From Lead to Gold

From Lead to Gold
Part of 24_Karat_Magic
Date 2081-06-06 GM Torq! Location Detroit Status Threat Level: Semi-Prime
Factions Involved
ShadowHaven The_24_Karat_Crew	Ares Macrotechnology MCT The Corporate Court
Esper Kost Spider Usagi

Summary

The 24 Karat Crew is ready to enter the big leagues and they've found the perfect heist to help accelerate their plans from transforming from a medium-sized Seattle gang into a multi-national syndicate. Runners were sent to retrieve a Corporate Court prototype device in Detroit. While the run went smooth it ended with a literal bang, the runners escaping with mere seconds to spare.

Background

Marcus "The King" Cole, leader of The 24 Karat Crew, found out about an experiment going on in Detroit regarding changing ownership of vehicles. Little did he know the true secrets behind the project.

The Corporate Court hired Ares Macrotechnology and Mitsuhama Computer Technologies to develop a device with the capability of changing ownership of devices, specifically vehicles, without following normal matrix protocols. Ares, with their knowledge of vehicles, and MCT, with their knowledge of the matrix, were well-suited for this task. A joint-venture named Advanced Vehicle Dynamics was chosen to be an incubator for the project. Nearing completion of the first prototype, the Corporate Court sent an enforcer, the lesser Western dragon Pursess, to make sure deadlines were met.

The Meet

The runners met at The Pride, a nightclub in Touristville. Most of the runners were let in but Esper, being a known mental manipulator, was politely asked to wait outside. Inside the club the trio met Marcus Cole, leader of The 24 Karat Crew. He informed them of a job with a juicy reward: 50,000 nuyen. They were to head to Detroit and steal an "Ares prototype device", as well as any data the company had on the project so that they could replicate it. A week was given for the task to be done. The runners negotiated and successfully got the option to have The 24 Karat Crew use their pull to get them up to 100,000 nuyen in gear and the difference in credsticks. The gang was even so nice to arrange travel there and back.

Agreeing to the job the runners got their affairs in order and got in a room-sized smuggling compartment on a Mack truck headed to Detroit. Little would they know what was waiting for them there. . .

The Plan

The runners found themselves wondering how to approach the job. Most of their contacts were Seattle-based and those that could help reinforced what they already knew about the job. Using a bit of social engineering, matrix skills, and mind magic the team managed to obtain the personnel files and found out who in the building would have access to both the device and the data. The first was Jane Doe, CEO of Advanced Vehicle Dynamics, Ares socialite, and missing person. The second was Hans Ludwig (and his two colleagues, Henry Kissinger and Jacob Lesnam), renown MCT resonance researcher and matrix theorist. The last was the mysterious and feared Pursess, Corporate Court overseer and enforcer all in one. The runners decided to have Esper impersonate the missing CEO, Jane Doe, and insert both her and Usagi (disguised as a bodyguard) into Advanced Vehicle Dynamics. After hacking into Jane Doe's commlink camera and finding the CEO dead with a chrysalis growing out of their head they determined the speed they should act is "as soon as possible", not wanting to deal with a potential bug spirit infestation.

The Run

The run, for the most part, went as planned. Immediately after entering the building both Esper and Usagi were intercepted by an angry Pursess, demanding a meeting in their office. Surprised but professional, the runners used this to their advantage. Using an angry dragon as a social battering ram (and Spider's matrix skills to bypass any locks in their way) the duo got to the CEO's office and, with an impressive display of acting, screamed in surprise when they found the bug-spirit infested corpses within. Pursess, in anger, disintegrated the infested corpses and screamed that the project was being cancelled. Using the uproar in the office as a distraction Esper and Usagi slipped away upstairs to retrieve the the device and the air-gapped datachips to go along with it.

All was going according to plan. . .until security saw through it. Two corporate security personnel confronted Esper and Usagi about why they were caught on camera tampering with a security device. The team made the call and Kost, perched on a building nearby, fired three shots from their sniper rifle. Being in a AAA zone, the team now had to move. Fast.

Rushing down to the bottom floor, the team found themselves with an obstacle that would take longer than they had to deal with: The Corporate Court put the building on lock down. Thinking fast, Spider ran across the street and planted whatever plastic explosives they had on them on a wall nearby the corporate court representatives. With a timed Physical Barrier spell and a detonation, the front of the building was no more, along with all four Corporate Court guards and half the body of a dragon.

Pausing for only a moment to clear their astral signature, and witness the corpse of a dead dragon, the runners got the frag out of dodge. With some rather stellar impromptu driving skills and Spider pulling a matrix job of a lifetime and hacking the Detroit Gridguide Host to reroute traffic away from them, the runners managed to get away.

Aftermath

In the aftermath of going loud against Ares Marcotechnology, MCT, and the Corporate Court, the runners were fairly spooked. Hiding out under mana barriers and more for the remainder of their time they managed to stay hidden until The 24 Karat Crew's escape truck arrived. Boarding it they headed back for Seattle, ill-gotten gains and data in hand.

When they arrived they were greeted by Marcus Cole in person, glad that the job went well. The man arrived with gold-plated credsticks in hand and respect for the four runners and their organization, ShadowHaven.

Rewards

• 65,000 Nuyen or `130,000 Nuyen worth of Gear (1.2x Run Length Modifier)
• 11 Karma (1.2x Run Length Modifier)
• +3 Rep with The 24 Karat Crew
• +2 CDP
• The Ire of the Corporate Court and Years of Mental Trauma

Game Quotes

"Do we have a plan?" "Well, it's plan-shaped."

Player After Action Reports (AARs)

Usagi: Personal Notes

For my first "Semi-Prime" run, I was surprised I ended up using my performative talents more than I did my armed ones. I never fired a shot. I simply stood there looking dangerous during the meet with Cole, I stood there looking dangerous during the advance through the Ares center, I stood there looking dangerous (and filthy) during the debrief.

I have to say, in the future I would like roles planned out a bit more effectively on the trip up, rather than waiting it til the last minute. I was hoping the team would have ideas already and that I was just hired muscle, instead we planned on the fly quite a bit. I think that might have contributed to our disastrous exeunt from this operation. One arrival in Detroit, we were all a bit lost and had to work to come up with ideas for how to progress. We had to acquire transportation on the go, we had to improvise a cover story to get into the building, and we didn't realize that The Variable was in play in the facility. Still, we're alive, and the team was very good at thinking on their feet. I'm happy to work with any of them again, because we got through it without a scratch, which is...ludicrous.

Kost

Plan the exfil more thoroughly. If everything went according to plan, then it would have been no issue, but it did not. It went unfortunately too loud at the end, and that resulted in what we might call a bad end. I will say no more on that subject. Job is done and we got paid, no runners died. A good job.