Contract #3: I, Robot?

[GM Nick]

Ranged Combat (Val)

[Automatics (5) + AGI (5) + Smartlink (2) + Firing From Cover (-2) = 5]
6 6 6 5 1 2 2 2 5 2
[REA (7) + Good Cover (4) = 3]
5 4 4 3 2 2 1 5 5 2 3

Damage Resistance (Enforcer 3)

[BOD (6) + Armor (8) + AP (-1) = 5]
5 2 2 1 6 1 2 4 5 4 5 5 1

(( 4P DAMAGE! ))

A puff of atomized blood and pieces of armor erupts from one of the Enforcers as Val's shot slams into him.

Ranged Combat (Val)

[Automatics (5) + AGI (5) + Smartlink (2) = 7]
3 5 6 6 6 2 4 5 5 4 3 5
[REA (7) + Good Cover (4) = 2]
3 2 4 1 3 3 5 6 2 1 2

Damage Resistance (Enforcer 3)

[BOD (6) + Armor (8) + AP (-1) + WM (-1) = 4]
4 6 1 2 1 4 6 3 6 6 4 3

(( 8P DAMAGE! ))

Val's second burst hits the Enforcer right between the eyes--ending his life.

(( Sinjin's up. ))

[Conway]

Cursing like hell's own Rolodex of profanities, those near enough Sinjin overhear some comment about "cheap knives" and "swindling goblins" amidst the usual mix of curses and choice words of the underworld.

With a melodramatic sigh, the black clad Adept wipes dust from his knee's before standing and, somehow, closing the distance to their final assailant before anybody noticed the difference. He was simply here, then not.

Grabbing the enforcer roughly by the shirt collar, he says menacingly, "Shoulda stayed home today, chummer," before head-butting the man brutally in the face.

[GM Nick]

(( Alright lads, let's bring this one home. ))

Melee Combat (Sinjin)

[Martial Arts (8) + AGI (5) = 4]
1 5 2 3 3 3 5 6 3 4 3 5 4
[Unarmed Combat (4) + AGI (6) = 3]
3 5 1 6 4 6 3 1 4 2

Damage Resistance (Enforcer 4)

[BOD (6) + Armor (8) + AP (-3) = 2]
4 2 1 2 2 3 1 1 5 2 5

(( 8P DAMAGE! ))

The Enforcer reels--his head snapping back, as a a rivulet of blood, speckled with broken teeth erupts from his face.

[GM Nick]

[ Max = 49 ]
[ Doc = 48 ]
[ Val = 41 ]
[ Sinjin = 40 ]
[ Tyros = 38 ]
[ Enforcer 4 = 31 ]

[John]

Max tracks the carnage erupting from the final enforcer's face in Marlowe's sights. Blood is streaming down his face and into his eyes, and the poor bastard is wiping at it desperately. The dead-man-stumbling lurches back several steps away from Sinjin's crushing, violent blow-- giving the elf more than enough daylight to send a series of slugs his way to end the man's life. In the brief moment before pulling the trigger, Max wonders if the man told his wife that he loved her this morning. He wonders if he lives alone. He wonders when the last time he spoke to his mother was. A wave of sympathy washes over Max. After all-- the enforcer was only doing his job; the only one of the two of them committing murder here is Max.

But Max's thoughts and his body are disconnected from one another in combat. At times, the elf could be reciting passages from his favorite books while cutting a bloody swath through a field of aggressors without a single hiccup in his efficiency. Without even noticing, Overstreet squeezes his trigger mid-reverie-- effectively ending both it and the enforcer's life.

[GM Nick]

Ranged Combat (Max)

[Shotguns (8) + AGI (10) + Smartlink (2) + Reflex Recorder (1) = 6]
2 2 6 4 6 4 3 6 2 3 4 5 2 6 2 3 4 2 1 6 3
[REA (7) + Good Cover (4) + WM (-2) = 5]
5 3 1 5 2 4 6 6 6

Damage Resistance (Enforcer 4)

[BOD (6) + Armor (8) + WM (-2) + AP (-4) = 2]
6 2 1 4 6 1 2 1

(( 8P DAMAGE! ))

The Enforcer collapses against the parking kiosk, shattering the safety glass window and toppling to the tarmac.

The smoke, ferrocrete dust and frenetic energy of the battle begin to dissipate.

[GM Nick]

The team doesn't have a moment to celebrate. An APC with mounted assault cannon careens around a corner and begins barreling down a parallel parking aisle.

[John]

Max hops out of the vehicle with reckless abandon and rushes to the security kiosk to open the gate.

[Drew Buddy]

Adams hops back in the vehicle, and starts it up.

"Get that fraggin' gate open!"

He opens a channel to the rover, and instructs its pilot to begin moving toward Doc's GPS signal.

[GM Nick]

The color drains from Max's face as his finger lands on the gate release control.

> Gate Malfunction! <

His mind racing, the elf can only surmise that the opening mechanism was damaged in the shoot-out!

[John]

The elf cries out,

"We've got a problem here, guys!"

[Drew Buddy]

Adams pulls out a brick of plastic explosives, and jams a radio detonator in it.

"Change of plans, boys! Get back in the car!"

[GM Nick]

Alpha pushes Doc's hand down.

"No. That is an insufficient amount of explosive to destroy this gate.I will force it open."

Takahara's face is intense behind his wire-rimmed glasses. "Alpha, your musculature isn't designed to--"

"It will be sufficient, father-creator. I realize that I cannot be allowed to leave this place. My last functions will be to preserve the life of the father-creator and his rescuers."

Takahara nods decisively, but the conflict in his expression is obvious.

[John]

Max looks at Alpha and simply says,

"Thank you."

There is a brief moment of admiration in the elf's eyes before he turns and runs back to the car.

[Drew Buddy]

Adams frowns,

"Thank you Alpha. We'll hold them off while you get that gate open. Besides--" He gives his best mad bomber grin, "I was actually planning on blowing up THAT thing," he says, thumb pointing toward the APC.

[Stephen]

Val takes a moment to glance at Alpha, even through his panic. He wonders if the android's offer would actually qualify as selfless, as he wonders whether a 'self' in a human sense is a prerequisite for a selfless act. He doesn't come to a conclusion. Half of Val's life has been spent interacting with entities somewhat more and somewhat less than human, and his concept of humanity is a blurry one.

He lays a hand on Alpha's shoulder. "Thank you, my artificial friend."

He turns back to look out the window, steels himself, and readies his rifle for action.

[GM Nick]

"Goodbye," replies Alpha. His tone is empty, his expression blank.

His silhouette catches in the light as he races towards the gate. For a moment, he's the vitruvian man. He's the blueprint for humanity. It takes a conscious effort to remind oneself that this is not indeed a person but rather a perfect facsimile. But really, who draws that line?

Limbs trembling, sinew standing out a full inch from muscle, and pallor gaunt, Alpha hefts the gate upwards. Even the super-humanly strong android struggles for a moment with the titanic piece of metal. With a herculean effort, he lifts it above his head and takes a shaking step on to the windowsill of the parking kiosk. Blue liquid washes down the side of the structure as his bare foot meets chunks of safety glass. Silently, he steps upward so that he is standing on the sill, holding the gate above his head.

"Go now. I have only moments before my muscular structure tears!"

[Drew Buddy]

With the android out of the car, Adams backs the vehicle out of its parking spot, and starts accelerating down the row of cars toward the gate.

[GM Nick]

The APC rocks on its suspension as it comes fish-tailing around the corner. It's now in the same lane as the Bulldog. A thunderous boom shakes the parking garage as the assault cannon discharges, putting a man-sized hole in the Nissan Nimbus adjacent to the parking ramp.

[GM Nick]

Takahara shouts out the window to Alpha as the Bulldog races past. "Godspeed, Alpha! I will not forget you!"

Daylight assails the runners as the van plunges out of the employee parking lot, bottoms out on a ramp and starts climbing out of the commercial quarter. A quick glance in the rear-view confirms that Alpha dropped the gate before the APC could proceed through it.

[GM Nick]

Takahara grips the passenger seat's head-rest so hard his knuckles whiten.

"It's a straight shot on this road to the arcology thoroughfare and from there, the main exit tunnel. If this vehicle has been flagged as a security risk, we will never make it through the tunnel. We need fake access credentials--now!"

[Drew Buddy]

Adams grips the steering wheel,

"Val, I guess you're up!"

In the corner of his vision a command terminal opens. He wakes the tiny dragonfly drone from its nap in the potted plant, and instructs it to head down the tunnel at its best speed.

[Stephen]

Val sets his rifle across his lap and cracks his knuckles unnecessarily.

"Say no more, 'mano!"

Val's head lolls to the side as he drops into VR.

Stat1C5hade finds himself speeding through a field of nodes, among them those of the parked and active automobiles streaking by the speeding GMC Bulldog on the thoroughfare like so many blazing stars during a C-plus jump from countless space opera trideos. Val selects a node in front of the team's vehicle at the farthest reaches of his signal range in order to maximize his work time as the GMC speeds down the street. Val's avatar raises his arms and sends a massive tsunami of swirling, inky black code at the firewall. The monstrous wave crashes into the outer shell of the node, sending a vicious particle storm of sparks and alphanumeric characters into the vast emptiness of matrix space.

EDIT: (( I will be offline for the next few hours. As I imagine we're trying to wrap this one up today, please feel free to roll for and narrate my actions with the following plan in mind: Get into the vehicle node, steal the Vehicle ID, return to the GMC Bulldog's node (still have active subscription), and replace the GMC's vehicle ID with the stolen one. I'll be back a late this afternoon to wrap other things up if I need to. ))

[GM Nick]

Hack On The Fly Test (5) (Val)

[Hacking (5) + Exploit (6) + Codeslinger (2) = 6]
1 5 2 2 5 5 4 5 5 4 3 6 4

Glowing points of light spread apart as Val's exploit secures a port in the firewall. He quickly registers an account with guest access.

Overhead, a pair of vector-thrust gunships have descended upon the traffic and are making passes, trying to determine where the fugitive is.

[John]

Max keeps his shotgun down in the front passenger seat so as not to allow it be visible to the passing gunships, but remains ready to pull it up and draw fire if the time comes.

[Stephen]

All too aware of the airborne nodes streaking above him, Stat1C5hade quickly writes a spoof script and injects it into the account registry in an attempt to upgrade his access credentials.

[GM Nick]

Spoof Test (Val)

[Hacking (5) + Spoof (6) = 6]
5 6 2 5 5 6 5 3 1 3 2
[System (4) + Firewall (6) = 3]
4 2 5 2 3 4 5 5 2 3

A counterfeit persona icon appears above Val's command to search the vehicle registry. The command snakes its way through the node's database while Val hastily examines the output for a suitable selection.

Data Search Test (4) (Val)

[Data Search (4) + Browse (5) + Analytical Mind (1) = 6]
2 5 4 5 5 4 6 6 2 6

Val finds the perfect match: an unmarked GMC Bulldog maintenance van. He downloads the access ID and sets to work reprogramming the team's getaway car.

[GM Nick]

Spoof Test (Val)

[Hacking (5) + Spoof (6) = 5]
5 2 6 6 4 5 4 3 5 4 2
[Scan (5) + System (5) = 4]
3 3 5 1 6 1 3 1 6 6

Val swaps the access ID between the stolen Bulldog and the maintenance Bulldog.

Mere seconds later, one of the gunships matches pace with the van. It hovers so close that Doc can make out the expressions on the gunners' faces. After what feels like an eternity, the gunship tilts and veers sharply away and across the arcology.

Then, the only light visible in the van is from the illuminated dashboard on Doc's face. The Bulldog has entered the tunnel.

[GM Nick]

Takahara collapses on the seat and exhales. Just how long he had been holding his breath, it's not clear.

[Drew Buddy]

Adams slows slightly to mach the flow of traffic, and continues down the tunnel, knuckles still white from gripping the wheel. The end of the tunnel, and the end of Mistuhama's extraterritoriality, is a bright semicircle several hundred meters away.

[John]

Max fumbles at his pocket for a moment before extracting a cigarette. Putting the butt in his mouth, the elf lights it up and takes a long, deep drag. Slowly, he begins to relax. Venturing a glance behind them, the elf checks around and sees that everything appears to be normal. If he were to venture a guess, he'd say that the team is home free. He hopes he is right.

[GM Nick]

Daylight has never been so welcome. The Bulldog rumbles down the exit ramp and joins the working class on the interstate. Tensions begin to dwindle as the stolen vehicle gains distance from the large structure and at 5 kilometers away, it's obvious that there are no pursuers.

[John]

Max looks around and finally affords himself some excitement,

"We made it... Holy DREK we made it!!"

[Elliott]

Tyros drops out of invisibility. The stress of sustaining his spells, even through his foci, was weighing on him and is a gratifying release along with the fear of pursuit. With a great sigh, the troll lets his massive head rock back to rest awkwardly on the top of a human designed headrest. Looking around at his bloodied and exhausted teammates, Tyros can't help but feel grateful they at least all made it out alive.

"Well frag, it's been a long day."

[Drew Buddy]

Adams' hands relax on the steering wheel. The tension of the last few hours flood from him, and he feels as if he is suddenly sinking a few more centimeters into his seat.

He calls up an AR window of the rover's position.

"The rover should be meeting up with us any moment now. Let's switch over when we reach it. I don't want to drive a stolen car right to our headquarters."

Another tracking signal gets his attention. He slows the bulldog and sticks his arm out the shattered window, palm up. The dragonfly lands gently in his palm.

"Maybe next time," he says to it.