Fate of a Coward
| Fate of a Coward | |||||||||
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| Factions Involved | |||||||||
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ShadowHaven Ares ex-Firewatch resistance | Ares pro-bug faction. Ares internal affairs. | ||||||||
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Aster KBC Rabbit Waspkeeper Zephyr | |||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Tim Fleming (merged bug infiltrator into the resistance). A six-man Ares IA team. | |||||||||
Summary
The Johnson - a leader in the Ares ex-Firewatch resistance against the internal bug faction - hired the runners to help them figure out who had leaked the names of 100 members of the resistance to Ares corporate. They were being purged in a sudden crack down. There had to be a person who had turned, willingly or unwillingly.
The runners arranged to get the needed information from a member of Ares internal affairs. The 2nd in command who had a secret gambling addiction.
Once they confirmed which member of the resistance was actually now an infiltrating bug, they killed him and the IA team watching over him.
Background
There are two factions in Ares. A group who support replacing personnel with bugs. And a resistance who fight against the bugs.
The Johnson is a member of the resistance.
The resistance has been seriously compromised. Ares has at least a hundred names. They are cracking down on them in a purge. Killing everyone they can find. The resistance urgently needs to know who was the leak so they can take appropriate action to escape pursuit, based on what that person knew.
The Johnson was aware that Ares internal affairs was investigating HR platoon 7, fire squad blue. This squad has four members. All four of them are resistance.
Zephyr is a runner on the team with an Ares corporate SIN, who had a history with Ares internal affairs, and was at particular risk on this job if identified.
The Meet
The team - Aster, KBC, Rabbit, Waspkeeper, and Zephyr met with the Johnson in Touristville at the One Star Bar. They heard a KE high alert on the way in - the purge had begun. The Johnson just had time to explain the background when KE burst into the bar, hunting the Johnson.
Aster was taking the lead in the conversation with the Johnson, an effective face, asking all the right questions.
Rabbit engaged KE so the other four could evacuate with the Johnson safely.
Waspkeeper broke the lock on the back door and led them to her van to drive away. KBC squelched the team's attempt to signal that they had found the Johnson, which would have led to immediate air support. Rabbit proved an impressive combatant, surviving a hail of gunfire, with KBC's firewall support. KBC and Rabbit worked together to stop a teen in the parking lot from uploading video of the five runners fleeing with the Johnson, nuking the camera feed from orbit.
Aster finished the negotiation with the Johnson in the van, securing more nuyen for what was clearly an extremely dangerous assignment.
The Plan
From conversation with the Johnson and some quick matrix searching, the team had a couple leads. Internal affairs was investigating HR platoon 7, fire squad blue. That was the most likely source of the leak. Internal affairs staff would know what happened. Whether fire squad blue was the source of the lake. If so, how they got one of the team members to turn. Which team member was compromised. What had happened to all four of them.
Zephyr helped supply key information from his memory of being a target of Ares internal affairs.
The head of internal affairs, Connie XX, proved to be absolutely careful in her social media. Zephyr remembered her as a relentless investigator. Stubborn. Incredibly sharp at counter-con. Not a good target for the runners to try to crack.
However, her second in command, Simone XX, had several advantages as a target. He was a male elf like Aster so an ideal target for social infiltration. Likewise, KBC and Rabbit discovered on the matrix that he had a gambling addiction. Occasional binges where he would be at the casino for several days.
The team put together a plan to lure him to the casino, gather the information and supplies to steal his identity, and interrogate him. If he had the information, that would get them the answers they needed. If he didn't, his identity and access would get them into Connie's files.