The Corpse Bride

The Corpse Bride
Date 2081-10-31 GM Ryncewynde88 Location Montreal, Republic of Quebec Status Threat Level: Low
Factions Involved
ShadowHaven	Nameless Gangers
Century C-Unit 537 - Hunter Samsara	Ganger Mage Ganger Thug
Casualties and losses
	Ganger Mage x2, Ganger Thug x6

Summary

In which the team travel to Montreal to rescue a vampire hunter being held for ransom.

The Meet

The team are told to meet with Amile and Jean-Baptiste on the matrix in a vampire nightclub-themed host. Everyone sticks out like a sore thumb among all the vampire simps, making their way to a private room to meet with the infected cabal leaders. The twins are doing a favor for Yoshi Arimoto, who eloped to Montreal with her former hunter Yves (see: Total Eclipse of the Heart) – Yves has been kidnapped by gangers and is being held for a ransom which Yoshi can’t pay, so instead she is offering what little she has to runners in the hope that they can help her get him back. The team dither a bit but are ultimately either sympathetic or have nothing better to do and accept the job.

After accepting the gig, the team are directed to one of several disused subway tracks in the OU where they are met by Corf the friendly minecart/vehicle spirit - Corf has had his usual transportation fee of karma paid by Julio and Ramona on behalf of Yoshi, so he happily takes his new friends on a lay line ride across the continent (bothered only slightly by the fact that Century has Astral Hazing and Hunter is made of anti-magic) to Quebec, ending up in the basement of Julio and Ramona’s diner. Coming up to the main floor they are met by the owner and chef before being given food introduced to Yoshi herself, who explains the situation and makes a heartfelt plea for aid in her time of need.

The Plan

After listening to Yoshi’s tale and determining a bit more about the situation held - Yoshi was contacted and given 24 hours to get the ransom money together and a the address of an abandoned warehouse in the West End of town to drop it off at - the team are given a local primer written by Julio and Ramona (equivalent to a rating one knowsoft in Area Knowledge: Montreal) as well as a vehicle to get them around which thankfully comes equipped with the runner’s special. As the roads in Montreal are infamously terrible, Samsara plays driver on the way to the West End where Yoshi was told to go, managing to avoid crashing or being confronted by go-gangers en-route.

Arriving at the warehouse to scope the place out a bit, Hunter determines that it is under the effect of a detection spell. The team determine ingress points and plan to return later, but a bit of common sense tells them that a spell like the one Hunter saw requires a mage to sustain it, and that if there is a mage inside then the target is likely being held there as well. With that, they park the car in a nearby allyway, kit up in their combat gear, and prepare for a bit of the old ultraviolence.

The Run

Samsara uses her sneaking skills to get through the chain-link fence around the warehouse and approach, with Hunter providing extra counter-spelling dice to get past the clairvoyance spell; he and Century manage to do the same, and Hunter uses his radar sensor to map out the interior of the building and the location of hostiles (as well as their target, tied to a chair in the center of the room). While he and Century prepare to break down the side door, Samsara sneaks around to the front – everyone does their drugs, and she dashes inside and punches out the first ganger in sight, putting him down with a single blow.

Century encounters a bit more trouble than expected in breaking down the door – the gangers have thoughtfully placed sandbags on the other side, which he is unable to move aside or smash through. Hunter takes the cutting-the-knot approach and just fires directly through the sheet metal walls at his targets, using the radar sensor to pinpoint positions and easily compensating for the blind fire penalties. Samsara meanwhile dodges a bunch of bullets, noticing that one of them shatters against her orthoskin into little splinters – before she can think too hard about it though, a fire spirit manifests before her; it burns her a bit, but the burnout adept punches the fire until it go away.

Outside, the second fire spirit harasses Century and Hunter, who put it down with sword and ADPS; Century decides to just smash through the wall and begins going ham on the poor mages down below (though he is a bit irked to find that there are UV lights present which cause him some discomfort). The goons with assault rifles on the catwalks above continue firing at Samsara, however it becomes clear they are employing wooden bullets (having expected to lure a vampire into an ambush and collect the bounty on Infected heads which is in place throughout Quebec). Laughing at their misfortune, the team makes short work of the gangers, with Century literally devouring one of them in front of the others just to prove a point, before recovering the battered and beaten Yves.

Aftermath

After giving the vampire hunter a bit of medical attention for his wounds, the team return to Julio and Ramona’s diner where the lovers are reunited, and everyone enjoys another nice meal (Century goes off to find his own among the local SINless population) before being returned to Seattle via lay line travel.

Rewards

• 2,000 nuyen
• 2 karma
• 2 CDP
• Free Contacts: Julio (C2/L1 Diner Owner), Ramona (C2/L1 Chef), and Corf (C1/L1 Helpful Lil’ Minecart)

Game Quotes

Century: [about to devour a ganger] “Simple Action: Consume Person.” GM: Technically performing a melee attack with your jaws is a Complex Action.”

GM: [realizing how out-classed the opfor is] “There’s a chan-… no there isn’t.”

Player After Action Reports (AARs)

Samsara

Well, my first gig with this fancy ShadowHaven network and it was pretty much like my regular job with the Skraacha – beating up some gangers who pissed off the wrong person. This time I got to go to a new city and meet cool new people though, which was pretty neat; I wish I’d had the time to get a feeling for the place and vibe to the mana there a bit more, maybe take in some of the sights, but we were on a time crunch to find our kidnapping victim. I did get to enjoy some really good free food though, and I made some new friends too (including a cute little spirit inside a minecart!). That vampire lady Yoshi was also surprisingly nice, I’m glad we could help her get her husband back. All in all a pretty good first outing I’d say - hopefully I get to travel out of town again soon and see more of the world.