004: Operation Rescue

**"Operation,**

**Operation Rescue**

**You wonder where they come from**

**But I just wonder why they're here at all."**

***- Operation Rescue,* by Bad Religion**

## Session Summary

Our session starts right where it left off: in Lizzie's Bar. The group was circling up, trying to determine what to with the news that Potion had been kidnapped, and the investigation had gotten the attention of the NCPD. The Runaways (Bit Chaos, Fridge, K2, Nova, and Smoke) tried to contemplate exactly what the next step was going to be. Smoke gave a brief lesson on who Alt Cunningham was, and the reputation that she left behind, as well as brought up a theory that was either AJ4X or was the mastermind behind AJ4X's actions, and also mentioned that she believed Alt had someone outside of the .NET working for her.

The Runaways soon agreed that it was important to track Potion down, because he very well may not be safe for very much longer. While Smoke was able to trace Potion's agent's signal to the northern limits of Night City, the trail went cold. The Runaways opted to go to the last known location that Potion visited before coming to Lizzies: Club Eden. Before leaving, Smoke mentioned she needed to reload her runner deck. While she did, K2 took the opportunity to play publicly, earning themselves a few new fans in the process. Bit worked on Nova's assault rifle, impressively increasing the rate of fire.

While the group was heading out, they stopped to thank Foxy, and to give her a heads up about a radio news update that they had heard while leaving: Marcus Collins, a convicted serial killed, had escaped during the blackout, and was last seen in Watson. Foxy took the warning seriously, though that did not stop her from having a very public show of affection toward Nova, as the two of them shared a kiss at the front door of Lizzie's.

The group left for Club Eden, taking Bit Chaos' van to drive through Night City. Smoke quickhacked the local CCTV, only to find that it had NCPD barriers would it. They also noticed NCPD netrunning vans parked in the alley behind Club Eden. This did not stop them from questioning the doorman, (named, they would find out, Mikels) though the group posed as concerned friends who were trying to track down a friend's lost wallet. After failing to talk their way into the club during off hours, Bit, K2, and Nova, proceeded to launch into a baffling tangent, mostly streamlined by Bit's line of questioning about a particular type of alcoholic beverage, and it's qualities. This gave Smoke enough of a distraction to hack into the Club's CCTV, and find footage of Potion leaving the club, followed closely by a young man. With the new evidence, the Runaways excused themselves, leaving behind a very confused Mikels.

Analyzing the footage, the young man had several identifying features on him: a tattoo from the Aldecaldo nomad family, and a press badge from Leak News with the name "Trace" on it. A quick web search identified him as a media type name Trace Aldecaldo. Nova recognized the name, and identified the young mas the son of Santiago Aldecaldo, leader of the Nomad Nations. She also confirmed that he could be trusted, so Smoke sent an email to him and the group waited for a reply, during which the Runaways opted to find a place to eat, and decided on Captain Caliente. Meanwhile, one of the black vans from the alleyway, though, pulled out from the shadows, and started to follow Bit's bus down the road. Bit was able to lose them van going through a red light triggered by Smoke, and the group continued on their way, but their peace was short lived. While attempting to have breakfast, Detective Kit Samson entered the restaurant, and while he ordered food, he was very clearly there to follow the Runaways.

While leaving, Smoke created a big enough scene, accusing Samson of stalking them, that he had no choice but to back off for now. After returning to the bus, Trace got back to the group, and left instructions for how to get to a Aldecaldo safehouse to meet him. They left Samson behind, for now. At the safehouse, Trace let them in, and revealed that he was also worried about Potion. He had followed him that night because they were working on this AJ4X case together, and had started to suspect that their small group of media types had been compromised. Trace was able to pass over the encryption keys for Potion's personal Agent (rather than the burner ones that the group already had,) and a more specific trace for his whereabout were made: The northern border of the Reclaimed Zone and the Badlands. He also revealed the Potion had been in contact with individuals who had claimed they were Nomads, so he had asked Trace to check up on them. Trace revealed that the contacts were not Nomads, but from a group of common scavs called "The Wraiths." More than likely they were the ones who took Potion, and paid by some other party to do so. In exchange, Smoke promised to get in contact with Kerry on Trace's behalf to help with a pet project he had been working on.

There was still the concern about Samson being on their heels, and while a call to Kerry insured that a lawsuit could begin to hold the detective accountable, they needed something immediate. Trace laid a trap, showing off that he still paid many respects to his father's roots. When the police van circled around to catch up with Bit's bus, Trace triggered the trap, disabling the vehicle while not killing any of the occupants, before making his escape. The Runaways left Bit's bus at the safehouse garage, and called in Nova's own truck, which was better for off-roading and combat. They made their way into the Badlands just as the sun was setting. They stumbled across a single trailer and netrunner spider-hole powered by a generator. Smoke hacked the generator while Nova cut the lights, plunging the desert into darkness.

They fought against four Wraiths, two of whom wielding mantis blades, and one who used live cloaking tech against them. Notably, Fridge did take one down, but also suffered a severe injury to his forearm when a mantis blade severed through an extreme portion of it. K2 applied first aid and helped keep it mended until Smoke could boost Fridge through his neurolink. Unfortunately, this distraction left Smoke open to being shot in the stomach. Nova hit one of the Wraiths with her truck, flatlining them instantly. Bit helped to back everyone up, leaving her mark on one particularly nasty Wraith. Together, they took care of the four captors. While Fridge punched a cactus in his rage at getting hit, Bit and K2 went to the spider-hole to work on freeing Potion. When they opened the door, they found Potion tied to a netrunner chair, though not hooked into, surrounded by decades old tech. That was why the very modern laptop stood out among the rest of the machines.

They untied Potion and got him to the truck, and started to make their way back to Night City. Potion explained to the Runaways that he has very little memory of the night before and the morning after. The last thing he clearly remembers was feeling like he was being tailed, and catching up with Trace. Shortly after, he has foggy memories of meeting with the Runaways at Lizzie's, and then he remembers walking himself to the bar's parking lot and getting into an unfamiliar car. He doesn't know what happened to the wreath that was given to him, but he assumes that they took it. His next full memories are of him waking up in the desert spider-hole, and calling the last contact on his phone, expecting it to be Trace, but rolling with it when he realized it was Smoke. He also revealed that the laptop contained, if the Wraiths who took him could be believed, a fragmented version of the famed Soulkiller program.

The Runaways dropped Potion off at the Nomad safehouse. He promised that he was still going to talk on his show about the deep fake of Johnny Silverhand and run the proof of it into the web, before locking himself into the safehouse. Trace sent the group a handful of eddies as well as his gratitude and personal contact info should the group need him. With the, the Runaways picked up Bit's bus and drove off into Night City, presumably to get Fridge some medical aid, recuperate, and plan their next move.