Identifying Emerging Threats
| Identifying Emerging Threats | |||||||||
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| Factions Involved | |||||||||
| ShadowHaven | Steel Hearts Bounty Hunting Agency | ||||||||
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IRA3 No Significant Harassment SystemShock g01bez and 0-MUS | Trapper | ||||||||
Summary
G01bez and 0-MUS are being tailed by someone and need some shadow professionals to dox them. The runners do some fancy legwork, and then do some fancy footwork.
Background
0-MUS is a technomancer, which is great for cool Internet magic and terrible for not being hunted for the corporate bounty on her head. Though she herself keeps a low profile, her brother and fellow hacker g01bez nonetheless absorbs a lot of technomancy rumors on her behalf. Someone with a large orb weaver spider for a persona has been trailing him for the better part of a day now trying to catch him slip. Although spotted (and probably able to evade their stalker on his own), g01bez has thought it more prudent to instruct 0-MUS to recruit several runners to do the work for them. While he keeps their target preoccupied, the runners will be free to research, gather information, and ultimately trace their stalker's icon without scrutiny, leading to a much more thorough way to dissuade them, being able to knock on their front door.
The Meet
Ms. Johnson greets the runners at a small pub near the Downtown docks. After chatting with No Significant Harassment and complimenting the holo-drone they use to project themself into the meat world, the others arrive and business is discussed. 0-MUS describes the above scenario to the runners, though keeps her own status as a Technomancer hidden, instead insisting to the group that she has no idea why they might be getting followed. She tells them that the trace is all they need, and that the runners need not engage in actual combat. Her colleague will be leading the target into the host for Dante's Inferno at 8:00 that evening, leaving the runners with about an hour to prepare, should they so desire.
They do, of course - SystemShock, augmenting his abilities with the resonance and working together with the other runners IRA3 and No Significant Harassment, is able to find her life story in relatively short time. Based on her persona and the others' speculation that it's likely a white hat bounty hunter, based on their knowledge of those working the shadows, he is able to pinpoint a working name, an occupation, a place of employment, and finally, her actual, honest to god identity.
Their culprit is a licensed bounty hunter and decker named Trapper, née Candace Frakes. Formerly a trainee in the UCAS military's cybersecurity program, a mental breakdown during her training led to an honorable discharge, though with such a mark on her permanent record and SIN, any hope at security work of any clearance was lost. She instead turned to bounty hunting, and has been working with the Steel Hearts Bounty Hunting Agency since then - an independent organization gathering information and disseminating leads to various bounty hunters in the Seattle area, including those hunting infected, toxic mages, blood mages, and technomancers, while also facilitating handovers and payments with the various organizations involved.
Armed with this information, they're also able to find personal information on their target, however a quick search for camera footage of the appropriate addresses reveals that this information is not only old, but also out of date and inaccurate. Although they have good information, and are more prepared for the encounter ahead, it appears as though the plan hasn't changed.
The Plan
With pre-knowledge of where their target will likely be come 8:00, the crew make preparations to attend. Get into the club with a small persona change and a cover charge, and wait for their target to appear. Sleaze marks, trace their icon, and bolt before they're caught, their target preoccupied with g01bez and none the wiser.
The Run
And amazingly, things go mostly as planned! Mostly! With assistance from SystemShock, IRA3 sleazes two quick marks onto their target and begins running a trace on their icon - however, a near-miss watchdog attempt from No Significant Harassment leads to the target's transformed persona (a tall, lanky man with long dark hair, a deep black suit, and red pince-nez) to apparently become alert, glancing around the club. A quick scan of their persona reveals them to be running a Wrapper program, and IRA3 speculates that they may be utilizing a Wuxing Frequency that has caught onto someone's resonance signature.
Regardless of the reason, Trapper locks eyes with NSH, and moves to walk over to their persona. She demands to know why she was sleazing marks onto her, to which No Significant Harassment, contrary to their name, claims to just have wanted to get her attention. Trapper immediately dismisses that, and asks if they're "with the techno."
While this is happening, IRA3 completes her icon trace and seems to pinpoint the persona as originating in a decent part of Bellevue. With that information in place, and Trapper notably alert, IRA3 and SystemShock opt to log off and reboot to reset whatever overwatch score GOD might have pinned onto them. No Significant Harassment instead leaps backward to avoid a data spike from Trapper, a spider's silken web firing out from the sleeves of her suit. Their firewall holds firm for several attempts to linklock them until the others rejoin and each sleaze three marks onto Trapper. Furious, she glances toward g01bez sitting calmly at the bar, back to the crew, and mutters a curse under her breath before sinking into the floor and disappearing from the host. "Fucking shadowrunners..."
Aftermath
Shockingly, at no point during their confrontation were IC properly alerted to the actions of patrons. Nonetheless, the movements of their personas suspicious enough, a security spider in the form of a large demon approaches No Significant Harassment after to politely inform them that he has his eyes on them and their sleaze dongle. Job done, they safely blow him off.
As the group move to leave the host, they're stopped at the door by g01bez, dressed for the nightclub life with a large leather jacket, white mohawk, and black-knight's helmet. He tells the runners he owes them thanks for their help, and offers for them to call him up any time they need assistance as well.
Rewards
Run Rewards for Identifying Emerging Threats (Medium, 10 RVP)
- 6000 Nuyen (3 RVP)
- 4000 Nuyen (Negotiation)
- 5 Karma (5 RVP)
- 4 CDP (2 RVP)
- 2 CDP (Base)
- Trapper and the Steel Hearts Bounty Hunting Agency are aware of SystemShock's Persona and status as a Technomancer
Optional
- g01bez and 0-MUS at 2/2 (3 RVP)
- No Significant Harassment - Instinctive Hack at Chargen Rates (2 RVP)
Lotus receives 8 GMP for playing a pregen character (IRA3)
Game Quotes
Player After Action Reports (AARs)
“She had noting on me I styled on that spider so hard she rage quit. I kind of feel bad for her, didn't have a chance. I feel like working in Seattle is doing to be a lot of fun.”