3A - To Heir is Human

((All I need is a time you guys plan on doing this. During the storm? After the storm? Before the storm? Day? Night? The storm starts tomorrow around noon. ))

Chougou's drones eventually wake up sometime after the security sweep. When they do, the room is currently empty of visible occupants. As far as can be told from the windows, the floor consists of about a half dozen bedrooms with large bathrooms attached to each. There is also a massive living room with sofas, trid and whatever else you might need to entertain guests. Other rooms include a small dining room, a private gym, a meditation room, and a kitchen/prep room. There is one door in and out of the floor that connects to a square hallway that wraps around to each of the floor's rooms. The elevators and stairs presumably connect to the floor somewhere in the center of the building, though that area is beyond the sight of any of Chougou's drones.

With his new claw arm installed on the Bulldog, it probably wouldn't be too hard to pass of as a utility vehicle. Chogou could do some good ol' social engineering about a power surge happening in the local area, run into the building in a panic before or during the infiltration and see if they will let him in to any of the electrical control areas.

((His sheet is here and yeah he's got 1 charisma and no social skills at all. Conning his way in is not going to be a viable means of entry for him. He's mousy and not the type to be talking his way into a building alone.

We'll say he's getting dropped in by helicopter with Torpor unless I hear he really wants to be remote or staying in the room with Sato.))


It is the evening of the typhoon. The storm hit earlier, around noon and is expected to last well into the morning. Though the hotel floors of the building stand well above the actual storm clouds, the base is buffeted by enough winds that the building can actually be felt swaying back and forth, and the power has been fluctuating on and off all day. If one were to peer out the window and look downward, they would see violently swirling clouds and flashes of lightning. The windows throughout the building have been shuttered though and the wind can be heard howling beyond, rattling the shutters against their metal frames.

Sato has spent the day studying the layout that he's gotten based on Chougou's drones. He collected his kanmushi from outside long before the winds picked up for fear of them getting chucked off the building during the storm. With the windows now shuttered against the winds, it would serve little purpose out there anyway.

Torpor and Chougou have met with Tammy for dropoff. Though it is a bumpy ride through the storm, she manages to get through it without getting you all killed in the process. Circling the area, she says, "Just tell me when to let you guys off and message me if and when you need a pickup. You guys didn't ask me to load up any weapons, so try not to bring any trouble that might get me shot at, alright?"


((here is a very rough idea of the floor. Apologies for it's incompleteness, but it should be enough for a general idea of the layout. The E's are elevators, the S is the stairs, both of which are locked off to anyone who doesn't have a key to the floor. The squiggle on the lower left is the bathroom that the sewer snake came out of. The red squares are doors, and I forgot to draw it, but there is a door leading into the rest of the penthouse from the central hallway where the elevators are. It's across from the door to the genkan. Just pretend it's there there are other bathrooms in each bedroom, but I've been too swamped with various things to get all those details in the map, and they probably aren't that important anyway))

((Ah, I thought that low charisma would just make him be more blunt and rude; but that probably wouldn't be helpful either. Could we have it stated that Chougou has parked the Bulldog nearby in case it is needed as an escape route, and that the Lynx, Rotodrone and the Crawlers are in there armed and ready to go just in case they are needed? Also I think he would go in with as many flying eyes as he can carry [is 8 reasonable?] as well as his 4 kanmushi, 2 flyspys, his 2 NoizQuitos and the CyberDeck.))

Chougou is out of his mind terrified of being in the air, but he tries to follow Torpor's lead and be cool. But he doesn't do it very well and keeps his eyes closed as much as possible.

Torpor is ready to roll. He is calm in the air, waiting for the time to drop.

In the comforts of his room, Sato puts on his Area Industrious (w electrochromic) clothing.  He stands before the full-Lenny this mirror in the bathroom and regards himself for a moment before he melds face and clothing into the spitting image of the repairman Chougou’s drone witnessed in the penthouse earlier.  He puts the items above in the pockets of the Industrious.  The only exception is the ritual knife which he wraps in a handkerchief and puts inside his concealable holster inside the regular clothing under the industrious ((presumably harder to extract but also harder to find if searched))



Sato departs his room and walks nonchalantly down the hall toward the emergency exit stair, looking for any open doors (e.g. maid service in progress so he can lift a passkey) or the servant’s closet.

Over comms, he says “stand by. Getting in position.”

In the chopper
Tammy circles the helicopter, awaiting orders to drop off her cargo. She says to Torpor and Chougou, "I don't know what you fellas are planning on doing tonight, and it's probably best that I don't know, but I can't be circling the hotel all night with this storm. It'd look suspicious before long. I'm gonna land this bird someplace after dropping you off, so give me at least a 5-10 minute heads up before you need pickup, alright? I have a feeling ya'll won't be wanting to wait around on the roof for me to show up."

In the hotel
Meanwhile Sato takes a look around for any cleaning staff and quickly realizes that the cleaning staff are not working today. And even if they were, they wouldn't be going into rooms to clean at night, when guests are most likely to be in the room.

He finds the emergency staircase easily enough. There is a large pressable bar across it that reads in bold letters:


The door is one way; easy to open from inside, but requiring a physical key to open from the opposite side.

Sato pretends to drop something and as he leans down he examines the door mechanism - can the alarm mechanism be shorted with his locksmith kit?  Would an EMP grenade disable the door long enough to enter?  How could the door operate from the outside once he gets to the higher floor?

((Don’t know what to roll here - since sleight of hand contains lock picking can he roll that as a knowledge skill?))

In the hotel

((palming, lockpicking and escape artist are all the same skill: sleight of hand. So it would be sleight of hand + agility to pick the lock from the other side. To disable the alarm, you'll need electronics, a decker or you can give the grenade a try (albeit if the grenade works, it will only last long enough to get through the door).))

Though there are cameras in the area, there is no one in the halls to see Sato at the moment and no one bothers him as he examines the mechanism. Though there is not much he can do about the alarm with his skills, he's pretty sure that disabling the lock from the inside would just be a matter of shoving something between the strike and strike plate so it doesn't lock when it closes.

Sato messages Chougou to see if he thinks the alarm system would be subject to some of the power glitches that the hotel is experiencing.  
  
If Chougou thinks so, he pretends to be examining a nearby fire extinguisher expiration tag until the power glitches and then he ducks through the door during the glitch.

Chougou thinks it is unlikely that the power fluctuations will affect the alarm, but you never know. You might get lucky.

((Reaction + Edge check if you want to give it a try. The threshold is a secret))

Chougou DNIs back to Sato that it would be a matter of timing, but disrupting power is on his list of things to cause chaos with...

((How many small grenades do we have? Sato will need at least one more to get in upstairs))

((I thought I had posted this but couldn't find it.  ok let's assume I took 3 littles and Torpor has 2 littles and the big for distraction))

Sato finishes tying his shoe, says "Torpor, Chougou, are you in position?  Once you are on the roof, let me know and I will detonate the grenade for Chougou to hack the door alarm in front of me.  Then do the same on the upstairs door and meet me in the stair at the penthouse level."

When the team is ready, he puts his commlink in the faraday pocket and holds the EMP grenade up to the door latch and pulls the pin.

((I may be in an out today so Sato's next move is to go up the stairwell quickly to the PH level.  hopefully the radius of the grenade is enough to glitch the camera system.  His plan is to pick the lock, but keep the door closed while he waits for Chougou and Torpor to come down from the roof.  Then they will blow another small grenade and get into the penthouse level from the stairs.  Here's a lockpicking roll for the upstairs door.  ))


Attribute boost AGI (adept power)


Drain resist (target 1)


Lockpicking roll for PH level emergency door (just to remove the lock - waits for Chougou and Tropor to EMP the door and enter)

When she is close Torpor gets ready for drop, putting his mask in place and waiting for the drop. Once out he moves to the entrance to the building.

On the roof

Tammy flies close enough for Torpor and Chougou to rappel out and drops the drones out the side. They land on the roof with a clang, but are undamaged by the fall. While the winds on the roof are nowhere near what they must be down in the storm, they are still strong enough to make the chopper shake, making a full landing impossible without a proper helipad. Chougou and Torpor are in position, and they hear Sato, though the fluctuations in the grid make some of what is said lost to static.

((when making any communication through commlinks from here on in, give me a check equal to your edge + commlink's device rating first. If you get 2 hits, your message went through fine. If you get 1 hit, it was garbled, so pm it to me so I can send through what got across. 0 hits means nothing come through at all))

The pair (and drones) soon find themselves near the door heading down. It is just a simple bar that one presses to open from this side, but a warning sign on it declares that an alarm will sound once you press it.


Downstairs

((no roll is needed to open the door from this side. You just push the bar. If you want to keep the door unlocked so you can get back, you just have to shove something in the lock so it doesn't automatically shut. Lockpicking is only necessary to open it from the other side if you don't do that.

Also make a note of what I said about communication during the storm above.))

Sato sends off his message to the others and sets off the grenade. The device shakes and fizzles out, leaving a faint buzz in Sato's ears, but no other obvious effect that he can see. He thinks he may have heard a zapping sound from the stairway door, nearby cameras and another guest door. Either the alarm has been disabled and is currently rebooting (making it safe to open for the next couple of seconds), or it is primed for some hacking time (which means it isn't safe to open yet, but will remain weakened for the time being). Since it has no display, Sato is unsure which case it happens to be, but he has seconds to make a decision...

edge plus rating for communication with Chougou - does slaving to Chougou's deck raise the rating? (in that case, add some dice)



"Chougou, hack the door now!"  

If he doesn't hear back in a very small # of seconds, he will push through the door - preferably during a power glitch.  He cannot wait and risk wasting another grenade and will take his chances.

((I was rolling the picking for the upstairs door, not this one - I wasn't sure if I would be able to post today so I queued up a few actions to prevent any holdup))