Neon light bleeds across the wet asphalt of the alleyway, reflecting in the puddles like shattered glass. A high pitched whine cuts through the ambient hum of the city, originating from a quad-rotor drone struggling to maintain altitude above a crumpled body.
Drone Controller
Keep the light off me, you oversized toaster! If that sensor suite glitches again, I am scrapping your chassis for parts.
Tsuko yawuji
Three targets confirmed. Two are already down, and the rigger is panicked, trying to jump-start the getaway speeder. My cybernetic lenses map the structural weak points of the brick wall shielding his escape. I could terminate the rigger now, but the drone is broadcasting an encrypted signal directly to a corporate server. If I shoot, the data stream remains intact. If I hack it, I risk triggering a silent alarm.
Drone Controller
Tsuko, you shadow-stinking ghost! I know you are in here! Come out and let us settle this before my backup arrives!
The rigger pulls a heavy pulse-pistol, leveling it at the dark corner where Tsuko yawuji stands hidden.
+ Scene Quest Added
Neutralize the rigger and secure the data
“Shoot him in the knee”
SUCCESS (Superb Firearms, rolled -1)
Tsuko yawuji steps from the gloom, his movement a blurred arc of lethal efficiency. A single suppressed shot rings out, sharp and discordant against the rain.
Drone Controller
Aaaargh!
The rigger collapses instantly as his kneecap shatters, the pulse-pistol clattering against the wet concrete. His momentum carries him down into a shallow puddle, and the drone above his head begins to spiral, its stabilizing gyros shrieking as it loses its encrypted connection.
Tsuko yawuji
The kinetic impact was clean. He is down and leaking, but the drone is drifting toward the storm drain. If it hits the water, the circuitry will fry and the data will be lost forever. I need to move before the secondary backup arrives, or decide if that intel is worth the risk of manual retrieval in this downpour.
Quest Complete
Neutralize the rigger and secure the data