-47:56:37
Great Fox
Planning Room
Falco clapped his hands together with excitement, hopping off the table while Slippy did a quick little fist pump.
Fox turned to face the other members of the crew. "Krys and Peppy, I'm sorry, but honestly, we just really need the money right now. The ship is more than due for repairs and general maintenance and we're starting to run low on our usual provisions. I mean, believe me, I have my own reservations about this one, but if we don't try it out, we're guaranteed to get nothing, and who knows when the next job will come in? I figure we might as well give it a shot. Well, that and the illusion of free will. Is that ok with you?"
"'Course, Fox!" Peppy responded. "Sure, I still don't really get the whole idea of this job, but give me something to do that I understand, and I'm your man."
Krystal chuckled at the rabbit's words. "I won't lie, Fox. I still have my reservations about this one. But I absolutely understand. I trust you, and I know you trust me. No matter what happens, we'll all have each other's backs and I'm sure we'll make it through just fine. Just maaaaybe not how we expect it," she said playfully. "Besides, at least I'll finally get an excuse to try out that cute cocktail dress you got me for New Year's."
Fox went ahead and let that image float around in his head for a second before responding. "Great! Glad we're all on the same page then. Let's get on to planning out the fine details then, shall we? Slippy, go ahead and pull up the planning sheet, please."
Slippy did just that, sitting down on the couch next to Krystal with his laptop set in its eponymous spot. He clicked off of his presentation and opened up a new document on the holo projector titled "Tomfoolery Table." It was essentially just a template that the team would fill out while planning for each mission. Slippy began inputting information and pictures on things like the location and target into the three main categories of the sheet: Setup, Roles, and Plan of Action.
Fox wasted no time in getting to it. "Alright, well, as far as I can tell there shouldn't be very much in the way of opposition for this shindig. Mostly just Robin and whatever other dorks show up for their little auction. And outside of a fake katana and some bad B.O. I'm not really expecting them to present any sort of real threat. Obviously, the casino's security is gonna be the main worry here. With the amount of money moving in and out of that place daily, I expect things to be pretty tight around there. That being said, most of their attention will be on their own money and operation which we have no plan in interfering with. As long as we're careful, we should be able to simply avoid most of them, but we should still be prepared just in-case. We're going to go into this armed with strictly non-lethal weaponry. Specifically close-quarter stuff. Falco, you know if we got anything small?"
The bird perked up at the mention of weaponry, eyebrows slightly raised in interest. "Like, how small we talkin' here?"
"Like small enough to fit in a prison wallet, small. Not that I'm planning on utilizing that option, but you get the idea."
Falco rubbed the bottom of his beak in thought. "Hmmm, well I know we have some micro blasters that we can just set to stun. Those should be able to fit fine into a holster that we could wear under our suit coats without anyone noticing. I know they do make these things now where you can stick them on your hand and stun people by touching them. They're virtually unnoticeable if you aren't looking out for them. Unfortunately, we don't got any of those though, so we'd have to buy some beforehand."
"I like the sound of that. Do you know if Katt's around right now? She might be able to hook us up with some."
"Actually, yeah. Pretty sure she just got into Corneria a couple of days ago. Just got done working a job for that bitch Brandy, so she's probably pretty loaded right now. Should be able to snag some of those for us if I ask nicely."
"Oh hey, I remember Brandy! God, what an absolute bitch." Fox muttered under his breath. Anyway, that would be great. Think there's any way we could get those tomorrow?" Fox asked meekly. "I mean, unfortunately we don't have a lot of time on this since the auction is in two days. Oh, also could you ask for a full layout of the casino's interior?"
Falco sighed. "I can ask, but I can't promise she'll be up for it on such short notice. Guess I'll just have to turn on the old Falco Lombardi charm," he said, brushing his weird wing hand through the feathers on his head.
Krystal snorted at the display. While Slippy wrote down the note under the "Setup" portion of the planning sheet.
Secure arms and casino layout from Katt - Falco (tentative)
"'Aight, cool." Fox continued. "Other big thing we have to worry about is our way in and out of there. Obviously we can't just be pulling up in Awrings. Gotta have something inconspicuous enough that it won't attract any attention, but still versatile. I was thinking maybe we could just borrow Bill's van. He still owes me one from when I smuggled that piece of electrum quartz in from MacBeth for his rock collection."
"Or we could always just rent one," Peppy said, shrugging. "It's not like we'd need it for very long, just the one day."
Fox scrunched the left side of his face as he tilted his head dismissively. "Yeeaaaaahh, I mean, that's an option too, but if we can save a few bucks by just using Bill's I feel like we may as well. I know you can get 'em from pretty cheap at Home Depot, but I don't think a big orange and green "RENT ME" sign on the outside is very inconspicuous. Besides, the tires are usually bald on those things from the hoodrats who rent them to do donuts in the parking lot."
"Yeesh, you're cheap, man." Falco scoffed. "Also, I'm pretty sure 'hoodrat' is an offensive term now to rodent people or something, but that's neither here nor there."
"Look, I'm not cheap, alright? I just… don't enjoy spending money. But like, who does, really?" Fox responded, defensively.
"Fox, you literally bring coupons every time we go to McDonald's. Like, come on man, it's McDonald's. It's embarrassing."
"Well I'm sorry that it's like ten credits for a goddamn Filet-O-Fish combo now. I'm not happy about it either. Anyway, end of discussion. Krystal and I will go down there tomorrow with you to Corneria. We'll meet up with Bill, you meet up with Katt. We'll kill two birds with one stone."
"Ok, I know for a fact that that one's offensive."
Slippy once again notated the new step of the setup.
Secure van from Bill - Fox and Krystal
"Looking good guys, I think that's probably about all we'll need to secure for this one. Should be a pretty quick and easy mission all things considered, so let's go ahead and move on to planning out the heist itself," Fox continued. "Like I was saying earlier, we all gotta go in separately, otherwise people will see right through our disguises. The whole idea here is spreading out and looking for intel. We don't know for sure where Robin is holding this event, so we'll just have to ask around until we find someone who does. The place is pretty big, so I think we should all try and tackle a different area. Peppy, I'll have you cover the casino area proper. Krystal and Falco, you two work the entertainment areas. I know they have stage shows and a club that a lot of people usually flock to, so try and work your magic in there. I'll cover the bar and restaurant portion of the venue. Once someone gets a hit, they will relay their info back to the rest of the team. As soon as one of us has found Robin and all their C.U.M., the rest will converge on their location, except for one member who will hang back in case anything unexpected happens. Once we have secured the bounty, we pull back and ride off into the sunset. Any questions?"
Slippy cleared his throat before speaking up. "Well, actually Fox, I think sunset will be long over by that point. It's currently autumn on Corneria, so usually the sun sets around 6 p.m. local time. We probably won't even show up until around 8. Besides, the entrance of the casino is actually to the North, so regardless we probably wouldn't-"
"Slippy. Buddy. I get it, yeah, it's a figure of speech. I know it will be nighttime. Did you have anything else pressing on your mind?"
"Oh yeah! So, what did you want me to do the whole time?"
"Well, I'm glad you asked. I need you on intel. Do you think there's any way you could tap into the casino's security system? Giving us the ability to access certain areas without a pass key along with keeping any cameras from seeing us would be fairly invaluable."
The toad contemplated the question for a second before responding. "Yeah. Yeah, I think I could do that. Only problem is, I would need to be able to get into the main security room to do so. Once I'm in there I could tap into their system remotely and then just monitor everything from the van. But it's just getting in there that's the problem."
"Hmm… Maybe we could get you in there with a disguise. If you're dressed up like the rest of security and you have an official enough looking badge, you could probably slip in and out of there in the short time you need, right?"
"Yeah, that'll probably work!" Slippy said excitedly. "I just hope I can plug into the system without anyone noticing. Worst case scenario, I have the perfect idea for causing a distraction."
"And what exactly would that be?" Fox asked cautiously. He knew Slippy was gifted with a brilliant mind, but sometimes his ideas proved to be a bit too ambitious for his own good. The image of the toad's ill-fated plasma juicer almost taking off Peppy's dome came to mind once again.
"Well," Slippy smiled deviously, "I just so happen to be in possession of some Psilocybe Cubensis, or as you may better recognize them, Golden Teacher magic mushrooms."
"Woah, Slippy, aren't those illegal?" Fox asked, surprised at the fact that the usually innocent and cautious toad was in possession of psychedelic narcotics.
"So, technically, no. The buy, sell, and consumption of them as a drug is, in-fact, illegal. However, there are plenty of organizations that will sell the spores online which you are free to grow in your home, as long as you use them for strictly scientific purposes. Which is exactly what I use them for! I don't know what it is, but I find mycology to just be so fascinating! Anyway, while I've never used them for illicit acts, it wouldn't be impossible to slip a small, safe, pre-measured amount into the drink of an unsuspecting security guard. They'd have a bit of a trip, be well-distracted for any amount of time I need to be in there for, and it would all wear off in a few hours with no ill effects to their health."
Fox sighed, knowing he was likely about to make a bad decision. "Against my better judgment, sure. We'll go with your idea, Slip. Just make sure you're extra careful. I don't want you getting caught, or worse, somehow drugging yourself."
Slippy scoffed. "Please Fox, I may have had my moments in the past, but I'm pretty sure I'm mentally fit enough to not somehow drug myself."
"Well, that sure sounds foreboding…. Anyway, Falco, I'm gonna add a few more things for your shopping list for Katt, in that case. See if she can get a Casino Della Fregatura security outfit and badge in Slippy's size. Thanks."
The only response he received from the annoyed bird was a singular "Bruh."
"And with that, I think we're done here! See you guys tomorrow morning."
Slippy made a few last adjustments on the planning sheet as the rest of the crew filtered out of the room before eventually doing the same himself.
AN: Originally, I had just written this and the last chapter as one giant block, but I figured it would be better to break them into two so it wouldn't drag on so long. I could always change it back, though, if it feels too awkward taking a break in the middle of the scene like that. Let me know what you think.
Also, as an aside, that whole thing that Slippy is talking about with the mushrooms doesn't just apply to the fictional Cornerian law, just saying.
