Hardball

Hardball
Date 2086-02-07 GM Asmodeus Location Seattle Metroplex Status Threat Level: Medium
Factions Involved
ShadowHaven Carolina Petrovski	Black Vory	Ares Macrotechnology
Doctor Q Oberon Perdix Pockets	Leon	Heinrix
Casualties and losses
Doctor Q got shot by his own teammate.

Summary

The team helps dubious people lower rent for orks. This should be hooding... right?

Background

Carolina Petrovski, a somewhat notorious figure in shadow work, attempts to assimilate orks into normal society from the Barrens in increasing numbers. This comes at a cost: often they're expected to take metatype reduction and adhere to normalizing treatment, but health care, an apartment, a job in construction and now possibly lower rent is something many of them are willing to take a devil's bargain on. Petrovski utilizes this to win favor with the Democrat political party ever since she ditched the Archconservatives and adopted a more left-leaning facade.

The Meet

The meet takes place in Everett in a biker bar. Petrovski elaborates that some of the landlords in Seattle aren't co-operating. While otherwise she could find competitors, these ones are in neighborhoods that would make perfect places to start settling SINless people once they're registered within the system. The team agrees to take the job; this seems fine, after all.

The Plan

Doctor Q realizes from his own Horizon connections who Petrovski is and begins having second thoughts about ever helping this horrible woman. Still, Perdix starts looking into all three with more detail since Petrovski's preliminary dossiers are somewhat limited in contents. Heinrix seems the most dubious of all in Tacoma, while Leon the Vory landlord in Bellevue looks somewhat plausible as a coercion contact. Klutzgong, the ganger-adjacent lower class landlord near Renton is Doc Q's own landlord, so he insists on dealing with the guy personally.

The Run

Doctor Q attempts to negotiate reasonably with Klutz, but the guy is hardened by years of having to tolerate gang intimidation tactics. So, Perdix shoots Doc Q to let him sell a con about Petrovski being willing to assassinate them both. Klutz is still doubting until Perdix shoots him in the groin and castrates the poor guy. With way bigger problems, Doc Q escorts the more compliant landlord to the roof where one of the runners' medivac drone extracts him to treat the guy's horribly mangled private parts. He's mostly going to cooperate, so long as Petrovski pays for the replacement parts to his body.

Oberon's too fascinated by Heinrix, the banker with ties to Goldman Sachs and Ares. He goes and visits the place with Pockets the Cutters ganger, finding what looks like a shedim trapped inside a prison-like apartment in one of the apartments. Heading further up, Pockets manages to pick the maglock enough to let Perdix hack the doors open and let Oberon enter. Initially thinking nobody's there, Pockets starts to leave when the doors close, trapping Oberon inside. Heinrix greets him and asks him why he's even here. Oberon manages to convince the banker that other runners might come eventually and that the superficial charity work might help him hide whatever he's got going on. Heinrix is convinced by some apt negotiating skills and offers Oberon some 'sustenance' in the future if he works a few stray gigs for him in the future. The banshee promises to consider it.

Leon is, surprisingly, one of the easiest guys to manage. The team infiltrates his bar while he's having a meeting with Kevin Crimes, one of the Cutters lieutenants. Using the elf waitress' identity, Doctor Q sneaks in and starts causing all manner of trouble, causing the bartender to finally lose his cool with this klutz elf and chase her out to beat her to a pulp on the street. The team gets Doc Q extracted, only for the real waitress to get back from her smoke break and get fired on the spot, not knowing what she did wrong. Kevin Crimes leaves after whatever he was talking about and the team manages to convince Crimes this might be something they could invest into.

Aftermath

Cutters gain a potential in to try expanding more of their territory into the less secure zones of Bellevue, provided they can kick the competition out. Carolina Petrovski's ork assimilation program advances due to arranging discount rent for fresh goblinized SINners as long as they stick to Horizon's cultural assimilation program. An elf gets fired from an abusive, toxic workplace due to no fault of her own. What else is new? And of course, it's a Cutter's fault.

Rewards

• 12,000 Nuyen (6 RVP)
• 10 CDP (4 RVP)
• NO Karma whatsoever; you got an innocent elf fired from her job and castrated an innocent man, you assholes.
• Gear Rate rewards for doing bonus objective: Cyberdeck modules, Commlink modules, Matrix software, Matrix/Pi-Tac programs, weapon add-ons, subscriptions, non-restricted drone models and legal modifications, lifestyle cost reductions in Zenith, Tacoma / Bothell, Bellevue / Issaquah, Renton.
• Optional Contact for Oberon: Heinrix, 3/2 Exotic Living Merchandise Trafficker (4 RVP or 8 CDP)