Over a Round of Beers

[Drew Buddy]

(( So High Security system, Medium Dorm, and Recruiting Office? ))

[John]

(( Yarp. ))

[Drew Buddy]

(( Elliott, if you're okay with the Medium Dorm, then I think we're done here! ))

[John]

(( I'm gonna push us forward to keep things moving-- especially since the dormitory makes literally no difference to anything we'll wind up doing. ))

[Drew Buddy]

As Doc walks the hallways of Firestarter RSR, he's overcome with a feeling of pride. It wasn't quite so long ago that the legal avenues of employment had dried up for him, leaving him in a despairingly familiar spot. He had taken the first job with Lo out of desperation, rather than desire. His new profession has been both rewarding and disturbing, and he has come to accept that.

The signs of construction are everywhere. He had walked in through a partially installed steel door that wouldn't have been out of place in a bank vault. Wires had hung loosely from where the biometric scanner was being put in, and part of the wall had been dug out to run a conduit back to the compound's AI server room.

It had been a bit of work to find a construction company willing to sign the meter-thick non-disclosure agreement that had been drafted (or rather, copied off of another company's private servers, with their name replaced with "Firestarter, Inc."), but once they had found a willing crew, expansion of the facility had begun in earnest.

Doc takes the giant cargo elevator to the second floor, simply because he can. The doors open with a pleasant DING, and he steps out, walking toward the makeshift conference room. Despite the extravagant remodeling being done, the conference room still consists of a collection of folding chairs ringed around the sole upgrade they have made so far: An overturned shipping crate serving as a table.

He's not the first one to arrive.

"Any luck digging up contracts? This drek is getting expensive, and I'd prefer to get to work sooner rather than later."

[John]

Max nods at Doc as he enters. The full team now assembled, Max begins,

"Exactly what this meeting is about this morning. As you all know, I've been doing some work over the past few weeks looking for our first job. As it stands at the moment, I've reached out to various contacts and contacts of contacts and I believe I've found us a lead..."

The elf looks around the assembled party gravely and continues...

(( Okay, so properly speaking, our characters aren't being presented with five options. Nick is presenting us as players with options, we choose, and that is the contract that comes to our characters. My vote goes to Big Man, Japan. The Bell contract is not the place to start. For that matter, none of the more lucrative jobs are. With two new members of the team, we ought to start smaller than naught. I'd also suggest that, with the facility still in the process of coming online, that we stay local, which leaves us cleanly with the Shiawase/Yak sabotage job. Also, Kato made a small but VERY memorable appearance in The Pacific Rim Job, and Andrew and I are both eager to find Max and Doc in the same room with him again. ))

[Drew Buddy]

(( Agreed. I'm for Big Man, Japan. Staying local means we can get there under our own power, without arranging travel plans. A smaller, shorter job means that Tom and Stephen can upgrade their characters, and buy new equipment without the availability 8 restriction sooner (even if the compensation for the job is a bit smaller). Finally, Kato is awesome. Need I say more? ))

[Stephen]

((Big Man Japan sounds good to me. Fire it up.))

[Elliott]

Tyros stands in the corner, certain there is no chance the folding chairs could hold his weight. He is immensely pleased with the progress the facility is making and the legitimacy it inspires. It was only a short while ago that he was a loner, running from one debt to another, trying to stay a step ahead of the loan shark that wanted to collect his debt in troll hide. He still owed that debt, technically, Tyros supposed, but let that scum sucking two bit gangster come try and collect it now!

"Ok, what have we got. It's time to turn some profit!"

((I actually think I, Robot would be a better first run, although Big Man is fine too. I, Robot pays more, is also in Seattle, keeps us from pissing off Shiawase again right away, and an extraction is suited for a smaller team like we have now.))

[Conway]

(( Every run sounds awesome to me. This campaign is gonna rock. As far as a first mission for two of us goes though, the simple "show up and break shit" sabotage of Big Man might be a good warm up, and provide some cash and karma to start building on. I would be happy with any mission, but Ill cast my vote for Japan this time round))

[Elliott]

((Big Man it is then!))

[Drew Buddy]

(( Let's DO THIS. And yeah, I'm totally game for doing I, Robot in the near future (second or third run?). Rescuing a guy who designs drones could come in pretty handy! But starting out small and simple is best, I think. ))

[John]

(( EXCELLENT! ))

[John]

The room erupts in a gale of laughter.

Several try to catch their breath and one slaps his knee. Kato stands before the team mimicking his reaction when the Halloweeners came storming down the tunnel, and few could help but be taken in by his self-deprecation (not to mention the facial expressions). Max can hardly make out the words he's using, but knowing the subject matter is all the connection he needs to turn the Japanese man's wild gesticulations from childish pantomimes into comedy of the highest order and lowest brow.

Between gasps, the elf takes a slug of beer and almost drops his cigarette. Picking up the cancer stick, Max wipes a tear from his eye with his smoking hand and draws the cig back to his lips. Now winding down with Kato's unpredictable gestures and frantic screaming, a somehow easy anxiety settles over the room in that strange moment where a joke can't quite keep on going, but nothing has filled its place yet.

The ghost of its hilarity hangs awkwardly over the team.

Max breaks the silence by suggesting,

"Alright, we ought to think about hiring some more employees. I think we can all agree that Kato's inclusion has been a good decision," The elf pauses and looks at Kato, who winks and shoots him with double finger guns. Max continues, "so does anybody have any other ideas? Personally, I'd like somebody who can come in here and build me something with a little more power. Last job I felt like I was leaving pock marks where there could have been craters."

[Drew Buddy]

"I'll drink to that," Doc says, his face slightly flushed from the booze.

"And yeah, getting someone to build us some gear would be great. Anything we can do to get an edge on the competition, I say. Besides, it might lend us a certain unique signature. We should also get someone to handle our books. Seriously, I took a look at the paperwork needed to keep this place running, and I'm not touching that drek with a three meter pole. In that vein, we should grab a recruiter as well, unless someone else wants to handle the classifieds? 'Quasi-legal paramilitary entity seeks janitor'." Doc chuckles.

He thinks for a bit.
"Someone to work the back alleys and seedy bars would be good to have. We're going to be hauling in a lot of gear, and having someone handle the seedier side of that could be very useful."

(( Basically, I think we should hire EVERYONE who has an associated perk ))

[John]

Max laughs openly at Doc's mock job listing, continues listening, then says,

"I agree with all of that. Perhaps the recruiter is the place to start-- he'll be able to help us find all the rest of the personnel we'll need."

(( I agree with Drew. ))

Taking a slug of beer, Max continues,

"Now, we've got a few bucks kicking around.. any thoughts on upgrades to the armory?"

[Elliott]

Tyros sips a pint of single malt scotch and regards his partners' antics with some amusement. "Yes, I agreed on the personnel. But the first thing I want to buy is a bed. I'm tired of sleeping on the floor. We need dormatory accomodations, and I think we've earned nice ones at that."

[John]

Max dissents mildly,

"While I agree that buying some damned beds and maybe a chair or two is a definite, I say we save our nuyen and go with practical options. We're running what is essentially a military base-- we don't need high luxury. I'd go so far as to call it out of character with what we do and inappropriate. Also, we don't want to be too comfortable. Comfort breeds complacency and can make us-- or at least our employees-- soft. Something middle of the road should do just fine. We can reinforce Tyros's bed with plasteel."

Taking a drag on his cigarette, Max adds,

(( Are we operating under the condition that Val and Sinjin are now more or less full partners, or should we play that induction out in character? ))

[John]

(( My suggestion is that we work out what facility upgrades we want before anybody commits karma to new skills or attribute boosts-- that way we can maybe save some of that karma in the upgrade process. ))

[Elliott]

Tyros grins at Max with little warmth. "Look, i'm tired of living in squalor. Maybe you like living like that, maybe it makes you feel more at home, but I'm not in this business to spend my life between the shadows and a bedroll on the cold, hard ground. I want the comfort our success affords us. But your point is fair. I propose we invest in standard dormatory accomodations for the barracks so that our employees have a reasonable place to live, befitting the military outfit we run. Rows of beds with footlockers at their end and communal showers. Each of us can then choose to live in those dorms with the rest of the men, or invest in furnishing one of the officers quarters as we see fit. I'll take the suite of rooms the commanding officer used to inhabit and perform my own upgrades. I need not only living quaters but laboratory space for magical rituals and study as well. Since I know how much you value my contribution to our efforts in that regard, I wouldn't ask the company to make that investment. I shall be quite comfortable in that setup and if you want to sleep in the dorms to spend your saved nuyen on feeding your drug habit, then be my guest."

[John]

Max had gone into this with every intention of not getting into it with Tyros,

"Get fragged, troll. Your presumption that I don't value your contribution to the team on a mission is for drek; I love watching you prod vainly at the minds of braindead gangers. And I think it's cute that you feel fit to just call dibs on the officer's suite. My daughter used to do that-- 'ohh! This room's mine!'" Catching himself before it gets personal, Max continues a little cooler, "Look, if you need something, propose it and we'll put it to a vote. Most of the drek we suggest will be of little use to you, so your drek is worthy of the same consideration."

Max moves on quickly, hoping not to get too embroiled in bickering with the troll,

"To keep us all healthy, I strongly suggest we install a gym (( Reduces karma cost for improvements to AGI and STR by 20% / 40,000 )), and since we should all be able to handle ourselves if we lose our weapons-- a dojo. (( Reduces karma cost for skill improvements to Unarmed Combat by 20% / 20,000 )) And we need a place to eat, so a mess hall for Sinjin to get his noodles in is probably a good idea. (( Reduces karma upgrades to all skills and attributes by 5% / 20,000 - This one is a steal, I think. )) Anybody else?"

[John]

(( Another idea: We should declare in this thread after each run how much of each character's nuyen we want to kick into the company coffer. I'll kick in 48,000 from Max's change purse, which Nick can add outright to the company ledger. ))

[John]

(( Regarding contracts, I think either of the two new ones sound fucking tits. I'd have to go with Formula 42, though. 450,000 would be a nice bump for the corp! And combat! COMBAT! ))

[Drew Buddy]

(( I agree. The payout is nice, and a run and gun style mission sounds fun!

Edit: Gangland, USA might be better this early in our careers, though. Less of a chance of, you know, being killed outright ))

[John]

(( I'm changing my vote: Gangland, USA seems like a better run to go one while we have Val and Sinjin still with pretty low REA numbers. Nick has declared Formula 42 to be the most dangerous one we will have encountered yet. ))

[Elliott]

Tyros chuckles at Max. How easy is it to get under the elf's skin!

"As you say, I won't find the major investments the company makes particularly useful, although I like a bowl of noodles as much as the next runner. That said, I'm fine with those additions. They are logical additions. And so is my proposal, so I'll put it to a vote. Rational heads will prevail..."

((As far as contributing more money, i thought the point of the company taking half the profits is that it supports itself while we keep the remainder to use for our own purposes?))

[Elliott]

((What about I, Robot? The payout is huge and an extraction run sounds like a fun change of pace.))

[John]

(( Well, of course our characters can keep or contribute however much of their personal money as they like-- Max is just kicking in extra. I, Robot does sound cool, but I'm still for Gangland. ))

[Drew Buddy]

Doc waits for things to quiet down.

"It looks like the work crews finished setting up the dorms while we were away. Tyros, if you want to grab some little troll hidey-hole, and kit it out with gold and silk, be my guest. Other than that, the Dojo, Gym, and Mess Hall sound like good ideas. I'm in. That will leave us with 21K, which should more than cover employee hiring costs. Are we agreed on employees?" (( All employees on the sheet who provide a perk ))

(( Also, I'm definitely in on Gangland USA as our next run. I really want to do I, Robot, but I think we should let everyone have one more karma/nuyen upgrade cycle before we dive into that one. ))

[Stephen]

Val nods thoughtfully as he absorbs the suggestions of the team.

"I know I just work here and all, but I've got a few cents to throw in. I agree that we'll need a pretty hefty crew to keep the facilities and business ends of things running smooth. Personnel should be one of the first things we should look into fleshing out. A recruiter and an accountant will go a long way on that front." Val's mind replays the experience of watching three rounds from his SMG pepper an approaching ork, accomplishing nothing more than blowing his team's cover, pissing his eventual assailant off, and painting himself the bullseye in a dart gun contest. He rubs his arm absentmindedly. "I also agree with Doc about a guy who can help us with firepower, and I could certainly make good use of someone who knows how to get things that others would rather we not have."

"As for what to do with all this real estate, I'll be the first to admit I could use some time in the gym and the dojo... and maybe a climbing wall." Val pauses, then grins. "Just kidding. Far as accomodations go... well, everywhere I laid my head in Caracas makes this gutted heap of concrete look like the fraggin' Taj Mahal, so I'm not too concerned with that..."

Val taps his finger to his lips, thinking and listening to the rest of the team continue its discussion. He goes over the Yak-busting run again in his mind. What could he have done differently? Well, he can think plenty. It's hard for him to believe that a few months of unemployment left him so rusty, but... well, no job in Caracas could have prepared him for what he just partook in. You're in the big leagues now, 'mano. This is what you wanted, isn't it? He tentatively admits to himself that it is. But wanting something and being prepared for it are not the same thing at all. You've gotten what you want. Now learn how to deal with it before it kills you.

Continuing his reverie, his thoughts turn to his team. He'd seen the impossible speed and grace of Sinjin's art. He'd seen Tyros cleave an ork nearly in two with one swing of that ridiculous claymore. He'd seen Doc and Max hurl a wall of lead toward their foes more deadly than the greatest tsunami. They'd all proven that they were each worth ten of him. He'd have to change that. And he'd have to start now.

Game face, 'mano. You've only just begun.

[Stephen]

((My vote goes to Gangland. As a beginning char, I'm lookin for all the "easy" Karma/nuyen I can get. Plus, the others sound like they might be heavier for me matrix-wise, and I wouldn't mind having a few more upgrades in that department before doing those runs.))

[GM Nick]

(( Elliott? Tom? Up for a little good old fashioned vigilante justice? ))

[John]

(( In any event, we have a majority vote as is. When it comes to decisions as the corporate entity, should we require unanimous decision making, or majority rules? My call is majority rules so we never get gridlocked on something that ultimately doesn't matter all THAT much. Also, one suggestion for facility defenses:

Monofilament Net Mines ¥10,000 A mine that releases monofilament nets (10P damage) to hostiles. Requires a Tac-net.

'Cuz that just sounds too fraggin' cool to me, and it's damned cheap. Maybe also a couple:

Hidden Turret Compartment ¥10,000 A hiding place for a defensive turret, behind a sliding panel.

We have those drone guns now, after all!

Adding in the employees:

Martial Arts Expert ¥ 400.00 Halves the karma cost of Unarmed Combat skill improvement.
Drone Expert ¥ 550.00 Reduces the cost of drone add-ons and modifications by 20%.
Company Recruiter ¥ 600.00 Reduces all salary costs by 20%.
Black Market Agent ¥ 1,000.00 Reduces the cost of all forbidden items by 10%.
Inventor ¥ 1,500.00 Invents a new weapon or piece of gear for each contract completed.
Accountant ¥ 1,000.00 Increases contract compensation by 5%.

All the upgrades/employees suggested so far cost a further 115,050 past what Nick has presently deducted from the ledger, which is covered by what Max has already pitched + current balance. Maybe add a few security guards to the armory?

Security Guard (Specialty) ¥ 800.00

Three of those cats brings total up 117,450. EDIT: We currently have 149,000 without any personal contributions from anybody but Max, and everybody said at the beginning of the first job that they intended to pitch pretty much all of what they made on the first one. ))

[Conway]

(( Hey all, sorry...I just realized this thread was going on. Im alone at work so dont have time for an in-character contribution today. Obviously, I love the idea of a gym, dojo, and martial arts expert. Lets get the mess hall, too- no brainer. I agree on the hiring of all available 'perked' employees we can afford. As far as the other security upgrades go, they can never hurt but Ill leave those votes to the guys whose money is paying for it all. I can throw about 20k into the mix, I need only a few things for me to buy personally. Lastly, I think Gangland is probably the best second run option for me and Val...cant wait to do I,Robot and the Formula runs...but I like my character and dont want to martyr him!))

EDIT: And yes, If we make those upgrades id like to wait to spend my karma until they are in place

[Drew Buddy]

(( I think those karma and nuyen discounting upgrades have been made, so you should be good to go on char upgrade. ))