GURPS Cyberpunk 2078 Session 10: The High Seas

Characters:

Alexander "Specter" Marshal - Solo
Pat "Peacock" Watson - "Former" Nomad
Ruby "Paxos" Lang - Netrunner

Braxton "Jar" Jiggs - Cybertech/Ripperdoc     NPC

Setting Sail

Before nightfall, the crew finished up some last-minute preparations.  To avoid the freighter's sensors, Jar covered Peacock's speedboat in radar absorbent paint.  Specter picked up some smart glasses with night vision lenses.  Paxos went over the shipping manifests to see if there was anything else worth grabbing, but it was slim pickings.  There was merch for the Night City Corsairs (the city's football team), a lot of bulk seafood, various athletic wear, mostly shoes, and several dozen containers of rice.  

Under heavy cloud cover, they boarded the speedboat and set out for the Chim Bồ Câu, and several hours later Peacock brought them alongside.  It was an older vessel, and thick layers of paint suggested it had been renamed multiple times.  Specter fired a grapple gun at a railing above and then climbed up.  At one point he lost his footing on the slippery surface, but he managed to make it to the top without falling into the drink.

Once up top, he moved to the shadows, careful to avoid the tiny gecko drones that were watching for intruders, and started looking through the stacks of crates for the ones they were interested in.  40 minutes later, Peacock comm'd to ask what was taking so long, and finally discovered that Specter had gotten distracted and had just been marveling at being on a boat for the first time.  They snapped him out of it, and he got back to searching for their containers, but couldn't find them.  After a bit of debate, Paxos climbed up another rope to the deck.

GURPS Cyberpunk 2078 Session 9: Child Protective Services

Characters:

Braxton "Jar" Jiggs - Cybertech/Ripperdoc     Absent
Alexander "Specter" Marshal - Solo
Pat "Peacock" Watson - "Former" Nomad
Ruby "Paxos" Lang - Netrunner

Preparations

Paxos dug around some more in the Militech Genetronics systems, injecting fake security IDs and editing the work schedule as she did.  According to their intel from Jennifer Thracker, the guards rotated out every 4 hours, with those in the control room switching to patrol and those on patrol going home, which meant two members of the crew would be in the control room entirely unsupervised.  With some further digging, she found and downloaded a bunch of encrypted files related to the black site, which she'd crack later.

Meanwhile, Peacock learned through continued observation that the cleaners were from Squeek-E-Kleen, which was an external contractor.  They also saw that the researchers were dropped off and picked up by "taxis" that were definitely just undercover Militech shuttles, meaning they were only on the street for maybe a total of two minutes a day, which would make establishing some line of communication difficult.  Paxos probed around the systems for Thracker's corpo apartment, but unsurprisingly it also had heavy security: the weak point was definitely the black site.

Paxos got around to cracking the files she'd grabbed, and there was some useful data.  In addition to invoices that revealed what exact model of security equipment was used, they also contained a pile of safety and operational procedures.  The children were referred to as "biological equipment", and if they died they were to simply be removed by the cleaners.  Specter and Paxos got biomonitors installed, as all the guards were supposed to have them, though theirs wouldn't be connected to the Militech systems.  Peacock went and grabbed some rope, handcuffs, and duct tape ($1 a roll?  What a deal!) from "Kidnaps R Us".

GURPS Cyberpunk 2078 Session 8: Headhunting

Characters:

Braxton "Jar" Jiggs - Cybertech/Ripperdoc     Absent
Alexander "Specter" Marshal - Solo
Pat "Peacock" Watson - "Former" Nomad
Ruby "Paxos" Lang - Netrunner

No Rest For The Wicked

While the others divvied up the take from the last job, Peacock took their new van back to the warehouse where they were storing their vehicles and gave it a tune up.  Or, that's what they wanted to do, but they quickly found out that it would need a full engine replacement; it was a miracle it had made it all the way from Pacifica.  After that, they bought a trailer and towed it and the van out into the Badlands in a concealed box canyon for their family to hide out after the inevitable jailbreak.

The others were annoyed when they were informed that Fred Runt, a street kid techie that Jar was acquainted with, had just flooded the market for cheap cyberware.  They elected to wait it out and split the 'ware between Jar's place and Paxos' place, though they still fenced the guns for a few hundred each.  Paxos and Specter then did a weeklong therapy regimen each, which Paxos really ended up needing, because her apartment flooded.  Most of the cyberware was good, though a couple eyes were ruined, but a bunch of furniture and clothes had to be repaired while she lived out of a hotel for a few days.  The guys the landlord called in to do the work were confused because apparently the damaged pipe had been cut clean through with an angle grinder (Paxos: "Militeeeeeech!").

While she was still dealing with the fallout of the flood, Paxos also broke worked on breaking the encryption on some NUSA government databases to prep her new identity.  Peacock slotted a news shard and picked out a date for their family's jailbreak: during a big parade when the NCPD in Santo would be busy elsewhere.  Specter meanwhile went to Thumbs, an old buddy of his who ran a sex dungeon, and scored some used couches and a sweet sound system for his gang hideout, which helped get some new recruits.  In exchange, he had to act as muscle for a drug deal going down in Kabuki with the Tyger Claws, which ended up being uneventful.

GURPS Cyberpunk 2078 Session 7: Ow My Legs

Characters:

Braxton "Jar" Jiggs - Cybertech/Ripperdoc
Alexander "Specter" Marshal - Solo
Pat "Peacock" Watson - "Former" Nomad
Ruby "Paxos" Lang - Netrunner

Breaking and Entering

After a slight detour to pick up a replacement agent for Paxos from a vending machine, the crew returned to the Luxura Hotel, and by the time they got back it was around 3AM.  While the others discussed how to go about searching a 30-story tower, Specter vanished (except for his floating clothes) using his Chameleon Skin, then went in and scouted out the lobby, which was empty.  There were a couple security cameras but they were all obviously destroyed, either aiming down or just lying on the ground amid the piles of garbage bags.  The lobby was open to the sea air, the all-glass exterior having long-ago been destroyed, and everything was corroded and moldy, the walls covered in bright pink grafitti.

It looked like the main elevator was still in working order, and there was a staircase they could take if it wasn't.  Specter returned and they decided to try to find a squatter on a lower floor to tell them what areas of the hotel the gang controlled.  Taking the stairs, they prowled through the second floor, eventually finding a locked hotel room, and Jar picked the lock using his tech hand.  When they opened the door, it jangled a primitive alarm made of tin cans full of cutlery and the inhabitant, a haggard looking bearded man, grabbed a shotgun and yelled at them incoherently.

Jar closed the door and they decided to just scope out the building one floor at a time, going from the top down.  The elevator was even more nasty than the lobby, the shiny metal walls dulled from layers of brown grime.  Floor 30 was a ruin, partially collapsed, with basketball-sized holes in the walls, probably from that helicopter strafing run a year ago.  They crept down the stairs to the 29th floor, which was similar, except that there were patchwork security cameras watching the stairs, and the bank of rooms across from them looked to have been repaired.

GURPS Cyberpunk 2078 Session 6: Body Snatchers

Characters:
Braxton "Jar" Jiggs - Cybertech/Ripperdoc
Alexander "Specter" Marshal - Solo
Pat "Peacock" Watson - "Former" Nomad
Ruby "Paxos" Lang - Netrunner

Taking Care of Business

Paxos was newly homeless and Specter figured he needed to relocate as well in case Stacy had recognized him, so for the last three days of June, they couch-surfed with Peacock and Jar, respectively.  They were all larger than life personalities so it wouldn't be a viable long-term solution, though, so Paxos started a lease on an actual apartment in The Glen, while Specter just found a cheap room above the roundabout in Kabuki.  Peacock spent a week hanging out at a bar that the guards of the prison their family was locked up in frequented.  After spending close to a thousand eddies on drinks for people, they singled out one who seemed susceptible to pressure, for future reference.

Jar waited a week to get a meeting with a Voodoo Boys higher-up, then bribed him to let him take over another unit in the hotel to have a more "proper" ripper lab.  Having seen a chameleon skin in action, Specter finally bit the bullet and had Jar do the full skin replacement job, then spent the next week in bed recovering.  He also got his cyber knuckles tuned up so they wouldn't fail on him, but the parts for his bootleg Sandevistan were pricey and had to be ordered from the Soviet Union, meaning that piece of chrome would remain glitchy for now.  

Paxos spent a while reading the news, trying to read between the lines to find places that had little corporate authority, eventually ending up with a very short list, largely featuring warzones, or exotic locales like the O'Neill space stations (which were closed to the outside world anyway).  A couple weeks later, Paxos got an abrupt call from a Downtown fixer who was in the big leagues: Reality Black.  She was extremely dismissive, telling Paxos that this call wouldn't usually be worth her time, but that the client had asked for Paxos' crew by name.  Client's name was Sabela Elara, an old friend of Paxos', and after confirming that she already had the contact info, Reality hung up.

GURPS Cyberpunk 2078 Session 5: Brothel Break-in

Characters:

Braxton "Jar" Jiggs - Cybertech/Ripperdoc

Alexander "Specter" Marshal - Solo

Pat "Peacock" Watson - "Former" Nomad

Ruby "Paxos" Lang - Netrunner

The Plan

Jar and Specter went around Arroyo and picked up some rumours.  Someone at city hall was keeping the cops off the Mox's backs; Peacock assumed it was their nemesis, Chudwell, based on no evidence.  The Moxes were trucking the precursor chemicals in with a van, and then distributing the finished Blue Glass to street dealers using the same van, which meant that the department store contained a meth lab as well as the stash.  Specter ran into a bit of trouble, when a ganger with a mohawk of spiked hair, Action Jack, pulled a gun on him and said that word on the street was he was a cop.

Specter, insulted, said he was the real deal, triggered his Sandy, and replied by quick-drawing his own pistol.  They stared each other down for a while, before Action holstered his iron and apologized for calling him a pig.  Action didn't know who was spreading the rumours (Peacock: "It's Chudwell"), but Specter guessed it was probably Rose, another one of his vindictive exes.  Meanwhile, Paxos tried to look into the city hall angle, but whoever was doing this had covered their tracks, and she didn't find anything.

Comfortable they had enough intel to go in, the crew started putting together a plan.  Paxos realized the recording they had to take was going to the NCPD and so she'd disguise everyone thoroughly before they went in.  In particular, a bunch of Moxes knew Specter because he'd dated one for a while.  Jar, however, refused to compromise on his style, but the camera was in his head, so everyone else let him risk pissing off the Mox.  Trying to avoid collateral damage, they decided to go in the middle of the night.

GURPS Cyberpunk 2078 Session 4: Manhunt

Characters:

Braxton "Jar" Jiggs - Cybertech/Ripperdoc

Alexander "Specter" Marshal - Solo

Pat "Peacock" Watson - "Former" Nomad

Ruby "Paxos" Lang - Netrunner

The Meet

The crew (minus Specter) walked through the main floor of Lizzie's , shrouded in purple lights and slow music, to the office of Susie Q.  She was typing away at a terminal as they entered, and didn't look up.  A black woman, she had a mismatched upper faceplate in a different skin tone, and a dozen or so magenta spikes projecting out of her forearms that Jar identified as a dart weapon.  Jar opened the conversation by complimenting her on the "spike gauntlets", but she skipped the small talk and went straight to business.

Susie tapped some commands into the terminal then swung the monitor around so everyone could see the grainy security camera footage as she narrated.  A joygirl, Napalm Jane, was found strangled to death in the Jade Oak Motel a few days ago.  On the monitor, a dark-skinned man in a trenchcoat with close-cropped hair walked into view with the girl on his arm.  The tape fast-forwarded, and the man left, alone.  Jar muttered "Johnny White...", recognizing the man as a solo and frequent client of his.

Folding her arms, Susie asked if it was going to be a problem if Jar knew this guy, but Jar waved her off, assuring her that he was a pro.  Figuring they had enough to go on, Susie turned back to the terminal and got back to work on spreadsheets, reminding them to bring him in alive, and call for the dropoff when they had him.  Jar insisted on having a default dropoff in case things were hot, so she relented and, not looking up, said they could bring him 'round the back of Lizzie's if it came to that.