The Dead and The Dying

The Dead and The Dying
Date 2081-09-07 GM Atlatl Location GeMiTo, Italian Confederation Status Threat Level: Semi-Prime
Factions Involved
ShadowHaven Jet Set Milo Minderbinder	MCT
Twitch Burn0ut Legion John Brown Koi	Hansel Gretel

Summary

Twitch, Burn0ut, Legion, John Brown, and Koi are hired by Hans to enter an MCT black site located in the heart of the GeMiTo sprawl to steal a prototype move-by-wire system. The prototype move-by-wire is actually a biodrone stirrup system designed for metahumans, and the team must fight off a large number of test subjects controlled by a facility rigger team in order to retrieve the original system requested by the client.

Background

One month prior, a runner team employed by Hans stumbled across paydata regarding an extremely advanced move-by-wire system designed by MCT. The designs were dismissed as false information seeded within the database until a rapid series of product line upgrades launched, raising suspicion that the system was real. After extensive logistics tracing, the system production facility was located in the center of GeMiTo.

The Meet

Hans requests that the team meet at a smuggler's airport in Northeastern Snohomish, where he arrives onboard Jet Set's transport plane. After introducing himself, the team sits down to discuss the job in the flight office, where he offers them 100,000 NuYen in 'ware along with access to a delta clinic in Europe if they succeed in retrieving a prototype move-by-wire system from a black site designated as MHSC-1A. After agreeing to the terms and finding out that the black site is located in GeMiTo and belongs to MCT, John Brown leads negotiations in order to get a 20,000 NuYen bonus if they are able to retrieve additional testing and evaluation data for the site and cause significant damage. Hans agrees and provides them 24 hours to load any equipment they need for the job.

The Plan

Hans explains that due to the high security features surrounding this particular site, a second team was sourced to handle the majority of the external security systems in order to permit a faster and more survivable ingress. The external security consists of 1 km of heavily mined standoff around the facility, a "death cloud" of rotodrones, and a large number of missile launching systems. The second team will provide mine marking during the insertion process. The interior security features are entirely unknown and it is up to the Haven team to improvise once inside.

The team packs their equipment onto Legion's heavy lift plane and follows Jet Set to New York City for a refuel stop, followed by a long flight to Palermo, Sicily. While in the air, Twitch utilizes a satellite connection to perform research on GeMiTo and see if there was any intel available on MCT that Hans had possibly missed. After landing in Sicily, the team meets with Milo Minderbinder, who is supplying planes for ingress/egress as well as munitions for the external security team. After debating what vehicle to take and making some last second purchases from Milo, the team loads onto a drop sled on a cargo plane and departs for GeMiTo.

The Run

The external security team is dropped first and begins engaging the black site from range with rocket fire, prompting all of the defensive drones to scramble after them. Baby is dropped via sled just outside the mined area, while an overflying fixed wing aircraft performs a MAD scan and drops AROs indicating the locations of mines within the barren, cratered area for Twitch. As Baby approaches the facility at high speed, five of the missile turrets open fire while several rotodrone swarm groups divert towards the team. The group's combined fire manages to disable all the missile and roto drones by the time they reach the closed loading bay, though the defensive swarms begin to send more towards them in response. Twitch is able to get a MARK on the bay door and move everyone inside before any defensive drones can arrive to open fire.

The interior of the loading bay is composed of clean white tile with few other features, save for a singular elevator and a number of AgHexHex sprayers which were activated by the bay door opening. John Brown's summoned spirit refuses to perform astral scouting or move through walls within the facility, arousing suspicions. The team takes the elevator down into the facility, where they find a 30 meter long hallway with a second elevator on the opposite end. After spotting and avoiding the pressure plates and a MAD detector, they take the second elevator up into the core, where they find another long hallway occupied by a young woman in orange coveralls standing in a distant intersection.

When she attempts to approach the team, they threaten her and tell her to stop in place. She introduces herself as Jenna, a test subject at the facility, and has no recollection of escaping her cell or how she arrived in the hallway. Twitch examines her and notes that she appears as an anthroform drone icon on the matrix, causing most of the team to speculate that she's an advanced drone. However, John Brown reads her aura through the large background count (rating 6) and realizes that she is, in fact, a living being. Putting two and two together, Twitch realizes that she's a biodrone, then deliberately bricks her CAST system in order to prevent her from being jumped into or controlled remotely.

With their suicide attack foiled, the facility rigger team springs their trap, sending several metahuman biodrone swarms armed with assault rifles to combat the team. A combination of suppressive fire from a hidden minigun position and one swarm force the team and Jenna to drop down at the end of the hallway. Legion marches forward with his naval rampart shield to protect Jenna, who is shot but conscious, but is caught in the intersection by crossfire from more biodrone swarms. A jumped in drone at the end of the passageway fires an HE grenade into the team, but Burn0ut grabs it, charges down the hall, and throws it into one of the minigun nests, killing the corpsec inside and disabling it. The biodrones are knocked unconscious trough the use of SNS and neurostun grenades, while the rest of the corpsec are disabled through conventional means or by John Brown's summoned spirit. Twitch manages to disable the RCC that most of the drone swarms were slaved to, buying the team six minutes before they could start again.

Upon investigating the small facility, the team finds 44 cells, with a number of them empty of their occupants. One of the biondrones is jumped into by a facility rigger and taunts the team into shooting them, prompting Twitch to use one of his sprites to start disabling the test subjects' CAST systems to prevent them from being used for facility defense. Jenna states that there is a hidden surgery/install room in the facility but is unable to remember exactly where it is. The team is able to locate a hidden entrance in one of the empty cells, then disable the locks, sensors, and gas system to access the laboratory area.

Inside, they find two surgeons and a final test subject in a cell labeled MHSC-1A. None of the surgeons speak English, forcing Legion and Burn0ut to translate for them. They claim to have been extracted to the site and were not aware that they were implanting stirrups and CAST systems inside the subjects. They release 1A, who refuses to leave her cell, citing that both scientists have area bombs implanted in them. After John Brown talks down the surgeons, the team conducts improvised surgery in order to permit Twitch access to disable the bombs for later. 1A shows the team around the cloning facility, showing her failed clones, explaining that the original less-invasive system has to be grown into a person using nanoware and requires specific genetics in order to prevent catastrophic failure.

The team escorts the surgeons and the freed test subjects back to the elevator, narrowly avoiding several improvised grenade traps. Wary of a potential ambusher, Burn0ut, Legion, John Brown's summoned spirit, and Koi head down the elevator prepared for a fight. They instead find a lone, injured biodrone, with "YOU MISSED ONE - HANSEL" scrawled in blood on the wall. The biodrone jumps on a pressure plate, causing the hallway to seal and begin to flood. Cut off by communication due to Faraday meshing, they egress to the opposite side and utilize tools to cut through the elevator ceiling, releasing FAB III into the water due to puncturing the walls. They climb up, with Burn0ut forcing the top door open, and make their way into the loading area with the injured test subject.

Above, Twitch accesses the industrial host and eventually locates the system test data. Upon hearing running water, he unlocks the elevator and heads down. Legion helps hold him under the water to access the pressure mesh directly in order to gain control of the flooding tunnel. With both elevators unlocked or open and the tunnel water level temporarily drained, the team goes about egressing the test subjects. While most are eventually forced to traverse the stand-off zone on foot, the team loads 1A and Jenna into Baby and speed off for their extraction point.

Aftermath

Most of the test subjects are eventually extracted by the remnants of the external security runner team or Milo's support personnel. After flying evasively for quite some time, the Haven team's plane eventually makes its way to Zurich, where Hans meets them on a flight line. He is extremely surprised to find out that the system is installed in a person and is actually a stirrup system rather than a move-by-wire system.

Hans accepts the transfer of 1A to him as meeting the requirements of the contract, and the release of all test subjects as sufficient for the bonus. Jenna returned to Seattle with Koi. The rest of the surviving test subjects are provided transport to Berlin or recruited by Milo's teams.

Rewards

• 120,000 NuYen in 'ware OR 90,000 NuYen in 'ware and access to a Delta Clinic.
• 2 CDP

Game Quotes

Amusing quote from game.