Shadowrun: The Package (Game thread)

[FalloutJack]

"Anything loud and we draw the attention of god knows how many guns. If you drive up to that convoy with a truck and a machine gun your face will have more lead in it than mine."

The Troll smirked. Gray was just digging himself a hole here. If he wanted to show any credibility, he had to spit out something useful to say, not remain a nay-saying lump. Much like Russ, he sincerely hoped for the old guy's sake that he was more useful than he was looking right now.

"I think you're underestimating the strength of vehicles nowadays, and I carry a heavy riot shield for situations like that. Believe me when I say my face will always be prettier than yours. But hey, let's play your game, eh? Geist, you're a former Lonestar, so you know neighborhoods. What's it like along the routes? Any gangland or mafiaso?"

((OOC: Requires GM Info))

He grew up in a drekhole community. 'Course he knew about that stuff! Now, Zad - He was calling him that from now on. - propsed a plan for getting the people of the convoy on their side by forcing a virus or a chemical into their system with DMSO. Windrunner hated the idea. Shamans would. He didn't know the way Shamans thought, really, but they were all nature people and that meant they were just blatently against certain practices. Zad and the elf started talking low-kills and threats with poisons, and that's when Demon chimed in again.

"Hold on, hold on, hold on! If we have the stuff to just slip concoctions right onto the skin like that, why not just knock them out? You're a doctor, right? You have stuff that'll stop someone like mid-sentence, right? If we want this at a low-death threshold, that's the way. We block or jam calls out, blacket them with this stuff in grenades - preferably shot into the vehicles - and scoop out the sleeping beauties. We COULD steal the entire convoy that way...provided we hose it off a bit."

 

[Gabanuka]

The Troll irked him as much as he irked the Troll.

'Yes I'm sure the highly trained para-military force will have a very difficult time hitting you through your shield. Not like they're prepared for that or anything.

Thankfully sarcasm came through the Rebreather.

'NeoNet do not fuck around, trust me I've done jobs for them since they were Novatech. Hell I did jobs for Novatech when they were Cambridge Holdings. If this thing is important enough to hire eight runners to fetch it's gonna be protected. The reason we don't go in guns blazing is because their guns are bigger and they can probably shoot straighter than you.'

The group was clearly leaning towards a non-violent route; Gray hoped he hadn't thrown his reign in with a bunch of Hooders. Then again maybe it was their best option. There was no reason to kill if they didn't have to, and if it cost them members of the team then that could only end badly.

'But I like your plan, however we need them stopped for awhile. I can help Geist get info on the route. I suggest we locate one of the stopping points, preferably one in gang territory. Rather than sending in Trolly Mc-Bangbang we work the crims, see if we can persuade a few to help us out. Have them fuck with the convoy enough to confuse the bastards, then we move in and gas them to sleep; take the whole thing from under their noses.'

 

[Knight Captain Kerr]

Riley frowned when she saw the information present on the chip. It looked like the route was all large main roads, there wasn't anywhere to easily set up an ambush and it didn't go through gang territory, NeoNet were smarter than she originally gave them credit for. She shared the info with the other Runners. "Looks like the convoy is sticking to main roads, isn't near gang territory and setting up an ambush won't be easy. Might be able to change their route though, Decker could get into NeoNet's database and alter the route, make it more preferable to us. Or we could deck into the city's traffic infrastructure, streets are blocked up they might change their route." said Riley. She looked at Adam. "And you thought we'd have nothing for you to do. Even if we go for the drug and extort plan we'd still need to deck in to find out who's driving the trucks."

 

[Tortilla the Hun]

"I think we should figger out exactly how we gonna persuade some of the gangs ta help us out," Russ cut in. "I mean, I don't imagine they gonna put their asses on the line messin' wit' a NeoNet convoy fer cheap. An' just who the hell we gonna go to, anyway?"

 

[Gabanuka]

'You'd be surprised how far a name can get you with gangs. Give me a day and I'll work out the situation and see who we can find. Hopefully we won't even need to pay them, there're a lot of people out there who hate anything AAA; anarchist, commies. Basically any disgruntled teenager with a gun.'

Mr Gray lent back in the chair. He had already begun Thinking.


(((OOC: I'll get in touch with Asc and see what I can see)))

 

[Spector29]

"Decker could get into NeoNet's database and alter the route, make it more preferable to us. Or we could deck into the city's traffic infrastructure, streets are blocked up they might change their route." said Riley. She looked at Adam. "And you thought we'd have nothing for you to do. Even if we go for the drug and extort plan we'd still need to deck in to find out who's driving the trucks."

Adam zero-ed in on the person establishing eye contact. So, it's coming down between changing the routes or nabbing the drivers? Hmm..

"One problem with changing the flow of traffic is that machines are perfect, meatbags aren't." Adam chuckled. "Just because it's a good idea to go one way doesn't mean they will. If we want to talk about a more reliable plan, I'd throw my hat in for the extortion bit."

((What would be my Decking process?))

 

[FalloutJack]

Sarcastic as the old man wanted to be to make a point, he didn't have one. Perhaps if he'd been actually talking to your basic shadowrunner, it would've mattered, but he wasn't. This wasn't overconfidence. This was experience talking. Demon was a Troll who went into a fray knowing he was getting shot at almost as quickly as 'Geek the mage!' and used it to his advantage. The bullets weren't getting through him, and so neither would they harm those behind him. He was an 8-foot-tall walking wall, just standing here, and now add a Troll-accommodated shield. Even APDS ammo and grenades are like 'Fuck it!', most times, though they'd batter the shield, no doubt. Still, Demon smirked as the old man talked and talked, basically only latching onto ideas already proposed and adding little of value, as he saw it. If this guy was gonna leave all the work to them through the whole run, he was gonna find himself strapped right on the afore-mentioned riot shield for shits and giggles, walking into combat. Meanwhile, Riley had bad news.

"Looks like the convoy is sticking to main roads, isn't near gang territory and setting up an ambush won't be easy. Might be able to change their route though, Decker could get into NeoNet's database and alter the route, make it more preferable to us. Or we could deck into the city's traffic infrastructure, streets are blocked up they might change their route."

Aaand Russ had more bad new...the convincing part. Gray figured he could just convince anybody. Demon figured they'd hate his guts and then gut him. Well, no skin off of their nose on THAT account. Still, there was something they could work with here, as Spector was talking about the unpredictability of traffic.

"Which is why re-routing other people is potluck and re-routing the convoy is a shakey prospect at best. I don't find the extortion any more reliable in that NeoNet could just nix whoever we mess with last minute and ruin the whole plan. Now, if you lot wanted to try the extortion AND talking to gangers, be my guest. Except frag putting the convoy into a bad neighborhood. They'll know like we know that that's a bad idea. Get a Go-Gang to ride up to them and wreak havoc, instead. All nice and mobile, and during the chaos, we come in and hose them down, or use special grenade, or however we were planning to knock them out, exactly."

He then inclined his head to the old man.

"Which means you'd better put up or shut up if you're so whiz at bein' a Face. I know I'd get an in with Dissemblers, at the very least."

Because they're a Troll gang.

 

[Gabanuka]

The Troll's voice snapped the Runner out of Thought. He'd asked for a day but as soon as he put his mind to it the choice was obvious.

'How does the biggest biker gang in North America sound?'

---------------------------------------------------------------

Most people can boast contacts in The Ancients, it wasn't exactly a small operation; friends of friends, thugs you've worked with, maybe your weapons guy. However, a gang so big has a lot of little fishes swimming around the sharks; they might be the same colour but ultimately they're just chum. Mr Gray had worked with a shark.

Yōkai was an Elf. He'd have to be when in the Ancients. He was also the angriest elf you were ever to meet. A first generation Meta, born into the streets of Osaka he actually had a better upbringing than other first-gens, on the street no one cares about your pointed ears.

Mr Gray knew him from some jobs he did for Shiawase in the 2020s. Yōkai found his nook as an arms dealer for the Yaks, mostly heavy weapons. Guns weren't exactly a common sight in Japan so anyone who had a supplier could make huge Nuyen, though in those days they'd have to exchange it to use outside of Japan. Mr Gray worked through him while in Osaka, using the elf's knowledge of the city streets as well as buying some of his merchandise. As with anyone who gets rich via guns eventually the Yaks just took over his operation; Yōkai fled to the US and set up shop in Seattle. Sometime in the 30s a new gang with some green leather wanted to buy some guns and were looking for someone permanent. Yōkai was happy to oblige. His network grew and by the 40s Yōkai was The Ancient's go to guy for anything big and deadly; fish buy from the guy on their corner but anyone who was anyone bought from Yōkai.

Last Mr Gray had seen him Yōkai was working with the Cutters, the Ancients biggest group in Seatle. That was around 2 months ago, just before...

That didn't matter. He was still Mr Gray's heavy weapon guy.

 

[FalloutJack]

((OOC: I have to do this. Mr. Gray has bought up the memory of a funny Shadowrun mission.))

Demon blinked, noticeably surprised at the mention of them. The Ancients... Yeah, that'd do it and-a-half. They might take the convoy themselves, not even needing help! He'd heard of them on a number of occasions, but one time...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Look at this!"

The report was slammed down on his desk, in front of him. Better times, more ordered times... A troll sits in UCAS uniform, a Sergeant of some noteworthy skill. Before him, a female CO, specifically his own. They were close to the same age, but she was up the ladder a couple of rungs. Major Allison Kayo, a human mage responsible for putting together the Wrecking Crew. Sado looked down at the report, still clenched in her slender-but-firm hand. It was labeled "INCIDENT: ARMS RUN". He took it from her and began reading. This was an after-action report collaborated with scoured intel to make the whole thing complete. It seems that a Runner team had been hired by the Russian Mafia to steal a shipment of LAW Rockets - anti-tank projectiles - and launchers from another organization, possibly the original Mafia. In order to get both information and heavy-lifting help, they hired members of the Spikes - an Orc and Troll gang who are notorious elf-haters - and then would have them take the fall for the theft and killing of several men. The Russian Mafia was also being betrayed, however, as the YAKUZA had heard about things and basically gave them an offer which could end in katanas if they refused.

"Judas Priest, who DIDN'T they screw over?"

"Keep reading."

After obtaining the weapons and meeting the Spikes for a payoff, they told them that one of their own members was responsible for a leak of information and had him killed...shortly before they had to take their show on the road, because Knight's Errant was coming! Cue the chase of two rigs going south for the border of Seattle wth ground and air support from KE in pursuit. The most-likely theory as to what happened at this point was that they must have also struck a deal with the Ancients, because Knight's Errant vehicles were suddenly beset by machine guns and bazookas. With their pursuers mostly-occupied, there was only the armored units of the UCAS border patrol to handle. Closing in on that area, a large meta-human - possibly a troll - with a shirt on his face aims a missle launcher at the nearest-

"They blew up a fragging TANK?!"

"Yes! The tank combusted, they got away, and Knight's Errant was stuck dealing with The Ancients for the rest of the night. I swear, there must be something strange in the water over in Seattle. Even for Runners, this was bizarre!"

"That's nothn'. Lemme tell you about this story I heard about Runners with squirtguns..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Troll smiled at the old man, a bit more approving of his style.

"You pull that one off and I'll take back some of the nasty things I'll have said about you by then."

 

[Knight Captain Kerr]

"We deck into NeoNet and either alter the route or find out who the drivers are. I don't want to hit them as is. I say we change the route, get some backup and then ambush them. Just because you drug someone and tell them they'll die if they don't do what you say doesn't mean they'll do it." said Riley. The drug plan had some merit but too much could go wrong, if one of the people they drugged did talk it would screw everything up and make it nearly impossible to pull off. It just wasn't worth the risk.

 

[Gabanuka]

'I second that. I'll get in touch with my guy in the Ancients, see if I can't rustle up some muscle on wheels. One of the deckers works their way into the system and changes the course to our advantage, nothing major just enough to give us the edge. Ambush the convoy and take the truck.'

It had taken awhile but it was clear some kind of plan was forming. Thankfully one where Mr Gray could do more than just shoot some hired guns.

 

[Asclepion]

The night of the run was like any other in Seattle. The city streets were a tide of neon and lights, though some of those highways were now emptied of traffic in response to the corporate procession. There was lightning in the distance and a deep rumbling of storm clouds, barely audible over the noise of rubber on concrete.

NeoNET was active all night. When 10:30 arrived, the gates rolled open. Under the stars, a convoy of transport vehicles took to the road, en route to their destination.

They were immense machines, dwarfing the other cars on the road. Multi-wheeled and armored, each vehicle was a fortress unto themselves. There were seven in total. One had a complex array of sensors mounted on top of it's front compartment. What few windows there were were tinted and reinforced so that nothing was visible from outside them. Each was equipped with a large transport bay carrying NeoNET's valuable paydata- and in one of them, the package.

[ @Terratina: If you use a spell to see through the vehicles: One of the the trucks has only gray, lackluster shadows over astral sight. The others have auras of living metahumans. One has auras that glow bright and vibrantly.]

 

[FalloutJack]

So, it all comes down to the basic question that's got to be on everybody's mind at a time like this: Where do you hide the 8-foot-tall hammer-troll? And the answer comes back, 'Somewhere he won't stick out'. Kind of an obvious answer, but here's the deal. Among their fancy neon lights and possibly even trideo advertisement signs, you'll find city dumpsters. They're big, they're metal, and they're heavy as hell...so it's fortunate that he only had to move it a little ways into position. Demon had arrived with more equipment than usual. The heavy shield and his usual armaments was one thing, but he'd brought more things, thanks to a bit of short notice request to his Fixer, Barry.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He specialized in other fixes, like fake Sins and Licenses, but you could trust Barry to deliver on a few other essentials. Demon ordered a Red Hot Chili Pepper and confused the hell out of the man, so he asked one of his assistants to take over while he addressed this...whatever it was in the back. Barry was the bartender material. He with his big body and his moustache looked natural, serving drinks and polishing glasses. It was a calling of his. Right now, though...

"Not sure what you want from me, so spit it out. It's not more ammo unless you've already killed everythng in the Downtown area."

"Nah, it's not the usual. Next job I'm on is going high-armor and I think I might need explosives, just for armor's sake. Launcher grenades for one, blast foam and a detonator for another."

"Let's see... High armor and exlosives, so...you're blowing something mobile on the street. Alright, I can probably swing some asphalt-colored blast foam, but not in huge amounts."

"Don't want it to be. It's a shocker, not a stinger, know what I mean?"

"I think I do. Alright, what flavor grenades, then?"

"Flash and high explosive. I've got some frags still. Oh, and It's gotta be done in about a week. Try to shave it down to less than that."

"I can have the grenades in easy. The foam will take a few days, but if it's not a huge amount, you'll get it."

"Alright, thanks Barry. I'll pay ya on delivery."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The place was suppose to look like drek, and it really didn't need his help to get himself ready. The dumpster was inelegant and the old man was probably going to make some snarky joke about it, but on the whole it was a very intelligent plan. He could remain hidden and see out on account of being tall. His shield and his weaponry were in there with him, once he was finished working. Now, as for WHAT he was doing prior to hiding around like the others, it was all in the blast foam. In their designated kill-zone, he had foamed some strips of explosive down the road in a manner that would not be worn away by tires. This covered all the bases, really shake up and probably hurt whoever was in whatever vehicles were over it. The whole thing was properly tagged and the same color as the street, virtually unnoticeable without being...well...really good. They wouldn't be seen, either. Aside from their own deckers, Demon has asked for one other person...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He came up to the apartment after stepping off of the elevator. The place wasn't much. Hell, the entire building wasn't much, but it was home, to some. Demon halted in front of one door in particular and rapped his large fist against it. The response...was nothing short of hilarious.

"Kore wa shiyū zaisan, fragfacedesu! Teishi suru ka, watashi wa tawagoto yo!"

"Sore wa, shinai tawagoto o utsu nodesu. Sorera o konzai sa senaide kudasai!"

There was a groan that followed and a series of locks being undone now. For those of you wondering what's gong on, Demon's been trying to teach his Decker friend Japanese. It hasn't worked out very well, especially since she just threatened to shit. In any case, the door opened and strained against several chains as one eye was seen and black hair from a younger female that was not entirely happen to see him. Fisheye Placebo, everyone.

"What do you want, Demon?"

"I came here to ask a favor."

The eye narrowed at him.

"That's what the comm-channel's for! Why are you HERE?!"

"I brought ya McHues."

She grumbled in annoyance.

"I can cook better food than that drek with my eyes closed. Eat it yourself."

"Yeah? Surprise me sometime. In any case, I just didn't wanna call this one in. The corp in on this might have Deckers looking carefully through whatever they can on this."

"What do you want me to do?"

"If this spot I'm working in on has surveillance, I don't wanna be on it. Keep me and the stuff we're up to off the grid. We've got deckers, but I'd be happier knowin' there's an extra eye on the situation."

He handed her some information, general area reference. She went to her terminal and punched up a few things, then returned.

"It's pretty shitty and old over there. Ya won't find much around there. I'll try to reduce nil to zero for you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He was in the dumpster and ready. He even had a few converted neurostun grenades, thanks to Zad's chemicals. So now, here he saw the convey a'coming. The others knew ahead of time what he was up to, and when the time rolled around, Demon waited in hiding with his garbage-y camouflage in place and he ready to do some damage. It wouldn't be severe. Those machines were wicked as hell. But he WOULD give them some trouble. As soon as he saw it, the old Sergeant Sado Renken spoke to him. Of the seven, the smaller vehicles were support. The two biggest machines were the two main hubs. One appeared to have a very complex sensor array on it, as well. That was the one he wanted to damage. The sensor craft was going to be their main eyes and ears, with their fingers in every means of pointing them out to their cohorts. It was for this that he had clearly been preparing. This vehicle was not their target, but the one other than it. Therefore, Demon would trigger the blast foam when it was under the sensor vehicle.

 

[Knight Captain Kerr]

Riley was in position, her balaclava and gloves were on and her assault rifle was held firmly in hand. She had elected to leave any decking to Adam, he said he wasn't good at anything else and she figured an extra gun would be more useful than another and less qualified decker.