Just a Peaceful Talk

Just a Peaceful Talk
Part of The Burning Star of Redmond
Date 2083-10-24 GM Zerre Location Glow City
Factions Involved
ShadowHaven Lord Emberrage "Spicy Fire Man"	Followers of the Light
Ryan Danes Cleaner Cleaner Bwyell Waedlyd Throwback Wi66ly	Erica Clements Some Assole Guards
Casualties and losses
	Yes, all of them.

Summary

Johnson suspects a toxic mage cult is plotting against him (and also just hates them in general as a whole after 'certain events') Calling in some runners, he ordered a specific figurehead kidnapped for information. In a daring smash-and-grab, a team of shock-and-awe runners broke up a speech, leveled a squad of security guards, and managed to outrun a pursuit squad in order to bring the target back home far ahead of schedule.

The Meet

The meet was in Puyallup, the group approaching a small parking lot rather close to the towering volcano in the district. From the shade of an abandoned building, a rather sharply-dressed red troll. Before anyone could even introduce themselves, Bwyell immediately pushed through the group of runners, demanding an arm wrestling contest with the imposing representative. Rolling their eyes, the troll indulged them, resulting in a short test of strength between the two, eventually ending with the dwarf pinning her foe's hand down. After the formalities, the troll gave a grandiose welcome to the party, offering the greeting of his fiery lord, requesting that the party follow him to meet the being in question, apologizing for the odd meeting location, explaining that Emberage has demanded to check all visitors for toxic exposure before allowing them in, explaining that the group would have to negotiate for payment in riches other than nuyen, earning some grumbling from M3chan1c.

As the group approached the cave, the runners gave their respective 'polite greetings,' or at least the shadowrunner equivalent of such things, as the sprit manifested, their booming voice echoing through the caves in heat and fury. The job had to do with Toxic mages, a somewhat expected matter, considering the vendetta against them that the spirit was known for. In efforts to lessen the influence of toxic cults in the area, Lord Emberage requested that the runners kidnap Erica Clements, a community leader within the toxic cult, and bring her back for the spirit to assess her threat as a figurehead in the city, as well as discover the plot against himself the cult may be orchestrating. After some argument from the less magically-inclined from the party, not seeing as much value in 'a spirit's power' or crafted melee weapons, the spirit finally relented that the troll gentleman would be able to pay them in 'mortal coin.'

After talking some information back and forth, the lord finally left the area, sending the runners off on their way to cleanse the area of pesky toxic mages that got into the habit of bothering the poor, innocent avatar of fire and death.

Dropping into the matrix, the deckers of the group ran some intensive searches on her information, eventually pulling up some images of her, a basic profile, then, after digging further, her schedule, the entourage that would regularly be protecting her on each step of the way, as well as some information about her suspected magical talent.

Apparently, at about the time the runners got the information back, it was likely she'd be taking a break from running various charity events in glow city, everything from food distribution, to medical treatment, to recruitment drives for the toxic cult. Within the information pile was a comm code linked to the toxic cult's recruitment page, which was quickly snatched up by Bwyell, who quickly called their target, portraying the part of an interested recruit, wanting to go to the nearest event to learn more about the cult. Thankfully, as most toxic cults are desperate for anyone willing to even cast them a second glance, they were quickly answered, being given an address and time that she would be hosting a talk in the area tomorrow afternoon.

Seeing not much else to do, the runners decided to scope out the address, an old, abandoned movie theater just south of glow city. The area was rather sparse, with a few random mooks milling about, though, looking somewhat closer, they spotted some individuals that must have been part of the cult on lookout duty.

The Plan

The runners began to discuss various ideas for how they could take this target, M3chan1c suggested they take advantage of the cult's enemies, the Red Stilettos, a recently perturbed gang which has been struggling for order ever since a large number of their leaders died unexpectedly. Cleaner pointed out a building nearby that he could use for a vantage point for his sniping, suggesting that he could cause a distraction for the party, incapacitating the target for Bwyell and Throwback to run in and snatch before security has any clue what happened. As all of this went down, M3chan1c would be waiting in the alley in his cloaked vehicle, providing additional fire support with his sniper drone, as well as waiting to extract the ground forces after the smash and grab, with Wi66ly providing matrix support for the group.

Speaking of the matrix, M3chan1c and Wi66ly decided to dive in, hunting down a host in the area, and quickly going in for the attack to prepare the matrix for their assault. Dropping in, the host wasn't exactly intensely protected, considering the group was made of mages, not deckers, rather barebones design, some black IC dumped in for good measure, and that was about it. As the pair found a node for digging into the site's security devices, a databomb was quickly found, a rating 6 placed by some script kiddie placed on the node, after some impressive matrix work, Wi66ly managed to defuse the bomb, then immediately return the favor by placing a rating 11 databomb in its place. Looking over the node, M3chan1c took over, forcing the cameras to look away from any important locations during the event, as well as forcing the staff coffee machine to produce only cold-decaff for the rest of the day.

Turning away from personal attacks on the staff, Wi66ly decided to spoof the metal detector into marking everything as clear for the next day, quickly bullying the poor machine into submission until it finally relented to his clown-related digital assault, ensuring that the party's ground forces would have no problem getting their equipment inside. Finding all they could, the deckers dropped out as the group prepared for their assault. Cleaner and Throwback would enter through the roof, taking a staff corridor in order to get the drop on the target, while Bwyell would take the main entrance. According to Bwyell and Cleaner, at least two of the target's 4 orc bodyguards were awakened, all were adepts of some sort, potentially 2 melee based, and 2 unknown. Due to the apparent lack of any interfering spirits, the group decided it was time to go about their strike. Bwyell managed to look sufficiently impoverished enough to get past the front gate guard, additionally thanks to their natural dwarf ability (apparently?) Entering the main lectern, Erica's speech appeared to be in full swing, speaking of how the rest of the world was corrupt, how their way was the true and only way to follow in the world, all while Bwyell sat back in a comfortably abandoned theater chair and waited for the fighting to kick in.

The Run

Climbing up to the roof with little resistance from the improperly angled cameras, the infiltration team got to work, Throwback summoning a machine spirit to enhance his smartlink as he got into position to make the assault, Stacking up on the staff door, the pair counted down before kicking open the door. The moment they did so, the mage screeched, summoning a nuclear spirit onto the stage to defend her as the runners leveled their guns with her. Charging up from their seat, Bwyell lunged towards the target, drawing a reactionary attack from one of the bodyguards, which was quickly parried with a counterstrike, mortally wounding the orc with a mighty blow, one which immediately carried around, turning into a leg sweep at the last moment forcing the mage to the ground as the world flipped on its head in an instant, knocking her out like a sack of potatoes and possibly causing some brain damage in the process. Immediately following that, one of the Orcs with a claymore suddenly flew back, collapsing in a puddle of blood as M3chan1c's rotodrone fired off its first shot from a distant building. Stepping through the door, Throwback started unleashing a volly of flachette fire, utterly pummeling one of the remaining guards into the ground. As the shooting started, Wi66ly started to flood the AR feed in the area for hostiles, making the runners even harder to hit for the two standing defenders. The remaining orc turned, throwing a magical punch towards Bywell, who immediately deflected and went for the kill shot, splitting the adept down the middle as they dared to challenge the dwarf with a mighty axe. Looking over the destruction, and now being free due to its summoner immediately going unconscious, the nuclear spirit evaporated back into the astral, leaving the party with their unconscious target and a crowd of people who just processed what happened and began to scream in a wild panic. Taking advantage of the situation, the runners made their way for the emergency exit, which already had M3chan1c's truck waiting outside with the back door open. The moment the group stepped into the van, it was already over for the persurers, as M3chan1c tore off, they were quickly left in the dust as the roadmaster sped towards Puyallup.

Aftermath

Meeting at the initial meeting location once again, the well-dressed troll was rather surprised to see the runners back so early, scurrying off to meet with the lord and alert him of the job being complete. Answering the summons, the group entered, meeting with the lord to report a job well done. On request of the spirit, the group stood forward before flames spewed from its form, enveloping the runners in a pleasant warmth, one that seems to stimulate the soul as they stood there. With their reward received, and a promise of additional work in the future, as well as an alliance with the spirit, the runners stepped out, with Cleaner sticking back to spy on the interrogation, which apparently resulted in some unintelligible information being passed, before Erica was allowed to head out on her own, seemingly with no strings attached.

Rewards

Run Reward for "JUST A PEACEFUL TALK" For everyone : 12000 nuyens (6 RVP)

8 Karma (8 RVP)

6 CDP (2 RVP

Optional (Quality need to be buy from the nuyens first) :

Lord Emberrage (5/1) (5 RVP)

Bwyell : Astral Chameleon (10 RVP)

Bulldogc : Sensei (Intimidation) (5 RVP)

M3chanic : Perfect Time (5 RVP)

Cleaner Cleaner : Guts (10 RVP)

Wi66y : Catlike (7 RVP)

Game Quotes

Amusing quote from game.

Player After Action Reports (AARs)

M3chan1c: "I reckon I'll finally take the ol' flame guy up as a contact finally, he seems to hate toxic mages pretty damn roughly, and seems like a pretty good guy to have on your side, he always gives me exciting jobs too, so that's always a positive."

Throwback: "Hmm never thought I'd meet up with an elite spirit. Hobnobbing with socialites just got that much better for me now that I know a Lord!"