Vampire the Masquerade - V5 - Session Eighty Six - 'The War Council' (Part One)

I'm currently running a Vampire the Masquerade chronicle using the 5th Edition rule-set for a small group of fellow role-players. These are the chronicles of their adventures.

Our chronicle is set in Los Angeles and features a small group of Camarilla agents sent into the 'Free States' to bring them back under Camarilla control. Over a year of plotting allowed the coterie to gain control of two North-Eastern Baronies and a large part of a third. Now they are moving on to the final stage of their campaign and have their eyes on taking over the entire city, either directly or by proxy.

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The now obligatory warning bit - Unlike my other RPG write-ups this one will contain swearing, sexual references and other references that might offend. If you can't tell the difference between real             peoples opinions and grown-ups role-playing predators who crave blood then this probably won't be for you. I've also used actual photographs to represent some characters which I'll give acknowledgements to at the end if I've any idea who they are.
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The introduction to this campaign, the first story and all the other parts can be found at the following links and are in chronological order. If you'd prefer a summary of each session rather than read everything then there's a more detailed link page HERE as well as links to the first episode of each story in the blog sidebar.
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Chronicle One - 'Infiltrate L.A.' 

Welcome to L.A. - Introductory Session
Story One - 'Three Murders' - Part One, Two, Three, Four and Five
Interlude Session - One
Story Two - 'The Pasadena Problem' - Part One, Two, Three, and Four
Solo Session - 'The Neillson Library'
Story Two Continued- 'The Pasadena Problem' - Part Five, Six, Seven and Eight
Story Three - 'Becoming Baron' - Part One, Two, Three, Four and Five
Solo Session - 'The Gather'
Story Three Continued - 'Becoming Baron' - Part Six, Seven and Eight

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Chronicle Two - 'Foothold L.A.' 

Solo Session - 'Hostile Takeover'
Story Four - 'Countdown' - Part One, Two and Three
Story Five - 'The Missing Chantry' - Part One, Two, Three, Four and Five
Solo Session - 'The Anaheim Assassination'
Story Six - 'A Meeting of Barons' - Part One, Two and Three
Story Seven - 'The Carmelita Situation' - Part One, Two and Three
Story Eight - 'The Blount Sisters' - Part One and Two
Story Nine - 'Blood Money' - Part One, Two, Three, Four, Five and Six
Story Ten - 'Anathema' - Part One and Two
Story Eleven - 'Predators and Prey' aka 'The Blount Sisters' - Part Three
Story Twelve - 'Aftermath' - Part One and Two
Story Thirteen - 'The Messiah Complex' - Part One, Two, Three and Four

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Chronicle Three - 'Incursion L.A.'

Story Fourteen - 'The Rant'
Story Fifteen - 'Ties of Blood' - Part One and Two

Solo Session - 'A Gathering of Roses'

Story Sixteen - 'The Southern Solution' - Part One, Two and Three
Story Seventeen - 'The Baker Disappearance' - Part One, Two and Three

Story Eighteen - 'Inevitable Betrayals' - Part One, Two, Three, Four and Five

Story Nineteen - 'The Marius Contracts' - Part One and Two

Story Twenty - 'The MacNeil Protocols' - Part One, Two, Three, Four, Five, 

Story Twenty - 'The MacNeil Protocols' - Part Six, Seven, Eight, Nine and Ten

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Interlude Session One - After Griffith Park

Interlude Session Two - Divide and Conquer

Interlude Session Three - On the Brink of War

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Chronicle Four - 'Conquest L.A.'

Story Twenty One - 'Veni, Vidi, Victor' - Part One, Two, Three, Four, Five

Story Twenty One - 'Veni, Vidi, Victor' - Part Six, and Epilogue

Story Twenty Two - 'The Unbound' - Part One, Two, Three and Four

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The PC's

Michael Tomassio - Toreador, 'Baron of the North East'
Vincent 'Vin' Ghast - Brujah, 'Constable'
Dr Daniel Matthews - Banu Haqim, 'Fixer'
Hope Romero - Gangrel, 'Census Taker'
Mr Hertz - Nosferatu, 'Seneschal'

The player characters stats and backgrounds can be found HERE should any-one be interested, but be warned that the page is usually several stories ahead of the most recent write-up and may contain some spoilers. There's also some minor 'house-rules' HERE that have occurred as we went along.

As I have written out introductions and dialogue for certain NPC's and some location descriptions I'll post these more or less as I wrote them so they'll be in a 'reading to the group' style and they'll also be in blue so you can tell them apart from the more traditional write-up sections and occasionally an obscure Premonition will turn up in purple. If I think something needs a bit of out of character explanation then those will get a storytellers note that will helpfully be in red. Anything covered via player handouts will also be in blue as they're written in the same style as introductions and the like. Where particular NPC's have a mention in a faction profile you will be able to reach it by clicking on their name or faction beneath their picture.

Introduction

Michael's plan to use the invasion of San Jose by the Camarilla Prince of San Francisco to form an Anarch Council has began. Gloria Martinez and Allison Maller have already agreed to join such a council on the condition that the duskborn who call themselves The Liberated are also allowed a representative. The coterie's next port of call is Karen Anatos, Baron of Burbank

Scene One - The Midnight Queen

Velvet Velour - Toreador
Dancer, Owner of Club Vesuvius

Michael contacted Velvet Velour who had close connections to Karen Anatos to see if she could arrange a meeting between them. After the loss of a valued ghoul Karen Anatos had effectively closed her borders to guests and was notoriously fickle.

Arriving uninvited seemed like a bad idea under those circumstances especially as her low generation more than made up for her relative lack of age. Marius Walker, Baron of Downtown, also acted as her sometime mentor so one could never be sure exactly what ideas he had put into her head.

Apparently Velvet and Karen were still in touch as she arranged the requested meeting almost instantly though she did point out that lately Michael only rang her when he wanted something and that thing was rarely her company. He promised to rectify that as soon as the current troubles had been dealt with. Velvet provided the coterie with an address in Burbank. A quick check revealed that the address was of a large house surrounded by parks and forests. As Karen Anatos was of Clan Gangrel this made a certain amount of sense though Daniel pointed out that he couldn't exactly see Miss Anatos running through the woods covered in mud.

Karen Anatos - Gangrel Anathema
Media Magnate, Baron of Burbank

Daniel made his usual observations of her homes defences upon the coteries arrival and could see Marius's influences in the layout of her security precautions. There were relatively few mortals within the complex but those that were there had the air of fanatical followers. He had no doubt that they would fight to the death in defence of their Midnight Queen. 

One of her followers escorted them to an expensively decorated sitting room. There were framed portraits on the walls of the various identities their host had used during her century of fame from her original identity as Lily Thorne, her 'daughter' Rose Thorne, Ophelia Vine and her horror film alias's Mistress Black and the Midnight Queen.

She gestured for them to take a seat opposite her as she reclined on a red sofa. "Marius says it's considered good form to offer fellow vampires, I mean 'Kindred', refreshments when they visit. Feel free to feed on one of the servants if you so desire."

Michael, Daniel and Hope politely declined the offer and then they laid out the reason for their visit.

They explained about the problems in San Jose and the potential future problems for Los Angeles should a kindred of the Camarilla come to power within their city. They reminded her of the attempted assassination of her by an Archon of the Camarilla and hinted that such attempts would become more common and well planned in the event of a Prince controlling the city rather than the more flexible Barons. Michael also laid out his idea that a council of Barons would be the best way to ensure an organised and effective response.

Storytellers Note - the attempted Assassination is detailed HERE should you have missed it. It was a while ago...

Marius Walker - Gangrel
'Fixer' and Baron of Downtown

Karen listened intently before replying. "You're going to involve Marius in this, one presumes?"

Michael pointed out that Marius would be unlikely to care much about the situation until it personally effected him and so he wasn't holding out a great deal of hope of his being overly helpful despite the resources at his disposal.

"Would you like me to give him a prod?" she asked in response. The question temporarily threw Michael as he couldn't imagine anyone 'prodding' Marius ending particularly well for the prodder. However his empathetic talents revealed to him that Karen had absolutely no fear of the notorious Gangrel 'Fixer'. In fact she seemed quite sure that she could get Marius to become involved.

Daniel then added his own opinion that the argument that Marius could find himself surrounded should the outer Baronies of the city fall, was going to be their approach to gain his support. "I'll tell him I need to chat." Stated Miss Anatos. "He'll come if I ask and I'm sure he'll listen to me..." such was her confidence that they didn't argue with her about the chances of success.

Michael could clearly see that she cared less about the fate of the city, and more about the opportunity to meet the other kindred power players within the city. Her reasons were irrelevant though. the most important thing was that he could now add her name to those of Gloria Martinez, Allison Maller and Amara Martins as those willing to join his proposed Anarch War Council.

Edmund Metcalfe
Ghoul of Karen, Serial Killer

Karen then caught the coterie by surprise by addressing Daniel directly. "Marius has mentioned your name several times as an investigator of considerable skill. Perhaps you could do me a small favour?" Intrigued, Daniel asked her to continue.

"A valued ghoul of mine was found dead from apparently self inflicted wounds. He would never have taken his own life without my permission, such was his dedication to me and I would like the real culprit discovered so I can...punish them..."

Daniel managed to disguise his surprise adequately at being asked to investigate a killing that he himself had carried out. This was going to take some thinking about.

Storytellers Note - Daniel's involvement is detailed in this story HERE.

"I would be more than happy to investigate this matter for you..." replied Daniel. "...though it may have to wait until after the current troubles are resolved." Seemingly satisfied with this response, Karen thanked him then bid one of her servants to escort the coterie from her home.

Scene Two - A Damsel in Distress

Nines Rodriguez - Brujah
Highly Respected Anarch

The coteries next port of call was The Last Round in Downtown. Though it was Nines Rodriguez's cooperation they required, they had decided to use Damsel as a go-between. Damsel had considerable influence over Nines and was also very close to Michael so should enable them to steer Nines in the right direction.

The slum areas of Downtown were undergoing significant restoration due to a city scheme to renovate the area. Marius's Aegis Construction had gained the contract and so there were certain to be a number of kindred friendly areas within. The work was proceeding rapidly and the shape of what the area was to become was already becoming more apparent.

As they drove to the area, Mr Hertz contacted the coterie to inform them that Gary Golden had been convinced to involve himself in their council. Though Gary wasn't a Baron in title, he had influence over the majority of the cities Nosferatu and was therefore a necessary addition to any council. Without him the information available to any council of kindred would be drastically limited.

A regular of the Last Round with whom Daniel was acquainted informed them that Nines and Skelter were off "Sorting out a problem that just came up" but it was clear he had no idea what. Fortunately he had a better idea of exactly what Damsel was up to.

Damsel - Brujah
'Den Mother' of Nines Crew

It seemed that a local soup kitchen and homeless shelter, set up as part of the initiatives to help the inhabitants of Skid Row during the renovations, was drawing the attention of the local authorities. Apparently one of the local kindred, a newcomer to the city named Jerome Banks, had been less than careful with his feeding. Another such incident had came to Damsel's attention moments after Nines and Skelter had left the bar and she had gone to admonish the culprit. Knowing Damsel this would take the form of a punch to the head, perhaps several.

Though Michael wasn't particularly fond of the idea of visiting a homeless shelter it was important that he speak to Damsel so he put his prejudices against slumming it to one side. Daniel's paranoia was however coming to the fore. The fact that Nines and Skelter had been drawn away from The Last Round only for Damsel to also be drawn outside within mere minutes struck him as unusual. Of course it could be a coincidence but Daniel didn't really believe in them.

As they drew closer, they observed Damsel on the opposite side of the street from the shelter berating a scruffily dressed individual near a debris strewn alleyway. Presumably this was Jerome.  Daniel noticed their aggressive posture and was reasonably sure that violence was about to occur. He then became even more concerned as Jerome shifted into a shooting stance and reached into his overcoat. 

Damsel was too busy shouting and caught up in her own rhetoric to notice the movement, only becoming aware as a huge revolver was levelled at her head.

The Banu Haqim was an expert marksman and reacted instantly to the threat. Drawing his own silenced 10mm Handgun he put a round through the head of the would-be assassin and struck him twice more before his body had even hit the ground. Overcoming her surprise, Damsel dragged the rapidly disintegrating corpse into the alleyway as Daniel and Michael ran over to her. 

"He was going to blow my head off over a stupid disagreement over feeding habits?" stated Damsel, incredulously. "Not all kindred want a fair fight." observed Michael. Damsel nodded in agreement. Daniel wasn't sure it was that simple.

The Assassin's Weapon

Daniel used one of the gifts granted by his knowledge of Blood sorcery and sampled a drop of blood from the decomposing body. Their generation was surprisingly low, and the potency of their blood far to high for them to be a mere neonate feeding on bums. The speed at which the body was aging also indicated that they were no fledgling.

Further investigation found no identification on the body, though they had plenty of cash in the form of a tight roll of hundred dollar bills. Daniel also noted that their clothing was only dirty on the outside and the wear and tear seemed to have been created recently, not over time. The handgun was an impeccably maintained Ruger Super Redhawk chambered for .454 Casull rounds. Daniel opened the cylinder to reveal the hollowpoint rounds within.

"They were an assassin." stated Daniel with utter certainty. "Ninth generation kindred with enough money in their pocket to buy that soup kitchen don't feed on bums. Someone should warn Nines in case this isn't an isolated incident..."

'Skelter' - Gangrel
Enforcer, Nines Crew

"Do you have any enemies?" asked Michael, hoping that this was personal. "None worth speaking of." replied Damsel. "Certainly not any who would go to this sort of effort anyway...and...I can't get through to Nines or Skelter..."

Working on a hunch, Daniel asked Damsel what Nines current attitude to the situation in San Jose was.

"Nines? He's all for charging off into San Jose and cracking some skulls. I've been telling him that this isn't the time to do anything stupid." replied Damsel. Michael immediately grasped Daniel's line of thought. "And if anything happened to you, what then?" asked Michael. Damsel thought about it for a moment "Then...he'd almost certainly be so clouded by rage he'd go charging off and..."

"...get himself destroyed?" added Daniel.

Realisation dawned as she understood now that someone had put considerable thought into this assassination and the subsequent consequences. An assassination that would have been virtually guaranteed to succeed if not for the sheer luck that had bought Michael and Daniel into Skid Row.

"You embody something they fear, you, Nines, Skelter..." began Michael. "...you are icons of the Anarch cause. Your final death would rob the Anarchs of inspiration, a rallying point and a potent recruitment tool in the form of Nines. As propaganda it's effect would also have been devastating." 

Leo Frost - Brujah

"I'll dispose of the body, then I'll look for Nines and Skelter. I'm sure I can convince them to support anything you have planned." said Damsel.

As they left, Michael turned to Daniel. "What do you think is about to happen?" he asked. "I think you should phone Hank right now." replied Daniel. 

"...and I'll ring Leo and get him to give Gloria and Allison a heads up too. I fear the war in San Jose has arrived in Los Angeles much earlier than we expected..."

Leo received the call and vowed to warn the two Barons. Hank's phone however rang out without reply.

As they returned to their vehicle, Dion, Michaels driver was waiting and was obviously agitated. "Have either of you heard the news?" he asked. "We've been a bit busy for that." quipped Daniel. "Why?"

"Because someone just blew up a chunk of the Crypts Sons turf and judging form the news it's right where Hank's base of operations is..."

Scene Three - The Sons of the Crypt

As they drove closer to Hank's HQ within the city, the signs of disaster became more and more evident. Police presence was increasing and the sounds of ambulance and fire engine sirens could be heard. As they reached the street where Hank based himself it became obvious that this was the centre of the devastation.

"I can't get any closer without someone asking questions." stated Dion. "It's alright." replied Daniel. "You and Michael wait her and I'll go and offer to help." He was that used to Daniel's activities as a warrior that Michael often forgot that Daniel was also a doctor and surgeon.

"Where do you think you're going?" demanded a harassed looking cop. "I'm off duty, but I heard about it on the radio." replied Daniel, producing his medical identification. "Thought I could help."

"The medical guys will take all the help they can get right now..." said the cop, pointing towards several paramedics working on people too injured to move. "Good luck..."

Hope Romero - Raven Form

Those corpses that were still recognisable were clearly mortal members of the Crypts Sons gang. A few clinging to life in spite of horrific injuries may well have been ghouls. The vitae within their systems giving them greater endurance and resilience than the average human.

Hope who had been shadowing them in raven form, landed in a quiet alleyway and returned to her humanoid form before approaching Michael and Dion. She had already observed the area from the air and was convinced that a car bomb was responsible. She had experience with may types of bomb from her time in the military. She shared this conviction with Michael.

"I've never seen one that big though." she also pointed out. "It must have been packed to the brim with explosives. Someone wanted to be 100% sure that no kindred walked out of that building and were willing to expend a lot of resources to do so..."

Daniel stopped his own observations briefly to call Michael. "I'm going to stay here and see what I can find out, maybe save a few lives instead of taking them for once." Michael confirmed that he understood and attempted to get in touch with any other kindred leaders who might be potential targets.

Daniel found a ghoul that was still clinging to life and capable of speech. As the doctor attempted to stabilise him, the ghoul recognised Daniel and pulled him in close. He was difficult to understand so Daniel listened intently.

"You're one of Michaels guys, right? Hank was outside dressing down one of the gang bosses when they hit us..." The dying ghoul began to cough violently. Daniel waited until he had stopped and asked him to continue knowing that the unfortunate ghoul would be dead within minutes and that there was nothing he could do to prevent it. "He's fucked up bad, but not dead, not yet anyway. They took him to the ranch...most of the rest of the gang is gone..." then the effort of speaking became to much and he became still. Daniel gently closed their eyes and then stood up. With nothing else to do he returned to Michael and told him of the possibility that Hank had survived, if only just.

'Hank' Boyd - Brujah
Baron of the Crypts Sons

Ranch security was almost none-existent. As they tended to go where Hank did, it was likely that most were dead or destroyed. A lone guard recognised them and escorted them warily to a back room where Deacon and the remnants of the Crypts Sons Kindred had gathered.

"You were there?" asked Deacon. Daniel confirmed that he had done what he could but that that no kindred had survived that he could see and barely a handful of mortal agents had made it either. "Hank just slipped into torpor." Deacon confirmed. "We tried to feed him enough blood to heal his wounds but the damage was just too great."

"I wouldn't keep him here." said Daniel. "They've hit other locations so they sure as hell know about this ranch."

"I'll contact Gary Golden." said Deacon. "He's always been a friend to Hank, hopefully he'll find somewhere safe for us to hide out. We sure as fuck don't have the resources to protect our Barony with the handful of soldiers we have left."

"I was trying to organise a war council to prevent just this sort of eventuality." stated Michael. "Can I count on your presence at such a table?"

"Fuck, yeah..." replied Deacon.

To Be Continued in 'The War Council' (Part Two)

In Conclusion

I like to do a round-up of how the session went in these features but if you couldn't give a shit what I think then feel free to skip this bit...

Well that caught the players by surprise...it's nice when that happens...

Acknowledgements
“Portions of the materials are the copyrights and trademarks of White Wolf Entertainment AB, and are used with permission. All rights reserved.”

I've used pictures of real people to represent some of the characters and art for others so in no particular order Michael Tomassio is represented by Matt Bomer, 'Vin' is Scott Adkins, Dr Matthews is Mads Mikkelsen, Hope is Deborah Ann Woll, Mr Hertz is Charles Dance, Karen Anatos was Christina Hendricks, Marius Walker is Tony Curran, Edmund Metcalfe is Michael Rooker, Nines Rodriguez is Luis Carazo, Damsel is Irina Delnova, Skelter is Vin Diesel, Leo Frost is Danny John-Jules and Hank Boyd is Michael Clarke Duncan

Everything else is from vampire related folders and searches and is as far as I know is all of the 'fair use' variety. If there's something that you feel should be attributed to some-one then feel free to let me know and I'll happily add an acknowledgement.

Cyberpunk Red - Session Three - "Death's in the Family"

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, (2) Eye-Spy, (2a) Raven.

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 Three: "Death's in the Family"

Introduction

It has been about a week since the shootout in the morgue.

Holliday, you have been contracted to transport some medical supplies to a nomad camp led by Emersyn Prylor, on the outskirts of Night City. The supplier is a Fixer, going by the name of Crew Sanchez who will be at at a meeting point within the old combat zone, noticeably close to the Crisis Medical Centre. The nomads have given you the agreed sum for the medical supplies of 2000eb.

Though the deal has already been made, you’re cautious about these sorts or trades and so you have called in your favour with Avery to have him there for any last minute changes that Sanchez tries to make. Additionally, Klink has also joined you, to lend his medical expertise in regards to the quality of the supplies. 

The Pick-up

The Old Combat Zone - Wasteland

The old combat zone is a burnt out wasteland. This was where the worst of the gangs fought for dominance over contested territory. Holliday sat behind the wheel of his rig keeping a careful eye on his surroundings as he went. He was painfully aware that this could go from a pick up to an ambush at the drop of a hat and he was adamant he wouldn’t be caught napping if it did. 

Klink sat glumly in the front passenger seat having been barred from ever talking to clients for the group in future after his less than polite dismissal of Kiroshi Optical’s representative Kado Haruka the week before. 

Avery sat in the back cradling his assault rifle. He made no pretence that he was less than happy to be dragged along into the combat zone but as a man of his word, he owed Holliday a favour and if there was a deal to be done, he would be the one to make sure it went to plan.

Crew Sanchez - Fixer, Old Combat Zone

Crew waited at the meeting point. He looked to be European in origin with tanned skin and a shaved head, wearing dark clothes under a brown overcoat with a pistol holstered at his side. He looked relaxed and confident standing next to a stack of boxes bearing medical logos. As Holliday pulled up, he waved in greeting.

Then Holliday took the lead, exiting the car first and approaching. Avery tried to look inconspicuous and relaxed but he was carefully observing their surroundings for any signs of a double cross. Klink brought up the rear, daydreaming about the grenades in his latest cyberware addition.

“Holliday?” asked Crew, as the three men approached.

“Yeah” Said Holliday “Weird place for a meeting point isn’t it? It’s not exactly safe.”

Medical Supplies - Crisis Med Centre

“Look, this gear was difficult to get hold of.” He said “Don’t worry, I’m not looking to renegotiate, we need to do this quick though.”

“Yeah, and about that, where did you get this stuff?” Said Holliday eyeing the labels on the boxes.

Crew gestured towards the hospital. “The Crisis med centre is right there! Draw your own conclusion, but do it fast. We don’t want to hang around here.”

Placated, the edgerunners paid up and began to help the fixer load the boxes onto the car. As they finished up, Avery could pick out the distant sound of an approaching vehicle. “I can hear a car coming in. We are going to have company.” He said.

Crew went pale. “Yeah you need to get out of here fast. Get moving.”

Old Combat Zone - Gang Vehicle

A car pulled into view. It was a battered looking but rugged pick-up truck adorned with graffiti and spikes and a large plow on the front. Gangers hung from the running boards and stood in the flatbed howling and shouting and firing their guns in the air, some held glowing road flares.

The three edgerunners leapt into the car. Holliday plugged directly into it and started the engine.

Automatic fire erupted from the neighbouring buildings and Crew retreated into the ruins, covering his escape. The gangers ignored it in favour of the thrill of the chase. Avery charged his rifle trying to look for an opportunity to take a shot while Klink prepared his grenade launcher.

Holliday hit the gas and the car roared away with the gang in hot pursuit. 

Holliday's Kombi

Slewing around the ruined streets, he risked a backwards glance to see that the other car was gaining. He could see the look of insanity in the eyes of the grinning lunatic hanging out of the passenger side window. He unslung his shotgun and started to wind down the window. “Hold on to something!” He said, slamming on the breaks and swerving wildly to the side.

The car shrieked to a halt in a cloud of tyre smoke allowing the pursing car to scream past. In the brief window of it passing by, he fired a snapshot that barely missed the passenger but distracted the driver. Taken by surprise by the unexpected manoeuvre, the gang car skidded out of control, clipped a pile of rubble and rolled into the carcass of another building which collapsed onto it.

GM's Note - For the gang cars vehicle control check, I rolled a 1 followed by a 10… so they actually rolled a 0. Guess they’re dead then.

Smiling grimly, Holliday slammed his car back into gear and turned off into another route. Sighing with relieve, Avery began to put his rifle back into his go-bag. Klink, with his face pressed up against the window looked back wistfully. “What a waste of cyberware.” He said.

The Aldecaldo Camp

Night City - Heywood District

Away out of the combat zone, they reached Heywood. This was a series of slums and tent cities that housed the refugees left homeless by the war. The route took them through the richer part of the district on the way to the eastern outskirts. Rich or poor didn’t matter as Heywood was a nightmare full of crime, poverty and disaster. The landscape was filled with beggars, muggers and worse. Fortunately, they needn’t stop there.

As they drove further from the city, the landscape became more desolate and empty. The red sky turned the sandy ground a dull pink. Holliday found this very familiar as he had spent most of his life out in the pleasant and peaceful outskirts. “I thought I’d got away from this shithole” muttered Avery to himself as they got further into the desert. Klink meanwhile gazed out of the window taking in the empty expansive views.

Smoke in the Distance

On the horizon, they could make out a pillar of smoke rising into the air. “Could that be a campfire?” Asked Avery.

“That’s a lot of smoke for a campfire.” Said Holliday. As they closed to within a mile, he tuned his radio into the nomad’s frequency and sent a call. “Emersyn, this is Holliday, we are about a mile out inbound on your location. There’s a lot of smoke, is everything ok?”

The radio stayed ominously quiet and the mood in the rig cooled. “Things might get rough. Could be we don’t have a buyer for this haul.” He said grimly.

Avery started to unpack his rifle again. Though he hadn’t been part of the family for a long time, he had no desire to see people he knew in trouble or worse. “We can always find a buyer for medical supplies, that doesn’t matter. We should look for your friends.”

Avery's Modified Assault Rifle

GM's Note - This was some excellent roleplay.

The rest of the journey was made in stoic silence. When they arrived at the rendezvous they found that the camp was deserted. There were vehicles on fire and obvious signs of a battle. Picking through the wreckage were a couple of other nomads that Holliday and Avery recognised as Jaecob and Medow Salome.

They were an older couple Holliday known most of his life. They were probably in their 50’s now but despite that still had the road-worn hardness and vigour that life out on the road often bestowed on people.

 

Holliday got out of the car and went to meet them. Avery followed, taking cover behind the armoured door and watching his back. “Holliday.” Said Jaecob in greeting.

The Raffen Shiv - Wasteland Gang

“Jaecob, Medow.” Said Holliday. “What happened out here?”

“We saw the smoke, it looked a bit much for a campfire. Looks like this place was hit.” Said Medow. “We’ve only just got here though, I couldn’t say what happened for sure, but you know better than most the sort of shit that happens out here.”

Holliday snarled in response “Could be the Raffen Shiv then?”

“Could be.” Said Medow “We know they’ve been in the area.”

Klink joined them from the car and the edgerunners spread out to look over the site. “How many were in the group?” Asked Avery.

“Seven” Said Jaecob. “Looks like they’ve lost everything if they’re still alive though. These combi’s are torched.”

Destroyed Aldecaldos Vehicle

“The camp was just fine last night when they gave me the job.” Holliday mused. “They must have been taken by surprise. Shiv must have come up on them late while they were around the campfire. Maybe eating or something. I doubt they had chance to put up much of a fight.”

“There’s blood here.” Said Klink searching around the fire. “A lot of it, whoever got hit is in a bad way.”

Silently, Holliday walked further out to the edge of the camp. “Two vehicles came in from the North West.” Said Holliday kneeling down. “There’s tracks here. Seems like they went out to the north east after.”

“Maybe they did a loop from somewhere out to the North. There’s probably a camp that way.” Said Medow. “If memory serves, there’s an old scrap yard that way. Typically the Shiv move around a lot but if they’re taking folks that might be somewhere to hole up.”

“We going after them?” Said Avery

.

Holliday looked to the Salome’s. “You able to help some if we go to get them back?”

“There’s only the two of us and frankly, we are past our prime. We’d be more hindrance than a help right now.” Said Jaecob. “We have got some gear for sale that might help though.”

Checking out the stock that the nomads had, Holliday bought a drum mag and some ammo for his shotgun and Avery did the same for his assault rifle. They took a contact number for Jaecob and set out in pursuit of the convoy.

The Scrapyard

Raffen Shiv - Scrapyard

Sure enough, the scrapyard seemed to have seen some recent activity. Parked up on a bluff a mile or two out, the three men plotted their approach. The Yard was surrounded by a high chainlink fence topped with barbed wire and signed as Aegis Salvage. 

They could see a variety of rotted, burned out or otherwise rusted scrap vehicles within the grounds including what appears to be old train carriages and even the carcass of a plain fuselage. “Plenty of cover” observed Holliday.

 

There was a large garage building at the back of the lot where presumably any scrap would be salvaged. “I guess they’re keeping prisoners in there.” Said Avery. “I dread to think of what goes on in that place.” They could see a number of figures in the yard patrolling around amongst the wreckage occasionally or otherwise standing around keeping watch. 

Raffen Shiv - Scrapyard Patrols

“There are quite a few guys down there.” Said Holliday “No vehicles though. They might get reinforcements before this is over.”

“Perhaps we go hard and fast then?” Said Klink.

“We could ram raid the gate, blitzkrieg it.” Said Holliday.

Reconnaissance of the Scrapyard 

Avery was far less eager to walk into the gunsights. “We could go in quiet.” He pointed out beyond the compound “It looks like the back of the scrapyard is backed up against a Cliffside. It doesn’t look like they’re watching an approach from that side.”

“We could do both plans.” Said Holliday. “You two sneak in from the north and when we go loud, I can ram the gates and split their attention.”

With the plan agreed, Holliday dropped Klink and Avery out in the desert behind the scrapyard and took a wide route back around to the front, parking up behind a rocky outcrop out of sight. He turned off his engine and sat patiently checking over his shotgun, waiting for the signal to go.

On the far side of the compound, Avery and Klink quietly padded down to the fence. A gutted aeroplane fuselage gave them great cover from the eyes of patrols inside the scrapyard. Getting close to the garage building, Avery kept watch while the Medtech cut a hole in the fence. 

Silenced SMG - On Loan to Klink...Again...

Together, they silently slipped inside and approached the doorway at the side of the building. Avery passed Klink his silenced SMG and then carefully pushed open the door.

Inside, they found themselves in a divided garage. Creeping closer, they could see a lone guard overseeing a cage. Inside, crammed together without even enough room to stand were five prisoners.

“Holliday is not going to like this.” Whispered Avery. He motioned to Klink to be ready and then with careful aim, shot the guard through the head. Klink darted out of cover to catch the falling body and rifled through its pockets to find a key for the cage.

“See if any of them can stand.” Said Avery. 

'Code' - Aldecaldos Nomads

Klink opened the cage and started assessing the injuries. An older man identified himself as Code. He was crouched over the form of an older woman. “This is Emersyn.” He said “She’s in bad shape. I think her leg’s broken.”

“I’ll do what I can.” Said Klink. “Can any of you fight? Grab the guns off that body and take cover.”

With Code taking the lead with the freed nomads and Emersyn being cared for by one of the other women, Klink crept quietly after Avery as he ventured down into the basement of the building. The stairs led to a corridor which opened into a room. At one end was a furnace, at the other three figures crowded around a table. A man in a surgical apron appeared to be working on something on the table while two women talked nearby. One was a pixie haired outrider while the other had the look of a soldier with heavier armour and helmet.

Very Heavy Pistol - Silenced

Utilising the element of surprise, Avery drew his pistol and fired two quick shots at the two closest figures, striking the leather clad woman in the throat and ringing the helmet of the solo. Despite the surprise, the three sprang into action calling for back up. Klink opened fire with his borrowed SMG raking more fire into the nomad before the two edgerunners retreated back up the corridor dodging the return fire.

Outside the compound, Holliday watched as the gate guards suddenly tensed and hurriedly turned towards the garage. He gunned the engine roaring out of hiding and bearing down on the unaware the gangers. They turned in surprise as he smashed through the barrier unable to move out of the way. The impact gave the nomad whiplash, but as the sensation of bodies breaking under his tyres faded away, he leaped out of the car ready to meet the remaining guards head on. 

Holliday's 'Crusher' Shotgun

Two of the patrolling gangers had ran into the garage and he could hear the sound of automatic fire from within. A round bounced off his armourjack reminding him that there were still guards in the yard. He slid across the bonnet of his rig and levelled his shotgun at the man shooting at him.

Back in the basement, the two gang members followed Avery and Klink back up the corridor firing as they came. The two edgerunners covered each other as they went cutting their pursuers down with a volley of automatic fire and precision headshots. The third ganger emerged with a shotgun, firing at Klink. The wily Medtech spun out of the way and fired back with his SMG emptying it into the ganger’s chest. Avery gunned him down with his pistol. 

Raffen Shiv - Medtech, 'Surgeon'

The basement was silent but he could hear the sounds of fighting from above. “See if you can stabilise that one. I think Holliday will want a chat with him.” He said. “I’m going to go help the nomads.”

As Avery left, Klink stabilised the mortally wounded surgeon and cuffed him. Leaving the bleeding man bound and unconscious, the Medtech explored the rest of the basement.

It was, for want of a better word, a surgery. There was a body glassy eyed and staring on the operating table. The body of another man was slumped in the corner of the room. It was obvious that the gang were harvesting organs for sale but it disturbed Klink that there appeared to have been effort to remove layers of muscle too. He had heard horror stories about the Raffen Shiv before, it seemed some of it might be true. This was a bit much, even for Klink.

GM's Note - This description seemed to actually hit the mark with the players. They were all suitably horrified.

Another dead Raffen Shiv...

Steeling himself, he radioed Avery “How are things looking up there? Do you need help?”

“No, I think we are good, how’s our patient?” Said Avery.

“It’s rough down here. Looks like they were operating on the nomads, harvesting them for organs. The two down here are dead.” Said Klink grimly.

“Fuck.” Avery in disgust, making a mental note to try and prepare Holliday. Upstairs, the nomads had managed to bring down one of the gangers from outside. He could see the nomads crouched down by the dividing wall while the remaining Shiv ganger tried to circle around for line of sight. Emerging from the stairwell, Avery took aim and put a round through the man’s eye. Sharing a glance of encouragement with Code and headed back down to the basement.

Raffen Shiv - Organ Harvesting Tools

He walked past the waiting Medtech and into the makeshift surgery. The young man on the table looked barely more than a child. He had more than a passing resemblance to Emersyn Prylor and Avery vaguely recognised him as her oldest son Kibi. A cold emptiness came over him. The corporate world was cutthroat and often required a degree of emotional separation but the shock of the basement butchery overwhelmed his normal resilience. Any thought of sparing the surviving Shiv the worst of Holliday’s wrath left him. He looked back over at Klink. “I’m going to go check on Holliday. It’s probably best if he gets a pre-warning of this.” Taking his SMG back, he strode back up into the scrapyard.

Holliday skirted around an old and rusted train carriage, bypassing the cover the gangers had taken behind an old car. He blasted away with his shotgun, closing the distance. A cold focus had descended over him and he ducked and dodged the hail of bullets thrown at him as he went. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Avery spray automatic fire at the two gangers in cover, who scurried over the wrecked car in panic. 

Holliday Disposes of Another Raffen Shiv...

As they broke cover, he shot the first one dead and closed in on the final terrified Shiv ganger, who fired blindly at him. Giving the man a disparaging look, the nomad rushed in grabbed him and threw a earth shattering body shot with his cybernetically enhanced strength. The blow pulped the unfortunate ganger’s ribs and organs leaving him wheezing and coughing up blood. The nomad dropped him to the floor to bleed out in the dust.

As he walked over to the garage, he saw Avery come to meet him. The exec looked less calm and calculated than usual. “Brace yourself.” Said Avery “It’s a bit grim in there.”

“Did we lose any?” Said Holliday

Avery paused. “Two. One looks like maybe Emersyn’s son. Klink has been treating the wounded.”

Raffen Shiv - Organ Harvesting Operation

Holliday entered the garage and walked down to the basement without making eye contact with the freed nomads. The metallic tang of blood and the burning scent of cordite filled the air down here. The Lights flickered a cold blue that reflected the bare concrete walls of the basement. It was cold, both in temperature and in atmosphere. He slowly walked up to the operating table. He took in what he saw. Memories flooded back to him as he recognised Kibi. The boy playing in the desert with his brother, the young man learning the ways of the road, the nomad with a bright future. He stood in silence for a while, his emotions warring within him. The rage built up, a white hot furnace that heated the blood ringing in his ears. He let it all out in a fit of anger and wrath smashing the surgery to pieces.

Upstairs, while Klink tended to the wounded, Avery spoke to Emersyn and Code. Emersyn had exuded a stoic fury throughout the fight, but now that it was over she seemed somehow diminished. “They killed my son!” She sobbed, breaking down.

Emersyn - Aldecaldos Nomads, Survivor

Code put his arm around her and started to explain what had happened. “They came up on us after dark. I don’t know how they got so close without us hearing the engines but suddenly they were just there. They took us completely by surprise. Halo and young Kibi were the quickest on the draw and tried to fight back but they were gunned down right in front of us.” He seemed to struggle to speak, as if saying the words out loud made it suddenly feel more real. “They bludgeoned the rest of us nearly to death. I didn’t expect to see the light of day. When I woke up we were all in this fucking box. ‘Cept Halo and Kibi that is. There’s a basement, I guess you’re seen it now. They took the bodies down there. I don’t dare go looking myself and Emersyn doesn’t need to see that. Could you please go and find her boy?”

“We’ll make sure he gets treated properly.” Assured Avery. He handed Code a burner phone. “Call Jaecob and Medow. They came looking for you, they’ll give you somewhere to stay and will help you rebuild.”

Raffen Shiv 'Medtech' - In Chains

Holliday emerged from the basement carrying the unconscious form of the Shiv Medtech. Avery went to intercept him. “The Salome’s will take care of Emersyn and her group, I’ve given them a phone and the contact details.” He looked uncomfortably at the unconscious man. “I have no problem with whatever you want to do to that guy, but I don’t have the stomach to watch you do it.”

“That’s ok.” Said Holliday. “You’ve done enough.” He called to Klink. “Can you give me a hand with this one?”

“Sure” said Klink, “Whatever you need.”

A short while later the ganger came round bound to the back of Holliday’s car. Holliday was squatting down in front of him. “You took from me today.” He began. “You took from people that didn’t deserve it. My skills are destructive.” He gestured to Klink standing nearby. “His, not so much. I ain’t gonna lie, you ain’t getting out of this, it’s not a matter of if you’ll die, it’s a matter of how long it’s going to take. I’m pretty sure Klink can keep you alive for exactly as long as I want you to be.” He patted the man on the cheek. “That don’t need to be so long if you tell me what I want to know straight away. I want to know if there are any others and where.”

The bound man was groggy and unfocused. He slurred his words “There are no others here.”

“Here?” Asked Holliday. “Where are they then?”

The Shiv chuckled evilly “Everywhere! We’re the Raffen Shiv! We go where we like.”

“You think you’re free?” said Holliday

“Yeah, we don’t do the dirty work of no corporate scum like you.”

Coming to the realisation that the man knew nothing, Holliday walked to the cab of his rig. “I’ll be back.” He said to Klink and the starting the engine, he drove out, dragging the wounded ganger behind him.

Avery, Klink and the nomads looted the bodies for whatever they could and piled them up in the garage. Klink burned the place to ground with an incendiary round from his grenade launcher. The Salome’s arrived before nightfall and picked up the nomads. The edgerunners agreed to come to a funeral for the two lost.

Epilogue

Emersyn - Aldecaldos Nomads

A few days later, the group reunited in the desert. The afternoon was fading to evening. The air had a chill in it but was clear and absent of the smog and dust of the city. The edgerunners had joined to show their respects. Even Avery, who had left the Aldecaldos a long time ago felt a kinship to those that had gathered, something that privately he felt comforting.

“Kibi would have liked it here.” Said Emersyn. “Open under the sky.”

Holliday handed her a role of eurobucks. “This is the pay you gave me for the job. I want you to have it, to help rebuild. I’m not taking no for an answer.”

“Thank you.” She said.

“I think you should stay with a bigger group for a while.” Said Holliday. “The Shiv are still out there, this isn’t the first time they’ve pulled something like this. There’s strength in numbers, at least until you’re recovered.”

“We’re going to stay with the Salome’s for a while.” Said Emersyn. “They’re good people. We need that right now.” She gestured towards the grave. “Will you say a few words?”

Holliday took a step forward, addressing the grave directly. “I never was good with words. You were a good kid, full o’ hope an’a bright future. You didn’t deserve this end but they tell me you went out like a true samurai. See you on the other side choomba.”

Quietly, peacefully, they went their separate ways into the falling night.

To Be Continued in "A Hot Minute"

GM's Round-up

I actually think I found my stride in this session after a few weeks of adapting to being a GM for the first time.

The players certainly seemed to get on board with some absolutely stellar roleplay and an excellent tactical approach to the rescue. It was a pleasure to see. I was especially taken by the character development in this story, delving deeper into the personalities and motivations of each character.

The next session will wrap up this first story arc. I have quite the trip planned!

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, Crew Sanchez is Antonio Banderas, 'Code' is Sam Elliot and Emersyn is Linda Hamilton.