Good Omens
| Good Omens | ||||||||||
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| Factions Involved | ||||||||||
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ShadowHaven Agamemnon | Vanguard | Ancients | ||||||||
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Angel Devil |
Ganger Driver Ganger Shooter |
Ganger Biker Ganger Lookout | ||||||||
Summary
In which Angel and Devil work together to recover their fixer's stolen goods.
Background
In The Full Moon Makes the Flowers Bloom, Agamemnon lost a shipment of renfield precursors provided to him by his associates in the Yellow Lotus triad, which were stolen by Lingchi and Misfire for the Red Vory. The Vory in turn has been using a proxy gang of theirs, the Vanguard (because they guard vans, get it?) to deliver the stolen goods to various buyers, which Agamemnon learned following the interrogation of a street level soldier. Eager to get his rare magical supplies back, he hires a pair of new runners to do the job.
The Meet
Angel and Devil are at their shared home in Touristville when they receive a shared call from Agamemnon, who has recently gotten them admitted to the Haven's network. Eager for work, they pick up quickly and listen to his pitch, asking a few clerifying questions about who they're going to be pissing off but ultimately accepting his offer of several thousand nuyen worth of cash and supplies for a night's work (girls really do be moving up in the world). Sending them the location for a bar called Silver Linings in Loveland, he tells them that the Vanguard are supposed to deliver his package to a drop-off with the Ancients tonight, who in turn will bring it to the Laesa and make it disappear into the shadows for good - their task is to prevent that from happening with as little unnecessary bloodshed as possible, so as to avoid getting drawn into the A's latest gangland war. With their task given to them, the pair begin planning their approach.
The Plan
While Devil calls Angi Harris and negotiates a reasonable price for her taxi service to Loveland and for to be on-hand as a getaway driver, Angel hits the Matrix and looks up mapsofts of the surrounding area, finding that it's mostly dominated by elevated highways with street level roads below. Knowing the drugs will be coming from Tacoma to the north, she identifies several potential avenues of approach and discerns that the couriers are likely to use a smuggler's route to keep the Ancients from simply nabbing the cargo from them en-route. Since this precaution all but precludes setting up an ambush en-route in advance, they decide to scout out the bar itself to look for suitable vantage points.
In Loveland, the pair manage to mostly blend in with the crowds, hiding their gun bag with an invisibility spell while scoping out the intersection that Silver Linings sits at. They find three suitable nearby vantage points - a tall coffin motel, a business complex, and a cellular communications tower. Noting that the business complex contains several zaibatsus which it's safe to presume are Yakuza fronts, they decide to use this as their staging ground, rightly considering that it will be the hardest for their enemies to access in a timely manner and that they may assume that this was a Yakuza-funded hit job. Angel ~~summons a spirit~~ manifests a thought-form to conceal the pair and carry her to the roof, while Devil turns the both of them invisible and augments her partner's agility with magic before moving to a concealed position in the alley outside of the bar.
The Run
While waiting for midnight and the appointed meeting time, the pair spend a bit of time chatting over comms - both about their plan of attack and plans for the future once they finally have a bit of money. The conversation is interrupted by the arrival of a razorelf with cybernetically-augmented senses from inside Silver Linings, who takes a lazy, distracted patrol of the perimeter. Devil ends up making enough noise to attract their attention to her hiding spot, however they fail to pierce through the invisibility spell - thinking quickly, she uses a trid phantasm to make an illusionary mouse crawl out from behind the dumpster, attracting the attention of a nearby alley cat and distracting the sentry from investigating further.
When the hour arrives, the sniper and the spotter together manage to spy out the GMC Bulldog being screened by Yamaha Growlers as the ganger convoy approaches the bar from down a side street. Having set up the perfect angle for a crossfire maneuver, Devil gives Angel some direction and with her spotter's aid the sniper puts a subsonic round through the van's axle; thanks to the rifle's suppressor and the spirit's concealment, the shot goes undetected by the Vanguard's sensor array and takes them by surprise. The observing Ancients however manage to track the path of the second round, which takes down one of the escorts (their buddy drags them behind the now-stopped van to stabilize them, while the driver takes cover and reports that they're being shot at by a sniper).
Devil continues giving spotting advice while invisibly (and surprisingly stealth-fully) making her way to the truck - she attempts to use an illusion to give the impression that there's a second shooter, however the use of magic alerts the perceptive razorelf that there's magic afoot, leading them to call for spirit backup before hopping onto a bike with another el; Angel meanwhile continues taking down Vanguard members, who proceed to take cover as they try to pinpoint her position and keep their wounded fellows alive. The Ancients on the bike proceed to speed towards her position, employing gecko tip tires to drive up the side of the building to the roof. Angel has her tulpa use movement on her and quickly makes for the fire escape, though the elves hear her running for it and attempt to catch up.
Noting that her partner is in a tough spot, Devil identifies the razorelf's commcode and calls them, saying they're merely after stolen goods and have no beef with the elves - a tied negotiation check helps the elf to catch on quick, and they propose leaving half the drugs (the crimson orchid and pixie dust) and taking what they came for. Devil proceeds to leave half the crimson orchid and pixie dust, hoping they don't have an exact amount, snatching up the rest (including Agamemnon's package) from the back of the truck and beating a quick retreat while Angel uses the distraction to leap off the fire escape while her psychokinetic helper cushions her fall, then zooms off into the night.
Aftermath
Meeting up a few blocks away, the pair celebrate their success and get a ride from Angi to the nearby Sleeping Sun mahjong parlor, where Agamemnon's ghoul goon is waiting for them. Measuring out the stolen drugs, the ghoon offers cash and trade to the pair as well as her boss' congratulations on a job well done and promise of a future favor. Angel declines an offer of blood and essence to settle accounts, while Devil requests a set of magical lodge materials to help protect her partner from errant spirits while she sleeps.
Rewards
10,000 nuyen
3 karma
10 CDP
+1 chip on Agamemnon
Optional Gear Reward: Awakened drugs, dark magic goods and electronics equipment @ 2:1
Initiation ordeal discount
Narrative Consequences:
-Agamemnon gets back the stolen magical ingredients for his renfield production - hooray!
-The Red Vory believe that a Yakuza sniper squad shot at their couriers and stole their goods; the Ancients are aware it was runners, but decide to keep quiet in exchange for a cut of the loot.
Player After Action Reports (AARs)
Devil - Smooth from start to finish. Angel was able to get into a good position, from which I was able to guide her fire onto targets of priority. Spells to keep the gangers on the back foot, quick negotiations from a position of strength over the other gang to ensure we successfully exfiltrated - this was by the book, or at least as by the book as a two soldier operation can be. I need to look into methods of improving battlefield control beyond my current abilities.