senior officer Mikael van Atta

Well...

• Chromebook #2, 1992.
• Blackhand's Street Weapons, 1995.

Also, BH editorial (Blackhand's Street Weapons, p. 1, paragraph 2) says that some stats may differ from what we remeber from earlier sources, because the finally had a chance to apply errata and game balance adjustments, therefore I'd understeand this as BH stats trumping earlier sources.

The only official depiction of the weapon I recall is in Maximum Metal (Grasshopper ACPA is wielding it), and it depicts a pretty conventionally laid out automatic rifle with a large detachable magazine. I really don't see much of a point in giving a weapon a large detachable box magazine if it is meant for semiautomatic fire only. Especially, if the weapon is notably heavy and using heavy, high-powered ammunition.

Ditto, issuing it as a shoulder-arm to an ACPA: it doesn't seem to have enough stopping power to do much againt ACPA or combat cyborgs as a semiauto weapon to be issued as a main weapon against such threats.

That being said, we have aplenty of real-life examples of guns originally desinged for the (one or another) military, originally capable of fully automatic and/or burst fire, who are available on the civillian market in a semiauto-only variant - because the authorities pretty commonly assume that even if there is a good enough reason to let Joe Average own a gun, there's absolutely no reason to let said Joe own a fully automatic gun.

So perhaps the original, milspec Cyborg Rifle has the RoF of 20, but the civillian-legal variant was neutered to RoF 2 semiauto...?

Well, the CP:Red ones tend to have that covered. Gee, what 30 years of advancement do, huh...?

Still not good in many aspects, though, IMO. The game would be much better without SAs.

A secondary character class, as I said in the beginning.

One to be grafted to a pre-existing character.

4 hours ago, Allen1 said:

Very interesting, but the basic rules (page 43 of the Second Edition Rulebook states that, "...(the player) doesn't have to put points into all his career skills..."

Oh, I assumed that lex specialis derogat legi generali. I.e. this Role - having very specific writeup and differing very much from other Roles in the way it is written (inc. that misfortunate "3+" requirement) - is an exception from the basic rulebook general rules. 

As I've been suggesting from the very beginning, it is up to GM to void such rules. And IMO the GM absolutely sholud void - or at least, modify - them. Because they don't really fit.

Well, it would be useful if you provided context. 

But leaving that aside:

• the writeup for a Covert Specialist role (Stormfront, p.93) lists 14 skills (inc. Special Ability) that are mandatory to buy at +3 at the minimum.  

A starting character - as the basic rulebook tells us - has 40 skill points to spend on career skills. 14 skills at +3 totals 42 points. Therefore, a Covert Specialist character cannot be made as a legal character under the basic rulebook rules for starting charaters. 

Rules-as-written, this makes your question moot.

Even should the character get lucky on their Lifepath and gain a few skills along the way to boost their career skills (to a total of 42 or more points worth in career skills. Easier, if you roll character history first, assign skillpoints later), there's still not enough role-specific skillpoints to cover any ground in the secondary skills categroy.

Assuming you void the "primary skills at +3" requirement, that is still lots of ground to cover, and I doubt there would be any career points left for secondary skills. Therefore suggesting to treat them as elective, pickup skills paid from the pickup points pool.

Or you could make the list more flexible: SA plus any 9 skills form the lists, total. 40 points would make a starting character with a possibly eclectic array of skills. Given how flexible eg. Techs (with their 3 - IIRC - Tech skills of choice) are, and the fact that - accoding to my memory - there's no requirement in the main rulebook for a character to have any single skill fro mtheir career pack at a level above zero (I've seen a starting character who had simply 4 skills at +10, fullstop. Not saying it was good, but there is no rule in the rulebook, to my memory, that would forbide such build).

Should you want a Covert Specialist to buy all his primary skills (at level 3+, so still leaving some space to differ between individual characters), and have some skills from the Secondary list paid from the same pool, the pool would need to be significantly larger. My guesstimate would be 60 skillpoints at minimum (50 doesn't cut it). Possibly more.

So, you'd need some houseruling. LYUPS p.91-92 has a few suggestions on creating more powerful characters, including skillpoint pools for them. 

But by-the-basic-rulebook?

Nope.

Well, let's start with the fact I consider Special Abilities (in essence, character classes) one of the weaker concepts in R.Tal's Cyberpunk line. I've tested the game without them, and it was a much more level experience IMO. CP:RED is a bit better take on the Special Ability mechanism in that regard, but I still like the "SA-less" take the best.

Two, Covert Specialist seems to be very much an idea for a secondary character class. One to be grafted on a pre-existing character, who already has some points & experiences. That's why it comes with the Covert Ops Training schools. Whether the rules were originally developed as a part of Maximum Mike's in-house campaign, being spirit-of-the-moment solution that seemed to make sense right there, right then (and acceptable as such), or applied haphazardly in the rpocess of transferring the typical CP2020 characters into the "James Bond" style of Stormfront campaign.

Three, basic character generation rules in Cyberpunk suggest a character that is kind of lower end professional (with 10 career skills and average +4 skillpoints in each of these skills). If such a character gets a Covert Specialist training grafted on top of the basic build, well, there's a chance of having an adequately wide spread of skills / accumulation of skillpoints.

Four, you may also decide to allow a Covert Ops as a basic starting character. I'd say it would be as with any other character with a suggested secondary skills package: they will know very little on those topics (or a decent on one of them , and next to nil on the others), and nothing on things that weren't a part of their SpecOps training.

Concluding, if you want to allow a SpecOps as a starting character, you can have a character skipping on many skills suggested in the package. Or you can give the character some freebie skillpoints. To balance the character against your (or the player's) expectations regarding a SpecOp, and/or to give it a more even start to match a pre-existing cast. 

I guess the question is relevant regarding our current campaign, but I don't want to base my take on it on that guess.

1 hour ago, Rockwolf66 said:

The really scary thing is that 7.62X51mm will go through the lower hull of a BTR-60. The Chinese discovered that one in one of their border conflicts with the Soviets. I have an 80s Military article that states where to shoot in order to kill the driver with a short burst of fire.  Interestingly enough one of the BTR-60 in Grenada survived multiple 40mm HEDP hits and a M72 LAW Rocket. However since the three BTR-60 were facing a Ranger Battalion and an AC-130. None of the three BTR-60 remained intact.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to nitpick  The Chinese don't, to my knowledge, use 7,62x51mm, and were even less likely to do so in the pre-80s era. 7,62x54mmR, well, that's another matter entirely.  Though AP / API bullets are being made for both.

And I have seen reports of 7,62x54mmR API being used against lightly-armored vehicles in a couple of conflicts.

Also (again according to Wikipedia, because I'm not going to look for a serious source) BTR-60 hull is

• upper front: 7 mm at 86deg and
• Lower front: 9 mm at 47deg.

13 hours ago, Cybernetic Jesus said:

The BMP-1 should have a SP: 30 or 40, which would mean the rear-door has a SP: 15. That's enough to stop small-arms fire and get an infantry-squad into battle; say, isn't the fuel-tank located on the rear-door?  The crew can keep warm at night and have enough fire for a light-time!

We did to a WW2 version of CP:2020 game once. I think I got 7.62mm = 5D6 from Old Guns Never Die section in the rule-book. 

Yes, there are backup fuel tanks in the rear doors of the BMP-1. They also are intended as buoyancy tanks for amphibious operations.

Though the manual tells these should be filled with sand in case of hostilites. Someone apparently realized it is not the greatest place to keep fuel...

Now as to it's armor - what I see in Wikipedia is:

• lower front at 19mm angled at 57deg,
• upper front at 7mm angled at 80deg.

Given that Maximum Metal (p.4) claims that 1 SP is equal to 2,5mm of steel plate*, that lower frontshould result in ~SP 8 (sic!), maybe a bit more if we count in the angling. Say, let's be generous and round it up so it gets a full ARM 1.

At the same time, IRL, when the Soviets were developing the vehicle, they considered it to be adequately protected to withstand .50cal machinegun fire (as it was the standard armament of NATO APCs of that era). Which is PEN 3 by Maximum Metal (I assume the PEN 4 AP .50cal Maximum Metal lists, well, perahps wasn't yet a thing when the Soviets were doing their design work. But they certainly had an idea what a .50cal can do, after all, they had a .50cal of their own, the DShK). 

Which means the "2,5mm of steel armor = 1 SP" is something the guys writing MaxMetal pulled, politely speaking, out of thin air.

7,62mm in the old Guns Never Die of the CP2020 book (p.66) is again only the "7,62S" in the entry for AK47, AKM, AKMS. So without any doubt, 7,62x39mm M43 intermediate ammo. Note that one entry before, with FN FAL, the "7,62" is listed as 6d6+2, and it has to be 7,62x51mm NATO. And if you prefer the CP2013 FNFF rules, that becomes distance-varied, but at the medium range, 7,62 NATO is listed as 8d6+3 while 7,62 Soviet as 5d6+3 (no reason to believe it is anything but 7,62x39mm M43 again, as the book does list AK-series guns, but not PK or SVD).

* Also, there are body armor plates made of steel (eg. AR500 steel) that provide enough protection to qualify as rifle plates. Sure, they are low-end plates - but that's first of all due to their weight relative to protection offered. Even if we assume SP20 is enough to provide reasonable protection from a rifle round (because these plates are ICW-style, so they need kevlar backing / spall liner), that means a steel SP20 armor plate would have to be 50mm thick. Which is nuts.

For comparison, here is a RL commercial offer for NIJ III-class steel rifle plates. They are 1cm thick. And still weight 3,4 kilo for a single plate (front or back). NIJ III means it provides protection against 7,62 NATO round. Using MaximumMetal formula, it can't be more than SP 4...

Concluding: Maximum Metal SP ratio is certified bonkers.

2013-era sourcebooks listed 7,62mm as 5d6 - but when it was about 7,62x39mm M43. Which is an intermediate cartrige, though there are "light machineguns" using it (things like RPK or RPD, for example). It is still enough to chew through a soft-skin vehicle (which means anything that isn't "bulletproof" or, preferably, armored to withstand this level of threat).

It still listed 7,62mm at 6d6+2 damage for rifle cartriges like 7,62x51mm NATO or 7,62x54mmR Mosin, used in medium machineguns. IRL, a medium machinegun (like MG3, M60, FN MAG/M240, or the Eastern Bloc favourite, PK/PKM will use).  This is a weapon that can chew softskin vehicles form a distance, and if loaded with AP ammo and close enough, will harm lightly armored vehicles (things like scout cars... or the rear door of a BMP-1 IFV!). 

Have some relative STANAG 4569 armor resiliency requirements.

Ah. Well, that's a difficult requirement to fulfill.

Sine Nomine's new RPG, Cities Without Number (cousin to the sci-fi Stars Without Number and fantasy Worlds Without Number) has been released recently.

Like the other ones, you can download the basic version for free (eg. through here), so I think it is worth a look. 

I haven't yet had a chance to give it a read. Generally, it is a levle-based game (something I seriously dislike in RPGs), but it supposedly contians a lot of stuff for procedural generation of the world, quests and other do-datts. Which I like.

So, not exactly for actual gaming but definitely worth nicking a few pieces from, I guess.

Well, the vampires, werewolves etc were an interesting idea (and there were World of Darkness conversion rules to/from CP2020 somewhere, too). Can't tell if it was a well-executed idea, really.

But I believe it to be a moot point, since you aren't looking for vampire rules - you said you were interested in psychic abilites rules. And Night's Edge is a n option there. Take from that book whatever you want - even if it is literally nothing at all.

Does the line-art have to be Brazilian to be used to depict a Brazilian-made vehicle?

Ah, good old LHX

Thing is, stuff in that game was 1980s and older Soviet hardware. 

Whether it is Soviets, or Chinese, or Indians, or Brazilians who are going to build budget-friendly military hardware in the hypothetical "future" (and Brazilians have some pretty nifty things on offer already), that's your call.

Hmm. 

You might want to check Night's Edge and perhaps Grimm's Cybertales for CP2020-specific take on psionics (and some types of magic, if you want to include that as well, either as itself, or as an another category of psychic abilities).

One: not me.

Two: why not? Give it a try and tell us how it went

And here we are, at the end.

Thank you for the game - even if we ended kinda on a low note.

That makes perfect sense!

I'd suggest starting a separate topic for Linden Blues, though. As not to mix things together.

Well, LAPD definitely started it off the wrong foot with Angel on his return to town when they automatically assumed him to be Miguel and refused to identify him, or at least check his fingerprints / retina scans and documents he had on him - while still detaining him for the whole night. 

Sure, they might know Miguel, and they might not know the fact the man has an identical twin. That far I get, that far is understandable. But if you put a man into a cell without even checking his ID - especially if he's pretty adamant on not being who do you claim he is - you don't score high on a Police Force Quality Chart. They'd be in for a nasty surprise if Angel actually used his cyberarm they didn't even checked for.

Though the Narcotics detective on Angel's parents' case was sensible, have to give him that. 

Either way, Angel doesn't place any trust in the LAPD, and intends to get Salvador Montel - preferably, before LAPD gets him. He needs the man to talk. Also, he'd love to kill the man for his part of what happened to Angel's family.

OK, let J.J. talk to the local Boys in Blue. In her favor - she speaks the lingo. She knows how they tick.

We'll have Zdravko out of the impound lot  in the morning, thanks to copious application of legalese. But seriously, who vetted this guy for Whyte Hats operations team...? He has some major mental problems (I assume Jake tells Angel and J.J. what exactly happened, Angel was busy going through the back rooms when it did), and not enough common sense to carry a questioanble firearm accessory without backing it up with an adequate corporate permit. If we can have milspec firepower on our corporate permits, a simple can for a handgun should be doable too - if only Zdravko have given it a thought.

OK, Jake, please book us some range time, then. And let's pick that armored do-rag on the way.

Have Jamal's colleague do his magic. Since Angel will be paying for this through his nose anyway, he'll nominate Gloria as the next-of-kin entitled to medical information and visiting (of course, once Miguel is cleared to be visited. Medical procedures are to be observed, of course). He'll also expect to be sent updates on Miguel's status with reasonable frequency. E-mail will do fine. 

If Jamal is willing to join the LA detachment, it would be great to have a specialist of his caliber there.

Absolutely, asking pops about the situation on the streets (also, what does he know about that Salvador Montel and his cronies - and where to find them!) should be done. 

Yeah, you have given us enough of an impression that the L.A.'s Finest are capable of finding peanuts in a Milky Way bar  

Now, as for Daniel and Ricardo being just petty thugs up to no good, that is generally an accurate assessment, or at least Angel hopes so. Seemingly this case is bigger than that, though. Rosa probably has her share of stuff too, but I guess classifying what was done to Hector a "domestic dispute gone wrong" is taking it too far... unless domestic disputes in L.A. went really bad since Angel moved out!  

Angel doesn't have an idea about what J.J. can do as a U.S. Marshall / corporate cop, so he can't tell her anything in that regard. The ball here is in @Snowyn's court. I agree that anything that would move us closer to solving this case would be nice.

Re: Jamal's assessment on Miguel's health: Jamal is the pro here. If he says this is the way to proceed, then proceed, please. Also, note in fine print: should it happen Miguel doesn't make it, Angel wishes the body to be preserved in a body bank (given Angel is a person who values himself most, he's not going to let a full set of genetically matching spare organs go to waste. Yes, he is absolutely willing to go to serious lenghts to save his brother's life and have him nursed back to health - but if that fails, he's going to be damn practical about things).

Re: training - If Jake suggests giving Angel a few pointers on handgun use, then absolutely, Angel's in for it. Ask Zdravko to find us a shooting range in L.A. (luckily, we'd be fine with a range rated for handguns, no need finding one good for rifle calibers - and ranges!). Angel is too preoccupied with his family case to actually get that idea himself. Then, it will be the matter of finding time to spend at the range.

Yes, Angel would fully support staying as a rear line in a fight, but as you've pointed out, it wasn't really possible in this case.

Re: body armor - a do-rag / bandana / similar headpiece will be fine, then. I'll run it through the armored clothing system (and I should do it with the Masetto Coveralls, as they are not meshing well with the Chrome4 / Blackhammer's system!) - well, or at least get some extra stuff. 

I recall the Armed Guard #2 actually landing a hit on Angel - one of the Impacts Angel got. And that was before we started rolling Initiative. Still, what's gone is gone.

Apart from that, I believe we should strike the iron while it is still hot. Salvador Montel is going to do his homework,  and learn who has graced his sleazy joint, but it might take him a moment. And I'd prefer getting to him before he depletes his supply of clean underwear. He might do somethign rash then, or even bolt out of town - and we'd have a major problem catching him then. Given he's our primary lead.

25 minutes ago, Snowyn said:

Yes, there's an amusing family story about my dad going to visit the (very small) town where his extended family lived, and being mistaken for one of his 100 first cousins. Apparently they looked so similar as to have been identical twins. Actually not so much mistaken for -- as in a double-take when he was seen -- because he definitely did dress differently (ie, my dad had become a New Yorker city folk, whereas this was the backwoods of Arkansas = hillbilly country).

Hey, I was mistaken for my own father once or twice - though, granted, by elderly relatives who don't see either of us often

Well, to sum it up.

Miguel got into drug deal with the local organized crime, and has hiden a wholesale amount of Blue Glass in our parents' place. Someone tipped off the cops who have raided the place, found the drug. 

The local gangleader (not really a boss - I mean the whatisihisname sleazy club owner) had Miguel beaten up. Pretty expertly at that. What is important, is timetable here - has it happened before, or after the police raid on the parents apartment?

Either way, the drugs were gone into the police evidence room. Somehow the gangleader didn't got the memo and kept looking for them - in my parents place, and where my siblings lived (and it was done by people who knew their job, and weren't interested in looting a few bits on the side, suggesting significant moral composition for criminals). I'm pretty sure it is him (or his boss) who is behind my siblings disappearance (and Hector's death). 

Where we go from here?

• The most promising lead is to follow the club owner. Sure, he has lost a lot of henchmen, but he himself managed to esacpe, and likely will be hiding somewhere. Let's have Zdravko on the Net, searching for data on this guy. Maybe J.J. could access law enforcement files on him, too? 
• We could also do some footwork and try determining the man's boss. 

As it seems, they want their part of the deal they had with Miguel. Problem being, we don't know what the deal was, and Miguel ain't gonna tell us that (anytime soon, or at all, depending on how well does he recover. Brain swelling is a bitch!). 

Or their pound of flesh, except they done that already - and not only on Miguel, but everyone else they could reach, too.

Which, essentially, seems to leave us with kinetic options only. 

I'm really surprised the club owner was so hasty to order Miguel/Angel killed basically on sight when we turned up in his joint. He had the upper hand (on his own ground, with numerous henchmen, against seemingly alone Miguel), and he forfeited any chance of learning anything from a dead man. 

Yes, Miguel has crossed him, and probably owes him a whole heap of money. But if you get the person who owes you money killed, it becomes kind of difficult to get the money back from them. Same with revealing where the drugs have been hidden (assuming he didn't realize the cops took them). 

Of course killing a debtor as a message to all other of your debtors that you are serious is a time-honored move, but again, whatever the person owed you is getting forfeited at that point - so not really a smart business decision. He apparently had Miguel beaten up - and expertly - already, and somehow hadn't kept up with the fact Miguel was in coma as a result since it happened. So looks like he wasn't interested in learning anything. 

Something doesn't add up here.

Hypotheseis: the club owner is trying to swindle his own boss, and Miguel has been made into a convenient scapegoat. The club owner skimmed the drug (Miguel got less of it than the guy told his boss, or it got heavily cut on purity. Possibly what he got wasn't even a drug, though I'd doubt the cops would be so negligent as not to check the substance. Then again, the aquarium joke...)

The family's dwellings were probably searched thoroughly by different parties (as there were different styles of a search). The family members were abducted to convince Miguel to hold to his end of the bargain - and it would be the boss who is behind it. At the same time the club owner had Miguel beaten senseless (to keep him from talking) and tipped the cops on the parents' place, thus making sure his boss wouldn't get the drug and learn he was swindled.

In such a case, it would make sense for the club owner to have Miguel shot on sight: apparently beating didn't worked, and the guy was about to babble out something.

Which reminds me we haven't been to Miguel's place. We need to tick that off the list, too, although 1. it surely got searched first, 2. I honestly doubt we'd find anything of interest there. But hey, just to be sure.

Also, J.J. could ask the cop on the parents' case - or the lawyer can check in the files - what exactly (amount & purity) was found in Angel's parents' apartment.

Yup, we're set. Have Jake pack whatever hardware he considers adequate.  

One more note: you might have to decide which cyberarm is Angel wearing at any given moment.

• Default is his chromed one. 
• The oldest, tool-equipped one is worn when Angel expects he'll need to tech something out. 
• The "covert", RealSkinned one is worn only if Angel wants to go incognito or into a place where he knows his other arms would get him into trouble.

One more question, as I forgot to ask it:

• how similar do Angel & Miguel look like? We've never estabilished if they are identical twins, or non-identical twins, then again familial resemblance can be very serious even in non-identical twins (and then reinforced by the style of hair, clothes and the like), while identical twins can take different stylistic choices to actively avoid looking similar - to say nothing about different lifepaths.

28 minutes ago, Allen1 said:

About Mateo, given Angel's original disposition (Feel About People: Wipe them out and give the place over to the cockroaches) & (Personality Traits: Ex mode – Guilty/Depressive; in mode – Malevolent; Rebellious, insomniac, radical) what does that say about the personality of your "best friend"?  Also, what kind of person runs off with "Best Friend's" girlfriend and child?  Just saying.

We have never determined whether the disposition & personality were there when Marcia parted her ways with him, or were they a result of said parting. 

We kinda left it hanging, as it was never a matter of any significance before. 

However, given how many of his numerous - and mostly older - siblings have a very high opinion of Angel - reason for which was also left hanging - I'd risk a guess he wasn't always the malevolent, depressive radical eager to end the whole humanity and liberate the place for the betterment of the cockroach species

Still, bottom line is - Angel has more pressing matters to attend right now. Mateo wil have to wait for his turn.

As for the L.A. run:

1. Excellent.
2. That's actually better than expected. 
3. Consider that hospital bill paid. Angel would be willing to throw in something extra if the hospital personnel can provide extra information on Miguel's arrival / cause of his state.
4. Excellent. If the Aircar can be used for a medical transport for Miguel (there are many elements involved if a person is in coma, especially in Cyberpunk - from a simple IV feed to extensive life support machinery, to the iconic "brain in a jar"), and Jamal is willing to take care of it, let's go for it. Further decisions regarding Miguel's care and therapy can be then taken on an informed basis, and using professional advice (either Jamal's, or whatever professional Jamal decides he needs a consultation from).
5. We'll see about Ricardo (Daniel, being Angel's least favourite sibling, for I guess the feelings are mutual: if your older brother hates your guts, you likely return the favor. So if he can shut his big mouth and get along when we pull Ricardo out of whatever FUBAR he got into, we could, perhaps, drag Daniel's sorry ass out of trouble too. If not, he can rot in hell...) and Rosa (Gloria might dislike Hector, but if he's treating Rosa right, he can piggyback on her ticket out of trouble - I'm sure Rosa would want that. Given who his family are, Angel's not gonna look down on one more petty crook just because he's a petty crook). Visiting their places of residence and checking on their situation. 

Roger, going to L.A. by Aircar. We'll rent a suitable vehicle once there for local transport. The Aircar will return to NC with Jamal and Miguel, and stay there under Whyte Hat orders: we'll request a return trip if necessary (or just take a regular flight /rail from L.A. Or charter a flight. Or, heck, buy us an AV if we're really pressed...).

A secure corporate hotel it is, then. Nice, secure, not too flashy. We're not in for the bling, we're here to get a job done. 

If we can bring milspec firepower, well, always better to have it on hand (even if it means, "at the hotel") and not need it, than the other way around. Same for armor, if applicable. So, I guess, EMA-1 softshells nad Militech mk.IV / Dragon rifles, eh?

From what Angel knew about Mateo, he wasn't that kind of a piece of shit. Of course, people do change. Angel considers going there and beating his once best friend to a pulp, but generally that enterntaining activity will have to wait. For all he knows, Marcia and Antonio are dead, and that is irreversible.

His parents and sibilings, on the other hand, require his immediate intervention, for it can make it or break it. I.e. what he does can make a difference here.

Yes, it will be Angel paying the bail. Apart from everything else, he has watertight alibi: he has spent the last few months in a mental health facility full-time, and every minute of his time is accounted for.

He has to get to L.A. So, he'll be spending his Sunday on a phone. 

1. Contact B&B Tech, and see what assistance can the company provide him with.
2. He'll need backup in L.A.: someone to handle security, someone to handle netrunning (we'll have to do some digging, I guess), someone competent in legal matters. Having someone competent in medicine wouldn't be a bad idea either.
3. Call Miguel's hospital. Pay them whatever is needed to keep Miguel in care until Angel can arrange his transport to a proper long-term care facility. 
4. Call the San Morro hospital (Rue's). Can they & are they willing to provide adequate care for Miguel, otherwise what facility can they recommend? No, I don't have any data on why my brother is in coma. I'll understeand if you refer me to a different medical institution after you get a look at him (and his documentation), but I need to find him a place right now.
5. Get as much as possible on Rosa, Daniel and Ricardo from Gloria.

What are our options for transport?

• We can take the Aircar, it'll give us a lot of flexibility and mobility. It is, however, a rather high-profile mode of transport. But, what the heck, it is impressive. We can switch to a rented car on-site, if needed.
• We can take public transport of some kind (likely, rail or air), and rent a car on-site. 

Where to stay? I guess at a hotel. Something sensible, not too expensive / flashy.

Equipment - nothing mil-spec. His cyberarms, a handgun, comms, clothes (armored. Might need to do some shopping, otherwise he'll be in his Masetto coveralls... Shopping can be done in L.A.). Toolkits & techscanner, no point leaving tools of his trade behind. 

Will get some WORM chip money, but we'll handle that in L.A. Defintiely more time for that on-site than before departure. 

Whoever will be going with him: we'll need to operate in broad daylight, so we can't get caught with anything illegal. And I have no idea how good are our corporate permits in SoCal. Should fly for sidearms - I doubt they'll like B&B Tech personnel with mil-spec firepower. And even less - Whyte Hats personnel with such.

So, coming in and doing some recon on the ground. If needed, we'll call in a resupply run.