Expedited Extradition

Expedited Extradition
Part of Flight of the White Owl
Date 2082-09-4 GM Dejapes Location Payullup, Seattle Status Threat Level: Medium
Factions Involved
ShadowHaven Sahalé Salish-Shidhe Council	'Claret'	Halloweeners
Prince Pell Canter Hound Katherine Tyler	'Claret'	Decker Receptionist Armed Guards
Casualties and losses
An Unfortunate Flyspy	'Claret'

Summary

Five runners abduct and extradite an MCT employee who is wanted in Salish-Shidhe territory as the primary suspect in a series of disappearances.

Background

Ever since the 'Shiawase Decision,' corporate extraterritoriality has shielded the megacorps from the investigative powers of much-diminished nation-states.

After a series of disappearances and bloody murders in the outskirts of Bellingham, Salish-Shidhe investigators have narrowed the primary suspect to one Saul M. Edelburg, a Senior Analyst working for Mitsuhama Computer Technologies. With Edelburg operating out of MCT property in Seattle, the man is protected from investigation and legal recourse.

Faced with the barrier of corporate extraterritoriality, the Tribal Council decides to reach out to Seattle's runners to settle the issue.

The Meet

On a rainy Saturday afternoon, five runners are contacted by their respective fixers. Their circumstances are wildly different, but they all agree to meet with the Johnson over the Matrix. The meet is in a hidden subhost within the Evergreen Arboretum and Garden.

There, Sahalé, in her White Owl persona, explains the situation to the runners. She informs them that while Edelburg normally resides in a highly secure residential facility, she received a tip that he spends a weekend in Loveland at least once a month. The runners agree to abduct Edelburg and deliver him to one of Sahalé's coyotes on the border of Payullup.

The Plan

The runners begin by extensively researching Saul M. Edelburg over the matrix. With the assistance of Pell, Canter engages in a thorough matrix search that unearths a dull man that has led a largely unremarkable life. She does, however, find a dark hint - Edelburg was anonymously participating in a message board that focused on BTLs of the violent, bloody variety. He was particularly interested in the reactions and appraisals of the work of one 'Claret,' a simsense actor specializing in home invasions and gruesome murders.

The runners apply their respective specialties, with Prince and Hound contributing their knowledge of Seattle's underground, Pell recalling any references to Claret in her brushes with the entertainment industry, and Canter digging into her familiarity with the black market. Katherine Tyler takes the information they deduce and recall a late-night news special on actual murders captured in BTL chips. Going back to that newscast's archive, she finds a distinctive watermark on the BTL production.

The team researches this watermark and narrows the search down to a particular Simsense studio in Loveland, one run by the Halloweeners and specializing in torture and snuff BTLs.

The Run

The team begins to converge on the Simsense studio, with Canter arriving first via airship. She dives into the matrix after positioning her airship close to the studio, and encounters an unexpectedly secure Host. Slipping by the guardians quietly at first, she identifies visitor files and begins to look through the 'buyer' files corresponding to the dates where they suspected Edelburg was visiting. She finds one file that has an imperfect initial match - 'S.C.E.' - that seems to be particularly fond of Claret's work. That visitor was currently wired to a simsense chair in the studio itself.

Soon after, however, Canter is spotted by the Host's patrol programs and its defending spider. She uses a Denial of Service attack on the Spider and evades the Host's IC, buying enough time to send a message to the team regarding her findings before jacking out.

The group posts up in front of the Simsense studio, occupying a parking lot across the street while Canter lands her car in a gratuitous gravity-defying stunt.

As they maintain their vigil, they begin to suspect that Edelburg might not be in the studio at all. The team investigates a rental car and finds a commlink on one of the seats, belonging to a random wageslave with the initials of 'S.C.E.' Additionally, a further examination of social media earlier that day finds that Edelburg left his apartment in a licensed vehicle, a vehicle that wasn't present in the parking lot.

Pell identifies a strong magical ward surrounding the building and summons a Spirit in preparation. Fortunately, a direct confrontation with the Halloweeners is avoided as Canter employed a fly spy that dipped inside one of the air filters and investigated the interior. The drone confirms that none of the customers in the simsense chair matched the group's target. More disturbingly, the drone finds a trid display showcasing a life simsense feed broadcast from sensors attached to Claret himself. The team watches as 'Claret' gets out of Edelburg's car and opens the storage compartment to reveal a number of sharp implements.

Deducing that Edelburg was Claret, the team races to find him - using their knowledge of Seattle's landmarks to piece together Edelburg's location from the simsense feed. En route, a Halloweener discovers and destroys Canter's flyspy drone, leaving the team in the dark as they approach the apartment that they saw Edelburg/Claret enter.

Hound and Pell disembark, opting to move in on the apartment via the inside hallway and block the door. Meanwhile, the rest of the team continues to ride Canter's vehicle as the old lady opens up an aperture on the second story by means of grenade launcher then stunts her car into it.

They see Claret, who reacts with preternatural speed. He dashes to the door but finds his way blocked by Hound and Pell. He tears viciously into Hound with his twin cleavers, but the Russian mercenary stubbornly holds on.

Canter maneuvers her car into a better position and Prince and Katherine Tyler open fire. The hail of bullets force Claret into the defensive and distract him, allowing the BTL snuff star to be taken out by a powerful spell from Pell and a close-range shotgun blast from Hound.

Claret's biomonitor immediately triggers, notifying MCT of the sudden and violently-induced unconsciousness of one of their senior analysts. The runners escape into the night, employing all the tricks at their disposal to evade the corporation's fast-response units.

Aftermath

The serial-killer and BTL star is delivered to the White Owl's agent, a man by the name of Tecomah. With Pell speaking to the team's point of contact in Salish, the exchange goes smoothly and the runners are paid in full.

With the help of Prince's silver tongue, the Johnson is convinced to reimburse Canter for her lost flyspy drone.

Rewards

Rewards for 'Expedited Extradition' (13RVP)
+ ¥10,000 (5RVP)
+ ¥20,000 Gear Credit (5RVP) [SINs and Licenses up to 18F Avail]
+ 6 Bonus CDP (3RVP)
+ 2 CDP

For Pell: 1 chip owed to Fan Yang is repaid.
Optional Contact: Sahalé (4/2) [5 RVP or 10 CDP]
Optional Contact: Tecomah (3/2) [4 RVP or 8 CDP]

Timberwolf is granted 8 GMP for playing the pre-gen Hound.

Game Quotes

GM: "As Canter dabs in a thunderstorm in Souix airspace, let's go to Pell."

Player After Action Reports (AARs)

Prince

It's not every day that you stop a murder mid door getting burst down. And the DA calls us criminals. I only wish I could have shot the snuff BTL creating bastard rather than push him right into Pell and Hound. And many that BTL studio was locked down on the matrix and the astral, short of Pell and I shooting straight through the walls there was no way we'd have gotten him from the outside. But we got him, and I deleted his biomonitor and tags before giving Grandma Canter a smuggler route out of Seattle and into Salish. All in all a job well done, and I can't believe we got the location by me putting my head together with hound and Grandma Canter confirming our suspicions.

Pell

It's not every day that one brings a serial killer to justice, let alone catch one just before they murder someone. Felt real good.

Hope she makes it out okay after this.

Katherine Tyler

Morality doesn't affect me much, as it's usually just business. But taking this guy out? well, that's an added bonus. It's one thing to kill someone who chose this life, and who chose the risk. It's another to do something like what Claret was doing. I usually don't put too much stock in honor on the battlefield. My moral compass is usually suppressed, but it does exist. And sometimes it's nice to let it guide me. Also! once again, Canter impresses. I don't know when she got that big airship, but it's pretty awesome. And that drop landing? Sick. I've seen her do things not even the Navy pilots and drivers could pull off. She can drive me into a firefight any day!

Hound

This run was very gratifying Comrades due to the nature of the target was wanted for questioning on some potential crimes that the local Indian nation had tried to extradite him for. MCT like nearly all Mega Corps don't think they have to answer to people when one of theirs could have committed any crimes. When the team was considering how to nap the target for the Johnson I had a flash of inspiration. We Russians invented inspiration don't you know? The target wanted for questioning was the same BTL killer that goes by the screen name "Claret". The fact he was using a Mega Corp to hide behind while he gets his kicks murdering people makes me sick. I know I kill for money however, in my case it's professional and I strive to make it clean quick kill as that is what is best over all. One shot, one kill is the best cost to profit margin with the least amount of headaches you understand Comrade? To make someone suffer just for the sake of killing them and then selling the vid of it in a BTL chip for gangers is just bad.

That Canter though, one strong cookie of a comrade that can drive the wheels of anything. Glad to have Canter on my side when needed in a firefight. Pell is something else, that is one cool cucumber of a comrade when it goes to fighting someone. When Claret tried to escape I was nearly taken out by the meat cleavers but the team work of Pell and I kept him in the kill box until falling unconscious and then handed over to the Indian authorities for questioning. Glad that Ork woman is okay and didn't get cut up by that butcher. That cold fish gives us professional killers a bad name know what I mean Comrade?