Best Served Cold...

People in your line of work don’t usually get contacted during the daylight hours. Some business is best kept in shadow and darkness. All the same, you glance at the chronograph and realize that it’s only two o’clock. Tammy isn’t someone you've gotten much work from, but she isn't the kind of girl to bother you unless there's something lined up, so you check your link. True to form she doesn't actually call you, doesn't even leave a voice message, all you receive is plain text via an encrypted 'shadow' node.

<< Message From: Tammy >>
Hello again, sorry to trouble you so early in the day, but I've got some work for you. I’ve got a Johnson who’s getting back in the game. His name’s Falcone, and he needs a team out at his ranch in four hours. From what I heard, it’s just some clean up work so pack light and get moving. But considering how your last run, a supposedly straight forward delivery went, I'd come prepared for just about anything.
<<End of Message>>

As soon as you agree to hear the details of the job, your commlink chirps with an incoming file being transmitted. The address immediately plots itself from your current location and directions are digitally overlaid across your field of vision. You should have time to clean up and grab something to eat before heading out.


(( we'll do the same trick with any OOC conversation taking place in double brackets... I'll also be putting additional information at the end of the post giving info on stuff that people are likely to do... for instance, do a quick 'trix search for Falcone...

but do remember that these are only the most basic descriptions, if you want to do more detailed searches or other actions, let me know and make a roll... if you don't know what the threshold is just roll and report the number of hits... or let me do it when I get around to posting. This is just to speed things along a little rather than letting them get bogged down...

One final note, remember to stay in character, and remember to role play only what your character knows, not what other people might know as well... lets get going... ))


( If you do a quick search on either Falcone or the address that you've been given you find out that: Falcone Corporate Consultants specializes in corporate retreats for mid-ranking executives and leadership development customized for a wide range of corporate cultures. )

Wr3ck looks at his message, About time she contacted me again. I was beginning to think she thought I did a bad job.... He then does a quick search on the public transport available to get there.

After hopping on the first train he sets his PAN to alert him before any change points, then he dives deep into the trix.

Spoof Node: Hacking 4 + Spoof 5 + HSVR 2 + Enceph 2 = 13; 5 hits

That done, he loads a couple of browser programs.

He sets the first to troll for info on his bro, as always...

Next he starts to see what he can find on an old Mr. J named "Falcone," the other on Falcone Corporate Consultants

Search on Falcone: Data Search 4 + Spoof 5 + HSVR 2 + Enceph 2 = 13; 3 hits

Search on Falcone CC: Data Search 4 + Spoof 5 + HSVR 2 + Enceph 2 = 13; 5 hits

A flash of lightning illuminated darkened skies. Dark laughter rolled through the flat lands of a desert like a rolling wave of evilness, drowned out only by the prevailing thunder that echoed throughout the night. A second bolt of lightning flashed off in the distance, A figure in a long dark coat, flowing in the heavy wind and rain, stands alone at a cliffside drop, several hundred feet from the bottom as another bolt of dark laughter is chased away by the echoing thunder of the storm. The figure's scarred face illuminated in the night storm, his deep glowing red eyes casting an evil gaze out onto everything in the distance. "You thought i laid dead Marcus, you thought yourself alone? That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons even death may die." An even more disgustingly hideus burst of laughter rings out from the man with long flowing white hair as he pulls out a large hand gun and levels it at your head. "Though you walk through the valley and the shadow of death, you shall not escape judgement." A loud clicking noise echoes before the report of the gun and a flash of the muzzle accompanies a bullet flying straight into your head.

Sitting straight up from his dream, sweat dripping from his body, Marucs quickly slapped the screaming commlink to turn off the alarm clock. It had been many a night since he had awoken with blood on his hands again and several thousand nuyen in his bank account. Sighing deeply as he rested his head in his hands, his whole body shaking and in a cold sweat as he tried to breathe and relax.

sanity test threshold 4
willpower 4 + calm surroundings 1 = 3 hits
1 remaining point of stress

Sitting still and breathing for a few seconds as he collected himself, blinking away a headache while he checked his messages. blinking slightly as the memory of Tammy came back, a nice girl who from time to time let Marcus play his guitar inside the bar, often playing the music man game for tips often attracted business for her so she let him play. Reading through the message, a light job, might be nice for a change, Matron Sarah had given him a job the week before and it was easy. Sending a thank you note to Tammy as he finally rolled out of his bed, taking a quick shower and getting dressed, he liked the new coat that he had, it was long and was really nice black leather, although he had no clue as to how he had gotten it.

He remembered waking the night after the first run from Tammy with the coat, it was covered in blood and dirt so he had it cleaned, taking it to the same person that he often took Sarah too to get cleaned. Her name was Genevieve and she was very pretty, Marcus met her through Matron Sarah and Father Anton, she was in a wheelchair but she was still great with her hands.

Getting back to the task at hand, flinging his coat on and strapping Sarah onto his back. She was heavier as of late but only slightly, Checking to make sure his guitar Sarah was safely secured before he headed out the door of his room, giving a smile and leaning over to give Clarice a peck on the cheek, it was her turn to run the gun store today. Walking out onto the street he breathed in the morning air as he began his usual walk. Stopping by Jason's restaurant to grab a quick meal. He waved to Jason and his wife as he ate his meal of cereal and milk. Tipping Mrs. DeGiova fairly well as he finished the rest of his cereal, walking out the door after paying for his food he made his way down the street towards the address in the message.

After a few hours of walking he had made it to the address. Breathing deeply as he waited for what was to come.

Vedere walks calmly to the bus stop. Just as he is about to put his foot on the first step into the bus, he receives Tammy's call. He responds to the message, letting her know that he is in and on his way to the meet. This time he swears to himself that he will maintain 2020 hindsight throughout. After his last shadowrun team received the ace of spades in his last 'non-threatening' run, he decided to change fixers and now Tammy was also in on his game.

He smiles at the bus driver, apologises for wasting his time, turns and heads for the airfilm. AMF to 'social engineering', hello, NUYEN! He reminds himself to thank his angel, Tammy when he meets her. I won't have to take the low road and become an artist after all.

His days as a Lone Star BA were over and he was thankful for the solitude. No more 3am calls. He hated those the most. He quickened his pace and zipped up his designer Italian Armor Jacket as he skipped down the steps to meet the bullet. Should be there in no time!

He hoped that there weren't any bakebrains on this run that may well test his patience. That could end in total disaster.

The bullet ride was uneventful and he arrived at the address via foot for the rest of the way. Arriving at the meet point, he turns his PAN off, takes a quick look around and sees a male looking right back at him.

(( sorry for the delay, was hoping to see a few more people post... but we'll go with what we've got. I'll try and post at the very least once every other day... but am hoping for daily updates... we'll just have to see how things go. ))

<< Message from: Tammy >>
Just a quick little update, here are some pics of the people you will be meeting with.

JaronFalcone.jpg
Assisstant.jpg

And the contact details of the other runners that I've managed to contact for this job
(( so you are able to contact each other and start interacting ))
I'll see if I can find some more, and will contact you if there are any additional 'runners that report in.

Ciao for now,
~ T

<< End of Message >>

The first image is quite clearly of Mr Falcone himself, a quick study of the image itself and the 'trix using the image gives a basic description of the man. Paralysed from the waist down, Falcone has a hawk like nose and a touch of grey at his temples. In his late forties, he seems like the kind of man more comfortable in a boardroom than talking with criminals. The other man is rather nondescript, but professional looking Arabic human man, in his mid-thirties.

Wreck's search quickly bore some fruit. Mr. Falcone, first name Jaron, seems to have actually been a member of the shadow-running community at some point. Though details are sketchy, you've heard things like "He got out of the biz years ago.." and “When he was working his rep was solid, a straight shooter.”

The search that Wreck was doing on the Falcone Corporate Consultants corporate retreat however showed up little more than the facilities well constructed and wide spread advertising material. About the only thing of note was a rumour today of some unusual activity, something about an alert or alarm being triggered but quickly suppressed. There's all kinds of conflicting and contradictory theories... the drawbacks of these kind of 'conspiracy' nodes, but they some times have good intel. There's everything from corporate assassination or abduction, spirit manifestation for being built on burial grounds, to disgruntled employee vandalism.

Before long, and coincidentally enough, each of you find yourselves approaching the meeting point a short while before the appointed hour. The first thing you notice when you arrive at the address Tammy gave you is that she wasn’t kidding when she said ranch. The smell of horses and clean hay wafts across the afternoon air as you look around and take note of the other runners joining you. Further down the road you can see the front entrance to the Horse Trot Ranch, a wholly owned subsidiary of Falcone Corporate Consultants.

(( feel free to post your initial interactions/impressions with/to your fellow runners ))

At six o’clock exactly, the doors to one of the smaller stables opens and an Arabic human man in his mid-thirties comes walking out towards you. He waves his arm gesturing for you to come over and once you are close enough to speak without shouting, the man introduces himself as Hafiz and is quite obviously the man in the other picture you were sent by Tammy.

“Come, my friends. Mr. Jaron will be speaking with you in the rear stables.” He turns and heads back into the stables. Your eyes adjust almost immediately to the slightly dimmer light inside. Hafiz moves over to stand behind the man you recognise from the file as Jaron Falcone. Falcone is seated in a stainless steel wheelchair. A sharply angled nose draws your attention to him immediately and despite, or perhaps because of, his disability, Jaron has a practised air of confidence that seems to overcome his physical inability.

“Thank you all for coming. I apologise if I am short with you, but time is of the essence right now so I will get to the point. A package dear to my business was forcefully removed from the ranch this morning. You job is going to be to retrieve said package and return it to me. I’ll pay you a 1,000¥ each now and 4,000¥ more when you are done.”

As business meetings go, it was brief, to the point and about as informative as you could expect. It is clear that he has said all he is intending to until you agree to take the job. But you have every confidence from his manner that he will supply you with sufficient information when you do.

(( just as a point Phantom, Tammy was the fixer who contacted you at the start of the last run, you've never actually met them and don't really know much about them... Clara was the name of the land at the club that you played to in the last run ...

I guess this is where you decide whether or not you're taking the run... or if you want to try and negotiate a better price or whatever... let me know ... ))

((OOC: The following takes place BEFORE Jaron Falcone's assistant comes out to speak))

Wr3ck comes out of his 'Trix trance as the cab pulls to a stop in front of the ranch. The awful stench of animal sweat and manure slam into his nose. How can people stand this dreck?, he wonders to himself as he pays the cabbie.

He exists the vehicle and sees Marcus and another guy standing nearby. Well, at least I think I recognize that guy... who the dreck is the other slot though? He walks up to Marcus cautiously. "Weren't you the guy that mouthed off to that mob boss? Yeah, I remember you. Pretty good with a gun." He gives the other guy a sideways glance that boarders on a glare. "Who's he?"

Not waiting for a response, Wr3ck keeps talking.

"I hear this Falcone guy used to be a steady slot in the shadows back in the day. Good rep. Rumor has it that something went down here earlier today. Not sure what exactly, but the alarms were shut down before the badges got involved. I assume whatever it was, is why we're hear."

While talking to Marcus, and waiting for the meet Wr3ck tries to see if he can dig up anything on Falone's last couple of runs.

Guys with reps like that either score big and stay out, or something bad goes down and they stop taking risks...

Data Search 4 + Browse 5 + Enceph 2 = 11; 6 hits

Marcus looks out onto the ranch, slightly amazed by the sights. Born and raised by the city he had never really seen one of these places before, and it was quite pretty. Seeing the other two gentlemen arrive after him, and reading the information that was sent to him about the other two runners in this group, he couldn't recognize the other man, but Wreck did ring a bell. Marcus remembered him from the begining of the last run. Taken back a bit when wreck accuses him of mouthing off to a mob boss, and something about using guns. "Yea i remember you wreck, good with the matrix, but i would never mouth off to a mob boss if i knew one, and i've never fired a gun before in my life."

Completely ignoring the new person next to him, Marcus addresses Mr. Falcone.

Looking onward to the ranch as they are asked to come in. Marcus listens intently to Mr. Falcone, something was stolen and he wants it back, seems easy enough. "I'm in, you wouldn't happen to be able to give us anymore information on exactly what it was that was stolen from you, or by whom.

((sorry about that Jonno, I kinda lost the cliff notes on the last run. so please forgive me and i ask to what kind of penance i must give to the dice gods.))

Wr3ck screws up his face at Marcus's comments. Ah, I get it. He doesn't know the other guy either. Doesn't want to tip his hand... I got it. That's a good idea... I should be more careful.

When Falcone says he had something stolen, that makes Wr3ck look back at his AR screen on his search on Falcone's last runs. Who would rob a guy that's out of the biz as long as he's been?

(( sorry for the hold up phantom, wreck... tani's just ironing out his character sheet since it was breaking a few rules a little too much, and we've also got someone else about to join us for some fun... hope you don't mind the delay too much...

I was about to post a reply introducing an NPC, but since we're about to get some fresh blood I'll hold off... really... this time it really will be just a couple of days... really... I hope ... ))

Johnny having overslept checks his messages

Awe man, hope I'm not to late

He gets dressed and puts on his Urban Explorer Jump suit

Johnny then puts on his specialized sunglasses which begin to glow an strange red as he

says "By the power of Rock 'n' Roll!: Let's do this!"

Then grabs his small arsenal of pistols and ammunition and finally his guitar case which he slings over his back.

He grabs a cab and gives directions to the Falcone ranch.

(OOC sorry I'm late had to fix some mistakes of the character)

Hafiz frowns for a moment, taking on the distinctive look of someone looking at something on their AR before heading back to the door to admit a tall, relatively solidly built elf wearing what seems to be a urban explorer jumpsuit and red glowing sunglasses.

Jaron sighs and briefly recaps on what he'd just said. Then when no one shows any signs of refusing his offer he goes on, assuming you have a deal. "Okay... basically I'm in a bind here. Earlier this morning a mid level exec from the Ares corporation was abducted from my ranch." His brow crinckles as if he's thinking about something else for a moment, then he continues. "I don't know how Ares will react to discovering this, but I doubt it will be pleasant." He looks over each of you, with an almost sceptical expression, then says "Your job is to find this person and return him to me as quickly as possible so I can get out of this situation with as little collateral damage as I can."

Handing you a printed picture of a man in his mid 30's, handsome, neatly groomed, black hair, tanned skin and wearing an expensive suit. Basically your typical mid level exec, but in this image he's smiling broadly, and you can sense the charisma of the man, even from the still image. "This is Jonathan Belenkiy, the 'package' I want you to retrieve for me. He is currently heading up a Reasearch and Development department for the Personal Arms and Armour company run by Ares."

Slightly more tentatively he turns, pushes a small button on his wrist and a display screen drops from a recess in the ciling and some footage, time-stamped just before 5am this morning."The surveillance footage shows 3 figures, apparently all human or elven, of Amerindian origin." You can see that each of them is wearing light body armour along with a mask with some kind of tribal motif visible. "As you may also note however, Belenkiy is not seen in any of this footage. Indeed he is not seen in ANY of the footage in spite of the fact we managed to stop them from being able to delete these files when someone penetrated out systems later, at about 8:30 AM."

With a deepening frown he continues, "At 9 o'clock we received a ransom note, at which time we sealed Belenkiy's room so that nothing would be disturbed." Nodding to Hafiz he adds, "If you would like you are permitted to inspect the room if you wish." Tapping one of his fingers on the frame of his wheel-chair absent-mindedly he adds, "The ransom note also contained a clause that if I fail to pay, not only will Belenkiy be killed, but they would actively spread word that I chose to let the executive die. Clearly this would be detrimental to business, and must not be allowed to happen."

After clenching his jaw for a moment he continues, "The ransom is supposed to be deposited in a numbered account on the Zurich Orbital bank, and is due tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM. So as you can see, time is something of the essence." With an almost resigned expression he waves at Hafiz, "Hafiz will now take you to Belenkiy's room, unless you have something you need to ask of me..." he lets that offer of a reply hang, but it's clear from the look in his eye's that he thinks he's managed to cover all the salient points.

(( once you're all content with the situation in the stables, then you can follow Hafiz as he leads the way... anything you want to say just before leaving the stables simply preface with something along the lines of "Before taking the door Hafiz was indicating..." or the like so we know -when- stuff is happening... I'm just trialing this out to see if we can kind of get away with 'two' posts worth of information so we can move along a little faster... if it gets too confusing I'll go back to the more traditional format... one good way to do things would be to literally just read and respond to the first post before even looking at this second one then adding on that response... just a thought ... ))

As Hafiz leads you out a door at the other end of the stables you get a better view of the establishment. The Horse Trot Ranch takes up quite an impressive amount of real estate, running from 120th St to 145th and from Washington St. to halfway down Colorado St. Most of this area has been cleared of the developments from the late 20th century and given over to pasture land for the horses. It's clear that Falcone Corporate Consultants does their best to maintain the feeling of untouched rolling hills. You can even see small groves of trees are carefully spread throughout and manicured to appear “natural” despite their layout for meeting places and trust exercises.

Hafiz leads you across the ranch, taking a few odd turns. You suspect that those are to keep solid objects between you and the executives who are still attending the leadership retreat. He is fairly easygoing and striking up a conversation with him about the biz is fairly simple. When you finally make it to Belenkiy’s room, there is an audible click as Hafiz overrides the locking mechanism and opens the door.

Drawers have been pulled out, clothing is everywhere and there’s a lingering scent of patchouli. It looks like someone searched this place in a hurry. The mess continues into the bathroom where cabinets have been pulled open and Belenkiy’s toiletry bag is spilled out onto the counter. What keeps your attention though is an obsidian knife thrust into the wall just above the bed.

Before taking the offered door, Vedere steps forward and extends his hand to Jaron.

"Ciao! My name is Vedere. I accept your offer Mr. Falcone."

He greets the rest of the 'team' with a smile. "Hi! Brought together by fate it would seem. I am pleased to meet you all. It would seem that the marks room is the ideal place to start." With that he shakes the hands of the other runners in the room.

Vedere then follows Hafiz out the door and to the room. Once inside the room, he is careful not to touch anything. He tries to notice anything at all that is out of place other than the obvious.

((OOC: Will use Perspetion and Lone Star Procedures to try and elicit any information about the contents and/or the events that took place in the room. Roll 1 is Perception (INT + PERCEPTION = 6 dice), Roll 2 is Lone Star Procedures (LOG + LSP = 7 dice.))

The member 'taniwhaiti' has done the following action : Dices roll

'D6' : 2, 5, 3, 6, 4, 2

Dice roll 2

The member 'taniwhaiti' has done the following action : Dices roll

'D6' : 5, 2, 5, 5, 1, 3, 3

((OOC: I scored 2 hits for Perception and 3 hits for Lone Star Procedures))

When I have finished the review of the scene, I will pop open my Commlink and fire off a couple of individual messages to Slam, Rabbi and Detective Rogers. The more legwork I can do the better - as the nap looked clean - a little too clean.

<< Begin Encoded Message >>

To: Slam, Rabbi, D. Rogers
From: S

Need some help, guys ...

What do ya know about a mid-level suit called Belenkiy and the company, a Research and Development department for the Personal Arms and Armour company run by Ares. There may be some crim links - maybe the vic or members of his family have some unpaid debts or is involved in some crim activity.

I have attached a photograph and appreciate some speed on this one.

Belenkiy.jpg

Thanks!

S

<< End of Encoded Message >>

Roll 1 is for Slam (Charisma + Etiquette + Loyalty = 6 + 3 + 3 = 12 dice)

Roll 2 is for Rabbi (Charisma + Etiquette + Loyalty = 6 + 3 + 2 = 11 dice)

Roll 3 is for Detective Rogers (Charisma + Etiquette + Loyalty = 6 + 3 + 3 = 11 dice).

The member 'taniwhaiti' has done the following action : Dices roll

'D6' : 5, 3, 4, 2, 3, 2, 2, 4, 4, 3, 5, 4

Roll 2:

The member 'taniwhaiti' has done the following action : Dices roll

'D6' : 6, 5, 1, 1, 2, 4, 1, 5, 4, 1, 5

Roll 3:

The member 'taniwhaiti' has done the following action : Dices roll

'D6' : 3, 2, 3, 3, 6, 6, 6, 5, 1, 4, 2

I scored:

Slam: 2 hits
Rabbi: 4 hits
Detective Rogers: 4 hits