or six in front of his eyes. His crooked name tag reads: "Welcome to Stuffer Shack, My Name Is Vern".

In Aisle 13, a couple -- possibly human or elf -- is aggressively and noisily making out with each other, bumping rhythmically into the shelves. They are heavily made up with makeup and a retro-future-glam look. The presumably male participant is wearing skin tight white leather pants, a white leather sleeveless shirt, and a white leather fringed vest. His pants and vest are emblazoned with luminous panels shaped like lightning bolts. He is accessorized in two or three kilos of FauxGold jewelry. The presumably female participant is wearing a skintight black leather jumpsuit with at least 42 functioning zippers. She has a floopy sparkly faux-leather sash/top/blouse that really covers nothing but adds some pizzaz. She has several meters of chain draped around her various limbs. Her accessories are more subtle, they are a dazzling array for ultra polished obsidian (or obsidian like plastic!).

Back in the corner, another human, small, mousy and dripping with cheap tech (like plastic toy watches, not anything valuable!) is hovering by the freezer area, rapidly removing pints of ice cream and rearranging them on the shelves. He is furtive and up to no good for sure. For sure!

: Mulpa, Wraith, Shrike: The couple is stealing cat food, using the make-out session as cover. The guy with the ice cream is quickly opening the pints, sticking is finger in and putting them back. Ew.

And then...

@Tulpa notices something first: another decker logs into the Stuffer Shack's host. This other decker probably isn't very good and doesn't notice Tulpa's icon. He seems to be focused on the cameras that Tulpa was interested in. Tulpa's not so great attempt at hacking the cameras failed, and somehow in the process turned on all the soft-serve machine's purge cycle. Tulpa observes that somehow the other guy doesn't succeed either. But he doesn't set any other systems off in the process.

Other than that, he is marginally successful in his other, ahem, exploits. The Warehouse is across the street. There is no wireless network currently active over there. He does see evidence of a periodic connection with an Aztechnology Security grid? host?

OOC Comments

I'm not sure! I'm trying to say that they are clearly connected to Azzie security but not right now.

Basically everything is "offline" right now.

There may have been a bump against his port-a-pooper. He's matrixing, so slightly distracted, could have been nothing.

Everyone in the Stuffer Shack is momentarily distracted when the ice cream machines start belching vanilla and chocolate swirl on the ground.

@Mulpa wanders the stores and is in aisle 7, perusing a selection of canned soycaf beverages with a wide variety of names and a small variety of artificial ingredients. Looking closely, yup, all some subsidiary of some sort to everyone's favorite consumer goods corporation.

@Corrigan[Shrike] more efficiently grabs a snack and soykaf and posts up front by the old-school video game consoles. They are a convenient place for his Az Burrito Extreme (made with REAL EXTREME!!) while he sips his kaf.

@Wraith and @Sarge just enter the Shack and are shaking off the rain for a second in aisle 1, the candy aisle naturally.

All good in the hood, or the Shack at least.

Then someone kicks open the doors, shattering the glass all over. This is rapidly followed by a pair of flash bangs. Which is followed by a trio of goons. Goon 1: a human who dresses like what a ganger wannabe things a runner would dress like. He swaggers like the leader (obvious cyberarm, Ares Predator, etc.). His name is Stooby. We know this 'cause Goon 2 immediately calls him that. Goon 2: another human ganger, but less wannabe and more just dumb. But he's got an AK-97. Goon 3: might actually be the trouble of the trio: a dwarf with all the obvious trappings of a shaman, but he really is one.

It goes like this: flash bang!
Goons leap inside, guns drawn (or spells powered up, whatever!). Goon 2 (with the AK) shouts, "Hey Stooby, what if they can't hear?" Stooby responds to Goon 2, "Shut up!" Goon 3 yells like an angry dwarf, and is almost audible over ringing ears: "Give us the geek and no one gets hurt! We saw her in come in here!"

All the other patrons have hit the deck. The flash-bangs ruined some packaging leaving a mess of glop, which splashed all over Mulpa!

-1 all Physical dice pools until cleaned off

!

Goon 1 and Goon 2 start to move into the building.

What do you do?

Conditions:

• Combat Round 1
• Post actions for all initiative passes
• Green goo is -1 to physical dice pools
• Mulpa, Shrike, Sarge, Wraith resist 10S, each gets 1 Edge. (Note: do to smashed window, no one was caught by surprise)
• Visibility: Light Smoke -1
• Map Grid is approx. 1m

Map: