OPEN UP

OPEN UP
Part of Nightmare Mode
Date 2081-03-21 GM Doom Location Seattle, Downtown
Factions Involved
ShadowHaven Mission Control Chop Shop Roadkill Kani Riot Mars	Ares Macrotechnology Horizion

Summary

The runners are tasked with holding out against KE HTR as hackers break through into data housing some of KE's most recent disturbing bug research. While not everything goes to plan, and some people end up getting hit by falling rocks, everyone make it out alive with Ares' dirty dealings in tow.

Background

On a prior run runners had acquired data pertaining to Ares' exploits into secret biological weapons involving insect spirits. The group known as Firebreak has taken this data and had assigned others to set up a location to hack this data. This data pertains information on Ares' most recent secret research involving bug spirits. They're going to be notified immediately after they start cracking the data, and need someone to protect them.

The Meet

The meet was short and sweet. MC, Chop Shop, Roadkill, Kani, Mars, and Riot all received calls as night fell upon the city. It was the guy from Firebreak, the hackers were just about to break through the data obtained from the last run with them and they needed defending to finish the job before KE HTR stormed the building and took them out. The group had... About an hour to get there. Payment would be received on retrieval of the data.

The Plan

The runners who had done this mission before had set up quite a few defenses within the high-rise floor that the hackers were held up in. They had window sensors, RFFID detectors, hidden gas releases, hidden grenades, the works to ensure this place was secure. The best the new defensive group could hope was to hold it particularly well from KE when they enter. They also had knowledge that one of the elevators went directly to the VIP parking, where they were connected to various other buildings. That was their exfil.

The Run

But things did not go as planned. Three of the six runners did not arrive in time, leaving Mars, Mission Control, and Kani trapped in the high rise surrounded by KE HTR. The rest of the team regroup and made their way to the underground entrance that was connected to other high rises via maintenance tunnels. While up top, the crew got a call on the penthouse's PA system from the bottom floor. Mission Control was the one to pick it up, hearing the voice of an Ares intelligence officer by the name of Jack Hawker. It turns out he was a handler for MC's old team back when he was in Ares, as well as had some oversight on the Mars Project. Turns out that the rest of the projects involving bugs they found spawned from this man himself. He was a source of a lot of pain for MC, and MC let him know with a few choice words. After this, Hawker hung up. Immediately, the PA near Mars rang. She picked it up, receiving orders from Hawker to take out the rest of the runners on the basis of her real identity. Though conflicted, her mind was made up when she heard the underlying whispers of the Hivemind underneath his voice. She refused, stating the company compromised by insect spirits. She hung up, and at this point the rest of the runners had managed to make their way up the tower through the secret VIP elevator.

That's when the group spotted two Ares transport choppers, headed to the roof of the building. At the same time, Riot detected about 40 hostiles moving up below them. MC and Mars using their military knowledge of Ares deduced they were going to blow the top of the building down. Riot had summoned three spirits to combat those that were sure to be sent by HTR. The team decided to split into two. Mars, Roadkill, and Chop Shop decided to head down to stop HTR from bombing the building down while MC, Riot, and Kani stayed up top to protect the hackers. Kani made her move first, sniping one of the choppers out of the sky causing it to crash into a city block. The other chopper backed off, staying out of her range. The lower team encountered HTR 20 floors below. After some tactical maneuvering, they struck first, mars firing a HE nade directly between two HTR before moving up and finishing one off with a burst of her rifle. The explosion burst a hole into the private elevator, and Roadkill and Chop Shop fired more rounds onto the KE in the hall. Mars took about 7 blasts from rifles and shotguns before she dropped to the floor, and then the rest of the lower team became suppressed. In the Astral, Riot's spirits were taking quite the beating, and of the three spirits two were destroyed quickly, while KE had only lost one. Back up top, more choppers had arrived, and spread out around the building. They surrounded it and moved closer, firing missiles at the penthouse. Kani was able to shoot a couple of them out of the sky, while Riot used magical barriers to stop some in their tracks right next to a chopper, causing it to crash. But this wasn't enough, as the north and east sides were about to be hit. Being on the Eastern side, Kani decided her best course of action was to jump out of the building, instead of running in deeper. She caught only a little of the shockwave before using her grapplehook to latch onto the building. The wall did not hold though, and Kani continued to plummet.

At this point, the hackers had finished their job, but not all of them survived the rockets. One of them had perished, another was completely hysterical, and the last one was shell shocked from the explosions. Riot spurred the hysterical one to action, though not to the best effect. Scared, they fled down the stairs right into the supressive fire from KE floors down. MC grabbed the decker with the data, while giving the last one a way to rappel down the elevator. Riot chased after the one fleeing down the stairs to find him killed by the spray of bullets. She cast a high powered Napalm spell and vaporized seven KE HTR. Afterwards, some that were hiding in the rooms began throwing det charges into the room, barely missing Mars in destroying more of the room and injuring Riot. She put up a napalm wall in the way as Roadkill grabbed Mars and began to repel down the shaft. MC was making his way down holding onto the decker and climbed down using magnetic boots to make their way down. The fight in the astral had come to a halt as the KE spirits spotted Riot while she jumped down the shaft and cast levitate on herself as well as Mars.

Outside, Kani was having a much harder time. She was falling with a rock above her, and decided to open her parachute which lead her to get hit by said rock. She was out for a while before come back and noticing KE at the ground trying to group up where she'd fall to arrest her. To her side was a KE chopper. She cut her chute and once again used her grapple hook to connect to the chopper. Her plan was to climb into it but the chopper was wise to this, constantly thrashing her against buildings as they flew farther out of the city over the river. Farther out was an Ares ship and Outremer islands. Now clear of the city, Kani cuts her grapple an d shoots down the chopper midair. It goes hurling into the water, where Kani is then saved by a spirit. Back in the tower, one of the Ares spirits gets taken out by Riot's last spirit before getting destroyed by the remaining one. Riot and the rest of the team were in a tight spot being too tired to cast spells or not having any weaponry against it. So Chop Shop used their entire body to drop onto the spirit, destroying it and falling onto the bottom of the shaft. While hurt a bit, he was alive.

Aftermath

The team had stealthed their way out of the parking garage, making a clean getaway from KE HTR with two of the hackers and the data. Kani had been taken by the spirit to Outremer island, nearby an Ares testing facility. The spirit had words of sagely wisdom for her, and left her out on the island. In the end, Mars' home was seized by KE, knowing she was a traitor, and her companion bandit took her vehicle and fled to rocket raccoon's hideout.

Rewards

Y - 48,000. Karma - 2. CDP - 2

Game Quotes

Amusing quote from game.