Digital Higanbana (Lycoris Recoil x Cyberpunk Quest)

(Call a Lycoris (Misaki Arisu): 55)

With a click, the call connected and the familiar face of your fellow Lycoris graduate popped up. "Ah, hello there Yuuki," She greeted with a small smile. "My apologies for taking a moment to pick up, even with your heads-up text."

"I'm just glad that it connected after all," You amicably greeted with a bob of the head. "It's only been a month, but it feels like we haven't talked in a while."

"Well, I imagine you're understandably busy with your little venture. How's that going, by the way?" Arisu asked with a tilt of the head. "Got everything sorted out?"

"Pretty much, we're actually ready to open sooner or later." You then lit up with a suggestion that popped into your mind. "Say, how are you doing lately? If you've got time, do you maybe want to come on down and be there for the grand opening?"

(Arisu's Availability: 69)

"My goodness, you're already inviting me over that quickly?" Arisu joked and laughed. "Well, I think that I could maybe set aside some time to head on down from Tokyo."

"Tokyo?!" You remarked with wide eyes. "That's quite far! Are you sure?"

"Choom, please. If anything, I'd actually love a break from all the corps for a while." Your fellow graduate rolled her eyes. "One can only take so much corpo indoctrination for only so long. I'm itching to stretch my legs a bit, be a little bit of an Edgerunner myself if you catch my drift."

"At least you haven't enrolled in an Arasaka Academy," You muttered, then noticed the rather conspicuous lack of immediate denial from Arisu. "Really? You couldn't have gone to Biotechnica or Netwatch instead?"

"Arasaka is the one that is the most prestigious, and it doesn't necessarily mean I'll be going with them when I graduate," She weakly defended. "Just means I really have to watch out if Counter-Intelligence tries to have a nose into my past. I would think that Kyoto's got some good protection in place."

'Kyoto' being the Lycoris organization itself. You let out a sigh, but had to trust they knew what they were doing. "Just get down here so Mitsu and I can berate you ourselves."

"I'll be there shortly. Oh, um…" Arisu stumbled over her words for a moment before shyly asking, "Would you be willing to let me crash at your place while I'm down there? Hotels are expensive, and I'm not that flushed with eddies. Going to have to travel economy already."

"Sure, we've got plenty of rooms here."

"Absolutely preem! I'll be there, and I'll even try to spread word through the spaces I frequent online. Maybe some of them are locals that'll show up, huh?"

That...was an idea. "Why not. Hit me up when you get here, just in case you need wheels to get here." The call disconnected and you exhaled, pleased at how that went. Hopefully, Arisu happened to be Netrunner friends with some Kagoshima locals, the possibility wasn't nil.

Just like how the chance wasn't zero that you'd run into trouble on your very first street patrol in the city. You checked your gear one last time, making sure your Lycoris schoolbag was fully loaded with a few spare pistols magazines for easy reloads. You were half-tempted to take your new assault rifle with you, but carrying it openly on the streets without the uniform of a corporate police member would definitely incite panic. Your new katana though was neatly tucked into a sheath behind your waist, a weapon that most would tolerate in comparison out of tradition if nothing else.

It was almost as if you were a Lycoris again, though this time in a more casual and innocent looking attire than your old uniform. You hummed and wondered if your uniform was already passed onto a successor Lycoris Second, or if they decided it was too tattered to use. If the latter, perhaps you'd have to call up the Commander to see if they could ship it to you.

You stepped out of your room and was immediately greeted by Mitsu leaning against the back of the sofa. "Oh, that was swift!" She commented, pushing off the furniture. Your roommate was outfitted in an identical manner to you, with a Lycoris schoolbag and sheathed blade on her back. "How does our comrade fare?'

"Quite well, and she'll be here soon enough for our grand opening."

"Splendid!" Mitsu beamed and pumped her fists. "Now we need only lure Momiji, and our fellowship shall be complete once more!"

"I don't think they'll be staying for more than a few weeks," You gently reminded, but it was only halfheartedly. There was a part of you that did want to see if it was possible to arrange for all four Lycoris graduates of 2080 to live under one roof. But you shook your head and refocused on the important task ahead of you. "Are you ready for the patrol? You've read through the instructions that Azumi's sent?"

"It is committed to mind and data!"

"Then let's delta. We have streets to patrol." Together, you two exited your home and began to wander the streets of the local neighborhood, triggering a recording software to send later to Shinohara Securities as proof of your tasking. It seemed a little silly, especially given it was a patrol in a corporate neighborhood with plenty of other city cameras, but apparently the corporate suits that leashed the security company were stringent on making sure proof was obtained.

You had to admit, it felt rather novel to be on patrol duty. As a Lycoris Cleaner, you hadn't been on many active routes, more often arriving to specific locations to perform your duties instead of wandering the streets to keep an eye out for trouble. Mitsu on the other hand was far more used to it, apparently having been on the streets from the moment she was approved as a Lycoris agent. It was a rather interesting contrast, with your wandering eyes and stiff walk while your partner surveyed everything casually, her steps without guile or doubt.

If this had been in Kyoto, you two surely would have never been partnered together for looking so odd. So you relished being in Kagoshima, being able to choose whoever you worked with as you well pleased. Mitsu was certainly good company in that regard.

(Part-Time Patrol: 94 +10 (Reflexes) +15 (Mitsu) = 119)
(Incident: 6. Generating major incident...)

Suddenly, alarms literally rang inside your head when there was an emergency call being pushed through. This came in just as there was multiple gunshots in the area, sending various people diving for the ground on instinct. You and Mitsu merely crouched with narrowed eyes, hands immediately reached and drawing your service pistol in anticipation.

After taking a moment to survey the area for immediate danger, you immediately picked up and a panicked looking Azumi appeared in your vision. "Yuuki, Mitsu! We've got a situation!"

"What's going on?" You asked in a clipped professional tone when training kicked in. "We're hearing gunshots in the area."

"That's because you're the closest ones we have to a goddamn assault on an Arasaka executive in the area!" You noticed that Azumi was shrugging on her own body armor, and it sounded like several others were doing so as well. "We don't know who, the caller was basically pissing themselves before it cut, but you need to hurry and secure our VIP! We'll be deploying in the area soon and handle the heavy muscle, but until then, protect that suit!"

"Mission parameters understood," You and Mitsu chimed as one and immediately took off on a low run, heading towards the last known coordinates of the executive. It did feel just a little off that you had to escort an Arasaka executive of all people, but that was a minor detail that years of discipline and training quickly brushed aside. For now, there was chaos on the streets, and the job of Lycoris was to quell it.

(Assault Scene: 99)

When you reached the source of said chaos, it was rather clear that there had been some sort of shootout here. The smoking car wedged between the smashed gates to a house really sold that, along with the corpses, of both burned and shot variety. Many of them were still clutching weapons, and you idly swiped some pistol mags to stuff into your pockets. They looked like they'd fit into your service weapon. You and Mitsu cautiously approached the house with pistols aimed at the ground but ready to snap up at a moment's notice. Both of you made sure to kick the bodies on the way to make sure they were certainly dead.

Just as you circled around the husk of a vehicle, there was a shout from the top window of the house. "I wouldn't approach any further ladies, I'm authorized to shoot to kill if you take another step forward!" A bodyguard to the suit barked and you glanced up at him.

"I believe we're expected," You flatly told.

"We're your reinforcements!" Mitsu added.

(Friendly Aid: 14 +15 (Empathy) +10 (Mitsu) = 39)

"And I'm Saburo Arasaka!" There was a click when the bodyguard leveled his weapon at you. "Scram gonks! Or else I'll shoot you along with those bastards when they return!"

You bit back a bitter curse, then shared a look with Mitsu. If the assailants were indeed intending on making a second assault, then being caught out on the street between very trigger-happy bodyguards and a hostile assault team was certainly far from ideal. More importantly, it was a significantly better idea that the VIP get extracted immediately from this obviously compromised home and moved somewhere else, anywhere really at this point. But natural defense instincts were kicking in and the first thought was to just stay put and hunker down, in hope that the corporate police would arrive soon.

Yet that might require the luxury of time that wasn't available. If the unknown assailants were pros, they'd understand time was of the essence and would be readying for a second assault soon. This time it would be in force, knowing now what the approximate strength and capabilities of the remaining bodyguards were. It was a bad situation where you'd have to pray and hold out until Shinohara Securities arrived and deployed, hopefully on an armored AV of theirs.

Then an idea struck- there couldn't very well be an assault if you struck first. Mitsu and you, turning the tables on the unknown enemy by taking the fight to them. Surprise could work for a while, then it'd turn into a slog until reinforcements arrived for one side. But that way, you could be on the offense and perhaps uncover a vulnerability such as who these people were. You turned to your partner and wanted to ask for her thoughts, but there was a look of absolute trust in her eyes.

Mitsu was going to defer to you, like before. You were a Lycoris Second, and she as a Lycoris Third obeyed. You sighed, then made up your mind.

[ ] [Assault] Try to talk with the bodyguards again to gain entry into the house and VIP.

[ ] [Assault] Barge into the house regardless of the bodyguards and forcibly drag the VIP out of the compromised location.

[ ] [Assault] Find a defensible position to overlook the coming assault, and prepare to intervene if the defenses look like they're about to fall.

[ ] [Assault] Track down the mysterious attackers and strike at them before they launch the next assault.

- The dice really have no chill here...but it certainly livens things up though.
- You don't have enough time to head back to grab your full gear. It's only your pistol now, but a good scene roll has given you full ammunition on that.

"It's no use. We have to adapt our plans," You relayed to your partner. "Take a good look around, we'll be setting up an ambush position. It'll mean being exposed on the street, but it's better than standing around doing nothing."

"We can handle it," Mitsu confidently declared, patting the schoolbag. "We are blessed with the tools we need!"

You nodded, and reminded yourself of your own cyberware options. If you got close enough, precise body language analysis should be able to accurately map and project bullet trajectories to evade. Hopefully, there wouldn't be too many of them to box you in with too many projectiles. For now, you settled on using your experienced eyes to survey the street for hiding spots.

(Debris Hole: 4 +15 (Intelligence) +6 (Rank 3 Geology) = 25)
(Shrubbery Cover: 31 +15 (Intelligence) +12 (Rank 6 Botany) = 58)

It took some time to find an appropriate piece of bush that served as an adequate hiding spot, while also still being close enough to hopefully contribute to the fight. You couldn't say it was the best spot, but you had no time to think on it when the sound of squealing tires filled the air. Mitsu was there in a blurred flash and together, you both ducked behind the shrubbery to let the first of the tinted vans scream into the scene.

A second one followed soon enough, and you peeked through the small gaps in the hedge to spy on the individuals hastily disembarking from the vehicles. Your opticware immediately activated and ran facial recognition software on the presumed attacks as they readied weapons and flicked safeties off. You noticed a trend when a few police profiles came through with a common job tie, helpfully identifying who these people at least collected their paychecks from. "EGO Security. A private security company that contracts guns-for-hire to whoever pays."

"Ronin that not even have the dignity to care about putting up a pretense with righteousness," Your partner spat with vitriol. "Only how much coin they can make off death."

Your face was cut in a grim expression when you nodded in agreement. EGO was likely didn't even have anything personal with their target, they likely just were given a sheet of paper and a budget to accomplish their objectives. Perhaps it was to capture the VIP, or perhaps it was just to send a message. Whatever it was, you couldn't let that happen.

The bodyguards at least weren't so blind as to notice the assault beginning and soon, the air was filled with the crack of gunfire again.

(Corporate Bodyguards: 81 -20 (Battered) = 61)
(EGO Assault: 13 +20 (Prepared) = 33)

While the defenders were clearly already roughed up, it should be said that they certainly weren't stubborn. They returned fire with the professional cool and calm drilled or programmed into Arasaka security, even managing to connect some shots with some of the attackers out in the open. Then one of them barked something and turrets suddenly emerged beneath the front garden, opening fire with bullet salvos that ripped straight through one of the cars.

It detonated when the engine core was ruptured and EGO bodies flew about everywhere, some not even in one piece. Both you and Mitsu managed to duck out of the way of a flying leg and exchanged bewildered looks. "These certainly aren't their best operatives," You muttered.

"Merely grunts to fill the ranks," Your fellow Lycoris sighed and relaxed minutely. "It looks like they have the defense well in-hand. Why, must we even burden ourselves so?"

(Assault Continues: 40 +20 (Reserves) -20 (Second Wave) = 40)

The attackers faltered, then hastily backed around their remaining van, which was positioned in such a way that the home turret defenses couldn't reach. However, it so happened to be a rather close You tilted a head and listened to their loud and frantic cries into a radio. "Sounds like they're insisting on staying put until they either get authorization to retreat, or more reinforcements get sent their way. How interesting."

"Too cowardly to advance, too greedy to retreat," Mitsu grumbled, then her eyes narrowed. "One of them is climbing into their vehicle."

"Two of them," You corrected when you observed another hastily unlatching the back door. They climbed in and began to rummage around, alerting you that perhaps some of the others had perhaps undisclosed assets to try and break this siege. Similarly, the one that Mitsu was watching was fiddling with something in the driver's seat, perhaps a panel. Another possible concern, as you highly doubted they were just going to send a text via the van's systems.

There was also what had to be their leader, shouting angrily at unseen managers and trying to relay the seriousness of the situation. They were surrounded by a bunch of their subordinates standing idly by, some with shaking hangs and bandages slowly turning red. But still they tightly gripped their weapons, faces slashed with determination to charge back forwards should the turrets be disabled. You studied them, then discretely opened a call to your incoming reinforcements. "Second assault has been stalled. How long will you be out?"

"We're just lifted off! We'll be there soon, is the VIP safe?"

"The bodyguards made it impossible to extract to a safe location. We're holding down for now."

"Argh, not ideal, but workable. You said the second assault's stalled? If so, just make sure they don't crack the defenses and create a hostage situation for us when we arrive. I hate those!" You wordlessly nodded and cut the connection. You were sure now, the best way to make sure they didn't get to launch a breakthrough attack now was to spring the ambush now.

The only question was who should be targeted first.

Choose your priority targets:
-[ ] [Priority] Driver's Seat
-[ ] [Priority] Van Storage
-[ ] [Priority] Assault Leader
-[ ] [Priority] Assault Muscle

Available for target focus:
--[ ] Yuuki
--[ ] Mitsu

- You just need to specify who you think are the priority targets in the scene, and who should handle them. Only one assignment per person, and once the priority is eliminated, they'll focus on the next obvious threat. The lack of any obvious distractions makes it difficult to full stealth this, so you'll just have to use the element of surprise to best effect. They shouldn't be anticipating a counter-attack, so you've got that on them.