Casino Royale
| Casino Royale | ||||||||||
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| Factions Involved | ||||||||||
| ShadowHaven | Mirage Casino | The Mojave Desert | ||||||||
| Zenith | Sidewinder | Zenith's Ego | ||||||||
Summary
In which Zenith goes to Vegas and experiences the glory of the big city to hunt down clues about his missing wife.
Background
After the events of The Sound of Her Voice Zenith found out that there was a runner in Las Vegas by the name of Sidewinder who might have information regarding the strange game that his wife and daughter are caught up in thanks to Countess O'Cathalàin. Zenith has spent the last several weeks preparing for this trip and hoping to confront Sidewinder without violence in the hopes of getting some solid answers.
Meet Me in Las Vegas
Zenith, after finally coming home from a few days of laying low in the Ork Underground, finds his new home in Fort Lewis quiet, with both Harriot and Shine missing. He texts his daughter, learning that she's with Gabriella and that it will be about an hour until she's home. He makes some gyoza as a snack and packs up a few bags with essentials for travelling.
When Harriot comes back, he moves down to the kitchen and the two discuss things, such as how she felt about finding out that Zenith and Shine were dating, as well as letting her know that he had to go out of town for a few days so that he could track down a lead on her mother. Zenith also divulges more about his work, explaining that he is mainly used as a Breaking and Entering expert, keeping his wetwork expertise a secret. He tells her that he'll call her as soon as he's able, and she offers to compile and register a courier sprite so that they're able to talk discretely over distance.
Thankful to his daughter, Zenith gives her a hug and tells her that he loves her, finishes packing and heads out towards the middle of the night to take a moment to call Amrei Viedt who he asked to come meet with the Dog Soldiers that Argent has facilitated his travel to Boise through. The Dogs get Zenith out of the city easily enough, though they run into some trouble at the border into Boise and are forced to hide out in the forest until the drones and watchers leave the area. Zenith is dropped off in Boise and heads across town to the meeting point with the Koshari syndicate. The Koshari are silent but efficient smugglers, and able to get to Vegas without much more issue.
Giving his appreciation to the Koshari, and letting them know that he'll contact them when he needs to exfiltrate, the adept heads down the strip, pretending to be a small-town tourist in the big city. He headed away from the strip, heading up north and finding a No-Tell Motel where he can store his gear. Deciding to stay as tourist-casual as he can, Zenith leaves the motel and heads back to the strip, calling up Highrise, a mafia fixer that Argent said could help him figure out the next steps for. The fixer tells Zenith to come to The Flamingo, a luxury casino on the strip that the runner quickly makes his way to. Unfortunately for the perpetually disheveled Zenith, the Flamingo has a dress code and an armored jacket and revolver do not suit it. After unsuccessfully arguing with the bouncer, but remembering that he was asked not to piss off the mafia and the fixer who has agreed to assist him, he instead goes and gets a Crimson Sky suit that he can wear into the club. Zenith is suitably uncomfortable with the luxury elements of the club, but eventually makes his way to one of the tables in the back where Highrise sits.
The Mafioso tells Zenith to sit and play a few games. The fixer inquires why a well-known assassin is in his city and if he plans on making trouble, to which Zenith responds no, that he's only there to have a conversation with Sidewinder, not interested in any sort of violence. Zenith asks about the security around The Mirage, where he's informed Sidewinder is a regular at their high roller tables. Highrise tells him that the Mirage is protected by some serious meat security, though due to the fact that the Mirage does not offer Matrix games, preferring to keep things old-school, perhaps their Matrix security is somewhat lacking. To that end, Zenith offers 14k to the fixer to find him a decent decker who can get into The Mirage's host. He also asks for the mafioso to somehow get his trusty Ruger Super Warhawk into the Mirage, and hesitantly hands it over to Highrise.
Before leaving the Flamingo, Zenith spots something odd, a shadowy figure smoking nearby in a non-smoking area, and when pointed out to Highrise, the mafioso cannot see them. Leading Zenith to believe they're some sort of invisible mage, but before being able to confront them, they disappear...
Before heading back to the North side of Vegas and his hotel, Zenith visits a tailor that he had recommendeded to him by Amrei and picks up a very nice Zoe Heritage 12 that he can use to raise himself to the Mirage's exacting standards.
Casino
The next day, Zenith gets dressed and prepares himself after a night of restless sleep, dreaming of his wife and the many shadows that haunt his psyche. The adept shakes off the demons and gets dressed, adding a cowboy hat and a duster to complete the cowboy tourist look. He leaves most of his gear behind and heads to The Mirage, heading towards the Strip from the North side of the city and running across the mysterious smoker near to an alley. Moving over to him, Zenith is unable to reach him before the figure goes into the alley and disappears. Ignoring the strange ghost after assensing the cigarette, Zenith arrives at the Mirage and gets in.
Starting by spending some time at lower end tables, Zenith begins to move around the casino floor, casing the joint so that he would know a way out if things went bad. Checking out the security and trying to guide any information about the high rollers. He finds someone that might be in a similar occupation and begins asking questions, getting some generic information, Zenith goes and spends 20k on chips as well at getting his Ruger from one of the side lockers thanks to Highrise. Before approaching the highroller elevator, Zenith takes another look around and finds Sarah Snow at one of the tables, doing novacoke and drinking vodka alongside her more composed husband Liam Montgomery. Zenith asks Sarah if she has any information about the highrollers, hoping to get some information on Sidewinder. The incorrigible lawyer does in fact have a list of the highrollers, many of whom Zenith is familiar with due to their association with the ShadowHaven, however the name Jackie Guerra stands out as being a regular at the highroller tables. When asking about her, Sarah simply mentions that she ran into a red-haired elf
The Run
Aftermath
Rewards
IG5 discount 4k nuyen in gambling winnings (Mirage chips) Nice Suits (Summit Series and Heritage 12) 5 karma 12 CDP Optional Quality: Sensei (Pistols) @ Chargen price Optional Quality: Mentor Spirit (Oracle) @ Chargen price A very awkward conversation