Session Report - Mak Attack 03

Player Characters

The Fin – female human con artist and gambler from India, by way of Russia (low level physical adept), posh and elegant

Void – female human physical adept B&E specialist, a shadow that blends in easily

Murdock – male elf kilt-wearing street mage, at home with the hobos

Sin – male human rigger, knows exactly the wrong thing to say and says it

Killroy – male human street samurai, specializes in hand-to-hand combat



Tuesday, November 5, 2075
The team met at later the same night at Ebey’s Bar in Exile in Everett to plan.  Having thoroughly scouted out the target site (Golden Arms Massage), the best option seems to be a quiet insertion with Void breaking in on her own.  Murdock had spells to make Void invisible and the center of a small zone of silence.  This should get here in and out without being seen or heard.  He would need to be in a place where he could keep an eye on things magically, so it was decided he would be at the What the Pho food cart cater corner from the target.

In order to improve Void’s odds at not being interrupted, The Fin decided that a distraction in the front lobby to pull in the bouncers from the security room would be a good idea.  No on in the current crew would be able to do the job correctly, so she called in a street samurai she knew, Killroy.  She offered him 1000¥ to cause a scene in the lobby for 10-15 minutes.  He eagerly took the opportunity.

[Killroy’s player missed the first two sessions but was here for this one, so we meta-talked out what would be the best way to integrate him and this plan is what came of it.]

To support Killroy and keep better eyes on things, Sin would now place his Fly-Spy drones to observe the security room and the window to the counting room.  The Fin would keep an eye on his body while he was jumped into his drones.  The panel truck would be parked a block west of the target, out of sight but allowing access to the team if they needed to run for it.  Go Time was set at 7:15pm, Thursday.  The team then dispersed to rest and make final preparations for the run.

Thursday, November 7, 2075
Murdock and Void arrived at “Hobo Alley” at 6:30pm.  Murdock ate some psyche, a designer stimulant prized by magicians.  Once it kicked in, he cast an improved invisibility spell on Void, making her unseeable.  He then cast silence on her, setting the radius to 2 m [Force 2].  Murdock then wandered over to What the Pho to get some pho, concentrating on maintaining the two spells.  Void waited in “Hobo Alley” until it was time, observant yet detached due to the psyche.

Sin and The Fin were in position in Sin’s panel truck at 7:00pm and Sin’s Fly-Spys were in place by 7:10pm.  The video output from the drones was displayed on monitors in the panel truck so The Fin could track things and provide updates to the team via Image Links.  [The updates had to be visual, i.e., text, as Void would not be able to hear anything and Killroy did not have an internal commlink.]

On his way over to the target, Killroy picked up some cheap vodka and splashed it on him.  [A shot may also have been imbibed.]  He then took walked over to Golden Arms with a slight stagger in his walk.  He timed things so he arrived just before 7:15pm.

Void left Hobo Alley, made her way across the busy street [gracefully avoiding vehicles that could not see her], and leapt from the sidewalk to atop the fence to atop the neon sign just in front of the windows to the counting room.  Sin was aware of her arrival when his drone’s audio feed suddenly went silent.  Void started slowly bypassing the windows security.

Down in the lobby, Killroy started boisterously asking for “services”.  The staff tried to work with him [they spotted a potential sucker], but as he started getting louder and handed over an empty gold credstick to pay for the services, the matron discretely pressed a button to summon the bouncers.

Sin, through his drones,  saw the bouncers set down their mahjongg pieces and head downstairs and warned The Fin.  The Fin updated Killroy and Void via text messages that the bouncers were deploying.  Killroy stopped escalating the issue in the lobby, maintaining his current level of belligerence to keep the bouncers focused on him but not ready to pull out their hatchets.

By this point Void had bypassed the window security.  She opened one of the windows and entered the empty counting room.  She closed the window behind her and then stepped over to the locker.  She used a maglock passkey to easily open the maglock on the locker [the maglock critically glitched].  She spent just under 30 seconds swapping out the good credsticks for tampered ones.  When she went to re-secure the locker, she discovered the maglock was now broken.  She quickly and expertly opened it, cleaned out the filthy interior, and reassembled it.  This fixed the maglock and she was able to re-lock the locker.  Void then exited the room through the window, re-closed it, and reset the window security.

Once Sin’s drones showed the counting room’s window open and close again, The Fin texted Killroy that he could now wind it up and leave.  Killroy stopped being so belligerent and let the bouncers “convince” him to leave.  Sin recalled his drones to the panel truck and prepped to drive the team away.

Void’s exit was delayed due to an inopportune pub-crawl group of 30 civilians moving by on the sidewalk Void wanted to jump down onto.  Void was not concerned about them seeing her, but the two-meter radius silence spell would likely cause a ruckus amongst the pub-crawlers and might draw attention, so she waited.  Murdock could see her astrally waiting and updated The Fin on Void’s situation.  Void waited for five minutes for the small herd to pass and the sidewalk to clear.  She then hopped down from the sign to the sidewalk.  She then made her way to the panel truck.  Murdock slurped down the last of his pho and then made his way to the panel truck as well.

The team rode back to Ebey’s.  The Fin took a taxi from Ebey’s to the Helping Hands Thrift Store over in Snohomish while the rest of the team got pre-celebration drinks.  At the thrift shop, The Fin directed the taxi to the back of the building, where she delivered the goods to the orc with chromed tusks, providing the correct pass-phrase.  She then took the taxi back to Ebey’s.  On the way, 16,000¥ was deposited into her account, 12,000¥ for the job and 4000¥ as a bonus.

Back at Ebey’s, The Fin paid Killroy his 1000¥, paid Void, Sin, and Murdock 3333¥, and pocketed a cool 5001¥ herself.  Drinks were then purchased and consumed by the team.  Repeatedly.

End of Session

Mak Attack:

Session 01

Session 02

News Report

Session Report - Mak Attack 02

Player Characters

The Fin – female human con artist and gambler from India, by way of Russia (low level physical adept), posh and elegant

Void – female human physical adept B&E specialist, a shadow that blends in easily

Murdock – male elf kilt-wearing street mage, at home with the hobos

Sin – male human rigger, knows exactly the wrong thing to say and says it


Tuesday, November 5, 2075
Having spent the previous day gathering information on the target, the team met at Ebey’s Bar in Exile in Everett at 3:00 pm to share what they learned.  [Sin’s damaged Fly-Spy eventually returned to him and he dropped it off to get it repaired earlier in the morning.]

The Fin was able to get a basic blueprint of the massage parlor through one of her contacts.  Using that schematic, the rest of the team added the details of what they had learned.  The recorded video feed from Sin’s drones provided important data, identifying the upstairs room looking out on 19th Street as a counting room for drugs and money.  In that room was a standing locker, anchored to the floor and wall, with a quality maglock.  Void was able to identify the model of maglock and is confident she can crack it.

Void shared that the back of the building was not thermographically shielded and that she had identified a bathroom and a massage room downstairs and a locker room upstairs.  She also confirmed that the external security for the second floor was tighter than that of the first floor and she saw some opportunities to get in close and not be seen.  She was also planning on going to the site for a massage to get a feel for how busy the place would be when the job went down.

Murdock related what he learned through the air spirit, identifying over half the rooms on the first floor.  He suggested he send another spirit in to look at the second floor as one of the rooms up there was still unidentified (the front room, overlooking Hoyt Street).  The Fin agreed and set the time for the next meeting at 11:00pm that night.

The Fin wanted to put eyes on the place herself, so she rode over with Sin in Sin’s panel truck.  She would provide some additional security for Sin’s body while he was jumped in to his drones.

The team (minus Void) was in position shortly after 6:00pm.  The Fin (dressed down for the neighborhood) walked the two blocks from Sin’s truck to the food truck cater-corner from the massage parlor.  [The food truck specialized in Vietnamese food and was named “What’s That Pho?”]  As the sun had already set, she was able to notice the lights were on in the front upstairs room.  She observed them shut off after a bit, but saw no one in particular leave the building besides a massage customer or two.

Void meanwhile was exiting a taxi at a bar near the naval station.  She walked over to the corner near the exit from the Administration Building and caught a different cab to take over to Golden Arms Massage.  She was dressed in civilian clothes, but had her hair done up to meet UCAS Naval Regulations.  At the massage parlor, she stated this business had been recommended to her and she wanted to sample the services as she would be stationed here for a couple years.  This lit up nuyen signs in the staff’s eyes and, after reviewing the options, Void received a quality massage treatment lasting an hour.

Having observed Void arrive, The Fin finished her pho, grabbed some to go for Sin, and walked back to the truck.  Sin was glad for the pho and after slurping some down, sent out his remaining Fly-Spy drone.  Once it arrived, he investigated the windows for the front upstairs room.  He located a spot where the mirror treatment on the windows was spotty and was able to get an idea of what was in the room.  He saw a business desk with a chair in front of and behind it, a carpet, and not much else as the room was dark and his drone had no light amplification.  He recalled the drone to wait for Murdock to do his thing.

Returning to the hobo alley, Murdock summoned an air spirit.  He was in better form [i.e., he spent a point of Edge] and was able to command three services from the spirit.  He sent the spirit over to the house to investigate the upstairs rooms.  Murdock was able to confirm the room overlooking 19th Street was the counting room and the locker contained the credsticks the team was hired to swap out.  The front room turned out to be an office with a large oriental dragon painted on the wall facing the desk.  The desk contained some pistols and ammunition, some shotgun shells, a data terminal, and some miscellaneous office supplies.  While the spirit was there, the four bruisers from the security room headed downstairs and Murdock expended a second service to get the air spirit to follow them.  He was nervous someone had noticed the spirit and the goons were coming after him, but they were just responding to a belligerent customer of the massage parlor downstairs.

Having checked the upstairs rooms (and the attic spaces – where the spirit found a long dead body), Murdock expended the third and final service having the air spirit investigate the shack outside.  IT appeared to Murdock to be a private party room with one man being entertained by two women.  There were also stashes of novacoke and deep weed.  Completing the last of the required services, the spirit returned to its home realm.

End of Session

Mak Attack:
Session 01

Session 03

Session Report - Mak Attack 01

Player Characters

The Fin – female human con artist and gambler from India, by way of Russia (low level physical adept), posh and elegant
Void – female human physical adept B&E specialist, a shadow that blends in easily
Murdoc – male elf kilt-wearing street mage, at home with the hobos
Sin – male human rigger, knows exactly the wrong thing to say and says it


Monday, November 4, 2075
Aswari Rai, known as The Fin in shadowrunning circles, received a call from Oreg Zabin, a local fixer she has worked with before.  Oreg asked if she was busy.  When she said she was not, he asked her to meet him at the Frelika Tearoom in the Bothell neighborhood in Bellvue at 4:00 pm.  After looking up the location on GridGuide, The Fin dressed appropriately, then hired a private car to take her there.

The Frelika Teahouse is a stand-alone building in a boutique area in Bothell, near the Bellvue border with Snohomish.  Aswari used astral perception to see what there was to see and found little in the way of magic in use.  Going in, she noticed a watcher spirit inside the front door, apparently keeping an eye on the register area, but no other magic.  She also spotted Oreg across the main room, sitting in a booth in the far corner, where she joined him.

After Aswari placed her order for a chai tea, Oreg started explained the job in broad strokes to see if it was a job The Fin was interested in.  The job was a “switch” – replacing one thing for another – in this case one set of credsticks with another, doctored set.  The job would pay 12,000 nuyen, with a possible bonus and had to be done this Thursday, between 6:00pm and 10:00pm.  After the waitress delivered her tea, Aswari said she was interested, so Oreg started providing the particulars.

The chips to be taken were in a massage parlor in Everett named “Golden Arms Massage”, run by a street gang.  There would be 30-34 standard credsticks full of money on the premises.  Aswari and whatever team she assembled were to replace the full credsticks with a doctored set with no one the wiser.  If push came to shove, taking the full credsticks was the priority, but there would be no bonus.  The full credsticks were to be delivered to the Helping Hands Thrift Store in the Kennard Corner neighborhood of the Snohomish District, “just up 527 from here.”  The credsticks must be in a sealed, opaque container and given to an orc with chromed tusks along with the pass phrase “These are Mahjong pieces for Carlos.”  Payment would be deposited in Aswari’s account no more than two hours after confirmation of delivery.

After trying unsuccessfully to talk Oreg up on the price, Aswari agreed to the terms of the job.  Oreg slid a decorative chocolates box across the table to Aswari, containing 36 doctored credsticks.  The two then finished their tea, making non-business related small talk.

Relatively new to Seattle, Aswari put in calls as The Fin to the team she previously worked with on a job for Oreg.  She was able to contact Void, Murdoc, and Sin and arranged a meeting, but Prometheus and Killroy were both unavailable, leaving the team without combat specialists.  Maybe the job wouldn’t need them.  The group of runners met at the restaurant Harajuku in Renton.  It had private tables with screen doors, so they could speak with some privacy, even if Aswari knew she’d have to tip well due the personalities being invited.

Once the four runners were assembled, The Fin explained the job and the details.  The only thing she changed was the pay-out: she quoted the job as only being 10,000 nuyen and the other three took her at her word [no one made the check to spot the lie].  Having two and a half days before the job could be performed, they agreed to each investigate the target and meet again at a place in Everett tomorrow [Tuesday].

Looking up the address, the group was able to get both a satellite view and a street view of the building the massage parlor was in [which I provided as handouts, using screen shots from Google Maps].  The massage parlor is built inside a refurbished small two-story house on the corner of 19th and Hoyt.  Knowing what to look for, Void, Sin, and Murdoc went there to individually scout out the site.  The area is five blocks off of the naval yard and full of establishments catering to off-duty sailors: massage parlors, bars, cheap food places, and rooms available by the hour.

Murdoc fit in well with the local low-life and took up a position cattycorner from Golden Arms Massage.  He could see that there was steady traffic for the business through the front door, with parking out front.  Gang-sign on the building indicated a gang known as “The 19’s” or something ran the place, but he couldn't remember their affiliation.  He also noticed that there seemed to be more discrete business happening at the back gate.  The building also had no visible wards, but a watcher spirit sitting atop the shed inside the fenced in backyard.

Void circled the building at a distance, using her enhanced goggles and contact lenses to get a look at the building’s physical security.  The lower floor did not seem to have much in the way of security other than heat shielding in the walls so her thermographic vision could not see to the interior.  There were also two goons at the front door acting as bouncers.  The upstairs was also shielded on the front and sides and she was able to spot security on the upstairs windows.  While moving to investigate the back yard area she was spotted.  The goon at the back gate, an orc, called her over and demanded to know what she was doing there and was she a cop?

Void stalled and used the time to get a slightly better view of the back of the building and the back yard.  She noticed the heat shielding was not present on the back of the house and she identified the back room upstairs as a locker room and the two back rooms downstairs as a massage room (on the left) and a bathroom (on the right).  She then answered the goon with, “Do I look like a cop?”  The goon said “I dunno.  Turn around.”  She did so and sensed the danger she was in as the goon pulled a club to hit her over the head with.  She immediately bolted and ran.  The guard was not expecting that and could do nothing as she was out of sight before he even took his first step.

In the meantime, Sin had found a relatively private spot to park his vehicle and sent one of his MCT Fly-Spy drones to go scout out the target.  He observed Void’s run-in with the goon at the back gate, but saw her get away and continued with his scouting.  He recognized the gang-sign on the building as belonging to “The 19 Hatchets”, a Vietnamese gang.  Flying around the building, he had the drone approach from the south, so he could look at the side of the building not exposed to a street.  He started checking the two windows near the back and found each opened onto a different, small massage room, each barely larger than the massage table and both in use.  He then flew up to the upstairs set of windows.  These were treated to be reflective, but he lucked out and found a corner where the glass was still mostly transparent.  The room he could see into contained four burly men sitting at a table playing mahjong and a fifth person jacked in to a small security station.  The monitors at the security station showed camera views from inside the house, but Sin could not see enough detail to work out exactly where in the house they were.  He parked his drone there to keep an eye on things.

Sin then launched a second drone to scout further.  He decided to try the upper window on the north side of the house (facing 19th St.).  He clearly spotted the security system, but while looking for a gap in the window treatment, he apparently had drawn the attention of people inside.  The window suddenly opened and a ganger with a shoe was poised to smash his drone.  Sin glanced at the room and then was barely able to get out of the drone in time to avoid dumpshock when the drone was smashed.  He had been recording the entire time, so he still had video of the room interior, showing a counting table, two gangers, and an equipment locker with a fancy lock on it.

At about this time, Murdoc decided to summon an air spirit and send it in to scout out the interior of the building.  He looked around to find a secluded spot to perform his summoning, but the best he could find was an out of the way spot occupied by some hobos willing to share an overturned milk crate with him.  Murdoc took what he could get.  His first to summonings failed [I rolled the limit resisting him on the first try and he rolled poorly on the second try, barely matching my single success].  This seemed to confirm to the hobos that Murdoc was a harmless crazy and they stopped paying him any attention.  On Murdoc’s third try, he got an air spirit to respond and sent it in to scout and report what it saw while it was inside the massage parlor.

The spirit reported the two goons at the door.  Just inside the door, it reported a lobby area with two couches, a register, a person at the register, and a watcher spirit watching the register.  This spooked Murdoc a bit, not knowing what the watcher spirit was orders were, he had the air spirit just move in a straight line through the building and out the back, as if going through the building was incidental.  The spirit agreed.  The next room back was a massage room where the customer was getting more than a massage.  The next room was a massage room, also occupied.  Next was a set of stairs going up, then a very small massage room, followed by another very small massage room, and then it was out the back and done with its service, so it took off.

End of Session

Mak Attack:
Session 02