[SR4] Dragonchasers (IC)

[RdMarquis]

Early in the day, you are contacted by your respective fixers. Mr. Tanaka has a proposition for you. The more perceptive will note that your contacts, each Yakuza members, seem less than thrilled at forwarding this message to you. More than one of them speak with the air of a man relegated to a particularly unpleasant chore. "He'll meet you in the Minato Ward at 8 pm. In Roppongi."

OOC

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It's about 9 or 10 in the morning. You have some time to prepare.

[da prophet]

Hai tang- exited for his first mission makes shure everything is ready. When he has checked if the cats have food for the umphteent time he walks with his dogs before he picks up his equipment aiming to be there at 7 o clock to watch how things work.

[Ralasha]

After getting dressed, putting on her backpack, and making certain her gun is loaded, the safety is on, and her apartment is locked. Suzuku heads out to find some place to eat, perhaps a local Noodle shop.

Once there, she orders Udon.
(Vehicle included in lifestyle: Suzuki Racing Bike.)
She then heads to the meeting after using her comm-implant to alert her clan of where she is going.

[Kallisti]

Donovan stares at his commlink screen for almost a quarter of an hour, thinking; he knows Unari wouldn't have set up a same-day meet if it weren't important, but "important" for Unari often means "bad news" for him.

But it's been a month and a half since his last run; he needs the money, and besides, he's starting to get restless. Maybe this is a good kind of run--some evil corporate plot needs stopped or the like.

Okay, so that's wishful thinking. But maybe it's at least something palatable--extracting a willing defector, or some data theft.

Whatever the job will be, he'd best be prepared. That last run used up the last spirit he'd had on call, so that seems as good a place to start as any.

Opening his protocol files on his 'link, Donovan takes down his haraigushi--one of the few items in his makeshift space treated with care--and begins to prepare the area marked as his Lodge, in the one corner of the building not exposed to the elements (much), separated from the world by paper screens, painted runes, and a handmade sign reading "No dogs--beware of pissed-off fire elemental" in English, Japanese and Sperethiel.

OOC:

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Summoning a Force 8 Spirit of Man, which is considered Overcasting for Donovan.

Die pool is: Summoning 5 + Magic 4 + Power Focus 2 + Domain 2 = 13.

(13d6)[4][1][6][6][1][5][5][1][5][6][6][4][3](53)

The spirit rolls an opposed pool of 8 dice; it will owe me services equal to my net hits, and I'll take Drain equal to the number of hits it scores, modified by my resistance roll and 'ware.

Resistance pool: Charisma 7 + Willpower 4 + Domain 2 + Daredrenaline 1 = 14 dice

(14d6)[5][1][5][4][2][5][4][5][5][1][4][4][3][6](54)

[RdMarquis]

With the first wave of the haraigushi, a strange wind begins to blow. It picks up as the summoning continues, confined to Donovan's lodge, carrying dust and debris along with it. Through the haze, he can see a humanoid figure, glowing softly. The wind reaches almost dangerous speeds, threatening to lift the mage off his feet. It's a wonder no one has heard what is happening. As the wind becomes a howling, miniature tornado, the figure moves closer to meet Donovan's gaze, giving him an impression of a plain, dark haired man, dressed in traditional Japanese clothing.

Then, there is calm. The mage will find that his home appears untouched, as if that ill wind had never appeared. Nor has he been injured by the flying debris. But the man is still there. "Well done. Five, then. I am Borei, and five times I must serve you before my obligation has ended. What is your bidding?"

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Wow. Ambitious start. The Drain roll will be against Physical damage, then.

(8d6)[4][4][5][3][2][3][3][6](30)

But those were some great rolls. Looks like you avoid the Physical Drain entirely, and come away with a good 5 hits.

[Kallisti]

Donovan stares, exultant, up at the spirit for a moment, his mind racing, deciding the best approach.

Traditional dress, slightly archaic speech; definitely old-school, so don't be casual. Spirit of Man, but made a windy entrance--Air Mage in life? Spirit of human wind--breath, maybe, speech, or wind generated by climate-control?

Grateful for the traditional blessings and greetings being displayed on his link, Donovan takes his best guess at the most appropriate form, and silently wishing himself luck, he bows deeply, but keeps his eyes firmly locked with Borei--hoping to signal respect and humility, but not submission.

"Soon I walk into danger, O Kami, to pay a debt I owe to my superiors; I beg you, attend me in Reikai, where I may call to you when my need is greatest." That should do it; hopefully mentioning the debt is good for a few brownie points--debt and honor and obedience, very Japan, good fit for the old school. I hope.

Careful to maintain eye contact, he continues with the ritual--the prayers to share his magical knowledge with the spirit briefly, the prayers to establish how he'll call the spirit back from the Astral, and--heartfelt, and rather nervous--the prayers of thanks.

[lonewolf1210]

Michael is anything but happy. He didnt have a choice when he had to leave NeoNet for good a year a go and it was necessary to leave the UCAS after a few beginner problems in the shadow side of business. With his origin within a megacorp with strong japanese ties, he is familiar enough with japanese culture and etiquette to make it the best choice for a new start, but still it wasnt home. Although its not like the streets in Boston had felt like home either. At the moment he is still on the fence to believe he could feel anywhere at home again.


While he was working on a routine maintenance on one of his flyspy drones, his commlink inserted a small message about a meeting with a possible employer in his view. A deep sigh was the answer. Michael despises what he has become. A lowly shadowrunner with the chosen streetname of "Overwatch", beeing moved as pawn at the corps will. But his rational side quickly took over. He needed the money. And with his particular skillsets this was the most effective way to do it.
He considered for a moment doing some research on the Johnson before accepting the meeting but scrapped the idea. He couldnt be choosy right now. His last reserves had been spend on the couple of drones he has and 2 months rent for this loft.
"Affirmative"

But having to accept the meeting didnt mean he had to come unprepared. He checkes the matrix for as much information about this Mr Tanaka as he can find with the bare minimum of clues about him he´s got already. He also sends his 4 flyspy drones early to the meeting point and positions them to act as moble survailance cameras on the streets around the meeting.

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extended datasearch on Mr Tanaka:
(13d6)[1][3][3][2][1][3][5][4][4][4][5][1][2](38)
(13d6)[2][6][6][2][1][3][6][5][3][6][2][5][6](53)
(13d6)[3][2][3][5][6][3][3][6][4][5][3][1][3](47)
(13d6)[6][5][5][5][4][4][2][3][1][6][2][4][6](53)

[Mithric Gunn]

Katsu grins, thinking, Hmm, Tanaka, wonder if im related. Probably a fake name, though.
He looks around his small apartment, then reaches under his bed, dragging a long steel chest into the light. After unlocking it, he pulls out 2 bows and a case of arrows, then a suit of flexible armor, a combat knife.
He tucks the knife in a sheathe behind his back, puts on the armored suit, leaving the hood down. He then puts on a pair of pants, the kind with buttons down the side for easy removal, and tops it off with a worn dark blue hoodie. He Selects one of the bows, and collapses it down, storing it in a cloth bag, then putting it in the bag.
Then, he take 12 arrows, and carefully puts them in a quiver, storing that in the back pack as well. Then, doublechecking that the hoodie and pants cover his armor, he shoulders his backpack and heads out to the meeting.

[RdMarquis]

Suzuku

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As one of the staff serves you a bowl of noodles, someone greets you in a cultured sounding English accent. "Good to meet you. I am Mr. Tanaka." The speaker is middle aged, well dressed, and clearly not Japanese. Rather, he looks half Caucasian, half Asian. "No need to get up. Please, enjoy your dinner while I see about contacting the others."

Donovan

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Borei does not move an inch as the mage continues. The last steps of the ritual are far less dramatic than the spirit's appearance, though no less effective. Donovan will feel a tangible bond now connecting him to the spirit. "As you wish." Borei moves to the mage's side, then fades from physical view.

Overwatch

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Michael soon finds himself spoiled for information on Mr. Tanaka. It is, after all, the alias of choice in Japan for people who want to hire shadowrunners. Overwatch learns of equivalents to the name. To whit, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Sato, and Naka-udo-san. Of course, that is not immediately relevant to him. At length, he discovers an individual using the name in Roppongi who is purchasing dinner in a noodle shop. (This) Mr. Tanaka is impeccably dressed and appears to be half Caucasian. After a flyover of the district, your drones relay footage of the same man.

Roppongi, a district in the center of the Minato ward, looks more like a stereotype of Neo-Tokyo than an actual part of the sprawl. For the benefit of tourists, Japanese culture is exaggerated considerably. The district includes a full scale mockup of a Shogun era village, complete with costumed actors. When you arrive, it is evening, and Roppongi comes to life with neon signs advertising bars, gambling parlors, and a variety of other services that would be illegal in other areas of the city.

Although it is relatively early in the evening, the district is crowded with vacationers from abroad, as well as many Neo-Tokyo's youth. It is an easy place for a non native to blend in, and you find that is precisely why Mr. Tanaka chose this as a meeting place. He most definitely isn't a Japanese citizen.

The well dressed man who greets you in front of the noodle shop is in his mid-forties, with greying black hair and a very expensive looking suit. He greets you with a bow and what sounds close to a British accent. "Good evening. Thank you for accepting my invitation. Please sit down. We have much to discuss and a fairly short amount of time to do so."

[Kallisti]

Smiling as pleasantly as he can, feeling painfully underdressed, Donovan takes his seat, scanning the nearby Astral for anything out of the ordinary--and getting a good look at the others assembled at the shop.

[Ralasha]

"Would you like to sit? To be honest, I must apologize, I had thought I would have had more time. Apparently it took me longer to get here than I had anticipated." continues eating her noodles at a measured pace.

(Or do you prefer it in Nihongo?)

[da prophet]

watching his clock nervously hoping that he would get a heck of money for this run.

[Ralasha]

Suzuku glances at the man that just sat down as she finishes her noodles. "Konbanwa. Nihonjin desu ka?"

[lonewolf1210]

Beeing somewhat of a control freak, Overwatch detailed out 3 different escape routes before going to the meeting. One can never be too careful. But overall he liked this meeting place. As a westener himself this is one of those areas where he can sufficiently blend in.
So he leaves his gun in his Rover which is parked 2 blocks away and moves to the meet, trying to appear just like a regular tourist. His Flyspy drones are still circling the area on the lookout for anything out of place.

Once he arrives at the place he returns the bow respectfully and sits down. Even though they are both westeners, japanese tradition must be followed here.
"Thank you for the invitation.
If time is short, as you indicated, I suggest we come right to the point. How can we help you Mr Tanaka?"

While waiting for an answer, Overwatch takes a quick look at Mr. Tanakas commlink. He has no intention of hacking into it(yet), but just logs on with a public account, checking if there is any information publicly available. He guesses that there is either very little or mostly false information to be found that way, but that could still be informative.

[Ralasha]

She frowns at the extra westerner. "Are you aware that you are being rude? I probably shouldn't bother asking, most of you tend to be rude. Even when you think you're being polite." She then orders some tea, and something slightly sweet, such as fruit if they have it. "Would any of you care for something to drink?"

[lonewolf1210]

While apperantly ignoring the japanese woman, Overwatch responds with a private message sent directly to her commlink:
On the contrary my dear. In fact I think the usage of endless ceremony with someone after he has indicated that he is pressed for time is very inconsiderate from your side.
But more importantly: Fighting openly in front of a potential employer is probably one of the most cliché forms on unprofessional behaviors there is. So if you have any other issues feel free to raise them in private, but please stop making us appear like squabbling teenagers.

During that he keeps his eyes and attention on Mr Tanaka.

[Mithric Gunn]

Katsu arrives outside the bar a bit early, and after checking for any signs of a trap, he heads in, and takes a seat.

[Ralasha]

Suzuku, upon receiving this message, records it. her face twitches slightly, in what almost looked like malevolent excitement, but was gone almost too quickly to notice. She shows her teeth to overwatch in what looks like a smile, other than the eyes. She replies over internal comm in a similar manner. "To the contrary. What you consider ceremony is not extremely time consuming. Those that do it well end up high, those that do not have difficulty getting work. I would also like to point out, that were he truly pressed for time, he would let us know in a polite manner, such as getting down to business, as you so ineloquently put it. What he meant by being 'pressed for time' was most likely that he needed a swift response, since telling you to hurry would be an assumption of your being lax, and therefor an insult. I can go into further detail for you if you wish."

[Ralasha]

She raises an eyebrow at him, "Nihonjin dewa arimasen." (Then you are not japanese.) She makes it more a statement than a fact. "You speak grammatically correctly, but you speak incorrectly. You are very good though."

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I have an advantage in knowing the proper forms. While you may not, your phrase was... flawed. Also, when you speak to someone, to be polite, you should generally make it a question. For instance, let us say that I have an easy going boss, and I require a few days off next week for family reasons. I know that he would give them to me. I will still ask him if I may have those days off, since it would be impolite not to include my boss in the decision making process. Therefor telling him I need those days off is rude. These are mistakes most... outsiders make. Outsiders here, being a commonly used term (gaijin) to refer to anyone not of Japanese decent. It is considered rude, but I am refering to all non-native japanese, and the visitors.

[Mithric Gunn]

As Katsu watches the exchange, his features are tinged by a hint of disgust. He thinks to himself, We haven't even gotten the job and already they're arguing. The pay had better be good.

[RdMarquis]

"English will be just fine, thank you." He clearly understands Japanese, but the man is more comfortable speaking in a familiar tongue.

With a pensive expression, your prospective employer then responds to your speculation. "While I do recommend you begin the job immediately, I wouldn't say you are on a strict time limit. As for the actual nature of the task itself..." He pauses to drink from a cup of tea. "A certain individual currently residing in Denver has asked for, and been allowed a meeting with an associate of the Wanibuchi-gumi. I ask that you make contact with her and ensure her safety as she travels back to Neo-Tokyo. Please understand that I am not authorized to disclose further details before I have your collective acceptance."

[Kallisti]

Picking Overwatch as the most approachable--at semi-random, given his lack of information--Donovan sends him a private message, in educated but obviously non-native Japanese: "My English vocabulary is limited to technical terms; I'm pretty lost. Will you help me?"

[lonewolf1210]

Overwatch does his best to translate Mr Tanakas words with another message, but it looks like his japanese isnt much better than Donovans:
The job is an escort job. We are to travel to Denver, find a specific woman there and bring her back here safely to meet with a member of the wanibuchi-gumi. He needs everyone to accept the job before going into details.

Looking at the rest of the team, Overwatch considers for a moment if they are equiped for a job like this. Between the troll, the ork and the heavily cybered human, they should have the muscle department covered. With any luck this elf has some magical abilities if that ring is really some kind of focus. And this yakuza-lady surely also has many useful abilities, even if they are not that obvious. The only issue there is that most likely she will assume to be in charge of the rest of us. But I´ll have to deal with that once the situation arises.
Overall that leaves me with planning, matrix security and drone support. That can work.

He opens a private group conversation with the rest of the team and writes in japanese:
I would accept for now. Of course some of the details are still very important, but that is a risk I am willing to take. Does everyone agree?

[Mithric Gunn]

Katsu comments, Well, there is one little detail I would like before I sign up. How much is he paying?

[lonewolf1210]

Even if he is telling us how much is is willing to pay, there is no way to evaluate if what he offering is enough or not without knowing the details of the job. I prefere accepting the job first, then hearing the details and finally negotiate for an acceptable payment opposed to negotiating the payment first without knowing any details of the job.

[Ralasha]

"I am afraid I will not be accepting without details first. That would be rather like walking into enemy territory without knowing if there a few dozen people right around the corner with swords.

[da prophet]

seeing that all the experieced shadowrunners is asking for more details hai thang says "not to be rude good sir but i would need to get a little more information before taking this mission.

[Kallisti]

Donovan sends a quick private message back to Overwatch--Thank you--then joins the group thread.

I don't think asking for more details will get us anywhere; Mr. Tanaka's already made it clear he's divulged all he's going to. If we push for more information, he may just walk away; if we accept, then our willingness to accommodate him in this fairly significant way is one more bargaining chip when we negotiate payment.

[Ralasha]

"The problem here, is that while I have no issue with what you have said so far... What I do have issue with is that I do not know if this job will cancel out any of my contracts, what I should prepare for in way of possible hostilities, and I have no idea if the person requiring escort will need assistance with anything she may be transporting. While none of these points individually, aside from the initial point merits any serious doubt on my part, all together these issues mean that I would be required to prepare for any conceivable situation. This leaves me with some difficulty. Most likely it leaves the others here with some difficulties as well. For one, which company do you represent. I require this at least, if they are a rival of my employer I will decline. I may still decline, dependent upon the other details I have requested."
Negotiate Attempt:(6d6)[6][4][4][3][3][4](24)
Spending 1 Edge: (2d6)[3][4](7) or 2 successes, if variant edge rule is in effect.
5, or 6 sux

[Mithric Gunn]

"I don't really care about all that, sir. I'm a freelancer. The only thing I would want to know is about how much you're paying. And whether you're paying for expenses or paying us an advance."