Journey Below
| Journey Below | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Factions Involved | |||||||||
| ShadowHaven | Major Corp | ||||||||
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Samsara Pell Cold Hands Grasshopper |
Character1 Character2 | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| none | |||||||||
Summary
The runner team was hired by Jorgy Peterson to help continue his ongoing crusade against the infected, the used car salesman has a rumour and he wants it investigated. After a short investigation the team finds their way down to where a group of infected is barricaded, having created a killzone to protect their little corner of the seattle underground. After some diplomacy a hostage exchange is arranged Cold Hands is handed to the ghouls and a vampire who introduces herself as anna is handed to the team. They fake footage for their J and get their memories wiped by an application of laese. After the run grasshopper leaks footage detailing the events.
Background
The hunt for infected has been heating up in seattle. People are becoming more desperate and factions are on the move
The Meet
The runners each get a call from their respective fixers at 7 in the evening and are informed there's a job on offer with a midnight meet. Arriving there the team walks inside and is greeted by Jorgy who offers a drinks and snacks courtesy of his dealerships complimentary catering. The team is immediately cautious of him on edge and Samsara is especially suspicious of his motives in sending the team to hunt infected. After some back and forth he agrees to pay them with their choice of 16K nuyen or a new car.
The Plan
The team didn't have all that much of a plan. Once they headed out into the Redmond Barrens they began investigating through various methods. Samsara, Pell and Cold hands went to an establishment called the dirty oyster. After asking around they got a few leads on directions. Grasshopper popped some long haul and set up drone surveillance. After some more snooping they spotted a suspicious looking dude with one of Grasshopper's drones. Investigating the building he disappeared into revealed a hidden doorway which Samsara and Cold hands came to investigate while Pell and Grasshopper stayed in the van.
The Run
Entering the tunnels without a plan beyond investigating further the team began to delve deeper. Between a mix of Samsara's magic and the sensor suites of Grasshoppers drones and Cold hands armor the team is able to track the ghoul. Picking up brief sights of an aura and a scent trail. Heading deeper, now three layers underground they grow closer to the infected hideout. Disaster strikes when Samsara steps on an IED the team failed to spot. The resultant explosion hurts Samsara and breaches her Chemseal while only stunning Cold Hands and Pell. Grasshopper suffers a moderate injury from the backlash of his flyspys destruction. Now sure their position has been revealed the team tentatively approaches. Initial contact attempts result in them shooting Grasshoppers roto-drone which retreats. In its place Samsara steps out to open negotiations with the rest of the team present to some extent (this is important later). Initial negotiations are unsuccessful the ghouls doubtful of the runners and unwilling to move not wanting to leave the safety they've carved out for themselves. After some talking a deal is struck the runners will fake the completion of their job but the ghouls want a guarantee they're not just trying to get away. Cold hands goes to the ghouls as a hostage while a vampire who introduces herself as Anna is sent with the runners. The team acquires a collection of cheap guns and splices footage of them together with footage of a slaughter from Cold hands to create a convincing fake of the job. They all get paid and return to get Cold hands back. In their time as a hostage Cold hands displays an extensive knowledge of Kaiju engaging one of her guards in a spirited conversation on the themes of the kaiju and the intricacies of Mothra's transition from arch enemy to ally. The ghouls ask the team to take Laese so they won't remember where they are. However, all but Cold hands take precautions to avoid or circumvent its effects. Grasshopper backs up his cybereye and drone sensor footage, Pell uploads the data from her simsense rig and Samsara simply pretends to take it with some clever sleight of hand. Short some memories the team leaves without further harm or conflict.
Aftermath
The team members each have their own thoughts to mull over after the events but some take more drastic action than others. Pell simply keeps a backup of the events while Grasshopper contacts the J after a couple days providing him a data chip of the real events before distributing, as anonymously as he could manage, 9 other data chips with the location of the infecteds base and other important info. Cold hands meditates at home not remembering the run while Samsara seeks clarity on her hands and talks with Nameless. The teams betrayal of the infected may have further consequences as their actions ripple out.
Rewards
6k Nuyen (8 RVP) 6 Karma (6 RVP) 4 CDP (1 RVP)
Optional Qualities: Subtract RVP from other rewards Cold Hands - First Impression 11 RVP Samsara - Tough as Nails (1 rank) 5 RVP
Optional Gear Rewards - Grasshopper only Cars, Trucks, Vans, and Bikes, with vehicle mods, availability 10 and below
1 Notoriety Grasshopper gets +1 Loyalty on Jorgy
Game Quotes
Player After Action Reports (AARs)
Grasshopper
This was an experience. I came out able to pay my rent and just maybe a few more people will avoid a gruesome death. There's always choices and i'll have to settle for mine. one way or another done is done and i'm down a couple K worth of hardware. Seemed such a simple job at first. Fale some killings and get some cash, an easy payday but it's hardly ever like that. They were eating people, there's no way to run into that and not get yourself thinking. ... Everyone defends themselves and there's a cost. I hope they pay theirs.
Cold Hands
"Hearing about my own actions from Samsara after the fact was... surreal. Now, sitting in the comfort of home, it is hard to imagine what went on in the mind of this other me - the Cold Hands that embraced the oblivion of Laés. Who was this person who willingly surrendered her keepsake sword, who allowed herself to be taken prisoner while risking infection or ignoble death in some squalid tunnel beneath Redmond? I find myself in the uncomfortable position of meditating on the decisions of this other me, trying to reverse engineer my way into my own head."
"A possibility that needles me is that I am not nearly as professional or mercenary as I like to think I am. Don't get me wrong; my hands are quite bloody. I've cut down people in the service of selfish goals, doing wetwork and performing runs solely to curry favor with a Shiawase fixer who might be the only person capable of getting my parents out of the Empire. But perhaps I'm starting to feel the weight of all this death."
"There is no easy solution to the infected. People will be dying either way - those swept up in a horrid disease which they had no control over, or the people whose essence and bodies feed the diseased. I feel that this other Cold Hands knew she didn't have a solution. All she had was a slender hope of not making things worse. And so she risked her life."
"I will stop talking about her in the third person. It was my choice, and I will live with it."
Pell
Aaaaaa. Turns out there's more than ghouls hiding down there. I'm going to need to prepare for an attack on them at some point, aren't I?
Samsara
Ugh. I don't feel good after this one. Lots of Infected folks just trying to survive but like... they're hurting people, and not even feeling bad about it either. They're gonna hurt more people and it's like, kind of our fault for not dealing with them. It just like... it didn't feel right to just kill them. I just don't know what else we're supposed to do. I was glad that Cold Hands was willing to like, step up and at least help avoid a big massacre. Just... goddamnit. I'll need to figure out what to do about this.