Radical nanoRobotic Rollout

Radical nanoRobotic Rollout
Part of Two Steps Ahead
Date 2082-02-19 GM Aurora Location Tacoma, Seattle Metroplex Status Threat Level: High
Factions Involved
ShadowHaven Saeder-Krupp Amrei Veidt	SpinGlobal
Master Morty Pell Samsara Sp4rks Zenith	Band Manager Mage Backup Dancer Cyber-Centaur Combat DJ
Casualties and losses
	Band Manager Mage, Backup Dancer x4, Cyber-Centaur Combat DJ x2

Summary

In which the runners assault a SpinGlobal facility on behalf of S-K to retrieve information on nefarious nanotechnology.

Background

Amrei Veidt has been hard at work gathering intel on SpinGlobal's classified projects, and has found a lead on an offline host in a secure ET facility which is processing critical data that she would very much like to get her hands on regarding the rival corp's efforts to weaponize CFD in order to perform targeted uploads of brainwashed e-ghosts. To this end, she hires a team of runners to infiltrate the facility, deal with the on-site security, and exfiltrate with the information.

The Meet

The runners are contacted individually and told to meet with Amrei on the matrix, where she appears in her usual drake persona - all of the runners present have dealt with her before and are ready for decker tricks (with Pell connecting using a burner link). The team are told that they will need to find a way into the facility and recover the data she needs, a task for which she will pay them 30,000 nuyen each, with the option to take payment in augmentations (she is non-specific about whether or not S-K will hold onto records of such a thing, but a bit of negotiation gets her to consider making them disappear if she is impressed enough with their work). During the course of the conversation regarding the job, Morty talks a big game and earns an attempted hack for his efforts - luckily his firewall is on-point and he manages to bounce the code back at her, frustrating the Frau Brackhaus to no end but earning little more than an angry glare (thankfully Amrei respects his moxie and simply rezzes out with a "don't frag this up").

The Plan

Zenith invites the team back to his safehouse in Redmond to do some legwork before the job proper. The place proves a bit too swanky for Samsara (who's a Hobo with a Shotgun), so she decides to roller-skate around the neighborhood and call up Kenneth "Flamesaw" Murphy to gossip about the job. Meanwhile, Sp4rks and Master Morty hit the matrix and find that intel on the facility seems to have been carefully erased from the grids by SpinGlobal, with the location showing up as an empty lot on satellite footage and little information available. After a good amount of searching they manage to find out enough to give the team a rough idea of what they're up against - namely the on-site security, a SpinRadical! band called Hatred of Music consisting of a pair of cyber-centaurs with backup dancers and a magically-inclined manager. Knowing that they're going to need to be on-site, the two decline to do any host diving for now.

Calling up Ghaz, Zenith asks if he is aware of any information on the building or knows of a way inside through the OU - he rolls exceptionally well on his networking check and reveals that there's a way inside, but that it's dangerous and getting them in and out will be costly. Trading a bit on Samsara's Skraacha rep, he agrees to pay Ghaz's fee and get the runners an ingress point. Around this point Flamesaw decides he'd make a great addition to the team and decides to show up to help. This can only make things go well.

The Run

Having secured a way inside, the runners kit up for infiltration - the security is tough, but Zenith's B&E skills combined with Sp4rks and Master Morty's matrix support make short work of the various cameras, sensors and locks in their path, and soon the runners are inside. Making their way through the facility, they are able to locate their destination thanks to the loud music that the band/security is playing (thankfully everyone thought ahead and brought earplugs). The approach with as much stealth as is required (which isn't very much given the general noise level) and defeat the last lock between them and their foe and set up a breach-and-clear maneuver, launching a surprise attack.

The ensuing combat is short but intense and suitably SpinRadical as the cyber-centaurs unleash sonic blasts with their screech-keytars while their backup dancers unload with suppressing fire and flachette rounds. With Sp4rks and Master Morty (the latter of whom is in VR being watched over by Flamesaw) attempt to remotely disable weapons and providing IATF boosts, Pell unloads on the band with suppressing fire from her assault rifle and Zenith focuses fire with called shots while Samsara charges forward to launch a flying kick at one of the cyber-centaurs. She ends up hit with the screech-keytar for her trouble, barely avoiding throwing up in her FBA and becoming heavily disoriented. The band nearly turns the tide of the fight with some truly spectacular suppressing fire on the runners and a well-timed Destroy Pants spell from the manager, but the team are relentless in their assault - Zenith shoots the manager in the junk with gel rounds as payback for destroying their pants, Sp4rks and Master Morty brick the cyber-centaur's limnal bodies as Samsara puts them down with nerve strike, and Pell manages to take out the rest of the backup dancers.

Aftermath

While Samsara and Flamesaw freak out from accelerator hallucinations, the rest of the team locate a sound-proofed server room under the band's stage which contains an offline host and a small group of very concerned scientists. There is some attempt to intimidate them into compliance, but they are more afraid of SpinGlobal than they are of the runners, so Pell and Zenith zip-tie them while Morty and Sp4rks jack into the host to quickly secure the nanotech data they came here for (before destroying some of the physical infrastructure for good measure out of spite). Grabbing the keytars as trophies, the team high-tail it away before HTR can show up, hoofing it through Ghaz's escape route and blowing it up behind them to cover the escape.

Meeting back up with Amrei on the matrix, the team transfer her the files as well as recordings of the job; she is impressed enough with their work (and that they didn't ask any inconvenient questions about the data they recovered or attempt to alter it in any way) that she books covert access to an S-K beta clinic and ensures that there will be no record of the exchange.

Rewards

• 30,000 nuyen
• 1 karma
• 2 CDP
• Optional Contact: Amrei Veidt C6/L1 S-K Prime Operative (Zenith can raise loyalty to 5 for services rendered)
• Optional Gear Reward: Augmentations up to betaware quality (without Records on File)
• Optional Gear Reward: Spinradical Keytars (Screech Rifle Rising Star quality Instruments of Death)

Game Quotes

GM: "So the band manager deletes your pants, and Kenny is wearing tight-whiteies"

Player After Action Reports (AARs)

Samsara

I need to get Warboss to get me more corporate jobs, the money is just so good - I felt a bit bad working for that S-K woman again since she keeps sending me against like, way more chill corps (first Krime and now Spinrad), but damn does she ever pay well, and the offer of new ware was just icing on the cake. Not sure I want to know what it was that she wanted so badly though, so I'm just not gonna ask.

It was cool to work with Zenith again, even if we couldn't get drunk this time around - he even told me about a concert! Sp4rks and Master Morty (side note: absolutely hilarious guy) were great on the Matrix - or so I think anyway, that stuff goes right over my head - and Pell was a pro as usual (though there's something uh... off... about her aura since the last time I saw her). Plus Kenny got to work with us too! I don't think I really liked taking accelerator though, I mean I wanted to look cool and I liked going fast, but damn that crash is rough; I'll need to look into something to help with that. My ears are still ringing from this keytar-sound-gun-thing too - I grabbed it as a trophy though, now if only I could play the damn thing.

Zenith

I don't like any corps, but SpinGlobal makes a pretty good case for themselves with their weird culture. Either way, I like taking jobs like this, fragging over a corp, even on behalf of another corp, always pays well, and most of the time means that there's future work the opposite way.

Amrei presses on nerves, but she's good on the pay, and watching Master Morty absolutely savage her in the meet was priceless. Admittedly I'm a bit nervous about the retribution there, especially since she seems to be calling on me specifically for the last couple of jobs. I've worked with this whole crew before. Sp4rks is professional, though when we were in the SpinGlobal basement he got pretty intense. Pell's also got sense in her, and pretty solid to have watching my back. Master Morty is great for a laugh and wiz on the 'Trix, and Samsara continues to be crazy in the best way. Even Flamesaw helped out, though buddy needs to invest in better armor, or he won't be getting anywhere near enough to use that Flamesaw.

We cleared out Hatred of Music (what a stupid fraggin' name) and grabbed what we needed to grab for Amrei after tying up a bunch of scientists. The rest of the team was getting some ware, and I got myself some nuyen. I also had to pay for a bunch of concert tickets to cover up something foolish, but at least I didn't take a loss on the job.

Master Morty

"let's get something clear; Amrie loves me. That chick can't get enough of the ol' Master, and it shows with her little love taps she keeps sending my way. But enough of that. Turns out we gotta deal with some band in order to get to the prize data in their basement. No big deal. I take the spiders out with no real trouble, but end up getting SHOT for my efforts. Fortuately that big lug Kenney manages to shield me with his body to protect me from further bullets. It may have been involuntary, but I appreciate it nonetheless. The team is a bunch of pro's and manage to take down the opposition fairly quickly. We find a secret elevator leading to the prize, and SP4rks works his magic to claim it. Amrie is so pleased with my work that she rewards the team with a bunch of cyber upgrades or cash as preferred. Not a bad run, and one more nail in the coffin for Amrie's burgeoning love for me."

Pell

So uh, that went well, aside from the depantsing. Fragging Demolish Pants.

I'm don't think I'm going to understand SpinGlobal's execs' thought processes on marketable product any time soon. I mean, troll cybercentaur musicians?