Cleanup Crew

Cleanup Crew
Date 2082-04-15 GM Sarcarian Location Redmond, Seattle Metroplex Status Threat Level: Medium
Factions Involved
ShadowHaven Irena Tachikov EVO	Crimson Crush
Barracuda Cyrrel Lil' Boomer Shutdown	Ganger Mooks Scrap Mechanic
Shutdown burnt a point of edge to smackdown.

Summary

In which the runners are hired to assist with cleanup from a recent operation.

Background

A recent attempt by Omega Dawn to kill a high-value target (see: War in Heaven) went belly-up, resulting in a state-of-the-art VTOL being destroyed in mid-air and causing many incriminating materials to be rained down over Redmond. Most of it was subsequently cleaned up discretely, however a few valuable items have slipped through the cracks - namely the craft's engine and main armament, a Gauss rifle built with prototype materials. Now the supplier, Irena Tachikov, has managed to locate the missing items - unfortunately they've quite literally fallen into the hands of the Crimson Crush, so she's contracted runners to recover them.

The Meet

The runners are contacted individually by their fixers and told to meet at the Stained Sickle, a Vory bar near the Tacoma docks. Barracuda and Shutdown ride their motorcycles there like normal people/cool kids and manage to arrive without issue, while LB is stuck taking the bus (after needing some spiritual assistance to convince the bus driver to stop for him) and Cyrrel uses his Urban Daedalus wingsuit to fly there (ending up making a rough landing in a dumpster). Upon arrival, everyone makes their way inside, acquire drinks (a poor decision in LB's case, as he absolutely cannot hold his vodka), and make their way to Tachikov's booth; Ms. J is immediately un-amused by the quartet of runners that the Haven has sent her, and is not shy about expressing it to them.

Tachikov tells the team she has a pair of items which have fallen into the hands of a gang in the barrens which she needs retrieved; Shutdown asks a few questions, Tachikov won't reveal much until they accept the job, offering 32,000 nuyen per item (so 8 grand each). LB briefly attempts to negotiate, but instead vomits into a napkin and is immediately dragged out of the bar by a pair of thugs. Tachikov is even more unamused at this, and actually lowers her offer, causing Cyrrel and Shutdown to walk away from the table. Barracuda saves the day however, playing face and managing to mollify Tachikov, convincing her that despite all appearances to the contrary that the team are indeed professionals who are capable of carrying out the job for her - with the power of edge he is able to convince her to raise her offer to 40 grand per item, with potential for alternate remuneration if they retrieve both in working condition.

The Plan

Tachikov provides the team with a datachip containing information on their target - the Gauss rifle and the aircraft engine - as well as the Crimson Crush warehouse where they have been located. While Shutdown hits the matrix to look for information on the Crush and their operations in the area, Cyrrel heads to Redmond to get eyes on the building and Barracuda gives LB a lift back to his Loveland apartment in order to acquire his beloved grenade launcher. Unfortunately for him Knight Errant is waiting for him at his apartment, as he's a Criminal SINner who is wanted for questioning in a nearby murder, and ends up hauled to the station for a few hours of interrogation (which gets rather rough when he starts making jokes about their mothers). With LB indisposed for the moment, Barracuda heads to the Crime Mall to pick up a new Truthchip (which lets him access the above news story) before heading to Redmond to assist with the scouting efforts, dressing up in his finest ganger leathers and chainmail and taking a friendly bike ride through Crush territory - he is quickly accosted by a large troll who demands he pay a toll for using their road, and manages to ingratiate himself enough to them that he is "invited" out for (read: strong-armed into paying for) a night of Hurlg.

Cyrrel, putting his wingsuit to good use, scales a nearby building and manages to glide onto the rooftop of the warehouse, not setting off the sensor there thanks to his small size and sneakiness. Spotting a (currently-empty) weapon mount, he locates a poorly-patched hole in the roof (covered with what at first glance appears to be sheet metal but which upon closer inspection seems to be a piece of hull plating from an aircraft) and manages to see through a crack in it, spotting the engine below hooked up to some sort of generator. He stays on the roof for a while, managing to stay hidden and keep an eye on the situation while watching The Most Urban Brawl matches on his commlink. Meanwhile, LB is released from KE custody and decides to call up his pal Kenneth "Flamesaw" Murphy for assistance with the job, asking him if he can find a truck and some buddies to help move a big engine that the Crimson Crush has - Kenny, misunderstanding and not realizing it's meant to be stolen from the Crush, messages his pals in the gang to let them know before coming to pick LB up from the precinct in a totally-not-stolen truck.

The Run

Once Shutdown is finished with her matrix searching and Barracuda has started getting good and drunk, a plan (of sorts) begins to come together: after getting the Crush members talking about their spoils and learning that the son of the mechanic in charge of the engine is one of the people drinking with Barracuda, they plan to "buy" the rifle and the engine from them and pay with half of what Tachikov offered them. Cyrrel is aghast at the idea of giving up payment, but given that Kenny has already inadvertently tipped off the Crush that something is up and expressed that he does not want any of them to get hurt, so he ends up outvoted by the rest of the group.

After a long night of drinking at Crusher 495, Barracuda (after downing a troll-sized tankard of Hurlg) is able to sell a drunken negotiation to the lead ganger, getting him to call his dad in charge of the engine and pass along their intent - the mechanic is rather taken aback by this, and it's only with Kenny's assistance that the team are able to approach the warehouse without being fired upon (Barracuda meanwhile proceeds to pass out from too much to drink, getting tossed into the back of the truck to sleep it off for a bit). Meanwhile on the roof, the mechanic has spotted a squirrel with the sensors there and deploys the Gauss rifle, both to deal with the pest and as a show of force against the approaching strangers. Cyrrel manages to hop on top of the weapon mount and spot where the gun is attached, slicing it off with his monowhip and managing to avoid damaging it in the process.

As the truck approaches the warehouse they are stopped by gangers, who greet Kenny with familiarity but the rest of the team with suspicion bordering on hostility as they attempt to convince them to let them take the very valuable salvage (and that they've already paid for it, which they haven't). At this point Cyrrel falls off the roof onto the truck, accidentally discharging the Gauss rifle in the process and causing guns to be drawn. LB attempts to de-escalate the situation, but when that fails Shutdown tries intimidation tactics - her initial attempt (with a single die to her name) ends up a critical glitch, so just as shots are about to be fired she quickly shows Cyrrel the electronic trigger mechanism on the rifle (in the form of a big green button), which he proceeds to fire at the warehouse.

The shot knocks the piece of hull plating on the roof loose, causing it to fall to the ground and reveal the white starburst emblem on the other side; Shutdown, with her background and knowledge of special forces, immediately recognizes it as the symbol of Omega Dawn, and quickly launches into a tirade of why exactly the Crimson Crush want these items as far away form them as possible. Smacking down the resulting intimidation roll, her graphic descriptions of the death squad's methods and just what sort of fate awaits any SINless on their radar is enough to convince the Crimson Crush to let them take the engine and the rifle off their hands without a fight.

Aftermath

Driving off with the truck (along with a very confused/drunk Kenny and his crew, who aren't really sure what happened), the team briefly freak out among themselves and consider the sort of drek they're involved in before agreeing not to try to frag over their J (since they don't want to be attacked by death squads in their sleep); instead, they call her up and arrange a drop-off at the Tacoma dock (though not before Cyrrel gets to fire off the Gauss rifle one last time). At the docks Tachikov waits for them with a squad of goons in black balaclavas, and after inspecting both the rifle and the engine and pronouncing them "satisfactory" she takes measure of the runners, trying to determine if they know too much. Everyone manages to pass their Judge Intentions rolls, and Barracuda is able to convince her to live up to the agreement they negotiated earlier - she provides the team with credsticks, as well as clinic access should they wish.

Rewards

• 20k nuyen OR 40k nuyen in ware (up to alphaware without ROF, must take ROF: Evo if taking Betaware or Geneware, up to 18 availability)
• 3 karma
• 2 CDP
• +3 Evo rep
• Optional Contact: Irena Tachikov (C6/L1 Acquisitions Expert) for 6 RVP or 12 CDP
• Optional Contact: Kenneth "Flamesaw" Murphy (C2 Lovable Idiot) @ up to loyalty 3 (costs 2-4 RVP or 4-8 CDP)
• Optional Quality: (for Cyrrel and Shutdown) One level of Special Modifications at Chargen price.

Game Quotes

Shine: [On seeing her colleagues arrive for the meet] Jeez. This is new. Never been the pretty one before. LB: [walking into the bar] "You still ain't". Barracuda: [to Cyrrel and LB] "Look, both of you are dicks in the chatroom." LB: [to Shutdown, after being facetiously complemented] "You know, I know you're buttering me up, but I did put together this elite squad so like, you're right." Cyrel: [To Barracuda] "One day I'd like to hear about the forest fire you put out with your face".