Nothing's Free in the Free Zone (IC), Adventure 1: Broken Star Options

[DrZaius]

The Rusty Bar-rel: Gateway Ave between Enid Ct and Fontana Ct, Montbello, Denver, CO, 1:45 AM August 3rd, 2075

Grease snaps his fingers, as if something just occured to him. "Sprinklers! Fire suppression systems. Overkill, you're going to need to control those as well. It doesn't do us much good to toss a CS grenade in their apartment if the fire alarm goes off immediately, and sprinklers turn on to dissipate all the smoke. Not to mention that I'd prefer Denver's Bravest not show up 10 minutes after we start our party with a ladder truck and any number of Lonestar."

The elf rubs his hands together, pleased with their scheme. "We're getting close here; but remember that no plan survives contact with the enemy. Let's not get too caught up in the details; we have to be ready to adapt as the situation warrants." You are not at all surprised the twitchy rigger favors a plan that relies heavily on 'winging it'- far from it.

His eyes light up again as if he's just now thinking of something else. He taps out a quick message on his commlink.

<<@Chapel [Grease]: 3 extra sets of coveralls, if it's not too much trouble.>>

"We've got some duct tape; right?"

[Lobo0705]

The Rusty Bar-rel: Gateway Ave between Enid Ct and Fontana Ct, Montbello, Denver, CO, 1:45 AM August 3rd, 2075

<<@Grease [Chapel] Three sets of coveralls, check. See you in an hour>>

Grease looks around at the team, "Guys, someone has to wait here to meet with Chapel and get our gear. I can send my Fly Spys to keep up with you and provide an eye in the sky for your stealing the van. I'm just as good doing that here as I am there, and besides, would be a shame to waste this liquor." He grins, and pulls the bottle to him protectively.

"Once you guys are done, we'll meet up somewhere and I can work my magic on your disguises. Jack, I'm picturing a magnificent mustache for you..." Jack snorts, and Grease finishes, "The BMW is all set to go, I'll be watching over your shoulder."


Free Zone Couriers, East 2nd Ave, Aurora, Denver, CO, 2:10 AM August 3rd, 2075

The BMW comes to a halt two blocks away from Free Zone Couriers. The area is typical of the Warrens, the power is out to most of the street lights, any security cameras originally installed by the UCAS government in the 40s have long since been stolen or destroyed. With the car stopped, the windows roll down smoothly and a slight hum fills the car as the servos on the three Fly Spys kick into gear. The first one zips out the window, Overkill's control precise and regimented. The two drones that follow it clip Jack's ear on the way out, causing him to reach up and grab at it, pulling his hand away and expecting to see blood. Grumbling to himself, he is soon distracted as the video feed comes back from three drones.

The drones have taken up position over the Courier lot, displaying the video to the team through their feed. There is a security guard at the booth, his cap thrust back his head as he scratches his mostly bald head, the other hand playing with his 'link. Another guard is outside the main building in the employee parking lot, the blue light from his E-cig bright in the blackness of early morning. It is impossible to see what the guard in the booth is armed with from the angle of the video, but the guard in the parking lot has a baton and some sort of pistol at his hip.

Overkill manipulates the data feed slightly, causing bright spots to appear on the southeast corner of the main building, as well as above the main gate. "Cameras. The one on the building isn't an issue - it swivels from north to south, I can override that to have it fixed facing north - should prevent us from being on camera. The one at the gate I'm going to have to actually be monitoring live to keep us off of it."

[Jack VII]

Free Zone Couriers, East 2nd Ave, Aurora, Denver, CO, 2:10 AM August 3rd, 2075

Jack considered the layout of the shipping center closely. If there were truly only two guards there, it shouldn't be too much of a challenge. With that said, either guard probably had access to a panic button of some sort that would call reinforcements or the Star. Simply put, they would have to be taken down quickly and quietly. The trucks provided a nice visual barrier between the guards and the fence line. The concertina wire concerned him, but he doubted he would be able to find a mat anywhere to throw over it.

Speaking up, the ork said, "Alright... I think this may be best done as a one-person op, well... one-person with support. Here's what I'm thinking: Overkill hacks into their system, taking care of the cameras. Amy will guard Overkill while he's in VR and keep an eye on me in case everything goes sideways. As for me, I'm planning on scaling the fence on the opposite side of the truck parking area from the guardhouse with the aid of one of Amy's invisibility spells. I'll make my way through the trucks and get as close to the employee parking lot as possible, assuming the patrolling guard is still there. I'll take out that guard with my rifle and hide him underneath one of the cars in the lot. Then, I'll sneak up to the guard in the booth and subdue him by hand."

"Thoughts?"

[Chrome Head]

Free Zone Couriers, East 2nd Ave, Aurora, Denver, CO, 2:10 AM August 3rd, 2075

"Good plan as always, Jack. You sound confident, I'm sure it'll go smoothly." Amy smiles, waiting for Jack to start executing, then, catching herself. "Oh, right." She reaches for Jack's forearm and grabs him gently. "There, you're set. This won't cover sounds you make, and cameras can pick you up as if I hadn't done anything at all, but the guards shouldn't see you coming."

[Jack VII]

Free Zone Couriers, East 2nd Ave, Aurora, Denver, CO, 2:10 AM August 3rd, 2075

Jack looked down at himself and didn't really feel any different. Looking into the rear-view mirror of the car, he saw himself sitting there plain as day. I guess I gotta take her word for it... the ork thought. Appreciating the vote of confidence, Jack checked his gear, shutting down all unnecessary wireless devices and turning the others silent. Screwing the suppressor onto the end of his Colt, the ork opened the door and made his way towards his target. "Here goes nada..." he whispered.

GEAR

[ Spoiler ]

Streetline Special [S&S]
Colt M23 [S&S] w/Integral Smartgun, Shock Pad, & Supressor (W)
Flash-Pak
Flashbang Grenade
Armor Jacket w/CP (2), FR (2), IS (2), NC (2)
Helmet w/Flare Comp, Thermo, Trode-Net, Vision Enhancement (1), & Vision Magnification (W)
Earbuds w/Audio Enhancement (3) (W)
Hermes Ikon (5) [Browse & Signal Scrub] w/Subvocal Mic
Gecko Tape Gloves (W)

Cyberware
Internal Air Tank (3) [Alpha]
Muscle Replacement (2) [Alpha]
Skilljack (4) [Used] (W)
Skillwires (4) [Used]
Skillsoft: [Gymnastics (2), Running (3), Sneaking (4)]
Smartlink [Alpha] (W)
Handblade [Alpha] (0.2)
Wired Reflexes (1) [Alpha]

[Jack VII]

Free Zone Couriers, East 2nd Ave, Aurora, Denver, CO, 2:15 AM August 3rd, 2075

Slipping through the shadows, Jack quietly approached the western-most fence of the Free Zone Couriers compound. He felt confident in the plan, particularly with his teammates providing overwatch and support. Finding an area of the fence concealed in the shadow of one of the delivery trucks, the ork assessed the barrier. Should be an easy climb, but that concertina wire looks afilado... Activating his gecko tape gloves, Jack quickly scaled the fence. Slowly but surely, he managed to weave his way through the concertina wire at the top, only snagging himself once. On the other side, he deactivated his gloves and dropped to the ground in a squat, mentally sending the team a message and swapping out a few of his skillsoft.

<<@Team [JustJack] Objective One complete. I'm inside the perimeter. Moving on to Objective Two>>

[Jack VII]

Free Zone Couriers, East 2nd Ave, Aurora, Denver, CO, 2:17 AM August 3rd, 2075

He knew his teammates were probably monitoring his progress through the drone feeds, but he figured sending a message was better safe than sorry. Bringing his rifle up to his shoulder, Jack crouched and started weaving his way through the lot of trucks, monitoring the feeds from the drones to check the positions of the guards. Approaching the edge of the lot, the ork took a firing position behind the wheel of one of the trucks and peeked around the corner. His natural low-light vision quickly picked the patrol guard out, still puffing away at his e-cig.

<<@Team [JustJack] Objective Two complete. Go ahead and freeze their eyes and I'll take this guy>>

[Jack VII]

Free Zone Couriers, East 2nd Ave, Aurora, Denver, CO, 2:18 AM August 3rd, 2075

Checking the ARO of the feed from the security camera that Overkill was controlling, Jack waited until the camera started to turn back toward East 2nd Street. Controlling his breathing, the ork bracketed the iron sight of the M23 on the guard, his smartlink creating a targeting reticle in his vision matching the aiming point of the iron sight. Lining up his shot on the guard's throat, Jack breathed twice and fired. The e-cig flew out of the guard's mouth from the impact of the shot, his body silently jerking with the spasms of high voltage coursing through it. As the guard fell, the ork dashed across the open space, grabbed the body by the collar, and drug him behind one of the cars in the employee parking lot; the guard's e-cig lay forgotten and lonely on the ground. Searching the body, Jack made sure that the guard's commlink hadn't sent any alerts and that the man was still alive. Satisfied that he remained undetected and the man relatively unharmed, the ork tossed the 'link on top of the adjacent building and well out of reach.

<<@Team [JustJack] Objective Three complete. Target Alpha is down. Moving to Objective Four and Target Bravo>>

[Jack VII]

Free Zone Couriers, East 2nd Ave, Aurora, Denver, CO, 2:20 AM August 3rd, 2075

This is going pretty well, Jack thought to himself. Slinging his rifle, the final objective was likely the hardest, although Amy's invisibility spell seemed like it was going to help out considerably. Swapping around his skillsoft, Jack loaded up the programs responsible for pistols, stealth, and unarmed combat. This last bit of biz was going to be up close and personal. Slipping from behind the car, the ork hugged the shadows until closing in on the guard shack. Peeking in, he noticed that the guard had barely moved and was still playing with his commlink. Going to have to put an arm lock on him, otherwise he's going to raise the alarm.

Tiptoeing in behind the man, Jack quickly reached down and locked his arms around the man's neck & elbow, preventing any movement and securely closing his windpipe. The particular lock allowed Jack to hold up a finger to his lips and shush the guard to silence as he slowly started to lose consciousness. Jack was almost caught by surprise when the guard resisted, breaking out of his lock. Having the advantage of both strength and being invisible, the ork quickly resumed his hold, waiting until the man passed out before shushing him, like he always saw them do in the action trids.

<<@Team [JustJack] Objective Four Complete. Target Bravo down. Let's move.>>

[Jack VII]

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[Lobo0705]

Free Zone Couriers, East 2nd Ave, Aurora, Denver, CO, 2:21 AM August 3rd, 2075

The closest truck in the parking lot comes to life, the sound of the engine startlingly loud in Jack's ears. The headlights turn on, and the truck begins to roll toward the front gate with Overkill remote controlling it.

<<@Jack [Overkill] There should be a manual control for the gate, can you grab it?>>

Jack looks down and quickly stabs the button with his finger, then quickly heads out of the security booth, and hopping through the door to the truck that Overkill has kindly opened for him.

The truck rolls out of the parking lot and down E.2nd, Overkill relinquishing control to Jack while he and Amy get into the BMW.

[Chrome Head]

Free Zone Couriers, East 2nd Ave, Aurora, Denver, CO, 2:21 AM August 3rd, 2075

Jack really knows how to get things done right.

<<@Team [Amy's subvocal] "Very good work, you two! Now let's go take a look at the apartment. Jack, I'm gonna drop the spell if it's okay with you?">>

[Jack VII]

Free Zone Couriers, East 2nd Ave, Aurora, Denver, CO, 2:21 AM August 3rd, 2075

<<@Amy [JustJack] Yeah, go ahead. Thanks for the spell, it definitely helped me get the drop on them.>>

Pleased with how their side-mission turned out, Jack applied his actual driving skills to the task at hand. I guess I could drive back in the day...

[Lobo0705]

The Rusty Bar-rel: Gateway Ave between Enid Ct and Fontana Ct, Montbello, Denver, CO, 2:45 AM August 3rd, 2075

<<@Grease [Chapel] Your package will be outside in a minute..>>

Grease shifts control of the BMW over to autopilot and stands up - perhaps a little more unsteadily than he would like. One more drink and I'll be fine. He takes a last swig from the bottle, settles the tab, and walks out to meet Chapel in the parking lot.

Grease pilots his taxi to meet him in the parking lot next to Chapel's delivery guy. The man, dressed in jeans and a Broncos t-shirt opens the trunk and transfers it to the taxi. With a nod of his head, he gets back into the car and Grease gets behind his own wheel and plugs in.

<<@Team [Grease] Jack, follow the BMW. I've got the gear, let's meet up and do our disguises before we perform our recon.>>


Lynx's Apartment Complex, Denver, CO, 3:20 AM August 3rd, 2075

Their disguises finished, the team stops several blocks away from the complex in the stolen truck. The BMW and taxi are stashed at two separate locations, ready for the escape plan afterward. Overkill says,
"Give me a few minutes to do some Matrix recon. I can have the work order sent a couple minutes before we enter."

[Lobo0705]

Lynx's Apartment Complex, Denver, CO, 3:25 AM August 3rd, 2075

Overkill closes his eyes for a solid 5 minutes, then opens them. "I've done some Matrix scouting around the building, and I was unable to find any drones that look out of place. There are a couple different crawlers scattered around the apartment complex, probably maintenance and garbage disposal."

He pulls up the ARO of the complex. "Nothing seems to have changed from last night. There are two security guards here." The lobby of the building flashes green. "And they have two other guards walking patrol. One is in each wing, and they are on the 3rd floor right now. My guess is they each travel the corridors of their wing, and then switch with the guards at the lobby. As I suspected, none are heavily armed, it looks like they just have tasers and stun batons."


In a frustrated tone of voice, he says, "If Gutter is there, and has any active drones, then they must be running silent, and I could not detect them."

[Jack VII]

Lynx's Apartment Complex, Denver, CO, 3:25 AM August 3rd, 2075

"Good work, amigo," Jack said as Overkill finished his report. While it would have been better if Overkill had managed to MARK some of Gutter's drones, the ork was glad the decker seemed to be regaining confidence. The rough going during the early part of this job had left a miasma over the German elf's mood. "If we do run across any of Gutter's drones, it might be a good idea to try to hack them, since their sensors might spot our weapons or sniff out the chemicals in the grenade. Plus it might make it easier to pop Gutter."

Looking around at the group, Jack asked, "Is everyone ready to suit up and give this a shot?"

[DrZaius]

Lynx's Apartment Complex, Denver, CO, 3:25 AM August 3rd, 2075

Grease shrugs at Jack, and smiles easily. "Well, if Gutter's in there he's doing his job. Wouldn't be a party if there weren't any surprises!" He looks over the rest of the team. "So, we should plan on dividing up when we're in there- I'll take the elevator with someone; we should have the other 2 take the stairs. What's the best way to divide our firepower?"

[Jack VII]

Lynx's Apartment Complex, Denver, CO, 3:25 AM August 3rd, 2075

"I think Overkill should ride the elevator. If he needs to do any emergency VR hacking, he's not going to be able to walk up the stairs." Jack replied, trying to think through all the possibilities. He was familiar with the old adage that no plan survives first contact with the enemy, but it sure as Hell helped if you were positioned well for it. "Since the north stairwell is going to be closest to the target and the most likely escape route for us, maybe Amy should take that one, so she can assense it? She's the only one of us with that capability. I can take the other stairwell. I think the elevator is going to be the most likely place for interaction with the guards or residents, so it might be best to have our slickster there."