Episode 35: The Festival of Firepower Job, Part 2 - kaseido/NeoTokyo GitHub Wiki

Star leans on Isolde for info about the attack. Isolde says it’s a heavy PR assault. She has no side jobs and the orders from corporate are to trash BADI and their employees, and keep the bystander body count down. Word is going to come down from corporate to kick it off. “Swordfish”

Vir suggests some of their allies come into the convention center and some stay outside. Carbide considers staging their heavy weapons teams as defense, to deter them. They could do some real deterrence by getting their heavy units out front early. Set up their people just down the block from their staging area.

Star asks if she should warn Isolde she’s bringing a lot of backup, and maybe they should consider it’s a contract they can’t fulfill. Carbide thinks more impact if they set up first: “Look out your window, this is how much I don’t want to get shot today, maybe you take a coffee break, maybe you’re texting when the order comes down and y ou miss the call.”

For the actual event Spicy will be on Hua, when shit goes down, she gets Hua to the Gorn and they get her to safety.

Carbide and Vir cover the exit route. Paragon says to order their support to attack the attackers. That could turn into good will from BADI and/or Da and Hua, who could claim they saw this coming and got independent contractors – so what the attackers want, to show they’re incompetent- doesn’t happen. But their boss looks incompetent. And there’s no downside. Star says they want to max goodwill, since the twins are the ones who know what’s going on with the memes, etc.

Star has to dress Dino. Paragon has nice big pockets in her dress. He gets a little ninja costume since he’s undercover, but with a bowtie because it’s a fancy event. There’s lots of room under that skirt!

Paragon’s going to be on the floor, being a very bad date, keeping a lookout for access points. She wants to have one or two of the Gnu get. She would like to shut down the staff doing net security and get a Gnu in that chair. They’ll have a lot fewer compunctions about using turrets, but can also be defiant or maliciously compliant if they get orders from the convention center owners to support the attackers, not the people renting the space.

Their heavy weapons team sets up, not being subtle about it. “A vague disclaimer is nobody’s friend.” Star calls Isolde during the reception, while sipping champagne with Tiffany. “Look left, look right, look at your net architecture, look at your life, look at your choices.” Star is PHENOMENALLY persuasive.

They asked the Night Witches to switch their scopes to visible laser dots just for a second.

They’ve got an encrypted Discord for communicating with their people. They get word that the adversary isn’t packing up and going home, but isn’t getting ready for a heavy attack.

Sekushina Meido is doing catering, Paragon never burned her identity with them. She has very high managerial reviews: appropriate initiative, doesn’t talk back, and is thorough without being annoying. She gets the gig. She wants to locate where the Dweller is: not the server room but the actual netrunning chair. Grab a carpet sweeper and just roam till she finds it. She finds the locked door, with an electronic lock. There’s some other traffic in the hall.

Paragon will be down at the event, dressed too fancy to be a maid. But there is a Gnu who could pass for Paragon. Give Star an hour and they’ll look a lot more alike. She will try to convince her supervisor that it would be good to have a maid stationed up there in case they need to cross over, or a guest needs to be steered out, etc. They know guests are going to get places theyr’re not supposed to be and make messes there. “We need a floater. Doors mean people are going to try to get in there and fuck. Enough booze and enough guns and people get that ideas.” That works.

Star makes over the Gnu to look like Paragon. The hardest part was getting them to shut up about having makeup put on them.

Paragon needs an electronic lockbreaker from Carbide. No problem: it actually uses the factory standard backdoor for that model of electronic lock. It was just sitting around. Next, she asks Vir for the strongest knockout drug they have. Plan is to unsafely jack out the Dweller, and pump them full of sleepy drugs while they’re still disoriented. They end up with Cup O Noodle down their shirt congealed to them, rolled up under the desk. Except Vir has to deliver the drugs. They’ll do the service cart thing with Vir aboard. That way they’ll have somebody in the room with the Gnu to shoot anyone who comes in to do the same thing they’re trying.

Vir wants to wear their catsuit – which is a CAT. SUIT. Star just says “NO” over the radio.

Carbide sets up to cover their escape. They’ll try for the restroom or the backstage exits.

Star briefs Tiffany, Paragon warns Stephane-Louis this is a big setup. “You wanted to go to an event, Star made me tell her who my tailor was!” He’s to get to a safe space as soon as possible.

The last date before the event Spicy goes through the exit and protection strategy, and what her capabilities are. She is to put Spicy between her and any weapon pointed at her, and if Spicy is to pick her up, let that happen. And stay to her left side, because that is her arm with a shield. Spiucy;s sole purpose there is to ensure Hua stays safe, happy, and gets out alive, no matter the cost to Spicy.

There is a very raucous heavy weapons street party, that is disrupting access to the convention center. They set up some quick detour signs. Paragon uses the Sekushina Meido app she’s logged into “I heard there’s a major disruption outside, perhaps our people should put out stanchions and velvet ropes, and hostesses to escort the guests into the convention space.”

Upstairs Vir makes their move against the Dweller. They unplug them neatly, following Carbide’s directions for how to unplug them from the chair for maximum disruption. The person is drugged, and the Gnu is in. Vir and the Gnu can’t get him into the vent, but do get him into the rolling cart.

Stephane-Louis and Paragon are hanging out under the mezzanine trying to look like they belong there. Tiffany is there to look into hostile takeovers. Star keeps getting distracted, then talking biz, then remembering they’re at a party.

The event kicks off, but with definitely not a capacity crowd, given the backlog outside.

The guards by the front of the stage open fire on the Paradise Blossom security. Spicy thinks they’ll be turning their guns on the stage next. Spicy kisses Hua on the cheek and says, “Get down, stay down.” She goes for one of the guards, knowing Star has a shot on one. She goes after the other, and slices him, then cracks his armor with her fist. While fighting, she thinks she hopes Hua doesn’t get disturbed by the violence- while chanting “stabby stabby stabby” to herself.

Star reaches under her skirt, pulls out her gun, looks at it, and gives it to Tiffany. She lets out a feedback screech at her target.

Spicy’s target shoots and hits! But she barely takes any damage. The turret takes out the other one.

Spicy puts an arm around Hua and skates her back into the band, and behind her.

Karpaev bursts out with a roar, sees Star, and is uncertain whether to go for her or Jie. Star comes forward and leans around a booth. “Oh my god, I’m so glad you’re here, it’s so good to see you!” The full Starscream experience. He is hers to command.

Spicy asks Hua what she needs to do. Hua stands on Spicy’s skate feet, rolls up to the mic to make her announcement about evacuation. She’s still doing her job correctly even under a cyberpsycho attack. It’s not even her bodyguard, it’s her girlfriend, a psycho with a sword, who took down a gunman! Spicy does the airline pointing to the exits with one bloody sword-hand. The other is around Hua’s waist.

Star points over to the correct staircase! Up there, third door on the left, she’s probably waiting for you.

Security has moved to attack someone who could be a guest. Or more importantly, product!! That seems like a huge labiality. So they open the turrets on Jie’s people, knocking one out.

Karpaev grenades Jie’s guys.

“Frankly, this is a concerned citizen, and Star knows her fans are good people. Give this man a job at the conference center as head of security, and get him therapy.” NOT Spicy’s therapist- or theirs!

Star takes a couple abandoned flutes of champagne over to Tiffany, who slips Star’s pistol into her tux. “You get all the best invitations,” and they drink to being sociopaths who make a lot of money.

The turrets swivel down onto Jie’s remaining guys, Carbide’s heading to them, there’s a cyberpsycho bearing down -they give up.

Hua is able to announce the situation is resolved, and welcomes Paradise Blossom back to the stage. Sekushina Meido gets the bodies cleaned up, only one actual corpse that needs a team with a mop and brooms. They gather everyone in the venue over to the side.

Hua completely hangs onto Spicy. Star goes up to peel her off, but no luck. “Do you want me to just take the clothes off?”

“I’m not leaving my sweetie, we’re in this together!” Hua stands on Spicy’s feet and they skate to the bathroom. “Champagne in the dressing room, come on!” - Star. Hua is fine with cutting Spicy’s clothes off, and Spicy has classified this as Girlfriend Event. Star just wants the fashion to be okay, so no cutting the dress off.

Star gets them into the dressing room, just shoves them in. “Yeah, get cleaned up, I’ll be back.” She’s used her one superpower. She heads off to talk with Da.

“I’m completely indebted to you.”

“Say it again but slower”

“Now that we’re on the same side, it’s going so much better.”

“My sister really likes your friend, is this going to be a problem? Give me a couple days, then everything I know is yours. There seems to not be a chief of security at the moment, I’m going to do a bit of a takeover here myself.”