Live and Let Die
| Live and Let Die | |||||||||
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| Part of The Crow of Seattle | |||||||||
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| Factions Involved | |||||||||
| ShadowHaven | Bot'Kham | ||||||||
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Charon Zenith |
Ol'Tusk Mooks | ||||||||
| This was an initiation run for both Charon and Zenith. | |||||||||
Summary
In which Charon and Zenith are forced into a reluctant partnership in order to track down a common enemy.
Background
Many years ago, Charon was attacked and infected by a group of thugs who she has been tracking down for decades - one, Erik Steward, has been confirmed to still be alive, having goblinized into an ork and (see: [[Old Ghosts]); Zenith meanwhile has been tracking down a venerable ork fixer who has gone to ground called "Ol'Tusk" looking for information (see: Barrens Flowers). As it happens, these two figures are in fact the same person, and the two runners paths are about to collide.
The Hunt Begins
Charon is contacted by her fixer Agamemnon, and is told that he has a lead on Steward - a smuggler named Anything Andy, who has connections with the Bot'Kham and is a known associate of Steward. He provides her with half of a necklace, telling her that Andy can provide the other half, and that she'll need both in order to approach Steward. Making her way down to the first level of the OU, she flags down a cocotaxi and bribes the driver a thousand nuyen to take her to the Goblin Market where Andy does business; the driver drops her off a few blocks away, forcing her to walk through some residential tunnels where she is confronted by members of the Skraacha who demand an additional toll. Not wanting to deal with them, she activates her terrorscape power and causes them to flee horrified from her.
Meanwhile, Zenith is contact by his contact Ghaz, who has a similar half-necklace and a lead to Andy to acquire the other half. After picking it up, he drives into the OU and finds a relatively safe place to park his car (with the anti-theft system engaged, of course) before parkour his way through the tunnels and doing his best to stay beneath notice; en-route he hears the screams of terror from Charon's victims and chalks it up to "just another day in the Underground".
The Goblin Market
Both runners converge on the Goblin Market simultaneously, taking in the sights and sounds of the black market as they attempt to locate Andy. Charon is able to find him first, attempting to bargain for the information she needs as Zenith spots both her and a group of Bot'Kham thugs attempting a shakedown of one of the merchants. He intervenes, shooting the gun out of one of their hands and getting them to frag off, attracting attention from Charon in the process; realizing they are both there after the same objective, the two turn their attentions to Andy, who is rather reluctant to disclose anything to the breeders out of fear of retaliation from the Bot'Kham. The two of them put their collective charms (and social adept BS, in Charon's case) to work, convincing Andy that they can make it worth his while if he tells them where to take the Bot'Kham amulet, and he agrees to tell them where they need to go with it in exchange for a favor to be called on in the future.
The Descent Into Darkness
With a rough map from Andy pointing them towards the lower levels of the OU, the pair of adepts head off on the road-less-traveled, making their way through the abandoned and derelict sections of the Underground and descending deeper into the earth. After a while they reach a trapdoor leading down into the light-less depths, and are confronted by a Bot'Kham member who demands to know their business. Showing him the amulet, they say they are looking for Ol'Tusk and convince him to point them in the right direction, however their target has already been alerted to their search thanks to their actions in the Goblin Market, and has set up something of a staging ground for the confrontation - the two reach a large open area where UV lights have been set up, forcing Charon to seek cover from their burning light, and are met by a trio of armed Bot'Kham who demand to know what they want with Ol'Tusk.
Zenith takes the lead in the talking, managing to convince the trogs to fetch Ol'Tusk so that they can speak face-to-face; the old ork arrives in short order, greeting Zenith with familiarity and looking at Charon like a ghost from the past come back to haunt him. Zenith demands that Ol'Tusk put him in contact with his mother, who he has strong reason to believe is responsible for his wife being kidnapped, but Ol'Tusk is reluctant to betray her and speaks to Zenith about the need for loyalty in the life. Pointing at Charon, he tells him that if he shoots her, he will give him what he wants; Zenith looks at his gun and contemplates it... then fires at the generator for the UV lights, plunging them all into darkness.
With the lights killed, Charon launches her attack, immediately taking out one of the Bot'Kham mooks; Zenith join in the shooting, plugging one of the others in the junk and avoiding a burst of suppressive fire in the process. Ol'Tusk takes aim with his own gun and manages to plug Charon in the head, fleeing away down a side tunnel when she ends up shrugging off the shot. Charon gives pursuit while Zenith deals with the remaining mooks, however she steps on a land mine which blows her legs off; while she's regenerating Zenith finishes off the mooks and squeezes his way through the partially collapsed tunnel and uses his traceless walk ability to ignore the remaining mines, with Charon following closely behind in her mist form.
The Confrontation
Zenith kneecaps Ol'Tusk to keep him from fleeing, and demands again that he be put into contact with his mother; Ol'Tusk, not having any other options and not exactly being eager to provoke them to granting him anything other than a quick death, complies, calling up Stiletto and giving Zenith the link. After some final words with Ol'Tusk, he leaves him to Charon's not-so-tender mercies to go and have an uncomfortable chat with the parental figure who he thought was dead for the last 20 years - Stiletto is tight-lipped, telling Zenith that everything that has been done has been for his own good and that she will see him soon before hanging up. While Charon quite literally tears Ol'Tusk's head off and paints a warning in his blood, Zenith makes his way to the fixer's safehouse and finds a terminal in the process of automatically deleting data, managing to salvage some of it - while there, he finds a note similar to the one he received months ago reading "Bring us the girl, and wipe away the debt", along with a picture of his daughter Harriot.
Aftermath
Covered in blood, the two runners emerge from the depths of the OU and have a brief conversation about what happened down there - Charon thanks Zenith for his help in her murder quest, and Zenith contemplates the choices he made with his life that lead him to this point.
Rewards
- Anything Andy as a contact w/ 1 chip owed
- 2 CDP
For Charon:
- IG5 discount
- Tough-as-Nails (Physical)
For Zenith:
- IG3 discount
- Perceptive
Game Quotes
Player After Action Reports (AARs)
Charon:
I have to admit, I haven't been blown in half in a while. That was a refreshing agony to wake up to. Zenith got me out of a pinch when I needed it most, so I'm fine with him getting his way every now and again -- what matters is that I got my revenge and the motherfucker's going to burn in Hell long before I follow him in. The Underground's not a great place to be, but I'll crawl to the center of the Earth if it'll get me my revenge. This wasn't any different. One step closer... just one more step.
Zenith
Well. Mom's alive. Maybe I should see if that old therapist I went to fifteen years ago is taking appointments again, cause that one's gonna frag me up. Or I could drink myself stupid and think about how I'm gonna murder my in-laws. Whiskey is cheaper than therapy and I've got way more access to whiskey.
I don't feel great about this one. I had the chance to murder the bloodsucker that knows too much, but didn't take it. It wasn't even about my rep or being stronger together, I just made the call that Charon didn't deserve to die right there. Which is the kind of sentimentality that I'm always warning runners off of. Every innocent person she drains is on me now I guess. Also don't feel great about Ol'Tusk dying. He was good to my family back in the day and I don't think he and I had anything against each other, though the fact that there's another note means that I've gotta step up this search. If Stiletto wants to play hardball, then I'll show her what twenty years alone on the street can teach.