Shenanrigans

Shenanrigans
Date 2085-07-13 GM TidanShock Location SSC Status Threat Level: Deadly
Factions Involved
ShadowHaven Horned Bear	Cutters
Miut Oracle Red Ribbon Wayfarer Weevil	Character1 Character2

Summary

The team is hired to locate a missing supply of Ares equipment aboard a vessel commandeered by pirates and grab what they can.

Background

A few weeks back, a small cargo ship carrying Ares weaponry, drones, and other equipment was seized by pirates, who proceeded to loot what they could. Recently it docked near the border of both the SSC and Seattle upon the coastline. The gang known as the Cutters have since occupied the vessel and are looking for some special cargo aboard it. Ares wants it back.

The Meet

Being called to meet in effectively a shack with a table, a few chairs, and pizza on the table, the "D-Team" begins to walk inside before Wayfarer stops them, noticing three figures. The first, a runner named Red Ribbon, which matched the description of the woman met by the Ancients member that escaped in one of his previous missions. The situation seemed a little tense, until he noticed the another individual known as Dune Maker. A massive fan of the Desert Wars star, Wayfarer stammered over himself as the rest of the crew behind him pushed past and made their way inside. The last notable was Raytheon, the J, who attempted to calm the situation with pizza and seats. With tension negated and an autograph signed, the group sat down and began to hear the details of the mission.

A while ago, there was an small AI-operated ship under Ares carrying cargo which was taken over by pirates. Looting what they could, they then moved to dock it on the border of the SSC and Seattle and leave with their pilfered gains. After doing so, word got out to the Cutters who then managed to move in before other gangs or factions could. Additionally, it seemed as though there was something special inside, though what it was was anyone's guess. The D-Team and Red Ribbon are being hired to find this special something as well as anything else of note they could get and bring it to a drop off point on Seattle's side of the water. The runners were not the only individuals involved in this, as a PMC known as Horned Bear was also contacted to aid them in their task, and were to be met on the other side of the border a few miles away from the docked ship.

Unfortunately, tension rose yet again as the group brought up their skillsets with the Dune Maker growing somewhat agitated at Oracle's ability to manipulate minds. This caused Miut to threaten the towering behemoth, causing Dune Maker to slightly respect her courage. After that, the shack was vacated and the runners decided to meet back up again where the PMC was holed up at.

Along the way, Red Ribbon DNI'd Miut, bringing up that she knew of Miut's former connection with Humanis, causing the former Humanis member to lash out at Wayfarer when he noticed her anxiety spiking.

The Plan

Having met up at and with the Horned Bear operatives, including their leader Ashen Hand, the collective began to formulate a plan. From what was able to be scouted or gained from camera footage, there were roughly twelve to fourteen guards, a spider, and the presence of at least one mage and two spirits. With Weevil's roadmaster being able to operate like a boat, the group would cruise up silently at an the back of the less-guarded back of the ship and have Wayfarer, Ashen Hand and his small crew, Red Ribbon's anthrodrone, and one of Oracle's spirits to climb aboard and silently neutralize as many individuals as possible while Miut squelched comms. In the event of the Cutters being alerted, Miut would geek the enemy spider while Weevil and Red Ribbon moved their drones up to assist Wayfarer, Oracle's spirit, and Ashen Hand and crew in killing the Cutters. While this happened, Miut would search the files and find the cargo and the group would, after clearing the boat, collect what can be collected and make way for a boat prepped to take them across the border. Or, in the case of the D-Team, take the roadmaster to the other side.

The Run

Having arrived undetected, the Wayfarer (made invisible by one of Oracle's spells) and Ashen Hand climbed their way up onto the ship and took out a nearby guard. As Red Ribbon's anthrodrone and the two other members of Horned Bear began climbing, the two as well as Oracle's spirit climbed the walls up to the bridge of the ship and silently killed the two snipers, before noticing that one of the guards below seemed to hear and was approaching where Red Ribbon's drone was attempting to climb. With quick thought, Wayfarer trusted Ashen Hand and one of the PMC operatives to carry his weight as he walked down the wall and choked the Cutter guard out, carrying his dead body up to be hidden away. Another guard nearby heard this very brief commotion and came to check it out, only to be met with the same fate. Meanwhile, Miut placed markers upon the enemy spider and squelched their comms, ensuring that no alert was given.

Unfortunately, this would not last. Upon the roof was a hatch that led inside of the ship, and with a guess, Wayfarer figured that there would likely be a spirit and guards watching the entrance. Stealth would no longer be able to be an option. As such, he asked Oracle to very briefly astrally project and take a peek - just long enough to get a rough estimate of where the individuals were. Little did they realize how many guards and spirits were there. No less than three heavily armored and armed guards, a mage, and two spirits were there, and both of the spirits managed to notice Oracle.

Wayfarer sent Miut the order to kill the spider as the enemy Cutters all went on high alert. Rather than climbing down the ladder and receiving no cover, Wayfarer, Ashen Hand, and one of his squadmates jumped down the top of the ship onto the deck where Oracle spotted a door which on the other side were the individuals while the other PMC member provided cover fire from Cutters on the other side of the ship. As Ashen Hand and his group opened fire on the Cutters, Red Ribbon and Weevil positioned their rotodrones over to provide cover fire as well, leading into something of a stalemate as the runners and mercenaries could not move inside without further harm and risk of being shot in the back, but neither could the Cutters strike back without the same risk.

This led to Wayfarer doing something considered rather foolish, as he ran up to the doorway and grabbed one of the armored Cutters, giving Ashen Hand better cover which to fire inside the room. This was not without issue, however, as one of the other Cutters inside managed to get a heavy blow in on Wayfarer, nearly putting him on the ground. The Cutter mage hid in one of the corners, watching the battle as his spirits began to race towards the Ashen Hand and Wayfarer, not realizing that Oracle's own spirit phased through the wall and quickly ended his life, causing his summoned spirits to vanish.

Noticing on the ship's files a well-hidden crates swarming with drones, Miut gave complete control over to Weevil and unleashed the swarm, which began to very quickly rip apart the last of the Cutters inside. Not much long after, the remaining few gang members in the area either quickly died or fled, and for the moment there was quiet once more. Quickly, Oracle and Ashen Hand patched Wayfarer up as the others began to load the crates and other equipment inside the roadmaster, and soon the crew began to leave the area.

Red Ribbon, who was safely hidden away alongside Miut, began to interrogate Miut on her former connections with Humanis, even threatening her if Miut relapsed. This was a severe difference in tone as to what was happening in the group riding in the roadmaster, as Weevil was doing tricks on the waves in his roadmaster, causing Wayfarer's wounds to open up again and pissing off Ashen Hand... who promptly threw the rigger into the sea when they arrived at the dropoff point.

Aftermath

With the cargo collected and delivered and Miut returned to her group (though a little more uneasy), the groups began to disband and go their separate ways after a small discussion between Wayfarer and Red Ribbon.

Rewards

40k nuyen in gear rates for weapons, weapon accessories, vehicles, vehicle accessories, drones, or drone modifications up to 19F avail. Any remaining nuyen can be taken as liquid nuyen (half rates). (10 RVP)

+2500 nuyen (negotiations)

Raytheon Contact at loyalty 2 (C5/L2) (7 RVP)

+1 chip with Raytheon (negotiations)

(Red Ribbon instead gets 7 additional karma)

13 Karma (13 RVP)

20 CDP (10 RVP)

+2 base CDP

Counts as Ascension/Initiation/Submerssion for anyone involved!

OPTIONAL CONTACTS

Ashen Hand at loyalty 2 (C4/L2) (6 RVP)

OPTIONAL REWARDS

Dual Nature Defender for Wayfarer (5 RVP)

Focused Concentration for Oracle (4 RVP per rank)

Go big or go home for Miut (6 RVP)

Red Ribbon can raise Arma Remington's loyalty to 3

NARRATIVE CONSEQUENCES

Red Ribbon pays off a chip to Arma Remington

Game Quotes

"I'm going to dox him, I don't give a shit that he's twelve years old he deserves it!" - Weevil, professional child doxxer Noises I don't know how to describe. - Miuted (The player) upon seeing Ashen Hand's art "You sonuvabitch! You killed my drone! Swarm, eat that man! - Weevil "You just hear a slur - a SLEW, A SLEW OF WEEVIL SCREAMING" - Aaron (Weevil's player)

Player After Action Reports (AARs)

Wayfarer - "My back still hurts when I think about that ride to the dropoff. At least I'm still alive, I suppose."

Weevil - "Between the dumb kid before the run, and the shit that had the audacity to destroy my drone... wouldn't recommend doing anything like this again".