Arcticus

cyberdog stealth check

Phantom The Red Wraith waves a hand over the blurry, static-filled screens. One by one, the images on the screens clear up, the pictures sharpening until you can see three distinct images of the interior warehouse. Each camera has 3 view modes: normal, infrared, and night vision. The first camera is in Cormac's office, with a somewhat unique viewing angle. Rather than being mounted up high for better sight lines, the camera looks to be hidden on a desk, pointed directly at the main terminal across from it. The camera is set back on a desk, obstructing your view of the floor, but you think you can make out some rubble and the vague outline of a body. The second and third cameras each have a different view of the main warehouse floor. The second is set up high in the corner near you and Bang, while the third is placed just as high, in the corner of the other side of the loading bay doors. These cameras seem to have an extra feature of motion tracking. Little square boxes outline your comrades as they move about. Another box appears right below the camera and the camera zooms out to accommodate it. It's slowly moving toward Bang. In the camera's normal optics, you can't see what is happening, but after switching it to infrared, you see the unmistakable heat sig of a stalking cyberdog. Ram It's clear the only way through this window is... well, through it. With force. You raise your fist back, and slam it forward like a sledgehammer through the glass. If a human tried this, they'd probably break their hand, but the force of your punch shatters the pane. Shards of glass bounce off your skin and fall to the floor below. Harry & Wesley You suddenly hear the shattering of glass above and you see Ram's fist come smashing through the window pane. Large shards of glass come falling toward Harry, which he scrambles out of the way to avoid. OOC Harry needs to make an evasion save against the falling glass. Bang Bang hears the slightest clack sound from somewhere off to her left in the deadend. Whipping her head around, her vision is filled with a bright thermal signature of a stalking cyberdog. Stalking along the wall a mere 4 meters away, the dog leaps at your throat the second you see it. You twist out of the way enough to avoid it's jaws clamping down on your throat, but it brings its blood-stained cybernetic claws to bear against your chest. Cyber Doggo

Wesley & Harry Neither of you see any movement in the dead end. There's a streak of blood leading from the corner of the shipping containers to the dead elf. You notice a number of bloody pawprints, boot and shoe treads, and blood spatter on floor. It looks like something out of a horror trid. The light from the parking lot illuminates the entry way, your bodies casting shadows on the wall of containers in front of you. The air is stale, reeking of death. You see no immediate threats as you enter. Your adrenaline-fueled hearts break the silence of the warehouse. Phantom A misty ethereal orb starts glowing in the palm of the Red Wraith. Little ones and zeroes scatter out from it like a fountain bubbling over. The Red Wraith lifts up its hand, pointing it at the shadowy Demon. A pulse of light, and the orb races out, striking the Demon. It contorts and glitches, before ultimately derezzing. Bang As you enter, you can see the faint glow emanating from the elf's corpse through your infrared filter. It's subdued, especially compared to the hot and bright outlines of your comrades, but the heat is still visible nonetheless. Your tactical optics filter highlights the body, scrawling text just above it: Target: Elf, Male | Status: Deceased In your peripherals, you see a brief flash of a heat signature on the other side of the containers in one of the gaps. It's gone before you can turn your head to look. You think it might have been going toward the loading bay doors, but it happened so quickly you're not sure. Ram From your vantage point, there's still no signs of movement. The same flickering lights, the same dimness and dark recesses.

Phantom The Red Wraith walks toward the hellish-looking firewall and the flames start sputtering out at it's center, spiraling around and around until the entire wall is all but flame-free. A simple door appears in the brick wall in front of the Wraith. It opens as you draw near and plunge into the dark portal. On the other side is a dark, windowless room, but all along the sides are holographic screens playing back what the cameras are seeing. You see glowing circuit-like connections that connect to the five cameras you saw outside, but there are three additional cameras that you can now see that appear to be capturing footage inside the warehouse. You see portals leading to these three new cameras and another portal on the opposite side of the room labeled "Office Terminal". Before you can do anything, a shadowy figure emerges from one of the corners. It's red eyes stare at you, and you see a faint glimmer of matrix-like web behind it. You recognize it immediately. A Renraku Tripwire Demon. Based on the web, you'd guess it's a Trapper. It wordlessly moves toward you. Network Map Demon Ram The window in front of you is a solid pane of glass, one you could easily break, but otherwise no other openings you could easily exploit. Inside the warehouse, you see every other overhead light on, casting a dim light that barely seems to reach the floor below. In some places, all the lights are out completely, plunging the entire area into darkness. From your vantage point, you can see the metal stairs leading up to the second floor office and along the metal landing in between and on the stairs themselves, you think you see bodies. The lights occasionally flicker, but otherwise it seems like a ghost town—or a graveyard—in there. For just a second, you think you see a flicker of movement in the center of the room, but it's gone before you can focus on it. You wonder if you actually saw it or if your eyes are playing tricks on you. Harry You hear a small beep as the card reader flashes green and you hear and audible clunk as the door unlocks, followed by a soft shush as the door slides open. A squalid stench assaults your senses as the smell of death crashes over you. It's dark in there, the lights over this particular area don't seem to be on, but the light from outside spills in illuminating the entryway. Immediately in front of the door, a mangled corpse of an elf—decked out in black tactical gear—lies torn apart on the ground, his arm stretched out toward the door. You can see a wall of shipping containers immediately in front of you. Forcing you to go either left into a dead-end corner at the back of the building or right toward the front doors. OOC Welcome to the first cyberspace combat! Everyone roll initiative.

Ram's notice check

Phantom sees the red light on the camera wink out for short period of time. Enough for her team to reach the blind spots easily. Through her virtual eyes, she sees connection points for five cameras, the same ones Bang noted in her patrol around the perimeter of the warehouse. They are all interconnected with one another. You also see a sixth object in the virtual space, a massive brick wall with an inferno engulfing it. Red, yellow, and orange lick against the brick wall. It looks sturdy. All is still quiet as you all sit, waiting with bated breath to enter the warehouse. OOC This is what you can see of the network thus far. The firewall blocks your access and your vision in. Ram sees a set of windows, up near the roof, just off the side of his projected path to the roof.

Bang stalks up to the building with practiced steps, avoiding the areas she thinks the cameras would be monitoring. All around her a stillness lies on the night air as she approaches the wall closest to the street. There are lights on in the nearby warehouses, likely skeleton crews on the night shift, but the other warehouses are far enough away that there's little chance of a random bystander seeing everyone. Bang presses up against the wall and slides underneath the street-side camera. The camera is mounted over the front door and seems to be a static camera, fixated only on the area in front of the main door and a little of the street. Bang is fairly certain that the camera is indeed on and working, noting the faint red LED light on the underside blinking in regular intervals. Hugging the wall as she goes, Bang starts a circuit around the building noting everything she sees. The cameras all appear to be static, focused on only their respective areas. Everyone except maybe Ram could avoid exposing themselves cameras while entering if they press up against the walls. There are no access points outside that Bang can see. There is a trail of blood leading from the western door to a spot in the parking lot where it abruptly stops at an empty parking space and turns into a skid marks leading back to the street. On the back side building by the loading docks, Bang notices there's a maintenance ladder providing access to the roof. The doors are definitely high-grade metal and look solidly built. Beside each one, a RFID card reader sits next to it, a red and green LED light signifying access status. Everyone can see light spilling out through the high windows that sit just beneath the roof of the warehouse on all sides. It seems like there are a few overhead lights on over the main floor. Apart from all of that, there is no noise or evidence of movement coming from inside or outside the warehouse.

Wesley reaches out through his contacts, and it's Sovereign who refers him to Dwarf fixer named 'Monk'. Monk has a fleet of loaner vehicles available for shadowrunner teams of any caliber. Normally, these loaners come with a high rental fee—not counting 'rental insurance' fees—but Monk is willing to do this one pro bono as a favor to Sovereign—provided the van gets back in one piece. About 30 minutes after discussing the terms with Monk, a driverless GMC Bulldog comes rolling to a stop a few meters away from your location. The drive over is uneventful, the clubbers are still getting ready for their Friday night fun and all the day-shift workers have long since been home. You see planes descending down through the dusky sky as you drive toward SEATAC and the mafia warehouse. It's a quiet and peaceful night, one of the few that Seattle gets anymore. Unnamed Warehouse near SEATAC - Tacoma It's pushing 8:30PM when you finally pull onto South 208th Street and park the van at just at the corner. Several hundred meters down on the opposite side of the street, the concrete walls of the warehouse sit lonely and quiet. The warehouse itself nestled in between 3 other warehouses with ample space between each. Apart from the occasional car passing by on 24th Ave behind you, you could believe you're the only people in the area. It could be the fact that it's nighttime and everyone has gone home for the day, but everything just feels... empty to all of you. You'd expect there to be night guards, or the night shift workers out on a smoke break, but you see none of that. Most of the industrial road is dark, adding to the ambient stillness, only the occasional streetlight breaking up the gloam. Waiting and watching, none of you see any guards, warehouse workers, or even the odd stray dog wandering around. There are some lights on in the warehouse—as well as a few cars in the parking lot—but otherwise you see no signs of activity on the grounds.

The Johnson looks at Harry. "Twenty-thousand nuyens on job completion." He produces a credstick from inside his jacket and waves it Harry. It's old and worn, definitely well-used. He tucks the credstick back inside his jacket. "Extra five grand if there's any loose ends that need to be tied up." "When the job's done," he continues, "meet me over at Daring Designs. It's a tattoo shop a couple blocks from here. I'm friends with the owner, so just say you're there to see Big D and he'll take care of you." OOC Here is the map of . I'm also putting it into my previous post.

He stares at Harry for a second before his eyes flick over towards the bar and the other patrons to make sure they weren't looking over or listening in. "No," he says in a lowered voice. "Definitely not a foodstain. I got a nasty bite from that cyberdog I told you about. Team I hired before you had one runner make it out of there. They sent me a message saying job went sideways and all that. I figured, the cyber dog probably got to Cormac so I could slip in there and get rid of those recordings myself. I go in the side door and manage to make it to the stairs leading up to Cormac's office, when that frikkin demon dog caught me. It had blood dripping from it's chrome jaws like some horror-trid drek. Got me on the left arm something bad, but I managed to get away and lock it back in there." He bridles at Phantom's comment. He grits his teeth and says, "Listen little miss perfect, I know it was a dumb decision. But don't act like you never made a bad decision before and just went with it. I know I'm in deep now. I'm gonna have to pack my bags and get outta Dodge when all this is over." He stopped himself, and squeezed his right hand tightly like he was squeezing a stress ball. He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his messy hair. "Sorry, I'm a little stressed out as you can see." ... He listened to Phantom's and Wesley's questions. "Well," he said. "It was like a ghost town and a horror-trid rolled into one when I snuck in there. Saw bodies laying all over the place. Not a pretty sight. This was maybe, one or two hours ago, so I can't say it's still like that now." "Like I said before, one of the runners made it out okay and flew the coop, I don't know where they are. The rest of the team probably either got geeked by Cormac and his guys or got geeked by the cyber dog." "I couldn't exactly count every body that was lying there with that cyberdog attacking me, but I'd guess there were maybe 10-12 bodies that I could see? I don't know, honestly, like I said it was pretty empty when I got there except for the dog." "As to networks and security? I can tell ya we got some preemo reinforced doors on the outside with some top notch Ares locks. Even LoneStar SWAT would have a hard time breaking down these doors without heavy machinery. It's probably the only reason that dog hasn't gotten out." He produces a key card out of his jacket pocket and slides it to the center of the table. "This'll get you inside the building." "The entire network is on a closed circuit, no outside access anywhere. But you can control everything from Cormac's terminal in his office. Pretty sure he's got the backup server in there too. Don't know about any network security, cause I ain't a Decker and Cormac wouldn't let anyone use his computer for anything." "I don't think Cormac is smart enough to keep a backup copy on a data stick somewhere. He's a meathead who made a name for himself smashing skulls together and this is his first shot at something that requires actual planning and smarts. So if anything, it might be on that backup server but I'd be surprised if the oaf thought making extra copies. And to answer your other question, I'd prefer not to talk about the kind of stuff I think he had planned for me." "If you clean everything up, nice and tidy, the Don won't even know. Could've been Yakuza who hit the warehouse or some other drek who hired a team of runners. No recordings and no witnesses, means nobody knows anything and it coulda been anybody." He slides a data chip in the center of the table. "This is the layout of the warehouse, I only have one chip so you'll have to share." He looks around the table. "Well, any other questions? Or can you guys go start the job, now? I really need this done pronto."

The Johnson scoffs at Harry's guess. "The-the mafia? Not just the mafia. This pub belongs to the Bigio family. As in Don Bigio? The Capo di Capi of Seattle?" His mouth agape and eyebrows furrowed, he sighs like he's been greatly burdened. "Che cavolo... runners these days..." he mutters under his breath, just barely audible. He shakes his head. "Eh, doesn't matter. No one here will narc on us. And I need you guys on the job pronto, not listening to a drekhead like me going on about the Bigios and whatnot." He leans in, resting his right arm on the table. "Let me cut right to the quick. There's a warehouse I work out of over by SEATAC. Near the intersection of 24th Avenue and South 208th. Been working there a few years. Easy gig, but nothing to write home about." He coughs once and winces. The wince disappears and he clears his throat, continuing on. "Anyways... the boss there, an ork fella called Cormac, is a real piece of drek. Made my life real miserable. So I—" he looks around the room, and lowers his voice a little bit "—I decided I was gonna do something about him. So I started moving some of the merchandise out of warehouse. Not stealing it, mind you... just reorganizing." The Johnson leans back, and runs his right hand through his unruly brown hair. He chuckles. "Man, you shoulda seen the drek-chewing he got. It was legendary. I managed to keep it up for almost two months, until he installed some hidden cameras and caught me moving the merch at night. Called me into his office a week ago and is using it to blackmail me. If I don't do what he says, he sends the recordings to Don himself, which means my life is finito." He draws a line across his neck to emphasize his point. "Which all brings us to today. I decide, I'm not gonna do any of the sick, twisted drek he's got in mind for me. I hired a team of runners to access his computer and delete all the recordings. And, well..." He shifts uncomfortably. "Cormac was there. He wasn't supposed to be. He was supposed to be at some bosses meeting. But, well... drek kinda hit the fan. Cormac had a lot more guys there than I expected and a shootout started. One of the runners had a pair of cyber attack dogs—don't ask me how or why, I didn't ask—but the dogs short-circuited or something and started attacking anything that moved." "So to make a long story, short... I need you guys to finish the other teams job. Wipe the recordings from the computer in Cormac's office. You may also need to deal with cyberdog and possibly Cormac—if the cyberdog didn't get to him first." He pauses, looking expectantly at everyone. "Soo, can you guys get started right away?"

The Johnson sputters. Between Phantom's admonishment, Harry's bombastic greeting, and setting eyes on the sheer hulking mass of Ram, he is utterly taken aback. He pinches his nose and exhales, and beckons for you all to sit at the large, dingy-red corner booth with him. A small light hangs several feet from the table, high enough that it's out of the way of everyone save Ram who has it sitting right in his eyes. "Sorry 'bout the short circuit." he says to Cairo, "I was expecting more... discretion." He jerks a thumb over at Ram. "I also wasn't expecting a trog—er, troll of his size. Seriously, you could fit like 3 humans in just his chest alone!" He lets out a little laugh that sounds a little strained. "Anyways," he continues, "to answer your question, 'Miss Discretion'"—he air quotes at Phantom—"this place is way more discrete than some strip joint or Palace of China or wherever you guys get your jobs at." He nods vaguely toward the bar area. "Do any of you have a clue who owns this joint?"

Sneak check and Notice check

The orange glow of sunset silhouettes the Seattle skyline as you all make your way to Milliway's Pub. The pub is on the corner of S Tacoma and S 52nd, the location handily provided to you by your fixer, a dwarf called Sovereign. You got his message only an hour ago. Some Johnson had a job, a milkrun with high urgency—and hopefully high pay to match. Apparently, he wanted to give you the details himself. Combine that with the fact that Milliway's is a known Mafia hangout, and you've got one interesting night ahead of you. There is an uneasy feeling amongst you all that's hard to ignore, but a job is a job. You pass the neon lights of a small electronics shop and hear a radio blaring through the open door: "Aaaaannndddd welcome back Seattleites! That last song was Ministry of Beggars' new glamrock hit, 'Brokenhearted Commission.' The time is currently 7:05PM and it is shaping up to be a hot and muggy evening here in the Metroplex. We'll be bringing some more music back to you in just a few minutes, but first, here's all the news you missed today while you were slaving away for the Man... First up, we have..." The sound from the radio fades away as you pass the shop. Up ahead, several buildings away, you see a Troll and an Ork deep in conversation outside the front door to Milliway's. As you pass by them, you hear the Ork say, "No answer from Diego, again. He should've been here by now." The troll snorts, "You know how Cormac is, he works those guys down to the bone." "Even Cormac doesn't work this late. Maybe I should ask Dalton..." Their voices trail off as you head inside. Milliway's is a small pub, dimly lit and a bit of a dingy hue to everything. The bar sits on the opposite wall from the door, a row of hanging lights illuminating the bar area; a handful of barflies sit on the stools arrayed in front of it. Dingy, dark red booths cover the outside walls, while some simple tables and chairs fill up the rest of the space in the middle. It's about as full as you'd expect it to be on a Wednesday night in July, a few tables and booths filled here and there, but mostly empty otherwise. As you all walk in, most of the patrons stare at you for a few seconds before turning back to their conversations and drinks. Evidently, Runners aren't an uncommon sight here. Off to your left, in a corner booth, you see a man with dark brown hair beckon you toward him. As you walk toward him, you notice he seems to be wearing a light jacket draped on his shoulders. He starts to speak, but it comes out hoarse. He clears his throat and says, "Are you the team of runners that Sovereign sent?"