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Brainscan - Outside Influence
Runners: Fingers, Barger, Neo, Running Wolf, Red
Hammer
Three days later Barger gets a call from Henk... a
Johnson wants them for a mission and he'd specifically asked for them. The
meet was at 8.00Pm in the China Palace. When the Runners turn up for the meet
they recognise the same Johnson who'd hired them to black out Seattle! This
time he wants to hire them to destroy an illegal bio-weapons facility
operated by a rogue
scientist a former employee now planning to release a genetically mutated
plague to discredit his former employers - 150,000 nuyen if the place is
destroyed, all records erased all test subjects destroyed. Mr Johnson advised
that as his principals have not yet obtained the precise location of the lab
they were willing to pay a retainer of 25,000 nuyen for the runners to be on
the end of a phone. The Runners agree.
Two days after that the Runners get a call from Ronin -
Overwatch needs their help. That afternoon the UCAS military had freed a
group of 15 children from the Arcology, Overwatch belied that Deus was
attempting to smuggle out one of his otaku in the group. This person could
provide invaluable intelligence against Deus and could be the key to
defeating it. The children are being
transported to Fort Lewis in a couple of hours time in a small military
convoy of 3 vehicles. Overwatch needs the Runners to get the children and
bring them to Overwatch HQ. They'll have to bring all the
children as there's no way to identify the banded without a full brain
scan. The runners agree to help the mission and with Overwatch feverishly
start to plan the snatch. Barger and Fingers suddenly remember
the SENSE prototype they'd got from the Raven Shaman a couple of months
earlier - wasn't that some kind or portable brain scanner? - they wouldn't
have to take all the kids after all!
Then Barger and Red Hammer headed down to Tacoma docks
with Overwatch to set up the ambush while Running Wolf and Fingers swung by
home to pick up the SENSE prototype and Running Wolf tried to familiarise
herself with its operation on the drive to join the others in Tacoma. Overwatch
were going to block the highway immediately behind the convoy and the Runners
would deal with the troops and snatch the Banded. Ronin advised that some of
his otaku would run interference on the military's and Lone Star's comm.
systems and would guarantee the Runners 9 minutes before military backup
arrived. The ambush was executed with
military precision. Overwatch staged an accident immediately behind the
convoy ( two military jeeps and an armoured APC) to block the highway as the
lead jeep came towards them Red Hammer fired a phosphorous grenade in
front of it causing the driver to brake and
slew across the road, before the troopers inside could react Barger hit
them with a stunball, taking all four troopers out. As the driver of the APC
slammed on the brakes, Fingers hit the rear jeep with another stunball
- the troopers however were made of sterner stuff and only one (the driver
fortunately) was taken out. Running Wolf raced towards the APC
only to discover the armoured door had been locked from the inside. Ronin
started his 9 minute countdown over the comm. link . As the 2 conscious
troopers and the Army mage in the rear jeep came out Red Hammer dropped a
neurostun grenade on top of them. As the troopers had been expecting a quiet
drive on the freeway escorting the kids to hospital they weren't wearing
respirators, bye-bye!
The gunner in the APC tried to bring the machine-gun in the turret to bear on
Running Wolf, however Fingers leaped onto the APC and
stunballed the occupants through the view port. Barger began dragging
unconscious troopers from the jeep that was catching fire from the
phosphorous grenade. Running Wolf summoned Red Hammer to blow
the door as Ronin continued the countdown - 8 minutes. Red Hammer
set charges and blew the APC door blew off, Running Wolf leaped into
the vehicle and began scanning the children with the SENSE device she quickly
identified two children with abnormal scans and as the countdown went on they
dragged them plus the three kids they hadn't managed to scan off into the
van.
While Neo drove the getaway van a breakneck sped
through the Tacoma docks, Running Wolf commenced scanning the three
other children they'd dragged along with the SENSE prototype. All proved to have
normal brainwave patterns although all showed signs of recent physical trauma
including invasive cyber surgery. She then began re-scanning the two children
with abnormal brainwaves to identify the Banded White otaku while Sister
Bodycount called in to Overwatch. Ronin told her to deliver the children
to 180 Forest Ridge Drive in Auburn. Pausing only to drop off Barger, Red
Hammer and Iceface at Joes, the remaining Runners headed off to
Auburn.
The address turned out to be an automated Choco-Tart factory and as you took
the unconscious children inside the Overwatch HQ was revealed as inside one
of the huge vats, which had been converted into a war-room filled with
flickering screens and otaku jacked in to the matrix. Dodger and Ronin
ran a series of tests on the children and confirmed Running Wolf's diagnosis.
The Banded White was placed inside a Faraday cage and Ronin administered a
stimulant. Ronin and Dodger began an interrogation watched by Neo and Sister
Bodycount. Fingers and Running
Wolf gathered up the remaining children and to load them in the van and
drop them off at the nearest hospital. As they finished loading the
unconscious kids Fingers' cell phone went off. It was Mr Johnson -
" I have the target for you - 180 Forest Ridge Drive!!!
Acting coolly, Fingers okayed the deal an put a call in to Neo,
who swiftly informed Dodger and Ronin advising them their cover was blown and
to bug out swiftly. As Overwatch began packing up critical equipment and
trashing the rest, Neo jacked into the factory's systems and tried to set all
of the machinery into a huge overload. Unfortunately the safety systems
cut in! Time for plan B . Fortunately Red Hammer had left some
"big bangs" in the van and Neo set about laying demo
charges. Fingers and Running
Wolf, deciding they didn't have time to get to a hospital, dropped the
kids off at a nearby church, and headed back to the Choco-Tarts factory, just
as Overwatch was leaving and the factory behind erupted in a huge explosion
!
Stopping at the factory gates to pick up Neo and Sister
Bodycount, who were coolly walking across the car park, Running Wolf
noticed another van heading towards them at speed. The van slewed to a stop
across from them and 4 guys. heavily armed and wearing combat armour, poured
out. At this distance Fingers could see they all had blue cybereyes !
Sister Bodycount paused warily to assess this new apparent threat, but
Neo had no such qualms, lobbing a grenade into their midst. A short
but vicious fire-fight ensued. The Blue Banded opened fire, Neo taking
a three round burst to the chest and Iceface's van taking a few
peripheral rounds. Sister Bodycount wisely headed for what little
nearby cover firing off a shot at one of the Blues. . The Blue mage
dropped an Agony spell on Neo, who despite the pain and the
gunshot wounds tried to fire back. Fingers opened the window of the
van and dropped a Stunball on the Blues. taking out a couple of them -
including the mage. The leader of the banded fired through the van's open
window and Fingers took a three-round burst to the head. Running
Wolf, completing her shift to wolf form, leaped through the open window,
as Fingers slumped down in the seat, and went for the throat of the
Blue. Sister Bodycount, seeing Fingers go down, ran forward to slap a
trauma patch on her and drag her into the back of the van. Neo fired
off a couple of rounds at the remaining Blue. Sister Bodycount,
stepped out of the van and fired an explosive round at the Blue until Running
Wolf, finished with the one who's shot Fingers leaped on him and
made short work of him.
Wondering how things had gone to Hell-in-handcart so swiftly, Sister
Bodycount began helping the badly wounded Neo into the back of the
van with Fingers while Running Wolf finished off the
unconscious Blues. Sister Bodycount drove off and after a brief and
somewhat annoying attempt to get Fingers help from her Hermetic lodge
was heading towards Seattle General when she suddenly remembered Barger
(and his Healing spells) and the others they'd dropped off at Joes !
Badly
wounded and high on stim patches, Neo drove Iceface's van at
breakneck speed through the heavy Seattle traffic finally slewing to a
stop (smashing into a fire-hydrant) outside Joe's. Frantically, getting
Fingers out of the back of the van and in to the waiting Barger in
Joe's infamous "back room". As Neo and Sister Bodycount, herself
bleeding heavily from her wounds, brought Red Hammer up to date, Running
Wolf sat out on the pavement scanning passers by for blue cybereyes. After
things quietened down a little the Runners departed off to their abodes to
rest and recuperate save Iceface, who retrieved his van from the fire
hydrant and immediately drove it to Junkyard's bodyshop to get the
bullet holes repaired and a quick re-spray and licence plate change. After
dropping off the vehicle with Junkyard he called Sister Bodycount
to meet for a beer and go over recent events.
During the discussion with Sister Bodycount, Iceface suddenly
realised that they'd left a loose end hanging. They were still supposed to
meet Mr Johnson that night at 21:00, and if his verification team didn't
report back (which it wasn't going to) there could be trouble as the Johnson
was the only link back to them. He quickly called up the others urgently to
meet at Joes. Fingers was still too unwell to come and Sister
Bodycount had taken herself off for some well earned bed rest and
to nurse her wounds with a bottle of tequila, however the other all assembled
at Joes! Figuring they'd need some extra muscle Red Hammer drafted in Hawk,
a freelancer she'd met earlier, inviting him along as backup.
The meet with the Johnson was in an empty parking lot near the Naval base in
Everett. When the Runners arrived Mr Johnson was pacing up and down trying to
make contact with someone on his mobile. Barger went to talk to him, and Mr
Johnson said he'd been unable to get verification from his team that the bio
weapons facility had been "cleaned up". He would send another team
and contact the Runners in 24 hrs. Barger accepted this and got back
into the van, Red Hammer however continued to remonstrate with Mr
Johnson about the outstanding payment.
In the van Neo quietly pointed out that if Mr Johnson was able to
recover the bodies of the blue banded, they may have had headware that
recorded the events and could still compromise the Runners. Barger
gave the nod, and Neo swung into action, lobbing a grenade directly at Mr
Johnson! Fortunately Red Hammer had moved away at this point and
escaped unhurt, however Mr Johnson and his four goons were not so lucky,
going down like ninepins. Barger rushed forward and healed the
Johnson, dragging him into the van, while Red Hammer lobbed the bodies
of the goons into the burning limousine. On the way out Neo hacked the
ticket machine at the car park to remove any trace of the Runner's presence.
Barger instructed Iceface to head for Clinton's garage in the
Redmond Barrens, whereupon he set about interrogating Mr Johnson, after about
an hour or so of intense questioning Mr Johnson finally cracked! He just had
time to say "The Tin Man" when somewhat messily the cranial bomb
embedded in his cerebral cortex exploded, spattering Barger with brains and
bits of
bone! Neo immediately began trying to tack down "The Tin
Man" on the Matrix, while Iceface contacted Overwatch, who said to meet
at the software house in Renton next day.
Next morning, refreshed after a night's sleep, Neo checked our the
Johnson's mobile phone and discovered a large number of calls made to a
number registered to the Tin Man Scrapyard, at the meet with
Overwatch, Overwatch informed them they'd also identified "The Tin Man
Scrapyard" as a potential target. That night the party decided to scope
the scrapyard out.
The discovered that the place was surrounded with a 9' high electrified fence
and with surveillance cameras. An astral reconnaissance by Barger and Running
wolf also identified that the area was a toxic zone and that the office
building was warded. Deciding their best point of entry was from the roof of
the building across the street over the top of the fence, the
Runners retuned home.
Next day after Iceface bought a grapple gun, and Red Hammer picked up a few
bits and pieces and retained Hawk for another night, they headed back to the
scrapyard. Entry to the yard was achieved smoothly and the runners began
moving through the piles of scrap metal when suddenly from a scrap pile some
kind of drone attacked them. The scrap drone only managed to hit Hawk
with his serrated claws as Red Hammer shot it and Barger lightning
bolt-ed it back into the scrap!
The
Runners barely had time to reflect on the attack by the drone when the air
was filled with an unearthly howling. Hawk, Neo and Fingers
seemed strangely affected by the sound, their resections seeming slowed and their
movements becoming laboured. Barger with his knowledge of paranormal
animals indented it as the howl of a barghest, a fraction before six of
the beasts attacked them from between the piles of scrap. As the barghests
closed to range Neo began firing, Hawk moved to close combat with his
katana and the spellslingers began casting manaballs. Red Hammer
threw a neurostun grenade, but it seemed to have little effect on the
creatures, although Neo, not wearing his respirator, began coughing
and spluttering. The barghests went down under the concentrated fire till
only one remained, that last barghest managed to use it's Fear power
or Red Hammer before it too succumbed to the Runners.
Fingers and Barger barely
had time to treat their wounds, when another three scrap drones emerged and
launched into them. Hawk moving speedily sliced on in two with his katana
before it could do much damage. Although Finger's manaball had
no effect on the drones, the follow-up powerball did take one out. The
last drone went down under concentrated fire from Red Hammer and Neo.
By now assuming the inhabitants of the yard were well aware of the intruders,
all attempts at stealth were abandoned and the Runners moved swiftly towards
the office block.
Guarding
the doorway were two banded blues, Neo took one out with a three round burst,
the second managed to spray off a burst of fire from his SMG, hitting
Neo, before Red Hammer fired a grenade from her launcher. Taking
him, and the door he was guarding out. Hawk moved swiftly into the doorway,
followed by Red Hammer, and slightly behind Neo. Fingers
moved to cover the alleyway between the office block and the production
plant, while Barger remained at the scrap pile to provide magical
backup. As Hawk and Red Hammer moved fearlessly into the building, Red
Hammer spotted three banded blues heading towards them across the lobby
Instinctively he triggered off a grenade round from his launcher.
A
fraction of a second later the entire building was ripped apart by a
ferocious explosion, as the high-explosives with which it was rigged were
detonated by the grenade. Hawk, Red Hammer and Neo as well as
the banded (and everyone else in the place) were ripped apart by the force of
the blast. As Fingers and Barger watched on in horror - the
office building was engulfed in flaming death, they did spot someone fleeing
the building via a side exit.
Ronin,
over the headset, exclaimed that it was Aneki Hiroshi, the former director of
the Arcology - if he could be captured he might have invaluable
intelligence about Deus! True professionals Fingers and Barger
continued the mission even as the office block burned. They chased Hidoshi
into the plant.
They
quickly discovered that the plant was manufacturing drones, similar to the
ones they'd faced in the yard, except here there were hundreds if not
thousands of them - a veritable army for Deus. They also discovered the
workers in the factory were slaves - chained to their machinery many so
exhausted that the explosion next door had failed to waken them. As he ran
across the factory Hidoshi directed three blue banded guards to stop the
surviving runners. However the three, and Hidoshi himself stood little change
against the combined magics of Fingers and Barger.
Briefly
considering the freeing of the slaves, Barger quickly decided that
could be left to Lone Star who would undoubtedly be here shortly to
investigate the explosion, so grabbing Hidoshi he, Running Wolf and Fingers
quickly bugged out. As they drove off, the entire area was rent with another
enormous bang as Deus detonated the 200 kg fuel-air explosive in the factory
to remove all traces of his operation.
Hidoshi
was delivered to Overwatch, however when Ronin and Dodger started to question
him, Deus automatically triggered a set of auto-injectors inside Hidoshi that
sent a stream of Cutter nanites into his bloodstream, cutting him apart from
the inside. Hidosh died a painful, gory and convulsive death, however
Barger discovered in his gear a datachip that he handed over to Overwatch's
Otaku to decrypt.
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Friends: Overwatch
Foes:
Deus ; Renraku
World
events: UCAS
military continues to secure areas of the Arcology
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