Green Gold in the Ashes

Green Gold in the Ashes
Date 2085-08-15 GM LHOG Location Belitung, Sumatran Alliance, Indonesia Status Threat Level: High
Factions Involved
ShadowHaven Knights Hospitaller	Water Snakes	Shedim
Ashford Lichtenberg Samsara Screech Veles	Rebel Leader Rebel Soldiers	Shedim
Casualties and losses
		Shedim x 5

Summary

In which the runners the runners venture into war-torn Indonesia and help to negotiate with local rebels.

Background

Indonesia has been having a rough go of it lately (and for the past few decades), with rival paramilitary groups fighting one-another for dominance and Renraku pulling the strings in the background in order to re-establish some of their old imperial holdings in the region. As such, the Knights Hospitaller have been looking to provide aid to the people most affected by the conflict, however their aid shipments have been harassed by guerillas in the jungles - thus they've turned to outside contractors in order to resolve the issue.

The Meet

The runners are told to meet with their employers at a nondescript office building Downtown in a unit rented by the Sovereign Maltese consulate - a Matrix search reveals that they are affiliated with the Knights Hospitaller. They are met by Coleman Kennedy and Makhmud Kadyrov, who explain that they are being contracted to undertake charity work for their organization and explain the rules of engagement for the mission (lethal force is only to be used in self-defense against identified military targets). The job is to venture to war-torn Indonesia, scout out the area for local bandits called the Water SNakes who have been stealing aid shipments they've been sending, and approach their leadership in order to make a deal which will allow the shipments to reach those in need. They offer 6,000 nuyen each, along with access to their equipment stocks and augmentations through their contacts, as well as a bonus if they're able to collect samples of certain awakened plant life while they're there; the runners accept these terms.

The Plan

After a few days of preparation learning the local languages, gathering supplies and doing some legwork on Belitung (the island they're visiting) and updating their vaccinations, the team meet up at FedBo Field for a trip on the consulate's cargo plane along with the latest aid shipment. En-route, Screech expresses a desire to peak inside the shipments, so Ashford uses clairvoyance to do so and reveals that in addition to food and medical supplies there seems to be some chemistry equipment present, which he hypothesizes could be used to for biochemical analyses of samples. Arriving in Tanjung Pandan, they see New Rhodes - the Knights Hospitaller's mobile base of operations - anchored outside the city. After helping to unload the supplies, they're provided with access to a Jeep which can navigate its way through the jungle terrain on the eastern side of the island where they're heading.

While Screech hides from the sun in a duffel bag and Veles goes into town to get food for everyone (making a point to search out a dead body in order to acquire bones to sustain the gnawer), Ashford astrally projects on ahead to scout out the team's planned route into the jungle. En-route he encounters some shedim looking for bodies, which he is able to get around by masking himself as a shedim (and sneaking by the regular spirits in turn). Further onward, he comes across a checkpoint in the road manned by armed guards along with air spirits and watchers, and even further he spots some unidentified paracritter stalking through the trees. Finally he comes across a burning village with an elevated background count, as well as some strange glowing para-plants he's unable to identify. Returning to his body several hours later (and finding that the team has moved to a hotel room), he explains what he discovered to the team so that they can plan around it.

As night falls, Screech heads out to gather some information, posing as a down-on-their-luck SINless looking to join up with the local rebels in order to learn about their movements through the jungle; Samsara tags along to bodyguard hoping to learn about Renraku's activities on the island, while Ashford comes just for the vibes (and ends up embarrassing himself hitting on a local catboy). Screech is able to successfully integrate herself with the local recruiting pipeline for the People's Arm, one of the local rebel groups, and learns that she needs to head further east past the ruined village if she wants to join up, as well as about the hazards en-route and ways around them. The check point turns out to be for the Water Snakes - the group they're looking to negotiate with - while the village was recently burned with white phosphorous (see: Extensive Backlash about the method of the N-51). Asking about local affiliates of the Water Snakes, she learns there's a local gang called the Tunnel Snakes (they rule) who funnel them supplies; the group decide to go negotiate with in order to acquire a token that will give them safe passage.

The Run

After convincing the Tunnel Snakes that they have a mutually beneficial offer on the table and being provided with a medallion in to prove to their allies that the group are friendly and there to negotiate in good faith, the team rest and head off into the jungle at first light. While the rest of the group deal with the shedim problem in order to get the street sams some enrichment, Veles leaves to sneak through the jungle towards the ruined village in order to gather a sample of the glowing plants for their employers and to scout the Water Snakes presence in the area in case the negotiations go sour; as a tireless cyborg, Veles is able to swiftly move through the jungle and successfully navigate her way to her destination. There she finds a bright green plant with spines on it growing through the ruins, which she surreptitiously collects while staying hidden from the squatters who remain there. On the way back, an air spirit locates her thanks to the glowing plant she's carrying and materializes next to her, demanding that she stop and return the samples she took - she declines to do so before sprinting off into the jungle, going Rambo on the pursuing spirit and taking it out with her silenced subsonic pistol before camouflaging herself and sneaking away.

Meanwhile, outside the shedim-infested village, Screech sends a bat with a sensor collar to scout the place out ahead of the assault force while staying with the vehicle to guard it while the rest head ahead to deal with the bad spirits. Sneaking through the village, they manage to locate the spirits inside the few un-damaged buildings to avoid the sun. Bursting inside, the crew make quick work of the trio of squatting spirits, dispatching their hosts with fists and swords while Ashford's summoned spirit finishes off the astral jellyfish; the fight carries over to a nearby building where the remaining shedim are hiding, who are quickly sent back to the shadow realm.

Having done their good deed for the week and dispatched the evil spirits, they meet back up with Veles and proceed to the Water Snakes checkpoint; thanks to her feign illness power, Screech is able to mimic the symptoms of endometriosis in order to convincingly hide the fact that she's Infected from the astral eyes there. With the aid of some falsified manifests, the face is able to convince the militants that the group have ample supplies on hand and get them to take them to their base of operations to speak with their leadership. While they're waved through and make their way to the group's compound via the dirt roads, Veles sneaks through the jungle in order to provide tactical overwatch, just in case.

Meeting with the Water Snakes leader, Screech opens things up with some flattery before getting down to business, explaining who the team are there on behalf of and their reasons for wanting to negotiate. She proposes that he has his people allow the Knights Hospitaller to send shipments unimpeded and aid them in their distribution in order to take credit partial for the resulting increase in people's general quality of life. This gambit works, to the point that Screech is even able to talk her way out of having to provide the wannabe dictator with lavish gifts and bribes. With a satisfactory arrangement reached, the team leave the camp unmolested.

Aftermath

Having accomplished their goal and secured passage for their employers aid shipments as well as located the plant sample they were after, the team return to New Rhodes to receive their payment and subsequently make their way back to the Seattle Metroplex.

Rewards

6k Nuyen (3 RVP)

4k Nuyen Negotiation Bonus (Bounty)

8 Karma (8 RVP), for helping ensure medical aid can reach war torn portions of Indonesia

12 CDP (5 RVP)

Optional: Up to 48k in Cyberware, Bioware, an RCC (for Veles only) or Weapons up to 19F. (12 RVP)

Optional: Makhmud Kadyrov (5 Con. / 1 Loy.) (5 RVP) - https://shreloaded.net/wiki/Makhmud_Kadyrov

Optional: Coleman Kennedy (6 Con. / 1 Loy.) (6 RVP) - https://shreloaded.net/wiki/Coleman_Kennedy

For the team: +2 Reputation with the Knights Hospitaller

For Ashford: -2 Reputation with Catboys for having anti-rizz

Consequences:

Medical and food aid more regularly reaches portions of Indonesia which are in need. This has a stabilizing effect on the region.

Local Water Snakes warlord Aziz improves his public image. This may help him last longer than the last warlord to take over a chunk of the jungle.

Game Quotes

"Hang on a second - is Lichtenberg wearing heels?" "They're not high heels!"

Player After Action Reports (AARs)

Samsara

That went pretty well, all things considered. We managed to take out a bunch of shedim, and made sure that medical aid would get to the folks who need it. I'd have liked to do more, but honestly this didn't really seem like the sort of situation where violence was going to make things better - I was really feeling myself in terms of helping with the talking stuff this gig though, seems like maybe that's a better way to solve problems. Didn't really feel right taking money for this one, so I just gave it back to those Knights guys and told them to put it to good use. Good to make contacts with folks like that though, hopefully they'll have more work to help out with.