GM: Nightshade
Players: Nightshade, Cannonball.
Synopsis: Sometimes, when you need to cross a border, you need to do it high and fast.
Date: Sept 5th 2070
The Mustang Ranch - Parking Lot
The front lot of the Mustang Ranch isn't massive, with enough space for quite a
few cars to park side by side along the front of the property. Set back from
the road, the main garage building dominates the area, with its Las-Vegas
style, waving-cowgirl neon sign that blinks 'The Mustang Ranch' over and over.
The front of the garage building is painted in graffiti motifs, with auto maker
logos competing for space with tricked out cars and hot babes with oversized
bust lines. A set of cameras watch the front lot, keeping an eye on the
customers vehicles. The lot is usually full of high-performance vehicles as
tuners and racers from all across Denver come to use the facilities, to see and
be seen.
Next to the Garage, on the other side of the parking lot, is the Road House, a
rowdy bar and club that caters to the biker and racing crowd. The road that
leads to the back lot runs between the two buildings.
Nightshade drives up in a black van with a red stripe. Parking it and stepping out,
it's not all that flashy compared to the tuners and racer's rigs but that's not what
it's made for. A couple of chuckles go around the lot as Nightshade has to wriggle
and squeak to get herself out from behind the non adapted wheel, but a glare and a
string of curses from the troll girl corks most of the motormouths.
Cannonball looks at the troll arriving, "Looks like you seriously need some
adaptions on that thing…", she says with a grin of her owns. Not the evil grin of
some, but a kind of welcomming freindly grin.
Nightshade rolls her eyes, "You ain't kidding, I hit a bump and tasted my spleen."
She pulls a key fob of a chain that also holds her credstick. "You said you're
getting those seats in today?" She asks offering the fob over to Cannonball.
Cannonball shrugs, "Today or tomorrow. Depends on how punctual the delivery people
are. But this looks like you need adapted controls too… You shure you can drive
with it like this?"
Nightshade waggles her hands, "I make do, besides, I'm not really much of a driver.
I just want to have something decent around if I get in a pinch and need to get out
of Dodge. If there's any kind of driver around, they're the ones going behind the
wheel."
Cannonball nods, "Hmm…Still, you're getting in serious trouble if you try to work
with that van under unexpected combat situations…Maybe you should add a remote
adapter too…That way someone as me could connect to it remotely."
Nightshade looks over at the black van, "A decent paint job, then a good autopilot,
maybe something surprising in it's pop top and a system to shoot it, then I'll worry
about how well I can drive it…remote drive actually isn't that bad an idea…"
Cannonball nods, "You want Chameleon paint?", she asks. "Autopilot might be a
problem, the better one's are harder to get…"
Nightshade nods, "Something to change up the pattern if need be, the cheap stuff
would probably be fine, it doesn't need to be Ruthed…I'd love it, but I don't have
that much cash…and really, this is my backup plan. I'd rather someone else's van
take the heat if you know what I mean."
Cannonball nods, "Hmmm…maybe a little armored drone?", she asks. "Unload it when
the shit starts to hit the fan? And let it distract at least for a little bit. With
a rotodrone it might even keep up with the van and a rotodrone is much more agile
than a van."
Nightshade nods, "Yeah, but that's something else to worry about, this things got a
little pop top, I was thinking maybe a squirt gun, can get all sorts of interesting
things for a squirter."
Cannonball shrugs, "Yeah, possibly. I prefer to aim for … harder targets. With
your squirter you could only hurt people. What if you have a vehicle tailing you?"
Nightshade considers, "Hmmm, good point. Not really going to carry around a vat full
of acid or anything…"
Cannonball shrugs again, "Acid's not help you much. Before it has done anything
serious, you're history."
Nightshade nods, then steps over to the van, pulling herself up to look at the roof,
"I don't think anything much bigger than a pistol is going to fit in that thing
though, what would you suggest?"
Cannonball ponders for a while, "Hmmm… Mikro Turret…Just got a Firmpoint. My
first thought would be a grenade launcher for Microgrenades, maybe an adapted Ares
Alpha or something like that. That should fit… And you can probably get splsh
grenades as mini's…"
Nightshade nods, "Hmm…really, you can fit an alpha on that thing? I like alphas."
She looks over the turret again. "And yeah, having the option of bullets or grenades
would be a nice touch, one of the reasons that's my kicker of choice."
Cannonball shrugs, "If I can't o it now, I'll learn it quickly. I'm a quick learner,
you know…"
Nightshade glances over at Cannonball, "More meant I was curious if there was enough
room…I guess you take the stock off or something." She nods, "Well anyway, if you
can get the seating setup so at least I can ride in comfort that's a start, how much
do I owe you?"
Cannonball shrugs, "The seats are 9K plus I'll charge ya 500 per install and no
questions asked or registrations given away."
Nightshade laughs, "Highway robbery…and we're not even on the interstate." She
still fiddles with her credstick for a bit then offers it towards Cannonball for a
tap to make the transfer. "I hope they're at least leather."
Cannonball shrugs, "Lots of steel in them, guess I can get you leathers, yep…"
«Stats System» You pay Cannonball (#863) 12000 nuyen for "For troll reinforced
seating in Black Van #8717 and install.".
Nightshade rolls her eyes, "You know, there's a chance you'll end up riding in them
someday, so maybe a nice comfy set…"
Cannonball nods, "I'll give it a try.", she says. "Last I checked the things were
comfy though. And for guys your size it's best to have sturdy materials anyway. So I
doubt they'd use standard synthetics to cover them."
Nightshade nods, "Alright, just don't make it look like you stole them from the
troll section of a bus." She looks about, "Did your guy come through with the ride?
My guy is getting a little quick on the phone which usually means I can ask him for
more money or I'm about to lose a run."
Cannonball nods, "I probably can get the ride tomorrow. Cost me a penny, but If your
customer is that eager, the cost should be easily repaid…"
Nightshade nods, "We've got 100 to work with, 50 of that is yours if we don't end up
needing another, 30 if we do, if you can pay your rental out of that, we're good."
Cannonball nods, "He wants 10K for the ride, per day… How long will we have to go?"
Cannonball then adds, "For that we get a Security class Bulldog with enough Benches
and some extras including an pop-up Turret. His has a vindicator. Not my usual
caliber, but better than nothing."
Nightshade considers, "I don't think they'll be in our care for more than a day, but
they're likely be some border crossing to do. Can't imagine anything with a
vindicator crosses legally…you know the back routes?"
Cannonball nods, "Sure do. Just depends on where you want to go…" Cannonball then adds, "Or better your clients."
Nightshade nods, "I don't know yet, if you needed to make a full circuit of the city
could you?" She makes a circle in the air with her finger.
Cannonball shrugs, "It's not a problem of me being able to… I'd prefer not to run
the borders too much with hot passengers. If you provoke it fate /is/ gona bite
you."
Nightshade nods, "So long as you could do it if needed. 100k is fair pay, but that
much border jumping gets ludicrously risky pretty quick and my guy knows better than
to offer me a bum job."
Cannonball nods, then pondres, "I'll try my best to stay out of sight, but with that
kinda shit a little hiding of the magic sort would be helpfull. Can you conjure
spirits?"
Nightshade nods, "Yeah, I'll have us cloaked to the best of my ability, but
invisibility doesn't help with land mines."
Cannonball nods, "Leave the land mines to me, I'll care for that shit if you make
sure our van's not as visible. Bulldogs are no sneak cars…"
Nightshade nods, "I can take care of the visible light spectrum, and the spirit can
help with the techno detection a bit, it'll still be a noisy puppy you're driving
but we'll deal with that as we can."
Cannonball shrugs, "I'll deal with that by taking out of the way routes… I'll
simply avoid proximity to border posts and if possible patrols."
Nightshade nods, "Alright, I'll put the call in and setup the meet, don't do
anything that'll tie yourself up for the next day or three, I'm not sure when this
is going to happen but I'm thinking we won't have much of a window."
Cannonball shrugs, "I've got no vehicle for at least a week or more, I am quite busy
with work, I'm not going to do much work for now…"
Nightshade nods, "Sounds square…Oh, is there anywhere you can't be for the meet, I
mean like are you on the hot list in any particular areas?"
Cannonball shrugs, "So far I'm an unknown in Denver. I'd prefer to stay clear of
Ares facilities, for some past misunderstandings. But other than that I'm all
clear."
Nightshade nods, "Good on ya, hate when I'm running with people that bring their own
heat. I'll see you shortly." She wanders off into the bar to snare a drink before
heading out via taxi.
…
Nightshade and Cannonball are back together to get the work underway. Mr. Johnson
rented a room for the meet at a cheap motel in the UCAS. Nightshade passes along to
Cannonball that they'll have about 14 hours to get things together after the meet,
so have the gear ready but don't risk exposure by trying to get it all into the
UCAS. The meet is scheduled for 5AM.
Howard Johnson's might be the name brand people recognize, but just like there are
more tissues than just Kleenex there are more seedy little sleep spots than just
HoJo. Three stories high, with rooms big enough for the bed and a few chairs. Mr.
Johnson awaits you on the third floor, room 314. Next to the ice dispenser and the
vending machines.
Nightshade makes her way out of the Warrens before night falls, and spends the
evening in a coffin motel a few blocks away. Walking in on foot to the little motel.
She's got a camo suit on though the big overcoat she wears just makes her look like
a pudgy marsmallow troll. A pair of lock blade knives are on her hips, but the
blades are short enough not to draw attention even from the ridiculous UCAS law. She
gives a quick knock and steps inside.
Cannonball reports back that all is ready. The van is awaiting her usage. Cannon
will appear early at the meet and be in an inconspicious delivery girl dress.
Jumpsuit, helmet (beside her seat in the van) and an vest showing an fake delivery
service name for casually being seen and a gun in her bag. She'll scan the area
using her vehicle sensors and the good old eyes. Then as she sees Nightshade enter,
she will follow up.
Mr. Johnson looks human today, almost ridiculously suited to his role, big black
sunglasses, slicked down hair, black suit, crisp white shirt, black tie, black soul,
white smile. The bed has been up-ended to make room and a small briefcase sits open
on the floor, things spin, whir and click quietly inside the case. White noise
generator, bug sniffer, signal scrambler, and other gadgetry in one neat little
package. Mr Johnson sits on the far side of the case from the door, two chairs wait
closer to the door, one oversized, one normal. Mr. Johnson gestures towards the two
chairs inviting you to sit.
Nightshade drops into the oversized chair after taking a quick glance around the
room. She unbuttons her overcoat letting it hang open, her clawlike fingers clicking
quietly as she works at the buttons and zippers.
Cannonball sits down in a less massive chair beside the troll woman. She examines J
casually, but not overly curiously. She then goes to standby awaiting the
introductions. Either to more people involved or the target of the run.
Mr. Johnson smiles at the two of you, "Thank you for coming. As you may be aware we
have four pieces of emotional baggage that need transport. Due to the sensitive
nature of the pieces we are unable to use our normal channels. If you accept the
transport assignment you will be responsible for acquiring the luggage from an area
south of of the city limits of denver and delivering it safely the area around Fort
Lupton. You will recieve 100,000 nuyen in compensation for your efforts. Failure is
not an option.
Mr. Johnson adds, "I will provide more details of course on acceptance, but I
believe that is enough to outline what you will face and for you to determine if it
is within your capabilities. The baggage is important to a number of parties, so you
may well face pursuit, though actions will be taken to delay that pursuit."
Cannonball rises an eyebrow at calling an obviously livign and breathing cargo
'luggage', but only barely so. She does however ask, "Right, I'm basically good with
the job. However there is some things that would influence choosing my choice of
options. Can I assume our 'luggage' has to stay away from any officials? Or do we
have the option to get them through a regular border control? Would make a hell of a
difference for the job."
Mr. Johnson nods, "You assume correctly, you should avoid allowing the baggage to be
inspected at all costs."
Nightshade nods, "If she can think of a way to get it done, I can support her doing
it." She looks over at Cannonball, "You do have a plan, right?"
Cannonball nods, "Okay…fine. I guess I can manage that. Depending on whether there
is a time limit, we can either make a large bow around Denver or if time is an
issue, I can try some of the more leaky parts in the border to get through to the
destination. I can only emphasise, that ther former is by far the easier route. It
all depends on who we have on our tail. If there is no more to it, then I guess I'd
be good with accepting this."
Mr. Johnson shakes his head, "The only time limit is that imposed by the pursuit,
the longer it takes you, the more resources they can bring to bear. The baggage is
highly important to a number of parties, so I would not suggest taking too long. "
Nightshade nods, "Alright, so I'm in."
Mr. Johnson pulls out a pair of poc-secs handing them over to the two women, each
contains a set of instructions and a series of images. "You will be responsible for
the transport of one woman and her three children. For the moment we'll call them
Linda, Grace, Marsha and Pheonix. Linda is 29, her children are 10, 8 and 7. They
will be flying via airsled back towards the city from their cabin. The Airsled will
have a 'malfunction' and be forced to land, prior to this malfunction they will
disembark. We have set a program in place on the airsled to fake their presence, we
have selected location that should give you thirty minutes to two hours before a
response team arrives and determines they are not actually in the vehicle. The
children are currently unaware what is about to happen."
Cannonball shrugs to the words of J, "The difference would be measured in hours, not
days. The question is, how soon can the oposition bring anyone to bear and how
likely can they bring someone to localize us. The advantage of the outside of Denver
route is that we'll have less sensor arrays directed our way most of the time. My
van is inconspicious, hard to be distinguished from normal traffic and has discreet
measures to stay undetected. 'Can our oposition find our contraband in some way?' is
thereby the most pressing question. We are not known to be associated with you and
the vehicle has no association I see could be detectable by outsiders."
Nightshade speaks up, "Any mage worth their salt would be able to find them pretty
quickly, I can stop the lightweight stuff, but if they resort to ritual sorcery, I'm
going to be overpowered…if it were me looking for someone…maybe 6 hours before I
figure out that I'm being blocked and call in for outside help."
Cannonball frowns to these words, "So well have a trio of most likely shaken girls
to deal with… Not the best thing to start with. And ritual magic to consider. How
long do we estimate we have at worst, assuming they find out the four are not where
they are thought to be?"
Mr. Johnson nods, "That is one concern, technological tracking is another concern,
each family member does wear docwagon bracelets. They could be removed but doing so
would cause an immediate docwagon response. Docwagon generally does not allow people
to be 'traced' via the wrist bands however as you're aware what is allowed isn't
always what happens. I leave it to your discretion whether to break the bands and
risk immediate doc wagon response, or gamble on doc-wagons data security."
Mr. Johnson, "Once they are delivered we have specialists who will be able to
disable the bands, but we cannot put those people onsite at the crash."
Cannonball shrugs, "It's impossible to use them for tracking. These babies only send
when their biomonitor shows a lethal situation or there is a manual trigger. Other
than that the DW bracelets are just expensive bio-monitors. DW has face by far too many lawsuits to have them misueable in other ways by
now…", she adds. "My prime concern is the magic locator, unless there is some
paranoid corp involved that implanted extra locators…"
Nightshade considers, "On the magic side, worst case they find out immediately, and
they have a decent mage on hand right then, he summons a few watchers to go
look…even an impatient guy, you've gotta give them like 2 hours and it's normally
closer to 4…I'd say we've got 3 to 4 hours clear sailing (magically) then maybe
another 3-4 depending how much muscle he pulls in…that's pricey though if you
don't run in magic circles."
Mr. Johnson, "The only technological locators on them should be those bracelets."
Cannonball ponders, "Hmmm…that's a tight schedule… I guess we can scrap the easy
route like that… I'd need a few hours navigating the most direct route alone,
using regular border posts and such. Needing to deviate to avoid the border posts
will stretch it to the bare limits of our 'save' margin. Not calculating in
deviations due to heat brought in once we're halfway located… Is there enough
power behind the other interested party's to be abe to effect traffic controls?"
"And if so, in which sectors is their influence most likely to be felt worst?", she
then adds.
Mr. Johnson looks over at you, "We are spending 100,000 on you alone to effect this
transport not to mention the arrangements and preparations leading to it, they will
be willing to spend considerably more to prevent it. I believe it is safe to say
traffic control would be a possibility. The influence exerted would most likely not
be through legitimate channels, I'm not currently aware of which sectors have better
or worse traffic control system defenses."
Cannonball nods, "Okay … so I guess the best option is to try to be as quick as
possible and go through the loopholes left in the borders and to hope no one's going
to tag onto us as soon as the worst case implies. No more questions from my side.
Unless you plan to tell me /who/ we are facing…", she says. But it is obvious that
she is not expecting an answer to that. Not in this kind of run.
Mr. Johnson shakes his head, "For my safety and yours, I've not been informed of
that detail."
Nightshade nods, "Alright, about the pay though?"
Mr. Johnson nods, "I'm aware of your requirements." He passes over two credsticks,
"Each is attached to an account with one quarter the payment, the other two quarters
will be added upon successful delivery. As I mentioned, failure is not an option."
Cannonball shrugs, "I on my part do not plan to fail. And if I do, payment will not
be a worry you'll face… More scratching my remains from the concrete… Cause I
got overpowered big time then. One last question that hit me. Will the oposition try
to simply eliminate our freight or are they out to get them themselves. Might make
quite a difference on their reactions. If you cannot tell, I'll assume the worst case. Meaning that I'll simply get
flattened if I get found…", she adds.
Mr. Johnson considers this for a bit, "I believe they would attempt to recover the
baggage intact, however if they believed that was becoming impossible they might opt
for destruction over loss…I feel that would be an unlikely outcome."
…
When we last saw our heroes they were hurtling towards certain death…headed south in a rented van for a rendevous with destiny…that or they were going to pick up some lady and her brats for a quick job running them north through the city.
Cannonball was giving the van a last inspection before drying off to certain Doom. She was cheerfull, after all driving a vehicle through just that was what she was trained for all her life.
«OOC» Nightshade says, "Sounds good. Give me a open Stealth test to see how 'sneaky' you're being overall. You can compdice with smuggling routes"
«OOC» Cannonball says, "Stealth?"
«OOC» Cannonball says, "Or vehicle skill?"
«OOC» Nightshade says, "Stealth."
«OOC» Nightshade says, "This is your sneaky planning general avoiding detection (not the actual driving part yet)"
«Auto-Judge[]» Cannonball (#863) has the Knowledge Skill Specialization Smuggler Routes (Denver Smuggling Routes) with the value '4 (5)'.
«Auto-Judge[]» Cannonball (#863) rolls Quickness + 2 (Denver Smuggler Routes comp) for "-4 No stealth available here, sorry.":
1 1 2 4 4 4 5 5 5
«Auto-Judge[]» Cannonball (#863) rolls Quickness + 2 (Denver Smuggler Routes comp) for "-4 No stealth available here, sorry. (KP:4/7)":
1 1 2 3 3 4 4 10 11
«Auto-Judge[]» Nightshade (#3173) rolls Conjuring - 3 vs TN 4 for "Conjuring a city spirit to help us along with concealment.":
1 2 3 8 = 1 Success
«Auto-Judge[]» Nightshade (#3173) rolls Charisma + 3 vs TN 4 for "Soaking":
1 2 2 2 2 3 5 = 1 Success
«Auto-Judge[]» Nightshade (#3173) rolls Body vs TN 4 for "Sleeping it off on the ride down.":
2 2 3 4 5 11 14 17 = 5 Successes
Nightshade conjures up force four city spirit, setting it to conceal the van then puts her head back closes her eyes and grumbles about how much she hates spirits. The spirit however keeps them concealed to the best of it's ability enroute.
Cannonball is still not feeling too familiar to drive under spirit cover. You might see her check and double check as she drives to make sure no other vehicle simply 'overlooks' them.
The weather has been clear the last few days and the roads are in good condition, your meeting spot is a good in a small ravine off the main highway by a few miles of dirt roads. The ravine should provide a momentary sensor blind spot when vehicles pass through and your employers are counting on that effect to mask when the drop takes place. As you pull off the highway and leave the cityscapes behind the spirit falls away.
Cannonball simply drives to the spot she has been given. Internal GPS used as a guide for the position. She uses the time remaining to make sure the area is clear of unexpected surprises. She uses the vehicles one truly special feat it's high grade sensors.
«Auto-Judge[]» Cannonball (#863) rolls Intelligence for "Using passive sensors to watch the area":
2 2 3 4 4 5 11 14
«Auto-Judge[]» Cannonball (#863) rolls 5 (Vans sensors) for "Active sweep":
1 2 4 5 11
«Plot» Nightshade says, "You get nothing but wildlife in the immediate area, the 'noise' of the highway is about a mile distant but it takes two miles of back roads to get there. In a short while you'll pick up an airsled coming your way, it is not 'masking' its signature in any way."
Cannonball ponders, "Hmmm…didn't they want to mask the target airsleds signature? I get a fully unmasked signal here…", she then asks as she watches the signal jacking in her remote deck she shows you the data on the integrated display.
Nightshade glances over, "I think they're just going to try and hide that they're stopping, if they mask the whole flight it'd look shady right?"
Nightshade moves around the inside of the van whispering softly, she's giving the same set of instructions four times over as she sets fetches, little watcher spirits, to guarding the van from astral prying.
Cannonball nods, "Well, I hope that's it. I'd not feel good being the bait. Still, it seems the job is starting to roll. No way to bail out now. We'll deal with the cards we have in our hands." She continues to follow the airsleds decend.
The airsled continues to move at cruising speed, as it approaches the ravine it dips low and drops in speed. There's four distinct 'punct' noises from above then the airsled's engines fire a little harder picking up speed. Four faint signatures appear on your scopes decending slowly. Ejection seats it looks like.
Cannonball follows those dots quickly calculating a rough estimate of their landing point. "Oh, great. Wind currents in a ravine are a damn nice thing for a parachute landing. I just hope we do not have to scrape them from some rocks higher up. Or can your spirits help with that if we need to do something like that?" She electronically starts the van and drives to the closest landing point, well as close as she could calculate them.
Nightshade looks up at the roof, "Can my spirits what? Oh you're kidding me…" She opens the door and swings her self out, her eyes going pure white the pupils constricting to little black pips…snake eyes…then her eyes roll about in her head, different numbers of pips flashing across them in odd directions her hands clicking and clattering the sound of bone on bone as she calls upon her totem. Trying to summon a wind spirit on the quick.
«Auto-Judge[]» Nightshade (#3173) rolls Conjuring - 3 vs TN 4 for "Conjuring a wind spirit to help parachutes.":
3 5 5 10 = 3 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Nightshade (#3173) rolls Charisma + 3 vs TN 4 for "Soaking Wind spirit (M)":
2 2 3 4 4 5 8 = 4 Successes
The little dust devil hasn't even formed when Nightshade is already pointing it off towards the parachutes, "Extend your protection over them, guard them from gusts and drafts and see them safely down."
Cannonball watches as the Shaman Troll leans out of the window, making sure she is not whipped against any unwieldy branches as she drives towards the targets, most likely soon noticing a stabilizing of their downward travel. "Hmmm…good idea that. What kinds thign was it you sent there?", she asks as she gets a clearer path towards the landing point calculated up.
The ejection seats seem well designed for a low altitude ejection, the chutes having a charge to open them immediately on exit, but it's still a bumpy and mostly uncontrolled ride, with the doors open you can easily make out the sounds of three children screaming and crying and an adult voice trying to calm them.
Nightshade turns her head back in towards the van to say, "Wind spirit, a little flighty but not the worst type out there." But she keeps her face outside putting her arm up to stave off any random branches, keeping herself in the wind and in the spirit's domain.
Cannonball just shakes her head at those cries, "I really hope they know what they put those kids through for… This seems to be the kind of things you'll have a trauma for life for. And we're not even talking about what might happen later…"
«OOC» Nightshade says, "Give me a drive test, you need 3 successes to get enough accelleration and control to get where they'll be before they have a chance to act on the ground"
«OOC» Cannonball says, "Any modifiers due to terrain?"
«OOC» Nightshade says, "Nothing that your offroad handling and vcr wouldn't take back down to a TN 2 at this point."
«Auto-Judge[]» Cannonball (#863) rolls Car (GMC Bulldog) vs TN 2 for "Driving off road quickly to meet the charges":
2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 = 8 Successes
Nightshade shrugs, "It's all trauma of some." She stops as she fends off a pine tree, "sort."
The ravine gets narrow up ahead, the walls cut back to allow for single lane traffic in this area the spirit guides the seats down a strong wind shear from the spirits pressence coming along the rock faces then creating an updraft. The chutes are still mushroomed upwards and just begining to settle as Cannonball pulls in close. Three young girls and their mother, matching the pictures you saw. Sit in the seats, the girls are looking panicked pulling at their harnesses the mother looks just as urgent trying to get hers off while yelling for the girls to sit still.
Cannonball jumps out as soon as she is close by and helps the girls out. Not need to panic them some more. She had prepared a few little suprises for them in the backroom. Mostly games and some toys to deviate them. So she quickly herded them into the van trying to help their mom calming them.
«Auto-Judge[]» Nightshade (#3173) rolls 3 for "Setting panic level.":
3 5 13
«OOC» Nightshade says, "One of the girls is batshit crazy scared."
«OOC» Nightshade says, "Give me an etiquette or negotiation roll to calm her, difficulty is 13."
«OOC» Nightshade says, "Or intim, you can threaten children too."
«Auto-Judge[]» Cannonball (#863) rolls Etiquette vs TN 13 for "Calming a kid that scared? You're joking.":
3 5 16 = 1 Success
«OOC» Cannonball says, "Wow…"
«OOC» Nightshade says, "Yeah, you can pose that success howere you like."
Nightshade leaves the children calming to the ice cream flavored elf and looks to the seats and the spirit, "Nicely done, even this close to the earth." She moves over towards the mother making sure she's clear, then starts gathering the chutes.
Cannonball gives the totally scared kid one of her truly disamring smmiles, elfs are good at that luckily and they lack the crude looks many Orks and Trolls have inherited. She smiles to the kid and is talking unusually calm towards a living being for the mechanic that usually calls herself a Car Shaman. She had a Teddy Bear hidden behind her back and tells the kid, "Well you know I found this fella somewhere here in the bushes. He claims he lost his moma and you know, he is scared like hell to be out here in the wilderness. I hear you know your way around scared teddy bears…", and so she talks on with the kid until she is unnoticed by her led into the van and strapped into the seat meant for her. Seeing that the mother was able to deal with the other two, she moves to the drivers seat with a relieved sigh. "Well, we managed /this/ part…", she says before she jacks in and drives the van back in reverse, fully cybernetic.
Nightshade picks up each of the seats once their clear of the children, then tosses them up in the air with a grunt so they fall against the rock face. Once each is scuffed from a 'rough' landing she looks up at her wind spirit. "You're to guard this van against all comers until the sun sets, and while you do so you are to lend it your speed." With the last of the commands given she then conjures a puny little mountain spirit, she smiles at the little thing, "Don't tell the blowhard but you're much more my type. She offers the little rocky being a fist bump then points towards the tracks, "Erase the evidence of our passage, and replace it with these tracks." she points to the children and the mother. "Walking in that direction." She points to the side of the ravine that leads further off into the wilderness. The little mound of dirt starts slowly erasing the footprints then creating them further away. Nightshade smiles as she steps into the van and it starts backing away. "Oh, hey…the van might have a little more pickup than you're used to for a bit, be careful if you floor it."
In the back the mother is explaining to the children how these two 'nice people' were here to help them get back home, but they'd need to be very quiet for the trip because they're somewhere they're not supposed to be. She's handing out the games that Cannonball had set back there looking very relieved to see that there is something to keep the children busy.
«Auto-Judge[]» Cannonball (#863) spends 1000 nuyen for "Games and toys for some kids".
Cannonball nods, "Good that you tell me WHiskey once did not…resulted in a little unwanted … deviation.", she says as she carefully moves out of the ravine.
«Auto-Judge[]» Cannonball (#863) rolls Car (GMC Bulldog) vs TN 2 for "Driving off road quickly to get out of the area as quick as we can. The clock is ticking now.":
2 3 4 5 5 7 9 10 = 8 Successes
It feels like you're drafting someone closely, the van accelerates easier than before and in no time you're approaching the highway.
Nightshade looks over at Cannonball then back at the kids, she pitches her voice low to not carry over the electonic noise in the back, "Alright, I'm figuring I can either try and hide them in the car and we can try and make it through the checkpoints, or I can try and hide the whole van and you can go for a border run, which way you want to go?"
Cannonball shakes her head, "Border posts is no good. There is simply no space to hide them all three in here. And if we run into magic support at the post we're fragged for sure. Better to skirt the borders with them in the van. I guess with you or your spirits camouflaging the van we stand a good chance.
Nightshade nods then settles in, "Alright, once we're back closer to the city I'll call up a spirit to help us. When you're ready for the run say the word and I'll make us invisible, but once we do that, no one will see us, including other drivers and pedestrians.
«OOC» Nightshade says, "Give me an etiquette (or nego or intim) with border crossing as a comp skill to see where your contacts are saying the easiest crossing is. (the successes here will decrease the difficulty rating of the crossing)."
«Auto-Judge[]» Cannonball (#863) has the Knowledge Skill Border Procedures with the value '3 (4)'.
«Auto-Judge[]» Cannonball (#863) rolls Etiquette + 2 (Border Procedure) for "What's the best here?`":
1 2 2 5 5
Your sources say the only way you're going to get across quickly today is a 'Dukes' crossing a bit east of your path. Named after Bo and Luke a 'Dukes' crossing consists of a pair of highly mobile ramps. One launch and once catch on either side of the wall. The ramps lay flat until just before a 'Dukes' run, at which point hydraulics inside raise the ramps. Normally 'Dukes' runs are done in specialized jump buggies, but a skilled or suicidal rigger might be able to do it with a Van. The ramps could definitely take it, it's just a matter of you hitting it at the right speed and angle.
Your guy can get you a Dukes run into and out of the FTZ today, and so long as you make good time you shouldn't have an issue. It'll cost you 500 nuyen a pop though he'll put it on your tab.
Cannonball sighs after some silent, because transduced radio transmission, says silently to Nighshade. "This is our flight days. We face a 'Duke' meaning jumping over the border in the van going over a pair of ramps. The good news is, that I am quite adept with the Bulldog. The bad news is, that vans are usually not meant to do this stunt. The ramps are strong enough. I just fear our kiddies might get quite scared again…"
Nightshade looks back over her shoulder at the kids, then back at Cannonball, "Yeah…so…you wanna just spring it on them or you wanna tell them ahead of time…I'm kinda wishing you hadn't told me."
«Auto-Judge[]» Nightshade (#3173) rolls Conjuring - 3 vs TN 4 for "Summoning force 4 city spirit.":
1 2 5 8 = 2 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Nightshade (#3173) rolls Charisma + 3 vs TN 4 for "Resisting 4M drain":
1 1 1 2 2 2 4 = 1 Success
«Auto-Judge[]» Nightshade (#3173) rolls Charisma + 3 - 1 vs TN 4 for "Resisting 4M drain KP reroll 1st kp":
1 2 3 4 4 5 = 3 Successes
Cannonball sighs, "It's not really a too big thing and surely quicker over than the chute jump they had. I guess we'll just leave them in the dark, with some luck I can make it look for them as if we hit some bad bit of road….", she says calming to the Troll, I have driven an APC throug bug city. Belive me that was much more … fun.
Nightshade shakes her head and concentrates on bringing a city spirit up from the streets, then sets it to concealing their vehicle, that odd click of bones sounds again and her eyes go dark, but the children don't see it. She looks over to Cannonball, "Alright, I'm set. Just give the word right before we go at it so I can spell us."
The way to the launch ramp is pretty simple, but you know you're facing a hell of a challenge hitting a ramp like that in this rig. If you want to stop somewhere and make peace with god, now's the time.
Cannonball nods as she drives nice as any other citizen driving into Denver. There is a few radio contacts going back and forth as she arranges for the ramp to be ready for her. She times it as good as possible and makes herself ready for the jump. Taking in all parameters of the track using her sensors.
«Auto-Judge[]» Cannonball (#863) rolls Intelligence for "Passive sensors":
1 1 1 2 2 2 3 3
«OOC» Nightshade says, "You'll be facing a TN of 12 for the jump factoring all vehicle and situational mods except your VCR and any 'special' things you might do. A single success will get you across with a crash test on landing, 2-3 successes will give you the same TN to 'land' successfully, 4+ successes and it's a clean jump and landing."
«Auto-Judge[]» Cannonball (#863) rolls 5 (Vehicle sensors) for "Active sensors":
1 2 3 3 5
Cannonball can make out the ramp on this side, and you know where the ramp opposite the way 'should' be. She'll need to hit it at a fair clip to clear the wall and land, and to make it across and away the wall fast enough that the guards won't have time to respond.
«Auto-Judge[]» Cannonball (#863) rolls Car (GMC Bulldog) vs TN 10 for "Base TN: 12 -2 VCR. Well, I feel daring today.":
2 2 3 3 4 4 9 10 = 1 Success
«Auto-Judge[]» Cannonball (#863) rolls Car (GMC Bulldog) - 1 vs TN 10 for "Base TN: 12 -2 VCR. Well, I feel daring today. (5/7)":
2 4 4 5 5 5 15 = 1 Success
«Auto-Judge[]» Cannonball (#863) rolls Car (GMC Bulldog) vs TN 10 for "Base TN: 12 -2 VCR. Landing":
1 2 3 4 4 5 5 13 = 1 Success
«OOC» Nightshade says, "That'll do it, pose a successful jump but not get away (yet)."
«Auto-Judge[]» Nightshade (#3173) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 6 vs TN 4 for "Force 1 Improved invis on van before jump run.":
2 2 2 2 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 5 10 = 7 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Nightshade (#3173) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 6 - 7 vs TN 4 for "Force 1 Improved invis on van before jump run. 1kp reroll 2nd kp":
1 2 3 3 5 8 = 2 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Nightshade (#3173) rolls Willpower vs TN 2 for "Soaking 2M":
1 2 2 3 4 7 9 = 6 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Nightshade (#3173) rolls 4 vs TN 12 for "Sensor test for border.":
1 3 3 5 = 0 Successes
Cannonball speeds up the van as she has taken enough parameters. She speeds up and after a short while keeps the vehicles speed stable, her blood pounding through her body despite her being mostly immobile, someone watching might see her cheeks having the pink sheen of excitement as she moves towards the ramp. She calls out to Nightshade just a few seconds before they hit the ramp. "Invis! Now!"
Nightshade takes a pendant off her neck and hangs it on the rearview, "Leave this here." she says as her eyes go to pips again, this time as her fingers move the sound is unmistakable, the roll of dice.
The van fades from view a second before the ramps hydraulics kick in and the van starts rocketing upward, everyone in the van is pressed down and back into their seats hard. There's a whoosh of air as the van starts lifting, and another set of whooshes as the children suck in their breath.
The combination of magic, speed, and the pure absurdity of getting a reading of an airborne GMC Bulldog fool the border sensors and the van touches down on the far side with a squeal and scrabling of tires. The landing ramp is a teeth rattling contraption of crossbars to catch vehicles that drift a little in the air but Cannonball manages it and sets them on the road again.
After that the van hits the ramp and sails in an elegant bow over the border, while Cannon prays she notified the troll quick enough so they will not be seen, the next worry will be the landing Cannons tunes up the engine so they match the landing speed exactly. Obviously she did her thing good. All in all the episode felt more like a very rough bump someone can get from the holes in some of Demvers roads. She then looks back to her cargo, smiling apologetically. "Sorry for that.", she says to the woman and the girls.
Almost before the van leaves each ramp they go flat, a truck passes over them and with a click and grind the ramp pieces are scooped up and moved off to their next crossing location.
Nightshade looks over at Cannonball, "We're still invis, tell me when to drop it." Her hand his hovering over the crystal hanging from the rearview.
Cannonball then grins over to the troll, "Now that was fun!", she says enthusiastic. "Let it up to the middle of this street, then get visible. No need to get crashed into.", she then says.
Nightshade lifts a brow wrinkling the skin around her spikes, "I prefer tunnels." She comments, then takes the crystal down as they merge with traffic.
Cannonball giggles, "Oh.. didn't you know? They call me Cannonball for a reason."
You've got about a 45 minute drive and 1 hour till your scheduled jump, without pursuit it's smooth sailing, the kids settle down and play their games.
Nightshade sighs, "I need to find a partner named, 'Ridiculously Rich.'"
Cannonball just laughs to this.
«Auto-Judge[]» Cannonball (#863) rolls Car (GMC Bulldog) vs TN 10 for "Base TN: 12 -2 VCR. Another little flying ride!":
1 2 2 3 3 4 7 8 = 0 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Cannonball (#863) rolls Car (GMC Bulldog) vs TN 10 for "Base TN: 12 -2 VCR. Another little flying ride! (KP:6/7)":
1 1 1 1 2 3 5 5 = 0 Successes
«OOC» Nightshade winces.
«OOC» Cannonball says, "Looks like we will get some attention…"
«OOC» Nightshade says, "Ok, failure but no botch, you did not get on the launch ramp properly, I need a crash test. One sec while I calculate."
«OOC» Cannonball says, "I need some numbers. TN for the soak for instance…"
«OOC» Nightshade says, "Just working that out…"
«OOC» Nightshade says, "Vehicle is soaking 8M damage, any armor/crash resistance in there?"
«OOC» Cannonball says, "Armor is 4, we have a crash cage and the driver seat has APPS."
«OOC» Nightshade says, "Ok, those don't effect the vehicles damage soak but they may help you out. You get vehicle body plus any remaining control pool"
«OOC» Nightshade says, "6M sorry"
«OOC» Cannonball says, "Which is a bout all of them, as I didn't use them before. Silly as I am."
«OOC» Nightshade laughs, "Ahh well, good for emergencies…"
«OOC» Cannonball says, "I'll use them all, as I assume I can refresh pool before my next jump."
«OOC» Nightshade says, "Yep."
«Auto-Judge[]» Cannonball (#863) rolls 4 + Karma Pool: 10 vs TN 6 for "Okay, I need 4 successes. Don't let me hang dice!":
1 1 1 2 2 3 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 = 0 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Cannonball (#863) rolls 4 + Karma Pool: 10 vs TN 6 for "Okay, I need 4 successes. Don't let me hang dice! (KP:7/7)":
1 2 2 3 3 3 3 4 5 5 5 5 10 11 = 2 Successes
«OOC» Nightshade says, "Karma pool?"
«OOC» Cannonball says, "Wrong short it seems…"
«OOC» Cannonball says, "Yep…should have used RP…."
«OOC» Nightshade says, "That's alright so long as it was the right number. Ok, vehicle takes light damage. You can make another attempt on the jump at +1 tn, or slam on the breaks and try and stop."
«OOC» Cannonball says, "Ummm…I just realized I have Controlpool 11, not 10."
«OOC» Nightshade kicks you in the shins…
«OOC» Nightshade says, "You're just trying to make us crash aren't you."
«OOC» Cannonball says, "I reroll or just reroll the missing die (not that it makes a difference…)"
«OOC» Nightshade says, "1 die wouldn't change the damage level so just don't forget it on the next roll."
«OOC» Cannonball Nods
«OOC» Cannonball says, "So L damage to the van."
«OOC» Nightshade says, "If you go for it, you will not have time to stop before hitting the wall, if you stop, you might not be able to back up and go again before the guards notice the ram. What would you like to do?"
«OOC» Nightshade says, "Or choose a completely different option unrelated to the ramp."
«OOC» Cannonball says, "I'll take the damage."
«OOC» Cannonball says, "Then retake and make another try."
«OOC» Nightshade charge!
«OOC» Nightshade says, "Go ahead and roll it at the 11 difficulty"
«Auto-Judge[]» Cannonball (#863) rolls Car (GMC Bulldog) + Control Pool: 5 vs TN 11 for "Another try at a jump This time we need to do with some damage to the car.":
1 1 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 = 0 Successes
«OOC» Cannonball says, "The dice hate me!"
«OOC» Nightshade braces for impact.
«Auto-Judge[]» Cannonball (#863) rolls 4 + Control Pool: 6 vs TN 7 for "Okay, I need 4 successes. Please!":
2 2 4 4 5 7 9 9 10 11 = 5 Successes
«OOC» Nightshade thanks god.
«OOC» Nightshade says, "Ok one sec."
«Auto-Judge[]» Nightshade (#3173) rolls 6 vs TN 12 for "Sensors and guards, do they notice the fiasco? (Van, invis, spirit)":
1 3 3 7 7 10 = 0 Successes
«OOC» Nightshade says, "Ok, so far, no-one has noticed."
«Auto-Judge[]» Cannonball (#863) rolls Car (GMC Bulldog) + Control Pool: 5 vs TN 11 for "Aaaaaand another try at a jump! I really must be mad to try this!":
1 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 11 = 1 Success
«OOC» Cannonball says, "I assume that means a crash test on the other side, yes?"
«OOC» Nightshade says, "Yes please."
«OOC» Cannonball says, "Same as before?"
«OOC» Nightshade nods
«Auto-Judge[]» Cannonball (#863) rolls 4 + Control Pool: 6 vs TN 7 for "Okay, I need 4 successes. Please!":
1 1 1 2 2 4 4 5 7 10 = 2 Successes
«OOC» Cannonball says, "Another L"
«OOC» Nightshade says, "L+1 damage…"
«OOC» Nightshade says, "Damage staged down to nothing by restraints for passengers."
«Auto-Judge[]» Nightshade (#3173) rolls 6 vs TN 12 for "Look sarge, a flying van!":
2 3 3 3 4 9 = 0 Successes
«OOC» Nightshade says, "Go ahead and pose a landing and a getaway (you can pose a drop off if you'd like, you're through the checkpoints clean and fast enough to have evaded the magical pursuit.)"
The van hurtles towards the ramp but is off by a hair, the wheel twists to the side and the rim bends, Cannonball fights to keep it on course but the wheel slips off the other side the van grinds along with Cannonball forcing the wheels from side to side fighting to stay on track as she goes up into the air, soaring over the wall but she's wobbly and as she comes down on the landing pad things start to go sideways.
Nightshade bends the 'oh shit' handle on the top of the passenger window in her hand as she grips it when Cannonball does her thing again. She does manage to get the invisibility spell in place and with the assistance of the city and wind spirits keeps the van from being noticed.
Cannonball frowns, as she touches down after her third try, two placing the vehicle against the wall of the border and the third finally making her to do the jump the damn ramp. She curses as the impact of the landing ramp hits the van again less than gentle. But with a fake smile to her passengers she drives on. "Sorry…this was more bumpy than I had wished. But the good news is, we're through the problem zones…". She then simply fades the just slightly bumped van into the traffic driving now much smoother to their final destination. She says, "Well, normally we do that kind of stund with buggies…", she says to the troll, now that they have passed the two points. "Vans are a bit heavy for this normally. Not to mention having a bad … aerodynamics. On the positive side we've passed two borders with hot freight and only minimal hitches." Then after some more driving they arrive a the destination. The ellf quite smug despite the little 'bumps'.
Nightshade nods, a little preoccupied with prying her fingers out of the mangled handle to really enjoy the explanation about the buggies. "Right…pay is good." She gets her hand free then gestures towards the kids concentrating for a moment. Each child in turn blinks and has a blank stare, Nightshade looks to the mother, "They won't remember the trip…you'll remember that the trip happened but not the details, don't try and fight it, it'll give us both a headache." She then concentrates again, the pips appearing in her eyes and the mother goes a bit slackjawed as well as they're herded out of the van at the drop point. "Can we take a route that keeps us on the ground level on the way back?" Nightshade asks Cannonball as they prepare to head out.
Cannonball nods, "I see no reason we'd have to fly with just the two of us in it…Do you?", she asks slightly amused. "I'll take to the roads.", she simply says. She is not noting on that mind trick. Though you can see she is not really liking the thing happen.
Nightshade nods, "Sounds good, know any good places to eat around here, I'm starving for some reason."
Cannonball giggles, "Trolls… ever starving. Well, I guess we could hit Joe's…"
Nightshade points back over her shoulder, "I left my stomache behind two jumps back, I need to fill the spot it used to hold."
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