An Ace Up One's Sleeve

An Ace Up One's Sleeve
Date 2085-05-01 GM Sarcarian Location Las Vegas, PCC Status Threat Level: High
Factions Involved
ShadowHaven	Mirage Casino	Alameda Avengers
Gehenna Lichtenberg Lumin Zenith	Casino Security Guard Casino Security Spider Casino Security Spirit Sidewinder	Geronimo Lazarus Payload Violet Hurricane

Summary

In which the runners assist a pair of hitman with a time-sensitive job.

Background

Mr. Smith & Mr. Jones are a pair of killers-for-hire who have sub-contracted work from the Haven before (see: A Tough Nut to Crack and A Taste of One's Own Medicine) for particularly difficult or time-sensitive work. This time a hundred-k job has come across their desk while they're halfway across the world preparing for another gig, so they've decided to return to the well and find some capable hitters to handle it on for them (relatively) cheaply while they pocket a nice tidy profit.

Harry Brennan isn't a very nice guy. He's a big-shot executive for Prism Consulting - a firm employed by the PCC to do market research and data analytics work for the nation-corp - and he's scheduled to speak at a big conference in Vegas this weekend which is all but guaranteed to assure him a promotion to VP. His immediate underling, one Catherine Glover, is sick and tired of Brennan taking credit for her work and keeping her from moving up in the chain, so she's reached out to some underworld connections who have gotten her bounty to some top-quality hitmen. Mr. Brennan, for all his faults, is no fool - he is aware that he's in a vulnerable position, so he's hired a team of runners from LA (the "Alameda Avengers") to act as his personal security while in Vegas.

Alameda Avengers: Geronimo - Amarindian dwarf, channeling shaman Lazarus - East Asian human, revenant adept martial artist Payload - Latino troll, FLR soak tank spurs enjoyer Violet Hurricane - Caucasian human, decker/rigger drone operator

The Meet

Smith & Jones arrange to meet with the runners via the Matrix in the Seattle Botanical Gardens host, which everyone manages to log into (mostly) without issue. The pair meet with the team near the digital cherry blossoms, where they explain the job - kill Harry Brennan within 3 days - and offer them the "standard market rate" of 14k each (which Gehenna negotiates up to 20 based on Zenith's rep, the time concerns, the fact that they're clearly collecting a sizable "finders fee" which they can part with some of). With that taken care of, they offer the prospect of train tickets to Vegas via Boise and res out with a "good luck", leaving the team to their business.

The Plan

The team decide to split up, with Lichtenberg and Zenith taking the latter's van (in the guise of a bodyguard and a private investigator) on a road trip while Gehenna and Lumin take the train. The pair that are driving manage to get across the UCAS boarder without too much trouble thanks to some good disguises and fake backstories (Zenith's van's shielded smuggling compartment helps them get their illegal stuff past the scanners and dogs, and Zenith himself sells a convincing excuse), but the pair on the train run into issues when Gehenna's SIN is flagged. Ushered into a private room with a security aware, she ends up being made as a vampire, intuiting it just before the aware is able to act and casting rewind to make him forget what he saw. Unfortunately for the vampire, the aware once more manages to see through her mask, forcing Gehenna to take more direct action and use control thoughts to have him wave her through (after she quickly scrubs her signatures) - however once the spell wears off her SIN is flagged for further scrutiny at future boarder crossings.

Gehenna and Lumin proceed to have a somewhat-awkward heart-to-heart on the train, while in the van Lichtenberg and Zenith talk about previous impressive kills and the wetwork business in general. Lumin's matrix searching reveals that their target has checked into the Mirage in Vegas - and that he's hired the LA runner team as protection. The team debate their options, with Zenith requesting that the runners not be killed as a "professional courtesy". At the Boise boarder, Gehenna pays to upgrade her ticket to first class in order to avoid any more direct scrutiny from awares, while Zenith and Lichtenberg run into a bit more trouble when the latter's SIN is flagged for further review, though Zenith manages to talk his way out of having the vehicle scanned thoroughly as well by helping with a con on Lichtenberg's part of being unstable and more trouble than it's worth to hassle (the "Rambo: First Blood maneuver") - this convinces the boarder guards to make them someone else's problem.

Arriving in Vegas, Lichtenberg heads to a Cutters-owned casino (the Red Rock) to gamble, with Gehenna assigned to ~~babysit~~ watch the street sam and keep him out of trouble while Lumin and Zenith head first to the latter's bolt hole in town before going to scout out the Mirage. Zenith explains to Lumin that he's looking for a rival assassin he's familiar with named Sidewinder (see: Casino Royale), who they encounter in the casino's main bar (after Zenith is made to surrender his gun at the door). Managing to identify the face-changing elf by the pieces of their distinctive weapon (in pieces the easy breakdown mod), Zenith engages in some "friendly" banter before Lumin outright asks if Sidewinder is working the same job as him; the assassin chuckles and admits that they're both going after the same target, with they and Zenith making a "gentleman's agreement" not to go after one-another or the latter's teammates. Lumin takes the opportunity to hack Sidewinder's commlink, learning that they're in contact with an escort named Savannah that has a 'date' with Brennan the following night and that Sidewinder is negotiating a price to take her place in order to get close to their target.

Knowing that they're now on an expedited timeline, Lumin wastes no time using the mark on Sidewinder's commlink to get into the guest area of the hotel's host - she's quickly able to locate Violet Hurricane, the decker/rigger for the Alameda Avengers (who is not at all subtle on the Matrix), tapping into her streaming feed to discover that both she and Geronimo, the team's mage, are currently getting day drunk in the casino's lounge while Lazarus and Payback, the team's street samurai, are guarding their principal. Tracing the data trails between the team's PAN, she's able to locate Brennan's room (suite 19-D) and hack one of the cameras outside to learn the layout - after snagging the hotel's floor plan, she jacks out.

Back at the Red Rock, she fills the team in on the situation - Zenith starts putting together a plan, having Lumin slip back into the hotel's host to add a rush order of food from their catering company for a VIP guest (Zenith and Lichtenberg plan to hijack the truck and make the delivery themselves, using it as a way to sneak their weapons past hotel security) while Gehenna astrally projects and sleazes her way past the hotel's ward in order to scope out the path leading to floor 19 for spirits (she is able to pretend to be a guest, learning that there's an astral patrol that checks out the stairwell every five minutes, and that there are FAB sensors in the elevator shafts). This just leaves the rival runners as obstacles to be overcome, and a flippant comment from Lumin about Horizon provides the genesis of the plan to deal with them.

Lichtenberg, recalling the name of Ace Powers he's run into before and knowing that the team are being headhunted by them from Lumin's previous Matrix searches, proposes arranging a meeting at Planet Horizon that night to get the Alameda Avengers out of the way. Zenith devises a ruse to make Horizon think that Saeder-Krupp are headhunting the team as a way to get a foothold in Horizon's backyard, using his knowledge of the megacorp's procedures to give Lumin what she needs to forge some digital documents and add a sense of urgency to the con. Lichtenberg calls up Mr. Powers, who is his usual high energy self and proposes that the street sam star in a new slasher flick that the corp is working on - Gehenna takes the reins with the negotiations, using the forged documents to convince Ace that he should meet with the rival runners post-haste to get them to sign a contract. Ace knows that the team is Up To Something, but the prospect of new talent is too tempting to resist, so he agrees to arrange the meeting at the time and place they've requested.

The Run

At the appointed hour, the street sams set up along the road from Nellis (where the catering company warehouse is located) into the Strip in Zenith's van (made up to look like a road work vehicle) ready to intercept the food delivery. This goes off mostly without a hitch, with the pair managing to coerce the driver (Francis) into stopping - Lichtenberg distracts him while Zenith sneaks up and gets him with a tranq patch and Lumin squelches his commlink. Tying up Francis in the back and scanning his face to produce a synthskin mask, Zenith assumes his identity with Lichtenberg as his delivery boy. Gehenna then takes the van and sets up down the way from the Mirage across from Planet Horizon, keeping an eye on both the getaway vehicle and the enemy runner's streaming feeds; Lumin meanwhile heads into the casino to keep an eye on Sidewinder and the host.

Arriving at the Mirage, Lichtenberg and Zenith manage to bluff the kitchen manager - when asked why they're receiving an order they didn't make, Zenith says that he has no idea but offers to help facilitate a scam to sell it off whereby the manager can pocket a tidy profit. With that taken care of, they retrieve their weapons from the food boxes and head to the bathroom to change disguises and swap from catering outfits into suits. Having scouted out the route beforehand and knowing about the patrols, they wait for their window and make their way up the stairs to floor 19 - Zenith's maglock passkey is able to get past the locked door to the VIP floor, and after Lumin loops the camera feed outside the door Lichtenberg is able to pop the lock quickly, allowing the two to slip inside past Geronimo's spirit guardian and into a closet.

Meanwhile, on the casino floor, Lumin recognizes Sidewinder (in a different disguise, but sporting the same golden jewelry) assesses Brennan (at the high roller poker table, guarded by a different elf and troll wearing Lazarus and Payload's clothes - he doesn't seem to have noticed the swap that the Alameda Avengers have performed with some paid-off tourists); the two end up sharing a "friendly" drink at the bar while the techno keeps an eye on the assassin to make sure they won't get to their target first. Outside, Gehenna is able to bluff a wise guy who comes out to check on what's going on into thinking she was sent down from Seattle by the O'Malleys (who own the Wynne Conglomerate, who own the casino) to help out with some of the family's local endeavors, grumbling about being posted to a construction scam; the mage also ends up falling into a psychometric trance as she reads the many and varied emotional impressions left by tourists outside of the casino.

Up in Brennan's room, the assassins remain hidden until their target returns - Lumin locates several bugs left by Violet Hurricane, but is able to resonance veil them to ensure that the decker doesn't see that anything is amiss. Forewarned by their overwatch of his impending arrival (and the fake guards), they prepare to strike as Brennan arrives (with Lichtenberg donning a poncho to protect his suit from the blood). Lichtenberg leaps out with his knives in hand, scaring off the tourists-turned-bodyguards and stabbing Brennan while Zenith uses his adept spell focus to place a sound barrier around him before attacking Geronimo's spirit with his telescoping staff weapon focus - the adept nearly ends up mauled by the spirit, but manages to overcome it while the street sam takes out Brennan.

Having managed to keep things mostly quiet, Lichtenberg discards his bloody poncho and the two make their exit. However Violet Hurricane notices something is amiss with one of her tags just as Geronimo notices his spirit has been disrupted, so the two send Lazarus and Payback (along with a drone and another spirit) to go check it out. Gehenna notices the enemy sams sprinting through the Planet Horizon parking lot, but is able to make them turn around with some judicious application of mind magic. Meanwhile, Lumin is data spiked and link-locked by Violet Hurricane, but the cocky streamer takes a moment to ask chat whether she should use blackout or biofeedback, giving the techno a chance to jack out and turn her brain off. Noting her bloody nose and catching sight of a man of Zenith's height surreptitiously making his way out the side exit, Sidewinder takes their cue to leave before security finds the body, congratulating Lumin and Zenith on a job well done.

The three runners inside the casino manage to make their way outside to join the vampire in the van without being made by security, joining the vampire in the van and preparing to make their escape; inside, Lumin just manages to spot Violet Hurricane's spy drone, which Zenith shoots with a well-placed bullet before they're able to compromise the team's identities. Driving away as casually as they can, they make their way to Zenith's Henderson safehouse (a bolt hole in an old slot machine factory) to hide out until the heat dies down.

Aftermath

Returning to Seattle by road, the runners enjoy a road trip through the Mojave desert and the forests of the SSC; en-route, Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones (having received confirmation of Brennan's death) send them their promised payment via wire transfer of nuyen, while Zenith receives a bottle of whisky sent by his rival. Catherine Glover ends up giving Brennan's speech and receiving much of the credit for his work, earning the promotion to VP (sometimes crime does pay, as it turns out), while the Alameda Avengers are given a contract by Horizon (who cover up their failure to protect their client). Happy ending for all (except Brennan, who's super dead).

Rewards

20,000 nuyen

2 karma

12 CDP

Optional Contact: Ace Powers (C6/L1 Horizon Talent Agent) for 6 RVP or 12 CDP

Narrative Consequences:

-Zenith continues to defend his record against rival assassins.

-Gehenna's SIN is flagged by the Aware's Union as suspicious.

-Lumin makes an enemy of Violet Hurricane, the LA Decker.

-Lichtenberg has to wear a simrig for a Horizon slasher flick.

-Harry Brennan dies; his assistant Catherine gets his promotion.

-The "Alameda Avengers" are picked up by Horizon - happy ending!

Game Quotes

Lichtenberg [to Zenith]: "Okay, on three, we both say our favorite way to murder."

Player After Action Reports (AARs)

Lumin: I'm glad I could finally talk things out with Zenith... Even if I'm still angry with him. It will make things easier going forward--Though, I'm a little embarrassed I basically bled all over Sidewinder after they had bought me drinks, that doesn't feel like a fair way to repay them, I'll have to think of something. I wonder if any of Vegas' Foundation's have something they'd want removed... Or would that been seen as trying to blackmail them?