The Gambian
| The Gambian | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of The Metroplex Governor Race of '84 | |||||||||
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| Factions Involved | |||||||||
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ShadowHaven New Century Party | Cult of the Gambian | ||||||||
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Chameleon Ka$hious Sizzles Thunder |
The Gambian Gambian Cultists | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| None | None | ||||||||
Summary
The New Century Party sees an opportunity in the Seattle Metroplex Gubernatorial election as the front runners are stumbling in the last stretch of the race. Sensing their chance the federal UCAS party is going all-in, flooding nuyen and staff into the Metroplex to give a final push. But with political neophytes flooding Seattle, dangers and opportunities for political embarrassment abound.
Background
Hassan Bahreini, the visiting Youth Chair for the DeeCee NCP, has been tasked with creating PR opportunities for the party and creating new enthusiasm amongst young SINned voters. Unfortunately a committee under his responsibility (but unwilling to listen to reason) is deploying a project into the lawless lands of the Rats Nest to create automated greenhouse pods for the locals. Unable to purchase their protection from a final mysterious group, Hassan turns to the local shadow talent to help purchase safe passage for the NCP students…or eliminate the threats on the ground.
The Meet
The team is contacted directly by Hassan, who invites them all to a large political rally in Puyallup City. The event is being held to provide services to the SINless (medical, food access) and to encourage them to register for SIN ownership. There is a large Knight Errant presence (having been embarrassed repeatedly with security failures during the election in recent days) so the team proceeds carefully. Once at the rally Hassan meets them, explaining his situation. The team will have over a week to pull off whatever plan they can come up with. He offers them the money he has budgeted, the team pushes for more, and Ka$hious runs laps around him in Negotiations. Having barely any discretionary funding left he offers to serve as an intermediary to connect them to others in his political network. The team agrees, and leaves to make their plans.
The Plan
Sizzles jumps into the Matrix to do legwork. They discover that the specific area of the Rats Nest that the NCP students selected is home to a small, isolated, but dangerous cult following an entity known as The Gambian. Delving deeper Sizzles discovers that The Gambian is actually a Euro runner, Black Death, who went missing years back. They were presumed dead after a failed run against MCT. There are rumours he uncovers that suggests that The Gambian escaped, carrying some sort of prototype ‘ware and/or an infection. MCT put out a bounty that has never been claimed.
The team tracks down an old running mate that has long retired, Der Opa, who runs a boutique timepiece shop in Seattle. Thunder uses his shared German connection and brings good German beer and peanuts, making a great impression. The team learns from Der Opa that The Gambian was a very powerful combat mage and is now an unstable Headcase with multiple personalities fighting for control.
Ka$hious realizes she has a good contact who is a nano-expert, and after contacting them they realize that The Gambian might be curable.
The team decides they will try the following in order of attempts:
1) Have Ka$hious convince The Gambian to willingly come in for treatment.
2) Knock out The Gambian if he refuses and/or attacks Ka$hious and try to bring him in.
3) Call in the bounty with MCT and hope that MCT takes care of the problem without making the area even more dangerous and unstable.
The Run
The team suits up in their best cheamsealed armor suits and prepare to travel to the specific area of the Rats Nest. Sizzles brings his Crashcart, Ka$hious goes in looking like a million bucks as she is wont to do, feeling secure that her contact Dr. Jude Hanson can treat an early onset CFD infection. Thunder has a special nano-serum coated arrow that ought to disable The Gambian, and Chameleon is going as support.
They make their way through the toxic hills of refuse and discover the trash-ziggurat. Inside The Gambian sits throned atop a hill of garbage, a living rat king scratching and clawing at the dermal deposits atop his brow.
Everyone successfully sneaks into place. Thunder readies an arrow strike. Ka$hious starts spending Edge, rolling Etiquette to approach safely, and then Negotiation after Negotiation against the myriad and volatile personalities inside The Gambian. Eventually she exhausts him and he agrees to return for treatment. Sedated and carried back, Dr. Hanson is able to start treatments and feels good about The Gambian’s chances at “recovery”...though what that means exactly, is anyone’s guess.
Aftermath
Feeling accomplished, the team calls Hassan who is overjoyed. The students will be able to set up their charity project and the New Century Party is going to get fantastic humanitarian coverage at just the right time!
Rewards
10,000 Nuyen (5 RVP) (+2,500 from Negotiations)
5 Karma (5 RVP)
12 CDP (6 RVP)
Optional Contacts:
Der Opa (Retired Bavarian Runner & Fixer) (Connection 6/Loyalty 1) (12 CDP COST)
Dr. Jude Hanson (Nanocyberneticist) (Connection 4/Loyalty 3) (12 CDP COST)
Hassan Bahreini (NCP Federal Youth Chair) (Connection 4/Loyalty 1) (FREE FROM NEGOTIATION)
Note: (Ka$hious may increase her Loyalty for Dr. Hanson from Loyalty 3 to 4 at half cost. Thunder may take Der Opa up to Loyalty 3 from this mission reward.)
Game Quotes
Player After Action Reports (AARs)
Thunder: I received a call from the principal, a sleazy politician named Hasan from DC who'd rallied up a whole bunch of college student supporters but not cared to mentor them. So, those rich kids decided to do some philanthropy work in the deadliest parts of Seattle. Johnson was worried about his reputation and career as a politician, should anything happen to those students during the planned event. The likelihood of casualties was very high. So, he hired us to negotiate safe passage and event with the local gang. The gang turned out to be a cult. lead by a dangerous infected troll who called himself the Gambian.
Prepared for a violent extraction of The Gambian, the cult leader, we managed with the charm of Ka$h to convince both The Gambian and his parasites to come with us to a specialized doctor who would improve both of their states.
Having prepared and expected major violence, we feel happy and lucky to have saved The Gambian's soul and possibly many students who might have become infected and part of the cult if we hadn't acted.
Succeeding with a job like this makes me proud to be a Shadow-runner.
Chameleon: This wasn't the political run I was expecting. It's a good thing that the team worked together really well...what a corporate suit would call synergy. Legwork went well with Sizzles making the electrons dance, Ka$h charming the peeps in person and Thunder translating the Bavarian gnome. When Thunder jacked up Ka$h's charisma to the point that she made Helen of Troy look like a skank, I was hopeful that social engineering would work. When she persuaded the Gambian to come in for treatment I was elated. Then another personality fragment emerged for another round of negotiation and persuasion and I thought we were fragged. Ka$h did it a second time! Wowza. Best of all she didn't try to kill me on this run.