Infiltration Challenge, Examining situation variables Options

[Eyeless Blond]

*bump again*

So, Talia, you still there?

[Shanshu Freeman]

[Eyeless Blond]

*bump*

Hey, it worked for the Matrix thread...

[Shanshu Freeman]

[Talia Invierno]

Now that I have access to a computer again (a moment of silence for the old harddrive and files), I can at least begin to consider catching up with this thread. I will hope for Sunday. Thank you, all, for your patience and understanding.

[kevyn668]

Score!

[Crusher Bob]

woot

[Talia Invierno]

I have been seriously remiss here, although not of my own volition.

You have been generous with me beyond all reason. You are owed an explanation. You will find it in the link in my profile.

I don't know when I will be able to take this up again. I do wish to finish this at some point, as was my original intent; but for now my time and energy have become more limited than ever, and I've discovered in trying to help out a friend that my current ability to process numbers and strict rules of Shadowrun has become suspect. Storylines and writing I do intuitively. Game mechanics and intense cross-referencing I do not.

If anyone is at all still interested, I will be returning to this once my life returns to an even keel. As things stand now, I cannot say when that will be.

Again, thank you for your extreme patience with me, and I'm sorry for having broken your trust.

[Shanshu Freeman]

[Crusher Bob]

You seem to have done a fine job so far, its been around 6 months and people still seem to remember.

[kevyn668]

Echo that.

[Eyeless Blond]

Indeed. Even on us newcomers you've made a lasting impression. Take all the time you need; some things are worth waiting for. :)

[Club]

[Crusher Bob]

From her live journal, she's still having a pretty hard time.

[kevyn668]

Live Journal?

[Crusher Bob]

IIRC, it's her website listed in her profile.

[edit]
Of course, the code that shows profiles seems to be broken right now.
[/edit]

[Talia Invierno]

We have a new link to the old thread, which I've edited into the first post and post again here. (Thank you, Neuron Basher!). Tonight I print everything out and read through -- and then (probably not tonight) I pick it up again ... finally!

Thanks, all, for your incredible patience with me :)

[Eyeless Blond]

Yay Talia! Welcome back!

Now to reread the thread and remember what was going on here... :P Btw, how many of the older posters are still around? I've been noticing a decided dropoff on the old guard around here.

[Psiclops]

Bravo!

I have an enviable position, I think, in that I just read this entire thread over the last 2 days. It took you guys nearly 2 years to accomplish this, and I think it has been phenomenal.

I have greatly enjoyed these exploits, and I must say I bow the powers of the Talia as story guide.

There is a tremendous amount of backstory hidden within this 2 hour tour, and it was a pleasure to ride along with it.

I have no real suggestions to offer to move the story along. I feel the assembled community crew is doing a fine job as it is. I hope Talia will be able to finish the story at some point.

I only hope that I can improve my own GM skills as a result of having watched this unfold.

--Psiclops (SR1 GM returning to the fold after 10-12 years of silence)

[Talia Invierno]

You're faster than I am: so far I've only gotten most of the way through the first thread ... printing out the second tonight for reading through tomorrow and Saturday. It's a good thing I know the storyline solid (the events here, in turn, are part of the backstory for the LitS campaign) -- it's "just" the details I don't want to screw up on. And it's not a closed shop either: now that it's active again (and just as soon as I'm able to recap and answer the most recent questions), anyone's welcome to jump in anytime.

(Oh, irony: the plan that ended up being used is essential in its basic structure -- if, obviously, in far more detail -- to that proposed by thunderchild on the very first page of the first thread [bottom].)

[Mace]

Yee-Haw! :D

Welcome back Talia and the Infiltration Challenge thread. Yes, at least one or two of the old guard are lurking though my contributions weren't as impressive as those of some of the others.

I'll find the time over the next couple of days to do some review myself and catch up to where everything is but I'm glad to see the resurfacing of this particular thread and look forward to it's continuation.

Real life takes priority plain and simple. I for one Talia appreciate your commitment and thank you for wanting to see this through.

*settles in for some serious reading*

[Talia Invierno]

Three posts. The first one recaps the background of what's happened until now, but without replicating the challenge description and parameters of the first page (reprinted and/or summarised on the first page of this thread). The second (tomorrow) states the plan and how it's been implemented. The third addresses the most recent questions. I might need to edit to add more to this one -- I just ran out of time.

And again, the reminder to lurkers that this is a free-for-all thread: I'm just holding back descriptions where they're dependent upon specific actions actually having been taken, but suggestions, questions, proposals, and scoping are always good.

...

When last we met our heroes, after a very personal heart-to-heart on whether they really wanted to go through with this run in the first place, they were just polishing off what they believed to be 98% of the run with only 2% to go. All of them except the rigger are a bit bruised, but for now all of them are still up and running (or in Ghost's case, more like staggering), and Ghost and the girl who they'd come to rescue are racing for the roof before the security people can get there and discover the waiting Artemis Nightgliders.

General surveillance and a hell of a lot of questions and research within the 24-hour timeframe has determined a few things about the place and the girl to be rescued.

Solitaire, our decker, had polished off large sections of Shadowland and city records to discover that according to the paper trail, the building doesn't seem to exist; and that this probably was a long-term projects which was planned out over years. Solitaire's also been trying to track down the company and what can be found out about the target, which means sorting through massive amounts of fandom.

Diamond, the face/mage, has been a very busy fellow indeed, negotiating with not one, but two separate gangs to create a diversion at the appropriate time, and then later with Galina, the snake shaman / street doc / shadowrunner who's been linked with Juliana.

Ghost: well, she's Way of Invisibility, and her part of the job doesn't really come up until the active part of the infiltration. So until then, she's been mostly support for the work of the others.

Trogdor, the Dragonslayer shaman with an allergy to dogs, has found himself viewing hellhounds far more up close and personal than he'd really wanted -- and being astral hasn't particularly helped. During research time first he's gotten inside with the cleaning company (snatch and grab, with Alter Memory, Mind Probe, and Improved Invisibility).

Advent has been scoping out the layout of the building, using crawlers dropped onto the roof and working their way through the ductwork. Almost all the building description below is as a direct result of this surveillance and Trogdor's mindprobe. He's also intercepted two calls to Lone Star from the rent-a-cop in the building kitty-corner to this one (see below).


About the run:

All the details of the run went through your fixer. No picture of the J. You are to drop the girl off at her apartment, where "Kay" (human female, you do have pictures and a password/counterpassword) would be waiting to meet her and have a chip with specifics of final payment for you. There is a sense that once she was free, she'd be wanting to take the story straight to the airwaves. Too bad: she is to go to her apartment first. Once you deliver her to "Kay", your contract is deemed to be complete.

It would be safe to assume need-to-know sifting of interested runners was done until the J managed to track down an appropriate team: ie. one willing to do the job on its own merits, without coercion of any kind beyond a relatively generous advance and final payment (and potential bonus, of which the Artemis Nightglider is part).

Time is an issue.


About the target:

Her name's Juliana d'Erethiel. She's elvish. She's 23 years old. She uses May 1 as an "official" birthday, but according to the fanbase she doesn't know her actual DoB, and she'd never learned until recently about celebrating birthdays. She was born in Tir Tairgire, and looks like everything glamorous and other-worldly that the rags have ever associated with that place -- only there seems to be nothing elitist about her. She seems to genuinely like people, of all races. (No one's been able to link her in with a troll yet, but the fanbase feels it's only a matter of time.) General arts degree from the (open) University of London (England): roughly two-thirds of her university credits are British, but she talks about NYC like she knows it, and she has an NYC Giants and Islanders banner hanging in her bedroom, along with the Dodgers banner. Obviously well travelled. She continually comes up with the oddest bits of trivia, which her fandom likes to endlessly analyse. She's extremely allergic to unalloyed iron. Other than that, she's deplorably healthy, and she's had broad-spectrum immunisation. (In light of M&M, I'm amending that to "has had exceptionally solid preventative medical care".) She works the late night Seattle Spy newscast as one of three anchors, and goes out on the town every night. While she seems to focus on fluff pieces, she's been in the right place at the right time to break four major stories. Strange incident on the air on night, still unexplained, at the same time as a break-in into her flat. She has her share of enemies and Friends in High Places. In addition to being a media personality, she's been seen with everyone from complete Joe Averages to the UCAS president, from the (then) governor of Seattle (this run takes place before the Arcology shutdown) to members of the mafia and yakuza. Besides a hostage incident (her take was short-listed for a media award), she's also had previous brushes with the shadows. Her current two Knight Errant bodyguards are listed as being on "active investigative duty".

(Many more details p.8-9, this thread, including family and some of her media and other contacts.)


About the place:

It's a ten-floor building, fenced in, in what could be called "reclaimed" Barrens. It's a branch company (operating at a loss) in the process of becoming the new head office, former head office in Georgia (former Soviet Union). Other branch offices throughout N. America and Europe, warehouse in Odessa, other? The accounting notations seem to have been done in a rather archaic Ukrainian, creating problems for knowsofts. An overheard conversation (in English) about importing/exporting artifacts suggests that the business is some kind of import/export industry, with an estimated local employee base of 50-60 (based on the number of cars seen entering/leaving daily -- this seems not to include the security personnel). Extremely high rate of personnel turnover. The names are non-local, best guess is a Turkish variant. The impression gained of the general manager is that of a colourless person with very little in the way of personality, whose greatest "passion" in life is to keep the wheels turning smoothly. His personal secretary is an elvish babe who would have been really hot if she hadn't been kind of distant and all-business. The one security guard probably identified correctly after a rushed records search (based on the picture ID) is just over 30, does have a SIN, technical school transcripts, and party affiliation; and doesn't have a police record, isn't bonded, isn't listed as being dead, and doesn't appear to have any living family. At least a couple of dual-natured elves have been spotted. The other employees seem to be very average, male/female ratio of about 3:1, almost all humans except one ork and maybe 5 elves, except that they don't interact with each other a whole lot, they seem to be very tired going home, and their auras generally seem "washed out", possibly drained. Ghost has had to dodge one exception: a wageslave who'd stayed after hours and who was eagerly anticipating ... what?

Similarly tall buildings occupy the entire neighbourhood (corporate rezoned area). Roof heights seem more or less consistent. Each building occupies its own block. This building faces the back of the one in front of it. (Detailed description p.3 of original thread.) The security guard in the building under renovation, kitty corner to yours, has noticed the increasingly violent gang fight, and is now trying to call Lone Star for the second time.


General description:

It has two vehicle entrances, one into what looks like an underground parking lot, the other an enclosed service entrance. A secondary ventilation area has been discovered in the "donut centre" of the underground parking lot area, with patterns matching those of the 10th floor.

Ventilation ducts (4'x 4') run through the entire buiding with the exception of -2 and the donut centre of -1: rooftop exhaust port opening with fan, grates throughout, no monowire. One non-obvious duct (blocked by a fan) is finally found which vertically leads to the centre of -1. Among other things, this ventilation section serves the hellhound kennel.

Ivy on the walls sort of makes an astral barrier but it's not completely grown yet and so it isn't solid, more an astral nuisance, even where there aren't windows. The building seems otherwise unwarded, although the background count is such as to make everything seem "icky" and generally "dense". The building does sit on a leyline. (see original thread, p.6/8 ) The team suspects something "slumbering".

From the main floor up and to mundane senses, the place seems to be a very average office building even from the inside. Five stairwells, one at each corner, the fifth next to the central elevator shaft. Ninth floor is mostly storage; 10th is a "storage attic" type floor also containing ventilation systems and with a water supply linked to the fire security system (all utilities independent of city grid, but made to look linked in); first floor divides at the elevators into a front "public access" reception area and a back offices area; floors 2-8 are all offices/cubicles/the odd storage closet. Cafeteria on the third floor.

The elevators have a combination of electronic passcard and button for all front-door areas. There are no buttons for the back doors, just passcard + key. They only go as far down as -1.

There is a central security station which runs all interior cameras, sensors etc. on Floor -1 (one floor below main), just behind where the receptionist's desk would be but one floor down: this also is right beside the hallway coming in from the service entrance. The rest of the more accessible parts of Floor -1 is on one side the usual snarl of telecom systems (there was an underground telephone feeder line), and on the other opens up to the parking garage. There is, however, a hollow central area in the middle of this lopsided donut, accessible only from the back elevator doors, which has an odd smell (turgid air, something faint and just a little sweet in the background). According to the former security company, excavation is going on below this floor to add a new parking level, helix-fashion.

Radiating hallways leading from the back elevator door on -1, but a single main hallway, leading to a freaky central room, itself the centre of the main and another intersecting hallway, lit by dim phosphorescent-type track lighting in a long strip along the tops of the very solid metal doors. (More details on p.10-11, this thread.) Non-warded doors line it on both sides, most leading to temp-shelved empty rooms. Two of the rooms have multiple floor-to-ceiling panels running on parallel tracks, each panel divided into about a hundred or so small hardware-style drawer-slots: small item storage on a large scale. Another room looks like it might be a kind of infirmary, it's got that sterile stainless steel look that's really washing out against the astral gray: refrigeration and heating units, and a cage. Another is the kennel. The rooms in the hallway running from the elevator have independent maglocks and manual exterior doors (the individual cages in the kennel have manual catches), and are accessible via the full breaker made for this purpose. Some of the rooms in the cross-hallway are padlocked (large, old-fashioned key locks); others seem not to be locked at all.

The computer system overall here seems to be on the lax side, and most of the "elevator back door" space of -1 was not only non-computerised, but non-electronic. In fact, very little is central-computerised at all.


The daily schedule of events is as follows:

• 0500: Security shift change (assumed, non-confirmed)
• 0655: Dogs summoned via high-pitched whistle and brought inside.
• 0700: First vehicle arrives at the front gate (which opens to transponder)
• 0715: Employees start arriving (about 50 cars of average quality)
• 0900: Employees stop arriving
• 1500: Security shift change
• 1630: Employees start leaving
• 1730: Last of the regular employees have left, main doors locked
• 1800: Cleaners arrive (through service entrance), security patrols begin
• 1920: Sunset
• 1945: Practical end of twilight
• 2100: Cleaners leave. Security shift change (assumed, non-confirmed). Dogs released

The primary points of building security are:

• Lone Star area security level C (B)
• base computer system at ~ Green 4 or 5; parts (ventilation system?!) much higher. (Most isn't central-computerised.)
• perimeter fence
• exterior cameras with overlapping fields of view, but angled to focus on second floor and below only
• motion detectors throughout (timed? not currently on)
• concealed heat detectors and cameras linked to record if detectors set off on a timer, at time of infiltration they're just set to register and report, not alarm-react
• a central security monitoring office, showing schematics and light-up/labelled alarms for security for floors -1 through 10.
• three security teams of four guards each on eight hour rotations, with approximate overlap of 20 minutes between shifts
• the hellhounds (a relatively new thing)

Cleaners entry protocol:

As the cleaners' van turns the corner prior to going in the gate, the driver calls in to the security office. The van's transponder opens the gate, and it closes behind them. The van drives up to the service entrance, the hall from which goes right past the security office where a security officer checks out each cleaner's credstick and issues them an in-building ID badge: this also functions as an electronic master key accessing all the doors and the central elevator. The badges are turned in again upon leaving.

Oh, and the building has a background count of 3, which seems to be seeping outward from the elevator/basement area.

[Eyeless Blond]

"Oh, and the building has a background count of 3." Just a side note, yes? :D

Excellent summary of the facts and details Talia. When I look at it like that, I'm beginning to understand a little more why the oldsters insisted on those Artemis Nightgliders... and why you allowed them. The legwork alone was a miracle; I guess getting the approach/regress for free was all right. :)

[Talia Invierno]

I've edited the previous post slightly, to take account of things you've learned in the latter parts of this thread. I'll probably have to edit it at least once again. (Hadn't read that far yet, when I wrote that.) I'll also add a quick reminder at this point that some of the expenses of this run (subject to approval - expense report!) were being covered by the J, with "completion" nuyen and karma pending upon successful completion of this retrieval. Onward ...

...

Post the second:

The first part of the infiltration went almost entirely as planned. The tentative timeline originally posted by Doc Sportscar comes first, in italics, followed by what actually happened.


1930, or as soon after sunset as there's true dark: Infiltration drones hit the roof and gain access to the vent. The dataline tap is installed, and the decker makes a quick run to scout out the system layout, the security level, and if possible to locate the slaves he'll need to take control of the security system. He then logs off to avoid having to stick around in the system too long, hopefully with enough time to let his security tally reset before the real thing. Astral recon of the upper levels now, before the doggies come out.

1945: Infiltration drones hit the roof and gain access to the vent. The dataline tap is installed. Solitaire validates (security or superuser account), then scouts out the system layout and security level, giving full access to all interior security, and establishes a time loop. System seems to be a bit shabby overall, from the decker's pov. However, there aren't any cameras or system-linked electronics in the hidden area of floor -1, and there's nothing in the system on -2. Advent determines that there isn't any vent link to -2, so the drones can't investigate it. The drones, which are hardwired to the roof, also relay radio signals to Ghost as needed. Astral recon of the upper levels by Trogdor confirms that target isn't there. On an office level Trogdor quickly dodges a wageslave who'd been working late, who's in an actively good mood (anticipation!), and there's something slightly "off" about his aura. First time that's been seen. "Oh frag" moment. He chooses to link up with Ghost instead of following the wageslave. Computer system security tally 1, allowed to reset after Solitaire lifts the "Georgia" files.


This is where it started to diverge seriously, so I'll list what was intended first, followed by what actually happened.


2045: Assembly time for gangs, make astral recon of level -1 before the dogs come out.

2115: After a margin to give the cleaners time to leave, the fun starts outside as the gangs begin to exchange heated words. Decker begins his second run, this one for real as he uses the knowledge he gained before to seize control of the security system. Note that by this point the drones have had an hour and a half to recon the building, so if the girl is in an upper floor they should probably have found her, and level -2 should have been scouted.

2130: Hopefully, by this point the girl ahs been located and the decker has control of the building's system. Ghost lands on the roof, inserts into the building, extracts the girl, and returns while the gangs stage their fight. The Nightglider and drones leave, the gangs leave after a convincing interval, and everyone moves back to the medicine lodge.

If the girl hasn't been located, we'll play it as it goes, depending on how distracted the guards are and how easy it looks to get more information.


What's actually happened:


At some unspecified earlier time: Street doc contact (Galina, snake shaman) placed "on hold". Also discussion with her about the target of the extraction.

2035: Assembly time for gangs. The situation has become more than a bit volatile, but for now Diamond keeps the gang on-track. Ghost, wearing a smartsuit with chemical seals and biomonitor (but not masked up, so as to take advantage of her enhanced senses), has landed on the roof with the Artemis Nightglider and starts working her way through the vents and into the top floor. She's carrying a small arsenal of entry/restraint devices, and a multitool :D (Ref. p.2, current thread, for specifics.) From there, she goes directly down to -1 via Solitaire-controlled elevator.

2040: The first gang has arrived, and the mood's getting really ugly out there far too quickly, with shots already been fired long before the gang gets to Ground Zero. Diamond's surrounded by increasingly aggressive and threatening gangers. The in-building guards have noticed the arrival of the gang, and were debating whether to bring in the night shift early. There's an exchange -- in English -- implying that the current security shift isn't comfortable with the hellhounds. The next-building guard moves into a clear transmission area in order to call Lone Star. One of Advent's drones discovers a vertical shaft leading to the -1 "hidden" area by nearly falling into it: it leads to the hellhound kennel, and the sound of the drone is picked up by the kennel's occupants. Having arrived in -1, Trogdor spots a male dual-natured elf toting a wheelbarrow half-full of full sacks. He's coming along the hallway that corresponds with the astral current, enters the (back door of the) elevator, and goes out the front doors. Trogdor ducks out of the way.

2041: Small clump of hair caught in elevator. Major coughing on other side of elevator. Team debates concern over radioactives, but monitors not picking up radiation. Trogdor takes a stealthy look through the other side of the elevator. The dual-natured elf disintegrates into dust in less than a minute. Ghost takes a sample of hair for later analysis. Team vows to take both Ghost and Trogdor and all their equipment through some major decontamination afterwards ... just in case. Solitaire temporarily stops the (reversed) fan in the lower air duct system, giving a meshed glimpse of what appears to be a second ventilation system, with possibly some tanks in the same room. Another singularly uncurious dual-natured elf with a wheelbarrow has stepped into the hellhound kennel and is apparently feeding them, including some stuff that looks like body parts, ignoring that the hellhounds are still edgy about something in the ceiling (the drone). Advent spoofs the rent-a-cop's call to Lone Star.

2045: Ghost takes the opportunity to slip past the door to the kennels and further down the hallway. Trogdor takes a quick glance through the other doors ahead to left and to right, all closed: most empty and temp-shelved, two designed for dense small item storage, one other room "in process" for dense small item storage, one a sterile infirmary. Hall ends in a large, central room, the nexus of a cross-corridor. Ghost is starting to get seriously uneasy, even angry. Current's getting stronger.



To be continued (note to self, unrelated to on-line page count: p.152, third batch):

[Crusher Bob]

Reading my old posts, I hope that the statute of limitations on my crimes against spelling and grammar has expired...