Difference between revisions of "Herding a Bear"

Herding a Bear
Date	2085-01-08
GM	LHOG
Location	Redmond, Seattle
Status	Threat Level: Milk Run Escalated to High
Factions Involved
	ShadowHaven
Neznayka; Saint	Character1; Character2

Latest revision as of 09:15, 9 January 2024

Summary

Neznayka invites Saint to go hunting. Things, uh, escalate.

Background

Neznayka's home in Snohomish is out in the woods. A subsistence hunter with many animals to keep fed, she makes a habit of hunting in the area. In a bid to teach Saint some lessons, she's brought the budding samurai out to the woods for an expedition.

The First Encounter

The dogs pick up the trail of something as they explore the woods. Examining the tracks, Nez is able to determine that the likely culprit is an herbivorous hooved animal - elk, moose, maybe a boar though the latter seems unlikely. The dogs take the lead, seeking the animal at the end of the trail - and the pack is able to spot out the animal, standing at the opposite edge of a clearing.

Slowly, the hunters approach, and the crack of a rifle rings out: not theirs, but a third party. A pot-bellied hunter approaches - says a prayer over the body, then drags the animal away in a Thundercloud Morgan as Saint and Nez philosophize about the nature of letting things go.

The Bear

Several hours of fruitless searching later, Emelya picks up on a new scent. Tracing it along, Nez is eventually able to find a track belonging to a bear. Excited, she insists to Saint that they'll look at this one but not hunt it - out of respect for predators.

A brief debate between the pair of them, and then they set off to put eyes on the beast.

When they find it, though, Neznayka is able to identify it as a Piasma - an awakened bear, armored up as an orc and able to crush a car. Knowing the threat this represents to the people of Snohomish, and worried that it will be attacked by hunters, Neznayka decides that the pair are obligated to lure it out of the city. Their plan is straightforward: have Saint take a scent lure ahead of the bear, and draw it towards the border.

The Run

A call gets made to Jaelisha, who's able to arrange for a hole to be made in the border patrols for the bear to get out - courtesy a certain organization that has been known to smuggle animals, with a focus on their rights.

As they lead the bear away towards the border, Nez and Saint continuing talking. Slowly, they reveal pieces of themselves to each other - culminating in Neznayka admitting to having gotten civilians killed in a bomb blast she was responsible for. Stripping away her armored coat, she shoves a knife into Saint's hand, demanding to be held to the same standard as Red Ribbon. They argue with each other for minutes, before finally coming to something of an agreement.

Naturally, it's about then that the bear finds them. Nez scrambles for her crossbow, while Saint springs into action, charging forward to throw a punch that deliberately skims the bear's nose, to very little effect save to shake it up. The bear draws back at a swipe by its face - and then the bolt punches into its paw, delivering a shock that makes the beast rear up - then run. The pair of runners keep it moving, then herd it across the border, too close for comfort to the border patrol guards their friends in the shadows arranged to have look the other way. A few hundred nuyen fell out of the runners' pockets, and they fled the scene - poorer in body, but richer in soul.

Aftermath

Nez and Saint had their little hunting adventure come to a close, Snohomish was slightly safer, and TerraFirst! got themselves access to a brand new friend.

Rewards

Run Rewards for Herding a Bear (Milk Run escalated to High, 14 RVP)

9 Karma (9 RVP)

10 CDP (2 base, 4 RVP)

1 Street Cred (1 RVP)

+3 TerraFirst! Reputation

Optional:

For Saint: Animal Empathy (3 RVP)

For Saint: City Slicker (7 RVP)

For Both: Catlike (7 RVP)

Game Quotes

"Saint, do you have any bright ideas?" Neznayka, addressing Saint while the latter huffs Betameth

Player After Action Reports (AARs)

Neznayka: I ... I hope I could help. Saint, I mean, not the bear. Though I suppose I also hope the bear was helped. I would not have been able to survive alone, if I had lost everything. Without the scraps of the family that I built, I think I would have become the same. Feral and bitter and angry at everything. I would want to fight the world and lose, just to see it bleed. Oh Saint, лапочка Saint. There can be a tomorrow for you. You are still deserving of that much. Why won't you stay around to watch the sun rise?

Saint: You want me to let go of all I've ever had? How? You know that rage is all I have left of them, don't you? Without it, I can't do what I have to do... I should feel the same about you, too. If all of that is true, you should be dead like the rest of them.

So why, when I look at you, are you someone I want to see live?

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 <!-- Required: The date of the run in YYYY-MM-DD format. -->
-|Date=2084-11-09
+|Date=2085-01-08
 <!-- Required: Name of the GM. -->
@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
 <!-- Required: List of the Runners involved. Please follow the example below, separating each runner's name with a vertical bar as seen below. NPC allies may also be included. -->
-|RunnerList={{AARCharacterList|Knack|Knock|Panda|Diestra|Ryuuji}}
+|RunnerList={{AARCharacterList|Neznayka|Saint}}
 |RunnerCasualties=
 <!-- Optional: The threat level of the run. But please try and add this whenever possible. -->
-|Threat=Medium
+|Threat=Milk Run Escalated to High
 <!-- Optional: If the run is a part of a Metaplot, put the name of the metaplot here in plain text. You may list up to 3 metaplots if the run is a part of multiple metaplots -->
@@ Line 72: / Line 72: @@
 ==Background==
-In the Redmond Barrens, factories take in cheap exploited labor and pump out pollution. Workers at MCT plant 4030, manufacturing plasteel, aluminum, and carbon composite parts for the company's industrial vehicles are being needled into action by a string of disappearances, worsening working conditions and even a pay cut to their previous meager wage. Rumours abound that a group called the Locals are aiming to help solve the problem.
+Neznayka's home in Snohomish is out in the woods. A subsistence hunter with many animals to keep fed, she makes a habit of hunting in the area. In a bid to teach Saint some lessons, she's brought the budding samurai out to the woods for an expedition.
-==The Meet==
+==The First Encounter==
-Across the street from a factory, a Johnson arrives at a local taco shop (¡Taqueria Azteca!) in a cheap suit. [[Ryuuji]] is able to observe him crossing the street from the MCT facility, and quickly puts together that this is Johnson. [[Knock]] is able to determine via a quick matrix search that this Johnson is one who works regularly for MCT, and not just for this single plant.
+The dogs pick up the trail of something as they explore the woods. Examining the tracks, Nez is able to determine that the likely culprit is an herbivorous hooved animal - elk, moose, maybe a boar though the latter seems unlikely. The dogs take the lead, seeking the animal at the end of the trail - and the pack is able to spot out the animal, standing at the opposite edge of a clearing.
-During the meet, Johnson is skeevy, sketchy, sly and slick. He doesn't tell the team all the details, and doesn't give much information. All the team is told is this: the Green Light Tavern is where the Locals meet. He wants a message sent to them. While he's not specific, he makes it clear that the message should be 'worthy of the news.' Pressing on what that means gets implications of property damage - fire, smash and grab, theft, doesn't matter. And while Taco Johnson here might be sleazy and have bits of salsa on his coat and pants, he's also offering the runners 16k - and let's them negotiate up to 20k without batting an eye.
+Slowly, the hunters approach, and the crack of a rifle rings out: not theirs, but a third party. A pot-bellied hunter approaches - says a prayer over the body, then drags the animal away in a Thundercloud Morgan as Saint and Nez philosophize about the nature of letting things go.
-==The Plan==
+==The Bear==
-The team is unwilling to go along with such a suspicious Johnson without question - and their legwork is as much casing the place as it is figuring out if they really want to go after this group.
+Several hours of fruitless searching later, Emelya picks up on a new scent. Tracing it along, Nez is eventually able to find a track belonging to a bear. Excited, she insists to Saint that they'll look at this one but not hunt it - out of respect for predators.
-[[Knock]] finds on a Matrix Search that searching for the Locals unsurprisingly produces an awful lot of junk results - fliers for some all-elf band, neighborhood watch associations, parent teacher associations, so on. But she picks up on something - there's occasionally an appearance of an icon in the corner of a few of these various, unconnected image. One which reads, "I AM LOCAL 751." Some of these images are erased as she reads over them - this is being scrubbed from social media by somebody, but creative use of algorithm-fooling watermarks is allowing them to stay up for some time.
+A brief debate between the pair of them, and then they set off to put eyes on the beast.
-[[Diestra]] spooks a lot of people initially when talking about them with the Locals, but after reassuring them that she's not a corpo or a cop, they'll budge a little. Some of the community thinks they're idealistic fools, some think they're common thugs, and some think that they're a boon to the community. Opinions are mixed - but Diestra is able to extract a few key facts. First, that the Locals are in fact collecting money from the community, and it's not always volunteered. And second, the Locals are recruiting and wear a gang symbol - some kind of old wrench and gears? Third and last: The leadership is not necessarily a single person - the implication is that it's very decentralized. Still, a couple names come up multiple times. Tajin, Lucky, Ritz, Red Wedge.
+When they find it, though, Neznayka is able to identify it as a Piasma - an awakened bear, armored up as an orc and able to crush a car. Knowing the threat this represents to the people of Snohomish, and worried that it will be attacked by hunters, Neznayka decides that the pair are obligated to lure it out of the city. Their plan is straightforward: have Saint take a scent lure ahead of the bear, and draw it towards the border.
 ==The Run==
-With enough information to feel like they won't be shot, the team goes to the Green Light. Diestra and Ryuuji head on in, while the rest of the team set up outside to keep watch. They take up conversation with an ork at the bar, who they quickly identify as [[Tajin]] - he helpfully identified himself. When one asked to speak in private, he whistled - and the whole bar cleared out towards the rooms upstairs.
+A call gets made to [[Jaelisha]], who's able to arrange for a hole to be made in the border patrols for the bear to get out - courtesy a certain organization that has been known to smuggle animals, with a focus on their rights.
-From his comm, Knock is able to determine that Tajin has been making deals with local ganger Red Wedge (no relation to any other Reds except in having a favorite color). These deals introduce drug trading into the MCT plant, but in exchange Red Wedge has gangers keeping an eye out for Shadowrunners. Shadowrunners like the ones hanging around outside.
+As they lead the bear away towards the border, Nez and Saint continuing talking. Slowly, they reveal pieces of themselves to each other - culminating in Neznayka admitting to having gotten civilians killed in a bomb blast she was responsible for. Stripping away her armored coat, she shoves a knife into Saint's hand, demanding to be held to the same standard as Red Ribbon. They argue with each other for minutes, before finally coming to something of an agreement.
-And - soon enough, it becomes clear that they're fending off more than one team. Panda and Knack spot at the same time that a man tumbled to the dirt where he'd been lurking with a few other gangers by a car. A couple mroe strikes, and the team realized what was going on. Shots were fired on all fronts - Knock flattened their decker, Panda sprinted across the street to take down the enemy mage, Diestra and Knack and Ryuuji all took turns trying to knock down the adept before Diestra got a solid hit in, leaving a bleeding gouge in his stomach. As he became visible at the same time, every ganger started turning their guns his way - and opened fire. Without hesitation, Ryuuji stood in the way - tanking sprays of SMG bullets to keep the opfor runner from being killed. A man of honor indeed.
+Naturally, it's about then that the bear finds them. Nez scrambles for her crossbow, while Saint springs into action, charging forward to throw a punch that deliberately skims the bear's nose, to very little effect save to shake it up. The bear draws back at a swipe by its face - and then the bolt punches into its paw, delivering a shock that makes the beast rear up - then run. The pair of runners keep it moving, then herd it across the border, too close for comfort to the border patrol guards their friends in the shadows arranged to have look the other way. A few hundred nuyen fell out of the runners' pockets, and they fled the scene - poorer in body, but richer in soul.
-That threat resolved, every ganger on the street looks to the SURGEd Goat Panda - and feeling the weight of their eyes, the Panthera elf flees over a pair of fences to avoid being perforated.
 ==Aftermath==
-After the shooting's over, Tajin comes clean with the runners - and scrapes together some cash to pay them. The defeated opfor runner team agrees to take the fall for the botched job in exchange for their lives - while there's likely not much gratitude, they've at least lived to fight another day.
+Nez and Saint had their little hunting adventure come to a close, Snohomish was slightly safer, and TerraFirst! got themselves access to a brand new friend.
 ==Rewards==
-Run Rewards for "An Autoclave's Pressure and Heat" (Medium, 13 RVP)
+Run Rewards for Herding a Bear (Milk Run escalated to High, 14 RVP)
-,000 Nuyen (5 RVP)
+Karma (9 RVP)
-Karma (6 RVP)
+CDP (2 base, 4 RVP)
-CDP (2 RVP)
+Street Cred (1 RVP)
--1 MCT Rep
++3 TerraFirst! Reputation
-Optional Rewards:
+Optional:
-Contact - Carly Reeves (4/1) (4 RVP) - Sticking around to give the reporter a bit of backstory could earn her commcode.
+For Saint: Animal Empathy (3 RVP)
-Contact - Tajin the Rabblerouser (2/2) (3 RVP) - A local 'labor rights activist' is pretty glad you didn't bust up his meeting place.
+For Saint: City Slicker (7 RVP)
-For Ryuuji Soaking Six Gangers to Save some Sap - Tough as Nails at Chargen Rates
+For Both: Catlike (7 RVP)
-For Knock - Speed Reader at Chargen Rates
 ==Game Quotes==
-{{Gamequote|"I shoot man!" - Panda, before hopping two fences and scaring a dog}}
+{{Gamequote|"Saint, do you have any bright ideas?" Neznayka, addressing Saint while the latter huffs Betameth}}
+==Player After Action Reports (AARs)==
-==Player After Action Reports (AARs)==
+[[Neznayka]]: I ... I hope I could help. Saint, I mean, not the bear. Though I suppose I also hope the bear was helped. I would not have been able to survive alone, if I had lost everything. Without the scraps of the family that I built, I think I would have become the same. Feral and bitter and angry at everything. I would want to fight the world and lose, just to see it bleed. Oh Saint, лапочка Saint. There can be a tomorrow for you. You are still deserving of that much. Why won't you stay around to watch the sun rise?
-===[[Knock]]===
-Knock Knock! Guess who! It's me~ I known you're there. I see you~ say hello! Hello world. Bop bop, chop chop! Edea knows you're there. Bang! Not dead? Bang! BANG!!!! oops, you died. Too bad.
+[[Saint]]: You want me to let go of all I've ever had? How? You know that rage is all I have left of them, don't you? Without it, I can't do what I have to do... I should feel the same about you, too. If all of that is true, you should be dead like the rest of them.
-[[Diestra]] : Helping those people as their champion felt good, can't really help myself on that...The corporation deserve a bit of beating sometimes.
+<small>So why, when I look at you, are you someone I want to see live?</small>