Incident Pit III
-[X] Write-in: Remotely cut power to shut down the train and have a sniper take out subject Theta then, once it has slowed down divert the train to a spur track to avoid a slaughter at the terminal or a derail, and finally send the gendarmes.
-[X]Warehouse (Pyrrus) Write-in: Attempt to infiltrate surveillance automata into the warehouse to gather information. During the infiltration, prepare an assault force and make them ready to hit the building. Also have surveillance watching the underground systems around the Warehouse incase they are used as an escape route or other function.
-[X]Spyhunt (Konstantine) Rope any remotely relevant organization into the search and damn the potential for leaks.
19:30 To Konstantine City
With the risk of derailment growing with every passing second and the lives of hundreds at stake, the operation leaders waste no time in formulating a new plan to deal with Subject Theta and the train under his command. Ordering the nearby Gendarmes to hold back, for now, orders were given for power to the train line to be cut as soon as possible; a team of engineers working under armed guard to get it done. After only a few minutes, just long enough for the plan to be explained to the Gendarmes, the engineers were ready and the switch was flipped; the flow of power to the train drying up in an instant.
To the Gendarmes hovering out of sight, the change was noticeable only as the sudden death of the lights on board and the rapidly growing deceleration of the train as air brakes automatically triggered and friction began to work upon the now unpowered mass. With enviable skill, the dropship's pilot hurled the massive craft through the air and with peerless speed, the unit's sole sniper readied her rifle, drew a bead on the cabin, and opened fire. In the blink of an eye, a tenth of a second, the heavy bullet crossed the distance between the sniper and her target…
And missed.
As if by luck or malign providence, Subject Theta was already moving as the sniper fired; the sudden loss of light aboard the train no doubt heeded as the warning that it was. An instant later, before the report of the rifle had a chance to reach him, the first bullet struck the train's control console in a shower of sparks, then the second, and then the third. Before the pilot of the dropship could adjust and give his passenger a better shot, the second phase of the plan kicked off and the train juddered as it switched tracks; the spur line carrying the train (and Theta) away from the densely packed centre of Konstantine city and the dropship. Either well-trained by his masters or else quick on his feet, Theta took advantage of the fortuitous change in direction to flee the driver's cabin; the sniper sending another hastily aimed shot after him but failing to connect.
Reports of what followed are still somewhat confused. However, what is known is that in the time it took the dropship pilot to rejoin the train, Subject Theta systematically began targeting civilians; opening fire on those people trapped in the first carriage. Armed with an IvP-18 Tropov Machine Pistol, Subject Theta killed seven civilians in less than thirty seconds and injured many more through panic, shoot-throughs, and ricochets. With the Gendarmes bearing down on him from above and a number of passengers advancing on him, Subject Theta then forced open the doors of the carriage and hurled himself from the still-moving train.
Though weighing more than 300 tons, friction and the train's fail-safe brakes had done much to slow the vehicle's breakneck pace, Theta's leap going from certain death to bad bruising in the time it took for him to escape the engineer's cabin and hurl himself out the door. However, whatever Theta's plan had been, if he even had one in the first place, was suddenly and terminally interrupted by the sniper's fifth and final round; the bullet striking him in his heart and killing him instantly.
All together, Subject Theta managed to kill seven people and injure a further twelve in his rampage; several of the latter category in quite a critical condition with a 50/50 shot at surviving. The worst act of terror in Helghan's recent history and the worst mass shooting since the planet's arrival in this new universe, the loss of lives is only somewhat mitigated by the knowledge that it could have been so much worse if those on the side of the angels had been only a little slower.
In related news, rapid analysis of the device used by subject Theta to break into the driver's compartment of the train has returned interesting results (or did once the thing was finally prised off the door).
An advanced electronic codebreaker, the slim device was used by Theta to crack the security codes preventing access to the cabin without triggering an alert to the engineer or to the transit control centre in Konstantine City. Given the complexity of the task, the sheer illegality of such a device, and the unequal distribution of technology throughout the galaxy, it almost certainly belongs to an Inner Sphere spy agency rather than a Periphery power or independent group --not that either possibility rated highly for an explanation as to who the spies masters were. Furthermore, decompilation of the palm-sized device's operating system using known techniques has revealed code signatures hinting at (but not confirming) a Capellan/Mandate origin. However, it should be kept in mind that decompilation of any software inherently involves translation and guesswork and that the resulting output is often obfuscated and difficult to read.
With the discovery of the codebreaker aboard Theta's train, a follow-up sweep of the other trains has revealed the presence of identical devices; the spies having presumably dropped or dumped them when they realised what was happening. While some are in the same good condition as Theta's, a handful appear to have self-destructed at some point during the assaults.
Warehouse (Pyrrus)
Concurrently with the saving of the 19:30 to Konstantine and on the opposite side of the planet, agents of Republic Intelligence work feverishly to infiltrate and secure the meeting site of the hostile spies. Viewing the warehouse as an ideal location to keep the spies trapped prior to the planned assault, large numbers of the local police are directed into a loose cordon around the site and the Gendarmes are called in to provide the muscle. Over the twenty minutes it takes for the Gendarmes and police to trickle into place and for civilian traffic to slowly be eased out of the way, Republic Intelligence breaks out its war chest of surveillance automata and unleashes its contents on the warehouse.
From airborne stealth drones that orbit high above the dingy warehouse to centipede-like surveillance bots that scamper across the cracked concrete walls, automata of all manner turn their attention to the building. Hunched over their screens in a hastily assembled command point, intelligence agents, Gendarme officers, and police captains watch, fretfully, as dozens of surveillance machines worm, skitter, burrow, and jump their way into the target zone; the sound of voices growing ever louder and more discernible as the machines approach their target. A relatively large and open space, infiltration of the warehouse's above-ground section proceeds smoothly despite the need for caution. Designed for operation in a variety of environments, the automata return crystal clear video of the building's interior; nondescript boxes giving way to pallets of stolen goods which in turn give way to the spies.
In a corner office guarded by three members of a local crime syndicate, subjects Alpha, Nu, and Xi are caught mid-discussion around a table stacked high with Helghan Marks and weapons. While a dozen agents monitor their plan to attack Pyrrus' premier Petrusite research lab, others make an inventory of the weapons they have on display (one assault rifle, several SMGs, and a number of pistols), and yet more send out their machines to hunt for signs of subjects Gamma and Zeta. Though they scour the surrounding area like hawks, the missing spies are nowhere to be seen and the only discovery made is of a half-dozen basketball-sized stainless steel vats identified, after an agonizing five-minute wait, as bioreactors.
Underground, meanwhile, things proceed less smoothly.
Though the aboveground structure of the building may be dingy and somewhat run-down, the underground portions of the warehouse speak to neglect and malfeasance on the part of the building's owners. A labyrinth of pipes and tunnels illuminated by the occasional flickering light, the underground section of the warehouse proves difficult to navigate for those agents driving surveillance automata. Despite being designed for difficult environments, signal dropouts are constant as automata experience patchwork radio interference or are occluded by the mass of the structure above. Worse still, unexpected obstructions in the form of illegal modifications and unmarked walls rear their head more than a dozen times; a number of agents forced to backtrack their spybots over and over again in search of a route through the frustrating rats nest. Finally, and perhaps the worst of all from the perspective of sensor coverage, a number of automata are lost to everything from poorly shielded power lines to unexpected dead drops; the expensive, delicate machines fried or smashed to bits in an incautious moment.
In the end, sensor coverage of the warehouse is secured just as the cordon itself is finished; the above-ground sections almost completely under the eye of Republic intelligence and the belowground sections estimated at 60-70%. While subjects Alpha, Nu, and Xi have been spotted in the warehouse and are nearing the end of their planning meeting, subjects Gamma and Zeta are still nowhere to be seen despite the rapidly approaching endgame of the spies.
This, of course, leaves the commanders of the operation in a bit of a bind. Assaulting while the spies are still planning their next move would almost certainly put them on the back foot, however, if Zeta and Gamma are in the above-ground section of the structure then the lack of vision may allow them to either escape or aid their fellow spies. However, if Zeta and Gamma are in the underground section of the warehouse, then assaulting their co-conspirators or focussing surveillance efforts there would risk them escaping into Pyrrus, sight-unseen. Attempting to split the available surveillance resources and investigate both parts of the building would be doable… but it would be less effective than focussing on either area as there are only so many eyes to see and automata to dispatch.
[] Assault the warehouse now and damn the consequences.
[] Increase surveillance coverage of the above-ground section in the hopes of finding Gamma and Zeta.
[] Increase surveillance coverage of the below-ground section in the hopes of finding Gamma and Zeta.
[] Split the difference and dispatch additional automata into both sections of the structure, accepting the loss of effectiveness as the price of doing business.
[] Write-in
OOC: Rough as guts text, but whatever. Also, your forces are so overstretched that the rolls you made only just managed to assemble a cordon around the zone and even that took ages. It was rough.
Spy hunt (Konstantine)
In comparison to the difficulties faced during the recapture of the hijacked train and during the surveillance of the Pyrrus-based spies, the attempt to find those spies operating in Konstantine has met with rapid success. Inspired by the use of sanitation automata in Pyrrus, personnel in Konstantine made use of a variety of non-standard sources to scour the city --gigabytes of error logs, civil bot reports, and public live streams analysed for the faces of the missing spies. Despite the hostile operatives having a solid head start, Republic intelligence was soon rewarded in their efforts when match after match was made; the three remaining hostile agents identified as meeting inside a half-finished apartment complex in the inner city for the past fifteen minutes.
Structurally complete, though not externally decorated and with unfinished interiors, the Oaklands complex stands testament to the damage wrought to the economy by the rapidly fluctuating strength of the Helghan Mark in recent years. Though only indirectly affected by the change in value, construction on the twenty-story, mixed-income housing complex was halted in early 3033 in response to a significant reduction in the owning company's liquidity. Normally home only to native pests, stray animals, and the occasional group of idle teens, the apartments within the multi-story tower no doubt serve an altogether more ominous purpose thanks to the presence of subjects Kappa, Lambda, and Mu.
Boasting easy access to the CBD, proximity to schools, proximity to public transport, an expansive underground garage, and numerous above and belowground exits, the Oaklands is a terrible place to have to run counter-terror operations in. Though the floorplans of the building were publicly filed and so are available to the task force, the pause on work means that there's no way to know which non-structural elements were finished and which were left incomplete. Additionally, though there's no furniture within the building, there's likely to be a significant amount of leftover building materials and scaffolding lying within; enough to confuse sightlines and navigation. Worse still, thanks to the lack of surveillance equipment inside the building, there's no telling where in particular the hostile agents are, nor what they're currently doing.
Furthermore, to the dismay of those hoping to keep things quiet until events had run their course, it seems as if the operation's grace period has begun to run out. While only a handful of news organizations have begun to report on the deployment of Gendarmes in Pyrrus and Konstantine, numerous individuals involved in local government have informed Republic Intelligence that many news outlets have tried to secure comments from them. Additionally, speculation as to why the Gendarmes have been deployed has already begun on social media, with links already being formed with the spate of train cancellations in both cities. While no one has put the pieces together yet, and no one on the six trains has been allowed access to the internet, it's only a matter of time until someone spills the goods and who knows how that'll impact the actions of the hostiles.
Given the most-assuredly ticking clock, some members of the task force suggest doing what surveillance can be done in the time it takes to gather up a few squads of Gendarmes, then assaulting the tower as soon as the hostile agents are pinpointed. While this would be one of the faster options, the deployment of Gendarmes across Konstantine city to deal with two attempted hijackings (and one actual), means that the forces available for the assault would likely be overstretched. Others, meanwhile, suggest besieging the tower and its exits and using the time that buys to both properly surveil the tower
and gather up a significant force of Gendarmes. Though slower than the first option, it would give the task force a clearer idea as to the conditions inside the tower, a better understanding of what the spies are doing, and allow the Gendarmes time to gather their strength. However, seeing that the crisis is slowly becoming public knowledge, a small minority suggests simply disregarding secrecy and calling on personnel from nearby military bases. While this would be the least subtle option, and the deadliest, it would also be the fastest and the Republic military has an abundance of highly-trained, highly-equipped assault troops used to operating without much intel in complex environments.
[] Infiltrate the tower with surveillance devices to pinpoint the location of the hostile spies, then launch an assault with what Gendarmes can be spared.
[] Besiege the tower and its exits with local police and use the time it buys to infiltrate the tower and gather Gendarmes
[] Call up assault personnel from the nearby military bases and sweep and clear the tower.
[] Write-in.
