//File 0.1 - Hotaru//

I think I may have seen to many sci-fi movies with AR overlay everywhere, but I think I read that stopped being used with the wireless evolution of the Matrix, i'll have to read up on the lore to be sure.

If i understand correctly, any actions I keep for later in the turn are limited to Anytime action (A) right?

Does the woman already have the box locked (with the hornets, chips and canisters inside), and in her hand at beginning of initiative?

Edit: Didnt expect a fight before having any of my gear, this would be alot easier if I had declared Hotaru carried the 2 hornets from his gear in his RCC pouch :P

I wonder about that too. My conclusion for SR is that there are gutter sprawls where everything is still manual, datajacks are necessary, or touchscreens and keyboards. Also SR has high essence mages/adepts etc who are not jacked in, so no AR for them. On the other extreme, a megacorp environment would have constant AR and VR communications, huge interactive holograms and displays, so much so it'd be best for you to walk around constantly in AR. An airport and its personnel is probably somewhere in the middle: body scanners, power-down requirements, etc, but the luggage still needs to be physically checked and verified.

Yes, if you save your action(s) for later, you can only use Anytime actions. Initiative actions must be taken when it's your Initiative turn.

The woman only has the small box with the canisters. She's barged in, closed the box, and picked it up. Doesn't look like she wants your drones. Your Hornets are still on their trays on the table. The datachips containing the key to slave the Hornets are also on the trays, next to their respective Hornets, one for each Hornet.

Other hints, don't forget there are potentially other vehicles and drones you can control, it's just this room only has your dog and hornets. I still owe you a Rotor drone.

I think you'll have to 'fight' this one tactically, it's only Chapter 0 after all, kinda like the James Bond opening sequence. Whether you succeed or not determines Chapter 1's plot! ;)

Oh, no canister means no narcoject either. Now I wish I had a sonic screwdriver :P

Ok tell me if this works.

So... Hotaru will try to pick up the chip as a minor action or 2 (not being careful like a major one)
A minor action to reach the door
Another minor to close the door (?)
Then a major action to connect the chip to his RCC (?)

Small tweaks:
Pick up chip (Major)
Move (Minor)
Connect the chip (Minor) I'll treat your attempt to 'load' the chip to your RCC as the equivalent of 'Reload Smartgun'
Door is closed after they entered, so you have a spare Minor. Activating something, maybe? ;)

Roll Willpower + Logic to oppose the woman's magic. The woman has Edge.

Hotaru will use the extra minor action to activate both drone slaved to his RCC

While my character is not trained in legal matter, there is probably some common sense or "movie experience" that he has.
How much trouble can he be in for having unregistered stuff in his luggage? Can he be "charge" if the unregistered goods are stolen before being identified? And is there an ideal outcome to avoid too much scrutiny on his new identity?

8 hits vs 2 hits. Hotaru is Confused 6, that's a -6 dice pool penalty, ouch. The spell also affects technology. Your turn!

Edit: Forgot to answer your other questions about the law in Japan. For that, you largely have to find out in-game. :) But different countries likely have different laws for this. Being detained for questioning is definite. Being charged for 'illegal' items is also possible, but as you say, you don't possess it anymore, although you did bring it into the country, intentionally or otherwise.

I did not find in the book how to time a movement to follow someone else's, like how the hornet could cross the door at the same time if they try to close it behind them.

Alternatively, it there another way for the hornet to get out of the room, like an partially open window near the ceiling? If there is Hotaru might directly jump in the hornet without being afraid the runners would close the door behind them before he has time to follow.

That was pretty clever roleplay, using the dizziness to go into cold SIM. I'm awarding 1 Edge which you can use now or store in your pool until the end of this scene.
The book is skimpy on the exact timing for movement or pursuit, your key rules are the Move and Sprint actions, and of course the Vehicle Movement rules for rigging. So in this situation, if you want your drone(s) to follow the runners, the sequence is: on the runners turn, say they exit through the door and move x meters of their movement speed, opening the door and letting the door close behind them. When it's your turn you can take an action to command the drone(s) to follow them before the door closes. In such a case I will ask for a Manoeuvring roll to see if you can make it, and will take into account the speed and acceleration of your drone to see if it were even possible for it to take such an action (too slow and it won't be possible).
Are there air vents or windows for the Hornet to fly through? There are ventilation ducts for air conditioning, but their openings are big enough only for real insects, not for palm-sized Hornet drones.
Ok you can declare your actions (Don't forget switching from AR to VR counts as a Minor action!

@dejoker Yes when magic says it affects technology, it will affect vehicles and drones. Mechanically if the vehicle needs to make a test, the dice pool modifier will be applied to it.

Starting with 1 Major and 4 Minor Action

1 Minor : Enter cold-Sim VR : Gaining 1 init dice and 1 minor action (?)
1 Major : Jump in the Hornet - Gaining a bonus point of edge as per VCR
1 Minor : Declaring a Move to follow the runner through the door stealthily.
1 Minor : to activate his SIMRIG and start recording
1 or 2 Minor actions left
Hornet has a acceleration 0f 20, a speed interval of 15 and a top speed of 35, which should be more than enough to clear the room and follow any sprinting human.

Spending 4 out of 7 edge to add Edge to Stealth action. (I am added the Edge stat or the current edge pool?)

Edit: 6 success on the manoeuvring test and 7 success on the stealth, not bad for being Confused (6).

Very nice rolls indeed. :)

Teamwork Perception, to see if they spot the drone. The helper adds his number of successes to the leader's dice pool.

Male Orc attacks Hornet. Male Orc gains Edge. Uses 4 Edge to explode 6s. Roll Piloting + Evasion to oppose.

Isnt teamwork adding success to the dice pool and not the hits? Giving direct success seems very easy to abuse.

A drone alone roll pilot+ autosoft (evasion), but here Hotaru is jumped in and it is my understanding that his stats and skills replaces those of the drone.
Would that make his Defense Test pool Intuition+Intuition (as VR replacement of reaction) or Piloting+Intuition?

The drone as a Defense Value of 9 with Hotaru's piloting which might be enough to negate the Edge of some pistol even with smartlink especially if the range is far enough.
Is the mage sustaining the confusion spell as she escape?
And what is the 2nd sensor on the Hornet? Hotaru will roll a Observe in detail during the following/fighting to get visual and audio info on them.

Oops yes, jumped in, it's Piloting + Intuition. Drone alone would be Piloting + (autosoft) Evasion.

The drone has a Defence Rating of 9. It's unfortunate we aren't playing this out on a grid map for greater clarity, I'll consider that for future combats. But since it's theatre of the mind, I'll recap the sequence so far: the drone slips out as the door closes. Hotaru attempts to move the drone stealthily while the runners try to make their escape while trying to see if anyone is following them. It still makes sense that the mage sustains her spell to prevent pursuit. They spot the drone (I could've granted Edge to spot the drone, given the range which I explain below, but Hotaru is Confused enough already, heh), so the spell still applies to your rolls (and you did apply it), and so the orc opens fire. Distance-wise the runners have hardly moved anywhere between 10-20ish meters, and as you rightly point out the Hornet's acceleration from 0 is 20 meters, so the reality is that the distance between the drone and the runners is either still Close or Near, so it's very likely that the AR vs DR is 13d6 (or more) vs 9d6, giving Edge to the orc.
If you'd like to retcon the range, ie. the drone hangs back really far, letting the runners escape more, I'd be happy to do-over.
Your second sensor is either microphone or ultrasound, I'll let you pick or roll for it! :)
Observe in Detail will be your next turn, once we sort out any last tweaks on this turn.

I think that in combat it is the difference between attack and defense rating (which is a static stat different from the dice pools)While the defense rating of the drone (piloting+armor) is 9 the dice pool for defense will be 13, counting the confusion (Piloting7+spe2+Int8+VCR2-Conf6)
Holding the confusion spell make sense of course, as long as the mage can deal with the penalty for sustaining it.

To be sure I understand, they both took a major action to observe in detail on the same round they exited the room?

Yes that is correct. AR vs DR is used to determine Edge, Defence test dice pool is Perception + Intuition (plus specialisation and VCR).
Yes the mage is sustaining the spell. If you're wondering about the dice pool penalty, don't forget she might have a sustaining focus or some other means of managing the penalty.
If you're counting actions for this turn, the orc has taken an Assist action and an Attack action. The mage has taken an Observe in Detail action and a move action.
Turn summary so far, after initiative was called:
Turn 1 - Hotaru picks up and connects chip, moves to the door, activates drone.
Turn 1 - Orc attacks guard. Mage casts spell. Both move to the door, open it and exit.
Turn 2 - Hotaru goes into cold-sim, jumps into the drone, activates simrig, moves drone quickly and also stealthily.
Turn 2 - Mage perceives drone with Orc's assist. Orc pauses and fires gun. Mage moves.

Edit: Additional thought, at such Close range I had considered not letting the drone roll Stealth, or suffer a penalty, since it's barely a few meters away, but I figured the runners weren't expecting something like a small drone to follow them, so I went with it.

Your turn!

Absolutely! Beside, Hotaru raised the alarm two turns ago inside the room already, so the guards are coming! Not quite the main airport building, but the adjacent civil aviation baggage security / cargo handling facility. But yes, silencers are a thing for infiltrate and grab missions.