Session 23: Rift Closed, Another Opened
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Shadowrun
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Chapter 2 |
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Chapter 1 |
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F.A.T.E. PCs |
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Briefing
It has been a rough week for F.A.T.E., particularly J.P. Redman.
The astral rift has grown, slowly but steadily, since it became a permanent fixture at Kent Lake. Dr. Yau and his team have been working tirelessly studying it, running experiments that the academic world had queued up for years. However, there have been an increasing number of reports of unusual spirit activity in the area. From ghosts haunting local residences, the appearance of toxic spirits in local dumps and sewage facilities, and unconfirmed cases of shedim spirits possessing the recently deceased.
Public awareness of the rift and it's impact to the surrounding area has grown, and with it a public relations war, particularly between the CFS government and the Japanacorps. Accusations of negligence thrown around left and right, the blame game between Shiawase and CFS was in high gear. Other AAA corporations were throwing their weight around as well, particularly MCT, Renraku, NeoNET, and Ares.
The public was losing confidence in the CFS government's ability to control the situation, and pressure quickly increased from congressional leaders as well as the office of the President for the government to reduce its role at the astral rift site and allow the corporations to step in and contain the situation. At least, that's how it was playing out in the media.
J.P. had managed to fight off the challenge from his government, but now even President Ellison has turned against F.A.T.E. Ellison ordered the elite agency to cease their research operations and remove themselves from the evacuation zone, ceding to pressure from corporations and the public.
J.P. knew where this was heading, but he wasn't sure how it was going to play out. The Ellison administration was going to be a problem sooner or later. F.A.T.E. was originally founded under former President Arthur Newman in 2069 under the expectation that he would be re-elected (at that time, Mr. Newman was extremely popular). Their contingency plan to deal with this has been going well, until now. Many corporations were now flexing their muscles within the government, now succeeding in pushing F.A.T.E. to the side.
J.P. was uncomfortable allowing corporations the kind of unrestricted access to the rift that they were about to receive. Dr. Yau's theories have some dangerous predictions, and J.P., along with many of F.A.T.E.'s financial backers, do not want to see those paths pursued irresponsibly.
F.A.T.E.'s operation at Drake's Bay came at a cost. They discovered some secrets of Shiawase's research, but with the recent events at Kent Lake, others have caught wind of the engineering techniques used by Shiawase. The ability to create astral rifts artificially/technologically would be a game changer, and everyone knew it. But could it be done safely? What are the environmental rammifications? How would it shift the balance of power? These questions are unanswered.
J.P. decided that if F.A.T.E. couldn't have the rift, then no one could.
Session Synopsis
J.P. Redman met with each of his agents, giving them the opportunity to recuse themselves from a mission against the CFS government. Each decided to proceed, a positive indication of his agents' allegiance to F.A.T.E. moreso than their home government.
The group spent several hours debating the pros and cons of each approach. There was considerable risk involved in running an operation against the CFS government. The crime would be considered treason, if caught. They debated physical infiltration, but decided that it would be too difficult to sneak mana bombs into the highly secured Lucas Valley evacuation zone. With all the CFS military on site, not to mention the megacorps that were moving their research into the territory, there would be significant security, both physical and astral.
They decided the best approach was a metaplanar quest to destroy the great form tree spirit that seemed to be at the center of the astral rift. Dr. Yau expects that if the spirit were destroyed on his home metaplane, that the rift would lose energy and disappear. Comfortable with his assurances, the initiates in the group decided to put their lives on the line once again to do the mission. It carried no risk of being caught, but the risks involved in entering the metaplanes was still significant. There was a level of comfort, however, in that they had visited this metaplane before and knew roughly what to expect.
The difference this time is that they were not entering through an astral rift. Dr. Yau offered to create a fungal cocktail that they could consume to reach the metaplanes, but the initiates declined. They decided to go the old fashioned way: through the Dweller of the Threshold. Ana was the most hesitant about this, and rightly so.
Eric arrived first, passing his trial in privacy. Wex was the second to arrive, and Eric was allowed to watch. He learned that Wex feels very detached from F.A.T.E. The third to arrive was Desmond, whom Wex and Eric both got to watch. Lastly, Ana arrived, and the 3 other initiates learned a startling secret.
Anastasia revealed that she was torn between two lives. One, her career at F.A.T.E., she loved. The work was fulfilling, pushing her to be the best she can be, and gave her a sense of duty and accomplishment being on what she felt to be the right side of a global struggle. The second, a fantasy life, to be impossibly wealthy and famous, was at her fingertips. If she could repair the relationship with her estranged father, the President of CFS, she could have a life of luxury most people can only dream of. She revealed that she was at a cross-roads, and soon needed to make a decision. Her father warned her that F.A.T.E.'s relationship with CFS was crumbling, that she should leave the organization and come work for the administration. He indicated that the break with F.A.T.E. could be bloody, and has told no one about this. The lives of her fellow agents, whom she considers friends, and her bosses, were at considerable risk, and she has shamefully chose to remain quiet. What keeps her on the fence is her desire to be with Eric.
After the trials, the team proceeded to the metaplanes and spent several hours searching for, and eventually finding, the great form tree spirit. Eric and the spirit engaged in brief dialogue, but both knew that this was only going to end in a fight to the death.
The initiates had a huge arsenal of bound and summoned spirits at their command. The four initiates and over 10 friendly spirits fought the great form spirit and 6 of his allies. The battle was intense, concealment powers cast on everyone, power bolts, elemental bolts, lightning bolts, and bullets flying everywhere. With a decisive bolt of lightning from Eric's force 8 air/tornado spirit, the tree spirit was defeated, split in two from the blast and setting the whole region of the metaforest ablaze.
The mission was a success and the astral rift at Lake Kent disappeared, much to the disappointment of the corporations that hadn't even had enough time to set up their experiments yet. And there was no trace of F.A.T.E.'s involvement, a helpful result that bought J.P. some more time to figure out how to deal with the CFS government. Eric immediately informed J.P. about Ana's trial, news that would likely carry significant consequences.
Aftermath
Coming soon...
Results
Status: Complete
Dates: May 9, 2073
Quote of the night:
- "Let me get this straight... we blew up a nuclear reactor to prevent the construction of mana bombs, the nuclear fallout resulting in an astral rift that we created and need to destroy with said mana bombs... do I have that right?" - Wex
Nuyen: 5,000¥ mission award
Stipend: 2,140¥ remaining
Karma Awarded: 7