Vaylar Rising — IC

[ratwizard]

Tone nods. "Sounds like a little B&E's on the schedule for your friend Coltan, then. Any way you can get us his address in Keossisk?" he asks Sven. "Course, he's gonna realize he's missing his tickets if we take them. Maybe we should just snap photos and forge them if they're simple enough."

"And regardless of that, it's a problem if two Coltans show up. Somebody will have to stall him on the day of, at least until the rest of us can get in. You know?"

He sighs. Gaining access isn't a walk in the park. Thoras is really asking us for a lot here.

[FinalTemplar]

Tristan looked mildly disappointed, chuckling as he scrolled past a funny joke from one of his friends, but sighed. "I'll have to try something else, I guess." He said under his breath and put it away. "I have to wonder how hard it would be for one or two of us to just trick the person at the door if there is one. Can't imagine they'll care too much if we give them a good enough story." 

[BartNL]

"I have frequented formal events like this before. VIP guests are rarely expected to carry their invites and identification; you don't want to get on their bad side after all. A misstep with people like that can cost your career, or worse. If you can convince the doorman you are one of those famous individuals, the rest will likely sort itself out. I do prefer having an invite on hand myself though."

[Scratcherclaw]

"His mom's a big wig, so there's gotta be public data," Sven says, scrolling through his compad to find any municipal records or other sources that might list their quarry's address. Old school directory, maybe? Comms records? Anything.

He looks up for a brief moment to give Tone and John a quick shrug. "We'll figure it out, yeah? Asshole like him will probably leave it laying out anyways."

[Namelessjake]

Mechanics

Anyone can make an administer/int check to try and find Coltan's home address in the public records.

[ratwizard]

Tone nods along to Stamps' suggestion, finding an angle he hadn't considered. Wouldn't know. Not my world. No surprise it's his, though.

He takes out his cheap compad, opening up a new tab and doing some cursory digging on Sven's lead. He'd never been the type to find someone — quite the opposite: getting as far away from them as humanly possible. His lack of familiarity shows, and he realizes he's going in circles. "Nothing here," Tone says aloud, clicking his teeth in disappointment. "You?"

Mechanics

Admin/Int: [2d6-1]=4-1=3

[greysigil]

Jug listens to the plans being made, noting the outline but waiting to respond until they think they have something relevant to add. This unit = potential assistance in gaining entry, but not stealthily.

Jug wirelessly connects to the burner compad, and through it starts combing data from public records, analyzing search results for the best fit. Search Paramaters = Randis Coltan, Keossisk Heights, Kasi'lariz.

Mechanics

Admin/Int: [2d6]=8

[Scratcherclaw]

Let's see where the fuck you live these days, Coltan, Sven thinks, scrolling through various public datasets to locate their target's address.

Mechanics

Admin: [2d6]=10

[FinalTemplar]

Tristan, feeling suddenly quite out of place in this meeting, rubs his arm softly. He'd been on tons of jobs before, but nothing quite like this- Infiltration wasn't his specialty. He looked around the room, trying to come up with an idea but after a few minutes, he gave up, taking a slow breath as the others continued to plot and plan.

[Fialova]

"If we want him not to show up, then maybe I can break his car," Em responds with a shrug, as the others discuss impersonating Colton at the event. "We get in, get his tickets, and while you do I can disable some of the systems. Unless he cares a lot about the event, I doubt he's gonna make a big fuss to go if his car won't start."

[ratwizard]

"Ain't meaning to shit on your suggestion, but a rich failson like that's probably got a few gravcars on the books," Tone says with an apologetic shrug. "Or enough cred to call a driver."

[BartNL]

John quietly starts looking for Coltan's personal information in non-public Diktat databases.

Mechanics

[3d6c1]=10 Administer check

[Namelessjake]

Tone

Your cursory search fails to turn up anything more than Coltan's public social media profiles.

Jug

Your search runs and you are confident it will eventually succeed, however with the large amounts of data to sift through it will take some time. Watching the others reactions it appears their more targeted efforts may have yielded results after only a couple of minutes.

Sven

After a few minutes of searching, you come across a public land registry file in Coltan's name for a house in Keossisk Heights. The address is 668 Rogahn Drive.

John

It only takes you a couple of minutes to pull up Coltan's profile in the Diktat database. Looking at the file it lists his known address as 886 Rogahn Drive, which appears to be in the Keossisk Heights.

[Scratcherclaw]

He looks up from his compad for a moment, smirking as he comes up with a result. "Got a house in his name at 668 Rogahn Drive in the Heights."

[ratwizard]

"Nice find," Tone says, surprised at Sven's speed. "Why don't we scope it out? See what kind of risk we're looking at before we go all-in."

OOC

Is there any Google Streetview-equivalent for Tone to see at least what sort of neighborhood and general street layout the address might be?

[Namelessjake]

Tone

Looking at a map of Kasi'mela, you can see that the Keossisk Heights neighbourhood is situated to the North West of the city where the grid breaks down. The houses are built along long winding roads that form a series of terraces in the foothills of the Keossisk Mountains.

The houses appear to be relatively large and well spaced out for privacy, however the nature of the terrain means they tend to have little in the way of gardens due to the space restraints.

[ratwizard]

Tone peers down at his cheap compad for a moment after pulling up a GPS app. He zooms in and pans around the area, trying to make sense of what he sees. He's done this before, many times while working as a freight-hauler to help understand delivery sites, where to enter, where to leave, that sort of thing. "Looks our mark's on a long, winding road. Big houses, spaced out. Hilly. Not a lot of garden for cover. Nice pad," the man remarks. I hope one of us has an actual 'in.' Didn't want to have to show off my neat trick just yet, but I will if I got to.

[BartNL]

"Are you sure about the number? I have the address as 886 Rogahn Drive listed here" John says frowning.

[Namelessjake]

"Looks like they're only a couple of blocks apart," Jin says, buried in his compad like many of the others. "We can always check both addresses."

"Should we go check them out?" He asks, looking up at the group, apparently eager to get moving.

[ratwizard]

Two addresses? Better hope we figure out the right one otherwise we're doubling our risk on this job. Tone shakes his head in mild frustration.

"Yeah," he says at Jin. "Guessing none of us have a lift, but there should be a bus line closeby." Tone takes out his cheap compad again, looking for a route nearby.

Mechanics

What we got?

[Namelessjake]

Public Transport

While ground car ownership is generally limited to the well-off and gravcar ownership is even more exclusive, Kasi'mela has a robust although somewhat dilapidated public transit system. An underground metro serves much of the city proper, with automated bus lines providing services in more remote areas of the city.

Looking at directions for the two potential addresses, you can see there is a bus stop a couple of blocks away which is on a line that will take you within a few blocks of the addresses. As it is now around 9pm, the schedule is pared down somewhat, with the buses now only coming every 15 minutes. The journey should take approximately 45 minutes, including the walk at either end of the bus trip, depending on how close to on time the bus is.

[Scratcherclaw]

Sven shrugs, showing his compad's own results with the separate address, a plot with him listed as owner. "Maybe that's his mom's place? Wouldn't surprise me if she bought that fucker a house nearby, but he never updated his address from hers."

[greysigil]

"Assessment: Time is of the essence. Should we check each house one by one, or split up and check them simultaneously? Jug asks, weighing the risks against the benefits. Simultaneous = faster, less conspicuous; consecutive = possibly safer, larger group.

[FinalTemplar]

Tristan stood up, putting his hands in his pockets as he looked over at the others. "Showtime, I suppose. Let's rock on down to his place." He considers Jug's question and chews on it. "What's the guy even look like? How would we know which house is his?"

[Fialova]

"I dunno about you, but that whole area is new to me," Em responds, as the others locate both potential addresses and discus their plans. "Probably best we check both together. Last thing we need is to get lost in this fancy rich people area of the city." Some of them might fit in just fine, but I'll stick out like a sore thumb. Though Jug has it even worse.

[ratwizard]

"It's already past nine," Tone says, wary of their timing. "Ten once we get over there by bus. I don't think a pack of us moving together on a quiet street in a wealthy district's a good look. The houses are pretty close by each other, so whatever we should do, we should aim to be quick about it."

[FinalTemplar]

"Tone's got a good point. Could stick nearby but not move as a group. If we have anyone particularly good at sneaking they could head up the street to take a look." Tristan says, not super confident in his ability to sneak, but he figured he could do fine at it.

[Scratcherclaw]

Sven offers a shrug to Tristan. "Fucker like that would make it obvious. Can always just check his recent pics when we get there." He leers towards the door, beginning to take a step. "Let's get going then, yea?"

[Namelessjake]

"Let's go, and let's try to not look too much like one big group," Jin says in agreement with Sven. He grabs the holo-projectors left by Thoras as you make for the door, handing them off to Jox as you silently leave the Agiv shop.

The walk is short and the bus thankfully arrives on time, the driveless vehicle pulling up to let you on with only a few other passengers onboard at this time of night. While driverless, it is still old and lacks any gravitic technology - it's worn interior rattling with every bump in the road.

You eventually reach your stop and get off, making the walk through the quiet suburban neighbourhood to the first of your two targets - 668 Rogahn Drive. It isn't hard to find the house, with 668 painted in a large font by a large metal gate on the white wall which runs along the length of the property. The gate is ornate and consists of bars, letting you see the house from you position on the street. Surrounded by a small garden of native plant life, the house is two floors tall and of an A-frame design with the entire front being glass. Currently most of the lights are out making it hard to see inside and suggesting the house is empty, however you can see the faint glow of lights deeper inside on the upper floor suggesting that maybe someone is at home after all.

[ratwizard]

The ride on the bus is just long enough for Antoine to lose focus, but too short to do any real meditation. He sighs as they roll up to the suburbs and climb out, already feeling uncomfortable by the evident wealth of those living here.

"Show us a picture of our mark," Antoine says to Sven. "And you got anything identifying on his, you know, his profiles? Rich boys flex hard about their newest gravcars from Papa. Guessing he'd do that shit on the infranet as well."

[BartNL]

During the bus ride John stands in silence, close to the door. There's a frown on his face. John hopes his uneasiness comes off as 'I am busy and not paid enough for this', and not as suspicious. A government worker being send in person to sort something out for the wealthy elites late in the evening is also exactly the type of corruption that makes the planet go around. Or that's what John hopes how he appears to to the other passengers.

As they approach John speaks up: "I have a plan. I can ring the bell and give my old pall a heads up that there's a problem with his address. He is registered at two after all it seems. If he doesn't live there I have the excuse of Coltan being registered at the place. If he does, he will probably assume I am just sucking up to him to get ahead."

[FinalTemplar]

Tristan is hesitant during most of the bus ride over, absent-mindedly tapping his personal comm in his pocket. He wonders if he can go through with this, but he knows he has to. I just hope she understands... He thinks to himself, sighing softly.

As they get to the stop he walks out last and slowly makes his way down the street with them, and looks up at the house. "Damn, nice place. I wonder how they got their money." He wonders out loud, before looking toward Sven, waiting for his answer.

[greysigil]

Jug stands motionless in the bus, simply waiting to arrive at their destination. Boredom is not something they were programmed to experience, and they watch the scenery bounce past.

When they arrive, they follow the rest off, optics scanning their surroundings. "Assessment: I believe I would be less conspicuous if I stayed outside, acting abandoned, while keeping watch. Thoughts?" They look to the rest of the group for input.

[FinalTemplar]

Tristan looks at the others, and then back at Jug. "I think you're probably right, Jug. You're not the easiest thing to keep hidden."

[Scratcherclaw]

"Got it," Sven says, starting to pull out his compad for any identifiers on their quarry's feed. He pauses though, listening to John's suggestion. "That could work. You're definitely dressed the part, drab bureaucrat and all." Maybe I've got a nice tie somewhere I can sell him. Would love to see him in a tacky one that lights up and plays music.

[Namelessjake]

Sven

Pulling up Randis' social media feeds once more, you take a cursory glance and quickly find a couple such examples of him flaunting his wealth and status.

It appears a few months ago he acquired a new gravcar. While nothing special based on the vehicles in your bootleg vids from League space, just owning a grav car puts Coltan in one of the highest echelons of Vaylan society.

He also appears to have an Escroisian hound. A popular pet on Escrios - the large dog analogue from the native portion of Escrios' hybrid biosphere is rare and expensive in the Muiran system, with the majority having been brought here by the Escriosians rather than being bred here.

[ratwizard]

"Assessment's accurate," Antoine says to Jug. "In fact, we should all kick back — don't need to muddy his cover. Once we can rule out one of these two addresses then the rest of us can help."

[Scratcherclaw]

Sven nods to his compad, mentally taking in the identifiers that will make him stand out against the other address. "Looks like our boy's got himself a grav car. Not many with those so keep an eye out," he says, scanning around for any such vehicle. "And uh...he's got a dog. Escroisian hound. Those fuckers are mean."

[ratwizard]

"What kind of grav car?" Antoine asks Sven, trying to see if he there's anything similar parked on the street level or within the residence. "Maybe we can find it."

[Scratcherclaw]

Sven takes a closer look at the photos of the gravcar, seeing if he can determine the make or model of it from pictures alone. Gotta be a logo or emblem somewhere, right? Not that it's anything like the League cars.

[Namelessjake]

Sven

In one of the photos of the gravcar, the front is visible, giving you a good look at the emblem adorning the centre of the hood. You are able to recognise the logo as that of the Ascari Gravitics Company. As one of the larger Escroisian gravcar manufacturers, more often than not when you do happen to see a gravcar in Kasi'mela it is an Ascari. Coltan's car appears to be a four door vehicle in dark blue.

[Scratcherclaw]

Sven takes a look at his compad and nods, briefly showing the photo of the car's hood around. "Dark blue four-door Ascari, keep an eye out, yeah?" he says, taking a last appreciative glance at the ride. Would love to take one of those out for a spin someday... "Course it won't matter if he's not home, but that'll also work in our favor, so." He shrugs, gesturing for them to get a move on.

[ratwizard]

"Dark blue, four-door Ascari," Antoine repeats, committing it to memory. "Good. Gives us something to do while our friend the suit goes to work."

[BartNL]

John nods as he makes his way towards the first mansion, keeping an eye out for the the dark blue Ascari.
Must be nice to have your personal grav car

[Namelessjake]

John steps up to the gate, finding it locked. An intercom sits on the wall beneath the painted house number. With only one button, he makes his way over to it and pushes it. A dial tone sounds a few times before someone picks up on the other end.

"Hello?" A male voice asks over the intercom.

John and Sven

With the quality of the intercom speakers and the time since you last saw him, you are unable to tell if the man on the other end of the line is Coltan or not.

[BartNL]

info

Which address is this, 886 or 668?

Can we see the gravcar?

[Namelessjake]

OOC

This is 668, so the address Sven found.

From where you are you can't currently see a gravcar. The house is set back from the road up a driveway, so there could be a car up behind the house or in a garage that you just can't see.

[BartNL]

John scrapes his throat and replies: "I am John Kasi'Mela of the bureau of travel. Is this the residence of Randis Coltan?"

[Namelessjake]

There is a pause for a few moments following John's question. "Uh... What's this regarding?" the voice asks with perhaps a hint of nervousness in their tone decipherable through the distortion of the intercom.

[BartNL]

"I am not allowed to disclose that to anyone but mister Randis Coltan. Is this the residence of Randis Coltan?"