Zugzwang

Zugzwang
Part of Two Steps Ahead
Date 2084-02-02 GM Sarcarian Location Downtown, Seattle Metroplex Status Threat Level: High
Factions Involved
ShadowHaven Amelia Novak Fangwidth	Saeder-Krupp	Mitsuhama Computer Technologies
Astrid Chófer Eidolon Gigabite	Amrei Veidt Charlene Howard Centurion Security	Bodyguards Guardian Spirit Mr. Tanaka
Casualties and losses
		Bodyguards x2 (neutralized but alive), Guardian Spirit (disrupted), Mr. Tanaka (knocked out)

Summary

In which the runners attempt to extract a data analyst from Saeder-Krupp, and end up turning over a Mr. Tanaka to them instead.

Background

MCT has a slight problem - S-K. Over the course of Two Steps Ahead, Amrei Veidt - representing S-K Prime and given authority over a task force by the Chairman for the purpose - has been attempting to acquire promising proprietary technology from other corporations. She has also been antagonizing MCT with targeted runs against their enterprises on the side, attempting to bait them into making a move against S-K while leaving a trail leading back to her (assumed identity in the UCAS). MCT have done their opposition research and decided to snatch someone from her Seattle logistics operation - Charlene Howard, a technomancer data analyst who works on Amrei's task force; Amrei is, naturally, one step ahead of them, and has placed increased security on Ms. Howard with the intention of redirecting any shadowrunners sent to extract her against their employers.

The Meet

The runners are contacted individually by their fixers and told to meet with Mr. Tanaka at a Soybucks in Downtown near the southern shore of Lake Washington - all are able to make it there either via their own vehicles or thanks to the driving expertise of Cylde in the case of Astrid (after smuggling herself across the SSC boarder). The Soybucks, like most Soybucks, is full of busy wageslaves grabbing their coffee, and in the crowd the team notice an older man in a blue tie who's Matrix persona is outlined by a blue halo in the group's AR overlay, identifying him as the one with whom they are there to meet - Eidolon, scanning the crowd, notices two other similarly dressed individuals observing their group.

Mr. Tanaka pays for the group's drinks (minus Gigabite, who politely declines) and explains what his employers need from them via DNI. He tells them that Ms. Cherlene Howard, a data analyst with Amalgamated Technologies and Telecommunications, is to be involuntarily extracted, and that a full dossier on her along with all the equipment they will require is in the briefcase under the table. Answering their questions politely and professionally, he remains unflappable to their attempts to judge his intentions, offering them twelve thousand nuyen a head for the job - the group accepts the job without attempting to negotiate for further payment, however Gigabite adds a caveat that if they encounter unforeseen circumstances they will expect appropriate hazard pay. Agreeing to the terms, Mr. Tanaka gets up while leaving the briefcase, followed shortly thereafter by the two gentlemen who were observing the group.

The Plan

Having deduced from the proximity of the Soybucks to the MCT corporate complex on the south shore of Lake Washington that they're working for the megacorp (or else are being intentionally deceived that they are), and with a Matrix search revealing that Amalgamated Technologies and Telecommunications is an S-K subsidiary, the team contemplate the mess they've found themselves in. Piling into Chófer's roadmaster (all but Gigabite, who follows on her bike since she cannot fit inside comfortably), they head for the Downtown core, passing through a KE checkpoint near the airport en-route where they are pulled over for "random additional screening" thanks to a lucky SIN check (and the fact that they're driving around inside an obvious APC). Thankfully Chófer's smuggling compartments are well-hidden, the smell from Astrid's herbal remedies distracts the canine officer, and Gigabite manages to sweet talk the pawn with a funny story in order to distract him; with their powers combined, the group manages to make it through the checkpoint and proceed towards Downtown proper.

According the dossier they received, Ms. Howard lives on floor 23 of the Olympia building, a 42-story condominium complex situated a few blocks away from the Space Needle. Doing a driveby to scout the place out, they glimpse Ms. Howard returning home from work and Astrid is able to assense her as she enters the building, clocking her as a technomancer and immediately becoming concerned due to the rumors that she's heard about what MCT does to them. Raising this concern with the rest of the group, she is told that MCT have a well-deserved reputation for being ruthless when it comes to betrayal and that backing out at this stage would be tantamount to that. Swallowing her concerns, she agrees to help with the job, but says that it will come back around to them eventually. Gigabite privately messages Mr. Tanaka to bring up this concern, and he assures her that it is merely a trivial fact compared to the value of the target's skills and knowledge (and that his employers have no intention of "doing science" to her, though he does offer an extra 4 grand each to the team as "hazard pay").

Eidolon identifies the law offices across the street as having a good vantage point for overwatch and locates a fire escape which could allow access to the roof, while Chófer starts to try to pick out potential escape routes - unfortunately with all the raised highways and one-way streets this proves to be a difficult task, but her smuggler's knowledge tells her that the more subtle routes through Downtown are likely controlled by the two largest groups of smugglers in the Metroplex, the Ancients and the Skraacha. Thankfully Astrid has recently made a Skraacha connection, and is able to arrange a meeting with the gang representative the Big Rhino. At the restaurant the group manages to comport themselves well and not offend anyone with their poor manners, with Gigabite talking the orc into providing the group with access to their routes through the OU in exchange for a few thousand nuyen, and everyone enjoys a good meal before returning home for the evening.

The Run

The next day, after having acquired some suitable toxins to incapacitate their target, the group begins to put their plan into action. Doing another drive-by of the apartment (this time in the middle of the workday), they assess the security measures and determine that they should probably have someone scout out the Matrix host to determine what sort of electronic security they're dealing with. Not wanting to bring in a full sub-contractor from the Haven for such a simple task, Gigabite instead uses her Ghoul Liberation League connections to make the acquaintance of a hacker named Fangwidth who she knew of by reputation from her script kiddie days, offering them two thousand nuyen to scout out the host and tell them what they're dealing with. Fangwidth performs this task with aplumb, managing to determine the locations and strength of the cameras, the number of Centurion Security personnel guarding the building, and the fact that there is a spider with Hermes Matrix Services guarding it; thanks to a lucky matrix perception check, they are even able to spot the hidden golden-eyed persona watching them snoop around, and wisely bug out after determining that this whole thing is a bit too hot for them, wishing Gigabite and company luck before departing.

Even more concerned now that there could be a green team in the mix waiting to snatch their target from them as soon as they make a move, Gigabite contacts Mr. Tanaka and encourages him to delay or call off the job - he tells her that is not his choice to make, and that their original mission perimeters will remain the same. The team debate their next move, slowly realizing just how screwed they are either way, when the trid projector in Chófer's vehicle is hijacked to broadcast a black humanoid persona with golden eyes into their midst. Amrei explains through a voice modulator (through which only Astrid is able to discern the feminine voice and slight German accent) that the group has two options - continue with their original course of action, in which they will likely fail and subsequently be arrested/killed, or flip on their employer and bring him to her. Giving them twenty minutes to decide, the team take less than five to come to the conclusion that turning on MCT is better than being on S-K's shitlist, asking only that Amrei compensate them appropriately and do what she can to mitigate the blowback to their reputations.

Deciding that a ruse is their best option, the team partially go through with their original plan - they drive quickly away from the Olympia building towards the entrance to the OU, fire off an assault cannon round en-route to draw a police response, then manage to slip away thanks to the power of rigger bullshit fitting an APC through the tunnels. Emerging in northern Tacoma, they use their collective knowledge of the Metroplex to identify a likely ambush spot among the industrial sprawl of Auburn, setting up there (with Astrid summoning spirit backup to conceal their sniper along with making him invisible, Eidolon grappling up to and anchoring himself to the underside of a bridge with his cyberware, Chófer setting up a cross-firing position with their drones, and Gigabite coordinating everything with her small unit tactics knowledge). Contacting their employer, Gigabite sells a convincing lie about drawing a bit too much heat to risk going back to Downtown for a while, and about the supposed green team that she had warned him about being on their tales and forcing them to go to ground at a hideout in Auburn; she is able to convince him that they are unable to leave their current position and that he will need to meet up with them at the location of their choosing.

Mr. Tanaka and his two bodyguards (along with a guardian spirit on the astral plane) arrive after a few hours, obviously suspicious of the setup, but emerge from their armored van to take possession of the target. Lulling them into a false sense of security before giving the signal to ambush, the group successfully launch their attack, taking Mr. Tanaka (but not his bodyguards) by surprise. Astrid seizes the initiative and immediately knocks him unconscious with a powerful clout spell, while his bodyguards take shots from Chófer and Eidolon but remain standing - one of them picks up their unconscious boss and tosses him into the van before producing a shotgun, while the other flicks out a monowhip from his finger and prepares to go to town on the mage. Before that can happen however, Gigabite slams her chain-guitar into his gut, knocking him to the ground and nearly killing him were it not for his saviour nanites stabilizing him. Meanwhile, Eidolon shoots out the axle of the van so that the targets cannot escape and lines up another shot before his sightline is blocked by the materialization of the sword-wielding guardian spirit a few feet from his face; he is able to avoid being made mincemeat by the spirit, blowing a hole in it with APDS before it's finished off by Astrid's air spirit. The final bodyguard puts up a valiant fight, not managing to scratch the roadmaster but inflicting some biofeedback on Chófer herself, however he is eventually dog-piled and subdued by the combined efforts of the runners.

Pulling Mr. Tanaka into their vehicle and speeding away, Eidolon drops down from the bridge into Chófer's emergency exit hatch in the roof, and the team speed away into the night with the intent of heading south and laying low in Puyallup for a while until the heat dies down.

Aftermath

The group are contacted by Amrei a few hours after their fight, who provides them with the location of a nondescript office building in Tacoma where they can drop Mr. Tanaka off. Arriving, they find a pair of Large Men waiting in the parking lot along with a holo-conference drone projecting the familiar golden-eyed persona, who congratulates them on their success and sends them details for an escrow account containing their promised fee as well as a sizable bonus for their trouble. Amrei says that she will do what she can to mitigate blowback to their reputations - the fact that the bodyguards survived means that MCT won't be full-on out for their blood, but their names are slightly tarnished by the betrayal.

Mr. Tanaka is thoroughly interrogated and mind-probed for any useful knowledge he may possess before being subjected to a PAB machine and brainwashed into becoming an S-K mole - he is subsequently released and returned to his employers with no memory of the incident, just as planned.

Rewards

20,000 nuyen

2 karma

10 CDP

+1 notoriety (for betraying the J)

+1 S-K reputation

-5 MCT reputation

Optional Contact: Amrei Veidt (C6/L1 S-K Prime Operative) for 6 RVP or 12 CDP

Optional Contact: Amelia Novak (C1/L1 Skraacha Member) for 1 RVP or 2 CDP

For Gigabite:

May use 5 RVP for Ascension rewards

Optional Contact: Fangwidth (C2/L2 Ghoul Decker) for 3 RVP or 6 CDP

Player After Action Reports (AARs)

Eidolon: First run involving corpos... not sure I ever want a second. Things seemed to be going relatively alright despite some unsettled nerves and bad vibes about the potential true result of our job... and then... some hacker threw the job sideways. I have my suspicions, but can't be sure with deckers. Maybe I'll hire 4NG3L to investigate the golden-eyed persona. Anyway, likely corpo hacker essentially blackmailed us into turning on our johnson, who was likely not a nice person and was going to do not nice things to the original target so I guess this was the 'good guy' route? Side note: Have an escape plan when attaching to the underside of a bridge in case of samurai spirit stabbing attempts; I got lucky this time

Astrid : I don't like being force to help the bad people...THis was what i fear would happen until we got a way out from the golden-eye decker. In the end my reputation as a runner will safer but my consciousness is safe for now.

Chófer

"personally i was fine with the job but the other runners didn't wanna go with it.. and honestly i don't got enough equipment to try and do the thing my self, not to mention that puta got into my stuff.. i wanna deck her so bad but well, gotta increase my cyber security"