The Virgin Affair
| The Virgin Affair | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of The Metroplex Governor Race of '84 Part of It's a Small Underworld After All | ||||||||||
Scenic St. Croix | ||||||||||
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| Factions Involved | ||||||||||
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ShadowHaven KSAF | Zobop | Republican Party | ||||||||
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Bwyell Waedlyd P23 Runner3 Runner4 |
Houngan Haitian Thugs x3 | Hired Assassins | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | ||||||||||
| None | None | None | ||||||||
Summary
A new, young, and ambitious KSAF freelancer (Keisha Jackson) is working on an expose on Kassandra Hemmingway. She has a juicy lead but needs a primary source to verify it and the only one she can find is a disgraced and retired old man, living off the kindness of strangers in a liminal state of exile on the island of St. Thomas in the (formerly UCAS) Virgin Islands. But given the damage the story could do, she decides she should bring along some professional help...
Background
UCAS Army Colonel Joseph Hodges, a native of the US Virgin Islands, was named Adjutant-General of the islands in 2057 during the Virgin Affair.
Ordered by the White House to impose martial law, it was the Adjutant-General's doomed task to hold the last remaining UCAS Overseas Territory for as long as possible in the face of both a local revolution and a Caribbean League blockade. The UCAS government struggled to craft an agreement with the Caribbean League to allow for the safe passage from port of the Biden, an Ernest J. King-class supercarrier trapped at the UCAS naval base at St. Croix. Ultimately all efforts failed, the Biden was scuttled, and 312 civilians who swarmed the naval base were killed or wounded during the final troop withdrawal.
Blamed for the failure and vilified both on the islands and back in the UCAS, Joseph Hodges languished in obscurity in the Caribbean League. At least, until a KSAF reporter came knocking about a certain Sergeant Major Hemmingway that served under his command during the Virgin Affair...
The Meet
Keisha Jackson, the KSAF freelancer, met Bwyell and P23 at the long-term parking facility at the Sea-Tac Airport. After explaining her situation and discussing payment, Keisha agreed to transport their less-than-legal equipment via freight to the Virgin Islands. St. Thomas, their destination, is a nearly wholly-owned Horizon domain so they'll have to be careful upon arrival. Thankfully for Bwyell their flight is going to be a semi-ballistic, so there will be no manasphere problems for her Vaults of Ages.
The Plan
Keisha Jackson decides to catch a few hours of sleep when they arrive and then go knock on the target's door in the morning. Bwyell and P23 decide they'll scope out the place that night, heading to the bar and club. Bwyell spots a suspicious trio who appear to be of Haitian extraction and upon assenssing, she decides they may be opposition for their mission. The plan becomes, at the beginning, to track these suspicious individuals and see if they mean their target any harm. If they don't, all the better, and they can proceed with the interview in the morning.
The Run
P23 befriends the bartender and decides to help him with a noise/rowdiness problem all the way at the other curved end of the bar/club. When she heads down she discovers her estranged brother, the Tir playboy fixer Elias Zehran. They have a tense exchange which includes Bwyell jumping into the fray and slapping a surprised Elias for his disrespect, and then a later sucker punch from P23 for the same. Though a Tir Paladin draws a weapon everything is able to cool down and ultimate Elias and P23 have a heart-to-heart moment.
Meanwhile, Bwyell tracks a fourth suspicious Haitian who has arrived. After convening with the other three he leaves again and Bwyell sneakily follows. P23, seeing what is happening, also joins the sneak parade. They follow the individual up into the resort and discover that he's entering the room of their target. After the person moves through the apartment and leaves, P23 stays to search the room. She deduces that something spooked their target into fleeing very suddenly, and the Haitians are trying to find him.
Meanwhile Bwyell tracks the man out into the hall and with no one near she attacked and incapacitated him. Binding and gagging him in a supply closet Bwyell took his ear piece and began to talk to the Haitians. She set up a meeting outdoors in the wee hours of the morning and with P23 sneaking up behind them with a gun, they made an arrangement: the Haitians would not call into their Zobop House to let them know they'd failed their mission, which would bring more heat down to St. Thomas. But in exchange, unable to go back without facing severe or even deadly consequences, they wanted help getting to Seattle. Bwyell made arrangements with TerraFirst! for them to find safe refuge and a new organization to serve.
The team cased the resort and discovered the long-term care manager, who oversaw the elderly retirees who lived full time at the resort. After pressing her she took them into an office and told them that she has been hiding Joseph Hodges on St. Croix, that he's staying with her wife and is being guarded by a handful of elderly but loyal former Virgin Island National Guards.
The team took a boat from St. Thomas to St. Croix, with Bwyell's alchemical infusions giving P23 temporary abilities to pilot that specific boat. They discover a big storm is coming and when they arrive they find the poorer, less-corporate island of St. Croix is shuttering up in anticipation. Racing to the house, they meet the old man. Joseph Hodges will continue to be in danger from Republican hired assailants so he agrees to return with them to Seattle and remain with a TerraFirst! cell. At least there he can tell them stories from a previous age, when the Earth was less damaged and abused than in 2084.
They raced back, got on a flight, and returned to the continent. Rerouted to Atlanta, P23 stayed to continue on with another job while Bwyell and Joseph Hodges flew back to Seattle.
Aftermath
Keisha Jackson published her scathing expose on Kassandra Hemmingway and those who were paying attention were very concerned indeed.
Rewards
“The Virgin Affair”
Medium TL - 13 RVP
6,000 Nuyen (3 RVP)
10 Karma (10 RVP)
(+2 Normal CDP)
Optional Contacts:
Elias Zenthra (Tir Hot Boi Noble Fixer)
https://shreloaded.net/wiki/Elias_Zenthra
Ret. Adjutant-General Joseph Hodge (Disgraced former UCAS Adjutant-General)
https://shreloaded.net/wiki/Ret._Adjutant-General_Joseph_Hodge
Keisha Jackson (KSAF Journalist)
https://shreloaded.net/wiki/Keisha_Jackson
NOTE: Paz can spend to take Elias at Loyalty 4.
Game Quotes
Player After Action Reports (AARs)
P23 "I... I wasn't ready for Elias to be there. Would've been a cakewalk job not for that. Really shook me up. Bwyell, though. She's impressive. Picked up all the slack while I was stunned and rocked this job.