Throwing Shade
| Throwing Shade | ||||||||||
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| Factions Involved | ||||||||||
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ShadowHaven Laesa Syndicate | Crimson Orphans | Ghost Cartels | ||||||||
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Apex Duchess Fed Up Mara Sanjuro | A decker and some IC | 6 limousines worth of troops, including magical and matrix specialists | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | ||||||||||
| None | None | All of the above | ||||||||
Summary
The runners are hired to allow the Laesa to take over a drug syndacate without destroying it. Easier said then done
Background
Recently a new player has appeared in Loveland. Calling themself the "Crimson Orphans", this organisation operates in drug smuggling and commerce, the same niche the Laesa Syndicate works in. Argent is interested in expanding his organisation by incorporating these newcomers inside the already existing structures of power of the Laesa, but to do that they need to bring the organisation to its knees hard enough that they are willing to accept a new manager, but not hard enough to not allow them to recover and return to business
The Meet
The meet was in a bar in Loveland, weirdly enough an actually nice place, rather then the stereotypical sketchy shadow place. All of the characters show up at different times and with different receptions, with Mara and Duchess blending in seamlessly, while Apex, Sanjuro and Fed Up have an harder time not sticking out, for being a nevrotic wreck, a troll in a straw hat and high on hallucinatory substances (that were secretly put in his meal at a Taco Temple) respectively. After a quick chat over DNI, and seeing that the Johnson, Argent, appears to be conected to the Laesa and is thus most likely biased towards elves, it is decided that Duchess shall be the negotiator for the team. The J explains the situation without omitting details, and appears to be willingly to pay 10k nuyens each for the job. Duchess quickly dismisses it as way too little for the intended job, and attempts to negotiate for up to 18k, but in a very poorly thought and executed attempt at supporting her in the negotiantion, Sanjuro spills her chocolate milk on the Johnson while bragging about the enemies being no mach for her, effectively killing off all chances of a significantly higher payday. Still, Argent is willing to give 12k baseline, plus a bonus in case paydata that could help rebuilding and expanding the Crimson Orphans networks is retrieved.
The Plan
After talking to their contacts, Duchess and Mara discover why the Orphans have been able to expand so rapidly, and where their drugs come from. It appears that they have an ongoing partnership with the Ghost Cartels, that are investing into them as a sort of subsidary to expand their influence over the Seattle sprawl. With this knowledge, and a deep understanding of how crime syndicates operate, and having info on the Mr Hernandez of the Cartels retrieved from the Orphan's host, Duchess, with imputs from FedUp and Mara formulates a four points plan: 1) Obtain control over the Orphans' leader's commlink (or deck or RCC), and use it to send an invitation to the Hernandez, to re-discuss the terms of the partnership in relation of a recent matrix attack they received the day before 2) Link the number of a burner commlink, to both keep the Orphans unaware of the plan and have a piece of evidence to leave behind 3) Ambush the Hernandez and their escort, killing them and leaving the above burner link on the scene, to frame the Crimson Orphans for the attacks 4) The Laesa would then step in to offer protection to the Orphans, in order to shield them form the wrath of the Ghost Cartels, and in due time, assimilate them
The Run
Before the actual execution of the plan, some info was to be gathered, so Fed Up and Apex drove to outside the gang's hideout. While Apex did their thing in the host, Fed Up was in the DNI chanel, ready to turn on the electromagnetic shielding on his car to forcibly dumpshock Apex at a moment's notice. After some sneaking, getting spotted by and quickly (nonlethally) getting rid of both the gang's spider and their IC, Apex was able to get two pieces of paydata, the first being a detailed log on where and when the drugs were delievered to each of the safehouses, and the second being the contact of the Ghost Cartel's Hernandez. Being dangerously near OS 40, Apex took advantage of the support of the wheelman, and was dumped out safely. With this data, the ambush was set up in a discreet location, originally hoping for only the H to be present, but it was clear that there were reinfrocements, and that the cartels were expecting a fight. Still, with Sanjuro's formidable skills and thermite arrows, and everyone else's contriution, the battle was over quickly, with zero losses for the runner team
Aftermath
The burner commlink was placed and left behind, and in the days following the events it was clear that the plan worked, and the Laesa quickly moved in to acquire their new sub-operation. The data retrieved was considered important enough to warrant a 2k bonus on everyone's reward.
Rewards
14k nuyens, with up to 4k of them being usable to buy awakened drugs at half price. 4 karma 2 CDP +2 Laesa reputation Chance to gain Argent as a contact
Player After Action Reports (AARs)
Apex: "Wow! My first run as a member of the Haven! I must say I was surprised by the professionalism of my, well, some of my colleagues. And while disappointingly easy, my attack on the Crimson Orphan's host gave quite a bit of insight on how local ganger's matrix security is arranged"
Duchess: The only thing more sublime than a well-executed plan, is one of *my* well executed plans. Bless Sanjuro, she has a good heart but no head and yet an exquisite array of destructive capability nonetheless. Among my team-mates, all save Fed-Up were unknown to me. The ambush itself was well-executed, though resistance was somewhat tougher than expected. There were a few alarming moments, but there are six less cartel-members in the world and a new distribution network safely in the hands of firm Ancient's allies.
I do believe one feels rather smug.
Sanjuro: “Yeah! There were a lot of elves and they did their planning stuff and then I set some cars on fire! Yeah! I mean they were like … bad guys! So it’s okay! Right?”
Mara
Well, now, this was perhaps more along the lines of the illustration of the shadows provided in the trids. Looking back on the situation, I can't say that I'm proud of it. Certainly this Hernandez and his goons, either in the employ of Aztechnology, Aztlan or the ghost cartels (as likely as not all three) was not a good person, but I hardly think that gave us carte blanche to plan their murder. That is however exactly as the job went. I don't think that I will be keen to go along with a plan with so much intrinsic violence on behalf of other violent individuals again. It's not that I regret their deaths, I simply saw another way.
- Duchess - The architect of our little plan. She appears to be affiliated with the Ancients and very much in that mindset. Wily, social and clever. Doubtless her life has been shaped by violence similar to what was enacted, so I can't say that I blame her in that regard.
- Apex - Capable matrix operator. In the vein of so many VR operatives, it appears that their dive into the opposing host went a bit loud. I admit I have no idea how hard these things are to pull off in a discrete matter. At the very least she came out on top and without calling destruction down upon us.
- Fed Up - The rigger on the job seemed put together enough. I'm not sure that he was armed with more than oil and rubber, but he made good on reconnaissance and making sure that our prey did not escape.
- Sanjuro - A street Samurai with ancient weapons. Used a bow and a blade. It would be refreshing, if she were not so eager to simply kill without much regard for the consequences. Utterly capable when steered properly.