Shadowrun 4e: Smugglin' Run [IC]

[Levyathyn]

Silk

Eric nods and sends Alexis ¥300 instead. "Here you go. Buy yourself something nice." He says with a wink. "As for the Visas...well, I've got a twelve hour time frame right now. If you can beat that, I'll make it worth your time. I'm with some pretty heavy hitters right now. You pull this off and make this job happen, I could see some of these runners being return customers for you. I know how you love a good regular." He adds. Alexis watches him for a single trace of sarcasm, and sees none. Eric just grins at her smugly.

"Regardless," He says, pressing on, "job is delivery. Two human-sized containers, Kansas City. We have about a two-day timeframe, making this a little tight unless you can get your hands on some Visas." Alexis nods, calculating the timetables in her headware. "Exactly." He adds. "If you hear anything, used ID's, whatever...it could save us a lot of trouble. If there's a choice, I'd like to throw them off, make the Visas look like KC issue. They'll be able to track when we leave, but it won't help them find us. Keep an eye out for any other alternatives. A smuggler with a t-bird would be a godsend right now."

[Daravon_35]

"So does anyone have an actual hard number on how long it'll take us to get to the UCAS border from here? If it's not much shorter then 12 hours then buying those visa's and waiting a couple could probably be worth it." Jbar looks at the rest of the group, hoping someone might have the answer.

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Hoping the Mapsoft might have the distance, etc from here to the border. I just figure this way we can know if it's worth buying the visa's.

[BudgetDM]

"Keep an eye out for any other alternatives. A smuggler with a t-bird would be a godsend right now."

A thoughtful look crosses Alexis' face.

"Hmm, I might know someone. I'll need to make some calls. I call you back if it works out."

She then hangs up.

Just then in the AR everything goes monochrome and the background music settles down. In Nashville this is the universal sign of last call.

[Telasi]

"Five and a half hours to the border, according to the mapsoft. Given our time limit, I don't think we need to push our luck by breaking traffic laws." greyKnight sends an image of the route map to the rest of the group's ARs so they can see what she's talking about. "Last call, looks like we'll have to clear out before long."

[Daravon_35]

Jbar frowned an unusual occurrence for him, "Alright that's what I thought. Doubt the visa's are worth it then. Seems like we'd either be losing a lot of time waiting and cutting it short or using them one way. If we're going to border hop one way we might as well border hop back. The only other thing I can think of would be the visa's may not even be usable coming back into the CAS. If the Johnson's right about there being another team after us, us coming down the road guns blazing with them chasing us... I think is going to cause border patrol to stop us and ask a few questions even if we do have visa's." Jbar says, almost as if he's musing. He then notices the bars last call and gK's comment.

"Well I'll get in contact with this Coyote and see if he can help us. Other than that I'm out of ideas for now." He gets up from his seat, his sunglasses again sparkling in the lowly light room as he moves towards the exit. "I'll see if I can't come up with anything else. Other then that, let's meet up in an hour and hit the road then?"

[Telasi]

"Meet where? I'm gonna check out that drone; I'll call you guys when I'm done."

Meanwhile, greyKnight sends a text to her newly acquired commcode. "I'm a friend of Mick's. He tells me you've got a drone I might be interested in, and I'd like to check it out. You available on short notice? -greyKnight"

[Levyathyn]

Silk

Eric nods his thanks, "Later, then." He says, leaving the AR screen. "An hour." Eric agrees. "I might have a line on someone myself, someone who could get us in and out in record time. I'll keep in touch." He says.

He looks over at the big troll. "Come on, let's hit the road."

[BudgetDM]

Almost instantly greyKnight receives a response.

"This is an agent generated response.
Keyword(s): 'Mick', 'Drone'
Commcode: Unrecognized
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Sorry, I can't respond to your text right now, but I will be busy for the next...
6 hours
...approximately. Since I don't recognize your commcode, I will assumes that your a new costumer, so I'll include my rates.
¥600/Hour - you rig
¥800/Hour - I rig
+¥120 per crate for parachute air drops

Expect a file containing drone secs momentarily."

Then, as expected a file appears in your inbox.

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The drone is a Federated-Boeing Kull with the engine customization: speed and satellite communication mods, plus signature masking boosted to 2

[Telasi]

"Not too bad," greyKnight murmurs to herself. "Drone's not available for six hours plus, guys, so that sounds like a no-go with the schedule you want. Looks like J and Silk have all the good leads for now. Stuffer Shack, anyone?" gK starts strolling to her van.

[Daravon_35]

Jbar looks at the rest of the group right before they depart, "I was thinking we can meet at the Loco Foods on Lexington, how's that work for everyone?"

Then before hopping onto his bike Jbar sends out a text to his new contact, the Coyote, "Hi, Franky sent me your way. Was hoping you might be able to help me and my friends with a border crossing coming up?"

And with that Jbar put on his helmet and sped off.

[Telasi]

"I was thinking we can meet at the Loco Foods on Lexington, how's that work for everyone?"

"Sounds good."

[BudgetDM]

Jbar receives a text back.

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"i charge four hundred nuyen per border crossing and i can't handle anything larger than a van you will also need to bring bring flashlights and guns because we are going to go underground and there have been ghoul sightings you will also have to go off road i knew this seems like a lot of trouble but i have never had a group nabbed once"*

*

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This is what happens when you skimp on voice-to-text programs.

[Rettu Skcollob]

The huge troll, lost in thought, dimly acknowledges Silk, standing slowly. His mind drifts to familiar patterns, thinking of the task ahead and the people with whom he would be performing it with. "是的... Yes." He says, softly.

[Levyathyn]

Silk

Eric turns and watches greyKnight walk off. He nods to himself. "Stuffer shack, eh?" He says. "I'm in. You're on your own, friend." He says to the large troll as he follows the rigger out of the closing bar.

[Daravon_35]

Upon receiving the text he, pulls over his bike and immediately texts the team "So it looks like the Coyote might work out for us. He can get us across for ¥400 each way. However he says we'll be going through ghoul territory and to bring flashlights as we'd be going underground and nothing bigger then a van. Thoughts?" He then hops back on his bike and heads off in the direction of the closest Saver's Central, just in case, as he waits for responses to come rolling in.

[Telasi]

Upon receiving the text he, pulls over his bike and immediately texts the team "So it looks like the Coyote might work out for us. He can get us across for ¥400 each way. However he says we'll be going through ghoul territory and to bring flashlights as we'd be going underground and nothing bigger then a van. Thoughts?" He then hops back on his bike and heads off in the direction of the closest Saver's Central, just in case, as he waits for responses to come rolling in.

greyKnight sends her reply out to the rest of the team. "Well, I've got the van. I'll get flashlights for everybody, since we're hitting the Shack anyway. Might be able to use one of my drone's thermographic cams, too. Anybody know if S'n'S works on ghouls? If not, I'm short on ammo if we get into trouble."

As she pulls her van out of the lot on the way to Stuffer Shack, Beth speaks to Silk. "Looks like we're grabbing some flashlights to go with the stuffers. Some duct tape, too, I want to see if I can use my Stormcloud's thermal for dark driving. Anything else you can think of?"

[Levyathyn]

Silk

Eric shrugs comfortably from the passenger seat. "Never really use guns much." He says, considering his options. "We've got Kikuchiyo, so we should be fine. And ghouls have forms in astral, so I can fight them easily, dark or not. I have some other tricks up my sleeve that may come in handy." He says, smiling confidently at gK.

[Telasi]

Silk

Eric shrugs comfortably from the passenger seat. "Never really use guns much." He says, considering his options. "We've got Kikuchiyo, so we should be fine. And ghouls have forms in astral, so I can fight them easily, dark or not. I have some other tricks up my sleeve that may come in handy." He says, smiling confidently at gK.

"Well, that's two of us who won't be completely useless if we get jumped," remarks greyKnight, a wry grin spreading across her face. "Here's hoping we don't, though. I'd just as soon not have to use my gun if I can help it."

[Levyathyn]

Silk

Eric nods slowly. "I seem to remember hearing something about ghouls and SnS weapons. Maybe...they work?" He pondered out loud. "The man who told me was really too drunk to make sense." Eric adds helpfully.

After another moment of considerations, he adds, "Plus, I don't think he'd ever seen a ghoul before."

[Telasi]

Silk

Eric nods slowly. "I seem to remember hearing something about ghouls and SnS weapons. Maybe...they work?" He pondered out loud. "The man who told me was really too drunk to make sense." Eric adds helpfully.

After another moment of considerations, he adds, "Plus, I don't think he'd ever seen a ghoul before."

"Great, our best advice is a maybe from some drunk guy. Tell you what, I'll just look it up once we're parked."

(At this point, I assume we get there just fine. If you happen to have more to say/do during the trip or something happens, ignore the bit below.)

"We're here. I'm gonna look that bit about the ghouls up on the Matrix, should just be a minute or two."

[Levyathyn]

"Great, our best advice is a maybe from some drunk guy. Tell you what, I'll just look it up once we're parked."

Eric gives a laugh at that. "Yeah, he may also have been trying to get me killed. Good idea, though." Silk mulls over a few thoughts as the time passes, quiet, at least for the occasion. He glances at Grey sporadically, wondering about her rigging. He had never been one for full VR, much less plugging into a machine. He wondered what it was like.

"We're here. I'm gonna look that bit about the ghouls up on the Matrix, should just be a minute or two."

Silk nods his assent and leans back into his seat, switching his commlink to passive as he does so. He slides off his AR gloves and tries to relax.

[BudgetDM]

It takes greyKnight about a minute and a half to find her answer. On some video sharing node she comes across gun-cam footage from a firefight with some ghouls. Somewhere in Eastern Europe from the audio. Sure enough the S'n'S rounds seem to have an effect on the ghouls. It does take quite a few round to put it down, but to judge by the background noise, even regular bullets have a hard time of it.

[Daravon_35]

Jbar receives a text back.
"i charge four hundred nuyen per border crossing and i can't handle anything larger than a van you will also need to bring bring flashlights and guns because we are going to go underground and there have been ghoul sightings you will also have to go off road i knew this seems like a lot of trouble but i have never had a group nabbed once"*

Jbar texts back to the Coyote, "Sounds like you have yourself a deal for a two way crossing. Let me know where we should meet you. As of right now we'll be hitting the border from CAS to UCAS in about six and half hours, maybe a little sooner, maybe a little later. We'll be coming up from Nashville to Kansas City, Mo. Can update you more as the time approaches. Then we'll need one returning, time not yet known. Let me know if there's anything else we need to do. Sending you the ¥400 now for the first way, once we make it through ok, I'll send you the other ¥400 to put you on retainer for the drive back." The text ends with Jbar transferring the ¥400 to the Coyote for the first of the two way crossing.

He then texts the whole group again. "Looks like it's a go with the Coyote. I'm heading back to my place to drop my bike off. gK think you can pick me up in the van there? Thanks, see the rest of you then." and with that he speeds off in the direction of his apartment.

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Yuck feel like I'm trusting this Coyote a bit much, but I can't figure out a way to not give him that info. But he should be good. My buddy Franky wouldn't steer me wrong ! Plus if he's going to screw us over, he's going to have opportunity to either way.

[Telasi]

"Okay, from what I can find, S'n'S works about as well as normal rounds. Sorry for the wait; I get nervous sometimes before a run." greyKnight shrugs apologetically to Silk. "Now that the life or death concerns are done with, on to junk food, flashlights, and tape. Shall we?" gK slides out of the van and heads inside. Once inside, she quickly gathers a half dozen flashlights (4 standard, 2 low-light) and batteries for them, a roll of duct tape, and a small assortment of stuffers and drinks.

(OOC: The food is covered by lifestyle, right? If so, that should come to ¥150 + tape price, which doesn't seem to be listed in the book.)

"Looks like it's a go with the Coyote. I'm heading back to my place to drop my bike off. gK think you can pick me up in the van there? Thanks, see the rest of you then."

gK texts back, "Sure thing. Be there soon. -gK"

[BudgetDM]

Jbar receives a text back from the Coyote,

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"meat me at the gee P.S. coordinates attached"

Using your commlink's basic GPS, you find that it is this puts you in the middle of what remains of the Mark Twain National Forrest. Good news, it's straighter to Kansas City then the highway. Neutral news, Lone Stars presence is somewhere between slim and none in the back roads you'll need to travel to get there. Bad news, some of the locals are rumored to not care much for outsiders.

[Daravon_35]

Jbar fowards the location the information to gK thru a text. "Looks like we got the location of where to meet this Coyote, with some good, bad, and neutral news. Rest is up to you and your wheels, and those haven't failed us yet."

Using your commlink's basic GPS, you find that it is this puts you in the middle of what remains of the Mark Twain National Forrest. Good news, it's straighter to Kansas City then the highway. Neutral news, Lone Stars presence is somewhere between slim and none in the back roads you'll need to travel to get there. Bad news, some of the locals are rumored to not care much for outsiders.

[Telasi]

Jbar fowards the location the information to gK thru a text. "Looks like we got the location of where to meet this Coyote, with some good, bad, and neutral news. Rest is up to you and your wheels, and those haven't failed us yet."

gK replies quickly "Ok, doesn't sound too bad. Better than getting caught by the Star, anyway."

Beth pays for her stuff and heads back out to the van. Once Silk is ready to go, she heads over to Jbar's apartment to get him.

[Levyathyn]

Silk

Eric drops a little cash and splits right behind gK, ignoring his commlink for now. He slams his bag into the back seat of the van and lays down, his legs crossed over the head rest opposite. "Mmm, jerky." He says, deadpan. "I wonder what's actually in this." He asks, his voice innocent and laced with the theatre. "Oh my, soy indeed. I am surprised. At least it isn't, you know, barghest or anything. So what's the deal?" He asks as the rigger pulls the van out.

[Telasi]

Silk

Eric drops a little cash and splits right behind gK, ignoring his commlink for now. He slams his bag into the back seat of the van and lays down, his legs crossed over the head rest opposite. "Mmm, jerky." He says, deadpan. "I wonder what's actually in this." He asks, his voice innocent and laced with the theatre. "Oh my, soy indeed. I am surprised. At least it isn't, you know, barghest or anything. So what's the deal?" He asks as the rigger pulls the van out.

"We're picking up J, then heading to meet Kikuchiyo. After that, on to Mark Twain forest to meet our coyote."

[PhallicWarrior]

Jim sends a group message on his comm:
Hey guys, I've got an "in" with a local arms dealer. Anybody need some guns, ammo, or armor? I can put us in touch. Also, would anyone mind giving me a ride to the meetup point? My car got repossessed last week. :P

While he waits for a response, he calls up his other significant contact, Gary Lewis:

Hey, Gary. I know this isn't your usual area of expertise, but you know everything about everything, so I was wondering if maybe you might be able to get us a little intel on this location. (I post a copy of the mission site.) Anything come to mind, you sweet little devil you?

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And yes, I am trying to be flirty. Jim is very much bi in the Captain Jack Harkness mold, and is hoping that Gary responds well to the flirting. Negotiation roll in the OOC thread.

(Edited because courier new represents text messaging, but he's calling Gary directly)