Intermediate Entomology

Intermediate Entomology
Date 2085-06-12 GM Sarcarian Location Chicago Status Threat Level: Deadly
Factions Involved
ShadowHaven Informer	nuYou Biosculpting
Lingchi Ryuuji Docteur Vega Zenith	Fly/Ghoul Hybrids Fly Caretaker Fly Nymph Fly Scout Fly Worker
Casualties and losses
	Fly/Ghoul Hybrids x6, Fly Caretaker, Fly Nymph, Fly Scout x2, Fly Worker x2

Summary

In which the runners are tasked with gathering information on a network of fly spirit nests.

Background

See: Minor Arcana, Introductory Entomology, Taking a Bite Out of Crime, New Year, nuYou, State of Decay and Taking a Gigabite Out of Crime for more information on the ongoing miniplot.

The Meet

Informer contacts the runners via their usual method of mysterious invitations either slipped under their doors or passed to them through contacts, inviting them to meet at Matchsticks in Downtown (the invitations contain guest passes to the jazz club and instructions to dress nice). After some minor issues with the bouncer over their choice of dress they're eventually admitted inside the club, where their J is easy to identify thanks to the 8m aura of noir-ness that surrounds them.

Informer explains to the team via mindlink (so as not to freak out the other club patrons) that they've been tracking down an old lead in Chicago regarding an insect spirit infestation within a company called nuYou Biosculpting, and believe that they've located a nest within an old water crib in Lake Michigan (purchased decades ago by Ares) where the corporation has set up. The spirit doesn't have much in the way of money, but as this is somewhat personal to them they offer what they've managed to scrounge up as well as an infusion of karma. The runners agree to the terms.

The Plan

After debating a few options for travel (including a road trip and a ghost train), the team settle on calling Cascade to provide transportation - thanks to their high collective edge the trip is a relatively smooth one, with the crew meeting the smuggler in the early morning and taking her helicopter to an airstrip in the mountains which she's named after where they swap to a small plane for the rest of the journey, landing on Lake Michigan in the afternoon.

While on the trip, Vega hits the Matrix while the rest of the team talk tactics - after gathering some satellite footage of the water crib (and finding that detailed blueprints/maps of the tunnels leading to it would require hacking a rather formidable municipal host), the techno decides to instead take a nap and contact The Green-Eyed Witch, who appears in her dream for a chat. In exchange for a future favor, the dreamwalking spirit puts them into contact with one Jamie Ferguson, a local ghoul who once worked for the city's water department; a few dream messages later (thankfully the ghoul is asleep during the day) and Vega has scheduled a meeting at an old ESP Systems building south of the Shattergraves.

The Run

After landing near Montrose Point (a bird sanctuary just outside the former containment zone), the team disembarks and pays Cascade extra to be on standby for their exfiltration. Zenith, who has been to the city before, leads the group on a trek through the bad part of town towards their meeting, with Ryuuji putting on his best "don't mess with us" face and Lingchi's ally spirit Sojourner keeping an eye out for astral threats such as free insect spirits or feral ghouls. While the team are lucky enough not to run into any of these nasties, they witness the brief manifestation of the alchara at the site of the Sears Tower bombing (and the accompanying mournful ghosts) - filled with supernatural terror, they flee the scene before they're overcome, exhausting themselves crawling over rubble in order to get to their destination as quickly as possible.

On the 47th floor of the old ESP Systems building, the team find Mr. Ferguson waiting for them while he scavenges old copper wire from the walls. The ghoul is a bit skittish (given that they're armed strangers who he was told about in a dream), but The Green-Eyed Witch has offered to ward his bolt hole if he helps them so he agrees to tell them everything he knows about the water crib tunnels. Jamie reveals that the tunnel entrance is in Montrose Point disguised as a duck blind, and that Ares has guards posted to oversee it; he draws them a map to locate it along with one of the interior of the water crib, warning them to be careful as several ghouls who were poking around the area have gone missing recently. Lingchi, feeling sympathetic towards his plight, purchases the copper wire Jamie was scavenging to have an excuse to give him some money - as thanks, he tells them about a safe route back the way they came, ensuring they aren't confronted by any hostile gangers (or worse) en-route.

After treking back to the bird sanctuary, Zenith links the team up to his pi-tac and scouts ahead under cover of an invisibility spell from Lingchi, with Sojourner providing some backup from the astral plane - together, the pair spot out a bird drone, a bird biodrone, and a bird infested with a fly spirit. Knowing the flies don't share a hive mind, Lingchi and Sojourner fry the spirit with a manabolt while Vega puppeteers the drone and the bio-drone to create a hole in their patrol patterns for the rest of the less stealthy members of the group to slip through. Once they reach the tree line near the duck blind hiding the tunnel entrance, they spot the pair of guards posted there, one of whom is a flesh-form fly spirit; they disable the pair's commlinks, knocking the human guard out while taking out the insect spirit with extreme prejudice, allowing them to enter the tunnel unnoticed and begin the trek under the lake towards the water crib (while Sojourner takes the unconscious guard to a mafia club Zenith is familiar with, figuring it's safer than being left for the bug spirits).

Thanks to their stealthy approach, the team make it to the entrance to the fly nest unnoticed, allowing Vega to skinlink connect to the wired host and subvert the cameras to get a view inside. While they wait, Zenith divines the group's immediate future to learn if the bugs have anticipated their arrival, seeing a vision of their leader (a true form nymph infesting a scientist) secure in a secret room in the process and getting a split-second heads up before their presence is noticed. This allows Vega to sabotage a series of tanks holding hybrid fly/ghoul soldiers, flooding their systems with a combination of adrenaline and sedatives in order to induce an overdose. Once this is done, Ryuuji kicks in the door and the fighting begins.

While the caretaker spirit attempts to unleash the bugged ghoul soldiers (who begin smashing their way out of their tanks), Ryuuji throws himself into the fray, tossing punches and drawing attention away from the squishier team members; taking advantage of the distraction, Zenith spots out the bug's decker hiding behind cover and begins firing at them, only to be attacked in turn by a hybrid form bug'd dog. Lingchi stays near the entrance to guard Vega, who hides from the aforementioned decker while attempting further sabotage of their systems. Once the bug soldiers (still sluggish from the drugs) are free, Lingchi hits them all with a high-force manaball before Ryuuji finishes off those who manage to survive it, narrowly avoiding being blown up in the process.

The water crib's automated defenses deploy a trio of rail drones from wall-mounted vaults of ages, firing narco-jet darts tipped with alchemical preparations at the intruders; while Ryuuji and Zenith are able to nimbly dodge, Lingchi and Vega end up hit, so Ryuuji uses Noble Sacrifice to tank the toxin damage for them. Zenith manages to overcome the illusion and spot the apature of the mage-sight system that their leader is using - pulling out his laser pistol, he leaps onto the back of the flying caretaker spirit in order to get a proper angle and fires directly through the fiber-optic lens, frying the eyes (and brain) of the nymph spirit on the other end.

The tide of battle begins to turn in the runner's favor after that, though Ryuuji succumbs to the triple dose of narcojet and Lingchi and Vega end up tagged with another pair of darts. Looking to put an end to things, Zenith hunts down the bug decker and takes them out, allowing Vega to shut down the drone system before she briefly passes out; Lingchi is able to stay up, administering medical attention thanks to her training from the good(?) doctor and getting the techno back onto her feet before going to see to the street sam. Knowing they don't have much time before reinforcements arrive, Zenith breaks into the secret room to locate an escape tunnel while Vega carefully wakes the infestation victims. Assensing each one in turn, they find several who have succumbed to infestation (who are summarily executed), though several others are able to be saved. After capturing footage of the operation, stealing as much data as they can, and fighting a final large true-form fly that tries to ambush them, the team take the would-be hosts and make a quick retreat.

Aftermath

Managing to get away just as the (bugged) Ares clean-up team arrives to sterilize the water crib but knowing they have too many people to bring back in Cascade's plane, Zenith calls Corf to an abandoned rail yard in order to provide the escapee's with a quick getaway. With just the runners remaining, they're able to sneak past the Ares boats on the lake to their rendezvous with Cascade unscathed and fly away back to Seattle. Informer thanks them for a job well done, and after noticing a familiar name in the recovered data (as well as mentions of "mother" by the now-disrupted nymph spirit) contacts someone with a bit more money who can bankroll a job to finish the flies for good.

Rewards

REWARDS for "Intermediate Entomology":

10,000 nuyen

10 karma

10 CDP

Optional Contact: Cascade (C4/L2 Smuggler) for 5 RVP or 10 CDP

Optional Contact: Informer (C2/L2 Noir Spirit) for 3 RVP or 6 CDP

Optional Contact: Corf (C1/L2 Happy Little Minecart) for 2 RVP or 4 CDP

Narrative Consequences:

-The nuYou clinic/fly nest hidden in the Montrose Point water crib is sterilized by an Ares cleanup crew - local news outlets are abuzz (heh) with damning footage, which the corporation (in conjunction with Ares Global Media) works to suppress with little success. Several would-be bug hosts are rescued, and anti-bug forces within Ares also learn of it thanks to the runners.

-Patricia Windthrope (the insect shaman responsible) goes into hiding. Informer lets her daughter know of her mother's survival as well as the existence of a fly mother spirit - Isadora begins attempting to divine the location of the main nest.

Game Quotes

"He's flashing bug gang signs, he must be a bug!"