Campaign

Personnel

Current Squad Five Punk Members

Grimmie Grimbola - Human, Death Squad

Often tired and bored, Grimmie spends most of his time lurking around in Virtual, trying to beat high scores on games most people have never heard of. When he's not immersing himself in mech-simulations and blowing up cities, Grim can be found hanging around with the Five Punks, acting as a standard Rifleman.

Despite having chosen the Death Squad training package, Grim's ambitions lie in becoming a Master Sniper, and owning a gun as large as his leg. During some intense sniper practice at a shooting range Grimmie decided to try a little method acting and daub himself with camouflage face paints. It was only after a two hour stint of staring down a scope did he catch his reflection and see a pink and green face staring back. Grim now has a successful sponsorship deal with "Budget Facepaint Co."

Deject - Wraith Raider, Scout

Is scared of shit and terrified of needles.

Dirk Gently - Ebon, Point

With burgundy hair and turquoise eyes, Dirk is unmistakably an Ebon - though the trench coat and fedora also mark him out to be a self styled gumshoe detective. Being the only member of the squad to have any 'civilised' communication skills (torture tending not to lead to many profitable BPNs), Dirk is often called upon to be the "talker". Despite having Ebon Blast abilities, Dirk prefers to rely on his detective skills when on a job. He also likes to think himself as a bit of a lady's man, though the evidence so far tends not to support this particular belief (still, if at first you don't succeed...).

Spindle Winston - Human, Point

Charismatic American from the deep south, likes to prop bars up and talk to strangers.

Kt'rr - Shaktar

Shaktar gun nut, likes his armour big and red. He is rather shouty, but surprisingly charismatic with it.

Eraser - Stormer, Kick Murder

After Geralds 'reassignment' the team decided they needed a new meatshield, but Frothers were a bit too unstable.

Cigar smoking, chainaxe wielding Stormer, festooned with knives and possibly likes eating body parts of the squads victims a bit too much. Slightly smarter than the squad member he is replacing, so about average for a Stormer really.

After the fight against the chrome warriors, its discovered he has a phobia of sudden bright lights that shocked the team as he made it through the hatch in the top of the lift in under a second when the spotlights went on.

He seems to have paired of well with Kt'rr and they will generally go carrion hunting between BPNs for amusement.

Inactive Squad Five Punk Members

Gerald - Stormer, Kick Murder

The hulking great meatshield of the group, Gerald is a monstrous sight. However, despite his huge size, he is surprisingly nimble and stealthy. He is also quite friendly and good natured, despite what he looks like, although his attempts at friendly gestures and smiles have yet to receive the response he is looking for. He does have a tendency to resort to violence to solve problems, and has difficulty with words like "subdue" and "take alive".

After a recent near death experience due to his usual tactic of running straight at people shouting, he has invested in some shiny new armour. The boost to his strength now means he can theoretically hold aloft two stormers at the same time, but he is most proud of the "Hi! My name is Gerald" sticker adorning his chest.

He also has an eye on a stalk sticking out the back of his head. Don't ask.

Gekijou Sumaniski - Human, Kick Murder

Purveyor of Chain-axe flavoured justice.

Emile Jaegerknack - Human, Sabotage

Has a fear of cutlery, specifically sporks, after an accident with a cutlery drawer and some explosives.

Obituaries

None so far...

Squad Mort Factor Members

5punk ran into Mort Factor whilst looking for the gang who stole all of Dirk's stuff. They got onlike a house on fire.

A House Mephit had been let loose in after being pumped full of UV, and Toast had then set on fire...

Toast - Brain Waster,

Lives in an armoured bus and has a fetish for burning things.

Now very dead....

Mephit O'Tarn - Frother, Strike

A Frother social experient gone wrong. Putting someone born to a frother clan into work as an accountant.

One freak out and office postal incident later, he was inducted into Meny and given access to a large amount of Tranq...

Was last seen doing an impression of a sieve after Grim swiss cheesed him during a minor disagreement...

History

The Five Punk squad was formed in early January 902SD by Operatives Grim Grimbola, Deject, Gerald, and Dirk Gently. The squad all graduated from Meny independently and were thrown together in Slayer's Crib by the infamous financier Crazy Herman. Later, the squad were joined by Gekijou Sumaniski and Emile Jaegerknack.

BPN History

Welcome to Mort - Blue

The squad was formed for this BPN, issued by Crazy Herman. Present were Grim, Deject, Gerald, and Dirk. The mission was to excort a team of three mainenance workers to a faulty pump in the overflow system near the CS2 wall. During the repairs the squad were attacked by around 35 carriens, including a Greater and a Mutant. The carriens were driven off, with Dirk and Gerald taking serious damage but recovering quickly (Dirk by his own healing and Gerald by regenerating). The repairs were completed on time and all maintenance team members returned safely. Gerald's armour, however, did not survive.

Loose Cannon - Yellow

Shocked at being actually approached by the squad, Crazy Herman gives them his best BPN - a mission to retrieve a lost FEN 400 Surekill sniper rifle from Kiestas territory. Herman suggests they pick up a couple of extra members for their squad, as their numbers have been depleted by Gerald 'visiting his mum'. Gek and Emile are introduced. The squad begin a thorough investigation of the squad that lost the weapon, dealing diplomatically with some slippery gang members and making some good character judgements that result in getting some of the suspects do do half of the work for them. The weapon is retrieved, but not before it is aimed at Dirk from point blank range, causing much sweating and defecating.

Ultrasonic Brats - Blue

The last BPN from Crazy Herman. Tasked with discouraging a teenage biker gang from using Suburbia as their playground the Five Punks are placed in a situation they can't shoot their way out of, as these gangers are the teenage offspring of influential SLA employees. The squad do some accurate research (and Dirk hits on the Shiver Leiutenant who issued the BPN) and start off on the right lines. Things soon go awry though as Deject accidentally shoots one of the gang and kills him in front of a crown of onlookers. The whole squad's payment for the BPN bribes their way out of having to take responsibility though and they get back on track with renewed vigour. Trapping the bikers in a mall, the Five Punks force them to fight their way out. The result is one biker taking a running kick to the testicles from Deject, another being felled by a flying leg hold from Gerald, and four of the gang being shot dead. Not ideal, but the firefight was filmed and may prove a step onto the fame ladder, and Dirk got a date. A success then, if not a financial one.

Born to the Overkill - Silver

The squad's first Silver BPN, and also their first BPN from Mr Haynes. Tasked with clearing a downtown apartment building in preperation for an episode of Gorezone, the Five Punks set about with startling speed and efficiency. Various comedy encounters slow the process down though, including Deject and Dirk trying to wrestle a fat bloke, and the squad end the BPN by evacuating the last residents as the various nasties begin swarming in from the sewers below. Unfortunately the last resident was a pregnant woman whose health suffered from being moved during labour. Fortunately Mr haynes was on hand to put the disgruntled Dept of Recreation and Entertainment exec in his place and thus avoid any fines.

Moving Machinery - Red

While washing his smalls, Dirk gets a phone call from Haynes. The squad have been issued a red BPN and need to get to Downtown to bail out a Shiver APC which is under attack from DarkNight. The squad arrive piecemeal as usual, but get the chance to assess the situation a little while Deject scouts ahead and Grim and Gerald ride the bus. They find that DarkNight have attacked and taken a Shiver APC in order to use it to hijack an armoured car containing medical supplies. A group of armed and armoured DN ops are covering their attempts to break into the vehicle, and the squad are a little nervous about attacking them. To make matters worse, Deject spots a sniper in a nearby building and wisely stays in cover. The squad go for a pincer attack, with the close-up fighters Gek and Gerald using the sewers to get to the opposite building to take out the sniper, and Grim and Dirk going around behind the nearest building to come at the group down an alley. All goes fairly well until Grim's big head gets spotted peering around a corner. The enemy are happy to sit back and let Five Punk come to them though, or at least so they think. Unknown to Deject he has been spotted and a couple of DarkNight are heading up the building he's in in a mirror of the move Gek and Gerald are pulling at the other side of the road. Luckily Deject hears the poorly trained Civilian Converts coming and hides in the bathroom of the apartment he's in, mowing them down with his FEN AR as they burst through the door.

Meanwhile, Gek and Gerald have charged towards their sniper only to find he has cover. They clear the distance between them before he has chance to react and, despite planning on taking him alive, variously beat his head in and almost chop his arm off. Gek then learns that DarkNight snipers are quite handy in close combat too as this one carves a zorro Z into Gek's chest before being dispatched by chainaxe.

Still feeling cautious, the squad try to reposition in order to attack from two sides again. Things start moving faster though when the DarkNight engineer blows one of the doors of the armoured car with a bundle of grenades. Deject spectacularly blows the head off one of the guys pinning down Grim and Dirk, causing the other one to bottle it and run. On the success of this, the squad move in. Unfortunately they're a little late. The APC starts to make a getaway and Deject does his best to take down the fleeing DarkNight by hosing them with automatic fire, with some success. He also takes the engineer out as he struggles with the mangled corpse of the passenger from the armoured car. Nobody is close enough to stop the driver starting to make away with the second vehicle though, until Grim gets off a lucky shot as the car turns around to follow tha APC. Dirk follows his example and finishes him off.

At this point the BPN goes a bit downhill. Gerald reaches the armoured car as it rolls to a halt and decides to use it to pursue the fleeing APC. Unfortunately it isn't as fast, and Gerald can't drive. What follows is the world's most destructive car chase as the DarkNight use their APC to barge traffic out of the way, and Gerald veers wildly after them, damaging any vehicles that the enemy missed. The rest of the squad catch up on their bikes, along with a Cloak Division APC. Until Deject falls off his bike while swerving through the remains of the traffic. Luckily for the Five Punks the Cloak squad flag them down and relieve them of the BPN while SCAF units take up the chase for them. Turns out the armoured car shouldn't have been there, and Cloak Division want to know why. Opening the back of the vehicle they find out - 50 Tek Trex drones open fire out of the back. Luckily for them the Cloak guys are well armoured and a quick grenade sorts out the little clockwork shooters. The squad retreat to the pub to discuss the events of the afternoon, slightly confused by the outcome but glad to have been paid.

Suburban Psycho - White

The squad are given a BPN requiring them to investigate the violent deaths of three teenagers in suburbia. Looking through the case files, they find that each has been apparently killed by a powerful blow by a Gash Fist. Immediately suspecting a SLA employee of some kind, they set off with trepidation to investigate the crime scenes. Despite being their first investigation, Deject, Dirk, Grim and (for a little while) Gerald examine the scenes with a fine attention to detail, but find little that the Shivers haven't already found. Frustrated but unpurturbed the squad start interviewing potential witnesses and suspects and the BPN starts taking a downhill slide. Their interviews range from the mundane to the surreal, giving the slightly bemused Ops a fine insight into the mental states of the population but little in the way of actual information. However, Dirk gets another date. At this point the BPN is possibly hampered by the squad repeatedly making jokes about penguins, or possibly by the GM being so drunk he can no longer distinguish narrative from crazy NPC.

Several nights into the BPN Five Punk make a breakthrough though. Taking teamwork to a new level, the three squad members work out how to use Grim's Oyster laptop and start using the information they have to narrow down potential suspects among SLA employees. A few dead end searches later, including a visit to the magnificently named Boris Ronny Bryant, a freelance Op with a drink problem, they have a suspect. Until now the squad have been relatively professional, but after throwing their weight around to gain access to the high SCL suspect's expensive apartment they start to vent their frustrations. While searching for something to justify their potentially illegal intrusion, Grim smashes an expensive antique desk and Dirk finds a frozen fillet steak in his coat pocket. Their ransacking provides them with a timely demonstration of how much more efficient the Shivers are in this part of the city, and the Ops find themselves desperately trying to cover their arses by ringing anyone they know with a higher SCL than themselves. Fortunately for them, their contact is satisfied that they have the right suspect and relieves them of the BPN before any more damage is done. Or so she thought, except Grim has other ideas and decides that shooting their suspect's TV on the way out is just the trade mark they need.

Having completed the BPN without even seeing the suspect, Five Punk learned a few lessons about the conduct of an investigation. They also learned a few things about how SLA bureaucracy works; the suspect was found to be guilty but goes unpunished. After all what's more important to the company, a few kids or a high level executive?

Giving to the Machine - Green

This expeditionary BPN got the squad excited at the prospect of going somewhere exotic, but it turned out it was just into the dangerous and festering depths of Lower Downtown. Tasked with investigating the deaths of several Shivers in the area, Five Punk set off onto the bowels of the city with a useful escort provided by Shiver Sgt Murdoch and his APC. Information is typically sparse at first, but it seems as though a group have been ambushing Shivers who are being called out for minor disturbances. Opinions are varied on the culprits, so the squad hits the streets. Or at least the Shiver canteen. Evidence starts to point towards the culprits being a manchine cult, but other than a description of the cultists the squad have not a lot else to go on. The trail seems to be going cold when a call comes in - there's been another attack and this one has a survivor. The culprits have been driven off after an attack, but they've left one of their victims behind after he fell through a hole in the level. A quick check reveals he has since died of his wounds, so the squad concentrate on trying to follow the attackers instead. Deject manages to find the trail, but after delving deeper than they'd like to into Downtown and encountering some large hostile insects that give Grim a bit of a beating, they decide to turn back. The victim, meanwhile, turns out not to be one of the Shivers at all but a manchine cultist wearing the armour of a previous victim. If any confirmation was needed of the attackers this was it. Without a lot else to do but wait for an opportunity to track them again and wait for the lab reports to come back from the autopsy, the Punks hit the streets again for a while before turning in.

The next day their luck takes a better turn and one of the cultists is spotted shopping for food. They're on the scene quickly and Dirk makes a ham-handed attempt at 'uindercover work'. He spooks the cultist, but slips a tracking bug into his pocket. The cultist bolts at the first opportunity, but between the tracking bug and Deject's skills they follow him several levels deeper than they'd like to back into Lower Downtown. There they find what appears to be the cultists' lair, and some recon work by the surprisingly stealthy Gerald reveals that not only are the squad outnumbered about 5-1, there's also a manchine in there. Feeling distinctly outgunned, the squad decide to try to draw out some of them to thin their numbers. The tactic works, and three cultists wander up to where they are to investigate some noise, only to find themselves floored by a flying Stormer. Their surprise lost, the squad take up position to repel an attack. Half a dozen more respond only to be blasted by Dirk's bomb ability, and the remainder decide to take a defensive stance, so Grim and Dirk kill some time by interrogating one of the cultists that Gerald sat on. Not much information is gathered, so they bite the bullet and attack. Still outnumbered 2-1 and with a manchine facing them, Gerald charges while Dirk, Deject and Grim provide covering fire. Four cultists, described by their peers as being 'enhanced', rush to meet him with vibro-sabres drawn, but by the time they clash all but one has been felled by gunfire. A quick exchange later and Gerald is victorious, but a sabre wound and several gunshots have left him teetering. A couple more bursts and Gerald falls, desperately injecting Kick Start as he hits the ground. With only a couple of minions left the manchine bolts, followed by a less dedicated cultist. The remainder of the squad dispatch the remaining enemy and see to their injured, as Grim has also suffered some injuries from the SMG fire of the upgraded cultists. Everyone breathes a sigh of relief as Dirk stops Gerald's bleeding seconds from death, and the Stormer starts the work of regenerating his broken ribs and various internal injuries.

With the cult dispersed Five Punk find that in this particular part of Lower Downtown they somehow get phone and radio reception, so they call the job in. They are told to secure the area and await reinforcements, who arrive in the form of several heavily armoured Ops and some executives from the Dept of Subversion. The squad have stumbled into something SLA doesn't want to be widely known, and the execs make that clear. They pay the squad off with extra for their camera footage of the enhanced cultists and the live captive, but demand that they kill Sgt Murdoch before he reaches the surface. Murdoch has proved very useful up to this point, and Dirk puts up a persuasive argument to save him. The exec leaves the solution up to the squad, but makes it clear that if information on this matter escapes then Five Punk will share the fate of Murdoch. Dirk talks to the Shiver and, with the squad prepared to take the risk, they give him both a financial and a mortal incentive to 'disappear'. Murdoch takes the hint, but before leaving he takes contact details. After all, you never know when a resourceful ex-Shiver might stumble upon useful information.

Scent of Ebb - Jade

Squad Five Punk approach their first Jade BPN mith a mixture of apprehension and curiosity, having heard variously wild rumours about often spooky happenings during their course. This turns out to be an investigation into the disappearance of an Ebon researcher from Dark Lament, and shows little evidence of being spooky. The missing Ebon, Curis, had left an electronic paper trail that wound its way around the World of Progress, and the squad begin following her footsteps. First off is her apartment. Stripped bare, and with all the furniture smashed up and built into crude wadding in the edges and corners of the bathroom, the apartment is a strange thing to find but ultimately turns up only one clue - an ugly mask, stuffed down the toilet. Gerald is delighted and immediately pushes it onto his face. Anxious to share the experience he tries to plant it on Dirk, but Dirk feels a strange pull from the mask that makes him suspicious of its nature, and he takes the item into safer hands. Maybe this investigation has a little spookiness to it after all.

With no further clues in the apartment, the squad hop on a gauss train to the next step in Curis's journey. They arrive at the apartment of a friend of hers in Orienta. It would seem that Curis came to the city to buy an item found by the friend on the Shifting Bazzar, the mask found in the toilet. Curis had spent some time with her friend researching the item, and despite recieving some paper files from an old professor in Meny seems to have had no success. The squad consider tracking the source of the mask, but a little investigation in the market reveals that this avenue might not only be futile, but as the mask was allegedly recovered from Cannibal Sector 1 may also be fatal.

Following Curis's trail again takes them to the Tas Tuo on Meny - a giant library on the Ebon homeworld. Here, it would seem, Curis came to try to find out more about the mask. Gerald is still convinced that having Dirk put on the mask is the way forward, but the reactions of the Ebon librarians to the mask makes Dirk think he made the right decision. The Ops are directed to a librarian who specialises in ancient Ebon artifacts. The librarian was assisting Curis in her research, and the pair of them believed the mask was some kind of communication device. It would seem Curis had just about given up and was due to return to Mort, when something changed. She postponed her foldship and returned to the Tas Tuo, working alone this time. Her librarian guide noticed her return, and noticed how agitated she seemed. Curis left after a couple more days, and after leaving the spaceport in Mort wasn't seen again. The librarian was concerned at the change in personality though, and followed what she had been researching. It would seem she was concerned about a particular type of Ebb Demon. Nobody has ever proved the existence of these creatures, but it would seem that a Brain Waster claims to have encountered this particular type several hundred years ago. With little left to go on the squad speak to their contact with the suspicion that these creatures are responsible for Curis's disappearance. As luck was have it the contact has heard of the Brain Waster who encountered the demons, and this Brain Waster is now a Necanthrope.

Arriving back in Mort, the squad are met by their contact and the Necanthrope Dour. The mask is taken from them. It would seem that wearing this mask attracts the attention of the dangerous creatures. Dour barely escaped with his life after his encounter, and nobody else has before or since. Dour describes the creatures, and Dirk is glad that he didn't give in to peer pressure. Despite a successful and enlightening end to the BPN, the squad comes away from it feeling uneasy.

Justice For All - White

The squad is issued another White BPN hunting a serial killer. This one has been pretty much spat out of a statistics analysis computer, so their contact is of little to no use. So they get to work on studying the evidence, poring over the facts. It seems that four SLA employees of varying importance have been killed all using the same unusual MO - killed by close range automatic fire from a DarkNight assault rifle, firing SLA manufactured rounds. On three of the bodies some form of evidence has been left, relating to the perverted and violent personal lives of the victims. Theories fly as to the killer, but none quite seem to fit. After some consideration and a few dead ends, the squad follow a lead that takes them to a downtown warehouse where they suspect the victims all committed their own crimes. It turns out this building had been loaned out to a local criminal for reasons not known and not asked, but that this character had been killed as the result of a BPN a week ago. The killer, an Ebon, fits the MO perfectly and the squad head off to confront her. There is some discussion about how to confront her, but Dirk has a gut feeling that this particular killer isn't quite what she seems. They decide on the subtle approach, and the conversation with her quickly reveals that she has no qualms about discussing her crime, as well as the even more horrible crimes her victims had committed. It seems that she has done the world a greater good, but SLA undoubtedly wouldn't see it that way. The squad is divided on how to handle this, but in the end Dirk's strong opinion wins over the apethy of Gerald and Deject, and concerns of Grim, and they go with an alternative plan. With camera crew in tow and the Ebon killer planting all the evidence they need, the squad burst in on a DarkNight weapons dealer that their new contact had discovered on her last BPN. Before he even has chance to fire, Gerald has crossed his living room and shoved him out of the window, much to the delight of the waiting cameras.

So, a hollywood ending to the BPN. But Grim is worried that all the loose ends may not have been tied up, and these ends may spell the squad's end.

Break Jail - Silver

Dirk receives a phone call, not from Haynes but from Lloyd Langley, the reporter from the last BPN. Ahead of time, and from an unusual source, the squad accept a silver BPN. After all, silvers are rare and often mean TV footage, and TV footage means money. The BPN involves escorting an investigative reporter into a potentially corrupt Shiver station. Should the reporter's investigations prove correct the station has been infiltrated by DarkNight, so some heavy assistance is neccessary. The reporter turns out to be quite a firebrand, and the squad react immediately to her highly strung attitude by trying to wind her up further. Even so, they manage to make it to the Shiver station on the edges of Downtown without incident. The reporter proves her worth by quickly bossing her way up to the station commander's office, barely leaving the squad time to keep up as she verbally blasts her way through the precinct. Upon finding the Captain in charge of the station, the reporter lays right in with rapid fire accusations. Tensions rise quickly as the more diplomatic Ops do their best to keep tempers calm, but before anyone gets shot, arrested or violated with their own microphone the lights go dead and the argument is cut short by screaming emanating from elsewhere in the building.

Things change quickly from here. Reacting quickly, the Ops herd their charge and the Shiver captain into a room they can secure. Deject, Grim and Gek continue onwards and downwards towards sounds of gunfire while the rest of the squad continue to secure their protectees. Soon the advanced party encounter the Shiver who were in reception. They've been almost shredded - lacerated by a large bladed weapon. Needless to say, this puts everybody on edge. More gunfire and screams are being heard below, and the Shiver captain informs the squad that the cells are down there. As they are making ready to continue downwards a rush of former prisoners comes charging past, claiming that the Shivers down there are being butchered by a 'thing'. None can be any more descriptive. Soon afterwards about half a dozen panicked looking Shivers come retreating up the stairs to take position in the lobby. Again, the Shivers can't supply much in the way of information other than that they were attacked by some sort of creature. Most of those who saw it are dead. The squad try to glean more information from the Shivers, both alive and dead, but Deject gets impatient and heads off to scout out the basement. Carefully emerging from the stairwell he is greeted by carnage. Half a dozen or so Shivers litter the main chamber in various states of dismemberment. As Deject starts cautiously reconnoitering the corridors containing the holding cells, the rest of the squad make haste to catch up and lend some support. A tense period follows with Deject checking cells, containing variously terrified prisoners or mangled corpses. Moving through the corridors the squad hear a blood-curling scream from where one of the stranger prisoners scuttled off to hide. Assuming he had found the 'monster', they hurry to confront the killer. They find only another corpse though, and not of the victim they expected. At a loss to where the creature has gone, Gerald spots blood dripping from the underside of the flimsy bed. Peering under to see where it is coming from, the Stormer is surprised by a blade emerging seemingly from nowhere so hack a large gash out of his armour. The squad recoils as the sheet of flesh under the bed forms humanoid shape and sprints for the door, hacking at Gerald and leaving him badly injured. The combat is short and brutal. Gerald throws his injured body at the thing, which simply turns rubbery and wriggles away. Most of the squad have hacked away at the creature to little effect by the time it reaches the door, and Dirk hits it with a blast. Not for the first time this draws much unwanted attention and the blade of the creature nearly fells him in one blow. However, a fraction of a second before finishing him off Deject manages to fell it with a twitch-fired burst from his FEN AR. The squad look on at the fallen rogue vevaphon in shock at the speed which it tore through their ranks. Their day brightens considerably though when they find this rogue Op has a bounty on its head. Combined with the media footage and the completion of the BPN, this silver proved very lucrative for Five Punk.

Narcotic Trends - Silver

A BPN is received unannounced by Deject's helmet fax, which proves to be a Silver instigated by Lloyd Langley. The job is to investigate and neutralise the flow of a new, and illegal, designer drug into Uptown. Beginning their trail in the nightclubs of Uptown, the squad meet up with Langley and hit the town. Finding the trail of the drug is anything but difficult, as the users are loud and rich and have no problems telling the Ops all about it. The source in uptown seems to be a wealthy - and famous - socialite, who frequents a very exclusive club. Quickly entering the club by befriending the downtrodden staff found smoking by the back door, Dirk and Gek abandon subtlety and confront this socialite and her crown of air-headed 'beautiful people'. The mere presence of such deeply unfashionable people as armoured Operatives upsets the crowd, and their arrogant stupidity enrages the Ops. Eventually, though, Dirk and Gek find the information they want and leave, but not before Dirk shatter's the entire party's glasses with his Ebb Blast.

Moving on to their first real lead, a publicity agent, the squad again revert to the subtle approach. This man appears to be the link between the source and uptown, and upon paying him a visit he is surprisingly co-operative. He admits that his dealings are on the wrong side of legitimate and he doesn't want to upset SLA, so he spills the beans on the drug operation's deal breaker. As it happens, this fellow lives in an area of Downtown the squad have been before, San Angel sector. They encountered the place in the Loose Cannon BPN, and remember an old contact. Speaking to Samuel Laurenco, the squad come to an arrangement of mutual assistance - Laurenco provides information on the Glacier operation and some men as a distraction, while Five Punk attack the facility. In theory the Ops get a completed BPN and the Kiestas get the remains of the drug operation, keeping the stuff in Downtown.

Scouting out the area reveals the warehouse to be a potentially difficult nut to crack. There aren't many entrances and the information from the Kiestas revealed that there are probably around a dozen armed and armoured soft company hired guns in there. Deject spots a vent on the roof and tries to take the stealthy route, but in his haste sets of an alarm. Even so, the facility doesn't appear to be particularly alerted and after a couple of civilians come out to investigate, returning with seemingly little interest, he decides to go in anyway. Seems the facility staff weren't as docile as he'd hoped though, as poking his AV stalk out through a vent reveals an armoured guard staring back at him. Deject acts quickly, dropping the guard with an awkward burst from his AR, but the game is up and he quickly retreats. With their element of surprise blown the squad decide to call in their Kiesta distraction and make to enter by a side entrance. As they do, a van skids to a halt nearby. Confronted with an ever-growing mob of Kiestas, the driver begins to reverse away as the gang's attention turns to him. Grim doesn't like the idea of this chap getting away though and nails him with a well aimed rifle shot. This prompts the reinforcements in the back of the van to burst forth, but they are systematically cut down by rifle fire from Grim and Deject, and bombs from Dirk. As the last surviving guard makes it to cover, pursued by Kiestas, the door they were about to enter bursts open and Gek is confronted by another group of armed guards. Catching them by surprise, Gek tears into them with his chainaxe, cutting two down before they can react. Realising he's outgunned though, he dives as the guards come round and start blasting away with their SMGs. Deject tries to cover his retreat by lobbing a smoke grenade, but the throw is non too accurate and it bounces off Gek as he makes his escape. Even so, the smoke has the desired effect and the guards fire blindly through the doorway. Caught in a narrow field of fire, both Gek and Deject take a lot of fire and are wounded. Dirk quickly fires a few bombs into the smoke to prevent them taking any more damage, which would probably finish them both off, and fells the remaining guards. Unaware of what else might be behind the smokescreen, the squad pauses to regroup. Deject begins to move forward again, but before he's out of the smoke he hears more doors banking and pounding of feet. Ducking behind a corner, he fires blind at the sound and is greeted by terrified screaming as the civilian workers are mowed down by his automatic fire, assisted by Grim blindly firing in support.

As the smoke clears, the squad hear Kiestas calling out to them to hold their fire. While Five Punk tangled with the main guard force, the gang caught the chemist and the remaining guards fleeing from the back exit. Now numbering over a hundred, the Kiestas quickly overrun the facility. Langley has taken a good deal of footage and the squad get a nice news slot with several minutes of coverage, leading to a juicy payment. The Kiestas might be a little more friendly too, or at least they would have been if Langley hadn't put some spin on the report so that it looked like the squad had driven the Kiestas out of the facility too. Still, their contacts know the truth and Five Punk continue their rise to fame and fortune.

Mama Krutch - Hunter Sheet

The squad find that adventure doesn't find them exclusively in the form of BPNs when Dirk finds his flat burgled. He calls on the help of Deject, Grim, and Winston to help track down the culprits. Initial investigation reveals that the culprits appeared to be a gang of kids, and that they fled through the sewers. A Blue BPN to seal their point of entry later and the squad are slightly richer but none the wiser. Eventually, after chatting to neighbours, Shivers, and other victims, they find the culprits to be a gang known as the Mama's Boys. With a lead on their area of operation Five Punk head off to Downtown.

The Mama's Boys operate in an area known as The Warrens - a twisted maze of tunnels and pipes that is home to a large and illegal market. Making a few enquiries they find the traders there surprisingly helpful, and it seems that the gang aren't popular among the locals either. It seems that there is a Hunter Sheet on the head of the gang - one Mama Krutch. Spindle heads off to follow a lead that might get the local Krosstown Traffic on board - a Bosuzoku gang known as The Spectres - while the others learn that they're not the only Ops asking questions about the Mama's Boys today. Before long the other Ops are revealed as Toast, a Brain Waster, and Mephit, a Frother. Neither are particularly friendly, but agree to join forces for the common objective. The Ops soon get their first contact with one of Mama's Boys when they catch one trying to pick-pocket Deject. The kid doesn't get far, but provides little in the way of clues after Toast's overenthusiastic interview technique leaves the kid somewhat burnt and somewhat dead. Turning a bad situation around though, they plant a tracking bug on the corpse and dump it. Sure enough, other Mama's Boys take the body away, and the Ops follow. Tracking them to a chamber in the sewers, they find some kids with the body, and a seemingly homeless adult in discussion with them. Rushing in, they capture the man and one of the kids. However, Toast gets fire-happy again and chalks up charred corpse number two. The kid is dosed up with Honesty before Toast does a job on her too, and the Ops learn the rough location of Mama's lair. Placing the tracker on their befuddled captive, they send her packing back home in order to follow her. However, with the Honesty wearing off she decides to take them in through the front door. As the Ops follow their mark they run a gauntlet of traps ranging from dangerous to deadly. Grim and Toast take a bashing from a shotgun trap and an improvised landmine respectively, whilst mephit has a lift dropped on him, but they survive to find themselves in a cloth-shrouded corridor leading directly into Mama's chamber. As she taunts them forward Deject tosses in a smoke grenade. Mama is unperturbed and calls for them, but Deject replies with a hail of 10mm, accurately cutting down her thermal silhouette and scattering her gang.

The Ops find a den of stolen goods and tortured remains, but the job seems done. That is until a disagreement breaks out over ownership of the bounty on Krutch's head. With tensions already high from constant bickering between the two groups, Toast attacks. Grim, warned by Mephit furtively moving into a position to attack, cuts him down with a burst from his FEN AR as he lunges for Dirk. Meanwhile Toast bursts into flame and, with Ebb ebhanced fangs, bites into Deject. The fight is desperate but short-lived. Deject uses his speed to get our of biting range and opens fire, while the others also turn their attention on the Waster. After taking an impressive amount of damage, he falls.

The squad begin their post-mission cleanups, calling in a TV crew and the Shivers. They learn that their deceased temporary allies got the last laugh though after secretly claiming the bounty, and after the fight Five Punk find themselves under the scrutiny of Cloak Division.

Gift from the Machine - White

Unusually, this BPN begins with Haynes telling the squad they've been chosen specifically by the originator. This turns out to be the guy they met at the end of Giving To The Machine, and a connection is made between the BPN and Manchine cults before they even set foot in Downtown. Their mission is to investigate the disappearance of a squad of Operatives, and as they're hot-dogging in Central they find themselves nearby a Thresher hit and fade attack. This is their first encounter with Thresher troops and they wisely choose to simply observe and report as the attackers cause chaos then retreat to the Cannibal Sectors. Following this brief diversion, they scoot off to Downtown to investigate the scene where the squad were last seen. It is evident that they met their end in a violent gunfight, but why here, and why were all the corpses bar the Ebon taken away by the attackers? Looking up the mission record of the squad, it seems they were led here looking for an arms dealer whose apartment they died outside. Breaking into the apartment, shooting the TV, and performing a thorough search reveals that the resident arms dealer left in a hurry and had a penchant for amateur pornography with hookers. Not one to let such a social opportunity go to waste, Dirk leads the squad off to the seedy red light district of the sector in search of pros. Now, during all this there have been several witness reports who indicate that the antagonists may not be all human, and that they are combat trained. There is also mention of a bunch of cybernetic ex-Operatives nearby in Rust Alley. However, this information pales in comparison to the prospect of trawling the strip bars and sleazy streets of Downtown for several nights.

Eventually the arms dealer gets wind of the Ops looking for him and tries to set up a meeting with them. Luckily the squad aren't stupid enough to fall for the same trick their predecessors did, and bribe the messenger into telling them where the dealer is hiding. Unluckily, the dealer's hired goons aren't stupid enough to think the Ops would be stupid enough, and wax the dealer for being an idiot. So they find his bullet-riddled corpse and a few more witnesses who again direct them to Rust Alley.

Taking the lead this time, they descend on the crippled Vets in Rust Alley, and in a bout of startling intuity get a few of them onside with well placed bribes and sympathy. They find out that some of the old Chrome Warriors have disappeared after being promised restoration of their former glory by some corporate types. After being told that these guys return every couple of nights to take away a few more Vets. Five Punk lie in wait. Sure enough, a couple of likely characters appear and start discreetly questioning the Vets. Keen to question the interlopers, the squad kill them in a pincer movement. Luckily though, they turned out to be DarkNight types trying to find out why their arms dealer was dead.

At this point the squad kick their investigation up a gear, taking all their information and drawing a number of facilities that could be used for what they suspect is a facility to recharge the cyborgs. They hit jackpot after a couple of blanks, and once more subtlety is dispensed with, as the door is smashed in and the surprisingly resilient guards taken out. It looks like they were on the right trail, as those guards are carrying some of the dead squad's equipment (Dead squad? Oh yeah, that's why we were here) and are packing some cybernetic enhancements. They have the right place, but they also know that down the elevator in front of them the rest of the souped up Chrome Warriors will be waiting. They take a little time to discuss tactics, a good plan is developed, and then they chuck it out of the window and just go down in the elevator. A fiece firefight erupts immediately, and several of the squad come close to being taken down, but eventually they prevail over the alarmingly tough Vets. They find themselves now the proud captors of a cybernetic surgery lab and half a dozen staff. A quick chat reveals that it is in fact Tek Trex, manufacturers of small black market guard robots, who are ambitiously trialling a new range of cybernetics. Relaying this to the BPN's originator, they decide to pass the time until his arrival by setting a trap for the absent lab managers. Unfortunately, one of the Chrome Warriors is actually a remote controlled robotic drone, and their intended victims know exactly what's going on. Still, not wanting to spoil the squad's fun they send a representative in the form of a small Buzzard drone rigged with a few grenades. Phoebe saves the day as it comes waddling out of a small vent by booting it back from whence it came, harmlessly exploding in the vent when it can't get back on its feet. Despite a few blunders, the results are to the liking of their contact. A promise of further BPNs and a few nice freebies are their reward.

Peripheral Characters and Contacts

Crazy Herman

The Crib's most notorious financier. The Five Punks ultimately got away lightly, receiving three BPNs that were both possible and non-fatal. Hints dropped by various contacts prompted the slow realisation that maybe Herman wasn't the man for them after all.

Niall Ferguson

Human Investigation Op and leader of Red Ride squad. Ferguson held himself responsible for the loss of the weapon in the second BPN and put his neck on the line to assist in its retrieval. He feels he owes the Five Punks for possibly bailing him out of a sticky situation with Cloak Division, but as he is still under investigation it is unsure as to whether he will be seen again.

Samuel Lourenco

Lourenco is a shrewd Kiestas lieutenant in the San Angel sector. The Five Punks have gained a certain level of trust with him through a bit of mutual help during the Loose Cannon BPN, and if relations are nurtured he could prove a useful contact.

Laurenco is again encountered in Narcotic Trends, assisting the squad in the takeover of a drugs manufacturing facility. The Kiestas came out tops with a new source of income, and Five Punk benefitted from having a lot of backup.

Elva Miller

Leiutenant Elva Miller is head of the 322nd precinct in the area of Wilkins Mall in Suburbia. The Five Punks ridded her of a troublesome gang and a sticky political situation. In return, shocked at having her BPN issued by Crazy Herman, she passes the squad on to the financier Jacob Haynes.

Jacob Haynes

Haynes is an ex Combat Financier, and still a Business Package Operative. He is a large, calm, stern man, brimming with Karma implants covered with expensive suits. At SCL5B.8 he is probably the highest SCL character the squad has met so far, and his influence can provide the squad with higher profile BPNs than Crazy Herman ever could.

Dean Murdoch

Ex-Shiver sergeant. The squad were tasked with erasing him after a sensitive BPN, but instead persuaded him to vanish into Downtown. Grateful for the Ops saving his life, Murdoch is looking for a way to repay them and maybe make a little cash.

Lloyd Langley

Overconfident and bombastic Third Eye reporter who covered the Justice For All BPN. More BPNs have followed since which Langley has had a hand in issuing.

Mina Breton

New Parisian Media Op working for Lloyd Langley. Covered the Mama Krutch case, and is more willing to accompany the squad on BPNs for combat coverage, along with her hard-bitten cameraman Pete.

Danny and Alice

Danny and Alice are a (male) human/Frother combo who work for Cloak Division and have encountered the squad on a couple of occasions. Both are former Operatives from the books of Jacob Haynes, and usually meet the squad as a result of Haynes pulling some strings to paper over any potentially dodgy happenings. Despite their grey Cloak Division armour, they have something of a comedy double act going on with Danny as the straight man and Alice as the comic relief.

Dour

Dour is a large, brutal Necanthrope with an air of barely repressed violence. Fortunately for Five Punk they have found themselves working on the right side of him on several occasions. Recently he has taken more of an interest in using the squad to further his objectives in order to minimise the amount of people he has to work with.

Locations

San Angel sector

A Kiestas stronghold in Upper Downtown. There is a heavy trade in weapons with DarkNight here, and the local Kiestas are well armed and dangerous. The leadership in San Angel aren't stupid though, and are looking to divert SLA attention away rather than attract more through hostilities. Their diplomatic nature towards SLA is probably as a result of the friction and close prioximity of the Krosstown Traffic in the neighbouring sector.