Action Report: The Hijack

The Agents

Tobias Stöhner: Gray hat hacker and electronics whiz, Tobias makes computer security experts at the Pentagon break out into a cold sweat when he infiltrates their systems.
Virgil Cooke: A former CIA agent, Virgil is a master of acting a part and working the social aspects of covert ops. You probably should avoid windows if he wants you dead.
Jack Herman: Former SAS, Jack is the group's heavy muscle and military man. If the group needs his talents, it's inevitably because something went FUBAR and they need saving.
Alexandrina Veselovsky (Alex): Russian criminal. Breaking and entering expert. Overly complicated last name. Impossible to keep away from your valuables.
Nima Caspi: A former IDF combat medic, Nima is perfectly at home driving like a complete maniac and patching up complete maniacs who have taken a bullet or two.
Johnny Trang: Johnny Trang was too cool for LAPD officer school, so they put him into undercover work. Johnny Trang is perfectly at home infiltrating illegal racing rings or snooping on bad guys.

This session we had Matt (Virgil), Max (Johnny), and Ryan (Jack). Thomas (Tobias) had a nasty flu and was only present for part of the session. Kim (Alex) was absent.


The players did some last minute preparation. Jack and Nima procured a second semi truck to switch with the one being used by the convoy, as well as a second set of license plates to swap out. Virgil made some camouflage nets, doing excellent work (critical success).

Meanwhile, Tobias rigged their jamming equipment to not interfere with their own communication headsets.

The ambush location was picked out, and they arrived a few hours early to setup. Foxholes were dug, Virgil's sniping perch was prepared, and a dead cat was dug up to hide the bricks of C4 Logan provided them with.

The time was midnight. The convoy was approaching at roughly 55MPH (~Move 28), with two motorcycles taking the front, followed by a SUV, the semi with trailer, and then a final SUV.

Virgil began the festivities  by shooting his M82 Barrett at the engine block of the rearmost SUV, instantly disabling it. Having hand-loaded some APHC ammunition he managed to purchase south of the border, the M82 turned out to be a toy I'm going to have to limit Virgil's access to.

The hit SUV immediately entered a nasty skid as the driver tried to compensate for the damage the car took.

Virgil then hit the lead SUV, also in the engine block, causing them to lose power as well, forcing the semi driver, Robert, to brake hard to avoid hitting them.

By about this time the rearmost SUV had slid next to the planted C4, which Jack triggered. The explosion rocked the car over and off the road, killing all of the passengers inside.

One motorcyclist thought he'd spotted Virgil's muzzle flash, and dismounted his Harley to try and creep closer, as did his partner on the other motorcycle.

Meanwhile, the remaining occupants of the SUV exited their vehicle, attempting to use it at cover.

Nima and Jack promptly mowed the four men from the SUV down as Virgil took out the men attempting to spot his position.

Chavez met his end after taking Robert hostage as he wasn't aware that Virgil had a shot on him. Thus the convoy fell into my player's hands.

They swapped out the semi for their own truck, as well as changing the license plates. Tobias checked the stash for bugs- erroneously believing that he had found some (critical failure), wasting critical time.

Robert agreed to drive for them.

They set out, Nima leading, Tobias and Robert in the middle in the Semi, with Jack and Virgil taking up the rear.

About an hour and a half later, a Bell UH-1 Iroquois swooped down, scanning the road with a massive floodlight. After passing over the convoy and then doubling back, a man turning a mounted Saco M60 at the semi, Jack and Virgil decided to try and engage it from the road.

Relying on his luck to stop the SUV from a good 70 MPH to 0 without losing control, Virgil stopped the SUV and Jack took the shot.

It smashed into the helicopter rotor, demolishing it. The gunner was thrown from the helicopter as the pilot lost control, and the helicopter itself plowed into the surrounding countryside.

Tobias kept up the jamming continuously the entire time, preventing Los Zetas response the entire time.

Their last hurdle before trying to enter the US was a ramshackle roadblock consisting of four men and two cars parked across the road. Nima, failing her On the Edge (Accessibility: Only while driving -50%) check, decided to ram through the roadblock. She hit the smaller car parked across the road, also running down one of the three men manning it.


Robert and Tobias sped through, taking gunfire, but no injuries. Jack and Virgil were not so lucky- their SUV got sprayed by about ten UZI shots, one of which hit Jack in the leg for 3 damage.

Despite the shock penalty, Jack turned around in his seat and shot at the men with his AK-47, killing two of them and convincing the third to not give chase.

Clear of the roadblock, Jack patched himself up, while Virgil failed a will roll to remain awake. Disaster was barely avoided (with the aid of combat reflexes) once Jack realized that they were about to go off the road.

The group stopped in Douglas to switch cars before entering. Nima's SUV was acceptable to enter the US, as was the Semi which had only taken a few hits that could be easily explained away. Jack and Virgil's vehicle however, had no chance of getting through border patrol without serious questioning, something they weren't willing to risk.

Nima secured the group a Hummer to cross in ("I teach him that overcompensation for a small penis is a bad idea."), also hiding the guns they wanted to bring over.

The group had contacted Logan, informing him that they had changed plans for how they'd enter the US, forcing their handler to quickly send an agent to the crossing to grease the wheels. Logan also assured them that Robert's family was being looked after.

Johnny Trang (our new PC) arrived just in time to convince the man in charge of the border crossing that he was with the Department of Defense and that he needed the other Agents let into the US on important business.

With that, the Agents were let into the United States. The rest of their trip to Roswell, NM went without issue.

They were met by a guy wearing a DEA cap who took the semi and Johnny's fake DoD credentials from him. He told the group that they were to lay low at least two weeks and that they would be contacted soon with their next mission. It was strongly suggested that they not be anywhere in a state bordering Mexico, as a shitstorm was about to go down.

Virgil immediately suggested Vegas.

Random odds and ends:

• Virgil probably won't be allowed to use a M82 too frequently. It wracked up two SUVs, a helicopter and 3 headshots on this mission.
• I made a major oversight and didn't explicitly plan for how the Los Zetas would prepare for the possibility of a nighttime ambush.
• During the hijack itself, the cartel got off no attacks at all- a combination of a critical camouflage check from Virgil, darkness penalties, and a well constructed sniper's roost.
• I should start work on a random rumors table, although I doubt my players will get as much use out of it as say someone playing in a Dungeon Fantasy campaign. 
• A friend pointed out to me that Injury Tolerance: Unliving and Injury Tolerance: Homogenous should have applied to the SUV engines and helicopter rotor blades respectively. An oversight on my part, but one that I'm ultimately comfortable with.