Thursday 16 April 2009

Corporation: : The DHC Affair

Second week of holiday time and a game of Corporation at Halesowen Boardgamers. Present were Daniel, John, Ben C and Joe, comprising Division 90 of Eurasian Incorporated. Daniel and Joe the only original members left. John had been captured on Miller-Urey during the Skin Affair, Joe was not present on that Mission, Ben C had been called away at Irkutsk to do an urgent investigation ( from which he sadly did not return – see Obituary on the blog) and Matthew and James had also received secret orders just before they boarded the maglev. Thus, Daniel travelled back to Moscow alone.

Meanwhile, Joe, Ben C and John II ( a clone?) were carrying out a surveillance on a warehouse in the Moscow Underswell. Large quantities of Di-Hydroxy-Cryptonol (DHC), of good quality were circulating in the Underswell, The source was unknown and the EI Department of Social Affairs were concerned that cheap supplies of the drug would undermine their own programme of social care. The Division were assigned to watch the warehouse that was suspected to be the distribution point. Returning to the stake-out, they found a street gang ripping off their equipment…

The journey from Irkutsk to Moscow is a long one, even on a maglev travelling at 480 kph. Daniel had little to do other than watch the entertainment channels and wonder how he was going to explain the loss of two Agents to Colonel Rader. Suddenly his PDA bleeped with an incoming message – it was the Colonel! A priority override Mission – Daniel was to leave the train as it passed through the Underswell and join with the rest of the Division. The warehouse was to be raided and the source of the drugs determined. Information was a priority. He headed forward to speak to the driver; the train conductor stopped him and Daniel found out that not everyone likes Agents. He pulled Rank and ordered that the driver spoke to him. The driver said he could slow the train down in the Underswell but refused to stop due to the risk of hijacking or rocket attack. Daniel reckoned he could jump safely if the train was doing 50 kph, this was slower than the driver liked but Daniel pulled Rank again.

Meanwhile, in the stake-out, a vicious hand-to-hand combat was raging. The Division were not using firearms due to the risk of alerting the targets inside the warehouse, but the gang were proving to be better fighters than anticipated.

A few minutes to go and the train was slowing. Daniel chose his moment and dropped from the train. He missed his footing and fell into the track bed of the ‘up’ line, between the high-tension cables and the field coils. Mindful of the 50,000 volt cables, he carefully climbed out, taking only minor induction burns. Quickly locating a ladder down a support pylon, he smeakered the others, only to be told “ they were a little busy at the moment”. He homed in on the smeaker signal and found the others in the stake-out, surrounded by bodies of gangers. Joe had been hurt badly (?) but John was patching him up using his medical skill.
(GM: Ben ran this part of the Mission, apparently Joe just waded into the midst of them using a longsword).

Daniel took charge of the situation, opposite the stakeout was a semi-ruined warehouse part-built under the maglev line. AV surveillance revealed at least two people in street clothes going through the doors opposite. A plan was hatched; Daniel set up his M50 (aka ‘The Beast’) on it’s tripod and lent John his rocket pistol and light rockets. Joe would impersonate a junkie and go in, followed by Ben, the idea being to take a prisoner. Inside the doors was a long ‘garage’, with a set of burnt-out rooms on the left, two openings on the right covered by thick tarpaulins. At the far end was a beat-up truck (Con 4) and two men in street clothes.
“What do you want?” called one in Russian.
“J.. JU…Js wnt.. D” slurred Joe.
Ben crept in and stood in the shadows.
“You were told never to come here, go to the usual place” said the man, striding towards him.
“Need D… want D”
The man went to hit him across the face, at this point Ben grabbed him from behind. A grapple ensued; the other man ran down, pulling a machine pistol. Ben wrestled the guy outside, the other one followed only to be cut down by Daniel with the Beast. The prisoner managed to escape from Ben and was in turn shot and killed by Daniel. Joe picked up the machine pistol; it was a good quality make.

They all went back inside to investigate the truck; a third man leapt up and fired a shotgun at Daniel at point-blank range, doing mashing damage. Joe took him out in close combat; whilst John used his medical skill to patch up Daniel, Ben and Joe investigated the truck. They found it would start up and was driveable; in the back was a polycrate. John determined that it held traces of DHC. Deciding to go through the tarpaulins, beyond was a large room containing some polycrates, another truck (like the first), a raised office at the far end reached by a stairway and another room under it. To one side was a maglev support pylon going up through the ceiling. Ben took some photos on his PDA. A voice called down from the office: -
“I don’t know who you are, but this has gone far enough. I’m running this little operation to get some retirement money and I don’t appreciate you muscling in. I’m telling you to back off or you’ll get hurt.”
“No, you’ll get hurt”, replied Daniel.
“Just leave will you. What’s wrong with trying to turn a little profit? If you don’t back off, I’ve got friends who WILL hurt you. You sound like a damn Corp stooge”
“We are Agents”, said John.

At this point, the (somewhat inevitable) firefight erupted. Daniel sprayed the office with the Beast, blowing out the plate window. In return the figure in the office levelled a plasma rifle at him, which malfunctioned and exploded(!). Gangers popped up out of cover and opened fire, some using machine pistols and some using shotguns. Ben proved to be a deadly shot with his twin mastered cougars and Joe was using the machine pistol (it was WF manufacture but not chip checked). The gang were going down; even so the Division were taking damage; at least one emergency IV medpack was activated. Then the door to the lower office opened and three men came out, wearing green and black uniforms. One spoke, in a pronounced Texan drawl;
“Seems like our little thing here is over. Now me and my buddies are just going to walk out of here and you’re just going to stand aside and let us, else world o’ hurt coming your way.”
The one on the left pointed a finger at John and whispered “Pow!”. Jon staggered back, this head feeling like it was being crushed. Daniel yelled “ He’s a telepath” and opened upon them, only to find that they were ion shielded. The speaker ran at Joe with impossible speed and cut loose with a flurry of unarmed blows which Joe was barely able to defend against. Ben’s cougars again played a significant part. The telepath ‘Pow’ed’ Daniel for maximum effect and leapt over their heads and out of the door. The other two followed, using some form of freerunning. Dan went after them, but to no avail. The reason for their haste was soon made clear, a few seconds later the entire warehouse exploded in a ball of flame. Everyone but Daniel was caught in the blast; which finished off the gangers.

Some hours later, they reported back to Colonel Rader. He was not pleased that very little information had been gathered; there was a clear indication that the Western Federation were supplying weapons to the gangs and probably were behind the supply of DHC. Out of a potential twelve sources of information, not one was taken. It was apparent that there was an overuse of firepower on the mission, with a tendency to shoot first and hang the consequences. Accordingly, the use of heavy weapons on future Missions would be monitored. Daniel’s application for Mastered Weapons training for the M50 was refused.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday 13 April 2009

Obituary

Ben C died yesterday during a raid on an Ai-Jinn facility off the coast of the UK. The Mission was an Downtime solo affair, the brief was to investigate the facility. Last images relayed from his gun- camera showed he was surrounded by guards, he was attempting to shoot his way to safety. No statement has been issued as yet by the Ai-Jinn.

Eurasian Incorporated Department of External Affairs

Thursday 9 April 2009

Mission Report: The Skin Affair

Holiday time and a game of Corporation at Halesowen Boardgamers. Present were Daniel, Ben, John (making a return), Ben C, Matthew, Richard and James, comprising Division 90 of Eurasian Incorporated.

The session opened with some Downtime and a report on the outcome of the Sea Prison Affair. The rescued Agents were all making a full recovery and the mysterious girl was still in hospital. The message had been deciphered, it was in Afrikaans and read
“Further successful implants carried out: 85% full recovery of subjects. Advise move project up to Stage III.
Targets C & D identified. Target D has Special Case potential based on profile.”

The Division were questioned if they had any more information as to who Targets C & D might be.

At the request of Division Control, they took the name Division 90 and elected Daniel as Leader.

Returning to Moscow Spire they were summoned to see Colonel Rader. The Mission Brief was as follows: -
INTEL has discovered a prototype new weapon being developed by the Western Federation in a research lab on Miller-Urey, in the Tigera region. The lab is secret, under cover of an Agricultural Testing Station. The codename for the weapon is SKIN. Report indicates that the SKIN prototype is to be moved to a secure testing location within the next ninety-two hours. It is imperative that a sample is obtained before this.
A supplemental briefing was a transcript of a message received from a solo Agent operating in Tigera warning about some purple vegetation which caused acid burns.
The Division were allocated a budget of 10,000 c and given some planning time. They bought a Condition 6 off-road vehicle (budgetary constraints) and arranged for it to be shipped to M-U. They also purchased some combat fatigues; after discovering that Tigera is mainly rainforest and jungle.
They left Moscow Spire for Irkutsk shuttle station by maglev followed by a short shuttle flight, a few hours later they boarded the Ai-Jinn Orbital Transfer Vehicle “Shuddering of Forgotten Enemies”. The crew were Asian, clad in smart red and gold uniforms. The flight to M-U took two days during which they did little other than endure the daily broadcasts by the ship’s Passenger Interrelations Officer (= Political officer).

Arriving at UIG main on M-U they successfully passed UIG Customs and retrieved their equipment and vehicle. Approaching the ion barrier with the glowing sign ‘WARNING – YOU ARE NOW ENTERING WESTERN FEDERATION TERRITORY”, they were approached by a man wearing mechanic’s coveralls: -
“Service your vehicle sir?”. He spoke with a thick German accent.
(A quick debate) “No” Richard answered him in German.
“You will be wanting it if you go out in the jungle. How long are you going for?”
(Cries of “Don’t tell him/shoot him/ask him where the road goes etc”). “None of your business” said Richard.
“Ah well”. He turned and walked off behind a building.

Heading along the road/trail, with Ben C driving, after about 10 km Richard got the sensation that they were ‘being watched’. However, no-one seemed to pay much attention to this. They began to see patches of a purple fungal-like growth along the sides of the trail as the jungle began to thicken around them. A few km later they saw a cloud of dust ahead, rounding a curve they saw three WF patrol vehicles ahead of them. Each held two guards. The captain in the lead vehicle stood up and ordered them to stop and state their business. As they hadn’t thought of a cover story there was some discussion and the captain became suspicious. He asked for their authorisation to be there; suddenly Ben C yelled “We’re here to transport SKIN”.
“You are all under arrest,” replied the captain, “until such time as you tell me how you come to know classified information”. The guards un-slung their laser rifles and the driver of the lead vehicle picked up the radio mike. At this point a firefight erupted.

This was quite a drawn-out fight; it was the first time they had come up against soldiers wearing combat armour and carrying ion shields. Some of the highlights were: -
John throwing an EMP grenade that took out the radio in two of the vehicles, Ben C’s superb sniper shot that took out the captain (Ben has a new character & Profession following his success at the Mongoose Launch Event), Daniel blasting away with his M50 and finding out it isn’t so good at blowing away armoured targets, the retreat and attempted escape of Guard vehicle 3, Ben C shot the driver and caused him to lose control and crash, a shot from James’ rocket pistol blew the vehicle up and set it on fire. The Agents had taken several hits from laser fire; eventually the last surviving guard surrendered.
“Tell us about SKIN”.
“I don’t know nuthin about SKIN man”.
“You’re lying. Where is SKIN!?”
“I don’t know. Look man, I’m just a guard”
At this point Daniel shot and killed him, despite the rest of the Division having some questions. A search of the bodies turned up four discharged but usable 10pt ion shields and four laser rifles. They disposed of the bodies in a patch of the purple fungus, noting that it did indeed exude a powerful acid that dissolved the bodies in minutes

Taking the two WF vehicles (the EMP blast had not affected the engines) plus their own, they continued along the trail. After a few km they turned off left to a set of gates marked WESTERN FEDERATION AGRICULTURAL TESTING STATION WF25A. In a fenced-off compound was a squat, featureless concrete cube with a single metal door. Off to one side was a marked out helipad. By the door was a metal grille and a button. This time they did think of a cover story; Richard pressed the button; when a voice answered he announced that they were here on a surprise inspection tour. To their surprise the door opened and they went through to the reception lobby!
(GM: I gave this a penalty to the AT and also checked for the receptionists gullibility. Richard rolled 1/1- critical success!)
The receptionist told them that Dr Cyrus was not present, he was on Earth, but Dr Bream was in one of the labs. He advised them to wait in the canteen. In the canteen were a couple of mooks wearing lab coats and reading magazines; they didn’t even look up; there was an Egg-U-Lyke vending machine and a SynthiCaf dispenser. Ben C bought a chocolate EuL. Matthew went back into reception and shot the receptionist with a KO dart, they hid him in a storeroom. Heading down a passage, they came into a security station with two guards. Taken by surprise, the guards fell to a flurry of melee attacks. There were three doors, marked Labs 1, 2 and 3. They chose Lab 2, inside were three white-coated mooks who raised their hands. There was a life-size mannequin wearing a grey suit/costume of some kind; the head was a featureless ovoid with a central ‘eye’ with a band of smaller ‘eyes’ around the head. Close examination showed it to be some kind of plastic; the ‘eyes’ were just painted on. John cut off a sample of it The dummy had a ring of valves around its neck and down its back. There was also a large case with a transparent lid; inside was a slab of meat with tubes emerging out at various points and disappearing into the base of the case. There was a purple-red fluid circulating in the tubes. A power indicator on the side showed full charge. Daniel grabbed on of the mooks.
“Where is SKIN?”
“That’s it”, the terrified scientist replied, pointing at the case.. At this point James noticed a security camera in the ceiling and shot it with his rocket pistol. The explosion took out the camera, started a fire and set off the sprinklers. Alarms went off in the building.. They grabbed the case and headed out. Ben C risked a quick look in one of the other labs, it was a large processing plant converting real blood into something else. At a quick estimate; the tank of blood must have held 45-50 litres. They drove off at high speed, wondering where the other guards were. Their fears were soon realised at the sound of approaching hovercopters; at least two. They burnt rubber down the trail back towards UIG Main, however the aircraft were drawing closer. Then the rear vehicle, with John and Ben, lost control and skidded off. Despite their attempts to get going, the last the Division saw of them was they were being surrounded by scores of heavily armoured WF troops.

At UIG Main they boarded the shuttle without incident and were soon back on the OTV. En-route back to Earth, a curious incident occurred. Daniel received a discreet message to meet with the Captain of the OTV. The Captain, a smiling Chinese named Phin, told Daniel that the Ai-Jinn were aware of the ‘item’ that he possessed and were prepared to broker a deal if he would name a price. Daniel considered it, but Richard smeakered him and reminded him that it was their mission to get it back to Earth. Daniel refused the offer; Captain Phin simply wished him a safe journey and nothing more was said.

On Earth, they delivered the case to Special Agent SB12 upon receipt of the correct recognition codes, then boarded the maglev to return to Moscow Spire.

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