Requiem for the Dreamers
| Requiem for the Dreamers | ||||||||||
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| Factions Involved | ||||||||||
| ShadowHaven | Fear the Dark | Blackwatch Security, CAS | ||||||||
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Blackhawk Neijing Scarecrow Jessie DeVux Poe |
Vampire Operative Fledgling | Fire Team | ||||||||
Summary
Content Warning: Terrorism, Medical Stuff, Horror/Body Horror, Hard Moral Choices
Background
TAGS: Open Contract - Mr. Silas Johnson - Infected - Hunt
"On behalf of my client, I am opening a contract for an very specific task to be accomplished in Orlando, FL, CAS. Infil and exfil covered as part of the run. Expect to be in Orlando a few days. Target is a nest of Infected that need to be removed with 100% accuracy to the bloodsucking last.
Medical knowledge a plus. Funworld tickets included.
Silas"
The Meet
The team meets with Silas in Dantes and gets the intelligence for the task, learning that they are hunting a cell of Fear the Dark terrorists who are poised to engage in a terror attack on Funworld. They learn that in addition to fighting vampires there is a contract between them and a CAS local security company called Blackwatch. They are instructed the client wants the cell resolved quietly and provides two modified auto injectors which are set to interact with bio-bed style set ups. The injectors will poison the twenty or so victims that the vampires are holding in a medically induced coma as a food source.
The team negotiates for funworld tickets as part of their pay as well as the possibility of emergency evacuation to a secured medical facility in the case something goes poorly.
The Plan
1. Smuggling: While Silas arranges for travel for the team and their gear to be smuggled into the CAS, Psyche contacts Diego Carrillo and pays 1000 (of Blackhawk's and 100 of his own) to smuggle his Blackhawk's sniper rifle, FBA, and some other gear into Orlando.
2. Legwork: The team does a very deep scouting run during the afternoon of Day 1 doing matrix, astral, and physical security during which there is extensive debate about the HOW to accomplish the task - either by the method given by the Johnson via virus or by taking out the vampires physically.
3. The Plan: The Team is debating how they will complete this. They have proposed modifying the virus to not kill the victims, kicking in the front door, or if they will complete the task as assigned. The plan turns into-
a. Plant gas grenades on house, squelch the coms of the blackwatch teams
b. Lure the paracritters away and gas them to deal with them without injuring the poor, lovely, puppies.
c. Go in, commit murder, rescue the victims
The Run
Day 1: Travel Day
The team does some matrix searching and discovers that there are some local support circles for HMHVV patients as well as an above average number of missing persons. The team is able to zero in on a farm which has a barn large enough to host comatose patients, where the owners of the property is also on the missing persons reports. They debate which of the possible locations could house the patients, settling on the barn when they realize that the barn and house is made of corrugated metal.
Psyche realizes that the rural areas are known for raising cows - both regular ones and paracritter ones - hellcows
The team does learn that Fear The Dark often recruits from disaffected former military, police, or corporate security, which seems to imply larger weapons, heavier armor, and unit tactics
The travel itself via plane to Corpus Christi, NightRunner to Tampa, and GMC van to Orlando handles without incident, bringing the team to their medium lifestyle safehouse in Eastern Orlando.
Day 2: Legwork and Recon
Approx. 4pm: The team begins some physical recon, starting with finding one of the buried network cables leading out to the farm while still off property. They summon a spirit of earth to dig up the cable and then Koi hacks into the network on the farm. They learn there are two cameras each on the water wheels, the windmill, the house, and the barn. There are four turrets - two at the barn, two at the bridge to the house, loaded with ingram valiants.
The team begins to head onto the property with Koi providing matrix overwatch and looping cameras. Koi shares that there are 9 hellhounds and some hellcows by the entryrbridge, two units of Blackwatch Security by the windmill, and then two more by the house along with the four turrets. On seeing the Blackwatch units, the team realizes they have some knowledge of Small Unit Tactics as well as being kit up with Full Body armor/chemseal. They're armed with SMGs and thermal and smoke grenades.
The fly spy gets into the barn revealing the 20 victims who are set up in surplus medbeds, feeding tubes, and such. They are also mutilated in various forms - some are missing feet from obvious amputation's, and some are missing arms and legs that used to be clearly cyberware installations. The meds that are keeping them in a coma state also feed them vivid hallucinogens provoking a strong dream state.
Inside the house, there are six senior vampires with armor coats and ares alphas as well as six junior vampires. The house has been strongly secured vs. the sun with boarded windows, blackout curtains, etc.
Psyche does some Clairvoyance scouting, noting watcher spirits at the windmill and the house. Additionaly, Force 4 Obfuscating Wards and alarm wards on the house. The BGC in the barn itself gets as high as a 4.
Koi calls Vega Edwards to arrange DocWagon transport for the victims after; however, none of them have contracts. They agree to let DocWagon take the PR credit for 'rescuing' these poor victims
Day 3: It's High Noon
The Outskirts
Koi works out looping all the cameras leading up to the farm. She gets one turret for total control, and marks on the rest. The turrets are set to not target the group nor the Docwagon teams in the aftermath. Neijing slips in and spikes the AC Unit with explosives, gas, and such. We also learn that Neijing's walk speed is 30 mph because Borgs are Bullshit.
Psyche is able to use his spirit to posses one of the hellhounds and some illusion work to get them away and drugged, following suit with the hellcows. No animals were harmed in the making of this run.
The Windmill
The Teams legwork, matrix overwatch, and small unit tactics play out with near perfect precision. The two teams of blackwatch are down in a single surprise round, minus one, who gets dropped almost casually while the team has a small moral debate over the security company that Fear the Dark contracted.
Koi has a moment dealing with the instant death Scarecrow's lightning ball caused, which results in some discussion about their lives owing to her own past and experience with sudden explosive death. They end of healing one of the Blackwatch Guards, the only survivor of the lightning spell, leaving four total stunned Blackwatch Guards, one of whom was very confused about why he got healed... and then knocked out again.
The Farm
The team's vampire trap rolls, and rolls hard, flushing the vampires out of the house with a mixture of fire, woodsmoke, and sunlight. While there are a few hiccups with Koi getting shot and having some berserk moment, though that gets resolved by Scarecrow's magic.
The fledging vampires pour out of the house, and under the surprise of the fire, smoke, wood, and seeing their 'immortal' leaders a heaping pile of ash on the front lawn, thrown themselves down in surrender. Blackhawk and the group interrogate the vampire spawn, realizing they all chose to join the cell in exchange for power. All four spawns are summarily executed as the fire grows in the house. Some post combat healing and some few minutes for decompression later, the team breaks the turrets before Koi's deck can get zeroed in by CAS Convergence.
Aftermath
5 VIP passes for Funworld. The "funnest" place on earth.
Koi owns Vega Edwards one Chip for evac of the victims post run.
Silas reclaims the nanite autoinjectors from the client at the end of the run.
Docwagon gets some good PR for rescuing a series of victims from a Fear the Dark cell they wiped out
Lore Information
One of the victims is being held aside not as a blood bag but as a test subject, exploring how their genetics interact with various strains of HMHVV. In specific, it looks like they are trying to provoke the strain that produces a Mutaqua but combined with various mind altering drugs which would make them significantly more susceptible to social conditioning or outright magical demands. The victim has already succumbed to HMHVV, under a heavy dose of drugs to promote being susceptible to conditioning, magical commands, etc.
Instructions located on the medical computer reveal instructions to conduct this research project alongside their campaign on Funworld. References to success in prior projects using Mutaqua and similar foot soldiers but with some notable failures due to them having too much leeway - including a reference to a few “escapees” over the years.
Rewards
Deadly: 20 RVP x2 Reward Multiplier (12 Hours) = 40
10 Karma (10 RVP)
5 Karma for just being good people (5 RVP) and rescuing the victims
30,000 Nuyen (15 RVP)
20,000 Nuyen in Guns, weapons, weapon mods, etc up to 18R (5 RVP) as a thank you from Silas for a job well done
1 Street Cred (1 RVP)
8 CDP (4 RVP)
2 CDP Run Guarantee
Misc:
6 RVP May be exchanged from any combination above for Contact: Diego Carillo
Counts as Initiation/Ascension: Blackhawk, Koi
Psyche can take two Hellhounds from the farm at 5 RVP each from above cash
Psyche can take “Witness my Hate” at Chargen Price for 7 RVP from above
Game Quotes
Player After Action Reports (AARs)
"Any success we had was attributed to the team on this one. I handled some exterior security and run support, but this was a day in the field with much bigger dogs than me. Speaking of much bigger dogs than me, I couldn't resist the opportunity to nip two of these gorgeous hounds on the way out the door on this one. Vampires, what the frag man? As much as I prefer jobs that put me opposed to darker forces, maybe not the infected again this month..." -Psyche
"I feel as if I was well placed on this team. I dealt with every aspect of matrix infiltration, and got just about everything handled without issue. Besides the smells of burning flesh, and trauma filled talking I'd say this went off without a hitch." - Koi
Neijing
"A nightmare. I hope Blackhawk will be fine..."