Lost Coyote

Lost Coyote
Date 2082-08-28 GM Dejapes Location Redmond, Seattle Status Threat Level: Medium
Factions Involved
ShadowHaven Sahalé	Disassemblers	Kingdom of Mung
Ramen Shamen Tombstone Wick	Raid Boss Gang Rigger Gang Grunts	Scrap Knights
Casualties and losses
	Boss, Rigger, and Several Grunts	Multiple, unnumbered casualties.

Summary

A fixer for both runners and people-smugglers contracts a team of runners to find one of her missing coyotes.

Background

In the parlance of illicit travel, a 'coyote' is a skilled guide that takes one across a land border for a fee. One of the more well-known coyotes of the Seattle smuggling community is Tecomah, a Salish shaman known for taking a personal interest in the well-being of his clients. Usually reliable, Tecomah goes missing several days after a message sent to his employer, Sahalé.

The Meet

On a partly-cloudy Saturday afternoon, several runners are contacted by their fixers and instructed to meet up in a virtual space associated with the Evergreen Arboretum and Gardens. Finding themselves in a subhost hidden within the public park's main host, they encounter the matrix persona of the Johnson, Sahalé. She informs them that she received a message from one of her coyotes - and close friends - saying that he needed to do something 'dangerous and important' and that he would be back within twenty-four hours. Several days have passed without communication, and she seeks a team of runners to go find him. To help with their search, she provides them with the location of one of his half-way houses, which was also the place from which he sent his message.

She offers them twelve thousand nuyen each for this job, which they accept.

The Plan

Not knowing what to expect, and with little to go on beyond the location of the safehouse, the three runners brave the Redmond Barrens. They meet up on a broken highway skirting Glow City and travel with Tombstone leading the way on a motorcycle.

The Run

As the runners approach the safehouse, Wick engages in a bout of mad science in his car, crafting alchemical preparations without hurting anyone. For a change. Tombstone soon notices a gunfight up ahead in a street market, one that complicates their approach to Tecomah's safehouse. The team decides to park their vehicles in the shell of an abandoned vehicle and disembark to investigate on foot. They see what amounts to a raid - the Disassemblers, a gang of organleggers, is grabbing people from a transient camp and loading them up for transport to a chop shop.

Although it isn't part of their contracted job, the runners decide to intervene. Wick distributes his alchemical solutions in the form of injections, Ramen Shamen summons a fire spirit, and Tombstone skates into battle with a loaded shotgun. Their sudden assault catches the gangers by surprise, and they manage to disable the leader, kill several of them, and shrug off a counter-attack by a gang rigger before the rest of the raiders rout.

The locals are quite grateful for the rescue, and Ramen Shamen's very effective diplomacy both calms them from the trauma and solicits useful information from the transients. Tecomah, by their accounts, was a protector of this particular area. The Disassemblers seized on rumors of his disappearance to raid the street market for victims. They say that the former ranger had left for the east some days ago, to an unknown destination.

While obtaining this information, they notice they are being tracked by a spectral dog. They suspect that it is either a mentor or a guardian spirit.

Investigating Tecomah's safehouse, the team uncovers evidence that the coyote was investigating the Crash Zone and charting a safe path through its many hazards. With the help of a grateful street market, they manage to secure protective gear against radiation and set out into the Crash Zone.

Evading the patrols of a local warlord by the name of 'King Mung,' the runners follow an astral path provided by the spectral dog. This path keeps to the map they discovered in the safehouse, with a few detours that avoid more recent dangers. Leaving their vehicles, they manage to find and track Tecomah's trail until they find the injured coyote holed up in a temporary camp.

He illuminates an obscure bit of history - that the spaceplane that caused the 'Crash Zone' carried a NAN ambassador to DeeCee, and that the ambassador was carrying a powerful protective talisman - an old dreamcatcher - as a gift. This artifact was thought lost in the disaster that formed the Crash Zone. Recently, Tecomah unconvered evidence that the talisman survived and, more disturbingly, that it had been corrupted by toxic influence and made the central focus of a shrine of twisted cultists.

The runners agree to finish the job he set out to do, taking a satchel of explosives with which to destroy the shrine. Wick and Ramen Shamen remain with Tecomah to bring him back to their vehicles and treat his injuries. Meanwhile, speedy Tombstone zips off on his skates, guided by Tecomah's spectral dog and Ramen's fire spirit. He finds his way to a post-apocalyptic shrine guarded by zealots in scrap armor and rudimentary weapons. Relying on sheer speed and strength, her bursts through the main gates and shrugs off the fire from a number of watchtowers.

He finds the central shrine, where the corrupted dreamcatcher was held suspended above a ziggurat of scrap. Tombstone resists the foul aura of the place and tosses the explosives into place, departing soon after and hitting the detonator.

The runners manage to flee the scene on their vehicles, but they are pursued by the scrap knights of King Mung. They make their way directly to a drop-off point indicated by Sahalé, cutting a path between major roads. They are hotly pursued until Ramen Shaman turns and issues a Commanding Voice, her suggestive power strong enough that the driver of the lead vehicle hesitates and swerves. This causes a pile-up crash that delays pursuit until they arrive at the drophouse and find the safety of covering fire provided by off-duty Salish-Shidhe rangers.

Aftermath

Tecomah returns safely, pleasantly surprised by the stops put out by his former comrades and his boss. The team of runners has both his and Sahalé's gratitude. They are given their promised pay, and have the opportunity to take on either or both as professional contacts.

Rewards

Run Rewards for Lost Coyote:
- 12k Nuyen (6 RVP)
- 7 Karma (7 RVP)

Optional Contacts:
Sahalé at 4/2 (5 RVP or 10 CDP)
Tecomah at 3/3 (5 RVP or 10 CDP)

Game Quotes

GM: "The field opens, the earth grinding and quaking. An object of his fears rise from the murky depths. What is it?" Tombstone: "Squirrels." "Okay, Explosions doesn't have to know about Barracuda's Juice" Out of nowhere. Sleevey: "Why is wrestling so homoerotic?"

Player After Action Reports (AARs)

[Tombstone]

"Never knew those people we're out there. Good to know I should avoid that area know."