Vaylar Rising — IC

[greysigil]

Jug tucks the keycard into a storage compartment on his chassis, and takes snapshots of the security plans before setting them back in the drawer exactly where they found them and sending the images to the others. They then turn and scan the rest of the room, looking for any filing cabinets or digital records.

Jug >> Secure Chat

>Engaging in Reconnaissance
>Found plans for Security Checkpoint @ Front Door
>Images Attached
>Checkpoint.img sent<

[Namelessjake]

Antoine

"No enough, but this prosthetic ain't too bad," Shrimp replies.

"Getting back up there?" he asks at you request, nodding his head up towards the sky and the moons that hang in it.

"My guy got busted a while back, but I'm pretty sure I've got a few stims left. Could do 50 creds a pop, for old time's sake."

OOC

You would recognise this as a discount, due to the higher price of black market and restricted goods on Vaylar.

John, Em & Jin

"You'll have to take a number," the woman replies without looking up at you. She uses her free hand to point at the dispenser while she continues playing her compad game with the other.

Sven and Tristan

"Give me a call sometime," Leif replies with a wink, before putting his helmet back on and making his way back over to his bike.

"Yeah, this gives us some good options for cracking the museum's security now," Tristan says. "And if the system's too strong, we just bust into the security room like planned," the gangster adds.

Jug

Searching the rest of the room, you find an array of books on everything from Escriosian poetry to Mandate Structural Engineering, however you fail to find anything more relating to the Iron Tide or Juggernaut units.

You do find a safe hidden inside a cabinet, next to a decanter of fine whiskey and a pair of ornate glasses. The safe is locked with a digital lock, requiring a numerical code to be entered into a keypad on the door.

OOC

Jug's scene is happening later than everyone else's' (evening for them vs afternoon for you), so you can disregard his message for now.

[ratwizard]

"Soon, all goes well. Got a few things to do here first," Antoine says, his eyes lingering on the moons — Adu in particular.

"Fifty each? I can agree to that. How many you willing to part with? I'll do a dozen, if you got enough."

[Namelessjake]

Antoine

"A dozen? Damn. I don't think I have that many," Shrimp replies, running a hand over his smooth head as he appears to be working something out in his head. "I think I have seven doses you can have," he offers.

[ratwizard]

"Seven'll do," Antoine says. "Got it here? I can wait."

He palms the burner compad, ready to make the transaction. Glad he's not asking what it's going toward. He knows better.

OOC

Got 1000 credit on my temp wallet, willing to spend 350 of it.

[BartNL]

John grabs a number from the machine, and looks around if he can find a sign showing which number is up.
So far so good, she doesn't look like the type to bother with giving these papers a thorough inspection.

[Scratcherclaw]

Sven smirks as Leif walks away. Should invite Yukon too. Now that'd be fun. He looks to Tristan and gives a quick nod. "Never hurts to have more than one plan. But let's head back then, yeah?"

[Namelessjake]

Antoine

"Sure, give me a minute," Shrimp replies, before heading back the way he had come, turning up an alley down the side of Good Bradley's.

A few minutes later, he returns with a small package in his hands.

"Here you go. It was good to see you again Tone," he says, handing over the credits.

Mechanics

-350 credits
+7 Tsunami

John, Em & Jin

Looking at the small piece of paper John pulled from the dispenser, you see it reads 48.

A small electronic display next to the dispenser currently shows the number 7, despite the waiting area only containing two chairs and being empty save for yourselves.

Sven and Tristan

"Yeah let's get back. We can always grab a bite if the others aren't done yet," Tristan replies as he starts making his way out of the alleyway.

[ratwizard]

Antoine waits anxiously, taking a few pulls from his cigarette as he waits for Shrimp to return. He's not gonna take that cred and walk away, is he? Nah, man's been in this game too long to burn me like that.

When the huge man appears again, Antoine smiles. He takes it and stows it in his jacket. "Thanks, Shrimp. Don't be a stranger," he says, clasping the man's hand once more. "Owe you a drink next time I see ya."

OOC

Take me back to Jox's shithole agiv joint!

[Scratcherclaw]

"Definitely, could use a snack," Sven says, patting at his stomach. Something fried, terrible, but delicious. With his new purchases neatly tucked away, he begins walking back to the restaurant with Tristan.

[Fialova]

"So, uh," Em begins, not really sure what to say, but not wanting to wait here all day. "Where's the other 41 people ahead of us?"

[greysigil]

Jug examines the keypad, attempting to discern if there are buttons more worn than others.

[Namelessjake]

Antoine

"Ha, I'll hold you to that, see you around," Shrimp replies, giving you a nod before he disappears back the way he came.

Now with the stims in hand, you walk back to the station and head for Jox's.

OOC

You're now on pause until the others catch up (Hopefully not too long).

John, Em & Jin

At Em's words, the woman looks up, making eye contact with the native Teraian. She wordlessly pushes a button on her terminal and the counter changes from 7 to 8. She then immediately returns her attention to her compad.

Sven and Tristan

You make your way back towards Jox's with your new black market hacking tech. Arriving back, you find you are the first to return so you grab a booth and act like normal customers for once.

OOC

You're now on pause until the others catch up (Hopefully not too long).

Jug

There is very little wear on the keypad, as if the safe is opened very infrequently.

[BartNL]

info

Any way to hack into this dispenser?

[Namelessjake]

John

The dispenser is a simple roll of tickets in a casing, while the display seems to be directly hooked up to the receptionist's terminal.

[BartNL]

info

Any clue on when the tickets loop back to the lower numbers?

[Namelessjake]

John

The casing of the dispenser is opaque, so there are no visual clues hinting at when the numbers might loop back around, if they even do at all.

[BartNL]

"Go check if it loops". John says to Em and Jin, signing they need to keep pressing the button.

[Fialova]

Em shrugs and, at John's words, steps forward to the ticket system and presses the button to take another ticket. Once received, she'll continue to keep pressing it and receiving tickets until stopped or interrupted.

[Namelessjake]

John, Em and Jin

As Em starts taking number after number, the receptionist looks up from her compad to see what you are doing. She tries to ignore it, but after a few more moments, and another ten or so tickets, she relents.

"Ok fine! Just stop that!" she says with a hint of exasperation. "I'll take a look." 

She finally puts her compad down and turns her attention to the papers. She flicks through them with some care, although at times it's clear she is just checking specific fields rather than the whole document in its entirety.

"Looks good, I'll get someone to bring it out," she says, finishing with the documents and signing them as previously directed by Stamps.

She types something on her terminal before picking up her compad again, paying you no further attention. A couple minutes later, a man in a technicians uniform walks in. He hands you a small case after a quick secondary glance at the paperwork. With the case in hand you quickly exit the building. Opening it outside you find it contains four lift injectors, albeit past its regular shelf life.

Mechanics

+4 Expired Lift

Expired Lift (Heal-0): A Lift stim augments and amplifies the body’s natural response to physical injury and exhaustion. This boost speeds natural recovery drastically and heals 1d6 plus the user’s Heal skill in hit points after five minutes of rest. Lift stims do not work on PCs who are mortally wounded; they need to be stabilized before the Lift can help them, though application to a stabilized target will get
them back on their feet and active again. Each application adds 1 System Strain to the target. Each additional application of Lift to a target the same day increases the minimum Heal skill needed by 1.

[Fialova]

"Not as good as new, but better than nothing," Em says, pleased with their success. I'm susprised she caved so easily after how stubborn she was at the start. Guess she's never had to interact with the working class before.

"That all on the docket? We good to head back?" she asks, turning to John as the de facto leader of this outing.

[BartNL]

"We did what we could, and got something out of it. That's a success in my book." John says matter of factly.

[Namelessjake]

Em, John and Jin

"It could be the difference between life and death tomorrow. Especially if Antoine found what he was looking for," Jin says as you start to make your way back towards Jox's.

Later that evening, you eventually all make it back to Jox's and regroup to discuss your progress and make your final plans before the event tomorrow evening. As you filter into the backroom, you burners buzz with a message from Jug.

>Engaging in Reconnaissance
>Found plans for Security Checkpoint @ Front Door
>Images Attached
>Checkpoint.img sent<

Opening up the images, you see that the area in front of the museum is planned to have barriers added to it so that the guests can queue to enter the museum for the party. Reaching the bottom of the steps into the building, they will have to present their tickets, have any bags searched and then make their way through a security scanner to enter the building.

This scan is likely to detect the firings pins necessary to reactive the weapons, as well as much of your other equipment.

[BartNL]

"We managed to get our hands on some expired stims. Tomorrow we'll need someone to get those and the firing pins in through the side entrance." John states. "How was your run?"

[ratwizard]

"Good work," Antoine says, mildly surprised at their success. Beginning to think the fellow might not be a Escriosian plant. Unless they'd go through all this trouble only to bring us all in tomorrow. Guess we'll see.

"Got us some Tsunami. My contact pulled through." The man pulls a small packet from his army jacket, carefully placing it on a table. "Seven, should be more than enough for this. Maybe even whatever's next?"

[greysigil]

Safe = Crack by Force Tomorrow? Jug thinks to themself as they examine the keypad, assessing their skills and finding their ability to quietly open it quite limited.

Having seemingly exhausted all of their options at the moment, Jug places everything they found back into their original positions, and returns to the place what Em and that, curator, had left them.

Jug >> Secure Chat

>Additionally, Found a Staff Keycard
>Unsure of Practical Use At This Time

[Namelessjake]

As you talk another message comes through from Jug.

>Additionally, Found a Staff Keycard
>Unsure of Practical Use At This Time

Sven

From your reconnaissance of the museum, you recall that all the staff had keycards on them and that the staff areas appeared locked to the public, likely requiring said keycards to grant entry.

[Fialova]

"That bucket of bolts has got some good intel," Em responds, surprised by the reconnaissance the Jug is able to pull off after-hours. "One of the rest of you should pose as staff or something, and get that key card. I won't be able to, that curator already knows my face. I'll be dolled up in makeup and a dress to look as different as possible." Lavender's gonna have their work cut out for them, makin' me look all fancy. It's gonna feel like shit, I can already tell.

[BartNL]

"Two of us go in through the front door. Jug can open the side door, since a robot there shouldn't set of any alarms. The three sneaking in bring the firing pins and the drugs we found. Jug and anyone else more confident with a knife or their fists stay down. The rest head upstairs. Once Vibol shows, we meet upstairs at the Unification Wars hall, and use the blind spot to grab and reassemble the weapons without the security noticing. With a bit of luck, everyone is watching Vibol make a speech. Then we make our way to the balcony and find our target. We see Vibol, we start shooting. Once Vibol is down, we move. Guests will probably try to flee through the entrance hall, so we'd be better off if we make our escape through the western staircase.
Everyone agrees? The remaining question now is: who is grabbing a ticket?"

[Scratcherclaw]

With everyone reconvened, Sven pulls up his bag and sets his purchases on a table. "Got us two line shunts, a dataslab, and a metatool. Not sure these'll get past security though so might have to smuggle them in too," he says, impressed at how successful the rest of them have been too. Damn, really might pull this off. He smirks as Jug's intel comes in, ideas flowing through his head. "From what I remember, the staff-only doors looked like they had keycard readers. Can do a whole lot more than just pose as staff with that."

He shrugs at John's question. "Maybe Em and I? And you could grab the keycard, act as staff. You always had a knack for keeping your head down." Man skated through school like a goddamn specter.

[Namelessjake]

"The exhibits themselves are alarmed too, so either you'll need to take out the security guards monitoring the cameras and alarms, or disable the alarms remotely," Jin adds in reply to John's plan.

[ratwizard]

"It's a solid a plan as any, but it's got some holes. For now, let's say I'll take the stims, tech, and the pins," Antoine volunteers. "Long as that side entrance gets open."

He turns to Sven. "Security's gotta go, everything falls apart otherwise. If we can't get control, we just need to remove their control. Those line shunts, how's that all work? Maybe that keycard the VI snatched might get you into wherever needs breeching."

[Namelessjake]

Sven

You know that without a map of the museum's network architecture, you will need to perform a hack against the system to determine where the line shunt, you believe you should only need one, will need to be placed inside the building to provide enough access to the network to hack into the system properly and attempt to shut down the alarms and cameras.

You will be able to perform both these hacks from anywhere you can tap into the museum's network - any of the staff offices should provide this access.

You should also be able to prepare significantly before tomorrow evening, which would make the hacks much quicker to execute.

Mechanics

Some hacking mechanics for reference (I would recommend reading up on them though);

Unless prepared for at least an hour earlier, a hack takes 10 minutes, if prepared it is a main action.

Systems that require line shunts to order to execute a hack can be hacked without them, performing the "Ask a Specific Question" hack in order to locate where the line shunt(s) must be placed.

Once the line shunts are placed, you will be able to perform other hacks on the system, in addition these hacks will last until the line shunts are found and removed.

The relevant hacks you could then perform are "Suppress a System", "Subvert a System" or "Sabotage a System" depending on what you want to do. Each hack does make the next hack slightly harder.

[Fialova]

"Fine by me" Em says, nodding in response to Antoine's initial plan. "You smuggle the stuff in, I can make my way to the firearms display as a curious guest I guess. Somehow you get me the pins, I can get them guns workin', and then... what? We'll have to sneak out, or else we're gonna be in a fire fight with ancient tech versus modern security."

[Namelessjake]

"If you want to try and get out a different way than the loading bay just let me know. I should be able to get the ambulance anywhere along the back of the building so the side doors could work too. That or you can always jump from a window," Jin says in reply to Em. He laughs at his last comment, but cuts his laugh short as if genuinely considering the idea.

Through some further discussion, those who scouted out the interior of the museum are able to paint a picture of which doors require staff key card access and where any cameras are, in the public areas at least.

First Floor

Second Floor

[Scratcherclaw]

"Staff offices should give us access to the network. From there, we can hack into the security system and try to disable it," Sven explains to the man, trying his best not to use any jargon that may go over everyone's heads. "Shunt should stay hooked in until someone finds 'em though. Could maybe even sneak in and set it up early."

He crosses his arms, moving his head side to side in thought. "Hack would take us 10 minutes on the fly, but should be able to prep beforehand and speed that up. Less time wasted, the better."

[ratwizard]

"The gun exhibit's only got one cam. That seems to be the lynchpin of all this — getting the guns out without alerting security or the alarms. Sven, maybe your hack can prioritize bringing that cam down, giving us some time to figure out the displays.

John, on your way through, you happen to take a look at what's keepin' them in? Individual cases, or one big one? A simple lock? Or... shoot, maybe something electrical that staff keycard could bypass? If we keep our cover, we should have a solid moment or two to set up a few shots. Not just Vibol, but his security, too."

[Namelessjake]

Sven and John

You recall the weapons and ammunition being spread out around the exhibit across a number of displays - although the ammo for each gun was at least on display by the weapon itself. They appeared to be locked with simple locks, though still rigged with sensors to alert security to any opening of the cases, violently or otherwise.

[BartNL]

"I'll sneak in with Tone and Tristan, if someone can get that side door open. Then I'll take the card, and we'll set up Sven in the security office before moving upstaits."
"The guns are spread out, though they are stored with their ammo close by. The locks are nothing special, but there are alarm sensors. Can you shut those of Sven?"

[ratwizard]

"Hm, bunch of cases mean it'll take us some time getting them all open, unless we find some sort of control to do it for us," Antoine considers aloud.

"Might be wise Tristan taking Em through the front doors. Sven in a staff uniform's might help him get where he needs to go for breaking into their systems. We're gonna need all the time we can get in the gun display room."

[Scratcherclaw]

Sven pouts a bit as Tone mentions him donning a staff uniform now, almost looking forward to dressing up nicely for once. Guess I can always get a nice dinner date soon. Turn on the charm so he'll pay but then give him a good fuck after so it's worth it. He shrugs but relents, nodding. "Sure, shouldn't be too hard to whip up a fake uniform. Throw on a lanyard and that'll really seal the deal." The hell is with lanyards anyways? Makes everyone look like a fucking intern.

He turns to John and nods. "Should be able to, especially if we can take the security room. Can hook in from any office, but way easier from there. Less hoops, besides, you know, big burly men at security terminals."

[ratwizard]

Antoine lets out a drawn-out breath. "Taking the security room? Big risk, and early, too. We blow our cover then and it will be a scramble to get anything done other than savin' our asses. On top of that, it's a pretty dangerous ask — takin' hostages, or, you know... takin' them out. With Jug, around, though..." He whistles. "Better odds."

"Maybe we try your shunt method first. If it works, we shut down the cams and alarms in the gun room. if it doesn't, we regroup and commandeer the security office. Gotta be an airtight plan, getting those guns in our hands with no alarms."

[Fialova]

"Guns in hand and operational will also help in taking the security office, if we manage to get them with no issues after the initial shunt hack," Em responds, spitballing with the others as a plan slowly begins to form. "Will be harder for them to tie everything to us once the assassination occurs if the cameras are all down, and some of their guards are taken out." Though if we will have enough time to do all of that, who knows?

[BartNL]

"Slow down, I didn't say take hostages or murder the staff. If Sven looks like he belongs, they should just let him do his thing in their without bothering him. I can try to get some paperwork in order, to help him pass for the official security detail of Vibol or some other hotshot."

[ratwizard]

"Don't think we'll have the time to wipe their servers. Once those guns are out of the cases, we gotta get our sights on Vibol, then to Jin's ambulance," Antoine responds to Em. "If a wipe is something we can schedule ahead of time, it's a plus. Though with the alarms, and the cams, I think Sven's got his hands plenty full."

He shrugs at John. "Of course. Sven keeping his cover and accessing their network's the safest, least violent option. Don't think it needs to be said, but I will anyway — I don't want to put any innocent people in our path. But we're all here for a reason. Force might just become necessary if shit hits the fan."

At the end of the day, if anyone in this crew isn't ready to pull the trigger, we're all just playing at heroes.

[Scratcherclaw]

"Should have the stuff to make a pretty convincing fake uniform. Throw in papers and a cover story and they might not even bat an eye," Sven says with a smirk, confidence in their plan growing despite the stakes at hand. Made enough cheap band shirts. Could gotta swap out the print design.

He shrugs as they deliberate. "Could have a codeword if something goes wrong. Closest person goes in for backup or something. Something easy to remember and uncommon, like Mango." Wouldn't be the first time I've used that as a safe word...

[Namelessjake]

"I guess we can only plan so much," Jin says. "The ability to improvise in there will be just as important as our preparations."

"I guess we'll meet tomorrow outside the museum? Remember to dress for the party," he adds.

OOC

Are you all ready to move to the main event?

Sven please make a Trade/Int or Trade/Dex check to create a fake uniform.

[BartNL]

"I'll see if I can cook up more useful paperwork."

[ratwizard]

Antoine nods at Jin's words. "Improvising's key, but let's play it back — make sure we got all this shit in our heads."

He knocks a knuckle on the table gently for attention. "Right, so, way I see it, here's the plan."

"Step one: Em, you and Tristan get suited up, something nice. You'll take the tickets to enter as guests.

Two: Jug uses that keycard to get to the side door, let me, Sven, and John here in. Staff uniforms for us. I'll bring the stims and pins, John brings the shunts.

Three: Sven takes the keycard, gets into one of the offices. Finds out where their network's vulnerable, and tells us.

Four: John or I will get the shunt planted where Sven needs it.

Five: with that shunt in, Sven can hit the alarms. If he's feeling lucky, he can hit the cams too.

Uh, where were we at... Five... no, right, Six: we play it safe until the event's starting, then regroup in the gun room. If the alarms and cams are down, we crack the cases, slot in the pins, load up. Anyone who wants stims, this is the time to use 'em.

Seven: get to the balcony, right outside the gun displays. Line up the shots on Vibol and any other Diktat bigwigs.

Eight: take the shots, make for the stairs down and jam through the east wing toward the loading area, where Jin's got our ride out."

Antoine takes a breath, blowing it back out through pursed lips as he commits the plan to memory. "Remember, the burners are our line in on each other. Mango means backup. You think we should, you know, use codenames for this?"

[Scratcherclaw]

"Codenames," Sven says, smirking with a quick chuckle. "Would say it feels like one of those League spy thrillers, but fuck if we're not living it." He leans back, looking toward the ceiling in thought. "Guess the less that ties back to us, the better. Especially if we ditch the burners somewhere."

Mechanics

Trade/Dex: [2d6+1]=8+1=9