Colour Designation: White
Minimum SCL: 10
Training Package Recommended: Death Squad/Kick Murder/Strike Squad
Consolidated Pay: 150c per Operative
Contact: Mz Sorenden, Dept. of Housing
Coverage: 3rd EyE News
Summary: Investigate disturbance and clear Downtown block of evicted tenants.
Getting in contact with Mz Sorenden at the Department of Housing, the Squad gets an appointment for that afternoon. Her office is quite spartan, with a fantastic view of the steel works and gas-storage facility down the block (this marvellous vista is only marred by the heavy smog that blocks visibility after three hundred metres). Mz Sorenden is waiting for the team when they arrive, and they are ushered straight in to see her, even if they are early. She is a very stern young lady, with her hair pulled back into a tight bun, and horn-rimmed glasses. She looks very plain, and will probably die a spinster. Which suits her just fine, as she has no time for anything but her career right now.
She lets the Squad stand, and does not offer refreshments or comforts of any kind; she gives the impression that she is not used to dealing with Ops, and wants to get rid of them as soon as possible.
"You are [INSERT SQUAD NAME HERE]? Good, then here is the problem. We have an old housing block that we want to renovate and refit for new tenants, but the old tenants are proving somewhat ... tenacious. Your job is to go to Downtown, and remove any civilians from the Lennon Davies Block on Hereford Street. Any questions?"
She will answer a few questions as tersely as possible, before ushering the Squad out onto the street (and having Security do the job for her if they make any complaint). What she may add to her rather brief briefing (if explicitly asked) is the following: -
After answering a few questions, she will make it quite clear that the Squad should leave (by calling Big Steve from security if need be) and then ignore them, getting back to her work.
After their unsuccessful negotiation attempt, Bills & Moon decided to call it a day, and can be found at their respective homes, licking their wounds, and nursing their pride. They can easily be found by consulting an Information Directory, and can give out the following information: -
At this point, the players will either be thinking that this is a simple ‘go in, get the bad guys, and come out’ kind of deal, or, if they have been doing their homework, they will have realised that it is much more than that. They are going to have to deal with a drug-crazed, hyped-up gang of killers, and a hostage situation to boot.
Depending on what they have done up until now, they may get a big surprise to find the large Shiver presence blocking off the road around the Lennon Davies Block. Sergeant Cooper is in charge of the situation, and will accost the players, asking if they are the Squad who is going to clean up this mess. The players may or may not be slightly agog.
Sergeant Cooper can fill them in an the few sketchy details he has about the situation; he’s mainly been busy keeping people back, and making sure that nobody gets out of the building. Here is what he knows: -
The building itself is about thirty stories high, and a block wide. The corridors, as stated before, are very narrow, painted in a grubby grey paint, and littered with refuse, graffiti and basically in a mess (think of the housing block that Bruce Willis lived in, in The Fifth Element).
Each of the actual living quarters is just one room (again, think The Fifth Element), with a bed that folds up to the wall (rather than the nifty sliding one in the movie), a fridge, a TV and a few basic amenities. Showers and toilets are shared affairs at the end of each hallway. The stairwells are likewise narrow, and twist up right to the top of the building, with a door on each level (painted with a big red number - where it isn’t covered by the graffiti, anyway). Like stairwells all over the multiverse, these ones smell of urine. The lifts do not work, but the shafts have ladders going up and down that could be used to traverse the levels.
The power is off in the building, so no lights work, and the lifts are stuck at random floors. The air conditioning is also not working, and the heat and stuffiness should be slowly built up during this encounter. There should be darkness, horrible smells, claustrophobic areas, and sounds reverberating through the otherwise silent structure. Work this up.
Although they may be thinking the worst, it is actually very easy to get in. The steps out front lead up to the main doors that are hanging open, swinging slightly in the rain. The lobby is unguarded, and there are no Black Dans on any of the lower floors. They want prey (they’re all quite flipped out on a weird cocktail of drugs - this will be explained later).
Round the back is a similar story. The back door, although closed, is unguarded, and the Ops will merely have to clamber over four years of accumulated uncollected rubbish bags to get in. Alternatively, they can take the fire escape to enter through a window on an upper level. Or airlift in on a hovercraft. Or abseil down the side and crash through into a bedroom. Or just walk away (it’s feasible!).
The point is they should get in really, really easily. They should be really nervous by this point, expecting the walls to fall down, and the Black Dans to rush them and slaughter them in cold blood. But it ain’t gonna happen. Yet.
The general building layout has already been described, but there are a few areas and events that need to be elaborated on. These may be used in any order, or even left out (except the final showdown with Marcus, which must be used, and should be last).
Let the Squad search a few corridors and rooms, heightening tension, and revealing nothing. When they have started to come down off of their initial high (i.e., when they start saying "We’ll search the room like we have the last eighteen," instead of going into excruciatingly accurate detail about how they search each room), hit them with the first Dan.
He should take them by surprise. He will wait round a corner, in a room, up some stairs, wherever they happen to be, and leap at them, screaming, and waving a large knife. With a bit of a struggle (see Over-Dosed Black Dan stats in the appendix), the Squad should take the Dan down, and then try to figure out how he got so strong.
He is wearing normal civilian clothing (no armour), with a black, sash-type belt around his waist. Apart from the knife, and a wallet (his real name is Wally Hardcock), and a few other personal items (a watch, comb, condoms, etc.), he is carrying nothing. On his arm are tracks that suggest a drug habit, and indeed, at the spot where he was hiding are four empty drug injectors. The first three contained Kick Start Plus. The third is unknown to anyone in the Squad, but is labelled ‘Ruthenium’.
The only other clue that the body contains is its bloatedness. In fact, as the Squad watch, the corpse’s muscles swell up to a terrifying degree, until the skin splits, and the dead Dan ruptures, sending gore all over the corridor.
To all you GM’s, this will be explained very soon.
The Ops hear someone running towards them, crying and screaming. Whatever they do, a woman runs into view, tears streaming down her face as she tries to find a way out of the building. If the players aren’t hiding, she screams again, and tries to run away from the Squad. Otherwise, she runs straight past.
A few moments later, two Dans heave into view, chasing the woman. Treat this like the previous encounter, except use Normal Black Dan stats. They have the usual tracks on their arms, and carry case containing full drug injectors (Kick Start Plus and ‘Ruthenium’, as before).
If the woman is caught, calmed down and promised rescue, then she will give information to the players. What information she gives is up to individual GMs, and how hard he wishes to make the BPN for his players. She could give details about the Dans’ numbers, the layout of the hostage room, or she could just be hysterical (more likely) and be unable to be of any use whatsoever.
As the Ops search, they will encounter more and more of the Dans. They will be Normal, unless you want them to go out in a blaze of glory (and they have time to prepare), in which case, use Over-Dosed Dans. Keep them coming, and turn the BPN into a bit of a blood-fest. At least until: -
This used to be a meeting room of some kind. There are no windows in the room, and two doors. The main, double doors lead into the room from the corridor (the most probably entrance for the Ops, unless they want to knock a wall down), and the other leads into a washroom, with a janitor’s closet in there as well.
In the corridor outside the room will be two Dans, who are currently Normal, but will Over-Dose if given the chance. Inside the room are a further two Dans, who will behave similarly. Also, if any trouble is heard outside, they will begin slaughtering innocent civilians. The civilians, however, will panic, and spill out into the corridor in an attempt to escape, causing havoc, minus ‘to-hit’ modifiers, and slight distraction to ebb-users (jostling, screaming, what-have-you).
It should be noted that the Ops should feel no compunction about killing these civilians, as they are, technically, residents who have not yet left the building. And thus they are allowed - and I quote - "to use any force necessary to ensure the block is emptied as quickly as possible". Go on, let them have fun!
Throw in a couple of other Dans if you like (they heard the noise and came looking). Ham it up, make it seem that they’ve dealt with the main problem. Don’t even mention Marcus. Let it be a big surprise.
After the big fight, let the players think that the problem is dealt with. Sure, there may be one or two Dans left wandering about, but they can easily be dealt with, right? The Ops should carry on with their search of the building, mopping up any stray gang members, and dealing with them as they can. Then let them stumble across the Spider’s Lair.
In a Penthouse apartment, Marcus has made his mark. The walls are daubed with graffiti, the statuary has been urinated on, the tapestries and paintings have been used as toilet paper, and the vases have been smashed. And there, at the back of the room, on a huge bed sunk into the floor, covered with silk sheets and cushions, is sprawled Marcus himself. After years of drug taking, and hardening himself to the rigours of what the stuff can do to a body, Marcus has become a ‘Frother Plus’. With access to more than the usual street drugs, he has mastered the art of drug taking, and with the aid of the new, experimental drug ‘Ruthenium’, he is almost invincible.
But of course, the players don’t know any of this yet ...
When they enter, Marcus launches himself from the bed, and screams across the room at them, crossing the distance in a blink of an eye. Wearing only a silk kimono and a pair of boxers, he proceeds to beat the Ops mercilessly, tearing at armour, ripping delicate body parts, and taking the worst punishment they can dish. (See Marcus’ stats in appendix)
They will probably not be able to kill him as it is, but will have to be imaginative in their combat. Maybe throwing him out the window, like Moon did before? Maybe leading him to the basement, and tricking him into entering the trash compactor? A flame-thrower or similar could be quite useful (or just make Marcus mad - and now on fire). Use your imagination, as well as the players, but always keep in mind (and always remind the players) about the ‘No Collateral Damage’ clause of the BPN.
Now, players being players (and ops being Ops), they are probably wondering how the hell unarmoured and lightly armed opponents, not to mention Marcus (who was using his bare hands) can possibly be a threat to highly trained and well-equipped Operatives. And I suppose you as GM are wondering the same thing as well...
So here is the full plot.
Marcus has a contact in a certain department in SLA Industries’ Karma Division. This contact works in a lab that is currently prototyping a certain combat drug that, when taken by an ordinary human, simulates the effects of Nuke Tendon Implants, and allows other drugs to be ‘tagged’, to allow slow release during the battle. And this contact has been supplying Marcus and the Dans with this drug for a while now.
The specific effects of this drug are: -
Tagging | Other drugs (notably healing drugs such as Kick Start and all it’s cousins) can be taken at the same time. Up to three doses of secondary drugs may be tagged, and these drugs are then released during a battle by a subconscious command from the user. What this means is that a person can effectively get the advantages of any three drugs, at any stage in a fight, without actually having to take the drug. Mostly, the Black Dans use Kick Start Plus as their tagged drugs.
Physical Boosters | The drug simulates the effect of certain Nuke Tendon Implants, giving the user a bit of an edge in combat. The specific effects are 3 extra phases per round, user need not make PHYS or COOL rolls, damage is cut by 75%, STR + 3, DEX +1, PHYS +4.
Armour | The main effect of the drug bestows the user with a hardened, chitinous layer, and slightly calcified internal organs, muscles and bones. The net effect is as though the user is wearing armour with the following characteristics: -
PV Head Torso Arms Legs
8 15 35 25 28
There are no disadvantages to this armour (such as reduced DEX), as this has been taken into account by the enhanced physical characteristics given by the drug.
These effects last for anything between five and ten minutes. The duration increases proportionately to the bulk of the user, so the fatter someone is, the longer it lasts (the drug uses the built-up energy stored within body fat – it could probably also be used as a very effective slimming drug, if it weren’t so deadly).
The drug, being in it’s experimental stage, is far from perfect, and is incredibly easy to Over-Dose on, which will result in the death of the junky. Hence the trail of the ruptured corpses the team have left all over Lennon Davies. Overdosing on the drug allows the user to use tagged drugs constantly and indefinitely (meaning that Kick Start Plus will take effect each round!). Bonuses to their Physical characteristics are doubled, as are the armour details. However, ten rounds after Over-Dosing, the user will die from massive haemorrhaging, with their muscles rupturing the skin and internal organs.
It is also incredibly addictive, and any Operative who takes even a single dose deserves everything he gets. Addiction: -10 PHYS per dose. 5 doses/day. Detox Effects: -3 from STR, DEX and PHYS permanently.
Mz Sorenden will once more arrange to meet the Ops after the Lennon Davies building has been cleared. Once more, she will make them stand, and once more, no tea and biscuits will be forthcoming. She will give a tight smile if everything has gone well (which, in her eyes, means that there was no major structural damage - she couldn’t give a toss about civilian deaths (in fact, civilian deaths tend to help the Department of Housing (less people to house), so she may even be happier the more deaths there have been)). She happily hands over the creds/signs the SCL increase forms, and whatever. She has no knowledge (or desire for knowledge) about the gang, drugs, deaths or any of the details of the BPN. She just (once more) wants the Ops out of her office.
And that’s that. The Ops go back out onto the street, with a few more credits and a bit of an SCL increase.
But just maybe (if I ever get around to writing it), they may be called upon by SLA Industries to track down the source of the mysterious Ruthenium, and put a stop to it.
Use Civilian Stats, p. 136, Karma Sourcebook.
STR: 7
DEX: 7
DIA: 5
CONC: 6
CHA: 4
COOL: 7
PHYS: 7
HITS: 14
Skills:
Unarmed combat: 5
Blade 1H: 4
Running: 4
Climbing: 4
Detect: 5
Streetwise: 6
Tracking: 3
Intimidation: 4
Survival: 3
Disadvantages: Drug Addict - Ruthenium, Kick Start Plus: 14
Agoraphobia - 6
Delusion - Marcus is God, Black Dans are immortal: 12
Only armed with MAC Knife, or some other hand-to-hand weapon, at your discretion.
STR: 10
DEX: 8
DIA: 5
CONC: 6
CHA: 4
COOL: 7
PHYS: 13
HITS: 23
Skills:
Unarmed combat: 5
Blade 1H: 4
Running: 4
Climbing: 4
Detect: 5
Streetwise: 6
Tracking: 3
Intimidation: 4
Survival: 3
Disadvantages: Drug Addict - Ruthenium, Kick Start Plus: 14
Agoraphobia - 6
Delusion - Marcus is God, Black Dans are immortal: 12
The Dan has PV 8 armour, with these ID values: Head - 15; Torso - 35; Arms - 25; Legs - 28. Only armed with MAC Knife, or some other hand-to-hand weapon, at your discretion. Only suffers 25% of any damage received.
STR: 13
DEX: 9
DIA: 5
CONC: 6
CHA: 4
COOL: 7
PHYS: 20
HITS: 33
Skills:
Unarmed combat: 5
Blade 1H: 4
Running: 4
Climbing: 4
Detect: 5
Streetwise: 6
Tracking: 3
Intimidation: 4
Survival: 3
Disadvantages: Drug Addict - Ruthenium, Kick Start Plus: 14
Agoraphobia - 6
Delusion - Marcus is God, Black Dans are immortal: 12
The Dan has PV 16 armour, with these ID values: Head - 30; Torso - 70; Arms - 50; Legs - 56. Only armed with MAC Knife, or some other hand-to-hand weapon, at your discretion. Only suffers 25% of any damage received.
STR: 14
DEX: 11
DIA: 6
CONC: 7
CHA: 6
COOL: 10
PHYS: 25
HITS: 40
Skills:
Unarmed combat: 8
Blade 1H: 8
Running: 5
Climbing: 4
Detect: 6
Streetwise: 7
Tracking: 5
Intimidation: 8
Survival: 3
Disadvantages: Drug Addict - Ruthenium, Kick Start Plus, loads of other drugs - 45
Agoraphobia - 16
Delusion - Marcus is God, Black Dans are immortal - 30
Marcus has PV 16 armour, with these ID values: Head - 60; Torso - 140; Arms - 100; Legs - 112. He only suffers 25% of any damage received, and every other phase will heal one point of damage. He is unaffected by wounds, PHYS rolls or COOL rolls.
To all intents and purposes, he is immortal (at least to any weapons the players may have on them at the time). Bullets may slow him down (hails of automatic fire may even knock him over), but he will eventually reach you, and start ripping off limbs.
He will be dead by this time tomorrow, no matter what happens, having massively overdosed on Ruthenium.