So working our way through

1. Remove Package
2. Deliver Package.




Anybody remember the days when running was simple?

Before we move to the locked down phase:

1. Do you know what causes the collar's feedback?

And maybe (but only maybe)

2. What's your relationship to Galina?

I see no problems with moving forward to lockdown. We should bring Juliana into the ward, keep her as far away as possible from spellcasting (if possible between a ward and the magic) and probably -- as much as I am loathe to do it -- let Juliana know she's under her roof. The last point of course depends on the answer we may or may not get from Juliana w/respect to her relation to Galina.

It would still be a lot of fun to keep both her and Galina in the dark though.

By the by, by lockdown I assume we mean not only a locked room but a locked room bristling with weapons.

When running was simple my runners were in the business of going exotic places and destroying something new each week. And it was hard to come up with something new for them to blow up each week. All in all its much easier to make it hard.

I'm ok with moving forward

I don't see a problem with moving forward.

I'd say we should probably go ahead and ask her what her relationship with Galina is.

Once we get to the safehouse we should be moving her into a warded room separate from any spellcasting as has been suggested, stalling any casting as necessary.

To me "lockdown" means getting everybody inside with the doors locked. With one or two people on guard duty, preferrably inside, but being sure to have an early warning is more important than having everybody inside. So they may have to be stationed outside/on-roof if field of view is limited from within the safehouse.

Great read. I need to keep a better eye on these boards.

The current problem seems to be that you aren't sure where you stand with the involved parties. This leaves you with a few options as to how you progress.

Option A - We just want to get paid.
- We get the critically injured to Galina, and do not reveal Juliana. I'd then dope Juliana(or otherwise render unconscious) and proceed to drop. Minimal hassle, although Galina's intentions could make this more complicated if not carefully played.

Option B - The girl's been through enough.
- We level with Juliana before reaching the safehouse and Galina. Our actions will be guided by her at that point. In its favor is the fact that it should inspire some trust from Juliana, and we can stop worrying about what she can/can't do. Of course, it could also mean that we end up not getting paid...

Option C - Contacts need love too.
- Proceed to safehouse, and level with Galina.(Not in the presence of Juliana, preferably.) Let her guide our actions at that point. Could lead us into option B, could just get really complicated.

I have a KISS mentality, but most of my characters in the past would lean toward option B. Of course, it should be noted that those characters are "in the past". Keep up the good work, I want to know how this ends.

As suggested lockdown protocol:

I expect that Advent could make a very effective early warning system for the locked down safehouse by launching a Condor to serve as an eye in the sky. Once Ghost regains a little more consciousness she could back him up with regular patrols of the area immediately around the safehouse.

That said, the current plan of action looks pretty good.

Talia, what do you think?

We've got to get this tread moving quickly before Trogdor is trapped forever inside the earth due to conversion to SR4 rules!

I'm sorry, Shanshu: I'd missed your post, and thought the onus was still on you guys. (Although I'm not entirely sure what you mean by what I think ...? hope I covered it below?) Thanks, Da9iel, for dragging it up to my attention.

Yeah looks that way to me.

Once we have her in the room behind a ward and while Galina heals whoever is injured, I guess we'll ask the questions suggested by Crusher Bob earlier

To answer Slacker:

• Solitaire, our decker, is fully operational
• Advent, our rigger, is in a similar state -- further all of his drones other than the spiders are available
• Ghost, our covert ops specialist, is still waking up but is functional.

One of our mages is dead and the other is digging.

Another bright idea for perimeter security -- should we have Solitaire hack a few nearby grid guide cameras. It would give us another way to keep a good eye on the surrounding area, but might be more of a security risk than a benefit (depending on how much faith we have in her hacking ability).

That is a pretty good idea pragma, that way we don't have to have anyone exposed outside doing the guard thing.

I think Slacker's suggestion can be safely confirmed. I'd like to wait on more feedback for mine.

can someone save me the digging, if they recall off the top of their head, refresh my memory who died and how? I'm having a brain fizzle. was it diamond? I thought we got him out.

Diamond has a deadly wound and is stabilized. Unless Galina has a really good heal spell, Diamond is out of things for the duration. Of course, he is realtively easy to heal, (iirc, he has an essence of 5, making the TN of the healing spell 5), Galina getting at least 5 success on the healing test would be ideal as that would reduce him down to a moderate wound (which dosen't require hospitalization), otherwise, we'll need to come up with a long term care solution for him (iirc, serious wounds require clinic/high lifestyle to heal properly). Of course, getting 5+ successes at TN 5 needs an average of, err... 15 dice, which I doubt Galina can throw... Hmm, it might easier than I though, if she gets a +2 totem bonus to health spells...

We still have something like 4? more hours for Trogdor to dig himself out, so he still has plenty of time to dig himself out.

My apologies -- I exaggerated Diamond's condition a litle bit.

That said, any opinions on the added security measures? Is having Ghost patrol or Solitaire hack grid guide worth the effort?

My personal opinion is that hacking grid guid will give us excellent perimeter security (especially combined with an eye in the sky) but that we still want Ghost to keep an eye on astral around the area (with the magic sense and the true sight and all that). Possibly walking the perimeter every 10-15 minutes or something like that.

Orange Hard if I recall correctly

Actually,

Let's also discuss what we might do if we do notice someone closing on our location... Escape? (to?) Dig in?

Even with surviellance, we can still miss a disguised transport or something.

If the rewards out weigh the risks, I'm onboard.

GridGuide is still under some debate. Is everyone confirmed for moving Juliana into a warded room?

Fine with me.

Yea.

Had to confirm specifically, because as it turns out there is interaction between the collar and the ward ...

The immediate initial result is that the collar sends out another pulse, which will affect everyone in the vicinity. This could have serious implications for Diamond, the degree of which depends on exact timing.

Give the PCs enough rope and they'll cliffhang themselves with it.

Hm, I don't know if canon has anything to say on the matter. My gut tells me it still fills seperately, if only because it would by default. No Pool dice to resiste though.

More important, though: Diamond would likely have gone in first, being on a stretcher and all. Is he getting hit by the pulse through the ward, or is Juliana's collar getting through the ward *then* pulsing?

@ Talia: I've never seen anything canon that says anything about it. Like Eyeless Blond, I'd think it would still fill separately, because that is the default.

@Eyeless: I believe the situation was that Diamond was brought into a central room at the front of the domicile to be treated, while we were going to take Juliana into another room that was already warded (with an assumption that it opened into the central room, though that could have just been something I assumed).

Again, no source to cite but I would lean towards the stun monitor filling separately and overflowing onto physical as normal. Probably destabilizes him too boot.

What I'd understood by it was that the room had been pre-warded, not that someone was going to spend however-many-hours warding it after something or someone enters it: which means that something active interacted with something active. If the latter, of course, you have an entirely different problem

My own default is to keep the stun track as intact: which in this case will probably save Diamond's life. The effect doesn't take down anyone else who isn't already down, although for Solitaire it comes close (she's well into serious Stun now), and a still-unconscious Ghost slips into physical damage.

Incidentally, this is at the moment of point of contact with the ward. Juliana isn't yet inside. There is resistance between the ward and what's around her neck.

Actions?

Based on the force through a barrier rules I'd expect the ward to be destroyed if we puch hard enough (maybe the death focus too). However, I don't think that we want to continue pushing if its going to continue hurting us -- call the ward quits and tend to the wounded.

We should also ask Galina what she thinks of the collar and talk to our Johnson As quickly as possible!

By the way, have we performed a visible inspection of the collar? There isn't an off switch or simple release mechanism is there?

I agree, observe in detail.

Agreed, we need to have Galina looking at that collar now.

Calling the Johnson, I'm not so sure about. At one point there was talk of possibly not completing the contract and working for Juliana or Galina instead. Did we ever come to any decisions on that? Or did we just put it off until we could get more info from Juliana?

If there is any chance at all of us not taking her to the Johnson, we should not be calling him at this time.

I'm fairly certain The Package can surmise that removing her from that cell was not a humanitarian mission... now that a trickle more time has passed, has she hinted at all about her desires re: whomever engineered her extaction?

Once we are reasonably back on our feet, then let's pursue a: contact with our employer, or b: other possibilities.

in terms of "b," I personally would consider doing The Package's bidding if 1. She has a better offer, 2. She's powerfull enough our cooperation or lack thereof will be inconsequential or our resistance to her will is futile, and 3. She can give us absoloute safety from consequences regarding our current employers. (Is this likely considering the circumstances under which we said we'd agree to take the job? Dependant on The Package's "Juice.")

meanwhile, let's get back up on our feet, we can crosstalk, and until we're good to go, or something happens, we can maybe put off deciding on calling the Johnson or crossing the Johnson.

I'm good with killing time. Given the state Solitaire is likely in we can hold off on GridGuide. Just keep an eye in the sky and our fingers crossed.

Advent didn't happen to avoid the last pulse did he?

I'm having a hard time distinguishing what's aimed at me and what's general questioning?

Agree? Disagree? Can't identify anything else solid that I can act on.