Episode 3: MacGuffins Don't Save Themselves

SPERTS Alpha Team
Mission Briefing
CO: Harry Griswold

Allright ladies, you get a special treat this time. Brass is making me write up this here mission briefing instead of just dropping you in not knowing your butt from your grandma. Read this careful because I hate typing and I repeating myself.

A MacGuffin belonging to one of the SPERTS brass just got captured by a coven of vampires in Vermont. One of our operatives, God rest him, located the coven and now we’re sending you in to retrieve the MacGuffin.

The MacGuffin is held in a radioactively sealed case. We will be giving you a radiation detector that operates at about a ten-yard radius. Use that to find the case. Do not not open the case under any circumstances.

The coven is believed to be home to 7 vampires. They live on a mansion that is an exact replica of the famous Crofton Estate across the pond. That means you can view the floor plans and surrounding grounds in advance so as to have some sort of plan before you go in.

http://www.crofton-estate.co.uk/index.html
http://www.crofton-estate.co.uk/plans-mansion.html

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: Retrieve the MacGuffin undamaged and unopened. $1250
SECONDARY OBJECTIVE: Destroy Charlotte Taylor, the leader of the coven. She is almost 200 years old, but should appear to be around 17. She has long black hair normally worn in a bun. She should be considered extremely dangerous. $500
SECONDARY OBJECTIVE: Destroy all other vampires. $500

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If you have not already done so, post what you do with your Mission 2 rewards. You're free to discuss (in this post or elsewhere) how you want to pursue the mission, as well as do any additional shopping. When you're all ready and have agreed on the plan, Martha will drop you in according to the plan you set. Things to decide:

Time of insertion
Location on the grounds to drop
Who carries the radioactive detector
How to infiltrate the mansion
Which objectives are being pursued

Good luck!

"Soldiers!" a tall, hideous man in his mid forties yelled as he walked into the S.P.E.R.T.S briefing room. He had on a motley assortment of armor which he seemed to have grabbed almost at random from the S.P.E.R.T.S. armory. "You ready to go? We are going to sneak in under cover of darkness. You--" the man pointed at Dane "--take the radio detector. We are going to drop in out of sight of the Estate and sneak our way in through the conservatory killing anything that tries to mess with us. I'm Corvo, I will lead the infiltration."

With a nod to the room, Corvo took a seat, pulled out a pistol and began cleaning it.

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Corvo stats can be found here: http://www.pdfescape.com/shared/?6F25905D72E9CDD68DE9C8B2736AFC76228834495A1B747E
The ballistic helmet is actually this: http://images1-1.gamewise.co/118553-large.jpeg

Dane was silent for a moment as he studied the newcomer. "Commander, forgive my ignorance but... who is this?" He did not like being addressed in the brusque manner this man seemed to favor. Surely he had to be someone of rank to treat him with such disrespect.

He also had no idea how the radio detector worked.

"That's yer new squaddie. Name's Corvo Attano. He was a gift from the out ... from a friend of SPERTS. Knows all kinds of creepy magic."

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The mission will begin when all players have posted that they are ready - using Corvo's plan unless someone disagrees.

--

Corvo demonstrates the incredible flexibility of GURPS because it involves a clean port of a complicated character. The utterly unique gameplay of Dishonored has been statted out to the last detail. For a cinematic review of his backstory, watch the Dishonored trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyDvT7XpaBc

OOC: I HATE YOU SO MUCH RIGHT NOW LOGAN I AM SO JEALOUS

Kespa addressed the even-more-newcomer,"Corvo, I believe Wang will be best suited to hold the radiation detector. He has the most experience and proficiency with that kind of technology."

She looked around at the others. "I don't have a problem trying to be stealthy, but these are vampires we're dealing with. I don't think we're going to win any battles creeping around in the dark. Daylight will probably be our friend there."

"Can't, I'm noctur... Oh wait, I'm in a metal suit now, with an electric brain, no fatigue to worry about at all, how awesome is that? By the way Kespa, how's earth?" It seems like Wang's death had been doing something to his personality, he was no longer the introvert he used to be, and he seemed to be having an ever-present shining smile. Well, maybe it's just good polishing, but still.
"Sir, I volunteer working on the radio detector, since quite frankly I'm a genius when it's about gadgets. Give me any...Is that the original City Watch Pistol made in Dunwall?!!" Well, some things just wouldn't ever change.

Dane handed the radio thingy over to Wang, gingerly. He wasn't certain what he thought of new-Wang yet. He called him Z'ar, which just meant new in draconic.

"I agree with Kesha, we will find no allies in the darkness here," he added to the conversation. "It seems likely these creatures can see as well in the night as they can during the day. There is no reason for us not to be stealthy, but I have a feeling that plan won't work out. Fortunately, plan B is my specialty."

Kespa never really met Wang and didn't know that his personality changed, but she was sad that he had been forced into a new body. And it was her fault.

"I'm very pleased to be here on Earth, Wang, thank you. It is a great honor to be chosen to assist the humans. Dane, what's your plan?"

Kespa was trying not to stand too close to anyone else, but the smell of rotten eggs and burning hair was slowly filling up the room.

Amadea yawned and sat cross-legged on the floor. "You guys should know that Vampires, from what I know of them, can definitely see in the dark. I can become insubstantial, it takes me one second to switch, and I can communicate to you telepathically. In our efforts to avoid the vamps, I can go ahead of the rest and tell the group which rooms the vamps are in. This will also help us find the macguffin. If the vamps turn out the lights to disorient you, I can still see in the dark."

She looked around to make sure everyone was listening. "But," she added, "my telecommunication seems to be disconcerting to you, with the exception of Kespa. May I suggest that we prepare for this journey by letting me communicate to each of you before we leave? It need not be a setback."

"I have no problem with... what was your name? Well, the plan seems to be our best bet, but we should launch our attack at dawn, so that we have all day to finish the mission. If I am not mistaken, vampire's have no love of daylight."

Dane opened the packet in front of him and perused the images. His English reading was still on the weak side, but he did his best. This house was truly opulence, moreso than anything he had ever seen in the past.

"Let me get this straight," said Griswold. "At the crack of dawn I drop the team onto the grounds just inside the exit gate, across the road from the New Lodge. You move along the road to the conservatory, breach, and clear. That's not a bad plan, you got trees covering your advance to the house on the right side of the road there. Of course there's a chance there will be vamps in some of the outlying buildings but there's no way they'd put somethin as important as the MacGuffin anywhere but in the main house. Keep your eyes peeled and you'll be okay. They won't be coming outside in daylight. No chance."

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Site map: http://www.crofton-estate.co.uk/siteplan.html Griswold is proposing a drop in the north-west corner of the grounds. Post that you're happy with that plan or if you want to change/make further plans (like how to clear the mansion/who takes point).

"Chief, since we now have a sizable crew, shouldn't we attempt to coordinate a breach at multiple entry points?" Wang presented his idea, "I'd say we drop at the southeast point, clear the eastern townhouse, leave one member there for overwatch, then the other four split into two squads, one politely knock on, or in our case, down the front door, the other breach into living room 5. We'll need Martha provide some distraction before we breach though, I'm thinking the cars parked in the lot should do the trick. Would you mind spray some lead in their cars?"



ooc:http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LetsSplitUpGang

"Not a bad idea," said Griswold. "You can leave lizard-boy in the east townhouses - there's plenty of windows so he should have a great view for taking potshots all along the south side of the mansion. He'll probably wanna think about taking a sniper rifle for that though."

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Dane, GURPS High-Tech has a big fat list of rifles on page 120. I personally recommend the Barrett M82. A headshot with that can do over 500 damage, and it has fantastic accuracy (6+3)! Downsides: it costs $7775 and carrying two primary weapons will increase your encumbrance. You might get away with just using your standard rifle.

OOC: ikr. Corvo OP
ALSO OOC: I am assuming Corvo has at least heard the names of all the party members at some point.

Corvo sighed. "I have no major experience with vampires, so I will accept his advice." Corvo points at Dane. "We should definitely split up. The less men to a group the better. If I have to take someone with me, I will go with Amadea."

"I will not cower in the back while the rest of my team confronts these creatures head on!" Dane stated, his voice rising slightly. He'd failed Xiaoming once, he would not do so again. "If you wish to split up, so be it. But I will set foot in that mansion."

Dane decided he should probably train with pistols at some point in the future.

Hearing her own name, Amadea bounced to her feet. "I will go with you," she said to Corvo. She directed her next question to Griswold: "Three groups then?"

"We do this then. Corvo and Amadea, you enter through the conservatory. Wang and Kespa will take the living room next to it, while I will breach the final living room by myself. Any objections?"

"Fine then," said Griswold. "Just Metal-face and Miss Hippie go into the conservatory; I don't give a rip. I'll be circling with my sweet new weapons; you just radio me if you need a gun run. Get ready to drop!"

"Stagger the drop so we each land at the right spot," Dane requested. "I am ready."

He left out a quick prayer for bravery to his tribes patron dragon.

Corvo got to his feet. "Let's go Sam."

Amadea gave Corvo a confused look for calling her "Sam," but wasn't sure if he noticed it. She joined him in a descent toward the mansion.

As she followed the others, Kespa smiled and checked her shotgun and new pistol again.

This time she would protect her new friends.

---

Ruger Super Redhawk bought, -$750

Wang checked his pistols, everything seemed in control. 'I am ready. Be careful out there by yourself, brother.'

Griswold reached into his coat for another cigar. Only two left - he'd have to ration until the next shipment came in. He glanced over his shoulder at the five operatives in the passenger flight area; all of them monsters, if you asked him.

"This is it!" He called out. "Strap in and hold on to your knickers!"

The drop commenced right at sunup; the pods whistled through the air and shattered into tiny biodegradable fragments on the front lawn of the Crofton estate. The party looked around. They were standing just outside the doors they had designated. The sun was casting long shadows across the perfectly-maintained garden. Sprinklers started up on the lawn.

The house was beautiful, but disturbingly quiet. Every window was covered by thick black cloth so not even a pin-prick of sunlight could get in. Corvo, Wang, and Dane tried the handles to their doors. As expected, they were unlocked.

Click here to see the map.

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So the map doesn't look great. This is a learning experience for all of us. Bear with me; I'm not getting paid to do this, and no one even loves you!

If you'd like to change your token, send me an image for it.

Play from this point forward proceeds only after everyone has posted their turn.

Kespa attempted to sense any bodies through the door (with Infravision hyper-specific), focusing first on the living room in front of her, then the surrounding rooms.