8 THE MISSION

The following ZAIBATSU mission, Operation Sesimbra is given as an example of the kind of urban fracas that the street samurai have to contend with on a daily basis. Note the simple, punchy plot, and the "twist in the tail" that complicates the whole thing right at the climax. It is assumed that the players are all newcomers to the game, with rank 1 street samurai characters, and work for a bio-genetics zaibatsu (such as Haruna or Makita).

OPERATION SESIMBRA

BRIEFING

The agents are briefed at the corporate headquarters by their boss, a rank 6 project manger. Apparently, a revered Brazilian ecologist named Thomas Sesimbra will be arriving in Tokyo tomorrow for the global ecology conference ECON 6. If he is allowed to present the results of his scientific studies to the conference, then the players' zaibatsu will be seriously hurt. It has a significant pharmoceutical interest in the Amazon rainforest, and is about to sign an upcoming exploitation deal with the Brazilian government. Sesimbra has discovered evidence of serious ecological damage connected to your zaibatsu's current operations, but has not yet realised it. If allowed to speak at the conference, other ecologists will surely make the connection.

The team must kidnap Sesimbra when he enters the country and hold him for one week until ECON 6 is over during which time the zaibatsu can sign the contracts and plans that will make eco-damage results redundant. He must not know why he is being detained, or who is responsible, and he must not be harmed. The team have one day to arrange for a safe house to use for the week.

The referee can award the following promotion points:

THE TWIST IN THE TAIL

A rival zaibatsu will also be seriously damaged by Sesimbra's appearance and have dispatched a team of street samurai to kill him. Most dramatic would be if this team were able to trail the player characters and make a raid on their safe house.

OPENING SCENE

The team are outside Sesimbra's hotel, the Imperial Hotel opposite Hibiya Park in Ginza. He is expected at midnight and is arriving by taxi. A set of photos for ID has been given to the PCs. Snatching him at the hotel should not be too much of a problem, although he does unfortunately have two bodyguards!

Bodyguard One Male. Wears a long coat, pony-tail and mirrorshades. Skill: Autopistol, Karate, Bujutsu, Stunt Drive, Stealth. Gear: Autopistol, Knife

Bodyguard Two Female. Wears leopard-skin jacket and red miniskirt. Skills: Riotpistol, Karate, Aikido, Agility, Good Looks. Gear: Riotpistol (beehive ammo)

Hopefully a fully-fledged gunfight will develop in the hotel foyer, or upstairs in his suite. The hotel security staff are similarly (and basically) equipped, but add torches, radios and self-defence sprays. The Imperial Hotel has 25 floors, 3 elevators and two sets of stairs. Sesimbra has booked a "working suite", a lounge-bedroom-office arrangement with fine views of the park and the Imperial Palace.

And meanwhile, the rival zaibatsu agents are watching and waiting ...

SAFEHOUSE

The location of the safehouse depends on what the PCs have done about it. Is it a run-down apartment, a high-class hotel suite, or a lock-up garage? Sesimbra will be indignant and upset, but will not create any problems for the team. While he is settled in for his stay, just assume that the rival agents have followed the team here (rationalize it later!). Let the team work out security precautions and a rotine, this will be useful when the rivals assault it later on.

To add a little spice to the procedings, use the following incidents:

1) A pushy salesman comes round selling cheap body implants, triple-glazing or life insurance. Perhaps he is one of the rival agents casing out the joint?

2) A phone repair man from KDD comes to perform a routine circuit test. His ID checks out, but he might recognise Sesimbra (and make a run for it), or be one of the rival agents (come to plant a bug!).

3) On the news, the team see an interview with some security expert about how Sesimbra has a bio-transmitter inside him, and how the police plan to track him down using its radio beacon. This is false info (or is it) but it should really screw up the players. Now what do they do? How do they scan him and remove the transmitter? Perhaps their zaibatsu can offer a nearby clinic for such a purpose, but first they've got to get him there, and back.

THE CLIMAX

This is where the rival zaibatsu stages its assassination attempt on Sesimbra. The referee will have to plan it carefully, perhaps using a coffee break to collect his thoughts and plans. Don't just rush in! Try to imagine how your players would stage such a raid. Probably the best way would be to have one of the above spies (salesman or KDD technician) return and force his way in again. Either he might pull a gun there and then, giving the rest of the enemy team time to burst in, or he will provide a distraction in the safehouse - perhaps overtly recognising Sesimbra and kicking up a stink, or just being really pushy or officious. Perhaps he feigns some kind of illness?

Or the attack is totally blunt: limpet mines against walls, a laser-firing sniper over the road, autopistol armed agents at the end of corridors or waiting in doorways... To flush the player characters out, the rival agents might phone the safehouse anonymously to tell the team that the cops know where it is and are on their way round. Then they'll just sit tight as the team walk into their ambush trying to get out quick.

Match the rival team to the players', in number and strength. They will also be rank 1 street samurai, and will have use of a couple of stolen vehicles, a Honda car and a Toyota MPV. All will be communicating with discrete headset radios.

If the referee plays his cards right, at least one agent should get wasted in the final firefight, perhaps more. But at this stage it is important to show how lethal these rules are, and just how quickly replacement characters can be created ... Kanpai !