[SFS/Shifty] The Great Grav-Train Robbery (A) (Inactive)

Game Master Nik B.

The lockers are pretty solidly built, almost 'safes' for the carriage of high value items. They are flush against the wall (to prevent them being moved or easily pulled off with crowbars etc) - anything is possible, and it is Royce!

The eel falls after being hit by Barat then LNA.

Kevan has the crane going and realises that not only can it pick up objects with a claw, it is also a grav crane and both pull and push large metal objects.

Meanwhile, the roof completes opening - you can see four shadowy figures about to rappel down into your carriage, and a laser cannon mounted on the copter is facing down towards you all. You have little doubt this is Royces crew come to heist the heist!

They are 30' up

R3
Lna -
Kevan -
Barat -

R4
Aramesh -
ENEMY

We didn't really expect this to be as easy as we thought, did we.

Here goes nothing.

Computers check to try and repel the copter, with Serum of Enhancement, Scientist: 1d20 + 16 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 16 + 2 = 34

I want to see what this does

Kevan shoves the copter 10' further away, shaking things up. More importantly, he realises he could also tether the copter.
A new Computers 'attack roll' required to do so next round though

Barat Oza's shoulder-mounted cannon begans zeroing in on the attack copter!

If I can, I'd like to try to make a harrying fire attack to essentially aid Kevan's next Computers "attack roll" to grab the copter with the crane.

laser: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25

Is there any chance there's a tunnel coming up (Thinking Mission Impossible and the helicopter in the Chunnel?) I am trying to decide why I would tether the copter instead of pushing it away?

It would stop the enercopter being able to lift the stack of boxes (including the one you are here for) and escape, and yes, you do happen to be rolling through a mountain range at the moment, and have been zipping between tunnels

Barat takes some potshots at the copter, giving the pilot something to think about.

R3
Lna -
Kevan - acted
Barat - acted

R4
Aramesh -
ENEMY

"Elena! Go to that locker and block off Royce's escape!"

Aramesh moves 30' closer to the locker, while pulling out an incendiary grenade and tries to toss it into the enercopter!
Throw Grenade vs AC5: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20
Fire damage: 1d6 ⇒ 1 plus burning 1d4, DC 13

Elena quietly resents Aramesh's pointless, slow, and tactically unsound announcement of what to do next. Especially since it was what she was going to do anyway. She rapidly skitters over to the locker and whips it open, pointing her pistol inside.

Lna gets to the locker and finds it is quite firmly locked.

Aramesh lobs a grenade in the air that lights up the night sky with a terrific flash - if there was any doubt about people noticing something, it has certainly been removed.

The flash does nothing to the armoured 'copter, but the members gearing up to rappel do get caught.

R Reflex 1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 3 + 2 = 18
O Reflex 1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 3 + 2 = 21
Y Reflex 1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 3 + 2 = 12 1d4 ⇒ 3
G Reflex 1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 3 + 2 = 8 1d4 ⇒ 2

***

The first pair begin rappelling down, firing at Aramesh as they come.

Attack 1d20 + 8 - 3 ⇒ (10) + 8 - 3 = 15 vs KAC
Attack 1d20 + 8 - 3 ⇒ (11) + 8 - 3 = 16 vs KAC
Both miss.

They are on top of the dead snake, but for combat mechanics - identical level as you

The other pair try pat out the flames.
Y Reflex 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8
G Reflex 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9

Then lower themselves down their ziplines.

End of round save.
Y Reflex 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18
G Reflex 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17

***

The turreted weapon opens up on Aramesh in response.
Attack 1d20 + 8 - 3 ⇒ (10) + 8 - 3 = 15 vs EAC
Laser fire illuminates the night sky.

R4
Lna -
Kevan -
Barat -

R5
Aramesh -
ENEMY

R 1
O 1
Y 4
G 3

I'll try to keep them from getting away!

Computers check to try and tether the copter, with Serum of Enhancement, Scientist and Harrying Fire: 1d20 + 16 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 16 + 2 + 2 = 28

Is that a Full action or Standard? If it is a Standard, Kevan will use his Move action to pull his advanced skipshot pistol

Standard action, you can draw your pistol

Aramesh will delay until after Barat's turn because I'll want to move Aramesh behind Barat after Barat finishes his turn - leaving Aramesh adjacent to Barat when the enemies start their turn.

Once Barat takes his turn, Aramesh will do the following:

Seeing the team rappel down, Aramesh mutters, "oboy! this escalated real fast!"

Aramesh then moves behind Barat for some cover, then fires a pistol at whomever Barat also attacked!
corona laser pistol: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22
F damage: 2d4 + 3 ⇒ (3, 2) + 3 = 8

With the locker not yielding, Elena spends a few calculation cycles on estimating the average time to pierce the lock, and another cycle on how and why the locker would be locked in this situation. She doesn't reach satisfactory answers, triggering a harried whirr from her. With too much heat near the target, she switches gears. She skitters up the side of the lockers and then points her needler pistol down at the nearest of Royce's hired helpers.

Trick Attack (sleight of hand) vs 20+CR: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (1) + 16 = 17
Needler Pistol: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10 Damage (P): 1d6 + 3 + 3d8 ⇒ (5) + 3 + (7, 1, 2) = 18 (flat-footed if it hits)

LNA notes that the locker could also be reasonably be classed as a 'safe' for valuables and time to crack would be measured in minutes, not seconds.
Could be that Royce has engaged the locking mechanism from the inside, or any other number of reasons that it doesn't want to open.

The needle goes wide and hits some of the freight.

Barat then Aramesh action :)

Barat Oza moves to engage one of the newly-arrived foes.

Entropic Strike vs KAC: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29
damage (A&B): 2d6 + 10 ⇒ (3, 3) + 10 = 16
crit damage: 2d6 + 10 ⇒ (1, 5) + 10 = 16

Barat flattens one of the new arrivals.

Aramesh shoots one of the others!

***

The raiders all draw grenades and lob them at Aramesh and Barat

Attack 3d20 ⇒ (11, 1, 2) = 14
Scatter 1d8 ⇒ 5
Damage 1d6 ⇒ 4
Damage 1d6 ⇒ 6
Damage 1d6 ⇒ 5
DC 10 ref for each for half damage.

none can really damage the crane significantly

***

The turreted weapon opens up on Aramesh again.
Attack 1d20 + 8 - 3 ⇒ (8) + 8 - 3 = 13 vs EAC
Laser fire illuminates the night sky.

R5
Lna -
Kevan -
Barat -

R6
Aramesh -
ENEMY

R Dead
O 9
Y 4
G 3

A number of Questions about the Crane:
Do I need to spend actions maintaining the Tether?
Can I use the Tether to move the Copter?
Maybe reorient it so the turret isn't aligned to fire at us anymore?
Or even turn it around so the pilot has a hard time seeing any upcoming tunnels or bridges?
Move it to the side of the Train so that it might hit other obstacles that are not directly over the track?

It looks like you need to hold the copter in place, but you could also 'jostle it a bit' and make it more difficult for the gunner. Looking at the screen you can see you aren't far away from an upcoming tunnel, 6-12 seconds away at a guess...

Barat Oza dives for cover as grenade after grenade explodes in the narrow confines of the train car! But he's back on his feet in moments, charging toward another of the rappelers.

Grenade!: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 6 = 13
Grenade!!: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14
Grenade!!!: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18
entropic strike vs KAC: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24
damage (A&B): 2d6 + 10 ⇒ (2, 4) + 10 = 16

Barat flattens out another of the henchmen!

R5
Lna -
Kevan -
Barat - acted

R6
Aramesh -
ENEMY

R Dead
O Dead
Y 4
G 3

Elena leaps off the lockers to skitter across the top of the large cargo crate nearby. With her needler trained on the next of the ambushers, she fires away.

Trick Attack (sleight of hand) vs 20+CR: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (4) + 16 = 20
Needler Pistol: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25 Damage (P): 1d6 + 3 + 3d8 ⇒ (2) + 3 + (1, 2, 3) = 11

Though she's shooting at the ambushers, her thoughts are back on the problem of Royce.

Reflex DC10: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20
Reflex DC10: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22
Reflex DC10: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21

Aramesh dodges and weaves to avoid as much grenade damage as he can!

He then moves behind Barat for some cover, then fires a pistol at the same person Elena attacked!
corona laser pistol: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17
F damage: 2d4 + 3 ⇒ (4, 1) + 3 = 8

LNA and Aramesh flatten another one!

Kevan can see the tunnel rapidly approaching... (holding the chopper?)

R5
Lna - acted
Kevan -
Barat - acted

R6
Aramesh - acted
ENEMY

R Dead
O Dead
Y Dead
G 3

Absolutely holding the Copter. If nothing else, this might disrupt whatever plan Royce has to escape.

I am hoping this situation will remind me of scraping pet poo off of one's shoe.

Computers check to try and tether the copter, with Serum of Enhancement, Scientist attempting to release the Copter just as it hits the tunnel, to avoid damaging the crane.: 1d20 + 16 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 16 + 2 = 27

Kevan holds the copter in place, the pilot struggles against the pull, but that isn't going anywhere

The last remaining raider opens fire on Barat

Attack 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 19 vs KAC
Damage 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

R6
Lna -
Kevan -
Barat -

R7
Aramesh -
ENEMY

R Dead
O Dead
Y Dead
G 3

Barat Oza ducks under the raider's shot and then rushes up with a slicing tentacle. "Your assault plan was bold, but lacked sufficient firepower to disperse a determined force such as ourselves. Should you survive, I hope you find this experience instructive."

Attacking Green.

entropic strike vs KAC: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (10) + 9 = 19
damage (A&B): 2d6 + 10 ⇒ (1, 6) + 10 = 17

As an aside, I have to compliment you Shifty on your slides--you have a good eye for design!

Thank you - I have tried to draw upon the things I liked from other peoples decks and continued to refine from there. For each of the one-shots I have used a similar style, but changed the theme colouring to suit the adventure - for this I went blue which tied in with the cover art, band on the run was all about that vibrant purple and 'rock royalty' opulence etc.

The last henchman is flattened - looking up it seems that you are mere seconds away from the tunnel!

Everyone else still up!

With henchmen all broken and busted, Elena pauses for a moment to listen for any more commotion that might indicate a problem (any peeps out of Royce?). If she doesn't hear anything, she messages the others over comms "Secure the object of interest. Once in the tunnel, we will not be able to escape for some time. I will deal with Royce."

She skitters over to Royce's locker and switches to her retractable spike. (How sturdy does it look? Could she punch through the lock with a stab? Or is this an engineering situation?)

Elena gets to the back of the carriage and can see the locker is very sturdy and secure, this would be a matter of at several minutes of safe cracking.

Aramesh legs it towards the back of the train as Kevan holds the chopper in place before releasing it at the last second. Flaming debris showers the carriage as the copter connects with the lip of the tunnel and a bright (and terrifically loud) explosion lights up the night sky.

Barat 3d6 ⇒ (4, 4, 2) = 10 Fire damage - DC19 Ref for half

Given the loud and dramatic firefight you have just had, you suspect the whole train is aware something big is going down in this carriage.

The grav-train rushes on through darkness broken by the regular flickering of lights mounted on the tunnel walls. The sound of whistling wind overhead is replaced by an ominous silence as the train barrels down the tunnel at top speed, its frictionless runners barely making enough sound to echo off the cavernous walls as they fly by. Suddenly, your comm units crackle to life, and after a moment of static, you recognize Arda’s voice. “Come in! Are ya alive in there? Did ya make it?”

Kevan rushes to the other end of the car (I assume we came in from the East) and starts to disable the door with an Engineering check.

Engineering, with Serum of Enhancement, Scientist: 1d20 + 12 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 12 + 2 = 28

He is also keeping an eye on the storage lockers at this end of the car, in case Royce has a way to get from the lockers on the West end to the lockers in the East.

Let's find the crate we need and get out of here.

Can he see the crate we are looking for?

Kevan can see the crate on the bottom of the stack (Royce had pointed it out), will need the crane to lift the others off it, and it seems quite large (though you really just want the contents).

Kevan starts working on the door

Anyone responding to your pilot?

Question: Shrink Object is listed in Kevan's Class Features but not his Spells? His Bio states he likes to cast it on objects to escape with them I take it the case is too large to cast this on? If so, he will move back down to the crane as soon as he has the door jammed. He is still concerned Royce may pop out of the East Lockers, so when he moves the crate off of the crate they need, he will pile them in front of the East locker doors.

Arda, we're here. Should be ready to extract soon.

You think about a minute to get the crate free and snatch the merchandise, and you could likely shrink the object to a 6" cube
You can put a pile of heavy items in front of Royces locker and lock him in easy enough (those crates are going to have to be moved anyway amirite?!)

“Damn! I was sure y’all were gonna cash in back there. That’s on me for doubting ya, I guess. Listen, I reckon ya ain’t got long before that train pulls into Steepshore, and that oughta be more than enough time for Ixo to throw together one helluva welcome wagon. If ya could handle that last hullabaloo, though, I suppose ya could still wriggle outta this"['b].

[b]“So listen up. I know a spot about a mile outside the station where I can set down and wait for ya; I’ll send ya the coordinates. Ya make it out there alive, and we might still pull this thing off. It ain’t gonna be easy, but I’ll do what I can. Ya still in the cargo car? Tell me what yer thinkin’, and I’ll check the manifest and see if any o’ them crates has anything useful inside.”

Option 1: Get outta dodge! (Escape and evade)
Option 2: Be cool. (Escape in plain sight)

Barat Oza manages to dive behind a crate, but still finds the wave of heat intense.

Reflex save vs exploding helichopper: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20

Not sure if I'm parsing Arda's comments right. Is this correct:
1) He can't pick us up while the train is moving, after it leaves the tunnel. Instead he's going to land somewhere and we have to get to him?
2) There's going to be a horde of security people once we get out of the tunnel? Maybe more than we can fight?

How much time until we leave the tunnel? Is it out of the question to open the locker?

Elena clicks in disgust as the sturdiness of the locker frustrates her. Quietly, she utters "I will ensure you do not leave here intact, one way or another."

She responds to Arda "We have a large opening in this train car. If you can fly up close the moment we leave the tunnel, we may not need to deal with any welcome the simpletons of the Ixo manage to assemble."

The train is moving through a tunnel in a mountainside, the train is due (in the next few minutes) to emerge and arrive at the next station which is just outside the tunnel.

With security alerted about an incident on the train it is not feasible to pull the copter up and attempt to collect you, but there is a discrete spot to land not too far from the station where you can rendezvous.

You will have security people at the station, as well as all the Ixo already on the train - so fighting your way out would be an option, but probably a dangerous one.

With the Ixo (lead by Brom and his enforcement team) likely enroute, you are maybe a minute or two away from discovery, it only took you a few minutes to get here walking casually, Brom and his goon squad are probably not worried about the casual part, and you probably don't want to be around for that.

If the two Options Arda provided are the only ones, I will not be of much help in Option 2. Either way, maybe we should leave Royce here as a distraction Can we set him up to get the blame and delay/distract pursuit?

I assume most of the train is to the map East? I jammed that lock pretty good. How many cars are "behind" us to map West? Since the top of the car is open, could we move over the top of the train to where we entered before and blend in to the crowd?

65 cars ahead, 34 cars behind
You could leave Royce here to get caught, plenty of options, depends on how you play it - letting him take the fall is probably more of the 'play cool' approach. You may have more to work with if you let Varda know what you are thinking as they have offered to work to get you more intel

Like the good soldier he is, Barat Oza stands ready to execute whatever plan he's instructed to carry out.

If the two Options Arda provided are the only ones, I will not be of much help in Option 2.

I don't want to meta or tip your hand, but the scenario provides a reasonable opportunity for everyone to contribute to option 2 rather than just the Face/Aramesh making Diplo rolls etc

What this is giving you is the way in which you want to end the movieadventure, do you want an action movie with escape and evasion and potential gunfights, or do you want some sort of Oceans XX caper where you hide in plain sight and use wits and guile (on top of smooth-talking) to make good the escape. Each has their risks!

OK, that makes more sense. I love option #2, but first...

Elena surveys the bank of lockers, commenting on the predicament to her temporary allies. "It seems we are in a difficult situation. After we secure the target, we will still need to find the means to escape." She starts skittering up the walls "And the means to ensure that Royce will meet his end."

She reaches out to Arda "We are in need of an adequate solution to both problems. Do you have inventory on what else is stored in this car? If there are any potent explosives..." She spends a cycle considering the optimal placement to ensure the lockers and their contents are completely obliterated.

"If we can create a distraction, fix it so it appears as though Royce tampered with the wrong crate and earned an explosion for his trouble, then the rest of us may be able to leave unhindered. The opening on the roof for example - we can cling to the exterior of the train while the responders investigate the interior of this car."

Not sure if that's option 1 or 2. I'm kinda spitballing.

“Hmm. Sounds risky. Might be the only way outta this, though.”[b] Arda pauses thoughtfully. [b]“Okay then. Ya definitely don’t wanna be in that car when the train reaches the station. Bulls got the cars on both sides of ya locked down. But if ya can get on the roof, ya could crawl down to the entry hatch and sneak back into the lounge. Y’all do stand out a bit in a crowd, though, and I reckon everybody’ll remember ya were the ones jawin’ with Lancaster right before his datapad went missin’. Lemme see if I can help ya find any cargo what could help with that.”

After a few moments, Vonn indicates that you should examine one of the containers which turns out to contain a stash of five aluminum briefcases that each have a holoskin, a set of reconfigurable clothing (Armory 129), and a thick dossier on an employee of Ulrikka Clanholdings (potentially worth 500 credits to the right buyer). Tucked into one of the briefcases is a mk 1 null-space chamber that resembles a fancy wristwatch.

"There's no explosives though, just a potential means of escape"

"Your assistance is invaluable." Elena closes her connection with Arda after tactically offering the kind of targeted praise that most biologicals find motivating. She surveys the selection of clothing and equipment.

To her team she says "This appears to be a satisfactory method to escape. You will disguise yourselves. I will enter the null-space chamber, as my appearance will not be easy to obscure with a holoskin. It is not the first time I have traveled in such a way, in any case." She looks back at the locker "Unfortunately, this denies us a way to ensure Royce meets an appropriate end."

I think we still need to move a bunch of crates also to access our target. While we're moving crates, can we drop a few on Royce? :)

You could 100% place the heavy crates at Royces locker and he'd be totally trapped. Of course the Synicate will be along shortly and that might leave him in a pickle, given there is him, plus the bodies of a bunch of his mercs, and a missing payload...

Just be aware, once you are in the null-space you wont know what is going on, and the only way out is for someone to open it to release you - you may be offline for a significant period of the remainder of the adventure :)

Barat Oza complies with the new orders and begins attempting to disguise himself with the clothing and equipment from the crates. It's a bit tricky because, as an ijtikri, he doesn't wear much in the way of clothing to begin with. He also seems to think keeping the shoulder-mounted laser cannon would be inobtrusive.

Ha, a.k.a., Barat Oza has no ranks in Disguise.

Kevan will also struggle with the Holoskin and reconfigurable clothing.

Also no ranks in disguise

Does the Dossier describe the employee of Ulrikka Clanholding and possibly some retainers we could impersonate?

Luckily, other people can use the disguise skill for you, and Aramesh has a +13!

Elena takes control of the crane to free up the holoskins and other goodies, as well as the crate containing the mysterious target cargo. As she works the crane, she scatters the contents of the other boxes to make it look like someone was rummaging through them for something.

Once the rest of the group is ready, she grabs a holoskin and lets Aramesh disguise her as a baggage-carrying domestic drone.

Disguise for Aramesh: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (13) + 13 = 26

Does the Dossier describe the employee of Ulrikka Clanholding and possibly some retainers we could impersonate?

You could reasonably claim to be the UH Employees, there is enough plausible tidbits to pick up and pepper into any conversation.

Dropping the crates on Royces door to lock him in? What are you doing with the datapad? Once you are happy I will progress

My inclination is to remove any indication we were the ones who had the datapad and then leave it here with Royce. That way if it can be traced, we don't have it. I am still in favor of blocking Royce in with crates. Perhaps we disable the crane so it takes them longer to get him out? We would need to make sure they know someone is in the locker, so perhaps put the datapad conspicuously in front of the locker?

So locking Royce in, wiping the datapad of any fingerprints, then dumping it in the carriage and vanishing?