Sniffing at Gunsmoke
| Sniffing at Gunsmoke | |||||||||
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| ShadowHaven | |||||||||
| Fennec | |||||||||
Summary
A shooting in Touristville catches the nose of Fennec as she lurks the Matrix. A fact-finding mission ensues.
Background
A firefight in the Barrens has caught the attention of the locals. The weaponry's too big and loud to be gangers, and if a gunfight in the Barrens makes the news, there must be something bigger going on.
The Meet
Fennec arrives at the scene of the crime, sniffing around, and is met with a soldier who speaks French and carries a radio. Enough cajoling, and she manages to drag a fake name from the soldier - Corporal Coyote. Clearly, a false name.
The Plan
The plan is simple: gather information, then break the story. Fennec starts in on picking his brain immediately, the fact that this merc hasn't shot her for approaching a clear go-ahead to ask questions.
The Run
Ignoring the corporal's many, many warnings that learning more will be dangerous, Fennec presses for information, picking up small details. First and foremost - this is a cleanup team, sent in for backup. The real violence was over before they got here, as evidenced by their smaller weaponry and the decidedly not small holes in the corpses they're currently overseeing. Smelling a story, she keeps pressing - why is there a team of heavy operators in the area, what outfit are they with, who are the guys on the ground, why are they fighting them?
Finally, after enough pushing and convincing and pulling historical facts from her memory and from the Matrix, Fennec gets a hint. The men on the ground are from the Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure. DGSE. French spies, here to cull traitors? Her guess is right - the soldiers are deserters gone mercenary, and after years astray from the homeland they have French agents attacking them in Seattle. While the connection is unclear, the history speaks for itself - they left during the timeframe of Project Présage, the formation of the Republic, and the subsequent fall of the Republic in the New Revolution. France's AI leader clearly has no love lost for N-51.
Fennec already wants to help them out by raising the DGSE's profile in the area - partly because 'French CIA invades Seattle' is a fantastic headline, and partly because Corporoal Coyote seems like a really great guy. So when he mentions that they'll dose her with Laes if she doesn't cooperate, the tech nerd doesn't bat an eye. Quickly, a scheme is hatched - Fennec will run a stream that antagonizes the DGSE, making their operations harder by making their operatives more public. The scrutiny should draw attention from other agencies in the area, not to mention the corps. In exchange, she gets to keep the information she's learned - and a radio frequency, on which she can contact "Corporal Coyote". Truly, Fennec's gotten the better end of this deal by making an enemy in exchange for absolutely nothing.
Aftermath
Looking up information on the N-51 gets Fennec a bit more information on who she's dealing with - and she quickly concludes that she won't publish any information on them. Serious mercenaries with serious business and serious assets.
Instead, she sends a copy of the stream to the Commander for a pre-viewing, prepared for the consequences of meddling in affairs she has no interest in.
Rewards
8 CDP (3 RVP)
Could get in touch with Commander and buy him (2/1)
+1 N-51 Rep
Game Quotes
Player After Action Reports (AARs)
Fennec Why did I get involved in this again? Well - I guess that Mr. Corporal Coyote was pretty nice! He answered lots of my questions, only threatened me a little, and he gave me something super neat to break as news on the stream! So really, I did it for the views.