Run #1: Trial by Fire

[GM Nick]

Yuri eases himself over the window frame and slinks out quietly with the rest of the runners. The torrential downpour has transformed into a mist of sorts, but the chaotic undulations of urban life mask their retreat. The slew of figures moves through the shadows towards an adjacent apartment building where they collect underneath an ancient fire escape.

The tell-tale flicker of Lone Star patrol car lights seems to multiply down the block. Yuri shakes his head.

"Seems to be a set up, if I ever saw one. Describe to me your employers."

[Drew Buddy]

Anon leans over and places his hands on his knees to catch his breath after the clandestine dash away from the warehouse. The final illusion spell had flickered and faded as he dropped out of the window, leaving him at last with a clear head. He spits on the ground.

"Téch, there was a sick man with dead eyes and many pieces of metal in his skin; including fake arm. Called himself 'Mr. Scratch.' He was go-between, did all talking, but I don't think he was in charge. There was also enforcer called Magdalena; Razor girl. But there was one man who didn't speak, who even Mr. Scratch seemed to have respect. Nipponese man called Shimizu. I don't think he was boss, but was... Representative of real boss."

Anon leans against the wall and turns his face up to the cool mist cascading down from the yellow glow above.

"Perhaps I make assumption, but I am not thinking that many here have experience in this work. I thought it strange that the morkhan punk was so willing to give us this job without asking for credentials." He looks around at the rag-tag team. "And we are disposable as they come."

[GM Nick]

Yuri rubs his chin. "It seems that we are in this predicament together. I'm going to need substantial help to recover my product from Lone Star. Sounds like you need a new employer. What do you say?" His eyes roam over Aremys, Little Hawk, Loki and Bradbury.

[Stephen]

Little-Hawk peers surreptitiously at the darkened shapes haloed in the dim mist of nocturnal rainfall. The strobe from the Lone Star patrol car illuminates their faces one by one as he glances around, burning a telling album of still portraits into his mind. Whether he trusts these people enough to accept Yuri's proposition is nigh irrelevant at this point. To refuse would paint him as a loose end for the tying. Bluntly put, backing out now would be to sign his own death warrant, and he marks the truth of it well. On the one hand, none of his immediate companions has tried to put a bullet in his head just yet, but on the other, it appears that tonight's employer has done just that. Little-Hawk isn't overly confident that this contingent will turn out any differently.

Shuddering at the necessity, Tianwe murmers, "I will do this thing..." He feels a slight pang of shame as he attempts to reinforce his potential value by adding, "I may be having connections which can help us find this... cargo."

[Drew Buddy]

Anon nods thoughtfully. "Your offer is interesting one, sersakhan, but I am maybe not alone in feeling short of trust right now. We have pulled your ass from fire, and now you want us to work for your masters. I am thinking an up front... how do you say... 'Retainer' fee is needed here." The elf cracks a smile, and puts on his best charm despite closely resembling a soaked and disheveled sewer rat.

"After all, sersakhan, man has to eat, no?"

[GM Nick]

Yuri breaks into a toothy grin. "There may be hope for you yet, elf." He withdraws a credstick from a hidden pocket on his trousers. "Let's talk nuyen..."

[Drew Buddy]

Anon glances at the credstick as he clears his throat to cover the rumbling in his stomach.

When was the last time I ate? Too damn long ago.

But It's game time. Anon is finally, for the first time tonight, in his element. His speech becomes smoother and more lucid, though it doesn't lose its accent.
"For your rescue, elimination of Halloweeners, giving up pay from former employer, and guarantee of future paid service, I am thinking 12,000¥ each to be reasonable," he says with a friendly and magnanimous smile.

[GM Nick]

Anon - Negotiation Test

[Negotiation (6) + CHA (8) = 5]
3 6 3 6 5 2 3 6 6 3 4 4 3 4
[Negotiation (4) + CHA (5) = 3]
1 2 6 2 1 4 4 5 5

Yuri's wide grin falters somewhat and he clears his throat. "Comrade, you drive a hard bargain, but you definitely helped me out of a jam." He passes over the funds with a flourish. "Now go get some shut eye and stock up on ammunition. We have to act fast before my product ends up in a Lone Star evidence room."

[John]

Bradbury has been silent a long while, taking it all in but not knowing exactly what his place in everything is. The pace of the events has left him in a lurch of sorts, and he struggles to keep it all straight in his head. His compatriots flash red, blue, red, blue, and the scene feels dreamlike and disconnected. It's in this dreamlike lurch that the ork suggests, "Should we be worried about these comms that our former employers graciously gifted to us? How many jobs have you guys had where you didn't have to buy your own ordinance?" It's like he can remember what he's talking about. "We should get these things checked out or just ditch them entirely before we get a nasty surprise." His voice croaks out of his throat, somehow slapping the assorted thugs and criminals with its dryness as well as sounding a million miles away. The possibility that the team might somehow be subject to surveillance or tracking is unsettling, but those concerned are supplanted quickly as the idea returns his thoughts once more to the foreign object grafted to his spine.

Pushing the thought away, Bradbury looks uneasily at the people around him. Several of them have proven themselves tonight, but the decrepit and lumbering man is a loose cannon-- as dangerous to Bradbury's future as any ganger they might come up against. And then there's Yuri. Bradbury's already been double-crossed by an employer once tonight, and he has no reason to think that it won't happen again; there's no honor amongst thieves. After a heavy moment, he relents, "In for a penny; in for a pound. What do we have to do?"

[GM Nick]

Yuri glances over his shoulder at the rapidly swelling crime scene.

"I'll have to have my people do some recon first. Lay low for a few days and I'll be in touch. I'd burn those comms and buy some new ones, if I were you." The Russian mafioso tucks his hands into his pockets. "I have a feeling this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." The toothy grin returns.