Session 2: The Plot Gets A Little Cornstarch - kaseido/NeoTokyo GitHub Wiki

304 Rand 2 Money -> 304 Rand 3 Money

After getting the job from Tiffany to hit Zhukov, it’s time to upgrade Ruin Island and prep for the mission. Lane gets a good offer from a local contractor, but decides to put it out to bid. Another contractor provides an on-time guarantee for a lower price: the team decides to not look too hard at their labor costs. They run the final contract by Eloise, Tiffany’s executive assistant, who does contract revisions, but will be taking her retribution somehow.

Rina’s getting the net architecture set up; Lane goes shopping for Rina, and gets a custom-made hoodie embroidered with “Best Bad Answer.” Erissa and Lane argue for driving to Haiphong versus taking the bullet train, so they can make a quick exit. But after agreeing to establish two cat colonies, they decide to rent a Badger Corporate Bus for transport. Turns out the only one in stock just got turned back in: it was used as the tour bus for V4F Dream, and is still wrapped in their album art. And smells of puke, sex, and clove cigarettes. Rook is excited: she's a fangirl of V4F Dream. Kestrel offers to clean it up: they can turn off their sense of smell.

The Clowder asks Rina’s opinion about going to subspace comms between Colonies. She sees no problem: she was born and raised in her colony and always had her family in her head. She misses them, and thinks it would be lovely to have her family with her at all times. They are cats and not bees, and should remain as cats and not Cat. They are small and the way to become strong is by banding together, like Netwatch did and the Triad does: they are one and they are many. Cats are corporations.

On the last day of the week Lane briefs the team on what they know about the Zhukov situation: • The team has access to the following assets of Tiffany’s:

o Avant Specialized Services: a black-ops unit that the Tsuis work for

o TFS Specialized Defense: a mercenary company specializing in anti-armor defense

o TreeHouse: an ocean abatement and terraforming company based in the Drift Arcology

o You can expense anything up to 50K NB without Eloise’s approval; above that, you need to go through her, and if it’s an asset, Tiffany keeps it after the job

• Zhukov has an undersea lair off the coast of Haiphong, not far from the Drift Arcology: you have the purchase orders, though not detailed blueprints or specs. Labor contracts just specify “off the coast of Haiphong,” a 500km operational radius, and certifications required for construction at 100 meters depth (which means you can’t just rent tourist scuba gear and go check it out).

• He staged an armed raid on an abandoned industrial complex in Haiphong, formerly owned by Exanic Engineering.

• Exanic used to build ground-to-space planes. There haven’t been any since the war. Did Zhukov get all or parts of one? If he controls ground to orbit, he pretty much controls trade with the Ferengi Alliance. This is bad.

• He blew up Lane’s apartment with rocket launchers: he seems to like overkill.

• You don’t know where he is, why he has an undersea lair, or what his next moves are in striking at Lane and Tiffany.

• You may want to do recon in Haiphong, on the Drift Arcology, or at sea.

• You can drive to Haiphong for 1.5 days round the clock travel time, shifting drivers, or take the bullet train for 6 hours. You can always rent something on the other side.

It's Happy Aura Hour in the bar. Rina shows up in full Cinnamon Twirl costume. Rook is in Sexy Starscream Cult costume. Lane is in street clothes, but stylish and expensive. Kestrel is in band-branded clothes.

Karaoke contest: Jiefan bombs hard, Rina does surprisingly well! Kestrel does equally well. Lane sings “Fly Me To The Moon.” The Vole did a Klingon opera piece. Rina and Kestrel do a sing-off. They tie again in the sing-off. For their last song they do a duet of one of Happy Aura’s big hits, Hello Worker. They split the gift certificate. Rina looks at it confused and hands it to Lane. Rina’s been drinking delicious milk. Lane’s had a martini or two, Rook has two fruity delights. Kestrel is going through varieties of space martinis.

Most of them note the infiltration by Suspicious Persons. Rina taps into the cameras and spots someone in the server room. She makes a hissing noise, jumps off the counter and is off. Lane grabs a pistol and is off.

Rina heads down to the basement but can’t budge the door! The door doesn’t have an electronic lock.

The enemy netrunner got hit by the Killer program on jacking in. Melina, Zhukov’s chief of security, drops Lane with her first tranq shot. Rina moves all the black ICE up, turns on the hallucination gas and fills the bar room with smoke. Kestrel does a lot of damage to Melina, who refuses to surrender. Rina shoves the door to the server room open! She claw-swipes, and takes out the netrunner’s port and an eye! She turns on acid rain from the overhead. The Gorn take two out two of the attackers upstairs, and Kestrel talks the last one into surrendering.

Downstairs, the netrunner surrenders. Rina grips around the back of her neck and drags her upstairs. Rina turns the very high netrunner over to the group and runs over to Big Al’s to get someone to come wake Lane up. Haley the pharmacist gets her awake – Lane complains about the dart hole in her good jacket.

“Turns out she took out our best interrogator and torturer first, so if you tell me everything before she wakes up, maybe you’ll be spared!”

Lane asks what happened. Jiefan does not admit all her shots went into the ceiling. Rina: “I captured a netrunner! Let’s open up her brain and eat all her information!” The Gorn are surreptitiously snacking on the bodies of the security goons: the acid rain adds a tasty zing.

Lane heads over to the prisoners. Kestrel suggest they send one of them back with the other guard’s dismembered arm. Haley offers to put him in a cryotank for a week. Lane notes that Zhukov doesn’t know they’re out to kill him yet. Rina suggests they give them to Tiffany. Lane agrees and calls Eloise who sends over a cleaners squad to take the prisoners.

“This is no longer just a job, it’s personal!”