To Uphold An Oath
| To Uphold An Oath | |||||||||
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| Factions Involved | |||||||||
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ShadowHaven Horned Bear | Tir Tairngire | ||||||||
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Obsidian First Response Perdix Asura |
Tir Ghost Tir Ghost Trainees Elven Mercenaries | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Near death experience for First Response, but overall fine | The ship the Ghost and Trainees were using was destroyed. 2 of the trainees died. The rest were captured and interrogated, then interrogated with memories removed. | ||||||||
Summary
To recover a lost shipment for Horned Bear, a team of runners is sent out to face a challenge to their bodies and minds, and confront the oaths that bind them.
Background
Horned Bear was expecting a shipment of magical equipment, but there was a problem. Someone-they weren't sure who-intercepted them though, somewhere off the coast of California on the border between it and Tir Tairngire. Ashen Hand, leader of Horned Bear, wasn't exactly sure what would be recoverable or not, but this needed to be corrected. And he had a team in mind that might solve a few different issues at the same time - not only get back their gear, but also test out some potential new recruits.
The Meet
Ashen Hand met called 4 different runners to his aid: First Response, a trusted member of Horned Bear who could analyze the possible recruits; Perdix, someone who had infiltrated Horned Bear before and would be perfect on matrix support; and then Asura and Obsidian, the two potential recruits that he had in mind. He gave them the details on the job, then the price tag of 20k for a job well done and the whereabouts and goods hopefully recovered. Obsidian managed to negotiate for another 2k for the team, and the team was provided with one of the Horned Bear boats to get them down there - one with a Weevil immortalized on it for someone who deserved better.
The Plan
Sailing down and chasing the names and seas for any clues, and with a bit of psychometry work on a floating body in the sea, the team had realized that they were up against Tir Taingire and caught up in a conflict between them and a dragon they were attempting to resist - One Hestia, who took over Mt. Chaste in Tir. They didn't know the extent of it at the time, but the main issue was both ideological and practical: Obsidian needed good reason to act against Tir and find out why a Tir Ghost and his Trainees were being so brutal, and the rest of the team didn't want to get murdered by them. They also needed to gain more intel on the shipment itself.
Obsidian had decided on a very risky but potentially rewarding plan of putting herself out as bait - another smuggler they would target - to gain an audience with the Tir Ghost squad. The team would be on the Horned Bear boat, ready to lay into the opposition should things go awry. Once that was handled, they could gain information not only on their motivations, but also on the shipment itself so they could recover it. Handling both quandaries moral and practical in one fell swoop
The Run
The team had managed to hide the boat with the help of one of Obsidian's spirits as the trap was set, with Perdix barely able to spot out the marauding Tir forces on their exceptionally well hidden vehicle. They boarded, took the dummy goods and the redheaded elf on board, and then things went somewhat wrong as, instead of questioning her on the boat, they were aiming to bring her below the decks of their own. Thus, the team opened fire. Through the use of tactics, a hidden boat, some unbelievably good luck and shooting on the side of the runners, and a barracuda escape-and-save by Obsidian, they had actually managed to down the ship the Ghost and their squad were using and take two of their members hostage.
Obsidian interrogated them, found out more about the shipment and confirmed that the Tir forces of the nearby consulate were holding it. They couldn't justify all of their brutality against the smugglers, but they had orders to do what they did, and Obsidian let them live out of her own mercy after the ghosts spoke about their oaths. Most importantly, Obsidian found out the leading commander in charge of this operation was a woman named Laswell, working to stop any potential allies of the Dragon in Mt. Chaste and possibly following her own extremist methods to do so.
The final stretch of the mission was the infiltration into the now weakened consulate. Obsidian and Asura worked to find any sort of leak for information from the soldiers (or as they later found out, mercenaries) Tir had around the city of Eureka in order to find a way into the complex. Obsidian found one such man, went home with him, and smuggled the commlink over to Perdix to give him an in to the rather powerful host that had been found during Legwork. With that, Obsidian tried a gambit to abuse the new hole in their security, impersonating one of Laswell's soldiers to have their own forces help her smuggle out the shipment on the very same boat they had attacked. Despite their suspicions and a few close calls, she had managed to pull it off with some help from Perdix on the matrix to keep any calls controlled, and she sailed back to the others and the group made their escape.
Aftermath
The team returned to Seattle, and Ashen Hand awaited them with their reward. He was rather impressed by the sheer feat of taking out a ghost and the trainees, as well as with the clean exfiltration of the goods and the ship itself. As he had planned, he offered positions as Privates to both Asura and Obsidian, but both had matters to resolve personally before they could be able to consider such an offer. As Asura left, First Response Debriefed Ashen Hand in full, and Perdix was off to tinker with his reward, Obsidian met with another former Paladin - A woman who went by Bronwen, one of the first paladins. They discussed matters, and Obsidian was offered tutelage and a gift - one of the first blades of the Tir Paladins, and the weapon of one of Bronwen's friends. A symbol the two now shared between one another.
Rewards
Deadly escalated to extreme: 67 RVP (23 x 2.9 overtime)
- 24k Nuyen (12 RVP)
+6k (negotiations + smooth operation)
- 15 Karma (15 RVP)
+5 Karma (Taking out a Tir Ghost)
- 30 CDP (15 RVP)
- 60k nuyen in gear rates up to 19 avail for weapons/weapon accessories, armor/armor accessories, cyberdeck/cyberdeck upgrades, and up to betaware augmentations. Remainer can be taken in liquid nuyen. (15 RVP)
OPTIONAL REWARDS
- Force 4 Weapon Focus: Highland Forged Claymore for Obsidian (7 RVP)
- The chip for Ashen Hand has been paid off by First Response
- Obsidian/Asura can join Horned Bear at chargen rates (3 Karma)
OPTIONAL QUALITIES
- Sorcery Sensei for Obsidian: Bronwen O'Neil/Breaker (5 RVP)
- Sharpshooter for First Response, Asura, and Perdix (4 RVP)
- Prototype Materials for First Response (5 RVP)
- Secondary Special Modifications for First Response (5 RVP per Rank)
- ICU for Perdix (6 RVP)
- Catlike for Perdix (6 RVP)
- Initiation/Ascension for Obsidian/First Response/Perdix
Game Quotes
Player After Action Reports (AARs)
Asura
"Never thought I'd be up against a Tir Ghost to be quite honest. This job reminded of something however - I can't let anything get in my way if I need to accomplish the task at hand. No Opposition, no barriers mental or physical. I have to be as unyielding as ever."