May be time to hand over the reigns to a team mate. Emod's not really a face anyway, he just sort of defaulted to the leader. This is something you need to decide, as the group starts to get more familiar together.

In the meanwhile, I kind of like how these things are developing now. This run will have to be planed on short notice, at the begining of our session. Lending a sense of ugency.

Tick-tock

Source of confusion resolved. Despite asking about it, I missed the post with the karma award, cash, FedEx box and "Tully." So you can imagine my confusion if you're lacking that bit of data.

And no I'm not a face, PR & LR are definitely more so that than I.

Yes, there was a handy little bit of data in that post. I fully expect it to take some time for everyone to find their place within the team, so don't worry too much over it.

The game is set to start at 8:00 PM, eastern.

Hmmm, something else...

... oh yes,

Tick tock.

It is now,

13-FEB-2069, 08:45:00

<<Incoming message>>
13-FEB-2069, 09:23:13
/[[ LR and Red, don't let your noggins hit the pillow yet. MJ has another job for us. This one is rush and time sensitive but an offer of 10k, minus MJ's 15 but plus some bonus. I'll explain in person if you chums are still hardup for some cred. But I need an answer soon otherwise I gotta find some other beef for it. Oh and if you don't have any yet, pick up some waders. - E ]]/

My plan is to swing back around and pick everyone up and head to a sleazy breakfast diner, preferably one that won't look twice at the troll, and grab a booth in the corner to review the details, figure out what legwork we'd like to accomplish, get a basic plan, and then have everyone head home for some rest before that night. I'll pick up an extra couple sets of trodes if anyone else needs them so that we can do some private communication via fiber optics.

"Here's the scoop, friends. There's a cargo ship coming in tonight at 2am carrying about 15 crates of weapons. It'll be coming in along the Smugglers Gate south of town right along the boarder between West Mobile and the Free Zone. MJ, wants the cargo on board and wants it delivered to the nearby docks SE of the Smuggler's Gate. Given the cargo and the fact that these are smugglers we're dealing with, we should expect them to be armed and at least moderately experienced."

From here we'll probably just need to discuss a basic plan. We'll also need to have PRs interaction with MJ as well since he's in the car with me when we give MJ a call to accept the job. I'm assuming he'll want to do some negotiations. We might need to request assistance in obtaining some more heavy weaponry. I can't imagine a big ass smuggling vessel NOT having some kind of 50cal mounted on the front. Anyone have a sniper rifle or know how to use one? It would help pick people off from afar. The next difficulty is getting onto the boat. The river there is about 200 ft across so it's not gigantic but for a boat to hold 15 crates (at least) it's going to have to be pretty sizable. Rappel down from the bridge as it crosses? Seems a bad idea but I'm not sure what other options we've got.

Wait wait wait wait. Wait!

We have to assault the cargo ship and steal the crates !?!? I'm not so sure about this...

Well, ok, it'll depend on how much cred it pays.

Did Mr. Jack give us specifics on payment amount? I'd like to have a word with him on that

What size ship? How many smugglers? Any indication how well they are armed/armored? Do we have a rough idea of the layout of the area and the general path the smugglers will take so we can at least figure out the best ambush point? How big/heavy are these crates? And do we have any type of vehicle capable of moving 15 of them at once?

I know we are pressed for time, but I'm not sure our little team here is built for a frontal assault of this type. I'm certainly no gunslinger and all I have is a pistol with a few standard rounds and a few gel rounds. I'm also no combat spellslinger and most of my magic is focused on stealth and evasion. If we are going to have any chance of pulling this off without anyone getting seriously killed, I think we should try and play to your strengths. And the only way I can reasonably see doing that is going to require at least some more basic info about what we are getting ourselves into here.

My initial thought, plan wise here, is that it might just be easier to try and take the boat before it reaches the dock and then sail it to wherever we want. Can anyone drive a boat? Because I'd hate to have to rely on taking one of the smugglers hostage. I can also try to enlist the aid of a friendly spirit of the water who has some wonderful tricks that could be invaluable.

Yes 10k minus his 15%. You're in the car with me when we get the basic information from the FedEx drop off. From there I said we'd give MJ a call and say that we were on the job, but I didn't want to actually do the meeting with him while you guys weren't online as this would be two Johnson meets where you guys don't have any input.

I think we'll be getting details of that during the actual meet. In order to carry 15 large crates of weapons I'm assuming this is a small cargo vessel. The people on board are probably armed with at least SMGs (since thats whats in the crates). If you look on the map you can see the path they'll take from the bay up the river past Smuggler's Gate. I highly doubt that we can move the crates from one vehicle to another so I'm assuming we'll have to take the boat back down stream. And yes I can pilot a boat... only skill of 1 (spec'd in motorboats) but it should be enough to at least turn it around and cruise it to the destination.

13-FEB-2069, 10:01:00

WKRG Tridcast

[An image of a Troll, standing next to a stock Harley-Davidson Scorpion, flashes, in full trideo. He looks angry. A star burst effect obscures the motorcycle for a moment. After the effect ends, the Troll smiles, and gives a "thumbs up", standing in front of a similar motorcycle, which has been modified, with heavier suspension, larger controls, and a wider seat.]
The voice-over proclaims, "Metaergonomics." then adds, quickly "A subsidiary of EVO corporation, Changing Life"

[The image changes to that of a statuesque blond, seated behind a shiny black anchor desk.]
She begins, "Good morning. I'm Anne Rush, with your ten o'clock news flash. Late last night, gang violence broke out in the outskirts of Prichard. This is only the latest, in what continues to be a hot spot for lawlessness, in the Mobile area. Chip Traylor was on site, in this morning's aftermath."

[The image changes to that of a man, appearing to be in his early twenties, if not his teens. He is dressed in current fashion, and has several piercings in each ear. His hair is colored in multiple hues of blue and purple.]
"Hello! I'm Chip Traylor, at what appears to be the sight of a late night gang battle. Here, at the Lambert C. Mims apartments."

[The image shows a gurney being wheeled out, bearing a body bag. The camera angle shifts around, revealing the reporter, standing alongside a somewhat haggard looking orc, dressed in a brown uniform.]
Chip nods into the camera, "I'm here with Chief Deputy, Colvin Mims. Chief, the people of Mobile are growing increasingly alarmed at the rise in gang activity, within certain sections of the county. What is the Sheriff's department doing to combat this, and how will the privatization of the force impact this growing concern."
The orc scowls at the camera, "We are not privatizing any of our duties, that is an ugly rumor, and it doesn't help to focus on it. As to the problem of gangs, in the outlying sections of the county, we are committed to stopping this problem. Our best hope, is for the community, to continue to aid our due diligence, by reporting any suspicious activity to the Sheriff's Department, but by all means, never attempt to confront anyone, on your own. Report is to us, and allow us to perform our duties, and keep everyone as safe as possible."

[The image returns to that of Anne Rush, at the anchor desk.]
"That concludes our ten o'clock newsflash. Join us again, at the top of the next hour."

>> Drek. I never cleaned up the camera feeds. After this job we may want to keep a lower profile for a bit and out of public spaces.
I'm not going to believe for a second the line they're feeding the media about gang violence and hope the badges are looking the other way. Gangs don't spend the cred on gel rounds. Speaking of which, LR, pick up that silencer with some of this shiny new cred, won't ya? <<

Ok, so apparently while security is only provided by gangs in the area, the public law does respond to calls out there. I wasn't expecting that. Or is it just because the apt complex is named after someone in his family?

Either way, there's a bit in that interview that we can use to our advantage. Dantic, the low level law enforcement and security personnel that were taking payoffs from Joey B, were they privatized firms only or a mix of private and public? The sheriff might want some data that exposes corruption in the private firms, particularly if his people are kept out of it. Of course we just sold that info to MJ.

Once this next run is over I'm going to do some research into the local law enforcement politics. It's always good to know your opposition when you can.

10k each, or 10k split between us? 2.5k for risking my life, against well-armed smugglers....well, I think my skin is worth more than that!

I could actually make use of a silencer myself if anyone has a connection for 'em.

Have to agree that 2.5k each seems rather low considering the armed opposition and time constraints. Then again if we only have to deal with a couple smugglers armed with BB guns then that price seems reasonable. Hopefully we'll get some more details at the meet and then negotiate price.

I think I'm starting to see just how valuable that data on corrupt cops could be. News stories where the local police admit to increasing levels of gang violence doesn't exactly instill confidence in their ability to reduce crime. If those same news agencies were to get ahold of some information about police corruption on top of that? It could very possibly convince just the right people that privatizing things might be the way to go afterall. That information would be valuable not only to any private firm who might want the contract, but also to anyone on the current police force who would like to keep their job. There is apparently already rumors of privatization going around.

Again you'll get to negotiate that one, but yes it's 2.5k each or rather 2.125k after MJ's take. And remember all these runs are CASh so divide the payout by 3 to get the book values... or about 700 . I agree it seems exceedingly low. The goods on the boat alone are probably >500k. So go get us more, PR!

Regarding the risk involved, we can always call MJ back, rescind the job, and see about finding another fixer/job. Or we get a few goons for the crew and cut the pay down even more.

For the silencer, I'd ask Jack. They're only 200:nuyen: but 8F availability so might be tough to find on short notice. Hey there might even be some in the crates.

I like the way you think Redcrow! This reminds me of how we dealt with the media when they got that dirt on Ac...well, enough about that. Everyone saw the trid feeds and read about it anyway.

Who do we talk to, to shop this information around? I know a La state trooper out of New Orleans, not sure how much good that would do us. Plus he's a greedy bastard.

Let me see what I can do, talking to Mr. Jack about this. I sure would appreciate all of us being in on the call, though - this isn't quite my area of expertise, analyzing the risks of the assignment and all. Seems pretty risky though!

One thing to consider is that if we plan to conduct regular biz in this area, then it may be in our own best interest that the inefficient cops willing to take bribes remain in control. Sort of the whole 'devil you know' kinda thing.

If everyone wants to start delving into local law enforcement and security politics, keep note of what you want to address. Right now, the focus is on this rush job.

The map is here.

The job is basically to intercept a shipment of 15 crates of small arms and ammunition that is expected to come through Smuggler's Gate at approximately 02:00 on 14-FEB-2069.

The offload point for this shipment is supposed to be 500m west of the bridge, on the north side of the canal.

After intercepting the shipment, you are required to deliver it to Bay Area Cargo Management, where you may have first choice of the inventory (no more than one crate's worth), after offloading it into one of the warehouses.

Ok hmmmm - even if we DO hijack the boat, we'd still need some kind of ground transport to get the crates to Bay Area Mgmt?

If that's true, maybe it would be easier / less risky to hijack the crates after they've been offloaded. Although whoever will be taking possession of 15 crates of weapons is probably no slouch either...

So again, if the above is true about needing ground transport, we should look in to acquiring (stealing?) some kind of large truck, possibly a fork-lift. Although between the troll, magic-fingers spells, and spirits, we might not need the fork-lift...

Oh, and about the law enforcement and security politics stuff, I'm pretty good at handling the media, so maybe we could put some pressure on the law through the media-angle.

Well, I had a good plan until I reread that the smugglers dropoff point is actually 500m before the bridge. Looking at the map I'm not seeing a road of any kind in the area where the dropoff is supposed to be, so its likely the smugglers are using some sort of offroad truck. The easiest thing to do might be just to hijack their truck. Let them do all the work of unloading the boat and loading it on to a vehicle and then steal the vehicle. Thoughts?

This is good - I think this would make the most sense - hijack the crates after they're off the boat.

Only problems I see are:
1) We'd be relying on them being loaded on a truck. Does the plan have to change if it's a helicopter or something else? Not saying it has to, just asking
2) I think we're still going to have problems with resistance, since I can't believe that 15 crates of weapons will be lightly guarded.

I guess a corollary, is that we don't specifically know exactly WHERE the dropoff point is? So we wouldn't be able to set up an ambush as well as if we ambushed the boat, I think.

I really hate to make too many assumptions when planning a job, but given the limited info we have all we can really do is try to make some educated guesses and hope for the best. However, if our assumptions turn out to be wrong (likely?) then we may need some type of backup plan.

We know the dropoff point is ~500m west of the bridge on the north side of the canal. According to the map there is a road ~150m north of the canal in that area which is what made me think they would be using a ground vehicle. Its possible they might use a helicopter, but I think its unlikely as that is more apt to draw unwanted attention than a ground vehicle in that area. I also assumed they would be using a truck just because of the number of crates, but they could be loading them onto the backs of donkeys for all we really know.

Also, if I were a smuggler using that area as a dropoff point and planning to use a ground vehicle to transport everything, I would probably post a lookout somewhere near the roadway that could give everyone a heads up if they see anything suspicious coming down the road. Maybe even a small aerial drone to keep overwatch. We also don't know if any of these smugglers are magically active so we need to be cautious of spirits as well.

Thoughts?

Edit Another idea if we decide to assault the boat. The bridge might make an ideal spot to setup an ambush and if we can get ahold of a truck with a winch it could make unloading the crates from the boat to the road above a lot easier. Stopping the boat under the bridge would provide some cover and it shouldn't be too hard to setup a sniper position in that area. I also have a couple ideas on how we could stop the boat under the bridge.

Giving it some more thought it might be best to go with ambushing the boat as a Plan A and assaulting the dropoff point as a Plan B.

Edit Edit Just out of curiosity will the boat be travelling upstream or downstream toward the dropoff point? Based on the map I assumed upstream, but I wasn't sure.

Not necessarily. Look at the map.

It sounds like assaulting the boat will still be the best option then. Keeps us from needing to acquire a truck to haul the goods, easier to determine where our ambush spot will be, leaves us a fall-back option to steal the crates later, if we have to scrub the assault.

If by my reading of the map, as corrected by Dantic, we're able to pilot the boat directly to Bay Area Mgmt, then we wouldn't need a winch. The bridge does still seem like a good place for assault.

Can we get some quick recon of the area while we're heading over there? I can send my flyspy, maybe you could send a spirit Redcrow? Looking for alternative good ambush locations, and possible lookouts posted along the route, in the near vicinity of the bridge.

Now we just need to figure out how we're going to deal with the smugglers on the boat. Does anyone have a jammer we could use to keep them from calling for help? Who is going to take sniper overwatch and do we even have any type of sniper rifle? Are we going to be able to get a couple of silencers before this job? Since we are going after the boat I can try to enlist the aid of a friendly spirit of the water to help deal with the smugglers. I'm thinking it might be better to do the Astral Recon myself, though.

What about hacking the boat to kill the engine?

Dantic, would you allow me to use the spell Phantasm to mimic the effects of a Flash-bang grenade? If so I'll look for some vids on the 'trix to help create a more convincing illusion.

If not, does anyone happen to have a couple of flash-bang grenades? I'm guessing no, but thought I would ask.

Sadly, I have none of the above. I do have a flash-pak, but that's not much use I think

I don't remember anyone having a sniper rifle. It seems we might have to get up close and personal. Trying to think of ways to infiltrate the boat...no way they're letting anyone they don't know "board" them knowingly, being smugglers...and we don't have any information about who is picking up the shipment...

Do we even have a boat name / ID / picture? Or do we only know that there will be a boat going through Smuggler's Gate at approximately 02:00 on 14-FEB-2069?

Unfortunately that is about all we know right now. Don't even know how many smugglers will be on the boat. Hopefully there isn't too much boat traffic through that area at that time of night. I'd really hate to ambush the wrong boat.

If I summon a spirit it could use its conceal power on everyone which would help to get us closer to the boat, though nothing is full-proof and stealth is still a good idea too. Hopefully there isn't too much distance between the land and water beneath the bridge which would make it difficult to board the boat once we get it stopped. If worse comes to worst I could probably levitate everyone down to the boat, but that will take some time.

Unknown boat, coming through around 2am. Hmmmm.

Just brainstorming ideas here - for instance, you and I create a large illusion of some obstruction, causing the boat to stop for a little while. But that would put the smugglers on alert. Ok, probably not a good idea.

I guess if they don't have any magical support, it wouldn't be too difficult to have a water spirit take care of the smugglers. Doubt we'll be that lucky though.

Dantic, what can you tell us about the Smuggler's Gate? Can we get information about it easily / quickly? Even something like height above the water, age, construction material. I've read what the Google Maps says, so I know it's a bridge

Ok, I just looked at the streetview pic of the bridge and it looks like you can easily get right down to the waterline from either side. The North side has several trees that would make for good cover and that is the side the dropoff is on anyway, just in case we have to move quickly to Plan B. In fact just going by the pic I don't think we would really have any trouble backing a truck right up to the shore if we wanted to unload the crates right there and take surface roads instead of the waterways. It looks like the bridge is only about ~50m across so its actually a lot smaller than I was imagining.

We need to come up with a definite plan to get the boat stopped, preferrably on the north side if that is where we are going to be. I was thinking that if Emod could hack the boat to kill the engine a water spirit could help guide the stalled boat right to where we want it. Thoughts?

Just remember to keep an eye out for awakened bull sharks. They shouldn't be a problem though.



*shrug*



Short answer, No.
Long answer, from SR4A, pg 208

Yeah, I was actually thinking of the Flash Grenade from Arsenal (pg. 36) instead of the Flash Bang grenade from the Core Rules. The one from Arsenal doesn't cause any actual damage it just blinds people which would be more inline with the "distractions, loss of balance or orientation" I was thinking of when I asked. I sent you an email about it, but if you still decide no to that effect too, thats fine. I've got plenty of other ideas.

Too bad we don't have more details - one fun way would've been to try to impersonate the people receiving the shipment, so that the smugglers don't know the cargo is being hijacked

Ok, looking at the Google-maps street view. Is Ridgeline Rd still there, and the canal goes underneath it? We could possibly set up an ambush there. Some magic, getting Last Rites onto the boat to deal with remaining resistance, looks very doable from the road that overpasses the canal.

You brought up a good point Dantic - what kind of critters are known to be in the area / water? Paranormal and normal?

I thought about that but it would require dealing with any additional smugglers at the dropoff point in order to take their place. It would probably be fairly easy to disguise ourselves to look like whoever they are meeting, but that plan would rely heavily on our ability to impersonate people we don't know to convince their friends that we are them. If it was a simple walk-by encounter then it would be no problem, but given the level of interaction likely in this case I'm not sure it would be a good idea.



Originally my thought was to setup the ambush under the bridge, but looking at the streetview I noticed a bunch of trees on the north side of the canal which might make a good spot to conceal ourselves. Also I was thinking that if we can stop the boat near the shore close to those trees we might be able to create the illusion of one of those trees falling over onto the boat which might encourage the smugglers to jump off the boat and into the canal.

One advantage setting up the ambush under the bridge has is that it would provide cover from the roadway above. Not sure how much cover we would have from the smugglers in the boat, though. Given the time of night (2 AM) that this will be going down we may not need to worry as much about a lot of traffic along the road above. Although any un-silenced gunfire in that area is likely to carry the sound a long way, so that is definitely one concern I have and why I was hoping MJ could hook us up with a couple silencers beforehand.

I could conceal someone hiding under the bridge and then levitate them down to the boat as it passes underneath. Unfortunately that would place them right in the thick of things, but it would give us some way of stopping the boat in case we can't hack it. Any volunteers? I nominate LastRites.

The roadway is there, but the trees are much more sparse and scrubby than pictured, and it is February, so what is there is bare.

Well that kills that plan then.

The normal critters that you might want to be aware of are gators, turtles, rattlesnakes (pygmy and diamondback), skunks, water moccasins, jellyfish, hornets, wasps, yellowjackets, fire ants, and black bears.

There are more than 50 species of "sharks" in the Gulf. Most of these are of no concern to most coastal residents. The main concerns would be from bull sharks and stingrays.

Can MJ give us any information about the boat itself? Year/Make/Model/Color?

One other thought I had, was if we had a little more info and time, hack the piloting (or navigating) system of the boat, then go about oh-so-gently diverting them into that side channel that leads to the BAM, at the very mouth of the canal (way before the Smuggler's Gate). Have the water spirit create some mist or something to obscure the change of route from the smugglers. Then at least we can try to have a very well-planned ambush site that is off of the main waterway.

But ok, since we're so short on time and info, and since the trees don't really seem able to provide cover, it sounds like we should stick with Redcrow's idea above, unless we come up with something better. Seeing as we're pressed for time, right now this seems like we should run with it and "roll the dice"

I can try to distract any visible smugglers with an Orgy spell, hopefully taking them out of action entirely. Then Redcrow drops a levitating LastRites + spirit onto the boat to deal with the rest. Meanwhile Emod is making sure no signals go out, either with a jammer or hacking nodes.

I'm wondering how "quickly" we'll have to do this. Just wondering, will there be other boat traffic at 2am-ish? So we can't afford to take a long time / make a lot of noise (not just gunshots ) in securing the boat.

Oh oh oh! I just had a thought! I have the "sound barrier" spell, so maybe it wouldn't be quite as effective as a silencer, but I could almost recreate the effects. It does say it neutralizes all sound passing one-way through the barrier, so in some ways it would be MORE effective.

Oh, and I'll be sure to watch some trids on drakes and other scary critters, especially those that are water-based and maybe have some significance to smugglers / pirates.

No

Wow, looks like a lot of activity while I was away. Yes I have a jammer. I'm good with whatever plan you all want to come up with.