Acid rain sizzles against the rusted catwalks of the old aeroponic factory. Below, rows of genetically modified, pale fungi glow with a sickly bioluminescence. High above, Cafari Kaine clings to a vibrating pipe as a figure in a scorched trench coat hurdles a ventilation shaft.
Disavowed Operative
Get back, Kaine. This data is the only thing keeping my ghosts buried.
Cafari Kaine
He is winded, his movements jerky from a failing neural shunt. If I catch him now, the corp hounds will be on us both within the minute.
Disavowed Operative
Stop tracking me. You think you are the hunter, but you are just another glitch in their system waiting to be purged.
The operative kicks a heavy coolant tank, sending it sliding toward the edge of the roof, directly into Cafari Kaine's path. Kaine must decide whether to dodge the metal projectile and lose his target, or attempt a reckless jump to secure the operative before the plummet.
Cafari Kaine
Is the target worth the risk of a broken spine?
+ Scene Quest Added
Secure the Disavowed Operative
“Jump”
FAILURE (Superb Agility, rolled -1)
Kaine lunges, his boots finding only slick, oil-stained steel. Gravity demands its tax. He clips the edge of the tank, his fingers scrabbling against the freezing, rain-slicked hull, but the metal skids past his reach. He tumbles backward, the factory roof receding as he plummets toward the labyrinth of dark machinery below.
Disavowed Operative
You move like a rookie, Kaine. Stay down.
Cafari Kaine
My ribs scream, and the world is spinning far too fast. I need to hook onto something before I hit the fan housing, or I am just another carcass for the scavengers.
The operative leans over the precipice, his face a mask of cold indifference, watching Kaine fall through the stinging, acid-laced rain.
Disavowed Operative
He is resilient. But is he quick enough to save himself from his own ambition?
A structural support beam rushes up to meet Kaine, its jagged, rusted end protruding like a spear.
+ Story Quest Added
Survive the fall
“Grab the beam”
SUCCESS (Superb Agility, rolled +1)
Cafari Kaine
Time slows to a crawl as the rusted steel lunges toward my chest. I don't think. I just snap my fingers outward.
Kaine’s fingers lock onto the jagged, corroded metal with a bone-jarring thud. His momentum carries him around the beam in a tight, kinetic arc. He swings beneath the structure, his boots slamming into the soot-stained siding of the factory wall to absorb the kinetic energy. Above, the coolant tank shatters against the lower catwalks, raining freezing vapor and shrapnel into the abyss.
Cafari Kaine
My shoulder is screaming, but the metal holds. He didn't expect me to survive the drop, and that's exactly where I have him.
The operative stares down from the roof edge, his cybernetic optic flickering with a frantic red light as he realizes Kaine is already hauling himself up toward the service ladder.
Disavowed Operative
This ends now, Kaine.
Quest Complete
Survive the fall
+ Story Quest Added
Climb back to the roof and confront the operative