Mostly Armless

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Mostly Armless
Date2085-02-18
GMjit
LocationSeattle, Redmond (Touristville)
Status Threat Level: Medium
Factions Involved
ShadowHaven
Cutters
Independent
Gehenna
Lichtenberg
"Beating" Chester Abernathy
Tommy Gilligan
Charlie Simmons
Casualties and losses
N/A Tommy Gilligan, Charlie Simmons


Summary

When people say they'll pay you in exposure, they don't usually mean exposing their spinal column.

Background

"Beating" Chester Abernathy is a former Urban Brawl-star with a devastating past. His wife, ten years ago, left him and took their seven-year-old daughter with her. She gave him the ultimatum - the game, or your family, and he, in his arrogance, believed he could choose both. Afterwards, he instantly quit and begged for her return, though could not reunite with his family. Crushed, he turned to Better Than Life chips to fill the void in his life, and quickly spiralled into the life of a chiphead addict.

Several weeks ago, that all changed. His daughter, nearly the age of majority, has gotten in touch. She wants to reunite with her father - and filled with the warmth of this revelation, he seeks to quit. He calls friends who have countless times tried to get him clean, and tells them this time he means it. He will change his life, travel to New York, and reunite with the most important person in his world.

That said, he happens to owe a lot of money to a lot of bad people. Lichtenberg just so happens to work for "bad people." He also just so happens to be a pretty bad person himself - so bad, in fact, that after Chester Abernathy and his crew of Urban Brawl-stars rough up the enforcers the Cutters had sent to collect on his 15,000 nuyen debt, his fixer and surrogate father figure, Pappy, decides he might be the perfect person to collect on a washed up, augged up, deadbeat chiphead who thinks he's too good to make good on his debts. That said, the razorboy needs to be balanced to be wielded effectively. A drop of yin to counter his yang.

Gehenna, fresh off her debut in the shadows, is contacted by her fixer as well. Whispers are lingering in the shadows regarding her work on Shakedown Breakdown, and those whispers are... flattering? Well, they say that she works for cheap, anyway, and does decent work for it besides. Good enough for the Cutters - they're trying to recoup losses after all. Silas sends her to the Lazy Samurai, a bar deep in Touristville and a notorious Cutters hang out at that, and tells her to continue curating her reputation in the shadows, if her current status as a bargain item isn't too her liking.

The Meet

While Pappy and Lickitung shoot the shit over a game of cards, Gehenna arrives, obviously out of place. Pappy waves her over and gestures toward a seat. He asks if she's the one that magenapped a guy right under the Crimson Crush's nose, and she reluctantly affirms, much to his relief. He knows she works for cheap, he explains, and she's a good enough talker for what he has in mind. He explains the situation - that a derelict chiphead with more chrome than brains needs to pay up - and also explains that the muscle he'd sent previously wasn't able to cut it, gesturing toward a small crew of Cutters nursing wounds and griping in the corner of the bar. Librarian is their solution, but even this brief conversation reveals that the man is a sociopath at best as he jokingly asks if they're afraid to get a little blood on them.

"People are assets, Axl," Pappy sighs as he explains, as if he's explained this a thousand times before. "And you can't just go destroy assets because you think it's fun. That's not how to run a business, kid." Licorice smiles and shrugs.

He offers 4,000 base pay to Gehenna, up front, for her help in the matter, and tells Liechtenstein he can tack an extra four-thousand onto this guy's already substantial debt for the extra trouble. Gehenna swallows her seething frustration and agrees.

The Plan

The Run

Aftermath

Rewards

Game Quotes

Player After Action Reports (AARs)

Lichtenberg: I don't get this drek. Old man is like 'go here, scare this guy into paying' and then he gets mad when a few people die to get there. Washed up old urban brawl man is still kicking around, I ain't that stupid. But noooo! It's all 'people are assets, Axl' and 'torturing potential customers just makes them turn somewhere else'. I'm sick of it.

Had a hell of a lot of fun slicing up those orks, though. Hah hah! Makes the lecture worth it.