Fragile It Must Be Italian
| Fragile It Must Be Italian | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Factions Involved | ||||||||||
| ShadowHaven | Federated Boeing | Red Rovers Gang | ||||||||
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Chameleon Sizzles Leader | Federated Boeing Shipping | Red Rovers Gangers | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | ||||||||||
| None | 3 Federated Boeing Shipping Agents | 4 Red Rover Gangers | ||||||||
Summary
Intra-corporate politics at its pettiest. Mr. Johnson, a lackey to a disgruntled mid-level Federated Boeing executive, hired the team to sabotage a birthday party held for his boss's rival's little girl. The mission? Hijack an armored Federated Boeing Shipping vehicle that contains the present before it can be delivered to the birthday party. Complications? None! Super straightforward until, the team discovers, they're not the only group looking jack the shipment...
Background
Charles Diallo is a young, talented, and ambitious fast-riser in Federated-Boeing. At 21 Diallo emerged out of the Ork Underground as the winner of Federated Boeing's new "Take Flight" equity talent search and now, not even 10 years later, Diallo remains on the fast-track. Racing up the corporate ladder with his sharp intellect, dazzling personal charisma and the constant underestimation on the part of his corporate rivals, Diallo has just won promotion to the highly coveted Senior Vice Presidency of Federated Boeing's Defense, Space & Security Division. But this last promotion has been a bridge too far for some in the company who resent Diallo's meteoric rise, unable to see his talent for Diallo's black skin and his ork tusks. A blue-blooded executive in Fed-Boeing's DSS Division, Harry Dovetree, has decided that enough is enough.
The Meet
The team meets with Mr. Johnson on a dark, stormy summer day at the Lake Youngs Hilton in Renton. In the bougie shopping mall that extends out and beneath Lake Youngs the team has coffee with Mr. Johnson who lays out his needs: hijack a shipment that is crossing the Pacific and make sure that the birthday gift inside never makes it to the party in Snohomish. Sniffing out that this Johnson is more comfortable taking coffee orders than organizing a criminal mission the team suspects, correctly, that the Johnson is an executive assistant for their real employer Harry Dovetree.
The Plan
The team decides that they'll devise a scheme to reroute the armored Federated Boeing Shipping vehicle to a location of their choosing in Snohomish. Through legwork and calling around with their contacts they discover that Charles Diallo is the target of their mission. Upon learning that Diallo's daughter has Downs Syndrome (a rarity in a world where those with the nuyen carefully weed through their children's genetics) and that Diallo is privately a chair of a national organization for the rights of people with Downs Syndrome, the team decides that they're going to do what they can to fulfil the terms of their mission and afterward return the gift to Diallo in hopes of currying favour and righting what feels like a moral wrong. Sizzles the Decker is to wait by the Fed-Boeing Airfield in Tacoma for the transport to leave, wherein he'll follow along, hack on the fly, and surreptitiously alter the final destination of the package to Chameleon and Leader's locations. Chameleon and Leader have acquired a Burner Sin, rented a transport van, and are waiting in disguise for the shipment to be rerouted.
The Run
Unfortunately for the team, about an hour into Sizzle's tailing the armored shipping vehicle he discovers that another group is also falling into careful pursuit: two Ford Americars with large men inside, AK-97s poorly concealed and at the ready. Sizzles contacts Leader and Chameleon to let them know they have competition. When it becomes clear that the two vehicles are preparing to attack once they enter the less aggressively patrolled Northern Downtown district of Bitter Lake, Sizzles calls Leader and Chameleon to abandon the plan and rush with all haste to intercept the vehicle.
Sizzles disables one of the cars via hacking, sending it pulling over and powering off to the side of the highway. Seeing their team cut in half the other vehicle races ahead of the armored vehicle. Too close for safety but rushing out of anxiety one of the opposition sends two C4 charges out and under the cab of the Fed-Boeing armored car. The detonation disintegrates most of the armored car's cab. The close proximity of the explosion nearly crashes Sizzle's car and causes the leader opposition vehicle to spin out.
With half the hijack team sprinting up the highway to join the fight, and Chameleon and Leader racing at full speed from the north, the highway explodes into a three-way gun battle. Feigning innocence Sizzles waits until he can line up a ram test and takes out two of the hijackers, pinning them into the back of the crashed armored car. Sizzles rushes into the armored car, rendering the last wounded Fed-Boeing Shipping guard unconscious, and races through the locked box storage containers looking for anything that might be a birthday present for a small child.
The remaining hijackers arrive on foot as Chameleon and Leader hit the scene, with Leader pulling off an impressive bike stunt to join the fray. Chameleon lays down suppressive fire, forcing the remaining hijackers to take cover behind a civilian's vehicle. Leader begins to pick them off one by one until, realizing that they are outmatched, the remaining hijackers rout and flee on foot. Finding the gift (an exquisite clock-work kitten) Sizzle and Chameleon and Leader beat a hasty retreat.
Aftermath
The team lies low. They receive the second half of their mission pay and then contact Mr. Diallo directly and explain, carefully, about what transpired on the day of his daughter's party. He agrees, seemingly amused, to meet with them at a location of their choosing. Afraid of being whacked they agree to meet at a ritzy public coffee shop in Snohomish, across the street from a playground for the well-to-do in the area. Diallo tells them that he'll forgive the disruption if they'll keep their find secret, and when they agree he explains: the hijacking wasn't random. He'd pulled connections with the Red Rovers to have them hijack the truck so that he could file an insurance claim on the priceless piece of art. And now, clockwork box in hand, he gets to have his cake and eat it too. The team suggests, gently, that they'd be up for working for Diallo to get some payback on Harry Dovetree. He tells them he'll be happy to take them up on their offer.
Rewards
13 RVP
Suggested: 10,000 Nuyen (5 RVP) 5 Karma (5 RVP)
Positive Quality Offer: Steely-Eyed Wheelman (Sizzles) Positive Quality Offer: Shoot First, Don't Ask Questions Later (Leader) Positive Quality Offer: Practice, Practice, Practice (Chameleon)
Contact Available: Charles Diallo (Connection 6)
Game Quotes
"Oh my god, are you okay?!" - Sizzles, faking sincerity, right before he shot the grievously wounded Federated Boeing guard in the forehead with a gel round.
"Oh man I've got a bunch of Novacoke in my pockets!" - Kazunori, playing the pre-gen Leader for the first time.
Player After Action Reports (AARs)
Chameleon "Seems like every day brings a mix of new and old. Had a chance to chat with Sizzles about Gunderson and finally worked with Leader, the muscle I've seen around The Daze. Sizzles hasn't changed much; still trying to prove that lucky is better than good...and it is until it isn't. Leader is a solid reliable runner. Alessa P arranged a good job for us. It was a rush job but legwork and planning worked. Until it didn't. As Sticks says 'Sometimes you just have to make everyone drop for a few seconds to make all the difference'. All in all a good day; made some money, made some friends, and helped a little girl have a happy birthday!"
Sizzles: "Decker's log: oh no, it's today. Sixteen gel rounds and about as many grey hairs netted me a clean ten K. My favorite coworker pulled me in for a job! That's nice. One worth serious cash, too. Gotta remember to remind him next time that when he's negotiating he's supposed to ask for _more money_. Back still hurts, chest still spongey, and my arms and legs look fucking wasted. I need some god-damn physical therapy. Also some stunt driving lessons, maybe. God, and a place to rest my head. Fuck me, god bless capitalism. Sometimes I almost miss home.
Met some new meat, who told me with a straight face that his callsign is 'Leader' - I couldn't stop myself from shooting my mouth off at that one. He didn't pop me one though, so I guess I managed that escalation ladder. Why not take "You're The Best" as your fucking callsign, good-ness.
The clunker is still going strong, managed to crack an actual sec unit commlink today - a little surprised it all went down easy. The respirator I picked up dockside turned out to be awfully handy, too. Still, it would have been nice to have some actual professional kit on this one - lack of vision enhancement is really cutting into information sharing with the team. Plan went totally sideways on this one - nothing played out as intended. Maybe next time I shouldn't be so quick to suggest we split up. A surveillance drone would be an awfully handy substitute for a classical stakeout. I hate hotboxing my own farts.
I miss the old squad.
Whatever, close log."