Scoop of the Century

Scoop of the Century
Part of Thicker Than Water
Date 2081-05-31 GM Kryosite Location Redmond
Factions Involved
ShadowHaven News Van Dan Riot Roadie Santesso Tobias	Cybered Security Guards Blood Mage Blood Spirit
Casualties and losses
Not on the Runners’ side....	Three security guards, a blood mage, and an unfortunate sacrificial victim.

Summary

DARKNESS FALLS ON THE SUNSHINE FREE CLINIC: FIVE CONFIRMED DEAD.

(Saturday, May 31st, 2081) Redmond, WA: Five confirmed dead and many missing after the unsanctioned raid of a secret blood sacrifice ring at the Sunshine Free Clinic on the outskirts of Touristville. The clinic, originally owned by a small company in New Orleans and now a wholly owned subsidiary of Aztechnology, had been a favorite of low-income locals in need of medical care. Doctors and nurses interviewed in the wake of the raid (and subsequent evacuation) claimed to have no knowledge of the ritual space in the clinic’s basement. "I just thought it was the morgue," said one staff member, who wished to remain anonymous. "I kinda wondered why so many people were taken down there, but, I mean, this is Redmond. A lot of people come in beyond our ability to heal." Footage of the raid leaked to the matrix showed multiple low cages filled with drugged victims, surrounding a large altar and ritual circle, and what appeared to be a blood mage in the midst of a sacrifice. "Our mage destroyed a mana barrier and then dealt with the mage," said a source within the raid. "That released a spirit that had to be dealt with. I’m just a tech guy, so I decided to check out the stairs behind us for security, and...there were seven of them. They had to be dealt with too." 

The original owners could not be reached for comment. Aztechnology PR claimed outrage at the misuse of their property, but declined further official comment.

Background

News Van Dan had a lead on a free clinic in Redmond where people went in, but didn’t come out. He wanted footage breaking the story wide open, and was willing to pay handsomely for it.

The Meet

The team met NVD at a taco shack in Redmond. He waited for everyone to get settled, then laid out what he knew. "It’ll be easy," he assured us. All he wanted was footage of what was behind the disappearances. 10k nuyen for some footage. It’s never as easy as a Johnson says, though, and Riot stepped in and negotiated the price higher. The final deal was 13k nuyen, NVD as a contact, and a single spicy...spicy taco.

The Run

Santesso, the closest thing the run had to a decker, did some matrix legwork. He discovered that the clinic had originally been in New Orleans, but was secretly purchased by Aztechnology’s R&D Division. Of the original three owners, two were very wealthy and living in Aztlan, whereas the third was...missing. He also found a set of blueprints for the clinic building. That information in hand, the team all jumped into Santesso’s van and drove to the clinic. Santesso scouted the area with drones and determined that there were eight security guards. To get an accurate current floor plan, however, or any more information, he would have to get his fly-spy inside the building. Every point of entry was closed and/or blocked, so he couldn't get inside. Riot offered to get shot to gain entry into the medical facility. The team managed to talk her down to a gentle stabbing instead. Once bleeding convincingly, Riot would walk inside with a fly-spy in her pocket. Santesso would scout out the rest of the building (including the finished basement that wasn’t on the official blueprints), while Riot would make her way into the examination rooms, get access to the back door, and open it for the rest of the team to enter.

So the team found their positions, and Riot made her way into the building. The massive amount of blood elevated Riot to a high priority. The staff ushered her into the examination room to wait for a doctor. Santesso scouted the rest of the building through his fly-spy. He eventually made his way to the basement, where he discovered what could only be a blood mage in a ritual circle, at an altar, surrounded by people locked in low cages. At this point Santesso had more than enough footage to satisfy NVD, but the team needed very little discussion to agree that the mage needed eliminating.

Riot healed herself with some fancy finger waggling, then cast invisibility on herself and made her way to the back door. The security guard standing at the back door quickly became a problem for the janitorial staff, and Riot opened the back door. The team made its way into the building. Santesso fired a neurostun grenade into the nurse’s station, knocking out the two nurses on duty there. Then the team made its way to the basement. Using an effective but less elegant form of physical penetration (the breaking part of breaking and entering), the team bypassed the two locked doors between them and the mage...then the fight was on.

In a moment, Riot collapsed the mana barrier protecting the ritual circle and blasted the offending mage with a quick one-two punch of mystical mastery. This released a bound blood spirit, which the team (again, mostly Riot) quickly dispatched. Completely useless in this type of fight, Santesso sent his rotodrone up the stairs to see if the noise had attracted any attention...only to discover that the 7 remaining security guards were in position and ready to rush the team. He dodged the drone to the side and fired a neurostun grenade through the door, which caused the guards to scatter back into the hall. He then sent his SMG armed crawler through the back door to throw suppressive fire down the hall while Roadie and Tobias chucked more grenades into the hallway. The guards ceased to be a problem.

The rest of the building was in full-on panic mode by this point, and the building was evacuated. The team released the people locked in the basement cages and assisted them to the surface, where they dispersed with the rest of the staff and patients. The runners leapt into Santesso’s van and drove back to NVD.

Aftermath

News Van Dan was very pleased with the quality of footage Santesso had captured with his drones. He happily paid, with commendations on a job well done.

Rewards

• 13,000 Nuyen
• 6 Karma
• News Van Dan at 3/3 (raise Loyalty to 5 for Riot)
• 2 CDP

Player After Action Reports (AARs)

Roadie

From the briefing onwards, I fully expected to walk in to a B slasher flick scenario, was not dissapointed 10/10

Santesso

I mean, I would’ve held out for more tacos. It was one hell of a scoop, though. And I am glad to have met News Van Dan. After this all settles, I’m going to take a pelican full of iced microbrews to his house (or wherever he feels comfortable) and spend a long night getting to the truth beneath the lies. And, drunk. Getting very, very drunk.