So, how easy a mobile lab, vehicle, etc. going to be to sweep for bugs? I know different GMs have different takes on this.
Not hard. Chino has good bug scanner (R6) and a tag eraser. Doc is a genius, and a technically-minded one at that. The team should feel reasonably confident in their ability to find and remove stealth tags.
As a recap, here is Ohanzee's plan:
1. The bomb is attached and activated. There is now a timer on how long we will wait for payment. All parties are physically present, Doc running Matrix duty in case they try to disable the device that way.
2. They pay us before we disarm the bomb. Since they likely have overwhelming force, there is little chance of us running off with the nuyen prior to disarming it. However, before disarming it, we drop 1M¥ of it with an anonymous (to the other side) third party that is not present (perhaps one of our team members that we elect) on the condition that if we do not get away safely, that money will become a bounty to any Shadowrunners that want it to take back the artifact from our purchasers by force.
3. Once we are away and reasonably safe, the contract is rescinded and we get an additional 1M¥, minus whatever fees we might have promised to the retainer.
Per Mal's recent question, the plan requires a third-party escrow account of sorts, someone who you trust with ¥1,000,000 and will use it to put a contract out on anyone who bags you.
This group has largely eschewed their contacts. You know and have spoken with Styles, Ohanzee's fixer. As best Ohanzee can remember, Styles is an regular business partner but it would be a stretch to call him a friend. As Styles has no other connections to the group that you know of, and nothing really to fear if Ohanzee disappears, he might just keep the money rather than fulfill the contract if Ohanzee were to meet an untimely end.
You could try to go the legal route and hire an attorney to act as an escrow agent. This would be very similar to the premise of
Shadowrun Returns: Dead Man's Switch, for those of you who have played it.
The third option is to use someone from the team. Doc is probably the most logical choice, as he can be the most effective from a safe/remote location. It sounds like Malevolence is concerned that the DIMR and ASPS have seen Doc's digital persona and probably know everything that Matrix Perception can reveal. Katsina isn't super-familiar with computer and Matrix security but to her this seems like a reasonable risk. If the team gets fragged then ¥1,000,000 is enough to get Doc somewhere safe and situated with some new equipment with enough leftover for a generous dead man's switch. (Furthermore, Doc would have the remaining gold and osmium with him, as the team wouldn't want to be bringing that to the meet with them.) The risk is what if Doc drives off with ¥1M plus precious metals, but that doesn't seem like a likely risk... unless his CFD tells him that it's a great idea.
In Katsina's mind,
1) Doc would be somewhere safely removed (maybe even back in Grand Junction) with a satellite uplink.
2) ASPS would bring a Winnebago with them, which the team would drive off in to meet up with Doc (after sweeping for bugs, which the team can do even without Doc).
3) Once reunited, the team divides the pot and then goes underground.
This is definitely Katsina's thinking, not a GM fiat on how things will happen. Things are very open to discussion or revision.
