|
Payable on DeathKai Tave posted:Natalya "Snegu what now?" he raises one bushy eyebrow curiously, but he quickly drops it when he starts counting out the heads. "Hey, you bring me this many dead beasties, I'll call you whatever you want! This ain't a bad haul!" he says, your linguasofts translating his casual Tagalog into a suitably working-class English dialect. He strokes his fabulous steelworker's moustache as he calculates the total. "We pay $3,000 a piece for Aswang heads so that's... carry the one... thirty big ones!" Emerald Rogue posted:Noise "Hey! Sal! Sal ya lughead, you okay?!" Sal holds up his shirt to reveal the stitched up wound. "Can't feel a thing!" "Hey, you boys--and girl--you's done right by us. Tell you what," he says, turning to Nail, "we maybe do got some more work comin' up, if we can ever find where the head vampires is all lairing. I'm talkin' the bloodsuckers who run the show. Almost all of them are adepts, and the ones that ain't adepts? They're mystic adepts! Keep an ear out, cause we're payin' 10 big ones a head for those suckers. "So keep in touch," he says, opening a virtual business card on his PAN as he transfers you the $30k. "The name's Antonio Almacin. You can call me Tony. I'm secretary of the Lagu Lagu Labour Union." - Gain a new contact: Lagu Lagu Labour Union Connection: 3 Loyalty: 2 Uses: Information on foreign-owned corps, information on union worksites. For moderate payment/favour: Access to union worksites. For a large payment/favour: A conveniently timed protest outside a foreign-owned corp. ltr posted:Nail Yup!
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2013 13:08
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 14, 2024 06:05 |
|
|
Natalya Unlike many people, Natalya knew that not all money was the same. There was money that you earned, there was money that you took, and then there was money that you simply found, the windfall you weren't expecting, like finding a still-black credstick hiding beneath the sofa cushions. Only in this case the sofa was a pack of bloodthirsty monsters and the analogy broke down further from there. But the point was that sort of money, the kind you simply lucked into, was the sort of money that you could, and in her opinion should, freely throw around with impunity..."easy come, easy go" was more than just a pithy saying, it was a way of life. Yes, money was nice, but too many people in her line of work obsessed over it, hoarded it, and for what? To leave behind the highest score when they inevitably made a fatal mistake? Not that she made mistakes of course, but it was the principle of the thing. Which was why she accepted her share of the bounty payout with a grin, then turned and tossed the credstick containing the balance, 5,000 nuyen in all, in Salvadore's direction. "Salvadore, you say that your boss deliberately gave you a quota that you had no hope of fulfilling, thus forcing you to walk home all alone in the dark? Whereupon you just so happened to be set upon by terrible monsters?" She tsked and shook her head. "Those do not sound like safe working conditions at all. You should take some time away from work to recuperate. Preferably somewhere besides your own home...with a friend or a family member, perhaps. And don't forget to drink plenty of orange juice," she said with a laugh before her grin turned predatory, tail idly lashing back and forth. "Mmm, but before you go and enjoy a much-deserved vacation, do me one little favor? Tell me more about the place where you work...and tell me everything you know about your boss." Kai Tave fucked around with this message at 13:11 on Jul 9, 2013 |
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2013 22:54
|
|
|
How much did we actually get per person for the aswang bounties? 5000? Also, what's the plan for our raid on the Ares facility? Should I find some Long Haul and a comfortable hole in the wall to start my hack?
|
|
#
?
Jul 9, 2013 02:43
|
|
|
5k each if we're giving money to that rat Coll who threw a Molotov Cocktail at a building and ran away  (I know, you had no weapons or anything else. It's cool.)6k if we're not telling him about the reward. I'm cool with heading to the Ares facility to get what we need. Don't think there is much here left to do unless others want to chime in with something.
|
|
#
?
Jul 9, 2013 06:49
|
|
|
I wasn't sure about the split but I'm fine with Coll taking a "consultant's fee," I'll amend my post to reflect that. My plan for the Ares raid is simply to break in both physically and electronically. Physically Natalya's going to be looking for security uniforms and, to be blunt, any swag she and/or the others can haul out of the place. Electronically I'd look for things like IFF transponder codes, verbal sign/countersigns, security protocols, any sorts of details on boat security, what to expect...and any swag Noise can scam off their systems, paydata, blackmail, authorization codes to forge shipping invoices to have crates of Ares goods sent to sketchy warehouse addresses, etc. Still haven't heard from Vavrek 
|
|
#
?
Jul 9, 2013 07:14
|
|
|
Change in FortunesKai Tave posted:Natalya Sal looks on unbelievingly, checking the balance on his cheap Meta Link commlink twice, three times, saying something about how the comma must be in the wrong place, realising it's not an error, saying a prayer to Matthew, patron saint of money, before finally pulling you down to his level and kissing you on both cheeks. "Hey I thought you expats were just here to take our money!" he chuckles. "But this is... I can... with this... we're having steak tonight! You gotta let me buy you dinner! "But look, my boss, Alfred Bonner, all I know about the fella is that he works at the same furniture factory I do on Aguinaldo Avenue, and he lives alone in the caretakers cottage near the old abandoned amusement park, you know the one they set up for the Japanese soldiers during the war, "Emperor's World"? But I'm tellin' ya, Alf's a bastard but he ain't a vampire, I seen him out in the sun during lunch breaks, and ain't vampires s'posed to be super smart and super fast? This guy's dumb as a tack. Always talks kinda slow like he's just gone 10 rounds in a boxing ring with a troll. Always got this glazed look in his eye. Always shuffles around like he's drunk. No way he could be a vamp, nuh uh." - Natalya: Gain 1 karma for your generous donation. Your personal Loyalty rating with the union goes up to 4. Emerald Rogue posted:How much did we actually get per person for the aswang bounties? 5000? Yep! quote:Also, what's the plan for our raid on the Ares facility? Should I find some Long Haul and a comfortable hole in the wall to start my hack? Sounds like people are leaning towards a physical run. Slightly more risky, but more reward (while you could find a shipping manifest with times and routes via a matrix hack, they wouldn't keep super sensitive stuff on a wireless database. Stuff like sensitive cargo details and the Identify Friend/Foe code which, if broadcast from your stolen vessel, would prevent the prison ship's automated rail cannons from acquiring your boat as a target). Kai Tave posted:Still haven't heard from Vavrek Until he returns, his character will be down at the harbour checking sight lines. Info coming on the next job momentarily... children overboard fucked around with this message at 14:31 on Jul 9, 2013 |
|
#
?
Jul 9, 2013 13:39
|
|
|
Now that Vincent has a commlink I'm assuming these plans are shared with him so he can come along. Google Maps, 2072 Leaving the union heavies to their business, you set about reconnoitering for the next job. With a combination of Mapsofts, shopping brochures from the tourism council, old listings from real estate agent websites, and some municipal records that Noise dug up from when Ares applied to the city council for the building's extraterritoriality, you assemble the following picture of the run site:  With your knowledge of Security Design, you deduce the most sensitive information will be stored in hardwired servers in the data hub. It looks like there are three main entrances to Island Time Security HQ: 1. Street level entrance. 2. The pedestrian walkway from the mall. 3. The subway entrance. This is where employees arrive by train. Those three would all need a worker's pass, which you currently do not have, and would need to steal from Ares workers in the mall. There are two other, less orthodox entrances: 4. Rooftop elevator access. This wouldn't require a pass, and would be really nice if you had a helicopter, but you don't think it'd be very subtle to have Nigel's company chopper be seen hanging over the roof on the night of a break in. 5. Maintenance access from the sewers. There are no fleshy security guards down here, but this has its own hitch: The city records Noise dug up show that the company applied to the council to install automated security down there (namely, drones equipped with SCMITR flechette cannons) due to what the municipal meeting minutes describe as "frequent and relentless Busaw attacks". That approval was granted last month, so there are now cold, unfeeling deathbots patrolling that entry who will probably have little sympathy for anyone not wearing a maintenance worker's badge. With that in mind, vote for your favourite option!
|
|
#
?
Jul 9, 2013 14:40
|
|
|
Natalyachildren overboard posted:Sal looks on unbelievingly, checking the balance on his cheap Meta Link commlink twice, three times, saying something about how the comma must be in the wrong place, realising it's not an error, saying a prayer to Matthew, patron saint of money, before finally pulling you down to his level and kissing you on both cheeks. "That is most generous," Natalya said, laughing delightedly and patting Sal on the head, "but I am afraid that you caught us on our way to a prior engagement that we simply must see too. Another time, perhaps...I would like to find a good place to eat while I am here." children overboard posted:"But look, my boss, Alfred Bonner, all I know about the fella is that he works at the same furniture factory I do on Aguinaldo Avenue, and he lives alone in the caretakers cottage near the old abandoned amusement park, you know the one they set up for the Japanese soldiers during the war, "Emperor's World"? But I'm tellin' ya, Alf's a bastard but he ain't a vampire, I seen him out in the sun during lunch breaks, and ain't vampires s'posed to be super smart and super fast? This guy's dumb as a tack. Always talks kinda slow like he's just gone 10 rounds in a boxing ring with a troll. Always got this glazed look in his eye. Always shuffles around like he's drunk. No way he could be a vamp, nuh uh." Natalya shared a wry look with the others at Salvadore's description of his boss. "Yes, well...I am sure this has all been a very terrible and only nearly fatal misunderstanding. Still, perhaps it would be best for now if you did not tell this Alfred where you will be staying, or anything at all for that matter. Doubtlessly he has many other things to worry about." ::I thought so,:: she subvocalized to everyone else a trifle smugly. ::Poor Sal drew the short straw and his boss served him up to the hounds. Sounds like Alfred's our foot in the door if we decide we want to follow this little bounty trail up to the top later. I admit I wasn't too interested in playing pest control at first, but it turns out shooting monsters in the face is both more fun and more profitable than I thought it would be. Oooh, and an abandoned amusement park too...you know, I take back several of the things I've said about this place.:: Natalya would probably consider at least two other alternative approaches. Tell me if these are feasible and/or if I should roll applicable knowledge skills if needed. 6. A variation on plan 4, but if the monorail passes over the roof then it may be possible (depending on things like how fast it's going, how close it passes by to the roof, etc.) to make a rooftop entry using it as a staging point. Alternately simply using the monorail line as a point to descend from might work too. 7. Island Time Security may be hard to break into but I'm betting the New Start Job Agency is much less so, and if that's the case then breaking into it, then using it as a launching point to jump/grapple over to the Island Time building and go in through a window, or even just climb up to the roof and try the elevator entrance. The disadvantage of these approaches is that while they're (possibly) ideal for Natalya's skillsets they aren't likely to be too feasible for everyone else, so if more than one person wants on-site access we may have a bit of an issue (I'm not really interested in being the "problem decker" and having everyone sit around while I have my own little stealth minigame). But if we only need/want one person doing the breaking and entering then it may be worth considering some more unorthodox approaches for someone with massive bonuses to climbing, jumping, and a thermoptic camouflage suit. Also, before we go to do this Natalya's going to return to her hotel and get her gear. All of her gear 
Kai Tave fucked around with this message at 15:21 on Jul 9, 2013 |
|
#
?
Jul 9, 2013 15:19
|
|
|
Nail is in for physical infiltration and has decent climbing, infiltration and gymnastics for any crazy(or not so crazy) idea Natalya has for breaking in. Not sure about the others. But Noise could at least be doing his matrix thing and providing overwatch for us while we do the physical thing.
|
|
#
?
Jul 9, 2013 16:58
|
|
|
ltr posted:5k each if we're giving money to that rat Coll who threw a Molotov Cocktail at a building and ran away A Children Overboard game in which I have some money? I'm... I'm not sure if I'm ready. Want me to tag along for this mission? I can have Spec's commlink. Or heck, his old commlink, if noise still has it. Also, plan 8: After doing some shopping during a busy evening hour in the MegaMall, a fire breaks out in the stairwell. OH MY GOD THEY STORE AMMO HERE cure panic'd stampede across the pedestrian walkway, by a fair number of people who don't have worker IDs. Once we're in the right building Natalya, Vince, and anyone else confident in their sneaky skills slip upstairs, while everyone else hangs out with the other displaced shoppers, quietly sabotaging things to keep attention off of us. I like this plan because it involves a potential ammo dump explosion. Mystic Mongol fucked around with this message at 17:37 on Jul 9, 2013 |
|
#
?
Jul 9, 2013 17:17
|
|
|
Mystic Mongol posted:A Children Overboard game in which I have some money? I'm of the opinion that if a player wants to go on a run, he goes. So up to you. Don't really like excluding people. If we have to go in a different way to accommodate everyone, then so be it. That being said, we're confiscating any molotovs, lighters and flamethrowers you show up with.
|
|
#
?
Jul 9, 2013 17:36
|
|
|
So much for plan 8.
|
|
#
?
Jul 9, 2013 17:37
|
|
|
He said nothing about thermobaric weaponry, grenade launchers or naturally occuring incendiary paracritters. You know what you must do. Also, Noise tossed Vincent that Transys Avalon during our conversation in the warehouse, minus the hacking utilities that he appropriated. I'm actually leaning toward Kai Tave's plan 7, depending on how the windows/exterior entrances are secured. It would probably be pretty easy to grab an ID in the mall (especially with Vincent along), but going in through the subway, main entrance or, god forbid, the skywalk that appears to directly connect the mall with Ares Security HQ would probably expose us to a fair bit of security presence. Plan 5 gets my secondary vote. If they put those drones in to defend against ghoul attacks, they might not be particularly well hardened against hacking or other electronic attacks.
|
|
#
?
Jul 9, 2013 20:29
|
|
|
I also remembered that Stormcrow has Telekinesis and spirit summoning capabilities, which are basically close enough to flying for government work. Maybe not enough to go from ground level to the roof, but maybe enough to get people from one roof to another. Also spirit-invisibility, etc. Firebombing and creating a disaster is one of those plans that sounds like it would open up a window of opportunity that closes pretty quickly as I imagine Island Time would shortly go into lockdown even IF said fire happened to only be a natural disaster. Good for a quick smash-and-grab, bad for lingering, snooping, and impulse-stealing.
|
|
#
?
Jul 9, 2013 23:18
|
|
|
Emerald Rogue posted:He said nothing about thermobaric weaponry, grenade launchers or naturally occuring incendiary paracritters. You know what you must do. The answer is stop pissing off the rest of the team by acting destructively.  I thought this was a quick smash and grab? Anyway, I like plan seven, with the addendum that if we have to break a window on the way in, we break one window on every floor. ltr posted:That being said, we're confiscating any molotovs, lighters and flamethrowers you show up with. This also ruins plan 9, create a distraction by burning down Jim's sign writing building, then get caught on camera with masks on by tourists saying how now we'll FINALLY be able to expand the Megamall, promoting popular support for the Huk. Mystic Mongol fucked around with this message at 02:47 on Jul 10, 2013 |
|
#
?
Jul 10, 2013 02:44
|
|
|
Well, it's SORT of a quick smash-and-grab though Natalya generally prefers the "Thief on hard mode" approach if time isn't an issue. Plus it means you get to look around for souvenirs. We know about the data hub but we don't really have any more information on the building interior than that, so not having to hustle through, say, the combat drone testing facility or hellhound kennel is always helpful.
|
|
#
?
Jul 10, 2013 03:21
|
|
|
Kai Tave posted:Natalya It's about a 5m drop from the monorail to the Island Time sign (if you stick the landing with a Gymnastics test or Climbing check. Gymnastics also helps absorb the falling damage). If you miss the sign then it's an 10m drop to the roof. If you critically glitch the roll it's about a 60m drop to the pavement. quote:7. Island Time Security may be hard to break into but I'm betting the New Start Job Agency is much less so, and if that's the case then breaking into it, then using it as a launching point to jump/grapple over to the Island Time building and go in through a window, or even just climb up to the roof and try the elevator entrance. I didn't think of that but that's also a good idea. With your knowledge of Security Design, you'd imagine that smashing a window would probably trigger an alarm. But then any of these plans could be combined with setting poo poo on fire as a distraction. If most of the guards are distracted by fire alarms and busy keeping an eye on stampeding civilians to make sure no one steals the cutlery, that's more guards who aren't focussed on some window alarm going off on another floor. I like distractions, and it makes sense that guards would vary their protocol under conditions of "everyone's burning to death in our firetrap of a mall, just send Larry the Intern with a staple-remover to check out that broken window". Mystic Mongol posted:This also ruins plan 9, create a distraction by burning down Jim's sign writing building, then get caught on camera with masks on by tourists saying how now we'll FINALLY be able to expand the Megamall, promoting popular support for the Huk. I like this one too...
|
|
#
?
Jul 10, 2013 08:20
|
|
|
Ten meters to the roof from the monorail? Please, that's for people who have to care about fall damage. Okay, if setting poo poo on fire has the GM seal of approval than I'm amenable to that plan in conjunction with a rooftop approach. My suggestion is for Nail and Natalya to hit the roof from the monorail with a combination of grappling lines and cybernetically-enhanced freefall. Once we're on the roof Vincent can huck a firebomb...at the mall, please, not somewhere close to us...to get security focused in that direction while we both loot the place and make whatever necessary connections/openings for Noise to have an easy hack into the datahub. Stormcrow can either help with the distraction or with the infiltration...dunno if they have magical defenses in a place like this...or maybe both, who knows. And Snipey can do whatever provided Vavrek's still alive. Thoughts?
|
|
#
?
Jul 10, 2013 09:00
|
|
|
I support this plan and would help with the infiltration. I've still got a spirit chilling with a service so I could have him make people invisible to help the approach.
|
|
#
?
Jul 10, 2013 10:16
|
|
|
Sounds good to me. A fire in the mall would be a solid distraction while we go in through the windows. If we think there's enough time, someone with a good Hardware skill (ahem) might even be able to disarm the window alarm system before we make our entrance.
|
|
#
?
Jul 10, 2013 12:42
|
|
|
Plan sound sgood, lets do it.
|
|
#
?
Jul 10, 2013 16:06
|
|
|
Vincent Coll, prudent consumer Vincent finds himself on the fifth floor of a "Mega Mall", some sort of populated warehouse full of guns and kitchenware. Everyone was handling things they didn't own as if they did, and the security guards seemed content to let them. The AR displays were dizzying, half of them had live streams to constantly shifting sales sites, and the rest were in Russian. Was that a setting on his commlink? Why didn't anyone explain any of this! It was all so much easier when he could just send someone to do his shopping for him. Vincent looks at the credstick Noise had pressed into his hand earlier. Five thousand nuyen. Was that a lot? A floor assistant walks up to Vincent, drawing attention to himself by clearing his throat. "Can I help you?" Vincent steps back, alarmed, glad the goggles were concealing the panic in his eyes. "I don't know! Can you?" Buyin' a Survival Knife, a set of Auctioneer Business clothes, and a leather duster to keep the rain and bullets off. List price: 1750. I'd get better gear if it wasn't all restricted.
|
|
#
?
Jul 11, 2013 04:46
|
|
|
Late Night Trade The belly of the mall is throbbing with customers. Saturday night shopping is the final opportunity for rampant consumerism ahead of the state-mandated Sunday trading halt during church services. There's a broad variety of customers, from Ares employees spending their corporate scrips on nicknacks to brighten their cramped habs, to HSLD private security jerks salivating over the latest season of Ares Predator accessories, to civillians browsing discretely armoured clothing as the news blares about another Huk car bombing on the other side of town taking out a police mage instructor. Mall security is mostly hidden from the public eye: The firearms are all locked in safety mode until their licences are wirelessly activated, and the goods are all tagged with RFID chips so the AI monitoring the security cameras overhead only needs to focus its processing cycles on visual recognition schema to identify tag erasers. Aside from that there's just the usual asset protection officers on the other floors: Lone guards at the entries standing beside the RFID scanners, jovial and easy-mannered sorts who are more greeters than warriors. They're only armed with tasers so as to not frighten the normal folk. Surreptitiously strolling past Island Time Security, you see the administration is manned by one guard behind the desk watching some sports game on his comm. But security cameras overhead and carefully concealed panels in the ceiling hint at hidden auto turrets biding their time in case of trouble. Vincent also spots two guards at the pedestrian walkway. These ones do have pistols, and occasionally they sternly point shoppers in the opposite direction when one wanders over the footbridge looking for the bathroom. Out on the street, a police rotodrone does lazy laps of the sidewalk. It doesn't have time to scan everyone, and it's likely just keeping an eye out for figures blatantly walking through town with an assault rifle or lit sticks of dynamite. Noise has a chance to scope the security on the Island Time HQ windows. With a bit of finesse you're confident you could gently slide a blade along the edge of the glass's fitting to find and cut the alarm's power cable, but you'd have to be careful not to sever the trigger cable first [Hardware+Logic extended test (5, 1 minute)]. The problem of how to get up to the window you want to enter through will also have to be solved. As Natalya predicted, security is light at New Start Job Agency, likely because there's very little worth protecting there beside long lists of people looking for employment. The place is closed at this hour, and it doesn't appear that there are any guards. If you can cause a distraction so the passersby (and rotodrone) on the street don't notice, you could disable the alarm on the door pretty easily [Hardware+Logic extended test (5, 1 minute)]. The monorail is also fairly sparsely guarded: Just a security camera in the ceiling keeping an eye out for shifty looking Huks wearing C4 vests. As long as you don't openly carry it's unlikely you'll attract attention. - Guards noted in blue. Longarms would look fairly out of place in this area and openly carrying them will earn you a licence check from the rotodrone, so roll me some agility+palming checks if you're trying to hide a bulky weapon under your coat, and keep in mind the concealability modifier table on p311. 
|
|
#
?
Jul 11, 2013 15:53
|
|
|
Natalya Natalya rather doubted that she was what the shopping center's owners would consider a "typical MegaMall patron." It was prejudice and profiling, pure and simple, for people to assume that someone with augmentations such as hers could only be up to no good but experience had shown her that for all they might chase the latest fashion or cutting edge toys people feared and mistrusted those who truly embraced the future. She knew that as soon as she set foot inside the mall that every camera and "loss prevention agent" would have their sights trained on her, ready to eject her if she so much as glanced in the wrong direction. True, she was actually up to no good, but it was the principle of the thing. Normally she didn't mind the attention but that was pleasure and this was business, so rather than deal with all of that as well as leaving an easily-remembered trail of footage for security to follow later, she elected to take a less conspicuous route to the monorail station atop the MegaMall. Namely she was climbing the building. Wrapped in thermoptic camouflage, Natalya was in her element as she scaled the side of the mall, articulated feet and gecko-tape gloves rendering it a trivial task. One day people would start designing building exteriors with as much security as they did the interiors she knew, and she'd be forced to step up her game, but that day wasn't today. Leaving Nail to make his own way up...he was much more depressingly conventional in appearance so she doubted he would have as much issue simply taking the stairs...she took stock of what security she could see on the way up. ::Let's see...guard, guard, sorry sweetie but that armor doesn't flatter you, guard...nothing too serious so far. Noise, see if you can't spoof the camera in the monorail. Loop it rather than disable it, if you can.::
|
|
#
?
Jul 11, 2013 23:19
|
|
|
Nail As Natalya makes her way up the side of the building, Nail shrugs and pushes through the crowd to the escalators. With all the public scrutiny, he was traveling lights tonight, just his pistol, silencer and ammo. It should be enough for the job. Any more and things would have taken a turn for the worse. As he passes each floor, Nail makes a passing glance at any security guards. Not much more than rent-a-cops here. Provides the illusion of security more than actual security. Reaching the monorail station, he waits near Natalya for the next train. Just carrying: Armor Jacket Ares Predator IV w/ accessories Commlink w/ accesories Knife Ear buds
|
|
#
?
Jul 12, 2013 04:29
|
|
|
The Path Less Climbed Nail works his way through the mall without incident. Natalya finds her path almost as easy, the gecko gloves making it simple for her to scale the building. And with so many items to look at on the shelves, no one pays attention to a few glitchy artifacts on the outside of the windows. You reconvene at the rooftop. The monorail seems to swoop by here every 5 minutes, averaging about 10 passengers per car. You imagine a few eyebrows will be raised if you pry the door open mid-air between stops... what's your plan to get a car to yourself? Some bogus tale? Vomit on the floor so everyone else gets off in disgust? A distraction so the other commuters are looking elsewhere when you make your jump? - Natalya climbs up fine, no glitches (drat I'm glad I didn't have to roll that out with physical dice!) Noise, the monorail security ain't great (system 3 all round). Give us some Hacking+Exploit to grab a security account (so need to accumulate 6 hits total) and you're in and can switch the camera off or loop it.
|
|
#
?
Jul 12, 2013 05:04
|
|
|
Vincent Coll Vincent scowls at the breastplate he's picked up--the kevlar vest has a layer of kevlar scales, shaped and painted to resemble lacquered wooden plates. The effect is supposed to resemble some traditional armor or other, but Vincent just finds it cheap and gaudy. Still, it should do for his purposes--it's distinctive, and more importantly, it's near the top of the stairs going down, not so much the stairs going up. Setting it back on the shelf he lifted it from, Vincent slips the bottle of explosive chemicals he'd obtained from his pyromaniac friend. With the mouth of the bottle touching the back of the armor, and the trigger mechanism almost depressed, if anyone lifts the armor up, or pulls it from the shelf, the simple firebomb should detonate. <<Distraction's set up,>> Vincent messages the rest of the team. <<Detonation timer's... oh, call it sixty seconds after you ask for it? Give or take. But let's get this operation rolling, someone may trigger it early.>> Vincent walks to another section of the floor, to examine a more tasteful selection of armor. Still don't have my handblade, at least I have a new survival knife with a price sticker still on it. Only gear I'm bringing is the commlink and another incendiary from the Huk. I'm one floor down from the walkway, I got six successes on a palming check to plant the device, and I'm browsing the armored vests.
|
|
#
?
Jul 12, 2013 06:56
|
|
|
Stormcrow Stormcrow walked straight up to the agent who was manning the monorail kiosk, sticking out his hand to shake. For once, he was not an elf. He looked like an older white guy with graying hair dressed in an Ares uniform, the sharp lines ruined somewhat by a bulging stomach that caused the jacket to stretch and strain. His voice, when he spoke, had a Southern UCS twang. "Hiya! I'm Chuck from the main office, here about the inspection. Don't worry, it won't take hardly a moment. I see my specialists are already here," he said, nodding toward Nail. As his hand made contact, Stormcrow reached out with a tendral of power, finding the base of the guy's frontal cortex and giving it a bit of a twist. Instantly, a scenereo he'd planned out earlier sunk into his mind, a set of vague suggestions that the subject would interpret on his own, filling in the blanks. That was the thing that a lot of people messed up with brainwashing: they tried to write the entire memory wholecloth. A professional just directed the memories that were already there and let the brain's natural urge to make connections do the rest. You had to turn the mind's power against itself. It was kind of like Judo. Like judo, even a well executed move had its cost. The beginnings of a terrible headache came jangling back over the tendril as it withdrew. Stormcrow tried not to let the sudden pain show on his face. "Basically I just need you to let one go through mostly empty, and my specialists and I will perform the seismic tests. You might see some alarms while we do it, but its nothing to worry about. Anyway, assuming it passes, I sign the certificate and you're good for another 5 years." Stormcrow is in disguise! Physical Mask to disguise myself: 10d6t5 5 hits Drain Resist Drain from physical mask spell: 10d6t5 5 Successfully resisted drain of 4 He targets the station agent with a Alter Memory spell to make him think that his supervisor told him earlier in the day an inspector would be coming by to certify the monorail as he shakes his hand Alter memory: 10d6t5 3 Drain: Resist Drain from alter memory spell: 10d6t5 2 Take 3 stun from the spell. Finally, rolling con to bullshit this guy Bullshitting the station agent: 8d6t5 1 Initial roll loving lousy, spending one edge to reroll failures edge reroll of failures: 7d6h5 2 Well, not great. 3 successes. Incidentally, I am spending 13 xp to initiate to grade 1 with the Quickening metamagic and then another 4 to quicken a force 4 Enhance Reflexes spell.
|
|
#
?
Jul 12, 2013 08:16
|
|
|
Remember When... The station guard looks up from the football game on his commlink. His nametag says "Mike". An overweight man of inaction sweating in the tropical night heat, his belly mirrors Stormcrow's illusory gut almost exactly. Hunched over in his chair, he narrows his eyes, looking you over as he takes a sip of cold soycaff that'd earlier spilled and left a stain on his wrinkled tie. "You were supposed to be here an hour ago," he mutters, "The game's started already." He grunts as he lurches to his feet and stretches. He reluctantly pockets his comm and grabs his gunbelt from where it rests on his chair, sucks in his gut, and just manages squeezes the buckle shut around his girth. "Come on then." Mike mashes a hammy hand against a button on his desk and the security door in his little office slides open. He burps, steps out, and virtually hails down the next incoming monorail, halting the driverless car with a tap of his commlink. The automated doors slide open and he leans against one side of the frame. "Alright, everyone out, it's for safety," he says, uttering the magic work, which combined with a uniform and a gun has near-mystical properties. About half of the passengers get up. He repeats the statement in atrocious Tagalog, and eventually makes his intent clear and the car empties. The displaced passengers stand around groaning about the delay, talking about dinner bookings and important appointments and how they're missing the big game. "There ya go," Mike says, turning back to you. His eyes settle on your 'technician'. "Hey, ain't you need any tools?" he says slowly, skeptically... the kind of reluctant skepticism of someone weighing up complacency and continued employment. "...uh... where's your uniform?"
|
|
#
?
Jul 12, 2013 12:24
|
|
|
Noise Trailing in Nail's wake through the mall toward the monorail station, Noise tries to look as inconspicuous as he can. Look in the shop windows, walk around the short people rather than through them, all the usual stuff. Responding to Natalya's transmission over the secured net, Noise texts: :I'm working on the station cameras. Shouldn't be too bad - looks like commercial-grade junk. Just what you want protecting mass transit infrastructure.: Noise unleashes his hacking tools on the poor, unsuspecting node with a thought. His field of vision begins to clutter with AROs as the programs go to work at his command. Scrolling fields of code intermix with animated cartoons of his iconic lions stalking a hapless ox, indicating progress against the firewall and program status. This is much better - almost relaxing, really. We have a plan, sort of. Everyone is back on the same page, kind of. No one is shooting at us, yet. And there are absolutely no tanks in sight! Fantastic. Carrying the following: Steyr TMP, accessories and ammunition Both commlinks (MetaLink in public mode, custom 'link in hidden mode) Hardware kit Shock glove Drones and electronic widgets stuffed into various pockets Rolling to hack security access to the monorail node: Hacking monorail node: 14d6t5 4 Hacking monorail node 2: 14d6t5 6 That should do it. Once I have the account, I'lll edit the camera feeds to loop some innocuous stretch of time from earlier in the evening and let the team know that I've done so. My apologies for spotty posting over the last couple of days. I'm still here!
|
|
#
?
Jul 12, 2013 14:06
|
|
|
Stormcrow "Don't I know it," Stormcrow says to the guard's complaint. "It was loving murder getting up here. Goddamn Huk set off a car bomb or something and they got security cordons set up all over. Snarled traffic good, even on the back roads. I got a ten spot riding on the game, man, I feel your pain." At the guards incredulous comment, he shrugged. "You know how it is. Budget cuts. They subcontract this drek rather than have an expensive tech on staff doing nothing but trolleys and elevators. They don't make 'em wear uniforms, I guess. Other outfit's ain't as professional as us, specially on this godforsaken island. No offense, Ned." "Anyway, they runs the tests all with comlinks nowadays. Ain't needed a special box for like, 8 years now." His eyes narrowed. "poo poo, when's the last time you had this thing checked, anyway? You ain't been running it without an updated cert, right? 'Cause that's like, a violation, right there. I'd have to put it in the report." More bullshitting, continuing to roll meh due to my disguise. Allaying suspicions: 8d6t5 2 What the hell, burning another edge on this Allaying suspicions round 2: 6d6h5 1 3 hits total
|
|
#
?
Jul 13, 2013 03:19
|
|
|
For Safety "Oh uh," Mike stammers, somehow sweating even more than he was before. "Yeah we got the updated cert. It's um... I left it in my car. Uh, look, I can't hold this carriage too much longer, for safety, next one's coming through in about five minutes. You better get a move on. Let me know when you're ready to go," he says, finger hovering over the touchpad on his comm. By now Noise has made his way into the mediocre surveillance system and set up the loop so any peculiarities will go unnoticed, and Vincent's distraction is set. From across the floor Vincent sees a tall, thin man working his way down the armour aisle, picking up each vest piece by piece and holding it against his chest trying to find something that'll fit. He's seconds away from the boobytrapped outfit, and Bernado's beautifully composed mix of pressurised homemade napalm and superacids that he promises will rip through many floors. - Mike rolls 2 hits on negotiation+charisma, so your Edge saves you and he believes your tale. Edge refreshes at the end of this mission, so you'll have it back before the prison ship job. Might as well smoke 'em if you got 'em. The distraction goes off in about 10 seconds, so everyone else is about to have a lot more to worry about than a couple maintenance workers jumping out of a monorail. For those entering through the roof: To stick the landing and latch onto the sign on the way down, you'll need to roll either Climbing or Gymnastics+Agility [2]. If you succeed on that, you only take 5P falling damage (resisted with Body+Half Impact(round down)+Gymnastics. If you miss the sign, you take 10P falling damage. If you critically glitch you fall onto the street for resultant massive damage.
|
|
#
?
Jul 13, 2013 07:51
|
|
|
children overboard posted:The distraction goes off in about 10 seconds, so everyone else is about to have a lot more to worry about than a couple maintenance workers jumping out of a monorail. Is it? I figured I'd go browse until someone asked me to set off the firebomb, and then ask a sales associate to go get that piece of armor so I could compare it side-by-side with the part I was looking at, so the bomb'd go off roughly sixty seconds after that. But hey, if someone wants that tacky piece of junk I guess they deserve to blow up suddenly.
|
|
#
?
Jul 13, 2013 07:58
|
|
|
Natalya Once Stormcrow had cleared the way for them and Noise signaled that the cameras in the cabin were looping, she slipped inside along with everyone else who was going in through the roof (or "the fun way" as she put it). ::Noise, get in position. Vincent, we'll take those fireworks whenever you're ready.:: The mostly empty car glided along the rail sedately...it was a conveyance for tourists looking for what they thought was a good view, not a high-speed commuter shuttle...which gave her and Nail plenty of time to force the doors open. ::All right then,:: she subvocalized, the lopsided grin hidden by her mask evident in her voice as the monorail began its pass above the security building, ::race you to the bottom.:: Laughing, she fell back out of the open door like a diver, hurtling towards the sign head-first until the very last possible minute whereupon she quickly flipped rightside-up, the hydraulics and shock absorbers in her legs soaking up the impact with ease as she landed atop it feet first. Welp, time to get a move-on then. I don't know if Stormcrow's coming through the roof with us or not, but I'd guess now's a good time to check on how Telekinesis works. I am assuming that once our distraction goes off Noise will be going in through the other building, whereupon I have a bit of an idea for getting him across and inside. Telekinesis might come in handy there too. Natalya reduces the distance of any fall damage she might take by 12 meters, by the way, assuming she lands feet-first. I'll go ahead and roll Gymnastics here for formality's sake. 22d6t5 = 11 So that happened. Kai Tave fucked around with this message at 10:03 on Jul 13, 2013 |
|
#
?
Jul 13, 2013 09:50
|
|
|
Nail Shuffling into the empty car with the others, Nail doesn't have much time to think about the jump before they approach the top of the sign. As he steps out of the monorail car, it looks like he's misjudged the drop and was going to miss the sign. At the last moment, he twists and lands on the sign safely with a thud. "Not the best, but any landing you walk away from..." Jump!: 10d6t5 1 ugh. Edge to reroll misses Edge: 9d6t5 4 damage resist: 13d6t5 5
|
|
#
?
Jul 13, 2013 16:57
|
|
|
Kai Tave posted:
Is the idea here that I'm going to be flown across via telekinesis/tengu Movement powers? Which "other building" am I coming in from? The mall, or the Job Agency building? Sorry, i kind of lost track of where I'm supposed to be here.
|
|
#
?
Jul 13, 2013 22:35
|
|
|
I was thinking the job agency. And rather than try to actually fly you over per se, I was going to have Natalya zip down on a line, toss the grappling gun over to you, then just have Stormcrow cushion you as you swing over so you don't, y'know, thud against the side of the building with all your trollness. Then all you have to do is let the gun winch you up, no muss no fuss. Hell, if that works we may not even need to break a window in the security building, you could go in through the roof as well.
|
|
#
?
Jul 13, 2013 22:55
|
|
|
Got it. Children Overboard, can I get myself to the roof or appropriate floor of the job agency building by going up the fire escape or hacking an elevator?
|
|
#
?
Jul 14, 2013 02:01
|
|
|
A Very Distracting Distraction When Governor Culala signed into law the bill that would turn Lagu Lagu into a special economic zone, he promised a thriving business landscape where no job-creator would be hindered by excessive red tape, where no entrepreneur would be demoralised by punitive taxes, where no captains of industry would be hampered in their thought-leading by petty bureaucracies. Which is fine until a fire breaks out in a crowded mall. The tall man scrutinising the vests comes to the boobytrapped armour. He picks up the vest, and leans in curiously as he sees the bottle underneath it. A second later the blasting cap snaps and the bottle erupts in his face. Bernado's special pressurised superbrew explodes in a 10 foot radius, spilling its deadly burning composition across three aisles, coating the roof, the floor, the patrons. The tall man is covered in homemade napalm, grease and superacids. His scream is barely recognisable as human and he flails about wildly in unimaginable pain as his nerve endings are seared. He runs, crashing into a rack of coats, spreading the flame. Flimsy bargain-basement sprinklers emerge from the ceiling and meekly spray water on the quickly spreading blaze. The H2O hits the grease fire. The particles vapourise, exploding, scattering the mix around. Clothes and ceilings and hair and skin burns. The superacid starts to eat through the floor. The stampede begins. The guard at the stairs tries to remember his training, decides to save himself, and flees ahead of the bulk of the crowd. A small dwarf--one of the frontrunners--hobbles down the escalators as fast as his little legs will carry him. A troll taking the steps four at a time trips over the dwarf and they go down. The crush of fleeing shoppers behind slam into the downed pair and a mass of people get jammed in the stairs. People start running down the upwards escalator. An old man falls to the bottom, rolling, hitting every sharp edge on the way down. The automated stairs just keep pumping upwards, bringing him up a few stairs before he rolls back down, over and over, before he disappears under the trampling boots of a few dozen screaming shoppers. A few people come down from the floor above to see what's going on, quickly see the spreading flame and smoke and hordes, and rush back upstairs. Some make for the monorail, but they know it only comes every five minutes. The flabby security guard Mike rushes back into his office screaming into his comm for help. Most of the panicked mob flees across the skybridge to Island Time Security. The senior guard pulls his taser and shouts "stay back!" The junior one says "Boss! That's the goshdarn fire alarm! People are dying!" They eye each other down as the crowd approaches. Which of course means no one sees a thing as Natalya and Nail make their jump. Natalya gracefully drops to the top of the sign. Nail meets it solidly. The back of the sign is a mess of criss-crossed steel support struts, and it's easy to climb down to the roof itself. -  Emerald Rogue posted:Got it. Children Overboard, can I get myself to the roof or appropriate floor of the job agency building by going up the fire escape or hacking an elevator? They don't look to have an external fire escape due to lax safety laws. You can smash in the door pretty easily now that the fire's started, though. But the grapple gun has a 75m rope and the buidling's only 60m, so Natalya could just fix the hook securely on top and drop it down for you.
|
|
#
?
Jul 14, 2013 06:09
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 14, 2024 06:05 |
|
|
children overboard posted:They don't look to have an external fire escape due to lax safety laws. You can smash in the door pretty easily now that the fire's started, though. But the grapple gun has a 75m rope and the buidling's only 60m, so Natalya could just fix the hook securely on top and drop it down for you. 100 meter rope, actually. And speaking of which: Natalya It didn't take augmented senses to tell when Vincent's "distraction" went off. Natalya tsked...she hadn't exactly wanted to start a massacre, but she supposed that's what she got for not specifying ahead of time. They'd just have to blame it on the rebels. Technically that wasn't even untrue. But there was no time to waste crying over spilled napalm now...instead she was already busy securely looping one end of the polymer climbing line around the support struts of the sign in a configuration designed to accommodate a heavy load without untying or snapping. ::Be right back,:: she subvocalized to Nail before she hooked the grappling gun to her harness and dove off the side of the building. The automatic systems kicked in, keeping her descent at a rapid but non-terminal pace until she was only a few meters off the ground, then lowering her gently the rest of the way. ::Over here,:: she transmitted to Noise, pulling down her mask briefly so he could see her face and waving him over. She unhooked the rig from her own harness and, after pondering the hacker's attire for a brief moment, quickly looped a simple but effective harness under the troll's arms in order to help better distribute his weight. ::Right, just so you know the line's tested at 1,000 pounds so there's probably no danger of it snapping and sending us plummeting five stories straight down. And even if that does happen I'll almost certainly survive. You ready?:: she asked, then before he could respond she jumped onto his back and hit the auto-ascender, sending the two of them zipping straight upwards. I also just want to say that I am loving these maps you keep making.
|
|
#
?
Jul 14, 2013 07:40
|
|