Red Chrome Cargo

Red Chrome Cargo is a screamsheet adventure featured in Cyberpunk RED as free DLC from the downloads section of the R. Talsorian Games website.

Overview
Red Chrome Cargo is the story of a crew who have been asked by a fixer by the name of Hornet to retrieve a shipment that was stolen by the Red Chrome Legion for 2,000eb each. The shipment consists of four large crates with DNA Encoded locks. Hornet hasn’t told the party what is in the containers, only that they should be very careful when transporting them. The shipment is being transported to a Red Chrome Legion facility outside of the city via the Hammerhead, a heavily armored Militech cargo train the gang has hijacked.Three of the containers the PCs need to retrieve are full of military-grade explosives and cyberware that were originally intended for the Iron Sights. The last container holds multiple canisters of a deadly neurotoxin devised by Hornet himself. This neurotoxin was bought at a premium as an ace in the hole for the Iron Sights to use against the Red Chrome Legion and any other gang that proved a significant problem. The Red Chrome Legion stole the containers but the DNA encoded locks and thick metal exteriors proved too difficult to penetrate without damaging the contents.

The shipment is headed to an abandoned town on the northern outskirts of Night City, where a Tech employed by the Red Chrome Legion can break the locks. Hornet arranges passage for the PCs aboard his own train, which will run parallel to the Red Chrome Legion’s locomotive. As the two pull close, the PCs must leap from the top of Hornet’s train onto the Legion’s train with a DV13 Athletics Check. Failing to make this check results in the character landing short and slamming into the side of the rear train car. They are able to grab hold and not fall to the ground below but the collision alerts the guards inside the train to danger.

Once aboard the train, the PCs must open the maintenance hatch on the top of the rear car with a DV13 Basic Tech Check. This gives them access to the train’s interior. There are two Red Chrome Legion guards in the rear car. The containers in the train car are tall enough to conceal the train’s maintenance hatch and allow the PCs to attempt a stealthy entrance in order to surprise the guards.

If the PCs reach the middle car, they find it is empty except for a few containers and a maintenance port. This maintenance port can be jacked into by a Netrunner (see the Hammerhead Cargo Train Mainframe). Access to the Hammerhead Cargo Manifest gives the PCs a list of every item aboard the train when it was hijacked by the Red Chrome Legion. A clever GM can give the PCs new gear or insert a few plot hooks using that list. If the Netrunner conquers the Turret Control Node, they not only learn about the turret in the next car but can take control of it. If the guards were alerted to the PCs boarding the train, then the automated turret in the center of the room is active. If the turret has not been activated, one of the Legion Guards will use their first turn to rush to the turret controls and activate it.

The containers the PCs seek are in the front car. Each can be carried by a single PC but requires two hands to so. The PCs can either stop the normally automated Hammerhead using the controls in the driver’s car with a DV9 Drive Land Vehicle Check or climb out the way they came in and leap back across to Hornet’s train. The Athletics Check for the leap while carrying a crate is DV15. Throwing a container to the other train requires a DV13 Athletics Check.

Once back aboard Hornet’s train, the PCs can turn over the containers to Hornet and get paid. By the end of the week, the gang war in the north end of the Combat Zone ends as the Iron Sights use their new shipment of tech and poison to crush the Red Chrome Legion.