Certified Testing

Certified Testing
Part of Hail to the Pumpking
Date 2082-09-20 GM Asmodeus Location Nashville, CAS Status Threat Level: Medium
Factions Involved
ShadowHaven SpinGlobal	Drones
Wick Hound 8133D3R Daisy Mittens	Animatronic Anthro Drones
Casualties and losses
	Some property damage.

Summary

The team goes to spend a quick night at a carnival before opening. There's some programming hiccups, though.

The Meet

The J meets the team at a horrid cafeteria offering coffee substitute instead of the typical soykaf with atrocious sweeteners added in. She looks well dressed in a military uniform and offers a scant few details such as entering an amusement park before it's opened due to some beta testing hiccups in the CAS. When prompted for more details, she first asks the team to agree to the job, starting the reward at 8,000 Nuyen per head -- this is elevated to 14,000 Nuyen if they do the job without any property damage. As they agree, she arranges transportation and gives them ID cards to let them in, prompting three rides to be tested at the very least before they let the team out.

The J mostly expresses concerns over some of the automated drones that work as attractions and servants for the park; their programming isn't yet 100% complete and they may disturb the team, but assures that they pose no weapons of any kind and as far as she knows they have no combat software anyway. The team's suspicious, and Daisy gets the impression that while she's telling the truth, she's not telling the whole truth about the situation.

The Plan

The plan is to go there, disable any drones gently if possible and then call the job done.

The Run

Due to the automated entry system into the dome encapsulating the 20 acre park premises, the team gets locked in once they enter. Daisy stays outside and operates a drone instead. Wick spots a swarm of eighty drones some distance away from them and after a quick trace determines they're far away to not be an imminent threat. They appear to be on a patrol route so they're easy to avoid -- one problem avoided right out the gate. Upon exploring their immediate surroundings, Daisy's sensors and Hound's sharp eyesight spot one of the trees to be hollow and plastic, a nearby one having its trunk cracked and bloodied as if someone had been hit into it. This isn't concerning at all.

As they continue to the nearest hub of amusement attractions, they come across an artificial river and Daisy's sensors pick up hydraulic whirring and whispers from the pavilions on the other side of the river. Wick and Bleeder decide to approach through the river instead of using the bridge, slowing them considerably, as two naked animatronic drone frames exit the pavilions and notice the trespassers. They loudly let out an announcement that the park is closed to visitors, prompting everyone to engage.

The fight's surprisingly threatening, since while most of them pose no firearms, one has a gas dispersal pod that spreads a dubious cloud near the river where Wick and Bleeder were moments ago. Wick gets cornered by a giant-sized animatronic clown that almost rips her arm off with its long, whip-like fingers. Hound and Daisy's drone both make short work of these interlopers, although the fastest one crawls on all fours to Hound and demands him to vacate the premises, self-destructing in a small explosion.

The fight is over as quickly as it begins, leaving only the largest pavilion in the immediate vicinity. The team stacks up for a dynamic entry and shoots most of the people inside unconscious with less-than-lethal ammo. One woman bleeding on the floor raises her shotgun pistol but drops it and gives up, spitefully telling the team to just kill her already. Understanding that this strange group is no threat, the team pauses and soothes ruffled feathers, offering even first aid to the woman.

Turns out, this is a group of former Halloweeners and Starscreamers as well as Pump King Jack himself, called to the pavilion with a ritual. Accompanying him are three living people going by the names of Crazy Jane, Silly Simp Steve and Pastor Pinhead. They were breaking in to try and get some drones for upcoming Halloween festivities, but were ambushed by the bizarre drones that almost seemed possessed. Jack informs the team that there's another spirit in the park, though he can't tell much about it, suggesting that the company hires an exorcist to be rid of it. Patching them up, the team escorts the ex-Starscreamers out and lets them get away before informing their J about the events, banking that the strange occurrences were a consequence of either ganger tampering or a spirit.

Aftermath

• Crazy Jane, Silly Simp Steve and Pastor Pinhead are safe.
• One drone was irreparably destroyed. The rest require minor tune-ups.
• The involvement of an unspecified spirit was confirmed. Presumably, SpinGlobal's subsidiary will hire an exorcist later.

Rewards

• 10,000 Nuyen
• 5 Karma
• 2 CDP
• 1 SpinGlobal Reputation
• 1 Halloweeners Reputation

May purchase SpinGlobal Fake SINs or Criado Juans at gear reward rates.

Player After Action Reports

Daisy Mittens - I fraggin' hate clowns. I hate 'em for much. No feckin' clue what were goin' on with that pumpkin man and those 'weeners and shite. As long as we got paid I suppose, y'know? Fraggin' hatte clown though.

==Hound== Comrade send in the clowns! Send in the clowns! Comrade it hurts when we had two fellow team mates charge the clowns when we mentioned don't rush in as we were scoping out the land before advancing. Glad they are okay but the clowns were nasty. Just happy that Pennywise didn't make an appearance for the clowns. After we got done with the clowns found the 3 people who we thought were controlling the rogue clowns. Stick and shock and they were mad they got shot. Okay Comrade should I become Mr. Not So Nice Guy with big nasty weapons making big holes? After the clowns were taken out it wasn't too hard. Very spooky with the way the clowns were running. What was controlling the clowns? As far we could determine it wasn't a human or metahuman Comrade.