There’s a lot to be said for going the loner route. No split commission, low overhead and residual presence, a lot easier to drop off the radar. And unfortunately, trust can be in short supply when it comes to professional murder. A lone gunman has no one to double cross and no one to be double crossed by. The loner must cross-train as best they can while still maintaining the killing edge over their competition and their opponents, but must often sub-contract others to assist with the job to cover bases they are unable to.
To them, taking out a mark is a high-octane thrill ride. They’re right. It is. But the best-executed jobs are much more like a game of chess, and like chess, a hit is re- searched, planned, and prepared exhaustively before the first move is made.
It would be impossible to discuss the intricacies of every game, because every kill is at least a little differ- ent. The territory, the target’s skills and defenses, and the exit. And, of course, how your skills and style inter- act with all of the above. Every element depends on the others, each overlapping. With that in mind, I’ll ask you to bear with me, because planning a murder is a little like playing jazz—you can’t do it in a linear fashion. The final product, however, is far more polished.
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Ugh, if I had a nuyen for every time some joker associated crime with jazz …>
Kat o’ Nine TalesSo, you’ve gotten your first job. There’s usually (not always) a timetable, and often enough there is a spe- cial condition. “Make it look like an accident” is pretty common. “Make it look like their own guards/wife/son/ famous politician did it” can happen, too. Sometimes you need to kill them in a specific place, at a specific moment, or with a specific weapon. These kinks might just add complications, or they can determine the nature of the entire job.
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There is a Yakuza boss I know of who likes to sign his death marks with a specially cast bullet. Any assassin he employs has to deliver the kill shot with that bullet.>
Mihoshi Oni>
What if your preferred weapon isn’t the right caliber?>
Rigger X>
You know, I’ve never heard of that being a problem. He must have them made in all kinds of shapes and sizes.>
Mihoshi Oni>
What if you aren’t a shooter?>
Ma’Fan>
Then either you aren’t asked, or you learn.>
Pistons>
Or I imagine you kill them, then shoot the corpse?>
Baka Dabora>
This is getting morbid.>
Netcat>
What, the discussion about assassination? No shit.>
ClockworkIf there are no special conditions, planning is deter- mined entirely by opportunity and adapting to defenses, both of which demand observation and research. How much you can do depends on the timeframe. See how complicated this gets?
If you have an open schedule, you can and should take the time to observe the target in-depth. This is where being a lone gunman is tougher than having a crew: a diverse set of skills and extra sets of eyes helps with alternative perspective, both physical and mental, as well as giving you people with expertise in digging up new intel. If you do go the loner route, you can sub-contract specialists for everything from astral analysis and scouting to data mining and subversive timed code.
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Just make sure you’re not a loose end that needs tying up when your killer Mr. Johnson finishes their contract.>
Kay St. Irregular>
Don’t get ahead of the story.>
BlackwingSAFEHOUSE
Now, while you’re doing all of this analysis, you need to remain close to the target, but incognito. Many of the best assassins are international, and of them most won’t do a job in the town where they live most of the time. This generally means they need a safehouse. And because you’re a forward-thinking kick artist, you’re going to make it hard to get into but easy to escape. One that has narrow approach vectors you honeycomb with hidden cameras and motion sensors. One you’ve equipped with explosives, and maybe has an escape hatch to another level, or the sewers. You know, the kind of place you could escape in a hurry, undetected,
THE KILL TEAM
The freelance assassin squad is rare but in high demand. Assuming the team is loyal to one another, whether as part of a larger operation like Chimera or out of personal affection like the Smoker’s Club, a great deal can be achieved by the interdisciplinary range offered by a team. The team has greater resource costs and a greater operational footprint, but they rely less on external assistance, meaning fewer loose ends.
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I don’t know if I’d say the Smokers were affectionatetoward each other.
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Hard Exitwith lots of advance warning and something to slow them down.
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Some runners (smart ones) wire up their haunts with all kinds of sensors. Others set up a self-destruct system to cover their exit.>
Rigger X>
Or their system gets hacked and they get blown up in their beds.>
Pistons>
Only if they are a moron who doesn’t know how to set decent security. I’ve lived by drones more times than I can count. Still have yet to die by one.>
Rigger X>
It’s the rare soul who remembers dying more than once.>
Man-of-Many-Names>
He teed that one right up for you, didn’t he?>
/dev/grrl>
There’s more than one way to skin a cat. Gas bombs, safe rooms, you name it. A temporary flop for a job is easier to string up with grenades and small sensor nets. Save the elaborate stuff for when you need something long-term, or expect very heavy hitters to come knocking.>
ThornIt’s worth noting that hotels come with their own benefits and drawbacks. A five-star spot will have built-in security, a more secure Matrix presence, and of course will be more comfortable. That all can work against you, though, since you’ll need a good SIN just to get a room, and if the authorities have some cause to pursue you, they can use all that security against you. The same goes for the Matrix, where all that prefabbed and redundant architecture turns into a tomb instead of a fortress. To say nothing of the difficulty of moving your hardware to your room without it being detected.
The other end of the spectrum is the fleabag, where the Matrix is fast and loose, there aren’t any maids until you check out, and check-in is as simple as slotting the cred and giving an alias for the register. In this case, ano- nymity is your best bet, with any personal security being your responsibility. The upshot is, getting your gear in and out is a snap.
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I always take the latter. There’s no reason to trust your operation to rent-a-cops when you can honeycomb your hideout with sensor nets.>
Rigger X>
An added bonus is that it’s easier to arrange for an escape port in a low-end hotel. It’s far more likely you won’t be trapped in a tower. Closer to ground-level, you might have access to the sewers and more. Always keep an eye open.>
2XLThe last resort, and in my opinion the best, is to get an apartment instead of a hotel room. It’s pretty simple to get a small space with a passable burner SIN, and from there it’s basically yours to do with what you will. If you give yourself enough time beforehand, if you’re lucky, or if you throw enough money at the problem, you can get a place with no neighbors, soundproofing, es- cape routes, hidden Matrix nodes, and more.
Gone are the days of walls covered in maps and sche- matics, photos, and timetables. AR has disposed of that familiar and calming decor. That’s a good thing when you need to pack it all up in a hurry, but it’s important to remember that the use of visual arrangements matter. Make the space to rearrange data, observe patterns, look at things from new angles. A change of perspective can unlock a eureka moment and can make all the difference in finding the weak spot in plans, both yours and theirs.
Beyond security and planning, you need to make sure the safehouse has the necessary facilities for the game you’re playing. If you don’t have everything prepared or purchased and ready to go, you’ll need whatever it takes to finish the job yourself. Chemistry facilities for poisons or explosives, armory kits, disguises and tailoring ele- ments, ritual circles, or whatever might be of use.
Special attention should be paid to a garage for a ve- hicle run. Using the one connected to a hotel is out of the question whether you need to make modifications or not, because it’ll either be under surveillance or out in the open. You might consider getting a safehouse with attached vehicle storage. You could get a location far- ther away, which might add more steps between them finding you or not. If you need to ditch the car and lay low in town for a while, then a separate garage is ideal. Better, too, if you can destroy the vehicle after the hit. But if you’ll be departing directly after the job, it’s less important: you’ll be burning the whole damn shebang, so it may as well go together.