Simple Theft (Plot)

A Simple Theft is one of the possible plots in a game of Covert Action. It is the shortest and least complex of all Plots, and appears only on the Local Disturbance Difficulty setting. It is geared towards novice players.

General Plot Overview

In a Simple Theft scenario, 4 Participants attempt to steal an important and/or valuable item to assist them in future plots. This is performed loosely in four general steps:

The plot begins with the Mastermind informing the Organizer to watch out for Max Remington. The Organizer then proceeds to activate all other participants in this plot.

In the next step, several Minor Agents acquire items by performing Minor Crimes. The Researcher acquires a set of Blueprints of the location where the target item is kept, and an Alarm Specialist acquires a specialized Alarm Bypass. Both items are delivered directly to the Thief.

In the third step, the Thief commits the Primary Crime by breaking into the target location and acquiring the stolen goods.

In the final step, stolen item is delivered directly to the Mastermind.

Participants

Role	Role Arch.	Actions
Organizer	Organizer	Receives a message from the Mastermind. Contacts each of the other agents to let them know what they need to do.
Alarm Specialist	Minor Agent	Purchases parts and constructs an Alarm Bypass suited to the exact kind of alarm protecting the target item.
Researcher	Minor Agent	Steals Floor-Plan Blueprints of the building where the target item is kept.
Thief	Major Agent	Silently breaks into the target location and steals the Goods Item.
Mastermind	Mastermind	Begins the mission by sending a message to the Organizer. Waits to receive the stolen item at the end of the plot.

Items

During a Simple Theft plot, three items are created and will move between participants as the plot dictates:

Icon	Item Name	Sequence of Events
	Blueprints	Appears in the Thief's possession during a Meeting with the Researcher. The Thief "loses" this Item during the Primary Crime.
|	Alarm Bypass	Acquired by the Alarm Specialist in a Minor Crime during the second part of the plot. Delivered to the Thief sometime afterwards. The Thief "loses" this Item during the Primary Crime.
	Stolen Goods	Acquired by the Thief during the Primary Crime. Delivered directly to the Mastermind, who will take this item with him into hiding.

Plot Outline

The following actions are performed by the participants in the plot. The order in which these actions will occur is not strict, and may change slightly depending on random factors, as well as in reaction to Max Remington's actions.

Please note!

This plot bears a lot of resemblence to the Theft Plot. However, the Simple Theft is a very basic plot containing fewer participants, and is structured in a way that makes it significantly easier to thwart.

For one, the plot begins and ends with the Mastermind. The first event is a message sent from him to the Organizer, which - if intercepted and decoded - will give you the Mastermind's location. To make things even easier, the Mastermind will wait until the very end of the plot to receive the stolen goods, which means you have plenty of time to arrest him!

Also, the first part of the plot sees the Organizer sending and receiving messages to/from each and every member of the plot. Arresting the Organizer - or better yet Turning him - will give you the location and Role of each participant. It's almost as good as arresting the Mastermind.

Activation

During this stage, the Mastermind activates the Organizer, who in turn activates all other participants.

	"Rumors indicate that Max Remington may be assisting the CIA on this case. This does not worry me in the least."
	{{{3}}}

	"You are to acquire the floor-plan blueprints of the <Target Location> needed for our operation. Deliver them to our special operative."
	{{{3}}}

	"The alarm system at the <Target Location> is a Beta model Hughes ElectroMaster. This month's access code is ROSEBUD."
	{{{3}}}

	"We are interested in stealing a <Target Item> from the <Target Location>. Your organization is noted for these activities and your assistance will be rewarded."
	{{{3}}}

By this point, the Organizer has completed his mission, and will go into hiding if not arrested or turned.

Acquisition

During this stage, the Minor Agents perform Minor Crimes to acquire the necessary items for this plot. The Researcher steals Blueprints of the target location, while the Alarm Specialist constructs an Alarm Bypas. Both items are delivered to the Thief.

	"Here are the blueprints for the <Target Location>. There appears to be at least one unguarded entry point. However, there is a sophisticated alarm system."
	Note: This is not a true Handoff, because the Blueprints Item does not exist before this meeting occurs. It appears suddenly in the Thief's posession during this meeting.

	"Bulletin: (INTERPOL ComIntercept) Someone within the <Alarm Specialist's organization> has acquired some unusual electronic components. It appears some sort of alarm-disabling mechanism is being built."
	{{{3}}}

	"This bypass box I built should disable the alarm system at <target location>. Be sure not the confuse the red and yellow wires."
	{{{3}}}

By this point, both of the above participants (Researcher and Alarm Specialist) have fulfilled their mission and will go into hiding if not arrested or turned.

Execution

	"Bulletin: (INTERPOL NewsNet) A professional team of broke into <target name> in the city of <Thief's location>. Authorities report <target item> appears to have been taken."
	{{{3}}}

No participants complete their missions at this stage.

Resolution

	"Dear Mastermind. Here are the items you requested. You may now proceed with your secret mission."
	{{{3}}}

At this point all participants have completed their missions, and will go into hiding if not arrested or turned.

Strategy

The Simple Theft Plot is the simplest plot in the game, and allows the player to collect points rather easily, as well as have a good chance to apprehend a Mastermind with little effort.

The mission begins with the Mastermind himself sending a message. As such, Max's first action should be to decypher any and all messages intercepted by the CIA at the start of the mission. If the Mastermind's message was intercepted, this will give the Mastermind's location and role, enabling his arrest immediately. At this stage, arresting the Mastermind will not cause the plot to fall apart until after the Primary Crime has been committed. Nonetheless, it is definitely better to Turn the Mastermind to get information about all other Participants, as well as lots of extra points to your score, but it is not mandatory.

The Organizer sends no fewer than three messages to start off the plot, so it would be best to ensure that he has actually sent all of these messsages before arresting him/her. This arrest will not cause the plot to fall apart.

The Researcher's Hideout should be Bugged or wiretapped, if at all possible, to help determine the moment when he goes to Visit the Thief. After this meeting has occurred, the Researcher should be arrested immediately. There is no reliable way to keep him in the game otherwise.

The Alarm Specialist needs to commit a Minor Crime to get his item. This is the best place to stall the plot, by repeatedly Confiscating the Alarm Bypass from him, before it is Handed Off to the Thief. Bugging the Alarm Specialist's Hideout, and acquiring his picture, will help you locate the Thief if the meeting does occur, but it's better to continuously confiscate the Alarm Bypass until you can figure out the Thief's location on your own, and/or get Incriminating Evidence on either the Alarm Specialist or Thief. If the Handoff of the Alarm Bypass has already occurred, and the item cannot be confiscated very quickly, you should arrest the Alarm Specialist immediately to prevent him from going Into Hiding.

You should only arrest the Thief if he is in possession of the Alarm Bypass, and the Alarm Specialist is already In Hiding. Otherwise, Confiscating either of the items in the Thief's possession will likely cause the plot to fall apart, and everyone will begin to disappear. If you can keep the plot going indefinitely as described in the previous paragraph, you've got time to gather Incriminating Evidence on all remaining participants, including the Thief. Turning the Thief will not necessarily help to prevent the Minor Agents from going into hiding, however, but it will prevent the Primary Crime from occurring.

Scoring

This is a list of the points you will be rewarded for performing various actions during the course of the mission.

Action	Target	Points
Arrests	Organizer	35
	Alarm Specialist	25
	Researcher	30
	Thief	40
	Mastermind	200
Confiscations	Blueprints	50
	Alarm Bypass	50
	Stolen Goods	50

In addition, the following failure will increase the Maximum Score by the listed amount of points:

Action	Max. Score Increase
Fail to prevent the Primary Crime	120
Fail to prevent the Stolen Goods from reaching the Mastermind	280

The highest final score possible for this mission is 1269, before applying Difficulty multipliers.