Fragile? It Must Be Italian! Part 1.1
| Fragile? It Must Be Italian! Part 1.1 | |||||||||
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| Part of Devil's Night | |||||||||
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| Factions Involved | |||||||||
| ShadowHaven | Aztechnology | ||||||||
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Sizzles Chameleon | Security Forces | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| None | None | ||||||||
Summary
The team embark on what seems to be a milk run, escorting an ork and a sizable certified credstick from Seattle to Thunder Bay. But supernatural killers are stalking the concrete streets of Thunder Bay at night, while Aztechnology security drones fly overhead and provide the city its peace at a non-negotiable price. And when their contact turns up missing, some hours north deep in the AMC forest, things take another turn towards the weird and dangerous…
Background
Diallo pulled an insurance scam on the same target the runners attacked for their Mr. Johnson, and in the ensuing firefight one of his hired gangers, a Red Rover by the name of Quentin, shot and killed a civilian driver on the freeway to stop their rolling cover from driving off. Feeling guilty and wanting to cleanse their conscience Diallo strips some illicit funds from one of his shell organizations and sends the chastised killer, Quentin, and the runners to go to the AMC to provide the money to the dead woman’s next of kin.
The Meet
Chameleon receives a call from a burner commlink, asking him if he’s interested in making a little scratch. Chameleon agrees to meet with the anonymous Mr. Johnson virtually, at the barebones Matrix address for the Bitter Lake Community Fund. He brings Sizzles around with him. A blank Persona explains the mission to them, promises to pay them a little bit from his personal funds for the troubles, and instructs them to meet with their charge at SeaTac Airport later that evening.
The Plan
Learning about some of the differences in law and culture between Seattle/UCAS and Thunder Bay/AMC, the team brings no weapons with them. They discuss how to handle the physical transfer of funds and their worries that the Ork they’re transporting, Quentin, might much up what should be an easy milk run.
The Run
Learning during the flight via Air Montezuma that there have been a series of seemingly coordinated and/or supernatural serial killings of Anglos in Thunder Bay, Chameleon and Sizzles devise a plan to disguise themselves as racially ambiguous individuals that could be mistaken for being ancestrally linked to some other Council or tribal nation. Their charge Quentin, being mixed race, is left as he is. They are thus cleverly able to evade a potentially dangerous confrontation.
The team evades any scrutiny or run-ins with the heavy-handed Aztechnology security forces that provide Thunder Bay its “policing” and “security.” When they discover that their target for contact has left for the wilds to go on a spiritual retreat to sooth his broken heart, they convince a community member to drive them north.
After a long (mildly triggering for Sizzles) drive into the AMC wilderness they discover their contacts campsite. His vehicle door open, site half-erect, with the Manitou elf laying face down in the dirt. The team rushes to his aid, are confronted by a strange horned bear, and make the very wise decision to not engage in combat with it. Instead they work through the challenge of communicating with it, discovering what it wants (an apology from the unconscious elf) and what had occurred at the campsite (the elf mistakenly fired his rifle at a horned bear cub in a distant tree, thinking it was a predatory cat)
The team makes peace with the horned bear, retrieving their injured contact, and returning him to safety for medical treatment. During the ride the emotional and financial exchange goes down and the team has a powerful, feel-good moment.
Aftermath
Quentin becomes a sworn blood-brother of Sizzles and Chameleon, bonded by trauma and their genuine kindness towards him. Diallo, and Quentin, both have their conscience cleared.
Rewards
9 RVP
Suggested Expenditure:
5,000 nuyen (2 RVP +1,000 from Negotiations)
Optional Contact:
Quentin Alvarez (Connection 1/Loyalty 6)
Suggested Knowledge Skill (via CDP): Parazoology
Game Quotes
Player After Action Reports (AARs)
Chameleon. "I can't believe I walked up to that Bear. Another wild time in the shadows. Sometimes the shadows seems more like the old Twilight Zone 2D show. It started simply enough; a simple escort job, quick in quick out. Then we hear about the serial murders. Not a problem, an hour with the cosmetics turning Sizzles' skin from the color of mayonnaise to the color of spoiled mayonnaise and we're good to travel. Target not home eh? Couple of hours to the sweat lodge eh? Of Course. Oh well, what's another 2 hour bumpy ride into the boondocks. Then there is that effing bear standing over the target. No one died but my underwear will never be the same. Quentin will never be the same either, what a transformed ork! I'm gonna keep an eye on him for a while..."