3A - To Heir is Human

3A - To Heir is Human

6/27/3010

It is the morning after the bonding ritual. The same morning after Sato had the prophetic vision from Inugami. The summer is quickly drawing to a close and on the last day comes the deed for which Inugami has demanded blood. He has no idea who his target is. The only thing that is clear is that his target will be waiting in a heavily guarded penthouse 3 days from now.

Wetwork is not for everyone, particularly when the target is unknown. Though Sato attempts to recruit some of the others, most of them flat out refuse to take such a job. The only two who agree to join him are Chougou and Torpor. Chougou, whose computer skills, though meager, may prove useful. He has also shown himself unafraid of taking life, even if the circumstances don't necessarily demand it and has quite a few interesting surveillance drones that may be of use during this mission. However, he appears to be extremely spooked. This is the second time in a couple of weeks that he has been spooked by something, but he has yet to talk about it. Hopefully it will not affect him in the field.

Torpor is a skilled gunman and adept with new technomancer abilities he has yet to grasp. Cool under fire, he is unfazed by the idea of wetwork, though he has primarily resorted to nonlethal weaponry until this point. His skills will no doubt be priceless should the drek hit the proverbial fan.

You have three days to plan and gather any information you can manage. There is however a major typhoon expected to come through town before then. It is unclear what sort of disruptions that may cause.

"I am thinking that if I am going in with you I will need to disguise my face, just in case as well as hide my wireless. I have a white noise generator that might help, I'm not sure. And as far as the face is concerned, I do not know."

Sato stands on the crenelation of the roof of the 5ECC, his cigarette trailing a thin trail of smoke in the breeze.  He gazes off into the distance where the skyscrapers of the high districts ring the top of the hill.  The sunset's amber rays reflect off of their glass forms - a sparkling golden crown for the wealthy of Mingmei.

He turns to face the other two figures on the roof, a study in contrasts.  One stands motionless with arms crossed in front of him with the easy grace of a soldier used to standing at attention and one tall and skinny who fidgets like he's not comfortable in his own skin.

"I cannot express how much it means to me that you will aid me on my journey of discovery.  The mission we face is fraught with uncertainty, danger and no doubt will test our principles."

Sato steps down onto the black tarpaper roof and meets the gaze of each man, holding eye contact for a few long seconds. 

"I want you to know that you have already gone beyond the expectations of our Brotherhood.  If at any time you find yourself troubled or wish to step away from the mission, you have my express permission to walk away, regardless of the cost to me."

Sato appears to relax a bit and he turns back towards the cityscape - pointing to one of the tallest buildings on the high hill.

"Now that we have that out of the way, we should discuss our plan.  Here are some ideas I had:

(1) Spend the next day scouting the location and becoming familiar with the surroundings.  I could pose as an executive scouting a location for a sensitive meeting and Topor could be my bodyguard, though I will need to connect him with my tailor to look the part.  I can help mask both of our identities.  Chougou, I may need you to help me by forging some background information on the Matrix - at least enough to stand up to a cursory inspection.

(2) The upcoming inclement weather may work in our favor - hopefully it will offer us the ability to plant a few sensors to learn about our target and possibly some distractions in the building without being detected.  If we are exceptionally lucky, one of us could find a location to hide in preparation for the mission

(3) The operation itself will depend on what we find out.  The one thing I do know is that I must perform the final blow with this knife ((Sato holds out an antique knife, the ancient iron blade has been well cared for, but it shows hints of corrosion around the hilt))

(4) The getaway will be the hard part.  Chougou, we may need an aerial extraction via drone or your help with the window washing scaffolds.

All I ask is we minimize the use of lethal force if at all possible.  If we do this cleanly, it will reflect on our karuma.

Let's discuss."

Chougou nervously plays with his deck trying to figure out what combination would be best for this type of job and agrees to try to forge some background identity for Sato and Torpor, but it will have to be very fuzzy due to the nature of his hacking skills.

This is the first time he has spoken aloud in a full sentence today as he has preferred to use only DNI since the package arrived. It seems that he won't speak unless he absolutely has to or if when even he can tell that it is socially awkward to not do so. He's not aware of how this is making anyone feel because of how preoccupied he is. His new frame also causes him to be a little bit clumsy, but he has said that he is ready to focus on work. He uses a combination of DNI and speech to describe his resources, preferring DNI.

DNI:
"I've got a pigeon that I can send to watch the perimeter, but I will likely need help introducing anything inside the building. A gerbil could run through the air duct system, or if we really want to get nasty, I've got a sewer snake. If someone can get a few Kanmushis into the building, I am pretty good at having them sneak around undetected, they look just like little bugs.

When it goes down I've got some distractive capabilities with Noizquitos that can burst up to 160 decibels at someone's ear. There's also the big firepower for when we need it, I can keep that on standby in case the drek hits the fan.

Most importantly though, I've got a Nightwing single person stealth aircraft that we can use for injection or extraction. coming in through a window may not be a bad move with all the security that it sounds like they have."

Outloud:
"We're in this together Sato. I appreciate your offer and understand where it is coming from, but our fates are intertwined now and I will stay with you till the end if that is how it has to be."

He continues to fiddle with his deck not looking up at them.

"Thank you Chougou, I appreciate all that you bring to our table."

Sato pauses and rubs his clean-shaven chin in thought for a few moments.

"Perhaps the best cover for us would be as representatives for a far-away and somewhat secretive organization so people have less reason to challenge any evidence given.  Given the tension with Victoria, perhaps a delegation from a foreign corp visiting to discuss trade talks would be a good cover."

"All of your drone ideas are excellent - particularly the Nightwing - we will almost certainly need that."

"Sensors are probably our primary area of interest for now.  Perhaps I could get a faraday pocket for my coat and smuggle in one of your Kanmushi."

Chougou nods in agreement.

DNI to Torpor and Sato:
"The Bulldog can be on standby as a last resort extraction, but I just added a giant mechanical arm on top of it so it will be distinctive. Might be good cover for getting access to the internal systems if we pose as maintenance workers of some kind. It would be a good base of operations while you're on the inside."

"Excellent idea for our cover identities.  I think it would be good to have our scouting alias and our insertion alias be as different as possible, so their security doesn't think to tie the two together.  Maybe your pigeon can catch a glimpse of what the roof maintenance personnel uniforms look like."  

"The hard part of the extraction will be how to get down ((however many floors there are)) from the penthouse.  I love your glider idea - now we just need to put the other pieces around that in the puzzle." 

"First things first though - let's focus on the scouting portion."

Sato makes some calls to some of his contacts to see if he can track down a Faraday pocket (price : 50Y, availability : 7R).

"we could also try acting as house keeping, or maintenance. Or perhaps rent a room, and explore the building a little bit."

"the more I think about it, the more I think maybe even getting in with a room rental, then maybe making nice with the staff perhaps then seeing if they will soul the beans on who is in the penthouse suite."

Torpor wrote:"the more I think about it, the more I think maybe even getting in with a room rental, then maybe making nice with the staff perhaps then seeing if they will soul the beans on who is in the penthouse suite."

"That's exactly what I'm thinking - we pose as potentially lucrative customers representing corporate clients and then schmooze a bit to see if we can get some information socially." ((plus luxury lifestyle has got to cover the majority of the hotel cost - after all gallivanting from lux hotel to lux hotel via private jet is basically what rich people do right?  I have no idea))

"However, to do that, you will need to look the part of my bodyguard - no offense.  You and I are about the same size ((lucky us - we are within 1" height and 5lbs weight and BOD+STR within 1 of each other)), so one of my suits could probably be altered to fit over your vest - I'll call him and have him make a house call to perform the alterations."

"I am ok with trying to look like your bodyguard, it is what I was figuring if we went that route. My ettiquette chip was not in the top of my list. Haha."

Sato smiles wolfishly.

"That's the genius of this plan.  You don't need an etiquette chip.  You just have to be you - a watchful guy with a gun who keeps me from getting geeked."

Over DNI:
"If we can get a logo painted on the side of the van it will be even easier. I'll see if I can find out about any public works projects in the area and choose an appropriate one to minimize the suspicion and also have a cover plausible cover story. A uniform would be good too, but I am down to my last 90 nuyen so I'm afraid I can't chip in on that aspect. Would you be able to cover the cost for either of those Sato?"

Search of the matrix for public works projects that could be used as cover:
Computer 4 + Logic 5 ((hopefully that's correct...))

The member 'chougou' has done the following action : You roll:

---

'd6' :

((Lol ok so that's what that button does. No more rolling from the message screen...which is a shame...))

We should look into that storm that's coming too. I don't know how to use it to our advantage yet, but I might be able to cut the power and no one would think twice about it. The Nightwing would be more difficult to utilize at that time though, but not impossible. You'd have good cover to get away."

Chougou activates his pigeon ((which I assume is in his van that he took down here? otherwise he will do it later)) and flies it around landing it on the street lamps around the building to record the visible entrances and exits, as well as electrical and sewer access holes.

chougou wrote:Over DNI:
"If we can get a logo painted on the side of the van it will be even easier. I'll see if I can find out about any public works projects in the area and choose an appropriate one to minimize the suspicion and also have a cover plausible cover story. A uniform would be good too, but I am down to my last 90 nuyen so I'm afraid I can't chip in on that aspect. Would you be able to cover the cost for either of those Sato?"

"During a typhoon, standard security protocols might need to be relaxed for certain city emergency services, particularly if this hotel is not designated ET ((don't know if this world has SR's extraterritorial corp concept)).  If so, we could combine these two ideas to use the typhoon emergency services response to get us in the building."

"As for the disguise, I just purchased an Ares Industrious trades outfit with Electrochromic Modification which would be perfect for this, provided you could find some high resolution pictures of the appropriate uniforms."

"If we're set on this plan, perhaps we can ask Sun to help us with the painting before he leaves."

A quick check of the news easily reveals that the typhoon is expected to be a low-end category 5. People are already rushing out to the stores to pick up supplies for it and many places are selling out of essentials like bottled water. It is expected to be a fairly powerful storm, but not a record breaking one.

Interestingly, since the hotel is built atop a fairly tall building near the top of a fairly tall mountain, the hotel itself is actually going to be above the storm. Most of the rest of the building won't be, but still it will be an interesting place to watch the storm, so long as the building itself remains secure.

((Sun isn't particularly skilled at painting. He was defaulting for his 'masterpiece'))

((Any thoughts on the tailor and whether Sato thinks he can make a room reservation with his luxury lifestyle? - I’m trying to take the feedback that I shouldn’t kill too much time with planning))

Sato has little trouble arranging a reservation at the hotel, provided that he isn't trying to get the penthouse, which is booked for the next month or so. They do warn him that a typhoon is expected to hit and so some non-essential hotel services will be suspended at that time. They offer a discount for the inconvenience. ((covered by lifestyle))

He has equally little trouble getting one of his outfits tailored to fit Torpor. He could even pick up a suit specifically for Torpor, provided he doesn't want anything too fancy in it like armor and the like. A faraday pocket is actually within Chougou's abilities to make if you provided him with the resources to do it.

Chougou does note that while it will prevent any wireless signals from getting in and out of the pocket, the pocket itself is metal and would turn up in a simple metal scan, so it wouldn't be ideal for smuggling in a drone through a security checkpoint. It's more useful for putting a commlink in to prevent someone using the matrix to trace you. That said, the drone is tiny enough that it could probably be piloted around (or above) a checkpoint without being noticed, if done carefully.

Sato rings his colleagues to sync up.  

"OK, so are we ready to go?  Given that we have 3 days and no idea what we're getting into, I suggest Topor and I go into the rented room on day 1 with an absolute minimum of suspicious gear.  We can always sweet talk the guards a bit to loosen them up so we can bring more stuff in on day 2...but we need to make sure we do it before the storm hits."

"I agree with Chougou that we need to figure out how to use that storm to maximum advantage.  Periodic power fluctuations in the camera system may be dismissed as related to the storm so that could help us get in and obviously the noise will cover a lot of sins.  I'm pretty good with voice scanners and mechanical locks so that may come in handy as well...."

"I like the idea of planting a few distractions to trigger as we execute our operation - Chougou, can you rig some timers to only activate wireless during a certain window of the day of our mission?  Perhaps we could plant some smoke or neurostun grenades in places to create some chaos and you could set them off remotely."

((has my spirit demanded that we execute this operation on the final day?  Is the typhoon expected to still be in full force then?  Sorry just mulling through options.))


((also, in the downtime thread, I asked Wu Jen looked at my knife - did he find out something that would require me to attune to it?))

Over DNI to Torpor and Sato:

"I don't really have much experience with explosives, but I enjoy making traps...I suppose if I could get some basic explosives and some notes on how to use them I could certainly rig something up.

I think that an electrical worker coming in wouldn't be questioned and could probably get into some neat places...I'll bet they have a generator that provides backup power though, so that would have to be the main target for any electrical disruptions. They could have some battery power too, I'm honestly not sure. I'll see what I can find out so that we know our options. It's too bad we don't have Sam here, he'd be able to use his contacts to get it easily I imagine..."

Search matrix for building plans for hotel:
Fuchou 复仇 carried out 9 launched of one d6 :

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Searching matrix for information about the local electrical company that could be used to impersonate them:
Fuchou 复仇 carried out 9 launched of one d6 :

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"OK so the plan for Day 1 is to check in and inquire with their corporate sales department about renting the penthouse suite for an upcoming sensitive meeting.  I'm hoping that the marketing goon will brag about some of their security features if he thinks I'm a prospective customer.  Between that and being liberal with tips with the staff may net us some juicy info" ((rich people are pretty damn stingy))

"We certainly will look like money - these suits plus the limo will have them salivating before we come through the door.  All we need to do is put a few extra details in place to lead them further down the path of conclusions they already are on."

"So as far as our cover is concerned, Chougou can you rig up some peripheral sites that link our SINs indirectly with Victorian Aeronautics ((or some other convenient far-away corp))?  Let me rig up our disguises first so you can snap some pictures from your drone.  They don't have to be perfect - just enough to pass a 'who the frag is this guy?' Matrix search."  

"Topor, can you rig up a Victorian Aeronautics ((or some other convenient far-away corp)) lapel pin for both of us?  I'd like to offer a few subtle clues in our outfits - most corporate goons can't help but wear it on their lapels...in this case literally."

Disguise rolls:


((ugh...regression to the mean begins...))