Hegemony of the Food Chain

Hegemony of the Food Chain
Part of Swarming Season
Date 2084-11-20 GM Asmodeus Location Halstead, Kansas Status Threat Level: Extreme
Factions Involved
ShadowHaven Erika Ares Macrotechnology	Ares Macrotechnology	UCAS Army	Erika	Kansas Swarm
Delphi Eidolon Nearl C-Unit 537 - Hunter	Damien Knight(?) Ares Macrotechnology HTR The Invisibles	Officer Raven Army Rangers	Wychking	Cicada Queen Queensguard
Casualties and losses
Two Edge points were burned
Capstone run for the Swarming Season Metaplot

Summary

The Queen's taken care of and the swarm self-destructs thanks to clever plays!

Background

The Kansas Swarm's queen den was located thanks to a group of runners previously. Now that the information is slipped to the UCAS Army, it's time to strike at the heart of the swarm.

The Meet

The meet happens at a FOB where a Lt. Johnson offers a basic lay of the land, requisitions Blight and KE-V grenades to the team as well as a few disposable rocket launchers. The job is to make sure foreign entities that haven't yet been successfully apprehended remain out of the way while the main force cleaves their way to the primary hive cluster.

The Plan

At first, the team intends to check some local disturbances. One is suspected to be a ShadowHaven runner team, perhaps a technomancer. No solid ID is confirmed. Dealing with a necromancer makes Delphi call Wychking and ask if she had anything to do with it which is only answered by grid coordinates 20 minutes away. The team decides to investigate.

The Run

Using high Matrix Sleaze and Eidolon's Fly-Spy drone from Erika, the team manage to get a recon scouting to discover Ares forces, Army Rangers and Wychking's necromancer forces at a standstill in a crossroads right beside the city of Halstead. Delphi does a risky near-atmosphere projetion to avoid the hundred-strong swarms in the area and approach Wychking astrally to minimize detection. An avatar of the Adversary responds to her calls instead since any of the necro spirits leaving would tip Ares off that the necromancer is communicating with anyone. The adversary returns with Delphi to the car and offers to pave the way to the standoff for a price, but nobody is willing to make a literal devil pact, thus making the avatar a curious spirit passenger and spectator to their shenanigans.

After reaching the site, some maneuvering allows them to carefully begin dismantling a moment of great tension. Global Fame permits most of the team to recognize a man that certainly looks and appears to be Damien Knight, presumed to have died in the Battle of Detroit. First approaching the Ares CEO since he offers to talk, he elaborates that he's here to take advantage of the Army's plans to deliver a high yield payload to the hive cluster's underground bunker and instead bolster the queen's astral gateway abilities to create a portal and throw the bomb across with the queen. However, he's distrusted by the Erika mage and the Army as a corporate presence that took the right of way and snuck onto the warzone anyway. Officer Raven, working for the UCAS Army Intelligence, is concerned about corporate interference despite their best efforts and emphasizes that she can't just ask dozens of men and women to destroy their careers and lives just to solve this crisis, that there has to be a better way without their lives being destroyed as government scapegoats. Wychking, on the other hand, is predictably straightforward and attended the Kansas Swarm situation after observing for long enough and deducing that bureaucracy was going to cause unnecessary casualties. Her plan is to invade the hive and destroy the queen permanently with her own private methods.

With some effort, the team manage to find a fragile compromise between all three, although it comes with great personal cost. While most of the gang avoids pissing anyone off, Eidolon miraculously bullshits Damien Knight straight up close that he isn't recording anything, even though he is.

From here, the team attacks the Hive and plans a multistage operation. Wychking sends most of her corps cadavres in to fight the frontline and bind most of the defending Invae. In that time, the team has to find a clear route to the queen and keep it clear. The necro mage will charge from outside, holding the returning swarms at bay, and come to control the queen's mind, using the hivemind to destroy the swarm with mental orders. This plan goes well and the team uses ventilation shafts to avoid getting caught in the brutal hallway carnage, but Eidolon slips and gets spotted at the worst possible moment: directly above the Cicada Queen. A fierce fight erupts that makes the team's ears bleed (except Nearl's who is already deaf!) and while Eidolon manages to absorb a great number of potential hits, Delphi trying to keep them alive and Nearl whittling down the soldiers protecting the queen, it is Hunter, the Null Wizard, that finds the perfect opening and reflects the Queen's own Control Thoughts spell back at her, using the split second of control to make her order her swarm to commit suicide. As the swarm destroys itself on its queen's command, Delphi attacks it from behind and with the Spirit Hunter technique shuts off the Astral Gateway.

Almost immediately, an unknown Native American Chieftain appears astrally and attempts to shove the queen through a new, unknown astral gateway with another mind control spell. Astonishingly, Hunter uses his spell protection on the queen spirit and prevents her from being controlled again by anyone else, making the chieftain miss his split second opportunity to swipe the Queen from under everyone's noses. Wychking charges down and reasserts mental dominance over the queen in the nick of time, discovering that the queen has information that may incriminate Ares with knowledge that their Firewatch-modified hybrid Alpha specimens aren't all accounted for after all, gene-spliced half-Invae shock troops that turned out far too aggressive. The queen also possesses memories of human auras in Vhortas, the Invae native metaplane.

Damien Knight's bodyguards arrive with the modified warhead and use measuring equipment to monitor the process as the queen's magical power is bolstered with a great amount of refined and specially treated orichalcum. It causes visible pain to the Queen, whom is mind controlled to take the bomb with her across to Vhortas. The spell is dropped and as the portal closes, the team can barely see the lucid queen desperately reach for the portal, knowing its imminent doom. Ares estimates the payload to cause millions of Invae deaths on the other side, causing a genuine blow to the invading species.

Aftermath

Only able to approach one of the forces at play for a reward, the teammates have to consider carefully who to ask patronage from. Ares got valuable data for Quebec's Astral Research Institute regarding the Kansas Queen, Erika's ace mage got her wish of destroying the Swarm fulfilled and the UCAS Army is finally done with this political disaster of a campaign. It was never a matter of if, only when. Vague memories of the queen and its claims of the runners serving backstabbing traitors leaves a suspicious taste in Delphi's mouth, wondering if Damien had an ulterior motive and attempted to doublecross the runners after all. She spreads word that the Ares CEO may be alive after all, but only with a highly curated list of trustworthy individuals. The rest of the runners are adamantly requested not to speak of this event lightly.

Run Rewards for Hegemony of the Food Chain (Extreme, (30 x 1.666 Runtime) 50 RVP)

• UCAS Army's Offer
  1. 20,000 Nuyen (10 RVP)
  2. 2,000 Nuyen Negotiation Bonus
  3. 20 Karma (20 RVP)
  4. 2 CDP
  5. 5 UCAS Military Reputation
  6. Optional Contact: Officer Raven, 3/2 UCAS Army Intelligence (4 RVP or 8 CDP)
  7. Optional Gear up to 80,000 Nuyen aka 20 RVP
  8. UCAS Fake SINs
  9. Ares Mules
  10. Shiawase Caduceus CAD-7s
  11. Cyberware and Bioware up to Alphaware Grade
  12. Lifestyles in Ft. Lewis
  13. Chevrolet Camaro (a Dodge Charger worth 65,000 Nuyen, can include modifications)
  14. Positive Narrative Consequence: You didn't shill for the corps like a cheap Barrens slitch. Good on you, shadowrunners!

• Ares Macrotechnology's Offer:
  1. 200,000 Nuyen worth of Gear
  2. Cyberware, Bioware, Geneware, Nanoware up to Beta Grade (or Delta for mundanes)
  3. Ares brand drones
  4. Rigger Command Consoles
  5. Cyberdeck Upgrades
  6. 2 CDP
  7. 5 Ares Macrotechnology Reputation
  8. Optional Contact: Jenaveve Valenti, 6/1 Ares Fixer (6 RVP or 24,000 Nuyen from Gear)
  9. Positive Narrative Consequence: Damien Knight(?) probably won't put a hit on you! Nice!

• Erika's Offer
  1. 200,000 Nuyen worth of Electronics and Magical Gear:
  2. Cyberdeck Upgrades
  3. Faceless Systems
  4. Paydata & Blackmail Material
  5. Necro Magic Foci upgrades (F6 Weapon and Power Foci, F7 other Foci) (Will sell Collapsible Scythes, Sickles and Bows as weapons)
  6. Other Tradition Foci upgrades (F4 Weapon and Power Foci, F7 other Foci)
  7. Shaman Tuxedo for Shamanic and Necro Mages
  8. Magical Lodge Materials up to Rating 10
  9. Reagents
  10. 1 Dram of Orichalcum
  11. 5 Erika Reputation
  12. 2 CDP
  13. Optional Contact: Lady of Pain, 6/1 Investigator & Ally Spirit (6 RVP or 12 CDP), those that have her may increase her Loyalty to 5
  14. Positive Narrative Consequence: Taru is happy to exchange commcodes with Nearl and will be able to call Damien Knight(?) on speed dial for co-operation regarding bug murderizing.

• 4th Option
  1. Fuck the corps and the governments.
  2. You don't need their shit. You did this because it was the right thing!
  3. 40 Karma (40 RVP)
  4. 22 CDP (10 RVP)
  5. Can purchase Officer Raven and Lady of Pain as contacts with CDP/RVP.

Game Quotes

Amusing quote from game.

Player After Action Reports (AARs)

Nearl

As the sun bore its glow over the battlefield, I found myself standing shoulder to shoulder with Wychking, my idol and mentor. The air was thick with the scent of magic and the impending clash of forces. For months, I had learned from her by proxy, studied the arts I yearned to command. It was a pursuit that demanded sacrifices, sacrifices I willingly made to be where I stood now.

The confrontation with the Invae was the crucible, the moment that would shape the fate of society. The stakes were high, and I was ready to prove myself to Wychking, to show her that the shadows had not only molded me but also sharpened me for this very purpose.

The Lady of Pain, My mentor and Wychking's ally stood at her side, emanated an ethereal presence as we prepared for battle. And then, we entered the hive – the clash of forces that would decide the course of our world. In the heat of the skirmish, I fought alongside my mentor, the one whose presence had me shaking in excitement.

The thrill was indescribable, the rush of adrenaline and magic as our powers intertwined. There was a moment of recognition in Wychking's eyes, a brief acknowledgment that spoke volumes. I felt seen, acknowledged, and in that moment, the sacrifices became worthwhile.

To stand by Taru's side, to be recognized as more than just a shadow in her wake, was a dream realized. As we fought side by side against the Invae, I knew that one day, I would retire from the clandestine world of shadows to stand openly with my mentor. The excitement of that prospect fueled my every move, and I vowed to continue honing my skills until the day I could truly be a worthy companion to Wychking, both in the shadows and in the light of day.