"Nah," is Jacki's reply to this talk. She uses the tablet like it insulted her; brushing from screen to screen with a gesture strong enough to almost be a slap that only connects with the tips of her fingers. Her A-shirt showing the bit of nicotine patch on both shoulders until she gets bored with whatever lay on screen. Her hands sliding back to cradle her head as she leans back deeply. Feet swinging up to set her boots on the table.

"Anything that isn't hunting down and making a mess of every one involved in taking out the old Gamma is bullshit," she drawls through a piece of gum, "Rest of this shit ain't going any wronger than it is now. Meanways, we got a bunch a assholes out there, think they can just walk in here whenever they please, put a bunch a holes in our guys, and go out on their way? Nah. That ain't the rules."

"That's... uh, aside from the subtle phrasing, I'd agree with that point. I'm sure we want to be proactive with cases, but it seems like ensuring nobody tries this again should be priority one. Frankly, if everyone in these case files got it in their heads they could work together to take us out on a more long-term basis, they'd have the numbers to pull it off."

He was amused by the rough and tumble woman with her feet on the table. He checked his files... Jacki. Devon had assumed that he'd be the major thorn in the side of authority, but he might have a rival on that front.

Lauren listened carefully to the ideas thrown out by her team.  This is what she signed up for.  This was not what she had envisioned for herself in Journalism school, but this is why the Union had trained her.  She knew from her training and from her personal experience what the stakes were in this deadly game, but it was all coming home in this meeting.  Gamma was gone.  Dead.  If she led this team astray, they could end up the same way.  But the mission was worth the risk.

"Good everyone," Lauren told them when there was a slight pause in the banter.  "Since we are forensics for the surrounding scene that is priority one.  We need to get that intel before it goes cold.

Devon, I believe that you are our expert when it comes to recovery of electronic evidence, so you will be covering that.

I can take on the primary role of interviewing possible witnesses from the area.  James, I think I am going to want you backing me up on that.

Depending on how organized this group is that conducted the strike, they may be waiting for us to conduct an investigation to get their next target.  Jacki, I will need you on overwatch in case something goes sideways.  Make sure you are looking for anyone watching us when we are in the area.

Arthur, I think I want you with Jacki.  No indication yet that this wasn't a physical breach, but I would like you to confirm that.

Ai, I would like you along to look over the scene and see if anything was missed."  Lauren smiled at the smallest member of their team as she gave her assignments.

"We will follow up on the other leads once we have secured any valuable evidence from this scene.  Are we good people?  Anything I missed for now?" She finished.  The words flowed naturally from her not belying any nervousness.  Years on the stage and in front of a camera allowed one to act whenever necessary.

"Two steps ahead of you, boss-lady." He checked his automatic search programs, which should be compiling basic information about the security companies that ran businesses surrounding the former front's operation center. Multitasking was just about the only way he could keep from death by boredom in these kinds of meetings, and he'd already checked his home systems, which were running countless bots through various massively multiplayer games, farming choice equipment.

It was a pleasant diversion and occasional source of income, but mostly it was a hobby. Everyone needed hobbies.

But all that and more was running through his mind. "Jacki, Arthur, I'll slave some surveillance drones to your command. You tell me where you need 'em, I'll get 'em there. Meanwhile, I guess I'll have my boots on the ground for once to gather our old tech. Have we swept the area already? Wouldn't want to run into any booby traps..." He chuckled, a bit of genuine mirth at the idea of field deployment, almost as though he missed the deadl serious point of his own statement.

Giving a nod at her assignment, she waited until Lauren asked if there was anything she missing before speaking up."Because, as you mentioned, there is a possibility those responsible will be waiting to see who investigates the scene to gain new targets, I would like to propose a request for authorization to have Subject Alpha on standby at the scene. Should the reality deviants be present and choose to attack us, it may be best to have a form of backup present."

Allowing himself a faint grin as people continued to chat James only responded to Lauren's directive with a faint nod at his assignment, waiting till everyone else was delegated before speaking, "Mind if I make a suggestion on that? Let's keep Jacki and Arthur on watch, get them along in another vehicle. The rest of us do an initial walkthrough of the building, get Ai and Devon set up on their own investigations and then do interviews with any locals. Means we at least have confirmation the site is clear before we leave anyone to do in an depth sweep of the scene. If we're leaving anyone without me or Jacki watching their backs I'd prefer to be sure they're in a safe area."

Devon, you can easily find out which neighboring companies might have footage of the attack by checking google maps street view.
Getting the actual footage is a little tougher but hardly impossible for a computer hacker.
Roll Intelligence+Computer vs difficulty 8, 3 successes. It is an extended roll. If you fail you trigger some detection program.
There are 3 companies whose computer you could hack.
There are ways to make it easier to figure out a way past passwords and antihacking programs. You will be awarded a difficulty reduction for creativity.

Team: Since the time of day might matter for your tactics and investigation it is the break of dawn as the title of the thread might have suggested. It's 9 o clock in the morning. It is a sunny day on March 1st 2016
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:44, Tue 01 Mar 2016.

Added some more detail to the initial damage report:http://wiki.rpol.net/?id=64499/Vigil%20Ambush.
Facts have not been verified and are subject to further investigation.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:23, Tue 01 Mar 2016.

Devon's twisting arcs amped up to a full circle as his attention waned. He was all for people helping keep his meat safe, but there wasn't a lot he could contribute to the discussion. Instead, he turned his attention inward, thinking through the various elements he would need to get the ball rolling on his end... but his focus kept getting drawn back to the table.

To hell with this, they weren't a corporation, running on kiss-ass and lickspittle. He had mission critical things to do. He pulled a piece of paper from a notebook, sketched a quick picture of his face, anime bishounen style with sparklies and a shining grin, and taped it to his chair. "I'm still listening if you need me, but the sooner I get started, the sooner we can move out, so..."

He walked out and made his way to his own workstation. At least his work 'puter wasn't anything to scoff at. He started up League of Legends. He needed to start thinking like other people, and he needed to be able to cover a lot of angles, and this game was pretty good for that. He spent a few minutes in a practice match, making sure he was warmed up, and dropped into the FR RLZ ranked matches, where playing the game was SRS BSNS. A match or two, depending on the length, should get him into the Zone.

The Zone procedure, mental enhancment to help with multi-tasking and human prediction (if possible) Dif 3: Devon Arc rolled 3 successes using 3d10 with the World of Darkness 3rd ed system with a target of 3 ((10,6,5)).

After playing a couple of matches of League of Legends Devon's concentration is primed and focused, sharpened to a razor's edge and he feels confident it'll help him gather the intel needed to crack the password code of the first company.

Erin returns and nods to Ai:"We're looking into the cargo manifest. May take some pulling strings. Lockup tends to be tightlipped about what they have stored and where things are going".
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:46, Thu 03 Mar 2016.

There it was. He saw every play before it was being made, based on who was missing and where his own people were on the map. Crushing his foes, he left the win screen behind, and closed out LoL.

It was time to get to it.

Trancelike, he first began modifying some simple programs, adding structure to make them suited to his particular needs. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Netflix profiles, even G+, no social stone would be left un-turned. Once enough data was accumulated, it would be fed into a profiler and cross-indexed with known security measures.

His processes weren't fool-proof (yet), but they had the weight of centuries of social conditioning and psychoanalysis behind them.

With a few keystrokes, he sent his aggregators out into the digital highways, and began the next step...

I'll go ahead and roll in groups of four. First roll will have some willpower backing it up, but I don't have a great quintessence store, so I'll just leave things at difficult 4 unless they start to look dicey.

Hah! Dicey!

Ahem.
1: Devon Arc rolled 1 success using 3d10 with the World of Darkness 3rd ed system with a target of 4.  +1 Willpower means 2 successes
2:Devon Arc rolled 3 successes using 3d10 with the World of Darkness 3rd ed system with a target of 4 ((9,5,10)) net 5
3:Devon Arc rolled 3 successes using 3d10 with the World of Darkness 3rd ed system with a target of 4 ((10,10,5)). net 8, very exciting
4:Devon Arc rolled 1 success using 3d10 with the World of Darkness 3rd ed system with a target of 4 ((5,2,2))

Argh, just shy! I'll finish out the next fifteen minutes then just to hit ten.

Devon Arc rolled 3 successes using 3d10 with the World of Darkness 3rd ed system with a target of 4.  fifteen minutes later

So net 12 successes in an hour and fifteen minutes. Not too shabby, but Devon's probably upset with himself for hitting a slowdown near the end.

Devon's fevered mind is racing as his program frantically runs through thousands of potential passwords combinations, using information gathered from dozens upon dozens sources until some combination of numbers and words hits the jackpot.

You have access to the security system of Doorman&Doppler, a company dealing in intercom systems. It is located directly opposite Vigil's former front. From there it is easy to search for security footage of the night of the attack.

(Devon: pm sent with the intel you gathered)
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:27, Thu 03 Mar 2016.

Erin  hands Lauren a form:"Ai has requested subject Alpha is allowed to come along in case you need backup. The final say on the matter is left up to you as team leader but if you want to put in an official request I need your signature on these forms". She puts the forms on the table:"You should probably ask Ai about subject Alpha ..", she cautions Lauren.

Erin tosses James and Jacki a set of carkeys:"One black van, one darkblue sedan. Bring them back clean and whole and you'll make mister Gunn a happy man. You can pick them up from the second level basement garage when your team leader gives you the go".
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:01, Thu 03 Mar 2016.

A speaker in the conference room buzzed. ++Hey, everyone, check your iPads, I'm sending you some footage. This is from the lobby across the street from the old HQ.++


At 22:56pm a man in black with light hair gets out of a car and runs up to the lobby entrance of the lawfirm. After beating on the door the nightguard lets him in and they have a heated conversation.
22:58pm The man in black heads up the stairs.
22:59pm: An elderly nightguard in the lobby of Doorman&Doppler walks up to the window to see what is going on on the other side of the street. You mostly just see the backside of him but you can make a screenie to enhance and enlarge to make a possible identification later.
23:00pm: A bright flash in the lobby of the lawfirm. The camera shuts off.

++Some interesting stuff, but here, take a closer look at the last couple frames. This is still rough, but... well, you'll see.++

The footage goes to just before the bright flash and alters somewhat, blocking out some minor interference. It progresses minutely and pauses. At the moment all the electronics were fried a humanoid figure that seemed to be made of bright light appeared in the hallway. You can barely make out the shadows of five others. Though you can't discern many details, one of them appears to be at least 2.20 meters and his sillouette is irregular. While it is hard to make out, there are slight, though possibly unreliable, indications that 3 are female and 3 male.

++I haven't had a chance to run any analysis on this yet, but feel free to shout out if you've got an observation or area you want me to pay special attention to. Also, I can keep trying for other footage from the surrounding area, but I don't know that anything'll get us a better image than this, aside from what was recording at ground zero.++

Lauren turns to Ai, "So you better fill me in.  I am not sure I like the sound of this Alpha."

Ai looked to her ipad as directed, watching the footage. The large individual drew her attention immediately. Was that the normal man who had gone in earlier Shape-shifting of some kind?

 She looked to Lauren as she was addressed. "Alpha is a genetic construct currently being held for safe-keeping. I've been assigned with his care and further study. The creature has proven to be quite resilient and capable of producing psychodynamic phenomenon. I've been eager to test the subject in field tests, but have yet to be granted the access to do so. Given that the potential threat is unpredictable, it was my suggestion that having a subject that our enemy cannot predict may give us an element of surprise should they choose to strike."

"Well first question should be simple enough. That car the late night visitor got out of, it still there? And if not we got an angle with its plates visible?" If the man had been one of the victims his car probabaly would have been left there, if it was gone either he had walked out of a hit on the building or the group that hit it had taken the car. If on the other hand someone had dropped him off and left he was probabaly another missing person that at least had a driver that could be questioned for some information. Shifting back in his seat slightly James added, "Also I keep forgetting to mention, what cover you want us going with on these enquiries? It's better to have something consistent, in this sort of scenario I'd probabaly say insurance investigators might be a good choice."

Arthur was seated at the back of the room, far enough to have good view of his new team mate but close enough not to seem estrange.

For a long time he was quite watching the team dynamics evolving.

Lauren commission came to her as a surprise, she was not sure if she was ready but she embrace it and dove into the role.

Yes, he liked what he saw, these people were capable and were team players, ANNI projection indicate there was 78.7% chance joining this team would not result in failure and his termination.

"Does any of the former agents of team Gamma have cybernetics enhancements? the kind that store data... they are usually shielded from EMP." he asks, his tone mellow and calculated without a trace of accent, Arthur has not decided yet who he is today.

"From the open files my initial guess would be that this might be related to the Los Muertos however further analysis plus the date agent Arc provided make me wonder, could it be an act of those so called superhero vigilantes. If Gamma cover was compromised they might have consider them as a hostile asset to be remove. The attack at night to minimize civilian causalities is also consistent with the black and white morality most super heroic psychosis produce."

++The Grand Entrance tracks with that as well, over any of the other files. I, uh, don't wanna be that guy but it's worth noting that we could be up against an unknown group of entities as well. Out-of-towners might decide they can be a little more bold if they're just breezing through.++

Devon worked hard to not focus on the thought of analyzing some post-mortem cybernetics for data. It could be incredibly valuable, so he'd do it if he had to but... <i>ewww<i>.

Jacki leans further back in her chair in order to get a better view of Devon's laptop as it flickers and flashes. Of course, he's several chairs over. Which meant leaning back deeply, her boots leaving the table to counter balance. Casually, she's gone almost horizontal.

"Out of towners show up and hit the branch office? They're either the luckiest sons-of-bitches in this general section of country or the unluckiest. Nope, I figure it they've been poking around for awhile to figure out where to end up. One a y'all might wanna dig through Gamma's old case files. See where the old team might've stirred up some shit," Jacki snaps her chair back to the floor with a little shift of her weight. Her feet land, and she's standing.

"Any of y'all want to get breakfast? I need some... I dunno, some waffles or something."

Erin glances from Ai to Jacki to Lauren. She fidgets with her watch, taking a peek and then looks at a camera in the corner of the room.

"Don't have to be out of towners. Also don;t have to be one of the options in the files. Best hit squad is the one that does their research, stays off the radar and is only ever picked up on after they've wiped the target." Matching Jacki's idle drawl James nodded back at the chair she'd just exited, "Breakfast after briefing. Once we've got everything straight we'll hit whichever drive through you want when we head out. Just remember that your pick may mean some of us may then have to hit the gym for a couple of boring hours."

Lauren had been taking in the information from her team and reading through the reports.

"OK, good discussion so far people.  Let's see where we are.

First, let's address Alpha.  Ai, I understand your interest in getting this project in the field, but I would like to hold it in reserve right now.  If we determine a target for an assault, I will consider activating the asset.

Also, I need to redirect your attention.  With those bodies in the morgue and a timeline on their release, I need for you to do the forensics on them.  See what additional information they can give us.  You know the drill.

As for a cover, I would normally go in as a Web of Truth reporter since it is a cover very close to the truth.  However, in this case, with a team as large as ours, I agree an insurance team is a better bet.

Devon, pull up the insurance firm for Yanowich, Dreisel, & Associates.  Erin, I assume we can get the appropriate creds for that insurance firm within a few minutes?

Also, Devon, see if you can enhance that image of the eyewitness at Doorman & Doppler.  We will definitely want to find and interview him.  If you are already in their system, see if you can get a name and address for him.  I think you may need to stay here and coordinate.

Are we ready to roll?  Ai and Devon, remaining here for research. Arthur, James, Jacki, and myself hitting the site.

Questions?"

Lauren delivered her monologue at a quick clip, rattling off her assignments and reasoning with ease.

 Though initially disappointed, once Ai was told she'd be staying behind to deal with the autopsies, she quickly realized that it would be a bad idea to send Alpha out at the moment anyway. He was already fairly temperamental as it was, but putting him out with a group that would be difficult to communicate with would only put unneeded stress on him.

 She gave a nod. "Got it. If possible, I'll need a copy of the medical histories of each member of Gamma, so any augmentations or enhancements can be collected as needed."

"I'll put in a request for the team's medical records though some of the conventions might be hardpressed to hand them over. You might need to do a little .. digging of your own. Get the information we need. Mister Light and I will handle the fallout if anyone objects" Erin responds to Ai.

"As for falsified documentation Devon should be able to take care of that. He can gather the information and print out the proper documentation and passes. Correct Devon? The lawfirm's building has been cleared though, pending significant reconstruction of the top floor. You'll likely only need to content with guards they posted to protect from potential looters", Erin commented in response to Lauren's request.