[Brainstorm] Mission Design Roundtable: The Train Job

[iconoplast]

Poking around on the wikipedia entry for Bullet Trains, I find out this:

Qinshen passenger railway is a passenger-dedicated high-speed railway between Qinhuangdao and Shenyang, spanning a distance of 405 km. ... It is an electrified dual-track railway designed for a top speed of 200 km/h. By 2007 its top speed is increased to 250km/h and will be further upgraded to 300 km/h. In 2002, high-speed train China Star achieved a top speed of 321 km/h on Qingshen railway, setting a record for Chinese train speed. ...

Trains D24 and D28 between Shenyang and Qinhuangdao have a start to stop average speed of 197.1 km/h, the fastest (non- Maglev) rail service in China

Hm.  Average speed of 123 mph, you say.  Doable, with an Exotic Sports Car & some Racing Bikes. Go on...

Qinhuangdao is one end of the line.  What's there, you ask?  Well, it's a port on the Yellow Sea.  It's also home to "Beidaihe: a seaside resort. Many political decisions affecting China are made here, making it the equivalent to... Camp David." 

So this is beginning to feel Crafty.  What's at the other end, I wonder?

"Shenyang is an important industrial center in China, and the transportation and commercial centre of China's northeastern region. ... Shenyang holds the Headquarters of the Shenyang Military Region and the Air Force of Shenyang Military Region. Shenyang is also famous for its defense industries." 

Ooooo.  Well, what's this Shenyang Military Region, then?

"The Shenyang Military Region is one of seven military regions for the Chinese People's Liberation Army. It has command and control of military and armed police forces in the three northeast provinces of Jilin, Heilongjiang, and Liaoning, which also form Military Districts.

The Shenyang Region adjoins the Russian Far East Military District, which now numbers some 76,000 personnel.  However there is a military limitation treaty and information disclosure agreement in place between the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China.

The International Institute for Strategic Studies lists the formation with an estimated 250,000 personnel, three group armies, and two armoured, one mechanised, four motorised, and one artillery division. It also lists two armoured, five motorised, three artillery, four anti-aircraft and one anti-tank brigades with the formation."

Nice.

Just out of curiosity - this Russian Far East Military District.  What's cool about that?

"Forces within the District now include the 14th Separate Brigade of Special Designation (Spetsnaz) at Ussuriysk, the 5th Army, the 35th Army, HQ 68th Corps (the former 51st Army), four Motor Rifle Divisions, and four Machine-Gun/Artillery Divisions."

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So, to recap:

China's fastest non-maglev train goes from a city that is famous for it defense industries and near to a Spetsnaz base, to a major port that has a beach resort used for diplomatic talks.

Obviously, the PCs need to catch and board that train.  I can tell you that the Mission Gear will include 1 exotic sports car and 2-3 racing bikes with upgrades, as well as a Depth of Study training (Cultures Focus, Profession Focus to match cover identities) for all the PCs.  What I can't tell you is what the PCs are going to be doing once they're on the train.  Ideas?

[Psion]

Obviously, the PCs need to catch and board that train.  I can tell you that the Mission Gear will include 1 exotic sports car and 2-3 racing bikes with upgrades, as well as a Depth of Study training (Cultures Focus, Profession Focus to match cover identities) for all the PCs.  What I can't tell you is what the PCs are going to be doing once they're on the train.  Ideas?

That depends on the setting.

If you are using WoF or SFA, perhaps there is a member of the Nine Tiger Dynasty or Pan Asian Collective. This person may need some combination of contacted, coerced, abducted, or rescued.

An agent for the player agency is burned or about to be burned. They were stationed in the military district, have been captured, and are being shipped to the political region to stand trial or be debriefed by a Chinese agency.

Similarly, an agent working on military technology is known to have suffered under communism and is considered a recruitment opportunity. The Chinese know this, and keep a close eye on him on base. However, he is being moved to the political center to make a presentation with his latest technology. The team may need to meet with him covertly and convince him to leave or abduct him to get his technology.

Recently a border excursion have left Russian and Chinese forces swarming around like bees in a hive hit with a stick. Cold words are exchanged between the Kremlin and Bejing. A Chinese infiltration team got something from the Russians (lost cold war tech, alien ship crash landed at tunguska, the result of a human chemical experiement, etc.) They are moving it away from the border. It is known to be on the train. Stop and retrieve it before it can be secreted away.

[Mister Andersen]

Dude, all you need are tickets

[iconoplast]

Dude, all you need are guns

[Mister Andersen]

Actually, guns are probably not the best things to have on a train, especially if you're obviously foreigners. Depending on what your objective is, poisons/diseases and martial arts are probably your best bet as far as lethal force goes.

If you want on a train, you either buy tickets or use an aircraft of some description if there's no other way aboard. Cars and motorbikes are just stupidly visible and utterly impractical if not actually impossible to use in this context. Seriously, a sports car in a field doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell in making even a fraction of the speed of the bullet train up there on its elevated tracks.

[Gentry]

Yeah, I'm feelin' jetpacks here.  But that's just me.

[VisualStatic]

Ok being the geek for Sat images, I checked out google maps of that region, there appears to be a highway that follows somewhat closely at times the same path as the train goes.

For those would want to take a look:  Qinhuangdao

[Agent 333]

Actually, guns are probably not the best things to have on a train, especially if you're obviously foreigners. Depending on what your objective is, poisons/diseases and martial arts are probably your best bet as far as lethal force goes.

If you want on a train, you either buy tickets or use an aircraft of some description if there's no other way aboard. Cars and motorbikes are just stupidly visible and utterly impractical if not actually impossible to use in this context. Seriously, a sports car in a field doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell in making even a fraction of the speed of the bullet train up there on its elevated tracks.

Namely, the Firefly-class cargo ship Serenity...