senior officer Mikael van Atta

So, what do we have about the target location?

1. Two guards on duty, carrying longarms.
2. At least two armed men inside, pretty alert. Given the known density of people inside, I'd guesstimate on no more than eight inside (ten in total) but 4-6 being more realistic. Seems the inside is pretty dense with internal walls. Might be actually too tight to operate rifles inside comfortably, so be ready to switch to handguns and hand-to-hand. It is going to be tight there. 
3. Potential for one (or more) floor below the water level (original building's ground floor and basement). I guesstimate no more than two floors below. Mentioned here for safety's sake: unless significant time and effort has been put into securing the floors below against the water, they should be flooded, and that's the more realistic take on it. Still, there's a possibility. I guess no more than 4 extra bad guys per extra floor. More likely, about 2 per extra floor. It is going to be nasty down there, and they don't really need that many people down there.
4. There seems to be a bridge / pier as the only accessway (unless it is just a pier / molo, and it doesn't connect to other walkways).
5. No data on potential sniping positions to take the guards down from.
6. No data on the neigbourhood. Can't really make any assumptions on the infiltration route for the attack team and sniper cover.
7. There are windows, but 1. they are effectively shut (we could get them open, prybars aren't going to be hard to get - but entering through these is going to be risky), 2. we don't know how high they are above the water, so accessing them from a boat might be or be not an option.
8. I'd suggest fast motorboats as exfil vehicles. Preferably two of them, each big enough to accomodate the entire attack team, ~3-4 rescues (or captured enemies - for questioning) and the other boat's crew (not necessarily in comfort, just sqeeze everybody in and GTFO). Call a favor from the Chrome Berets (Pensacola Chapter) to provide us with two helmsmen qualified for operating small motorboats, and knowlegeable about navigating the New Orlean's canal-streets. I'd assume they should have such people on their crew.

Note: bring tasers, zip-ties (disposable handcuffs) and cloth bags / blinders. We want prisoners for questioning, and any rescuees should be considered potential hostiles until we can identify them and explain to them what is going on. That's something I have once told Wyn (as Jamal would know that): you don't want a rescued hostage to get in the way, and there's always the risk that some of the bad guys are hiding among the rescuees (inc. brainwashed hostages). And we don't have time to sort them out during the assault, so we wrap all of them up and tell the lions from the Christians later.

Note #2. Bring masks / balaclavas. We don't need to show our faces around for identification.

Note #3. Have Viper plan for disposal of the weapons after the op.

Note #4. I want Rue on-site as rear-echelon support. 

I guess that's not what the question was about, @Rockwolf66... 

Nope, I don't recall anyone doing real cars under Maximum Metal. We always concentrated on military hardware...

I guess it would be difficult to do accurately, MaxMetal has its problems as a system..

As far as the characters are aware / as far as we know: how likely are the New Orlean cops to intervene / keep us in mind afterwards if we get involved in a brawl (because, heck, we aren't going to be carrying firearms...) leaving:

1. a couple folks dead due to knife wounds / deadly martial arts strikes, or
2. a couple folks seriously wounded (broken legs and the like), but no dead, or
3. a couple folks knocked out senseless (stun damage / knockout punches / taser zaps), but without serious / lasting injuries otherwise?

...I assume we're not going to be the center of attention. As it was said, anything can go at Mardi Gras (and usually does), which makes me think the cops are going to have more important troublemakers to busy themselves with. On the other hand, the band is reasonably high-profile trouble magnet (and well, Suzy can be 200% trusted to be herself, which may mean serious trouble as well), so I get that we're not speaking in absolute terms here.

As said before, I'd suggest sticking to leaving as few dead / seriously wounded targets behind us as possible, but I'm aware that things happen.

Noted, on Mardi Gras carry knives, tasers, and armored clothing (I guess 8-Ball's Edgerunner wear might be too heavy for the weather. Switch to his Urban Flash "party" set in that case - it should blend better into the festive crowd. It is still SP10).

Be polite to the local cops. 

Try not making trouble, and if we end in a kerfuffle, try sticking to stun damage / knockouts. 

8 hours ago, Snowyn said:

Yeah, we (someone or someones in the party) insulted Elvis -- ie, "the King".

Yes, that's what they said. But where, when, how?

Because it seems to me more like somebody told them we did. An imagined slight. Now, it doesn't make them any less angry, but it brings a 3rd party into the situation. 

1 hour ago, Allen1 said:

Well, I can't comment on the Elvises, since maybe this conflict isn't over.  Yes, the obviously had a plan, but didn't come armed with any firearms, which is a bit unusual as the gang is often known to carry guns. 

As to the kidnapping, DMS is a very viable suspect, but there is NO hard evidence hat they were behind it.  It was an eight person extraction team plus a van driver and you assigned a single person to protection detail.  Nothing against the other band members, but your two most valuable "packages" are Celestine and Suzy.  Celestine is the new "soul" of the band.  Without her, the band is just a very talented group of musicians.  Yes, Cassie Banes, the bassist, songwriting is becoming important, but still it is Celestine that is the driving force.  Suzy is an adequate musician, but really just serves as "eye candy" with her superb dancing skills.  Also, her rising career as an actress / model is just an audience draw.  More valuable to Whyte Hat is that Suzy is rich and 1/2 owner of that company and the co-founder of B&B Technologies.  Suzy has been carefully crafting a public persona of a "wild child" and irresponsible, little rich girl.  Now, thanks to DMS news, the perception that company is pushing is that she is a dangerous and talented combat specialist (which is quite true).  This incident has worked out for Whyte Hat's reputation, because if the extraction succeeded all of the company's enemies would be harping on this failure.  On the downside, any future attempts will have to take into account a young woman who killed four talented solos in 6.6 seconds, picked up an unconscious Celestine and moved her out of harm's way at an inhuman speed.  If Paulie had been assigned to fly his drone covering the DMS visit, 8-Ball might have been able to track down the escaping survivors of the extraction team.

In regard to the question, if DMS will try again, who knows? 

          

The importance of Celestine as the "soul" of the band wasn't clear to me.

Also, we still couldn't let the rest of the band wander without any escort. Hence I was against splitting the party before. But well, our "packages" wanted it in a different way. We don't have enough manpower to provide anything but basic security to them. 

As for Elvises - they were able to smuggle in tasers. We, despite being official security for the band, were declined permission to bring equivalent tasers into the club. Based on that I assumed the Elvises weren't able to smuggle in anything more. 

Also, your lack of comment is a comment enough: we haven't done anything to unsettle them prior to the club brawl. At least, not to our knowledge. Of course, now, in addition to any real or imagined slights they have one member dead and several crippled due to their run-in with us. 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but - 8-Ball, being a former gang member himself, should know exactly how they tick - they will now feel compelled to go after us. We haven't cut them down by any margin significant enough for them to have cooler heads prevail - they are at the point of deeply wounded pride (as opposed to Detroit Shit Eaters, who have lost a significant number of full-time members, and would be likely facing attacks of opportunity from rival groups, should they decide to go after us for a second time).

Do we know what could've done to piss off the Elvises so badly? I mean, prior to kicking down quite some Elvis butt at the gig (with, sadly, one dead Priscilla included).

Because they came for the gig with a plan (as far as they were able to brew one), and smuggled weapons inside. So whatever unsettled them, had to happen earlier. And we didn't had any dealings with this particular gang in the past.

If no one of us can recall the reason, then pretty obviously someone told them we said Elvis' mother was a hamster and his father smelt of elderberries or something. Which points out to the same people who have SWATted us: same modus operandi, tipping off somebody to give us trouble. Something the author could consider to be just a (nasty!) prank. 8-Ball's money is on Loco Skysinger and his gang, they have a reason to pester Suzy (and the rest of Cyber Revolutionaries) And I believe it would be their style.

Expecting this behaviour to continue. We can't prevent it, and likely no-one is willing to be reasonable about it with Loco and Suzy involved. 

As for the kidnapping attempt, the trace points to DMS, but we can't prove anything. Also, I see no method of preventing an another attempt. Not enough assets available to us, not enough freedom of movement. We'll have to be cautious, stick together and keep an eye out for trouble.

The only hope is they decide it is not worth having their brains blown out by Suzy.

Is it doable to hire a driver to take the T-Bird on these legs of the trip where we don't travel by convoy?

I mean, shouldn't be a big deal, as these are done under police escort by Mississipi State Patrol, so it should be really safe.

Another option would be to return the T-bird to the rental company once we're done using it, and have it arranged to get an another T-Bird at the destination (i.e. where we are going to need it again). One of the advantages of rental stuff: you turn it back when you don't need is, then rent it again once you do.

The potential problem here might be the company we rent the vehicle from won't have a representative where we'd like to pick up a new vehicle (or that said representative doesn't have a suitable vehicle available - we are using a rather specific model. I mean, I guess they could have us set up with a run-off-the-mill Toyo-Chev '17-or-equivalent in a blink of an eye, but with a T-Bird, it might be more of a problem. Then again, ordering it in advance could make it possible).

Ah. One more thing 8-Ball will want to do, likely during the zeppelin trip (as probably there wouldn't be much more to do anyway):

• talk to Nancy Chang about his idea of producing some instructional videos on tactical shotgun and tactical carbine. He definitely can cover the gun and instruction parts, but he'd definitely need professional handling of the producing and video parts of it (plus his reputation - including the recent incident with Shit Eaters, erm, Trash Chippers, sorry, not sorry - may be useful in marketing the stuff, but you again need a team of professional to make decent use of such an asset). Nancy herself should, I guess, know whether the Universal Records would be interested in such a project - and if not, whom to approach it with (and yes, 8-Ball would absolutely have her involved in that project - provided she'd be interested. Regardless of whether it would be made by UR, or not). Now, it isn't anything urgent, not like he'd want to make the vids right away - just discuss the idea with someone professional.

Understood, we're down to our armored clothing plus down to our bare hands on the steamer (and a few other places). Where it is legal (and as much as it is legal) I'd like us to keep the sidearms: handguns, knives and tasers (tasers being possibly seen with more leniency, when carried by assigned security personnel of the tour, but we'll have to bear with whatever rules are being imposed on us).

No idea yet on how to get the T-Bird where we are not travelling with the convoy.

Notes:

1. Yup, let's get paranoid.
2. That's up to @Eddy - if Paulie shows up with a plinker and a few boxes of ammo, 8-Ball is willing to teach him. We'll look for a range then.

As for Detroit (hooray, haven't mixed the cities!) and Shit Eaters, sorry, Trash Chippers, as I wrote, 8-Ball's guess is they won't try pulling anything, because they lack the manpower and assets. Unless they are intending to commit a mass suicide by Whyte Hats (& friends), and they weren't that type of a gang four years ago. It isn't a reason for us to lower our guard.

More probable is an attack with limited assets. A single-person suicide run, a netrunning attack (Paulie will have to have an eye out for that), or trying to put us down a peg by making our lives / work more difficult, if doing us harm seems too difficult/risky. Still, keep vigilant.

Columbus and Cincinatti, we've never been there. Meaning we haven't raised havoc there.

Yet.

We can't predict what criminals / rivals / crazies are going to try and when. Again, stay alert, and don't wander anywhere alone, without arms and armor.

Two notes:

• 8-Ball will be checking our quarters for bugs and such stuff at every location (one of the resons he brought his laptop with the adequate CompuMods with him). @Allen1you might wish to pre-generate some results for that. Given how the game rolls I might be unable to declare doing that before narration takes us away, but 8-Ball will be doing it every time (if he has time, or other events don't detract him...).
• Off-camera, @Eddy has expressed interest in Paulie getting some lessons in Rifle skill from 8-Ball, and 8-Ball is perfectly willing to do that, if we have time. Paulie has been advised to get himself practice tool - an inexpensive plinking rifle and a lot of ammo (RL eqivalent - a .22LR semiauto, like the Ruger 10/22, or Savage Model 64F). 

Oh, no. 

You need to see how it rises. Into orbit! 🤑

Ah. In that case...

But you know, properly rigging a building for demolition takes lots of time. I'm not sure we're expecting to be there that long...

1 hour ago, TigerGuard said:

As long as he brings sufficient pyrotechnics to accompany his instrument. 

Are you nuts? We are to clean the place, not to collapse it... and "bring sufficient pyrotechnics" is an invitation for Angel to go detonator-happy.

On 23/02/2023 at 00:38, TigerGuard said:

After the tour finishes, how about a one night event - Taking Out the Trash, Live from Detroit! We drop the Cyber Revolutionaries on the roof of the tower where drones and such circle to capture the band running through their collection, while split screen broadcasts from cameras attached to our PA's as we clear floor after floor until we reach the basement.  That should rival any Blood Bowl programming! We can dedicate it to the Leg Men of MSG, and offer a encore performance from NYC should the fans appreciate the artistic endeavor.

Yes, this is satire and yes Cossack wants payback for his ruined hat.

Can Angel bring a flamethrower to that party? Pretty please, with a cherry on top...

See, that bit about truck owner being captured by the gang somehow escaped my memory. Sure, from there they had it easy tracking the information on who hit them. 

Out of curiosity - is there an obvious way the Trash Chippers have pinpointed Whyte Hats and 8-Ball personally as being responsible for the raid on their skyscraper? 

I mean, I don't recall (my memory is known to be less than accurate at times...) telling them who we were, and we wore heavy armors with full helmets (either EMA-1s or MetalGear) IIRC. While Raven Microcyb were obviously behind the whole thing (as per cui bono principle at the very least), I don't think they advertised who did pull it for them. 

Sure, someone on site could have recalled (or recorded) 8-Ball's voice, and recognize it a long time later from one media broadcast or another. Someone could have digged through Raven's database. Someone could have really do their homework on tracing it back to us.

So, far from impossible, but I'd love to know whether it was easy for them to determine, or did they really had to work for it.

Gorram. I keep mixing those two cities.

🤐

Detroit. Detroit. Detroit. 

NOT Denver.

Argh. Sorry. 

Suggestion for Cossack: keep the wrecked fedora as a memento. Absolutely get yourself a new one, of course - for actual use

As for vehicles - we're good, then. As per Chromebook, Armadillo has a turret for a 1/2 space weapon, so I thought it is standard. Yup, sticking your head from just a roof hatch wouldn't be a good idea.

Shiny, we'll make Skip into a roadie yet, then  Yes, I know Usman wasn't in this mess with us - merely mentioning he was in other fights we were in.

There is a nefarious purpose behind the Shit Eaters "misnaming": 8-Bal is throwing it in hope it sticks. Making the gang a laughing stock in Denver Detroit - especially the local combat zone. Which will, in turn, make it more difficult for them to recruit new members (I don't wanna be in a gang everybody in town laughs at and calls shiteaters, even on TV!). Which, with lots of luck and some time, may result in the gang collapsing eventually. And even if doesn't work, heck, costs us virtually nothing. As you say, they can't hate 8-Ball with more intensity anyway.

Got it, no confirmed leaders of the gang among the dead (though in 8-Ball's estimation, there's a good chance of that being the case), and no confirmation coming anytime soon.

OK, it would be great to have Chrome Berets pulling extra security. 

So. We've managed to get through that ambush in less than 10 seconds... 

• how badly was Cossack wounded?
• IIRC, Suzy took only some superficial damage, right?
• everyone else are, if memory serves me, basically fine (J.J. was wearing heavy armor, which allowed her to get out of it effectively unscathed.

The Thunderbird got totalled, but:

1. it was a rental,
2. we can have enough evidence (from surveillance cameras and police report) that it wasn't our fault,
3. if the Universal Records people did listyen to 8-Ball, the rental had a really extensive insurance contract paid for,

so while there will be some running in circles, waving arms and shouting, I believe no-one is going to be really unhappy (no, not even the insurance company. If they are worth their salt, they are covered by reassurance contract themselves, effectively insured from thecost of paying insurance out). Nancy Chang should have that handled.

That being said, we'll need a replacement escort vehicle. Cossack's call on that, but I'd say, a next T-Bird would be perfect, and an another roughly comparable vehicle would be acceptable.

...and a replacement tour bus, if memory serves me. The last one got hit pretty badly.

How is Paulie doing after his first serious gunfight in the team? It was a good job on taking out those gangers left of the Armadillo (nb. for future reference, it has a turret for a machinegun. We don't have a machinegun, but I guess it could be used as a rotating gunport).

Also, our bright-eyed and bushy-tailed driver? How is he doing? 8-Ball would like to explain to the guy that if someone is shooting at him, it would be a good idea to, y'know, shoot back. Being sympathetic and motivating - I get it was the guy's first major gunfight (in opposition to Rusty, who's ex-military, and Usman, who might not be, but they've both been in some tight situations with us), and it was quite a shock for him.

Should anyone ask 8-Ball about the gunfight in an official (or semi-official, as in, media interview), he'll refer to the gang that attacked us as, pardon my French, "Shit Eaters" until corrected. And perhaps even after that, if he'd be able to get away with it: I mean, "Trash Chippers" - sorry, just a slip of tongue, honestly.

N.b. an important question we should ask - preferably the cops on the scene (8-Ball will also ask the Chrome Berets who were there and had a chance to see the bodies), or mention it to Nancy as she'll likely be dealing with the cops after that, on behalf of the Universal Records - have any of the Trash Chippers leadership have been idenitified among the bodies left at the scene (dead or alive - doesn't really matter, as anyone who was captured alive was 1. seriously wounded and 2. going to enjoy the hospitality of the cops for a while)?

In 8-Ball's educated guess (basing on his knowledge on leadership, tactics & how gangs work), another attack by Trash Chippers during our current stay in Denver Detroit is highly unlikely. We've just trimmed the gang by about 20 members, with only 2 members of the assault group being able to flee. Even a very determined gang would need a couple of days to plan, prepare and execute an another attempt at us of a similar scale.

At the same time, Trash Chippers had to realistically expect their attack would be successful, so they have employed a ~20 strong assault group with as good equipment as they could have muster. I'm assuming here they knew how dangerous opponents Whyte Hats are, so they would not have considered us an easy target (and this implies they have employed their best men and best equipment, or at least a good number of these). Which are now out of the picture. 

It is higly unlikely for them to have a contingency plan ready: they're not a player of a calber big enough.

It is also quite possible the assault group was led by the gang's leader and / or include some of the top leadership. This would result in some power struggle in the Trash Chippers structure, which should keep them occupied for a couple days at least. Whoever turns up on top of the struggle will have, then, to reassess the situation and consider if they want to risk another attack. 8-Ball's money is on them not taking that risk: losing ~20 of their better combatants is likely to put a significant dent in the gang's combat power, losing, say, another ~20 would likely cripple it. And they still have to keep their turf against other gangs. 

It doesn't mean we can lower our guard, though. Trash Chippers might still be desperate enough for an equivalent of a banzai charge, or find a different method of making our lives difficult - without coming into a line of fire themselves.

Guys, I might turn out to be a no-show tomorrow.

We have a weather warning here - strong winds till tomorrow evening. This may result in blackouts, have in the past. Now the risk here in a major city is rather low, but I can't totally ignore it. 

So if I'm not there for the game, that's what happened, most likely.

Got it.

I guess we will. Start with asking the hotel security if they know him, and if not, whether they can pull a photo of him from the security camera footage.

Absolutely.

I haven't read the Flow in detail, but I see no reason why settings shouldn't be system-agnostic.

I'm really of the opinion (and have been for years) that you should turn your Cape and Tokyo into playable settings / locations for Sprawl Goons. 

And the example of the Flow is the evidence you are perfectly capable of doing that.

Maybe try persuading Gregorius21778 into doing one, too.

OK, we'll handle the fans-on-stage on a case-by-case basis, defering to our judgement on their intentions (Human Perception, I guess. Under it is something as obvious as jumping on-stage knife-in-hand). The band doesn't expressedly declare they don't want stage-divers on stage, so it may be allowed.

Mechanics-wise, I'd suggest sticking to martial arts Sweeps and perhaps Holds. Escalate to a sleeper hold (essentially, Choke someone long enough for them to go unconscious, but not long enough to cause death. From what I've read, takes quite some skill to catch the right moment to let it loose) if absolutely necessary.

57 minutes ago, Allen1 said:

• There is a door from the main room to the storeroom where Cossack is at the west end of the bar by the stage.  You could post someone there posing as a patron.  Having someone under the Green Room wall puts them at the east end of the bar.  That is where club security posts a man, but they will relinquish that spot (reluctantly) to the band security if requested.  The club is expecting quite a large crowd. 

If that's usual position for the club security, let them keep it.

Post J.J. at the bar by the stage posing as patron, then. She'll need to dress to fit in that role - but at the same time, not to be restricted in movement should she need it. 

Yes, Paulie should run the drone from the green room (looking for trouble coming in from the outside), we'll launch it from the loading dock. In case SHTF, Rue will make sure he snaps out of rigger mode. If he can order the drone to return to the wharf (or better, the loading dock) on autopilot and land there for recovery, that's the order of the day, if not, we'll consider recovering the drone after the trouble is over. Worst case scenario, it'll crash / sink in the canal or be otherwise permanently lost. We'd have bigger problems anyways.

In case we need to evacuate, we'll fight our way to the main alley, and think on our feet from there. 

Convoy order:

1. The Thunderbird with Cossack (driver) and J.J. (riding shotgun)
2. Tractor / Trailer (Usman Katousi behind the wheel), if present.
3. The Tour Bus.
4. Armadillo (company driver), 8-Ball (shotgun), Rue (in the back, additional observer) and Paulie (flying the Bumblebee).

It should be good regardless of the situation - on in-city shorthaul we'll simply omit the big rig. On the road, just tell Usman we might ask him to smash that big rig thorough something if there's trouble. Cossack will give him room should that turn necessary (I hope it won't be needed, but I guess Usman forewarned is more likely to do it than if asked out of the blue i a stressful situation).

We might want to reverse the escort (put the Armadillo in the front and Thunderbird in the back) if a specific situation warrants it.