Having control over the doors solves the two biggest problems: Getting stuck outside, and getting swarmed by goons. Cypher, will you have control, or will we be working through the Sprite? I'm totally down with having an entity dedicated to opening and closing doors for us, but of course, how much do we trust random sprites?
From a crunchy mechanics angle, how can we make controlling doors easiest, via voice or 'trodes so we don't have to be spending actions all the time just to walk through a door?

Can anyone deal with drones? I can go with HE grenades, but that's likely to wreck all the loot. I imagine I'll be better off going flashbang and stunning guards, if someone else can take out drones. Alternately, if we get a tap on the drone track, can they be hacked, or are they autonomous to prevent that?

I say we run this just like the car job: Hack the joint, spoof the exterior security, open the door, lock the place down, then clear it room by room.

Speaking of the car job, the one thing I learned from that (other than close the door behind you) was always make sure you're prepared to haul away the loot.
Fleet has some cars and vans, and I'll bring in my semi if needed. But we're talking about an entire warehouse full of goodies.
If we're slick and silent, we could theoretically have until shift change to clean the place out. That seems unlikely, but it's a best-case-scenario.
Fair chance, we joggle Federated Boeing, and we've got the time Buddha specified to clean house and get out. Luckily, I asked a friend who manages a warehouse, and he says a determined team (3-4 people, or one guy with a forklift) can load or unload a semi in 15 minutes.

Outsourcing fencing worked pretty well last time. We could contact someone with goons and trucks: They hang out down the block, when we seize the place, they come in and grab anything they can, and in exchange we get %20 off the top. I feel like my dock-worker orc buddies would be a good fit for this, but I'm open to suggestions.

Man, I really need a contact who rents warehouses on short notice for cash. I swear not a job goes by that we don't need a warehouse.

Couple of questions on planning:

1. Are we rescuing one pair of kids or two? My take is one but admittedly somewhat confused at the moment.
2. Do we need two teams - one for warehouse and one for the mage? If so, who needs to be on mage team?

Eklipse's ideal plan:
Mage team takes mage out of loop
Tech team (Cypher. Fleet, AI/Agent) take control of warehouse systems (doors, cameras and drones ideally)
Ground team infiltrates warehouse quietly, locates and extracts kids then loots what they can

Eklipse would like to get hold of some more gel/explosive/APDS ammo before the run. Can Widget/someone on the team arrange this for him?

Notsoevildm Widget could by going through Aideen - just add a 10% mark up to the price and deduct accordingly.

@Notsoevildm: I believe we're looking for 4 kids/teens. A pair of elven twins, 10 yrs old when snatched (And I don't remember how long it was since Madam Yin's got hit. And did anyone catch their names or was I fool enough not to get them?), a teen technomancer and corp kid, Ryan Shin, and a really bright mechanic from the same station named Louis Magana.

Enemies (In order of threat):
Vory - I don't know them but Q might. Criminal org from Europe that might have a vested interest in Zuzane's warehouse. Maybe storing gear and people there. Then again the kidnappers of the "Daimyo" might not be with them at.
Zuzane - badass physical Adept that we don't want to mess with if we can avoid it. We can take her, but given her fighting strength it be a pain in the butt. And we don't have a contract out on her so I say leave well enough alone and follow SG's advice to smash&grab when she's gone.
Brian Braun/Blink - smart talking sercurity/thug for hire that seems to be in charge of thinking for the pair (himself and Hammer). We think he might be Awakened though no knowledge of his capabilities. Watch out for The Voice, which can be negated by making oneself deaf (Street Magic pg176), and spells. And taking him out would also reduce random security's strength by removing a Leadership bonus (I figure if he's good at several types of social why not buy the whole set).
Robert Jones/Hammer Hand Harry - a troll with a penchant for messing people up with his hands and most likely skilled in other violence. Knows security and looks to be in charge of running it. Has bone lacing and reaction buffs and mostly likely quality gear as well.

Thoughts:

• Vory entanglements don't sound good, but Hammer and Blink might have done the kidnapping while working the Vory's club and be on the lamb from them. Perhaps we could get on the Vory's good side by returning some scum that stole in their place of business.
• And with the sprite showing us those feeds, we could also try to convince Zuzane that we didn't go after her but those two her were working on the side and that their incompetence and double dealing brought the theft of stuff from her warehouse. Though I don't plan on her ever finding out, it's a backup plan since It seems she's done decently in becoming a new fxer in Seattle and has only happy customers.
• As for the elven twins hopefully we'll find them in there or some indication of their whereabouts.
• And is Widget on call to help by diving in and assisting or is she just on call for questions? Maybe she knows the answer to the Hammer and Blink running with the Vory question.

Skills:
As for deploying my skills, I'm not much in a firefight, but seem to want to avoid that. I'd be much better at smooth talking or even impersonating one of the guards, though that'd take some face time I don't know I have while running back and forth to my grandma's. I could also use Illusions to help the team infiltrate and quickly get the kids to be willing escapees.
I can't personally break or sneak through that ward and would like to not alert the mage to our presence. I can attempt to go distract her, the mage, leaving the heavy arrtillary, Fat Man and Zero to sneak through the ward and be at the run.
I could also wait in the car, watch over and assist the cyberguys, ad leadership bonus to coordination and stuff (If the teams willing to put with it from the new guy which I can understand them not doing so), load up some infiltrators with Masks or Invis, and smooth talk the KE or Boeing boys that might come sniffing around.
And Cypher can call me if the techno kid's sprite isn't enough to convince him to run. Though you speaking his language will probably help more.

Rewards:

1. 5k a piece from Management for knocking over Zuzane's.
2. 100k for returning Ryan Shen/Daimyo to his folks and NeoNet. We don't have any buyers for giving him to someone else, but I'll take Widget's warning about sprites seriously and stick with what we know and zero bad blood.
3. None for Louis Magana except Ryan will know and probably be upset if we don't grab his friend as well. Turning Ryan & Louis into contacts could pay dividends later.

@Budda: Thanks for the interesting posts. You have a way with words.

Lastly, should I put some of this in RP?

Copperheed feel free to post in IC to move the plan discussion along and thanks for the compliment.

Notsoevildm & Q: I think we're done with the Gothic Mage, actually. Our only need for the mage was to get a look at her aura, so our mages can attune themselves to her aura and walk through the ward without alerting her. Given the strength of the ward, I think we can assume she's powerful, but there's no indication we need to (or can) fight her. We have the information we need to bypass her, so she's out of the picture. That leaves us with just one objective: Zuzane's Warehouse.

Q: The Vory are your usual hyperviolent Russian organized crime. They're more trouble than they're worth. SG has done some work for the local Vory, but the relationship is a bit strained. Also, I thought the reward for Daimyo was 50k¥.

Fleet, what sort of volume can you transport in your vehicles? If things go well, we're going to have an awful lot of loot to move. I'll probably swing my semi around and tie it in to your network.

I agree - I think there's no reason to screw with that magician.

On the drones: Fat Man can help with the drones, but only if he can get inside. He may be stuck on the perimeter.

Can't Fat Man just align himself with the Gothic Mage's aura and slip past? I thought that was the whole point of that side trip?

It requires a roll. Fat Man has about a 2/3 chance of pulling it off (with Edge). If he fails, he's stuck outside.

Goons are my specialty, thanks to overcasted stunballs. I can help deal with drones picking them off via powerbolts, and I should be able to get a Force 7 fire spirit in the mix to slag them.

I'll join the group advocating "leave the mage alone." I'll cross my fingers and hope that the ward was just a one-and-done job.

Tell me where you want me, and I'll go with that group. I'm not very good with planning because I tend to go with the FUCK YEAH, BIG DAMN HEROES!!! style of planning, which doesn't really work in the Shadowrun setting...

Buddha, I'd probably make the "bring some trucks and goons and loot the place" offer to Aideen first, before calling my orc buddy. Would she be interested? I'd assume not, it seems too dangerous for her hippies.

Copperheed: you can use social skills over the matrix. I think Q is using some stuff that won't go across the matrix, like Tailored Pheremones, but it might be worth having him stand by and patching him into the rescue-ees to explain things.

Unfortunately, any spells going through the ward will trigger it too.

Fat Man is going to show up with a fully equipped guardian shen and active spells. If he can get through the ward (~2/3 chance), he'll come through with all his spells, and his shen can follow via the metaplanes (but will lose its armor). If he can't, both of them will wait outside. They can keep watch, cover retreats, and load loot. If things go very badly, they can come in but will trigger the alarm.

I think Q's best bet is going to be remote negotiator/coordination and leadership. There's something to be said for having someone who isn't face-first in the action handling that stuff. Also, if we can shuttle hostages out to Q as they get rescued, he can get them ready to leave instead of running around panicking.

I suggest we stay as far away from Gothic Mage as possible.

The other thing we could do is keep an eye on Cypher and/or Fleet if either of them wanted to be in VR for the breakin - I'm not sure if either of you two would want to.

Just out of curiosity, can I walk through the ward without spells and then cast and summon?

Yes. Actually, you can summon before going through the ward, set the spirit on standby, and then recall it on the other side. You just can't have any active spells and can't be astrally perceiving when you pass through. Critter powers will also set the ward off, so no Concealment or Movement on anyone until they are through either.

Ok, thanks! ^_^ Then Zero will ask Fat Man for help again in calling a fire spirit before crossing the ward.

In my opinion, the ward is only relevant until we get inside and start shooting. So we're talking maybe two rounds before its in our best interest for you to walk through the ward spells blazing.

Buddha, just as a quick note, Fleet recorded 48 hours of visual & auditory surveillance on the site, as well as recording and successfully decrypting 48 hours of all wireless signals at the location.

True, but I don't want to walk in naked, which is what I'd be doing if I wanted to cross the ward in combat. I'd rather be inside waiting with a spirit on standby, with increased reflexes and increased willpower up before I start tossing spells.

Hey everyone,

Having a hard time keeping up with the game and I keep losing track of what is going on, so I'm just going to drop out of the game.

Happy Monday all!

Hope everyone who has the day off is enjoying it. I updated the karma count and roster. Sorry to see you go Hamagen but thanks for saying something - I have had players just disappear without a word so I appreciate the courtesy. I was not going to look for a replacement at this time since I feel like we have plenty of players at this point.

Strangeglove Aideen would be open to working with you - what exactly do you need from her?

Fenris sorry I totally forgot about that and I will throw up a post right now - will edit it on to the wrap up posts in the same post with Q's info gathering.

All do you need anything else from me or is it just you all sorting out your plan?

Buddha, I put up an IC post. The short form is if Aideen can get a backup team on site with trucks and muscle, she can fence anything her goons can haul away, and we'll take a cut of whatever comes of it.

Strangeglove trusts Aideen, and if she's interested he'll be forthright on the risks (Federated Boeing, Zazane) as well as the rewards.

Nevermind.

Agreed, leaving the Mage out of things sounds good.

Setting Aideen up with the seconds could also be good in that more things are moving in different directions, making it a bit harder to figure out what went with whom.

Since they're a zero availability, I'll pick up an Electronics Toolkit and a pair of Wire Clippers sometime before the run.

just want to point out im still here, mostly listening and learning how to do this online

Oh and Jon is close/mid range.

Buddha -- From what I have in the system, what type of action will it be for me to unlock doors? Can I write up a script that has them unlock in sequence, or would it be one door at a time? Also, do I have access to the cameras at this point or is it just the Sprite?

A script that listens for us saying something like "open (or close) the door" and in response opens the closest door, would be great.
We can buy some X10 if necessary.

Lain - I'll cheerfully (as cheerful as the hobgoblin gets) update you just as soon as I see something bigger than a pistol

Strangeglove what cut are you looking to get from Aideen for the assisted looting of the warehouse?

BishopMcQ you have a couple of options regarding the doors. You could have the sprite sitting there opening doors for you as you need them. You could write a script for the interior doors so that open on a timer or sequence. You could add codes to the doors so that the team can just open them on their own. Your call.

All the sprite can open the exterior doors for you - they are hacked so she could be booted from the system if discovered so might be harder to exit depending how things play out inside.

Buddha: Strangeglove would start at a %33, expecting to haggle down to %20. He'd probably go to %10-%15 if pushed, although he'd check with the team first.

Time to swing by the Buy More and pick up a case of Wireless Links. (No availability, so scratching off the nuyen to pick up 10 if that's okay.)

So, OOC does anyone have the hardware/Electronics skills necessary to bypass a maglock or place a tap? Cypher doesn't like going into the death trap of security forces in tight hallways. That's the type of job that SG does.

Computer 5 + Edit 6 + Encephalon 2 + PuSHED 1 + Hot Sim 2
Programming the Script (Sleeping Area) (16d6.hits(5)=5)
Programming the Script (Work Area) (16d6.hits(5)=4)

Basically scripts to the Sleeping Area and Work Area will sequentially unlock the doors from the insertion point to the specific areas where we expect the boy to be. Cypher will ask the Sprite to assist by opening other doors as needed, and locking doors behind the team after we have the Daimyo to prevent pursuit.

Computer 5 + Edit 6 + Encephalon 2 + PuSHED 1 + Hot Sim 2
Looping the Cameras (16d6.hits(5)=9)

My laptop is being repaired. Should be gtg by weekend, but no long posts for a few days.

Jon has the "blow the crap out of the lock" skill...
Does that help?

UmaroVI thanks for the update.

Strangeglove you will settle on 25% for any goods Aideen's crew hauls away with the understanding you all get first pass on the gear to see if there's anything you want to keep. She will just want to make sure you will end up selling some of it so she sees some nuyen at her end.

Buddha: Strangeglove, laughing, reassures Aideen that our shopping list is short and the building is large. Unless we've misjudged Zuzane's position in the "own a lot of expensive things" hierarchy, there ought to be plenty of leftovers.

Bishop: Strangeglove has a few points in Electronics, but doesn't have any of the tools. He's ~5D plus whatever gear you can throw at him. Maybe door-breaching charges are on the list for next run.
We're definitely going to need some not-as-combatants on scene to manage all the not-as-combative activities, like wrangling NPCs, slapping wireless links on the loot-inventory computers, and other nonsense. Although Q may be able to handle all that, so Cypher can stay in the car or wherever.

All: Strangeglove is ready to go: Shall we move on to the actual run?

I've returned! I'm finished looking after my grandmother and she's self sufficient again. Thanks for your patience all and I'll be happy to organize the loading crew of NPCs than have to go through the wards.

@Strangeglove: The family is offering 50K¥ and the corp, NeoNet, is matching it for 100K¥ total. Evidence If I'm wrong, then it's back to remedial Reading Comprehension for me.

@Group: I wasn't looking to fight Goth Mage, it was a suggestion in case we determined she needed to be dealt with. Since it appears that she's not an integral part of these operations, I've no interest in duking it our with her. And I hope Zuzane isn't there either.

Do we trust Aideen? Even if we do, I'm still keen to plant some Stealth RFIDs (SR4Ani pg328/329) on the rented trucks/semi and on really important pieces of gear. From their description, they look hard to detect even with bug sweepers. Can Cypher or Fleet track them while the cars are in motion so we don't lose anything important? And how do we counter this ourselves in case Zuzane has planted some?
And in this vein, Budda, do those little bits of gadget come with stickyness of their own or do I need to buy some glue or such to attach them to things?

And lastly, since we seem to be playing a non cut-throat game, I'd like to offer up my commlink for extra proccessing power for the run.
It's capabilities: Response 6, Signal 3, Firewall 6, System 6
I believe this means it can run 11 programs without slowing down. And I've the basic programs (Analyze, Browse, etc.) at Rating 6, though you'll have to load hacking programs yourself. Feel free to take them with you when you leave. We can work out a payment plan when/if I gt better at that skill set. And if you want to know why I dropped 20K¥ on it when I'm not maxing it's potential, ask IC cause I'm a sucker for RP.

SG--You forgot the wi-fi inhibited paint warehouse...That's your and Aideen's special baby, she hired painting crews and everything.

Copperheed--To check everything, we're looking at using Tag Erasers plus a Non-linear Junction Detector on everything, within a few centimters of the tag. Not something that we can do broad-scale and quickly. Wi-fi inhibitors or jammers could also block signals. Also part of Strangeglove's thinking may be that Cypher only told the team about 50k not the full hundred.

I've always assumed that RFID tags come with an adhesive, but special glue may be needed for application to specific surfaces (removed without damaging paper or scratching paint etc.)

I have always played the same way with RFID tags in my games.

You're right Bishop. We were only told about 50k. Apologies and I'll keep that knowledge OOC.

GEORDI "I told the Captain I would have this diagnostic done in an hour."
SCOTTY "And how long will it really take you?"
GEORDI "An hour!"
SCOTTY "Oh, you didn't tell him how long it would really take, did you?"
GEORDI "Of course I did."
SCOTTY "Oh, laddie, you have a lot to learn if you want people to think of you as a miracle worker."

Just remember the Matrix is a scary place where Cypher puts his brain and personality on the line, so the team can get paid more...

I'm still here, just don't think there's much for me to contribute IC. We already know about the ward, we're not fighting the EGL mage and the cat (that's probably a horrible monster), and I don't know if Zero has ever talked with Aideen otherwise he'd vouch for her because she's always dealt fairly with this group before.

Copperheed welcome back! To clarify you can run 5 programs up to Rating 6 before dropping the Response of your commlink. You could add 6 more Ergonomic programs to bring it to 11 - which is that I think you're talking about but just wanted to put the details out there for other players if they wanted to pursue similar options.

All I was going to push the run to start on next Monday but I wanted to check if that was possible with it being Thanksgiving week - are people going to able to post? I should be fine with it slowly down a little the day before and of Thanksgiving since we host I will need to be in the kitchen getting stuff prepped and ready. Sound off y'all!

Copperhead: Strangeglove trusts Aideen, but isn't above slapping tracking tags on everything that moves, because (a) you can't be too safe and (b) he knows what kind of bozos she hires.

Bishop: As a moderate tactical blunder, we have no claim to that warehouse at all. We rented it, painted it, and returned it. It's probably full of rotting fish now, it's shiny 5k¥ wireless blocking paint going to waste.

Buddha: I can get a few posts up early in the week, but then I'll be gone until next monday. However, I'm fine getting started because the first week will no doubt be Cypher hacking and our mages staring intently at empty space.

Buddha im out all next week with minimal internet access, but I'll check in when I can and post if the run starts, seeing how much slower things are online physical combat may take a while to even start

@Buddha: I'll be able to post.

My computer should be fixed Wednesday. I can't do extensive posts until then, but I can keep up and post over the weekend.

I think everything is ready on my end. Sadly, Cypher will be going in so that I can access the computer files for inventory.

Bishop - Toss me some of your wireless links and I'll put them in for you, and Cypher can stay out in the car

Copperheed - I can get regular RFID's no problem, but what would be awesome is if Q could pick up some stealth tags. They're 5 each, so buy like, 300 worth, Fleet will be happy to pay you for them. Problem is, it's Availability 6, with a 12 hour interval, so Fleet probably can't make that roll, since we basically only have one twelve hour increment before the run. It's an Extended Test, Charisma + Negotiations (plus any bonuses for extra money or contact loyalty) (6, 12 hours). You may be able to generate the requisite 6 successes in one roll?


SG - If it makes you feel any better, rest assured that a completely wireless negated warehouse is absolutely being utilized up to it's potential

Buddha - I'm fine with moving forward. Anything that drops into combat rounds goes so slow, we won't even notice the Thanksgiving holiday, I'll bet. (And gear post updated).