"So what you're suggesting is: I rape all commlinks of everyone in there and prevent them to make any calls. Then I take out the bloody mage, then the whole alarm system, then the vent system, then the rest of the security system, meanwhile also rape their team's devices in order to fake responses, deal with the spider and order a round of soyburgers.
And you guys throw a gas grenade.

I'm note sure we are distributing the responsibilities evenly.

No shit, I can't do it. There's no way I can prevent them from calling for help. Also, I can go inside without being physically present. You know, digitally. Like they did those last 80 years."

"No, not that much. There shouldn't be a Blood Mage to deal with"

Slobber paused for bnc to be annoyed at his flipant response (he though it was hilarious) and then continued.

"You take out the vents, and then the camera system. Then we come in, maybe we're already in, we can has out the details, gas and stun the place. Then we take a commlink from the security lead. You rape that and give it to Anna.

"She uses some voice tricks," He looked at Anna, "You can do those, right?" He didn't wait for a response and continued. "She uses the phone to provide false responses to delay the blood brothers and their elven sacrifice to Quetza-what-al, and whaever backup they'd bring with them.

"We ensure guards are knocked out, and proceed to rob the place. Easiest height we'll ever pull.

"Wiz?"

Schmitt interjects:
"I'd prefer it if you'd act while no civilians are within the bank - including clerks.
That means you act just after the shift change, when the old guards have left their post at 0600h. The first employees won't arrive before 7.30 and the bank properly opens at 8.30. Don't confuse it for a normal banking institute - they have very exclusive foot traffic - i.e. people who arrive in a limo and are accompanied by at least two bodyguards and have usually an appointment.

As mentioned before, the Security Override Key allows you to enter the bank at will - provided the mage and the spider are both taken care off.
There are other ways to evade camera detection - illusions cast before the lenses, or other invisibility spells. Sneak suits with Ruthenium Polymer coating. That should allow you to get close enough for a direct connection on a camera.

If bnc stays outside, we'll have to add a long spool of cable to the list."

bnc raises an eyebrow at Slob's response, but can't quite hold back a hint of a grin.

After Schmitt spoke, she concludes:
"Ninja it is, then. Me gusta..
There are eight guards a shift. Do we have positions or patrol plans?

I can distract one guard or another. Or Anna can.

As long as I don't have to blend into a crowd of sararimen, I'm fine with going in. I'm not a shakey-flake, I'm just mucho malo in looking like someone who actually cares for what they look like.

Flat, or Anna, do you even know illusion spells? I do own a chameleon suite, but I guess if we're use Polymere, it's sensible to go for something better.

What about keeping the stun-gas thingy in our backhand, as a plan B, if things go south. I never quite liked that term, by the way, the South seems like a nice place to me. But maybe that's because I'm not American and the South isn't Aztlan. Anyway. If we go for ninja, I think, we should take out guards one by one, if necessary at all. With providing distractions, false orders and so on, maybe we can even enter and leave more or less unnoticed.
And if they do catch us, we can still do your gas chamber thing."

Anna replied "I have a Ruthenium dress which makes sneaking much easier, won't fit bnc though - I also know the invisibility spell. The way I see it, if we trick the armory with gas grenades we win. The guards will go first to the armory at any sign of troubles, isn't it so? How about we lay a trap at the armory? "

"No, honey bunny, they won't go for the amory first if there's trouble. They will go to the trouble first, check out what's happening, report and whatever comes after comes too late. Because it'll be after they checked and reported. And big bad boons will slap your nice ass before you can explain them that you actually enjoy it."

Anna seemed amused but asked. "So what is the plan?
We get in and do what?
Then let's say there are no guards... perhaps the bank is on fire and they evacuated the building...
Can we open the vault?
How do we get the valuables outside?
How do we leave?
How much time do we have before we are in deep troubles? "

"We don't have a fleshed-out plan yet. That's why we're here, darling. What we're discussing right now is either Slob's approach: roast everything we can roast without going in, then go in, then roast everything else; and my approach: sneak in, don't get caught, sneak out, don't get caught. In reality, both are more complex, but it'll do to answer your question.
We can open the vault, honey. You yourself have the key for it. As, I believe, Mr. Schmitt pointed out mere seconds ago when you were still daydreaming of Azzie thugs spanking your ass.
We get the valuables outside by taking them. Because, once the door is open, they just lie around, you know.
We leave the building by foot, I suppose, and then the area by car.
Once we attracted attention, we have about 10 minutes left, again, as Mr. Schmitt just told us."

With an annoyed look on her face, bnc turns back to Slobbertooth, whom she seems to appreciate as the sole sensible conversation partner.

"Don't be a NetFet, bnc. Besides, I think we all know who in here thinks the most about slapping Anna's 'nice ass'."


"As for the plan at hand. It may come as a surprise, but I'm actually not terrible at being quiet when I need to." Slobber paused for everyone to roll their eyes or give questioning glances. "I had to survive in the barrens on my own somehow.

"If we go in during a low staff period, I'd have a decent shot at moving past people without them hearing me. Problem is that if the pawns do see me, it will be pretty obvious I don't belong and I probably won't be able to convince them otherwise. I also think I might start breaking into hives if I have to put on that get-up and pretend to be a suit again. bnc, you and Krestov couldn't sneak past a deaf-blind man during a thunderstorm. Going full sneak seems a good way to turn a heist for whoever goes into the bank into hostage rescue for the rest of us.

"What I do have is full body armor, a suppressed assault rifle with an under-barrel grenade launcher, and lots and lots of gel ammunition and stun grenades. A few Ex-Explosive rounds if the blood bros happen to show up, too. Fact is, while I'd like to prove I'm a sneaky ninja mans, I would probably be better used as shock-infantry. Remember that until Zola gives word, security can't pull out their assault weapons.

"Schmidt said that this place usually has elite clientele who schedule meetings ahead of time, so we can't just walk in and expect security to see us through. Perhaps we schedule an appointment. Krestov and Yael can take point as the attractive corporate couple looking to open an account, with bnc as their dataslave assistant."

Anna chuckled "Well I do have a nice ass, thank you for mentioning it. Speaking of asses, does the vault has an internal camera? Perhaps we can gain a legal access and then summon a spirit in the vault and place the SOK there as well. Then, at our leisure, the spirit would rob the place for us and carry the valuables to the back door. We'll just receive a couple of begs from it and go away. We never even entered the darn bank! If spirit is detectable, perhaps some small drone that can fit in a locker and has hands or something?

... and bnc hottie, I think that your place to be is in the Spider's chair. Puppeting his own deck or something. I imagine it to be extra kinky and super efficient - if you can somehow just mascarade as him and have all his legitimate marks on the system without hacking it. Any plan we have to rob the place should have you replacing the legitimate decker. Isn't that so?"

"Interesting thought", Schmitt replies, "Unfortunately there still is a rather strong ward around the building, which would trap the spirit inside.

I have to say, I like the idea of using gas on the security upstairs and knocking out any remaining individual patrol. It's the one plan with the least moving parts.

I'd rather you avoid appearing with an official appointment. I went to great lengths to keep your identities and appearance away from the bank as much as possible. Remember, we are going to steal valuables from some very dangerous organisations. The less they have to go on, the safer we all will be.

By the way, don't forget to tell this mercenary about the impending betrayal beforehand. This might be crucial to prevent him and his other bodyguard from making an untimely appearance.


Correct me, if I misunderstood any of you, but so far the plan of action would be:

We get in position outside the bank, waiting for the guard change. Once that has occurred, we knock out the mage with the planted grenade, one of you sends a spirit to take out the spider - with bnc taking care that the bio-monitor doesn't give an alarm. By the way, could you prepare that by using a bootstrap modification so it always shows perfect health? That would free your concentration during the heist.

Anyway. We move towards the back door - Mike will organize some RP-Cloaks for all of us + Invisibility from Anna. bnc establishes a direct connection to the outside camera and hacks the security host, so we can get a view of the inside and know where all the guards are.

We enter with the SOK. Slobbertooth places gas grenades in the venting system. bnc takes control through the utility host and blows the gas directly into the guard rooms and the armory.

If any patrols remain, Slobbertooth and Krestov take care of them. The rest of us move directly down to the vault and open the timelock with the SOK. With a monosaw we crack quickly all the lockboxes, take out all the loot and leave the building within 10 minutes.

From there we move to the boat house, evacuate through the minisubs back here.


Any questions or major flaws you spotted with this plan so far?"

Slobber shrugged, "Sounds fine. You're the boss, boss."

"Wasn't there a specific item you were looking to steal from this place? Will breaking through the boxes with a monosaw risk damaging whatever you're after?"

"I'd prefer you be careful with the saw and cut only the locks - but unless you cut all the way through, the prototype should not come to harm within it's safety compartment."
Schmitt replied laconically.

"Oh, and to confirm our instructions on lethality are as follows

"Bank staff and bystanders are to only face less than lethal methods. So gel ammo, stick'n'shock, gas and stun grenades, tazers, etc.

"Free reign on the personal bodyguards?"

Anna nodded in agreement to the 'plan', "bnc, can you make our incriminating message appear on Kyno's link with a method to verify its authenticity? Or if you feel creative have it being sent to him on 'accident' from either Zola or Ramirez? This could really stir things out and distract them as they work through their issues..."

"Yes, that seems reasonable. You can only show mercy on people that aren't as dangerous as Zola and his guards. The less bloodshed the better of course, but if it's that or be caught, I expect you to know what to do."

"Anna, we don't really need to sneak in weapons with this plan, so you won't need a holdout or a tazer, really.

"Are you any good with automatic weapons, cause you could borrow this HK-227 if you need something." Slobber holds up the weapon hanging from the strap on his shoulder

bnc scowls at Slob's remark, but bites her tongue. With some effort. Instead she focusses on telling people off.
"What makes you think, I couldn't - quote - sneak past a deaf-blind man during a thunderstorm? You think I bought that chameleon suite to show off to my geek friends back in hotel mama? I might not be in the best shape, but I'm not some spoiled lab rat bred to hit virtual buttons.


"Sure.

But let's not forget about Anna's idea of me replacing the spider. It's actually intriguing. If we manage to catch him during an active session - which he should keep during his shift - it'd be impossible to deduce my identity, there is no risk of IC or the host finding me, I have access to all functionalities I need and I don't have to be physically present thus minimizing the risk of me getting a high velocity lead intoxication or getting caught by a by-standing dead-blind man during a thunderstorm.
I don't see any major flaws in this plan."

Anna said "I own like five pistols... I will take my Predator it is coated with Ruthanium polymer neat thing really."

Slobber shrugged

"Sounds good. Means I can save a bit of cash on ammo."

"Now, let me have a look through this plan."

Slobber put the HK-227 on the table and then picked up his Yamaha Raiden and began walking through the bank from the chosen entry point in the back of the building. He first looked to find the most immediate and secure point for bnc to jack into the security systems if necessary and then looked to a point where he could access the building's vents. Then he did another once over on the angles through the building.

bnc mutters to herself inaudibly: "I kaun a mit ana Buffn umgeh', du Neuronenschoner", then gets up as well. Can't do any harm do make yourself comfortable with the environment.
"Do we have to expect any drones that are not controlled by the spider?"

Schmitt answered bnc: "To the best of my knowledge there are no other drones inside. That said, I can't guarantee that Zola hasn't added something extra to the bank and not let it get known officially."

"This entrance will be a pain, we'll need to make sure we know where the guards are before we enter.

"Here's the basic plan." Slobber makes a bunch of marks in AR to show his idea. Areas circled in red are where he expects to find some security presence.

https://imgur.com/lDqmu7y

We enter through the back, we need to make sure that no one is present and that there isn't an alarm on the door. Someone sneaks into the bathroom and sets up the gas grenade. That will be less risky than walking into the foyer to access the staff room. Once that goes off we need to slot and run. There are three points from which we can be attacked if we stay in this position, so we'll need to act during the chaos to mop up the badges. The moment that grenade is finished going off, we need the lift shut down. We have control of the stairwells from our entry point, but if we give up the lift we'll have no control over where Reinforcements hit us from

https://imgur.com/O528xsc

We'll split up teams later, but one group will need to secure the foyer, one will need to move upstairs and lock down the armor and clean out the guard station, and then we'll need to move as a group to clean out the vault. bnc, you may be able to set up shop in the guard room after we've cleaned out the building. May be wise to set up some booby traps or timed smoke grenades along our exit route to cover our escape.


https://imgur.com/32HCQzj

Finally we move into the vault. We'll have access to the lift to help us move the credsticks and other heavy loot en-masse, but it will put us at risk as it exits out into the foyer. We won't need the full team occupied. Any gutterpunk can use a monosaw. Me and a few others will need to keep the foyer locked down for if slash when reinforcements show up. We engage with intent to stall until we've cleared the place out, and then we retreat behind some thermal smoke and stun grenades and get out of town before a very mad Azzie blood mage finds us.

Wiz?

"That sounds like a reasonable plan." Schmitt agreed. "So let's train with a few moving targets."

With a command, several small drones began to "patrol" inside the mock building. With AR active they took on the form of the security team Slobber and Krestov had met at the hotel. Two of the things patrolled the building, while two used the sleeping rooms, two manned the security station and two behaved like wild cards and were either in the staff room, the armory or went back to the security station upstairs.

"Krestov should take the lead through the door and then I can follow behind. Yael after that.

"bnc should stay behind the door jacked into the camera system to work her magic that way.

"Yael do you want to put the gas grenades in the vents, or should I?

"Also, everyone has a gas mask or high quality respirator, right? This goes really bad if we all end up taking a nap in the stairwell."

Yeal replied "I can place the gas grenade, I should be sneaky enough. I think I need a gas mask for this gig."

"Mike probably has some spare, and if not I have one you can borrow to get used to wearing one through this"

Slobber put on his FBA helmet to get used to the vision restrictions and the respirator, put on some music, and began speaking through subvocal comms.

"So first things first. How do we want to deal with the guards on the outside of the building. I don't want to risk them tripping over an invisible bnc or kite while they fry the cyber security and we're inside shooting their friends.

"I could probably get one, maybe both, with 1 good burst from my Raiden. It's suppressed but still not the quietest option, but it may be the least complicated."

Schmitt interjected: "At least on that count we are in luck: The guard only patrol inside the bank, since they are on council ground and not ex-territorial. Of course we have to watch out for council police. But those will probably stay in their cruisers and only glance around. As long as we park our car not directly in front of the bank with running motor, we should be able to manage."

Mike replied: "Give me a few days and I can everyone of you sealed FBAs and a RP-cloak. Between those Anna's spell and maybe a concealing spirit from Flatline you should be nearly undetectable."

bnc changes to subvocals as well. "Can't see a flaw right now. With the mage gone, Kite can check the place out from the astral space and give us a thumbs up as soon as the guards are where they need to be.

Remember, apart from the ventilation system, I need to be jacked into the gear itself to deactivate. I can undo one cam, but it's going to proof difficult to take out all of them.
Unless, of course, I stay in the spider's seat and use his device. An option you seem to be stubbornly inclined to ignore. You can't steal the one moment from Anna when she actually said something really smart."

"I am reluctant to leave you at the spider's place both for security reasons as well as tactical considerations.
If you are there, we'd have to leave at least one person to watch your back with you. And if we come upon a technical problem that can't be solved easily remotely we will sorely miss you as well.
Beside that you'll always have to switch between the two hosts, unless you can leave an agent in place or something similar."
Schmitt replied.

Anna suggested "Is there a way to 'spoof' his agents? They must have some credentials of their own and may continue operating autonomously for a while after the demise of their owner? Does that make sense? I am sorry if I am breaking the matrix rules or anything... I've seen something similar in one of the Titanium Crush thrillers...

Besides that... can we steal the 'dog' and use it for our own benefit?

What would we use a dogbot for, and does anyone want to go through the trouble of rewiring the thing so that it doesn't automatically attack us?

"I firmly disagree, as fancy-talk says, but you're the A. Your wish is my command.

Then let's break the dilemma by using opt C. We get in, take down itsy-bitsy, snatch his deck, I log in - and then we go to the site and do what bad guys do.
C'est bon?"

Anna suggested "The robo dog? Just for fun - can chase the guards and make a mess. Probably don't worth it if you are right.

How likely is the bank to be alarmed by taking down the spider? Perhaps we should do both in parallel? Another interesting concept is to incapacitate him with some drug that would prevent him from doing his job. Can you sleep and still be in a hot sim? That way if our work is discovered itsy bitsy gets fired but the bank may not be otherwise alarmed. "

bnc just ostentatively face-palms herself instead of answering to the dog suggestion.
"Slob. Am I being a netfet again if I point out that we already discussed that topic and just had a lengthy discussion about how to fool or take out the biomonitor?"
She turns to Anna, obviously annoyed. "Can you please pay attention to what we discuss or just shut the fuck up? This is the third time you ask things we just discussed minutes ago. I haven't left school and become shadowrunner just to see that chink chunk again."

"That would be a solution. How are you planning to get his login info so you can assume his persona?" replied Schmitt.

All of these people dropping out of academies to rob banks. K would kill me for not slapping sense into them if he knew

"bnc, the reason Schmidt was against going after the spider isn't because it would be hard, it's because it would be mucho risky and really screws up our timing. While we could certainly spoof the spider for a little bit, the moment we take out the spider we have to go rob the bank to avoid his absence setting off an increase in badges at the bank.

"We've already committed to moving on the bank during hours of low flow, so most likely in the dark hours of the morning. AKA, the same time the dog lover you and Yael spoke with will be home with her arachnid boyfriend. Certainly we could knock her out, or maybe even get the job done quietly and without her waking up, calling KE, and suddenly everything going to hell, but there are a lot of problems we can't expect and don't have the resources to deal with that could arise from it

"I'm not totally against it, but there are some hard details we need to iron out."

bnc leans back. "I don't.
I plan to wait until he is logged in and just continue using his already active session. Login information is usually demanded at the beginning of a session - not while it's running. As I intend to simulate a realistic copy of his biometric data, even if the commlink has access to his biomonitor and would thus end the session, it should come to the conclusion that Vandemark is still safe and sound.
Should - against all probability - some kind of validification be necessary that'd happen on a local side. Since I can physically grab the commlink, it'd be a nut job to hack it. The host wouldn't have any other means to check the physical identity of the persona represented by a certain device. As long as the commlink thinks it's user is conscious, the persona is online. How should the 'link know who feeds it with input?

How far does Vandemark live from the bank?

What do you mean by "was against going after the spider"? We have to, that's why we collected all the info about his pet dog and the lack of magical security. Only thing I want to change is that I take the still active commlink with me before I leave. And maybe manipulate the location service."

"I meant that he had proposed sending a spirit to neutralize the spider as that plan poses the lowest threat to the rest of the team

"So why then did we try and figure out the codeword for the dog?"

Anna kept her mouth shut and went to the coffee machine to get herself another cup.

Slobber kneaded his forehead while considering the options, and then spoke, "Hrm, I'm not sure I like the risk, but I don't really know how much we'd be gaining. I'm not the only voice here, though.

"Anna, bnc, boys, which plan would you prefer to plan for and execute?"

"Let's discuss the rest of the plan first. If we figure out we need the cams urgently, we can consider infiltrating the session. If we come to the conclusion we don't need 'em, but I'm needed somewhere else, I go in myself."

Anna gulped her tea and seemed embarrassed "For what its worth, I am not comfortable with sending a spirit to harm a person that is no danger to me. ". She looked down and said "I'd much rather we find a less violent solution, perhaps drugs to take him out temporarily.
Pausing for a moment she added "There is also the thing about visibility - 'cooperate person murdered by spirits' may be something difficult to shake... not too many people in the city can do it and some people can narrow it down further by observing the spirit and estimate the tradition of the conjurer."

"I'm in agreement about not killing him. Do we have any drones that could sneak into a home and shoot some gel or stick-n-shock into the man?"

Slobber mused for a bit.

"It's a shame we can't mess with the spider until later, he might be a good person to spoof a message from regarding or elven tin man's future as a blood sacrifice.