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Comments
Hector, it's been two weeks since your fellow Archon, Juana Dawson, raised the red flag. In the intervening time, Archons and regular law enforcement alike have worked around the clock. Countless hours of drone surveillance monitored, countless palms of Confidential Informants greased, countless miles of pavement pounded, countless doors knocked on or knocked in, and still, as you stand here, you're about to watch the shit hit the fan, even if you don't know it yet.
Best efforts of the best lawyers and civil servants, and even the Councilman from District 14, failed to persuade Alexandria 7, the leader of CAMA (the Coalition for Artificial Moral Agents), not to appear at this rally. The Plaza del Pueblo is Packed to the Gills with an enthralled crowd of demonstrators and counter-demonstrators. Tactical and surveillance drones circle overhead and your earpiece is abuzz with the comm chatter of a major protection and crowd control detail.
Hector, what is your take on the "Robot Civil Rights" movement? Do you have strong feelings one way or the other?
You stand on the temporary dais, scanning the crowd. Jim Tran is opposite you, on the right side of the platform, doing the same. Harvey Gatten is running the detail from the Mobile Command Center just around the corner. You see an owl, of all things, flying in the daytime across your field of vision, and feel a chill run through you. An owl in daylight? That's a bad omen, Hector. Do you say a prayer under your breath, or just watch the owl fly past?
Just as half-machine Adam Brennan escorts Alexandria 7 through the back curtain of the dais, you hear a distinctive and sphincter-tightening, whistling hiss. Then a second. And a third. Three RPGs, incoming. And there's the solid waste, and the rotating blades aren't far.
What do you do?
I've got no trouble with CAMA or Alex 7. My great-grandparents were migrant farmers, you're not going to get anything from me against civil rights. They have rights, they need to be treated fairly. Of course, that doesn't mean we can sacrifice the entire city, so we have to carefully work it out, you know?
An owl is very not good. I whisper a couple madre de dios's to myself, taking mic off as I do. Captain is touchy about religious expression on the job. Church and state and that kind of stuff.
When I hear the first RPG, I'm already looking for the con-trail while heading for Alex 7. I call ahead, "Adam! Incoming!" I hope he's pulling her back. She's a geisha model, not built to withstand an RPG. She cannot become a martyr for CAMA. Plus, you know, I'd be in serious mierda for blowing my assignment.
Brennan responds quickly. "On it!" You see him pull Alex 7 back and down, and cover her with his body, as you realize that the RPGs are not aimed at the dais. They arc into the crowd. Too short to be a mistake, given the sophisticated guidance and targeting systems that must be attached. The points of origin are near the top of three different skyscrapers, if your perception doesn't fail you (and it usually doesn't), the buildings are nearly 300 meters away, at the far edge of this gigantic gathering space, not adjacent. One to the West, one to the East, and one to the North. The last launch was from the North.
As you evaluate, the RPGs land in the midst of the packed Plaza. Screams, Flames, and Terror ensue.
What do you do?
As soon as I realize Alex 7 is safe, I know there's nothing I can do for the protesters, so I'm scanning the buildings, calling them out, "Harvey, you got the three points of origin? I can paint them with my sight!" I'm heading for my ride. I'm sure they have an exit strategy, but I'm not letting them get away.
Gatten starts to answer, but then you hear, over the comms, a loud explosion. "Shit! That was close! I'm grrxasfgjrn..." So, seems like the MCP is off-line. You're not senior, Hector, but no-one else is speaking up. Maybe they're busy? Maybe they're hesitant about stepping in.
What do you do?
Adam and Jim are the same rank, but in the absence of a command structure, we operate on trust. "Jim, crowd control. I've got eyes on the shooters!" I take off at a dead run for my ride, which is a slick new bike, fresh out of the factory. I've run sims on it for weeks in prep, but I've never gotten a chance to let her out before.
Hector, you reach the hoverbike without any trouble, it's close to hand. As you get ready to mount it, though, a woman sees you and grabs at your arm, eyes wide and terrified. "What's happening? Who did this? What should I do?" Her grip is tight with panic.
What do you do?
OOC: we'll call getting to the buildings from which the RPGs were launched a Challenge. You'll need to roll at least twice. The first roll is to Overcome the panicked crowd in your immediate vicinity, with a Difficulty of Great (+4). (This one woman is standing in for the "local" crowd as a whole.) Remember that you can also roll to pre-emptively Create an Advantage for the Overcome roll to follow.
Recapping the geography: Wide open plaza, boulevards coming in from each side, fairly closely spaced buildings all around. Target buildings are three on the far side of the plaza, with the center one being the one where the last RPG was launched from.
"Ma'am, please step aside, we have fire and rescue on the way." I'm telling her this as I put a hand on her wrist. I see the fear in her eyes through my visor, and soften my voice, "I'm trying to catch the people who did this. Please."
I hope she finds my command Forceful enough to obey.
(Rolled: 4dF+3. Total: 2. Rolls: -, 0, -, +)
So, Hector, it's obvious that you can get rid of this woman, get out of this situation. You're strong and smart, had to be to survive in the Undercity. You've got all the advantages you need. Certainly you get past the woman and onto your motorbike. Certainly.
But what's the cost? It's not trivial. Does someone get hurt? Does it take too much time in this situation where the seconds are ticking away? Something else?
Yeah, I was being Forceful, perhaps a little careless in my attempt to pursue those terrorists. What the hell are they, humanists? There are humans in the crowd, assholes.
I leave some hurt and scared people in my wake as I activate my hoverbike and hop on. I've got to get at least one of these guys for this, make him roll on the others.
It takes a great deal more direct intervention than you would like, and one persistent man's arm my need setting, but Hector, you're on your fresh-from-the-factory hoverbike. What's your favorite feature of this new gift from the Council?
Dodging bodies for a moment, you finally manage to pull her up, skimming above the heads of the crowd. The view from this level is not encouraging. The grenades must have been clusters, because there seem to be at least a dozen areas of black smoke and fire and corpses and screaming casualties. To make your way through this madness without losing visibility or getting caught in an updraft from the fires will be tough.
OOC: Another Overcome Action, against a Good (+2) difficulty.
Once I'm on the bike, I'm calling in for fire and rescue. I know sensors and cams should have done it, but I don't want to leave it to chance. If nothing else, it gives me a sense of comfort hearing that they're on it.
I hit the accelerator and push my baby on.
I'm trying to be Careful while roaring over the heads of the crowd.
(Rolled: 4df+1. Total: -1. Rolls: 0, -, 0, -)
I'm going to spend a Fate point to grab a re-roll using my cybernetic leg. It gives me extra balance with the hoverbike.
Trying to Overcome again:
(Rolled: 4df+1. Total: 1. Rolls: +, -, 0, 0)
Hector, you call fire and rescue, describing the scene and helping to prioritize. You swerve and dodge, using all your skill and caution, but just as you are cutting past one of the fire zones there's a secondary explosion that sends your bike skewing off to the right, and as you correct course that damned owl is there, right in front of you, flying straight at your face. You pull up sharply, and the bike stalls out. You manage to land without hurting anyone, but your new toy is down for the count.
About 40 more meters to cover, on foot now, still surrounded by crowds, but past the worst of the RPG damage. What do you do?
Man! I liked my ride. "Harvey! My bike is down! Do you have eyes on the shooters?"
"Dammit, Hector. That's why we can't have nice things! Yeah, I'm back up. Fairly certain we picked up one of the shooters on vid, leaving the building closes to you. Nothing on the other two. Wearing urban camo BDUs, if you can believe it. Heading for a ground cycle in the alley at your 2 o'clock."
The crowd is thinning a bit here. You put on all the speed you're capable of, closing the distance. 30 meters. 20 meters. 10 meters, and you can see the shooter now, just as described, about to climb onto a cycle, with an unloaded RPG slung across the shoulders. Hector, what do you do?
"I'm on it!" I declare as I beat feet towards the closest building on my two o'clock. I'm pumping my arms for speed, lucky that I'm in good shape. As I get near, I'm keeping my left hand near my sidearm, ready to pop the guard and draw it on the man in BDUs.
The shooter is tall, maybe six feet or a little over, and as you get closer you can tell by the way she fills the BDUs that this is no man. She's wearing a helmet and tinted goggles, so no way to identify her for the moment. She's starting the cycle as you close the distance. She opens the throttle and starts to drive right toward you.
What do you do?
I pull up, remove the snap-guard keeping my sidearm in its holster and draw. I'm not calling out a warning, I'm shooting the front of her bike right away.
Rolling for the Shooter
She's pretty skilled at some things, but just okay on the bike. so:
(Rolled: 4df+0. Total: 0. Rolls: -, +, +, -)
I'm taking Careful aim, and taking a called shot stunt on her bike.
(Rolled: 4df+3. Total: 4. Rolls: 0, +, 0, 0)
Hector, as usual, you hit what you're shooting at. The front tire of the motorcycle blows and the bike slews just as you leap out of the way. The woman with the RPG launcher lands heavily and skids into the wall of the adjacent building head-first. When you reach her with the cuffs, she's out cold. Medical and a paddywagon are on the way.
---END SCENE---