 Entering Aztlan legally?, Aside from swimming the Rio Grande. |
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 Dec 16 2003, 07:11 PM
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#1
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Moving Target  Group: Members Posts: 424 Joined: 11-May 02 From: Marauding the mighty North Saskatchewan Member No.: 2,720  |
I don't have much by the way of some of the source books, but how difficult is it to visit Aztlan legally? I mean can one drive a bus from L.A. Down to Tijuana for the weekend? Or is it more like crossing into the old Iron Curtain. Or is Aztlan really that evil empire that is just plain sealed? From what I know they're semi at war with the CAS and slightly less hostile to the PCC. Smugglers Havens describes the best way to get in is with a t-bird with a border scirmish for a distraction. Any thoughts? Has anyone went there in your campaigns? Or has anyone ever had an Azzie campaign?
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Dec 16 2003, 09:22 PM
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#2
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Runner Group: Members Posts: 3,314 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Lisbon, Cidade do Pecado Member No.: 185 |
The northern borders are mostly militarized - Calfree, CAS and even the PCC since its revealed its expansionist side - and very hard to get across. The best way to get into Aztlan legally is to take a plane straight into Tecnoctitlan (that is if you can find a way around all the airport security and red tape).
SONA has a lot of info on bordercrossing in North Am and Sprawl Survival Guide has a lot of stuff on travel and fake documents. |
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Dec 16 2003, 09:28 PM
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#3
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Illuminate of the New Dawn Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 317 Joined: 9-June 03 From: Seattle 'Plex, UCAS Member No.: 4,700 |
In the Aztlan book they give guidelines for getting travel visas. So if you've got a SIN (or a good fake) you might be able to get in. Of course, if you have obvious cyberware (often whether or not you have a permit for it) you're screwed. They didn't say about whether they discriminate against magically actives, but I bet they wouldn't let them in if they could help it (of course, they also probably can't spare many sec magicians to check the borders all that often with the current situation in Azzie-land). You can apply for these visas over the Matrix or in person, but in person visits are more likely to be approved. Also, if you're a CAS, TT, TnanO, or PCC citizen, forget it... Get smuggled in; its your best bet.
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Dec 16 2003, 09:30 PM
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#4
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Ain Soph Aur Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 3,477 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Montreal, Canada Member No.: 600 |
Or get a fake SIN that says you're from a friendly country. Well, no country is friendly to Aztlan, but you know, less hostile...
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Dec 16 2003, 09:31 PM
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#5
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Chrome to the Core Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 3,152 Joined: 14-October 03 From: ::1 Member No.: 5,715 |
Or just have your awesome Decker/Otaku buddy deck in and give you a valid SIN and passport.
:please: |
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Dec 16 2003, 09:56 PM
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#6
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 424 Joined: 11-May 02 From: Marauding the mighty North Saskatchewan Member No.: 2,720 |
Like I thought, this is going to be a six figure job. ;)
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Dec 16 2003, 09:57 PM
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#7
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Chrome to the Core Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 3,152 Joined: 14-October 03 From: ::1 Member No.: 5,715 |
More. You've got to make sure that anybody who helps you across can get away with a new identity and plenty of money to keep them going until they establish themselves somewhere safe.
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Dec 17 2003, 12:19 AM
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#8
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 745 Joined: 26-July 03 From: Montréal, QC, Canada Member No.: 5,029 |
Actually, they can. Unless things have changed dramatically since 2056--which is entirely possible, I'm a bit fuzzy on canonical developments after 2060--Aztlan DOES have Awakened security scanning ALL cargo entering the country. The Azzies don't cut any corners when it comes to magic...
Having just read Atzlan, I can assure you that's a conservative estimate. :) For one thing, don't even try to pass yourself off as a citizen: any arrival in an Aztlanian airport / checkpoint / seaport who identifies him- or herself as a citizen of Atzlan must submit to a rigorous ID check. This ID check includes--but is not limited to--fingerprint scan, palmprint scan, retinal scan and quick DNA test. No, I'm not making this up. A citizen's biometric data is stored on a central database and customs authorities WILL make you wait while they check your data against their records. Note this is ONLY if you identify yourself as a citizen. My advice to you, for what it's worth: find a drek-hot rigger with a bleeding-edge LAV and bomb down through Texas. Do a low-altitude parachute drop and hoof it into a major population center where you can score some ident papers. Alternately, explore your options in Amazonia: maybe the rebels will see some logic to the "enemy-of-my-enemy-is-my-friend" argument and help you get over the border. Good luck. |
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Dec 17 2003, 08:38 PM
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#9
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 424 Joined: 11-May 02 From: Marauding the mighty North Saskatchewan Member No.: 2,720 |
My character is the "drek hot rigger" and hopefully is going to do it in his helicopter which has a few goodies, Ivan also has a specialization in EW. He's going to make the drop across the border and pick up the team and pull them out at a set time. hopefully he won't have to make any personal contact. (As a Russian Ork in Aztlan he'll stick out like a FN-HAR in a daycare.;)) Possibly they'll make contact with a group of Yucatan rebels to sell some guns to make the run down profitable. (Not wasting fuel deadheading.) The crossing will probably be somewhere along the PCC border to the Baja. Naturally it will be NOE through some difficult terrain, but with the help of a few Air Elementals and a mage's imp. invisibility.
Mostly I'm interested in the info if the shit hits the fan and one might have to hoof it out. Its a long way to walk to Seattle... |
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Dec 17 2003, 08:51 PM
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#10
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Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,751 Joined: 8-August 03 From: Neighbor of the Beast Member No.: 5,375 |
:rotfl: |
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Dec 17 2003, 09:45 PM
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#11
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 745 Joined: 26-July 03 From: Montréal, QC, Canada Member No.: 5,029 |
Lucky you! I have a soft spot for good old-fashioned "if-it's-got-an-internal-combustion-engine-I-can-make-it-my-bitch" riggers. No fancy Initiation grades, no delta-grade nanotech tactical computers, just solid skills and a complete disregard for the laws of motion. :)
Good, that'll help a lot. The Azzies favour overlapping phased-array radar stations and tricked-out sensor drones. The heavy arrays are located in Ensenada, Nogales, San Angelo, Ciudad Victoria, Villahermosa, Progreso, Tapachula and Colima. They cover all air approaches from an altitude of approximately 50 meters AGL (Above Ground Level) to approximately 25,000 meters AGL. Below 50 meters may seem safer, but watch out: local air-defense radars (i.e. not the huge emplacements located in military bases) may detect you at this height. The civilian air-traffic control grid operates at below 50 mteres, for instance. The surveillance drones and look-down radar aircraft patrol the more sensitive areas of the border so watch yer ass if you're coming in around Austin or across from Amazonia.
Excellent idea, totally feasible. You have any contacts with the rebels?
Yeah, that's not bad--there isn't really a "good" crossing spot, anyway. :| Man, I wish I was going with you--this sounds like it'll be a blast... |
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Dec 17 2003, 09:53 PM
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#12
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Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,751 Joined: 8-August 03 From: Neighbor of the Beast Member No.: 5,375 |
Quite possibly the first time in history that anyone has said that about Aztlan. :D |
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Dec 17 2003, 10:44 PM
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#13
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 424 Joined: 11-May 02 From: Marauding the mighty North Saskatchewan Member No.: 2,720 |
No you don't, this run has wipe out written all over it. Ivan is almost doing it as a favor for a friend. He'll just probably break even on the run, but possibly maybe some good contacts might be gained and some favors earned. |
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Dec 18 2003, 12:25 AM
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#14
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 745 Joined: 26-July 03 From: Montréal, QC, Canada Member No.: 5,029 |
Hmm... getting out of Atzlan might be even harder than getting in. Where exactly are you going? Right to the heart (Technotitlan) or somewhere on the fringes? Urban or rural/jungle? How many in your crew? How much gear? For the record, I strongly recommend you read Aztlan and pages 87-88 in Target: Smuggler Havens. Tons of sweet intel.
Any run into Awakened Central America invites disaster--but think of the story you'll have afterwards! :grinbig: |
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Dec 18 2003, 12:41 PM
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#15
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Illuminate of the New Dawn Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 317 Joined: 9-June 03 From: Seattle 'Plex, UCAS Member No.: 4,700 |
Yeah, LOTS has changed since 2056. LOTS. The Azzies are slash-and-burning the Yucutan in an effort to end the rebellion there and the horriblly infected astral is turning lots of shamans on both sides toxic (which means they don't follow orders anymore) and then they're saber-rattling at Denver since getting kicked out and putting ordinance and troops on the CAS and Pueblo border (since Pueblo took LA and SoCal) and... Yeah. Lots changed. I really can't see them sparing that many good mages or shamans to watch the borders, except in known "sensitive" areas or militarily important areas. Airports... not so much, especially if they're not major. |
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Dec 18 2003, 06:12 PM
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#16
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 745 Joined: 26-July 03 From: Montréal, QC, Canada Member No.: 5,029 |
Oh, I see... well yes, that changes things. Nevertheless, how hard could it be for the "most Awakened nation on Earth" to spare enough mages? Figure 21 eight-hour shifts per week, so the airport gets covered 24/7. They could do that with, say, 5 mages per airport. It'd be tough on the mages but hey: with a six-figure salary and all the perks they need, I'm sure they'd manage. What do you think? |
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Dec 18 2003, 09:33 PM
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#17
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 502 Joined: 14-May 03 From: Detroit, Michigan Member No.: 4,583 |
Get a very good decker to insert a cover story that your here an Aztechnology business. As long as you pass a surface check, the sec guards probably won't want to delay someone working for Aztechnology. Of course you still don't want to be sporting obvious cyberware.
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Dec 18 2003, 10:04 PM
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#18
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Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,751 Joined: 8-August 03 From: Neighbor of the Beast Member No.: 5,375 |
Yeah, just don't get too close to 'em. But don't look like you're trying to not get close to 'em. Fly casual. I don't know...if your assumtion is incorect and the border guards of one of the top three most paranoid countries in the world actually do more than a surface check on suppossed employees of the THE most paranoid corp in the world, well you'll be telling that story that Velocity mentions to St. Peter (or the post life arbiter of your belief) Or even if your assumtion is correct. Your decker could crap out on you and *see above* I'd stick w/ the plan you got going now. |
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Dec 19 2003, 12:33 AM
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#19
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 745 Joined: 26-July 03 From: Montréal, QC, Canada Member No.: 5,029 |
Although I usually agree with booklord, I'm with kevyn668 on this one: spoofing identification is just adding an unnecessary layer of difficulty. Stick with what you've got going now, lodestar, and we'll help you work out the details. :)
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Dec 19 2003, 07:09 AM
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#20
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Illuminate of the New Dawn Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 317 Joined: 9-June 03 From: Seattle 'Plex, UCAS Member No.: 4,700 |
Yeah, I'd say they'd have some magicians working the major airports, etc. But if you're smart and you did your homework, you could get in through smaller airports where there weren't magicians scanning things, or at least not very often. This goes doubly for the harbors, unless they're near the Yucutan, where all bets are off. |
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Dec 20 2003, 06:55 PM
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#21
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 424 Joined: 11-May 02 From: Marauding the mighty North Saskatchewan Member No.: 2,720 |
I just managed to get a hold of a VNC for the LA area which includes a length along the border - some very detailed topographical info. Hopefully there'll be a good spot to sneak through at NOE. I should be careful, the feds might be monitoring this topic...;)
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Dec 20 2003, 09:50 PM
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#22
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 745 Joined: 26-July 03 From: Montréal, QC, Canada Member No.: 5,029 |
You know, it occurs to me that lodestar asked for a legal way to get into Aztlan and all we've been doing is suggesting highly fucking criminal methods.
*ahem* Are you still interested in entering the country legally? I have some ideas for that, too. :) |
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Dec 20 2003, 10:09 PM
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#23
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Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,065 Joined: 16-January 03 From: Fayetteville, NC Member No.: 3,916 |
Make sure you pick up the extras:
Language chip(s) just in case you do have to hoof it. Cred won't be a lot of help, but barter goods will. Medkits are cheap in some places but invaluable in others. Antidote patches are your friend. Rebreathers are a must. Having someone with "Survival" chipped would be an added plus -- or least something along the lines of, "The Idiot's Guide to Surviving the Amazon" on chip Survival kit with water filter -Siege |
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Dec 21 2003, 12:21 AM
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#24
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,849 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Melbourne, Australia Member No.: 872 |
Lots of good points.
I suppose one of the best ways in would be to try and get employed by the Aztlan Government or Aztechnology (the two terms are pretty much interchangeable in that country) for outside work. I'm sure there are plenty of reasons why they might want to hire outside talent as opposed to local. - J. |
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Dec 21 2003, 12:31 AM
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#25
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 424 Joined: 11-May 02 From: Marauding the mighty North Saskatchewan Member No.: 2,720 |
@Velocity:There's no doubt to me that the only way to smuggle some of the goods we're talking about will be through an illegal border crossing of some sort, but it has been played around with the idea that some of our team should cross in somehow else to make sure that the LZ and the meet will be somewhat safe. If they could get in somewhat quietly it would be nice. Seeing though that it is a hot border coming from the north foreign nationals might have a tough time of it.
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