[PSIGN] IC: Don't Fear the Reaper

[Llyarden]

Caul replied with a text message. [I'm in a cafe nearby. Did you get any relevant information?]

[Aeryk]

Dagoth replies,

Not as much as I had hoped. Transcripts of survivor's reports as well as a list of the attacks. We left them our number, and instructions to let us know if they learn anything. Also, Chainsaw Sally got pulled from the mission and is being replaced with one Warrant Officer Roland. I've just sent him a text and I'm waiting to hear back. Shall we join you and look over the documents?

[Llyarden]

[Poring over secure documents in the middle of a public cafe?

I'd rather we had another hotel room, but with that lacking the barracks you and Eric are staying in should suffice.]

[Aeryk]

Dagoth laughs to himself at Caul's response. ~A consummate professional. He must think I'm such a newbie, heh!~

Public Cafe? Of course not. Do you have a room? If not then surely we can go back to the barracks.

[brandnewb]

Warrant Officer Roland arrives into the city by train. His instructions were to enter the city and wait to be contacted. A list of names as well as the relevant pictures was provided so he could recognize his new teammates when he saw them.

After arriving in the city he went to dine at a local pub a few blocks from city hall and bide his time until he was contacted. He was drinking his third pint when the text message came in. Reaching into the pocket of his wool overcoat Roland pulls his phone out of his pocket and reads the message. He replies simply;

I will be at city hall in 10min. I will be wearing a long black overcoat. We can discuss more in person. Tell me where at the hall to meet you.

He slides the phone into his pocket and stands up. The bulk wool overcoat conceals the light duty vest that he wears underneath. In a few quick gulps he finishes his drink then stands and walks to the till and where quickly pays his bill. Then he steps out onto the street and walks to the square. He will follow whatever directions he is given by text to meet them and greet them with a simple. "I am Roland. Nice to meet you. Please lead the way."

[Aeryk]

Dagoth reads the message from Roland and sends one off to Caul before waiting for a response from the last one.

WO Roland already responded, he's going to meet us here. We'll come meet you at the cafe, then we can all head to Theta Base and find ourselves a place to examine the docs and come up with a plan.

Immediately after that he will look around for the cafe, then send a reply to Roland;

There are 3 of us, we will be waiting for you at the cafe just across from City Hall. I'll keep an eye out for you and wave you over to our table when we see you. I am likewise wearing a black trenchcoat and I have black hair and a goatee.

[Hjolnai]

Through this furious exchange of electronic communication, Eric does little but examine the documents, building a mental map of the times and places of attacks and trying to extrapolate some useful lead. He will of course meet with Warrant Officer Roland - assuming someone tells him about it.

[Llyarden]

Caul was halfway through writing another message ('I would rather keep my room private') when Dagoth's second message arrived. He raised a slight eyebrow at the next message before deleting what he had written and writing a new reply.

[Noted. I'll order another tea.]

This, perhaps, was the first sign of anything other than pure professionalism that Caul had demonstrated. Minor, perhaps, but a notable sign all the same that he was starting to trust at least Dagoth if no-one else.

Caul would perhaps immediately stand out amongst the others as someone who was not wearing a black trenchcoat.

[Aeryk]

With everything settled for the moment, Dagoth stows his phone into his pocket and turns to Eric and says, "Kreery texted me. Chainsaw Sally got reassigned and they've filled her place with a Warrant Officer Roland. He's in the city and due to meet us in about 10 minutes at the cafe where Caul is waiting. Once we meet up, the plan is to find a private room somewhere on Theta Base to examine these documents more thoroughly and figure out what to do from there."
Seeing that Eric has already taken the liberty of looking through said documents he goes on to say, "Perhaps we should keep that stuff closed up and out of sight until we're behind closed doors, eh? Notice anything interesting yet?"

With that he proceeds to the cafe and, spotting Caul, takes up a seat beside him and orders a regular small coffee. "No suspicious activity from your vantage I trust?" Dagoth asks with a raised brow.

[Hjolnai]

Eric looks up from the documents.

"Understood."

He puts the documents back in their folder, carefully examining its texture. He follows Dagoth wordlessly to the cafe. Without speaking, he buys a muffin by pointing to it and presenting his debit card.

[brandnewb]

Roland arrives at city hall and heads directly to the cafe across the street. When the others wave him over he nods and gives his greeting. "Hello, I am WO Roland. Please lead the way."

Roland will follow the group to the base. And take a look around along the way to spot anything suspicious or anyone following them.

Spoiler: Preception

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(1d20+36)[43]

[Aeryk]

"Nice to meet you Warrant. Dagoth McClennan. This is William Caul and Eric Carter. We have some documents provided to us by the mayor that we want to look over with regard to the Reaper's recent activity. We'll head to Theta Base and find ourselves a private area to do so."

Dagoth finishes off his coffee and offers a ride in the BOSS provided van to Theta Base. Once there he'll look around and inquire after a room to use where they won't be interrupted or watched in order to look through the documents.

Spoiler: OoC

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So we'll look through the information looking for patterns and clues as to perhaps a central location of activity, direction of attack, tactics used, times, numbers of attackers, preferred targets and anything else we can possibly glean. Let us know what we find.

Also, based on what we can find out, we'd like to make some educated guesses on potential future targets.

And holy crap, +36 preception; that's nuts!!!

[kinem]

Spoiler: Roland

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In addition to the obvious security guards in front of the City Hall, Roland notices that there are guards on the roof of that and other buildings. There are also a few people in plainclothes who are likely security agents from the way they look around and maintain position while having a calm demeanor, but they don't seem particularly focused on your group.

The BOSS van is allowed back into Theta Base without any trouble, and you are given a key to a small office; this is clearly not the first time that BoSS agents have used the base. There is a small table in the room as well as a desk with a computer on it (currently turned off). There's a window but the shade is drawn.

As Eric first sees, it looks like the only things that have been redacted from the documents are the names of the Histrian agents who conducted the interviews.

So far the Reaper has been definitively implicated in at least 9 attacks; it is suspected that he may have participated in many other attacks as well but in those cases there is no proof. Since he appears to be just another gunman of various guises until he uses his strange 'force scythe' or shows himself seemingly impossible to kill, there's no way to rule out his involvement in cases where he may not have revealed himself.

Of the 9 attacks, 6 were raids on lume shipments. On low traffic highways, armored vans and their escorts have been approached by a group of about a dozen armed 'Histrian rebels' riding either in cars or on motorcycles, who come in with guns blazing. When the armed escorts offered heavy resistance, the Reaper began to slay them. It is noted that Histrian malcontents are politically opposed to the export of lume (seeing it as a resource that should be saved for local use, or perhaps sold to a wider market than just Bellune) and that the seized lume shipments were valued at the equivalent of millions of Bellunian dollars. The stolen armored vans were later recovered near the same highways, with the lume removed. There have also been 4 similar attacks, but in which the Reaper's involvement was not proven.

Two attacks were terrorist attacks on Bellunian civilians, including the assassination of four Bellunian diplomats along with their families including young children, and the murder of several Bellunian businesspeople. These attacks were carried out by a similar group of motorcycle-riding gunmen. Although in these cases little armed resistance was put up by the victims, the Reaper chose to use his scythe and to make sure that surviving witnesses knew that he was the lead terrorist.

The final attack was similar to the raids on the lume shipments, but the target was a delivery of light anti-tank weapons from Bellune, meant to supply Histrian forces.

Although many lume deliveries have been attacked, the lume trade continues; there have been about 100 successful deliveries in the same time period in the affected areas.

Counting the four suspected raids on lume shipments, the attacks have been anywhere from two to twelve days apart. It's been seven days since the last attack, which was the seizure of the anti-tank weapons.

[brandnewb]

WO Roland follows the others to the office. He glances about the square as they leave taking note of the guards in the square.

When they enter the base WO Roland relaxes. Not normally a cloak and dagger type his normal experience in war is hostile action, often deep in enemy territory. Now arriving at the base and being "behind the wire" so to speak he feels more comfortable and secure. Domestic counter terror operations may be a difficult transition for him.

Once back at the room he begins going over the case with the others, trying to piece together the details. In particular he is looking for similarities between the shipment robberies, or diplomats killed.

Are there any survivors that could be interviewed?

[kinem]

All of the attacks were within 100 miles of Nium City; this is unusual because most rebel activity has been in the countryside further away.

The attack on the weapons shipment occurred when the shipment was outbound from the city. While the convoy could have been mistaken for a lume shipment, the actual lume shipment attacks were all on inbound convoys; outbound convoys tend to be empty trucks returning to the mines after a shipment.

The attacks on civillians took place on roads just outside the city.

There are several survivors who were interviewed. These include thirteen Histrian convoy guards, six adult Bellunuian citizens from the attacks on civilians, and four children.

[Llyarden]

"So it can likely be summarised that the Reaper has insider information on the shipments," Caul remarked, as they looked over the documents. "How else would he know to attack what would normally be an empty convoy?"

"Barring any further information we can gain from questioning witnesses, it seems that one possibility for a next step would be to insert ourselves into lume shipments and wait to see if the Reaper shows up again." He tapped his fingers against his cane for a few moments. "As far as the witnesses go...children often make good witnesses, if anyone here feels confident that they can get information out of them. They tend to be less predisposed by the conventions of society."

[Aeryk]

Dagoth reads through the docs, listening to the comments and opinions of the others, and trying to digest it all and considering the possibilities. ~This is not going to be easy...~

"Ok, well, judging by the frequency of these attacks, I would guess that the next attack is imminent, so we'll have to act fast. Let me bounce some ideas off you guys. We should see if we can get shipping manifests of lume shipments as well as info on the schedules of any diplomats in the area. Caul, I like your idea of inserting ourselves into the shipments. With the increased activity of the rebels, security has likely been increased around all such transports, so the Reaper may be growing wary. Or maybe he's growing bolder with the weapon seizure. Regardless, we might see if we can make a 'bait' shipment or even several. If we can influence some higher ups to change their shipping routes last second without telling anyone else and send an empty shipment instead with slightly lower security, perhaps we can hide ourselves in the cargo. Or maybe leave it empty and track the shipment as it goes. We should get some GPS tracking devices and plant them in every shipment of lume or weaponry. Maybe we can even requisition satellite imagery for the times and places of the attacks to get a clue of where these guys came from and where they went.

Prominent business people and politicians should be advised to keep a lower profile. Motorcades just attract attention. We should also advise them to keep their travel plans close to the chest or maybe use air transport; as far as I know no planes or choppers have been targeted yet.

Whatever the case may be, I think you're right, there must be insiders. Working with kids might be tricky, but worth looking into." Dagoth looks around uncertainly for a moment before saying, "If no one else is up to it, I think I might be alright for questioning some of these kids. Maybe the rest of you can hammer out a more solid plan and I'll contact Jern Ali to try and have a conversation with the victims. Unless someone else wants to do it, that's cool."

[brandnewb]

Roland shakes his head, I am no good at question people, but I have a bit of a nack for seeing through a lie. If someone else wants to do the questioning I can listen in and discuss what was said after. But to be honest I don't think we have time right now. That next attack will be soon. If we can not catch the next attack then we may be able to question people after. Depending on the frequency of shipments we may be able to get them to let us ride with the shipments every time they leave the city then fly back afterward. If multiple shipments are enroute at once maybe we can convince them to change the scheduled. Otherwise we will just have to pick one.

[Hjolnai]

Eric speaks his piece.

"Must contact shipping company. To find a mole, spread disinformation - three decoys, no real shipment, tell each organization that a different one is real. If no attack, enemy do not rely solely on inside information - unless it is from the shipping company itself."

"Plans for other matters: Seem viable."

[Aeryk]

"Alright then," Dagoth goes on, seeing that everyone has more or less said what they've wanted to say, "Caul and Eric, how about you guys make some calls and try to get shipping manifests and schedules so we can see what the potential targets might be, then talk to the shippers and make arrangements to set up decoys. I'll contact the parents of the children involved in the previous incidents and see if they can be persuaded to talk to us. Roland, you can come with me to listen in. We should be able to take care of that part fairly quickly and be back to help with the planning.
If we aren't back by the time you two have hammered out some details with the shipments, maybe you can make the appropriate calls to diplomats and their offices to give them our advice with regard to travel plans. We won't be able to force them, but we can warn them at least."

Dagoth will give a pause in case anyone has anything else to add, then make some calls to Jern Ali and the parents of the children to try and arrange meetings ASAP, preferably here at the base, but if they are more comfortable in their homes, we can oblige.

[Hjolnai]

Eric wordlessly returns to the documentation, looking for contact numbers for the shipping company. Soon it will be time for him to spend even more words, after entirely too many for one day - perhaps he will need to lean on psionic crutches once again. Of course, at this time in the evening, it's quite likely that no one will answer his calls.

[kinem]

Calling parents:

You find out that of the four child witnesses, one boy (Frank Baker, age 12) has returned to Bellune; his parents were killed in the attack. A second boy (Ram Deef, age 13) is Histrian; apparently he was just a witness; you are unable to contact his parents right now.

The remaining children are Susan (age 8) and Samuel (age 6) Constanzo. Their Bellunian father Jimmy Constanzo was killed in the attack, but their Histrian mother Julia was not present that day. You are able to contact her, and she's willing to let you speak to the children, but prefers not to bring them to the base. She gives you her address.

Shipping companies:

There is a shipment of lume planned for tomorrow. The company, Histria Industries Premium, is worried and is willing to let you set up a decoy shipment instead. They seem to have a monopoly on the shipments in the area. Though they've been hit several times and took large losses, the attacks did have a small side benefit of driving their already weak competition out of business.

The shipment leaves tomorrow from a town called Cobbe about 60 miles from Nium City, and was planned to leave about noon.

ooc: So if I understand correctly, the plan is to interview the children tonight, then probably you'll want to be with the decoy shipment tomorrow morning. Who goes to the interview?

Regarding decoy shipments: Do you try to arrange three, and who do you tell about decoys, assuming you want to try Eric's idea?

[Aeryk]

Satisfied that they've gotten at least one lead, Dagoth says to Roland, "Alright Warrant, we've got a brother and sister whose father was killed in one of the attacks. The mother is willing to let us talk to them. The others didn't work out, but we'll do what we can with what we've got. Let's go."

Dagoth heads out to the van and depart for the given address with Roland who will accompany as an observer and offer his insights.

Spoiler: OoC

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Assuming that Histria Industries Premium gives us autonomy in making our arrangements with the shippping containers, I think it would be wise to make 2 decoys and 1 real shipment. If there is an insider and we send out 3 decoys, the insider will just tell the Reaper and he will know that it's fake and won't strike. If the insider knows that the shipment is definitely going out, he'll tell the Reaper which one is real. I say we tell them shipment A is the true shipment, but it's actually a decoy with us waiting inside. We tell them that we will personally be in shipment B and that it will be a decoy and we ask for a slightly beefier security detail to accompany that shipment to give it the appearance that it is the more high value target. The lume will be in shipment C which will be least desirable because first of all, the insider thinks the true shipment is in A, and if there is no insider, outward appearances would hint that it's in B. All 3 shipments should have a GPS tracker hidden in them in case something goes wrong, which is practically inevitable. Does that sound agreeable to everyone?

[brandnewb]

Roland will accompany Dagoth for the interviews. And roll sense motive when the time comes.

Spoiler: ooc

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I don't care what we do. But let's do something. We are done discussing, any more discussion is just blowing time. The ABC plan may have room for improvement but I don't care. It is not worth another month of RL time discussing.

[kinem]

The interview with the Constanzos:

Dagoth and Roland take the van to pay a visit on the Constanzos. They find the address they were given to be a house in a neat-looking gated community. The security guard questions them, then opens the gate.

Julia Constanzo, a dark haired woman, nervous woman, greets them. She explains that the children are upset that they have to talk about this again, but willing to help do what they can to catch their father's killers.

Susan and Samuel are quiet at first, but at their mother's urging, they tell the investigators about the day their father Jimmy was killed. It was during the Reaper's first attack on civilians. The report shows that several Bellunian businesspeople were murdered in that attack.

He was a businessman, and after he'd picked them up from school, he took them to a picnic where he talked business with people. They were on the way home along with a group of other cars driving home from the picnic when a car blocked the road, and four gunmen got out. The gunmen shot with rapid fire guns in the direction of the car they were in and the other cars, shooting out the windows, but everyone ducked and the bullets weren't what killed their father. One of the gunmen - a tall one with a black cap on - slung his gun back over his shoulder. Then somehow, a big long scythe emerged from his hand and he swung it at the car, smashing it up. He chopped open the driver's door, and then killed their dad. The kids were in the back, ducking; they were very scared but say they didn't scream, so maybe the bad man didn't know they were there. On the other hand they did see the man coming so they probably peeked up enough to be seen by him. They heard him laugh "Ha!", and heard him say "Fear the Reaper, fools!" His voice seemed strange but they can't explain how.

The kids are shaken up after their story and Sam starts crying; their mother says they've had enough.

ooc: As far as you can tell the kids are being honest. Is there anything else you want to ask or try with them? If not, we'll move on to tomorrow's lume shipment from Cobbe.

[Aeryk]

Dagoth will listen quietly giving empathetic nods in the appropriate places, being able to relate to just such an incident with his own parents when he was a child. He offers a gentle pat on Sam's shoulder when he starts to cry. Periodically he'll glance back at Roland for a signal that everything seems to be kosher. Afterward he asks if they remember any other more specific details about what the man looked like, what his weapon looked like and if they noticed anything else unusual or unique about him (eg, clothing, equipent, vehicle, etc).
Once that is done, he concludes by offering his condolences to Mrs. Constanzo and thanking her for her cooperation. He tears out a page from his pocket notebook and in an untidy scrawl, jots down his name and number for her and says, "I understand if you don't want to force the subject on them, but if they happen to recall any other details about the incident please don't hesitate to call. Thanks for your time."

Spoiler: OoC

Show

So if Dagoth learns an additional information he will of course disseminate it amongst his colleagues upon returning to the base. Other than that, he's good to go for tomorrow.

[Hjolnai]

While Dagoth and Roland are visiting the Constanzos, Eric spends half an hour manifesting Major Ectoplasmic Creation three times. With each use, he produces a substance which more closely mimics the colour, density and texture of lume; by morning, he hopes to be able to create something almost indistinguishable, apart from lume's psionic properties of course.

(27pp spent)

[kinem]

The only other things the children can remember is that the gunmen wore dark clothing and rode in a white car.

Julia Constanzo sees the investigators out, with a wish for good luck and a warning: "Be careful."

Delivery decoy A

The next morning, the investigators arrive at the lume depot near Cobbe. After passing through security, you are shown the trucks of the planned convoy. It consists of two armored vans which would carry the lume, and which are to be escorted by a pair of armored trucks with external guns mounted on them. The armor of the trucks is meant to withstand small arms fire; the Reaper's blade has been able to penetrate such armor.

The convoy normally would include two drivers and ten security guards. These seven men and three women are introduced to you, and they seem nervous, but know they will be well paid if the delivery succeeds.

[Aeryk]

As Dagoth stood in the depot and looked over the delivery vehicles he hoped the plan would work. 4 pallets of lume sat at the docking bay with a forklift nearby, 2 of which were very convincing fakes and 2 were the real deal, though the security team didn't know which were which. 2 more pallets were hidden in another area of the warehouse, but they had nothing but sand in them.

Addressing the nervous security team he says, "Alright guys. You don't need me to tell you what's at stake here. As you also know, BOSS has a vested interest in the security of this lume shipment. As such, we will require your cooperation and discretion as we make our own preparations with the shipment. One of these shipments will be a decoy. For your safety, we cannot tell you which one. We are going to load the vans ourselves. You are not to open them once they've been closed. You are dismissed for 15 minutes while we prepare. When you return, one team is going to depart immediately. The other team will depart 20 minutes later. You decide which goes first. We will not be present at that time. Does everyone understand?"

Spoiler: OoC

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Beforehand, I would like to block the view of all security cameras in this facility and call in the third delivery to Nium City to arrive after the first 2 leave. The way I see it, a shipment still needs to be made, right? We send one shipment out with the fake stuff Eric created as an outer layer surrounding cases of sand, or something that is similar weight to lume. We wheel out the pallets of sand into the second shipment, and hide the real stuff until the vans leave. The third real shipment goes with the vans from the other town, with us riding in back. We plant GPS receivers into each shipment, inside the containers. Hope that work for everyone ;)

[brandnewb]

Roland follows Dagoth as he addresses the staff who are manning the shipments. He chooses not to say much but instead observes the individuals. While Dagoth speaks he casts detect psionics to see if any on the guards are gifted with the ability, or have the effects on them. He then stands still and manifests touchsight, once the power is active he begins walking around the area, carefully searching out anything that is not right with the surrounds.

(1d20+36)[43]

Spoiler: Roland Stats

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Warrent Officer Roland
m LE Human Vitalist (SoulThief), Level 10, Init 3, HP 90/90, Speed 40ft
AC 21, Touch 13, Flat-footed 18, CMD 16, Fort 13, Ref 8, Will 16, CMB +3, Base Attack Bonus 5
Walther PPK (.32 auto) 8 (2d4, 4)
Light duty vest (+8 Armor, +3 Dex)
Abilities Str 7, Dex 16, Con 18, Int 11, Wis 24, Cha 7
Condition None

Power Points: 120/123

Edit: that was a perception roll.