Thin Thread and Lines

Thin Thread and Lines
Date 2085-03-09 GM Zerre Location Indoneseia Status Threat Level: Deadly
Factions Involved
ShadowHaven DGSE Indonesian Rebels	N-51	Indonesian Government
Anansi Chameleon Ducky Fennec Saint	Grunts Checkpoint Guards	N/A
Casualties and losses
N/A	One Forward Base and Many Grunts Guarding Munitions Crates	Eleven Civilian Casualties

Summary

In which Fennec and the crew put the "casual" into "civilian casualties."

Background

Civil war in Indonesia is anything but as the Indonesian government, using the N-51 as their proxy, maintain an iron grip on the country and its rebels. Reports, however, trickle in from the ground level. The country, largely Matrix-dark and with a vested interest from the Indonesian government to keep it that way, struggles to present conclusive evidence of alleged war crimes perpetuated by the N-51 in their peacekeeping operations. White phosphorous, so says intelligence. Burning slime that clings to skin until it reaches bone.

Awful stuff, the things people are saying about the N-51. Terrible. The DGSE, French national intelligence, would love to know if those accusations against their homegrown N-51 are true, and would love to deny how they found out as well. Time for a shadowrun, in that case, ne?

The Meet

They call in their most reliable deniable and some of her friends to brief them on the situation. Mr. Johnson of course doesn't reveal himself as French intelligence, but a few watchful eyes in the crew of worldly runners are able to put the pieces together even without the out-and-out knowledge that Fennec seems to have.

Mister Johnson asks if the runners are familiar with the N-51, and with some scattered yes's and no's (with Fennec remaining resiliently mum throughout), he explains that they're a French paramilitary group currently doing some work for the Indonesian government with "peacekeeping operations." He speaks with quotation marks surrounding it because there are rumors, evidently, of the N-51 utilizing white phosphorous to do so, which he assures the runners, big players would be very interested in having confirmed.

They can provide transportation into the country - all the runners need do is get undeniable evidence of the N-51 doing war crimes. As easy as snapping a picture.

What could go wrong?

The Plan

The crew airdrop onto an under-used Indonesian road with some mixed, though non-fatal, success, and after some deliberation and consultation of the materials gathered prior to the run, they opt to road trip it to the Western capital in order to gather information about N-51 operations in the area. Anansi and Ducky set about disguising themselves and the party before ducking into a few local establishments. With weaponized rizz, they manage to talk up their penchant for "men in uniform," and are able to squeeze information from some more upright looking bar-goers regarding the rumored whereabouts of N-51 bases - their headquarters, notably, are across the miniscule island in the Southwest, several hours away by car.

They're also warned that the N-51 have checkpoints set up along most major roadways, and to be careful when traveling.

The Run

The team ran scooting operation through the jungles finding details on N-51 patrol, they also made contact with some rebels on the southern part of the Island who confirm the use of napalm and white phosphorous by the Task Force In addition they would even be first hand witness of some of those airstrike and artillery barrage. Nonetheless the team would also see that there is no ill treatment of civilians, while forced out of their homes, they also are on a future warzone and would fell victim of one side or the other in the ensuing conflict.

While the collect information is going well, the wrong way of doing war spark some revenge spirit in the team particulary in Saint's mind, once they reach an outpost of the N-51 near a village they realise that the small camp is hosting a huge stockpile of mortars shells and explosive. The team set up a plan to plant some grenades into the stockpiles and cause a chain reaction. Ducky, Saint and Anansi set up the necessary invisibily and sneaking to plan the grenades and they quickly take there leave and detonate from a safe distance. The chain reaction though produce a much more devastating effect than they would have though blasting the camp and the nearby village with white phosphorous. The team managed to help out a few civilians to make it out alive and to make sure that the incident would fall on the shoulders of the N-51.

After this incident the team proceeded to observe the Forward Operation base and notice the presence of the many helicopters of the more specialised N-51 units and proceed to compile a report of their finding, on the way back to the rebels base, they would run into a small patrol of the N-51 that they quickly dispatched.

Aftermath

The team is debriefed by the DGSE who promptly send the information to local journalist which cause an immense backlash for the N-51 and a renewed fighting spirit for the rebels, throwing the operation in disarray.

Game Quotes

Amusing quote from game.