Scorched Earth

Scorched Earth
Part of The Farm and The Furious
Date 2081-07-30 GM SedatedAlice Location Seattle Status Threat Level: Medium
Factions Involved
ShadowHaven Fuego Fieri Firebrand the Fourth	Rogue Halloweeners
Moth Santesso Stax Rufus
Casualties and losses
	2 Halloweeners got tossed to King HumungaMax to be dealt with.

Summary

SHOTS FIRED IN PUYALLUP PACKHOUSE

(Thursday, July 30, 2081) Seattle, UCAS: The sharp retort of firearms rang out over the Puyallup warehouse district this Thursday. Knights Errant, when finally arriving on the scene, found an empty warehouse, an abandoned van with its registration wiped clean, and a smattering of small and large caliber casings. No further information on this ongoing investigation is available at this time.

• Hoi, chummers! I was forwarded this clipping with a couple of digital post-its attached. According to my source, rival gangs were involved (one of which rhymes with 'shallow weiners'), and the shootout was the final play in reacquiring some stolen goods. Somebody's keeping this close to the vest, though. Who are they protecting?
• News Van Dan

Background

A shipment of medical supplies, rightfully stolen and placed under the protection of the Shadow Bank and the Skraacha, was stolen again. The runner team was contacted by their individual fixers (rather than through the ShadowHaven BBS, which is the usual method). Stax's fixer, Warboss, was particularly vague on the job's details.

The Meet

The runners rolled up to The Four Roses club in Touristville (the forwarded place of the meet). On entering, they were directed to a nervous young ork. He seemed entirely unused to this side of the business. The runners convinced him to move to a more private room for the meet.

Once settled in, the Johnson laid out his story. He was probably a bit more free with details than a typical Johnson, but he was obviously nervous. He introduced himself as Oakstein, a mid-level security chief in the Skraacha. He was nervous because a very valuable shipment under his charge had gone missing from the Ork Underground. He had been able to keep this information from his clients and his superiors so far, and wanted the runners to reacquire the shipment before anyone was the wiser. He was willing to pay extra to keep that information contained, securing his reputation. Moth, her presence calm and reassuring, negotiated a deal for 36,000 dollars UCAS (approximately 18,000 ¥). A deal was struck and Oakstein laid out what little he knew about the theft.

The Skraacha's clients, a woman named Charity Horace and her husband Mr. J, had contracted with the Ork Underground to smuggle several large crates of pharmaceuticals and medical supplies for them. The clients were known benefactors of the downtrodden in Redmond, so the medical supplies would be used for philanthropy, not profit. What's more, 20% of the supplies would go to the Ork Underground as payment. The crates with the supplies were being held in a hidey-hole in lava tubes deep in the Underground, but were now missing. The only clue Oakstein had was that there were scorch marks at the location of the theft, which might indicate that a rival gang, The Halloweeners, were involved.

Oakstein was very concerned about his reputation, as the shipment's security was his responsibility, but more than anything he wanted the shipment back so he could deliver the goods in good faith to the clients. The runners thanked Oakstein for the info, reassured him once again that he was in good hands, then headed out to Santesso's van to plan.

The Plan

The lava tube where the theft occurred was in a part of the Ork Underground in Puyallup, so the runners decided to jump into Santesso's van and plan on the move. As the van's dog brain navigated its way to an Underground entrance closer to that tube, the team came up with a two-pronged attack for the run's legwork. First, Moth and Santesso would hop into the matrix and see what threads they could pull to uncover useful info. Secondly, the team would do an onsite investigation of the physical location of the theft to see what further information they could dredge up there.

Game Quotes

"In the course of an investigation, I've run across a possible associate of yours. One 'KHMsucksballzlol'." - Moth, her delivery crisp, deadpan, and absolutely professional.

"I would like more information on Mr. or Ms. "Sucks Ballz". - Santesso, his delivery decidedly less professional.

"If you tear through ‘em like toilet paper, there won’t be any place left to shove a stick." - Solvar, as his teammates use lethal ammo on devil rats.

“Can I kneecap all of ‘em? I’m gonna kneecap all of ‘em. I really hate these guys.” - Draxa, as the team engaged the ‘Weeners.

“TROGGZOR IS PLEASED WITH HIS SNACKS! NYUK NYUK NYUK!” - TROGGZOR, THE ALL CONSUMING FLAME.