The Department: Seventh Mission

Mission Seven: The Nightclub

Sorry.  I've been sitting on this one for quite a while now because I didn't have the "nightclub" terrain I needed.  Sure, I could have faked it, but I was also looking for an excuse to do some crafting.  So, after a long time, I finally built my nightclub set, and I'm using it for this mission.  It's not perfect, but it's pretty good, I think.

Ok.  Let's get on with The Nightclub.

Agent M has to get into this nightclub to plant listening devices in the offices.  That's it.  If things go well, this will be relatively boring, and nobody will get hurt.

It's probably called "Tech Noir", but without my AR goggles, who knows?

Despite the trench coat and waving his man-stopper pistol around, this is an "under cover" mission, and as such, Agent M isn't allowed to bring backup or any big guns.  I do spring for some body armor (Budget 1), though.  Just in case.  With the mission cost of 10 Budget and 2 Place Evidence, this brings my Budget down to 41.

The Setup

There's a crowd standing in line by the front door, where an armed bouncer... bounces things, I guess?

Very popular spot with the local zombie cosplay enthusiasts.

At the back  door is another armed guard.  And inside are two more, milling about the dance floor, which counts as one large, hard-to-disperse crowd.

"Does it smell like pee back here to you?"
"Yes, Other Barry, yes it does."

Turns 1 & 2

Agent M starts one move into the board, and the first turn charging toward the door.  Six dice only yielded two goals, though, so he didn't quite make it there.  On the second turn, Agent M makes contact with the bouncer at the door and tries to Negotiate [TN3] his way in.  M's Intuition + Fate + Edge gives him 7 dice, and he rolls 1,1,2,2,3,5,6.  Yuck!  Only the five and six are goals, but the six counts as two goals, giving me the three that I need.  Agent M agrees to go out with the bouncer's ugly sister if he can get in, so the bouncer lets him.

I know this looks intimidating, but people are really casual
about guns in the cyber-future.

Turn 3

Agent M runs an impressive 13 cm through the crowd, toward the first office, taking a brief moment to enjoy the live music.  Well, live singer.  The music is pre-recorded.

♫Personaaal responsibility!  Personaaal responsibility!♫
♫Bullets are the beauty of thy blistering skyyyy!♫

Turn 4

One of the interior guard turns and stares right in Agent M's direction.  M can't let himself be seen going into the office, so he just hangs out all casual-like by the office door.

"Uh, pardon me.  Is this the way to the restrooms?"

Turns 5 & 6

A lucky break!  Both guards face away from the office, and Agent M slips unnoticed through the door!  He then spends the next full turn planting the bug in a plant.  Hopefully the guards will stay occupied for one more turn.

Agent M proceeds to molest the ficus.

Also, I don't know how to handle the bouncers outside.  I mean, they shouldn't be wandering off, right?  They've got jobs to do.  I just ignored any instructions for them to move away from their posts.

Turn 7

Agent M's luck holds!  He dashes out of the office and starts for the other one.

The other guest looks at him in disgust.
"Dude, did you even wash your hands?"

Turns 8

Another amazing run puts Agent M 14 cm across the room at the other office door.  Unfortunately, one of the guards can see him from there, so that's where he waits...

"Don't mind me.  Just standing here checking FaceBük on my uPhone."

Turn 9

Well, crap.  Both guards turn in M's general direction.  He's going to have to wait it out, and hope that they don't notice him.  He moves behind the bar a bit just in case.

"No patrons behind the (neon) yellow line!"

Turns 10 & 11

Now's his chance!  Agent M ducks into the second office while the guards are looking away, and installs the other listening device behind a friendly-looking cube.  Unfortunately, he's now trapped, and will have to wait for the guards to move away again.

♫This was a triumph!  I'm making a note here: Huge succes!♫

Turns 12 - 16

Ugh!  Come on, you guys!  Move!

While he waits, M builds a rapport with the cube.

Turn 17

Finally!  It's a close thing, but there's just enough room to duck out without being seen!

"Holy crap!  Does anybody else see this laser, or is the Molly kicking in?"

Turns 18 & 19

With the mission complete, M ducks out the back door and disappears into the city.

[Longing look at cube.  Sheds a single tear.]

Post-Battle Results:

Nobody was KO'd (See? Boring!) so there's no need to roll for injuries.

Agent M gets +1XP for surviving the "fight".  Each bug will earn him 1d6 (4, 2) Financial Evidence, but it's not really "in the field", so no bonus XP there.

Station Actions:

Agent M gets one Station Action for free.  I want to convert some of my excess Evidence into different types, but the kind that can be converted is the kind that I don't have.  So, might as well ask for more Budget with a Negotiate [TN3(5)] test.  Nope. Bupkis.

Internal Affairs

Well, at least I didn't get any IA points.

Results:

Budget: (-11) 41/100
XP: (+1) 4
People Evidence: 1/2
Place Evidence: (-2) 1/4
Electronic Evidence: (+4) 4/1
Financial Evidence: (+2) 8/3
Physical Evidence: 0/1

I don't know which mission will be next.  I've got to bump up my People, Place, and Physical Evidence before I run out of Budget, though.

Epilogue:

"Uh, so you're Larry's sister, eh?  What's with the frying pan, anyway?"

Ĝis la revido!"

Jason "Ludanto" Smith C;E