Characters:
Braxton "Jar" Jiggs - Cybertech/Ripperdoc
Alexander "Specter" Marshal - Solo
Pat "Peacock" Watson - "Former" Nomad
Ruby "Paxos" Lang - Netrunner
The Haul
Peacock and Jar took positions behind the car and took aim at the corpo guards, while Specter and Paxos kept loading what they could into the trunk from inside the semi. The guards tried to open fire, but both of their guns jammed simultaneously, and return fire from Peacock and Jar sent them back into cover - though they were protected by their armour. Thinking he was safe, the driver started to gun the semi, at least as much as he could. Once they finished unjamming their weapons, they ran up closer, but fainted from the wounds they'd taken when their SUV crashed.
Paxos and Specter grabbed the last of the loot and jumped out the back of the semi trailer before it could pick up too much speed and loaded their haul into the trunk. After Paxos had stopped the bleeding on all the wounded with a twenty-year expired medkit she found in the glovebox, they headed back into Night City, passing under a Trauma Team AV on the way. Specter took stock of what all they'd grabbed: 4 of the chameleon skins in black briefcase-sized storage units, 2 crates of the Firmitas anti-psychotic drug, and a climate-controlled "mystery box".
Inside the mystery box was some kind of skull implant that Jar figured would be used to inject drugs directly into the brain; perhaps the Firmitas or the anti-clotting agents that had also been in the trailer. They decided to hold off on doing anything with them for now, and sent Haga Gonne proof that they had the goods. Shortly they received the address for the meet: Lizzie's Bar, the Mox HQ in Kabuki. Peacock took the ring road and they arrived just as night fell.
Paxos decided to stay in the car so she could keep the jammer running on the corpo tech just in case, so the others headed up to the entrance where a trio of Moxes were keeping watch, two with handguns and one with a spiked bat. In typical Mox fashion, they were wearing as little clothing as possible, and what was there was in garish coloured latex. Specter tried to bring in his pistol but was challenged by Maki, the Mox with the bat; clearly they knew each other.
When told to lose the iron or get lost, Specter chose the latter and turned back to join Paxos. Jar and Peacock proceeded inside, where the dim purple light and droning music created an intimate atmosphere. A group of corpos slumming it were getting taken for all they had by a pair of joygirls, while a number of clients sat on a bench wearing BD rigs. Jar saw Mr. Gonne at the bar, and approached their client. He was an overweight japanese man, and his suit fit poorly due to some cyberware installed in his right shoulder that jutted out awkwardly.
Jar told Gonne that they had the goods outside, and as he did a woman in a transparent top with only a bra underneath and a rose tattoo on her belly took up position on the other side of their client, likely a Mox he'd hired as security. Gonne's eyes flashed red as he made a call on an implanted agent, and suggested they walk out to confirm the goods. In the parking lot, a battered panel van pulled up across from their car, and they emerged from Lizzie's just as a pair of toughs got out of the van; the Mox hadn't followed them.
Peacock popped the trunk, and Haga Gonne was pleased with what he saw, and one of the chameleon skins was transferred into the back of the van which had obvious faraday shielding. Paxos asked if he'd be interested in more, but apparently this was a one-off and he had no such use for bulk purchases. The other group piled into the van and drove off, and the crew did the same. They headed to the unfinished apartment building where Peacock lived, and after a few hours the punk kid who'd told Specter about the job, T-Bar, showed up with a paper bag containing a couple shards with their eddies.
Downtime
Over the next two days, Jar took a closer look at the Firmitas and brain implant, and determined that the former would increase the subject's tolerance for cyberware (and other trauma) so long as they kept taking it, and the latter was meant to inject the Firmitas directly into the brain for more optimal usage. However, the implant was an obvious prototype, and after a thorough examination he determined it would increase pressure in the brain cavity resulting in terrible headaches.
The crew held a lengthy call (Jar, as the only one with chyron and an implanted agent, complained that the others were behind the times) and, other than Specter claiming a chameleon skin for personal use, the rest of the haul would be sold. Jar got to work forging the necessary IDs and removing any trackers, then took the goods to his fence, Miguel Fernandez, who gave them an amazing deal: twenty eight thousand eddies. They took the next week or so off to live the high life and spend their ill-gotten gains.
Peacock had Jar install a ton of sensors in their cybereyes to give them perfect night vision, which invovled shaving back the bone around the eye for more space, then signed up for a one-week online crash therapy course to get over some of the issues they were having after installing so much 'ware. Paxos sold her old 'deck and picked up a new one as well as a state of the art 'runner suit, then spent some time in bars making contacts with a netrunner syndicate to help with her end-goal of setting up a new identity for herself. Jar spent three thousand eddies on gold trim and various other embellishments to his already outlandishly expensive outfit, as well as a chemskin implant that changed colour with his mood.
Specter spent a day or two just zonked out on BDs until he got a note from T-Bar: Warsaw was calling in his favour. He just wanted Specter to go keep watch on a department store on Valley St in Arroyo for a week. Their kickback money was late, and 6th Street were curious if the old owners had jumped town. They had a room at the Pacific Angel Hotel across the street he could use, and Specter accepted. He spent the next while hanging out in the dark blue hotel room, decent quality but nothing amazing, and walked around the neighbourhood and department store. It seemed like a normal store to him, but he didn't ever see the owners in Warsaw's photos, so after the week was up, he let Warsaw know as much and said he figured they had indeed left the city.
Easy Money
After their brief "vacation", Specter got a call from Regina Jones for a simple job. Some corpo who didn't want to disclose their identity wanted them to deliver a memory shard to Nightingale, the AI that ran a pharmacy chain in Night City. Pay was 2000eb, and it'd only be an hour's work, if that. Specter said they'd do it, then got directions to the drop box to pick up the shard and called the crew. Peacock picked everybody up and, on the way to a Nightingale's in Little China after picking up the shard, they overheard a news story on the radio about their robbery the week prior.
They pulled up outside the pharmacy, situated between a cafe with some bullet-holes in the walls and a ripperdoc's that had been vandalized with stickers preaching the dangers of cyberware. The pharmacy had a plethora of security cams, and the storefront, a sleek white design with red highlights, was cleaner than its neighbours, but still had some of that Night City grime. Paxos ordered a coffee at the cafe and tried to hack into the pharmacy's cameras, but the security was much tighter than she was expecting so she backed off; not atypical for AI-run systems.
Inside, there were three small lines in front of kiosks in front of a triple-thick bulletproof glass window that looked in on a pair of robotic arms sorting pills, and off to the side was a full-body hologram of Nightingale, who appeared as an attractive young woman dressed in the latest fashion. Jar walked up to the hologram and flirtatiously announced that he had a package for delivery while simultaneously asking for her commcode.
The AI gave him an appraising look for a moment, and noted that she loved his jacket as she sent the code. After clarifying that they did actually have something for her, Specter passed her the AI and a robotic hand emerged from the hologram pedestal and took it. Their work done, the crew headed back to the car.
Not So Easy Money
Just as they were opening the doors, Jar got a call... from Nightingale. After another minute or so of flirting, she explained that sadly this time it was more business than pleasure, and asked if they were interested in some work. He added the others into the call and she got to explaining: there was an old direct laser-link installed on the 32nd floor of megabuilding H6 in Arroyo. The link would need to be repaired and recalibrated to point directly at its counterpart. They worked out the pay (it ended up being 4800), and agreed to give her a call once the link was repaired.
Peacock and Specter shared a look. Both lived in or near Arroyoo, and they knew the likely cause behind the link's failure: 6th Street had a heavy presence in H6, and the 32nd floor was their HQ. They were in pretty good with 6th Street, which could help them talk their way in, but it was also a double-edged sword: if things went bad, they knew where they lived. But hey, Peacock was planning on moving out anyway. While they were planning their next job, a call came in from Regina with their payment for the courier job. They thanked her, and Specter told her to "stay groovy" ("Riiiight").
The next day, Jar got a ride from Peacock (no NCART in Pacifica, after all) to scope out megabuilding H6 and talked to some of the homeless in the bottom floors to get an idea of the criminal goings on. Turned out that 6th Street was running protection rackets for every business and resident in the building, in addition to running a drug ring out of their 32nd floor base. Unfortunately, after a pair of massacres a week apart by the infamous solo V left several dozen 6th Streeters dead the year prior, they had ramped up security.
Peacock and Specter went back later to hang out at a bar near the bottom of the structure. While Peacock brooded in the corner nursing a beer, Specter hung out with some 6th Street gangers who stood out due to the obvious nationalist pro-NUSA symbols. He learned that the higher-ups viewed H6 as "cursed" after the double massacre, and so the post had been given to a young guy named Raph. They thought Raph was alright and had big ambitions, but he spent most of his time just watching BDs in his office.
Specter, a BD fiend himself, asked if they knew what Raph was into, and one of them remembered that he had been bringing up the name Adam Starling alot; he recognized the name as belonging to an adult BD star and filed the info away if they ever tried to socially interact with Raph. Specter also asked their thoughts on AIs but none of them really cared, which suggested they didn't have any sort of vendetta against Nightingale personally.
Once they were done drinking, the pair also scoped out the 31st, 32nd, and 33rd floors. While the 32nd did indeed have a half-dozen gangers playing cards and smoking right outside the elevator, there was easy enough access from the various ladders, HVAC pipes, and walkways to climb up or down from the 31st or 33rd. Peacock found their way on top of a nearby building and took out some binoculars to take a closer look at the balcony where they were looking for the laser link: from that far out, they couldn't see the link, but they did see that it was a juliet balcony so there wouldn't be anywhere to stand if they scaled the outside of the building.
While relaxing at a plaza mid-way up the tower, Paxos hacked into the building's systems and tired to see what she could get her hands on. The whole thing was configured to be in Japanese, which would be a problem, but she found the controls to the temperature control and some security alarms, as well as the traffic lights and some bollards in the drop-off loop just outside the ground floor. Sadly the fire suppression system seemed to be on a dumb circuit.
Peacock staked out the apartment directly above the balcony, and followed the woman who lived there (a young corpo suit) when she left and got Paxos to hack into her agent. With the work schedule of "Naomi Rosek" in hand, they chose a time that she wouldn't be around to do the job. The master plan was simple: sneak into Naomi Rosek's unit one floor above the laser link, and then Jar and Specter rappel down using a pair of grapple guns. Once in position, Jar would repair the link while Specter provided covering fire, if needed.
The day of, the crew arrived over the course of a couple hours, and the large duffle bags Peacock and Specter brought in (containing the grapple guns, body armour, and Specter's rifle) raised some eyebrows of the goons at the front door. On the 33rd floor, Jar used a security defect on the electronic lock on Naomi's unit to gain access, and they walked in and opened up her balcony. It was a small unit, with the bed, kitchen, and living space all in a single room, and the decoration was plain but precise; dull grey paint and a single precisely-placed flower arranged on a table in the center of the sunken living area with all cream-coloured furniture.
Paxos leaned out over the balcony rail and was able to spot laser-link on the balcony below, dangling from its cable about a foot below its mount which was just below the 32nd floor. Jar and Specter uncoiled the nylon rope of the grapple guns and began tying it around their waist in crude harnesses.
Notes:
Jar is kind of buying his way into being a Face, though at the moment he's mostly relying on his +6 Reactions from his outfit (+12 with fashionistas).
The payout from this mission was relatively high compared to what CP:R suggests, but it's fine. Their long term goals are a big cash sink.
Each PC has a "long term goal" that they can work towards during downtime:
Jar: Establish a lab to research and cure cyberpsychosis
Specter: Establish the biggest gang in Night City
Peacock: Create a taxi company (they also have a secondary goal to free their nomad family from prison)
Paxos: Create a fake identity so she can leave the city
Peacock rolled 9 on 5d6 for Therapy. Quite below average.
Specter used Luck on the Observation roll to look into the department store, and still failed.
The canonical list of trendy cyberware that all the cool kids have (nobody in the crew has them all, but Jar is closest at 2/4):
- Cybereyes (w/ Chyron)
- Implanted Agent (and the required Neural Link)
- Memory Shard Socket
- Interface Plugs
Nightingale is a fashionista, which means Jar's $5k outfit gives a +12 to reactions (for a net of +9).
I'm going to change Luck to be "twice per mission" rather than "once per hour". This solves the "well if we just plan stuff for another 20 minutes, we get luck back!" problem.
Jar's player is the only one who has neither watched Edgerunners nor played 2077, which occasionally leaves him in the dark. Today's example: "What does 'choom' mean? Is it an insult or what?" The answer: it means "friend" and so depends heavily on tone.
The player character V from the video game is canonical in this setting though the details are deliberately vague. The quick version of the story is that they were some low level merc who died in the fallout from a big heist, then came back from the dead, did every side mission in the game in a couple weeks, and generally rampaged through Night City, killing hundreds, before vanishing.
Specter crit-failed the roll to identify the name "Adam Starling", and so if he ever gets in a conversation with Raph it won't go the way he thinks it will.
Going to change the Legwork rules to be -1 to BAD per successful Clue Skill, but Clue Skills suffer BAD. That way it doesn't all come down to one roll.
No comments:
Post a Comment