Living on the Edge: IC

[Lycan 01]

Sirius raises a brow. "You mentioned the safehouse being stocked with food and provisions, as I recall. What of weapons, ammunition, armor, and other useful gear? Hypothetically speaking, if we were to encounter a problem, will we be able to request backup or assistance? Or are we to fly completely solo, and make no attempts to contact you or anyone connected to you?" he asks in a crisp, professional manner. "You also mentioned that we are to deliver the package at a designated time. Will transportation be provided, or do we need to handle that on our own?"

[DaedalusK71]

Johnson shakes his head. "No, no weapons or armor. I assumed that is what my thousand nuyen per day was purchasing; that and the skill to use them." he says with a smile. "There are medical supplies should you need them. As to contact... I am your only point of contact. Assume anyone else who contacts you about our arrangement is an enemy and deal with them accordingly. I am paying you do deal with any 'problems'. I will contact you when it is settled... when I am ready for delivery. I can arrange for a vehicle if you require but would prefer you provide or acquire mean if needed."

[Noedig]

Kane nodded and stood from the table, taking his rucksack from the floor. His voice was flat and toneless, his stare blank. In his mind, the briefing was complete. All the information he needed was now in his mind.

"Mr. Johnson, I have significant armament at my safe-house. I will leave immediately and acquire it. I will then go to the pick-up location as quickly as possible."

His gaze flicked to the team.

"Who drove? I dislike taxis, but I will take one if necessary."

[Space Lawyer]

Kiki

Kiki stands up smooths the wrinkles out of her suit. "I need to retrieve my gear as well. I can drop you off, if it is on my way, and pick you up on the way back. You can call me NeoSavage, by the way, or any diminutive of that."

[Lycan 01]

Sirius coughs to clear his throat, and to set his voice modulator to a more suave and professional tone.

Folding his hands, he leans forward and smiles charmingly at the Johnson. "I believe I have all the pertinent information I need. There is just one final matter to discuss, and that is payment."

"You have already said you're paying each of us 1000 nuyen per day. This is a fair price. However, may I point out a few things?" he asks politely, with a slight raise of his brow.

"We are very different from the typical hired protection, and this job is different from the typical guard duty. You're not asking us to work shifts like regular guards; you're requesting for us to drop everything we're doing, and devote an uninterrupted 72 hours or more to sitting in the same location, with no contact to the outside world. You're not just asking us to protect a package; you're asking us to drop off the face of the earth. Some of us may have prior arrangements, or contacts that must be kept, so once the job is done - and it will get done - some of us may have irksome personal problems to deal with afterwards. As such, perhaps you may feel inclined to raise our payment, as compensation for the extra, personal trouble this job may cause us." He maintains a pleasant and respectful demeanor, and keeps eye contact with the Johnson as best as possible.

"Furthermore, may I also ask if we are going to be receiving payment for the actual delivery of the package and the completion of the assignment? Perhaps a reward for customer satisfaction? Or will it simply be the Three-Kay for each of us at the end of the job? I'm not meaning any disrespect, nor am I trying to sound greedy. But it seems like all the specifics of payment and expectations should be made loud and clear before the job begins, rather than after it ends when such deals and details can no longer be changed, regardless of wants and expectations."

"I understand why you may be reticent to offer higher pay or incentive for us. But as you can see, we're definitely a cut above the normal guard or thug, and while this job is a different from the normal escort or merc job, it's nothing we can't handle. Your faith - and your nuyen - is very well placed in us." And a charming grin to seal the deal.

[DaedalusK71]

The Johnson smiles and listens attentively. He has a very good poker face and gives Sirius little indication of his thoughts. When Sirius finishes his pitch he smiles. He looks around the room critically, weighing... "You are a shrewd man and you bargain like the devil himself... " he pauses a moment, his eyebrow raised and pursed lips. "I'll tell you what " he says. "I budgeted this job for twenty-five thousand. You pull this off without a hitch or hiccup to me and I'll throw in the remaining amount as a bonus. But if you cause me any delays or ... inconveniences ... you do the job for what we agreed. Agreed?"

[Lycan 01]

Sirius reflects the Johnson's smile. "What can I say? I'm good at my job. Which is why you're paying good money for my services, and the services the others are bringing to the table. Also, you yourself are fair and reasonable man. I think your offer is a sound one." Sirius extends a hand, to shake on the deal. "I accept your terms."

[demihappycow]

K.O.

"Excellent, with the formalities done, I believe we can get on our way." Turning to the rest of the group she says, "Who's our rigger? If you don't object I'd like any of us that don't need to make stops to ride with you so we can go over tactics and capabilities on the way to the pick up. Just in case there is trouble before we get to the safehouse."

Spoiler

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Physical Condition - 10/10
Stun Condition - 11/11
Spells/Effects - None
PAN - Hidden
Armor - B 11 / I 5
Perception - Physical
Spell Defense - Self + Rest of Party

[Noedig]

'Savage?'

The name brought up another image, a man this time, in dirty desert fatigues holding two bottles of some cheap foreign beer, one in each hand. The image brought a wide range emotions. Happiness, admiration, camaraderie.

Kane smiled, the first genuine smile he'd made all day, and began to head to the door, his stride mutating from the robotic posture and style he'd adopted earlier. He signaled the bartender before he reached the door. His tone had changed as well. It sounded human.

"Two beers for the road, bossman? Somethin' hoppy, none of that synth drek."

He cast a glance over his shoulder to see if the elf had followed him, a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

"Jesus, kid, c'mon already! Gotta Oscar-Mike if we want to make the rendezvous."

[Space Lawyer]

Kiki

Kiki flows after the man with the oddly changing persona. She flips her comm back to public. It wouldn't do to accidentally drive through a high-class area and get tagged for sneaking around.

"I'm coming, calm down."

She walks out to the motorcycle, grabbing her helmet and a spare for the passenger. "Safety first," she says, with tone that clearly indicates no belief in that statement.

[Noedig]

"A bike? Haven't been on one of these suckers in a minute. Had one of the old Blitzen 2050's about...**** twelve years ago. Never shoulda sold the damn thing."

He slipped the helmet on his head and straddled the bike behind Savage.

"Alright L-T. Hit it."

Spoiler

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Perception:[rollv]8d6[/rollv]

[Taelas]

Rei grins, hopping lightly to his feet. "Time to get underway, eh?" he quips, then turns to the Johnson, giving him a formal bow. "Sayonara, Johnson-san."

He walks over to stand next to K.O., shrugging slightly when she asks for their rigger. "Haven't had time for proper introductions yet," he says, his tone a bit dry. "I'm Rei, by the way."

Spoiler

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Physical: 11/11; Stun: 10/10
Commlink status: Hidden, Fairlight Caliban (OS: Novatech Navi);
Armor [B/I]: 6/6
Status effects: None

[Zosspozz]

Standing up with the others, Zoss introduces himself, "I do believe I'm the one your asking about, Zoss is the name and the trucks out front. Let's get rolling and we can finish the introductions along the way." Heading towards the exit he motions for the others to follow. Zoss then sends out a recall command to his drones who had been on watch outside.

[Space Lawyer]

Kiki

"Ok, just hit my comm up with the address." Kiki says, starting the motorcycle then gunning down the street.

Perception (visual) 1: (13d6)[6][5][5][4][2][6][1][2][6][6][5][3][4](55)
Perception (visual) 2: (13d6)[3][1][6][2][5][2][5][6][2][6][2][4][2](46)

[Taelas]

Rei glances at Zoss, then nods. "Lead the way, omae," he says, then follows him outside.

(2d6)[2][3](5)
(2d6)[6][6](12)

Spoiler

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Physical: 11/11; Stun: 10/10
Commlink status: Hidden, Fairlight Caliban (OS: Novatech Navi);
Armor [B/I]: 6/6
Status effects: None

[demihappycow]

K.O.

After following Zoss out to his truck, K.O. takes a deep breath and her eyes go slightly unfocused before she starts talking again. "Again, I'm K.O. or sometimes just Kay, and I'm your magical support. I largely do combat spells, typically non-lethal unless I'm trying to fry a drone or something. I can also heal and keep up a short range enemy detection spell, couple other tricks but they probably won't come up on this job. Summoning isn't my best area, but I should be able to get us something to leave on astral overwatch when I'm sleeping." While she speaks, K.O. is clearly scanning the surroundings though at times it appears she is just staring directly at opaque panels of vehicle interior. "I also have a good deal of experience with this kind of work. That's the short and sweet on me, what about the rest of you?"

Visual Perception:

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Perception is astral after getting in the truck.
Roll 1 (4d6)[2][2][3][3](10)
Roll 2 (4d6)[5][4][3][5](17)

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Physical Condition - 10/10
Stun Condition - 11/11
Spells/Effects - None
PAN - Hidden
Armor - B 11 / I 5
Perception - Astral
Spell Defense - Self + Everyone is Zoss' truck

[DaedalusK71]

Kiki

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As Kiki walks to her bike, she gets that feeling you get when you're being watched... She casually scans her surroundings and catches a glimpse of a man in a suit who seems to linger a bit too long on the street corner as the group departs... then he disappears around the corner.

He looked to be average height and build for a human. Male. Dark hair peeking out from under his hat... (fedora?) Middle to youngish aged. Dressed in a 3-piece suit with a red power tie.

[Space Lawyer]

Kiki

Kiki takes the image of the Johnson and the lurking man (recorded from the image link), and sends them on to Abby, Tyrone, and Dietrich, along with the message "Anybody recognize either of these two? Keep it quiet, and let me know."

Seattle Knowledge (maybe the guy is well-known?): (7d6)[4][5][3][6][6][2][4](30)

[DaedalusK71]

Kiki

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Neither the Johnson nor the lurker are Seattle shadow-players so far as Kiki can tell.

[Noedig]

"Savage, drop me at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament. It'll be on your left. Buzz me when you're on your way back."

[Lycan 01]

Sirius nods to the Johnson. "Pleasure doing business with you. Enjoy your evening." He pockets the commlink, then heads on outside to meet up with the others.

The suit-clad elf straightens his tie as he walks up alongside KO, Zoss, and Rei. "Nickname's Silver. Please to meet you all," he says with a respectful nod, before flashing a crooked grin, and visibly relaxing his posture. He switches off his voice modulator, allowing his voice to lose its smooth and suave tone. "I'm good at talking, lying, flirting, negotiating, and pretty much anything that involves social interaction. And I'm not slouch with a pistol, either. And if my math is correct, I just earned each of us an extra thousand when the job's done." His grin widens. "You're welcome."

The elf pauses to give a furtive look around, his grin fading. "Also, uh... Would anyone mind giving me a ride back to my place real quick?" he quietly asks with a sheepish smile.

OOC note:

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If any of the other Runners are familiar with Seattle's underground rock scene, or spend a fair bit of time snooping around, they can potentially recognize "Silver" as the frontman for an Elven punk rock band. Guess belting out lyrics doesn't pay all the bills...

Rolls:

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Perception 1: (6d6)[4][2][4][5][4][4](23) 1 Success
Perception 2: (6d6)[1][2][6][1][5][5](20) 3 Successes

Status:

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Health: 9/9 Phys, 10/10 Stun
Armor: 4/1
PAN: Hidden
Weapons: None
Status Effects: None

[Space Lawyer]

Kiki

Kiki drops Kane o at the church, then drives back to her apartment. Abby is already gone, but Fernando is wide awake. The little dog leaps off the couch and moves as fast as he can over to the door on his stubby little legs. As Kiki is retrieving her heavier armaments and some pre-packaged meals in case she didn't care for the stocked food, the dog paws at his food bowl and whines. "Fine! I'll feed you! You're lucky you're so adorable." She pops open a can of food, and dumps it into the bowl. She grabs the saddle-bags for the bike, loads in the ammo and weapons, and heads out. She pings Kane's comm "I'm on my way back. Be ready."

[Noedig]

Kane had just finished loading his second rucksack when Savage pinged him.

"I'll be outside. I'm loaded pretty good, kid. Hope you can balance that bike of yours."

[Space Lawyer]

Kiki

Kiki zooms up to the church. As soon as Kane is on and loaded, she blasts off. "So, you never told me your name," making conversation as she makes her way to the pickup site.

Perception (visual): (13d6)[3][6][4][5][3][4][2][1][4][4][1][3][2](42)

[Noedig]

Kane stiffened when she brought up his name and his tone shifted back to it's normal blandness.

"No. I did not."

He was silent for a long moment.

"Crash or Gunny. Up to you."

[Noedig]

Kane was silent for the rest of ride, speaking only when spoken to. He descended back into the quiet gray of his mind and began his usual routine of observation as the city sped passed him.

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Perception:(8d6)[2][6][6][1][6][2][1][5](29)

[demihappycow]

"Do we need to make any stops before making the pickup? I don't need anything, but we are gonna be onsite for three days and it would probably be best if no one has to leave during that time," K.O. says while continuing scan astral space.

[Taelas]

Rei shakes his head. "I got everything I need," he says, grinning. "It's all internal." He taps his chest.

"Oh yes," he adds, "I'm yer muscle. You've never met a deadlier martial artist." He certainly seems confident.

[Zosspozz]

"I'm ready to go also. Sirius, need to make any stops before we start making our way to the pickup?" After waiting to hear his response Zoss leaves a message for Kane and Savage on their comms letting them know when they would be ready and where to regroup before the pickup.

"By the way," Zoss says to everyone in the truck, "I'll be running a tacnet so if you've got the necessities, just slave up to my 'link."

[Lycan 01]

Sirius nods. "Just gotta make a quick stop at my place, if you don't mind. Need to pick up my gear. Shouldn't take more than a minute."