Crossover (Episode)

**Crossover** was the prologue episode of Dark Skies 2077. Due to technical difficulties, the session was not recorded or broadcast.

## Prologue

### Regi

"Gabby" Trama Team Con Apt 18th Floor, Apartment E Regi closed his eyes as he clutched the hairbrush closely. The familiar fragrance of coconut oil didn't bring comfort as it once had. He felt his heart sink into his stomach as he thought back to the morning he last saw her. He remembered seeing the blue shimmer of the hollow call flicker away in the vanities reflection. A fearful expression revealed in her deep brown eyes.

He asked from the bed, "Gabby? Everything okay?" "Yeah," her eyes softened as her lips quickly forced a smile as she looked back in the reflection, "Good morning, mi amor." He had wanted to dig deeper but didn't pry. Gabby could always handle her shit, it's what attracted him most to her. They had met a few months ago at Club Atlantis and since that night he was all in. Night City moved fast and so did he and Gabby. Their chemistry was electric. Standing from the vanity she pulled on her shirt and swept back her jet black hair. "I'll be back tonight. Chino has family in Texas. He'll help us make arrangements." Regi opened his eyes, returning to the empty apartment. "Costa Rica," he whispered. Choking back the knot growing in his throat. Something was wrong.

### Moonie

Moonie wiped his blackened, oily hands on the dirty old rag in his hands before slinging it over his shoulder, reaching up and slamming the hood of the car shut. He reached over and grabbed his hat off the workbench, settling it on his head and tipping the brim forward. Plucking a cigarette from behind his ear, he tapped it down and lit it, taking a drag as he walked across the garage, spurs jangling, and slapped the button that would open the overhead door. Harsh desert sunlight flooded into the garage, and Moonie looked up to see his brother. Jumbo’s hulking frame cast an ominous darkness over the interior, blocking out the sun and leaving his younger brother standing in his shadow. Moonie smirked, tipping his hat. ‘Howdy, bro. Here to see how the ride’s coming along?’ He rested his hands on his belt, fingers curled around the grip of the heavy revolver slung at his hip. A force of habit. Jumbo grunted and ducked his head under the overhead door, stepping inside. He pushed a heavy engine block aside, making some room as he walked around the vehicle Moonie had been working on. It had a rough, chiseled, with a reinforced grill for running Wraiths off the road and the patina of an old junkyard. Jumbo smiled. ‘Dad would be proud. She ready to roll?’ Moonie nodded, casting his gaze over the compound outside before turning back to his brother. ‘Sure is. Wouldn’t mind taking her out for a spin, kick up some dirt. You know it ain’t a real ride unless you get a lil’ dirty.’ He flicked his cigarette outside and joined his brother in admiring the vehicle. ‘Whadya say, bro? Set the seats back far ‘nough even a big fucker like you should fit. Hop in, let’s take ‘er out!’ Jumbo paused for a moment, then opened the door and squeezed in to the passenger seat. Moonie hollered, sliding across the hood and hopping into the driver’s seat. A moment later the engine roared to life, and Moonie put the pedal to the metal and the rubber to the road.

### Buzzard

Buzzard looks at the mercenaries and raises an eyebrow. "I don't work for free," he says, his voice cold and calculating. "But I might be willing to make an exception for you, depending on what you can offer me in return." The leader of the mercenaries, a burly man with a cybernetic arm, steps forward. "We can offer you information," he says, his voice gruff and menacing. "We know things that could be valuable to you." Buzzard nods, his eyes scanning the wounded man. "I'll need to see what I can do for him first," he says, motioning for Hans to bring over the medical equipment. As Buzzard gets to work, the mercenaries watch anxiously, their eyes darting around the clinic as if expecting an ambush at any moment. Buzzard is focused on his task, ignoring the tension in the air. After a few tense minutes, Buzzard finishes patching up the wounded mercenary and turns to the leader. "I've done what I can for him," he says, his voice still cold and detached. "Now, tell me what information you have that could be of value to me." The leader of the mercenaries leans in, his voice low and urgent. "We know where a powerful weapon is hidden," he says. "A weapon that could give you a significant advantage in Night City." Buzzard raises an eyebrow at the mention of a powerful weapon. "I'm listening," he says, his interest piqued. The leader of the mercenaries begins to explain the location of the weapon, and Buzzard listens intently, his mind already calculating how he can use this information to his advantage.

The merc goes on with the deets for a solid twenty, explaining that a 'Saka ninja's parts were found up in the wastes absolutely shredded, like a dude drove a car through him. A buncha gangoons from the Tyger Claws snagged it and had it in an old conapt in Kabuki, but then they got shifted on by some Militech spooks who were out to grab up the chrome the ninja had.

The merc says his name's Curt and he heard about it from this fixer in the Glen named Hungry @YoloJoe. He passes the deets over to the old ripper and says he'll message Hungry and let him know Buzzard's interested. He says that the ninja's tech is the goal of the fixer, but not the 'Saka's prototype Mantis Blades, which Curt says might be something Buzzard could negotiate for since a ripper's gonna be needed to pull the chrome all nice and neat.

[2:28 PM]

Meanwhile, Vernon Fisk looks down at his agent with his everpresent annoyed face. The corpo solo team report they were FUBAR and only one survivor got out of the snafu with the gangers. He shakes his head. Too much fucking attention. Arasaka will likely use reports of this to make it look like Militech is moving in for control of the district. Goddamnit. He slams the last of his old fashioned and looks out the window across the circle at the huge looming Arasaka logo shining on Arasaka Tower.

With an immediate spurt of inspiration, he santches up his agent and dials out for a streetside contact.

"Johan @Destroyer of Smoke Alarms, time to do some work." (edited)

December 14, 2022

YoloJoe — 12/14/2022 9:39 AM

The sun was long gone, but that seemed to only brighten the neon lights that wove through The Glen. Rain slowly trickled down from the skyline above and the usually crowded streets felt somewhat empty on this particular night.

A large hooded figure marched down the sidewalk, continuing until he reached an area protected from the rainfall by the highway above.  Parked along the side of the road was a colorful food truck that simply said "Hungry's".  A few patrons were lined up at the window and the hooded figure fell in the back of the line.  The hissing sound of food being fried could be heard even over the roar of traffic from the highway above.  An older bald gentleman popped his head through the window, handing the next customer in line a sleek, steaming box with a smile and a nod before disappearing back into the truck to prepare his next order.  This process continued until the next customer at the window was the hooded figure.  The figure lowered their hood, revealing a chromed out man with strong facial features and long, flowing dark tech-hair with LEDs that strobe from root to end with white light.  @Dapper Dan Regi made eye contact with the chef, who immediately nodded and pointed to a dark alleyway behind where the food truck was parked.

Regi began walking down the dark alleyway which seemed to be more barren of life than any other alley in Night City he had ever seen.  As he continued down the lifeless alley he began to mentally ready himself to be ambushed at any minute.  Just as that thought occurred to him a garage door slid open with a crash and a familiar figure popped out of the building the door was attached to. (edited)

[9:41 AM]

"Good to see you, Reg.  The big guy's been expecting you." said the figure, motioning for Reginald to follow him inside.

"Been a minute, Chino.  Thanks for meeting up on such short notice." Reginald replied, stepping into the open garage door.

"You know what it is, choom.  Gabs is family, and we're never too busy for family." said Chino as he slid the garage door closed behind Reginald.

The inside of the small storage warehouse was luxurious contrary to the run-down alleyway outside. Everything was renovated and looked completely new.  Some of it seemed a little too flashy for Reginald's taste, but he could still appreciate how nice it looked.  At least what he could see through the cloud of smoke permeating the air inside.

A thick leather chair positioned in the back corner of the room next to a large desk began to spin around, revealing a hulking figure of a man sitting upon it.  The man was bald and obese and had a twisted kind of ugly facial features.  He wore far too much jewelry including a watch, bracelets, and a few different sized chains around his neck including one large gold chain with a diamond-bezel cheeseburger ornament hanging as the centerpiece.

"Have a seat, Regi." The large man spoke with a bassy gravel-and-brimstone tone, motioning to an open chair in front of him. (edited)

[9:44 AM]

Even never having met the man before him, he knew from the stories and reputation proceeding him exactly who this was.  Reginald sat down and looked the man fiercely in the eyes before speaking "Hungry."

"Chino told me what happened.  How long ago did Gabs go missing?" Hungry asked

"I last saw her two days ago. She was going to see Chino about some family in Houston. Did Chino even see her?" Regi asked, looking back to Chino.

Chino shook his head no, "She never made it.  I've been waiting to hear from her."

"Chino is already working with the family and has a few leads.  We will find out exactly what happened to her, you need not worry.  We will find her.  In the meantime, I need a favor in return.  Got a job coming up, need a man of your talents to take the lead in case things get.. dicey." Hungry spoke facial expression devoid of emotion. "Saka tech has fallen into the hands of the Tyger Claws.  Militech is in the running as well, already hit the gonks over in Kabuki but weren't successful.  The Claws haven't recovered from the attack, so now is the perfect opportunity to make a move.  Got a ripper already lined up to extract the tech I want, just need you to lead a team in there and retrieve it."

Reginald paused, thinking for a moment before Hungry continued.

"As an added bonus, once this gig is done same doc might be able to help you with some of your other.. problems."

Reginald was surprised at Hungry's last words, but forced himself to not react.

"I'm in."

2

1

[9:49 AM]

@dekelaus — 12/14/2022 10:57 PM

< @YoloJoe @Destroyer of Smoke Alarms @meat @Dapper Dan @Ghost of Tarn (Chad H.) please post synopsis / plot beats from session here >

Ghost of Tarn (Chad H.) — 12/14/2022 11:57 PM

## Aftermath

Moonie rolled into the compound and parked the Wraith car where he found it. Walking in to the garage, he found Jumbo sitting at the work bench with two glasses and as he closed the door behind him, the big man pulled a bottle off the shelf and poured a few fingers out for each of them. Without a word, Moonie sat down and together they raised their glasses to a framed photo of their father hanging above the workbench, clinked them together, and downed the cheap liquor in one go.

     ‘So how’d it go?’ Jumbo asked in his chest-deep voice as he filled the glasses again.

     Moonie laughed and slapped a hand to his thigh, sending a thin cloud of dust into the air. ‘Man, it was wild! So I meet the guy, right? Got some details, shoulda been an easy pickup. Some dead chromer or some shit, I dunno something about a body. Anyway, it’s just me and uh, Johan that’s the guy.

     ‘Anyways, Johan and I roll up to the spot and I guess someone else had already closed the deal. So they loaded up and we followed them, a big food truck and a few Tyger Claws. I guess they scoped me because the Claws peeled off and tried to chase me down but I lost them, then I followed the truck till they pulled off.

     ‘Johan offered me a bonus if I went with him and acted tough, but I gotta tell ya bro, I was nervous as hell. After I got you that first chunk of change though I knew I had to see what the city life was all about. So we pull up and get out, me and Johan, and this guy Hungry and some scrappy fucker who was lit up like a got-damned Christmas tree. Johan and Hungry started talking business, and this guy comes at me!’

[11:58 PM]

Moonie was getting into it now, waving his arms dramatically as he continued. Jumbo laughed as he poured some more liquor out. He explained the brief scuffle, Hungry and Johan and Moonie pointing guns at each other, trying to keep things from popping off.

     ‘Good news is no one died, things seemed to mellow out. Even got Hungry’s info, seems like a solid fixer. Told him to give me a call if he ever needs a driver.’ Moonie grinned, maybe a little drunkenly. ‘Guess ol’ Moonie made an impression, ‘cause he seemed interested. After that we tore outta there, dropped Johan off and managed to make a little extra.’ He reached for his agent and sent 400 to Jumbo. ‘20% for the family.’

     Jumbo chuckled, setting his agent aside as the payment went through. ‘Not bad, little brother. I’d say you’re off to a good start. Keep it up and we’ll start working in the city full time. But until then…’ He poured out another glass. ‘We drink!’