(14) VANDALISM ON A YACHT "There is only one reason why yachts are so popular with the corporates - because they are a completely useless vehicle. They say - look at me! I've got so much money that I can even throw it away on something absolutely pointless!" - Red Square. The Morphia sits in the water six miles out from the Virginian coast. It looks like any large luxury yacht, but is on no pleasure cruise. Although there are eleven people on the boat, there are only three people aboard who know anything about the sea. They are the captain, "Jonah", the first mate, "Trish", and the first mate's husband, "Eddie". Jonah, a bearded African American, is a fine sailor when he can stay off the Dryad. He is currently off the Dryad because Trish threw it all over the side last night. If Jonah finds out who did it, there will be real trouble. As it is, he's just exceedingly irritable. He is ST 12, DX 11, IQ 13, HT 11, Spd 5.5, Dodge 5, Parry (Hand) 8, Parry (knife) 4, thrust 1d-1, swing 1d+2. Among his skills are Boating -15, Navigation - 14, Seamanship -15, Shiphandling -14. If it comes to a fight, he has Brawl -13, Guns (Rifle) -14, Knife -13, a large knife and a CY or HT= M1 Garand .30-06 / CW= Sauvage 7mm "Boucanier" rifle / LC= Maraha Karma 6mm carbine. However, he will not fight if he is offered the chance to surrender. The main ships computer can be found in Jonah's cabin. As mentioned above, it is a CY or HT= mini-computer, CW= EGM Pharaoh 100 (Ramses) minicomputer, LC= I.B.M. Manhattan mini-computer. There is some low-level ICE on the machine. It has Password -14 and a Bluff -13 that pretends to be an Alarm -13. All ship's systems are controlled from here. Trish, who happens to be impressively ugly, is ST 11, DX 12, IQ 12, HT 11, Spd 5.5, Dodge 5, Parry 8, thrust 1d-1, swing 1d+1. Among her skills are Boating -14, Navigation -12, Seamanship -13 and Shiphandling -13. Although she has Guns (Machine pistol or S.M.G.) -11, Judo -13, and a CY or HT= 10mm Machine Pistol (Damno Hardcase so Acc-4) / CW= Ingram MAC-21 9mm submachine gun / Orion Rata 4mm cased submachinegun, she has no great wish to die and will willingly surrender unless Eddie is killed. If Eddie is killed, she will go bezerk. Eddie is tall, dark and retarded. He has ST 14, DX 10, IQ 7, HT 12, Spd 5.5, Dodge 5, Parry 8, thrust 1d, swing 2d. Among his skills are Boating -7, Navigation -6 and Seamanship -9. He also has Brawling -13 and if attacked (even with a firearm), will attack back with his fists for 1d-2 damage. He is smart enough to wait behind a door in order to ambush someone, but that's as smart as he gets. He is not allowed to carry a gun. All three, even Eddie, know that they work for Christopher Sarracen, although they usually get their orders via Retiarius, whom they have met face to face. They take delivery of kidnap victims whom Dr. Shirinovski them reprograms as interesting characters for Sarracen's simsenses. They are not aware that the prisoners are killed in the course of production. Dr. Alice Shirinovski * is the most important person on the boat. She will not fight. The closest she will get to resistance is trying to hide herself and trying to hide data on her person. Her laboratory is where the P.C.s can find the target of the operation - the CY or HT= microframe / CW= NATComp MDPS-90 microframe / LC= Apollo Hawkins microframe. Its ICE defenses include a Codewall -12 and an Alarm -12. If the alarm goes off, Shirinovski will shut off the power - crude, but effective. Of course, if the players are simply hitting it with a lead pipe, neither the ICE software nor toggling the power switch is going to do a whole lot of good. If a hacker takes a look around inside the machine, they will find three things of note. One is a Complexity 1 database on Nazi concentration camps. One is a database of less than Complexity 1 on the personal history of John Smith (made up, of course, since John Smith has no personal history!). The last is a Complexity 1 database detailing the technical aspects of Dr. Shirinovski's work in Neuro-surgery. It is rather dense material and only someone with at least Physician -10 can tell that it involves memory replacement. The P.C.s might get the bright idea of trying to sell her work. Its not a bad idea. Her research work isn't brilliant, but neither is it useless. If they try to sell it in the open, then Melbourne University will claim ownership of it, and the law will back them up. If they try to sell it on the black market, they might get anything up to $20,000 for it. However, they had better keep their wits about them and get good advice, because if a potential buyer can convince them that the data is worth only $2,000, then that's what they will offer! If questioned, she will confirm that though she once had an academic career as a psychologist, she now works for Sarracen, reprogramming kidnap victims to be interesting and convincing characters for his simsenses. She does know that they will be killed horribly, but will try to hide this fact from the characters if she can. However, this is not the only thing that she will hide if she can. The most important thing that she knows is that John Smith is the real Sarracen, whereas the person who thinks he's Sarracen is some bum from the street who is to take the fall at the hands of the F.B.I. while her employer walks free. In a cell off to one side of Shirinovski's office is someone who believes that he is called Issac Goldstein. He is shaved bald and is dressed in rags. Thanks to Shirinovski's efforts, he believes himself to be a Jewish prisoner in a Nazi prisoner of war camp in 1943 awaiting torture. The details of this pseudo-life are hazy. He doesn't know what the camp is called or the names of anyone else there. He knows that he has a wife called Judith, but can recall nothing about her. He is incapable of acknowledging that there is anything strange about these gaps in his knowledge. Issac is terrified of everyone. He will not fight, but will try to run away if given the chance. "Security" on the boat is provided by six members of a gang known as The Goldenboys *. Apart from the fact that one of The Goldenboys is a girl, they are pretty much exactly alike. They wear black shirts and trousers, but have dyed long straight blonde hair and have golden contacts permanently affixed to their eyeballs. Their new employer has armed them with CY or HT= 10mm Machine Pistols (Damno Hardcase so Acc - 4) / CW= Ingram MAC-21 9mm submachine guns / LC= Orion Rata 4mm cased sub-machine guns. The fact that they now have machine pistols / sub- machine guns makes them very happy. They feel very dangerous and absolutely invincible. They are not invincible, but on the other hand, any fool with a fully automatic weapon is dangerous. Consider each of them to have ST 11, DX 11, IQ 9, HT 10, Spd 5.25, Dodge 5, Parry 8, thrust 1d-1, swing 1d+1, Brawling -12 and Guns (M.Ptl or Lt. Auto as appropriate) -10. They will certainly fight until at least two of them have been incapacitated. After that, they will surrender if the option is offered to them by the P.C.s. Their names are Ballarat, Cargo, Lion, Punchy, Tongboy, and Zero. Ballarat is the female. The leader of the Goldenboys, Zac, is not present, and neither is the bulk of the gang. If questioned, all they know is that they were given their employment by a guy called Retiarius to guard the boat while Shirinovski does special work on different people who get brought aboard - the latest of whom is a guy called Issac. They have never seen Retiarius face to face - their contact has been Trish. There are many ways in which the P.C.s could take on this mission. The simplest would be to keep The Skimfish out of sight from the yacht, then scuba underneath and make a hole in the bottom of the boat. However, this will be difficult as The Morphia has a DR of 5 and requires 188 points of damage below the water line before a breach is achieved. Moreover, it is unlikely that any of the P.C.s has Scuba skill and Gallagher will refuse point blank to go. Otherwise, there is probably going to be some personal violence - although if the P.C.s can work out a plausible way of achieving their end without violence, then that's fine too. There will be two Goldenboys "on watch" on the deck at any given time. Cargo and Tongboy are the lucky two at the time the P.C.s arrive. The pair will not be paying any attention whatsoever, but on the other hand, can hardly fail to notice a speedboat roaring up to The Morphia in broad daylight. If the P.C.s do roar up to The Morphia to parley, Cargo and Tongboy will try to get rid of them without showing them their (illegal) weapons. Any greetings or requests for information that the P.C.s give will be met with jeers, obscenities, and thrown bottles. If the P.C.s continue to bother them, Cargo will eventually raise his firearm and release a burst a bullets above the heads of the P.C.s. If the characters still persist, or lift guns in return, both Goldenboys will open fire in earnest. If the P.C.s can think of a plausible way to sneak up on the watch and get them both out of the way quietly (i.e., without firing an audible shot of having the gangers fire either), then it is possible that they will manage to sneak their way right into Dr. Shirinovski's lab without alerting anyone else. Of course, smashing up computers tends to be pretty noisy and its hard to smuggle out a 400 lb microframe, but so it goes. Taking hostages will work up to a point. However, it will not work if the hostage is a Goldenboy (no-one cares), nor will having a hostage deter Goldenboys (too crazy). If shots are fired (or if a lot of noise is made for some other reason), everyone save Dr. Shirinovski and Issac Goldstein will try to defend the boat. The Goldenboys will run out in the open, spraying bullets joyfully. Jonah and Trish will take whatever cover is available, aim and snipe. Eddie will hide behind a doorway and try to thump the first person who comes through. If, somehow, the P.C.s have gained sufficient firepower, they may be able to BLOW a hole in The Morphia from a distance. Given the DR and damage requirements just mentioned, this will not be easy. Even with APEx, a gyroc round is unlikely to work and will certainly attract attention! On the other hand, if the characters have a grenade launcher and shaped charge grenades, or even some heavier military tech, things will be considerably easier. Don't blame me if your players breeze through this mission with a big bang - you let the P.C.s get their hands on army toys. Eventually, one of four things will have happened. 1. The P.C.s are dead. 2. The P.C.s tried and succeeded. 3. The P.C.s tried and failed. 4. The P.C.s, having got talking to the crew of The Morphia, smell something rotten and don't want to go on with the mission without more info. If 1 has happened, the adventure is over. If 2 or 3 have happened, they probably want to get back into contact with Retiarius. If so, go to (15) Recontacting Retiarius. If 4 has occurred, they either want to run away from the whole damn thing, in which case the adventure is over, or they want to get back into contact with Retiarius - in which case, go to (15) Recontacting Retiarius. [In Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0., Jonah is INT 8, REF 7, CL 6, MA 7, BODY 7. He has Pilot (Yacht) +8, Brawling +4, Melee +4, S.M.G. +5. He has a knife and a Fed. Arms Tech Assault II submachine gun. He is a synthcoke addict. Trish is INT 8, REF 8, CL 8, MA 8, BODY 7. She has Pilot (Yacht) +6, Martial Arts (Judo) +6, and Submachinegun +2. She has a Fed. Arms Tech Assault II submachine gun. Eddie is INT 3, REF 6, CL 5, MA 6, BODY 10. He has Pilot (Yacht) +1 and Brawling +6. He is unarmed. The Goldenboys are each INT 5, REF 7, CL 4, MA 7, BODY 7. They each have Brawling +4 and Submachinegun +2. They each have a Fed. Arms Tech Assault II submachine gun. I don't know what the computers are, but Dr. Shirinovski's work is worth up to 7,500 eb.] [In Shadowrun, Trish is an Orc and Eddie is a Troll. Jonah has Body 4, Quickness 4, Strength 4, Charisma 3, Intelligence 5, Willpower 2, Essence 6, Reaction 3. He has Sailboat 6, Armed Combat 3, Firearms 4 and Unarmed Combat 3. He has a knife and a Remington Roomsweeper shotgun. He is addicted to crack. Trish has Body 7, Quickness 4, Strength 6, Charisma 1, Intelligence 3, Willpower 3, Essence 6, Reaction 3. As an Ork, she has low-light vision. She has Sailboat 4, Firearms 2 and Unarmed Combat 2. She is armed with an Sandler TMP submachine gun. Eddie is Body 9 (10), Quickness 2, Strength 10, Charisma 1, Intelligence 1, Willpower 1, Essence 6, Reaction 1. As a Troll, he has Thermal Vision, +1 Reach, and +1 Dermal Armour. He has Sailboat 1 and Unarmed Combat 4. He is unarmed. The Goldenboys each have Body 3, Quickness 4, Strength 4, Charisma 3, Intelligence 2, Willpower 2, Essence 5.5, Reaction 3. They have Firearms 2 and Unarmed Combat 3. They are armed with Sandler TMP submachineguns. I have no idea what the computers are, but Dr. Shirinovski's work is worth up to 20,000 Y.] (15) RECONTACTING RETIARIUS "And another damn thing. You can never find a netrunner when you need one. And even if you find him, you don't know where he is" - Lludd There are two ways in which the P.C.s are likely to try to recontact Retiarius - announced and unannounced. That is, they may try to telephone his apartment, or they might just turn up. If they telephone Retiarius after having tried, successfully or not, to destroy the computer, and have left the ship and returned to shore within the last hour, Retiarius will tell them to come over immediately. He sounds worried, but won't talk - he is very busy. If the P.C.s go there, go to (16) A Mess at Retiarius' Place. If it has been an hour or more since the P.C.s succeeded in destroying the computer, or if it has been an hour or more since they left the ship, Retiarius' line will be dead. If the P.C.s go to Retiarius' place, still go to (16) A Mess at Retiarius' Place, but be aware that the action will be over, and everyone will have left. If the P.C.s have destroyed the computer, and then spend 20 minutes aboard the ship, Mr Sarracen will attempt to telephone to find out why his computer has alerted him that it can no longer access the system. He will be horrified at what has occurred. If he is told that Retiarius ordered the attack, he will offer the P.C.s the promised reward for smashing the system plus 25% if they kill Retiarius, who Sarracen accuses of turning against him. Sarracen also gives them a telephone number where he may be contacted directly. Whether they agree or refuse, if the P.C.s go to Retiarius' place, go to (16) A Mess at Retiarius' Place. If they contact the police with Sarracen's telephone number, go to (Appendix) Turning Sarracen In.