Shanghai Shadowrun Part III - The Queen Celeste & The Lucky Coin

    Howdy there folks, this is the 3rd job overall in my Shadowrun campaign, you'll probably want to read both parts I and II, as well as my short article on the first coin of Luck

Locate the Mega-Freighter Queen Celeste. Break into the ship with the Bronze Sharks.

Steal the assigned cargo container. Do not sink the vessel. Avoid casualties.

The PC’s crew has become an important part of Pudong district’s underworld. Having exterminated the Glowing Eyes Circle and taken over the Jumbo Jackpots, they renamed both themselves and the Casino as The Golden Hands. Fixtures in the local scene, the crew have cultivated several notable allies; the tech-nomad tribe known as Godzilla’s Breath, The Red Pillar called Chen Silver Eyes, a White Paper Fan named Lao Long, and the Bronze Sharks. Business has recovered from the collapse it suffered from Sagacious Cho’s murder, and the Golden Hands has risen to a mid-tier establishment with a decent reputation.

Things are looking up, yet there are some issues the Golden Hands haven’t yet solved:

• Golden Toad still wishes to go into business with the Golden Hands and the Great Empire triads. If ignored, he will show up unexpectedly at a serendipitous time.

• Silver Eyes & Long hate one another intensely, and are both trying to find ways to use the crew to destroy their rival.

• Due to calling in some favors, the Golden Hands ended up in debt to the Bronze Sharks.

• Disney’s investigation into the theft of their animatronics is still ongoing. Ms. Delfonse is doggedly chasing down leads. Delafonse may be willing to play ball to nail Wuxing.

• The Spirits unleashed by Wingji’s failed Feng-Shui ritual are still hunting for those responsible for them being trapped on the physical plane. They are going mad. Wingji is also quickly going mad.

The most pressing of these is the debt they owe to the Bronze Sharks. The gang outnumbers the PC’s and their allies by 5:1, and even worse, the Red Dragon will not intercede on their behalf should it come to that. The Sharks cannot handle the Celeste on their own. The pirate gang was given the job by a Johnson calling themselves Rapacious Bao. A Red Dragon fence from the Qingpu district, Bao was hired through several untraceable intermediaries to acquire the first of the Four Coins of Luck for the Great Eastern Dragon Lung, which just happens to be in the hold of the Queen Celeste. To throw off observers, the dragon is stealing from himself; he owns the Queen Celeste. The Bronze Shark’s leader, Toothy Ruogang, is in his pocket.

The Queen Celeste is a mega-freighter in every sense of the term; 300 meters long, 100 meters wide, and 50 meters tall. The ship holds thousands of cargo containers, both on the deck, and inside massive holds. Lung couldn’t help but safeguard the coin and the Celeste with a number of defenses to make the heist appear legitimate. None of those involved know what they’re guarding:

• A squad of the 58^th Battle Brigade. Eight of the mercs are at the entrance to the level above where the coin is being stored, another eight patrol the deck of the ship in squads of two. These folks are incredibly trigger-happy, and have been given a list of allowed personnel.

• Several drones have been assigned to follow the freighter, normally staying far above the vessel. They are controlled by an on-site rigger named Bane Siphandon.

• Shadowrunners Nobira Toshiki & Tatsuda Fuminsho, are embedded as members of the crew. Fuminsho is part of the ship’s deck crew, while Toshiki acts as a navigator’s mate. Toshiki has summoned several Watchers and an Air spirit and set them to patrol the ship’s holds.

• The crew has been ordered to give an all-clear signal every 4 hours. If the signal is not transmitted, a Wuxing Maritime Security Division ship will be sent with a squad of marines to investigate.

• There are cameras at the entrances to the crew quarters, control room, security room, each of the holds, and on the corners of each of the stacks. A pair of crew members monitor the camera feeds, and their alarm system has been tapped into by the Shadowrunners.

Though there is much stacked against them, their new allies in the Bronze Sharks can provide them with a few advantages, and they can avail themselves of their contacts:

• Fickle is a demolitions expert favored by the Sharks. She is more an affiliate than a full member, and she is being paid by the gang for her services for the job. If asked, Fickle can be bribed into helping the party, or convinced to assist in return for a cut of the profits or a personal introduction to Silver Eyes.

• Loud Song would understand the enigma that the Queen Celeste presents, and the potential opportunity and danger therein. She will wish to help the party unravel the mystery, but will not risk the safety of Godzilla’s Breath to do so.

• The Bronze Sharks themselves contribute ten pirates and two vessels to the cause. The pirates are absolutely fanatical during this mission. Toothy Ruogang has spelled it out in no uncertain terms that failure here could result in all of their deaths.

The cargo container is on the 8^th level down in the ship’s holds. The container ID is 429-TJ-951, and the coin is hidden inside of a lead box, stuffed into what appears to be a nondescript bench.

NPCs

58^th Battle Brigader/Wuxing Security Marine

B	A	R	S	C	I	L	W	ESS	Init	IP	CM
3	5	4	3	3	4	3	4	6	8	1	10

Skills: Blades 3, Dodge 3, Intimidation 3, Pistols 3, Automatics 3, Unarmed 3.

Gear: Ceska Black Scorpion, Lined Coat, Knife/Sword.

Nobira Toshiki, Magus of Clouds

B	A	R	S	C	I	L	W	ESS	M	Init	IP	CM
3	3	3	3	3	4	3	4	6	3	7	1	10

Skills: Assensing 3, Astral Combat 3, Pistols 3, Conjuring Group 3, Sorcery Group 3.

Gear: Armor Vest, Fichetti Security 600

Spells: Detect Life, Light, Physical Barrier, Powerbolt, Silence, Stunball

Tatsuda Fuminsho, Yakuza Assassin

B	A	R	S	C	I	L	W	ESS	Init	IP	CM
4	5	5 (6)	4	3	4	3	4	3.8	9 (10)	2	10

Skills: Athletics Group 2, Blades 3, Dodge 4, Firearms Group 5, Infiltration 3, Perception 3, Unarmed Combat 4.

Cyberware: Cybereyes (Flare Compensation), Smartlink, Wired Reflexes I.

Gear: Assault Rifle, Katana, Knife, Full Body Armor.

Bane Siphandon, Drone Operator

B	A	R	S	C	I	L	W	ESS	Init	IP	CM
3	3	3	3	3	5	5	5	2.7	8	1	10

Skills: Cracking Skill Group 4, Electronics Skill Group 3, Gunnery 3, Perception 2, Pilot Aircraft 3, Pilot Ground Craft 3.

Cyberware: Commlink, Datajack, Control Rig, Simrig

Gear: Armor Vest, Fichetti Security 600