| Storyline: | Boosted Scientist |
| A researcher wants to escape their corporation. | |
| Type of Storyline: | |
| Repeatable: | Unique |
| Era of Storyline: | Any |
| Minimum PL: | 4 |
The following jobs may be part of this Storyline:
- Truck Job (plant a virus on a moving truck)
- 404-X Spike (solo hack, gain leverage for Truck Job)
- Echelon Boost (PL6+, help Contact escape from employers)
- Spike N' Dump (gain alternate route for Echelon Boost)
- new Contact, Taylor Strizek
- after second job (PL6+), a new service Omicron Rook Implants
Trivia:One of the very first missions in the Alpha Playtest was Biospike Hit, running on an early version of the Gene Vault map. The job offer came from a Taylor Strizek and the dialog referred to supposed previous jobs for Strizek helping them escape their former corporate masters. Only the one job from Strizek actually appeared in the Alpha playtest, a sabotage attempt against Strizek's former boss. Biospike Hit may be the model for a future job in Cyber Knights: Flashpoint for the Boosted Scientist storyline. The element being tested in the Alpha was what is now the Blue Key. There were two possible exits, one of which was locked behind a key which could be found in a lockbox. Originally the key was a Red Key but that was changed to Blue Key after rules for keys were standardized. When Hacking was implemented in the Alpha, a Matrix Host was added to the Gene Vault map to provide an alternative method of getting the Blue Key.
Part one of this storyline has one matrix hack and one mission with a very tight turn limit. The storyline starts with an announcement from Blur: "I have been approached by a very promising - if demanding - corporate connect". Taylor Strizek wants to escape their corporation and destroy the corp's copy of their research data. Their servers are being moved on a truck, and they want you to deploy a virus onto the truck as it goes by an interchange. The storyline is only available after your team Power Level is 3 or more.
The first step is an optional matrix hack, "404-X Spike". This is highly recommended because it gives you a leverage for the main mission which adds one turn to the very tight turn limit. The mission "Truck Job" has some additional leverage; it is recommended to get the one turn additional delay available from your wireghost. Once the mission starts, you need to get your hacker to the terminal and perform a quick hack to enable another merc to stand on the interchange bridge and deploy the virus. Protip: a vanguard with blend is well suited to this long distance run. If you cannot make it to the first bridge soon enough, there is a second further bridge, but it is guarded by two heavily armored humanoid drones.
In part two of Boosted Scientist, Strizek hires the squad to help her escape and to transport her to another Corporation. It cannot occur before Power Level 7. This part of the Storyline has one optional mission, "Spike N' Dump", to infiltrate Matsumoto's zone and spike the CPU. Beware, if Security level reaches 6, the job will fail immediately. If you succeed, you can access the alternate path for the 1st stage of the main mission, and the Sec Level will be reset to 1 at the end of it.
The main mission has 3 stages. 1st stage (2 paths) to infiltrate the Matsumoto Lab, 2nd stage to rescue the client, and 3rd stage to let her escape. At the 2nd stage, Taylor Strizek stays inside the laser injection fields and will exit there in 3 turns. Around there, guards are waiting to kill her, and 5 researchers are waiting to see what happens. Kill the guards to save her and the researchers for credit and her trust. At the 3rd stage, Matsumoto's guards are waiting for her, and more to coming by hover trucks and roads. Rook Technologies' guards will come, but we must hurry because we are outnumbered.
If you succeed, the client, Taylor Strizek, will escape to the Rook Technologies controlled area and offer Omicron Rook Implants service.
Sometime later, Strizek's rival may send Head Hunters after the squad.