The Pursuit

DJ Crusty

**"The Pursuit"** is the third episode in Starfoxer117's campaign, "Night City".

## Synopsis

Upon leaving *The Happy House* and entering the police-ridden streets of the Red Light District, the group heads out in search of a place to hide. Along the way, they run into Cordelia while attempting to hide among a crowded bus. Explaining that she had slipped out of the club earlier in an attempt to save Calvin and the datachip, she was subdued by the Coalition and Calvin was killed, and her datachip destroyed. After explaining, the group's position is detected by the Coalition searching for them, and the group hacks the bus they are on to take control of it. Eventually, they find themselves in the basement level of a parking garage, where they narrowly escape a chemical attack used to flood them out, slipping through a ventilation system that allowed them to get enough distance from their initial location to escape.

## Summary

After escaping *The Happy House,* now without the company of Cordelia or Calvin (or the datachip they needed him to decrypt), set out into the streets of the Red Light District to find a good hiding place to wait in while the police cleared out. When hiding in an alley dumpster, Big Papi realized that their pursuers were not from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. Upon further investigation, the group discovered that the Coalition had locked down the district while manhunter squads were dispatched to find them. Knowing that they would soon be found if they stayed in one area, they set out to escape the district.

Boarding an autonomous bus, the group met with Cordelia, who told them that in her attempt to escape the nightclub with Calvin and the datachip, her hopes were to find a safe place before the Coalition arrived. However, she was too late, and Calvin and the datachip were both lost. While the group was skeptical, they had little time to question her, as the bus was soon stopped at a Coalition checkpoint where it was to be searched. In a last minute decision, Cordelia, Papi, and ZEUS managed to hack the bus's executive functions, allowing them to manually control the bus.

Crashing through the blockade, they set off for a parking garage on the edge of the Red Light District where they planned to hid away from the Coalition. However, along the way they encountered a Coalition V-380 Thunderbirdthat severely damaged the bus, and tracked them to their destination. Inside, they barricaded the entrance with the bus, allowing only singular infantry units inside.

The group proceeded to the bottom level, where they cut the power and looked for an alternative way out. They found four large ventilation shafts they could use to escape to the surface, but would only have a short amount of time before the Coalition would corner them. Having intercepted a message running through the Coalition Battlenet, ZEUS learned that three of the four vents were going to be pumped with an unknown chemical weapon. Using George's hazardous substance detector, Robert managed to locate the safest vent, allowing Papi and ZEUS to cut through the bulkheads blocking them without risk of exposure. Holding off the attacking chemical team, the group escaped through the vents, and soon found themselves just within the walls of the Flood District.

With little opposition, they set off to get some rest at Big Papi's place, and then to the local Ramen Stop to eat breakfast.