Cyberpunk Red - Session Two - "Eye-Spy"

A roleplay session in the world of Cyberpunk Red

This session was written up by our Gamesmaster Matt and formatted for my blog by me.

Previous 'Gigs'

Story Arc One

(0) Spydar's Web, (1) Big Trouble in Little China.

The Players

Our players were all started at Rank 4

Garreth as Avery Hicks, Exec

and his Crew Member 'Jasmine'

Phil as 'Holliday' Nomad

Martyn as 'Klink', Medtech

Gamesmaster

Matt as everyone else.

Scene introductions and 'speaking to the players' bits are written in Blue to distinguish them from the roleplayed parts of the scenes.

Session Two: "Eye Spy"

Screamsheets

Sometimes the previous sessions activities make the Night City News or even point to possible future jobs...

Handouts - Avery Hicks

GM's Note - Avery's player had several tasks he wished to perform between sessions, Klink meanwhile busied himself extracting and repairing the outfits acquired cyberware. Holliday was, of course, healing...again...

Anya Metalik - Exec P.A.
Budget Arms

Jasmine

You have thanked Jasmine profusely for her work at the Little China precinct. Clearly you didn’t really need her help on this occasion but you efforts to reward her for her time were nevertheless accepted most graciously.

Anya

You have spent some more time with Anya and learned a little about the 'Acquisitions' department. On paper their main interest is in buying up small businesses to help with essentially monopolising the arms industry. For example, this could include purchasing small independent gun shops and replacing them with Budget Arms ones.

Behind the scenes, acquisitions are responsible for acquiring resources for the corporation. In the case of your first gig on their behalf, you retrieved information but this could also extend to dealing in materials or technology and designs.

Finnby Kennedy

The logistics officer was very grateful when most of the missing weapons were recovered.

He had followed your advice and made sure that his name hadn’t been attached to anything in relation to the ambush and missing shipment so in theory he is completely clear, however he is also very aware that you know exactly what happened and could make his life difficult if you were so inclined. He has made it clear he knows he owes you a favour.

Kam Hopper - Solo
Federated Arms

Kam Hopper

The Federated Arms agent was surprised by your offer to make amends after the firefight but accepted an offer to meet. She was very guarded in her answers to your questions but you did get a vague feel for Tripp Muldoon’s character. It seems he is very driven and ambitious and fiercely loyal to Federated Arms. Kam was interested in your angle and why you gave a shit about such a minor order. You got the impression that she was deflecting a bit from your questions out of wariness. She hasn’t ruled out talking to you again in future.

Nico

Nico was appreciative of the heads up but hasn’t told you what he plans to do with the few guns he has from the shipment. You are aware that he probably needs to weigh up making a loss on the deal with Braydn Ross. He does tell you that he might have a lead on the gun you were asking about and will be in touch when he knows more about it.

Silencers

You have been able to source silencers for your Heavy Pistols and SMG, you do after all work in an arms company. The silencers aren’t Budget Arms brand and had to be brought in via the gunsmith on site. You owe him 400eb.

The Van

You do indeed now have a van, however it is branded and registered to Federated Arms which makes it’s use limited for the time being.

Armoured Delivery Van - Formerly belonged to Federated Arms

Introduction

The week since the incident with the missing Budget Arms shipment has been pleasantly free of any further complications, threats or blackmail attempts. The edgerunners had gone their own ways, had chance to rest up and find some easy work to keep them ticking over.

A Surprise Visitor

Kado Haruka - Exec
Kiroshi Optics

Klink had been working from his clinic in the Glen for some time. Several months ago he had been employed to perform emergency surgery at the behest of a surprise walk in. The client, an official by the name of Kado Haruka, was impressed with Klink’s work and implied that he would keep him in mind for future work. Klink hadn’t taken this promise especially seriously and so was surprised when Mr Haruka walked into his waiting room.

“Mr Von Klinkerhoffen,” He said “it’s good to see you again.”

“Oh, Hello…” said Klink uncomfortably. “I have a job for you. It pays well but requires some leg work.” Said Haruka. Klink gestured vaguely at his clinic “Sure, I’m sure I have some spare legs around here somewhere.”

“Quite.” Said Haruka, ignoring Klink’s rambling. “An operative testing a new product has gone missing. The test product is a form of optic implant. It’s more discreet than most and could lead to some real improvements in technology. It’s crucial to us that it gets recovered.”

 

“Oh, right ok?” said the medtech “When did he go missing? Did anything happen to him or something?”

Haruka took out his agent and sent a picture and an address to Klink. “Chan Jun-fan. He disappeared without a trace. He hasn’t turned up for work, he hasn’t answered our calls. We have an address for him in Watson but other than that, no leads.” He looked pointedly for a second. “Personally, I think he got a better offer and defected with our product. It might be worth you taking some back up, you never know what you might be running into.”

Eurodollars

“Right and the pay?”

“I am prepared to pay you 1000eb and that extends to any back up you take. They will get the same offer.”

“A thousand each or to share?” said Klink suspiciously. “A thousand each, you have my word.” Said Haruka “We have an accord?”

“Yeah ok I’ll look into it.”

“Excellent” said Haruka, turning to leave. “I will see you soon.”

“Brilliant…” said Klink, watching him leave “…Twat.”

Favours Returned

Holliday's Nomad Vehicle and Home

Another job out in the field but at least one that paid well he mused. He subconsciously rubbed his chest, remembering the painful impact of a bullet the previous week. “Back up it is.” He said, dialling the number for the nomad Holliday.

“Haven’t heard from you in a spell” Holliday drawled as he picked up. “Hey man, I’ve been offered a job,” began Klink “I need to find some missing guy for some other guy Mr… Harada? Hisaka? Something like that, whatever. He’s legit, I did some work for him before. He said it might get rough so I thought you might help. Anyway, the pay’s good, thousand bucks each for us. What do you say?”

“Job sounds alright, just find the guy for a thousand bucks?”

“He’s after some new cybertech or something. He said I might need to extract it.” Said Klink “I’ve seen your handy-work first hand. Thanks by the way.” 

Holliday took a breath, reflecting on his relationship with the goofy medtech. “Ok, I’m in.”

Budget Arms - The Glen

“Great, swing by Budget Arms in about half an hour.” Klink put down the phone. He grabbed his med bag and locked up the clinic marching across the street and into the lobby of the towering Budget Arms building.

The building security viewed the medtech with uncertainty and suspicion, but though he seemed out of place, he didn’t appear to pose a significant threat. They didn’t stop him but were definitely keeping an eye on him. Klink remained blissfully unaware and carried on straight up to the main desk.

He slammed a grubby and slightly bloodstained carryall on the reception desk startling the man on reception. He looked up in mild disgust “What can I do for you?”

“Ah the guy errr… Hicks! Mr Hicks, I’m here to see Avery Hicks.” Said Klink. Perturbed, the receptionist dialled through to Avery’s office. “Mr Hicks, we have a gentlemen in reception who wishes to see you.”

“What sort of gentlemen?” Inquired Avery. “He appears to be some sort of medtech.” was the reply “Scruffy, wild eyed, slightly bloodstained?” Queried Avery “Yes that sounds right. You do know him then?” “Yes” confirmed Avery. “I’ll be down in a moment.”

Avery's 'Go' Bag - Contents Varies

Grabbing a go-bag he now habitually kept in his office, Avery went down to meet with Klink in the lobby. The medtech was sprawled out on one of the chairs in reception under the subtle eye of the security guards. “Hello Klink, to what do I owe this pleasure?”

“There’s a guy I did some snippy snippy stitchy stitchy for a ways back. He’s given me a gig to find a missing employee.” Said Klink animatedly. “Something to do with some cyberware or something.”

“Ok, are we getting paid for this?” asked Avery. “Yeah, jobs worth a grand a piece. Holliday is coming to pick me up. You in?”

Despite the scatter brained description of the job, Avery couldn’t ignore the reward. Budget Arms certainly weren't paying him enough to maintain his lifestyle, that was for sure. “Ok, I’m in.” He said. While Klink walked out to the front of the building, Avery addressed reception. “It seems I’m required for an on-site visit. I will be out for the rest of the day. Please direct anyone to my messages if they ask.”

Holliday's Kombi - Interior

Stopping to direct the security not to bother Klink in future, Avery followed him out into the street where Holliday stood perched on the running boards of his car. Klink threw his bag into the back and jumped into the front passenger seat with a cry of “Shotgun!” Avery slid into the back. “So, what are the actual details then?” He said.

Klink cast the address to Holliday’s dash. “Turns out this guy was testing new cyberware, some sort of new discreet cybereye or something.” Said Klink. “The impression I get is that the tech is more important than the missing guy…maybe anyway.”

“Do we have any clues as to why he’s gone missing?” Asked Holliday. “No, he disappeared without a trace. My guy said he might have defected to a rival with the tech though.”

Avery gave Holliday a pointed look and started taking the silencers off his weapons. “What about the address? Is it in gang territory?” He said. Holliday checked the address. “Watson is mostly Tyger Claws territory. That and Maelstrom but they’re further north. It could be them but I guess we’ll see when we get there.” Avery gave Holliday another look and promptly replaced the silencers on his weapons.

Chan’s Apartment

The Watson Urban Zone

The Watson urban zone was a developing district being used to house the homeless from the war. The large habitation blocks were little more than self-contained upright shanty towns. Amongst the hundreds of apartments housed within a block there were often markets and food courts. Watson was full of bodegas, boutiques and junk shops full of Asian flair. Its daytime energy however didn’t hide the black market dealings and shady back alley ripperdocs that operate in the district at night.

It was the sort of place someone could get anything, if they knew who to talk to and where to find them.

There was a large Asian community in Watson centred in a neighbourhood known as Kabuki. This was where the address for the missing Chan Jun-fan was situated. The apartment block seemed decent enough, in a thriving part of the community near Kabuki market overlooking the main highway linking Watson to Little Europe and the Marina. The apartment itself is was the 2nd floor.

The Tyger Claws Gang

Holliday parked up and looked over the building for gang signs. “This is Tyger Claws territory but this isn’t one of their joints.” He said “I guess it’s not important enough.”

The three of them climbed the stairs to the second floor. The block was lived in but not the mess of the combat zone blocks they had seen recently. Chan’s apartment was at the front of the block overlooking the street. Avery knocked on the door politely and waited. “No answer, it was worth a try though. Break it down or can either of you pick a lock?”

“I can give it a try.” Said Klink. Holliday stood in front of him to hide him from view while he improvised a torsion wrench and a pick out of some of the medical tools in his bag and carefully inserted them into the locks. Though it was usually people that he worked on, the deft steady hands and calm focus made short work of the lock and with the right pressure and careful manipulation of the pins, he felt the lock smoothly turn, and click open.

“Excellent” Said Avery. He turned the handle and opened the door, standing aside for Holliday to take the lead. The nomad shrugged, raising his shotgun and strode into the room.

Chan Jun-fan's Apartment?

The apartment was a studio design with a bed in one corner and some wardrobes and shelving. There was a small kitchenette area beyond a few chairs around a tv screen which had been left on and off to one side, a closed off room that was presumably a bathroom.

“Let’s look around, I guess.” Said Avery. He walked over to the bedroom area and started looking through the open closet. Holliday swept the rest of the apartment carefully checking for nooks and crannies where a body could be hidden.

Klink immediately investigated the kitchenette, helping himself to milk out of the fridge. “All the food is in date.” He said. He leant against the counter sweeping empty noodle cartons out of the way. “Kung Ching Express? Must be good shit, there’s a lot of these cartons.”

“The apartment is clear.” Said Holliday, walking back in from the bathroom. “No bodies, no sign of a struggle, nothing.”

“I’ve found something.” Said Avery. “There’s ID here for Chan Jun-fan for Kiroshi Optics but also the same photo for Lee Kong-sang working for Raven Microcybernetics.”

He looked at Klink. “Who did your client work for?”

“I never asked.” Said Klink. “Never came up, I just did the job in front of me. He identified the guy as Chan though so it must have been Kiroshi.” He gestured at the noodle cartons. “Short of knocking on the door at Raven, this is our only lead. It’s like a block away, I say we check it out.”

As the three of them left the apartment, Avery said “I’m going to ask the neighbours if they’ve seen anything. You two look err… unsettling? Head downstairs and I’ll meet you by the car.”  

Further Enquiries...

As the others made their way back to the car, the Exec knocked on the door of the next apartment. An old lady opened the door carefully, keeping it on the latch. “Hello?”

“Hi ma’am, my name is Avery, I’m looking for a missing colleague from work.” He nodded in the direction of Chan’s apartment. “Mr Chan?”

“Oh” She said “I haven’t seen him for a few days. I just assumed we were like ships passing in the night. He goes to work before I go out. He keeps himself to himself most of the time. He’s a good neighbour. I hope nothing happened to him.”

“Thank you” said Avery “I’m sure everything will be fine. Thanks for your time.” Turning, he decided to try the opposite apartment. The door was answered by a large man. “Alright?”

“Good afternoon sir.” Began Avery “I’m looking for a missing work colleague. Mr Chan from across the hall.”

“I don’t have much to do with him.” Said the man. “We don’t really have anything in common so I wouldn’t even notice if he’d been gone a month to be honest.”

“Ok, thanks for your time.” Said Avery turning to leave. “Hang on! Sometimes he takes phone calls up on the roof. No idea why, guess he must find it a bit more private up there because the signal is fine as far as I can tell.”

“Ah, thank you sir.” Said Avery, setting out for the roof. The block only had four floors and the roof appeared to be a sort of common area. He could see a chair and a makeshift table set up on one side facing back towards the city centre. He had a quick look around but couldn’t find any evidence of Chan being up there. It did leave him thinking that perhaps the man on the second floor had been on to something about privacy though.

Back in the car, they drove the short trip to the bodega. It was walking distance, but Holliday insisted that they needed a fast getaway “just in case”. Despite this apparent caution, he left his shotgun in his bag.

Kung Ching Express

The bodega was a small room off the main street. There were a few lines of shelves with a fairly limited selection but a wide variety of items. They could see laundry detergent, groceries, hand tools and assorted bric-a-brac. At the back of room, there was a counter where a cashier stood checking his agent.

There were a couple of other customers in the bodega. A nervous jumpy looking guy who appeared to be on the edge of a panic attack was frantically trying to choose something off one of the shelves. At the other end of the shop, a youth fidgeted, talking to himself.

Holliday couldn’t help thinking that the fidgeting youth had the sort of nervous energy that he had seen on guys working themselves up for a raid. He decided to keep a close eye on him.

Avery approached the counter. “Good evening, my name is Hicks, I’m investigating a missing person.”

“A missing person?” was the somewhat incredulous reply “Yes, this man,” Avery showed the cashier the photo. “Chan Jun-fan, he’s a colleague of mine but he’s been missing for a couple of days.”

Nephrite - Rockerboy
Anarchist, Hedonist, and Nihilist

“Look I’m sorry, I’m just trying to keep the business going. My names Johnny Wong, my Dad was murdered here the other night.” He gestures around at the bodega. “This is his shop. I don’t know anything about any missing people and if I’m honest I don’t have the energy to care.”

“I’m sorry to hear about that.” Said Avery, feigning sincerity. “What happened?”

“Didn’t catch it in the screamsheets? Nephrite?” Said Johnny. “She’s some fucking Rockerboy anarchist, hedonist, and nihilist bitch. None of those things should overlap but somehow they do for her.” He scowled bitterly. “She just rocked up here out of the blue with her fucking cultist lackeys and shot Dad to death in cold blood.”

“I take it that someone with such a high profile must have the police all over them now then?” Said Avery. “Are you having a laugh?” Said Johnny “This is Night City! The feds are just another gang and a fucking useless one at that. It was hours before they got here and Nephrite? She has a hoard of followers who can hide her.”

“I’m sorry” Said Avery. He looked around the shop, spotting a camera. “I know this might seem a bit callous, but did the CCTV catch the attack?”

“To be honest, I haven’t looked and I hope you understand, I don’t want to see that.” Said Johnny.

“Yes, I understand but I need to find this missing person. Would you mind If I watched the footage back please?” Pushed Avery. Johnny sighed. “Ok, fine, but like I said, you’re on your own. I don’t need to see that.” He pointed to a door behind him. “The desk is right there. Just go in and play it back.”

“Thank you” Said Avery. 

The back room was a small office with a safe, some filing cabinets and a terminal set up at a desk. Avery sat down and searched through the playback for the time of the murder.

The silent footage from the back corner of the shop showed Jon Wong, Johnny’s father working at the counter with a customer. Five figures entered with their backs to the camera, spreading out through the shop. Those at the sides set about smashing shelves and knocking items onto the floor. Wong appeared to be shouting at them to stop and leave. The central figure, a tall attractive woman with flamboyantly dyed hair stopped in the central aisle speaking, then, as one, all of the intruders raised their guns together and emptied them into the cashier until he slumped out of sight. The woman cheered and spoke for a while and then the group left.

The customer that Wong had been serving was caught in the crossfire and killed. It was Chan.

Avery walked back out into the shop. ”Thank you.” He said to Johnny “If you feel like you need some home protection, give me a call.” He handed over a business card. Johnny took it looking vaguely disgusted. “My condolences for you loss.” Said Avery walking away.

One of Nephrite's Cultist Followers

“What did you find?” Asked Holliday. “Our man was caught in the crossfire when this place was hit. He’s dead.” Said Avery. “Well shit. The body was likely taken to the medical centre. We could try there.” Said Klink.

“Ok” said Avery, “let’s go.” He noticed Holliday hesitate. “Is something wrong?”

“It’s that kid. Guys actions seems suspect.” Said the nomad.

Klink leaned over the counter to Johnny. “You recognise these guys in here?” Johnny looked up. “Fucking Shakin Steven’s over there? Yeah he’s semi regular. Never seen the kid before.”

GM's Note - The discussion about the other customers went very dark when Klink’s player started talking about grenades…

“Give me a sec.” Said Holliday. He strolled over to the youth. “What’s up choom? You look like you’re about to stare down a pack of desert raiders.” The youth backed up wide eyed. He puffed his chest out, for a second seeming like he’d rise to the challenge and then bolted out of the shop as fast as he could. 

'Gypsy' - Underground Braindance Dealer

Sighing, Holliday nodded to the others and they walked out into the street. As they left the bodega they noticed a woman leaning against the wall of the next shop over. She nodded at them in greeting.

“You don’t look like you’re from around here. You slum tourists? Come to see where a guy got flatlined?” She said. “No, we’re just looking for a missing person.” Said Avery “Hey, you looked interested in what went down here. For the right price, you can see it yourself. Live it even.” She said.

“I’ve already seen what happened.”

“Ah, not like this.” She said “I know a guy, deals in braindances. Not the tame shit they try to brainwash guys in cryo at the prison either. Real experiences. You get to feel everything. The hype, the buzz, the sensation of pulling the trigger yourself.” 

She smiled. “Just so happens that this store actually features in a dance on the market. Some crazy bitch hit this place wanting to send the right message to her fans. Some bullshit about how life is worthless and fleeting and you should just do whatever you want. Best way of doing that apparently is to slammit on in some shitty little bodega. Why knew”

Braindance

“Well, we’ll keep it in mind. Thank you.” Said Avery. “Here’s the address.” She said, handing him a card. “Ask for Clarion and tell him Gypsy sent you. I want my cut you know.” 

The Edgerunners returned to the car and set off for the hospital. “Interesting” Said Avery, pulling up a search on his agent. “There’s a bounty for this Nephrite. Maybe we can look into it another time?”

“What’s the reward?” Said Holliday. Privately he could relate to losing family members and the thought of enacting some measure of revenge appealed to him. “NCPD have said 1800eb dead or alive. Hmm, the braindance must have got to the den somehow. That’s a lead we can follow when we get round to it.” Said Avery.

The Hospital

Watson used to be the North Oak military city that had become a promising development following the 4th Corporate War, though Militech still had a facility in the norther part of the district. The medical centre was built to be the crown jewel of the Japanese medical corporations and much of what was now Kabuki was built around it. 

GM's Note - There was some social commentary here out of character about the morality of charging people for parking at hospitals.

Trauma Team International

Parking up, Holliday noticed some Trauma team officers milling around the area ready to move as soon as they got a call. He pointed them out to the others. ”We don’t want to upset anyone here then. Those guys are as much military as medical.”

Inside the reception, it was clear that the hospital was very busy. The famous Night City body lotto, that drew numbers based on the number of people killed in the day might trivialise the scale of the daily body count but it certainly didn’t reduce it.

Spotting the reception desk, Avery straightened his tie and walked up. Before he had time to speak, the reception nurse looked up and said “Name please.” Seemingly quite exasperated. “Good evening, my name is Avery Hicks.” He said “A colleague from work was caught up in a shooting and killed. I’m here to identify the body.”

The nurse looked irritable. “Sir, if you wanted to identify a body you should have made an appointment. These things need arranging at our end. Do you have any idea how many bodies come through here all day every day and all night?”

Mika - Medical Centre Secretary

“I’m very sorry, but this is important for the health insurance.” Said Avery piling on the charm. “I can see that you’re incredibly busy and I’m sure that all frontline medical staff are putting in a heroic effort, but please, could you look into it for me?” The nurse relented slightly. “Ok, I’ll look. What’s the name?”

“Chan Jun-fan.” Said Avery. She typed into the terminal. “I’m sorry we don’t have anyone by that name.”

“Oh I’m sorry, maybe I got the name wrong.” Said Avery feigning looking at his agent. “Ah, I think they sent me the wrong name. Could you try Lee Kong-sang?”

“No, we don’t have him either.” Said the nurse. “Look,” Said Klink, butting in suddenly “The body has a malfunctioning penis implant that could explode at any moment!” Avery hurriedly pushed the medtech away. “Forgive my companion, despite appearances, he is a very skilled medical professional, I assure you.” The nurse looked surprised and slightly incredulous. 

“What he is saying is close to the truth however. The man we are looking for has experimental cyberware installed that can release dangerously toxic chemicals if it degrades. We need to recover it quickly if you don’t want a biohazard incident here at the hospital.”

The nurse looked horrified. Her hand rested on the alarm call. “I should call for help.” She said.

“Please.” Said Avery “Give us access to the morgue and we will sort this off the books. Nobody needs to know we were here or that a biohazard made it's way to the morgue on your watch.”

“I could get into a lot of trouble for letting you go down there without an appointment.” She said. “I won’t tell anyone if you won’t.” Said Avery. She nodded at the elevator. “Go.” 

“Thank you.” Said Avery gesturing for the others to follow.

The Morgue

The Med Centre Morgue

It was quiet down in the morgue. The air felt heavy, perhaps with the weight of the building above or maybe the solemnity of the morgue’s purpose. There was a long corridor with a few rooms off on either side where bodies would be displayed for identification. Beyond that, were rooms of cryotanks where bodies were stored long term.

The edge runners came to a reception desk as soon as they exited the elevator. A guard sat at the desk and he started in surprise as the three men entered. “You got an appointment?” he said. “We have been given permission to come down here.” Said Avery with confidence.

“I didn’t think so, we have no appointments booked for today. You shouldn’t be down here without an appointment. Leave before I call it in.” Deciding to try the same ruse as before Avery pressed him. “There is a body with experimental cyberware here that could cause a biohazard. It is imperative that we remove it immediately.” The man gibbered in reply “Look you don’t have an appointment, you shouldn’t be here! You can’t be here!”

'Over to Holliday..."

“Listen sir, I am not the sort of person you should be arguing with. I am working with the authority of a major corporation. I could make life very difficult for you.” Said Avery deciding to change tact. “It’s not you I’m afraid of here mate.” Replied the officer.

It occurred to Avery that the man hadn’t in fact called for assistance and he seemed nervous as if he was hiding something.

He exchanged a look with Holliday who immediately grabbed the man and choked him unconscious. “What do you think that was about?” Said the nomad.

“He definitely seemed to be hiding something.” Said Avery. “Let's find out what...”

Deciding to employ stealth, the three of them crept further into the morgue. Ahead, Avery’s enhanced hearing could pick up the faint sounds of conversation. “There are people up ahead.” He said “I can’t understand what they’re saying, it sounds Russian or something.”

Sneaking closer they reached the cryotanks. 

The Med Centre - Empty Cryotanks

Ahead the morgue began to open up into a wider hall. It appeared that there was a gang removing select bodies from the cryotanks and taking them through a makeshift tunnel out into a sewer outlet. Their clothing could be described as sporty leisurewear, mostly tracksuits and many were tattooed.

They were handling the bodies with absolutely no regard for them, almost as if they see them as things rather than people. A large brutish looking man periodically walked in and out of the morgue checking cryotanks against a list on his agent.

GM's Note - This planning session went on for a while and was frankly hilarious as some of the plans were batshit.

Retreating slightly they huddled to plan a strategy. “We need to divide them up reduce their numbers.” Said Klink. “Agreed,” said Avery, “If we wait until they’ve taken some of the bodies out so there’s less of them in here, we can maybe eliminate half before the others come back.”

Holliday's Combat Axe

“Maybe we can wheel Holliday in on a gurney, pretend he’s another stiff for them to take?”

“I do not like this plan.” Said Holliday. “It will be fine.” Said Klink. “Lie on your axe and when we get close, you can spring into action and take some heads!” Holliday looked unconvinced. “Ok, I guess but if this goes wrong I’m going to be stuck right in the middle of this mess.”

“Ok, it’s settled then. We will be behind you as backup anyway. Let’s do it.”

Avery lent Klink his silenced SMG and then, finding a gurney, they arranged Holliday with his weapons close to hand and started pushing him into the morgue. Klink pushed the gurney while Avery walked holding a datasheet. As they approached, there were to gangers carrying a body from the left and two almost to the sever exit on the right.

“We have another one for you.” Said Klink as they came into view. “Sexual implant malfunction, he’s all messed up down there but the rest is good.”

The Scavengers Gang

One of the Scavs near the exit stopped. The appearance of these unknown hospital workers must have been surprising but the confident way in which Klink had implied they were complicit seemed to have fooled her. 

“John Doe?” She said in heavily accented streetslang.

“Aren’t they all?” Said Avery silently cursing Klink’s unpredictable nature.

“Wheel him over here.” Said the Scav. She watched as slowly, the Medtech wheeled the “body” closer.

Just as the gurney rolled into range, Holliday sprang into action hacking at the first scav with his axe and kicking her in the chest, breaking her armourjack. 

Simultaneously, Avery drew his pistols and shot at the two Scavs to the left seriously wounding them. Klink hefted his borrowed SMG and fired at the remainder.

Aimed Shot - Heavy Pistol

The two Avery had shot at returned fire but keeping his cool, the Exec shot them both dead and took their position to pick up a fallen shotgun. 

The large brutish looking man from earlier ran in from the sewer spraying fire at Klink from an assault rifle without hitting him. The Medtech returned fire but dodging automatic fire threw his aim off.

As more people joined the fight, the close range firefight started getting more deadly. In the centre of it, Holliday ducked and weaved, exchanging blows with the two Scavs he was engaged with. He dodged another wild swing and fought back slicing into the snarling ganger with his axe. 

The second Scav seemed more lithe and athletic. He recognised that she seemed to use an aikido stance. With lightning strikes, she knocked the axe out of his hand sending it flying over his shoulder. Setting his shoulders, he grimly continued the fight.

Klink's SMG

More gangers started firing back at Avery who took cover behind the cryotanks. Taking careful aim, he landed a shot into the assault rifle armed Scav’s head, knocking him back. As the Scav retreated, clutching his head, a giant of a man strode in front of him, raising an SMG and firing on full auto at Klink, shredding his bulletproof shield and landing a hit on his chest. Through the pain, the Medtech raised his own gun and emptied it at the wounded Scav, taking him down.

To draw fire away from the exposed Klink, Avery fired a slug at the giant with the SMG before ducking back into cover to avoid the enraged return fire. Klink dropped Avery’s SMG and drew his own heavier one killing the now grievously wounded giant with it.

The brawl between Holliday and the two Scavs became a dance of death. Dimly he felt a pistol round hit his side but the adrenaline pushed him through it. He was a dervish of fists and elbows and knees. He felt bones crack under his blows as he bludgeoned the first Scav and her head into the wall. She dropped and stopped moving. 

Holliday - Severely Wounded but Stabilised

He turned to focus on the last one. Around him, bullets whistled through the air but he ignored them. He flew back into the brawl, the blows that hit him were getting weaker as the Scav started to run out of energy. 

Though he was hurt, he knew that she was hurt more. Finally, she made a mistake and he sidestepped her attack before tripping her and stamping down hard on her neck. He looked around in the quiet and down at his many wounds before collapsing onto the floor.

“Treat him!” Shouted Avery at a shell shocked Klink. He rushed out to look into the sewer outlet. The Scavs had a large car parked up. Thinking on his feet and wanting to cover up as much as he could, the Exec dragged the already loaded bodies out of the vehicle except for the missing Mr Chan. Going back into the morgue he caught up with Klink. “Is he ok?”

“He’s pretty badly hurt but he’ll live. Thanks for asking about me by the way.”

"At least they'll think he was a hero I suppose..."

“Sorry, there’s not much time. Start dragging the Scav’s bodies outside and load them in their van, grab any gear we can salvage. I need to set the scene to keep the heat of us.” 

While Klink started moving the dead Scavs, Avery used one of the scavs handguns to neatly put a bullet in the security guard they had knocked out earlier. He then emptied another scavs weapon into one of their recently defeated number and placed a gun in the security guards hand. Finally he placed the weapon used to kill the guard in the bullet-ridden corpse's own hand.

 “Hopefully, they will think this chump heroically fought off some Scav raiders and we will be off the hook.” He thought to himself. Regrouping with the others, he helped finish loading up and slid into the driving seat. “Holliday, you want me to take you to your car or straight to the clinic?”

“Car.” Grunted the Nomad. “I’ll go with him, make sure he doesn’t bleed out on the drive back.” Said Klink. “I’ll call Haruka too and tell him the jobs done.”

"To the Victor the Spoils..."

Avery drove back round to the carpark, where the wounded nomad limped as inconspicuously as he could back to his rig. Klink went with him and as a convoy, they drove back to the Glen. Avery then dumped the van somewhere where it was certain to be found, containing just enough gear to tie it to the event at the hospital.

Dialling through to Haruka, Klink said “The jobs done.”

“Were there any complications?” Asked Haruka. “Yeah actually, he got caught up in a shootout by accident and then Scavs tried to steal his body from the morgue. We got pretty badly shot up thanks for asking.” Said Klink sarcastically. “I’m sorry to hear that.” Said Haruka, not appearing concerned at all.

“When are you going to pick him up and do you want me to remove the cyberware.” Asked Klink. “I’m unconcerned about the body, If you can remove the eye, I’ll send someone to pick it up tomorrow.” Said Haruka. “The job was retrieval, not surgery so the removal will cost you another 200 eddies.” replied Klink. Haruka agreed.

“Great.” Said Klink coldly. “Don’t call again.” He hung up. Nursing his bruised chest, he leant back in his seat and watched the city pass by as they drove home.

To Be Continued in "Raven"

GM's Round-up

The players had breezed through combat up to this point and I gave them something a bit more challenging to up the sense of jeopardy. I may have slightly overdone it but they won out in the end and took a tidy haul home with them as a bonus.

It amused me greatly that Klink was the contact point for the gig in this session as he is not a people person at all. Telling an Exec client basically to fuck off would have annoyed Avery no end.

Overall, I think we have started to get the hang of the system and the players seem to be enjoying the campaign so far. There was some brilliant role play this week and I have to give them kudos for the Trojan horse plan at the end. Inspiring stuff.

Acknowledgement's

I've used pictures of real people to represent some of the characters and art for others so in no particular order Avery Hicks is Tom Ellis, Jasmine is Dichen Lachman, 'Holliday' is Wes Chatham, 'Klink' is Mackenzie Crook, Anya Metalik is Gillian Anderson, Kam Hopper is Lucy Liu, Kado Haruka is Ken Watanabe, 'Nephrite' is Jennifer Batten, 'Gypsy' is Juliette Lewis and Mika is Sarah Rafferty.

Cyberpunk Red - Session One - "Big Trouble in Little China"

 A roleplay session in the world of Cyberpunk Red

This session was written up by our Gamesmaster Matt and formatted for my blog by me.

Previous 'Gigs'

Story Arc One

(0) Spydar's Web.

The Players

Our players were all started at Rank 4

Garreth as Avery Hicks, Exec

and his Crew Member 'Jasmine'

Phil as 'Holliday' Nomad

Martyn as 'Klink', Medtech

Gamesmaster

Matt as everyone else.

Scene introductions are written in Blue to distinguish them from the roleplayed parts of the scene

Session One: Big Trouble in Little China

Screamsheets

Sometimes the previous sessions activities make the Night City News or even point to possible future jobs...

Handouts - Avery Hicks

GM's Note - Avery's player was the only one whose character stated they were doing anything specific between sessions.

The Data

The data that Jasmine copied from Spydar’s terminal concerned the location of a depot bunker belonging to Militech. It seems that Garvey was telling you the truth when he said you had third partied someone else’s score. It is therefore likely that you made more enemies that you might have considered. The bunk is located in the hot zone. Judging by the location, it probably survived the worst of the Arasaka bombing. The bunker contained both materials and data and could be a big score in the right circumstances. The raw materials could fetch a tidy sum alone without whatever else is stored there. 

Jasmine

You took Jasmine out for the evening to thank her for a job well done. She was very receptive of your compliments and in fact your advances. You enjoy a very pleasant evening together and breakfast the next morning.

Jasmines Loyalty stat is now 8

Anya Metalik
Preston's P.A.

Anya

This very evening, you met with Anya Metalik. Obviously, Anya, in her position is used to the finer things in life and you do not disappoint. 

Through careful conversation and you have found that your name had been floated around Garvey’s office before. Anya is aware that Preston used to have a friend in sales so perhaps you came recommended. 

Apparently you had been on his radar since you had signed on with the Corporation. He was doubtful about your abilities to begin with but couldn’t deny that you had proven yourself over time. Anya had heard your name in conversations between Garvey and Kilo but she doesn’t speak Portuguese and couldn’t tell you any particular details. It was notable that those conversations could get quite heated at times. 

You left Anya resting in your room tonight before meeting with the others.

Introduction

Your mission to apprehend the netrunner, Spydar was a resounding success. Not only did you accomplish your objectives but you also acquired some salvage along the way in the form of a few weapons and some cyberware that Klink has spent the last couple of days extracting. Through Holliday’s Aldecaldo background, a local fixer has informed you that there is a night market happening tonight and the three of you have arranged to meet there, to fence the spoils and divide up the score between you. It is also an opportunity to invest in new requirement, weapons and cyberware. 

Session Zero of this campaign can be found HERE.

The Night Market

'Nico'
Fixer and Arms Dealer

The Night Market occupied a wide alley between buildings in the marina district. Stalls crammed shoulder to shoulder, set up under marquees or directly out of the back of vans, created a twisting maze of street hawkers and specialist vendors. The air was thick with the industrial scent of dust and oil mixed with aromatic street food. Though night was falling, the crowded market was illuminated in radiant technicolour. People went about their business, illicit or otherwise, bathed in the neon glow of cyan and pink light. The market was heaving with activity and despite the reputation for being an underground, backstreet affair it was noisy with the chatter of bartering and haggling.

Navigating through the stalls, Avery Holliday and Klink looked for a suitable vendor to offload the rippers and handguns they liberated from the unfortunate Red Mandible gang. Eventually they came across a well-stocked marquee manned by a tall and handsome black man wearing a long leather duster.

 

“Evenin’ gents” he said ”I’m Nico, what are you looking for?”

 

“We’ve got some items we are looking to offload. The reward for a recent outing.” Said Avery.

Nico looked over the weapons, checking the wear and condition and then inspected rippers for any damage. “The guns aren’t great but they’re not in bad nick, the rippers look good, they’ve been well cared for” He paused, seemingly calculating in his head. “Ok, for the two sets of rippers and the guns, I can do 940eb”

 

Eurodollars

The three edgerunners shared a look. Avery recognised a negotiation when he saw one. “I was thinking a bit more than that. What do you say we round it to 1000 bucks?” Nico smiled “yeah I can do that.” He gestured to his store. ”Tell you what, you buy something and I’ll waive my percentage. I’ll throw you 60 bucks extra”

“Fine, I guess I can take a look” drawled Avery trying to look unconcerned about the offer. He could tell that Holliday was already keen to explore what was available.

Nico selected an SMG from one of the racks.

 

“Here we have a Beretta 1010 SMG. This is excellent quality, 30 round mage, nice and compact great for keeping any “home invaders” head down.” He eyed the pistol on Holliday’s hip. “Of course, If you fancy yourself more of a gunslinger, how about a heavy pistol? I have a couple you might be interested in.”

He walked over to a rack of pistols and picked out an impressive looking revolver. 

“This is an Ameritech Magnum, this is the cream of the crop. It’s had a cylinder mod to make it 8 shot and its smartlinked, I can’t let this go for less than 1100 eddies though” As he replaced the magnum he glanced over at a stack of crates that looked brand new and untouched. “I’ve had a shipment of Bud-shit-arms Auto 3’s but honestly they’re trash, so I won’t even unbox one for you. I’ll flog them to boosters down on their luck or something. I don’t care if they lose a few fingers to exploding backfires.”

He picked out another revolver. “This is a Federate Arms Super Chief. Generally these aren’t great but this one has been worked on and improved a fair amount it’s in excellent condition, 6 cylinder, well maintained. 500 bucks to you.” Holliday hefted the pistol, feeling it in his grip. “Colour me intrigued. It’s gotta’ be the right fit though. This is nice, but what else you got?” Nico’s eyes lit up as he reached for another pistol. “I think this is exactly what you’re looking for. Armalite 44, nice and clean excellent quality and completely standard ready for you to customise it to your own spec. 500 eddies and she’s all yours.”

Smart-Link
Weapon Mod

Nico watched Holliday handle the 44, recognising the signs of someone weighing up a choice they might not be fully committed to. “I know what it’s like to get comfortable with your sidearm.  In my experience. Why switch out what you like, when you can mod it right? If you’re looking for something to give you an edge, I have a smartlink for 500 that’s ready to go and you’ve already got the interface to plug in.” Avery cut in. “That smartlink is solid, functional but we both know it’s not top of the line. How about 450?” Nico smiled, looking him in the eye “Yeah ok, but you’re going to have to sweeten the deal some more.”

“You got any incendiary shells?” Said Holliday. Nico took a box off one of the shells. “Yeah, these are 10 bucks a pop though and there’s no movement on that.”

“Slugs?”

“Yeah” said Nico, “I’ve got some solids too.”

“Can you do the 50 slugs for 45?” said Avery. Nico worked out the deal in his head. “You know, I think we’ve both done well out of this. I can do that.” As they were finalising the deal, Avery had a thought.

DX-12 - Shotgun Pistol

“You know anything about pistols firing shotgun shells?” Nico paused “Yeah I’ve heard of that stuff but I’ve got none in at the minute.” He gestured with his agent. “If you give me a contact number I can let you know when I do.”

With the deal done, the three of them browsed the market, picking out some other stuff they thought might be useful if they worked together again. They sourced some radio communicators at an electronics vendor and eventually found an appropriate carryall for Klink. He had worryingly specified it must be “About man-sized.”

As they milled around, Avery’s agent began to ring. He recognised the number as belonging to Harper Bascott, a client who had made an order recently on behalf of a wind power corporation called PowerNetic. It seemed odd to the exec that Bascott would call so late. “Mr Bascott, I can only assume this is a misdial, to call so late.”

Cyberpunk - Smart Glasses

Flashing up on Avery’s smart glasses, Bascott looked tired and dishevelled. “Mr Hicks, where are my damned guns? My windfarm is in absolute chaos, scav raiders from out in the perimeter have harried me all day and my security forces are critically underequipped. What little firearms we have are short on ammo, some of my guys have been reduced to batons and throwing damned rocks. People have died.” He took a breath, and Avery could tell that he had been pushed to his limit today. “I want my money back. Federated Arms are still willing to honour the deal they offered me before and I want to take them up on it. I can’t go another day like this, I’ll be ruined.”

“I have had no indication that there was a problem with the shipment.” Said Avery. He frankly couldn’t care about Bascott or PowerNetic but a deal was a deal and he felt he could at least look at what had happened. “Obviously, you’re a valued client to us so I’ll investigate this and work out what went wrong. Don’t cancel the order just yet. I will try and fix it.” 

Harper Bascott - PowerNetic Exec.

It sounded like Harper didn’t have it in him to argue too much. He sighed “The scavs have been hitting us repeatedly, fire and fade type shit. I don’t know when they’re going to turn up again. Just do what you can and quickly.”

The phone went dead. ‘Well’ thought Avery, ‘I lose nothing if he dies, but what’s the harm in trying?’ He dialled through to Budget Arms logistics. The call was picked up by a surprised and tired sounding overnight security officer. “Hello”

“This is Avery Hicks, who am I speaking to?”

“Kennedy, Finnby Kennedy sir. This is a late night call isn’t it?”

“Mr Kennedy, I have a upset customer who is missing a delivery. As this is down to logistics, this is your problem. This needs to be sorted, do you understand?” The officer gibbered “I’m s-sorry! What shipment? We haven’t had any problems recorded here sir.”

Armoured Delivery Vehicle - Budget Arms

“PowerNetic” said Avery “They should have received a shipment last night.”

“That shipment went off without a hitch according to the records. The trucks are back here, no complications were recorded or nothing.” Avery sighed in exasperation. He turned to Holliday “The officer in logistics says that there was no problem. There’s something else here going on.” “Yeah something ain’t right.” Said Holliday “We gonna go look into it?”

Clearly, there was something under the surface. Although Avery considered his job done, he couldn’t shake the feeling of intrigue. He reflected that a problem was often an opportunity in disguise and if opportunity knocked, he was damned sure he would open the door to it. “Mr Kennedy, I’m coming in to find out what has gone on. Please be ready for me.”

The Logistics Centre

Corpo Zone - The Glen

They travelled back to the Budget Arms tower to dig deeper into the mystery about the missing shipment. From the outside, the tower was an architectural beauty, reflecting the dazzling city lights on its mirrored glass rendering. Getting into the building wasn’t a problem even at this late hour and they made their way through the mostly empty departments to the logistics centre. During the day, the offices were a hive of activity, but now, only the distribution hub was bustling as workers hurried to dispatch customer orders on time.

Kennedy turned out to be a harried figure standing outside the distribution yard. His pale complexion spoke of a man who barely saw daylight and Avery concluded he must work permanent nights. He looked tense as the three men approached. “What can you tell me Mr Kennedy” began Avery. “What can I tell the customer about his missing delivery?”

“I don’t know what to tell you Mr Hicks. The trucks went out, they came back in on time. The drivers didn’t report anything.” Said Kennedy.“Look Finnby” he said “someone will get shot for this and I’m sure you understand that may be literally as well as figuratively. It is in your best interest to gather up all the information about this shipment now to control the narrative.” The luckless logistics officer hurried away. Avery had suspicions about a set up. He spoke to the others “This could be an inside job, we need to know where the trucks went.”

Map of Night City - 2045

Kennedy butted in “I can get you the route plan sir.” He had logged into a terminal “The trucks left here and headed North East, through the combat zone and up through Little China, then out East towards the perimeter.”

“Wasn’t there some big trouble in Little China last night” asked Avery dryly. "Oh yeah!" Said Kennedy “We didn’t think anything of it because our trucks came back.” He looked over at the others. “Do you wanna see the trucks?”

“Holliday is an expert in transporting goods. I shall leave that to him.” Said Avery “I also want to see the manifests though.”

Holliday and Klink went to check out the trucks. They were squat armoured vehicles with the company logo branded on the sides. The nomad hauled himself up to look over the wear and tear. “Klink, there’s a lot of scratches and scars on this piece of shit, most looks old but I reckon some is recent.” He dropped back to the ground and headed for the cab.

“If these were involved in a shootout, someone might have got hurt.” said Klink. He activated the medscanner in his arm and scanned the cab. “Yeah, looks like we got some blood here, its mixed with some shit though. I reckon someone tried to clean it.” He looked the cab over, it was a worn and scuffed mess “I don’t know why they bothered, I don’t think a shootout could make this look any worse than it already does.” Holliday tapped on the windshield, “This glass has been replaced too.” He looked at Klink. “What do you reckon?”

EMP Grenade

“There was a lot of blood. I doubt the drivers are still alive. Looks like a good clean up.” Klink brought up the Screamsheet on his agent. “This says the attackers used EMP grenades. That would only last a minute or so, maybe there’s camera footage after the ambush.”

Avery looked up from the manifests. “These signatures are literally identical, like they could have been pasted in.” He checked the security footage from the terminal. “These drivers aren’t the same people coming in as that went out.” He followed the four figures through the building. “They just logged the trucks in an left. There’s definitely more to this.” 

Avery put an arm around Kennedy and led him back towards the depot. “You should get a couple of drivers you trust, duplicate the order and get it out right now. You don’t want your name attached to losing a client, even a minor one. Make sure any evidence points to the other shift.” He stopped and looked the luckless officer in the eye. “We never spoke and I will deny all knowledge of this, especially if you get caught. Anyway, professional curiosity has grabbed my interest so I’m going to look into this for you. Don’t make me regret this.”

He turned back to the others. “I believe we have an ambush location to see in Little China then.” Stopping on their way out to retrieve Avery’s new pistol from the armoury, they set out for the combat zone.

Little China

Little China - Night City

On the drive, Avery messaged Jasmin to be prepared in case he needed her in Little China. The area was a dump. It was a common battleground between gangs and shootouts like this weren’t uncommon. The ambush site was an intersection along the main highway. Holliday parked up and the three men spread out to check it over. 

Holliday walked the path of the trucks. “There are tyre marks here. Looks like the EMP locked the wheels up on the trucks.” He walked a bit further into the junction. “They stopped here.” He visualised the ambush site. “I reckon our raiders were coming in from the north. Had vehicles of their own, stopped them over there.” He pointed to the other side of the highway. He looked about at the ground near the skid marks. “There are more tracks here. After the ambush they moved the trucks further into the combat zone.”

Klink also checked over the area. “There was blood here.” He indicated around the trucks. “Quite a bit. I think the drivers were killed quickly and the guys riding shotgun put up a fight to try and outlast the EMP.” He knelt down and looked more closely at the ground. “They didn’t make it. You can see where the bodies were dragged away.”

Jasmine - Netrunner - Avery Hick's Team Member

Avery pulled up a search on his agent. “There’s a small NCPD station nearby. If the camera footage is anywhere, it’s going to be there. I’ll get Jasmine to meet us.”

The NCPD Station

Night City Police Department

The NCPD was a shadow of what it was before the 4th Corporate War. What remained was barely more effective than the gangs that they faced. The only exceptions were Max Tac and C Swat, divisions that dealt specifically with cyberpsychos. They operated out of the only main precinct in the city but they were a long way from Little China.

The precinct in Little China was a squat building on a street corner. There was a high chain link fence that surrounded it, with a paddock to the rear for parking a couple of battered police cruisers. Graffiti covered the walls and the heavy metal shutters that covered most of the windows. Dimly, lights could be seen from inside. The edgerunners got the impression that at night, the officers on shift would rather not draw attention to themselves.

The precinct was very small, with only a couple of officers around on each shift. A desk officer looked up as the three men entered. He definitely wasn’t expecting people this time of night, especially not well dressed corpo types like Avery. He looked at them suspiciously. “What can I do for you gentlemen?” he said warily.

Avery’s advanced hearing implant picked up the sound of the man’s fingers clicking off the safety of a gun under the desk. Clearly the officers here were on edge. “My name is Hicks. I’m from Budget Arms. One of our shipments went missing and I’m investigating. I was hoping the NCPD might be able to help officer…?” He paused, waiting for the officer’s name. “Kold, officer Kold.”

 

“Well officer Kold. I’m sure you saw the Screamsheets. It turns out that the vehicles in question belonged to us. I’m trying to find the details for insurance purposes of course. We have been directed here from the precinct in the Glen. It’s all official. Could my assistant here...” he indicated Jasmine, “...please be shown the footage?”

The Officer was overwhelmed by Avery’s sincerity and confidence. “Yeah, yeah sure, I’ll get someone to take you down. The local CCTV isn’t our responsibility but it gets routed through here anyway. It helps to see what we’re going to walk into sometimes. In this case, we got nothing though.” While Jasmine got to work, Avery asked Kold about the case. “Who was the investigating officer?”

“Detective Ross took the lead on the ambush.” Said Kold. “He was on shift last night. We didn’t get involved. Something that heavy going down is suicide for us, I’m all for keeping the peace but a couple of officers aren’t going to win a pitched battle with heavily armed gangers or whatever. Ross went down afterwards to check the scene. He said there was some sort of EMP charge used to knock out the traffic cameras. Apparently they picked up nothing.”

“Did he review the footage?” Asked Avery. “Yeah but like I said the footage was missing.” was the reply

A message from Jasmine flashed up on Avery’s smartglasses. “The precinct camera shows Ross accessing the computer to check the camera feeds. The file of the record is empty as Kold said, however it seems that efforts were made to hide Ross’s presence in the system.”

Detective Ross - Night City PD

“What can you tell me about him?” Asked Avery “I know it’s late but could we talk to him tonight?”

“Ross? He’s been here for a while. Local guy I think, he’s got an apartment nearby. He keeps himself to himself mostly. Walks his beat. Likes to gamble.” He laughed “it’s got him into trouble once or twice.” Kold stopped himself “Don’t get me wrong, he always finds a way to settle his scores, pays what he owes. He’s straight up you know?”

“Of course” said Avery, seeing an opportunity. “Would he be up now? Where is the apartment?”

Kold gave him the address. “It’s a block a couple of blocks down. Very close. He’s back on shift today though, it might be as easy to just come back in a few hours.”

“Indeed, I suppose we can come back during his shift. Thank you for your time.”

Avery once again thanked Jasmine for her excellent work especially at short notice and made a mental note to pay her a bonus. It was time to leave.

GM's Note - Avery's player rolled disgustingly high for his persuasion rolls in this and now Officer Kold seems like a goofball who couldn’t spill his guts quickly enough.

Detective Ross

The apartment was a couple of blocks from the precinct. It was shabby and run down but liveable. Little China was a known hive of gang activity and certainly not the place to raise a family. Ross lived alone on the 2nd floor.

Holliday parked up just around the corner from the apartment, reasoning he didn’t want to risk having his car being recognised by local gangs. The three of them walked back to recon the building. The abundance of gangs in Little China meant that stumbling into one faction or another’s territory was too easy and that would almost certainly lead to violence. The building itself was run down but there was no indication that any gangs had claimed it. “Maybe they leave it alone because he’s a badge.” He said.

They found the apartment without any trouble. “Stand either side of the door” Avery whispered to the others. “When he opens up, grab him.” Holliday and Klink nodded in agreement and took up position. Avery started to knock on the door. Eventually he heard movement from inside. “Who’s there?” came a gruff voice from inside.“Avery Hicks, I work for Budget Arms, I’m investigating a missing shipment that I’m told you are the investigating officer for.”

Detective Ross - Night City PD
"Can't this fucking wait?"

“Can’t this wait, it’s the middle of the fucking night.” Said Ross. “My boss is on my ass about this” said Avery, “I just want to ask some questions and I’ll be on my way.” He could feel Ross’ mind working on the other side of the door.

“Stand back from the door.” Ross commanded. Avery stood backwards in view of the peephole. “You armed?” said Ross. Avery lifted his jacket to show he was not openly carrying a weapon. He heard the lock click as Ross opened the door.

Braydn Ross was average height in his mid-40’s. Clearly the knocking had woken him up and he had come to the door holding a pistol. As the door opened, Holliday rushed and grappled Ross’ gun from him then twisted his arm up behind his back. “Shut the fuck up or I’ll tear your arm off and beat you to death with it.” He said. Avery drew his concealed pistol and gestured with it. “Well Mr Ross, you clearly have some explaining to do and I am in no mood to ask unnecessary questions.”

 

“You’re making a big mistake.” Said Ross “Get the fuck out before I call on my buddies down at the station to see you off, I'll have half of them here in ten minutes” Klink laughed, then replied to the threat scornfully. “We've just come from the station. Half of them would amount to exactly one and a half cops...”

Klink's 'Surgical' Tools

Avery rolled his eyes. “You know why I’m here, tell me what I want to know or Klink here“, he nodded at the Medtech “will be using his vast medical expertise on you. He likes dissecting stuff. I hope you understand me.” Holliday twisted the detectives arm for emphasis causing him to grunt in pain.

“Tell us everything” said Avery “and you will survive the night. Clearly you’re not a man of great moral fibre and if word of this gets out, surely, you will be ruined. Maybe you’ll find that some people who might draw the line at killing a detective are less concerned with killing a disgraced nobody.” Avery smiled “Of course, you’re corruption doesn’t need to become common knowledge. You help us and I won’t forget it.” He stopped smiling. “But you belong to us now.”

Tripp Muldoon - Exec.
Federated Arms

“Ok, ok,” Ross relented “my contact is Tripp Muldoon. He works for Federated Arms. I do some work for him from time to time. Lose a bit of evidence, gloss over his peoples involvement in shit. I’ve had some gambling debts and he threw me this gig to hide that camera footage. He paid me and gave me some of the guns to sell as a bonus.”

“And you know where those guns are now?” Said Avery. He ignored Klink who in his boredom had started investigating Ross’s kitchen. “The trucks were unloaded at a warehouse off the main highways. It’s a bit out of the way. Away from the cameras. I don’t know who he’s got there but it’s not going to unguarded.”

“How many people does this Muldoon have there?” asked Holliday “I don’t know! Last time I was there, maybe ten or so and Kam, she’s one of his specials. She is bad news.”

“Holliday, release him and have a look round.” Said Avery. “See if there’s anything we can use.” 

Avery kept watch over the sheepish looking Ross. He was concerned. They were outnumbered at least three to one. Klink reappeared eating a sandwich he had found in the fridge. “He doesn’t have much. Well, he has basically nothing now. We have got some cuffs, a flashlight, road flares or something and a radio.” Holliday walked back in with an assault rifle. “This registered?” he asked Ross. “Yeah, it’s mine”

“Ooh, best behaviour then” said Holliday checking the ammo. “We off?”

“Yes, we need to talk strategy.” Said Avery. “Don’t wait up!” The nomad called back to Ross as they left.

The Warehouse

Little China - Warehouse District

The three of them drove into Little China. “I’m not on board with a frontal assault. We’re outnumbered three to one and this Kam sounds dangerous.” stated Klink “We could recon it first, see if we can whittle down the numbers a bit maybe?” Said Holliday. “Yeah we should check it our first. It might be an option to negotiate. If we find out why they hit the convoy, we could come to an agreement.” Replied Avery

“It’s an option” said the nomad, “but if it goes bad, you’ll be right in the middle of it.” Avery chuckled to himself “That has been the case in every deal I’ve ever been in.”

“Why do you even do what you do?” asked Holliday “Why do you do what you do?” Replied Avery “I’m just very good at it.”

GM's Note - This was some excellent roleplay in character that I think really got across Avery’s self-assured confidence and Holliday’s no nonsense stoicism.

The warehouse was situated in the Little China combat zone. It was tucked away and inconspicuous. It wasn’t a large building, Holliday estimated that it was about 25m by 40m. There were lights on inside despite it now being past midnight.

They couldn’t see any vehicles outside but that didn’t mean there weren’t any inside. A man sat on the wall outside smoking. Evidently he was trying to look inconspicuous but clearly hadn’t had even the slightest inkling on how to do it. Even at a distance Avery could see that under his coat, the man had a heavy pistol and body armour branded with the Federated Arms logo. Behind the wall he sat on was an assault rifle and helmet.

“We will kill the sentry and then try and get eye inside the warehouse.” Said Avery. “Take us past them please Holliday.” He checked his phone to find that the replacement shipment had been dispatched to PowerNetic. He forwarded the message to Bascott with an apology and an assurance that PowerNetic were a valued customer. At least that was one problem solved tonight.

He drew his heavy pistol, he had had some intensive work completed on it, including an advanced silencer. As the car passed by the warehouse. He expertly shot the guard through the head, toppling him over the wall. Quickly, they parked the car up and checked over the body, finding a radio communicator amongst his weapons. Holliday patched into the frequency so they could listen in.

Very Heavy Pistol, Silenced - Avery's

“Sounds like there’s someone patrolling round the back of the warehouse.” He said “They just checked in. We could do with looking through a window or something to get a look inside.” Klink looked up at the high windows. They were about ten feet above the ground. “I got this” he said, firing his grapple hand up to the roof and hoisting myself up.

Inside the warehouse he saw a variety of different items in storage. “It’s not a specialised unit. They have all sorts of shit in there. It’s pretty packed in, there’s some machinery, crates and boxes and a couple of vans.” He radioed back. “I can see uniformed guards stacking Budget Arms branded boxes into different piles and loading them onto the vans and some more keeping guard.“

“Can you see this solo we need to watch out for?” Asked Avery.

Kam - Federated Arms, Solo

Amongst the guards, Klink could also see a slim Asian woman. She moved with the obvious grace that he would associate with a dancer but despite this clearly demanded respect from the people around her. “Yeah, I think that’s Kam. Definitely looks like she’s running the show anyway.”

“Ok, get back down here. We need a plan.”

Once Klink was back on the ground. The three of them sketched out a quick plan. “I think if we fight them on two fronts we can split their fire a bit.” Said Holliday. “I’ll go around back and come in through the other door.” He started to load his shotgun with incendiary shells.“So we'll come from the other side and cause a distraction. They won’t know what's hit them. If we try and neutralise Kam first, the rest might give up.” Said Avery.

“If I lay down some suppressive fire, we can keep their heads down.” Said Klink doubting his aim.“There is a small office at the front of the building. Could be good cover. What do you think?”

“That’s smart” Said Avery, he turned to Holliday. “We will give you some time to skirt round the back and then start the show. Go on the sound of gunfire.” As Holliday crept quietly around the building, Avery and Klink snorted some synthcoke and started to sneak through the door at the front of the warehouse into the small reception office inside.

 

Klink's SMG

Waiting for the ideal moment, Avery took careful aim and blew the head off of the closest guard and hit the second wounding him badly. Klink stitched SMG fire up the survivor and finished him off.

 

At the other end of the building Holliday kicked the door in and blasted the two closest guards with his shotgun setting them both alight. He could hear Klink opening fire and spraying hot lead all across the warehouse and sending almost all of the Federated Arms soldiers diving for cover. Only one kept his cool, carefully shooting back at the Medtech. Klink fell back into cover clutching his bruised chest.

 

Elsewhere the defenders tried to rally and return fire. Kam, slipped viperously fast into the cover of a set of shelves and fired back at Avery clipping him but failing to crack his armour. In return, Avery got off an aimed shot, striking her helmet and badly cutting her head.

 

Holliday charged into the two men trying to extinguish their clothes and threw thunderous punches into them, beating them to the ground. The guards in cover around the vans however, took aim and started trying to bring him down. Rifle rounds bit into him one after another but he refused to fall. 

Holliday - Nomad
"Good try buddy..."

A red mist descended over him and he turned his attention to a third shooter entering the building behind him. He flew at him in a rage, grappling him and firing a few quick and devastating body blows. He felt ribs break under his hands. The man staggered away in obvious agony and managed to fire off one more shot hitting Holliday again. The nomad chased him down, grabbing, wrestling, choking and beating him. Holliday could feel the fight and the life leaving his target second by second until, he simply stopped.

 

“Good try buddy” he said slapping the unconscious man on the cheek and dropping him to the ground. He turned to the cluster of men taking cover behind the trucks and prepared himself for another fight when suddenly he heard a voice.

“Parley?” said Kam. “Who the fuck are you?”

“I’m sure you can work it out.” Said Avery, somewhat smugly.

“Budget Arms?”

“Yep”

“You should speak to my boss” said Kam. “This doesn’t need to cost any more lives.”

Kam - Federated Arms, Solo
"We have hit a snag..."

“Ok” said Avery, “ceasefire it is.” Kam dialled a number and put it on speakerphone. “Kam, to what do I owe this pleasure so late in the night?” The voice was smooth and sardonic. “We have hit a snag. Someone from Budget Arms found us and have taken out half of my guys.”

“Are you alright.” Asked the voice. “I’ll survive” said Kam, “More than some will anyway. You’re on speaker. I called a ceasefire.” The voice sighed. “Who am I speaking to?”

“Avery Hicks.” Said Avery. “Mr Muldoon I presume.” There was a pause. “Indeed. I know of you Mr Hicks. Tell me, what are your terms?”

“The way I see it,” began Avery “You stole a shipment and killed my employees. I’m taking it back. This is just business. Your agent here seemed to realise the odds weren’t in her favour and offered a ceasefire.”

“Just business? I’m sure you appreciate that the initial incident was also, just business. You undercut me. I couldn’t let that slide.”

Avery Hicks - Budget Arms Exec.
"Until we meet again..."

“It’s not my fault you offered PowerNetic a shit deal and that I was marginally less greedy than you were” Said Avery. “Now, I want what’s mine and in return, I won’t kill your operatives. I might even offer you a deal in addition.” “And what might that be.” Said Muldoon.

“It doesn’t do either of us any favours to squabble over contracts. Perhaps we could come to a mutually beneficially arrangement that prevents these sorts of… misunderstandings, happening in future.” Muldoon went quiet, seemingly thinking it over. “Today, you have won the battle, but you haven’t won the war. I will think about your offer nevertheless. Let my people leave, take your merchandise and we will call it a truce for now. Is that agreeable?”

“That will do for now.” Said Avery “Until we meet again.” The phone went dead. Nervously, Kam gathered her survivors and bundled them into one of the vans. “I doubt this is over.” She said.

“I’m sure. Hopefully our next meeting will be of a more social nature” Said Avery. They had made a big impact in a short amount of time but he wasn’t entirely convinced that their luck would have held. Still, image was everything. “I’m afraid I have much to do tonight, so please. We will talk another time.” He finished.

Klink - Medtech
"You appear to have been shot a lot..."

Holliday staggered into the office looking for Klink. “They messed up my vest.” He slurred. “Also they shot me a bit. Have a look will you.” While Klink tended to the nomads wounds, Avery hurriedly moved the crates into the other van. Ceasefire or not, he fully expected Federated Arms to arrive on mass in the near future. He certainly would do so, ceasefire or not.

While quickly recovering the left over weapons from the casualties Klink gruesomely dismembered a dead guards head containing an audiosuite. The three edgerunners left with most of the missing guns recovered. Avery made a mental note to tell Nico about the status of the Auto 3’s he had for sale. It never hurt to have people owe you a favour after all. That went double now that he knew he had made an enemy within the munitions sector.

He was thankful for the help that the other men had given him but now he knew he owed them a favour too. Still, he thought as he drove the van, they weren’t the worst people to throw his lot in with and at least none of them had tried to kill him yet.

To Be Continued in "Eye-Spy"

GM's Round-up

This session was designed to be more of an investigation than a straight up adventure and the players threw themselves into it admirably. I had predicted that they would end up with a dirty cop in their pocket but I hadn't expected them to make off with a van.

Still, now they know they have a powerful enemy that they might be the focus of in future... or they might not be... best not get too paranoid.

Overall I think the session went really well and I was really happy with the level of roleplay and strategy they employed.

Acknowledgement's

I've used pictures of real people to represent some of the characters and art for others so in no particular order Avery Hicks is Tom Ellis, Jasmine is Dichen Lachman, 'Holliday' is Wes Chatham, 'Klink' is Mackenzie Crook, Anya Metalik is Gillian Anderson, 'Nico' is Idris Elba, Harper Bascott is Robert Redford, Detective Ross is Michael Madsen, Tripp Muldoon is Martin Wallstrom and 'Kam' is Lucy Liu.