[IP] Panzerknacker Options

[Volker]

[ Spoiler ]

Yeah, sure, I was aware of that. Thanks!
Software: 17d6t5 7 (see below) Still beneath my Mental Limit.

"All right, the cams in the corridor are off. For good measure, I marked the cams still running with red and the off ones in dark blue on your map. Speak friend and enter, honey-bunny!
That is, as soon Slob says the room behind the door is clear. Trog time."

While Slobbertooth approaches and uses his Motion Sense power, bnc programs a small routine into the map: As soon as one of the registered icons - that is, basically, the commlinks of the team - approach a zone that should be under surveillance of a camera, the camera icon on the map ARO begins to flare and an acoustic warning is sent to all team mates. This is, of course, only very rough as the exact area a cam can cover is difficult to simulate, but plain mistakes like the one in the last pass shouldn't happen again easily.

[Jack_Spade]

The program insertion works as planned and the corridor is shown free both from camera surveillance and from guard activity. The Kanmushi bug drones show that the two guards have gone to the front of the bank and are now inspecting the front door as well as the offices there. The way is free for Anna to cross through the ward and into the bank with the help of the SOK.

[Gilga]

Once passed the mana barrier Anna cast the invisibility spell, being extra careful she also made sure that she was walking very quiet and is well covered with the rothanium polymer.

[ Spoiler ]

Invisibility: 11d6t5 3
drain: 10d6t5 3 no drain.
sneak: 11d6t5 3
Levitation F1: 11d6t5 6
Drain: 10d6t5 4

She arrives unmolested to the women's restroom, having a bit of time before the guards visit there, she use the levitation spell and place the grande. She slowly lift from the air and then moves the acoustic ceiling to plant the grande by the ventilation system. Once the grenade is placed, she texts.
She texts >> Grande is placed, Sprinklers... work your magic.

[Volker]

[ Spoiler ]

I'm assuming resistance dice pools. Please correct me if I'm wrong with them.
I hope, I didn't forget any host swapping or noise thingies. Please tell me if I did.
I didn't mention every swap of stats and programs. If you want me to, I can add them, but mostly, they're trivial. Only one isn't: I reconfigure my Configure to load my assassin configuration (6345, Hammer, Decryption, Mugger).

Hacking on the Fly: 19d6t5 5
Opposed roll: 13d6t5 5 Utility host resists.

Question at this point: Is there any reason not to Reboot? The cameras have nothing to record at the moment and my overwatch score would be by about 10 or so, which might become a problem, considering how many rolls I still have to do. Time is not a critical factor yet. If there's nothing I've missed (and bnc wouldn't miss), then I'll reboot at this point and order the agent to take care of the cams again.

Hacking on the Fly: 19d6t5 6
Opposed roll: 13d6t5 3 Utility host hacked.

Hacking on the Fly: 3#19d6t5 7 8 9
Defense rolls: 3#12d6t5 5 4 3 3 marks on Leggio's link

Hacking on the Fly: 19d6t5 4
Defense rolls: 13d6t5 6
Use edge to reroll failed rolls.
Reroll: 15d6t5 3
Wow ... 7 hits with 34 dice. That's a bad average. But enough to hack the commanding officer's link.

Action: Send message to team.
Action: Send message (sending fake message to soldiers; I'm not sure if I need Spoof Command or Control Device, but send message should do, shouldn't it?)
Action: Enter host (Utility host)
Action: Control Device: 14d6t5 3
Action: Leave host.
Defense rolls: 13d6t5 5 - Resisted. Spider receives a message.

Control Device: 14d6t5 6
Defense rolls: 13d6t5 5 - vents on

Load sniper configuration
Action: Data Spike Leggio
Data Spike: 17d6t5 4
Defense rolls: 13d6t5 6 - dammit. Why do I always roll bad in those situations. Okay, let's see how things evolve. I receive 2 points of matrix damage.

"Wakata. Slobbertooth, Krestov, get ready for the GO signal. Anna, if you haven't summoned your spirit, do it now. Kite, ready your drone."

Then bnc goes ninja.
And makes a mistake. And reboots her deck. Inhales. Exhales. Goes ninja again.

[ Spoiler ]

If you mentioned how the environment is designed, I forgot it. I'll just assume a basic bank-environment for this simulation to describe my actions.

bnc's persona turns into that maintenance personal, carrying a toolbox of humming programs. She enters her keycard into the Utility host's slot, but instead of entering, she again transforms into a female clerk with short-trimmed hair and moves into Leggio's surrounding, mingling into the mass of other icons. One after another, small masks of comedy and tragedy appear on Leggio's commlink, invisible to all but bnc.
Then she removes herself and searches for the commanding officer, who soon also has a mark on his persona.

"Count to four, then engage!"
Her virtual fingers flying over her control pad, loading and terminating one program after another, bnc releases the preconfigured message: "Attention! Intruders alert! Everyone stay at their position and await orders. Any action is to be coordinated with me first. Get your weapons ready now"
While the message is being released, bnc immediately moves on and vanishes, to reapper in the Utility host. There she turns a switch, while simultaneously releasing the gas grenade. The air ventilation system goes on with a soft hissing sound, but bnc's already on the move, leaving the host again to send a data spike. She's back to her grotesque persona again, disconnects her right hand and has a cannon appear which she fires at Leggio's persona. Unfortunately, his firewall can stop the attack. Faint cracks on the gun show that her gear received damage. bnc curses under her breath, but is ready to engage in a matrix fight. Adrenaline and Golden Mirror mix in her blood, leaving her eager to bring down prey fighting back.

[Jack_Spade]

Simulation Leggio - unaware of the matrix attack that his link just blocked - is seen on the Kanmushi feed storming towards the armory. A moment later the simulated gas floods all areas where there are guards or where guards are suspected to be. Kite has obviously been meticulous to design this part of the simulation as carefully as possible. One by one the personal if falling to the ground or slide out of their chairs.
Leggio isn't seen composing a message, so he likely is doing something else that requires his full concentration. Just as the door closes, the Kanmushi sends a picture of the man donning one of the helmets with integrated gasmasks.

[SquirrelDude]

[ Spoiler ]

Can I get a quick visual of where the drones see people/do not have coverage. We've go the 2 in the foyer, a possible live one in the armor,and what else? I'd like to know if we need to do a quick change to where people are moving to clear the building.

[Jack_Spade]

[ Spoiler ]

You have eyes on the whole of the first floor, the antechamber in the cellar
On the top floor you have eyes on most of the rooms except the armory - that is beside the short glimpse that I just described (the reason being that the drones couldn't get into the armory as long as no-one went in there)
What you see so far is that everyone else has succumbed to the gas.

[SquirrelDude]

[ Spoiler ]

Well, we know how many guards are on a shift, how many are unaccounted for in the camera feeds

[Volker]

[ Spoiler ]

Data Spike: 17d6t5 10 Wotcha, now she's being serious. Of course, I only have Attack 7.
Defense rolls: 13d6t5 4

That's 7 (base damage) + 3 (net hits) + 2 (Hammer) + 6 (three marks) + 3 (Mugger) = 21 damage. I guess, that'll do.

May I assume that my rolls and the opponents' dice rolls were okay?

"Ugh, c'mon, you could at least have fought back a bit, chunk-o-chink. Boys, take him out."
bnc reloads her cannon and unleashes a data spike so deadly, she's afraid of it herself. After the attack, it's difficult to identify the commlink as what it used to be.

[Gilga]

Anna exited the restroom, and quickly proceeded toward the still standing guard, texting ">> On our way..." Her ruthenium polymer pistol was barely visible, heck she was barely visible with her RP cloak and invisibility spell. She moved quietly behind the 'drone/guard' and then fired. A shot that was more of a statement than a shot. She was not only a pretty face... She had an invisible Ares Predator with armor piercing bullets - and she was going to make some damage.
Besides - she couldn't just go to the vault and let the boys have all the fun...

[ Spoiler ]

She has 3 hits on invisibility, 3 hits for sneaking -6 dice to detect her through RP cloak. Likely surprise(?)

Fire drone + take aim: 14d6t5 9 limit is 7, the damage would be
8 + net hits, -5 AP (ADPS ammo).

[Jack_Spade]

[ Spoiler ]

@Volker
Yeah, that's alright, Sim-Leggio's link is toast

@gilga
It's not quite that easy, I'm afraid: You have to open a door with a very alert opponent behind it:
Please roll a sneak check

[Gilga]

[ Spoiler ]

sNEAK: 11d6t5 2
Let's reroll that with -2:
sNEAK: 9d6t5 4

[Jack_Spade]

[ Spoiler ]

sorry, no retries with a live simulation (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)
Perception: 6d6t5 1
But it seems as if that's still enough for the drone not to hear you.

The simulated Leggio fell to the ground with a very visible wound, oozing blood - and throwing sparks...
<<HEY, what the hell Anna? What happened to the non-lethal approach? And why did you use a real gun to shoot my drone? Damn, now I have to program a spare.
Simulation continues.>> Kite scolded Anna through the team channel.

[Gilga]

She grinned at the splashed drone, shooting the drone felt good, though she had doubts about wasting an actual person like that. "Whitman asshole would have deserved that" she thought to herself. Being kind of an ass about it she texted >> I blame trid-games....
She did not delay and headed straight to the vault making sure with bnc that she did not pass a non crossed camera - though it was sort of safe.

[Volker]

"I keep wondering why charisma and social behavior tend to correlate indirectly proportional.", bnc mutters to herself, but audibly in the channel. Slightly frustrated at the missed chance for a good matrix fight, she instead sends in her drone, advancing in line with the two trogs.

[SquirrelDude]

Slobber did the same as he had done in the previous simulation attempt and moved down towards the vault room. He looked into the the foyer to make sure both of the guards were down like the camera had shown. At the top of the stairs he fired a burst of smoke grenades from his launcher. He activated his thermographic vision and moved down into the unknown.

[Jack_Spade]

From there it all ran like clockwork: The gas - and Anna's gun - had incapacitated all guards before they could do more than wonder about the message they had received. The SOK opened the vault and without anyone monitoring the feeds, no alarms where triggered either.

Now all that was left for a successful conclusion of the sim was to get the pile of scrap up and out of the plywood palace.

[Gilga]

Anna helped piling the scrap and shuving it off to large body bags. Then when they had enough she levitated the loot up the stairs for safety avoiding the elevator. She did not drop the invisibility spell so this whole scene looked a bit strange with piles of scrap placing themselves into bags.

[ Spoiler ]

F4 levitation:
Levitation: 11d6t5 6 - 4 hits 800 kg of scrap can be levitated.
drain: 10d6t5 2 - no drain.

The bags slowly levitated up the stairs and as it was only a simulation Anna followed them a bit bored as the excitement passed.

[SquirrelDude]

Slobber did his best to make sure that the freight train moved quickly.

Have we found your trinket, doc?

[Jack_Spade]

Schmidt shrugged: "You have emptied out all boxes, so if my prototype is in there, we'll have it.

Anyway, good show everyone.
Anna, I hope shooting the drone was merely a you making a point about my planning and training. I know it grates at your personality and your type of magic, but please, try not to kill anyone if not absolutely necessary.

Alright. We'll go through this a few more times in the next days, then it's two days rest and recreation.
Flatline, I'd like you to give every team member a physical beforehand, so everyone is in top shape.
Mike, you and Kite will take care of the equipment in this time. Make sure the van is just as ready as the armor. The weather forecast says it's going to snow, so make sure the right tires are on as well. Would be a damn shame if we got into an accident after a successful heist.

Any final questions or proposals for changes on the plan, now is the time to state them."

[ Spoiler ]

So that's it, we are closing in on the last chapter of Panzerknacker, the day of the heist.

If no one objects we'll do a time jump.

Your characters gain another 10 karma

[Gilga]

Anna apologized "It was a dick move, sorry about that. I imagined it was Whitman actually. I'll load gel rounds for the heist, in some of the pistols at least."

[SquirrelDude]

Taking off the helmet, "Physicals are a good idea. Should we do a psych evaluation as well? Is anyone here qualified to do that? This is a job that requires a lot of concentration and focus from everyone. If Krestov or I get distracted and don't recognize a threat, someone could die." Slob spoke of himself, but looked at bnc while he said it.


"Also, that run was easy. Our mistakes made it hard. There wasn't any security or surprises inside the vault. It's the one area we don't know anything about. We need to be ready to handle a surprise in there, Doc."

[Volker]

"I'll do my physical myself, thank you. I'd appreciate a Healing spell, though, as I'm going to have to cut myself open in order to repair the matrix damage done to my deck during the simulations."

She raises her middle finger at Slobbertooth and scowls, not even pretending she didn't get the subtext, then leaves.

She will use the time in between to go repair her deck, check all her gear, go through the plan once more, and throw a dose or two of Whoom.

[ Spoiler ]

I'm ready for the real thing!

[Jack_Spade]

Chapter 4

Judge: "Now, on the matter of motive, we ask you: Why did you conceive, plan and execute this dastardly and scandalous crime?"
Edward Pierce: "I wanted the money."

The Great Trainrobbery (1978)

November, 16th, Friday morning

The training had gone by in a blur and the free day had been really necessary, but now it was only one more day before Saturday - the day after Zola's night out with an escort lady, when it was least likely that he would appear at 6.00h in the bank on the next morning, while the security crew they had prepared against would also be in position.

So it was high time for the team to execute the preliminaries: Inform the mercenary about his blood mage boss' plans and planting the bugs inside the bank.

As a reminder, Mike had placed the plan once again prominently into the center of the safe house:



Step 1: Use incriminating evidence to get Mercenary Kynos to turn against Zola and Ramirez, hopefully causing a distraction for Zola.
Step 2: Visit Bank to infest building with spy drones

Day of break in:
Step 3: Activate gas grenade in hotel to take out mage to stop watchers reporting activities and subsequent combat spirits arriving
Step 4: Hack biomonitor of Corporate Decker
Step 5: Send spirit to knock out Decker

Actual break in
Step 6: Drive up with van to backside of bank
Step 7: Don RP capes, Flatline uses Invisibility and Spirit Concealment on team and van
Step 8: Direct connect to camera over back door and enter Security Host (R7)
Step 9: Hack camera feeds with loops
Step 10: Open door with SOK, wait for patrol to be out of sight.
Step 11: Anna enters, moves directly to women restroom
Step 12: Anna levitates to ceiling, places Gasgrenade in vents
Step 13: bnc hacks Utility host (R5) to control vents to all places where guards are present
Step 14: bnc hacks Leggio's 'link
Step 15: bnc releases the fake message from Commanding Officer to tell guards to stay at their stations and help being on the way.
Step 16: Activate gasgrenade, Slobbertooth, Krestov, Anna's spirit, bnc drone and kite drone storm building to neutralize remaining guards, while bnc data spikes Leggio's commlink (as he is most likely to withstand gas attack)
Step 17: Everyone in building is subdued with no alert (if not, it's 10 minutes running until reinforcements arrive)
Step 18: Slobbertooth, Krestov, Schmidt and Anna enter vault to empty lock boxes (6 minutes)
Step 19: Levitate loot out through staircase and backdoor into Van.
Step 20: Evacuate to boat house, unload haul into minisubs, have Kite pilot them back to the safehouse.
Step 21: Leave Island as regular, inconspicous business people (suits ready at the boat house)

[Volker]

bnc, in what may be something as a well-covered hint of bad conscience, prepares breakfest for the whole group, humming to herself. She's not a particularly good cook, but it's the gesture that counts.

When we sit around the table, bnc once again goes through everything. "Baby girl, you start. Do you need any help from us?"