Private Restless [Saija, Tessa, Slipknot]

[Cassus Akovin]

​

Location: The Wall
Area: Coretown - Centrimed
Party: Tessa Sedaire , Saija Kwann , Subject 648 Slipknot , Deceased Runner

Spoiler: Mission Details

Mission Type: Disrupt a Public Nuisance
Location: Any
Main objective: Stop Sargon’s Few from being an obstacle
Secondary objective(s): Free the poor from their brainwashing
Description: The gang Sargon’s Few is full of religious extremist adhering to the ancient Primeval faith, and have made a habit of exploiting the poor and vulnerable of Suicide Slums on Denon for their cult activities, but they can be found anywhere. Recently, their violence has disrupted a Darkwire mission and gotten a Shadowrunner killed as a result. They aren’t a Corpo outfit, but they’re just as scummy. Honor your fellow fallen Shadowrunner and make them hurt. There isn’t much money in revenge, but we’ve got a small bundle for you to make their days a little worse for wear.
Monetary Payout: Tier 2 (Low)
Non-Monetary Payout: Payback, and rep.
Contact: NPC, tag Darkwire Cultist on mission complete.

Context: It was supposed to be a simple job, but as a Runner, obviously you know it never is. Darkwire is in need of weapons, especially after the stunts they pulled on Altier and Wann Tsir. High quality weapons that only the Corporate Voucher can fund, ones getting produced in Coretown's Ward of Steel. Of course, it would never be as simple as buying them, these new Disruptors had to be stolen, taken out of Corporate hands. With a team of five runners, you all felt confident of success. Yet there was something no one expected, the religious gang Sargon's Few were after the same thing, and they came in packing much more heat than anticipated to get what they wanted. A three way fire fight broke out between your team, the Primeval Gang, and the mixed security forces between Gallenbright and CorpSec. You managed to get away, but your fifth member got hit by an experimental delayed disruption round by one of Sargon's Few, stolen from the Ward. Bacta didn't seem to be any help, as the wound slowly disintegrated away at their flesh, the pain so terrible they went in and out of consciousness. Caught in a bind, the only thing you could do was bring them to Centrimed, in the hopes that maybe there was something they could do to halt the decay. In an hour, there was nothing left of them but dust, leaving you all standing there contemplating "what the kriff just happened?"

​

"I didn't even catch their name." Cassus said standing over the last remains of their deceased compatriot.

Shadowrunners have died before, of course. Cassus knew plenty that weren't around any more for one reason or another, many presumed dead - Hacks, Jorj, Enigma, the list went on - but he couldn't recall the last time one died while with him. Especially not while he was close enough to stop it if he had just paid more attention. He felt shame feeling relived that he didn't actually know the runner personally, but also felt more responsible for it. If he had cared about them just a little bit more than he did, maybe they wouldn't be a pile of dust.

"Wasn't even killed by a damn Corpo, just some feirfeking gang." As if it mattered who killed them. It just muddled his own sense of anger. After his mother was murdered, and becoming a Shadowrunner, he had dedicated his life to killing the corporate world. So the fact this runner had been killed by random violence, muddled his sense of rage. How could he care about some gang if it had nothing to do with his mission?

He looked around to the rest of his party, trying to gauge where they were at.

 

[Tessa Sedaire]

Tessa wasn't outwardly showing shock. But the young Sedaire had a face that always looked up to mischief, and besides... She was the newbie here with Darkwire, and to Denon. Finding her father hadn't worked out so well, so she had traveled here to follow some work leads, and find someone who could help her flesh out her idea of cybernetics, with a kick. She had learned not a ton of Shadowrunners were Force Users, so she kept that particular talent under her hat.

But they had lost a man in an entirely preventable, and terrible, way. Though she didn't know him well, the loss sat poorly with her, and she found herself thinking of how the fanatics had gotten utterly in the way. Religious zeal and dogma were foreign concepts to the fiery pilot and slicer, and she resolved to keep them that way if this were their end. Regardless, she spoke after a moment of thought. Her voice was heated, and harsh.

"Jax. He was just trying to make some credits to marry some girl. And, Corpo or not... I say we make them pay tenfold..."

Cassus Akovin | Saija Kwann | Subject 648 Slipknot

 

[Subject 648 Slipknot]

Tessa Sedaire Cassus Akovin Saija Kwann

Slip stood nearby, staring down at what little remained of the Shadowrunner. Slip had been the one trying to keep him alive until they reached the medical center, and he had more or less failed. There wasn't anything he could do, he had realized that early on when nothing he tried was working, but still, the Shadowrunner's death had been tragic, none the less. He had been in terrible pain the entire time, and his death had been slow and full of agony.

Though, none of the others here would be able to get a read on Slip's face. As usually, he wore a mask on his face, and a balaclava pulled over his head. There was a small amount of blood splattered on his mask. He was even wearing an all black jumpsuit, with gloves and combat boots. No piece of skin or hair was visible on his entire body. Of course, he didn't keep his identity a secret, to his allies at least. He just preferred being an unknown threat to his enemies. He liked leaving his opponents in the dark, and guessing. Fear was a weapon too.

Then, some of the other members of their party begun to speak.

One of them, Cassus, spoke first, stating that he hadn't even known the Runner's name, then he said that he hadn't even been killed by a "Corpo", and instead by a gang. "Would you have preferred that he had been killed by a "Corpo?" Slip asked the man, tilting his head. As he spoke, his voice was muffled, and a bit staticky. As Slip spoke, it sounded like someone was quietly echoing his words in a low whisper, but when he stopped talking that phenomenon stopped, until he started talking again.

Then, someone else spoke up, a woman by the name of Tessa. She stated that the man's name had been Jax, and he had been merely been trying to get some credits to marry a girl. She also pipped up that they should get revenge for his death.

"There are easier and safer ways to get credits... And probably more legal ways." Slip shrugged. "I'll do some digging, I'll locate this girl and inform her of the bad news." He told them.

"As for vengeance, well, how are we supposed to combat these weapons of theirs? None of our medical supplies can heal the wounds they cause, how are we supposed to avenge when we're outgunned?" Then, Slip sighed. "Look, I want retribution for what happened as much as the next guy, but I just can't see how we can do this."

 

[Saija Kwann]

I'm dead silent during the exchanges. Sure, I felt as frustrated and angry as everyone here, but I didn't show it. There would be time to grieve later.

... I say we make them pay tenfold...

...Look, I want retribution for what happened as much as the next guy, but I just can't see how we can do this."

I was very familiar with this Sargon Cult. They seemed harmless at first. However lately they've become pretty visible and vocal. And now they've cost us one of our own.

"I'm with these two. But we need a plan and a way to make it really hurt. Publicly. They only have as much power as the people give them. They are a cult and that is how you take them down."

 

[Cassus Akovin]

"Would you have preferred that he had been killed by a "Corpo?"

I'd rather have had his death mean something, Cassus thought to himself, At least give me a reason to kill who matters.

"Jax. He was just trying to make some credits to marry some girl. And, Corpo or not... I say we make them pay tenfold..."

"There are easier and safer ways to get credits... And probably more legal ways." The boy balled his fists. Safety wasn't a guarantee on Denon, and the only thing "legal" under the Authorities was just a fancy way of tying a noose around your neck for the rest of your - probably shortened - life. The fact that an individual like Jax was pushed to the extreme life that Darkwire promised for a girl made him sour. It was a tale cheap as a shredded voucher; for every one you heard there was a dozen you never got a chance to.

"I'll do some digging, I'll locate this girl and inform her of the bad news." Cassus hated nothing more than a broken family, having come from one. He hoped the reason Jax was trying to dig up credits wasn't because of an unborn child.

"You should inform her after we've wasted these bastards. Our apologies will be empty words without vengeance," Cassus finally allowed himself to respond through gritted teeth.

"As for vengeance, well, how are we supposed to combat these weapons of theirs? None of our medical supplies can heal the wounds they cause, how are we supposed to avenge when we're outgunned?" He, of course, had a point. Precious few armors could withstand a disruptor blast, even at range, and these particular models seemed to throw out a lot of fire quickly. It was inaccurate from what he could tell of the shot patterns, but once it hit it didn't matter. It was a sick and twisted design - nick as many people as possible, and make them waste medical supplies until their inevitable disintegration - a design they had just experienced first hand.

"Look, I want retribution for what happened as much as the next guy, but I just can't see how we can do this."

"I'm with these two. But we need a plan and a way to make it really hurt. Publicly. They only have as much power as the people give them. They are a cult and that is how you take them down."

"The guns don't matter. They can't hurt us if they never even see us coming. If we get them distracted, out in the open, we can execute these fethers and still salvage this op..." Cassus started planning in his head. They were going to need intelligence, something he wasn't sure how to get, but luckily knew more than a few Shadowrunners that could get it for him, and some of them were standing right beside him.

"We need to know where that specific group is hiding out, otherwise killing random gangers will be pointless at worst and cathartic at best." Cassus looked to Saija Kwann and the rest of them in equal measure. "I'm not much of a slicer, but I know you're good with that sort of stuff Saija, and I think I remember seeing you working the terminals before chit hit the fan." He said referring to Tessa.

"Let's start there." He offered.

​

"Deng, did you see the look on their faces? Seeing their own weapons turned against them!" The human roared with laughter as they ran through the intricate underbelly of The Wall.

"Shut up, Bleys." Bleys looked at Deng with a dirty look.

Eventually the small contingent of gangers found their way to The Lungs. When the arrived with their stolen weapons in toe, they entered into a hide out they had established away from prying eyes. A figure was waiting for them, meditating at a platform in front of a series of filtration pipes with various dials. It was a Kel Dor.

"Priestess Dhi Tu," Bleys deep voice echoed out as he kneeled before her.

"Ah, Fledgling Bleys, Fledgling Deng. You've arrived earlier than expected." Bleys winced at her voice. "A bit louder as well." Deng started to realize why Bleys told him to keep quite. Her face turned so half of it faced them.

"You used them, didn't you?"

Tessa Sedaire Subject 648 Slipknot Saija Kwann

 

[Saija Kwann]

Tags: Tessa Sedaire , Cassus Akovin , Subject 648 Slipknot

"I'm not much of a slicer, but I know you're good with that sort of stuff Saija, and I think I remember seeing you working the terminals before chit hit the fan." He said referring to Tessa.

"Let's start there." He offered.

"I'm on it." I say back to Cassus. "We're not going to be of any use standing around. The sooner we come up with a tactical plan, the better." I turn on my heel and depart from the group, intent on getting to work ASAP.

In one of the faction-controlled safehouses, I get to work on tapping into every local security and video feed so I can piece together who did this and track them back to wherever they came from. The cult had multiple cells operating all over the vicinity and I needed to track down the specific one responsible for today's fiasco. Facial recognition software would take a while to sort through whatever footage there was.

Meanwhile, I also begin gathering the parts of footage which showed exchanges of blaster fire between the cultists and the security forces of both CorpSec and Gallenbright, looking for the juiciest bits of ammo for some classic memetic warfare with the intent to begin turning negative media attention to Sargon's Few. Other Darkwire contacts with specialties in informational and psychological warfare will handle the actual execution, including doxxing members of the cult to the general public.

Now I begin writing a sorting algorithm to separate the Sargon cultists from everyone else and attempt to track their movements after they fled the scene. This was going to be tricky because the cultists knew how to conceal themselves and had scattered in all directions. But I did manage to find what appeared to be a couple of low level acolytes who had not covered their own tracks well enough and I was able to triangulate a probable location based on their movements.

"The Lungs," I sighed in frustration while looking at the scanner readout. "How lovely." Going down into this part of Denon was so nasty and dangerous it made jumping into a rancor pit seem reasonable by comparison. Getting close to their lair was going to be a tricky proposition and getting out of there would be even trickier. We needed a way to get close and with any luck, get inside.

Sargon's Few recruited from the local masses like every group of its kind. One of their tactics was to crash the gatherings of other religious groups and dissuade newcomers while simultaneously poaching their followers. And there was a big parade coming up - The Festival of Kekk. It was normally a light-hearted affair put on by the Frens of Pep'eh, mainly to celebrate the local legend of the farmer who founded what would become the Seven Corners District. Tube-wine is consumed by the celebrants in copious amounts and songs of praise are chanted in the streets. The Sargon Cult was sure to crash the party as such debauchery in public was considered by them as abominable behavior. It wouldn't be too difficult to slip into the action as a "convert" or "repentant sinner" and then infiltrate Sargon's Few until we could strike back at the right moment.