The Consequences Of Her Actions
| The Consequences Of Her Actions | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Hail to the Pumpking | |||||||||
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| Factions Involved | |||||||||
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ShadowHaven Pump King Jack | Mutaqua | ||||||||
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Babylon Noble Swerve King Beef | Babylon | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| None | A whole lot of feral ghouls | ||||||||
Summary
Jack gets a promising-looking vessel!
Background
During the progression of the metaplot Hail to the Pumpking Jack's begun getting increasing amounts of pushback. He's decided to switch his approach in terms of coping with the Sixth World as a result.
The Meet
Jack is available as always and offers the team two potential options: scout three possible migration sites for the Starscreamers or capture a mutaqua for him. This creates some discord among the runners, since Babylon most certainly doesn't want Jack to get a hold of such a thing. Eventually, however, they appear to decide to go through with it, partially because Babylon's ally spirit, Gomorrah, persuades her to go with it. Legwork begins and thankfully some of the runners know Nameless, others know Lamashtu, Babylon also knows Chaplain Carmilla, all of which will help do the legwork for the initial scouting operations in case the hunt goes bad.
Babylon's also been under the Renraku Arcology where the mutaqua's been sighted, so she knows a way in already. While the rest are preparing their assault and wait for deliveries, Babylon attempts contact with Mr. Herenight to keep him up to date on the situation. He does eventually get back in touch by arranging a meet in Aztechnology's pyramid mall in Seattle, having been elsewhere the last few days. He invites Babylon to a cafe where he's having a cup of coffee(?) with an Aztechnology blood mage and emphasizes that the creature must die, no compromises. Admittedly, he does it in his usual condescending manner.
The Run
Once the legwork is done, the team uses Ghaz and his underground smuggling routes to drive underground. The route takes a while and on the way the team talks a bit more about how to do the job. Once they reach the location, however, and enter a bunker tunnel, they hear a roar and some vent clamoring. What follows is King Beef speedballing far more drugs than any living being should be able to consume and a pandemonium of ghoul punching, spirit summoning, fireballs and lightning storms in closed doors. As the team goes through the released corridor's worth of ghouls, King Beef spots a dreadlocked assassin cleaving through the ghouls on the other side and beelining for the mutaqua. As the infected beast is hurled across his sightline, King Beef's only exhilarated by the challenge.
As the team finally reaches the exit where the Mutaqua escapes, King Beef forms a living obstacle to stop the assassin, which had gone invisible, from escaping. Unfortunately, the Mutaqua returns and ambushes him from behind with a dropkick, followed by a colossal Slash spell that hammers him like a truck ramming at full speed. Even then, he manages to counter by caving in the mutaqua's face, resulting in a double knockout. The fight's over sooner than expected and Babylon Sunbeams the Mutaqua almost immediately. To everyone's astonishment, the abomination survives the first Sunbeam, its flesh and calcified scales charring and burning with ethereal fire as a result. Before she gets to unleash the next one, however, the violent change in background count combined with Swerve and Noble bashing Babylon to save the job target cause the spirit she's channeled to leave, causing her to fall unconscious near-immediately. Using KB's commlink, the remaining two call Jack and within fifteen seconds the spirit materializes in the area, glad to see the fruits of labor realized.
Aftermath
While afterwards, Babylon and King Beef are recovering from some serious injuries, fortunately none of them are infected. Herenight leaves Babylon a handwritten letter, since the assassin saw everything and he read the report from Aztechnology; the mutaqua surviving wasn't her fault and he won't blame her for getting betrayed. Jack's also more grateful than ever and offers to invite her into his plans to inhabit the mutaqua, supposedly somewhere near Yellowstone in Sioux. Everyone else gets paid generously, whether it's prime Starscreamer armor, foci or karma.
Rewards
- For King Beef: Starscreamers Assault Armor (Heavy Security Armor w/ Fire Resist R6, Gel Packs, Chem Seal, RPC R4), 9,000 Nuyen & 4 Karma
- For Babylon: 24,000 Nuyen, R6 Banishing Focus (Fingerless studded black leather gloves with flaming pumpkins on the back of each hand), 1 Loyalty on Pump King Jack
- For Swerve: R4 Power Focus; Metal choker with a platinum pumpkin seal right over the windpipe and Halloweener colours running along its length, +1 Loyalty for Lamashtu
- For Noble: Rapier upgraded into R4 Weapon Focus, 11 Karma
- 2 CDP
- 1 Starscreamers Reputation
Player After Action Reports (AARs)
Swerve
Well, this was a fragging disaster. One that I sort of came out on top of, for whatever minor consolation that is I suppose. When I saw Babylon at the meet, I was pretty fearful, I knew that we wouldn't get along. I was not expecting anything like what happened though. I still don't understand fully why she did what she did, why she was so secretive. I obviously get her reluctance to give the mutaqua over to Jack, but it didn't seem to fit her privacy. Why couldn't she just talk to us about it? Communicate?
I let my greed and paranoia affect me too much I'll admit. While this new focus is certainly nice, I think I regret what my come in the future. Not to mention handing over that Mutaqua was kind of a something I feel bad to do to another infected, even if he seemed like an asshole. I might have made a true enemy for life with Babylon, but I'm going to try to patch things up as best I can. Thankfully no one was killed.
I will say though, I still feel a deep desire to know who she was communicating with. It's clear that she is connected with some big players. I had a momentary urge to raid her mind, I'm somewhat ashamed to admit. Thankfully Gomorrah's presence was enough to shake me from such a abhorrent idea. I still did compile as much information as I could though. That infiltrator has to be somewhat unique. Perhaps Lamashtu will piece together what I couldn't. She certainly is intelligent and resourceful. While I'm still fearful of what our relationship will lead to, I honestly do enjoy learning from and working with her. While she's certainly prickly, she is fair in a strange way. Not to mention, her methods are showing results. My training is molding me into something less well... terrible! I might just be feeling stockholm syndrome, but I think she's even starting to warm up to me, a least a little bit.
Babylon
Goddamnit! Why are runners so fragging greedy and stupid? Seriously, an obviously evil shadow spirit offers power and magical trinkets in exchange for a literal monster to inhabit, and the others just stand at attention and say "hey, well as long as they're paying right?" Absolute lunacy! I suppose I shouldn't have expected anything less from a bloodsucker, an upjumped little Tir drekhead, and King Fragging Beef. Ugh. So now despite my best efforts thanks to those idiots Jack now has a nearly unkillable vessel. Great. Perfect. Thanks Herenight, really appreciate all the help on this one - guess it's another mess for me to clean up.
King Beef Man Babylon had a lot of mind changing after we got thr job and she asked me to lie too. Not that big of a deal long as I got to fight our target. And fight did I, ghouls filled the halls and we killed them. Our target came at me with some big magic but I got that last flash of awareness boxers get before going down and was able to bring him down with me. Disappointed I didn't take his head completely off in one punch though.