The Most Honorable Birthday

The Most Honorable Birthday
Date 2082-04-08 GM OrionsRequiem Location Puyallup, Seattle Metroplex Status Threat Level: Semi-Prime
Factions Involved
ShadowHaven Vati	Renraku
Samsara Black Samurai	Kai, Cyberzombie
Casualties and losses
Vati
Initiation for Samsara

Summary

In which Samsara fights a cyberzombie, like one of those great kung-fu trids, and everything is fine.

Wake up! It's your birthday!

Spending some time meditating in her family trailer, Samsara is interrupted by her sister Lily curious about what she's doing and wishing her a happy birthday. Getting a call from Warboss interrupts further and Samsara is told to get to one of the many fight clubs that the Skraacha boss owns as soon as she can. On the way out, Samsara is stopped by her mother who wishes her a happy birthday as well as informing her that they're going to be going to Tir Pizza for dinner tonight. She is also going to be going to a local florist to purchase some flowers for one of the patients who died in Tarislar's hospital. Due to the events of A Bouquet to Remember and the subsequent posting on ShadowHaven's chatroom, Samsara manages to dissuade her mother from going to the florist and instead gathers some flowers for her from their elven neighbors. Agreeing to be back by dinner, she sets off for the Skaacha club and Warboss.

Birthday... Massacre?

As she arrives to the club, the rest of the fighting arena is abandoned but for Warboss, who tosses Samsara a small box that contains a chipped tusk from when Warboss punched Samsara in the face and it fell off, fashioned into a necklace. Warboss also explains that ever since the incident at the Chop'n'Shop during Family Matters there have been more and more incidents of some cybered-up psychopath running around Renton and killing people that the Skraacha are supposed to be protecting. The latest apparently happened earlier that day at an elf-punk bar in Renton.

Arriving at the bar, Samsara is greeted by the signs of the front of the building torn apart and the clientele of the bar massacred, with the exception of the band that seemed to have been left to cower in shock. After going through the wreckage Samsara finds an arrow with a note tied to it. The note is in Japanese, and is addressed to Vati, Samsara's sensei and Buddhist teacher. It is a challenge to the troll, and a threat made to Samsara and her family to strip away everything that Vati has invested in.

Before being able to properly take this in, Samsara discovers that the band is actually led by her brother Tyler Stone, who is both suffering from shock and also very surprised to see his little sister investigating the site of horrific murder. Explaining that he should get back to the rest of their family along with the two other band members, Samsara heads out of the bar and makes sure they take off in her car before heading back to Warboss to let him know, as well as warning her family to get somewhere safe. Samsara also calls Vati, and explains that Kai is coming for him and has challenged him to a duel. Vati says that he will come to the city to meet with his student and they will come up with a plan to draw Kai to Vati's grove, where they can take advantage of the cultivated background count. Agreeing to this, Samsara calls her family and lets them know to go to Tir Pizza before she heads back to her trailer.

An Explosive Surprise!

Ensuring that her family has made their way to Tir Pizza, and trying to get a hold of her father, a Renraku construction worker, Samsara arrives at her trailer to find that the neighborhood appears untouched. She changes into her runner gear to be safe, and takes a look around, and discovers that the door to her trailer appears to have been opened. Cautiously approaching, Samsara attempts to get into the room to surprise the intruder, however it seems that the intruder has already gone, and simply left a High Explosive grenade trap in their place. While Samsara is relatively unharmed from the explosion, the trailer catches fire and Samsara scrambles to gather items of personal significance to her family before they can be lost to the blaze.

Taking a moment to compose herself and put the belongings into her car, the ork poser heads towards Tir pizza as the rain starts to fall over Seattle. Arriving at the pizzeria, Samsara checks on her family, and welcomes the arrival of Kenneth "Flamesaw" Murphy, as well as Vati. Her family, horrified by the two trolls (one of whom is naked save for a pizza) and the circumstances surrounding their family member's strange appearance, they begin asking questions. However before any questions can be answered, a lightning strike hits Puyallup's local transformer and the power goes out. A second later, an explosive arrow flies through the window, and were it not for the warning of Vati, Samsara would have been caught. However she manages to dodge and the arrow destroys one of the pizza ovens.

Looking outside, Samsara and Vati approach Kai, who has been warped into a cyberzombie by Renraku.

A Noble Sacrifice

Kai attacks Vati and Samsara while the Stone family flee towards Vati's grove. His augmented abilities improving his already trained skills as a Red Samurai, and using a finishing move he cuts off Samsara's hand, severely damaging the adept. While the two adepts put up a valiant effort, Kai is a skilled combatant and a dangerous foe. Vati attempts to convince Samsara to run back to his grove and follow their plan, however Thunderbird does not allow the ork poser to flee after Kai insults her honor. Ignoring the words of her sensei, Samsara rushes in and delivers a solid kick to Kai before the cyberzombie attempts to stab through her heart.

In a flash, Vati pushes himself between his old friend and his student, taking the blow that was meant for Samsara and trapping Kai's sword between his hands and inside his body. He leaves Samsara with the parting thoughts that he is proud of his student, and knows that she will follow the proper path to enlightenment before he passes away, sturdy on his feet just as he lived.

Spurred on by righteous anger at her sensei's passing, Samsara's magic flares and she taps into a deep technique that Vati had been teaching her. Using this ability to reduce the dark magic that held Kai's soul to the overly-augmented body, the cyberzombie was unable to hold itself together and died as the soul left. Having won the fight, but at great cost, Samsara finds a note in Vati's belonging, acting as a sort of will, that gives her possession of his grove and his meager belongings, as well as wishing that she continue along the path of the Buddhist and noting that he has never met a braver or more honorable ork.

Samsara gathers the bodies of her sensei and her foe, bringing them to the car and loading them into the vehicle before heading to Vati's grove. She busies herself digging graves for both men, and her family assist her, before eventually leaving her to mourn in peace.

Aftermath

Black Samurai being sent by Warboss to check on Samsara after news of the fight in Puyallup has reached the Skraacha's ears, arrives at the grove, and discusses with Samsara about the fact that she has his uncle's sword. The normally chipper adept is not up to her usual self after the death of Vati however, and simply agrees to eventually give him back the sword when she retrieves it.

Black Sam brings Samsara back to Tir Pizza where her family waits, and makes some awkward conversation with the family of elves, including hitting on her older sister Juliette Stone, and being threatened by her father. Black Samurai pays for the Stone family's meal and gives a note to Kenny so that it can be given to Samsara at the earliest convenience. Eventually the fellow runner leaves, and Samsara is left to celebrate what is left of her birthday with her family.

Rewards

• IG3 Discount
• Lose "Sensei"
• Lose Low Lifestyle (Family Trailer)"
• Adrenaline Surge (12 RVP)
• Aptitude(Unarmed Combat) (14 RVP)
• 12 Karma (12 RVP)
• 2k Nuyen (Vati's personal savings) (1 RVP)
• 4k Nuyen off the lifestyle of Vati's personal grove (1 RVP)
• Red Samurai Katana
• Wanted Bounty Increase: +500k

Game Quotes

Amusing quote from game.

Player After Action Reports (AARs)

Samsara

Kai is dead, and Vati along with him... I don't even know what to say. He sacrificed himself to save me. I wasn't strong enough to save him. I should have run away like he said, he didn't want me to have to watch him die. He should have gotten to pass away peacefully by that lake... at least I could bury him there. I don't deserve that grove, or his belongings, or those kind words that he left me...

I'm just glad that my family is okay - I was so worried for Tyler when I found him. Our home though, and dad's job, and my hand... Renraku is going to pay for all of it, I swear. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do now though... I'll need to spend some time alone, do some meditation, train more to be stronger. Find out just how to be worthy of his sacrifice, not to mention this Red Samurai sword... that honor stuff, it really meant something to them. It was important. They both died for it. That has to mean something.

I'm going to stay in the woods for a little while and think about all this stuff.