Round Three - Mission One - The Junkyard Raid
Stretch is an asshole of a mechanic-bot, but it’s not really his fault. He was built and programmed by a guy named Fleetwood, a gentleman of my acquaintance that you shouldn’t regret not knowing. Before the war, Fleetwood was a junk dealer who made it big, owning a chain of scrapyards all the way up the 605 and 5 freeways to the Valley and beyond. The only thing admirable about the man was his taste in music; otherwise, he was a money-grubbing, underhanded, double-dealing, and (some say) murderous bastard.
The War changed all that. Now, Fleetwood is a megalomaniacal, shameless, confiscatory, and (everyone says) mass-murderous bastard. Before he moved his base of operations to North Hollywood, he built and programmed mechanic-bots like Stretch to run his chain of junkyards for him. Fleetwood doesn’t tolerate competition (as you might have guessed), but right now, we can’t tolerate the way he does business. I say we take out Stretch and pillage his scrapyard for all the spare parts we can carry (and Marion can carry a lot).
But this is no run-‘n’-gun mission. Stretch’s yard is far too well-defended for a frontal assault. Subterfuge, ingenuity, and literacy are the keys here.
This is a job for Mechanics Only. Two groups. One group (the SPeedier ones) drives fast circles around the junkyard, going extra-fast around the back, and slightly slower around the front. They should tease and dodge until the machine-gun nests in the front are activated and take shots at them. The second group (highest in EN and LK) must hack into Stretch’s back door next to the loading dock. The longer it takes them to hack the door, the more likely one of the SPeedies will catch bullets. Each failed hack attempt results in an electrical shock that will hurt quite a bit.
Once the door is open, all the squadmates assemble at the loading dock to face Stretch’s junkyard dog. He looks a bit like Rex, but amazingly, he has no cybernetic implants yet. Fido is an uncharacteristically cautious junkyard dog, not stereotypical in the least. Oh, he can fight and bite with the meanest of ‘em, but he possesses an orderly, somewhat bureaucratic mindset that refuses to be proactive without explicit instructions.
He sits, head cocked askew, as if waiting for direction. Behind him, on the wall of the loading dock, are several commands in various languages. Our Mechanics can read, and their LK determines if they choose the right language to deliver the desired command. The three languages are Farsi, Tagalog, and Klingon. The seven commands listed are, in English, SIT, STAY, DOWN, ROLL OVER, PLAY DEAD, SHAKE, and KILL. Behind the dog, Stretch reclines, plugged into his charging port. Each Mechanic must choose a language and a command, and hope their LK and instinct serve them well. Mechanics will take turns in a random sequence, and the first Mechanic to give Fido the “correct” command in the correct language will receive a 10LP bonus. If no Mechanic chooses the right combination by the time all Mechanics have exhausted their commands, or if a Mechanic issues the, uh, wrongest command, Fido will attack and Stretch will wake, and certain security measures will come into play… but nothing a well-coordinated and properly-prepared squad of mechanics couldn’t handle. I hope.
Success of this mission results in unlimited Parts for all Mechanics, with no “DRM” about how they’re used or sold.
On the Mission Entry Form, if you choose Mission One, you should write the three languages in the order you want to attempt them. Similarly, you should rank the seven commands in the order you will want to give them. You and the other Mission One players will take turns. On your turn, the first command on your list will be given in the first language. There will be an effect, which you will discover in the Results. If this effect does not result in a Round-ending outcome such as Fido self-destructing, Stretch being killed, or all you Mechanics being attacked by mechanical spiders or some such, then the next Mechanic gets a turn. If you get a second turn, the second command on your list will be spoken in the second language. And so on, until a Round-ending event takes place.
Everyone might survive this virtually unscathed, particularly if someone guesses right the first time. But also, there might be a fair amount of damage dealt before the Round ends. Upgrade your stats wisely in advance! At the moment, Stretch has no idea what we have in mind!
Risks:
High SP group:
Machine gun turrets cause 1 HP damage per hit. There are 20 turrets. Each hit randomly assigned to players in this group, with the number of hits determined by the failed hack attempts of the second group.
These turrets are vulnerable to two things - armor-piercing shells, and certain types of oxygen-rich explosions. Any player with that sort of weaponry will get a dice roll (1-6) multiplied by their LK stat divided by 6 to determine how many turrets are destroyed. They’ll only get one shot, because the turrets will adapt their defenses.
High EN group:
Each Driver takes a turn at hacking the back door. You and the door both roll a many-sided die (1-25), and a match is a successful hack. However, it’s not quite that simple - your EN stat provides a massive advantage. For each EN point above our group’s average, one side of both dice falls off. (These things happen in the postapocalypse…)
A failed attempt gives some encouragement to the turret aiming systems, and the SP group receives one hit for each intact turret. It also provides an electric shock causing up to 5 HP of damage (depending on AR and LK and a 5-sided die roll) to just the Driver making the attempt.
There are five digits in the door code, so five successful hack attempts are required.
Payroll:
Unlimited Parts for all upon successful completion. 15LP for all participants upon successful completion. 10LP bonus for successfully commanding Fido. 1LP per machine-gun turret destroyed. 1LP per door code digit hacked.
