@TenfoldShields, while it would, as you say, have advantages, the issue I'd have is that taking out the clinics is immediately going to put pretty much every power group in the area against us, from top to bottom, as we're presenting a serious threat to them all, rather than hitting just the nasties, where we'd be far more focused in who we're riling up against us.
@TenfoldShields, while it would, as you say, have advantages, the issue I'd have is that taking out the clinics is immediately going to put pretty much every power group in the area against us, from top to bottom, as we're presenting a serious threat to them all, rather than hitting just the nasties, where we'd be far more focused in who we're riling up against us.
While destroying core revenue streams won't anger them, especially when we have some shady conspiracy involved in a major human tracking effort throughout the region? When we decided to go into Shutterbug we knew that it would be resource intensive and probably involve a great deal of fighting, but also allow us to reap greater rewards. Now what does destroying the aug clinics accomplish? For one it denies our enemies the ability to produce new dangerous combatants while also removing their ability to even replace or repair even wounded casualties, while also allowing us to move up the timetable on aug and enhancile production. Moreover as we remove their ability to repair and do basic aug maintenance we drive a wedge between the elite forces of the enemy and make working for us far more attractive as we will be if not the only aug game in town certainly the highest quality which will be great for recruitment.
That's the point - the "nasties" won't be core revenue streams for every group in Shutterbug, whereas the clinics are going to be a major infrastructure element for all the gangs and such. Hit the former, we're going to rile up major players, yes, but they'll be people we were going to go after hard no matter what. Hit the latter straight off the bat, and we set ourselves up immediately as a threat to everyone, before we've even had the chance to try and make local allies.
We're engaging in corporate colonialism against the barbarians here - let's at least try a bit of divide and conquer first, eh?
I'd argue that hitting aug clinics and such allows us to divide and conquer better, not worse. Contrary to popular belief an outside force attacking doesn't mean everyone bands together, it just means those who have the most to lose by the status quo changing resist and everyone else either knuckles under and accepts their new masters, or joins up with the new guys cause they can gain more that way. So in order to shake things up and better divide this patchwork of gangs we need to hit the big players hard and fast where it hurts, which this does while also harming there ability to hurt us back.
The point being that we currently have little to no intelligence on the landscape that you're proposing to shake up - we don't know if changing the topography will benefit or harm our interests. I very much prefer us to start with targeted attacks, rather than a broad assault on the whole neighbourhood.
The other aspect of hitting the nasties is that while it may not gain us immediate cash, it looks to be an excellent opportunity to liberate useful and unusual personnel.
We came here to kill people and take their stuff. Like that might as well be Prometheus's mission statement at this point. That and making the world a better place.
But yeah I'm with @Sarpedon honestly. The gangs aren't going to band together against us. Some might yeah, and there'll be some strategic alliances, but a lot of the weaker ones are going to look at what we're packing and either quietly sideline themselves to clear the blast zone, turn their coats to survive, come to the table or start making ready to move away. Stronger ones might (and probably will, there isn't really honor among thieves) turn on each other as the going gets tough. It'll stiffen resistance some yeah but these are people who haven't had to deal with a direct, determined, and coordinated assault in awhile I'm imagining. So I doubt most of them have military, properly proto-corp sensibilities like we do.
Hitting the aug clinics basically puts the balls of a lot of power players in our hands. It's giving us leverage we need, paving the way of later action, and boosting our own infrastructure at their expense. Like there's a time for winning hearts and minds honestly but it's after we break the enemy's back imo.
[X] James speaks up for the first time in the meeting. "We need at least nine months," he says decisively. "I know this area, or ones like it, at least. If you want to make long-term changes here, we're going to need at least nine months to get them implemented permanently. We'll need a lot more resources, and we'll probably have to make some enhanciles to help keep Alfonso's office safe, but it's what we need."
[X] "I'll focus on bringing us in any resources I can get my hands on," you begin. "There's going to be a lot of shady aug clinics and black-market production facilities nearby. It won't bring us in any money immediately, but I'll send anything I get over to Alfonso. They should help our research divisions, and hopefully bring up our quarterly income a bit."
[X] "Presuming that's done without issue," you continue, "I'll see what I can gather about local figures of influence. Where the augs are, what they're doing, what the worst gangs are after, that kind of stuff. Maybe a bit specific, but I don't have the time to be grabbing general information while doing this."
[X] "I'm going to assign each of you a different task." Your militia members look curiously towards you. "Lucas, I need you to focus on recruitment. We need at least twice as many as we have now, so you'd better be snappy. Tara, you're on training duty with Conor. Get your men in better shape, and start on the troops Lucas will send you. Karena, you take yours and begin patrolling a two-block radius from here. Get yourself and your troops some action."
Form ANT-116
Truncated Report
Acquisition 0021413-21501
Written by: "Vector"
Purpose of Report:
This report contains a summarized list of assets recovered from operations sanctioned by board members [REDACTED] and [REDACTED], and carried out by assets [VECTOR] and [IMMOLATOR] in compliance with USA Penal Codes 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.1.3, 2.1.4, 2.1.5, 2.2.1, 2.2.2, 2.3.1, 2.5.2, 2.5.3, 4.1.1, 4.1.3, 7.5.3, 22.2.7, 41.7.2, 41.7.3, 45.2.2, 71.34.1, 71.34.2, 71.34.4, 106.2.31, 154.2, 201.1.1, 201.1.2, and 211.3.31.
Assets Recovered:
$37,431.28 in cash
$44,321.90 in loose assets (Operating tools, furniture, electrical appliances, personal assets)
28 x Biological Assets (Anaesthetics, temperature-controlled organs, antiobiotics, pain relievers)
7 x Clientele List (Computer recordings, physical files, extracted verbal collections)
3 x Schematics (Low-grade pain relief, low-grade bone strength augmentation, low-grade skin regrowth)
1 x Axolotl (Fish)
Note: Recovered assets have estimated value of $3,500,000 or greater.
Note: [JUNIOR AGENT LINA DUNN] reported acquisition of live asset [AXOLOTL].
Note: [JUNIOR AGENT LINA DUNN] reprimanded for improper acquisition and maintenance of [AXOLOTL] by [SENIOR AGENT KARENA].
Note: Surgical equipment, biological assets and schematics sent to [REDACTED]. [REDACTED] has sent notification of gratitude for recovery of assets.
Note: [AXOLOTL] has been reported a stolen asset by [JUNIOR AGENT LINA DUNN]. Security has been notified as per company policy.
Note: [REDACTED] has estimated increased yearly income of up to $12,000,000.
Note: [SENIOR AGENT KARENA] filed a purchase request for 1 [one] aquarium tank, 1 [one] filtering equipment, and 4 [four] cases of food suitable for axolotl.
Note: [VECTOR] conducting enquiries into the matter of missing assets.
Note: Enquiry conducted with [JUNIOR AGENT LINA DUNN]. [VECTOR] has dismissed search for missing assets, citing cost-benefit analyses.
Note: Security budget updated. Quarterly income for security division increased by $1,000,000.
Note: [VECTOR] approved purchase request for 1 [one] aquarium tank, 1 [one] filtering equipment, and 4 [four] cases of food suitable for axolotl.
Note: [VECTOR] has altered employee file of [JUNIOR AGENT LINA DUNN].
Addendum reads: "Employee forbidden from associating with animals."
Addendum reads: "Employee performance reduced while working beneath [SENIOR AGENT KARENA]. Employee moved to Security 2 beneath [SENIOR AGENT LUCAS]."
***
Laine
The world's going to hell in a handbasket, and Shutterbug's a great example of it. As a kid, TV shows were all about the Power of the Supermen and how they'd solve all our problems. Why, by the year 2000 we'd be living forever and have cities on Mars or something. Old-timers like me, we always have to ask ourselves. Where did it all go wrong? Why didn't the future we dreamed of come to pass? Certainly we didn't dream of a world like this-rocked with gang crime, with an increasingly ineffectual federal government and state governments which oftentimes are literal corporate fiefdoms.
I have my own answer to those questions. It's just how people are-we keep looking for ways to screw over our fellow man. And guys like me-we exist because there's too many ways to get ahead while fucking someone else over in the process. The only way to get up in this world is to step on someone else's face, so all you can do is make sure the people you're exploiting are people you don't mind stepping on, and maybe to try to step on as few people as possible. If you care enough to do that-which most people don't.
My shoulder aches as the rain patters down on the dilapidated streets. The price of cheap military-surplus cybernetics. At least the new lungs help. They have all the features of the old ones, but the chest pains are gone. The ones from the cyberlungs that is. The heart problems-those are still here. And affording surgery like that's above my salary. Maybe in a few years, I think. If I ever get time off, or paid enough to fix it. Probably won't. It's not like I'll be missing much if the world keeps going the way it does.
Shutterbug's a great example of exactly what I'm talking about. Back 30 years or so, it was a nice enough place. Before the wars, the corps, the endless 'police actions.' Before the machines put us out of jobs, before the corps won control of the government, before the emergency powers and the mercenaries. Before everything went to shit. I can still see some of the old Shutterbug, in the faded signs which were never repaired, the graffiti-caked ad boards which were never taken down because doing so would cost money. Not a place where dreams went to die.
Like any other part of the city, you can tell the quality of the neighborhood by what food the local establishments serve, and Shutterbug is no different. The menu is mostly flavored soy, algae, and cheap alcohol distilled from whatever they could find. But I'm not here to eat anything. I'm here to meet a 'friend.' It's how people get ahead in life. By screwing everyone else.
The bartender nods in the direction of a corner table. There's a big man there-a bit of a beer gut, muscular arms and the telltale shakes of muscle toning augs. He looks shifty, just like the kind of guy who'd sell his friends out for information. "Fred"-probably a false name-doesn't look trustworthy. He looks like he's trying to jump a few leadership rungs and sees me as an opportunity.
Fred's a gang member, as his tattoos scream. Like every other gang, his enforces their sort of order in this place. Like every other gang, they exist because the corps find them useful. Get the gangs fighting, get the locals invested in them-and the angry underclass eats itself instead of becoming a revolution. Just like the corps want them to. Just keep them barely satisfied enough that they blame each other instead of the corps-and then covertly arm them so they create endless vendettas.
He's packing heat-and I notice something interesting. It's a gauss pistol, with smart targeting and aim-assist. If the gangs here are picking up military-grade hardware, that means that there's active corporate interference here. Places without corp interference in their proxy wars tend to have people running around with turn of the 20th century revolvers and .45 pistols older than their grandmothers. I buy him a drink-the good stuff, or whatever passes for it in this bar-and take a stool up to him. I slip him the cash when nobody's looking.
He looks under the table, counts it, and grins. "All right. I've got this hot tip."
***
Much like most tips in this world from shady folks, this tip leads to an even shadier type in an even shadier locale. It's at least solid enough to work with, but even so-I keep my hand close to my revolver. It's a big, ugly thing, more useful for intimidation than for a real fight. But those monster explosive bullets it's loaded with can put down a rhino-or an aug. Not that it'd matter in a real fight. I'm not an enhancile, and I know it. The guys who think a cyborg arm and a couple of metal plates makes them a real badass tend to learn that quick, or end up dead.
"Who are you?" The guy asks. He doesn't look quite local-there's just something about how he looks around that marks him as somewhat off. He's dressed to blend in, all cheap knockoff clothes probably gotten from the surplus a corp can't sell. No gang colors either, which is another red flag. He's a bit twitchy, which makes sense because he doesn't look armed. He glances down at the gun I have, and he looks even twitchier.
"A friend of a friend." I answer. No need to give him more than necessary. Not at this juncture. "I was told you knew some dirt about the goings-on here? Maybe a bit more. I'm looking for some tips. Because, I heard that maybe there were some investment opportunities which might be happening soon. If I was to find out, maybe I could… advance a share of the profits." I wonder how he'll jump. I don't know for sure that something big's happening, but events here are pointing to it. It's a gut feeling.
"I'll tell you later. Right now I'm busy and I wouldn't know without my files anyways." He says. Something in me thinks he's right and lets him go-and it's only until he's well out of sight down dark alleys I realize that I've been played. It wasn't chemical, since my lungs and liver are augs to keep that stuff from affecting me. And it wasn't subtle stuff either if I realized what was happening 10 minutes later. So that rules out augs-you don't load up augs with neuroware like that. No wonder he doesn't have a weapon, I conclude. He was an enhancile. Even a shifty, rat-like one like that without any combat augs could probably tear a phone-book in half while kicking Rocky Balboa to death. At least he probably didn't have combat augs, given how he looked at my piece. A combat-rated enhancile like the ones Prometheus seems to have a surfeit of wouldn't give a flying fuck about an exploding .50. But a light one? That might ruin his week if I was to shoot him a few times.
Enhanciles mean corps, probably. Corps are the only entities which you'll typically see fielding enhanciles in low-level positions, and the only ones who care. The army has them, but they're too busy in countries halfway across the world. Despite all the black-market augment trafficking, a black-market mod clinic isn't going to get easy access to Giant's Blood. And he didn't look like some high-up gang member, so probably a low level corp representative. One who didn't rate much security. And one who underestimated me. Even if all I've gotten from him is a slip and the implication that yes, something big is going to happen. But I suspect he's not as good at hiding his trail as he thinks he is. Just another arrogant corp enhancile-the typical kind who think being the 60 million dollar man makes them invincible.
Probably born Upzone, not from a big rich family but not poor either, and thinks that this makes them better than everyone else here. There's a lot of those corp assholes walking around here-thinking some bad clothes make them invisible. When you know what you're looking for, you can pick them out pretty easy.
And they tend to leave trails. It takes a few discreet queries, a couple of hundred dollars changing hands, and I'm back on his trail again. This time, I stay out of sight. He takes a ride-a gang one, and I slip a tracking device on it. They stop near a warehouse. When I get there, there's a dozen gang members-flak jackets and Kalashnikovs mostly-securing the perimeter, which is my hint to keep at a distance. Their colors are a mishmash of different gangs, so this is probably a big deal. There's the Ultraviolents, the Bloodfist Pounders, and the Shadowstone Killers. Middling players, guys whose names sound more dangerous than their actual rep.
I grab a set of digital binoculars from one of my pockets-if you want to stay in this career for long, you know to reinvest most of your earnings into gear-and activate its laser microphone feature, watching through the windows of the ostensibly abandoned warehouse. Probably a lie-the place has the wrong kinds of trash for being abandoned. Someone's been making pretty heavy use of it.
"-the Death Jackals and the Downtown Killers are tight now." someone is saying. I can't get a good view from here, and I don't feel like risking my skin getting any closer or changing the angle. I just do the best I can. "They've been tight for a month, and they're killing us. If we don't stop it, you're next."
"Shit man, those two? Those guys never liked us."
"And they didn't like us either. We need to team up as well. We've never had any beef with each ot-"
"But they've got the biomods and the guns and we've got-"
"Nothing?" That's the voice of the man who I was tailing. The corp enhancile. "I think I can fix that problem for you. You see," he says, tone almost convincing enough to make me forget that it's complete bullshit, "I wasn't always corporate. I was born here, like all of you. The Death Jackals killed my family. And I have the authority to provide certain… charitable donations." Again, bullshit. The way he moved, the way he talked, and the way he came down here in person with no guards-he's working solo, which means he's either a low-rank enhancile or rogue. "I've helped other gangs get the weapons they need to fight the new alliance. So are you in or out?"
"What kind of donations?" Someone asks.
"Hardware. Military-grade hardware. Mostly FE, but their equipment is of similar quality." Free Europe, he means. So whoever this guy is, he's too cheap to buy Pan-American and probably not a Soviet Revolutionary-or whatever the hell you call those Chinese who try to sell their genetic hive system. I listen to them hash it out-it's a lot of hardware, and I mean a lot of hardware. All sorts of military grade mag-rifles, including G11s from back when there was a West Germany, machine-guns and grenade launchers, marksman rifles, British Osprey hard shell body armor, and even some Eryx anti-tank missiles. The kind of gear you'd need to start a war. Which rubs me the wrong way-you don't arm a gang like that unless you're planning on using them for something. Like my current employer and her security forces. You give them guns, sure, but the standard corp idea is to keep them killing each other, not making them a threat to a corpsec team which kicks down the doors in powersuits.
Who's behind this, I wonder? Who benefits here? I follow the corp enhancile again, thanking God that he apparently didn't get his eyes and ears upgraded too much-and eventually he approaches a store which calls itself "POWERSHOT PERSONAL PROTECTION." He knocks on the back door and the people let him in instantly-so probably no use of his social enhancements there. I don't dare approach further.
This is more than enough information, and every second I stick around is me risking my life for no good reason.
***
Vector
You massage your temples. In front of you, Laine sits impassively, sipping occasionally from a flask of whiskey now that he's finished delivering his report to you.
"Great," you sigh. "Just great." He's researched Powershot after finding it-the company looks legitimate, but Darius insists that the public corporate filings are completely and utterly bogus.
"Looks like a sham company. Not even a good one." Darius had said. "They hide the true affiliation, but they didn't spend much time on it-and with Laine's help I found the real identities of the fake people it's registered to. Looks like Jackfruit Technologies owns it. I know you're about to ask me 'why' and my answer is 'fuck if I know,' by the way."
So corporate sponsored gang wars to take over turf, enhanciles in Shutterbug, and HR drama. And you're going to have to figure out how to deal with the first two. At least you can delegate the most boring parts to HR.
[] First things first; you need to deal with the immediate problems. Your business isn't nearly large enough to fight on multiple fronts at once- no matter how good you are, you're still just one person. One problem at a time. You can deal with the other stuff at a later time. Hopefully. [Vote for 1 option. The 2 options with the most votes will be chosen.]
[] Chapter 1, Stratagem 2: Beseige Wei to rescue Zhao. You've hit the gangs' resources once. Then, you focused on the stuff that was easy to acquire, the stuff they'd miss but wouldn't be in too much of a furious flurry over. If you're really going to hurt them, though, you're going to have to steal the stuff they're really going to miss. Their weapon caches- even the secret ones. Their aug maintenance facilities. Their vehicles. Their cash deposits. All of it. You'll hit it hard, and you'll hit it heavy. See how they function without their resources backing them.
[] Chapter 2, Stratagem 1: Create something from nothing. It's undeniable; your position here isn't very strong. You have a fledgling militia beneath your three underlings, you have an experienced mercenary, you have an ex-police officer, and you have an intern. Arrayed against you are not only the tens of thousands of gang members in Shutterbug, but the considerable assets of at least one other corporation. You need to prevent them from crushing you where they stand. And the best way to do that is to fool them into thinking that you have more forces than you do. Luckily, you know exactly how to do that.
[] Chapter 3, Stratagem 1: Stomp the grass to scare the snake. Laine is currently your only form of intelligence on the gangs, and there's only so much a single grizzled detective can do on his own, especially when they're being this secretive. You need to know what's going on behind the scenes, what they're planning on doing- you need to make them predictable. A few false operations, headed by yourself and Immolator, should do the trick. Stir the pot by hitting them in visible and obvious locations, and see how they respond. Knowing how they will react will make them easier to act against later- assuming, of course, you are able to hit them later.
[] Chapter 4, Stratagem 6: Obtain safe passage to conquer the State of Guo. The gangs here aren't unified, not even close. Some of them have made alliances, and those alliances are beginning to grow larger, but they are not a cohesive band yet. USe that to your advantage. Some of the gangs will be willing to ally with you against the growing presence of their enemies. Use them. Strike against the enemy with them. And when the gangs lie broken and defeated, you can turn on what remains of your ostensible allies, leaving victory for you to claim.
[] Chapter 5, Stratagem 6: Make the host and guest exchange roles. Tara, Lucas and Karena are currently tied up expanding and training your militia, and without a sudden massive influx of cash, you're going to need them to continue building your militia up for at least the next few weeks. However, you do have one more ex-gang member working for you. Send James to infiltrate the gangs. Have him work his way quickly up their ranks, reach as high a position as he can, and prepare to strike as you do.
So that rules out augs-you don't load up augs with neuroware like that. Probably some sort of electromagnetic neural No wonder he doesn't have a weapon, I conclude.
he army has them, but they're too busy in countries halfway across the world which Despite all the black-market augment trafficking, a black-market mod clinic isn't going to get easy access to Giant's Blood.
Hmm, I wonder if it might pair better with Chapter 5, Stratagem 6: Make the host and guest exchange roles, though.
Build up our own alliance of gangs, while sending Immolator off to infiltrate the opposition, gaining intel, and positioning him for a takeover of whatever's left of the opposition when we go for the throat.
Hmmm @MJ12 Commando what do we know about the Death Jackals and Downtown Killers aside from the fact that they have been taking advantage of the past month of our activity? I may have a CUNNING PLAN.
Anyway I was thinking as part of the Besiege Wei+Obtain safe passage to conquer Guo plan we could get Shamus and Laine to grab more info on the weapon deal and then tip off the Death Jackals and Downtown Killers through other parties/however. Then we hit the Death Jackals and Downtown Killers infrastructure and funds HARD while they hit the deal.
Hmmm @MJ12 Commando what do we know about the Death Jackals and Downtown Killers aside from the fact that they have been taking advantage of the past month of our activity? I may have a CUNNING PLAN.
The Death Jackals call themselves such because they have a high engagement-kill ratio. They're really, really good at killing people they get involved with. Laine suspects, but hasn't confirmed, that the Death Jackals have found someone who is providing them with enhancement-performing drugs prior to this operation, which have given them not only increased reaction speeds, but also vastly higher pain tolerances.
The Jackals are mostly an "old boys" gang, in that they don't actively accept recruits, but rather have members introduced by current members of the gang who have achieved a leadership position in the gang. This has naturally led the Jackals to be largely comprised out of the same three dozen or so extended families, but has had the effect over time of introducing new families as leaders recruit their friends and associates- and has resulted in the extermination of their families, too.
Laine isn't sure if those three dozen are the extent of it, but he knows there's quite a few people in the Jackals despite the theoretically exclusionary nature of the gang. In part, this is probably because they're entirely willing and capable of poaching from other gangs.
The Downtown Killers originally named themselves that as a joke, because they started themselves up around protecting a clinic that was notoriously easy to sabotage, leading to an abnormally high death rate. As time went on, they expanded their protection, but also found that they needed more resources to do so, leading to them first asking for donations, and then extorting the businesses for money to buy arms and armour when the businesses weren't keeping up their needs.
The Killers still protect that clinic to the exclusion of all else, but its focus has shifted now. The clinic has an agreement to produce at least four augs for the Killers a year, and the clinic is extorted less if they produce more, leading to an average production of six a year. This would lead to an abnormally high number of augs, but this same high production rate naturally leads them into conflict with other gangs, who want to take over the clinic. They still have a weirdly high number of augs, but it's not an insane number.
You know where the Killers are based out of- there's an abandoned mall where many of their homeless members stay, and the basement of such holds a lot of their accumulated resources, as they don't trust the nearest banks and can't afford to walk through hostile territory to reach a safe bank.
[X] Chapter 74, Section 93, Subsection E2 - Borrowing the Lawnmower Off Your Father's Brother's Nephew's Cousin's Former Roommate To Trim Your Dog's Toenails
The Downtown Killers rather sound like people we should think about recruiting, being akin to our militia in original conception, gone to seed, and with a nice corps of Augs for us to build upon. The Death Jackals would appear less useful at first glance, but the fact that they're working with the DK's suggest's they're open to alliances beyond their particular clannish group, and that very clannishness would increase their reliability if we can win their loyalty. We can, after all, offer their non-criminal dependents safe, legitimate jobs and neighbourhoods.
I'd therefore suggest a slight modification of @Sarpedon's plan. We tip off the DKs and DJs, yes, but we do it as part of our recruitment and alliance building, approaching them to inform them we know of a major threat to them, from an outside party, and offering to become their patrons. In return for their allegiance, we give them the data on the shipment, and back them up on taking it, with a split on the loot. We emphasise that their ongoing loyalty will be rewarded with training in using the weapons, and ongoing logistics and supply, of ammunition and spare parts that they'd otherwise have difficulty sourcing to keep the more advanced weapons operable. EDIT: @Sarpedon mentioned the DJs drug supplier/possible patron. With Chemist, and a sample, we can replace them entirely, as well as offering the DJs all the other benefits of our backing.
I'd suggest we put Immolator in place as part of our liaison with them, both to demonstrate that gangers can make good in our employ, and to make the very pyrotechnic consequences of screwing with us clear.
Crucially, however, we don't make the connection public, providing us a stalking horse to conduct two-pronged operations in Shutterbug - the rising DK/DJ alliance, and the entirely above board and legitimate Prometheus Inc. All the "shake the grass" stuff, the DK/DJs can pull, meaning that rather than the headline news being Prometheus coming in to take over Shutterbug, there's more exciting and flashier stuff for everyone to pay attention to while we operate in a more low-key fashion.
