Wanted: Well presented Squad required for high profile 24 hour media campaign. Good combat record and Shaktar squad Member essential. Bonus credits, extra SCL and Sponsorship deals available on successful completion. Only the best may apply. Contact B. Riley on voice mail 01784 29875 9376
[TKj8369-056754]
| Colour Code: | Silver |
| SCL: | 9 |
| Contact Dept of: | 3rd EYE NEWS |
| Training Package Required: | ANY COMBAT |
| Observed by: | 3rd Eye News |
| Consolidation Bonus Scheme: | 400c Per Op |
The Squad will receive a phone call telling them to be at the Imperial Hotel at precisely half past ten the next morning . They are to be dressed in their very best clothes and under no influence of drugs or drink. If they are unable to attire in suitable clothing a loan can be acquired from 3rd Eye at competitive interest rates so proper clothing can be bought. The Shaktar would be strongly advised to wear ceremonial garb. They are to enter the establishment and order themselves a meal, but no alcoholic beverages. The bill is being paid by 3rd eye News so they do not need to worry about credits. They are to enjoy their meal, don’t upset the cliental and await further instruction.
The squad should note the following:
This should hopefully give rise to suspicions of what they have let themselves in for. On the other hand the squad may believe they are so arrogant, self-centred that they believe they have finally received the recognition they deserve.
The hotel, on arrival, is luxurious to the extreme, their 1000c suits look shabby and out of place. They are obviously low-paid, uneducated buffoons. Anyone wearing worse than 1000c (except Shaktars in ceremonial garb) are turned away from the door, the BPN a failure unless they can very quickly purchase one of these suits. Evaluate opponent will show the floor staff are highly trained in martial arts, their uniforms can easily conceal numerous small and deadly weaponry. They make THE ROYAL Staff in the PIT look hopelessly amateurish.
After going through the ceremony of entering the hotel and been escorted to their tables they will be offered menus, none of which include prices. "If sir asks the price then Sir cannot afford it." As soon as the waiter has completed his task he will melt into the background until called upon. Wraith Raider scouts could learn a lot here.
Everything is done to perfection, the size and height of tables to accommodate larger guests, to the preparation, presentation and quantity of food served. As the team are just finishing their meals, waiters will silently place another table and set of chairs beside their own, a human wearing a very expensive suit will be approached them. He is Bill Riley, SCL 4B (or the minimum a clear 2 SCL above everyone else), he is also one of Third Eyes top production members who has personally supervised and designed some of 3rd Eyes most popular programs. He will order a small drink and will acknowledge the squad’s existence, ask them if they had a good meal. Evaluate Opponent at difficulty 25 will show he is highly stressed, otherwise he will seem perfectly calm and composed. He will go on to talk, after sizing them up with his own evaluate opponent skill, about how successful the Squad will be on the successful completion of the BPN, how they will become household names, how the entire population of Mort and even the whole of SLA Industries will shortly be watching them. He will not tell them what the actual assignment is, any questions on the subject will be answered with a firm "later". Any further pressure to tell will result in Bill telling them the BPN is off. They will lose SCL as required. After the brief chat about the extreme stardom they are soon to receive, he will have an announcement to make.
"The very nature of this operation demands we have the a small dedicated self-sufficient squad without any outside connections or aid throughout the assignment. As such your squad will need a skilled and trusted camera operator to record your accomplishment. Allow me to introduce you to your new team member for the duration operation, Harmony."
As he finishes a figure can be seen guided to their tables, it is a female Wraith Raider who’s best description is very cute/beautiful and cuddly. Evaluate opponent should reveal she is physically weak, her moves more that of dancer than that of a trained killer. Any Wraith Raiders in the group will instantly hate her and wish her dead. If they fail cool roll of difficulty 6 they will instantly try and harm her. It is well known all Wraith Raider children are killed if they do not reach the high mental and physical standards set by their race. In essence she should not exist, she is ‘unnatural’.
If Harmony is attacked by another Wraith Raider, that Wraith Raider will be immediately tackled by several waiters who seemingly appeared out of no where (Hide Skill 10 (with bonus +1), their uniform helps them greatly to blend into the decor of the building). Wrestled to the ground (remember there are highly trained waiters who would make excellent operatives. They are here to serve and protect their customers). Bill Riley will tell the now incapacitated WraithRaider(s) any further attacks on Harmony will be seen as traitorous to SLA Industries and will warrant their immediate execution. The Wraith Raider should come to the conclusion it is better to pretend Harmony does not exist (after all how could she?) making her life as miserable as they indirectly can. Then at the first opportunity kill Harmony without anyone watching or able to conclusively lay the blame on them. On whole Wraith Raiders will not get themselves unnecessarily killed or placed in danger when their aim can be completed in a less dangerous fashion (else why would they become snipers rather than Kick Murder?).
There are two other important things to notice about Harmony. She wears a Shaktar Friendship Braid and an icon on her armour that resembles a Glyph. The braid is that given by a house rather then that of an individual. Effectively giving her citizenship to that house and the Shaktar Race. Thus any Shaktar would treat her as a sister and protect from unprovoked and malicious attacks (i.e. make sure no Wraith Raider, squad member or otherwise, attacks her for what she is). The icon on her body-blocker armour is designed similar to a glyph and should be recognised as an Ebon’s signature by any of the Ebon, marking their ownership on items adorned by it. (p.s. she can speak read and write perfect Shaktarian, fluently)
Once everyone has settled down the group will be called to join another group in a private room. Riley will tell them to say and do absolutely nothing. It is here they will discover what they are meant to do. They will be ushered in front of a noble looking Shaktar. She is surrounded by an entourage of Shaktar bodyguards and retainers. Big Hard retainers, all wearing ceremonial garb. They are bodyguard elite. The Lady Shaktar will addressee them. The squad, including Riley and Harmony, are told they have been selected for a very special event. "The World of Progressed has been a beacon of hope to the populace of the universe as it struggles from the abyss created by the Conflict Wars. The inhabitants of all the worlds have forged a new understanding between races creating a largely war free universe where large scale conflicted is limited to only a handful of planets. The Shaktar people which to help cement this growing unity amongst the people by allowing outsiders to partake in one of our greatest events. The Shaktar race prides itself in evolving and developing throughout its history and we feel great pride that other races can be welcomed in the protection and perfecting of our culture. I now place into your care one of hour most sacred objects. A marriage has been arranged between myself and the Shaktar you know as Deth, Head of Security of the nightclub known as The Pit. I ask you to guard my Dowry to Deth and his House before the ceremony tomorrow. From what I have heard I hold great faith in you." One of the guards steps forward holding a small box and hands it to Riley before moving back into his original place. Riley accepts it with much bowing, scraping and ceremony. "Now you must excuse me for I have spent too much time here already. Mr Riley will tell you all you need to know."
With that she leaves the room escorted out by her people leaving the squad, Harmony and Riley and the box alone. Riley will now turn to the squad. "You won’t believe the things I had to promise and do to get this contract and by the powers you will succeed or you will have to pay dear! This box contains the dowry, it is not to be opened, damaged, drop or stained. It is to remain the hands of the squad at all times. Any disrespect to it and you will die after a very, very long time, I will insure that. I don’t need to tell the Shaktars in the squad this, it is for the rest of you. There is a lot of ceremony behind all this and I am not going to break it, though I must admit I don’t understand it all. Now it has been ordered this box will be high profile and you all we be seen holding it, proving the unity of the populace of the world of progress. The advancement society has made in morality and understanding. Not only that but you must also prove you are perfect specimens of the World of Progress, both mentally, spiritually and physically. In the next twenty four hours you are too demonstrate these abilities to the highest degree. Oh, Deth is not allowed to see this box, it is meant to be a bad omen should he do so we cannot go to the Pit. We are also not going to hide elsewhere. We must be visible throughout the Mort and create good entertainment and enlightenment for the people on TV. You must look good. The images will not be broadcast live, that is asking for too much trouble but it will be recorded and used in the special programme devoted to the marriage shortly after the handing over of the dowry. Don’t screw up. You have 1 hours to make sure you are properly prepared. Then we will begin"
The team now have 24 hours to impress the people of Mort with their skill and keep the box safe. This is where the fun happens. Don’t have Thresher or Dark Night come into it, don’t place them into a situation where they must fail else the consequences would be too horrible to imagine. First allow them to start completing their BPN, maybe par-taking in Blood Sports at The Arena to prove their strength. Go to Central Park for some meditation to show spirituality (first doping Frothers and Wraith Raiders up to their eyeballs with Flip, Beat or whatever to keep them calm and controllable for the duration. The squad resident Shaktar could lead the meditation/ceremony.) Riley will be continually reminding them this is their BPN, he is merely an observer and is not allowed to help the squad in any way. After all they are the perfect specimens of the WOP and don’t need his help. However they are here to look good and become high profile, he has not risked his entire career and comfortable life to allow this pathetic squad to ruin everything. If they need any encouragement, or ask too many questions, he will pull out his SCL 4B card and give a order, even pulling out his custom FEN 091 and threatening to blow their balls off if necessary. At the moment their main concern is too look good and keep the box undamaged as it is mandatory passed round the team. They are also forced to tour the city to gain the greatest publicity and screen shots. Proving the wide spread beneficial Shaktar influence on SLA Industries and the constructive influence of SLA Industries has had on the Shaktar society.
Character of Bill Riley: Bill Riley has fought his way up the ladder within 3rd Eye News, his experience in the highly competitive, backstabbing and dangerous world of the media world has made him almost immune from the horrors of World of Progress. He has done more than his fair share of betrayals and deal making to get to where he is now. The player characters are just more fresh meat for the grinder, they can’t scare him because he has seen far worse and far more scary things living in Downtown and the cannibal sectors. He will do whatever is necessary, fair or foul, to insure the success of his current venture.
Riley will do everything in his power for this mission to succeed, and he won’t trust the characters to do it. Thus he will tread on the characters toes, getting in their way, cramping their style making sure it is ‘done right’ always saying things like "don’t worry our computer graphic guys will fill that in, make it look good. You are lucky you have me or you would be nothing." He will never apologise, "I suppose I should apologise", "If you were right I would say sorry" etc. Have him annoy your characters. In a fight have him shoot the opposition in a close-combat fight just before the player kills the enemy "He almost had you son, good job I took him out. In the final cut it will look like you killed him with a thrust to the eye." Yet the characters will not be able to do anything about it he outranks them heavily in SCL. Also he is a very scary guy, for example:
Still not impressed?
2) Riley will get annoyed/bored, so have him shoot a well liked and famous contract killer at point blank range in a public place (maybe under license with a rival producer). If the locals protest have him order the player characters to deal with the crowd and then the resulting Dispersal Shivers. He will pull out a pre-signed/authorised death warrant and fill in the details. Any enquires into the death warrant serial number will be met with a D-Notice. No questions will be asked, and if someone does with enough authority he can pull out enough dirt on the subject (real or made up) to prove him a traitor to SLA Industries.
Riley will bribe, blackmail, intimidate, torture, seduce, trick and push anybody to insure the success of this venture, this includes the players who he will hate as he now depends on them for his own success. He is very good at it to, the players will be surprised what he knows of their histories, all their dark secrets and fears.
Character of Harmony. She certainly gives the impression of the ‘blond bimbo’ but no one can deny her natural skill with the camera and anything regarding the visual arts. Her skill is quickly becoming legendary within the right circles. If anyone bothers to find out, Harmony is the adopted daughter of a highly respected Necanthrope Halo. Nobody knows how, why or exactly when Halo adopted Harmony as a newborn kit, but she did. Halo is devoted to Harmony and is doing everything in her power to insure the successful life and upbringing of her Daughter. She is also committed to SLA Industries and Dark Lament (which is most likely why Teeth has allowed this eccentricity to continue) and has not allowed her Daughter to come in front of her work. Confronted with two great responsibilities Halo required a ‘nanny’ to insure the correct up brining of her child as she worked, and she would only take the best. She decided Shaktars were the greatest role model, her daughter unable to take up the mantel of Ebon ability. She took her to a Shaktar House she had worked with before and requested their aid. In respect and acknowledgement of her abilities it was agreed to bring up the child as best they could.
Under Shaktar tutorage and Halo’s special ‘counselling’ Harmony grew up the ‘perfect’ child understanding and using the Shaktarian system for family values and honour. So impressed were the Shaktars with her outlook they gave her ‘citizenship’ for their house. However Halo was scared that strenuous exercise like hunting and exploring may seriously injure or kill her treasured daughter and forbade any activity that might result in this. As such the Shaktars were forced into concentrating on her ‘artistic’ abilities with a great lack in advancing her physical traits. She had a very sheltered life. As Harmony reached maturity it was time for her to join SLA Industries just like her Mother and become a productive member as a SLA Operative.
Halo was horrified when she discovered her daughter was almost killed in training at Meny (if it was not for the quick acting of two Shaktars she would have) it is rumoured Teeth himself had to intervene to prevent her retaliating against everyone involved (i.e. EVERYONE apart from maybe the Shaktar contingent). It was discussed and finally agreed to transfer Harmony into something more suiting her abilities and talents than that of a protector. She was transferred into the Media Package training. Mother also realised there are many horrors on Mort that could scare, or dare we say it, create psychological disorders. To prevent this happening Halo ‘programmed’ Harmonies mind to treat everything that would scare her as a harmless dream, thus would not create any lasting damage. As a result Harmony will automatically successfully pass and cool check. But this had the adverse affect of her not running away from situations that may harm her as she is never scared. How has she survived her year as a reporter on Mort? Here are some ideas, use one or more:
You now have some major players and the game is going along. The squad will be doing their best to look good, Riley saying they look great when they do and absolutely ridicule all their mistakes. He will answer no questions apart from to order them to get on with the job. Once they have gathered a few brownie points and about two thirds into the allotted time spring your trap. If however you believe your players have role-played well and got into enough trouble trying to prove themselves skip the next bit and go to the aftermath.
If they are taking stupid risks to look good on TV, attack them with a street gang. If they are playing things carefully have a enforcer shiver issue the squad with a Red BPN, Riley will not stop the BPN as he believes it would look good on TV, he has already contacted base and discovered the Red BPN relates to a small disturbance between a family feud in Upper Downtown, the squad should easily deal with it. Also to prevent the RED BPN from happening Riley will have to pull rank, which would bring unnecessary and unwanted attention to the squad. He would not allow this.
Two things could happen:
2) The receive a RED BPN as above to go to a fight. What looks like a small fight slowly gets bigger as more of the gangs join in the fight. Riley orders them to pacify the gangs. As things grow more intensive Riley will order the box be handed to himself. "Just concentrate on killing them, you are wasting enough time already!" After the squad has finished cleaning up, or about to, they will see Riley shot, badly wounded/dead with someone quickly disappearing around a corner. Chasing they will arrive at a dead end with a manhole cover not closed properly. The chase is on down the sewers.
Here are a few things they may happen:
Either way the players should get the box back intact though they may need to clean it. They will take it back to the restaurant in time for the ceremony. They will be guests, kept out of the back and moved on during the very religious bits. They will see their efforts (heavily edited and computer-graphically enhanced) broadcast on 3rd eye news prime-time. A job well done?
They may get the sponsorship and media bonus they deserve from this BPN, but also regarding:
Bill Riley:
Harmony:
Good things about having Harmony as part of the team:
Bad things about having Harmony as part of the Team:
How the squad will know if they are doing things Mother does not like:
Shaktars
Wraithraiders
If they really screw up!