A low-level yellow BPN, this is a retrieval mission with a difference. Originally written for a Nightfall competition, this BPN involves a trip into downtown to locate a missing Shiver. However, all is not what it seems.

Intro

This Yellow BPN is a low level BPN to locate and capture a missing employee. Most of the action is set in DownTown near to the Perimeter Wall. None of the encounters should be too hostile to the Operatives, although if they are disrespectful to the DownTown inhabitants they could find themselves in trouble. Brief ideas are given throughout on how to expand the different scenes for a longer lasting BPN. The surrounding location of this BPN is set:

#1: The BPN

The BPN should be gained by the Operatives either through their financier or through a BPN hall. There is minimal information on the card as Karma are trying to keep things quiet. The details are as followed:

Colour Designation: Yellow (Retrieval)
Minimum SCL: 9
Training Package Recommended: Any
Consolidated Pay: 100c per Operative
Contact: Sgt. T Childs, Shriven Complex, Karma
Coverage: Station Analysis
Details:Operatives wanted for retrieval of company property. Bonus if equipment returned undamaged within 24 hours. Current location believed to be in DownTown near to Perimeter Wall.

The Operatives will have little trouble getting through to Sergeant Tom Childs SCL 7C. He is practically waiting for their call at the Shriven Complex, having stayed after his normal shift to make sure that the operation is carried out. If the Operatives ask for any more information about the BPN he will state that it would be best if they travel over to the Shriven Complex and meet him. The complex is located in Suburbia Sector 591 near to the Perimeter Wall. The only thing he may let slip is that the BPN is a man-hunt, but he won't discuss anymore details over the phone. He will however ask them to hurry.

If the Operatives have their own transport they will be able to drive straight over to the Complex, otherwise they will have to take the subway (5 credits each for a 60 minute journey) or a Blue Taxi (35 credits for a five person taxi, taking only 45 minutes).

#2: The Shriven Complex

The Shriven Complex is a walled off compound in the middle of a residential area of Suburbia. With four different buildings and its own car park and helicopter pad, the Complex covers a mile square block. The wall is patrolled by Karma sponsored Shivers, wearing deep purple uniforms and carrying Fen 204 Gunheads and Pacifier Batons. There are also several dog handlers with modified DACs patrolling inside the perimeter wall. The Operatives will be let inside following receipt of their BPN and a quick SCL card check. They will be issued security passes for the Complex which have an orange circle on them. The buildings themselves look quite old, made out of red brick with narrow arching windows. Each storey is about four metres high and several chimneys rise out of the back two buildings. The entranceways have small pillars holding an extended roof section up as well as allowing some respite for the Shivers standing under them. There are cameras all around the complex guarding the buildings and the moderately expensive vehicles in the car park. The visitors entrance is clearly marked.

Inside the main entrance is a small reception area, with several receptionists taking it in turn to answer calls or deal with new arrivals. After again checking the BPN details and the SCL cards of the Operatives they will be asked to sign in to the building security log whilst the receptionist contacts Sergeant Childs. He will arrive promptly, introducing himself before leading them quickly into the complex. Just through the first door is a room that they are required to leave all of their weapons and equipment in. The two Shivers armed with cut-down Fen ARs and wearing PP8 armour will look after them until their return.

After travelling through several corridors, descending several flights of stairs beneath the ground and passing through several doors which require Sgt. Childs' Indigo security pass, the Operatives will find themselves in a meeting room with a large table, numerous chairs and a video projection system. Contrary to the outside of the building everything inside the complex looks brand new. Most of the walls are in light pastel colours and everything is clean. There is minimal sound here, just a slight hum in the background. Once the Operatives are sitting down Tom will begin the introduction.

#3: The Briefing

Sgt. Childs can not give much more information than he has already. The homing chip will just let them know where he is down to the nearest half mile, so the Operatives will have to hunt for him when they arrive. He is believed to be armed with a Fen 204 with four clips of standard ammo and one clip of Hollow Point. His armour is Body Blocker although modified to resist Hotline. His Pacifier Baton is an Immobiliser variant which has an added Jolt facility acting in a similar way to a Jolt Glove. Sgt. Childs will provide transport to the Perimeter Wall and will have a squad with transport wait for them there.

If asked why Private Darey counts as Company Property, Childs will state that as he hasn't completed the terms of his employment, the implants still belong to Karma. Once all of the questions have been asked Childs will lead them back to their equipment and to a waiting APC which will drive them to the Perimeter Wall. Besides the Driver are three other Karma Shivers, one of them sporting a black eye. If asked, he is Private MacKendrick who hopes very much that they return Private Darey...

#4: The Perimeter

The journey to the Perimeter will be uneventful. If the Operatives need to stop off and buy anything, or swap credits for UNIs they will have plenty of time to do so. The Navamap was completed in 898SD and so only gives the rough layout for the area they are interested in. There is a subway system that skirts the outside of the area from the Perimeter Wall. The sector seems to have little of interest in it, no identified restaurants, bars, nightclubs or shops. The only building marked is a Hospital, marked as abandoned. On arrival at the Perimeter and following receipt of their SCL cards and BPN the Operatives will be allowed to pass through the Wall. The Wall Shivers will ask for the estimated time of return, informing them that 72 hours after this time a missing person's report will be issued.

As they make it through the Wall they will be hit by the unmistakable smell of DownTown. Fumes and strange, unidentifiable odours glide over the wasteland area between the Wall and the first few buildings. Queuing up to get in is a large crowd of people hoping to be allowed in to Suburbia. Above them on the Wall are Shivers armed with Fen ARs and wearing PP8 armour staring down at them. Meanwhile the queue does not even seem to be moving. The subway system is pointed out by an old sign, which has a bullet hole in it and a rust coloured stain running down the length of the pole. As they head towards the subway entrance a group of street beggars, small children and sellers will accost them, asking for money or offering them anything they want. The subway steps go down a long way, lit by flickering lights that pop and frazzle from the rain seeping in to them.

The subway is covered in age old grime and refuse. Several people lie asleep or dead across the platform ignoring the trains that arrive every fifteen minutes. The ticket machine dispenses 15 UNI tickets which will get them to their destination. At this time of day the trains and the stations are empty and so there is nothing to interrupt their journey to Sector 28-19.

#5: DownTown Sector 28-19

The majority of the buildings are old brick tower blocks, rising to an average of ten storeys. Ground level here is at the third floor, with the bottom three floors originally for shops, bars and general services for the community. The original idea was that the service industry would be hidden away, and the main streets would be clear for transport. However, due to numerous years of neglect, the bottom three levels are mainly abandoned and full of rubbish. Some parts are kept clear to specific clubs, bars and shops, but nowadays few travel among the bottom levels. At ground level the once nice streets are also covered in rubbish, although there is a little bit more room to move around. Street lights flicker occasionally and road signs still give directions to the non-existent traffic. This early in the morning there is hardly anyone on the street, DownTown doesn't awaken until after midday.

The Operatives should spend most of the afternoon wandering around the streets trying to work out what they are going to do. There will be a few cafes and shops open where they could try showing photos of Private Darey, but they will have no luck. Most of the shops are just small newsagents or off-licences, offering dirt cheap goods at dirt cheap prices. The cafes tend to be plastic molded places, with menus that promise a lot but offer little. This early in the day the Operatives will be lucky, with few people trying to con them out of money. However, if they come across as very naive then some store keepers may offer them false information in return for some UNIs. Almost everyone will peg them as Operatives if they are acting this blatantly. The Operatives will soon realise, whilst trudging through the endless rain, that they need to talk to people who know the area better than they do. In short they are best off waiting until the bars open and then they can try contacting any local gangs.

After 6pm, as the streets start getting dark and the streets start to fill with people most of the bars will open. As the night-life starts to filter out and about, the Operatives should try going to the local bars. Most of the bars are on the ground level, offering watered down drinks and little else. These will start filling with DownTowners who are either factory workers or unemployed. Most know little of their surroundings, but one or two will realise that the Operatives may have money to throw around and so fabricate seeing a Shiver running through the streets. However, they will describe the normal Shiver outfit and times will be wrong.

Operatives with Streetwise or a DownTown background will know that the bars that are hidden amongst the service levels tend to be the ones used as gang hideouts. These are likely to provide more useful clues as to the whereabouts of Private Darey. If the Operatives start searching these they will have more luck, however they will have to contend with the homeless, drug pushers and prostitutes who also inhabit these levels. It will only be a matter of time before the Operatives either find a gang contact or are instead found by one.

#6: The Santeria Boys

The local gang in this area is known as the Santeria Boys. They claim to be Johannas although anyone with a moderate Streetwise, or a Johannas background will identify them as an affiliate or 'Hunger' gang. Living on the outskirts of Johannas' territory these hunger-gangs fight amongst themselves trying to become more powerful. After a while the strongest are welcomed into the Johannas, whereas the weak tend to be killed by their rivals. To ensure that the gangs' violence does not get out of control, the Johannas send BoneShakers to watch over them. Each BoneShaker, often a feral Ebon or BrainWaster, will have several hunger-gangs to look over, playing them off against each other to establish the strongest. In their eagerness to please the BoneShaker, the hunger-gangs will often share their spoils with them or offer information about what is going on in their territory. This helps to keep the Johannas informed as to events that are happening.

The Santeria Boys are an up and coming hunger-gang whose success lies at the feet of their leader Narcisse Santeria and his second in command Boto. Both are experienced gangers and have lived in the area for some time. They will be informed by friends of the gang if Operatives are hanging around the sector and they will be curious to know why. Narcisse will probably let Boto deal with the Operatives, preferring to remain unseen, unless the Operatives are offering lots of money around for information.

The Operatives will have to persuade either Boto or one of the normal gang members that it is in their interest to help them find the Shiver. This may not be an easy task, but offers of UNIs (half payable in advance) or threats of large Shiver patrols in the area trying to find him will probably work. Boto will send word out through the street for any information that could help them, although it will be about 9pm before he is likely to hear anything back. The Operatives are welcome to stay at the bar, or continue their search.

#7: Private Darey's day

So far today has not been the best day for Private Vernon Darey. In fact as worse days go Vernon rates this in his top five, right up their with peeing himself in public aged ten and being caught masturbating by his mother aged sixteen. Normally assigned to internal security at the Shriven Complex, he was undertaking the routine checks of labs and testing rooms when in the records room he knocked a file over. As he was picking up the scattered papers several things caught his eye. The file described in detail how the basic Stormer gene-code could be modified to create human looking variants. This included severe DNA re-combination as well as an intensive chemotherapy programme during the creations first few years.

However all of the science was too involved for Vernon, what caught his eye was a little note that summarised the file, showing a picture of a Stormer and a human and a big arrow going from one to the other. Underneath it was some scribbled notes and a symbol. The notes said, "Human Stormers? Have to be careful where we'd use them, don't want Cloak finding out. Operatives would be discovered, perhaps use as Shivers. Use memory programming to give fake past and even they wouldn't know the difference. Definitely cheaper than growing unique Nuke implants for all our workers." Underneath was a simplified picture of a human with wings and light coming from around his head, followed by a question mark. Vernon knew the symbol, he ended up with a very similar one on his arm following the surgery to implant his Nuke Tendons. Vernon put two and two together and suddenly came out with the reason his life had always felt so hollow up to this point. Not knowing what to do he panicked, grabbed his gear and ran. Next thing he knew he was in DownTown.

After grabbing a subway train in the early hours of the morning, Vernon got out at a random station. Realising that he was still in his uniform and stood out like a sore thumb he headed to the lower street levels to hide. Coming across a cyber-tramp asking for money he drew his Pacifier baton and knocked the poor guy out. He then changed outfits with him and moved deeper under ground. Waiting until it got dark, Vernon spent most of the day trying to work out what he should do. He kicked himself for not grabbing the file when he left as that would have given him more clues as to what he might be. Falling back on his training he knew that people would be out looking for him and that he would need to look less conspicuous until he had a plan of what to do. With little money on him he decided he would sell two of the standard clips of ammo for his Fen 204. Travelling through the under streets of the sector, with his armour hidden away in a safe place, he eventually found a street dealer who offered him 1,000 UNIs for the 80 rounds of 10mm STD. With that he bought some food, water and a CAF pistol along with some ammo. He then went back to where his armour was.

Knowing that his armour was too suspicious, but that he would need protection on the streets he decided that as evening started he would try to find a pawn broker and trade his armour for something else. Although not used to dealing with street people, Vernon soon found that by offering cash he could quickly find what he wanted. At the pawn brokers he sold his armour for 5,000 UNIs, buying a Flak Jacket and 2 doses of Kick Start. Pocketing the remaining 4,000 UNIs he bought some more food and then went back under the main streets again. He is hoping that he can find somewhere safe to sleep the night and that tomorrow he can work out what he is going to do.

#8: Tracking down Vernon

With the gangs help the Operatives should have several leads to help them find Vernon. The order that the Operatives look in to each lead is up to them, but they will have to act fast to get their bonus payment. There should also be several leads that are nothing to do with Vernon. Whether these are just unfortunate coincidences or the gang getting the Operatives to sort out some of their problems as well is up to the GM. Don't forget that each lead will cost the Operatives money, especially if they need the gangs help to find the locations in question.

The tramp that was accosted by Vernon woke up to find himself almost naked with a purple jumpsuit lying over him. Seeing the words Shiver on the uniform he has decided that it has become his duty to help clean up the under-street area. Using a piece of wood as a pacifier baton and a bin lid as a shield he has started patrolling the streets, forcing other tramps to hand over their drinks and possessions as fines for their behaviour towards him. Located near to where the Operatives left the subway, the tramp is very drunk and won't be able to give much assistance to the Operatives at all. However if they leave him too long he might try arresting the wrong person, who will teach this wannabe Shiver a lesson.

Several kids report seeing a man wearing tramp clothes, but with shiny boots offering around UNIs to people that could point him in the direction of a street dealer. Their description of the man matches Vernon, although these incidences were in the early afternoon. If the Operatives ask around enough they will find one kid who will say that he lead the man to a street dealer called Tasker. They will lead the Operatives to him as well, for a price.

Tasker is a young street smart dealer who will smell trouble as soon as the Operatives are in his vicinity. Fast and wiry he will run away as quickly as he can, eager to conceal the fact he has several illegal drugs in his possession. He knows the area well, including several underground tunnels and sewers that aren't on the Operatives Navamap. When caught his memory of Vernon can easily be refreshed by a few UNIs. he will show the scar around his neck where Vernon grabbed him, although when the Operatives enquire further they will find that Tasker tried pulling a gun on Vernon. Vernon 'moving faster than I could see, man' grabbed him by the throat and removed the gun before resuming business. He then bought the gun off Tasker as well. He paid in 10mm shells that Tasker has since traded for street drugs.

A shopkeeper at the far end of the sector remembers a tramp coming in asking if there was a pawn shop nearby. The shopkeeper remembers the man because he dressed and smelt like a tramp, and yet looked clean cut and well shaved. He was also throwing around UNIs to get the information. The shopkeeper directed him towards a pawn shop in the lower section of town called, 'Al's trade in store'.

#9: Al's Trade in Store

Known by most of the inhabitants of DownTown 28-19, Al's trade in store is the only pawn shop in the area. Claiming to trade in any legal goods, the proprietor Al has his chubby fingers in a lot of pies throughout the sector and likes to keep informed as to events that are happening. His store is at ground level although it reaches into the sub-levels below. Al has made sure that building is quite secure and so there are only a few ways in or out. Most of his shop is an overgrown collection of second hand goods and electrical parts. Most of them seem to be enhancements for teevees and microwaves, although some items only Al knows what they are for. Al also has a collection of CAF weapons, with a faded notice above them saying that he is a licensed dealer for Consolidated Arms Fabrication.

Al has an armoured booth in the store where the more expensive goods are kept. More often or not Al is behind the booth, normally seen cleaning his Bully Boy shotgun with Alien Sex Channel on in the background. Barely contained by his clothing, Al shows off his success in the form of gold coloured rings over all of his fingers. He also has a gold tooth in his mouth which can be seen every time he is leering at someone. As added protection for his store Al has a couple of Props that he pays for. Only one will be present when the Operatives arrive, a short wiry looking man dressed in a trench coat with a goblin mask concealing his identity. One hand will be nervously holding on to a rolled up cigarette whilst the other fast draws a gun from a side holster repeatedly. He will recognise the Operatives for who they are, moving closer to Al when they arrive.

Either by persuading Al or they threatening him the Operatives will be able to find out about Vernon selling his armour and buying a replacement as well as some KickStart about an hour ago. If asked Al will claim that he has already sold the armour, but Operatives with a high Detect may make it out behind Al in his little booth. Al will spend most of the time trying to get rid of them from his shop and will be panicky if they come behind his counter. Stored here is a collection of DarkNight automatics and sla-drugs as well as his safe. Just as the Operatives are tying up things with Al the second Prop will arrive back. He has a hockey mask over his face and is wearing a damaged Body Blocker armour. He carries a Chain Axe and has a battered KK20 on one arm. Not recognising the Operatives to start with, he will blurt out, 'I found where that Shiver's sleeping boss, oh sorry, I didn't see you had company.'

#10: Chasing Vernon

Hockey-Mask will be able to lead the Operatives to where he last saw Vernon. Al had told him to follow Vernon after he visited the shop as Al guessed he had more belongings than just those he sold. He was going to lock up the store and then head over to Vernon with Goblin and Hockey-mask to offer to buy more goods. If Vernon had said no, Hockey-Mask and Goblin would have just taken everything by force. With the Operatives on the scene, Al doesn't want to do anything that could cause him trouble, so for the meantime he will co-operate. Especially if the Operatives have money to throw around. Hockey-Mask obviously knows where he is going as he leads the Operatives through the sub-levels. Most of the streets here are deserted and lit by flickering lights attached to the underside of the ground level above.

Walking along these streets is like walking through a wide tunnel, or through an empty car park with no windows to the outside. All around vast piles of rubbish fill the street, blocking the broken down doorways into what where once shops and houses. Now they are just skeletal architecture that supports the buildings and roads above them. Every now and then an oil-drum full of burning rubbish provides warmth and light for the tramps, pimps, prostitutes, hustlers and outcasts who live down here. All around the noises from the streets above filter down mixed with the noises of wild dogs and other creatures who are scavenging amongst the rubbish here. Hockey-Mask will stop the Operatives, saying that Vernon was just around the next corner last time he saw him, huddling in amongst the rubbish to keep warm and to hide himself from view. He will draw his Chain Axe and continue on his way.

At the far end of the street is an oil-drum fire, with a few tramps, but otherwise the street appears to be empty. The rubbish at the sides is piled very deep and the Operatives will have to move lots of it aside whilst they search for Vernon. they will also need to check in the basements of the buildings that the rubbish has been stored against to find him. As they make their way down the street those with a high Detect will notice that one of the tramps around the fire will keep looking their way. As they get nearer to the tramps one of them will make a run for it.

Vernon realised he was being watched earlier on and so has been waiting for others to turn up. Buying some tramps some alcohol he has been waiting amongst them by their oil-drum fire until he was discovered. He has already established a route to get back on to the streets above, which involves going in to one of the nearby buildings and sprinting up the three storeys of steps until he comes out at ground level. From here he is in an alleyway where he can either head out on to the street and try and loose himself amongst everyone else, head deeper in the network of alley ways here, or head up the fire escape on to the roof.

He truly believes that he is fighting for his life and that the Operatives have been sent to kill him for what he now knows. He is especially wary around Ebons and Brain Wasters, who may find that he is quite skilled with his Fen 204 given a chance. As per their BPN orders the Operatives will have to capture him un-damaged, or at least heal any wounds that they cause. When captured he will plead with them to let him go. He will tell them all about what he discovered and why he ran away. He will show his arm tattoo of an angel and talk about Project Seraph that he had found out about. He will talk about human looking Stormers and how anyone could be one without even knowing. He will then break down hysterically that he doesn't know what he is going to do now. That's when the Operatives find that they have been surrounded.

#11: The End of the Line

At the end, when the Operatives have captured Vernon a group of eight figures will appear from the shadows. Dressed in dark coats and wide brimmed hats they will move towards the Operatives. Underneath the coats is the unmistakable outline of heavy armour. All of them are armed with large sized automatic pistols of a type that most Operatives won't recognize. Besides his gun, one of them is holding out an SCL card towards the Operatives. It identifies him as Dark Finder Michaels, Cloak Division, SCL 5A. He will state to the Operatives that Private Darey is now under their jurisdiction. Darey will start panicking, trying to escape, especially when one of the Dark Finders places his gun in a shoulder holster, revealing the Seraph tattoo that Darey has, on the breast of his CrackShot armour.

The Dark Finders will answer few of the Operatives enquiries as they lead Darey to an unmarked black APC. As far as they are concerned the Operatives BPN is completed. If they push the issue, Dark Finder Michaels will pull out a cell phone and hand it over to the Operatives. On the other end is Sgt. Childs who will confirm that their payment plus bonus will be paid to them before being cut off. If the Operatives did not pick up Vernon's armour of jump suit they will see them briefly in the back of the APC as the Dark Finders load Vernon aboard. They will also take any of Vernon's equipment that the Operatives may have been holding on to. As quickly as they arrived they will be gone. The Operatives are then left to make their own way home, their payment is already in their accounts.

#12: The Loose Ends: (or continuing the story)

The Shivers at the gate have already been recalled back to the Shriven Complex. Any attempts to contact Sgt. Childs will be to no avail. Reception will state that is currently unavailable. After a week they will state that he no longer works there. Additionally they have no records of a Private MacKendrick ever working there. The Shriven Complex, as far as the official line goes, is just a research and development facility, looking at the future possibilities of Karma implants.

If the Operatives try to search for references to Project Seraph they will find little. There are over a dozen different project summaries as well as a group of files which have SCL lock-outs on them. None of them refer to Stormers in any way. Some of the projects have initialisation dates from many centuries before and are implied that the projects are still on going.

As to how the Dark Finders followed them in DownTown, Cloak has infiltrated the Shriven Complex. The two guards that looked after the Operatives equipment whilst they were being briefed placed tiny transmitters on their equipment. Their normal life span is only one month, but depending on the Operatives other activities, longer duration versions may have been used. Only an Operative who is actually looking for them is likely to find them, or one who regularly maintains his equipment to a high standard.