Vampire the Masquerade - V5 - Session Eighty Five - 'The Unbound' (Part Four)

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 and Three

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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

San Jose is now firmly in the grip of forces under the control of Vannevar Thomas, Camarilla Prince of San Francisco. Only five kindred have known to have survived the attack and of these, at least one may have been better off destroyed.

Elspeth, the former de facto leader of San Jose's kindred and her childe Jaskaran have been given sanctuary in the North Eastern Anarch domain of Michael Tomassio. Two other Gangrel refugees have been recruited by Marius and have been granted refuge within Santa Clarita, a domain under his protection. 

The fifth survivor was captured by the unbound ghoul gang known as The Young Bloods and is no doubt already chained in their bunker where his vitae will allow the gang to recruit more members and expand their strength even further.

Scene Nine - Response

Vannevar Thomas - Ventrue
Prince of San Francisco

Michael has directed the coterie members to use their contacts, investigators, agents and other resources to ascertain exactly how the other Anarch Barons are responding to Prince Vannevar Thomas's attack upon their neighbouring domain.

Daniel has asked to continue his observations of the Young Bloods gang. Michael has agreed that this is still a concern but has informed Daniel that Vannevar must be their priority now as he is a far more immediate threat.

As they expected, the Anarchs response has been disorganised and unfocused.

There have been a number of border skirmishes as Anarchs on the Northern border of the Free States have engaged with small groups of Camarilla kindred who were presumably scouting ahead in preparation for an advance by Vannevar's forces.

Catherine DuBois - Ventrue
Childe and Mistress of Baron Fortier

Packs from The Wilds have ambushed and massacred at least two scouting parties and a third was pushed back by the Gangrel of Santa Clarita, whose forces now include two of the surviving Anarch kindred of San Jose. The Gangrel of Santa Clarita were assisted by ghoul mercenaries from Louis Fortier's own guards who had been granted permission to use their farm as a staging point for scouting operations.

Though the Gangrel only sustained minor wounds, several of Fortiers ghouls were killed and this has apparently caused some tension between the two factions as Fortier's childe Catherine DuBois has implied that their people were used as expendable cannon-fodder and has refused to commit more of her forces. Louis has seemingly supported his most favoured childe's decision. Having arguably the two best generals amongst the Anarchs at loggerheads with one another is hardly an ideal situation under these circumstances.

Marius Walker - Gangrel
Baron of Downtown

Marius has stated that the kindred of his protectorates and allies are free to act as they please but he himself will commit none of his assets unless Vannevar attacks Los Angeles directly, which most kindred are taking to mean "Attacks anything of mine..."

Similarly, Isaac Abrams  is believed to be unlikely to interfere unless his Hollywood Barony is threatened as he had previously allowed the Camarilla Prince, LaCroix to declare Praxis without interfering. Isaacs interests have always been centred on his own domain. No-one expects aid to come from Santa Monica either as Therese Voerman has well documented Camarilla sympathies. There is little chance of her assisting Vannevar in case he fails, though she cannot be relied upon to provide help to the Anarchs either. The Southern baronies are too far from the border to be of help until enemies have penetrated well within the city, which will of course, be far too late.

Armando 'Nines' Rodriguez - Brujah
Anarch

Nines has been quite vocal about the need for the Free States to resist the oppression of the Camarilla. A significant number of Brujah from a variety of baronies are beginning to heed his call to arms but despite his qualities as an inspiration to Anarchs, a war leader he is not.

It is likely that any mass assault by forces under his command would be outmanoeuvred by Vannevars own generals which are rumoured to include Camarilla Archons with centuries of experience in such matters.

Though the Free States have repelled the predations of enemy factions before, these have been hostile take-overs with little support like LaCroix's, or the fairly disorganised mass assaults of the Sabbat. A number of additional confrontations, assassinations and terrorist style attacks have also been perpetrated against Vannevar's forces but it's difficult to establish who exactly is responsible. 

Archon trained Assault Teams

It is clear that the Anarchs are pushing back, but there is no coordination to their strategies. It is also likely that these initial battles are merely tests using expendable forces and that once Vannevar realises that the Anarchs defence is haphazard at best, and that any truly organised battle plan will easily counter enemies that can be taken apart piecemeal, he will attack Los Angeles with every resource at his disposal. If he has even a fraction of the rumoured resources, his victory under such circumstances would be inevitable.

Daniel's surveillance teams have been forced to move their observation posts further away from the Young Bloods 'Bunker' after nearly being discovered by a patrol by a group of their bikers. His teams suspect that the gang have some form of counter-surveillance capabilities. Their only out of place visitors arrived in a  none-descript, dark-blue Chevy Impala. 

The three men and one woman entered the facility, stayed for about two hours and then left. Two briefcases that were with them when they arrived, were not in their possession when they left. As it seems unlikely that two briefcases could contain enough weapons to make a difference to the already well armed gang, Daniel suspects that this was a cash payment by the gangs sponsors. Whoever they may be.

The teams have also discovered a few other minor points that may be of interest. 

The gang has two vans in their possession. Presumably these aid in their smuggling operations and are also used to move their kindred prisoners. The gangs two leaders, Bobby Z and Vera, are inseparable. Where one goes, the other accompanies them. Vera is usually to be found on the back of Bobby Z's motorcycle though on occasion they ride side by side as she also has her own bike. 

Bobby Z and Vera - Unbound Ghouls
Leaders of 'The Young Bloods'

This information has unfortunately meant that Daniel's plan to lure out Bobby Z by kidnapping Vera has had to be abandoned. At least for now.

The gang has also been discovered to have a second hideout, off the beaten track in the San Gabriel mountains. It usually has a skeleton crew of no more than three guards. It doesn't seem to serve any real purpose as far as Daniel's teams can tell. Also of concern is the information passed to Daniel by two of the coteries information gathering contacts.

Both Zipper and Eric have come to exactly the same conclusions about both Bobby Z and Vera. Someone with considerable skill has zeroed both their criminal records and pretty much any online trace of their emails. To an outside observer they effectively do not exist. The rest of the gang members seem to be 'run of the mill' violent criminals and petty thieves, though never seem to have trouble raising the money for bail, recently. This has now removed any doubt from Daniel's mind that the Unbound ghouls have a powerful sponsor guiding them. The only question now is whether that sponsor is a kindred, or of the Second Inquisition.

Storytellers Note - The coterie obviously needed to plan their own response carefully as they are in the difficult position of having to help the Anarchs against the Camarilla while at the same time making sure they only acted against Camarilla assets belonging to those not on their supporters list. Even I'm having trouble keeping track of whose side they're actually on now, lol.

Scene Ten - Maximillian

Don Alonzo - Glass Walker Tribe
Tribal Leader

As it was now clear that the Anarchs were ill prepared for the kind of invasion that the coterie knew was imminent, Michael decided that this would be an excellent opportunity to begin his plan to create a council of Anarchs. A council, that he would place himself in a position to guide and manipulate towards his own goals.

First however he had another issue to resolve. He was currently in the rare position of having a working relationship with a werewolf tribe that was currently profiting both Kindred and Garou. Though he knew that the Glass Walkers would not become involved directly he thought it only fair to warn them of a potential war between kindred. Mainly because he didn't want them mistaking the actions of other vampires for his own and therefore jeopardising both his business and quite possibly his unlife.

Don Maximillian Alonzo consented to a meeting in the early evening

Maximillian's business headquarters in Pasadena were as impressive as ever though were sparsely populated at this late hour. The reception was manned by an athletically built security guard who appeared to be unarmed, though from his positioning Daniel was reasonably sure that he had a weapon under the desk. "Mr Alonzo is expecting you." He said as they entered. "You know the way I presume?" Michael confirmed that they did. 

Kiara - Glass Walker Tribe
Member of Alonzo's Pack

As they approached the lift, the security guard added. "Don't wander off..." Hope turned and could see that the guard was smiling. His complete lack of concern about the three kindred meeting with his boss irritated her slightly. He seemed casually dismissive of their abilities, as if mere vampires couldn't possibly be a threat to a werewolf.

Kiara, Alonzo's apparent bodyguard, was also present. Both Hope and Daniel had met her long before they encountered Maximillian. They had both been instrumental in locating and rescuing one of her kin and so had helped pave the way for the current uneasy alliance between the Kindred of the North East Barony and it's werewolf inhabitants.

"Greetings once more Michael. Is there something I can assist you with or is this a social call?"

Michael then explained in the vaguest terms possible the current situation and the possibility that rival vampires might be about to cause some problems. He emphasised that he would do his best to avoid any disruption to the Glass Walkers activities but could only make that promise on his own behalf, not others of his kind.

"Thank you for sharing this with me. I shall let Kiara disperse the information between those of my kind who need to know. One presumes that Marius, eldest vampiric childe of the kin murderer Xaviar, will be involved?" Replied Alonzo. 

Xaviar - Gangrel
Former Camarilla Justicar

Though apparently destroyed, the reputation of Marius's sire Xaviar was still a dark one amongst the Garou. Before his destruction, the mere presence of the former Justicar within a domain would virtually guarantee the ending of any peace between vampire and werewolf. Michael admitted that Marius's involvement was likely and that he himself planned to speak with him personally on the matter. Maximillian then chose to elaborate on his specific issues with the Gangrel 'Fixer'.

"His sire hunted our kind, not out of necessity, but for the joy of doing so. Marius has been known to do the same. We accepted his assistance against the Black Spiral Dancers as they were a foe of far more significance to us than he was."

Michael could clearly sense that Alonzo had not been happy about the compromise. He then continued.

"We know that he retrieved several of their artefacts. Klaives, fetishes and the like. They should be of no use to him but he never wastes the opportunity to collect that which may become useful in the future." "Anisa of the Black Furies hates him with a rare passion, Jan of the Bone Gnawers has a measure of respect for him however, due to his humanitarian efforts and the maintenance of their underground home. I am somewhat more pragmatic. I will use him if it suits my purposes but his destruction would concern me, not one bit."

Jan, 'Death-From-Below' and Anisa, 'Her-Claws-Always-Wet'

Michael's empathetic talents weren't necessary in these circumstances. All present could clearly see that Maximillian was being quite earnest. It was also obvious that he now deemed their meeting to be at an end. Not wanting to push their luck, they left.

Scene Eleven - Garcia's Childer

Salvador Garcia - Brujah
Sire of Allison and Gloria

Daniel had received intelligence that Allison Maller, Baron of Anaheim and Gloria Martinez, Baron of El Hermandad were meeting that very evening to discuss their joint response to the problems in San Jose. Having access to both Barons simultaneously was too good a chance to miss and so Michael contacted them and managed to persuade them to include him in their sit down.

Vin was tasked with maintaining the security of the Barony while the rest of the coterie travelled to Whittier where the two childer of Garcia were meeting.

Michael's chauffeur Dion did the driving, while Michael, Daniel and Mr Hertz were his passengers. Hope had elected to follow the vehicle from the air in her shapeshifted raven form, in order to ensure that they weren't surprised by any unwanted guests.

Mr Hertz had contacted their Camarilla sponsor Fiorenza Savona via her agent Zhi Baxter, who acted as Hertz's own driver, bodyguard and liaison. She had confirmed that Fiorenza would support any attempts to undermine Vannevar Thomas. Mainly as his overt attack upon an Anarch domain was in direct opposition to Fiorenza's own more subtle plans. Though there was also increasing evidence of a personal dislike of Vannevar considering how keen she was to tarnish his reputation.

Leo Frost - Brujah
Lieutenant of Gloria Martinez

As they approached Gloria's base of operations, Daniel recognized several members of the thin-bloods who referred to themselves as 'The Liberated'. Apparently the alliance between them and Gloria was still holding strong. As they approached, a significant number of kindred guards moved to intercept but dropped back into position at a shouted command by Leo Frost, one of Gloria's top Lieutenants and also Daniel's friend.

"Apologies for the somewhat overzealous security but given the situation I'm sure you understand the need for extra precautions." Stated Leo. Daniel also noticed that Leo was armed, which was somewhat of a rarity. Despite being a former soldier, he rarely carried weapons except in the direst of circumstances.

Gloria's second in command, Josie Parrish was also present and exhibited a visible sign of relief that Vin was not amongst the guests. Her previous encounter with him had not been a pleasant one as her attempt to relieve him of his armaments had failed utterly.

Storytellers Note - Vin gets to roll an obscene amount of dice to intimidate another individual.

The meeting they had interrupted seemed fairly informal. Gloria Martinex, Baron of El Hermandad and Allison Maller, Baron of Anaheim were seated in a side office with another female kindred that Daniel vagally recognised. Gloria introduced the third meeting participant as Amara Martins. "She's the current leader of the Duskborn and Caitiff who call themselves the Liberated who I have granted their own feeding ground within my own domain. Both I and Allison have deemed the area to be under the protection of us both."

Amara Martins - Duskborn
Current Leader of The Liberated

Michael raised an eyebrow at the word 'current' as it seemed to indicate that the position was in doubt. Amara noticed the look and spoke to clarify the point. "We of The Liberated rotate our leadership on a monthly basis so all have a chance to put their own points forward. I know this is unusual amongst kindred but the many outcasts amongst our number have had poor experiences with both Princes and Barons who wielded unilateral powers..." 

She paused briefly and smiled at Gloria, then Allison. "...of course there are always individuals whose methods of leadership are exceptions to that rule." Neither of the Barons seemed to have taken offense at the first remark.

"So..." began Gloria, addressing Michael "...I presume you have some plan of your own for how to deal with Vannevars incursion into San Jose that you wish to share?"

Michael knew that Gloria much preferred a direct approach, though also demanded respect. This meant that dealing with her involved walking a fine line between straight-talking and avoiding offense. With this in mind he began to lay out his plan.

Isaac Abrams - Toreador
Baron of Hollywood

"It is obvious that should Vannevar continue his push Southwards that mine and your domains are amongst the first that lie in his path. He is also, rightly or wrongly, likely to consider us much easier targets than Isaac Abrams domain of Hollywood. Especially as Isaac has previously kept his domain secure despite a Camarilla invasion."

 

"A strike against The Wilds based on their own attacks against him might also be a possibility though I'm sure his own spies are aware of the likelihood of that bringing Marius into the conflict, something I'm sure he'll avoid for the same reasons as he'll undoubtedly avoid antagonizing Isaac."

Allison then interrupted. "It would not be out of character for Marius to allow others to weaken an enemy before finishing them off himself. Despite the expensive suit, he's still a Gangrel with all the pragmatism that implies. Unfortunately he's not very predictable, even in circumstances such as this..."

"Especially in circumstances such as this." added Gloria.

"Which is why..." continued Michael. "...that we all need to cooperate and coordinate. I am therefore attempting to gain support for the forming of a War Council of the Barons of Los Angeles in order to pool our resources and deal with this threat as one."

Allison Maller - Brujah
Baron of Anaheim

Though Gloria had been focussed entirely upon Michael, Daniel noticed that Allison had been observing him instead. This was confirmed when she spoke to him directly. "So Daniel, what is your opinion of your Barons plan? I have come to respect your abilities what with you having twice came to my assistance during trying times and would value your input."

Daniel thought for a moment before replying.

"We undoubtedly need to be pragmatic, search for any weaknesses we can and strike in a unified manner. Not all of us have the luxury of having a thirty strong force to defend our baronies. Many of the Baronies have strengths that the others lack or weaknesses that others can compensate for."

"I take that to mean that you're in favour of the idea." replied Allison with a wry smile.

"Definitely..." continued Daniel. "There are many benefits to a united force. Not least of which are free movement of forces and the ability to create strategic staging points." As Daniel Paused, Michael continued. "I would of course allow free passage through my own barony for the purposes of removing Vannevar's forces from Anarch territory. One has to set an example after all."

Storytellers Note - Michael's player then rolled for persuasion. Normally I'd just let such a good argument succeed but as this was potentially a change to the entire city, I made him roll some dice. He achieved nine successes. More than enough.

After exchanging a look with her fellow Baron, Gloria gave her answer. "Whether you can convince the other Barons to agree or not, we at the very least, will join your war council. I have one condition. Amara must also have a seat on this council. This effects the independent duskborn and caitiff too and they should be given a chance to speak on their own behalf."

Michael agreed to her terms and mentally ticked the first three names off of his list.

Hopefully the other barons would be as open to his idea as these three had been.

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

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...

So obviously this approach is going to fundamentally alter the state of things in my version of L.A. if it succeeds. So now I need to look at the future plotlines I had planned and integrate them into this new scheme. GM problems, lol.

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, Vannevar Thomas is Bryan Dechart, Catherine DuBois is Margot Robbie, Marius Walker is Tony Curran, Nines Rodriguez is Luis Carazo, Don Alonzo is Stacy Keach, Kiara is Felisha Terrell, Leo Frost is Danny John-Jules, Amara Martins is Indira Varma, Isaac Abrams is Gary Oldman and Allison Maller is Chloë Grace Moretz.

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 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.