Bug Out Bag

Bug Out Bag
Date 2082-06-15 GM DiscoGoblin Location The Orcish Underground Status Threat Level: Medium
Factions Involved
ShadowHaven	The Skraacha
Winter Fed Up Pell Apex	Skraacha Adept Skraacha Druid Skraacha StreetSam Skraacha Technomancer
Casualties and losses
None	None

Summary

A run in the Orcish Underground to save the insect Surge and talismonger Elias Wendell, after his lair was discovered by the Skraacha. The runners Winter, Apex, Pell, and Fed Up were recruited by Bianka Dreschler to extract Wendell, who the Skraacha believed to be an insect host, before he was exterminated. Through a combination of social skills and spirit searches, the team were able to make it past the Skraacha's cordon and enter Elias's hideaway. Pell convinced the old bug to leave his home as Fed Up and Apex negotiated with the OpFor, eventually resolving the situation without bloodshed. The team smuggled Elias to Dreschler's Sonomish safehouse, where they received payment for a job well done.

Background

The talismonger Elias Wendell had been living in the OU his entire life, and he wasn't about to let one little SURGE change that. Sure, his new insectoid features meant that most people would attack him on sight, but goddamnit the OU was where he lived. For two decades he practiced his craft, holed up in an abandoned tunnel, only ever visited by a select few. Recently, though, he received an unexpected guest: a street urchin exploring for new scavenging spots. He came upon Wendell and ran off, reporting his existence to the Skraacha. Wendell, in a panic, called his friend and customer Bianka Dreschler, who organized a run to save him from the inevitable insect killing strike team.

The Meet

The meet was extremely short notice, with each runner only being given ten minutes to accept the job and prepare. Fed Up finished his coffee, Apex closed out his search tabs, Pell paused her conversation with Ghaz, and Winter took a break from ruining rich peoples' dining experiences. As they jumped into the matrix, they were led to a small destination host containing a sunny matrix cafe. Dreschler and her decker associate Ooze awaited them; their personas taking the form of a humanoid Jackalope, and an Orcish rockstar ever-with shifting corpse paint.

Dreschler hurriedly explained the situation and laid out the requirements for the job. The team were to get in and extract Wendell, willing or not, from his home before the Skraacha strike team arrived. Wendell was determined to resolve the situation without leaving his home, and could be incredibly stubborn. The use of force was permitted, but not if it resulted in lasting injuries. As the run was taking place in a civilian area, collateral damage was to be avoided at all costs. When the extraction was complete the team were to bring Wendell to a safehouse in Sonomish, where they would receive their payment. Payment was agreed on at 12k nuyen each, with the possibility for future collaborations.

The Plan

As the team dropped into AR, they began planning over DNI. Fed Up was struck with inspiration, and decided to call up a contact to find some Deepweed. When that failed, they got Winter to bully the Lonestar officer Chet Hughs into stealing them some from the evidence locker. Fed Up's plan was to "smoke out the Skraacha", forcing them to astrally perceive and see that Wendell was not a bug spirit. As the team met up to begin executing their plan, Winter summoned a beast spirit to search for Wendell. By the time the team had talked their way out of a Skraacha shakedown, the spirit had found their target.

The Run

The team traveled to their target, with FedUp fast talking his way past the Skraacha's cordon. They located the entrance to Wendell's layer behind a disused vending machine; Pell and Winter went inside, while Fed Up and Apex waited at the door. Pell was greeted inside by Wendell, who was wielding a Barrens Special and flatly refusing to leave his home. While she worked to talk him down, Fed Up and Apex came face to face with the Skraachca strike team. Apex, thinking quickly, decided that they knew exactly how to talk their way out of this: by broadcasting an Ares SIN.

Apex attempted to calm the crew of gangers by assuring that that he and Fed Up were representatives of Ares, and that the claims of a bug spirit had merely been false alarms. Shockingly, this didn't work; a quick interjection from Fed Up was the only thing that stood between Apex and a messy death from the Skraacha team's adept leader. Fed Up explained the actual situation, and through some smooth negotiation struck a deal with the strike team. The whole team would go into the tunnel, waiting in chunky-salsa grenade range while the Skraacha assensed Wendell. With no real option other than an outright fight, the runners agreed.

Meanwhile, Pell had managed to talk Wendell down by offering a contact that would help in rebuilding his magical lodge. He reluctantly left his home, and walked out to be assensed by the gangers. After a terse exchange, he was cleared as not being a bug spirit. The team were allowed to take Wendell and go, on the condition that they leave the OU immediately. Fed Up extended his hand as a gesture of peace as the team left, a gesture that the adept soundly rejected. Pell covered Wendell in her RPC cloak, and the team were able to get him out the way that they came in.

Aftermath

As soon as the team reached the surface, Winter ordered her spirit to fear the cocky adept. Although no one witnessed it in person, the spirit reported that she had run away screaming. Satisfied, the team smuggled Wendell into Sonomish and dropped him off at the safehouse. Winter called Dreschler, who wired the money and congratulated the team on a job well done. Pell gave Wendell two contacts, one who could assist with rebuilding his lodge and another who could procure him one of those handy RPC cloaks. Winter talked to Wendell as well, telling him that she was also a SURGE, and had at least some idea how he felt. Wendell thanked the team for saving him, and walked towards the safe house to start his new life.

Rewards

12k Nuyen 6 Karma 2 CDP

-Optional Contacts-

Bianka Dreschler at 3/2 Elias Wendell at 1/4

-For Winter-

Bianka Dreschler at loyalty 5

-For Apex-

-4 Skraacha Rep

Game Quotes

Apex: "How did we get to the point where we're smoking drugs with the opfor?"

Player After Action Reports (AARs)

Winter

"I feel sorry for the man. Life simply isn't fair, and we all cope in our own ways. I chose to adapt, to shift like the seasons and the wind. He chose to stand firm, like the oak against the storm. Problem is, sometimes the storm is just too powerful, and the tree will fall whether it likes it or not, while the wind blows without direction or purpose.

....god, Pete is really beginning to rub off on me."

Fed Up

First: The Skraacha ain’t bad guys, as a whole. They protect their own, and care about things like honor. This means, if you play your cards right, they’ll let you get a word in before they start shooting.

Second: Some people think it is okay to randomly summon the fuzz. Second run in a row where another runner thought broadcasting our location to a corp was a good idea. Next time someone I’m working with surprises me with some heat, I might just walk away on the spot.