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[January 2060] H2Onorable Cause (Solo: Smiley)

Posted by Mr. JohnsonFor group 0
Mr. Johnson
GM, 859 posts
Sun 3 Apr 2022
at 04:10
  • msg #83

[January 2060] H2Onorable Cause (Solo: Smiley)

All clear in this end. comes a text from your tech support team as you carefully collect useful gear for the next phase of your plan…

Oh, drek comes a second message moments later, Might have spoke too soon. Give us a sec
Smiley
player, 47 posts
Sun 3 Apr 2022
at 21:50
  • msg #84

[January 2060] H2Onorable Cause (Solo: Smiley)

"Heads on a swivel! Our hacker might have just been made.

We may have to do this loud and dumb.


He started hauling the stuff they needed quickly and made sure his tazer was ready to go.
The unfortunate thing was that if this turned into a car chase, his hardline stance against guns was going to make him near useless.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 03:08, Tue 05 Apr 2022.
Mr. Johnson
GM, 862 posts
Tue 5 Apr 2022
at 02:41
  • msg #85

[January 2060] H2Onorable Cause (Solo: Smiley)

Dealing with a call to the guard hut. she says I'm gonna go get the external cameras up on my end to give you some overwatch. My partner has the call and will let you know how it goes.
Smiley
player, 48 posts
Wed 6 Apr 2022
at 01:59
  • msg #86

[January 2060] H2Onorable Cause (Solo: Smiley)

Smiley sent a single acknowledged, and continued to load gear, keeping an eye out for potential problems.
Mr. Johnson
GM, 870 posts
Fri 8 Apr 2022
at 03:21
  • msg #87

[January 2060] H2Onorable Cause (Solo: Smiley)

About to get the cams up, I can patch them into your PocSec... hang on... after a few minutes, pictures of the plant begin scrolling by in a slideshow as you are fed stills from each of the cams in rapid succession.

The main entry gate where the guards seem to be enjoying a morning coffee...

The rear parking lot, overlooking the bay where the parking lot looks scorched and burnt, perhaps by a recent fire...

The vehicle maintenance bay, workers changing tires on a company truck...

Another vehicle bay, workers scrambling with activity, loading equipment into a nearby emergency response vehicle...

The west storage compound, no one doing anything here...

Back to the main gate...
Smiley
player, 49 posts
Fri 8 Apr 2022
at 05:00
  • msg #88

[January 2060] H2Onorable Cause (Solo: Smiley)

He could ignore the fire burned parking lot: that sort of drek happened all the time with a bad parking job spilled fuel or some company vehicle just failing.

What's going on with the vehicle bay? That seems.. really weird.

I'm assuming it's not us, lol,if so, disregard.

He finished loading what they needed. If this was someone else's run, he didn't want to fuck with it. If it wasn't, he was way too professional to charge into that mess without knowing what was going on.

Once the job was done, he'd get out unless there was some truly staggering reason to stay.
Mr. Johnson
GM, 873 posts
Sun 10 Apr 2022
at 06:29
  • msg #89

[January 2060] H2Onorable Cause (Solo: Smiley)

Yeah, it does, gimme a sec. she replied. Looks like some kinda fire crew maybe. They're getting into the trucks now.

Did St Clair say anything about on site emergency response? Not that you recall, but he did say there had been some changes since Shiawase had taken over...
Splinter
player, 170 posts
Fri 22 Apr 2022
at 08:02
  • msg #90

[January 2060] H2Onorable Cause (Solo: Smiley)

There was a little burst of statics as a new voice got on the channel.

<<<This is the Splinter>>> it said, the voice was mechanical devoid and recognizable traces of accent or tone to indicate if the speaker was was male or female.

<<<Please note Shiawase emergency response team was launched to the site... I am running interception... with luck I'll buy guys more time. I will let you know how much time you have.>>>
Mr. Johnson
GM, 891 posts
Sat 7 May 2022
at 21:06
  • msg #91

[January 2060] H2Onorable Cause (Solo: Smiley)

Looks like the response team is confused. Anna says over the comm. Bunch of guys standing around on phones now, but no telling how long this is gonna stick
Smiley
player, 52 posts
Sat 7 May 2022
at 21:53
  • msg #92

[January 2060] H2Onorable Cause (Solo: Smiley)

"We're on a timer! They are trying to deploy assets. Getting matrix cover but it's not going to last, all aboard!"

Thankfully, they'd had a fair chunk of time to load up what they needed, plus a little more to throw off the trail and make them assume that they were just looting valuable items, not not specific stuff.

Hopefully, they had what they needed, because this was not really worth getting into a fire fight over if they could avoid it.

He commed "10-4, we're just leaving now"
Mr. Johnson
GM, 894 posts
Tue 27 Dec 2022
at 19:45
  • msg #93

[January 2060] H2Onorable Cause (Solo: Smiley)

Grimthak watched the video feed with a hard knot twisting in her guts out in the meat world. The team is still gearing up, but things are moving a bit more slowly. Looks like one of them, supervisor maybe, is heading off in a company car. Gonna guess he is coming your way...

Sack has the van running and ready to roll. Righteous and Twisted are onboard and the gear you need to break into one of the pumping stations is all loaded up.

You give the place one last once over...

Check the Situation:
12:32, Today: Mr. Johnson, on behalf of Smiley, rolled 8 using 2d6+1 ((4,3)). WEAK SUCCESS

Option 1: you are away smooth as glass.

All done here. Plenty of time; if you roll out now you will avoid the suit.

Option 2: fill in the blank and tell me something useful you found, then I give you a complication.
Wait a sec, is that a ______?
Smiley
player, 54 posts
Tue 27 Dec 2022
at 20:40
  • msg #94

[January 2060] H2Onorable Cause (Solo: Smiley)

No complications, but if anything went wrong security was going to go crazy on the actual run.

Since his hacker had been telling him time was officially up, Smiley didn't see any reason to hang around. He decided to quit while he was ahead before any of them were seriously identified.

"Let's roll. Got no desire to complicate the legwork... the real challenge is going to be the next part."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:52, Wed 28 Dec 2022.
Mr. Johnson
GM, 903 posts
Thu 29 Dec 2022
at 05:40
  • msg #95

[January 2060] H2Onorable Cause (Solo: Smiley)

Scene ends, take +1XP

FF several hours later, South Shore Alameda Island.


You can barely hear the clink of cold bottles of hurlg over the trog rap blaring from nearby speakers. Righteous wraps his arm around your shoulders roughly declaring ”Doc plans runs like a regular Jake fragging Armitage,” before enjoying another long pull on his bottle.

The rest of the crew is feeling no pain either, enjoying round after round of post run drinks. The success of the East Bay run and anticipation of another outing to hijack one of the Oakland pumping stations has Righteous and Twisted in a celebratory mood.  A half dozen home brew hurlg and a gathering of locals have made the rest of the night a wash. Good news is that the halfer wheelman decided to stick around for few (imagine that) and decided to sign on for another gig.

Across the room, St. Clair sits alone, nursing a beer without much interest. Still held hostage, but no worse for wear. That isn’t saying much since when you last saw him he was tied to a chair under interrogation.  Still, you gotta consider, for a corp suit held hostage in the Orkland dregs, things are going about as well as could be expected for the Shiawase sariman.
Smiley
player, 55 posts
Fri 30 Dec 2022
at 05:29
  • msg #96

[January 2060] H2Onorable Cause (Solo: Smiley)

"It's so nice when it doesn't turn into a fragging drekstorm. Here's to part 2!"

Smiley enjoyed a few celebratory beers with the crew before sitting next to St. Clair.

"Hey. How's the accommodations compare to the Nikko?" He mentioned a top tier corporate hotel that he probably wouldn't have been allowed to walk into even if he could afford it.

He was genuinely interested in what the guy was going to do after this was over.
Mr. Johnson
GM, 906 posts
Fri 30 Dec 2022
at 21:13
  • msg #97

[January 2060] H2Onorable Cause (Solo: Smiley)

”You know, I’ve never been.” St Clair replies taking a pull on his bottle of home brewed ale. ”When they brought me in from Atlanta they put me up at the Hilton in Presidio while waiting on an apartment in the Orinada enclave. To be honest, the beer wasn’t any better.”

”I was happy to hear that the job came off without the need for violence.  Those folks are good people. Participating in the evils of their corporation without really understanding the role they play. Victims in their own right. You are a conscientious man Doctor.”

”Tell me, how does a man of medicine end up in this kind of work?”
Smiley
player, 56 posts
Sat 31 Dec 2022
at 05:06
  • msg #98

[January 2060] H2Onorable Cause (Solo: Smiley)

Smiley sighed "Don't make any sense to go crazy on people just cause you gotta." He absolutely knew what St. Clair was talking about.

He took a swig of beer.

You got it backwards, chummer.
I stepped into the shadows so I could BECOME a streetdoc.

Grew up on the streets in the barrens before I got into the whole medicine thing. I was just a wannabe ganger when a full-member one of us took one to the jugular. Grabbed and held the tubes with my runty little fingers. Earned a lot of respect, and felt a hell of a lot more respect for myself, too. That was rare for me back then.

Just sort of became an obsession after that. Only you can't be a doc without books and meds and training. So, I did some shady things for some people. Once I got good enough, I opened a clinic.. and then I suddenly needed even more cash, since a lot of my clients can't pay.


A simplified version of his life story, but not that inaccurate.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 19:55, Sat 31 Dec 2022.
Mr. Johnson
GM, 908 posts
Sat 31 Dec 2022
at 18:17
  • msg #99

[January 2060] H2Onorable Cause (Solo: Smiley)

”Unsurprisingly I hadn’t considered that possibility.” St Clair replies thoughtfully. ”In many ways to feel like the events of the past few weeks have been an awakening for me. I was so wrapped up in the daily grind that it kept me sleepwalking through life. I’d like to think that most people are better than they seem. Like your younger self, they just need to be shown a path to being better.”

Looking around the room at Orkland’s youth, he adds, ”Has your… umm… technical support come up with anything? I would be willing to have a look if you think it might help.”

After cleaning up the inventory logs and covering up your theft, Grimthak (aka AnnaLog) pulled some blueprints and maintenance records. You have documents for the Merrit pumping station and, for comparison, the Orinida station further up the line.
Smiley
player, 57 posts
Mon 2 Jan 2023
at 01:16
  • msg #100

[January 2060] H2Onorable Cause (Solo: Smiley)

Smiley shrugged and tried not to laugh. A better path? He'd was barely a teenager when that shit went down. He hadn't of been thinking of any moral philosophy at the time. He still barely did. It had felt more natural to him, sure.

Drek, I don't know if it was a path I saw to being better at the time.
Just a scared hungry kid being told he'd done good for once in his life.

One thing's for sure though: no one will get a chance to walk down any path if they flatline at 10.


He sighed and realized he should get back to work.

Good question. I've been giving them some time to work. Lets see what they've uncovered. Smiley started downloading the PDA info to show St. Clair.
Mr. Johnson
GM, 911 posts
Mon 2 Jan 2023
at 18:08
  • msg #101

[January 2060] H2Onorable Cause (Solo: Smiley)

St Clair seems to stare off into space as he reads over the documents being projected onto his retinas while your copy scrolls across the screen of your PocSec.

With St Clair’s help you are boosted.

11:01, Today: Mr. Johnson, on behalf of Smiley, rolled 4 using 2d6+1 ((1,2)). boosted Weak success


“Here is something interesting,” St Clair says. ”What do you make of it?”

Provide a useful detail that will aid in your next run, I’ll provide a complication.

PS: you have an Advance coming to you. Check into the XP and Nuyen thread and take a level-up.

Smiley
player, 58 posts
Wed 4 Jan 2023
at 06:55
  • msg #102

[January 2060] H2Onorable Cause (Solo: Smiley)

In reply to Mr. Johnson (msg # 101):

Smiley blinked. He had some experience with older electronics, but not really architectural engineering. What the heck was he suppsoed to be seeing here? There was the the purifying station, there was the huge plant... the water storage... power plants... and then there was trunk lines running between the same for the control rooms inside the plant. That all made sense. All except..

There's no bathrooms.

He scratched his head and thought about it a bit more and went over the plans. Ok. There were SOME bathrooms and break rooms, but most of them were marked closed or disabled. Pretty much everyone seemed to work the security booth, the maintenance bay or the lab by the tank farm where they tested the waters.

I don't get it. This is a huge facility. Even with a skeleton crew, they have like maybe a 10th of the people they should. 

There was one other area with a lot of people, and that was the weird patchwork of ancient servers they were running.

It's all run by drones, isn't it?

For an advance, how about Mobile Surgery?
This message was last edited by the player at 06:59, Wed 04 Jan 2023.
Mr. Johnson
GM, 914 posts
Thu 5 Jan 2023
at 18:57
  • msg #103

[January 2060] H2Onorable Cause (Solo: Smiley)

”This is not a recent development,” St Clair says as he checks the specs on the two pumping stations. ”Shiawase capital investment has no doubt increased the drone efficiency, but over time the upfront costs will be balanced by labour savings. In the end it’s all about profits. Fewer people on site should make it easier for you to go about your business without interference but avoiding detection entirely will be pretty tough. Hopefully your ruse pays off.”

He takes another drink, emptying his bottle. ”The specs don’t have much about the desalination and filtration systems. The purchase orders and invoices your hacker found show the systems are provided by a third party supplier. Unless you go to the Orinida site first and get some details on their set up, you will be going in blind at the Merrit station.”

Complication: there is more valuable information out there, but you have to go and get it.

PS: PocSec updated.

Smiley
player, 59 posts
Fri 6 Jan 2023
at 17:20
  • msg #104

[January 2060] H2Onorable Cause (Solo: Smiley)

Smiley thought about it some more.


"Without riggers, they need either an expert system, manual control or an AI.
No way it's an AI.No way it's manual control, there's not enough people there for that, and off site controls would be even more expensive and unreliable.<blue>

You used off line controls for drek where it was expensive to put humans. Human life was cheap in the barrens. They could literally have hired hundreds of people in the barrens with minimal complications.

<blue> If they got an expert system, that means there's a place in there where everything runs, controlled by some bored exec who pissed a lot of people off and a lot of techies maintaining the servers. Only place it would make sense to do that is that oversized tank farm: that's where the offices and facilities are.

We might be able to convince the drones to do the work for us: expert systems aren't going to give a frak what we tell them to do if we plug in the right firmware. So maybe they can do the updates for us.

Of course, we got no clue what the frak we need the servers to do, so I guess we gotta hit Orinida.


It made sense in his head. He'd run it by the crew and see what he could find, legwork wise. On one hand, he hated these incrimental runs, since messing up one step tended to cause clusterfraks later. On the other, if they pulled it of, they might actually make a difference.



Smiley was no hacker, but
Mr. Johnson
GM, 917 posts
Sun 8 Jan 2023
at 23:57
  • msg #105

[January 2060] H2Onorable Cause (Solo: Smiley)

>> FF next day:

”You wanna run that by me again?” Righteous asks through hangover haze.  ”Slowly.”

The day hadn’t started until late morning was turning into early afternoon. Only St Clair and the halfer were up early.  The dwarf had kindly spent the morning tinkering on a beat up GMC Bulldog that had recently come into your possession. That had left you and St Clair to plot out a few more details on the Orinida job, details you were now going over with Righteous and Twisted for a second time.

”I got it straight, chummer, I just don’t know how I feel about what I’m hearing.” Righteous said after a long time considering the idea. ”Gotta think that the heat will be a bit more intense in the enclaves, but I hear ya, getting a look at the control centres and set up in a plant that ain’t spewing out poison will make work at the Merrit job a lot easier.”

He looks at Twisted, who simply nods her agreement. ”I guess we’re in boss man, what’s the play?”

You got the makings of a team. Righteous and Twisted provide the muscle. The MPA war chest will keep Sack in (until the nuyen or the beer runs out). St Clair can provide intel or be dragged along as a ‘consultant’

What else you think you need?

Got any legwork to do before the job?

Smiley
player, 62 posts
Mon 27 Feb 2023
at 18:25
  • msg #106

[January 2060] H2Onorable Cause (Solo: Smiley)

Question is, how do we want to play this one? The sort of straight in and out stuff we did in that supply yard isn't going to cut it. Their security is going to be much tighter.

All we need to do is get a good look at the place though. I can't think of a really good reason for a third-party medical van to drive up there.

Drek, that only worked for a few minutes, and their security was hot garbage.

Wouldn't mind some feedback from you St. Clair on the best approach.

We could maybe try talking our way in, but I can't think of a good angle. Corporate Enclaves are a lot tighter in terms of security. We could maybe try hacking as temps, but lets face it, none of our mugs other than St. Clair's pass as corpo, and his mug probably sets off a million fucking alarm bells. I'm thinking maybe we could hack the system and become janitors or I could be a temp first aid guy, but that seems a little iffy. We'd be splitting the team, which would be a real mess if shit started.

I'd say the simplest way would be to sneak in our hacker for an onsight hack but we don't have that kind of hacker. No idea if they'd be cool with that and from what I see, probably not. That leaves us going in and taking some close up shots of the schematics and looking at the engineering logs. Maybe putting in a tap on some off line systems so they can be hacked indirectly. Drones to take some photos would be damned nifty.

If we take the first approach, I'm thinking we hack some credentials and two or three of us walk in as temps, get the lay of the land, while the others who won't pass as wage slaves stay back. That option seems dangerous: we get spotted and there's only two of us inside a corp enclave, and we are not getting out easily.

If we take the second, we need some infil gear and basic recon. We can visit the crime mall for that. Are any of us any good at overriding doors?

Mr. Johnson
GM, 927 posts
Sat 2 Sep 2023
at 06:05
  • msg #107

[January 2060] H2Onorable Cause (Solo: Smiley)

”Couple of trogs and a tusker trying to con their way around with some hacked credentials? Prolly wouldn’t last a second before the corps sniff us out.” Righteous replied, kicking his massive feet up onto a makeshift table made of broken concrete blocks and an old car hood. ”I say sneaking in is the best bet.”

”You are right, or course Mr Righteous,” St Clair replied smoothly, betraying a hint of that Atlanta accent. ”The level of scrutiny would be much higher for … well, for folks like you I’m afraid.  The thing about the enclaves, if you’ll permit me to provide my opinion being most familiar with those parts of the metroplex, is that once you get inside, there is an assumption of security. The military and corporate services put a lot of effort into keeping undesirables out, but not a lot of attention is really paid to things going on inside the walls unless an alarm is raised. I’m not saying it will be a cake walk, but the hard part will be getting into Orinida.”  He reaches into his pocket, producing a glossy gold plastic disk. ”While my credentials at Shiawase are almost certainly useless, my personal accounts and access to the Orinida enclave should remain unaffected. Perhaps your technical support could help me verify, but this badge should get us past the security perimeter checkpoints without incident.”

”Sounds like we’re going behind enemy lines again.” Righteous growled, snapping the cap off a warm hurlg leftover from last night’s party.

Crime mall is always open, time to go shopping for surveillance gear and break-in tools?
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