- Location
- va
[X] Omicron
Cowls: A World of Supermen and Subterfuge
- Thread starter MJ12 Commando
- Start date
- Original
-
- Tags
- cyberpunk (punk)
Vindictus
XENO
- Location
- Texas
[X] Hire him for $4m. It's a ridiculous amount, but his legal expertise- and potential future access to his combat expertise- is worth it.
Well, it's a lot of money, but we know Darius, and we know Darius knows his shit. IMO, this is money well spent, even if it diminishes our other options.
[X] Look into hiring Chemist. It'll be expensive, but his presence and abilities alone should enormously boost your biotech lab's capabilities. Enhanciles have a tendency to do that. $1.5m
We went into Biotech because we felt like it would be a good area, given we already had biological enhancement schematics from the prologue. Chemist will cost us a fair bit, for sure, but he'll kick our bio-engineers into overdrive, and I'm sort of curious about if our people could reverse engineer his enhancements. If we could get cows to produce chemicals instead of milk, for example, well, I think that would be very useful.
[X] Look into hiring Lima Seven-Nine. A team of experienced military veterans is a powerful combat asset, a group who'll work directly beneath you. They won't be of much help elsewhere in the company, but if you're looking at taking on gangs with more members than you have confirmed kills, they'll be an enormous amount of help. $2m
[X] Look into hiring the ex-police officers. There are rather a lot of them, nearly two dozen, and they'll each want hiring bonuses and hazard pay, but not only are they good support assets on the field, they're good PR. $1.5m
Listing these two as one group, because they're basically going to be our security forces.
Now, we could go for the gangers instead, but take a moment to consider- L-79 is an elite military force, who will without a doubt be far more useful than a bunch of gangsters due to their military experience and tactical expertise. Of course, they hate corruption- But unless I missed something, Ez is an idealist who vowed to run this company honestly. The ultimate goal here isn't profits, even if profits are useful- it's to bring the corrupt industry down around companies like the one who betrayed us. We can't do that if we go full Corruption Modo anyway.
The police will be useful because they're trained assets, familiar with the area we are in, and who bring in a lot of local goodwill. While two dozen former officers isn't exactly a lot, with any luck they'll be the first step towards recruiting more assets of the same kind.
As far as hiring from the gangs goes... I don't trust them. Oh, sure, we've got Immolator on our team, but overall I don't think that the risk of gang members fucking around on our dime and giving us a bad name is worth whatever minor benefit we get from more warm bodies. If we'd gone for the Gangster route earlier, of course, I'd be singing a completely different tune- But I don't think it's in character for Ez to hire them as she is now.
[X] Travel to the various local universities and schools in the area, keeping an eye out for anyone with talent or education in chemical and bio-engineering studies. Putting up small scholarships will help immensely, but you can find people to hire immediately, too. $.5m. This option can be taken up to three times.
[X] Travel to the various local universities and schools in the area, keeping an eye out for anyone with talent or education in chemical and bio-engineering studies. Putting up small scholarships will help immensely, but you can find people to hire immediately, too. $.5m. This option can be taken up to three times.
[X] Travel to the various local universities and schools in the area, keeping an eye out for anyone with talent or education in chemical and bio-engineering studies. Putting up small scholarships will help immensely, but you can find people to hire immediately, too. $.5m. This option can be taken up to three times.
Having more trained bio-engineers on staff sounds like it will help our growth. I'm going to vote for putting all three actions into use because compared to other assets this is relatively cheap, and since bio-engineering is our primary business it makes sense to expand our dev team in this area quickly so we can see more returns, faster.
[X] Travel to the various local universities and keep an eye out for anyone with talent in journalism or media relations. Your PR division is really, really stunted right now, almost non-existent. $.5m. This option can be taken up to two times.
Good PR is something we should get as well. I considered investing in two media relations hires, but I'm not sure we'll benefit from a larger PR department in the same way we will from a larger Bio-Engineering department- Having some PR agents on staff, in addition to hiring the officers and a highly trained legal expert, should probably be enough for now.
[X] Division is a powerful tool, but elimination is a better one. The gangs won't be a threat if you just put them down. You can threaten or hospitalize a lot of their members, neutralize their leaders, and liberate their assets for your own use. It risks destabilizing the area, but if you're effective enough about it, you should be able to shut them down and begin stabilizing the area before the larger gangs around you finish pushing in. 1.5x
We've got a fairly strong Security department, and good PR. Our former police officers should have a decent idea of how to secure the area, the L-79 veterans can provide the firepower, and our legal/PR department can spin things in our favor as far as media perception is concerned.
Well, it's a lot of money, but we know Darius, and we know Darius knows his shit. IMO, this is money well spent, even if it diminishes our other options.
[X] Look into hiring Chemist. It'll be expensive, but his presence and abilities alone should enormously boost your biotech lab's capabilities. Enhanciles have a tendency to do that. $1.5m
We went into Biotech because we felt like it would be a good area, given we already had biological enhancement schematics from the prologue. Chemist will cost us a fair bit, for sure, but he'll kick our bio-engineers into overdrive, and I'm sort of curious about if our people could reverse engineer his enhancements. If we could get cows to produce chemicals instead of milk, for example, well, I think that would be very useful.
[X] Look into hiring Lima Seven-Nine. A team of experienced military veterans is a powerful combat asset, a group who'll work directly beneath you. They won't be of much help elsewhere in the company, but if you're looking at taking on gangs with more members than you have confirmed kills, they'll be an enormous amount of help. $2m
[X] Look into hiring the ex-police officers. There are rather a lot of them, nearly two dozen, and they'll each want hiring bonuses and hazard pay, but not only are they good support assets on the field, they're good PR. $1.5m
Listing these two as one group, because they're basically going to be our security forces.
Now, we could go for the gangers instead, but take a moment to consider- L-79 is an elite military force, who will without a doubt be far more useful than a bunch of gangsters due to their military experience and tactical expertise. Of course, they hate corruption- But unless I missed something, Ez is an idealist who vowed to run this company honestly. The ultimate goal here isn't profits, even if profits are useful- it's to bring the corrupt industry down around companies like the one who betrayed us. We can't do that if we go full Corruption Modo anyway.
The police will be useful because they're trained assets, familiar with the area we are in, and who bring in a lot of local goodwill. While two dozen former officers isn't exactly a lot, with any luck they'll be the first step towards recruiting more assets of the same kind.
As far as hiring from the gangs goes... I don't trust them. Oh, sure, we've got Immolator on our team, but overall I don't think that the risk of gang members fucking around on our dime and giving us a bad name is worth whatever minor benefit we get from more warm bodies. If we'd gone for the Gangster route earlier, of course, I'd be singing a completely different tune- But I don't think it's in character for Ez to hire them as she is now.
[X] Travel to the various local universities and schools in the area, keeping an eye out for anyone with talent or education in chemical and bio-engineering studies. Putting up small scholarships will help immensely, but you can find people to hire immediately, too. $.5m. This option can be taken up to three times.
[X] Travel to the various local universities and schools in the area, keeping an eye out for anyone with talent or education in chemical and bio-engineering studies. Putting up small scholarships will help immensely, but you can find people to hire immediately, too. $.5m. This option can be taken up to three times.
[X] Travel to the various local universities and schools in the area, keeping an eye out for anyone with talent or education in chemical and bio-engineering studies. Putting up small scholarships will help immensely, but you can find people to hire immediately, too. $.5m. This option can be taken up to three times.
Having more trained bio-engineers on staff sounds like it will help our growth. I'm going to vote for putting all three actions into use because compared to other assets this is relatively cheap, and since bio-engineering is our primary business it makes sense to expand our dev team in this area quickly so we can see more returns, faster.
[X] Travel to the various local universities and keep an eye out for anyone with talent in journalism or media relations. Your PR division is really, really stunted right now, almost non-existent. $.5m. This option can be taken up to two times.
Good PR is something we should get as well. I considered investing in two media relations hires, but I'm not sure we'll benefit from a larger PR department in the same way we will from a larger Bio-Engineering department- Having some PR agents on staff, in addition to hiring the officers and a highly trained legal expert, should probably be enough for now.
[X] Division is a powerful tool, but elimination is a better one. The gangs won't be a threat if you just put them down. You can threaten or hospitalize a lot of their members, neutralize their leaders, and liberate their assets for your own use. It risks destabilizing the area, but if you're effective enough about it, you should be able to shut them down and begin stabilizing the area before the larger gangs around you finish pushing in. 1.5x
We've got a fairly strong Security department, and good PR. Our former police officers should have a decent idea of how to secure the area, the L-79 veterans can provide the firepower, and our legal/PR department can spin things in our favor as far as media perception is concerned.
[X] Plan: 'For The Good Of The Community'
TenfoldShields
Lounging on a Hoard of Words
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Sarpedon
In general order:
Better to have a lawyer and not need him then need him and not have him and considering our line of specialized violence oh boy are we going to need one. And he's right y'know. He's the best option we're got this early on. The closest competition probably isn't half as well trained or experienced (I'm going to assume that Slaughter and May is pretty prestigious all things considered). Like sure, yeah, maybe we can turn up not!Daredevil if we look but I don't think it's worth playing those odds for uncertain likely unstable benefit.
Cops and Lima Seven-Nine are a good complimentary package. Recruiting the police proves to the community in general and Lima in particular that we're at least willing to drop a fair chunk of change on promoting law and order. Has the fringe benefit of giving us a much better in on all those sort of vigilante set-ups that are basically just heavily armed Neighborhood Watch since the cops will have likely been in contact, or at least be aware, of them. It'll probably make us more of a target for the gangs though. But ultimately that's what Lima's for.
I'm going with Sarp's recruitment spread rather than heavily weighting it towards any one. Half a mil isn't a small amount of money and I'm worried about blowing our load too early on the bioware front. Better to spread it around.
PI dude is pretty straightforward as is the Chemist. We're going to need to figure out a way to keep him on lock though.
Elimination is best I think. If there are fewer gangs fighting, fewer players at work, then the pressure on this closed system is going to ease up at least a little. It might intensify later and it runs the risk of painting a big, fat, target on our backs. But pumping money into the local economy is just going to get the assets stolen by local gangs. And fragmenting the gang coalitions is almost entirely the opposite of what we want. We don't want more gangs running around doing whatever the fuck as the Zone starts burning to the ground.
The idea is to have less.
In general order:
Better to have a lawyer and not need him then need him and not have him and considering our line of specialized violence oh boy are we going to need one. And he's right y'know. He's the best option we're got this early on. The closest competition probably isn't half as well trained or experienced (I'm going to assume that Slaughter and May is pretty prestigious all things considered). Like sure, yeah, maybe we can turn up not!Daredevil if we look but I don't think it's worth playing those odds for uncertain likely unstable benefit.
Cops and Lima Seven-Nine are a good complimentary package. Recruiting the police proves to the community in general and Lima in particular that we're at least willing to drop a fair chunk of change on promoting law and order. Has the fringe benefit of giving us a much better in on all those sort of vigilante set-ups that are basically just heavily armed Neighborhood Watch since the cops will have likely been in contact, or at least be aware, of them. It'll probably make us more of a target for the gangs though. But ultimately that's what Lima's for.
I'm going with Sarp's recruitment spread rather than heavily weighting it towards any one. Half a mil isn't a small amount of money and I'm worried about blowing our load too early on the bioware front. Better to spread it around.
PI dude is pretty straightforward as is the Chemist. We're going to need to figure out a way to keep him on lock though.
Elimination is best I think. If there are fewer gangs fighting, fewer players at work, then the pressure on this closed system is going to ease up at least a little. It might intensify later and it runs the risk of painting a big, fat, target on our backs. But pumping money into the local economy is just going to get the assets stolen by local gangs. And fragmenting the gang coalitions is almost entirely the opposite of what we want. We don't want more gangs running around doing whatever the fuck as the Zone starts burning to the ground.
The idea is to have less.
Vindictus
XENO
- Location
- Texas
Full disclosure: I like the idea of building up a cybernetics department. However, after considering things, I'm leaning towards buying in to cybernetics right now as probably not being an optimal decision.
To start, let's talk about diversification.
Diversifying your assets is good if you're an investor, and you want to mitigate the risk of your portfolio as a whole. However, Bio-Augs and Cybernetics are targeted towards the same market niche. Part of how portfolios of diversified assets work is that they target multiple different market niches which are not closely related. To demonstrate quickly why this is important: If you invested in five different companies in the oil industry, your entire portfolio will suffer if the price of oil drops and hurts that industry. However, if you've invested in an oil company, a shipping company, a medical company, a food company, and a fashion company, then you might lose some from the oil company but you won't lose any from the other four companies.
Second, let's talk relative advantage.
Right now, bio-engineering has a relative advantage over cybernetics in that we already have a bio-engineering department, with multiple stolen schematics that give us an edge. Pretty much everyone agrees on hiring the Chemist, as well, which creates an even greater relative advantage for the bio-engineering option. Now, don't get me wrong- investing in cybernetics will probably be profitable, but investing in bio-engineering will probably be more profitable due to that relative advantage. If every unit invested in cybernetics gets us two units back, and every unit invested in bio-engineering gets us three units back, we should focus on bio-engineering at the cost of cybernetics, because it will get us better end results.
Now, there is a caveat to this. Given the limits proposed, we would probably get the absolute maximum returns by investing in 3 teams of bio and 3 teams of cybernetics. The fact that we would get better returns from investing in 6 units of bio is not relevant because at the present time we cannot buy 6 units of bio anyway.
However, I do not think I'd be able to convince people to spend the additional 1.5m on a plan where we went all in on research/production/whatever capacity, even if it would leave us with over 25% of our initial capital in reserve for emergencies.
- Location
- Australia
To play devil's advocate for a moment;
If your intent is to fix the local community, would it not be better to hire the gangsters on- thereby both eliminating them as risks to the community, and pouring further money into the local community as people living there are now getting paid- than eliminate them?
I mean, sure, it'll cost you a significant chunk of your initial operating budget, and you'll likely see minimal returns on it, but...
TenfoldShields
Lounging on a Hoard of Words
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I think you make a really salient argument in that we're in a position where we're better off playing to our strengths out of necessity (and we have a pretty clear advantage in biotech) but...mm.
I might be mistaken but the impression I got is that most of the enhanciles don't make use of purely biomods or cybernetics but rather some mix of the two. Like if you cracked open any given enhancile or corporate soldier you'd find both at play. And sure yeah there are probably not entirely uncommon exceptions that prove the rule but it strikes me as a two-sides-of-the-same-coin type deal. Having a working knowledge of cybernetics and cybernetic integration will benefit development and implementation of biomods and vice versa. To create well rounded enhanciles and booster packages we need at least some grounding in both.
Plus it gives us something to fall back on if something happens to the bioware market. Were we won't be starting literally from scratch.
To play the devil's accuser (
) we're a fresh-ish face in the area and people don't really have our measure yet. This is our first impression and it counts for a great deal and hiring on gangers as uniformed muscle sends a pretty stark, pretty clear message. Especially when ex-cops doing community work are an option and everyone knows it. We want people to think of us as law and order. Protection and security. And yeah some of that's branding but, y'know, 'tis the cyberpunk future and branding counts for a whole hell of a lot.Hiring on and rehabilitating gangers and criminals in the area is definitely a priority but it's a longer term one I think. And given the question is more or less "what do you want the foundation of your security forces to be" ex-cops beats out questionably reformed criminals. At least in terms of discipline issues, if nothing else.
(Hopefully.)
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Vindictus
XENO
- Location
- Texas
There is a strong argument to be made that people become gangsters because they do not have any other options, and if they were provided with such options they would not be gang members in the first place.
However, we aren't really equipped to 'solve' the problem of crime in this manner. If we were operating as a government, then the tax revenue generated from the economic stimulus could plausibly cover the costs we'd see from this option- but, as it is, we are not a government entity, and establishing ourselves as a local dictatorship would probably not be a very wise idea.
This isn't even bringing up that if we make a policy of hiring every criminal gang we hear of in order to get them off the streets, that creates a perverse incentive for economically disadvantaged people to start criminal gangs as a transitional step into a career with our company.
Faux-Edit: Also yeah what TenfoldShields said.
- Location
- Australia
Actually, you already have the foundations of your security force. (It's you. And Immolator. And a bunch of generics Alfonso hired on the cheap.)
Beyond that, while this will influence what people think of you, it's not either-or. You can have both police and gang members!
Write-ins can also influence how it'll turn out, at minimum by allowing you guys to define the basic personalities of the gang leaders (within reason). And wouldn't that be fun?
I'm not here to debate all the pros and cons of the choices with you, or anything like that, so I'll stop here. I just wanted to outline to people that there are different aspects to consider than the raw fact some people are members of gangs.
Downzone 3: Obstacle Clearing
- Location
- Australia
Downzone 3: Obstacle Clearing
"So do you want a diamond pony and a mansion as well?" You ask Darius. "That's a lot of money." He's right. You really need someone like him on staff, and since he's here...
"Maybe in a few years, but not right now. I feel charitable, and you're in luck." Darius replies. "I know you're going to make the right decision and hire me. I can see it. You know that it's going to happen."
Goddamn precognitives, you think. If it wasn't for that quantum mesh in his brain maybe he'd be a little less smug and a little less punchable-but he's right. Damn the smug bastard, he's right about everything. Sure, there are better attorneys-people with augmented research skills and a direct neural interface loaded with all the relevant knowledge-but not at the price he's asking. Your family has one on retainer and you're pretty sure they end up with ten times that income, easily. And Darius, as much as you hate to admit it, is a friend. "You're in." You say gruffly. "As long as you don't fuck up we won't fire you."
"I won't." Darius says smugly, and you resist the urge to punch him.
***
The conference room is just as spartan as the rest of the fifth floor. There's a long wooden table taking up the centre of the room that you strongly suspect didn't even come pre-built, a dozen uncomfortably hard chairs, a small whiteboard, and a laptop hooked up to a projector. Not even a fancy holoprojector like well-off businesses have-a standard projector.
Even with yourself, Darius, Shamus, Immolator and Alfonso sitting in the room, it still feels uncomfortably empty.
Alfonso coughs awkwardly into his hand, drawing everyone's attention towards himself. "Alright," he begins, wringing a handkerchief in his hands as he speaks. "This is our first weekly meeting. I've taken the liberty of asking Shamus to write up our minutes as we go."
Shamus raises his hand in acknowledgement.
He drones on for a while, going on about KPI's and employee performances. You don't pay much attention, zoning in and out and occasionally glancing at Shamus' laptop to keep track of what's going in. The rough gist of it, you gather, is that the company is still bleeding money at the moment, but that's to be expected. Biotech production is expected to begin within the next two weeks, and contracts have already been set up. Apart from that, things are going well.
"Alright," he concludes finally, a solid twenty-five minutes later. When you let out a sigh of relief, he smiles wryly at you. "I think we've just had our first volunteer, too! Vector, would you like to present your report now?"
You blink, a bit startled. Beside you, Immolator silently hands you the sheaf of papers you'd prepared.
"Right," you say slowly. "Um. Did everyone read the reports I submitted earlier in the week?" You wait for everyone to nod in assent. Okay then. You exhale slightly.
"I've been working with Shamus and Immolator over the past week, conducting several investigations into the area." Your outlines are sketchy. Sometimes, like today, you wish you had some talent for clerical work. It'd make remembering what you've been doing over the past week easier. "You all have copies of the security department's budget and spending in front of you. Could you please get those out?"
Once everyone pulls out their copy of your budget, you continue. "I've spent twelve million over the past week hiring various assets. Darius here-" You gesture unnecessarily towards him- "is one example of such. I'm sure he will prove himself a valuable asset to the company.
"Aside from that, I've hired another enhancile, code-named Chemist. He requested a short grace period of no more than one week before attending, so he should be here by next Monday. I believe Alfonso plans to assign him to the Biotech division?"
He nods. "Yes, indeed. His ability to synthesize chemicals should be a definite asset to our scientists down there." Darius nods. Shamus and Immolator just look bored. They've certainly had a lot less practice pretending to pay attention.
You hum noncommittally. "I've assigned Immolator the task of heading to local universities in an attempt to recruit scientists for our business," you continue. "Immolator?"
"Huh? Oh yeah." He sits up… well, as straight as he ever does in the chair. You wish you could slouch half as well as he does. It'd be amazing. You could be almost twice as disrespectful as you already are with minimal extra effort. "I went over there and started speakin' to some people, who pointed me off the right way. Didn't get a lot of interest- apparently someone's already bankrolling a fair few of the guys there- but a few people were willing to come aboard and see what's what. Got probably ten, maybe fifteen people who're studying biology and chemistry- already told you about them, right, boss?- and maybe half as many people who're studying engineering and media."
Alfonso nods. "You told me about them, yes," he replies. "I've already spoken to our biotech division and administrative staff, and informed them of their new arrivals. I assume you have a reason for recruiting engineers prior to obtaining the necessary assets to produce cyber-technology, Vector?"
You nod. "Yeah, I'll explain in a bit." He makes a small sound of agreement, so you continue. "Alright. Uh, where was I… right. There were some irregularities in the documents we obtained from the Syndicate. I don't think it's anything much, but I've hired a local dick-" Immolator starts to snigger but stops when you glare in his direction "-called Nicholas Laine to look into it."
You take a deep breath.
"Finally, I plan to hire several assets to work directly beneath me." You watch everyone's faces carefully for a reaction. "I've made contact with a military team I know from my time in the military, and a handful of ex-police officers. I intend to have both of them support me in a short-term campaign to eliminate the gang presence nearby."
And then the room explodes in questions.
***
"Alright, alright!" you shout over the sound of everyone's indignant cries. "Hold on, let me explain what I intend to do."
They all subside, although you spot both Shamus and Alfonso still glowering at you.
"This area isn't… stable," you say carefully. "Gangs are running rampant over the area, and it's causing the economy around here to tank. Businesses are shutting down, which means more people are turning to gangs- it's a vicious cycle. It's a vicious cycle that's hurting our bottom line, so it's one that we need to end as soon as possible."
Alfonso sits back in his chair, his mouth tightening. He doesn't say a word, but you can tell he's displeased.
"Alright," Immolator says slowly. "Kinda sucks you're planning to just get rid of 'em. Personally I'd probably recruit 'em, get some of 'em working for you, you know? But hey, you're the boss- well, you're my boss. Still, I hope you got a plan."
"I do." You nod sharply at him. "There's a community centre nearby- the ex-cops I hired were working for it, although we've hired people to run it in the meantime. My goal is to eliminate gang presence from there within the next week, and spread out from there, effectively eliminating gang presence in a nine-block radius within the next two months."
Darius levels a cool gaze at you. "That's a very ambitious plan," he drawls. "Have you considered how you are going to ensure that area stays gang-free? Eighteen blocks in either direction is quite a distance."
You crack a smirk at him. "The nice thing about gangs is that they tend to have money on them," you counter. "And the business won't be idle while we're working. I'll find the assets we need on the job, same as I always have."
He rolls his eyes. "A foolproof plan, then."
You ignore the sarcasm in his voice. "Yep!" you say brightly.
[] You have your plans. The only thing left to do is decide how you're going to go about it… and who you're going to do it with.
[] The first thing you need to do is figuring out where you're going to hit first. There are a lot of targets you could hit, after all, and a lot of different targets to aim at. (Note that these are targets to hit and avenues to strike down. You're not limited to them; write-ins are, as usual, freely available, and will probably help a great deal.)
[] Take Darius with you. He's not just an excellent lawyer; he's also a fantastic combatant, albeit not as fantastic as you are. Sure, hazard pay is expensive, especially when you're going up against people with guns, but the assistance of a third enhancile on the street will only help. $1.5m
[] Leave Darius with Alfonso. He needs to brief your brother on the legal restrictions- and loopholes- that a business owner in this prefecture needs to know, anyway.
[] Take Lima Seven-Nine with you, and leave the ex-police officers to defend your office. Lima Seven-Nine is definitely the better combatant, although they're trained military-style; they'll leave a lot more bodies behind than the ex-police will.
[] Take the ex-police officers with you. Although they're not as well-trained as Lima Seven-Nine, they'll leave far fewer bodies behind than the ex-military group will.
Codename: Vector
Powers:
Physical Boost [3]
Teleportation [4]
Traits:
Martial Artist [4]
Strategist [2]
Ex-Military [2]
Stats:
Tactical [5]
Negotiation [4]
Security [2]
Technical [0]
Codename: Shamus
Powers:
Mental Boost [2]
Technopathy [1]
Traits:
Hacker [3]
Fugitive [2]
Stats:
Security [4]
Technical [4]
Negotiation [1]
Tactical [1]
Codename: Immolator
Powers:
Plasma Control [3]
Limited Flight Capabilities [1]
Traits:
Ex-Gang Member [2]
Down On His Luck [2]
Stats:
Tactical [4]
Negotiation [2]
Technical [2]
Security [1]
Codename: Sicarius
Powers:
Precognition [4]
Enhanced Reactions and Durability [2]
Traits:
Ace Attorney [4]
Top Gun [3]
Military Training [1]
Stats:
Tactical [3]
Negotiation [3]
Technical [2]
Security [2]
Support Asset: Lima Seven-Nine
Traits:
Grizzled Veterans [3]
High-Caliber Weaponry [2]
Stats:
Tactical 4/+2
Negotiation 0/+0
Technical 1/+0
Security 1/+0
Support Asset: Former Police Officers
Traits:
Boots on the Street [2]
Serving the Community [2]
Riot Shields and Pepper Spray, Oh My [1]
Stats:
Tactical 2/+1
Negotiation 3/+1
Technical 1/+0
Security 1/+0
"So do you want a diamond pony and a mansion as well?" You ask Darius. "That's a lot of money." He's right. You really need someone like him on staff, and since he's here...
"Maybe in a few years, but not right now. I feel charitable, and you're in luck." Darius replies. "I know you're going to make the right decision and hire me. I can see it. You know that it's going to happen."
Goddamn precognitives, you think. If it wasn't for that quantum mesh in his brain maybe he'd be a little less smug and a little less punchable-but he's right. Damn the smug bastard, he's right about everything. Sure, there are better attorneys-people with augmented research skills and a direct neural interface loaded with all the relevant knowledge-but not at the price he's asking. Your family has one on retainer and you're pretty sure they end up with ten times that income, easily. And Darius, as much as you hate to admit it, is a friend. "You're in." You say gruffly. "As long as you don't fuck up we won't fire you."
"I won't." Darius says smugly, and you resist the urge to punch him.
***
The conference room is just as spartan as the rest of the fifth floor. There's a long wooden table taking up the centre of the room that you strongly suspect didn't even come pre-built, a dozen uncomfortably hard chairs, a small whiteboard, and a laptop hooked up to a projector. Not even a fancy holoprojector like well-off businesses have-a standard projector.
Even with yourself, Darius, Shamus, Immolator and Alfonso sitting in the room, it still feels uncomfortably empty.
Alfonso coughs awkwardly into his hand, drawing everyone's attention towards himself. "Alright," he begins, wringing a handkerchief in his hands as he speaks. "This is our first weekly meeting. I've taken the liberty of asking Shamus to write up our minutes as we go."
Shamus raises his hand in acknowledgement.
He drones on for a while, going on about KPI's and employee performances. You don't pay much attention, zoning in and out and occasionally glancing at Shamus' laptop to keep track of what's going in. The rough gist of it, you gather, is that the company is still bleeding money at the moment, but that's to be expected. Biotech production is expected to begin within the next two weeks, and contracts have already been set up. Apart from that, things are going well.
"Alright," he concludes finally, a solid twenty-five minutes later. When you let out a sigh of relief, he smiles wryly at you. "I think we've just had our first volunteer, too! Vector, would you like to present your report now?"
You blink, a bit startled. Beside you, Immolator silently hands you the sheaf of papers you'd prepared.
"Right," you say slowly. "Um. Did everyone read the reports I submitted earlier in the week?" You wait for everyone to nod in assent. Okay then. You exhale slightly.
"I've been working with Shamus and Immolator over the past week, conducting several investigations into the area." Your outlines are sketchy. Sometimes, like today, you wish you had some talent for clerical work. It'd make remembering what you've been doing over the past week easier. "You all have copies of the security department's budget and spending in front of you. Could you please get those out?"
Once everyone pulls out their copy of your budget, you continue. "I've spent twelve million over the past week hiring various assets. Darius here-" You gesture unnecessarily towards him- "is one example of such. I'm sure he will prove himself a valuable asset to the company.
"Aside from that, I've hired another enhancile, code-named Chemist. He requested a short grace period of no more than one week before attending, so he should be here by next Monday. I believe Alfonso plans to assign him to the Biotech division?"
He nods. "Yes, indeed. His ability to synthesize chemicals should be a definite asset to our scientists down there." Darius nods. Shamus and Immolator just look bored. They've certainly had a lot less practice pretending to pay attention.
You hum noncommittally. "I've assigned Immolator the task of heading to local universities in an attempt to recruit scientists for our business," you continue. "Immolator?"
"Huh? Oh yeah." He sits up… well, as straight as he ever does in the chair. You wish you could slouch half as well as he does. It'd be amazing. You could be almost twice as disrespectful as you already are with minimal extra effort. "I went over there and started speakin' to some people, who pointed me off the right way. Didn't get a lot of interest- apparently someone's already bankrolling a fair few of the guys there- but a few people were willing to come aboard and see what's what. Got probably ten, maybe fifteen people who're studying biology and chemistry- already told you about them, right, boss?- and maybe half as many people who're studying engineering and media."
Alfonso nods. "You told me about them, yes," he replies. "I've already spoken to our biotech division and administrative staff, and informed them of their new arrivals. I assume you have a reason for recruiting engineers prior to obtaining the necessary assets to produce cyber-technology, Vector?"
You nod. "Yeah, I'll explain in a bit." He makes a small sound of agreement, so you continue. "Alright. Uh, where was I… right. There were some irregularities in the documents we obtained from the Syndicate. I don't think it's anything much, but I've hired a local dick-" Immolator starts to snigger but stops when you glare in his direction "-called Nicholas Laine to look into it."
You take a deep breath.
"Finally, I plan to hire several assets to work directly beneath me." You watch everyone's faces carefully for a reaction. "I've made contact with a military team I know from my time in the military, and a handful of ex-police officers. I intend to have both of them support me in a short-term campaign to eliminate the gang presence nearby."
And then the room explodes in questions.
***
"Alright, alright!" you shout over the sound of everyone's indignant cries. "Hold on, let me explain what I intend to do."
They all subside, although you spot both Shamus and Alfonso still glowering at you.
"This area isn't… stable," you say carefully. "Gangs are running rampant over the area, and it's causing the economy around here to tank. Businesses are shutting down, which means more people are turning to gangs- it's a vicious cycle. It's a vicious cycle that's hurting our bottom line, so it's one that we need to end as soon as possible."
Alfonso sits back in his chair, his mouth tightening. He doesn't say a word, but you can tell he's displeased.
"Alright," Immolator says slowly. "Kinda sucks you're planning to just get rid of 'em. Personally I'd probably recruit 'em, get some of 'em working for you, you know? But hey, you're the boss- well, you're my boss. Still, I hope you got a plan."
"I do." You nod sharply at him. "There's a community centre nearby- the ex-cops I hired were working for it, although we've hired people to run it in the meantime. My goal is to eliminate gang presence from there within the next week, and spread out from there, effectively eliminating gang presence in a nine-block radius within the next two months."
Darius levels a cool gaze at you. "That's a very ambitious plan," he drawls. "Have you considered how you are going to ensure that area stays gang-free? Eighteen blocks in either direction is quite a distance."
You crack a smirk at him. "The nice thing about gangs is that they tend to have money on them," you counter. "And the business won't be idle while we're working. I'll find the assets we need on the job, same as I always have."
He rolls his eyes. "A foolproof plan, then."
You ignore the sarcasm in his voice. "Yep!" you say brightly.
[] You have your plans. The only thing left to do is decide how you're going to go about it… and who you're going to do it with.
[] The first thing you need to do is figuring out where you're going to hit first. There are a lot of targets you could hit, after all, and a lot of different targets to aim at. (Note that these are targets to hit and avenues to strike down. You're not limited to them; write-ins are, as usual, freely available, and will probably help a great deal.)
[] You're going to focus on hitting them where it hurts- their wallets. Most of the drug production done by the gangs is done in a repurposed storage shelter three blocks over. You can go there, hit them, steal their chems, and liberate their money. It won't do much to get them off the street at first, but it'll give your budget a bit of a boost, and it'll prevent them using their money to worsen the upcoming fight.
[] You're going to focus on stripping their status as a threat from them. This means you're going to hit their armouries, yes- there are a few of them, most of which are masquerading as clothing stores or pawn shops- but your bigger target is an illegal biomod clinic, a good seven blocks over. This could backfire big time, if you're not careful, but could make things easier in future if you're successful at it.
[] You're going to focus on ending their influence in the local community. Hit their image- show the community the kind of acts they get up to, and the death and decay gangs leave in their wake. The best way to do this will probably be to focus on eliminating their thugs, freeing up businesses from having to worry about being burned down. You'll have to provide support as businesses speak up about what's been happening, but the best way to end the gang's influence is to show what their influence has done.
[] Take Darius with you. He's not just an excellent lawyer; he's also a fantastic combatant, albeit not as fantastic as you are. Sure, hazard pay is expensive, especially when you're going up against people with guns, but the assistance of a third enhancile on the street will only help. $1.5m
[] Leave Darius with Alfonso. He needs to brief your brother on the legal restrictions- and loopholes- that a business owner in this prefecture needs to know, anyway.
[] Take Lima Seven-Nine with you, and leave the ex-police officers to defend your office. Lima Seven-Nine is definitely the better combatant, although they're trained military-style; they'll leave a lot more bodies behind than the ex-police will.
[] Take the ex-police officers with you. Although they're not as well-trained as Lima Seven-Nine, they'll leave far fewer bodies behind than the ex-military group will.
Codename: Vector
Powers:
Physical Boost [3]
Teleportation [4]
Traits:
Martial Artist [4]
Strategist [2]
Ex-Military [2]
Stats:
Tactical [5]
Negotiation [4]
Security [2]
Technical [0]
Codename: Shamus
Powers:
Mental Boost [2]
Technopathy [1]
Traits:
Hacker [3]
Fugitive [2]
Stats:
Security [4]
Technical [4]
Negotiation [1]
Tactical [1]
Codename: Immolator
Powers:
Plasma Control [3]
Limited Flight Capabilities [1]
Traits:
Ex-Gang Member [2]
Down On His Luck [2]
Stats:
Tactical [4]
Negotiation [2]
Technical [2]
Security [1]
Codename: Sicarius
Powers:
Precognition [4]
Enhanced Reactions and Durability [2]
Traits:
Ace Attorney [4]
Top Gun [3]
Military Training [1]
Stats:
Tactical [3]
Negotiation [3]
Technical [2]
Security [2]
Support Asset: Lima Seven-Nine
Traits:
Grizzled Veterans [3]
High-Caliber Weaponry [2]
Stats:
Tactical 4/+2
Negotiation 0/+0
Technical 1/+0
Security 1/+0
Support Asset: Former Police Officers
Traits:
Boots on the Street [2]
Serving the Community [2]
Riot Shields and Pepper Spray, Oh My [1]
Stats:
Tactical 2/+1
Negotiation 3/+1
Technical 1/+0
Security 1/+0
[X] You're going to focus on stripping their status as a threat from them. This means you're going to hit their armouries, yes- there are a few of them, most of which are masquerading as clothing stores or pawn shops- but your bigger target is an illegal biomod clinic, a good seven blocks over. This could backfire big time, if you're not careful, but could make things easier in future if you're successful at it.
Disarm them first and they can't upgun fast enough to respond to our followup.
[X] Leave Darius with Alfonso. He needs to brief your brother on the legal restrictions- and loopholes- that a business owner in this prefecture needs to know, anyway.
Hazard pay is pain.
[X] Take Lima Seven-Nine with you, and leave the ex-police officers to defend your office. Lima Seven-Nine is definitely the better combatant, although they're trained military-style; they'll leave a lot more bodies behind than the ex-police will.
Hitting a likely well protected target, so bring the heavies first. We can transition to softball PR friendly approaches once we defanged the gangs
Disarm them first and they can't upgun fast enough to respond to our followup.
[X] Leave Darius with Alfonso. He needs to brief your brother on the legal restrictions- and loopholes- that a business owner in this prefecture needs to know, anyway.
Hazard pay is pain.
[X] Take Lima Seven-Nine with you, and leave the ex-police officers to defend your office. Lima Seven-Nine is definitely the better combatant, although they're trained military-style; they'll leave a lot more bodies behind than the ex-police will.
Hitting a likely well protected target, so bring the heavies first. We can transition to softball PR friendly approaches once we defanged the gangs
- Location
- England
[X] You're going to focus on stripping their status as a threat from them. This means you're going to hit their armouries, yes- there are a few of them, most of which are masquerading as clothing stores or pawn shops- but your bigger target is an illegal biomod clinic, a good seven blocks over. This could backfire big time, if you're not careful, but could make things easier in future if you're successful at it.
It's this or the money. While I like the idea of taking the money, this offers similar benefits due to the fact that we could potentially pick up cash, weapons or biomods (which helps us with our current focus), and also more effectively cripples their resistance than the money option. The other option is profit first, warfare second, this is the opposite.
I might be reluctant to do this without Lima Seven-Nine, but with them? Yeah, we can handle this.
[X] Leave Darius with Alfonso. He needs to brief your brother on the legal restrictions- and loopholes- that a business owner in this prefecture needs to know, anyway.
We paid for military assets specifically so we wouldn't have to do stuff like bring Darius along. This is the 'we didn't bring enough firepower option'. We hired special forces to back us up, and we're a combat specced aug ourselves. We brought enough firepower. We brought firepower for days.
Why spend if we don't have to?
[X] Take Lima Seven-Nine with you, and leave the ex-police officers to defend your office. Lima Seven-Nine is definitely the better combatant, although they're trained military-style; they'll leave a lot more bodies behind than the ex-police will.
I'm still not sold on these guys as a purchase, but we already paid for them, so we might as well use them for what they're best at. We're making a series of precise but potentially risky strikes at vital targets, and that's what these guys are trained for. Literally. This is basically their specialty.
For the opening strike they'll do very nicely, though we can perhaps stop using them so heavily once we've damaged the gangs ability to escalate badly enough, and use the cops when it comes to mop them up, for PR purposes.
Anyway, we're running a cyberpunk corporation with special forces on tap, so we should put our best jackboot forward.
Edit: Huh, could have saved myself some time and just said 'what Veekie said'.
It's this or the money. While I like the idea of taking the money, this offers similar benefits due to the fact that we could potentially pick up cash, weapons or biomods (which helps us with our current focus), and also more effectively cripples their resistance than the money option. The other option is profit first, warfare second, this is the opposite.
I might be reluctant to do this without Lima Seven-Nine, but with them? Yeah, we can handle this.
[X] Leave Darius with Alfonso. He needs to brief your brother on the legal restrictions- and loopholes- that a business owner in this prefecture needs to know, anyway.
We paid for military assets specifically so we wouldn't have to do stuff like bring Darius along. This is the 'we didn't bring enough firepower option'. We hired special forces to back us up, and we're a combat specced aug ourselves. We brought enough firepower. We brought firepower for days.
Why spend if we don't have to?
[X] Take Lima Seven-Nine with you, and leave the ex-police officers to defend your office. Lima Seven-Nine is definitely the better combatant, although they're trained military-style; they'll leave a lot more bodies behind than the ex-police will.
I'm still not sold on these guys as a purchase, but we already paid for them, so we might as well use them for what they're best at. We're making a series of precise but potentially risky strikes at vital targets, and that's what these guys are trained for. Literally. This is basically their specialty.
For the opening strike they'll do very nicely, though we can perhaps stop using them so heavily once we've damaged the gangs ability to escalate badly enough, and use the cops when it comes to mop them up, for PR purposes.
Anyway, we're running a cyberpunk corporation with special forces on tap, so we should put our best jackboot forward.
Edit: Huh, could have saved myself some time and just said 'what Veekie said'.
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I love my military codenames! 
Namer
ᵘʷᵘ
- Location
- Bangladesh
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] You're going to focus on stripping their status as a threat from them. This means you're going to hit their armouries, yes- there are a few of them, most of which are masquerading as clothing stores or pawn shops- but your bigger target is an illegal biomod clinic, a good seven blocks over. This could backfire big time, if you're not careful, but could make things easier in future if you're successful at it.
[X] Take Lima Seven-Nine with you, and leave the ex-police officers to defend your office. Lima Seven-Nine is definitely the better combatant, although they're trained military-style; they'll leave a lot more bodies behind than the ex-police will.
[X] Take Lima Seven-Nine with you, and leave the ex-police officers to defend your office. Lima Seven-Nine is definitely the better combatant, although they're trained military-style; they'll leave a lot more bodies behind than the ex-police will.
[X] You're going to focus on stripping their status as a threat from them. This means you're going to hit their armouries, yes- there are a few of them, most of which are masquerading as clothing stores or pawn shops- but your bigger target is an illegal biomod clinic, a good seven blocks over. This could backfire big time, if you're not careful, but could make things easier in future if you're successful at it.
[X] Leave Darius with Alfonso. He needs to brief your brother on the legal restrictions- and loopholes- that a business owner in this prefecture needs to know, anyway.
[X] Take Lima Seven-Nine with you, and leave the ex-police officers to defend your office. Lima Seven-Nine is definitely the better combatant, although they're trained military-style; they'll leave a lot more bodies behind than the ex-police will.
If this works then the follow-up actions will be a lot easier and as others have pointed out is exactly the type of operation Lima Seven-Nine are suited for. The former police would be more suited to the other options, which should be easier for them next turn. We should be able to pull it off without extra help so our lawyer can help on the business front. A risky option but potentially massive pay off.
[X] Leave Darius with Alfonso. He needs to brief your brother on the legal restrictions- and loopholes- that a business owner in this prefecture needs to know, anyway.
[X] Take Lima Seven-Nine with you, and leave the ex-police officers to defend your office. Lima Seven-Nine is definitely the better combatant, although they're trained military-style; they'll leave a lot more bodies behind than the ex-police will.
If this works then the follow-up actions will be a lot easier and as others have pointed out is exactly the type of operation Lima Seven-Nine are suited for. The former police would be more suited to the other options, which should be easier for them next turn. We should be able to pull it off without extra help so our lawyer can help on the business front. A risky option but potentially massive pay off.
- Location
- Brittany, France
- Pronouns
- He/Him
It was really close to "remove them" in my decision process and I ended up going for the latter mostly because of monetary concerns.
I kinda wish there had been a strong argument made for other options but oh well.
Pandemonious Ivy
Panties, Revolution. Big Drawers. Parachute.
No reason we still can't.
I personally am leaning towards a write-in where Immolator speaks to a few gangs about joining up, while Shamus gets video evidence to destroy reputations of our targets and we hit their money personally.
Most bang for our buck while being an overwhelming offensive.
If we want to go even more balls to the wall, Darius + cops hit the money, us + Lima hit the armories, Shamus hits their reputation, and Immolator recruits the competition.
I'm still working on how much I want to include in this plan. Suggestions are welcome from all.
- Location
- va
[X] You're going to focus on stripping their status as a threat from them. This means you're going to hit their armouries, yes- there are a few of them, most of which are masquerading as clothing stores or pawn shops- but your bigger target is an illegal biomod clinic, a good seven blocks over. This could backfire big time, if you're not careful, but could make things easier in future if you're successful at it.
[X] Leave Darius with Alfonso. He needs to brief your brother on the legal restrictions- and loopholes- that a business owner in this prefecture needs to know, anyway.
[X] Take Lima Seven-Nine with you, and leave the ex-police officers to defend your office. Lima Seven-Nine is definitely the better combatant, although they're trained military-style; they'll leave a lot more bodies behind than the ex-police will.
[X] Leave Darius with Alfonso. He needs to brief your brother on the legal restrictions- and loopholes- that a business owner in this prefecture needs to know, anyway.
[X] Take Lima Seven-Nine with you, and leave the ex-police officers to defend your office. Lima Seven-Nine is definitely the better combatant, although they're trained military-style; they'll leave a lot more bodies behind than the ex-police will.
I just want to reiterate that these guys probably won't be firing stun bullets at people, and making them do so will significantly reduce their effectiveness-so if that's still a concern for Ez you may want to keep that in mind.
Because they are military types and they do leave dead people when they operate, they just figure the dead people deserve it.
Because they are military types and they do leave dead people when they operate, they just figure the dead people deserve it.
- Location
- Brittany, France
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Plan: Hearts and Mind
[X] You're going to focus on ending their influence in the local community. Hit their image- show the community the kind of acts they get up to, and the death and decay gangs leave in their wake. The best way to do this will probably be to focus on eliminating their thugs, freeing up businesses from having to worry about being burned down. You'll have to provide support as businesses speak up about what's been happening, but the best way to end the gang's influence is to show what their influence has done.
[X] Leave Darius with Alfonso. He needs to brief your brother on the legal restrictions- and loopholes- that a business owner in this prefecture needs to know, anyway.
[X] Take the ex-police officers with you. Although they're not as well-trained as Lima Seven-Nine, they'll leave far fewer bodies behind than the ex-military group will.
Okay, guys? We're trying to make our neighborhood a better place - better places are more profitable. A place with less crime, more comfort of life, better commerce. A place that will be better for our work, and which will not be a stain on our reputation. A place where our employes don't worry about being assaulted while commuting to our offices.
The dirty thing about gang members? They live here. If we slaughter them, if we hit hard and destroy their assets in an explicitly risky, backfire-open, situation, we kill people who live in this community. Criminals, yes. When we raid several armouries 'masquerading as' pawn shops and clothing stores, we also destroy the front - the store.
Yeah, we didn't vote to recruit the gangs and give them legit jobs. But that doesn't mean we have to turn our district into a graveyard. Right now we should win hearts and minds - convince people that the gangs are a negative influence and that they shouldn't join them, shouldn't help them, and can resist them - because we are here, beating up the thugs who try to shake down your store.
Beating up, not slaughtering. Yeah, there will be casualties. We're not exactly the most non-lethal person around. But we don't have to do this Punisher-style, and we don't have to do it Batman-style either - forget about playing it bone-breaker kung-fu style, crippling gang members forever and putting their family in just-as-crippling debt. Tasers, pepper-sprays, handcuffs, a stun-stick for us, that's the kind of thing we want. We have to show people that we can defend them, that the gangs are destroying their community, and we have to show the gangs that we are dangerous to them and they should find another line of work.
We want confused and scared gang-members spreading tale of how we knocked down their operations, we want the community as a whole to look at them with shame and spite for their actions, and we want most of them to not feel like this is a fight for their life and they have their backs to the wall. And sure there may be a few of them lying dead in the streets at the end of it, but that'll just show that this is us playing nice and it could get a lot worse.
What we want here is legitimacy.
[X] You're going to focus on ending their influence in the local community. Hit their image- show the community the kind of acts they get up to, and the death and decay gangs leave in their wake. The best way to do this will probably be to focus on eliminating their thugs, freeing up businesses from having to worry about being burned down. You'll have to provide support as businesses speak up about what's been happening, but the best way to end the gang's influence is to show what their influence has done.
[X] Leave Darius with Alfonso. He needs to brief your brother on the legal restrictions- and loopholes- that a business owner in this prefecture needs to know, anyway.
[X] Take the ex-police officers with you. Although they're not as well-trained as Lima Seven-Nine, they'll leave far fewer bodies behind than the ex-military group will.
Okay, guys? We're trying to make our neighborhood a better place - better places are more profitable. A place with less crime, more comfort of life, better commerce. A place that will be better for our work, and which will not be a stain on our reputation. A place where our employes don't worry about being assaulted while commuting to our offices.
The dirty thing about gang members? They live here. If we slaughter them, if we hit hard and destroy their assets in an explicitly risky, backfire-open, situation, we kill people who live in this community. Criminals, yes. When we raid several armouries 'masquerading as' pawn shops and clothing stores, we also destroy the front - the store.
Yeah, we didn't vote to recruit the gangs and give them legit jobs. But that doesn't mean we have to turn our district into a graveyard. Right now we should win hearts and minds - convince people that the gangs are a negative influence and that they shouldn't join them, shouldn't help them, and can resist them - because we are here, beating up the thugs who try to shake down your store.
Beating up, not slaughtering. Yeah, there will be casualties. We're not exactly the most non-lethal person around. But we don't have to do this Punisher-style, and we don't have to do it Batman-style either - forget about playing it bone-breaker kung-fu style, crippling gang members forever and putting their family in just-as-crippling debt. Tasers, pepper-sprays, handcuffs, a stun-stick for us, that's the kind of thing we want. We have to show people that we can defend them, that the gangs are destroying their community, and we have to show the gangs that we are dangerous to them and they should find another line of work.
We want confused and scared gang-members spreading tale of how we knocked down their operations, we want the community as a whole to look at them with shame and spite for their actions, and we want most of them to not feel like this is a fight for their life and they have their backs to the wall. And sure there may be a few of them lying dead in the streets at the end of it, but that'll just show that this is us playing nice and it could get a lot worse.
What we want here is legitimacy.
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Imrix
Periodically Malevolent QM
I am concerned about leaving those armouries intact... But I came here to play a hero, not to take the easy option.
[X] You're going to focus on ending their influence in the local community. Hit their image- show the community the kind of acts they get up to, and the death and decay gangs leave in their wake. The best way to do this will probably be to focus on eliminating their thugs, freeing up businesses from having to worry about being burned down. You'll have to provide support as businesses speak up about what's been happening, but the best way to end the gang's influence is to show what their influence has done.
[X] Leave Darius with Alfonso. He needs to brief your brother on the legal restrictions- and loopholes- that a business owner in this prefecture needs to know, anyway.
[X] Take the ex-police officers with you. Although they're not as well-trained as Lima Seven-Nine, they'll leave far fewer bodies behind than the ex-military group will.
[X] You're going to focus on ending their influence in the local community. Hit their image- show the community the kind of acts they get up to, and the death and decay gangs leave in their wake. The best way to do this will probably be to focus on eliminating their thugs, freeing up businesses from having to worry about being burned down. You'll have to provide support as businesses speak up about what's been happening, but the best way to end the gang's influence is to show what their influence has done.
[X] Leave Darius with Alfonso. He needs to brief your brother on the legal restrictions- and loopholes- that a business owner in this prefecture needs to know, anyway.
[X] Take the ex-police officers with you. Although they're not as well-trained as Lima Seven-Nine, they'll leave far fewer bodies behind than the ex-military group will.
- Location
- in the trash
[X] You're going to focus on ending their influence in the local community. Hit their image- show the community the kind of acts they get up to, and the death and decay gangs leave in their wake. The best way to do this will probably be to focus on eliminating their thugs, freeing up businesses from having to worry about being burned down. You'll have to provide support as businesses speak up about what's been happening, but the best way to end the gang's influence is to show what their influence has done.
[X] Leave Darius with Alfonso. He needs to brief your brother on the legal restrictions- and loopholes- that a business owner in this prefecture needs to know, anyway.
[X] Take the ex-police officers with you. Although they're not as well-trained as Lima Seven-Nine, they'll leave far fewer bodies behind than the ex-military group will.
Omicron's reasoning is solid, I think.
[X] Leave Darius with Alfonso. He needs to brief your brother on the legal restrictions- and loopholes- that a business owner in this prefecture needs to know, anyway.
[X] Take the ex-police officers with you. Although they're not as well-trained as Lima Seven-Nine, they'll leave far fewer bodies behind than the ex-military group will.
Omicron's reasoning is solid, I think.
Pandemonious Ivy
Panties, Revolution. Big Drawers. Parachute.
Thinking about it more, the worst groups aside, maybe we should look at the primary reasons people join gangs in the first place.
Yeah, you have the people who just want to hurt others or get money fast without going legit.
But on the other hand, you have the people who don't have a home or a family (or at least not one worth the name) and this fills that void. You have the gangs that ended up being a mass of people who accepted each other in a situation where nobody else would. The gangs that are composed of people who just want to survive and make it when everything around them seems like it's contriving to beat them down.
I don't think we need to destroy the gangs, upon further insight.
I think we need to hit the elements which cause the gangs to form in the first place. Make the situation around them such that any gangs are more "group of friends" than "potential criminals desperate to survive" before they turn into "hardened criminals who lack empathy or compassion". Slippery slope and all of that.
Looking at the default options, none of them really do that. They're attacking the gangs without really addressing what caused the gangs in the first place. Hit them, the rest could band together. Hit them, the people could become upset. Hit them, hit the rest, another gang might form.
No, the gangs aren't the problem, they're a byproduct.
I'll look into it more, but I haven't been able to solidify a plan I can propose that fits this thought process.
Yeah, you have the people who just want to hurt others or get money fast without going legit.
But on the other hand, you have the people who don't have a home or a family (or at least not one worth the name) and this fills that void. You have the gangs that ended up being a mass of people who accepted each other in a situation where nobody else would. The gangs that are composed of people who just want to survive and make it when everything around them seems like it's contriving to beat them down.
I don't think we need to destroy the gangs, upon further insight.
I think we need to hit the elements which cause the gangs to form in the first place. Make the situation around them such that any gangs are more "group of friends" than "potential criminals desperate to survive" before they turn into "hardened criminals who lack empathy or compassion". Slippery slope and all of that.
Looking at the default options, none of them really do that. They're attacking the gangs without really addressing what caused the gangs in the first place. Hit them, the rest could band together. Hit them, the people could become upset. Hit them, hit the rest, another gang might form.
No, the gangs aren't the problem, they're a byproduct.
I'll look into it more, but I haven't been able to solidify a plan I can propose that fits this thought process.
Sarpedon
Knight Errant
- Pronouns
- He/Him
The problem with simply focusing on ending their influence is that it leaves them with their main structures of hard power untouched. With their money and guns still intact they can restore losses and escalate, which will in turn lead to more casualties down the line as we have to escalate in kind in order to degrade their capabilities. On the other hand, while smashing the sources of the gangs hard power is important, we cannot ignore the community or the gangs soft power. Fortunately on this end we have a number of avenues open to us, namely the connections and community center afforded to us by the police, in addition to the capabilities that Darius and Shamus bring to the table. We can increase funding to the community center and make donations to programs the ex police know are effective, while also using Shamus and Darius to wrap up information on gang members and strong arm local government into actually doing its job.
As to hitting the armories we can afford to go non lethal for the smaller caches with a top level military tac team with low level enhanciles lead by Vector, and then of course give everything we take to our new police hires. As for the bio-mod clinic, maybe get the chemist to whip up some super fentanyl gas or some other kind of disabling FUTURE CHEMICAL and have Vector go in as pointwoman with less than lethal weapons and antagonists? Rest of the team can go lethal.
[X] You're going to focus on stripping their status as a threat from them. This means you're going to hit their armouries, yes- there are a few of them, most of which are masquerading as clothing stores or pawn shops, these you can afford to go non-lethal for- but your bigger target is an illegal biomod clinic, a good seven blocks over. This could backfire big time, if you're not careful, but could make things easier in future if you're successful at it.
[x] While in the military you learned the ancient and mysterious art of delegation. Which means that while you are out busting faces and stealing shit things can be done to also benefit the community. Have Shamus roll up data on gang enforcers and middle management, and have Darius lean on local government and law enforcement to actually do their goddamn jobs. And if they don't well then you have a list of targets for our new hires to say hi to next.
[X] Take Lima Seven-Nine with you, and leave the ex-police officers to defend your office. Lima Seven-Nine is definitely the better combatant, although they're trained military-style; they'll leave a lot more bodies behind than the ex-police will.
As for funding to the community center and suchlike I actually am unsure how much we have for funds right now. @MJ12 Commando whats our budget look like right now?
As to hitting the armories we can afford to go non lethal for the smaller caches with a top level military tac team with low level enhanciles lead by Vector, and then of course give everything we take to our new police hires. As for the bio-mod clinic, maybe get the chemist to whip up some super fentanyl gas or some other kind of disabling FUTURE CHEMICAL and have Vector go in as pointwoman with less than lethal weapons and antagonists? Rest of the team can go lethal.
[X] You're going to focus on stripping their status as a threat from them. This means you're going to hit their armouries, yes- there are a few of them, most of which are masquerading as clothing stores or pawn shops, these you can afford to go non-lethal for- but your bigger target is an illegal biomod clinic, a good seven blocks over. This could backfire big time, if you're not careful, but could make things easier in future if you're successful at it.
[x] While in the military you learned the ancient and mysterious art of delegation. Which means that while you are out busting faces and stealing shit things can be done to also benefit the community. Have Shamus roll up data on gang enforcers and middle management, and have Darius lean on local government and law enforcement to actually do their goddamn jobs. And if they don't well then you have a list of targets for our new hires to say hi to next.
[X] Take Lima Seven-Nine with you, and leave the ex-police officers to defend your office. Lima Seven-Nine is definitely the better combatant, although they're trained military-style; they'll leave a lot more bodies behind than the ex-police will.
As for funding to the community center and suchlike I actually am unsure how much we have for funds right now. @MJ12 Commando whats our budget look like right now?
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