[Shadowrun] Wish You Were Here! (IC Thread)

TIFunkalicious

A Shadowrun Crash Course

The universe of SR is based on a cycle of about 5000 years referred to as 'worlds'. The characters live in the Sixth World, which began in 2011 and should last until the 7000s. The previous Fifth World began in 3000 BC and lasted until 2011 and the Fourth world ran around 8000BC-3000BC. Every even-numbered cycle the universe goes all DnD on us. Elves, dwarves, orcs, trolls rise among the population. People wake up one day with latent magical powers. Spirits of the Astral Plane become visible to these mages/shamans/whatever they want to be called. Monsters rise up from nature. Dragons return (and usually play major power roles in the world). Shadowrun 4E is set in 2072, almost an entire generation into the chaos of this changing world.

This time around however, monsters and magic are no longer the only big kids on the block. Technology is frighteningly advanced and everywhere. The smartphone has become the commlink, an all-in-one electronic leash for your average Joe. The Matrix 2.0 is a mostly wireless version of the Internet on a whole nother level and everything's connected. The first Matrix from earlier editions crashed and burned, taking a lot of power from certain people/organizations and leaving room for newcomers. Your glasses/contacts/cybereyes display an augmented reality HUD that bombards the average Sixth World citizen with information. Your new messages are displayed in the corner of your vision and are accessed with the right flick of your eyes or a motion of your commlink compatible cybergloves. Or you can dive into a simulated 3D Matrix world like a real l33t blackhat (Think questworld from Real Adventures of Johnny Quest, or Tron)

Augmentation has progressed to cybernetics and beyond. Vets and construction workers often live with a robotic limb or two. Club kids go out with animated tattoos and embedded jewelry. Commandos bodies are armed to the teeth (literally, razor teeth). You can get your nervous system wired up to make the real world look like it's in slow motion, or get your commlink stapled in your head.

Corporations rule the world, and give SR it's cyberpunk flair. World governments generally bend over backwards to the will of Triple-A Megacorps that manufacture everything from snack foods to military hardware, sometimes with the same logo. These corps are only policed by themselves, even the neighborhood police are a for-profit corporation service. The shadowrunner is a freelancer hired by these corps generally to dick over other corps. They live on the underbelly of society, routinely trading for new fake IDs (a big deal in 2072, your identity is on a huge worldwide database and tracked everywhere you go), getting illegal augmentation and medical work, scoring equipment on the black market, and running dirty jobs for big money.

Come see Downtown and visit our International District

From the Seattle 2072 Sourcebook

The International District
Seattle’s International District is unique in that it is a blend of several Asian cultures that have settled here over the years. After the Seattle Fire of 1889 destroyed the city’s Chinatown, Chinese-American residents established a new community centered on King Street, which became the heart of the current International District. Since then, waves of new Asian immigrants have settled in the area, including Japanese, Filipinos, Vietnamese, Koreans, Thai, Laotian, Cambodian, and Burmese.

The district is home to numerous Asian cultural festivals (notably Chinese New Year in February) and also contains the Wing Luke Asian Museum on King Street.

Places

The International District a busy place! King Street is at the heart. Many different cultures, lifestyles, and languages coexist here. King Street Station has access to Seattle's monorail system which covers most of the city's other major districts. Some big ticket nearby destinations include:

The Arcology Commercial and Housing Enclave OR The ACHE
The 9th largest building in the world. The ACHE is a UCAS owned project to house a gigantic number of people. It's a marvel to see from the outside, but the interior has miserable living conditions.

Lone Star Security Services
A large blue pyramid housing the executive and business branch of the public security corp. Currently scrambling with activity after losing the Seattle contract to Knight Errant, a competing police company owned by the megacorp Ares.

Seattle University
Just a mile away, Seattle U is highly prized for the magical studies program and one of only a handful of places where you can get a masters degree in Magical Theory and Arts. Also a source of more typical, mundane research.

NeoNET's Seattle complex
NeoNET is the AAA corporation based in Boston responsible for the backbone of the Matrix 2.0. A software and electronics giant, their presence in Seattle is a prime foothold to expand West into Asia. 8 Skyscrapers (7 of them circling the headquarters) make up the complex and the bright glow of AR displays can be seen 24/7.

MCT Public Health Hospital
A 14 floor hospital accessible by anyone with a SIN and the right amount of nuyen. Owned by Mistuhama Computer Technologies, the corp responsible for the GridGuide system that autonomous vehicles use to get around.

Club Penumbra
One of the oldest active clubs in the city. Has a lunar theme complete with a moon surface floor and starry walls.

Cutting Edge
Sleazy club home to cheap soybeer and cheaper people.

People

There's a few important groups to keep an eye out for in this corner of Seattle. You don't want to cross the wrong people. Here are some of the local players:

Knight Errant
Public security division of Ares. Rent-a-cops that range from flabby desk guards to cybered up super soldiers. Their color scheme is usually a combination of silver, black, red, and gold

The Yakuza
The premier crime syndicate in the International District and in Seattle as a whole. Several families comprise a tiered structure with the older traditionalists and their associates in charge at the top and undesirables (metahumans and foreigners) doing the dirty work on the bottom. Still maintains some old practices like ritual tattoos and finger chopping.

Triads
Generally underneath the Yakuza in power and influence, Chinese Triads still have a hold in Seattle, especially on King Street. They have embraced magical arts and have a higher awakened population than the other syndicates and gangs

Shadowsea
A data haven and virtual hangout for shadowrunners maintained by a network of volunteers. Keeps a Matrix library of hard to find or restricted information. It even holds a constant ranking of runners and rumors about the community fly fast. This is where a lot of Data Search actions are going to take place, as well as meeting new contacts.

Halloweeners
Eccentric gang known for pyrotechnics and flashy costumes. Their activities are usually violent and petty with no grand motivations for money or power.

TIFunkalicious

Here at last is the IC thread for the Shadowrun game I've been itching to start.

Rules:

//We have a variety of websites hosting our cast's character sheets, I will have them all available in the third post. If you don't really mind, I suggest myth weaver's site just for consistency's sake, you do have to register to upload a sheet
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/175270/shadowrun-greetings-from-seattle-wish-you-were-here-ic-thread

//Dice Rolling will be done on invisible castle. I've never used this site before so I'm learning the ropes but it seems pretty easy. This is the page for the campaign as of now. When you roll, the campaign should be "TIF SR" minus the quotes
http://invisiblecastle.com/campaign/view/31173/

//Post Format:

This first portion is used for flavor and dialog. Write as you would a description in a novel, using plain text to convey what your character is doing and saying without any reference to mechanics like dice pools and action types. By not hiding actions up here this will reduce me missing something important that you want to do.

"If your character is speaking, put it in bold with quotes"

(Using subvocal microphone, to the whole group) "If you are communicating in a specific way besides regular audible speech, include how you are saying what you want to say. There may be situations where you will be going back and forth like this. You won't need to specify how you're talking every post, just the first one. If you are mixing speech with multiple parties, be sure to include who the target is in the parenthesis."

(To the ambassador) "Sorry sir, just informing my backup how to format dialog in their posts, now where were we? Oh, yes. Your assassination!"

Matthat quickly produces a flechette pistol from a gun slide under his jacket sleeve! He pauses to give a satisfied smirk and opens fire! But since links to rolls and declarations of actions take up space and look tacky, Matthat's player is going to put them in spoiler tags.

Free Action: draw flechette pistol using hidden arm slide

Simple action: Fire at ambassador
Matthat's first shot (8d6=26)
2 successes

Simple action: Fire at ambassador
Matthat's second shot (7d6=28)
3 successes

Movement: Move for the elevator if the ambassador is dead. Stay if he's still alive

//Combat: I'm unsure how to make it run entirely smoothly. Unlike DnD bad guys actively roll to defend and anyone can sacrifice their next action phase to go on full defense if their initiative hasn't come up yet, even in the middle of someone else's turn. Fortunately no one has to roll for damage because it's calculated based off of the attack/defense rolls so after either any of us rolls our defense in response to an attack we can report the damage immediately.

Movement and position is a little weird in this game mostly because it isn't grid based. It will be mostly description based with diagrams to show the ranges between all of the characters and who is engaged with who. I have a feeling this will delay some posts at the beginning as I mess with images and layers to move all of your icons around. Movement is free for the turn up to your speed. Every initiative pass you have, you can choose to stay still or move again. BUT, inbetween your initiative passes, you are considered to still be moving at that rate and have all the bonuses/penalties associated with it. In general, you must be able to perform all of your actions either at the beginning or end of your movement. You cannot state that you move half your movement to an open doorway, fire a weapon inside, and then spend the rest of your movement moving back to safety.

TIFunkalicious

Players and Characters

@vertroue is Katsumi Ryuusho, a local born into the Yakuza family. She was cybered up after an explosion during an ambush. Strong sense of family and loyalty. Is an amateur artist and appreciates the real and tangible world even while filling the role of street samurai.
http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=386986

@garewill is Finneas LaFaro, a young outdoorsy human. Was famous as a skilled sharpshooter in an unaugmented sports shooting league before being found using bioware to gain an illegal edge.

@Theidar is Liam McIntyre, a multitalented human adept capable at stealth, athletics, and combat. Rescued from Chicago after the bug city crisis by a group of runners in exchange for helping them out.
http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=514359

@Melding is Kimberly Jones, an elf battlemage with a draconic theme. A constant wanderer, she has settled in Seattle only for the time being.

@interrobang is Yves Lee / Dybbuk, a chatty hacker and hardware specialist with a taste for last-century art and culture
http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=513392

@SanderJK is Murphy Mulligan / Taxi, an older vehicle rigger who's been around Seattle for a long time. Started putting his skills a wheelman to use in the shadows after the Matrix Crash that erased his identity like so many others.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/19346998/Murphy.pdf

TIFunkalicious

Yesterday
December 30, 2071

You met in the private room at a downtown lounge. Black leather seats, dark painted walls, and dim lighting created an ominous atmosphere as an AR assisted briefing for your run began. Mr. Shiro is an associate of the local Shotozumi-gumi Yakuza syndicate, and is being supervised by Yakuza bodyguards as well as a Yakuza street sam who will be accompanying you (Katsumi). He has brought you together for a matter requiring the discretion of a third party.

You recognized the picture almost immediately.

Ayumi Jones is a Japanese-American pop star under contract with SEA Pop, a local subsidiary of Horizon. Absolutely stunning both on and off the screen, she's had a meteoric rise on the Top 100 charts over the past month. As a new successful music star, it's hard to get away from her face and her songs. She's played in shopping centers and featured in AR ads. Known for her wide range and bright revealing outfits, she's also gathered a reputation as an unprofessional performer. Jones has blown off trid appearances, disputed terms of her contract, and spoken of her frank distaste for her employers, fellow singers, and the industry at large in multiple interviews. She is also the subject of a rumor stating she is related to a powerful Yakuza family through her mother's side of the family and that she's being pursued by them after running away.

An image of a blog post pops showing Jones in sunglasses on a luxury airliner. It has a bright caption underneath reading 'AYUMI RUNAWAY CRIME QUEEN?!'. It cuts back to the concert ad.

Shiro: "There's some truth to her relation, but she never had an official position. Outside of a cursory gift to celebrate her success and chit chat with a chairman who happens to be a distant relative, she's had no involvement. However, this did not stop her security team from exagarrating the story and fanning the flames. It got a little out of control for SEA Pop's PR wizards."

The display changes to a famous shot from a recent interview with Ayumi when she was questioned about this family tie. Her palm is blocking the camera of a hover drone while she points and shouts at the reporter.

Shiro: "She sent her first message in weeks back to Japan: She's fed up with the music business, the investigations, and the lifestyle. She wants out. Her contract doesn't expire for years and if she quits, she's ruined. Normally we wouldn't be inclined to assist, but she has made many generous donations to various charities with Horizon money this month."

An advertisement for a New Year's concert pops up. Ayumi is listed as a featured performer along with several other singers and DJs. The performance is at the Seattle Convention and Trade Center, but it looks like it's a joint event with the whole block. Local bars and clubs will be streaming the performance in real time and require tickets to get in.

Shiro: "With our cooperation she's arranged a fake abduction by the Yakuza to remove herself from the public eye. As a story, it's completely believable to the public. All the suspicions that she has been 'wanted' by the Yakuza will be confirmed in their minds. She is presumed dead, gets her eyes and hair altered in Tokyo, pays for a new identity, and begins life as a new person. Under our protection, of course. However, our men are on a strict watch list for her security team, and won't be allowed past any of the barriers."

"The schedule for the concert runs from late evening until 11:50. Then ticketholders from the SCTC all the way to the Seattle Hilton have time to get drinks and count down with the clock. Ayumi is scheduled to go on just seconds after midnight. But she isn't going to make it to the stage. Ayumi will be waiting for you in her hotel room at the Hilton. You burst in and put on a show for the camera recording. Shout orders, wave some guns, and pretend to capture her. You move out during the chaos of midnight and drop her off at a location we will send you once the job is complete."

"Unfortunately, we have been unable to neutralize any security presence in the building. More than one famous singer is being held in there, and any kind of intrusion will be met with force. They've got toughs and security drones. We've even seen a mage on the Hilton's security footage. She's probably nothing more than a magical arts student working part-time."

"Before we begin the planning phase, here are some rules of engagement. Security corporations see the destruction of their drones as an expected expense. But they see the death of their associates, no matter how low on the food chain, as an insult. For the duration of this assignment you are working as agents of the Shotozumi-Gumi and we will not tolerate a higher bounty on our heads because a few bouncers were killed. Aim to neutralize any employees who resist you using nonlethal methods."

TIFunkalicious

Today
New Year's Eve, 2071
9:00 PM



You're stopped at an ad-hoc checkpoint for the concert. A yakuza contact pretends to inspect your vehicle, ignores any weapons you've brought along, and waves you in. Ayumi provided complimentary tickets that were assigned to your SIN this morning. Normally these are reserved for family and friends but they've been reworked to flag as non-VIP and be less conspicuous.


1) Seattle Hilton. Ayumi is staying here and will be escorted out before her set
2) Seattle Convention and Trade Center. Where the live performance is taking place

The rover has been given a temporary maintenance pass allowing it to be left behind any buildings without arousing suspicion. There aren't many people here yet, but you spot a few early groups. The crowd is mostly clean cut corp slaves and college students. There are a few odder ducks putting on bright makeup and costumes for the new year. You quickly notice a much lower metahuman population than usual, the only orcs and trolls seem to wearing security uniforms.

You find a place to stop and have a few hours before the concert begins and the streets are guaranteed to be flooded. Giant AR displays of the whole performance will be projected on building walls and inside all the other bars/clubs in the area for anyone unlucky enough to not get in to SCTC. You can drive around easily now, but later distracted pedestrians will be standing in the streets, eyes glued on the walls.

Shiro's voice crackles in your ears. "Time is of the essence. Find out where Ayumi is and the details of her security. We know the toughs have assignments and schedules on their comms but it's encrypted and they're under strict orders not to share it over the air, even to each other. So Dybbuk, you'll have to get in mutual signal range to access that data on their comms. Otherwise, try to capture any chatter between the guards before there's too many people in the area.

Some pressing concerns in the air, and ideas for how to split up

How will you recon the security in the hotel and surrounding area? Keep in mind you don't actually know where Ayumi is staying in the Hilton. Skulking around the hotel is a possibility, as is using drones and the astral plane.

The guards have been given rotations, schedules, and assignments to keep on their commlinks. These have been broken up by team and if you crack one, you have not only his/her marching orders, but everyone else they're assigned with. You must be within mutual range, and their signal rating is set deliberately low, so you will have to be quite close to do this.

The guard bribed by the Yakuza is named Toz. He was only paid to let you in and doesn't know any details. However if you can find him again he might be a valuable resource.

The Capture Traffic action can be used to intercept any dialogue between security teams. This is an Electronic Warefare + Sniffer Program Rating test, it normally has a target of 3, but it will be more difficult in a large crowd due to the number of wireless devices.

Where/when will you strike? Ayumi will be taken from her room around 11:50 and hurried to the SCTC with an armed escort. You can "kidnap" her before she leaves, on the way, or even as she arrives on the stage. It's been left up to you due to a lack of information.

How will you get out with spectators crowding the streets? Presently you can relocate the vehicle freely.

TIFunkalicious

In your first post, include whatever name you want your character to be called by, as well as a shortish physical description.

vertroue

(Prefacing this by this is on mu phone and rather hard to type. I will be on a computer later but right now. A phone is what I have. )

Thay being said.

"Konnichiwa." Katsumi bows her head to the other Runners. "I am called Kat by those I work with, it is a pleasure to be working with you."

Katsumi or as you now know Kat, is short she stands at just over 5 feet in height. She currently is wearing black cargo pants, a black halter top with a black jacket over it. The tank top has a red and gold dragon printes on the front. Her hair is long from the front back. The sidea of it are shaved. Yoi can tell that the long hair can be arranged to cover the sorter sides.

A telling maker though is where her skin is not covered in tattoos, Kat is albino. She is deathly pale.

Also. Her right hand is covered in a black leather glove. Her left hand while also gloved ia clearly missing the pinky and ring fingers.

Kat, to any observer would truly only notice the katana she wears. However that is the only weapon she shows right now.

SanderJK

There's a skinny and unassuming middle aged man in the drivers seat, his hair greying and with big bushy sideburns, wearing a chauffeurs costume. No visible weaponry, though there's a rug in the back of the Rover with something big under it. Not that he's doing much driving at the moment, at least not visibly. He just looks around a lot. One of the seats is taken up by a collapsed Evo medical drone, not a common sight but perfectly legal to own.

"My name's Murphy, or call me "Taxi" because I'm here to provide a smooth ride. And if that doesn't work, a ride.

The Rover is in pristine shape, a jet black vehicle which looks remarkably stock, apart from the space under the back seats which seems to have been filled up by a Rigger's Coccoon. All the windows are mirrored, which is more or less expected from this class of vehicle. It's a military vehicle reworked as a luxury car, popular with people who want to impress with what they drive, want to feel safe, and have little thought for finesse or beauty. They are common enough that most people forget that they are still, essentially, military vehicles that are legal to drive.


"Well this is a certainly a mess we've gotten ourselves into, three hours to do a job, barely any intel about the location or opposition, restrictions on actions. But I guess there are people around to whom saying no is just bad for your health." He sighs and leans back, looking into to his passengers.

"The way I see it, we need to set up a situation where we can get close before risking any alarms going off, quickly get that starlet out of view and into the ride, and then somehow lose any opposition. With these bloody rules we don't want a large shootout, we don't want a foot chase, and if we can we also don't want to have anyone actually see the lass step into the car. There's a ton of eyes flying, driving, standing and hanging around, and if the car gets marked we may end up getting chased by half of the enforcement in Seattle. And it's the worst night of the year too, every corner you take can lead you into a crowd of drunken kids cheering pretty lights in the sky."

"One option is the elevators. No matter how big their security detail, only so many people can fit into the actual elevator, and if you can make it go to a different floor, you can get the jump on a small amount of guys in positions you know. You'd still have to be inside the hotel, and you'd need to be out before the alarms really start flashing though." He looks around, sees if anyone is paying the car any attention. "Another option is to intercept while she's getting into the other car. Much, much better than trying to intercept a moving vehicle. You could try to disable the other car while it's waiting, but those things generally have beefed up security. It's risky."

Theidar

"I don't like these crowds and I like those paparazzi vid drones buzzing the Hotel even less." The young man sitting in the passenger seat grumbles. His brown hair is spiked up right now and he is wearing a leather jacket with a Maria Mercurial tee, a pair of knock off designer jeans and scuffed up work boots. His eyes seem slightly out of focus as he peers out the window and continues talking.(Quickly astrally perceives building and surroundings for any more security surprises)

"I wonder if this maintenance pass will give us access to the hotel's garage. From their maybe our Codeslinger can tap into the hotel system and get some more info. Even better if he can get us access to elevator control as well I like your thought of jumping them in a confined space while they are separated."

garewill

"You know," pipes up a lanky figure in the back seat, "I'm sure both Ayumi and her security detail dislike crowds and paparazzi more than we do. We always have the option of using them to our advantage"

The man stares down at his twiddling thumbs as he speaks. A black matte-colored shotgun is cradled in his arms, and a bulging backpack rests on his lap.

"An excited mob charging the hotel doors would certainly warrant the attention Ayumi's goons. As they try to push through one entrance, we'll just waltz through another. It might be that simple."

A slight waver in his voice gives the impression of a green runner, rife with immaturity and naivety.

"Oh... you can call me Fin."

vertroue

(Forgot to put this in her discription, where her skin is not covered in tattoos, Kat is albino. She is deathly pale, but what you can see of her left arm and chest is covered in beautiful work.)

"I am no good with the computers, that is not my field. Getting into and out of some place, that is what I do. I am not a fan of having to do this at the hotel. My ideal would have been to take her near the Con Center, less guards less equipment, less hassle..."

"We have to choose though, do we try for the hotel, on the way to the stage or at the ConCen?"sighs "But..They want a show...Which as runners we want to avoid, apperently not this time. This is not going to be a quiet nab and run, we need to be loud, methodical, but noisy."

Kat holds her left hand up, there is a distinctive glint in her eyes. "This is my world that she wants to play in. Lets give them a show."

SanderJK

"There's a difference between getting caught on camera doing a crime, and being caught doing a crime redhanded. Appearing on some footage is fine, but the last thing we want is to be on the local news during a car chase. Seems to me it motivates the jackasses to go all in. And we're not supposed to shoot back, remember. Get the girl, leave a trail, that's enough. But give some thoughts to the fifteen minutes after that, or it may turn into a long night. And the concert is going to be swarming with security to prevent drunken idiots from trying to get backstage. Sure you can hide in the crowd, but you can't get near without a few dozen people running towards you."

Theidar

Blinking the young man looks at you, his eyes snapping back into focus. "Sorry got a little distracted there. Call me Liam."

vertroue

Kat nods to Liam "Pleasure,"
Focusing back on Taxi, "Hmm Site Security with the Con or all the individual performers Security? I would rather be in the open to get the hell out then be stuck in the hotel when all hell breaks lose."

"With grabbing her at the ConCen, yes we will still have to deal with Security and fans, however it is a more direct route to have you get us out veruses not know which floor she is currently on, which room she is in, and just how many guards she does have, not to mention getting a shot to the van afterwards."

"If you can get us which floor she is on, which room she is in, and the Detail that is on her, I am game for the hotel. It will be hot but it can be done."

garewill

"Sorry to interject, but aren't we supposed to kidnap her from her hotel room? I just want to make sure we follow the details as accurately as possible"

Fin makes momentary eye contact with the other passengers before diverting his attention back to his thumbs. He shifts awkwardly in his seat and continues...

"If I remember correctly, the reason we need to extract her from her hotel room and not the ConCen is so that it can be caught on the camera set up in there. I suppose if we use some other camera to record the abduction we can do it from anywhere. Does anyone have any kind of trideo-recording device?"

Melding

"Sorry, did i miss introductions? Karen." the elf sits up a bit, almost paying attention now. "The hotel can't be that hard to get into, with staff buzzing around, sure you got some security, but they aren't that hard to distract or deal with"

vertroue

"Details where left up to us to plan since there is much we don't know about the hotel, the staff, and security."

Theidar

"One potential advantage to striking in the hotel is that each performers security is likely to pull back and go on the defensive. At the Convention Center we are more likely to run across multiple performers close together and overall security is likely to be better organized. Does anyone know if security at the hotel is done in-house or contracted out? And if it is who fills the contract, some small time rent-a-cops are very different from The Star or even worse K-E"

vertroue

"I can see that. They may indeed barricade themselves inside of their rooms not knowing who or what is behind the attack."

"I do not think we have that info. Mr. Shiro did tell us that they are Security Companies...be that rent a cop or from a Corp we don't know. There has also been seen inside a mage of some sort working with security."

"Can you get into the network and find that out?"

interrobang

"I think you are all making this much more complicated than it needs to be," says Yves. He sits up from his slouching position and leans forward against the seat in front of him, the nylon of his jacket squeaking as he moves. "It's not like we're breaking into Raven Rock. Let's take her in the hotel. Security's guaranteed to be lighter there than in the ConCen, we can find out exactly where she's going to be - better than having to worry about catching her between cars - and it'll be easier to get around inside the actual building." He laughs and leans back. "I mean, you guys have seen the SCTC, right? It's fucking huge."

"Oh, um. I don't think we've been introduced... wow, that's awful shitty of me to start barking ideas when you don't even know my name. Ah, fuck me." He laughs again and shakes his head. "I'm Yves, but call me Lee. It's a pleasure, to be sure."

garewill

"Although we don't know any details for sure, I would have to agree with Lee that the hotel would be our best bet. We'll need to figure out more details before jumping straight into the fray. Lee, do you think there's anything you can do to get any info on the hotel security? Sorry if I'm greatly misunderstanding your area of expertise; I'm just exploring any options we have."

interrobang

"Yeah, no doubt... once we get there. Park us somewhere discrete and I'll do my thing." He crosses one leg over the other, turning his head to watch the glow of streetlamps through the vehicle's tinted window. "It's a shame they hadn't given us more notice on what we'd been doing," Yves laments, a frown creasing his features. "I could've cut together a real convincing smash-bang-pow highlight reel and made this job a hell of a lot easier."

TIFunkalicious

One of you may have brought it up with Shiro but he agrees that the job is tedious and that the timing is inconvenient. Any number of days would be ideal to pick up Jones that aren't before a big performance and without not only her guards but a whole team to keep out riff raff but she insisted that it happens tonight.

I wasn't explicit about it but yes, there is a healthy number of drones in the air from both news/entertainment coverage and the sec team.

You guys have been looking around long enough to notice the street guards are in pretty basic teams of 4: 3 boots with with armor, tasers, batons, and a sidearm accompanied by 1 unarmed member of indeterminate purpose.

@Theidar the block isn't particularly active astrally. Beyond a few colorful blobs of mundane folk in a sea of washed grey you see 2 magically active forms around the entrance of the Hilton. They resemble humans but are much larger, about 7 feet (2.2 meters) tall. Both are dressed like 1930's bellhops and are pretty clearly semi-permanent spirits bound to watch the perimeter and keep watcher spirits or projecting magi off the property for customer privacy. When you perceive, they make eye contact but seem to lose interest as you drive by and focus on their posts. You also see weaker spirits of less consequence hovering around some of the local businesses.

// On security guards. Most lower level security outfits are a subsidiary of a larger group like Lone Star or Knight Errant. The way Mr. Shiro sees it if the security team fails to protect Ayumi the big suits will say it's because SEA Pop didn't pay enough for adequate protection, that the fault lies on their end, and will only halfheartedly offer further assistance outside of the contract. If their team suffers causalities it will prompt the suits to contribute big time to the investigation, rather than leaving SP out in the cold.

SanderJK

'Well, let's go take a look at the hotel then, we'll ride past it and see if we can pick up any chatter on the comms'
Murphy adjusts the planned route of the Rover.

TIFunkalicious

More people are streaming through the checkpoints, making the trip a bit more stop-go-stop than when you first entered.

The Hilton has an ample multifloor garage. You can clearly pick up the wireless signals of several drones patrolling the interior, likely to scan vehicle RFIDs and SINs. There is some unencrytped traffic, but it is in code, mostly colors and status reports.

"Blue on post"
"Green on break"
"Purple off break. Purple on post."

There seems to be at least 2 groups on break at a time, you're not entirely sure what that entails.

There is short range encrypted traffic available, but it passes in and out too quickly. Even with a good decryption, you only pick up a few words out of context
'Jones'
'concert'
'Horizon'
'interference'
'where did-'


The front entrance has the aforementioned spirits, but you can also see into a heavily guarded lobby. Barriers have been set up in front of the elevators and stairs and there are at least 8 visible guards with 4 4-legged walking drones, probably the same as in the garage.

garewill

"Maybe the front door isn't our best bet. I'm going to get out and take a little stroll around the building and see if we have any other options. All this 'stop-and-go' driving is making me carsick anyway. Taxi, you don't mind if I leave my stuff in here do you?"

(Before I get myself into trouble, I'd like to state that my character is wearing street clothes at the moment and his chameleon suit is packed away in his backpack)

TIFunkalicious

@garewill You exit into a growing crowd of fans hoping to get a peek at a performer before they're ushered into a vehicle. It looks like there is an acceptable limit of people allowed to congregate outside of the hotel on the street.

The courtyard, however, is a no man's land. Nature paths and swimming pools and not a guest in sight. The guards have locked down the gated entrances but you see no patrols around the fence or inside. It appears to be a convenient location for your team to enter or exit the building provided you can bypass or neutralize any security watching the back doors. Taxi's

@SanderJK getting a rover through the park might be a problem. The team can find an inconspicuous section to climb over the large fence but overpowering it with a vehicle will draw too much attention.

You can easily park in the garage but after anyone leaves the vehicle and goes on foot they will be thoroughly analyzed by the drones inside and likely found as an intruder.

You can also park streetside, but you will have to escape through a crowd before getting to a major street.

@Interrobang When the rover is closer to the building, you have a couple options.

Capturing and decrypting confidential traffic: because we're not in combat, we won't roll the extended test for this. Even poor decryption skills and software can break in within a handful of combat rounds. As long as we consider both the sniffer and decrypt programs to be running on your commlink and we aren't in combat you will periodically pick up some dialogue.

Scanning and hacking into nodes: The good stuff! Once we determine where the team is beginning their infiltration I'll roll a scan check and tell you what nodes you can begin to access.

@vertroue @melding @theidar
Weigh in on the plan of attack. Several entrances are available

-the garage
has a small company of drones
easy vehicle access
monitored

-the front door
squadron of security blocking the stairs and elevators
spirits!
heavily monitored

-the courtyard
difficult terrain
quite a run to the rover after exiting
light security presence

-the roof
surveillance wouldn't see you unless you did something to attract attention
how would you get up there?!

Once you decide on an entrance and a place to hide the getaway vehicle you can move in

Melding

"I don't assume we have access to a helicopter, right? That'd make things a lot smoother. Until it went wrong and who ever was on it died, but failing that." Karen rubs one of her eyes as her other arm stretches "Courtyard is probably our safest route, yeah? find me a place without too many ears and I can get in just fine. Out? that's a different matter. But i figure if we need to make a loud exit any place is bad."

Theidar

If someone can spoof/subvert the drones I vote garage, quick access to the escape vehicle and using the drones to slow down pursuit would be nice if things go badly. If we have a tag eraser we could even appropriate the drones. Otherwise Courtyard sounds like the smart move.

SanderJK

"This doesn't look easy, a lot of more security than I expected. They're already in lockdown. We've got to think o some alternatives fast."

garewill

"I'm not saying we have to do this," Finneas' voice comes through your Commlink, "but we could send a small team through the courtyard on foot. They could get into position and wait for the target to return from the concert. In the meantime, we could park the rover in the garage, getting Yves close enough to hopefully incapacitate some drones. Then, after the fake abduction, we simply take her to the garage and drive away."

vertroue

""Negative. We need to take her before the concert. The point is this girl is quitting her life. We are trying to make a show for the vidcams to see us taking her. She does not want to play the concert here or again. This is our task to do so before she reaches the internal of the concenter." Kat sat touching the hilt of her katana.

"Again it is either her, on the way to the concert or before she gets on stages. This is our run."

interrobang

"I can handle the drones," Yves assures the group, leaning forward in his seat once again. "That'll be the easy part. But Kat - do you mind if I call you Kat? - is right. We have to take her before she gets anywhere near the con center."

vertroue

"Kat is fine."

Theidar

'I do like the 2 pronged approach. A few of us infiltrate through the garden while the rest prep in the garage for a hasty escape."

garewill

"Sorry Kat, I guess I was just under the impression that we had to take her after the concert, not before. If we could do either, I would definitely prefer to do it earlier rather than later. All I'm saying is, for future reference, we should try not to become to involved with the personal opinions or feelings of any third party and we should just focus on our objective."

TIFunkalicious

Okay! Taxi will be parking the rover in the garage, doing whatever he wants from there remotely while a point team sneaks in through the garden. If you want to play tech or magical support in the rover, sound off. Otherwise I'll assume you're going in as flesh and bones.

@SanderJK give me a game plan for your drone fleet. The hotel has windows with adjustable tinting. Private rooms are blacked out but some of the hallways are plainly visible.

For simplicity's sake, we will assume the building is a square. The garden is on the North side and the garage is on the East. If you want to move any flying drones to try and peek through any windows from the outside, give me

)The facing (North South etc.)
)The floor number

Using the real life Seattle Hilton as a reference, there are 29 stories. Private rooms begin on the 14th floor, leaving you with 15 levels of nonsense and 1 room you have to get to. Anything below that will be conference and service rooms. These are irrelevant to the run until you make them relevant (by retreating into a kitchen or indoor swimming pool locker room, for example)

Remember that there is a real chance that any flying drones will be spotted and tracked or taken down.

vertroue

" I know we are looking for security,"Kat says looking around to the others. "But can you get into the hotels network to find where our target is?"

Theidar

"While you work that out, I'll change into some more appropriate attire for a stroll through the garden."(Ditching tee and jeans, putting on gloves,boots and face mask for FFBA. Putting on googles.). "Got a change of clothes in my pack. Once we get inside I figure someone in a nice suit will blend in better. Or maybe we can get the drop on some hotel staff and acquire both a disguise and some access keys."

SanderJK

"I'm not at all sure that using scouting drones is in our advantage. There's obviously quite an investment in drone technology here, and I'm not confident that I can easily hide my low grade scouts from their tech. I"ll rely on the superior models in the car to keep an eye on the garage. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll go crawl under those seats and and go into VR, makes this car a whole lot faster and dangerous. "

garewill

Fin returns to the Rover and promptly begins changing into his chameleon suit.
"As long as we're already breaking some rules, I might as well bring this" Fin states as he rubs his shotgun.
"By the way, I don't think it would be the worst thing in the world for one of our more heavy-handed teammates to stay here in the Rover with Taxi. Just in case..."