5punk

I can apparently upgrade my Urban Explorer Jumpsuit with a helmet at a cost of 50Y - so I think I'll do that to protect from Ghoul juices.

I'm also going to look at getting a Lined Coat (6/4, availability 2, cost 700Y)

*Outside the diner, lighting up another red apple with his old zippo*

Frank, to everyone else wrote:Hey, in case Pastukhov fouled up sending my details, here it is again

quick burst of tecno-gadgetry to everyone's PAN later -

Frank wrote:Leland, if you don't need to buy anything gimme a shout when you get close, I'll head over to the shop and let you into the armoury.

I am right in thinking Doggers and Roman said yes to heading over to my place for polishing their weapons (tee hee) aren't I? If so...

Frank wrote:I take it this limo isn't yours chopper...

Yeah, I'm going to make it that stacking armour up means you use the best rating, plus a little bonus, depending on the situation. Not sure what the bonus will be exactly yet, I need to work that out a bit first. Probably wont be much, but better than nothing.

As far as buying gear from the shop is concerned: Ive done all the maths/dice rolls, and everything is available at the shop, at a 10% discount, except for the Mortimer Greatcoat, which will take "a day, maybe two" for them to get, as they don't have one in stock. Oh, and the medkits/antidotes wont have the discount.

Joose, I take it asking the guys to shop is okay? I don't want to cheat their chances of finding better armour/weapons if they want they stuff.

Yeah, absolutely. Half of SR is who you know, so take full advantage of things like this.

Also, to work out plans to correctly blow up the lift shaft and stop the clinic collapsing, what tests do I need to roll on? An extended demolitions/logic one for working up a plan, and then when we're there in the facility a test versus the concrete of the lift shaft as if it was a barrier?

Correct on the plan part, its an extended test, Demo + Logic (10, 30 mins). As for the test when you actually get in there, it probably wont just be a barrier test, but I'll work that out before you get to it.

Just so you know, Pastukhov shook your hands, and as you left, you could see him talking to the orc lady, who was leaning over into his booth.

Right, I've gone to my pad and loaded up my pistol and am heading toward the shop. I don't think I'll be buying anything at Frank's shop mostly because my pistol is a last resort kind of weapon so it's not really worth spend much money on. But there might be other things worthwhile, who knows.

Chopper wrote:The limo isn't mine. but I do make a mean chauffeur.

Right then, let's head off to yours then Frank. I don't suppose you've got any grenades knocking about have you?

Heh, I was going to ask if Frank had any weapons that use the unarmed combat skill (which I have at a decent level for use with touch based spells) but the damage of all melee weapons is based on STR/2, and my STR is 2 so it'd be pointless. At least my death touch spell has basically no drain and good damage.

I think as soon as you guys are all kitted up we should head over there and do some recon, or if you want I could head over there ahead of you guys.

Calm down deej, you might be there 2 days before we set out, we might be waiting on pantsu's fancy jacket. Epic post go -

Frank wrote:Right, lets get going. Chopper, if you want grenades I can get you grenades.

*a few minutes later*

Frank wrote:Right, here we are. That entrance there is into the shop. I wired ahead your orders and the only thing they don't have is your greatcoat Al. So we could hold off until that arrives or you could get some other less fancy stuff, it gets here in a day or so, so that'll give us time to recon if you want to wait for it, but it might just end up covered in ghoul juices anyway.

I'm going round the corner through the delivery entrance. Don't worry about your car here Al, the gangers know they'd get wiped out if they tried to even scratch it.

Frank wrote:Hmm, vid message from Leland...

...Right he's on his way over, so we should be able to get a plan together soon, tell the cashiers to buzz me when you're done shopping and I'll walk you through to the back.

*wanders off around the corner lighting another red apple with his old zippo*

Frank, to generic security guy wrote:Hey Jim, hows things? Good stuff, the missus feeling any better? Great! See ya later.

*swipes maglock and presents eye and palm for retina/dna scan*

And I'm in the warehouse and have walked over to my armoury cage.

*presents embedded micro rf transponder in wrist to another scanner*

Sexy female computer voice wrote:Hi Frankie, great to see you again!

Frank wrote:Hey grace, anyone been trying to get into my cage?

Sexy female computer voice wrote:No Frank, it's been quiet as usual.

Frank wrote:Great, stick on the radio would you, nothing too noisy, just enough to drown out the trucks out there.

Sexy female computer voice wrote:Sure thing frankie!

*generic pop-rock stuff flows through the speakers as Frank sits down and transfers the map of the facility to a 3d holo modeller on his bench, lighting up another red apple with the zippo and pulling a battered notebook from a drawer*

/epic post

I'll call Frank from outside the shop and make sure I'm in the right place and all.

Leland, to Frank wrote:Hey Frank, it's your new mage friend I see my guys in there, where are you at man? You in back or something?

Frank, to Leland wrote:Hey, head on into the shop and I'll come and pick you up from there. There's less security gates to pass through that way. I'll need you to all wear a crappy visitor badge thing when you're out the shop or armoury, but I can have that sorted in seconds. See ya in a couple.

*turns off 3d holo-projector and puts his battered book back in the drawer, then heads out the armoury*

Frank wrote:Ok grace, lock it up, I'll be back in a few.

Grace wrote:Sure Frankie, I'll miss you!

*heads toward shop*

Leland heads inside and says a greeting to both Al and Chopper, not shouting it out, but loud enough to hear it from the door Leland has just come in. He wanders the aisles aimlessly waiting for Frank to grab him.

Al wrote:*whistles* Nice place you got here Frank. Looks like I'll be enjoying working with you, at least until we leave your shop. Don't worry about getting the coat messy - it's chemical proof. Wipes right off. If we're in a rush though I can make do.

*wanders into shop*

Frank, to Al wrote:I was lucky enough to catch up with an old friend, he put me on to the man who's set-up this is and he hired me after I showed him how I intended to run his armoury. You may have seen his adverts on the trid, Jericho Helbourne? Kinda name that suits his profession really, asshole personality to go with it.

Frank wrote:You pick which grenades you wanted Chopper? They're all out back for safeties sake, so I'll introduce you to them in the armoury if you decided to buy some.

Frank wrote:Leland, head over here with me and we can start on the passes. Just state your name into that box and place your hand on the glowing scanner, standard voice print and dna thing. It's all secure and will remain on the server unless you want it removed when you leave. All weapons go through that scanner there, you pick them up the other side of the door. We'll get you sorted now, the guys look like they've nearly got everything sorted with the sales staff.

As he puts his hand on the scanner, Leland looks over at Frank.

Leland wrote:You sure you can completely erase me from your database? If there's one thing I've learned it's that you can never be too paranoid about leaving a trail. No offense Frank, but I'd feel safer knowing that it'll be gone when I am.

Chopper wrote:Frag nades - definitely the best against soft targets, and in my experience these guys aren't usually armoured. Usually. Five would be good, but whatever you can get your hands on really. I've got flashbangs but they're no good for this job.

Also rope. I need rope. I want to run an idea past you all. I call it 'Ghoul Fishing'...

It would also appear that I already have a helmet, so I don't need to bother with another one. I also seem to have thermographic vision and a respirator (don't know if they're built in to the helmet or worn separately).

Frank wrote:Leland, I've had opsec drilled into me from my first days of boot camp. It would be me removing you from the database because I wouldn't trust anyone else to do it. If you're not comfortable we can go to the pub down the road, it's quiet and I could set up a similar thing to the dampener that Pastukhov had. Think about it whilst I talk to Chopper about his frag fetish.

*wanders over to Chopper*

Frank wrote:Chopper, you're not meant to have them so I'll just have to bury your name in some forms somewhere and who actually gets the grenades is lost in the filing. There's ways and means but if you want them, you'll get them. Lonestar take a very dim view toward military kit attached to 'runners but I know you'll keep 'em hidden.

As for rope, we've got loads of different types and it's sold in I think ten metre lengths. If you want to fish then we have grapple systems that retract the rope with an electric motor, allows the rope to be pulled back whilst your not even next to it. It sounds like you're going to try something crazy, but crazy sometimes works so I'm listening.

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Chopper wrote:Right then, my thoughts for 'Ghoul Fishing':

Despite what you may think, I'm not crazy about wandering straight into the building to go toe to toe with these fucks. It's going to be inevitable, but we can at least try and thin their numbers out a bit first. This is where the fishing comes in.

First, we need some bait. Now we'll have to decide what type of bait to use first - alive or dead. Ghouls prefer dead flesh, but we might struggle to get our hands on it (although I do know a shady street doctor, I doubt he could get much). In which case I'm thinking live bait - ghoul sniffs out a potential, but we're ready and waiting.

Next, the rope. It's good that you mention the electric motor as that could work even better. My plan is that we stick someone in a harness, let the ghouls wander out, then we can zip 'em back if they start getting a bit too nibbly. Advantage is that we can draw at least a few ghouls out of there and isolate them. We'd need to be quick though.

Obviously that isn't going to work for long before the rest of them get suspicious, but we should be able to thin them out a bit before aggravating the whole building.

Question is, who gets to be the bait? I'm thinking either me, because I can defend myself if things get hairy, or Al because they'll probably see him as an easy meal.

Leland wrote:Frank if you're as trustworthy as I think you are I don't have any problems.

He does the voiceprint thing and the hand scanner while listening to Chopper's idea. When he mentions the bait, Leland pipes up.

Leland wrote:Hey now, poor Al would just be proper fucked out there alone, I mean you saw how he handles a gun, pretty much like I do. At least I can get down and rumble if I need to, and you guys haven't seen me in any close up action yet. I don't like the prospect of getting chewed on by some ghouls, but I'm pretty sure I'd fare better than Al would. No offense man, but you'd really be bait. I don't want to do it, but if you're going to send him in there, I'd rather go myself.

Speak of these ghouls, I'm pretty well certain that they give off at least some kind of astral signature. I think I should do some astral recon. If you guys are going to be busy here for a while, I might go ahead and do that.

Chopper wrote:Hey, I'd love to be the bait, just exploring all angles. I've got all the gear I need. I've got plenty of pockets in this coat, so the grenades will be nice and discreet - right up until the point they go off.

Leland, this astral stuff - how close do you need to be for it to work? If you need to be close I'll head over to the building with you. I'll also see if I can pick up anything on the thermo.

Leland wrote:Nah nah it's not like that. Once I am in my astral form I can zoom around at will, wherever I desire. Almost. You guys can chill here and make sure no one kills my physical body while I make with the fairy dust and zoom 'round. I can't quite say how long it'd take me, but it can't be too long. Or if you'd rather tag along I could stay in the physical world and try and just see things astrally instead of the whole out-of-body thing.

Depends if he is talking astral perception or astral projection. Perception is just, basically, looking in astral space. You are still looking out of your eyes, you are just seeing the astral realm of whatever you point your head at, rather than the physical.

Astral projection is a whole other thing. It involves going into a kind of trance, whereby your astral presence (what you might think of as your spirit or consciousness) leaves your body and goes for a wander through the astral realm. AFAIK, there is no maximum range to this, other than barriers and the like, although you do actually have to travel. This means that if you want to perceive something thats a half hour away, it'll take a half hour (ish) for your astral presence to get there.

One thing to note is that you are not untouchable whilst in astral form: spirits, dual natured beings and other astrally perceiving/projecting mages can duff you up whilst you float about. You can fight back, of course, and magic still works, but the only gear you take with you is any foci you have.

One other thing I think I should point out: A lot of guns and such are strictly illegal, and a big gun shop like you are in is a bit of a legal grey area, at best. Normally, the shop owner slips certain people a little nuyen and Lone Star turns a blind eye. As long as the less than legal parts are kept on the quiet, its ignored.

5punk

The Second Forumised Shadowrun Adventure