[color=tan]"Debatable, but for the most part, yes."[/color] Mr. T replied, in response to Evie's question. [color=tan]"This team was the first team hired by the client."[/color] implying that the physical aspect of the job- was almost secondary in nature, at least in the eyes of the client. [color=tan]"Most of these guys are unknowns to me. But turns out, I know one of them. Goes by Short-Jack, some whiz-kid with a cybernetic eye, glows blue, hard to miss. He was a bit flighty, if I remember correctly, but he's good at what he does. These guys aren't not corporate assets, and if the money they're getting is anything like the money we're getting, they're in it to win it too."

"As far as physical security goes, there's not much I could scrounge up about the tower. Its a Top-10 tier Megacorp tower, so expect the works, heavily armed security for upper floors, mag-locks (magnetic doors that are nigh impossible to force open), a security suite, rapid-response unit- You'll be relying mostly on the other team for intel within the tower."[/color]

Mr. T could sense the general apprehension of this statement. While a good degree of the Ronin in Tokyo were what could be considered "honorable", just as many of them were soldiers of fortune, and the idea of trusting others was difficult- even the trust between the individuals in this room was a measured trust. The security of the tower itself was already enough to deal with without having to worry about trust issues. Breaking the apprehension like an unwelcome alarm clock in the morning was Mr. T's phone, buzzing loudly to let him know that there was something for him to look at. After shooting a quick glance at it, he gave a thin smile to his Ronin.

[color=tan]"Fortunately for you guys, my network of contacts have just pulled through with some possible leads on help with the physical security- if you guys are interested in doing some legwork that is. I'll forward them to you now."[/color] he said, pushing a few buttons on his phone.

Eric looked down as his, and the rest of the team's phones buzzed simultaneously. Mr. T had just forwarded them sets of information regarding various individuals. If they wanted to find out more about the job, they'd have to do it themselves. Fixers weren't in the business of doing dirty work- thats why they were Fixers, and not Ronin. It was a rare sign of faith and trust when a Fixer was willing to do the legwork for you, and reliable fixer or not, Mr. T hadn't had that level of faith in anyone for a long time- not since his Ronin days, Eric suspected. 

Legwork was an expected part of the job- thats why big jobs always gave them a small portion of the pay ahead of time, so they could buy necessary supplies and do legwork. Greasing palms, extorting weak individuals, it was all part of getting the runs to work. Sure, towers were well built and defensible, but people were weak, cowardly, selfish, stupid. 

The secret to a successful mission was finding the poor schlub who used "password" as their password and getting access to their files. The secret to a successful mission was figuring out what time of night the guards are most tired and bored. The secret to a successful mission was recognizing that every seemingly impenetrable system is actually made up of thousands of individual parts, any one of which could be exploited in some way. Guards could be bribed, contractors could be pressured to revealing structural weaknesses, wage slaves could be easily eliminated and impersonated. Like any crime, it was all about finding the weaknesses in the system and exploiting them.

The team had some time before the mission, so it was time to get preparations taken care of. Not nearly enough time to get any cyberware installed, or find and obtain high grade equipment- but enough time to buy extra supplies, cheap weapons, or pursue some of the leads Mr. T gave them. Pulling up the contacts Mr. T gave them, Eric gave a quick scan to find the most notable ones:

There was a [color=salmon]Johnny Masahiro[/color]- a small two-bit chem pusher in the Kabukichō area. While of no major importance himself, apparently he was in with several of the low-level security guards for the Otsuka towers, he was probably their dealer. Paying him a visit could prove handy. On the other hand, there was also [color=salmon]Mr. Cho[/color], an old korean man who worked for major construction contractors in the Tokyo area- and was also on the site for the Otsuka Towers renovation a few years back. [color=salmon]Lil' Red[/color] was a name Eric recognized. She was an information broker in the Shinjuku Ward. She was a pretty well known hot-shot hacker around the net, her information was generally reliable- unreliable information brokers never lasted very long, but she always needed some form of compensation for her services. There was also [color=salmon]Mao Jiro[/color], a Kyodai (small underboss) in the Saiyotama syndicate. It was always risky business dealing with the Yakuza- they typically always demanded for more than they gave, but the knowledge they had could prove useful. Alternatively, they could screw the legwork and use their money go buy weapons, armor, ammo, and meds out the wazoo for a frontal assault.

The list went on, and Eric didn't really feel like looking through the rest. He looked at the others, since they were all working together for this one, they might as well split the legwork. He'd let someone else take the initiative. They could split up to follow individual leads, or group up for some of the more risky leads.