Kamikaze Kids

GM: Slinger Players: Slinger, Jonah, Cain, Abel, Nine Synopsis: Slinger and Jonah are giving Cain and Abel a casual tour of a couple of the hangouts in the Warrens, which in this case includes the Cybered Arms. The troll skull is a thing to see. They witness a pair of orks and a troll trying to kidnap a couple of kids, and they intervene. A vehicle drives by, and combat occurs — only to have the one whom they were fighting go to ground. The team tracks the one shooting at them after causing some mayhem. Trolls and ork get away, but the driver of the vehicle and a second henchman is dead. The mage is nowhere to be found. They manage to find an underground lair under an old clinic, where the mage in question has tattooed kidnapped kids and put them to work making Kamikaze. The tattoos keep the kids loyal (Control Thoughts) and unable to rebel, making them perfect slaves for him to manipulate. The team kills the mage, frees the kids and sends them home, and then captures some of the loot from the underground base. After discussion, they torch the drug itself (worth quite a bit of cred) and most of what's left of the lab, and take the other items to Nine, who is willing to buy them and either use them herself or fence them. Date: Dec 24, 2074 Part 1: Kidnapping! Slinger's waiting outside the Cybered Arms, leaning against the large black intimidating SUV. He's waiting for the twins whom he invited, suggesting a tour of some of the places in the Warrens for them to enjoy. The young mage pulls out his pack of smokes and grins at Jonah while he waits, keeping an eye on his surroundings. His eyes flick fondly to the elf next to him, and his attention drifts toward the people — especially the boys playing in a nearby field. Two ork kids and a human kid are kicking a rather sad-looking ball around. With the Cybered Arms here, there is little in the way of trouble. Jonah reaches over to pluck a cigarette out of the pack, lighting up without hesitation. He's hardly recognisable, the battered baseball cap hiding his hair and the tips of his ears. With a baggy t-shirt, a patched hoodie, loose cargo slacks and dirty sneakers, he looks just like any other teen from this part of the city… if, perhaps, a bit healthier. His eyes follow those kids as well, sighing as he exhales a cloud of smoke. "There's hope for us yet, y'know?" Abel and Cain come wandering down the sidewalk, both of them dressed in their greatcoats. Abel has on his sunglasses while Abel has on that gray flatcap of his, their high collars covering a fair bit of their faces. They are chatting lightly as they walk, and the one with the hat seems to be leading the conversation. "I just think it's a bit… Much, you know? I mean… Just out of the blue like that? I don't get the angle." And once he spots Slinger and Jonah, he raises a hand in greeting with a small smirk. "Yo." "No weirder then other shit people have done for us." Cain says with a grin to Abel. "Besides. Like you said." He leans over and mutters to Abel, before giving him a playful elbow. Cain had his usual duffelbg over his shoulders, as he tended to do especially in the Warrens. When he sees Slinger and Jonah, a hand goes up to give a lazy salute in their direction. Slinger gives the approaching pair a quick salute of his own in return. "Welcome to the Cybered Arms. Not a bad place, if you like rough and tumble gin joints. Gal who owns it is a former runner, and she's got a troll skull up behind the bar with a bullet hole in it. Tends to keep people in line." He knocks his ash off, and then grins at Cain. "Just because somebody does somethin' nice for you doesn't mean I have an angle," drawls the young elf, and he nudges Jonah, explaining, "I gave 'em some of my old spell formulae. A copy of 'em." "I swear you're just trying to make me jealous." Jonah mutters to Slinger before plastering a smile on his face and nodding all friendly like to the twins. "Glad you could make it. Don't ask me what the plans are, because /somebody/ hasn't told me a thing." Abel lets out a highly amused snort at whatever it was that Cain whispered to him. He even has to bring a hand up to his mouth to stifle a laugh as he keeps his eyes on the pair of elves. "Yeah, we've been before, a couple times." He looks back and forth between the pair, his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, we are going to start looking at the formulae once we are done some other things, but I'm excited to get to work on a couple of them. Thank you, it was very kind of you." Slinger chuckles, shrugs a shoulder. "Well, Cain's all straight and stuff, and I figure his twin is, too. So don't worry on that score. But… it's good to have allies. People we can know and maybe even trust." He nudges Jonah, then quietly says, "You're first in my mind, though." He slips his arm around the other elf, giving him a warm, quick hug. His eyes flick across the street, where a couple of orks and a troll are making their way, lingering close to the building and giving the bar itself a wide berth, walking toward the west, across the street from the field. Cain grins to Abel when they get closer to the Cybered arms, and the pair waiting for the twins. "Its really going to help us get a leg up, we were behind." Cain admits. He gives Jonah a friendly smile. "Hopefully nothing too intense. And oh, don't worry about Abel. He is as straight as a circle." Cain says with a straight face. "I'm the straight one." He says sagely. "And… yeah. I filled Abel in a bit on our talk, Slinger." Jonah pulls Slinger a little closer, tilts his head to the side and gives the other elf a kiss. He's through hiding that kind of thing behind closed doors, and if these two are going to be allies then he might as well get that bit over with. "Good, you know how I get when I'm jealous." Straightening up with only a little effort, he resumes his part of the conversation. "Happy you're happy. Don't ask me anything about it, because I have no idea how any of this finger waggling mumbo-jumbo works. Studying it sounded like too much effort, you know?" Slinger laughs brightly, his curious, dancing eyes moving to Abel's face to see how he responds to his brother's comment. "I don't know, the idea of the boy orgy they talked about sounded like a lot of fun," drawls Slinger. He pulls a thick cloud of unfiltered tobacco smoke into his body, the cigarette jutting from his lips as he grins. "So the reason nonmages don't have mojo is simple laziness, not genetics? See, all this time they told us it was the other way 'round, and now…" The orks and the troll give the Cybered Arms a wide berth, waiting until thay are well past it before they saunter across the deserted street, making their way toward the field where the ork and human kids are playing. And they quicken their pace noticably. Abel raises an eyebrow and casts an interesting look between Slinger and his brother. He seemed amused. "I wish I had been there for that conversation. That would have been great." He was grinning slightly. Almost as an afterthought one foot cocks Cain in the ankle. He doesn't miss a beat. "Yeah, He gave me the run down." Abel doesn't seem bothered by one elf kissing another, and simply keeps smiling. "Hey, it's nothing to really knock. With the right tools and preparation, you can do some interesting things with your fingers. I mean… I can fly. Don't think there is any chrome that can pull that shit off." His grin was a bit cocky now. Abel doesn't seem to notice the orks and troll much aside from them being a simple part of the background traffic of the slums. The quickened pace does seem to draw a glance that lingers for a few extra moments. There is a faint grunt from Cain as he leans over at the kick to the ankle. But thats it, before he straightens up again. "Hey, that was all in Kits head. Damn fox-furry is a deviant, or something." He glances over idly at the Orks and the Troll, before looking back to the conversation. "Well, its a lot of study, yeah. Can't just buy your way to skilled, gotta put the work in." He says with a grin. "Issue is… its a lot of work." "My talents never lay in the pursuit of magical theory." Jonah admits, eyes starting to track the orks and troll, marking them on the HUD, plotting vectors… All the while he keeps smiling. "But I'm not as bone idle as I may have let on in the past. For one thing, unless I miss my guess, we're about to have to interfere in some unpleasantness." Slinger grins at Abel. "Yeah, well, fingers are just the beginning, sometimes." He gives the pair of them a teasing grin. He inhales another drag of smoke, then casually tosses his dog-end toward the gutter, where it smoulders down, all of the tobacco being slowly consumed. He exhales playfully toward Jonah, just teasing the handsome elf beside him, and then says, "Well, figure we can head inside — or if you guys already know this place, we could go down toward the Angel's Delight. Play some pool. Introduce you to some people. You, too," he says to Jonah. In the field, the kids stop kicking the ball, one of them instead holding it posessively while he turns to stare toward the approaching figures. They stand, frozen for a moment, until one of the ork boys — the older one — steps forward, while the other two retreat with fear. Even so, the ork-boy's own fear is evident — and the three adults break into an open run, the troll coming up to confront the brave ork-boy, while the others take off in pursuit of the younger ones. «OOC» Abel says, "How close are the two dudes chasing the boys to each other?" «OOC» Slinger says, "About eight meters apart, and growing. The trouble is, the kids are getting overtaken rapidly, and the brave one is behind the troll." «OOC» Abel says, "Awesome! I'm going to put the two running adults in a Physical Barrier. Dome. :D" «Auto-Judge» Abel (#13016) rolls Sorcery + 2 + Sorcery Pool: 3 vs TN 6 for "Force 3. 6 meter radius means the dome is twelve meters wide. +2 from Earth Elemenatlist.": 1 1 2 2 2 3 4 5 10 11 22 = 3 Successes «OOC» Abel says, "Barrier 3 +2succ= Barrier 4." «Auto-Judge» Abel (#13016) rolls Willpower + Sorcery Pool: 3 vs TN 3 for "Soak for S": 1 2 3 4 4 4 5 7 10 = 7 Successes «OOC» Abel says, "Full soak." «OOC» Slinger says, "That will also get the troll and the brave ork kid." "Yeah, those guys scream trouble," Abel says in an almost tired tone. "Welcome to the 'rens, chummers," he mutters under his breath a bit. "As for Kit? Yeah, she seemed to have quite the hard-on for an all boy orgy." His eyes, however, don't leave the group of adults going after the children. His brows narrow slightly as he pushes with his magic, a very real barrier of energy popping up around the two sprinting men, forcing them to stop their forwards momentum or run headfirst into the dome that trapped them, leaving the brave little Ork alone and afraid with the trio of attacker. It was a solid dome that was flush with the earth. «Auto-Judge» Cain (#9240) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 4 vs TN 5 for "Improved Invisibility on the Brave Orky.": 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 8 20 = 2 Successes «Auto-Judge» Cain (#9240) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 4 - 2 vs TN 5 for "Improved Invisibility on the Brave Orky. ~KP1": 1 1 2 4 4 5 7 20 = 3 Successes «Auto-Judge» Cain (#9240) rolls Willpower + 2 vs TN 3 for " Drain of +1 M": 1 2 2 2 2 4 4 9 = 3 Successes «Auto-Judge» Cain (#9240) rolls Willpower + 2 vs TN 3 for " Drain of +1 M~kp 2/3": 1 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 = 7 Successes «Auto-Judge» Cain (#9240) rolls Willpower + 2 - 2 vs TN 3 for " Drain of +1 M~kp 2/3": 2 2 3 3 4 7 = 4 Successes Cain blinks at Jonah, tilting his head. He looks over as the kids start to run, and sighs softly. "Well. Fuck, lookat you being all right and shit." Cain mutters. He glances at Abel, then to Slinger. "Lets see what this is about?" He slings his duffel bag around in front of himself, unzipping it, and starts to walk across the road towards the troll and the two men in pursuit of the kids. He doesn't draw a weapon though… Yet. He blows a whistle with two fingers between his lips as Abel drops the Dome on the pair of orks. Cains turn. He mutters under his breath in latin, and a few moments later… Well, the kids 'gone'. Just the three adults, stuck in their little dome. "Now that the kids gone… Whats this all about then?" When the change happens, it happens in the blink of an eye. One moment the elf is chatting to people with a smile, the next his eyes almost seem to flash and the smile is replaced by a sneer of unbridled aggression. Reaching back and under his hoodie, a pair of Predators practically leaps into Jonah's hands and the weapons are leveled at the three would-be attackers, the elf running across the intervening distance, roaring in Sperethiel "Carronasta telego, versoniel! Morkhan makkanaherit!" and more pragmatically "Hands where I can frakkin' well see them, now!" Suddenly, the ork-boy vanishes, and the two chasing orks who were hurtling after the younger boys are stopped by that barrier. They slam into it, and then one of them pulls back his fist and delivers a fierce punch toawrd it. The barrier trembles, and then the ork staggers through. But it gave the two fleeing youths a chance to get away. The troll is left bewildered, and he turns — and suddenly, he is face to face with an approaching elf. Slinger is just now turning around to see what is happening — and that is when the gunfire rings out, automatic weapons fire, aimed right at Jonah! «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls 4 + 4 vs TN 9 for "Shooting at Jonah, first 3-round burst…": 2 2 2 2 3 4 5 5 = 0 Successes «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls 4 + 4 vs TN 9 for "Shooting at Jonah, second 3-round burst…": 1 2 3 4 5 5 5 10 = 1 Success «OOC» Slinger says, "Your Dodge TN is going to be 5 for this. Need 2 successes." «OOC» Jonah plays too much Savage Worlds ;) You paged Abel with 'But, fair enough. They'll be caught.'. «OOC» Jonah says, "Does it go off quickness or reaction? I keep forgetting" «OOC» Slinger says, "It's combat pool." «OOC» Cain says, "Combat pool!" Abel pages: It's every increment equal to half the abrrier rating by which the Power exceeds the rating. «Auto-Judge» Jonah (#6270) rolls Combat Pool: 7 vs TN 5 for "Attempted dodge.": 1 1 1 2 3 4 5 = 1 Success «Auto-Judge» Jonah (#6270) rolls Combat Pool: 7 - 1 vs TN 5 for "Attempted dodge. (KP1/2)": 1 1 4 4 4 5 = 1 Success Correction. Neither of the orks gets free, not yet. Instead, he whirls around and shouts to the troll. "Bust us out of this thing!" He looks around for the remaining kid, but to no avail. His piggish eyes look around, while he charges full tilt at the side of the barrier. Jonah manages to duck out of the way as a spray of bullets comes from across the street — the back of truck, from the look of it. And the truck itself is starting to move, now. Cain blinks when Jonah comes to the assist, and grins over at the man. Of course, then gunfire happens. "Fuck!" Cain drops, hard. He hits the ground and digs through his duffelbag. Out comes a helmet and an ingram smartgun, as Cain starts to wiggle his way out of his greatcoat, shedding it like a snake his skin as he reveals… Well, jeans and a long shirt. But for those in the know, there seems to be an armored FFBA under those casual street clothes. The helmets opaque faceplate is pulled down as Cain armors and suits up, readying his smartgun to return fire. Something that'll need to wait, since he took so long getting dressed. Gunfire?!? Abel turns and runs, his head down and his arms trying to cover his head like any good little civvie. He hits the deck down beside a parked minivan and just takes cover, a fair bit of his concentration kept on keeping the the three men in the dome out of the fight. For his part, Slinger is down behind the SUV itself. Even if bullets hit it, the vehicle should be just fine; the youth is quickly putting on the hood for his form-fitting armor, while he surveys the situation — but right now, he is letting the others act. Jonah hears the ricochets on the blacktop long before he is aware of the gunfire coming at him. The buzz of spent ammunition whizzing past him triggers reflexes that never seem to come to the fore except when the elf is in the middle of a firefight, and he drops, letting his momentum turning it into a roll. Rolling to his feet, Jonah returns fire at the truck, aiming shots into the back of the vehicle, moving to the side of the road for cover as he does, moving like someone born with a pair of pistols in his hands. «OOC» Slinger says, "Okay. Target is effectively running (even at low speeds, a vehicle movement is impress). Medium range (base 5), target running +2, and if you're looking to hit individual people they have partial cover (+4). TN is 11, minus your smartlink. TN 9." «Auto-Judge» Jonah (#6270) rolls Pistols + Combat Pool: 2 vs TN 9 for "On hand, first shot": 1 2 2 3 3 4 = 0 Successes «Auto-Judge» Jonah (#6270) rolls Pistols + Combat Pool: 2 vs TN 10 for "On hand, second shot": 3 4 5 5 11 11 = 2 Successes «Auto-Judge» Jonah (#6270) rolls Pistols vs TN 11 for "Off hand, first shot": 1 1 3 5 = 0 Successes «Auto-Judge» Jonah (#6270) rolls Pistols vs TN 12 for "Off hand, second shot": 1 1 2 3 = 0 Successes «OOC» Jonah says, "Base damage is 9M, two succs" «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls 6 (body) vs TN 5 for "Trying not to die…": 1 1 2 3 3 5 = 1 Success «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls 6 (body) - 1 (succs) vs TN 5 for "Trying not to die… KP 1": 1 3 4 8 11 = 2 Successes «OOC» Slinger says, "He takes M." +Part 2: The Chase The car responds to being shot at by trying to peel out even faster, which simply reduces friction with the tires. Meanwhile, the person in the back ducks down, trying desperately not to get hit — but all his concentration went into trying to hit Jonah. Instead, there is a cry of anguish from the back of the truck where the shot penetrated the thin metal, and a rewarding spurt of blood. Meanwhile, the troll suddenly stumbles as if struck, and he whirls around angrily, takes a swipe at the now empty air. "Little fragger's still here!" he snarks. And doesn't attack the barrier. Cain rolls around on the ground, finally managing to worm his way out of the jacket and get his smartgun plugged in while Jonah gives the vehicle a reason to think twice about shooting at them! When the kid sucker-invisi-punches the troll, Cain can't help the brief, amused bark of laughter that sounds out from under his opaque Ares-HD helmet. «OOC» Abel says, "Going to toss a manabolt at the troll, with the physical barrier still up." «OOC» Slinger says, "Troll has willpower 4. BG count is 2. So TN is 8." «Auto-Judge» Abel (#13016) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 3 vs TN 8 for "Manabolt, Force 3. +2 TN for held spell, +2 BG.": 1 2 2 3 5 5 5 9 16 = 2 Successes «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls 6 (???) vs TN 3: 1 1 1 3 4 7 = 3 Successes «OOC» Slinger says, "Spell is negated." «Auto-Judge» Abel (#13016) rolls Willpower + Sorcery Pool: 3 vs TN 2 for "Soaking S stun": 2 3 3 3 4 5 5 7 9 = 9 Successes «OOC» Abel says, "Full soak." Abel keeps low and his back to the SUV, watching the going on carefully, but his attention mostly on the dome. He actually smirks a bit when he sees the Troll stumble. "Fucking kid," he mutters and with a quick and subtle incantation, there is a fizzle of dark purple energy washing uselessly over the Troll's chest, dispersing into motes of light that almost instantly dispel. Now, there is something new happening. From the back of the vehicle arcs an object, launching toward the SUV. Those who are watching will easily recognize the distinctive pineapple shape of a fragmentation grenade. It bounces into the air, rolling beneath the large black SUV behind which Slinger and Cain and Able are crouched… Slinger sees the grenade bouncing beneath the vehicle, and he reaches out to grab Abel, while he rolls away from the space beneath the vehicle. The young mage isn't /that/ strong, but he has a surprising amount of natural dexterity, trying to get himself as far as away as possible, and doing his best to aid Abel in doing exactly the same. «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls Athletics vs TN 4 for "Trying to help get Abel out of the way.": 1 3 4 11 = 2 Successes «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) has the Attribute Quickness with the value '7 (10)'. Slinger's movement is impressive; even with Abel slowing him down, he manages to dive a good seven meters away before the grenade can go off… if Abel will accept his help. "Who the frag /are/ these people?" Slinger wants to know. Grenades. Something clicks inside Jonah that hasn't been switched on in quite some time. Grenades, with kids around, in broad daylight. The flashback to an alleyway half a world away and the roar of an explosion that tore up his world spur on the next action. With a snarl of incoherent rage, the young elf stands from his hasty cover and starts to make for the van, firing as he goes, aiming only to ventilate the vehicle and put as many holes in it as he possibly can, to keep the occupants too busy to try that kind of trick again. «OOC» Abel says, "Armour! Force 6 on Jonah! Dropping the Barrier" «OOC» Cain says, "So, 7! 4+2moving+1range." «OOC» Jonah says, "-2 for smartlink, 5 adjusted it is :)" «Auto-Judge» Jonah (#6270) rolls Pistols + Combat Pool: 2 vs TN 5 for "Rapid fire, on hand first shot": 1 2 2 4 5 11 = 2 Successes «Auto-Judge» Jonah (#6270) rolls Pistols + Combat Pool: 2 vs TN 6 for "Rapid fire, on hand second shot": 2 3 3 4 4 5 = 0 Successes «OOC» Slinger says, "Yeah. No cover of itself. It wasn't called shot, it was partial cover for the penalty." «OOC» Cain says, "Right :)" «Auto-Judge» Jonah (#6270) rolls Pistols + Combat Pool: 2 vs TN 7 for "Rapid fire, off hand first shot": 1 2 2 4 10 11 = 2 Successes «OOC» Cain says, "I think I migt have been thinking of targetting extremities." «Auto-Judge» Jonah (#6270) rolls Pistols + Combat Pool: 1 vs TN 8 for "Rapid fire, off hand second shot": 1 2 2 2 4 = 0 Successes «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls 4 (truck body) vs TN 5 for "Truck has a little armor. Not much. Resisting 9M 2usuccs.": 1 2 2 3 = 0 Successes «OOC» Slinger says, "It takes M." «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls 4 (Car): 1 5 5 7 «Auto-Judge» Abel (#13016) rolls Sorcery + 2 + Sorcery Pool: 3 vs TN 8 for "Force 6 Barrier.": 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 4 5 14 15 = 2 Successes «Auto-Judge» Abel (#13016) rolls Willpower + Sorcery Pool: 3 vs TN 5 for "Soaking M": 1 2 2 2 3 3 4 5 7 = 2 Successes «Auto-Judge» Abel (#13016) rolls Willpower + Sorcery Pool: 3 - 2 vs TN 5 for "Soaking M, Karma 1/2": 1 1 3 3 5 5 11 = 3 Successes «OOC» Abel says, "Full soak." The driver swerves as one of the bullets hits something important, and the truck starts to make a very unhappy whining sound. But it's still moving, trying to get out of range, and picking up speed as it swerves to try to round a corner and get away from the Shadowrunners. Who were, it would seem, an unexpected complication. Meanwhile, the barrier is suddenly gone, and the orks realize it first. "C'mon! Get the frag outta here!" one of them cries, and runs off, heading deeper into the field — but not in pursuit of the youngsters. No, he is running /away/ from the unexpected Shadowrunners. And a moment later, the troll is following, taking huge ground-eating strides despite his bulk — and limping from yet another kick to his troll-armored shins. Abel's eyes widen at the sight of the grenade, and in that moment he starts to stand, but Slinger is too quick, grabbing a hold of him and dragging the stumbling human far enough away so that when the grenade goes off, the fragments re going slow enough to bounce off his armored clothing. "Aw, shit!" he says as he goes tumbling to the ashphalt. The bubble surrounding the trio of adults and the child finally pops. Glancing around the combat area, he flicks a hand towards Jonah as he starts to scramble to his feet to find cover again. Jonah gets a bright shimmering dark purple aura of protection flickering just above his skin, moving with him perfectly. Cain pops up from the ground, finally ready to go… and everyone is running. Cain advances a few quick steps after the fleeing Ork and Troll, and for a moment it looks like they might start catching bursts of SMG fire to the back… But Cain doesn't fire. He holds ground, and holds position. After another moment, the Kid is suddenly visible again, wherever he is at. "Nice kicking, little dude." The grenade goes off right beneath the powerful-looking SUV. It launches up a few inches into the air, rocking on its supension, while fragments and fire shoot out from beneath it. It lands on all four tires, perfectly intact — and then starts to emit the loud chirping noise of its security system! Slinger meanhile looks up toward the vehicle in question, and he scowls at it, reaching for his own gun. Whoever these fraggers are, they need to go down. The young mage concentrates on creating a new barrier spell, running around to his right to reacquire line of sight! As the van turns the corner and stop being a threat, Jonah's head snaps around like a predator focusing on new prey. The kidnappers are trying to get away? After what they just did? Growling curses in Sperethiel under his breath, the elf gives chase, keeping the pistols trained on his targets but holding fire until no innocents are anywhere near his line of fire. Right now it looks like he won't stop until he's killed someone… «Auto-Judge» Cain (#9240) rolls Submachine Guns + Combat Pool: 3 vs TN 6 for " Tn 8-2 smartlink. Burst, 10S": 1 1 1 2 3 3 3 10 = 1 Success «Auto-Judge» Cain (#9240) rolls Submachine Guns + Combat Pool: 3 vs TN 6 for " Tn 8-2 smartlink. Burst2(recoil comped), 10S": 2 2 2 5 7 9 10 10 = 4 Successes Cain is above shooting unarmed running men in the back. Cain is however, not above winging a few bursts into a vehicle that had shot at his friends, and even GRENADED his brother! Cain levels the ingram smartgun at the vehicle and looses two volleys of rounds at it. «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls 4 vs TN 3 for "Truck resisting first burst…": 3 4 4 5 = 4 Successes «OOC» Slinger says, "It takes another M." «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls 4 vs TN 3 for "Truck resisting second burst…": 2 3 4 10 = 3 Successes «OOC» Slinger says, "And another S." The truck in question stops abruptly as something goes horribly wrong in the engine where one of the bursts hit it. There is smoke rolling from under the hood, a blast of thick black smoke that is the sort that makes mechanics shake their head and say, "That's gonna be expensive!" The vehicle skids, its formerly controlled skid becoming highly uncontrolled, and it slams into a parked, rusted car that probably hasn't run in over a year and currently serves as a canvas for graffiti. With that, flames spring up from within the crumped hood, and the two people in back are trying to jump out, while the driver struggles to get his door open. But it's wedged against the car that got hit. The ork kid suddenly pops back into view — but of course, he doesn't realize it yet. Instead, he draws to a halt as the troll continues running, and the youth shakes his fast after him. "You better fraggin' run!" calls the youth, who can't be more than fourteen, the oldest of the group of boys. And then he's addressed, and he whirls around, giving Cain a suspicious look. He starts to reply, but then Cain is moving again, shooting at the racing vehicle. The ork kid ducks down behind the nearest parked car, watching with wide eyes. Abel keeps his spell on Jonah running for the moment as he jogs his way towards the Ork kid, slipping into cover beside him. "Shit kid, you got some balls." He adjusted his collar to keep it up around his face and offers the teen a fist to be bumped. He himself was only a handful of years older than the ork, and he had to give props where it was due. Other than that, he was going to keep in cover for now. "Hey! Watch the Van!" Cain barks to Jonah, giving a terse whistle as he drops to a knee and assumes a firing position. For the moment… he holds fire. Unless one of those people in the van presented a firearm, or seemed to make themselves a threat. Then, he'd open fire. Through a red haze, the target indicators of the three Jonah had originally tagged are still displaying on his retinal HUD. The angle is good, the distance is good, the smartlink dot placed squarely on the troll's back. His fingers increase the pressure on the triggers… and ease off once Cain's words filter through. Immediately he reverses course, pistols leveled, seeking to close the distance before firing. The people in question are trying to get away, trying to use the smoke and the truck to mask their retreat. They jump out on the side opposite the runners, leaving only the driver to try to scoot across and get out of the passenger-side door, presenting a very good target to anyone, despite his attempts at evasion. Looks like he was injured in the crash. «OOC» Slinger says, "Target to shoot troll and/or orks is: Long range (6), partial cover (brush) +2, target running +2." «OOC» Slinger says, "The driver would only be TN 5 (medium range) + 2 partial cover for Cain to hit. He's be TN 6 (long range) + 2 partial cover / TN 5 (mdium range) + 1 (attacker running) + 2 partial cover for Jonah, depending on whether Jonah runs." «OOC» Slinger says, "Also, light-smoke conditions." «Auto-Judge» Cain (#9240) rolls Submachine Guns + Combat Pool: 4 vs TN 6 for " Base 4, +1 medium range, +2 partial, -1 vision mag, Light smoke negated by thermal. Burst1, Base 10s": 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 5 8 = 1 Success «Auto-Judge» Cain (#9240) rolls Submachine Guns + Combat Pool: 4 vs TN 6 for " Base 4, +1 medium range, +2 partial, -1 vision mag, Light smoke negated by thermal. Burst2, Base 10s": 1 1 1 2 3 3 4 11 17 = 2 Successes «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls Combat Pool: 5 vs TN 7 for "M wound, 3 rounds, TN 5 to dodge first one.": 2 4 5 5 9 = 1 Success «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls 4 (body) vs TN 10 for "Resisting 10S base.": 2 3 5 11 = 1 Success «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls 4 (body) vs TN 10 for "Resisting 10S, 2 succs.": 1 1 3 3 = 0 Successes «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls Combat Pool: 5 - 1 (succs) vs TN 7 for "M wound, 3 rounds, TN 5 to dodge first one. KP 1": 2 3 4 5 = 0 Successes Slinger darts around one of the vehicles, in time to see the two fleeing perps just before they round a corner. And the young mage sends a wave of energy out toward them, affecting the area through which they are running… Cain had long ago proven himself a decent shot in training. And this… this is training. Target assessment proved that the drive of the truck was culpable with trying to kill his brother. That was guilty enough. Cain squeezes off a burst, and drill a trio of rounds into the driver. Just in case those last twitches were more then death throes, another burst joins the first to finish the job. Cain doesn't advance, and slowly trains his fire onto the next men fleeing the vehicle. Of course, Jonahs already on the way there… «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 7 + 7 (power focus) for "Stunball, F6, targetting at S damage.": 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 7 9 11 «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 7 + 7 (power focus) - 2 (succs) for "Stunball, F6, targetting at S damage. Target 1, KP 1/48": 1 1 2 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 7 8 «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 7 + 7 (power focus) - 2 (succs) for "Stunball, F6, targetting at S damage. Target 1, KP 3/48": 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 5 5 5 5 10 11 «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 7 + 7 (power focus) - 4 (succs) for "Stunball, F6, targetting at S damage. Target 1, KP 6/48": 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 7 11 «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 7 + 7 (power focus) - 5 (succs) for "Stunball, F6, targetting at S damage. Target 1, KP 10/48": 2 2 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 10 11 14 «OOC» Slinger says, "8 successes on the first one." «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 7 + 7 (power focus) for "Stunball, F6, targetting at S damage. Target 2": 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 8 10 «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 7 + 7 (power focus) for "Stunball, F6, targetting at S damage. Target 2, KP 1/48": 1 1 1 1 1 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 5 5 5 5 9 10 14 «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 7 + 7 (power focus) - 1 (succs) for "Stunball, F6, targetting at S damage. Target 2, KP 3/48": 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 5 9 10 16 «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 7 + 7 (power focus) - 2 (succs) for "Stunball, F6, targetting at S damage. Target 2, KP 6/48": 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 9 9 «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 7 + 7 (power focus) - 2 (succs) for "Stunball, F6, targetting at S damage. Target 2, KP 10/48": 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 5 11 «Plot» Slinger says, "So. 8 succs on the first, 2 succs on the second." «OOC» Slinger forgot to Center against penalties, but let's assume those were eaten up resisting backgroudn count which I also forgot. «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls 7 (spell defense) vs TN 6 for "Resisting mojo…": 2 2 2 3 4 4 4 = 0 Successes «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls 7 (spell defense) vs TN 6 for "Resisting mojo… KP 1/???": 1 1 3 3 3 4 5 = 0 Successes «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls 7 (spell defense) vs TN 6 for "Resisting mojo… KP 3/???": 1 2 2 4 5 7 11 = 2 Successes «Plot» Slinger says, "The first one takes 6 successes and goes down. The second one — no successes. Spell has no effect." «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls 3 (willpower, target 1) vs TN 6: 1 4 20 = 1 Success Slinger concentrates, and those who are watching even in the physical realm might see the spell's effect as a wave of magical energy thrusts out from the mage, making the air itself seem to ripple, and it explodes into a large area that covers most of the street. One of the fleeing targets falls where he stands; the other, though, continues running, rounding the corner that forms an alleyway. They run, he chases. He chases, they run. They run because he chases and he chases because they run. Jonah almost laughs at how much of a deja-vu this situation is becoming. The battle haze had slightly subsided, but the sight of the violent death of the driver brought it back to the fore. Two pistols raise up and spit lead at the last target. «OOC» Slinger says, "He's got… nearly total cover from where you are. So +5 from cover, TN 6 medium range (right at the edge of it), +2 target running. TN 13. TN 11 with smartlink." «Auto-Judge» Jonah (#6270) rolls Pistols + Combat Pool: 4 vs TN 11 for "First shot, on hand, nigh on impossible": 1 1 2 3 3 7 8 10 = 0 Successes «Auto-Judge» Jonah (#6270) rolls Pistols + Combat Pool: 4 vs TN 11 for "First shot, on hand, nigh on impossible (KP 2/2)": 1 1 2 5 5 5 10 14 = 1 Success «Auto-Judge» Jonah (#6270) rolls Pistols + Combat Pool: 3 vs TN 12 for "Second shot, on hand, nigh on impossible": 2 3 4 4 4 17 19 = 2 Successes «Auto-Judge» Jonah (#6270) rolls Pistols vs TN 13 for "First shot, off hand, nigh on impossible": 3 4 5 5 = 0 Successes «Auto-Judge» Jonah (#6270) rolls Pistols vs TN 14 for "Second shot, off hand, Preposterous": 2 2 8 9 = 0 Successes «OOC» Slinger says, "So. On your nigh-on impossible shots… that's two hits. One with 1, one with 2 succs. 9M?" «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls Combat Pool: 4 vs TN 4 for "Trying to dodge first shot…": 4 4 4 5 = 4 Successes «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls Combat Pool: 2 vs TN 4 for "Trying to dodge second shot.": 1 3 = 0 Successes «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls Combat Pool: 2 vs TN 4 for "Trying to dodge second shot. (remaining 2 dice)": 2 4 = 1 Success «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls Combat Pool: 4 vs TN 4 for "Trying to dodge second shot. KP 7/???": 2 3 4 4 = 2 Successes «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls Combat Pool: 4 - 1 (succs) vs TN 4 for "Trying to dodge second shot. KP 7/???": 3 4 4 = 2 Successes «OOC» Slinger says, "Both shots dodged…" «OOC» Abel says, "Do I have LOS?" «OOC» Slinger says, "Poor, but yes. +4 partial cover, plus smoke, plus target running." «OOC» Slinger says, "Plusm you're maintaining Armor." «OOC» Abel says, "Those apply to a manabolt? Or a barrier?" «OOC» Abel will stick with the kid and just keep the armor spell going, then. «OOC» Slinger says, "They apply to manabolt. But not as much to physical barrier, except that you can't see anything in th direction he's running. He's running into an alleyway perpendicular to you." Abel peeks his head up over the edge of the vehicle he and the teen are hiding behind. After a moment he looks back to the Ork and says softly, "Alright kid, talk quick. What did those drek-heads want with you and your friends?" Commlink-Ghost> Jonah says, "Stand still so I can shoot you, you bastard…" The ork kid looks up at Abel with something halfway between fear and hero worship in his eyes, maybe a little bit of pride. "I got no fraggin' clue," says the kid, with his street accent made more pronounced by his small tusks. "They come outta nowehere." He glances off in the direction in which his friends ran, and says, "At least Ste and Chri' got away." And with that, the fleeing target rounds the corner, diving into the alleyway and the relative safety that it offers. It's a good forty meters away from the rest of the team, thirty meters on from the truck, where the fire has started to spread beneath the hood, licking out from underneath. Engines tend to leak fuel when shot by high caliber rounds, and this one wasn't in the greatest shape to begin with. But up ahead, from the mouth of the alley, there is a sudden powerful bolt of energy that arcs out, making the air dance and shimmer. It arcs into the unconscious, crumpled form of the ork on the ground that Slinger's stun spell felled. The ork in question stiffens, despite his unconscious state, and then shudders, the last breath leaving his body from the manabolt that hit him. Abel nods his head and pats the Ork on his shoulder, giving a bit of a squeeze. "Cool. Alright, get out of here. Make sure your friends are okay, and let them know you didn't get geeked. You did good kid. And remember, you ain't never saw my face." He offers the kid a cocky grin that would fit any hero from the trids before he hefts his bag and starts sprinting down the street to meet up with the group as the manabolt comes careening out of the alley. He sticks to the sidewalk as he runs, keeping himself out of line of sight. Cain blinks at the action from up the street, and his eyes narrow softly. He calls out, "Buddy just cleaned up his tracks! The fuck did we just run into?" He looks back towards Abel, ensuring his twin has the little kid somewhere safe, before he looks to Jonah. "I'm not too keen on running him down." He glances up as Abel closes the distance towards himself and the others, "Course of action?" Cain was open to suggestions from the clearly more experienced pair. The ork kid sticks out his lower jaw. "Frag dat. I'm here. I don't want them comin' back." Though that is when the manabolt arcs out, and the ork kid's eyes get huge. "Drek wi' this!" he yelps, and turns and makes a beeline in the direction in which the other two boys departed. Slinger says, "Go. I've got spell defense on us," grunts Slinger, as he moves across the street, gun drawn. "His spells won't do drek. But he's covering his tracks. My guess is, he's the leader." Jonah runs onwards, never pausing… until the manabolt hits the stunned target. Once reaching the mouth of the alley, the elf flattens himself against the wall, pistols held to his shoulders, barrels upwards to avoid accidentally shooting a bystander. "Fraggers come into our city, try to do who knows what with three little kids, shoot at me and try to blow up my friends? Not stopping 'till this one ate some lead." He nods to Cain. "Run and gun. Once we move, we'll be outlined, so don't ever stop moving. Don't give him a stationary target. Go!" And at that, he ducks into the alley, leading with his pistols, low light vision compensating for the reduction of ambient illumination, hunting for a target. Cain grunts, and if Jonah is advancing, so is the helmeted man in the FFBA. He bolts after Jonah, moving as swiftly as the dual pistol wielding man. "Your lead." Cain says simply, before following after Jonah. However, he does pop his gaze Astral… just in case. Slinger has catching up to do, especially as he turns on his astral senses and then begins to cast spells. Filtering, then levitation, before he turns on his astral senses to provide aerial reconnaisance. "I've got you covered!" calls Slinger again. The alleyway, when the group arrives, is predictably empty. No sign of any evil mages at all. Jonah doesn't simply walk into the alley, he runs. Eyes flicking from corner to corner, head on a swivel, the teenaged elf is pursuing the target like a bloodhound, unwilling and unable to let this mage slip away. Abel keeps his hat low on his head and makes sure his geatcoat is zipped up so that the lower half of his face is covered as he moves in a few steps behind the trio as Slinger slips up into the sky. Of course, that lasts for only a few seconds… until suddenly, the ground itself begins to tremble, rumbling within the alleyway. And then, the concrete itself seems to open up, forming into two massive, blockish forms that stand up, blocking the alleyway almost entirely with their bulk. They begin to move forward, advancing on the group. Elementals! Cain is slower, scouting for signs or trail of the mage carefully as he moves into the alley behind Jonah. He glances over his shoulder to Abel, "This is going to be a bitch." He mutters- Oh, hey look. Elementals. Yup, this officially turned into a bitch. Commlink-Ghost> Jonah says, "Frak." «OOC» Abel says, "What is their force? I'm going to banish one." «OOC» Slinger says, "You don't know. Roll it, and I'll tell you how many successes. BG count is 2 still." «OOC» Slinger says, "You sustaining any spells? It's an exclusive complex action, so you have to drop them." «OOC» Slinger says, "Otherwise, it's Conjuuring, TN is force." «Auto-Judge» Abel (#13016) rolls Conjuring + 2 for "+2 from Earth Elementalist. Dropped Armor.": 1 2 3 3 3 4 5 8 «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls 4 vs TN 8 (to no one) for "Spirit's resistance to bashing.": 1 5 5 8 = 1 Success «Plot» Slinger says, "2 net successes to Abel. Spirit force drops by 2." «Plot» Cain targets the same one as Abel, in an effort to finish the job. «Auto-Judge» Cain (#9240) rolls Conjuring for "No clue the TN, I'm not a fancy smancy earth mage.": 1 5 5 5 «OOC» Cain goes with that, trying to help Abel by banishing the same one to try and finish the job on one. «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls 2 vs TN 6 (to no one) for "Spirit resisting Cain's banishment.": 1 11 = 1 Success «Plot» Slinger says, "Elemental is reduced to Force 0." Abel skids to a halt when the Elementals spring from the ground. "Left!" He shouts briefly, no doubt for his brother as he calls out his own target. As his forward momentum halts he thrusts his right hand out towards the Elemental on the left. His hand slowly, ever so slowly begins to close as his very will begins to rip the giant monster of ashphalt and rock by blasting away the essence that holds it apart. The power of Twins: UNITE! This almost looks like Cain and Abel might have played this tag team game before. They had, though last time Cain led the charge on a water elemental. Abel lands the first blow, and its a one-two punch as Cain stacks right up on him, and raises his own fist in the same motion Abel makes. BAM! The combined twins send one of the Elementals crumbling back into the raw materials, undoing it from this realm. Boom! Jonah only needs to deal with one, now… When Cain adds his own energy to the banishment, the outcome is clear — within seconds, the elemental on the right withers and dissipates back into the ground beneath it. But the other one has not been engaged, and it charges forward, moving in to confront Jonah and take a swing at the elf right in front of him. «OOC» Slinger says, "The elementals are about 6 meters in from the mouth of the alleyway. How far into the alleyway did you go, Jonah?" «OOC» Jonah says, "I was running, that means they're practically on top of me." «Auto-Judge» Jonah (#6270) has the Attribute Quickness with the value '6'. «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls 3 + Combat Pool: 3 vs TN 3 for "Spirit attacking Jonah, using its reach for its own benefit.": 2 2 3 3 5 7 = 4 Successes «Auto-Judge» Jonah (#6270) rolls Carromeleg vs TN 4 for "Full defense, why did they teach me this elven nonsense?": 2 3 = 0 Successes «Auto-Judge» Jonah (#6270) rolls Combat Pool: 7 vs TN 4 for "Full defense, dodging with combat reflexes, not the head grasshopper": 1 1 3 5 5 9 11 = 4 Successes «Plot» Slinger says, "Hits with 0 successes. Damage is 9S, impact applies." «Auto-Judge» Jonah (#6270) rolls Body vs TN 9 for "Taking it on the chin. Ow.": 2 2 4 4 5 = 0 Successes «OOC» Slinger says, "Okay. Knockdown test. Body, against a TN of 9." «Auto-Judge» Jonah (#6270) rolls Body vs TN 9 for "Where's up again?": 1 2 2 4 14 = 1 Success The spirit is slow, but it packs a wallop as he draws its fist back and brings it out in a powerful roundhouse punch that is surprisingly deceptive. Elven agility helps reduce the sheer force of it, but it still hits with a powerful blow and a rather unpleasant crush, and it sends Jonah flying backwards a full meter to land on the pavement. Ow. SMACK He saw the elemental coming for him. He even saw the blow coming. But despite surviving more than his fair share of brawls half a world away, some absolute rotter had filled Jonah's head with this Carromeleg nonsense, insisting that a fight should /look/ good as well as be over quickly. Two instincts conflict, and by the time he remembers his footwork the elf has been soundly smacked around the head, spinning him around and sending him sprawling a few feet away. Pistols go into automatic safety lock and the elf tries to get up to hands and knees before the elemental can finish the job, blood dripping from mouth and nose. If only the world would stop spinning… Slinger is casting a spell right now, and moving — he doesn't see this happening. Instead, the young mage is doing his best with his astral senses to try to perceive what is going on, and track the quarry. He can see the trace of the manabolt hanging in the air, at the mouth of the alleyway. «Auto-Judge» Abel (#13016) rolls Conjuring + 2: 1 1 1 2 3 4 4 16 «Auto-Judge» Abel (#13016) rolls Conjuring + 2 - 1 for "KARMA": 1 2 5 5 5 5 9 «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls 5 vs TN 6 (to no one) for "Spirit resisting Abel's Dispelling.": 2 2 3 4 4 = 0 Successes «OOC» Slinger says, "It goes bamf. Pose it :) Including something dramatic with the spirit, since that was… 6 successes versus an F5." "James is hit!" Cain calls out, immediantly falling back to the downed elf, with his front towards the elemental as he goes to be the human shield. Fortunately, his brother is too badass for Cains trepidation. When Abel drops the Elemental, he turns to face Jonah, and checks his wound. "I can help man, but I can't get all of it. You get a medkit handy, or does Slinger?" Cain knew from experience that if he had first go at the wound, it'd be last go at it. As the twins rip apart the first elemental,Jonah takes the brutal hit across the head. There is a spike of cold anger flowing through the teen at the sickening crack heard from the younger elf. Abel takes a solid step forwards and slams both hands forwards with a guttural shout. The effect is instant; as if the very universe itself had backhanded the giant man of concrete, sending a spray of shattered earth backwards as all the essence is ripped from it's earthern body. Slinger hears those words, but he can't really respond. Instead, the young mage sets his sights downward. The only comm that shares a frequency with his is Jonah's, and hearing from below that he is hit draws a growl to his throat. But the young mage instead concentrates on finding his quarry; above, he vanishes into the air, masked in the moment while he searches for the mage's aura… or the aura of an invisible creature. "This… frakker… dies…." Jonah mumbles as he uses Cain as a handhold to pull himself upright. It takes a conscious effort to release the automatic safeties on the pistols, and the HUD skips position every few seconds. That he's upright at all is a feat of willpower. A few moments after regaining his feet, the automatic position finder kicks in, and the elf re-orients himself, shaking Cain off slightly unsteadily. "'m fine… Lessgo" And without further ado, he's moving, feet dragging slightly. The twins move to flank Jonah, Abel moving to walk a bit in front of the injured elf. "Stay close," Abel says as he moves slowly forwards, Cain taking up the rear, scanning the area with his SMG brought to bear. Abel begins weaving a spell to cover Jonah in armour again. "Don't do anything too stupid. You are half dead on your feet." «Auto-Judge» Abel (#13016) rolls Sorcery + 2 + Sorcery Pool: 3 vs TN 8 for "Armor 6 +2 Earth Elementalist": 1 1 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 = 0 Successes «Auto-Judge» Abel (#13016) rolls Willpower + Sorcery Pool: 3 vs TN 5 for "Soaking M": 1 1 3 4 5 5 5 5 8 = 5 Successes «OOC» Abel says, "Full soak." «OOC» Abel says, "Spell fizzles, though." A few moments pass, and finally Slinger's voice comes over the comm. "I'm not seeing any sign of him. So either he's in that building to your left, ducked inside while you were running, or he managed to already get away," says the blond mage. "Ghost, you okay, omae? I'd come down and heal you up, but if I come down, he might slip past. Jonah seems to start talking to himself. "Fine, 'm fine. Bit shaken. Building to our left, got it…" With a slight stagger, he turns towards the indicated building, looking for any doors or obvious signs that a mage has forced or blasted his way in. Abel reaches out to put a hand on Jonah's shoulder. "Wait a moment. Let's take a few seconds to prepare. Cain can try to mend you, too." And then Abel would put his duffel on the ground and shrug off his coat, showing the skintight bodysuit he was wearing underneath. Out of the bag comes a helmet and a shotgun, both of which plug into the bodysuit at the neck and wrist respectively. Commlink-Slinger> Slinger says, "The fragger comes out, he gets zotted. Ghost, you sure you're good to go on? You get killed, I'm not forgiving you easily." Commlink-Ghost> Jonah says, "Between you and me, that rung my bell pretty good. But I started this, I'm finishing it." Commlink-Slinger> Slinger says, "There's a medkit in the van, if you wanna snag it." Commlink-Ghost> Jonah says, "There's one crazy mage with a shotgun to my left, one crazy mage with an Ingram to my right and another crazy mage hovering above me. I'll be fine." Commlink-Ghost> Jonah says, "And if not, might as well get some mileage out of my Docwagon contract." Commlink-Slinger> Slinger says, "You love us crazy mages. Okay. Go get 'em, tiger. Watch your ass." Commlink-Ghost> Jonah says, "I'd ask you to watch mine, but when did you ever stop doing that? Going in." There is a door on the side of the building. A double-wide door, but only one of the two has a handle. Beside it, a card reader, which has seen better days. But it still does have its nice little red light, showing that it's active. «OOC» Slinger says, "Maglock looks like a Rating 4. It's not very impressive." Part 3: Into the Dungeon Jonah ejects the clips from the Predators and loads up two full ones without clearing the firing chambers first. This effectively gives him two extra shots before he runs dry, a trick he picked up in the days when an extra shot was all that stood between him and a grim end on the streets of the Metro Sprawl. Taking stock of his surroundings, he notices the card reader and holsters his pistols for the time being, intent on seeing if he can bust that card reader. "Someone went for the cheap option for home security…" «Auto-Judge» Jonah (#6270) rolls Security Systems (Electronic) vs TN 4 for "Open sesame": 1 1 2 2 5 = 1 Success Abel hands Jonah is greatcoat. "Here. Before we go in, you are putting on this coat. If buddy has a gun or throws a fireball or something at you, it should help." His voice is slightly muffled from the helmet. «OOC» Slinger says, "Usually, it's an Electronics B/R test to get the case off, then Electronics test (TN rating+2)." «OOC» Slinger says, "Both with a base time of 60 seconds. Needs an Electronics Kit if you have one (Slinger has one in the van)." Cain is ready, stacked up on the door. He nods to the pair with him. I'm ready." He says simply, and takes the time to reload as well. Jonah gets nowhere slowly with the lock, and gives up on the endeavor. He seems almost grateful taking the greatcoat from Abel, huddling into it slightly more than is absolutely necessary. "Thanks. And my compliments on your dress sense." «Plot-Page» (To: Jonah) Slinger says, "Your guess is, you could fuck with the lock, or you could just shoot that latch, and frankly it's probably weaker than the maglock." «Plot-Page» (To: Jonah) Slinger says, "Your TN is 2 +3 wounds -1 immobile/stationary target." Jonah takes a moment to compose himself, takes a deep breath, and then turns around and fires the two extra shots into the latch holding the door locked. «Auto-Judge» Jonah (#6270) rolls Pistols vs TN 4 for "Raiding party!": 1 3 4 17 = 2 Successes «Auto-Judge» Jonah (#6270) rolls Pistols vs TN 6 for "Raiding party! Off hand.": 1 1 3 5 = 0 Successes The first shot hits square into the latch, which then proceeds to fly off. There are sparks as the maglock itself shorts out. The second shot, from the off hand, has no effect because they're nothing to hit; the latch is gone, leaving a hole that one could reach into. On the other hand, it's highly satisfying. «OOC» Abel says, "Going for more magic armor on the half dead elf we are dragging around with us! ;)" «Auto-Judge» Abel (#13016) rolls Sorcery + 2 + Sorcery Pool: 3 vs TN 8 for "Armor 6 +2 Earth Elementalist": 1 2 2 2 2 4 5 8 10 10 16 = 4 Successes «Auto-Judge» Abel (#13016) rolls Willpower + Sorcery Pool: 3 vs TN 5 for "Soaking M": 1 2 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 = 1 Success «OOC» Abel takes M Stun Abel reaches out towards Jonah and taps his shoulder lightly. That same purple aura of protection springs around him and the mage nearly doubles over on himself in sudden agony. Wincing he stands and readies his shotgun. "Ugh… Didn't go well. Cain, you are on point. I'll take second. You take up the rear." Cain glances back at Abel and Jonah, and tips his head. "Alright." There is worry in his tone as he looks to Abel, and takes a breath. "Stay on my back." And in goes Cain, first in line. Hey, most health-bars, highest risk1 The doorway opens onto a hallway, which is unlit. Enough light comes in from the outside, though, to provide plenty of visibility. Every sound echoes off the bare concrete walls of what was once a small clinic, but has since fallen into disrepair. The formerly sterile, clinical atmosphere of the place is now tainted with dirt, grime, and dilapidation. On the left, a series of what were once exam rooms, the windows having been boarded up long ago. The doors are almost closed, though they no longer quite fit on their hinges. Abel's helmet flicks on an IR light as the Low-Light functionality boots up in reaction the the lack of light. His small shotgun is held up against his shoulder as he keeps to the left. Jonah follows the column as the drogue, eyes compensating for the relative lack of light. Of course, being the rearguard is the second most dangerous position in any column, contrary to popular belief, so the elf has his head on straight, exercising light and sound discipline as they hunt for their quarry. Cain and Abel really look lke twins with their helmets on, and Cains as well boots in to lowlight and thermal mode. He moves quickly, scanning each room fast. His perceptions were stretched to both realms, just in case the mage had flipped on invisibility. The first room is utterly empty, with only a couple of crushed cabinets. It is dusty and disused, with no sign that it's been disturbed in years. «Plot» Slinger says, "Perception checks from everyone." «Auto-Judge» Cain (#9240) rolls Intelligence for " Low light, Thermographic, Seeing astrally,": 3 3 4 4 5 10 «Auto-Judge» Jonah (#6270) rolls Intelligence for "Low-light, vis mag 3": 4 4 4 5 11 «Auto-Judge» Abel (#13016) rolls Intelligence for "Low-light, Vis mag 3": 1 1 2 4 5 7 The second room seems somehow less abandoned, despite what was once an exam table, on its side in the corner. A large area of floor is thus left relatively bare, but there is nothing in the room at all. Commlink-Abel> Abel says, "Cain. That table's been moved. Looks like it's been moved to be cover." «Plot-Page» (To: Cain) Slinger says, "You notice something on your thermographic imaging, when you flip back to the mundane world. /That/ area of floor there is warmer than the rest, indicating that whatever is beneath it is different. The tile there, as you look more closely, shows a faint outline of something that might well be a door, though part of it is covered up by a ceiling tile that has fallen from above… or appears to." «Plot-Page» (To: Cain) Slinger says, "Not moved for cover — it's on the other side of the room. But moved to make /room/ for something…" Commlink-Cain> Cain says, "No. The table was moved to access the floor underneath. Theres a… room there or something…" Cain slowly moves over towards the area he commented on, staying at a distance from it as he gets closer to examine it a bit better, trying to discern what exactly it is he is seeing, and perhaps looking for a handle, button, or switch of some sort to flip up the doorway. Perhaps a trap floor, of sorts? «Plot-Page» (To: Cain) Slinger says, "Beneath the ceiling tile — which turns out to have been actually /attached/ to the flooring, and lifts up easily — there is a simple latch. It rotates easily, emitting a soft *click* that nonetheless sounds deafening in the eerie silence of the place." Abel covers Cain, moving into the room with his shotgun up towards the room to make sure there wasn't an ambush awaiting on the other side of the upturned table. Over the comms he asks, «Anything?» Jonah has no idea what has been said over the comms, and with the opaque helmets it is impossible to see if the twins are speaking. Seeing the two move in, however, he assumes an overwatch position by the door, ready to cover either of them at a moment's notice. Commlink-Slinger> Slinger says, "Still monitoring. Checking in. No sign of anybody coming out." Cain glances up to Jonah, before pointing two fingers at his eyes, then pointing down to the floor. He pantomines swinging open a latch, and then points his gun down at it in a 'cover' gesture. He waits to see if Jonah got it, hoping the man would come over and cover the doorway with pistols. If he does, Cain readies his SMG, and throws it open. Or tries to open it. Commlink-Ghost> Jonah says, "Potential contact. The twins seems anxious about something in this room, looks like an old operating theater. Hatch of some sort." Commlink-Slinger> Slinger says, "Be careful. You need me to come down and join in? I just don't want him slipping out the back." Commlink-Ghost> Jonah says, "Keep overwatch. This makhalos isn't slipping away now." The hatch lifts and reveals no leering mage about to leap out behind them. Instead, it reveals a ramp that has been carefully — if unprofessionally — built to slope down into the ground. And beneath, a basement of sorts, once a storage area, but now, with its own lighting, leading off to the north. The concrete ramp provides a way for something to smoothly roll down into the hallway below. Jonah nods to Cain and moves in, pistols aimed at the ground, roughly where the man was pointing. If he understands it correctly, there's a good chance the quarry will come out like a jack in a box… or, put otherwise, shooting really big fish in a very small barrel. Seeing no immediate threat, he nods again to the twins, trying to convey the all clear. «Auto-Judge» Cain (#9240) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 3 vs TN 6 for " Invisibility, base TN4, +2 BGcount.": 1 1 2 2 2 4 5 5 5 = 0 Successes «OOC» Cain says, "Rofl. Or I don't go invisible." «Auto-Judge» Cain (#9240) rolls Willpower + Sorcery Pool: 3 vs TN 3: 1 2 3 3 3 4 4 5 7 = 7 Successes Abel points his shotgun down the hatch, his weapon sweeping slowly before he nods. «Looks clear.» That faceless helmet looks up to Jonah and he taps the side of his head and points overhead. And then followed a gesture to Cain and then pointing in the hole, one twin willing to follow the other into the depths. Cain seems intent on doing something… Of course, nothing happens. Because screw Cain. Then, the young twin takes a breath, and starts to advance down the staircase, gun up and at the ready. For the moment, his senses stay mundane. «OOC» Slinger says, "Actually, you do, Cain. BG count in here is 0." …. Or, Cain goes invisible to most sets of eyes! Yay, Cain! «OOC» Slinger says, "Perception checks again." «Auto-Judge» Cain (#9240) rolls Intelligence for "Same as before": 1 1 2 3 5 8 «Auto-Judge» Abel (#13016) rolls Intelligence for "Low-light, Vis mag 3": 2 3 3 5 10 10 «Auto-Judge» Jonah (#6270) rolls Intelligence for "Low-light, vis mag 3": 1 2 3 4 5 The hallway goes on for a good ten meters. And then, on the left, there is another door. This one is fully closed, with another maglock keypad next to it. Solid red. And a camera over the door, pointed back down along the hallway… «Plot-Page» (To: Abel) Slinger says, "From that room, you can hear something. The rattling of glassware, metal against something more ceramic. If you had to guess, it might sound like when you were in chemistry. The quiet sound of conversation, though the words cannot be made out." Abel stops suddenly and raises a hand in the air. He points two fingers at himself then to the door, hugging the wall. Two fingers are held in the air, likely for Jonah. Commlink-Abel> Abel says, "Voices from behind that door. Two at least, faint. Cain, scout the door, see if you can hear what's being said. At least get under the camera." Cain relies on his invsibility, moving as stealthily as he can to the door as he gets on one side of it, hopefully not getting detected by the camera. He listens, trying to discern whats being said on the other side of the door. The past few minutes had taken the edge off the adrenaline keeping him going, and Jonah was starting to feel the pain of his injuries far more keenly than he had before. All of this suddenly seemed like a pointless wild goose chase, and he was getting to be ready to call it quits. That is, until Abel calls the stop and gives the signal. Two contacts, through that door. He nods his understanding and stacks up with Abel, senses sharpening again, eyes set to full gain. You paged Cain with 'Perception check.'. «Auto-Judge» Cain (#9240) rolls Intelligence: 2 2 3 4 4 5 «Plot-Page» (To: Cain) Slinger says, "You are hearing the clinking of glassware, the sound of voices. Though… several of the voices sound… female? No, not quite. But not the deep voices of a male, definitely. There is still that soft clinking of glassware, and the sound of breathing." Commlink-Cain> Cain says, "Noises from inside. Multiple voices, some sound female, at least one male. I hear a lot of breathing, and … sounds like they are moving glass around?" Cain doesn't move a muscle from where he is pressed into the wall, listening intently to whats going on on the other side of the door. Cain pages: Flipping senses over briefly to astral. «Plot-Page» (To: Cain) Slinger says, "The astral is empty. Clean. Cleansed." Commlink-Abel> Abel says, "Do we bust it down? Or can you think of a way to get it open?" Commlink-Cain> Cain says, "I've got no way to open it. Astral side is cleansed here, though. That mage has worked this place over." Abel flips his his helmet and turns to face Jonah. He moves in really closely so he can whisper. "This place is astrally clean. This is definitely a permanent location and we don't got a way to get that door open. We could use your friend." Because he didn't know any codenames. Jonah nods but says nothing. You've never actually seen him speak into any comm device… His attention focuses on the door, and he seems about ready to go finish this. «Plot-Page» (To: Jonah) Slinger says, "Looks like about the same kind of lock." Commlink-Ghost> Jonah says, "We have at least two behind a locked door. Area has been cleaned astrally, this isn't his first time here. The twins want you down here." Cain waits, silent and invisible (hopefully) at the door as he listens to the conversation as best he can, in case anything flares up on the other side. Commlink-Slinger> Slinger says, "Roger. Coming in." Time passes. And on the other side of the door, the sounds continue. Slinger must be getting his gear out of the vehicle, and then coming in. That is, until footsteps approach the door from within, and the door opens… Commlink-Cain> Cain says, "Contact, approaching door." Cain backs up from the door, raising his SMG but holding fire as he waits to see just who or what is opening the door. Jonah crouches down and aims both pistols at the door from where he is stacked against the wall, ready to let loose. «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls 4 for "Perception?": 4 4 4 4 Part 4: Showdown The door opens, and at the other end of the hallway, a human male comes out. Except one might have to aim weapons down, because the male in question is perhaps five feet tall. And skinny. And looks about fourteen years old. He doesn't see Cain of course, but he also doesn't notice the others down the hallway. Instead, he walks along the hallway, heading further away, toward another door. He opens it, and one can catch a glimpse of a bathroom behind it. The door is swinging closed… about to latch. Cain should have been a salesman, so expert is the way his foot slips into that latching doorway as he holds it open. And peeks inside, trying not to make it obvious he is keeping that door open, and trying to make sure he isn't going to get blasted. Commlink-Cain> Cain says, "Move up, we are going in." Abel stays hugging the wall, and once the door starts to open, Abel raises his shotgun. He checks his fire once he sees the kid. A hand comes up and waves Jonah forwards. Abel moves quickly as he jogs down the hallway, keeping to the wall until he is stacked up with his brother. He taps his brother's shoulder, signifying his readiness. Jonah lowers his pistols the instant he notices the target is a kid. What the actual hell? Things have most certainly gotten very complicated very quickly. He's also through waiting and being careful, booting the door open and going in, weapons raised, ready to fire, dreading what he's about to find in this hidden den. Commlink-Ghost> Jonah says, "Situation is getting complicated. Prep for anything." The open doorway provides a place for the invisible mage's foot, and all is well until the others move down the hallway. All of a sudden, there's a shout from within. A cry of, "Intruders! Get them!" Most definitely a male voice. And that's when Cain gets his first look at the interior of the place. A row of tables, with complicated-looking chemistry equipment on them. Three children, all boys: two orks, one human. All about the age of the one who came in. The children look up toward the door, perplexed as they don't see anything, but then they are moving, getting up in eerie unison to head toward the door. «Plot-Page» (To: Cain) Slinger says, "In astral sight, you will notice something else. There is… some magical aura on the children. An Awakened tattoo on each of them, in the same place — on their left shoulder." Commlink-Cain> Cain says, "Nonlethal on the kids, they are mind-fucked." Cain grunts as the gig is up. The invisible man moves swiftly into the room, ducking behind one of the first row of tables as he does and giving the room a quick scan for other people inside. Jonah boots the door the rest of the way open, and the room is revealed in its entirety. There are three kids, two orks, one human, and they are running at the door. But behind them is another figure, wearing a trenchcoat, and already, he is starting to look at the new arrivals intently… but it would seem that his vision is not in the astral at the moment. Beside where he is sitting is a simple trid display, showing the camera from the hallway. **«Plot-Page» (To: Jonah) Slinger says, "You know that smell. The scent in the room, chemical and yet somehow familiar. Kamakaze…" «OOC» Slinger says, "Room is roughly 6 meters by 6 meters. It's not that big." «OOC» Slinger says, "The kid are probably 2 meters from each other, the other guy about 2 meters from the nearest kid, behind a desk." «OOC» Jonah is going to fire four shots at the only adult target.** It takes only a moment to take in the situation. The smell of the place brings back all the bad memories, and Jonah's mind goes blank. With a growl of pure hatred he unloads into the man sitting behind the desk, all too aware of what's being made here. The Predators spit their answer to this atrocity, heedless of anything else. «Auto-Judge» Jonah (#6270) rolls Pistols + Combat Pool: 4 vs TN 5 for "On hand, first shot, short range, wounded": 3 4 5 5 5 9 14 15 = 6 Successes «Auto-Judge» Jonah (#6270) rolls Pistols + Combat Pool: 3 vs TN 6 for "On hand, second shot, short range, wounded": 1 1 2 2 4 5 7 = 1 Success «Auto-Judge» Jonah (#6270) rolls Pistols vs TN 7 for "Off hand, first shot, short range, wounded": 2 3 3 4 = 0 Successes «OOC» Slinger says, "Okay, Jonah. Guy has partial cover +5, and you're wounded. So TN is 10. 2 hits on the first one, none on the second." «Auto-Judge» Jonah (#6270) rolls Pistols vs TN 12 for "Off hand, second shot, short range, wounded": 1 2 3 9 = 0 Successes «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls Combat Pool: 5 vs TN 4 for "Dodging the first shot! That's close!": 1 1 1 3 11 = 1 Success «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls 4 (body) vs TN 5 for "Wearing some armor, though. 9M": 2 3 4 9 = 1 Success «OOC» Slinger says, "He takes M." Commlink-Ghost> Jonah says, "It's a kamikaze lab. He's forcing the kids to… Die, bastard, die!" Commlink-Slinger> Slinger says, "Frag… that's… that's insane. Wait. How's he getting 'em to cooperate. At gunpoint?" «OOC» Abel says, "Gonna try and manabolt that sucker!" «Auto-Judge» Abel (#13016) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 3 for "Force 5, +0 bg. M damage.": 1 1 2 4 4 5 5 15 16 «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls 6 vs TN 5 for "Resisting manabolt.": 3 3 3 4 4 5 = 1 Success «OOC» Slinger says, "He takes another M physical." «Auto-Judge» Abel (#13016) rolls Willpower + Sorcery Pool: 3 vs TN 2 for "Soaking M": 1 2 2 3 3 5 5 11 22 = 8 Successes «OOC» Cain says, "While invisible, is it possible to move to get a better angle on the dude that negates his cover before shooting? Or helps mitigate his cover?" «OOC» Slinger says, "You'd have to spend a full round action moving. Or rather… hang on. Yes, but you'll get the penalty for target running, because you'd have to either jump over the desk or go around it. Either way, I'll need an athletics check, TN 4. TN 8 if you have to default." Abel jogs up to the door and swears softly to himself as he plasters his back to the doorframe, dropping to one knee and aiming a shot at the human man's center mass… And with the shot lined up he extends a hand and with a whisper of will hurls a blast of mana barreling through the air to slam into the man at the trideo. «Auto-Judge» Cain (#9240) rolls Submachine Guns + Combat Pool: 3 vs TN 7 for "Base TN 4, +5 partial cover, -1 smartlink, -1 target stationary. Burst 1, 10S": 1 2 3 3 4 7 17 21 = 3 Successes «OOC» Slinger says, "I use 'stationary target' to refer to inanimate/unable to move. 2 successes." «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls Body + Combat Pool: 2 vs TN 5 for "Resisting 5S after armor…": 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 11 = 2 Successes «OOC» Slinger says, "He takes S and goes down." The final burst of gunfire sends the mage down, pushed backward in his chair and riddled with bullets. He slumps, unconscious and bleeding profusely. The children, though, shriek! And they run at the Shadowrunners, fists swinging! Cain rises to stand, and as the cloak of invisibilty around him fades, he puts a trio of shots clean into the targets torso. Nothing makes a man ponder living like a gaping chest wound. And this man would be thinking about it hard for the next few minutes til he bled out… Or someone put him out. "Watch the fucking kids! They've got tats controlling them on their left shoulders!" Cain calls. Commlink-Ghost> Jonah says, "They're inked. Frak …" «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls 3 (brawling) + Combat Pool: 3 vs TN 4 for "No FIMM on either side. Kid 1 against Jonah.": 1 2 4 5 8 9 = 4 Successes «OOC» Slinger says, "Jonah, you're at TN 7 due to wounds." «Auto-Judge» Jonah (#6270) rolls Carromeleg + Combat Pool: 2 vs TN 7 for "This Elven nonsense again…": 1 2 4 5 = 0 Successes «OOC» Slinger says, "Jonah, you have… looks like 3M->3D stun coming at you." «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls 3 (brawling) + Combat Pool: 3 vs TN 4 for "Kid 2 against Abel.": 2 3 3 4 5 7 = 3 Successes «Auto-Judge» Abel (#13016) rolls Muay Thai vs TN 8: 3 5 = 0 Successes «OOC» Slinger says, "Abel — you have 3S stun coming at you." «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls 3 (brawling) + Combat Pool: 3 vs TN 4 for "Kid 3 against Cain.": 1 1 4 4 10 17 = 4 Successes «Auto-Judge» Cain (#9240) rolls Muay Thai + 2 vs TN 4: 3 5 5 10 = 3 Successes «OOC» Slinger says, "Cain, you have 3M coming at you." «Auto-Judge» Abel (#13016) rolls Body + Combat Pool: 4 vs TN 2 for "3 Impact armor.": 3 3 3 4 4 7 11 = 7 Successes «Auto-Judge» Cain (#9240) rolls Body + Combat Pool: 4 vs TN 2 for "Last of combat pool": 1 4 5 5 5 8 10 = 6 Successes «Auto-Judge» Jonah (#6270) rolls Body + Combat Pool: 5 vs TN 2 for "8 Impact armor": 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 4 5 = 7 Successes «OOC» Slinger says, "Jonah takes L stun. Puts you at +4 TN." «Auto-Judge» Abel (#13016) rolls Sorcery + 2 + Sorcery Pool: 3 vs TN 2: 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 5 5 9 21 = 11 Successes «Auto-Judge» Abel (#13016) rolls Willpower + Sorcery Pool: 3 vs TN 2 for "Soaking S": 1 1 2 3 5 5 5 7 11 = 7 Successes «OOC» Slinger says, "You have wound penalties, my friend. So that's 6 successes on the dispelling, and 5 successes on the drain test." «OOC» Abel is at 4 boxes full of stun. «Auto-Judge» Cain (#9240) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 3 vs TN 2 for " Dispelling the one Abel started on": 1 3 3 4 4 4 4 7 8 = 8 Successes «Auto-Judge» Cain (#9240) rolls Willpower + Sorcery Pool: 3 vs TN 2 for " Soaking an S drain": 1 2 2 3 4 4 5 8 10 = 8 Successes «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls 3 (brawling) + Combat Pool: 3 vs TN 4 for "Attacking Jonah again!": 1 5 5 5 7 10 = 5 Successes «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls 2 for "Stupid elf martial art.": 5 13 Abel starts to stand as the kid starts running at him. "Aw shit," he mutters as a fist comes slamming into his stomach. He is able to take the hit on his armored forearms and growl. «Dispell on me.» And he swipes at the air in front of the teen, unweaving most of the magic that was holding the child's brain hostage. Cain was assailed by a munchkin! Fortunately, it was… only disconcerting, not painful. As the three kids batter away at the runners, they go about the delicate process of trying not to hurt them. Seeing his brother start on one kid, Cain tries to get the pressure off his twin, and helps. He follows up to wreck the tattoo that Abel already weakened, tearing its effect clean from the kid. «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls 5 (jonah body) + Combat Pool: 5 vs TN 2 for "Soaking 3S.": 1 1 2 3 3 5 5 10 11 11 = 8 Successes «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls 3 (brawling) + Combat Pool: 3 vs TN 4 for "Attacking Cain!": 2 3 3 4 4 9 = 3 Successes «Auto-Judge» Cain (#9240) rolls Muay Thai + Combat Pool: 2 vs TN 4: 1 5 7 10 = 3 Successes «Plot» Slinger says, "Cain has 3M coming at him." «Auto-Judge» Cain (#9240) rolls Body + Combat Pool: 7 vs TN 2: 1 1 2 3 4 4 4 5 8 15 = 8 Successes «Auto-Judge» Abel (#13016) rolls Sorcery + 2 + Sorcery Pool: 3 vs TN 2: 1 1 2 3 4 4 4 4 8 9 16 = 9 Successes «Auto-Judge» Abel (#13016) rolls Willpower + Sorcery Pool: 3 vs TN 2 for "Soaking S": 1 1 1 1 2 3 4 5 8 = 5 Successes «OOC» Slinger says, "That's another M. Puts you at +3 penalty." «OOC» Slinger says, "7 succs is enough to take the spell down past the threshold and make it ineffective. So!" «Auto-Judge» Cain (#9240) rolls Sorcery vs TN 2 for " Dispelling the same one Abel started on.": 1 2 2 3 4 5 = 5 Successes «Auto-Judge» Cain (#9240) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 4 vs TN 2 for " The final Countdown": 1 1 2 2 3 4 4 4 5 5 = 8 Successes «Auto-Judge» Cain (#9240) rolls Willpower + Sorcery Pool: 2 vs TN 2 for " Soaking me an S": 1 1 2 3 5 5 5 7 = 6 Successes The second kid takes a swing, but then, he too is confused and dazed and left reeling, stepping back. It's always hard when the spell ends, especially after being in effect for a while. And a few seconds later, the final kid is suddenly left stepping back, blinking at the runners. "What… what happened? Where did…" One of them looks over at the mage with a horrified look. "Holy drek, he's dead!" "Really? Cool!" "What do you mean, cool? He was… wait… no he wasn't!" "Yeah, he's had us down here for a couple of /months/!" "Frag, I'm /glad/ he's dead!" «"Abel, theres still one outside. In the bathroom."» Cain immediantly moves past his brother, to head down the hallway in search of that 14 year old they'd seen leave, who no doubt had heard a SHITLOAD of gunfire, and was either hiding or going to jump them. Cain finds the last kid cowering, having never gotten the order to 'get them' and attack that he had to blindly obey. He looks up as he sees Cain, and cowers… making that tattoo on his arm even more of a target." Abel turns to the next child and begins pulling away the threads of mana, ripping the active sustained spell that was holding together and ends up falling to one knee. «Ugh… Yeah, you get that one… You got this… Man, are you sure we can't get capes if we are going to be doing this superhero shit?» «Auto-Judge» Cain (#9240) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 2 vs TN 2: 1 2 2 3 4 4 5 11 = 7 Successes «Auto-Judge» Cain (#9240) rolls Willpower + Sorcery Pool: 4 vs TN 2: 1 2 2 3 3 4 5 8 11 21 = 9 Successes Part 5: Aftermath Cain returns with the child, gentle hand on his shoulder. "Its alright." He murmurs to the kid, before urging him into the room with his friends as he looks around. "Hey, you alright?" This is directed to the only person suffering a wound thats NOT stun damage, as Cains opaque mask goes in Jonahs direction. Jonah leans on one of the benches still bubbling away with chemicals, face drawn but set, it seems, in a steel mask. "I'll live." Unceremoniously he dumps the mage out of his seat and kneels down to start rooting through his stuff, checking him for grenades, ammo, nuYen, all that fun stuff. While he does this, he mentions to nobody in particular, but seemingly addressing the kids… "You know, when we're through here, I'm going to look forward to torching this place. Forcing kids to make drugs, that's just all shades of wrong, and if I knew it was going on somewhere else I'd do the same to them as we've done to this joker today." Abel takes a moment to lean against the wall, and take some calming breaths and stop the pounding of his heart in his ears. After a little bit he pushes off and makes his way over towards all the fun chemist equipment and drugs. "Well then," he says out loud, "We don't get to come out of this empty handed." He picks up an empty glass beaker and flips it once in his hand. Cain pauses, and turns to look at the set. "… You know thats not a bad idea." He says slowly. "Dump the poison thats in it. After a thorough cleaning… We might be able to repurpose some of this stuff…" The more talismongering inclined twin muses under his breath as he examines the gear. "… I mean fuck, its almost all the same shit in stations, but its better then the nothing we've got." He looks to the kids, giving them a quick once over. Jonah looks up from his rummaging, casting a look over the kids. "Are you guys alright? 'cause if you are, then I really suggest you scram." Abel starts making a slow walk around at everything, mumbling to himself. "You know…" Abel says slowly as he looks around at everything. "We can split the whole thing between us. Ten sell it, use it, trade it, whatever. I mean, it' pretty fucking bad what this asshole did to these kids, but we could make use of all this. Make something good out of this… Horribleness." Cain glances to Abel, and looks back at the gear. He waits of course until the kids are gone, before he starts rooting around. "Drugs, drugs, drugs…" He mutters, "But a lot of this shit can be dual purposed." He looks to Jonah. "Whats your thoughts?" Slinger comes in about this time. The young mage scowls as he takes in what he sees, and looks at the glassware, and then at the corpse of the mage. And then at the kids, who are looking rather confused, and starting to make noises about going home. About missing mothers and fathers. But the young mage's first order of business is to move to Jonah. The young mage concentrates, readying a spell, even as he reaches in toward the wounds. "Hold still," he says gently to his companion. «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 7 + 7 (power focus) vs TN 7 for "Healing Jonah. TN is 10-Essence (3)=TN 7.": 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 7 7 11 20 = 4 Successes «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 7 + 7 (power focus) - 4 (succs) vs TN 7 for "Healing Jonah. TN is 10-Essence (3)=TN 7. KP 1": 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 4 4 5 5 5 5 8 8 10 33 = 4 Successes Jonah stands up from the corpse, not having found a lot of interest. "Careful around that drek. Smells like Kamikaze, and that's evil shit, smelled it the moment I came in." He wipes his hands on something clean and leans against something again, the mask of his expression softening as he sees Slinger. "This stuff is as dangerous as as a Black Night BTL, it'll kill you just the same, just takes longer. And I don't mean get you addicted and then kill you 'cause you stop caring about anything, I mean it'll just outright kill you. Rots your 'ware from the inside out." «OOC» Slinger says, "The mage had a few grenades left on him, along with a gun that we'll stat up. No foci that you're seeing. A few units of tattooing ink, looks like." Abel is standing amid all the drugs and paraphenelia. "Kamikaze, hrm? I'll be careful then." He takes a long look around before saying, "Simplest way to run things is just split all the kamikaze, all the glassware and anything else floating about four ways." Cain sighs softly and nods his head. "Yeah." He agrees to Abel, before looking at the kids. After a moment, Cain shifts and reaches into his gear, fiddling with a pocsec for a minute. "Here." He says quietly, handing one of the kids a credstick. "Get out of here, and get you boys home, alright?" «Auto-Judge» Slinger (#69) rolls Willpower + Sorcery Pool: 4 vs TN 3 for "Resisting 3S.": 1 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 5 5 5 7 7 = 12 Successes Slinger gently touches Jonah's wounds, and within a matter of seconds, the wounds begin to close. Within ten seconds, the entirety of the damage is healed, and the young mage gives his companion a warm smile, and a clap on the shoulder. "There you go. All healed." He sniffs the air, and then steps back, lighting up a cigarette, while he regards the youngsters. "They can wait here for now. I think they need to be escorted home, and we'll take care of that — or at least hand them over to somebody we can trust." He takes a deep draw on the cigarette; nothing explodes. A few of the chemicals sizzle in their flasks. "We should start by turning all that off, figure out what we can salvage, as well." He glances at the youths, and then says, "Where do you live?" Jonah leans in the moment he feels his wounds heal, and plants a kiss on Slinger's lips, heedless of environment or witnesses. Only then does he permit himself to smile "My knight in shining armor." and turn to the chemicals. He's treating this like defusing a bomb, methodical in his approach. "I'm not touching any of this filth. If it was up to me, I'd burn it all to the ground. I've seen what this drek does to people." One of the boys nods to Slinger's question. "Yeah. I know these two, too. Our parents have to be worried sick!" He pauses at the offer of the credstick, and then nods once. "Yeah. A few thousand should get home home okay," he adds, with a sly grin. Apparently, he's a Warrens kid, and he sticks his hand out toward Cain. Abel nods his head, moving around and turning off bunsen burners, unplugging hotplates and all that fun stuff. And then he would go about sorting the glassware, pulling unused ones off of shelves and setting them in one area and things with chemicals still in them off to the side to be carefully emptied and cleaned later. He glances up to Jonah and Slinger when Jonah speaks. "Giving up your share of the chems then?" He asks the younger of the two elves. Cain looks to slinger, considers his words, and then nods his head. "Sounds good." He says quietly, pocketing the credstick. "Look like you boys have a chauffeur." He says good naturedly, the grin evident in his voie even if it can't be seen through the facemask. Cain seems to have some familiarity with the setup. Sure, it might be a drug lab, but the process is similar to that used to refine materials. Cain glances to Jonah, then to Abel. He sighs softly, "Look dude, I understand not wanting to touch the stuff. I never have. But as Abel said… We can make some good of a shit thing. Or at the very least, a lot of this stuff can be repurposed and sold for other intentions." Slinger gives Jonah a firm, willing kiss, keeping his hand on the other elf's shoulder, his affection clear. This prompts a teasing giggle from one of the boys. "That's gay!" he points out with a laugh. Slinger in turn just grins back at him. "Frag yeah, it is." A smirk, before he turns to the twins. "Either of you two hurt?" he asks, with a tilt of his head. He takes a deep draw of his cigarette, and then shakes his head at Abel's question. "No way. We split everything equally. Either we all agree to sell it, or we nuke it. I don't want anybody resenting anything. Jonah's got a moral objection to the stuff. Me… I personally feel like, somebody's dumb enough to take it, they accept the consequences." He pauses. "I'm wondering what this guy was doing making it, though. It's not something you usually manufacture. There's stuff that's easier to make that's worth nearly as much." He adds, "I do say that we can probably fence a lot of the equipment. I don't know a lot about it, but those centrifuges look nice, and some of the other stuff he has is pretty good quality. I bet we could get a good bit of cred for that, and it's hardly just for one purpose." Abel hooks his thumbs into his jeans, which was the only clothing he was wearing atop his bodysuit, same as his brother. His shotgun had gone back into it's holster at some point. "That doesn't leave wiggle room. It means that one side will be forced to capitulate and breed resentment. If Ghost gives up his share, I think it only fair that it be split three ways. He keeps within his moral guidelines and the rest of us get the loot. He'd still get his cut of the equipment, of course." "If you can make something else out of it, do it." Jonah relents, coming to the end of one bank of equipment, having shut down anything that would cause an explosion in the short term. "I don't know enough about chemistry to be sure, I just know I don't want to sell this poison if I can help it. But a good point has been raised." And at that he turns to Slinger. "Why was this chummer making this, and in these quantities? Almost looks like an industrial order to me. Local gang?" Cain rolls his slender shoulders, letting the others hash out what is getting wrecked and what isn't. He just makes sure all the equipment is turned off. "Not sure. But it looks like he might have been trying to expand his business, given he had his goons set on grabbing three more kids out there before we stopped them." Abel nods his head once as he continues to work on getting things settled away. "Yo!" He calls out to one of the kids. "How many guys would usually come in and out of here? Anything you guys can tell us that might help stop this shit from happening again?" «OOC» Slinger says, "You'll also find some tattooing equipment, some sedatives/knockout stuff, and a total of 6 units of tattooing ink." Cain grins when he comes across the tattoo equipment, "Oh, fuckin' A." He says widely, "I was hoping he'd left his shit here. My kit got wrecked in the fire." He says, only Abel really understanding what that meant. He starts to haul out the gear to go over it, examining what he has. Yeah, Cain got distracted pretty fast. Jonah goes back to the dead mage, doing a second search now that he's more with it and grinning as he finds the grenades and the gun. "Paydirt…" He gets distracted quite quickly as well when weapons and explosives are involved, pocketing the items for now. Is that a grenade in his pocket or is he just happy to see everyone? For the moment, just grenades. Probably. "As soon as those goons think the coast is clear they'll come here either to grab what they can or come back for new orders. I say we give them a surprise when they do." Slinger listens to Jonah's words, and then says to the twins, "Thing is, moral objection sort of thing, it's not enough to just say 'I won't take any of the cut'. His goal is, none of the drug makes it onto the streets. I respect that. Even if it means we might not make as much cred ourselves." He takes a deep draw of smoke, and hands over the pack to Jonah casually as he looks over some of the items, then glances up, interested, as Abel asks his question. The ork kid thinks for a moment, then says, "There were these guys, wearing black and a lot of red and orange. I don't know who they were, but they looked and talked like gangers. Dunno what Gang, though, but I think they said something about taking out the Saints once they had enough of the stuff." He gestures to the chemical apparatus, and then he grins at Cain. "So how about it? Four thousand yen for me and my boys, and we'll go home and not tell anybody anything!" Little blackmailer! «Auto-Judge» Jonah (#6270) rolls Gang Identification: 2 5 22 «Plot-Page» (To: Jonah) Slinger says, "Sounds like one you might've heard rumors of. One just called 'Torch'. They're new, and they like fire." «Plot-Page» (To: Jonah) Slinger says, "You've heard rumors that they're wanting to make a move against the Saints, but nobody's been taking it seriously." Jonah hears the description and just nods. "Sounds like Torch. New players, bunch of anarchist arsonists really, got this thing for fire… This entire burn bright and fade quickly nonsense is right up their alley, so no wonder they're into this stuff. Thing is…" and he leans over to take a cigarette from the offered back, lighting it up and taking a drag. "… they've been talking big about going up against the Saints for a while. But until now, as in the moment I walked through this door, I thought it was just that. Talk. Nobody takes 'em seriously, but if they can pull this shit off…" Abel casts a glance to his brother and shrugs his shoulders. He didn't recognize the gang colours, but then again he didn't know much about gangers. Wasn't much of his scene, really. And then he was looking back to Slinger. "Then it would be his perogative to burn his share, if that's what he wants to do with it. Or he can let people have it who might have use to it." He gestures to Jonah, showing that the decision of what to do with his share is his and his alone. The talk about the gang has this twin looking thoughtful. "So some up and comer that seemingly has some decent financial backing." He taps some of the equipment with a gloved finger. "Cause this shit ain't cheap. There very well might be some back-up showing up sooner or later. I'm pretty sure the chumps we took out are not the only members." Cain lifts a brow as the kid blackmails him. There is a snort, and the man in the FFBA, still holding a submachine gun, with the opaque mask on, moves towards the kid. "Four thousand huh? Sure. But just a warning, it cost us about 10,000 nuyen in time and effort to get in here and bust you boys out. So it sounds like you owe me about 6K, now don't it?" He says good naturedly, reaching out and patting the kid on the head. "Don't worry though. I'll give you a few weeks before I come and look for you. Or, you know what, how about we call it even. You don't say anything, and I won't come looking for you for what you owe, eh?" His tone is more humorous then actually threatening. Slinger grunts thoughtfully, and then says to Abel, "That raises a new thing, though. We sell this drek, pretty soon it might well end up in the hands of those people. They may get it from somewhere, but this drek may be more pure than usual. Or have some other effects. I don't know enough about it to be sure. Personally, I'm not sure I want it falling into the wrong hands, especially knowing what we know. I say we take the gear, but we torch the rest," he states. The kid swallows once as Cain makes his threat, thinly veiled, and then he says, "Okay, okay. We'll just go home. It's not far from here." He looks at the other boys, and then grumbles. "Why couldn't he have given us a tat of something /cool/?" he wants to know, even as he heads for the exit, giving Cain a glance over his shoulder. "You have a way with kids." Jonah smirks at Cain, fairly well amused by the interaction. "And my man here has a point. We sell this stuff, it'll probably end up in the hands of these jokers, and they'll use it to do some serious damage to the local area. I doubt ventilated mage here was the brains of the outfit, but given the way they were protecting him, I'd say they don't have too many mages yet. So we can either find out where the rest of the gang is and go wipe them out for no pay, or we grab the gear from this place, use what we can and sell what we don't, and burn the rest to the ground." Abel watches Cain talk to the kid and just snorts in amusement, looking back to Slinger and Jonah. His face hidden beneath that mask, but he gives the impression that he is frowning as he looks around at all the drugs. He was torn. There was much he could do with those chems… Mostly turn it into badly needed nuyen. Eventually he audibly sighs from inside his mask. "Fine. We'll burn it. So that just leaves everything else, split four ways." The mask turns to Jonah and looks at him through that expressionless visor. "I'm not sure how I feel about working pro-bono. Didn't work well for us in the past, and time is kind of a very, very precious commodity for mages just hitting the scene. If we do help out, we get the right to scavenge whatever else the gang might have, split evenly amongst whomever is helping out, whether it's us four or more than that. If we find a couple hundred thousands nuyen of novacoke or something, I for sure am not burning it for morals. Money might not be much to you two, but Cain and I are kind of struggling as is, and we have some hefty debt to pay off that all that," He jerks a thumb at the drugs. "Would have helped with. That cool? If we are going to team up officially to take down these dudes, turning down the loot means you don't get your share, not that you dictate what others do with theirs. That fair, moving forwards?" Cain watches the kids leave, and just gives them a salute before he moves back towards the others. He listens quietly, and nods. "Yeah. Burn the drugs. Scavenge the equipment." He agrees, before glancing up to Abel and giving his brother a faint grin. "Relax, A. We aren't that strapped for cash, just… have ourselves some debts. I'll be a lot more worried if our benefactor starts going leg-breaker mode on us." He says dryly, before flipping up his visor as he looks to Slinger and Jonah. "I'm all for helping. But like Abel said, we are strapped for time and low on money. Unless we come across a real moral crisis here, I don't feel like burning two pay-days up. This shit I understand, we don't know what exactly its for. But if we keep hitting them, we are going to need it to pay our effort, understand?" Slinger purses his lips. "Right now, we don't got enough info to really go after them." He gives Jonah a warm smile, and a proud look, before he turns his attention back to the twins. He steps forward and holds out his hands to the two of them, one to each. "I like you two," says Slinger warmly. "Thing is, I understand about debts. But you and I talked, Cain, omae. We talked about principles. And the thing about principles is that they aren't real unless they cost you some cred sometimes. I've turned down jobs that I couldn't do. But now I've got a helluva lot of work. You play by some principles with us, and we'll make sure you get what you need, cred-wise." Slinger's smile is warm. "And as for me, I got no trouble with Novacoke. People use that stuff, they aren't so much a danger to anybody else." He glances over his shoulder to Jonah. "That sound fair? Let's grab the gear, and skedaddle. My guess is that the troll and the pair of orks, they won't do much without leadership. They're hired muscle. Even so, anybody who'd capture kids is high on my drek list." Jonah takes another drag from the cigarette, considering his words before speaking them. This is a considerable improvement over the elf that hit the streets a few months back, his thoughts forming like the cloud of smoke he exhales. "Omae…" he begins, and with this he gives Abel that same warm smile. Damned charismatic elves… "Don't get me wrong. I couldn't care less if someone wants to spend a few hours looking at pretty lights and colors or whatever they need to take their minds off… well, all this shit really. But this stuff's evil. This is the chemical equivalent of a… a…" he struggles for the simile, trying to find one that may sound familiar. "… whatever spirit that roams around killing mages for fun. Like a Black IC. Like an overclocked BTL with a kill program. Thor shot on a packed playground kind of evil." Another drag of the cigarette, and he seems to sigh. "But you're right. Going to take out a gang for no pay and with nobody asking us to is a chump's game, that's wageslave nonsense. So we grab the gear, sell it, burn the evil stuff and tell the Saints these dudes mean business and have them clean up their own house. How 'bout? Deal, Omae?" «Plot» Slinger says, "All right. A search of the area finds: a chemistry shop (65K, SI 2) (I'm making that up), 4 offensive grenades (30 =Y=, SI 2), 8 total tattooing ink units (SI 2), A basic Savalette Guardian (900 =Y=, SI 2.5), and a credstick on the mage, certified, with 10K =Y= on it. There's also 200 units of Kamikaze finished (cost 50 =Y=, SI 5). Anything I'm missing?" «Plot» Slinger says, "Add to that, 12 doses of the Narcoject toxin, 150 =Y=, SI 1." Abel listens calmly and quietly before nodding. "We will help you take these assholes out, but all we ask for is the right to scavange. If this shit is really as bad as you say it is? Then yeah… Burn it. But is there a lot more things we might come across that is burn on site? I like you guys. Really, I do. And I'm willing to work with you, but knocking my ass out slinging spells without any chance of a payday is rough. Because if they had this much here? They might have more at some other facility. The equipment, not necessarily the drugs." Cain grins, "No, I get it. I get burning this stuff." He says with a nod to Slinger and Jonah. "If its that bad, then yeah. Lets torch it. But the lighter shit, well. I ain't morally opposed to selling it. Like Slinger said, if someone wants to use it, they will." He shrugs. "Anyway, this sounds good to me. If you guys get the details to go after this gang….? Well, let us know. Probably a good haul just robbing them after shutting them down. Jonah goes around the lab, collecting fulminates, acetates, nitrates and other fun stuff that drug labs usually have laying around in abundance. The way he's smiling as he's getting it all together, there's a good chance it'll be used to create an exothermic reaction at some point. Meanwhile, Slinger is searching the place, and cleansing auras from it. Including any evidence that the team was here. He leaves a trail of cigarette smoke, chainsmoking as he works — but stays away from Jonah at least for the time being. Once that's done, he heads out to move his SUV over, changing the paint job and the license plate while he works. "All right. Help me carry stuff upstairs, and we'll get on the phone to our respective fixers. Either of you guys want to handle that side of things, or should I?" Slinger asks, "Or, should we bring in a mutual friend, somebody we trust?" "If you can, thats probably best." Cain admits, hauling up his share of the load with Abel following close behind. "I trust you not to fuck us over Slinger, you already loaned us stuff with a hell of a lot more then this haul." The twin says with a soft laugh. Part 6: The Fence Slinger gave a call to Nine, and with it, a quiet whisper about some gear he's trying to unload. The young mage's tone is secretive, and he asks for a location where they can meet, rather than transacting things over the phone. «Auto-Judge» Nine (#10584) rolls Safehouse Locations for "Good place to meet up?": 1 2 3 4 11 «Auto-Judge» Nine (#10584) rolls Safehouse Locations - 1 for "Good place to meet up? (KP1)": 1 3 4 4 «Auto-Judge» Nine (#10584) rolls Safehouse Locations - 1 for "Good place to meet up? (KP3)": 1 3 4 8 The time and place for the meeting are set, and Slinger rolls out in the SUV at the proper time. It'll be good to get these things out of the back of his vehicle; even in crates, they are a risk of their own. The young mage finally rolls up to the safehouse location, texts his arrival, and then pulls into the garage after waiting for it to be opened for him. Nine invites Slinger into a safehouse somewhere in the CAS sector where the security rating is not very high, but a few buildings are pretty secure. Then,, she spends a while bug scanning the interior and also astrally reconning the entire perimeter, making sure everything is legit here. Then, when Slinger arrives, she is already back in her body and opening the garage door. Inside is where she hangs, ready to meet up with him when able. Slinger gets out of the SUV, finishing his cigarette, but he crushes it out inside the vehicle. "Got a few items with me, recovered from soebody who is too dead to want them anymore," he remarks. "Beneficiaries are me, Jonah, and the twins." He smiles as he opens up the back of the vehicle, revealing some boxed-up and cleaned chemistry lab equipment, everything from glassware to hot plates to even a spectrometer. A full chemistry lab in the making. "Wanted to see what we could get for this," remarks the elf. Nine was good enough to have the white noise generator running as she closes up the garage door, "Oh? I take it they were some pretty bad people if dead now." Though, her tone does not seem very questioning, mostly conversational because the only people Nine thinks Slinger would end were the very wicked types. Then, Nine moves to the back of the vehicle, tossing a single arm around the elf man to give him a one-armed hug briefly before peeking inside the SUV's contents. "Oh my… well, I am not sure who 'the twins' are. I do not think I have met an actual set in the shadowrunning community. I would… be quite interested, as an actual buyer. Problem is, my cash supply…" She considers the value here, wondering how much this is all worth. «Auto-Judge» Nine (#10584) rolls Chemistry for "Appraising!": 2 3 4 7 8 "Dude was capturing kids, enslaving them by tattooing them with Control Thoughts. Yeah, that's bad enough that even I'll agree with taking him out," says the young mage. "Not a good person. We also got some of his tattooing needles, but those aren't worth much. We managed to free the kids and get them home. Also had a Savalette Guardian. Four offensive grenades as well, but those are chump change, whatever you can get for them. The boys and I were hoping to see what we could get for these." He pauses. "He had the kids making kamikaze. Our suspicion is, for a gang. But we're not sure. Jonah insisted on it being destroyed — the drug, that is. And I kinda agree on that." At the question about the twins, Slinger grins. "They're awesome. I'll introduce you sometime," he says with a smile. "But they're young and eager and need cash." Nine winces when she hears about the guy and what he was doing to the youths, "Wow, what a rat bastard…" Coming from the daughter of a feline shaman, the ratty adjective is a significant one. "Glad you rid the world of such drek, and thank you for doing so." She momentarily considers something, pausing like many people who are crazy upstairs due to ME3 bioware, getting memory flashes, but they only take a second to process fully before she is back here and now. "Would buy the Sav from you, too. I am not very interested in the grenades, so probably will hawk those for you guys and see what we can get for them… and good job on burning drugs. Drek sucks. Wire and I want to make pharmaceuticals the Warrens poor cannot afford, as well as hopefully do dikoting. Though, the dikoting process would require additional tools in conjunction to these here, but baby steps, yeah?" She seems somewhat somber, as if the prospect about the magically-controlled children did not set well with her. "Would really like to meet these people, whenever we can both get together with them, sure thing." Then, she pulls out her pocket secretary and starts calculating totals. Slinger nods. "Yeah. We were just there for the Cybered Arms, when a group of kids playing was attacked. And I'm proud of my companions that they chose to go to the kids' aid." He smiles warmly, and then stretches out his slender form, reaching for another cigarette — but catches himself. Nine after all isn't fond of the habit. He leans against the wall instead, thoughtfully, and smiles to her with a winsome grin. "We'll see what you and your contacts can come up with, I figure. But I thought I'd give you first crack." Nine finally looks up after doing her rather long appraisal, "I would say 70k, for the chem tools, the sav guardian, and the grenades. I will take them all if you would be willing to sell directly to me. Then, we do not have to wait but will maybe need to… rent myself out for slave labor to do this one." Laughing softly, Nine clears calculation data on the pocket secretary, as well as everything else that was ever on there. Her bioware can remember, if the need arises. "I cannot do all money, but I would be willing to work for 50 yen per standard estimated hourly rates." Which means base time! "And, that is 40 yen off my usual labor rate for 420 hours of enchanting, mechanic-ing, and gunsmithing. I trust Jonah lots, cause he is a great guy, and would gladly help him with his surgical needs to pay this off, and also at half price my normal, for any upgrade work he might need done." Slinger considers that for a moment. "As for me… I figure we can work something out. Otherwise, we might need to find a way to get cash for it. I'm not sure how Jonah will feel about it, or the twins… they may want the cold, hard cash," Slinger says with a grin. "Personally, I'm happy to do it, but I would have to ask each of them," says the young mage. "I understand about being short on cash, too." Nine nods, "I got about 50k, which is not already tied up. I can spread that to whoever does not want me working for them." Nine gets out her credsticks from inside her rapid transit suit pockets, "And, I can give those to you right now if they want cash right away, maybe?" Slinger nods slowly. "We'll figure out the details on it. I've got your offer on that, and let me make a few phonecalls." Slinger smiles. "We'll get a decision pretty fast." Nine nods and hands what she has that is not tied up or already promised to the other folks with whom she has done business. "Please, hold onto this here, and then you can give whoever cash right away, should they not want the 50 yen per contract hour. If this does not work out, then I trust you to toss it back." Nine also mentions quietly, "Would like to give everybody 4k in helpful things or even extra yen, even after the initial buy… but that will take time, and will be more like a thank you for the golden opportunity. Speaking of gifts, Christmas time is here. I got one for you." She unzips a suit pocket: ZIP!!! "These twins, would they be awakened like us?" She knows some awakened twins, even though they were not shadow runners, before. Slinger grins. "They would indeed," replies the young mage. "Hermetics, even." He chuckles, and then his gaze is drawn to the suit pocket. "Drat! I didn't think to get things for people." He winces. "I should probably pick up something for Jonah!" He licks his lips. "Quick. Help me think of something!" SUddenly, there's urgency in his voice. Nine pulls out a small white cardboard box, 2cm high by 3cm wide by 4cm long. Then, she hands this over toward Slinger before hmming softly, "Well, I have a whole ton of awesome ammunition. Do you know what kinds he has in stock now? Also, there here is for you," She motions the box toward Slinger's direction, "but giving it to him would not do him much good — for those who can summon watcher spirits." She gets out two more small boxes, "For the twins I will hopefully meet someday soon!" So, early this morning, Slinger meets with Nine at a safehouse. And from there, makes a phonecall, giving the address, and invites the others to a meeting with her to discuss dealing with the equipment we acquired. "She has some ideas that I think you guys should hear, and I'd like you all to meet her. She's a great resource and contact as well." Cain and Abel would show up a while after that phone call, together and likely with their usual getup. Cain with the sunglasses, and Abel with the cap pulled low over his head. When introduced, Cain would nod his head to Nine. "Heard only good things about you." He says politely. Nine stands inside a four car garage that works as a safe house while the white noise generator runs. She has already used a high tech bug scanner to sweep this place, too. She does not know how to get inside the home here, but that will not be necessary for their meeting. Whenever the garage opens, via her pushing buttons, they make sure the back of the SUV is closed up, but then it gets opened again after the garage is not hanging open to the world outside. She seems to be a careful type (borderline paranoid… or maybe even more than borderline *cough*), but amicable right now, with the Ares HD-2 helmet off right now. She has long black helmet hair which goes to about mid back, with kitten grey stripes dyed throughout in vertical fashion for a dual-toned motif. Her eyes are fiery green, too. She has no trouble making eye contact with everyone here. She probably inspects them visually as they arrive, even, in a mundane way. The house in question is located in the suburbs, and Slinger opens the garage door once they arrive, making room for the second vehicle, if any. Otherwise, they are simply invited in, greeted by the blond elf with a handclasp and a touch to the arm as well. "These are the twins. I'll let them decide what names to give you," he says with a grin. To them, though, he says, "I trust her completely," he says simply. "But it's not my information to reveal." While the garage door is open, Slinger lights up a smoke, letting the tobacco scent drift away on the breeze. Jonah arrives fashionably late. This may be due to the fashion he wears… not going to get caught out unarmored again, he's rocking a set of armored clothing draped by a Mortimer greatcoat. True to form, he has his favorite companions with him, the twinned pair of Predator III's that has rapidly become his signature set of weapons. He's already smoking, feigning nonchalance. Nine blushes when Slinger speaks about how great she might prove to be. Glancing toward Cain, Nine offers out a deactivated, dark-gloved hand to him. "and, the same about you. Good to meet you." Abel moves alongside his brother, his little gray flatcap resting comfortably upon his noggin. He looks around curiously as he comes inside. He grabs Slinger's arm with a small grin in greeting before turning those dark eyes of his towards Nine. He raises a hand amicably in the air. "Yo, chummer. I'm Abel. This strikingly handsome fellow to my right is Cain. You but be Nine. A pleasure, We've heard good things." Cain tips his head, grinning at Abels introduction. "Hey." He says to Nina, shaking the hand with one of his own. He grins over towards Slinger, "Well, if you trust her then I trust her." He says simply. "My brother and I are a bit new to all of this." He admits, "So its, good to meet people we can trust." «Auto-Judge» Nine (#10584) rolls Fashion for "Are these Mortimer Greatcoats?": 1 2 5 5 7 Nine waves with her off hand toward Abel and realizes right away the fashion level these fellows wear, as well as the way to tell them apart by the perceptive noticing of which one wears his watch where. She looks to try to also discern whether they have watch-banded skin. This will indicate if they ever shift to the other wrist to throw people off or are consistent types! Cain will find that Nine has the kind of grip a working woman does, with strong hands that are no stranger to physical labor. She then lets go and waves toward Jonah and then Abel with a smile before ensuring the garage door is completely down. Parnoid much? "Did you get your Christmas presents? And, thank you for trusting me. That means so much… I wanted to buy the chem lab, the Sav guardian, as well as the off grenades for about 700020, and I assume you guys would split that four ways. Unfortunately, I only have 50k that is — now in my hands again —" says she when Slinger hands it back to her gloved handpaws. She laugh softly, "But, I lack 20k more. I know how to gunsmith, mechanic, electrician, and enchant… so was offering to do that sorta work at 50 yen per standard contracted hour…" (aka base time), "Instead of the 90 yen I normally charge… if anyone needed any 'slave labor' done." Nine mentions softly in her clear voice, "So, I guess the first question is… would you sell to me? And if so, who wants money and who wants slavery?" "I haven't yet given them to them," replies Slinger, with a warm smile. He chuckles at Nine's mention of slave labor, while he reaches into his jacket to pull out the gifts. "Close your eyes and hold out your hands," he tells the twins affectionately. And he turns to them, waiting until they are ready, before he places the items into their hands, one into each. Abel glances towards Cain, Nine, Slinger and Jonah before looking back to Nine. He seems to be struggling to /not/ say something. After a moment he says, "My brother tends to handle our spending, and most of the enchanting work. So you'd have to talk to him about all that. I'm just the pretty face, ya know?" He grins. Jonah cross his arms across his chest and leans against the wall next to the garage door. "I'll happily state here and now that I trust you completely. The violin is exactly what I asked for, and as far as I'm concerned that buys future business. You know what I'm looking for. And consider my share of the lab as downpayment." Cain curiously looks towards Nine, "Christmas…?" He trails off when Slinger chimes in, and Cain gives the man a look for a moment, before he closes his eyes with a faint grin. The elf drops the box in, and Cain opens it to look at curiously. As he looks, he is already addressing Abels comments. "Yeah. I tend to be uh, the more work motivated." He says with a grin. He does perk up a bit at the mention of enchanting work. "Hmm. Do you have your own shop…?" He asks slowly, "Because if you do… I might call it even if you let us make up for it in shop time. I'm still learning the actual process. I've never run a circulation without my mentor around, so… It'd be nice to know you were around, but I just don't have access to a shop yet." With the business out of the way, he opens the box and looks down at it with interest. Once he opens it… he just stares a bit longer. A glance is fired Abels way, to see if he solved the mystery… Abel was the Conjurer, after all. Slinger then strides over toward Jonah and nudges the elf with his shoulder. "Don't think you got forgotten," he says with a grin. "This is from both of us, but I figure you can make use of these. There's more in your stocking, but this is the fun stuff." He leans in to give Jonah a kiss on the cheek. "Merry Christmas, love," he says affectionately. Abel belatedly closes his eyes and holds his hands out, because he missed Slinger's pose. And then he opens his eyes once he gets a box. "Oh.. thanks." He looks a bit awkward accepting the gift. It was painfully obvious he didn't have any gifts. And so he works on opening the gift and peeking inside. "Oh! Hey! Sweet!" Jonah drops the nonchalant act for a moment to return Slinger's kiss, and opens the package with a shake of his head, smiling. He's expecting something… well, trivial… and then his eyes behold the actual contents. The elf's expression goes from amused to a curious mixture of astounded and excited, like a kid on christmas finding out that the flat shape isn't just another sweater but indeed that flatscreen pocket computer. Reaching in, he extracts a singular item. Turning between his fingers is one of the most evil rounds ever conceived, a copper jacketed piece of compact nastiness the size of a handgun round with a singular point extending from the flared and truncated neck of the casing. APDS. "Oh hell yes…" Nine smiles brightly when Slinger hands out the Christmas presentry, then tells Abel, "Noted, and I bet you are more as a person than just pretty, but pretty you definitely are!" She speaks quietly but an energetic demeanor supports every word. Jonah's praise makes her blush even more, "Thank you, so very much, Jonah… I really do appreciate this." She actually zooms over to hug the young stylish elf, pretending to bear hug him but does not really rough him up. She will not torture him this way for too long, letting go if the silly gesture seems undesirable. Also, to not be in the way of further kissing (but Nine was nice enough to hug on the side, and maybe even snug Slinger, too). "So, if Jonah wants me to work for him, then that means there is 50k on the table as well as 50.5ish work hours for anyone who wants them. As for an enchanting shop, no… I have to borrow at this time, access to one for my own work, but I can direct you to those folks if you would like to inquire with them. Slinger watches with a grin that goes from ear to ear, almost manic, as Jonah opens the package — and that moment when he realizes what he got. He claps his companion on the shoulder, and grins. "Use those for good," he tells Jonah with a playful grin. "But sometimes, you just need the extra firepower." Gently, he leans in to deliver a gentle kiss to the elf's cheek once again, before he turns back toward Nine. "So. You and I work together on a lot of things. You know as well as I do that having more conjuring mats is never a bad thing. And I bet the twins could use some, too, as well as access to the summoning circles. Just to start with." Nine notes, "I can definitely grant access to the summoning circles, as well as give you guys enchanting materials to help cover some of this, too." Abel pulls the summoning material out of the box for a moment to give a close look at it before slipping it back int the box, which disappears into his pocket carefully. "Thanks, Slingy. That is awesome of you." He offers a wide, honest grin to the older of the two elves. Back to nine, the teen with the flatcap gives a sly little wink. "Please, you flatter me. But believe you me, it's really just the pretty face." Jonah puts the round back in the box, seals the box and tucks it away. Nine gets a hug, Slinger gets another kiss, and then he's back to business. Maybe it was the sight of that ammo, possibly it was an idea he'd been toying with for a while, but now he has an opportunity. "You are a gunsmith. I know you're a good gunsmith, and I'm a bit of a dabbler myself. How far do your resources stretch? There is something I've been meaning to do…" Cain slowly nods his head, grinning at Jonah when he sees how much the man enjoys his gifts. "Thanks for these." Cain says, once he realizes what they are. He glances to Abel, and then his own gift disappears into a pocket as well. Cain can't help but roll his eyes at Abels words to Nine, before he continues on track. "I think access to the materials, and the circles, would be more valuable to us then your labor. Not that we don't appreciate the work, but we are still learning from doing things ourselves. Or at least, I am." Cain says with a grin at his twin. Slinger gives Abel a lopsided grin. "I dunno. The rest of you's pretty as well. Back, and legs," he says, a gentle reminder of the massage the night before. But even so, the young mage is being playful, but then he takes a clue from Jonah and goes back to business. Though he pauses, and then nods once. "I actually do have something for you guys," he says simply. "Something for emergencies, once you get some healing abilities. Or if you already have them," he says simply. He reaches into his greatcoat for a small box, and then takes out two of the items. "Go ahead. Assense them." "Yeah, he's the brains and all the hard work." Abel grins as he jerks a thumb to his brother. "But yeah, access to a circle would be fucking great. You'd need to expect me to show up with a wheelbarrow full of dirt every once in a while." When Slinger gets flirty, Abel just rolls his eyes in amusement and gives a shake of his head with a small smile. His attention more so focuses on the little pair of boxes and shifts his gaze to assense them. He let's out an impressed little whistle. Nine is way too perceptive to miss the eye rolling in the same room, and she goes bug eyed momentarily and her breath catches. She lets go of Jonah and clears her throat as she takes a step back, looking like a space cadet briefly before recomposing once more, but not until after blinking twice. "Let me know in whatever way is most comfortable for you what you desire. I have shops for almost every weapon type… even a melee shop that is not yet set up." says the green-eyed woman. She looks back to Abel with a cute snort, "Hardly." Wow. The crazy lady will not give up trying to convince him! She nods toward Cain, "Definitely. I can get you access to 10th grade circles, and I have some tin with which you can make elly and watcher materials. Or, I can give you some already-made elly materials. I fully support folks learning how to do things." Laughing softly, Nine looks to Slinger with a tiny smirk about the compliments the other mage gave Abel. She steps back to the side to form a convo square, and then says softly, "Right now, I have 41 elemental cookies. 52 refined tin, and 54 raw herbs." Cain jerks a thumb at Abel, "He is the one to talk to about Ellie stuff." The twin agrees readily, before lifting a brow curiously. "-10th-" he repeats slowly. He looks to Abel, then back to Nine. "Damn. Yeah. Thats uh, thats definitely a little above what we've got." Chalk. They've got chalk, and a wisty look in their eyes that they might one day have their own circle. When Cain takes the foci from Abel, he too examines them. And he whistles low. "Well." He says, grinning up to Slinger. "Thank you. These will be… probably very helpful. There have been a number of times I've wanted something like this." Jonah looks between the mages, entirely lost at sea. He doesn't understand half of what they talk about, and decides it's time to drop something in the conversation to stump them for a change. "I've been looking at the Barrett, but the 50 cal overpenetrates and I don't fancy hunting around for the round anyway. Walther has a good balance, but it has no style. I'm not going to choose, I'm going to make my own, chambered for three-oh-three. Think you can help with that?" Nine grins about the wistfulness, "We can go tour the location where those are, and you can tell me what you think." She always loves showing that place off. Then, Nine regards Jonah with a thoughtful gaze, "My ass— ex boyfriend has a firearms facility. I could give you his phone number if you promised not to… tell that guy who told you and how you got the number and all those things… as for actual design, I have some computers that can hold most designs, and also know other tricks to help with design engineering. Sadly, needing a fac is the big hurdle in firearm design." Abel slips his hands in his pockets as everyone chats about different things, and he seems to be having trouble quite following everything, and so he keeps mostly silent for now, enjoying watching and listening. The gun talk in particular though just seems to bleed out of his ears. Slinger chuckles at Abel's eyerolling, and leans against the wall. His grin makes it clear that, from his end, it's all simply good-natured teasing, friendly-like. Though there is, of course, a flirtatious element. He nods once. "Heck, I might take my cut in Conjuring mats," he says. "I know how to make 'em, but they're, well, a pain in the ass." As Nine refers to her ex, the blond mage can't help but chuckle. "Sounds like you two get along well," he drawls. He shifts his stance, idly reaches for another cigarette, and grins at Jonah. "You're sexy when you talk firearms. You get all excited," he says playfully. Jonah grins in return to Slinger. "I just really, really need to shoot someone, and I want to make the weapon that does it with my own hands." He gives a wink and leans in for a whisper, just too loud to be private. "It's an elven thing." Cain lifts a brow curiously to Nines offer to Jonah, but he lets them hash that out as he grins over to Slinger, "Yeah, we've never really had the time to start focusing on that. We were planning on getting geared for enchantments before we pushed down that road ourselves." The young twin says, eyeing the foci he'd been gifted. "So you made these yourself, Slinger?"