Jamie leaned in over the team's table.
"I'd like to remind everyone to restrain your tongues.  Places like this usually have live security feeds.  Anything we say here will likely be recorded."
He leaned back and started twiddling his thumbs.
"My suggestion is that we find a shipment scheduled to arrive at the Imp base where we believe our girl may be held.  If we snag the ship en route, we can complete its delivery as scheduled.  If we're posing as the crew, that's our ticket into the base.  However, we may not be able to get that perfect job.  Let's see what we can get."
Jamie looked around the private room.
"Seven, check the room, please.  I want to know what sort of security and surveillance we're working under right now.  Rann, you'll be Talon Three, at least temporarily.  You and Two can mull around and see what sort of computer resources we have on this station.  Are there directories of some sort?  Holonet access?  Check out anything near here and be back in this room in ten minutes.  In the meantime, does anyone have ideas?  Sheila, how good are you with people?"

In reply to Jamie Webb (msg #34):

When Jamie starts talking about watching what they were saying, she nods, then looks up sharply when he stops watching what he's saying, but decides not to say anything, after all, Exilim is supposedly in charge and all an argument will do is bring more attention to them.

Sheila brings up a map, a general purpose map, of the area she believes Jamie is talking about, they've been trying NOT to set off any alarms.  "I see that."  THen when Jamie asks how good she is with people, she shrugs.  "Depends on what you want.  I'm a starfighter and computer sort of girl."

Grumbling about always been given the grunt work and faking a limp, Devon began his examination of the room.  He flashed a quick grin over his shoulder to show that there was nothing serious in his grumbles.



Busily poking around in the corner, Devon glanced over his shoulder.  'It won't be that easy, surely?   I mean, Imps are going to have an escort for their convoy, right?  which means either we take over the ship in such a way that the escorts dont realize... or eliminate and replace the escorts too.'

He paused for a moment, turning the options over in his head.  'Actually, that second idea has something to be said for it... if we can find a way of doing it...  that lets us add the escort fighters to our list of aquisitions...'

Rann bean working with his datapad, looking for good places to gather information about the locality and the comings of goings of ships

Jamie couldn't help but smile when Sheila gave him the you're-an-idiot look.  In a way, he was an idiot...that seemed to be a requirement of the job.
"We generally use numbers instead of names.  We can generalize instead of giving details such as time and location.  We're here to start a job...we can't get completely around talking about it...but we can avoid giving away enough details for someone to plan a surprise reception for us when we get there."
In response to Devon, Jamie nodded.
"Or perhaps we can snag and replace the crew before they even meet up with the escort.  Perhaps, even, we could infiltrate the group doing the shipping and be the official crew?  It all depends.  We'll find out soon."

She ignored his response to her look and asked. "It looks like we want to get here,"  pointing at the map.  So exactly what did you mean when you asked how good I was with people?"
This message was last edited by the player at 01:02, Thu 03 Dec 2009.

OOC:

Glad to see the pickup in posting.  I'm going to try to answer everyone's questions here:

COMPUTERS
There are two major functions:

1.  Searching the Infonet (for lack of a better term).  This is the SW equivalent of the internet (Google Star Wars mayhaps?).  Anyone with a computer use or gather information skill can use this.  (if you have both use higher, I may also add bonuses to a search if both skills are high).  So an example of how this might help would be:

Maps of the station and the Phindir System will be here (tourist maps, etc).  Wont show everything (most maps have military zones just listed as such).  I'm going to assume Sheila downloaded all this already (being the good slicer she is).

2.  Slicing.  This is hacking.  So you try to break into an illegal system.  An example might be to hack into the station's ship manifest to check arrivals and departures/cargos/etc (not someting they usually pop on the world wide web!).  Since you need proper computer equipment and a landline to do real slicing (not a datapad in a tapcaf) I'll assume no slicing has been done yet.  Also, many places keep info on closed systems so sometimes slicing has to be done on sight, not remotely.  (Depends on the info.  Some info does need to be shared so is accessible externally (though encrypted).  For example, ship manifests may be accessible externally for viewing (as info needs to be shared with the cargo bays, fuel station, etc), but other info will be kept on private systems.  For example, if you wanted to replace crew on an official manifest (Jamie's idea of 'swapping crew') you would need to break into the particular ship to alter the records.



INTEL GATHERING
Another way to gather info is by word of mouth through the use of the gather info skill (beefed up with diplomacy or bluff if you have it).  So Rann wanted to find out where the ship captains hang out.  That's not something you'll find on a computer most likely.  But mingle in the bars with ships crew and bar staff, grease a few palms (or buy a few drinks) and its amazing what you can learn.  I believe Rann is our smooth talker here.


BUG SWEEPING
Devon, a standard bug scanner is in your security kit.  You find no bugs upon searching.  However you're just in a private booth/room in a bar so it's hardly the most secure.  It has a standard security camera on the roof (they're not trying to hide it).


Hope this all helps you with your planning!
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:19, Thu 03 Dec 2009.

Exilim let out a little chuckle as he caught the interaction between Jamie and Sheila.
He had been listening to what had been mentioned, and while he liked the of having more fighters it raised the complexity of the mission.
"Before we get too ambitious with our planning, lets actually see what is feasible." Xil said. He turned to Sheila looking at the map that she had indicated to "So, what have you found us?"

"NOt all that much at the moment, I really can;t get anything really good from here.  But this is where you think she is.  And this is a vague visitor's map."  the map had the general shape of the base, but very little was labeled, except the building where visitor's were expected to check in before proceeding further into the base, after passing the first checkpoint to get in.  "There is also these companies, who claim to provide fuel to the Imperials in their advertising.  And a list of ships looking for passengers, and a list of crew wanted, although I would bet that;s out of date within an hour of posting,"
This message was last edited by the player at 05:17, Fri 04 Dec 2009.

"Well, at least it gives us somewhere to start looking." Exilim said looking around the table. "I think that we need to find you somewhere that you can get better intel from."

Pausing briefly he continued speaking to the gathered Talons "What's the general consensus? From what Ten has been able to get so far a range of possibilities present themselves."

"Certainly, I'm sure several of us have good qualifications for a job, but a prospective employer is going to want more identification than we can offer.  If we had more time to prepare, that might be more reasonable."
Jamie looked at the visitor's map, trying to identify the buildings.
"These companies may be our in.  They'll have security, but it won't be as good as whatever the Imps have.  This may be our in.  On the other hand, it may be easier to work these jobs one at a time."
Jamie looked up at the others.  "Planning this sort of thing is not my specialty.  If I have to do this full-time, I'm going to be...very upset."

Sheila's data reveals that there are 3 suppliers of fuel within the Phindar sector.


1. Typhon Energy

Typhon Energy is a massive congomerate that supplies most of the fuel for military operations within the local arm of the galaxy (numerous sectors).  They have the tender for supplying fuel in the Phindar sector (and in typical Imperial fashion have strangled out the competition).

The advantages of hitting these guys is that they have several plants (4 on various moons/planets) and numerous fuel convoys you can hit.  Also any damage you do to these guys reduces fuel to the military (the plant Bishop's team destroyed belongs to Typhon Energy).  The disadvantage is their convoys and plants are well protected by the Imperials (especially after your act of sabotage) making them tougher to take.



2.  Phindar Petrochem

This is a sector based company that deals mainly in fuel for the security and agricultural sector.  They do supply some fuel to Imperials (when Typhon can't, etc) and have been trying to expand but are being effectively squeezed out by Typhon.

These guys would have less security to deal with but also less convoys.  They have two processing plants on heavily populated worlds.  Hitting these guys does not hurt the Imps (though that is a secondary consideration).



3.  Zandar Corporation

Zandar corproation runs a number of fuelling stations for the retail sector.  They are a family-run corporation with no Imperial ties (aside from paying taxes etc).  These guys would be easiest to hit as they have very little security.  However little of their fuel is military grade (though a little refining will fix that).  They have one manufacturing plant.

Rann hands his backpack to Sheila “Look after this for me, I'm going to talk to some people and see what I can find out.”. Grabbing his coat, Rann  heads out to see what the local gossip has to say.

Rann will be gone for the rest of the day most likely so can people sort out what they're doing (if anything) so he isn't left out of the action for too long?

"Have fun out there." says to Rann as he leaves. Turning to Sheila he says "Find somewhere that you can plug into the local network and slice away. I want as much intel about those fuel suppliers as you can get. Also anything extra on that base would be nice."

Turning to the rest of the team he says "I'm going to take a sniper look at that base and see, well, what I can see. What about the rest of you?

OOC:
Rann was supposed to be asking either Xil or Jamie to lend him some credits out of the stash Mark gave you for his information gathering.  Since he has yet to do so (its been 4 days) I'm going to assume that you give him the 250 credits he wanted.

I'm also assuming since nobody has posted that nobody has any plans for the rest of the day (as Rann will need many hours to ask around.

You all meet the next day you all meet in one of your rooms (which has been security swept and is bug-free) to learn what Rann knows.

The next morning Rann arrived back from his night out with a data pad of info and a sore head. “Caf black... no blacker” he said “Well, Typhon Energy have sold out to the Empire; they're undercutting the competition by having the Empire crew their supply ships” he said in between sips of caf “ If we need reinforcements for a strike we have a lot of crews who are out of the job and willing to help us. And we can might make some money on the side from the other company's if we cut Typhon out of the system.” he pulled himself slowly too his feet “ I'm going to bed, that cockroach is moving to loudly for me.  Goodnight”

"Well that makes posing as a Typhon crew member problematic." Xil said in reply to Rann's information. "It does make them a better target if we are looking at hurting the Empire's presence here however. I also like the idea of getting paid by the other companies for what we were already going to do."

He lent back in his seat considering the option of using some of the out of work crews to help them in their venture or ventures.....

"Do you have any information on these potential assistants?  We can't bring just anyone along.  We should know something about them first.  Typhon sounds like a good target, but it will be hard.  Did you find out anything about the security?  That's crucial.  If they have rentacop style security this will be a breeze.  The Empire can't send proper escorts everywhere.  On the other end of the spectrum, if they have proper Imperial escort, this could be nigh impossible...or at least not worth the trouble.  If we want to get paid by one of the other companies, do we need to eliminate Typhon or just damage them?"

Sheila's on the computer, up to now she's been finding the fences, how far one can go into the sites of the companies before hitting walls, she's starting the test the fences, hopefully finding some answers to questions mentioned.

After looking queasy for a moment, Rann suddenly bolted for the nearest toilet, hands clamped over his mouth.  He should have realised that his kebab having a tail was probably a bad sign... before slamming the toilet door he tossed his datapad back onto the table the others were sat at, its screen full of text.

Sheila will comment from her padd.

"There's an imperial ship due to dock at 1000 hours tomorrow, to pick up cargo, it's a Imperial Delta class DX-9 Troop Transport.  The station's fuel depot is supplied by Zander, which isn't so good for getting back at imperials with.  If I sit here, I can sort of get into the sensors, if we want to try to figure out the imperial patrol pattern, or watch who goes by, which is basically the name/number of the ship.and what we can figure out visually, or someone a little sneakier than I am can upload a program that will send the feed to the pad more securely.  Finding out of work Typhon crews will be  footwork, there's fifteen ads right now on the boards looking for work, but we might be able to get security info from them, whether or not we take them along."

Once Rann stops retching enough to hear her, she will ask loudly "You want something for that stomach?:"

 .

Xil chuckles at Sheila's comment to Rann as he reaches for the quickly discarded datapad. "Lets see whats on here" he says as he starts to go through the information on the datapad.

Devon watches Rann bolt for the bathroom and listens to the noises coming from behind the hastily slammed door without even stopping chewing on his snack.
'Secret to healthy livin', he mumbled round a mouthful and held up his partially unwrapped meal for the others to see.  'Eat prepacked ship-rations.  All the vitamins minerals and calories you need, never go off and available in a variety of colours...' he regarded his food for a moment. 'Don't think much of this green one though... prefer the orange.  Yeah, whats on that datapad anyhow?'

Typhon Energy has recently signed  a deal
deal signed with the Imperials
all tankers are now crewed by Imperials.
5 fortmaine ZZZZ, 2 alderaan hammers, 2 telti sherrys
The security is run by imperials.
Typhon Energy has significantly raised its profits.
They have got a stranglehold on the system's fuel market
many crews & locals are out of work.
 Few jobs with the other companies
6 hothers, 3 ZZZZ, 1 goopers original ale
very few jobs with other companies
freighters are signing on crew
lots of unhappy crew and locals
tankers are put in small fleets
2 khomm star breaker, 3 starbuds, 4 ZZZZ, 1 bantha milk
usually defended with a  corvette
sometimes a patrol craft or frigate and a few fighters escort the fleet
Phindar Petrochem are desperately trying to hold on to business
typhon sabotaging  other companys
4 starbuds, 5 sknab bitter
phindar lost the most to Typhon's increasing expansion
 increasing convoys has not worked
convoys lightly defended
believed that pirates are working with Typhon
Phindar is employing mercenaries 

(occ: virtual crates to who ever gets the names of all 5 beers hidden in the above message happy new year)