Forlorn Hope (2020)

The Forlorn Hope was the name of a notorious bar in central Night City. After its destruction, a new one was built.
==History==
===Early history===
Prior to the establishment of the Forlorn Hope, Hotel Sierra was originally located on the waterfront of the township of Morro Bay, in a lavish tourist area with Victorian hotels and a board-walk. In the mid-late 1990s, with the construction of Night City, the area around the hotel was transformed, being occupied mostly by warehouses and industrial sites. With this, most of the old establishments were shut down and demolished.
===2010s - 2020===
After the Second Central American War ended in 2010, many veterans who had returned to the United States were not the same. Many of these ex-soldiers ended up becoming solos and hired mercenaries. It was only natural that they would seek company of their own kind. With this in mind, in 2011, and with the help of several veterans they had served with, John Freeman (aka The Professor) and William Dolarhyde (aka Dollar Bill) bought an old Victorian-style building in Night City which had once been known as Hotel Sierra. They spent the following months reforming it, and soon they turned the lobby of the hotel into the Forlorn Hope, a bar where veterans could fraternize. This place was located not far from Charter Hill and the Combat Zone of Night City. It was during the Hope's construction when John met Marianne, both starting a relationship soon after.
The new establishment begun as a home away from home for war veterans. Although solos comprised most of its clientele, the bar catered to other freelances as well, including nomads, netrunners and fixers. Its location was only known to a small group of very close-knit patrons, and it did not advertise, as such it never attracted any big names, corporate types, nor gangs. The customers were regulars, and understood the physical and mental toll the war had caused to them. The Hope offered other services as well, including weapon maintenance, secure conference and meeting rooms, a job referral service, safe housing and retreat for exhausted veterans and solos, and its own ripperdoc clinic ran by Needles.
Over the following years, the Forlorn Hope thrived and became something akin to a legend among edgerunners, a place where once you had been accepted into, you never had to prove yourself again. Being admitted was one thing, but gaining the patrons' respect was up to them and the individual. The younger members were usually given a hard time until they proved themselves. The cardinal sins at the Hope were boasting and making up past ventures that never occurred (due to their experience, most veterans were able to read when someone was lying to them), and betraying a companion. The Hope was usually full during the evening/night, and bar fights were pretty rare, though on the few occasions they occurred they were stopped, and sometimes the perpetrators were kicked out. Weapons were allowed into the bar, as well as showing them to other patrons, but it was vehemently prohibited to use or swing them around. The only exception was the Forlorn Hope staff. During the weekdays the bar closed at around 2AM, though in the weekends it stayed opened to allow customers to party until early in the morning.
By 2020, the establishment was owned and ran by John Freeman and his wife Marianne Russell Freeman. While the first oversaw the Forlorn Hope's management and other stuff, Marianne handled the rest of the day to day operations; she kept an eye on the supplies and finances, handled the payroll, and occasionally worked at the bar alongside Godiva, Ringo and Sundance. Icepick and Trigger were contracted to handle security, and both had a permanent residence in the building. On the other hand, Dollar Bill was the occasional resident fixer and co-owner of the building alongside the Freemans. He used the Hope as a place to hire out solos, as well as help any war veterans that were struggling. The bar also had its own home band, the Slaughtered Lambs; made up of Sundance, Banger, ZZ Destroyer and Ras Angabo. That same year, media C.J. O'Reilly wrote an article in the Solo of Fortune magazine about the Forlorn Hope after visiting the establishment and interviewing its workers and patrons. That article — The Forlorn Hope—Back From the Far Side of Chaos — became O'Reilly's most famous work due to its stories and rawness that few media outlets at the time were willing to show.Countdown to the Dark Future (#325)
===2021 - 2043===
In 2022, during the Fourth Corporate War, many regulars of the Hope and even some staff left to fight in the war, leaving the establishment mostly quiet. The Professor began to prepare the building for their return, expecting a new generation of scarred veterans.
In May 12th of 2023, war finally reached the Hope as Arasaka and Militech fought to control the neighborhood. Both groups tried to take over the bar, ending with a firefight inside the building. The entire top floor, the location of the Freemans apartment, was fragged by mortar rounds and was destroyed, though the rest of the building managed to withstand the attack. Unfortunately, regulars and staff died during this clash between the corps, including regular Robert "Kronos" Cronenberg, the in-house ripperdoc Andy "Needles" Chen, and co-owner of the Hope William "Dollar Bill" Dolarhyde. With Needles gone, Sundance, who had occasionally helped him, became the new in-house ripperdoc. Over the course of the war, regulars Fred "Gunsights" Seitz and C.J. O'Reilly, as well as bartender Melissa "Godiva" Wellingham would also perish somewhere else. On late August, after the Night City Holocaust, Marianne and the Professor turned the Forlorn Hope into a survival shelter for dozens of injured and now homeless people. A makeshift triage center was set up in the bar area, while the kitchen had double use; to feed the new residents and as a field surgery. After the first wave of injured, the Hope began to prepare for the coming years.
In 2026, Marianne hired Ingénue, the only survivor of the Willow Sisterhood. She tasked her with setting up a support group for fellow female veterans survivors of the war. Ingénue named this group the Willows in honor of her fallen comrades. The Hope continued to be a recovery center for the entire neighborhood, and also served as a temporary home for From the Ashes volunteers, a clinic run by Phoenix Redwyne.
In 2031, after having served as a shelter for many years, the Forlorn Hope finally reopened as a bar. Reconstruction of the building followed, and soon the Freemans gained a bedroom. That same year, Petra David, who both Marianne and Freeman had helped in the aftermath of the nuke, returned to the Hope and signed on as the bar's head of security. By 2032, renovations were finally completed, though the building was now one floor shorter. Marianne took over as active manager, since the Professor was overwhelmed with coordinating services for all the veterans trailing in from the conflict. At the same time, a fresh group of wire-up, battle-burned regulars started to visit the establishment, and for a while it almost felt like the old days.
By 2040, the Forlorn Hope's neighborhood was firmly in the Combat Zone known as Little China. Still catering to war veterans, the Hope was described as a quiet neighborhood bar with a well-stocked counter on one side. Its clientele were mostly a mix of veteran edgerunners, experienced military or law enforcement, and a few of the best solos in the Night City area. Rogue Amendiares would occasionally meet up-and-coming edgerunners who were not qualified to enter the Afterlife at the Forlorn Hope, with the approval of the bar's owner Marianne, that is.
On late 2041, the Professor was diagnosed with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), a degenerative neuromuscular disease. He continued with his work, though he brought in Edelweiss Dolarhyde, Dollar Bill's niece, to assist Marianne in running the bar. In 2043, Sundance, who had been the in-house ripperdoc ever since Needles died, decided to retire after a long and exhausting career. She continued to hang around the bar, but left the work to her apprentice, Doc Stoic.
===2044 - 2045===
In January 23rd of 2044, a nomad from the Jodes gave information to Freeman about a group of nearby squatters being thrashed by Maelstrom. They were out in what was left of the old Brookhaven Co-op, an apartment building located not too far away. Since most of those squats were veterans and peripherals, the Freemans rallied a number of bar patrons. Helped by the nomad pack, they all fought off the Maelstromers long enough for the squatters to leave town with the Jodes. In the process, the Hope's people rescued a streetkid named Valence, who had been pressed into service by Maelstrom to scavenge in the Hot Zone. Both Marianne and the Professor decided to take her in as one of their own. This act of kindness by the Freemans infuriated the Maelstromer Ripper, who was running the salvaging of the Zone by using desperate people. Later that same year, Cicely Feng began working as the Hope's in-house tech expert.
On June 1st of 2044, two notorious Hope patrons known as Roxxi and Kissy brought into the bar an upcoming-media named Aurora, the lost daughter of Gayle Sigmund and C.J. O'Reilly. At the Hope's clinic, Aurora met for the first and last time with Gayle, though she decided to stay around the bar after receiving a warm welcome by its staff and patrons.
One Wednesday night of 2045, Grace Steel and her band, The Soul Rebels, won a "battle of the bands" style audition and managed to secure a position as the in-house entertainment of the Forlorn Hope. At the same time, a dreadful event would soon take place in bar. During the Bozos Hilaria 2045, a group of the prankster gang showed up in school buses and parked in front of the bar. When confronted by their choice of parking, the Bozos opened fire on everyone in sight, causing eleven deaths and damage to the exterior facade and kitchen of the establishment and other nearby buildings. Former members of the Back Bay Brawlers — including Grace Steel — and a few solos managed to drive them off. People who witnessed the event said the attack was unprovoked. An unknown party took the corpses of the Bozos and left no trace of their presence. When asked about this attack, other Bozos said they knew nothing about it. This event stuck with the Hope's patrons and while the Bozos were still participating in their Hilaria, they decided to give them some payback. While engaged in battle, a new group of Bozos appeared from manholes. The solos recognized them as the ones who had attacked the Hope, though they were different. This new group had a twisted mechanical laugh and attacked everyone in sight, including other Bozos. Despite being shot down, they would continue to laugh unless their heads were smashed in. In the end, both the Bozos and the solos came to an understanding after dealing with this new group dubbed as the "Dirty Bozos." It was later revealed that the attack on the Forlorn Hope had been perpetuated by Big Top, who wanted to outdo his fellow Bozos in the prank arena.
Militech Major Veronica Stiles contacted a crew of mercs to find the ones responsible for the death of her daughter, Jezz Stiles. She met them at the Hope's back office. After finding the the one responsible for her daughter's death was an AI from the Old Net known as the Reaper, Veronica used the Hope as her base of operations from which she guided the mercs in taking the AI down.
===The Angel's Share (2045)===
A small time-dealer known as Blank tried multiple times to convince Marianne to let him sell XBDs in the Hope, though she was vehemently against those illegal braindances, and always kicked him out of the establishment. In the end, Blank was so furious that he threated her and other Forlorn Hope patrons. Although Marianne was not scared of him while in the bar, she was worried that the customers or other people they helped could become a target outside of their safe walls. For this reason she hired a group of mercenaries to simply end Blank's business. What she didn't know was that Blank was also selling XBD's to the Red Chrome Legion gang, whom the patrons of the Hope had had trouble in the past as well when they freed several people from the gang's exploitative work.
Once the mercs had finished their job in the nearby abandoned Ling Po Imports Warehouse, they heard a thunderous explosion occurring at the Forlorn Hope. They quickly returned to the bar only to witness it engulfed in flames, with the upper floors partially collapsed, though soon enough those stories started falling onto the first floor. Outside, Grace Steel was tending five injured people, though more screams and cries of help from the inside of the building could be heard. The mercenaries decided to rush in, only to find the whole bar filled with smoke and burning down quickly. Edelweiss Dolarhyde was trapped on the stage, Marianne Freeman was under rubble near the bar counter, Valence was trapped in the bar's walk-in freezer, Petra David was trapped in the storage room, and the Professor was trying to free Aurora O'Reilly from the office. No matter what the crew decided to do to help, Marianne, the Professor, Rory and Valence managed to escape with the mercs' help or by themselves. However, if the crew was not able to rescue Edelweiss and Petra in time, they both wouldn't survive. But if they did rescue them, Edelweiss and Petra escaped in time just before the whole building collapsed, killing anyone still trapped within.
The survivors gathered outside. In front of them, the collapsed Forlorn Hope was still smoldering, with a slightly damaged billboard with the bar's name on top of the ruins. There had been casualties, including patrons and members of Grace Steel's band. John Freeman needed urgent care, and Marianne stated they had to bring him and anyone hurt to the From the Ashes clinic in South Night City. Marianne also mentioned that Backhand and Doc Stoic had been lucky enough to both be off that night. At that moment, a pickup truck full of Red Chrome Legionnaires appeared, as the explosions at the Hope had drawn in many people from around the combat zone. Marianne tasked the ones that could walk to carry those who couldn't, while the mercs fended off the Red Chromers. The Legion was celebrating the fall of the Forlorn Hope, and had the intention to kill anyone present and loot their belongings. Once the Hope survivors were far enough, the mercs left as well, even if they first killed all Red Chromers present.
The Hope survivors were attended by Phoenix Redwyne, owner of the From the Ashes clinic, and her employees. John Freeman had taken in too much smoke, and with his ALS condition, his lungs were very weak. Before the doctors sedated him, the Professor told Marianne to rebuild the bar, something she intended to do. After paying the mercs who had helped them, she promised vengeance once she found out who had started the fire, telling the mercenaries to stay in contact.
===A New Home (2045)===
The destruction of the Forlorn Hope quickly spread all over Night City, with numerous rumors as to what had really happened. An arson was the most popular theory, with some pointing to the Red Chrome Legion, the Iron Sights, a number of cyberpsychos, or even Arasaka themselves. Since the Fire Department wouldn't be investigating the cause, it was certain for some that the truth would never come out.
Ever since the fire, Marianne had spent her time with her husband, who was slowly healing up, and the rest of the survivors. Around a week or more later, Marianne tasked the mercenaries to find Jack Skorkowsky, a fixer that worked in real estate and a long time friend of the Freemans. Jack wanted to help find a new location for the Hope, but since it would take time, he hired the crew in the meantime to help him as well with a Bozos problem. While working for him, Jack found the perfect spot for the new bar, a neighborhood near the edge of city called Woodland Park. Once there, Jack presented to the mercs a multi-story building that had been recently completed, with a lot of space and prospects for the future. At the same time, the Bozo that was after Jack appeared. Sp00ph stole a Zhirafa GRAF3 and Jack sent the mercs after him. The ordeal ended with Sp00ph dead and his circus falling apart.
Some time after dealing with the Bozos, the mercenaries contacted with Marianne, who sent Backhand to see if the place was good. Not long after, the renovations for the new Forlorn Hope began.
==Layout==
===2011 - 2020s===
The Forlorn Hope was located in an old, four-story Victorian-style building. The neon signing above the entrance had the name of the bar, but behind it you could still read the faded remains of the former establishment called Hotel Sierra. The building had been structurally reinforced and included sound baffles, isolating the bar floor from the rest of the structure.
Behind the double doors was the main bar area, located in the lobby of the former hotel. This area had been heavily remodeled to fit the new establishment; the windows were bricked up, there were tables and chairs in the center alongside a small dancefloor, and the booths were located on each side of the room. A stage occupied a section of the bar, where a small band usually played, and the counter (once the hotel's reception) was located on the opposite end from the entrance. In this area there was originally a grand staircase that had to be removed to make space for the bar. The ceiling occupied a portion of the building's second-story. Adjacent to the bar was a wide hallway containing the bathrooms and the new stairs and elevator to the other floors, as well as a backstage and dressing rooms, which were located where the dining room of the hotel once had been. On this floor there were also a couple of offices, storage rooms, a kitchen, as well as the main office. This last one had a computer and all the hard-copies and software records of the bar.
The building's basement, which had originally been a large storage cellar, contained conference and meeting rooms, a large ripperdoc surgery, secure storage areas, and power and maintenance lockers.
The second floor, which was smaller due to the bar's ceiling, contained a mezzanine with a long bulletproof observation window over the bar and most of the stage area. The whole establishment could be monitored by security from this vantage point, which also included a few slits where weapons could be fired from if it was ever necessary. This floor also had the security offices, an armory and workshop, a small dining room and a kitchen.
The third floor maintained much of the original hotel layout, containing twelve guest rooms. Two were reserved to Icepick and Trigger, while several were rented out to friends and solos who needed a place to stay. The remaining rooms were reserved to employees or close associates who occasionally needed a place to crash.
The last floor was divided into two apartments, one for John and Marianne Freeman, and the other one for William Dolarhyde. The Professor had his private office here, where he kept the records of the various services provided by the Hope. Unlike the Freemans who permanently lived here, Bill travelled regularly and stayed in this place only on occasions, plus he also had his own apartment near the city Corporate Center that he frequently used.
The Hope was badly damaged during the Fourth Corporate War, losing employees and patrons during a firefight, as well as the last floor of the building.
Forlorn Hope Map 02 2020TFH.jpg|Basement
Forlorn Hope Map 01 2020TFH.jpg|First floor
Forlorn Hope Map 05 2020TFH.jpg|Second floor
Forlorn Hope Map 03 2020TFH.jpg|Third floor
Forlorn Hope Map 04 2020TFH.jpg|Fourth floor
===2030s - 2045===
The Forlorn Hope started reconstruction in 2031, and by the time renovations were over one year later, the Hope was one floor short. By 2045, the exterior of the building had already been heavily reinforced, though it couldn't hide how old it was, with the former hotel looking like it had gone through the worst of the Fourth Corporate War, filled with bullet marks and faded bloodstains. This, however, added more character to the place.
On top of the building there was a billboard with the establishment's name, and the whole ground floor exterior walls had been fortified, covering all windows except the entrance, which had been replaced by doors with gun slits; the old flickering neon sign with the Forlorn Hope's name was still right above them. The bar's interior had a stage next to the wall to the right of the entrance, while booths occupied the side areas. A counter was located on the opposite side of the establishment's doors, and a number of tables were occupying the space in-between. Covering the walls were dozens of framed photos depicting war veterans and other old patrons from the Forlorn Hope, acting as a memorial, though some were still alive. The bar also acted as a restaurant, with the first floor containing the kitchen, a storage room, a walk-in freezer, and an office.
On the basement was an armory, weapon range, and Backhand's workshop. The upper floors included Doc Stoic's ripperdoc clinic, guest rooms, and the Freemans new apartment. All floors were connected by an elevator and staircase.
In 2045, the whole building collapsed after a fire damaged most of the structure.
==Known Drinks==
*The Braindance: This was one of the popular drinks among mercenaries during the 2020s, costing 4eb per glass. It was a mixture of raw alcohol and citrus juices.
*The Nomad Special: This was one of the popular drinks during the 2020s, costing 4eb per glass. It was Jack Daniels with a greasy nut thrown in to add that "metallic" taste nomads are so fond of.
==Staff==
===2020===
===2045===
==Regular Patrons==
===2020===
===2045===
==Notes==
*In there is a map (first image of the gallery below) which includes all floors of the Forlorn Hope, though it has some labels mistakenly put on different rooms. For instance, the "Ripperdoc's Surgery" in the second floor is the ceiling of the bar room, while the clinic should be in the basement where the "Range/Armory" are labelled. This is based on the Hope's description in the same book.
*Although there is no mention in , game files indicate that the bar was going to appear in the game and Claire Russell was involved. game file: onscreens_final
==Gallery==
Forlorn Hope Maps 2020TFH.jpg|Some of the labelled rooms are not accurate to how they are described in 
Book profile ForlornHope.jpg|Tales from the Forlorn Hope cover
Forlorn Hope 01 2020TFH.jpg|Entrance in 2020
Forlorn Hope Ruins REDTOTRHR.jpg|Remains in 
Forlorn Hope Concept Sign CP2077.png|Unused concept design for a quest location in 
==References==
Category:Cyberpunk 2020 Locations
Category:Cyberpunk RED Locations