The Short Arm Of Crime
| The Short Arm Of Crime | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Factions Involved | |||||||||
| ShadowHaven | Black Chrysanthemum | ||||||||
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RC-45 Skimmer Flare Canis Grasshopper |
Huo Hui 8 49ers 2 Spirits Sniper Mr. Wu | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Huo Hui, 3 49ers | |||||||||
| Job was a setup from the start. | |||||||||
Summary
Mr. Wu, a Black Chrysanthemum J hires runners to assassinate his rival in the local triad organization. Unbeknownst to the runners, it was actually a setup: the Black Chrysanthemum had been paid by Tamanous to capture and/or kill Haven runners in response to the Haven severely hampering their operations, such as by destroying their organ farm in Aching & Festering.
Background
Tamanous has had their Seattle operations hampered or destroyed by the Haven, so they decided to pay the Black Chrysanthemum for some revenge (and more organs). This did not go well.
The Meet
Mr. Wu has the runners meet at a bar in Touristville, Redmond. He explains that his rival, Huo Hui, has cost him face and that he'd prefer Huo Hui's job besides. He asks the runners to kill his rival, but not any of the 49ers, offering 30k nuyen minus 4k nuyen for each 49er killed. The team accepts. They are given an incomplete dossier on the target that indicates that he has a Move by Wire system and cyberlimbs.
The Plan
Flare performs a Divination via a Guidance spirit and learns that going to the Mahjong Parlor where Huo Hui is located would be a bad decision. The team decide that they need to pull the target out of the parlor for anything to work. RC-45 hacks into the host of the building the parlor is in, and learns that the first 5 floors of this building are owned by the Black Chrysanthemum, and that Huo Hui isn't scheduled to leave the building for the next several days. However, RC-45 also learns that there is a 500 meter tunnel connecting the basement of this building (where the parlor is located) to a smaller apartment building in a slightly worse part of town. He goes in to hack that host, and discovers it's also owned by the Black Chrysanthemum, and they use it as housing for many of the 49ers. Flare sends a spirit through the building and into the tunnel, who says there aren't any astrally active forms down there. Also, during his matrix scouting, RC-45 discovers that the Triads have a technomancer on payroll as his overwatch score starts climbing scarily from the Complex Form Tattletale.
The team takes this information and decide to attempt to ambush Huo Hui in the smaller apartment building after drawing him out.
The Run
Grasshopper parks his van in the small alley way next to the apartment building, letting everyone out. Flare, Skimmer, and Canis attempt to sneak into the building after picking the lock on the side entrance while RC-45 and Grasshopper remain inside the vehicle for a quick getaway. RC-45 sends a spoofed message 'from' the receptionist to Huo Hui (who realizes it is a fake, beating the team's Forgery roll), and then another one in an attempt to draw him out. It works, though Huo Hui is ready for a fight. RC-45 uses the matrix action Jam Signals to spam the matrix airways, shutting off the Triad's commlinks and most other matrix devices.
The team in the basement of the apartment building wait uncomfortably for a few minutes, then suddenly the door from the first floor opens and a flashbang clatters down the stairs. Que combat. Skimmer goes first and manages to shoot the guy who dropped the grenade, then he jumps on it to protect his team. He also spots 4 49ers on the first floor. Flare's spirits report that they have company - a Force 7 Earth Spirit and a Force 6 Guidance Spirit have entered the basement and start attacking her spirits. Meanwhile, the door to the tunnel opens and 4 more 49ers rush out of the tunnel and begin attacking the team, Canis and Skimmer specifically. Then there's the sniper from down the tunnel taking pot-shots. The team is understandably worried.
Grasshopper notices that an unmarked van full of 49ers and Huo Hui has been coming towards their location from the building containing the Mahjong Parlor. During the fight, he swaps to a drone he's had scouting the area and manages to take out the battery of that vehicle, much to Huo Hui's anger. He gets out of the car and starts sprinting towards the apartment building, taking a single shot at Grasshopper's van on his way in (which almost destroys it completely). Meanwhile, inside, Flare's spirits have been holding off the Force 7 and Force 6 opposition spirits while Flare herself works on hampering the sight-lines of the sniper (closing the door, throwing up illusions, and the like). Skimmer and Canis are fighting tooth and nail with the 49ers, and manage to drop 3 of them without taking too much damage themselves. Eventually Huo Hui arrives in the building, on combat turn 2.
Once he arrives, the 49ers start gathering behind him in the basement, preparing for some big AoE attack. Flare comes in clutch with a Swarm spell dropping all of the Black Chrysanthemum's initiatives so they only get a couple more attacks off, and Canis and Skimmer focus fire on Huo Hui, despite his 12 hits on a Flechette Suppressive Fire. He goes down, and the 49ers and the spirits break. The technomancer dropped offline the exact moment Huo Hui died, RC-45 and Canis note. The runners grab their spent clips and Skimmer puts 10 more bullets into Huo Hui, just to be sure. Then they run up to Grasshopper's vehicle, who manages to drive away without KE attention despite the fact that two of his tires are missing and the front bumper is scrapping on the road (in addition to all the flecks of chrome flechette coming out of it).
Aftermath
The team attempts to call Mr. Wu, and they get a 'This Number Is No Longer In Service' automated message, and realize they've been set up. The runners are angry and begin to plot some revenge...
Ru Xiao has taken notice of RC-45's skills, and offers him some extra rewards... with no strings attached, I'm sure.
Rewards
- 4k nuyen from paydata on the Black Chrysanthemum - 2 RVP
- +1 Street Cred - 1 RVP
- 14 karma - 14 RVP
- 8 CDP - 3 RVP
- -40 Black Chrysanthemum
- Ru Xiao Connection 4 88s White Paper Fan at Loyalty 3 for -6 RVP (gotta take this one)
- Ascension Rewards from the 88s who want to use RC-45 in their ongoing hostilities against the Black Chrysanthemum for up to -5 RVP
- Silence Is Golden for -9 RVP (optional)
- Silence Is Golden for -9 RVP (optional)
- Silence Is Golden for -9 RVP (optional)
Game Quotes
Player After Action Reports (AARs)
Skimmer
"Who knew doing a good deed would one day turn around and try to bite your hand... I knew Tamanous was a bad egg right from the get go. Organ Leggers and Farmers, they are the worst of the worst, preying on people for not only their 'ware, but their flesh and bone as well. I don't mind that they hate me, and if they want to take me out they can go ahead and try. Try and die."
Canis
Well, this was a fraggy drekshow. I think we should blacklist the Black Chrysanthemum triads from using Haven, since they're so willing to double cross us.
Grasshopper
Dragged into a hit on someone again... I think I might need a new fixer. Made it out alive but one of the triad goons near totalled my van. At a minimum going to give any future triad work a second look. I don't mind doing dirty work, but getting used for dirty work and shorted on the pay. Somethings just aren't professional.