Episode 5 -- Actions Speak Louder / Showdown

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Slipstream
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Episode 5 -- Actions Speak Louder / Showdown

Post by Slipstream »

EPISODE 5

The group returns to their base and begin investigating the cryptic message left for them during the Shinjuku incident. The Japanese NEST team arrives to pick up the two nukes. Sections 10 turns on the news and realize the aftereffects of what happened. China is accusing Japan of creating an incident with the fallen satellite. Mob violence has occurred in several Chinese cities. A Powder Keg seems ready to burst. Section 10 watches in horror as they realize what has happened.

ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER / SHOWDOWN

Greg fixates on one program. It shows a news reporter interviewing Colonel Holden, commander of the American Empire forces stationed on a small base in Japan.

“Let me tell you story. Late 1970s. An object crashes in Northern Montana. Witnesses reached the crash site. They reported a strange acorn-shaped craft. Military arrived and sealed the area. For the next decade, the public screamed bloody murder, claiming we had retrieved yet another alien spacecraft. The report becomes mocked and dismissed by the masses as yet another alien conspiracy…nonsense.”

“What was it?” asks the reporter.

“Around the same time, a Russian Satellite entered the atmosphere, equipped with a new advanced re-entry system. International treaty stipulates that all spacecraft landing in foreign territory must be returned to the original country.”

“So you used the public’s paranoia of the military to retrieve prohibited Russian technology. How does that pertain to here? We using the public’s paranoia of nuclear weapons and terrorism against them…what crashed here?”

“I really can’t comment on that…”

…But the word on Nuclear weapons hasn’t been released…so how did this American Colonel know? Did he leak the reporter to ask the question? The implications start to set in. China is not a country one wants to back to the wall. If the satellite nuclear payload is disclosed, then Japan must admit culpability in its absence. If they illegally stole nuclear weapons from China, they would be in hot water with the global community. However, this would involve China admitting it stationed nuclear weapons in orbit around Japan in the first place. Did the American Empire stage this incident to shoot down the satellite or was it shot down by China in order to start something? The more the members of Section 10 realize the implications, the more they get confused as to why they were ordered to retrieve the nukes in the first place.

Greg remains suspicious of Orthus ever since they tried to hack him when they first infiltrated Etorufu. He checks his Cyberbrain and stumbles across a Back-Door access, allowing someone to enter this Cyberbrain even when in Autistic Mode. He checks Ben and Sharron and discovers the same hack. Katana refuses to be scanned. Greg cleans up the hack and removes the virus. Katana takes Ben, still injured from his fight with the female Cyborg, to the Hospital for servicing.

Sharron contacts Aramaki but discovers he is unavailable. Sharron does discover a surveillance bug in the holograph room. He and Greg continue searching and find them in every room, except Katana’s. Greg decides to break into Katana’s external memory. What he finds is very little, except for a few simple programs she had designed herself. However, they match the same programming profile as the virus that hijacked the Golem at Sagawa Electronics. Could this be another connection?

Greg and Sharron agree they can no longer trust Katana. She was the only one that retrieved supplies for them. Where were they coming from? Sharron’s contact in Russia re-affirms his earlier claim…that Orthus, the original group from the Meguro Recapture Operation, was taken out. If there is a one in Japan…it’s a new one. Perhaps the Orthus incident was staged by someone else to make the group clash with Section 9, without tipping his hat. Does Section 9 know of this? Does Section 10 even exist?

Katana breaks into the servicing room, demanding Ben Return with him to base. She does not explain. This occurs before Greg and Sharron can safely contact him about their suspicions about Katana. When they finally do, they hear that Ben and Kat are racing back. When asked, Katana tell Ben and Sharron to check to the latest news blog.

The NEST team was hit. The news programs reports that a government vehicle struck a pole. The three occupants exited the vehicle and promptly shot themselves. They were hacked. The video signal is from a cyberbrain’s visual feed. Greg and Sharron leave HQ and rendezvous with Katana. Greg checks the details on the news report and finds out the video feed was uploaded 45 minutes to an unused IP. The server was located in China. The video shows the three NEST team members leaving the vehicle, withdrawing their sidearms, and shooting themselves in the head. Just before the video feed was cut, a shadow of an aircraft appeared overhead.

When Section 10 finally arrives, it is too late. They push through the Police line and find the bodies of the NEST team that took the nukes from them. They search and fine the one who witnessed it. He said a strange aircraft came down and took some things from the truck and flew away. The Nukes are gone. The group leave as they realize their cover may be exposed of they remain any longer.

Back at HQ. Greg and Sharron finally face Katana. She refuses to be brain-dived. Sharron says she concedes or she leaves. She agrees to leave. Greg says she cannot. They face her with what they know…she has programs similar to attacker on Sagawa on her system. Her actions have been suspicious. She is either behind it or is connected to those who are.

A slight smirk washes over Katana’s face.

“Well, I guess I know too much…” She pulls her gun, points it her own head, and pulls the trigger. Her cyberbrain plasters over the sidewall. The body drops. Greg salvages through the remains, to see if there is anything in the brain salvaging. He finds no ghost. Instead he locates a DECOT…a remote controlled prosthetic body. Katana was remote controlled all this time. Also inside is an image imprinted on the inside of the braincase. It shows a Japanese symbol that means, “Mark” with 13 slashes behind it. 13 Marks or Mark 13—as in version 13? The nukes are gone, a political powder keg has been lit, and the only person that could answer their questions is now gone. Also inside is a datafile not destroyed. In it is a single line: “…If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.”

The roar of their transport approaching cuts off the investigation. The Yodanari is approaching. This time, it is bristling with 6 Gattling cannons. The group avoids taking either vehicle. They sneak out and separate just as the transport approaches and shreds the building to pieces. After 100 000 rounds expend, the vehicle flies away, leaving a crumbled mess, which sparks ablaze.

Sharron hooks up with his Yakuza contact, which gives him a private room, hidden from the world. Greg returns to his old apartment and gathers what he can before moving on. He leaves Etorufu altogether and vanishes into the sea of information. Ben remains around Etorufu. He rents an apartment and waits.

Greg checks the net--all his Hacker contacts. He knows Section 9 was trying to reach them. Now he needs to find a way to contact them…but on his own terms. And then there was Fylfot.

“Things are not always as they seem.” Fylfot knew. He picks apart the Trash bomb virus Fylfot left at Sagawa. It was a message from Fylfot to him…that they had all been Ghost Hacked. Fylfot tried to set them free. She or He could be Greg’s only salvation. He places a finger on the net, in hopes of catching a message from Fylfot, or perhaps from Section 9.

Sharron checks his contacts all over the world. He pulls in all his favors. The Russian army contact re-affirms…Orthus is dead. His Chinese embassy contact checks his intelligence, and reveals there is additional money funded into Public Security, but nothing dealing with Section 10.

Ben, however, has no connections. All he has is a bounty on his head. If he is not contracted to Public Security, that means he is still contracted to Sagawa Electronics…meaning he has gone rogue. He’s walking in the park when Section 9’s tracker they placed on the keycard locates him. Ben still had it in his pocket. Section 9 surrounds him by stealth. Kusanagi herself delivers the gauntlet punch that knocks him out.
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MiNaeClem
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Post by MiNaeClem »

Slipstream, did you think or made effort on creating the stats of Sec 9 members? If you did can you share them with me :)
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Post by Gillsing »

Cool plot. More interesting than quite a few episodes of SAC. Makes me wonder how much you're railroading your players and how many of the decisions are their own. For example, did they have a chance of knowing about the international treaty regarding spacecraft on foreign soil before they were sent off to recover the nukes? Maybe they were in "do mission, don't argue, don't ask questions"-mode? ;)

I also wonder what Katana's player will be doing from now on, but I guess we'll find out. Or could Katana have been captured and then replaced with a decot that someone else was controlling? :?

Getting their information from the news doesn't seem quite as professional as I'd expect of a team of...well, professionals. Makes me think of Last days of Foxhound. Those crazy super agents. :lol: (I never played any of the Metal Gear Solid games, but that webcomic is hilarious)
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Slipstream
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Post by Slipstream »

MiNaeClem wrote:Slipstream, did you think or made effort on creating the stats of Sec 9 members? If you did can you share them with me :)
Actually, if you download the game PDF, there is an added chapter...kinda like a Monster Manual for GITS. In there are the stats for all Section 9 members....

Here is Motoko, for example...


“ M A J O R " M O T O K O K U S A N A G I (Public Security Section 9)
Medium-size Human 2nd Level Martial Artist, 4th level Hacker, 2nd Level SuperHacker, 2nd level Ghost Hacker with Prosthetic Emergency + 25% discount with Section 9.
Hit Points 10hd ( 46 Hit Points)
Initiative/Barrier: +11 +6
Speed: Spd 30 ft
Defense: 30 (+5 Defense, +6 Dex, +5 Cybernetic, +3 Agility) Hardness: 9
Barrier Defense Surface 51, 47, 47, Ghost 57
Special Barriers: Surface—Maze level 5
Base Attack/Grapple: +6 / +14
Attack: +14 Melee (1d6+7) OR +19 Ranged (Zastaba M100: Dam 2d6+6, Crit 19-20/x2, Rnge 30)
Full Attack: +14, +9 Melee (1d6+7) OR +19, +14 Ranged (Zastaba M100: Dam 2d6+6, Crit 19-20/x2, Rnge 30)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Saves: Fort +7, Ref +16, Will +6
Abilities: Str 24, Dex 22, Con 16, Int 22, Wis 16, Cha 11
Special Qualities Cybernetics, Living Weapon (1d6), Flying Kick (1d6+9), Jack Up, Hacker Portfolio, Contact, Darkvision,
Hack Abilities: Computer Use: +32 HackCraft: +29
# Hack Attacks 14 18 22 26 30 34 38 42 46
4 4 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2

Skills: Bluff +11, Climb +14, Craft Electronic +9, Craft Mechanical +9, Demolitions +14, Drive +20, Gather Information +24, Intimidate +11, Jump +36, Knowledge (Current Events +13, History +14, Tactics +15), Move Silently +15, Navigate +16, Repair +16, Spot +11, Survival +13, Swim +6, Tumble +20
Feats: Armor Proficiency (Light, Medium), Defensive Martial Artists, Personal Firearms, Advanced Firearms, Hackint Aptitude, Improved Barrier Defense, Hack Attack Increase, The Gift, Rapid Hack, Quicken Hack (Dominate Person)
Challenge Rating 15

All background info about Kusanagi is unknown, but assuming from her nick-name, she may have been in military service before. She is an expert on unlawful activity, secret intelligence, and demolition. The "Major" was scouted from the special maneuver team of the Ministry of Home Affairs. She commands Batou and Togusa, which makes her the number two person in Section 9. Kusanagi had her body changed to that of a cybernetic one; Motoko's body is almost completely cyberized and only a part of her brain is from her original body. She has an early 20's cyborg body, but actual age is estimated at being in her late 30's. Her sub-brain can access any kind of computer network on the Earth.
Section 9’s Tactical Commander and second in command, Major Kusanagi suffered from a medical condition which necessitated that her brain be transplanted to a cybernetic body at a very young age. Although her proficiency with the artificial body is highly advanced, she is still haunted by the childhood memories of her own inability to master the more subtle intricacies of its operation – emotions she hides beneath her stoic demeanor. The name Kusanagi has a mythological reference: in fact it is spelt with the same characters as the name of the sacred sword of the Emperors of Japan, the KUSANAGI (also called AME NO MUREKUMO).
Her Class A cyberbody is made to resemble a mass-production model. In reality, her electrical and mechanical system is made of ultra-sophisticated materials unobtainable on the civilion market. If she appeared to expensive, she might be suddenly waylaid on a dark street some night, hacked up, and hauled off to be sold. The body is feminine but some rumors passed that she, originally, was not. This is incorrect. Motoko is bisexual but has always, and will always be, a woman. With a height of 168 cm, she is slim and small, but her energy is boundless.
Combat:
Contact: Motoko is connected to several groups, the most useful is a bar owner (rank 20)
Cybernetics: Motoko seldom trades in her old Cyberbodies and owns one Base model at age 14 and an Angela CV1 at age 18. She also has another Cyberbody Class A the same model as her regular body but it looks substantially different. She implanted Decots in all of them. Her Standerd Class A includes the following modifications: Jump Increase +20, Enhanced Realism, +6 Strength, +2 Dexterity, +3 Agility, Anti-Shock. Her Cyberbrain is also Class A with the following abilities: Feat Implant (Barrier Defense), Skill Increase (Computer Use & HackCraft), .
Darkvision: Kusanagi has Darkvision out to 60 feet.
Living Weapon: Kusanagi attacks with either fist interchangeably, or even with elbows, knees, and feet. This means that she may even make unarmed strikes when her hands are full, and there is no such thing as an off-hand attack for her striking unarmed. She also deals 1d6 damage instead of 1d4 and can deliver it lethaly.
Flying Kick: Motoko can charge to deliver a devastating flying kick to an opponent. At the end of this charge, she adds her class level as a bonus to the damage she deals with an unarmed strike.
Jack-Up: Temporarily, Kusanagi can force her brain into doing more than it can. Twice a day, she can make a Computer Use skill at DC30 and cram a higher DC Hack into a lower slot. This can only be for Hacks she has access to. If successful, the Hack occupies a slot one lower but she must make a Will save at DC 25 or take 1 point of temporary Wis damage. If failed, the task cannot be attempted again for a full day.
Hacker Portfolio: Kusanagi portfolio can hold up to 15 different types of Hacks.
Weapons: Motoko seldom goes into combat with more than her Zastaba M100 with HV ammo.
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Post by Slipstream »

Gillsing wrote:Cool plot. More interesting than quite a few episodes of SAC. Makes me wonder how much you're railroading your players and how many of the decisions are their own. For example, did they have a chance of knowing about the international treaty regarding spacecraft on foreign soil before they were sent off to recover the nukes? Maybe they were in "do mission, don't argue, don't ask questions"-mode? ;)

I also wonder what Katana's player will be doing from now on, but I guess we'll find out. Or could Katana have been captured and then replaced with a decot that someone else was controlling? :?

Getting their information from the news doesn't seem quite as professional as I'd expect of a team of...well, professionals. Makes me think of Last days of Foxhound. Those crazy super agents. :lol: (I never played any of the Metal Gear Solid games, but that webcomic is hilarious)
In answer to you queries...

The treaty exsists today...its a point of knowledge for those looking. Next episode deals with someone mentioning a real incident that "may" have occured.

As for railroading, GITS is a different style of game over the standerd D&D game. Like my last one, Amethyst, the characters could go and do what they wanted, but they were compelled to do the quest. I always insist my Players create heroes and not assholes. The problem with many Cyberpunk games is that the group are a bunch of greedy seflish jerks that only look out for themselves.

I told them that this game required heros. I am also mimicking the format of the GITS episodes, by having craploads of exposition that sets up the story and letting the players go after that. Most of the first pages of each episode is simple exposition. Where they go and how they invesitigate each story is up to them and sometimes, they do surprise me...but not often. I have been a Gamer for almost 20 years and a GM for 15. There is little that doesn't surprise me in a group.

Sometimes, I even use the cliches of gaming against the group. For example, my group knows that I will fill in smaller gaming groups with NPCs to occupy needed skills. Katana is one of those NPCs because another player who was their Driver/Pilot dropped out. Katana filled that need, so they didn't question their motives. The other point of interest is that I told them that they had been training for six months before the first mission. The group accepted it. When they realize they had been ghost hacked, they realized, they really had no details of the training. Since Roy Sharron had included in his backstory meeting Aramaki, that memory is real. Everything else was fabricated. The group felt a little betrayed...both in the game, and out of it. I don't design games to always make the players happy. Sometime, they will lose. Sometime events will occur that really have no power over. This is my condition I lay down as a storyteller. Reading Amethyst shows how much the characters lost. That final season story will be uploaded in a month or so but it shows how good, dramatic storytelling and gaming fun don't often go hand in hand. At their core, the majority of gamers want all thier fights easy and for them to win every single time.

As for the TV...they were not getting a mission breifing, they were watching the aftereffects of their mission. Since the fake Aramaki cut off contact, they had no other way of knowing what happened.

Katana was a villian all along.
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Post by MiNaeClem »

Don't you think Kusanagi should have taken the Burst Fire feat? Most of the Sec 9 characters doesn't have that feat, why?
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Post by Slipstream »

I don't see her focusing on that so much. Other members do, mind you.
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Post by MiNaeClem »

Yeah I know Ishikawa and Paz does but we see her bursting a single target many times and she's good at it, so I guess it can be appropriate to give her that feat, maybe with a feat implant to an empty slot? :?
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Post by Slipstream »

I have actually seen her take many single shots as well. But I see your point...Burst fire will be added. Everything else ok?
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Post by MiNaeClem »

Nothing else seems missing, nice job and thanks. :)
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