Fort Knox Has Been Robbed

[Marcus Impudite]

That's right, someone actually did it. Late last night, a group of as of yet unidentified perpetrators broke into the Federal Gold Reserve at Fort Knox and cleaned the place before the troops could be called in. The gold is gone, every last brick of it. Predictably, the federal authorities are trying to keep things under wraps to avoid embarrassment and public panic. Your character has either been called in to help recover the gold or has heard about the incident through the grapevine.

 

WWYCD?

[Cassandra]

Re: Fort Knox Has Been Robbed

 

Megascale Teleport that can move 8500 tons of gold.

[Tigereye]

Re: Fort Knox Has Been Robbed

 

First, observe the available evidence. Cameras (including IR) constantly record the inside and outside of the place, there are sound and seismic sensors, and there are probably "rubber science" sensors too. Did they leave a trace of themselves, even a few spots of blood from cutting themselves on a sharp bar or a lifting tool? If these were all somehow defeated, it was probably at least partially an inside job, or by those very knowledgeable with similar sensor suites and military security tactics (perhaps the Warlord?)

 

Next, the overall strategy is to turn that much gold from a boon into the burglars' biggest problem instead, and forcing them to either give the gold back, turn them against each other, get it out of their hands as soon as possible or give themselves up.

 

Stating publicly that only a couple dozen bars were stolen, and the thieves did it by hitting a college science institute (on loan from the Treasury) studying the properties of noble metals (by introducing a distinctive, subtle radioactive tracer, but one that is lethal in close proximity for more than a few weeks) is a way of indicating a volume was stolen without causing a big panic, plus the pressure on the thieves means they'll be less likely to keep the gold for a long period.

 

Is there a magic-user or superhuman out there, with Detect Metals, Discriminatory/Analytical, Megascale? Or has the ability to teleport a noble metal and replace it with a traceable or even useless substance blind - like radium, or lead, or loo rolls?

 

He's also going to contact DeBeers, Russian authorities, and members of the gold cartel who he can trust. Pull a favor here and there. Plus, there'll be a multimillion dollar reward quietly placed by the cartel for its safe return, or the capture (or the heads) of the thieves. The US government and Deuce's group won't be the thieves' biggest problem - Russian Supers, the Spetnaz, and every bounty hunter and mercenary worthy of the profession will be, and the thieves might start to see Stronghold as a safer option. If nothing else, they might break into the open after the first major battle. Even a few greedy-but-saner villains will be looking for it that way... Glutting the market and a panic on gold prices is the last thing any named party wants, so their discretion will be assured.

 

Lastly, Deuce would start putting tabs on the people who will be the secondary market for the gold, Underworld figures, smugglers, and so forth. First, second or third world, that much gold is going to show up somewhere and start to glut a market there. Hoarding it really isn't an option, because that much gold now becomes a problem for those who have it - they're going to have to get rid of it as quickly as possible, unless they want to keep it to gold-plate their entire underground lair, use it for some arcane magical ritual, convert it via alchemy into mercury, or some stupid thing like that.

 

Deuce's a bit surprised, though - he was always under the impression that Fort Knox was now a gigantic decoy, with hardly any gold in it. Most of the gold had been taken to places like the Yucca Mountain Radioactive Waste Disposal Site - because who's going to look there?

[Black Ops]

Re: Fort Knox Has Been Robbed

 

Umh didn`t they empty out Ford Knox a long time ago?

Anyway the gold is marked/ specific. So one can find it if it gets sold.

Fences are a problem too for a mass of gold like that.

 

Umh most of my Characters aren´t that close to the US Government so becoming involved is unlikely anyway.

 

( German you know )

[Greywind]

Re: Fort Knox Has Been Robbed

 

Gold melts rather easily.

[Black Ops]

Re: Fort Knox Has Been Robbed

 

Gold melts rather easily.

 

Yeah but even then you can trace it. The chemical/molecular consistency stays the same.

Thats how they get a lot of the bigger gold thieves.

[phydaux]

Re: Fort Knox Has Been Robbed

 

Quazar - He would work in official channels with the FBI and the Army. He would send messages back to Campaign City - The Mayor, the Chief of Police, the Govorner, the Comandant of the State Police and the commander of the State National Guard (all 11 or less Contacts) - letting them know that he would be out of town. He would contact the Watch Commander in Super Group HQ every 4 hours to stay on top of local developments.

 

Mystica - She would fly Desolid asterally into the vault and use her Discriminating Mystical Awareness to detect any magical traces. If there weren't any, then she would drop the mater. If she did detect magic then use then she would use her Analize Magic skill to determine if she has encountered this practicioner before, what spells, and what type of magic were used. She'd then share this information with her 11 or less Contacts at the FBI, Primus, Until, the Trismegistus Council, and Le Institut Thoth.

 

Shadowhunter - It's unlikely that anyone in Campaign City had anything to do with this, but it's possible. If anything does trace back then God know that overgrown Boy Scout Quazar will be all over it. And that means Shadowhunter had better get there first. Time to hit the alleys and bars, chase down all the usual stool pigeons, and loosen a few teeth. See what they have to say about this through a pair of split lips. Probably won't amount to anything, but it will do some good to remind them who it is who really owns the streets in this city.

[Ndreare]

Re: Fort Knox Has Been Robbed

 

He would work as hard as possible to cover any tracks he left when he was there last night.

[death tribble]

Re: Fort Knox Has Been Robbed

 

Someone watched Goldfinger rather than Die Hard with a Vengeance.

 

Make sure the gold in New York is safe as that may be the next target and there is more of it there.

At Fort Know look for magical signatures and then tech ones to work out how stuff that heavy was removed and by whom.

[Ndreare]

Re: Fort Knox Has Been Robbed

 

Even so Fort Knox has something like 4 kilo tons of gold in it. Imagine how many active points are required to teleport or move all of that at one.

[TheQuestionMan]

Re: Fort Knox Has Been Robbed

 

It is a cover up! The Gold was spent long ago!

 

LOL

 

QM

[Vulcan]

Re: Fort Knox Has Been Robbed

 

Ah. I see the ubervillian is at work again...

[Tigereye]

Re: Fort Knox Has Been Robbed

 

Even so Fort Knox has something like 4 kilo tons of gold in it. Imagine how many active points are required to teleport or move all of that at one.

 

It wouldn't have to be all at once; just someone with the ability to go back and forth to a safe area, say in five minutes, with all 4 kilotons of gold, could be nearly as effective.

 

Assuming a Speed of 6 and using two Recoveries per turn (one phase per turn and post-12), that's up to 125 Phases for action. If they knew the vicinity well, and worked efficiently, they could clean it out with a x512 modifier.

 

Deuce questions the interior guard (if any are still alive or coherent enough to speak) = what did you see? hear? smell? feel? how long between the time between the vaults being full and empty?

 

Still, The number of beings with that much capability and the ability to defeat several sensor systems simultaneously are few; this implies either powerful magic or extremely advanced technology. (One just does not walk out of Fort Knox with potentially half of the US gold supply in tow; it would make Mordor look like Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood.) It also implies that they don't want to be seen doing it. That leaves out most of the most overt villains - the Dr. Destroyer/Gravitar types, who, if motivated to do this (which they probably would consider beneath them, anyway) would do something without really worrying about sneaking it all out.

 

Motivations would include: Need it for some ritual purpose, grotesque decoration to exhalt themselves/someone else, a scientific reason, blackmail, or actually for larceny. Unfortunately, Deuce's knowledge of superbeings in this age is very low; and the last man he encountered with a similar bent was going to use an atom bomb as a safecracking device! (Funny, it was also Fort Knox!)

 

Deuce is reminded of the words of William Jennings Bryan: "There are now three kinds of larceny: petty, grand, and glorious."

[Greywind]

Re: Fort Knox Has Been Robbed

 

Holly Gennero McClane: After all your posturing, all your little speeches, you're nothing but a common thief.

Hans Gruber: I am an exceptional thief, Mrs. McClane. And since I'm moving up to kidnapping, you should be more polite.

[McCoy]

Re: Fort Knox Has Been Robbed

 

Dolphin: Guys, it's pretty metal. What's the problem? Was it being used as collateral on the national debt? I thought that was backed only by the "full faith and credit" stuff like the currency. If it's an emergency I can bring you a couple shipwreck's worth, but it's going to be mostly in the form of 500 year old coins, numismatic value going to be several times the weight of the gold.

[Badger]

Re: Fort Knox Has Been Robbed

 

That's right, someone actually did it. Late last night, a group of as of yet unidentified perpetrators broke into the Federal Gold Reserve at Fort Knox and cleaned the place before the troops could be called in. The gold is gone, every last brick of it. Predictably, the federal authorities are trying to keep things under wraps to avoid embarrassment and public panic. Your character has either been called in to help recover the gold or has heard about the incident through the grapevine.

 

WWYCD?

 

Well, given what I saw on TV last night. I would search for a megalomaniacal genius of a white mouse and his feeble minded sidekick.

 

[SSgt Baloo]

Re: Fort Knox Has Been Robbed

 

"You don't say? Well, when it's been stolen, call me back and we'll talk." *Click*

 

(I actually don't have any heroes who'd do that but it's the first thing I thought of when I read the thread title.)

 

Actually, except for Agent D. or Lance O'Bannon, T.S.C., not many of my characters were much good at this sort of investigation.

[drunkonduty]

Re: Fort Knox Has Been Robbed

 

Knight Rider has a barrage of super science sensors built into her battle suit. They can take all sorts of interesting readings. But as Fort Knox would probably have as good sensors anyway she wouldn't be able to tell them anything they didn't know. She's not a great detective or anything so she couldn't help there. She DOES know business. Maybe she could help track down the gold through some of her business contacts. But in the end she's best as an attack dog or scout so she'd wait until the bad guys had been located and then go in, guns blazing.

 

Dark Star has no detective skills either. Nor much in way of special senses, except a bit of night vision. If he went in with his team he'd probably say something enigmatic like "Sometimes things just fall through the cracks in the world." Again, once the culprit has been located he'd help bring them in.

[Midas]

Re: Fort Knox Has Been Robbed

 

Well, given what I saw on TV last night. I would search for a megalomaniacal genius of a white mouse and his feeble minded sidekick.

 

Ha! I'm not the only one who thought of that, eh?

 

So, once they overcame that pesky STR limit, then what?

 

How did they manage to get the gold out, and where did they hide it?

 

For the former, Brain has cosmic level mad scientist skills. Shrink ray? Teleportation? A giant, tunneling mecha?

 

For the later, I suspect that ACME Lab's building, which once was probably made of cinder block, is now of a somewhat *different* composition.

 

MOTIVE: To become leader of the world, the twin tools of greed and extortion are invaluable. Offer the carrot of pure gold in bribes, right up to the one time honest politician (he stayed bought). Threaten all kinds of panic in the markets to those who serve the plutocrats.

 

Actually, the one of my characters most likely to figure this out is also the one most likely to see the simple solution. The UN declares Brain "King of the World" (with only ceremonial powers) in return for the gold. Brain achieves his life goal, the gold goes back to Knox, and everybody is happy.

[Egyptoid]

Re: Fort Knox Has Been Robbed

 

White Knite is a trained detective, with empathy, and he can make

sensors with his VPP.

 

First he would see if anyone on staff was lying or feeling guilty.

Then he would explore the big angles, since he's used to big space-faring crimes.

 

If things got totally desperate he would attempt time-travel, just to oberve the crime.

[comradeDa]

Re: Fort Knox Has Been Robbed

 

Given that Agent is a deserter and being hunted by the Government, it seems unlikely they would ask him. However, if they apparently are desperate enough to contact him and he thinks there's enough of a guarantee that he can get away after he's delivered the gold... Well, he might steal it for himself. But he is of the opinion that information is more valuable per unit mass than gold.

 

He'd first attempt to determine how the gold made its way off the premises. If it was via teleportation (gates or several trips), then it would have to be someone who knew the grounds, so those people would have to be checked out, identities followed up etc. If they physically carried the gold off ground, surveillance should be checked. Any erased records would result in more leads.

The military would have to be involved, and he would ensure that everyone present at the time of the robbery is detained. Any missing persons would have to be followed up.

While that stuff is going on, he'd contact various members of underground communities, arms dealers, etc. for any sudden influx of gold. Such a large amount would have to be transported somehow, although that is an incredibly wide net to cast.

More obtuse routes of investigation would be explored if the above produce no leads.

 

Once a location had been obtained, he'd likely infiltrate the location and find the gold. Any routes of absconding with the gold would have to be neutralised, and then the cavalry could be called in.