Private Vaults and Villains (VnV with Darkwire 'n Friends)

[Cassus Akovin]

Cassus made himself at home within the refurbished remains of the late Belazuran governor's top floor, transported via cargo ship and precarious rigging through hyperspace all the way to Denon. After Darkwire had successfully stolen an entire piece of a building just to get access to a vault, that had gained a bit of prestige and notoriety among the criminal elite as well as the corporate authorities. To make sure no one forgot such notoriety, they had converted this stolen building top into a hideout in one of the dodgier parts of the planet. The furnishings were a strange mixture of foreign influence and Denon reclamation, just as likely to see (defaced) symbols of power as you were to see slicer graffiti on the restroom doors.

Tonight was going to be an interesting night, one intended to take his mind off the stresses of his life, just for a few hours. Ordinarily, he would never allow himself to take any such time off from saving his mother, but he was able to make an exception this time: this was a meeting to plan a heist... but in true Darkwire fashion, it was also a party of sorts, and a few members and friends of the criminal network had been invited to participate. Other than himself, among them was Scherezade deWinter , Toph Graystone , Gray Venasir , and...

Daiya ... why did it seem like this kid was always in his business? He pushed the thought away as he waited for the others to arrive, just as their host for the night entered the room. Suffice to say he was not sure what to make of, them?

"Greetings progeny of Triam Akovin, I am Lance of Dreams and I will be your host for tonight. Please, select refreshments and take a seat at the table." A strange metallic hand seemed to extend out of the things robes as it seemed to hover to the head of the table. From it, a flimisplast seem to float down to where he was to sit, and a stylus.

A new person entered the room and welcomed them.

"Ah yes," Lance of Dreams gestured towards the next person to enter and would say their name....

 

[Toph Graystone]

Toph Graystone sat in a stall in one of those aforementioned restrooms. Tongue sticking from between her lips and brows furrowed in concentration. She held a sharpie in her right hand, the tip pressed against the door. She couldn't see the marks the pen was leaving so the Miraluka had to judge the writing off her own hand moments. Part of her wished she would just get the brain implant that would connect to her cyber eyes, allowing her to see like a normal person. But that would take away the advantage she held in the slicing game. Plus what was the fun in seeing like a normie. With a final florish of her hand Toph sat back on the toilet with a grin. Pulling out her small datapad she took a picture of her work and examined it on the screen.

​

Toph let out a strained sigh as she realized the screen had rotated. "Stupid Watto Xs. I could build a better one...and cheaper." Slipping the datapad back into her pocket Toph kicked open the door and walked out of the restroom. Well it was time to have some fun. The idea of planning a heist with a board game sounded weird to the slicer. But hey, who knows. Maybe it was actually genius. She'd once been part of a heist where the distraction involved juggling geese. Wasn't that from a holodrama? Whatever.

With a cocky strut Toph entered the main room, giving the host a small salute. She was about to say something to them when she walked into a support beam with a loud smack. "Son of horse d**k f***king sh*t weasel!" Toph rubbed her face as the stream of profanity issued from her mouth. She could have sworn that beam was at least another five feet.

Tags: Daiya | Scherezade deWinter | Lance of Dreams | Cassus Akovin | Gray Venasir

 

[Lance of Dreams]

"... Toph Graystone ," Lance of Dreams said just after she promptly ran into a support beam, his facial expressions remaining absolutely neutral as if nothing occurred. "I have outfitted this flimiplast with electrical impulse braille, the stylus is likewise outfitted with the ability to imprint the braille into the sheet, and create Aurebesh for our sighted friends." Just as the iBorg Cyborg had done for Cassus, a hand appeared from his robes and gently floated these instruments to the seat nearest to where Toph would situate herself.

"While the others arrive, you should familiarize yourself with the set of constraints and abstractions we will be using to simulate our heist of corporate assets being shipped to Parcellous Minor. The system being used is borrowed from a game known as 'Vaults and Villains', which I am told can be very fun." In a way that was both humorous and slightly disturbing to watch, Lance of Dreams made an attempt to smile which seemed rather artificial... which made sense considering none of the cyborg's natural parts were at all visible.

"For your enjoyment, I have installed a personality matrix usually intended for Casnio roids and modified it for the purpose of this session. I have dubbed it, the "Vault Lord" personality type. Once the session is over, please alert me to any bugs, as my analytics program will be temporarily offline once we begin." A few others walked in as Lance of Dreams explained how this was going to go.

"Welcome..." He would finish this sentence by saying their names.

Daiya , Scherezade deWinter , Gray Venasir

 

[Gray Venasir]

Gray entered the building, where he was told the planning of a heist. In an unusual way. It wasn't too long since Gray had become a member of Darkwire, but he had learned that nothing was unusual for them. Which suited Gray just fine. He liked things that broke the norm, and in his experience, those things ususally worked the best.

The elevator was nearing the top floor, where the planning was goign to be. Other than himself, Gray didn't know who else was going to be there. Hopefully, someone he knew. But even if there was no one he knew there, the end result of this would be that Gray was getting richer. Probably.

The elevator stopped, and the doors opened. Gray exited, and walked into the top floor. But he abruptly stopped, as he was greeted by a shorter, bold and blue skinned man. The face of this person looked emotionless, which made Gray feel a bit unsettled. "Um, who or what are you,?" he asked. Further in the room, he saw other humans, so he began moving towards them.

Cassus Akovin | Toph Graystone | Lance of Dreams | Daiya | Scherezade deWinter

 

[Daiya]

The cut-off floor of the Belazuran government building. It had been a common punchline among Darkwire shadowrunners, and she had used it herself on occasion, but Daiya had never ventured into it herself. Her awe devolved to squeals of delight as she saw the truncated penthouse in person, giggling at some of the ragged cuts along the bottom and the minor structural damage it had sustained in transit. She took a little time to explore before the evening's event, one that still doesn't make sense to her, admiring the fresh artwork and furnishings Darkwire had added to the building.

Some rooms still had their original decorations, though. A closet here hanging with suits, a wall there still showing off the gorgeous wallpaper. That was how Daiya happened upon a cupboard filled with toys and belongings marked with the name of their former owner.

Zenie.

The discovery elicited a quick gasp from the girl as the realization dawned on her. This had been her younger friend's home, a home that had been literally ripped away just as Zenie herself was whisked offworld. Now both were settled in on Denon, and both a little ragged around the edges after their ordeal. It had been a few weeks now since she had seen Zenie, something that Shenn assured her was for the girl's own safety, but it still turned her stomach to see the discarded parts of Zenie's life left here to be toyed with by others.

Daiya tucked the items back in the cupboard, making herself a promise to retrieve them before the end of the night.

Stepping into the strange group assembled in one of the penthouse rooms, the girl looked over the faces already assembled. It was almost comedic that she should find Cassus Akovin among them, Pool Boy seemed to follow her wherever she went. Daiya made it a point to ignore him. A couple of the others weren't familiar, but then the girl settled on a face she never expected to see again. "Gray!" she rushed over to give the pilot a hug, "You got invited to this, too? How long have you been on Denon?"

In her rush to greet Gray Venasir, though, she had missed the approach of a tall, gray-skinned man who greeted her by name. His voice sounded like ice, Daiya could feel the chill in her veins and she shivered as if touched. She whispered a plea to Gray before breaking their embrace, "He's a little creepy, can I sit by you tonight?"

Turning back to the rest of the group, including Pool Boy and the creepy man, Daiya introduced herself and asked, "I heard there was a heist going down, but all I see here is a bunch of nerds playing a game. What gives?"

Cassus Akovin Toph Graystone Lance of Dreams Gray Venasir​

 

[Cassus Akovin]

Cassus observed passively as the other members - or rather, players - arrived. The droid-like person which introduced himself as Lance of Dreams, handed out flimsiplast and stylus' as a barrier erected in front of him, a kind of screen of sorts. He looked down at the provided sheet, which already had a few etchings in it. It had a number of fields to fill in and didn't appear to be immediately intuitive.

Slowly they trickled in, and it seemed the last to arrive was the child Daiya . Cassus put on a facade of inattention of her arrival, but he couldn't help if she caught a side-eye from him... if not for his mask. Even in relaxation and in a private setting he felt uncomfortable taking the mask off in front of others. It then dawned on him almost embarrassingly that this child knew what he looked like, that he was closer in age to her than anyone else in the room. For a moment it made his mood sour before it was interrupted by their cybernetic host.

​

 

[Lance of Dreams]

"I am Lance of Dreams, an Iskalloni Cyborg, and one of the heads of research and development under iBorg Prosthetic Augments. Tonight, however, I am your Vault Lord for a game of Vaults and Villains, of which you are all players. The purpose of the game is to accurately plan for a heist on suspected rival cybernetic devices contracted by the Corporate Authorities on Denon being shipped to Parcellus Minor, while adding an element of chance to account for what cannot be planned for. If you would excuse me a moment, I am now activating the Vault Lord personality matrix to my behavioral regulation implant." Lance of Dreams responded to both Gray Venasir and Daiya to their questions. There would be a moment where the cyborg said nothing and his facial features were as statuesque and neutral as ever... before a sudden explosion of life.

"--.-.-vvvrrrzssttWELcome to tonight's session of Vaults of Vaults of Vaults of Villains! I am Vault Lord and you are my unwitting players! Prepare yourselves for rigorous and brutally merciless simulation of combat and intrigue! Please finish your character sheets to represent yourself as closely as possible! Your attributes Brawn, Agility, Fortitude, Perception, Cleverness, and Allure, which modify the various skills available to you on your character sheet, and-" The Vault Lord would continue on at rapid pace explaining the mechanics of the rules.

"-Oh, it should also be noted that if I find anything on your characters sheets does not match my expectation of you, I will change it to what I deem appropriate, so be honest with yourselves please!" Disturbingly, the Vault Lord smiled almost too wide...

Toph Graystone Scherezade deWinter

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Cassus Akovin Lance of Dreams Toph Graystone Daiya Gray Venasir​

Scherezade knew how to run. While the Sithling was quite known among certain circles as someone of chaos, someone of lack of order, and someone who was very deadly, she was also known - usually - for being punctual. Being late went against what she liked being, so she made a point of always being on time. Which of course meant that today of all days, she was going to be late.

It wasn't her fault, really. There's been a small pack of sithspawn predators that had somehow escaped the Garden of Death and found their new home in the Dockyards of Eve, and she'd been hunting them, taking them down, to make sure people could come and go a little bit safer. But, it had taken her longer than intended, and she didn't even have time to shower.

BUT, the important bit was, that she was making up for it.

"Hey everyone, sorry I'm late," she grinned, out of breath, as she marched into the room just as Lance of Dreams finished the intro. Yeah, she had no clue what the details were, but playing a tabletop roll based game? Totally up her ally.

Pausing by the table, the Sithling removed something from her bag, and insntaly there were bowls filled with all kinds of snacks for the party to nom on while they played - cheese cubes (5 different kinds), cold cut meats, little cheese cake cupcakes, popcorn, and whimbamba. Also a few frizzly drinks that she had no plans on touching herself.

"Is it too late to cast bigger fish?"

 

[Gray Venasir]

Gray had just walked past the weird, emotionless person, before he heard someone shout his name from behind him. It was a voice he recognized in an instant. But the person this voice belonged to was someone he hadn't seen in a long time, almost expecting to not see her again. It was a big galaxy, and Gray had been retired for some time, so the chance of finding her again was small. Still, it had happened. "Daiya!" he said, with surprise in his voice, as he turned around and saw her running towards him. He caught her, and hugged her back. "What are you doing here, yourself?" he asked in response to her questions. "I haven't been here, on Denon, very long. But if I had known you were here, I would have come sooner. Are you in Darkwire too?"

Behind them, the being identifying itself as Lance of Dreams was talking in it's steely way. Gray heard Daiya ask if she could sit with him during the game, which he would be more than happy to. Even more so because of the creepy Lance guy. "Of course you can sit with me," he replied before they broke the hug. "Come here." He motioned for her to come with him to a place to sit.

But just then, Lance of Dreams changed it's voice, and began talking faster. "What in the..." The 'Vault Lord' spoke almost too fast to be able to hear everything it said. But Gray did understand that they were supposed to make some sort of representation of themselves on a character sheet which Vault Lord had already given out. But the ending statement, that Vault Lord would change things if the different skills weren't correct according to him, really creeped Gray out.

Luckily, someone new came into the room before the Iskalloni could continue. This woman was yet another person Gray hadn't met before, so Daiya was still the only one that Gray knew there. Still, this woman seemed nice, and she had brought food and drinks. "Nice to meet you. I'm Gray," he introduced himself to her, before sitting down next to Daiya again, and looked at the character sheet.

Brawn, Agility, Fortitude, Perception, Cleverness and Allure? How was he supposed to truthfully represent himself through these attributes alone. "Let's see here, extra points to cleverness and fortitude..."

Cassus Akovin | Toph Graystone | Scherezade deWinter

 

[Daiya]

It was so good to see Gray again, even if it made her sad. His presence was a somber reminder of all the adventures they'd had with Lori's crew. Leaving them behind hadn't been easy at first, though being back home made it worth doing. Especially if Gray was around Denon, too!

And Darkwire? The girl felt her heart jump a kilometer. If her friend was in Darkwire now, it would mean they could work together on missions. It'd be like old times. "Yep, I'm in Darkwire, I've even done some pretty important missions for them, too. With you here, all we're missing is a princess now!"

She giggled as they took their seats, but her giddiness quickly disappeared as the creepy man spoke again. The girl had noticed there was definitely something off about him at first, but as he switched into a different voice and 'personality matrix,' Daiya found her prediction to be more than accurate. It was only sitting next to Gray and his reassuring presence that she didn't give in to the urge to run away.

It really wasn't so bad after a moment, Daiya realized as Creepzilla continued to drone on about the structure of the game and its characters, but she couldn't help her skin from crawling with every syllable he spoke.

At last he was done, and she could finally look at the flimsiplast that contained the empty character sheet. The mix of fields and forms to fill out was bewildering to the girl. She blinked at it a few times, trying to suss out what the object of this was. Carefully, she wondered aloud, "Agility? Perception? Allure? How is this supposed to help us pull off a heist?"

The entrance of Scherezade distracted her from the confusing process, bringing another broad grin to her face. That made two fun people here tonight, surely that countered Creepzilla properly!

"Hey Scherezade!" the girl exclaimed, reaching straight for the little cupcakes. Those looked good!

Cassus Akovin Toph Graystone Lance of Dreams Gray Venasir Scherezade deWinter​

 

[Cassus Akovin]

Cassus began to go through the fictional skills of his "character" sheet despite the fact the "Vault Lord" was basically asking them to complete a self-inputted personality test that he could arbitrarily change. He considered himself to be rather clever, considering some of the plans he helped to create, and the way he used his gadgets, but agility was also a skill he possessed and frequently employed dodging blaster bolts and using his blade. Brawn, he admitted to himself, was not in his forte, and assigned the least points there. Allure was also difficult to place and wasn't really sure what it meant. Perception and Fortitude were a bit easier to place, but once he was done he realized on the game sheet he really didn't seem very impressive... hopefully being clever and quick would carry him in this game - heist? - thingy he was involved in.

"Uh, Vault Lord, guy, can you repeat the section on the skills we can choose?" Freakishly the head on the cyborg locked in on him before speaking.

"Skskskskills use your attributes to determine how good your at in the given task, now if everyone is ready, allow me to set the stage!"

"Uh, wait hold on, I meant-" Suddenly the lights flickered around them as the Vault Lord raised its arms dramatically, and seemingly from nowhere a hood assembled itself over the head of Lance of Dreams...

 

[Lance of Dreams]

​

"The scene starts in space where you all are exiting Hyperspace in the system of Parcellus Minor! A corporate cargo vessel by the name of CAS Bright Thread Dead was reported by Darkwire Netrunners to be arriving within the system in the next three hours of your arrival with an unknown cybernetic pharmaceutical shipment set to be distributed to the planet, on the order of Larz Blackheart, the Cyber-Security Chief and Direx Board member for the CAD." The eyes of the Vault Lord quickly glanced across the table at everyone's flimisplast.

"Is anyone taking notes? This information could be critical later in the story!" Once more the alloy face of the cyborg grimaced and what was probably intended to be a smile.

"Anyway, who invested in Starship Piloting? Roll for Stealth."

Toph Graystone Scherezade deWinter Daiya Gray Venasir