"Who ever said a word about killing him?
Just send over a spirit to knock him out. If you can control spirit of men, you should be able to make him eat sleeping pills or something. That wouldn't even provoke attention."

Flatline chimed in: "Yeah, or just send an air elemental and engulf the guy, choke him out, or use it's noxious breath ability. He won't even feel it while he is in VR"

"So with your concerns about geeking the spider resolved, which plan do you prefer Anna?"

Anna seemed hesitant "Lets geek him... he probably has plenty of physical security one way or the other..."

Slobber paused, and dramatically blinked a few times.

"Wait, what?"

Shrugging she said "The air spirit thing... I am not proud of using a spirit to knock someone out, but it more reasonable than breaking in there and splitting up."

bnc pauses a moment, not quite sure whether Anna is being serious, sarcastic or just not paying attention again.
"Come again?
Just to get this straight: We have already agreed on sending a spirit to take care of the spider. So we have following options:
a) Send a spirit to strangle him until he falls unconscious, not painless, but unlethal.
b) Send an elemental to choke him until he falls unconscious.
c) Force him with magic to take sleeping pills so that he falls into a deep and sleepless slumber.
d) Kill him. Ignore all our moral values and wishes of our Mr. Schmidt, draw unnecessary attention and -
What the fuck is wrong with you, Anna??"

"Oh fuck off... the spirit will knock him down - you can hack the camera if you really want to watch. I will come with the spirit." She placed the cup of coffee and stood up. "Then when the spider is gone, I'll be back in my body and plant the freaking grenade, secure the skinny dyke if she needs to do her matrix mojo... Join the rest of us in the safe so we can empty it...

Yes, I put some gell rounds in any security guard that reaches pistol range with me.

Is there anyone else that feels the need to call me stupid or taunt me on my ability to make a 'plan'... or focus as we build on top of more and more assumptions? "

"You know what 'geek' means, right? That when you said you wanted to 'geek' him, you were saying you wanted to kill him?

"I'm in agreement about putting him to sleep remotely with a spirit, though."

bnc stood as well, glaring at Anna. "Yes, you moron. If you are no shadowrunner, don't use shadowrunner slang, dammit. Or at least fucking listen when the grown-ups talk and explain to you what the fuck you just said. Sit down."

"He'll be decommissioned... Hopefully in a non-lethal manner. I will project there so that I keep control of the spirit in case we need some extra firepower or a distraction... "

bnc sighs in frustration.
"Fine ... as long as you do your job..."
She shakes her head and sits down, muttering to herself. "You won't last in the shadows, sweet-meat..."

"Now... the question asked... after we put the decker to sleep...should we destroyl the deck? Or disable him in anothr manner?"

"That won't be necessary. The less damage we do, the less reason the decker has to come after us - a pissed of Zola is bad enough, I don't want to give this decker a reason to look for us in particular."
Schmitt replied.
"Alright, so now that this is resolved, we can move step by step through the building, so we are all on the same page about everyone's position.

We start out here, wearing the RP cloaks, using invisibility and spirit concealment.

We move to the back door. This one we can open with the SOK, but first bnc establishes a connection to the camera above the door for a direct connection hack, gaining access to the Security Host, so she can target all relevant cameras."

He indicated at the camera, about 2.5m above the ground. Krestov stepped forward and without a word plugged the long fiber optic cable into the UC-Slot.

"We have a long enough cable, so in theory you can stay outside and out of sight to do that. Kite sits in the car and keeps a drone flying above to provide real time on-site overwatch.

We open the door. In front of us are the stairs leading upward to the guards. That is the most critical part of the operation as that is the place where the patrols move up and down.

What do you think: Is it better to rely on the existing camera infrastructure to get intel on the inside, or should we instead send Kanmushi bugs in to get a discreet view of the inside?"

"I'd prefer to try the bugs so that bnc doesn't have to risk alerting matrix security, and we may be able to infiltrate them without even opening the door"

"Agree. Everything we control ourselves cannot be intercepted. Kite should have spare concentration for surveillance."

"Alright." Schmitt gestured to Kite and the rigger began deploying the miniature drones.
"We'll either need to open the door a bit, or deposit the drones beforehand during work hours. Delayed reboot would make them undetectable until we move."
Schmitt made another few steps into the first room.
"From here, Anna moves over to the next room and into the women's restroom, deposing the gas grenade."
He gestured at the mock facilities.
"The ceiling is 2.65 high and you have to remove a cover. Do you have any trick up your sleeve to get up there, or should we put a step ladder on the equipment list.?"

Anna grinned "This is too high for stilettos... " pausing she added, "Fortunately, I am familiar with the levitate spell."

"Good that makes that a whole lot easier. You all wear sealed FBAs so the narcoject/DMSO mixture won't hurt you.
By this time bnc has taken control of the utilities host to direct the gas where it is needed.
Right, for that, another direct connection would be useful. The thermostat in the ladies' is probably the closest physical access.

Now we have gas pouring out of the vents. The guards have about three seconds to realize what is happening to them.
Hm. It wouldn't be a total catastrophe if they called for back up, but it would cut down our remaining operation time severely.

Any ideas how we can prevent them from using their commlinks to call for help?"

Schmitt asked.

Anna said "I do not think there is something we can do to make them not call for help, the only thing that makes them not call for help, in my opinion, is if they think that help is already on the way... So calling again is unnecessary... "

Seeing as the action isn't going to start anytime soon, bnc removes the helmet and switches back to normal communication.
"I'd rather deploy the drones without opening the doors. An illegitimate entry might leave traces and/or raise alarms. Maybe there's a cleaning services or something who has to enter after working hours. The drones are small enough to accompany them undetectedly."

bnc falls silent for a moment after Anna posed her idea. She then says, "That's smart. I could hack their captain's link and send an alert message and the instruction to move somewhere we are not. That should distract them for three tics."

"A good idea indeed. The question is: Do you want to risk marking Zola's commlink to spoof the message or do you think a MARK on their commanding officer in their homebase in Seattle would be better.

With Zola you can expect instant obedience without delay. But of course you risk alerting Zola directly.
An advisement by the commanding officer might cause the team leader to ask clarification questions."
Schmitt replied.

"No, the commanding officer, not Lavadora himself. I'd prepare the link in a way that incoming calls are redirected, answered by the answering machine or something like that. We only need a few seconds of confusion, then they're out anyway. Maybe I can manage to retrieve a voice sample of his (or her?) 'link and feed it to a voice generator. I could mimick his voice. If only Torrent were here..."

"I'm in agreement about not alerting Zola, the person we least want to see at the job. Mimicking the captain's voice like a decent away of going about it. Can anyone here do voices?"

Anna said "Perhaps... but it does not work on voice recognition systems."

"I think, a simple message seemingly coming from the commlink will suffice - you'll just have to maintain your control over it so the guards can't call your bluff.

Alright where were we...

Yes, Anna has placed the grenade, the grenade goes off and bnc vents the gas directly to where the guards are. She sends them a message, that they are under attack and will receive reinforcements shortly.
The Narcoject knocks them out.

Now, Slobbertooth and Krestov secure all rooms to ensure that no-one has managed to escape the gas."

Schmitt indicated towards the different rooms, letting the runners cover them all while taking the time.
"Two minutes later, all rooms are secured.

Now we can move down to the vault. We use the SOK to open the safe. Slobber takes the mono saw and opens all the lock boxes, Krestov secures outside the vault.
We use the SOK to call the elevator and move the loot one level up.

Or Anna levitates it up the stairs - that's probably faster and safer than the elevator.

We move the loot outside the back door, where Kite waits with the van. We all pile in and drive to the boat house.

We load up the subs and meet back at the safe house.

At least that's the theory.

Now, let's run this scenario a few times."

"I'm ready when you are, boss!"

bnc again takes the helmet and puts it on. "Let's fetz!"

Slobber rolled his neck and nodded

"Yeah, let's see how quickly we can turn this simple plan into drek"

"Step 1, let's get those camera bugs inside so we can see where the guards are."

Kite packed an envelope with the micro drones and gave it to the runners:
"As I see it, the easiest way to get them in beforehand is to bring this envelope with you during business hours and drop it somewhere inconspicuous. The drones are on a delayed reboot and can't be found in the matrix during that time. With the right timing they'll wake up just as you have taken care of the spider. You can have them swarm out and get you this inside information."

Slobber handed the practice envelope to Yael


"Find a good spot for them to hide. You're the first one in the building, so they need to provide information for you the most"

Anna grimaced behind her helmet. "You mean that I am sneaking with digital equipment? It sounds like trying to hide in an alley with a large neon sign... but you guys are the professionals. I get the tactical benefits." she took the envelope, hurried to the model bank's toilet, flushed the water and when she was inside she placed the envelope in the trash bin.

"Deploying them is really easy provided I do it in a dress in working hours. "

"Don't worry", bnc said, before Anna left, "They are switched off, so they are practically invisible. What you really carry is a an envelope with some wires and chips in it.
Ger- Mr. Schmidt, can she enter the building without raising suspicion if she doesn't have an appointment?"

"No, but luckily, I do have some spare appointments organized with the bank that I have been postponing on a regular basis, so there is a definite opening for Meteor Enterprises to discuss depositing a few valuables when this unreliable customer finally cancels his appointment.

Just don't leave the envelope in a trash can that will get emptied on a regular basis."
Schmitt replied

"You said you don't want to appear us officially."

"Yes, ideally.
But allowances have to be made if we want to get those drones inside. Anna will have to be heavily disguised, so no-one - especially not Zola - who has already met her will recognize her. And she'll have to rely on mundane disguises so that she doesn't trigger sensors or watchers.

If you have an idea whose identity we could use who also has a legitimate interest to visit this bank I'd be very interested to hear it."

Schmitt shrugged.

Anna grinned "Seems like it is the job for Mr. Thyme and his chief of security... I mean it is just placing an envelope in the toilets. Under the sink or something... I feel like a liability here since Zola knows me as a prostitute. No biggie doing it myself if you think it is better."

"Anna needs to merely pick a spot. We could have anyone leave the package in the place she selects. I don't think it's required for her to be on-site

"Even better. We might be able to get a view of the vault if you go in on the pretext of renting a lock box.
Do you feel up for this charade, Slobbertoot?"

Schmitt asked.

Slobber froze, the terrifying prospect of having to wear a suit again dawning on him.

"I could do it, but I don' think there is any way you're going to be able to disguise my face to look like someone else without magic. One third of the security staff has seen me posing as someone looking to hire them, but we could just void their shift.

"More importantly I already made friends with everyone's favorite elf sociopath tin-man at the hotel when Zola was getting to know Anna. We hit it off, so well we almost hit each other with. I don't think he'll be so patient if he recognizes me strolling around his vault."

"Ah, yes. We'll have to make sure neither of those is on duty while you visit the bank.
But don't underestimate what a well tailored suit, a good wig and a bit of nanopaste can do for a face. Even one as ruggedly individualistic as yours."

"The giant payday is barely worth wearing a suit more than once,


"but fine, I'll do it."

"Why risk that? Slobbertooth is neither accustomed to the etiquette of high society, nor is his face very bland. Anna, however, just looks like basically every second hot slitch there is around. Also, I doubt that Zola put much interest in her face. It surely wasn't the part he was most interested in. A wig, different eyecolor, yadda yadda, and even we are not going to be able to recognize her. Slob's too conspicious. I wouldn't let him even approach the bank without asking for his SIN if I were a cop.""

Anna's smile widened and then she allowed a giggle out. She said "Well, actually Zola never saw my real aura... So even if he finds me familiar his magical senses would be off, along with mundane disguise and my legitimately awakened fake SIN. Moreover, it is not like he is inside the bank 100% of the time and even if he is... he is probably busy doing something rather than check out the customers....

Where did we agree to put the envelope? When are we doing it?"

"Do we know details about the interior? Is the vent shaft accessible? Can the toilet be opened? Can it be glued to the bottom of the bin? What does the toilet look like? Is there some elevated place, like a paper-towel dispenser?"

Schmitt opened an AR file, displaying a relatively low resolution shot of a bathroom:

There are no paper towel dispensers, but a hand dryer. The mirror appears to be AR enhanced and the two sinks are made from porcelain.
A quick check by bnc reveals that the room has a second ceiling made from sound muffling material. It looks like it would be possible to place something in between the ceilings - provided one can reach that high.

bnc pointed out that possibility.

"Okay, let's assume the drones are a-flyin'. Can we fast-forward to when we get in?"

"Sure."

Schmitt nodded to Kite. The rigger moved the envelope to the mock-up of the ladies' and began to deploy the drones.

"Alright, the corridors and most rooms are no problem, but the security office and the armory have both sealed doors.
The drones will have to wait for someone to open the doors. That's no big deal for the security office, but the armory probably doesn't get regularly visited."

When the drones were in position, Kite forwarded their feeds to bnc.

"You have full operational overwatch. Now, you see that a two man patrol is moving through the building: They start in the second floor, checking every room, move to the first, while moving along the wall, looking into every room and checking every door knob.
Finally they go into the cellar. They don't access the vault, but use the lift to get back to the first floor, repeat their pattern backwards until they are back in the security room."

"How often do they check? Non-stop? Do they take breaks in between?"

Kite replied:
"No idea actually. That route is just the one the program thinks is the most likely they will follow, given the layout of the building and the best practice handbook for guarding a building. We have no way of knowing what they really do until we deploy the drones.
According to the program one sweep per hour but at random intervals is the best way ensure maximum coverage without tiring out your security."