Depths of Regina – Turn 1.4 – Preparing the Waterfall bid
The month of June is dominated by the Waterfall Environmental Services opportunity. The first step is to find a company to partner with the transportation aspects of the bid. With several good leads from Jack and Vamperina, Surge is able to find a solid company to work with SCE. Expodia Transport Corp, a medium-sized company based out of Cape Goliath, specializes in offering customized delivery and transportation solutions. They explicitly do not venture into the security realm and welcome a partnership with SCE. Jack takes over the talks with Expodia and after 3 days comes away with a proposal. Expodia is willing to provide three transports with two pilots each for 94,000cr. Jack does learn that Expodia has provided transports to Waterfall at Spartus #5 in the past and are familiar with the risks. Jack also talks with a former pilot who gives several recommendations on security needs. The pilot reveals that the criminals have gotten more sophisticated in their attacks on the transports. The fortunate thing is that the criminals are not bent on killing and prefer the use of disabling weapons, especially energy-based, to overtake the security measures. Though the attacks do not occur every extraction they are frequent enough that all trips expect them.
JACK (GM): If Expodia has worked with Waterfall in the past, do they have
any
information that they can share about the bids that have been accepted
historically? You pointed out that info, especially on the competition,
would be
helpful in securing our bid, rather than just trying to lowball them all.
GM: They do not have a lot of specifics on historical bids. They
have been involved in previous jobs in the same manner that SCE is
proposing this time. While they may not know all the details of the
former bids they do concur with the range of bid that the group is
estimating.
KYLE: Kyle certainly trusts Jack, Surge, and Vamperina on this. If they
think ETC is a good company to work with, Kyle won't gainsay that
recommendation.
MIDNIGHT: Midnight doesn't have much to add. He agrees with the prices
being talked about both in acquiring ships and pilots and in the bid
process. He is interested in what weapon systems they will need to prepare
and how much time he'll have to install or upgrade such systems on the
ships.
----------
GM: I forgot to give you the rest of SCE's expenses. This line does not include the 8,000cr for the WES bid.
June 6570
SCE Expenses: 12,000cr
SCE Income: 0cr
----------
The other part of the research was to determine a feasible bid on the WES contract. After some business analysis, the group comes up with a range of 320,000cr to 400,000cr for the bid.
GM: The group has all the information by June 6th. You already have an estimate of 8,000cr and a 3-4 week time frame for the necessary licenses. Thus the group will have to decide quickly whether they want to pursue this bid as the due date is July 1st. The bid submission will include all necessary paperwork on licenses so they must be resolved by then (or else risk a weaker bid).
JACK (GM): We have to put up the 8000cr when we apply for the licenses, all
up
front? If not, I would definitely have started the paperwork and
bureaucratic
handwaving, up to the point where we actually had to pay the money. It
does
sound like SCE would stand to make a significant profit even after paying
Expodia
for their help. Unless you meant 94,000cr PER vehicle? The way I read it
was
94k total. If that's true, I think that 8000cr is a good investment, and
even a nice
low-end 320,000cr bid would give us a great chance of getting the contract
and
getting a good return on that investment right away.
VAMPERINA: I'm also assuming 94,000Cr total, not per vehicle. Assuming
that is the case, I'm willing to go along with a low-end offer of
320,000 to get the business going.
KYLE: I tend to agree. Let's concentrating on making a reputation first. A
successful job or two might pay far more dividends in future work than we'd
make on a slightly higher bid.
JACK: I was actually thinking of going even a little bit lower, but the GM
implied
that it had some pitfalls to go too low, I'm assuming just that lowball
bids are
treated less seriously because the officer reviewing the bids will question
whether
we will provide thorough enough security for that low amount. We
definitely would
want to get the best chance possible for actually GETTING the job,
especially if
we are getting specialized licenses for it.
GM: The 8000cr would be spent before the bid is submitted. They are
not all due immediately, as in tomorrow when you submit the paperwork,
but they are due before the licenses are granted. The 94,000cr amount
is total for 3 transports and 6 pilots. You have not factored in
weapon systems but even with that you should still stand to make a
nice profit, given the amount of time you will be spending on the job.
KYLE: Well, absent any other leads, this one seems like a good one for us
to pursue.
JACK: Agreed, I am marking off the 8000cr group fund now for those tests,
it
seems most of us are in agreement that it has enough potential benefit,
both in
profit and in establishing the company's reputation, that it's worth going
for.
----------
JACK (GM): How much time is this job likely to take for us to commit to as
a
team? I didn't really hear specifics about a duration for the contract.
Are the
amounts listed a per month thing for an ongoing contract? Or a single job
estimate which will take us 2 weeks to fulfill, and then we have to bid
again on
next year's job?
VAMPERINA: Good question. I got the impression it was for a single run.
GM: The contract is for a single run. The run would take 3 days
total. Most of that time is spent loading cargo and inspecting the
vehicles within Spartus #5. Flight time is around 18 hours one way
adjusted by weather.
----------
The remainder of the month passes slowly for SCE otherwise. No other concrete opportunities arise during the month.
KYLE: Oh, and since things never really got settled on the issue of where
money goes, I'm just going to assume that Kyle dropped half of his income
into the company fund (i.e., 2400 Cr last month). From a technical
standpoint, we probably want to make it so that Kyle is a medical
contractor for SCE. That might help bolster our image (ever so slightly) by
showing that we do both small and large jobs, and that the doctor we have
on staff is not some kind of a hack, but rather one that works in the
community.
JACK: Jack thanks you for your efforts (I've added the money to the SCE
account). If you're sure that's how you want it to be organized, he'll
agree of
course. The one drawback I can see (just playing devil's advocate) is if
someone
looks at a glance and thinks you're just a community doctor that we can
persuade
to work with us once in a while, they might wonder if you're fully
available for our
needs, since community doctors tend to be pretty busy and place a high
priority
on that community need. The other way to play it is that you are on staff
with us,
but that you work within the community as part of our ongoing charitable
outreach
program.
JACK (GM): Let me know what Jack actually thinks would be better for us in
the
business perspective, since I'm no big businessman myself ;) Projecting
the right
image is so far outside my normal purview as to be laughable, as those of
you
who know me know all too well ;) This goes for the pitfalls of sending in
a lowball
bid of 315,000cr, I can't see anything significantly wrong with it
myself...
VAMPERINA: For the SCE Ledger, I added 2400CR for Income in May and
8000CR for Expenses (so far) in June.
GM: It depends on your objective. If public relations are more
important than volunteering Kyle's time (at SCE's expense) would
appear the best. If credibility of SCE's medical expertise is more
important than having Kyle work as an employee of the business would
be the way to go. A good in between is to hire him out 'at cost'
which would reduce the income but would generate a bit of good
publicity. However, Jack knows that whichever direction you take, it
would have minimal impact on the image of SCE. Only if someone was
taking a close look at SCE would it make a difference.
JACK: Then I would go with whatever Kyle is most happy with. It would seem
that
he is happiest with the second option, the one that makes his credibility
as a
doctor most apparent, but I'd be fine with any of the three. His
credibility as a
doctor will only affect SCE rarely, but when it does, it will make a
difference to the
right client.
KYLE: I tend to agree. I'd like the option that shows that Kyle is a
skilled doctor, and one who is valued enough to be paid for his services.
Anyone can be a volunteer. But to have a hospital or clinic value you
enough to pay you a salary to do your job says a bit more. I'm less
concerned with good PR as I am with providing some bona fides about SCE's
medical consulting capability.
SURGE: Surge will contribute 4,000cr for May and 2600 cr for June. He indicates that May was a pretty good month for software contracts but June was slower. He also has no other leads in June.
JACK (OOC): Recorded 12000 expense and 6600 income, thanks, Surge.
----------
GM: On the bidding process, Jack knows it is a fine line. In the
bid, you will be presenting SCE's ability to perform the job to or
above their standards. The better image you spin in the bid the more
favorable they'll look at it. Price is another part of that equation.
If you are too cheap then they question the quality of the service.
If you expose some reason why you are so low cost but high quality you
might be able to convince them the bid is worthwhile. However, it all
depends on how they will see it. On the other end, if you are too high
not only are you not competitive with other bids but you may be
perceived as a inefficient and poorly managed, thus the reason a
higher bid is necessary. In the end, the best strategy is to be
well-priced and competitive which means somewhere in the middle.
Price is often a factor that will color how you present your service.
JACK (GM): Can we present a bid that is on the lower end of cost but spin
it so
that we are very confident of the quality of our service, but offer the
lower cost in
recognition that we have not developed a strong business relationship
and/or
reputation in Cape Goliath yet? Or would we be better off going with a bid
slightly
on the low side but no information as to why? They are obviously going to
be
researching the companies who make bids, and will find out that we are new
to
the area and 'unproven' in this arena, which would explain our lower bid.
Bleh,
understanding all this psychological crap is Jack's job, not Keith's ;)
GM: When it comes time to present the bid, then we can figure out the most likely strategy for securing the contract. You still have security systems to determine and once that cost is estimated you'll have a better sense of the profit you would be making with your bid. When you submit your bid you will be giving WES lots of information and essentially selling them on you. It's to be expected that they will verify various parts of the bid proposal are accurate.
----------
VAMPERINA: While we are talking to Expodia, let's also find out route
information. Even before we get the bid, I'd like to do a recon of the
route(s) that are normally taken.
GM: Okay, let me know how you want to handle this. None of the
group's current vehicles are appropriate for a recon of Spartus #5.
It is located near the southern pole of the planet over 12000 km away
from Cape Goliath.
VAMPERINA: Didn't realize it was so far away. She will settle for
talking to some of the pilots from Expodia about the route. She wants
to get detailed information about previous attacks on the convoys,
including where the attacks took place and what weapons and tactics were
used.
With the details of the Waterfall bid becoming more clear, Vamperina leads the effort to research past attacks on the convoys. They determine the the majority of the attacks happen just outside the Spartus #5 facility. Spartus #5 is heavily fortified and almost completely underground. Only a few attacks have targeted the facility and none have succeeded. However, the facility's defenses do not extend far outside the base and aircraft entering and leaving the base are vulnerable. The most common tactic is to disable the aircraft as they emerge from the base.
JACK: Egad, what a pain.
VAMPERINA: "This tells me that we want to concentrate some efforts on
scanning the area around Spartus #5 before the transports depart the
facility. We can buy some scanners and also make use of those on the
team who have very good scanning capabilities."
----------
Less common are attacks while in flight. In a few cases the transports' sensors were disabled and a larger aircraft attached itself and overpowered each of the smaller transports. The cargo was taken by a raiding party that entered the transport.
VAMPERINA: "We will need to talk about who will be where during the
trip. I would like to be on the lead transport as that is most likely
to be the first one targeted."
JACK (mostly OOC): Yeah, THAT'll happen. Unless they board in full
battledress
with FGMP-15s, I'll be tossing them out the 'airlock' into the ocean like a
litterbug.
VAMPERINA: This reminds me of something else that Vamperina will check
on. What kind of security arrangements did other convoys use? Do they
regularly hire mutants to protect the convoys. When they attack via
air, DO they board in full battle dress with PGMP-15s. Are there
usually mutants among the attackers?
GM: There is no consistent documentation on the use of mutants. It seems that most security details do not use mutants but well equipped soldiers. There are a few instances where the security detail did have mutants and their powers were particularly effective against the attackers. But the reports you look through do not indicate an enemy that is not consistent and thus no one power would be better over the other. You do guess that your group’s combination of mutant powers would be superior to all the security details that you have read about, assuming you augment your abilities with conventional weapons and/or vehicles.
VAMPERINA: Does it show that the enemy often does use mutants in their
attack?
GM: No, with some analysis it seems the use of obvious mutant powers is uncommon but not unheard of.
----------
In a few situations the transports were attacked as they arrived in Cape Goliath. However, this hasn't happened in over 80 years and security in the city is pretty tight around the starport, which is close to where the WES facility is located.
JACK: I should damn well hope so.
----------
VAMPERINA: Just to clarify, the vehicles will travel from Spartus #5
near the south pole, to Cape Goliath. We will travel with the vehicles
from Cape Goliath to Spartus #5 (day 1), provide security as the
vehicles are loaded (day 2), provide security as the vehicles travel
from Spartus #5 to Cape Goliath (day 2-3) and finally provide security
when the vehicles are unloaded at Cape Goliath. Is that it in a
nutshell?
JACK: It was my understanding that we take the materials up to an orbital
disposal station, NOT to Cape Goliath, the materials are too hazardous to
risk an
accident near a population center like Cape Goliath. Sounds more like:
Day1: travel there, pass security checks, then start loading late
Day2: continue loading, supervising and providing security
Day3: finish loading early, check out through security checkpoints, travel
to
disposal site, check in there through more security checkpoints, and dump
it.
GM: The trip will be to and from Cape Goliath. Traffic to the
orbital is controlled so that it is illegal to fly directly into space
without a special permit. Waterfall has their main planetary site in
Cape Goliath. While the materials are quite hazardous one of the
regulations controls how they can be transported. They will be sealed
in special containers that would eliminate most concerns for spills or
accidents. That's not to say that the city allows these containers
anywhere but Waterfall does have a permit to have them delivered to
their facilities under pre-defined routes. The contract will have you
travel along one of these routes. Waterfall will then shuttle the
materials to the orbital and an off-planet disposal site on their own.
JACK: One of the security measures would seem to be that there are several
pre-
defined routes to choose from, and that that choice would be made as last
minute
as possible, like an armored car route, to prevent easy ambush...?
GM: The two most vulnerable points do not have multiple options. The entrance to Spartus #5 and the entrance to WES Cape Goliath’s facility do not have other alternatives. Outside of the population centers you can have much leeway in your flight path. It is expected that you will be at a cruising altitude most of the trip (8,000 to 12,000 km). The transports have an optimum air speed of 720 kph though the ground speed will vary based on weather.
JACK (GM): Presumably each of those chokepoints would have security backup
from the WES forces near them, possibly including gun turret emplacements
or
anti-aircraft support, I doubt the enemy would choose to attack at this
point.
They'd rather hit us out in the middle of the ocean en route where we had
much
less options for outside help, and would be hard pressed to run and
wouldn't want
to ditch. They want to capture the cargo after all, not necessarily shoot
it down
and try to salvage it from the bottom of the ocean.
VAMPERINA (OOC): I want to wait for some feedback from Marty before I
answer this. Vamperina is specifically researching past hijacking
attempts and I am interested in how, where and when during the run they
were carried out.
GM: WES does have a good security presence in Cape Goliath along with the city's security forces. However, Spartus #5 is not controlled or run by WES. WES maintains a small presence inside the facility and manages the disposal of the toxic materials. As a company their strength is managing the materials off planet. This is why they hire contractors to handle the transportation between Spartus #5 and Cape Goliath. It is the contractor's responsibility to insure safe transport.
JACK: Who the fek runs Spartus #5 then? I suppose their security is being
underground with tunnel defenses :( Just wait till one mutant tunneler
with touch-
based spatial awareness/N-Ray gets it into his head to rip them off. Oh
wait, that
could never happen ;)
GM: Spartus #5 is run by a publicly monitored corporation governed by the local governments of Regina. You do get the sense that Spartus #5 is very well protected and they probably have special defenses that would keep out mutants, including tunneling and teleporting ones.
----------
VAMPERINA: To the extent possible, Vamperina will scout out the Cape
Goliath destination for the materials. Since this is likely to be a
sensitive area, someone may spot me doing the surveillance, and, if
approached by an official, I will simply let them know that our company
is competing for an upcoming bid to transport materials for Waterfall.
GM: You do a reconnaissance trip to the WES facility and it is indeed well secured. You are spotted and the security detail talks with you briefly. They allow you to continue though they indicate the off limit areas. Given this first hand knowledge and the research you have performed you feel comfortable with the security of the destination.
VAMPERINA: Sounds good. Vamperina will fill out a report when she gets
back and will let everyone know.
JACK: Are we able to get any surveillance shots of the exterior of Spartus
#5? It
would seem possible to have multiple security craft doing overflies outside
the
tunnel entrance watching for attackers while the cargo craft is inside, to
minimize
the danger of a direct assault as they exit. Is it possible to keep the
exit time
variable so that we can randomize it a bit to keep the enemy from timing
it? This
way if the security craft are attacked outside the cargo craft doesn't exit
at all, and
if the cargo craft can get a good running start before it's attacked the
security craft
can protect it while it attempts to get away. Or is it necessary to have a
convoy of
several cargo craft? *ew* Is the cargo volatile to the point that you
cannot combat
maneuver while it's on board?
VAMPERINA: Some good questions and Vamperina waits patiently to hear the
answers. How many craft are we going to need? One BHT (big honkin'
transport) and a couple of smaller security vehicles would be ideal.
One of the security craft (and maybe both) should have some state of the
art sensors to hopefully ferret out any would-be ambushers waiting for
us outside Spartus #5.
GM: Yes, you are provided several images of Spartus #5, including a topical map of the surrounding area. Surge is also able to pull up similar data which matches the data provided by WES.
Correct, the presence of patrolling craft in the nearby area would help significantly. You find that a common approach with security is to have at least two interceptor type aircraft escorting the transports.
The exit time is very flexible. You have a three day window in which you can depart at any point.
The convoy can be whatever size you would like and would be sufficient to haul all the cargo.
The cargo is well packed and sealed. The cargo craft will be able to make combat maneuvers though generally they are not too agile given their size and weight.
As for how many craft you will need is up to you. You have 50 MT (metric tons) of cargo to transport. Your current agreement with ETC is for 3 medium transports though you can change it or request additional aircraft. Below I’ll list the three sizes of transports that would be able to land at Spartus #5.
Light Transport - optimal load: 12 MT, max load: 20 MT.
Medium Transport - optional load: 20 MT, max load: 50 MT
Heavy Transport - optional load: 50 MT, max load: 150 MT
The smaller the transport, the faster and more agile they are. If you are heavier than optional load then the craft will not be able to maneuver as well. Range is not an issue with any of these craft, even at full load. Each of these craft can be fit with weapon systems though defensive measures are more limited.
VAMPERINA: My preference would be a Heavy Transport. It's slow but
represents only one thing that needs to be protected instead of two or
more.
----------
VAMPERINA: Of course this all assume that we get the contract. However
if we can make it very clear that we've done our homework when we submit
our bid, that should enhance our chances of getting the contract even if
we are not the lowest bidder.
GM: A big part of the bid will be proving that you understand the parameters of the job and can demonstrate how you will succeed, including many worst case scenarios.
----------
KYLE: In June Kyle contributes 2600 Cr to SCE's coffers from his work at
the clinic.
JACK: Jack thanks Kyle again for his contribution and puts it on his
ledger.
KYLE: Kyle has also done some research into what it would cost to get a
start-up lab running in the offices. It would cost 36,000 Cr for a basic
laboratory that includes electronic, biological and chemical research
devices. That's a lab adequate for most basic research but without any
plusses. I know we don't have anything that needs a lab right now, but
it'll probably take time to set it up, so we might want to start the ball
rolling sooner rather than later. That having been said, we have a couple
of options: (1) we could set the lab up now out of SCE funds; (2) we could
wait until we've done a job or two and set up the lab then; or (3) Kyle
could front the money for the lab now and get paid back when SCE was more
profitable. Any thoughts?
JACK: My primary concern here is that it is a large investment for SCE to
make,
and doesn't seem likely to generate any return, certainly not much in the
short
run. I am sorry to say it but this sounds more like a personal pet project
for you
and/or Surge, although I'm sure someday we'll make some use of it, and
would be
glad to have already had it set up. That being said I am unwilling to ask
you to
pay for it out of your own personal pocket without any help from us, so
even if
everyone agrees that SCE can't afford to invest in it right now, I'd be
happy to loan
you some money to help you afford it, I still have most of that ISS
paycheck and
only minimal plans of how to use it and they are more long term.
JACK: I think it should be a goal of SCE to become profitable enough to
afford to
split the cost of this type of thing, for anything that can benefit the
company.
Other things like this would be Surge's computer system, which is better
than we
needed, but certainly benefits us. The other possibility is that we decide
as a
group what is needed for SCE's purposes, and SCE only pays that much, while
the person pays anything over that to get something bigger and better than
we
need.
JACK (OOC): Sorry to veer into the realm of Pencils & Paychecks again, just
trying to be fair and preserve the interests of the business as a whole,
while still
supporting the PCs outside interests.
KYLE: Also, I asked Marty this, but does anyone else remember whether we
have paid for our basic medical facilities yet or whether that's something
yet to be done?
JACK: I am not certain, last I heard we had discussed it and most had
agreed
that it was a good idea to have a basic clinic on premises for first aid
and
emergency surgery, but since Marty has only been giving me totals of costs
for
the business I can't say for sure whether he included that line item in
there or not.
I left that up to you and him to get working :)
GM: I have not included any costs on such a facility. Not sure why as I do vaguely remember us discussing it. However, for 9,000cr you can have a basic medical facility that includes all the necessary tools for first aid and surgery. It does include 4 doses of staydose and 20 applications of biocort. It will not offer any bonuses to medical rolls but will also allow you most operations without penalties (based on insufficient tools). We can say that you assembled it earlier in time if you wish.
----------
MIDNIGHT: Midnight will talk to everyone (especially Jack, Vamparina and
Surge) about having Aeria over to the office for lunch. She expressed an
interest in seeing everyone again. She didn't take to the idea of working
with us, and she doesn't appear to be using her powers openly. Midnight
wants to avoid this becoming a business lunch. :)
VAMPERINA: Vamperina is interested in having Aeria visit us and go out
to lunch.
JACK: Sure, I'd love to see her again and hear how she's getting on. If
she's not
interested in the business so be it, it was just a thought. Might actually
be nice to
talk to friends without talking about business for a change, I've been
doing a lot of
business lunches ;)
VAMPERINA: "Yes, we can keep business out of it and make it purely
social. In addition to just wanting to see her again and find out how
she is adjusting to life in the empire, she is also a good person to
maintain contacts with. If she does express an interest in being
contact for an occasional job, she certainly has some unique talents
that could prove very useful."
MIDNIGHT: "She works at a travel agency right now, so I don't know that she
could indirectly provide any help through there. I really think she's still
very uncomfortable with being a mutant since her original hopes had been
that the imperium had no such bias. The current war is enough to make her
obvious heritage a big enough problem for her to deal with now. She did
seem genuinely interested in visiting with everyone again, though."
JACK: Jack would suggest taking the group including her to one of the Upper
Middle scale restaurants he's used in the recent past, something of a treat
for
most of us, but won't break the bank. Maybe something with a really nice
view,
but not expensive food, or something.
VAMPERINA: "That sounds good to me. I have no particular preference."
MIDNIGHT: "I trust your judgement. The last place you recommended was very
nice."
MIDNIGHT (GM): Midnight will coordinate with Aeria on a date/time which
works best for her and set things up. Hopefully, Jack, Vamparina and Surge
(and any others who wish) can make it.
----------
JACK: The one person of interest that I met this month at one of Kari's
parties is a
man simply introduced as Baron. He runs a small merc outfit that
specializes in
security, and is also seeking the Waterfall contract. He doesn't seem a
very nice
guy under the surface, but he's good at his job, and I wasn't able to get
any more
info than that without giving away that we are also seeking the contract.
VAMPERINA: "You want I should go rough him up a bit, boss?" Vamperina
asks in her best mafia imitation.
JACK: Knowing her well enough to know that she is joking, Jack smiles
and chuckles a bit and plays along, "Nah, just have Fat Tony and Jimmy
Two-Toes go over and watch his place for a bit, make sure he plays nice."
VAREQ: Vareq is not amused. "Seriously, did you get the sense this will be a
friendly bidding war or that dirtier politics will be
involved? If anything seems out of the ordinary with
this guy, I'm going to need to scan him."
VAMPERINA: Vamperina is amused but she waits for Jack to answer.
JACK: A tired look passes across Jack's face as his eyes show his age for
a moment, it is fleeting but vaguely disqueting, but he remains patient.
"There's no need for that, he's just a clueless business competitor. What
kind of dirty politics are you dreading that much? The worst I can see him
inflicting on us is getting one of our licenses pulled temporarily or
something like that, it's not like he's going to frame each and every one
of
us for murder and get us all sent back to a MULE. I have no reason to
suspect he even knows anything about any of us, let alone that we are
actively competing with him right now, if he knows he's better than I am at
hiding what he knows.
----------
GM: The next turn will be the lunch with Aeria. Who will be
attending this? Also, please indicate how you are dressing and what
you might be bringing with you. Additionally, we need two rolls for
the encounter. Anyone going can submit them.
VAMPERINA: Vamperina will be attending and will be dressing
appropriately for the type of restaurant that we are going to. Here are
a couple of die rolls [rolled 9] [rolled 11]
SURGE: Surge will attend in his typical attire (casual)
JACK: Jack will go, dressed casually but even that is fairly impressive
these days (Upper Middle lifestyle casual clothes, not High).
VAREQ: Vareq will attend the meeting with Aeria. He
hasn't met her but she sounds like someone interesting
to meet.
MIDNIGHT: Obviously, Midnight will be there. He'll dress slightly better
than required, and he'll come to the lunch with Aeria instead of meeting
her there (if she doesn't mind).
GM: Aeria is happy to have Midnight escort her there.
KYLE: Since Kyle doesn't know her, he won't push to come along. So unless
someone specifically invites him and gives a little encouragement, he'll
probably beg off.
GM: Everyone else in the office is going. You could very easily arrange a visit to the University if you'd rather or you could come along. My guess is that IC the others would be encouraging you to meet Aeria. If nothing else, you've probably heard a lot about the young woman.
KYLE: What would he have heard? Form the context, she's obviously an old
friend of the group. If that's the case and everyone else is going, Kyle
would, as you say, likely want to meet this person he's heard so much
about.
GM: I’ll let the other players add to this but at the least you would have picked up that Midnight is very interested in her though he won’t admit how much he is (in true teenager fashion). The other thing you would have heard much about was that she was a mutant with teleporting and clairsentient powers. Kyle would probably want to talk at length with the young mutant to get her perspective on her extraordinary abilities. Though Kyle would know he won’t get to ask her such things on this occasion.
KYLE: That in itself is reason enough for him to meet her. (Not to mention
the fact that everyone thinks she's a pretty keen person to know.) Kyle
will plan on attending the dinner and will follow Jack's lead as to dress
code.
MIDNIGHT: You would know from conversations (and if you asked directly),
that Aeria is a Zhodani girl who escaped with us while we were searching
for the Rickets. She had manifested mutant powers and her family feared
for her life; in exchange for help and information, we helped transport
her off planet. She has been adjusting to life in the imperium with the
help of "Scout" a mercenary we also picked up when we defeated the rest of
the unit he was working with. (Scout's a professional mercenary with the
guild, not a shoot to kill armed soldier of fortune, fyi.) She's about
Midnight's age, and his personal interest in her has obviously grown since
the team's arrival in Cape Goliath a few months back.
(OOC): Anyone from the team/GM can edit or correct any of this as you see
fit.
KYLE (OOC): Oh wait, she was the one that Chester's original character
insisted you guys not trust, right? I read some of those posts a few weeks
back. I didn't see what happened to her after that, but I at least read
about her first days with the group.
GM (OOC): Correct, though the group had met her quite a while before we met Chabob (Chester's original character). We met her right after we defeated the Charred Remains mercenary group that was trying to destroy her underground city.
----------
GM: Also, before I complete the bid submission turn, I'll need a
rough outline of how you plan to defend the cargo. We haven't
discussed any weapon systems or other options for defense. There's no
rush on getting this in but I prefer that you submit your ideas and
finalize a solution. I will be offering Surge's thoughts but since
he's does not have any experience with weapon systems nor military
defense it would be ooc. If you have any questions or would like to
make skill rolls if you're stuck for ideas, feel free.
KYLE: That's a bit out of Kyle's area of expertise. He's more than willing
to do whatever others think is best. But he's not much of the strategic
planner.
VAMPERINA: My own thinking is that we will have two escort vehicles
piloted and manned by our partner company. Most, if not all of us, will
be on the heavy transport (teleporters in our group could consider
memorizing locations in the two escort vehicles). It is the transport
that is the target of any attempted hijacking. An attempted hijacking
could be attempted in any of the following ways:
JACK: Hmm, I was thinking you and I should pilot the escort craft for
the benefit of highly skilled pilots, since the heavy transport can't
maneuver enough to make it worth having us there as pilots, only to
repel boarders. You might be right though.
1. Mid-Air Boarding - Very tricky to accomplish but possible if the
hijackers have the right plan and abilities, generally mutations such as
teleportation and flight. If they have someone like Kyle, they could
scan the aircraft in mid flight and teleport inside to an unoccupied
area and attempt to overcome us one at a time. Defense against this,
assuming someone in the group can't set up an "anti-teleportation field"
around the transport, is to be very alert while on the transport, always
maintain contact with everyone else and travel in pairs.
JACK: I'm also worried about phasing enemies that we have a hard
time stopping popping in long enough to grab the cargo and popping
out. I don't suppose we can get a security field set up that will block
both types of abilities? I might be able to stop a Phased character
now, but without testing it in a live combat situation I can't be sure it
will work.
2. Tractor Beam - Some high tech gizmo that forces the transport to make
a landing on their terms. Defense is to have overwhelming firepower
when they try to board us.
JACK: Having Surge available to power the engines back up if they
are shut down by an EMP or something will be nice here, but he still
can't stop them from knocking the engine out completely with some
kind of power drain.
3. Shoot Us Down - If the cargo can easily be recovered from the
transport if it is shot down and crashes, then this might be an option.
Defense against this is tougher.
JACK: Obviously this method is not commonly tried, but if they had a
mutant that could retrieve the cargo even as the transport sank into
the depths of the ocean, it might be something someone would
consider. It would take more than just being able to breathe water
though.
I'm sure there are others but this is a start. I actually consider the
mid-air boarding to be the biggest danger even though it is the most
dangerous under normal circumstances.
JACK: Shooting down the escorts and then ordering us to land or face
being shot down seems likely too. Our best defense against all these
options except a teleporter is the escort craft though, which is why I
was hoping to make them as effective as possible by you and I
piloting them. Tough call. You really think they will be attacking with
mutants and not with any aircraft at all?
VAMPERINA: "Shooting down the escorts and then ordering us to land is
another possibility. One possible defense is a Flying Fortress type of
transport craft, armed with heavy weapons. As far as how they will attack,
it's more of a gut feeling than anything else. My instincts are telling me
that the cargo is what they want and we should stay near the cargo to
prevent them from taking it."
GM: One thing that maybe isn't clear in how I presented things but it is common for the transports to be escorted by military-type craft. Not all contractors have escorted the vehicles but many have. SCE does have the business license to perform such security operations.
JACK (OOC): Okay, thanks for the clarification, I was mistaken in my understanding.
The current proposal we have with our transport company (ETC) is
JUST for the cargo transport, NOT any escorts at all? So I should be
trying to find a place to rent us some military escorts (I'm laughing just
thinking about it), or subcontract them out with pilots? Or we need to
get some good military-grade weapons to mount on the cargo
transport itself, which is a sucky option for our primary defense
because of its crappy maneuverability. Bleh. Maybe paring the ETC
deal down to 2 light transports and one medium transport would be
smarter, arming the light transports as escort craft, and keeping their
loads light (if any) while loading down the medium transport with the
majority of the cargo?
GM: Correct, the original contract was just for the cargo vehicles. It can be revised to be exactly what you want. They can provide 'military' craft but the armaments are something they can't. One thing to note to our 20th century thinking is that the line between military craft and civilian craft is minimal. For the most you could fly around in an f-18 just as long as you didn't put certain systems on it (unless you had the licenses to do so). Thus in SCE's case, you can by the nature of the contract arm a vehicle for security escort. You won't have access to anything such as tactical nukes but anything within reason for the performance of your contract. If you have the time and resources you could modify any of the craft with weaponry. However, is that wise? Certain craft will have different maneuverability, defenses and integrated systems. Since we don't have a predefined list of possibilities I'm keeping things fairly simple. So if you draw up your preferred way of defending this cargo we can see if that's doable and at what price.
VAMPERINA: I was definitely assuming armed escort vehicles. If we go
with the Flying Fortress concept, then the main purpose of the escort
vehicles will be to find and flush out the enemy long before they reach
us.
JACK: Agreed, that was my main thinking as well, early threat warning
and response. I'm not sure exactly what you mean by the Flying
Fortress concept, but I'm assuming you mean the heavy transport,
putting all our cargo in one place, and heavily defending it.
VAMPERINA: "Yes, the Flying Fortress concept is a heavily armed heavy
transport with the cargo inside and all of us protecting it."
GM: I just realized as I reread the turn that when you mentioned escort vehicles you were probably implying some sort of armed craft, right? In any event, it is possible to do the flying fortress type approach or go with smaller escort craft instead. The biggest question is how well armed will you want your escort craft (as well as defensive capabilities) and what sort of weapons would you be looking to employ personally. Give me your top three preferences and I'll generate the expenses for each.
GM: The approach of going with all transports so the presence of the actual cargo isn't obvious (barring the ability to see within) is a good one. You could arm each ship with weapon systems and gamble that they won't attack with damaging weapons. The downside is that they won't have great defenses or agility. With obvious escorts you'll have the advantage of better weapons, defenses and agility but it's probable that the enemy would use whatever means possible to disable your craft, including blowing it to smithereens. The other option with an all transport approach is the decoy trick. If you had three transports that left at different times the enemy would not know which was the real one and you might be able to fool them into attack the wrong ship. Many possibilities that's for sure. :)
VAMPERINA: Yes, there are a lot of possible attack methods they could
use and a lot of possible defensive measures we could take. The trick
is to settle on the one that will offer the greatest chance of success
regardless of the method they use.
JACK: I do have one additional concern, and that's not to put lives in
danger if we can help it. The idea of decoys is fine, but it risks the
enemy shooting down or blowing up the decoys when they figure out
they have no cargo, they might even do it just in frustration and
revenge for being tricked. The same goes with the armed escorts,
they take a much higher risk because they won't feel constrained to
use non-lethal weapons. With the cargo on board, they can't afford to
just shoot us down without a plan in place to recover the cargo.
JACK: Basically I'm not comfortable with non-SCE personnel flying
the escort/decoy craft, because I'm not certain they can protect
themselves enough. I can probably survive my escort fighter or decoy
being blown up, so maybe that's the answer, maybe we go with one
escort fighter, me as the pilot, and all the rest of you on the heavy
cargo transport to defend it.
VAMPERINA: "It's always a risk but the main purpose of the escorts in
the Flying Fortress concept is to warn us of possible danger rather than
engaging the enemy. Also, anyone who takes the job of flying the
escorts will be told of the risks. We could do the job ourselves but I
would want some contingency to get us all together if the attack is some
subtle intrusion onto the transport(s) carrying the cargo. This could
mean that Vareq is one of the escort pilots since he can also teleport.
That would mean both an SCE pilot and a non-SCE pilot in case the SCE
pilot has to bail. Because of Vareq's abilities we could just plan on a
single escort vehicle."
KYLE: How possible would it be for Kyle to rig up something that might
spoof sensors into thinking that the cargo was in one of the other ships?
For example, if there area radioactive traces in our cargo, having him
double shield the actual cargo, which making a decoy device that gave off a
trace radioactive signature that matched the cargo - that sort of thing?
GM: Surge and Kyle could both accomplish this if you can get accurate data on the cargo and its containers. It would depend on how WES feels about this approach but you could include it in the bid and if they look on it favorably, you’ll get the data you need.
VAREQ: "I agree that the raiders won't likely do
anything to damage the cargo, so a heavily armed and
armored transport vehicle with a few lighter craft as
escorts is the way to go."
"I can pilot one of the escort vehicles. I can get a
license if that's necessary."
"I don't think that either Kyle or I are capable of
stopping someone from teleporting or phasing in and
grabbing the cargo. However, I would surmise that if
they had mutants capable of doing that, they'd do so
long before the transfer phase."
JACK: We're pretty sure the Spartus-5 facility has defenses capable
of stopping teleporters. Presumably the WES facility here in the city
has them as well, making the transport the only time they can strike.
Whatever it is that they use to stop teleporters is not something
portable enough to put on a transport, or we'd be able to get one.
KYLE: Hmm, that makes me wonder. How heavy is the stuff we're transporting?
If we're worried about someone teleporting it away, is it small enough to
move that way? If so, we could have Kyle and Vareq help us play a shell
game with the cargo by teleporting it around. My impression was, however,
that we were talking a lot of cargo. In that case, the danger of having
someone trying to teleport it away is probably a minimal threat.
JACK: The load is 50 metric tons. Not something your standard
teleporter is going to take in less than 50 round trips. Playing the
shell game with the actual cargo is not something we can do, from
what I've been told about the teleportation abilities of either you or
Vareq. I can lift something that heavy, but it's not like I can hop from
transport to transport carrying it.
"I suspect the attacks will be of a more mundane
nature: lots of firepower, a quick assault with an
attempt at a quick getaway. The mostly likely way that
they'll get access to the transfer schedule is through
a mole. Sniffing out the mole may be the key to making
the operation run smoothly. That's where I'll be able
to help the most."
MIDNIGHT: "Of the many options we've discussed, I like this one best. I
think a heavily armed/defensible craft would be our best bet. I'll gladly
draw up some recommendations for both ship to ship and personal weaponry.
I can also set up some security measures in and around the cargo to deal
with any intruder who entered or appeared without the proper clearance,
too. I don't like the idea of decoy ships because it either separates our
forces or puts others in too much risk."
TECH: Weaponsmithing (18-) [rolled 11], Security Systems (15-) [rolled 9]
GM: Midnight feels very confident about the best systems both for defending the cargo and arming the ship. I will include the actual estimates and descriptions of those systems in the next turn.
----------
VAMPERINA: "I just had an idea for a more proactive approach to finding
out if someone is going to make an attempt on the transports. Even if
we decide to use the idea, however, we should include it as part of our
security measures when we make our bid. The idea is to have one of us,
almost certainly Jack since he is the one most likely to be able to pull
it off, make it known in certain circles that he might be willing to
provide some inside help to someone who is considering hijacking the
shipment. It's far-fetched, of course but if someone is going to
attempt to hijack the shipment, they might actively try to bribe someone
involved in the security and we can just make it seem like Jack is the
mostly likely prospect. Of course, they might really do this and
approach one of the transport company people so we will need to be
careful with just how much information we give out." |