Horizon Presents: Drone Wars
| Horizon Presents: Drone Wars | |||||||||
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| ShadowHaven | Major Corp Universal Omnitech | ||||||||
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Canter Dr. Lollipop Grasshopper Marie Miller |
Character1 Character2 | ||||||||
Summary
Went to a Drone wars tournament held in the horizon studios, joined in and fought other riggers in an arena.
Background
Horizon wants to launch a new combat reality show on their Horizon Family network. Unable to show real people being shot on children's television, they decide to have drones fight for the amusement of the masses. They bring Karon Khaos, a former Trideo Host and ageing producer out to host it - and then network execs realise that the Horizon Academy Rigger All-Stars getting brain damage on live trideo might not be a good idea. Instead, they call in a group of runners. They also invite several corporations to enter teams, as part of a co-branded advertising push.
The Meet
The Runners meet Karon Khaos, the host of the show, in a dingy meeting room at Horizon Studios Seattle. They agree to compete, are informed of the rules, and sign a waiver. Each of them goes a code name: Canter as the Magnificent Mare, Dr. Lollipop as Doctor Steel, Grasshopper as Pizza Joe, and Maire as the Mysterious Stranger. Canter is decides the team name by default after no one else offers up an idea, and so the Runners are entered as the 'Mustangs'.
The Plan
The runners decide not to cheet, until before the final round where they sneak a look at the opposition - Canter's task spirit then tags it. The team also decided to intentionally antagonize the other teams, making them HATE Canter.
The Run
The Runners faced three rounds of opponents, and eventually merged victorious over all of them.
Round one was the Runners vs the Hellhounds, who used dog-like drones heavily modded for combat and armed with flamethrowers and monowhips. It was a tough fight, but the runners were just too hard to hit for the SK riggers.
Round two found the Runners facing the Laser Swarm, a group of Ares riggers using large flying drones with prototype gravity armour tech and laser cannons. Though they were tougher than the Hellhounds, and packed a punch, this fight was short and brutal.
Round three was the Runners vs a Prototype Horizon Spider Tank Drone. Manned by four riggers, this drone was armed with two plasma cannons, two repeating lasers, and two under-barrel grenade launchers. Its armour was not yet final, leaving its gravity armour generator exposed. Canter taunted them and drew fire, while Marie supposed the drone and Dr Lollipop and Grasshopper provided defensive EW and sniper fire. Eventually, after a trap disabled Canter's drone, Dr Lollipop disabled the gravity armour generator and then destroyed the weakspot.
Aftermath
The first episode of Drone Wars was a roaring success, and Karon Khaos got his promotion and leonisation treatment, returning him to his glory days. At least physically. Whilst subsequent episodes featured less cutting edge tech, and fans demanded the return of the Mustangs all season, it would close out its first season to strong ratings in the Seattle, Salish-Sidhe Council, and Californian markets. It would also be exported to Japan and Germany, where it enjoyed considerable success.
Joe, the pizza delivery guy Grasshopper based his disguise on, rode "his" appearance on the show to a media and acting career, starring in trid film about his alleged life a year later.
The Hellhounds and Laser Swarm were docked the cost of drone repair and travel for their failure, and after the disappearance of the Hellhounds' leader rumours spread in fan circles that he was eaten by Lofwyr.
Rewards
- 16 Karma OR 32,000 nuyen (16RVP) - if you take the nuyen, you are laundering the charity money to yourself.
- 56,000 nuyen of Drones/Drone Upgrades. (14 RVP).
- +5 Horizon Rep
- 2 CDP as usual